Author: Whoopee (Page 18 of 25)

So today was the Pub…..we’re gonna run, right? The backblast might be funny if ShortSale is writing it. It might be short if Stroganoff is writing it. You might need a thesaurus if you are getting Monkified….HOWEVER, Whoopee is the Q so who know’s what we will see, hopefully something about George Strait???

Today we ran-no surprise. But my BB is not about the run. It is about something I did later in the day-I went to a Rotary meeting and heard a speaker that got me re-focused and I have not stopped thinking about it all day so I wanted to share that instead of “we ran this morning.”

We heard Michael Smith speak today about his experience in the Navy-he is now retired. He was involved in cybersecurity with the Navy and served under several extremely successful leaders during his 20 year career. He worked with leaders such as General McChrystal and Admiral McRaven (famous for his “Make Your Bed” speech-look it up and watch it if you don’t know what I am referring to). He talked about these men he worked with and focused on specific things he learned from several of them. He started off his speech with the impact that something the Rotary Club did that gave him chills-we sang America the Beautiful and recited the Pledge of Allegiance.  His speech was both motivating and humbling-it made me proud to be in F3-a group that recites the Pledge at each workout with a flag present (most of the time), and it also made me embarrassed about fartsacking when I did not make the most of that day by getting up and working out. And then he got me-he mentioned the Lone Survivor story-the event that cost several servicemen their lives, including Lt. Michael Murphy….the man behind THE MURPH. This is what got me-I have not been doing my pull-up routine and he was calling me out without even knowing it. I got home today, almost ran to my closet, and got my pull-ups in and immediately felt better.

I am writing this for a few reasons-to share how this affected me, to motivate those of you who are prone to slipping off THE PATH like I am, and to make sure someone (? anyone) makes me accountable-we all need this. Make each other accountable-whether it is running, rucking, eating right, spending time with your family, even something as seemingly insignificant as using poor form on Merkins…whatever-we all need to be pushed to be the best version of ourselves that we can be. We don’t need pats on the back. We don’t need ‘attaboys. We get enough of that from other people every day. We need our brothers to push us, make us tougher, make us healthier, make us BETTER, and sharpen us (#ISI). Call us out (myself included) when we start getting that Sandy V-I know I get it more often than I want to admit.

Here are the words that Michael Smith talked about today. All of them have significance, some more than others to each of us. Tenacity is the one that got to me today-I think it is because I think I have been lacking in this as of late. That will change-starting today.

Think about this and get your butt out with your brothers as often as you can.

Diversity         Credibility                Competitive          Execution          Accountability

Inclusion          Vision                         People First            Tenacity            Humility

GasHouse Steeplechase Challenge

What is it?
The FIRST EVER CSAUP event at the Coconut Horse AO in Gastonia.

When is it?
Sometime in the late summer-early fall.

Why would I want to do it?
If you are asking, you can skip this and go back to your fartsack.

What will it cost me?
Everything if you miss it. Even more if you decide to take the challenge.
However, it will not cost you any money at all.

This will be an event that combines rucking, running, push-ups, sit-ups, and a lot of chocolate milk at the end. The idea is similar to a GoRuck Qualification event and will be held at the Coconut Horse AO at a date to be determined. We will have categories that will have goals for you to hit to qualify (and possibly receive a patch) as far as time and repetitions. All finishers, however, will be eligible for the chocolate milk at the end.

Training Tips:

Do a lot of push-ups.
Do a lot of sit-ups.
Run.
Ruck.

More info to follow.

Twelve men gathered in the gloom, wait……no. It was really kind of nice out this am. I wouldn’t call it the gloom-if you weren’t there, you should have been. We had really nice weather-a little chilly but overall was very pleasant. We also had some good music at Defib’s suggestion once we got to the Thang (sorry PainLabbers, you missed out on some quality tunes-keep reading). We talked a little about the Sept 11 Flight 93 events-something I heard on a podcast this week. Basically it was a recap put together from phone calls and the flight recorder from both the patriots on Flight 93 and those evil hijackers that crashed in Pennsylvania on 9/11/01.  I was reminded of the need to make each day our best so that the people who have both served and died for our country (military and otherwise) did not do this in vain. Their families have gone through more than we will ever know. Knowing about a small part of their suffering should be enough motivation for us to really try to be the best versions of ourselves EVERY DAY. For me, this needs to start with getting out in the gloom and exercising with my brothers who make me a better person. Busting my butt to keep up with the guy next to me (I know, you vs you, blah blah blah)-I cannot turn that competition switch off and it is what gets me motivated to push on the last set(s?) when I really just want to lay down on my 6 and rest. Anyway, if you were not there this morning, you missed out. All around, I think it was a great start to the day-DRP really helps, especially when you are chasing after Dolph and Defib.

Four of us started with a ruck at 6am (1 actually started earlier on a brief run but not sure how long-up before the enemy Roscoe-good work). This ruck thing is great for a warmup, helping to get some weight off, really nice for those able to mosey but because of back or other issues need to avoid running, or really if you just want to get to know the guy next to you a little better. We got back with about 5 minutes to spare and then got to work.

WU: 5 burpees, 10 SSH, 10 burpees, 20 LBCs, 5 burpees, 10 squats, 5 burpees. The burpees were for Rudolph-not the 100 that was threatened but that’s ok-it did the trick. After some minor taunting, we split to PainLab and BootCamp.

Thang:

Mosey to the flag for the Pledge then to the PAD at FPC.  Run up the stairs (touching every step)-at top do 5 Hip Slappers and at the bottom do LBCs. The LBCs were 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 reps with 5 HS at the top. Mosey on the stairs until the 6 finishes. I love me some HSers. We talked about Flight 93 here briefly.

We moseyed to Sherwood Elementary School for some partner work. P1 does the exercise while P2 moseys across the soccer field (short distance-width of the field) then flapjack. 3 rounds of each: Hang from the Bar, Australian pull-ups, and hip and thigh extension. During the hip/thigh thing, there were a lot of……let’s just say “sounds” that should not be repeated (especially at an elementary school) until tonight with my M (I wish). This led to suggestions of “special music” that then led to Defib’s suggestion of some Barry White tunes….Being the Q that I am, I could not pass this up so I quickly pulled up “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe” and we listened to that for waaaaaaayyyyyyyy too many times. I’ll be trying that on my M tonight. If I don’t post at Coconut Horse tomorrow, you will know why….

Once we recovered, we took off for the next exercise-Mosey to the hill in the end zone and run up the hill 5 times. At the top, touch the fence. At the bottom do 5 deconstructed burpees: 5 squats, 5 burps, and 5 merkins. That hill moved way up on my list of things I love. It basically sucks-no other way to describe.  We then moseyed to the PAD again for another stair workout. We did 5 merkins at the top then escalator flutter kicks at the bottom in reps of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 (no, only count your right leg). We then moseyed back to start where PainLab was in full swing with some Mary. We jumped in, burned the abs a bit, then finished with COT.

During the COT, I brought up  the podcast (JockoWillink) about Flight 93. Definitely worth listening to at least the first 15 minutes of podcast 119 to be reminded about what happened that morning. It will likely impact how you leave your house each day to go to work and what kind of attitude you have if you pay attention. Hopefully, it will also get your butt out of bed on those days when you are considering fartsacking. JK2 reminded us about the significance also with Easter and the sacrifice that was made for us to have the lives we have-another Q fail-thanks for reeling me back in to what we really should have been focused on.

Prayers for those traveling, for family members with health issues, aging relatives with other issues, and all the Pax with recovery from injuries and general soreness. Hope to see you in the gloom soon so we can make each other better.

enjoyed it-Whoopee

BackBlast from Custom GoRuck Tough 3/16/18
Cadre: Chuy and TJ
Organized by F3-MECA

Start Time 930pm, Friday night
End Time 930am, Saturday am
GasHouse Pax: Freight, Woody, Boudin, Whoopee
Total Pax for event: 31

Required Gear: ruck with 30# weight, 2 liter hydration bladder, 1 liter Nalgene bottle, reflector bands on ruck, headlamp with extra batteries, photo ID, quitter cash ($20) in case you cannot complete

Extra Gear: snacks, food, windbreaker, gloves, extra clothes/socks/gloves, boots vs running shoes

After the event we thought it would be helpful to share notes about how we trained, what seemed to work, what did not work, what we brought, and basically anything we learned about this event and a few things we wish we had done differently. This is a summary with input from all 4 of us. You can also find a lot of ideas on the internet/GoRuck website. This is written by Whoopee (my perspective) with a lot of input from the other guys. In retrospect, we really approached this as a team-we tried to do EC together, pushed each other to do extra stuff, and shared things that worked and didn’t work as well as talked a lot about gear and packing while we were training. Overall, I REALLY ENJOYED THIS (both the event and the training). Hope this helps you.

TRAINING:
We all did F3 workouts as much as we could knowing this would serve us well. I think that was the single most important part of training for this. That being said, it is NOT ENOUGH. We all did some extra training-running, rucking, and even swimming. We all agreed we should have spent more time rucking with weight and carrying heavy things. Rucking 5-10 miles with > #50 repeatedly would be my suggestion. During the event we carried jerry cans and stretchers with heavy things on them. The jerry cans were carried individually but the stretchers required 6 people to work together so practicing this would have been helpful. I think we all agreed this was probably the toughest part. Having a #45 ruck on becomes an afterthought-you really don’t realize you have it on after awhile.
I thought the swimming helped me a lot as far as cardio preparation-I don’t remember being short of breath for the event except during the 2 mile run for time on the Army PT test. I think I should have spent more time running also. I think 5 miles runs 3 times per week would have been fine. We did not really go long distances all at once during the event, but it would have helped with leg strength and endurance. We logged somewhere around 20 miles over the event.
Again, rucking while carrying things would have been helpful and should be part of your training. Suggestions included doing exercises to improve grip strength while rucking: pull ups, hanging from the pull up bar, deadlifts, kettle bell swings, and farmers carry.
Wrapping hot spots on feet with leukotape was a life-saver for all of us: thanks Woody. Look this up if you have never used it. Some of us used body glide to prevent chafing-I did not and did fine but would suggest trying before the day of the event if you are going to use it. I wore a Jocko rash guard, exercise short sleeve t shirt, spandex shorts, ruck pants from GoRuck website, Salomon trail shoes, and Mechanix gloves. I did not change anything and put on a windbreaker immediately whenever we stopped and were not exercising-see below. I believe the temperature was 45-55 degrees.

PREPARING BEFORE:
Chuy sent out some info for us to review beforehand. I don’t think any of us really took this serious enough. A tough part of this event is thinking after you are physically exhausted and functioning on little sleep over the last 24 hours. I think there would have been more fun and less pain if we had known the answers to more of the questions related to what he sent us. We all made mistakes and this led to more exercise.

PACKING:
We went to a meeting a month or so before the event and heard from 3 experienced F3 guys who all had different opinions on gear, however the most experienced guy (>75 events) gave us the best advice which was “less is more” when it comes to packing. We did a 12 hour event so besides required gear, I needed a windbreaker to put on when we stopped to do some teaching plus some food-that is all. The food for me was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and 3 Kind bars. I had half a sandwich and a Kind bar at the end. Pack your ruck before and get a dry bag (or 2) to keep things in. You may not need the “dry” part but having things in your ruck that are easy to find in the dark and then get back into your ruck so you are ready to go quickly. I left my windbreaker in the large section (not in dry bag) and only put my food, extra batteries, and license/quitter cash in the dry bag. My sandwich was in a ziplock bag and the kind bars were individually wrapped when I bought them. My batteries, license, and cash were in a ziplock bag. I put gatorade in the Nalgene bottle and preferred that during the event instead of water. I brought an extra set of gloves but had no need for them.

ATTITUDE:
Remember you signed up for this, you trained hard for this, and it is “fun” so enjoy it. As Woody put it, it is all a game. Play it all the way to the end. It is over when they say it is so no matter what, keep going until it is clear that it is over. Chuy was our lead cadre and it was clear he put a lot of time into planning our event. He wanted to work us hard but also learn a lot and have fun. These guys are all patriots and have been through a lot so we can learn a lot from them.

That is about all I’ve got. All 4 of us had a great time, were exhausted after the event, I said I would never do again, and then within 24 hours had basically planned to do another one in a few months.

Top 5 things I would do differently:

1. Run more
2. carry more while rucking more frequently
3. prepare for Army PT more (specifically MANY more sit-ups and push-ups)
4. study info sent by Chuy before event
5. be more assertive during event-speak up, lead, be more verbal

OK guys, I don’t have many details, but wanted to get some info out for you to start to think about. You are probably aware of the new Y on Robinwood Road. Off to the side is about 40 acres they plan to turn into a running trail. The proposed trail is currently under construction. Along the proposed route are several areas with trash and overgrown brush that need to be removed. This is where YOU come in. If you are willing and able, I am asking for a few hours of your time on a weekend (likely within the next month) to use those muscles that you have been working on-yes, even soccer arms can help. It will involve lifting some stuff and clearing some trash-bring gloves and some yard work tools (loppers, shears, wheelbarrows, clippers, possibly chainsaws, TNT, flamethrowers…) and be ready to work.

When I get info on the date I will let you know but suspect it will be one of the weekends in Feb, possibly the weekend of 2/24. Think of the impact this YMCA will have on Gastonia. You do not want to miss being a part of helping with this project. Based on what I saw out there, I would recommend NOT bringing the 2.0s. There are a lot of unknowns and think it will be difficult to keep everyone safe if 2.0s are wandering around.

I have been bragging about how much we as a group want to help with service projects in Gastonia. Please try to make it for this community service project even if only for an hour or 2. Again, I will let you know when I hear the date.

Twas a cold and chilly morning in the Gashouse. We had 3 for some EC with a stroll through the area with some weight. I think I may actually like the rucking-good fellowship and had some laughs. Need to come out with us sometime and try it. All it takes is a backpack with some weight, and actually, the weight is optional-no one really checks it anyway….

We got back with 2 min to spare and got to it.

Disclaimer for the FNG-I met him earlier this week and his sounded like a good fit-pretty much where a lot of us were prior to F3-high school athlete, family, some friends, put on a little weight over the last year, wanted to exercise but none of his wife’s friend’s husbands were really into it…..I could tell you more about him but it would be a HIPPA violation…..

WU: 10 or so SSH, Squats, Merkins, Flutter Kicks, then 5 burpees OYO then the Pledge.

PainLab went 1 direction and we headed to the library. We started with 1 min of called exercise AMRAP with 2 rounds of each: High Knees, Flutter Kicks, Squats, and Merkins. Thanks to the Pax for remembering this Monkish part for me. My short term memory is not so good. We then partnered up and P1 started lunging through the parking lot while P2 did 3 burpees then ran to catch P1. Swap positions and continue this process around the lot and back to start. At this point the lunges were not fun for me so I Omaha’d-next 2 laps would be (I think) SSH X 5 and Mountain Climber X 10 but instead of lunges, it was Nur. This was better and still provided adequate burn.

Next, mosey to Grier Middle School field and pick up my wife’s cowbells that were secretly hidden earlier this am during the ruck recon mission. We listened to a little Blue Oyster Cult on the way. Think ShortSale made some comments about his favorite musical artist George Strait along the way but I was too focused to let it deter me from my Weinke. The plan was an exercise called the Bear Hunt. The Q had some trouble setting up, but that was merely part of my plan, sort of, maybe. I really wanted to allow you to catch your breath. Partner up again. P1 bear crawls 1 direction. P2 runs about 30 yards to cowbell and rings it then runs back to catch P1. At this point, P1 picks up P2 (piggy back, fireman, by the nose…however) and carries back to the start. We did 3 rounds each, then we did 1 more because we could. We had some time left, so we did a few arm squats then I pulled one from Stroganoff’s playbook on the way back to start and juked left instead of right and we did some Hip Slappers-2 rounds of 10. Somewhere above we did 5 burpees for the train that I heard sometime in the past 24 hours. We moseyed back to start and joined forces with the PainLab for some Mary led by Rudolph then the COT and naming the FNG-HIPPA.

Great work this am. We had an FNG that I think will be back soon-he was making sure about Monday’s workout before he left so if you see him this next week, make him feel welcome. Remember how life changing this F3 thing can be-we all know it firsthand. Kudos to T Square for this past week collecting things for the family with the fire tragedy this week. Think he was in Folsom this am for his 6th workout in as many days to collect these things. Send him a message if you have something to add.

Whoopee

8 Showed on a chilly morning at the Fighting Yank. They were warned about a possible ruck training this am by Twitter the night before and, despite that, 2 put in some EC with 10 miles before we started. If you don’t know who those 2 were, you have not been posting enough.  I gave a quick disclaimer and general theme for today.

WU: SSH, Squat, Merkins, LBCs all IC and somewhere around 11 of each.

Thang: Mosey to the track but stop along the way on the grassy hill for a little game of ” 5 or 10.” This was an “on the fly” game that went something like this. I say, “5 or 10?” and a Pax responds with his preference. He does not know if it is burpees or count off (rest). We did this for a little while and I think I was the only one who thought this was remotely humorous. Definitely, definitely, definitely will use this again. We continued the mosey up to the track for the first part of our “Ruck Training” workout. Mosey/run a lap then do 50 squats, 40 lunges, then plank. Repeat for 4 cycles. Along the way Quiche informed me the track was only 0.20 miles and that if we wanted to do a mile, we needed another lap. We did 4 anyway. Sargento started hallucinating during the second? lap-then all of a sudden…..POOF!!! something appeared on the railroad track similar to what he thought he saw…..Shortly thereafter, we see a train appear and thankfully, Tiger reminded me to salute the train-5 burpees then get back to it. We finished our 4 laps then started on part 2. Tesla gave me the Q earlier in the week and suggested we include a Tesla bear crawl which I immediately thought…..well, I don’t want to say what I thought because A) Tesla is site Q and a pretty nice guy, and 2) My M occasionally reads these BB and I don’t want to soil my pristine reputation I have established over the last 25 or so years with her. So what do we do next, you ask? We did a Tesla Sprint Slalom Bear Crawl, or TSSBC for short. This involved running across the field (approx 50 yards) and back. As Pax return to the start line, they drop into plank position in a line with space between the pax. The first guy back starts the bear crawl slalom through the returning pax as they arrive and drop into plank position. We did 2 rounds of this and probably could have done more, however time was ticking away and we had more to do. I mistakenly left out some flutter kicks at the end of each round so we added 2 rounds of flutter kicks at the end. It was at this point that Quiche inadvertently lost his key which was later found by Abba after the COT.

Next we moseyed to the wall back near the start. We correctly identified the Turd Shack on the way to the wall. The next exercise was a version of EMOM (Every Minute On the Minute). This consisted of 10 Hip Slappers (capitalized because I really like them) then run from wall to turd shack. At the 1 minute mark while at the turd shack do 10 sumo squats (or Bobby Hurleys if you preferred) and run back to wall. We did at total of 8 minutes (4 HS, 4 SS) when I posed a question to the pax-who and why was the flag erected (yes, erected Stroganoff) near the Turd Shack? Abba and Wheezy both (I think both?) correctly answered-it was a girl scout project for her Gold Award. So at this point, we cut the EMOM by 2 minutes as a bonus. We then went back to turd shack and did 22’s with LBCs and Merkins. This is just like 11’s but rep sum is 22 and count by 2’s. This went fairly quickly with the short hill. We finished with Mary with all pax leading a round.

COT, quick namorama, prayers for guys running Joe Davis Run, then find Quiche’s key-good job Abba.

Great work guys-hard to get out there in the cold. Thanks for showing up-fartsacking is overrated.

Whoopee

Record number this am at Coconut Horse for a Christmas Eve stroll through G-town. We had pax from Cramerton, G-town, NOGA, SOFA, and everywhere in between along with an FNG. We had non-runners, active runners training for marathons, and retired runners. It was crazy. We even had an un-named public servant runner with some obscene 80’s picture on his shirt (“Scoping out the Babes”). There were multiple pax out for EC who came in early and stayed late. Overall great run this am, even for the Q who is not a fan of running.

Welcome Randy, (respect) our FNG. We EH’d each other into showing up this am-#ISI. He worked out with Roscoe and Whoopee pre-F3 several years ago and couldn’t move his arms later in the day (compliments of Roscoe) so this was a big step for him. Stroganoff pulled the name out of his…….head after a brief pause. Hope to see Randy out there at the running Ao’s in the future…..this will eventually lead to other days but we will keep that to ourselves for now. Merry Christmas-Whoopee

11 Pax showed this am. It was cold. We had a roamer from Florence who was visiting in-laws and decided he wanted to get after it. Glad to have you Belding. We will expect you at least twice yearly (hopefully more often) from now on. I did not realize I had the Q until yesterday. I put together the electronic weinke with a smile late afternoon, but did not think about the cold weather and battery drain so I had to go rogue for the second half when the battery went dead-good! I now get to challenge myself to think on the fly and come up with something painful, probably more painful than what I had on my weinke.

Here is what I remember:

Quick disclaimer, brief explanation of the PainLab-low impact workout for recovering or those with issues related to potential impact injuries. I could have done a better job with the explanation-will make sure to do that next time.

WU: Quick, warmups are necessary but not what we came for. SSH, Merkins, Jump Rope, Mtn Climbers IC anywhere from 3-8 reps-whatever felt right. 10 burpees finished up the WU then we hit the Pledge.

Thang-PainLab split off with 3-good to see Shadrap and SledgeOMatic back. You get kudos Rudolph-great idea starting the PainLab. Hopefully other un-named pax who posted in the past but are not regulars will reconsider their reasons for not posting. I had at least a hundred reasons not to post. More importantly, there were 7 different reasons standing in front of me for why I should post. Those 7 are stronger reasons than the hundred or more I could have thought of to not post.

8 of us moseyed to the back side woods of Schiele for some partner work on the dirt hill. P1 does exercise, P2 runs up the hill to the special tree. At the top of the hill, do 5 Merkins then come back and flapjack. Exercises were as follows: Merkins, Squats, Flutter kicks. Quick break with 5 burpees then round 2 same process but exercises were the following: Mtn Climbers, Jump Squats, and Freddy Mercury. At about this point, my electronic weinke was dead. Not a whole lot of mumble chatter so our partner group got to pepper Belding on some info about himself. He was Head of School when he joined F3 and introduced to F3 by a teacher, but now works in another field (help me out Roscoe). His wife grew up here in Gastonia and her family has a surveying company. He likes long walks on the beach. He received a cat wrapped in a box for Christmas. He has an uncle named Eddie who has a metal plate in his head and a dog named Snotz. He drives a wood panel station wagon…..wait a second, maybe some of that is not right. Back to the workout.

We moseyed up into the parking lot for a lap or so then headed to the wall of the museum. Hmmm, what should we do here? How about EMOM? Every Minute On the Minute. Sounds good, but Q failed on this. I misjudged the timing so for the first few rounds we had very little recovery time. Sorry, 50% discount on your admission cost. For the next 10-15 minutes we started our routine every minute on the minute. The exercises were as follows: 10 high knees, 10 SSH, 5 burpees then run a short distance and back. The “and back” part was the mistake which gave us little recovery time. After a few rounds I figured that out and we modified. Once we did about 8 rounds of this, we modified the Burpees to……..(drumroll please)……….hip slappers. I got a strange look from Monk as I announced this. That was better than mumble chatter. Much better. I can’t help it. I really do like them. They hurt, but in a really good way. For motivation, we reminded Monk that his M and one of his 2.0s were in the Bahamas and probably would be swimming soon.

Next we moseyed back to the woods down to the pond for Dips and Derkins, 11 style. Start with 1 dip, 1 derkin (no, not Jerkin. Save that for tonight, or for coffeerama???#showtoknow) then take a lap around the pond. 2 dips, 2 derkins, take a lap around the pond,…up to 11 dips, 11 derkins, a lap around the pond. There was more mumble chatter at this point, but not enough. I began offering rewards for anyone willing to swim across the pond-we would quit the workout, I would buy them breakfast, throw in a nice, gently-used F3 hat? Any takers? Anyone? Anyone? How about if anyone would throw Stroganoff in? I even offered to join them. Still no takers. I believe there was also discussion about music and we all (UNANIMOUSLY) agreed that…what was it again? Oh yeah, RUSH sucks. Yup, that is exactly what we discussed and agreed. I distinctly remember Stroganoff raising his hand (all five fingers?) when we asked who thinks Rush sucks. We got a quick 10 count for recovery then did 5 burpees. We moseyed back to start and joined the pain lab for modified Mary as a group. Definitely some painful stuff that will provide the burn with a lower chance for impact injuries. We lunged a little way then finished with the COT.

Good stuff this am. Got a lot going on and people going through things during the holidays-current stuff, memories, travel, sick family and friends/co-workers. Remember, if this is not you going through this now, it will be in the future. Build that relationship with the guys around you now so you have someone to lean on when (not if) you are in the ditch. Getting out here and busting your butt early only makes you a better person and helps move you to be the best version of you possible.

Again, come back anytime Belding. Enjoyed meeting you this am. Great work guys.

We had 5 at coffeerama. Be careful where you sit next time you go-avoid the wet spot. It’s not my fault-it’s been a long time for me.

Whoopee

9 showed this am for a Storm beatdown-I got there early with grand plans to ruck for a little while. After about 15 steps, I realized this ruck thing is really code for a boring walk when done alone and in a parking lot at 5 am. I quickly came to my senses and got back in my car, turned on the heat, and tried to sit really still when Boudin and Dolph showed thinking maybe they were like T-Rexes. If I did not move, maybe they wouldn’t know I was there…..no luck so I got out and talked about races I really did not want to HC for while the rest of the Pax showed and 0530 came around. I cannot remember the last time I was Q at the Storm, so I did not want to disappoint. Here is what I remember:

WU: (don’t blink, you might miss it) SSH, Squats, Flutters, Merkins X 5 IC…blahblahblah, not sure if this is what we really did. Got frustrated with the WU so we did a quick fast forward: 5 Burpees OYO then on feet quickly for mosey to the small eye for the…

Thang…Booyah Merkins X 20 then Squats X 20 for 2 sets?, then Derkins X 10 I think. There was some mumble chatter, but I was not deterred. Push on, I’ve got more in store for the Pax.

Mosey to the Big Eye, plank and 2 pax at a time run opposite directions around the Eye, when they meet drop for 5 Merkins, then continue around until back to start. Drop to Plank while next round takes off. Think we did Flutter Kicks X 20 + Merknis X 10 IC maybe twice? then I offered a choice to Dr. Seuss: Option A or Option B? Don’t remember what he chose but we started down the way we came and I heard some unnamed Pax that rhymes with Strolph and Boganoff question whether there really was a choice…so we took a sharp turn and went down the big hill in front of the school and turned into the lower entrance. Run until we can find a wall (short detour, was not part of the original plan) with a 2 burpee penalty at each speed bump. Eventually we made it to the school with Strolph, I mean Dolph leading the way and finding every effin speed bump he could along the way (good work Dolph-ISI). We got to the wall for the next part of the beatdown: Partner work at the knobs….3 step ups per leg, P 1 stays and does Mumpee Humpers while P 2 runs to trashcan and back then swap. Think we did 3 rounds of this before I actually got the numbers right….Thanks to my partner Sargento for the moral support and letting me find my way to the correct number of reps. Thanks to Dolph for the……nevermind. Let’s keep this PG. Never know who will be reading this. Just know, when someone calls Monkey Humpers, don’t turn your back on Dolph and keep at least one eye on him at all time.

Next came my second most favorite part: EMOM (Every Minute On the Minute): 5 high knees, 5 SSH, 5 burpees, then run about 20 yards and back X 10 cycles. This was pretty fun I thought and will be a staple for me for future Q’s. We had about 15-20 seconds of rest btwn cycles which after about 7, was barely enough I thought. I think somewhere along the line, Tesla made some smart-alecky remark about gloves or something….maybe he said he liked my gloves??? Not really sure, all I know is it made me think about Hip Slappers so we did a couple quick sets then moseyed back to start for Mary and the Pledge.

Great work guys-COT was full of friends, family, co-workers with sadness in their lives. Although all of the things mentioned this morning are important and weigh heavy on our hearts, I think the one that stuck with me the most was Stroganoff’s friend Donovan who lost his 24ish year old daughter to colon cancer this week. They struggled for several years and I suspect knew this day was coming, however somewhere deep down there was that little flicker of hope that maybe they could beat it. I hope none of us will ever have to deal with that in our future-losing a child has to rank up there with some of the worst situations ever. I know we all have lost loved ones, some even children. I also realize this is a real possibility for all of us in our future. Keep that in mind when your family member/child/friend does something that gets under your skin-make sure you are being the BEST father, brother, son, friend, whatever it is-that you can be.  Not sure I need to say anymore.

Thanks for coming out this morning and making me a better person-Whoopee

ps: rucking by yourself in the gloom in a parking lot really sucks, and GOOD LUCK TO MAYOR WITH HIS EYE SURGERY PLANNED FOR 12/6/17. LET US KNOW IF YOU NEED ANYTHING.