Backblasts

Mastodon Venice Beach

Date: 2026-02-12
AO: Mastodon
Q: Da Vinci ,
PAX: The wet burrito, SAGA, Da Vinci, Mr Roboto, Tortuga, Archive, Homie, Jolly, Endo, Stock boy FNGs: None
COUNT: 10
Warmorama: Follow the Leader to Don’t You Forget About Me

The Thang:
Pax do curls or one arm rows or coupon squats with their coupons Rotate through 3 stations when they are free
The Forty
The Fifty
The 25s
Go until exhaustion and then back to curls or one arm rows or coupon squats

Tricepocalypse:
Pax do skull crushers, dips and flutters in the same circle working through stations.

Die of Death!

Moleskin: One lost ideal in our time is the gentleman. The gentleman ideal liberated people from being bound by class. It offered a “standard of conduct, to which the best born did not always rise and which even the humblest might sometimes display.”
But it could be reduced just to fashion and style, and Newman restores an element of virtue. We’ve already seen how the gentleman “is one who never inflicts pain” and that he is like an easy chair or a good fire. Puts people at ease. As we go through the speech, Drilling Newman then says “He has his eyes on all his company, he is tender towards the bashful, gentle towards the distant, and merciful toward the absurd… He guards against unseasonable allusions or topics which may irritate; he is seldom prominent in conversation, and never wearisome. He makes light of favors when he does them, and seems to be receiving when he is conferring.” To be continued!

COT: Prayers for Stock boy grandmother, Archive’s son’s sleep, praise for Mr Roboto refugee family progress

Tags: Mastodon, The wet burrito, SAGA, Da Vinci, Mr Roboto, Tortuga, Archive, Homie, Jolly, Endo, Stock boy

Ground Zero Ground Zero Run/Ruck

Date: 2026-02-11
AO: Ground Zero
Q: Audible ,
PAX: Buns, Mr. Bean, Short Circuit, Dumpster, Cheap Shot, Audible, Stock boy FNGs: None
COUNT: 7
WOR:
Side Straddle Hops
Abe Vigodas
Streatch OYO

The Thang:
Everyone rucked

Moleskine:
Will Rogers’ said “Don’t Let Yesterday Take Up Too Much of Today” and while we may have sorrows, regrets, and even warm and delightful memories of yesterday we can’t let those things distract us from the gift of today.

COT:
The grandmother (and great-grandmother) of Stock boy andCheap Shot and Short Circuit is entering her final days and weeks on earth. May her passing be peaceful. We also lifted up those PAX who are still seeking good and meaningful jobs.

Tags: Ground Zero, Buns, Mr. Bean, Short Circuit, Dumpster, Cheap Shot, Audible, Stock boy

Tar Pit Tar Pit

Date: 2026-02-11
AO: Tar Pit
Q: Banks ,
PAX: SAGA, Panhandle, Da Vinci, Tortuga, Banks
FNGs: None
COUNT: 5
WOR: 25x SSH IC, 10x Windmills IC, 10x Mountain Man Poopers IC, Stretch OYO

The Thang:
Stolen from Lakers:

We started with 12 exercises and 5 reps of each. After each round, we ran a lap and the winner got to select an exercise to remove and then increased their rep count by 5. Exercises were: – Blockees
– Thrusters
– Derkins
– One Arm Rows
– Coupon Squats
– Mucho Leggos
– Curls
– Overhead Press
– Jump Squats
– Merkins
– Burpees
– BBS

Moleskine:
Manage the load, absolute activity leads to burnout. Find ways to take breaks and recharge

COT:iykyk

Tags: Tar Pit, SAGA, Panhandle, Da Vinci, Tortuga, Banks

Tar Pit Tar Pit

Date: 2026-02-09
AO: Tar Pit
Q: Big Mac ,
PAX: Panhandle, Da Vinci, Tortuga, Big Mac, Jolly
FNGs: None
COUNT: 5
WOR:
The worst counting on Motivators
Pick daisies and stretch OYO
Copperhead squats x10
Copperhead Merkins x10

The Thang:
Head to wheel
For each dad joke, do the next of the following then repeat (4 rounds) 10 blockees
20 coupon swings
30 overhead press
40 curls OR presses

For each trivia question, ask question, run the wheel to think, answer if right, do the easier option, if wrong do the harder.

In what country did the first Starbucks outside the US open? Japan Burpees vs Blockees 20
What is the body’s heaviest organ? (Skin)
BBSU vs WWIII Situps 30
What is the best selling book of all time? Bible
Thrusters – 10 if right 20 if wrong.
How many seasons of Wheel of Fortune did Pat Sajak host? 41
5x difference with correct answer – Merkins
How many points to the nearest thousand has Lebron James scored in his career? 43 (42,888) – 5x difference in thousands in squats.

Moleskine: Dad advice –
“Talk about ideas, not people”
COT: Ski Accident of Bro-in-law business partner. Colonoscopy

Tags: Tar Pit, Panhandle, Da Vinci, Tortuga, Big Mac, Jolly

Flat Earth Flat Earth

Date: 2026-02-10
AO: Flat Earth
Q: Cheese ,
PAX: Gummi Bear, Cheese, Too Big To Fail (TBTF), Wagyu, Tortuga, Panda Express, Jolly, Banks FNGs: None
COUNT: 8
WOR: SSH & Down and Back

The Thang: Ultimate Frisbee 4 v. 4

Moleskine: During our COT this morning, we realized the youngest member of our circle was 37 years old. So, we reflected on The Second Forty Years by Edward J. Stieglitz, where a version of this line famously appeared: “It’s not the years in your life, but the life in your years.” OR
“Non quot anni vivant, sed quomodo vivant.”
(Meaning: Not how many years one lives, but how one lives them.)

COT: Prayers for those suffering health issues.

Tags: Flat Earth, Gummi Bear, Cheese, Too Big To Fail (TBTF), Wagyu, Tortuga, Panda Express, Jolly, Banks

Mastodon Throwing rocks at houses :curling_stone:

Date: 2026-02-10
AO: Mastodon
Q: Beaker ,
PAX: Glowstick, Panhandle, Da Vinci, Mr Roboto, Jailbreak, Samsonite, Falsetto, LeMond, Stock boy, Beaker FNGs: None
COUNT: 10
WOR:
Goofballs
Raggedy Andys
Abe Vigodas
Tappy taps

The Thang:

End 1
In curling you have someone who throws the stone. They put spin on the stone at the release to control the curl. The sweepers then sweep the stone to control the curl. The faster/harder they sweep, the less it curls.

For end 1, we got into teams of 2 or 3 at the bas of Hoffa. One PAX curled the sand bag while the other PAX ran up Hoffa, touched the fence and ran down. The harder and faster they ran, the less the curling PAX curled. When they made it down, the curling PAX threw the sand bag and PAX rotated jobs. This end is complete when the first team threw the bag 8 times. The farthest bag won. The best team lost.

End 2 and 3
We got partners, grabbed one coupon per partner, and moseyed to the ice. We started in a line, facing a cone on the other end of the lagoon. The goal was to start with the coupon between your legs and slide it to the cone. First team to get the coupon to the cone won. Then we returned to the dock. On the way to the cone, PAX earned their throw by doing 5 T-merkins per throw (no banking throws). On the way back they earned it with BBSUs (hand to touch the ice behind your head on the down, elbows to knees on the up.) Frivolity ensued. Sparrow was missed. We need to play on the ice more, it was fun.

Ends 4 and 5

In curling, the team with the closest stone to the center of the rings scores. They score for each stone that is closer than their opponents farthest stone.

We divided up into two teams of five. The teams ran opposite directions around the short loop. When we got to the big trees at the turn, not far from the boulders (asteroid belt – thanks Gummi Bear) each team had to complete a set of exercises before anyone could continue on. The team that scored was the team with the first PAX to reach the cone. They scored one point for each PAX that reached before the first PAX on the other team reached. PAX then had 5 seconds to assume a plank. Any other PAX who is planking may call out bad form on a plank by breaking plank themselves and touching the offending PAX while their form is bad. Doing so is a “takeout” and removes both PAX.

For end 4 we did 100 burpees. For end 5 we were running out of time and did 50 Bonnie Blairs (1 is 1).

Mary: 10 flutters.
Moleskine: Lindsey Vonn’s sister was interviewed while her sister was being air lifted. She said that anyone who thought that Lindsey regretted her choice did not know her. She also referred to her as the Man in the Arena. So I read it:

“”It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”” COT: Refugee family that Mr Roboto is helping to settle.

Tags: Mastodon, Glowstick, Panhandle, Da Vinci, Mr Roboto, Jailbreak, Samsonite, Falsetto, LeMond, Stock boy, Beaker

Dark Room Dark Room

Date: 2026-02-10
AO: Dark Room
Q: Framed , Lakers
PAX: Framed, Brainfog, Lakers, Manhole, Toto
FNGs: None
COUNT: 5
WOR: Goofballs, Mountain Man Poopers, Merkins, Abe Vigodas

The Thang:
Part 1 (Framed) Short loop scout run, stopping at the benches for various exercises — Merkins, Bulgarian Split Squats, etc. Part 2 (Lakers) …

Moleskine:

COT:

Tags: Dark Room, Framed, Brainfog, Lakers, Manhole, Toto

Ground Zero Ground Zero Run/Ruck

Date: 2026-02-09
AO: Ground Zero
Q: Crack ,
PAX: Mr. Bean, Crack, Pacecar, Dr. Phil, Manhole, Mr Roboto, Cheap Shot, Samsonite, Endo, Stock boy, Beaker FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
WOR: SSH, Tappy Taps, runner’s stretch

The Thang: Run/Ruck the Bridge St loop. Fast Group got 7 laps (I think)

Moleskine:
Some wisdom from Joe de Sena (CEO and founder of Spartan Race):

When you’re 25, you think hard means faster. At 35, it means longer. At 57, it means lasting. A lot of what we “old dogs” do—not for science, but for survival—is finally being validated by modern research. The Formula for Longevity
– Time on Legs > Speed: My mother told me 35 years ago that time on legs matters more than pace. Running at 60% of VO₂ max builds an endurance engine you can actually use.
– Discipline Over Destruction: Consistency beats intensity when intensity breaks you. Hard is showing up every single day; it’s not annihilating yourself every single day.
– Exposure is Medicine: Train outside. Rain, wind, or cold—it doesn’t matter. You don’t negotiate with the weather; you adapt.
– Fix the Pebble: In a race, a tiny rock in your shoe ends your day. In life, it’s the same. Fix small problems immediately before they become boulders.
Hard isn’t always max speed. Sometimes, hard is going slower than your ego wants, sleeping when others scroll, and training for the long road. We aren’t training for a season. We are training for life.

No Excuses.
Joe

COT: IYKYK

Tags: Ground Zero, Mr. Bean, Crack, Pacecar, Dr. Phil, Manhole, Mr Roboto, Cheap Shot, Samsonite, Endo, Stock boy, Beaker

Tar Pit Beach day!

Date: 2026-02-07
AO: Tar Pit
Q: Beaker ,
PAX: Flower Boy, LeMond, Big Mac, DQ, Lakers, Panhandle, Homie, The wet burrito, Da Vinci, Portage, Beaker, Flower Man FNGs: 1 Flower Man
COUNT: 11
WOR:
Motivators (x7)
Abe Vigodas, ic (x10)
Tappy taps, ic
Batwings + Moroccan Night Clubs (~20)

The Thang:
Route 66 on benches: Bonnie Blairs x2
Route 66 on benches: Squats
Mosey to spa

4×60# sand bags, 1 80# sand bag, and 1 120# sand bag at the top Complete the first exercise/reps.
Bring weight down the ramp (if it is there) and run back up or run down (if no weight is at the top). Complete the first and second exercises/reps.
Bring weight down the ramp (if it is there) and run back up or run down (if no weight is at the top). Complete the first second and third exercises/reps.
repeat pattern until all 5 exercises are completed. After coming back up the ramp, take away exercise 1 and complete exercises/reps 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Bring weight down the ramp (if it is there) and run back up or run down (if no weight is at the top). Take away exercise 2 and complete exercises/reps 3, 4, and 5.
Bring weight down the ramp (if it is there) and run back up or run down (if no weight is at the top). Continue this pattern until exercise 5 was completed alone.

Exercises:
5 Burpees
10 Lunges (2 is 1)
15 Merkins
20 Dips
25 Lbcs

Broga with Beaker – hips and back stretching.

Moleskine:
We don’t often see true excellence. This winter Olympics, we will. Watch them and appreciate excellence. Give glory to God for the wonderful creations he has made.

Also, thinking about olympic skiing, I expect that T-bone will be indistinguishable from Lindsey Vonn on the slopes in Japan for the next 2 weeks.

COT: iykyk

Tags: Tar Pit, Flower Boy, LeMond, Big Mac, DQ, Lakers, Panhandle, Homie, The wet burrito, Da Vinci, Portage, Beaker, Flower Man