PREP:  Military-related holidays have become more meaningful to YHC based on this year’s Memorial Day Murph; more on that below.  Attendees were requested to wear F3 gear.  YHC dropped off some coupons as well as QIC’s infamous waterproof one gallon storage bag sheets of pain at SW corner of Lorraine and University. Star Spangled Banner played on the Bose at 5:13. 

WEATHER: 75 degrees, TS Eta off the coast. Soaked before we started. Honestly, felt great.  One pax even considered it to be a baptism of sorts.

5:15AM: 5 core principles quickly recited. A dozen medium sized US flags were distributed among the pax. 

MESSAGE: Veterans Day related message about a Gold Star Mother whose son Pete F3 was able to honor at the 2020 Murph. I’ll gladly tell the story to anyone upon request. Sacrifices that our military families make for others are incomprehensible. We are so very blessed to live among such heroes.

WARM UP: Mosey to one of west side parking lot “green islands”, plant flags, then (20) SSHs.  Count off by 4’s – an even 3 teams @ 12 total pax.  Mosey to the Lorraine Rd parking lot entrance, plant flags each side of entrance / 6 on each side; windmills, Michael Phelps, arm circles and agitators.  High knees, nur, nur high knees along the first 2 mosey segments.  Mosey again southbound along Lorraine and finish at NE corner of Lorraine and University.  

THE THANG: QIC had planted (4) waterproof one gallon storage bag sheets of pain at each of the 4 corners of the Lorraine and University intersection.  Each of the (4) groups was to start at the 4 separate corners of the intersection, and plant the US flags at the corners and in the medians in between.  Each sheet of pain had (5) exercises.  Pax were to perform the first exercise AMRAP at each corner / on each sheet, then move NASCAR style (counter-clockwise) across the street to the next corner of the intersection, perform that exercise AMRAP, and so on.  Seconds timer app was used with 65 seconds for exercise, then 25 seconds to move to the next corner.  (5) exercises performed @ each intersection; (20) exercises total.  The SW corner had the coupons: (5) sets of metal weight plates ranging from 2.2 lbs to 10 lbs each plate, intended to be used of the 3 of the 5 exercises.  Exactly 30 minutes duration for everything.  All the while, Veterans Day appropriate music played, with the beeps of Seconds timer per above advising start / stop and transition timing..

At the end of the 30 minutes, pax gathered back at the NE corner, then moseyed back to the parking lot start point, serenaded by the Man in Black (last song on playlist).

NE Corner (full body):

1. Burpees
2. Burpees
3. Burpees
4. Burpees
5. Burpees

NW Corner (abs):

1. AMERICAN Hammers
2. Dying Cockroach
3. Gas Pumps
4. LBCs
5. Big Boy Sit Ups

SW Corner (arms, with coupons for #s 2-4):

1. Merkins
2. Moroccan Night Clubs
3. Flock of Seagulls
4. Overhead Claps
5. Shoulder Taps

SE Corner (legs):

1. Al Gore
2. Jungle Boy Squats
3. Jump Lunges
4. Calf Raises
5. Imperial Walkers

Playlist:

Bruce Springsteen – Born in the USA

Ray Charles – America the Beautiful

Toby Keith – Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue

James Brown – Living in America

John Mellencamp – R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A.

Steve Stevens – Top Gun Anthem

Jimi Hendrix – Star Spangled Banner

Toby Keith – American Soldier

Johnny Cash – Ragged Old Flag

SUMMARY: 

• Pax safety was taken into consideration for this beatdown, knowing that there would be multiple instances of crossing against the traffic lights, but there was minimal traffic at this hour.
• Did not seem to be any confusion with the weinke; cadence between and at the stations and understanding of the Seconds cadence  /beeps was very quickly reached.
• There were some thumbs up from passing cars, but mostly confused looks.
• Intent with planting US flags and request to wear F3 gear was to maximize exposure of F3 and Old Glory on Veterans Day, knowing that there would be very limited visibility at this location at this hour.
• Bose with music and Seconds app beeps was heard pretty clear on all 4 corners.
• For distant location of beatdown relative to start point, timing was perfect, if I may say.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 

• SuperHero Run (Gridlock) in late FEB
• Walk to End Alzheimer’s Saturday 21-NOV (Manziel)

PRAISES / PRAYER REQUESTS: 

• QuickDraw starting the “get right” process
• Trane’s Sara for a healthy recovery from the collision.  And for a flippin’ break!
• Brutus’ youngest 2.0 to get to a better place

WRAP-UP: YHC same message from each of my Q’s – I remain humbled by the trust given to lead the pax.