Rocky 3 and 4 were on earlier this week, and if those movies don’t get you in the mood to exercise, you might want to double check down below and make sure you’ve got a pair-just saying. Good movies, not for everyone, but I think they do the job when you need some motivation. I was able to get the weinke done quickly, but overextended myself and had to modify this morning. We still made it thru and got a sufficient beatdown, however I was reminded about the importance of daily merkins-I felt better a few months ago when we had the merkin monthly challenge so guess I need to get back to doing those on a daily basis-really makes a difference.
Here is what I remember:
WU: IC X 10-ish: SSH, Merkins, Squats then JUMP ROPE X 20-ish, mosey to the flag, pledge, Rocky Balboa’s on the curb X 20, 10 Burpees OYO, then mosey to the steps at FPC.
Quick Explanation of overall plan related to Rocky-20 Merkins at bottom of stairs, run up stairs with arms up in victory position like Rocky. 20 Hip Slappers at top then down the steps. Keep walking steps until 6 finished then rinse and repeat.
Things got a little hazy for me at that point. I reminded the Pax at the end of Rocky 3 that Rocky had to pay back a favor to Apollo Creed if he won the fight against Clubber Lang. Some of the pax thought the favor was something about a fight. I quickly corrected them and explained this “favor” was actually a burpee challenge and Rocky/Apollo had a burpee battle so we would do something like that. My original plan was 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 in 1 minute intervals, then back down. My burpee limit was reached by the time we hit 10 so it was cut short. My apologies today, but you can bet this will not happen again. We moseyed to the grassy field for the next exercise. We lined up on 1 end of the field, lunged across then moseyed back to start. We then sprinted across the field (remember the beach scene with Rocky and Apollo?) and moseyed back. Think we did this twice??
We then moseyed back to the stairs and this is where things really went dark for me. I know we did the merkins/hip slapper routine on the stairs again, various other exercises named by me but led by a few of the pax, but all I remember is some squats by DaVinci. Thankfully he stopped at 60. We cooled down with some high knees, butt kickers, karaoke through the parking lot, moseyed back to start with a little wall sit, then finished with dying Bandits, I mean cockroaches as the bells of freedom rang.
Somewhere along the way I tried to remind everyone of why we are out here by briefly talking about part of the book Freedom from Fear that we are discussing at the Tuesday, 6am Ao at Harris Teeter. We are out here to help each other-sure we want to get in better shape, but I promise you I can do that at a different time of day on my own, at least for a little while. I am out here for the guys sweating next to me, for the guys who were starting the marathon or half marathon this morning as the freedom bells were ringing, for the guy pedaling the bike with one pedal as he cheered on his brothers who were busting their butts to push themselves past the point of exhaustion. Life is tough-we all know that. Having someone to shield lock with makes it a lot more bearable and gives me something to look forward to each day, whether it is weekday or weekend. Later in the day I was at my 2.0’s church basketball game and at halftime they do a quick message-today was about what was important about getting out there and playing basketball. The most important thing is to love God and love each other. Be there for the person next to you and pick them up when they are down, but also love yourself and allow yourself to make mistakes without beating yourself up-great message for these 10 year old kids (and their parents). In a nutshell, he was talking about a version of the shield lock. We just take it to a different level with F3, in my opinion, because of the amount of time we spend with each other and the quantity of sweat we collectively spill each week in the gloom.
EVERY TIME I come out here I am reminded about the privilege it is to be out here with all of you. Sure, I feel the aftershocks later in the day when I am walking up the stairs or getting off the can, but that always puts a smile on my face. Also, I get a little extra special burst of joy when my wife looks at me and asks if I am going out to exercise in the rain. Life is never as long as we want it to be-make sure you find a way to spend your time wisely. My time with F3 has never been a disappointment. Thanks for reminding me of that every day.
Congrats to the Charleston Runners (and biker). I know I enjoyed the pictures and videos. That was a great accomplishment for all of you.
Whoopee