Halloween Countdown with the Spooky Q

QIC:  Band Camp

Date: 10/1/2021

PAX: Blue, Milkman, Starbucks, Lyft, Cleaver, Sherlock, LifeAlert, Money Shot, Snowcream, Tasty Cakes, FNG-OB

AO: Shothouse


Conditions

The moon was out with an eerie glow, masked in part by the shadowed clouds above. A tainted breeze filled the air, punctuated by the smell of HIM tears. Howling was heard by all, though it was just yours truly in his truest form (aka the Spooky Q). Perfect for a pumpkin-spiced beatdown.


COP

20 SSH’s in cadence

10 Windmills in cadence

10 Willy Maze Haze in cadence

Toe touches 30 seconds OYO

Cobra 15 seconds OYO

10 Michael Phelps in cadence

20 Merkins in cadence


The Thang

Make your way to the track with a coupon. Pair off into groups of 2 (Dora’s—Person A and Person B).


Phase One, the Monster Mash
Person A starts and exercise, Person B completes a movement 10 yards there and back. When Person B gets back, Persons A and B switch so that Person A completes the movement while Person B completes the exercise. Each sub-section below is completed for 5 minutes at a time:

Mummies (5 minutes)

A – mummy lifts (sit-up with block)

B – Mummy walk 10 yards and back (straight leg high kicks to your outstretched arms, no coupon)

Werewolves (5 minutes)

A – howl at the moon (dive bombers)

B – bear crawl 10 yards and back (fast, no coupon)

Vampires (5 minutes)

A – flex your wings (bent over rows with coupon)

B – fly! 10 yards there and back (long jumps, no coupon)

Spiders (5 minutes)

A – squash the spider (American hammers with coupon)

B – Spider-Man crawl 10 yards (push-up optional, no coupon)

Jog to the home bleachers with coupon

Phase 2, Trick-or-Treat Preparation

Keeping the same groups, complete these exercises for 3 minutes each, then switch. (We were only able to spend 1.5 minutes each due to time.)

A – candy bag bicep curls with coupon (5 low curls, 5 high curls, 5 full curls) until failure, alternating with front door step-ups on bleachers as needed.

B – chocolate arm dips until failure, alternating with candy apple bobbing pull ups on the bleacher railing as needed.

Phase 3, Ding-Dong-Ditch

Continuing with Dora groups, the following happens on the track without coupons:

A – holds Al Gore looking in opposite direction until B “rings the doorbell”, then tries to catch B through a jailbreak

B – starting from 20-ish yards behind A mosey’s to A and says “Ding Dong!”, then immediately bernies along track to get away from A

Once A catches up to B, the roles switch, with A starting 20 yards behind B. Once one team makes it all the way around the track to the starting point (home bleachers), the exercise is over for everyone. We were only able to get 1/4 around the track due to time.

Walk back to parking lot with block.


COT

Before going into my Word of the Day in this post, we got to name the FNG. Welcome OB (short for OBGYN)! Brave man for coming out to a Spooky Q with yours truly, hopefully we didn’t scare OB away…

Word of the Day:

Like many of our modern holidays, halloween historically was something that embraced evils. It wasn’t until a Roman Catholic holiday was established on November 1st, 609 that the celebration changed in the western world.

So that’s the history lesson, I believe it has direct implications on our life today. As HIM’s, when we experience adversity, do we become victims of wrongs? Or do we take a bad event in history and change our perspective to build ourselves up and move forward, like Pope Boniface IV? Halloween’s true history shouldn’t be forgotten, but we shouldn’t be hampered down by that history—we can remember and should call out evils, but we can’t let it keep us from living our lives going forward. If we’re Christians, we know that the world doesn’t end until Jesus says so, we keep running the race of faith and life (1 Corinthians 9). There is a time for mourning and tearing down, but also a time for joy and building up (Ecclesiastes 3).

My wife read an interesting book review this week—the article stated we all meditate on suffering. Much of the current social justice movements focus on the suffering of the self. Christians however are called to meditate on the suffering of Christ, from there we find our identity (1 Peter 2:24). By the God of creation becoming a victim, He allowed us to overcome our personal struggles. God says we can trust in Him, not only for salvation, but for our daily life (Proverbs 3:5-6). That means God invites us out of a life of victimization and into a life of conquering for His kingdom (Luke 12:32).

On a personal level, I’ve had a lot of personal struggle being okay with my recent failures at work. But I can’t let those failures determine how I perceive myself, or else it will also impact my area of influence. Good leaders don’t get the luxury of self pity. We must be vulnerable and admit our weaknesses, but we are also charged with circling ourselves with good people who will pull us out of the muck (1 Thessalonians 5:11, Galatians 6:2).


Moleskin

Life Alert made sure to remind me that less than 12 hours of October had transpired and here I was leading a Halloween-themed Q. I guess the moral of the story is you never know when a Spooky Q will happen to you (just like no one expects the Spanish Inquisition!). As a side note, I dress up as characters all the time—just ask my wife about our role playing adventures. The way I see it there’s no reason to keep dress up for just one day a year when I can dress up like a scantily-clad firefighter anytime I want. If I had it my way, I’d have “Halloween” every day of the year. I’d also probably have like 10 kids by now though.


Recent Backblasts

    Running Away from Bullets…This Day in History (WWII-themed)

    QIC:  Band Camp

    Date: 06/04/2020

    PAX: Fissure, Mr. Clean, The Count, Cable Cutter, Hasbro, U-Turn, Money Ball, Ducktales, Slois Lane, Mr. Met, Blindside

    AO: The Huey


    Conditions

    68 degrees and clear. As a side note my man parts were shriveled up in excitement for this VQ.


    COP

    19 ‘mericans OYO

    22.5 (45 total) cadence Side straddle hops

    [19 and 45…1945 when the war ended]

    10 cadence front/back arm circles

    10 cadence Michael Phelps

    10 cadence billy Mays heys

    OYO high kicks, 5 count each leg (kick the fuehrer in his pink girly pantyhose)

    15 seconds cobra stretch


    The Thang

    Evacuation of Dunkirk (last day June 4, 1940):

    https://www.britannica.com/event/Dunkirk-evacuation

    British soldiers running from Nazi forces…running along the beach with a sea wall barrier, but there are some gaps in the sea wall where Germans can mow us down…

    1. Single file group run, stop at designated lights [hole in sea wall]—everyone low squat, 1 person jail break past everyone to next light, hold plank…1 at a time starting with 6 and ending with lead. Recover and group run to the next “hole in sea wall” (3 iterations)

    We’ve made it to the evacuation zone, but now we’re stuck at the beachfront and need to escape to England…

    2a. Row your boat out to England—American hammers (30 seconds)

    German Messerschmitts strafe the boats we’re on…jump ship! Swim to safety!

    2b. Prone row or Superman w flutter kick (30 seconds)

    Repeat these two exercises

    Battle of Midway (starting June 4, 1942):

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.history.com/.amp/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway

    Fortify the island from Japanese aircraft! Dig!!

    1a. Plank position shoulder taps (30 seconds)

    1b. Mountain climbers (30 seconds)

    Repeat these 2 exercises a few times

    (We took a break after 2 full iterations, then continued “digging”, 3 iterations total)

    Duck for cover from Japanese bombers!

    2. Fire feet, then burpees when Q shouts “incoming!” – 2.5-3 minutes

    US dive bombers attack the Japanese fleet…Two-man planes…one pilot/bomber and one rear gunner

    Separated into 4 groups of 3…

    3a. Odd number rows dive bombers (10 reps OYO)

    3b. Even number rows big boy sit-ups (10 reps OYO)

    …switch up and repeat (2 full iterations)

    (For you imaginative types: the dive bombers are the pilots and the sit-ups are the rear gunners)

    Captured U-Boat (U-505) (June 4, 1944):

    https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/nmusn/explore/photography/wwii/wwii-atlantic/battle-of-the-atlantic/engagements-german-uboats/1944-attacks-german/wwii-atlantic-u505.html

    We found a U-boat!! Swim to it!!

    1a. Flutter kicks (25 cadence)

    1b. Freddy mercuries (25 cadence)

    This is 50 reps total each if you’re a math nerd…U-505…get it?

    We’ve reached the U-boat but there may be combatants inside…we need to check it out and open all the hatches

    Form 2 lines

    2. Each line bear crawl about 10-15 meters, and 1 Donkey kick (kick the hatches open), mosey back to start

    2 full iterations

    We’ve taken prisoners!!

    3. Imperial walkers (25 cadence)

    4. Mosey back to flag in victory

    BONUS ROUND!!!

    D-day prep (June 6 1944 was when battle started):

    https://www.army.mil/d-day/

    We’re on troop carriers with like a million other dudes…it’s pretty cramped in here…

    1a. Monkey humpers (30 seconds) [hanging out in your assigned rack]

    1b. Side straddle hops (10 in cadence) [taking a moment to stretch]

    Wash, rinse, repeat (2 full iterations)

    I was about to end the workout 3 minutes early, but The Count suggested Mary’s…

    1. American hammers

    2. Freddy Mercuries

    3. Little Baby Crunches

    4. Pickle pointers (cuz why not?)…The Count mentioned something about summer being upon us and getting our glutes ready for thong season


    COT

    “Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.”

    1 Peter 2:17 NASB

    Often used incorrectly to oppress people groups when taken out of context…we’re called to operate where we are and love others. For the Christian it means we have a higher goal than what’s going on immediately around us

    “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

    1 Corinthians 13:13 NASB

    Take care of brothers, take care of families

    Christians are called to abide by these three ideas.

    “And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.”

    Ecclesiastes 4:12 NASB

    Soldiers don’t win wars by themselves, find a battle buddy and stick with them

    A string of three cords is not easily broken

    Things may be out of our control, but we aren’t in charge of the world, we’re put in this moment to serve those directly around us, not just those we place in our line of sight


    Moleskin

    This was my VQ…I got a lot of support and I appreciate everyone who came out and offered encouragement. I hope everyone had a fun time (it seemed like everyone did), and we’ve spotted some more possible VQ’s in the near future…to be continued…


    News


    Recent Backblasts