Begin the Begin — Pre-Launch #1

Aye, six Pioneers posted for the first pre-launch workout of F3/Richmond at Pouncey Tract Park in Short Pump. The #EmotionalPrius arrived early from the West End, carrying OBT and Nuke, who planted the Shovel Flag and did some stretching.

The Thang:

Jog around parking lot.

Warmup COP: Side Straddle Hops (SSH) x 20, American Pushups (Merkins) x 12, Flutter Kicks x 16, Low Slow Squats x 10.

Run to backside of Short Pump Middle School, planking along the way to keep the pax together.

Middle School Bus Lot — Ark Loader: Lunge Walk; Bear Crawl; Crab Walk; Burpee Broad Jump.

Run to tennis courts for Burpee Suicides: Run to first sideline, 1 burpee, back to start; to second sideline, 2 burpees, back to start; to third sideline, 3 burpees, back to start. Did this sequence x 2.

Run back along middle school arcade, mixing in lunge walks and bear crawls.

Run to Pouncey Tract Park football field — COP for Push-o-rama: Merkins x 10; Larry Craig (wide arms) x 10; Diamonds x 6; Stagger Right/Left x 5 each side; Chuck Norris (fingertips) x 4.

Run to Pouncey Tract Park baseball outfield for bear crawl/crab walk, then COP — Six Minutes of Mary: Hello Dolly, Little Baby Crunches, High Slow Flutters, Heels to Heaven, Bicycles, 6-Inch Hold, Superman.

Return to parking lot for COT.

Spreadsheets from the Gloom:

_ This was a relatively-low intensity start, with frequent breaks for explanations and bits of F3 lore/BS, but we hit some key basics and mixed in a decent amount of movement. The park itself is pretty small, but once you add in everything over at the middle school, it’s a pretty diverse AO (Area of Operations).

_ Everyone caught on quickly to the cadence counting, which was awesome.

_ Less impressive was the way you all left me out to dry on the Superman song — and mine is a singing voice that should never be heard solo. Since Blue and his team WILL DEFINITELY BE DOING THIS ON SATURDAY, (right, Blue?) you have a few days to practice. Here’s a link to not only the song itself, but the entire opening credits sequence from “The Greatest American Hero,” including some awesome early 80s green-screen special effects. Watch it, memorize the words, marvel at William Katt’s ManPerm and generally revel in the Reagan-era awesomeness.

_ As we saw, Nuke is recovering from a bad skiing accident last winter (I’m contemplating a name change to Bleeder) and his knee is still pretty balky, so he was a good illustration of the “you against you” and “leave no man behind” principles that we build into the workouts. Triple claps (T-claps) to  him for getting out there and getting after it.

_ If you couldn’t make it this morning, please try to join us tomorrow or Thursday. We’re off to a great start and this thing is going to explode in Richmond. After I dropped Jack off at his place, I hit the Starbucks in Carytown for a cup and put a Flying Emotional Headlock on the #Pay4Play #NavySealWorkout guys who were drinking coffee outside. One of them said, “I’ve heard of F3 — one of the Fs is ‘Free,’ right?” Bingo!

OBT