Maverick put such a whuppin’ on our upper bodies yesterday at the Gipper that YHC had preordained there’d be no burpees, no merkins, and no pull-ups at the (post) Scramble this morning.
We began with one the slowest warmoramas YHC has led, and I’ve led some pretty slow ones. Good Mornings, at an excruciatingly sluggish pace, followed by windmills, toe touches, IW’s, and lunges, all x12 IC for Mackenzie’s birthday. Happy birthday, Mackenzie, whoever you are.
Finally, time to mosey. Traditional route plus some – after Sunset Point we doubled back to hit the Hermitage loop for a second time, bumping our mileage up to an even 4.
Things went south at about this point, when Akbar went AWOL, which in turn sent Shooter running in circles, which in turn had the rest of the PAX performing exactly 127 LBC’s. This, along with some overly-chatty announcements, sent us over on time by about six full minutes. Luckily, Turtle was not present to note my disrespect of the time.
Soon-to-be-retired Garfield prayed us out and the PAX scattered like the wind. Thanks men for getting me out there today, some mornings are tougher than others, and I’m incredibly thankful I have you guys to hold me accountable.
Two notable occurrences right outta the gate at Granny’s this morning: Nacho posted for the first time in aeons, and Cowbell posted naked. Well, not technically naked, but in his mind I’m sure it felt that way. In his four years of F3, this was his virgin sans-bandana post. It’s like Haley’s Comet, you’ve gotta wait another 75 years to see it again.
Warmorama: Seal jacks, toe touches, SSH, good mornings, IW’s, all at or around 20x IC. And then the warmorama kinda morphed into a quick COP: mountain climbers, shoulder taps, peter parkers, all 15x IC, followed by 15 merkins OYO.
Mosey over the river and through the woods to the tunnel for a simple but miserable routine (welcome back, Nacho!): 10 burpees, 10 squats, 10 big boys, 10 merkins. Run down through tunnel and up to the other side, 9 burps, 9 squats, 9 big boys, 9 merkins. Back and forth and back and forth, descending until completed. That put us on the opposite side of the Florida, so we did a nice long run of Lt. Dan’s back across. Pelican asked why it was called Lt Dans, and I explained the reasoning (afterwards, you “ain’t got no legs”). But, Pelican countered, at the end of the movie, Lt. Dan has magic legs. Hmm… YHC didn’t know how to respond to that….
Mosey back to the flag with time enough for 30x IC LBC’s, and then Chewy prayed us out, reminding us to be thankful for our good health. T-claps to Nacho for the return post (aka kotter), hope to see you back out again this week. Thanks men for the chance to lead, appreciate you guys helping to keep me strong and sharp!
It was a dark and stormy morning… Considering those conditions, and it being mid-week, YHC glad to see such a strong turn out of 11. To our good fortune, the rain broke (for a bit). A few PAX did their usual Pre-Thang mile run, then we circled up.
Warm Ups: Good Mornings, Toe Touches, Imperial Walkers, Hill Billies, Arm Circles.
The Thang:
Pax mosied over to the court house parking lot and did “Ascending Curb Crawls.” OYO, PAX Bear crawled to other side, turned & placed feet on curb and completed 1 derkin, crawled back and completed 2 derkins, and continued to 13. Moans and groans were heard almost immediately, and YHC took mental note as one of the PAX mentioned that on another occasion, the routine was done as “Descending” Curb Crawls, where merkins would decrease instead of increase.
Next PAX mosied over to the parking garage where we partnered up and completed a modified “Burp Back Mountain.” Partner 1 proceeded to run backwards 1/2 way up the garage ramp and sprint forward back down, while partner 2 performed burpees. Partners continue to flapjack until 50 (modified from 100) total burpees were completed.
Next PAX mosied to the front steps of the courthouse. OYO, PAX did merkins up the courthouse steps, did 5 Rocky Balboa’s at the top, and ran down the ramp around to the beginning. Pax Repeated 4 times changing the exercise up the steps each time. (1. Merkins, 2. Bunny Hops, 3. Squats, 4. Freak Nasties).
(Began to rain)
Next PAX did the “Burpee 1/2 Mile” (Modified from “Burpee Mile”). Total of 24 Burpees, 1/2 Mile. Pax did 6 Burpees, ran 1/4 mile x 2.
At this point, one of the PAX feeling a bit sluggish confessed his Oreo habit, and soon others admitted some of their own indulgences.
Finally, PAX mosied back to the flag to do some MARY under the pavillion out of the rain.
Count O Name O.
Shooter prayed us out.
Later in the day, YHC was glad to get a text from an F3 Brother giving some kudos on the beatdown, saying the combination of burpees and bear crawls made the work out brutal, but that he liked it. Glad to hear someone got their money’s worth and was challenged, as YHC is usually behind in the game.
“It’s time for a showdown: you and me. I’m right here, come and get me!”
-Lieutenant Dan
The forecast called for the front line to roll through about 5am, but upon waking, it appeared that we had just missed the rain and tumult. Still the flashes of lightening and the threat of hazardously unpleasant weather seemed enough to keep attendance low. Arriving to a Steve-less Scramble, YHC knew it took less than hail and sleet to foster the fartsack for some. But Ackbar, Shooter, and the reliably tardy Cowbell had other plans.
WARMORAMA
x10 IC:
Imperial Walkers
Windmills
High Knees
Grass Grabbers
Slow Squats
Butt Kicks
THANG
The pre-ordained progression unfolded with the scramblers skipping over puddles. Cowbell specifically mentioned how getting his shoes wet would ruin his run….Oh would it now?
About 1.5 miles in (just long enough for Q to actually get warmmed up), lightening streaked across the sky and the heavens once more opened over Mandeville. The wind-whipped sheets of torrential rain, rather than ruining, actually invigorated the rambling foursome, who had by this point split into the engine and the caboose. A respectable sub-9 was had by all as the train pulled into the water-logged station.
MARY
A rapid-fire abbreviated Mary involved x20 IC (moving directly from one exercise into the next) LBCs, Freddy Mercurys and Flutter Kicks.
COT
Remaining comfortably on our soaking sixes, COUNT/NAME/ANNOUNCE/PRAY with Q taking the lead out.
F1/F2 coming next month at the Gipper Thursday Nov 21@6pm/6:30pm
Today was one for adventurers. Thanks for coming on this adventure with me, guys! And HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
10 men braved the Olga aftermath to see what was on the No Power Menu this past Saturday. YHC may not be able to remember much of what was actually on the menu, but I can tell you what was not on the menu: a fun game of mud football wasn’t (or, really, any “fun” in general); a beatdown with a clear vision wasn’t; and a fast cup of strong coffee at coffeeteria wasn’t either. But more on that later.
First, there was much mumblechatter and confusion as to what exactly happened to Wacker. He had posted on the GroupMe that Olga had “slipped in last night and screwed things up.” But many men hadn’t heard that the tropical storm had been named and so, naturally, thought a Russian woman had slipped into Bush’s bed. Obviously, there was a lot of concern and alarm until it was revealed Olga was “not the Russian lady he did that run with a few weeks ago.”
Now, the beatdown. Nevermind that YHC can’t remember the specifics of the warmorama (it’s pretty much the same 15 or so exercises anyway, right?), more of note was that it had to be the darkest warmorama on record. With the power out in the entire neighborhood, it really couldn’t be any darker (unless, of course, we lost the light coming from Hammer and Pik’s phones). YHC kept thinking, how can we do anything in this darkness? No bear crawls, no suicides – what are we gonna just sit in a circle and do side straddle hops all morning??
So… after some SSH’s, we carefully tread over to the playground equipment for a round of 7’s: pull-ups to merkins. Then over to the benches for a second set of 7’s: Freak Nasties to Bulgarians (admittedly, Bulgarians were a bit ill-conceived due to the awkwardness of having to do each leg).
Then carefully back to center court for a set of 1 minute AMRAPs, dealer’s choice: we went around the circle and each man picked an exercise. I can’t remember the exercises: there were merkins, there were jump squats, there were burpees, oh, and then Maverick showed up about this time and made us do Merkins again.
After that, Tank mercifully took the Q for a moment, just as light was starting to peek through. He had us do runs across the court, with a merkin at each end. About 5 laps here to get the heart rate going.
YHC took the Q back for what I thought could be an interesting one: partner up for the slowest Catch Me If You Can ever. P1 will inchworm down the block, P2 will perform 10 merkins, 10 squats, and 10 LBCs, before bear crawling to catch and replace P1. YHC thought it would be fun to go sightseeing down the block (now that there was light) where there were downed power lines, fallen trees, frantic cars, and all sorts of other fun stuff to dodge. But the wise Hammer pulled us back to the safety of the court. This exercise turned out to be not so fun in the end anyway.
Then we split into two teams of 5 and did a relay race across the court. Jose ran so fast that I think he ran straight outta the court and into the home across the street, but he did seal the tie for his team. So, 20 burpees for all.
And… what else? Ah, we finished with a round of Mary: again, a 1 minute AMRAP, dealer’s choice, around the circle. And again, YHC cannot recall the exact exercises, but does remember that Pik had us do calf raises, because I remember thinking, “this isn’t core,” but hey, fair game nonetheless. And Turbo had us do Scuba Steves. And Jose pulled out his fave – Jane Fondas, 1 minute each leg to close it all out.
COT where Tank took center stage to announce the Hundo, which is gaining some traction despite its utter insanity. You gotta love these guys. Akbar prayed us out and then we were on our way in search of coffee. Despite the citywide outage, this group of stragglers wouldn’t take no for an answer and found the local Waffle House to be incredibly accommodating despite the lack of power. T-claps to our cheery waitress, who put up with Hammer’s constant tea refills and a bunch of sweaty guys that had no intention of eating. In the company of these men, that weak, slow-drip coffee was some of the best I’ve ever had.
So while we may never know if those eighteen year olds were able to pull their truck out with bungee cords, like much in life, some things are just better left to the imagination. Gents, thanks for the opportunity to co-lead with Tank, I believe I can speak for both of us when I say that it’s a privilege and honor that we don’t take for granted.
Like the men of F3, Waffle House plans for the expected, but is prepared for the unexpected.
Sorry about this backblast being tardy. The piece of paper that I had my login password on, fell behind the refrigerator.
So with a cool morning at the Gipper, in the 40s, a long warm-up was in order; 20xIC: windmills, side straddle hops, arm circles, seal jacks, good mornings, high knees, imperial walkers, butt kicks, toe touches, and hillbillys.
Mosey over to the Taj-Mahal, split into two groups with one group running around the campus building while the other group squats in human chair position. Repeat a few times.
Stroll over and circle up around the substantial flag pole. One pax walks to the flag pole and shimmys up the pole a little. The counter clockwise pax person calls out an exercise to be completed while the pole-climber hangs on. Repeat around until everyone gets a turn. Shooter, no doubt, could have a second career as a circus sway-pole climber.
Mosey over to the Justice Center parking garage. A quick stop at the short wall to do a series of step-ups. Then to the ramps for backwards lunge walking and sprints. On the top deck we did a series of 100 yard side shuffles while touching the ground at each parking space.
Mosey back to the flag for one minute of Freddies.
Circle up, count off, and BushWacker leads us out with his Epistle to the Gipperians II.
A little chilly for your preference or, as Turbo would have us all believe, perfect running weather? Well, as YHC philosophizes, everything in life is relative, and this is simply one more example. My heart was gladdened to hear that, like myself, Cowbell feels more distinctly at home in the 70s to 80s with slightly lower humidity. Speaking of Cowbell, his suggestion of a …slow-zee…? sounded just about right just days before this year’s North Shore Half Marathon. And thus…
WARMORAMA
x10 IC:
Good Mornings
Imperial Walkers
High Knees
Butt Kicks
Scorpion Kicks
THANG
Scrambling along the traditional old MANDEVILLE (ahem, Hawgcycle) route, Q made sure to keep the PAX more or less together by instituting several location-based stops to either Freddy Mercury or LBC OYO until the 6 caught up, then start an IC 10 count. That was until the final stop at Monroe, after which the stallions were let loose from the barn!
MARY
The Freddy Mercury/LBC count was extended back at the flag to a mischievous 26 reps before OYO 10 Burpees and 50 (with good form) Merkins.
COT
Count/Name Amnesia, whose third child is due in December, prayed us out.
Thanks, guys, for following my lead and my shenanigans.
*BE PREPARED FOR SOME MUD-SLOPPY FUN N GAMES SATURDAY (GLOVES/TOWELS)*
Let’s just acknowledge that there was an actual “crowd” to please in the first place – Grandma’s was a-hoppin’ this morning. Aside from the regulars, there was Zoo, who has started to become a regular. There was Hammer, who not only posted today, but yesterday at the Marsh as well. And then there was Captain, the Chief, the Sparkliest of firefighters and most notable of actors in the Hollywood South, who made a rare guest appearance. Sounds like he may soon bump himself up to a series regular if we continue to EH him (hint, hint). There was also a very vocal owl that greeted the Hammer and I with eerily childlike rantings (YHC was reminded of the Hammer’s demonic, discarded doll), but he didn’t stick around long enough to make the cut. Anyhow, for Granny, it was a packed house.
Warmorama: IWs, torso twists, toe touches, SSHs, and probably something else. Finished with 20x merkins OYO.
As the fall weather settles in, YHC sometimes worries that the PAX just won’t sweat enough. This is the kind of stuff that keeps me up at night. I mean, if Shooter doesn’t sweat during a beatdown, then really what was the point? Luckily temperatures hadn’t dropped too much, but YHC decided to start with a quick mosey around the block to get the blood flowing.
Next up was the “crowd pleaser,” a term YHC takes at face value, rather the ironic one that seems to be intended. In front of the stage (which was well illuminated for some reason this morning), we spread out to four imaginary corners. The routine would be to travel clockwise to each corner, and perform the same exercise x10 until you’ve returned to your original corner. So:
Bear crawl, x10 merkins at each corner Lunge walk, x10 squats at each corner Crab walk, 10x big boys at each corner Frog jumps, 10x burpees at each corner
Recovery walk over to the corridor for partner sprints: P1 holds a people’s chair while doing air presses, P2 sprints half the corridor and back, then the full thing (including the stairs but mindful of our friendly stair-climbing couple) and back to flapjack.
The Grand Finale was a last minute call – seeing that stage so well-lilt, and having an actor in our presence, it seemed necessary to get up there in the spotlight. So we hopped up to center stage for a little game of Rochamburpees. Same partners, rock/paper/scissors with the winner doing 1 merkin and the loser, 1 burpee. Redos for ties, and an ascending count each round, up to 10x. As the odd man out, YHC unfortunately hitched his wagon to the wrong horse, with Captain defying the odds and losing the first 8 straight. Out of sympathy, Cowbell even tried purposefully losing, which failed as well. Such was the bad luck of Cap. In the end, though, he came through when it mattered and secured the final two wins.
Back to the flag for a some Mary: Crunchy Frogs, LBC’s, Putins, Flutters, and 100’s, all x20 IC. COT and Shooter prayed us out. Thank you men for getting out of the sack this morning and helping me become a stronger and better man.
At 5:12 a.m., YHC pulled into the Marsh, only to find it empty. Prepared to move forward with a Beatdown of 1, Cowbell soon made his presence known. With no Q signed up, Cowbell and Hammer quickly agreed to co-Q. Akbar must have overheard, because right as we were to begin warmups, he swooped in to create a triumvirate of Qs.
Cowbell took Q from here, as we began a mosey toward the Lake. We stopped on the corner of each block to perform the following trifecta in descending order: Merkins/Squats/Big Boi Situps x 25/20/15/10/5.
Once at the Lake, Akbar took over, and we began with 25 Freak Nasties on the wall. We began our mosey back to the Marsh, and Akbar had us do the following trifecta in descending order: Jump Squats/Walking Lunges/LBCs x25/20/15/10/5. YHC has concluded that Akbar is still angry about Ole Miss’ loss to the Aggies on Saturday, and he was taking it out on us via the Jump Squat/Lunge combo. There really is no other explanation.
Once back at the Marsh, the Hammer took Q back over and led the triumvirate in a series of suicides on the court, much to the chagrin of Cowbell and Akbar. We changed it up as follows:
Full sprint each way/Bear Crawl out, backwards run back/Shuffle out, 10 LBCs at each line, sprint back/Sprint out, 10 of Dealer’s Choice at each line, Sprint back/Sprint out, Descending Burpees at each line –4,3,2,1, Sprint Back
To finish with a few minutes of Mary, Cowbell had each of the PAX pick an exercise x 25. The Hammer chose (of course) American Hammers, Akbar chose Mountain Climbers, and Cowbell finished us off with Crunchy Frogs.
Hammer prayed us out, lifting up our brothers Water Pik, Jose 10k, and special intentions.
Lots of chatter and the return of Burgundy at the Scramble. I will be brief as my time has been consumed by other activities, but when AEP (Annual Election Period) ends I will consider taking lessons on counting in Spanish past 10…
Warmup
IC 15 SSH, Toe touch’s, Windmills, Butt Kicks, high knees and lunge walk about 30 yards..
Mosey consisted of interval sprints of 100-200 yards multiple times throughout the run. Paused briefly at the pier for Erkins and Slow squats to 15 IC. Returned to Mosey back to the AO.. Pace was a respectable 8:37 I believe called out by Cowbell.. Finished with 15 IC Merkins, Lil Manny Crunches, Scissor kicks, Scorpion kicks. Held chillcot plank 30 sec holds, left/right arm high while counting around the circle. Q learned his fellow PAX are well versed in their Spanish. Ended with 15 IC slow squats..
