It was an epic battle between one of the greatest Qs to bless LKN and the other one that somehow managed to win this battle. Since YHC got the W, I have the privelege to write the backblast. The following is what happened to the best of my recollection:
There were 3 that met the standard according to the instructions given in the preblast…no wait, there are others already running. 3 met the standard launching at 0500 (Jimmy O, Cherry Bomb and YHC). They soon found out that there were others already on an "extra standard," "super standard," and "super-extra standard." One launched at 0340 (Fenway ran a half-marathon within the confines of NMP before the workout even began), Two more joined at 0430 (The "Wrong Turn" brothers: Turncoat and Turnpike) and then there were three. Jimmy O, Cherry Bomb and YHC joined in at 0500 which made six total. At 0515, Jimmy O and Turnpike bailed, which left four to finish together. This was all before the QvQ epic beatdown even began…WHEW!
Jimmy O took the reigns first and I followed second. He and I announced that this was a sharing/caring competition as we were communicating and planning early and often before the beatdown (we were accused of our weinke's almost touching). Sharing/Caring is, after all, the true spirit of F3 and Qmanship. We also decided to rebel against/reject the intended format and just split it down the middle…which, some would argue, is also the spirit of F3 (rebelling). He got 0530-0552ish and I got 0552 to 0615ish.
JIMMY'S THANG:
Circle Up for an original idea (and quite efficient, I might add) of breaking into teams: Every other man step to the middle of the circle. The men in the middle were team 1, the men on the outside were team 2. There was much mumblechatter repeating, "Now, which team was I on?" I believe the common response from the Q went something like, "FITFO!" (I'm embellishing a little)
Indian Run in your teams toward the basketball courts for a warmorama and disclaimer in the parking lot adjacent to the courts. I like that Jimmy O always includes, "We'll pray for you" in his disclaimer. There were 4 exercises in the warmorama: SSH, IST, Mountain Climbers and Windmills. That was enough.
Mosey to the basketball courts and break into 2 groups for a festival of painful things. Each group gets a court and does 15 repetitions of these exercises: Starting at one corner do Plank Jacks, bearcrawl to the half-line for Iversons, Bearcrawl to the next corner for Flutter Kicks, Bearcrawl to the next corner for CDD, bearcrawl to the half-line for Jump Squats, then bearcrawl to the adjacent court and do Mountain Climbers until everyone catches up. REPEATO, this time, it's a race and team 1 wins.
Mosey back to the parking lot for THE Burpee OYO. Then, Jimmy O throws in a twist and does another THE Burpee with 2 Mericans and 2 jump squats…and keeps adding another Merican and Jump Squat until we get to 5. Someone mentioned this was an old Contra trick from back in the day (The Contra Burpee). Then, the first-half Q turns it over to me.
9-LIVES' THANG:
"No Man Left Behind Run:" Think reverse Indian Run where the guy in the front of the line steps out and does a Turkish Get Up, falls into the back of the line and calls for the next man to do the same until everyone has done it once. Some pax misinterpreted the "Turkish" with "Turkey" and proceeded to make Turkey calls when it was the next man's turn. It was a bit confusing, but VERY ENTERTAINING!
At the rock pile, pick up a rock that "would make your mama proud." Mosey to the tennis courts Louis Zamperini style. Once you enter the tennis court, and to preserve the pristine nature of said courts, if your rock touches the ground, you owe 2 Turkish Get Ups with your rock. Luckily, this never happened, even given the following tasks: Curls x12ic, switch rocks with someone. Crabwalk (Duckwalk if you can't crabwalk) the width of the court. Squats x12ic, switch rocks and crabwalk the width of the court. Overhead Press x15ic (yes, we were supposed to do 12, but I tried not to let on that I made a mistake…"I can do as many as I want"), switch rocks and crabwalk the court. Skull Crushers x12ic and mosey back off the courts. Circle up in the adjacent parking lot and put your rocks down (lots of confusing looks wondering if it was a trick…it wasn't). Rotate 4 rocks to the left. Putting all the exercises from the court together: Burner x12ic. Someone complained they wanted another rock, so we rotated 3 to the left. Another complained that we already did Burners, so we did another 2 Turkish Get Ups with your rock. Put your rocks back.
"Leave No Man Behind Run" this time with 2 Turkish Get Ups before falling into the back of the line. This is where I explained the story of a man who asked the members of a monastery how they are always getting things right and not messing up. The response from the clergy was, "we always fall down, but we always get back up." That was the theme of the Turkish Get Up this morning. It may have fallen on some deaf ears, but some got the idea. I heard a few pax wondering when the punchline was coming. That may be because of my usual overabundance of sarcasm. We did the run all the way back to the escape vehicles (parked cars).
Circle up for MARY MEOW MIX (now renamed KITTY LITTER): 9 exercises of 9 repetitions (mostly in cadence) all in plank position:
Mericans, Shoulder Touches, Mountain Climbers, Plank Jack, Hip Slappers, CDD, Rock Hoppers, Shoulder Touches, Shoulder Touch Mericans, J-Lo
MARY: Homer to Heaven x10ic, LBC x15ic, Low Flutter x15ic, Dying Cockroach x12ic
RECOVER RECOVER
MOLESKIN:
-The Q versus Q format is an awesome thing. It gets Qs putting their best foot forward and brings the pax out to see what will happen next (FOMO). I'm looking forward to the next round, but was sure Jimmy O had this one in the bag. I knew I had to bring my A game to this one, but still didn't feel worthy of the win. I think the series of Burpees may have edged the vote a little my way. I'm pretty sure I got an extra vote for my inclusion of J-Lo's (Praise God, Amen)
-We saw a lot of guys we don't get to see on a regular basis and groups working together that don't usually get to. I've seen Frontier more in the past couple weeks than I've seen him in months. Great to see you regularly again.
-I tried to embarass Thug for not moving for a couple of reps, but I think he was just adjusting his clothing. Everyone assumed I was talking to Blackbeard anyway.
-The mumblechatter was running amuck this morning, but a Q's gonna Q. It has helped my ability to ignore even the highest ranking of pax (talking to you, Bagboy) and I know Jimmy O was honing his unabated leadership skills this morning, too.
-Toxic tried to throw me off with commenting on my lack of cadence rythym consistency. Of course, I took it as a challenge to keep changing it up more frequently. I hope you were able to keep up *wink*
– I asked Cherry Bomb if he was a runner when he showed up to run the standard. He said, "NO! That's why I'm running." A finer lesson was never taught at 5:05am. Thanks for the fellowship this morning.
-On the tennis courts, Etch was nursing some kind of injury or just refusing the crabwalks. I watched to see how he modified and decided on the next exercise based on his efforts (i.e. If he Zamperini'ed, I would call overhead press. If he lunge walked, I would call squats).
-There is more moleskin strewn throughout the backblast above. On to the next round, my brethren! See you in the gloom.