A Tribute Workout – No Rough Rider Shall Be Left Behind
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt
72 degrees at 0700 hrs, Q: Dos Equis (7 pax on site, 2 on ZOOM): Mountie, Risky Business, Brisket, Photo Finish, VanDamme, Hot Wheels, Dos Equis, and on ZOOM: Black Hole, and Milky Way.
Warm-Up: (20 count or XX count of each) Arm Circle, Circle Arms, Imperial Walker, Shoulder Stretch, Shoulder Taps, Windmill. Transition to Six: V-reach, Lounge Act (aka Dos Chill).
Mosey to the hill at the edge of the soccer pitch.
The Thang:
The Charge up San Juan Hill, Do it again, and again, and again….
Sequence: Base of hill exercise, The exercise in the ascent up the hill, The exercise atop the hill. This sequence, four times. The four times done twice – gentler slope hill, and steeper slope hill. Bottom of hill and top of hill exercises done in 20 count (or XX count.)
- Fluttahs, Teddy Bear Crawl, LBCs
- Copperhead Squats (tribute to @F3Metro’s recent visitor), Lunge Walk, Merkins
- Freddie Mercury, Straddle movement up hill – right leg lead, American Hammer
- Alphabet (A-M first round, N-Z second round), Straddle movement up hill – left leg lead – Plank Jacks.
End mosey across the soccer pitch and back, while the Q retrieved the quote.
Count-a-rama, Name-a-rama, announcements
Reflection:
The source of the Theodore Roosevelt quote for me is a recent backblast by Major Payne @jamesogregory of F3TheCapital on the occasion of his Q on his recent RESPECT birthday. (Typical F3 action for me – Find something good in the F3Nation, steal it with both hands., and use it.) These are strong remarks about getting after it, keeping after it, and if you stumble or fail, get up and start again. I like how TR recognizes that error, shortcoming, and failure are part of the human experience. The question is: How do I properly respond? Do I become a woe-is-me puddle? Do I wallow in the resulting negativity and gloom that comes with failure or shortcoming? Or do I use this as opportunity to become a better man, to move forward – not backward and to accelerate?
I can easily think of my past where a job situation did not work out right, a friendship gone silent, a break-up with a girlfriend. But, after each of these and many other situations like them, I got back into the arena and kept going.
A question I like to ask myself: How can I win the prize if I don’t enter the contest? That requires me to enter the contest, to “be in the arena”, and keep going, keep getting after it, keep accelerating.
Strive valiantly.
Dare greatly.
Do not be “a cold timid soul that neither knows victory nor defeat.”
I remain grateful to my F3 Princeton brothers for their love, care, and encouragement to move me forward.
Remain durable.
Remain resilient.
Maintain hope.
Stay strong.
Stay safe.
Stay sane.
Dos Equis
= = =
End Notes
Alphabet: On your six, trace out letters of the alphabet with both legs. (It is not necessary to be a wise guy like Hot Wheels and ask what point size are the letters. Case of letters, font style, and point size are at the discretion of the Q)
Copperhead Squat: Regular squat but lowering body slowly on first three counts, then lifting up on 4 count. Good form is keeping hands on back of head, with elbows held back, weight on heels, and back kept straight.
Lounge Act (Dos Chill): Lying on your side, with top leg bent, knee-high, and foot on ground, lift lower leg. Switch sides to lift other leg, too.
V-Reach: On your six, with legs spread out in front of you, sitting up at waist: reach to the right and hold stretch, reach to the center and hold stretch, reach to the left and hold stretch.
I remain fascinated by Theodore Roosevelt. He became president in 1901 at the age of 42 after the assassination of President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. At the time of the assassination, TR was camping in the Adirondacks, so he came out to Buffalo, New York, and took the oath of office there.
He served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and served also as a Governor of New York. Known as an outdoorsman, he exercised regularly, including boxing which he did as both Governor and President. He took up tennis, hiking, rowing, polo, and horseback riding. and judo.
The Strenuous Life Speech by Theodore Roosevelt, 1899
Theodore Roosevelt from Wikipedia.
Rough Riders from Wikipedia
Notes from Bones on Hill Sprints (as heard in The COT Podcast, 08/09/2020)
- Hill sprints can help you work on increasing your speed at running.
- They can make you faster and more powerful and help you burn more fat.
- There is a good safety factor, avoiding overuse of parts of body
- They make you a better sprinter in leaning forward and improve your ability to accelerate
- Recommended grade: 25 deg – 35 deg
- Recommended length of hill: One you sprint in 25-30 strides in 10 seconds or less.
- Sprint Exercise: run up hill, walk back down, do it again and again.
- Sprint combo exercise: merkins at base, sprint up the hill, merkins at the top.
