4 for Murph training EC.
Today begins YHC’s six days in a row of Qing. Since it fell on 3/15, YHC thought it would make sense to educate the PAX on this notorious day.
Warmup
44 SSH IC (foreshadowing)
11 IW (more foreshadowing
10 WMHs
15 Mountain Climbers IC
15 slow Merkins
15 slow squats
LBCs–forward and reverse
Counted off and explained the theme. YHC made the mistake of saying that the Ides of March had historical and religious significance, which PAX immediately questioned.
The Thang #1
Moseyed to 1st corner of parking lot loop. 15 IC Lunges
Moseyed to 2nd corner (flag pole). 15 IC Alternating Shoulder Taps
Moseyed to 3rd corner. 15 IC Freddy Mercurys
Moseyed back to AO. 15 IC OH claps
Then, YHC explained the religious significance of the Ides of March. This is from Wikepedia:
The Ides of each month were sacred to Jupiter, the Romans’ supreme deity. The Flamen Dialis, Jupiter’s high priest, led the “Ides sheep” (ovis Idulis) in procession along the Via Sacra to the arx, where it was sacrificed.[4]
In addition to the monthly sacrifice, the Ides of March was also the occasion of the Feast of Anna Perenna, a goddess of the year (Latin annus) whose festival originally concluded the ceremonies of the new year. The day was enthusiastically celebrated among the common people with picnics, drinking, and revelry.[5] One source from late antiquity also places the Mamuralia on the Ides of March.[6] This observance, which has aspects of scapegoat or ancient Greek pharmakos ritual, involved beating an old man dressed in animal skins and perhaps driving him from the city. The ritual may have been a new year festival representing the expulsion of the old year.[7][8]
YHC used the term “Romanic” when he was explaining when the Mamuralia occurred. Professor Bump Draft suggested YHC should have used the term as “classical antiquity.” YHC intentionally used the term “Romanic” to allude to the assassination of Julius Caesar (which was the focus of Thang #2). “Romanic” means of or relating to Rome. Mamuralia was celebrated in Ancient Roman religion. While classical antiquity would have been technically accurate, it would not have been as specific as it also includes Classical Greece.
In any event, to settle a dispute YHC created at some point during the mumblechtter, Mamuralia involves beating with sticks an old man wearing animal skins, not a fat man.[1]
Exiting history lesson, YHC shared that CrossFit has a WOD known as the Ides of March. Since we lacked all of the equipment necessary to do this WOD, YHC modified it to involve a 15-minute AMRAP involving running around the parking lot loop and completing 15 IC reps of the above four exercises (lunges, ASTs, FMs, and OHCs) as fast as possible.
Recover. Bear crawl to the pile of bricks.
The Thang #2
PAX picked up bricks and formed a circle. YHC shared that Julius Caesar was assissanitted by a group of senators, including Brutus, on the Ides of March in 44 BC. Although it is unclear whether Brutus indeed stabbed Caesar in the back, his involvement and the involvement of others, such as Decimus, was certainly a betrayal. So we focused on the back
We did 11 of the following back exercises for a total of 44:
- Bent-over flys
- T Merkins
- Supermans
- Bent-over rows IC
For the second round, we doubled the reps for a total of 88. YHC noted that 88 was the speed that Michael J. Fox’s character has to get the DeLorean up to in order to time travel in Back to the Future. Although PAX failed to see the connection between the Assassination of Caesar and Back to the Future, YHC explained that both are stories of betrayal. Turns out there are further connections: In the alternative timeline of 1985 (where Biff controls Hill Valley shown in BTF2), on March 15, 1973, Biff shot and murdered George in an alleyway when George was on his way to receive a book award and later married his widow, Lorraine.
Mary with Brick (Brary? Mick?)
Dead Bug (with bricks)
Boat/canoe (with bricks)
Nolan Ryans (with bricks)
Ring of Fire (plank hold): Each PAX had to complete three brickees for a grand total of 39 brickees–in honor of the fact that this will be YHC’s last post at The Thicket as a 39-year-old.
COT
Announcement: Stick reminded PAX of the Maltz Challenge this Friday at The Wall.
Name-a-rama
YHC took us out.
Moleskin
YHC closed by noting that he was having a life insurance health exam this morning. YHC noted that the exam was meant to measure how long it would be before I died. But it in know way measured how I would live. YHC encourages PAX to think about what measurements they apply to living a full and meaningful life and evaluate themselves against those measurements.
Moleskin #2
In a moment of serendipity, the life insurance exam nurse’s name was Lorraine. Okay, it was Laurie, but YHC called her Lorraine.
Further enrichment
Vox, Six Myths about the Ides of March and Killing Caesar
John Mulaney’s Explains Back to Future (NSFW)
