Tag: Gekko

Roll The Dice

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I had the opportunity to be joined by 13 other men this morning at Minnow Pond. It was hot and humid, but we covered 3 miles with dicey pain along the way. Here’s what we did:

Warm Up

  • 10 Ranger Merkins (IC)
  • 10 Plank Jacks (IC)
  • 10 Gorilla Humpers (IC)
  • 10 Burpees
  • 5 Y-Rises (IC) – an almost Overhead Clap

The Thang

The workout was pretty simple in concept, but not easy. Run to Fort Mill Animal Hospital, Town Hall, First Baptist, and the Improper Pig, roll the dice (color indicated exercise and number x10 represented count) and repeat. We used a 10-sided die (2 of each color on the die) and a standard 6-sided number die. There was one caveat, when it was your turn to roll, you had the option to take a chance or call 20 Burpees. The choice was up to the roller. There was a 17% chance we would do Burpees, but that could have been anywhere from 10-60 Burpees. So the chances were just as good that we would have done 10 Y-Rises as there was to do 60 Burpees. Two men chose the 20 Burpees, and to be honest, I would probably done the same. After all, better the devil you know than the devil you don’t. To my best recollection, we did:

  • 10 Ranger Merkins
  • 100ish Plank Jacks
  • 150ish Gorilla Humpers
  • 50 Burpees
  • 175ish Y-Rises

NMM

In life, sometimes you have to roll the dice. If you stay stagnant, you’ll never know what might have been. Rarely do opportunities fall in the lap of the sedentary person. You have to take the risk to find the rewards. You must be willing to try, fail, and learn. Today’s workout was designed to let each man take a chance and see what was in store for the PAX. Everyone got better today because they were willing to do something…anything. Take that lesson with you throughout the week. Take a chance and roll the dice.

Aye!

Italian Job

 

 

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SAHCMMPQ

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Fourteen pax attended the Second Annual Harry Carry Memorial Minnow Pond Q (SAHCMMPQ).  By mandate, YHC gets to Q Minnow Pond once per year.

Brief disclaimer and launch/run to stop “A” which was the new parking spots on Ardrey St. alongside WEP near 160.

The routine was described: board of pain with pairs of exercises.  Pax need to do a total of 100 of the pair and can split it up any way they want (i.e. 15 Merkins and 85 squats).  I called it a mix/match routine.

Then run to stop “B” which is the big parking lot behind Pike.  Get there by running this route: southwest down Ardrey to Harris, run east to Massey, then up/northeast on Massey to Pike’s big parking lot.  Distance is 0.7 miles between A and B.

There is a board at point B; different pairs of exercises, but same routine, mix/match to a count of 100.

Then run back to point A following the same route. Rinse/repeat the routine.  Exercise details:

Stop “A” exercises (mix/match to count of 100):
Started with: Merkins/Squats
At second visit do: Dips/Monkey Humpers
At third visit do: SSH/American Hammers
Stop “B” exercises (mix/match to count of 100):
First visit do: CCD/Bobby Hurley’s
Second visit do: Shoulder Taps/Freddie Mercuries
Third visit do: Calf Raises/ LBC’s

At 5:50 the front runners began collecting everyone on the run back to point B.  We got everyone back to COT and then did the pledge of allegiance (because I forgot to start off with it).

Approximately 4 miles ran.

Fini, COT

Prayers for those effected by COVID and for schools: kids and teachers.

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Steady Colosseum Rain

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7 PAX braved the rain, which became more of a pleasant sprinkle cooling us off as the workout wore on. Airborne even noted, with a chipper tone, how “glad” he was to drive past 2 other AOs for my Q today considering all the cover the Colosseum has.

Warm up
– SSH
– Imperial Walker
– Hillbilly Waker

Mosey
– Shoulder Tap
– Mountain Climber
– Peter Parker
– Parker Peter
– yoga

Mosey to the Southern State band
– toy soldier for the 6
Mosey to the pre-school
– lunge walk a small hill for the 6

11s on that hill
burpees at the bottom
jump squats at the top

Mosey back to the elementary school teacher lot
– yoga
Mosey carefully in the grass and ditch around the playground fence

Found some rocks, picked one up
– overhead squat, 10
– tricep extension, 10
– goblet squat, 10
– overhead press, 10
– manmaker, 5
Set the rocks back

Mosey to the covered space
5 merkins
bear crawl to next column
5 merkins
10 squats
bear crawl to next column
5 merkins
10 squats
15 moneky humpers
bear crawl to next column
5 merkins
10 squats
15 moneky humpers
20 lunges

Mosey to the middle school picnic tables
Bulgarian Split-Squats 10 each side
Derkins in cadence till everybody rested at least once (15)

Mosey back to COT
Flutter till 0600

Route:

NMM:

Been reading Hunter, Gather, Parent, it’s amazing how much anger western culture parents with. We think kids are “testing their boundaries,” when maybe they just don’t have fully-developed brains. It’s like anger is the hammer of parenting tools. And if it’s the only one we’ve got, every problem becomes a nail. I’m working on having other tools, and seeing the world (and my kids) in a different way.

Prayers for teachers, parents, and students starting school soon under changing conditions.

Twitter record: https://twitter.com/jisenhour/status/1422509158243393537?s=20
—
Band Camp dismissed

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Old Glory and Burpees

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13 PAX gathered in the almost gloom
That 0600 start time does feel friendlier on my legs…just saying

NMM:
Honestly as a FM native, I love Baxter and all the folks that have migrated to Fort Mill. The diversity of backgrounds and influx of culture has made Fort Mill a better place on many levels. Traffic is rougher, but c’est la vie. Every time I drive through Baxter, I notice the inordinate amount of American flags hanging, and there was some recent controversy over someone flying a Trump flag as well (which, as someone who doesn’t live in the neighborhood, is quite funny). When I see the American Flag, I have a lot of different thoughts. I want my country’s to flag to be a symbol of hope that truly represents for liberty and justice FOR ALL. But in reality, I know that’s not what the flag represents to everyone.

Thinking specifically about the “Soiling of Old Glory” by Stanley Foreman
By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24874670.

Look at this photo (1976). It’s pretty clear the American flag might mean different things to you based on where you grew up, the color of your skin, the country of your birth (or your parents’ birth…), etc. Something we should all be mindful of when so many flags are flying on a quaint southern street.

To make the workout mindful of the flags, we did a burpee for every American flag we passed. (it was a good amount of burpees)

Warm-up:
SSH
IW
HW
Squat
Split Squat
Merkin (slow count)
Yoga
Peter Parker

Mosey through Baxter:
stopped along the way and called some exercises in cadence for the 6 to catch up
Hit the clubhouse/swimming pool lawn
Started Jack Webbs w/ merkins and overhead claps went to 9 and 36
– bear crawled the entire lawn
– finished the 10 merkins and 40 overhead claps on the other side of the lawn
Keep Moseying
Sprinted the Lower Assembly hill up to Sutton (monkey humpers for the 6 on Sutton)
Regrouped in the Urgent Care parking lot
Did some Mike Tysons –> lunge walk –> burpees across the parking lot
Mosey back towards COT
– did not stop for burpees at each flag, but YHC kept count. We had 12 burpees at COT counting the shovel flag. I chose a judicious path; it could have been MUCH worse.

Prayers:
Cooter’s mother-in-law
Remembrance of family members that have passed on

Thanks Sugar Daddy for the opportunity to lead!

—
Band Camp dismissed

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Run, do this. Run, do this…

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It’s Sweep The Leg, the start to a new week, it’s supposed to be a challenge and the headlights kept on coming. Man, what a great day in The Fort. As my Q slots continued over this past week, I’ve been reminded of several things, mostly encouraging. One of those is that if you’re willing to make the workout/route/plan more challenging, guys will show up.
Let’s be honest, it’s humbling yet exciting to see guys show up to your Q so why not make it worth it. That was the aim this morning.

Simple? Yes
Effective? I hope so
Worth it? For sure

We had 29 total.
Redwoods and guys who just hit the 2wk mark.
7min/mile guys and 12min/mile guys.
14yo – 50+yo

The Thang:
Disclaimer and just a few warm up things
Run to the teacher lot at the entrance to GHES
5 Burpees – 10 Tuck Jumps – 15 Merkins

Run to Velux on the corner of 160
5 Burpees – 10 Tuck Jumps – 15 Merkins

Run to Horizon Bank
5 Burpees – 10 Tuck Jumps – 15 Merkins

Run to Model A
5 Burpees – 10 Tuck Jumps – 15 Merkins

Run back up to Famous Toastery
5 Burpees – 10 Tuck Jumps – 15 Merkins

Run to South State Bank
5 Burpees – 10 Tuck Jumps – 15 Merkins

Run back to the Earth Fare lot for 4 Corners:
Corners 1 & 3: 10 Alternating V-Ups
Corners 2 & $: 20 X’s & O’s

All in all, everyone got 3.2mi+ and some got closer to 4mi.

How will you follow that up this week? After all, you’re up 1-0 now go live life as a servant leader.

Maximus

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Minnow Pond 12.17.2020

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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

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Swimming Upstream

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6 men showed up on a cold morning at Minnow Pond.  The theme of the day was hills, lots of hills.

We first ran up Massey to the gas station.  At each stop, we did a set of 10 merkins, squats, and LBCs.  Next stop, the Christmas tree  at Massey Park.  I consider this the warm-up portion of the workout.

Next, we ran to the warehouse parking lot on Wither street.  If you haven’t been there, it is at the top of a hill.  We ran down the hill and at each right turn, we performed the exercises above, ran back to the warehouse parking lot for another set of the exercises.  Rinse and repeat until we reached Tom Hall.  Once complete, we ran the course in reverse.  We were all chasing Sir Topham Hat as he cruised up and down the hills.

 

Back of COT

Great job by all!

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The Equalizer

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9 got better this morning and 1 got lighter as we tackled a routine I call “The Equalizer.”  Conditions we’re perfect for a sweatastic Merkin Mile beatdown. Here’s what we did…

The Thang

  • 5 Burpees

Run to the 1st entrance of Brayden

  • 10 Wide Arm Merkins

Run to Dave Gibson Blvd

  • 20 Bobby Hurleys

Run to Dam Rd

  • 30 Ranger Merkins

Run to Tara Plantation

  • 40 Squats

Run to YHC’s House

  • 50 Merkins

Run to Tara Plantation

  • 40 Calf Raises

Run to Dam Rd

  • 30 Diamond Merkins

Run to Dave Gibson Blvd

  • 20 Lunges

Run to 1st Entrance of Brayden

  • 10 Tempo Merkins

Run back to Earth Fare

  • 10 Tempo
  • 20 Lunges
  • 30 Diamond
  • 40 Calf Raises
  • 50 Merkins

Circle the lot

  • 10 Wide
  • 20 Bobby Hurleys
  • 30 Ranger
  • 40 Squats
  • 50 Merkins

Mosey back to COT

  • 5 Burpees

NMM
This workout was designed to have the PAX finish together. How do you keep the non-gazelles with the sub-6 minute milers at a running AO? Add Merkins.
As expected, Scalp and Gears had the major lead in the running portion. But as we closed in on the final assault at Earth Fare, Dark Helmet took the lead and never looked back. Major kudos to Band Camp and his Merkin prowess for powering through to the top-5 after the run. As usual, Gekko, Quack Attack, and Fish Sticks finished towards the top. And though he doesn’t like to admit it, Sugar Daddy is starting to look like a runner. Spider-Man did bail early, but when nature calls, you know, you answer. I understand he looked three shades brighter and 2 pounds lighter after his…break.
Thanks for the opportunity to lead. I know this is more Merkins than normal for STL (as noted by the grunting and grumbling), but it’s the only way I could keep up with you fast guys. But as usual, you men persevered and powered through. You did the hard thing and you’re better for it.

One last word to start the week:

You can’t force someone to respect you but you can refuse to be disrespected.

Now go be a force to be reckoned with. Crush the day!

Aye!

Italian Job

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Take no fish/prisoner

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22 showed up to get better….22 left better (more tired like YHC, but they took the red pill today).  Pledge of allegiance was properly performed, very short disclaimer (I think) but 5 core principles were done for the FNG…YHC tried to wait for what he was told about 2 PAX coming in HOT only to realized they were already there.  Upon that notification, we were off at a 7 min pace.

We ran down Academy street to the open parking lot by the top of the hill before we got to all the churches…did some planking while we waited for the 6…counted off to make sure we started and left with the same number.  At this point, YHC explained the drill and early route.

  • 10 – hand release merkins
  • 20 – squats
  • 30 – American (no, not russian twists) hammers

We did these in the parking lot, ran down the hill, were greeted from the Footloose PAX (welcome FNG) with some proper form (I guess) monkey humpers.  Very nice call Trucker – brownie points…  We ran to the corner of Tom Hall where we did our 10, 20, 30 – then ran to Hardees for another 10, 20, 30.  Waiting for the 6 we planked…as we should.  Once all PAX were in attendence, YHC instructed the PAX to run up Spring St and cross over to Unity where we would do 10, 20, 30.  At each “up and over” (basically creating an L), we would perform the exercises at either Unity or Spring depending on the up and over…always doing the exercise at the “over” cross street.  Once we reached Summersby (all the way in the back of the neighborhood), we ran back to Hardees.  Due to bad time management by YHC, this caused everyone to run all the way back to COT so you’re welcome for the non-rest.  Sorry, not sorry.

At COT, we named our FNG – Trickle (welcome!!).  D2D race for announcements which sold out in about 5 hours to the surprise of everyone.  Prayers and praises – we had a little of both.  Overall, just the right amount of suck but we got better and that’s the goal.

Shady out (thanks Shanks for the gap in schedule!)

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New Fellowship Ruck AO Official Starts 9/10 at 5 am

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The fellowship ruck Sole to Soul that we have been doing unofficially for about 3 months has been gaining momentum so we have official start  date of 9/10 at 5 am. We shoot for  4 plus miles every Thursday starting at Panera Bread in Kingsley followed by Hanging with Stang afterwards. What better way could you start your day with a awesome mumblechatter while rucking and a great conversation afterwards with a great sunrise. Join YHC as we launch this AO. I look forward to seeing you in the Gloom.

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