Day: August 10, 2021

5 at The Sandlot for a Cougar-less Monday beatdown.  Here’s what I remember:

I’d been in touch with Cougar to try to connect on a workout.  I had 2 plans, one if he was there and the other if he wasn’t.  No Cougar, so plan B was in order.

The Thang:

• 10 x Don Quixotes (IC)
• 15 x Hillbilly Walkers (IC)
• 20 x Mountain Climbers (IC)
• 10 x Dying Cockroaches (IC)
• 15 x Freddie Mercuries (IC)
• 20 x Toe Touches (IC)
• 10 x Hello Dollies (IC)
• 15 x Mike Tysons (IC)
• 20 x Moroccan Night Clubs (IC)

Thoroughly warmed up, we took a shortcut and moseyed to Fidelity Bank, stopping to

• Lunge walk between the two driveways

Cross the street to the funeral home, which wasn’t as well lit as I expected.  As long as I’ve been posting at The Sandlot/Labyrinth/Martha’s House, I’d never been there.  It’s a great place for 11s though, so we did something like that:

22s

• 2 x Squats (OYO)
• Run halfway down the driveway
• 1 x Burpee (OYO)
• Run the rest of the driveway
• 20 x Merkins (OYO)

Add 2 to the Squats and 1 to the Burpees, and subtract 2 from the Merkins, til the last round you have 20 Squats, 10 Burpees, 2 Merkins

It was a grind, and we were either all fast or all slow, because we stayed together the whole time.  Stinky Bird and EZ Rider kept the mumblechatter going, as YHC was having a hard time finding his legs, much less talking at the same time.

Once that wrapped up, we moseyed back, stopping at Fidelity Bank to

• Lunge walk between the two driveways

We then moseyed the rest of the way back

Circled up at the end, we finished the way we started, with:

• 10 x Hello Dollies (IC)
• 15 x Freddie Mercuries (IC)
• 20 x Toe Touches (IC)
• 10 x Hello Dollies (IC)
• 15 x Freddie Mercuries (IC)

And that was that.

Announcements:

• Sandlot and Mt. Hollywood to join forces at 0700 in McAdenville on Labor Day

Prayer Requests:

• Stinky Bird’s family & business
• Turtleman
• EZ Rider’s family
• Flintstone’s grandmother

Moleskin:

Rough. I’m dragging a bit this summer.  Still rocks out there that need to be pushed, so gotta keep grinding.  It’s days when I go when I’m just not feelin it that I know that I’m still accelerating.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead.

Yabba Dabba Doo

Ultimate Frisbee Style Football. Leppard Lost, Dr. Seuss was the MVP.

There was a lot “shady” at 0659 in the dense, humid gloom of the Yank. The overcast skies shaded us from the sun’s rays but trapped the muggy warmth. Slim Shady appeared genuinely surprised to learn that the PAX at Old School had been expecting him to Q at 0630 that shady morning!  As the clock ticked over to 0700 and the Bunker crowd moseyed off, YHC distracted the remaining PAX with a quick set of warmup exercises:

SSH (15xIC), Imperial Walkers (15xIC), Toy Soldiers (10xIC), Merkins (10xIC), and 5 burpees OYO.  Then mosey through Stowe Park to the corner of Myrtle and Main for escalating BLIMPS at each telephone pole:

1st pole = 5 burpees
2nd pole = repeat above plus 10 lunges (total)
3rd pole = repeat above plus 15 imperial walkers
4th pole = repeat above plus 20 merkins
5th pole = repeat above plus 25 plank jacks
6th pole = repeat above plus 30 squats

After another short mosey to the benches at Belmont Central, YHC called for a modified DORA.  Instead of fixed number of reps, each team completes 2 full rounds of an exercise:
Derkins
American Hammers
Step-ups
Dips
Flutter kicks

The original runner’s lap, down the side of the school building to Myrtle Street, up to Central Ave, all the way to the far edge of the school building and back, was ridiculously and painfully long, so YHC modified after the first round to a much shorter lap.  That proved to be a good call since this routine lasted until 0735.  Mosey around the school and soccer field to the covered picnic tables when the morning train forced the obligatory 5 burpees.  2 full rounds of Mary, featuring dying cockroaches, Hello Dollys, “Homer and Marge,” Crab Marches, and other good stuff, took us to the end with just enough time to mosey back to the Yank for COT.

Announcements:

F3 Dads in Folsom = Aug 21
JJ 5k = Sept 25.
Mt. Hollywood and Sandlot will join forces in McAdenville at 0700 on Labor Day, Sept 6.

Prayers:

Big Pappy and new foster child coming from Levine
Watts Up’s niece’s son’s surgery
Flintstone’s grandmother coming home after hip replacement
PAX on IR

Lagniappe:  Rain in the forecast prompted me to plan a good portion of the workout in the pavilion at Stowe Park, but the pavilion was occupied by supplies and equipment for some type of performance, forcing an unplanned adjustment.  It’s good to be prepared but even better to be prepared and adaptable when things don’t go according to plan.  Thankfully the rain held off, but at the end all PAX were dripping wet as if a monsoon blew through.  Thanks for the privilege to lead!

 – Nutria

Six PAX, including YHC, showed up to do work at the Bulldog on a beautiful Tuesday Morning.

This was planned to be the 2nd episode of “Bubba Sparxxx’s Traveling No-Impact, No-Legs Workout for Core/Arms/Shoulders/Back/Chest” (BSTNINLWFCASBC, for short.)

Advertisement for “Traveling No-Impact, No-Legs Workout” on Slack.

Normally, this “Traveling No-Impact, No-Legs Workout” is designed to be a parallel, complementary activity to the normal AO’s workout, intended for YHC and any injured PAX who needed to keep weight off of their legs/knees/feet.

However, with 30 seconds remaining before Start, the Bulldog PAX mentioned that they had heard tales of the famous Traveling No-Impact, No-Legs Workout. They were so enticed by the promise of gettin’ their core and upper bodies swole’, that they decided that YHC should Q. YHC agreed, and walked back to the Official Vehicle of the “Traveling No-Impact, No-Legs Workout” and got YHC’s phone/Weinke, and the PAX got to work.

THE WARM-UP

Moroccan night clubs
Shoulder Presses
Arm Circles
Plank Hold

THE THANG

The PAX alternated through the following muscle groups, rotating through various exercises that are listed below.
Coupons were used, and depending on the PAX, were mostly in the 30lb range, and in either RuckPlate or Kettlebell form.
Each set consisted of anywhere between 15-30 reps of each exercise, depending on the exercise, and what YHC called.
All exercises were done in cadence, except Plank, which was timed.

Shoulders:
Overhead presses w/rucksack
Arm circles front
Arm circles backwards

Abs/Core:
Big boy sit ups (butterfly)
LBCs
Plank – long hold
Crunchy Frogs
American Hammers, but with and without coupons
Flutter Kicks with coupon overhead, arms extended

Arms:
Curls w/ coupons
Dips
Tricep extensions with coupon

Chest:
Merkins
Derkins
Werkins
Chest presses w/coupon

Back:
Upright rows with coupons
Dumbell rows with coupons
Overhead rows with coupon

Towards the end, YHC suggested to the non-injured PAX that they do some leg work, and Orangeman led them away, into the darkness, down the Bulldog driveway, lungewalking away from the school entrance. YHC stayed at StartEx and did some modified Squats while they lungewalked. It seemed to YHC that the PAX may have been taking a long break before starting their lungewalk back to StartEx. YHC provided some vocal motivation, and when they got back, we knocked out a few more exercises and reps, and then YHC called “TIME”.

COT

Announcements
F3 Dads

Prayer Requests
Whoopee’s daughter
Linus’ Mom
PAX on IR
Turtleman’s continued recovery
PAX searching for jobs. especially for the perseverance and patience required (YHC, included)

Pledge

Orangeman took us out in prayer

Name-O-Rama

Notes:
Although YHC had to withdraw from the physical part of the GrowRuck24 this past weekend in Charlotte, YHC was able to attend the GrowRuck leadership school and also participate in the Support Team. Even though Freight, Tiger, Breaker Breaker, Tesla, and the rest of the GrowRuck24 participants looked like they were horribly suffering from the wrath of the Cadres, YHC was suffering from major FOMO. In addition to having major FOMO, YHC was energized by the event, and is even more psyched about F3’s mission and being more involved in it. YHC is looking forward to the next GrowRuck, and would suggest that more Gastonia PAX give it a shot. (It’s so much more than just a difficult rucking event.)

Happy to grab the Q with these HIM today,
—Bubba Sparxxx

What a great day to Q. I am fresh off vacation and I haven’t done bootcamp in 2 weeks. However, I told Wichita to just pick a date and give me the Q so here we go. We had 9 on a beautiful (and a bit humid) Tuesday morning. Mayor and I got in some EC stretching to ensure our old asses were properly warmed up!

Warmup – it was proper, show to know Westside.

Thang:

A quick mosey to the lower parking lot for Elevens featuring Merkins and Sumo Squats.

Mosey to the ampitheater for lots of counting to blast the core and shoulders.

25 LBCs IC
20 Flutter Kicks IC
15 Shoulder Taps IC
10 Hip Slappers IC
10 Dirty Hookups IC

Repeat 3 times. Shout out to a few guys who chipped in on the counting!

Mosey across Folsom to the parking lot by the pond and workout shelter. I think Mayor was trying to hijack my Q at this point but I gave him an old school ACC Montross nudge to make sure he stayed in line.

More Elevens for the squad featuring CDDs and Bobby Hurleys (some guys did Ed Cotas, which is where the shot misses).

With minutes to spare, we mosey back to the main parking lot for some Mary. Spackle called some God-awful version of a box cutter and went 20 reps in cadence as the PAX begged for mercy. Time!

COT – Prayers for Turtleman, Covid patients, Stogies dad, Ball Joint’s injuries, Ozark’s family, Big Pappy’s family, Rabbit Ears’ family, and Spackle’s grandma.

Last night I stumbled upon an article where internet researchers found that Ice Cube’s good day must have been January 20, 1992. Despite Mayor’s objections, I walked the guys through it quickly. I hope August 10, 2021 is a good day for you all!

Tesla (R), Breaker Breaker (R), Freight, Bubba Sparx, and Tiger (R) took part in GrowRuck 24.  Whoppe and Boudin had also registered but had to scratch.  Bubba suffering through a foot injury, so he pulled time in support.

Friday night started the weekend with a social event, good opportunity to meet pax from other regions, and put faces to names you have heard.  Saturday morning was a convergence boot camp style workout which moved directly to breakfast after.

Remainder of the morning was Grow School, which is three hours of going through the entire Q source led by Italian Job (Ft Mill) and GMO (St Louis).  Those guys did a really good job of teaching and giving life examples of the teaching.  A very worthy event.

Curve ball at the end of grow school, normal events begin at 1800, but we were told at the end of school that start time had been moved to 1600.  Oh s***!  Let’s move

Event began at said time and ended next morning around roughly 0830.  Did lots of things during the time in between.  Won’t go into details, but if you want to know more about specifics just ask one of us.

Guys, these events serve important purposes.  Gives a chance to interact with other regions getting some good ideas of what works and what doesn’t.  It also gives the chance for participants to do and accomplish things they did not know the could do or accomplish without leaning on other men.

It is also important to bring a re-invigorated spirit back to the local regions.  It takes hard work to get better.  But it takes even harder work to stay better.  We can never let the guard down, that is when it becomes easier for bad things to happen.

Yes the event is difficult and it should be.  It is important for it to be difficult.  Get past that part because you can do it.  There will be other opportunities soon for other local Pax to carry the torch.

Always and honor

Tiger

Strong crowd at the Storm for a wounded Tiger Q.  Men came to work, great job by all.

5:30 hits, YHC begins by stating the mission of F3, to plant grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership.  We do what we do to become better men.  The work out is one way we achieve that.  It is important to come out and work hard.  It is important to do hard things.

SSH, IW, gravel pickers 15X IC.  Some stretches from plank.  10 burpees.  Mosey to back side of school near loading dock.

Hamster wheel (bear crawls up the ramp and down the other side) continue until stop is called.  Six rotations.  Mosey to the tables outside the cafeteria.  Box jumps to bench, dips, derkins.  Stay together so plank in between sets.  20 of each, then 15 then 10 then 5.  Mosey to side entrance.

Get some wall for suspension merkins  3 sets.  On the curb for 20 tiger squats.  Mosey to circle in front of school.

Lunge walk around circle, then bear crawl.  Two sets of each.

Couple mins remain.  YHC reminds that we come out for more than a workout.  We should all have a bigger reason for doing what we do.  YHC tells Pax to think of their why.  And then picture their why at the shovel flag.  Sprint with all you got to your why.

Pledge.

Do hard things men.  With all you have.  You work hard in the gloom, you pull EC, do CSAUPs and GrowRuck events, all of that with all your effort every time, then you will be more prepared to deal with the hard things in life.  Ask for help, reach out to those that need it.

What we do in the gloom is not hard, it is a privilege.  Many of our Pax have gone through hard things, some are going through hard things.  Many more of us will go through hard things.  This is why it is vitally important that we prepare every day.

Announcements:  no work day at Ricky Bobby, F3 Dads at Folsom Aug 21, Sand Lot and Mt Hollywood combining in McAdenville Labor day at 0700, service project is tuna and protein snack pack.

Prayer: Whoppe and his daughter and family, Turtleman, Nutria daughter first day of high school, students and staff going back to school

YHC took us out

Always an honor

Tiger