Hot as the 4th of July, or at least the day before the 4th. YHC arrived early to ensure he ran in the day’s hottest heat. A route was formed through the hills, the tributary hills, and an extension into Windsor Farms.
TYA pulled in as YHC wrapped up to blaze some miles of his own.
ABT,
Lockjaw
This was the second route YHC constructed in response to Kubota’s “there are no new routes out of Mary” challenge. It goes something like this:
4 Milers
West on Grove
Left on E Lock Ln
Cross Cary on a diagonal to the left and take Old Locke Ln
Take Old Locke Ln as it veers to the right, take to the end and turn around and head back the way you came taking a
Left on Lockgreen Circle, at the intersection of Lockgreen Court, keep on the Circle
Run the Lockgreen Circle
Upon completing the circle, continue on Lockgreen Circle back to Old Locke Lane; take a left
Cross Cary on a left diagonal onto E Lock Ln, continue on to Grove
Right on Grove and back to the VSF
5 Milers
West on Grove
Left on E Lock Ln
Cross Cary on a diagonal to the left and take Old Locke Ln
Take Old Locke Ln as it veers to the right, take to the end and turn around and head back the way you came taking a
Left on Lockgreen Circle, at the intersection of Lockgreen Court, keep on the Circle
Run the Lockgreen Circle
Upon completing the circle, continue on Lockgreen Circle back to Old Locke Lane; take a left on Old Locke Lane
After crossing Dover on your right, break left through the tree line onto Pocahontas Ave
Take Pocahontas until it dead ends on E Hillcrest and take a right
At the top of the hill, take a right on Hillcrest
Turn left on Cary and immediate right on Stratford Crescent
Take a right on Oak Lane and take it to Grove
Right on Grove and back to the VSF
6 Milers
West on Grove
Left on E Lock Ln
Cross Cary on a diagonal to the left and take Old Locke Ln
Take Old Locke Ln as it veers to the right, take to the end and turn around and head back the way you came taking a
Left on Lockgreen Circle, at the intersection of Lockgreen Court, keep on the Circle
Run the Lockgreen Circle
Upon completing the circle, continue on Lockgreen Circle back to Old Locke Lane; take a left on Old Locke Lane
After crossing Dover on your right, break left through the tree line onto Pocahontas Ave
Take Pocahontas until it dead ends on E Hillcrest and take a right
At the top of the hill, continue left on W Hillcrest and go down the hill
At the bottom of the hill take a left on Hillwood and continue on Charmian
Charmian will veer to the right, continue to take it and follow its loop (when it hits Poplar, continue on the loop to the left NOT right)
It will dead end at E Hillcrest and take a right
At the top of the hill, take a right on Hillcrest
Turn left on Cary and immediate right on Stratford Crescent
Take a right on Oak Lane and take it to Grove
Right on Grove and back to the VSF
BT informed YHC that Lockgreen Court was a gated community, so we had to improvise at the end to make up the distance. The intrepid 6 milers decided to challenge the perimeter and alarms were triggered at the gate house. 6 milers were deterred. Compound secure.
A humid morning for a run. Though it could be a lot worse. For example, Handshake had a leg hanging out of the grill of his car. A giant Robin got crushed through the small grill opening. YHC speculates that the bird was going to fly over the car, and then noticed the giant dog on the hood in his path. Opting for the low approach, he met a fatal ending.
Feeling the need to reciprocate the great HVAC service Handshake provide Saab recently, Saab enthusiastically and quickly volunteered to remove the chicken sized bird. Handshake produced nitrile gloves and Saab began tugging on a leg as the extraction process commenced. With a swift pull and the bird was free.
Despite attempts to resuscitate the bird, he was pronounced dead and buried under some leaves. If only someone had a shovel for a proper burial…..
No Tools took us out.
Always Be Tapering,
Lockjaw
Westbound and Down….22 Road Scholars are going to to do what Kubota said can’t be done. Kubota commented to YHC that Mary was tapped out of new routes. YHC found not one, but two new routes. One will be unveiled in a coming week, but here is the other.
The Routes
North on Westmoreland to Broad and head West.
4s turn left on Willow Lawn Drive, a left on Patterson, a right on Woodlawn, and a right on Grove back to the SF.
5s turn left on Libbie and left on Grove back to the SF.
6s turn left on Morningside Dr to Libbie (with a brief jaunt on Fitzhugh for a block). Right on Libbie and a left on Grove back to the SF.
Marv took us out.
We did have one FNG. Welcome Banana Pancakes, or BP for those into brevity.
Time to Taper,
Lockjaw
YHC’s Garmin struck 5:30 and off we went, despite Swirly heading in the opposite direction calling Q. The Pax corrected and followed YHC to the soccer fields.
Moving to the side to avoid the official laying lines on the soccer field, we established our COP. SSH, Don Quixote, Copperhead Squats, HRM, and finish it off with Scorpion Kicks.
Mosey to the corner and cross Cary for Lindsays. The exercises were Box Cutters and Carolina Drydocks with a 6 inch hold for the six. Then progress a block for the next evolution. Berkshire, Cambridge, Tonbridge, Windsor Way, and Oxford were our exercise way points.
Ah, a beautiful field that cannot be resisted, especially by Dora. Dora 1,2,3s it is. Partner 1 runs across the field while partner 2 performs 100 Monkey Humpers, 200 LBC, and 300 2-count Flutter Kicks. The sight of the early morning commute filing past our Monkey Humpers most likely prompted calls to respective real estate agents and HOA throughout the morning.
It was during these exercises that two deer were spotted jogging through people’s yards. In retrospect, I am not sure if they were the wild dogs or we were. Probably a little bit of both.
Back down Windsor Way and cross Cary to Reveille UMC where we lined the turn around circle for Bear-O-Clock. Bear Crawl quarter round and perform 3 merkins, half way around for 6 merkins, three quarters around for 9 merkins, and a full revolution for 12 merkins.
Mosey around and back behind the church to the picnic shelter for Triple Check. Abyss Merkins, American Hammers, and run across the parking lot/backwards run back. Triple check was abbreviated due to time.
Mosey back to the VSF where YHC took us out.
Time to Taper,
Lockjaw
Days are getting longer and the Pax is converging earlier, trying to get a glimpse of the gloom.
YHC called the route and off we went. A charming route up Boatwright, a stroll down Patterson, and the meandering curves of Westham Parkway. Each route distance had a different exit off of the Pwky with a return to the VSF.
Swirly took us out.
The Moleskin
It was great to see the Pax today. Despite Labrat sans shoes and TYA shirtless and soaking, Swirly did a great COT. Quote of the circle was “I hope those are love handles that I am pinching”. Remember, the shirt is not for you, but for us.
Announcements:
Too much time tapering. Time to run.
Lockjaw
YHC called a new route with a 4.4 mile core and bolt on mileage for 5s and 6s.
Out the River Road entrance and cross in front of the shopping center. Take Westham Station up to Country Squire and cross River Rd. Now on Westham Pkwy, take it about a mile and a right on Baldwin.
Find the gate in the fence and cut through the fraternities, cross the parking lot behind the ball field, and drop down to the lake. Take a right at the lake and complete a partial counter-clockwise loop of the lake for 4.4. 5s and 6s do another lap of the lake with 6s then finishing with a climb to the main entrance and dropping down the wishbone on the other side.
BT took us out.
Lockjaw Out
Twelve. Decent numbers like old times. Fudd’s in town too. Sunny and 70. What more could one want?
Run a 1 mile route to UR for COT in the gazebo. Decided to keep it short since it was a confined space.
Over to the Richmond side of the lake for catch me if you can. 1 partner runs backwards to the Commons while the other does 5 merkins and run to catch them. Reverso until the end and Al Gore.
Along the Commons, take 6 lunges and perform 5 derkins on the wall. BTTW for the six.
Jog along the lake to the path of steep and sustained ascent. Partner carry and swap as needed.
Over to the Amphitheater and perform 5 dips on the first 10 steps. Off to the trail and exit the school.
Taking a running tour return to the AO while working out along the way.
Fudd took us out.
ABT,
Lockjaw
25 of Richmond’s Finest came to run the ride.
YHC called the Snake River route and off we went. Snake River is the isomer equivalent of Tuesday’s Kingpin route. Taking aside the physical chemistry, it can be stated that there were a lot of hills covered this week.
Way to grind those hills out.
Announcements:
Time to Taper,
Lockjaw
A sweet sixteen of RVA’s Pax came out to experience a flat run around a lake. Instead it was uphill both ways.
YHC called the Kingpin route and off we went.
Take the secret trail up Roselawn to Towana and hang a right on the access road in front of Three Chopt. Take a left on Grove and a right on Granite to Cary. A quick left and immediate right on Tempsford. Begin running down the hill.
4s turn around at the Y. 5s do both legs. 6s do both legs twice.
Retrace your steps home.
TYA took us out to redeem himself for opening remarks and put the world back in balance.
Announcements:
ABT,
Lockjaw
Spring is in the air, and so is the pollen. YHC explained the routes, but it really sunk in for several Pax based on proximity to gentleman club landmarks on route.
The Routes
East on Grove and left on Malvern to Monument and hang a right heading east.
4s turn right on Boulevard, right on Grove back to the VSF.
5s turn left on Boulevard, left on Moore, left on Rosneath, and a right on Grove back to the VSF.
6s keep going on Monument to Meadow and hang a left. Meadow changes names to Hermitage and then take a left on Leigh. Leigh turns into Moore and pick up the 5s route from there.
Upchuck took us out.
The Moleskin
Running with Upchuck and Shakedown is awesome. Not only do they keep a fine pace, but the conversation is always in healthy debate. So healthy today, that YHC got his first bunch-buggy hit on Upchuck. We are now 25-1 overall due to his preoccupation on conversation. Never a shortage of bugs in the van.
We launched the search party for Saab who was a lone runner on the 6 route. Seems he missed the turn on Leigh and kept heading up to Northside. Wrong turn or perhaps he was intending to visit Punisher? Regardless, he course corrected at the Boulevard and made his way back to the AO.
Announcements: Early risers trail run tomorrow at 4am. The start and end will be at dog pile. No ruck, but bring a light.
Time to Taper,
Lockjaw