He Hate(d) Me

5 Strong arrived in the muggy gloom, mostly unaware of what we were celebrating. 5:30 am and we were off, with a 10 burpee delay near the gate on our initial mosey. More on that later.

Warm up, all IC: SSH x 40 (Flange to YHC: Can I tell them now? YHC: Nah, they will figure it out.), Helicopter x 10, DQ x 10, LBC x 40, HRM x 20.
10 burpees OYO

Mosey to the pavilion in the center of the soccer fields to mark the 19th anniversary of YHC’s 21st birthday with a Super 21:
1 x Merkin, 1 x WW2, 1 x squat. Repeat with 2 x Merkins, 2 x WW2s, 2 x squats… on up to 21. 1-5 rep sets OYO, recovery planks for the 6, 5 more burpees OYO. 6-10 sets, recovery planks, 11-13, more recovery, 14-15. 5 more burpees OYO. 16-17, 18, 19, 20, 21 with recovery in between. 5 more burpees OYO.

With a glance at the watch, we had about 10 minutes left. Feeling I owed the PAX at least a little running, we lined up for a Native American People’s run around the perimeter and back towards our cars. Note to self, these are… different… with a small PAX.

Circle up near the flag for 5 x an ab exercise of each PAX members choice, in their cadence. YHC lead off with WW2’s since we hadn’t done those in at least 6 minutes at that point. Oyster and Tobit brought us Rosalitas and Dollies, Flange gifted us with Freddie Mercuries, and Last Call dropped the hammer, the American kind. YHC gifted the PAX 5 more burpees OYO for an even 40. BOOM.

NMS: Thanks for helping me mark 40 years this morning, I couldn’t ask for a better group of men to share in such a suffer fest to kick things off than you guys. As I look at my posts on facebook from 10 years ago, whining about hitting 30, I appreciate the men in this group for helping me smash through 40 far healthier than I was when limping into 30.

As for the workout, apologies. Flange knew what was coming and showed up anyway. Tobit reconsidered whether a 20 min drive to HBR for frisbee would have been better. You two paced us all morning, as you often do. Oyster found another gear and would not let anyone catch him at the end of the NAP run, though some tried. Last Call, great to meet you this morning. Way to work out there, you crushed it.

Announcements:
Several in the RVA PAX have family members fighting health issues, and YHC learned of an FNG from Saturday who had some heart problems after the workout Saturday. Surely others fight silent battles. Keep these men in your thoughts and reach out if you are so inclined. Sometimes just knowing someone is thinking of you is enough to give you a lift.

On a lighter note, come out to Ardent this Friday night 6-10 and share in a keg of IPA and some food in the back (you’ll find us in a private party among the big tanks) to mark 40 orbits around the sun with me.