DATE: 12/24/2018

WHERE: The Clinic

THE PAX: Drumstick, Mandles, Spock, Uncorked, Spanx, Jinx (FNG), Godiva (FNG), Homer (RESPECT), Sgt. Slaughter, Jungle Love (FNG), Gut Check, Westside, Nomad, Goat Milk, Hooch, Chops, Pogue (FNG), Tina (FNG), Papa John, Absentee, Wiggum, Swisher, Stopwatch (RESPECT), Spaceballs, Grylls, Trill, Smurfette, Mouth 2 Mouth, Lexi, Tiny Tat

Total # of PAX: 30

Number of FNGs: 5

QIC: Tiny Tat

INTRO:

Merry Christmas men of F3!!

I was originally on the Q sheet for the Vineyard for the 24th, but after the convergence announcement I was looking forward to just showing up!   But…Gut Check reached out last week asking if I wanted the convergence Q…it’s hard to turn down a direct ask, so I took it.   Gut Check encouraged me to make it “christmasy” – challenge accepted!!  

I started out at F3 back at the Clinic launch, but I’ve never actually Q’d there before, so I was excited about this.  I had no idea how many guys to expect, I thought it might be light with holidays and travel.  I put a bit more planning into this than usual, the goal was for it to be tough but fun…or in Gut Check’s words…”christmasy”

Pulled into the parking lot about 5:20, already a solid 10 PAX.   That quickly grew and by 5:30 we had 30!!  With Swisher sporting the big christmas light necklace – let’s move!

WARM-O-RAMA:

Mosey’d up the hill on the outside of the amphitheater, circled once around the large Christmas tree, then back down to the field area and circled up.  After the disclaimer for the FNGs, warmed up with SSH, windmills, weed pickers.  Made it quick because we needed to get started!!

THE THANG:

Mosey’d over to the sidewalk on one side of the amphitheater.  The Reindeer games would consist of making our way through the list of Santa’s reindeer, with an exercise routine for each one.   The wildcard throughout the workout was this:  any PAX yells Blitzen!  and everyone drop where they are for 10 burpees.  Blitzen comes from the Dutch word for lightning, which strikes unexpectedly and quickly.  Requirement is to hit 101 burpees at a minimum by the end of the workout.

• Dasher – partner up, one partner does squats, other dashes – suicides across the field with 3 turnaround points.  Switch it up.  Repeat a second time.  Mandles wiped out hard making a hard plant and turn on the first suicide – soaked and muddy from the get-go!
• Dancer – partner up for some bad dance moves.   one partner does air presses, other karaokes the full length of the field.  Switch it up.  Repeat a second time.
• Prancer – partner up for some prancing.  one partner does star jumps, other does high skips the full length of the field.  Switch it up.  Just once through.
• Vixen – according to the dictionary, vixen means a “quarrelsome woman.”  So let’s do some mary exercises named after women!   15 J-Los in cadence, followed by 15 Rosalitas in cadence (both using 4 count).
• Comet – run to make a full orbit around the amphitheater – up the outside, along top, down the other side, behind the stage, and back to the sidewalk.
• Cupid – cupid aims for the heart, the heart is in our chest, so….Merkins!   Get to 100 merkins on your own, any way you want.
• Donnor – Donnor comes from the Dutch word for Thunder, so time for some Captain Thor (god of thunder).   YHC has never done this exercise before, and definitely never counted it in cadence.  It was supposed to be a 1:4 ratio of Big Bois and American Hammers.  Well… complete fail.  Realized it was a hopeless cluster a few reps in, and YHC audibled for 25 Big Bois on your own instead.
• Blitzen – are we at 101 burpees yet?  No, we’ve made it to 90!  So knock out 11 more!

There we go…Santa’s reindeer.  But…we can never forget Rudolph!    So last routine – partner up and wheelbarrow from one sidewalk to the other.  Switch it up, turn around, and wheelbarrow back.  Keep your face of the ground or you might end up with a red nose!  The field was nasty wet and sloppy – great way to finish out.

Mosey’d to the flag.  But…about 90 seconds left.  So thought I’d help out those doing the burpee challenge – AMRAP burpees until YHC calls time!   

That’s it – great work gentleman!

CIRCLE OF TRUST:

Wow…30 PAX in total!   Awesome numbers.   YHC’s phone died about 6 PAX into Namearama, borrowed Hooch’s phone that he had strategically positioned under his coffee pot so it wouldn’t freeze up!   5 FNGs to name – we ended up with:

• Jinx – wearing white/grey camo tights under his shorts.  Spanx pointed out how he got his name.  Jinx it is!
• Godiva –  walk on football player at Ga State.  But…he said the ladies call him “sexy chocolate”.   I think he was joking??  Honestly not sure he might have been serious.
• Jungle Love – so the guy’s actual name is Steve Miller.   Hooch threw out “Jungle Love” – song by Steve Miller Band.  Boom!
• Pogue – Young relative of Nomad’s in town, serves in the infantry.  Nomad came up with this one –  derogatory military slang for staff that don’t see action.   Ouch!
• Tina – Also in town visiting Nomad.  Hails from Montana.  Someone made the association of Montana to Napoleon Dynamite (which is actually in Idaho…oh well).  Napoleaon’s llama’s name is Tina.  As in “Tina, come eat some ham!!!”

Announcement for the Convergence on New Year’s Day at the Lions’ Dens – should be a good one!

YHC encouraged everyone to not take for granted the miracle of Christmas, that God became man.  That the Son of God entered our world and took on flesh – for us!  YHC shared a passage from his advent devotion this morning – 1 John 3:8 – “The Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil.”   Christ came to destroy sin, to destroy it’s power in our lives.  To free us from guilt and shame and empower us for a life of freedom.  Be intentional today and tomorrow to reflect on that miracle of love.  Pursue Christ!   

YHC closed us out in prayer.

Naked-Man Moleskin:

Easily the biggest group of men I’ve had the privilege to Q – enjoyed it fellas!  Reminded me of some of the early days at the Clinic where we had 25+ regularly.  Hoping this is a good sign of things to come in the new year, as we shift the Vineyard to not conflict with the Clinic beatdown days.  Great to see some guys I haven’t seen in a while – Spanx, Mouth2Mouth, Stopwatch, Smurfette.   Great for me to meet some guys for the first time – Swisher, Grylls, Papa John.   Thanks men for coming out and giving the Southside a new spark!

The energy out there was awesome this morning, hope you guys had a blast and these FNGs experienced something worthwhile they will come back to!

Merry Christmas F3 men – enjoy!