12/26 CI #Rooster Backblast @F3TheMutt

Q: Captain Insane-o (YHC)

Pax: (26) Digiorno, Wham!, Mad Cow, Busch, Zartan, OJ, Tool Time, Trump, Little Jerry, Zima, Gillespie, Black Lung, Kilo, Face, Deuce, Mr. Hat, Diablo, Dot, Woodstock, Amelia, Star Child, Abacus, Zoolander, Moonlight, Double Down, Wham-O, CI

I was 10 when my dad turned 40. I have very vivid memories from that day. When he woke up, he discovered that someone put a toilet in the yard with a sign commemorating his birthday. You can see where I got my class. A party at a local establishment followed. Lots of black balloons, gifts wrapped in black and a bunch of Lordy, Lordy, “CI’s Dad” is Forty jokes. They played a lot of Billy Joel; also Steve Winwood’s Higher Love album was still popular and I recall hearing Higher Love and Back in the High Life on loop. I remember thinking that he and all of his friends seemed so old.

Well, today is my 40th birthday. I woke up at 0500 after a fitful sleep (I never sleep great before I Q; don’t want to pull at Mater (that better draw a like from F3 Toledo, Colonel and Mickey). I met a group of friends at my church/kids’ school and we rolled around in a parking lot (separately, for the record), army crawled through icy puddles and did a sh$t ton of burpees and other exercises. I came home and ran my 2.1 (with whom I share a birthday) through a scavenger hunt for gifts of nerf guns, and I’m overseeing target practice in my living room as I type this Backblast.

Now, the day is young. A toilet may still make it’s way to my yard, and I may end up at a Lordy, Lordy CI is Forty party (the Admiral has been full of surprises lately). Also, I may or may not be listening to Uptown Girl, soon to be followed by Higher Love, but my 40th isn’t like my dad’s 40th. At least that’s what I’m fooling myself into thinking. In fact, right now I’m thinking that my friends and I don’t seem old at all. Hell, we were quoting I Got Five On Itat coffeeteria this morning. Do old people do that? No. No they do not. That’s because…

OK, here’s what went down this morning:

Conditions: 25*, 64% humidity. 5-6 mph breeze, which added a bit of windchill. Pavement was dry; grass was partially frozen, but soggy in areas.

Gear (for Zoolander): Woman’s festive snowman turtleneck (large enough), blue shorts over running tights, blue and pink socks, skull face doorag, Newbies, black gloves. Pope, indeed, wore shorts and a tank top to the Bag of Wrenches at the O. SMH.

Real brisk mosey around the school to the parking lot for…

COP

For the Circle of Pain, I planned something a little different. I warned the Pax in the Preblast that they should study the Exicon and know 40 distinct exercises. The plan was for each of them to give me a gift — an exercise — and I would return it to them in an ascending, summation 1-40. So the first exercise would be 1 called by a member of the Pax, then the next would be 2, then 3 of the next and so on. This would result in 820, most in cadence (so almost double it). I don’t recall all the exercises, but here’s a smattering: merkins, LBCs, Freddie Mercuries, Kendra Newmans, Rosalitas, Squats, Plank, Star Jump Squats (Kilo kept yelling, “I’m a star!” At the top), a bunch more. One Pax wasn’t quick enough, so we did 5 Burpees as a result. Little Jerry called merkins — not a distinct exercise since it was already called — so we did 12 Burpees. Once we got to 30 and once of the Pax called Overhead Claps (I let it pass, but that’s not an exercise), I figured it was time to retire the COP; we had other stuff to do, and I really wanted to do more Burpees. So YHC audibled, and we did 10 Burpees to get to 40. So 475 was the number after COP (most IC (so actually more), some OYO, some overhead claps 😑).

The Thang:

Another real brisk mosey to the back of the school. YHC had done a little prep on the field. We lined up behind Busch and counted 1-4. We (well, most of us; at least those that had remedial counting skills) jogged (silent j) to the field. 1s in one corner, 2s in another, 3s in another and 4s in the last. At each corner of the field was a cone covering a beautifully wrapped gift for the Pax. On each gift was an exercise set, followed by a movement, which would take you clockwise around the field. If you caught up to a group, you sprinted to the cone in the center of the field until they were done. Here’s what was on each:

1- 40 Burpees, bearcrawl 1/2/reverse bearcrawl 1/2 to next station.

2- 40 Da Vinci’s IC; lunge walk to next station (all IC exercises were called off by the luck Pax who picked up the gift)

3- 40 Jump Squats; army crawl (through a large icy puddle and soggy area on the field) to the next station

4- 40 merkins IC; broad jump to the next station

Station 1 was very popular; guys just kept hanging around there and Pax got to do a lot of sprints while they waited their turns.

Once we did a circuit, we lined up for 40 yard AYG dashes. We did 4; time was very short so we couldn’t get the 40 I had in my mental weinke (or, “meinke” — can someone submit this to the Lexicon, please?). Pretty sure it looked like THIS.

As time has a way of doing, it got away from me and we finished a few minutes after the standard 0615.

We made our way down to the flags (three of them: the standard Mutt flag, the new Rooster flag (don’t check Mad Cow’s Internet Search History) and my own flag (it’s totally normal to have your own flag. Right Dark Helmet)). We did COR and NOR. Again, I was humbled by the Pax who showed up for my Q (even better is the 8 that showed up for Mayberry at Bag of Wrenches at the O; studs). No announcements, but plenty of intentions for family of many Pax who are ill or need help. I took us out with a few words, and then we headed to coffeeteria with a crew of HIM.

Naked Moleskin:

Today I was again impressed by our Pax, particularly a HIM who shines bright: Kilo. Kilo has been a big part of the growth of F3 Louisville. He’s exuberant, direct, funny and awesome. Pretty sure we shield locked at his second or third post when he asked me during AYGs if I wanted to race (for anyone who wants to know, the answer is always YES). He started our Instagram presence, which has been huge with that lot of 30 years olds and even younger; those whippersnappers. He started the Intentions channel in Slack, which may be the most important one we have going. And this morning he started something (which someone will write about in the future I’m sure) that is truly magnanimous, genuine and right. Again, it’ll come out, I hope, but we see you Kilo. We’ll race you any time, but I’m not sure anyone can keep up with you these days. Keep it up. Keep pushing us forward.

Well, kids, I’m out. To do what, I’m not sure. But maybe, just maybe, I’ll find some type of kitchen appliance in my yard…

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5bcSoHoJh0c