Backblast, 9/10/21. 5:30am, Ground Zero
Nothing exciting. We ran.
NOR: Crack, Jolly, T-Bone (respect) Panhandle (respect), Panda Express, Banks, Bloomer, Cookies (ruck), Giggles, Knight Rider, Gummi Bear, Cheese (respect), Tortuga (respect) Q
COT: Prayers for Saga’s exam, Noodles’ new job adjustment, Crack’s 2.0 internship and horse selection, travel, praise for bodies that work, recovery from nagging injuries.
BACKBLAST: 8/20/21, AO Ground Zero
We ran to Monroe and played Ultimate. The goal began in the end zones and then moved ten yards closer together after each score. When the goal was scored on the 40 yard line, we moved it back to the end zones.
NOR: Banks, Cheese (respect), Toto, T-Bone (respect), 8-Track, Gummi Bear, Tortuga (respect), Jolly, Panda Express, and Shiplap.
COT: Thanks for bodies that work and friends to work out with. Prayers for T-bone’s medical procedure on Friday.
Backblast: 8/6/21, 5:30AM, Ground Zero (And Monroe Middle School)
We moseyed about a mile to Monroe, split into teams, and played ultimate. Good game.
NOR: 8-Track, Banks, Cheese (respect), Crack, DaVinci, Panda Express, Shiplap, T-Bone (respect), TBTF, Tortuga (Q, respect)
COT: Thanked God for a great day, bodies that work, friend to workout with. Prayers for Noodles and his M and Crack’s brother-in-law who is in the hospital with heart failure.
Backblast: 8/4/21, 5:30 AM, AO Tar Pit
Great day for a beatdown.
WOR: motivators, tappy taps, arm circles, Michael Phelps, copperhead merkins, copperhead squats
Thang: modified millenium
We didn’t have time to get in the full 1000 reps. 750 was all that we had time for.
After the WOR we lugged our coupons to the front of the school. Counted off into two teams of five. First man to complete the 100 reps of the given exercise called out their team number. Everyone stops and runs down the driveway and then back up one of the staircases.
Winners must complete five burpees before starting subsequent exercises. Five burpee penalty is cumulative: two wins = 10 burpees before starting on the next set of 100 reps.
Exercises: derkins, thrusters, seal claps, box jumps, Nolan Ryans, dips, bbsu, burpees (50).
NOR: Bloomer, DaVinci, Shiplap, Katniss, 8-track, Aloha, Milk Duds (respect), Drum Line, Minnie, Tortuga (Q)
COT: Prayers for new HIM – Wheaton soccer coach going through hard time, healing for various injured PAX, Noodles and his M, DaVinci’s book.
Moleskin: Where do you find your value? A song we sang in church this Sunday gave me this question. The lyrics are copied below. It was a good reminder that my worth does not come from me. My value should not be based on things of this world: my job my success, my relationships, or even good things, like my family, my fatherhood, my friendships, or my speed. All these things can and will fail. If my value is in Christ, it will be unshakable. “Neither height nor depth, neither angels nor demons, or anything else in all creation will be able to seperate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our lord.” Where do you find your value?
My Worth is not in What I Own
My worth is not in what I own
Not in the strength of flesh and bone
But in the costly wounds of love
At the cross
My worth is not in skill or name
In win or lose, in pride or shame
But in the blood of Christ that flowed
At the cross
I rejoice in my Redeemer
Greatest Treasure
Wellspring of my soul
I will trust in Him, no other
My soul is satisfied in Him alone
As summer flowers we fade and die
Fame, youth and beauty hurry by
But life eternal calls to us
At the cross
I will not boast in wealth or might
Or human wisdom’s fleeting light
But I will boast in knowing Christ
At the cross
I rejoice in my Redeemer
Greatest Treasure
Wellspring of my soul
I will trust in Him, no other
My soul is satisfied in Him alone
Two wonders here that I confess
My worth and my unworthiness
My value fixed, my ransom paid
At the cross
I rejoice in my Redeemer
Greatest Treasure
Wellspring of my soul
I will trust in Him, no other
My soul is satisfied in Him alone
BACKBLAST, 7/14/21, AO Tar Pit, 5:30AM
WOR: motivators, copperhead merkins, squats, and coupon squats, arm circles on one leg, short mosey with some skipping and Bernie.
Thang:
Carried coupons to the top of the front driveway. One HIM shared a truth and an exercise. If it was also true for you you stayed and did the reps. If not, you ran down the driveway and then up one of four staircases leading back up. Flapjack. Everyone does reps and runs for each truth.
IF you are the only one it is true for, you must do five penalty burpees while the rest recover. If it is true of everyone, we all have five penalty burpees.
Exercises included: merkins, curls, skull crushers, plank, overhead press, LBC, BBSU, squats.
Truths included:
Final round: everyone tried to share a truth that no one else had. If anyone else shared it, we all did five burpees. Eleven truths resulted in just 15 penalty burpees for all.
Mosey back to flag.
NOR: Banks, Panhandle, TBTF, Drum Line, T-bone (respect), Sparrow, Jolly, Shiplap, Milk Duds (respect), Noodles, Katniss, Tortuga (respect, Q)
COT: Prayers for wisdom in parenting, Noodles’ being at F3 more, Sparrow’s house hunting and decision, T-bone’s 2nd oldest 2.0 turns 18 today.
Backblast, 7/7/21, Wednesday, Tar Pit
Ten HIM posted on a sweet day for a beatdown.
WOR: motivators, cherry pickers, short mosey around the parking lot with some skipping and Michael Phelps, copperhead merkins
The Thang: Poison Pill
Partners hoisted their coupons, grabbed some chalk, and headed to the south side of the school to do battle on the legendary staircases of the Dump on the Hump (as my Wheaton North 2.0’s call it).
Teams lugged their coupons up a set of stairs. At the top they wrote an exercise. They then completed 10 of the first one written. If they were the second team there, they also did 20 of the second. Third team up: all that and 30 of the third. The third set, and only the third set, had to involve a coupon. All sets could be spit up. I might do all 20 of the first while my partner gets started on the 60 of the third.
If you arrived to find three sets already written, you had two choices: do them, cross them out and earn a point, or don’t do them, circle the whole thing and leave with no point scored. This is the poison pill. The next group up has to do double the reps and doesn’t score any points for their efforts.
If you arrive and the reps are crossed off, you restart with ten of the new exercise you write.
The time flew by, and the strategizing by Sparrow and I netted us just two points for the morning. This was enough to beat T-bone and Noodles who made themselves do Bonnie Hurleys (twice) while no one else did. They were always the bridesmaid, but never the bride. Zero points (but stronger legs!). Three of the five teams scored two. Two teams scored zero. With no time left for a tie breaker, the QIC was left to ponder future adjustments needed to the Poison Pill to speed up the scoring. Stay tuned.
NOR: Banks, Shiplap, DaVinci, BOGO, Milk Duds (respect), Noodles, T-bone (respect), Whittler, Sparrow, Tortuga (respect) (QIC)
COT: Praise for T-bone’s new job, Tortuga’s M is fully out of her deep depression and anxiety – the EMDR has been amazingly effective, Noodles has a nagging injury in a leg.
Moleskin: James 1:19 “Know this,my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.”
This verse was helpful during our three week road trip out west.
Backblast, 6/14/21, AO Mastodon
20 HIM gathered for a do your thing beatdown.
WOR: Tappy Taps, Goofballs, Michael Phelps, Arm circles, Copperhead Merkins.
We then broke off into three groups: run, ruck, Murph. I joined the Murph. Dr. Phil also joined the Murph thinking it was the run. HA!
Good Murph.
NOR:
Ruck: Shiplap, Jailbreak, Archive, Babe, Reels
Run: Cheese, DaVinci, Aloha
Murph: Hotbox, Katniss, Sparrow, Jolly, Whittler, Panhandle, Heist, Dr. Phil, Noodles, Tortuga (Q), Saga, Bloomer
COT: Praise for Noodles’ three job offers, Babe and family doing great with new baby. Prayers for Noodles’ M going through some depression, Jailbreak’s friend, Tim, had a stroke, Dr. Phil is getting back to F3 after mourning his brother’s death.
Moleskin: Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for him. We are called to love our wives sacrificially. We can’t do it on our own. That’s why God sent Jesus and equips us with the Holy Spirit.
Backblast
AO Mastodon, 5/18/21, 5:30AM
Twenty-eight PAX posted for a friendly beatdown this beautiful morning. After a quick WOR of 5 count motivators, OYO arm circles and Michael Phelps, and 10 copperhead merkins IC, we moseyed over to Dan Taylor alley for Thang One.
Thang One: KUBB 1
With way more men than I anticipated, I made some modifications to my plan as we moseyed to Dan Taylor. KUBB was set up between two soccer goals. Men partnered up. I sent seven pairs to one side of the pitch and seven to the other side. In each partnership, one HIM ran around a marked route while the other earned tosses and tossing. A toss was earned with 30 merkins, 30 lunges, or 30 squats. When a team knocked a block down, the PAX present on that team ran a short lap around their soccer goal before continuing. When the runner of the pair returned, partners switched roles.
Instead of tossing a baton at the blocks, PAX could choose to take a frisbee and attempt to hit a set target. A successful hit resulted in a free block knock down.
Once a team knocked down all the blocks they did ten burpees before attempting the king.
Team 1 was victorious in round one.
Thang Two: KUBB 2
Same as round one with shorter running route, 15 reps each: hand release merkins, Bonnie Blairs, jump squats.
Team 2 won this round.
Mary/ tie breaker
Back at the flags teams circled up for a plank-off to determine the winner. After a few minutes of planking, merkins were mixed in. With six or seven PAX left we went to plank with arms bent to 90 degrees. It came down to Waterboy and BigMac with Waterboy pulling off the win. Go team 2!
NOR: Gummi Bear, Wet Burrito, Doublemint, Panda Express, Ralphie, Achtung, BOGO, Captain Crunch, Shiplap, Saga, Binford, T-Bone (respect), Hot Box, Cookies, Cheese (respect), Bloomer, Panhandle, Jolly, Crack, Sparrow, Getaway, BigMac, DaVinci, Waterboy, Watson (respect, respect, FNG), Beaker, Heist (FNG), Tortuga Q
COT: Prayers for Crack’s M with a doctor’s appointment for a long term problem on Friday, Crack’s family as K-Pop graduates, his oldest comes back home from her internship, and all the changes coming their way, Tortuga and his M go to a new psychologist this Friday for some intensive therapy for her anxiety.
Praise for bodies that work and men to push us on.
Backblast
5/14/21, Run Club, AO Ground Zero
We ran. South.
NOR: Cheese (respect), Toto, Noodles, Aloha, DaVinci, Hotbox, Big Mac, Gummi Bear, Jolly, Banks, Shiplap, Panhandle, Beaker, Binford, Whittler, Crack (with Dooley Dog), Saga, Tortuga (Q)
COT: Noodles’ job search, Jolly – praise for F3, Saga’s leg, Whittler – family friend had a devastating stroke, Whittler is getting engaged TONIGHT!
Backblast, 4/24/21, 7am, AO Mastodon
Throw and Go
Eight PAX gathered in the gloom for this morning’s beatdown.
WOR: Michael Phelps OYO, arm circles, copperhead merkins (slow count down IC), copperhead squats, tappy taps IC.
Thang One: Partners shared a frisbee. The goal was to hit each lamppost in order from the west bridge to the north westernmost lamppost. Throws were earned by reps. 10 hand release merkins, 20 flutter kicks (4 count), or 30 squats. Rep order was not mandated, but all three had to be completed before repeating any reps. Frisbees were advanced frisbee golf style: each throw was attempted from the landing spot of the previous throw. Tap-ins were allowed but still counted as a throw and had to be earned.
Thang Two: Same reps and rules from north westernmost lamppost to the monkey bars. Winners of round one started at the first lamppost. Second place at the second, etc. At the monkey bars each PAX went down and back. Only one frisbee made it into the pond. (I’m looking at you, Banks.)
Thang Three: In Dan Taylor alley. New reps. 10 Bonnie Blairs (1=1), 20 shoulder taps (2=1), 30 lunges (1=1). Goals – baseball field backstop followed by the four soccer goals.
Thang four: No reps. To travel to the frisbee you had to bear crawl for the first two goals, lunge the next, crab walk the fourth, and mix and match to the final goal. Throws must alternate between partners. If you arrived at the frisbee before your partner and it wasn’t your throw, you could double back to them. Once you reach them, both PAX can mosey to their disc. (Saga arrived in the middle of this round.)
Thang five: mosey back to Hoffa, zombie crawl up, first to the top called out “Manrise!” The rest of the PAX moseyed up to hold an Al Gore. We did have a couple on a picnic blanket for the sunrise at the top of Hoffa, so it had to be done.
BigMac and Loafers had to go, so we did NOR before Mary, thus the seated NOR video.
NOR: Banks, BigMac, Captain Crunch, Jailbreak, Jäzz Händz, Loafers (respect, respect!), TBTF, and Tortuga (Q)
Mary: flutter kicks with PAX reciting the verse in place of the count made it through the first chunk of our passage before running into multiple versions being recited. “For by grace you have been saved through faith.”
COT: prayers were lifted up for Cooper, Bloomer and their family, BigMac’s church as they will be presented with their pastoral candidate Sunday, Brian as he will be moving to rehab soon, Saga’s M, who is having some brain scans to try to figure out what’s going on. Praise for bodies that work and men to push us on.
Donuts were consumed (Thanks Jäzz Händz!), directions to Tortuga’s church were shared, and after a brief coffeteria, most PAX headed out to move some mulch.
F3 Wheaton 