Integrity Matters

Preamble:

YHC arrived early on this beautiful morning to stretch and the Hooch men started arriving as always.  Three pre-runners moseyed in, the disclaimer was given and we were off.

Warm-O-Rama:

Took a different mosey path behind the restaurants and back by Waffle House toward Iron Tribe.  Circled up for:

• Weed pickers x12
• Imperial Walkers x12
• Good mornings OYO x12

The Thang:

Moseyed toward Homer’s doughnut to a parking lot where, on my cadence, we did 10 squat jumps IC followed by a 10 count Al Gore (Q count).  Rinse and repeat with 9 squat jumps, 9 count Al Gore, 8/8, 7/7, etc.  Just when the PAX had the pattern figured out, we got down to 1 squat jump then held Al Gore for a 10 count.  Hearing the mumble chatter, I’m pretty sure some PAX made a mental note to write me into their will after that gift.

With our legs on fire, we did something that resembled a mosey over to the parking lot by the church hill for some Forties…similar to 11’s but with bigger maths.  Start with 30 merkins + 10 lunges (single) = 40, mosey to the end of that parking lot for 25 merkins + 15 lunges = 40, mosey, 20/20, mosey, 15/25, mosey, 10/30.  Some mary and planking for the six.

YHC asked for a walking 10 count starting at 10 but when the time between 3 and 2 was like 10 seconds I realized the guys were stalling so we restarted a mosey and headed for the track.  At the track ‘stadium’ we lined up on the stairs facing the top and did 25 reverse calf raises.  YHC then called for 20 derkins on the stadium seats.  Back to the stairs for 25 more reverse calf raises then 15 derkins.  Back to stairs for 25 more calf raises, 10 derkins.  25 more calf raises (mine were on fire by now) and 5 merkins.  We put a bookend on it by doing 25 more calf raises to finish things off.

YHC called for an Indian run and I started at the front of the line.  Each time I ran from back to front we stopped for an exercise.  Round 1 was 25 knerkins (aka Chuck Norris merkins on your knuckles).  Gloves were recommended for this workout but it turns out gloves don’t make knerkins any easier.  Back to the Indian run in the general direction of the flag.  Next round we did 10 prison cell merkin burpees (plank, merkin, right knee to right elbow, merkin, left knee to left elbow, merkin, jump up = 1).  A few more PAX most certainly decided to add me into their wills after those.

Mosey toward the flag but stop in the big field for some Jane Fondas.  Side plank with upper arm extended, raise upper leg 10 times. Flapjack to the other side.  Rinse and repeat for a total of 20 raises on each leg.  Lots of mumble chatter about thighmasters and aerobics classes.  This exercise reminded me of two things: (1) my core is nowhere near as strong as I’d like it to be and (2) one should never look around at others during this exercise because you can’t unsee certain things.

Continue our mosey stopping at the bank this time.  We partnered up and dusted off an old pre-covid favorite…partner derkins.  P1 planks while P2 puts his feet on P1’s back and performs 20 derkins.  Flapjack.  Rinse and repeat, this time with 10 derkins each.  Lots of chatter about who we were glad we didn’t get as a partner on this one.

Mosey to the final stretch parking lot where YHC instructed PAX to perform 15 squats at each line and run in between.  The smell of bacon wafting from Waffle House was an unplanned but amazing way to end the workout.

Back to the flag for some mary including gas pumpers, hammers (I think), flutters, and dollies.

COT:

A reminder of the brew ruck this weekend (check Slack for details).

If you can help with moving a family in need on Friday night and/or Saturday morning, check with ReadyMix and/or Hooch Slack channel for details.

Sign up to donate blood on 5/27 (check Slack for details).  Thanks to Sculley for organizing and encouraging us in this great opportunity.

A reminder of CPR class organized by Zohan (check Slack for details).

Prayers offered up for safe travels for PCS groups on various trips today, for the family ReadyMix is asking for help moving, for those living with mental illness, and for their caregivers.  Praise for YHC’s youngest son graduating from high school on Saturday!

Naked-Man Moleskin:

Boomer asked for a Truth Nugget volunteer and I was given the honor to not only Q, but bring some Truth as well. Giving credit to the Holy Spirit working through my wife, she sent me a link to a sermon by a guy named Craig Groeschel titled “Integrity Matters”. He starts it off with a compelling thought:

“If you have integrity nothing else matters.  If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters”

Integrity is not perfection or to live without making a mistake.  Integrity is when your behavior on the outside matches what you believe on the inside.

I encourage each of you to listen to it and consider sharing some of the content with your family.  While it’s delivered from a Christian perspective, it is not an exclusively Christian idea.  In fact, the book of Proverbs speaks at length about integrity and offers some timeless wisdom on this subject (listen to the message for specific verses).

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/life-church-with-craig-groeschel/id73802266?i=1000521901618

It’s always fun to post at the Hooch. Thanks for welcoming me, pushing me, and making something difficult feel just a little bit easier.

— Speedo out