Tag: Deep Dish

Styrofoam

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Back at The Yard and it was a glorious morning, and time to bring back my Styrofoam coolers with tickets of pain inside.

Plenty of moderate running space between coolers, as the PAX were divided into two groups and we ran past each other as we pulled tickets of misery out of three different coolers, spread out down the back driveway of the school. This was moderate, so I kept that in mind as I printed out the pain tickets late into the night before, and contemplated whether to print the ticket with 50 CDD’s, or leave it at 20. 

For those who haven’t seen my Piggly Wiggly coolers filled with tickets, stay tuned for an appearance near you.

Maybe we got in a little over a mile of running, but I forgot to ask Barry.

Great COT, and a good dose for Jiffy’s EH, Snowman (Jerry Reed from Smokey and the Bandit)

Thanks to Hasselhoff for the opportunity!

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Moderately Crabby

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Thanks to Smithers for allowing me to lead this morning.  23 HIMs started with the disclaimer and then took a little twist on the mosey down the hill to the back side of Lowes for the warm-up and beat down. Two lines formed up at the shovel flag and proceeded to Blacksnake all the way to the warm-up.  It was noted that surprisingly no one was injured bobbing and weaving while running in a line.

The Warm-Up was short and sweet to get the muscles ready and not tired.

  • Brisk 25 SSH
  • 25 Moroccan Night Club
  • 20 Imperial Walkers

The familiar Burpees that are often limited or lost at Slow Burn were tweaked slightly to provide a little 4×4 action!

Immediately following the 4x4s, we jumped right into a round Batwings.  All to a 4-count cadence:

  • 20 Forward Arm Circles
  • 20 Reverse Arm Circles
  • 20 Seal Claps
  • 20 Overhead Claps

After the shoulders were smoked, we met up along the wall of Lowes facing the side parking lot.  Everyone partnered up for some 123’s with a rotating exercise for the traveling partner. The partners completed their 100 Merkins, 200 LBC’s and 300 Squats while crossing the parking lot performing either Bear Crawls, Crab Walks, Lunge Walks, or Toe-Walks.  The parking lot had 3 distinct rows of spaces along each PAX to determine the length of their crawls or walks.

Following the 123’s we circled up for a bit of core work; Abs and Back.  I thought it was important to incorporate the most often forgotten part of the core.  This is where the real “crabbing” started among the PAX.  All exercises done in cadence:

  • 20 Crab Cake
  • 20 Crunchy Frog
  • 20 Crab Humpers
  • 20 American Hammers
  • 20 Crab Jacks
  • 20 Big Boy Sit Ups
  • 20 Mountain Climbers
  • 15 Merkins done with several pauses at 6″

The PAX moseyed its way back up to the top at their own pace in preparation for COT

At COT, the origin stories for  a couple of PAX were shared so that we can all get to know one another a little better.

Great work from all the HIMs who pushed through some serious shoulder exercises and goofy crab work.

 

MOAB…out

 

 

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Leprechaun Hunt at The Yard

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It was a dark start to the St. Patrick’s Day, and upon arrival to the school there appeared to be some sort of overnight activity going on, so I needed to call an audible to work around the unanticipated changes, but it worked.

Disclaimer, and then we started out with a mosey around to the lot in the back of the school where we circled up for warm-ups:

  • 15 SSH’s
  • 15 Imperial Walkers
  • 15 Moroccan Nightclubs
  • 10 Windmills

Mosey down the bus entrance road towards Springfield Parkway until we got to the long straight hill section.  Time to partner up, and one partner will run up the hill and back (three light poles) while the other partner performs the following exercises until they get back.  Each partner does one round of each exercise alternating with a run:

  • Shoulder Taps
  • Squats
  • Monkey Humpers
  • Wide Arm Merkins

Mosey back to the back elementary loop area for a little rinse and repeat, only with a run around the loop and the following exercises:

  • LBC’s
  • Carolina Dry Docks
  • Hand Release Merkins
  • Overhead Hand Claps

Then we talked a little about what it meant to abide, specifically in Christ.  It’s not something that is easily done, at least not for me.  It requires literally giving up all control, of everything, then placing that trust in Jesus to carry me through to where He wants me to be.  There were several head nods from the PAX, and then we moseyed back up to my slightly less secret spot up in the woods for some cadence exercises all together.  We were all blessed with an amazing view of the sunrise while up on that hill!  God is good!

We rotated around the circle with each PAX counting off cadence for an exercise (or two).  There were three rounds that looked like this:

  • 15 dips with hands facing forward (double count)
  • 15 Inclined Merkins (double count)
  • 15 Calf Raises regular (double count)
  • 15 Calf Raises Toes Out (double count)
  • 15 Calf Raises Toes In (double count)
  • 20 dips with hands facing backwards (double count)
  • 20 Inclined Merkins (single count)
  • 20 Calf Raises regular (double count)
  • 20 Calf Raises Toes Out (double count)
  • 20 Calf Raises Toes In (double count)
  • 15 dips with hands facing forward or sideways (double count)
  • 15 Inclined Merkins (single count)
  • 15 Calf Raises regular (double count)
  • 15 Calf Raises Toes Out (double count)
  • 15 Calf Raises Toes In (double count)

Head back to the playground fence to stretch out our calves then off to COT

It was not an easy workout, but I was really proud of all the PAX and how hard they pushed.  I thank Hasselhoff for the opportunity to Q again, and I really appreciate all you brothers!  You have all changed my life for the better!

 

 

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The Big Event – Shovel Flag Handoff

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So the hype has been great, and the STRONG showing this morning proved it has value!  26 HIM’s all came out on what was a pretty cold 48 degree March morning (that WIND).

This was not an ordinary workout.  Barry Manilow was handing over the shovel flag to YHC, as I was stepping into the role of Site Q for Slow Burn.  Barry started the workout for the first half, and then we handed off the Q to me for the last half.

I’ll do my best to get Barry’s portion right:

Mosey all the way down to the far side of Lowes and circle up for the following:

  • OH Hand Claps 10x
  • Moroccan Nightclubs 10x
  • LBC 10x
  • Imperial Walker 10x
  • Travolta 10x
  • Dying Cockroach 10x
  • Hillbilly Walker 10x
  • HR Merkins 15x

Mosey to the Triangle Lot

  • Moroccan Nightclubs 10x
  • OH Hand Claps 10x
  • Grave Digger 7×2
  • Squat 10x
  • Mak Tai Jai 10x
  • Knee Tai Jai 10x
  • Calf Raise Regular 10x
  • Calf Raise Toes Out 10x
  • Calf Raise Toes In 10x

Mosey back to the side of Lowes

  • Wall Sit with Pop Out Burpees
  • Bear Crawl/Toy Soldier to the second island and back
  • Wall Sit with Pop Out Burpees

The official Q Handoff….Barry Manilow Done, Smithers is up…

Mosey back to the Triangle Lot for 4 corners, circle up and count off in 4’s

Three different rounds at each corner station.  Finish one round and rotate to the next corner.  Once returning to where you started, perform the next round’s exercises.  The Rounds looked like this:

Round 1:

  • Corner 1 (CORE) – 30 LBC’s in Cadence
  • Corner 2 (UPPER) – 20 Carolina Dry Docks in Cadence
  • Corner 3 (CARDIO) – 30 SSH’s in Cadence
  • Corner 4 (LOWER) – 20 Low Slow Squats in Cadence

Round 2:

  • Corner 1 (CORE) – 15 Flutters in Cadence
  • Corner 2 (UPPER) – 15 Shoulder Taps in Cadence
  • Corner 3 (CARDIO) – 15 Peter Parker’s in Cadence
  • Corner 4 (LOWER) – 15 Calf Raises in Cadence

Round 3:

  • Corner 1 (CORE) – 15 Wheezy Jefferson’s in Cadence
  • Corner 2 (UPPER) – 30 OH Hand Claps in Cadence
  • Corner 3 (CARDIO) – 15 Imperial Walker’s in Cadence
  • Corner 4 (LOWER) – 15 Jump Squats OYO

Mosey back to COT

Countoff (26), Name-O-Rama, Announcements, Prayers, and the Shovel Flag Handoff!

I’m really looking forward to this opportunity as Site Q for Slow Burn.  I will do my best to keep the Q schedule full and diverse, remember it’s a moderate site, but challenge us to push it just a bit more than comfortable (and beyond).

Smithers…Out

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Lucky 13 at Footloose For a Re-do of My 1st F3 Workout

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I’ve  been buggin’ Beacon to let me Q Footloose again, just because it’s always a lot of fun.  He finally caved and let me do it.  My original gameplan included 100 SSH and a jog around the big block to warm us up and a bear crawl up that massive hill but I didn’t want to make any enemies so made it a little closer to the expected moderate workout.  Not totally moderate though.  My new gameplan became a redo of my first ever F3 workout.  It happened at Slowburn on June 16th.  Dark Helmet made me want to vomit.  I’m sure a few of us have felt that way during or after his workouts.  It went a little something like this:

Warmup:

  • Windmills x 10
  • Imperial Walkers x 10
  • Merkins x 10
  • Weed Puller x 10
  • Squats x 15
  • SSH x 15

The Thang: Stolen right from DH’s backblast

“Start with 5 of an exercise at one end, run to other and do 10 of that exercise;
Run back do 15, then run and do 20, back and 25, one more time down do 30 of that exercise, run back to start. We’ll do this as many rounds as we can, as time permits. Yes. It’s as confusing and stupid as it sounds.

Here are the exercises:
Round 1: Merkins
Round 2: LBCs
Round 3: Squats”

On Day 1, I was the 6.  The pax waited for me to finish and join them before they started the next set.  I was convinced everybody was a beast, how the heck were they still jogging to the next spot?! On Day 245 (yes, I counted), I felt like the beast!  We finished all 315 reps in a little over 15 minutes so we had some extra time. I circled us up for:

Moroccan Night Clubs x 25
Overhead Claps x25
Seal Jacks x25
Dying Cockroach x15

We celebrated Smither’s 41st Valentine Bday by doing an exercise of his choice:
Flutters x41

I think we did a couple more x15 sets, but I can’t remember them.  I couldn’t believe we still had 10 minutes left in our workout… I set us off towards our starting point for a round of AbLab in reps of 10.  We made it through a few guys and then I called it.

Announcements:
The Yeti – Don’t second guess yourself, dude, you can do it.  Even if you just want to do the last leg back to the BBQ joint, you should do it.
S2S – Get your butts to an S2S AO, you won’t be disappointed.

Prayers and Praises:
Prayers for Zima’s family
Prayer for Anchorman’s extended family
As I looked around the group, I could feel the call for the Unspoken requests – I hope we are all lifting the group on a daily basis.  We are a brotherhood and have each others back.  Thank you Anchorman for praying us out.

Thank you Beacon, for caving and letting me Q again. 🙂

NMM:
Worrying sucks.  When we worry, we are tearing ourselves apart.  It’s human nature to worry though, so how do we overcome it?  We need to find peace.  The Prince of Peace.
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Much Love,
Polaroid

 

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Chasing Blue Zones

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Nine of the fine regulars of The Ballroom posted for YHC’s first time Q’ing at the AO’s new locale of PKMS.  The temp was mid-40s, but the breeze seemed to bring a chill that made a few spend just a half second wondering if they’d be better off hopping back in the car.  But the thought evaporated as the disclaimer was given, and then we were off…

We took a warm-up mosey around the parking lot, then to the very front of the school for warm-up COP.

  • Seal jacks x20 (IC)
  • Mountain Climbers x15 (IC)
  • Tunnel Touches x10 (IC)
  • Wind Mills x10 (IC)
  • Plank jacks x15 (IC)
  • Speed Skaters x10 (OYO)

The Thang

We then moseyed to the parking lot on the south side of the school where 4 cones were set up in a rectangle (about 15yards by 40 yards.  Pax were told to partner up, size not mattering.  We then engaged in 8 rounds “Catch Me If You Can”, which worked like this: Partner 1 did the stationary exercises, while partner 2 did the moving exercise on a path toward the next cone.  Once Partner 1 was done, he ran to catch Partner 2.  Once caught, they flapjacked.  The round was complete when both partners got all the way around all 4 cones.  In between each round, we talked about what Blue Zones are, and what people can learn from them.  See further down for more details.

Catch me if you can  rounds:

  1. 20 SSH and toy soldiers
  2. 20 LBCs and lunges
  3. 10 squats and power skips
  4. 10 merkins and butt kickers
  5. 10 crab cakes and high knees
  6. 3 burpees and karaoke (alternate left/right)
  7. 10 Imperial Walkers and bear crawls
  8. 10 Monkey Hummers and backwards jogs

To the wall for People’s Chair – one round of Jack Reachers, and a follow-up round of arms up, arms out.

Moseyed back near the shovel flag for some Mary

  • Flutters x15 (IC)
  • Hello Dollys x10 (IC)
  • Russian Twists x15 (IC)
  • LBCs x10 (IC)

6am – Time’s up.  Take a few steps to gather at COT.

Blue Zones
During the main part of the workout, I shared some information I had originally heard about a few years ago.  The cover of National Geographic, November 2005, highlighted their feature article on Blue Zones.  These Zones are 5 areas in the world where people statistically live the longest.  Researchers identified 9 lifestyle “principles” in these areas that, they claim, contributes to their long lifespans.  Small spoiler alert: all 3 F’s of F3 are in the list.

Before covering the principles, it’s important to remember that from the Christian perspective, God is in control of everything.  If we pursue any fountains of youth for the sake of trying to be in control and god-like, I believe that would be a case of doing good things for the wrong reasons.  My personal perspective is that God has blessed us with these bodies (healthy or not), and we should be good stewards of them, treating them like temples.  Most PAX probably already feel this way, but I deemed it worth mentioning, given how this topic has a very “self-help” feel to it.  Now, for the 9 principles (my comments follow the [ob] tag).  These items were taken from a QCTimes article.

  1. Move naturally – Get more physically active by walking in the community, do manual labor around the house and yard, and grow gardens. [ob] This is our 1st F in F3.  Many might say there is nothing natural about burpees. But I’d argue the calisthenic-style bootcamp workouts actually mimic natural movements, at least more-so than you’d see in a weight room.
  2. Know your purpose – People who know why they get up in the morning live up to seven years longer than those who don’t. [ob] For those of use that follow Jesus, our purpose should be a little easier to identify.  But not always. If you don’t know your purpose, it’s important you start looking!
  3. Down shift – To reverse inflammation related to every major age-related disease, find time each day to meditate, nap, pray or enjoy a happy hour. [ob] This even includes making efforts to reduce worry!
  4. 80 percent rule – It takes the stomach 20 minutes to tell the brain it is full, causing most people to accidentally overeat. Stop eating when 80 percent full. [ob] Not much more to say here, except that I can think of other areas of my life where 80% is all I really need.
  5. Plant Foods – Eat a mostly plant-based diet heavy on beans, nuts and green plants. This is consistent with U.S. Department of Agriculture recommendations. [ob] This one sounds really good to me, as long as BBQ is consider a plant food.  Seriously though, this is exactly what my doctor recommend to me after my last blood test results.
  6. Wine at 5 – For those who have a healthy relationship with alcohol, 1-2 glasses of wine daily can add years to a life, especially when combined with a healthy diet.
  7. Family first – Living in a thriving family is worth six extra years of life expectancy. [ob] Early morning F3 workouts can sometimes result in taking time away from family the evening before.  Workouts are important, but quality family time is critical.
  8. Belong – Recommit, reconnect or explore a faith-based community. No matter which faith, studies show that people who show up to their faith community four times a month live an extra four to 14 years. [ob] This is our 3rd F in F3.
  9. Right tribe – Friends have a long-term impact on well-being. Expand a social circle to include healthy-minded, supportive people. This could be the most powerful way to add years to a life. [ob] This is our 2nd F in F3. And I’m not at all surprised at their claim that this could be the most powerful way to extend life.  Just remember, you get out of it what you put into it.

 

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7

Be Still

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18 pax posted ’round the Shovel Flag at Slow Burn for some usual Fri 1st F and 2nd F engagement. Well, at launch, we actually had 17 pax and reports of an 18th enroute.   Disclaimer was proclaimed.  February theme of #Worry was noted and the pax were informed that YHC would not disrupt the the Slow Burn rhythm of #moderation and #mumblechatter, though this adventure would force them to talk out their worries.  With that, we launched.

The Thang

Warm up run around CFA through Drive Thru lane

Karaoke lap around CFA through Drive Thru lane

COP alongside CFA — SSHs, Hillbilly walkers, Imperial walkers, Mtn climbers, Windmills

Lugnut posted at this point, so we moseyed on down to the parking lot between the retail strip and Lowes

10 strong form burpees OYO (requested by Twister)

SSH

10 strong form burpees OYO

Partner up to complete all exercises together and talk out your anxieties/worries
Round 1: Merkins x5 + Squats x20, Merkins x10 + Squats x15, Merkins x15 + Squats x10, Merkins x20 + Squats x5
Round 2: CDDs x20 + Bombjacks x5, CDDs x15 + Bombjacks x10, CDDs x10 + Bombjacks x15, CDDs x5 + Bombjacks x20
Round 3: Partner legthrows x20 + LBC x5, Partner legthrows x15 + LBC x10, Partner legthrows x10 + LBC x15, Partner legthrows x5 + LBC x20

Line up along curb

Bear crawl to center parking line, sprint to other side, jog back
(Rinse and repeat for 3 total cycles)

Run home

COT

NMM

Slow Burn has such a great vibe.  It’s always a treat to Q at that AO — it’s Fri, plenty of energy, plenty of mumblechatter, guys looking out for each other and challenging each other, great 1st and 2nd F warm-up for 3rd F experience at CnW afterward.  S/O to Hard Drive for launching it and to Barry Manilow for continuing to carry the torch.  Well done!

As the pax gathered, it appeared Spitz would be the last one in…until he made it to the circle and alerted the crowd that Lugnut was still inbound.  Glad we were able to get him onboard before departure.

I kept the Weinke in the moderate zone, and there were plenty of breaks to discuss Worry and Anxiety.  Somehow I awoke on Sat with a little soreness in spots, so clearly my fitness level needs some attention.

Thanks to pax for engaging fully in dialog and sharing re personal anxieties.  If you haven’t read Chicken Hawk’s February theme one pager, take a look here.

“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)   This has become one of my go-to verses in times of worry and anxiety.  I could go on forever about worry/anxiety…I’m closer friends with those two than I ever thought I was or wanted to be.  But when I leave it all in God’s hands and just allow myself to “BE,” I mostly come to realize that (a) my worry is worthless, (b) it’s mostly CREATED by me and (c) it’s too much ABOUT me.  There are many ways to turn this verse into a meditative prayer that cuts through anxiety.  Here’s one:

Be still and know that I am GOD…
Be still and know that I AM God…
Be still and know that I am God…
Be still and know THAT I am God…
Be still and KNOW that I am God…
Be still AND know that I am God…
Be STILL and know that I am God…
BE still and know that I am God.

Here’s another:

Be still and know that I am God…
Be still and know that I am… 
Be still and know that I…
Be still and know that…
Be still and know…
Be still and…
Be still…
Be.

Try ’em and let me know what you discover.

Thanks to Barry Manilow for the chance to lead.  Always an honor.

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Clydesdales – Getting Fastish and kicked out of the parking lot!

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We ran…..we ran so far away!

Then came back

COT

2/24 = Yeti

Thanks for Q Mainframe!

 

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Ballroom with Fogerty VQ in the Fort!

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Had a little co Q action going on at the Ballroom.  YHC did the disclaimer and a brief intro on the words of the month Worry/Anxiety.

Off for a short mosey around the parking lot.  Didn’t take long for the complaining to start about the mosey.  Circled up for a quick warm-up:

SSH, Merkins, Mtn. Climbers, Imperial Walkers, Moroccan night clubs, Yoga stretching etc.

Turned it over to Fogerty for the good stuff.

The ThanG :

Word of the Year for Fogerty :  “ Grateful” – my goal is to be reminded daily – to be grateful for what I have each and every day and never take it for granted!

Here we Go!!  (Trying to Keep  “ Moderate” in mind….. )

Extension Ladder  : (football field locked : modified to parking lot  – made the Mosey between “rungs”  a little bit longer……but the lack of Chatter during the sets showed the Pax were focused!

First Rung :   Sets of 3:   Squats : consisting of  5 count   / 10 count / 15 count –– mosey to –  Second Rung :  Merkins : 5 /10 /15 – Mosey back to first Rung

Extend Ladder

Add a Rung  :  Sets of 3 :   Squats : consisting of 3 count / 6 count / 9 count – Mosey to Second Rung  : Merkins 3 / 6 / 9 – Mosey to Third Rung :  Bomb Jacks 3 /6 / 9 – Mosey back to First Rung

Extend Ladder

Add a Rung : Set of 2 : Squats : consisting of 5 count / 10 count  – Mosey to Second Rung : Merkins 5 / 10  – Mosey to Third Rung : Bomb Jacks 5 / 10  : Mosey to 4th Rung : Burpees 5 / 10 – Mosey back to Bottom of ladder – recover

Mosey back up to the Parking lot – front of School – : Partner up

100 Derkins

100 Dips

100 Step ups

One partner took a lap while other Pax knocked out as many reps……till they reached the goal :

Turned it back over to Bass for the last five minutes….  Did some Mary and CakeBoss finished us up with some Mac-tar-jis.

Thanks for the Opportunity!

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Slowburn – Pain Stations +

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25 PAX gathered at slowburn for a saucy workout.  We gave a quick disclaimer and welcomed 2 FNG’s.  It wasn’t long and we headed out for a short mosey.  We circled up and I turned over the warm up to Fogarty for his V Q.

Fogarty started us off with some of the usual:

SSH
Imperial Walkers
Speedy Windmills
Peter Parkers
Mtn. Climbers
Merkins
Moroccan night clubs
2 double merkin burpees (where’d that come from?)

Fogarty turned it back over to YHC for another Mosey. I gave a shout out to Quickbooks for his intro that he did a couple of weeks back and I tried to do the same giving a little background on YHC. I’ll spare you all the details. Dark Helmet was observant to realize that my years of marriage did match up to how old my son is. That dude’s sharp! I closed out the intro with Romans 5:4. Look it up, it’s a solid verse on building character.

On that note we moseyed to the back of Lowes for some chalk scribble that was planned for the PAX.

We broke into two groups with 3 stations. Each group started on either far end would do an exercise and sprint to the middle station do an exercise and then return back to their starting point for the next exercise. Instructions seems easier that the PAX wrestled with, but they quickly got the hang of it. Here are the pain stations:

Station 1:
Merkins
Shoulder Taps
CDD’s
Mtn. Climbers

Middle Station:
Calf Raises
Squats
Lunges
Donkey Kicks

Station 3:
Leg Raises
LBC’s
Hello Dollies
Flutters

Round 1 15 of exercise run to the middle and then back for the next exercise until all 4 exercises are complete then run to the opposite Station. Do the same thing 15 of each run to the middle. When finisished with 1 and 3 then rinse and repeat with 10 of each exercise. This took us right up to time.

Jailbreak back to COT. Welcome to the fold Moab and Jake Brake FNG’s.

Thanks for the opportunity to serve!

Bass-o Out. <><

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