Author: Saab

  • Let’s all give thanks for the Bikini

    5 showed at UR today for a moderate impact run around Westham. Using a derivative of a route Bleeder led a few weeks ago, we went up Westham parkway, down to the canal via Ridge, and then back along the golf course to the commons.

    YHC was beginning to prepare for a lone-run this morning, but the PAX eventually all arrived at about the same time. The route chosen had fewer hills and less distance than prior options due in no small part to the difficult weekend YHC and others experienced with regard to F3 workouts and other running excursions. While we all worked to stay together, the decision for the pack to run up westham station and back down – with the intent to catch up with Lugnut turned out to be a slight miscalculation. As we worked to track him down we did not see him on the return route…YHC feared he would end up lost similar to TYA’s experience a few months ago. Fortunately, despite taking an alternate entrance back into the university, Lugnut was able to find his way once he came upon the chapel where he first entered the world of marital bliss. Otherwise, chatter centered around the July 4 beatdown at Batteau (Hardywood), and “where’s Lockjaw?” (per his stated commitment to step-up his running beginning in July).

    Just a word about the title…on this day in history in 1946 the bikini was first introduced in Europe.

    Saab out.

  • No, sorry, the other way

    A total of 7 showed up for the UR spider run this morning in a humid but otherwise pleasant and overcast morning…

    Route: Around lake to Wood Road, Waveny, then meander to the hill on Chandler. Take the cut-through to Bandy field at the top of the hill. Take access road the cut over to Honaker. Take Honaker to Hanover, Hanover to Pepper, then cut through St Chris and return on St Christopher. Tapoan, Ridgeway, Roselawn, then return to campus drive. Added a run around the lake for good measure.

    There was a fair balance (from YHC’s perspective) of steady hills and flat terrain. (OK, maybe a few more hills than flat terrain.) Anyway, it was nice to tread some new ground, which resulted in a few miscues along the way. Aside from YHC periodically directing Marv into a driveway or two, the PAX stayed together and all ran strong. Kudos to everyone there today who either ran-in (varying miles) or biked in. Well done guys!

    Safe travels to Offshore who is traveling oversees to take advantage of the collapsed Euro/Pound exchange rate.

    Announcements: See Offshore regarding the benefit-bike race on Sept 24.

    Saab out.

  • Sunday Trail Run – Change in Starting Location

    The road immediately prior to the Boulevard bridge is blocked off to cars. Assuming this will be the case tomorrow morning, let’s all just meet at the Dogpile AO start (parking lot near amphitheater) at 7 am. We’ll then take Love Hill down to the trail. (Ran Buttermilk trail ad nauseam today and it is fairly clear with just a few minor obstacles.)

    Saab out

  • Did you get a free bowl of soup with those shorts?

    19 turned out for a Thursday morning beatdown at MM. This is what transpired…

    COP: DQ’s, SSH, Freddie Mercuries, Box Cutters
    Trees: Tree to Tree alongside MM. Ascending Merkins at each tree. Alternate crawl/run between each
    Field: Jacob’s Ladder…WWII situp at mid-field, burpee at end. Begin at 1 and then ascend from there. Finish at start with 10 burpees.
    Track: 4 corners with quasi-suicide…Merkins, WWIIs, Jump Squats, Derkin. Once you arrive at next point, advance back to start and redux. Finish on 4th station
    Burpee shuffle and a few minutes of Mary

    NMS:
    YHC’s morning got off to a great start once he caught sight of TYA’s colorful (and one assumes clean-smelling) shorts. I don’t know if they were more apt for a Dead-concert, but they served as a nice diversion. TYA felt compelled to point out that he had purchased them off the bargain-rack – something we had already deduced upon first sight.

    We welcomed 3 FNG’s today (see above) and we look forward to their continued participation in F3. TYA was kind enough to introduce himself to them as the “resident wise-ass”…again, another factoid they simply would have observed themselves given a few minutes with the PAX.

    Lab Rat was on point today calling out many of the workouts YHC had planned right before they happened. YHC chalked that off to Lab Rat’s keen sense of perception, skills in abstract geometry, and YHC’s lack of originality.

    Reminder, Tuesday is bring as many new and existing PAX to the workout (there are 3 AO’s that day). Our goal is 60 although Bleeder suggested we should shoot for and even higher number.

    I had fun guys. Thanks for putting up with me this morning.

    Saab abides.

  • Mother Goose

    A strong pack of 9 showed four our post-holiday Spider Run. This is what transpired:

    Ran through a modified version of the “Fudd run”. Intent was to stay together with faster runners periodically circling back. Challenge was, given the course has a lot of ins-and-outs and what have you’s, the PAX became a bit scattered at times. Periodically, YHC wasn’t certain if members were choosing alternate routes or just buying mileage until those in the rear came along. As was aptly pointed out, YHC was like Mother Goose at times trying to keep the front in line with the rear, and vice versa. YHC will post a map of this run in a future post.

    Near the end, instead of taking the added hill, those leading in front chose a route back into the university, so a last minute audible to take a run around the lake worked out just fine.

    Kudos to Swirly, Marv, and BT for running to the AO. Offshore get’s credit as well for biking-in.

    (Rosie, Thanks for the shout-out.)

    Announcements:
    Spider Run and Da’Ville shirts are on pre-order (with only 2 days left). Don’t walk, but RUN to the F3 site and get your order in now.

    W-Dog tomorrow, with Swirly as Q (per memory, unless someone else is signed up.)

    Saab out

  • Do your shorts have pockets?

    4 intrepid runners participated in 1 of 2 runs today…
    1) Richmond PAX: southside to northside loop with run around Brown’s Island – 8 miles
    2) Arkansas PAX (TYA): 10 miles which included an extreme 4 mile climb.

    Before the start we first had to resolve who would Q. Since the honorable TYA was running at a remote location in our nation’s heartland, it fell to Saab. YHC did appreciate Aisle 5 taking the quick initiative to call out the above route which served as a nice change from prior weeks. Upon completion we chatted it up with Udder who was about to venture out with a friend (he admittedly opted for the added sleep at the expense of running under higher temperatures).

    After the run we had an enjoyable post-run hangout at ET. Discussions about BRR training do’s and don’ts ensued. YHC was surprised and pleased to hear that Wilson was signed-on for the BRR (although I am reminded this is a cyclic and it may just be his “on-week”).

    Enjoyed it guys. Thanks for the great start to the day.

    Saab abides

  • The Reverend is in the House!

    6 strong runners showed up for what I’ve dubbed the “Fudd Run”.
    Route: A modified start and finish but otherwise a completion of the route Fudd introduced us to last week. Involves a nice meander throughout Westham and the University with no shortage of steady elevation.

    YHC has enjoyed this route so much, today marked my 4th time covering the route in the past week. We stayed together as a pack with varying members often leading and then circling back to pick up the rest.

    During our COT, a UR employee and ordained minister by the name of Reverend Williams could not help but overhear us. Upon brief introductions we were fortunate enough to have the Reverend circle up with us again and lead us in an inspirational prayer. Another fine example of how fortunate we are to be part of F3 and how it can touch our lives and the lives of others in unexpected ways.

    Announcements: Marv will have a VQ on Thursday at RAMM. (TYA said he would get with Flashdance and ask if he would give up the Q this week for Marv’s “special day”)

    Saab abides

  • She did smell nice didn’t she…

    8 posted for today’s trail run and we couldn’t have asked for better weather. Most took southside to Forest Hill (loop) and then back again…about 7 miles. Lab Rat arrived early and ran what was largely a road-based run that covered about 10 miles. YHC enjoyed conversation with the PAX along the way. Glad Udder brought Tramp Stamp for his first trail run…great to have you there guys.

    During COT, YHC was a bit surprised when a partially clothed man attempted to insert his bare torso into the circle, but soon realized it was Lab Rat coming in from his extended run.

    Best of luck on the half marathon (next weekend) Lab Rat and TYA.

    Still need 1-2 men for the BRR (you know who you are…)

    Saabinator out

  • Try resetting the ground…

    7 men chose not to succumb to the fartsack this morning and showed up for a run in the cold rain. This is what transpired…

    Ran the carillon route, 6 and 5 mile options in reverse direction from what Lockjaw first introduced. Others ran and out and back along Grove for a 3-4 mile run.

    Moleskin:
    There was a bit of irony in trying to avoid the puddles as we exited MM. By the time we all were at the half-mile mark we were all pretty well saturated from head to toe. YHC was working to keep up with Sippy for the first mile, where he clocked us at a sub-7 minute pace. Sippy in-turn stated he was working to keep up with me, so at that point we dialed it back a bit.

    On our return trip we saw Circle K and TYA, but Swirly disappeared. It was only until later we discovered he charted his own route. Still not certain if he got lost or it was his preference to return through Windsor Farms, but kudos to him for getting more distance in.

    When we returned, it was fun standing in the rain shouting instructions to Lugnut on how to jump a car battery. We had to “shout” of course because none of us were going to stand close enough to provide any physical assistance nor endanger ourselves.

    Saab out

  • Counting up…is that something new?

    14 showed up for what YHC hopes proved to be a good beatdown. This is what transpired…
    – COT: SSH, DQ’s, Merkins, Squats, (and perhaps something else I can’t recall)
    – 2 burpees at each tree from one end of the school to the other
    – Doras (sort of). Partners complete 100 Derkins and then 100 supine pull ups while other runs out and performs 5 dips…and then 5 incline merkins
    – Ascending reps across tennis court..stop at at midpoint, exercise, run to end, then backwards run to start. Ascending reps at each stop (e.g. 3,6,9,12). Burpees (x1), high knee jumps(x2), squats (x3), merkins (x4), LBCs (x5)…maybe that was the order
    – Everyone lines up holding legs at 6 inches. Person on end jumps over each PAX…repeat (indian pole-smoker arrangement)
    – Ring of fire merkins…once completing 10 reps, bear crawl around circle.
    – Burpee shuffle: Person calls out number 1-3 (HoneyDo special). No consecutive numbers allowed.
    – Indian run/Native American run (what have you) around perimeter back to flag.

    NMS
    Fields were deemed unusable so YHC took the hint this time and moved the “multiplier” to the tennis courts which actually worked out better (easy to locate the mid-point, and less chance of tripping when running backwards). It was about the time that we were counting up by 4’s that Flashdance showed up. It was questioned whether he was truly LIFO, or just extremely early for tomorrow’s RAMM. Anyway, he broke some speed limits to get there so we appreciate his resolve.

    YHC could not hear what the mumble chatter was during the COT…too focused on counting. Certain it was at my expense (sorry I missed it). Otherwise we all tried our best Doner Kebob imitation by throwing out a “Hi Roger” here and there. YHC instructions were vague as usual: A quick ask to Sippy to start a count (of PAX) turned into a simple upward-count. TYA responded by saying he had never heard that method before…live and learn.

    Announcements: RAMM on Friday (Saab will Q). TYA will be sending BB’s regarding Wednesday evening training runs for the BRR. I’m sure there is something else I missed.

    Saab abides…