3 ran 5 miles. For 1 it was routine. For 2 it was first or second time in many weeks. Overall was great, especially when Roscoe showed with his shirt on backwards. Defib showed for Q Source and we learned about Consistency.
Author: Whoopee (Page 6 of 25)
Great weather this am at the GasHouse. Strog was getting some warmup moseying in when I got there, and there were a few PainLabbers stretching. TimeFrame rolls in a few minutes later sporting a new pickup truck……next thing you know he’s gonna be growing a beard. There goes the neighborhood. I’ll get to the 5 dollars in a minute.
WU at 0700 with a few options for our bootcamp while the PainLabbers started doing their thing. While moseying to the track in preparation for either IPC week 3 vs something else, Clavin let us know today is his 28th wedding anniversary so I make the executive decision to go with something else other than IPC (full disclosure, no one including myself was disappointed in this decision). The number of the day was just declared 28. We get to the track for some anniversary work. Mosey a lap and every half lap add an exercise with 28 reps so the list grows as we do more laps. Each of us gets to pick 2 exercises. We did Merkins, American Hammers, Squats, Flutter Kicks, SSH, and Hillbillys. Part of the time we moseyed with Stroganoff but he was doing his own thing alongside of us. Next was a quick trip to the wall for a few sets of hip slappers to reach a total of 28. After that we moseyed to the parking lot in front of Grier and got some fun stuff over with. Long jump burpees: 5 long jumps, 3 burpees, repeat across the lot. Mosey back to beginning for 5 lunges, 3 lunge jumps/Bonnie Blairs (extra credit for putting arms up in the air) across the lot then mosey back to beginning. Final round was bear crawl 5 right hand steps then 3 big boys. Along the way we edumacated Amazon on F3 things including the core principles and brief history of GasHouse including how we got our names. We moseyed back to start for some Mary then the COT.
Back to the 5 dollars….In my 52 years I have had more than a few times I think God has tapped me on the shoulder or smacked me on the back of the head to get my attention and this am may have been one of those times. Earlier this week I was correctly accused of pulling a Bluto-a pointless rant about something possibly important but the point is missed by the actual mindless rant. All you young men, I mean boys, who have never seen Animal House will need to Google “Animal House, Bluto speech” and hear about how the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor and you will understand. This morning I got home and was doing some of my smelly F3 clothes laundry. I noticed part of a $5 bill on the ground when I took some other clothes out of the dryer and thought my daughter had left some cash in her pocket, it got washed, and bye bye $5. I put the portion of the bill in my pocket thinking of how I was going to explain to her how hard I work for the money she gets to spend and that she needed to be more careful in the future about emptying her pockets…..blah blah blah INSERT BLUTO SPEECH HERE. It did not even enter my mind that it could have been me. First of all, I ALWAYS empty my pockets before putting my clothes in the dirty laundry. Secondly, I never have any cash because I spend it all on her and other family stuff. Last night we went to a football game, I gave her my cash for her to get in, and I knew had no cash this am. I was already planning to stop at the bank on the way to breakfast this am if we went. And third, I had not seen a $5 bill in a long time. In fact, the last time I saw a $5 bill was…………at F3 this am when Tube gave me $5 for the $$ we gave Freight last week for a fundraiser for Gaston Christian Ministries….Dang, the back of my head was starting to hurt. I found my shorts from this am and there was about 30% of the $5 bill that I got from Tube earlier this am. I was reminded about my own Bluto speech earlier this month when I was criticizing someone else and kept thinking about the scripture (had to look it up this am) from Matthew about seeing the “speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye.” I guess I need to be more mindful to stay in my lane and take care of myself. Message heard, let’s just hope I can remember it.
Thanks for coming out this am. Happy Anniversary to Clavin and his M. 28 years may seem like a long time to some of you, but trust me, it’s not long enough. Not even close.
Whoopee
Six of us started the day right at Labyrinth. We started with a brief disclaimer, review of the mission of F3 (you’re welcome Sargento) then started a warmup that was interrupted by some excellent mature men humor causing me to lose count and just about fall on my face laughing-thanks Roscoe. We got some work done today…..probably just a JV workout compared with others but it did the job this am. We finished with a COT and some group sharing that hopefully sharpened all of us a little. Thanks for showing up and working your butt off guys. You made me better.
Whoopee
Thanks to Flintstone for the reminder yesterday about my Q this am, otherwise would not have been prepared. We started AT 0530 with Disclaimer, Pledge, and Warm Up. Flintstone requested a 5 burpee penalty during WU-had to be there to know why, then we moseyed to turd shack to knock out the mandatory hip slappers despite the lack of enthusiasm. It made me sad to hear the lack of passion for such a magnificent exercise. I got over it quickly then we moseyed over to the picnic tables for step ups and Derkins. We did a bunch and I counted so that the mumble chatter was not affected. Maybelline and Cinderella counted on the sets of Derkins then we moved over to the parking lot for the main event (sort of). Island Suicides: start at far end of lot, mosey to an island for a burpee then back to start. Mosey to next island and stop and each island for burpee. Every time (coming and going) do this and do a squat (coming and going) at each light. We made it to about 7 or 8 islands then called it. Next time will do more reps of exercises (not just 1). We still had time so we did 11’s with BigBoys and Jump Lunges-Watts Up had done a bit of gravel spreading (2 tons) over the weekend and wanted to avoid upper body stuff. Bet you will feel those jump lunges tomorrow…think I’m already feeling them now. At this point, I was in the mood to cause some complaining so we started doing SSH and went to 50 IC. I don’t think anyone stopped as far as I could tell. We moseyed back to start with a squat at each light post on the way home. At some point we talked about EHing and what that means. You might think that was for the newish Amazon to hear, but I was really talking to ALL OF US (MYSELF INCLUDED). Actually, Flintstone did not need to hear this, but the rest of us, we all needed it. Flintstone might be the headlockingest mofo around, at least when it comes to Kotters. Give him an attaboy next time you see him Sargento. I know he’s making you proud.
We got back right at 0615 for COT and got outta there.
thanks guys-Whoopee
Roscoe and Stroganoff ran, I showed up for the COT and think Shortsale did too.
66 degrees, moderate rain, minimal wind…..almost couldn’t get any better. Hardest part was the first few minutes when the alarm went off lying in bed listening to the rain. Today was going to be tough, but I knew like Every. Other. Time. I would be glad I did it once it was over.
I got to GasHouse and Stroganoff was zipping up the rain jacket-that meant he was running, and Voodoo was sitting in his truck probably trying to decide between the obvious and Waffle House. Thankfully Waffle House did not win. A few others rolled in including “CLEAN SHAVEN” Clavin. Not sure he qualifies as a Kotter, but I haven’t seen him in a long time so it was good to spend some time with him again. We had a quick discussion on the plan for today which was the weekly IPC. The Iron Pax Challenge did not involve running so Voodoo convinced the potential PainLabbers to roll as 1 group today. We quickly did a modified disclaimer and warmup which included climbing the fence while Stroganoff moseyed the long way to the field. Stroganoff did his thing which actually included getting on his back in the rain for exercises and not just running while we did the IPC week 1: Care Bear Square thing. Gatorade bottles were set up in a square at 25 yard distances. Starting at the bottom right part of the square we did standard bear crawl to the top right then did 25 squats. We then did slide-to-the-left bear crawl to the top left part of the square for 25 Merkins. Next we “crawl bear’ed” (bear crawl backwards-yes it sucked, no really really really really really really……..SUCKED) to the bottom left part of square for 25 big boy situps. The final leg of the square we did slide-to-the-right bear crawl to the original starting point for 25 burpees. And this sucked too in case you are wondering. This was the cycle that we repeated for a total of 45 minutes. The rain felt good, the grass was sticky and felt like grasshoppers in my nose a few times (could have been grasshoppers but probably just grass) and the crawl bear and burpees traded spots as the worst part depending on where you were. We walked back the long way as a group while Strog kept going until time was up.
We finished with COT then 3 of us went to breakfast. In case you are wondering, CDA has really good breakfast, fast service, and ONLY TAKES CASH. Thanks for bailing me out on the breakfast Tube. I’ll get you back later this month hopefully. I should know by now about the only cash thing, but it’s been awhile since I have eaten there.
Thanks for posting in the rain guys. I needed the push.
Whoopee
Slim crowd this am for bootcamp. It was me and……..
Disclaimer, Warmup, Pledge and go over 5 Core Principles for our FNG Jeremy Park who was EH’d by Voodoo. Dad’s F3 at the Yank, Dad’s camp (F3 Nation), summer stuff/back to school stuff and general rampant SV contributed to the low numbers for bootcamp, however the pain lab had a descent crowd. Once we finished with the WU stuff, the pain labbers took off and I proceeded with leading the bootcamp sort of like Old School “we’re going streaking” scene with all of my closest friends.
I moseyed to the track and asked how everyone’s week went. Fortunately no one had any complaints. I gave myself 2 options: A or B. I chose B because it just seemed like the right thing to do…dang, it sucked. I told myself the general plan so that I could pace myself. Having missed pretty much every PT test (I think), I thought I could try something like it today. Since there was little mumble chatter, I got going without any real delays. Here’s the modified PT test: same exercises, but cut the running distance in half. Start with 25 reps of each: Merkins, Squats, LBCs, and SSH. Mosey half a lap and increase to 50 reps of same exercises. I counted off to 1 then moseyed another half lap and repeated exercises to 75 reps. I asked if anyone had any good jokes……then moseyed another half lap for the final set of exercises (yes, I told myself the same 4 exercises but more of them-quit your bitchin’ and HTFU) to 100 reps each. At this point I told myself to piss off, this sucked, and that this was a stupid idea. A few kids came along at this point getting ready for football practice. I got some strange looks-What, never seen an old man talking to himself?? Move along, nothing to see here and get off my lawn! Finished the reps then took a 2 lap mosey. I may have moseyed another lap but it…..was…..really………..slooooooooooowwwwww. About this time I saw Sargento rolling in with Bouquet finishing up their run. I got a few shout outs from the pain labbers to keep me motivated as I passed by during the workout.
We had some time with Mary at the end-thanks Voodoo. We again quickly reviewed the 5 Core Principles and named our FNG. After a twisted and winding discussion, we named him Noisy Cricket (he works for Orkin….if you can’t connect the dots to get to the name, watch Men in Black). Lot of prayer issues this am. Keep Voodoo in your prayers this week-he’s got a lot on his plate but I know he can handle it.
Whoopee
Small but mighty crowd this am. Hermie still amazes me that he continues to post. Although he does not run, he still does something and adds a lot of maturity and humor to our mornings. Hope I’m still posting in 20 years….heck, hope I’m still posting in 10 years…..or even 5 years.
We started with quick disclaimer, pledge, and WU then Hermie headed out for a ruck while the rest followed me for some fun. We went to the library and did a quick side bear crawl shuffle around a tree then quick mosey to another parking lot for some suicides. The parking spaces were vertical instead of horizontal, but turns out this was actually a good thing. At the start we did 5 monkey humpers then ran suicides for (I think) six vertical spaces with 5 monkey humpers each time we got back to start. After a quick break, we repeated with 3 merkins at each start for another set of suicides. This got the juices flowing but the pax were begging for more so we moseyed over to the pharmacy for some 11’s with burpees and big boys. Eyes were rolling and bitching ensued, but we did it anyway. Leppard said something early on about hip slappers and I didn’t want to disappoint so we jumped on the wall for a couple sets of slappers then moseyed to the church steps (the PAD for the mature PAX who are in the know) for triple nickel: 5 calf raises before each of our 5 trips up the steps then mosey to basketball goal for 5 donkey kicks. Shortsale ran off some random dude that was playing 1 on nobody basketball with a flat ball???? Seemed a little strange but whatever floats your boat. Guess we could have EH’d him but he was not really interested in hanging around for long. To help pass the time on the steps, we hopped the steps 3 of the 5 trips up. Once we finished, it was getting close to time so we moseyed back to start with a short bear crawl in remembrance of an out of town PAX named Carrier who helped plant the GasHouse BACK IN THE DAY. We finished with a short wall sit then some Mary to close things out.
Our COT this am got to me a little bit. Lot of guys with struggles in our region: family members with illnesses, PAX with illnesses and struggles, injuries, and lot of other stuff. As much as I would love to sleep in and get a little extra rest, getting out here and posting is so much better for me-mentally and physically. I don’t think I’ll ever understand why that is so hard to remember each morning when the alarm goes off but each time I do get up and get out here, I realize it was the right choice for whatever reason, and that reason is not always the same reason.
Thanks for the inspiration Hermie. You are setting that bar pretty high. Would be great to have a handful of guys posting together for the next 20 years or more.
Whoopee
I was on it. I filled in for an empty Q on a Wednesday-got it, no problem, I don’t live far from Labyrinth so I’m gonna post anyway……Weinke all set……the night before I realized I said I would Q at TRB???!!! WTH???? Where is it anyway? Quick consultation with Roscoe and a few others while I was at a baseball game the night before. Whatever, I’ll make it work. It’s a school, there is stuff there to work with.
After arriving a few minutes early I realized I actually had posted there once before. I moseyed around and got a lay of the land so I could finish the final details and almost got hit by a truck filled with 2 FNGs.
We started on time and 2 FNGs walk up, quick introduction/disclaimer and briefly talked about 5 core principles and Roscoe kept the theme going with the credo and mission statements. WU started and somewhere in there was a 5 burpee penalty for something I cannot recall. Mosey after WU to far side of school for some Hip Slappers. Got these FNGs warmed up quickly and heard some whining from the older pax too. The FNGs looked like they were my kids’ age so figured I’d give them some old man pain to start with. Next we did 11’s. I had something else planned but we had more PAX than I had expected so the Weinke kind of went in the dumpster. We did 11’s on the hill. I really wanted burpees but settled for Merkins and Big Boys. I think we had a rehash of the core principles somewhere in there then mosey to the lot for a hop-fest after a train buzzed by with another burpee penalty. We hopped across the lot, bear crawled across the non-bridge to nowhere, then monkey barred up the walkway and duckwalked down. The sweat was starting pretty good at this point. We moseyed to the track for 3 Bojangles biscuits with some burpees on each end. After the Bojangles, we did some 4 corners on the track but modified to 3 corners without the corners: 10 Merkins, 10 Merkins + 20 Squats, 10 Merkins + 20 Squats + 30 SSH.
At this point it was just after 0600 so we called it, hit the pledge, and got to know the FNGs-great guys, lot of potential for F3 both to gain and to offer for both of them. I think they are both pretty squared away guys. Hope to see Fragile and Socrates out soon.
We ended with COT and best part was hearing Orangeman’s daughter is pregnant. He had a HUGE grin as he announced this. Nice to remember the COT is not just for those in need but also for praises. Congrats Orangeman. Hope things go well and maybe we will see pictures before too long.
Good to see everyone at TRB today….
Whoopee
Roscoe had a great idea a few weeks ago when we were talking-do a Q swap to let guys see other AOs. I put something on Slack and Wirenut jumped on it. He took over GasHouse and I got the opportunity to Q at Old School. I’ve been on IR for awhile and honestly was a bit unsure of how it would go because I really had not pushed it since Luigi was set free.
I got there a little early and as I drove up, I got a sick feeling in my stomach. Last time I was here we did Murder Bunnies for part of Iron Pax challenge. No worries, I’m not afraid of some Merlot….
Stogie was there waiting and Freight pulled up shortly before 0700. We started with the Pledge then a quick warmup and moved on to the thang.
We started on the track and did 4 Bojangles Biscuits: sprint(-ish) the straights then mosey/walk the sides. On each end throw in 5 burpees (10 per lap). Next was the parking lot-start on one end and move to the other side (longer than I remembered) ((that’s what she said-NOT!!!)). You can hop, bear crawl, or lunge but can’t do the same thing 2 times in a row. Every 5 parking space lines, do 2 burpees. Go to the end then mosey back to start. Quick word while we catch our breath then mosey to Kotter Corner for some Hip Slappers. I can’t remember the last time I did these so I was a little excited on the inside. We did a set of 10 IC then 25 squats and 10 Big Boys. After 2 sets of this, I saw that look in Freight’s eyes that say “surely he won’t do a 3rd set.” I’ve given that look more times than I care to admit and maybe I am just projecting, but he did say he was hoping I was not going to say 3rd set….One more set. On rep #9, I made it clear we would keep going past 10 but this was met with much disdain so it did’t last very long. As Shortsale has said in the past, Hip Slappers are my love language. I don’t really have a reason. I think it’s because they are painful and I really hated doing them early on but found, like most things, doing them more often really makes them less painful.
We moseyed over to the town square for some 4 corners with escalator stuff: 10 Merkins at corner 1, repeat at corner 2 and add 20 Monkey Humpers, repeat at corner 3 and add 30 LBCs, repeat at corner 4 and add 40 SSH. Second round was 10 Flying Squirrels, 20 Shoulder Taps, 30 Squats, and 40 Freddie Mercuries. Final round of 4 corners was just SSH with 25, 50, 75, and 100 SSH at the corners. The shirt came off part way through this but not sure it really helped me at all.
We moseyed back to start and along the way Freight said he was going to petition to change Kotter’s Corner to Kotter Avenue and find a way to insert that into the song Electric Avenue. It was a lot funnier to me at the time than it is now as I write this…probably because I was a low on the oxygen and sweating my ball$ off.
We got back in time for some Mary then quick COT with some good discussion.
I mentioned that I was reading a book now given to me by Strogi a few months ago called Sea Stories. It is written by William McRaven-he’s the SEAL who is known for his graduation speech about “making your bed.” The book is outstanding. It is easy to pick up and read for a few minutes then put down and read later: < 10 pages per chapter for the most part and stories about his life in the military. Sorry Boudin, no pictures in this book. One of the underlying themes is about (not) ringing the bell, or quitting during BUDs training. The training and especially Hell Week weeds out the guys who can’t fight the desire to quit, or ring the bell. All through training, the SEAL candidates are pushed to exhaustion and the Cadre offer them a break to end the suffering by ringing the bell and quitting. The guys who stick through it often say they don’t quit because of the man on their left and their right-their brothers who are depending on them to stay in the fight and keep pushing. I know what we are doing does’t compare with SEAL training, however I think this concept of being there for your brother is no less important for us. Think about this. How have you done lately with this? Is it enough to just post and say “at least I am showing up?” There are guys in our region who are struggling. You know some of them, but I am certain there are some that we don’t know how much they are struggling. Check on your brothers. Check on the one’s you don’t see. Stay involved in the ones you do see and make sure to hold them accountable for what we all know is important: Don’t ring the bell. No matter what, don’t ring the bell.
Thanks for the opportunity to lead. It really felt good to get back out there today.
Whoopee