Author: Short Sale (Page 3 of 20)

There is no doubt when you think of the PAX that represent our region, Freight is one name that is near the top of the list. Loved, hated, imitated, but never ignored. He’s been a Nantan, Site Q, 3rd F, relay organizer, and many other good things. He narrowly missed being the best Q in the region by a single vote. It was no surprise that he saw an opportunity to create more exposure for our organization and claimed a section of Garrison Boulevard as Gastonia F3’s adopt a highway. In leading that responsibility, he organizes about 4 or so clean-ups per year. Saturday was the fall campaign. I had been after Freight to Q the GasHouse just so the PAX continue to understand and appreciate how good my Q’s really are. So, the October 14th plan was for Freight to Q and then lead the highway clean-up. On Tuesday, Hunchback and I get a text that Freight has to work. Hate to see it when work gets in the way of leading a workout. Oddly weather.com indicated significant rain in the forecast for Saturday morning. Feel free to play connect the dots. No problem for me, as the Site Q, I’m prepared to Q at all times.

Warm-up: brief disclaimer – SSH IC x 10, Imperial Walkers IC x 10, Toy Soldier IC x 10, Side to Side Lunge IC x 10, Arrows IC x 10, Squats IC x 10. >> Pledge

Thang: Mosey out of the parking lot, 5 of the PAX followed behind me. As I prepared for this unexpected Q, I flipped through a virtual file cabinet of ideas. Since there was a steady drizzle of rain, I settled on using First Presbyterian Church and their two covered porticos. At the top of the hill, we began with 10 hand-release merkins, traveling to the bottom of the hill under the lower portico we started with 1 jump-squat. 11’s is the name of the drill and we’d work our way up and down the reps. Between the two bases the parking lot had several low points which allowed Whoopee to stomp through (if only we’d have known, his F3 name could have been Puddles). The wise veteran Def Leppard pointed out that wet feet, wet socks, wet shoes are a recipe for blisters. Whoopee didn’t seem to care. Def described in vivid detail his experience walking to the start line of a half marathon that his shoes got wet in the grass and caused a blister at mile 7. Somehow, he managed to complete the race – those were the good old days. A svelte looking Pockets led the way. As I have not posted a lot lately, I’ve not witnessed this clean headed, slim version of Pockets – evidence of a lot of hard work – well done.

We finished the routine and took a longer-ish mosey up the back driveway to the top of the hill where the youth building resides. Roscoe proudly disclosed the herculean effort it took for the Building and Grounds Committee, Youth Committee, Appropriations, Finance Committee, Decorating Committee, Side-walk Beautification Committee, and Music Committee coming together in unison to submit the consideration of the possibility for the idea of a Pickleball Court to be created in the parking lot. This was 10 years ago before the world even knew what Pickle-ball was (#vision). Now I heard rumor the Basketball Court Committee was a bit upset at the very thought of additional lines being painted near their precious court. Through some adept political maneuvering, the Basketball Court Committee was placated with the recommendation for the court to re-paved by 2031. The Elders had been sitting on this for years waiting for the one opposing member (a former tennis player no less) to pass away of what appears to be natural causes, clearing the way for bids submitted and interviews to take place so the cheapest contractor could be hired. Thankfully Jorge Villanueva’s fee of six Budweiser double deuces for each of his 9-man crew was accepted. Until some Karen on the Music Committe realized Jorge moonlights as a weekend lawn-care service that is used by nonother than the Committee chair of Building and Grounds Committee. Hard to believe at a church of all places that such favoritism could occur. Once that nepotism was identified, debated it was solved reducing the compensation to 4 cases of Budweiser. Promptly, the court was painted in an hour. If you know of anyone willing to donate the net, tell Roscoe.

Back to the workout – we gathered under the porch to reprise the cardio portion of the workout I led at the Ricky Bobby. The above story was based on some of the ensuring discussion about church committees and Roberts Rules of Order and how inefficient or maybe frustrating church or work committees can be at times.

Set 1: SSH, Mtn Climbers, Freddie Mercury, Imperial Walkers all at 30 seconds successively with a 30 second rest between each set for a total of 3 sets.

Set 2: Mummy Kicks, Split Jack Toe Touch, Bonnie Blair, Ski Abs: 30 seconds each with 30 second rest between sets for 3 sets.

The rain picked up momentum at this point and fearing some melting that could occur, we stayed under the porch for some Dora. P1 exercises while P2 runs down the stairs and does 1 burpee. Each pair completes a total of 100 merkins, 200 squats, and 300 flutters (count 1 side). With a few minutes ahead of the top of the hour and fear of additional melting, we did a couple of ab exercises under the safe covered shelter. At 0757, we headed back to base.

COT: F3 lunch 10/18/23 at noon in Dallas (I think), 1/2 marathon ruck in Belmont 10/21, 40-day challenge began – find a wedding or tailgate near you ASAP, check newsletter and SLACK for more details. Prayers – Turtleman came home Friday – prayer for his M, family, and caregivers. Send him a note of encouragement, Jackson Hall and his battle, Huck, and others.

In the parking lot, checking the radar and seeing the rain was going to be with us for a while, I humbly submitted to The Committee the road clean-up be postponed until better conditions were present. With a good portion of the SLT in attendance, the proposal was escalated to the Head of Safety, Purple Haze. Always with one finger in proximity to the red button, His Highness Haze stated for the record: “well, it is raining, and what if a car was unable to stop while we were picking up cigarette butts and used crack pipes on Garrison Boulevard.” The Head Q of Safety agreed it was a bit dangerous to hold this activity. I looked at Nantan Roscoe for confirmation – he of the Decentralized Command theory – “it’s your call,” he commanded. I took a visual inventory of the prayerful hopes on the PAX faces they had completed their penitence in the rain already and no more was desired. “Highway Clean-up is CANCELLED” I decreed to glorious applause. I then took us out in prayer and the PAX scattered into their vehicles. Sometimes committees aren’t really needed to make an efficient and impactful decision. As a plus, Freight now must return to lead the clean-up which gives me a Q before the year ends.

Humbly submitted.

Short Sale

Head of the Committee to Make GasHouse Great Again (MGGA)

My second Q at the Ricky Bobby coincides with my second post. Coincidence? I think not. But I asked Nutria to Q the GasHouse (11/4) and happily reciprocated. Going in the only thing I knew would happen were Monkey Humpers in front of Sargento’s house. The rest of the workout built off that. With some newer faces to me, I gave a brief Disclaimer (better to have form than speed, you vs. you, etc.)

Warm-up Part I:

• Seal-Jacks IC x 10, Toy Soldier IC x 10, Imperial Walkers IC x 10, Side to Side Lunge IC x 10, Arrows IC x 10, Good Mornings SC x 10 >> Pledge

Warm-up Part II:

Stay in the parking lot for some speed cardio. Anyone that has done Insanity videos will see where I ripped off the exercises and format.

Set 1: 4 exercises for 30 seconds each, 30 second rest between sets: 3 sets; SSH, Mtn Climber, Freddie Mercury, Imperial Walker (PAX observed it’s like everything was a version of SSH – smart PAX – there is a science and plan to the program, sometimes)

Set 2: same routine of 4 exercises at 30 seconds with 30 second rest between sets; 3 total sets: Mummy Kicks, Split Jack Toe Touch, Bonnie Blair, Ski Abs

I let the PAX catch their breath and with the warm-up officially over, we moseyed left from the parking lot to Winder Street leading into Cramer Woods. I did a brief recon before arriving to ensure the number of houses. As fate would have it, there are 11 mailboxes on the left and right side of the entire Winder Street. How fortunate. I scooped up Nutria on my return to the AO. Nutria was in full sprint carrying the shovel flag. Site Leader doesn’t play.

But you know me, we’re not just doing 11’s, lets trick this pony up a bit. Instead of 1 exercise compounding, we’ll do 3. Count the left side mailbox: HR Merkins + Mtn Climbers + Jump Squats; 1 then 2, then 3, and so on to 11. Oh my gosh Short Sale, that is like a burpee – again, there is a science behind the plan. One caveat – at the 8th house, do 5 monkey humpers with arse facing the house. Only thing was Sargento went to Ground Assault, so only his M benefited from the show. We arrived at the end of the road and since we must return, this time we’ll count the other side of the street’s mailboxes (still 11 of them). Change the routine to Iron Mike Tysons + LBCs + Star Jumps.

We gathered for the 6 and fellowship moseyed to the base. I heard Cherie Berry comment they should have gone to the ruck AO. Maybe, but you would have missed a most excellent boot camp. I even got SA to get up early and drive extra to support me.

COT: Lunch next week, 40 Day challenge, Ruck events – check other backblast and SLACK. Prayers for Turtleman (comes home Friday) and lift up marriages – there are peaks and valleys to these relationships. Sometimes we’re leading and sometimes we’re following (or being directed…).

We all have our home AO or our favorites. Mine is the one that I’m currently the Site Q which is the OG GasHouse. Unless I have a unique Q that requires a specific set-up, I take the same route each Saturday morning which means I’ll drive down Churchill Drive, take a right at the library onto Garrison and left into the Schiele. Why this route, well it’s the street my grandparents lived and then when they moved to a retirement home, my wife and I bought their house and it became our own. So, this weekly trip has a bit of nostalgia even though I’ve been up and down the road thousands of times. But as F3 has only been in my life for almost 8 years now, the downward hill just after Dixon to the speedbump speaks to me in a different way than those early years of my life.  Today was finally the day the hill would be in play.

Warm-up – actually a twist with Tube taking the warm-up for a few exercises. Those Pain Lab guys get out of their vehicles warm as Tube needed only a few exercises to get their bodies ready. Boot campers were dismissed. We moseyed out of the lot and to the library to finish the warm-up as our old bodies and particularly our legs needed some stretching:

• Good Mornings SC x 10
• Toy Soldiers IC x 10
• Imperial Walkers IC x 10
• Side to Side Lunge IC x 10
• Maybe 1 or 2 more I can’t recall.

We trotted left out of the library onto Churchill and cruised up the road taking note of Stroganoff’s house (1st on the right) and then arriving at the speed bump just past Wilkins. The hill was clearly in view and the PAX felt what I was about to say. It’s a quick climb to the top – not a true Soul Crusher as Freight calls these beasts but when you do it 10 rounds, it becomes a beat-down. 11’s is the call with 10 Jump Squats at the bottom and 1 Perfect Form Merkin at the top. As we progressed throw the routine counting down and up respectively, I began to realize this lengthy run was going to take most of the workout. Stroganoff shared he had to depart at 7:30 for his daughter’s soccer game. He would make it to round 9 while the remainder completed the effort.

Next up was the PAX choice – 4 corners or another Hill burner. Nutria chose the 4 corner option. We began at Churchill and Edinburg with 10 Flutters, then went along Edinburg to  Queensgate, stacking the flutters with 20 Penguins, up the hill to Nottingham adding in 30 Big Boys, to Nottingham/Churchill for the finale with 40 Mtn Climbers. That didn’t take too much time, so lets use the last 12 or so minutes to get in 3 rounds of what I thought would be the real Thang. We moved to the base of Queensgate which I have used that hill before  (as has Whoopee) as it is tough climb. I had a sign with 6 exercises and reps on it. Due to the lack of time, we’d go about halfway up. Each PAX selected 3 of the 6 to complete in the allotted time. I’ll spare you the details but fare to say they were challenging.

It wasn’t all that complicated which I’m sure your surprised to hear. I guess sometimes I can go that way. Anyway it was effective and we enjoyed the fellowship.

COT – prayers for Turtleman. No announcements. Roscoe took us out.

Until the next one.

Back to Back Q’s for me but Sunday is pretty easy, except I was 55 seconds after 0630. Still by the official clock in my car, I flew into the parking lot and told Roscoe, JJ and Winehouse to take off. Hunchback had his 2.0 and Scrat who has more posts than Allen Tate this year. Flintstone came in later than me, but he was rucking since he put in 15 miles yesterday. Since I was the Q, I felt obligated to run the main loop and not the wus route. So, I compromised and took the short cut down Hudson and onto the greenway. I jumped ahead of the real runners, but I did finally run the gut-check this summer – not great, but completed – Who Dares Wins as the story goes.

Turns out Gavel was on the course early and it was nice to have him join us for Q-Source. Had a girl in training at Starbucks so it took a minute before we could begin.

We’re reading The Wisdom of the Bullfrog by Admiral William McRaven. I had the pleasure to cover Chapter 8 Who Dares Wins. The title comes from a British officer named David Stirling who created a mission to defeat German holds in North Africa in 1942. The mission was to have machine gun mounted Jeep raids go into enemy territory to take out positions and men using his Special Air Services (SAS). Stirling was asked to develop a motto for his team which he chose “Who Dares Wins.”

McCraven used the term before sending 24 Navy Seals on a covert mission called Operation Neptune’s Spear. You may be more familiar with the outcome of the mission than the name itself, which culminated in the death of Osama bin Laden. Leading up to May 1, 2011, the US had gathered intelligence on a unique compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan where a tall figure would briefly walk outside of the 3-story building in circles. The “Pacer” as he was known on the images was purported to be non-other than bin Laden however the accuracy of the information ranged from 40 to 80% depending on the small number of individuals that were briefed, including President Obama. McCraven was brought in to design the mission which had 165 phases. There was high risk should the mission fail, but McCraven planned for every possible contingency, including if one of the two helicopters were to crash (which one did).

Obviously this illustration is a fantastic point to describe the ultimate risk and reward. This could translate into your life if you were considering a job change, a life change, maybe opening a business, or making an investment. You must carefully weight the risks and decide your tolerance should the objective fail. We often read about the founders of companies that bet on themselves and ultimately won, but the reward didn’t come without failures and learning along the way. Obama had the ultimate decision to approve the mission. He was reminded that he’d made a pledge to the American people that if given the opportunity, he’d bring bin Laden to justice. In this window of time, the intelligence was never 100%. But McCraven planned the mission so well, the President was confident Seal Team 6 could execute the plan and capture or kill the Pacer. His decision paid off and the mastermind was brought to justice by American forces.

Who Dares Wins – try that on the next time you’re faced with a decision.

I read the backstory for Operation Neptune’s Spear at Politico. Interesting at the time was the Press Correspondent’s Dinner that Donald Trump was the “roastee.” Also some of the familiar names that were providing counsel to the President. One in particular seemed to be more concerned if the mission failed, the possible impact for the President’s opportunity at re-election. I guess that person was less concerned with avenging justice for the American people and more about his own interests. See if you can figure out who it is, or read for yourself:

‘I’d Never Been Involved in Anything as Secret as This’ – POLITICO

I re-committed to running another half marathon – a “thon” to Sargento. I began that journey in late 2022 only to have South Point schedule their athletic awards the same weekend as the Austin Thon, causing our trip leader to cancel. Ooompa takes the Texas bull by the gonads and commits in 2024 and that prompted Sargento to go for his Texas state running event once again. Now comes the physical and mental challenge of committing to that training (Again!). My last “thon” sucked because I failed to train properly. This time, I’m trying a new approach which is to strengthen my legs so they will be prepared for the mileage. I’m in week 2 of multiple leg focused workouts. Lots of squats, Romanian dead lifts, and Bulgarian split squats…basically any European based leg exercise. I decided to share this fun with the PAX attending my Q at the GasHouse. An hour of leg work and we only ran a mile and a half. I only did 20 total upper body reps. If there was ever a Q built for Quiche, this was it but alas, he probably chased Buckeye for another hypothetical half marathon. But here is the good news, Spiderman posted on a Saturday. The Bulldog Q wanted some sunlight, and it was a pleasant surprise.

Warm-up:

• Good Mornings, Toy Soldiers, Imperial Walkers, Side to Side Lunges and MNC’s all IC x 10
• Pledge
• Mosey

Five men followed me out of the parking lot and we headed to the front of the First Presbyterian Church at the circle. Leg day began with 5 jump squats then run the circle to the benches to do 10 Jump ups, run to the top of the circle, 5 jump squats, then 10 right leg step-ups, top of the circle for 5 jump squats, back to the benches for left leg step ups; top of the circle for 5 jump squats, then to the benches for 10 glute bridges. We repeated that routine.

Time to stretch. When Wojo Q’s his speed workout, I like that he does a warm up and then builds with stretching before adding the next phase. I demonstrated some hip mobility movement that can free the hips and upper thighs. We did some patented right over left followed by left over right. We then worked on calfs and hamstrings followed by glutes. This was done to limit some soreness from leg day.

Thang #2 – mosey to the rear of the church where there were 6 stations, only one card failed to be marked by the Q (q-fail).

1. Regular Squat – use kettlebell in any position
2. Deadlifts with 30 lb DB
3. Elevated front lunge left leg w/ 20 lb DB
4. Elevated front lunch right leg w/ 20 lb DB
5. Alternating Side Lunges w/ 30 lb DB
6. Heel Elevated Squats using the curb (no weight)

We all ran through this routine three times. Each round was 40 seconds on and 15 second rest. Without counting this was perfect for mumble chatter – which ensued into a variety of male subjects and humor. Roscoe found some Slavic leg competitions to entertain he and Whoopee…Spiderman surprisingly remained quiet and pushed through. JJ lamented over the Tarheels supposed improvement in defense,  Whoopee shared he was going to be in a car for 7-8 hours to Nashville with his M and daughter taking her back to school. Whoopee had done such a great job helping his wife recover from surgery, it was suggested the return home trip could bring the just reward of a road hummer (What on earth?!) Yes, the mere mention of this activity had all of us aging men reach deep into the memory banks for those dating years when such a concept actually had a snowballs chance in hell of happening. Man, leg day does challenge the mind.

We stretched a second round. Thang #3 occurred at the Youth PAD using the half wall for 5 Bulgarian Squats R then L then we lunge-walked through the porch and once at the other side of the parking lot, we did 10 Mike Tyson’s just to say it was not all legs. Two rounds of that were enough and it was time to mosey back. We had 3 minutes to spare – I introduced the bicycle pretzel crunch to much delight, followed by dollys and flutter kicks. Tube piped in with American Hammers and Spider/man finished it off with none other than Peter Parkers.

Announcements – Next Saturday at the GasHouse, Defib is digging into Hell and bringing a shovel full of Annihilation; it is best if you plan to fart-sack b/c pre-annihilation was awful. Crowders Mtn Hike next Sunday 8/27 meeting at the parking lot at 0800. Pack light as this will be a lengthy ruck ridge to ridge.  Sunday, 9/3 is the Coconut Horse Derby where Flintstone’s belt is on the line. I hear Gold Digger is not competing, so this opens things up for a competitive push of 5 miles. The next morning at 0700 at The Fuse (that is the big stadium down from the Leather and Lace – in case some of you need a landmark – we’ll have a Convergence inside the stadium. Parking is behind the field. Look for a re-post of the pre-blast b/c there seems to be confusion.

Prayers – Turtleman is battling his ass off…keep lifting him up; Norwood is recovering, a football player from Forestview was carted off the field, get well Mayor and Def Leppard, and there were a few more. I took us out.

Quiche – we missed you but you are loved in your absence.

I’ve been trying to get Sister Act to Q the GasHouse for the past few months. Dude’s really busy either going to the beach, working, or making excuses. I get his trepidation. The last time he co-q’ed, he went down in a heap of flames in the first round of Q vs. Q. Tentatively mark your calendars for Saturday, September 16th for the Redemption Tour (probably in pencil rather than pen for the time being). Once that was settled, I get the unexpected text saying “gonna make an appearance at Snooze tomorrow.” Wow, this is a surprise. SA has a doctor’s appointment for an MRI to finally get a look at that left knee. As I am building out my Weinke, I text SA if his knee can manage some squats or lower body work? A quick response: “I can handle what you got!” Why should I have expected diffrent? SA will figure out how to crawl at a 9 minute pace before he gives up. Keep on keeping on brother. I also learn another bat flipper is anticipated as Ball Joint desired some prep-work for his tri-athlon. Since I was the Q, I now had to plan a little more for the workout than I expected. TBH, I’d not really thought about until that point. Here is how it went down.

Warm-up (hey Def Leppard, I got there at 0738):

• Good Mornings SC x 10, SSH IC x 10, Imperial Walker Squat OYO x 10, Toy Soldier IC x 10, Side to Side Lunge IC x 10, 5 burpees OYO

Linus still has my shovel flag, so we had to mosey to the McAdenville Town Hall to get the pledge. We continued north up Main Street to reach the front of the YMCA, site of the Christmas Town 5k. Recall there are about 2.5′ brick walls that are about 20 yards apart. We’ll begin with 11’s: 10 Mike Tysons, bear crawl the 20 yards to then do 1 dirty hook-up. Jog back to the other side.  This was a shoulder burner. Thang #2 kept us in the same spot for the Triple Nickel: use the ledge for 5 derkins, run across and do 5 box jumps (or step ups); do it 5 times. Fellowship mosey to the back side with the concrete stands and the soccer field. We partnered up for a work and run thing. 2 PAX used the steps for 4 rounds:

• AMRAP: 5 Bulgarian Squats left, 5 right; flapjack
• AMRAP: Dips; flapjack
• AMRAP: Derkins; flapjack
• AMRAP: Decline Peter Parkers

My feet got wet on the dewy soccer field. That doesn’t sound manly but I don’t care – we moved to a paved parking lot on the back street behind the Main Street restaurants (former site of the Def Leppard party supplies; aka: the State Credit Union ATM). We ran a stacked 4 corners: building with 5 burpees + 10 Jump Squats + 20 Merkins + 40 Mtn Climbers. We had 5 minutes left, so moseyed back to the firepit for a little Mary. I introduced the bicycle pretzel crunch – it’s awesome.

COT: Announcements: 2nd F Lunch next Wed, Crowders Hike, Flintstone Belt derby, Convergence, F3 Dads 8/19 @ Folsom, JJ 5k will be 9/30. Prayers: Turtleman’s CarT treatment going on this week for another few days, Mayor’s knee surgery (today), triathlon participants (especially when Slaw is swimming), Def Leppard on the IR, SA’s MRA for knee. I’m sure there were others – consider your brothers in prayer – it’s helpful.

Snooze is winding down. We had the A-team this morning with SA, Balljoint, and Broker. No disclaimer required – just solid work, which I think they got their money’s worth. Seems the regulars are tapering at this point – which is the point of this summer time workout. School begins next week and Nutria has the Q (as of this moment, check the schedule). Judging by the traffic in McAdenville that gets pretty busy between 7 and 7:30, I imagine next week could be crazy with school going too. We’ll assess the situation and make a decision if we’ll finish the month or pull the plug early. SA and Balljoint were curious to see how Snooze worked. If you have some extra time on a Friday morning, stop by at 0645 to see what this AO has to offer before it ends.

It’s been a minute since my last Midoriyama post. The afternoons have been tough to plan when to leave ever since our team took on a project that finally implemented a few weeks ago. With things running somewhat smoothly, I was able to escape Tuesday afternoon to Q my first Midoriyama in a while. Nothing like waiting until the oven is fully heated before committing to this thing. I arrived early to set up a station work out. Pockets looking slim and trim was wrapping up his EC on the bike trail was kind enough to assist. At base camp, I counted 11 other idiots that needed extreme afternoon sun exposure – perfect for the station workout I had planned…until one more showed up. Ok, we have baker’s dozen. I pulled the men from the shaded awning of the turd-shack and let’s start this warm-up after a brief disclaimer: form over speed (SA’s not here, so good there), it’s hot, modify as needed (PAX took that literally to heart).

Warm-up:

• Seal Jacks – IC x 10
• Toy Soldiers – IC x 10
• Side to Side Lunge – IC x 10
• Core (these were done in part to demo what was to come…didn’t work so well either time)
  • Butterfly Sit Ups SC x 10
  • Frog Crunches SC x 10
  • Long Crunches SC x 10

Mosey to the soccer field on the left at the big parking lot. Divide into groups of 3. Wojo announced having back issues and went to do his own workout. The numbers worked well as we had 5 stations. Two partners will do work while the third PAX is the timer and runs to the fence which is in the shade and provides a few seconds of reprieve from the direct sun before returning to the other sideline. The 4 groups spread among the 5 stations. Each PAX had 2 exercises they would complete 10 reps of each as an AMSAPs (as many sets as possible).

1. Station 1
   1. 10 x Glute Bridges w/ 20 lb chest press & 10 x merkins
   2. 10 x Pullover Crunch w/ half block & 10 total Peter Parker (5 each)
2. Station 2
   1. 10 x Curls (w/ band) & 10 x CDD
   2. 10 x Leg Splits & 10 Rainbows
3. Station 3
   1. 10 x Renegade Row w 15 lb & 10 x Diamond Merkins
   2. 10 x American Hammer & 10 x Pretzel Crunch (5 each side)
4. Station 4
   1. 10 x Leg Raises & 10 In ‘n outs
   2. 10 x Butterfly Sit Ups & 10 Frog Crunch
5. Station 5
   1. 10 x Crunchy Frog & 10 x Freddie Merc
   2. 10 x Heels 2 Heaven & 10 x Long Crunch

We made it through two rounds which I thought we’d get three. Despite the demo of each exercise, the PAX still struggled to recall the form. There was a little upper body but this was intended to be core focused. Despite the best intentions of the Q to construct this somewhat simple (consider the source) workout with signs posted in the ground documenting each station and consist with 10 total reps, it was a struggle. Somehow the PAX stayed together and migrated through the stations reasonably well. But there was a lot of complaining about the Q not setting up the stations in the shaded area near the fence. I now see why F4 is doing trail runs “training” this summer as they are strolling happily through the shaded woods. I imagine plenty of water jugs – probably the super fancy Yeti’s or maybe the new rage the Stanley (per my 17 year old daughter). Anyway seemed kind of soft to workout in the shade. I mean this is Midoriyama – so what do you expect when you roll up at 1730 in the PM? Well maybe F4’s model is different. Hopefully it won’t soften up the hard core PAX too much.

Announcements – The Belt – Flintstone won it today; some CSAUP ruck options in the fall (make sure the route is shaded); Prayers: Turtleman, Norwood, Ratchet and 2.0

Thanks for the opportunity to lead.

Short Sale

I really envy you guys that hear your alarm and that’s it. Your day begins. The covers come off and your feet hit the floor. Better yet, you guys that wake ahead of your alarm – even better. But me, I have a process that in this iPhone age and time, no longer with the old clock/radio, I set 2 alarms. One is the pre-wake that I punch off. Then I rely on the 2nd alarm to rev the engine – warm the car if you will. Now I don’t officially get out of the bed. This is my struggle. If I was not posting, I will push the limits of exiting the bed. This often becomes my demise where 5 or 10 minutes of lying half-awake when I’m not falling asleep but I’m not doing anything much other than scanning random thoughts. In these moments, the idea of doing my own workout, stretching, or something useful and productive get smashed. This painful bad habit grabbed me again yesterday, throwing me off the pre-workout routine of getting on workout clothes, shoes, walking my dog, and feeding her medicine which rivals a 90-year-old geriatric. I sped toward the AO monitoring the various time/clocks in my car, realizing time was not on my side. Not good for an F3 workout, especially when I’m the Q. I arrive to see 4 men already into the warm-up (Thanks to Broke for covering). I’m sure those guys wondered if the Q would be a no-show, which I’ve done 1 time before in my career. The phrase better late than never could be said, but that just an excuse, kind of like the ones that dance through my brain after my alarm that keep me in the fartsack.

Picking up from Broke:

• Toy Soldier, Side to Side Lunge IC x 10
• Plank – press heels toward the ground for a calf stretch
• Plank – right foot by right hand, hold, left arm up, right arm up, regular
• Plank – left foot by left hand, hold, left arm up, right arm up, regular
• Inchworm into downward dog, hold, stretch
• Pledge

I had a brief thought when creating the weinke that I might do 20 minutes of deep stretching. If you’ve not been to Snooze, the parking lot is old gravel – so maybe the finale we’ll try that finding some smooth pavement. Alas, today would be something else I cooked up, we traveled west out of the lot and across Main Street to the McAdenville sign, turned down Poplar Street and found the larger parking lot behind the Main Street row of buildings. A little “walk the plank” action using the larger parking lines.

• Begin w/ 10 HR Merkins, Bear Crawl along the parking line
• 10 Diamond Merkins, side plank walk along the top of the parking line
• 10 Peter Parker Merkins, Joe Hendricks along the parking line
• 10 Plank Jack Merkins (down at the same time legs spread out), plank walk left to start
• Repeat 1x

This was a grinder with 80 merkins out of the gate and shoulder work to boot. I recall I normally call 5 reps, might do that the next time. We learned Leppard’s old ATM was in this lot years ago – he’d stop by on a Friday to drain the bank account so he could go out drinking that night. (Some parts of that are true, others are fictional to improve the story). Conveniently, this parking lot adjoins the McAdenville Greenway – we’ve not used this end of the Greenway, so let’s take a mosey. We stroll along the path and arrive at the base of Academy Street and mosey past a few houses to the base of the hill. For those that have run the Christmas Town 5k and had the pleasure of pushing the Speed for Need chariot, this is a nice climb. Recall you let it fly down Academy Circle then take a sharp turn and get this nice hill in your face. This is about 2.5 miles in at this point and often when I take over for my turn to push. This is also the point where I curse the speed groups that attempt to set PRs and I’m usually spent at this point only to have to suck up some courage to push the cart. Those aren’t bad challenges, but we love to whine about them.

OK – back to the workout – DORA – 100 Crunchy Frogs, 200 American Hammers (ct 1 side) and 300 Mtn Climbers (ct 1 side). Partner 2 ran up the hill and back. Still more time on the watch, let’s mosey up the hill some more and leave some space of elevation for the Triple Nickle: 5 LBCs, 5 Penguins, 5x. Broke busted out and led this one. About 8 minutes Q (paraphrasing Gumby), at every house on the left, do 5 squats, that burned up some time as we headed down the hill, past the fire station, past the coffee shops, and returned to base.

Announcements: 2nd F Lunch this coming week in Dallas at the Pita Wheel, Slaw Challenge. Prayers: Wirenut’s mother, Turtleman, Norwood, others I can’t recall.

Sorry to the guys for being tardy, but thanks for allowing me to jump in and guide you through a beatdown.

Until the next one.

Short Sale

We all have our goals be it things around the house, the office, projects, etc. In this F3 world most of us have fitness goals as well. Maybe it’s winning the iron skillet, a number of posts in a month, or running event like a race or relay. The past two years, I’d set aside June as my 30 for 30 month. As much as I’d like that to be solely based on F3 posts, I’m not there yet. Hat’s off to Slaw, Suess, SA, Broke and many others that make that push. No for me, it’s 30 workouts of at least 30 minutes of work in whatever form it is for that day to burn some calories. Leading into the final week I needed at least an extra workout – checked that box Tuesday. Well then I wake up Thursday not feeling it pushing off exercise to the end of the day, maybe a run, Midoriyama, or a OYO bootcamp? Wouldn’t you guess work gets sideways and throws off that plan. Guess Friday is a double post day now.

Warm-up:

• Seal Jacks IC x 10
• Imperial Walkers IC x 10
• Side to Side Lunge IC x 10
• Arrows IC x 10 – yes Sister Act – I called Arrows – these will warm-up your shoulders…SA is having none of this great warm-up exercise this hot, muggy morning. SA: “…look at Short Sale, we’re gonna do some archery today…” SA mockingly shoots arrows into the air. He would not make a good cupid. “Whatever”
• I had some other warm-up exercises we may have completed but at this point I was on the verge of calling the Slaughter Starter – I didn’t out of respect for the others in the circle. But I was close.
• Say the Pledge

We mosey to west side of the parking lot through the construction are, head south on Chester Street for one block. It was during this mosey that I took inventory of the PAX. A pretty solid group and SA is already barking at me a bit, so this is going to be good. But my only weapon to fight with was the level of intensity of the workout – let’s turn that up a notch.

We arrive on Main Street and I announce Route 198. What is that you inquire? It’s not a Short Sale workout if it doesn’t have a little bit of complicated mixed in, only this wasn’t that complicated. Instead of Route 66 involving 1 exercise escalating by one to 11. This routine is 3 exercises increasing by one at each lamppost on the left side (yes I said the left side of the street). So, we did LBCs, Hand Release Merkins and Parker Peters. Now that set may seem random to you but there is a purpose to the structure of crunching your core, followed by shoulder and plank work, then to hit your core again with the knee coming across to your opposite elbow. Using the lamps on the left took us a half block past South Street. We did a quick 10 count and back-tracked to South Street and found the benches for some full body work.

• Face south: step down left x 15
• Face north; step down right x 15
• 15 Dips, 15 Derkins
• Bulgarian Squats – 15 R / 15 L
• 15 Dips, 15 Derkins

10 count – mosey south, cross Main St (Seuss stuck w/ us), get to Second St, 5 burpees; mosey to Third St, 5 burpees. Mosey east on Third St and left down the hill of a parking lot that basically sits in a hole – nice – we’ll use this spot. Find a partner – I drew Slaw (now I have to push to keep up with him!) Dora: 100 Crunchy Frogs, 200 Freddie Mercs, 300 Flutters. Nice work by the teams. Stubing had to depart early for work at this point. Now we’ll slide over to use the concrete wall for a Triple Nickel since SA was with us. 5 Australian Mtn Climbers on the wall, run up the steep driveway hill for 5 Imperial Walker Squat (count the squat). As you have been told, 5 rounds. Let’s head back – North up South Street, we stopped for 5 burpees at the intersections of Second and Main. Back over to the benches as we have time for more bench work:

• Face south: step down left x 15
• Face north; step down right x 15
• 15 Dips, 15 Derkins
• Squats x 15
• 15 Dips, 15 Derkins

I think that may have been it – should have written this on Friday, oh well, I aim to please.

COT: Prayers for Ratchet and Jackson Hall, Norwood, Huck, and SA’s co-worker. Announcements – all events shared have now been completed. Check another backblast if you need info.

As I noted, we had a solid crew that I knew could be pushed. Whether they wanted it, only they can tell you that. I tried to keep the suggestions simple enough but difficult enough to be a challenge. We often say “good Q” after a beatdown, but when you receive that compliment in a text, call or verbal sharing following the workout, you know it was sincere. So even with a silly Arrow warm up (for the shoulder work ahead), I always aim to please. You’re welcome SA. I appreciate you too brother. As well as the other PAX that joined in without much complaining.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead.

Short Sale

7 men gathered in the parking lot of the Harris Teeter, home to the Sunday AO of The Coconut Horse. As the clock struck 0630, a white suburban was coming in hot – no, this is not JJ as he was already present. This would be Maybelline, somewhat early. Four runners took off for the main loop. Maybelline had his ruck vest to join Hunchback and Scrat for the Heatherloch ruck. Flintstone hung back with the Q for a slower mosey of 4 miles. We all reconvened in the parking lot at 0715, right on time. Stroganoff led the way pushing the pace for the primary runners. It was hot and muggy; summer has definitely arrived.

COT: Announcements – July 4th Declaration of Independence special beatdown at the hands of Tesla, followed by the reading of the Declaration (0700-0800); Roscoe has the Q at the Storm that morning. Annihilation with Tiger on 7/15 at the Yank. Prayers: Norwood, Ratchet & 2.0, Maybelline’s cousin, Roscoe’s uncle, Radar’s sister, and Anchorman’s sister-in-law.

Q-Source – the final chapter of The Dichotomy of Leadership covered Focused, But Detached written by Leif Babin. If you’re similar to me, certain phrases get stuck in your vocabulary and used on a regular basis without thought. “I can’t see the forest but for the trees,” is one of those in my lexicon. It was not quoted in the book but summarizes the concept we studied. A leader sometimes will be involved in detail but can’t get too intertwined or else lose some needed vision to guide the team. There are times the leader must detach in order to have perspective on the situation. Consistent with the 12 chapters in this book is the dichotomy of when to apply the focus or the detachment. It can be a struggle to find that balance. One of the quotes in the chapter worth sharing came from Colonel David Hackworth written in About Face which says: “An organization does well only those things the Boss checks.” I found that to be true in my team as my former boss pushed me to thoroughly check on details, even when it was beyond the point of my confidence in knowing the answer. He had me make phone calls or share updates on progress. He was a bit old school in his approach, but his way turned out to be right more than wrong. The lesson is the boss should never become too detached otherwise the team may skip a necessary detail.

Our group enjoyed this study. It stimulated good discussion for us. Until the next time, grateful for the opportunity to lead.

Short Sale