The Crown was a joyous, sunny sight this morning.  8 PAX gathered, albeit apprehensively, for a LB-led beatdown.  There’s always concern in the air over coupons.  There is nothing wrong with bringing a friend to a workout, even the block-headed kind that weigh 36 lbs and cost $1.60 at your local hardware store.  They make for a great workout partner.

Warmups:

Abe’s

Motivators (9X)

WMDs

Mosey around the newly uncovered turf field at The Crown.  Back to where we started for a Kodak-inspired evolution, 10-min fence burpees.

Mosey around field to Lee St where we the crew found some friends in hiding waiting on them after being staged pre-workout by YHC.  25 squat thrusters, take your friend across the field to the opposite end & back.  25 kettle bell swings, take your friend for another stroll across the field to the opposite end & back.  Penalty burpees each time a friend touched the deck during the evolution.  Our guy, Rancid, even had time to EH mid-evolution with a fleet-footed gentleman named Quincy.  Rancid is a gem of a HIM, we’re lucky every time he posts to Evanston.

Left our cement friends to simmer while we moseyed around the field to the front of the Robert Crown center, where we hit a partner Murph (modified).  Partner event of 100 bike rack pullups, 200 merkins & 300 squats while your partner ran a quick lap around the parking lot.

6Mom, crown-sourced.  Ended with the ever-popular Guantanamo.

Count – 8

Name-o-Rama

COT.

Prayers were extended to our immediate “family” of Eskimo & Cyclone as they deal with some family-related & personal health issues, hope to have these two HIMs back in the mix when they’re ready.   Also prayed for the 500,000+ who lost their battle with COVID-19 and their families.

It feels like we’re coming out of our winter doldrums & the life-altering pandemic from the past year.  While we know that some may never recover, we’re thankful for each other for the strength, hope and resiliency that we all received from the men of this group.  We all leaned on each other during a dark year and it feels like we’re coming out on the other side.  We all continued to show up when it was dark, cold and would have been easier to stay home.  But what we needed was out there in the dark and the cold, and it wasn’t always the sweat and pain from the 1st F.  What we needed is in the strength & hope from the guy next to you willing to show up to experience the same discomfort.  It’s easy to show up when it’s bright & sunny out, when it’s warm & toasty.  It sucks to show up in the dark, it’s painful to show up in sub-freezing temps, it’s easy to stay in bed.  Problem is, none of us want easy.  None of us want warm & toasty.  We like & embrace the suck, we live to challenge ourselves in these conditions with these men.  That’s called IRON, having HIMs in your inner circle is your own IRON.  And IRON sharpens IRON.