It all started innocently enough. Jimmy O tweeted that he was not going to be able to Q this week due to injury:
@Qbert_F3 @f3lkn I have a bum shoulder and I rolled my ankle this morning. Getting old stinks! I had planned to Q Mad Sci on Wednesday but no way I can now! Who can step up and lead for me?
As a recently retired comz, I kindly pointed out to him that a tweet that begins with “@name” is only visible to those who follow both sender and that person. To allow all your followers to see the tweet, you must begin your tweet with a plain character (traditionally a period). Jimmy O, being the former MOTY that he is, thanked me for the tip while suggesting I could take the Q and save him from retweeting. #clevergirl
So despite a long hiatus from the parking deck (I see Camp Gladiator still plays obnoxious music at 0500), I made my triumphant dubious return. I wasn’t sure I would know anyone regularly posting here anymore, but eight men gave me a warm welcome including the nantan-elect and my 2.0 (who rarely sees the sunrise). 0530 snuck up quickly and we got to work.
THE EXPERIMENT
We began our trek in front of DPK, right on the corner where all the early commuters would be jealous. We did SSH x25 IC, Sumo Squats x15 IC, Cotton Pickers x15 IC, Mountain Climbers x15 IC and IST x15 IC. After that we moseyed to the train tracks where we did Merkins x15 IC. Fortunately no trains passed through while we were there.
Next we moseyed further away from the parking deck to the church parking lot. After some light ballyhooing about having perfectly good parking spaces at the deck, we found a spot on the brick wall for some People’s Chair with Wonderbras x20 IC. Once we were done pushing ’em up and out, we Lunge Walked the length of the lot, then moseyed to the gazebo at the entrance to Vermillion.
The main event today was the Vermillion Ladder. Run a tenth of a mile down the hill at Vermillion to the small parking lot and complete 10 WWII Sit-ups. Run back up to gazebo and do 1 Merkin. Repeato subtracting one WWII each time down and adding one Merkin each time up. With time running down, I audibled a halt at which point most of the pax had completed 7-9 sets out of the complete 10.
We returned to the church parking lot for a little broga including Downward Dog and Pigeon Pose (both legs). Apparently YHC was a bit cocky about not skipping the stretch and was chided for becoming more of an a-hole since losing weight. I kindly pointed out that at the lower weight, the a-hole did in fact make up a greater percentage of who I am. #burnermath
We moseyed back to the rails, paused for the six, then moseyed the rest of the way back to corner in front of DPK. A portion of the group was caught at the red light so we stalled by doing Squats x20 SC OYO. Then it was back to the parking lot for a date with Jane Fonda. But alas, 0615 had arrived and Ms Fonda had turned back into a pumpkin. I confirmed that the men would meet individually with Jane on their own time. Someone mentioned they had already met with her last night. That led to potty humor, and that led to a closing prayer. God bless these pax as they go out into the world to be a light to all they encounter. ORLY? God help us all.
THE RESULTS
- We did not mingle with Camp Gladiator today. At $60 per workout, they are limited to the parking deck, but at the low cost of FREE, F3 allows you to explore off campus from time to time too
- I was planning to run down to the park on Dallas Street but decided the Vermillion entrance was safer with the sidewalk. There were also fewer homes by the entrance to hear our chatter
- Speaking of mumblechatter, there was the one outburst about the Tar Holes that warmed my Wolfpack heart, but may have woken up all the sad clowns within a half mile radius
- I tried to convince the pax that running the Vermillion hill was no different then running the parking deck, but they hated on me anyway
- Bagboy modified on the amount of running due to injury, but those decline situps looked terrible too
- The a-hole comments (see above) were comic genius. The kind of stuff that makes a sucky bootcamp tolerable
- Prayers for Scrappy and Canary who are on IR. Also Headlock’s father as he deals with cancer
- Many thanks to the brave souls who joined me today. I’m appreciative of all that F3 offers and look forward to the next opportunity to join you in the gloom