Plenty of HIM came out to witness the inspired leadership of the new Storm site Q Pilgrim’s Progress. Too bad he had me as the first Q of his tenure, nowhere to go but up from the bottom! Here’s what happened…

Disclaimer, no FNGs.

Warmup – Goofballs, Don Quixotes, the patented Sargento Left over Right stretch.

Mosey around the parking lot to get the blood flowing and arrive back at the start. Yesterday was my 18th wedding anniversary (poor girl). In honor of that momentous occasion, YHC decided to put together an appropriate music playlist for the PAX’s listening enjoyment while rocks were pushed. It was lovely.

The Thang – The 12 Days of April –

This was a totally unique workout that has nothing to do with any other time of year. The rhythm of the workout would coincidentally go to the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas song. Pretty cool how that worked out. These exercises were done in accumulating fashion with each round building on the last.

On the first day of April, my true love gave to me…

• 1 Burpee
• 2nd Day – 2 Jump Squats
• 3rd – 3 American Hammers
• 4th – 4 Merkins
• 5th – 5 High Knees
• 6th – 6 Big Boy or WWI situps
• 7th – 7 Diamond Merkins
• 8th – 8 Jump Lunges
• 9th – 9 Oblique Crunches each side
• 10th – 10 Hand Release Merkins
• 11th – 11 Monkey Humpers
• 12th – 12 Turkish Getups

That was so much fun we headed off on a mosey around the block. At the stop sign we did monkey humpers until the 6 was in. At the roundabout at the artwork we bear crawled the outside ring which was a really long way. Mosey back to the start.

This killed so much time that we only were able to get 4 rounds of the 12 Days of April, however we started this in reverse descending order. We did all 12 days, then 11, 10 and ended on 9.

Time! Thanks for the opportunity to lead today men. It was great. Roscoe didn’t even try to hijack the JBL either so that was a win. Aye!

Prayer requests: GSM, PAX looking for work particularly Breaker’s son & daughter in law who will be new college graduates in a month or so. Pray for our country too.

Announcements: Convergence, PT Test, Short Sale’s challenge

YHC took us out.

13 at The Storm to run back some of the stupidest things YHC remembers doing over the past year.  Here’s what I remember…

5:29 with a train rolling in and a packed schedule, and knowing I’m going to end up talking to much, so let’s get started with

• 5 x Burpees (OYO)

We begin with the disclaimer from Groundhog Day at The Storm and

• 22 x SSH (IC)

Next up, an old favorite from the Site Q himself

• 5 x Eskimo Merkins (My Count)

“Don’t use your tongue!” got the chatter goin, and the idea of the French Merkin was born.

Mosey to the traffic circle at the front of the school for some seriously modified 11s

12/15/2020 – Q: BOS – 11s modified to 7s modified to about 5 1/2s

Today, we did “Odd Eights”, starting with 1 of each exercise at the bottom traffic circle and 7 of each exercise at the top traffic circle at Lakewood Rd.  4 rounds total with 1,3,5, & 7 reps at the bottom and 7,5,3, & 1 rep at the top.  Called exercises were the same at the bottom and the top, and were:

• Burpees
• Double Crunches (LBC & Reverse Crunch at the same time)

In spite of cutting it way shorter than originally intended, it still took up a healthy chunk of time, taking us to about the halfway point of the workout.  No 10-counts today, YHC talks too much.  Six rolled in to a random assortment of ab exercises, and we didn’t break stride and went right on to the side of the school, with the batflippers jumping the literal hurdles along the way.

8/25/2020 – Q: Huckleberry – DORA

YHC learned two things from Huck’s DORA:

1. “Australian” means inverted
2. “Single count” and “double count” don’t mean what I think they mean

Partnered with Slim Shady, we messed around and ended up doing 300 Australian Mountain Climbers counting right side only or 2 leg movements = 1 rep.  Everyone else counted differently, and YHC still doesn’t know what “single count” and “double count” mean.

Anyways, today, pressed for time, our DORA was:

• 50 x Dwight Howards
• 100 x Australian Mountain Climbers (Count each leg movement)
• 150 x People’s Chair Air Presses

Quick work made.  On to our last stop… the softball field.  They knew what was coming.

Before we got to the worst of it, an ode to the Site Q as we climbed the bleachers for some “Dirt-y Calves”.

• 15 x Calf Raises (IC)

YHC takes his time calling calf raises so that each rep gets its full flex.  Time for one last dose of awful.

8/4/2020 – Q: Wet Nutz – Bear Crawl

This was awful the first time we did it, and it was awful again.  No matter how long you think it is, the path from the softball field is always longer than that.  I had been back at it in the Gloom for 2 weeks when Wet Nutz dropped this gem on us, and it was the most miserable and beat up I’ve ever been at a workout.  Luckily, Virus and El Tigre picked me up and I survived it.

For those who weren’t there, we bear crawled that path with 10 merkins the penalty for stopping and taking a break, until we reached the end or time got short.  Luckily, as today was just a highlight reel of miserable workouts, we didn’t get to repeat it the 2 or 3 times that we did originally, and with time running out, we moseyed back to the flag.

Back at the circle, Dirt asked for the floor and let us know that he was turning over the Site Q responsibility to Pilgrim’s Progress.  Many, many kudos given at that point to Dirt for his leadership at The Storm.

Announcements:

• 4/17 – Convergence & Bulldog
• 4/24 – PT Test & Gashouse
• 5/10 – Young Life Golf Tournament – See Buckshort for details
• 5/22 – Amoeba Ruck CSAUP – 4 man teams – See BOS for details
• Rocky Branch Trail Enhancement Project – Connects Belmont to Cramerton by a Carolina Thread Trail connector with multiple offshoot trails for different skill levels and activities.  You can support by donating through the Community Foundation Run with the Tarheel Trailblazers team by April 17th.

Prayer Requests:

• Orangeman’s M traveling
• PAX looking for jobs
• Flintstone’s sister

Dirt took us out in prayer.

Moleskin:

Dirt is my kind of leader – one who lets the actions of his life speak for him.  He’s the first person to arrive at a workout and the last one to leave.  If he gives you his word, it’s as good as done.  He’s the first one back to go pick up the Six.  He puts others before himself.  You can think you’ve got the upper hand on him, and the next thing you know, he’s racing by you with plenty of gas left in the tank.  He won the Iron Skillet in March.  He’s not the fastest, or the strongest, and surely not the biggest, but he’s committed, every day, to getting better.  His daily excellence in the small things yields big results.

Now it’s Pilgrim’s Progress turn to lead at The Storm, and I know he will do the job well.  He’s consistent and committed and will put all his energy into his role as a leader.

This is my first Q after running the Mortimer, and I feel the need to remind myself that none of us are ever staying the same.  We’re either accelerating or decelerating.  Post-event collapse is something I know I struggle with as specific reasons for focused work are hard to find.  I know I can get complacent having reached my goals, and just not get after it with the same urgency.  Roscoe is always quick to remind us that the reason we work hard every day is because we don’t know what life’s going to throw at us next.  We’re never fully prepared for the worst, but if we keep accelerating and stay hungry, we’re stronger and more prepared than we were yesterday.  Keep pushing the rock, and keep accelerating.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead.  Best wishes to both the former and now current Site Qs.

Yabba Dabba Doo