I had no idea what to expect when pulling up to the O on Thursday morning. We’d had non-stop rain all day Wednesday and then temps went well below freezing overnight, so I arrived early to survey the park for ice, knowing I’d have to change up the weinke a bit depending on what we had to work with. In addition, I chose that morning to finally break in a new pair of Altra Provisions (last year’s model) that had been sitting in my closet for over a week. I figured why not load up the uncertainty of the gloom. Add to that that one’s never sure who will actually show up when the weather is the way it’s been and you could say I arrived ready for anything.
First surprise of the morning was even arriving almost 30 minutes early, I wasn’t the first one there. FloJo was already stretching in preparation for his EC run when I pulled in. So, I wasn’t going to be the only one there. Check. Next, he said he’d give me a report on the icy-ness of the track upon his return. Check. While he was running, I checked out the tennis courts, playground, fields and school parking lot and found that that final place was the only spot where we could stay reasonably dry and safe from ice. So, the CA parking lot it was. I headed back to the flag and waited on the rest of the PAX to arrive. The usual O suspects started rolling in, but then at the last minute, we see five more guys walking up. It’s Butcher, WITH 4 FNGs!! A big surprise! We welcomed them to the group, the clock struck 5:30, disclaimers were given and we were off!
PAX- Tammy Faye Baker, OJ, Violet, Scuba Steve, FloJo, Tron, Butcher, Pauly D (FNG), Oboe (FNG), Bojangles (FNG), Pixar (FNG), Gillespie, Grinder (Q)
Short mosey to the CA lot for COP. The usual Grinder routine: SSHs, Hillbillies, Grass Grabbers, Downward Dog to Runner’s stretch, then some Michael Phelps. It’s going to be while before I switch this one up. It works. Immediately after COP and before the first thang, OJ stopped the workout, because as a top-notch, observant Site Q, he noticed one of our FNGs did not have gloves. It was barely 20 degrees out there and the lot was covered with chunks of rock salt, so we knew we had to get him some gloves. OJ and I did some back and forth about how he could run back to my car, and get my extra pair when Violet chimes in, “I’ve got a pair he can wear. I’m wearing two sets of gloves.” Another surprise. I never took Violet as a two-set-of gloves-wearer, but now that the secret is out, if I ever forget mine, I know who I’m going to.
With every PAX now sufficiently gloved, we started our Thang…a Grinder favorite, the Dirty McDeuce: 4 sets of 12 each, IC, of an upper body exercise, then lower body exercise, then ab exercise, with sprints in between each set.
First Exercises were Copperhead Merkins, then Copperhead Squats, then V-Ups, sprinting to the backlot fence after each round. After those four sets, the next set of exercises were Spider-Man Merkins, Imperial Squat Walkers, then Freddie Mercury’s, again with the AYG backlot fence sprints after each set. We had a few extra minutes after the last set and did some Mary. I called out LBCs, Flutter Kicks, Pretzel Crunches, and one-legged Flutters. Next, I handed it off to OJ, who had us do some Dying Cockroaches, and Tron brought us home with Rosalita’s.
We moseyed back to the flag and I got in a few minutes of 2nd F with a couple of the FNGs on the way. Once back, we circled up for name-o-rama and to try to name all these new fellas. All were friends of Butcher’s from church. I hope they remained friends even after the workout and naming process. The first guy was from Jersey, so he got Pauly D. The next guy was a musician, so while he mentioned 10 other instruments he played besides the oboe, we chose to name him Oboe. Go figure. The third guy works at Chi-fil-a, hence Bojangles, and the last guy was a videographer, so he got Pixar. Although I wanted to contend that name was too cool, we were all zapped and out of names, so we went with it. They were all great guys and I hope they came back. I muddled my way through the best prayer I could muster to finish us up and we all went forth to crush the day.
As always, I was humbled by the opportunity to lead and I want to give special thanks to OJ who is a tremendous Site Q and human being. I’m a better man for knowing him and always learn a ton from his example.
And by the way, the Altras are money.
Grinder out.
F3 Louisville 