Author: Marv

  • Tying…it’s like…better than losing

    The outlook was rather breezy, for the Spider Run 9 that day

    As they gathered at 5:30 at the locale of 5 Richmond Way.

    At first Bleeder showed up in day glo, then Taxi Cab did the same

    Then TYA and Swirly, BT, Pucker and Toucan came

    Finally trickling in was Swiper, with those glasses in which wood could carve,

    The 8 of them huddling near the lake, waiting on the Q from MARV.

    And with that, ends the attempt at putting a whole backblast to the rhythms of “Casey at the Bat” (if you didn’t read it in that cadence, go try again, and then roll your eyes and, at least, try a fist bump for the effort.  I guess we could always try haikus again.

    The Thang

    Starting at 5 Richmond Way.  Heading north (north is always up, right? If you are running up you are going north).  Hit College Drive and head east.  Take that and go south on Henri (runs parallel to Three Chopt).  Dive back east down Grove.

    4 Milers–going to Greenway and then turn around, SAAB style and run back

    5 Milers–keep going to Oak.  Go South on Oak and get to Cary street.  Then SAAB it back

    6 Miler (singular)– Go across Cary and do Hillcrest.  Salute TYA’s house when you run by.

    So that was the run.  Almost perfect weather and a good mix of uphills and downhills.  It almost made you feel like the BRR, with the hills and the breeze and the lack of humidity.

    No real announcements.

    Sippy Update–Saw Sippy today at Byrd Park at a Little League game (more on that in a minute).  He’s doing ok.  He has two more appointments with the physical therapist and he’s guessing that after the 2nd appt he’ll be cleared to run again.  That’ll be a good thing, I miss Sippy.

    Speaking of Byrd Park…allow me to have somewhat of an ode to Richmond Little League, if I may.

    If you are ever on your way home around 6:45 on a weekday night, and the weather is as perfect as it was tonight, with a cool sunset and a nice breeze, I plead with you to at least drive by Byrd Park (heading south on Shepard Street) and I swear, if you’re not careful, you’ll think time has stopped, or at least gone backwards.

    There are usually two baseball games going on, “Jerome the Hot Dog Man” flipping burgers and dogs and kids running around and playing all different types of games.  There are no IPads, there are no flat screens…just kids running around outside the fences and playing ball inside of them…it is almost…idyllic.

    On this particular night, the Minors 9 Braves, coached by the indomitable BT, were matched up against the Yankees.  It’s been a tough start for the M9 Bravos, as these kids are venturing out into their first experience in kid pitch.  While I’m not one to report records of teams comprised of 9 year old boys (most of whom still sleep with some sort of stuffed thing), lets just say that BT’s team has a lot of wins left in them.

    But tonight, the M9 Braves were on fire! They were playing inspired baseball.  And who was at the helm steering this ship, but our own BT, who 13 hours earlier was tracking through the near west end running up and down hills, mentally preparing for that night’s battle.  There he was, bent over in that aggressive coaching position with his hands on his knees, with his “Cons” turf shoes on which are, and I’m not kidding here, at least 24 years old.

    The Braves got out to a big lead and you could feel the buzz of their first win in the air.  But the Yankees were undaunted, and in 9 year old baseball where the coach comes out and lobs them in there after ball 3 (a rule constructed on a run with Splinter and Sippy one morning) no lead is safe.

    Look, there’s butterflies, there’s nervousness and then there’s the feeling a competitive dad has in the bottom of the 4th (and last) when his team is close to securing a monumental win. That’s where BT was.

    In the end, a ground ball plated a runner for the Yanks and the teams left the field with a 7-7 tie. A good step for the M9 Braves, definitely something they could build on.

    BT is left to go back to his house and second guess the moves he made, the motivational talks he gave in between innings.  He’ll check his batting order and wonder if he switched a couple of kids around if he could squeeze a run or two out of this group.  It’s a tall task, BT, remember, many of them still sleep with plush ducks.  But they are certainly extremely fortunate to have you to gather them up after each game and provide encouraging words of wisdom from an extremely caring coach.

     

     

     

     

  • It’s A Straight Line People

    Let’s be honest, it isn’t always easy finding your way around the streets of the near west end when aren’t from the area.  As a Q, sometimes you spew off a few instructions which, in your mind, are simple left, right, left rights, but to those unfamiliar with the area, may as well be a form of Greek Google Maps.

    Heck, we’ve been doing Tuesday Spider Runs for six months now and I could no more Q a run there (other than 10 laps around the pond) than I could a Q in Youngstown, Ohio.

    Thus, last week, the unthinkable happened…we lost a pair of runners (almost).  Coming back from the Carrillon, Back Bay and Copernicus (who, ironically, got his name from finding us after we had started) became misplaced in Windsor Farms, a place, we’ve experienced, you don’t want to be misplaced in that early in the morning…or, really, ever.  Thanks to the homing beacon that is Lab Rat, we were able to safely return Back Bay and Copernicus to Mary Munford unharmed.

    But it was a good lesson learned.

    On Friday, we decided, just to be safe, that we were basically going to do a down and back.  The suggested route had the group hanging a left on Grove, a right on Westmoreland and then a right on one of America’s most famous running routes…Monument Avenue.  From there, the PAX was to run until 22:30 and then turn around and run back.

    Theoretically, it didn’t matter if you followed the route or not…as long as you turned around and came back at the 22:30 point, then you were ok.

    Fortunately, everyone made it back safely to Mary Munford…including Sippy Cup, who, honestly, probably ran a sub 43:00 10K.  He was going to beat his time that it took to get to the 22:30 mark, and by the looks of how quickly he finished, he did just that.

    Enjoy the weekend, group, and enjoy this nice weather and best of luck to anyone that ran in the races around the Marathon.

    And always run in pairs.

  • Your Friday Monument Jaunt

    A lucky crew of 13 men braved the almost perfect 50 degree weather to trundle down one of the country’s best running routes–Monument Avenue.  Truly, the largest question looming was weather or not a long sleeve shirt was necessary as the temperature was at that sweet spot of being good for short sleeves or long sleeves.

    During the first week of April, tens of thousands of people spend upwards of $45 to $50 to run on Monument Avenue in the Monument Ave 10K.  This was the first year that I actually ran it, and really, only because a buddy of mine had a free bib because his friend bailed on him at the 11th hour.  I always regret not running our phenomenal city’s signature running event, but then I realize at any point in time I could put on shoes and run it for free…much like we all did this morning.

    It was a relatively easy route, comparatively speaking to the other routes I’ve led us on in the past. To quote Saab (who was sorely missed), “it’s a effing square people.”   Four milers went from Mary Munford to Sauer, to Monument to The Boulevard to Grove and back to Mrs. Munford’s fine elementary school.

    Our hearty five mile crew took Boulevard to Cary and got to enjoy all that the CaryTown run has to offer…which is mainly the free smells from Can Can.

    The six milers actually went to the Columbus statue at Byrd Park (or Bird Park if you are mapmyrun.com) and went around the lake, headed towards City Stadium (looking oh so pristine…in the dark) then to CaryTown and back to Commonwealth.

    Speaking of Columbus.  Raise your hand if you knew that Columbus never (EVER) set foot in America.  That would not have been me until Monday.  Seriously, google it.  Not only did he not step foot in America but he also was pretty much a tyrant and war monger…killing a massive amount of indigenous people in Bermuda.  It’s true.  I mean, I don’t want to compare him to a Hitler or anyone on that scale…but he’s a lot closer to those guys than he is, say, Ricky Bobby.

    Yet this week is Columbus week in the first grade at Mary Munford.  Poems, word finds, necklaces, coloring books…the works.  For a guy who was truly an awful person and is known for something he didn’t come close to doing?  Crazy, huh?   The weirdest thing about it is that on Saturday, if you would’ve asked me who discovered America, I probably would’ve said “Columbus.”  Talk about my own Age of Enlightenment.

    Either way, I guess the moral of the story is that it’s not a terrible idea to question things.  Or at least surround yourself with people who question things. You may learn something new.  (Seriously, does it bother anyone else that they teach this to our kids?  It. Isn’t. True.)

    So here’s to saving $45 on the run, on top of the $100 from other opportunities that are out there for early morning workouts.  Have a blessed weekend, gentlemen, enjoy the sunshine and feel free to give your condolences to Sippy who had to endure my Columbus questioning as we circled the lake.

    MARV

  • Community Focus

    Community is an incredible thing, isn’t it?  Whether it’s your school, your church, your neighborhood block, your family, or, basically every morning of the year, a group of guys looking to get a good workout, have some laughs and sweat until your eyes burn, people crave shared experiences…there’s just something within the fabric of our DNA that gets a kick out of doing things with other people.

    By and large, those shared experiences are fun–8,000 people cheering at the Siegel Center at a VCU Men’s Basketball game, a group of competitors going around a racetrack in Daytona, a few hundred people rocking out to a band at the National, and, in some cases, grabbing another guy’s ankles, kicking your legs towards his chin while the sweat from his shorts drips on your forehead.

    As said earlier, we crave shared experiences.

    At 5:30 on Friday, July 8 a group of 16 F3 men gathered at the Mary Munford parking lot for the weekly Friday run.

    While the building itself looked the same and the Tomatoes were still out there and the sun was up a little earlier as the summer wears on, that building, where F3 gathers twice a week, woke up nursing a heavy heart.

    It has been a tough 7 days for Mary Munford Elementary.

    My son shared a Kindergarten and 3rd Grade classroom (this past year) with this girl.  The Haas family lives on the 4300 block of Cutshaw and all week long, since last Saturday, that block has seen the community rally around it.  Yesterday, Betsy’s 3rd grade teacher brought 30 Monarch Butterfiles (Mary Munford’s mascot is the Monarch) to release in the Haas’ backyard with 30 or so elementary school kids cheering their flight and Betsy’s memory.  It’s been a week when the community of the near west end has been at it’s finest.

    During today’s run, F3 jumped in a bit to share with the community lend their thoughts, prayers and hearts to the community’s effort in comforting a family who is going through the unimaginable.

    THE MOLESKIN:

    A huge thanks to TYA for stepping back for this run and allowing me to Q, even though neither of us signed up to take it.  TYA had even laid out glow sticks (real glow sticks!) as he canvassed his neighborhood setting a trail for us to run.  We all undoubtedly look forward to the run next Friday where we can tackle Hillcrest and look for the glowsticks around 5:50 in the morning when the sun is brightly shining.

    Speaking of TYA….here’s a snapshot of my favorite conversation this week…

    Me: “TYA, how did you get all those bites on your torso?  Did you just get those playing ultimate frisbee?”  (this conversation occurred after yesterday’s pathetic display from all of us in the 45 Minutes of Dropping a Frisbee, errr, Mary”

    TYA: “No, these are actually something I got when I ran into a tree the other day on a run?”

    Me: “You ran into a tree the other day?  That stinks.  Was it on some trail run?”

    TYA:  “No, just a regular road run.”

    Me: “Really? You were on the pavement and then just ran into a tree??”

    TYA: “Yeah.”

    So anyway, I appreciate TYA stepping aside for today as we had the ol’ awkward Double Q.

    The 16 guys started off and ran and biked, as a group, to the 4300 block of Cutshaw, where the Haas family lives.  From there, we took about :30 and said a quick prayer of comfort for the parents and a word of thanks for the 9 years God allowed us to get to know Betsy.

    From there we headed to the “track” at Thomas Jefferson where we all looked to run a mile as fast as we could (or, in Saab’s case, however long he felt like).  The purpose was to try to see how fast you could run that mile.

    Interesting thing about the TJ track…it really isn’t a track.  Who knew?  Someone get John Baliles on the phone.  The TJ track, in case you were wondering, is 25% sand and 75% weeds.  It may or may not be 400M around (although I think it’s close, based on my and Sippy’s mile times).

    From there, the 4 Milers headed down Malvern to Monument. From Monument to Hamilton.  From Hamilton to Grove and from Grove back to Munford.

    The 5 Milers went from Monument to Boulevard to Cary.

    With the prayer and the four TJ laps, I’m not sure anyone did 6…but it was Strawberry to Cary.

    Do you know what sucks?  Running three more miles after you hoof it for a mile on a sand/grass TJ track. Ugh.  Taking that turn on Cary/Grove was brutal. The 89.9% humidity doesn’t help.

    In the end, my mapmyrun.com abilities showed to be horrible, as the 5 mile run was really 5.6 (sorry, Wilson).  But overall, a great workout, and none of us, I think, will have grass rashes on their backs from doing about 300 barebacked LBCs in the wet grass.

    I do want to say thanks to the PAX today for indulging my Munford community and myself with the timeout on the run, I appreciate that.  The obligatory thing now would be to say  “hug your kids extra tight tonight” or something cliche like that, but I’m pretty sure we all do that anyway.  I’m not sure about your kids, but my 9 year old has a tendency to do goofy things and I have a tendency to correct him on it.  Betsy was known to be silly and goofy, wearing huge bows on her head and sometimes purposefully wearing clothes backwards.  I think I’m going to tone down the critiquing of the 9 year old for awhile.

    I’m very thankful for my son’s school, our neighborhood, our church.  But this morning, I couldn’t be more appreciative of the community I have with the guys that come out of the gloom at 5:30 and drip sweat, run hard and drop frisbees.

     

     

  • The Anniversary Q

    You always remember your first time.  The nerves, the heavy breathing, trying to have a gameplan but realizing that you really, ultimately, don’t know what you are doing.  And it’s over long, long, long before you thought it would be.

    Yes, the VQ is something you will never forget.

    Little did I know that one year ago, at a client lunch with the leading heating and air company in the Continental United States, it would be me that would be convinced to try something to improve my life, not the other way around.  But that is exactly what happened and after one year of free loading on Thursdays with other stalwart leaders Qing 45 Minutes of Mary, I decided enough was enough and it was time to step into that ring…that ring of men that surround you on the corner of West Moreland and Grove and are looking at you to deliver them a 45 minute workout that gets their day off to a good start.

    The Q

    Quick run around the school and we circled up for warm-up exercises…

    Good to see Razor and Hardywood in the circle…you know its going to be a good Q when you see fresh faces around the circle.

    Little known fact…after a miserable freshman season at UVa wearing #30, I asked the coach if I could change the number.  #30 was actually a pretty cursed number as the guys that wore it before me all had terrible careers.

    Anyway, the only other jersey available was #24…the problem was that #24 was just retired because it was worn by Jim West, the former baseball coach at Virginia.  So our pitching coach sent the jerseys to his mom in Chicago and she ripped off the #2 and #4 and reversed them for me to wear #42 the rest of my career.

    While I never set the collegiate baseball world on fire, or even a dull warmth, I had a much better season as #42.  So it became my favorite number.  Then, in the early part of the 00s, professional baseball decided to honor the race barrier breaking player Jackie Robinson by retiring the #42 in all of professional baseball.

    I can tell you, it is a ton of fun telling my 8 year old that Dad’s number is retired in every professional baseball stadium in America…and it’s proven by “Robinson” being above the retired jersey in outfield walls across the country.

    Unfortunately doing 42 Side Straddle Hops is a lot…as is doing 42 Mericans and 42 Burpees, so we conveniently shaved 20 to do 22…

    SideStraddleHops (22), Don Quixotes (10…arms flailing), Arm Circles Sippy Style (12…do not let your arms down…front, back, front).  LBCs (22), we then turned around and did 22 Mericans…someone started singing “Turn Around Bright Eyes” by Bonnie Tyler,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcOxhH8N3Bo and that song was actually stuck in my head throughout the Q.  Click on that link…you are welcome. We finished with a dozen Burpees on our own.

    Somewhere around October, Loose Goose, who we all agree we miss and need to figure out where he’s been, introduced the Lucky Horseshoe to the 2nd Thursday of each 45 MoM. The point was that you could use it as a bench mark to see how you are improving from month to month.   It was a brilliant idea because it served as tremendous motivation to work hard and consistently come out to the Q.

    The problem was, the Lucky Horseshoe sucks.  It’s really hard and somewhat mind numbing. By February, we punted this tradition.

    It was brought back today in a modified style, termed “Golden Horseshoe” in honor or Loose Goose and hoping to wax nostalgic about Thursdays gone by.

    Mericans (10)

    Mericans (10)  Storm Squats (10)

    Mericans (10) Storm Squats (10) WWII Sit Ups (10)

    Storm Squats (10)  WW II Sit Ups (10)

    WWII Sit Ups (10)

    Five laps around the track were mixed in.

    A year ago, at my very first F3 experience, Loose Goose Q’d and brought a frisbee.  To honor that day we tossed the frisbee down the field and did an exercise to that frisbee.  First one there got to throw it next.  Highlights…

    Hardywood’s Lunges…could be the greatest lunges of any F3 workout.  Ever.

    Hardywood’s toss after that…which went right to Bleeder.

    Sippy, by far, the best frisbee tosser of the morning.  This should come as no surprise as Sippy is a very good athlete with tremendous leverage in his right arm.

    Since we had a frisbee and we had a field and F3 is the ultimate workout, what would be a better collaboration between the three of those than a 5 minute game of ultimate frisbee?  In hindsight, the teams should’ve been split up by shirt color (dark vs not dark) but instead we just counted off and split the teams into two.  This posed all types of problems considering we are all pretty similar looking dudes wearing the same thing.  Ultimate Frisbee is a bit half baked in terms of a workout, but I think that it has true potential.

    We finished by doing the run of the indigenous people back to the flag where we honored TYA, a 45 MoM hall of famer, by doing 1 minute of American Hammers (formerly known as Russian Twists.  It was around mid January we ratified the unspoken rules of 45MoM that Russian Twists would become American Hammers).  We finished with :60 of Alabama Prom Dates as called by Bleeder who was that client that invited me one year ago to F3.

    It’s always good to see everyone driving, biking or walking in from the Gloom.

    We need to check in with Loose Goose.

    MARV

  • Get Your Spider Hill On

    In what could be a record setting day in the history of the Richmond F3, five guys met up in the new gloom of The University of Richmond campus for what, rumor has it, was the area’s third F3 AO of the morning to go for a 5:30 campus job.

    A plucky couple of homebodies who had no internal desire to cross any rivers or even Broad Street brainstormed about 2 1/2 miles in to the Munford run on Friday that another run on Tuesday might be in order.  Biblically speaking, where there is more than one, God is there too…and the same more or less holds true for an AO, where there is more than one F3 guy, there is a workout.

    Five runners showed up and it was a home meet for Saab as he pulled a Sippy and ran from his house to the starting location.  Off everyone went into the quiet brick laden streets of the school who’s basketball team hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2011 (sorry, I couldn’t resist).  Maybe, just maybe, Chris Mooney should have his guys do more campus jogs as the hills tested the intestinal fortitude of all five us us.  You give Trey Davis or Terry Allen a 5:30 wake up call and then 45 minutes with Richmond’s best 50 year old runner (Saab) and maybe things end differently in his senior year.

    Either way, 45 minutes and 5.2 miles later the group met back by the lake, only to find a gaggle of SEAL Team folks trying to crab walk up a steep embankment.  It took all four guys to restrain Swirly from showing them how to crab walk and to this moment we’re still not sure if Swirly didn’t just take over their workout as the four of us left him there on his own as he stared at both men and Tomatoes alike trying to use all fours to go up the grassy knoll.

    After all is said and done, the group agreed that the Tuesday run at the UofR (pronounced The YOU of R as opposed to “the u of ARE” …again, still needling here) will continue for the forseeable future.

    God Speed Guys and we’ll see you either tomorrow at the all new W Dog or Thursday at Munford.

    Take care,

    MARV