Author: Montross (Page 20 of 20)

I pulled into Folsom this morning with an ailing ankle that has been giving me problems off and on for about a month now. With that being said, my workout plan was in flux…I had some things in mind for the end of the workout, but I really wasn’t sure if that was the best decision for my foot. So as we kicked things off, I had said item on the weinke and figured I’d let the workout dictate whether I called it or not.

To my surprise, a new sweet-looking shovel flag with dual flags in a V position was waiting for me. Nice work Bedpan. Rumor has it he got the idea while browsing Pintrest. I think HIPAA has created a double-secret undercover F3 Pintrest site or something!

We continue to grow too! We had a young FNG with us today as Medicine Woman brought out young Nick Cooper. He lives near MW – a tough 14 year old young man who rides 4 wheelers, dirt bikes, runs track, and listens to country music. He’ll be ok around Folsom! I wanted to name him Baby since he looks a little like Justin Bieber, but I just couldn’t do that to a 14 year old HIYM like Nick because we want him to tell his friends about F3 so we settled on Quad. Welcome Quad!

Warmarama:

SSH – 10 IC
Imperial Squats 7 IC (IC didn’t work as well as I’d hoped so I cut ’em short)
Merkins – 5 single count
Mountain Climbers 10 IC
You guys better be glad Quad was there because it was going to be a Slaw-ter Starter!

Thang:

I shake up the PAX by taking a left out of the parking lot. The PAX were confused. I thought Medicine Woman was going to just leave and go home! He pushed through though, probably because he didn’t want to look like a sissy in front of Quad! We mosey around the pond and found a surprise.

Now I mentioned earlier I had something in mind for the end of the workout and wasn’t sure if I should call it and I’d let the workout dictate if I called it. Well, God sent one of his little creatures out of the woods to let us know that I needed to change the workout plan. As we’re running on the trail around the pond, I see a skunk on my right. I immediately stop and announce “Skunk!”. Pastor Clever and Gumby slam on the brakes as well, the others are catching up. Then, we see that tail raise up. “RETREAT! RETREAT!” I yell as a jailbreak naturally occurs. Yes, the men of Folsom were mere seconds from being sprayed by a skunk at point-blank range!

So I adjust the plan and we head to the lower shelter. I found the lights this morning without Roadie’s help, BTW.

• Derkins 20
• Diamond Merkins – 10 OYO
• Step Ups 15 IC
• LBCs – 15 IC
  (frankly I’m not quite sure on the counts here because this was not on my weinke and I just made it up as we went)

I continue to struggle counting LBCs in cadence. I naturally try to count each crunch as 1….meaning 4 crunches for every 1. I figured it out though.

Mosey to the flag. There’s been a lot of discussion about the tragedy at Surf and Turf in Bessemer City on GroupMe the past few days. I know people who were there as I’m sure many of you do, but Medicine Woman knows the family really well on a personal level. As we waited for the 6 at the flag, MW was sharing some updates on the family. I felt the need for a little prayer over the situation and asked MW to lead us in that, as he obliged. Thanks for those words MW! Pledge to the flag and short mosey to the Sr Center parking lot for…

• 11’s featuring Merkins and Star Jumps – 1 Merkin, cross 2 parking lots, 10 Star Jumps, run back, 2 Merkins, 9 Star Jumps…you know how it goes. Pastor Clever and Gumby put a lap on MW, Quad, and I so gave them an extra set, which they gladly knocked out. Good work guys!

Mosey back through the park and left at the fork to Sparky’s Lot for
– Burpee Long Jumps – these are always a hit. Gumby said ‘You’re a man after my heart, first 11’s and now this”. I will admit, they are borrowed from your weinke brother!

• Route 66 back across the parking lot,. Lunge to the lines and do Bobby Hurleys at each line. We did all 12 lines so it was really Route 78.

Just a few minutes left so we cut across the camping lot behind the tennis courts. Most PAX were getting pretty gassed and Hank had to hit the road anyway. I did not anticipate the amount of water that would be standing in that field. Feight would have whined and probably turned around but the HIM of Folsom had no real issues. MW reminded us that if he could survive sticking his head in the homless urinal uptown, we could survive this!. Good point brother!

• 22 for the vets to finish it of.

Time! As for that mystery exercise, I will just save that for another day.

Announcements – The Murphy on Memorial Day

COT – YHC took us out in prayer. Thankful to God for bringing us all out safely to become better dads and better men. Prayed for the kids with EOCs coming up, all of our families, and the victims at Surf and Turf.

Moleskin –

I consider myself from Bessemer City (went to school there, my church is there, my family is there, etc) and I got a call from Sparky Sunday asking if I was ok and if I’d heard about the tragedy at Surf and Turf. I hadn’t even heard about the incident yet…it had only been about 20-30 minutes before and an F3 brother was checking in on me. That was a good feeling for sure, but then my mind turned to the sadness of the situation. What happened has happened and we don’t truly know all the details yet. What I do know though is mental health and mental illness is serious. I worked in the field for about 6 years and saw some of it first hand. Mental illness can change a person and sometimes, meds (not just those for mental illness) can as well. Keep loving on and supporting those around you struggling. Many of us are going to have times where we are going to grief, stress, sadness, depression, etc. Keep each other close and don’t hesitate to reach a hand out to a brother in need. Just as important, the COT is a place where you can share some of those demons you’re battling. We may not be able to “fix it”, but we can pray for you and we can support you, and do our best to help out!

• Montross

I spent the end of the week teasing my workout about how it would be an epic beatdown. Gumby brought it on Thursday so I felt the bar was already set high. The workout plan had been finalized since Wednesday so I knew the madness that was coming their way.

In addition, there is an ongoing dispute in Folsom regarding contact in a recent Frisbee Rules Football game. Sister Act says Roadie’s hit was intentional. Both are arguing about the degree of injury vs the level of Sandy V. Sister Act called Roadie ‘SOFT’. Dang son, when talking to a HIM like Roaide, you are better off talking about his mom rather than calling him SOFT. Roadie has vowed to show ‘Essay’ he is most definitely not soft! Roadie got in some EC doing Sister Act lifts throughout the workout.

Back to the workout though – 17 HIM showed up at Folsom – Pizza Man and Tool Time departed for a run

Thang:

• SSH 10 IC at a brisk pace.
• Roadie does a Sister Act lift

I took a planned break to let the PAX know something seemed to be missing. It felt lonely out there by myself on a Saturday. I felt like I needed some teamwork and some support. Out of nowhere, 2 Team Timberlake shirts have appeared. It’s a Team Timberlake Q baby! JT music is playing in the background, all is right in the world at that moment, and the first words out of Slaw’s mouth are…

• SLAW-TER STARTER!!!!!!!! 20 OYO

Whooooooo! Let’s mosey to the flag. BRUTAL! On our way to the flag, I notice Roadie is pushing the rock, running near the front. Solid work. He is making a statement to Sister Act!

• Pledge, let’s mosey some more down around to the back side of the park.

• Split into 2 groups (possibly not necessary, according to the PAX) 15 Merkins on one side, run down the hill and back up the other hill, 25 LBCs, run down and then up the other hill…repeat 5 times.

• Mosey across the grass to the tennis courts. Freight moans about running in the grass and getting his shoes wet. That was a pretty common theme through the workout!

• Burpee Dans! – line up against the fence, lunge-lunge-burpee, lunge-lunge-burpee, lunge-lunge-burpee all the way to the net. Then do the same back to the fence with 2 burpees, then back to the net with 3 burpees…..we offered the PAX a reprieve at about 6.

• Mosey to the amphitheater. More whining from Freight about his shoes. At this point, I think he’s more upset about his hair being out of place.

• Crazy Indian (modified). Frankly, we probably had too many PAX for the limited amount of wall space but I tweaked the plan…half on one side of the wall, half on the other. Assume Balls to the Wall position, the 2 outermost PAX run around the amphitheater, reassume the position, then the next 2 PAX run around the amphitheater. It was something of a mess but we got it done. On your 6 for some ab exercise.

• 40 LBCs OYO

• 20 Sandy Vs

• 20 Freddie Mercuries

• Hip Slappers 10 IC. Having a co-q did help here as Slaw counted one side of the wall, YHC counted the other.

• Mosey – pause mid-run for 20 Flutter Kicks IC and allow the 6 to catch up. Back to the tennis courts.

Slaw shares some great words of wisdom, letting us know his daughter is turning 17 and reminding us all to spend good quality time with our families and kids because time flies by. He is 100% right!!! We all get distracted with life, work, our phones, hobbies (including F3), etc. Make sure you’re putting in that quality family time too because that fitness is just as important!

Then, Slaw gives the PAX an equivalent of a Stone Cold Stunner…

• Burpee Dans – pick up where we left off. This goes on for about 8 minutes. Everyone was GASSED! Omaha!

We have a few minutes left so let’s get in a round of Mary
– Roadie gets in a few more Sister Act lifts
– LBCs
– American Hammers (Ash Pond, they say he can do them all day)
– Cork Screws (thanks Short Sale)
– 22 for the Vets (a train is heard in the background)
– 5 burpeees OYO

Time!

COT: There were several requests including Pockets. YHC took us out in prayer.

Moleskin: I had a regularly scheduled follow up this week with my oncologist and, good news, the doctor says everything is looking good. I wanted to share that and also a piece of the story while I was going through surgery and treatment in Jan/Feb 2017. My surgeon had found cancer when removing my appendix and recommended I have part of my colon removed. My cancer wasn’t very aggressive and prognosis was good, but I wasn’t sure….did I really need this surgery? Is it the best way? So, I made an appointment for a 2nd opinion with an Oncologist at Levine’s in Charlotte. He agreed I should remove part of my colon so I’m feeling better about this, but I’m still nervous. As I’m preparing for surgery, I go to get bloodwork done a few weeks later and the nurse told me how, in her job, she sees a lot of people in need and she uses her job to minister to others…she tells people about her faith in Jesus and offers to pray for people. We talked about church and I let her know I was a believer. Turn out, she had a similar surgery to mine a few years ago. She told me she felt we’d met that day for a reason and that it was the work of God. After my bloodwork, she prayed for me and I felt a calm come over my soul. I cried in the room because I was so relieved. I cried because I knew God was speaking to me. Frankly, that doesn’t just happen to me all the time, but I was looking, I was listening, and he was there when I needed it. So my advice to you all – look and listen for the great Sky Q to speak to you. He won’t answer every prayer, everything isn’t going to go perfectly to YOUR plan, but it will according to HIS!

-Montross

The brand new Wednesday Run/Ruck at Folsom is taking off! 11 HIM showed up and showed out. That’s right, I didn’t stutter. 11 showed at Folsom for mosey!

3 went on a ruck into Gaston College while 7 departed for a brisk mosey around the loop. You may be thinking ‘Hey, 7+3 does not equal 11….are you boys struggling with your math?’ Ok, there may be 1 or 2 of us who have to take off their shoes to count beyond 10, but not the case here. My on-going EH efforts paid off as an FNG showed, albeit on Sparky-time. The FNG was late (I didn’t realize he was coming) so he took initiative and just ran through the park looking for us and met up at the end of the run. Add in the 1 FNG and that’s 11.

Speaking of FNG, his government name is Mark Tolan. He is the Assistant Pastor at my church. He will be known from this point forward as Pastor Clever. Pastor Clever? What does that mean? Watch the movie Friday (probably my favorite movie of all time, FWIW) – hopefully the good pastor can keep us away from a “Sinny-Sin-Sin!” As far as I know, Pastor Clever does not have cataracts.

It is great to see Folsom continue to push the rock. Guys are getting stronger and faster.
– Huck mentioned yesterday morning he ran the entire workout without any walking. Hell yeah brother! That’s a milestone I remember hitting and it is a big deal!
– Huck, Allen Tate, and Gravity said they picked up the ruck pace today aiming at 15’s. Good thing we had 2 fine role models in Allen Tate (Chief Rock Pusher) and Huck out there to keep an eye on Gravity. According to Twitter and GroupMe, he will kick a swan in the throat (allegedly).
– Bedpan set a personal best this morning. Let me tell you, the look on his face as he showed me his time was soul-touching. His lungs were about to explode, but he lived to tell it. You have grown my friend!
– YHC set a personal best and met a goal today by breaking the 9 minute barrier for average pace – 8:57. Now I’m shooting for 8:45.
– Pale Rider, yesterdays FNG (also a pastor at my church), was step for step with Medicine Woman and I – he hasn’t been working out, shows up to Folsom on his 2nd day, and runs 8:57s. That man is going to be a runner. He almost died, but he’s a runner. He told me he has never run that far continuously (3.4 miles).
– Medicine Woman ran with YHC. He will be the first to tell you about the time he sprinted by me. There was some back and forth passing and I could have sprinted at the end to pass him had I wanted to! In all seriousness though, MW was out there pushing it despite dealing with a lot of congestion. Breathing must have been tough. Good job!
– Sparky picked up the pace this morning. My pack hung with him for about a mile but he was moving at a what must have been a low 8 minute pace and we eventually lost visual. Rumor has it he risked life and limb to run off the paved trails.
– Volt didn’t say anything about his run. All I know is he ran!
– Roadie broke out his new shoes and talked about pushing rocks. He’s a Liberal or a Communist. Not quite sure which one yet.
– Pastor Clever stayed to run a bit after the workout since he was late. Be on time next time. Being down at the “74th Street Baptist Church” is no excuse to be late for F3!

COT – there were numerous prayer requests (AT’s mother-in-law, families, 2.0s, Leppard, and others), but one that really sticks out is one PAX asked us to pray for a young lady who stresses out about testing…he says she is a bigger girl for her age and she needs to pass the EOG to keep from repeating a grade. It’s not just about making grades in school, kids also have the stresses of fitting in and in her case, if she doesn’t pass, she’s that much bigger than all the other kids and it would be like a vicious cycle attacking her self-esteem. Keep these kids in your prayers men and as dads and leaders, encourage your 2.0s to look out for these kids and stick up for them! Pastor Clever took us out in prayer.

-Montross

Excitement is rolling through the hills of Folsom right now. Recent FNG Gravity is posting every day. Local legends Huck and Allen Tate have come back with a vengeance! The first stop on our World Tour 2018 was a huge success as 11 Folsom brothers (and honorary brothers) bravely made their way across 74 to Snowballs for a workout that won’t soon be forgotten! Exciting ideas are flowing left and right. Mumble chatter isn’t quite so mumble…everyone is pumped and I’m so excited to be part of it. I put the my weinke together Tuesday because this thing MUST be a gem. I won’t let my brothers down!

Intro:

Warm-a-rama time:
SSH – 15 IC
Various Planks

Thang:

Let’s Mosey to the entrance, plank for the 6. Pledge to our great nation and continue mosey across the highway to Wal-Mart.

• Wall-Marts of Jericho – called Walls Of Jericho on the F3 site, we we are at Wal-Mart so…. 7 Merkins, 7 Imperial Squats (each leg), 7 Big Boys Situps, 7 Burpees, run a lap around Wal-Mart. Repeat 6 more times.

Frogger Mosey across Dallas-Cherryville Hwy…pause at the flag to gather the 6. Let’s do some exercises while we are here.
– LBCs 50 OYO
– Sandy Vs 20 OYO
– Freddie Mercuries 20 OYO

Mosey back to the parking lot…we took the long way around the pond.

Beatdown over!

Moleskin:

Thanks to everyone for bringing the passion and effort the past few weeks! When we first started talking about a trip to Snowballs, I committed because Huck was going and I want to support him. Others were also in immediately. I think to myself we are going to 5-6 show and this will be awesome. But it kept growing. “I’m in”, “Let’s go”, “Where is it?”, “Who said balls?”….commitments were coming left and right. One after another, guys were committing to come and it pushed others to come. I love it! We will pick, we will push, we may even get frustrated, but we will help shape each other into the best men we can be!

And that, fellas, is a prompt backblast!

We will see you in the gloom soon…….

• Montross

Today was pretty much a recycled weinke from Saturday. Since Def Leppard and I were the only ones at Folsom this weekend (due to CSAUP), I figured it’ll still be new to the group. Plus, my abs were sore for 2 days after Saturday so obviously it worked!

There was fartsacking left and right this morning. Hard for me to say much, I sacked Monday and Wednesday on lifting at Sparky’s and couldn’t post Tuesday myself due my kid’s field trip. Some guys had work obligations, some were tired…but I honestly it feels like the numbers have been a little lighter at Folsom the past few weeks overall. This isn’t a New Year’s resolution workout, this is F3. I want to challenge all of you to get out and post…and if you can’t post in the morning, hit the JV workout at 5:30 PM over at Midoriyama (It isn’t so JV, I promise!). I am pushing myself to get to Gastonia in the morning IF I don’t have to work all night. Walk the walk!

That being said we had 3 BMFs…errrr…HIMs at Folsom this morning. Here’s the summary.

Warm-a-rama

• SSH 15 IC
• Mountain Climbers 15 IC
• Appalachian Americans 10 IC

I wanted to break up the routine a little so we cut across the grass and mosey to the upper picnic shelter. In 3 months, I’ve never seen us use it. The lights were already on so it was just calling our names.

• Shoulder Tap Merkins 15
• LBCs 20
• Dips 15
• Step Ups 15 IC

Rinse and repeat (25 LBCs the 2nd time…felt 20 wasn’t enough)
Rinse and repeat a 3rd time. Now we’re warmed up!

Quick mosey back to the parking lot for a pledge at the shovel flag. MW brings it every day and we rarely use it. Let’s do so today!

Let’s Mosey – we cut across the grass again, MW accuses me of not knowing where I was going. He’s only partially right. We mosey to the fork in the road….I’m looking at the small hill in the median and thinking…..nah, that hill is for punks. We are High Impact Men. Continue another 30 ft for the big hill.

• Triple Nickels – 5 Burpees up top, 5 Squats at the bottom, 5 rotations. Medicine Woman was really pushing the pack on this one. I put my hands on my knees a few times TBH, but we all pushed through. Volt was probably cussing me but I couldn’t hear him so on we go!

I know Medicine Woman is a runner and all so let’s give him some mosey because, frankly there has been little mosey to this point. Down the road and around the pond to the lower shelter. MW is the first to notice unmistakable signs of a skunk. As we approach the lower shelter it’s getting worse. Let’s mosey on boys! We didn’t smell it in the upper shelter earlier, hopefully that’s still the case.

Now let’s get those abs in gears. As I mentioned on Twitter, we are turning 12 packs into 6 packs today! I was going to call the ab workout 15 Minute Abs” because everything was going to be a quantity of 15. Ironically, we do have about 15 minutes left.

• 15 LBCs to the left knee, 15 to the center, and 15 to the right
• Sandy Vs 15 OYO
• LBC variation – cross the right leg, go to the right knee 15 times, cross the left leg, go to the left knee 15 times (thanks for the tip Leppard)
• Big Boys 15

Rinse and Repeat. I don’t think we made the 3rd set but honestly, I can’t remember for sure. Time was winding down. so a quick mosey around the lower parking lot and back up the hill to the parking lot.

Time!

COT –
Prayer requests for Chasity (sorry, forgot the last name) who found her mother dead earlier this week. Sad stuff! Also, I ask for prayer at work – implementing a new ERP system has been working me to death but it’s almost over! YHC took us out in prayer. Reminder about the 3rd F event at Parkwood Friday night. I hope I can make it but depends on work and what time I get out.

It was an honor to lead today. Felt like I hadn’t worked out in weeks even through it had just been 4 days. I could tell it in my endurance already though! Get out there and push your rock guys. We need less invisible men, more HIMs! See you in the gloom!

-Montross

I offered to Q at Folsom today knowing attendance would be low due to the CSAUP. I heard Leppard was coming and you never know if a FNG or someone traveling may show up. I think it is good to keep the AO open just in case. Turns out it was just Def Leppard and I that showed. Quality over quantity today fellas!

Warm-a-rama:

• SSH 15 IC
• Appalachian Americans 15 IC
• Don Qs 10 IC

Thang:

Short mosey to the lower shelter. I planned to try to work the chest and core today and the dry shelter is a good spot with hit-and-miss rain around.
– Shoulder Taps 15
– LBCs 15
– Step Ups 15 IC
– Squats 15
– repeat all 4 exercises a 2nd time
Leppard noticed someone turned on the heat in the shelter during the 2nd set of taps. Funny thing is I had just noticed the same thing. The 2nd set felt a little tougher.

OK, lets mosey around the pond and to the flag at the park entrance for the pledge.

Short mosey to the parking lot for 11s featuring burpees and squats. We started with 10 burpees and 1 squat. That made the whole workout tough but getting those burpees out of the way was nice! We got ’em all done. Frankly, if Leppard hadn’t been there, I am not sure I would have pushed through. Having a workout partner is crucial!!!! Quick fellowship mosey across the parking lot to recover. Good work so far, full mosey back to the lower shelter.

Lets work the abs a bit more.
– LBCs 20
– Sandy V’s 20
– Big Boys 15
– Flutter Kicks 15 IC
– quick lap around the parking lot
– LBCs 20
I had planned to repeat all 4 ab exercises but realized we were ignoring the sides of our abs so I asked Leppard for some suggestions and the wiley ol’ vet was glad to oblige with some suggestions.
– LBCs – 8 to the left knee, 5 to the center, 8 to the right
– LBCs – cross right leg, 10 to the left knee, cross left leg, 10 to the right (great suggeations. Expect these in my next Q!
– Shoulder Taps 15 (those last few were TOUGH!!!!)

Mosey to the parking lot. We had a few minutes left so we did a modified Route 66 – lunge to every other line and do Hurleys. We did 8 lines.

TIME!

COT:

YHC took us out in prayer. Prayer requests included Leppard’s son and his family as well as the guys running the relay.

Moleskin:

Today was another great example of how iron sharpens iron. Leppard said he was there because he didn’t want me to post alone. I got up partly because I knew he was coming. We pushed each other through and wound up with a little over 2 miles covered and A LOT of reps! Just as important, it was good to spend some time and get to know more about his son as well as get to know him. Thanks for the push today!

As my beloved Duke Blue Devils were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament Sunday, I was browsing Twitter and I saw a post of the Q schedule this week. “Oh, I have the Q at Folsom Tuesday!” I had totally forgotten! So I started to put together some thoughts for the workout and had a flashback to January 11, 2018 – a day permanently etched into my memory! It was only my 2nd time posting and I was still sore from Medicine Woman’s Bobby Hurleys on the 9th (I didn’t workout before F3 – total Sad Clown!). Hank had the Q issued a BEAT-DOWN where we basically ran and did 5 burpees at every light pole in the park. Why? Allegedly, it was payback to those who talked trash about his Panthers losing in the playoffs a week or so earlier. I drew the parallel and, frankly, I appreciate that Hank’s workouts are typically tough. I now had some direction. I teased it on Twitter with the GIF of a guy b@&!h-slapping Hank…the real meaning was of course, I wanted to do my best impersonation of a Hank beat-down.

Warm-a-rama:

SSH – 10 IC
Toy Soldiers – 10 IC (we were lookin’ all kinds of sexy out there)
Plank Jacks – 10 IC
I didn’t say get up! (I like that move Whoopee!)
Nolan Ryans
Makhtar Vincent N’Diayes
OK, now you can get up!

Thang:

• We will start off with a sample of that dreadful January day. Mosey to the flag pole with 5 burpees at each light. As we approach the first light pole – we spot a white GMC coming in hot! You know who that is! That new F3 license plate is going to be epic – it has been decided his plate must say LATE!

• Morrocan Nightclubs (aka, Sparkys) until he catches up. Hank suggests we tell Sparky we’re doing 10 at each light. YHC loves this idea! Sparky begins his 10 LOL!

• Train, that’ll be 5 OYO boys. Now, I let Sparky know it’s only 5 at each light. We finish the mission, pledge, and hit a few more light poles on our way to the horse arena. We ran past the entrance for an extra light pole, then YHC has trouble finding the gate but Site Q has my back.

• Triple Nickels – quickly becoming one of YHC’s favorites. 5 Merkins, leap frog jump up the bleachers, 5 squats up top, rinse and repeat for a total of 5 sets. Hank took us on a similar adventure a few weeks ago so that’s track 2 on the Hank mixtape.

• Mosey! The mumble chatter has picked up so I hear a Train. 5 more OYO – there is a ongoing dispute whether I heard an actual train or not. It was hard to tell over the mumble chatter though, maybe it was a piece-of-junk car 🙂 Anyway, more mosey. We travel down and around the backside of the pond because we need to stretch those legs and we move to the tennis courts. Lots of mosey – Hank would approve, for sure.

• Partner up, 100 each LBCs, Flutter Kicks (each leg), Big Boys – 1 HIM runs down and back while the 2nd HIM does reps and we switch after each trip down and back. Medicine Woman caught me slippin’! Man, he got me. #gag-reflexes #showtoknow #suretobediscussedongrouptext

• We stay on our 6s for 20 Freddie Mercuries IC and 20 American Hammers IC (Roadie’s request)

• On the line, lunge across a tennis court, 2 Bobby Hurleys, lunge across the next, 4 Hurleys, continue increasing to 12. Mosey to the shovel Flag.

Time!

Announcements and COT:

The Forge on Wednesday nights at Grits & Greens, Community Run and CSAUP relay. YHC took us out in prayer.

Moleskin:

-edited-
This was mentioned in our announcements today and it really got me excited. Sparky announced a 3rd F event at Parkwood Baptist on April 13th. This message will be for MEN ONLY and won’t be 2.0 or M friendly. I originally thought Sparky was speaking, but it will actually be Def Leppard and Blart. I originally said all kinds of nice things in this post about Sparky and, while those still ring true, I’m quite sure Leppard and Blart have something great in store as well. It’s a cool event to have men sharing with men. Iron sharpening iron!

Showed up to Folsom this morning and was met by 4 other HIMs looking for a challenge. I gotcha! With today being the “real” start of the NCAA Tourney, I figured it appropriate to keep a tourney theme.

Warm-up:
Plankjacks – 10 IC
Toy Soldiers – 10 IC
Don Qs – 10 IC

Thang:
Field of 68 – a Route 66 inspired exercise – Start with a mosey toward the flag with burpees at each light pole – ascend from 1 to 11 at each pole, we paused at the flag after 7 poles for the pledge and 2 extra burpees (the pledge after 7 was definitely in the weinke!) – 68 total burpees since there are 68 teams in the tournament.

Lots of mumble chatter early on but burpees have a way of shutting it down. Honestly, calling 68 burpees to start a workout is pushing YHCs limits at this point but I am pleased to say I got them all. Peer pressure!

Mosey around the back of the pond to the lower shelter. Lots of deep thoughts here…mostly people wondering why we now take the long way around now. There is a nice straight road directly to that shelter yet most every Q takes the senic route. Yep. My thoughts: no one ever said we were smart. Keep running.

Sweet 16 – 16 each Montross Merkins (I am calling them that because I do them slow), American Hammers, step-ups IC, and dips – take a lap around the parking lot and do it all again (Elite) 8 times, (Final) 4 times, then 2. You see the pattern here. We mixed in a few in-cadence counts on dips and Merkins late.

Unfortunately for one PAX (show to know), the turd shack was locked. These exercises were a little tougher for him with a praire dog popping in and out.

Mosey to courts – well, time is running short so I had to adjust the weinke a bit…I had a few basketball-themed exercises on my list but I really wanted to run some suicides so…

• Suicides – just about like coach used to make us do – run to the freeethrow line and back, then halfcourt and back, then the other freethrow line and back, and finally full court and back. I decided to leave Roadie’s cones in the truck due to time limits and use the parking lot instead of the tennis courts. We identified a few landmarks in the parking lot and ran with a quick recorvery period between. We ran 2 or 3 suicides with a full sprint back to the shovel flag on tue last leg. YHC had these long legs cooking during these. Almost like I have done these before! I wanted a few more but it was 6:15.

Time!

COT: Prayer request for Snowbird this weekend. Aye! YHC took us out in prayer

Moleskin:

I saw the latest Q source post about the whetstone this week and shared with the group. A great thing about F3 is we all get a chance to be both the blade and the stone, sharpening each other along this journey. Though the post talks a lot about old natrually teaching the young, it goes both ways, particularly here. Keep sharpening each other. I have been the stone a lot recently and I appreciate the opportunity, but I will enjoy going back to being a blade for a few weeks.

-Montross (Go Duke!)

Sparky first asked me about taking a Q last month. I am up for a challenge so I agreed but was hesitant about doing a Saturday to start. I have been at this 2 months, was I ready? “Don’t Q it if ypu can’t do it” is going through my head.
Then Sparky suggested a co-Q with Slaw. How could I not do that?!? Slaw will have my back. Sold!!!

I pull in about 6:25 – Slaw and a few PAX are already there. Def Leppard is in the house! Much respect to him, the hip is still hurting but he says he could not miss this. Pressure is on! Slaw and I are ready to deliver!

Warm-a-rama

First, we gotta have music so I brought an Ion boombox. Note: a playlist has been carefully curated over the past 2 weeks by YHC with lots of input from Slaw. First off, Justin Timberlake’s Bringing Sexy Back. Of freakin’ course!!!! Slaw and I report to the center and alternate calling exercises.

• SSH -15 IC
• Monkey Humpers 10 IC
• Plankjacks – 10 IC

Sister Act (maybe it’s Maybeline) is assigned responsibility to make sure the boombox follows us. Others are allowed to help. Oompa steps up.

Thang:

Montross takes the Q lead for a bit. Can’t Fight The Feeling by Justin Timberlake is cranking throughout Folsom!
– Mosey to the flag and pledge. Pause the music for the pledge.
– Mosey to back parking lot. YMCA is cranking. There was dancing and several PAX joined in.
– Partner up for team abs, 150 LBCs, 100 Flutter Kicks, 50 Big Boys – alternate while teammate runs around parking lot. A little Wham! To get us going but enough “pop” music. We slide into some Whitesnake. Takes us back to a simpler time, one when Sister Act was rocking a sweet mullet (Folsom group text is brutal yo!)

Slaw takes the lead
– Mosey to shelter
– dips, merkins, step ups, derkins – stepping down from 10, 8, 6, 4, 2. Lots of argument about counting but Slaw keeps talkers in check. Queens of the Stoneage, 311, and Chris Stapleton help push us through.

Brandon takes the lead
– Short mosey to shore beside the ampitheater
– Triple nickles on a steep hill – 5 merkins, run down, 5 Slaw squats, Joe Hendrix up (5 rotations). YHC quickly realizes the Hendrix are a BAD idea and announces nur, bear crawl, or run is allowed. YHC is gassed but he is not quitting now! 80s and 90s rock plays on the rest of the way.

Slaw takes the lead
– mosey to the tennis courts
– corner burpees from 12 to 1…a modified version of the beast Slaw dropped on Folsom 2 weeks ago. There was chatter! Oompa carries the boombox all around the courts on his head.

We have a few minutes left so Mary…YHC forgets how Mary works (probably due to exhaustion).
– Pockets steps up and calls 25 flutter kicks IC
– Montross has regained his senses and calls LBCs – 25 IC
– I think someone called more burpees.

TIME!

Whew, this was a fast paced workout!

Announcements and COT
Lots of prayer requests, Leppard’s family, cancer all around us, Silas has had a fever for a few days now, the family from Costner who lost their home to fire. Sorry if I missed some here guys! Slaw prayed us out.

Slaw also talked about how though we cut up and pick on each other (daily, again, the group text is BRUTAL), we all know it is in fun and this is a great group. I agree!!!

Moleskin

I have been coming to F3 since January 9, 2018…basically just 2 months. I was a Sad Clown for 18 years. I tried to start working out on my own and failed over and over. I am excited to say I am now in full remission of Sad Clown Syndrome and in better shape than I have been since I was 22! Sparky invited me in January and I quickly found it is exactly the motivation and support I needed to get in shape. I am getting better every week and it is because of the support and push from F3. Thank you all for your support! It was an honor to lead with Slaw today. Keep headlocking because there are more out there like me who want this and don’t even know it exists! Share it!

After a difficult battle with the fartsack this morning, I arrived at Folsom to be greeted by Volt and Bed Pan.  Wait, no Roadie?  This morning is different, for sure.  A 3 a.m. message on the group text let us know Sparky was sick and wouldn’t make it.  Wait, Sparky has the Q.  Well, no time like the present for my VQ.  No weinke, no problem, I can wing it with the best of them.  Adapt and move forward.  Let’s do this!

Warm-a-rama:

15 SSH, IC

10(?) Appalachian American, IC

15 Plankjacks, IC

Thang:

Let’s mosey.  We head to the flag pole because we will pledge first…can’t forget that!  It is dry under the walkways so lets work on those abs.

• 30 LBCs, IC

• 20? Flutter kicks, IC

• 20 Big Boys

• Short mosey to the parking lot for 11s consisting of Merkins and Slaw Squats (because #TeamTimberlake).

Gloves are soaked now.  Volt let me know that on rainy days, we were supposed to stay off the ground.  Pretty sure he just made that up but noted!

Mosey around down to the lower parking lot, plank for the 6, 10 Plankjacks for good measure.

More mosey, around the pond to the next parking lot.  Volt and I grabbed a few burpees along the way for good measure.  Mosey back to the flag and then the parking lot.  Right at 2.25 miles.  Good job but we have enough time for one more exercise.

• 10 high intensity Don Qs.

Time!

COT:

YHC took us out in prayer.  Prayed for Volt’s daughter and Bed Pan’s family member.

Moleskin:

Slaw and I just spoke Tuesday night to plan for our upcoming co-Q.  Our talk really helped me out this morning!  Also, I have been paying attention to many of you as you Q at Folsom and downtown, taking bits and pieces I want to use when my time came.  I guess you could say a lot of people helped Q this morning!

Volt and BP, thanks for the opportunity and jumping right in alongside me.  It was an honor to lead this morning.

One last thing – 3/10 is the  first ever Team Timerlake Q, live and in full effect at Folsom. You do not want to miss that!  The mumble chatter may be at an all time peak for that one!

• Montross