Tag: Esso

Embrace the low point…now get up.

Leave a comment

It’s Minnow Pond. It’s a 3mi minimum with a few push-ups as we now like to say.
Jekyll asked the question. I answered in the affirmative.
The day before, marketing for competing regional AO’s began and man, it was hot.
The weather was great and I’m hoping these other 15 PAX would’ve still posted in the 35deg rain. But…time will tell. Remember, durability and stories are best formed in adverse conditions.

There you have it, the setup is complete.
0500…A few pre-runners. Remember when guys did that at Minnow Pond? Isn’t the intent to push yourself?
0514 Pledge of Allegiance
0515 Disclaimer for the 16 of us

As a group, run to the FMCOG parking lot at the corner of Withers &  Academy.
Warmup consisting of windmills, SSH & Burpees

The plan…Run each leg then 10 Merkins, 10ea leg Jumping Lunges, 20 American Hammers in the parking lot upon the return.
Leg 1: Run up to Tom Hall & back.
Leg 2: Run up to Banks & back.
Leg 3: Run up to Meacham & back.
Leg 4: Run to Main St & back.

All were able to complete this at least 1 time and some completed it twice for a total distance of 3-4mi.
Run it back to COT for some final closing exercises.

Announcements:
Great Harlan’s Heroes fundraising update from Jekyll. Stay tuned for the next opportunity.
Yeti is coming next weekend. Partner up or do the full thing.

Hey Jekyll. Thanks for the nod.

Maximus

TClap |
9

Finding Cindy

Leave a comment

The cars really poured in this morning….

25 PAX Present

Changed my plans a bit….Modify as necessary, right?

Warm-up
SSH in cadence….had to part the waters for River Rat’s arrival
Burpees in cadence. I think we hit 18
Imperial Walkers in cadence 15ish

Brisk Mosey to the Church of God

COP
SSH
Hillbilly Walkers
Some Yoga
Mountain Climbers
Slow Count Merkins (always a crowd pleaser)
A few burpees in cadence

Mosey through all the brick stairs at the Church of God
Plank it up in First Baptist Parking Lot
Some More Yoga (squats)

Thang:
Bear Crawl with additive Merkins at each parking line
1-2-3-4-5-6 (total 21)
distance – a long way to bear crawl
Al Gore
Cossack Squats

Brisk Mosey up to the Rug factory

COP:
More Yoga? Yep
33 Monkey Humpers in cadence (nobody liked this)
Some burpees in cadence

Brisk Mosey to Sisk Memorial Parking Lot to find Cinder Blocks
(There’s a reason it’s called Block Party)
Thang:- divided into groups of 3
– Three Stations: Manmakers, plank, run to bottom of Massey hill and back
Had time for everyone to do one rotation (probably 15-20ish manmakers)

7 Additional Burpees in cadence
11 Bomb Jacks

Mosey with the blocks back to COT

NMM:

Quote for the day from Thoreau’s Journal August 5 1891 ““The question is not what you look at, but what you see.”

A word on today’s naming: the Q takes responsibility for the outcome. That was me today. On naming an FNG, I went with “Dude Wipes” as a suggestion thrown out. Not the worst name, but was not right for this FNG.

It didn’t feel right. I did a poor job reading his body language. I should have vetoed it. Not my best moment as Q. We’ll rename this FNG.

When we’re on Q, we are charged to take responsibility. In this moment, I accepted responsibility for the outcome of the naming. In the future, I’ll take responsibility fearlessly when convicted. Even (especially?) when that conviction appears as a still small voice. If that means going against the flow of the PAX, so be it. After all, that’s a leader’s job: influencing movement towards advantage. Sometimes we gotta row upstream. I should have rowed harder today, and that’s on nobody but me.

Besides, none of the PAX wanted to do that many burpees or monkey humpers anyway. So if I go with a name they’re not happy with, it’s just more of the same from the 1st F side of the morning.

Welcome – unnamed FNG, It’ll be good to post with you again soon.
Welcome – Barrel Age, I think you brought out a lot of PAX to support you today!

Prayers for the kids, teachers, and parents of the FMSD as they plan for a return to school 5 days a week at all levels.

—
Band Camp Dismissed

TClap |
4

Uncomfortable

Leave a comment

7 PAX for the Gears Edition of Tune Up Tuesdays at Block Party.  We kept it nice and simple, but simple doesn’t mean easy.

The Thang:

No warm up, STL style.

Launched down White, around Kanawah, and down Massey at a sub-8 pace.  3 Pain Stations on the route:

  • Little Ceasers
  • Wolfe Funeral Home
  • Sisk Memorial

10-20-30 Merkins-Dry Docks-Mountain Climbers

Headed up Springs Street and took a right on Confederate (5 Burpees OYO for the 6) to the intersection with Monroe White.  Next routine was a variation on Burp-Back Mountain.

  • Ran up to Fort Mill Town Hall Parking Lot, 5 Burpees, then back down the hill and
  • Ran up to the other Hilltop at Williamson and Watson, 5 Burpees

Repeat 6 times total (3 per side).

Meet at the FMCOG lot for some COP while waiting for the 6.  Proceeded to Nur back lot, then some lateral shuffles across the lot.  Ran back up Academy to the Shovel Flag for some Mary before closing out in COT.

NMM

Band Camp especially enjoyed Burp Back mountain… enough said.

3.8 Miles covered, proof here

 

Read your newsletter.

Honor to Serve.

TClap |
20

Welcome to Bushwood!

Leave a comment

YHC was excited to join the Pax of Bushwood for a beatdown today. This excitement came from a variety of reasons. First, love to see the Acceleration of L Train who had been working on a date for me for a while (I am high maintenance!). Second, its a new AO for me and one that has lots of possibilities. Third, coming out of a self induced quarantine while waiting on Covid test results meant that I hadn’t posted in a while. Results were negative and I was ready to get after it!

Weather

34 and Foggy. Actually heard the term “freezing fog” on the way to the AO. Sometimes it feels like the apocalypse is just around the corner! Be prepared!

The Thang

Mosey to the band lot

COP

SSH x 30

Squats x 15

IW x 15

MNC x 15

Enough stretching, lets get to it!

Bounty Hunter introduced a concept to me last week at Block Party which I have titled “Line of Fire”. Think Ring of Fire type exercise but in a line.

Pax line up then run one at a time back/forth from the island while the remaining Pax do exercises

Merkins

Squats

Mountain Climbers

Burpees

Mosey to the front of the school and partner up

Partner 1 – BTW

Partner – Shoulder taps x 20

Rinse and repeat 3 times

Partner 1 – Wall sits

Partner 2 – Monkey Hummers x 20

Rinse and Repeat 3 times

Mosey back to band lot

Bear Crawl then 10 CDD – Forward

Lunge Walk then 20 Squats – Back

Rinse and repeat 3 times

Line of Fire on abs

Flutters

LBCs

Mosey home

 

Moleskin

Man it feel great to be with the Pax again today. That rush of adrenaline has continued to spur me throughout the day. Love you guys!

This AM we discussed what you are feeding your body, your mind and your soul. What you give in return to others, will largely be due to what you take in yourself. Is it positive encouragement? The Bible? Strong leadership? Or is it the news, social media, negative “nellies”, worldly culture? Ask yourself what feeds you and make changes if appropriate. Today!

  • Prayers for Change Order and his Dad on the loss of his mother
  • Prayers for Drop Thrill’s Dad on Covid test results
  • Prayers for Stang’s Dad and Stang
  • Praise that 3D is back!
  • Praise I got a chance to partner up with Pauly D today. Dude is solid!
  • Praise for Dam to Dam Bar leadership!
  • Praise to L Train for his leadership of Bushwood
TClap |
3

Bulgarian 7-10 Split

Leave a comment

11 PAX gathered in the crisp gloom.

Disclaimer was given.

Hard charge out of the gate.
With the ageless Straight-Up and Harry Carey moving quickly behind YHC, we hit the first mile at 6:56/min pace.

As the PAX regrouped into a circle at the Teacher Parking lot area of the elementary school, Poppins rolled his ankle. Splinter ran back to get his truck and transported Poppins to his vehicle. Unfortunately, he was done for the day.

Warm-Up:
Yoga
Merkins
Shoulder Tap
SSH
Burpees 10 in cadence
IW
HW
Yoga

Thang:
Mosey toward the “black-top” area between the schools and find a bench

Bulgarian Split Squats
-10 each leg
-10 more each leg
-10 more each leg (this was a crowd favorite)
Step Ups
-10 each leg
-10 more each leg
Bulgarian Split Squats
-10 in cadence each leg (this confirmed their crowd favorite status)
-10 more in cadence each leg
Box Jumps – 10

Moved to the track-ish area
Lined up on the front line
Bear Crawl across the track
Crawl Bear back
15 burpees in cadence
Lunge Walk to the other side
Burpee-Broad Jump back
Some Yoga

11s w/
1 Merkins – 10 Shoulder Taps
got to 5 merkins and 6 shoulder taps

Moved back to benches
more Bulgarian Split Squats
– 10 in cadence each leg
– 10 more in cadence each leg
– (crowd favorite status confirmed)

Mosey to COT
Finished the 11s
Freddie Mercuries
Some Yoga to close us out

Prayers for:
– Poppins’s ankle
– blessing of science and medicine
– strength for those facing COVID
– the Spirit to remind us this isn’t our permanent home

NMM:

Make someone, just one person, feel special today

Thanks Long Duck for the opportunity to lead.
—
Band Camp Dismissed

TClap |
3

Minnow Pond 12.17.2020

Leave a comment

The promo:
https://twitter.com/jisenhour/status/1339217811231674368

The route:
https://www.strava.com/routes/2773907426356036818

10 stops along the way
5 burpees/10 merkins/15 squats each time

16 PAX. It was hard. Had to average 10min/mile with the exercises to finish at COT by 0600. We did.

Strava Stats: https://twitter.com/jisenhour/status/1339542289048285184

NMM:
Today was a workout where I tried harder because I was on Q. Being a leader isn’t just about exhorting acceleration in others or the group; it also forces you to accelerate individually. That was pretty evident to me this morning from my heart rate monitor. All the guys that came out today pushed me to be better. When you’re a follower, are you following in a way that is helping your leaders be better?

—
Band Camp dismissed

TClap |
2

QSchool @ Colosseum

Leave a comment

Esso >>
Open normal, mosey, circle up and then reiterate what you did
Opening

  • T minus warning
  • Look for guys you haven’t seen, introduce yourself
  • Ask if there are any FNG’s
  • Disclaimer 1) not a professional, 2) modify the exercise if need be but do something
  • Take control, be a leader, after this is about building leadership characteristics and guiding other men. THEY WILL FOLLOW YOU UNTIL YOU GIVE THEM A REASON NOT TO

Who has never Q’d?
Cadence counting – we do this for consistency

  • Next exercise is…
  • Starting position… move…
  • In cadence… exercise

SSH
Windmills
Begin calling on pax, they choose exercise, mix in moseys

Gears >>

⁃ Weinke prep:
– at least the night before
– write it down, even if you don’t use it
– KISS
– try to plan for about 20% more than you think you’ll need (mental math)
– go with your strengths, but honor the site theme. If you can’t Q it, don’t do it
– simple routine – Wall Worms
– focus areas on repeat
– lbc
– Flutter
– dying cockroach
– box cutter
– repeat x 2

⁃ Form exemplification
– you are responsible for allowing and even encouraging Good form.
– fast merkins vs slow Merkins
– fast Freddy vs slow Freddy

⁃ Scaleability – size of pax, ability of pax
– know your Pax
– pearls on a string
– Squats
– flying squirrels
– Mountain Climbers
– Burpees

⁃ COT routine
– phone /video Evidence
– count
– name-o-rama
– FNG naming

– announcements (newsletter)
– prayer /praise

⁃ follow up
– BB, counts

TClap |
1

Grateful without being complacent

Leave a comment

14 Total PAX – 9 split off to run with Dark Helmet. See his well-written and coherent backblast for report. 🙂

Warmup
Round the world
SSH
Good Morning
Arm Circles
Some Burpees interspersed

The Thang:

20 Merkins
10 KB Swings
20 Merkins
15 KB Swings
20 Merkins
20 KB Swings
20 Merkins
25 KB Swings
Short mosey

20 Goblet Squats
10 KB Swings
20 Goblet Squats
15 KB Swings
20 Goblet Squats
20 KB Swings
20 Goblet Squats
25 KB Swings

20 Flutters bell held overhead
10 KB Swings
20 Flutters bell held overhead
15 KB Swings
20 Flutters bell held overhead
20 KB Swings
20 Flutters bell held overhead
25 KB Swings
Short mosey

20 Cossack Squats – no bell
10 KB Swings
20 Cossack Squats
15 KB Swings
20 Cossack Squats
20 KB Swings
20 Cossack Squats
25 KB Swings

Short message on my struggles with Gratitude vs. Complacency
Grateful that I’d already Qed this workout (and had a lot of the backblast written), but we don’t want to remain complacent. So let’s tack on 20 more of each.
I also thought repeating the Weinke was a metaphor for doing the same thing again, but not remaining complacent.

Final round to get to 100 of each exercise and 300 swings
20 Merkins
20 Goblet Squats
20 Flutters bell overhead
20 Cossack Squats
20 Kettle Bell Swings (As Dark Helmet and crew arrived back. He then hollered that it was 0600 when it was really 0559 because he wanted to read: https://dailystoic.com/no-one-escapes-this-law/. Which, in his defense, was worth listening to and is certainly worth reading.)

COT

Prayers for:
Those dealing with the emotional struggles that the holidays can bring
Those dealing with the COVID-related struggles that these holidays are bringing
3D’s upcoming surgery
Prayers that God will make us equal to the tasks set before us.

Grateful for the opportunity to lead and the PAX that showed up. Thanks 3D for the invite.

TClap |
3

Laced Up Tight

Leave a comment

31 degrees at Laces In? Sure, I’ll take it. I gave the PAX a heads-up, shown below…

At the risk of potential “over-hyping,” here are a number of things to consider for Laces In:

  1. Minow Pond will be converging with us.
  2. AKA will be converging with us.
  3. Looks to be the coldest morning of the week.
  4. Gloves highly recommended.
  5. If you want to stretch or warm up, show up early.
  6. Wheels up 0515 and it’ll be GO-TIME.
  7. You’ll be warm by 0525.
  8. If you’re prone to FOMO, then you should post.

The 12 of us arrived, commented about the cool temps and all the men in tights, were disclaimed and we took off for a lap around part of the gym lot.

Circle Up:
20 x Fast-Paced SSH
10 Burpees
Another lap but this time, just a bit shorter
Line up at one end of the parking lot and bear crawl to the other end of the lot.
Sprint 1/2 way back, 10 Burpees, Sprint the rest of the way

Mosey over to the circle by the stadium:
20 Bomb Jacks
30 Flutter Kicks I/C
Run up the hill to the stop sign and back down
40 Jump Squats
40 Merkins I/C
Run up the hill and back down
10 Burpees

Mosey back to the gym parking lot.

Line up on the line for 2-Tier Grounded Suicides:
Bear crawl out 20 yards, crawl bear back. Bear crawl out 40yds, crawl bear back
10 Wide-Arm Merkins
Crab walk out 20yds, walk crab back. Crab walk out 40yds, walk crab back.
10 Wide-Arm Merkins
10 Burpees

30 American Hammers I/C
20 Flutter Kicks I/C

COT: There are very heavy prayers on the hearts & minds of our PAX. Remember, do not walk alone.

Thank You, Slapshot

Maximus

TClap |
11

MilkShake 11.07.20

Leave a comment

Four pax showed up for my first Milkshake Q.  I didn’t know what to expect so I was going to make it up as we go.

We moseyed over to Walter Eiisha Park to the playground for a few rounds of pull-ups.  I missed out on my Saturday morning routine of pull-ups before Alcatraz with Trucker and Change Order.  Esso was a beast doing the pull-ups with his ruck.  Next, we walked around the park and back towards downtown.  We stopped in front of Pike’s for two rounds of Dips and Derkins.

We headed back, walked up the steps to where a newly decorated Christmas tree.  It’s hard to believe the holiday is quickly approaching.  Uhaul kept the conversation going about his trip to Texas and the workouts he attended.

As we made it back to the church parking lot, I had one last workout for the group.  I still had bricks in the back of my truck from yesterday so we used them for a series of exercises.

Merkin/overhead claps with brick: 1 to 2 ratio, starting at 1 ending at 10

Squats with brick hold

Plank with brick raise

Squat with brick arm circles

Squat with brick shoulder press.

Great job everyone.

TClap |
0