The Covington PAX gathered under the Gipper’s gaze this morning for a Cold War workout. If you have seen or read The Hunt for Red October, you’ll know that Soviet submarine Captains frequently executed a maneuver called the Crazy Ivan to detect American subs following them. The Captain would spin his submarine around suddenly, changing directions to gain advantage in an underwater game of chicken.
So the theme of today’s beatdown was sudden change of direction and after a brief mosey and warmup consisting of SSH, IW, Merkins, Prisoner Squats, Ariplanes, Windmills, and Seal Jacks all 20x IC, the PAX headed to the Veterans Memorial for the first Crazy Ivan.
Dividing into two teams, one teammate ran through the service flag semicircle while his teammate executed high knees in place, switching off each lap and in different directions. The PAX hit AMRAP for 7.5 minutes, getting in 24 collective trips before the buzzer sounded.
After a few quick 10 counts, the PAX worked their way to the top of the Justice Center Parking deck where they executed the next Crazy Ivan as a 4 man team. One man ran down the ramp at 45 degree angles, planting his outside leg and changing direction every time he approached the wall, just like a running back changing direction. Then he ran back up in the same fashion. Meanwhile, one teammate hopped side to side over a line on the deck, another worked a dynamic front plank position horizontally over and back over a line, and the last lunged at varied angles. All PAX changed their angles continuously while working through these exercises. AMRAP in 10 minutes rotating through each exercise with the PAX completing a collective 2 rounds together.
Next up were lateral curb hops, first facing uphill and leading with the right foot, then facing downhill and leading with the left foot, then facing uphill leading with the left foot, and finally facing downhill and leading with the right foot.
Short 10 count, then sprint down two sets of ramps for the final hard efforts of the morning. Mosey back to the Gipper for the count-o-rama, name-o-rama, and prayer.
Solid effort this morning. PAX fitness improving…it’s noticable. Thanks for letting me Q. EiEi is up for next Wednesday at the Covington Trailhead. Come join us and make yourself better.
Interestingly, this is the second time Crazy Ivan’s have come up in conversation in as many weeks.
The first instance was at a bar in NOLA, famous for its rotational fortitude, wherein a buddy was caught trying to quickly turn away from a hottie he was (not so) surreptitiously scoping out. We all laughed at him and told him he needed to work on his Crazy Ivan.
In other news: I hereby formally request that the “Sudden Change” be renamed and referred to hereafter as the “Crazy Ivan.”
E