Beach muscles, full reps, and Abu’s return

YHC happened to check Slack a few minutes before bedtime last night and saw that Noonan had announced that YHC had the Q at #FirstAid this morning.  It was a good thing I checked; I had completely forgotten.  I went back and checked my direct messages with Noonan and saw that, sure enough, I had told him, “Got it on my calendar!” for the Q today…. but it never got on my calendar.  No problem; I thought about it for 10 minutes, went to bed, and pulled into the Stronghold this morning ready to roll with some favorites from prior Qs.

The Thang

• Good mornings x 10 (because Bono was there)
• Mosey to the meadow for bear crawl merkin ladder:  Do 15 merkins, bear crawl across the meadow, do 14 merkins, mosey back, do 13 merkins, bear crawl, etc., down to 1.  Mosey laps of the meadow for the 6.
• Mosey to Elmhurst
• Partner up for descending/ascending testicles:  Partner 1 holds BTTW while partner 2 does 10 pull ups, switch, then partner 1 holds at 45 degree angle while partner 2 does 10 pull ups, switch, then partner 1 holds plank while partner 2 does 10 pull ups, switch, then back up again.
• Mosey back to the meadow for wheelbarrows with partners back and forth across the meadow twice on smoked arms and chests.
• Circle up for Chilcutt/hand release merkin 7s
• 5 minutes of Mary led by PAX

Prayer Requests

• Abu’s recovery and work situation
• Bono and Splinter’s co-workers
• C12 prayer list
• YHC’s sister

Moleskin

Several good takeaways from today’s workout:

1. It only takes 10 minutes to plan a beatdown.  Any fool can do it.  We smoked the chest and arms today with basically four very simple exercises.
2. Dredd recently posted something about the importance of not “cheating” by not doing all the reps.  As many of you know, I am a big believer in this.  Modify if you must to complete the exercise or protect against injury, but do the reps.  It is ok to come in last; the whole point of “picking up the 6” is to make sure you are never alone at the end.  There were several good examples of that today.  Frankly, it’s inspiring to see guys gutting it out to finish their reps even if it takes longer, rather than taking the easy way out.  Do the reps – it’s how we get better.  It’s supposed to be hard.  (And YHC may or may not have information tending to show that Dredd may not follow his own advice….)
3. It was good to have Abu back in the gloom after a long battle with the flu.  YHC pointed out to the PAX that a half-sick Abu is still tougher than virtually all of the rest of us at full speed.  Abu mentioned the importance of having guys reach out to you when you are sick or otherwise in a bad way.  Great word.  Think of a PAX or other people in your lives you haven’t seen in a while and check in on them.  You’d want them to do the same for you.
4. YHC has had a tough week on a number of levels, and I really appreciate the support and good words from Newfie and others this morning.  It’s amazing how a Q or just a workout with the guys can really give you a lift.  Thanks to all for the opportunity.