Three PAX got after it Thursday evening with an hour and a half of Grow Ruck training. Simplicity ruled the day as the PAX rucked around old Covington for the first hour twenty and then hit the Justice Center’s stairs for the last 10. Lots of mumble chatter and F2. Going to be a great event. Join the PAX for the next training session, even if you cannot make the Grow Ruck event itself.
Author: TurboTax
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Northshore Grow Ruck Training #2
Four PAX gathered at the Mandeville Trailhead this afternoon for a two hour round trip ruck to Fontainebleau State Park. Lots of mumble chatter and F2 along the way, the highlight of which was learning that one of us was once a successful Mary Kay cosmetics rep. You’ll never guess who but what can he say the ladies loved him and still do. The rest of us took notes. Negative split the return trip as we settled into a nice rhythm leaving us with four good minutes of stair climbs to wrap things up.
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Northshore Grow Ruck Training Underway
It was a dark and stormy night….actually it was quite nice Thursday evening in Covington after a day of thunderstorms. Four PAX formed up for an hour ruck through the neighborhood and then hit the Tap Room for a little F2 afterwards. Northshore Grow Ruck training is underway. More to come. Commit now. Worry about if it was a good idea or not later.
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Windy and Wet at the Mandeville Lakefront
Lake Pontchartrain greeted the PAX with wind and crashing waves this morning. It was rather wet and not that the PAX is afraid of water or anything (Tanked Up proved that point beyond doubt when he conquered the Arctic Enema obstacle during last weekend’s Tough Mudder) but after a quick disclaimer for FNG Shooter’s benefit, the PAX moseyed inland to the Mandeville Trailhead for the THANG.
The THANG
Expansive COP on the splash pad. SSH, IW, Merkins, Mountain Climbers, Butt Kicks, Overhead Hand Claps, Front to Back Lunges, Shoulder Taps, and Windmills. All IC, 20x more or less, with a collapsing circle between exercises for a quick PAX fist bump before return to the starting position via the backpedal.
Mosey to the Grassy Knoll for some quick Mary. Circle up for flutter kicks and the Hello Dolly. Both IC 20x with a 20 count six inch dead man’s hold afterwards.
Partner up for the next round of pain One partner held an Al Gore while the other ran to, up and around the Trailhead Tower and then back to his partner for the exchange. 3 trips per man, 6 total rounds.
Another COP with big shoulder circles, little shoulder circles, 45 degree pulses with thumbs up, 45 degree pulses with thumbs down and then a nice 20 count straight arm pulse at the end.
Set of 11s…Merkins on one side, squats on the other, with some nice obstacles in between.
Recovery walk to the edge of the Trailhead area and then a Bataan Death March Indian Run back to the shovel (which was sans flag because Chewy prudently decided that the wind might carry the flag to Madisonville if he tried to attach it to the shovel).
Finish up with some more Mary: Jane Fonda, Jane Fonda pulses, Nolan Ryans, dynamic side planks, and some wife pleasers, all IC 10x.
Count-o-rama, name-o-rama, and a nice welcome for our FNG Shooter. Butt Splice prayed us out and then it was time for the Coffeeteria.
Moleskin
T-claps to Butt Splice for rejoining the PAX this morning and bringing FNG Shooter with him. Shooter clearly did not join us straight off the couch; he has been doing Pilates or something.
Go Ruck registration is live. YHC will be putting out an e-mail to the Northshore PAX early next week with the registration link and some details. So get your credit cards ready; it is time to commit.
Go Ruck training starts this Thursday. We’ll meet at the Covington Trailhead this Thursday 7 PM for an hour ruck (bring your packs) and then slow mosey over to the Covington Brew House or the Tap Room for a little F2.
EiEi, the PAX knows that you are reading our backblasts as you fartsack and will be compelled to stage an embarrassing intervention at your home in front of your 2.0s soon if you do not Kotter.
Chewy’s got the Q this Tuesday, Tanked-Up has it Wednesday and Steve will bring the week to a close on Saturday.
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Modified Murph
Three veteran PAX gathered on a beautiful morning on the Mandeville Lakefront for a pre-Thang run. We’ve all been following the Southshore’s backlists and have been putting in some extra miles on Saturday mornings so that when we join forces for NOLA Tough Mudder this upcoming weekend, we will be in shape to do our part. Back at the flag, the three of us realized that we were it for the day so we got down to business.
The Thang:
Chewy started us off with the warmup, determined to loosen up our hips for the Modified Murph workout to come. Jane Fondas, scorpions, plank walks and some additional exercises expertly coached by our resident PT were all on the appetizer menu. Then it was time for the main course.
For time: One mile run down the lakefront to the grassy knoll, 100 Merkins, 200 good mornings, and 300 squats. We divided them up into 10 sets of 10/20/20 with each of us counting off a set with a group count on the last one. Then back to the shovel flag for the final mile run. Took us about 29:30 and I know it doesn’t sound like much, but it was plenty challenging.
Recovery walk over to the swing set. Sets of man makers (burpee to a pull up), toes to bar, leg lift hanging from the bar, and hip twists hanging from the bar using back planks to rest between sets.
Mosey back to the flag for a round robin Mary of Putins, heels to heaven, jackknives, flutters, Freddy Mercuries, and Supermans.
Great way to start off the weekend.
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Back to the Farm
It was back to the farm with 3 veterans and a FNG this morning at the Covington Trailhead. Mardi Gras is over, and there are few better ways to get back to work than with farmer carries. So after a nice dynamic warmup down the platform alley with various stretches, hops, strides, and sprints, the PAX made their downpainment as follows:
Jack Webbs with a 1:2 ratio working our way up to 10 Merkins and 20 kneeling air presses.
Grabbed our coupons and headed to the brickyard for a set of 11s: squats on one side, back to front lunges on the other, connected by nice farmer’s walk carrying our coupons.
FNG checked out with what Chevy Chase would call a “thing” and the veterans soldiered on.
Back to the Trailhead for a 10 minute AMRAP: down the hill to the stage, hop or climb onto the stage, back around and then bear crawl up the hill, followed by a Merkin. Rinse and repeat but increasing the rep count on the Merkins with each trip. Tanked-Up put in a particularly strong performance, making sure he got all of his 16 Merkin reps in even after the buzzer sounded.
Count-o-rama, name-o-rama and Einstein prayed us out.
Tanked-Up is Q next Wednesday. Should be fun.
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Take the Con!
It is winter again (sort of) on the Northshore, and the four PAX who showed up early in order to get their run on in preparation for the upcoming Tough Mudder were shedding layers faster than Bourbon Street entertainers when they returned to the shovel flag for the official start of this morning’s beatdown. Round Robin Q was the order of the day and after he forgot to issue the disclaimer Chewy took the Con for the warmup:
SSH, IW, squats and mountain climbers, all 20x IC.
Four became six as Beast and his FNG buddy joined the PAX and then Chewy was like OK then Sudden Change so maybe the FNG can see that we are serious here. The FNG (who remains to be named because he slipped out early for work of all things) had no problem with the Sudden Change. Chewy, on the other hand, was struggling with his vocal cords (EiEi thought he sounded sexy but the rest of the PAX realized he was just hoarse) so Chewy handed the Con to YHC.
Mosey towards the Harbor for a COP:
Hand release Merkins, jump squats, good mornings, freak nasties, and front to back lunges, all 25x and in cadence.
Then we partnered up. One partner held an Al Gore while the other backpedaled to the nearby cypress tree and then bounded back to his partner. Flapjack. Rinse and repeato for 6 total trips and then Tanked-Up took the Con.
Straight to Rips Restaurant and its legendary stairs for AMRAP of 7 Rocky Balboas, up and over the stairs, 7 Apollo Creeds, up and over the stairs, rinse and repeato for a period of time that can only be described as “until Tanked-Up gets tired.” YHC think it worked out to about 5 minutes…who knows…but it definitely was longer than the 3 minutes it took Tanked-Up to get tired a few weeks ago.
Mosey back to the seawall for a Merkin ladder starting with 7 Merkins, stride about 20 yards, 6 Merkins, back to starting point, etc, etc with a nice sprint thrown in after the 1 Merkin set. Tanked-up then promptly turned over the Con to EiEi.
Mosey further down to what more than likely is the highest point of the seawall along the Lakefront for a session of 11-9-7-5-3-1 box jumps and irkins. Then 11 seal jacks and 11 squat jumps. Much mumble chatter as the PAX thought EiEi was going to work his way back down to one rep with these exercises and didn’t he know that squat jumps are the same basic thing as box jumps but before the troops could mutiny EiEi switched gears and had the PAX mosey to the harbor playground where the PAX did multiple circuits around the equipment hopping laterally whenever we came to the splash pad. The playground circuit is becoming a regular feature of the Saturday morning beatdowns, and YHC can only chalk that phenomenon up the fact that it involves sliding down a fire pole.
Mosey back to the shovel flag for Mary: Jane Fondas, Jane Fonda pulses, Nolan Ryans, side plank holds, dynamic back planks, back plank holds, dynamic front planks, and front plank holds, all 25x IC.
Count-o-rama, name-o-rama, and then Chewy shared a story of an old friend of his who died this past week after a three month struggle with kidney cancer. He challenged the PAX to reach out to friends they haven’t spoken to a while because you never know. Sage advice that we’d all be well served to take. Prayer for Chewy’s friend and then we headed over for some coffee.
Pre-thang run starts 6:10 next Saturday.
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Walkin’ Tall
Another beautiful morning in the gloom at the Covington Trailhead. The PAX gathered and got to work straight away with a dynamic warmup using the train platform: heal to toe walks, lunges, shuffles, skips, freestyle shoulder swing toe walks, backstroke shoulder swing toe walks, carioca and a few other exercises down the platform with a short mosey back to the starting point after each trip.
Mosey to the Taj Mahal where the PAX formed up in a large COP around the flagpole. SSH, IW, Merkins, mountain climbers, dynamic back planks, twisting SSHs, squats, all IC 20x collapsing the circle to the flagpole and back to the starting point between each exercise with sprint/backpedal, forward and backwards frog jumps, forward and backwards bear crawls, forward and backward knuckedraggers, forward and backwards crab walks, and an ostrich walk. This last “walk” was a new one for the PAX and if the neighbors didn’t think we were weird before they definitely do now.
Switch gears but remain around the flagpole for a quick battery of shuffles around the circle, sprint/backpedal to the pole, and take a lap up and over the Taj Mahal front steps. After about 5 minutes of this nonsense and a 10 count, the PAX moved on to the main event at City Hall.
So YHC promised the PAX cinderblocks this morning and he delivered, sort of. Paving stones served as the weapon of choice for a set of 11s. Bench presses on the grass using the paving stones on one end and Tonya Harding ice skater hops hugging the paving stones on the other. The tough part was the in between…walking tall back and forth holding the paving stones overhead with elbows locked out. YHC’s thought process went something like this: this paving stone is too light; this paving stone is getting heavy, $%#^%%*!! this paving stone! At any rate, the PAX did themselves proud, kept their weapons high and completed the mission.
Quick Mary on the spot using the paving stones for some weighted torso twists then mosey back to the Gipper for the count-o-rama, name-o-rama and prayer of gratitude.
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Foggy Mountain Breakdown
There certainly are no mountains in Covington but we do have stairs, plenty of fog this time of year, and YHC believes that Einstein could sing a plaintive Bluegrass tune or two if requested. It was that kind of morning as the PAX converged around the shovel flag in the foggy gloom.
The Thang kicked off with a mosey to the Taj Mahal. The PAX circled up around the flagpole for the warmup: SSH, IW, Butt Kicks, High Knees, Windmills, Torso Twists, and Front to Back Lunges…all IC 25x.
The PAX then put the Taj Mahal stairs to work. One PAX hit Merkins and one hit Seal Jacks while the third ran up and over the stairs. Rotated through the line up, AMRAP for 6 tough minutes.
Mosey to the Justice Center Parking Garage benches for Step Ups, Derkins, Freak Nasties, and Irkins..all IC 15x.
Mosey to the Justice Center itself for some speed and pre-agility work. The PAX made six trips down the back entrance alley. The first two trips consisted of a backpedal for 20 yards, turn and sprint for 10, and then decelerate quickly for 5, sticking the last footfall like a Romanian gymnast. The next four trips substituted carioca for backpedal and then it was time to mosey back to the Trailhead for Mary.
Roaches, Freddy Mercury’s, Jackknives, and Scuba Steves…all IC 20x.
Count-o-rama, name-o-rama, and Einstein prayed us out.
Announcement: Collard Greens has his Virgin Q next Wednesday so plan on getting out of your fartsack and joining us in the gloom.
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Sandbaggin’
The shovel flag is now a regular fixture at the Covington Trailhead on Wednesday mornings. City employees have embraced the PAX. One glance at Tank-Up counting out his Merkins have them convinced that we are some sort of retired SEAL collective.
So the PAX got down to business this morning with a dynamic warmup under the Gipper’s gaze. Multiple drills down a 20 yard lane…heel to toe walk, forward backward and lateral skips, lateral bounces, figure 4s, lunges with a twist, Frankenstein kicks, caricoa, hamstring sweeps, and a few more that YHC remembers from his soccer days but cannot remember as he writes this post…followed by 6 strides/sprints down the lane at increasing intensities.
Mosey to the Justice Center, spread out along the breezeway curb, and hit two minutes of toe touch bounces off the curb. YHC suggested that he would call out either #1 or #2 randomly at which point the PAX would execute vertical toe touch bounces (#1) or lateral toe touch bounces (#2), working hard to stay off the ground and in the air for as much of the two minutes as possible. YHC was thinking of making this a longer exercise but is glad he reigned himself in at the last minute. Two minutes was plenty as the PAX got after it and made every second count.
Well earned recovery walk to the top of the Justice Center Parking Deck where the Sky Q fortuitously placed a few sandbags. Mumble chatter from the PAX accusing YHC of pre-positioning supplies. YHC has to admit he would have done exactly that if he had thought of it. To give himself some time to figure out what to do with the sandbags, YHC set the PAX to running Xs on the parking deck. Sprint diagonally across the deck maybe 40 years to the opposite corner, mosey the length of the deck to the adjacent corner, sprint diagonally to the opposite corner, mosey the length of the deck to the adjacent corner…hitting as many reps as possible through and around the big square for 5 minutes.
Back to the sandbags. With 5 PAX and 3 sandbags, YHC challenged the PAX to move the sandbags from one side of the parking deck to the other. However, the PAX had to follow two rules: (1) the sandbags could not touch the ground and (2) no PAX could walk or run holding a bag. It took a minute but only a minute before the PAX worked out a system to get the bags moving, passing them down the line and sprinting to the head of the line like an Indian Run with multiple sandbag exchanges. Fun exercise, and the PAX will see it again if they ever ask YHC to Q in the future.
Mosey back to the Trailhead for a Merkin wave 50x IC.
Count-o-rama, name-o-rama, and Tank-up prayed us out.
Thanks for letting me lead.
