Pookie

Friday (4/19) was an awful day for me. We had to put our dog down that afternoon. Anyone who has that shared experience can experience the gut-wrenching decision of what is best for the dog comes at the expense of the process. Worse yet was the countdown until the 2:15 appointment. I worked from home and Pookie was in her customary spot in the home office within an arms reach. I fed her a box of snacks and treats as my guilt swelled. Pookie was a rescue that began as a two-week foster dog experiment. On day 3 that booger escaped out the door and challenged every bit of F3 fitness I had built to chase her over the neighborhood for 45 minutes in the dark. Once she finally tired to the point of a friend placing a leash around her neck and putting her in the car to return home, I was ready to return her, but my younger daughter pleaded to keep her. We obviously did and she became endeared to our hearts and part of our family. We believe her early life was on a chain in a back yard in the elements without much care or attention. The vet gave her the care and meds help. Pookie survived a tumor from her liver where the Vet estimated we’d have her 6 months at best. She made it almost 2 years. She’s been on joint medication for about 18 months and since Thanksgiving her rear legs have been struggling in day to day movement. About a month ago, she escaped again the Saturday night the Wolfpack won the ACC Championship (it was my fault for letting her out of sight). The Coconut Horse guys showed up that morning and helped search (thanks to those guys) but she wasn’t found. By that Sunday evening, I figured she went off to die on her own. But Monday morning, she showed up at a neighbor’s house. Pookie wasn’t done yet. That bought a few weeks to be with her but her health continued to decline as I was having to carry her upstairs or help her get around. I was trying to avoid the signs but they eventually became too clear. It was the 3rd dog I’ve had to put down and it’s the worst part of having a pet. So how do I pay homage to my girl? Fortunately I had the Q  Saturday and had one idea.

An FNG was in the circle Saturday morning. Alex Betancourth came more or less on his own though Enchilada had been EHing him. A former Army guy now working in financial crimes at BofA. I took a moment to cover the 5 core principles and then asked if Alex thought he wanted Mayor’s Pain Lab or follow me with the bootcamp. He chose the bootcamp. Now time for the unconventional warm-up – Pure Cardio: 10 exercises at 30 seconds each.

SSH, Merkins, Squat Jack Twist, Flying Squirrel, Plank Jack, Shoulder Taps, Hand Release Merkins, Ski Abs, Squat Jumps, Jump Rope

Coming in with a heavy heart, I took some measure of joy to catch glimpses and groans from the PAX as they suffered through 5 minutes of steady action. It was time to depart and 5 men followed me, including the FNG. We moseyed to the west side of Parkwood Baptist Church parking lot. Let’s keep the cardio going with EMOM:

• 3 burpees
• 6 merkins
• 9 squats
• 1 minute rounds, rest once the work is complete
• 10 total rounds

I intended to mosey to the old VA hospital hill for 11’s but took inventory of the PAX and Omaha’ed to remain in the same spot using the medians for Hand Release Merkins and Lunges. I hung back w/ the FNG (cover the 6) and we chatted. Alex stated “you guys are in really good shape!” I responded it takes more than 1 day a week and he should look at some other mid-week sites to kick start his desire to obtain better fitness. Dr. Seuss was the bat-flipper for this segment (no surprise there).

We took the long route to the other side of Parkwood at the top of the parking lot in front of the mobile trailer. I shared the prior day’s events about Pookie. The best thing I could incorporate to the workout was to play “Fetch.” We divided into two groups of three. Group 1 threw a tennis ball down the parking lot for Group 2 to chase and return. Group 1 would do core exercises then flap-jack. Exercises were:

Reverse Crunch, Slow Freddie Mercury, American Hammer, Opposite Knee touch-crunch, Butterfly sit-ups, Heels 2 Heaven.

We moseyed back to the base for COT. Announcements – Goonie. Prayer requests – TurtleMan. I asked Stroganoff – “whatever happened to BandCamp?” Strog’s son had posted a few Saturday’s in a row but recently been missing. Let’s go BandCamp – get in the game! More due to the FNG’s current job – we named him MasterMind – welcome.

Thanks for indulging me to vent about my dog. RIP Pookie.