Boom! This is Books & Biceps #357!

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Let me tell you a quick story about how my grandfather helped me fall in love with reading by introducing me to the wise-cracking, ass-kicking Boston detective, Spenser:

I’m visiting my grandparents in Florida in 8th grade and I’m talking to my grandfather (Papa) about books and what I like to read.

He tells me that his favorite author writes these stories about a detective in Boston who loves the Red Sox, lifts weights, boxes, has a tough guy partner named Hawk and who solves mysteries while never backing down from a fight.

Now, if you’re a thirteen or fourteen year old teen dude, is there a better pitch for a book? That description reads like an action movie!

So he goes to his bedroom, comes back and hands me a book, Mortal Stakes. It’s the third book in the Spenser series (there are 50 or so now) and it’s about a star Red Sox pitcher who the team believes may be on the hook to a gambler and is throwing games… But of course, there’s much more to the story than gambling: murder, blackmail, etc… And Spenser is on the case.

I dive in that night and read half the book. I vividly remember reading this section and thinking it was the way that I wanted to start my day when I grew up:

“I got up and jogged along the river for ten minutes to the Boston University gym… I knew a guy in the athletic department and they let me use the weight room. I spent 45 minutes on the irons and another half hour on the heavy bag. By that time some coeds were passing by on their way to class and I finished with a big flourish on the speed bag. They didn’t seem impressed… I jogged back down river and was back in my apartment at five of nine.”

Two things: 1) To my 8th grade self, this was the coolest way a guy could start the day. 2) This is still the coolest way to start the day.

The book was written and published in 1975, so the dialogue and lack of technology and overall vibe are from a different era. The pop culture references are also five decades old so some won’t make sense…

AND YET, the storytelling is great. The plot moves fast. The characters are original and cool. And Spenser is a fun guy to follow.

Now, back to my grandfather… After that particular visit we flew home to Massachusetts and I went about my life. About a week later, a shoebox arrived in the mail addressed to me. Inside was about a dozen mass market Robert B. Parker Spenser novels from Papa. It blew me away.

It was such a perfect, thoughtful gift and I read them all over the course of the next few months… And I kept reading them all my life.

When I started Books & Biceps, I wanted to share one or two Robert B. Parker books a year in honor of my grandfather and also to introduce new readers to an OG Books & Biceps main character: Spenser.

Pale Kings & Princes is one of my all-time favorites and I recently re-read it on my flight to Logan (fittingly). It pits Spenser against the drug mafia of what in the book is known as “Miami North”, a small town in Wheaton, MA that in the 70s somehow moved an ungodly amount of cocaine around the northeast. As usual, our man gets in fist fights and wisecracks his way through town until just about everyone wants to kill him. Then he brings in super bad ass Hawk for reinforcements to take the cartel down.

One-liners. Training scenes. Snappy dialogue with his girlfriend Susan. Can’t beat it. Next time you have a flight coming up, ditch the movie you’ll forget in two minutes and grab a Spenser novel for $7.99 a pop (mass market). Give my Papa’s favorite detective a shot here.

Last week I shared this recap of our trip to Boston and our time on Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, but we had a few more days left in the trip after B&B went out and I shared this photo on our last morning before we flew out:

This is the perfect Charles River shot, with rowers, the Prudential Tower and the Citgo sign in the background haha.

While our hotel in Cambridge had an awesome gym, I chose to do my classic “on the road” workout along the river.

What’s my “On the Road” workout? It’s simple and I love it because it gets me around a city, gets me outside and gives me a nice change of pace from my normal workouts in the Flex Factory.

OPTION 1: If I’m visiting somewhere and I’m near the beach, my “On the Road” workout is this:

Quarter Mile Swim (or 5 minutes if in a pool)

25 Push-Ups

100 yard run (estimated)

This often looks like a rectangle, where I’ll swim out, do a quarter mile parallel to the shore, get out, jog back to the start, do the push-ups, then swim.

I’ll repeat this for 30 or 45 minutes.

OPTION 2: If I’m not near water or a pool I do this:

Quarter Mile Jog/Run

25 Push-Ups

And I’ll repeat this for 2 or 3 miles.

Easy. Gets your heart pumping. Works cardio and some strength training. The goal is to move, sweat and work your muscles a bit while seeing the town you’re in. This checks all three boxes.

I’m a sucker for the the World’s Strongest Man Competition and I have a few favorite events, one of them being the Atlas Stones. I know the stones aren’t as sexy as the refrigerator carry or pulling an 18-wheeler, but I love their simplicity:

Lift a bunch of heavy stones ranging from 220 pounds up to 446 pounds faster than the other guy.

This world record rules because of how fast my man goes, and the casual way he heaves the last rock into place while his opponent falters for a bit. Check it out:

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