Author: Chum Bucket

A quick afternoon shower preceded the posting by 5 PAX at this week’s Punisher.  After a quick meet and greet in the parking lot, with some PAX members coming in hot, we moseyed to the east side of the hedges for The Thang:  Startup COP with SSHs, IWs, DQs, Russian Soldiers, Helicopters, and Arm Circles.

Mosey to the outdoor classroom and started with the Attila Sequence using the picnic tables – 20 x Dips, 20 x Step Ups (one leg), 20 x Dips, 20 x Step Ups (other leg), and finish with 20 x Dips.  Begin 8 minute EMOM #1 with 10 – 20 (or more) Wide Grip Merkins for the odd minute using the rest of the minute for a brief rest and 10-20+ Carolina Dry Docks for the even minute.  Follow with EMOM #2 with 10-20+ Squats for the odd and 10-20+ Side Lunges for the even.

Brief break in the action with one PAX member completing 5 Merkins while the others Bear Crawl away from the pavilion and crawl back when the Merkins are done.  Next guy does the same with the others crawling out and back.  For round 2, 5 Close Grip or Diamond Merkins with the other guys Lunge Walking away and back.  Start EMOM #3 with 20-30+ Hello Dollys (I don’t believe you would pluralize Dolly in writing about more than one rep of the exercise) for the odd and 20-30+ Freddie Mercurys (same here) for the even.

Circle up briefly in the grass on the way to the parking lot for a little stretching.  Mosey back to the parking lot.  COT and YHC took us out.

Announcements:  Labor Day Convergence – Three Lakes Park – 7 AM on Labor Day and 4 Year F3RVA Convergence – Dogwood Dell at Dogpile on September 22nd.

NMS:  Nice work gents.  The summer has been good.  On behalf of Punisher regulars (Nightcrawler, Sonny, Tricycle) a good mix of F3 tourism and possible regulars has brought new energy.

Krü (you can find the u with the diaeresis in the Special Character menu in WordPress formatting) and Adderall made it out again following posting at Saturday’s at GridIron.  Both have kids that once attended Holton Elementary, so the grounds are familiar to these guys.  Their comfort with their surroundings shone through their picnic table top Hello Dolly/Freddie Mercury rotation.  Nightcrawler, Offshore, and YHC stuck to the wet grass.  Adderall also has an advanced Squat technique – you against you man.

Good seeing Offshore, too.  Has probably been a while – prior to Punisher moving to the evenings.  Offshore added to the evening’s degree of difficulty by running to the AO from VCU (having parked near Holton in the morning and catching the bus to campus).

Nightcrawler – want the rest of the story on the trip to Sealevel, NC.  See you sometime after Labor Day.

Through some combination of GridIron last Saturday and other activities during the weekend, YHC had back muscle spasms that started Monday afternoon.  You may have your own story about medicating for F3 activities, but two Advil and a little pre-workout Tiger Balm provided help but not a solution.  Who else out there has a pre-game cream, ointment, salve, or pill routine?

A PAX of six posted for the most recent episode of the Punisher.  Apologies to all for not posting the backblast sooner.  You were there.  It wasn’t your imagination.  Lab Rat reminded YHC on Saturday that everyone reads the backblasts.  More on that later.

Anyway, for Monday, 8/13, following a brief warmup with some of the usual, we moseyed to the shady front yard rolled into the Thirteen Acres Baker’s Dozen with 13 rounds of 13 exercises – Merkins, Squats, Hello Dollys, Wide Grip Merkins, Forward Lunges, Rosalitas, Close Grip Merkins, Back Lunges, Freddie Mercurys, Carolina Dry Docks, Side Lunges, Flutter Kicks, and LBCs.  We started with 13 reps of the first exercise and 7 of each of the others.  For the next round, the 13 reps moved to the second exercise with 7 of all of the others.  And so on plus all of the exercises were single count.

Surprisingly, we had a few minutes left of the 45 and completed a Triple Check starting at the school gym wall with People’s Chair, Elbow Plank and a mosey to a nearby tree and back.  We finished with some stretching, and a COT and YHC took us out.

Welcome to FNG Strawberry (long time Mets fan) and thanks to Nightcrawler for headlocking.  Good seeing Honey Do and EF Hutton, too, both of whom had already received their Punisher passport stamp earlier but were back for more.  Thanks also to Tricycle for coming out.

Announcements:  Convergence on Labor Day at Three Lakes Park and CSAUP on October 20th.  Additional details on F3rva.org.  Also Gumbo is leading Breaking Bread this coming Sunday and is looking for additional volunteers see F3rva.org for information, too.

Testing Lab Rat’s assertion.  So FC Barcelona had a match with Deportivo Alaves on Saturday, 8/18.  In watching some of this match, YHC searched the interwebs for information on Alaves as I’m not familiar with all of the clubs in La Liga.  So what does this have to do with F3?  If you start with the Wikipedia entry for Deportivo Alaves, who can make it to the entry for Merkin in as few links as possible solely using Wikipedia hyperlinks.  BTW, Merkin doesn’t mean pushup.  For those that didn’t know, don’t cheat and search for that first.  Let the discovery wash over you.  A $10 gift card to Stir Crazy Cafe – a coffee joint at the heart of Bellevue and within 3 or so blocks of the Punisher AO if you can chart your Wikipedia link between the two in as few links as possible and first to post about it.  Post your path in the backblast comments.

A PAX five strong posted for the most recent Punisher.  The rain held off for several hours before our start and we had a nice breeze.  After a few minutes of greetings in the LHES parking lot, we started a slow run to the school side yard for the startup COP with SSHs, IWs, DQs, LBCs, Helicopters, and Arm Circles.

We moved about 100 feet due north for Super 21.  We started with 1 Slight Wide Grip Merkin, 1 Reverse Curl, and 1 Squat and added one rep per round until we’d completed a final round of 21 reps.  We broke up the action after every 5 or so rounds with other exercises.  We moved to the nearby outdoor classroom for 11s with Dips and Box Cutters (can’t remember for sure so I’m going with this).

We jogged to the school wall and held People’s Chair while each PAX member jogged a loop from the wall and out, and around, nearby shrubs, and back.  We circled and finished with some Mary and stretching.  COT and YHC took us out.

Enjoyed meeting Kubota, Husky, and Sugar Sock.  Congrats to Kubota and Sugar Sock for nearing completion of F3RVA summer tour.  Good seeing you guys.

A PAX of three posted for the most recent offering of Punisher.  Jville and YHC met in the parking lot and moved to the school yard for slow warmup with some of the usual – Invisible Jump Ropes, IWs, DQs, Russian Soldiers, Helicopters, and Arm Circles.

We shifted to a grassier part of the yard for an 8 minute AMRAP #1 (as many reps as possible within the time frame) – 10 Squats, 10 WWII Sit Ups, and 10 Slight Close Grip Merkins.  Nightcrawler posted as the AMRAP began.  We moved to the school wall for 8 minute AMRAP #2 – 20 Second People’s Chair, 10 Wall Crawls, 10 Hello Dollys, and a mosey out in the yard around a nearby tree.  We jogged around the school to the bus loop for 8 minute AMRAP #3 – 10 Decline Carolina Dry Docks, 10 Monkey Humpers, and 10 Flutter Kicks.  Finish with Mary (LBC varieties) and stretching.  COT and YHC took us out.

Four posted for the second Punisher of July 2018 and we went at it like so:

Jog two loops of the front parking lot, then startup COP with 25 x SSHs, 15 x IWs, DQs, Helicopters, and Hello Dollys, and 10 x Arm Circles – big only, forward then reverse.

Mosey to the shade of the school yard for Deck of Death with Squats, Slight Closegrip Merkins, Box Cutters, and Plank Jacks for each of the four suits – completing a corresponding rep number for each card ranging from 2 to 14 (Aces) and Jokers meant 10 Burpees.  Worked out taking turns flipping cards and moseying to the painted storage unit and back to position between rounds.

Finished with some Mary, stretching, and a COT.

Good seeing Splinter at Punisher.  Welcome back Tricycle.

Overcoming a 92 degree temperature as of the start time, a PAX of three posted for The Punisher.  We gathered briefly in the LHES parking lot before moseying to the shady schoolyard for the startup COP.  We completed 25 x SSHs, 20 x each of Russian Soldiers, Don Quixotes, and Imperial Walkers, and 15 x Arm Circles (small then big, forward then reverse).

We moved to the edge of the yard and began a 4 Corners variant around the shaded field.  Mosey to the first corner for 15 x Carolina Dry Docks, to the second corner adding 20 x single count Curtsey Lunges, to the third corner adding 25 x Box Cutters, and to the fourth corner adding 30 x two count Mountain Climbers.  Heading back around the box again, we dropped the front exercise until finishing with one single set of Mountain Climbers.

We shifted to the nearby Bus Loop for a quick Curb Crawl with a Bear Crawl across the lane for Incline Merkins at each curb.  We completed 1 to 4 and back down again.

Mosey back around the school for a Triple Check alternating between Invisible Jump Ropes, LBCs, and a loop around the parking lot using YHC’s mountain bike.

Jog around the school to the outdoor classroom for 11s starting with 10 Decline Merkins and 1 two count Flutter Kick followed by one fewer of the former and one more of the latter until 1 and 10 are completed.  Finish with additional LBC variations and a couple of minutes of Chum Yoga.

COT and YHC took us out.

Good to see EF Hutton at The Punisher, taking full advantage of the F3 RVA summer discount card.

A PAX of two posted for the last Punisher scheduled during the RVA school year.  Sonny and YHC arrived separately at the AO.  After a warmup with the usual in the southeast corner of the school grounds, we completed a Beast with Carolina Dry Docks, Squats, Freddy Mercuries, Shoulder Taps, Forward Lunges, and Mountain Climbers.  We relocated to the Bus Loop for 13 reps for 13 exercises with Merkins, Side Lunges, Hello Dollys, Wide Grip Merkins, Back Lunges, Rosalitas, Decline Merkins, Step Behind Lunges, Flutter Kicks, Close Grip Merkins, 13 count Squat, Box Cutters, and LBCs.  We finished with some additional Mary and stretching and YHC took us out.

We’re flipping over the mattresses and wiping down the pool chairs at The Punisher in anticipation of F3 RVA staycation visitors.  6:30 PM.  No plans to change back to AM.

We are sorry for the backblast silence but we have been gathering, albeit in small groups, to keep the AO going.

For the past two Mondays (5/28 and 6/4), YHC and Sonny have posted.  We stayed on the school grounds for a dose of the usual on 5/28 (11s, Double Checks, etc) and ran off campus to the Acca Temple for a parking lot workout on 6/4 (Merkins, Squats, Crawls, Lunges, etc).

On 5/21, Nightcrawler, Tricycle, and Change Order posted.  We focused, once again, on the usual in the school yard – a Dora 123, some Bear Crawling, and a couple of Lindsays.

See you out there!