Badlands Wet and Wild VQ

After my first post in late October 2021, I managed a solid 2 months of free-loading.  Then, this morning came time for my VQ…

 

Text Exchange (as sideways rain whipped through the EarthFare parking lot, getting worse by the minute):

05:05 – Badlands – This should be fun.

05:06 – Kermit – This is a little much.

05:07 – Badlands – No lightning at least.

05:07 – Kermit – I don’t know if I’m this hardcore.  But I’ve never had to make this decision.

05:08 – Badlands – This is the worst.  I’ve never been to one that’s got canceled

05:08 – Kermit – This is insane. It’s because of your name.

05:09 – Badlands – It’s gonna break right in time to start.

05:12 – Badlands – Told you.  Skies clearing right in time.

05:12 – Kermit – It’s still raining, just not coming down in sheets now.

 

And with the calming of the rain – 7 PAX exited their vehicles and entered the gloom.

 

Disclaimer and a brief overview of the workout then we were off…

 

Moseyed onto 160 towards Baxter until we found an extra soggy spot ¼ mile in.  We circled up (kind of) and I stumbled through COP as the rain ceased:

20x Goofballs (IC)  *w/BandCamp doing his best to make my life difficult*

15x MNC (IC)

20x IW (IC)

 

Moseyed further down 160 with R/T onto Front St, down to the Berkshire Heights loop.

 

Main Workout:

OYO CCW running of Berkshire Heights loop (~.9 miles) x2 with pain stations at each stop sign (5/loop = 10 total)

10x Merkins

10x Big Boy Situps

10x Squats

 

After second loop, returned to EarthFare parking lot to earn extra credit as temperatures noticeably dipped and winds picked up.

Main Workout Totals:  3 miles, 100 merkins, 100 big boys, and 100 squats.

 

Extra credit back at the parking lot consisted of 4 corners style workout with running in between:

Corner #1 – 10x Left Leg Lunge

Corner #2 – 10x Right Leg Lunge

Corner #3 – 10x Shoulder Taps

Corner #4 – 10x Mountain Climbers

All PAX earned some extra credit on the day – some getting another .5 miles and 30 more reps of each exercise.

 

Name-o-rama, Announcement, Praises, Prayers..

 

As we scattered toward the vehicles, the rain started again…  If you didn’t know, it rarely rains in the Badlands.

 

Thanks to Vuvuzela for the opportunity to lead, and for the conversation while driving to get his spare keys after getting locked out of his vehicle 😉

TClap |
5

FORE!

Balmy 32 degrees, clear skies.

Great to start the year off with a proper #runningwithpushups beatdown.  Was a little nervous on the who would show as the emoji bucket for my preblast was near empty.  I need my dopamine hit of likes, hearts, and high fives.  14 (corrected to 13 via video) posted for a jaunt to Fort Mill Golf Club.

5:13: “one minute to pledge” and also “hurry up birdcage, lets go”

5:14: Pledge of Allegiance.  There was no Bandcamp to throw me off my 40  year vocal cadence.  We are all #proudtobeanamerican

5:15: concise layout of the plan and  half assed disclaimer.

The Thang:

AYG to parking lot of Fort Mill Golf Club,(1 mile) plank wait for #six and confirm plan.  Run Front 9 cart path.  At every Tee and every Green: 5 Merkins and 5 squats. Head back to COT 0550. Fishsticks and Badlands were super strong this morning, lead the way and got all 9 in.  Middle and back groups got 7-8 holes.  Full round gets 4 miles and 90 each of the #painmakers.

Naked Man Moleskin

Maximus and Shady tried to talk to me while I was running.  Hope they could hear my muttering over my heavy breathing.  Not sure what was going on in the other running packs but if anybody ran with Pusher- can you let me know what questions he asked today?   Always great to see men push themselves at this workout.

Want to give a praise to Olaf for including me a bible plan this week.  Havent done one of those in a while and realized how impactful they are to setting up my day and my heart for the day.  My challenge to you- If you are a “habitual first thing I do when I wake up is grab my phone and scroll Instagram, twitter, slack, Linked In, News Feed, texts, emails” guy- take a break from that for a day, 3 days, 5 days.  Grab your coffee or water and for 5 minutes: sit “in it”.  Silence.  be still.  Meditate, bible verse, Q source, thought for the day, reflection, journal.  Start the day without the noise that leads to anxiety, worry, comparison.  Would love for you to find me next week, let me know how it went.

Aye!

Jekyll

TClap |
12

Mind the Queen

13 PAX met in the gloom on a cool Monday morning after the long Christmas weekend. YHC wasn’t sure how many would take the DRP, but was happy to see a strong turnout.

Disclaimer was given and then the plan for the morning was given so that the runners could get after it.

Warm up:
25 SSH IC
15 Tappy Taps IC
15 LSS IC

The Thang
Run to the west exit of the parking lot (Dave Gibson) and cross 160 into Brayden at the traffic light. Run down Emory Lane and turn left on Brayden Pkwy. Run to dead end and turn left on Afton Way. Afton Way will take you to the back of Brayden. Some mumblechatter on the longer route, but this route got us 1 mile out of the gate.

At the back of Brayden, there are two “loops.” Afton Way forms a 1/2 mile loop, and Lizzie Lane is a cut through for 1/4 mile loop. The plan was to alternate loops and do exercises between each loop. PAX were encouraged to run the 1/4 mile loop at a faster pace, and run the larger loop at their normal pace.

Between each loop we completed the following:
10 Merkins
10 Big Boys
10 Peter Parkers

At 0550hrs we began the run back to COT and got 3 minutes of Mary in. PAX got between 3.5 and 4.5 miles in for a solid morning in the gloom.

We discussed the importance of the Queen (Q1.3) and that even though we all took the DRP and were taking care of our fitness, we could not outwork our Queen. This time of year can be very challenging, and may take little more discipline and accountability.

Announcements, prayers and praises.

And the PAX eventually reminded me to do Name-O-Rama.

Thanks Vuvuzela for the opportunity to lead, and the new challenge of leading a group of runners.

TClap |
11

Changing of the Guard

28 PAX joined in the gloom for a brisk morning at Block Party. Though the temps were in the high-40s, the wind cut and made it feel much colder. Most were ready to get started and warmed up.

Bobber led off with the disclaimer, then we moseyed to the bank parking lot and circled up for 25 SSH IC. Moseyed to the Hobo’s parking lot for:
15 IW IC
10 Windmills IC
10 Cherry Pickers IC
10 Merkins IC
10 LSS IC
Held low squat for 10 MNC IC

Bobber, fighting back tears, then let go of his beloved BlockParty and passed the shovel flag to YHC. It was quiet as a mouse, absolutely no chatter was mumbled. So we did 5 burpees OYO to get back into it. 

The Thang
I explained to the PAX that I started F3 on a Monday at STL, where Pusher (in attendance) led a great workout, and I was encouraged enough to return the next day. The next day happened to be BlockParty, with CakeBoss on Q. It was a brutal morning, full of pain, so I thought we would do it again. 

3 lanes of bear crawls
5 burpees to exit the low side of the parking lot onto Main Street
Run up Main Street, back to the parking lot entrance on Clebourne Street.
5 burpees to enter the parking lot.
Plank for the 6.
This circuit continued, but the lanes changed to:
3 lanes Burpee Broad Jumps (a whole lot of mumblechatter and requests for a suggestion box)
3 lanes Duck Walk
3 lanes Toy Soldiers

Jogged back to Cot for 3 minutes of Mary.

Name-O-Rama, Announcements, Prayers & Praises. 

Thanks to Bobber for his leadership while Site Q, and providing the opportunity for YHC to continue the tradition at BlockParty. 

TClap |
5

Run, exercise, rinse, repeat

Simple but effective is the kick I’m on right now. I’m notorious for overcomplicating things so I want to avoid that in the gloom. Fortunately, 13 men joined me at Sweep The Leg and we were going to keep it simple with a count of 10 for each of 4 exercises, with an estimated .5mi run between each set.

I stared with the disclaimer and began to give the overview of exercise and the course but I was losing attention spans.
Our exercises were:
10 Grave Diggers on the right side
10 Wide-Arm Merkins
10 Grave Diggers on the left side
10 Dips

Here’s the course:
Around the back of Earth Fare then L/T down the side access road and L/T onto Dave Gibson to Patricia Ln.
Do the exercises

Run to GHMS, around the drop-off lane and to the front door
Do the exercises

Run out and back up to Ben Casey Drive
Do the exercises

Run across 160 and onto Emory and wrap around to the intersection with Brayden Pkwy
Do the exercises

Take a L/T onto Brayden then L/T onto Afton and take that all the way back to the left bend in the road
Do the exercises

Continue running on Afton around the loop then R/T and run out to Galbreath.
Do the exercises

Run back to COT
Do the exercises

Add on as necessary.

A learning for next time would be to ensure all crossing of 160 is done at the stop light. No need to add risk in the gloom. It was my pleasure.

SYITG
Maximus

TClap |
1

4 Corners…In All 4 Lots

For my 3rd and final Q of the week, 12 of us tied ’em up tight at Laces In Thursday for a bit of a twist on things. The weather was nice and the guys were ready for some work.

Warm Up mosey up the entrance hill then circle up back at the bottom for a few warm up exercises, your typical fare.

Now, here’s the deal. In each of our 4 parking lots, we’re executing 1 exercise at each of the lot’s 4 corners with 5  burpees in the center.
So, start in 1 corner, 15 Wide-Arm Merkins, run to the center, do 5 Burpees, run to the next corner, 15 Jump Squats and run to the center. Do 5 Burpees, then run to the next corner, 15 Carolina Dry Docks and run to the center for 5 more Burpees. Then, run to the last corner for 15 Dying Cockroaches and run to the center for one last time for 5 Burpees.

We ran to the next lot, did the same routine, then the next lot for the same routine again. We than ran to the final lot for a repeat performance. Once we completed that 4th lot, our totals were:
60 Wide-Arm Merkins
60 Jump Squats
60 Dying Cockroaches
60 Carolina Dry Docks
80 Burpees

We then moseyed to the area near the pull-up bars for the following:
20 Pull-Ups
20 Merkins
20 Flutters I/C

We made our way back to COT while stopping for a few SSH in 2 lots.

SYITG
Maximus

TClap |
1

Noisy Frog

Alcatraz 11/20/21
Disclaimer
Mosey around to fire station driveway for
10 windmills IC
20 SSH IC
Then mosey back around to bracket all courts for
8 cherry pickers IC
15 low slow squats IC
15 MNC ICBuy in:
Apple Turnover: bear crawl/crab walk across B-ball court (baselline-key-half court-key-baseline) with 5 merkins at each stop. Then CrawlBear/Walk Crab back with same merkin count.The Thang:
Partner up.
Partner 1 does 20 squats, 10 merkins and LBCs until partner 2 returns.
Partner 2 runs to pull up bars, 5 pull ups and returns.I think we got 7 rounds in:
70 merkins
35 pull ups and countless LBCs.Hand off to Decibel.

Start things off right with:

SALLY- Merkin style

Mosey to the wall at the baseball field and partner up

P1- Peoples Chair P2-Run to Fence, 20 Bomb Jacks and run back- Flip Flop

P1- Bear Crawl to 2nd Base Line- 5 burpees-NUR back- Flip Flop

P1- BTW P2- run to Fence, 20 Apollo Ohon and run back- Flip Flop

P1- Bear Crawl to 2nd Base Line- 5 burpees-NUR back- Flip Flop

Circle Up for 7 minutes of Mary:  15- Boats-Canoe,15- Missionary Planks, 15- X-O’s and 20 Hello Dolly.

Mosey to Parking lot for a round of Burpecides.

Circle up on the Cement Pad (Old School) for COT

Great Group of guys out there today.  Always a blessing to lead!

Prayers for Families and Senators buddy Joe.

 

TClap |
6

Friday Funday at the Hive!

Started with simple Warmup

Workout was a circuit of exercises and running

A round was 30 reps of an exercise, run across one lane, 20 reps, run two lanes, 10 reps, run three lanes. Repeat with next exercise.

Curls

Triceps/Skullcrushers

LBCs

Squats

Dead Lifts

Overhead Press

Flutters

Chest Press

Lunges

Uhauls

TClap |
0

Colosseum Backblast

Warmup: Shady

QIC: Zima

25 Pax showed to see if the rumors were true. Or Shady has a degree in short-term hype trains. Maybe a little of both. Humbled to see y’all out there for an out of shape Q workout.

Shady did a 5 min warmup

Station 1: Burpee Suicides 5-10-15 reps (no foreplay @Jekyll)

Merkin Suicides 5-10-15 repsMosey to another Station at entrance to school

Station 2: Quadzilla for 4 minutes (run downhill and nur back uphill). #lovelanguageOG Quadzilla (thanks @Pusher). Same as above but with 10 squats at top and 10 jumping lunges at bottom.

Mosey to Elementary School Car Loop

Station 3: Run 5 laps doing 10 hand release merkins at starting line and 10 hand release merkins at half point (5 laps=100 hand release merkins)

I had 3.0+ miles by COT. It felt good to Q again and be in the gloom with y’all. I felt the love.

Announcements: Read the Newsletter

Prayers/Praises:
-Zima praise for Let Me Run Coaching
-Prayers for those suffering from depression (when in doubt, reach out)
-Prayers for Blount daughter who has cancer
-Prayers for Cyclops M whose uncle passed away

Apologies for any errors or omissions. Thanks for the opportunity. I need a nap.

Zima Out!

TClap |
1

Dora, not Dora

Earlier in the week, Mainframe lead a DORA without running.  I thought I would try the same at the Hive.  No running. well maybe just a little.

Warm-ups (No KB):  SSHs, Windmills, Imperial Walkers,  Plank Stretches

DORA #1:

  • 100 Overhead Presses (Alternate 10 reps while other partner holds bell overhead)
  • 200 Squats  (Alternate 20 reps while other partner holds Al Gore)
  • 300 LBCs (Alternate 25 reps while other partner holds bell above chest)

ok, we needed a break some we ran around the parking lot.

DORA #2:

  • 100 Curls (Alternate 10 reps while other partner holds bell in front of chest)
  • 200 KB Swings  (Alternate 20 reps while other partner holds Al Gore)
  • 300 Flutters (Alternate 25 reps while other partner holds bell above chest)

Next, we carried the KB overhead to the end of the parking lot, turned around and lunge walked back to the first light post.

Great work guys.  Lots of encouragement and mumble chatter.

Senior moment, forgot to change phone to video mode so I’ve got a cute picture of Airborne if anyone is interested.

 

TClap |
1