File this one as one of those better-late-than-never backblasts…
Well, young Grover finally hit 18. Yes, it’s still a long road to respect (just ask poor Grundy), but a pretty big milestone nonetheless. We celebrated the day by getting up ridiculously early to put in a little work in some very cold weather. (You know it’s cold when the fully-charged iPhone sitting in your car simply shuts off as a protection measure. Shooter laughs at your protection measures, Apple!)
As is often the case with these BLTN backblasts, it’s so tardy that I can no longer remember the warmups, the mary, or even the actual pax. Apologies. Knowing my own lazy tendencies, however, I did have the foresight to jot down what we did:
18 Blocks for 18 Years:
Mosey eastward on the trace, stopping at every block to do 18X of an exercise. Did one big loop, hitting Jackson, down to the lake, and then back up Lamarque to the Marsh. The exercises were (all 18x):
- Merkins (IC)
- Lunges (IC)
- Squat Jumps
- Stone Mountains / CDD
- Sister Marys
- Monkey Humpers (IC)
- T-Merkins
- Hello Dollys (IC)
- Sit-ups
- Peter Parkers (IC)
- Freak Nasties (IC)
- Burpees
- Star Jumps
- Smurf Jacks (IC)
- Flutters (IC)
- Diamond Merkins
- Tuck Jumps
- Pull-ups
Personally, YHC was never a big fan of 16 Candles. I think most would agree (except for Cowbell, who has somehow never seen a movie in his life, too busy running probably) that of similarly themed John Hughes movies, The Breakfast Club was slightly better and maybe Ferris Bueller was the best. (Weird Science should also probably be lumped in there.) Hughes pretty much did the same thing in most of these movies, which was to take teenage stereotypes (the jock, the nerd, the outcast, the neurotic, the free spirit, etc) and invert them in some way. He would have had a hard time writing a character like Grover, because the kid is just too multi-dimensional for a Hughes movie. He’s all of those characters wrapped up into one. YHC has really enjoyed getting to know Grover; he’s the kind of guy that, as a parent, you hope your own kids might turn out like. Heck, I’d be happy if they were even half as cool as Grover. So happy (belated) 18th brother!
