Author: Gumbo

  • Bringing back the Regular NoToll OG!

    17 studs answered the call to test themselves and showed up to NoToll knowing (or they should have known) what was coming. OG is back, and it will be a regular (quarterly) thing at NoToll.

    YHC was feeling generous so we started with a little COT stretching by the cars and then I grabbed Old Glory and off we went – back to the back lot and fields and twice around. Thanks to Rosie for taking OG for a lap. Old Glory was planted in the front field, the timer was set for 20 minutes and AMRAP 4 corners around the entire facility was the order. Corner 1 – 20 merkins. Corner 2 – 20 jump squats. Corner 3 – 10 burpees. Corner 4 – 20 WWIIs. Go until time is called. Then, meet back at the flag and 2 more laps – native American style and back to the cars.

    Here is the link to add your laps for today: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-L8e9W24ygnU0suaGyKxzi1PgPqY1CBd57hLrKTZI-g/edit#gid=1717732871

    Great work men!

    COT, Numbers, Names and prayers.

    Prayer requests for DTH’s sister (starting chemo), Juanita’s nephew, and the daughter of Radar’s friend. Add these folks to your prayers tonight and going forward. We all know there are more prayers needed then those that were spoken, so add a few extra too for the good of the cause. Lots of stress and anxiety going around and a lot of folks just feeling heavy with life right now. Keep an eye (and 2 ears) out, increase the patience and lend a helping hand or caring ear and shoulder when you can. Take care of each other.

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • OG Walk-through

    18 hungry men craving some Gumbo showed up for a 70 and sunny feast at the Fields of NoToll. Rumor had it Old Glory would be making an appearance, and it did…sort of. The flag was planted and this is what transpired…

    Mosey to back lot and circle up for COT, including

    SSHs, DQs, Helicopters, Copperhead Squats, Imperial Walkers, Tempo Merkins, Flutter Kicks and LBCs

    THE THANG:

    OG Walk-through – Gumbo wants everyone to be prepared, so we walked through the OG corners

    • Starting in corner 1 – 20 merkins OYO and plank for SIX; mosey to next corner
    • Corner 2 – 20 good form jump squats, Al Gore for the SIX, when SIX arrived, 20 more jump squats together (No Man Left Behind); Mosey to brown-water Corner 3
    • Corner 3 – 10 Burpees and Al Gore – 3 more burpees with the SIX; mosey to Corner 4
    • Corner 4 – 20 WWII sit-ups, then go pick up SIX and lunge in; 10 WWIIs in cadence

    Mosey to the Pavilion

    • Bench work – 10 steps ups, 10 Derkins, 10 Dips. As many sets as you can until SIX arrives
    • Plank-o-rama
    • Triple Check – Run across the field, HRMs, Slow Deep Squats
    • Al Gore

    Mosey back to basketball courts with some shuffles and backpedaling mixed in. And a bear crawl under the hypothetical gate that happened to be open today.

    5 MOM:

    • Plank – Bear Plank sets
    • Alternating Shoulder Taps
    • Rosalita
    • Reverse crunches
    • Flutter Kicks

    BTTF, COT, Numbers, Names, Prayer

    Moleskin

    There has been a call to bring back Old Glory, and Gumbo will answer the call on April 12 (delayed just for you Bullseye!), and YHC will commit to making it a quarterly thing at NoToll. So get ready to test yourselves and see results. For today, it was a dry-run, walk-through of sorts and bro-code style. Props to Florence and Rosie and others who left no man behind today and Tclaps to Soultrain for pushing through and even starting off with some Broga today. Well done. Keep posting brother, you will see the results and the strength (physically and mentally).

    Strong numbers today, gents. Keep it up. You’re on notice. Be ready 4/12.

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • Suck at the Swamp

    A strong 8 gathered in the relatively mild Friday gloom at Twin Team – a veritable crowd by recent TT standards. 5 were there to bootcamp and 3 were getting in some hill work in training for their upcoming Star City race. Here is how it went down…

    Runners head to the namesake hill; Bootcampers mosey around back of BWES to the blacktop for COP, including:

    DQs, Helicopters, Russian Soldiers, Imperial Walkers, Shoulder Taps, Merkins, and LBCs

    Mosey down to the Swamp to start the action:

    THE SUCK – birthed here many years ago when an awkward 5-some posted for a workout, it seemed time to bring it back. 4 Pax members spread out on the track about 10 yards apart and performed exercises while #5 (the rabbit and timer) runs.

    ROUND 1 – Rabbit runs the track. When the rabbit returns we yell switch – one PAX member doing exercises takes off running, the others bearcrawl forward 10 yards and start the new exercise. Exercises were Freddie Mercuries, Star Jumps, Mountain Climbers and SSHs.

    ROUND 2 – Rabbit runs the straight away and then back. Exercises were LBCs, Lunges, Shoulder Taps and Squats

    Plank o rama to catch our breath and then off we go – Mosey to the covered sidewalk by the high school for:

    EMOM – Every Minute on the Minute perform exercises, wall sit with jabs and upper-cuts to fill out the minute:

    ROUND 1 – 2 Burpees, 20 Donkey Kicks, wall sit and punch

    ROUND 2 – 3 Burpees, 20 DKS, wall sit and punch

    ROUND 3 – 4 Burpees, 20 DKs, wall sit and punch

    ROUND 4 – 5 Burpees, 20 DKs, wall sit and punch

    Mosey through the parking lot back to BWES stopping at a couple lightpoles for some merkins and shoulder taps and doing the Bernie Sanders up the muddy hill.

    Back at BWES under cover, it was time for 10 Minutes of Mary, including:

    3 rounds of – 1 minute plank and a variety of crunches and oblique work, finished off with a minute of straight-leg twists or pulling the invisible rope.

    With abs burning it was time to head BTTF. Runners returned for COT, numbers, names, prayers and out

    Announcements:

    Exciting 80s themed workout with movie quotes, hair-band songs and trivia tomorrow 0700 at Rock N Roll

    Vinny returns with the Q at Dogpile tomorrow for what is sure to be a great beatdown.

    NMS:

    It was a great morning. Glad to see more than a couple folks at TT, even if 3 escaped the SUCK and went for a run. Apologies to the PAX for 10 minute ab-blaster, but YHC has a daily 10-minute ab challenge going with the fam and I needed to knock that out early today. Thanks for letting me lead. Always a pleasure.

    No more Gumbo for You…til Tuesday (unless I get snowed into Charlotte Sunday night).

  • A little rusty but plenty spicy

    16 battle-tested veterans posted to No Toll this glorious Tuesday morning. 2 or 3 showed up early for pre-meal Broga, 2 rolled in LIFO. All were fed to their hearts content.

    0530 and it was time to mosey to the back lot. What do you know, Parks and Rec forgot to lock up and the gate was open. What a surprise. One lap around the back parking lot to get the blood flowing with stops in each corner for 10 SSHs, 10 Merkins, 10 Jump Squats, and 10 2-ct Mountain Climbers….circle.

    COP IC with various exercises including SSHs, Super Slow DQs, HRMs, Imperial Walkers and more.

    THE THANG:

    4 Corners in front Field

    With the field nice and frosty, run to corner 1, do 10 merkins, run to corner 2, do 20 jump squats, run to corner 3, do 30 2-ct mountain climbers, run to corner 4, do 40 SSHs

    Plank-o-Rama

    Round 2 -same exercises

    Plank-o-Rama

    Pavilion Partner Work

    Mosey to the pavilion and circle up for Moroccan Night Clubs…err, scratch that. YHC demonstrated 8-count bodybuilders for the PAX, then we did 5 together in-cadence.

    Partner Round 1 – Partner 1 bear crawls around the pavilion while Partner 2 does 8-ct bodybuilders.

    Round 2 – Partner 1 sprints across the field and back, Partner 2 does flutter kicks

    Round 3 – Partner 1 runs a lap, Partner 2 does 4x4s (OUCH!)

    Pole Smokers – line up and grab a pole. Hold 6 inches, while first man does 5 pole smokers runs to far end, runs back and does 5 more pole smokers. Next man starts when previous guy runs.

    Mosey back to the basketball courts paying a quick merkin toll for the open gates.

    Donkey Kicks

    Round 1 – 10 Donkey Kicks, bear crawl half-way through the court, then sprint across to the darkness, mosey back

    Round 2 – 20 DKs, bear crawl, sprint, mosey

    Round 3 – 30 DKs, bear crawl, sprint, mosey

    5 Minutes of Mary ending with Superman

    BTTF, COT, Numbers, Names and YHC Took us out.

    Announcements:

    The Bridge (in Buckingham) – this Saturday. Several clown cars are going. Vinny has the Q. See Doozy or Doublemint or some Richmond Proper guys if you want to go.

    Rosie has 12 days of Christmas at NoToll next week. Show up at Broga time (0500) just to get a seat, the church is sure to be packed. DTH promised Egg Nog for all, including pre-game if you dare!

    Discussions of a Saturday SOJ workout 0700 at Rock N Roll (Rockwood Park) – see Doozy for details

    Twin Team needs numbers…join in the darkness of the worst hill in Richmond (or one of them) on Fridays

    Prayer Request – Snuff’s friend Mark – hope the surgery went well and there is a speedy and full recovery!

    NMS-

    In all honesty, YHC just grabbed this Q to make himself get up and come out and work off some rust before the 12 Days. The plan was loose other than bringing back some exercises like the bodybuilders and 4x4s and getting a little running in. It was great to lead again, and I enjoyed the mumblechatter and seeing some guys I have not seen in a while. I especially enjoyed the nervous tension when the PAX wondered if I dared call a second round of bear crawls around the pavilion…ummm, NO!

    Great job this morning guys. Thanks for letting me lead.

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • Reservation for 4 for Mild Suck at Twin Team

    4 battered and bruised vets didn’t believe the forecast and showed up at Twin Team for an end of the work week serving of Gumbo. Turns out Suck was on the menu… but it wasn’t too spice today. Here is how it went down…

    Mosey to blacktop behind BWES for COP, including: DQs, Helicopters, Jazzercisers, Russian Soldiers, Imperial Walkers, Tempo Merkins, Plank, LBCs and Freddie Mercuries.

    THE THANG

    11s across the blacktop with both exercises at both sides – merkins and box cutters…and a little downpour!

    Plank-o-Rama – thinking time…

    Proper Dora – Mosey over to the bus circle and pair up for a Proper Dora. Timer/Rabbit runs the bus loop while the other partner does exercises: 1 HRM, 2 Deep Squats, 3 WWIIs equals 1 rep. Swap and Repeato until 50 reps completed.

    Mosey to the front under cover…since it stopped raining

    The Mild Suck – Runner runs the front loop and does 5 merkins upon return, Exercises under cover were American Hammers, Flutter Kicks and Ankle Grabbers. 3 Rounds.

    ROF – Plank – 10 merkins of choice – 10 squats and back down

    Mary – Hello Dolly, Heels to Heaven, Crunchy Frogs, and Freddie Mercuries

    BTTF

    COT – Numbers, Names and Prayer

    It was a great morning to get out and get a sweat going even while working through recent ailments. And, the fellowship was great as always. The best part was mother nature tricking us by holding off the rain and then bringing a downpour right when 11s started…too late for shelter or an audible…Just embrace it!

    Thanks for letting me lead guys. A pleasure.

    No More Gumbo For You

  • Run, Arms & Abs, Repeato…

    Three eager beavers crashed the BWES parking lot – 1 stir-crazy gentlemen in recovery mode out for a dark stroll, and 1 down for whatever concoction Gumbo had in store. Today, it was an off campus excursion that went a little something like this:

    Grab a headlamp…you know what that means.

    0530 bell rings and off we go toward the namesake hill. Stop in the cul de sac from a brief COT of DQs, Helicopters, Jazzercisers and Imperial Walkers to loosen up the back and legs. Round 1 of exercises – 21 merkins and 21 LBCs OYO, then, up the hill we go. I’ll call it a run, but YHC ended up more like a mosey. Stop at the top for round 2 – 21 merkins, 21 LBCs, 21 Alternating Shoulder Taps, 21 Flutter Kicks – OYO. Run on Twin Team out to Robious Road and across into Tarrington. Stop at the Gates of Tarrington for round 3 – 21 merkins, 21 LBCs, 21 ASTs, 21 FKs, 21 Carolina Dry Docks, 21 Freddie Mercuries. Run down Ashwell hill to the Tarrington Clubhouse for round 4 – 21 merkins, 21 LBCs, 21 ASTs, 21 FKs, 21 Carolina Dry Docks, 21 Freddie Mercuries, 21 Dips and 21 box cutters. Run around the block heading back toward JRHS – stop at both traffic circles for bonus rounds of 21 Merkins and 21 Mountain Climbers on the curb of the circles. Run to front office door of JRHS for round 5 – 21 merkins, 21 LBCs, 21 ASTs, 21 FKs, 21 Carolina Dry Docks, 21 Freddie Mercuries, 21 Dips and 21 box cutters, 21-count plan hold and 21 American Hammers. Run BTTF, right on time.

    COT, Numbers, Names, Prayer.

    YHC forgot just how bad TT hill is. It sucks. YHC has been wanting to do this off-campus run/workout for a while and with just two of us I thought it was a good way to test out the timing. It was perfect. This will come back again, I promise.

    The “21” count was in honor of YHC’s 21st wedding anniversary with my M yesterday. Can’t believe it. I have been married to this wonderful woman for half of my life. The big man upstairs was smiling on me when he convinced her to say yes!

    Go forth and take your F3 energy and spirit into the day and spread it widely men. SYITG.

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • Seasonal Menu: Gumbo’s Back. Get it while it’s hot!

    13 hungry fellas (including 1 FNG – Ryan and 3 or 4 who posted early for BROGA) came out to NoToll this morning for a heaping helping of Gumbo. It hasn’t been on the menu for 266 days, so this was kind of the like the McRib coming back. Here is how the servings were dished out:

    Mosey to the back lot and around the parking lot, mixing in some side-shuffle, backwards run and forwards run, then circle up for COT, all IC, including:

    • SSHs
    • DQs
    • Helicopters
    • Jazzercisers
    • Imperial Walkers
    • Russian Soldiers
    • Tempo Merkins
    • LBCs

    Mosey to the pavilion for the THANG:

    Ab-blaster Dora – partner up and complete 100 2-ct flutters, 200 2-ct Freddie Mercuries and 300 Hello Dollies, partners alternating between exercises and sprint across the field and back.

    Plankorama to catch our breath

    Half Nicole – Timer set for 10 minutes. Run lap around the field and each time you get to the pavilion complete 2 Burpees, 6 WWIIs and 6 Merkins. Repeato AMRAP until timer runs out.

    Burpee Native American Run back to the courts

    Donkey Kick sets –

    • Set 1 – 10 DKs on the fence, bear crawl to middle of the court, sprint the rest to the end of the next court, jog back.
    • Set 2 – 20 DKs rest the same.
    • Set 3 – 30 DKs rest the same.

    5 Minutes of Mary

    • APDs
    • Ankle Grabbers (name pending)
    • American Hammers
    • Rosalitas
    • Superman
    • SSH/Merkin combos – 10, 5, 3, 1

    BTTF, COT, Numbers, Names and Prayer

    Announcements:

    • Prayers for Rosie’s M having hip surgery – hope all goes well and recovery is swift.
    • Prayers for DTH and his crew and Chisel’s family after the loss of Chisel way too soon.
    • Prayers for my daughter (Snare) to get some relief from the cycle of migraines, anxiety, etc. Mental Health is important gents – don’t let people suffer in silence.

    Moleskin

    Damn it was great to get back in the circle and lead such a fine group of men. 266 days is way to long. That won’t happen again. Thanks for following today. Make it a great day men!

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • Better late than never…and now we can do a Proper Dora

    15 morning warriors and 1 four-legged friend kicked things off at NoToll promptly at 0530 and 1 joined LIFO to make things even for a Proper Dora. Some guys even limbered up early with pre-game Broga! The normal festivities went like this:

    Mosey to the back lot for the disclaimer and COP, all IC, including:

    1. SSHs
    2. DQs
    3. Helicopters
    4. Jazzercisers
    5. Imperial Walkers
    6. Tempo Merkins
    7. LBCs

    Mosey to the far end of the parking lot near the field and each man finds a post and assumes the position on their six holding the post for a pole smoker line of fire. YHC started with 10 pole smokers while the PAX held six inches. Second man starts pole smokers as YHC runs to the end of the line and finds a new post. Six inches was painful with 15 men, so part way through we mixed in some Hello Dollies, Rosalitas, and Flutter Kicks. After each man did 10 pole smokers – recover and mosey to the pavilion.

    Triple Check at the pavilion. 1 man runs across the field and back, 1 man does merkins (dealer’s choice), 1 man does WWIIs. Swap and rotate. Three times through. Plank for six and do some ASTs IC.

    Mosey to the front field for 4 corners, compounding and Bro-code style. Start in corner 1 with 10 merkins. Run to corner 2 and plank for the SIX, then do 10 merkins and 20 jump squats after SIX arrives. Run to corner three and plank for the SIX, then do 10 merkins, 20 jump squats, and 30 2-ct mountain climbers after SIX arrives. Run to corner 4 and plank for the SIX, then do 10 merkins, 20 jump squats, 30 2-ct mountain climbers and 40 SSHs after SIX arrives – and after BONE THUGS ARRIVES! Our resident speedster (Fresh Prince) left his sweatshirt in corner 1 mistakenly assuming YHC would close the box… no worries, the PAX went on a search and rescue mission and continued the mosey for a full lap and all the way back to the basketball courts.

    Pair up for a Proper Dora-cide. Partner 1 runs a suicide while Partner 2 completes as many proper Dora exercises as possible. Flapjack, continue counting and repeato until 50 Proper Doras are complete or time is called. The proper Dora consisted of 1 merkin, 2 LBCs and 3 squats. Transitioning up and down was as hard as the exercises.

    Circle up in the middle for 4 minutes of MARY, including:

    1. 1 Burpee (to make the workout official)
    2. Hello Dollies
    3. Rosalitas
    4. Flutter Kicks
    5. APDs
    6. Heel touches
    7. Freddie Mercuries
    8. 30-seconds of plan (for the Brogas!)

    BTTF, COT, Numbers, Names and YHC took us out.

    Announcements:

    • Great news – Bone Thugs’ parents are recovering well from COVID,
    • Happy news – Florence and his M are expecting 2.2…check the Jerry Springer headlines for confirmation of paternity.
    • Broga session went well. 5 or 6 guys were there. Other than OC, they remained nameless. Broga sessions will continue 0500 on the tennis courts at NoToll.
    • Hardywood on Q at W-Dog tomorrow.
    • 3rd F tonight – Gomer has (or had) the Q.
    • SOT continues to have both a bootcamp and run option on Wednesdays.

    NMS: Great morning for some work and some fellowship. YHC peeled in hot (DK style) at 0529:30 ready to roll. There was fear that maybe I forgot or overslept. Never fear, just putting the final touches on this morning’s bowl of Gumbo. YHC was bummed with the initial 13 number that moseyed tot he back – can’t pair up or triple up…DAMN. I figured (hoped) Fresh Prince would roll in LIFO to make an even 14, but he brought a friend (Chaplain I think?), so 15 it was a the Triple Check was on. Then to my wonderous surprise, during 4 corners, a Bone Thugs miracle appeared out of the woods. And YHC’s hope for a Proper Dora was achievable. Thanks Bone Thugs!

    Always great to lead such a fine group. Thanks for following along.

    Stay well. Be great.

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • 3rd Annual Magnum PI Day – A wet one in paradise

    26 brave souls, mostly clad in Hawaiian shirts and sporting lip caterpillars, and 1 four-legged friend, crashed Robin’s Nest for the 3rd Annual Magnum PI Day. It went a little something like this:

    Today’s Q played the Magnum PI Theme Music and proudly displayed the Cornhole Trophy as he planted the flag and then it was 0530 and time to mosey. The mosey took us to the customary COP circle and around it a couple times. Then, COP included:

    1. First episode aired 12/11/1980
      1. DQ (Higgins) IC x 12
      2. Helicopters (TC) IC x 11
      3. Magnum Merkins (Stache to the ground) IC x 19
      4. SSHs (just cause) IC x 80 (Q almost passed out)
    2. It ran for 8 years – 8 burpees OYO

    Enough of that, let’s mosey down to the amphitheater at Robin’s Nest – man was it soupy. Gather at the bottom for instructions. There were 162 episodes of Magnum, and we have 18 steps, and 18 x 9 = 162, so on the way up, 9 squats and on the 9th one box jump to the next step. What goes up must come down, so 9 dips on the way down. Plank-o-Rama for the 6

    Mosey to the Golden Triangle for the Volcano STACHE Beast. The first round involved running the Golden Triangle twice….modifications were made and audibles were called, but we still got 6 exercise stops each round and 6 rounds for the BEAST and plenty of exercise and plenty of running. Exercised included:

    S – SSHs x6

    T – Tempo Merkins x6

    A – American Hammers 2-ct x6

    C – Carolina Dry Docks x6

    H – Monkey Humpers x6

    E – Elbow Plank as a PAX for 30-seconds each stop

    Back to the COP Circle to honor the Final Episode on 5/8/1988 with rapid fire Mary, as follows:

    Hello Dollies x5

    Rosalitas x8

    Flutter Kicks x19

    Box Cutters x8

    Freddie Mercuries x8

    Magnum was PI, so we finished time with Plank Jacks x8 and Imperial Walkers x8, then we chased the bad guys back to the flag.

    COT, Numbers, Names, and YHC took us out.

    ANnouncements:

    1. HDHH, 12/16 somewhere in Scott’s Addition see Honeydo
    2. Rosies 12-days of Christmas coming in 2 weeks at NoToll don’t miss it

    NMS – Thanks to everyone for coming out today and celebrating the 3rd Annual Magnum PI Day. We will get back on the horse next year with a stache growing challenge and fundraiser. Props to EFHutton for throwing out the RAISE challenge this year. Tclaps.

    It was great to experience the wet paradise with you men. Welcome to Selleck.

    There were lots of strong STACHE’s in the PAX today. I love it.

    Be well and Be Good!

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • MAGNUM PI DAY – Bring out your Stache and your Hawaiian Shirt

    Saturday, December 5, at Dogpile. Be there – sporting a stache or at least some 5 o’clock shadow, and a Hawaiian shirt. It is a day to honor man-hood and the great Tom Selleck – the one and only Magnum PI.

    Stache-release merkins will be on the menu!