There is no way the next card could be another…

Preamble:

YHC had spent the last few days soaking up the spoils of the first business trip in 2 + years.  Even with a jog around monument row and a run in with a female St. Louis crossfit trainer with biceps the size of Jocko’s, I was still feeling the de-celeration train gliding comfortably down the track.  Check the weather and, hmmm…100% chance of pouring rain and possible thunderstorms, so there was no place to turn except for…

Warm-O-Rama:

Light rain at the onset…Mosey around the parking lot for Warm-up – and just like that, rain starting to pelt the PAX so had to make this quick:

SSH

Windmills

Imperial Walkers

The Thang:

Mosey to the Pavilion and clear the picnic tables for an F3 classic!  The Deck of DEATH!!!  I mean, what is the point of having a huge Pavilion if you aren’t going to use it???

Many PAX have experimented with varying options for the DoD, most notably @Nacho Libre creating the “all face cards” deck, but that required a lot of thought and buying several decks of cards, so YHC had to stick with something a little more basic:  Hip hop playlist to stick with the DC vibe and here she went:

Spades:  Face cards = Mercans; Number cards = Wide Mercans

Clubs:  Face Cards = Squats; Number cards = Copperhead Squats

Diamonds:  Face Cards =Reverse LBC’s; Number cards = Big Boi’s

Hearts:  Face Cards = Burpees; Number Cards = Wolverines

Jokers = PAX Choice

Bonus:  For 2’s and 3’s in any suit, + 10 of the associated exercise

This deck was evil in many ways, most notably a run of about 10 card flips in a row that left the PAX doing mercans, wide mercans, burpees, and Wolverines (13, 12, and 9 Wolverines consecutively was a personal favorite).

Barely past the halfway point in the deck, time was almost up and our solid 1st F Q, Whiz, reminded us of the fact that our flag had fallen in the morning rain and thus we owed ten burpees.  PAX didn’t complain (OK, I can only stretch this thing so far…)  PAX only complained slightly, but then pushed each other through that last round of burpees right up to the closing bell!  Proud to be part of this group!!!

COT:

Exciting events are starting to stack up for F3 Cumming.  Just to name a few:

• Convergence in early May
• Colorado hiking trips in early May (led by Dumpster), and July (led by Baskins)
• Bridge Run Relay – September 11th weekend

for the BRR, we currently have ~7 HC’s from F3 Cumming and our goal is to field a team of 12.  It will be a huge win for our region to put an entire team in for this event, so if you’re on the fence like I was, just take the leap of faith and jump in.  Those who have boldly gone before us will all agree that it is an incredible experience that you won’t forget.  Ideas for the F3 Cumming shirt design have already started to spew! (sorry, couldn’t resist…:)

Naked-Man Moleskin:

Learning experience in DC last week with a DR Post that I wanted to share:

Traveling for a work conference last week, YHC found a BD that was about a 10-12 min jog from my hotel, so I decided I would give it a go.  The only problem is that I wasn’t able to locate the PAX when I got there.  I spent a few minutes looking around an area that looked like where I thought they should be, but couldn’t see or hear anyone?  After a few minutes, feeling pretty uneasy with the surroundings, I ended up aborting the mission and heading back.  Instead of the great feeling I had joining a BD as a DR PAX in Charlotte just a couple of weeks earlier, I was now running back through SE DC feeling both heavy and empty at the same time?

I offer this story only to share a bit of advice…if you are traveling down range, take a few minutes to identify and reach out to the AO you are planning to visit and confirm exactly where you need to go.  It takes minimal effort through Twitter, the Nation, Slack, etc. to find the group and typically you only have to throw out a couple of messages before you find a solid contact who is more than willing to help you.  Then, in what would normally be a strange place, you now have a local F3 brother who is watching your back before your alarm even goes off!

The HIM sets himself up for success and builds a network of support to further his acceleration.  I lesson I won’t forget next time around.