Conditions
34 degrees F and moist, a titty bit nipplier than it has been in recent weeks, but much better than our 13 degree days in January and nothing the stoic HIM of @f3Depot couldn’t handle (discomfort breeds growth).
Warm Up
After a quick disclaimer, the PAX were assembled in a semi-circle while YHC lead them in an equally quick warm up:
SSH x 15 IC
IW x 15 IC
TTT x 15 IC
OAC x 15 IC
Breaking Up is Hard to do
In preparation for the P200 (or those times when one needs a superhuman burst of endurance and speed…..saving someone from a burning car, running for the bathroom after too many nut brown ales, or cutting in line at the Columbiana Grand to get your tix for that latest Zac Effron film (isn’t he dreamy???)) Depot UTP Kitty Litter, Devito, and Stagecoach left our little party for a cool 4+ miles in the Ballentine area (Neck Brace considered running as well, but when he found out there were no river crossings, he decided to pass).
(I’ll come back to Smokey and the Bandit later)
Here’s what they missed:
The Thang
After the departure of the aforementioned UTP, YHC and the PAX did a leisurely loop (while dodging a few potholes) from the parking lot, to the access road, and out to the main road and back to the block pile. Being a geologist, YHC is not super precise with numbers, but for those tracking your mileage in preparation for P200, this loop was somewhere between 0 and 17 miles (or 0 and 27 kilomet…..wait, this is Murica and nobody gives a flying shit about your metric system….go back to Europium or where you come from frenchie mc french guy) (fun fact – the US is one of 3 countries on the planet using ye olde English system of measurement).
The PAX each grabbed a block and circled up in the parking lot for further instruction and a brief inspirational speech by YHC. YHC instructed the PAX that today (minus a few days to be precise) marked YHC’s 1 year F3 birthday. Of course, a birthday party was in order! Also, of course, if you are like most men our age and the birthday party is not for your own kid your first reaction is “why the hell am I even here?” followed by a search for cupcakes “who ate all the cupcakes???”. Well, we didn’t have cupcakes, but we did have a little music.
The first exercise was entitled “Musical Bears”.
Sidebar (watch the video above without having nightmares). The gist of Musical Bears is this….while the music is playing, bear crawl counter clockwise around the circle. When the music stops, air sit until it begins again, rinse and repeat for about 6 minutes. IF you manage to lap the PAX you get rewarded by staring at a different pair of shoes or a different ass, depending on how tight you keep your core while bear crawling #coretight! Here’s the little diddy we listened to if you want to relive it or you’ve ever said “you know what Martha, I really enjoy a good musical chair jam, but there just is not enough friggin banjo in them for my taste”. Your wish is my command:
Last time YHC had the Q, YHC overcomplicated things a little. This time, simplicity was the name of the game and a more traditional beatdown was in order. I generally feel like I get my ass kicked every Tue/Thur at Depot, guys there just bring it and work will be done, every time. EZ was the inspiration for the next bit of the Q. His Q’s tend to be straight forward and grind you into submission (at the time you think only of the suck, but when it’s over you are glad you did it).
The menu was as follows:
15 Big Boys
15 Block Merkins
15 Block Curls
15 Block Overhead Presses
Run to the playground and arm hang for 15 seconds while doing abdominal twists.
Run back to your block and rinse and repeat, but remove one rep (or second) each time until time is up. (i.e. 14, 13, etc…..).
Return the blocks for BOM.
Moleskin
The last portion of the Q was not particularly fun, but was necessary. I think after the first round or two, it was evident there wasn’t enough time to get all the way to zero and finish the circuit. Despite that, the PAX showed a tremendous amout of grit and determination to keep charging hard until the end. Well done men! #UTP #KGP
As YHC reflects back on his first year with F3, to say that it’s been a year of change would be an understatement. For me, 2017 is what I jokingly call a “phoenix year” or as my therapist calls it a “mid-life crisis” (this is the kind of care you get with groupon therapy). The phoenix represents rebirth, another chance, and previously insurmountable “barriers” broken (also an utterly approprate symbol to plaster on a 1977 Trans Am that could fly and evade cops trying to deprive the good people of Atlanta a tiny sip of the elixir of the gods known as Coors beer). The funny (tragic) thing is, most of the “barriers” we have are those we set ourselves (sometimes unknowingly) or have allowed others to impose upon us. It’s so often those little daily choices over a long period of time (vs major events) that condition us to start believing these “barriers”. “I can’t do this because of X “or “I’m not that kind of person” or “I won’t watch any program that doesn’t contain Scott Bayo”…..you, we, and life are bigger than these limitations (well maybe not the Scott Bayo thing, that’s a done deal for YHC).
The good news HIM, is that these “barriers” are really just an illusion and each time we make the right choice (almost always the harder choice) they begin to fade and as Box Wine told me on one of my first days “it doesn’t get any easier, you just get stronger”. This is a big part of F3 and each time we do the hard thing and get up in the gloom and post with our brothers, it’s another opportunity to get stronger, better, and demolish those barriers that hold us (and more importantly our brothers) back. My only regret of this past year is that I wish I would have fallen into this F3 thing sooner. Many thanks to the HIM of @f3Depot, @f3lakemurray, @f3hartsville, and a few other far flung F3 locales for making this an awesome year! My hope and expectation for each of us is that 2018 is another phoenix year with no limits and all the Coors beer each of us cares to drink!
BOM/Announcements
P200 is coming. Get that last little bit of hay in the barn while you can and reach out to @F3Lakemurray if you aren’t yet on a team, probably still a slot or two somewhere out there.
Run groups – Monday at Little Caesar’s on St. Andrews (0530 am), Wednesday’s at Ballentine Elementary (0530 am), Friday Donut Run on Lake Murray behind Dunkin Donuts (515 am)
Blart (Bill Covey) is still looking for a few good men to pull the fire truck to raise some money for curing kids cancer. Reach out to him on twitter to donate or to join.
TL:DR
Birthday, Blocks, Banjos, Bandit, and Barriers all begin with the letter “B”.