09/07/2020 - Dark Tower - Black Diamond- Labor Day Edition
AO: Dark Tower
When: 09/07/2020
PAX:
Number of Pax: 11
Pax Names: Aladdin, Augustus Gloop, Baby Hands, Boxcutter, Curds, Hootie, Niners, Percy, Serena, Thumb Drive,
DR Names:
Number of FNGS: 0
FNG Names: w
QIC: smokey
Introduction
With the blessing of Black Diamond Godfathers Fib and Babyhands, we did a little changeup and pushed back the start time by an hour for Labor Day. The pre blast sold a lack of math. Not much counting = more mumble chatter. FakeID, Shandy, and Uncle Rico were among the first to be all over the pre blast.
I rolled in at 5:50 and was excited to see ThumbDrive, who slept through his regular BC alarm and decided to join the 6am workout instead. Aladdin told him it was just like a normal workout…
Serena, Boxcutter, Augustus Gloop, Percy, and Niners were also taking on a Black Diamond for the 1st or 2nd time.
6 bells rolled around and we circled up.
Warm-O-Rama
We warmed up with rotations on a 10 count, switching directions at the 5. Neck, shoulders, hips, and knees. After some pops and cracks, we were off.
The Thang
We crossed Aurora Ave on the run and went towards the first Thang. NCHS has 30 some odd large traffic cones in a line in the parking lot. PAX had to hurdle them on the run as we ran towards the stadium.
Thang 1: PAX each picked out a cement box bench. 5 rounds of 30 seconds of box jumps, 30 seconds of step ups, 10 seconds of rest. For the final round YHC tried to slide in 60 seconds of each, but Percy and Aladdin caught on quick.
Run to the newly completed turf field next to the tennis courts
Thang 2: Bear Crawl ladders. Partner up. Partner 1 bear crawls to the 10 yard line, then sprints back. Partner 2 bear crawls to the 20 yard line, then sprints back. Partner 3 bear crawls to the 30 yard line…etc to the goal line. While you are not bear crawling/running, you can pick Clapping Merkins (into Merkins as you tire), Stand up Big Boy Situps (into regular big boy setups as you tire), or jump squats (into squats as you tire).
The intent was to end at the goal line, but BabyHands and Curds reminded me that you have to come down a ladder too, so….we climbed our way back down the ladder, bear crawling 90 yards, 80, 70…. Hard stop at 0640 to move on to other shenanigans.
Run to the football fields by the playground where a 2 man blocking sled was waiting.
Thang 3: PAX lined up to form a tunnel. 2 pax on the 2 man sled. All other PAX (forming the tunnel) do 10 straight count SSH’s. The PAX on the blocking sled push hard for those 10 seconds. Whichever PAX side is farther at the end of the SSH’s is the winner and stays. Loser does 5 burpees and joins the tunnel. Each PAX went at least once on the sled.
Run to the playground when Hootie complained we didn’t get to do any pull-ups yet.
Thang 4: Partner up. 1 partner plank position. 1 partner dead hang somewhere on the playground. Go. Whoever drops position first loses and does 5 burpees. No surprise- planks won every time….although Hootie gave BabyHands a run for his money.
0655- Hard run back to Dark Tower.
Circle of Trust
Fantastic to see (intentionally or not) that over half of the group was first or second timers to the Black Diamond workout. Dredd and Dark Helmet always point out, you get faster by running with other men. I heard University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari once say that his most successful line in landing blue chip recruits is telling them “If you go to the gym and you’re the best guy in it, you’re in the wrong gym.” Every man out there today got a push and earned it. It was a great thing to be a part of.
Closed with a prayer of thanks and hope to carry us through the day.
Naked Man Moleskin
Thumb Drive’s accidental Black Diamond was awesome. FakeID must have gotten one heck of a workout on his own at The Complex, because he never made it over. Shandy and Uncle Rico must have shown up after we left the tower, because we never saw them.
The new turf field is outstanding. Squats, Merkins or Big Boys were the optional exercises while your partner bear crawled. That quickly turned into Big Boys for almost everyone! Serena and Percy were the loudest about cursing my name during bear crawls. Even at 0630, the 100% humidity ensured plenty of whiskey and beer was sweat out on the new field turf.
Plenty of PAX shook off 20 years of rust and had a strong showing on the blocking sleds. Niners was a force to be reckoned with.
Hootie showed us what a 51 year old obstacle course designer can do when he went hand over hand for the length of some of the kid things on the playground.
The final push back to DT was a burner and everyone left winded. Thanks for joining in men!