I Can Drive 55 with a Few Friends

AO: bomber
Q: Vector
PAX: Pep, Firefox, Papa Bear, Strutter, DintyMoore, Chunks, CubCadet, SalPal, Cream Cheese, Wet Wipes, Tim the Toolman, Sherlock
FNGs: None
COUNT: 13
Today’s Q was to acknowledge YHC’s 55th birthday a few weeks back. The theme? What’s the best part about birthday parties? No, not the gift bags. The friends. So today (after a Strutter request for a Hagar classic), we celebrated friends.

CONDITIONS: Balmy

WARMUP:
Standard Vector Birthday SSH set — 55 (set to I Can’t Drive 55 – Sammy Hagar. You’re welcome, Strutter)
LBAC x 20
RLBAC x 20
Overhead Press x 20

THE THANG:
Count off and get a partner. Your homework – find out an unknown fact about your friend t reveal at COT.

Mosey to Rec Center.
Pair of friends run around the Rec Center (fun fact finding time) while the rest of PAX work on 55 reps of the following:
Freddy Mercs
Regular Pull-Ups
Iron Mikes
Excellent Form Squats
Normal Merkins
Dips
SSH

Rinse and repeat x 3.

Mosey back to flag for Mary with Hello Dollys, Flutter Kicks, and Box Cutters.

PLAYLIST:
Why Can’t We be Friends? – War
Friends in Low Places – Garth Brooks
Friends – Jody Watley with Eric B. & Rakim
With a Little Help from My Friends – Beatles
You’re My Best Friend – Queen
Thank You for Being a Friend – Andrew Gold
Just a Friend – Biz Markie
You’ve Got a Friend in Me – Randy Newman
All My Rowdy Friends are Coming Over Tonight – Hank Jr.
Best Friends – English Beat
My Best Friend’s Girl – The Cars
All the Right Friends – R.E.M.

COT:
Prayers for those affected by cuts in public health and research.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Spring Fling this Saturday April 6th — check Slack for deets (right Cream Cheese?)

A Few Select Random Facts:
Wet Wipes posing nude in print
CubCadet doing black ops security for Yo-Yo Ma’s son
DintyMoore’s old bottle collection (which he puts highlighters inside off with black light backlighting?)

Thanks HIM for pushing me into year 55!
SYITG,
Vector :microbe:

Solve the riddle, escape the beatdown

AO: bomber
Q: Puzzlah
PAX: Firefox, Chunks, DintyMoore, Black Lung, Cream Cheese, Tim the Toolman, Papa Bear, Pep, hambone, Bravefart
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS: Chlly-ish to start

WARMUP:
Dynamic warm-up
Arm Circles
a little old man yoga
Cherry pickers

THE THANG:

Put together some crummy rhyming riddles in the form of an escape game/puzzle Q that ask the Pax to guess where the next stop on our adventure would be.

I line up in rows, strong and high,
Where kids swing through the sky.
Grip me tight and don’t let go,
Or down to the ground you’ll go!

To escape:
100 Rocky Balboas
25 Incline Merkins
25 Dolly Partons

Mosey to Monkey Bars.

I eat small spheres, then spit them out,
into the bucket, without a doubt.
Before you swing, you must come to me,
Where dimpled orbs are set free.

To escape:
(Option to hit 50) 30 pull-ups – 30 merkins- 30 rows – 30 squats – 2 laps
(partitioned however you want)

Mosey to Driving Range machine.

While today is nice, sometimes it’s not,
Can find this covered spot?
Next to the clubhouse to get some gainz,
It’s where we work out when it rains.

To escape:
Lunge down, Broad jump back length of driving range

Mosey to clubhouse

Practice a gentle tap, get a generous roll,
Avoid the sand, your chip finds the hole.
To complete this puzzle, you must be quick,
A surprise is waiting to do the trick.

To escape:
30 burpees
30 Carolina dry docks
30 mountain climbers (each leg)
30 dips

Mosey to Chipping Green.

Beep Test, either running or a SSH on the side. Congrats to Black Lung for getting to 10.0 :exploding_head: and making it look a lot easier than I’m sure it felt. DintyMoore, Bravefart, and Cream Cheese rounded out the top 4, but Cream Cheese will never see this, so did it really happen? I think each got to Round 8, but I was struggling to focus after I got caught at 7.3 (I think).

MOLESKINE:
Appreciating Firefox’s request of words of gratitude even though I often struggle to put them together. Grateful to lead and put together some (hopefully) fun puzzles for the group.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
TONIGHT is Game Night at Chez Firefox
Sign up for Merkin Madness.
Night moves is now March 13.

COT:
A number of prayers for family and friends, clarity around jobs, and gratitude for wins of our family and friends.

God’s gonna cut you down

AO: titan
Q: Puzzlah
PAX: Firefox, Sherlock, Black Lung, CubCadet, DintyMoore, Tim the Toolman, Young and Restless, Pep, Papa Bear
FNGs: None
COUNT: 10
CONDITIONS: springtime is peeking through

WARMUP:
SSH
Imperial walkers
Arm circles
Yoga
Merkins

THE THANG:
Mosey over to HCA garage
– Bottom (Ground Floor): 20 Merkins
– 2nd Floor: 20 Squats
– 3rd Floor: 20 Big Boy Sit-ups
– 4th Floor: 20 Burpees
Rd 1: sprint up inclines, mosey to next spot
Rd 2 (coming down): in reverse (Bernie down ramp), mosey to next spot
Rd 3: Bernie up, mosey and laps on roof for 6
Rd 4: mosey down and around.

Burpee for 6
My counts:
90 merkins total
60 burpees (plus any done at Start)

MOLESKINE:
On Johnny Cash’s 102nd birthday, we reflect on redemption.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Game night on Friday
Biscuit run on Saturday
Night Pax

COT: :black_heart:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6qf0kAUBFwuH8uMLC36atc?si=9_TvrRvVTC294TCkY8hHQw&pi=M2EKxuFhTkCOHq

A Day of Celebrations

AO: bomber
Q: Firefox , Pole Dancer
PAX: Vector, Black Lung, Tim the Toolman, CubCadet, DintyMoore, Puzzlah, Pep, Poppa Lock
FNGs: None
COUNT: 10
CONDITIONS: Arctic

WARMUP: Pole Dancer led us in some active warm-ups:
– 50 SSH
– A skips
– B skips
– Zombie walks

THE THANG: Pole Dancer and YHC could not decide which Feb. 21 national day to celebrate; so, we celebrated all of them.

Thang 1: Sticky Buns Day
To celebrate National Sticky Buns Day, YHC had us do a bit of leg and bun work. PAX did the following circuit as many times as they could within our allotted celebration time. Everyone finished 2, some were about done with their 3rd when we called time.
– Iron Mikes (20x/side)
– Bulgarian Split Squats (20x/side)
– Jump Squats (20x)
– Raised Alabama Prom Dates (20x, with feet elevated on a bench)
– Bear crawl around the circle behind McCabe

Thang 2: Grain-Free Day
To celebrate National Grain-Free Day, Pole Dancer had us do a number of exercises that looked familiar but were ultimately worse. After each set, we ran a bernie around the circle
– Navy Seal Burpees (merkin, knee tuck, merkin, knee tuck, merkin) – 25x (but many shortened to 20 because, wtf)
– Deep Squat Star Jumps – 25x
– Something else, I forget

Thang 3: Caregiver’s Day
To celebrate National Caregiver’s Day, YHC had us partner up. First 1 PAX did sit-ups while the other held feet in a high plank position. We did this for 50s and then swapped. We did 2 rotations of this and then switched to Partner Decline Merkins. 1 PAX held the feet of the other who did merkins for 50s and then swapped. 50s is a long time, y’all.

Thang 4: Boiled Peanuts Day
Pole Dancer was unfamiliar with boiled peanuts and other things we eat here in the South (if we’re not allergic to peanuts). He led us in a number of Southern-themed exercises, with a short jog to the parking lot in-between.
– Carolina Dry Docks
– Alabama Prom Dates
– Hello Dolly’s
– Ragin’ Cajuns (elbow-to-opposite knee crunches)

MOLESKINE:
– Definitely was fun collaborating with Pole Dancer on this!
– Much discussion of the Tomb Raider-esque amalgamation of YHC and Pole Dancer. Vector called it pornography.
– So cold.
– If you want to do a Co-Q mash-up with another of our respected brethren, send me a DM! We’ve got a couple others lined up for the spring.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– Saturday Breakfast Q at Focker’s
– Game night next Friday
– Other things that are on the calendar

COT:
– Much gratitude

Love is . . .

AO: bomber
Q: Vector
PAX: Pep, Firefox, DintyMoore, sooner, Sherlock, Right Said, Tim the Toolman, Puzzlah, Fish Food (DR)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 10
YHC was the Q-pid for today’s Valentine’s Day prep for the PAX. I even had a bow . . . seriously.

CONDITIONS: Chilly, 23 degrees with love in the air

PLAYLIST:
Theme of “Love is . . .”
Love is like Oxygen – Sweet
Love is a Battlefield – Pat Benatar
Love is an Open Door – Kristen Bell/Santino Fontana (from Frozen, not Moana sooner)
Love is the Drug – Roxy Music
Love is the Answer – Aloe Blacc
Love is a Stranger – Eurythmics
Love is in the Air – John Paul Young
Love is Blindness – Jack White
Love is the Answer – Dan Seals
Love is Dangerous – Fleetwood Mac
Love is Strange – Mickey & Sylvia
Love is a Long Road – Tom Petty

WARMUP:
Mosey in heart-shaped circles
LBAC x 20
Seal Claps x 20
Overhead Presses x 20
RLBAC x 20
WMH x 10 OHO
Good Mornin’s x 10 OHO
SSH x 20

THE THANG:
Q-pid started his work by having the PAX partner up and do several partner themed exercises:
Partner merkins x 20 (with clap between rep)
Partner WWI x 20 (with claps at top)
Partner chair squats x 30 sec x 3

Mosey to playground for some LOVES
Lunges x 100
Overhead presses x 100
V-shaped Pull-Ups x 100
Excellent form incline merkins x 100
Sexy squats x 100

[Aside: at some point sooner got caught up in the love and might have been twerking on the swing set pole . . . Q-pid supports all kinds of love, so go crazy HIM)

Mosey to flag for V-Day Mary of Alabama Prom Dates, J Los, Monkey Humpers, Jane Fondas to get those special parts trained for the day. So good, we rinsed and repeated.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– No Beer Ruck this weekend
– Game Night at Firefox abode Feb 28 at 7p
– Night Moves March 6 at 7:30pm

COT: Words of gratitude, prayers, and praises lifted up. Listened to the morning for a bit. Thankful for all of the HIM during what for me has been a very stressful time in both my personal (losing my mom) and professional (funding uncertainties, colleagues losing jobs abruptly) lives. Thankful to the PAX for pushing me each day.

SYITG, Q-pid (aka Vec)

That-workout-from-Friday redux

AO: westeros
Q: CubCadet
PAX: DintyMoore, Vector, bluemule, Pep, SalPal, Spinal Tap, Michelin Man
FNGs: None
COUNT: 8
CONDITIONS: Brisk 32 but manageable

WARMUP: 25 SSH, WMH / GM OYO, mosey around the big field (on the pavement)

THE THANG: Yeah, I stole my own workout from Friday / Bomber. Modified it slightly to make it less confusing (based on anonymous feedback)

– Endzone: 5 SSH
– 10 yard line: 10 burpees
– 20 yard line: 20 WW1
– 30 yard line: 30 mountain climbers
– 40 yard line: 40 merkins
– 50 yard line: 50 squats
– 40 yard line: 40 ski jumpers
– 30 yard line: 30 American Hammers
– 20 yard line: 20 box jumps
– 10 yard line: 10 wide arm merkins
– Endzone: 5 SSH

Rinse / repeat in reverse order

Travel between yard lines as a group was half bear crawl / half lunge worms (lunge, lunge, inchworm forward, 2 merkins, inchworm back up)

Sprint length of the “field” – 1x

Mary – round robin, 25 reps each exercise for 8 minutes

Playlist as also a recycle: Super Bowl Halftime songs.

MOLESKINE: Things I learned today:

– DintyMoore is alive
– SalPal was 12 in 2011
– Prince was the greatest SB halftime act. Ever.
– Coffee at Dose is pretty cool (#lovingmysabbatical)

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Congrats to those who finished Leanpax. Check slack for details on Brewruck and Night Moves coming up.

COT: Prayers for:
– People and critical care / research institutions impacted by government budget cuts, and struggling with uncertainty.
– Vector and family over his Mother’s passing
– Michelin Man dealing with some back issues (and our gratitude that he came to hang with us)
– SalPal dealing with some leadership challenges / change at work
– Intentions in our hearts.

Grateful for the opportunity to lead.

Someday We’ll All Enjoy Running, But Not Today

AO: westeros
Q: Hair Band
PAX: Chunks, Grape, Tim the Toolman, DintyMoore, Michelin Man, Pep, SalPal, Son of Red Skull, Red Skull, Young and Restless, bluemule, CubCadet, Sherlock, Vector
FNGs: None
COUNT: 14
CONDITIONS: a bit chilly, a bit damp

WARMUP:
Good mornings
Cherry pickers
Willie mays hayes
Cowboy hip rotations (fwd & bck)
50 SSHs
High knees
Butt kicks

THE THANG:
Mosey to parking lot hill
2x 50% sprint up hill, jog down
2x 75% sprint up hill, jog down
2x 90% sprint up hill, jog down

3 Sets
20 Squat jump with knee tuck (40 drop squats as modification)
50 Iron mikes (25e)
15 merkins
Hard sprint up hill (85% effort), jog down (30-40% effort)

In cadence squats on Hair Band count

Mosey to jungle gym for as many rounds of
25 pull ups and running a lap around the drop off circle as possible

MOLESKINE:
A thought I had during the beatdown: how we, as individuals, approach a workout together is often a reflection of how we live our lives in relationship with others.

Another thing I learned today: if I see people shorting themselves in an exercise, it fires me up. I have more to say on this matter but it’s probably better I don’t.

Shoutout to DintyMoore for being a monster and raising his lactaid threshold this morning.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– AOQ Grow School coming to a saturday soon near you
– Spring CSAUP in the works
– Spring fling led by Natural Ice – CBO
– 4:13 Strong Dinner fundraiser April 24th

COT:
– health and wellness for friends & family, prayers & praises for employment

Rock on and don’t cheat yourself out of getting better,

Hair Band

Feels like 2

AO: detention
Q: Focker
PAX: Deep State, DintyMoore, Movin On Up, Esposa
FNGs: None
COUNT: 5
CONDITIONS: 9, but really :the_horns:

WARMUP: run a little, too cold to stretch

THE THANG:
Pavilion to start
5 diamond merks, 7 wide grip, 9 regular
Lunge to half court
10 prisoner squats
Run to playground
5 pull ups
Did this x5

Core break

Changed location to get out of wind
Did same routine x5

Core break
Short mosey and Bernie up bus hill
Held low plan for 90 seconds to close

MOLESKINE: just so dang cold, but still great mumblechatter. Favorite cable movies

ANNOUNCEMENTS: push up challenge, leanpax

COT: Movin On Up and his father’s recovery. Safety today during inauguration and CFP. Prayers for our leadership

Cluster

AO: thestronghold
Q: tampalibra
PAX: Chunks, sooner, Oatmeal, Ginger, Red Skull, Skeet, Decaf, Shocker (Mark Holmes), toga, Ponzi, Pole Dancer, Young and Restless, Dan Tanna, Pearl (Jonathan Halter), DintyMoore, Crawlspace, Right Said, Hair Band, Mullet, Wedding Singer, Minnie Pearl, Catfish, Chyna, Whoopi, Escort, jackie moon, Toadstool (aka Princess Peach aka formerly PlayStation), Tail and Mane, Barney, Dpole?, Yes Chef, SaxMan, BigRig, Air Ball, Toots, Square Root, Wolverine
FNGs: None
COUNT: 38
CONDITIONS: Perf

WARMUP:
50 SSH, 10 Merkins, 25 Flutters, 10 WMH, 10 GM’s

THE THANG:
First, YHC quickly realized there was not enough blocks for what was planned. I don’t feel like I pivoted very well tbh, that’s on me for not having a backup plan in place.

Here is what was rx’d:
– 15 Burpee Block jump overs, 50 Hand-release Merkins, 200m run
– 14 Burpee Block jump overs, 50 Goblet Squats, 200m run
– 13 Burpee Block jump overs, 50 We’re not worthy’s, 200m run
– 12 Burpee Block jump overs, 50 Hand-release Merkins, 200m run
– 11 Burpee Block jump overs, 50 Goblet Squats, 200m run
– 10 Burpee Block jump overs, 50 We’re not worthy’s, 200m run
– 9 Burpee Block jump overs, 50 Hand-release Merkins, 200m run
– 8 Burpee Block jump overs, 50 Goblet Squats, 200m run
– 7 Burpee Block jump overs, 50 We’re not worthy’s, 200m run
– 6 Burpee Block jump overs, 50 Hand-release Merkins, 200m run
– 5 Burpee Block jump overs, 50 Goblet Squats, 200m run
– 4 Burpee Block jump overs, 50 We’re not worthy’s, 200m run
– 3 Burpee Block jump overs, 50 Hand-release Merkins, 200m run
– 2 Burpee Block jump overs, 50 Goblet Squats, 200m run
– 1 Burpee Block jump overs, 50 We’re not worthy’s, 200m run

In reality here is what happened:
Partner up – 1 block per partner group
– 15 burpees together
– P1 does 50 HR-Merks while P2 runs, flipflop
– P1 does 50 WNW’s while P2 runs, flipflop
– 14 burpees together..etc

2-3 rounds in YHC called an audible, rallied the troops, apologized for poor planning, constructively criticized poor listening, stupid questions, and bitching from PAX, and then prescribed finishing out the burpees (apocalypse+) starting at 13. Funny enough the MC and smart-mouths stopped :man-shrugging:

MOLESKINE: Lessons learned on leadership, planning contingencies, listening, using the time someone gives you to ask questions, etc

The Sign

AO: titan
Q: DintyMoore
PAX: Firefox, bluemule, Chunks, Right Said, Blueprint, Tim the Toolman, Black Lung, Crawlspace, CubCadet, DintyMoore, Pep, Puzzlah, Sherlock, Spinal Tap, Good Morning America, Aquaman
FNGs: None
COUNT: 16
CONDITIONS: clear and crisp

WARMUP: led by AOQ until 5:32
SSHs
L/S Squats
Inchworm
Mosey to Parthenon entrance

THE THANG:
Thing 1 –
10 rounds – Lap between each set
4 Burpees
8 Merkins
12 Squats
16 Mountain Climbers
20 SSHs

Thing 2 –
Mosey Merkin Complex x 10 stops
Push-up and shoulder tap (each side)
Push-up and knee tap (each side)
Push-up and toe touch (each side)
Push-up and swinging toe touch (each side)
Push-up (Mike Tyson)
Push-up (Inchworm into Squat)

MOLESKINE:
90s R&B still slaps
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0VN5TfkYmFJniqM769jg0U?si=NuBB4CRVTV2q1UNRzrL4AQ&pi=u-oOucSGBSQsGI

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The time is here to support 4:13 Strong with workouts each Tuesday (run) and Thursday (beatdown) at #stronghold

COT: Silent Meditation for 30 seconds

Up Next : Right Said