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I’ll stomp a decaying coon but I ain’t stepping on that!

EC:  ShamWow, Katniss

It started out as a normal day.  I passed ShamWow as I drove in late for EC and he politely turned around to accommodate my lack of discipline.  We traveled the familiar route with some mumblechatter along the way.  At about the first mile along holly springs road, we abruptly parted from our path like the red sea did before Noah.  There was something in the road that caught both our attentions.  I can only describe it as a cylindrical object about 8 inches in length, purple-ish, and appeared to be made of silicone rubber.  Neither of us had any interest in positively identifying the object as we never broke stride as we abruptly (key word) parted from our path and continued on our way.

FNGs: Not today
Warm Up: 25 SSH, 15 Hillbillies, 15 Imperial Walkers, 10X Fazio Arm Circles FW & REV, 15X Overhead Claps, 15 X Seal Claps, 25 SSH
The Workout:

With a full week of rain, it was hard finding motivation to get back in the gloom.  I’m glad the Q sheet was open for Cletus forcing me to endure another workout in the rain.  It brought thoughts of discomfort and made me ponder why we seek comfort and shun discomfort.   It brought spiritual reflection.  My take away – I have never grown or gained anything by being comfortable.  We grow and gain from discomfort and hard work (discomfort).  Comfort is a time for praise and recovery so that we may go do uncomfortable things!  And balancing them is the trick.  I think everyone can find examples of this in their life by asking the question – What made you who you are?  I imagine there are some uncomfortable memories balanced with times of great joy.  As we get older it is much easier to accept the normal and seek what we have found to provide us comfort.  An F3 workout is a great 45 minute (only) discomfort embrace that provides the correct perspective for the rest of the day whether it brings us challenges or rewards.  We shall conquer the day and be thankful that mostly we have 1st world problems.  This message was less succinctly delivered during Thing 2 which brought a lot of discomfort.

Trying to avoid the downpours so headed to the shelter.  Divided into two groups.

Thing 1

Group 1 BTW  Group 2 10X Derkins Switch

Group 1 Preachers Chair Group 2 20X Dips Switch

Group 1 BTW Group 2 20X Erkins Switch

Repeat

Break in the rain so a trip around the soccer fields, plank hold for the six

Repeat Group 1 and 2 exercises with Derkins going to 20X

Trip around the soccer fields, plank hold for the six

Thing 2

Mosey to the rock pile to select 2 small rocks (some did not heed the advice)

Tabata – 1 minute AMRAP, 10 second rest

5 rounds – overhead press, squats, tricep extentions, curls for the girls, shoulder arm raises

Completed 2 sets, and needed a break, so a trip around the soccer field plank hold for the six

No time for a 3rd set and no time for Mary!

Mary:  Not today
Announcements: RUNE – last day to sign up, ShamWow dropped some knowledge on us and reminded us the treasure is in the journey and not the destination.  Should have been there if you want to know more!
T-Claps (Recognition):  All Pax for embracing the discomfort today in order to grow
Prayer:  Cupid’s grandfather is not doing well and has been battling cancer for a long time (10 years).  Prayers for Cupid, his grandfather, and family during this time.

Welcome Back Humidity!

19 PAX took on the humidity and welcomed the sweat back to U-turn. Lots of EC going on as we started with about 10 guys it felt like and finished with 19.

Warm Up:
Windmills, Frankensteins, SSH, in place High Knees and Butt Kickers

The Workout:
5 mile new school route. Pick up the six happened more than twice but we were safe.

Announcements:
RUNE sign up is out. Cut off is Friday May 29th.Dad’s camp sign up for August. Memorial Day all AO’s will be open and there will be a murph happening for those that want to join at Womble. Details on Slack/FB.

T-Claps (Recognition):
All the EC guys out there. YHC decided to do 10 burpees after each mile, fun stuff.

Prayer:
Mr. Terrific and job search, Emeril’s wife’s uncles died from heart attacks. Frumunga’s family member had a heart attack. Martini’s mom battling cancer now in Hospice care. Katniss co-worker, Cupid’s grandma in Hospice, Aquaman mentioned how God will bring good out of all this pandemic we are experiencing.

Strong work gents.
BS Out!

Boulders, Breakfasts, and Banana Seats

After running the “old school” U-Turn loop this am, YHC decided to take the Q at Ground Pounder with a real focus on “muscle moves” and rep counts.  11 pax showed up for a lot of rock work and an impromptu photo shoot by Banana Seat.  When asked if he was joining the workout, he responded he was only a spectator this morning, and this guy just stood there eating his breakfast….but got some great photos of the workout.  There’s gotta be a name for this type of behavior in the lexicon. Either way, we all did 5 burpees in honor of our breakfast eating photographer/spectator’s arrival and departure in his “sweet” new ride.

EC: Nemo and Coal Ash

FNG’s: None
Warm Up: SSH, Sir Fazios F/R, Seal Claps, Overhead Claps, Frankenstein’s, Windmills, Good Mornings.
The Workout: Merkin ladder up of 10,15,20, and 25 counts with 13 SSH in between each set.

Rock Time

Descending ladders of rock exercise combos. Counts were 20,15,10.  Curls for the Girls/Ground Pounders. Then Triceps Extensions/Squats. Then Shoulder Press/Rut Rows.  Each combo was followed by a break where we did 20,15,10 reps of chest presses and an ab exercise with rock. Finished this portion of the workout w/ 20 count IC of Bus Drivers. Every driver drives in his own way!!!

Bear Crawl across lot with 10 merkins, return trip with lunge walk followed by 10 squats. Repeato with two rounds of “penalty exercises” for pax doing rock exchanges during the workout.

To the Wall for 2 rounds of BTTW with each pax doing 5 count and 1 round of People’s Chair with each pax doing a 10 count.
Mary: each pax took a turn calling a 10 count exercise including: diamond merkins, nipplers, Shoulder Taps, spider man merkins, Pickle pounders, WW2, plank holds, burpees, squat jumps.
Announcements: Many AOs open. Looking at possible Fleming Loop site soon. Mr. Terrific taking the lead at Tiger Blood with a speed and form focus.
T-Claps (Recognition): PAC-Man’s Birthday. Happy 33rd.
Prayer: DOA’s family member with cancer/stroke, Coal Ash grandma w/ demensia , YHC’s daughter Julia recovering from stomach bug but with some mental barriers to cross and my M with strained relations with her mom. Mr. Terrific and his career change time. Our country and nation. Honored to lead HIM’s.

You took a tranq to the jugular man!

FNGs: None
Warm Up: Imperial walkers x 10; daisy pickers x 10; hammy stretching 10 counts; frankensteins x 10, SSH x 20
The Workout: 19 PAX on this Saturday for 5+ miles trekking through the old u-turn route.  Good route, lots of mumblechatter, all helped pick up the six.  Various PAX for EC, Cupid, Dawgpound, Dumbo, Emeril, Full House.
Mary: none
Announcements: Roon race coming up in June – see Banana Seat for details
T-Claps (Recognition):
Prayer: Prayers for Mr. Terrific in his job search, healthcare workers, first responders

The Importance of Intentionality

EC: Cupid, Full House, Nemo, ShamWow!
FNGs: None, in spite of my best efforts to make one.
Warm Up: Mosey to GCF for warm-ups. Daisy Pickers ICx10, Imperial Walkers > Hillbilly ICx10, Fazio Arm Circles (both directions) ICx10, SSH ICx20
The Workout: Mosey to the bottom of the hill by Town Hall Burgers. PAX partnered up and it was now that I discovered a 13th PAX (@Oboe). He snuck in so quick and stealthy like that there were no punitive exercises. YHC knows the struggles of arriving on time all too well!!!

We did BOMBS with one partner running to the intersection and performing 5 star jumps before returning to switch with your partner. All reps are shared moving to the next exercise when one is done.

B – 50 burpees
O – 100 Overhead claps
M – 150 Mountain climbers IC
B – 200 Big boy sit ups
S – 250 Squats

PAX then mosey to the rail behind Jiffy Lube for 3 sets of 20 dips / low slow flutter with partners switching each time. Mosey back to the flag site (would have been a flag if YHC had remembered his)…
Mary: Homer to Marge ICx50
Announcements: Slack
T-Claps (Recognition):
Prayer: Wallaby, Bobby Dall’s sister, Full House uncle, healthcare workers. YHC took us out.

This morning I asked a series of 3 questions during the workout. First, what do you think is most important in your life? Next, where do you spend the majority of your time (pre-Covid-19)? And last, how do you spend your money (again, pre-Covid-19)? Make sure the answers to the last 2 questions support the first. It’s important that we are all intentional with our resources. Don’t coast through life men, find a problem and fix it. We are ALL counting on you!

Thanks for the opportunity to lead you men this morning. I’ll try to do better next time.

Yoga, ‘Murica Style

FNGs: none
Warm Up: Moseyed across Womble to the Grigsby lot. SSH x 25, Hill Billies x 10, Imperial Walkers x 10, Windmills x 10
The Workout: Mosey continued out onto Grigsby. Stopped for 5 burpees OYO and continued on to Sugg (field trip!). Once there, we circled up for some yoga+. Admittedly, I am not a yogi, and I don’t know the proper series of moves. But I know enough to get into trouble, so I improvised along the way.
Basically, we cycled through make shift sun salutation. Every time we came into high plank, we did 10 murkins. We also cycled in Warrior lunges, chair poses (like people’s chair, but without the wall) and even some boat/canoes. Moseyed back to Womble for Mary.
Mary: YHC called popcorn Mary. Apparently no one got enough murkins during the workout, because all PAX called for murkins. We had enough time to go around again and managed to break the cycle with some LBCs, Freddie Mercurys, plank jacks and a couple of other things.
Announcements: Stay-at-home order in effect, so AOs are going to be closed for a while. Not an excuse to get out there and get after it though. We can still get out and exercise OYO while maintaining a safe distance from others. Look for opportunities to connect online via video conferencing to connect for 1st and 2nd Fs.
T-Claps (Recognition): All PAX present for giving me a reason to beat the fart sack.
Prayer: All people affected by COVID.

I didn’t know what Library Hill was until this morning.

5 Pax, including rare visits from Foghorn, Cupid, and Banana Seat, showed up for a full body workout and hill repeats at Downtown Train.

FNGs: Negative

Warm Up: Warm up lap > 10 burbees OYO > SSHs > Merkins > Squat Jumps > Butt Kickers

The Workout: Mosey’d to rock pile grabbed rock and headed to the circle/fountain at the top of library hill. Spread out around circle for the following sets:

Set 1: In cadence – Curls (x 30), Tricep Extensions (x30), Overhead press (x30), Curls (x 20), Tricep Extensions (x20), Overhead press (x20), Curls (x 10), Tricep Extensions (x10), Overhead press (x10)

Run down to pool parking lot, 10 squat jumps, back up library hill.

Set 2: In cadence – Chest press (x30), tomahawks (x30), Chest press (x20), tomahawks (x20), Chest press (x10), tomahawks (x10)

Run down to pool parking lot, 10 merkins, back up library hill.

Set 3: Monkey humpers (x30), squats (x30), lunges (x30), Monkey humpers (x20), squats (x20), lunges (x20), Monkey humpers (x10), squats (x10), lunges (x10)

Run down to pool parking lot, 10 burpees OYO, back up library hill.

Returned rock and mosey’d to parking garage for Mary.

Mary: 50 LBCs in cadence

Announcements: Slack and Facebook

T-Claps (Recognition): Banana Seat, Cupid, Foghorn, and Potts for coming out on a dreary Monday morning and putting in the hard work.

Prayer: 60 seconds of silence.

Fogging morning miles

Had 10 show up at various times to get miles in at R4TJ. Skidmark, Pickachu, Cupid, and Lipstick got started at 5 (10 miles). Coal Ash, Nemo, and Valdez got started at 5:30 am (6 miles) although Valdese had to cut it short. And Dumbo, Dawgpound, and Pablo got started at 6 am (5 miles).

FNGs: None

Warm Up: SSHs, Frankensteins, Butt Kickers

The Workout: Had 3 seperate groups going different routes and mileages. I set the course for those starting at the normal time (Nemo, Valdez, myself). Route: Ting > Milpass > Amacord > Bikram > Jones Park > Holly Springs Rd > Bass Lake Rd > Earp > Raleigh > Library Hill > W. Elm > Avent Ferry > Earp > Main Street > Ting (5.8 miles).

Mary: None

Announcements: Only Nemo and I for our version of COT. See Slack and FAcebook. Keep up to date with Covid-19 directives.

T-Claps (Recognition): All runners braving the fog.

Prayer: Society.

Shenanigans at the Nut

St. Patrick’s Day has always been one of YHC’s favorite days of the year. Though with all going on throughout this crazy planet right now, this St. Paddy’s day will be different. Not nearly as much social drinking, celebrating, or general hooligan-ship. But no reason to not have a wee bit o Irish influence upon the workout today. Originally planned to have some tunes such as the Dropkick Murphy’s, Flogging Molly, and “The Foggy Dew” going, but rain in the forecast cancelled those plans. 4 pax got their miles in ( Skidmark, Pikachu, Slide Rule, and Cupid) while the rest of us got down to lollygagging.

FNG’s: With COVID our there…good luck EH-ing!
Warm Up: Mosey lap out front followed by 10 counts of GM’s, Sir Fazio’s, and Moroccan Night Clubs. Mosey to the back to grab some bricks and mosey back to the map circle. 10 counts of IW’s then HB’s. Now something YHC  did not know and pax did not inform until COT…this AO played with bricks yesterday too! Thanks pax for respecting the Q and giving me the sad news at the end.
The Workout: John L. Sullivan. First heavyweight champion ever and an Irishman too! Guy had hands like bricks. Today, pax were told that their hand would be attached to these bricks almost the whole workout. 2 rounds of exercises with bricks in sets of 20. Shoulder Press, Front Raise, Lateral Raise, Rut-Rows.

Irish Car BOMBS! Pax partnered up to complete these exercises as a pair. 1 pax ran the length to the gate and back holding bricks, while other partner did the exercises. Keep switching until done, all exercises and runs done with bricks except burpees.

25 burpees, 50 overhead press w/ bricks, 100 Merkins, 150 BigBoy Sit ups, 200 squats.

Next. The Rocky Road to Dublin. Pax lunge walk with bricks about 100 meters. Lay bricks down. Bear crawl back to start, the run back for the bricks. With bricks back in hand, we did Curls for the Girls and Tricep Press to a 13 count (my lucky number) the mosey back to the beginning where we did 7 counts (the lucky number) of each of these along with 20 mountain climbers to close out the trip to Dublin.

Mary: All exercises done during AO, returned bricks, and moseyed back to flag to greet our running faction as time expired.
Announcements: Stay with the COVID regulations for AO’s. Skidmark running constantly this week…join him sometime! Remember to laugh despite the seriousness of the situation..,connect with your ShieldLock.
T-Claps (Recognition): Banana Seat and all racers who continue to change plans for this weekend’s race.  Tough decisions…but that’s what HIM’s do!
Prayer: Those sick and those with fears around us. Our leaders and country, those with plans that have to change them, the depression that can be brought on by these crises. YHC took us out.  Thanks for letting me lead the St. Paddy’s Day celebration.

Paradise City Anniversary Q YHC

EC: ShamWow!

Pikachu, Skidmark, and Cupid were flyby’s that stopped back in for COT.  It was an honor to lead these HIM’s on my 1yr anniversary.  YHC thought it was only appropriate to repeat the 1st workout that I was EH’ed into by Aquaman.  Why you would take someone to PC for their 1st AO, I may never know? 1yr later and the 187 tribute beat down wasn’t much easier.

Warm Up:  SSH IC x 20, Fazio Arm Circles IC x 12 FWD and 12 BWD, 10 Burpees OYO

The Workout:

Parking Lot –

Jog  to bottom of Ting Climb

Clock Merkins – 12, 9, 6, 3, 12 (because I don’t know what a Merkin Shuffle is)

Partner-up

Partner 1 runs up Ting Climb and does 5 star jumps while Partner 2 Bear Crawls. After Partner 1 finishes Star Jumps, run and trade with Partner 2 who runs up Ting Climb and does 5 star jumps. Repeat until both Partners are at the top.

Jog back to bottom of Ting Climb

Partner 1 runs up Ting Climb and does 10 monkey humpers while Partner 2 does Backwards Crab walk. After Partner 1 finishes monkey humpers, run and trade with Partner 2 who runs up Ting Climb and does 10 monkey humpers. Repeat until both Partners are at the top.

At tennis courts –  11’s with Merkins and Mountain climbers

A circle around PC and back up the ramp – partnered up:

partner 1 runs to end of parking lot and partner 2 does peoples chair

partner 1 runs to end of parking lot and partner 2 does BTTW

Mary:  Plank-o-rama: Pickle Pounders, Box Cutters, Merkins, Low Slow Flutters and WWI’s

Announcements:

2020 Census – fill it out as it will make your biggest asset grow, heed the advice of the professionals during this time and look to help others

Prayers:

Florence’s father in law, Cupid’s grandfather, all leaders during this time

T Claps:  ShamWow! for a solo EC