Category: Backblast (Page 346 of 904)

I will never forget the first Tuesday of 2021 , It was a little rainy, and high 30’s, Sparky had blocks in the tennis court at Folsom.  That was the start on my F3 journey, and what a year it has been.  I have done some things , meet some good people, and basically I am not the same man I was a year ago.  So I have been thinking about how to incorporate one of my other passions in life, Drag Racing, into a Q.   I figured out a rough game plan and with the help of some OG Folsom guys this is how it went.

Warmup:

We ain’t got time for that… count off…20 pax ok cool, count off again …split pax up into 7 teams of 3 (one team had 2).  Yall get your team together and let’s mosey!  Across the soccer field to 2 parking lots right below the triangle.

The Thang:

Welcome to the Folsom Raceway!  In the lower parking our racing crew was waiting.  Montross was the Race Master (he had the clip board), Alen Tate was the official starter, and Huck was the finish line judge and protest dept.  On to the Racing!  I acquired 2 identically prepared 2001 Ford Rangers (one had more gas in it though), they were set up on the far end of the parking lot at the starting line.  The teams were put on a ladder (bracket) and the racing started!  your team of 3 had 1 driver and 2 pushers.  Flashlight start! Chase is a race! Let go!  Push as fast as you can to the other end of the parking lot to the finish line and if your team wins you move on to the next round.  Losers went in the losers’ bracket.  So, every team was cycled in and while not racing we had busy work to do.  Super Dora…one man ran the length of the upper parking lot, one man held a static position (plank/squat/crunch), one man did the work.  Burpees, Merkins, LBC, Squats, all in various amounts this kept everyone busy and warm while waiting on their turn to race.  With time running low and the racing coming down to the semifinal rounds, we switched up and grabbed my favorite coupon the brake rotor! 20 curls, rows, triceps, and chest press then run a lap.  repeato at 19, then 18 etc…   The Final round of racing was Team Sargento, GearWrench, Bedpan  VS Team Sparky, Sarlacc, Volt.   The Nantan cracked the whip and with the power of Florda Man and GW ‘s super calf muscles they pushed across the line victorious!  I’m pretty sure they even thew the hazard lights on as they crossed the finish line! Congratulations!  I’ll get ya’ll a medal or a trophy or something.

We had a FNG!  Good job Mayor!   My man said he his lips were cold and someone shouted out ELSA…and well there you go! Welcome to F3!  Dude had perfect Merkin Form BTW (Mayor maybe he can help you).

Announcements:

Jan 22– Q school after workout @ Gashouse 8:20  Breakfast after

Feb. 18-20 –F3 retreat in Flatrock-watch for preblast from Sargento

June 4–savage race–see Stogie

Prayer Request:

Big Pappy/family,  Gumby, RoundUP (6 kids!), Montross Uncle, Alen Tate’s Friend

I took us out in Prayer.

Thank you to Montross, Alen Tate and Huck..with out those guys the Folsom Winter nationals would not have been possible!  If you missed out we may have another opprouity for the summer nationals.  stay tuned!

Moleskin:

2021 was crazy!  I did things i never knew i could do…  like wake up at 4:30 almost everyday of the week, lost 25 + lbs,  ran a 5k, ran 5 miles, ran 10k, ran a 1/2 marathon!?  do 100 burpees in 10 mins, and 450 merkins before 6:15 on a Tuesday, worked out in the snow/sleet/rain/sub freezing , lead a workout, be in charge of a AO , pay $160 for running shoes,  and the list goes on!  F3 is one of those things you don’t know you need it till you do it. Thank you to everyone that pushed me, encouraged me and just showed up to a workout.  you all inspire me to keep going and accelerating! I can’t wait to see what happens in 2022!

SYITG

Ball Joint

Check your calendars and get clearance from the M for the most epic F3 Gastonia experience to date! This weekend will be transformational for our region!!!

February 18th-20th we will head to the mountains for a weekend of 1st F gut checks, plenty of 2nd F comradery, and solid 3rd F to boot. YHC has reserved the 1st ARP church house for F3 Gastonia to use all weekend.

We’ll do this stuff and more:

• Saturday morning beatdown
• Cookouts
• Beer ruck into Hendersonville with numerous brewery stops
• 3rd F study, devotions & discussions
• A long run for the runners (soccer arms welcome)
• Hikes on nearby trails
• Breakfast by the chef (maybe even some livermush)

The cost is only about $15 per person, per night depending on how many HIM go. Basically, the more HIM that go, the lower the cost.

First come, first served because we only have room for 32 HIM.

RSVP to YHC ASAP to save your place! AYE!!!

It all started one frosty cold day in January.  The first Saturday of 2013 to be exact.  Thats the day YHC jumped into this thing we share called F3.  Nine years of Fitness, Fellowship and Faith.  Nine years of ups and downs physically, mentally and spiritually.  Nine years of checking off boxes not originally on my bucket list with the support, the badgering and bad ideas from my brothers.    Looking forward to whatever comes next.

How would you celebrate an F3 anniversary?  How about reps of nine for your 9th anniversary.   Sounds easy enough.  The reps may have been easy.  The counting was not for some reason.

The Thang –

It was a chilly 25 degree morning in Belmont and only a few cars had found their usual spots on the curb near the park.  Two guys were making their way back from their EC ruck when the vehicles started pulling in, right on time.  14 HIM present and ready to get moving.  No FNG present so we moseyed to the Bunker for our warm up.

9th Anniversary Warm up
SSH, Grass Pickers, Imp Walkers, each x 9 In cadence
Stretch Arms L/R
Stretch Legs L/R & Frt
Windmill, Plank jack, Burpee, each x 9 In cadence.  (Not all were nine.  Reprograming from the more regularly called numbers was harder than expected.)

Mosey up Main Street to the flower boxes in front of Twisted Sugar.  9 men followed YHC leaving 4 men in the Bunker for a HIPAA kettlebell swingfest.

9 Derkins IC
9 Box Jumps OYO
9 Dips IC
9 Step Ups OYO
9 Incline Merkins IC

Mosey further up Main Streety to the alley for Peoples chair
Add in some Marching
Now add in some Air presses.  That combo seemed to be a challenge for a few so we cut it short and got moving again to keep from cooling off.

Mosey to parking lot behind the Mercantile barber shop for a Four Corner Escalator x 9.
Five exercises were listed on a paper and taped to the pavement in each of the four corners.  In the first corner complete the first exercise 9 times and move to the second, the third, and the fourth.  When returning to the first corner complete the first exercise and the second before moving on to do the same at three and four.  Each lap adds to your escalator ride up.

Corner 1
Squat x9
Monkey Humper x9
SSH x9
Lunge x9
Calf Raises x9

Corner 2
LBCs x9
Flutters x9
American Hammers x9
Freddie Mercury x9
Crunchy Frog x9

Corner 3
Merkins x9
Moroccan Night Club x9
Plank Jacks x9
CDD x9
Air Press x9

Corner 4
Apollo Ono x9
Imp Walkers x9
Squat Jump x9
Mtn Climber x9
Burpees x9

The original plan was to keep everyone moving to complete 9 exercises in each corner.  With timing concerns the weinke was assembled with 5.  However, in typical F3 fashion the PAX blew through the escalator with time to spare.

Circle up!
Jack Webb 9×2  (1 merkin + 2 air presses, 2 merkins + 4 air presses, up to 9 & 18.)  Sounds easy but after the escalator above there were some shaky merkins towards the end.

Time for a few more laps on the escalator.  When asked which corner we wanted to start in Gator called out #3.  Merkins…really.  Lets go!  Everyone hit it hard.  As time began to catch us a few were just about finished up with their second escalator.  The others weren’t far behind, and neither was the train.  A short mosey back to the Yank and it was time.

Announcements-

2ndF Lunch Buffalo Wild Wings Jan. 19th, Mountain Retreat Feb. 18-20, Are you smarter than a 5th grader Feb. 10, GrowRuck Feb. 26

Prayer Requests-

Tesla and his Family, Students and Teacher returning to school, HIPAA’s Mom Lumpectomy, Our Country

Tesla closed us out in Prayer.

It’s been a good ride!  Can’t wait for the next bad idea. – BOS

It was 6:57 and not a single Painlaber was in sight. I began to worry that I’ld be running a solo this morning. But then what did I see? Hermie, then Castle Rock pulling into the lot. Hell yeah, we got a party! Today was core and arms day, so let’s make it happen. 

Abs: 50 sec. work/ 10 sec. rest R&R

crunches, baby makers, heels to heaven, reverse crunches, American hammers, then boat hold,

Mosey around the parking lot.

Arms: 50 sec. work/ 10 sec. rest R&R

Burpees, curls w/kettle, overhead press w/k, o/h triceps w/k, squat/shadow boxing, isolated curls w/k, inside curls w/k

Mosey around the parking lot

Return and Mary for the last 3 minutes.

We returned to the lot to finish up with Gashouse. Good work men!

Pledge

Warm up: SSH and Merkins only

Run around Downtown Gastonia for about 2 miles stopping at many sites for some reps of Partner merkins, LBC’s, Calf raises, Dips, and we even bear crawled a little.  If you where there you would have seen all of the ways we incorporated each exercise into the workout – show to know

Mosey back to start for some merry

Announcements – Multiple relays coming up and Q school at gashouse on 1/22

Prayer request: Chris Howell’s daughter and grandson,  Family members of multiple Pax

Prayed us out

As always it was an honor to lead

EZ out!!

How many Q-Fails does it take to…  wait a minute, let’s back up and start at the beginning.  0528: Mumblechatter begins with speculation about the new “Twisted Goat” sign above the former Doffers.  0529: Tesla arrives notably on time, maybe even a minute early, while Pilgrims Progress casually strolled down the sidewalk as 0530 struck and the workout commenced.  Were these signs of “twisted” things to come??

Following a plan so carefully orchestrated and memorized that no Weinke was necessary, warm-up SSH and Hillbilly walkers (each 15xIC) proceeded without a hitch.  So far so good; on to The Thang:

Mosey down the street and around next to the gazebo. Set timer for 0:30 of some exercises: 
Derkins, Bobby Hurleys, Michael Phelps, Dips, Plank-jacks, Side-bridges (like low-plank sideways pickle pounders, L and R separately). 
This is when problems began.  The iPhone timer – a critical element of aforementioned carefully orchestrated plan – failed to sound the alarm when time ran out.  This could perhaps be blamed on cold weather, Apple, or many other uncontrollable external forces.  Covid, a convenient and universal scapegoat for anything that goes wrong, could easily be responsible for these technological mishaps, right?  Wrong.  The PAX and mercilessly laid blame and responsibility right where it belongs:  QIC, YHC.  IMHO, they thoroughly reveled in it.  After repeated “Q-fails” on the first full set exercises, and a crack from old Uncle Ted about YHC’s technological incompetence, something clearly had to be done.  Manually watching the clock and calling time would be tedious.  Omaha the whole thing and start from scratch?  Maybe, but YHC didn’t give up that easily.  The passing Amtrak train provided 5 burpees worth of relief to gather a few thoughts and announce an alternative plan:  Reduce the time to 0:25 per exercise; rinse and repeat.  As if the ghost of Steve Jobs approved of a 25-second maximum limit for these exercises the 0:25 timer worked flawlessly!  The iPhone remained somewhat twisted, however, as it escaped from YHC’s pocket multiple times throughout the remainder of the workout.  Not to worry, OtterBox passed all of these real-world tests of durability.

After the second set of exercises, mosey toward the fire station then back up the hill towards the RR tracks.  Turning left behind the buildings, Carioca to the end of the block.  Mosey back to Center St. then Carioca to the corner at the Twisted Goat, where the short brick walls surround the bike rack.   Set timer for 0:25 of each of the following exercises:
Derkins, Bobby Hurleys, Michael Phelps, Dips, Plank-jacks, Side-bridges (L and R separately).  Rinse and Repeat.

Mosey toward the police station then around the square and across the street to the bridge. Bear crawl across the bridge until it’s too slippery (about 2/3 of the way across), lunge-walk the rest of the way, then Carioca to the picnic tables at the park. Set timer for 0:25 of each of same exercises:
Derkins, Bobby Hurleys, Michael Phelps, Dips, Plank-jacks, Side-bridges (L and R separately). No time to rinse and repeat this time.  Mosey back to the bridge.  Bear crawl to about halfway across, then mosey back to the flag. 

One minute remaining – just enough time for a few Freddie Mercurys and Six-shooters before COT.

Announcements and prayers:  Check Slack; lots of CSAUP’s going on at end of March.   

Lagniappe:  Failure is a necessary part of learning.  Thanks to the 5 HIM’s who stuck it out and persevered until we found the right routine.

Privileged to lead today!

 – Nutria