Man In The Mirror…at the Minnow Pond

Differences between this version of Minnow Pond and the last time I Q’d the MP:
1. Societal tension coming from years of oppression and ignorance.
2. The disgusting humidity
3. PAX age range: 14-57

One of these, we discussed & analyzed.
One of these, we suffered through.
One of these, we appreciate.

For the first time in I don’t know how long, there were 0 PAX for extra credit BUT (anything before the but doesn’t matter) we had 11 of us post for the Pledge of Allegiance to our great Nation at 0514. A brief disclaimer followed by a very brief warm-up mosey followed by a very, very brief round of Windmills  led us into the substantive portion of the post.
With the Nation (and world) now (and always, really), we need to address our own personal sins and shortcomings before looking elsewhere. We have to own it rather than saying it is due to someone or something else. Specific to our present tensions onset by centuries of racial injustice, what have I turned a blind eye to, or what have I tolerated? In other words, we need to have a Michael Jackson moment by taking a look at the Man In The Mirror.

As he sings in that song,
“I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you want to make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make a change.”

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqe5NP86OCc

A key component to addressing these ignorance’s and learning is to put yourself into challenging 1:1 conversations. In the spirit of the 1:1, we’d be doing 1.1mi loops with 3 stops along each loop.

The loop had us run up Massey to the gas station for stop 1. R/T onto Harris then R/T McCammon then into the Founders bank lot for stop 2. R/T Clebourne then R/T Main St then back to the AO parking lot for stop 3.

At each stop:
10 Mak Tar Jai’s
10 Inch Worms
10 Toe Touches
10 Mountain Merkins (4ct Moutain Climber + 1 Merkin)

After completing the first lap, I realized the rep count was a bit too aggressive. So, we cut it from 10 to 5 and I think everyone was able to complete at least 2 laps.  Had I talked a bit less in the beginning, we might’ve even gotten to a full 3 laps.

Back at COT, we talked about the topic a bit more, shared some announcements and offered prayers & praises. Great start to the day with brothers to my left & right.

Maximus

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Dropkicked at The Rock

BAOPS. It’s an acronym  that Trucker has been pushing, almost devoting himself to, with regard to the AO, Alcatraz, he now oversees. If you’ve been living under a rock for the last several weeks, let me enlighten you on Tega Cay’s own “Rock.”

Rather than being on its own island, our version of Alcatraz is almost at the end of a peninsula. Rather than water with treacherous currents, our version has streets with treacherous hills.
Just as you have to plan some extra time to get to THAT Alcatraz, you also have to plan some extra drive time to get to our version of Alcatraz…it’s way down TC Drive.

When Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary was in operation, it housed the hardest, most notorious criminals of its day. In Trucker’s verbiage, BAOPS stands for the “Baddest Area of Operations (AO) for Pain on Saturday.” Consistent with the last several weeks, some of the most hard-charging PAX from The Fort & Rock Hill (The Rock-how fitting) posted at Alcatraz this morning. Some even thought they rolled up on a convergence when they drove in with all the cars.

21 PAX (welcome Suplex) joined Router & YHC for a total of 23 to embark on a twist of a workout this morning. It’s been a minute since we’ve had Router post with us but consistent with our memory, he was prepared to bring it. After we were disclaimed and he shared with us his plan to put us through some conditioning (as part of the strength & conditioning workout), we took off for a warm-up mosey, ultimately leading us to the top of “the hill” on the back side of the park. This time however, we’d be going the other direction.
So here’s the deal, we’re running segments, of which there are 3. Segment 1, you’re running to your “pukey” limit. You know what that is; the place you get to where you’re about to splash. Yeah, get in that zone. Run it to the stop sign just past the Firehouse and do a recovery run back to the start. Then pukey-limit run to the stop sign and run to what amounts to the trail entrance just past the COT parking lot and recovery run the remaining trek back to the start. Now, pukey run that whole thing. Oh no, then….do a few more of those segments again but honestly, this is where the wheels started to come off as the PAX spread out and nobody was exactly sure what to do next . So, some ran more, some did some mary and some picked up the six. Yup, just as planned.
Then…oh dear Lord, this is where we take it to the next phase and you think your heart is going to pop out of your eye socket. Router takes us to the bottom of the hill, yes that hill. He explains his plan for 30/60/90. Fortunately, we never made it to 90 but nevertheless, when he says GO, we’re to take off up the hill, running for 30 seconds until he says stop. Yeah, that was tough but he made us go back down the hill to do the 60. Run up the hill and keep running for 60 seconds. Now that was B-RUTAL. Fortunately it was now 0701 and it was time to hand off to Maximus for the strength portion of the strength & conditioning.

With Max on Q, we would slow mosey (oh, thank you) back to the parking lot, pull a Switzer at one end and drop to a plank (ala Honey Badger). Next up, a nod to a USMC Serviceman named Cpl Albert (Bert) Gettings, 27, of New Castle, PA. Yup, we’re doing a modified BERT. If you’ve never done the real Bert, go give it a run and recap it to me afterward. Cpl. Albert Gettings was killed in action Jan 5, 2009 while conducting counter-sniper operations in Fallujah, Iraq. He was serving as a team leader with the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Lejeune, NC.

HERE WE GO!!!
25 Burpees
50m Bear Crawl to the other end of the parking lot
50 Hand-Release Merkins
50m Bear Crawl
80 Walking lunges
Bear Crawl back
50 Squats
50m Bear Crawl
80 Carolina Dry Docks
50m Bear Crawl
Mary til the six is in

In closing, please do yourself a favor, push yourself to do something more challenging than what you thought you were capable of. Not just in the 1st F although that is a great start, but in the 2nd & 3rd, too. This world needs it now and frankly, you’ve been built and called for this. Do not be a wallflower.

Announcements: Gears starting a new hard-hitting AO this Monday, 6/1. Classroom Ready partnership oppty coming soon from Bonsai, Q-Source is for everyone, AO’s opening back up week of 6/8, big ‘ol convergence 7/11 and several other announcements.

Prayer Request: PAX going through job/life transitions. Our country always but especially now with community tensions. Health of family/friends.

SYITG
Router & Maximus

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