Category: Backblast (Page 353 of 904)

34 degrees and clear morning on this Monday morning before Christmas.  An excellent way to prepare for the sugarplums and fruit cake we are all sure to enjoy later this week.

It was really great to see the guys, some have been longer between than others but none the less great to see all.

5:30

Pledge

Relocate to the bank parking lot next door in efforts to not be on the shores of Lake Whoopeegonnagetcha.  Some mumblechatter about the roughness of the parking lot  but we all prevailed in champion fashion.

Some stretching and a few yoga poses were preformed in order to get us warmed and going.

Over to the BOA (yes, another bank) parking lot for the thang.

The theme was the Walls of Jericho.  This consisted of 7 trips around the bank stopping at each of the 4 corners for some exercises.

Corners 1-3 were 7 reps each of 7 different exercises.

SSH

Squats

Plank Jax

Merkins

LBC’s

Heels to Heaven

Windshield Wipers

In turn 4 we did 5 burpees.

All pushed hard, talked some junk, got a sweat going, acted a little stupid, and had a great start to the week.

Arrived back at the flag 2 mins early where Watts Up called approx. 30 IC flutters until time.

Announcements

Sat Jan 1, 7am Convergence at Madoriyama

Prayers

Watts Up’s daughter and family

Stinky Birds friend going through a rough time

Gastone’s friends

Thank you for the opportunity.

Merry Christmas

AYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Timeframe

The gloom was gloomier than usual at The Ricky Bobby this morning.  Something was off.  Every Wednesday morning, the soccer field is reliably illuminated as “The Sentinel” walks the track.  If you’ve ever posted here, you’ve seen him.  But today, the lights were off, the field was dark, and The Ricky Bobby seemed as dark as Tequila Sunrise.  OK, not really that bad, but close.  At 0529, 3 HIM’s emerged from the shadows and commented on the eerie atmosphere sans-Sentinel as the clock ticked over to 0530.  Let’s get going!

Warm up with SSH (in a cadence that continued until Bubba Sparxxx got his gloves on) and Hillbilly walkers (15xIC), then a one-minute chop-chop drill:  PAX circle up and “chop chop” (Boudin called it something different that I can’t remember) until Q calls “Up” or “Down” and PAX respond with either 2 high-knees jumps (Up) or burpee (Down) for a total of one minute.  It’s a really long minute but gets the blood flowing on a cold morning.

The Thang:
Partner up.  Partner 1 lunge-walks while Partner 2 runs around pre-positioned orange cones (a little further than to the edge of the covered walkway and back).  Before switching, partners do 10 hand-slap or “boo-ja” merkins.  1 full lap was a lot of lunge-walking, so before round 2, partners wheelbarrow to the middle cone (about halfway down the walkway) and back.  Then, rinse and repeat the lunge-walk relay with hand-slap Big Boys before partners switch.

Next, circle up for some PAX choice exercises.  One calls an exercise while the PAX to his left runs to the far cone and back.  Second round is Carioca to the cone and back.  Next three rounds are bear crawl twice around the circle.  This was dubbed “Crawl ‘n’ Call.”  There were lots of ab exercises plus several variations of merkins and squats mixed in.  The last 5 minutes went by pretty fast.

Announcements:
Convergence Jan. 1 7:00 am Midoriyama
Rice & Beans – see Tiger or Slack
Grow Ruck – late March in Greenville, NC
Other CSAUP events – check Slack

Prayers:
Bubba Sparxxx’s brother-in-law, spine surgery
Gator’s coworker whose mother passed away
Boudin traveling
All those with stress and anxiety during holidays

As always, a privilege to lead!

 – Nutria

9 kicked off the week with Moderate Monday and just a fun beatdown at The Sandlot.  Here’s what I remember:

EC has been strong at The Sandlot for a while, thanks to Dirt, Watts Up, and EZ Rider, but we’re starting to see some more PAX out there logging EC miles.  Race season is right around the corner.  Come get some in on Monday mornings.

0530 came, and YHC launched into a longer than usual disclaimer, while also stalling for the last few PAX to get in.  Once everyone was there, we got going.

The Thang:

• 10 x Goofballs (IC)
• 10 x Imperial Walkers (IC)
• 10 x Don Quixotes (IC)
• 10 x Squats (IC)
• 5 x Arm Circles Forwards (IC)
• 5 x Arm Circles Backwards (IC)

Say goodbye to Sargento as he heads out to run and neglect his soccer arms while we mosey to the entrance to Martha Rivers Park

• 10 x Dying Cockroaches (IC)
• 10 x Heels to Heaven (IC)
• 10 x Michael Phelps (IC)
• 10 x Shoulder Taps (IC)
• 10 x Mike Tysons (IC)

Brief mosey to the walkway to the center of the fields and the flag.  At this walkway, the instructions were to go in doing anything but running.  Lunge walk, bear crawl, Apollo Ono, Nur, Partner Carry, Wheelbarrow, Walk if you have to.  Just don’t Mosey.  Guys were creative.  Nutria & YHC teamed up to wheelbarrow in.  Good times.

At this point, we partnered up and set a timer for 1 minute.  During this minute, the PAX would alternate between:

• Flutter Kicks
• M – Hold (Think American Hammers with no Hammers)

Mosey out one spoke of the proverbial wheel and back.  Once everyone was in, we held Wall Sits and talked about bad Christmas gifts.  If you bought a draft snake for your father, return it.  Trust me.  Then we marched it out for another 10-count before moving on to the next one.

Here we found new partners, and partnered up for 1 minute of

• Merkins
• Low Plank

Mosey out again and back for more Wall Sits, and more stories of bad Christmas gifts. If you’ve been gifted a towel warmer this Christmas season, chances are, it was originally given as a gift from Whoopee to his father who let it be known that he’d be regifting the towel warmer soon, and that person would probably do the same.  Marched it out again before one more round, new partners, and 1 minute of:

• Freddie Mercuries
• 6 inches

YHC told the PAX to “hold 6 inches” and that was it.  1 minute of very appropriate jokes about you name it.  Needless to say it was cold out, and, well, you can imagine.  If you can’t imagine, you should have been there.

Mosey out and back.  Wall Sits.  March.

Next, we headed out in whatever way, just not running.  The wheelbarrow was up and running again, but it was squeakier than the last time, and probably needed some grease.

Mosey back to the flag, jailbreaking the final stretch, and time.

Announcements:

• Convergence: New Year’s Day
• New Site Q @ Labyrinth
• Mod Mondays through the end of January.  Come out and bring a friend

Prayer Requests:

• EZ Rider & family
• Wojo & family
• Kids with Exams

Moleskin:

For this workout, instead of a 10-count, one PAX talked about himself, his hospital name, a brief introduction, and goals for 2022.  Folgers is the most interesting man in F3 Gastonia that you don’t know.  Goals were for post counts, mileage and weight loss, but also for family well-being, healthy relationships and growth in leadership.  Today was fun, and I was happy to have had the chance to lead it.

2021 was the best year, fitness-wise, of my life.  That’s just crazy.  I’m learning a lot and having a blast doing it.  Thanks F3 Gastonia for all the support.

Looking forward to the stories we’ll get to tell about 2022.

Yabba Dabba Doo

Fortunately for me, Slaw was kind enough to remind me that I had the Q today! What seemed (in my mind, at least) like a sure-fire beatdown a month ago turned into more of a “what can an ailing Montross come up with”. I dusted off an older “12 Days Of Christmas” weinke from 2 years ago, made a few tweaks, and showed up to Midoriyama with only monents to spare with playlist and cardboard sign in hand.

First thing first, you can find my playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5zlfnAtzQbmiffUTSA1h6n?si=mcVrQ5FgR_6uNp_EQR5zfQ&utm_source=copy-link

Quick warmup with 10 SSH IC and 5 burpees. Lets get to it.

12 Regular Merkins
11 CDDs
10 Peter Parkers
9 Parker Peters
8 Slaw Squats (nice and low fellas)
7 Backward Lunges
6 Imperial Walkers
5 MONKEY HUMPERSSSSSSS
4 Mountain Climbers
3 Plank Jacks
2 Hillbillies
And a Merkin and a Burpee
(Count right leg only on 10, 9, 7, 6, 4, 3, and 2)
Run a lap around the parking lot.
Repeat for about 40 minutes.

We had a litle time left so Slaw led us in LBCs. Time!

Pretty simple. I was pretty gassed after 30 minutes but the bat flippers kept pushing the pace. That is exactly why I did this workout so all good. On one of my final laps, I noticed a PAX on the edge of the parking lot taking a leak. I had P200 flashbacks of Pockets on the Cooper River Bridge. Another PAX was spotted peeing near the horseshoe pit and a third PAX (whose name rhymes with Dr. Moose) was accused of peeing near SLAW’s spot. The “Moose” story is just a rumor so you may want to ask him to either confirm or deny. Needless to say, the quantity of urine was alarming tonight.

COT – convergence 1/1/2022 7 a.m. @ Midoriyama. Prayers for people who are sick and Broke’s family.

16 strong at Tequila Sunrise on an unusually warm December morning.  As it is National Wright Brothers Day this workout is themed in their honor.

Warm ups included SSH’s,  Abe Vigodas, Imperial Walkers and Jingle Balls.  Try not to hurt yourself!

Mosey to the VFW for Pledge

22 CDD’s OYO
22 LBC’s IC
22 Squats OYO
22 Imperial Walkers
22 Plank Jacks OYO
10 Merkins IC

Mosey to the  back of the School
20 Hip Slappers OYO
20 Dirty Hookups OYO
20 Wall Slaps

Mosey to the Baptist Church
10 Burpees OYO
15 Chinooks front IC
15 Chinooks Back IC
30 Mountain climbers OYO
20 SSH IC
20 Crunchy Frogs IC
20 WW1 OYO
15 Box Cutters IC
20 Squats OYO
10 Merkins OYO

Mosey to Foursquare Church
25 Freddie Mercuries IC
30 Curb Touch OYO
30 Morrocvan Nightclubs IC
30 Plank Jacks OYO
15 Flutter Kicks High
15 Flutter Kicks Medium
15 Flutter Kicks  Low
15 Gus Pumps IC
25 Squats OYO

Mosey back to Belmont Central
15 Pickle Pounders L
15 Pickle Pounders R
20 WWI OYO
15 American Hammers
10 Merkins IC

Easter egg was in the numbers today.  The number of reps of each set was the feet that was flown in each flight that day.  The total reps was the length of the last flight.

Announcements – Check slack for holidays workouts

Prayers –
All with Cancer
All with Covid
All travelling
Students
Peace during the holidays

A little hectic but as always humbled and honored to serve as Q this morning, thank you for the opportunity to lead!

Rebar

9 was the number of HIM’s that got better at Folsom this morning.

The WarmUp:

10 IC Gravel Pickers

10 IC SSH

Moroccan NightClubs while YHC explained the Thang.

The Thang:

At every light pole to the flag at the entrance of the park plus at the fork in the road, which equals 10, do the following:

1 Burpee

5 Merkins

10 Shoulder Taps

Pledge at the flag

3 minutes of Cherry Pickers

Mosey to the parking lot

Dirty, Dirty 11’s (2 speed humps)

Hand release merkins, Burpee, Burpee, CDD’s

Burpees at each speed hump both ways

3 minutes of Cherry Pickers (some PAX where starting to loose their form at this point)

Mosey to the Horse rink

Triple Dime (10 reps x 3 exercises x 3 sets)

10  Dips

10 Pull ups

10 Derkins

3 minutes of Cherry Pickers (form was really worse on this one for several guys

Indian Run back to the main parking lot with HIM in the rear doing 2 Burpees.

We were 2 minutes late back to the parking lot.

COT:

God’s Greatest Gift to Us

God’s response to our rebellion was to give us himself. He is the great, redeeming, transforming gift. He is the rescue. He is the forgiveness. He is the restoration. He is life, hope, peace, and security. There is no salvation apart from him. There is no deliverance from the presence and power of sin apart from him. There is no restored relationship with God apart from him. There is no new heaven and new earth apart from him. There is no end to sickness and suffering apart from him. There is no defeat of death apart from him. There simply is no such thing as redeeming grace and all that it means apart from the willingness of God to give us himself in the person of the Messiah, Jesus.

Jesus is the grace of God, given to sinners who cannot free themselves from the death grip of sin. Look into that manger at that baby boy and see grace. The Christmas story is about grace in its most shocking and surprising form. The Lord of lords, one of incalculable glory, humbles himself and takes on human flesh and blood. The Creator, in a way that boggles the mind, becomes the created. The One who made a perfect world now exposes himself to a world stained with imperfections. The judge of all things places himself under judgment. The One who deserves worship becomes the Lamb of sacrifice. The One who deserves everyone’s love subjects himself to being despised and rejected. The One who owns all things lives with no place to call home and no place to rest his weary head.

Come, Let Us Adore Him

Announcements:

Convergence Jan 1 @ 7:00 at Midoriyama

Jan 8th – Ball Joint’s 1 Year Anniversary Q at Folsom

Prayer Request:

Big Pappy’s family

Sister Act’s family

Wichita’s co worker

Mayor’s M

Kids in Foster Care

Shout out to Bedpan for allowing me to swap Q’s with him this morning.

I took us out!

Sarlacc out!!

12 HIMS showed up to get better this morning, well the Q (Huckleberry) got out of his truck in shorts and t shirt and sounded awful, but was still there. We were honored to have the incoming Nantan (Sargento) in our gloom this morning. Everyone did miles this morning.

COT:

A Single Word to Sum Up Christmas

If you had to summarize the Christmas story with one word, what word would you choose? Now, your word would have to capture what this story points to as the core of human need and the way God would meet that need. Do you have a word in mind? Maybe you’re thinking that it’s just not possible to summarize the greatest story ever with one word. But I think you can. Let’s consider one lovely, amazing, history-changing, and eternally significant word.

It doesn’t take paragraph after paragraph, written on page after page, filling volume after volume to communicate how God chose to respond to the outrageous rebellion of Adam and Eve and the subtle and not-so-subtle rebellion of everyone since. God’s response to the sin of people against his rightful and holy rule can be captured in a single word. I wonder if you thought, “I know the word: grace.”

Without the gift of Jesus, grace would be a promise with no power.

But the single word that captures God’s response to sin even better than the word grace is not a theological word; it is a name. That name is Jesus. God’s response wasn’t a thing. It wasn’t the establishment of an institution. It wasn’t a process of intervention. It wasn’t some new divine program. In his infinite wisdom God knew that the only thing that could rescue us from ourselves and repair the horrendous damage that sin had done to the world was not a thing at all. It was a person, his Son, the Lord Jesus.

Prayer request:

Big Pappy and family, Sister Act’s 2.0, Sargento’s friend, Wichita’s co worker, many others.

Announcements:

Convergence Jan 1 @ Midoriyama 7am

We did pledge

Wichita took us out.

Sarlacc out.