Author: Short Sale (Page 9 of 20)

I made Watts Up’s naughty list. I had time Sunday to do this but time management is my jester (one of the main ones) so I pushed this to the side. So much for my word of the year (now!). Always room for improvement. I had the Q Sunday morning at the Coconut Horse. I knew there were some regulars on vacation and injured list or working. At 0628 no one was waiting on me and I didn’t recognize any cars with F3 stickers – not that I looked real hard either. As what appeared to look like a solo act, I must admit the thought crossed my mind to head back home or go inside for an extended coffee-rama, maybe drop a deuce and get a road win? 0631 and Sargento hasn’t showed (yet) so I figure it’s time to Nut Up or Shut-up, wait, that’s on Saturday. Oh, well start the clock and let’s get mov’in.

I’m not sure about you but when I run, I can hold a thought as long as a fly stays in one spot. But to my recollection must of the thoughts zig-zagging during the first mile contemplated shortening the standard 5 mile route. The Bourbon Chase isn’t until October so on August 1st, I’ve got plenty of time to train (the jester is poking me). I arrive at the intersection of Hudson and Union (Waffle House/McDonalds/Wendys/BK for those needing a landmark) and there is the decision point: straight or right. Turning right can cut off about a half mile or so – seems about right for the running condition that I’m not in at the moment. Then I begin negotiating with my inner conscious – if I go straight, I’ll fartlek the gut-check. So straight it was and then I moseyed to the switch backs and walked up that section (I know, I suck). At the top, I slowly move up the hill. Then I spot two black shirts with “Speed for Need” logos – hey their with me…so I push forward. At this time Whoopee turns onto Robinwood headed to work, no doubt to spread his sexiness like wet mayonnaise all over anyone wanting some. I joking run out in front of his F150 – he blows the horn. Briefly I contemplate if I let him hit me, I’d have a good excuse not to finish the run. I realize the pain of “Ford” imprinted in reverse across my chest might be more hurt than it’s worth so I swerve to the sidewalk and push to meet Ooompa Loompa and BOS. I’m not sure if they arrived before or after me. Doesn’t really matter, they were run/walking so I join them in the walking section, getting a reprieve needed because my stamina is lacking. We finish the remainder of the loop. Had I cut the route short no one would have known but me. I know many of you have those solo runs or workouts where it is truly “you vs. you” and you control the start, the effort and the finish.  More on that in a minute.

Oompa had to take his daughter back to Clemson. Roscoe replaced him joining BOS and I for Q-Source. We began a new series last week on Cowboy Ethics by James Owen. It’s a good study on how an unwritten code kept some level of order in the Wild West. That code survives to this day for those men and women doing some tough work. Owen was a Wall Street guy that studied these cowboys and developed 10 points which he calls Cowboy Ethics. I covered the first three and happy to share some thoughts.

• Live each day with courage – similar to our military and frontline servicemen and women, there are a lot of tough jobs or circumstances we face in our lives. Cowboy’s jobs present some danger they must overcome. One quote worth repeating: “Real courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway.” (page 56) Most of us don’t face those levels of danger in our daily lives and occupations, but even little things require us to “suck it up” and get things done. Courage comes in all forms and levels measured individually in our minds.
• Take pride in your work – this is self explanatory and the author quoted a poem to illustrate his point. For the small job to the big job, giving your best effort represents your character.
• Always finish what you start – herein lies the title and my effort on the run. I had prepared for the Q-source. During my run and contemplation, I was mindful of this phrase. In our youth, we sometimes try different things to dip our toe into the water to see if we’ll jump in, ease in or stay out. Various sports, activities, or organizations. As adults we serve on committees at work, church, or organizations. We have so many competing priorities. Some things are always a work in progress, taking months and years to complete. Others are specific terms we’re happy to hand over the keys at the end (Nantan or Site Q anyone?). So we’re all guilty of quitting something before it’s finished. It happens but if you accept the challenge with the goal to finish, it will push you along even when you try to talk yourself out of it.

Join us for the remainder of Cowboy Ethics. If you happen to be on the IR, Q-Source begins at 0730 Sunday mornings at Harris Teeter. It’s a good 2nd F to visit with your brothers and you can always pick up a nugget of information that can help you along your journey.

Short Sale

The Beer Workout, Part Deux at least for 2021. Officially this is maybe the 5th rendition of The Beer Workout. And like Bill Gates with Microsoft, I’ll just keep thinking of improvements. For this round, I upped the ante, adding empty kegs for the coupons, reaching a new level. A recent test run on Thursday at Midoriyama where it was past working hours, so a few PAX imbibed the challenge quite literally. A few regular guys were absent so with my first ever Q at Old School, let’s go for another round (in Def Leppard’s case, literally). Luckily I have a friend at Standard Distributors and placed the request for empty kegs. He shared anecdotally he gets hit up for free beer multiple times a day. Evidently most folks feel the word ‘distributor’ in their company name means to give it away freely. So my request for empty kegs was a welcome reprieve and he offered as many as I’d like. Next time, I’ll ask for a box truck packed full of them – PAX beware. While chatting Friday morning, I tried another EH on him but he stated he belongs to a non-exercise group called “F-that!” Touche, my friend, and thank you kindly for the coupons. Another trip to the store to replenish supplies and I was prepared for the Old School Q.

The final day of July didn’t offer much reprieve of the humidity despite my car reading 72 degrees. Old School is only a few months old but has a steady following. When I arrived at 0655, there were 7 other men waiting, many had completed extra credit. I really needed groups of 3 to make the Weinke work. The three empty kegs had begun to generate the chatter, increasing the challenge to get the warm-up circle started. I offered a brief disclaimer – “this workout will be different and you should modify as needed – the exercis’in and the drink’in. Then as fate would have it, Def Leppard comes rolling in to give us 9 for The Beer Workout. To quote a rednecks last words: “hey y’all, watch ‘chis!”

Warm-up:

IC x 10: Toy Soldier, Imperial Walker, Side to Side Lunge, Merkins, Hillbillies, and Cotton Pickers

Pledge:

Grab the kegs and head over to the track. To save myself 5 minutes of confusion, I counted the guys into groups of 3 and nudged them to form a line behind their keg. Now – more instructions. Each man would take a turn with the coupon doing roughly 10 reps of the called exercise. The other two PAX without the coupon would perform 10 reps of two different exercises continuously, only breaking until it was their turn with the coupon or the team had finished the set. With me so far? Let’s go:

1. P1: Bear hug the keg and travel across the field and back; P2 & P3: 10 flutters & 10 CDD’s
2. P1: 10 Avalanche (Overhead Pull) the keg then 10 bench press; P2 & P3: 10 leg lifts & 10 merkins
3. P1: 10 Supine Hamstring Curls & 10 Derkins; P2 & P3: 10 Diamonds &10 Squats
4. P1: 10 Plank rollouts & 10 Incline merkins; P2 & P3: 10 SSH & 10 Imperial Walkers
5. P1: 10 Squat + Press & 10 curls; P2 & P3: 10 Burpees & 10 Mtn. Climbers

The group at Old School contains some of the heaviest mumble chatterers among our region (and that’s with Tool Time relocated). So explaining and attempting to do the workout with the keg only intensified the commentary. Round 1, unsurprisingly Seuss runs with a keg that weighs half as much as he does – the man is a beast. Round 2 – I’ve done Avalanches with a block – but a 35 lb keg at it’s size was a bit awkward – we did the best we could. Round 3 – for all you runners out there, the Supine Hamstring Curl is the same as what many of the ladies do with a physio ball. It is more manly to boast “I did them with a keg” so we have that going for us. The movement can greatly strengthen your hamstrings and glutes (hey Sargento – you might want to try this…). Now after the demonstration was properly executed by YHC, Slaw goes into reverse air humps much to his own delight. It’s a mental image the rest of us will work tirelessly the next few days and weeks to remove from our minds. That only spurred on additional COT-esq confessions among the group for the lack of production in certain aspects of our respective Concentrica’s. Unfortunately none of those issues were resolved, only commiserated (we should grab a beer and discuss sometime). Round 4 – the ground dew and forearm sweat increased the challenge of plank roll-outs. Hey – they looked great on YouTube – an area of opportunity. And finally Round 5 – proper form for holding the keg overhead and pressing was yet another challenge. Still, the kegs were a fantastic coupon – one that generated as much 2nd F as 1st F.

Moving on to the substantive portion of the day’s event. I’ll repeat the directions in case we have any newcomers listening in. The cooler contains 11 different beers – each having a label with 2 different exercises on them. As the old field trip song goes: “99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer; take one down, pass it around 99 bottles of beer on the wall…” So put 1:39 seconds on the clock and we’ll decrease by one second each round. Similar to the deck of death workout, each PAX opens the cooler and selects a beer of choice and then they have a decision: opt for the exercises in the allotted time or drink it. If exercise is chosen, the PAX will perform AMRAP of the first exercise until form breaks or they grow tired of it, then begin AMRAPs of the second exercise, going back and forth until the time is called but moving the whole time. Now, the other option, and this is what makes this workout one to remember, the holder of the beer can choose to drink the beer and while drinking, the remaining PAX will run the length of the parking lot. If the drinker doesn’t finish the contents by the time the PAX get back, the exercises are performed. The odds of Splashing Merlot are greatly increased.

With the instructions explained, now we’re into performance. Here are the highlights:

1. Stogie selects Old Tuffy (the NC State Wolfpack beer) – it’s a heavier lager and he wastes no time opening the can and the PAX take off. Beverage is easily drained. Stogie missed Thursday and I believe had every intention of making this move.
2. Def Leppard – fresh off his first beer of the year at Midoriyama trots up to the cooler amid catcalls like an slut  delivering lunch at a construction site. Leppard hesitates briefly and selects his new favorite beverage – the Lime White Claw. He cracks the top and the PAX are sprinting to invoke the penalty on Leppard but he has no trouble finishing. This marks the second drinking event for Leppard in a few days, we may need an intervention – anyone want to sponsor DL for AA?
3. Slaw grabs a Corona – Q fail forgetting the bottle opener, but this is Dallas and when it comes to drinking, they’re creative, smashing the cap off the brick and Slaw drinks like he air humps – fast and furious.
4. Freight – by now he knows the drill and pulls the Fat Tire. As the Q I briefly think, surely he’s not going to pound this, so we’d finally do an exercise (would have been diamond merkins and American Hammers). Freight proves me wrong and rips off the lid and begins chugging – we run again, shortening the distance attempting to invoke the penalty. Freight boasts this isn’t his first rodeo but does admit to the slow digestion of the thick brew.
5. Sister Act – I knew he was disappointed Leppard drank his White Claw, so he grabs the 16 oz Miller Lite – he starts gulping and we run again but finally, the extra 4 ounces proved too much and the penalty was in play. YHC changes the rule for all PAX to join SA with the exercise of merkins and mtn. climbers. Part of my reasoning was to extend the time b/c I didn’t have anything else planned.
6. Pizza Man – opts for the Bud Light, opens it and enjoys it. We run and find upon return he was parched and enjoyed the refreshment. We did Bobby Hurleys and Decline Peter Parkers for 1:38. Pizza Man continues sipping periodically the remainder of the workout.
7. My turn – I pick up the double deuce Natty Ice – I had no intention of drinking that – those days are long passed. We exercised with Big Boys and Flutter Kicks for 1:37.
8. Dr. Seuss – now had I provided a choice of Starbucks or other coffee, Seuss would have been all in on the challenge. Curiously, Seuss picks up the 8 Ball, yes you’re correct, the 40 ounce big daddy Olde English. Last time I was forced to drink that was 1990. No chance Seuss opens it so the timer is 1:36 for 8 count body builders and Ski Abs – as ruthless of a combination as it would to drink that toilet water.
9. Blart took a long neck King of Beers and began chugging – we ran, again.
10. With all the PAX having made choices, now it was time to finish the cooler. No drinking, just the exercises because again, I had time to fill.
    1. Ice House tall boy – Burpees and Mike Tysons – as nasty as the drink itself – 1:35 time on those.
    2. Elysian Space Dust 9% IPA – this was in the cooler in case Huck posted – he didn’t so we did planks and cdds for 1:34

We had about 5 minutes of time – I thought about calling it but Pizza Man jumped in counting in cadence with Big Boys so we finished with a few rounds of PAX choice of ab exercises for time.

Announcements – August 7th Tubing – tell Broke; Freight’s Service Project. Prayers for our PAX with mental battles, Turtleman for fighting through remission with one more treatment; Stogie’s M and friends at a Spartan Race.

Moleskin – If you check your scorecard, that was 11 rounds of choices in which 7 rounds the PAX chose to drink the beer or at least attempt to (recall 2 didn’t finish). Apparently I underestimated the PAX love alcohol more than exercise. I hope this isn’t a problem. Ironically, the Old School AO is at a park across from the Police station. But as several of the PAX grew up in the town of Dallas, NC, they suggested this was not abnormal as there were occasions of the past where the party had continued through the night with the sun rising. Maybe The Beer Workout 6.0 I’ll opt for some nastier beer flavors that may encourage a little more exercising to quell the drinking. But then again, Leppard does seem to enjoy his White Claws. Hmm, maybe bourbon or airplane bottles? We’ll see. Regardless, the goal of the workout was to  offer fitness along with fun mumble chatter.  Ultimately that objective was achieved. Unfortunately no one splashed merlot (at least not in front of the PAX).  With Leppard off the wagon, there is a rumor of a keg party at his place – if you don’t like the claw, you may want to BYOB; stay tuned for more details.

One of the hottest days of the year and 5 brave souls joined me in the Easy Bake Oven known as Midoriyama. I sent out a pre-blast trying to entice some HIMS that enjoy a cold beverage or two. Some luke-warm interest and then a bunch of excuses like “I’ve gotta work,” or “Vacation Bible School,” or “my M’s busy and I have to watch the kids,” or my va-jay-jay is sore and I need to douche it…blah, blah, blah. I guess the saying is true, if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” Then Whoopee throws out some noise about COVID on the rise among males under 50. Correct me if I’m wrong, weren’t we working out this time last year without a vaccine in place? I know a few of us got it and dealt with some suffering for a while but we made it through. Staying in peak physical condition is one part of the equation to challenge this flu. Now before any of you go challenging me, I said fitness is one part – not the only part. Obviously you can get the jab or wear a napkin over your face. There are lots of choices. Sorry – I’ll get off the soap box and tell you what happened today.

Warm-up:

10 counts in cadence: Toy Soldier, Imperial Walkers, Side to Side Lunge, MNC’s, Hillbillies, Cotton Pickers

Pledge

Mosey to the shaded part of Poston Park.  YHC was already making the PAX feel better about posting. Apparently on Tuesday Pockets had the troops working out in 90 heat on 150 degree asphalt. We fellowship jogged to the lower parking lot and down the path to the volleyball court near the dock. I don’t think we’ve ever used the volleyball sandpit – now is the time. 11’s: 10 Merkins, mosey through the sand to the other side for 1 Squat. And why not make it dirty? I watched women’s beach volleyball the other night so as you come to the net, 5 vertical jumps. Call them spikes or blocks, whatever you want. Blart at 7-0 tall had an advantage of the low net – I suggested he still needed to jump. Leppard and Broke began reliving the glory days of North Gaston varsity basketball where more fouls than points is a badge of honor. The sand works your quads more than you realize, even at that short of a distance. We finished and Broke provided a 10 count.

We migrated up the hill to the picnic shelter – fully shaded and waiting was a cooler with a mixture of beverages. Since most of the PAX were full of excuses, I’ll share what the Beer Workout is. Similar to ‘deck of death’ but with beers. A mixture of adult beverages were in the cooler. Each PAX took a turn to select a beverage and then came a decision – do I drink it or not? If the PAX drinks the beer, the other 5 take a short lap in the parking lot. The challenge was for the drinker to finish said beverage before the PAX returned or else the drinker also has to perform the exercises. Two men took the challenge – stay tuned. Now, if the PAX declined to drink, well everyone then had to exercise. Each can/bottle had 2 exercises on a label. Perform the first until form breaks or your tired of it. Move to the next exercise either until time expires or you want to flip to the first one again. After each round, run a lap. The time began with 1:39 on the clock – why that time you wonder? Well go back to your grade school field trip when the kids on the bus began singing 99 bottles of beer on the wall…So each round dropped by one second following the song lyrics. You still with me? Lot of explaining here…but the mumble chatter and egging on was fantastic. Here is my best recollection of how it went down.

1. Blart selected a Bud Light – pretty basic. Despite goading, he chose exercise which was Bobby Hurleys and Decline Peter Parkers for 1:39 – we ran a lap.
2. Broke grabbed a pint can of Miller Light – our Nantan was thirsty – he popped the cap immediately and the rest of us took off to see if we could beat him. Defib and Blart were close but Broke is a professional beer drinker and was easily finished. We would have done merkins and mtn climbers had he not been parched.
3. CPAP loves craft beers – I had none to offer so he selected a Natty Ice tall boy. No consideration to drinking that so we had 1:38 of Big Boys and Flutter Kicks. Broke’s stomach hadn’t settled his beer and he thought about puking but the PAX said any merlot splashing meant he had to repeat as Nantan in 2022. Broke held on for dear life. We took a lap.
4. I was curious of Defib’s palette – what would a cardiologist choose? Why none other than a tall boy IceHouse. I think he thought the can was cool. He declined to drink it so that meant 1:37 of Burpees and Mike Tysons – pure hell right there. Broke contemplated being Nantan in 2022.
5. Def Leppard strolls up to the cooler claiming he ain’t had 2 beers in a year in he can’t recall how long – maybe because he blacked out? I know there have to be some good Leppard stories of cruis’in Franklin back in the day and pegging stop signs with empty bottles. So Leppard sniffs through the cooler and picks up the one beverage I planted in case Sister Act posted – yep some of you guessed it: a lime White Claw. So DL reads the label closely, not for the exercise but for the calorie count. Apparently he’s watching his figure. The PAX are really encouraging DL to pop the top. Blart crouches down into a starter’s block and with the pop of the top, Blart becomes Usain Bolt. I’ve never seen him accelerate that quickly. Leppard nearly tosses his cookies on the first gulp but realizes Blart is blazing a trail never before seen, then decides to cheat and cuts the median to find Leppard catching the final drop of the can. We missed Monkey Humpers and Overhead Claps on that round. Leppard wonders aloud how Sister Act enjoys the Claw so much, but says it wasn’t too bad and may even stop at the store on the way home to pick up some more.
6. Huck would appreciate my selection of the only IPA in the cooler: Elysian Space Dust 9% alcohol. I was not about to crack that thing so we did the exercise for 1:36 of High Planks and if you got tired, CDDs. With time left under 5 minutes we cancelled the lap and hustled back to base.

For the PAX’s efforts they were rewarded with choices of water of beer. Leppard said he’d reached his limit so opted for water. Announcements: August 7 tubbing – Tate is schedule to write a pre-blast. This is the final week of the service items (brush, comb, gum, mints) – turn into Freight. Prayer list – Turtleman, Big Pappy, Freight 2.0, SA 2.0. I took us out.

This workout is as much 2nd F as it is 1st F. Tougher challenge once you pound a beer during the workout and have to run or jump around. The mumble chatter is pretty strong too. I have the Q at Old School Saturday morning at 0700. I’ll replace the 2 beers drunk and bring the cooler out for anyone curious. I had several more rounds to go. Plus I have another surprise in my trunk to unveil. #showtoknow. Hopefully Leppard made it home okay, he was a bit wobbly but that could have been the heat.

Thanks for letting me lead,

Short Sale

As of yesterday at 1800 hours I’m officially on vacation. We’re not leaving town until Sunday so I was going to post this morning regardless. Whoopee’s calf is jacked up so he called for a Bootcamp Q, I accepted. GasHouse was going to be busy with F3 Dads having a bunch of energized 2.0’s along with Hermie leading the Pain Lab. Thankfully Sargento reeled in yet another EH with his cousin Connor Cherry. Dragging Queso along for the ride he was responsible for half the PAX at bootcamp. So I cut him some slack this morning and allowed him to mumble chatter as much as he wanted and even play some mu-zak from his eclectic playlist. With an FNG present, I expounded upon the disclaimer while Watts Up and Hermie programed their blue-tooth speaker. At 22 years young, our FNG looked fit to handle things – but for the rest of the PAX I emphasized proper form over reps. Let’s get it on.

Warm-up:

• SSH IC x 10
• Toy Soldier IC x 10
• CDDs IC x 10
• Imperial Walkers IC x 10
• Side to Side Lunge IC x 10

Pledge

We moseyed out of the Schiele across the street to the back of Akers Pharmacy. This workout first originated December 19, 2020. It was 29 degrees outside and I only had JJ and Linus join me that frigid day. I liked the format of the workout and flagged it for another occasion. Today was that day, only it was about 80 degrees with a blanket of humidity hovering. It didn’t take long for the sweat to begin. I’ve used this portion several times and consider it one of my “go to’s” as much as Sister Act leans on Triple Nickle or dirty 11’s. Line up at the basement wall at the back of Aker’s Pharmacy. Get vertical for Hip Slappers – count each slap – 10 total. Feet off the wall and into plank for 10 Plank Jacks, then Bear-Crawl the parking lot to complete 10 Merkins. Take a lap up the hill and around the building. Repeat two more times for a total of 3 rounds complete. Queso lamented he’d work shoulders yesterday. Here in lies the challenge of F3 and overworking certain muscles. Each of us know our limits and when we need to pull back on occasion. The goal is to remain on the active roster and not the IR. At a brawny 16 years of age, that is not an issue for Sargento’s eldest 2.0. Flintstone rattled of a 10 count and then I went over the 5 Core Principles of F3 for our FNG:

1. Free of charge
2. Open to all men
3. Held outdoors, sun or rain, heat or cold
4. Peer led
5. Ends in a COT

Unlike Dark Helmet, that took about 120 seconds and we were off to the next thing. Run to the Boy Scout hut at the back of First Presbyterian Church. Awaiting is a pile of old stones left-over from the church’s construction. For any future Q’s at the GasHouse, make note of those free coupons if you wish. We all grabbed stones of various sizes and unlike his namesake, Flintstone grabbed a small pebble – I guess his muscles were tired. We moved to the front of the hut to use the two-foot wall.

• Step-up left x 10 w/ stone
• Step-up right x 10 w/ stone
• Dips w/ stone in lap x 10
• Complete 3 circuits

Next set:

• Squat Thrusters pressing stone overhead either during or after the squat (PAX choice) x 10
• Merkins x 10
• Flat on back – arms extend overhead w/ stone, pull straight arms until over chest, the fold to skull crusher x 10
• Complete 3 circuits

Keep your stone and mosey to the bottom of the hill leading to youth house. With an even 6 PAX, we split into partners. P1 would run to the building and return while P2 did the strength work until their partner returned, taking breaks as needed:

• Alternating lunge w/ stone
• Curls
• Shoulder Press
• Front Raise

Put the stones back and then head over to the shaded side of the church parking lot near the portico of the fellowship hall. Only about 15 minutes left so we filled the remaining time with 11’s. Hand-Release Merkins and Squats. We had about 3 minutes left or so. I told Queso if he could out-run his dad back to base we wouldn’t do any Mary. Queso takes off…little does he know we were going to run out of time regardless. That’s a old Q mind-trick.

COT: Only announcement is to bring items for July service project: hairbrush, comb, gum, mints, etc. Prayers: Uranus, Turtleman, Stroganoff. We named the FNG quickly. He had some scratches on his lower legs from being in a field, Whoopee yelled “Chigger” and that was that.

I’ll probably keep this Weinke within arm’s reach. It’s a good one for the GasHouse to do with just the right amount of strength, cardio, running, etc. I got to run with Swamp Rat (named by Tesla) a few weeks ago. This was his first post at the GasHouse – hopefully he’ll return as Whoopee’s mission is “To Make GasHouse Great Again.” Red rope hats with MGGA are on order – check MudGear. I’m taking off for a few days but I know you guys will be taking care of business. I’ll try to get some OYO workouts while away so not to be the 6 when I return.

Thanks for the chance to lead.

SS

Flintstone sent out the request to fill a void at The Sandlot, I took advantage. If you’re paying attention to SLACK you’ve heard some rumblings about Iron Wolf and certain challenges. As some of you are aware, I spend my spare time trolling fitness sites for ideas. If you’re unfamiliar with Iron Wolf, take a moment to check out his site. Like Sister Act, he has a small bag of standard exercises that he emphasizes proper form and high rep count. He is as fond of burpees as Slaw is of tassels, as Watts Up is to data analysis, and EZ Rider is to air conditioning units. July is a 700 a day burpee challenge for elite level athletes. That’s insane. Thankfully IW had mercy on the average man and posted a Short Circuit routine. I liked the content and decided to share. A veteran group with some Kotters joining us. Great to see Woody so soon (he posted at NUOS Saturday morning) and Hush Puppy made a triumphant return. The message was modify as needed but do not sacrifice form. Here we go.

Warm up:

Toy Soldiers IC x 10, Imperial Walkers IC x 10, MNC’s IC x 10; Knee Pulls no count, for about 30 seconds

Pledge

Mosey to the building on the left. It was a doctors office at one time but not sure what it’s purpose is currently. The parking lot is large and well lit, so great for a cardio beatdown. The Iron Wolf Short Circuit is simple and brutal with 7 exercises for 5 rounds. We did 10 counts between. All reps were 20 counts. When both legs were involved, you counted one side only. I began each round with SSH’s in cadence of 20 and the rest was OYO.

• SSH IC x 20
• Squats x 20
• Step-back lunges 20 R, 20 L
• Merkins x 20
• LBCs x 20 (IW calls for Big boys but I didn’t want ass rash again – call me a puss, I can take it)
• Flutter Kicks x 20 (right leg only)
• Burpees x 20

Defib had to cut out for an early work meeting so he departed leaving us with even numbers for the remaining 8 minutes or so. Since Flintstone is the site Q lets take some thing simple and complicate it.

11’s with dirty boo-yah merkins in the middle. Yeah you heard me.  First find a partner. Next stand on opposite sides of the parking lot. Both partners perform 10 plank-jacks, run toward each other like Slaw and his M in Siesta Key (but stop short of groping). Perform 5 boo-yah merkins, continue in the direction you’re facing to the other curb. Both partners do 1 Imperial Walker Squat (count the squat). Return to meet partner in the middle for 5 BY merkins then the reps are 9/2. Make sense now? Maybe? Time ran out to the round of 7/4 so we hustled back to start.

Moleskin: This short circuit was no joke. Defib noted he is attempting the beginner level of the Iron Wolf challenge (that’s 150 burpees/day) and we all know his caliber. Dirt said he was trying to slow-walk the burpees to slow down the suck. Good effort there. That set having 20 burpees at the end certainly raises the challenge level. Writing this BB at the end of the day, my quads and arms have been feeling it. I’m sure the 8 other PAX that joined the fun felt similar.

If you’re short on ideas for a beat-down, I encourage you to check out Iron Wolf and get creative. It definitely had the crowd quiet today.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead.

SS

Once NUOS was completed, I turned my attention to my Pain Lab Q. It had been on my bucket list for 2021 to check off at least once. I built a Weinke with a bunch of stuff I didn’t use, so I’ll grab another slot in the future. With this weekend being the 4th of July, lots of vacations and plans, so I budgeted for 10 PAX and happy to get six and a half guys to join me. Why that number you wonder? Well Rudolph took the first 30 minutes or so to complete his Iron Wolf Burpee challenge. Can anyone other than Sister Act and now Rudolph imagine 30 minutes of burpees? Brutal.

I set up 10 stations and then culled down to just 5 strength exercises that would be done for the length of time it took the 6th PAX to farmers carry two sand-bags around the parking lot medians – maybe 90-120 seconds of time. Stations were:

• Right leg lunge and Right straight arm raise w/ 20 lb dumbbell
• Left leg lunge and Left straight arm raise w/ 20 lb dumbbell
• Alternating Single Arm Flys w/ 10 lb dumbbell
• Kettlebell swings
• Stretch band – double arm pulls
• Timer – sand bag carry

We rotated through one circuit – it took longer than I anticipated.  Next was the Core Challenge for July. As I said in the challenge – for week 1, try to complete the full sets at least 3 times and the Q can incorporate into their workout if they like. We got after it with Rudolph joining us in the 2nd set. Crowd favorite seems to be the Turtle Crunches. All of these are designed to work various parts of your core, some in direct opposition. Think you’re fully stretched and then crunching or twisting.

Upon completion I offered the PAX a choice – go back to the stations or go to the picnic tables. PAX picked option B which was 30 seconds of the following set completed 3 times:

• Step-up Right
• Step-up Left
• Derkins
• Dips
• Bulgarian Squats Right
• Bulgarian Squats Left
• Decline Peter Parker
• Incline Merkins
• Rest

Only thing good about that set is I didn’t have a ruck sack on my back. While our group was at the picnic tables, Roscoe snuck his boot-camp back to our pain stations to finish out his weinkeless, make it up as you go workout.

Bootcamp covered the COT so read that for prayers and announcements. The only exercise on this list that I created was decline Peter Parker. Everything else is borrowed from someone else. The Pain Stations were built around the first two exercises F3 Fonda (Shane Redmond) had me doing. Unlike us, he is a professional, so why not take his idea and build around it. It’s a good cardio and strength combination. Which is a good thing about the Pain Lab that I have to remind myself is an important element of fitness – strength training. I love the high cardio burns and though running isn’t my favorite, I do appreciate how it pushes my heartrate. But Fonda has taught me that strength training will provide additional calorie burn longer. Rudolph and others probably know this and have preached those lessons. All this to say, we now have multiple Pain Labs now so take a mosey over to that workout and check it out.

Whoopee created an organized Saturday Extra Credit session a few weeks back Nut Up or Shut-up (notice the last word is hyphenated so hence the 4-letter acronym; that seems to be an issue for some…) Q’s have been rotating around so it was my turn. Whoopee was on call, smearing his sexiness all over the hospital, so really I was free to create my own workout as the framework is pretty loose: rucksack required but don’t really ruck. What made it a little challenging for me is I also had the Pain Lab at 0700 so to create two workouts that didn’t overlap too much.

JJ was in the parking lot when I arrived. Roscoe was next and Watts Up was the final train car. I had only two coupons – a bucket with a sandbag – let’s say it was 100 lbs give or take 75-ish. I also had a PVC pipe filled with sand. Since it was my Q and we were to do some heavy lifting, I called a few warm-uppy, stretchy exercises. No need to get hurt at our old age, well JJ’s not officially respect yet, but at 0600 we needed to get the blood flowing a bit. Once complete, grab coupons and head down the nature trail. We said hello to the goats and they replied. We gathered at the bottom of the hill near the bridge. I had music too – my normal 80’s noise.

The timer picked up a coupon, rucked up the hill to visit the goats and return. Frist was the PVC pipe – rifle carry that with arms fully extended. Round 2 was farmers carry or barrel hug the bucket/sandbag. The three remaining PAX did:

• 10 Merkins (Ruck on)
• 10 Squats (Ruck on)
• 10 Ruck Press (you guessed it genius, ruck off)

You repeated those sets continuously until it was your turn to to carry the load. After two rounds we left the coupons and moseyed along the trail and to the picnic shelter.

• 20 Step Ups Right
• 20 Step Ups Left
• 20 Dips
• 20 Derkins

The ruck stayed on for the entire circuit. After a brief rest, we stepped down the reps to 15, then 10, then 5. Nothing like Derkins with weight on your back – our arms were getting toasty. We re-traced our steps, retrieved the coupons and with a few minutes to spare, finished the session with some core work.

• Flutter Kicks – hold ruck overhead x 20
• Heels to Heaven – hold ruck overhead x 20
• American Hammer – w/ ruck x 20

That was time – good work put in by the PAX. NUOS is a friendly workout to get your Saturday started (a bit early). You’ll get your muscles loose. Your legs will get some work but not in the same fashion as running a bunch of miles, so your ready for the bootcamp but not exhausted to the point where you’ll be the 6. If you’re a hungry for an extra workout in your monthly goal – this is a great way to get one. Put it on your schedule and post in GasHouse of TFY.

SS

At the Coconut Horse this am a few guys scattered before the official launch time of 0630. A few arrived just ahead of schedule. You can tell it is now summer as JJ rolls up in a tank top. He and I share a similar view of not being cold. Roscoe drug his neighbor out of the fart sack – a Kotter – F3 Wheelie. I had an FNG join us too. The clock struck and the PAX went out for some First F at the famed Coconut Horse loop.

Upon return we gathered for the COT, sharing prayers for Uranus, Linus’ dad, Roscoe’s Father-in-Law, and Dr. Seuss’ family. No new announcements for this group. Time to name the FNG: Robert Buckles is a long time friend. I met Robert at Camp Seagull while we were counselors, Robert in archery and me on the tennis staff. That was 1991. Flash forward a few years after Robert and family settle into Gastonia as he was a cotton broker. Funny how some paths will cross. We go to First Presbyterian Church in Gastonia along with others, including Roscoe who presented to the Henderlight class on the power of F3. For those unfamiliar with the demographics of First Pres, the Henderlight Sunday School class has an average age of near 70 and that may be generous. While most are retired from professions, these men carry much wisdom from life’s observations so for those that are in our middle-ish years, we can learn from them in many ways.

Roscoe’s message that Sunday was doubtfully going to EH many but it did trigger Robert’s mind to inquire. So we discussed yesterday. I offered that we’d begin with a walk if he’d commit to posting at 0630. Sure enough he did. Robert is an old soul from East Tennessee. He doesn’t meet strangers and he enjoys bourbon. We kept with that theme, sort of, and named him Old Grand-dad which is actually distilled in Kentucky, but never the less, welcome to our brotherhood.

In Q-Source, we are selecting our own topics. Initially I searched for wisdom on time-management and procrastination – my jesters. I could have shared a list of words or paragraph, but really I just need to focus and get on things faster (“Now” is my word of the year). Feel free to offer words of encouragement anytime. I felt a topic broader than my own personal challenges would be best for the group. Servant Leadership is nothing new, but something I think about. For those of Christian faith, no better example is that of Jesus that his entire ministry was built on that very thing. In John 13:1-17, the story is recounted of Jesus washing his disciples feet. It has always been a powerful image. Robert Greenleaf was an American who founded the Servant Leadership Movement. Much of his philosophy was further developed by Larry Spears. I share these men with you so they are properly credited with the lesson. You’re welcome to Google the topic and learn more but the six main points we discussed were:

1. Seek to understand others and listen carefully to what they have to say
2. Avoid making assumptions
3. Recognize and understand one’s fears, the resolve to grow in your bravery over time by gradually confronting and overcoming these fears
4. Leading is good. Serving is better. Serving then leading is best of all
5. To the greatest extent possible, insist upon the right to make decisions that affect your own life, and support others in their own quests for those same rights
6. Show people that they matter to you

Many of our leadership opportunities in F3 follow these key point. The SLT, Site Q’s, and other leadership opportunities are to serve others without any compensation (financial, praise, etc.). Some of the worst mistakes to make are assuming anything. Some of the worst beat-downs I’ve suffered have come at underestimating what I thought might be an easy workout. #6 – showing people they matter – it’s a big one. We often share, you’re posting is not always for you, sometimes it’s for the guy in the circle dealing with something that just needed to get his mind away from it and couldn’t have done it without you.

Q-source is a valuable thing – well beyond the book DREDD wrote. There are always opportunities to learn and improve. Thankfully we have Christ as a model for us but many others in our earthly world to help our journey.

Not sure if you noticed or not, but it’s a bit challenging to get on the Q schedule for our Region, and that’s a good problem to have. The Site Q’s are doing an excellent job ensuring each workout is covered weeks ahead. For me, it had been a while since I posted at The Fighting Yank and I reached out to BOS weeks ago for this slot. As I began to gather ideas for what we might do, I also thought to challenge the PAX to bring nail clippers or Chapstick, which are the June Service Project items. I figure this would be a good way to fill the coffers. I stated there would be a penalty for any PAX showing empty handed. Turns out either the PAX forgot about it, never read the message on Slack, or wanted more punishment. Only Doodles and I came with items so that meant the penalty was x 8. You probably guessed, the penalty was 5 burpees.

I moved the warm-up circle to the bottom of the steps as there were runners and walkers passing by on the sidewalk. Sargento unsuccessfully tried to EH about 5 or 6. It then entered my mind to imagine an 20-ish old Sargento running around East Village (NCSU bar) trying to pick up chicks. Remind me to ask his M if that’s how they met. You only need one to say “yes,” right? So, at the COT I offered a disclaimer because we had an FNG – Curt Williams, now Tin Man finally posted albeit after double knee replacement. See HIPAA’s BB for that. The warm-up began:

• Toy Soldier/Imperial Walker/Side to Side Lunge all IC x 10
• Because the inventor was in the house, I gave way to Sargento for THE patented Right over Left in cadence! closely followed by the Left over Right, once again in cadence. It went far too long but mildly stretched our hamstrings.
• I stole back the Q and finished with Abe Vogoda and MNC’s IC x 10
• Group split – 9 followed me.

A short mosey to the large parking lot across from Glenway Pub had us begin the penalty with a Slaughter Starter of 20 burpees. Dr. Seuss didn’t seem happy but pushed through as he always does. The parking lots had been set up with 4 flags spaced at various distances. I finally brought F3 golf to the Yank. I had to dust off this one as it had been 2 years since it last appeared at Folsom. The Belmont Muni would be played and since the course was slow at 0715, we played as two-five-somes; don’t try this at home kids, I am a professional. How to play since some of you are new. One PAX stands on the “tee” and tosses a corn-hole bag as far as they like. On the scorecard are six “movements” that align to each shot:

1. Lunge walk
2. Burpee Long-jump
3. Bear Crawl
4. Crab Walk
5. Bunny Hop
6. Skip

Once the 5-some arrives at the bag (aka golf ball) they toss again, then do the Burpee Long-jump. This is where some amount of strategy is contemplated: do we want to get to the hole faster by doing a lot of burpee long-jumps or do we lay-up to shorten the worst of traveling exercises? Doodles on his first throw went for a lay-up and we paid the price; allow me to explain. Upon arriving at each hole, there is a corresponding exercise and rep MULTIPLIER.

1. Par 4 – Hand Release Merkins x 10
2. Par 5 – LBCs x 10
3. Par 3 – Shoulder Tap Burpees x 5
4. Par 4 – Squats x 10

I know it’s early and I’m asking PAX to do some math but if it took 4 throws to arrive at the hole, then 4 x 10 (or 5) to get total reps at each hole. Both teams “parred” Hole #1 with HR Merkins so that was 40 of those which is no joke. My team sacrificed the burpee long jumps to hole out for Eagle on the par 5, but promptly bogeyed the Par 3 to give a shot back. Our opponents were steady with all “4’s” on their card finishing one shot behind us at even par. It’s a different way to get after the workout. The 4 hole set up took about 20 or so minutes, so it could fit within a weekday session – maybe you’ll become an F3 golfer soon?

Moving on to the SunTrust parking lot across from the Lodge – 10 more burpees (30 of 40). Re-grouped and moseyed to the small parking lot between Piccalo and something else. All I know is there were brick walls on either side and about 30 feet between. Some strength work is in order. 10 Hip Slappers, bear-crawl across the lot (I’d have done that even if Tesla wasn’t there). Once facing the other wall, 10 Dirty Hook-Ups and 10 Merkins: single count all reps (i.e. 5 right, 5 left for the HS’s and DU’s). We did that for three rounds, modifying as needed. PAX were given the choice of individual or partner work – the voices heard said “individual” so next on the list was to stay in the valley of bricks for 11’s: 10 Donkey Kicks, run across the lot for 1 Wall Tap (jump and touch the wall, attempt to have some gap between shoes and ground). Work down and up in rep counts. Once complete, we moseyed to the open parking lot of The String Bean and Belmont Eye. Face the road and salute the best Optometrist on Main Street in Belmont, at least that’s my opinion. So 10 Monkey Humpers IC…next let’s finish off the penalty – 10 more burpees.

Q checks time on phone and notes 0750, hmmm how to fill. Let’s do 11’s again with 10 merkins and 1 SSH until I call time. “Creative” was said aloud. Well it was either that or 10 minutes of Mary – so which poison do you want to take? At 0755, we mosyed to the statue. Sargento completed his 0-3 EH day with a final attempt to head off a car he thought would come by his post on Main Street, only they were wise to his antics and quickly turned left. We had 2 minutes of Mary which consisted of L crunches – that’s new. On back, legs at 90 degrees, do a crunch. Then we did half Freddie Mercury – one leg straight, other leg bent, opposite elbow attempts to touch knee. Flip that around. Try it and your obliques will know what I selling. TIME!

COT: Prayer Requests: Dr. Seuss nieces/nephews over the sudden passing of his former sister-in-law; Uranus and family; Roscoe’s Father-in-law; Linus’ father’s health; Tin Man’s neighbor battling stage 4 cancer. Announcements: Grow Ruck Training, NUOS – check w/ Tiger, sign up; June Service Project items – bring nail clippers and Chapstick to finish out June (see Freight).

Moleskin: F3 golf does a good job to trim down the PAX into smaller groups. If you’ve ever played a Captain’s Choice event 95% of the time, the team pulls together and supports each other’s efforts. Usually someone comes through with a clutch shot or putt. That happened today in our groups where we figured out the strategy and tried to execute. Regardless, the exercises are challenging (see HR Merkins and Shoulder Tap Burpees). The coffeteria at Cherubs was good conversation. Overall a good start to the weekend. Until the next time – thanks for the chance to lead.

Short Sale