5 PAX cruised through Garrett Farms for a 5K EC and 20 PAX showed up for ME despite snowstorm promises.  Those promises were broken, but we kept ours and showed up to some fairly benign conditions.   It is Toolbox’s birthday today!  As if we needed another reason to celebrate!

With each workout and each step forward, we should all realize a certainty growing within us – that we will achieve, overcome, empathize, persist – whatever the case may be.  With each tiny step, that certainty grows into a truth, a fact, a reality.  Today, our tiny step forward meant blasting our shoulders, and blast them we did with great aplomb.

I decided it was about time for an old school House of Pain steel and shoulder beatdown.  With all this running and rucking it is important to remember that there ‘aint no party like a steel party, cuz a steel party (seems like it) don’t stop.

The warm up included some new plank-to-merkin-to-mountain-climber circuits, in addition to some overhead claps and cherry pickers.  Much to Coco’s chagrin, cherries are harvested year-round in the Triangle area.  Then it was time for the greatest game of all-time.  Jeeps and Tanks.

In a counter-clockwise and orderly fashion, PAX held steel to chest and shouted, “Beep Beep I’m a Jeep!” and then held steel out from chest and screamed, “Clank Clank I’m a Tank!”, all while duck-walking.  We did about 2 minutes worth, and that was plenty. Then it was time for face-off reps, a nice little bit of programming I’ve become fond of as of late:

• Round 1: 5 OH press while other guy locks out.  Switch.  Time hack for 5 rounds.
• Round 2: Same as Round 1
• Round 3: 6 lunges each guy while other guy locks overhead.  Switch.  Time hack.
• Round 4: 3 burpees with steel each guy.  Other guy low squat hold.  Switch.  Time hack.
• Round 5: 3 jump lunges each guy with steel.  Other guy high plank hold. Switch.  Time hack.

All time hacks were about 3 minutes.

Next, we crushed an escalator, moving from the large gate at the bottom of the parking lot to the top of the hill.  Each island gave us a new exercise, and a new leader of each exercise.  All with steel:

• Island 1: OH press with Tuco (20)
• Island 2: OH Press with Tuco (20); Squats with Bushwood (20)
• Island 3: OH Press with Tuco (20); Squats with Bushwood (20); Lunges with Coco (20)
• Island 4: H Press with Tuco (20); Squats with Bushwood (20); Lunges with Coco (20); Burpees with Toolbox (20)

PAX were NOT happy with Toolbox’s choice of burpees.  Looks like he won’t get getting much punch or pie for birthday gifts this year.

All PAX had to walk with steel overhead in between each island.  Props to Beano, Coco, Bushwood, Tuco, and possibly others for repping the big dawg steel!

Mary: One lap round parking lot, return steel.

CoT: Prayers to Lo Pair and Alf, recovering from cancer

Moleskine: Durham 2nd F lunch on Jan. 24 at Gonza (noon).