Author: Def Leppard (Page 15 of 17)

Strong crowd of 15 men for beautiful fall weather with the park pretty much to ourselves. There were discussions about certain men’s choice of apparel and that’s one of those “Show to Know” kinda things so we will leave it there. We waited an extra 15 seconds for Asssh Pond, Sidecar and Floppy Disk to no avail. Great to see Pockets back at Midoriyama. Short Sale coming in hot so here we go.

Warmup

SSH x 10 IC, Cotton Pickers x 10 IC, Squats x 10 IC, despite numerous attempts to undermine the Q’s count, we persevered, except we may have done 11 or 12 squats.

Mosey to the large soccer field near the dog park. Now that Roadie has become a runner, we all tried to keep up with him but it wasn’t easy.

The Thang:

Line up on the end line, run a quarter of the field, 25 Merkins, nur back to the end line.

Run to the mid field line, 25 Squats, nur back.

Run three quarters of the field, 25 Mountain Climbers, nur back.

Run the entire field, 25 SSH, nur back. Maybe a little too much nur in that one.

Mosey to the playground

5 Pullups, 10 Derkins, 3 Sets

Mosey to the Picnic Shelter at this time in the dark gloom.

Circle Up for Fives

Fresh mulch smell was in the air as we began. 5 reps of each of these using full size blocks courtesy of Slaw’s mancave.

5 each of Merkins, LBC’s, Block Curls, On Your Six Block Chest Presses, SSH (No blocks), Squats with Blocks and Overhead Presses, Burpees/Blockees, then run a long lap around the 2 parking lots and back down the entry road. 3 Sets. With a few minutes remaining, Q made a tragic mistake of relinquishing the counting duties to Slaw for Curls. Not sure how many but more than 30 as I recall. Still reeling from the curls, another mistake letting Tool Time call the On Your Six Chest Presses with Blocks and I got woozy around 50 or so and almost lost a tooth but I think we stopped at 75. Ouch! There was a phrase used, not by YHC, to help our muscle definition during this exercise that is NSFW, something like “Squeeze Those …….!” Show to Know! Canteen then commented that he was through with his warm up!

Mosey back to the flag.

22 for the Vets called by Slaw since Oompa wasn’t there.

I recalled a verse Hebrews 10:25 that says something like, “Don’t forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” I related how I was brought up by my mother and I really believe one of the best things she ever did for me as a child was take me to church. I don’t believe I would be half the man, father, husband, brother or friend I am today without that important step in my life so I encouraged all of the Pax to find a church for their family to grow in especially if you have kids. I believe strongly that everyone would be blessed by going to church.

Announcements:

F3 Dad’s Event for the Family, Sunday, Nov. 12th at Martha Rivers Picnic Shelter #1 at 2:30 p.m. with a workout followed by Ice Cream or maybe Coffee. All ages.

Advisory Board Meeting at Cavendish, Sunday, Nov. 12th 6:30 p.m.

Christmas Party at Lotus on Dec. 1st, $30 per person, money to Freight before Nov. 19th, bring the M.

Convergence at Gashouse on Saturday, Dec. 2nd at 7:00 am with everyone bringing toys for Operation Sweet Tooth. All Saturday workouts moved to Gashouse (Schiele).

Prayer Requests: Brownstreak in the loss of his Dad, Pizza Man’s Grandfather is in his last days, Those battling addictions and their families, I asked each guy to try to be available for each other as every man here is going through challenges.

COT

Pledge

Nameorama

We ran 2.7 miles (6 miles if we had MW’s old watch) and had over 400 reps of various activities. It is a pleasure to lead such a great group. I appreciate the big crowd and everyone pushing and helping everyone else in the group. You guys are a big inspiration to me and keep pushing that rock!

YHC hasn’t had a Q in a while and prefer to let others Q but it’s a good part of F3 that all of us take a turn leading so here we go.

Warm up to the sounds of a Def Leppard (the rock group) song! SSH, Cotton Pickers, Box Cutters and Squats all IC x 10. Even through relentless attacks on my counting ability, YHC persevered.

Pledge

Indian Run to the first soccer field with the last in line passing the football to the first and the first guy waiting for the group to pass and then passing to the first, etc. Dropped passes = 1 burpee… we did several burpees on our way.

The Thang

I always look to have a different workout each time I Q, so I “borrowed” some things from Stone Cold’s Wednesday morning Q at Snowballs/Martha’s House.

Get our coupons, half blocks in this case. Merkins, LBC’s, Curls with blocks, Chest Press with blocks,  SSH, Squats with Overhead Press with blocks, burpees, all x 5, then run a lap, repeat 3 sets.

Partner up, P1 runs across field while P2 does AMRAP of the same list of exercises as above.

Lunge walk half the soccer field with your block, drop block and sprint the other half, nur back, pick up block, lunge back to start. Repeat! That was tough! Put up coupons.

Frisbee Rules football. I think our team won but there was questionable officiating that made keeping score difficult. Somehow I took a direct hit to the face and Short Sale caught it for a touchdown, one of several he had! Freight wasn’t there so not much fighting or penalties.

Mosey back to the flag Indian Run style with football passing again and more burpees! Bad idea on the burpee penalty! Our young friend, 10 year old Batman showed up about this time very upset that we were finished!

22 Merkins for the Vets.

I gave a quick word on unity which is a large discussion right now. I quoted several scriptures that urge us to seek unity and reminded us that it begins at home and with our circle of influence. Don’t just quote it but try to live it and strive for it in all of our relationships.

Announcements, Prayer Requests, Huck’s quad, Our local Relay test run guys, injured, our country! Great push today in the heat and each guy brought it!

Moleskin –  There was a discussion about bearded millenials and it so happens that Sidecar may be too old to be one but Huckleberry maybe could be. Defib and I did this similar workout with Stone Cold but he didn’t seem to mind  the repeat. Thanks to Pizza Man for leading the planking for the six. Our new guy Brilliant is really getting better fast and I noticed he may sweat as much as me. Swimmer had a new bike which he decided to try to ride out of the back of his truck. It didn’t end well but no broken bones. Swimmer, Canteen and Sister Act got in some EC biking on the trails. Blart and Ash Pond didn’t fight during football so that was good. Oompa Loompa was pushing hard even after his Tuesday beatdown! Great to see Short Sale on this side of the county! Thanks for the opportunity to lead!

13 PAX, including two Welcome-Back-Kotters, showed up on a hot Tuesday afternoon for a fun in the sun at Midoriyama. Not to mention any names, but, the fatigue from a Sunday Frisbee golf outing, might have made cowards of certain unnamed PAX.

I sent out a pre-blast smokescreen to warn the PAX to avoid the upcoming beatdown. Slaw Q’d the first workout I attended as a FNG, 365 days ago, and is currently unavailable due to something called work, so I wanted to give everyone a large helping of Slaw so he won’t be missed.

I showed up early and pasted the AO with maps and symbols. There were 16 stations with either a triangle, diamond, circle, or square, all set approximately 1/8 of mile apart. Each symbol instructed PAX to perform 22 reps of the designated exercise. Triangles=merkins; circles=Mike Tysons; Squares=LBCs; and diamonds=burpees.

Counted off PAX into 4 teams and passed out maps with a legend to show the exercises to perform at each station and off we go:

No FNG, so brief disclaimer, warm up with 22 SSH & 26 capitalized 1,000,000 font alphabets.

Moseyed to Station 1 through Station 16. Much fun and mumble chatter was had by all. Midoriyama is mathematically challenged, so 16 x 22 = 352, plus 22 = 374, plus 26 = a grand total of 400 with approximately 2 miles hoofed.

To everyone’s astonishment, we finished within the allotted time of 45 minutes. Closed with pledge and prayer. I survived my first year of F3 and thanks again for the privilege to Q.

YHC received a text from scheduled Q Floppy Disk telling of an injury from a recent Mountain Bike ride. It was widely believed that Freight was involved in this accident but so far no evidence of that. YHC not being particularly creative and preferring to dwell on his weinke over several days, this was a challenge to think of something quick.
Warm Up
SSH x 10IC
Cotton Pickers x 10IC
Tool Times (Don Q) x 10 IC
Hillbillies x 10 IC
Moroccan Night Clubs for a while
Mosey to the playground for 5-10-15
5 pullups
10 LBC’s
15 Squats (3 Sets)
Mosey toward main road stopping along the way for Cotton Pickers x 10 IC
Mosey to the new Cul de Sac across the road on the new track/path where a variation of BLIMPS was announced.
10 Burpees, Mosey a while
20 LBC’s, Mosey a while
30 Imperial Walkers, Q’s lack of counting skills were questioned, Mosey a while
Stopped by the steps for 5 calf raises each step, planked for the six
40 Merkins, mosey a while
50 Plank Jacks, mosey a while
60 Squats back at the entrance to the new trail
Mosey back to the flag.
I had planned a few curls and presses at the soccer field but was running out of time.
Split into 2 teams for some Frisbee Rules Football. There was illegal use of hands, holding maybe even a personal foul but none were enforced and all had fun.
I read a quote from Calvin Coolidge about persistence which part of it is “The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” I discussed one of my M’s friends who is a doctor who made a statement a while back that she was not even close to the smartest person in school but that she was disciplined and that helped her make it through med school as much as anything. Everyone who is trying to lead needs to be persistent and disciplined to be better each day.

Announcements
Burpeethon Sept. 16th at 9:00 am at Rankin Lake
JJ5K in Stanley Sept. 23rd at Common Ground Trail
Speed For Need at Christmastown 5K on Saturday, Nov. 25th in McAdenville. You Do Not Want To Miss This! Roadie said if he can do it, you can do it!

Prayer Requests Pockets, Chum, Canteen, Floppy Disk, Oompa Loompa, Glenn Jackson, Navy guys and families who were killed and injured in the ship accident.

Moleskin
YHC probably had a little too much running for such a warm day and with a couple of the Pax not at 100%. #QFail
Nice work from Wojo and Assssh Pond pushing hard even though they were not at their best.
Slaw, Defib, Tool Time, Blart and Freight are the beasts of Midoriyama and just kept pushing even though the Q was kind of dragging.
Swimmer is a famous Mountain Bike rider and got in some EC before the workout. I think he rode alone because no one can keep up with him.
My boy Huckleberry repeated his disgust with all the running today but kept pushing that rock.
Newcomer Wrong Turn is so young and makes it all look so easy and that is kind of annoying for an old guy like me. Just kidding youngster.
Lil Sweet was not wearing his usual cargo work pants but had on shorts and it turns out he is a sneaky well-skilled frisbee football player.
Oompa Loompa stopped by on his way home from work to tell us he was having to rest his knees for a while. Get well soon Oomp.

My little girl started her senior year of college and we had several guys busy with their 2.0’s schools this week so best wishes to all of the kids and teachers starting back to school.

Thanks guys for the push today. I really needed it.

A concert was announced for Folsom and 9 strong with 2 FNG’s showed up for an old man Q in his hometown.

Warmup

SSH  x 10 IC, Cotton Pickers x 10 IC, Imperial Walkers x 10 IC, Moroccan Night Clubs for a while.  During this warm up, Pizza Man and Tyson roll through on a run pushing Ashlyn (Pizza’s 2.0) and she is the cutest little baby doll!

Mosey toward the stage area then towards the baseball fields then towards the highway to an unused parking lot. Blimps. Burpees 10 OYO, LBC’s 20 single count, Imperial Walkers 30 single count, Merkins 40 single count, Plank Jacks 50 single count,  Squats 60 single count. I took this chance to rest and talked about one of my favorite stories; the prodigal son. The part where he “came to himself” and said I will go back home to my father. Every man should have that “came to himself” moment where we realize that His plan  is better than ours.

Mosey back down to the stage. I posted a gif of Def Leppard’s one arm drummer to announce the concert at Folsom.  It was requested that it would be cool if I brought a set of drums and I did play drums many years ago but sadly I do not have my chrome Pearl drum set with Zildjian cymbals from years gone by. Instead I had Slaw bring full size cinder Blocks from Midoriyama and we set them up on the Stage area down from the playground near the pond. We did Lindsey’s aka 40’s.

30 curls, on your six for 10 chest presses,

25 curls, 15 chest presses

20 curls, 20 chest presses

We paused the concert to mosey to the tennis courts, pledged to the flag on our way and lined up for a short version of Dirty Mac Deuce. Sets of 12 IC exercises for Arms, Legs then Core. Set 1 Werkins,  Jump Squats and Flutters, lap around the tennis courts. Set 2  Burpees, Monkey Humpers and Freddy Mercuries, lap.  No time for anymore since we had to finish the concert so mosey back to stage.

Finish Lindsey’s,

15 curls, 25 chest presses

10 curls, 30 chest presses.

Yoke Walk with blocks back to Slaw’s truck. Circle up for  a talk  about why we, as men, need to be strong, physically, emotionally and spiritually for many reasons we may not see today. I gave a few recent examples from my family.

Announcements were made. Speed for Need, ChristmasTown 5K.

Name the FNG’s. Luke Stewart was invited by Sparky and at some point during the workout mentioned he was a lover not a fighter so Tool Time dubbed him Romeo. Tool Time’s  future son-in-law is named Keegan Sylvester so naturally Sly is his F3 name. There was discussion of a clown car to that wedding next week.

Prayer requests and COT as we lifted up Sly as he gets married next week and serves in the Army and we let him know that we are there for him, also for each guy to be the man we are called to be.

I appreciate the opportunity to Q at Folsom. The guys pushed hard and ran 2.2 miles and somewhere over 600 reps. Huckleberry complained about every inch of that 2.2 miles but, guess what. He gets it done! Roadie said he had been out for a while but he really pushed and it was great to see him out today. Slaw and Tool Time tried to push the pace but youngster Sly was mostly leading the way as we would expect for one of the Army’s finest. Romeo and Blart knew each other from Stanley and there seemed to be some interesting stories from the past. I could tell Sparky appreciated the coupon work as he usually has a trailer full when he Qs. There was lots of mumble chatter today as usual but everyone got better and I hope we got a little stronger.  Coffeteria at Time Out was strong!

Saw lots of 2F prior to beginning of Q. A generally accurate disclaimer given, as we had a FNG. Began with pledge, with no warm up needed as it was 90 degrees under the tree’s, it’s hot, Hot, HOT!!!

MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS (50 IC)

IMPERIAL SQUAT WALKERS (50 IC) Epic Q fail on counting these after demonstration….much hilarity ensued…..Omaha-ed to regular Imperial Walkers

DIPS (50 IC) Everyone grabbed some curb for our second favorite exercise

OUTLAWS (Circle legs 25 to the Right, 25 to the Left) Mucho mumble chatter by Huck, payback Q Thursday

RING OF FIRE (High Knees, Burpee, Roll R, Burpee, Roll L, Burpee, up) Every PAX called one, but, with 16 PAX, this

started to suck just a little

INDIAN BALL PASS (Mosey, Overhead Pass, Run to front) Real short mosey, nobody minded very much.

YME’s (Why me? AKA Nancy Cry-Agains) YHQ couldn’t think of a suitable knee exercise—so Omaha-ed to Appalachian Americans (50 IC)

AMERICAN HAMMERs (50 OYO) Everyone on hill with legs down

MERKINS (50) Incline merkins

ABE VIGODAS (50 IC) Love you, too, Tool Time.

Mosey to horseshoe pit for Horseshoes and Hand grenades. No grenades were used, but, PAX were injured during this exercise. Count off in two’s. Two’ s go to far side of horse pit, one’s stay at near side. Challenge is to kick a soccer ball down the “lanes” and hit an opposite red painted backstop. If the backstop is hit with kicked ball, all PAX on opposite team does one burpee, however, if missed, your team does one burpee. If the horseshoe stob pin is hit with the ball, everyone does the required number of burpees. Each player from each team alternated turns with every rotation of kicks adding one burpee to cumulative total. All had fun watching the other team do burpees. Both teams would go on a 4-in-a-row run of not missing while kicking.

Someone who won’t be named had a gutter ball, even with the “grass-bumpers”. Another unnamed teammate of mine missed his kick on purpose each time so we could do even more burpees. We got up to four burpees each kick before it was time to leave. Rumor has it that SLAW will cry when he realizes the vast hoard of burpees he missed.

Mosey back to flag to see MARY. Tooltime led 25 oblique V-ups. Q led runner’s get ups (kinda like Freddie Mercurys with arms pumping back and forth. Mucho sucko complaino. Q ended with 75 flutters (take that Smalls). A good time was had by all as we only moseyed a wee bit.

Announcements & COT. Sign up for Christmas 5K. A hearty Midoriyama welcome to Two Stroke formerly known as FNG that works with Swimmer, Bradley Chapman. He wound up with a PG-13 nickname as small children may be present at other AO’s.

As the one of the few afternoon F3 AO’s at Midoriyama with the temps getting much hotter, I fully expected a smallish crowd today but 15 guys showed. Defib coming in early for an EC run towards Lowell. Pizza Man running the trails a little longer than he expected and Lil Sweet mountain biking all before the workout. Whoopee coming in hot so let’s get started.

Disclaimer. Modify as necessary. Don’t get too hot.

Warmup

SSH x 10 IC

Don Quixotes x 10 IC, not natural, serves no purpose he says

Hillbillies x 10 IC

Box Cutters x 10 IC

Mosey to the soccer field bleachers

Triangle for Arms and Chest

Station 1 Dips on the bleachers x 25 single count

Station 2 Coupon corner for Curls x 24, On your six for Chest Presses x 25 (Thanks to Slaw for bringing the extra coupons so no one was left out!)

Station 3 Far corner for Hand Release Merkins x 25, my version, which were much easier but I was corrected by the Nantan and we got it right the second round.

After the Hand Release Merkin fiasco, mumblechatter was at an all time high when I called for the previously tweeted about Leg and Core work with Wilt Chamberlains. Wilt was known for, among other things, scoring 100 points in a basketball game.

100 LBC’s, run across the field

100 Squats, try to run across the field

100 Flutter KIcks, (50 each leg) run across the field

100 Lunges, (50 each leg)

Mumble chatter was greatly reduced.

REPEAT Triangle Stations for Arms and Chest

It was at this point the Q had a choice, a third round of the Triangle or an option I really need but don’t care for. With my extra Q strength, I called for a mosey to Dog Park Hill.

Hill Climbs

Climb the hill, touch the fence, back down the hill for 5 WWI sit ups. Repeat x 3. Ouch! Way to push guys! At least the hill was in the shade! Mosey back to the soccer field.

Frisbee Golf Rules Football

With a few minutes left, we played Frisbee Rules Golf Football where the competition was pretty good. There were pass interference calls, roughing the passer and illegal use of hands (that was on Tool Time getting too close to Canteen), but a fun game. Mosey back to the flag.

22 Merkins for the Vets led by Oompa Loompa!

Pledge

Short word about being ready for the changes that life throws at us all and to remember to lift each other up as we are all going through things that need prayer! Being stronger in each of the F’s (Fitness, Fellowship and Faith) helps with those changes and I can testify to that.

Announcements: 4 Miler on July 4th with Speed for Need. Tool Time and Pizza Man are entered. F3 Gastonia planning to run ChristmasTown 5K with Speed for Need also. New F3 Gastonia website coming soon. Big thanks to Floppy Disk for making that happen!

Prayer Requests: Traveling Pax, Coach K asked for prayers to help his cardio get better. Lift up each other.

COT

• I am always glad for the opportunity to Q, not because I am good at it but because it forces me to lead. It forces me out of my comfort zone. It forces me to plan. It forces me to push a little harder. Thanks to all the Midoriyama Men! Iron Sharpens Iron!

1 Corinthians 16:13   Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.

10 strong on a rainy afternoon at Midoriyama. Normally I will have an electronic Weinke but with the forecast for rain, I had to use a sheet protector on the printed Weinke. Let’s go.

Warm Up

SSH x 15 IC

Moroccan Night Clubs x 15 IC

Hillbillies or Imperial Walkers x 15 IC

Tool Times x 15 IC

Thang. Mosey across the road to the little cul de sac below the new parking lot for the walking path and circle up for DirtyMacDeuce. 4 sets of 3 exercises to 12 count reps, chest, legs, core.

Set#1   Merkins x 12 IC, Jump Squats x 12 IC, Flutter Kicks x 12 IC, run to the fork in the trail and back.

Set#2   Catalina Wine Mixer x 12 OYO (Plank down to Chilcut, back up with a Merkin), Monkey Humpers x 12 IC, Freddie Mercs x 12 IC, run to the fork in the trail and back.

Set#3   Burpees x 12 IC (gotta feed the Slaw), Mountain Climbers x 12 IC, American Hammers x 12 IC (Heard at F3… “I’m the only one that touches on these!”) , run to the fork in the trail and back.

Set#4   CDD’s x 12 IC (shut up), Lt. Dans x 12 IC (Squat with lunge, lunge. Count was all messed up, big shock!), Dying Cockroaches x 12 IC.

Mosey back to the flag. (I left out lots of “That’s what she said” mumblechatter mostly by… I will let you guess who).

Slaw had emptied his mancave and brought medium sized coupons for us. We circled up in the dryish parking lot for some “No Soccer Arms at Midoriyama” work.

Curls Single Count x 30

On Your Six for Chest Presses x 30

Stand Up for “We’re Not Worthys” x 30

Tried for 3 sets made it to 2 and 1/3. Tool Time was uncomfortably close to Canteen.

22 Merkins for the Vets called by Oompa Loompa. Gotta love the call by our Marine Oompa.

Pledge

I always like to share a word on my Q so I talked about the third “F” in F3, Faith. I told the guys how my faith had kept me from so many troubles in my life and guided me toward so many blessings. I asked that each man consider his faith and work to improve it for his family but also for himself. I know for a fact that God’s plan for each of us is way better than the plans we have for ourselves. I reminded our guys that F3 is great to help our faith and we should all try to be active in a church to get all that He has for us.

Announcements – Skeet Shooting, Saturday 27th 2 p.m.

Memorial Day Murph at Martha Rivers, Monday, May 29th 7:00 a.m.

Convergence Downtown Saturday, June 10th, 7:00 a.m.

After/Before Christmas/Holiday Party June 10th 7:00 pm at Whoopee’s. Let Whoopee know if you are coming $10 per person, $20 per couple.

Tool Time spoke about Speed For Need. Almost have 4 rolling race chairs. F3 Gastonia hopes to have chairs in the ChristmasTown 5K and the Community Run.

Prayer Requests – F3 Sherman in the loss of a child, Pockets was back today. Manchester victims. Each man here.

COT

6 manly men showed up at Midoriyama for an breezy, warm afternoon session ( A low number but appropriate considering the workout planned). We usually have a larger crowd but evidently a Def Leppard Q scares some folks away (almost like a Gastone Q). A while back I attended a Martha’s House workout with Whoopee based on the Fast and Furious 6 movie he had watched the night before and I enjoyed that one so I decided to (kinda, sorta) re-use it for my Midoriyama brothers.

Warm Up

SSH IC x 6

Don Quixotes IC x 6 (get well soon Tool Time)

Imperial Walkers IC x 6

Box Cutters IC x 6

5 Burpees OYO (In case Slaw thinks he hears a train)

Mosey the long way to the playground for 6 pullups, 6 Derkins, 3 sets.

Mosey back to the building affectionately known as Turd Shack. You know why if you have been there.

Hipslappers IC x 6, Sprint to the far end of the horseshoe fence around a light pole and mosey back.

Hipslappers IC x 6, LBC’s IC x 6, Sprint around light pole, mosey back.

Hipslappers IC x 6, LBC’s IC x 6, Sumo Squats IC x6, Sprint around light pole, mosey back.

Hipslappers IC x 6, LBC’s IC x 6, Sumo Squats IC x6, Merkins IC x 6, Sprint around light pole, mosey back.

Hipslappers IC x 6, LBC’s IC x 6, Sumo Squats IC x6, Merkins IC x 6, LBFC’s IC x 6, Sprint around light pole, mosey back. 

Hipslappers IC x 6, LBC’s IC x 6, Sumo Squats IC x6, Merkins IC x 6, LBFC’s IC x 6, Donkey Kicks IC x 6, Sprint around light pole, mosey back. 

Floppy Disk with his new shoes was the sprint winner in the first heat and maybe another heat. Defib won at least 2 maybe 3 heats and this was after he ran and EC 6 miles before the workout, Aye! Blart may have won one that was too close to call. I don’t think Slaw won any but he was saving his energy to run with his M after our workout. Canteen and I were content with solid finishes near the back each round.

After each sprint I relayed some verses dealing with anger; Fast and Furious 6…Sprints and Anger and 6 reps.. see what I did there. The verses spoke to being slow to anger and how practicing that can help with turning away from other negative behaviors and how turning from anger shows wisdom. I admit this is a problem I have had for many years. I would throw a ball glove, get a technical foul, or get in an argument with someone out of anger. I have improved but reminded the Pax that this is a daily, hourly, even minute by minute struggle that we all need to overcome.

To the bleachers for Dips IC x 20, then 12 then 10. Pax probably needed more but that was all the Q had!

Mosey back to the playground for another round of 6 pullups, 6 Derkins, 3 sets. No soccer arms at Midoriyama!

Mosey to the steps at the ballfield but they were occupied. If Freight had been there, a discussion about fighting for use of the steps would have taken place so maybe it was best he was at work. Mosey back to our parking lot for a quick Wheel of Merkins on the curb with 5 at each of the 4 positions. Pledge at our non-existent flag.

Announcements – Nomads this Saturday at 6:00 am at Mall going to Rock Hill Convergence. Mud Run, May 20th F3 Gastonia has 3-4 man teams with YHC being talked into that madness.

Prayer Requests – Floppy Disk having some complications after having his wisdom teeth removed, Billy Madison’s in-laws, Pockets doing better but still in our prayers, Tool Time’s recovery from surgery.

COT

John Wayne is one of my favorite actors, and the first movie I remember him in as a youngster was Sands of Iwo Jima. Every red blooded American boy from the 50’s & ‘60’s wanted to be John Wayne! Keeping that movie in mind, I quickly worked up this theme using significant land marks from the battle.

Disclaimer, warm up with 10 SSH (IC)

Mosey to RED BEACH for elevens (merkins & squats). When the marines landed on Iwo Jima, they had to swiftly disembark from the amphibious craft, and charge up the beach and take cover. They quickly found the black volcanic sand berm took all their effort to scale and every step grew heavier and heavier. Just as in real life when it got tough, all mumble chatter died quickly on the beach.
Mosey to YELLOW BEACH for 25 WW2 situps OYO.

Mosey (semi Indian run with FUTATSU ROCK in an ALICE pack passed amongst PAX in succession) to HILL 362A 25 merkins OYO
Mosey Indian run style to the QUARRY 25 calf raises OYO.

Mosey to Airfield #1, but due to the fog of war, totally forget what was called.

Mosey to MOUNT SURIBACHI Indian run style for a planned 25 Donkey Kicks and 50 LBFC OYO.

However, just like what happened to SGT Stryker in the movie…..our time ran out before seeing the flag go up.

Mosey back for Announcements & COT