PREP:  Counting sets of palms trees on NBP to UTC mall path (there’s 19 sets)

WEATHER: Like a pot of boiled pasta (credit to Gridlock for that one)

5:15AM: F3 5 core principles recited: All workouts are: Free of charge, Open to all men, Held outdoors, rain or shine, heat or cold, Peer led by men who participate in the workout in a rotating fashion, with no training or certification necessary, and End with a Circle of Trust.  Start your Garmins.  Welcomed Straightjacket, DR from Rome GA, and his FNG brother Noah.

(Pre beatdown) MESSAGE: No time.  Let’s mosey.  Bring your water bottles.

WARM UP: Mosey south/east with arms raised to the bridge, all the way to small triangular grass island across Cattlemen.  Circle up (triangle up?) for SSH.  13 count (Friday the 13th).  Continue to mosey toward the mall.  Stop #2 for Windmills, arm circles, agitators and Michael Phelps.  Continue mosey and get into 2 even lines, one led by YHC, and Steel assigned to lead the other, then stop #3 for plank, merkins, R and L arms out for about a 10 count each.  Finish mosey to last of the (19) sets of palms on the path.  Recover.

THE THANG: 2 “teams” (YHC and Steel; ref 2 lines above).  YHC’s team instructed to run to the 3rd set of trees from the start point toward NBP, then perform (IC x 4 count) 3 different exercises: 1) Merkins OR Dry Docks, 2) Flutter Kicks OR LBCs, and 3) Squats.  Recovery via run again from current set of trees and progress another 3 sets of palms.  Repeat exercises above.  Continue to the end of the trees.  Steel’s team was instructed to plank until YHC’s team had run to the 3rd set of palms and completed all exercises.  YHC will call back to Steel and tell his team to start.  Easy, right?

BUT WAIT! Time to face and overcome adburpseety!  After the squats, instead of running forward 3 sets of palms, pax were instructed to run BACKWARDS to the prior set of palms and complete 10 burpees.  After the burpees, pax were then to pick up with prior instruction to run forward to 3rd set of palms and do the 3 sets of exercises.

So – in summary, forward 3 sets of palms, complete set of 3 exercises above, backward one set of palms and complete 10 burpees.  In total, @ 19 sets of palms, will be 9 complete sets of running/exercises.

5 full sets were completed.  Audible called since there was an FNG and a DR, and we headed toward the tower.  YHC gave up on the Thang a bit early, so before the tower, pax completed a full set of the above exercises, including the burpees.  Then jailbreak, back down the north stairwell and to top of Sniper hill. 4 minutes remaining, so pax circled up and planked for a merkin circle, with a twist; started with a CW circle then YHC started a 2nd / CCW circle.  It got screwed up pretty quick, so we aborted and tried a squat circle with both CW and CCW circles, but that got screwed up just as quick.  @ 5:59 we just did burpees til 6.

Playlist: no music today.  I-75 is just too loud.

MESSAGE: The additional part of the Thang with running BACKWARDS a set of palm trees and then doing 10 burpees – about that – it sucked, and it sucks every time when forward progress is being made, then is suddenly reversed.  Well, that’s life.  Bad stuff happens and it can;t be prevented.  It’s the reaction to the situation that makes a HIM.  F3 pax are so fortunate to have created a support system to help when things suck.  Reach out to a brother or brothers when you need them – they will help every time.

SUMMARY/AAR: YHC didn’t time it out too well, but it will be perfect next time.  Thanks to Steel for assisting with lead for team #2, and thanks to Chilipepper for being the sweeper.  The sweeper needs to be assigned up front.  My garmin said 532 calories (Pre-blast estimate was 521), but I didn’t turn it off until after the COT (which is usually about 10 calories); still – pretty good…

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 

• FNG Noah from Venice (works @ PGT making hurricane windows) – welcome Cat5!
• Welcome DR Straightjacket from ROme GA
• 9/11 event – meet @ Dillard’s @ 8AM on 9/11
• Wildpax Dec 2-4 – check Slack and HC w/$100
• Laps for Life virtual 5K in early OCT (Sir Wallace) – check Slack
• Iron pax in SEP
• 5 @ Ragnar West Virginia (Ripken, Pincher, Gridlock, Fireball, Yamaha)
• 2nd F @ The Parrot WED 25-AUG 6PM

PRAISES / PRAYER REQUESTS: 

• Great to have Hang 10 back!  Congrats on the baby!
• Defib / healthcare workers – COVID is worse now than last year.
• Drake’s friend Tom
• Airwolf
• Lancelot injuries
• F3 lost a Dayton pax last week – prayers to the family
• Enron’s M double carpal tunnel surgery 8/13.

WRAP-UP: I really enjoyed this one – the pax picked up the Thang quickly, it was tough, we jailbreaked (jailbroke?) and we overcame adburpseety!