Preamble
A Dancing Idiot is a HIM who initiates a Movement by Influencing a First Follower.
YHC had been posting as a Dancing Idiot for some time and keeping up the discipline was always a challenge. This is why F3 is so important. I never stopped running and posting regularly but I have to admit the degree to which I had been pushing myself fell dramatically. My standard had been compromised by solitude.
On 11/8/2019 Gusher from F3 Chattanooga joined me in the gloom of what would eventually be dubbed the Lightning Rod.
It had been a good while since YHC posted with other PAX so there might have been an extra dose of Qdrenaline behind everything.
After completing a 4 mile pre-run YHC strolled up to find Gusher on a dark, cold, and wet morning. Perfectly gloom.
We started things off at the parking lot by the lower fields
Warm Up (Circle of Pain)
SSH x 20
High Knees x 20
SSH x 20
Ass Kickers x 20
SSH x 20
Squat x 20
Mosey around the lower soccer field
Infinite Plank
Plank x 20
Merkin x 12
Plank x 15
Mountain Climber x 12
Plank x 10
Shoulder Taps x 12
Shoulder Blaster
Cherry Pickers x 20
Little Arm Circles x 12 (Fwd / Bwd)
Cherry Pickers x 15
Overhead Press x 12
Cherry Pickers x 10
Seal Clap x 12
Mosey around the lower soccer field
The Thang
4 x 3 x 10
- Burpees and Squats on the Hill
- 3 sets of 10
- Burpees at the top and Squats on the bottom
- Pullups and Merkins on the playground
- 3 sets of 10
- Dips and Box Jumps on the Corner
- little bit longer mosey around the front corner of the High School
- 3 set of 10
- Lunges and Broad Jumps
- Head back to the tennis court
- 3 sets of 10
6MOM
LBC, Flutter Kicks, and Box Cutters
Moleskin
I have to thank Gusher for being willing endure a beat down while he’s traveling to the PNW. This marks the first OTB post of two PAX in F3 Portland. It afforded YHC the energy to keep going.
Personally, I never thought I would be doing this again. Since launching Chattanooga in 11/16/2016 (along with Gus) and the long road to building the area into what is now an exploding and securely established region (TCLAPS to Prosciutto, Ohms, Mr. Clean, The Count, Fissure, and many others) I never ever thought I would do it again.
It requires a higher level of commitment and energy and I didn’t believe I had it in me to do it again. And in the time since leaving Chattanooga and moving to Portland our family had experienced what felt like a non-stop barrage of personal challenges. Acting as an in-home caretaker for a parent with Dementia, two miscarriages, relocating for the 5th time in 5 years, starting another new job, the loss of a parent, and then COVID on top of everything else. I don’t say all this to garner sympathy or as an excuse but maybe to provide hope to any brothers who might be in the midst of darkness and looking for hope. F3 isn’t THE answer but damnit it helps get you through the day and to the next day.
In the months leading up to our soft launch of F3 Portland I connected with Gobbler and participated in a few of the Western Regions calls — just listening to the leaders from other regions working their way through the challenges from just attracting new pax to dealing with multiple problematic AOs was a reminder of the fruit of that labor. It planted the seed.
You see I had been operating in a vacuum. Trying to feed my own spark void of oxygen. It just wasn’t working. I needed camaraderie and brotherhood, that’s what gives us motivation and energy to persist.
In time I was connected with Beach Bum. This was the only thing I ever asked for or needed to get things started. I just wanted connection to 1 other pax that had already drank to koolaid.
Since then (mid-July 2020) we unfortunately lost Beach Bum to relocation but have built a solid foundation with the addition of Walkman, Danish, and Lumbergh. And at the writing of this post we are 1 week away from launching our second AO and first Saturday workout. It’s worth noting here that 3 months ago, when Beach Bum and I posted for the first time at the Lightning Rod there were 0 workouts in the state of Oregon. Z-E-R-O. Nil. Nada. And now there are plants in Bend, Eugene, Hood River, and Portland. Four Cities. I can see that 2020 has been a great year for the growth of F3 into the Beaver State, but I’m excited to see where we take this thing into the future.
2021 is going to be BIG.
_Angus Out
F3 Portland 