Complex Formula, Stairwells, Kettle Bells and Peppermint – all at The Cauldron

Event Date

Dec 06, 2024


FNG-1 = Old Dominion or “OD”.  How have we not gotten OD registered yet?  He’s ready to Q – needs to be able to post backblasts!!!!

YHC knew it was gonna be a cold one, but after promising no running we would have to find other ways to keep warm in 22 degree temps and holding onto iron.  Good thing everyone brought gloves…  almost everyone.  Hope Hot Wax can feel his fingers by the time he reads the BB.

YHC arrived in time to stash two 35 lb dumbells by the benches out front and set up the big, long, thick, black… rope (candy cane today) in the deck and strategically park beside it, where temps were at least 10 degrees warmer, if not 15.

Then YHC would slow mosey down to ground level and outside where 9 other pax awaited the disclaimer and instruction.

We hauled the bells over to the picnic tables where we’d have a brief but important warm-o-rama, then take the bells further to circle up around the great vagi…  wait!  Where has the art the pax worship every Friday gone???  Now there’s a huge, unlit (more to come on that) Christmas tree.  Tis the season I suppose.  But I miss it already…

This is the way YHC likes to start a Cauldron beatdown – fire up the pecs!  Partner 1 do KB presses til failure while partner 2 (awkwardly) watches, counts for partner 1 and does either Al Gore or squats.  Accountability – pax will push themselves further and harder when other pax are counting their reps.  This is one reason DORA is so successful.  Upon fail, flapjack, then repeato.  After 2 sets each, switch to flies, also til fail, also counted (and judged) by your partner.

That should have smoked the pecs fosho.  Kept us warm enough at least, but now it’s time to head “indoors” so over to the deck we wandered.

With bells, we’d first ensure warmth by entering the stairwell, going down to the basement then all the way to the top, then back down to floor 1.  

Circle up with bells, then we’d have an interactive cadence calling for a bit.  Next exercise is:

The Curl.  YHC called 10 in cadence, and very smoothly passed it off to Lawn Dart on my left to do the same.  We’d go all the way around the circle, only stopping after the 6 pax (Ultraman) for just a moment to allow the burning to stop, then Ping would pick it right back up, all the way through OD.  10 pax, 10 curls IC, that’s 200 curls boys!

The Skull Crusher.  Same system.  Same # of reps.  Same pain.  

Time for another “lap” this time up the stairs first, then down, then back up to level 1.

Back to it.  The Lawn Mower.  YHC would call cadence but 5 IC each arm, then passed it off to Lawn Dart.  We would go ALL THE WAY around for this one without stopping.  It was still brutal, but alternating arms helped us finish it.

The Tail Wagger.  Back to 10 IC and back to serious burn.

Time for another “lap”.  Wow it’s become painful carrying the bell up and down the stairwell.

Back to level 1 and it’s time for MWAR (Mary With A Rope).  Each pax would take a turn and we’d end at 6:16AM (Cobains, fellas, but wasn’t it worth it?)

The frozen yet burnin’ moleskine:

Don’t know how Hot Wax did it without gloves this morning.

Workers came out while we were burnin’ out the pecs to test the tree.  Apparently, the tree was erected (calm down, Frogger) yesterday but none of the outlets worked to light it.  With the town tree-lighting ceremony/party tonight, the town enlisted some professionals to plus 25 indoor extension cords together reaching from Frogger’s e-prius to the tree.  STK if it works tonight.

Ultraman and Die Hard posted with YHC both days the complex formula was in effect this week.  Interesting observation by  Die Hard that while the points are cumulative, this worked against both UM and DH after both carried over negative point balances from Samson yesterday.  Live and learn.

The complex formula was pushed hard this week.  So many data points on so many levels.  The flux capacitor nearly shut down running the final formula to produce a winner today.  But alas, YHC believes it was the community outreach and selfless service points Frogger earned when YHC watched the video of him with the Operation SweetTooth crew at Walmart in Denver in the annual “Christmas Train” of purchases for kids.  And so the peppermint was awarded.  The Peppermint Poinsettia to be exact.  We grow these at Metrolina Greenhouses and this week two were set aside for the complex formula at Samson and Cauldron.  Look for them at your local Lowe’s or Walmart.  They’re red but they look like white paint dripped on them.

Also why YHC parked in the deck vs outside.  FJ read 37 degrees in the deck, 22 degrees outside.  Poinsettias don’t like the cold.

This was the official start of the F3 Christmas Party!  All the Cauldron pax piled into Hot Wax’s pedophile van and carpooled to coffeteria, ensuring our great parking spaces would be secured for the 760 version of the party later.  Not sure how all these pax got to work from Lowe’s Foods though…

See you all tonight! Remember – every beer purchased equals a $1 donation from 760 to Operation SweetTooth, so be giving and responsible and drink a LOT of beers.  Amen doesn’t drink alcohol and we respect that, but in order to feel valued and add value, he’ll buy a beer for any pax who asks and who perfoms the J-Lo in front of him at 760 tonight.  This type of voyeurism cannot be found – not even on the websites Frogger frequents.  

Cheers, all.  Let’s party.