October 23rd, 2016 By Freeloader

31 with 9 FNG’s Launched Midwood

Indeed…YHC was excited….Yes…First workout in Midwood. A workout that’s a half mile from home. But it’s so much more than that.

You know how it is…the night before you have the Q….is the alarm set? yep…close the eyes….fall asleep….oops…is it set for AM/PM?…..ok…yes…AM……close the eyes…back to sleep….wait…wake up….is the volume on? let me see…what’s my code for unlock screen?…yes…volume is ok….well..it’s after midnight…might was well check to see if the baseball scores are in…nope…no game today…but if it were, it’d only be the 6th inning anyway….fall back asleep….wake up again….what time do I need to leave here to pick up the coffee?….I called ahead and it should be ready by 615, but…what if it isn’t? I can’t be late….wow…what if I fartsack? hmmmm…..how would that go over? My marketing brain turns on…..”Freeloader fartsacks for Midwood Launch”….that would play really well…lot’s of chatter. OBT would put his ruck pack down and tweet something he thinks is clever. Shank would take a break from watching Sly Stallone in Over the Top and tweet something that only someone from Cobleskill would understand (Editor’s note…I did learn what a Teaser Pony was from Shank a year ago, so I can’t be too hard on a guy that provides such entertaining fodder)…after about 10 seconds….figured it wouldn’t be fair to the FNG’s that might possibly post……oh….one more thing…YHC didn’t even have the Q….Slaughter and Mr. Bojangles picked up that responsibility……so, what was I worried about? Back to sleep…..oh…crap!! what if someone breaks into my minivan and steals my wallet and I can’t pay for coffee…..ok…this is getting ridiculous…..good night…..until…the alarm goes off…in ten minutes…I’m awake….I’m ready…I’m, as title suggest, pretty excited about working out with a group of men, many that I haven’t met, in a park in my own neighborhood….F’ing Sweet!

Dressed, The Joe is picked up and headed back from Central Coffee to the park….although I thought it was strange as I drove by Social Status on Central Ave and saw Frat Girl and Mutiny along with a huge line of kids camped out for the latest urban shoe style..guess they won’t be joining us today…oh well…come next week fellas……turn left onto The Plaza…odd…why are all these cones here?….crap!…there’s a 5K at 8:00… Yep…that will be a problem…….finally…back at the park by 6;30….ah, the benefits of having a HOME FIELD…..let’s check twitter….well..I’ll be damned….some clever tweets by OBT and Shank….”what’s the over under on how many times YHC will move this workout?”..both liked and retweeted and quoted each other and just had a really good chuckle…..a text from John Crawford….”good luck”…..it will fail…people don’t work out in “midwierd” (“Who the Fk is John Crawford????”, I wonder) check F3 page….oh..I forgot about the Italian Job Interview I did with Cannoli, he’s the Roy Firestone of F3…Sorry I cried…it was all the vaping. ….and it looks like Today is tongue in cheek about our success and proximity to Indy..maybe we can converge on Thomas Street. We can go all out and pattycake merkin battle…we’ll be skins and you guys can wear those sweet Indy workout shirts…Midwood can’t afford that Mudgear….hoping we can get a deal on some Jungle Shirts.

Wonder how many will come? Hoping for 15….at least 4 new guys…YHC already had 2 in the bag…did I do enough marketing?…email, NextDoor App, twitter…word of mouth…pre-blast…wish I had some of that F3Leap $! (Note–number one question YHC received when posting the time and location of this workout was……..”where and what time“….#truth…not a #truthnugget…if any of you are hiring, I’ve kept a list) Cool….635…there’s a car….oh…wait…it’s the guy delivering papers…..I guess someone that’s 80 lives on this street. 645…another car….cool…maybe a new guy….nope….this guy has F3 on his freaking license plate….It’s GAAP….ok.that’s right…I heard he had HC’d to two other workouts but told both he’s coming here………another car….It’s Assless Chaps and Curly…WTF? Are they lost? Does Doc know? Can we get a “CryingDoc” meme? Pbo..please get on that….. Shank comes..Carrier..Carrier? Did someone tweet HDHH is on Saturday in Midwood???.Lee show’s up….last week he’s in Ballantyne, so this is about 35 minutes closer…our Q’s run up…guys just coming from all over….my neighbors….the husband of one of my M’s friends who I see at the Y…another guy from my kid’s preschool….wow….quick count….31….and…it was all guys….

The Thang: Slaughter..

Mosey to field for COP…

A brief instruction on how this works….then some Side Straddle Hops…..all good then at HALT…I see a hand full of guys still going…cool…FNG’s…….next exercise is….Windmiills…..AC yells…”dumbest exercise in F3″…..yep…welcome to our leadership development program…instant feedback…iron sharpens iron….or….sometimes a hammer pounds the shit out of nail until you don’t see it anymore……it’s all in the approach…….

we then proceeded to do some merkins, plankjacks, rockhoppers, squats, and throw in some 6 count burpees for good measure….and a peek of what’s to come….then we mosey to the playground for some pullups, dips, derkins, and squats…4 rounds….not sure of the number….

next…line up on the end line for some sprints….half speed up and back….3/4 speed up and back…full speed up…backwards back….again..full speed then backwards….next, mosey to the hill…for some 11’s….burpees at the top…sumo jump squats at the bottom….

Next Up..Mr. Bojangles turn……I can go into details…but in short, he tried to kill the new guys. I’m surprised he didn’t carry a water bucket with one of those leaky ladles and when guys tried to drink too much, he’d just smack them in the head with it.. I’ve created a Strava segment called “Mr Bojangle’s Death March”……He called a Jacob’s ladder with burpees at the top…(he did tell me later that he didn’t remember that hill being that long. ..Most made 3-4 times…some made 5-6….other’s may have made 2…since all marketing info claimed it was a 45 minute workout for today, YHC had a request that Genghis Bo call off the dogs and head for home AO for some COT. Thank goodness I didn’t fartsack…he would have had them out there for the entire hour….seriously…big thank you to Mr. Bo and Slaughter…..I could have Q’d this too, but it would not have been nearly as good. Great work!

So…what the heck was that all about:

Wow…that was fun…watching guys that I’ve been trying to EH for a couple years show up and work hard. And…realize that there are numerous guys who have been to a workout, but never really went back….and..other than a few visitors like those previously mentioned and Marv…most live here…..

Namerama was fun…..a guy from Senegal who teaches French….he’s an EH from Garinger’s R2D2….it’s something like Africana Frenchy…..yep…AF to the rest of us….another guy…Kevin…stay at home dad…from Fort Mill….wait, Slaughter looks at his dress watch on his arm and names him Rolex….we have a Penny…works at Ally…a sweater….last name rogers….an Old Chatham….a Pisa, who’s from Italy……Slaughter was on his A game today….

One comment YHC loved….due to the race, cones were lined up along Mr Bojangles Death March….with police cars at each end…one of the guys told me that it was so cool that we had the police come and block traffic so we could work out in the street. Yes…that’s the way we roll here…

As for the workout…well…usual guys out front….Lee, shank, curly…but this wasn’t about the front today…it was about everyone else….guys I know…guys I don’t know….pushing way past their comfort level….guys gasping….hurting….yet enjoying themselves. YHC heard from several throughout the day….those burpees were having a lasting impact….Oh..Ranger PAX…sorry…I’ll show you what a burpee is next time I’m there…and a squat too. I’m not sure what that convulsion movement you do is actually called.

YHC is extremely grateful for the support of experienced PAX who drove here from Dilworth, Myers Park, and Marv who came a very long way. (By the way, please chime in below so I know you made it home and still aren’t driving around lost in my neighborhood).. Great to meet R2D2, who leads Garinger…..Rube was there and brought some folks..Mighty Wind skipped his normal Saturday bike ride to join us. (You do have nice hair, dude). .GAAP had a couple Kotters….007 was there…I asked him where he posts usually…Silver Bullet….dude is 67…#builditandtheywillcome….I’m sure I’m missing some….cobains…

That was a strong move fellas….unexpected, yet, not surprising.

So why a workout in Midwood? Yes..great question…truth is, YHC’s original intent was to do a 1 time event to EH some guys that I know and others that I see sadclowing around the hood….TML graciously added it to his newsletter and mentioned that it was a NEW WORKOUT in Midwood….hmmm…it got me thinking….why not? in fact, probably more than any area, we need F3 more….why…..well…what thing unites this place?…..do our kids all go to the same school.?…why indeed they do…based on yard signs, they all go to ElizabethTraditionalWadellLanguageCharlotteLabVeritasCollinswoodCotswoldEastoverTrinityEpisocalCountryDayProvidenceDayShamrockStPat’s Elementary School…(that’s 12 different elementarty schools) .ok…well, we do all go to the same Old Chatham Swim Club neighborhood pool….oh…wait…remember that one thing that city council voted down recently..apparently the only way to get a pool approved in this city is to build 700 apartments around it…guess that won’t do it……how about church? nope..work or maybe Workman’s friend….nope…there really isn’t anything here that is common other than our zip code….that’s not gonna help…..YHC goes many places to workout…I don’t need a workout here….but I need a cohesive community…..it’s missing here. That’s what this is about for YHC. Which is why that YHC is excited.

Today, for the first time in their lives, 9 men got out of bed for a F3 workout. All these guys came for was to get in shape and perhaps even save a few bucks by cancelling that gym membership. What these 9 men don’t realize is that they took a huge step forward in building a better community. For that, we should all be grateful.

Great takeout by Pipeline.

Announcements….MIP needs you…turkey drive and continued F3 involvement. t-claps to the men who support this week in and week out…

Lee has the keys next week….

Humbled…and tired….

Freeloader.

“We are Shawshank and TML and we approve this workout”

Midwood

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