Tag: Steve

  • Ramble at the Scramble – from Russo

    Mid 60s and overcast this morning, but no rain to speak of as a Pax of 9 gathered to run or ruck. Some things become old hat, which denotes old fashioned, predictable, uninspired, but to me its connotation is comfortable, stable, and reliable. Maybe not the best for pushing ourselves each and every week, but it will do well on a Thursday morning.

    Warmup (all 10x -15x IC, except for Whacker who’s on IR)
    – SSH
    – Self love
    – Toe touches
    – Grass grabbers
    – High Knees
    – Butt Kicks
    – Imperial squat walkers

    Thang

    5 runners (Bird, Pik, Speedy, Steve, Zoo) and 4 Ruckers (JV, Shooter, Whacker, YHC) took to the streets for “normal”, classic, traditional routes with maybe a twist or two thrown in.

    Rucker conversation included casinos, Metairie traffic, fabric softener, LA looks hair products, Mardi Gras, and Italian food, in addition to making continued progress on solving all of the world’s problems.

    COT, Count, Name-O-Rama, Announcements, and Prayer closed us out.

    Special intention to F3 Knoxville on the passing of Cardinal and a reminder to us all to keep an eye out for each other.

    Gents, thank you for reading and joining. My goal is to Q each of the AOs this year (maybe not the Au Lait with the Sabbath and all), so 2 down, 5 to go.

    SYITG

  • Chewy’s Chewy’s Right, I’m an Idiot! – from Bushwacker

    What would you say to your brother, who was 2 weeks out from shoulder surgery, when you pull up to an AO and see him standing there in standard maroon hoodie winter-wear and padded compound sling? If you were our own resident physical therapist Chewy, you would say, “YOU’RE AN IDIOT!” (though not in so many words. It was more like, “What are you doing here?!” and, “I don’t agree with this” and, “If I have Q next week and you show up I’m not leading.”) So why was YHC posting to a bootcamp AO with stitches, sutures, and a bum wing? Why was QIC leading a leg/core beatdown when he should be in bed convalescing? It’s because F3 is my medicine, and with great risk comes great reward! (and modifying is easiest when you control the exercises) And today the reward was an ample serving of lunge walking and ab ripping.

    WARMORAMA

    x10 IC:
    SSH, Slow Squats, Torso Twists, Good Mornings, Self Love

    THANG

    Entering the trace near the stairs, the PAX lung walked aaaaall the way to the bus depot.
    IC x5,10 or 12:
    Step Ups, In N Outs, Bulgarian Split Squats, Leg R

    Mosied to the tunnel and partnered up. P1 ran down the ramp, lunge walked across the tunnel and up the opposite ramp, before doing the same in reverse order. P2 did a prearranged core exercise. For each round both partners did the exercise.

    Hello Dollys, and LBCs,

    On account of timeliness, the PAX cut short of the last exercise and returned to the hypothetical flag for Mary.

    MARY

    x25 IC: Little Manny Crunches, Gas Pumps, Flutter Kicks and 1 minute Plank

    COT

    Count/Name, and with special intentions for Bushwacker’s addled brain, Chewy prayed us out.

    In the end, the risk was well worth it, though I have no intentions of repeating such foolishness in the near future. I went to my othopedist, got my stitches removed, and was told the “real fun” was about to begin. Bring it on!

    This Thursday 5:30pm Movie Night @ Wackerville featuring Boondock Saints. 62215 Raymond Rd in Big Branch, bring your food/beverage of choice, there will be both a traditional and an Italian sausage king cake served.

    Friday February 3rd 8pm start time @ the Gazebo on the Lakefront the Northshore PAX will be defending the Freedom Hammer in the 2023 KRAZY IVAN! Drinks to follow at the Barley Oak.

  • Nutcrackers part II: it’s new to you! – from Russo

    Right at 67 degrees and muggy for our first trip to Granny’s in the new year, where we welcomed the returns of JV and MeatSweats, as well as semi-regular Chewy and Site Q Steve.

    Back when network TV was still somewhat of a thing, I remember NBC ran a series of commercials touting their popular shows that were in reruns with the tag line “If you haven’t seen it, it’s new to YOU!”

    What a brilliant way to market warmed up leftovers, so I stole that thought today with a “If you haven’t done it yet, it’s new to you” beatdown incorporating bricks.

    Warmup (all 10-15x IC)
    – Seal jacks
    – SSHs
    – Toe touches
    – Grass grabbers
    – High knees
    – Self love
    – Imperial walkers

    Thang

    Tabata: 1 minute each with bricks, 30 seconds rest, 2 rounds, with some moseying before each one.

    -Arm curls
    -Cherry pickers
    -Hallelujah squats
    -Arm circles
    -Triceps extensions
    -Milk maids

    Nut crackers down the columns (where Chewy decided to break out his best “HULK SMASH” impersonation and crush one of his with his bare hands), followed by 11s: Crunchy Frogs and Merkins with the bricks.

    COT, Name-o-Rama, and prayer closed us out. Remember Grundy’s Nightmare looks to be scheduled for this Sunday around 1. Check Slack for confirmation or more info.

    Until the next time, SYITG.

  • Season’s Beatings – from Russo

    21 degrees to start this morning, which to my recollection was probably a record low for us. What was NOT a low? Christmas spirit.

    On Hammer (with his full body Christmas pajamas), on Akbar (decked in his finest Santa jacket and hat), on Jose10k (lighting up the gloom with Santa hat and blinking Rudolph nose)!

    T claps to TruCoat for bringing his favorite weather with him and semi-DR posters Duracell and Grover, as well as Tanked Up, who took time out of his marathon training to join as well. It’s always nice to see them, and the other bright shining faces that make Christmas (Eve) spirits bright, even if we could only see about 12% of Zoolander’s mug because he was bundled up.

    Warmups (all 10-24x IC) – depending on who you ask, no one was “warm” by any stretch
    – Sealjacks
    – SSHs
    – Toe touches
    – Self love
    – High knees
    – Butt kicks
    – Grass grabbers

    Thang
    Mosey to Granny’s, laughing all the way. Bells were jingling in the cold, and when someone shouted “Deck the halls”, Pax was asked to respond “Fah-la-La-la-la…la-la-la…La!”

    Every block or so we spread Christmas cheer, doing partner merkins spelling out:

    -Merry Christmas
    -Happy Holidays
    -Festivus
    -Hanukkah
    -Rudolph

    Dirty Santa
    Dirty Santa / White Elephant. The rules are simple:
    (1) Each HIM picks a number.
    (2) Number 1 picks a random gift/exercise from the bag and performs said exercise while the other HIM perform the standard (e.g. 20 squats)
    (3) Number 2 has a choice: Number 1’s chosen exercise, the standard, or a new “gift”. If he chooses either of the first two options, the one who had their “gift” stolen can steal or select another mystery “gift”.
    (4) Around and around we go, until all HIM have a chance to select.

    The “gifts”:
    -10 merkins
    -18 jump squats
    -12 freak nastys
    -20 squats
    -7 Hand release merkins
    – slalom the column
    – Trip up and down the pilot house
    -12 step ups (1 is 1)
    -20 hello dollies
    -10 leg raises
    -21 monkey humpers
    -25 plank jacks
    -3 krakken burpees
    -8 SMCs
    -15 murder bunnies or groiners
    -20 bear crawls
    -10 diamond merkins
    -50 high knees
    -10 star jumps
    -2 calf raises
    -20 hip slappers
    -12 hallelujah squats
    -20 cherry pickers
    -6 donkey kicks

    We then climbed the pilot house (the Christmas tree) and topped it with one Star (jump).

    Run run Rudolph
    Indian run back to start, with the 6 bringing the gift (bag) back up to the front, where it was passed back to the 6, rinse and repeat.

    Things we learned:

    (1) YHC is the only one that is a fan of murder bunnies

    (2) After his at least 8th round of them, the bright, shining Christmas star led Hammer to his enlightened Magi state, where he came to the conclusion that bears don’t call them bear crawls, but instead just “walking.”

    (3) I probably should have explained to Duracell that “slalom the columns” did not mean each and every column in St. Tammany parish.

    (4) Krakken burpees are dead. Long live KrackerJack burpees!

    (5) Jose’s 2022 dirty Santa seemed to go better than 2021, as he raised calves better than the shepherds watching their flocks at night.

    COT, Name-o-Rama, Announcements and Prayer closed us out.

    I mentioned last year that I had a chance to catch The Chosen’s Christmas program, and the theme was “They must know.” I again want the to share that sentiment this Christmas with those still reading, that in my mind, all HIM should know:

    Jesus Christ is King, and reigns forever. God chose to come down from heaven, leaving the glory behind, to join us here on Earth, to meet us where we are. To show us who He truly is, to be with us, to right our wrongs, despite the mess we made of his creation and our turning our backs on him or worshiping other gods/idols, in whatever form they take.

    That’s love in its highest form: pure, unrestrained, unconditional, abounding and abundant. I have very little to offer in return, outside of the one thing God requires: my heart. I am going to fall short each and every day, but that’s my goal to him, my family, you all, and everyone I encounter.

    Thank you all for joining, and continuing to make the decision to post and fellowship, even when it’s “cold” outside. I appreciate this group and wish you all the best Christmas season.

    SYITG

  • 26 + 26 is….7? 4? – from Russo

    Having been tipped off earlier in the day it was the beginning of Akbar’s 53rd trip around the sun, YHC spent a couple minutes coming up with a way to say Happy Birthday in an incorporated unique way (using math of course). So as we jumped into our warmup of 26 SSHs and 26 Sealjacks, I paused to ask him “What’s 26 plus 26?”

    “52” was the response, so I asked “Is that the right number to be celebrating today?” but it was too early for the implication, so a few awkward moments passed until YHC asked “Is it not your birthday today?”

    Then it dawned on him that yes, today was his birthday. Fitting he didn’t think about it, because he is one of the most selfless people I know.

    And then off we went with the rest of warmup:

    All 10x IC:
    – self love
    – Toe touches
    – Grass grabbers
    – Hillbillies

    Thang

    Mosey SW to the Treen building for: Walls of Jericho (7 count of seven exercises 7 times around the hall)

    – Merkins
    – Squats
    – Shoulder tap plank jacks
    – SMCs
    – Groiners
    – Apollo ohnos (2 is 1)
    – Crunchy Frogs

    Followed by: 4×4 (4 more times around, 4 exercises, 4 reps at 4 corners)
    – Hello Dollie’s
    – Leg raises
    – Gas pumps
    – American Hammers

    Mosey back to start where we wrapped up with 20 IC Freak Nastys.

    COT, Name-o-Rama, Announcements and Prayer closed us out.

    Jose gave us a positive update on Katie’s dad, reminders that RCR, Ivan, and Endurathon are all coming up, as is the 2nd Annual Die Hard memorial beatdown at the A1C on Friday and YHC will Q Season’s Beatings on Saturday at the Lakefront.

    Thank you all for joining and reading and one more HBD to Akbar, one of the finest HIM you’ll ever meet.

    SYITG

  • Going Limitless at The Pad – from Steve

    We’re gonna keep this short – I’m just trying to get back on the horse here with these backblasts so that Russo can reclaim his rightful position at the top of those Pax-miner charts! That’s truly my only motivation. I mean, I don’t care that I’ve never been featured even once on those charts. Psh. You really think I read those things???

    So anyway, yeah, it was another soupy day on the Northshore – wet, muggy, maybe a touch cooler – but no matter, these men needed no motivation (or should I say, only the motivation that a shirtless Chris Hemsworth swimming 250 yards in arctic waters could provide) to get them outta the sack and into the gloom this morning.

    Thang: We’d start high today, but descend Shooter-style. So 100 reps of one exercise at the stage, followed by 10 merkins and a short mosey up the stairs and back, then on to 90 reps, 80, etc. Exercises were:

    100 Squats
    90 LBC’s
    80 Shoulder Taps
    70 Alternating Lunges
    60 Leg Raises
    50 Merkins
    40 Big Boys
    30 Jump Squats
    20 Burpees
    10 8-Count Body Builders

    Along the way, we listened to some Deep Purple and dabbled loosely in the critical issues of today, such as the many problems with identity politics, the incredible ways in which plexiglass Covid barriers can prevent bank robberies, other songs that feature dogs/wolves/animals howling at the start, and, of course, the age old question: Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley or Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor?

    COT and Russo prayed us out. A sincere thank you to all you guys who post regularly – you guys are the only reason I get out there and I am incredibly grateful for that consistency.

  • Which was older first: Metairie or Mandeville? – from Russo

    High 60s and humid again at Granny’s, where a Pax of 6 converged to attempt to answer the age-old question: when does something get to be “old”?

    Warmup (10-20x all IC)
    – Sealjacks
    – Toe touches
    – Cherry pickers
    – Grass grabbers
    – Arm circles
    – Self love

    Thang
    Mosey around Old Mandeville, stopping at the streetlights for one exercise, including:

    Squats (20)
    Freak Nastys (20)
    SMCs (10)
    Imperial squat walkers (10)
    Merkins (20)

    Once we hit the sea wall, it was:

    – Durkins 10
    – Step ups 10 each leg
    – Freak Nastys 20
    – Bulgarian split squats 10 each leg
    – Box jumps 5

    Mosey over to Rips for 8 minutes of alternating 20 rocky balboas (2 is 1) and up/down steps

    Mosey back was much the same, with some backpedaling thrown in for good measure.

    Back home, 3 calf raises on each step of the pilot house and a bear crawl down the length of the columns wrapped up the beatdown.

    COT, Name-o-Rama, announcements, and prayer closed us.

    Announcements included Hammer’s Bible Study tomorrow, HogsBreath’s Navy – Army game watching on Saturday, and Grundy’s Nightmare on Sunday. Slack as always will have more info.

    Thank you fine folks for joining and/or reading. SYITG

  • Reunion at the Gipper! – from Shooter

    Seeing the Q sheet blank at the Gipper and the Scramble YHC decided to signup and fill the post. Shortly after Q received a message from Bushwhacker confirming a meet at the old WD parking lot.. Little did Q know he had also EHed Steve for a reunion car pool to convoy up to the north.. YHC had also EHed Akbar to meet and join, but was instructed if no sightings had occurred by 0540 to rollout, so that’s what we did. Now Akbar still posted and shortly into the beatdown Akbar would come to learn that YHC was informed of a recent “Ring of Fire” incident… Funny story to me but maybe not those involved, but never the less felt obliged to pay homage…

    Warmup
    10IC
    Cherry pickers, self love, Torso twists, Toe Touches, Windmills, Grass grabbers, Butt kicks and High knees..

    Moseyed a lap down the trailhead and around back to the flag at which point YHC noticed a new 6 foot barrier between the PAX coupons.. Wasted no time and called an audible in my head..

    Thang
    Moseyed to the school board building where we circled around the flag for a sweet ole campfire song by the famous Johnny Cash.
    “Ring of Fire” played as the PAX completed Merkins. Next we partnered up for wall sits P1 and P2 instructed to sprint around the building. R/R 2x. Next we Indian ran in 2 groups to the front of the Justice center for P1 Right and Left leap frogs on the benches while P2 bunny hopped up the steps and moseyed the ramps down to F/J. Then we we moseyed to the backside of the center for P1 freak nasties on the benches and P2 Carioca to the steps sprinting up like Rocky and returning. R/R 2x.
    Moseyed back to the AO to finish with the Worse Merkin ever to 10 and some Core.
    Wife pleasers, Jane Fonda’s 3 styles, 100s, hands to heels and leg raises..

    Counted off, announced another potential Wacker vacation in Kokomo (possibly Jan/Feb) and Barely legal prayed us out with thoughts and condolences for the families of the recent murders of a retired Priest and pastoral council member found just the other day in Covington… 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

    Appreciate the follow gentlemen and until the next Gloom 👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼!!

  • 4 laps for Bird’s Bday – from Chewy

    8 PAX met up on Tuesday morning for a beat down at grandmothers house.
    Warm-up included:
    Sidesaddle x 20 IC
    Imperial walkers x 20 IC
    Windmills X 10 IC
    Glut bridges X 20 IC
    SL Glut Bridges x 10 IC
    Scorpion kicks x 10 IC
    I’s T’s and Y’s x 20 IC

    The thang:
    11’s merkins and step ups

    Mosey to the underpass
    Walk the down, jog the flat, sprint the up x 4 laps

    glut bridges x 10 IC
    SL glut bridge x 5

    Mosey back to flag
    -SL RDLs x 10 pho
    -core rolling x 5 ea oyo
    Plank push ups x 10 oyo
    plank with kicks x 10 oyo
    HS stretch x 10
    Jane Fondas x 10 IC

    Name o Rama, COT, prayers by Shooter

    Happy Birthday to Bird!

  • The Pelican Emerges from Anti-Hibernation aand The Wack is Back! – from Bushwacker

    After declaring 33 degrees too cold for his bones, our most recent south shore transplant (& from what I hear from The Duke potentially my future in-law) Quarter Pipe bowed out from Q at the Splash Pad. Fortunately the stars were aligned: my schedule allowed, Akbar stayed local, and Steve needed to redeem himself. All combined for the return of the Wack! BONUS: as the beatdown began in earnest, a set of headlights rounded the corner. No, it wasn’t Cowbell, but the recently-memorialized-by-Russo Pelican returned (Marsh was actual return) from his summer hibernation

    WARMORAMA

    x10-15 IC:
    SSH
    Windmills
    Imperial Walkers
    Fire Hydrants

    THANG (AKA WHACK ATTACK… last one I promise!)

    Mosey to the tunnel, and paired off. P1 ran down the tunnel, burpee in the middle, up the other side the returned running backward up the near side. P2 did the following:
    Burpees
    Squarts
    Hammers
    Plank

    Mosey back to the “flag” where the PAX switched for 2 rotations between 4 stations, 1 minute each:
    25lbs Farmer Carry across the great lawn and back
    25lb Prisoners Carry up and down the stairs
    SSH
    Freddy Mercs/Flutter Kicks

    COT

    No time for Mary, so count, name, and yours truly took us out with words of inspiration to send the PAX out into a day flush with potential.

    It was great to be back in the driver’s seat, and I greatly appreciate my brothers for hopping on the wacky bus with me once again in the gloom! (sorry, had to slip that last one in;)