DMZ Take 22
I’m still confused as to why 22 seemingly respectable and rational men where waiting in the parking lot when I rolled in through the gloom this morning. Seemed like more people should have been spending the morning in a warm bed but what do I know?
Also, there were 22 of you, which is a lot, but only like 3.5 cars in the lot. That’s also confusing, DMZ
What no one realized when launching, including myself, is that we would need every last pax for our cameo appearance in the new promotional video for Carmel Pres. Upon arriving unannounced in the parking lot we discovered an abnormal level of activity for that particular hour on a Monday. Maybe just an ill conceived location for questionable activities? We were warm, so minimal COP needed. Rounding the building we discovered the a-talent housed in a veritable crowd of schmancy RVs. We tried pillaging the accompanying food truck, we just wanted to warm ourselves, and were served zero. Oh well, content with elevating the fitness level of whatever production was happening we performed a few more flybys amidst our rotating partner run/called sets. We finished with 11s, burpees and squats and then moseyed through launch for some more fun (wall sits, foot races and such). At the end of the day, we really were stars of the show.
Thanks to all 22 of you who posted, always a pleasure leading the DMZ crowd and coming out of newborn induced relative hiatus it was nice to take the helm. I had no phone this morning, so our movie credits will roll anonymously.
man in neon yellow shirt with beanie and gloves #1
Man in neon yellow shirt with beanie and gloves #2
man in neon orange shirt with beanie and gloves #1
man in black #s 1-19
man in tights #1
How About a Staring Contest!?
11 pax locked horns with a burpee mile and then awkwardly locked eyes with one another with a workout filled with all kinds of special little treats. See below:
Warm up:
It was chilly so the DiCCS was a bit shorter than normal. Put it away, started the clock, and off we went.
Hot Lap/SSH/Hamstring Stretch/Jimmy Dugan/Merkins
Thang:
Modified Burpee Mile: Pole to Pole on the path towards Transporter’s Banjo’s Office is exactly .25 miles. So…we did a burpee mile. 7 burpees up top/7 in middle/7 at end/7 middle/7 top/7 middle/7 bottom/1 back at the top. Recalculating and Zin got in some extra work by doing 7 again back at the top. Worked out okay as Recalc still owed his 51 burpees from last Friday. Air Drop owned this portion of the work out with a really strong push from the rest of the crew.
Over to the most forgotten alcove we used to use all the time for a new little thing I called “Ski School”. YHC has a ski trip coming up. Need those strong quads to handle the steeps of the Wasatch Range. So, we did a little isolated muscle group leg work. Half of pax on one wall and the other half opposite. Awkward eye contact required.
1 minute wall sit
It was during this wall sit a discussion broke out regarding when the last time someone defecated in their pants. Zin claimed a 9 year clean streak, Air Drop said his last “oops, I s#it my pants” moment came during one of his first training sessions in the military. When you gotta go, you gotta go. A shart is one thing, but a full on escape is a horse of a different color. You really push and keep going. And because of that admission and your pride surrounding it, Zinfandel and I are proud to make you an Honorary Site Q of Floater #87. Oh yeah, back to ski school. It went like this:
50 pulse squats
25 Bobby Hurley’s
50 pulse squats
1 minute wall sit
Jump Squat competition. Losers plank until contest concludes and winner avoids 25 additional pulse squats. Air Drop kept his pants clean and won this one as well.
Mosey to front of school. Posse knew what was coming as soon as I told Doughboy he’d like it. A little “Dock Webb”.
1 Dry Dock and 4 Bear Crawls. 2/8, 3/12, etc…up to 10/40. YHC needed a brief pause at 7. Zinfandel aka Running Bear aka Trash Panda Extraordinaire was at least 40 body lengths ahead of the rest of us growling “Let’s get this over with”. We did 7 and then 8. YHC was toast. Thankfully, a Foley van drove right down our path forcing us out of the way. Mini break over, finish up the 10/40. Jog back to COT. Mary.
Hammers/Muffin Crunchers (side sit ups)/Flutters/LBCs and done
Skin:
Today was fun. YHC hopes the pax enjoyed the workout. It’s really cool to do something a little different and have everybody buy into it. Not sure of today’s mileage total, but I can’t imagine it was much north of 2. Regardless, I hope it was well worth the hour(s) of sleep you traded it for.
Chainsaw and Draper did an outstanding job. Posse pushed it like always. Jingles more than held his own on the Jump Squat challenge. Kudos to you man, those bells were jingling indeed. Speaking of that portion of the workout, Wedding Singer was my staring partner. I learned two things. One, he’s a wall sit master, and 2, he crushed me at the awkward eye contact/staring contest. If you think you can beat him, think again. Doughboy didn’t comment on the bear crawls. That was my way of paying you back for all yours!!! Recalc’s got that “More Mature” Man Strength. With each passing year, he gets faster and faster. Shout out to Zin for his personal transformation. You sir, are a testament to what a man can do if he puts his mind to it and leaves it all out there in the gloom. Rockwell had the line of the day. “Recalc, it’s like you were 49 for 2 years and 50 for 6 months.” We all kinda thought the same thing, Rockwell. Oh, and Air Drop…keep showing up man. Love having a rabbit out front like that. I’ll catch you next time!
Have a great day all.
Announcements:
Joe Davis March 9th- See Posse
Mark This Moment Daddy Daughter Dance March 1st- See Fuse
Time to Rock & Roll at Ignition
9 Pax joined came out to Ignition and got used to carrying some rocks around campus.
Warmup:
Grab a “running” rock from pile. Chatter starting already that pax afraid it will be like crossing the Delaware River as we heard Deadwood’s Q included Saturday. But low and behold everyone stayed dry.
With rock in hand continue to mosey down concrete pathway towards HS parking lot. Along the way alternate with rock in right, left, and both hands doing shoulder press.
Once in parking lot put rocks down and line up along line. Do multiple running warmups back and forth. Unfortunately, just did not feel right to do A or B skips without Brat in attendance, so those were saved for another day.
Thang:
Stacked 4 Corners:
Run to corner 1 do exercise, return to start. Run to corner 1 do exercise, run to corner 2 do exercise, return to start….
Start: 10 Merkins
Corner 1: 20 Squats
Corner 2: 30 Mt Climbers (15/leg)
Corner 3: 40 Curls w/ Rock
Corner 4: 50 LBC
Upon completion. Get with group and do burpee indian run to all are completed. Once all completed everyone grab a rock and burpee indian run around parking lot. Upon running to front Pax at front hold rock over head until next Pax arrives. Continue to 2 circles by Football Stadium
Partner Rock Run:
Partner Up and P1 run one way around circle w/ rock over head. P2 run to bottom circle and around. When meet partner complete 5 hand slap merkins. Trade rock and continue. Complete 5 rounds
Once complete Rock Burpee Run to Transporter Shed – Wall Sit and 20 x Jabs IC
Once complete mosey with rock up concrete path to 2nd light from COT lot.
Curl/Tyson Suicide Run:
All pax walk and do curls to next light with rock. Drop Rock and run to Transporter’s Shed and do 100 5 x Mike Tysons (This was not Recalc/Hooch’s AMRAP). Return to rock and repeat – curl to next light and run to Transporter Shed…
Moleskin:
- Great work from all. As we were getting close to 5:15 YHC and Hollywood surprised by high # of attendees for Ignition. Not sure if due to Hollywood not Qing or YHC Qing and expecting low mileage. Either way it worked.
- Hollywood decided to get the excavator out for his running rock this morning. Still was not large enough to drag him back to the 6
- Bottlecap put in the work and did best Big10/Longhorn impression of leaving before Name O Rama
- Deadwood nipping on the heels of Hollywood/BC for lead. Was thinking about jumping ship to Moneyball Q when initally saying YHC plan was to set all time mileage low at Ignition. Appeared to appreciate staying on as he completed 5.7 miles today.
- Fuse making 2nd straight trip out to Ignition. Was promised if he continues to come out he will have opportunity to spend quality time with Gisele…Unfortunately we fused it and meant spending time with Gazelle. Oops our bad.
- Deflated – leading the mumble chatter all day, unfortunately none of us were able to hear it
- Banjo – strumming along all day until end when it was time to see a man about a horse. With dilemma of being accused of Hooching it, we decided to head back to COT. Luckily he was able to complete his duty and make it back to us in time for Name O Rama
- Rubbermaid continues to push the mileage every week and unfortunately appeared to be upset with YHC decision to take cliff notes from Q school and stacking exercises and doing a burpee/overhead rock/indian run
- Gerber – appears to have called Jiffy Hip and is fully healed andback at it and quickly moving up through the ranks
A washed up QB goes back to school
Twas a chilly Saturday morning that 8 PAX decided to brave in order to learn the ABC’s of being a Q from two of the original fellas: Posse and Moneyball. Despite the breathtaking cold, we were fortunate enough to gain twice the knowledge through a do-it-yourself, hands on workshop.
The Warm Up:
Stretch on our own: learn all about the disclaimer to be given. Review safety concerns (two phones are one, one phone is none). Assume no car or bus can see you. Be aware of your surroundings at all time.
Circle Up:
- 40 SSH IC – Each PAX take 5 and lead in cadence. Stress voice change for final count
- Discuss the importance/ability to control difficulty with speed and pace
- break down of Imperial Walkers and a good way to keep count from MB
- What’s a warmup circle without the obligatory Merkins?
The Thang:
- Let’s mosey over to the stairs heading to the main entrance at Cuth. middle where we partnered up. Legalized and I did the dance: One did LBCs while the other dashed up the stairs to the door and back down to tag out like Axe and Smash used to back in the day
- Indian Run over to the rows of benches where we partnered up with ‘opposites’. One PAX does dips while the other sprints up to the school doors and back. Exercise concludes with 300 combined triceps movements
- While waiting for and discussing the importance of the SIX, we gathered round and took turns calling out various Mary’s which included Flutter kicks, Bicycle kicks and a couple others that will hopefully be easier to remember by name with time
- Workout Qs stressed the importance of stacking workouts to focus on a set of muscles. MB demonstrated by leading us in alternating between squats and lunges (2 squats with 4 lunges, 4 with 8, etc.)
- Mosey over to wide open spaces of the parking lot. Posse explained the benefit of incorporating multiple exercises using the 4 corner or starfish formation. On this day we went with 4 corners picked by the eager students. Plank Jacks, Lunges, Mountain Climbers and Squats were entrees for this meal
- Mosey to grass, take two knees (Dancing bear felt right at home). Posse explained Jack Webbs and we paired them up with air presses to hit the shoulders the way MB hit our legs (2 & 4, 4 & 8, etc.)
- Lt. Dans are explained and paired with jump squats and more lunges
- Mosey back towards base camp. Pause for some triple nickel work. Jail break back to the start
- Early arrival back. Each PAX got to call out an exercise to go through the process of announcing it properly, giving proper instruction and showing correct form.
- Circle up: In place of prayer, Posse took us home with Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” speech/quote
The Moleskin:
Appreciate MB and Posse taking the time to go through the motions and to make a decent workout in the process out of it. Counting in cadence and giving instruction is not as easy as workout Qs make it look. It’s going to take some time to learn the names for the various individual exercises. Concerned in the moment of my ability to avoid the temptation of blurting out ‘pushups!’ or the actual name for a movement. Although, Merkins are prob one of the ones I have engraved into collective memory.
Final Thoughts:
As I told Dancing Bear during the workout and his wife on Saturday night – Care Bear is better looking and runs faster than his old man. He also has a better eye and feel for NFL QBs.
Enjoyed partnering up with Legalized. Although we’ve attended the same workouts before, had yet to work together.
Appreciate the ride to and from Fuse. Same to all of the Briarcrest brothers, good looking out as always. Further cementing how much cooler we all are than the Lawsonites.
Welcome Deliverence.
Due to end of 2018 and 2019 schedule, it is impossible for me to make workouts during the week. It’s good to know that even after a couple months away you all welcome me back with open arms.
I feel badly that I most likely won’t be able to experience my fellow PAX losing their V cards, know that I wish I could be there to show the support that I know you all will show me someday. Regardless of how little of it I deserve.
Damn it Deadwood!!
For some reason when Pax hear “Deadwood is on Q” their hair stands up on the back of theie neck as if they have heard nails on a chalk board…some Pax. I think its mainly because you really never know what your going to get. The only thing that is a constant is the running. Not today…
Warmup:
1 mile slow mosey. Down the gravel trail, past the club house back around to the school parking lot.
I’m not sure when Bottlecapp arrived, I think he came in Jingles hot, but I could hear him talking as we were a little ways down the gravel trail. I kept the pace as slow as humanly possible, without walking, with hopes of suppressing the anger of the pax due to the long warmup run. Then I hear from the Coke man himself, This IS NOT pursuit! Nope, according to Garmin, we only hit about 3.3 miles.
Circle up!
10 SSH IC
10 Crab Cakes
5 Regular Merkins,
5 Wide Merkins,
5 Wider Merkins,
5 Diamond Merknis,
6″ plank hold
Single leg toe plank, raise knee 2″ and hold – flapjack – Banjo was volunteered to show us all proper form on this move and what 2″ really looks like.
The Thang:
Black Jack that quickly turned into 11’s.
Did someone say AUDIBLE!
10 Pullups – 1 Merkin 9-2, 8-3, ect. –
Partner up. P1 assists P2 with pull-ups – flapjack. Once complete both partners do merkins. The goal here was for all pax to get all the pull-up reps. The partner holding the feet probably got a pretty good bicep work out as well.
To look at those arms on Bottlecap, you would never think the guy could many pull-ups but he killed them!! I had to help some but not much, nice work! We know who actually did the pull-up challenge! I didnt see how the other pax did but from what I could hear they need, myself included, to do more pull-ups. Exercise completed, lets Mosey
Mosey to circle near the baseball fields:
Failure to Launch:
All pax hold Lt. Dan and on jump we all jump and go right back into Lt. Dan. We did this until we couldn’t launch. Lets Mosey! Pretty hard getting the legs moving after failure to launch but I picked up the pace a bit on this mosey.
We took off down the gravel road towards the clubhouse once again. Banjo and myself arrived and married for a few mins…6 is in.
7’s – Splinter Master and LBC
Zinfandel had this awesome idea of adding a bomb jack to the end of the mater splinter… we call it the splinter master. A burpee with a hand release merkin, with shoulder taps, then up for a bomb jack…thats 1.
Start at one side of the parking lot, 1 LBC, bear crawl to the other curb (maybe 40-50′) 6 Splinter Masters, run back. 2 LBC, BC, 5 SM’s….
This was a complete smoker!! I’m pretty sure I didn’t complete all the SM’s. Bottlecap and Tupperware were the top finishers. The jury is still out if Tupperware was doing the entire SM. Zin pulled ahead of me and we were killing it but I think Tupperware lapped us… you tell me??
We all finished and I felt half dead. Lets mosey! We headed towards the covered bridge and stopped at the intersection. Lets get in some running!
Long Suicide:
Headed back to the school there were to side roads along the way and then an intersection that we will call road 3.
Run to 1 road do 1 merkin, run back to intersection do 1 merkin. Run to road 2 do 2 merkins, run back to intersection do 2 merkins, AUDIBLE AUDIBLE… The plan was to run to road 3 do 3 merkins and run back to the starting point.
We were running out time and some of the pax were falling behind on the run, plus I had a few more items on the weinke I had to get to! Hold at road 3 for 6. Marry for a min. 6 is in, let’s mosey! Head back to circle near the baseball field and circle up!
Circle Burp:
YHC yells 1, all pax do a burpee with one merkin. Next pax yells 2, all pax do a burpee with 2 merkins… This continue all the way around to the 15th person. Total 15 burpees and 120 pushups. Im hurting today! Time for one more!
Circle of Pain:
Still circled up, each pax calls out an exercise while they run around the circle. 45 secs to go we recovered and AYG back for name o roma. DONE!
The Moleskin:
I would like to welcome Deliverance to the group! You did very well for your first work out and I hope to see you back out!
On the opening mosey YHC decided to take us off road in hopes of cutting down the run by a few feet as we approached the school. I was just looking out for all the pax, I swear! It slipped my mind that it had been raining a day or two before. There were only a few pax that actually followed the “light” down the hill and the other, wiser, pax stayed on the road and ran around. As I crossed the 1′ ditch I yelled “water” but it was too late. I think Recalculating was the first pax to hit the water about 15′ before he even got to the ditch. DAMN IT DEADWOOD followed by a few other words from him and about 4-5 other pax. Chainsaw lit into me… DAMN IT PHILLIP! You know he’s mad when he calls me by my birth name at a post! LMAO. May I add it was about 26-27 degrees as well!! Coffee is on me!
All the pax killed it today and left everything in the gloom. Its an honor to lead all you men! Until next time….
Announcements:
Casino night at B and C – The Don of Briarcrest didn’t show.
Stayed tuned for more Q Source info…
Our Lady, Full of Grace
Seven Pax including 1 FNG came out for some grace on a chilly Saturday
The Thang:
Warmup lap
COP: Merkins, SSHs, IWs etc.
Run west on McKee to South Hall neighborhood; snake through to Lady Grace, stopping for several pain stations along the way
Sevens w/merkins and squats between speed bumps on hill
Continue on to Providence Spring Elementary; 10 dips, 20 step-ups
Return back to Providence, south to apartment complex. Run around perimeter, stopping for merkins at each speed bump. Exit at McKee, return to base.
COT
Moleskine
- Due to the cold temps this morning, figured it would be a good idea to keep us moving, and we did just that – for 4.8 miles
- Somehow Joker (LIFO) picked up on the pre-email and followed some breadcrumbs to find us in South Hall
- You are now all officially blessed and full of grace. Our Lady took care of us this morning, as she always does.
- First time to Providence Spring Elementary. Lots of opportunity on that campus – I think we will be back.
- Welcome FNG “Honey Do”! Hope to see you back out again soon.
- Enjoyed the opportunity to Q – thanks Abacus
You think you’re too cool for [Q] School…
Zoolander and Hansel were both #noposts, but that is probably because it was a dark and crisp 26° this morning when we arrived for Q School, lead by great Posse and Moneyball. Some of us were still sore from yesterday’s AMRAP and groaned about Mike Tysons and Derkins, but we know we loved it. So we started with a lot of talk about DiCCs and general safety before we finally got a chance to move around and try to warm up a bit. The rest of our time together, went a little something like this:
Walk Off
- Moseyed to the front of the school.
- Took turns showing how bad we are at counting to four in rhythm to SSHs.
- Talked to about and demonstrated controlling difficulty with speed.
- Did some Imperial Walkers.
- Did some good old fashioned Merkins.
Derelicte
- Moseyed over to our favorite set of stairs where we partnered up. One person did LBCs while the other sprinted up the stairs down to the doors and back, where they would switch with their buddy.
- Indian Run (With a Burpee) over to the benches. It’s nice to feel like we finally have these things figured out.
- Partnered up again to do 300 dips while one person ran to the school doors and back.
- Several of us got to call out Mary’s which included Flutter Kicks, Bicycle Kicks, and a few others.
- After recovering, we were instructed about pairing exercises together to really work a particular set of muscles. Moneyball demonstrated this by making us alternate between thirty Squats, and another leg working exercise like Low Slow Squats and others.
- After a few iterations of this we got his point and Moseyed over to the jumbo lot where Posse explained chaining exercises together using formations like Four Corners and Starfish. Our sampling including Plank Jacks, Lunges, Mountain Climbers, and Squats.
- Posse explained Jack Webbs with Merkins/Air Presses.
- Moneyball explained Lt Dans with Jump Squats/Lunges.
- From there we started to head back and did a Triple Nickel, followed by a Jail Break back to base.
- Got back with seven minutes to spare so each of us got to call out an exercise to practice the process of announcing and guiding Pax through it.
- Posse closed us out with Theodore Roosevelt’s famous “Man in the Arena” quote.
There were a few Bobby Hurlies, jokes about Deadwood, and a frozen beard as well, but we ended up at Chik Fil A where we got to learn more of the finer details of running a Q. Much appreciation for the fellas who gave up their morning to instruct us.
COT
Dancing Bear mentioned the importance of calling out announcements on the Back Blast as it has benefited him greatly in his recent job change. He also mentioned Poker Night, where we’re gambling so some chumps with half acre lots can start a swim team. Apparently they don’t know that you can lie about your address and join the Millbridge team.
The Official La-Z-Boy Virgin Backblast
8 of Union County’s finest made it out to the famous “Q School” this AM at Cuthbertson Middle School. Moneyball and Posse lead the way and put us through the paces. Each of us is now ready to lead the Pax with our own unique workout.
DCCS
Circle up in front of the middle school to discuss DCCS with Posse taking the lead.
Warmup
- Each Pax took turns doing 10 SSH IC
- Each Pax took turns doing 5 Merkins focusing on counting pace
- Each Pax took turns doing 5 Mtn Climbers in cadence
- Each Pax chose their own exercise to practice counting and pace
On The Job Training
Things started to get interesting as Moneyball started our mosey towards the main entrance stairs and we paired up to do two rotations of stair climb/sprints to the front door and back while the other partner completed LBC’s. He made sure to remind us to tell the gazelles ahead of time to do “Mary” until the 6 was in. When everyone finished up we had a brief discussion on using the “lay of the land” to assist in the planning. We then moseyed over to the side of the school where we paired up again to do 300 dips in total while the each partner ran to the side door of the school and back and then switched on/off. Once the 6 was in Moneyball discussed how to use “compounding” exercises to make the Pax whine while not over doing it. We learned about using correct form to ensure “max burn.” The next phase was a mosey to the back part of the school (large parking lot) to discuss “four corner/starfish” exercises. Four of the Pax chose an exercise to complete in each corner. Posse reminded everyone to be sure to clearly spell out to the gazelles that they should do “Mary” upon finishing up early. We received a full demonstration of both Jack Webbs and Lt. Dan’s. It was then a quick mosey back to the parking lot with a “jailbreak” finish. This concluded the “on the job” training portion of “Q School” it was then on to Chik-Fil-A to go over the “How To Q” paperwork in addition to a quick Q&A. By the end of the morning my head was spinning and it was time to head home to start thinking about what my first Q will entail.
COTS
Announcements – Dancing Bear reminded everyone of his neighborhood casino night fundraiser tonight while Fuse reiterated his upcoming fund raising efforts as well.
Posse took us out with a famous quote by FDR.
A Moist Jog to The Dave
4 Men posted for this week’s Sparta. A good steady rain was coming in at launch time, but 60 degrees on a January morning ain’t bad. Those who slept in missed a good one. As we moseyed out of the parking lot there was some discussion, based on weather conditions to just make this a straight run vs. run-ish, boot-campish. I debated adjusting the weinke for a moment but really didn’t prefer to be on busy streets and sidewalks in all that rain, so off we went into the deep dark corners of Matthews.
COP – Triangle up at the Post Office. Imperial Walkers, Low Slow Lunges (alternating legs), & Low Slow Squats.
The Thing:
Mosey on down to the Matthews SportsPlex. Plank for instructions. A variation of the WAMRAP workout several enjoyed just before Christmas! The route was around the 4 soccer fields. At the beginning – 5 Merkins, 1st cross walk, 5 Jump Squats, at 2nd cross walk, 5 Full Sit Ups, at end 5 burpees. Run around to opposite side of field and repeat adding 5 reps to each exercise. Keep that going until time called. On the lap of 25 reps we were running low on time. Turn around and head home, but we owed 25 burpees so we hit them in chunks of 5 along the way with 10 at the end for good measure. Thanks to Madison for showing me the shortcut behind the bank to get us back on time. We snuck in right before the Peak 51 guys got there.
Moleskine:
Thanks to Madison, Tweetsie, and Gypsy for joining me on the rainy morning. Nothing better than starting the day with miles and burpees!
Announcements:
Sign up for Joe Davis Run and Operation Sweet Tooth Run in March! Support your brothers. Speed for Need will be at both races. Reach out to Gypsy if you have interest in pushing. Keep Hoffa in prayers as he hit a deer while riding a motor cycle. He’s out of the hospital and home recovery but fairly banged up. There’s a sign-up on Facebook to help the family out with food, etc. while he recovers.
Thanks to Slim Fast for the takeout.
-Alf