Preamble
It was 1985 when YHC saw my first Jimmy Buffett concert. Before that, I had been a casual fan. But on that night at Carowinds, I fell in love with the music, the lyrics, the energy, the good times vibe, the lifestyle, the escape his music offered, and the man. I would go on to see him 15 or so (I lost count) more times in places like Carowinds (again), Blossom Music Center near Cleveland, Buckeye Lake near Columbus, PNC Arena – the only time I’ve seen him indoors – and of course, Walnut Creek Amphitheater. I used to play Jimmy Buffet and put the headphones on my wife’s belly when she was pregnant with our first child because I wanted her to be a Buffett fan. I got to introduce 2 of my sons to Buffett at shows in Raleigh. So as you can imagine, I took the news of his passing on 9/1 hard.
The week before, the MOAB site Qs did the unfathomable, something very un-MOABy: they attempted to cancel MOAB because BRR runners were leaving for the mountains on the day of the monthly scheduled AO. The origin of MOAB (Mother of All Beatdowns) was to come and challenge yourself for 75 minutes and to do what you thought you couldn’t. To push yourself past your mental barriers. Cancel MOAB? I don’t think so. So YHC un-cancelled MOAB and picked up the Q. FTL and stuff. As soon as I learned of Jimmy’s passing, a plan began to form to honor the GOAT at the GOATiest of all Carpex AOs. Well, after we honored him with 2 gigantic pitchers of margaritas (Boat Drinks) at the lake over the weekend anyway. With that, 9 HIM showed up – many for the first time – to test their mettle, to improve the cut of their jib, to get better.
The Thang
We started off with the Pascagoula Run, a roughly 1.5 mile jog across 64 and over to the bottom of the hill where we did a quick warm-up of
- Bend a Little (Good Mornings)
- Wings (arm circles)
- Fins (side plan star crunches – fins the left, then fins to the right)
We then did a routine called Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude – 5s on a nasty hill with Lovely Cruises (4-count Boat/Canoes) at the bottom and Living and Dying in 3/4 Time (Worlds Worst Merkin Burpees) at the top.
After the 6 was in, we proceeded to the next cart path intersection and veered off into the gloom of the golf course, stopping at the bridge – where I thought it would be cooler – for:
- Growing Older But Not Up (Squat Hold with a 10-count around the circle)
- Come Mondays (Pickle Pounders – yeah, you get it)
We did more Pascagoula Run on the cart path meandering around the greens and the fairways and such, stopping for Southern Crosses once at the top of a hill, exiting onto Annandale, then on to the intersection with Glasgow where we did Volcanoes (Copperhead Squat Jumps – don’t forget the eruption at the end). We proceeded down to the lake bridge where we paused to do One Particular Harbors (LBCs). YHC considered jumping in at this point. Good lord, it was hot. And steamy.
From here we Wonder Why We Ever Go Home jogged up to Edinburg, made the turn toward home, and proceeded back across 64 back to the flag.
We started to do 6-String Music (a series of 6 sprints). YHC called an audible after 2 and we moseyed back to the start, circled up, and finished off with some Mary before ending exactly on time. As planned.
Mary
- Nautical Wheelers (O-Face)
- Son of a Son of a Sailor (American Hammers with rowing motion on both sides)
- Stranded on a Sandbar (inverted arm and leg flutters)
- Fruitcakes (crab cakes)
COT
- Count-a-rama
- Name-a-rama
- Announcements (9/11 stair climb, The Deacon on 9/16, the Odyssey on 10/14)
- Prayers (Callie’s travel and for his family)
- BOM (YHC took us out)
NMS
- We had 6 for Boat Drinks (coffeeteria) afterward
- If you haven’t guessed, the names of the exercises are all Jimmy Buffett songs and/or album names, sometimes both
- In the case of Living and Dying in 3/4 Time, it is both the name of an album and a line in the song Nautical Wheelers. The more you know.
- Jimmy Buffett was not a one-hit wonder as some of our younger PAX believed. Open your mind to the music and the way of life he sang about, boys
- Nothing summarizes what MOAB is about more than the lyrics in Jimmy’s song Wings
We have wings that we can’t see
We have wheels on our feet
Way up high we’ll be free
On these wings we can’t see
- I’m proud of the 8 HIM who joined me and was honored to have led them
- Go Pack. F the Irish. Go Neers, GTHC. HTTR. DBB