Author: Rosie

  • Tale of Two Davids

    It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, not really, it was a cool, wet Wednesday in the gloom at SOT with YHC and a couple of guys that don’t call each other David.  No one signed up for the Q and YHC had an idea this morning that DK liked more than running 5 miles.

    Break out two kettlebells for a little weighted action.  Warm up with some of the usuals and then on to the triple checks.  With 2 kettlebells and 3 men we mixed it up to have 2 men with KB at all times.

    Triple Check 1 – P1 runs to the flagpole and back, P2 KB swings, P3 Goblet Squat

    Triple Check 2 – P1 Bear crawls across the bus loop and parking spaces, P2 curls, P3 Halos

    Triple Check 3 – P1 and P2 Waiter/Farmer carry 1 Kb each, P3 5 burpees run to catch up – switch KB to give everyone a chance with each weight

    Triple Check 4 – P1 run to the flagpole and back, P2 Sit and Press, P3 Lawnmower Rows

    Triple Check 5 – P1 and P2 lunge with 1 KB, P3 10 HRM then run to catch up, switch KB each round

    7 minutes of Mary – Flutter Kicks, Dollies, Freddie Mercury, APD, Peter Parker, LBC

    YHC had a good time on the tour getting back to the couple of KB workouts (Mudface’s shoulder crushing Murph notwithstanding) and decided to bring it back to a lower attended AO.  First thing was to get the KB lent to Kubota for the tour back.  Apparently he enjoyed the KB workouts so much he is going to be a regular at Circus.  DK was happy to do some KB workouts again after being a founding member of the CM crew before tweaking his back and not returning.  We were trying to remind ourselves of various KB exercises to do.  Tobit mentioned the lack of bicep exercises so we through some curls in there to help him sculpt his guns.  Consensus, from the 3 attending at least, was that the kettlebells worked well and may become a semi-regular occurrence at SOT.

    Great job guys, thanks for letting me take the reigns this morning.

  • New Crocs

    The morning started with a few question marks…What to do with the beatdown, how many would actually post, would there be any out of town visitors, and how much rain/wind would there be?  The 6 strong that posted had all the answers plus some at the end of the beatdown.  A potential visitor that reached out for a down range beatdown didn’t post but Wedding Singer brought his nephew from Wilmington whose family is sheltering with the Singer’s to ride out the storm.

    With all 6 ready to go and a few headlamps distributed the PAX headed off together down James River Road.  After confirming that the Egg can hear but not repeat any foul language heard, he’s 14 of course he’s heard it all,  a brief recap of the JITFO acronym was laid out.  Follow that up with some high knees, butt kickers, slide left and slide right to loosen the legs.  Stop at the intersection of Riverton Ridge to loosen the arms. Arm Circles, odd numbers (more than 10 small/5 big) were used.  YHC was questioned whether the use of additional arm circles was Corporate approved, always.  Enough with the warm up.

    Run up Riverton Ridge to the first intersection, 100 SSH.  Run to the median split, 75 Mtn. climbers, run to the roundabout, 50 2ct flutter kicks, run up the hill to the right, 25 merkins, Run up the hill to the Ashwell intersection 5 burpees.  Back down, stopping at each spot with 25 werkins, 50 Freddie Mercuries, 75 Alternating shoulder taps, 100 squats.  Run around the back of the school, stopping for Dollies along the way.  Find the pull up bar.  5 pull ups, go across the monkey bars.  5 more pull ups.  Past the stadium to the parking lot for Mary.  5 burpees, sprint across the parking lot.  Back to the flag for a Ring of Fire, significant flair with Tobit and Egg that started the trend of clap merkins around the circle.

    NMM

    First off prayers for those in the path of the hurricane.  There could be a significant amount of damage and hopefully the advance warnings have gotten most of the people out of the area.  Glad Egg could make it out but his brother Chicken was nursing an injury and didn’t get to experience the beatdown.  Great work Egg, he provided some comic relief in namearama when Singer told him what to say and he was self proclaimed “scrambled”.  Apparently the beatdown scrambled whatever it was in his stomach this morning.

    Tclaps to Gumbo for running 2 miles to and from the AO with knowledge that YHC was going to try to get him some miles during the beatdown.  The “campus” of Twin Team is so big, it is not necessary to go off campus but heading up the road on a string of pearls with some hills added to the fun.  Tobit was flying around in the lead and seems to be in top running form.  A brief bout of heavier wind and rain died down and the PAX was left with a light mist and breeze through the morning.  Congrats to Mr. Roper and condolences to his M on his purchase of a new pair of Crocs.  His deteriorated a few months ago so who knows what he was walking around in since then.  He will stop at nothing to get a new pair, even sneaking into Bass Pro after hours.

    Apologies to Singer’s nephew and his sister-in-law for pushing Egg to the limit, although part of me thinks his father, a Marine, would be proud of his 2.0s effort this morning.

    Great work today men, stay dry.

    Announcements:

    • 9/22 – 4 year F3RVA anniversary convergence  Dogpile, 6 am beatdown, 7 am running
    • 9/29 – Puppy Pile
    • 10/20 – CSAUP on the trails

  • Tour de Doors

    YHC pulled up to the AO early to see a light making it’s way around the track a couple times.  As the other PAX started to roll in Oyster emerged from the gloom after getting in some extra credit track time.  He was apparently concerned that since YHC had the Q he wouldn’t get enough of a beatdown in the standard 45 minutes.  Let’s see what we can do about that.  The New Market Clown car emptied out and just as FNG (Gerry) pulled up the PAX was off and picked him up on the way out.

    Warmup with Don Quixote, Side Straddle Hops, Imperial Walkers, Merkins, LBC

    Partner up for Dora in the bus parking lot.  Partner 1 runs around the median and back while partner 2 does 100 merkins, 200 Squats, 300 Flutter Kicks (2ct)

    JITFO (See a BRR participant for the story on this one) to the front of the school to find Door #1.  Doors 1-5 do the door # burpees.  Doors 6-10 – Box Cutters, Doors 11-15 – Squats, Door 16 – merkins, Doors 17-18 LBC, Door 19 – merkins?, Doors 20-21 LBC, Door 22 – American Hammers (per Tobit), Door 23 Crunchy Frogs

    Take a break to make sure Wilson doesn’t have a concussion after running into a school sign.  Curb Crawls up to 5.  YHC thinks the main reason Honeymoon doesn’t wear gloves is so he has an excuse not to do bear crawls on pavement.

    Back to the shovel flag for Mary – Dollies, APD, Cross Leg Lifts, American Hammers.  Ring of Fire with Flair

    Numbers/Names and Wilson took us out.

    NMM

    First off, welcome Peaches.  He reached out through the website after a friend from GA told him to find F3.  His attendance will be limited due to scheduling conflicts but hopefully he can become a regular.  This group will help in more ways than the physical fitness.  YHC wanted to give Peaches a taste of what we typically do and what better way than what was done at my first post but a Dora with some bear crawls thrown in.

    The New Market Clown Car was in full effect this morning with 5 popping out of what YHC is picturing as a Yugo.  It probably was not but the story is better if it is.  Way to bring it fellas.  Wilson had room to bring a hug for everyone, even Peaches when he found out he was a fellow Bills fan.  The hugs were just Wilson’s way of coping with having a rookie QB starting for his team now.  Great to see Cerrano back out and pushing through everything.  Beaker and Oyster were happy to have some company after the dynamic duo hit the AO for their first unofficial Qs last week.  Wilson was checking out the bike racks when a lightpole mounted banner sign popped out and smacked him in the forehead.  Seeing no blood he continued the workout.  YHC had him close us out to check for signs of a concussion, all seemed well.  Hope the knot on your head isn’t too bad.

    With a Dora and partnering with someone like Gumbo, the first runner does not have many merkins left to do after the first run.  Depends on who you are on whether that is a problem or not.  Props to Marmaduke for helping Peaches out through the Dora, no man left behind.  It doesn’t get easier, you get stronger.

    Announcements

    • 9/22 – 4 Yr F3RVA convergence at Dogpile 6am w/ 7am run and cookout after
    • 9/29 – Puppy Pile – Marv’s in charge

  • Why are Overhead Claps so hard

    8 faithful hit the gloom and the humidity head on for a beatdown at NoToll.  The PAX was expecting Sugar Sock but he is sick and requested a sub for the day so YHC was happy to step up.

    Mosey to the field for a warm up of DQ, Helicopters, IW, Annie, LBC.

    To the end line for a Quarter Pounder (abs) – Run to 25, do 25 WWI, Backward to the start, To the 50, 50 Box Cutters, Backward to start, to the 75, 75 Freddie Mercuries, Backward to start, to the 100, 100 Flutter Kicks, Backward to start.

    Catch me if you can – P1 5 burpees run to catch P2, P2 bear crawl – swap for the length of the field.  Repeato with lunges.

    Quarter Pounder #2 (arms) – 25 Hand Release Merkins, 50 Alternating Shoulder Taps, 75 Carolina Dry Docks, 100 Overhead Claps

    Back to the basketball courts for Suicide Ladders – run to foul line, do 5 American Hammers at the baseline, increase by 5 each time you hit the baseline, 5, 10, 15, 20.  Repeat with merkins and Monkey Humpers

    Mary – Dollies, APD, 1-leg APD, Rosalitas

    DK and Olivander had some good discussion, that YHC mostly missed, about life across the pond now that DK is back from a 3 week trip to sunny England.  Beaker is back and hitting it hard, even when 2/3 of the New Market crew bails on him early in the morning.  Wanted to try a flying EH on the couple with the toddler in the stroller at 540 am but we held off.  The all arms QP was tough and 100 OH claps after the 75 CDD was a killer.  Thanks for sticking with it guys.  Next time QP #3 will be legs but after a couple days of running YHC wanted to save the legs.

    Great to get in a good sweat and some fellowship this morning.

    Announcements

    • Labor Day at 3 Lakes Park, 7 am – Northern VA, North side, somewhere in that direction
    • F3 RVA 4 year anniversary – Sept 22 @ Dogpile
    • BRR/HDHH at TYA’s wednesday

  • Where’d Who Go

    The humidity came back for the start of the work week and the 5 men at River Run.  5 miles route for all, or so we thought.  The route is into Tarrington and up the hill to Robious, back down the hill and do the Ashwell loop.

    When YHC and Olivander decided to add an extra turn we thought we saw Singer starting around the loop, apparently this was not him.  Ran into Gumbo and Honeymoon who thought Singer was behind them so YHC and Olivander circled back to find Singer.  After a couple hills and no Singer we turned around and headed back to the AO.  Singer found us in his car and let us know that the man we saw was A) obviously not him and B) he had taken a different route back to the AO.  No worries, everyone got back safely and Olivander and YHC got a little extra mileage in, with a great push at the end too.

    This was Olivander’s first time at River Run and the hills of Tarrington.  It’s no BRR but it’s decent prep for the hills there. Hope you make it back out again soon. Due to the extra mileage the COT was missing a couple PAX, TClaps to Gumbo for sticking around and waiting for us, also for doing Freddie Mercuries as we rolled into the parking lot.

    Announcements:

    Labor Day Convergence – Three Lakes Park – 7am – See Pre-Blast or Spit for more info

    F3 RVA 4 year anniversary Convergence – Sept 22 at Dogwood Dell – 6 am workout, 7 am Race

    CSAUP – October 20 – plan to run a little or a lot – you against you

     

  • Offshore goes Off Road at Off the Books

    2 BRR preppers, 1 summer tourist hit Off the Books on a cool Sunday morning.  The route started as the typical Mines route but YHC wanted to check out a new path and we ended up finding a hidden path that led to the back of SOT.  At Honeymoon’s suggestion we headed into Salisbury and latched on to a route that Offshore found familiar from the Century Classic.  Although he didn’t run it Offshore remembered the stretch of the Twin Team to SOT route that Lab Rat and others ran.  He was also able to find the point where Lab Rat found the magic portal that skipped him to the end of the leg.

    A nice cool morning on the patio of Urban Farmhouse after the run.  Recovery beers for BRR, Honeymoon has some ideas.

    Great run, excellent fellowship, thanks for joining us Offshore.

  • Avoiding the Triathlon Traffic

    2 OTB regulars started in the parking lot hearing a little loudspeaker chatter and realized it was the Pink Power Triathlon at the nearby YMCA.  It worked out well that Honeymoon wanted 7ish miles and YHC had a route planned to take us away from the traffic.  Up to Midlothian, into Salisbury around Oakengate and Castlebridge and back past Midlo High School.  Hit the coffeeteria for the start of the race and saw the leaders heading out on the run as we finished up.

    Good times, no trains to climb although we did cross the tracks.

  • Solo OTB

    With the summer tour YHC thought there may be other runners there but it was a quiet Sunday.   Great weather for a run.

  • Sweet Musings of Rosco

    A prime number of PAX headed out across the fields to the James River parking lot and got through 1 warmup exercise before 2 more showed up to make a perfect group for triple checks.  We rolled through a few other warmup exercises of YHC’s choice, mainly easy stretching exercises since 4 straight days of Qing has taken it’s toll on these old muscles and joints.  After that we moseyed past the pull up bars , across the paved field event areas, behind the stadium, over the stream and through the woods to Tire Town.  YHC noticed this area months ago on a run but haven’t had a Q that took me back there.  The PAX was treated to a plethora of tires of all sizes, monkey bars, dip/jerkin bars, pull up bar and a concrete wall.  Since we had perfect triple check numbers group up for triple checks – Round 1 – Tire Flips, Jerkins, Spotting; Round 2 – Run, tire flips, Monkey Bar crossing.  Everyone grabbed their own tire, flip across the field while 2 PAX rotated through 5 pull ups each – 2 rounds.  Once more across the monkey bars.  To the bus parking lot for a Touch a Bus Triple Check – Touch 4/5/6 buses, flutter kicks, lunges.  Roll back to the flag for a double ring of fire with Al Gore and planks.  There we were treated to the low slow tones of Rosco’s own improvised Twin Team version of Ring of Fire.  He crushed it, need to get him in front of a mike somewhere.

    Great to finish out a stretch of 5 days of Q but really the backblasts, that may be the hardest part of Qing multiple days in a row.  Tire Town was great and we’ll be back, next time with a crow bar to pry the large tires from their rain induced suction to the ground.  I refuse to believe that they were too heavy for 3-4 of us to move.

    Prayers for Fudd’s sister who is undergoing surgery today.

    Amateur RAMM Gears next Friday 8/3 – let someone know if you need a bike.

    Happy hour tonight a Wood and Iron.

     

  • Joining the Ranks of Silence

    32 of RVA’s finest started rolling in early to see who would claim the ghost flag and also witness the end of what seemed like the never ending Hate for YHC.  YHC put out a few tweets and notes to try to drum up some numbers but apparently behind the scenes there was even more action.  Thanks for the effort Gumbo, with some help from my M.

    THANG

    10 burpees to start with 10 more every 15 minutes.  Mosey to the blacktop for some Abe Vigoda’s for the old man.  These might have even been a little slow for SAAB.  Crab Cakes, Mahkter N’Daiye’s, Dollies.

    Line up on the long side of the field for 11’s with some extra math thrown in .  The new thing in RVA, whatchamacallits (merkin + 4 OH press) on one side of the field and Captain Thors on the other.  Both at a 4:1 ratio, start with 10:40 Captain Thors, ending with 10:40 WMC’s.  Upchuck was given the task of a 20 count and we think he hit all the numbers but no one can be sure. At least he hit the numbers in the teens which is more than I can say about the guys in Daville.  The randomness of that count will come back later to haunt the PAX.

    Let Lab Rat know we are staying in the grass and he can keep his shoes off.  (Note to self, we need a shoeless day at NoToll)  Next up 40’s (lindsays) 30 bear crawl paces, 10 lunges – continue across the field and back to 10 BC, 30 lunges.

    Back to the blacktop for some Rapid Random fun – not sure exactly what was done here but it started with Slow Freddie Mercuries and included some SSH, Diamond Merkins, 1-leg APDs and some other stuff.  All with no rest between and about as random and Upchuck’s count.

    Back to the flags with the final 10 burpees on the way.

    NMM

    First off, welcome Pull Out sorry you had to leave early but that exit generated an excellent name, hopefully you’ll make it back out.  Tuckahoe claimed the Ghost Flag but after an audit of the PAX addresses and claims of regions it was a tie between Tuckahoe and SOJ.  YHC was feeling generous so Tuckahoe gets to take it home for a brief time.  Thanks to Lab Rat and Spit for representing DaVille.  Richmond Proper needs to step up their game, the flag shows up on their home turf and they are outnumbered. 🙁

    At 5:20 when cars were rolling in YHC knew it was going to be a big crowd.  Plenty of chatter before 0530 but it got oddly quiet at 05:30:02 when the 10 burpees instruction was complete.  There was some mumblechatter out there in the circles but ever since a sinus and ear infection a couple weeks ago, or just general aging, YHC’s ears have been clogged.  Probably for the best since it was likely mostly jokes about getting old along with random stories from Lab Rat or pointed barbs from TYA.  Mahktar N’Daiye’s on the pavement may not have been the best plan but you don’t know unless you try, BT tried to commandeer the cadence and end it a little early.  There is no taking over from YHC, not as imposing as Swirly but focused nonetheless.

    YHC normally does not like much fanfare around my birthday, I lay low spend time with my amazing M and family, get some good food and move on.  One  thing missing from previous years was a group that I enjoy as much this one.  Yes, there are some friends and neighbors that are non-F3 (don’t think I haven’t been headlocking them) that we hang out with but F3 is a different level of fellowship.  Something about the shared misery, new accomplishments and the gloom that keeps most of us coming back.  It’s not the easy thing to do but doing the easy thing does not make you better.  It’s great to get out in the morning and for 45 minutes just shut everything off and put in some work.  No better way to start the day, in my opinion at least.  I appreciate everyone coming out for my 40th and following me through my roughly 40 themed beatdown.  Thanks for all the birthday wishes.

    Ultimate Frisbee at Mary Munford tomorrow at 530 for anyone not running.

    Everything is coming up Rosie.