Author: Pucker

  • Breaking Bread – Thanksgiving Saturday

    Many thanks to Upchuck for organizing this opportunity to help others!

    YHC cooked a hot lasagna meal for 8 folks at Breaking Bread on Saturday 11/27. The meal included Caesar salad, lots of bread, cookies and pie for dessert and a few options for drinks. Per Upchuck’s sage advice I did not opt to bring a Turkey meal!

    While we are not currently allowed into the building to help serve, it was a great way to help others who need it. My son helped me prepare the meal which provided us some time together.

  • Schools Out – Anyone There?

    The PAX emerged out of the gloom to gather for 45MOM. As they arrived, each PAX member was not certain they had the right day or time as the recently well-lit parking lot was completely empty. We can attribute that to either courtesy on PAX’s part or misunderstanding of the ever changing parking rules. To make it less stressful, there is no school today (or this week) in RPS. Nonetheless, 6 did emerge from the gloom to take on a hot potato Q (with TYA running patrols around the neighborhood).

    COP – Pucker kicked us off with some SSHs, Don Quixotes, Russian Soldiers, Arm Circles and Flutter Kicks.

    PAX then proceeded to the field where Pucker set them up with old fashioned 45MOM 11s. OYO run to each of the 11 trees and perform a set of exercises. Round 1 was 5 Merkins, Round 2 was 5 Copperhead Squats, Round 3 was 10 LBCs and Round 4 was 3 Lt Dans. Pucker passed the Q to Hitch.

    Hitch called 4 corners on the tennis courts. Round 1 – Run 1.25 laps around the courts to next corner and do 10 Merkins, 10 Squats, 10 SSHs, 10 WWIIs. 20 Partner Leg Tosses for a rest. Round 2 – repeat same but 20 of each exercise. Hitch then passed the Q to Last Time.

    Mosey to pull up bars and do a triple check. Dips on the bench, pullups while 3rd man runs to fence and back. Last Time threw the Q to Garbage Plate for the last few minutes.

    GP had PAX pair up and one partner did wall sits while other did Hand Release Merkins, escalating in number by 2 each time you switch

    Back to the flag, numberama, name-arama and GP took us out

    Reminder of Friday after Thanksgiving run/bike/walk in Forest Hill Park. Meet at Pavilion #1 starting at 7 group will do loop starting on each hour and do as many as you can/want.

  • It’s the Humidity

    COP – SSH, DQs, Russian Soldiers, Helicopters, Merkins

    Pair up – run up Lindsay Court while partner bear crawls, lunges, bear crawl burpee (ask Last Call)

    Triple Check on West Drive Circle – Flutter kicks, Squats, run the circle

    Triple Check #2 at TES parking lot – lunges, LBCs, Bernie Sanders to fence and run back

    Mini-Dora – 50 Merkins, 100 Squats, 150 two count LBCs while partner run the loop

    Finish with 1 minute wall sit. Numberama, Namerama.

    Welcome Ripcord to Hoedown!

  • Pea Soup For All

    While it was reported to be an extra muggy morning, it was actually 70 and sunny as always.

    A smaller group launched at the standard time and ran 4 or 5+ miles. Group ran across Commonwealth, down Monument and turned at the appropriate point and returned up Grove.

    A larger group continued their prep for the BRR with an earlier start and knocking out 8+ mile runs. Good work!

    RAMM Gears posted as well – if I missed anyone please let me know.

  • Time Enough for a Quadruple Check

    15 Strong arrived on time (mostly) to get their week off to a strong start. Here’s how it went down.

    COP: Dead Man’s Hang, Don Quixotes x10, Imperial Walkers x20, SSH x20 and some LBCs x20.

    Mosey to the church parking lot where the coupons are stored. Each pax grab a coupon (we ended up 3 short but made do). Mosey to business park lot next door and pair up. Each partner lunges L & R then performs an exercise and repeats until meeting partner in the middle. Do 2 Booyahs Merkins then return same way you came. First round was Block Burpee, Second round was 3 WWIIs with block, third round was 3 Block curls then finish with the Block Burpee again. Enough with the coupons, returned them to their resting place.

    Mosey to Church parking lot for a variant of 4 corners with a partner. Partner 1 runs while Partner 2 does an exercise. After both have run, run together to next corner, etc. First corner was Carolina Dry Docks, second corner was LBCs, third corner was copperhead squats and fourth was SSH. Pax finished quickly so we repeated this circuit twice.

    Mosey to lot behind church for triple check. Wall sits, flutter kicks and Bernie Sanders out to end of lot then run back. We ended up doing 4 rounds thus our backblast title. YHC wanted to know what time it was (not having a watch) and was told “just after 6”. Plenty of time to add a fourth round which elicited some grumbling from the pax (“wrong answer – it should have been 6:12”).

    Mosey back to flag for some LBCs and APBs to wrap up. Numberama, Namerama. Good start to the week. Thanks for letting me lead!

  • Ski Season Prep

    11 strong gathered in the gloom for a workout to start the week. Here’s how it went down…

    COP: Mosey to the front of the school to start with Dead Men’s Hang, SSH, Don Quixote, Russian Soldiers and finally some box cutters.

    We moseyed behind the school to the playground on the upper field for a Dora. Partner up. One partner does the exercises while other partner runs to school and does 10 donkey kicks and returns. Exercises were 100 incline Merkins, 200 (full count, 2 count, 4 count depending on who you ask) LBCs and 300 SSH.

    Mosey to upper blacktop for Triple Check. Exercises were copper head squats, flutter kicks and run to fence at end of blacktop and back. Three rounds.

    Next up we moseyed to teacher’s lot, partnered up with one partner doing Lt Dans while other partner runs the sides of the lot – backwards on short side, shuffle to right on long side, then forwards on other short side and shuffle to left on other long side. Switch and do 5 rounds.

    We found we still had some time left so we moseyed to the main parking lot, partnered up and had one partner doing reverse crunches while the other partner ran up to the paved hill, then Bernie Sanders up the hill and run back. We did this until near full time then moseyed back to the flag and did one round of ring of fire of 10 Merkins each. Times up.

    Wasn’t sure what to title this workout until UpChuck asked if I was prepping for ski season given all the lunges and squats. Seems appropriate as it is that time of year. Upchuck suggested we buy 5 acres of land at a posh Colorado resort for a cheap $895K (at 1990s prices) and start F3 Rockies. I can pitch in $100 to that!

    Congratulations and good luck tomorrow for Bacon Bits whose wife is scheduled to have their second baby! Also good luck to Water Wings child who is having adenoid surgery on Wednesday I believe. Finally, good luck to Water Wings who is completing 1000 miles run in 2020 – only 35 miles left to go!

  • Backblast Musical Chairs

    6 Strong gathered in the gloom on a warm morning (tho there was a breeze!)

    It was another hot potato Q for 45MOM and Swirly got us started off. Warmup included SSHs / Don Quixotes / Dead Man Hang / Imperial Walkers / Merkins / FlutterKicks

    Mosey to side of school for a triple check with one man doing Abyss Merkins on the benches, one doing WWIIs and one bear crawling to the street and back.

    Swirly flipped the Q to Hitch who took us up to the corner of the track for a Dora. Each team did 100 Merkins, 200 Squats and 300 SSHs – one partner doing the exercise, one runs to the pullup bars, does 3 pullup and run back.

    Hitch flipped the Q to Probation who took us to the blacktop for four corners. Start out with 10 Burpees, then 20 Merkins, 30 LBCs and finish with 40 two count Mountain Climbers.

    Q flipped to Handshake who moseyed over to the pullup bars for a few rounds of pullups and dips. One group did 5 pullups while others did dips, then switch and go around 3 times.

    Handshake flipped Q to YHC with 10 minutes left so we moseyed back to blacktop for a couple of rounds of tracers on the tennis courts – forwards, karaoke, backwards at each net.

    Finally we moseyed back to the flag to finish with a ring of fire of Merkins. 5 each of your own choice, two rounds.

    We nearly completed a total hot potato Q but came up short before YHC could flip it to the final pax member BT. Hot potato workouts always becomes a game of who’s still standing with no chair when the music ends. YHC took the Q with less than 10 minutes left and it didn’t feel right to pass it on with only 2 minutes left.

  • Reverse (Reverse) Carillon

    18 strong arrived and departed RAMM for their desired morning exercise.

    Long & Short run – all head East on Grove. Four milers cut thru Carytown past City Stadium and back thru to Windsor Farms MM. Five milers all the way down Boulevard to the Carillon and back thru Windsor Farms. Not sure where six milers got the extra mile.

    Cyclists – everywhere for 45 minutes.

    Many variations occurred today as we all looked at the group at the start to see who’d take charge. The group consensus was the Reverse Carillon – or Reverse Reverse Carillon. Or maybe the Carillon. In any case, the Carillon is involved. YHC was the sole 4 miler picking my way through Carytown and by City Stadium. Hardywood and Bone Thugs peeled off to TJ HS to do some bare foot sprints on the football field. Nice work!

    Swirly submitted and approved his own vacation request – enjoy the week Swirly!

    Have a great weekend all!

  • Particle Collision Avoidance

    7 Warriors posted for their pre-nap daily workout. As has been common lately there wasn’t a Q signed up so hot potato ensued.

    COP: 25xSSH, 15XDQ, 15XRussian Soldiers, 15XBox Cutter, 10XHeels to Heaven

    Mosey to Elementary School for a couple of rounds of four corners:

    Round 1: Run backwards the long sides, lunges on short sides, 10 burpees, 20 merkins, 30 jump squats and 40 2 count mountain climbers.

    Round 2: Run backwards the long sides, lunges on short sides, 10 WWIIs, 20 Carolina Dry Docks, 30 SSH and 40 2 count butt kickers.

    Q was taken by Attila which we quickly learned was our mistake. Mosey up to upper blacktop for 1 minute alternating exercisesd for 12 total minutes. 1 minutes burpees then 1 minute donkey kicks repeat 6 times. There was much rejoicing.

    Q handed back to Pucker and mosey to side of middle school for some catch me if you can. Confusion ensued based on a (valid) suggestion to keep appropriate social distancing and avoid general particle collisions by running too close together. PAX did get some more backwards running and jump squats in.

    Mosey back to flag. Ring of fire with 10 merkins each, with each PAX member doing his own variety of merkins. Then finished with 20 2 count mountain climbers.

    We enjoy these morning workouts and hope to be able to continue to do so. A special prayer today for a friend’s 19 year old daughter who was diagnosed with Sarcoma and is going through chemo the past few weeks. Thoughts are with all PAX in these interesting times.

    Peace out.

  • Foggy Hot Potato

    7 figures emerged from the early fog to gather for a much needed workout to find there was no Q signed up. Handshake quickly took charge and got the group warmed up in front of the school.

    Improvising with what was available, Handshake had the group pair up for Catch Me If You Can with one person bear crawling around a circle of cones while the other did 10 Merkins then ran to his buddy. Another round with 20 WWII situps.

    Mosey to Pemberton Elementary where again Handshake improvised quite well finding a stack of bricks. Each person grabbed two bricks and we did Merkins on the bricks then stood up and did presses overhead with the bricks. x1 Merkin/x4 OH Presses, x2/x8, x3/x12, x4/x16, x5/x20 and back down again.

    Pucker took the Q and moseyed down to main MS parking lot for a variation of 11s. Using bus spaces, group OYO ran 3 spaces and did an exercise to one end of lot and back. 3 Copper Head Squats, then 10 LBCS and 10 2 count Flutterkicks at each stop.

    Mosey to Blacktop behind MS for triple check. Actually did 4 rounds – Wall sit, LBCs and run backwards. Mosey back to flag for several ab exercises (Hello Dollys [?], Alabama Prom Dates and Flutterkicks).

    FNG Frankie (came with Byproduct) shared his story and wearing a Steelers sweatshirt and professing his love of Pittsburgh was dubbed “Cleveland”. Welcome Cleveland.