Zipper BLIMPS

Preamble:

YHC took inspiration from the design of a Strava activity recently uploaded by Kodak of F3 Chicago Oak Park AO: Zipper Run! As imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, YHC decided to borrow it for The Alpha with a goal of getting the Hooch PAX darn near close to a 5k without even leaving our beloved parking lot.

Warm-O-Rama:

Short Mosey run around to the north end of the parking lot with high knees and butt-kickers to get warm. Pause at the western end of the northernmost parking lot lane for warm-ups in cadence:

• SSH
• WP
• Hillbilly
• Forward/Backward Arm Circles

The Thang:

BLIMPS is a ubiquitous F3 acronym that stands for Burpees, Lunges, Imperial Walkers, Merkins, Plank Jacks, Squats. With this acronym committed to memory, the design of Zipper BLIMPS is like so:

• PAX partner up and start at the west end of the northern-most parking lot lane.
• PAX A does AMRAP of the B’s (burpees).
• Meanwhile PAX B moseys to the eastern end of the parking lot lane, drops for 5 Hand-Release Merkins, moseys back.
• PAX swap
• When finished, both partners move to the adjacent parking lot lane to the south and repeat with the L’s (Lunges)
• Repeat through all six of the BLIMPS exercises, moving to adjacent lanes as you go.

Partner groups that finished first counted off Mary in cadence for the 6. 10-count.

Then YHC informed the PAX that we had only scaled half the parking lot, and would Rinse & Repeat Zipper BLIMPS the remainder of the parking lot, this time swapping out 5 Hand-Release Merkins for 5 Star Jumps instead. Some mumble chatter about how this made things no easier, to which YHC informed PAX their wives would thank me for giving the PAX a well-rounded workout.

Partner groups that finished the 2nd Zipper BLIMPS earliest counted off Mary in cadence for the 6. 10-count.

With minimal time to spare and only ~2.3 miles of running thus far, YHC called suicides back to the flag, moving 3 lanes forward, 1 lane back, both to add some extra mileage and to “close the zipper” on a very pretty Strava map:

Made it to the flag with 2.6 miles in the books, and dropped for a few minutes of Mary IC. WW1 situps, AmHam, LBC.

COT:

Announcements:

• PAX-only Hooch Christmas happy hour at Sunshine’s house Thursday night 12/10. Look for deets on Slack and HC to Sunshine please.
• Bring food on Wednesday for Flo to carry in the Santa Ruck. Dry and canned goods, no CostCo rotisserie chickens please.

Prayers:

• Prayers that the 3rd F in F3 Alpha would mightily serve the Lord’s purposes in ministering to the needs of those around us.
• Prayers for grace in often-times difficult family relationships.
• Remembrance for what December 7th, 1941 means to the USA’s storied history. Thanks be to God for blessing our great nation with freedom.

Naked-Man Moleskin:

F3 Kodak is a friend of a friend. Though we have never met in person, we have traded tweets and Strava thumbs-up’s for about a year. Despite no direct relationship, this PAX  nevertheless inspired this morning’s beatdown at The Hooch. How small the world truly is, especially when enjoyed in an incredible community like that of F3, where iron sharpens iron and men from all over inspire one another to try new and challenging feats of strength and endurance. Aye!