Author: Bodo’s

  • You’ll never walk alone

    11 fine fellows gathered in the pre-dawn darkness for 45 minutes of Marionite Madness. Here’s what transpired:

    COP: Deadman hang // Helicopters // DQs // Cherry Pickers // Imperial Walkers // Russian Soldiers // APDs, 1 leg at a time // general stretching

    Old One Hundred: Perform a set of exercises, run a lap on the gravel track.

    • 100 SSHs. Run a lap around the track. Wait for the six.
    • 90 2x Flutter Kick. Run a lap, etc.
    • 80 Squats. Run a lap
    • 70 LBCs. Run a lap
    • 60 Carolina Drydocks. Run a lap
    • 50 WW2s. Run a lap
    • 40 Merkins. Run a lap
    • 30 Jump Squats. Run a lap
    • 20 2x American Hammers. Run a lap
    • 10 Burpees. Run back to the flag.

    COT: Numberama, Namerama, YHC took us out.

    NMS: Today I buried a young man of 21 years who took his life last week. He was a wonderful guy with a good job, a girlfriend and a wonderful family that loved him. No outward signs of mental health struggles. He clearly was suffering in some profound ways and didn’t reach out for help. Brothers, men in America are some loneliest people, who rarely have vulnerable friendships and are afraid to admit weakness. We shy from talking about mental health struggles and often wait until it is too late to do so. Groups like F3 exist to help create those kinds of relationships, so that there are people you can call and so that you have a safe place to admit struggle. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable, don’t be afraid to be weak, don’t be afraid to ask for help. We’ve all been in the pit, and you don’t ever have to walk alone.

  • Oyster’s Fiat

    A lucky 7 gathered in the gloom of Wdog for a midweek beatdown. Upon arriving at 5:28, Oyster informed YHC that that last person to show up was automatically the Q, since no one was on the sheet. Why Oyster could enforce this rule was not questioned, so YHC submitted to this fiat and off we went. Here’s what happened:

    COP : After a mosey to the far circle beyond the carillon, circle up for the COP. Deadman hang // Helicopters // DQs // Cherry Pickers // Imperial Walkers // Russian Soldiers // LBCs // Crabcakes // Merkins // Inverted Crabcakes // Pickle Pounders

    Dora + Coupon: Grab a coupon at the stage. Round 1: 100 Incline Merkins on the block. Round 2: 200 American Hammers with the block. Round 3: 300 Squats with the block. Other partner runs to fence and back, WITH the Coupon.

    After the Dora, COP with the coupon: Bench Press, Curls, Block Burpess.

    Triple Check: in the amphitheater. Round 1: P1- SSHs, P2- Mountain Climbers, P3 – run the rim. Round 2: P1- WW2s, P2- Steps up, P3- run the rim.

    Mosey back to the flag. Numberama, Namerama, YHC took us out.

    NMS: Since First Watch is pirating all the regulars, great to have a new steady group of guys showing up for WDog. Well done Fire Elf for his first bootcamp- he didn’t puke! Prayers today for all the students and teachers starting back, and prayers for the guys getting ready for BRR.

  • You forgot what?

    A notorious nine gathered in the gloom for 45 minutes of Mary beatdown. Well, um, one of the nine forgot to bring his shoes, so he had to run home and then came back to join us about 10 minutes later. So 9, then 8, then 9 again. Here’s what happened:

    Mosey west on Grove, hang a left on Luck Lane, Circle up in the First Pres parking lot.

    COP: Deadman hang // Helicopters // DQs // Cherry pickers // Imperial Walkers // Russian Soldiers // APDs // LBCs// Tempo Merkins // Plank Jacks // Pickle Pounders // SSHs

    7 of Diamonds: Around the four corners of the parking lot. Stop at each corner, 7 Jump squats // Next round: 14 Merkinsr // 21 LBCs // 28 squats // 21 LBCs // 14 Merkins // 7 Burpees. Mosey back to Mary

    Triple Check on the blacktop: P1: Wall sit, P2: Flutter Kicks, P3: Run to fence, 10 jump rope skips, run back.

    Numberama, Namerama, YHC took us out.

    NMS: We’ve all forgotten to bring our gloves, or maybe a water bottle, but our shoes?? that’s a first, Hitch. Welcome to BENDS, a new FNG invited by Jimmy. Saab had a hard time with the Burpees on the last round of the diamond which really messed with the symmetry. But he made up for it with this triumph in the jump roping.

    Great work guys! SYITG.

  • Living Forward

    A Nefarious Nine gathered in the gloom for 45 Minutes of Mary. Here’s how it went down:

    COP on the blacktop after a mosey around the school. Deadman Hang // Helicopters // DQs // Cherry Pickers // Imperial Walkers // Russian Soldiers // LBCs // Crabcakes // Inverted Crabcakes (lots) // Pickle Pounders // SSHs 21s + 5 Burpees

    Descending Rotating Doras : Beginning on one side of the black top, 250 squats with partner. Wait for the six. Bearcrawl to next side // 200 LBCs. Wait for the six. Lunge to the next side. // 150 Merkins. Wait for the six. Bearcrawl to next side // 100 WW2s. Wait for the six. Lunge to the next side // 50 Burpees.

    Triple Check: P1 Dips // P2 Donkey Kicks // P3 run to pull up bar, 3 pull ups, run back. rotate.

    Mosey back to the flag. Numberama, Namerama, YHC took us out.

    NMS: I read a book last week called Living Forward. The authors suggested that most men drift through life and at some point wonder how they got to where they are. They commended living with the desired end in mind, and suggested the excercise of writing your own eulogy, what you would want said about you at your own funeral. This was a sobering and perspective bringing exercise. I realized how much time and mental energy I give to things I don’t really care all that much about, and how much I want to live my daily life for things that really matter. To quote the poet Annie Dillard, “How you spend your days is, of course, how you spend your life.” Live forward!

  • Ninja Warrior Reprise

    This week being the occasion of YHC’s 44th birthday, the 2nd annual F3 Ninja Warrior course was in order. After conducting a quick COP including 44 SSHs, we moseyed through the course so YHC could explain the various obstacles and exercises.

    After returning to the start of the course, we divided into pairs. The first pair, DTH and Garbage Plate, took off and the race began. The second pair started after waiting one minute, then the third pair after another minute, and so on, while the rest of the waiting pax conducted COP.

    Course was as follows:

    • Run to the handicap ramp, perform under/overs on the ropes suspended across the railings. At the final ramp, bear crawl to the top.
    • Mosey up to the field to the exercise equipment. Shimmy across the parallel bars with arms in locked position // Perform 3 pull ups on each of the escalating pull up bars // Monkey swing across the horizontal ladder // Run across the spring bench // Climb up the chain link wall and down over the other side // Monkey swing across the rings using only one color of ring.
    • Mosey to the swing set. Perform 25 swerkins on the swing set (Get in plank position with feet rest on a swing, Pull legs in to a reverse crunch position, extend legs back out and then do a merkin).
    • Mosey to the back southern corner of the TES school property. Run up the large mulch pile, climb the ladder or scale and jump over the chain link fence. Run around the back of the office building and then across Forest Ave. into the middle Third Church parking lot.
    • In the center, grab a coupon. Run to the first corner of the lot and perform 25 squats with the block // Run to the next corner, 25 swings // Run to third corner, 25 curls // run to next corner, 25 incline merkins on the block // run back to center and deposit the coupon back in the pile
    • Bear crawl through the center retainer ditch and out the other side. Once through, run to the back parking lot of Third Church.
    • Mosey to the playground. Jump, leap, or climb over the playground fence using the green bench. Climb up to the top of the slide then slide down face first on the nobbly slide, at the bottom, keep feet on slide and perform 25 Derkins.
    • Mosey to the fire escape. Run up and down the fire escape 3 times, performing 5 jump squats at the top each time.
    • Mosey to side parking lot. Burpee Suicides. Start on the curb, run to the first parking lot line, perform 1 burpee, run back to curb. Run to second line, perform 2 burpees, run back to the curb. All the way up to 8.
    • After 8th burpee round, run back to touch the curb, then run back across Forest Ave., around the front of the school, and back to the tree. Scale the rope ladder and touch the limb to stop the timer.

    First finishers performed COP while waiting for the pax. Once pax was in, we finished with some ab exercises.

    Numberama, Namerama, YHC took us out.

    NMS: TClaps to Snuff for winning fastest time! We’re pretty sure DTH and GP also had a a top time but they seem to not be able to add and subtract accurately. Fudd won the prize for most questions- Wait, do we just keep running? Welcome Kung Fu Panda, who showed up on a really weird day. Thanks to Malpractice’s son Josiah for some tips on the course, who is heading to Vegas this summer for the junior Ninja Warrior World Championship! Thanks guys for humoring me in this stupid tradition.

  • 4 men, 2 Deer and 1 Hot Morning

    With Swirly emasculated by a small dog who demands his attention and Shiplap nowhere to be seen, only 4 of us gathered in the humid gloom of WDog. No Q was on the sheet, so Bodos grabbed the potato and off we went.

    COP in the Amphitheater: various stretches!

    Dora: 100 Box Jumps, 200 Incline Merkins, 300 2x Flutterkicks. Partner runs the rim of the amphitheater.

    Hot potato passed to Faceplant, who ran us down to the bottom of Love Hill.

    Burpback Mtn: A terrible routine in which one partner performs burpees while the other partner runs halfway up the hill and back. Switch, rinse and repeat until each team reaches 100 burpees.

    Mosey/Lunge/Bear Crawl back up the hill with intermittent stops for ab exercises.

    COP : various stuff at the end

    Hitchhiker and Oyster took us out with some inspirational words about God’s plan for our lives and the call to love.

    NMS: lots of mumble chatter about the wretched humidity. A buck and his doe stopped to watch us for a bit. We also decided on the key typecasts for the major Virginia schools. VMI guys are strong, UVA guys are slippery, W&M guys are smart, UR guys are rich, and VCU guys are weird. SYITG

  • Pickle Pounders in Florida and Sweaty Balls for the Win

    11 creaky dudes stumbled into the parking lot for 45 MOM of fun. Here’s what happened.

    COP on the blacktop: DQs // Cherry Pickers // Copperhead Squats // Imperial Walkers // LBCs // Crabcakes // Inverted Crabcakes // Tempo Merkins // SSHs

    Florida Bang: Plank up in a circle around the state of Florida on the blacktop map. On YHC’s command, the pax jumps up from plank position, runs 10 paces, performs 10 burpees, then runs back to Florida to plank position // Next Round: 20 paces, 20 Jump Squats // Round 3: 30 paces, 30 Carolina Dry-docks // Round 4: 40 paces, 40 Monkey Humpers // Round 5: 50 paces, 50 WW2s. Back to plank position for Pickle pounders IC. Mosey to treeline

    Chutes & Ladders: Run two trees, Bernie Sanders back one tree, 5 merkins. Then run two more trees, back one tree, 5 more merkins. Rinse and repeat to the last tree.
    Round 2: Same program with LBCs.
    Round 3: Same program with 3 Burpees at each tree.

    Dodge Ball! Mosey to tennis courts, divide into 2 teams. If hit, run to the end of the courts, perform 3 burpees, run back and re-join the game. Team wins with most number of players on the court at the end of the time, or if you can eliminate all the players on the other team. Pax played 2 Five min games, 1 win each.

    COT: Numberama, Namerama, YHC took us out.

    NMS: Great to see Ollivander and Toto back out at 45MOM. First we enjoyed lots of phallic Florida jokes, then the testicle jokes started as soon as we started playing dodge ball, which we all know never gets old. The record for highest number of comments on a backblast still holds with “Balls in the Mist” with QIC Toga, 2/4/2016. If you want some really stupid balls jokes, check it out.

  • Triple Triple

    13 of Richmond’s finest, plus one latecomer, gathered in the gloom of Hoedown to start the week right. Here’s what happened:

    COP on the field (apparently a first): DQs // Cherry Pickers // Copperhead Squats // Imperial Walkers // SSHs

    Triple Check #1: P1- People’s Chair with Air Press // P2: Planks // P3: Run to the bars, 5 Pulls ups, Run back. Mosey to Blacktop

    4 Corners: Corner 1- 5 Burpees // Corner 2- 5 Burpees, 15 Merkins // Corner 3- 5 Burpees, 15 Merkins, 25 Squats // Corner 4: 5 Burpees, 15 Merkins, 25 Squats, 40 Monkey Humpers. Mosey to bottom of Lindsay Court, cross the creek, into the hidden park

    Triple Check #2: P1 – Dips // P2 – American Hammers // P3: Bernie Sanders to the bottom of the grassy hill, crawl bear up the hill, run back.

    Catch me if you can: P1 Bernie Sanders up Lindsay Court, P2 performs 3 burpees and then runs to catch P1, switch.

    Triple Check #3 at the busloop: P1: Balls to the Wall // P2: WW2s // P3: Run the loop

    COP: Plank, Merkin Ring of Fire // Flutter Kick IC // 1 min of silence- with the words, “Love, Surrender, Trust”

    Moleskin: The first truly warm morning. After a 90+ degree weekend the blacktop was nice and radiant. Good to enjoy the park at the bottom of Lindsay in the daylight. Great mumble chatter. Somehow we managed to fit in a lot in 45 min. Thanks dudes for being one of the most consistent things in my life!

  • Eight the Great

    8 of Mary’s finest fought the relapse of Winter for an early morning beatdown. Here’s what happened:

    COP on blacktop: All IC. Deadman Hang // Helicopters // DQs // Cherry Pickers // Imperial Walkers // Russian Soldiers // SSHs 21s (Hitchhiker did it!!). Mosey west on Cary to First Pres back lot.

    Triple Check with foursomes: P1: American Hammers // P2: Carolina Dry-docks // P3: Mountain Climbers // P4: Run to playground, Bernie Sanders back. 3x.

    Mosey up Lock Lane and hang left on Calumet to Grove. Stop every 100 yards or so for 10 merkins// 15 LBCs // 20 Squats. Mosey to Jenny Maraghy

    Wall to Wall: Partner up. Round 1: P1 runs to wall and performs 10 donkey kicks, P2 Balls to Wall. 3x. // Round 2: P1 runs to wall and performs 10 Dirty Hookups, P2 wall sit. 3x. // Round 3: P1 runs to wall and performs 10 single-count Chicken Peckers, P2 balls to wall. 3x.

    Mosey up Shadwell, hang a right on Hanover to Commonwealth, back to Mary. Every 100 yards, 10 merkins // 15 LBCs // 20 Squats

    5 Burpees for the final COP. Numberama, Namerama, YHC took us out.

    NMS: Great mumble chatter this morning. Cool temps for a field trip. Hitchhiker pretended to not understand TYA’s dirty jokes. All is well in F3RVA.

  • Which Wife

    11 mighty men conspired for a beatdown at 0530 just before the rains came. Here’s what happened:

    COP in the first Third Church lot: Deadman hang // Helicopters // Cherry Pickers // DQs // Imperial Walkers // Russian Soldiers // Crabcakes // LBCs// Inverted Crabcakes // Merkins // Various Wife Exercises // Elbow Plank // SSHs. Mosey to middle lot.

    Triple Check with a Coupon. Round 1: P1 Squat Thrusters, P2 WW2s, P3 Run the loop // Round 2: P1 Manmaker Merkins, P2 Flutterkicks, P3 Run the loop // Round 3: P1 Block Burpees, P2 American Hammers, P3 run the loop. Mosey to back lot.

    Four Corners, Four Rounds. Round 1: 28 Squats in each corner // Round 2: 21 LBCs in each corner // Round 3: 14 Merkins in each corner // Round 1: 7 Burpees in each corner. Mosey to Flag.

    COP: Series of Core Excercises, end with some deep breathing and silence.

    COT: Numberama, Namerama, YHC took us out.

    NMS: Which wife corresponds to which exercise? Gomer gave too much blood, was gasping for oxygen. Uphuck is super fast at burpees, Handshake says it’s the science of a lower center of gravity.