14 pax came out to welcome 2 FNG’s at The Yank. As the clock struck 0700, the peanut gallery had already started jeering and heckling, even before I had a chance to give the full disclaimer. From the very beginning, I knew this crowd was going to be lots of fun but tough to keep in line, and they didn’t disappoint. We moseyed to The Bunker for warmup: SSH, Imperial Walkers, Low-slow squats, merkins, Nolan Ryans, LBC’s (all 10xIC).
The Thang: We split up into 4 groups – in a crude manner that prompted criticism from a few armchair quarterbacks, but the method to the madness was to keep FNG’s with the guys who brought them out. There were 3 exercise stations: Perfect form merkins, Jungle boy squats, and flutter kicks. The 4th group bear-crawled from one station to the next. The group at that station then bear-crawled to the next station, and so on. I started music to begin the routine, but mumblechatter amongst the groups suppressed it into the background. In my group with Gavel, Jane Fonda, and FNG Tom (aka Jelly Roll), we heard about Gavel’s upcoming Polar Bear Plunge into the pool at Lineberger Park, and Jane Fonda and Jelly Roll shared stories about modern college life.
After one full circuit, groans and complaints from the pax told me I had done something right. After 2 full circuits, I stopped the music, and we circled up to call out the 5 Core Principles:
1. Free of charge
2. Open to all men
3. Outdoors, rain or shine, heat or cold
4. Peer-led in a rotating fashion
5. Ends in a Circle of Trust
Without FNG’s, I would have done this Mayor style, testing the newbies and inflicting burpee penalties for punctuation errors or grammar mistakes. And, in fact, when one of the pax shouted “Open to all men,” a few hecklers called out the fact that “Open to all men” is not the first core principle. But, today it was more important to convey the meaning behind the principles since it’s part of what separates us from just another workout group or fitness center.
Next, we moseyed to Hawthorne St. for a Triple Nickel with big boy situps and Mike Tysons. As a benevolent Q (only because we want our FNG’s to come back), I refrained from utilizing the entire gloriously steep hill, and instead defined the boundaries as a couple of telephone poles in the middle section of the street. Bat flippers were to plank for the six. Once the six was in, we talked about the F3 Credo: “Leave no man behind, but leave no man where you find him.” This is the basic premise behind our practice of “picking up the six.”
We moseyed back to the bunker for another group of exercises in the same 4 groups as before: Apollo Ono’s, Star crunches, and mountain climbers. Transition between stations was lunge-walk. After 2 full rounds, we circled up to review the 5 core principles, the credo, and bring it all together with the Mission of F3: “to plant, grow, and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership.”
With 11 minutes left, we had enough time for another quick Triple Nickel – Bobby Hurleys and CDD’s. Then we moseyed to the flag for a few flutter kicks, star crunches, and the pledge to close it out. Great push by all!
Announcements: 2nd F lunch 2/21 at Pita Wheel in Belmont; March 2 Q school at Gashouse; Rice n Beans one Tuesday mid-March; April 20 extinction run (preblast coming soon)
Prayers: Praise for Montana and Jane Fonda getting back out. Prayers for Brutus in Africa and racers participating in various events today.
I was thrilled to see such a high quality crowd of HIM’s come out to The Yank today! We captured everything that F3 is about. I’m grateful for the opportunity to lead and look forward to seeing Pinto and Jelly Roll back out again soon!
– Nutria