Author: Pucker

  • Grove? Not today…

    8 strong emerged from the misty gloom for the latest edition of Spider Run. It was a relatively light crowd – We had 4 runners, 3 walkers and a biker. The age old Grove Ave run was offered but denied. The runners headed across the bridge and down to the river completing various mileage.

    Numberama, namerama and YHC took us out.

    Convergence on Memorial Day at 7am. Also Flatline Qing Dogpile this Saturday ahead of his upcoming deployment.

    Hitch and his PortaDash app continue to amaze us and even Hitch as its reach grows. The ADA has reached out to him and we wish him good luck in his meeting later this week with a Retail Coalition.


    We keep Bleeder’s and Bodos’s families in our prayers and any Pax or family in need of support.

  • Pork Chop and Applesauce

    I guess the pork chop was YHC since the only other pax member was applesauce. Thought about titling this “moon shot” but felt best to wait until the ship launched yesterday actually got to the moon.

    It was the usual 70 and sunny so off Applesauce and YHC went. Warmup on the blacktop. Mosey to the picnic benches and one partner was the pacer running to the entrance sidewalk and back while the other partner did dips or incline Merkins, 6 rounds.

    Mosey back to blacktop for 4 corners. Round 1: 10 squats, 20 LBCs, 30 Flutters (Ethel Merman style for Saab) and 40 SSHs. Repeat 4 corners with same exercises but compounding the second time.

    Mosey to front of school on Grove for a curb crawl – bear crawl one way, crawl bear back doing incline merkins or decline merkins up to 5 then back down. Finished up at the Pavilion with some pole smokers and several minutes of Mary (APDs, WWIIs, box cutters and American hammers).

    Great start to the day. Thanks for all the pax prayers for family members lately!

  • Absence makes the heart grow fonder

    Out of the mists of a 70 and sunny day, three strong emerged to get their day off to a running start. The team of three had all the normal distances covered although YHC may not have made 4 exactly but hard to know as my watch died.

    Saab and YHC went off as the only two at the start. Vigorous conversation ensued but then abated as we could not keep up the pace of conversation some of our experienced pax members (and certainly not of the most recent addition to the pax). But more importantly Saab is faster than me even when returning from injury. General route was west on Grove, right on Granite (for 4) and right on Maple (for 5), all took a right on Patterson, left on Willow Lawn, right on Franklin, right on Lafayette then back up Grove.

    Sippy had arrived just after we left and made his own route in search of porta potties but without the use of Hitch’s PortaDash app. Which is so 2025. Not sure of his exact route but it involved Windsor Farms and I’m sure his pace was much greater than mine and likely Saab’s.

    All three returned to the AO at the appointed time and were happy to see one another again after our solo runs.

    YHC took us out. Peace to all those supporting family members and friends in their time of need.

  • Welcome to Gerryworld!

    At 5:28 it seemed this may be a solo workout but out of the gloom appeared a second pax – Stonks, recent keeper of the flame for the WDog AO. Stonks was ready for a challenging start to his day but instead was indoctrinated into the “respected” Gerryworld! This is how it went down…

    Mosey to the front of the Carillon for a little history on the Carillon itself and some light stretching. But also some helicopters, arm circles, Imperial Walkers and merkins.

    Mosey to field and together run to far end stopping at every other tree for 3 squats. Return to start stopping every other tree to do 10 flutters. Take a vitamin and then perhaps rest a moment.

    Mosey to Carillon for a mini Dora. 50 merkins, 100 heels to heaven, and 150 lunges. Partner does exercise while other runs up and around the Carillon. Audible to 100 lunges as YHC had had an enough of those.

    Mosey to circle by amphitheater and do polar bear / lunge alternating to top of amphitheater. Down to bottom of amphitheater and climb up each ledge and alternate 5 incline merkins on one and 10 LBCs on the next all the way to the top. Mosey to benches near dog park to finish up with box jumps, decline merkins and Step Ups. Then mosey back to the flag for a nap.

    NMS: Appreciate Stonks letting me lead and following my lead however slow it may have been. We had a clear sky full of stars and perfect temps. Always a great day at WDog!

  • What rain?

    Always 70 degrees and sunny. YHC and Hitch enjoyed a walkabout at WDog running down to the toll booth parking lot where we did a basic WARMARAMA. Mosey up into the very nice neighborhood…partner up and run the circle while partner performs Merkins, then another round with LBCs. Mosey up to circle by Carillon for alternating Polar Bears and Lunges. WWIIs up on the Carillon then mosey back to the flag. A fair bit of running, but the humidity was there.

    Keeping WDog AO alive!

  • Road Rage and College Oh My

    Seven strong emerged from the gloom to reinvigorate this venerable AO. Two walkers and five boot campers, including one downrange from Atlanta (“W”). It went like this…

    Mosey to front of Carillon to warmup including dead man’s hang, SSHs, Don Quixote’s, Helicopters and Imperial Walkers. Sufficiently warm, we moseyed to the Carillon itself and formed two groups – one ran up and around the Carillon while the other group did Flutter Kicks. Five rounds of this seemed enough.

    Mosey to the circle by Pump House Drive and then alternate two exercises around the circle – Five Polar Bears followed by 10 Lunges, then repeat until done. We had a brief visit from two of our 2 wheeled F3 friends as they came by the Carillon.

    Mosey past the Carillon where “W” saw a Seal Team group working out. “W” jokingly, but correctly, referred to them as a “rival gang”. If Swirly had been with the boot campers it might have gone down like that. We quickly explained the disadvantages of Seal Team and moved on to the Ampitheather.

    Starting from the bottom by the stage, perform 5 incline Merkins on one rise, then move up to the next and perform 10 LBC, repeat all the way to the top. Having not had enough of the ampitheater, we then had one group do an exercise at the top while the other group ran around the ampitheater. Exercises were Squats, Merkins and American Hammers.

    With a little time left, but not enough to get down to the rusty cage YHC took the group to a rusty bench toward the Nickel Bridge end of the parking lot for some step ups and decline Merkins. This took us to time as we moseyed back to the flag and regrouped with the walkers.

    Hitch shared that a pickleball tourney is coming soon in June. BT is looking forward to hip replacement surgery in July.

    The walkers had a pleasant stroll for the most part until some angry soul came upon them on the road and instead of allowing them time to move aside, the driver accelerated and laid on the horn. What is this…New York? For the boot campers, the discussion was largely focused on college the application and acceptance process and the craziness that kids go through today.

    YHC took us out. Thanks for letting me lead boys.

  • Go Solo, Go Slow…No Rollers

    After some ample time on the IR and on travel the past two weeks, YHC is trying to ramp back up. Walking then running and now Boot Camp! A beautiful morning but at 5:30 it appeared I’d be solo. Which was fine as I knew I’d be slow.

    Warmup by the Carillon – dead man’s hang, Don Quixote’s, arm circles, IWs

    Mosey to the field in front of the Carillon for some 11s – copperhead squats and merkins.

    Mosey to Carillon – 20 LBCs, then a lap up the steps and around the Carillon. Repeat 5 times.

    At this point, a Richmond City Police car rolled up slowly with the blue lights on in the circle. Not sure if they were there to check out the Carillon and the report of some crazed individual running around it. In any case I gave them a wave and carried on.

    Mosey to Pavillion – starting at the bottom and alternating at each step doing 5 incline Merkins then 10 Step Ups all the way to the top. Rollers were still in their car in the circle so I moved on.

    Mosey’d to the shelter to do some lunges, karoake and then some ab work (flutters and APDs) before finishing up

    Looking forward to getting back out to boot camps and runs – see you in the gloom!

  • First there was one…then there were two

    YHC arrived at the AO wondering if it’d be a solo workout. Luckily for YHC, Oyster “mis-timed” his arrival at First Watch and made the executive decision to go to WDog. Without a pre-determined Q on the sheet, I led the party of two for the following…

    Mosey to front of Carillon for warmup: SSH, IWs, Dead Man’s Hang, Helicopters, Arm Circles and Don Quixotes. Given the warmer temps, that was sufficient to warm us up.

    Mosey to the field in front of the Carillon for 11s. Merkins and Squats across the field.

    Mosey back to the Carillon steps for a Dora. 100 Merkins, 200 LBCs and 300 SSHs while partner runs up the steps, around the Carillon and down.

    Slow mosey to the traffic circle by Dogwood Dell amphitheater – start at top and do 5 2 count flutters at each level down to the stage. Start at bottom and do 5 incline Merkins at each level until getting to the top.

    Mosey back to flag and finish with some ab work and Merkins. Nice temps and nice morning for a workout. Thanks for letting me lead Oyster!

  • No Crossfit Here

    Despite a WDog regular opting for early morning Crossfit over F3 Bootcamp, the band marched on. Three hardy, well weathered souls who enjoy cooler (and preferably dry) weather gathered for this edition at this historic AO. Upon arrival, YHC took the Q and off we went.

    Mosey to front of the Carillon to warmup – Dead Man’s Hang, Helicopters, Arm Circles (Fwd/Bwd) and SSHs to get the blood flowing. YHC was not in town to enjoy the Carillon steps based worked last Saturday now that they are open but decided to open this workout there. Three being the number of the counting, we executed a couple of rounds of a triple check. Round 1: Flutterkicks, Squats and pacer runs up the stairs, around the Carillon and back down. Round 2: APDs, Lunges and same for the pacer.

    The trio moseyed to the circle near Rugby Road to then polar bear from one light to the next, then lunge from one light to the next, alternating at each lamp post. One round of that seemed enough. Mosey to the sunken field in front of the Carillon for 11s. Mountain climbers and jump squats.

    The triumvirate moseyed to the bottom of the amphitheater. From there we executed 5 incline Merkins at one rise, then 5 Dips at the next and then 5 LBCs at the next and repeato to the top. To begin the warm down we went to the circle by the amphitheater and did Bernie Sanders from one lamppost to the next then lunged one post to the next, alernating around the entire circle.

    The Triad moseyed back to the flag for a round of ab exercises called out by each including Flutterkicks, Heels to Heaven, Rosalitas, WWIIs, APDs and wide Flutters.

    YHC took us out. Breaking Bread is open for 11/23. And the annual TYA Thanksgiving workout is on Thanksgiving Day at Mary Munford.

  • 2AM Wake Up Call

    A lucky 7 arrived amidst nearly identical conditions to the F3 mantra – 70 and sunny. YHC was up at 2AM for a work call so had ample to plan the workout – but didn’t. As will be obvious in this array of very familiar exercise options at 45MOM.

    Mosey to front of school for COP – dead man’s hang, SSHs, Don Quixotes, Helicopters, Merkins and Flutters.

    Mosey to Blacktop for a Triple Check – Balls to the Wall, LBCs and runner Karaoke’s to fence and back.

    Mosey to big field – starting at one end of field, at each tree perform an exercise. Round 1 5 squats, Round 2 5 Merkins, Round 3 10 LBCs. This was once called 11s when we had 11 trees along Cary but with so many now cut down who knows what the right number is. YHC in his sleepy mode did not bother to count.

    Mosey to monkey bars and circle up in an incline plank position. One of the PAX does 5 pullups while others are doing incline Merkins. 2 Rounds

    Mosey to tennis courts for suicides. Round 1 – run to other side of first court and do 1 burpee, run back, run to far side of second court and do 2 burpees, run back, …until the fourth court. Round 2 – same suicides but with 5, 10, 15, 20 squats.

    Mosey to the Pavilion and partner up. One partner does 10 Pole Smokers while the other does Lt Dans. We did 3 rounds and time was up.

    Numberama, Namerama, announcements and YHC took us out. Appreciate being a part of this group – why else would I come out so early for a group workout after being up the previous 3-4 hours on a work call unless it was something rewarding and enjoyable. Enjoy in the summer weather in January!!