Last Monday, it was the same thing. Crickets on GroupMe after a tough Saturday and a last minute Goose fill-in on a blank Q slot. Thankfully, Safety Valve had already HC’d on the Jurptown group, and Paradiddle started chirping early enough to prove he was already on the road navigating the killer cane trucks appearing suddenly out of the fog. So, YHC knew that he and Pope wouldn’t be attacking the points monster alone.
And, this proved to be the attendance list–four men, unafraid of posting two days in a row; unafraid of the nonsense that comes into YHC’s head at 10pm the night before a Q. This time it was math, psychology. and diamonds.
YHC knew we had to try to get as many points as possble in a 45 minute window while not destroying the morale of a small crew and keeping it somewhat interesting. So, a brainless grind was off the table, as was any strong theme that might suck up time. YHC settled on the 7 of Diamonds. Any ladder exercise gives you an insane amount of reps while not feeling like an insane amount of reps because you’re doing a limited number at a time and you’re very focused on counting.
After some solid warmups and a trip to the coupon stash, we stowed our coupons on the far side of the stage patio and then gathered on the lot side for instructions.
Round 1:
-First corner of the track = 7 burpees, run to next corner
-Corner 2 = 7 burpees, 14 merkins
-Corner 3 = 7 burpees, 14 merkins, 21 V-ups
-Corner 4 = 7 burpees, 14 merkins, 21 V-ups, 28 Curls
The mind trick here is that you think you’re just adding a few more of something at each corner. But, you’re actually cranking out the reps, which is pretty exhausting, and we needed a ten-count before Round 2.
Round 2: (carried coupons with us this time)
-Corner 1 = 7 burpees
-Corner 2 = 7 burpees, 14 Bonnie Blairs
-Corner 3 = 7 burpees, 14 Bonnie Blairs, 21 Curls
-Corner 4 = 7 burpees, 14 Bonnie Blairs, 21 Curls, 28 Big Boys
At this point, YHC explained that we had just done 56 burpees in about 10 minutes, in the midst of other not-so-easy exercises. And those were the easy part. It’s amazing what the body can endure when the brain is focused elsewhere. So, YHC then explained that we’d be doing 11’s with manmakers and merkins, which was similar to last Monday. This initially made SV and Pope doubt the wisdom of posting this morning; but, just like last Monday, we’d start with 10 of the hard one, and work our way down. The brain can then focus on the relief it’s getting with every round instead of on the fact that we’d be completing 55 manmakers in 15 minutes in the midst of running and nurring over a half mile and doing 55 merkins.
These guys are beasts, and they flew through these despite YHC’s interesting new playlist rolling along behind them (and maybe the strange combination of songs provided a bit of a distraction from the pain as well). And, so, four men, in just making the decision to get out of bed, show up, and not say no, completed the following number of exercises one set, one rep at a time:
55 Manmakers
56 Burpees
100 Merkins
42 Bonnie Blairs
82 V-ups
70 Curls
28 Big Boy Situps
1 Mile
Total: 600 points
On this second-to-last day of Jurptober, YHC is proud to be joined by these men and driven by them and for them to choose to keep pushing the limits of what’s possible in 45 minutes. These are things that I would never do for myself, but just as in every other aspect of life, I always benefit more from the decisions to let go of my comfort for the sake of others than I do when I’m chasing my own fulfillment. This is what life is all about, and it makes me extremely grateful for these experiences with you guys.
SYITG,
Goose
