Hello freshmen! Your out-of-class WOD (“workout of the day”) for this week has two parts. You don’t have to do them in a single session.

1) 10 minute run for maximum distance
This is an all-out effort to see how far you can run in 10 minutes. So get a stopwatch, say 3-2-1-go and start running. Perhaps the best way would be to run around on the track around the soccer field, where each lap is 400m (a quarter mile). Another way you might consider is kind of cool: Pick a course on campus–either using the main roads or a cross-country-type course like the path on the east side of campus above the soccer field, then on the road just west of the MPC where archery is held, etc.–and run for exactly 5 minutes, then immediately turn around and try to make it back to your starting point using the same route in the next 5 minutes. The reason this is a good idea is it encourages you to try to sustain your pace throughout, rather than starting strong and finishing weak; you can see just how much you slowed down in the second half of your run. To find out how much distance you covered, visit www.runningmap.com (or click that link, and it will take you to a pre-established one-mile loop on campus), click your points on the map, and it will measure your run.

2) 10 minute squat test
Plant your heels right about under your shoulders, and point your toes forward (about 11 o’clock and 1 o’clock)–no duck feet. Making sure your weight is all the way in your heels (you can wiggle your toes), drop into a full, deep squat, like I showed you in class. Get your arms inside your knees and push your knees out. Relax. Sit there. Hang out. Savor the awesomeness. Accumulate a total of 10 minutes in that position, taking breaks as needed if you get uncomfortable. You can watch this instructional video on the squat test if you’d like. You could even watch it while you’re squatting.

Post total distance on the run and your thoughts about the run and the squat to the comments section.

Please spread the word to your fellow freshmen about this. I’d like everyone to complete this WOD before class on Wednesday.

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