Cool Runnings (1993) courtesy Walt Disney Pictures
Doing the Runners
YHC woke up to a internet-connected thermostat showing an outdoor temperature of 52 degrees. Sweet! Shorts and a tee shirt is all that is needed. Thank God I brought the merino pullover on a whim. Standing in the parking lot at 0457 with Funky Town, Nordberg, Amen and Madden24, I realized my summer outfit was going to require an upgrade and donned the long sleeves for a breezy, 2-mile standard. I tried to draft behind FunkyTown, but his shirt size proved too tiny to block any measurable wind from my wider girth.
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Following a “Let’s Go to Bob Evans…Psych” standard, we got things going at 0530 with some SSH (20 IC), followed by some Mountain Climbers (20 IC), followed by some more SSH (20 IC). That seemed sufficient for a warm up so off we went to grab a block for the main event.
Losing Your Head
The plan for the morning was some lifting, some running and some stupidity, not necessarily in that order. I did try to emphasize good form and went with a slower-than-normal cadence to encourage greater muscle burn. Not sure how it worked for all, but it certainly worked for me. Here’s a general idea of the order of things:
- Curls, 12 IC (Run lap around lot and plank for six)
- Bear crawl to next island, pushing block ahead of you
- Overhead Press, 10 IC (Run lap around lot and plank for six)
- Lunge Walk with block to next island
- Bent over Row, 10 IC (Run lap around lot and plank for six)
- Bear crawl while pulling block behind you to next island
- Incline Merkins on block, 10 IC (Run lap around lot and plank for six)
- Zamperini to next island
- Lawn Mowers, 6 IC each arm (Run lap around lot and plank for six)
- Zamperini to corner island
- Skull crushers (keep elbows in), 10 IC
- Crab walk with block on stomach to next island (crowd pleaser)
- Squats, 10 IC (Run lap around lot and plank for six)
- Bear crawl, pushing block ahead of you to corner island
- Muhammad Alis on block, 20 IC
- Zamperini to starting corner island
- WW2 situps with block, 10 single count
Return blocks and mosey back to cars for COT. As is typical with a planed workout, the time expires before all the fun is over. MARY may break up with us for excluding her today, but any highschool boy will tell you this is the best day to break up with your girlfriend. You can make amends on February 15th and minimize damage to the wallet until her birthday.
Podium Moment
- Thanks to the 8 men who chose to join me this morning. There were are lot of great Qs out there today and I’m humbled that a few were willing to give me a chance to care about their fitness
- Amen asked yesterday if their would be a standard. Knowing I planned to run during the workout, I said I’d join him if he coordinated it. Moments later Nordberg sent out a tweet. Guess it was fate
- Funkytown slowed his pace for the rest of us slower standard bearers and still dusted us. To his credit, he circled back at the end to support the six, something I have always loved about the elite in F3
- Bagboy drove 14 minutes out of his way to support me this morning. He probably passed 3 or 4 other AOs to get here. How can you not get motivated with that kind of support?
- To say I was startled when I came out of the bedroom at 0445 and saw my 2.0 coming down the stairs ready to roll would be an understatement. I love when my son surprises me and joins me for a workout. Even if I am no match for his fitness level
- Chewie and Amen hung tough despite all the running. Amen was likely pacing himself as he plans to include Vern and Sharknado in his week. Chewie says he out of shape but rucks 15+ miles over back-to-back rucks (and all while wearing cotton boxers). I wouldn’t call that out-of-shape (crazy maybe)
- Not a lot of mumblechatter this morning. Of course, after first lap guys like Ultraman and Omar were far ahead of me on the runs so perhaps I just missed all the compliments they were sharing about my lead. I imagine they were gushing about the block-carrying crab walk!
Thanks to Nordberg for requesting I sign up to Q. Mondays have become my fartsack day, but there’s really no reason for that. I just needed a push to get out there. Thanks also to Amen for always EHing me on the standard. I hate running, and probably wouldn’t do it if he didn’t bug me about it. But he obviously knows I need it. And thanks to all the men in F3 that don’t even realize they keep my from quitting just by their continued presence. My demeanor may not show it — especially at 0530 from the back of the crowd — but I love this thing we call F3.