AO: The Theater

QIC: Ball Bearing

PAX: 16 this morning! Mariah; Mogul; Hack; Dimon; Francis; Heads Up; Grovetucky; Spotlight; Bootleg; Rally; Bumper; Wildebeast; Crash; Queen; Crossgrain

I said before I usually wake 5 or 6 times in the night terrified that I’m going to sleep in for my Q, but as I’ve done a few I had dropped that number to 3 or 4. Not last night though, back up to 5 or 6, but once the alarms went off I rolled out of bed and made my way to the AO. As I kept thinking about all of the things to do this morning I had that momentary worry when I remembered being told there was a new playground where we usually park and then got scared that the bricks were gone and my plans were shot. I’ve never been more relieved to see a port a john in all of my life as I pulled in and realized the brick pile was there and we could get rolling.

Waiting for 0600 and doing some stretching was needed. Then the early leaver Pax rolled up to the parking lot to do my thang after doing their thang for the 30 minutes prior. Got the Pax together and gave a shoddy version of the disclaimers before finally getting to work.

Warmed up with spread leg cotton pickers and straight leg cotton pickers (thanks to Mariah for reminding my scattered brain what the 2 in the cadence was supposed to be on that one) followed by

10x Abe Vagodas
10x Good mornings
Some downward dog/plank/merkin/ upward dog
25x SSH
All done to some of the training montage music from the Rocky movies (No it wasn’t. Because Bo didn’t show up with the speaker)

Moseyed to the round about in the lower parking lot and all stood around in the circle for a bucket brigade. It took a minute to figure out the logistics, but it started to work out on the second pass. Thanks to Mogul for tossing out the lighter weights as they came around and thanks to Crash for leaving the 70 pound kettlebell at the upper parking lot.

Followed that by stepping to the outside of the circle for some Blocktanamos. Each man held out his kettlebell or brick straight out in front as one man would put theirs down, run the circle and push down on each one as they went by. Again took a minute to figure out the new movement, but it came together at the end.

All done to some synth heavy music from the 80’s that I added to the playlist because there wasn’t enough upbeat music from the Rocky movies to fill an hour (No it wasn’t. Because Bo didn’t show up with the speaker)

Gave the call to head over to the hill and set up the next movement. Bears and blocks up the hill. Start with your brick or kettlebell at your feet and bear crawl up after dragging your coupon up a head of you. Learned that some of our kettlebells weren’t as well suited as the bricks because sometimes they start to roll back downhill. Before we started up the hill we did a minimum of 10 goblet squats and calling out “ADRIAN” when we were done. At the top of the hill, before heading down, we did a minimum of 10 full swings while waiting for the 6 and calling out “DRAGO” when we were done. Walked down the hill and repeated 5 times just to make sure everyone got enough work in.

All done to some of the best and uplifiting music the Rocky IV soundtrack has to give (No it wasn’t. Because Bo didn’t show up with the speaker)

Looking over the plan last night I decided that I should add one more movement just in case everything else didn’t take as much time as I thought. Turns out I needed it and we counted off 1’s and 2’s for a Brick by Brick shuttle run. Line up across from one another about 4 or parking space lines away. 1 man has both coupons in front while he holds a plank as the other runs to grab one, then the other and then did a movement before his partner does the same. Finished those with Merkins, WWIs, Mountain climbers, LBCs and then burpees.

All done to the last songs of the best and uplifiting music the Rocky IV soundtrack has to give (No it wasn’t. Because Bo didn’t show up with the speaker).

Finished with a walk up the hill and 2 minutes of protractors to fill out the time.

Had a fairly intense BOM as several of us are dealing with ill family members or just dealing with the loss of someone due to dangerous addicitions. Talking about fathers who are dealing with serious medical issues really made me appreciate the group of men around us at the moment.

Thanks to all of you for going along with my ridiculous plan and especially for just being the men that you are. Enjoy the rest of your fourth and see you tomorrow in the gloom.

• Ball Bearing