08/04/2020 - The Citadel - Let’s find some balance
AO: The Citadel
When: 08/04/2020
PAX:
Number of Pax: 11
Pax Names: Blow Dry, CVS, Flo, Handy Manny, Mr. Hankey, Nala, Sosa, Sweet Gherkins, Thumb Drive, Tigers, Twilight,
DR Names:
Number of FNGS: 0
FNG Names:
QIC: Nala
Introduction
Got up this morning and rolled out of bed. First thought that crossed my head as I felt the cool air coming in the window was to roll back into bed and get under the covers. Seems like we’ve had a few PAX fartsack their own Q. How bad would it be to join the ranks of that group?
Decided that would probably not be a good idea, rolled out of bed, and then wrestled with what to wear. It was cool outside – I wasn’t planning on running around to get warm. Should I wear sleeves? Nah… let’s go with the clothes I pulled out, and stop stalling, time to get over to the Citadel.
I pulled into the parking lot just a couple minutes after 5, and was surprised to see that Twilight beat me there. He always comes early to a workout to do some rubber bandy type stretching before getting started. I feel bad that I get out and just stand around before a workout. What surprised me, though is that he never HCd, so I sort of expected to be first to arrive.
After messing around in the car for just a few minutes to make sure that the speaker (my own AAR from last Q) was synced to my phone, I got out to start moving around before time to warm up.
More PAX started to pull in (except Mr. Hankey who somehow sneaked across the parking lot with his coupon unseen by YHC), and 5:15 hit, so the disclaimer was announced and off we went!
Warm-O-Rama
It was cool, and YCH wants to stay true to the promise of little running, but we had to move to get muscles warm so we did
20 High Knees in Cadence
10 Arm Circles in Cadence forward and backward
YHC felt like we should move about a bit so we did 2 capri laps around the library lot, mixing in some butt kicks and high knees as we did. We made our way back to the circle and then did
20 Tappy Taps in cadence
50 SSH in cadence, but YHC sped up every 10. Between 40 and 50, Flo seemed to be the only person counting, which helped, because we were moving as fast as possible and YHC completely lost count.
After that silliness ended YHC was expecting a bit of mumblechatter, but it was oddly silent, so we grabbed our coupons and moseyed our way to the northwest corner of the church parking lot to start Thang 1…
The Thang
Once we got there, I explained what we would be doing – it would be a modified DORA, sort of like a Flora, but not by the exicon. The exercises were
100 Merkins, Partner 1 does 10 merkins, partner 2 holds plank. Flapjack, rinse and repeat until 100 are done
200 LBCs, Partner 2 (yes for some reason YHC explained it that way) does 20 LBCs, partner 1 stands and holds Cusak in place. Flapjack, rinse and repeat until 200 are done
300 squats, Partner 1 does 30 squats, partner 2 holds chair pose (YHC knows a couple yoga thangs, but is way not flexible enough to do a broga workout). Flapjack, rinse and repeat until 300 are done. Somewhere around 150 or so, this was regrettable. Mr. Hankey said he would rather do squats than hold chair, which YHC was feeling as well. Quads were burning!
As pax finished, we moseyed around the western side of the lot until all were done. Flo, site q extraordinaire, worked his way over to encourage the last partners to finish up. Once everyone was moseying, we made our way back to our coupons and moseyed to the warning track of the south baseball field for Thang 2…
Once we all made our way to the outfield, YHC explained what we would be doing, it would be 2 sets of an exercise, with a jog after each set from the warning track to the infield and back. First set would be balancing on the right foot, second set would be balancing on the left foot.
First exercise was 15 tempo curls. Seems like as soon as we started, and picked up the left foot to balance, YHC did a decent job balancing, Tigers was steady as a rock, as was Thumb Drive. Blow Dry teetered a bit, but got it under control. After set one, we took off for the infield, and then back to the warning track. Since some were faster than others, we held chair for just a few seconds until everyone was in, then did set 2, followed by another run, and holding people’s chair.
Next exercise was 15 tempo overhead presses. YHC cheated and tapped his toes for balance during set 1, and was focused so hard on keeping balance, couldn’t see what other pax were doing. Perhaps Handy Manny even wobbled a bit, but not likely. Hard to trip up a dude with over 600 posts…
After 2 sets of overhead presses, coupons were hoisted, and we moseyed over to the pavilion. Pax spread out and did 30 dips, then came back to hold plank until all were done. This was a good way to kill a couple minutes. Once all were in, coupons were grabbed, and we made our way back to the flags for a bit of Mary.
Mary consisted of just a couple exercises –
15 LBCs in cadence with legs on the right to make it an oblique crunch, then 15 with the legs to the left.
Long plank hold with the following variations, each held for around 10 seconds or so – right arm forward, regular, left arm forward, regular, right leg up, regular, left leg up, regular, right side plank, regular, left side plank, regular, left arm AND right leg up, regular, right arm AND left leg up, regular.
Circle of Trust
YHC shared a bit of history about being a staff person at the YMCA for around 15 years. As an aquatics director YHC conducted a lot of staff training. The Y does a good job of putting a bit of history into the training it provides staff, which helps provide context for what the Y is about. The Y started in 1844 in London, and then moved to the USA in 1851. It wasn’t until much later in the 1800s, though, that the Y started to get beyond being sort of a halfway house. That is when they introduced physical activity into what they were doing, launched by the Springfield YMCA (which actually happened to be, and still is, a college). This was inspired by the book “Muscular Christianity”. This is something that was not only adopted by the Y, but also by several churches at the time. I think that it applies to all faith, not just Christianity. The idea behind this principle is that we need to take a holistic approach to well-being. It isn’t just about physical fitness, it is about spirit, mind and body. All three parts. In fact, the upside down triangle represents the balance of spirit, mind and body. The Y also lists them in that order intentionally, because it is hard to develop physically without a sound mind, and it’s hard to develop mental wellness if the spiritual side of things is all out of whack. YHC sometimes finds when he is at a plateau with one thing or another, it means it’s time to refocus on spiritual well being, and strengthen the soul. This will help everything fall into place to push past the barrier. Right now, this is especially important, as every conversation it seems revolves around either COVID, Trump, or social justice. It’s easy to get distracted.
Let us pray – Father God, we thank you for this beautiful morning, were we could get up and push ourselves without getting overheated. We thank you for the strength that you give us to go out and get after it. Thank you for the brotherhood we have in F3, which sometimes allows us to push each other, or pick each other up when we stumble. Also, special prayers for Zima and Mr. Miyagi. We know that you will hold these two men in your hands and take care of their needs in the way that you know is best. Finally, thank you for your guiding light, to help us be the best we can be every day.
In Jesus’ name
Naked Man Moleskin
Remembered to ask for AAR today, and got mostly compliments. I corrected myself from the last beatdown to make sure I had some music if we weren’t going to be running around much. I probably could use work on cuing exercises to make sure that we are all moving together, and will try to continue to get better. Thank you all for coming out this morning!