It was cold on the Peak today. We had a small crowd, so, let’s get after it.
THANG
Mosey to back bus lot and circle up.
Okay, let’s keep moving. Today’s main event, a couple of rounds of starfish.
Round 1, welcome to Merkinville. Do 15 reps of each:
Start in the middle, and before heading to any corner, hold plank for a 5 count. Every time you return to the middle, add 5 seconds. So, at the end, you’re looking at a 25-second hold. Which, after all the merkins, is trickier than it sounds.
Round 2, legs and such. Do 20 reps of each.
Start in the middle with 5 plank-jacks. Add 5 each time you return to the middle. Ending with 25 plank-jacks.
With the small crowd of vets and the chilly temps, we had an early COT and then took a sojourn to Brakeman’s for a coffeeteria.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Joe Davis Run this Saturday.
SKINE, MOLE
We got off to a rocking start this morning, literally. In pre-launch conversation talking about AC/DC, Slim Fast busted out his guitar and launched right into the riff for “Thunderstruck.” I took the kick drum and the gregorian chant parts. AH-AH-AH-AHHH-AHHH-AHHH-AH-AH! THUN-DER!
We also discussed Slim doing the Angus Young duck walk during his performances. I would pay good money to see this happen.
Also, the temperatures, while chilly, didn’t bother us, as we took heat from the runnin’ Spartans as they did some work on the playground to break up the miles.
Our fearsome foursome was able to do the starfish together as a group, which made for some great mumblechatter. Topics covered:
Slim Fast also served as our starfish GPS, helping our foursome avoid the yippee dog that the nice man walks in the mornings through the bus lot.
The hand-on-ground merkinfest did make things a little chillier than I had hoped. Our hands all warmed up at the impromptu coffee break, so, all is good there.
As we thaw out, hopefully coming soon, we’re hoping to see more of our crew out on Thursday mornings. I mean, I know our beds are cozy, but, it’s fun to remember when we start complaining about it being too hot that we complained about it being too cold!
Cobains to Sparta for any confusion when it came to our typically combined COT. It was an audible to give us a strategic advantage, as we were coffee’d up before a good number of the rest of the world.
Nine PAX braved the freezing temperatures to partake in Area 51’s original indoor stretch-fest.
So, YHC doesn’t know if you guys remember Tweetsie. He used to be a Site Q at Gumby and pretty regular amongst the PAX of Area 51. Then he went on an Australian walkabout during the month of February.
Now, he’s back stateside and apparently is “sick” because “see, it’s summer in Australia and winter here, and between the sudden weather change and spending a lot of time in an airplane to come home, sickness happens,” so, YHC had to take his Q this morning. A likely story.
Don’t worry — Tweetsie’s newfound home land was there in spirit. More on that later.
Disclaimer
YHC? Not a professional. YHC? Nursing a bum right leg. Do as I say, not as I do.
Devo
Tl;dr? Control your tongue. It’s a small, but potentially nasty thing we live with. James 3 spells it out for you.
Stretching stuff
Started off with corpse, then windshield wipers, then some strap/rope work. The idea is to get your leg(s) up to 90 degrees and use the strap/rope to hold there. Many of us were a few degrees short.
A really slow, loping Sun Salutation, holding the various stretch points. Then a couple OYO at regular pace.
Then a series of high lunges with a crescent addition. The idea is to sink your hips low and let that be catalyst for your leg stretches.
Then some tree.
Then some warrior interspersed with some leg stretches and ninja.
Then some pigeon.
Then a return to the strap/rope, seeing if we made any progress.
Then we were done.
Announcements
Joe Davis Run is this Saturday.
Skin
Well, when Tweetsie asked me to take his Q because, again, he’s “sick” and not “waiting on his dual citizenship papers to kick in so he can go back and eat himself into a Vegemite coma,” I was game, and, as usual, I spent about 98% of my energy thinking about the playlist and 2% thinking about the #weinke.
Now, Geraldo was the first to figure out what was going on. All songs are by people/bands from Australia. Now, with my incredible, brain-clogging catalogue of minutae, I had about 90 percent of the songs pegged. I actually didn’t realize Crowded House and Rick Springfield were from down under.
As Geraldo noted, Midnight Oil is probably the biggest “notably absent” on the list. Some songs were chosen to get more visceral reactions from the PAX, and the PAX did not disappoint. Most were wistful that they did not have 80s style leg warmers when “Physical” came on.
Tweetsie did tell me that Vegemite actually tastes awful. Did you know that you can order Vegemite off Amazon dot com? I might take a chance next time I’m trying to finish off a gift card.
Anyway, it’s always good to lead at Gumby. It’s the one workout where you feel better at the end. Thanks to Swiss Miss and Crocodile Tweetsie for the opportunity.
G’day.
Editor’s Note: Lois posting on behalf of Sensei.
YHC, much like everyone else has been spoiled by the past couple of weeks with reasonable temps in the early mornings. That ended today as January reminded us that it is in fact, January. The plan today was quite simple, keep moving.
We had 6 PAX at 0530, so I gave them the option of staying on campus or taking a mosey up the greenway. the unanimous vote was to mosey, so we did.
We made it to the greenway and Slim Fast noticed that Hard Hat was not wearing any gloves. Being the caring guy that he is, Slim who apparently has spare gloves in his car ran back and brought a pair for Hard Hat. I did not ask if the spare gloves were the giant orange Mt. Everest gloves or not.
We took the greenway up to Squirrel Lake Park with stops along the way for some SSH, IW, LSS, LBCs, Flutters, Dollys, CDD, Peter Parkers and Parker Peters. Lumberjack asked if we would do the breast stroke in the Squirrel Lake Park pond but he had no takers. We then reversed course with stops for Dips and made it back to launch point at 0615 on the nose.
Chillyskin:
It’s the new year, Peak 51 will be full of FNGs and returning vets, YHC gets to kick everything off, this will be great!
So, the forecast resulted in pulling up to Matthews Elementary to find Tweetsie’s car parked in the parking lot. No one else. Well, no other person, but plenty of puddles and a steady, but not all that bad, rain.
Soon enough, there were 7 brave souls ready to make some magic happen at 2019’s first edition of Peak, despite the rain. Well, 6, as Tweetsie had to make an emergency run to the gas station down the street, but he was coming back, honest.
A heartfelt disclaimer was given, and we took off through to the First Baptist parking lot via the long way. Tweetsie did return, coming in hot like it was Mountain Goat or something, and he was ready to join in.
COP
PROTO-THANG
Line up at the bottom of the incline in the parking lot. Time for a Peak 51 tradition — suicides, using the light poles in the middle as our stopping points.
Round 3 was everyone’s favorite. So many nice things were said about YHC during the time. Also, we must point out, that shortly before the suicides … as was prophesied a long time ago, it stopped raining. Because, as the Book of Slim Fast tells us, “The rain ne’er falleth on the just or the unjust at Peak.”
Or, if you prefer The Message’s rendering, “Nah bro, it ain’t gonna rain here.”
THANG
Mosey to the back bus lot. In a callback to my VQ at Peak, time to run 11s the long way across the bus lot. Start off with 1 jump squat, run, 10 Carolina dry docks, run back, repeat until you get to 10 jump squats, 1 CDD.
This might fly in the face of physics, but I am wholly convinced that the parking lot actually gets longer as this routine drags on. I don’t know how that works, given that the Earth is flat and anything getting longer would poke holes in such a cast-in-concrete truth.
POST-THANGEM
We have time, so let’s go to the wall.
We did 3 rounds in the people’s chair.
That was terrible. Let’s head back to launch.
COT
Counting, naming, announcements, Tweetsie with a good take out.
-30-
ANNOUNCEMENTS
MOLESKIN’D
So today was leg day at Peak, sort of by accident. With the forecast not looking so hot, I was thinking of a suitable routine that did not involve too many instances of hands on the ground, but would be a grinder to hopefully set a great tone for the year ahead.
That’s when it came to mind, Sensei once during one of our post-Mountain Goat coffees told me “man, I remember when you ran those 11s in the bus lot, that was good.” So, if you didn’t like it, blame Sensei for incepting the idea.
I reverted into football coach mode during the backpedal suicides, instructing the PAX to “keep those hips low,” which made me realize The Mouth wasn’t there, because that was low-hanging fruit. I also realized that I wasn’t doing a great job practicing what I was preaching.
Also, backtracking a bit, I applaud Slim and Tweetsie for behaving themselves during COP. Last time I Q’d and I called for the Hillbilly, things went way off the rails.
Great having Wild Turkey out with us. He was showing off some serious speed, but also was mindful enough to make sure the 6 was good to go. Again, set a great tone early.
Tweetsie, Slim, Sensei were their usual strong selves. Also, t-claps to Tweetsie for actually pre-running in the worst of the rain. Great job, and, when the guys in the white coats come to your house later, they are under instructions to “be gentle” with the straitjacket.
Good to have Lumberjack back in the mix. Also very strong. He said something like “I haven’t run in a while.” Didn’t show at all.
Bullwinkle, as usual, nearly caused me to self destruct as he asked me my opinion about a college football game coming up Monday night. I have feelings about one of the participants. I have FEELINGS about the other participant. I think I muttered something like “nuclear explosion blowing the Bay Area into the stone age” when he asked me what I wanted out of the game.
I registered 2.25 miles. I’ll be honest, I think I might’ve skipped an interval, because, well, I lost count somewhere in the 5/6/6/5 transition. So, whatever Slim Fast’s watch says we got, I’m willing to accept.
Anyway, as usual, it’s an honor to lead. As Tweetsie said in the takeout, there’s no other group I’d rather ring in the New Year with than this group. Looking forward to a great year ahead. Off to the rest of my day.
(Hey Alexa … how would you cause a nuclear explosion in Santa Clara, California? Asking for a friend ….)
EDITOR’S NOTE: Lois posting this way way wayyyyy late for Madoff. I like to set the best example as a Site Q. Cobains.
A few weeks back, YHC was set to VQ at Peak 51. Not wanting to disappoint, YHC spent more time than was necessary preparing a weinke that would balance the need to deliver a sufficient PAX beatdown while simultaneously ensuring that said weinke would not leave YHC off doing the technicolor yawn while the more seasoned PAX wondered why they let a Clydesdale Q…it’s a classic VQ dilemma. “No problem,” thought YHC…”we’ll just plank and do merkins ‘til our arms give out.” Right then.
Unfortunately, that initial VQ was interrupted by what appeared to be God’s version of the ice bucket challenge, so the VQ had to wait a few weeks. So today, 10 brave PAX finally got a chance to enter the candy store at Peak.
24 degrees 5:30 AM:
Disclaimer may or may not have been given: memories fade fast in the sub-freezing gloom. Mosey on over to the church lot and the fun begins.
Warm Up
Mosey over to the bus lot where the fun continues.
The Thang
PLANK RELAY: ROUND #1 (…a real crowd pleaser)
PAX divide up into two teams of 5. Teams assume standard shoulder plank. 1st team member runs a lap, then rejoins team in plank. Next man up and repeato until all team members finish.
EMOM (Every Minute on the Minute)
This is a circuit exercise that follows a simple pattern of Merkins, LBC’s, and Squats. Every 5 minutes, PAX perform 5 sets of called exercises (1 set per minute). Reps increase every 5 minutes as well. R1 & R2 lulled the PAX to sleep with low reps and standard Merkins. R3 & R4 provided a 1st F reveille with higher rep counts and Diamond Merkins.
PLANK RELAY: ROUND #2
PAX divide up into teams of 3 or 4. Teams assume shoulder to shoulder chilly plank. Ist team member runs the length of the bus lot and reassumes chilly plank. Call is given to the next team member, and on we go until all PAX have run down the bus lot and back again.
Mosey back to Launch, with an abbreviated round of ABC’s for Mary.
Moleskin
Given that YHC’s perspective on running is that it’s what you do when you need to get away from a stronger opponent, this weinke was light on gazelle training. The unintended side effect of this, when combined with extreme cold, was an abundance of perplexing mumble chatter.
The PAX, particularly Bernie, took an immediate interest in Sardine’s choice of tights. Though unconfirmed, the unofficial opinion of the PAX is that the tights must have come from the no man’s land area of Marshalls: that group of clothing racks separating the mens and womens sections. We may never know…
The mumblechatter took a turn for the worse when YHC, in an attempt to entertain the PAX between EMOM intervals, attempted a version of “Kids Say the Darndest Things,” which included an observation from YHC’s Junior PAX #2 of certain body parts looking like candy.
Clearly, YHC and his bride need to do a better job of vetting the Halloween candy stashes next year. Given that the PAX were already boarded and fastened into their seats on the crazy train by this point, it is only fitting that the mumble chatter eventually landed us on some form of odd cousin love confession from Tweetsie. YHC’s bride says that the mountains of NC have a strange effect on the body and mind. After Tweetsie’s confession, YHC agrees.
All in all, YHC is thankful to the PAX for showing up this AM for a sub-freezing VQ. On some level, all 3 F’s were represented out in the gloom, and YHC was happy to have been a part.
Announcements:
Gremlin: Saturday, January 19
Editor’s note: Lois posting on behalf of Sensei.
My thermometer said 25 at 5am, and since I was Q at Sparta I kinda had to get up and go. I wasn’t sure how many other guys would show up, but at 5:15 there were 11 folks with just as questionable judgment as myself in the Matthews Elementary parking lot. The plan was simple: When it’s really cold, the best way to stay warm is to run, and keep running. Since Sparta is a running workout, the Weinke took care of itself.
We launched out from MES and ran the Labor Day Kiwanis 5K course (AKA the Peak 51 pre-run route).
Once we got back to Trade St. via Charles, we looped back around to Ames, hung a right on John St. and ran up to Christ Covenant Church.
We were still good on time so we cut through the church parking lot over to Fullwood, ran down to Trade St. took a left and headed back to the launch point.
It was 6:07, so rather than stand around we ran a couple of laps around First Baptist church for the remaining time.
By 6:15 we stopped and had 6 miles in. Not a bad days’ work.
We stopped along the route to do squats, feet shuffle, or whatever guys do to stay warm to wait on the 6. Though, this was a strong crowd so we did not have to wait much at all.
Chilly Skin:
Most of us got in 2 laps around the church at the end, but Stone Cold got in 3. Strong work, sir.
Supposedly The Mouth was there. It sounded like him, but The Mouth is usually a warm weather creature; it was December and it was hard to tell with the balaclava covering all but his eyes. Seriously, thanks for coming out. See you again in… June???
You know it’s cold when Strange Brew is wearing a shirt.
Sparta is a great workout. I think this is only the 2nd time I have not attended Peak 51 in my 4+ years of F3.
Gypsy, a Sparta regular was Q for Peak today. Since we share a launch point we may do some additional Q swapping in the future.
You can’t go wrong posting to either workout. Great folks all around.
Thanks for the opportunity to lead and run with the Sparta crowd.
Six descended on the venerable Scout Hut at Matthews United Methodist to work out a few kinks, tweaks and twinges at Gumby.
This was a group of Gumby vets, so, a disclaimer was given where YHC might have yada-yada’d.
Lighting: Regular … YHC was thinking Bambi lamp, but, wasn’t exactly in a stable mindset (more on that in a minute)
Music: YHC’s “Gin Blossoms Radio” on Pandora, which has, thanks to lots of thumbs up/thumbs downs, been algorithm’d to an enjoyable mix of 90s/early 2000s jangle pop and some rock favorites. It’s the large adult son of Pandora stations.
Devotional: From the old classic, Our Daily Bread, a devo on winning and losing. That whole “stable mindset” thing earlier was mentioned because last night, YHC’s flag football team lost in the playoffs. We still have a game left … a consolation/3rd place game … but, not playing for the championship is, well, hard. The devo has a good word on winning, losing and perspective. Now, the question is, how long does YHC stew on the loss and when does YHC actually pay attention to the devo he offered?
Okay, let’s go …
Corpse pose for devotional
Knees up, feet at your 6. Windshield wiper left and right, following your breath.
Hold on the left, right arm out and looking right, then flapjack, hold on the right, left arm out and looking left.
Move to tabletop for some cat and cow. After that, check your 6 with some side bends.
Move to child’s pose, moving your arms to the right, back to the middle, back to the left, then back to the middle.
Up to the top of the mat. One sun salutation lead by the Q, then 2 OYO.
Back down on your back, grab a strap or a rope.
Strap around your right foot, stretch it straight up. Try and get deeper with every exhale. Swing your leg straight down to the right. Bring it back up. Flapjack.
Now, move over onto your left side. Strap around your right foot, then, bring your right leg up for a combo hamstring/inner thigh stretch. This was (1) new (2) led by a Q with bad form, but once the Q said what should be stretched, everyone else was able to get where they needed. Leg down and flapjack.
Up to mountain, 2 sun salutations OYO.
Then a half-SS, stopping in downward dog, right leg up and hold for a 3-legged dog, then swing through to warrior 1.
Move from warrior 1 to warrior 2 to warrior 3 to peaceful warrior to warrior 2.
In warrior 2, face the wall in a star pose, then descend to where your hands are on the mat. A professional like Witch Doctor would tell you to move, flexing each individual vertebrae. YHC is not a professional.
Walk your hands back toward your 6. Then over to the right leg, then to the left, then back to the middle, then back up, moving back to warrior 2. Go to warrior 3, then peaceful, then 2, then 1, then back to mountain.
1 SS OYO.
Go through that whole rigamarole again on the other side. This time, when it came to the star pose, descend, then do the ninja pose, left foot turned up on its heel, left leg straight, sitting back on your right foot. Flapjack, then back up and finish the warrior rigamarole.
Okay, time to sit in the chair, so chair. Then we moved to awkward pose, which is like chair, except your arms are out straight. YHC discovered in his research that there are multiple awkwards ….
Move to awkward 2 (aka “more awkward”) which is the standard awkward pose, but, you are up on the balls of your feet. This will make your legs go into revolt.
Then, move to awkward 3 (aka “most awkward”), which, while still on the balls of your feet and hands out, squat. This is not much better.
Back to awkward 2, awkward 1, chair, recover.
Gypsy chimes in at this point. “That was awful.” Yeah, it was. So, let’s do that again. Repeato chair/awkward series.
Back to mountain, let’s make like a tree. So, get into tree, right foot up, balancing on your left leg. Down. Before we flapjack, let’s keep it in the tree family with a new pose, the palm. So, from mountain, get up on the balls of your feet, arms up, hands open and meeting above your head. Down. Now, standard tree on the other side.
About this time, “Everlong” by the Foo Fighters pops up. If you are a fan of FF, you know that this is typically their closer at a concert. Here is an example from when YHC saw them in ColumbiYEAH last year about this time. So, it’s serendipitous, because we’re in the home stretch.
Move into downward dog, right foot up and through for pigeon. Come out of that, flapjack.
Back to corpse pose, revisit the devotional, then, time’s up.
Counting.
Naming.
–30–
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Gypsy still looking for PAX for Speed for Need at the Let Them Soar 5K on November 10. It is launching from Christ Covenant, home of Skunk Works and Kevlar, and goes through downtown Matthews.
MOLE(burrito)SKINE
Alright, so, yeah, I’m trying not to be grouchy or sulk in the wake of losing a playoff game with a group that I thought could possibly win the whole thing. I am competitive, I don’t like losing, I love winning even more. Plus, I try and take it seriously and put on an air of professionalism for the kids and their families.
Bottom line, losing stinks.
Bottom(er) line, coming up with a quality #weinke when you’re in the throes of that moment is an interesting exercise, especially when I wanted to sprinkle in a couple of new things.
So, the variances on awkward were found in basic Google research last night. The palm pose came as a result of Hurricane Florence. As a proud cord-cutter, I like the options available to have live TV through streaming. Now, during Florence, we had a brief Internet outage on that Saturday (thankfully it came back before the noon kickoff slate), and I was flipping through the network/OTA offerings. On a PBS subchannel, I found a yoga show. Apparently, it is a PBS production called “Yoga in Practice.”
Some of the things the ladies were doing were a little beyond broga, but the palm is one I picked up.
Today, the #mumblechatter was quality over quantity, and centered around two things:
So, there you have it. Another edition of Gumby in the books. Hopefully you left feeling a little better. Thanks to Swiss Miss and Tweetsie for the opportunity to lead. It is a privilege and an honor.
Editor’s note: Lois posting on behalf of Thumper. This was good. I still can’t feel my legs.
As I was pulling into the AO, Gypsy and 8 other Sparta running maniacs were blazing a trail. 11 others joined me on our Peak 51 adventure.
No FNGs, so the standard disclaimer was given and we took off to Stumptown Park.
COP:
The Thang:
Dora 1-2-3: Partner (A) runs around the loop at Stumptown Park while Partner (B) does said exercise:
Plank while waiting for 6.
Mosey to parking lot behind the First Baptist Church and partner up with someone new.
Partner (A): Run to the top of the lot and do 5 burpees while Partner (B) does exercise:
Mosey back to starting point for some Mary:
COT
The End
Announcements:
Thanks to Tweetsie for taking us out!
So, one of the worst beatdowns YHC has ever survived was, well, about this time a year ago, when Smokey Q’d this very workout the Tuesday after the Tennessee Volunteers took a bad loss to Florida. At the time, YHC thought, “Man, that’s rough to take out your football team’s frustrations on a group of unsuspecting PAX.”
So, this past Saturday, YHC’s South Carolina Gamecocks took a bad loss (again) to Kentucky. Guess who is Q’ing Skunk Works, y’all?
So, after a lovely disclaimer where Tulip may or may not have been thrown under the bus due to his absence, 12 PAX buckled up with their bells and, well, it went a little something like this:
COP
THANG
Gather at the corner of the track to battle The Beast — with apologies to Smokey, Header and Sanka. For the uninformed, it’s 6 reps each at 6 stations, 6 different exercises. If anyone felt uneasy doing this, they were informed that they could do 7 reps. #ModifyAsNeeded.
So, the 6 stations were the 4 corners of the track, along with the middle of the straightaways. This is a fun routine as is, let’s see how fun it is with KBs thrown in, as, well, you have to mosey with the KB between stations.
We peppered in 20 LBCs after round 2, 20 flutters after round 4 and 20 Freddie Mercuries after round 6.
After battling The Beast, let’s line up on the straightaway for the track. As repentance for invoking the mark of the beast with 6s, let’s make the next thing uplifting by invoking the number of Biblical perfection with some 7s.
Start with 1 overhead press, run to the other end of the field, do 6 bomb jacks (some PAX had a different name for this that, well, YHC can’t even remember).
Run back, 2 OHP, run, 5 bomb jacks, etc. etc. etc. until we’ve reached 6 OHP and 1 bomb jack.
Finally, partner up. Let’s make this easy —
Enough of that, head back to the parking lot, circle up for …
MARY
Time called.
COT
–30–
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Let them SOAR! 5K coming November 10. It’s a race + Speed for Need launching from the home of Skunk Works, Christ Covenant/Covenant Day. Pre-blast here.
SKINE OF THE MOLE
As stated before, The Beast is a go-to for me when I Q. I’ve never attempted, nor made others attempt, to do it with KBs. It was, well, a beast of a workout. Getting around the backside of the track, the bell started to get a little heavy.
And speaking of heavy bells, Funky Cold had it kind of rough. Apparently Dollywood (absent) has his normal bell, so he was borrowing a 45-lb bell. Upon hearing this news, I immediately felt pretty bad. Not bad enough to change anything, but, sorry nonetheless.
Tweetsie was a bit confused by the format of the workout, as he tried to bolt ahead of the rest of the PAX when we all stopped for the 2nd station on the track.
#Mumblechatter was interesting on my end, as I learned about the state of athletics at Carmel Christian from Header, and the state of private-school education in the area with Header, Arena and Yeti. Apparently, even though I am a longtime member of Carmel Baptist, I didn’t realize we had some ringer teams taking the field for CCS. Hey, I’m in favor of it.
Also glad to have Smokey back after his stint in New Bern, I think it was, doing relief work in the wake of Hurricane Florence. Keep all those affected in your prayers.
Chime in with any missed #mumblechatter.
Great work all around this morning. This workout is an essential part of my week, and it was an honor to lead this esteemed group of #HIM.
Thanks to Funky Cold and Tulip for the opportunity.
A wild bunch of PAX gathered in the gloom at Matthews Elementary School for this week’s edition of Peak 51, only to find out, we weren’t staying too long at the school.
After a decent disclaimer, including the fact that we would be on a road trip today, we took off for what turned into an extended warmup.
Mosey to the First Baptist lot via the short route … circle up.
COP
Mosey to the BB&T lot beside Mac’s Speed Shop … circle up.
COP, Part Deux
Cross John Street, carefully, and mosey to the perilously slanted small lot kinda-sorta behind Renfrow Hardware … circle up.
COP, Part Tre
The windmills were cut short because Slim Fast and Tweetsie guided this part way off the rails. More on that later.
Mosey on, turning left at the attorney’s office, stopping at the Pizza Peel … circle … well, not a lot of room, so just get in where you fit in.
COP, Part IV
Finally, mosey down to the front of the Town Hall/Library.
THANG
Okay, partner up for some Dora 1-2-3. Pretty easy — one partner does the exercise, other partner runs the traffic circle, flapjack, finish when you have reached the cumulative number of exercises.
Requisite planking in between sets.
Stay with your partner, take off in different directions around the circle and run. When you meet up, do 5 hand-slap partner merkins. After that, lunge walk until you meet again, then do another round of hand-slap partner merkins.
Once that was done, time to start moseying back. This time, we take the more direct route — head up to Trade Street and hang a left. We stopped a couple of times to do some squats until the 6 rolls in, including the Trade/John intersection where we were stopped by the speedy stoplight, where we wound up doing more squats than we bargained for.
Arrive back to launch to find our Sparta friends doing burpees. Note, even though there might have been some grumbling, please note YHC ordered no burpees. #YouAreWelcome
MARY
LBCs x?? IC — Tweetsie led while YHC gathered his phone.
Rosalita x20? IC — again, #mumblechatter and the Tower of Babel level of different languages counting along made this difficult.
Heels to Heaven xI don’t remember IC.
Time called.
COT
Counting.
Naming.
Takeout by Tweetsie.
–30–
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
MOLESKINE:
After being away two weeks — one for BRR tapering, and one because of a post-BRR crud — it was good to get back out to Peak and put in some work. Even though a lot of us are a little tired of running at this point of the year, I wanted to get out and hit up a different locale. The Town Square area is a great spot that we haven’t hit up for a while, so, that’s where I wanted to head.
The irony of the whole thing is that Sparta regular Arsenal joined us, because I think he was looking for a little less running this morning versus the 4-5 miles usually put in by the Spartans. FWIW, it was a little more than 2 miles, so, technically, he got what he wanted.
The traveling COP was intended to help break up the run to the Town Hall and keep the group together. It was not without a couple of bumps.
First, there was the female BB&T employee who ventured out from the bank to her truck to find us working on good squat form.
Then, things really got out of hand when we were in the parking lot off of Cotton Gin Alley. When I called for the hillbilly, Slim Fast just started lobbing grenades at Tweetsie, calling it the mating dance of App State alums. While they were throwing jabs at each other, the rest of us were trying to, you know, actually do the exercise called. Then Slim tried to Q jack a bit by counting the number of reps he finished versus everyone else. #TexasMath
The 1-2-3 is a simple F3 staple that is always easy to throw out, but not necessarily easy to accomplish. All of the PAX just ripped it. Also, there were a lot of good sweat angels/imprints on the bricks and pavement that we were all admiring.
When the meet-your-partner portion was called, I rounded the turn to the meeting spot, and Sardine just came flying through like he was a car in a Fast and Furious movie. I was actually a little afraid he wouldn’t be able to stop amidst all that #LarryBird-ing.
About halfway through the lunge walk, there was grumbling, and for good reason. It was perhaps a little far. Of course, when I called for a modification to just go ahead and meet up, Tweetsie decided to back up to make me come all the way to the exact middle. Thanks.
The final bit of absurdity came when we were stuck at the Trade/John intersection, with its notoriously slow light. So, there we are, a bunch of guys just doing squats on the corner. Don’t mind us. Thumper and a couple of other PAX decided to take an available window and jaywalk (jayrun?) across the street and get moving. Those of us who respect the law were not too far behind.
Swiss Miss says there is a website where you can offer feedback on the performance of stop lights — I think we all need to lodge a complaint. After all, we are legion.
Oh, also, #kotters to Early Bird and Entourage! Great to have both of you back.
Sound off with any #mumblechatter I might have missed. Excellent work all around … you guys make Peak great and are what F3 is all about. It’s an honor to lead y’all.