The pax showed up in force to do work under favorable weather conditions (clear, low-70s, mild humidity). Perhaps it was the weather that brought them out, or the desire to support a brother Q-ing on a special day. Probably it was the filthy lie that someone was bringing cake, despite a very clear tweet to the contrary the night prior.
The Q du jour was brought to the pax in celebration of one year of active participation with F3 by YHC. It attempted to incorporate some of the best (worst?) workout elements experienced by YHC in the past 12 months into a brief 45 minutes. After the disclaimer, the pax moseyed to the top parking lot for warmups. Much moseying was done in this workout, in part because YHC’s first workout was a run group from Starbucks on Harbison, and YHC originally joined F3 looking for not much more than accountability in meeting his run goals. But, oh, the best laid plans of mice and men…
The Warm Up – Imperial Walkers IC x 20, Through the Tunnels IC x 12, Slow Squats IC x 15, LBAC IC x 10 each direction, Windmills IC x 20.
Number of Reps was chosen by a strict system of whatever YHC felt like doing at the time.
The Thang – The pax lined up in the upper parking lot for 100 yards (give or take) of lunges and then gathered at the top of the Perfectly Good Hill for more fun. Perfectly Good Hill was a very memorable element in YHC’s very first Boot Camp workout, and has been faithfully incorporated in each Q YHC has led.
The pax proceeded to crab crawl down the hill and do 5 burpees at the bottom, bear crawl up and do 4 burpees, down – 3, up – 2, you get the picture. Pax finished at the bottom of the hill and assumed plank position for the 6. After a brief recovery and some calf raises (just nowhere convenient to do those in the top parking lot), the pax moseyed back through the lower parking lot to the baseball field for their anniversary gifts.
YHC subscribes to the Hobbit philosophy that you give out presents on your special occasions rather than receive them (at least where workouts are concerned). First anniversary gifts are traditionally paper, but that doesn’t make much of a workout, and scissors just aren’t safe to run with, so rock seemed like the best bet. The pax unwrapped two gorgeous cinder blocks and split into two groups. Those on the IR rucked their block around the baseline, stopping at each base for a ten merkin set. Those not yet on the IR lined up with the first pax in line running the block around the perimeter of the field, while the rest of the line did ten merkins, and then sprinted to catch the lead pax. Once caught, number two in line took the block and continued around the perimeter while the rest of the line dropped for ten more merkins, then sprinted to catch up. Rinse and repeat until everyone in line had a turn with the block (three laps around the perimeter of the field). YHC acknowledges this exercise was stolen direct from the Roost’s recent convergence. While YHC generally dislikes running with heavy weight for safety reasons, there is no denying that work has been done after this element is complete.
The pax recovered briefly with a wall-sit, then moseyed over to the rockpile for a little additional gun polish.
Chest press oyo x 20, curls IC x 20, tricep extensions oyo x 15, rows oyo x 20.
The pax moseyed to the pull up bar (just for YHC to mess with them psychologically) for some Mary, Dealer’s Choice. YHC has always enjoyed dealer’s choice for 6MOM. As a new pax it gives one a very small taste of Qing responsibility without any real effort. As the Q, it allows one to mentally check out (more or less) for the last few minutes of the workout. It’s a win-win really.
American Hammers, Freddie Mercuries, LBCs, Ray Charles, Flutter Kicks, and Big Boys closed out the workout before the pax moseyed back to the shovel flag for CoT.
The Devo? – Not so much a devotional per se, but YHC took the opportunity at the close to share a little of his experience joining F3. (dropping the third person shtick): I showed up to a random Wednesday run group one year ago because I’d set a goal for myself that I realized I couldn’t accomplish solo. I didn’t have an EH, but I knew several people that had been involved with F3, I liked what I heard, and I needed something. 2016 had been a bad year. My dad was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. I did not handle it well. In 2017 I decided I needed an outlet for … everything. And a goal. I decided in February I would train up and run a marathon by the end of the year. I got through several months of training solo, but as the miles got longer and the days got warmer, operating on solo willpower became harder and accountability became essential. So I took a chance and showed up on June 7, 2017, and the pax that were there that day embodied the tenet “Leave no man behind but leave no man where you found him.” That day I was the slowest out there by far (somedays I still am, but I digress). But I didn’t run alone that day. And when we got back to the circle of trust I had set a PR for myself for that distance. There have been a lot of miles and PRs since then, mostly due to the presence and accountability of my fellow pax. I finished my marathon in November (finishing was the goal. No land speed records were endangered in the attempt). And I’m still going. Still growing. Better than I was yesterday. I try to remember to wait for the 6 every workout. I am better than I was because someone else waited on me.
Announcements: Macho Man finishes his sophomore year of high school today. Handball at Depot every Saturday for those that like to live dangerously (cough cough Stagecoach cough cough). Congratulations to Teacher’s Pet for being named principal at Gilbert High!
Prayer Request: Schools letting out – pray kids will be safe over the summer. Lou Pontekis (sp?) – health issues. Fiji’s wife, Aim High’s wife – health issues.