Author: Tom Talbot

[As Firefox does not yet have access to this site, YHC, Vector, has added his own blend of commentary to this BB]

15 PAX: Defrost, Duplex, Hi-Viz, T-Cell, Ride Along, Porcelain, Crablegs, Vector, Bad Boy, Lemon, Harvey Updyke, En Fuego, Crawlspace, Toothless, Firefox [who wants it on record that he was on time] on Q

Intro: Ride Along is back! [Hooray!] Not as humid as yesterday. Nice brisk mosey around McCabe up to parking lot and back down to the handicap parking area behind McCabe.

WOR:
40 x SSH [You could see the concern on the faces of the PAX after we flew past 25 reps and kept on going. We queried if this was a birthday Q upon hitting 40 – answer was a resounding yes. We prayed that all future exercises weren’t going to 40 . . . ]
10 x WMH
10 x Good Mornings
10 x LABCs
10 x rLABCs
10 x Air Presses
10 count arm hold

Thang:
No dice, no relays (maybe next time).

3 stations (playground, handicap parking lot, picnic benches). 3 groups. Each group rotates through the 3 stations and finishes up with a bear crawl around the traffic circle behind McCabe. Other complicated rules that ultimately boiled down to the following:

Round 1: 20 Squats, 20 Merkins, 20 Lunges/side, Bear Crawl
Round 2: 20 Jump Squats, 30 Merkins, 20 Dips, Bear Crawl
Round 3: 15 Pull-Ups, 10 Burpees, 30 Dips, Bear Crawl
Round 4: 10 Pull-Ups with Leg Raises [I mean, seriously?], 15 Burpees, 15 Derkins, Bear Crawl
Round 5: 15 Pull-Ups, 20 Merkins, 20 Derkins, Bear Crawl

20 Bulgarian Split Squats/side to finish up. [As if we weren’t already gassed . . . ]

Mary:
20 x LBCs
15 x V-Ups [At this point Hi-Viz laid out the F-bomb to express his excitement about the proposed exercise]
15 x Flutter Kicks
20 count Hollow Body Hold

Lots of groaning, disgruntled mumblechatter, which is… good?
[Some examples:  “Worst. Birthday. Party. Ever,” “What, no cake?” and “Where’s my gift bag?”]

Bullhorn:

Swift and smooth recovery and rehab for Shadow after ACL surgery
Strength and perseverance for Ride Along through challenging times at work
Always a pleasure and honor to lead the Bomber crew for a morning!

Firefox (as transcribed by humble servant Vector)

18 HIM came out to make themselves better by working their bodies and their minds via a playlist theme contest.

PAX:  Vector (QIC), PA, T-cell, Bad Boy, Toothless, DFrost, Cub Cadet, Lunch Lady, Crawlspace, Porcelain, Hambone, The Jeweler, Pumpkin Spice (FIFO), Dewey, Lemon, Blue Mule, Bicentennial Man, TK [Hambone, PA, and Pumpkin Spice for pre-party]

Conditions:   Light breeze, sunshine – perfect

For today’s workout, YHC created a themed playlist.  PAX were told that each person had 1 guess to get the theme.  First to guess the playlist theme wins breakfast at Dose and bragging rights as the smartest in all of Bomber.  Those paying attention should have caught clues all along the way . . .

Warm-o-rama:  

Mosey to Rec Center.  SSH x 11, WMH x 11, Good Mornings x 11, LBAC x 11, Seal Claps x 11, RLBAC x 11, and Imperial Walkers x 11 (that’s 77 total for those of you paying attention at home – hmm, a clue perhaps?)

Playlist: (First Half)  

Opportunities (Let’s Make Lot’s of Money) – Pet Shop Boys
Why Can’t I Be You? – The Cure
Don’t You Want Me? – Human League
Mama, Said Knock You Out – LL Cool J
I Touch Myself – The Divinyls

First Round:
Mosey over to side of Rec Center for 7s (hmm, another clue?):
Split squats and Irkins

Second Round:
Another set of 7s (clue):
No Surrenders and Squats

Third Round:
Mosey to wall.  25 reps each of:
Dips
Elbows to Hands
American Hammers

Fourth Round:
Another round of 25 reps of:
Derkins
Lt. Dans
Y-Raises

By now, the PAX had multiple way wrong guesses (“The songs to which you first had sex,” “Your med school study playlist,” “Revenge of the Nerds,”) and one protester who noted the songs were “too old” (cough, cough, Pumpkin Spice).  T-cell saved the day by correctly guessing the theme of 7 Deadly Sins – It helped that the current song playing on the playlist was It’s a Sin by the Pet Shop Boys.  YHC noted the clues of 7 and the first letters of all the exercises (S-I-N-S and D-E-A-D-L-Y) that were right there in plain view.  The first 5 songs represented Greed, Envy, Pride, Wrath, and Lust.

Playlist: (Second Half)  

#1 Crush – Garbage (Lust)
Come Out and Play – Offspring (Wrath)
Obsession – Animotion (Envy)
We are the Champions – Queen (Pride)

Celebratory Repeat Round:

25 reps each of the S-I-N-S exercises followed by 25 reps of the D-E-A-D exercises.

 Mary:   Exercises to represent the theme.  25 Alabama Prom Dates (Lust) followed by ones that represent Envy (because all will be envious of our awesome abs after this workout):  WWIs, Crunchy Happy Frogs, and some painful crunch that Blue Mule picked (brain was too hypoxic to recall name, but it was effective).

COT:

• Prayers for Bad Boy’s colleague’s son who sustained head trauma after skateboarding and for those in my hometown of Jefferson City, MO after the tornado hit on Weds night.  Also prayers of thanksgiving for my son and Cub Cadet’s son, who graduated 8th grade last night (CC’s son was valedictorian).
• Reminded the PAX that the 7 deadly sins of Greed, Lust, Sloth, Gluttony, Wrath, Envy, and Pride are all Jesters that can derail us on our course of acceleration to become HIM.  Thanks to all the PAX for helping us keep our eyes forward and away from these distractions in life.

Was an honor as always to lead you men this morning.

SYITG,
Vector

19 HIM came out into the beautiful gloom to make themselves better and to celebrate YHC’s 49th (technically, the real day was 3 weeks ago, but an untimely IR kept me off the Q).

PAX:  Vector (QIC), PA, T-cell, Hi-Viz, Bad Boy, Harvey Updyke, Toothless, Duplex, DFrost, Cub Cadet, WL Carmen SanDiego (F3 Cherokee), WL Deuce (F3 Jackson), Tiny Dancer, Lunch Lady, Firefox, Preacher Man, Crablegs, Crawlspace, Porcelain

Conditions:   57 degrees, perfect

Last year, for my 48th birthday and my inaugural Q, I started with 48 SSH, but my overall lack of fitness had me die out around 27.  So today, I had to start with 49 SSH, with PAX lined along the wall.  Nailed it.

Mosey to McCabe Pub for rest of the

Warm-o-rama:  WMH x 4, WMH x 9, LBAC x 4, LBAC x 9, Seal Claps x 4, Seal Claps x 9, RLBAC x 4, RLBAC x 9, Good Mornings x 4, Good Mornings x 9.

Mosey behind Murphy Road Animal Hospital to the conveniently placed large rocks.  49 Step-ups.

First Round:
Mosey over to playground where the main event was held.

DORA (I mean, it’s what I do):

Pull-Ups x 49
Merkins x 149
Squats x 249
Plankjacks x 349

More pull-ups when finish early

Playlist:  Rather than torture the PAX with songs from 1970, my birth year (“Bridge Over Troubled Water” doesn’t really lend itself to a strong workout), I played selected cheesy/awesome tunes from 1984 (my 14th year and, by coincidence, PA’s birth year)

Owner of a Lonely Heart – Yes
The Reflex – Duran Duran
Talking in Your Sleep – The Romantics
Let’s Go Crazy – Prince and the Revolution
I Feel for You – Chaka Khan
Out of Touch – Hall & Oats
You Might Think – The Cars
I’m So Excited – The Pointer Sisters

 Mary:  Down the line PAX called special exercises including Flutter Kicks, Alabama Prom Dates, WWIs, LBCs, Alphabet (“Happy Birthday Vector” – Thanks T-cell!), Boxcutters, Hello Dolly’s, Crunchy Happy Frogs, Leg Lifts (AKA “Weezy Jeffersons” per Carmen SanDiego, because we’re “movin’ on up”), Freddy Mercuries, Hello Dolly’s again, American Hammers, and probably a few more . . .

COT:

• Prayers for Duplex’s dying grandfather (honorary F3 name Big Daddy) and his family and for keeping our kids safe (prompted by Lunch Lady and his colleagues finding a student that was being stalked online by a sexual predator).  Also for my dad, who turns 80 today (and several PAX were thankful I didn’t celebrate with 80 SSH today).
• So awesome to see the newer guys come back out – Cub Cadet, DFrost, Toothless, keep up the strong work!
• Ended with a thanks to the PAX, as a year ago, I couldn’t lead the men on 48 SSH. Shows how far I have come in all areas F1, F2 and F3. Remember that age is just a number, be it 49 or 47 or 33 or 26, and each day we should push each other to be better in all aspects of life.  Look out for those around us who need F3 and keep EH’ing.

Was an honor as always to lead you men this morning.

SYITG,
Vector

22 HIM came out into the chilly gloom to make themselves better, and strange happenings ensued.

PAX:  ABC, Bad Boy, Bicentennial Man, Blue Mule, Brother-at-Law, CCR, Crawlspace, en fuego, Firefox,  Harvey Updyke, Hi_Viz, Hot Route, Pop-A-Lock, Porcelain, Pumpkin Spice, Ride Along, Right Said, Shadow, T-cell, Tiny Dancer, Trapper Keeper, Vector (QIC)

Conditions:   23 degrees, wind chill a balmy 13 (Ironclad credit, ka-ching)

Mosey to the upper parking lot and then down to Rec Center cul-de-sac for the

Warm-o-rama:  WMH x 12,  Cherry Pickers x 12, Good Mornings OYO x 15 (at which point, YHC was mocked for his “strenuous Good Morning Apocalypse” — oh, just you wait, my friends . . . ), LBAC x 15, Overhead Claps x 15, Reverse LBAC x 15, SSH x 20.

Partner up for first round, which was moderately successful given YHC crappy instructions to “look to your right” for your partner — most figured it out.

First Round:
DORA — 100 burpees, 200 merkins, 300 dips with partner run around Rec Center.   And then, strange things ensued . . . While attempting to start the patented Vector Cheesy Playlist (“Heat” themed, of course), we learned several important lessons:

1.   Crappy bluetooth speakers don’t like the cold
2.   T-cell REALLY likes the playlists, running back to his car for a cord (hmm, why  so persistent, you say?  You’ll see in a bit)
3.   Hi-Viz is a true HIM, as his “partner,” YHC, spent more time with the audio than with his share of the exercises
4.   The PAX is a little slow on the draw at 5:30am and 23 degrees, as it took a good 4 songs before realization of the “heat” theme to today’s audio enjoyment.

Playlist:
Some Like It Hot – The Power Station
Burn the House Down – AJR
The Heat is On – Glenn Frey
Hot, Hot, Hot – The Cure
Hot in Herre – Nelly
Blister in the Sun – Violent Femmes
Walking on Sunshine – Katrina and the Waves
Hot Stuff – Donna Summer

Second Round:
After plank work, mosey to playground for “7”s”
Pull-ups (regular on the odds, wide on the evens) and squats

Because we “had enough time,” PAX performed 100 jump squats, perhaps in part for mocking my Good Mornings . . . and that’s when we discovered T-cell’s unabashed love for Donna Summer/Disco.  In what could be described by some as “feeling the spirit,” our friendly neighborhood Volunteer shook his groove thang.  A sight that the PAX won’t quickly forget . . .

Mosey to parking lot for quick Mary of flutter kicks x 20 and Crunchy Happy Frogs x 20 (led by T-cell, so we could stop his boogie fever).  Time called.

COT:

• Bicentennial Man – 6th man.  Learned “C” stands for “Clarence.” So all we need is a Roger to re-enact the classic scene from Airplane:
• Prayers for ABC’s friend, Jennifer, in Texas, hospitalized with fevers of unknown origin.
• Glad CCR could mosey over to his first Bomber post.  Hopefully all the high jinx won’t make it his last visit.
• Plenty of Q spots open for February — opportunities for leadership (and if anyone wants to VQ, I’ll provide the playlist, free of charge).
• West Park AO launch successful yesterday, led by Crablegs.  Try to make it out to keep momentum at a great AO site.
• And finally, the last lesson learned — when trying to shut down your iPhone, don’t ignore the “Emergency Call” feature, as YHC accidentally let our friendly neighborhood 911 operator know we had finished our workout (hence the sudden 862-8600 follow up call).  I blame the trauma induced by T-cell’s gyrations . . . so disturbing, so mesmerizing.

Was an honor to lead you men this morning. SYITG,

Vector