Against his better judgement the Captain started planning for a 5Q week last month for his 50th birthday on 30Jan because, well, it would be something new and stupid (or fun and challenging) for him to do. And just because he wanted to see if he could do it. Will it kill him? Who knows. Will it render him useless around the house? Maybe. He started regretting this decision halfway through the workout on Day 1. No, let’s amend that a bit. He started regretting this plan around noon yesterday while he was slouching/nodding off on a Pullen Park bench while reconning the AO for Tuesday Q (and also lamenting that it was probably time to take the Christmas lights off his house later in the day) after being talked into an ill-advised 17 mile run in Umstead…never underestimate the power/lure of the pretty face of a training partner (similarly, I guess you could say that would apply to about 6% of F3Raleigh).
The Captain had dedicated today’s workout to Chicago since that is where he was born. His mother’s side of the family is from all over that area. Based upon his extensive research for this Q, the Captain found that she grew up in the same Morgan Park section from which Peter Cetera hails. Wow! Over the last few weeks the Captain has fiddled with Google streetview and compared them with pics of his first house in old photo albums—parents as relative youngsters, their first ‘real’ house. The house looks pretty much the same…different color, shutters removed, more trees, etc., but the same. Neat, while at the same time sad. But I digress.
No FNGs. 11 including YHC. So Day 1 of #5Days5Qs went went something like this:
Warmup
-SSH x 25 IC
-Good Mornings x 25 IC
-Imperial Walker x 25 IC
-Fazio x 20 IC Forward, x 20 IC Backward
-50 single count merkin
Thang
Navigated the “Loop” (Chicago’s central business district and commercial core). Well, actually it was the path around the park. Circle the Loop counter clockwise, exit at the sand volleyball pit.
Count off in 4s
Four groups – exercises to be done in 50 sec intervals (hey, big 50, right?) then rotate
1. Hill group- Backward bear crawl (Da Bears) up hill, reg. bearcrawl (Da Bears) down repeat AMRAP OYO. This was awful.
2. North Wall of vball pit – Merkin wheel. Irkin x2, rotate clockwise L. offset merkin x2 rotate, Derkin x2, rotate, R.offset merkin x2 Repeat AMRAP OYO
3. Where did the 3s go? Inexplicably, there were no No 3s. My ciperin’ isn’t always the greatest but you’d think that there would be two of them, right? (note that there were more 4s and 2s than there should have been. Nobody owned up to forgetting their number (Elsinore-itis) within 10 seconds. Oh well, the exercise segment will work w/ three stations and we could probably use the extra time. It was going to be burpee AMRAP anyway. I’ll add them to the Forge workout on Tue
4. West Wall of Vball pit – L/R toe taps AMRAP OYO
Everyone cycle through once and head to the rockpile for a little ‘City of Big Shoulders’ work
Pair off. One rock per team.
– Partner1 Balls to Wall until failure on tennis court fence
– Partner2 Rock Squat-to-press AMRAP OYO until P1 fails
Switch and Repeato for the duration of a song by everyone’s favorite band from Chicago…Chicago! And not the marginally decent/classic stuff from the 70s but the nauseating schlock from the 80s (‘You’re the Inspiration’). T-claps to the pax for keeping their oatmeal/English muffin down. The Captain channeled his inner Gnard Dogg on this one…a mentor of sorts. He brought forth the famous (in select circles) 80s Hair Ballad workout last year proving that that even the worst music can a place in an F3 workout.
Rocks down for now and head back to sand volleyball court
REPEAT the Volleyball court circuit and head back to rocks/fence.
REPEAT Partner Balls-to-wall and rock squat-to-press circuit but we changed up the tunes to Everyone’s favorite band from Chicago’s smash radio hit, “Hard For Me to Say I’m Sorry.”
The Captain knew/knows more about that era of the band than any man should. The Captain knew how the game was played back in the day. He had a needy unc girlfriend in the early/mid eighties. When she’d call, he’d turn down the new Quiet Riot album that he was spinning on his Zenith all-in-one turntable/tape deck/tuner (speakers facing out dorm window optional) and tell her that he was just now listening to the Chicago 17 album that she gave him for their 4 week anniversary and that when the song, “Hard Habit To Break’ started, he couldn’t help but to think of her. The Captain is ashamed that he studied and spliced together mix tapes of songs that he wouldn’t/shouldn’t, in his right mind, listen to.
Replace rocks and meander around the corner of the fence and enter the tennis courts for:
Windy City Windsprints
Partner 1 run width of courts to opposite fence and back. Partner 2, relay-style does the same upon P1’s return and P1 ‘recovers’
Repeato until I said stop (handful of sets).
Mosey over to driveway between the school and the park.
Bearcrawl Irkin/Derkin 11s (Da Bears…or how about ‘Cub crawls’ for today as Mr Cub, #14, Ernie Banks passed away over the weekend)
Start at one side of drive, bearcrawl to opposite curb – Irkin x1
Backward bearcrawl back to original curb – Derkin x10
Repeat ascending irkin, decending derkin to 10 and 1 respectively
This one was torture — we had to cut it as we ran short of time.
Head to parking lot for
Mary
-WWII situp x25 IC
-Homer to Marge x25 IC
-LBC x25 IC
-6 in. leg hold 5 count around the circle
The End…good job, guys.
COT
Announcemnts
-F3 Forum today at noon
-Krispy Kreme Challenge Feb 14. Sign up and meet at Belltower
Prayer intentions
-Friends of Overdraft dealing with suicide of their daughter
-Member of Pax dealing with injuries and ‘other stuff.’
Thanks to Swingline for taking us out in prayer.
I appreciate you putting up with this old idiot today. It’s always a challenge but I had a lot of fun.
