Intro:
A month or so ago Yanni reached out to me to see if I’d be interested in participating in a “Blind Date” Q at the wall on 2/12/. I haven’t been able to Q as much as I like lately and had to have a discussion with the M as her work schedule has been highly unpredictable over the last few months but we were confident that this could work. F3 has become a really important part of my life and I feel like lately I’ve been taking from this group a lot more than I’ve been giving back. The decision to Q today was a first step in trying to give back more than I have been.
So this had been on the calendar, and as the date approached I thought of a few different “thangs” that could fit together with whatever my “Blind Date” had in store, and then I heard from Yanni earlier this week with some ideas. Most of his themes were Valentine’s Day related so I looked at my list again and narrowed it down to what I thought would be the best options.
The night before the forecast for the morning was horrible (wintry mix likely) – I was no longer “excited”. Homegrown Berry suggested EC pull ups so I figured – what the hell – what’s an extra 30 minutes of wet? Chum half-heartedly committed as well – was he my blind date? To be determined.
EC Today:
Doing pull ups with Homegrown. Not too much rain. He asks if I know who the day’s Q’s are. I lied (sorry Homegrown – I thought maintaining the surprise was important). Chum shows up a couple of minutes into it. Homegrown asks him – he also denies any knowledge. My suspicion that Chum is my Co-Q increases… A few minutes later a 4th PAX shows up and starts walking around the AO inspecting certain areas. I don’t recognize his car – could this be my blind date? Almost time to find out.
The ME:
We circle up and Yanni announces that the Q’s are YHC and the mystery man inspecting the AO – the Legendary Doi! Yanni and Marky Mark circle everyone up while Doi and I move off to conspire on the morning’s events. I told him of a few things I had in mind related to Valentines Day. I expect he will have a few similar ideas and it will come together nicely. He tells me his theme is Black History Month (cool, cool) and his theme will be maximizing discomfort (umm – maybe not cool?) by having us all roll around in the icy mud puddles doing WW2s, Hand Release Merkins and some rolling Merkin things in the middle of the drenched field (DEFINITELY NOT COOL). I’m glad I was wearing a mask – because I’m sure my face would have revealed the abject horror I was feeling at his plan. I was wishing I had fartsacked my own Q (a first for me!). I think I mumbled “OK” and we headed back to the PAX. Warm up ended and we were off.
Thang 1:
Mosey up to the top of the hill and stop for some Burpees and Black History Month Trivia by Doi. We got it wrong – 5 Burpees.
Mosey down to BC Parkway for more trivia. We got this one right – 16 squats.
Mosey to the stop sign at Boulder Point for more trivia – wrong I think? 5 Burpees.
Short mosey up to the bottom of the long hill at the base of the Park.
Thang 2: Love is a Long Road
PAX line up in Plank position head to feet appropriately distanced. PAX in the back Bear Crawl to the front of the line at which point all PAX do 1 Merkin. Man in the back continues to move to the front while all other PAX hold plank. This was taking too long so YHC called an audible – abandoning the Merkins with each PAX just moving after the man behind him goes. After a few minutes Marky Mark commented that he was not feeling the love. All of our hands were frozen and mumblechatter was non-existent. At some point I say to Doi as I pass him “Doi I think we need to keep it on the pavement today” We were not seeing eye to eye on this subject as we were about to discover. But we persevered all the way back to the AO.
Thang 3: Doi reminds us about being uncomfortable.
Doi moseys us all down to the rock pile. I am feeling better – we are not in the field he and I discussed earlier. But alas – my hopes are about to be dashed. Doi starts by reminding us that most of Black History is uncomfortable – just like we are all about to be. First – we pick rocks. Marky Mark cannot find “his rock”. Doi has us do wet Burpees while he searches. Marky Mark grumbles and finds a substitute. We stop. At this point he realizes I have “his” rock. I feel bad (but not really).
Doi: “On Your Six”.
The Pax: “@#$%&”
We commence rock overhead WW2s. (Note – this is the first and likely ONLY time in history that having a 30lb plate strapped to my back has been an enviable thing during WW2s. Score one for the Q!).
We continue with some awful rolling in the mud Merkin exercise (I kinda blacked it out) and did some other terrible wet things. PAX misery level was high. Finally he tells me to take back over (thank God).
Thang 4: St. Valentines Day Massacre
We line up along the outside of the Tennis courts.
YHC: In what year on February 14th did Al Capone’s men pose as cops and mow down 7 members of the North Side gang in Chicago?
PAX: I forget what thy said – but it was wrong. (Correct answer 1929).
BTTW for 14 count each followed by People’s Chair Arms Up for 14 count each. Rinse and Repeat.
Mary:
50 Box Cutters in Cadence.
Announcements:
If anyone has a gently used computer they are willing to part with please contact Yanni.
COT:
Doi said some nice things I think. Not sure – I was slightly hypothermic.
Moleskine:
So one of the Trivia questions I forget by Doi was related to the date of issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. Marky Mark and Doi still don’t agree and we even got legal perspective by Maraschino on slack. Moral of the story – sometimes the truth is open to some interpretation. And when in doubt – just do burpees.