In honor of the World Cup, YHC thought of no better way to capitalize on the excitement than to go Fun Friday at Joust! Not much planning went into this Q – aside from ordering a glow-in-the-dark Frisbee earlier in the week (and I’m know skeptical of the glow-in-the-dark aspect).
At 0530, the PAX of 11 moseyed to the football field for a quick COP: SSH, IW, LSS, Merkins, Burpees. A quick lap around the corners of the field to set our end line cones (thank you, Header) and then gather at midfield to choose teams. 5 vs. 6 made it a little tough, but nonetheless we went Shirts vs. Skins:
Shirts – Header, Slumdog, Schmedium, Sloppy Seconds, Puddin Pop
Skins – Stone Cold, Yeti, Tulip, Smokey, Funky Cold, Chin Music
The Rules: 2 steps allowed after the catch, offsides enforced (no cherry picking!), opponent’s goals resulted in 10 merkins. If consecutive goals were scored by one team, add 10 merkins to the previous count.
The Game Recap: It was a fast start by the Shirts, jumping out to a 2-0 lead even though visibility was a bit of an issue. YHC had two key drops for the Skins – with one being in the end zone and the other on the 5-yard line. Hey, I was a pitcher and not a catcher!! However, I did find myself feeling like the streaking WR Feathersone in Unnecessary Roughness— speeding past folks only to clank the disk off my hands! More stick ‘em, please!
As daylight inched closer, the Skins mounted a furious comeback and pulled ahead 3-2 with some nifty passing from Yeti and Stone Cold.
At the halfway point, YHC switched teams to try to even up the time disparity of being a man down in numbers. Unfortunately, I couldn’t provide the spark that was needed as everyone was starting to slow! Those fast bursts were becoming more irregular and forced some extended recovery periods!
With a final score of 5-3 in favor of the Skins, the PAX headed back to launch for some Mary before calling it quits.
The takeaway: Ultimate Frisbee is really good exercise! Full of quick bursts and sprints that are much easier to do when having fun chasing after a flying disk. There were some skilled guys out there and some sure-handed ones too (YHC not included). Schmedium was DE-like, long & rangy and tough to maneuver around his wingspan. Puddin Pop, Smokey and Stone Cold were the sure-handed veterans controlling their teams around midfield, Header showed flashes of our memories of 89 on the football field, and Tulip was the energetic fly pattern guy who actually could catch!
Lots of fun out there today. Thank you to Yeti for the opportunity to lead with a creative workout!! Hope this event returns…
For those inspired by the World Cup but lack the hand-foot coordination, come to Joust on Friday for an Ultimate Frisbee match, which YHC is aptly referring to as the Midsummer Classic (in honor of baseball’s All-Star Game next week).
The game will feature a glow-in-the-dark Frisbee and teams will be divided the old school way – Shirts vs. Skins. This will definitely be a Fun Friday, but points given up will result in punishment!
Being the only pre-runner today, YHC was the one guy that was in full sweat prior to the 530 launch time. Not gonna lie, solo pre-runs can be a little lonely. Many wandering thoughts flowed through my head, like “what am I doing?,” “Is this where I thought I’d be at 40?”, “why in the world did I accept the challenge to run a sub-5:00 mile?,” and lastly, “Wow! This new Black Diamond headlamp is incredible. What design modifications could be done to make it better?”
Having reached none of the answers to those questions, YHC gave the disclaimer at 530. Seeing no FNG’s, it was short and sweet. One face that I did get excited to see was Simba – welcome back out! Skunkworks has missed seeing you.
After COP (SSH x 15, IW x 15, LSS x 10, Merkins x 10, MCs x 10, Burpees x 5), the 12 PAX members moseyed across the street to the Lower School lot. Instructions were given to get a partner and the workout began…
THE THANG:
P1 runs parking lot, up around the median and returns while P2 does called exercise. Then flapjack for each exercise in each round.
Round 1: Overhead Press, Right arm clean & press, Left arm clean & press
Round 2: Upright Rows, Right arm Snatch, Left arm Snatch
Round 3: Triceps Press, Right arm lawn mower pulls, Left arm lawnmower pulls
Mosey to base of hill in the main parking lot area
P1 runs the hill while P2 does the called exercise.
Round 1: Squats (x2), Good Mornings (x2)
Round 2: Lunges – right (x2), Lunges – left (x2)
Round 3: P1 runs the hill with KBs while P2 does Freddie Mercury (x2)
Mosey back to launch. 10 Regular Merkins, 10 Wide-Arm Merkins, 10 Diamond Merkins. Mary until the end, and DONE.
MOLESKIN:
Great break from the oppressive humidity that we’ve come to know as “home” for the summer months. Guys really were strong performers today as the group pretty much stayed in sync throughout. I always enjoy seeing Smokey fly by me while running! He inspires me to be in that great of shape when I’m on the verge of “Respect”!! Good to catch up with Fireman Ed, even though our usual Clemson talk wasn’t so positive today. #baseballblowout Tulip is showing no signs of wearing down following the birth of another child, and his KB form is pretty much impeccable.
Always great to lead the Skunk group. If you’re out there looking for a little bit of weight training (Kettlebells) and running combined, we hope you’ll join us. And for those that have been MIA, we’d love to see you out in the gloom again!
8 men set out to accomplish the goal set by YHC of keeping our feet dry during today’s workout. It is no secret that I thrive in dry terrain, and I respectfully disagree with the thought of toughness gained by going straight for mud and water during a workout. That being said, I was hopeful that last night’s tweet would give a big clue as to the amount of asphalt we’d be exploring – and that we did!
Disclaimer was given at 5:31 after hearing the story of how a KB incident (merkins on vertical KBs) has still left Harley with minimal feeling in the tips of fingers. Yikes! Quick COP in the SCMS parking lot before trekking down to Davie Park. Once the PAX arrived to Davie Park and Header and I brought over 2 lifting rocks, instructions for the exercise were given:
Partner up. One partner group stays at the gated entrance by the long road to the back parking lot. (Thanks to Header and Harley for modifying this location in order to get us all on the same side of the gate). This group would do the called exercises with the lifting rock – 10 bicep curls, 10 tricep extensions, 10 overhead presses. The remaining PAX would run the road together as a group and wait for the lifting group to join via sprinting. Once all PAX were together, each man did 20 merkins OYO before switching to a different lifting group. We continued that process until all partner groups had done 1 round of the lifting exercises.
Mosey back to Strawberry Lane and finish with a set of AYG sprints for 10, 20, and 30 seconds.
Moleskin: I feel that I succeeded in my goal. I take no responsibility for anyone that might’ve ventured off the pavement or asphalt and caused water damage to their shoes.
This was a great group of men – really pushing each other on the self-serving sprints at the end. Funky Cold was quickly onto my plans to incorporate them, as he’s aware of my current training to run a fast mile?. Hey, I needed those so, therefore, WE needed them!
QOTD from a heard exchange:
Puddin Pop: “It feels like Thailand out here.”
Header: “Have you been to Thailand?”
Funky Cold: “I’ve spent lots of time in South Africa.”
Header: “Is South Africa close to Thailand?”
Puddin Pop: “Closer than Charlotte.”
Great to lead you men this morning. Thank you to Smokey and Dollywood (we missed you) for the opportunity to lead!
8 men gathered to collectively visit Great Grandma Wilby’s house. Unfortunately, we didn’t actually see her house as the large hill spoiled our visit. A great group of Joust veterans was the perfect sample to try out the off-campus location. Smokey mentioned that he recently took a fellow church member home to a house in the neighborhood above the Wilby hill and remembers thinking “I’m sure glad we don’t come over here at Joust.” Well, those words ended up proving to be prophetic! Dollywood and Lightfoot crushed the ‘ol Triple Nickel (5 jump squats at the bottom, 5 regular squats at the top, and 5 times up the hill in between). Stone Cold is just a machine and is so steady. It’s great to have Duct Work back in the fold. Still hoping his foot injury continues to heal! Header and Yeti never seem to tire, or at least they never show it!
Following Great Grandma Wilby, the PAX ventured to the small playground above the bleachers. Partner work, two times through, consisted of P1 running to parking lot and back while P2 did the called exercises of pull-ups and dips.
Lastly, one competitive lap around the track against your partner while stopping for merkins in each corner. Mary at launch and then done.