Author: Fireman Ed

  • Beautiful morning for a semi-old fart to Q

    8 able bodied individuals took note of a morning in the upper 50s to partake a workout at Hoedown. The Q, me just celebrated a birthday to solidify his status in the upper 40s club.

    COP: 10 Don Quixotes, 15 arm circles, 20 Freddie Mercuries, 25 LBCs and 47 side straddle hops

    Mosey to the Walgreens. Do Four corners. 10 Burpees, 20 jump squats, 30 merkins and 47 2 count flutter kicks.

    Mosey to one of Bodos’ many parking lots. Do another four corners. This time 10 burpees, 20 Lt. Dans, 30 2 count mountain climbers and 47 APDs.

    Mosey to the front of those places called “a school”. Split into three groups to maintain s.d. protocol. Group 1 does 47 box jumps, group 2 47 merkins with the bike rack, and group 3 holds 6 inches. Switch until each group does each exercise.

    Mosey to blacktop at back of school. Do suicides with 4 burpees and another exercise at the other end. We did 7 heels to heaven, 7 donkey kicks and 7 decline merkins at the gaga pit.

    Mosey to loop. Partner 1 runs a loop while the other does.. balls to the wall, donkey kicks and wall sits.

    Finish with 47 American hammers and a round of Mary with merkins.

    We closed with no announcements (not sure whether the PAX were pooped or sleepy) but closed with prayer. Need to pray for those suffering from COVID either knowing someone who has it, losing their job because of it or their job has changed for the worse because of it. Keep praying and we shall overcome with the help of the one who truly calls the shots. Also prayers are with White Deer as he goes through surgery today.

    God bless,

    Fireman Ed.

  • Against the Wind

    7 able bodied warriors including yours truly set out on a great adventure in the howling winds of Short Pump, VA.

    COP: Mosey two times around the football field, Don Quixotes, Side Straddle hops, Freddie Mercuries, Merkins and Arm Circles.

    E1: Mosey to front of school. Do each exercise 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off. Balls to the wall, Donkey kicks, Wall sits, plank and mountain climbers. Repeated balls to the wall and donkey kicks.

    E2: Mosey to football field. 10 burpees at the 10 yard line, 20 WWIIs at the 20, 30 merkins, 40 jump squats, 50 2 count flutter kicks. Reverso after a quick rest.

    E3: Mosey to school courtyard and use cards to determine exercises. These include crabcakes, diamond merkins, heels to heaven and LBCs. The cards kept blowing around making this difficult to sustain.

    E4: Mosey to pickleball court. First bear crawl halfway down and back. Second, lunge 3/4 way and back. Lastly wheelbarrow all the way and back.

    E5/6: Go to little pavilion. Do 3 sets of 40 seconds on and 20 seconds off of dips. Mosey to parking lot and finish with round of American hammers and merkins.

    Closed in prayer. This is my first Q since before I broke my ankle on 12/26. It is good to be back and let’s put those with health issues in our prayers. Have a productive and enjoyable weekend.

    Peace out.

    Fireman Ed

  • We want Derkins

    On a cold winter solistice morning, I decided to take a page out of other playbooks with a deck of cards and some challenging exercises for the seven sensational athletes that call themselves PAX.

    COP: Run lap around parking lot, 25 SSHs, run lap, 25 invisible jump ropes, run lap, 10 DQs, run lap and 15 arm circles. Mosey to other corner of parking lot.

    First Exercise: Pick card from deck. Spades are burpees, Diamonds are merkins, Hearts are 2 count flutter kicks and Clubs are heels to heaven. The first couple picks were high spades which made the PAX grumble a bit but the following picks were more evenly distributed. Mosey to pickleball courts.

    Second Exercise: Pick a card. Spades are suicide bear crawls, Diamonds are plain old suicide runs, Hearts are lunges and clubs Bernie Sanders. The bear crawls were painful but for some reason the pax kept picking hearts so we did lots of lunges. Mosey to benches.

    Third Exercise: Same premise as first exercise with spades as derkins, diamonds as dips, hearts as step ups and clubs as bench kickers. For some reasons the PAX liked to pick bench kickers but wanted to improve their pectorals by performing more derkins. It took a lot of cards to get a few derkins sets in; after that we moseyed back to the parking lot.

    We finished with 25 2 count AHs, 25 2 count MCs and a merkin ring of fire.

    Only announcement is on Monday after Punisher on North Side there is a happy hour planned. I enjoyed leading the PAX in the far west end and hopefully all PAX have a good Christmas. It was good to see Offshore come and reduce the average PAX age to 50.

  • Did you say Farmer or Foreman Ed?

    7 mighty PAX decided to avoid the 12 days of Christmas and head to Quioccasin MS for a beatdown. We even had a visitor from somewhere between Raleigh and Charlotte (Cary NC wherever that is).

    The program went like this: Lap around the track, 25 SSH, 10 DQs, 10 R Soldiers, 15 ACs (front and back) and 25 FMs. Mosey to covered alcove at side of school.

    Exercise 1: 2 Burpees at each pole – 42 burpees in total

    Exercise 2: Plank position with last person leapfrogging the other PAX. Keep going until we reach the other side of the alcove. For some reason this exercise cause a bunch of angry mumble chatter. Mosey to other side of school.

    Exercise 3: Together do 30 seconds of balls to the wall, 30 seconds of chicken peckers and 30 seconds of dips. Mosey to track.

    Exercise 4: Four corners non-additive with swamp derkins (the bleacher area did not drain well), jump squats, monkey humpers and 2 count flutter kicks.

    Exercise 5: Go to “THE HILL” and each partner wheelbarrows up the hill. This one got some Philadelphia Eagle fan love for sure.

    Exercise 6: Share 100 PLTs. Mosey to parking lot and close with a round of mary (merkins).

    No notable announcements and closed in prayer.

    Even though the visitor from down south butchered my name (good having you visit Term Paper), I enjoyed leading the PAX and hope everyone is not stressing out over all the prep for the big day next week.

    Fireman Ed out.

  • Hot Potato Ridge

    4 valiant gentleman descended on Heartbreak Ridge to find again that there is no Q. There seems to be a pattern here which needs to be broken soon.

    COP by Fireman Ed: Lap around the track, 10 Don Quixotes, 10 Arm circles, 15 2 count mountain climbers and 10 merkins

    First Exercise: Take 5 benches. do 5 dips, then up to 25 dips by the 5th bench

    Baton is passed to Ronnie: Mosey to front of school – do 5 merkins, crab walk to other side do 4 merkins, bear crawl to other side, and so forth down to 1 merkin.

    Go to tables, Do 5 box jumps to seating benches, 5 burpees. I may have forgotten something here.

    Mosey to side of school and do a pole relay. while one pax is doing pole leg lifts, the other three are holding 3 inches, We did that relay for most of the side of the school. Baton passed to Fireman.

    Doras with 100 donkey kicks, 200 jump squats and 300 2 count flutter kicks. Baton passed back to Squeaker.

    Mosey to chin up area. Pax 1 did 6 chin ups, Pax 2 did dips on the somewhat high bar, Pax 3 did ass to grass squats and PAX 4 did elbow to leg plank.

    Baton passed back to Fireman who led in mountain climbers, 2 rounds of merkin mary and 5 OYO burpees.

    Announcements: TYA is leading Turkey Day convergence at Mary at 6 a.m. (thanks for letting us sleep in:) and Friday at 7 at Forest Hill Park is the CSUP (CSOP).

    Even though it was a hot potato, thanks to God for giving us the health to get out there and better ourselves.

  • Proud to be an American

    We had 9 of able bodied souls at U of R west (Tuckahoe Elementary) going for a work out on Veteran’s Day. Even though I am not a veteran, I respect the sacrifices those individuals have made to allow us to keep the freedoms that most nations don’t have. Off to the workout:

    COP: 34 SSH (in honor of the Jets’ epic 34-27 win over the Giants), 10 DQs, 10 Arm circles, 10 Merkins. Mosey to Bodos’ 3rd parking lot across the way from his church.

    First Exercise: Four corners: 10 HRMs, 20 jump squats, 30 monkey humpers and 40 2 count flutter kicks. Follow this up with a burpee with bear crawl per parking space for one side of the lot (~15 burpees)

    Second Exercise: Doras with 100 bike rack merkins (BRMs), 200 box jumps, and 300 2 count flutter kicks (I like those flutter kicks).

    Third Exercise: Triple check with Donkey kicks, WWIIs, and run to the chin up bar and do 8 chin ups.

    Finish with 19 American hammers (not sure why I ended with 19), 34 Freddie Mercuries and 10 arm circles.

    Announcements: CSOP on 11/29 at Forest Hill Park. Working off the gluttony of turkey, mashed potatoes by doing some loops. See TYA for details. Gridiron this Saturday 11/16 will NOT be held at its normal location in order to support Blue Moon running the VCU Health Marathon that morning.

    Even though I was not on my A game (forgot an exercise, COP cadence a little off and a couple mispronunciations) I am happy to lead this group and I hope everyone takes a few minutes to think about all that our Veterans do for us. Thank you Gomer for your service.

  • Hazy Shade of Winter

    10 PAX including one FNG (Welcome Deliverance) took to the grounds of the county’s famous (maybe infamous) Short Pump Middle School for a cold beat down.

    It went a little something like this:

    COP: two loops around the football field with high knees, karaoke and Bernie Sanders mixed in. 25 side straddle hops, 10 Don Quixotes, 10 arm circles and 10 Russian soldiers

    First exercise: Go to the overhang by Short Pump Middle. At one pillar do 3 2 count flutter kicks and at the next pillar 3 heels to heaven. After getting to pillar 30ish, we reversed direction and did one burpee per pillar.

    Second exercise: “Yog” our way to the open pickleball court at the park. Do elevens with jump squats and side straddle hops

    Third exercise: Partner leg tosses 100 per “couple” in honor of the Spiders hard fought 100-98 victory over mighty St. Francis of PA. Sky is the limit y’all.

    Fourth exercise: Mosey to benches, Do 20 dips and add 5 derkins and drop 5 dips till you get to 20 derkins 0 dips.

    Mosey to parking lot after performing lunges and a bear crawl. Ended with 25 Freddie Mercuries, 25 2 count flutters, 20 American hammers and a merkin ring of fire.

    Closed in prayer in advance of Veteran’s Day. thanks to the military for their continued service. Welcome to Mack (Deliverance). He like Johnsonville comes from across the riva. He has a lot of legal counsel experience and is a less than stellar banjo player, hence the name Deliverance.

    Fireman Ed

    NOTE: In order to watch Blue Moon compete in his marathon, on 11/16 Gridiron will NOT be held at Short Pump Park. We the mature folks of Gridiron are looking at a location at Libbie Mill or somewhere near the race course. Be on the lookout for more details over the next few days.

  • 16 12 18

    9 glorious men headed out to the pre-rain festivities at W-dog. This workout is in honor of my 16th anniversary which happens to be the 12th birthday of one of my daughters (Olivia).

    The workout went like this:

    COP: 16 side straddle hops, 12 don quixotes, 16 Freddie Mercuries, 12 burpees OYO

    Mosey to the amphitheater.

    First Exercise: Start with 1 derkin and 2 dips on the first step, box jump to the next step, go to 2 derkins and 4 dips. After realizing that I underestimated the # of steps I called an audible after I was on step 14. That comes out to 105 derkins and 210 dips, not too shabby. I was reminded that there are and always have been 18 steps. Well now I know.

    Second Exercise: Mosey to the Pumphouse area and try to avoid potholes. Modified dolly: 120 2 count mountain climbers, 160 plank jacks, and 240 2 count flutter kicks. Other partner is doing Bernie Sanders up the road and running back.

    Third Exercise: Long mosey up the Pumphouse road to the big triangle. Commence a very long bear crawl up the road and end with 16 WWIIs.

    Mosey to the meeting point and do a merkin ring of fire. Most of the pax had special merkins, some of which worked well (e.g. Sippy alternating raised leg merkins) and some which did not (Bodos trying to flip in the air spin like on the Matrix but falling well short of a 360).

    We closed with announcements (Poker night on 10/21 at the Commonwealth club for a good cause – see Greenbow for details).

    Prayers are for Marv’s mom, praise for Helix’s daughter’s recovery and for my daughter undergoing an MRI test on her brain this Saturday.

    Make today a great one.

    Fireman Ed (fan of the one win Jets, Sam Darnold is the man)

  • As Cool As the Other Side of the Pillow

    On a beautiful mid 50s morning, 10 able bodied fitness champions showed up to Mary for a beatdown. It went like this:

    COP – 10 Don Quixotes (Saab style), 10 arm circles, 20 side straddle hops and 20 LBCs

    Exercise 1: Merkin run, run as a group – do 10 merkins when ordered. Did 60 merkins total. Two female joggers were able to witness the magnificence of some of our merkins but somehow kept their composure and went past us. Mosey to the field.

    Exercise 2A: Fireman’s carry across the field run back

    Exercise 2B: Wheelbarrow halfway down the field, bear crawl back

    Exercise 2C: Lunge halfway down the field, crawl bear back. Mosey to tennis courts

    Exercise 3: Modified Doras: 75 Burpees, 150 Carolina Dry Docks, 225 2 count flutter kicks. Mosey to chin up/monkey bars

    Exercise 4: While planked up, each PAX does 2 sets of 5 chin ups. While waiting the PAX planked, did merkins and tricep dips. The arms were feeling good by the end of this.

    Finished by doing more arm circles and Fireman closed in prayer.

    Announcements/Other:

    Prayers are with Helix and his family, Wojo and his family and for Viral to get better.

    This Saturday is the big campout in Amelia. See Vinny for details if you are interested. TYA is leading Dogpile this Saturday. Tater has his first Q at Gridiron this Saturday and Hitchhiker is doing his first Q at Mary on 9/26.

    The weather was fantastic making me think of the Stuart Scott saying, hence the above title.

  • Scrooge is Legal

    9 mostly young warriors headed out to the gloom of Huguenot High to get a good beatdown. And in honor of Scrooge’s special birthday, we embarked on a 21 themed workout. I was initially disappointed to not see Scrooge at the COP. But right after I made a comment about it, he showed up 30 seconds later:)

    COP – Run to bottom parking lot, 21 SSH, 21 Freddy Mercuries, 7 Don Quixotes, 7 Helicopters and 7 arm circles

    First Exercise: Four corners with 21 heels to heaven, 21 hand release merkins, 21 2 count mountain climbers and 21 WWIIs; mosey to next parking lot

    Second Exercise: Four corners again with burpees, one at the first corner, 3 at the second, 7 at the third and 21 at the last corner (32 burpees in total); mosey to amphitheater (with long pole giving me directions)

    Third Exercise: 21s in combination of tricep dips and box jumps. Start with 20 tricep dips and 1 box jump, decrease 3 dips by step, increase 3 box jumps by step. I noticed that I even at 6’1 had more trouble with the jumps than the more vertically challenged guys.

    Fourth Exercise: Triple check with wall sits, Carolina dry docks and runs around 2 different medians (Figure 8). The Figure 8 run took more time than I thought making the dry docks quite a challenge.

    Last Exercise: 2 sets of 21 PLTs each

    Closed in prayer.

    I enjoyed my first SOJ Q. I do feel older with this group but that is all good. I noticed that Fresh Prince is super fast and I am not. I was thinking about making Scrooge drink but while it may be 12 o’clock somewhere, 6:15 in the morning is pushing it.

    Prayers go out to Helix’s daughter, Wojo for his sister, and Orange Crush for his son. Hope they all recover completely.