Author: Montross (Page 13 of 20)

Just like Drake, I’m going Back to Back. I had my first Q at Sandlot/Neverland/Dark Balls/Ya Mamas House yesterday. The cold rain kept us in the shelter so today, I figured I’d do a complete 180 and we were gonna move!

I arrived early to scope out the lay of the land and make last minute weinke adjustments. Seuss had hung the shovel flag with care, before off heading to Folsom and the land of facial hair. HIMs rolled in and it is 5:30 so let’s do some work! I didnrecycle.uesterdays Christmas Playlist. Here Is The Link!

Warmup: SSH 10 IC, Toy Soldiers 10 IC, Don Quixotes 7 IC. The 7 means nothing, I was just getting impatient. Let’s mosey to the school entrance.

The Thizzy-thang:
In full disclosure, the first 30 minutes of this Q were stolen from a Sister Act Q so you know it was hard!

Zachary Tellier Workout – in honor of a Charlotte man who was killed serving our country. A real HIM, for sure!

10 Burpees, run a lap around the parking lot and round-about.
10 Burpees, 25 Merkins, run a lap around the parking lot and round-about. (I heard a train sometime during this set…noted)
10 Burpees, 25 Merkins, 50 Lunges, run a lap around the parking lot and round-about.
10 Burpees, 25 Merkins, 50 Lunges, 100 LBCs, run a lap around the parking lot and round-about.
10 Burpees, 25 Merkins, 50 Lunges, 100 LBCs, 150 Squats, run a lap around the parking lot and round-about.

A few of the faster men started an extra round as the 6 finished up. Good work! Short mosey to the side of the school.

5 burpees for the train earlier.

Elevens across half the parking lot featuring Big Boy Situps and Flutter Kicks

We have a few more minutes so circle up for Mary. It’s Christmas Eve and I Qd a 12 Days of Christmas theme yesterday so I went back to it here. We went around the circle calling core exercises. The only limit was we needed to do 12. We went just a bit over but 8 guys called exercises including American Hammers,Mountain Climbers, Windshield Wipers, Freddie Mercuries, 6 Shooters, some kinda roll-up crunch voodoo Top Hat cooked up, and others.

Time!

Announcements: convergence 12/28 at Gashouse, RSVP for the Christmas party 1/4 (and vote for superlatives), Midoriyama is closed today, Prison Break and Snoballs are open). Pray for Dry Rub and his M, Medicine Woman, Huck, Montross’s neighbor (lost his Dad), families at Christmas. YHC took us out in prayer.

I mentioned it during CoT but will point it out here too: keep those who are struggling at Christmas in your prayers. So many people in our communities struggle with strained family relationships, split homes, financial struggles, and memories of those who have passed. Be kind to them and pray for them. That being said, if anyone dosen’t have plans around Christmas, you are welcome to join me and my family tonight for dinner in Bessemer City. Just text me or DM me on Slack! I promise you won’t be the only non-family member there and you are welcome. There are always friends that don’t have other plans there. Merry Christmas!!!!

-Montross

I almost forgot to write this backblast! I was still sore from Qing The Yank days earlier so we focused on cardio. We covered about 2 miles. Show to know. Welcome Dry Dock!

This week, my personal quest to Q all AOs in F3 Gastonia took me to Belmont. Now we all know Belmont is a little different than good ol’ Dallas. It is true that many call Belmont the “fancy-side of Gastonia”. Dallas most definitely is not, but that is ok with me. I did, however, feel obliged to be sure a little Folsom (Dallas) was incorporated into my Q. Simply put, I am bringing cinder blocks!

I am a big fan of Sargento’s 123 day streak of album covers on Twitter and, to draw out the natives, I announced I would also bring a playlist featuring only songs from Sargento’s albums from Twitter. There may have never been a more diverse playlist used at an F3 workout. We had it all from Alan Jackson, DJ Magic Mike, and Metallica to Milli Vanilli, Smashing Pumpkins, and Outkast. I threw the playlist on shuffle so, unfortunately, we did not get to hear The Beach Boys, James Brown, or David Allan Coe. Maybe next time. Here is a link to the playlist, BTW Ode to Sargento Playlist

Onto the workout, 13 HIMs posted for this beatdown! Lets go!

Warmup:
Train – 5 burpees (Slaw was probably smiling about that one)
SSH – 10-ish In Cadence
Toy Soldiers – 10 IC
High-Low Plank and stretching
Lets mosey!

The thang:
We mosey just down the street to a spot I stashed my truck. Everyone grabs a block, I grab my boombox, and off we go. I originally planned to use the pit for this workout but, as luck would have it, it was full of bouncy houses and other such things for the Girls On The Run 5k. No problem, we will work out in the street.

I call an ol’ Folsom favorite and, more specially, a Sparky favorite! 20 to 1! 20 each curls, overhead presses, squats, and chest presses. Then 19, then 18, etc until 0. If you want to put the block down, go ahead but you must take a 5 burpee penalty. I demonstrated the “Folsom Get-up”, which several including Gump, Bedpan, and Buckeye took advantage of and celebrated by bumping blocks (because putting the blocks down to fist-bump would cost 5 burpees!). We rotated counting until we finished. Once we got to 4, I moved us in nto rapid-fire mode. Blocks back in the truck and we mosey to a parking lot behind Old Stone. Thanks Buckeye for the assist with the boombox.

Next, one of my go-to exercises when I really want to bring the pain. Frankly, there were some tough guys in this group and I knew they wanted it! Route 66 Mike Tysons. We all suffered. I think Roscoe did an extra set. Gump was an animal. Things you’d expect from them.

We had a few more minutes and I am not done yet!
LBCS – 25 IC
Flutter Kicks (with hands behind your head) – 15 IC (most at least tried it….totally changes them vs hands under your butt)
American Hammers – 15 IC
Repeat all 3 exercises.

Still not done, we shall work thru the bell! We hit the wall for:
Dirty Hookups – 20 IC (frankly, I just did them until I noticed people were quiting)
Balls To The Wall – again, until I saw people quitting
Dirty Hookups – 10 IC (I was done, everyone else was too)
5 burpees for good measure.
Pledge.
Time!

Announcements:
Orangeman runs with a group of guys (not F3 but all are welcome)- they meet to ryn thru McAdenville Tuesday @7pm at Food Lion by Burger King on 74. F3 has a ruck thru the lights on Wed. Meet at McAdenville Elementary. Pay Montross, Stroganoff, or Breaker for the P200, Service Ruck upcoming with Freight. The Yank will also start at 630 next week due to another 5k. Prayer requests- MW, HUCK, BROKE’S M, DRY RUB’s M, TIGERS DAD, students with exams, Gumps student. YHC took us out in prayer.

Moleskin:
I think my mission was accomplished! I have been sore for 2 freakin’ days and I am sure a few others are too! It was nice getting over to Belmont to Q and I will be back at some point. We had some good chatter, particularly about Sargento’s peculiar squat form. I was a little surprised I didnt hear more chatter from Tesla, though he did have a few comments at the end. I hear he likes to chatter and I was more than willing to do a little jawin’ with him! You may have noticed, I kinda dig that! Good guys over in Belmont though! I appreciate many of you who helped me out while I was Site Q at Folsom and I am trying to return the favor!

Also, BOS may have the best name in F3. I asked him where he got the name. He points to his feet and says “Big Orange Shoes”. Props to whomever came up with that!!!!

-Montross

While I’ve Q’d more times than Shawn Kemp has kids (that’s a big number guys), I have never actually Q’d Gashouse before. Thanks to Linus for putting me on the schedule as I slowly but surely make my way around to Q every AO in F3 Gastonia. You know what would have been even better? If Linus had actually posted. That’s for another day though!

I arrived about 15 minutes early to take a quick EC mosey and scope out sites for the workout. As I made my way across the street I found a nice hill, a nice long stretch of flat land, and, of course, the Grier Middle School track. This will do. I head back to Gashouse to wait for the PAX.

Evidently, my watch is 3-4 minutes faster than the ‘official’ Gashouse time so we got started a bit early. No FNGs so there will be no one named Minivan today. We worked through a quick warm-up including some grass pickers, shoulder/chest stretches, and high/low planks that turned into the slowest Merkins you’ve ever seen. The “benches” head off to Painlab as 3 others HIMS take the red pill and head off to read “Montross’s Nursery Rhymes for HIMs”, written by…well….by me.

Quick mosey to church because we want to focus on 3rd F today. Actually, not quite. At least not at this moment. Let’s read, shall we. Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jump over the candlestick…elevens featuring Mike Tysons (no curb because this is for HIMs, Stroganoff) and jump squats. Whoopee is a beast and keeps pushing me the whole time (and through the whole workout, in fact).

Another quick mosey across parking lots to a parking lot with a nice hill just above the Library. More reading. Jack and Jill went up the hill…..turns out they did a triple nickel on that hill with 5 burpees on one end and 5 American Hammers in cadence on the other end.

We play F3 Frogger as we cross Garrison Blvd to Grier and the track. I’m not going to go through all of the rhymes here (show to know, homie), but we did alternating partner wheel-barrels, bear crawls, partner carries, high knees, butt kickers, karaokee, sprinting (well, sprint-ish), and mosey. We also got in a round of Jacked Up before moseying back to Gashouse for 1 minute AMRAP burpees, a lap around the parking lot, and more AMRAP burpees as the “benches” joined us.

My clock was running out so we alternated a round of Mary. I thought time had expired but evidently the bells at the church signal the end of a Gashouse workout so more Mary. Finally, the bell tolls 8:00 (at 8:03 according to my watch) and we’re done!

Announcements: Christmastown 5k 11/30, P200 March 27-28 (begin collecting $ after Thanksgiving), Starkville and San Quentin in Dallas, NC – each Monday and Friday at 6 pm! YHC took us out in prayer.

Parting shots:

Stroganoff, we don’t need a curb to do Mike Tysons. The Nantan was REALLY regretting his EC ruck when I called the wheel-barrels and bear crawls.

Whoopee is looking good…well, as good as he can with what he has to work with….looks like he’s lost at least 10 lbs (probably more) since I last saw him. The challenges are paying off! I got a ‘maybe’ out of him for the P200. Get on him guys!

JJ had on his signature Bobcats/Carolina/Clemson/Cal/Cherryville hat on today. It is always good to see JJ! I feel like we’re connected somehow. Maybe it’s because he’s such a big Duke fan like myself? Ok, maybe not. It’s probably since we both led off the P200. He was a bit faster last year, but I’m planning to run stride for stride with you this year!

-Montross

It was a great morning at Prison Break. Tater Hole picked back up on his running this morning after recovering from the Tuna.
Great to see a self-proclaimed non-runner back at it this morning! Kingpin made his first post at Prison Break (if you haven’t met him yet, Gumby EH’d him, he showed up a little over a month, ago and has been going strong ever since). Roadie and Ratchet were there in all their Kotter glory! Welcome back fellas! Many familiar faces as well. We left a few minutes late as, understandably, we had to catch up with some Kotters and make sure Kingpin knew where to go!

Broke bolted out of Ingles with Montross, Tater Hole, and Bedpan not far behind. My intention was to keep pace with Broke as long as I could, hopefully until we ran into the Kotters, and then I’d slow down and run back in with those guys. Broke was rollin’ and I stayed within 20-30 yards of him for about 2 miles. I looked over my shoulder and both Bedpan and Tater Hole were doing the same, about 30-ish yards behind me. I was really impressed by their effort and it goes to show what hard work over a long period of time can do. Flash back to early 2019 and 8 minute splits weren’t even on Bedpan or Tater’s radar. Those guys have put in work this year! They did it this morning though.

Broke continued killing it, but the rest of us turned off and ran back to Ingles with Roadie and Kingpin. I got behind Roadie around Jack in the Box and stayed about 5 feet behind him all the way. I knew he would push through and my man did not disappoint, pushing through fatigue and not stopping until Ingles. I’m quite sure he was cursing me the whole way and may have turned around to whip my ass if he hadn’t been so tired!

Though he was about 5 minutes late and we missed him at the start, Ratchet pops up at Ingles minutes after we got back. He had told me he would post so, needless to say, I was really excited to see him show up and out of breath from running. It sounds like he decided to run down Struggle Street, but he got some work in and covered about 2 miles. Good work from a guy trying to get back into the groove after a few months away.

Props to Pappy. He didn’t run today but, in case you don’t know it, he has been battling plantar fascists for a while now. It was good to see him out there rucking and being smart about things! Both Volt and the Douche Canoe had to get to work, but it was nice to pass by them as we made laps around Gaston College. For the record, Volt was only 15-20 seconds behind the Canoe. I don’t know what that means, just putting it out there!

Last note before I go. As soon as Roadie picked himself off the pavement, he raises his hand and says he is a hard commit for the P200. Minutes later, Kingpin also committed to run. What a way to finish off a good morning.

Announcments: Christmastown 5k, Christmas Party January 4 @ Lewis Farm (email for RSVP is coming soon – M’s and girlfriends are welcome, but don’t bring both!). Huck and Roadie were specifically mentioned as I took us out in prayer.

Moleskin: I have told everyone for as long as I can remember that I’m not a runner. I’m still not a runner. However, signing up and taking the Q for the P200 has gotten me motivated. Like most of us, I need a goal to work toward. I have been doing bootcamp rather consistently all year but I can tell my conditioning isn’t quite as good as it was around April. So, I’m running more. I think others are the same way. I am seeing guys pick up their posting and their work as the commit to the P200 and that excites me. Huck, though he missed his alarm this morning, has been on it recently and is getting in a groove. You can see the re-invigoration. Roadie committed today because he wants something to work toward (and because he loves 2nd F thangs). Tater is continuing that trend he has been working on and I don’t know if he realizes it yet, but he’ll be running 5-6 mile legs at the P200 in March! Bedpan told his mom that he want’s P200 registration for Christmas. What that means to me is BP thinks being part of something is more important to him than a physical gift. It’s good stuff and, if you haven’t run a relay, you should definitely consider it. If you aren’t quite ready to run, we will need a few drivers as well.

-Montross

As men who are part of F3, we are all looking to accelerate in Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith. Truly accelerating and improving yourself isn’t easy, but one the best things you can do to grow and improve is to set goals. If you are looking to accelerate and improve your 1st F – Fitness – I have an opportunity for you.

Set a goal to run in the Palmetto 200! Then, let me know you are going to run it and mark your calendars to join vans full of HIMs from Gastonia as we make the journey from Columbia, SC to Charleston, SC on March 27-28, 2020! It is as simple as that.
If you’re unaware, the Palmetto 200 is a 200 mile relay race from Columbia, SC to Charleston, SC (see link at the bottom of the page for more info). We will be participating as a 12-man relay team, which means you will have 11 other High Impact Men to help with this journey. Each team member will run 3 separate legs that can range from 2.5 – 10 miles. You may be saying “10 miles!!!” Most legs are actually around the 3-6 mile range and we will work with you to get an assignment you can handle.
You can do it and you have 5 months to prepare! Let me say that again, YOU CAN DO IT! The sore legs and suffering are worth it though to spend good quality time with your friends and push each other past what you thought you could do! You’ll laugh. You’ll hurt. You’ll laugh some more. You’ll have stories and memories that will last a lifetime. While my friends were running in the Tuna last weekend, I was stuck at home reading tweets and Slack posts, wishing I was there! So, I’m in for this one!

Now, the major announcement portion of the program! We already have several commits so far. Dark Helmet will be running with Gastonia! That’s right, F3 Nation’s Q of Culture will be joining us on the P200! Why, you may ask, is he running with us? Well that’s because Huckleberry has also committed to running the P200. Seriously, those are 2 HUGE commits! Several other vets including Broke, Medicine Woman, Breaker Breaker, Allen Tate and YHC will also be running. How much more motivation do you need?

Message me on Slack or Groupme (or text me at 7042805388) and let me know if you want to participate AND let me know if you are a Hard Commit (HC) or Soft Commit (SC). I will consider you a SC unless you specifically tell me you are an HC! I need HCs by Dec 3 to get the teams registered. It will cost $131.50 each to enter the race (12 man team, $1575/team). That includes a $100 discount per team on registration through December 15 (hence, the 12/3 deadline). I’ll be collecting registration money in early December. Depending on who is on your team and what the group decides, you may need to plan to chip in on van rental and 1-2 nights in a hotel.

If you have questions, reach out to me. If you want to know more about how relays work in general or hear about other’s experiences on a relay, ask at a workout. Chances are someone at your workout has participated in one at some point.

Here’s the link I promised: https://www.malakseries.com/palmetto-200

With all that said, let’s get to it fellas!

-Montross

The light rain and mist didn’t stop 3 HIMs from getting some werk this morning. Some ran, some rucked. It was great to see Roundup and Hacksaw out there this morning!

YHC took us out in prayer

Keep an eye out for a P200 pre-blast in the next few days.

-Montross

Allen Tate messaged Folsom to let us know he wasn’t going to make it home from Florida until after midnight and asked for a Q-sub. I volunteered because I could use the motivation to get up!

Medicine Woman says he is sitting it out so I told him there would be no running. That slacker fartsacked anyway!

Warmup:
SSH 15 IC
Imperial Walkers 10 IC
Pledge.

Thang:
Quick mosey to the lower shelter.

3 Sets
Decline Merkins 10 IC
LBCs 15 IC
Low Squats 10

3 Sets
Planche Merkins 10 OYO
Flutter Kicks 15 IC
Lunges 10 each leg

Mosey to the lower turd shack by the pond

3 Sets
Dirty Hook Ups 10 IC
Big Boys 10 OYO
Plank Jack as10 IC

Mosey back to the parking lot. Took a 3 minute break so Volt could sell eggs. Yeah. You read that correctly. A farmers market has popped up at Folsom.
On to the playground.

3 sets
Australian Pull Ups 10 OYO
American Hammers 15 IC
SSH 15 IC

Oblique Crunches 10 IC each side
Dying Cockroaches 15 IC

Time!

They guys were kinda quiet today. Tuesday felt like a Monday for me! We did learn about when you cam eat chickens, when not to, and that goose meat sucks. I really appreciate seeing you guys in the mornings. I feel like my day is off to a good start after F3!

Prayer requests and announcements:
Convergence Saturday at The Yank.
Prayers and Praise for Pappy’s uncle, Rock’s mom, our kids and families. YHC took us out in prayer.

I have been looking forward to this workout for about 2 months now. I’ve enjoyed being the Site Q at Folsom for the past year, but F3 is about developing leaders and the time has come for YHC to hand over the reigns, so to speak. It is important to give people the opportunity to let them develop, infuse new ideas, and to give those who were leading a break! I took to Twitter Friday announcing to everyone that Folsom wasn’t ready for what was about to happen and, after this workout, I’m pretty sure everyone would agree that no one was prepared for what was coming! I hate the date coincided with the Ragnar relay and some men missed the big surprise! That being said, 13 HIMs made their way to the Gloom of Folsom this glorious morning! Wait, hold up, what do my curious little eyes see…we have an FNG! Welcome Kingpin to Folsom!

I give the disclaimer and we get in a quick warmup to get things flowing…SSH, Grass/Cotton/Cherry/Whatever Pickers, and Toy Soldiers. Pretty standard for my Qs.
Let’s mosey to the flag. The FNG is probably thinking what has he gotten himself into because, let’s face it, running uphill to the entrance of Folsom sucks when you ARE used to it. It is especially bad on your first day! Pizza Man led the guys in some ab work while I picked up the six. Pledge and we mosey back toward the Gazebo for…..

Walls of Jericho – 7 each of Burpees, Big Boy Sit-ups, Squats, and Plank Jacks, take a lap around the grassy knoll…..repeat 7 times. As the first group finishes, we round up the 6. Good work men, but we have to keep this thing moving.

It is time for the moment everyone has waited for. I have seen a few Site Q hand-offs before and it’s usually done in the COT (at least, from what I’ve seen). However, I wanted to do a co-Q where I handed over the Q of the workout and Site Q duties at one time, symbolic of passing the ‘lead’ from one man to another. I thought long and hard about this. Who was the right man for the job? The man who takes over needs to be someone who will leave it better than he found it. It needs to be a man who can ‘rally the troops’, inspire others, and
delegate. It needs to be a man who supports and encourages others.

Gentleman, the next Site Q of Folsom is Allen Tate! I told you Folsom was not ready for what I had in store! You really thought I was stepping aside without some shenanigans? No way! I’m going out with a bang! People were mad. People were asking if they could veto. People were afraid the FNG was about to get named Roman Helmet or Minivan. It was awesome! Sweat was replaced with Haterade, flowing from the pores of the PAX!

Our new Site Q had some “thangs” to say and then proceeds to call a Slaw-ter Starter! It was not lost on the PAX that is a Slaw-ter STARTER and is typically called during warmup..at the START…. but he called this IN THE MIDDLE of the workout). 20 burpees OYO.

Allen Tate begins to talk about leadership and how you should always be looking for the next leader. After much though and consideration, he has decided to hand over the Site Q duties to none other than Big Pappy! Allen Tate couldn’t have picked a better successor. It’s almost as if I had picked him ahead of time and named Allen Tate as Site Q just to mess with y’all! Ok, maybe I did, but let the record show (and there were witnesses) that Allen Tate was, at one time, the Site Q at Folsom!

Back to our regularly scheduled program – Big Pappy led us on a journey across the park, in search of the Folsom Grail. When Huck found out we were running after a beer chalice, he was reinvigorated! (The 40-day challenge is nearly complete big fella!) As we made wrong turns,or whenever Pappy felt like it, we did combinations of LBCs, Flutter Kicks, Crunchy Frogs, American Hammers, Squats, and Lunges. A few burpees were thrown in for good measure. After finding the Grail in the cemetery near the prison, we mosey back to the parking lot.

Thanks to Rockabilly for coming out after he got off work. He wasn’t able to find us since we were running all over Dallas looking for the Grail, but it was good to see him during COT. He is leading Starkville (kettlebell/coupon workout) on Monday’s at 6 pm and San Quentin (rucking) on Fridays at 6 pm. Both meet at Biggerstaff Park beside the tennis courts. Come get some afternoon work in!

Announcements: Christmastown 5k…spots are limited! It will be a Speed for Need event again! Medicine Woman and Breaker Breaker (I think Breaker was the 2nd guy) are Q-ing the event. Props to you for stepping up!!!! If you know someone who may be a candidate to ride in a chair, let MW know! Also, we have a convergence at the Yank on Oct 19 @ 7 pm. Remember Starkville and San Quentin!

Moleskin:
I was truly honored in late 2018 when Sparky asked me to take over as Site Q at Folsom. I was fresh off nearly 3 months of injured reserve and ready to get back into the groove of working out. Sparky did a great job so all I really needed to do was “not mess it up”!

Thanks to all of the guys across F3 Gastonia who came out for a guest-Q over the past year. With 3 workouts a week, things can easily get stale and monotonous, but you guys continually brought variety and energy! I believe everyone I asked to come out to Q a workout stepped up (except that one time Short Sale stood us up LOL…but he made it up!!!!). Thanks also to the Folsom regulars and, when I say regulars, I’m also talking about the Midoriyama guys who also post regularly on Saturdays (you guys are “Folsom guys” too!). From what I have seen, Folsom guys step up to take Qs unlike any other AO in the area. With 12-14 workouts a month, I really never “had” to Q because of lack of guys stepping up. In fact, we started limiting to one Q per month most of the year so all the guys had a chance to Q!

I like to reflect from time to time. Looking back at Folsom this past year, there are plenty of good times and great memories as well as a few accomplishments! A few new guys joined us this year, which is always exciting! A few guys slipped into and out of Kotter-status along the way (booooo!) and we continue to encourage and “extend the hand” to bring them back. Many of the guys that have been around longer than I continue to keep pushing the rock! We had a Field Day. We (well, Volt and I) ran in the snow in December. We dumped a cooler of freezing water on Sister Act at Touchdown Beat-down. Folsom participated in the P200…not just one guy, but many of us, and now some are doing the Tuna and a half-marathon. We raised a few bucks for a missionary with the epic Tronmoss 5k. Allen Tate started a bible study on Thursday nights and it’s going strong after 3 months (he still doesn’t have any furniture though). Some of our men helped spawn new AOs. We even got our own section at the Country Kitchen, widely regarded as the best coffeeteria in F3 Nation (C-SPAN said it, not me…ok, well, I actually did say it too). We all grew a little closer. Not only did we grow closer to our existing friends, but we met some new ones along the way and are developing relationships we can lean on! We’ve grown in all 3 F’s!

I certainly can’t take credit for all of these things I’m just glad to see Folsom has continued to grow and I’m glad to know I had a part in facilitating that! Now, I hand it over to Allen Tate who quickly handed it over to Big Pappy….whom I’m am quite certain will take Folsom to even greater heights!

HIPAA – when are you getting that damn logo done? LOL

-Montross