CONDITIONS
Clear skies, lower 50’s, the evening dew leaving the grasses of Ballentine park glistening, much like the 6 shiny PAX who joined YHC for what was to be an epic beatdown that was termed by all who attended as “fun” and maybe even a little well…”inspiring”.
Now said dew combined with low-ish permeability silty loam soils common to the area (according to soil engineering expert Bird Strike) caused the fields of Ballentine to be sopping wet…moist even.
Exactly, Alexis from Schitt’s Creek, so YHC decided we’d stay away from that. I mean what kind of animal would have all the PAX rolling around in the wet grass….same kind that would have them doing a bunch of burpees in the wet grass….cough cough, Speedo, cough cough.
Disclaimer given rendering Ballentine Park and all the other Ballentines, Targaryens, and Harfoots harmless from liability, it was time to get thoroughly warmed up. Following Moose’s lead (who was otherwise predisposed as a caddy for Buddy Love in a miniature golf tourney today to win a series of giant checks that would thereby save his saintly grandmother from eviction) YHC carefully planned every detail of his Q, leaving nothing to chance. He even produced a large weinke from his pocket.
Not now film star Rachel McAdams, not now…..but maybe after the warm up. #would
WARM UP
Some old-timey Depot standards here to lubricate your joints and get that ole’ ticker a hummin’.
- Little Baby (or Obese Baby, your choice) Arm Circles x 10 IC then reverse
- Overhead Arm Claps x 10 IC
- Through the Tunnel x 10 IC
- Windmills x 10 IC
- Imperial Walkers x 10 IC
- Side-Straddle Hops x 10 IC
- And in honor of Speedo’s Tuesday pattern recognition workout – 5 Burpees OYO
Run the big lap, grab blocks, and head to the small track.
THANG 1
YHC wanted to keep our heart rates elevated and crank the intensity up a little. The plan was rounds of High Intensity Interval Training with a series of four 11s quickly swapped so as to do just that. After a time check halfway through; however, we landed on 3 of these to save time for other stuff.
- Elevens – Single Count IC – Merkins/Big Boys (feet in the blocks, full extension, rapidly switch between the two)
- Run lap
- Elevens – Single Count IC – Curls/Overheads (rapidly switch between the two)
- 30 second wellness check
- Elevens – Single Count IC – Chest Presses/Iron Crosses (rapidly switch between the two)
- 50 Calf Raises w/Block OYO
Blocks away and head to the playground.
THANG 2
YHC brought out a real #crowdpleaser for thang 2, the Wonderwall. Contest is simple….wall sit for the duration (~4:30) of the #1 top charting and probably #1 most overplayed song in the world (it was banned in London subways) from the #1 band in the world (circa 1995), of course, Wonderwall by Oasis.
Bonus points for singing along and extra bonus points for singing along and modifying the lyrics so they are about sexual harassment and/or global warfare (Lumbergh and Lumbee, respectively).
If/when you are smoked (which 5/7 of us were), max out on pull ups and then plank. If smoked again, (which probably 3/7 of us were), more pull ups and more planking, rinse and repeat.
TClaps to Bird Strike and Flashdance for completing the challenge! They join (I believe) Arrears and YHC as the only PAX to complete the whole 4.5 mins. Phenomenal!
THANG 3
It just so happens that roughly 2 years ago, YHC and some intrepid adventurers from F3 Lake Murray took it upon themselves to climb to the highest point in South Carolina, the ~3,600 foot tall Sassafras Mountain. It was a challenging journey, a nearly 20 mile out and back and up and down round trip from Table Rock with some camping and great 2nd F along the way. In honor of that trip, we did a little recreation like this:
Cones (with some lighted to light the way and were blinding) were placed around the track, dividing it up into quarters to execute the following:
- 36 Mountain Climbers
- Run to Cone 1 and back to start (1/4 lap x 2)
- 36 Mountain Climbers
- Run to Cone 2 and back to start (1/2 lap x 2)
- 36 Mountain Climbers
- Run to Cone 3 and back to start (3/4 lap x 2)
- 36 Mountain Climbers
- Run a full lap
Time up, EOW, COT, BOM, Devo
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Hoops continue on Saturdays, 0600 at Union UMC. Follow @F3BlueChips for details
PRAYER REQUESTS
Continued prayers for Blart and Milkman’s M’s for effective treatments and speedy recoveries and for Blart and Milkman as they continue to be the rocks their families need.
We have a lot of PAX who are banged up or recovering from injuries and illnesses or on the front end of various diagnoses, prayers for healing and speedy recoveries to those guys as well to get them back out in the gloom where we need them.
Prayers for those going through major life changes, separations, empty nesting, career changes, etc. for peace, understanding, and optimism in the face of change.
Unspoken.
MOLESKIN/DEVO
Today was a good day out in the gloom. We had a small but magnificent group of 7 out to share in some heavy breathing, with a few laughs along the way. To quote the notable Frenchman Blah-kay Dubois – “It’s a struggle to get here some mornings, but I never regret coming when I’m done”. This of course best read in his native French accent and also….
Today’s devo was at least tangentially related to Laettner’s now famous quote (famous because I scrawl it on the wall in each new men’s bathroom I visit, but that’s a topic for a different backblast, the one I send to my therapist). We briefly discussed The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. A great book and a quick read, which I easily can commend to you all. There’s lots of gold to mine in the book, which is about a lowly Spanish shepherd who overcomes his fears and many obstacles (with some help from some folks along the way) to take part in an adventure that changes his life and perspective. What we chatted about today was that we can easily get stuck in a rut, get on autopilot, and “fail to recognize the good things that happen in our lives” making us miss the “marvels of the world”, which Coelho postulates are everywhere around us in the mundane, waiting to be seen, and importantly one of the “keys to happiness” (perhaps unlike this screen you are currently reading this on). One of the big points of the book to me was that we sometimes need to slow down, take a breath, and focus on the world around us and we may see some amazing things as “the universe conspires to help us” in our own journeys.
So here’s to getting out of those ruts, getting out there and exploring, facing difficulties, and allowing the others in our lives to help us along the way.
TL:DR
Having an Adventure>Autopilot>Wet Grass+Burpees>Soils Engineering