August 15th, 2020 By Grandmaster

Following a planning meeting on Thursday and a run through on Friday the plan was in place.  All that was needed were suckers participants, and they were in ample supply. 52 Mighty Men of Valor gathered at the corner of pain and companionship in downtown K-town to celebrate 3 years of Fitness, Fellowship and Faith in Kannapolis. It went something like this:

Mosey to the Echo Chamber for WARMARAMA:

20 SSHs IC, 15 ISTs IC, 10 BSNs IC, 5 Burpees OYO

Knowing that most F3 Pax cannont handle a count off and remember their number, Gunny simply called for three lines to be formed behind himself, TheBurgh and Backdraft.  Each group headed off to a different mini beatdown at three different locations.  After 10-12 minutes, rotate to the next station.

THANG 1: Circle of Honor/Eternal Flame (Compliments of Backdraft)

Motivator up to (or down from if you’re TheBurgh) 10 deconstructed SSHs. Sounds easy enough, but ask your calves about that tomorrow morning.)

Monkey Webbs (1 Squat and 2 Monkey Humpers up to 10:20) Great fun until you hit about round 7, then just dig in and push through.

THANG 2: Smooth Parking Lot (Compliments of Gunny)

Start at northern lamp post, inch worm merkins to next lamp, lunge walk to the next, then Karaoke, to the fourth, next Bear Crawl to the fifth, and wrap it up with Burpee Broadjumps to the last lamp post. Repeato as necessary.

THANG 3: Dale Memorial (Compliments of TheBurgh)

Partner up for DORA: 100 each of Merkins, Step ups and LBCs. Partner 1 runs a lap then relieves partner 2.

After 10 to 12 minutes at each station, the Pax gathered in the Stadium to take a tour of first base line seats.  That’s right, in case your legs weren’t burning yet, pick a section and sit in as many of the seats as possible in the time allotted. After about 10 mins, and 10 gallons of water added to our clothes from the wet seats, time was called and the Pax circled up on the Patio for some Broga and…

COT: Heatstroke reminded us of the launch of the Locust AO next Saturday (8/22/20). The Pax took a knee and gave thanks to God  for His blessings and for each other.  Prayers for guidance in our lives as we lead others.

The Pax mosied back to the AO for coffee, water, doughnuts (you earned one, but just one), bananas and oranges.  A strong F2 session ensued with lots of mubblechatter.  The officer who parked across the street was just there to make sure we felt a little disobedient, as the group numbers and distance between pax may have been questionable.  But in the eyes of YHC there wasn’t a gathering of 52, but several gatherings of 8-10, and each group was at least 6 feet apart. That counts. Right?

MOLESKIN:

A huge “Thank You” goes out to Gunny, The Burgh, and some other guy who stepped up to lead workouts. Others were also willing to lead but we couldn’t really have 10 mini workouts. Next year guys, next year. Thanks to SirTopEm for providing some photo documentation that this thing actually took place. Thanks to Ragnar for going to get the coffee while the rest of us tested the capacity of the Stadium seats. I’m sure that was a big sacrifice that cut him deeply.  Risky Business, SirTopham, Mixed Nuts, Rawhide, TheBurgh and Cupid all had a hand in providing refreshments. (Here’s hoping no one was left out of this list.)  Thanks to all that attended for wearing black in honor of Cash from F3TheFort, who is in a battle with cancer.

Also, thanks to F3Concord and F3Afton for shutting down their Saturday beatdowns so they could attend, to RollingStone and Comanche for sending representatives.

Gentlemen, this thing we do in the gloom is more than a workout. Sure losing a few pounds (or 30 like Risky Business and others) is great. And yeah, being able to run around the town when climbing up a set stairs used to be chore is awesome. But as good, or better, is losing a few bad habits and being able to share the load of life that we all endure.  We are friends brothers and we push each other to be stronger and better in all aspects of life. Let me encourage you young guys to find an old guy to listen to. They know a thing or two because they’ve seen a thing or two. And old guys, find a young guy to pour some knowledge and wisdom into. If all we do is complain about “boomers” or the “punks” we’ll never get anywhere, but together we are strong and we can begin to pass the torch from one generation to the next so that virtuous leadership takes root and spreads.

In HIS Service,

Grandmaster

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