I’d Grab It If I Could Find It

Shrinkage ran rampant through the PAX on a frosty Saturday morning as a number of PAX came and went, but 11 were there for the bootcamp, and here’s what I remember:

YHC planned for a cold day, and it was just that, though maybe a touch warmer than expected.  Still, there was plenty of sand below Tesla’s favorite line, and we all complained about it.

YHC ran with Alma Mater before the bootcamp, and he pulled a Quiche and stuck around for warmup.  Tiger, Breaker, and some others got out there to get in some early miles too.  Part of the Core Principles is to just get out in the elements.  Safety is important (it is third after all), but comfort isn’t, so glad to see guys pushing the rock in the cold weather.

The Thang:

• 10 x SSH (IC)
• 10 x Don Qs (IC)
• 10 x SSH (IC)
• 10 x Toy Soldiers (IC)
• 10 x SSH (IC)
• 10 x Gravel Pickers (IC)
• 10 x SSH (IC)

Mosey to the long parking lot on Glenway across from the train station.

• 5 x Burpees (just because I guess)

So YHC described the routine as like 11’s, but instead of adding to 11, we’d just start at 10 and work our way down on both ends, until we got to 5, then go back up.  So reps were: 10-9-8-7-6-5-6-7-8-9-10 at both ends.  In the middle, a brief pause both ways, but it wasn’t “Dirty” because we did squats not burpees.  So it wasn’t anything like what was advertised:

• Run towards the far end of the lot
• Stop halfway for
  • 5 x Squats (OYO)
• Run to the end
  • 10 x CDDs (OYO)
  • 10 x Double Crunches (OYO)
• Run back towards the near end of the lot
• Stop halfway for
  • 5 x Squats (OYO)
• Run to the beginning
  • 10 x Merkins (OYO)
  • 10 x American Hammers (OYO)
• Repeato for the rep counts listed above

It was a grind and helped us stay warm, but before you know it, half the workout was over, and all that happened was our nuts froze over, except for Jane Fonda and Tesla.  There’s were dragging the ground in shorts in the cold weather.

Mosey next to The Bunker for a tornado of sorts.  As cold as it was, we were all there for some reason, and it wasn’t necessarily to get faster or show off our strength.  We were there because someone else needed us to be there.  We show up for each other.  So there was still work to be done, but we’d spend some time showing how much we know about each other.

The routine:

• 5 x Burpees (OYO)
• Call on 2 PAX to each call an exercise in cadence
• After the exercises, we say everything we know about each of the two PAX that called the exercises – family, kids, hobbies, job, and anything else we found to discuss
• After they heard all we had to say, it was their turn to offer something we didn’t say
• YHC called either 5 x Imperial Walkers or 5 x Hillbillies IC
• Run a lap and a quarter around the Bunker
• Repeato until we got through all the PAX

With an odd number, YHC was last, and we waited until we got to the flag for mine.

I shared with the guys that the inspiration was just in spending time with my mom.  After over 60 years of a life devoted mostly to caring for others, she is in a spot physically where she can’t be out much.  She said the lack of interaction can make you feel invisible, and it really goes against our needs to just be seen.  So much of what we experience as Sadclowns and men who isolate ourselves is a lack of connection, and that same invisible feeling.  That, among other reasons, has to be why the Fifth Core Principle exists.  To see and be seen.  To be heard and to listen.  To create bonds big enough that The Sifter of life has them catch and stay rather than just pass on through.

Every man who showed up today realized that there are people listening and watching, who know things about them that they may not even know they’d mentioned, and can see blind spots that maybe they themselves can’t.  I can’t tell you how impressed I was at the PAX today who rattled off fact after fact like it was a final exam that they’d been up all night studying for, when it was actually a pop quiz.

The line blurred between the end of the workout and the word and message, but it didn’t matter at that point.  We were frozen and joined by 2 runners who were putting in long miles.  We were also joined by Bruce, who just showed up at COT.  Turns out he knew we would be out there and just wanted to see what we were doing.  Hopefully he will make it back out and we can give him a stupid nickname.

I’m thankful for this group and the HIM who invest in each other in every way they can.  Proud to be one of y’all.

Yabba Dabba Doo