YHC was in Greenland a few years ago. February 2009 to be exact. Saw the first sunrise over Thule on 2/14 that trip. You don’t want to vacation there. Trust me on that one. It’s dark, it’s deadly cold, and they have signs with polar bears on them that say DANGER: THIS ANIMAL WILL HUNT YOU, KILL YOU, AND EAT YOU! First thing that happened to me when I got there in -26 degree wind chill was head to the base supply depot and be issued a parka. I needed it.
So Saturday was literally a blast from that past. YHC, Tiger, and Breaker headed out on a EC ruck just to see what the cold was like. It was ok until we got the wind going. My default was no matter what I was not going to get anyone hurt in those conditions. So YHC defaulted to some movement to get us the best workout we could and not be exposed to the wind. So when 7 am came YHC got Breaker to take the blocks down to the parking deck in East Berlin (the new F3 name for the apartment complex at the Chronicle Mill). Sargento had led us down there the week before on an EC ruck and we figured this was a good spot to escape extreme conditions. And 9 degrees with a stiff wind certainly qualifies as extreme. So we moseyed over from the Yank and here’s kind of what happened:
COP:
SSH X 20
IWs X 20
Gravel Pickers X 20
Grapevines
Mtn. Climbers X 20
DORA 1-2-3, Partner up guys!
100 Blockies – P2 runs over to the complex and back. watch the ice patches!
200 OH presses – same as above on P2-P1.
300 Swings (this one was the rough puppy!)
Time for some Bull in the Ring. The way we do this is take the sandbag and lift it up over your head if you’re in the ring and throw it over your head (if you can), rinse and repeat 5X.
Time for some weight and wall work. get a coupon, ruck, or KB (we had enough for the 10 of us) and put it over at the parking stop. Wall sit. Then we do 10 hip slappers, 10 donkey kicks, then bear crawl over to the stops and do 10 dead lifts. Burpee broad jump back to the wall. Rinse and repeat 3X.
Time to wrap it up. Ring formation, SSHs and burpee on the call. Went through this @ 12 times.
Cleaned up the blocks and weights. COT in the deck.
NMM:
Yeah as Tiger said at coffee “glad that S–t’s over”. Spoke for every damn one of us. But we showed up, we did it and we did it as much for each other as anything. And that’s the real lesson here. Staying in and not out as Big Ted would have said “getting it on you” would have been permissible. Except to us. We don’t, we can’t roll that way. You have to take things on and bust through them. The guys who showed up here today are the reliable ones. They’re going ot lead and be the example when the chips are down. Not just when it’s nice and easy. We’re not about easy, We’re about strong. And that means it’s going to test you. And if it’s a real test it’s physical, mental, and spiritual in nature. And you will likely experience failure along the way. Which if it’s a tough test is OK. BTW, you’re going to have a significant portion of the population think you’re crazy or demean you for trying. Well, that just means they’re envious of your effort. Especially after you get back up. With any luck whatsoever they may actually get in the fight themselves! That’s when we can begin to claim some measure of victory over Goo Nation. And God knows we need that right now!
Would we want to do this again. Hell no! Would we do it again. Hell yeah we would! Because it’s who we have become. A better version of ourselves. I know I have. And I know a lot of you have.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Tesla