Well it was Simple the morning started with the circle of trust, announcements then a short prayer for the families who lost someone on 9/11 it took every minute to squeeze in the amount of steps needed in 45 minutes that was the reason for starting of backwards.
Everyone wore their ruck packs or backpacks with weight to simulate the firefighter gear worn on that day. No one finished there 343 merkins so they had homework. Finish at home.
F3 Members that participated,
Russo, Bushwacker, Steve, Shooter, Akbar, The Dukes of Hazzard, Jose 10K, & Captain Sparkles
Number of Steps in Twin Towers
2071 Steps
Mandeville Trailhead 24 steps
=86 times up= 2064 steps
343 Firefighters Died So 343 Merkins for the day.
First set of Merkins 23
20 merkins every 5th climb gives you 343 merkins
Well, the Wacker of bushes may not be present but it doesn’t mean we can’t use his golden nuggets for some fun.. After all someone needs to put those things to use.. I set that one up, “That’s what she said!” It also creates great grumble mumble from Jose10k once he spots them. Anyways 4 PAX took the red 💊 for Granny’s and we ventured all around Mandeville..
Warmup
10IC Toe Touches, Cherry pickers, Selflove, Grass grabbers, Imperial walkers, Hillbillies and Torso twists..
Thang
Carried our nuggets and jump rope to the tunnel. Upon arrival selected a coupon. Rolled the number nugget for rep count. One PAX did jump rope while the rest of the PAX did the number rolled. 2 rounds with exercises consisting of chest press, curls, rows, tri extensions and overhead presses..
Moseyed to the bus stop and same application.
Rolled the number alternating rope 2 rounds. Exercises were bench jump overs, Derkins, gas pumps, freak nasties, Bulgarian split squats and jump squats..
Moseyed back to the breezeway rolled the number for the count then the other dice for stated exercise.. 3 Wild Qs in a row and the selections were wide merkins, SMKs, and shoulder taps with plank jacks..
Wrapped it up with Mary.
15IC LMCs, Right elbow to left knee F/J, 6 inch hold with each PAX providing a 10 count 15IC hello Dollie’s in the middle and finished with the hold and 10 count back around..
Appreciate the post and the intentions shared for Pelicans family and prayers for the family of the 3 year old that drowned last week…
Everybody’s got a DMV story. Maybe you’re the guy who, say, waited there for three and a half hours to get your first car registered. This would be pre-cell phones, of course, so to bide your time you’ve memorized all four of the eye charts they’re using behind the bulletproof glass, as well as the many cheerful posters, like the one showing an 18-wheeler with a smiley face that details the 12 steps to get your CDL license. At this point, you’ve started to reconsider every decision in your life that has brought you to this moment, trapped here in this white-walled hell. And then, just as you’re imagining driving that smiling 18-wheeler off a tall bridge to your own fiery demise, your name is finally, miraculously called. The woman behind the desk looks impatiently at you over her reading glasses, with one hand thrust out. And even after you’ve gently placed your paperwork into her outstretched claw, she still seems to be sizing you up, like she’s read your thoughts and confirmed that yes, you’re an idiot. Finally she looks down, flips through a few pages and slides them right back over to you. She’s staring at you like you’re supposed to say something, but before you can, she says, “No odometer disclosure. You need to fill this out,” she hands you a form without looking at you, “Get it notarized, and make another appointment.” And before you can protest and throw yourself at her feet, she’s called the next name in the queue.
Nowadays, with all the online options, the DMV has come a long way. But apparently not so over in Franklinton, where grudges against certain junior high math teachers run deep. That’s right, Jose kept us entertained with his DMV tale, in which a former student’s mother attempted to exact revenge on 10k. Of course, Jose ain’t playing that game and he successfully walked away with his dignity, and his Real ID.
Oh and yes, we did work out. A descending rep count starting at 100 of an exercise, then moseying the corridor and climbing the steps for 10 burpees. Went something like this:
About once every three to four years, YHC finally tires of the endless Four Corners and the Doras and the 11’s, and attempts something more creative. (See Music Trivia Beatdown circa 2020 for last said attempt.) Today’s experiment? A game of Family Feud (minus the… families?) This experiment was made all the more exciting with a downrange visitor from Birmingham – VTach. And with Jose 10k in the audience to heckle and jeer at my simple math skills, what could go wrong?
Now I’m no Steve Harvey (though I do think I could give Louie Anderson a run for his money), so I did my best to keep it simple (cue Jose, “Hey, I gotta leave in 15 minutes, can we not make this a Bushwacker length explanation?):
– Each round (question) is associated with an exercise (noted alongside the question).
– Guess an answer on the board? We halve the points and do that many of said exercise.
– For every wrong answer, the Pax has to do 5 burpees.
– After three strikes, the round ends and we DOUBLE the points of each unguessed answer, then do that many reps of said exercise.
2. Name something that gets passed around. (Big Boys)
A joint (34) A cold (23) A collection plate (12) A rumor (9) A baby (6)
3. Name something that might ripple. (SMK’s)
Water/Stream (63) Body/Muscles (30) Potato Chips (4) Pants (3)
4. Name something that can be inflated or deflated. (Donkey Kickoffs)
Balloon (44) Tire (25) Beach ball (10) Ego (7) Raft (5)
5. Name something that might be full of holes. (Bulgarians)
Swiss Cheese (40) Clothes/Socks (16) Alibi/Story (14) Net/Fishing Net (9) Colander/Strainer (8) Golf Course (2) Screen (2) Road/Street (2)
6. Name something that a doctor might pull out of a person. (Hand Release Merkins)
A gerbil (32) A baby (23) A tumor (15) A tooth (9) A bullet (7)
The whole enterprise was worth it for the expression on Shooter’s face when he learned that gerbil was the top answer to this final question (“What is wrong with this world when gerbil is the top answer and stitches aren’t even on there?”). How he went his entire life without hearing the Richard Gere story remains a mystery.
COT and Russo prayed us out. Welcome VTach! Great having you in town and hope we get to see more of you. I’m sure one of us will make it up to a Birmingham AO at some point. And thank you gents for the patience on this one, YHC will definitely give it a go one Saturday where we can properly split up into “families.”
With Chewy calling in for a replacement Q the night before and Russo’s Altima nowhere in sight, YHC was pretty confident it’d be a solo beatdown.
But that’s why you never bet against Russo, who pulled in shortly thereafter, barefoot but with shoes in hand, ready to rock. (The shoe-less drive, FYI, is not an uncommon thing – both Hammer and Bush have done this a few times as well.)
YHC was happy to be the Q because I wanted something mellow today. So kept things simple, with a mosey to the lake, stopping at each intersection to add an exercise and ladder up:
5 jump squats
10 lunges
15 merkins
20 gas pumps
25 shoulder taps
30 flutters IC
Along the way, we discussed the Olympics, drag queens, homeschooling, and the instructions test. Anyone remember that? Teacher gives you a list of instructions to follow, and basically the last one negates 90% of them, so then you look like an idiot if you did all 18 things on the list? Well, Russo and I both admitted to being that guy (but hey, that would be no surprise to my wife).
At the lake, we worked in some Bulgarians and freak nasties (as is customary), and followed that up with another lake tradition, 5x calf raises up each step.
Hit the road back to Granny’s with 10 merkins at each stop to get our merkin total up to 100, and closed it out with a little Mary.
COT and Russo prayed us out. As always, thanks for the post and the camaraderie – appreciate you brother!
YHC picked up a full-in Q when Steve wasn’t able to make it, so we went to an old standby. I figured to throw some burpees in to help out Jose, but alas he was in the midst of his patented pre-thang thang as I drove up. We were joined by a Shooter and off we went.
Thang
Pax knocked out the Deck of Death (exercise and count based on value and suit of the card turned over from a standard deck of playing cards). YHC likes to split the deck into 4 groups to vary up the exercises, with some moseying between rounds.
Round 1 at the benches
Hearts – Freak Nastys
Diamonds – step ups
Clubs – BSSs
Spades – Leg Raises
Round 2 at the fans
Hearts – SMCs
Diamonds – wide merkins
Clubs – monkey humpers
Spades – gas pumps
Round 3 at the bus stop
Hearts – shoulder tap plank jacks
Diamonds – durkins
Clubs – star jumps
Spades – crunchy frogs
Round 4 at the stage
Hearts – jump squats
Diamonds – donkey kicks
Clubs – Lunges (2 is 1)
Spades – wife pleasers
Somewhere along the way, the comment was thrown out about the unpleasant aromas emanating from sweaty mid 40s gents in the near 80 degree humid morning. One of us offered that it was a “sweet smell of success” so we’ll run with that for a while. It was not lost on YHC that in the three of us you probably had the gold, silver, and bronze medals of sweating: dukes of damp, masters of moisture, princes of perspiration. I would venture only Frank could give us a run for the podium.
Mary
All 10x IC
-LMCs
-Flutter kicks
-Penguins
-Rosalitas
-Box Cutters
-Freddy Mercurys
-One minute or so plank
COT, Name-o-Rama, announcements, and prayer closed us out. Thank you gentlemen for joining me and get better Steve!
YHC was lucky that his wife reminded him that he had the Q for the beatdown today. I honestly forgot, and I was hoping to take a day off. The alarm was set, but no early morning shenanigans. I knew exactly how to add those awesome “extras” Zoolander has inspired us to do. Absent this morning: Shooter. Where o where is shooter? I arrived to Steve, trying to get his early burpees in before the beatdown. I quickly yelled out to him: I got you bro.
Warm-up: SSH, torso twists, snap crackle pop( apparently a Covington warm-up), toe touches.
The thang: In breezy conditions (tropical storm Beryl made things bearable this morning, I crack myself up sometimes) we moseyed to the marsh to utilize the playground equipment. We did a modified mini murph. 10 sets: 5-10-15 of pull-ups, burpees, SMK for the first 3, then squats to round out the remaining sets. Two of us sweated excessively, while Steve made it look effortlessly. Despite the challenging exercises with heavy sweating, Russo and myself surivived, while Steve smiled at us. Mosey back to the street to lunge walk a block. Russo and myself discussed Electrolytes and dehydration. Y’all don’t even know the struggles of hyperhidrosis, but luckily for both him and I, we have great Katie’s in our lives that know when to take care of us. Maybe we need to bring out some Brawndo ( it is afterall, what the plants crave). Once at the stop sign, we planked up for 1 minute. Moseyed back to grandmas for another round of 1 minute plank. 5 minutes remaining which normally means Mary, however, with the chatter on the run back, YHC decided to use those 5 minutes for some well needed deep stretches. COT, Russo prayed us out with intentions of those affected by the hurricane and the sudden death of his coworker. Thanks for letting me lead Gentlemen, and thanks for the read. SYITG
Right at about one million degrees and 345% humidity this morning for Pax of 3.
Warmup (all 10x)
– SSHs
– toe touches
– Torso twists
– Arm circles
– hillbillies
Thang
Mosey around old Mandy, stopping every block or so to do a 5-4-3-2-1 rep for different exercises.
Group 1 Reps/ exercises
5 T merkins
4 Peter Parker’s
3 Wide merkins
2 8 count body builders
1 Burpee
Group 2
5 SMCs
4 Ballerina squats
3 Imperial squat walkers
2 Star Jumps
1 Smurfjack
Group 3
5 Leg raises
4 Crunchy frogs
3 V ups
2 Gas pumps
1 Big Boy sit-up
After block 3, we performed all three groups before continuing on.
At the seawall, it was the modified “Steve circuit”, all 10x IC, sans those step downs he loves so much.
-freak Nastys
-BSSs
-Step ups
Reverse! On the way back and at home base, we reversed the rep count (e.g., 5 burpees, 4 8 counts, etc.)
Wrapped it up with some Mary:
– penguins
– Wife pleasers
– Freddie Mercury’s
– hello Dolly’s
– Rosalitas
– 1 minute or so plank
Quick COT and we were done for another day. Gentleman, as always, enjoyed the comraderie, even if I was quiet because it was brutally hot and I was sucking wind throughout. SYITG
4 HIMs to the 💊 this Gloom to get out at Granny’s and put in some work..
Warmup of 15IC Imperial walkers, SSH, Cherry pickers, front claps and Grass grabbers..
Moseyed down Girard toward the lake stopping at every second block to complete a round of the HighTower (check Exicon for description) Burpees of all sorts of variations was had along the way with the final set performed in the overflow lot of OLL. Utilized for 4x back pedals and sprints.. Returned to AO for Wife pleasers and L/R elbow to knee 15IC..
Closed out with prayers for the Tillery family, as well as recent news from a former 10k students family… 🙏🏼🙏🏼
