Author: Sippy Cup

  • It was supposed to be raining

    4 runners and 4 walkers gathered at MM. It was 60 degrees! It rained right before and right after, but the 45 minutes of the workout were dry.

    The workout. The course was the second try at the Windsor Farms cul-de-sac run. 5 milers take the Long, Stockton, Clovelly/Lynton, St. David’s, and Marston out and backs. 6 milers add the Lock Lane cul-de-sac. Both take Queen Charlotte back to Cary and Grove. The walkers did their thing. YHC took us out.

    Moleskin. Random thoughts:

    YHC picked the route to check out holiday lights, but the show was underwhelming–perhaps the miserly Windsor farms folks turn them off early. Marv and YHC did note the beach-ball sized ornaments hanging over the road on Lock. They are spread over multiple blocks. It is certainly worth a daytime trip over.

    Marv’s $10 weather app is proving to be a good annual value. We reminisced about the early days of RAMM and the major decision to add new routes to our repertoire.

    The 5 milers got lost in Windsor Farms. I’m not sure if they found Marcel Marceau.

    Bleeder was complaining that he could have biked this morning instead of walking. I guess RAMM Gears doesn’t happen in the rain? Hmm.

  • Tag in the snow

    Quick summary: 6 Pax tried to recreate a magical workout held in the snow almost 10 years ago. It was fun!

    The details: Instead of our usual mileage-based RAMM, yesterday we played a bit of sharks and minnows. The 6 PAX were split into two teams of 3:

    Team 1: Marv, Sippy, Faceplant

    Team 2: Splinter, Chippendale, Bodos.

    Team #2 was given a head start and told to run in the square bounded by Westmoreland, Patterson, Grove and Malvern. They were also given a flashing white light to wear for easier detection. Team #1 was in pursuit.

    Running rules: No 180 degree turns. No alleys. When found, switch roles and repeat.

    The final score was 2 catches for each team. Team #1 had the advantage of raw speed. Team #2 excelled in strategy.

    Team #1 won the time of possession battle, but Team #2 ultimately was declared the winner due to their surprise snowball attack.

    Moleskin:

    The 1.0 version of this workout happened 3/9/16. 9 years is way too long to wait to do something that fun!

  • Hydration helps.

    15 stalwarts appeared in the gloom each with their own sippy cup for YHC’s 50th birthday beatdown. Here’s how it went:

    Mosey to the circle, around the carillon and to the far circle.

    COP: 10x Don Quixote, 10x helicopters, 20x arm circles Fwd and Rev. Followed by a plank-o-rama.

    Mosey to the top of the carillon for a series of animal crawl 4 corners with: 5 burpees, 10 hand-release merkins, 20 plank jacks, and 40 LBCs at the corners. Round 1: bear crawl to the corners. Round 2. Crab walk. Round 3. Duck walk.

    Mosey to the stage and the pile of large logs behind it. Partner carry the logs about 20 yards and make a line. Then: (1) Diagonal jumps from one end to the other; (2) plank with hands on logs moving left, (3) plank with hands on logs moving right.

    Then: Touch A Tree with Logs. Partner up. Round 1 partner holds one end of the log up while other partner touches 3 trees. Round 2: crab walk and push log with your feet and 3 trees. Round 3: hold one end of log above your head and 3 trees. Partner log carry back to original location.

    Then, mosey to the field for some Whamo animal walks. Person #1 throws frisbee, everyone sprints until frisbee lands then animal walks the rest of the way (Bear Crawl, Bunny Hop, Crab walk, duck walk, wounded bear right leg, wounded bear left leg).

    And for the finisher, a little Burp Back Mountain. Mosey behind the amphitheater. Partner up. One pax Bernie Sanders up the hill to the road and runs forward down while other partner does Burpees. Proceed until 100 burpees are completed.

    Mosey back to the flag followed by 50 SSH.

    COT: YHC took us out with some words of gratefulness.

    Moleskin. The Pax learned some things today: (1) Upchuck’s super power is duck walks. Somehow he does a full body pivot with each step. (2) A Helix duck walk is more impressive than a Helix squat. (3) Logs sitting in the grass gather slugs which can be hard to avoid when planking on them. (4) Burp Back mountain may be the only exercise where one looks forward to the Burpee part. (5) YHC’s age is getting to him which may lead to fumbling some instructions. (6) Faceplant is sneaky and the PAX are good at keeping secrets. (7) Sipping water during a tough workout helps with endurance.

    Great workout today guys. Thanks for pushing hard with me. I will not forget this one. It was so cool that everyone brought their water bottles today. I felt honored–thanks for making this 50th a special one for me. It was also great to see Honey Do and Mr. Rogers for the first time in a while. My Sippy Cup is full.

  • Foggy Farms Fifty

    We gathered in the gloom on a surprisingly foggy morning to try out a new route on the roads less traveled in Windsor Farms.

    4s–South across Cross Cary onto Berkshire which turns into Sulgrave. Out and backs on Long Ln, Stockton Ln, St. Davids Ln, Marston Ln. Return on Gun Club, L on Queen Charlotte to Cary, Malvern to Grove back to flag.

    5s–Same as 4s, but add in Clovelly Rd. with a fork on Lynton Ln.

    6s–Same as 5s, but from Berkshire turn R onto Dover and then L on Lock Ln to end. R on Park which takes you to Sulgrave.

    Moleskin. YHC’s goal was to find a hill within reach of MM that we had not yet run in the 10 or so years of RAMM. After scoping out the underbelly of Windsor Farms with his dog a week ago he uncovered Lynton Ln. It is “Charmian steep” and when coupled with Clovelly gives a long burn. (Side note: the bottom of Lynton is also a great spot to catch the sunset over the river). This new route stitches together a bunch of north-south out and backs off of Sulgrave Rd so it is fairly easy to follow. It is certainly worth a second go in the coming weeks.

    Running in the fog creates a sense of timelessness, and YHC and Marv agreed the route seemed long and particularly tough (even though our watches disagreed). It is hard when you can’t anticipate what’s in front of you.

    YHC can’t think of a better start to his 50th birthday. My glass is full, and F3 has been a big part of the filling. My 40th BD was at the BRR, and it is fitting to start my 50th with the Pax this morning. I’m so grateful to have been headlocked so many years ago.

  • Medicine balls, logs, etc.

    Expecting a small # today due to the other events, YHC arrived with a 25 lb medicine ball and decided to experiment with a few different modalities.
    Here’s how it went:

    COP: Mosey to circle. Helicopter, plank-o-rama, copperhead squats, toe taps.

    Head to platform on Carillon and partner up. Partner 1 throws medicne ball off balcony and runs down to retrieve it while partner #3 does decline plank off the railing. 3x.

    Carillon platform 4 corners: 5 burpees, 10 hand release merkins, 15 plank jacks, 20 LBC. Round 1: run between corners. Rd 2: bear crawl between corners. Rd 3: lunge between corners.

    Head to backside of carillon platform. Partner #1 throws medicine ball as high as possible up against the carillon and catches it when it comes down while partner #2 runs a lap up and down the stairs.

    Mosey to the playground for some heavy log work. Partners pick up logs and carry them to stage. Then partner up and Touch a tree. Rd 1: 3 trees, roll log. Rd 2: 3 trees, lateral jumps over log. Rd 3. 3 trees, Crab walk pushing log ahead of you with leg thrusts alternating legs.

    Touch a tree part 2. 1 partner holds one end of log up off ground while partner #2 touches 3 trees. Done 3x.

    Mosey to rusty cage for: Orangutans clockwise and counterclockwise. Then 3 rounds of: Partner #1 dead hang from bar. Partner #2 elbow plank with medicine ball on back. When one partner fails, switch.

    Mosey back to flag. Line of trust (circling up is kind of weird with 2 guys). YHC prayed us out.

    Moleskin: YHC used this workout to try out some things in preparation for his 50th birthday Q next month. The logs will certainly be in play again there. It is great to see Blank Space’s improving endurance after only a few weeks of 2 posts a week. Keep up the solid work! YHC is grateful for how he has been pushing me to do more boot camp posts.


  • Omega hill run

    YHC was feeling spry and suggested we do the Omega Hill run. Route: behind Maymont, up stairway to heaven, back to parking lot, up love hill, down pipe, across canal to western point dead end, back up pipe, down love hill to parking lot. 3.5 miles per lap. Most folks completed 2 laps. I’m not sure if you can pack more trail elevation in such a short span in the James River system. We all left with tired legs. The route is named because it is in the shape of the named Greek letter Ω (kind of).

    Moleskin. This run has some sentimental value for me, because YHC was doing a variation of it the day he was introduced to F3 in Feb of 2015. YHC ran into a bunch of F3 guys working out near the amphitheater. So grateful for the fond memories and friendships that have ensued from that encounter.

  • Straight and narrow

    4 PAX assembled on a rainy Friday morning, most were hopeful for a little run/walk in the snow. Alas it was not to be. No Q signed up, so Sippy planned the running route.

    Runners: Head east down Grove. Turn right at Morris near VCU. Turn right at Floyd and head back west. Jug handle to Grove near the highway and back to the flag. Interesting conversations along the way about EVs, parking structures, and transportation efficiency.

    Walkers: Head down Grove to Starbucks. Mosey back.

    COT: Sippy took us out.

  • Just turn left

    Smaller crowd today and a simple route idea. 4 milers run on Grove to Meadow and head back. 5 or 6 milers (only YHC today) were to chase the 4 milers, making 4 left turns to run around the block each time they passed the 4 milers (essentially putting them 4 blocks behind each time). While on Grove, push the pace to catch the 4 milers, and while circling the block, slow up.

    In short it worked, YHC posted ~5.8 miles, catching the 4 milers twice on the way to Meadow and twice on the way back.

    COT: YHC took us out. Good verse to contemplate: “Act like men, be strong, let all you do be done in love.” I guess YHC was long winded, and shifting weight during COT ensued.

    Moleskin: It was nice to have Lab Rat back to RAMM. Surprisingly WRAT was not broadcasting so strongly today. Singer seemed to be doing more of the talking when passing. Lots of talk about the sewer work closing down Cary St.. Great joke by TYA about this work–it was urgent to fix the problem or the $!#% will hit the Fan. It is downhill as we validated by our route today. Been laughing about that all day.

  • Back at it

    12 Brothers gathered this morning for a little bit of old and a little bit of new.

    COP: 10x helicopters, 10x DQ, 21x SSH

    #1 (Old) various crawls. Gather at edge of circle. 1a: Bear Crawl in, 5 merkins, Crawl bear back, 5 Merkins. 2 minutes continuous. 1b: Same, except using crab walk. 1c: Same except using gorilla walk.

    #2 (Old) head to field for some Whamo Lunge walks with dealers choice exercises.

    #3 (Old) Partner Pull ups, 1,2,3,4,5 Chin ups, 4,3,2,1. Alternate reps with partner.

    #4 (New) Conveyor belt. Pax splits into groups of 6 arranged on successive steps up the amphitheater. Pax at top runs down, other pax box jump up and do 5 monkey humpers on each step. Continue for 3 total cycles. Then repeat with bear crawls and 3 incline merkins.

    #5 (Old) Shadow boxing. 20 seconds on 10 second rest. Exercises included combinations of jabs, crosses, uppercuts, hooks and knees.

    #6 (New) 20-40-60-80. Run to 20, 2 burpees, run all of the way to the end of the field and back to 40, 4 burpees, run to end of field back to 60, 6 burpees, run to end and back to 80, 8 burpees, run to end of field and back to the starting line.

    Mosey back to flag. YHC took us out with a fall focused thanksgiving prayer.

    Moleskin: YHC checked and his last backblast was 12/2019. Too long. It was good to lead again. Our hands were freezing after the initial circle animal walks. Lots of dew and 40 degrees will do that to you. Not so much mublechatter today as YHC kept everyone moving, but as typical, the shadowboxing was a hit. Florence was standing next to YHC and was really punching hard, but it was too dark to see much of anyone else. Welcome to Empanada, named for his previous teaching job in Chile and his love for said food. X-Ray is Mr. Roger’s 2.0 and headed into the army as a radiology technician. Welcome to the F3 PAX guys!

  • Throwing around heavy balls

    Three strong Pax , with one out-of-towner, but a RVA holiday regular, gathered for some medicine ball fun.

    COP--Helicopters, DQs, Plank-o-rama, SSHs

    Mosey to picnic table. In incline position migrate clockwise, then counterclockwise around table.

    Mosey back to the circle for a medicine ball/burpee/running triple-check. One pax picks up and throws the medicine ball forward repeatedly progressing around the circle, one pax does burpees, and the third pax (the timer) runs around the circle, relieving the pax doing burpees who then catches up to and relieves the thrower.

    Round 1–Granny throws. Round 2–chest pass, Round 3–overhead, soccer pass, Round 4–right hand shot-put, Round 5–left hand shot put.

    Mosey to tennis courts for some medicine ball animal walks. The route was across the width of the tennis court and back. Each Pax did each exercise once.

    Round 1. Polar bear, bear crawl pushing medicine ball ahead of you, crab walk.

    Round 2. Bear crawl, crab walk with medicine ball on chest, lunge

    Mosey back to the circle to play some medicine ball catch. Any time ball is dropped, all pax do 3 burpees.

    Round 1. 2 pax stand about 1 feet apart and pass medicine ball back and forth while the other pax runs the circle.

    Round 2. Same, but passes are with right hand.

    Round 3. Same but passes are with left hand.

    Round 4. One pax planks while other two run around the circle side-by-side passing medicine ball back and forth while running.

    Round 5. Same as round 4.

    Mosey back to the VSF for some medicine ball clockwork. Pax places feet on medicine ball in plank position at the center of the clock and rotates their body clockwise and counterclockwise around the circle. The other pax plank while waiting their turn.

    Moleskin. This workout was generated when YHC re-discovered an old workout manual he had been given a decade or so ago. YHC decided to make his own medicine ball, by filling an old basketball with sand, sealing it up with a bicycle patch and several layers of polyurethane. This creates a ~25 pound medicine ball. YHC made 2, but one broke during the workout (its rubber was severely degraded prior to making it, so not surprising). YHC would be happy to make some more for the PAX–just donate an old outdoor basketball that is in decent shape. A small basketball “pop-a-shot” would also be useful and makes a 15 pound ball.

    The workout itself was quite fun. It is quite challenging to throw a heavy ball and also hard to catch a heavy ball thrown at you–it requires full body cushioning, which made for a good workout. YHC actually accidentally dropped the ball when placing it on Swirly’s stomach for the med ball crab walks–thankfully it missed his groin by a couple of inches. Coordination on the side-by-side running led to some hilarity also.

    All in all a different type of workout and quite fun.