Pleasantly Surprised

The core group participants of the GasHouse are gathered in a Kia Sportage, traveling the hills in Watauga County in the annual Mortimer. My original thought as the bootcamp Site Q was to fold in with the Pain Lab led by the Big Cheese himself. Earlier in the week, Flintstone encouraged me to keep the bootcamp Q because you never know. There is a reason he’s the Nantan – he was correct. Despite an ominous forecast of rain (at least it was low 50’s) I reviewed some old workouts and extracted a few ideas to build the newest Weinke, keeping in mind the conditions were going to be miserable and Flintstone’s knee is a bit jacked-up at the moment (speaking of – where is the Jacked Up Leg these days?). Sure enough this morning, it was a steady rain, but not terrible – the only thing more terrible is running all night long on mountain roads and trails (shout out to the Mortimer team HRB). I posted the flag and the circle gathered. Turns out we have some men that bought into the core principle #3 that we do this outdoors, rain or shine. I shared this and the other F3 Nation Core Principles in my disclaimer this morning because Hei Hei brought an FNG – Joshua Owen (more on him in the COT). Sargento asked about 2 minutes into my disclaimer if there would be a workout? Of course – here ya go:

Warm-Up:

• Toy Soldiers IC x 10
• Good Mornings (no cadence, just down & up) PAX didn’t count so we did more than 10, I think
• Alternating right over left (not patented though!) and good morning – what a combination! PAX were confused at this routine. But the chick on YouTube that I saw leading it was hot so guess that was the difference – Q-fail #1
• Side to Side Lunge IC x 10
• Imperial Walker IC x 10
• Another New Thing – Squat hold + Squat jump Stack. Lower to a squat, hold for 1 count, explode into 1 squat jump; lower to squat hold for the count of 2, do 2 squat jumps…you get the idea. PAX chattered a bit…when I got to 6, they really groaned so I knew I had to go to 7 and that was all my legs could take – it seemed to be a crowd pleaser so this will find its way into my rotation.

We split and to my surprise, six men followed me out of the parking, including the FNG. Glad I thought about what I was going to do on this Q. So, we hustled across the street to the back of the pharmacy building beside the library. Hot Corner said he’d do the boot camp as long as I didn’t make him lie on the wet ground – I gotcha big fella. We began under the covered awning against the brick wall for this routine:

• Hip Slappers x 10
• normally would bear-crawl but opted for the lunge walk instead
• Merkins x 10, mosey back to the wall
• 3 rounds
• Round II
• Dirty Hook-ups x 10
• Backwards Lunge Walk
• Parker Peter x 10, mosey back to the wall
• 3 rounds

Find a partner for the Dora

• Merkins x 100
• Imperial Walkers x 200 (count both sides)
• Flutter Kicks x 300 (count 1 side)
• other partner takes a lap around the building – Hei Hei said he was down with this running

Need a change of scenery but it’s raining harder now…let’s move to the front of the pharmacy for the good ole Route 198; “What chu say Willis?” It sounds complicated, but really its not. Instead of 1 exercise to stack, you have 3. Do it 11 times and you have 198 reps. To make it easier, the set combination works well because you begin with a shoulder tap, then a plank jack, then a burp (aka “in and out” – insert Michael Scott tag line “that’s what she said…”). Without 11 light posts, we used the brick columns on the pharmacy building as our exercise markers, so not much more than a few steps between. But doing the routine at set 5 and set 6 was a grind since it was an up and back routine. Since I had not practiced this, I soon realized, and hopefully the PAX did too this constant plank really burned the shoulders – point noted…another one for future Q’s. Upon completion, I had about 20 minutes left, and my Weinke was exhausted. Now time to make up some shit…we’ll stay under the porch for some core work.

• LBCs x 10
• Reverse Crunch x 10
• Alternating kick with clap under x 10 (I’d have to demo this)
• Run across the parking lot and return; do the circuit x 3
• Set II
• Penguin Crunch x 10
• 90 Degree Toe Touch x 10
• Alternating Leg Drops x 10
• Run across the parking lot and return; do the circuit x 3

That was it. The rain was now in a steady downpour, and we had only a few minutes to return to the AO. Q decision supported by the PAX to do the COT on site.

Prayers for Turtleman and Jackson Hall; Announcements for the Food Ruck and Community Foundation Run. Our FNG was pushing the whole time. At 38 years old, Jonah Owen is obviously fit and seemed to embrace the craziness of this brotherhood. Originally from Oregon before living in Alaska with his wife to be near family, he migrated to this area to train people on moving dirt and grading. We tossed out a few ideas, but I liked Band Camp’s suggestion of “Daylight” and we welcome him to the fold. What a first post in the miserable rain. Honestly, I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of an hour in the rain but to switch the mentality – I can do about anything for an hour…well maybe not everything but working out in the rain and it’s over 50, so it won’t kill me. Pleasantly surprised at the numbers we drew this morning. Band Camp was back for like his 3rd or 4th Saturday straight – even without his dad posting – strong work BC, keep it up. Normally Cheesesteak has stuck at the Pain Lab on Saturdays, and it was good to have him at the BC. Hot Corner’s first post to the GasHouse and Hei Hei was back again. The mumble chatter was light, but Flintstone kept me in check. All in a day’s work at the GH. Thanks for the opportunity to lead…even in the rain. (Hey Hunchback – BB done in 4 hours – don’t put me on your list)