Trying is the First Step Toward Failure…

by

Weather: 64F with dew point in the upper 50s. Not great. Not horrible.

Pre-Run: Bing, Ripken and YHC launched at 0420 for a modest 4.5-miler to things rolling. Headed to the postal hill and then did the usual loop. Nothing fancy. Upon return to the parking lot, YHC casually asked, “Who’s Q?” To which a unison reply from Bing and Ripken was, “You are!!” Oh snap. Good thing YHC always has at least 10 different Q’s in the log book of pain. After a quick gathering of YHC’s minds, a perfect weinke was cobbled together.

Welcome: At exactly 0515, YHC greeted the pax and conveyed the 5 core principles along with the disclaimer. A two-lap mozy quickly followed that included high knees, lateral slides, and butt kickers.

CoP: 

  1. SSH x 25 IC, with pace increasing at 25 approached
  2. Mt Climbers x 20IC
  3. Imperial Walkers x 20IC
  4. Hillbilly Walkers x 20IC
  5. Fast Fire Feet n Hit the Deck when “DOWN” was called, culminated in down-down-down-down in rapid fire succession

The Thang: 

So, many of the pax know that YHC FINALLY bagged a Boston Qualifying marathon time of 3:13:49 at that Coastal Delaware Marathon. This is just over 6-minutes faster than the BQ standard for the Male 45-59 age-group. While nothing is a sure thing when it comes to the Boston Marathon, anything performance better than 5-minutes faster than the BQ standard is about as close as it gets. YHC is making all necessary plans to ensure April 20, 2020 (Patriot’s Day in the NE) will be a day to remember.

With that said, many pax also know that YHC FAILED to qualify multiple times over the last few years, most recently failing by 193-seconds (hurts to even say) in the January Spring Hill Marathon Mania. As a result, YHC implemented THE SLEDGE as a constant reminder to smash goals. The Sledge was an ever present accoutrement at all of YHC’s Q’s. The Sledge definitely has mojo. More on that later.

Anyway, the beatdown was all about FAILURE. Since trying is the first step toward failure, and failure is the first step toward success, by logic, trying and failing precedes SUCCESS. YHC and the BQ journey is a perfect example. The bitter taste of failure was needed to further motivate beyond the comfortable. Failure led YHC right where success could be enjoyed. It took a long time, and that’s okay.

With that, the beatdown was comprised of random exercises from the Gridlock’s Register of Pain. YHC randomly called on a pax to pick a number between 1-108 (now 109, more on that in a bit). Whatever number the pax chose, was then cross-referenced in the Register of Pain and was then done as a group until failure. Once a pax could no longer conduct the exercise without stopping / resting, SSH’s were then executed until all pax failed. Once all pax failed, the group ran a lap. Rinse and repeat.

The Gridlock Register of Pain exercises were as follows:

  1. Squat Jumps
  2. Hello Dollies
  3. Strawberry Picker-kins (4 pickers followed by 1 merkin)
  4. Squat Jumps
  5. Captain Crunches (1 Big Boy situp followed by 4 leg-lifts — NEW EXERCISE, thank you for the name Bing!)
  6. Moonshiners (2 Dry-Docks followed by a Mule Kick)
  7. Mule Kicks
  8. Lateral Slide-Merkins (2 slides right, merkin, 2 slides left, merkin)
  9. Burpees

Additionally, as is customary, a different pax had to carry The Sledge for the lap. Some even incorporate The Sledge into various exercises!

That was fun! As a token of motivation for all pax, The Sledge was consecrated and passed-on to Manziel as he vocalized the goal of a 25-minute 5k. As of this writing, he is only 45-seconds away from his goal! The Sledge has mojo. Going forward, once the pax who holds The Sledge exceeds their goal, The Sledge then gets handed-off to the next pax chasing a goal. The group’s job is to hold the pax accountable to the goal. The Sledge’s handle must be signed by the pax and dated once said goal is achieved.

True, The Sledge might lead to plenty more failure, but it will also lead to accountability and lots more SUCCESS! Be blessed, my brothers. All told, 1.5-miles was run between the mozy and laps. That’s a good bit of distance.

Announcements: 

  1. Sup and Run, May 25.
  2. Wilderness Trail Run, April 27. Thanks for the entry, Bing!
  3. Triathlons in the summer.

Praises / Requests:

  1. First responders.
  2. Ripken’s son to learn from a recent mistake.
  3. Wrist surgery for an M (can’t remember who this was).

Thankful for the opportunity to Q a great group of men.

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

Gridlock