Weather: A surprisingly calm morning at Okwata. YHC has grown so used to the winter gales creating a tempest of Okwata, he momentarily wondered whether he had arrived at the wrong location. Especially because he was all alone at 5:20. YHC also wondered whether JV would have the guts to fartsack after texting everyone at 4:55 to say “don’t fartsack!”. Slowly but surely, though, the cars began arriving.
5:31 am comes, PAX looking at each other wondering “Who has the Q?” A round of “I hope its not me. I didn’t check the schedule.” So without a Q, we all Q.
COP #1: Rudy leads the group around the fountain, through Butt Kicks, Karaoke (with JV choosing to prance uncomfortably close), and High Knees before reaching our designated swamp for the warmup:
SSH x25
IW x25
DQ x15 (slow count to try and stretch my hammies)
PP x25
MC x25
PP x25
PW x25
COP #2: Jingle Vader takes advantage of the calm waters to lead the group to the lakeshore. Time for Bear Crawl suicides.
Bear Crawl to first planter. Monkey Humper x20. Mosey to starting line, Monkey Humper x20.
Repeat to second planter. MH x15 (at planter and at home)
Repeat to third planter. MH x10 (at planter and at home)
Repeat to fourth planter. MH x5 (at planter and at home)
That fourth planter was, uh, “not near”.
COP #3: FracSac leads us back to the levee for some Dora 1-2-3. Partner up. PAX 1 run up the levee, then backwards down the levee. PAX 2 does exercise. Flapjack. Repeat until hitting the total number of reps
100x Merkins
200x Lunge
300x Plank Jack
YHC was pleasantly surprised that he did not tumble down the hill. Running backwards down the levee in the dark is not something he is particularly good at.
COP #4: Mosey back to the virtual flag for Q’s choice Mary:
DaParish: LBC x20
Surge: Dying Cockroach x20
Bongo: I-style BoxCutter x20
Griswold: Russian Twist x25
Splash: Freddie Mercury x20
Crab Legs: Legs up and hold (seemed like FOREVER)
Maverick: Flutter Kick x27
Circle up for Count Off, Name-o-Rama. Then Surge closed us out with St. Ignatius Prayer for Generosity.
Nice work all – my abs are killing me as I type this.
YHC is an idiot. I’m a bleeder and at least once per year, I slice my finger chopping some sort of vegetable. It’s one of the reasons I don’t eat that many vegetables. This year it happened slicing beets the Tuesday before I was scheduled to Q Okwata. I would show you a picture, but I can’t figure out how (good thing Rudy took over as COMZ Q). Anyway, strict doctor’s orders not to use a keyboard for two weeks, hence the late backblast. I really wanted to get it out sooner, but infection could have set in and I could have died of dysentery. So here we are, almost two weeks late.
The Thang
Mosey around the fountain and circle up in the muck for the warm-up COP. It evolved into a half-circle. I was worried it might be an intervention – What had I done? I knew I had at least 3 really stupid exercises planned, but how did they find out? I didn’t write them down anywhere…Am I that predictable?..It must have been the bear crawl route 66…, ah, nevermind it was just the majority of Pax concerned about getting their feet wet and opting for the concrete – pansies. I may not remember all of the exercises that we did, but I do remember we never got into plank. I think it went something like this: SSH x 30; Imperial Walkers x 25; Don Quixotes x 20; Good Mornings x 15; Hillbillies x 25; Seal Jacks x 30
Then YHC decided to try out a new exercise called the Daft Punk from the exicon. I chose it for many reasons: 1. It was leg day. 2. I saw it on the good Reverend’s tweeter feed as he showed the world his weinke prior to his VQ. 3. My 6 year old likes to listen to that band while getting ready for school in the mornings.
The Daft Punk is a 12 count series of lunges that starts with the right leg forward, side, and back and ends with the left leg going back, side, and forward. It blew Cowbell’s mind. Watching Cowbell struggle through this exercise became the best reason to do the Daft Punk. We kept going until Cowbell made through one complete series. I’m not sure how many that was. Probably 15 times.
Next we moseyed to the benches by the fountain for the Fireman’s Fountain. 7 Pax line up on the benches. Half (or I should say, roughly half) do squats while the others do lunges. As many as you can do while one of the Pax fireman carries another around the fountain. When the fireman gets back everyone shifted down a spot on the bench rotation and the man on the end ran around the fountain and prepared to carry the fireman. This continued until everyone got to play the fireman. We had a couple of modifications due to poor size pairings and epic failures, but other than that it was more successful than YHC imagined it would be.
Next we moseyed to the levee for “I Can’t Drive 55.” The title to that stupid song seemed a fitting title for this stupid idea. Run over the levee and do 50 Monkey Humpers on the other side, run back and do 5 calf raises. Go back over the levee and do 45 Monkey Humpers, come back and do 10 calf raises. Similar to 11s, but everything adds to 55.
In the end, everyone did 275 monkey humpers and calf raises for a PAX total of 2475 (Thanks to Shorty and JV for the math on that one).
This left us just enough time to do about a minute and half of Quadraphilia, before sprinting back to the flag for our COT where we fellowshipped and prayed.
A group of eight gathered around the shovel flag in the relatively warm(er) gloom weather. As the clock struck 0530, YHC gave the DISCLAIMER and was about to take off with a quick mosey, but then we saw it from a distance…looked something like this….
It was running at us…. the Pax was curious, so we had to do 25x SSH IC to see what it was…. turned out it was just JV showing up in classy attire:
Anyway..now we can mosey… so around the fountain and over to a grass patch.
COP #1 (sorry Rudy, I mean #2)
25x Seal Jacks IC
20x Shoulder Taps IC (hold plank position, tap hand to opposite shoulder)
10x Shoulder Tap Merkins IC (same as above, just add a merkin when you put you hand down)
30x Monkey Humpers IC
10x Arm Circles IC (Forward, then Backward)
Mosey over to the Canal Street Track
BLIMPS – OYO Burpees x 5 Lunges x 10 each leg Imperial Walkers x 15 each leg Merkins x 20 Plank Jacks x 25 Squats x 30
Pax ran a lap around the Canal Street track (up, across the crest, down, back across to the start) before each exercise. Some of the Pax even did a Lagniappe Lap at the end!
Mosey back over to the pullup bars, and partnered up.
Dora 0.5 – 1 – 1.5: A goal rep count for each group of two Pax using a cumulative rep count.
0.5: 50 x Pullups / recover with Flutter Kicks until pullup Pax is done, 1.0: 100 x Merkins / recover with an up & back levee sprint; flapjack when levee Pax returns. 1.5: 150 x Seismic Squats IC (no partners, we did this one together). A Seismic Squat is a low Squat Hold, and do little squats in cadence. These sucked!
Circled up around the flag shout-outs and a prayer. Thanks for letting me lead!
Moleskin
Triple Shifts VQ is tomorrow at the Uptowner. Come post to show him some love!
5 Pax gathered around 2 flags blowing in the wind.
YHC had a general idea of a beatdown in mind but decided to just wing the details.
DISCLAIMER
THE THANG:
Mosey around the fountain for:
COP #1- WARM UP
Hamstring Stretch
SSH X 20
Hillbillies X 20
Windmills X 20
Peter Parkers X 20
J. LO’s X 20
Arm Circles X 10 each arm
Low Slow Squats X 10
Suicides in front of the fountain, each bench as a marker
Mosey to the levee for the start of our journey:
Start on top of levee and run west, going down for each exercise.
-50 X Squats OYO
-20 X Pull Ups OYO
-121 Merkin Circle Ladder
-30 X Russian Twist, 30 X LBC
-Bear Crawl across Canal
-2 X Quadraphilia
-Bench work- 20 X LLSU
20 X Dips
20 X RLSU
20 X Low Slow Dips
20 x Derkins
*Turn Around
-20 X Calf Raises
-Crab Walk across Canal
-30 X Flutter Kicks, 20 X Dying Cockroach
-30 X Merkins
-10 X Pull Ups OYO
-10 X Burpees OYO
YHC was cooking dinner last night (Crispy Parmesan Chicken, for those of you at home wondering) with an NCAA basketball game turned on. Turns out that this week is the start of the 9th annual “Jimmy V Week” on ESPN. And I turned on the tube just in time to catch a replay of Jimmy Valvano’s stirring speech from the inaugural ESPY awards on March 3rd, 1993. And just like that, I had a theme for this mornings Okwata work out – words of wisdom and numbers from the life of Jimmy V.
The Wind: A PAX of 9 held their ground against the blowing east wind. Belloq had planted the lost shovel flag deep in the ground, so it held firm against the gale. After a disclaimer, and brief F3 intro for our FNG from Champaign, IL, we were off.
The Fountain: Mosey around the fountain with the usual butt kicks, karaoke and high knees before settling into the marsh grass.
Be enthusiastic every day, and as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing great could be accomplished without enthusiasm,” to keep your dreams alive in spite of problems whatever you have
Jimmy Valvano died on April 28th, 1993 at age of 47. So we opened with SSH x47. Then plank position for MC x47 and PJ x47.
The Levee: Mosey to the Levee.
Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.
Words to live by as we stare at the Levee. Variation on traditional 11s – we are going to do 12s. Start with 10 burpees (other side of the levee) and 2 Dr. Ws this side. Back over for 9/3. 8/4. Each pair adds up to 12. (And yes – Dr. W because JIMMY V IS A WINNER).
OYO. Go. PAX starts grumbling and questioning. “Why 12s?” YHC challenges them to figure it out. Shortly, JV observes “Well, that’s a total of 54 reps – that’s my age.” Then Hawg gets it – “Wait, that’s how many points NC State had when they won the NCAA in 1983.” Bingo.
(YHC had a plan to do 13s as well – 10/3, 9/4, …. The rep total for that? 52 – how many points Houston scored. But time prevented….)
The Shack: Mosey to the shack. Actually, YHC tried to turn it into a hands-in-the-air Sprint to the shack, to mimic Jimmy V’s wild run around the court. Didn’t go over well.
Partner up in 4 groups. We’ll have 4 stations: Pull Ups (AMRAP), Dips (AMRAP), Murcans (AMRAP) and Legs (the counters)
What’s the count? 25 – Dereck Whittenburg who heaved the wild airball at the end of the game wore number 25.
There are three things we all should do every day. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think and you cry, that’s a full day.
We’ll do 3 full rotations (each pax hitting each station is 1 rotation).
Rotation 1: Laughter. Our count is 25x Squats
Rotation 2: Think. Our count is 25x Lunge
Rotation 3: Moved to Tears. Our count is 25x Monkey Humpers
The Flag: Return to the flag for a round of Mary.
I will thank God for the day and the moment I have
Who reeled in Dereck’s errant shot (or on-the-money pass)? Lorenzo Charles, wearing number 43. So we finish with Sweat Angels x43, LBC x43, and Putins x20 (YHC is not JV. I totally ran out of steam….)
(Sweat Angels are from the F3 site: think making a snow angel, but keeping legs, arms up off the ground. Hello Dolly with arm motions)
The Finish: Finish with count-off, name-o-rama (dubbing FNG “Axe Man” after a game of word association starting with Cheap Trick, his hometown band), and prayers. Prayer for people in Tennessee and Ohio State University. Please remember all people through the holiday season: travellers, family, people struggling with depression. YHC finished by asking for strength and comfort for those who have lost loved ones to cancer, and for guidance and wisdom for those looking to find a cure and providing care to those suffering.
Thank you, gentleman, for giving me the opportunity to lead.
With promises from Shorty to post at Okwata before the Turkey Trot, YHC knew the PAX would be thin. Yep, with crisp air and a slight breeze, a mighty PAX of three set forth in the Gloom.
After a reverse trot around the fountain, the PAX circled up for a quick warm-up: SSH 25xIC, Hillbillies 25xIC, Low slow squats 25xIC and Mountain Climbers 25xIC.
Mosey down the road (almost to Canal) to the levee for some 25s. In honor of YHC’s thinking that today was the 25th and November having 30 days, we trotted up the levee for 5 merkins and then back down for 25 lunges, then up for 10 merkins, then down for 20 lunges, then up for 15 merkins, then down for 15 lunges, then up for 20 merkins, then down for 10 lunges, then up for 25 merkins, then down for 25 lunges.
Gratis Merlin, we did a quick rotisserie chicken (high plank, then left plank, then can-can, then right plank, each for about a minute) before round two of the 25s (a more brutal version): the PAX trotted up the levee for 5 Real Freddy Mercuries, then down for 25 jump squats, then up for 10 RFMs, then down for 20 jump squats (mumblechatter starts increasing), then up for 15 RFMs (thank God, for rest), then down for 15 jump squats, then up for 20 RFMs, then down for 10 jump squats, then up for 25 RFMs, and then down for the last 5 jump squats.
Mosey back up the levee for another caress of the thighs: duck walk towards Tool’s Cabana. The PAX petered out about 2/3 of the way there: much father than YHC thought we’d get. Tclaps.
With dead quads, time for the guns. Dips 25xIC, pull ups 10 (IC, just kidding), derkins 15xIC.
Mosey towards the virtual flag for a closing Circle of Mary: LBCs 50xIC, Flutter Kicks 25xIC, American Hammers 25xIC, Dying Cockroaches 25xIC, WWIIs 25xIC, Monkey Humpers 25xIC (Heisenberg sounded sad that stopped so soon, his quads were only just being to burn), so Monkey another 25xIC, Hello Dollys 25xIC, and then an elbow plank for a minute. Close it out with 25 burpees (five sets of five).
Back to the virtual flag for countoff and namorama. Ever astute, Heisenberg commented that today’s PAX was probably the oldest post on record. By YHC’s computation, we had the VERY RESPECTABLE average age of 50. So you young fartsackers, don’t think you get a free hall pass for Thanksgiving. After thanks to the Sky Q for more than we could possibly count, the PAX headed homeward for a fine Thanksgiving.
YHC hasn’t posted in more or less 2 weeks due to IR and personal obligations, so when I saw the gloom this morning; it….was….beautiful. Met by a record number of Okwata pax, I knew my VQ was going to be a good one. There was nothing more to do than offer up a disclaimer and get to the thang….
Mosey around fountain (rather quickly) and circle up in the lawn
COP – all 22 count
Side Straddle Hop
Don Quixote’s (23 b/c YHC lost count)
Arm Circles (11 forward, 11 backward)
Mountain Climbers
Mosey around the fountain, up & over the levee, around the old oak tree, and back….PARTNER UP!
1 Partner will run around the fountain, up & over the levee, around the old oak tree, and back while the other partner performs exercise (4 different exercises will be performed)
Plank Jacks
Tempo Merkins (2 count up, 2 count down)
Step Ups
Dips
At this point, YHC had to report to baby duty b/c LOML got called out to work last minute. I gave my VQ message.
In 2012, the VA realized a Suicide Data Report that an average of 22 veterans are killed by suicide every day. The COP and COQ count was set at 22 to honor every victim and let them know that they are not forgotten.
The 4 exercises chosen were PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) to remind us that when our partner was away from us, we were suffering. It wasn’t until our partner came back that we got a break. This serves as a reminder to reach out to any friend or family (especially vets) who suffer from PTSD and let them know that we are with them.
YHC gave the final instructions to the pax, and just like that he disappeared in to the sunrise, never to be seen again…(*sounds of the Second Bell)
Final Exercise
COQ (Circle of Q) – Each Pax will choose an exercise and lead in cadence. Count is 22
Tool – Russian Twist
Hawg- Peter Parkers
Rudy – Hold It!….Parker Peters
Triple Shift – Flutter Kicks
Heisenberg – Hold it! Flutter Kicks again.
Surge – Nolan Ryans (switch sides at 11)
JV – Dr. Ws (This was a world record for Dr. W reps. Form was out the window for me after 10. We thought we could sense JV getting tired at 22, but we it was probably wishful thinking on our part)
Fracsac – Freddie Mercurys
Maverick – Wife Pleasers
Sunspot – WWII sit-ups
Cowbell – Squat Pulses (in honor of everyone’s favorite Fart Sacker)
On a crisp windy morning at the lakefront, YHC pondered a pivot from his plans to instead hit the boardwalk and run the workout amid the crashing waves spit forth from the angry lake. But that looked kinda cold and wet, so instead he decided to stick with the plans: celebrating America with rounds of Muricans.
COP 1: mosey to the soggy grounds in front of the fountain, with some butt kicks and karaokes through the fountain mist. Do our best to find something resembling high ground and settle in. Oh look – its Hawg! Right on time. SSH x30 then Plank up for Peter Parker, Mountain Climber, Parker Peter x30 each. Back to your feet for ISW x15. Wrap up with Plank Walks x15. (Somewhere in that sequence, YHC finally remembered to issue the disclaimer.)
COP 2: Found a reasonably dry path to get to the foot of the levee. Oh look – its Nip/Tuck! Nice of you to join us. 10 OYO Burpees for the PAX.
The Thing: Double 11 over the levee. Far side Lunges, Near side Muricans. Start with 2 Lunges (each leg) and 20 Muricans. Then 4/18, 6/16. Hopefully PAX would figure out the pattern. 10 more Burpees OYO for FracSac pulling a Rudy (asking too many questions).
COP 3: Mosey 50 feet to the shelter house. Pair up for 4 stations: Pull Ups, Burpees, Dips and Muricans. 20 Muricans was the timer, other stations AMRAP. Repeat for 3 cycles. YHCs arms feeling a bit like jello at this point.
Back to the Flag: Quick round of Mary: Putins, Bicycles and Cockroaches roughly x20 each.
Count-off and Name-o-Rama.
#Tclaps for Hawg showing up in advance of tomorrow’s GoRuck. YHC wonders what happened to the other Ruckers? Especially JV – did this finally end the streak?
YHC offered prayer of thanks for the gift of a day, for wisdom to see and follow God’s will, and for God to provide his guidance to our newly elected leaders. YHC humbly asks all of the F3 nation to show patience and leadership with our fellow humans as we begin a long healing process that our nation desperately needs.
Finish (#Tclaps forSurge’s much needed help) with St. Ignatius’ Prayer for Generosity.
“Eighty percent of success is showing up.” Woody Allen
Where was Bellocq? Bubba? Cowbell? Frac Sac? Serge? Shorty? Tool? Triple Shift? Oh the list could go on and on. [We actually know where Shorty was, he was obviously fartsacking: has he been in a cushy bed all week?] The end of the Cubs’ 108-year curse is not a good excuse. I hate to remind you, but apparently I must: it’s no one’s job to hand out Daily Red Pills to anyone else; while your PAX can cheer you on, you gotta decide yourself to take ’em. But an intrepid PAX of three were not to be deterred by such sloth and excuselessness. So after a disclaimer, THE THANG.
Mosey around the Mardi Gras fountain for a first COP of SSHs (25xIC), Low Slow Squats (25xIC), Hillbillies (25xIC), Mountain Climbers (25xIC), and an exercise or two more QHC can’t recall.
Mosey to the levee for some animal parades. Bear crawl up the levee, five burpees on top, run down the back side and up again, five more burpees, and then run to the beginning. Repeat with Frog Hops, etc.; Duck Walks, etc.; and then Crab Walks, etc. So that was a total of just 40 burpees. Waz lost his phone during the Crab Walks, so cries of Hey Siri were heard throughout the land (but sadly with no echo in reply).
Mosey on the levee to Canal Boulevard, then down and back to the pull-up shelter for a rotation of 25 dips, 25 merkins and 25 big boi (Hawg spelling) situps. Rinse and repeat.
John Doe had to split early (to get his Shorty, not be be confused with fartsacking Shorty, to school by 6:30). But he announced he had a task first. Taking a flashlight from his car, he led the PAX back to the levee site of COP1 to scour for Waz’s errant phone. Et voila, there it was. T-Claps to John Doe, and thanks again to St. Anthony.
Mosey back to virtual flag to release John Doe to his patrial duties, while the remaining PAX of two end with a Circle of Mary: LBCs (25xIC), Flutter Kicks (25xIC), Rosalitas (25xIC), Russian Twists (25xIC), Hello Dollys (25xIC), Ys (25xIC), Ts (25xIC), Ws (25xIC), Walking Plank (25xIC) and end with a minute of elbow plank.
With an 80% failure rate per Woody’s scale, the COT was smaller than YHC would prefer. Let’s just say the Namorama didn’t talk long. Prayers for showing up, finding things and giving thanks. YHC expects to see more PAX in the Gloom next week.
