Fitness, Fellowship, Faith

Author: Flintstone (Page 23 of 23)

Lost and Found at the Goat

15 at the Goat to venture into the dark, where only one man was wise enough to bring a light (and it sure wasn’t YHC).

Got in a couple miles of EC with Watts Up and Dirt, and we’d just finished up when the cars kept rolling in.  A solid turnout for the Goat, and a good morning for a beatdown.

The Thang:

  • 20 x SSH (IC)
  • 20 x Dying Cockroaches (IC)

Pledge, and we’re off.

First up, the Sizzle Suicide.  For those that missed the last time, a refresher:

  • Run 1 pole – 10 LBCs
  • Run back – 10 LBCs
  • Run 2 poles – 20 LBCs
  • Run back – 20 LBCs
  • Run 3 poles – 30 LBCs
  • Run Back – 30 LBCs
  • Run 4 poles – 40 LBCs

After an impromptu round of Flutter Kicks, we continued down 8th, away from downtown.  We turned down 10th St, just before the church and made our way to the back side of the colesium where an ideally placed picnic shelter was waiting.

For the Main Course today, we did the following:

  • 20 Decline Peter Parkers (Count 1 Side)
  • 15 Derkins
  • 10 Box Jumps
  • Mosey to the outfield opening
  • Sprint to Dick’s Sporting Goods sign in Center Field
  • 10 Squats
  • Mosey back to the shelter

We did the first round together (to make sure YHC didn’t leave anything out), then 4 more OYO for a total of 5 rounds.  The coliseum must have taken it out of Boudin, as he had to run.  The PAX pushed hard as most committed to the Box Jumps though alternates were given, but YHC must admit to being more winded than expected. It was also crazy dark down there, so it wasn’t easy to see those that weren’t nearby, so who knows what the PAX actually did.

We meandered to what, in hindsight, must have been a T-ball field, because it wasn’t very big at all.  That meander was YHC’s last good decision of the day.  I used to like running bases, as a ball player and a coach, and so I thought we could get in a round of bases to wrap things up.  That was a mistake for a number of reasons.

  1. The T-ball field’s bases were so short that it took Nutria about 3 strides to cover the distance from home to first.  Not a lot of high quality running there
  2. It was dark, so you couldn’t see the bases over the grass.  By the time we were running out a double and a triple, we were just following the loop of Tesla’s choice without a whole lot of bases being touched.  Appeals would not have gone our way.
  3. Did I mention it was dark?  Running out the home run, I tried to touch em all, but definitely got home plate.  As I was wrapping up, I saw Oblivious standing near second base obviously looking for something.  Come to find out, his keys fell out of his pocket, and nobody had a clue where they were.  Lots of adjusting goin on with our eyes to try to see through the dark.  Watch said 6:08, so we’re ok on time, but it’s dark, and the key fob is black.  The good news is the sun has to come up sometime, so we wouldn’t be there forever, but we could have been there a while.  In steps Dirt with his personal handheld electronic device that included a flashlight among many handy features including logging workouts on Strava.  14 PAX and 1 flashlight, and I wasn’t loving our odds, but just as the seed of doubt was planted, Dirt came up huge, finding the keys and ensuring the safe return of all the PAX to wherever it was they came from.

I think it’s going to be a while before we run bases again on account of YHC.

After the victory, and with a little spring in our steps, YHC chose to take us home by way of–the steps.  Not on the Weinke.  Not like we weren’t just aimlessly walking through a dark T-ball field looking for keys.  Let’s take the long way back too.  Big, dumb mistake.  Sure, we got up the stairs and hauled back to the flag, but by the time we got there, it was 6:18, and we launched into the COT

Announcements:

  • Blood Drive is today
  • Metro is planning a 10 year event on 1/1/21
  • No Christmas Party
  • Dredd is stepping down as Nantan of F3 Nation; Slaughter to be the new Nantan
  • 2nd F @ Primal on Friday

Prayer Requests:

  • Double Stuff and EZ Rider with COVID
  • Sister Act’s surgery and recovery
  • Orangeman’s daughter w/surgery Monday

Moleskin:

Everybody’s different, and for some people it works, but I make some of the dumbest decisions when acting impulsive.  And it just takes one dumb impulsive decision to sour something that’s going well.  I plan to be ready to lead, and sure, there are plenty of times and reasons to adapt the plan on the fly, but to make changes impulsively and for no reason is not part of executing the plan.   No matter how well, or poorly, things are going, making decisions, especially as a leader, that are not on mission can have consequences.  Lesson learned.

I’m a big fan of the Goat, but I’m becoming a fan of a lot of the AO’s and am wanting to get out and see the parts of F3 Gastonia that I haven’t seen yet.  There’s a lot of good work out there, and I’m just proud to be part of the ballclub.  Thanks for another opportunity to lead.

Yabba Dabba Doo

Bricks? But I’m a Republican!

Strong group of 11, including a “hobo” from another region, posted to the Gashouse this morning for some brick work, something that resembled Dora, and something that resembled a relay.

Pulled into the parking lot courtesy of Fred’s two feet to find a number of PAX in their cars waiting for the show to start.  Whoopee, Stroganoff and Dirt were at the track, finishing up some EC.  Whoopee jumped the fence, 7:00 rolled around, and it was time to get started.

The Thang:

  • 10 x SSH (IC)
  • 10 x Imperial Walkers (IC)
  • 10 x Calf Raises (IC)
  • 10 x Peter Parkers (IC)

and today wouldn’t have been complete without:

  • 10 x Mike Tysons (IC)

The PAX Pledged Allegiance, broke off of Pain Lab, and moseyed to the front of the schoolhouse  for a quick 10-10-3x across the parking lot (think Triple Nickel without the nickels)

  • Apollo Ohno to the curb
  • 10 x Smurf Jacks
  • Bear Crawl back to the sidewalk
  • 10 x Dying Cockroaches

The Smurf Jacks got less and less smurfy as we went along, but we finished up, and Froggered across the boulevard to FPC where the Footmobile was waiting.

Inside the Footmobile was a set of 40 neatly stacked pavers, not to be thrown in protest or used for a patio.  Some tried to refuse the coupons (“But I’m a Republican!”), but we all took some time to get acquainted with the bricks with 5 brickees OYO before heading to the stairs for the next round.

We partnered up for some Dora with one partner running the stairs, and hammering out 5 berkins (brick merkins) at the top while the other partner makes a dent in the exercise count.  Exercises this round were:

  • 200 x Bent Over Rows
  • 200 x 6 Inches Skullcrushers
  • 200 x Standing Shoulder Taps (count 1 side)

The Rows weren’t bad, but that’s about it.  It just got worse from there.

Quick round of 20 American Hammers (IC) before the next round of Dora.

This time, instead of running the stairs and doing berkins, one partner ran downhill to the drop-off area while doing overhead presses.  Once at the drop-off area, the partner did 5 Nutcrackers (each leg), which are just lunges with the added movement of bringing the bricks together between your legs.  In the meantime, the other partner worked through the exercise count for these exercises:

  • 200(ish) x Plank Flys (count both sides)
  • 200 x Michael Phelps (count 1 side)
  • 200 x Prayer Squats

At this point, we collectively selectively lost the ability to count.  The Plank Flys left us disoriented to the point that we were guessing.  One group’s “count” worked for all of us, and we kept on.  The last two sets were better, but the overhead presses got old real quick.

YHC couldn’t wait to get back to the Footmobile to neatly return the coupons.  No windows or businesses were harmed during the course of this workout (that YHC is aware of anyways).

We resisted the urge to clowncar back to the start, and headed back to the track at the schoolhouse to get in some running.  At this point YHC was full of ideas, but lacking in instruction, but we were all a little punchy at this point, so I said some words and we did some stuff, but here’s how it should have read:

4 Man Grinder Relay:

  • Station 1 – Alternating 5 LBCs & 5 Flutter Kicks AMRAP
  • Station 2 – Alternating 5 Seal Jacks & 1 Burpee AMRAP
  • 1 Man running from Station 1 to Station 2
  • 1 Man at Station 2
  • 1 Man running from Station 2 to Station 1
  • 1 Man at Station 1
  • All done in a relay until a certain number of laps are reached or the Q calls time

It’s really not much easier to describe on paper, but the PAX got the idea and ran with it.  With 11 PAX, we sure could have used 1 more to make 3 even 4 man teams.  Luckily there was a walker, who became an honorary member of our 3 man team.  As we’re working on the track, our honorary member became curious about what we were doing, so EZ Rider gave him a good EH.  After about 2 full laps around the track it was time to wrap it up and head back to the shovel flag for some Mary and the COT.

Mary:

  • Whoopee – 10 x LBCs (IC)
  • EZ Rider – 10 x Michael Phelps (IC)
  • Watts Up – 10 x American Hammers (IC)
  • Stroganoff – 10 x Flutter Kicks (IC)

No bells, but time was called.  The reliability of the Presbyterians was called into question.  Pain Lab joined back in and we went over announcements.  A car pulled in, and out from it came our honorary member, Gary.  EZ Rider was expecting it, telling the PAX that he was interested in Pain Lab.  We found out that Gary was interested in coming out, but wasn’t looking to run.  The PAX made sure that Gary knew that at Pain Lab, they just sit around and sing “Kumbaya”.  He sounded pretty ok with that, and hung around as we wrapped up the COT.

Announcements:

  • Qs needed for December at Gashouse.  Contact Linus.

Prayer Requests:

  • Sargento’s List
  • Stroganoff and EZ Rider’s coworker lost a grandson to a hunting accident
  • Whoopee’s dad is having cataract surgery
  • All those affected by Covid and the lockdowns
  • Gary’s family
  • Watts Up has a third job interview coming up

Moleskin:

Oboe was a great addition to the group.  Visiting from the Raleigh area, he posted to Downtown on Friday and Gashouse on Saturday.  Between no one pronouncing his name correctly (“Oboe”, not “Hobo”) and the constant ribbing about nurring into a car, he added a lot to the workout.  And when he wasn’t running backwards, he was really fast.  If you’re ever posting up in the Raleigh area, hopefully you’ll run into him, but if he’s running backwards, look out.

As we all wrap up the November Challenge, don’t stop.  Accelerate.  There’s always work to be done, and strength in the pack.

Hopefully we’ll see Gary next week.

Yabba Dabba Doo

You never forget your first

Great group of HIMs from all over the region converged on “Martha’s House” for a little nostalgic beatdown courtesy of the one and only — Outhouse.

YHC had been excited about this workout for days leading up to it, and the excitement was too much, as I was primed to start the workout at 5:27.  The PAX assembled at that time all noted that the flag and signs were gone from the bank across the street.  All signs (or lack thereof) pointed to it shutting down, and taking its flag with it.  5:30 came, and with it a couple more men to join the PAX, and we kicked things off with a disclaimer, but the pledge would have to wait.

The Thang:

  • 20x Hillbilly Walkers (IC)
  • 20x Plank Jacks (IC)
  • 25x LBCs (IC)
  • 15x Freddie Mercuries (IC)

To The Footmobile for supplies, in this case, bricks, then we moseyed towards the park, took the first road we saw and followed it through the dark to the rocks where we zigzag ran before heading to the center of the ballfields where a well positioned flag was waiting for us for the pledge of allegiance.

At this point, I disclosed to the PAX that all we had done so far, and the workout that brought out the bricks was from August 5th, 2015.  On that day, 12 men took a similar journey, with Outhouse the QIC.  All I knew showing up that day was I needed to bring gloves, don’t worry about the names of the exercises, just copy what everyone else is doing, and when it comes time say my hospital name, my age, and “FNG”.

The workout was called “Wheel of Bricks”.  Starting from the center of the ballfields for each spoke, we did the following exercises with a brick in each hand:

  • 25 Standing Chest Flys
  • Apollo Ohno halfway
  • 15 Chest Flys
  • Apollo Ohno to end
  • 10 Chest Flys
  • Plank for the Six
  • 5 Merkins (IC)

Run out counterclockwise and down the next spoke to the center

  • 25 Bent Over Raises
  • Duck Walk halfway
  • 15 Bent Over Raises
  • Duck Walk to end
  • 10 Bent Over Raises
  • Plank for the Six
  • 5 Merkins (IC)

Run out counterclockwise and down the next spoke to the center

  • 25 Overhead Presses
  • Frog Hop halfway
  • 15 Overhead Presses
  • Frog Hop to end
  • 10 Overhead Presses
  • Plank for the Six
  • 5 Merkins (IC)

Run out counterclockwise and down the next spoke to the center

  • 25 Skull Crushers
  • Zombie Walk halfway
  • 15 Skull Crushers
  • Backwards Run (NUR?) to end
  • 10 Skull Crushers
  • Plank for the Six
  • 5 Merkins (IC)

Well right as we got started with the Chest Flys, Stinky Bird comes rolling in.  I have no idea how he found us, except just sheer luck, or lack thereof.  He ran back to The Footmobile for his bricks and caught up.

Lots of mumblechatter about Outhouse: why he made us do all that running (was it from his marathon training days?), what’s he been up to?, maybe we should just throw these bricks at his house as a sign of appreciation.

We rolled through the Wheel of Bricks, and moseyed back the way we came, zig zagging through the rocks back to one of the picnic areas.  This is the only place where my workout diverged from the original.  Here we did:

  • 30x LBCs (w/bricks OYO; from Outhouse’s workout)
  • 15x Step Ups (each leg, w/bricks OYO)
  • 30x Michael Phelps (count 1 side, w/bricks OYO)
  • 15x Step Ups (each leg, w/bricks OYO)

Mosey back to The Footmobile to restack the bricks, then 5 burpees to finish things off.

Announcements:

  • November Challenges
  • Christmas Party (Dec, 12)
  • Shirts (order them)

Prayer Requests:

  • EZ Rider’s family
  • Our country
  • Sargento’s Prayer List

Moleskin:

It was great to see Cinderella back at it.  Y’all know I’ve not been a regular, so all I really knew about Cinderella was he showed to Buckshot’s VQ in a physical state that was obviously not cleared by his doctor.  That’s the kind of HIM I want to learn from.

It’s amazing how these mornings in the gloom leave their mark.  I can go on for as long as you want about workouts and how they’ve shaped me, whether it’s Wet Nutz bear crawls, Sargento’s bluetooth speaker, T-Square’s Memorial Day beatdown, Whoopee’s “NO RUNNING” workout, the Wolfpack Grinder, Roscoe’s 40 days of discipline, running the Hill at the Storm with JK2, Virus’s WOJ, Gastone’s Hill, the 5 mile loop at the Coconut Horse, or any other of the countless number of mornings (and afternoons at Midoryama) that I can recall by how it felt to be there.  It’s the best remedy for Sadclown Syndrome, and I’m just glad to get to be a part of it.

Last, but not least, thanks to Outhouse.  For the beatdown, sure, but also for the name.  It coulda been a lot worse.  Been proud to be “Flintstone” ever since.

Yabba Dabba Doo

Plan A, a couple miles, and a soggy Goat

November Challenge is in full effect, and it’s definitely taken root with a number of the PAX looking forward to getting in miles towards their 100.  At the Ricky Bobby Wednesday, I told Dirt and Watt’s Up that I’d help them get their miles.  As the QIC at the Goat, I figured I’d keep the PAX running and we’d get in what we could.  Well they took it to mean that I’d be there for EC.  At that point, I was effectively EH’d into a longer morning.  The good news was I knew there would be at least 3 of us there, regardless of the weather forecast.

Turns out, the best weather of the morning was from 5:00 – 5:25.  As we passed back under the 1 lane bridge after 2+ miles, the skies opened up, and we weren’t sure what we were in for.  I was reminded of some mumblechatter from the day before at the RB where as the rains came, someone said, “thank goodness we have an experienced Q.”  Well no such luck here.  This was only Q #2 for me.  I did come with a plan B though.  so as the rains came, I brought out my emergency box of stuff, and we got started with a quick disclaimer.

The Thang:

  • 15 x SSH
  • 15 x Hillbilly Walkers
  • 15 x Hairy Rockettes (it is as you’d expect; kind of like Toy Soldiers; it might actually just be Toy Soldiers; when in doubt, consult the Exicon)
  • 10 x Mountain Climbers
  • 10 x Dying Cockroaches

Rains let up a little, decided to roll with plan A for as long as possible.

Mosey to the bridge.  Doesn’t feel like a Goat workout without crossing the bridge, so we Bear Crawled across, did 20 Diamond Merkins, and Bear Crawled back.  Rains picked up and the bridge got slick.  No worries.  We made it.

Next up was a round of Sizzle Suicides.  Watt’s Up correctly predicted some LBC’s here.  Went something like this:

  • Run 1 pole – 10 LBCs
  • Run back – 10 LBCs
  • Run 2 poles – 20 LBCs
  • Run back – 20 LBCs
  • Run 3 poles – 30 LBCs
  • Run Back – 30 LBCs
  • Run 4 poles – 40 LBCs

Then came 4 Corners (stack at each stop)

  • 15 Pretzel Crunches each side
  • 15 Freddie Mercuries
  • 15 Travoltas each side (like a Nolan Ryan, but a little more disco)
  • 15 Plank Jacks

Last stop at the Rec Center for some Flutter 300s.  Dora, but just with 300 Flutter Kicks.  5th Corner completed, we moseyed back.

Pledge

Announcements:

  • PT Test – November 14th
  • Shirts for Gashouse, Yank, Storm and Bulldog on sale now; Ricky Bobby in the works

Prayer Requests:

  • Watt’s Up’s uncle with pneumonia

Moleskin:

Not sure if the rain let up, or if we just got used to it (or maybe that was just me).  Never felt the need to break out the plan B box.  We’ll save that for another rainy day.

12 days into November, and I’m making progress towards my November Challenge.  Thanks to Roscoe for the push, and to the HIMs that are out there in the Gloom putting in work, converting to runners, and EHing others to do the same.

Yabba Dabba Doo

The storm before the calm before the storm

Twelve HIMs showed up at The Ricky Bobby for a little Dora, Two Corners, and some futbol.

The Thang

10x Each (in Cadence):

  • SSH
  • Imperial Walkers
  • Cotton Pickers
  • Monkey Humpers
  • Dying Cockroaches
  • Merkins

Pledge

Mosey down by the gate to the crosswalk for a quick round of Dora

  1. 100 Freddie Mercs
  2. 200 Bobby Hurleys
  3. 300 Flutter Kicks

Mosey back to the track for our next round

Dirt led a “Rack ’em and stack ’em” workout at the Storm a while back and Watts Up did the same with his “Compounding Interest” workout at the Sandlot.  Mosey, do an exercise, Mosey back, add it on top of what you’ve already done.  Rinse.  Repeat.  I wanted to do the same, but let the PAX roll at their own pace, so I explained the whole thing at once, which long story short led to some mumble chatter about the “incomplete other side” and a description of the “Two Corners Thing” and, well, yeah.  That’s about as well as I described it.  Did I mention I’m an idiot?  Anyways, in spite of the best efforts of YHC, the PAX picked up on what we were doing pretty quickly.  It went something like this:

Round 1:

  • 10x Wide Arm Merkins
  • 15x Mountain Climbers
  • 20x Diamond Merkins

At the end of the round, the first 2 finished ran to a very strategically placed soccer ball and waited for the 6.

With perfectly good soccer goals on the track at The Ricky Bobby, it’d be a shame if they were never used, so I figured we could throw a game of chance into the mix.  The 2 fastest PAX in Round 1 would get a chance to take a shot at the soccer goal with burpees on the line.  If he made it, 5 burpees for the rest of the group.  If he missed, 10 burpees for himself.  Our two strongest in Round 1 were Roscoe and Tesla.  Roscoe buried his shot into the net with extreme force.  Tesla did not.  Burpees were done and we moved on.

Intermission:

Between Rounds 1 and 2, we partnered up and did some lune walks and some squats.  Partner 1 lunge walked about 3/4 of the way across the field and back.  Partner 2 did squats til his partner came back.  Switch.

Round 2:

More Two Corners action, this time:

  • 10x Plank Jacks
  • 15x Mike Tysons
  • 20x Shoulder Taps

And soccer balls placed closer to midfield.  Our two strongest this round were Nutria and Breaker Breaker.  This time, if one of the two scored the goal, nobody did burpees.  If they both missed, it would be 5 burpees.  I could have said 100 and it wouldn’t have mattered.  Nutria stepped up like he’s done this 100x before and just buried the ball in the net.  Off his foot it was just a thing of beauty.  After a shot so glorious, who cared about the next one?  (Breaker Breaker missed.)

Back to the flag for 2 minutes of LBCs.

Announcements:

  • Convergence 10/31 – Bring Shoes
  • Shirts soon on Mudgear for the Yank, Gashouse, Storm and Bulldog
  • PT Test 11/14
  • Give2Give – if you haven’t given yet, please consider; F3 is free, so give as you can
  • November Challenge

Prayer Requests:

  • Breaker Breaker’s Aunt
  • Family and Friends of SP Student
  • Rockabilly
  • Montross’s M

I got my F3 name over 5 years ago, but this was my first time in the center of the Circle.  There’s a list of HIMs too long to name that have pushed me and showed me how to be a rock pusher.  Quick shout out to Woody for the EH to “Martha’s House” all those years ago and Sargento for the help with this VQ.  The more I learn, the more I realize how much I still have to learn, and I’m honored to get out in the gloom with the HIMs of F3 Gastonia and just keep getting better.

It was good to see Tricycle in the gloom at The Ricky Bobby after his first dose of buttermilk.

Yabba Dabba Doo

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