Author: Upchuck

  • SOJ in the House

    14 stallions, including a gaggle of SOJ guests, formed up before the crack of dawn in the latest edition of First Watch. Temperatures remained 70 and conditions sunny. According to the teenagers shaking off their slumber party, the following might have happened:

    COP

    Circle the campus, stopping per local custom for a burpee at each speed bump, to arrive in front of the main chapel. Senor Frog wins his first “find the puddle” competition.

    Dead Man Hang for the six.

    Brief intro. Welcome. Recap of our purpose. Like the rest of life, F3 is a “you vs. you” workout. The object is to push yourself, not hurt yourself, and push your individual boundaries in the process.

    Hillbillies
    Imperial Walkers
    SSHs, 4-count, x100

    Shake off the SSHs with a run to the light post across the street. YHC believes Senor Frog won his second “find the puddle” competition.

    Return to the front of the Church. Overhead stretch. Bring it down to the ankles. Down to Fudd’s Wife. Down to Wilson’s wife. Plank, and then into pigeon right, then pigeon left. Hand release merkins.

    Flip it over to reverse crunches, then flutter kicks, snow angels, inverted scorpion kicks, and what have you.

    Triple Check

    Dips or incline merkins (you vs. you), monkey humpers, run to the aforementioned light pole and back.

    Assorted abdominal exercises for the six.

    Mosey to the parking lot.

    Four Corners, Team Style. SOJ visitors lead a group of 3-5 guys. 10 merkins, 20 squats, 30 WWIIs, 40 SSHs. Small groups stay together.

    21s

    Group does 21 SSHs, 4-count. First 6 rounds are in cadence. Remaining 15 rounds are OYO. The catch is that if the group does not finish in unison, PAX does 5 burpees.

    Mosey to the Overflow Parking Lot

    Start at the first parking space. 5 HRMs, 5 squats, 5 v-ups. Run to the road and back, returning to the second parking space. Repeat the exercises. To keep the pace at each man’s tolerance (you vs. you workout), the PAX split between fast guys and ties (you vs. you selecting which applies). SOJ made a strong showing. Well done.

    Finish strong…AYG on the last half lap, then wrap with a last round of exercises.

    Names, numbers, Lockjaw took the cold call in stride and took us out with a message about patience.

    Announcements:

    Thanksgiving Convergence 06:00 at Munford Elementary. Mudslide will DJ.

    Breaking Bread full for the year. Nice work, fellas.

    Nominate a great dad facing a tough time by Friday.

    Prayers for some folks having challenges.

    NMS:

    Nice to see a bunch of SOJ visitors this morning. Thank you for making the long trip from RounTree (or RoundTree?) to First Watch. Way to set the pace, fellas. Nice work.

    Good to catch up at Coffeeteria. Thank you to those who shared your seats.

  • It’s a Route and a Lifestyle

    Eight bionic men assembled for the latest edition of Currahee. Temperatures were 70 and sunny. According to the other two guys who run from Currahee at 5:30, the following might have happened.

    Bro-Code, both a route and a style. Or, more specifically, reverse bro-code with, apparently, a missed turn. Who knows.

    Numbers, names, YHC took us out with a reminder that stress in life can produce unnecessary tension. When under stress, intentionally increase patience and understanding.

    NMS: Lulu was in full stride today, as was Wally, whose first name is actually William, but the nickname comes from his second name, Wallace. Ah. Last name, Parker. Fierce beasts all around.

    Good to have lots of guys back. Nice to see Handshake post at Currahee. New guys always welcome, eh Fudd?

  • Watership Down

    One jackrabbit launched in the pre-dawn Gloom for the latest edition of The Clinic, San Diego-style. Temperatures were 70 and sunny. According to Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig, and the other wild hares, the following hop-along might have happened.

    COP: jog from front entrance to putting green in the mist. Wave hello to the trailing security guard.

    SSHs, DQs, IWs, WWIIs, LBCs, squats, merkins.

    Route: Front 9, somewhere around 4,400 yards, according to the Apple app (course distance 3,400 yards).

    Rotation: merkins, squats, WWIIs, and flutter kicks (real ones: locked knees, pointed toes). Substitutes are monkey humpers and LBCs.

    Number, name, YHC took himself.

    NMS: YHC checked in late, after dark. No way to see the course in advance. Apparently, the course is hilly. Like, BRR hilly. Uphills starts at about hole 5, or roughly halfway through the run. Mamma-jamma. ~1,500 feet vertical, which is, apparently, a lot. Over about 1.5 miles. South Florida this was not. Welcome to the cliffs of San Diego. Memo to self – run the front 9 backwards.

  • Blue Water, Blue Angels

    One intrepid adventurer moseyed through the latest edition of The Clinic. Temperatures were 70 and sunny. According YHC’s daughter providing overwatch from the hotel balcony, the following might have happened:

    Route: Northbound on Va. Beach boardwalk (concrete walk) starting at about 23rd street, past Neptune, quick stop for the memorial to the Naked Warrior Monument, reverse at the Boardwalk end, then southbound past the start to somewhere prior to the pier. Call it 3 or so in total, which is YHC’s minimum for a “workout.”

    YHC blames Fudd for the short run. Well, “a Fudd” and the prior night’s pizza.

    Number, name, YHC took himself out with a little note of thanks to those who provide overwatch and air cover, whether civilian or military.

    Announcements:

    Saturday, we converge and celebrate 9 years.

    Saturday, we sit and sip.

    NMS: YHC was in Va. Beach with his daughter for some travel soccer this weekend. This excuse provided the opportunity to watch soccer and the Blue Angels simultaneously. YHC is not going to tell you which was of greater interest. If this is multi-tasking, YHC likes it.

  • Summer Tour (Shirts)

    7 Summer Tour finishers shared the podium to collect their Tie-Dye Trophies in the latest edition of First Watch. Conditions remained steady at 70 and sunny. According to the lone tomato running on South Ridge, the following might have happened.

    04:59 Grab a block

    04:59:05 Someone coughs extensively

    04:59:30 Someone has an ankle injury

    05:00:00 Let’s mosey

    05:00:05 Handshake announces he has a headache

    05:00:15 The Ghost of Gypsy recounts the famous First Watch words,”Is this an IR workout?”

    With that, we are off running (walking) with the blocks.

    05:10:00 PAX reaches the Smallest Park in Henrico for the COP

    COP

    SSHs. Some made it to 40, some to 30, some did their own thing.

    Lather, rinse, repeat for lots of stretching. Don Quixotes, Imperial Walkers, Hill-Billies.

    Set your block on the ground in the ready position.

    Do 20 little baby crunches.

    Set your block on end on the ground.

    Do 20 flutter kicks.

    05:15:00

    Slow mosey (walk/run, depending on health status) to Stop Sign, roughly 30 yards distance.

    05:20:00 Arrive at stop sign. 20 curls while waiting for car to pass.

    20 minutes of traveling COP. Carry block. Curls, block burpees, overhead presses, squats, etc., etc. Accelerate to your maximum speed.

    05:35:00

    Arrive at street sign. Run, with block, down hill, then uphill, then do 20 curls and 5 block burpees. Repeat this, alone, 3 times. Or, walk to the mailbox, and do the same, 3x.

    Stop after 2 rounds.

    Walk / Run with block back to the virtual shovel flag.

    05:43:00 – Stretching

    05:45:00 – Time

    Numbers, names, YHC took us out.

    Announcements:

    Best to those with parents dealing with health challenges, or kids looking at schools, or carrying other burdens.

    NMS: Headaches, ankles, lung challenges, etc., abounded today. But, a fresh, gorgeous, sparkling Summer Tour t-shirt cures all. Mine fits great. Thanks, HoneyDo, for your hard work on this. Great to see you today.

  • Fish Tales

    6 men of purpose united for an evening of suds and buds. Temperatures were 70 and sunny. According to the 17-year old evaluating the PAX’s driving skills, the following might have happened:

    The PAX assembled with 2 F’s in mind:

    2nd F: Beers with your buds;

    3rd F: The ante for attendance was bringing food for Feed More. Roughly 100 cans or can-equivalents raised, at least according to Handshake’s amortization curve, which itself is experiencing negative convexity.

  • East of the Hudson

    One man rose to see what the Left Bank of the Hudson had to offer in the latest edition of The Clinic. Temperatures were 70 and sunny. According to the dog taking a Fudd in the parking lot, the following quite possibly happened.

    Warm up: find a parking spot for 100 SSHs, imperial walkers, 20 hand-release merkins (which the dog found no bueno; apologies to the lady who got a workout holding Cujo back), 20 copperhead squats, and some assorted stretching).

    Loop the building plus a 4-pack of exercises. 10 merkins, sometimes incline, sometimes decline; 10 dips, 20 WWIIs, 20 reverse crunches. 2 rounds.

    Mosey over to the Homewood Suites parking lot. Loop that building a few times. Balls to the wall in the interim.

    Mosey to the parking garage. Run up 2 flights of stairs, then down the incline, then up 3 flights on the opposite corner. Perform this loop several times. Like his golf score, YHC loses track of the loops after a while.

    Return to base. Numberama, name-a-rama, YHC took himself out with a little request for some strength and a bit of patience.

    NMS: YHC is on the banks of the Hudson doing a bit of college prospecting with Veers, YHC’s 17 year old. Points of note: Canadian fires stink. Homewood Suites apparently has hoops courts and a putting green, while Residence Inn has a putting green and what appears to be a pickle ball court installed backwards (the kitchen is on the ends, not in the middle). Hitchhiker has been notified.

  • Splinter Says It’s Too Hot to Be Outside

    One man showed up for this week’s version of The Clinic. Temperatures were 70 and sunny. According to Splinter, the following might have happened:

    Run north to Broward. Announce self in The Gloom with a hearty “Good morning” to the guy setting up for the paid exercise class. Chuckle silently as he responds with, “Oh, shit. You scared the crap out of me!”

    Touch Broward Blvd. Reverso. 5 miles.

    Number, name, and YHC took himself out.

    NMS: YHC thought briefly that there might be a Clinic FNG this week. But, Splinter decided that an hour drive each way to experience the frying pan temperatures and sauna-level humidity was a crazy idea. No argument. The Clinic is not for tourists, convention goers, or travelers. Or, put another way, The Clinic in July is a Beast. Heat Index was 92 at 4:52 a.m., likely cooling off to 91 by game time at 5:00 a.m. And, no, it’s not a dry heat.

  • The Clinic Meets When I Say It Meets

    One met to run. Temperatures were 70 and sunny. According to the time card on YHC’s office building, the following likely happened.

    Out. Back. Roughly 5 miles.

    NMS: Chatted with Omar for about 20 minutes. At some point, YHC is going to bring coffee. Prayers requested for people going through things. The names were changed to protect the innocent.

  • I Pulled Down All of the Spider Webs for You

    5 dudes, some shirted, some shirtless, took on the post-dawn Gloom. Temperatures were 70 and sunny with a dash of humidity. According to the goddess running with her pooch, the following might have happened:

    Route: North Bank to T-Pottersfield to Buttermilk. Some dudes did Belle Isle to railroad road.

    Numbers, names, and announcements at ETs.

    Announcements:

    Not many announcements except Pickleball and Convergence.

    NMS: Oral arguments focused on the Supreme Court. The panel was divided, with each party writing their own Opinions. Some lady showed up talking in country music song lyrics. She made the most sense of anyone.