Author: Lockjaw

  • Double Deuce

    22 of RVA’s Finest Road Scholars came forward to tackle distance with speed.  Four early bird runners, and six bikers did their thing, and the remaining runners did the following routes:

    • East on Grove and North on Hamilton.
    • Hamilton to Westwood and take a left.  Westwood turns into Malvern.
      • 4s take Malvern to Grove and home.
      • 5s and 6s head west on Patterson.
        • 5s take a left on Lexington and a right on Albemarle.  Left on Grove to the VSF.
        • 6s take a left on Seneca and a left on Grove to the VSF.

    Marv took us out.

    NMS

    Perfect weather for top speeds this morning.  The 5s set a nice pace with Shakedown doing so despite this being his 4th straight day of running.  BT dropped it in low gear for the last half mile using Grove as his personal passing lane.  Offshore and Swiper make running fast look effortless.

    YHC note:  Google brings back quite a few meanings for “doubel deuce”.  YHC was referring to the quantity of Pax in attendance today, however one member may have provided an additional interpretation with two Fudd’s en route.  Nice.

    Announcements:

    • Memorial Day Convergence – Be there!
    • Summer Challenge begins tomorrow.  See Phonics backblast on the matter.
    • YHC and Shakedown are going to meet our summer challenge with an amateur bike ride RAMMS.  Dust off the Schwinn and stay tuned.

    Stay safe this weekend, have fun, and appreciate good friends and family.

    Lockjaw

  • Snake River

    Eleven of RVA’s finest left the fartsack for what was certain to be a wet day.

    We did the Kingpin route from Tuesday’s Spider Run, except we launched from the Mary.  We headed west on Grove to Granite and a left on Granite to Cary.  Dogleg left and take a right heading down Tempsford.

    • 4s take the left fork and retrace their steps back to Grove to the AO.
    • 5s do the left and right forks and then Granite to Patterson to Westmoreland to the AO.
    • 6s do the left and right forks twice each (!) and then Granite to Patterson to Westmoreland to the AO.
    • The three amigos showed up early and did a longer route.

    YHC took us out.

    NMS

    A few observations:

    • I have never seen so much standing water on Grove before.  Ran a bit down the median to take higher ground.
    • In the dark on the Kennondale hill, I could hear whitewater rapids in the ditches.  If I had a creek boat, I could get to the bottom a lot quicker.  Also, one had to keep a lookout for tripping hazards (someone’s driveway spilled into the road) and cross currents similar to riptide running across the road.
    • Sippy Cup suggested that this route could be aptly renamed Snake River since there is both a river and a fork.  Plus there is a bite to the hills.
    • There was some deep water on Patterson.  Prior to today, I have never described my running style like a displacement hull.  I wonder if you can hydroplane while running?
    • At one point, I waterboarded myself breathing in through my nose.

    Announcements

    • Puppy Pile is tomorrow.  Water, mud, and kids.  Its going to smell like a wet dog.
    • Golf tournament today.  The heavy stuff probably won’t come down for some time so they are good for a few holes.

    Time to Taper,

    Lockjaw

  • Up Hill. Both Ways.

    Honey suckle sweetens the air.  Headlights were barely in use.  Lockjaw had a new route that went like this.

     

    6s added a loop of the lake at the end.  4s turned around at the fork in the road.

    Offshore took us out.

    Announcements:

    • Marv is dancing for money on Friday night as part of a fund raiser.  There is a set donation amount, but bring folded singles as well.  See Marv for details.
    • Shakedown hit 84% of his goal.  Let’s see if we can get him to 100%.  Does that include shaving the beard?
    • HDHH tomorrow.  See Gumbo’s post.
    • Golf tournament this Friday.
    • Puppy Pile on Saturday – 7:05.  Bring those 2.0s.  No sleeping in!
    • Memorial Day Convergence – 7:00 Brown’s Island

    NMS:

    Nothing like a spring morning after a storm to really clear things up.  YHC really liked this new route and thinks its a keeper.  Anybody want to post a suggested route name in the comments?

    ABT,

    Lockjaw

  • Like a Squirrel In The Road

    A Lucky 13 came out for full light late Spring run.  We took the batcave entrance and crossed the bridge to pick up Riverside Dr.  Heading east/downstream, we turned around at the appropriate spots and returned to the SF.

    Upchuck took us out.

    NMS

    It was great running with Upchuck on a Tuesday.  Great conversation as always bro.  Upchuck even provided alert as a high speed car came around the corner near the batcave bearing down on TYA and YHC.  Hence the backblast title.

    Announcements:

    • Puppy Pile (2.0 friendly workout) – 5/19 at Dogwood Dell
    • HDHH – Next week – Practice some golf and then a beverage.  See Gumbo for details.
    • 5/18 – Wilson’s golf tounament
    • Shakedown’s raising funds for childhood cancer.  Sounds like he is around 60% of his goal if I heard him correctly.  Let’s get him the rest of the way.

    Time to Taper,

    Lockjaw

  • 21 Gun Birthday Salute

    21 of RVA’s finest came out for good weather, a workout, and chance to steal a Ghost Flag.

    Mosey up to the sea of blacktop for COP:

    • Don Quixote (slow style for Saab)
    • Helicopters
    • SSH (43)
    • Russian Soliders
    • HRM (which turned to regular Merkins upon YHC ingesting a pollen cloud )

    Up to the field for Dora 1-2-3:

    • 100 Copperhead Squats
    • 200 Box Cutters
    • 300 Scissors (2-ct)
    • Partner runs across the field and back

    Elbow Plank

    Down the road to the bottom of Lindsay for Lindsays:

    • 30 2-ct Mountain Climbers
    • bear crawl 5 paces
    • 10 Scorpions
    • bear crawl 5 paces
    • Repeat until the 30/10 ratio is 10/30.

    Partner up for some catch me if you can up the hill.  Partner 1 runs backwards and Partner 2 does 5 burpees and runs to catch him.  Reverso and repeato until you reach the top.

    Elbow Plank

    Mosey over to the green grass of the horseshoe.

    • 20 left oblique crunches
    • 20 right oblique crunches
    • 20 PLT
    • 7 4-ct BooYah merkins
    • Repeato

    Circle up for Merkin Ring of Fire.  Pax member calls 1, 3, or 5 quantity of a style of Merkin for the Pax to perform.  One cannot repeat what the prior person called.

    YHC took us out.

    NMS

    Nothing like spring light to illuminate the Hoedown AO.  Perhaps the first time we have had light and no rain.  Perfect for seeing all of the tripping hazards.

    The Pax was strong today.  The oblique crunches offered the Pax a dilemma: spooning someone or face to face.  Multiple opinions were rendered on approaches, but regardless, it was good Keymaster was not there to crop dust in this scenario.

    With 21 Pax present, we had 3 from SOJ, 3 from DaVille, and 1 form Richmond Proper.  How to break the tie?  YHC decided that SOJ and DaVille would each put forth one person for a 20 rep burp-off.  Shakedown and Spit were the representatives and the they were off!  Aided by form in which he seemed to pounce straight up and land like a cat in burpee position, Shakedown pulled ahead slightly taking home the flag for SOJ!  Well done Spit and Shakedown. Way to represent!

    Announcements:

    • Shakedown (and Mr. Holland?) are shaving their heads for a good cause.  (https://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/984556/2018)
    • Puppy Pile on 5/19 – Hot potato Q for the 2.0s.
    • Ghost Flag rules for those interested : https://backblasts.f3rva.org/2017/07/20/ghost-flag/

     

  • Kessel Run

    Twelve smugglers attempted the Kessel Run today.  Three more runners opted for extended distance pre-workout and another four were on bike.

    Here is how we celebrated this “May the Force” edition of RAMM.

    As a group, run a warmup through Windsor Farms for about 2.5 miles.  The route roughly resembles the Millennium Falcon in shape.

    As we return to the VSF, the Kessel Run commences from the corner of Commonwealth and Grove.

    4 milers – Head north on Commonwealth to Augusta and back for 1.7 miles.  Target a 11:20 pace or better.

    5 milers – Head east on Grove to Belmont and back for 2.6 miles.  Target a 8:20 pace or better.

    6 milers – Head west on Grove to Three Chopt and back for 3.1 miles.  Target 6:45 pace or better.

    Labrat took us out.

    NMS

    With the Solo movie coming out and a RAMM Q on May 4, how could YHC pass this up?  It was good to run the first portion as a group.  Pax who never run together on a normal day did so today.  The 6 milers got the full Labrat experience.  Windsor Farms was perfect this morning.

    The tempo work impressed me.  The 5s were 8:00 or less for their run.  6s dominated their route and I am certain the 4s crushed it as well.

    Announcements:

    • See Shakedown’s prior post for information regarding children’s cancer and his fundraising activities.  Wheelie has a similar effort (feel free to share that information here) involving biking many miles in June.
    • Labrat mentioned something about drinking beer and being cornholed for money.  On his second pass at an explanation, it sounded more like a F3 corn hole tournament at his house in which teams would put in few dollars as the winner’s purse.  He would also brew some beer for the event.  Sounds a little different now, doesn’t it?
    • The Ghost Flag will be at Hoedown on Monday, May 7.  Any challengers coming to take it?

    Always Be Tapering,

    Lockjaw

  • Haiku – Vol VII

    Haiku run for all

    Upchuck is Cali dreaming

    Workout on the beach

     

    Shakedown feels better

    Going to Beck – Odelay!

    Got Devil’s Haircut

     

    Labrat saw Flipper

    He said he has hinging ribs

    Is that possible?

     

    YHC took us out.

    Announcements:

    • May 18 – Wilson’s golf tournament – for a good cause.  See him for details.
    • May 19 – Puppy Pile for 2.0s – see pre-blast or Upchuck
    • June 18 – Shakedown is raising money for a good cause and will throw in a haircut.

    Time to Taper,

    Lockjaw

     

  • Tyrannosaurus Rex Workout

    17 T-Rexs came out for a primal workout in the wilds of Windsor Farms.

    COP

    • Arm Circles – Flashdance was even present!
    • Helocopters
    • Don Quixote
    • Imperial Walkers
    • Russian Soldiers

    That concludes the arm portion of the workout!

    Follow YHC on a mosey into Windsor Farms’ field in front of the church.

    Dora – Round 1 – One partner does these exercises while the other runs the field and back.

    • 100 Jump Squats
    • 200 Heels to Heaven
    • 300 – LBC (started out as 4 count and migrated to 2 count)

    Elbow plank for 90 seconds.

    Dora Round 2

    • 200 American Hammers (2 count)
    • 400 Invisible jump Ropes
    • 600 Flutter Kicks (2 count) – We called it short when we ran out of time.

    Mosey back to the SF.  YHC took us out.

    NMS:

    YHC needed to take it easy on the hands until the stitches come out.  Why not do an all abs and legs workout?  45 minutes of mary at 45 minutes of mary.  It all works out.

    We only got through about half of what I wanted to cover, so we have plenty of material for another session.

    Good mumble chatter in the COP and on the run over to the world’s nicest field.  Hardywood is hilarious.

    Announcements:

    • Viral had a tool bank open house this morning.  I hope no one missed it due to this late post.
    • If you owe money to Splinter for CSAUP t-shirts, make sure you settle up.  We don’t want him breaking any legs.

    ABT,

    Lockjaw

  • The Naturalist

    What?  No rain?

    What was supposed to a certain downpour held off for this illustrious group of ten to get a few miles in.  Only takers were for 5 and 6 miles.

    The Routes:

    Up the main entrance to taking Gateway/Campus/Towana to Three Chopt and the Henri access road.  5s turn on St Christopher’s and 6s go to Grove and a left on Granite with both coming out on Patterson.

    West on Patterson to Westham Pkwy and take a left and then another left on University Dr.  Through the woods and around the lake.

    NMS:

    It was great running with Taxi Cab today and glad to see him resist the urge to taper post CSAUP.  EF Hutton reeled us in midway through the run with a cadence that sounded like Dutch’s (Yes, YHC can recognize the cadence of those who typically pass me.)  Swiper was looking strong despite getting over the flu.

    All runners resisted the urge to perform Tron squats in Fudd’s front yard.  However, TYA spotted Wedding Singer in or near the creek.  Bird watching?  Looking for tadpoles and crawfish?  Taking in the sights?  Or perhaps a time of reflection.  One may never know, it is earth day after all.

    As advertised, the 6 mile route was 0.08 short while the 5 route was spot on.  I will make sure the disappointed 6s get a little more on Friday.

    Announcements:

    • Swirly offers a service to turn white shirts into a fashionable grey color which involves putting them through a boot camp.  (Yep, it was a slow day for the mumble chatter.)

    Time to Taper,

    Lockjaw

     

  • Running on the Beach

    Three trail dogs and one actual dog converged at the trail head for a spring time run.  YHC called the route and off we went.

    The Route:

    Across the nickel bridge to buttermilk.  Cross Belle Isle via the Lost Trail and pick up North Bank.  Take Texas Beach up to the pump house and back to the parking lot.

    NMS:

    Its been a long time since YHC has been on the Sunday trail run.  As we were about to take off, Saab concluded his run early morning run.  Although TYA’s car was in the parking lot, we never crossed paths with him.  After the COT, he emerged.  Perhaps he had been hiding out in the blue convenience huts all this time or on a wicked long run.  Either way, he made the Pax list.

    The trails in Spring are a time of peace and reflection.  Complement that with two primo running buddies and its a great time.  Advice was exchanged as we discussed the finer points on possession makes law and the corollary that while good fences make good neighbors, bad neighbors make bad fences.

    It also turns out Upchuck is pretty smart.  He let me take lead through the Texas Beach jungle sweeping the trail for face level spider webs.  I picked up my quota making the coast clear for others.

    ABT,

    Lockjaw