Author: Gumbo

  • A Post March Madness OG

    8 stalwarts posted to NoToll this morning (2 extra early for some Broga) and most knew exactly what was in store…perhaps others stayed in the fartsack or traveled to a different Nano region to avoid it – only they know.

    The 8 of us crushed an Old Glory and are all better off for it.

    Log your laps here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-L8e9W24ygnU0suaGyKxzi1PgPqY1CBd57hLrKTZI-g/edit#gid=1717732871

    Well done men!

    Announcements – see slack

    Prayers for Wildcat and Dinky.

    No More Gumbo for You!

  • OTB for 1 – dark, cold and early

    Well, YHC said F Daylight Savings Time and posted to OTB. DST and travel wiped out the rest of the PAX. No problem. I get to dictate the pace and do my own thing…great. I got off to a good start with a 9:30 first mile, but then all went to shit when two negative splits lead to an internal challenge to have 5 negative splits. And an 8:17 sixth mile completed the challenge. So much for controlling the pace and an easy 6. Wonderful sunrise on the way back across the river. A great morning!

  • Serving with the 2.0s

    Gumbo, Redbird (2.1) and Snare (2.2), cooked up some meatloaf, green beans, cornbread, and cookies and loaded the car headed for Daily Planet. The stubborn meatloaf took extra long to cook, but we made up time on the trip with Redbird at the wheel. A party of 10 was on the reservation sheet, but only 8 were in attendance when we arrived. No worries – all were served, fed and satisfied. We didn’t eat with the residents, but we served and chatted and made sure they were well fed. Another great time serving with my 2.0s and helping the good folks at the Daily Planet.

    If you have not signed up and attended a #BreakingBread – do it. It is super easy. You can cook or you can buy and bring. You can serve and leave or you can stay and eat and spend time with the residents. That is all up to you. They are very grateful and it is a great cause.

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • My First…Again

    Gumbo was on the menu this morning for the first time (but not the last time) at First Watch and it was a seating for 11. These are the side dishes and accoutrements served along side the Gumbo:

    0530 and time to Mosey – right out of the parking lot and YHC may or may not have gotten lost or disoriented in the darkness. Nonetheless, we completed our mile and stopped at the corner of S. ridge and Country Squire for COP, including:

    • Deadman Hang
    • Helicopters
    • Jazzercisers
    • SSHs
    • Tempo Merkins
    • LBCs
    • Flutter Kicks

    Triple Check – Runner, Imperial Squat Walkers, Box Cutters. Round 1, runner goes up S. Ridge a bit. Round 2 runner goes up Country Squire. Round 3 runner does 10 burpees.

    Mosey up S. Ridge to Triangle for Triangle of Fun: 3 Burpees at point 1, run to point 2 3 Burpees, 10 2-ct mountain climbers and run to point 3, 3 Burpees, 10 2-ct mountain climbers and 20 Hello Dollies. Back to point 1 and plank for six.

    Mosey to parking lot for 4 corners – 10 merkins, 20 2-ct Freddies, 30 squats, 40 LBCs. Plank-o-rama and then reverso 4 corners 40 – 30 – 20 – 10 same exercises. And, some references to American Pie – Flo still has no idea what that is.

    3 minutes of Mary

    COT, Numbers, Names and YHC took us out.

    Great morning men. Great to take the Q at a new AO – a VQ of sorts. The energy even woke me up 15 minutes early this morning…and that’s early.

    Lots of mumble chatter and some hard work put in. All with plenty of time for coffee afterwards.

    Thanks for letting me lead.

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • Frozen Triangle Part Duex

    A total of 46 guys, including an FNG (big respect) showed up today for the first RVA CSAUP event in quite a while.

    An eager 45 (including 3 ruckers) gathered before 0600 in the dark gloom of Dogpile ready to roll. The temperature lived up the CSAUP name, it was chilly, but the adrenaline was flowing. 0600 on YHC’s watch, so the ruckers hit the road and the rest of us grabbed the shovel flags and moseyed to the COP circle for disclaimer (you v you and pay attention to your body) and COP, including:

    • SSHs
    • DQs
    • Helicopters
    • Deadman Hangs
    • Imperial Walkers
    • Alternating Shoulder Taps
    • Tempo Merkins
    • Freddie Mercuries

    Head to the Amphitheatre and pass the baton to Rosie for the THANG:

    Ladder – 5 incline merkins on each step going up; 5 dips on each step going down; bunny-hop/box-jump back up to the top.

    Circle up for numbers and names and then grab the shovel flags and runners take off for Punisher. Flags were flying. We were getting some honks, and the air was brisk. Many guys circled back to pick up the SIX. I think Gypsy did it 5 times and ran an extra 3 miles.

    PUNISHER

    33 of the 43 bootcampers made the run to Punisher for bootcamp #2. OC and CB got the provisions set up and guys fueled up. Then CB set up the audio and lead a Tabata ground and pound for that included merkins (OUCH), DQs, Arm Circles, Squats, LBCs and other

    Circle up for numbers and names and then grab the shovel flags and runners headed for Mary. Again, bro-code was in effect.

    45MOM

    31 of the 33 made it from Punisher to Mary, and we picked up Handshake for the last bootcamp and last leg of the Triangle. There was no catching your breathe or fueling up because UpChuck was ready to roll. Thankfully, UpChuck started us off with SSHs and then added some Broga (which really pleased Last Call). Then he dropped the hammer:

    The THANG: Twisted Dora – Line up across the blacktop and partner up. Exercises were 100 Carolina Dry Docks, 200 Squats (either jump or touch 5 fingers to the ground), and 300 SSHs. Runner – bernies across the blacktop to the fence and runs back. Oh, and the TWIST – every time the runner returns, partners do 5 Boo-yah Merkins…KILLER.

    Mosey back to the starting point for numbers and names before taking off to for Dogpile and to close the Triangle.

    The run back to Dogpile was blinding and painful. We gutted it out and everyone made it back to Dogpile where the ruckers were waiting for us and Circle K had the grill going with dogs and sausages.

    One last number-rama and namarama, announcements and COT.

    We prayed for our F3 brothers – Fudd, Gomer Pyle and Pigskin – heading to Honduras in service.

    Other announcements –

    • Great job F3RVA for donating around 400 shoes for various groups. Well done!
    • Shank has his VQ on Tuesday at Bermuda Triangle
    • Add any others I missed in Slack

    Huge shout out to all those who helped bring this CSAUP back. Rosie and I put it out there and the PAX stepped up to Q, drive, get provisions, chip in, and just generally to do whatever is needed and check on the SIX and make sure everyone was accounted for and good to go. LOVE this group for all those reasons.

    We can sometimes get lost in our daily/weekly routines or often times we don’t have time to hang out and chat before or after weekly workouts. CSAUPs give us the chance the see new guys, and to deepen our fellowship with other guys. In addition, they give us the opportunity to push through our normal boundaries and test ourselves. We all aced the test today. Well done men!

    Get some rest this weekend, enjoy some family and football, rest those legs, and I’ll see you all back out in the gloom soon!

    Who’s planning the next CSAUP?

    No more Gumbo for you and It’s all coming up Rosie!

  • PRE-BLAST: Frozen Triangle January 21

    If you have been posting or reading Slack you have been hearing about an upcoming CSAUP – The Frozen Triangle. It is 2 weeks away, so below are some more details, and we are looking for HCs (and soft commits – if you must) to help us plan provisions. Please add to the HC count on Slack if you are in. Give a thumbs up or something else if you are a soft commit.

    Many folks have reached out to Rosie and me to let us know they want to help. Thank you. We will be touching base with you over the next week to divvy up responsibilities. If anyone else wants to help, let us know. Help can include chipping in for provisions, bringing provisions, bringing coolers, setting up/cleaning up at one of the AOs, etc. Many hands makes light work – and more fun for the hands doing the work.

    GOAL: As always, push ourselves, but don’t hurt ourselves and have a damn good time doing it and enjoying some fellowship.

    Rough Details:

    • Starting time and location: 6:00 a.m. at Dogpile parking lot
    • 6:00 – 6:20’ish: Bootcamp at Dogpile
    • 6:20’ish: depart Dogpile for Punisher (3.3 mile trek) – travel on foot, by bike or however you want.
    • 7:00’ish – 7:20’ish: Bootcampt at Punisher
    • 7:20’ish: depart Punisher for 45MOM (2.9 mile trek)
    • 8:00’ish – 8:20’ish: Bootcamp at 45MOM
    • 8:20’ish: depart 45MOM for Dogile (2.5 miles) to complete the triangle
    • 9:00’ish: arrive Dogpile and let the fellowship ensue. Bring lawn chairs and dry clothes and hang out for a while. Hot dogs will be on the grill and beers will be in the cooler.

    Remember – this is not an All or None – participate in it all or participate in whatever piece or pieces that you can. See you on January 21.

    No More Gumbo For you AND Everything is Coming up Roses….OUT

  • Just another OTB with a little FW Overshare Feel to it

    3 Walkers and 5 runners this morning. It was brisk. Pace and distances are in question, depending on the watch you consult, but one thing that is not in question is that miles were slayed, fellowship was had, and it was a great start to the day.

    YHC is thankful for Rosetta deciding to kick off the new year by posting and bringing all sorts of fun stories. Nothing that would probably satisfy the FW crowd, but for OTB and a Sunday at SOJ – good stuff! Thanks, Rosetta.

  • Magnum PI Day 2022 – Building Bridges

    27 guys, including two FNGs posted for the 2022 version of Magnum PI Day. There was some overtime (maybe some false advertising – under investigation), several sweet staches, some great Hawaiian shirts, and lots of great energy and fellowship. This episode transpired like this:

    Pre-game group (there were about 10 of us) who showed up for Stache Broga were treated instead to 30 extra minutes of beatdown.

    COP – We moseyed to the far circle for COP, including SSHs, DQs (Abe Vigoda style), Jazzercisers, Merkins, Mountain Climbers, LBCs.

    Proper Dora – we moseyed down to the bottom of the Golden Triangle and paired up for a proper dora – 1 merkin, 2 LBCs and 3 SSHs = 1 Proper Dora. Complete 50 as a team with the runner running up the hill to the circle and back.

    COP 2 – here’s your broga – mosey up the long road to the parking area at the end of the field for COP – Hillbillies, Imperial Walkers, Alternating Shoulder Taps, Plank, Ankle Taps.

    Mosey back to the Flag to pick up the sleepers/travelers

    0630 – its Magnum time

    Mosey to the customary COP Circle for disclaimer, praise for F3RVA and F3C-ville stepping up to raise $3,300 for The Bridge and back to work, with:

    • 12 Higgins (DQs)
    • 11 TCs (Helicopters)
    • 19 Magnum Merkins
    • 80 SSHs
    • 5 Copperhead Squats
    • 8 something?
    • 19 LBCs
    • 8 Flutter Kicks
    • 8 Box Cutters
    • 1 Burpee for Q’s counting mistake

    First episode 12/11/1980. Last episode 5/8/1988

    To the Amphitheatre to celebrate the 162 episodes total with 9 Incline merkins on each step (18 steps) going up and 9 dips going down.

    STACHE circuit at the bottom with:

    • S – SSHs x10
    • T – Taps (Alternating Shoulder Taps) x10
    • A – American Hammers x10
    • C – Copperhead Squats x10
    • H – Hand-release merkins x10
    • E – BurpEEs x5

    YHC’s stunt double (Vinny) took over the Q and off we wen to the pipeline. A benefit of the later start.

    Triple Check – Run the pipeloop, Elbow Plank, Scissor kicks 3 times through

    Mosey long way around back to the golden triangle circle for some COP, including Dobbermans and 50 WWIIs OYO.

    Mosey back to the flag for Ring of Fire with Dealer’s Choice merkins

    Numbers, Names, Pictures, Announcements, some wonderful words from Jay James from The Bridge and then Jay took us out with a great prayer.

    Announcements:

    • Congrats to C-ville for their successful toy drive. Well done men.
    • Breaking Bread – 12/24 is open. Oyster is taking over the BB Q position. Thanks to Upchuck for all his hard work on BB and thank you to Oyster for taking it over. Its a great service men.
    • 12/18 – Carols at Fudd’s – A Night with HoneyDo.
    • 12/10 – HDHH at Hardywood Westcreek.
    • January CPR Class coming
    • 1/21/2023 – Frozen Triangle
    • Prayers for Honeymoon’s family
    • Prayers for C-ville’s Tinker and his family for the strength and health of their newest baby who was born prematurely.
    • Prayers for Bootleg and his family taking care of his FIL.
    • Continued prayers for all those dealing with illness, injuries and obstacles

    NMS – Jay spoke to us a bit about The Bridge and their ministry. It is great work. Jay’s words were inspiring. Most of all, I thought his point about the importance of us giving our time and showing the guys at The Bridge (and everyone that we come in contact with) that we care about them is invaluable. Spreading our energy and positivity is infectious and the impacts ripple tremendously – more than financial donations ever can. And, as Jay mentioned, making it a habit is key and that is what F3 instills. I am so proud to be a part of this group. You men are Awesome.

    Huge thanks to everyone who participated in this effort and Magnum PI Day. Special thanks to Vinny and Kubota for their energy and leadership. Well done men!

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • 44 and almost didn’t live to see 45…move it or lose it.

    16 overstuffed turkeys broke free from the warmth of the fartsack and posted for a birthday Q marking the end of YHC’s 43rd trip around the sun. According to Wilson, it went something like this:

    Mosey to the COP circle and around it 4 times (or until we catch up to Wilson), then circle up for:

    • SSHs
    • DQs
    • Helicopters
    • Jazzercisers
    • Imperial Walkers
    • Copperhead Squats
    • Alternating Shoulder Taps
    • Merkins
    • LBCs
    • Box Cutters

    THE THANG

    Amphitheatre Time – mosey down to the pit. Do 11 4x4s in the pit, then 2 box jumps and 6 incline merkins on each step to the top, then 44 SSHs at the top and mosey back down to the pit and Al Gore for the SIX. 1 more 4×4 for everyone’s pleasure at the end.

    Mosey to the Golden Triangle and down to the bottom. Pair up for a Dora – runner runs up the hill TO the circle (or you can DO the circle if you want your partner to do more exercises). Exercises were 144 HRMs, 244 single count flutters, and 344 Squats.

    Mosey up the other hill and through the triangle over the the field.

    Four Corners – 1 Burpee, 9 2-ct mountain climbers, 7 WWIIs, 8 Imperial Squat Walkers. Wilson was so fast that we had time for round 2. 1 Burpee, 9 Alternating Shoulder Taps, 7 WWIIs, 8 SSHs.

    Pick up the Six and mosey back, around the COP Circle, and back to the Flag.

    5 Minutes of Mary, including:

    • Hello Dolly
    • Rosalita
    • Alabama Prom Dates
    • Oblique Heel Taps
    • Freddie Mercuries
    • Slow cross mountain climbers
    • Plank until the bell rings.

    Numbers, Names, Announcements and COT

    Announcements/Prayers:

    • Magnum PI Day next Saturday 0630 – 0730. YHC will lead pre-workout from 0600-0630 for anyone who wants it. Bring your staches and your Hawaiian shirts and join the fun. Bring your checks (or Venmo Vinny or me) to raise money for our friends at the Bridge.
    • Frozen Triangle CSAUP – January 21 0600. See me or Rosie for info. Just be there.
    • Dogpile Q has some openings. Fill them up.
    • Breaking Bread is open for Christmas Eve and all of 2023 – FILL it up and do some good.
    • Continued prayers for Honeymoon’s Dad
    • Prayers for a healthy and speedy deliver of Faceplants 2.3 any day now or yesterday for his M.
    • Prayers for all those battling injury or illness.

    NMS –

    Thanks to those who were able to come out for my birthday Q. It was great to get on the Q sheet at Dogpile again. It’s been a minute. Great AO, great coffeeteria after. Great to have Emoji back in town too. Wonderful way to start any day, but extra special to start my birthday with this fine group of men and some wonderful fellowship and motivation…and a small helping of fitness. So grateful and thankful for all of you and this group. Keep doing good work!

    No More Gumbo For You! and, GEAUX TIGERS!!

  • An OG start to Stache Month

    8 strong this morning at NoToll, 1 LIFO and 1 rucker. 7 total for this quarter’s installment of Old Glory.

    Strong effort as always by Rosie – darn near completed 4 full laps. Also strong performances by Snuff and Heist. Heist and Belichick were OG virgins, so welcome to the party.

    Log your laps here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-L8e9W24ygnU0suaGyKxzi1PgPqY1CBd57hLrKTZI-g/edit#gid=1717732871

    Come out and get some OG in February at NoToll

    Ended with COT, numbers, names and prayers

    Announcements:

    • Prayers for Bullseye’s mom as she recovers from a femur break (and surgery?)
    • Prayers for Snuff’s brother-in-law as he deals with some life obstacles.
    • Prayers for Doozy as he hoped to get a no-surgery report from Ortho today – fingers crossed
    • Grow your staches this month gents and spread the word for The Bridges.
    • Magnum PI day at Dogpile 12/3 – staches and Hawaiian shirts mandatory

    Great morning gents.

    No More Gumbo For You