The Sanitarium – Grand Slam
March 1st, 2022
AO: Papillion – Lavista High School
38 degrees, clear skies and calm wind
PAX: Squeaky Clean, Kickstand, Irish Car Bomb, Swiper, Feeney, Gobbler, Truck Stop, Mulch, Black Tuesday, Sweet Roll, Levy, Shingles, Legolas, Double Dip, Lucky Charms, KOA, Girl Dad
YHC — Thomas
This was my first venture south to Q in the Sarpy County and I was looking forward to joining the Sarpy Swagger PAX. Even though I had posted at the Sanitarium before, I wasn’t super familiar with the layout of the AO. I had performed some reconnaissance using an online map and noticed some tennis courts that I thought could make for an interesting workout. I pinged Swiper ahead of time to confirm they would be open and he assured me they would be, but said they were a little dark. In jest I asked if they were darker than the #DarkestAO, but I knew we’d be good.
I arrived shortly after five to prepare and noticed a few vehicles already in the parking lot, pre-runners of course. But I got a bit nervous as there were no tennis courts in sight. Apparently my reconnaissance was using aged maps and they had been relocated. With good fortune I was able to find them just to the north and found them to be in pristine condition. I also discovered that the parking lot would be well suited for warm-a-rama. I set the lights up in the courts and headed back to the shovel flags, excited to see several PAX already gathering.
There was a good amount of mumblechatter and everyone was enjoying the mild start to the day. At 5:30 AM sharp I kicked things off as the pre-runners were just joining. There were no FNGs today, so I jumped right into the mission, five core principles, a disclaimer and I shared my tradition of enjoying 10 burpees should we hear a train whistle (there were none this morning). I then shared the plan for a Grand Slam was tennis related and not baseball (or breakfast, sorry Swiper). We then moseyed over toward the tennis courts.
Warm-A-Rama
We circled up in the parking lots just south of the tennis courts.
Side Straddle Hops – 15 IC
Imperial Walkers – 15 IC
Tappy Taps – 15 IC
Cherry Pickers — 15 IC
We concluded warm-a-rama with some warm up runs in the parking lot. First some lines at 50%, then a Mario skip, and finally another set of lines at 75%. We were now ready for some tennis.
Pre-Thang: No tennis themed workout could be complete without some Agassis, basically a ladder drill on the tennis courts. We crossed three courts, with the edge of each court being the line. The PAX stretched across the court and sprinted out one set. I asked Swiper to give us a 10 count, and then we did a second set.
The Thang: We then moved on to the north court for the main event, the Grand Slam. There are four major tournaments in tennis that make up the Grand Slam, and we incorporated these into a Four Team Grinder. We counted off into four groups and then headed off to our sites.
Australian Open – Australia is all the way around the world, so this station was a run around the outer fence of the tennis courts. This group was also the push group.
For the remaining sites, the following exercises were performed AMRAP till pushed. Once pushed, the PAX sprinted diagonally to the net, backpedaled diagonally to the baseline, and then ran to the next station.
French Open:
- Air Squats x 25
- Donkey Kicks x 10
- Bobby Hurleys x 15
Wimbledon:
- London Bridge x 5 IC
- Freddie Mercury’s x 10 IC
- Flutter Kicks x 15 IC
US Open
- Merkins x 20
- Carolina Dry Docks x 15
- Overhead Air Presses x 15
Just after 6 AM Deuce was called and we returned to the other court for a final set of Agassis. The PAX ran hard and pulled out the match, at which point Omaha was called. We gathered together to mosey back to the shovel flag.s
6MOM
The PAX circled up on their six for Mary.in the gravel concrete parking lot. We were running short on time, so it was a quick Mary:
American Hammers – 25
Announcements
First Friday lunch is at Flagship Commons at Westroads and a happy hour will be at Jukes in Elkhorn. The Pit will have a 7 AM start on Saturday so that the PAX can join the crew doing the 4×48 challenge this weekend with a 6 AM run time. Irish Car Bomb asked for prayers for his daughter Paisley who is scheduled for heart surgery on March 11th. Prayers were offered for Paisley and also continued prayers for Al Borland’s son Callum as he recovers from his brain surgery last week.
COT
A couple week’s back I was driving home from work and noticed that I was in a really good mood. This unfortunately is not common but at first I didn’t think much of it. Later that night it dawned on me why I was in a better mood. That afternoon I had written several thank yous to individuals who had been key players in helping my team hit some of our goals. I realized that not only did the thank yous hopefully give these others a good feeling, but that my gratitude had also triggered positive emotions in me.
So often when we’re having a bad day or in a funk, we’re looking to others to do something for us. But the Lord says that by offering ourselves to others, we too are blessed. I encourage each of the PAX to make a meaningful effort today to reach out to someone and share their appreciation. It just may make your day too!
Thomas took us out in prayer.
Aye!
Thomas