The “B” Q

Weather: temp was 71F and dew point 70F. Yes, it’s FL and yes, it’s humid. Let’s run!

Pre-run: YHC launched at 0410 for a quick 3+miler to get the blood flowing. Upon circle-back, met up with FIAB, Bing and Ripken for a loop ‘o the lake. Fellowship pace was rather quick and the chatter was thick. So, YHC thought it good to bring some Bern (hail Bernie) to the meeting. Instructions were whosoever pleased could set-off a quicker pace and then all pax were locked-in to the new pace that brave pax set. Well, when FIAB is part of your workout group, that means the initial surge drops your pace by a minute. Instantly we went from a nice 8:20-ish pace down to 7:10s.  As the chatter continued (and Ripshat bailed-out), YHC thought it was time to drop another few seconds. YHC and FIAB found ourselves at a nice 6:40-ish pace. FIAB felt some mountain shitters coming-on, so he bailed at the playground restrooms. YHC pushed to the parking lot, where a nice gaggle of pax had already assembled. It was fun.

Welcome: YHC toweled off, changed shirts, grabbed the sound box and the sledge (thank you Manziel) and prepped for the beatdown. At exactly 0515, YHC barked-out the 5 Core Principles and disclaimer, then launched the pax into a quick mozy that included a tower climb with sledge in-hand. Back to the parking lot for CoP. The mumble chatter was already starting…

Circle of Pain (CoP):

1. ‘Billy Walkers, x10 IC
2. Back Plank “Bickle Bointers”, x15 IC
3. Boat / Canoes, for a while
4. Boston Blitzkrieg (fast-fire feet and to-the-ground-and-up on “Boston”)

The Thang: With YHC fresh off his recent BQ, wanted the “B” Q to be the first beatdown upon returning to the pax. Well, the first Q was actually at Noland last week, but YHC didn’t realize it was my Q that day, so had to improvise on the spot. Today, the thang included exercises beginning with “B” and music that contained Boston-themed lyrics. And plenty of running. Some of the exercises sucked, as did some of the music, but that’s the point. While on the ground, doing the work, things kind of have to suck for growth to happen.

The Thang was simple in concept, perform the prescribed exercise and count, then choose a preferred run loop. Either choose the “long hill loop” that circled to the right and passed the tower and up Sniper Hill, or the normal flat loop to the left and circle back to the parking lot, or the short loop that included two quick right’s to get right back to parking lot a bit more expeditiously. Upon returning to the parking lot, continue performing the exercise previously prescribed until the 6 was in. Rinse and Repeat completing the next prescribed count and exercise.

Exercises and counts were as follows:

• Boxcutters, x50 OYO
• Body Builders, x15 OYO
• Bolt 45s (x15 “top-half squats”, x15 “bottom-half” squats, x15 full squats) OYO
• Plank “Bickle Bounders”, x100 OYO
• Boston “Blueberry” Biscuits (Blueberry = Burpee), x7 Burpees do a lap x4 times for total of 28 Blueberries

At one point, the mumble chatter was jovial and boisterous. YHC took that as a clue that the exercise counts were too mild, so the intended numbers were artificially inflated to offset the chatter. It worked. As the beatdown progressed, the labored breathing increased. The oxygen deficit grew and the mumble chatter all but disappeared. It’s hard to talk when air is limited. You’re welcome.

All told, YHC measured 2.55-miles of loops in addition to the prescribed exercises. It was fun. In addition, Manziel made sure to bring the sledge so it could be toted from exercise-to-exercise and from loop-to-loop. Goals were defined, and some pax visualized the smashing of said goals. Right now, Manziel owns the sledge until he breaks 25-minutes in a 5k. He’s close. Who’s next? Step-up and be held accountable.

Since FIAB graced us with his presence, the beatdown “finisher” was a tower climb to “Cloud 9”, the tower’s top-deck. All of today’s hard work occurred on the ground, in the trenches. It was dirty. It was ugly. It was invisibly awesome. Cloud 9 is the reward. One of the best views in the area, and likely one of the best AO’s in F3 Nation — the tower’s top deck view is second to few. Like YHC’s BQ, the hard work was in valley where the view was limited, things were lonely, pain was ever present. The reward was a journey to Cloud 9 — a BQ — where the fruit of YHC’s labor could be enjoyed. Such is the cycle of setting goals, getting to work, and trusting the process. All pax did the work and enjoyed the reward.

Well done pax!

Playlist: For those sorry souls interested in the good and not so good Boston-themed music offered-up for the pax’s enjoyment, here you go.

1. I’m Shipping Up to Boston, Dropkick Murphy’s
2. Boston, Augustana
3. Boston, The Byrds
4. Boston Bound, The Kings of Nuthin’
5. Boston Jail, Porter Wagoner
6. Boston Strong, Stoop Kid
7. Boston Tea Party, Fish
8. The Boston Tea Party, Jameson
9. Boston United, The Unseen
10. Boston USA, The Ducky Boys
11. Devils in Boston, Samantha Crain & The Midnight Shivers
12. Dirty Water, The Standells
13. Knights of Bostonia, State Radio
14. MTA, The Kingston Trio
15. Pipebomb on Landsdowne, Dropkick Murphy’s
16. Shot Heard ‘Round the World, Disciple
17. This is Boston Not LA, The Freeze
18. The Distance, Cake
19. Ghost Rider, Suicide
20. Whatever it Takes, Imagine Dragons
21. ‘Till I Collapse, Eminem

Announcements:

1. SUP and Run May 25th
2. Veteran’s Walk May 25th

Prayer Requests / Praises:

1. JD’s ride, safety
2. Ripken’s friend who posted to coffeeteria
3. CSPAN (pax) Podcast with Bing and Rowdy

Great job to all pax, ya’ll made a tough gloom fun.

“To do what others cannot, do what others will not.”

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