5 pax rucked to start off Saturday and 2 others cruised for 4 miles. It would been longer but Doogie is a doctor, a real one and on TV, and he had to take a call halfway in. When we returned, I was chatting with Doogie and Mr. Brady and realized I needed to take care of some business, you know, show #2 who is boss. So I did. Meanwhile, 27 PAX had matriculated in the middle of the field, a rudderless ship, a crew with no Q. Seemingly out of nowhere I appeared to stun almost everyone. Where did he come from!? The loo, silly. I think SlowPitch appreciated my pageantry upon entering, but thinking back maybe no one else did.
We warmed up as we normally do. Some dude was crushing shirtless PKs and bending it like Beckham from midfield by himself so naturally I extended an invite to join us. He replied with something along the lines of “Let me see what you guys do.” Well, he never joined, and the reason why is most certainly because this is what he saw:
After ending the warm up with 30 merkin jacks, my new favorite punisher, we entered the Bearmuda and Crawlbearmuda triangles. Partners split between the two. Here’s what happens. You bear/crawl-bear around the triangle and hit 20 merkins at each cone. Then you go pick up your partner at whichever point in his triangle you find him still. After that, one PAX runs to the jungle gym to do 20 pull ups, and runs back ,while the other runs to hit the stop sign at the top of the hill, 20 burpees, and then runs back. We switched it up so each partner got a taste of what it is like to get stuck in the other triangle. T-claps to the crew for pushing it hard; Deep Dish gave me a good push on the runs, and T’eo was a solid partner in crime. I am really happy with how this one turned out. You get a good muscle push and also have some cardio and high-intensity stuff thrown in, with different muscle groups called to task.
While we waited for our fellow PAX, we rotated loosely between merkins, WWIIs, and squats, along with planks and squat holds. My goal was to allow those who wanted to push it to keep exercising but those who felt dizzy or needed hydration to rest. I brought a bunch of Gatorade to keep everybody hydrated, and there wasn’t much left when all was said and done. I’m glad. It is tough to stay hydrated if you are working out 6-7 days a week, as many guys in our region proudly and easily do. It should be a top priority for everybody.
Next exercise, we kept our partners. One guy did a one-legged hop from the ’18 to midfield and back. When he returned, the other guy did a one-legged bear crawl there and back. Then, each guy broken partner wheelbarrowed the distance. Strong stuff from everybody here. The one-legged exercises force your core to be honest, and they are tough. Next time I will extend it further to allow everybody to get a one-legged bearcrawl run.
Finally, we gathered in a circle for death by lunges. We did 27, 25, 23, all the way down to 1, with maybe an extra 13 in the mix, so roughly 196, maybe 198. The mumblechatter was so palpable that if you bottled and sold it and there was strong enough demand, you’d never have any supply issues and you’d be rich. At one point I had to assign penalty burpees because it irritated me. Alas, that’s what you get when you have a ton of humidity and everybody is spent. I probably showed a little too much leg, which got some guys excited. I mean, they’re only human.
Moleskine:
I appreciate the PAX willingness to try new things. I have challenged myself to bring new exercises each time I Q: I cannot and will not repeat any series of exercises for any qualifying Master Q. I do my best to keep a steady tempo while allowing those that can’t keep up as well to stay part of the mix. I appreciate the effort to do new things (and your patience as it may take a little while to explain the new exercises to you). You’ll be seeing a lot of ‘ole Sweatsy in the coming months, and you better believe I’ll keep coming with different looks for you. So when you look at me incredulously when I announce a new thing we’re doing, just know that we’re going to do it, do it right, and we’ll survive!
Coffeeteria: Really appreciate the opportunity to meet with guys after the work out, and wish I could do it more. If you have not come, it is really a rare chance to sit and talk with other men outside of work, working out, or maybe dinners/drinks you may have. I also appreciate the kindness showed to my son when I bring him. It is great exposure to other men. Consider yourself forewarned, however: this is the birthplace of many a bad idea!
CoT: Prayers to Floyd’s friends battling cancer, and Doogie/Riggs’ friend as well.
Penalty Box: I will kick off my next Q with 20 penalty burpees for leaving The Big Dance Shovel Flag for FIA to retrieve for me. Thank you to all who helped bring her home. I also will do 20 more at the following Q, as I forgot to do Name-O-Rama. Oh well. I suppose I was a little spent myself, mentally and physically, after today’s beatdown.