Everyone is an NCAA champion for 30 seconds.  I used to repeat this wrestling axiom to myself in my former wrestling days, and still think about it now.  The gist of it is that during the first 30 seconds of each match while each wrestler is fresh, most guys are fairly equal (at elite levels).  A lot of guys burn a lot of energy doing just about nothing in these early moments, and few top-shelf wrestlers leave themselves vulnerable or make many mistakes while everything is fresh and lungs, heart, and mind are lively.  It’s the rest of the match that truly counts, where strategy, discipline, and training come into play much more.  That’s when people get tired and start getting sloppy, and that is when opportunities to score arise.  Those who are patient and better trained win the day.

This is more a mental challenge than anything.  Anyone can come out of the gates fast, furious, and strong, but what happens when you get scored on, taken down, and have to manage energy across a long match?  And what impact does mental fatigue have on physical fatigue?  A big one, no doubt.  You hear the platitudes all the time in professional athletics, “Gotta’ finish,” “Play 60 minutes,” “It ‘aint over ’till it’s over.”

Today, I wanted a Q that required a full effort from whistle to whistle, one that did not let up, and I think we accomplished that.  Indeed, there is a lot to this idea that it is not so much how you start but how you persist and finish.  There was a lot to tire us out, especially those who posted (all 11) for the EC pain stations with weights (KBs, sandbags, dumbells, etc.)  Along with naming Sawtooth’s buddy The Big Unit (a big Randy Johnson fan, a dying breed for sure), we found out who could finish strong!

• Mosey around the church, then a standard warm up.
• Grab steel, line up at bottom of hill.
• Without steel, run a full 5 island suicide.  Upon returning, complete 25 merkins, squats, overhead press
• With steel, run a 3 island suicide.  Repeato exercises.
• With steel, execute Lt. Dans (single leg lunges either side and squat) with steel locked overhead to get to second island.  Backwards run to top of hill, mosey back.
• With steel, curl-walk to next island.  Sprint down hill and bunny hop back.
• With steel, backwards lunge to next island.  Sprint down hill and single-leg hop back.  (Shake It established dominance in this exercise!)
• With steel, crawl bear and pull steel with you.  At the top of hill, grab steel, and run a full suicide back to bottom of hill.  Put steel away, and then a hip hinge for Mary.

CoT: Prayers to Ricky Bobby’s wife and his friend, both dealing with health issues.

Durham 2nd F next week.