Nine (9) thermally insensitive men collected over a period of time to undergo a brief lessson in banking and water elevation devices, and their relation to shoulder pain. Let the record reflect that JUST seven (7) stalwarts were there at 5:30, two (2) showed minutes later, delayed to our COP by what could only be the excuse of…..they were still shoveling out from the near devastating 50.8 mm of wet snow that threatened to cripple both the 117 and 115 zip codes this past Friday. Off in the distance, a benign water sat there, lurking, longing, luring; it just wanted to be loved. Here's how the men managed to manipulate their bodies to pay homage to the Monster Mile:
Warm Ups COP (IC)- SSH 20, IST 15, CP's 10, MC's 15, 10 Merkins OYO, WM's 15, Squats 20. Mozy to behind 136 Fairview, and immediately noticed the improved lighting, a splending place for a banking lesson.
The Thang-The 'top' was the chosen locale for burpees, their number started at 10 (ten), and were lowered with each visit to the 'top' by two (2), until the number of 0 (zero) was achieved, at which point endless calf raises were commenced until the group coalesced. The 'middle' was the BANK. Here, one Merkin was deposited, then each visit to the middle brought another Merkin, in accumulation (1,2,3 etc). Are you following? NEXT, the 'bottom' was designated, a lovely assortment of pavement near the pristine brick utility structure. It served as a hospitable environment for squats, in cadence, starting with two (dos) and adding 2 (two) more (IN CADENCE) during each, predictably painful visit to the diminutive, but well lit, 'bottom'. Once this series of surpsingly quick excercises was completed, our esteemed Master Q, Sir Deep End noted he felt he was positioned like Greg Louganis….. working his calves to tetany. As such, and to pay homage to that master diver, we tacked on 5 PRODUCTION (not penalty) burpees to honor the physique that Mr. Louganis displayed during his many fine diving competitions. Mozy to the aforementioned water tower (avoid several cars along the way), as it has become clear that this water wanted, needed, desired love. Here's how it was loved:
Water Tower Power Hour (more like 5 min, but that did sound good…..no?((spoken mockingly with a Spanish/Frenchish accent))). The PAX was assembled near the door of the water tower, the right side of said door served as the starting point. The left as the finishing point. In between lies a helluvalot of water tower circumference. This clearly detailed circumference was 'navigated' with the shoulders; either by upside down side to side stepping on your hands, or bear crawling, or a combination of both.
Mozy back to the AO, grab a riprap rock-Pyramid time. Three sets (10, 8, 6) of curls, skull crushers, and squats, in cadence, with a gratuitous lap around the church after sets 1 and 2 added in for…….'filler'. Rocks returned.
We did the Pledge. Lear led. It was special.
Mary- 50 lower flutters- IC. Recover, recover. ONE (1) minute early, it was noted.
Moleskine:
-To gather a group of men spanning over 40 years, oldest to youngest, together, have them collect, connect, and reflect during a workout is simply an amazing….'thing'. It still impresses YHC each and every time it occurs. Thanks OBT and Dredd!
-ON THAT topic, Lear was the WD, Hurdle was the WB.
-The 'banking' bit was to highlight that IF you add a 'little bit' periodically, you end up with a lot. We started with 1, and were at 10 before we knew it! Compounding interest at it's finest!!! (I know that's not exactly accurate, but give YHC a little lattitude here–it was before six AM!!).
-F3 lore states that Cupcake circumnavigated the Water Tower COMPLETELY in the upside down position. While this cannot be verified by at least two neutral third party sources, it is still damn impressive. What is also impressive it that Ticktock did that as well, today, but with more metal in his back than found at an Iron Maiden concert, and carrying one more testicle than Cupcake, no insignificant detail.
-The mil presses were purposely omitted from the Rock Work due to the extreme shoulder smoke the water tower bestowed upon us. As you know, there is 'shouder smoak' and 'shoulder smoke'. The Water Tower Power Hour yields more of the latter. YHC's hair is still a bit tussled due to the inability of lifting the arms…..at all……above the shoulders!
-It's great to see the devotion of Hurdle, who seems to fit right on in to our motley crew, bless him;-)
-Master Q Deep End- your gifting of the keys to YHC today is one of the greatest honors that can be bestowed upon this spit player, thank you.
-Chief and Shambala–the Monster Mile begins at 5:30 sharp….just sayin'…..
-An excpetional coffeeteriaTM was enjoyed by Lear, Shambala, and YHC. International travel, Norway, Russia, and laguage was covered with near a PhD level of stimulating coversation. Thank you for your time, Gentlemen.
-Clearly, this #BB took too long to type, as my 'Move' bar just lit up on my watch. Many thanks to F3 for allowing YHC to ignore this watch.