Independence Day Convergence + 1st F Q Handoff

AO: handsomizer
Q: Hair Band , SalPal
PAX: Young and Restless, Black Lung, Spinal Tap, Natural Ice, Puzzlah, Focker, Strutter, DintyMoore, Cowboy, Esposa, Vector, CubCadet, hambone, Betty Ford, Firefox, Chunks, Cuban Missile, Pepsi, Papa Bear
FNGs: None
COUNT: 21
CONDITIONS: Smelled like freedom.

WARMUP: Mosey around stadium, 50 SSH, 25 8-count body builders, 1 vanilla stair run, 1 stair run w/ bunny hops up stairs.

THE THANG:
In late 1776, morale in the Continental Army was at a low after losses at the Battle of White Plains in October and at Forts Washington and Lee in November. Chased by the British, General George Washington retreated across New Jersey and into Pennsylvania. His force, in threadbare uniforms and many without shoes, was reduced to a few thousand and enlistments were set to expire. After asking his enlisted men to stay for one last effort, Washington devised a daring plan to stun the British, capture supplies, and reinvigorate American morale. The objective is to ferry his army across the Delaware River on Christmas and strike the Hessian garrison at Trenton.

MOT to battle: mosey to bridge

At river crossing: in two lines on the 6, everyone does american hammers. Last person in line bear crawls across bridge and starts american hammers on other side. 2nd to last person goes, then third, etc until all across.

Battle (SalPal takes over), 2 sets:
~15-20ish yards down and back of burpee broad jumps, complete 5 atomic merkins when back. Repeat 5x

Bearcrawl down, crawlbear back. 10 sit throughs with hip taps, 5 e side. Repeat 3x.

Return home: partner up, fireman’s carry/piggyback casualties (partner) back to top of stairs ex (switching along the way for even load distribution).

Sprint from top of stairs to startex, burpees to buy out.

In total there were 905 British casualties and 5 american casualties. The Americans dominated the fight and prevailed again in Princeton a week later. In these battles, General Washington demonstrated his ingenuity and resilience as a leader, won the loyalty of his soldiers, and revived the Continental Army. We celebrate these victories as a reminder of the sacrifices and wins that ensured our freedoms today.

MOLESKINE: Mumble chatter trailed off quickly in the heat of battle. T-claps to Black Lung and his partner doing carries the whole way through.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 1st F went from Hairy to Salty. Additional Leadership Changes Announced. Natural Icewill have more forthcoming in the days ahead.

(Sally is writing this): Hair Band brought great energy and impact to our region, and will keep up his Grow Schools in the months ahead. I know I have big shoes to fill. I’m looking forward to partnering with Natural Ice and the SLT to bring the heat and the hate to an AO near you. Keep an eye on 1st F for the work ahead.

COT: Grateful for our freedoms and this country. Closed with Pledge of Allegience and prayer.

It’s Too Humid for a Theme

AO: titan
Q: Firefox
PAX: Vector, Papa Bear, CubCadet, DintyMoore, Crawlspace, Salami, Choo Choo, GameStop, Cropduster, Sherlock, Spinal Tap, bluemule, Tim the Toolman, Pep, Right Said, Natural Ice, Downspout, Hacker
FNGs: None
COUNT: 19
CONDITIONS: Like the worst swimming pool ever

WARMUP:
– 10 FLBAC
– 10 RLBAC
– 40 Air Presses
– 15 Moroccan Night Clubs

THE THANG: Mosey to the circle
Part 1: PAX completed the following sequence and ran a lap, held a plank until all in. Performed 3 times.
– 50 LBCs
– 40 Flutterkicks
– 30 American Hammers
– 20 Boxcutters
– 10 V-ups

After 3 rounds, 30 V-ups. Mosey to playground.

Part 2: PAX split into groups of 3. 1 PAX ran around the dance center as the timer. 1 PAX did WW1s. 1 PAX did pull-ups with a leg raise. Everyone ran 3 times. WW1s until last group finished.

Mosey to Startex.

15 WW1s and almost a 60sec Hollow Body Hold.

MOLESKINE:
– Maybe my shortest backblast ever. With my big toe on the mend, I focused on core, keeping jumping and toe-bending activities to a minimum. No burpees or bear crawls to get on CubCadet’s good side. Feedback is always welcome.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– Convergence at greenmachine tomorrow for ultimate frisbee and Nantan handoff
– July 4 convergence at handsomizer

COT:
– Everyone shared a word/thought of gratitude. Special mention to Tim the Toolman who is thankful that we are able to support each other and still have reasonable and respectful discourse on topics on which we may disagree. :muscle:

Grateful

AO: bomber
Q: Focker
PAX: Cream Cheese, Vector, Grape, CubCadet, Right Said, Tim the Toolman, Papa Bear, Sherlock, Firefox, Puzzlah
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS: pea soup

WARMUP: short and typical

THE THANG: grab coupons (2 options)
10 merkins, 15 thrusters, 20 merkins, 25 thrusters, 30 merkins
Run a lap
10 thrusters, 15 heel lifts, 20 thrusters, 25 heel lifts, 30 thrusters
Run a lap
10 heel lifts, 15 swings, 20 heel lifts, 25 swings, 30 heel lifts
Run a lap
10 swings, 15 gun shows, 20 swings, 25 gun shows, 30 swings
Run a lap
10 gun shows, 15 merkins, 20 gun shows, 25 merkins, 30 gun shows
Run a lap
Do every exercise to failure for last round

MOLESKINE: A+ playlist ranking by Vector

ANNOUNCEMENTS: convergences on 6/26 and 7/4!

COT: prayers for those who are hurting from loss.
Practices in gratitude
“You either choose to receive the beauty and wonder of this life in the midst of chaos and distress, or you never will.”- Alan noble

Monday Morning Blues

AO: westeros
Q: Old Maid
PAX: CubCadet, Natural Ice, Pep, Red Skull, Tim the Toolman, Vector, Michelin Man, caprate, Old Maid, None
FNGs: 1 None
COUNT: 10
CONDITIONS: Warm and humid

WARMUP:
30 SSH IC
30 Arm Circles IC
10 Meekins
Hamstring / Glute stretches
Willie Mayes / Good Mornings OYO

THE THANG:
Mosey to the circle by the gym.
Split into 2 teams. With one member from each team running the circle, the rest of the PAX performed squats. When the runners were finished, then next team members in line took a turn running, while the rest of the PAX continued to do squats. Continued until all members ran.

Repeated process four more times doing Freddy Mercuries, Carolina Dry Docks, Reverse Lunges, and Merkins.

Also did:
– 30 WWIs
– High knees / burpees
– Mosey back to start
– 5 minutes of merry

MOLESKINE:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
July 4th convergence at Handsomizer

COT:
No call outs. Prayers for leadership and the country

Nice Throw, Now Do Some Burpees

AO: handsomizer
Q: Firefox , Freakonomics
PAX: Purple Tiger, Salami, Natural Ice, Old Maid, SalPal, Vector, CubCadet, Papa Bear, Hedwig
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS: A little soupy

WARMUP:
15x SSH
10x FLBAC
10x RLBAC
10x Good Mornings
10x WMHs

THE THANG:
Part 1, led by Freakonomics :
OYO, PAX did the following
– 20 Merkins, plank hold till all in
– 40 Squats, chair hold till all in
– 20 Carolina dry docks, dry dock hold till all in
– 40 Lunges, squat hold till all in

Mosey down to the field
Part 2, led by YHC: Ultimate Frisbee!
Team Bomber-ish: Purple Tiger Hedwig Papa Bear Firefox
Team Handsome-ish: SalPal Freakonomics Natural Ice Salami Old Maid

Scoring teams walked and did 5 burpees. Scored upon teams stayed and did 15 merkins. Team Handsome-ish rotated out a player who exercised on the sidelines. Team Bomber-ish did a fair number of burpees to start but Team Handome-ish mounted a comeback late that was not enough to make up the margin that no one was keeping track of.

CubCadet and Vector walked and heckled. You can’t have ultimate without hecklers. This is the way.

MOLESKINE:
– Enjoyed witnessing Hedwig discover of the joy of ultimate. “I get why lacrosse players quit the team for this!”

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– Game night next Friday, YHC hosting
– Convergence at greenmachine, check Slack
– July 4th convergence, check Slack

COT:
– Job searches and friends/family health
– All PAX shared a word/phrase of gratitude

Mora Dora

AO: titan
Q: DintyMoore
PAX: Pep, Chunks, CubCadet, Papa Bear, Tim the Toolman, Vector, SalPal, Young and Restless, Cropduster, Purple Tiger
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS: Heating Up

WARMUP: mosey without the Q

THE THANG: Q located the rest of the group after picking up the six

Tag Team Dora Murph
200 Pull-ups (modified to 150)
400 Pushups (modified to 300)
600 Squats (modified to finish)

Partner ran from playground equipment to the top of the hill and back. Partners worked together to complete the challenge.

MOLESKINE:
Do what you can, not what you can’t!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Go to GreenMachine on 6/26
July 4th Convergence at Handsomizer

COT:
SYITG

Tabata @ The Bomb

AO: bomber
Q: Cowboy
PAX: Pep, Vector, Firefox, Puzzlah, Tim the Toolman, Wet Wipes, DintyMoore, CubCadet, Right Said, Papa Bear
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS: Cool, Damp, Early Spring-like, Music was a Mashup (Playlist here) music.apple.com/us/playlist/hayseed-umphreys/pl.u-leyll0GHxgZkbN

WARMUP: SSH (for Pep), Downward Dog, Cobra, Calf stretch, Imperial Walkers, Hillbillys, Don Quixote,

THE THANG:
Split in 4 groups which turned out to be pairs (3 came later to flesh out the 11)
To the playgroud

Tabata Style : 45 sec on 15 sec between, 2 rounds, 2 sets
Station One : Pull Ups with Squat in between
Station Two : Crunchy Frogs
Station Three : Incline Merkins
Station Four : Swing Thrusters (knees to chest)

10 count
Mosey to the hill
11s – Mountain Climbers, Iron Mikes, Slap Merkins in the middle
In pairs the teams begin on opposite ends (each start at 1 doing opposite exercises ) When you meet you partner do 5 slap merkins.

MOLESKINE: Words of Gratitude from the PAX: Heard Wife, Grandkids, Son coming home, New Pope, many more.

Pleasure to join in the fun. Execellent AO, Big tnx to Firefox for luring me over.
Coffeeteria – Took over Star Bagle, excellent convo

Roll the Dice

AO: bomber
Q: Subway
PAX: Sherlock, Firefox, Wet Wipes, DintyMoore, CubCadet, Tim the Toolman, Right Said, Hedwig, Vector, Papa Bear
FNGs: None
COUNT: 12
CONDITIONS: beautiful 63 degrees

WARMUP:
Mosey with coupons for 1/2 the PAX; various stretching, LBACs, Squats

THE THANG:

Buy in of 10 SSHs; next rnd. 10 squats; next rnd. 10 burpees; rinse repeat

Role dice after buy in – number corresponds to Station – at which you do 25 reps of each movement:

Station 1
Merkins
Ranger Merkins
HR Merkins
HL Merkins

Station 2
Curls
CPRs
Rows
Lawnmower pulls

Station 3
Lunges
Squats
Seesaw Lunges
Calf Raises

Station 4
Overhead Press
Taint scrapper
Thruster
Truck drivers

Station 5
American Hammers
Mtn Climbers
Flutter Kicks
BBSUs

Station 6
Chest press
Grave diggers
Side bends
Blockees

Mosey back with coupons

3 minutes of Mary

MOLESKINE:

ANNOUNCEMENTS: brewsday Tuesday

COT: Thank you all for letting me lead! Looking forward to being back soon.

No Shenanigans Means a Little Shenanigans

AO: bomber
Q: Freakonomics
PAX: CubCadet, Vector, Papa Bear, Crawlspace, Sherlock, Pep, Hedwig
FNGs: None
COUNT: 8
CONDITIONS: damp but not cold

WARMUP: the usual

THE THANG: Rounds of 5 exercises – Merkins, Squats, Carolina Dry Docks, Lunges, Rows (at the playground). Do 12 sets of each, run around the rec center and repeat with 11. Run around, do 10… I got down to reps of 5.

3 minute wall sit.

Superman Y.

6 minutes of mary

MOLESKINE: Can you show up at the end and still be counted. Just ask Crawlspace.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: none

COT: Pep’s Work, praise for Vector’s daughter honoring at graduation, those in Ukraine, and Natural Ice’s finding a new job.

Gametron

AO: bomber
Q: Wolfpack , Firefox
PAX: Crawlspace, Chunks, Right Said, CubCadet, Papa Bear, Pep, Hedwig, Puzzlah, Vector, Sherlock, DintyMoore
FNGs: None
COUNT: 13
CONDITIONS: Good enough

WARMUP: Wolfpack led with
– SSH
– Imperial walkers
– Low and slow Squats
– Low and slow Merkins

THE THANG: With YHC and Wolfpack on Q, the only sensible outcome was some sort of gamified beatdown.

Part 1: Castle (led by Wolfpack)
PAX split into two teams. Field split in half with each team having a castle (aka, a base) at opposite ends, with a line of short cones, tall cones, and a 25lb sandbag at midfield, plus 3 or 4 short cones on each side of the field along the midline.

PAX had to travel to a cone, do an exercise based on the object, and then return it to their castle (or deliver it to the opposing team’s castle, if they chose to do so). Objects could be stolen from the opposing team’s castle using the same exercise.

Teams had 60s (sometimes 90s) rounds to score as much as they could. Short cones were worth +1 pt, tall cones were worth +2pts, the sandbag (always requiring 5 burpees) was worth -2pts (later amended to -4pts).

1st set of three rounds:
Travel = running
Short cone = 5 squats
Tall cone = 5 merkins

2nd set of three rounds:
Travel = side shuffle
Short cone = 5 wide merkins
Tall cone = 5 diamond merkins

3rd set of three rounds:
Travel = broad jumps
Short cone = 2 iron Lt. Dan’s
Tall cone = 2 burpees

Team 1 (Vector Sherlock Puzzlah DintyMoore YHC) took an early lead against Team 2 (Wolfpack Papa Bear CubCadet Pep Hedwig), but gameplay evolved with PAX realizing that there was enough time for the sandbag to travel to both castles. That led to some interesting waiting games over sandbag delivery plus some blocking maneuvers. Ultimately, it came down to a final round to break a 4-4 tie, which Team 1 came away with. That was not without some impressive sandbagged broad-jump heroics from Wolfpack. Also, Vector and CubCadet may never speak to each other again.

Also? So. Freakin’. Exhausting.

Part 2: Flip the Cone
Keeping the same team and same general field structure, a couple dozen short cones were scattered on both sides of the field, with cones on Team 1’s side right side up and cones on Team 2’s side upside down. Team 1’s goal was to end a 90s round with as many cones as possible right side up, with Team 2 aiming to end the round with more cones upside down. Except only mode of travel was a bear crawl in rounds 1 and 2 and murder bunnies in round 3. Teams instinctively split up into offensive and defensive squads with YHC, Sherlock and DintyMoore facing off against the defensive line of Papa Bear and Pep while CubCadet Wolfpack and Hedwig crossed the field to battle with Vector and Puzzlah. By the end, Team 1 came away with a 3-0 sweep but all PAX’s shoulders and legs simultaneously won and lost.

Finally, a 50s Hollow Body Hold.

MOLESKINE:
– Big thanks to Wolfpack for venturing to our neck of the woods and delivering the fun and the “fun”.
– Yes, this is what we do at all Game Nights
– Loved watching strategies evolve
– If you want to do a Q-collaboration in June or July, let me know! Sneak preview for next month: the most sought-after immune-system-themed combination we didn’t know we wanted – Vector + t-cell!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– Spring Fling

COT:
– Everyone shared a word/phrase of gratitude