witch slappers

A bunch of guys showed up today for some work. Most of us dressed for the cooler weather. Then there was Dr. Seuss. In shorts and short sleeves. And 1 big grin and no complaining at all. We started with a disclaimer, the pledge, then a quick warmup and got to work. We moseyed to the school where I had some coupons laid out but bypassed them for a few rounds of hip slappers. That got us warmed up good so we got to the coupons for some instructions: split into 2 groups, group 1: grab a coupon and get 22 step ups on the rock-like objects in front of the school; group 2: mosey to end of lot for 22 Merkins. Each trip for Merkins drop 2 reps, and each trip to the coupons get 22 step ups. Coupons included 40# dumbbells, 30# ruck plate, sandbag, ruck, and 2 collections of marble-wrapped in towels or pool noodle floatie stuff. We did about 5-6 trips then moved on to some book learnin’. I am reading a book by Ryan Holiday who does a podcast on stoicism and has written some books also….more on that below. The book is called Discipline is Destiny and so far it’s pretty good.

It was about this time that the wheels came off. I tried to do an Indian run with 2 lines but couldn’t remember how to make it work right. We carried 2 coupons, took turns leading the lines, and ran around the parking lot 1 time. It was not pretty, but we did it anyway. After that general screw up, we did some more hip slappers and even considered slapping the hip (or other body part) of the pax next to you and calling it Witch Slappers (or Bitch Slappers). We also talked about the Wall of Thermopylae exercise (ask an old guy if you don’t know what that is) then moved on to the next exercise: 11’s-we did overhead claps on the far end and LBC’s on the near end. We jumped our way to the far side and nurred our way back. Thankfully no Anthraxes were injured during the nurring. A few reps in I shortened the distance that we hopped/jumped. Jumping is way under-rated. That is tough. At this point I asked Broke would he rather run or do hip slappers……back on the wall for another round of hip slappers. I think I like Broke. Anybody who chooses hip slappers over running is aaallllrriiiggghhhhtttt in my book.

Time was getting short so we grabbed the coupons, moseyed to start for some tag team suicides/plank with the light posts for a few rounds, and then ended with a few rounds of speed Mary and COT.

This was a good day for me-got started early, put in some work with some great guys, and had fun doing it. The part of the book that I mentioned above reading this am was about getting up early. It talked about a single mom who would get up early to write (she was a writer for magazines) and once her kids got up, she couldn’t focus as much on the work so she started early every day. There was also a quote from Marcus Aurelius’s book Meditations where he is trying to convince himself to get out of bed and says to himself: “Is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?” Another author he quotes believes Christ recommended rising early in the morning by rising from his grave very early and says maybe that is why quiet mornings seem so holy. He suggests that we are tapping into the traditions of our ancestors who rose early to pray, farm, and do other necessary tasks early in the morning.

He goes on to say this: “When you have trouble waking up, when you find it hard, remind yourself of who you come from, remind yourself of the tradition, remind yourself of what is at stake….Think of how lucky you are. Be glad to be awake. Feel the joy of being able to do what you love. Cherish the time. But most of all, use it.”

Hope you all got something out of this morning besides some physical exercise. The time that I spent with F3 guys is never wasted. Taking some time to slow down and enjoy each other is important. What if I told you I only had 10 more times that I could post…..ever? What if I told you YOU only had 10 more times to post ever? Think about that for a minute. It’s a bit cliche, but remember, none of us is promised tomorrow. Cherish the time. But most of all, USE IT. And use it wisely.

thanks for coming out this morning guys-Whoopee