May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.
- Irish proverb
With AOs closed on the patron saint of Ireland’s big day (St. Patrick’s Day), YHC jumped at the opportunity to Q Tortoises in order to pre-celebrate all things Irish with a rough-and-tumble group of HIMs. As mentioned in the pre-blast, each PAX would enjoy a St. Patty’s Day-inspired beat down, accompanied by a selection of Irish drinking (and fight) songs.
Warm-up
17 Gaelic warriors assembled on the black tar fields of County Tortoise on a blustery, dark March morning. After a quick pledge to the Stars n’ Stripes, the warriors moseyed to the lower parking lot. As YHC fumbled with his phone and speaker, the warriors proceeded with a number of Good Mornings. We ended up with somewhere between 8 and 13 – the exact number remains a mystery. The group then continued with a series of 3-17s (March 17 – 3/17 – St. Patty’s Day…get it?).
- 3 Burpees and 17 SSHs
- 3 Burpees and 17 Imperial Walkers
- 3 Burpees and 17 Sir Fazios
- 3 Burpees and 17 Windmills
Thang 1
Partner up and grab a cinder block. YHC then introduced a variation of a Dora called “The Leprechaun”.
Round 1 included 150 Plank Jacks (hands on the cinder block), 150 Squats (holding your cinder block) and 17 Burpees. 150+150+17=317. Partners switch off with a run / walk around the parking lot in between. The group helped Frisco and partner finish off 5 Burpees. Quick recovery with 17 fast feet on the curb.
Round 2 included 150 shoulder taps (hands on cinder block), 150 curls and 17 burpees. The group once again assisted Frisco and partner finish off 10 burpees. More fast feet fun again at the curb.
Thang 2
Circle up for a progressive Ring of Fire, starting with a 2 count, eventually ending with 5. After a smattering of counting in Spanish, German, Hindi, Gibberish and pain, YHC stopped the fun after the round of 4.
Put away the cinder blocks and quickly lunge to the nearest parking island. Paint the lines as we head back down to the lower parking lot.
Mary
17 American Hammers (Trike), 17 LBCs (Ninjago), another 17 American Hammers (Frisco), and YHC closed it out with 17 Homer-to-Marge.
COT
17 was indeed the lucky number – 17 HIMs / Gaelic warriors – welcome FNG Geddy!
Announcements – Ninjago will be Qing Tortoises at some point in April (YHC doesn’t remember date); bread breaking post-SNS @6:45
Prayers / Praises – Crimson’s father-in-law has left hospital and will be spending his remaining days at home; Ascot’s brother in medical school awaiting residency location (fingers crossed for Wake Forest); Ausfarht’s recovery; Krispy Kreme’s F3 brother in South Carolina passed away during a recent 15K run; apologies if I missed any one/thing
YHC took us out.
NMS
Mixed reviews on the music this morning. While the group enjoyed the Irish pub classics, they weren’t as big of fans of the harder stuff, courtesy of The Dropkick Murphy’s, The Pogues and Flogging Molly. Judge for yourself: https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/502d26056d47442aa33345b9539bf3c5sune?ref=dm_sh_9efd-4c74-dmcp-98cc-2a92e&musicTerritory=US&marketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER
This is my third time Qing in the past 6 weeks. Each time gets more-and-more enjoyable…thanks to all of the PAX who keep me motivated enough to hit the gloom almost every single day.