YHC rolled in two minutes late to a patiently waiting threesome of Enron, Yankee Joe, and a Picadilly surprise (good to have you back in it, bro!). YJ had brought the requested basketball, and YHC had fished a few raggedy tennis balls from out of the ball bin in the garage for a TurboTax inspired thang at the Den.
After warmups of the usuals, minus cherry-pickers cuz we weren’t gonna be using the shoulders (big surprise), YHC explained who TurboTax is (the previous leader of the Northshore PAX and crusher of cardio and legs) and shared that as an F3 noob a few years back, the team tennis ball relay was in just about 100% of all Turbo beatdowns. It stuck in the memory because it never failed to both stoke the competitive fire in a special way and suck the wind out YHC’s lungs in a special way. Basically, teams traverse a distance by throwing a tennis ball to one another ultimate frisbee style: the one with the ball can’t move but must throw it to a teammate further up the trail. Today, we partnered up, YHC with Dilly and Enron with YJ–the starting line was the lion, and the finish line was the lion after traversing up to the lake, around the whole track, and back.
It didn’t take long for our hands to get used to catching the ball, and though there weren’t many drops, the ones that happened were the key to failure/success. When a ball was dropped, both partners had to complete 5 stationary lunges (2:1, knee all the way to the ground, in the duck poop) before continuing. YHC and Dilly employed the many short throws strategy, while Enron and YJ opted for the fewer long throws strategy. Though YHC and Dilly seemed to drop one or two more times, it was the last drop that mattered most. Enron and YJ stayed just ahead through the whole race, and YHC expected to have to utilize a long Hail Mary pass at the very end to squeak out a victory, but at the very end, Enron and YJ choked on the the emotional excitement of their impending win and dropped the ball allowing YHC and Dilly to pass them like a Ricky Bobby slingshot and grasp victory by the…tail. (You know, like a lion’s tail.) The losers’ penalty was 15 celebratory star jumps congratulating the tenacity and steadfastness of the winning team.
Thang 2 was a partner Dora of 100 Big Boys, 200 Flutters (2:1), and 300 LBC’s. Partner 2 ran to the lake, nurred up the levee, and ran back to flapjack. Gotta keep bustin’ dem abs for when we rip off our shirts at the Firemen’s 5K for the finish line photo!
Ended a little early so we could have plenty of time for the last thang: 2-on-1 fast break drill on the basketball court. With four PAX we had enough for two men on offense to try to head down the court and score against one man on defense while the remaining man stood under the opposite goal counting down from 10. If the two-man team either turned the ball over or couldn’t score within ten seconds, they incurred a 10 squat-jump penalty. Then, one of the men on offense stayed back while the defender joined the other, and it was 2-on-one going toward the other side. We continued rotating with one man left behind to count down from 10 and (most of the time) complete his quickly cumulating jump-squats.
YHC expected the puddles to be a factor, but they weren’t. The fact that we all suck at basketball, however, was a major factor. (We could probably also blame about 5% of it on the dark, too.). Either way, it was a fun, challenging way to keep the heart rate high and the reflexes working for about 15 minutes before heading back to the flag.
Announcements with some gratitude for answered prayers, and the Animal shirt was finally bequeathed to Yankee Joe out of a combination of pity and partner bias (just kidding–it’s always great to watch–and hear–YJ put his all into a routine, especially for a partner). Dilly prayed us out well, and we’re both looking forward to and dreading Saturday with Cuz.
SYTIG,
Goose
