Little Italy F3Alamo – The Post that Got YHC on Slack

Little Italy F3Alamo – The Post that Got YHC on Slack

QIC: Chernobyl

Date: 10.13.2025

PAX: Cherbobyl, Breaststroke, Mahler, Scuba Steve, Yosemite, Smalls, Drumstick, Remax, Mulch, Khakis (AKA Car Keys FKA Jairus), YHC

YHC was scheduled to travel to San Antonio, TX this past week. Not being one to travel frequently to a locale with a shovel flag at my destination, the prospect of a DR post was enticing. This however, was a formidable feat given YHC’s lack of relations with technology. Much to my consternation, I find a way to get on slack. Our esteemed nantan, Frostbite dropped the invite and the deets on how to reach out via the nation’s downrange channel. I read my copy of “Technology for Dummies”, rosin up my fingers and type out a petition to a few of the F3Alamo faithful. I am not disappointed and quickly have several options to choose from.

In the midst of my quest to locate the aforementioned shovel flag, YHC is in active negotiations with a few fellow colleagues in attempts to EH the lot of them to “work out with a group of burly strangers in a dark parking lot hundreds of miles from home”. This was an easy sell, let me tell you. Nonetheless, both arms of the effort are successful. More on that later.

Monday arrives and YHC had a bit of a commute to the AO. I had not corresponded directly with any PAX at this specific AO, so felt the slight pressure in my head as I gambled a potential sadclown beatdown with just myself and my brazen coworker, Jairus. We shoot off onto the Texas plains in our aptly colored desert brown Nissan Rogue. We pull in with nary a wrong turn from YHC, which is an achievement given the subtle exit lanes that are abundant in the lone star state. We arrive to a notably not empty parking lot and our fears are subsided…for the moment. 5 min later we are surrounded by a group of HIM that would have made the IronPAX leaderboard quake. Everything, including F3 PAX is bigger in Texas.

Welcome is extended and pleasantries are exchanged. Time to work.

WRM

Motivators – 5x (Pretty sure Starfish showed us this once, but it was unfamiliar at the time)

Windmills (Note: NOT Abe Vigoda. I repeat, not Abe Vigoda. This was lightning speed. No time to waste.)

Peter Parker Kicks (Peter Parker with a leg kick out behind and above your head. Nice.)

Some others I am forgetting.

Mosey to the courtyard fountain.

THANG

At this point, Chernobyl said a word that I will never forget and may live on in nightmares for years to come. “We’re doing a RANCID”. Where this name came from, I can only guess but the feelings in my body during were relevant.

Three flights of stairs ~60 total steps

1X Squat

Sprint to top

1X Squat

Sprint to bottom

1X Squat

Sprint to top minus 1 step

1X Squat

Sprint to the bottom

1X Squat

Repeato descending the stair by subtracting one step from the top each iteration until complete.

Pickup the 6.

Mosey up the stairs and through the village along the trolly tracks.

15X Merkins – 3 count down, 1 count up

Mosey along the tracks toward gazebo.

5X Burpees

Mosey to gazebo.

Plank Shuffle. PAX circled the round domed gazebo in the plank position. On the Q’s call, everyone shuffled around the gazebo back to their starting position in the called direction.

1 lap CW

1 lap CCW

Mosey back to start.

MARY

High Dolly (F3Alamo had a different name, but can’t remember)

Freddie Merks

2min (!!) 6IN hold. Brutal.

TIME

COT

Nameorama FNG

Jairus is a colleague of YHC and a friend. He hails from Maine originally and a long time resident in West Virginia before his current home in the Roanoke, VA area. He’s an exceptional rock climber, licensed professional engineer, worked on a massive telescope in WV, and had an embarrassing story about being pranked to believe he had wet the bed as a kid. The names tossed out were Bed Wetter, Hubbell, and Cherry Picker. Khakis (Car Keys with a Maine accent) was the favorite and stuck. Welcome! We need to get a few folks north of Roanoke to help this man plant a shovel flag up there.

Chernobyl encouraged the PAX to consider folks feeling isolated and disconnected in the world and to reach out to them.

Breaststroke took us out praying for the mentioned requests.

NMM

What a positive experience. This really was a huge highlight of the trip for YHC. The guys in F3Alamo were first class and made us feel extremely welcomed and pushed hard.

Speaking of push. These dudes were studs and got the most out of YHC. Ware you PAX of Winston Salem for future Tonka Qs when a staircase is around. You will hate me then and thank me later.

Smalls and Breaststroke were paired up with YHC and Khakis for the rancid and brought the heat. There was no quit and they pushed us to the finish.

Breastroke was clutch with dropping one of his gloves on the stair as a placeholder so the PAX in his group could keep track as we descend. However, in the agony YHC had no love for the accountability and still swears it sat on the top 3 steps several extra rounds without moving.

Smalls called me “Taco” until namorama, which is a welcome variation. He was also the leader on the stair and kept the group pushing with encouragement and calling on people by name to keep pushing. He said at one point “Taco, you must like squats.” I was seconds from passing out at this point, so not sure if it was to snatch me from the jaws of defeat or a compliment, but either way it got me through.

Mulch was quick to welcome YHC and tell me about the Texas train commission revoking the trolly at the AO due to a permit dispute. It’s a shame because a trolly car would have made for a dope pain station.

Scuba Steve is running some kind of marathon and was EHing the whole COT to join. Even offered a few guys to tag in for him and run a leg with his ribbon. Teamwork makes the dreamwork.

Remax appeared to the be the siteQ and educated YHC on Motivators and was very curious about what names the DashPAX had for our exercises. We’ll need to compare some notes.

Chernobyl called for the rancid and YHC quickly (and often throughout the beatdown) asked to demonstrate. He did not demonstrate the rancid (how could he), but he did say it could be the exercise called or what’s happening in his stomach after his dietary choices the night before. Both sounded despicable, but I’ll take what I got and not ask for more.

Drumstick and Mahler have awesome names and from my vantage point were the silent assassins of the crew.

Yosemite is planning and executing a mission trip to Hawaii to rebuild houses from the wildfires and clearly a HIM.

Khakis was a beast and kept up with the leaders from the jump. He’s a stud and will be leading a new region up in VA for sure in no time. Put me on the Q calendar for his rock climbing AO! On second thought, maybe don’t, but I’d love to watch.

Note to the DashPAX: Those of you that travel for pleasure or Mammon, I can’t encourage you to post downrange enough. It was such a cool experience and uplifted and encouraged me more than I could have anticipated. I was nervous about it. For one, it takes some intention to fit it into a work travel schedule. Two, it’s hard to walk up to a circle unknown (somewhat like being an FNG again) and it would be easy to talk oneself out of it. Three, what if the culture is different from my home region? What if I won’t like it?

I can say for me, I will always make an attempt to do this wherever I travel and the option is available. One, the planning and logistics are worth it. Two, it puts you out of your comfort zone and forces you to take a risk and get vulnerable, which will always cause growth and make you stronger. Three, the F3 culture is everywhere and you realize you have friends around the corner just about wherever you are. That’s amazing. Just like us, there are men all over F3Nation pushing each other to be better men, husbands, fathers, friends, leaders, etc. I truly felt right at home far from home. That is special and a new reason that I love F3.  It made me feel closer to and even more grateful for you all as well. I hope each of you will get the chance to do that or at least welcome any downrange PAX with the same love and comradery. F3 is certainly more than a workout.

SYITG soon,

Tonka