After Tana’s block-buster 13 Days of/till Christmas yesterday, YHC knew we needed to take it easy on the big, heavy movements, which usually translates into a lot more running. Per usual, YHC didn’t think this one would be a memory maker, but was happy to be proven wrong.
Warmups of the usual with the addition of some Hairy Rockettes (straight leg out to opposite hand extended off to one side, then switch to the other) to loosen up the hammies. As expected, Enron executed these with poise and precision. Yankee Joe shared some unusually deep knowledge about life as a real Rockette, which threatened to throw YHC into a rabbit hole of questions, but I held strong and the first Thang was explained:
To Superfun(d)’s delight we started with a Merkin Mile, which reminded him of his first beatdown, the IPC titled “Death by Skinny Runner”. The fact that he’s still coming after that first experience remains one F3 Thibodaux’s unsolved mysteries, and PAX’s admiration for that superhuman resolve runs deep!
A Merkin Mile is a mile with stops for 25 merkins every quarter mile. YHC used the Runkeeper app, one of many that will audibly tell you when you’ve reached certain distances, times, etc. A pre-beatdown toilet visit provided YHC the opportunity for tinkering with the app, which revealed the option for the voice to be changed to “Boston fan” among others. So, in honor of Yankee Joe, I chose that one, and it did not disappoint. (It started by telling us to “Put on ya big girl pants, and lets get that heart (“haht”) rate up!”). The first 25 merkins weren’t too bad, but the last three were much harder than the PAX expected–I remembered being surprised by this one when I first did it on the Northshore, but truth be told, stacking up sets of 25 merkins is no joke.
The next Thang would provide no escape from having to traverse long distances. (Sorry, Superfun(d)!)()( We slow moseyed (walked) to the stop sign over toward the bumper for a nice, long set of 11’s. We started in the grass there with 10 squats and then caricoa’ed the length of the parking lot (in the grass) to the other end and did 1 merkin before nurring (running backward) back to the start. Then, rinse and repeat with 9 squats and 2 merkins all the way to 1 squat and 10 merkins.
As the reader may be picturing, the squats and merkins were very much the only chance to rest. That’s a long way to carioca and nur, and after just 1 or 2 rounds, each of the PAX silently vowed to never allow YHC to Q again. But, for the next 25 minutes there was no escape. So, the only thing left to do was embrace the suck, which these guys did admirably. Yankee Joe stayed with YHC the entire time, which was greatly appreciated. There’s nothing worse than being completely winded all by yourself. Thanks to YJ, YHC had no excuse to take breaks or slow up, and YJ even had enough in him to push YHC’s competition button at the end by nurring backward at top speed with total disregard for that pipe that was sticking up out of the ground. Also, T-claps to Superfun(d) who could’ve easily stopped a round early but refused to take the out.
Slow moseyed back to the flag with a minute left, did some Freddy-Tana’s to get us to 6:15, and then COT and Superfun(d) prayed us out. Thanks for coming out on a Tuesday morning, fellas, and not wasting a beatdown! The pain and fatigue would be far less meaningful without you!
SYTIG,
Goose
