Month: January 2022 (Page 10 of 13)

Pledge

Warm up: SSH and Merkins only

Run around Downtown Gastonia for about 2 miles stopping at many sites for some reps of Partner merkins, LBC’s, Calf raises, Dips, and we even bear crawled a little.  If you where there you would have seen all of the ways we incorporated each exercise into the workout – show to know

Mosey back to start for some merry

Announcements – Multiple relays coming up and Q school at gashouse on 1/22

Prayer request: Chris Howell’s daughter and grandson,  Family members of multiple Pax

Prayed us out

As always it was an honor to lead

EZ out!!

How many Q-Fails does it take to…  wait a minute, let’s back up and start at the beginning.  0528: Mumblechatter begins with speculation about the new “Twisted Goat” sign above the former Doffers.  0529: Tesla arrives notably on time, maybe even a minute early, while Pilgrims Progress casually strolled down the sidewalk as 0530 struck and the workout commenced.  Were these signs of “twisted” things to come??

Following a plan so carefully orchestrated and memorized that no Weinke was necessary, warm-up SSH and Hillbilly walkers (each 15xIC) proceeded without a hitch.  So far so good; on to The Thang:

Mosey down the street and around next to the gazebo. Set timer for 0:30 of some exercises: 
Derkins, Bobby Hurleys, Michael Phelps, Dips, Plank-jacks, Side-bridges (like low-plank sideways pickle pounders, L and R separately). 
This is when problems began.  The iPhone timer – a critical element of aforementioned carefully orchestrated plan – failed to sound the alarm when time ran out.  This could perhaps be blamed on cold weather, Apple, or many other uncontrollable external forces.  Covid, a convenient and universal scapegoat for anything that goes wrong, could easily be responsible for these technological mishaps, right?  Wrong.  The PAX and mercilessly laid blame and responsibility right where it belongs:  QIC, YHC.  IMHO, they thoroughly reveled in it.  After repeated “Q-fails” on the first full set exercises, and a crack from old Uncle Ted about YHC’s technological incompetence, something clearly had to be done.  Manually watching the clock and calling time would be tedious.  Omaha the whole thing and start from scratch?  Maybe, but YHC didn’t give up that easily.  The passing Amtrak train provided 5 burpees worth of relief to gather a few thoughts and announce an alternative plan:  Reduce the time to 0:25 per exercise; rinse and repeat.  As if the ghost of Steve Jobs approved of a 25-second maximum limit for these exercises the 0:25 timer worked flawlessly!  The iPhone remained somewhat twisted, however, as it escaped from YHC’s pocket multiple times throughout the remainder of the workout.  Not to worry, OtterBox passed all of these real-world tests of durability.

After the second set of exercises, mosey toward the fire station then back up the hill towards the RR tracks.  Turning left behind the buildings, Carioca to the end of the block.  Mosey back to Center St. then Carioca to the corner at the Twisted Goat, where the short brick walls surround the bike rack.   Set timer for 0:25 of each of the following exercises:
Derkins, Bobby Hurleys, Michael Phelps, Dips, Plank-jacks, Side-bridges (L and R separately).  Rinse and Repeat.

Mosey toward the police station then around the square and across the street to the bridge. Bear crawl across the bridge until it’s too slippery (about 2/3 of the way across), lunge-walk the rest of the way, then Carioca to the picnic tables at the park. Set timer for 0:25 of each of same exercises:
Derkins, Bobby Hurleys, Michael Phelps, Dips, Plank-jacks, Side-bridges (L and R separately). No time to rinse and repeat this time.  Mosey back to the bridge.  Bear crawl to about halfway across, then mosey back to the flag. 

One minute remaining – just enough time for a few Freddie Mercurys and Six-shooters before COT.

Announcements and prayers:  Check Slack; lots of CSAUP’s going on at end of March.   

Lagniappe:  Failure is a necessary part of learning.  Thanks to the 5 HIM’s who stuck it out and persevered until we found the right routine.

Privileged to lead today!

 – Nutria

6 HIM posted for a new(ish) run frm the pub.  Hoffman to Robinwood to Hudson to Windyrush to Riding trails to Willow creek to Gaston Day School road and back to Pub.  Waterboy and Seuss blistered the course, Sargento and YHC were in a funk and lifted each other up and Whoopee and Breaker Breaker finished strong

Announcements

Half marathon Jan 30th in Biloxi

Prayer requests:

Pax with COVID/IR

Sargento’s friend with cancer undergoing chemo

YHC with friend in New Orleans undergoing cancer treatment

Waterboy’s friend with father in hospital in Indonessia

Wichita and myself were the only ones to get some EC this crispy January morning at Folsom.

0530 and time to roll

The Warm up (proper just for Westside):

Gravel pickers IC x 10

Arm circles forward and reverse (during this YHC explained what we were going to do first)

The Thang:

At each light pole and at the split in the road (total of 10 stops) all the way to entrance of the park.

1 Burpee

10 Merkins

20 Shoulder Taps

At the flag,

4 minutes of Cherry Pickers

Pledge

Mosey to side parking lot

Modified 4 Corner Elevator work:

1st Corner: 10 Hand Release Merkins, take a lap, plank for the 6, then Lunge Walk to 2nd Corner

2nd Corner: 10 Hand Release Merkins, 20 Derkins, take a lap, plank for the 6, then Lunge Walk to 3rd Corner

3rd Corner: 10 Hand Release Merkins, 20 Derkins, 30 CDDs, take a lap, plank for the 6, then Lunge Walk to 4th Corner

4th Corner: 10 Hand Release Merkins, 20 Derkins, 30 CDDs, 40 Mike Tysons, take a lap, plank for the 6

4 minutes of Cherry Pickers

Mosey back to flag pole to start our journey back to the main parking lot.

At each light pole and the split in the road (total 10 stops)

5 merkins at first pole adding 5 at each pole up to 50 at the end.

We almost made it to the last pole but YHC had to call Omaha, to make sure to get

2 more minutes of Cherry Pickers

COT:

2 Chronicles 7:14 , “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.”

Winston Churchill is attributed with saying, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Take a look at society today; the conditions that preceded the fall of many great civilizations are in place. You ask, “Can our nation be saved?” Yes! God told Abraham if he could find as few as ten righteous people in the land, He would spare Sodom and Gomorrah from judgment. And a righteous minority can still save our nation. How? Through prayer! God said, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves…pray…seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven…forgive their sin and heal their land.” Notice four important conditions mentioned in this Scripture: (1) “If my people, who are called by my name.” The future of our nation doesn’t rest in the hands of bankers, talking heads on TV, and politicians: it rests squarely in the hands of God’s redeemed people. (2) “Will humble themselves…pray and seek my face.” God, who needs nobody’s authorization or approval to act, promises to move when His people turn to Him and seek His face in prayer. (3) “And turn from their wicked ways.” Instead of complaining about what’s wrong with society, God commands His people to examine their own hearts to see what’s wrong and make it right. And when they do, He promises to: (4) “Hear from heaven…forgive their sin and…heal their land.” The truth is, it’s up to us, not them! It’s not too late. Our nation can still be turned around if we’ll pray and see God with all our hearts.

Announcements:

Ball Joint’s 1 year Anniversary Q this Saturday Jan 8 at Folsom

Prayer Request:

Big Pappy’s family

Gumby’s health

Many with Covid

Wichita took us out

I’m Sarlacc and I’m out

I showed up at the Ricky Bobby to find Quiche, Sargento, and Buckeye finishing up a run.  I would call it EC, but Sargento was the only one who stayed for the workout.  5:30 a.m. rolled around and there were 7 PAX that showed up to get better. Started with a warmup.

15 SSH IC

15 Imperial Walkers IC

10 Merkins IC

10 Gravel Pickers IC

Plank to right foot to right hand and left foot to left hand stretch

20 Squats OYO

Mosey to the back parking lot for 2 rounds of TABATA- 20 seconds of work 10 seconds of rest

Moroccan Night Club

Monkey Humbers

CDD

Pulsing Squats

Mosey around the school walk way

Feeling warmed up we moseyed back to the front of the school.

At every other awning pole we did the following excercises.  We completed 2 rounds together then completed the 3rd round OYO

5 Burpees

20 Squats

5 Burpees

20 Merkins

5 Burpees

20 Reverse Lunges count one leg

5 Burpees

20 V UPs

Mosey to the back parking lot then back to the start and repeat.

Everyone finished the last round before 6:15 am, so we moseyed back to the start.

Pledge

Annoucements: Smokey Mtn relay team still needs a couple of guys to complete the team.  Bubba Sparxxx is looking for PAX to participate in the next GrowRuck. YHC mentioned the 8 block process.  Sargento elaborated on what it is and will repost info on Slack for those interested in learning more.

YHC took us out with a prayer.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead this morning.  Part of my goals for 2022 is to Q more.  You will see me again this Saturday at Gashouse and Tuesday morning at The Storm.  SYITG.

It was great to see a huge turnout at Prison Break this morning. 20 HIM beat the power of the fart sack to put in some work! While I would like to think knowing yours truly had the Q may have helped bring them out, I’m pretty sure that has nothing to do with it…rather it was probably the combination of cool temps and re-dedication to Rock Pushin’ for the New Year.

Some ran, some rucked, and some just walked, but it was pretty evident as Gearwrench, Sarlacc, Bedpan, and Oompa came in after completing over 5.5 miles that Rock Pushin’ was indeed in the air. I don’t know how many miles he covered, but I can’t ignore Big Pappy huffin’ and puffin’ his way back to the COT as he’s preparing for the P200. Shoutout to him for getting it done. Even Roadie posted for the 2nd time this week. May that excitement and renewed commitment for 2022 be contagious for us all!

Announcements: There are about 4 spots left in the Smokey Mountain Relay (see Purple Haze if you are interestesed). Ball Joint has a special Q planned for Folsom this Saturday (1 year anniversary). Keep Trooper Horton’s family, Gumby, Chef Aaron’s family, and my foot in your prayers. YHC took us out in prayer.

The forecast called for a sharp drop in temperatures, a solid downpour of rain, and heavy winds for the first Monday of 2022 at The Sandlot.  YHC reached out to the guys to make sure we were on for EC, but of course we were on for EC.  The HC’s came in one by one.  We showed up in the parking lot at (or around) 0500 like we always do and hit the road for a few miles before the bootcamp.  We rounded the turn in front of the Walgreens and it was like we ran straight into a wall.  The wind was nasty, and felt like it was pushing us backwards.  We managed to go against the wind both ways.  It was a friggin blast.  It was a “How deep are your roots?” kind of morning at The Sandlot.  You hang around long enough, and you know the kinds of mornings when guys aren’t likely to show.  It’s those mornings when you don’t know what traffic lights will be out, what you’re going to find in the middle of the road on the way or whether you’ll have to jump on the brakes.  It’s a #NeverMissAMonday kind of Monday.  While we ran, EZ set the over/under for PAX at the bootcamp at 4.5, because we already knew it’d be Dirt, Watts Up, EZ Rider, and YHC.

0530 came, and the under was looking good, as there were only 4 of us pledging allegiance to the flag.  We got rolling:

The Thang

• 15 x Goofballs (IC)
• 15 x Don Quixotes (IC)
• 15 x Toy Soldiers (IC)

And as we’re doing the Toy Soldiers, the over hits, with a truck pulling in and a fifth PAX rolling out.  It was Sausage!  What a day to make a Kotter!  He did admit to checking the weather before he came, but the nasty weather wasn’t nasty enough to keep him from showing up.  We were all happy to see Sausage, so happy in fact that we did

• 15 x Imperial Walkers (IC)

and then moseyed towards what used to be the bank.  We continued on

• 10 x Heels to Heaven (IC)
• 10 x Mountain Climbers (IC)
• 10 x Mike Tysons (IC)
• 10 x Arm Circles Forwards (IC)
• 10 x Arm Circles Backwards (IC)

Exercises were:

• 2 minute timer: Dying Cockroaches/Penguins (OYO alternate)
• 2 minute timer: Merkins/Shoulder Taps (OYO alternate)
• Bear Crawl Slalom?  Not that kind, we just bear crawled a winding route through the bank drive thru area
• Mosey around the bank.  EZ wanted some more, so…
• Mosey around the bank again.
• Wall sits (Regular/Heels Up/Regular)
• 2 minute timer: Flutter Kicks/LBCs (OYO alternate)
• 2 minute timer: Squats/Backwards Lunges (OYO alternate)
• Mosey to Auto Zone, around every square inch of the parking lot, and back
• Mosey around the bank again.
• Wall sits (Regular/Heels Up/Regular/March (IC))
• 2 minute timer: Dying Cockroaches/Penguins (OYO alternate)
• 2 minute timer: Merkins/Shoulder Taps (OYO alternate)
• Mosey around KFC
• Mosey around the bank again.
• Wall Sits (Regular/Heels Up/Regular/March (IC))
• Crab walk down the length of the drive thru and back

and back to the flag.

We talked about everything, from the best part of the holidays, to raising teenagers, goal updates for the year, what we all need from each other, waterproof clothing, and a whole lot that YHC has certainly forgotten.

Announcements

• None listed

Prayer Requests

• EZ’s family
• Watts Up’s family

Moleskin

I loved every minute of this morning.  It’s not every day you get a chance to run in a storm.  The stupidity of the conditions make the day fun and unusual and just adds another layer of life to the whole thing.  I couldn’t tell you how many Dying Cockroaches we did, but a year from now, I’ll be able to tell you who was there doing them with me.  Today just further reinforced what I already knew… there are at least 4 other idiots who are going to show up no matter what, just because they committed to a brother that they would be there.  It doesn’t get any better than that.

Proud to put in work this morning with these men.

Never Miss A Monday

Yabba Dabba Doo

The Diablowers (a name you should call them by) rucked through the Gloom to Martha Rivers.

We did:

Squats

Step ups

Dips (lots of them)

KLAW

And a little diddy I call Merry Go Merkins.  (Push-up, then rotate to the right, then keep going until you make a full circle)

Announcements:  Feb 19 there is a Diversity event with the Scouts.  All are welcome. BB guns, archery, and other manly-kid stuff.