YHC was already planning to post to the Abyss and suffer the wrath of Wolverine, so when the flu knocked out the regenerating superhuman, it only made sense for a Jedi to step in and help. Plus, there were already several HCs and a friendly reminder to bring gloves, so we were well prepared for a mid-week beat down.

Eight PAX posted to the Palisades Park parking area in the pleasantly warm pre-dawn (with precipitation predicted), the standard disclaimer was given at 0515, and we jumped right in with 25 side straddle hops. This was followed by a long mosey around the parking lot, out the entrance, in the exit, and back around to circle up by the gate to the back of the school.

COP

To keep things interesting, we did the following exercises while standing on our toes:

20 Moroccan night clubs IC

15 imperial walkers IC

15 hillbilly walkers IC

10 low slow squats IC

10 merkins IC (conveniently, these are almost always done on our toes anyway)

This was followed by some downward dogs (with reach across), honeymooner, and wrist stretches.

Warm up Addendum

Not quite satisfied with the warm up, we lined up on the curb for some dips/crab-cake fun a la last week’s Golden Corral Q. Pretty simple, it’s dips and crab-cakes (with hands on curb) done in a 1:4 ratio (aka Jack Webb style). By round 8, the PAX were singing my praises feeling the burn, but they toughed it out and we made it all the way through.

Quick mosey around to the grassy hill for the real fun.

As I was “planning” for this morning, I realized we have a steep, grassy hill next to a road (with a curb on either side), some more grass, and a nice flat wall. There’s a lot we can do in that small area. It took a few minutes to explain, but here’s what we did for

The Thang

Starting at the bottom of the hill, perform 20 squats. Run up the hill and do 10 derkins off the curb. Bear crawl across the street and do 10 incline merkins on the curb. Crab walk to the wall, walk up to a balls to the wall and back down. Crab walk back to the curb, 10 more derkins, bear crawl across the road, 10 more incline merkins, then run down the hill. Rinse and repeat, dropping 2 squats and 1 derkin/incline merkin per round (so, 18 squats, 9 derkins, 9 incline merkins, 9 more derkins, and 9 more incline merkins). Goal was to get all the way down to 0.

PAX begrudgingly acknowledged their understanding, then proceeded to tell the workout what was up. Bart missed a memo somewhere along the way and never decreased the number of derkins/incline merkins, an error he only discovered with 2 minutes remaining. Everybody did an awesome job getting through almost the entire workout before time was called, and it was great hearing them encouraging each other along the way.

For those counting, completing the entire workout as planned would result in 110 squats, 110 derkins, and 110 incline merkins. With the bear crawls, crab walks, and balls to the walls (and the dips/crab-cakes from the warm up), we couldn’t lift our arms anymore, but you don’t need your arms to quickly run back to COT and recover.

Announcements

• Go Ruck Light this weekend. Should be fun for those going. For those not going, Q-Bert is planning to destroy you on Saturday at the Deep.
• Yeti coming up February 24. Bike, run, ruck, relay, walk, crawl….be there.
• More events coming up in March

Praises and Prayers

• DaVinci’s business has a new client, which is awesome, but could potentially be a LOT of work if the client decides to do everything they’re thinking of doing. They also are looking to hire a new graphic designer.
• Cornerstone’s daughter is wrapping up treatment in three weeks!! He’s also applying for a job at a few different places and has already received at least one job offer.
• Bones is going to be on tv promoting the consumption of loose fats…or, maybe it was the foods to eat to lose fat…
• Moab has been jobless for a couple months, which is actually a praise because of the way God has provided during what could be a very hard time. Plus, he’s had great time with family these past couple months. But, he does need a job…

It’s always an honor to get to serve a great group of PAX. I’m coming to realize that Qing is a lot like preaching: given less time to prepare usually produces rougher results, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be effective. It definitely pays to be prepared and keep something in your back pocket for the days when the flu brings down the best of us.

-Jedi