Author: Marv

  • All Kinds of Suck Right Here

    Terrific trot today for a hearty group of Spider Runners. It is the opening of college basketball season, and prior to F3, my ritual would be to try to run around the arena where the Rams were playing. F3 punted that ritual, but I wanted to give it a go this morning, somewhat modified, as we essentially circled El Center de Robins.

    Busy day for me, so here’s the quick MOLESKIN.

    Richmond Way to Claiborne Stadium. Left there to Boatright. Boatright to Lakewood to Wood to Baldwin (modified Fudd Runn here). Baldwin all the way up to Hollins. Right on Hollins, Right on Woodberry.

    4 Milers take a right on Westham and head back to the Commons from there (Baldwin, Wood, Lakewood, south of Robins Center).

    5 & 6 Milers Head to the dead end at Horsepen. Right on Horsepen, hairpin turn on Patterson to Ridge Top.

    Then we all get to do Chandler.

    5 Milers do it twice and 6 Milers do it three times. It came a bit out of the vault, did Chandler, and it hasn’t gotten a lot easier since we did it probably a year (or more!) together. Chandler to Gardiner, through the woods and home.

    6 Milers went back to Ridgetop, then to Hempstead, to Wood, to Lakeside then home.

    Pretty hilly run.

    Now to more important stuff. I’ve got a suite open tonight for the VCU game, one of the few times all year it has been unsold. If you would like to go, shoot me an email rrobinson@vcusportsproperties.com and I can leave you tickets. Pretty much could be an F3 night at the suite if enough of you want to go. Either way, if you want to go to the game tonight…tip off at 7pm, let me know.

  • KYP

    A hearty 8 1.0’s and 2.0’s made it out to October’s rendition of PuppyPile. After an all night Nor’easter and a legit threat of rain in the area, the normally robust group of 2.0s and 1.0s shrunk a little bit…mainly because most of us exercised the sports adage–KYP. Know Your Personnel. You see, I know my personnel (AKA, my 2.0s) and rain and low 50s wasn’t going to make anyone happy. For us, “Push Yourself, don’t hurt yourself” is a challenge, a badge of honor, a motto to get us to do one more Merican or Burpee. For 2.0s, well, it doesn’t mean the same thing.

    That said, the thought of TYA or Swirly or anyone giving me a hard time for not showing up for a Q was too much to take, so I found myself 2.0-less but out there at 7:05, ready to roll with 7 others who’s personnel has no problems whatsoever with a little rain and cold weather.

    The THANG

    Moseyed to The Carrillon bricks and got into the COT.

    15 Side Straddle Hops
    11 Helicopters
    8 Don Quixote’s
    15 Arm Circles (forwards and reverso)
    Burpees OYO (either your age or 1/4 or your age to the nearest even number)
    Hillbillies

    We then had a quick demonstration on how to do the following exercises…
    Monkey Squatters (verbiage cleaned up for 2.0)
    Polar Bears
    Bear Crawl

    The Pax then moseyed to the activity trail (not sure what the name of that trail is that we did the race on last month) and started at the two chin-up bars. The goal was to do exercises that got us all around the trail, one full lap.

    We started by doing “Relay 11s”

    Pair Up (fortunately, Sippy has two 2.0s at the Q, so I grabbed Blue Collar as my partner)

    One Partner Does 11 Mericans while the other broad jumps (or bunny hops) down the trail. Once the partner catches the jumper/hopper, they switch off. 2 sets

    The Combos–
    Monkey Squats / Broad Jumps
    Mericans / Lunges
    Burpees / Polar Bears (3 sets)

    The Burpee / Polar Bear combination was surprisingly brutal. Could possibly have taken it to a new level for a 2.0 workout.

    From there, we did an Indigenous Person run for about an 1/8th of a mile. Following that, we did the same thing while carrying their partner. Hat tip to Tyson, our 13 year old 2.0 of Sippy, who carried Sippy for that 1/8th of a mile.

    After gathering back up, we did a ‘still trying not to get really wet’ version of Touch a Tree. But this time, we used the exercise stations on the trail which included, but were not limited to…

    -climbing up and over bars around 8 feet in the air
    -parallel bars
    -squats while holding on to a pole

    More indigenous running until we happened upon monkey bars. The Q traversed those with ease.
    More indigenous running until we got to a wall. We all jumped over the wall with relative ease.

    Back to the flag for the Burpee Shuffle. Kudos to our FNG Gamer for calling out three burpees on a day where we did quite a few. Very much throwing down the gauntlet in his 4 1/2 year old 2.0 way.

    After looking at Big Data, Vinny remarked how Puppy Pile, pound for pound, gets the most attendance each time we have it. And he’s right. We have been averaging around forty or so each Saturday that we do it. That number, with the rain and the cool climes, will take a bit of a hit after this weekend. That’s ok, however, as all of us don’t have to worry about sniffles or sick days because we followed through on “push yourself but don’t hurt yourself.”

    Here’s to the weather looking good at the end of November for us to continue Puppy Piles into the winter.

  • 47 1/2 Hour Grace Period

    Were there times over the last 47 1/2 hours that I could’ve written this PuppyPile Backblast? Absolutely? But that time would’ve taken away from weekend family time…time sitting on the couch watching football, time where the family is watching me do yardwork, time where I’m sitting on the couch watching the US get hammered in the Ryder Cup. And ultimately, wouldn’t that crush the spirit of PuppyPile? Spending quality time with our kids, not on the computer typing away like we do all day.

    Which leads me to this handy new revelation–the new IOS on my phone has a “screen time” measuring app–so it tells you how long you’ve been on the screen. It’s scary! Did I really spend 4 hours on my screen? That seems a bit excessive. Maybe it counts my son’s IPad time as well? I hope so.

    All that being said, a hearty crew of 34 dads and their beloved 2.0s gathered at PuppyPile 47 1/2 hours ago to grind out a 55 minute bootcamp.

    The THANG

    COP
    Twelve Side Straddle Hops
    11 Helicopters
    10 Donald Quixotes
    15 Arm Circles Forward
    15 Arm Circles Backwards
    15 Hillbillies
    5 Mercans

    Mosey to the large field in front of the Carrillon (which was half mowed, for those wondering)
    Partner Carry (2.0s on the backs of 1.0s) to the end of the field (traversing the 2 feet of grass). Run back. Head North again on the field. Partner Carry Back. If more than 1 X 2.0, the other 2.0 does side straddle hops while the partner carry is going on.

    5 X Boo-yah Mercans

    Relay race–Down and Back X 2 while partner(s) are doing a mini Bernie Sanders up and down the small hill in front of the Carrillon.

    5 x Boo-yah Mercans

    Hot Potato to LockJaw

    Partner Up someone of similar size. Wheel Barrow from west and back east on the halfway mowed field. At the far west side, 5 X Boo-yah Mercans.

    Wheel barrow back east and do 20 PLTs (I think, I mean, it has been 47 1/2 hours).

    Mosey to wooden stage behind the Carrillon.
    At this point, Splinter does this really peculiar interpretive dance, on the stage, to a Lady Gaga song that none of us knew. It was definitely something different, and its up for debate on how it fit into the Q, but it did allow us some time of reflection and it may have brought me closer to my Veep, my 2.0. Either way, thanks Splinter for that 4 1/2 minute rest.

    Touch a Tree–
    Touch 5 trees while doing donkey kicks
    Touch 6 trees while doing scissor kicks
    Touch 7 trees while doing WW2 sit ups

    Hot potato to Splinter
    Did a triple check variation with only two people. So a double check
    Run to the Carrillon fence while partner is on the stage doing WW2 sit ups
    Run to the Carrillon fence while partner does XXXXX
    Run to the Carrillon fence while partner does “Man Ups” (A Man Up is where you hoist yourself onto the stage and then jump back down. It’s like a box jump but you use your arms).

    Mosey to the half mowed field.

    Separate teams to 2.0s vs 1.0s. And what would a PuppyPile be without a vigorous game of sharks and minnows. This variation was that the sharks were bear crawling and the minnows were crabwalking. This made it extremely challenging for the minnows as a bear is much quicker and more agile than a shark. Splinter called an audible, extended the field and we all went back to the old school bear is the minnow and the shark is crabwalking.

    Back to the flag.

    Burpee Lake was pretty dry…so didn’t have a chance to use that one this time.

    Sorry for the late, Q, everyone…thanks again for coming out. It’s terrific to get the kids out there in the gloom.

  • “As It Turns Out, I Can Keep up With a 4 Year Old”

    It is late in the month, it is 7:05am on a Saturday, and we were at Dogwood Dell…that can only mean one thing, it’s PUPPYPILE! We wake up our 2.0s a little earlier than normal (especially on a Saturday) and battle the gloom for a 55 minute beatdown, of a bunch of kids between 4 and 16. A total of 34 as it turns out.

    MARV had the Q, admittedly, his first Q in a long, long time. Between LockJaw scheduling Carrillon runs on a weekly basis on Friday and just general laziness, MARV has been pretty much freeloading on the PAX over the past few, um, years. But nothing motivates MARV like youth sports, so count me in to lead PUPPYPILE when needed.

    The Thang:

    It was good to see the 6am DOGPILE-ers show up with cinder blocks. The Q had a thought to grab the blocks and try his luck with the 2.0s and 15lb cement blocks…but decided against it. Meanwhile, a 7:05am tip of the hat to the guys who were up at 6 on a Saturday and got to carry bricks.

    Moseyed to the grass circle just east of the Carrilon.
    Twelve Side Straddle Hops
    Eight Donald Quixotes
    Ten Helicopters
    Ten Hillbillies
    Three Burpees
    15 arm circles forward
    15 arm circles backward
    Five Mercans
    Ten two count LBCs

    Off to a good start!

    Then we all went to the outer circle for “Hot Potato Animal Walks”

    Sippy–Bear Crawl to the Center
    Fudd – Crabwalk to the Center
    Vinnie — Lion Lunge to the Center
    Rosie — Alligator Walk (no fun)
    Unnamed — Snake Walk (equally no fun)

    Moseyed to the stage behind the Carrillon for a game of 2.0s vs OG Hide and Seek.
    2.0s do 15 Side Straddle Hops while the OGs go out and hide behind a tree. While hiding, the OGs have to do copper head squats. Shout out to Sippy…found a good spot behind a tree that eluded 2.0s Blue Collar and Tyson. We had to go as a group to find him. Switched it up to have the 2.0s go find dad.

    Moseyed to the front of the Carrillon for a little triple check. Not a big triple check, mind you, but a little one. First person ran around the fencing around the Carrillon (from Hardywood: “I’m looking forward to getting the Carrillon back.” Yes you, and all of RVA, Wood). 2nd person was spelling their last school attended with straight legs (overheard “how do you spell Hard Knocks?”) 3rd person does SSHops.

    Introduced our 2.0s to the Indigenous Person run around the Carrillon field.

    The broke the old standby “Bearcrawl/Crabwalk Sharks and Minnows”. For those scoring at home, it has been six months since the grass has been mowed at the Carrillon. We actually lost two 2.0s in the grass over the course of the workout, including the first round of Sharks and Minnows.

    Back to the flag for a three minute round of Burpee Shuffling. Shout out to The Wonderer for calling out the three burpee shuffle.

    Closing word from MARV then many off to Elwood Thompsons.

    It was fitting to do the 2.0 workouts as the Little League World Series is concluding this weekend. There are some fabulous sporting events throughout the year…from the Super Bowl to the Final Four to The Masters…every couple of years we get the Olympics. You can have all of those, I’ll take the Little League World Series any day. The MARVinsons are good for about 30 hours of Little League baseball watching for the 10 or so days that it is on. I can’t tell you how flat out good these 12 & 13 year olds are. Maybe it is because it comes at the end of a baseball filled summer, maybe because I have an 11 & 8yo, or maybe because there’s so much junk you have to sift through these days in the world of sports…but my eyes get consistently sweaty through the tournament in Williamsport. I encourage you to take your afternoon tomorrow to watch the final game.

    We’ll pinpoint a September date for the next PUPPYPILE sometime soon. No matter when it is, count me in.

  • They’ll Drop in Mid-July

    Seriously. 9 degrees? It was 9 degrees this morning? However, in what has to be an unprecedented F3 Event, I am proud to say that there were more PAX at a workout than the actual temperature. 11 men showed up to trundle around the beautiful Tuckahoe Elementary, Tuckahoe Middle, Freeman District.

    QIC-MARV

    PAX-Bleeder, Totahnka (FNG), The YA, Wedding Singer, Swirly, BT, Fudd, Splinter, Saab, Sippy Cup, Marv

    Name of the Run– First Class Run

    The Thang:

    4 Milers– Lake to Boatright via the northside of the Robins Center (including somewhat of a killer hill that is very rarely used). Boatright to Lakewood. Lakewood to Wood. Wood to Baldwin. Baldwin to Stuart Hall (pausing to genuflect on Lally Construction’s latest masterpiece). Stuart Hall to Forest. Forest to Rock Creek to Baldwin to Westham. South on Westham to University, north on College and then through the parking lot of the Robins Center back to the lake.

    5 Milers– 4 Mile Course beginning but straight on College to University. Right on University to Ralston. Left on Ralston. Cross River to Windsor on the James. Take the WOTJ loop back to River to Ralston to University back to the lake through the Robins Parking Lot.

    6 Milers– Same beginning as four mile but go south on Westham as opposed to crossing and going to the Lally Project. Westham to University where they would pick up the 5 miler trail and go from there.

    It had been awhile since we had run the “First Class Run” of the Windsor on the James. There’s nothing quite like running in the wide streets of the WOTJ with no cars parked on the streets to get in your way. A tip of the hat to the folks that occupy the houses in WOTJ, as they spent their entire weekend taking down their Christmas lights. QIC took his family around that loop (in a vehicle) late last week and it was lit up like the Griswolds. Those folks definitely move on.

    We really can’t emphasize enough how cold it was. QIC isn’t sure his legs ever got warm, and he was wearing TheYA approved NIKE tights. Shout out to the Head ski gloves sold by Costco this fall…they did the trick and then some. BT debuted a cool ensemble that included a neck guard and a hood…and something for his ears.

    The first hill up by the Robins Center was a pleasant little gassing surprise. Nothing like asking your body to try to regulate it’s temperature while climbing up a steep hill. I’m not one to use foul language, but my body was pretty much ripping me a new one at that point.

    It does beg the question that may or may not be debated in the comment section below… Would you rather run at 9 degrees or at 77 and unbelievable humidity? Think before you react as the latter is pretty brutal too. I’d actually throw my vote in for the 9 degrees over the sweltering heat run…at the very least, my car doesn’t smell like a wet rhino after the 9 degree run. I’m interested to see what everyone else thinks.

    Other notes–welcome to Totahnka, son of Snowden. So, in Iceland, his name would be “Totahnka Snowdenson”. He’s a freshman at Bucknell, studying economics. QIC isn’t really all that concerned about Totahnka Snowdenson taking his radio gig based on his first impression…but it was super having the 18 (or 19) year old out there.

    All time shortest post huddle conversation time. Ever. QIC literally had to chase The YA into his car. Speaking of The YA, good to have him back healthy…wasn’t the same without him.

    Overall, it was a terrific way to break in the first work day of the New Year. God Speed, gents, and make sure you bundle up the rest of the week.

  • PRE-Blast Puppy Pile 8/19/17

    PRE-Blast Puppy Pile 8/19/17

    The second “Puppy Pile” is set to kick off at 7am this Saturday after Dog Pound. If you aren’t familiar with “Puppy Pound” it is a 2.0 centered workout…so bring your kids and we’ll go for an hour. As of right now, we are doing it the third Saturday of each month, right after Dog Pile. We started it in July and it was a ton of fun…definitely quality time with the 2.0s.

    Unfortunately, I’ve gotta get out of town this Saturday. Can anyone commit to hot potato-ing it from 7-8? I think we are going to have a good crew out there as it was very well received last month.

    If you can take an exercise or two, please post below so we know that there will be someone there to lead the 2.0s through the gloom.

    Thanks,
    MARV

  • I Can See My House From Here

    It’s crazy how much time flies, doesn’t it?  For a decent stretch in the winter, the Mt. Henrico Spider Run was a relative mainstay.  Introduced by Splinter in the fall of 2016, the run begins at the bottom of The UofR and extends to what is known as the highest elevated point in Henrico County…right there on the corner of Parham and Julian Rd.  During the winter months, you could count on Mt. Henrico showing up once every four weeks or so.

    Until it didn’t.

    For whatever reason, ol Mt. H got on the bad side of the Spider Run PAX.  Fudd Run?  Still popular.  Grandma’s Over the River Run?  Mainstay.  Even Saab’s Finger Runs near CCV have received a pretty consistent call.  But Mt. Henrico, for whatever reason, lay dormant since, well, since anyone can remember.

    Until Today.

    Fourteen men, dodged the alligators and the manatees in what has officially become “Swamp Richmond” as they bounded around the near west end as we revisited the Mt. Henrico Run.

    The Thang
    Take Richmond Way to the Robins Center Parking Lot
    Realize it’s been three years since the VCU Rams have lost in that building
    Head West through the Robins Center Parking Lot, down to College Road
    Left on College Road
    Right on Lakewood
    Right on Wood
    Left on Baldwin
    Left on Rock Creek by the big church
    Left on Forest
    Right on University
    6 Milers take a right on Arlington Circle and rejoin University
    Right on the name of the Road where the Arizona Cardinals play and where the NCAA Basketball Championship was this past April (Glenside)
    Right on Julian Road
    Get to Parham and Backtrack.
    Other than that, it is pretty much a straight shot.

    The PAX got to see an update on the latest handiwork from Lally Construction at the prodigious 705 Baldwin Road. Needless to say, at 5:40 and 6:08 no one had shown up to 705 Baldwin yet to work. We’ll all keep that in mind around Thanksgiving. All joking aside, Baldwin is starting to take shape as the framing is in full force.

    Think about inspirational views that you’ve had during your life. Maybe you’ve seen the Grand Canyon, or sunrise at the Outer Banks, or the Final Four Banner at the Siegel Center.

    For us today, the inspiration came from seeing Sippy Cup out there running with us on a Tuesday. Can you believe its almost been 3 1/2 months of rehab for one of F3RVAs most elite runners? Tip of the cap to the patience of one Cup, Sippy as he has slowly but surely worked his way back.

    Also good to see Pele and Theta out and about this morning. Not 100% sure the route that Pele, Swiper, Sippy and LugNut took on the way back from the Henrico Peak but all is well that ends well…even if the ending is at 6:25 in the morning.

    Happy New Shoe day to Swirly. Jeff Bezos appreciates your business. (Fun fact…who had more revenue in 2016…Amazon or Apple?)

    Finally, the PAX took a brief moment to think about Circle K’s father. Let’s all keep him in our thoughts and prayers as he handles the services this week to honor his dad.

    See everyone in the gloom.

    PS–It was Apple? I missed that one when I first heard it. Who would’ve thought that?

  • DogPile 2.0 Debut

    There are moments in all of our lives where we’ll never forget our location when the event occurs.

    Where were you when VCU played in the Final Four?

    Where were you when you found out Toga was leaving town?

    Where were you that one time Swirly ran opposite right into that group of Seal Teamers and left nothing but a wake of blue t-shirts and cliipboards laying on their backs behind him?

    The same goes for today, where were you when we launched the first ever DogPile 3rd Saturday at 7am 2.0 Friendly workout?  Also known as DP3Sa72FW (working title…feel free to send other title ideas).

    This morning, in the sludge that was a Richmond Post Dawn humidity fest, 14 men and their 2.0s gathered at DogPile to launch the first 2.0 specific workout on this side of 195.  Inspired by Doner Kebob and his Gridiron workouts, those of us in the city and the near west end decided that we couldn’t quite drive the the suburbs randomly to workout in all that new construction.  We needed to go back to the basics.

    We also needed a bit of consistency…something to look forward to…something to mark our calendars.  So it was decided that the 3rd Saturday of every month, at 7am, would be a 2.0 Friendly THANG that would immediately follow the 6am DogPile workout.

    By the way…good gracious on the size of the Saturday 6am DogPile…The Richmond Spiders don’t get that many people at their conference games.  Terrific job, men.  Also, there’s nothing quite like the looks on the faces of the 2.0s when they see the mass of men returning back to the flag after a 60 minute beatdown.  It’s akin to standing in the front of the line in a roller coaster and the previous coaster pulls into the station and everyone is throwing up.

    “We are about to do that?”

    In the end, there were 5 adults and 9 2.0s…they had us outnumbered from the beginning.

    The THANG:

    COT

    This was more of an Oval of Trust at the very top of the Carrillon.
    25 Side Straddle Hops
    16 Donald Quixotes
    15 Imperial Walkers
    15 Arm Circles Forward
    15 Arm Circles Backward
    6 ‘mercans
    20 LBCs
    20 Freddie Mercury’s (hey dad, why do they call those Freddy Mercury’s?)

    Mosey West to the Trees next to the Carrillon.

    Touch a Tree
    Run to a tree, do 5 ‘mercans and 1 burpee. Next tree hit 4 ‘mercans and 2 burpees. And so on…
    Next set…run to a tree, do 5 ‘mercans and 1 LBC. Next tree 4 ‘mercans and 2 LBCs…wash and repeat

    Noah’s Ark (TradeMark/Patton Pending–Doner Kebob)
    Circle Up in the grassy circle east of the Carrilon. Each member of the PAX picks an animal “walk” to get to the middle of the circle and back. Highlighted Animals in no specific order:

    Bear Crawl
    Polar Bear
    Crab Walk
    Duck Walk
    Penguin
    Worm
    Copperhead Crawl
    Bird
    Squid
    Flamingo
    Seal Crawl
    Elephant Walk
    (maybe a few others. The Seal Crawl and Copperhead Crawl were total beatdowns.

    Mosey to the Carrilon for Triple Check.
    One member of each team runs up the stairs to the Carrillon and then back down while the other members either do LBCs and spell-check. The spell check was your school, or teacher or university or your job. Each PAX member ran three times.

    At this point, Lockjaw took the potato and headed to the bars. By this time, some moseys became flat out walks.

    At the bars, the PAX had to use the chin-up bars like monkey bars and slide down and around.

    Following that–we headed to the dip bars where we did 7 dips and 15 flutter kicks.

    PAX then moseyed back to the big field facing the Carrillon for the 2.0 staple and the sneaky hardest exercise of the day–the Sharks and Minnows game. Sharks had to try to catch Bear Crawling minnows while crab walking. If you left your hands at anytime you were out as a crab.

    The first round caught only one 2.0 as the dad’s strategies fell a bit short…those minnows were very fleet of fours. Following a huddle and a strategy, the dads began picking off the minnows one by one. “BearRolling” was deemed allowable as long as your 6 didn’t hit the ground. This would be akin to spinning in flag football but not using your hands as a stiff arm.

    The winner of the sharks and minnows was Veep…his second ever win in a Sharks and Minnows game.

    Switch sides…dads are minnows and 2.0s are sharks. Ronnie gets the win.

    Mosey to Ring of Fire where the PAX finishes with burpee shuffle and 20 American Hammers (in honor of TYA).

    Editor’s Note–I hope we continue to get more and more 2.0s out at this each month. We had a terrific time. Who knows what our 2.0s will remember. If they are like me, they’ll probably only remember the times I screwed up or got mad or things like that, but I can’t imagine them NOT recalling getting up before 7am and going to a workout with a bunch of other 2.0s. Next one is 8/19/17…mark your calendars.

    Welcome FNGs–
    Bassy Lassie — she likes to fish but also likes to wear pretty dresses
    Panda Hamm– big women’s soccer fan who has an affinity for Panda Bears
    Crickey– Huge outdoorsman that also does art. A renaissance boy (said in Australian dialect)

    Have a good weekend, gents. Help us all be better fathers.

     

  • DogPile 3rd Saturday 2.0 Friendly

    Gentlemen,

    As promised, the 3rd Saturday of every month is a 2.0 Friendly PAX at DogPile, starting at 7am.  We’ll fist bump our early rising friends who finish the 6am version and then get going on an hour workout of our own.

    You don’t have to have or bring your 2.0 to in order to enjoy a good ol’ fashioned kid friendly beatdown, but it’d be super to see a bunch of our next generation F3 out there.

    See you in the quasi-gloom on Saturday.

    MARV

  • Righty Tighty / Lefty Loosey

    Twenty-two gentlemen and scholars showed up on an all together pleasant morning for 45 Minutes of Mary on 18 May.  It was the two year anniversary of Bleeder inviting MARV to F3, so MARV took the occasion to Q his second ever boot camp style work out (there’s been quite a few Q’d runs).  A quick shout out to Loose Goose, who was missed today, and who led my first Q two short years ago.

    THE THANG

    We live in a right-handed world.  Scissors, most golf club sets, clippers for any type of tree trimming, they are all made for those that are right handed.

    As a card carrying member of the proud to be left-handed party, I’ve heard my fair share leftist jokes…my favorite being “hey, you are standing on the wrong side of the ball” when I’m on the first tee about to enjoy a round of golf.  Yeah, really funny.  I’ve never heard that one before.

    For that reason, this morning’s Q went in reverse as we circled up in the normal spot located in the northwest corner of Mary Munford’s Elementary School.

    Yes, but instead of the normal side straddle hops, Don Quixote’s and LBCs and the like, as lefties are sometimes known to do, we went backwards.

    PAX ran to the shovel flag (or where the shovel flag normally would stand…I guess I need to get myself a shovel flag) and immediately did…

    21 American Hammers
    21 Freddie Mercuries
    21 Alabama Prom Dates
    Spelled out with our legs the names (in ALL CAPS) the last three VCU Head Coaches (Shaka Smart, Will Wade and Mike Rhoades)
    Ring of Fire…running in place and knocking out three mercans on “Go”. 22 times around the circle…so a total of 66 mercans to start, for those keeping score at home.

    Now may be as good of time as ever…there’s really no significance to the number 21…I was somewhat of a Roger Clemens fan growing up, but only to the extent that anyone else that followed baseball in the mid 80s was. I think I’ve written before that I was #42…21 is half of that…maybe next year I’ll have the stones to do 42 American Hammers to start.

    On with THE THANG…

    My freshman year, we heard legendary stories about the seniors (who had just graduated) getting caught after curfew one year on a road trip. The Monday that they returned from the three game series they had to run 20 minutes of “Bat Poles” which involved running with a weighted bat over their heads from foul pole to foul pole. In the spirit of those guys, and my left-handedness, whenever the PAX moseyed or ran, we did so with our hands in the air as if we were carrying those hated weighted bats. This was fun for about :21.

    Following the beginning Ring of Fire we moseyed (with imaginary bats in full tow) to do four corners. Northeast corner was five pullups, northwest corner was 10 dips (either on the bar or on the ground), southwest corner was 10 mercans, southeast corner was 10 leg pull ups. We would run from each station with our arms above our head.

    The conclusion of Four Corners led us to the west side of the tennis courts where we proceeded to do a set of agilitities, running the width of the four courts. Halfway through the set, both on the way and way back, we paused to do an exercise.

    First set– Butt Kicks / 3 burpees
    Next set — Russian soldiers / 10 monkey humpers
    Final Set — Karaoke / holding your leg up in baseball balance position for 10 seconds

    This time seemed as good as any to do a sprint back and forth on the width of the courts. We learned that one of the reasons UVA Baseball went 2-22 in the ACC in 1994 was because the position players had to run 18 60 yard sprints during the course of a game and they were exhausted.

    Next up was something relatively new…manual resistance arm workouts. PAX paired up and did the following with their partner adding manual resistance…

    Side Arm raises with resistance on the way up and down
    Front Arm raises with resistance on the way up and down
    Curls

    When asked after the Q what Corporate thought of the manual resistance exercises, corporate replied “yeah, that stuff is really good for toning the muscles.”

    This will be the last time we do manual resistance for awhile, I’m thinking.

    The PAX picked up their invisible sand bats and ran back to the northeast corner for the “left-handed ring of fire”…as we finished with…

    15 Monkey Humpers
    15 Donald Quixotes
    11 Monkey Humpers
    21 LBCs
    9 Monkey Humpers
    21 Side Straddle Hops

    I appreciate everyone’s enthusiasm. It was a fun morning. See you in 7 hours in the gloom.