YHC went to bed a bit early last night in hopes of joining an EC Ruck, but when he arrived at The Eagle, there were only runners…so YHC tried to keep up with Beano, Harbaugh, My Little Pony, and a nice visit from Shake It who made it from North Durham just in time to push off. Beano led us on a run through the Country Club at a pretty fast clip and YHC faded just as we returned to The Eagle AO in time for a quick sip of water.
11 Pax were in attendance for a Labor Day Themed Q. YHC is an amateur historian and wanted to share some knowledge on the origins of Labor Day…fortunately for the Pax we had a true expert in Stop Drop & Roll who was able to offer some additional context.
We circled up and started the…
Warm Up:
SSH IC x 18 (while its origins are somewhat unclear, AFL VP Peter J. McGuire is credited with promoting the concept of Labor Day in 1882).
IW IC x 20
Windmills IC x 10
Good Mornings IC x 10
Arm Circles small, then big IC x 10
Reverse Arm Circles small, then big IC x 10
Mountain Climbers IC x 22
(cumulatively 82 to bring the warm up numbers to 1882)
We finished off the warm up with the following merkin variations:
Standard merkins x 10
Diamond merkins x 10
Wide-Grip merkins x 10
Hand Release merkins x 10
Spider Man Merkins IC x 5
YHC was very gassed at this point, but in a tribute to conditions before the labor movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, no time for rest – all out sprint to the end of the parking lot for the start of…
The Thang:
Continuing the theme of no breaks, 7 day a week, 16 hour daily shifts…The Pax were instructed to do AMRAP Pull Ups and then dead hang until the last pax was done with AMRAP. YHC barely squeezed out 10 while SDR was able to complete in excess of 20 – long dead hang.
We moseyed to the front of the school where we began AMRAP dips on the low wall….YHC got in about 25 IC and SDR was once again the monster and we pulled away while he was still pounding reps out.
We moseyed to the basketball courts where we did AMRAP peoples chair. YHC was able to absorb the pain for 90 seconds and Graceland and Deep Dish were able to suffer for more than 3 minutes while the other Pax planked it out. We briefly caught our breath and then proceeded to do one minute BTTW…then moseyed back to the parking lot.
We counted off into 4 groups of 2 and one group of 3 and created a rotation where one team would carry a 45 KB and the other a ruck over their head arms locked for as long as they could around the parking lot perimeter while the other stations were rotated through:
AMRAP Burpees
AMRAP Partner Tire Flip
AMRAP Tuck Jumps
AMRAP Donkey Kick
The intention was to have some of the pax out “marching” for labor rights while the rest of the Pax were toiling away. Each Pax got two full rotations which left just enough time for…
Mary:
American Hammers IC x 50 (YHC was in a zone)
Milking the Cow IC x 20 (tribute to all those who labor to make our food)
Flip over on our stomachs for 20 IC Swimmers (alternating left leg/right arm, then right leg/left arm)
Bows to Toes Plank Jacks IC x 20
COT:
Strong effort today. The EC run took a lot out of YHC and it felt good (really terrible) to push and was a bit concerned how much gas was left for the ME, but the strength of the Pax was there to support.
Looking for two Pax to replace BRR teammates who have been unable to stay with the team.
Strong work by Stop Drop & Roll and others in the IronPAX Challenge. It’s great to have those very specific goals to challenge ourselves and inspire self and others.
Take some time to reflect on all those who Labor to make our lives and communities better (teachers, farmers, municipal workers, factory workers, etc.) and the dignity of work and labor.
Honored and humbled to be with you this morning!
Aye!
Boucher