Author: backblasts

Medal of Honor
Date: Tuesday, 07/12/22
AO: #ao_mastodon
PAX: @LeMond @Panhandle (respect) @Jolly (respect) @Double Dip @Big Mac @Cheese (respect) @Banks @Beaker @LouGee @Pat-Down @Sparrow @Katniss @SAGA
FNGs: 0
Q: @SAGA
Total: 13

Conditions:

On this date in 1862, The Medal of Honor was authorized by the United States Congress for those who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. SAGA beatdown the PAX and offered his version of honor.

WOR: motivators, bat wings, mtn. climbers, t-bone burpees…rifle carry to Hoffa

THE THANGS:
18 Merkins

El Capitan up Hoffa (run down)

62 Derkins

18 Alligator Merkin

62 LBCs

62 Outlaw squats

62 Flutters

18 Hodors

62 Overhead Press

18 Nipple scrappers

62 OYO Mary

Redrum

Mosey around to cooties and 10 pull-ups with sprint back to Hoffa

MARY: @Beaker led in leg lifts & an enjoyable cadence of flutters from @Panhandle

ANNOUNCEMENT: #2nd-f tonight @ 7PM

MOLESKIN: Frederick Buechner – "Christians are supposed to ask one way or another what it means to be themselves.

If you had to bet everything you have on whether there is a God or whether there isn’t, which side would get your money and why?

When you look at your face in the mirror, what do you see in it that you most like and what do you see in it that you most deplore?

If you had only one last message to leave to the handful of people who are most important to you, what would it be in twenty-five words or less?

Of all the things you have done in your life, which is the one you would most like to undo? Which is the one that makes you happiest to remember?

Is there any person in the world or any cause that, if circumstances called for it, you would be willing to die for?

If this were the last day of your life, what would you do with it?

To hear yourself try to answer questions like these is to begin to hear something not only of who you are, but of both what you are becoming and what you are failing to become. It can be a pretty depressing business all in all, but if sackcloth and ashes are at the start of it, something like Easter may be at the end."

PRAYER: Ball of man giving thanks for the PAX & F3

Backblast: You do You in a Beautiful Way

Date:7/11/22
AO:#ao_mastodon
PAX:@Jolly, @SAGA, @Shiplap, @Cheese, @Big Mac, @T-bone, @Pat-Down, @Panda Express, @Jailbreak, @TBTF, @LeMond

FNGs:0
Q:@LeMond
Total:11

@LeMond did his first Q in Wheaton, leading a ruck walk around the pond with some merkins, squats and lunges thrown in—with the packs on. Other Pax ran or did the Murph, like @T-bone who hasn’t let injuries stop him from working out.

Backblast: 4 Year Anniversary Beatdown
Date: 7/6/2022
AO: #ao_tar_pit
PAX: @Tortuga@Jolly@Katniss@SAGA@Banks
FNGs: 0
Q: @Banks
Total: 5
Worm-o-Rama:

• Motivators 7x
• Abe Vigodas IC 7x
• Mountain Man Poopers IC 10x
• T-Bone Burpees 5x

Thang 1: Mosey around the AO stopping at each bench we pass to complete 10x Derkins. We broke up the lap around the lake with squat jumps around the circle, 25x air thrusters, and Lunges. (This was a lot of Derkins)Thang 2: Beach Body Beatdown
We circled up and assigned an exercise to each station. We let the person doing the sandbag bent over rows be the pacer, then we would rotate.

• 30x Bent Over Sandbag Rows
• Triceps Extensions
• Chest Press
• Single Arm Curls
• Sandbag Squats

We completed 2 rounds at 30 rows, and 2 rounds at 20 rows for a total of 100 rows2 MOM:
We wrapped up with 40 Slow Flutter Kicks ICMoleskin: Push yourself past what you think you are capable of. Challenge your mind to do more than you think possible, and push 5% longer than you think. If you keep this up, you will become stronger and push past your limits regularly. Change is inevitable."No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man." – HeraclitusCoT:Prayers for@Tortuga’s trip, The Highland Park Shooting, and the War in Ukraine

Backblast: 4th of July Spectacular Run Club!!
Date: 7/1/22
AO: #ao_ground_zero
PAX: @Jolly@Tortuga@Banks@Katniss@TBTF@Gummi Bear@Cheese@Toto@LeMond@Pat-Down@Panda Express
FNGs: 0
Q: @Banks
Total: 11
Warm-o-Rama: Stretch OYOThang: Ran South on the prairie path, turned left on Orchard and came in the back of Seven Gables. We ran through the flag display and then made our way back to Ground Zero.COR/NOR/COT: Prayers for Safe Travels, a safe holiday, Patdown’s parents, and for the war in Ukraine.

(thanks @Captain Crunch (AJ) for the title)
Date: 6/21/22
AO: #ao_mastodon
Pax: @Hancock @Jolly @Captain Crunch (AJ) @Da Vinci @Panhandle @TBTF @Beaker @T-bone @Big Mac @8-Track @Noodles @Sparrow @K-pop @Panda Express @Shiplap @Pink Drink @Tortuga @LeMond Gilligan (FNG) Big Blue (FNG)
FNGs: 2
Q: @Hancock
Total: 20

WoR: Picking Potatoes OYO (a.k.a. Picking Daisies)

The Whole Thang (mostly in order)
– Mosey with coupons to bottom of Hoffa
– Mosey for a bit
– “Get down, The Eye is watching!” plank for ~30 seconds, 2-3 times total throughout workout
– 20x Legolas merkins
– Mosey back
– 15x Gandalf fireworks star jump burpees
– “One does not simply lunge-walk into Mordor” across Hoffa field & back again
– 40x beer mug curls (“they come in pints?”)
– 20x “army of the dead” deadlift table presses
– 20x Galadriel’s light overhead presses
– Murder orc (murder bunny) up hill
– Samwise carry a partner across Hoffa field and back. Switch off OYO. “I can’t carry the ring for you, Frodo, but I can carry you!”
– “For Frodo!” manrise up Hoffa

Moleskin:
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” -Gandalf

CoT:
Ukraine, and other things that escape my mind. God heard them. Including the prayer from the random passerby that walked into the middle of our prayer circle and prayed with us.

Date: 6/25/22
AO: #ao_mastodon
PAX: @Archive@Captain Crunch (AJ)@Sparrow@Milli@Crack@Maniac@Double Dip @Patdown (FNG) @StudFinder (FNG) @Spit Valve(FNG) @Darn (FNG) @TBTF
FNGs: 4
Q: @TBTF
Total: 12Conditions: Perfect, started to rain at the end
Warm-o-Rama: SSH (IC) x25, T-Bone burpees (OYO) x10, Abe Vegoda (IC) x10, Tappy Taps (IC) x20, Michael Phelps (OYO)Thang1: Went around the western most loop from light post to light post with our coupons. At each post we rolled a di (to represent the infamous Death Di). Each number on the di represented an exercise (we did burpees, overhead press,merkins, BBSU, Squats, and curls), reps were determined by the age of who rolled the di. We rifle carried or lunged for the most part from post to postThang2: Welsh Dragons up Hoffa, I am still not sure why Jazz Handz like these so muchMary: on the top of Hoffa, ring of fire style where we go around the circle and each PAX calls a short routine with no break between PAXMoleskin: "Keep the main thing the main thing". We have a million distractions fighting for our attention so today think about your priorities and how you want to allocate your time to what matters most. I also offered a challenge for anyone that wanted to join me in my attempt to turn the phone off on Sundays when my 2.0s wake up until they go to bed as to focus on them and not get distracted.COT: prayers for Crack’s daughter in her new role, prayers for Sparrow’s newest 2.0 that feeding goes better (edited)

Backblast: "You Do You Monday"
Date: 6/27/22
AO: #ao_mastodon
PAX: @Archive@Milli @Patdown @Spit Valve@Tortuga@Doublemint@Cheese@8-Track@Panda Express@Jailbreak@TBTF@Banks@SAGA@Jolly
FNGs: 0
Q: @Archive
Total: 14Conditions: Perfect
Warm-o-Rama: Scatman WOR
Thang1: YDY, runners did both Wheaton parking garagesMoleskin: When we hear the phrase “love your enemy,” we tend to think of Jesus’ admonition to have charity even for those we might otherwise despise. But we can also use it in a very different sense. We can love the role an “enemy” — whether an outward competitor or an inward weakness — plays in our lives. We can recognize that without the gravity of strength-building resistance, we’d be unmoored, enervated, non-entities. We can feel gratitude for the refining role of opposition: Thank you for revealing my vulnerabilities; for keeping me humble; for showing me how not to be; for lighting a fire in my belly; for making me better than I was.
COT: Prayers for Saga’s friend who lost his son, @T-bone s foot.

Backblast: Getting Wild at Tar Pit
Date: 6/22/22
AO: #ao_tar_pit
PAX: @Shiplap@SAGA@Tortuga@Walter@T-bone@Big Mac@Katniss@Panhandle@Da Vinci@Jolly
FNGs: 0
Q: @Shiplap
Total: 10Warm-o-Rama: SSH x 25, Mountain Man Poopers x 10, Abe Vigoda x 10, Picking Daiseys OYOThang 1: Indian run around Lake Ellyn x 2Thang 2: Partner up. Accumulated reps like a Dora. 100 Burpees, 200 Merkins, 300 BBSUPAX 1 did exercise with a specific rep count (10 Burpees) . While the burpees were being done PAX 2 Bernie’ed around the Lake. Once PAX 1 finished the reps they rant to catch up. Once they caught up PAX 2 did the burpees starting at 11. and PAX 2 Bernie’ed – rinse and repeat until all burpees were complete. Merkins conssited of 15 at a time and BBSU was 20 reps each time. We made it to BBSU but didn’t finish.Moleskin: Don’t be so offended in this PC worldCOT: Praise for Mucho Leggo and Squirt to be home from oversees, prayers for @Katniss Grandma in law, praise for the pax (edited)

Date: Monday, 06/20/22
AO: #ao_mastodon
PAX: @Archive @Panda Express @TBTF @Jailbreak @Big Mac @Crash @Crack @Sparrow @Jolly @Tortuga @Panhandle @T-bone @SAGA
FNGs: 0
Q: @SAGA
Total: 13

Conditions: bright and beautiful
Warm-Up: Side Straddle Hops / Mountain Climbers / Tappy Taps / Stretch legs OYO

The Thang:
Some ran / some rucked / some Murphed – all had a blast

Moleskin:
We live uneven lives – level things out with patience (“it’s all going to be leveled anyway.” @Sparrow)

Prayers @Tortuga & @Panhandle 2.0s + the newly acquired 2.0 for @Jailbreak, happy birthday @Crash