YHC was in a reflective mood this week, approaching his 5-year F3 anniversary. There were a lot of flashbacks to early workouts, the PAX from the early days, the special events along the way. But YHC also realized that he couldn’t remember his first morning in the gloom very well — memories of waiting alone in the parking lot beforehand, and being gassed during name-o-rama afterward, remain. But the in between was still very fuzzy. It was assuredly some mix of heavy breathing, nausea and confusion. Thus, another refresher was in order. YHC found the backblast from his debut (located here) and created a reenactment (again) for 18 PAX at The Wall on this humid morning. (A couple changes from that first workout were utilizing the pullup bar station and a nod to D-Day).
Warmup: SSH x20, Arm Circles x20, Mountain Climbers x20
Jacob’s Ladder: exercises at the top and bottom of the big hill in between sprints up and down
Descending merkins at the top: 20, 15, 10, 5
Ascending squats at the bottom: 5, 10, 15, 20
The Beast: Six exercises, six means of travel (across three tennis courts), six IC reps when you get there
- Walking lunges –> merkins
- Sprint -> peter parkers
- Gorilla crawl -> dry docks
- Back pedal -> wide grip merkins
- Crab walk -> parker peters
- Side shuffle -> burpees (double set)
Pullups
Sets of 10-8-6-4-2 followed by a dead hang
D-Day Mary: WWIIs x75
BOM
F3 has evolved and greatly expanded in Churham over the past five years. And YHC has found that what it means to him has evolved as well. The Fitness has been surpassed by the Fellowship. The biggest highs used to come from merely completing a tough workout and the inspiration was rooted in finishing each morning strong. But now YHC finds the biggest inspiration from the FNG pushing through his first workout, the PAX that makes huge gains and assumes a leadership position, the vets that ace a Spartan race or dare to tackle an Ironman (or double Ironman). And that inspiration comes from moments outside the gloom, too. The PAX spotted being a great Little League coach, the PAX that goes camping with his kids, the PAX that organizes 3rd F outings. In other words, the best part of F3 is the PAX. They are an inspiration, they make great role models, and YHC is proud to be part of such a great group. Thank you to everyone YHC has met in the gloom these past five years, especially to Adolphus for the HC and to Wuerffel for the first beatdown.