The Thicket does one thing particularly well: it puts asses in seats. 29 showed up today after a few hammered some EC Murph training and others an EC ruck, and once the ME rolled around, I tried to get those asses out of those seats, moving and grooving. Briar Chapel held a big cookout yesterday and it sounds like over 100 showed up and feasted like kings. In honor of their cookout and searching for Q inspiration, I decided to sample one of our region’s finest IPAs, which just so happens to go by the name of The Thicket, from Natty Greene. The tasting notes, please!
Look: A black IPA, dark in the bottle but optimistically copper upon pouring, suited perfectly for the gloom.
Smell: I would not say it smells like teen spirit, but Grunge might.
Taste: A touch sweeter than I expected. The malts compete nicely with the hops.
Feel: A nice carbonated bite, but it does not love you and leave you and lingers on your palate with said sweetness and….
Overall: HOPS. Yes, hops. That is what will define our workout today. Yesterday, you feasted. Today, you hop.
After a warm up of seal jacks, overhead claps, merkins and squats, we got to hoppin’.
Hop Medley:
- Broad jump forward, 180 jump, then broad jump back. X 20
- Side jump, with a little squat, for one minute
- Tuck jump X 20
- Jump squat X 20
- Jump lunge X 20
Recover with some plank variations.
Onto the soccer field. Time for a Bunny Hop Air Raid.
Bunny hop until Q calls out “Merkin!” At that point, drop and do merkins. Each time we double the amount. We executed 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and then 5 sets of 12 for 60 to finish. I think it was Boyardee or Grunge who said, “Hey, I thought the Rabbit is tomorrow?” Indeed it is, but nonetheless today we must hop.
Dracula Drills: Sprint to a point, drop on your back, lay there. On my Q, run to the next point, and do the same thing. We mixed up travel once with bear crawls, and also threw in some WWIIs.
Mosey back to parking lot for a Burpee Medley.
- 10 regular burpees
- 10 360 jump (180 forward and back) burpees
- 10 Drogon burpees (with tuck jump at end)
- 10 triple-merkin burpees
- 10 single leg burpees (5 each leg)
Mary: 50 flutter kicks, some of them very slow. Superman for 1 minute with some wonderful melodies sung, including “Believe it or Not.” 29 American hammers to honor all 29 in attendance.
CoT: That’s 25 for the Master Q. The Master Q has been a great experience. I think at its best, it was a great way for folks around the region to experience other Qs, see a different look, and meet some new folks. At its worst, it clogged up the Q sheets with one guy, at some time 4 or more times per week (guilty), and felt a little self-indulgent to hone one’s Q skills, at times.
We are reaching a juncture in F3 where we have too many PAX at some workouts, and in some areas not enough Qs. I personally believe that each man will get out of F3 what he puts into it, and none of us should be in the business of dictating what it needs to mean for each man. We are all dealing with different time constraints, motivations, etc., and F3 is great because it makes room for each guy regardless of those circumstances. I am not going to sit here and preach that Qing is necessary and will make you a better leader or better man. It might, it might not. I do not think anything we do in F3 automatically makes anyone better at anything. What matters is how you use it – the fitness, the motivation, the friendships – combined in a total and consistent package that complements and ultimately comprises what you call your life. Most of that begins after you leave the gloom. It is up to you not to let the gloom leave you, so to speak.
What I will say is this: I am always here to encourage each of you to do something more and something better, and I think most of you would do the same for me. But the change must start and end with you. Otherwise it will not last. If Qing is part of that, great. If it is just getting up to work out, that is great, too. Thanks for the opportunity to Q across the region. It’s been awesome and I won’t forget it. And if I can be a voice to help anyone Q, please let me know. After all, there’s nothing to it. Just a few hops is all.