Yesterday morning I had quite an experience, and admittedly not one that I looked forward to, but one that turned out to be a blast. This morning’s story begins a few months ago when I came back into contact with a friend with whom I used to work several years ago. She is from Mexico, and I invited her to my Spanish Meetup, since we always love having natives and I wanted to catch up with her and hear how life has been. I had met her husband years ago, but we only had a passing relationship and didn’t have the opportunity to see each other often. But after this meetup he initiated a conversation with me over Instagram and invited me to join him and some other guys for an early morning “beat down“.
Although I am a bit of an early bird, committing to an early workout on a Saturday morning with guys I mostly didn’t know didn’t sound too appealing. After a brief mental hesitation, I decided it would be really fun to see this old acquaintance again, and I said I would give it a shot someday. For a couple weeks I pushed it off to the next week. Finally today came and I was without any good excuse. One look at the weather forecast told me I was in for a soggy time, and secretly hoped it would be canceled because of the rain. No such luck.
I showed up a few minutes before we were ready to kick off the workout, around 6:55 AM. We started with introductions. It was a group of about seven guys, and all were very nice. We did some warmups in the parking lot, then moseyed over to the field. It was at that moment that the Hour of Torture began.
In reality, it wasn’t torture, however the exercises were pretty tiring. The worst part was the constant drizzle and the soaked field. I thought maybe we would run laps (something I could probably handle without great difficulty), but, alas, that was not the case. The leader had prepared all kinds of grueling exercises that had us doing sit-ups, push-ups, wheelbarrows, and various forms of squats in the rain-soaked field filled with goose poop. At moments I felt like I was in boot camp, although the humor and laughter of my fellow sufferers reminded me that this was supposed to be fun and only an hour.
After more rounds of other leg and core exercises, we finally gathered for circle time. The time was reserved for announcements (upcoming workouts and locations) and for introductions. Being the only new person, I was called into the center of the circle to share a bit about myself, interests, and an embarrassing story (which will surely be part of another blog post some day). Having shared my love of languages and interest in German, they immediately voted that my nickname for the group should be Hans Gruber. I guess I can live with that.
There’s no telling yet whether I’ll actually make it back for another early morning beat down, but I have to admit that as much as I didn’t want to get roped into another activity, this one was pretty fun, and I met some great people when all was said and done.
Helpful Vocabulary
Here are some of the words used:
| blast | a great time. “To have a blast” means to have a lot of fun. For example: How was the party? It was a blast. (or: We had a blast.) |
| passing | not close. A passing relationship is one where you only see people “in passing”. Often this might be people you see in the hallway occasionally, if you work in a large company. |
| beat down | another word for “workout”. CAUTION: This word is very slang, and I have only very rarely used it in my life. I use it here because apparently this group calls their workouts “beat downs”. This carries the idea that it is very hard, and that you feel “beat up” after the workout. |
| early bird | someone who wakes up very early. The opposite is a “night owl”. We also have a phrase: “The early bird catches the worm.” In other words, the people who wake up or arrive earlier will have more success. |
| acquaintance | a person whom you know, but don’t yet have a close or frequent relationship. |
| give it a shot | to try something. We usually use this on its own without specifying what we are trying (since it is evident from the context). For example: Do you want to try to drive my car? Sure, I’ll give it a shot. |
| soggy | extremely and unpleasantly wet. |
| No such luck. | This is always used as a standalone sentence. It is a short way to say “I was not lucky enough for this to happen.” |
| to mosey | Usually this means to move from one location to the other. We might “mosey on over” to a food stand or some place fun. I don’t use it much, but I use it here because the instructor today would always say “Let’s mosey”, which, in today’s case meant “Let’s run”. Usually moseying is at a slower and more relaxed pace. |
| drizzle | This is the kind of rain we often have in Seattle. It is not a hard rain, but just heavier than a mist. |
| alas | This is more of a poetic word you would find in literary works. It means “it turns out to be” and often has the feeling of pity, disappointment, or sadness. You will almost never hear this word spoken. |
| grueling | very difficult and often producing pain or discomfort. But sometimes you can also use it to exaggerate. For example: Today’s lecture was very long and boring, and it was grueling to have to listen to it in the warm classroom. |
| boot camp | the basic training of someone entering the military. Usually all soldiers or sailors go through a boot camp that involves a lot of physical exercise. After this, they attend training specialized for their future jobs in the military. |
| core | stomach muscles. We also call these the abdominal muscles, or simply “abs” |
| there’s no telling | This means: nobody knows. For example: There’s no telling if it will rain tomorrow. |
| make it back | to return to a place. Example: We loved visiting Nicaragua, but we haven’t made it back since our first trip. |
| roped into | to be talked into an unpleasant activity |
| when all was said and done | a common way to say “after everything was done” |
Phrasal Verbs
Some very common phrasal verbs:
| to turn out | to “end up”. This describes how something ended, and often indicates the result was a bit unexpected. For example: After the big storm this morning, it turned out to be a beautiful afternoon. It can also describe a piece of work. For example: The picture you painted turned out very nice! The pancakes turned out pretty good. |
| to catch up | to become updated on something. “To catch up” with someone means to talk and to share all the news from each other’s lives. For example: “I haven’t seen you in years. We need to get together and catch up soon.” |
| to push (something) off | to delay something, usually because of lack of desire. To change plans to a date further in the future. |
| to show up | to appear or arrive. This is often used when someone arrives late. “I invited Jim for lunch, but he didn’t show up until after I had already paid.” |
| to kick off | to start. This is usually used for some type of event involving multiple people. |
