Believe or not, I had a plan for today. At 0545, nine men headed off for bootcamp.
WARM UP
Jog to the lower lot and circle up for:
SSH
Merkins
Good Mornings
Abe Vigodas
Squats
Fazios
THE THANG
YHC had everyone get a partner, then I explained the premise. We would run laps around the large lot in pairs, however I would be guiding the conversation. In between each set of laps, 10 Merkins, 20 Squats, 30 LBCs as a group.
Round 1: Share with your partner a recent victory in your life
Round 2: Share with your partner something you are struggling with currently
Round 3: Offer some encouragement or advice to your partner based on what he just shared with you
Round 4: Share with your partner hopes, dreams, or aspirations you have
Since there were nine men, I was the odd man out. That meant I got to sort of roam from group to group to eavesdrop on the conversations. I’m happy to report, this little experiment achieved it’s intended effect. The PAX did an outstanding job of cutting through the typical useless small talk and had themselves real, honest, deep conversation with another man.
Having sincere conversations and sharing personal information can also be difficult for a lot of men, so I aspired to help the men get some practice. Unsurprisingly, these guys crushed it.
From there, we did some light pole work (and I mean light-pole work; not light, pole work): at each light, two triple merkins burpees and 10 squats. We did that until we got to the community center parking lot. After a short asthma break for YHC, we jogged to the rock pile for a few rounds of rock work. Curls, People’s Chair, triceps extensions, BTTW, shoulder presses, rock rows, people’s chair again, curls again, then we ran out of time.
We picked up a stray feline on the way back to the parking lot. He kept meowing something about a pie-eating contest. Who knew cats like pie so much?
Back at the lot…
MARY
PAX choice: Freddy Mercury’s, LBCs, and a lap around the lot (i know, I scoffed at first too, but then I realized that extra lap pushed us over two miles for the day, so it’s all good)
COT
Count-o-rama: 14 fearless fanatics; 9 bootcampers, 2 ruckers, 3 runners
Name-o-rama: Still 14; Two HONORs; handful of Respects; buncha meh, and a Hate in a pear tree
Announcements: Carpex Culture Month starts first full week of October. Check the announcements channel on slack for details. Pig pick’n also coming up, sign up is live.
Prayers/Praises: Hotspot’s daughter (praise)
NMS
It’s been a really hard couple years for YHC for a multitude of reasons. However as I thought about how I’ve made it through the chaos relatively healthy, I wondered what positive things contributed to that. I came up with a list and near the top was the fact that I’ve had some really honest and deep conversations with men about my struggles and circumstances. I’m grateful I have good friends to talk about those sorts of things with, so I wanted to bring some of that to a workout. The PAX humored me and went along with the bit. It wasn’t the hardest workout in the world, but I know it wasn’t necessarily a comfortable one. So good on ya, boys.
See you in the gloom
-Callahan