High Heels (Henry Ritchie)

Stargazing at Asylum

April 2, 2024 BackBlasts

AO: asylum-pm
Q: Title IX (Christian Prescott)
PAX: Brick, Drum Major, Abacus, Pusher, Shuttlecock (Riley Brady Parmer), Steam, Tenderfoot, High Heels (Henry Ritchie), Dung Beetle, Lizzy, Crash Dummy, Swimmies (Nathan Chesney), Title IX (Christian Prescott), Renaissance , Platinum
FNGs: 1 Platinum
COUNT: 15
WARMUP:

5 Burpees
5 Motivators | Starting from 10 to 5
15 Rockettes
20 Grady Corns
15ea Baby Arm Circles

THE THANG:

Run 1 Lap around the Colosseum

Rock Gathering at the Rock Pile | 5 AMRAPs (1’ ea) – Rinse-N-Repeat
• Curls
• Rows
• Triceps
• Overhead Press
• Shoulder Taps

Legs to Everest | Starting at 3-way Stop
• 2 Squats at every Light Post til at bottom of Everest

Everest | Wuhan Special (Bernie up Hill)
• Mini Suicide

COT:

5 Thoughts for 5 Minutes | Songs being played during this time (“Snowfall” by Øneheart | “Spirit Lead Me Where My Trust is Without Borders” by Raspo)

1 | Clear the Noise

– Close our eyes and carry the mind to heart-centered
– Clearing your head with all the noise around you
– Find Yourself where you are at the Present

2 | Visualize

– Visualize | Where you are.. What you want to do with your life.. who do you want to be tomorrow.. what needs to change

3 | Present Day Question

– If death stood in front of you would you hug it?
– Identify why, what, and who is bringing you to that.. address the situation

4 | Muhammad Ali Poem

“Friendship is a priceless gift that cannot be bought nor sold, but its value is far greater than a mountain made of gold. For gold is cold and lifeless. It can neither see nor hear. In times of trouble, it’s powerless cheer. It has no ears to listen, no heart to understand. It cannot bring you comfort or reach out a helping hand. So when you ask God for a gift, be thankful if sends not diamonds, pearls, or riches but the love of real, true friends”

• Ponder on who those figures are that God has given you

5 | Why do we close our eyes?

“Why do we close our eyes when we pray, when we cry, when we kiss, when we dream, because the most beautiful things in our life are not seen but felt by the heart”

• Clean up the mind and come back to life at the present moment.. still at heart-centered remain calm and reduce the noise

The Heaviest Ruck of All Time

March 28, 2024 BackBlasts

AO: asylum-pm
Q: Brick
PAX: Glamper, Tenderfoot, Jeevan Kypa (Scrubs), Drum Major, Brick, Sparkler, Pusher, High Heels (Henry Ritchie), Pele (Jon Lindberg), Abacus, Steam, Assfault, Switchhitter (Tony), Crash Dummy
FNGs: None
COUNT: 14
Warm up
33 SSH
14 Hand release merkins
3 Manmakers
2 360 merkins
Wide plank jacks
Cherry pickers
Michael Phelps

-80lbs sandbag is going everywhere with us!
-rabbits always circle back and pick it up
-Every man must carry it once
-Next man on deck beside him for encouragement

THE THANG:

•Picketts sling shot
Battle buddy
-1 “sprint” up the first section and do the exercise and run back, partner is doing xyz
-2 second battle buddy “sprint” up to first section and do the exercise and run back, partner is doing xyz
-3 “run” up first section together and do the exercise
-Repeat for second section and so on until we get to the top

1 – 5 manmakers/ SSH
2 – 2 360 merkins/ Butterfly sit-ups
3 – 10 hand release merkins/ SSH
4 – 10 wide plank jacks/ butterfly sit-ups

Mosey to base of Everest

Bear crawl 360 together x 2
Run up incline to dead end together
Repeat

Run to base of summit
5 Inchworm merkins
Bernie summit
5 Inchworm merkins

Run to flag

MARY:

Plank until 6 is up

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
LilyDipper’s surgery went well! Praying for Recovery!

GTE volunteers needed

COT:

It took excruciating pain leading to death to cleanse us from our sin. Without His death and resurrection the Bible is just a story that sounds good. Jesus was born to die and to do hard things and endure pain, loneliness, isolation, and rejection along the way.

It’s incomprehensible to think of how heavy the weight of sin felt upon his body.

Just like we took terms today, caring that heavy sandbag, there is one other man that really caught my eye in the midst of some of Jesus‘s hardest moments of the cross.
Jesus fell to the ground under the burden of the cross. After their efforts to get Him to continue on His way, the Roman soldiers are in trouble, looking for a solution to the situation. According to Roman law, they could force a traveler to help carry the burden for a mile. They found Simon of Cyrene, seized him, and put the cross on his back to take it after Jesus.
Simon of Cyrene was a Jew who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. To hasten Jesus’ execution by crucifixion the soldiers forced Simon to carry the cross, which weighed approximately 88 pounds, a distance of three quarters of a mile from the fortress of Antonia to Calvary.
Simon is mentioned in three of the Gospel accounts: Matthew (27:32), Mark (15:21), and Luke (23:26). Each of these scriptural reports tell us something different about the man, Simon of Cyrene, and in turn, tell us something important about our life with Jesus.
First, it is not to be overlooked that Simon carried Jesus’ cross. Matthew and Mark clearly state the object Simon carried: “His [Jesus’] cross.” This might sound obvious, but it is insightful that this man, Jesus, who all the gospel writers clearly understand to be God incarnate, needs assistance at his moment of suffering. Simon carrying Jesus’ cross is our reminder of the humility of God.
God is always purposeful, and He may have directed the soldiers to choose Simon of Cyrene to carry the Lord’s cross for a portion of the way to Calvary. We must not lose sight of the fact that Immanuel (God with us), the Creator, the One who carries our burdens accepted help from a man. What a lesson in humility. And we know that part of the execution process involved shameful, public humiliation. Simon did not merely spectate; he also partook in the Lord’s advance toward crucifixion.

Simon of Cyrene, following behind Jesus with the cross, is the picture of discipleship. Christ has gone first. He has gone and is going to where we cannot. Still, we follow in his steps, bearing the cross behind him. This is why Christians today join their hearts together in song singing, “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” written by a Christian martyr named Sadu Sundar Singh.
“I have decided to follow Jesus; The world behind me, the cross before me; Though none go with me, still I will follow; My cross I’ll carry, till I see Jesus; No turning back, no turning back.”

Leave you with one question.
What weight are you carrying for others right now?

And let’s rejoice that one man chose to not just carry the weight, but to die so that we may know Him and tell others of this love. And Sunday is coming very soon that changes the hope for all of mankind.

A Promised Land

March 16, 2024 BackBlasts

AO: asylum-daybreak
Q: Lilydipper
PAX: Lizzy, Pele (Jon Lindberg), Pusher, Jumbo(Carter Dickens), Glamper, Crawdad (Robbi Dickens), Qbert, Swimmies (Nathan Chesney), High Heels (Henry Ritchie), Grandslam, Dung Beetle, Lilydipper
FNGs: None
COUNT: 12
WARMUP: 20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Burpees, 7 Twistees, Curly Stompers, 7 Cherry Pickers, 10 Rockettes, 10 Tempo Squats, 10 Baby Arm Circles Forward and Backward, Michael Phelps

THE THANG: Mosey to the parking lot with the nice restrooms. We will Bernie Sanders to other side of parking lot.
Mosey to parking lot by Soccer Field. We will be running counterclockwise around the parking lot, stopping at every crosswalk to do an exercise. When the leading rabbit reaches the last crosswalk and does the exercise, he should sweep everyone back. Then we will do the same thing but run the next exercise. Here are the exercises:
20 Bobby Hurleys
–
20 Baby Crunches
–
Mosey to the trail that goes by east and south end of the soccer fields. When we reach the area where the trail heads south, we will stop to do 20 Box Cutters.
Next, heading west on the trail, we will to Run Ten Tens. We run ten lights, stop to do ten of an exercise, then run ten more lights. The leading rabbit should sweep all men back to the six. There, all men will do ten more of the exercise. The exercise will be Jump Squats
In the area by the peer, we will split into 3 groups. The groups will go three to different locations, do the listed exercises, and then run clockwise to the next locations. Here are the Locations and exercises:
1. Picnic Tables: 20 Decline Merkins and 20 Bench Dips
–
2. Boulders: 30 Step Ups
–
3. Rock Pile: 20 Overhead Presses and 20 Curls with Boulder
–
Next, we will Run Ten Ten back to where trail is closest to soccer field parking lot. Here are the exercises for the run back:
· Big Boy Sit-ups
Mosey to Soccer Fields Parking Lot. We will do the run and sweep back on the parking lot again but go clockwise. Here are the exercises:
10 Merkins
–
10 Diamond Merkins
–
Mosey to the main roadway. We will stop to do 20 Rocky Balboas
Mosey to the parking lot with the nice restroom. We will stop to do 20 American Hammers. Then we will Bernie across the parking lot.
Mosey to bottom of Mini Cardiac. We will run up to the crosswalk and back down to the AO.

MARY: No time for it, baby!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Haw Ridge on April 5 and GTE with Convergence at Asylum Daybreak on April 27.

COT: Prayers for Kathy Bailey and her family, for Jan that we sometimes see walking in the park and who has cancer, for Qbert’s father and father-in-law, and for safe travels back to LSU for Jumbo after his spring break.

Message
A Promised Land
On the Tuesday workout at Asylum PM I told a story about one of my patients whom I consider to be an “Every Day Hero”, someone who is not famous and whose deeds have not made it in the news, but who is a hero nonetheless. Today I will tell a story about another Every Day Hero. She is a 66-year-old woman named Kathy Bailey.
Not college educated
–
Lived a hard life
–
Married a man who turned into an alcoholic.
–
Divorced him.
–
Raised her one son, Lynn. on her own.
–
Blue collar jobs.
–
Made sure son grew up going to church and learning proper values.
–
Son married and had his own son, Austin His wife turned out to be irresponsible and unfaithful. He divorced her. Because she was gallivanting around town and being with other men, he raised his son with Kathy’s help.
–
Her son was an auto mechanic, growing in success until he got into a major auto accident.
–
He became and still is quadriplegic because of the accident.
–
Kathy and her partner, Jimmy, have cared for Lynn and Austin until Austin became an adult. Kathy still cares for her son, Lynn.
–
Difficulties of raising quadriplegic son. Hardships of life. Tired, fatigued and sometimes feels brokenhearted.
–
Kathy’s faith in God. She sees blessing despite the hardships. Believes in a hereafter.
–
Her story reminds me of the song “A Promised Land” by Bruce Springsteen.
–
The song is written from the perspective of a man but the words also spring true for Kathy. It talks about painful events that knock one down to their knees but the belief in something more that keeps one going:
Blow away the dreams that tear you apart
–
Blow away the dreams that break your heart
–
Blow away the lies that leave you nothing
–
But lost and brokenhearted.
–
Well, the dogs on Main Street howl cause they understand
–
If I could take one moment into my hands
–
Mister, I ain’t a boy, no I’m a man
–
And I believe in a promised land.
–
And I believe in a promised land.
–
Kathy Bailey’s belief inspires me. I tell her story hoping it will inspire you. And, like Kathy, I believe in a promised land.

Everyday Heroes

March 12, 2024 BackBlasts

AO: asylum-pm
Q: Lilydipper
PAX: Brick, High Heels (Henry Ritchie), Tenderfoot, Down Under, P3, Lizzy, Crash Dummy, Pac-man, Swimmies (Nathan Chesney), Glamper, Eliza, Dain Bramage (Will Olson), Pusher, Pele (Jon Lindberg), Curveball, Steam, Lilydipper, Whitey Tightey, Renaissance
FNGs: None
COUNT: 19
WARMUP: 20 Side Straddle Hops, 5 Burpees, 10 Iron Mikes, 4 Burpees, 10 Windmills, 3 Burpees, 5 Pterodactyls Forward and 5 Backwards, 2 Burpees, 10 Tempo Squats, 1 Burpee, Little of This and That

THE THANG: Mosey to Northeast side of Admin Bldg. We will do 20 Rocky Balboas on curb.
Mosey to Rock Pile past northern parking lot. Each man will do the first of the following exercises with CMU Size Boulder then run to cone west of rock pile, do 10 Merkins, and run back. Repeat that sequence with the next exercise, etc. until all exercises are done. Rinse and repeat until the six finishes the last exercise. Here are the exercises with boulders:
20 Overhead Presses
–
20 Curls
–
20 Tricepts
–
20 Rows
–
20 Squats while thrusting boulder straight from chest
–
Next, we will do Run Ten Tens on the perimeter trail until we get to the bottom of Mt. Everest. We run ten lights, do an exercise 10 times, then run 10 more lights and repeat the exercise 10 times. Those finishing first run back to the six so that we can do the second set of exercises together. Here are the exercises we will do until we reach the bottom of Mt. Everest:
Plank Jacks
–
Big Boys
–
At the Bottom of Cardiac we will do 20 Grady Corns and then 40 Baby Crunches in cadence. Next, all men run to the top of Mt. Everest going to the summit or left side of the way up. Those reaching the roadway first can jump rope in place until the six arrives.
Next, we will do sprints and walks. We will from one cone on the roadside close to the parking lot to the other cone on the roadside that will be past the bat cave. Sprint in groups of three. Then walk back to the starting cone. Winners face off against each other. Those losing should still race each other. We sprint until we have a Sprint Master
Next, we will Bernie Race until we have a Grand Bernie Master.
Finally, we will Skip Race until we have a Skip Master.
Mosey to AO.

MARY: No time for it, baby!
ANNOUNCEMENTS: F3 Smokies Convergence, SoKno AO, March 23, 7 to 8:30 am with Nant’an handoff from Smuggler to Rep Sleepy. Escape from Haw Ridge on April 5 from 9 pm to 1 am. April 27, GTE King Builder will get kicked off with a Convergence at Asylum Daybreak at 7 am. All can come to the Convergence, not just those registered for the GTE.

COT: Prayers for the patient Lily talked about as an Everyday Hero (see below). Prayers for Crash Dummy’s brother and sister-in-law who will have a baby any day now.

Message: We have everyday heroes all around us. They may not make the news but they are “in the trenches” and doing great things. One such hero is a therapy patient of mine that for privacy purposes I will just call “Emily.” She is age 35 and a mother of three children. She has been very involved in their lives, often coaching their sports team. Emily worked almost full time while recently attending college for four years in order to get a degree in Education and become a teacher. She finished her classes but did not pass two of the final examinations required for certification. She feels like a failure. She will get an opportunity to take those exams again this summer. Meanwhile she is working two jobs to help pay off her school loans. She is also feeling guilty because one of the jobs at a bank requires her to work until 6 pm and, therefore, has less time to spend with her children although she still coaches the basketball team of two children because they don’t play until 7 pm. This mother may feel guilty and sometimes feel like a failure but to me she is a hero. She sacrifices herself for the good of her children. She is in the trenches, a real warrior. She is an inspiration. It’s too bad that stories like hers cannot be heard more on news channels. God bless everyday heroes like Emily!

Can you HEAR the music?

February 22, 2024 BackBlasts

AO: asylum-pm
Q: Pele (Jon Lindberg)
PAX: Pusher, Brick, CRISPR, Switchhitter (Tony), High Heels (Henry Ritchie), Drum Major, Mailbox, MD Hammer, Tenderfoot, Z-Bone, Crash Dummy, Glamper, Title IX (Christian Prescott), Kung Blue, Sparkler, Doubtfire (Nick Bond), Pele (Jon Lindberg), La-Z-Boy (Zac Smith), Lizzy
FNGs: None
COUNT: 19
WARMUP: -20 SSH (4-ct IC)
– 10 Windmills (4-ct IC)
-10 Grady Corns (4-ct IC)
– 10 Mountain Climbers (4-ct IC)
– calf stretches
THE THANG:
MOSEY up Baby Cardiac and to the open area next to the road.
JINXY’S FOUR AND A QUARTER. Start at bottom of hill, run to top of slope and do 25 reps of an exercise, return to starting position. R&R 4 times, totaling 100 of the exercise (all single count).
–
Round 1: Bottle openers
–
– Round 2: Squat Jumps
–
MOSEY to Colosseum
Run around OUTSIDE circle, doing exercises at the Four “corners”
–
15 Big Boys (or 30 LBCs), 15 American Hammers (2-ct)
–
MOSEY to FIELD BELOW COLOSSEUM.
RECTANGLE of DEATH!!
Blue cones on Corners, Orange Cones on sides (one side has blue cone in middle). Sheets will tell you what to do and how to get to next Blue Cone. Rinse and Repeat. First one done yell RECOVER.
Corner
1: Do 20 Iron Mikes (10 each leg). Suicide using orange cones to next
blue cone.
Corner 2: Do 20 Plank Jacks, Bear Crawl to next Blue Cone
Corner 3: Do 20 Big Boy Situps, Bernie to Blue Cone ½ way down.
½ Way Cone: Do 10 PRISONER GET UPS, Bernie to next Blue cone
Corner 4: 20 Shoulder taps , EL CAPITAN to next Blue Cone
Mosey to rock pile, AMRAP with curls, presses, rows, and triceps.
MOSEY TO AO
MARY: Flutter kicks, E2Ks, Homer/Marge
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Camping this week-end, various Ruck events, Hiking workout in early March, tune in to Slack.
COT: Quote from the movie Oppenheimer: “Algebra is like sheet music. The important thing isn’t can you read the music, it’s can you HEAR it” . Faith is similar. You can check all the boxes of the rituals of your faith, but the goal is to hear the music of your Sky Q’s love in your heart and soul. It may take a while for that to happen, and it’s not necessarily connected to how may boxes you check, but it’s an incredible feeling hearing that song in you once you attune to your God. “During the quiet moments, when I still my mind and my body, I can hear the song of His love in my heart and in my soul.”