It’s cool how sometimes you are put in the right place, with the right people and at the right time. On September 8th Finkle and I are on a 1st time phone conversation discussing an F3 PAX (T-Rex) who is up in Cinci and was looking for some help moving his parents down here in The Ville. During that phone call, I mention to him this: “I would love to expand our group and starfish out. Knowing how plugged in you are, please put some thought into where might be a good spot to plant a flag. No rush…just when you think of it.” We hang up the phone and in less than 5 minutes, Finkle calls me back and says, “Dude! I got the perfect spot! And I got a lot of guys that are near the area that I know would make it out…TYLER PARK!” I’ll spare you all the intricacies of the rest of the conversation but know this: by the end of the day, we brought in Handbook and Brisket to the conversation and scheduled a coffee that following week to discuss how to get this off the ground. At the conclusion of that meeting we had a plan in place, a date set and brought in Furdays to start working on a flyer so we could start putting the word out.
TYLER PARK: part of The Olmsted Parkway System was designed by the firm of preeminent 19th century landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (same architect that created Central Park in New York) The 26-mile system was built from the early 1890s through the 1930s, and initially owned by a state-level parks commission, which passed control to the city of Louisville in 1942.
The system was intended to form a circuit around what was then the fringes of the city of Louisville. Olmsted designed these parkways as linear parks, literally an extension of the beautiful parks that they connect. Now, they serve as the spokes to the Louisville Loop connecting from one area to another and linking some of the cities most treasured parks (Seneca, Iroquois & Shawnee parks – and of course, Tyler Park).
Quite simply, it is a beautiful space that is perfect for an Area of Operation offering options for almost anything a Q can dream up!
Hype train had been rolling and the day had arrived. I had done some recon on the area so I had an idea what I was going to be doing. One thing I didn’t consider: would it be lit up at zero dark thirty? To my surprise, every area within the park was adequately lit up! No need to use the two headlamps that I brought!
I get to the park ten minutes early to set up and as I head toward the tunnel I come across an unfamiliar face. He speaks to me before I could say hello and says, “are you here for the F3 thing? Awesome!! An FNG!! He said that Tanner Brooks got him out (Mom Suit) and his new friend told him this would be perfect to compliment some of the things he likes to do. New guy would later be named (School Zone)
As 0530 draws near, dudes from all over the region start making their way out of the gloom, through the tunnel and into the lights offered by the park. The Stable crew once more, making travel a non issue, clown car-ing in strong #’s. The proof that this was going to be a good day was further solidified by the welcome hug that I got from Tony Malito, making a rare trip outside of his home AO at Vets.
The PAX: Dot (R), Sump Pump (R), Kitty Litter (R), Toe Jam, Steve-O, Dinghy, Montezuma, School Zone(FNG), Mom Suit, Finkle, Duff, Russdiculous, Masse’, Brisket, Anchovy Pizza, Tin Cup, Section 8 (FNG), Handbook, Maytag, Tony Malito, Lockbox, Billy Goat, InstaDoodle, Viking, BigBird (Q)
0529 and 50 seconds. Mumble chatter was already strong as YHC called out, “10 seconds!!” Brief intro announced, thanked PAX for making it out and disclaimer was given (yes Masse, I did remember to call out the instruction, ‘modify as necessary’). Counted off 25 souls before a warmup mosey around the 1/4 mile loop. We’d stop halfway through for some COP stuff such as: SSH, Burpees, Mountain Climbers, Tempo Merkins, Runners Stretchin. Pick up our Mosey once more to do some explorin. Found some stone steps and climbed those, made it to the top and headed the wrong direction. Crossed the street, circled back and found the descending set of stone stairs that would lead us under the tunnel and back to our startex.
Thang 1: If anyone knows me well, they know that I likes a Tabata. Since this would be the first workout at Tyler Park, I wanted to Christen it the only way that your Bird knows how. 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off for eight rounds. Rounds 1, 3, 5 & 7 were merkins and 2, 4, 6 & 8 were jump squats. Recover with some “atta boys” and asked Finkle to take us to the hill for…
Thang 2: Hill Repeats. This space offers a steep incline to give a Q an array of options. On this day Finkle would give us 3 rounds of hill sprints with 10 Jump Lunges at the top and 10 BBSUs at the bottom. PAX were beasting through it until on the last round Tin Cup yells out, “anyone have a light?! I dropped my key!” Keep in mind that was “key,” singular. Much harder to find a single key than a whole set. Tin Cup feeling badly asked us to carry on and he’d find it eventually. C’mon man! Leave no man where you found him. Especially when he has lost the ability to find himself home. PAX stopped what we were doing (except Sump Pump who got a crew to do IC exercises), Steve-O grabbed a light from his car, we scoured the ground and in under 5 minutes, found the key so that we could carry on, run back through the tunnel, back to the startex and prepare for…
The Main Thang: This would be a rinse and repeat-o of the following: 20 Merkins at the bottom of the stone staircase. Run up the stairs and 10 Jump Lunges. Run down the stone staircase on the other side of the street and stop in the tunnel for some motivational tunes and 5 burpees. PAX would get in about 4 rounds before we gathered each other once more to the startex for…
The Final Thang: Listened to the song Run (I’m a Natural Disaster) by Gnarls Barkley. We would SSH for the duration of the song and would drop for a Burpee every time we heard “Run.” Finkle said he wants this to be a site known for doing tough things and time was left to do a little high intensity cherry on top. At the conclusion YHC asked for a 10 count to which Viking chimed in, “you don’t do a 10 count before MARY!” Right you are my man! So we would jump in with 4 minutes to spare with some quick IC MARY work finished off with a 30 second plank to squeeze out the last little bit of mumble chatter.
Time was called. COR, NOR & COT. We named our two new guys, made some announcements and lifted up our intentions before closing it out with an Our Father.
Honorable mention goes out to Handbook. He couldn’t do the workout due to a procedure he had done. But he did show up to snap photos, document the day and provide us with coffeeteria at the end. #HIM
Honored to be called to lead this inaugural workout at our newest location. It goes to show you that great things can be accomplished not by one man alone but with the strength of each other as a group. Looking forward to seeing what becomes of this bada$$ AO!
Until next time…
BigBird
F3 Louisville 