Author: Gumbo

  • Hump Day Beast

    6 SOT regulars (great to have a solid base of regulars at the new SOT AO) posted on this Hump Day morning.  Nobody signed up to Q but YHC secured the AO, so I kicked off the festivities and went to the bullpen to bring in Wild Thing (aka Rosco) to close it down.  This is how it went, more or less:

    Mosey down the hill to the football field (still of broken dreams to borrow McRib’s moniker for Old SOT’s football field) and circle up for COP, including:

    • DQs
    • Helicopters
    • Arm Circles
    • SSHs
    • LBCs
    • Flutter Kicks

    THANG:

    The Beast – six stops, six reps of the called exercise at each stop, 6 rounds — Exercises included Merkins, Jump Squats, Mountain Climbers, Ball Dippers, Freddy Mercuries and Box Cutters.  Plank or Al Gore for the six between rounds.

    Plank-o-rama and then YHC called in the big guns…Rosco, your Q my man…

    Dip/LBC/Stairs Circuit — 20 Dips in cadence, 20 LBCs in cadence and run up the steps on the left (touching each step), side shuffle across the top, and run down the steps on the right.  3 rounds.  For the 3rd round, instead of side shuffling, we ran the steps of the bleachers up and down…serious tiltage on those steps – a little wobbly.

    Rosco’s Hand to Hand Combat School — Between round 2 and 3 of the aforementioned Circuit, Rosco treated the PAX to a lesson at his Hand to Hand Combat school, including the partner football sled drills and several rounds of Indian Arm Wrestling.

    Mosey back up the hill to the Flag for COT, COR and NOR – Rosco took us out!

    Announcements:

    • July 4 Convergence at Tredegar – be there if you are in town.
    • Wish our boys Rosie and Shakedown (and maybe TYA?) good luck as they are tackling a 50K (32 mile) race this Saturday.  You guys will kill it!

    NMS:

    A great morning for the workout.  Days are already getting shorter and the PAX noticed it was a little darker this morning.  No Q, No Problem.  Gumbo and Rosco to the rescue.

    Great to see Bag Phone and Digger becoming regulars and Tobit and Olivander are definitely SOT regulars — great stuff!

    Speaking of Tobit and Olivander – the standoff between the two of them in the sled-pushing drill was classic.  3 minutes of pushing back and forth and I don’t think they moved more than a foot either way from where they started.  “We’ll call it a Draw”.

    Apparently Digger’s super strength is Indian Arm Wrestling.  He easily mowed down the PAX one by one without breaking a sweat.  Well done.

    Great effort and great fun this morning guys!

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • McRib comes out of retirement to defend his title…Oh, and 192 Burpees

    The allure of the HR Derby brought 23 willing participants to the ball field in the gloom this morning, including the man, the myth, the legend…Kevin (McRib) Bacon and 1 FNG.

    The PAX signed in (for BB purposes and for the batting order (but more on that later)) and formed up on in right field for COP to get loose, including:

    • SSHs
    • DQs
    • Cotton Pickers
    • Helicopters
    • Imperial Walkers

    Poles – Sprint from the foul pole to the left field foul pole, do 10 merkins, sprint back and plank up for instructions.

    Instructions were simple – 3 swings – over the fence = HR; everything else = out.  Outs result in 3 Burpees for the entire PAX.  HRs – the hitter gets to choose the exercise x10 for the PAX.  If anyone goes Tori Hunter (or EF Hutton) and robs a HR, the robber gets to choose the exercise.  On deck man jumps rope while waiting…game on!

    FNG-John led things off – 3 outs, 9 burpees…that combo would be repeated 20 out of the 23 times…OUCH!

    Thankfully, Handshake, McRib and Upchuck spared the PAX from the 3 outs – 9 burpee combo.  Handshake hit 1 HR and called for 10 merkins…prompting vocal THANKS from DK (and others).  McRib and Upchuck each hit 2 HRs – McRib called for 20 mountain climbers.  Upchuck had pity and called for 20 LBCs.

    Yep, 69 swings and 5 HRs…YIKES!  64 outs = 192 burpees – possibly a new records (?) for a 45-minute workout.

    Playoff between McRib and Upchuck – 1 swing a piece go until 1 guy homers and other doesn’t.  Three rounds.  Upchuck led off round 2 with a deep blast, but McRib answered in kind and then when back to back, leading off the 3rd round with another blast that Upchuck couldn’t match.

    McRib defends his 2017 Title and becomes the first back to back F3 HR Derby winner.

    COT, COR, NOR and YHC took us out with great thanks for the ability to have this group of brothers and friends that is willing to show up at the baseball field at 0530 and pretend (most of us) that we can still play and to be able to share this morning with my 2.0 (Redbird) and have some fun.

    Announcements:

    • HR Derby happened today…next one is 11 or 12 months away.  You will be warned.
    • July 4 Convergence at Tredegar

    NMS:

    Thanks for indulging me again with the HR Derby.  It was a blast.  Lots of hard hit balls, but we need to work on our launch angles and exit velocity as a collective PAX.  Not McRib or Upchuck though – those guys came to play. McRib even cleared two fences and put on  on the real softball field.  Well done sir…see you next year when you try to go back-to-back-to-back.

    Welcome Ovi (FNG-John).  You can blame Loose Goose for pumping you Pittsburgh roots and fandom for the name…I was trying to come up with a good Philly name but couldn’t.  Of course, on the drive home, I thought, “darn, should have called him Cheesesteak”… Oh well, Ovi is timely and painful for a Pitt fan.  Welcome brother.  Hope you come back out soon.

    Highlight (or lowlight?) of the day had to be Upchuck’s throwing the bat over the dugout and 3 rows up into the stands….no worries, he regrouped and absolutely tattooed the next 2 pitches out onto the track.  Bravo sir.

    I was contemplating taking points away from McRib who I think skipped Beast and Marv in the batting order and told Mulder he was on deck after him…or, maybe that was evil genius by McRib – force Beast and Marv to do about 100 more burpees before they get to hit and lower the chances of them hitting HRs…BRILLIANT.  I’ll lead-off next year!

    Great fun guys.  Thanks again for coming out.  IT was a blast.

    Until Saturday….No More Gumbo For You!

  • River Loop…Repeat

    3 SOJ natives (1 expat) and 1 Sheriff to keep order (although LIFO) started out the morning with some miles.  For the 3 natives, it was a flat out and back 2-mile loop down to the River and back to the Flag – do 20 SSHs and 20 LBC at the Flag and the REPEAT as many times as possible for 45 minutes.  YHC had to pull into pit-row after the first lap, but managed 2.5 for 5 miles.  I believe Splinter and Rosie may have gotten in a full 3…I lost sight of them.

    Rosco was not deterred when the PAX was gone.  He headed through Tarrington and up Ashwell Drive hill for a strong 4+ miles.

    COT, COR, NOR and YHC took us out.

    Announcements:

    • HR Derby is tomorrow.  Don’t go to NoToll…go to Huguenot Little League behind Robious Elementary School.  Bring a glove.
    • July 4 convergence at Tredegar…see pre-blast.

    Great run gents!  Great to have Splinter back in the motherland and great to have Rosco back out after being away in steamy Charleston.  Always good to run with (umm…after) Rosie.  He is looking strong and ready for the weekend race with Shakedown and maybe TYA (?).  You guys will kill it.

    See you at the derby tomorrow!

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • PRE-Blast: F3 HR Derby – Tuesday June 26 at HLL — No Workout at NOToll

    The F3 Mid-Summer Classic All-Star break, and related HR Derby, comes early this year.  YHC will be lobbing softballs and testing the PAX’s hand-eye coordination and seeing who can do their best Aaron Judge or Mike Trout impression next Tuesday at Huguenot Little League.

    Don’t post to NoToll because nobody will be there.  Instead, head to Huguenot Little League – 2801 Robious Crossing Drive, Midlothian, VA 23113.  Fields are right behind Robious Elementary School.

    Depending on numbers, we may skip the usual calisthenics and jump right into the competition, so get there early and get ready to swing out of your shoes and shag some fly balls.  Or, if you are EF Hutton, rob a HR and make the entire PAX do more Burpees.

  • Big Numbers at Timberwolf…Phonics is earning his SOJ frequent flyer miles

    11 warriors, including 1 FNG, posted to Timberwolf on this glorious morning.  With no name on the Q sheet, YHC took the reigns and led off the hot potato that went something like this:

    Mosey to the front parking lot for COP, including

    • DQs
    • Helicopters
    • Cotton Pickers
    • SSHs
    • Hillbillies (hop mandatory)
    • Tempo Merkins
    • Flutter Kicks

    THANG:

    4 Corners Prostitute Style

    • Corner 1 = 10 merkins
    • Corner 2 = 10 merkins, 20 jump-squats
    • Corner 3 = 10 merkins, 20 jump-squats, 30 2-ct Freddy Mercuries
    • Corner 4 = 10 merkins, 20 jump-squats, 30 2-ct Freddy Mercuries, 40 SSHs
    • Run the long sides; lunge the short sides, finish back in corner 1 planking for the six

    Plank-o-rama and Pickle-pounders (miss you Wilson!)

    YHC passed the Q to Mr. Roper (I would like this decision back) for the following:

    Bear crawl across the side grass patch to the light poles

    Lightpole 11s with WWIIs and BURPEES (yep, he called Burpees…ouch!)

    Partner carry lightpole to lightpole back to the starting point.

    Crab-walk across grass patch back to parking lot and sprint from Corner 3 back to Corner 1.

    Q passed to Flange for the following:

    Donkey-Kick 200 – partner up and complete 200 DKs together Dora-style taking turns running to the nearest lightpole and back.

    Merkin ROF – quite a variety show.  Lots of flare.

    Mary, including:

    • LBCs
    • Flutterkicks
    • Alabama Prom Dates (or Wedding Dates?)
    • American Hammers
    • Superman

    COT, COR, NOR and YHC took us out

    Announcements:

    • Field Day at Dogpile this Saturday – t-shirt from your youth has been requested.
    • Puppy Pile 6/23
    • Get in on the Summer Tour – Phonics, Vinny, Offshore and others are checking them off fast.
    • Amateur Hour (or 45 minutes) at RAMM Gears tomorrow
    • HR Derby coming up 6/26 at Robious Elementary/Huguenot Little League INSTEAD of No Toll.  Pre-blast forthcoming.

    Moleskin:

    Great to have double-digits at Timberwolf again.  First time in a while.  We learned that Roper is starting to like the power of the Q, and YHC apologizes (its all the rage these days) for passing it to him.  Those 11s sucked.

    Phonics is putting in the miles.  On the bright side, the SOJ customs folks recognize him now and waive him right through.  Thanks for coming out Phonics.

    Offshore also made the trek SOJ again – well done!

    Also, great to see Bag Phone back out after his virgin post yesterday.  Great job.

    Great to have FNG Superfly out with us.  Another wrestling buddy of Sugar Sock and Flange.  Getting close to our wrestler quota.  He crushed it today.

    Hot potato Qs are always challenging and today was no different.  Way to bring it fellas.

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • River Run Rollercoaster Sans the View

    7 road warriors broke the hold this morning and started their work week off with a few miles, up and down and up and down again…The River Downs Roller Coaster was the order of the day….well, for those of us on time.

    Vinny miscalculated the time it would take to make it through customs this morning and arrived a minute or so late – just enough time to catch a glimpse of Bleeder’s bright orange shirt, but not close enough to follow the scent.  Nonetheless, Vinny put in some lonely miles around the James River park.

    Rosie and DeVito took off like bandits and crushed the entire roller coaster.  Way to go guys.

    All in all, a great start to the week, and the sweat was rolling (and frankly, still is on YHC).  Great job guys!

    Have a great day!

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • Just Skipping through the field…

    A PAX of 4 gathered in the re-dawn gloom and shared a few minutes of fellowship before the clock struck 0530, EFH noticing YHC’s lack of gloves and sharing his excitement after doing “like 300 squats with KBs yesterday”…sorry brother, its LEGS and ABS day at Timberworlf #BeachBody.  It went something like this:

    Mosey down to the entrance to the school for Calisthenics up the hill — lunge to first light pole, butt-kickers to second, and high knees to third.

    COP, including SSHs, DQs, Helicopters, Cherry Pickers, Imperial Walkers, Arm Circles, LBCs and Flutter Kicks.

    THANG:

    11s – around the bus lot lightpole to lightpole with Jump Squats and box cutters.

    Mosey to the hill and field being the basketball courts.

    Doras – 150 1-ct Freddy Mercuries, 200 Dollies, 300 Rosalitas.  Other partner runs up the hill, does 10 Moses Malone’s on the fence and runs back.

    Field work:

    • Matriculate down the lower field by various means called by the Q.  Each time we change, first drop and do 20 LBCs OYO.  Methods included: lunges, bounders (i.e., “skipping” per Mr. Roper), side lunges, sprints
    • Up to the nice field for more – sprint to mid-field, do 20 2-ct mountain climbers and 20 2-ct Freddy Mercuries, then sprint to far endline.

    PLTs – partner up and do 4 rounds of 25 PLTs each for a cool 100 each.

    Mary – Mosey back to the parking area for Mary, including 2 rounds of ROF – hold six inches and when it is your turn do 20 1-ct American Hammers.  Then 20 Rocky Balboa situps IC.

    Finish with 3 Burpees OYO.

    COT, COR, NOR and YHC took us out.

    Announcements:

    • Puppy Pile 6/23 0705 – Sippy will kick it off.
    • Hardywood looking for a Listing Specialist – see him for details.  Let’s help him fill the position.
    • Mr. Roper is looking for interest in a Wednesday biking AO – considering Bon Air pool as a start/end location.  See him if you are interested.
    • Send-off for Flashdance and Fudd  — discussion about trying to get something on the calendar and Hardywood WEST was thrown out as a location…anybody want to take the lead or pick a date?  Flash/Fudd – any particular date or week that would work for you guys?

    NMS:

    Not much mumblechatter today, but we got some work done and Mr. Roper declared that he is now ready to break out his two-piece at the pool.  Kudos my friend!

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

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • Red vs Gray (and one stuck in the middle)

    7 SOJ regulars posted to Timberwolf this morning.  6 got the memo and split evenly, Red Shirts vs. Gray Shirts.  1 was LIFO (and extra LIFO to swap crocs for Brooks), and he came in wearing a blue shirt…odd man out.  Nonetheless, all 7 managed to work up a sweat doing the following:

    Mosey to the front parking lot for a Gumbo-led COP, including:

    • DQs
    • Helicopters
    • Cotton Pickers
    • Copperhead Squats
    • Imperial Walkers
    • Tempo Merkins
    • Box Cutters
    • Freddie Mercuries

    THE THANG:

    Mosey to the near corner of the parking lot for 4-corners:

    • Corner 1 = 10 merkins
    • Corner 2 = 20 Jump Squats
    • Corner 3 = 30 2-count mountain climbers
    • Corner 4 = 40 SSHs
    • Run from Corner to Corner stopping at each median/island for 3 burpees along the way.  6 medians in all, so 18 burpees along the way.  Add 1 more at the end for 19 total — punishment for VMI baseball’s 19-0 loss to Mercer in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament yesterday…OUCH!

    Aforementioned, LIFO (Mr. Roper), somehow didn’t see us in the front parking lot as he drove by, so after swapping footwear and running around the school, he came in from the East and joined the PAX in Corner #2.

    Gumbo passed the Q to Wilson

    Numbered Door Variety Show

    • Mosey to Door #21 for 21 merkins OYO
    • #20 for a wall sit while Gumbo did a 20 count
    • #19 for Homer to Marger (AKA Heels to Heaven)
    • #18 for Donkey Kicks
    • #17 for something YHC can’t remember, but I’m sure it hurt
    • #16 for Hello Dollies
    • #15 for Carolina Dry Docks

    Wilson passed the baton to Rosco…off to the track (YHC thinks Rosco was looking for the wooden benches for partner overhead presses, but thank goodness (for YHC’s shoulder) they were gone).

    Rosco’s Field Games

    • 20 Dips on the bleachers OYO
    • Mosey to the long-jump pit for tire flips — 2 tires (1 large, 1 medium) = 2 teams (Red (and Blue) vs. Grays) – flip the tires the length of the runway…TIE
    • Mosey to the track for 2 laps around the track
    • Back to the tires for another tire-flip race…switch tires…TIE again
    • Back to the track for Human sled drills and then sprint relays (about 75 yards)
    • Back to tires for another race – Bobber defected from the Gray Shirts to join the 40+ crowd of 5 men on the large tire vs Rosie and YHC on the medium tire…TIE again (questionable judging).

    Rosco passed the baton to Bobber for a Mosey back toward the flag and Mary

    Bobber’s Mary

    • 15 Merkins OYO
    • Crunchy Frogs (a Balzer company favorite apparently)
    • Monkey Humpers
    • Merkin ROF

    COT, COR, NOR and YHC took us out

    Announcements:

    • Convergence on Monday for Memorial Day – 0700-0800 at Tredegar/Brown’s Island.  Meet in the parking lot.  Bring a friend.  Plan for ET’s afterwards if you can. No other AOs in action Monday.
    • Opus takes on the big stage at Dogpile for his Dogpile VQ on Saturday – come out and support Opus.
    • NEW SOT at Midlo Middle is up and running.  LugNut (the original SOT Captain) laid  his ship to rest with a solo send-off yesterday — well don, sir.

    NMS:

    A great crew today at Timberwolf.  YHC personally was hoping to see Cougar Bait post again but it sounds like us old men put a whipping on him yesterday at SOT.  We must build out Bait’s stamina before we release him to the Cougars…looking forward to seeing you post again soon.

    The color scheme and numbers were all set for some triple-check team madness until Mr. Roper sauntered in LIFO.  But, no worries, we made do.

    Man oh man, that standing water on the edge of the field and track and the smell emanating from it instantly brought YHC back to muggy/muddy football practices.  Darn that stunk.

    YHC always enjoys Rosco’s feats of strength and mano a mano combat drills.  Today, YHC, was able to establish some leverage and use it to his benefit…I’m sure a rematch is in the plans for the near future.

    Great job today guys.  Take this energy into your day and make it great.

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • Up Iris…But Avoid Swirly’s Hole

    13 runners managed to conquer the uphill exit from Spider Run, via Fairway, Robin and Iris, and it appears that all managed to also avoid Swirly’s Hole.

    This was the first time, since Swirly found said hole on a RAMM run, that YHC has been on Iris.  It may not be Hillcrest or Twin Team, but that exit from Spider Run up to Three Chopt via Iris packs a punch, especially right out of the gate.  Nevertheless, the PAX crushed it and crushed the miles that followed today.  Great job everyone.

    Remainder of the route:

    • 4-milers: cross Three Chopt, immediate right on Henri (or the Bridgets parking lot) up to Grove, left on Grove to Libbie, Left on Libbie to Patterson, Left on Patterson to St. Christophers, Left on St. Christophers back to Three Chopt, but take a Right on the little access road that crosses Three Chopt and becomes Towana.  Towana to College, left at the campus entrance and immediate right onto Richmond Way, downhill past the Law School and football stadium and back to the Flag.
    • 5-milers: same as the 4 milers but stay on Grove until Oak.  Left on Oak to Patterson and back.
    • 6-milers: stay on Grove to Westmoreland, Left on Westmoreland to Patterson, Left on Patterson back to St. Christophers.  Instead of returning to the flag via Towana and College, stay straight across Three Chopt and return via Tapoan and Fairway.

    COT, COR, NOR and YHC took us out.

    Announcements:

    • SOT has a new AO – Midlothian Middle School – starting tomorrow.
    • Memorial Day Convergence – 0700 at Tredegar/Browns’ Island parking lot.  One hour, Hot Potato so post and bring an idea…in case Swirly actually passes the Q this time.
    • Ghost Flag will be up for grabs tomorrow at WDog.  Shakedown has the Q and is celebrating his 1-year F3 Anniversary.  Should be good times.
    • By the sounds of it, there is an epic little league battle brewing at Richmond Little League for this afternoon…all situational strategies should be sent to BT and Marv today for use tonight.

    NMS:

    • Bleeder got a head start, TYA got a late start, all returned unscathed…sweaty as hell, but unscathed.
    • Swiper fought with ideas of 6 miles but ultimately compromised by slaying the 5-mile route with a little navigational help from YHC — good thing you stayed vaguely within shouting distance.
    • Saab started on fire and finished on fire.
    • Grunt returned to F3 from a hiatus for that little inconvenience called college, and crushed five miles with his pops.  Great seeing you guys finish strong together.

    A pleasure running with you men this morning.  Have a great day!

    No More Gumbo for You!

  • PRE-BLAST: The NEW-Source of Truth…

    Men, starting this Wednesday, the Source of Truth can be found at Midlothian Middle School.

    NEW AO DETAILS — 13501 Midlothian Turnpike, Midlothian, VA 23113 (park in the parking lot up near Midlothian Turnpike in front of the tennis courts at the EAST end of the school.

    Rosie and I toured the AO this morning.  LOTS of possibilities for pain.  Come out and let’s rejuvenate SOT at this new location!