Backblasts

Date: 2026-08-04
AO: Mastodon
Q: Mr Roboto ,
PAX: Falsetto, Portage, LeMond, Mr Roboto, Spit Valve, Stock boy, Dumpster FNGs:
COUNT: 7
Conditions:

WOR:
Attempted to do Motivators to “Stayin’ Alive,” but the beat is 160 instead of 180, or at least that’s what I remember from Falsetto. Motivators counting down from 7
Copperhead squats x10
Copperhead Merkins x10
Abe Vigodas x10

The Thang:
Mosey around the AO, stopping every so often for 3-minute sets of ab exercises + 10 reps of others. Perform the ab exercise as long as you can. When you need a break, do 10 of the alternative exercise. – Dollys + Merkins
– Heals to Heaven + Squats
– American Hammers + calf Raises
– LBCs + Dips
– Chilcutt Plank + Bulgarian Split Squats

At Hoffa, for 5 minutes, do 20 of each exercise, running up Halfa in between sets. (End with the plank.)

Moleskine:
Ecclesiastes can seem depressing with all the “meaningless, meaningless” talk, but it calls us to find meaning in things that last. Our careers, families, etc. may not last, but they are things through which we can act out our ultimate meaning of loving God and neighbor.

Tags: Mastodon, Falsetto, Portage, LeMond, Mr Roboto, Spit Valve, Stock boy, Dumpster

Date: 2026-08-04
AO: Flat Earth
Q: Tortuga ,
PAX: Snatch (F3 NW HWY), Daniel Tebbe, Boomerang, White Noise, Bloomer, Lib, BigBlue, Spokes, Tortuga, Jolly, DQ, Y2K, Shiplap, Knuckleball, Hypotenuse, Panda Express, Homie, Stage Fright, FNGs:
COUNT: 18
Conditions: perfect

WOR: yes

The Thang: bowling

Moleskine: know your limits, push past them without breaking yourself

Tags: Flat Earth, Snatch (F3 NW HWY), Daniel Tebbe, Boomerang, White Noise, Bloomer, Lib, BigBlue, Spokes, Tortuga, Jolly, DQ, Y2K, Shiplap, Knuckleball, Hypotenuse, Panda Express, Homie, Stage Fright,

Date: 2026-08-03
AO: Downrange
Q: Noodles , Stock boy
PAX: Jolly, Noodles, Stock boy, DQ, Lakers, Brainfog, 0
FNGs: 1 0
COUNT: 6
Conditions: Dark and gloomy at first, sunrise came right on time for our beatdown.

WOR: SSH x30, Good Mornings x10, Batwings x15

The Thang: Today’s beatdown is credited to my Co-Q, Stock boy. The beatdown is worthy of a Hampe Park sandbag beatdown.

Hot Metal Potato – With an AC/DC playlist in the background, PAX moved clockwise between 7 stations (cones) of 20 reps a specific exercise: Merkins, Carolina Dry Docks, BBSUs, Squats, Shoulder Taps, American Hammers, and Lunges. If a PAX arrived at a station and found a hot potato (sandbag), you had to run it 3 stations ahead, drop it, and loop back to where you found it to do the exercise listed on the cone. Whenever music stopped and a fire alarm bell sounded for 30 seconds, PAX had to stop where they were and do 4 Sandees/Burpees. If PAX had a sandbag, they had to do 4 Sandees, and if a PAX did not have a sandbag they had to do 4 Burpees.

Moleskine: Quoted a little Ice Cube today, “Woke up in the morning, gotta thank God. I don’t know but today seems kinda odd…Today was a good day”. The message was short and a reminder to focus less on the day to day negatives and practice an attitude of gratitude. For PAX to continue thanking God for the daily blessings in our lives.

Tags: Downrange, Jolly, Noodles, Stock boy, DQ, Lakers, Brainfog, 0

Date: 2026-08-01
AO: Mastodon
Q: Stock boy ,
PAX: Mr Roboto, Dumpster, Too Big To Fail (TBTF), The wet burrito, Stock boy, Cheap Shot FNGs: None
COUNT: 6
Conditions:
Rainy and cool

WOR:
SSH, Abe Vigodas, tappy-taps, toy soldiers, arm circles forward, arm circles backwards, Michael Phelps, seal claps.

The Thang:
At the south-west corner of the third floor of the parking garage, we did three rounds of exercises where PAX do a set number of reps, then run a lap going down the steps at the north-east corner to the ground floor, then up the steps at the north-west corner back to third floor, and back to the starting spot. When back at the south-east corner do half the number of reps as the previous set. Repeat until PAX do only one rep; then after the next lap, start the next exercise round. Rounds: 1. 128 squats (+ 64 + 32 + 16 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 255)
2. 64 merkins (+ 32 + 16 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 127)
3. 32 burpees (+ 16 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 63)

21 laps total for those who finished: approximately 2.75 miles.

Led Zeppelin playlist:
1. When the Levee Breaks
2. The Battle of Evermore
3. Dazed and Confused
4. Friends
5. What Is and What Should Never Be
6. Black Dog
7. Misty Mountain Hop
8. Ramble On
9. The Ocean
10. Gallows Pole
11. Over the Hills and Far Away

Moleskine:
Be flexible, don’t worry about things out of your control, and have good friends who will extend you grace.

Tags: Mastodon, Mr Roboto, Dumpster, Too Big To Fail (TBTF), The wet burrito, Stock boy, Cheap Shot

Date: 2026-08-01
AO: Flat Earth
Q: Panda Express ,
PAX: Krampus, Panda Express, Cookies, Boomerang, Swish, Knuckleball, Fogg, Splash, Scoop, Monkey FNGs: 1 Monkey
COUNT: 10
Conditions:
Pouring rain

WOR:
There and back?

The Thang:
50 minutes of ultimate

Moleskine:
Probably have fun—in the rain!

Tags: Flat Earth, Krampus, Panda Express, Cookies, Boomerang, Swish, Knuckleball, Fogg, Splash, Scoop, Monkey

Date: 2026-08-01
AO: Tar Pit
Q: T-bone ,
PAX: The wet burrito, LeMond, T-bone
FNGs: None
COUNT: 3

WOR: :heavy_check_mark:

The Thang: Dora with 200 thrusters, KBS, Derkins, OHP, Goblet Squats – two work while 1 laps the parking garage.

Mosey lap with two minute plank

Dan Taylor’s up the ramp 6×24

Wall sits, star jump burpees

5 minute EMOM with merkins and BBSU

Cool down stretching

Moleskine:

Comparison is the thief of Joy – Teddy Roosevelt

Tags: Tar Pit, The wet burrito, LeMond, T-bone

Date: 2026-07-31
AO: Ground Zero
Q: Dumpster ,
PAX: Beaker, Runs, Dumpster, Mr Roboto, Noodles, Cottontail, Hypotenuse, Phillip Deisch, Shamwow, Cheap Shot, LeMond, Stock boy, Falsetto FNGs: None
COUNT: 13
Conditions: Superb

WOR:
Follow the leader in a circle while listening to “The Avocado Song” by Alton Eugene

Squats – pass the Avocado
Arm circles – pass the Avocado
Shoulder taps Pass the avocado
Stretch OYO

I shared a few bad Avocado jokes:

Why did the avocado blush?
It saw the salad dressing.

Pit happens
Guac and roll

What do you call a happy avocado?
A guac-star

Stay ripe
Avo nice day

——————————-

The Thang:
We ran/ rucked East

Moleskine:
Shared a story about doing a duet with my friend Andy at Karaoke night (at a local bar in West Chicago). We both thought of singing the same song… so we agreed to do it as a duet. We sang I’m gonna be (500 miles) by The Proclaimers and it went well, was really fun, and was a hit with the crowd. :arrow_down:
Try to find ways to include others – sometimes it can just be more fun!

Tags: Ground Zero, Beaker, Runs, Dumpster, Mr Roboto, Noodles, Cottontail, Hypotenuse, Phillip Deisch, Shamwow, Cheap Shot, LeMond, Stock boy, Falsetto

Date: 2026-07-31
AO: Flat Earth
Q: LouGee ,
PAX: Krampus, Jolly, Gummi Bear, Oompa, Hershey, Panda Express, Has Been, Cookies, Boomerang, Swish, White Noise, Shiplap, Knuckleball, LouGee, Bloomer, Chopsticks FNGs: None
COUNT: 16
Conditions:
65 degrees, 93% humidity, 0 mph winds, fair skies
WOR:
20x SSH, OYOx Down & Back
The Thang:
Ultimate Frisbee
Moleskine:
Roles of a husband:
Protect, Provide, Procreate
What are we training ourselves to be..strong men in marriage or a wet noodle…set your expectations…don’t use your circumstances or convenience as a reason to not be good. **We added up all the Pax’ years of matrimony: 229 years of marriage in our COT

Tags: Flat Earth, Krampus, Jolly, Gummi Bear, Oompa, Hershey, Panda Express, Has Been, Cookies, Boomerang, Swish, White Noise, Shiplap, Knuckleball, LouGee, Bloomer, Chopsticks

Date: 2026-07-30
AO: Mastodon
Q: LouGee ,
PAX: Mr Roboto, Dumpster, Big Mac, Hypotenuse, Stock boy, White Noise, LouGee FNGs: None
COUNT: 7
Conditions:
58 degrees, 90% humidity, 0 mph winds, fair skies
WOR:
10x Arm Circles (f/b), 13x Tin Man, 21x SSH, 60 sec Plank
The Thang:
Mosey the “short” mile loop. Stopped at random spots for exercises: pull-ups, merkins, squats, more more merkins, Bulgarian split squats, bear crawls, flutter kicks, crab walk, duck walks (3 directions), dips, reverse lunges (utilized curbs, rocks, benches); finished with Mary (each Pax led an exercise of their choice) Moleskine:
John Maxwell:
“Everything rises and falls on leadership.
Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts.
It is about one life influencing another.
Change is inevitable.
Growth is optional.”

Tags: Mastodon, Mr Roboto, Dumpster, Big Mac, Hypotenuse, Stock boy, White Noise, LouGee

Date: 2026-07-30
AO: Dark Room
Q: Noodles ,
PAX: Noodles, Manhole, Tortuga, Lakers, perculator, Crack
FNGs: None
COUNT: 6
Conditions: Started off dark and in the gloom. Sunrise took place while doing our first routine at the Brogamat. By the end of the beatdown, you could see a full moon while at the skate park lot. Pretty awesome!

WOR:
SSH x30
Abe Vigodas x10
Batwings x15
Mosey over to the Brogamat area.

The Thangs:

Thang #1: 4 Corners beatdown – 1 exercise performed at each corner of the Brogamat loop with a mosey as the form of transportation:

Round 1:
50 Squats
Mosey
40 Lunges
Mosey
30 Gas Pumps
Mosey
20 Bonnie Hurleys

Round 2:
40 Squats
Mosey
30 Lunges
Mosey
20 Gas Pumps
Mosey
10 Bonnie Hurleys

Thang #2: Black Jack – Lined up at center field to perform the following:

1 Merkin
Mosey to other end
20 LBCs
Mosey back to center field
2 Merkins
19 LBCs
Rinse and repeat until it’s 20 Merkins and 1 LBC.

Moleskine: Last week I felt the need to start a discussion on a suspicious unmarked vehicle patrolling on the park trail. With families around, it stirred a sense of discomfort inside me. Specifically, I saw young girl making her way back to her family as this vehicle crept behind her. With a confused look on her face looking at the driver and the over to her family, I just thought about how she must have felt. It turned out to be a Park Ranger. No one would have known had I not started a discussion on the local group. The village responded and immediately made it a point to identify the vehicle. My message to the PAX today was to “Love thy neighbor”. For PAX to be kind, nice and mindful of others. For me it was more about the current climate with ICE and to try to do something to ease feelings of discomfort for others. OR, for others, it’s the recent damage, loss of power due to these recent storms. For us to think of others, do for others or even pray for others in these times.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17jtsErpot/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Tags: Dark Room, Noodles, Manhole, Tortuga, Lakers, perculator, Crack