Fitness, Fellowship, Faith

Day: December 23, 2019

12 Days of Christmas on a Rainy Day

As I checked out the forecast a few days ago, I started regretting having signed up to Q. I am ok with cold. I am ok with rain. I hate cold rain. Oh well, rock pushing ain’t easy. My plan: stay as dry as possible! I put my weinke together, laid out the clothes, and took to Slack to see Short Sale has the Q at Mt Hollywood. I proceed to rib him and remind him of the time he overslept and fartsacked his Folsom Q.

Yes, this is foreshadowing.

4:30, 4:45, and 5:00 a.m. pass and YHC is still sound asleep. I am not sure what happened but I awoke at 5:07 and I live 20 minutes away from Martha Rivers. This is no bueno! I know Pappy will be there so I ask him to cover some warmups for me. I am out the door about 5:13. I arrive about 5:32. Not too bad! Fortunately, I planned ahead.

We have an FNG so I give a quick disclaimer and I give Slaw my speaker and phone to carry the tunes. Mariah’s All I want For Christmas is blasting as we jailbreak to the nearest picnic shelter. I have my weinke written on a piece of cardboard but it is dark and there are no lights. All good though, I prepared and packed my shop light.

Christmas songs play as we repeat a 12 exercise circuit. Sing it with me to the tune of 12 Days of Christmas…

12 American Hammers
11 Monkey Humpers
10 Mountain Climbers
9 Imperial Walkers
8 Big Boy Situps
7 Superman-Ironmans
6 Jumping Squats

5 REGULAR MERKINS

4 Backwards Lunges
3 Plank Jacks
2 LBCs
And a Merkin and a Burpee

We ended up doing all exercises in cadence except Big Boys and Jump Squats. We also changed to 10 LBCs IC and increased the Merkin and Burpee count at the end of each circuit. We completed 6 circuits. Each guy counted different exercises, no rest until the end. Then, for Slaw, we finished with 10 Merkins and 10 Burpees!

Welcome Chad Carper to F3! He is the principal at WC Friday and is now known as Belding. He was invited to Folsom!

Today’s Christmas Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5zlfnAtzQbmiffUTSA1h6n?si=Q_h9OgCkQMmFabuCAW75nQ

Announcements:
Convergence Saturday 12/28 at Gashouse (Schiele Museum at 7), RSVP for the After Christmas party on 1/4, the Pub will meet as ususal and mosey to Waffle House to meed up with the sumbritches from Diablo Sammich at Waffle House for some 2nd F, Midoriayama closed Tuesday, Prison Break will decide today (check Slack), Defib leading workout Wednesday at Snoballs (Martha Rivers Park) at 530 am, New Years Murph at 7 am at Martha Rivers. Prayer requests- Dry Rub’s M, Stinky Bird’s baby is 1!!! (Praise), my neighbor’s family, famalies amd those whonare struggling at Christmas. Pappy led us in prayer.

Building a Strong Foundation

I’ve not Q’ed in quite a while, since the end of September according to my records. With the week off, I had circled this morning as my chance to finally post at Mt Hollywood. Nothing against this AO but it doesn’t fit logistically on my daily commute to downtown Charlotte. As I made this plan, I saw the Q was available and Broke was kind enough to grant me the opportunity – I should have checked the weather forecast. This time the weathernerds got it right but it’s hard to miss 90% chance of rain. I did a reconnaissance mission to scout where I might take my PAX, the only question was – how many would there be? I set multiple alarms to ensure I would not be late (thanks Montross) and arrived early (new concept for me). Broke was waiting in his truck and a few headlights followed with Red Ribbon running from his nearby home to give us a total of 5. A quick disclaimer stated the smart ones fartsacked this wonderful opportunity (if I had not committed to the Q – I’d have been there with you – well not literally, but in my own bed – you know what I mean). As a Kotter Q, I stumbled through a cadence that was this:

  • Seal Jacks x 10
  • Imperial Walkers x 10
  • Butt Kicks x 10
  • Toy Soldiers x 10
  • Jingle Balls x 10 (Merry Christmas)

We did that under the front shelter of Mt. Holly Middle and I asked the PAX to make a run for the bigger and lighted cover of Ida Rankin across the street – the only difficulty was working our way through the puddled parking lot but we arrived and to find the nice bricks Santa had left earlier. I went with what I know best – a timed Tabata workout with a brick in each hand. We performed each exercise x 30 seconds, with 30 second rest after each set and did each set 3x

  • Set 1:
    • Straight Arm Jacks
    • V-Ups
    • American Hammer
  • Set 2
    • Flutter kicks w/ arms holding bricks over chest
    • Backbreakers (new exercise named by Sargento – too difficult to explain but a core pleaser)
    • Squat with arm raise
  • Set 3
    • Merkins
    • Single Line Suicide
    • Moroccan Night Clubs (bricks in hand)

Then we moved to a new set with 2 minutes of exercise followed by 1 minute of rest

  • Jump Squats x 20, SSH’s x 30 then Burpees the remainder of the time AMRAP
  • WWI x 15, Freddie Mercury x 20 then LBC’s the remainder of the time AMRAP
  • (grab your bricks) Hammer Knee R x 20, Hammer Knee L x 20, Scissor Runs
  • Leg Raise x 15 (hold bricks with arms extended overhead), Jack Knifes x 20, X Crunch AMRAP

That was a good ending point to head back early and call time. Prayer requests were shared for EZ Rider’s family, Freight’s Grandmother, Tiger’s Dad, then the M’s for Sargento, Broke, and me. Remember the Convergence at GasHouse on 12/28 and the after Christmas Party on 1/4 (check your email).

Moleskin:

Luke 6:48 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

48 That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built.

As 2019 winds down the final steps for the year, maybe you’re like me and take some inventory of the year. I often think of moments and experiences as bricks that build my foundation to provide both mental and physical strength to weather through the storms ahead. Leading into the passage in Luke 6:48, Jesus shares that his words are used to build the foundation, so if we apply that 3rd F and live 3rd, those principles can help us battle through the flux. As for the First F, as untrained amateurs leading through a variety of odd exercises, I believe a strong core is essential. I went with that as a theme, adding the bricks as some resistance and strength building. Having the chance to Q at Mt Hollywood, in addition to earlier Q’s of 2019 at Folsom were a few missing bricks in my foundation that I now have in place. With all the work that has been done by the PAX this year, if we think of our Gastonia Region as a almost 5 year old neighborhood, look at all the great houses we’ve built, but like any house, we can always make updates or improvements, and in the neighborhood, there are vacant lots for FNGs.  As always it was an honor to lead.

“The Chase” at Crossroads

11 Pax for a Pre-Christmas Crossroads:

1 came in hot; 1 departed in silence (We missed ya, Goldigger)

1 Rucked (You were missed, Mayor and Freight)

10 Ran (2 of us chasing Broke)

10 for Q Source Review

Thanks for the participation, the push, the encouragement!

Seuss

 

 

We Made It Up

YHC forgot he had no one covering this week until in the middle of the 40/50 CSAUP. So with no weinke, this was made up on the fly with a lot of help from the PAX.

We “warmed-up” with Gashouse. Once we split up, the PAX gathered around bringing whatever equipment they had.

We started with a little tabata. 90 seconds of work, followed by 30 seconds of rest. We went around with each member calling an exercise.

We then partnered up and moved on to a little dora.
100 curls
200 overhead presses
300 chest presses

The PAX knocked this out and there was still a little time.

YHC broke out the Deck-o-Death. We went a few cards in before Gashouse rolled in. We joined them for their Tubthumping ending and all that followed.

Good work men and thanks to all for Co-Q’ing.

See Defib’s backblast for incorporating the 40/50 challenge into all aspects of life.

Watts Up powering down.

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