Author: Montross (Page 15 of 20)

At 5:25, I got out of my truck and took a big breath of the fresh Carolina air! I asked the other 7 men who had gathered on this sacred day “Do you guys smell that?” The men looked a bit puzzled. I answered “That’s the smell of FREEDOM!”. I could almost hear the caw of Bald Eagles chasing after some Commie-prey. I could almost feel the cold of the Delaware River as General Washington crossed with his men. I could almost smell the ink as our founding fathers drug that quill pen across that legendary parchment that indeed created the greatest nation in history. Merica! 8 men were at Folsom to day for this Star-Spangled-Kick Some Ass-Merica themed workout!

Warmarama

Montross has a Bluetooth speaker and a playlist just for today! Nothing but songs about Merica!

SSH and Toy Solders – in cadence

Bedpan shared some terrific July 4th history with us. Do you know when our country first celebrated July 4th? The answer was July 1777…we didn’t even wait to win the war, we started celebrating on the first anniversary of the Declaration of Independence because we’re Merica and we had no intentions of losing!

Montross takes the lead: Let’s mosey to the Ampitheater – one little adjustment today. Normally the shovel flags say at the starting location but not today. We left Bedpan’s double-barrel Merica and F3 flag at the start, but we are carrying the Folsom Shovel Flag with us to every stop today! We rotated flag duties, other men grabbed the coupons.

First up – Abs
– 25 LBCs in cadence
– 25 Rosalitas in cadence
– 13 Fifer Scissor Alt Punch in cadence (the exercise Short Sale brought to convergence that looks kinda like a Dying Cockroach)
– Repeat all 3 to give us 50 total LBCs and 50 Rosalitas in cadence for each of the 50 states. Also, (2) sets of 13 Fifer Scissors for the 13 colonies and original states.

What celebration of Merica would be complete without plenty of Merkins? Therefore, let’s do some Ladder Merkins.
– 5 each Merkins, Wide Arm Merkins, Right Arm Stagger Merkins, Left Arm Stagger Merkins, Right Leg Up Merkins, Left Leg Up Merkins, and Mike Tysons in cadence.

Bedpan takes the lead: Mosey to the lower large parking lot for a 1776 spectacular!

• 17 Merican Hammers in the first corner.
• “Put it in reverse!” for Terry and Nur up the parking lot to the next corner (Mayor and Montross got a little competitive, Mayor may have used force to ensure Montross would not pass him).
• 70 Squats – not little baby squats either, dig deep and get low!
• “Put it in reverse!” and Nur to the next corner
• 6 burpees. The PAX are greatful Bedpan didn’t call 70 of these!

Don’t forget the Ladder Merkins!
– 4 each Merkins, Wide Arm Merkins, Right Arm Stagger Merkins, Left Arm Stagger Merkins, Right Leg Up Merkins, Left Leg Up Merkins, and Mike Tysons in cadence.

Montross takes the lead again: Mosey back to the amphitheater. Merica by Grainer Smith and Earl Dibbles Jr comes on the speaker. Looking back on it, I should not have been too surprised that Tater Hole was all about this song and knows almost every word! Here’s the chorus:

We’re back to back undefeated world war champs
So take a cup, raise it up for my Uncle Sam
You know we sent a man to the moon
And before we’re done
Yeah we’ll probably send a man to the sun
‘Merica

Circuit – 1 minute AMRAP at each station. Balls to the Wall, Divebombers, LBCs, Curls (with a cinder block), Squat Thrusters (with Montross’ 35 lb rucksack), Mountain Climbers, LBCs.

Ladder Merkins! – 3 each Merkins, Wide Arm Merkins, Right Arm Stagger Merkins, Left Arm Stagger Merkins, Right Leg Up Merkins, Left Leg Up Merkins, and Mike Tysons in cadence. Shoutout to Tater Hole – YHC was pretty gassed and ready to abandon the Mike Tysons but Tater wasn’t having it!

Bedpan takes the lead again and we mosey up the hill back to the parking lot. Time was running sort so other plans will just have to wait until next time. However, we still have some Merkins to finish up! We are going back to back just like Merica did as undefeated World War Champs!

Ladder Merkins! – 2 each Merkins, Wide Arm Merkins, Right Arm Stagger Merkins, Left Arm Stagger Merkins, Right Leg Up Merkins, Left Leg Up Merkins, and Mike Tysons in cadence.

Ladder Merkins! – 1 each Merkins, Wide Arm Merkins, Right Arm Stagger Merkins, Left Arm Stagger Merkins, Right Leg Up Merkins, Left Leg Up Merkins, and Mike Tysons in cadence.

Time!

Announcements: Happy July 4th, July 20th is tubing, Also on July 20 – No Brainer Nationals at Shadyside Dragway, 7/21 is the Tronmoss 5k, Christmastown 5k registration is now open. YHC took us out in prayer.

Special thanks to Bedpan for helping me out today! I had a few things in mind for today to keep it partriotic, but Bedpan brought it to another level with the 1776, his 4th of July facts throughout the workout, and of course, his awesome bald eagle shirt! Bedpan is one of the guys you know you can count on to be there and bring joy and fun to the workout! I really appreciate ya BP!!! To the other PAX who posted today, thanks for coming out and resisting the fartsack. Hope the beatdown was worth your efforts to join us!

July 18th, 2018 was a day to remember. Days earlier, a not-quite-so-young PAX who goes by the name of Montross had recently found himself on the F3 injured reserve after 6 months of F3 rock-pushing. Montross was digging, searching, clawing for ways to stay involved with his F3 brothers. He was attending coffeteria at Country Kitchen (the premier coffeteria in F3 Nation, BTW) and staying active on Slack and Groupme. However, due to the Doctor’s orders, he was NOT able to workout. Somewhere along the way, Montross (with the help of Roadie and a few others) decided it would be a great idea to hold a 5k in his own honor. After signing up to Q at Prison Break and breaking through some resistance from “Woman Leg”, Montross consulted with his inner-circle AKA Folsom, and the Tronmoss Legacy 5k was born! Soon thereafter, 16 men posted for inaugural event. Now you may be asking yourself ‘why Tronmoss?’ Well, that’s a bit of a longer story that you can read about in the original Tronmoss 5k backblast HERE.

Fast-forward nearly a year. Montross is back in the saddle, posting (mostly) regularly and serving as Site-Q for both Folsom and The Boars Nest. Montross has participated in the Palmetto 200, ran the Allen Tate MF’R (Memorial Fun Run guys…geez!), and started a ruck AO. Montross stepped up so he could give back to the group and the men that have given so much to him. However, there was still that one beacon of light, that shining star looming on the horizon, that one missing piece Montross was really looking forward to. Then, the chatter began nearly a month ago. “What’s up with the Tronmoss 5k”. “Are we doing another Tronmoss 5k this year?” How can we not do this again!

With that, Montross is excited to officially announce the 2nd Annual Tronmoss Legacy 5k has been set for July 21, 2019 at 6:30 am at the Crossroads AO(Ingles in Dallas, NC). There are a few changes.

• There will be an official route with an official winner and it is an honor that one HIM is going to be able to carry around and brag about to his friends all year long!
• There will be also be a ruck division. Ruckers from The Boars Nest will depart at 6:15 am!
• Montross will be running. It is also a FACT Montross will NOT win, but he is going to finish!

Logos were made and the date was announced a few weeks ago, but there was still something missing. The Tronmoss Legacy 5k (though it was started in jest) did mean something and ‘gave back’ to Montross in a time where he needed the support.

OK, here’s where I get serious. I really did want to find a way to make the Tronmoss Legacy 5k a ‘little something more’. This was going through my mind the past few weeks and, while listening to the F3 Roundtable Call/Podcast earlier this week, it all came together. The story of F3 Rowdy from F3 Suncoast was awesome. For those who haven’t heard it, check out the May 3rd episode. In that episode, Rowdy goes on to share how he was saved about 8 months ago and completely changed his life. He found his way to F3, became a regular (driving an hour to post), helped with a program to do workouts with local juveniles, etc and is now listening to the call of God. He is beginning to work with Crisis Response International. He is going to basically work as a domestic missionary. Rowdy will do this ‘full-time’. He plans to spend 1 month at a time helping work to rebuild a camp in Virginia for CRI, then spend the next month traveling to speak to groups, doing training, etc. Then, rinse and repeat.

On the call with CSPAN (respect), he asked for prayers first and foremost, but there was also an opportunity to support the cause financially and otherwise. If you want more info, search Facebook or Twitter for “Michaels Response”. I reached out to Rowdy and he gave me a link to contribute (CSPAN shared it on Twitter as well, you’ll see it below).

So, here’s the big announcement! I’m asking PAX who run in the 2nd Annual Tronmoss Legacy 5k to donate the cause! It can be $5. It can be $50. Donate on 7/21 either before or after the race as you feel led and as you are able. I’ll also be setting up a donation bucket on-site for those would rather go that route. If you can’t contribute financially, that’s ok too. Just send up a prayer for our brother Rowdy and his cause and that will be much appreciated. This is a great opportunity to help out a fellow F3 brother! It is a non-profit so you can donate online and you will receive documentation to make it tax deductible.

https://app.mobilecause.com/vf/cristaff/MichaelAmato

I’m looking forward to seeing all of you HIMs in the gloom on July 21, 2019!

• Montross aka Tronmoss aka T-ron

Sometime last spring when I was about 3 months into my F3 journey, I had a thought for something a little different. I wanted to put together some type of Field Day where we could mix things up for the normal workout routine, have a little competition, and possibly pull other non-regulars out to Folsom. Long-term, I see this as something that could possibly be part of a convergence…..sort of an AO vs AO competition. Maybe one day, but let’s grow it in baby steps!

With this said, I was pretty excited to put this together. I reached out to HIPAA and Allen Tate for some ideas and thoughts. In the end, I had a few handouts with a list of events, a mediocre logo, and a clipboard because…well, it’s Field Day, you must have a clipboard! With it being the day before Easter and many people traveling, I was a bit nervous about the turnout. Those fears were quickly eased as HIMs were rolling in left and right…23 participated in the first annual Folsom Field Day.

Unfortunately, the usual Folsom parking lot was officially blocked off but everyone figured out pretty easily to meet in the lower parking lot. The flag was planted, which probably helped the visitors find us. Speaking of visitors, we had a lot of guys visiting from other AOs. It was great to meet guys like Doodles, Scribbles, Headcase, Pyle, Beetle Bailey, Yo Adrian and the others! Thanks for visiting!

Warmarama:

20 Side Straddle Hops IC
10 Don Quixotes IC
10 Toy Soldiers IC
There were some negative comments about my warmup but I like to stretch a little during this time! I got ya chatter stopper though…

5 Burpees OYO

Mosey to the tennis courts. The horse track had standing water and the other field is about 20 feet below the road and sure to be waterlogged so I was forced to move this event to the tennis courts. No complaints about this move but I hope to do this in the grass next time.

I had a little race down and back across the tennis courts as a ‘qualifying heat”. I sent the guys who finished first to the left of the courts, the slower guys to the right and we counted off into 2 teams. I did this to try to balance team speed but it really didn’t work out that way. I swapped a guy as well, not realizing I was trading speed away from the much slower team 2. Q-fail. That being said, it didn’t really hurt the event that much, IMO. Instructions were pretty simple, all events were done in pairs. If you were the first pair back, write your name on the clipboard and if you were on team 1 or team 2. 2nd place does the same as does 3rd. My plan was to tally the finishes at the end for team scores. 3 points for a 1st place finish, 2 for 2nd, 1 for 3rd place.

Wheel Barrel Race – Partner 1 (P1) does a wheel barrel to the cones (4 tennis courts) as partner 2 (P2) holds the legs. Switch and P2 does wheel barrel back to start. 2 laps each.

Run/Nur Relay – P1 runs to the end of the courts, nurs back. Switch when P1 returns to start. 4 laps each.

Flutter Kick Relay – P1 runs to the cones and does 10 Flutter Kicks In Cadence. Return to start, switch and P2 does the same thing. 4 sets each.

Hand Release Merkin Relay – P1 runs to the cones and does 10 Hand-Release Merkins, return to start. Switch, P2 does the same thing. 4 sets each. (I noted we did Hand-Release on this event because some guys move further on their Merkins….I wanted to make sure we had full range for all guys. No Cheating!!!)

Sackless Relay – P1 does a Bunny Hop to the cones and runs back to the start. Switch and P2 does the same thing. 4 laps each. (Some skipping was noted among the competitors. A few of y’all must be off to see the Wizard or something!)

Plank Off – High Plank only. Back straight(ish), butt down. You lose form, you’re out. Last man wins. Pretty simple. Cool battle between Tater Hole and Tater Tot on this one for 3rd place. It was pretty obvious neither was going to beat Yo Adrian and Gumby, who decided to make it a draw after about 4 minutes. Neither was going anywhere anytime soon.

Tug of War – Team 1 vs Team 2, as simple as it gets! Team 1 most definitely had the advantage on the courts when it came to speed and running, but there was fear in the eyes as they lined up against team 2 for Tug of War. We had to sort out a few last minute details on the rope and, after about 5 seconds, Team 2 was finished. We could have done best 2 out of 3, best 4 out of 5, or event best 100 out of 100…Team 2 would have won every time. Did I mention Team 2 dominated?

Burpee Contest – AMRAP for 1 minute. Honor system, Flying Squirrels are not Burpees! Pearl Jam took this one! Nice job!

I don’t have all the results in front of me so I didn’t list every winner of each event, but guys like Pizza Man, Freight, Doodles, Pearl Jam, Scribbles came up a lot. Gumby, Yo Adrian, Montross, and Allen Tate also made their way to the top 3 a few times as well. Check out @F3_Folsom on Twitter for a pic of the results. YHC did have final say on scoring and named Team 2 the overall winner, though some may disagree with that ruling. Def Leppard taught me well!!!!!

All in all, it went as well as I thought it could. This was just something I came up with and my main concern is that it wouldn’t be a tough workout. I was concerned about having partners rest as the other ran but that allowed for time to catch your breath and give extra effort. I can at least say for me I used those opportunities to run a little faster and sprint…well, something like a sprint…and that allowed all the guys to push as much as they could.

CoT:

Announcements: 2nd F on the 27th @ 7pm at Lewis Farm (rain or shine, M and 2.0s welcome), No Brainer Nationals May 11 at Shadyside Dragway (being put on by Ratchet to raise money for cancer…his son is a survivor!), Mt Mitchell hike May 5, The Boars Nest kicks off 4/21 at 6:15 am from Ingles (Ruck AO). Prayer requests: Gumby’s mom, brother-in-law, Allen Tate’s mom, those battling addiction, guys traveling, a young man who plays baseball with Tater Tot, and all the lost souls. YHC took us out in prayer.

• Montross aka Tronmoss aka T-ron aka Assistant Chief Rock Pusher of Folsom!