Let me tell you about this morning’s workout from the perspective of Jose10k, who, mind you, wasn’t leading but set a personal goal with paxminer. The only way to achieve the goal is to get credit for the workout.
First off, Jose10k, being the overachiever he is, strapped on a 25-pound ruck sack and decided to play Man vs. Mandeville before we even started. He ran through the downtown streets, up and down the Trailhead, and even made the stairs his personal Everest—for 40 minutes. This man was on a mission to redefine cardio. My backblast, my own personal compliments.
Then Russo, the designated leader (but clearly not the main character), took over. He started with a warmup—nothing too fancy, just enough to make us wonder if Jose had extra oxygen tanks in that ruck sack. Afterward, we moseyed to the well-lit arches on the trail, probably so Russo could see the look of regret in our eyes as he introduced 11s: shoulder-tap plank jacks and merkins. Shooter made light work of the situation. Performing each exercise with perfect form and precision. He thoughts of the buck he’s been seeing on his deer cameras. His focus was on bagging this deer, and the pavement felt his wrath.
Here’s the kicker: to get from one end to the other, we lunge-walked. Yes, lunge-walked, like we were auditioning for a low-budget version of the nutcracker. Then we backpedaled to the start, because apparently walking forward wasn’t hardcore enough. To top it off, we had to slalom the entire Trailhead back. By “slalom,” I mean weaving like we were training for the Winter Olympics, except instead of snow, it was pavement, sweat, and a faint sense of dread.
Russo’s idea of “rinse and repeat” wasn’t so much about refreshing us as it was about turning our legs into spaghetti. Meanwhile, Jose10k cruised through it all with the casual intensity of a man who already ran a marathon before breakfast. Shooter set the pace, while we chased after him as fast as we could. Plus, as per the norm, Jose had to duck out early to educate the future leaders of tomorrow. As I heard through the grapevine, Shooter crushed the remaining 11s, and God help that Buck try to survive Shooter’s pursuit.
In summary: Russo led the workout, but Jose10k was the workout.
