Author: Short Sale (Page 6 of 20)

We’re about 4 exercises into the warm-up. Nine veteran PAX were circled around me. The circle did not include Sister Act who apparently improvised a Q that even he couldn’t recover. That was okay, despite his lack of attendance, he received the same abuse as if he’d showed. In the midst of trying to lead the cadence, I see a talk figure in a neon shirt exit his vehicle and look around reluctantly. From the distance, he looks like Time Frame but he’s walking slowly whereas any veteran PAX would hustle toward us since we were about 0534 at this point. The fella finally joins us. I greet him: “Good morning; are you here for F3?” Guys says: “Yes, Reid Jentsch invited me.” He looks around the circle. “I don’t see him here.” I respond: “I know Reid Jentsch, his F3 name is Malfunction and he most definitely is not here…but you are so welcome.” Purple Haze calls him out – “that boy is a Lineberger.” We quickly learn John Lineberger is from Dallas. I wouldn’t have known that since our FNG is clean shaven and didn’t drive a truck. But he is in training to be a Police Officer where he met Malfunction. Hopefully this wasn’t a pledge prank of sorts. In either way, let’s get back to it. I share an elevator speech on what were doing and since FNG John joined us, I add a few more warm-up exercises than my typical set. We said the pledge and time to mosey.

We go a short distance to the benches on South Street in the middle of the block. We needed them to do:

• Circuit 1: 15 Derkins + 30 Decline Peter Parkers + 15 Derkins + 15 Dips + 30 SSH
• Circuit 2: 15 Bulgarian Squats R + 15 Bulgarian Squats L + 30 Squats
• Repeat both circuits

Mosey down the street to the open parking lot across from the church. I should have found one with smooth asphalt but it will have to do for us. A new routine called 60 where I give out an exercise and you do that until failure or you’re tired of it or 60 reps, whichever comes first. When you stop doing the exercise, you finish with LBCs until 60 reps. Exercises were: merkins, mtn climbers, imperial walker squats, reverse lunges, SSH’s, Burpees. After 60 reps were complete, run to the end of the parking and back to get a little cardio. For the record, none of the PAX did LBCs on the side-straddle-hops. So I impromptu added burpees – some PAX then did 60 LBCs. Q wins.

Running out of time so let’s mosey over to the parking deck. Roscoe was the only repeat PAX from my Q at the Goat the previous day. I asked him to demo the eccentric tricep dip on the parking deck rail. Like the day before, we’ll begin with 10 on one side and 1 diamond merkins on the other for 11’s. Like the day before, we got a little more than halfway through before it was time.

Annoucements: Blood Drive Aug 10th; CSAUP 50 mile relay coming up. Prayers: Melina White, Wirenut & family, Courtney (lady jogger in Belmont that was hit, Huck, Turtleman).

The FNG John Linerberger hung with us pretty good. As he is in training for the Police Department, we quickly named him Tackleberry. He actually claimed to have seen the movie. As for the other PAX, some of them modified because they had attended SA’s beatdown the afternoon before. Good on them for posting. There was good chatter among the guys and hopefully they got their money’s worth. Thanks for the opportunity to lead.

I had a horrible end to July – wasn’t feeling great waking each morning with a clogged head. In normal times we’d call that a head cold. Take some over the counter meds and push through. Fauci calls that Armageddon part III. I never got tested – just kept to myself. Who really knows any more. Regardless, I didn’t feel like working out. I felt better on the weekend and committed to getting after it in August. Bubba Sparxx needed a Q and that was a sign to get my ass out of bed. That I did and shared a few new things with the PAX that beat the fart-sack that morning at The Goat.

Warm-up – Toy Soldier, Side to Side Lunge, Imperial Walkers, Don Q’s, Chest Openers – all IC x 10 – Pledge

Since hill and parking lot in the Cramerton circle are still blown up, we’ll mosey around the building to get the blood flowing. The house on the corner has a dog outside at that time that went crazy. There goes part of the plan to run around the buildings. Improvise it will be.

Thang:

• Round 1: 50 SSH’s, 40, LBC, 30 Squats, 20 HR Merkins, 10 Burpees – run to end of the street and return
• Round 2: 40 SSH’s, 30, LBC, 20 Squats, 10 HR Merkins, 5 Burpees – run to end of the street and return
• Round 3: 30 SSH’s, 20, LBC, 10 Squats, 5 HR Merkins – run to end of the street and return
• Round 4: 20 SSH’s, 10, LBC, 5 Squats – run to end of the street and return
• Round 5: 10 SSH’s, 5, LBC – run to end of the street and return
• Round 6: 5 SSH’s – run to end of the street and return

Next up is the Red Reaper which I found on Darebee.com. Check it out for ideas to use in your Q or when you need inspiration at home. I modified it into my own version so the PAX would get crushed on their upper body. Today’s version was:

• Circuit 1: 15 Merkins + 30 Shoulder Taps + 15 Merkins + 30 American Hammers + 30 Freddie Mercs
• Circuit 2: 15 Derkins + 30 Decline Peter Parkers + 15 Derkins + 30 American Hammers + 30 Freddie Mercs
• Repeat both circuits

Mosey to the upper parking lot below the railroad tracks. Use the rail for a new treat: eccentric plank dips. I demoed this by putting my hands on the rail and holding by body steady in an incline position. Start by bending your elbows toward the rail, lowering your body; then straighten your arms to starting position. I learned this from F3 Fonda the tricep has three muscles: Longhead, Lateral Head and Medial Head. This routine was focused on the longhead but would work all three well. The routine would be 11’s with 10 eccentric plank dips on the rail, run to other end of the parking lot for 1 diamond merkin. As time was running short, we got to about the halfway point. But hearing the PAX chatter, their arms were pretty smoked and they were glad to Omaha.

Announcements: Blood Drive Aug 10

Prayer Requests: Courtney (female jogger hit in Belmont – she is making positive progress last I heard); Huck, Tesla/family.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead.

There are a few workouts the mere mention bring a smile and sparkle to your eye with memories of the past or visions of what might be. The Touchdown Beatdown, Dr. Feelgood’s 10lb ice bag workout in the parking deck, the Forest Gump, and the Def Leppard WOD. When the Folsom Site Q Ball Joint asked a few weeks back if I could Q the Beer Workout on a Saturday, well, that is quite the honor. Officially, the Beer Workout has been completed four previous times. Each one of those unique to its own. Last summer, the beer workout was performed at Midoriyama and then Old School. I learned something that steamy morning at Old School. Except for Seuss, there were some gluttons for alcohol. Even Leppard showed up for more White Claw having pounded SA’s drink of choice a few days earlier. Truth be told, it was more like a continuation of Friday night party than it was a workout. Sure, we’re here for a good time but we gotta get some work in too, right? For this year, coming to Folsom, I knew the challenge had to be much harder – so I went to several stores and went bold with IPAs and 22oz or greater sized beers.  Here is how it went down:

Warm-up:

SSH IC x 1 – mosey from the lower parking lot to the tennis courts at high pace.

Arrive at tennis courts for the W drill. What is the W drill? Start at the baseline, run forward, touch the net, backpedal to the “T” and forward to the net, backpedal to the baseline – do 2 burpees – move to the next court. Do all sides of 6 courts. How’s you’re heart rate feeling? Fast? Good! Warm-Up part Deaux

• Toy Soldiers IC x 10
• Imperial Walkers IC x 10
• Side to Side Lunge IC x 10
• Alt Arm Extensions IC x 10

Stay on the tennis courts for the beer 4 corners. Of course there are directions, that’s why the Mayor posted, because Jackie hadn’t filled up his quota. So the instructions were:

• 6 HR Merkins + 12 Squats + 18 Knee to Elbow Crunches + 24 SSH’s

As I said that, Gearwrench and Striper do the 6 HR Merkins and take off for corner 2 – should have let the bat flippers fail because the rest of the PAX (including Mayor) were “actively listening” and heard me say do ALL 4 exercises at EACH FOUR CORNERS. I ran to catch said batflippers and explain what they missed. By corner 3 the group had caught up with the number of reps and we more or less finished together. Time to mosey back to the lower parking lot.

We had 14 PAX so dividing into equal teams would be a challenge. I soon learned Folsom is better at math than Midoriyama but they sort of wing it. Kind of like now-a-days when the teacher tries to get you to count circles but instead you make tick marks – you eventually get to the same answer. Spackle tries to intervene and assume the Q to direct the teams – sorry son – I appreciate and fully respect your military service but this is my Q so get in line please (sir). I have 4 empty kegs and they will be used for overhead squats. I have 4 sets of bricks and they will be used for hammer curls (to get ready for the drink’in part). I have some dumbbells and they are used for weighted lunges. Those w/o an exercise run to the flags and back. That part went about as smooth as remedial math at summer school. The guys passed but it was pretty damn ugly doing it. Set #2 – the kegs were used for bent over rows, the bricks for high plank (or in Mayor’s form – CDD’s) pass throughs, and dumbbell goblet squats. Extra PAX ran to flag and back. Each PAX did at least one set of each part or some just pretended to workout. It passed the time either way.

Ok – we burned enough time for the MAIN event. The cooler is full of various nasty beers. Some had been in my garage for a year and not cooled at all. Be careful what you select. As I mentioned, learning lessons and attempting to make improvements so the PAX actually exercised this year – the “Picker” had a choice – drink the beer in the allotted time (1:30 to 1:39 – depending on the round) or run to the flag and back as a penalty. The Picker could also choose to run instead of drink the beer. What would the PAX do? They had to do the actual exercise on the can. Round one began with 1:39 (99 seconds for 99 beers on the wall…make sense?). Each beer had 2 exercises on it. During the allotted time, the PAX would perform exercise 1 until form broke or they were sick of it then go to exercise 2. They worked for the entire time. I can’t recall all the rounds but most “Pickers” drank instead of running. Only Ball Joint had to run the penalty. He said he could have finished his Busch Light Ice but wanted to savor it longer. That’s a true HIM. I’ll share what I remember about the rounds (in no particular order)

• Natty Ice 24 oz – Big Boy & Flutter Kicks
• Ice House 24 oz – had been in my garage for a year – not cold – Volt pounded that like he’d never tasted sweet nector in his life. PAX did burpees and Mike Tysons – Volt probably came out on the better end…
• Busch Light Ice – Ball Joint took his time and ran the penalty (with his beer) – PAX did CDD and High Plank
• Bud Lt 24 oz – Maybeline I think drank this – he splashed Merlot – the PAX howled with glee while doing Parking lot suicides and Rocky Balboa
• Old English 32 oz – also in my garage for a year – whoever selected (Striper maybe?) ran – Pax did 8 count body builder and ski abs
• Appalachian Brewery Spoaty Oaty IPA (16 oz) Orangeman gladly drank and we begrudgingly did ski abs and 90 degree toe touch; Orangemen claims he was buzzed a few minutes later…
• Natural Light 25 oz – Short Sale ran instead of drank; PAX did turtle crunch and imperial walker squats

We may have done a round or so more but it was another fun party. We got Maybeline to yak and a lot of mumble chatter. I realized the challenge for the PAX needs to be at least 24oz otherwise it is too easy.

Let me know if you’d like the beer workout to make splash at your AO.

Announcements: Convergence tomorrow at Folsom, F3 dads 7/23 at GasHouse, Tubing 7/30. Prayers for a number of our PAX were shared in COT.

Thanks for allowing me to lead. Thanks to Ball Joint for buying my breakfast at Timeout. Respect to Volt for pounding a hot nasty beer. We had some non-Folsom guys post for this unique experience. I awarded Orangemen a full IPA for his effort. Thanks to Mayor for keeping the chatter lively.

Until the next party – it was a pleasure to lead.

Short Sale

Several weeks back, Sunday, June 26th to be specific, three men met at 0630 in the Harris Teeter parking lot. Two were coming of IR and one didn’t feel like running alone. So they took a 2.5-ish mile walk and discussed various topics of life that respectful men sometimes face in our aging journey.

We returned at 0715 and were joined by two others – one recently having some of his guts removed (not the courage kind, but the soft tissue kind that wreak havoc on our pelvic area. Another had smart sacked b/c he had been physically pushing the rock. He posted to mentally push the rock.

Once inside the air-conditioned grocery store, I led Q-Source on Accountability. It’s a lengthy chapter as it raises some discussion on the difference of self-discipline or relying on others (see shield lock, whetstone, or fellow F3 brother) to be accountable. Easier said than done as I lost the check point to post this backblast timely.

My Saturday morning got off to a frustrating start. The reason began earlier this week with my M requesting my help to transport a couch to Lincolnton by 10 am so it can be recovered. My daughter’s moving into a house for her junior year and apparently the current fabric of the white couch needs to be “off-white” to better match the decor of this old place my daughter will share with two other friends. It spurred up a “conversation” that I paraphrase:

• Me: “is this really necessary?”
• M: “what do you mean?”
• Me: “this couch is already white, I’m spending time, effort and money to transport a couch to an upholstery place so it can become off white. I don’t see the need.”
• M: offers steely glare
• Me: “This thing is going to get stuff spilt, thrown up, and who knows what else…”
• M: “Their girls, not slobs like you…”
• Me: “Well I don’t see the need, I mean…”
• M: Cuts me off “I’ll spend my money how I want to spend it!”

Well before this idea of making a white couch off white, I had committed to Wirenut to Q The Old School on June 25th.  To be efficient, I rented the small U-Haul Trailer ($30) Friday and Roscoe was kind enough to help carry and load it into the trailer. I’ve never had one of these behind my vehicle before. My trial by fire began at 0635 that morning on my first attempt to back out of my driveway. As some of you are guessing, it didn’t go so well. After several starts and stops and 10 minutes later, I’d managed to get enough clearance to wheel forward through my front yard. Somehow the trailer stuck with me as I bounced off the curb and began going well over the recommended travel speed as I cursed myself for not getting up earlier. Since the PT test was at GasHouse, I didn’t know who would actually post at OS. In a frantic attempt to alert someone, I texted Def Leppard of my status. I sped through the streets and as would be the case, I caught every red light possible. I hung a left on Church Street and rolled through the stop sign at Oakland. I see a gathering of PAX which included the Mayor tapping his watch. I entered the parking lot and angled at him. I think Suess really thought I was going to hit them. I came to a halt and popped out of the vehicle.

“Get in the F-ing circle – Side Straddle Hops on my count, ready? Go!” 15 of those in cadence, though I seriously considered doing 60 minute’s worth. Lots of chirping at the Q for being late. I tied my left shoe then on to Toy Soldiers IC x 10. I tie my right shoe. Imperial Walkers IC x 10. Still chirping. Side to Side Lunge IC x 10. Finally alternating single arm chest openers. Then we paused for the Pledge.

I go over to the trailer and open the roll door. I offer the PAX the choice – grab a block or the couch – we’re going to carry something today. They opt for the blocks. Now, admittedly, I was late and didn’t like Mayor’ calling me out but it was deserved. It was made worse in my suggesting for the PAX to run a lap while I set up the first Thang. I got a negative Ghostrider – that pattern is full, so we’ll just watch while you work. Again – I need to revisit the QSource on Preparedness, so point received. Known for complicated workouts, I did not want to disappoint my fans at Old School so grab a pen and paper and keep up.

1. Round 1: Murder Bunny 10 yards then do 10 Merkins. Run to the 50-yard marker and return, pick up you block at the 10 and carry it to the start line.
2. Round 2: Lunge Walk with block to the 20, do 10 merkins then roll over for 20 chest presses with the block. Leave the block; run to the 50-yard line and return, grabbing your block on the way to start.
3. Round 3: Overhead carry your block to the 30-yard line, 10 merkins + 20 chest presses and 30 goblet squats with your block. Leave block, run to the 50 and return, carrying block to start.
4. Round 4: tray carry (hold arms 90-degree angle, carrying block at waist level) to the 40-yard line. Do 10 merkins, 20 chest presses, 30 goblet squats, add 40 overhead presses. Leave block, travel to 50, return and carry block to start.
5. Round 5: PAX choice to carry the block to the 50-yardline. 10 merkins, 20 chest presses, 30 goblet squats, 40 overhead presses, then 50 dips (use the block or find a bench or whatever). Carry your block back to start and the set is complete.

At this point the arms and shoulders were feeling good. It took about 20 or so minutes for this. The only thing that sucks is bringing the blocks – but worth the effort. Will tinker with making the run longer and different challenges to begin or end each round.

Next up on the old Weinke is a block version of the HERO WOD – Dan Whitten. Tiny Tank introduced this to the Goat years ago so I borrowed it and made some adjustments.

• 10 block swings
• 10 block jumps
• run 50 yards and return
• 10 blockees
• 10 overhead presses
• run 50 yards and return

The last run after overhead presses was not part of the instruction but the Mayor wasn’t listening adding this on this own and others followed. Sometimes it’s just good to let ’em go. Here is an inside tip for those keeping tabs – Mayor does not like the block jumps. Jump over to the left and back over the block right = 1 rep. He complained persistently about these sucking. He kind of complained about a lot of stuff at this point but he kept blaming Blart for some reason. JJ and Suess pushed through. Wirenut missed sometime taking the Browns to the Superbowl but he returned to embrace the challenge. Our small group was battling hard this muggy morning. We did that circuit three times total which increased the heart rate and fatigued our muscles.

Thang #3 – Catch Me If You Can – grab a partner. P1 lunge walks with the block. P2 did 10 merkins. Then switch. After the first set, Blart requested Hand Release Merkins, the Q obliged. Sister Act would be so proud – wherever he was this morning. We went the length of the field.

Some of the PAX began requesting Mary as I suppose they were sick of block work. Ok – we’ve got 10 minutes left so let’s incorporate the blocks with Mary.

• 10 Flutter Kicks in cadence holding block overhead; pause with feet 6″ and do 10 chest presses; being 10 more flutters holding the block; 10 more chest presses – ohhh – the PAX hated this. Let’s do more.
• Hold block overhead and do 15 Big Boys raising your head between your outstretched arms under the block – more grunts but time to drop the blocks.
• 15 elbow to knee sit ups
• 15 Leg Raises
• 15 Freddie Mercury
• 15 knee to elbow sit ups
• 15 American Hammers
• 15 90-degree alternating toe touches
• 15 can opener left
• 15 can opener right

Announcements – something about a future convergence but details were fuzzy – check Slack. Prayer requests for family, Turtleman, Huck, and others. I took us out.

This was a burner for sure. Great to have candor from my man Mayor. Time management is my Achilles and I should have understood hauling a trailer would require more time to orient and get to the AO ahead of schedule to set up the workout. Still the PAX worked hard and we enjoyed the chatter. Thanks to Wirenut for allowing me to Q and to the PAX for some amount of grace with the late start. I believe you got your money’s worth.

I talked with Balljoint at coffeteria – mark your calendars for July 9th when the famous beer workout makes it’s way to Folsom.

It’s been a minute as I hear the cool kids say these days. EH’ing isn’t just for FNGs – it works on aging veterans as well. Thanks to Flintstone for being persistent. Breaker also had a hand with a verbal jab to my M last week at the coffee shop asking when I would ever post during the week – it takes a village! A few weeks out I claimed Monday June 20th as the re-entry to the gloom and to Q the Sandlot. There were regulars along with Shooter McGavin for his 2nd dip into the pool after having posted Saturday as EZ Rider’s FNG. As much for Shooter, I gave the disclaimer to hear it myself. No printed Weinke or notes except for a few ideas in my head. Let’s see if I recall how this goes.

Warm-up: Alternating single-arm chest openers (think seal jacks w/o the jack and only moving one arm at a time), Imperial Walkers, Toy Soldiers, Side to Side Lunge, and Don Q’s all at 10 reps in cadence. We stood for the Pledge.

Mosey out of Snoballs across the street to the old bank. We took 2 laps around the building – the PAX followed wondering if I had lost my mind and that is why I’ve been absent at this AO for the past few months. Really I was marking the time as this lap would serve as the timer for some partner work. So…the light run got our heartrates going a bit. Now for some strength work.

Walk the Plank – everyone find a parking lot line. 6 Merkins on the open side – plank walk right toward the curb then do 1 Mtn Climber (count 1 side). Plank walk left back to the open side for 5 Merkins and continue until reversing numbers like you would w/ 11’s. Why not 11’s you wonder? Try this burner and you’ll feel why. Some general complaints and Flintstone stirring the chatter got us through the first set of non-sense. Time for PAX choice: A, B, or C? Cinderella chose B – he chose poorly. What begins with B? You guessed it – burpees. I set the timer on my phone for 60 seconds – 10 burpees. Reduced the time to 55 seconds for 9 burpees, then 50 for 8 and so on so the last burpee to be completed was 10 seconds. The PAX requested Cinderella not speak for a while.

Down to two choices – A or C. It really didn’t matter, this is an old trick Freight likes to pull from time to time to make it seem like the PAX are involved, really the Q knows we’re doing partner work next so with that – find a partner.

Partner 1 runs around the building that we practiced earlier. Partner 2 performs the core exercises. Each PAX did 2 laps and 2 sets in each circuit.

1.  Flutter kicks
2. Crunchy Frogs
3. Alternating Straight Leg Toe Touch (like a straight leg dying cockroach)

The purpose of this set of core exercises was intentional in their order to maximize the burn for each part of the abs. Full stretch of Crunch Frogs worked lower abs. The crunchy frogs collapse the mid-abs. Then the toe touch of the straight leg worked the upper abs – which Defib commented we don’t do much of the time. With only a few minutes left, we moseyed back to base and did a bit more core work to finish the experience.

Announcements – PT Test Saturday at GasHouse. Prayers – Turtleman. I took us out.

Thanks to Flintstone for getting me out. I need to work to become more than a Weekend Warrior. Hopefully the next Q is sooner rather later.

3 Ran, 2 Rucked

Q-Source topic was Meeting. We exchanged JJ to get Roscoe. Hate most of you missed it.

After a few years hiatus, the Gaston Community Foundation Run returned, this time at the FUSE district baseball park. Also different was the opportunity to raise money for the F3 Foundation. Any event in the community where F3 has the chance to shine is good exposure for our organization. This was yet another opportunity for Speed For Need to be on display as our Track Commanders enjoy the chance to feel the wind in their face and the accolades that come along with their being featured. Purple Haze was the Q for that portion of the event putting three chairs on the course. Several of our PAX ran the choppy 3.1 (-ish) course attempting to achieve PRs. Round-Up was one of those who pushed under his goal of 20 minutes with a 19:55 good enough for 19th place overall and first in his age group. Ball Joint was hot on his tail finishing at 20:08 but at 41, he’s among a competitive age group. To no one’s surprise, Dr. Seuss sped in 3 seconds later at 20:11 which won his age group (55-59). However, none of those men won the F3 award. Why do you ask? They chose to run for other organizations. As far as F3 goes – JJ registered and ran under the F3 Foundation. He crossed the line 35th overall (21:48).

We had a tent at the event to increase awareness for F3. We gave out a few fliers of information but difficult to tell if we’ll get any new PAX. Maybe the muscle in addition to the speed of our PAX scared away any future FNGs? Hopefully with the pandemic behind us, we can turn our attention to 2023 and having more Track Commanders and participants. Maybe even ride for the brand next time.

Thanks to Virus and Wirenut for helping me shutdown the tent and take all the stuff to my car.

On April 10th, there was only one F3 vehicle in the parking lot. I arrived late due to the dog’s extra time to take care of business. It is also possible the Q could have got out of bed earlier and arrived on time. I was not in the running mood anyway, so I grabbed a ruck sack and walked the standard route in reverse. After a few miles, I arrived back to base and then caught sight of Whoopee chugging along. His determined look broadened into bit of a smile. I’m sure he would have appreciated seeing me at 0629 or so as he confided jumping in his truck and going home but he’s not one to turn away from a challenge, even if it is all his own. He escaped the fart-sack which is a good thing.

Flintstone and Defib joined us claiming a “smart-sack.” The cool thing about Sunday mornings is we have a buffet of 1st, 2nd and (sometimes 3rd) F offerings. So the four of us gathered inside to review the Whetstone chapter of Q-Source. Some of the PAX are part of the current program. Some of us shared a few of the challenges in the past. The concept is good as we can always benefit from a mentor. None of us have all the answers but life’s experiences do provide some calluses that can aid another who is trailing behind.

Dr. Seuss is the current Q of Whetstone – seek him out if you would like to be a Stone or Blade. There are benefits to both roles.

I’m trying hard not to buy into climate change. Yesterday (Saturday) was an anomaly, with a cold and rainy start in the 40’s that got progressively colder in the 7-8 am hour. Cold and Rainy is not a great combination for an F3 workout but as one of our core principals says: “Held outdoors, rain or shine, heat or cold.” In most cases, there is likely some other idiot dumb enough to suit up in the gloom and post. It’s been a while since I last Q’ed at The Fighting Yank, so good to make the trip over for a Saturday morning despite the conditions. As I arrive at 6:50, our Nantan awaits me at the curb as Sargento has the Bunker. We quickly assess the situation and decide attendance will be light at best, so we should combine our efforts and give the PAX a Two for One special. Sarge informs he has an FNG coming (“Always be EHing”) and he did in fact show (bonus points for posting in the nastiness). Only Dirt was out for EC so as we counted down to 0700, cars began rolling in. The disclaimer and warm-up are brief with the rain pelting us.

Warm-Up: Don Quixotes and SSH’s – grab some gear out of Sargento’s trunk and head up the hill to the upper picnic shelter. The Bunker portion would be first as Sargento planned 10 stations. With 11 PAX, we modified to a merkin station – except Flintstone is working around an elbow issue – so he ran most of this time. The others worked our way through a circuit of:

• Standing straight arm raises w/ bricks
• Curls with 250 pound weights on curl bar (not really – no idea of the weight)
• Standing kettle bell extensions (3 lb kettlebell)
• Flutter kicks
• Shoulder shrugs with paint cans containing exactly 78 oz and 104 oz of paint left in the gallon buckets
• Standing front shoulder raises with paint cans containing exactly 93.5 oz and 77.3 oz in the gallon buckets
• Bent over rows with full concrete block
• Standing triceps extensions with 22.5 lb kettlebell
• LBCs
• Bent-over flys with bricks
• Merkins (except Flintstone)

Sargento brought his mega JBL speaker which his phone and the Tabata timer was connected. Each exercise went 1 minute with a 3 second rest. Music was supposed to play but we were sparred (briefly). I tried the Roscoe move to hijack the bluetooth speaker but it turned into a co-Q fail not only not playing the music on my phone, but no longer announcing the time of the exercise. The rain had subsided at this point but the concrete under the cover had plenty of puddles leaving only a few dry spots for the flutters and lbcs. We found a  way to persevere. With 11 exercises and a few seconds of rest, everyone completed a full circuit plus a few extra rounds to exhaust The Bunker’s first half hour of the Twofer.

With the gloom and doom forecast, I had planned to keep the PAX under the shelter but exact a cardio beatdown unlike no other experience. But what does a Q do when plans change on a dime? Adjust, Omaha, call it whatever you want but I spent most of the time contemplating my adjusted workout. I also was trying to workaround our FNG’s knee injury but there is only so much you can do and still give the PAX their money’s worth. Instead of multiple rounds, I sped through these circuits one time:

1. Squats x 25, R Lunge x 15, L Lunge x 15, R Side Lunge x 15, L Side Lunge x 15, Bench Jumps x 20 (butt to the bench and jumps up off the bench)
2. Calf Raises x 30 (had salute Dirt’s favorite), Bonnie Blairs x 20, Imperial Walker Squats x 20 (count the squat), Bench Jumps x 20
3. Merkins x 15, Shoulder Taps x 30 (ct each tap), Merkins x 15, Peter Parker x 30 (total), Burps x 15
4. Dips x 15, Derkins x 15, Dips x 15, Crab Cakes x 15
5. Glute Bridges x 25, Bulgarian Squat 30 (15 R/15 L), High Knees x 30 (Total)

Partner work: P1 does counting exercise to 25 reps; P2 does AMRAP exercise to maintain the cardio. Two sets for each exercise so the counting equals 100.

1. P1 – SSH’s x 25; P2 – Burpees AMRAP
2. P1 – Mtn Climbers x 25; P2 – Hand Release Merkins AMRAP
3. P1 – LBCs x 25; P2 – Plank Jacks AMRAP
4. P1 – Squats x 25; P2 – Ski Abs AMRAP

Of course I had to introduce some bit of complication but the PAX picked it up and really embraced the activity, especially the AMRAP portion. I had done some parts of this before but as with any new weinke – the timing is the one variable that you can’t always account. So I had about 8 minutes left to burn and we jumped into some core work to finish out the event.

Announcements: Q school and burgers – yesterday – hope you attended and learned something. Community Foundation Run April 9th – have you registered yet?; Prayer Requests: Tesla, Roscoe’s FIL/M – there are others that I missed.

COT – Sargento had been working to EH David Hamilton for a few years. The 1989 Ashbrook Greenwave was a dominant small forward in the Southeastern 4A has since migrated to Belmont to live with his family that his kids attended or currently attend South Point. As our FNG explained some things about himself, Sargento said he had the biggest set of hands he’d ever shaken – hence we’ll now call him The Glove – welcome. For a cold and wet day, we survived it. Doodles, who works for US Air said it best: “I can work in the cold or I can work in the rain, but I don’t like working in both.” As the kids text, TBH, I don’t like working out in the rain or the cold either. I’m ready for Spring.  But the chatter was pretty steady today during both sessions of the combined workout. And getting in a workout with the PAX is better than going at it alone.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead.