We have been silent for many a fortnight, however the activities begin once again! Worried about being bored in the fall? Can’t get motivated to move? Well come on down to Kinnickinnic Park in Bay View this Sunday for some sweet frisbee action.

There’s running, there’s catching, and of course no Frisbee event would be any fun without a little fun.

So come on down, and enjoy the fun Sunday, September 12th at 11:00am @ Kinnickinnic Park.

B there or B square.

This Posts’s Author: Matt (@esmartwave)

After storming the hill, we celebrated appropriately.

Welcome fellow com-PAIN-triats! Today’s tale is of how a small force of individuals successfully liberated Kilbourn Park and brought unto it the basic and inalienable right to Pain, Fun, and the pursuit of healthy living! It was on this day that this bold septet overcame the mild 40F temp and damp weather to ensure that future generations would know the freedoms that we have come to cherish. While the odds against us were very much like the last battle scene with Matthew Broderick in the movie “Glory”, our outcome was considerably more favorable! And believe it or not, we were out there for almost 1hr 45 mins!

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Kilbourn Park is just West of Humboldt Avenue at the place on North Avenue where the road bends, and is located on Milwaukee’s East Side. This park also happens to boast a baseball/kickball field, basketball courts, a walking path, a great jungle gym… oh yeah, and one of the BEST views of the Milwaukee skyline in the city. A great place for a conversation, thinking, or taking photographs at dusk. This week’s Pain participants included some of the new faces from last week. Thanks again to Brennan (@brennanMKE on Twitter) for being the club photographer! Also, there is talk about Pain in the Snow being a sledding event that is family-friendly, so keep your eyes and ears open!

Check out high-res pics at:
http://ow.ly/GSEE – Participant Pics
http://ow.ly/GSFT – General Pain Pics

Our fierce battle with Pain for Fun. We achieved glorious victory in the name of Pain.Kilbourn Park, Milwaukee.

Warm-up Circuit (2 rounds)

• Stair Run (intermediate)
• Push Ups
• Squat Kicks
• Dips

We started off with a smaller group today, and once we did introductions we got started right away. To best prepare for our righteous battle, we opted for stair runs with sparsed other activities to start with.

Pump and Jump Stairs

• High-step Stair Run
• Stair Step Jump

Deciding that our training needed to be just a little more brutal before REALLY starting our initial assault on Kilbourn Park, we did another stair run, alternating between high-steps and jumping every flight. This inspired us and raised our morale to get us over the hill and fight for the right to PAIN.

Up & Down Circuit (2 rounds)

• Lat Pull-ups (5+ each side)
• Bi-Tri Air Pull-ups (10)
• One-leg Glut Busters (15)
• Push-ups (10-15)
• Calf Raises (15 or more)

For our first Kilbourn encounter, we opted for a combined upper and lower body circuit, to give each a little time to rest. This worked upper body HARD, and was a great partner set. Kilbourn 0, Pain 1. Just a safety reminder to always keep your back straight, which uses your core to stabilize and also works that as well.

Core Meltdown Circuit (2 rounds)

• Arm Throws
• Recumbent Water Jug Bug
• Bicycle Kicks
• Swing Planks
• Swing Jacknifes
• Leg Throws

This circuit really tested our mettle, and brought some solid pain to our cores. But our resolve, being tested, would not budge! We overcame this challenge, teaming up in partners again. Kilbourn put up a good fight, but lost again to our iron will! Kilbourn 0, Pain 2! Victory was in sight!

Cool Down

• Light Jog (1/2 Mile)

Feeling good about our inevitable annihilation of Kilbourn Park’s defenses, we decided to do a Victory Lap around the concrete track. It was this final action which broke Kilbourn’s spirits, granting us glorious victory! We then let the denizens of this fair park know that we had liberated them. They too, were once again safe to have Fun in whatever form of Pain they wished to practice.

Workouts

Squat Kicks
Perform a squat, raising up on one leg while kicking the opposite leg out and as high as you can. When you bring your leg back down, go back into the squat position.

Bi/Tri Air Pull-ups
With your partner holding your feet, hold onto a monkey bar rung and pull yourself up. Remember to keep your back straight! I performed this by myself by hooking my feet onto another rung.

One Leg Glut Busters
Hook one foot onto a ledge or something similar, and with your other foot planted firmly on the ground, lower your body and bring it back up (using only the leg on the ground to raise you and lower you). Make sure to keep that back straight, and if you have a bad knee this might not be good for you.

Recumbent Water Jug Bug
Holding a water jug in both hands, lie on your back (or sit on a bench in a recumbent position) and then twist the water jug from side-to side while moving your legs in a slow kicking motion.

Swing Planks
Focus on the abs and not the back for this workout. Holding onto a standard playground swing with your hands, get into a push-up position. Slowly extend your arms away from you, almost as if you were putting them over your head. DO NOT extend them past 70 degrees, as it can hurt your lower back. you can either hold your arms our at a 50-60 degree angle, or slowly extend and retract them towards your body. Those with weaker lower backs might want a spotter for this.

This Posts’s Author: Matt

The entire group made the word Pain out of our bodies.

This is my first post and whadda world whadda world, it’s a good’un. I was excited to go to this Pain, having done some extra curricular bear wrestling two days earlier, I was eager to stay in good shape for the re-bear-match. So it was with unexpected joy that we got an unexpected gift from la Madre Naturaleza (Mother Nature), who blessed us with a little bit o’ September weather (60F) in our little corner of Wisconsin. An uncharacteristically warm late November Sunday is rounding out some gorgeous weather lately!

…a perfect day for some good old-fashioned Pain.

The participants in this morning’s event were of varied expertise in Pain, and it is always great to see more new faces every week! Big shout-out to Tim and Lindsey, joining us all the way from Minneapolis! We met in the parking lot at the end of N 72nd Street and after a couple of introductions, we sized up the location. Hart Park is located in Wauwatosa, WI and has a creek, some train tracks, a large open field… oh, and a full-size football field with astro turf as well as a beautiful running track and stadium seating. A lot of us had never been to Hart Park, and it was definitely fancy. But would it hold up to some real Pain?

Warm-up Circuit

• Yosemite Run

We all did some standard stretches while exchanging names, and took to the track to begin the morning with a good 12 person long Yosemite Run (our new politically correct replacement name for “Indian Runs”, hehe) which warmed us up really fast. After some of the crew shed some of those heavy Wisconsin winter clothes, we were off. The run was at a good pace, and everyone kept up. A thought on groups larger than 8 for this workout: Using 2 side-by-side columns spaced properly apart might allow for a more strenuous workout, and allow each column to set a different difficult level.

Upper Body Circuit

• 10 Handsprings or Round-offs
• 100ft Partner Wheelbarrows
• 5 Dolphin Planks
• 20 Curbside Dips
• 20 Picnic Bench Dips
• 20 Bench Push-Ups

After “running the Yosemite” we broke into pairs, with each pair concocting an exercise for the group to go through. And wouldn’t ya know it, just as we get all spread out on the field and our creative juices started flowing, the Man comes out on the field. The fake grass (football field) was off-limits, and we had no permit. Booted off the field for unnecessary Pain! But fear not fellow Painers, this story still has more to come!

Animal Circuit (2 rounds)

• Bear Runs
• Bear Fight
• Reverse Crab Walk
• Dead Bug
• Inch Worm
• Bear Itches
• Gorilla Run

After moving to the open field and a brief water break, we paired off again, this time by weight. Separating into 2 lines facing each other, we stood poised in a firing line of Pain, ready to unleash our inner beasts. With a roar that would send shivers down the backs of Spartans, this circuit of Pain began. Many fighting styles were seen that day, but all claimed a victory of Pain.

Lunging Expedition Circuit (2 rounds)

• 10 yards Forward Lunges
• 10 Burpees
• 10 yards Side Squats
• 10 Burpees
• 10 yards Forward Lunges
• 10 Mountain Cimbers
• 10 yards Side Squats

During the water break, Brennan supplied some Water Joe, while Matt climbed a tree with the aid of a bench. We were all feeling the Pain, but we weren’t through yet! Tracy led us on a 80-yard Lunging Expedition, which proved to be slightly more brutal than I thought it would be .

Core Workout

• 30 Partner Leg Throws
• 30 Hi-Five Crunches
• 20 Cross-Five Slap Crunches

Breaking for water again, we rounded out our Pain with some group core workouts! These workouts can be hard on the lower back, so don’t overextend yourself!

Cool Down

By this point, we were all feeling the Pain-demonium, and felt that some water and stretching were in order. Two Painers decided they hadn’t had enough, and went back to the track for more Pain, while the rest of the group decided to cool down tossing around a Frisbee. While I had not thrown around with some of our new Pain Pals, it was great to cool off with some sporadic running and disc-throwing. What an awesome day!

Workout Descriptions

These workouts, particularly the wheelbarrow, planks, and handsprings work the shoulders heavily (I was definitely feeling them today). The others varied in working the chest, biceps or triceps depending on the desired position of your hands in the dips and push-ups.

Dolphin Planks
Side plank with skyward hand and leg stretched upward, with a 5-second hold

Bear Run
Running on all fours, 2 “paws” on the ground at all times

Bear Fight
Lock hands and fingers with your partner while in a fighting stance, attempting to unbalance your opponent

Dead Bug
Lie on back, slowly moving legs and arms, twisting your body from left to right

Inch Worm
With hands and feet on the ground and your back fairly straight, crawl out with your hands and keep your feet stationary until you can stretch no further, and then inch your feet slowly towards your hands. Repeat. A lot.

Bear Itches
Stand back-to-back with your partner, and perform squats, pushing against your partner to stabilize

Gorilla Run
Run forward with hands together and feet together, push forward with your hands and jump forward with your feet

Burpees
Single push-up followed by bringing the feet to the hands in that same position and then jumping in the air

Side Squats
In a squatting position, walk sideways, performing a squat each time you take a step

Mountain Climbers
In a push-up position, alternately bring your feet up to your hands one at a time, holding the push-up position as if you were climbing up a mountain side

Partner Leg Throws
Lie on your back with your partner standing over your head, grab their ankles and bring your feet up towards the sky while keeping your legs straight, then have your partner throw your legs in any random direction away from them

Hi-Five Crunches
Lie on your back, hands over your head with arms stretched out. Have your partner stand on the tips of your feet, and do a crunch, bringing your hands up to your parter a ‘hi-five’

Cross-Five Slap Crunches
Lie on your back with your partner standing on your toes, and perform a crunch, slapping your partner’s right hand with yours, then your left with theirs, and repeat

This Post’s Author: Joe

It’s about time I relay my belated report on a North Woods installment of Pain in the Park.  After a long stretch of unusually cold and rainy days in October, we had an amazingly beautiful two days of warm and sunny weather over the first full weekend in November.  Four intrepid Painers headed out into Nicolet National Forest for a totally sweet workout!

We started out the morning on an interpretive trail along a lake and through some leaf-blanketed oak and birch woods.  As we came upon some benches, birthday boy James, Tracy, Jenny and I thought up some ideas for our first circuit:

Warm-up Circuit (25 count then rotate)

• Push ups w/ bench
• Log lifts
• Run 30 yards to another bench
• Step ups
• Run back to shore
• Burpees

From there we found the call of the wild too strong to resist, so we tramped into the woods for our second circuit.  We made use of everything we encountered, just like the strongmen of yore:

Lumberjack Circuit I

• Rock throw
  - We found a boombox-sized granite boulder to hurl about.  We did a combination of chest and overhead throws. 15 – 20 per person.
• Break the Bat
  - We selected some fine fallen timber and “batted against some dead trees (don’t bully live trees by hitting them) until our branches were too short to continue.
• Tree Pushing
  - Though not as sweet as felling a tree with a single punch, pushing against a tree until it gives way and crashes to the forest floor is very satisfying.

After a short jog back to the lakeshore, we came across a line of pommel horse-looking logs (each about 15 feet long) lined up on the very edge of the water.  We skipped a few rocks as we thought up the following:

Pommel Horse Circuit

• Plank Walk
• Single Leg Swat Side Steps
• Push Up Side Steps
• Dip Side Steps
• Walking w/ dipping a leg on each step
  - If done slowly it’s like doing a one-legged squat.
• Table Kicks – 15x each leg
• Squat and Jump – Back and forth over the log.
• Inchworms (hand walkouts)

We did this in a line along all the logs, turned and repeated everything on the way back.  The best part of this circuit was the added risk of falling in the lake if you lost your balance.  Then we jogged back into the woods, did another round of rock throws, found another path to explore, and continued with a second Lumberjack Circuit:

Lumberjack Circuit II

• Rock Throws
  - 15 per person, shadow box then run to where the rock lands on your turn.
• Brawny Battle
  - The opposite of tug-o-war.  We stood on opposite sides of the trail holding a log between us.  We tried to push the other team off the trail.  First round was Jenny and I vs. James.  Round 2 was Tracy and I vs. James and Jenny.  I think this would be even more fun with a larger group.
• Zen Stump Balancing
  - We climbed up onto a tall stump and tried balancing on one leg for as long as possible while bending forward and lifting the other leg back like an ice skater.
• Leaping High Grab
  - We called out branches hanging across the trail and took turns running and jumping in an attempt to tag or grab them.
• Fallen Tree Beam Walk
  - We spotted an unstable fallen tree that looked perfect for a balance challenge.  It was still attached to the stump, but the other end hovered above the ground. We took turns trying to keep our balance while walking out as close to the end of the tree as we could.
• Log Throw Run – As if we didn’t get enough throwing in after 2 rounds of rock throws, James and I started hurling a log as high and far along the trail as we could and the other sprinted up to it and chucked it again.  We continued this for some distance.  After a while part of it broke off and then we could hurl it farther and extend our sprints.  Somewhere along the line this involved throwing James’ water bottle as well.  After many throws and runs, the trail dropped down to a road and I gave the log a final toss across it.
• Outrun the Arrows
  - Despite it being bow hunting season, we didn’t get shot at, but it makes a good title for the final step of the workout.  It was getting late, so James and I ran back to the car, sprinting the final stretch.

I loved this workout because we got to play in the woods and perform feats of strength against granite boulders and trees.  We got a solid mix of upper body and running.  If I lived up here I would have Pain in the Woods every day!  We were so lucky to get such warm, sunny, and dry weather.  Although we did almost get attacked by some wolf-dogs, we didn’t regret our failure to wear blaze orange clothing.

While I highly recommend these woodland exercises, make sure you are not damaging the forest, or breaking any park rules.  Be sure to stay out of revegetation areas and don’t bully live trees!

This Post’s Author: James

We had the biggest turn out for a pain in the park yet this past Sunday and it was great.  There were three newcomers which is awesome!  One of them, Anne, even wrote about it on her Tumblr.  Thanks for coming out and for your support!

The group fully took advantage of each other’s creativity to form a pretty wonderful workout. After spending a short part of the night before sleeping in a car b/c I was too tired to walk ALL THE WAY from the garage to the house, I was less than enthusiastic about working out. When everyone agreed we should start with an Indian run, I kinda wanted to just stretch some more, but I went and got the old blood flowing and felt a bit better about what I was about to get myself into.

Upon Nick’s suggestion, we started with a couple rounds of the Madison warm up.

Madison Warm Up

• 10 Jumping Jacks
• 20 Mountain Climbers
• Downward Facing Dog (30 – 45 secs)
• 20 High Knees
• 20 Bird Dogs
• 10 Glute Bridges

Then Brooke wanted to revisit “animal instincts” from the week before, but I’m not one for repeating workouts too often so we changed up a lot of it. The group partnered up w/ similar height people.  Then the partners spread about 25yards or so apart from and facing one another. When some one let out a growl the circuit began.

Modified animal instincts circuit – ROAR!

• fast bear crawl to center meeting head-to-head with your partner in the middle
• “fight the bear” the two partner’s stand lock fingers and try to push the other over for ~30 secs (think old school WWF test of strength in fact check out this video starting at about the 6 min mark)
• then inchworm back to your starting point
• dead bugs 20 reps
• forward crab walk to middle
• high five each other
• 1st round acro push ups (which took too much time/threw off the rhythm of the workout) so we switched to high-five push ups alt-hands for the slaps on each set. this was great. (thanks Anne!)
• reverse crab walk back to start point

That was 1 round – we did three.

Next we decided to work with the playground equipment that the park afforded us and also to work w/ the creative mind that the group afforded us.  Each partnership from the last circuit wandered around the playground and came up with an exercise (or two) to add to the circuit then we all met up and showed each other.  Each group then started the circuit at the exercise they contributed.  If anyone caught up w/ the group ahead of them they had to shadow box and sing the Rocky theme song till the previous group was done.  This along w/ some grunts made for a great sound track.

Playground collabo circuit (I’m going to put the pair that came up w/ each exercise in parenthesis).

• “lean backs” basically stand on a gate and lean back then use your quads and core to lift yourself back up. harder than they look. X15reps? then ballet single leg squats X 10 per leg (Tracy and Amy)
• back extensions w/ legs on the slide X20reps (Joe and Ben)
• body weight rows holding the fence of the play ground X20reps (Andrea and Anne)
• run up the children’s climbing wall X10 reps then deeps squat row combo on the spiraled fireman’s pole (Carl and David)
• climb up the side of the swing set, monkey bar your way across then hold an iron cross for 15 secs on the other side.  If needed your partner could help hold you up during this exercise (Matt and James)
• swing extension planks X15 swing jackknifes X15 (Brooke and Nick)

We only did this circuit once but really enjoyed having everyone come up w/ something. I think more workouts need to be figured out in this fashion.

We did the same thing for a more core-orientated workout w/ the partners who came up w/ demonstrating in the middle of a circle.

Core callabo circuit

• back to back partner squats (Joe and Ben)
• supermans with alternation high-fives (Carl and David)
• modified mountain climbers – hold yourself in a push up position then draw your right knee to outside your right elbow then to inside your left elbow then back to the ground and do the same w/ you left leg (Anne and Andrea)
• side planks for ~ 30 secs each side (Tracy and Amy) and then Anne suggested adding some hip pumps (side to side) when you are in a plank. we did another plank round with hip pumping action.
• glute bridges w/ opposite side punches/kicks (Brooke and Nick)
• around the world planks-hold good form on a plank and move your feet around till you spin 360 degrees then reverse the direction for another 360 (Matt and James)

Ended with a suicide run which for some reason had overwhelming popular support this week. Overall great work, lots of fun.  Great to see new faces, I hope we have more next week and I also hope the inappropriate language doesn’t scare too many folks off.

Next Pain in the Park

Let’s meet at Hart Park this Sunday (Nov. 22) at 11am. At this point, the plan is to park and meet in the lot at the end of N 72nd St. by the park. If plans change, we’ll update this and Tweet about it before Sunday.

It sounds like there might be a carpool getting set up for Bayview folks, and possibly another for Riverwest area folks. Let us know if you need to jump in on a carpool, or if you can provide one: paininthepark@gmail.com

Let’s do this!

This Post’s Author: Brooke

Pain in the Park was divided this last weekend. The majority of the group had “Pain in the North Woods,” (post recap will be up soon) leaving a small handful of us still doing “Pain in Lake Park.” Only 3 of us ended up showing, but we have a blast together. Here’s what we ended up doing:

“Pain in Lake Park” Workout

The day was so beautiful! Just perfect weather for an outdoor workout session. Nick and I met up with Ben, who rode his bike there to meet up with us. We all did some light mobility stretching and then took to the field with force.

Madison Warm Up

This is the same warm up Nick and I liked so much  from Duckart Dislocation workout with the Madison crew.

• 10 Jumping Jacks
• 20 Mountain Climbers
• Downward Facing Dog (30 – 45 secs)
• 20 High Knees
• 20 Bird Dogs
• 10 Glute Bridges

Two times through. It get’s your blood flowing for sure.

Work 1: “Animal Instincts”

I came up with this sort of last minute before our session. I thought it would be fun to combine some animal themed workouts all together into a new workout. It was fun! These sorts of workouts make me feel like a kid again, especially the leap frogs. Goofy, but over all a pretty tough set.

• Crab Walk about 20 yards
• 20 Bird Dogs (10 each side)
• Inch Worms about 20 yards (these were killers!) to a tree
• The tree was the turning-back point and just for added fun, we Bear Hugged the tree and growled when we reach it… okay, maybe I was the only one that growled
• 10-15 Cobras (only lifting chin a couple inches off ground, not too high)
• Leap Frogs (Nick did Lunge Walks instead) about 20 yards
• 10-15 Dead Bugs, which are like Bird Dogs on your back (see image of me dead – ha!)
• Bear Crawl back to start about 20 yards

We ran through this twice. I want to do this again for sure. I definitely see this one evolving every weekend, so think of animal movements and come with ideas!

Work 2: “Tree Triangle Circuit”

We found 3 trees fairly evenly spaced from each other, creating a triangle. This workout worked really well since there was only 3 of us. We each took a position next to a tree. Each tree was a different station, and we rotated through the tree circuit a total of 3 times.

• Tree One = 10-15 Push Ups
• Sprint to next tree
• Tree Two = 20-25 Crunches
• Lunge Walk to next tree
• Tree Three = 10-15 Burpees
• Crab or Bear Walk to last tree

This felt great.

Stretches and Cool Down

After the circuit, we saw some  ladies walking by on the bike path and they were nice enough to stop and take a few group photos of us. They asked us a few questions and even told us, “Good for you, taking such good care of your bodies!” It was cute, and encouraging.

Then the 3 of us chatted a bit as we ran through some basic stretches and hip-openers.

As a cool down we threw around a frisbee for a couple minutes.

Over all a great workout and a great day.

Next Pain in the Park “Kinnickinnic Pain” is tomorrow, Sunday Nov. 15th. We are meeting at Kinnickinnic Park (across the street from Outpost in Bayview) at 11am. The weather looks a bit cold, and possibly some sprinkles, so dress warm.

It sounds like we might have a lot of new faces this session, and the full force of the Pain team reunited – I am pumped!

This Post’s Author: Brooke

Sorry for the late post about this workout. We had some camera issues and we didn’t want to post without the images. All resolved, so here you go!

________________________________

For Halloween weekend, Nick and I went to visit our friend’s in Madison. During our visit, we were privileged to take part in Madison’s version of Pain in the Park, which they call Dislocate All Your Shit.  This particular workout they affectionately deemed “Duckart Dislocation” in honor of our visit. For an added treat, we decided to trek out to beautiful Devil’s Lake for the pain. It was a brutally fun time! Here’s what we did:

“Duckart Dislocation” at Devil’s Lake Workout

It was a cold day, so we hurried to gather up equipment, stretched a bit and then got right into it before our toes went numb.

Warm Up

• 10 Jumping Jacks
• 20 Mountain Climbers
• Downward Facing Dog (30 – 45 secs)
• 20 High Knees
• 20 Bird Dogs
• 10 Glute Bridges

Two times through.

This got our hearts pumping.  Most of us did a lot more high knees than 20 because it was good.  It also made a very satisfying noise–Chuck Taylors on the concrete.

Nick and I liked this warm up so much that we used it in last weekend’s Pain in Lake Park (recap of that workout to be posted soon as well.)

Work 1

• 10 Reverse Lunges (each leg) whilst holding a sandbag
• 10 Sandbag Clean and Press
• 10 Bent Rows
• 10 Push Ups

We repeated this three times. My arms were shaking a lot during the third round and I had to drop down in weight.

The sandbags that we used were homemade, out of duffle bags. I’m going to see if Jesse would be willing to do a guest Blog Post about how he put them together.

Work 2: ”Deerhunter Circuit”

• Started at some rocks with a partner and took off race-style (“Ready, Set, GO!”)
• Sprint to first tree (30-40 yards?)
• Sandbag lift and carry back to starting rocks
• Sprint/Jog  to a second tree (20-30 yards)
• 10 Burpees
• Sprint/Jog back to start
• Sandbag lift and carry to original spot (first tree)
• Sprint/Jog  to a bench (10-20 yards)
• 30 Mountain Climbers next to bench
• Sprint/Jog back to first tree
• Bear Crawl to the wood’s edge… and bear crawl back to first tree (10 yards)
• Sprint to finish (starting rocks)

First and last sprints were compulsory; running legs were better described as “fast as possible” optional and typically taken at a jog pace.  These were done pseudo race style with 2 people going head to head through the circuit. Pairings were Don/Nick, Cadwell/me, and Jesse/Finnin.

Jesse admitted he had to take a knee during the mountain climbers, I have to admit my knee came down a couple of times and I almost couldn’t complete the bear crawls. This circuit was the definition of brutal.

Work 3:  Modified “Beast of Burden”

The Madison crew has made a very impressively simple sled – metal handles and a chain latched onto a Tupperware storage bin top. I was amazed at how much this thing could pull/withstand. We pre-loaded the sled, which is now going by the name of “Tupperbeast,” with a load appropriate for the 2 people running the circuit.

The sled was about 30-40 yards from the start.

• Foot race to the sled
• Winner drags the sled a long fucking distance (80-100 yards? maybe more?) either backwards or forwards
• Loser does 10 burpees, jogs to end of course, does 10 more burpees, waits for winner to bring them the sled
• Winner runs back to the start w/sprint finish in final 40 yards
• Loser drags sled back a long fucking way
• Loser does 40 yard dash to finish.

This was a lot of fun, but wow was pulling that distance intense!

Pairings were Don/Nick, Cadwell/me, and Jesse/Finnin. Cadwell and I were neck and neck to the sled. We tied, so we split up the pain (the burpees.)

Work 4:

We were all feeling pretty much spent and done, when Nick decided to call down the thunder and demanded another run through the Deerhunter.  I kind of hated him at first for this decision, but it ended up being really fun. All 6 of us ripped through it at the same time.  We subbed crab walks for bear crawls, but otherwise it was the same.

What a blast!

After the workout, we made a quick stop at Black Earth Meats on the way back to Madison, for some Organic Grass-fed goodies. Healthy meals were then made and enjoyed upon our return.  The entire weekend was wonderful.

Thank you everyone for showing us a great time in Madison. We hope to make it out again to further dislocate our shit with you soon!

This Post’s Author: Brooke

As James said in his last post, Pain in the Park is divided once again this weekend. The majority of the group is going to have Pain in the North Woods, leaving a small handful of us still doing Pain in the Park here in Milwaukee.

Let’s do this!

The plan is to meet tomorrow (Sunday) at noon, Lake Park, by these red Veterans statues.

Really tiny group so far (only 3-4 confirmed,) so bring friends! And ideas! It should be a beautiful Fall day and a lot of open space to use up our energy in.

Also, sorry for the delay on Halloween weekend’s “Duckart Dislocation” re-cap post, but we had some camera hook-up issues. They should be resolved over this weekend, fingers-crossed, so we’ll post it up next week.

This Post’s Author: James

“Pain” really can happen anywhere and anytime. This weekend, a lot of the Pain in the Park regulars were unable to make it b/c we were attending the beautiful Drake-Hames wedding. During the reception the Chumbawamba song “Tubthumper” came on and we spontaneously did jump squats any time the song went “I get knocked down, but i get up again and your never gonna keep me down!” which is probably about 50% of that song. Multiple people commented on how they were thinking this was like a mini-Pain in the Park while jumping. Pretty funny and a lot of fun!

Anyways, look out later this week for Brooke and Nick’s write up on “Duckart Dislocation” in Madison.

Also, team MKE Pain in the Park might be divided once again this weekend w/ a Pain in the North Woods team and a Pain in the Park team somewhere in Milwaukee. We’ll be sure to  let you know when we solidify more details.

This Post’s Author: James

We had a beautiful Pain this past Saturday. Though the ground was slightly wet and there were some puddles or muddy spots, we didn’t get too muddy and the sun came out about 30mins into the workout which made for near perfect Pain weather. Had a good turn out, 9 people plus one photographer and one very late arrival. There were a couple of newbies who I hope will continue to come out as it seemed they had a lot of fun. Riverside Park gave us the ability to do lots of fun stuff and to be creative in our workouts.

Speaking of workouts here’s what we did:

Started with an Indian Run which is always tough for the new comers who don’t have the cardio strength that the more seasoned Painers might. After that we played on a rope jungle gym for a bit starting with a team race across where you had to touch both high points then pretty much a climbing free for all. It was fun but very tough on even the most calloused hands. We then went into the most playground focused circuits we’ve ever done.

Circuit 1: Playfull partenerships

• Merry-go-round push battle
• Jump squats on top of a wooden wall (we only did one set out of three here b/c the ground was too muddy and therefore dangerous)
• Dips on a canoe (the canoe added some instability)
• Jumping from one ground icon to the next on the play area
• Lilly pad push ups
• Towel curls or tricep extensions (Joe brought us hand towels so one partner held one end of the towel and stood on a frog’s head and did curls the other stood on the ground, held the other end and did triceps. You can do this exercise while standing on objects other than a statue of a frog’s head, but it might not be as much fun)

Did all exercises for 30 sec then 90 sec break and repeat twice. I found this circuit to be a lot of fun but too tricept heavy (esp. if you are the person not standing on the frog’s head that round). Everyone had a lot of fun with this one.

Circuit 2: Running the Fun Gauntlet

• Start w/ single leg squats w/ your non-work leg hung in a suspension strap x15
• Bear crawl over to a child’s door hole in a wall then climb a small wall and slide down a short slide
• Squat jumps onto a rather unstable platform x15
• Partner Medicine Ball Slams x10 per partner
• Run over to the butterfly and make it fly (some people got WAY into and excitable with this one *cough* nick ducks *cough* hehehe)
• Run the rock maze
• Jump or climb a 3ft wall
• Crab walk through a thing and over to some toadstools (maybe 15ft?)
• Walk on top of the toadstools got your balance working a bit
• Run to the swings
• Swing crunches

Repeat twice then finish by doing one final set of single leg squats so that both legs worked twice. This circuit led to a lot of laughing and a bit of goofing around but still got us working.

Final Workout

We then split up and a few of us went over to run a brutal suicide on the football field (stops at 10yrds, 30 yrs, 50yrd, 70yrds, 90yrds, and the full field). After turning around at the far end for the final trip home I realized Joe and Nick were quite a bit ahead of me, being the competitive ass that I sometimes can be I told myself “I’m going to beat them back.” So I kicked it up a notch but unfortunately in doing so i started to breath really heavy and they heard me coming and kicked it up themselves. We all crossed the finish the other end and nearly collapsed. This may have been the first suicide I’ve ever done where I was smiling when i finished.

Meanwhile, Brooke showed the two Jennys how to do some rows with the suspension straps over the swing set, some acro bench-presses (one person lays on their back as the the other lays forward above them and interlocks fingers. The person on their back then bench-presses the top person. MUCH easier on an incline so you aren’t bench-pressing the full weight of the other person. You can throw in an extra twist/workout if the top person does acro push-ups at the same time.) against a small hill on the playground, and then a set of leg-throws for core. All exercises they hadn’t done yet and were curious about.

Cool-down and Stretch

We then took a group rainbow pic (see our new blog header above) which was work in and of itself, to hold each other up, and then went to do some stretching. Everyone ended in a really good mood and was really excited about the workout.

Then we realized next week is going to be a hard one to schedule for all of us, but i think we will be able to pull something off. I’ll post the time when it is hammered out.

Also be on the lookout for the B&N Duck’s post next week, about invading Madison’s version of Pain (Dislocate All Your Shit) this coming weekend. The Madison crew has already affectionately deemed the workout to be “Duckart Dislocation.” It should be good.