Tag: Steve

  • The Blind Leading the Blind – from Steve

    But hey, at least there were no shot puts involved!

    As sometimes is the case, the most amusing part of the beatdown happened in the first few minutes, as Jose entertained us with tales of being a track coach.

    Coach 10k has got some stories, and it dawned on me that if he could hone his sound effect skills over the next 20 years (a la that dude from Police Academy), he might just take over storytime for Frank.

    YHC came somewhat prepared today with a car full of props (ok, not all-in Mathlete style, with the full gym in tow). Bush had reached out the day before to poke and prod as he is prone to do, insisting (correctly!) that we always do the same ol’ shit. Touché. Well, you gotta step up and Q it yourself then, Bush!

    Anyway, he personally requested balls to the wall, which YHC would’ve happily included, but alas, there was no Bush to be found this gloom.

    Cycled through each of the following stations twice. Second time through we replaced the merkin rows, which were brutal, with a core exercise. Once everyone had two turns at each station, hit the slalom and up the stairs for a round of SMKs/Lunges up top. Rounds were:

    Jump Rope
    Merkin Rows w/ Dumbell (R2: Leg Raises)
    Squat Thrusters (x30)

    Up Stairs – 20 SMK’s (2:1)

    Jump Rope
    Merkin Rows w/ Dumbell (R2: Crunchy Frogs)
    Curls (x40)

    Up Stairs – 20 Lunges (2:1)

    Jump Rope
    Merkin Rows w/ Dumbell (R2: Gas Pumps)
    Chest Presses (x40)

    Up Stairs – 20 SMK’s (2:1)

    Jump Rope
    Merkin Rows w/ Dumbell (R2: Freddie Merc’s)
    Alpos (x30)

    Up Stairs – 20 SMK’s (2:1)

    Once Jose departed, Russo and I discussed how snow days work when you’re home schooling, as well as the ins and outs of starting a global crochet empire. Forget Etsy, these baby blankets, beanies, and booties come with Kardashian endorsements and are featured in viral Tik Tok dances. Russo already booked flights to Shenzhen to tour their manufacturing plant and see if their knitting is up to snuff.

    All in all, if not an inventive beatdown, it was at least effective one. COT and Russo took us out. RCR is rapidly approaching, if you don’t have a team, get one today. I believe the Pork Chop Express might still need a few guys.

    And thanks to these two gents who make it a point to be consistent and keep people like myself accountable. I am incredibly appreciative to be out there with you two.

  • The Blind Leading the Blind – from Steve

    But hey, at least there were no shot puts involved!

    As sometimes is the case, the most amusing part of the beatdown happened in the first few minutes, as Jose entertained us with tales of being a track coach.

    Coach 10k has got some stories, and it dawned on me that if he could hone his sound effect skills over the next 20 years (a la that dude from Police Academy), he might just take over storytime for Frank.

    YHC came somewhat prepared today with a car full of props (ok, not all-in Mathlete style, with the full gym in tow). Bush had reached out the day before to poke and prod as he is prone to do, insisting (correctly!) that we always do the same ol’ shit. Touché. Well, you gotta step up and Q it yourself then, Bush!

    Anyway, he personally requested balls to the wall, which YHC would’ve happily included, but alas, there was no Bush to be found this gloom.

    Cycled through each of the following stations twice. Second time through we replaced the merkin rows, which were brutal, with a core exercise. Once everyone had two turns at each station, hit the slalom and up the stairs for a round of SMKs/Lunges up top. Rounds were:

    Jump Rope
    Merkin Rows w/ Dumbell (R2: Leg Raises)
    Squat Thrusters (x30)

    Up Stairs – 20 SMK’s (2:1)

    Jump Rope
    Merkin Rows w/ Dumbell (R2: Crunchy Frogs)
    Curls (x40)

    Up Stairs – 20 Lunges (2:1)

    Jump Rope
    Merkin Rows w/ Dumbell (R2: Gas Pumps)
    Chest Presses (x40)

    Up Stairs – 20 SMK’s (2:1)

    Jump Rope
    Merkin Rows w/ Dumbell (R2: Freddie Merc’s)
    Alpos (x30)

    Up Stairs – 20 SMK’s (2:1)

    Once Jose departed, Russo and I discussed how snow days work when you’re home schooling, as well as the ins and outs of starting a global crochet empire. Forget Etsy, these baby blankets, beanies, and booties come with Kardashian endorsements and are featured in viral Tik Tok dances. Russo already booked flights to Shenzhen to tour their manufacturing plant and see if their knitting is up to snuff.

    All in all, if not an inventive beatdown, it was at least effective one. COT and Russo took us out. RCR is rapidly approaching, if you don’t have a team, get one today. I believe the Pork Chop Express might still need a few guys.

    And thanks to these two gents who make it a point to be consistent and keep people like myself accountable. I am incredibly appreciative to be out there with you two.

  • What are we doing here? – from Shooter

    YHC signed up prior to looking at the future cast of weather. The previous Thursday Q, multiple PAX mentioned the potential of freezing and snow and it was then that I started to pay attention. With a few early commits, I figured it would be one of those epic beatdowns of the past, when relationships were formed sledding through slush and ice to get to the Gipper with Steve and Bushwhacker.
    Unfortunately, though some of those commits were reduced the night before due to sickness.

    But then there had to be the one, Steve texting to confirm the night before was the icing before the actual icing that would later come..

    We kept it close and simple utilizing the dice and incorporating some laps around and through the brick columns.
    Exercises were mostly core and Wild Qs and then we wrapped it up and got home before the blizzard of 2025 began.

    Appreciate the post Steve and until the next Gloom 👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼!!

  • Well, Well, Well did someone ring Cowbell? – from Shooter

    Shifting to a little more weight lifting in the New year. YHC still plans to keep his AO commitments and his down payment of Qing..
    My what a surprise he would have on this Scramble with Cowbell rolling up in the man wagon (Suburban) in Cowbell fashion right on the dot as the PAX was already starting on the warmup.
    Today produced 3 groups of 3 different speeds of runners and 1 lonely Rucker in Akbar.

    Normal route with 2x loop for some, 1 loop for others and a 20 out and back for the other..

    Prayers for LA fire victims and for Roxanne battling liver issues.

    Appreciate the post and until the next Gloom 👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼!!

  • Because Jose said I have to – from Russo

    In my former life as an auditor, excluding the requisite beauty and brains, one of the attributes we were told we should have was “professional skepticism”: the ability to question what you see or hear and find the truth. With just a little more thought, I bet I could now see where I became such a fan of conspiracy theories, although I’m not sure how I’m not a fan of the X-files.

    In order to do that successfully, there were two separate but related directives that were pounded into our skulls: “Trust but verify” and “If it wasn’t documented, it wasn’t done.”

    Jose lives by the latter. He upholds the standard we all begrudgingly accept, and so yes, he’s correct we should backblast away. I’m 25.5 hours beyond the COT for this beatdown, so that means in his eyes it’s “late”. But we’re on Northshore homeschool soccer parent time, where the idea of time and deadlines and schedules are a novel concept and not really a thing.

    No weather report since that’s too generic, but it was “cold”. Not cold enough to keep Steve and Cowbell from joining, however, and I’m glad that they did.

    Warmup 10x IC
    SSHs
    Seal Jacks
    Self Love
    Torso twists
    Imperial walkers
    Arm circles

    Thang
    Mosey to the bridge, stopping at each block for 14 squats and 14 Merkins (not 15).

    At the bridge, back and forth back and forth, stopping on each side.

    Various traversements (it’s a word) included:
    Mosey 2x
    Side shuffle 2x
    Carioca 2x
    Back Pedal 2x
    Skip 1x

    Various exercises included, all core work,
    10 of one of the following on each side
    – Crunchy frogs and Leg raises 2x
    – American hammers and gas pumps 2x
    – Rosalitas and Hello Dolly’s 2x
    – Penguins and LBCs 2x
    – E2K and LMCs 1x

    COT, with count, NOR, announcements and prayer to close us out.

    Thanks to you for joining, reading, and keeping us all in order, Jose!

    SYITG

  • Run Cajun Run Mumblechatter, and Teethchatter – from Ballz Deep

    Another Thursday, another 5k. The saddle is starting to feel familiar again after the holiday hiatus. The usual suspects arrived at 5:15. Although we miss #The Hammer as he prepares for the Louisiana Marathon. He will return soon!

    Jose 10k, Steve, Shooter, and I rounded out the group on this cold Thursday morning. Warmups were:
    10 count Ass Grabbers
    10 count side straddle hops
    10 count arm circles, front/back
    10 count windmills

    An “Elevens” modification was used to honor 01-09 before the normal running route:
    1 mountain climber, 9 merkins… 2 mtn climbers, 8 merkins, and so forth. 45 pushups total helped get the blood viscosity higher.
    Mumblechatter included learning the great Run Cajun Run group names. Talked outdoor sports with Shooter. Talked the merits of deermeat burritos, how to justify buying a boat off love for fish tacos, why Adam Sandler never picked Steve for pickup basketball in LA, and how unlikely the Steelers are to beat the Ravens Saturday. #Shooter led the way on a double 3.8 mile loop around Hermitage Court. That, plus the “elevens” modification had us return with 2 minutes to spare. Run Cajun Run announcement, and COT to finish. Plenty of hearty mumblechatter to distract us from the teethchatter.

  • KISS with Crucial Taunt – from Jose10k

    Late Friday evening, when everyone else was busy pretending their weekend plans were too important to sweat it out, I decided to keep it “simple stupid” and crank out a Murph at the marsh. Because why not combine the serenity of nature with a borderline masochistic workout, right?

    We kicked things off with a quick warm-up around the flag—mostly to loosen up, but also to stall and hope for a miracle excuse to skip leg day. No such luck. Straight to the marsh we moseyed, where we proceeded to grind through 20 sets of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 20 squats.

    Now, here’s where the comedy gold begins. You’ve got Bird over there doing jump squats with a full spin like he’s auditioning for Cirque du Soleil, and Zoolander showing off with thumb-only pull-ups and one-legged inverted Bulgarian split squats. The rest of us? Oh, we were doing our own kind of heavy lifting—debating whether Guns N’ Roses could out-mosh New Kids on the Block, swapping embarrassing stories about our ‘90s crushes, and contemplating if VH1’s Behind the Music counts as cardio.

    After wrapping up the Murph and rethinking life choices, we moved on to some Lt. Dan lunge-walking—because who doesn’t love a good Forrest Gump reference in the middle of quad destruction? We finally ran into Grundy, who had been “enthusiastically” searching for us by running laps around the lakefront. (Sure, buddy. We believe you.)

    Stop signs became our new nemeses, where we busted out 20 squats at each one. At the second-to-last stop, we switched it up with two rounds of 20 penguins and 20 LBCs because nothing screams camaraderie like flapping around like aquatic birds. A few brave souls sprinted to the flag to finish strong while the rest of us casually redefined what counts as a “sprint.”

    We wrapped up with C.O.T., where Russo prayed us out, undoubtedly asking for divine intervention to heal our sore muscles and to forgive Bird and Zoolander for showing us all up.

    Thanks for letting me lead, gentlemen. Next time, let’s try something harder—like keeping a straight face when Zoolander breaks out those one-legged shenanigans again.

  • Bit Nipply Out There – from Steve

    Well, new year, same ol’ me. Still taking 24-48 hours to produce a backblast. My new year’s resolution: be more like Jose. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to be too much like Jose – that would be exhausting and I’m not into jailbird cosplay. I’m also not trying to post 40 days in a row or write a BB before the guys have even reversed out of the parking lot. (Not to mention writing a BB for someone else’s Q?? Ha!)

    But…. I could certainly use a bit of his tremendous willpower and motivation.

    As could we all, right Cowbell? Got a late text from our resident runner saying he would be there, but alas, there was a crying baby and it wasn’t meant to be. Though he has ditched the running coach and promises to be posting steadily on Tuesdays, so look out!

    Now I would say we got right into the usual warmorama but this was no usual warmup. How are these men so awake at 0515? And below freezing, no less (or maybe the bitter cold was the reason?). Whatever it was, Jose and Bush created their own little raucous griping party, I don’t know what was being yelled out in that circle because I was so laser-focused on keeping cadence during the madness. Felt like a Beautiful Mind just trying to make it to 15x Seal Jacks. I did break out of it long enough to hear Russo get thrown under the bus at one point. I guess no one makes it out unscathed.

    Then over to the not-quite-as-festive stage for Bush’s favorite – some block work.

    R1: Squat thrusters x15, Merkins x20, ST x15, Squats x30, ST x15, LBCs x40, ST x15. Lap.
    R2: Curls x20, Wide Merkins x20, Curls x20, Lunges x30, Curls x20, Hammers x40, Curls x20, Lap.
    R3: Chest Presses x30, Diamond Merks x20, CP’s x30, Jump Squats x30, CP’s x30, Boxcutters x40, CP’s x30, Lap.
    R4: Coupon Presses x20, Ranger Merkins x20, CP x20, Side Lunges x30, CP x20…

    And out of time before we could hear Bush complain about his coccyx while doing x40 Big Boys.

    COT where Russo prayed us out. Appreciate you men keeping me honest and getting me out there in such frigid conditions!

  • Coming to you live in 25, first Saturday beatdown of the year! – from Jose10k

    OK Waterpik was the only one out there early doing the pre-thing. It was a nice chilly morning. Started off with the usual warm-up size straddle hops torso twist grass grabbers windmills you know you got the usual Bushwacker grumble grumble as always. All right mosey to Noah’s ark this is where my partner in crime Jv took over. It was a simple Dora 100 Americans 200 LBC’s 300 squats while partner one did the exercise partner to ran the block. After that I took over and we decided to mosey to the marsh stopping at every other stop sign to do 23 squats 10 Merkens in honor of Notre Dame winning 23 to 10 against Georgia. Once we got to the basketball courts, we split it up into three teams each team two teams battling on the basketball courts for six minutes while the third team was on the playground equipment doing sets of five pull-ups 10 Merkins 15 squats rinse and repeat over and over again Both teams ended up in a tie which to be honest I didn’t prepare for that so we kind of waste a little bit of time trying to figure out who was gonna be the next team up. My team got destroyed Truecoat and Zoolander, which is too much in the paint for our only one basketball player Grundy to try to compete against him then we mow it all the way back straight around there circled around the flag And then Butt Splice and Manny join us for coffee afterwards, which is always a pleasant surprise and that’s about it nightmare after Christmas or nightmare before Valentine’s Day or nightmare during Mardi Gras season or hell it might be nightmare on Memorial Day, but Grundy’s getting some coming soon so be on the lookout for thatI appreciate y’all coming out. Appreciate Jv help me you and I’d say I’m out. See you in the glom gentlemen.

  • I have the Q, you have the Q? – from Jose10k

    5 HIMs showed up this chilly morning to put some miles in. No one was on the Q sheet, so YHC picked it up. Apparently the site Q and Waterpik had some correspondence prior to. Oh well, I led the warm up, the Shooter took the runners on the usual route. BD and I rucked to the pier and back. Prayers for those families and service men affected in the Quarter