My second Q of the week, that doesn’t happen often but signing up weeks in advance, this can occasionally happen. If I were to be in different locations, I can re-use the Weinke, but the w/o on Wednesday was traveling simplicity. Both that workout and the one today reflect back to the many occasions that Gaston has Q’ed (go ahead and let out the collective grown – you’re thinking it at least). Gastone Q’s are not easy, that is for sure. I was 5 minutes before launch to find a hearty group of men ready for their end of week beatdown. I learned there was an FNG among us, he found us autonomously, having checked out the website. 0530 hit and a short disclaimer was announced – probably should have been more detail with the FNG but as the PAX often do, they rallied to translate and encourage. The Q had some veterans in the circle and their chatter was trying to take me off task – so my apologies for trying to focus on all the things a Q does; it takes a village.
Warm-up:
- Shoulder Tap Burpees OYO x 10 (tried cadence – didn’t work)
- Toy Soldier IC x 10
- Hillbilly IC x 10
- 8 Ct Body Builder IC x 5
- Side to Side Lunge IC x 10
- Imperial Walker IC x 10
- Pledge
Thang: began the mosey with 17 men following behind. Upon crossing Main St, YHC announced Zombie Walks until I “suggest” stop. Goal was to make it to the raised curb on the right side of the street. I requested the PAX to line up on the ledge – should have been more specific for these knuckleheads. “Line up facing south (on South Street no-less) with your right leg on the ledge that was 8-15” in height depending on your position. Which speaking of position, SA clears a circle as his ass trumpeted – good one. Single Leg lowers: 15 right, 15 left. A street curb is a little too small to have any effect but this height worked well to work the Vastus Medialis (VMO) muscle. Quick PSA – strengthening and loosening this important quad muscle stabilizes your knee and can prevent injury. We finished and progressed down the hill to McQuitters Wall on South/Main in front of the church. Find a spot: 10 Box Jumps, 10 Dips, 10 Burpees – 3 rounds OYO. Modify as needed to accommodate injury or other. This was a good start to jack up the heart rate. Next, on down the hill. With a large group, we were spread, so I impromptu left turned into a parking lot and suggested Freddie Mercuries until the 6 arrived. Once everyone had at least a few reps, up and left out of the parking lot, left on 3rd St, left into the office parking lot. Because Sister Act was among us, actually, I was doing this with or without him – his favorite – Triple Nickle. The parking lot above had a 15 retaining wall, which was perfect for Hip Slappers. Run to the top of the driveway for LBCs. You know the drill – 5 reps of each and 5 total circuits. The width of the driveway was tight for 18 dudes creating traffic. Round Up was in the zone, as usual, and pushing ahead. Mayor crushed this set as well. If you’ve not seen the Mayor lately, you may not recognize the svelteness. Props to Watts Up who just the other day took a hard spill onto his shoulder. He can barely lift his arm passed 70 degrees but he posted. I’m not pointing this out to make anyone feel bad for fartsacking, but…well, I guess if you feel guilty then I guess you do. So that was a warm-up for the main event. We retraced out of the parking lot going north on South St to the intersection with 2nd St. With about 25 minutes of playtime, I announced the next exercise opportunity – 11’s – the whole block between South and Marietta. The whole block you say? Yeah; begin with 10 Hand-release Merkins on South and 1 Mike Tyson at Marietta. Admittedly this was ambitious, but I wanted to offer a chance for the PAX to push, which they did. Again, Round Up was outfront, extracting all that he could from his opportunity. We (or at least I) didn’t make it but a few rounds. In hindsight, doing this routine in the future, I’d start this earlier and go west on 2nd Street, heading up the hill rather than the flat chested [hence the title – couldn’t come up with anything better] segment between South & Marietta. At a few minutes after 6 am, I Omahaed and steered the PAX north on South Street back to base. At 6:09 that was the perfect slot for 6MOM.
Mary:
- Flutters IC x 21
- Dolly IC x 10
- V-Sit Dolly IC x 10
- 90 degree crunch IC x 10
- Table Top crunch IC x 10
- Mayor, began crying about his obliques needing some work. So I handed the keys to him:
- Oblique crunch 50 each side…50!!! Ambitious – but he is svelte after all; Purple Haze (I think) Omahaed this to 25 each – TIME.
Announcements: Strides of March – we’re up to 23 – would love a few more. Prayers: Wichita’s friend, Folgers friend, Turtleman – hoping for positive diagnosis, Sister Act 2.0; I took us out.
Following two days of great weather, we had a nice spot this morning. Having 17 others around could have been indicative of a 48 degree clear morning? Good signs for the upcoming months as guys are looking to finish off their work week. I’ve been guilty of missing this opportunity and need to get Downtown more consistently on my schedule. During COVID, I’ve come to appreciate the afternoon workout – to get away from my work at home desk and burn off steam. But, on Friday’s I love having the workout completed early and out of the way. It makes Happy Hour more enjoyable. We had Antonio Marin post with us this morning. He’s 29 years old, graduate of Forestview and has a car repair shop on Franklin Blvd near Tony’s Ice Cream. He carefully avoided the pitfall questions. Tater Hole pushed for El Camino and only Mayor’s suggestion of Spur to compete, the Q went with El Camino – welcome to the brotherhood. Thanks for the opportunity to lead.