The Highs, the Lows and the Long Haul
There are a lot of things that YHC cannot get his head wrapped around. One being how one woman would stay connected to me for 33 years…..I say it, but yet I can’t believe it. Monday’s workout was themed around the stages of our marriage.
The Highs…..The 82nd Airborne days were coming to a close. I received a letter in the mail, snail mail that is, that said I was “cleared to come on board”. The is secret speak for “you have been hired by the CIA”. In two shakes of a dog’s tail, I was married, out of the Army and showing up in Northern Virginia. The next 12 years were a blur with travels to England, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, Singapore, Hawaii, Havana and Chicago. My career was advancing very nicely but we did move 11 times in twelve years. How anyone puts up with that is amazing but the stress was building. After twelve years, it was time to move overseas again. We had a decision to make.
The Lows…..We left that lifestyle not because I resented the CIA. Hell, I absolutely loved it. The thrill, the fast pace, the secrets, the excitement….wow. But, when kids start growing, it’s not so good. We moved to small town Apex to be near family and have stability for kids. That was a win, of course, but the lack of movement or direct engagement in global high stakes affairs left me feeling empty. Going to work, coming home, rinse and repeat at a company (Nortel Networks) that was on the downhill slide definitely put us in a rut. These were the lows….When your career is in a rut, other things follow.
The Long Haul….As you slowly accept the changes in your life, you embrace them and even look at the 82nd and CIA days and tell yourself, “I’m sure glad I did that then and I don’t want to do it now”. Army, Agency, they both take a lot of commitment and sacrifice. You begin to embrace what exactly you have in little old Apex. You also begin to realize you are not so young anymore and you had best start appreciating what you have. That is where I am at now. This is the long haul that I have fully embraced with the M.
She has supported me through the crazy moving years as well as the rut years…..Now, as kids have graduated college and I am nearing retirement, we are in a very good space. My number one job is to make sure she knows she is my number one. And, as witnessed yesterday by her caring of me after my surgery, I am pretty certain I am her number one, too. What a good place to be, indeed.
Monday, 11/12/18 at A-Team, the workout was built around these three periods of our marriage.
The Highs, the Lows and the Long Haul……
9 PAX, No FNGs
Warm Up
Nice brisk run to the first parking lot on the right. Standard warm up stuff.
SSH, Imperial Walkers, GMs, Merkins, etc
Thang 1 – The HIGHs
Brisk run from the parking lot to the main road.
Double B-L-I-M-P-S with 10 of everything.
50 yards up, 10 burpees…..25 yards back, 10 burpees.
50 yards up, 10 lunges….25 yards back, 10 lunges.
Etc, etc. The goal with the 50 up 25 back sequence was to not lose anyone.
This was high paced no breaks. We were on a high.
Thang 2 – The LOWs
On the Basketball court:
Bear crawls across, mosey back, rinse and repeat.
BTTW
Bear crawls across, mosey back, rinse and repeat.
BTTW
The LOWs was our rut period. One year looked just like the previous year.
Thang 3 – The LONG Haul
This is when we started getting on the same page, working together, digging in for the long haul.
Partner up at the pickle and run opposite ways. At the meet up, 10 partner merkins.
On the other half of the pickle, partner burpees.
Everyone working together.
Indian run back to the meet up parking lot. All together, all working together.
Mary
Just to ensure the PAX didn’t forget the theme, All You Got to the end of the parking lot, bear crawl across the curve and mosey back. Another reference to the highs, lows and the long haul.
In the spirit of the long haul, Mary consisted of:
Homer to Marge
Pickle Pounder
Hello Dolly
Ja Lo’s
Dying Cockaroaches
Have a nice day
Announcements
Prayers for Chipper’s mom who is getting better
and Repeato’s co worker who just had a baby
YHC shared with the group his upcoming surgery
Hello Kitty took us out.
NMS
YHC did get a chuckle when at the basket ball court doing constant bear crawls, one PAX (Chipper I believe) said “when the hell do we get out of the lows?”. The lows can seem to be a long time.
When YHC saw IMP show up, that was a sign I needed to up my game. This old man can’t let such a young stud like IMP down. I tried to push him to the point where he was glad he posted. YHC is always cognizant of these fine young men who get out of bed looking for a good workout. I hope I didn’t disappoint him.
YHC is very thankful to be associated by such a group of fine men. The DM’s of a speedy recovery have been very much appreciated. YHC will be right back at it next Monday after a week of recovery.