Author: Whoopee (Page 19 of 25)

Today was a great day-weather was perfect, good turnout at Schiele, had an FNG, and the guns were out all around just for my M. That was the topic of our dinner conversation tonight-guns everywhere and “some things you can’t unsee” was repeated by my M. Thanks guys, you made me proud.

I put out a few pre blasts about being sponsored by the number 11. Just to test the literacy of the pax, I varied the number of reps for the warmup and thankfully, Roscoe did not let me down and called me out on my reps. Here is what I remember:

Pledge

WU: 11 (or so) reps of SSH, Squats, Merkins, ? flutters then…what the heck, lets get some burpees, 11 of them after Roscoe was kind enough to point out not 11 reps on something. I then ‘splained that the theme was 11 and that every 11 minutes my alarm was going off and we would do 5 burpees (Slaw, where are you? I put this one in here just for you-it will return.)

Mosey to the front door of Grier Middle School to the speed bumps for 11’s. Start at 1 speed bump and run to other with 11’s using Burps and CDDs for our exercises on the ends. Think the timer may have gone off???? 7:11 am

Mosey to First Presbyterian Church steps. My original plan was 11’s with hip slappers but last time I did this…..well let’s just say there was blood and I was not really interested in that today since the parking lot was just repaved, so I changed things a little. We went up the steps, 11 hip slappers, came down the steps for 11 WWI (or was it WWII??) situps. Repeato but only 5 or 6 reps at top and bottom. The timer went off so we did some more burpees at 7:22 am.

We had a short mosey to the playground for something I really hate, figured others felt same way, and was excited to put on my weinke-Pull Up Plank Bridge: all pax stay in plank, during the plankorama, 1 or 2 pax at a time jump up, do a pull up with slow down phase. This was so much fun, we did it again but instead of plank, we did squats while pax took turns with the pull-ups.

Mosey to the track at Sherwood Elementary School, partner up for Booyah Merkin Clockwork. P1 starts mosey in one direction and will continue in that direction for whole exercise. P2 goes in other direction around the track. Every time they meet, drop and do booyah merkins. The reps start at 1 and increase every time you pass each other until you get to 11. Also, just for fun (with props to Gastone), every time you pass you change from Run to Nur or Nur to Run. This was a real crowd pleaser. The Nurring was a battery drainer for me. I think we did Burpees twice (7:33 am and 7:44 am) during this one-added a little salt to the wound which made me smile….

We recovered while I briefed the pax on a favor-my M would be dropping 2 of my 2.0s back at start right around 8am. My M is “not a fan” of the sleeveless shirts (AKA: sun’s out, gun’s out shirts). As many of you know, I am completely at the mercy of my (wonderful and loving) M and look for ways to break out from under her Communist-like control any chance I can, even if it is for 60 minutes on a Saturday morning while most of the world is still sleeping while I wear a shirt that makes her worried I may show up one day in a ’77 trans am with T tops and a firebird on the front…..where was I??????? Oh yeah, the favor….I asked everyone to tuck their sleeves and give her the 28 gun salute when she arrived back at home base. The pax happily obliged, some who know my M seemed especially eager-again, thanks.

We moseyed back to home base for some Mary, stopping for our last round of burpees on the way as the alarm went off at 7:55am. We got back for some Mary with a few of us leading and were saved by the bells at 8am. My M showed up a few minutes later with some choice comments, and was heard saying something like “some things you can’t unsee” as she drove away. Not sure who had a bigger grin, me or her…..probably me.

COT: few prayer requests: coworkers struggling with cancer, health issues, friend with daughter fighting advanced cancer and fundraiser going on today (Stroganoff led the charge up the hill on this one and Hushpuppy and I were there to support). Probably a few others I can’t remember. We named our FNG: Remo (Simon Aldridge) brought by Oompa Loompa. Just FYI, Remo will be starting his marine corps service (I think) in April. When you meet him, do your best to get him to keep coming back-let’s get him in shape as best we can and help this young man prepare to go and serve our country.

I had a great morning with all of you-thanks for the privilege of leading. I saw a lot of guys gutting it out this morning. I thought it was tough, but everyone really busted their tails and that kind of stuff really makes me work even harder when I see others pushing. Great work with the “iron sharpens iron” part.

Whoopee

I got into my car and as I started the engine, the radio came on for some late inspiration: Madonna singing “Papa Don’t Preach.” I listen to 80’s music, now termed “oldies” but I couldn’t give 2 turds if that is cool at this point in my life. Country music just doesn’t always do it for me especially early in the am. I immediately thought this was a sign from God. I needed to be tight-lipped this am, no lectures, no humor, no teaching points. Just get to work and gitrdone. My girls, who often endure long lectures about the benefits of turning lights off when they leave a room, would have cheered at this decision. Of course they were asleep so I just QUIETLY smiled and decided on my plan.

Still tired from the week and sore from Friday at Downtown, I was really just planning to “get through” the Q this am, eat some breakfast, and head back home for some rest. Then Dolph showed up….Whenever I am the Q and he shows up, I feel like I need to kick it up a notch. It’s nothing he does. It’s just the idea that I don’t want anyone to walk away and say hmmmm, that was ok. I want everyone to lay on the ground for awhile afterwards and think “that….was…..tough.” Anyone can go workout and sweat some. Coming to F3 has changed my approach to exercise. I now want to be the catalyst that gets people coming back looking for more ways to push harder and motivate others to do the same. Again, there is Dolph-therefore, kick…..it……up……as much as possible. Not to take away from anyone else, but I know if I can make him sweat (and grunt a little every once in awhile), everyone else will be sweating too. And there you have the “Iron Sharpens Iron” I think at its best.

When I got to Folsom, there were already a few there discussing the fight tonight. We all voiced our predictions as more arrived. Roscoe showed up with the baddest looking gas mask and placed it on top of the shovel flag with cheers from the pax. At 0630 I announced my theme for the Weinke was loosely based on the fight tonight and we got started.

WU: SSH, Jump Rope, Rocky Balboas, Moroccan Night Club (there was a lot of mumble chatter so the reps went on for much longer than usual until there was very little chatter and I got several comments and funny looks about how long the warm up was). I just kept my mouth shut-PAPA DON’T PREACH. I was smiling on the inside.

The Thang:

Mosey to turd shack for Mike Tyson’s X 15 X ? 3 sets. Was planning just 2 but Tadpole was so excited we had to do an extra set. Think we did squats after each set of Mike Tyson’s.

Quick mosey without much rest to the picnic tables for Dips and Step Ups. Wanted to talk about something, but remembered: Papa Don’t Preach.

Quick mosey to other side of parking lot for partner work: Hodor (piggy back carry partner) carry across the lot then 20 sit-ups. Swap and other partner Hodor’s partner back to start for 20 more setups. My weinke said “Rinse and Repeat” so we did it again but only 10 sit-ups each round. There were comments about Arabian horses, donkeys, and something about an ogre and onions-layers I think. Again, I told myself to keep quiet: Papa don’t preach.

Quick mosey to end of parking lot by picnic tables for some sprints: Apollo Creed sprints-think Rocky 1,2 or 3-I can’t remember which but think we decided it was probably Rocky 3 when Rocky and Apollo raced on the beach. We split into 3 groups of 4 each, all dropped into plank position, then group 1 took off in a sprint to other side then dropped into plank. Part way across the lot group 2 was released and they sprinted to other side then dropped into plank. Finally the 3rd group was released for same thing. We repeated this back to the start and somewhere along the way Huckleberry threw a rod in his engine and headed to the garage. Maybe this was not such a good idea….but we kept at it.

Long mosey to the front of Folsom to the flag with some burpees and merkins on the way. A train came by a couple times so we did the required burpees and eventually made it to the front where flutters (I think) were being done. No time for chatter-Papa don’t preach-so we moved over to another lot for some She Hate Me-Slaw mentioned before we started that he was feeling the after effects of the same exercise from day before at Downtown so I was especially excited for this. I am not sure I have heard Slaw say that about any of my previous workouts-Iron Sharpening Iron again. We did the She Hate Me across the lot down the hill, and it was so much fun we just kept going around the turn and back up the hill. No time for preachin.’ Gotta get moving. We moseyed back “To the Flag” but made a detour to the grassy hill for a few trips up and down with squats and merkins at top and bottom X 10 reps X 2 sets (I think). Then it was “off to the flag” but we took a Pizza Man detour-he never goes straight back to the flag when running so we passed the lot and went to the picnic tables to make sure we had turned off the lights. Either Dolph or Slaw suggested that since we had come all this way, we should stop and visit the picnic tables so we did. I think we did about 20 or so dips then back on the road ” to the flag.” Again, we took a little detour to the amphitheater for some Derkins. At this point we were close to mutiny and a few guys (including Dolph) took the lead when I said ” to the flag” and made a bee line for the flag. We did some Mary in the final 4 minutes. I don’t remember much at this point other than I made the mistake of asking Roscoe to lead us in Slurpees. Think I was unconscious after 2 or 3 of the burpees and woke up during the namorama.

Namorama, announcements, and prayer.

This morning was GREAT for me. It was not the “just get through the Q” like I had planned. I was pushed by all of the pax which made me push even harder. Everyone busted their butt. I believe I will be sore tomorrow, but that is just fine. I’ll take a beating like that with any one of you any day of the week. Thanks to all of you for the motivation.

We had 6 at coffeerama sponsored by Sparky-much appreciated brother. Next one is on me. Got to see video of a protestor in Phoenix getting shot in the nuts with a bean bag-still laughing about that. You should have been there.

Whoopee.

I started off reading something to the pax-something from Eagle’s Perch that I (and a few others) receive daily-it was about “now” and getting stuff done, not waiting, enjoying the moment kind of stuff. “Now Cannot Wait” is the title and it ends with “Be thankful for problems. If they were less difficult, someone with less ability might have your job.” Made me think about a lot of stuff when I read that-insert your own difficult work memory now…

It’s been a rough week or so at work, so was in the mood for some pain this am. The weinke was ready early and the evening before I put out a little Twitter chatter to stir the pot. The cherry on top was my M’s comments as I left the house this morning-“Don’t get arrested” and with my puzzled look she followed with “no guns allowed downtown” as I left with my SleevelessforCheech muscle T. Anyone who knows my M is not surprised at this. So I left with a smile on my face, an angry weinke, and a skip in my step this am. I’ve missed a bunch of workouts lately and was looking forward to getting back out there. Here is what I remember:

WU: SSH, Mtn Climbers 5-7 IC then move out

Thang: Mosey to the parking lot for a lap-in comes Roscoe hot so we did a few SSH to get him warmed up, then we jumped straight into a Burpee Plank Bridge (plank in a row, first Pax does burpee then jumps over each other pax until gets to the end and gets into plank position. As soon as end guy gets jumped, you jump up and do a burpee and follow other guy to end eventually ending up in plank position. We did this for about 3 rounds and then I got bored….mosey to the wall for hip slappers and donkey kicks for 2 sets each. Quickly mosey around the corner to empty parking lot for She Hate Me: start on one end and lunge X 10 each leg then 10 burps then 10 merkins, repeat until across the lot (3 rounds I think) then turn around and do same thing back to start. It was at this time that some of Gastonia’s finest drove by for some early morning conversating that got our attention. Apparently Mr. X was ‘splaining to  Mr. Y something he felt very passionately about. He was so excited he could hardly contain himself and was eager to share this news with his across lane neighbor so much, he almost jumped out of the car. It was a lovely site.

Next we moseyed after Gastone to McQuitter’s Wall, stopping along the way at a light to do some Merkins. Once we arrived at McQuitter’s Wall, we paid tribute to Richard and Hazel with some Dips and Derkins. We quickly moved along to the parking lot, finding it unlit. We were not deterred and attacked the stairs-20 merkins at the top and 20 LBCs at the bottom. Think we did 2 rounds of this and then moved to the side and I challenged the pax to name the person that said the following: ” In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count, it the life in your years.” Not even before I finished, Slaw correctly answered Abraham Lincoln-the reward was supposed to be 20 squats instead of 40-sorry guys, the brain was running low on oxygen so I deviated from the reward…we did hip slappers then quickly went to the 20 squat reward. At this point, I believe I tasted more than a little Merlot…

I was pretty gassed, so we went back to home base for some Mary-ish exercises. I called on a few pax to lead some exercises: Spiderman with the Deep Sea Diver, Roscoe with a Burp and Merk, Gastone with some sumo squats, Bandit with dying cockroaches, Time Frame with American Hammers, think I did some flutter kicks (slooooooooooowwwwwww motion for part of it-thanks Roscoe).  We then moseyed to the back wall for some Tunnel of Love. At this point, I think I blacked out and woke up during the pledge.

We did the namorama, announcements then a quick prayer.

It was a GREAT morning for me today-got my head back on straight after missing a little more than a week. I missed seeing everyone and getting back out in the gloom is truly a privilege. I think it is important to be reminded of this every now and then. We are all very lucky to have each other and to have our families-try to keep that in mind and pause every once in awhile. Everyone eventually has that life-changing event that will knock you on your butt-make sure you have a good foundation with your brothers so when the shieldlock is needed, you are prepared, both for your sake and for the guys around you.

Enjoyed it-Whoopee

Good crowd at 3rd F by Roscoe-summary:live a grateful life-opportunities to be grateful are everywhere if you have the right attitude

12 Pax showed this am for the co Q beatdown by Roscoe and me. We were both excited because we came up with the general plan at the same time but each on our own. We both pass by the Gastonia cemetery that is across from a big hill that has been calling for an F3 beatdown for a long time. The general plan was get there, use the hill, then come back. Sounds pretty easy…..

Warmup: SSH, Merkins, LBCs?

Quick count off-3 split off with Rudolph for the PAINLAB and 9 moseyed to the flag for the Pledge. Grab 3 coupons: flat soccer ball, ?8# heavy ball, and a bumpo (look it up, found it in the garage and could not resist bringing it)

Mosey to First Presbyterian Church parking lot: the real introduction to Slurpees by Roscoe. We had a small (forced) exposure on Friday with ShortSale as he strong-armed Roscoe into what a Slurpee is, but today was the real deal. 10 count IC ski lunges followed by 10 burpees OYO….CROWD PLEASER ALL THE WAY AROUND. Think we then moseyed to the PAD for round 2 of Slurpees-same as before. Quick recovery then walk to the wall behind the basketball goal for some “hands-on-the-wall-jump-up-and-hold-for-a-second-then-come-back-down’s.” Also known as HOTWJUAHFASTCBD’s from now on. I liked these and think they were a bit underrated today due to our being overwhelmed with slurpees. They were a bit of a shocker.

Mosey to Parkwood (the other church….sorry you weren’t there Frank) thru the gates by the playground and to the parking lot after passing a nice lady (she smiled real big when Roscoe said hello-she prob knew he is po po) with 2 beagles and some dude with a basketball who pretty much ignored our attempts at interaction. Next time, prob need to text him hello to get a response. Darn millennials…….

In parking lot we did burpee long jumps across the lot just after Whoopee demonstrated a little fancy bowling with the heavy ball. At this point, Roscoe handed the keys to me….all the above is questionably accurate, based on my memory, and entirely factual.

We moseyed to the corner for a quick discussion on the Royalty of F3:king, queen, and jester after a quick plank for the six then moseyed to the bottom of the hill, now to be forever known as Roscoe’s Hill at the bottom of the old orthopedic hospital (I think) which is now Partner’s Behavioral Health and something related to the VA. Too bad we did not have a doctor with us. Bet he would know what kind of building this is….

Split into groups of 3: P1 ran to first tree and back while P2 and P3 did exercises: mountain climbers and merkins. When P1 returns, we changed places and P2 ran to tree and back. This continued for 3 different trees. The runner carried the coupon and at various times the coupons were swapped so everyone had a chance to carry. Second round of this got interesting. DaVinci convinced me we should try a little harder thing-P1 still runs with coupon like round 2, however P2 and P3 do Derkins and Mtn climbers with P2 functioning as the bench. Have to say at this point I was getting a bit worn down and if by myself I would likely have stopped.

Mosey to top of Roscoe’s Hill and found a nice memorial with an inscription written in Latin that Guts interpreted for us. Thanks Guts, you are a gentleman and a scholar. Think it said something like “Faith and Trust.” Could have said “Here lies Ned, He is dead” and I would not have argued. We circled up and took turns running up ALL the steps-thanks Roscoe for pointing out several more sets of steps that we took advantage of. While someone was running, the rest of us did exercises IC until the runner returned. I don’t remember all of them, but think we did SSH, Goofballs (thx TSquare), Imperial Walkers, Squats, Monkey Humpers, and prob a few others.

Time was running short so we grabbed the coupons and moseyed back to start with a quick stop in the “other church” parking lot while we collected ourselves. I still can’t get the memory out of my head of an unnamed Pax named Stroganoff tucking the flat soccer ball in his pants and running down the hill-bad, bad visual.

We got back in time for some Mary as a group with the PAINLAB  studs and ended with Moroccan Night Clubs after TopHat asked multiple times to do-I’m here for you man.

Great crowd this am-lot of guys pushed hard and kept me motivated when I was ready to quit. That hill has a lot of potential and will be visited again I am sure. I have to say, DaVinci is working hard-great job-Aye brother!! Keep it up.

Remember to donate to Give to Give today-make an impact, big or small, for GasHouse and F3. Every bit counts.

Burpeethon coming soon-get some burpees in every day.

Safe travels for HushPuppy and quick recovery of those knees.

Thanks for opportunity to lead-Whoopee and Roscoe

PS-Anyone want to buy a soccer ball? I’ll pay you $5 to come pick it up and take it away….

Got a request from Brownstreak for a fill-in Q earlier in the week, and thankfully work cooperated and I was able to take it. Have not been to GoatIsland in a loooooong time so I was looking forward to this morning. I did not sleep well-was it goat island magic? Was it goat-thusiasm? Who knows? In any event, 6 others showed and we got some work done. Dr. Seuss and TopHat came in hot so we made sure to get some extra SSH in for their WU. Lot of sweat today-make sure to rehydrate tonight. Was great seeing the pax of eastern GasHouse-it’s been too long since I have been here.

This is what we did:

WU: 6 reps IC: SSH, Merkin, Squats, Burps, LBCs then 5 burpees with some extra SSH for TopHat then again for Dr. Seuss. The workout can’t really start of me without SSH.

The Thang:

Mosey to stairs by old bank for 13’s (similar to 11’s but today is 7/13 so we got a couple extry’s in today). Merkins at the top, burps at the bottom. Dolph didn’t like using the stairs so we Omaha’d to use the grassy hill for the trip down. Dolph went up and down the grassy hill-nice work. Think I would still be there if I did that. The stairs were tough enough.

Quick discussion while we got our breath about Concentrica-layers of personal relationships that have variable levels of importance. Center of bullseye and most important is relationship with M.

Mosey to bridge for Burpee Plank Bridge across the bridge. Plank in line at front of bridge and last pax does burpee then jumps over each pax still in plank until end then drop into plank. Next pax repeats until we crossed the bridge to other side. Longer bridge than I remember….

On other side of bridge, we went to the picnic table for partner work: 1 min of derkins and 1 min of squats, flapjack, rinse and repeat x total 2 sets of each (I think).

More discussion on Concentrica as we moseyed to other bridge and back: second layer:2.0 (kids)-1 relationship you can really never quit, impact on kids will help determine their future relationships with most everyone else in future. BIG IMPACT AND VERY IMPORTANT.

3rd and 4th layers are Shieldlock (look at guys around you right now) and Blade (mentor/mentee relationship). Less important that others but still big impact and important-should not be more important than M and 2.0s-gotta remember that. Sometimes the fartsack is necessary for family matters-remember that.

More partner work at picnic tables: Pax picked exercises: step ups and dips-1 min each, 2 sets total??? Discussed 5th layer of Concentrica somewhere in here-Mammon (work relationships-easiest to measure when successful, often more time consuming that other areas, easiest to quit, while it is essential, it is least important out of all areas of Concentrica). I think either someone passed gas (was not me) or a plane flew overhead and Dolph/Tiny Tank screamed train so we had to, scratch that-GOT TO do some burpees.

Mosey to bridge and slalom across the bridge-hop side to side while moving forward across the bridge. Little burn but not too bad. Mosey to other side of street and counted off as 1 or 2: 1’s do BTTW while 2’s mosey across to bridge for 5 Merkins then back, flapjack, rinse and repeat for I think 47 times (it felt like it).

Moseyed to start for Mary: LBC, American Hammer, think we did some burpees compliments of Dolph and probable some other stuff I cannot remember.

Finished with pledge, namorama, announcements, and COT.

CONGRATS TO ROSCOE. REAL PROUD OF YOU. WELL DESERVED PROMOTION AND CEREMONY PLANNED FOR 7/14/17 AT 10 AM AT POLICE ACADEMY, 1770 SHOPTON ROAD.

Was an honor to be there with some great guys-TopHat, glad to see you back at it. Remember King and Queen and keep fighting off that Jester. Tiny Tank, always the quiet but hard working guy next to you that is always, always, ALWAYS a few steps ahead. Dolph, solid work as usual and thanks for taking the lead and being Co-Q with HotNuts?? next week for Q on Thursday. Hot Nuts-get after it next week, pay attention-will learn from a pro with Dolph, great work today. Speck, strong performance today-we need to get you out to Midoryama to see what real mumble chatter is all about-better yet, come to  Folsom on Sat for ToolTime Q and he’ll give you a crash course in MC101. Dr. Seuss-all I can say is I’ve got some big time respect for you-busting your tail and no complaints-very impressive.

Until next time-Whoopee out

OK guys, this won’t be long.

We finally had the After Christmas Party. Wish we had done it sooner (so I would not have caught so much harassment), but I think it went really well. The PAX started arriving at 7pm and over the next 45 minutes or so, all arrived mostly with their M’s. There was great food (thanks Portofino’s) and beverages (thanks Budweiser, Coke, and my M for the Sangria). The arrival of Mayor and his M couldn’t have been timed any better-he walked in to us singing Happy Birthday to him. Thanks also to his M who brought cupcakes from a place called Sugar Fix-good stuff-if you didn’t get one, you missed out. Then, as if on cue, Monk (just back from visiting with the Pope) and his M step through the door right in time to bless the food before we ate. It was great seeing everyone outside the gloom and meeting the wives. Later in the night, Stroganoff presented me with a plaque and some other interesting things for my role as Nantan last year. The skull cap and whoopee cushion keychain will get some serious use-already used the keychain a bunch (at least that is what I am telling my girls). If I had less of the beverages, I would have had a more reasonable response. I was not expecting that and in all sincerity, I really appreciate the kind words and the plaque. This F3 thing has meant so much to so many of us. If I had been prepared, I think I would have said something like this:

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity and supporting me during my time as Nantan. It was really cool watching our leaders in Gastonia grow this cult-it IS a cult-I looked up the definition: a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange. My M and 2.0s think I am very strange and since we are out there together, my assumption is all of our M’s and 2.0s think we are all strange; therefore, we are a cult.

Of all the things I love about F3, it is getting to know all of you that I enjoy the most. Outside of F3, I am pretty sure I would have no other reason to get to know many of you-our circles really would not intersect and with everyone’s busy lives, something else would take over the time we have spent with F3. Also, if we did, by chance, come across each other, it would be much different-no time sleeping outside on a basketball court in the mountains during the BRR, probably no running through the park in Belmont chasing Roscoe with a sword and red cape, absolutely no way I would wear a pumpkin outfit on Halloween while we ran around like a bunch of idiots, I wouldn’t hear any incredibly stupid jokes at 0545 in the gloom, and certainly no slip and slide on a football field in 60 degree weather causing numbness in my hands until my second hot shower around 3pm. OK, maybe the slip and slide but probably not the other things. Each of us is our own unique person with unique characteristics that make us who we are. As a group, we are powerful and as we continue to grow, I know we will harness that power to do great things. My challenge to each of us is this: Look for ways to impact others and try not to miss those opportunities. We heard at Roscoe’s 3rd F at the convergence the other day how Mr. Brown was impacted by 1 conversation with his high school principal then went on to affect so many others over his lifetime. Use your brothers to help with this impact-it can be something small or large. If you get an idea, go for it. Grab a few of us to help and run up that hill full speed with everything you have. It’s ok to fail, it’s ok to fall down, it’s ok if it does not work the way you expected. We will all be better for it in the end. Be the spark that gets the fire started and see what we can do as a group. Thanks again for being part of this cult. As much as I hate to exercise in the morning, my day just is not right without seeing at least a few of you.

Longer than I expected, but there it is. Merry Christmas.

Whoopee