Category: Backblast (Page 120 of 904)

3 of us did work which was a lot of picking cherries

Ez Rider and I did some work.

Warm Up and Pledge

One rep of an exercise at each street light to Gastone’s Hill

One rep of an exercise at each MB on right OTW up

One exercise at each MB OTW down stacked em.

DG parking lot 11s Hand Release Merkins and Bonnie Blairs

Wall Sits, Presses and Dirty H ups Food Lion Parking Lot

Food Lion Parking Lot 4 corners- 4 exercises stacked em. 10, 15, 20, 25

Prayers: Jackson Hall, Glenda Russell, Huckleberry,

Announcements: @nd F Lunch Pita Wheel Gastonia Sept 20.

We did some stuff…..a lot of stuff.  I wish I could remember but its been too long and I didn’t have it written down.  Thanks to those who came out and joined us.

5 of us carried the torch as the scheduled Q was down with an illness and we had to go deep on the depth chart to fill in for some of the regulars who were MIA.  JJ, Stroganoff and Winehouse ran the loop while Hunchback and YHC rucked with Scrat.

Discussion this week from “Wisdom of the Bullfrog” centered on the chapter entitled “A Shepherd Should Smell Like His Sheep”.  A couple quotes:

“Pope Francis once said, ‘A shepherd should smell like his sheep.’  While it’s a relatively new saying, it mirrors the thinking of all great leaders for all time.  If you lose touch with the men and women who work for you, if you can’t relate to them because you spend too much time in the office and not enough time on the factory floor, if you don’t ‘smell’ like the people you are sworn to protect and lead, then you will be a poor leader who makes bad decisions.”

And this one:

“The officers they respected the most were the ones who showed up in the boiler room when it was 120 degrees, who got greasy and turned wrenches with them, who picked up a broom to help with evening sweep-down, who brought them water when they were painting the side of the ship, and who thanked them routinely for their efforts.  But they also wanted an officer who made the tough decisions, held them accountable, worked hard, and above all they wanted an officer who valued them for the tough work they did.”

Proximity is key with leadership.  It’s critical at work.  It’s different and difficult with our kids.  It’s important that we as leaders are adequately prepared enough to be able to make time to spend time in the fields and with the ones whom we are leading.  It lets us see their realities and it lets them see that we know our stuff.

We have to make sure we know enough that they can’t BS us.

Privileged again for another opportunity to lead.

13 PAX pushed rocks at Old School with a roster full of regulars and Lawings alike.  Def Leppard was back after a brief time on IR, as was Wirenut, just days after his time on the sidelines.  Good to see everyone out.  Here’s what I remember:

The Thang:

The goal was to push the pace and run laps around Old School, but the whole town of Dallas was out walking the track, so we had to improvise a bit.

• 10 x Abe Vagodas (IC)
• Run half a lap around the parking lot
• 10 x SSH (IC)
• 10 x Hillbillies (IC)
• Run the other half
• 10 x Mike Tysons (IC)
• 10 x Dying Cockroaches (IC)
• Run half a lap
• 10 x SSH (IC)
• 10 x Hillbillies (IC)

To the picnic shelter for the first of what was supposed to be 3 rounds, but only ended up being 2 of:

• 10 x Dips (IC)
• 10 x Monkey Humpers (IC)
• 10 x Oblique Crunches L (IC)
• 10 x Oblique Crunches R (IC)
• 10 x Flutter Kicks (IC)

Mosey to the corner of Church & Oakland to the Dallas Gym for

• 10 x Merkins (OYO)
• 10 x LBCs (OYO)
• 10 x American Hammers (OYO)
• 10 x Flutter Kicks (OYO)

The goal for the day was to run and put in work.  Every time we got to another corner, we’d do another exercise.  Turns out we got in a lot of work.  Here’s how it set up:

Big Loop

• Oakland & Trade
  • 10 x Burpees (OYO)
• Gaston & Trade
  • 10 x Burpees (OYO)
  • 10 x Derkins (OYO)
  • 10 x Bulgarian Split Squats L (OYO)
  • 10 x Bulgarian Split Squats R (OYO)
• Gaston & Church
  • 10 x Burpees (OYO)
• Oakland & Church
  • 10 x Merkins (OYO)
  • 10 x LBCs (OYO)
  • 10 x American Hammers (OYO)
  • 10 x Flutter Kicks (OYO)

First lap done.  Take a minute on the playground for round 2 of Dips & Core with reps increasing.  Some benches were more stable than others.

• 15 x Dips (IC)
• 15 x Monkey Humpers (IC)
• 15 x Oblique Crunches L (IC)
• 15 x Oblique Crunches R (IC)
• 15 x Flutter Kicks (IC)

Next up was the Smaller Loop

• Oakland & Church
  • 10 x Merkins (OYO)
  • 10 x LBCs (OYO)
  • 10 x American Hammers (OYO)
  • 10 x Flutter Kicks (OYO)
• Oakland & Main
  • 10 x Jungle Boy Squats (OYO)
• Holland & Main
  • 10 x CDDs (OYO)
  • 10 x Mike Tysons (OYO)
• Holland & Church
  • 10 x Jungle Boy Squats (OYO)
• Oakland & Church
  • 10 x Merkins (OYO)
  • 10 x LBCs (OYO)
  • 10 x American Hammers (OYO)
  • 10 x Flutter Kicks (OYO)

Having showed the way, the next move was to start the clock and see how many rounds we could get.  The timer was set for 8 minutes, and it was You v You to see what we could get in.  Doodles said there wasn’t much he couldn’t do in 8 minutes, so it seemed like plenty of time.

But then 8 minutes turned into a little longer than that by the time everyone got back, which spared the PAX round 3 of Dips & Core, but not the last lap.

For the Final Lap, PAX choice of the Big Loop or the Small Loop.  We all hit it hard and brought it back to COT 1 minute late.  YHC did 10 burpees for bringing the PAX in late by 1 minute.

And that was that.  3+ miles and a bunch of reps with a good push from the backbone of our region.

Moleskin:

I’d owed Wirenut a Q at Old School since I reserved the QvQ showdown in March.  Was glad to get that stamp on my Q passport.

Old School is a great AO.  A track and a town with long runs, short runs, benches, city squares, and a coffeeteria that can’t be beat.  Get out to Old School if you haven’t been.  Pick up the Q while you’re at it.  Always good to get out.

Good to see some new faces too.  Quattro had been a long time Kotter, but joined us at Time Out for some 2nd F.  Meat Wagon had a shirt made with his F3 name on it.  Doodles made the pilgrimage from the east.  Chili made an appearance too.  Enjoyed the company.

Privileged for the opportunity to lead.

Yabba Dabba Doo

3 rucked, 1 ran, and 2 dropped the ball!

Montana and I joined Anchor Man after he did a little EC ruck. Montana brought a bag for trash and definitely stayed busy the entire time. Gavel took off after us for his 7 mile run. We all met and looked around for the Q and the site Q but, neither were there. We went inside anyway because we didn’t want to leave Tesla hanging. We didn’t go over Exhortation (Q3.7) but we did rehash Persuasion (Q3.6). So Q-Source turned into a 2nd F meet up but, that was fine with us.

It was a perfect morning for a beatdown at the Yank. 10 HIM were there for the action, including Volt for a 2nd east side appearance in a row! Welcome brother, we’re always glad to have you and all other non-regulars to AO’s you don’t frequent.

Public service announcement – Just like Volt did the last couple days, its really good practice to visit AOs you may not be as familiar with, especially the HIM who you may meet there. We’re all F3 men! Get out there and meet new guys and spread the love.

There has been some recent complaining that YHC wasn’t bringing the musical accompaniment the PAX expected . Challenge accepted! Back in 2019 YHC posted on Twitter a top 100+ albums of all time. For the playlist, YHC chose the best song from each album to go with a beatdown and it was awesome.

The beatdown was fantastic as always, but today was really about the music. Lots of sweat was shed and the PAX got their money’s worth. Maybe more music will be brought in the coming weeks and months…

We finished up with a bunch of Mary and we’re done!

Announcements – JJ 5k, October ruck, Tuna 200 needs runners

Prayer requests – Norwood, Turtleman, Termite’s son, one of Tricycle’s pastor’s at City Church son passed unexpectedly

14 HIM wanted some milkshake at the darkest AO in the region. YHC decided to wing this workout without a weinke but being experienced, no problems were in the forecast. This is what happened…

5:30 struck and we moseyed toward the playground blacktop so as not to wake the neighbors, avoiding the danger chain on the way. Circle up for the warmup and slight disclaimer. Mosey down the street to the tennis courts for The Thang

Suicide escalator! Start on one end, run to the edge of one court and back for 10 Squats. Mosey to the next furthest court and back for 10 squats & 10 merkins. Next furthest for the first 2 then back, so on and so forth. The exercises in order were Squats, Merkins, LBCs, Mike Tysons and Lunges. Once we finished the escalator there was some talking by YHC and the 2nd session was announced. The de-escalator (is that a thing?). Do the whole thing backwards. Push that rock!

Mosey back to the start at the blacktop for the next thing.

Dora 1, 2, 3, 4

Partner up and do 100 CDDs, 200 Monkey Humpers, 300 Dying Cockroaches and then an extra 400 Air Presses. Seuss had to leave but we kept on trucking!

Circle up and we did a bunch of Mary. Namorama and we’re out!

Announcements- JJ 5k in a couple weeks, 2nd F lunch next Wednesday at Gastonia Pita Wheel, Tuna 200 needs 2 more runners

Prayer requests: Watt’s Ups knees, Jackson Hall cancer, Norwood, Turtleman, Huck, Anchorman’s FIL