Author: Heist

  • Alamo = F3 mission. Plant, Grow, and Serve.

    Less than 6 months ago Vagabond, McGruff, and Nancy Lopez had the idea of splitting New Market’s Satan’s Hill into the Alamo (M) and Satan’s Hill (F). Today, a total of 10 Pax got it done via HP. Nearly all first posted at either the Alamo or Satan’s Hill. Not one has spent more than 1 year posting with F3. Good stuff.

    Warmorama: Quick mosey. SSH (30), UKS(20), CHS(20), Merkins(10), Planks, LBCs(20), APDs(15)

    COP 1 (Wildcat): Mosey to bunker. Triple check. Runner through tunnel and other Pax perform flutters and WW2s.

    COP 2 (Purple Rain): Mosey back to the future pickle ball court area. Partner up. P1 Bear Crawls. P2 10 V-ups. Rotate over and over until we reach the other part of the u-shaped parking area.

    COP 3: (Purple Rain): Mailbox burpees. Build from 1 to 10. That sucked.

    COP 4: (Warby): Warby honed his VQ spirit and brought back the side shuffles along parking lot with 1:5 merkins and plank jacks.

    1 min plank. Time.

    Numbers/Names. Wildcat took us out in prayer.

    Announcements:

    1. This Thursday (not Tuesday). 6/22 – 2nd F Lunch. 11:45 Torchy’s Tacos. 1315 Huguenot Road. Near Mellow Mushroom.
    2. Do summer challenge. It’s fun.
    3. Plenty of open spots on Q sheet this week.
    4. Come to KB tmw at Old Hundred. Wildcat has a treat for you.


  • 10 men. Two dogs.

    Last day of SOJ takeover. 10 dudes hit the mean streets of Henrico county this morning.

    The route: a simple jog down Ridgefield Parkway and back to the flag. Distances covered between 4 and 6 miles.

    Numbers/Names.

    Hutton took us out in prayer. Prayer requests:

    1. Safe travels for Doozy (baseball trip with family to Villanova) and Boberry (visiting his parents with the boys).
    2. Prayers for TYA and recovered from knee surgery.
    3. Prayers for Gypsy and heart condition.
    4. Prayers for any members of the Pax that have not been out in the gloom lately.

    Great seeing everyone today. Enjoyed talking with Lighthouse (my big data competition) and Pinto who I don’t get to catch up with much.

    Enjoyed coffee with you all today as well.

    I hear Gomer has the Q at Rock and Roll tomorrow. Come out and support.

  • Rock out with your block out

    SOJ takeover of First Watch complete. According to the female runners using the Spider’s campus as their personal toilet (ask Splinter), here is how it went down: 

    With Wildcat as copilot, we roll up to the AO with a truck full of borrowed cinderblocks (via Satan’s Hill) around 4:50 a.m. to find three homeless men apparently asleep on the pavement. False alarm. Just some of the Pax knocking out a little broga. 

    Began to discreetly unload the surprise cinderblocks and get greeted by a down range Pax member from Florida aka “Papa Smurf.”  He apparently was a second cousin of someone (I forget). 

    Rally the guys. 5 on the dot, I announce the official SOJ takeover and we get rolling. 

    Warmorama: Mosey down Cameron road back up to Culpepper road.

    Various warmup exercises performed along the way including copperhead squats, merkins, LBCs, dead man hangs, etc. 

    Roll back into the parking lot and greet the guys with our twelve cinderblocks. Apparently the guys appreciated the pristine condition of the New Market blocks, citing the lack of rust water or whatever stuff is in the back or Kubotas’s pickup. 

    Part 1: Line up along long end of the parking lot for 11s (cinderblock press and air squats on other side). We started with 10 cinderblock press/1 air squat. Ended with 1 cinderblock press/10 air squats. Fun. 

    20 second rest. Alternating arm farmer carry around the lot and overhead cinderblock hold (hallelujah). 

    Part 2: Perfect number (9) for triple check, so that’s what we did. Three teams:

    1. Wildcat/Kubota/Hand Shake
    2. Heist/Senor Frog/Papa Smurf
    3. Splinter/EF Hutton/Last Call

    Exercises were incline pushups/cinderblock swing and runner to the utility box off River Road. 

    20 second rest. Alternating arm farmer carry around the lot and overhead cinderblock hold (hallelujah). 

    Part 3: Circle up with blocks. Little hot potato session, where each guy took a turn calling out an exercise. Next round that guy would rotate as runner for time (lets say 30/45 seconds. Examples of exercises called:

    1. Curls
    2. Squats
    3. Dips
    4. Derkins (feet in block)
    5. Somewhat modified APDs ?
    6. Burpee block presses
    7. Tricep extensions

    Only a few minutes left so another round of alternating arm farmer carry around the lot and overhead cinderblock hold (hallelujah). 

    Pax helped me put blocks back and time!

    Numbers/Names. 

    Announcements: Kayak adventure next Wednesday from 5 to 6 am. Need to bring own kayak. See Kubota for details.

    Wildcat took us out in prayer. 

    Many thanks guys. Good seeing everyone. Good mumble chatter as always. People need to check out First Watch at least once. Good times. 

  • SOJ TAKEOVER COMETH – ARE YOU READY??!!

    Goodmorning F3RVA:

    10 HIMs charged New Market’s infamous Satan’s Hill this morning to ready for the upcoming takeover of all F3RVA starting tomorrow!

    Mudslide and Heist took the reins this morning for Flex Friday.

    Warmup:

    • 3 Laps around the parking lot
    • Helicopters
    • Arm circles (Front and Back)
    • Copperhead squats
    • L.B.Cs
    • A.P.Ds
    • Front Scorpion stretch
    • Planks with some merkins
    • Cobra and downward dog stretch

    Part 1: 11s across the parking lot with cinderblock squats and merkins (feel the burn!)

    Part 2: Mixed bag

    Split into three groups. One group worked with mudslide and did sandbag carry/atlas stone/bucket carry.

    The other two groups did triple check: cinderblock swing/cinderblock dips/cinderblock farmer carry (timer).

    Clock was ticking. We didn’t have time for everyone to play with Mudslide’s instruments of pain…next time.

    Part 3: Exercise bands + Hill – MUSH!

    Groups of 2. Bands around waist…sprint up the hill 10 seconds…jog in place…repeat until you reach the top. Switch…each guy got to go 1x.

    Time.

    Numbers/Names/Ball of Man.

    FNG: Shout out to Benny for bringing us Alex aka “Stellar.” Alex comes to us from Baltimore (4 years ago). Has two kids. Works in logistics. Training for a marathon….went to Elon (hence Stellar?). A few other names thrown out there like “crab cake, etc.” Welcome Stellar! Dude is in good shape!

    Announcements:

    SOJ takeover starts tomorrow. Get some!

    SOJ Happy hour tonight at diamond billiards. See you there.

    Do the summer tour. Fun times.

    Thoughts: Brings me great joy to see new faces in the gloom. Shout out to Benny for bringing an FNG this morning (double cool since Benny has been out for less than 2 weeks). Seriously guys – there are plenty of dudes that need this…not just the fitness, but the camaraderie, etc. Getting up early and pushing it builds character, makes us stronger so that we can serve our wife, kids, family, friends, and community. Grab a buddy and bring them out.

  • Building cardio

    Trying to mix up the workouts a bit. The back to back days of bootcamps has been beating me up. I got some advice from Mr. Rogers this Saturday at DogPile about mixing running between bootcamp days. Thought about it a bit and texted P.O.G last night (who is usually down for a run).

    Met at corner of Willowmore and Amethyst this morning at 5:30 sharp. We put in a good 5.25 mile run, slightly above 8:30 mile pace. Good run. I missed that post run high.

    Probably going to mix in more running here. Body needs the cross training.

    All welcome.

  • Long live the Alamo.

    Morning amigos. 15 strong came out in the gloom this morning, including three fresh recruits.

    Warmorama: 1/2 mile jog up to Rankin Lane Culdsec and back. 

    Gave the F3 prepared speech (nailed it): F3 is a national network of free, peer-led workouts for men. Our mission is to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership.

    Went through the main F3 tenets, the disclaimer and worked our way through the rest of the warmup: 

    SSH/CHS/Mountain Climber/Merkins/Flutters/

    Mosey to Courts for COP 1 and 2

    COP #1Partner burpee and Booyah Merkin

    Grab partner. Face partner along width of tennis court. Bear crawl accross the court and complete 1 rep booyah (1 rep is 2 pushups with a hand slap with partner). Recover and jog back to line perform 1 burpee. Repeato until Pax built up to 5x reps.

    COP #2 Warby leads four corners. “Lady of night” style:

    10 merkins (1)

    20 Jump Squats (2)

    30 Monkey Humpers (3)

    40 LBCs (4)

    COP # 3 Triple Check in the lot (from courts to dumpster)

    Squats/Decline Merkins/Runner

    COP # 4- Mini Dora (50/100/150)

    LBC/Squat/SSH

    COP #5: Ring of Fire abs

    Numbers/Names

    Nancy took us out in prayer (thanks brother).

     

    FNGs

    1. Jake (brought out by Warby) aka “Rudy.” Diehard Notre Dame fan.
    2. Jim (brought out by Armstrong) aka “Goldeneye.” Says he does government consulting…sure. ?
    3. John (brought out by Blacktop) aka “Swoop.” Eagles fan.

    Mumblechatter about YHC being too nice with the names for the FNGs. All I can say is grab the Q next time boys!

    Good deal of SOJ stuff going on this month. We also cap off May with a convergence.

    Closing thoughts: Since opening the Alamo, we have had the following FNGs:

    1. Warby
    2. 3 Doors Down
    3. Nap Pod
    4. Armstrong
    5. Cookie
    6. Pelé
    7. Blacktop
    8. Merman
    9. Goldeneye
    10. Rudy
    11. Swoop

     

  • Doce Hombres con Bloques.

    Heeeelllo F3 RVA. 12 dudes got it done today at Satan’s Hill on this glorious Cinco de Mayo. Hermes and Heist put together a combination of Cinderblock stations and Kárate.

    Here is how everything went down:

    1. Intro to F3 and disclaimer statement made. Need to write this down clearly, but point was made.
    2. Warmorama:
      • SSH
      • Hillbillies (very difficult to count this)
      • Ukrainian Soldiers
      • Merkins
      • LBC
      • Deadman hang (left/right)
    3. Block work
      • Many block stations with cardboard cards calling out exercises, including:
        • Sumo squat
        • Sumo squat high Pull
        • Feet on block werkins
        • Block Deadlift
        • Block front squats
        • Block plyo pushups
        • Block swings
        • Block OH Press
        • OH block hold with squat
        • Farmer carry run (this was the timer for the rotation- about 45-60 seconds)
        • bands for monster walks
        • KBs for some rows
    4. Karate with Hermey:
      • front kicks
      • sidekicks with a shuffle
      • round kicks
      • jab
      • jab front kick
      • uppercuts
      • speed bag with a runner timer
      • horse stance with karate punches
    5. Back to Block work for about 8 more minutes left cutting the Farmer Carry in half.

    Time/Numbers/Names.

    Welcome to our newest member of the Pax, Hunter aka “Leche.” Name comes from his roots growing up on a dairy farm (and because it is Cinco De Mayo).

    Announcements:

    1. CSAUP Tomorrow at Godwin
    2. SOJ lunch at Rusty Taco next Thursday
    3. SOJ family get together on 5/21. Ask OC or McGruff how you can help

    Wildcat took us out in prayer.

    Yo, did you know? Cinco de Mayo:

    Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day, a popular misconception. Cinco de Mayo, or the fifth of May, is a holiday that celebrates the date of the Mexican army’s May 5, 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War. The day, which falls on Friday, May 5 in 2023, is also known as Battle of Puebla Day. While it is a relatively minor holiday in Mexico, in the United States, Cinco de Mayo has evolved into a commemoration of Mexican culture and heritage, particularly in areas with large Mexican-American populations

  • Break in the rain

    We got in a little under 6.3 miles this a.m. Good run south of the James. Good times with the all Hokie crew.

  • Fall back to the bunker!

    13 SOJ desperados mounted up for another Monday session at (whistles) THE ALAMO (whip snap)

    Mosey around the parking area and enter the Tennis Court. Disclaimers, etc. 

    Warmorama: SSH, Ukrainian Soldiers, Copper Head squats, Muricans, LBCs, “Duke” stretch left and right side, 60 seconds for Pax to stretch OYO. 

    The thang: 

    Part 1: Started out with a “lady of the night” four corners on the tennis court. Exercises were 10 squats/20 LBCs/30 Drydocks/40 SSH. Build up and build down.  

    Part 2: For context, the parking lot at the Alamo is U-shaped, so I decided to kick off partner bear-crawl/lunge/broad jump burpees. My bad on this one guys…

    We started at tennis court and worked our way towards dumpster. Audible for the next corner (in front of the Alamo.  Halfway through the broad jump burpees we switched to crawl bear. Made it to the final stretch and I decided to bring it all then way home. Finished up with backwards lunges to the end. Lots of grumbling. 

    Part 3: Mosey to small hill behind Pool for 11s with Muricans and Sauats. 

    20 count. Recover. Mosey to “the bunker”

    Part 4: Bunker is the tunnel that goes underneath  Woolridge Road. 

    Teams of 3. A man goes to opposite side of tunnel holds plank/B man holds squat position along the tunnel wall and shuffles to A man. C man performed flutters. Rotated several times through this and then back to flag. 

    Part 5:  1 round of Murican Mary. 

    Cool down with some stretches. 

    Outro: Numbers and Names.  Welcome Adam aka  “Pelé” our newest member of the Pax. Name comes from his time spent in Brazil. 

    Announcements:

    • OC has KB Q tmw
    • CSAUP at Godwin Highschool on May 6. See slack
    • SOJ get together last Friday. Lots of good stuff coming. 

    Prayers – Wildcat took us out. Prayers for all in the Pax. Prayers for all the guys on IR. 

    Other thoughts: Shout out to our Pax members Vagabond and McGruff who suggested the idea of the Alamo. It has been awesome having all these new guys out in the gloom. Would not have happened without that idea. 

  • B L I M P’n ain’t easy.

    5 desperados met at the Alamo for one last stand against the joys of weekend excess!

    Warmorama: Jog to culdsesac some SSH and went over how to BLIMP. BLIMPS: Burpee-5x/Lunge-10x/Imperial Walker-10x/Merkin-10x/Plank Jacks-10x/Squats-10x.

    Jogged around Rountrey about 3 miles and stopped in various culdesacs for around 6 rounds of BLIMPS.

    New dude superlatives:

    Comanche scout: Warby was part tour guide and scout. Now I know where Vagabond, Nap Pod and Warby live.

    Safety Warden: Cookie wins the award this morning. He was rocking a pair of sporty safety glasses as way to avoid pollen in the eyes.

    Names/Numbers. Wildcat took us out in prayer

    Strong work today.