1500 or Bust and Admitting Failure

In the frigid 61 degree FL winter gloom, 13 pax completed the pre-beatdown manhood self-check and decided they were up for the challenge.  Assembled at the virtual shovel flag (more on that later) and set off toward the Field of Crushed Dreams.

CoP

• 20 x Don Quixote (IC)
• 10 x WWI Situps (IC)
• 20 x Plank Jacks (IC)
• 20 x left Baryshnikovs (10 left, 10 right IC)
• 20 x Smurf Jacks (IC)

Mosey to the edge of the field and partner up for the major mega beatdown consisting of 1,500 reps per team.  T-claps to Abraham from Hickory, NC for the inspiration.  Asked random pax to demonstrate proper form for each exercise and additional pax to critique; the last thing YHC wants is for someone to strain a back muscle halfway into their 400 squats due to fatigue-induced form failure.

The Thang: Similar to Dora, Partner 1 runs a lap around the perimeter sidewalk while Partner 2 does as many reps as possible, switch off when Partner 1 returns.  Each team cumulatively completes:

• 500 x SSH
• 400 x Sumo Squats
• 300 x Big Boy Situps
• 200 x Merkins
• 100 x Burpees

Note: YHC’s team had 3 pax and thus completed 750, 600, 450, 300, and 150 reps respectively.

It was a lot to pack into a 30-minute window, but the pax performed admirably as always.  Two teams barely managed to finish their burpees before 0615, while the other four teams were well into Burpeeland and would have finished given 2-3 additional minutes.  Mosey back to the imaginary shovel flag.

• Being a man means taking responsibility for your failures and mistakes
  • YHC struggles regularly with this one.  I’m conditioned or hardwired to try to spin situations, deflect responsibility or justify myself and my actions or intentions so that others perceive me more favorably and so that I can keep believing that my faults either don’t exist or are smaller than they really are.  This is dangerous because it creates an alternate reality where I’m never at fault, and it robs me of opportunities to learn from my mistakes.
  • For YHC recently, this has looked like trying to defend my selfishness or lack of care for my wife as not as bad as she is making them out to be.  A co-worker even picked up on the fact that I avoided taking a strong position on a stock recommendation so that I wouldn’t look bad if my expectations didn’t work out, even though I wasn’t thinking about it in those terms.
  • Ironically, I had two opportunities to put this lesson into practice today, first when I realized I had never posted a backblast from my Q the previous week, and secondly when I forgot to check the trunk of the rental car I had to have towed the night before my Q, only to remember later that it contained the Jax Pax shovel flag.

“A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit.” ~John Maxwell

For another great resource on this leadership topic, read: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/02/19/how-to-own-up-to-mistakes/

Announcements/Prayers

• Seatdown – still battling sickness
• Snuffy – traveling
• Christmas party at Pyro’s pad – this Sunday, 4-8 pm, contact Pyro for address
• Great idea from LIFO – buy BOGO cereal at Publix once a week and collect them to donate to Trinity Rescue Mission, which has a regular need for cereal and other breakfast foods.

Go forth and be humble, responsible men and leaders today!