Author: Sippy Cup

It was a surprisingly non-humid and beautiful July morning for a workout. 16 Pax.
COP.
Mosey to warmup circle via a circuitous route.
10x helicopters, 15x Don Quixote, Arm circles forward and back, small and big, 7x Knerkins, 20x Freddie Mercuries.
Polar bear crawl (staggered merkin every five bear crawl steps) back and forth from edge of circle to center (2x).
Mosey to amphitheater for 3.5 minutes of bunny hop up and run down.
Mosey to pullup bars for partner pullups 1-5 pullups and 5-1 chin ups.
Mosey down pipe and eventually make way down to the path behind Maymont past the bear habitat.
Plank with feet up on rail. Pax on end runs to the other end and everyone does 2 derkins when each Pax passes, after 1 cycle, do one derkin, after 2 cycles just plank.
Incline plank on rail, move right and move left according to instructions of YHC. More Plank-a-rama exercises.
Mosey back to bottom of hill. Run ¾ of the way up hill. Skip up last ¼ of hill, balls to the wall on the brick building at top of hill while you wait for the six.
Touch a tree. Revolution #1—3 trees: alternate bear crawl and crab walk with each tree. Revolution #2—touch 10 trees, running.
Mosey to parking lot poles for 30 pole smokers.
Mosey back to flag for 25x mountain climbers.
COT—YHC led us out with prayers for the day and for Spit’s recent illness.
Naked Moleskin:
YHC kept the PAX moving today and we explored a new area of the AO, one that is well traveled during Sunday’s trail run. The rails should provide some good opportunities for plank-a-ramas. YHC opted for mostly full-body exercises today after a tough RAMM workout yesterday. Still we did about 2 miles of mostly moseying during the workout.
Random thoughts: Hardywood and Malpractice impressed today in the bunny hops. Hardywood was taking one hop per step and Malpractice was taking a disciplined 2, both with excellent form. EF Hutton made it through the partner pullups without help! Skipping up hill is exhausting. YHC did not realize that there are a lot of poison-ivy covered trees in the area we did touch a tree—let’s hope no one touched those! There was a brief Saab sighting during the COP as he motored down love hill.
As always men, it was a pleasure to lead you this morning.

COP
Don Quixote 20x, Helicopters 15x, Imperial Walkers (20x), LBCs 25x, Diamond Merkins 10x.
Full body: In circle, Bear crawl to center, 5x merkins, crawl bear back 5x merkins. Crab walk to center, 5x merkins, backwards crab walk, 5x merkins, Army crawl to center, 5x merkins, backwards army crawl back, 5x merkins, forward lunge to center 5x merkins, backwards lunge 5x merkins.
Legs: Mosey to hill behind amphitheater. Skip up hill (well beyond crest) to sippy cup. Butt kickers back down. Repeat focusing on skipping high. Mosey to amphitheater. 5x peoples chair (10-20 count each) except no back support, lowering butt to just off the first stone step and holding.
Upper body: Head to top of amphitheater and descending dips 18 down to 1. Mosey to pullup bars for partner pullups 1 to 5 and 5 to 1 chinups. Run down an up the pipe, with an isometric parallel bar hold waiting for the six.
Fun: Mosey to field for ultimate Frisbee. Split up into teams, play with regular rules except every time the disc hits the ground everyone does 5 merkins.
Mosey back to flag for LBCs and American Hammers (20x).
COT
Naked Moleskin.
In the last month some F3 workouts have been damp, some wet, and some just a full on deluge. Today was the deluge type, but after a few minutes of getting warmed up, the PAX didn’t complain too much about the weather—at least it was fairly warm. The slippery soil made for an interesting run on the puddle-filled trail, and there were some exciting slip and slides during ultimate. But the rain made it a memorable workout and kept everyone cool. Attitudes were surprisingly good throughout, except for the uphill skipping which turned out to be quite a glute burner. We’ll certainly seethat one again. The game of ultimate (inspired by Marv’s VQ earlier this week) made for a fun ending to the workout.

Hardywood again showed his prowess in lunging—he strides farther than even Splinter and gets that knee all of the way down. Bleeder also was at least twice as fast as the rest of the PAX on bear crawls. Swirly knocked out the upper body work as is typical. It was nice to see Viral back, and he showed some serious skills on the ultimate field with some good forehands. And the pullups are improving for everyone. Great work today, guys.

It’s a pleasure to lead as always.

14 Strong Pax gathered on a perfect non-humid 40 degrees for a workout.

COP

Don Qioxote (20x), Helicopters (15x), Imperial Walkers (20x), Merkins (10x), Flutter kicks (25x).

Mosey to the amphitheater for:

1. Alternating Bunny Hop up/run down, Lunge up/run down, Bear Crawl up/run down. Done for 5 minutes total.

2. The Modified Lucky Horeshoe. Same 5 exercises as the lucky horseshoe (Merkins, Storm Squats, Scorpion Dry Docks, WWII sit ups, in place lunges) 20x each exercise, and 5 sets of 20 each in a ladder. However, unlike the lucky horseshoe, there was no running in between exercises. Instead each round was performed on the next higher step, with a run down to the bottom and back up after each round. Once finished, run laps around the amphitheater until everyone has completed.

3. Descending Dip ladder 16 down to 1 starting at the second to top step and ending at the bottom.

Mosey to the pullup bars for:

Partner pullups. Alternate pullups with your partner 1,2,3,4,5, then chin ups back down 5,4,3,2,1. A few last plank exercises including a memorable 6 inches.
Mosey back to flag via the stone steps.
YHC took us out.

Announcements–

2nd F at Ellwood Thompsons from 5-7 pm. Let Flashdance know you are coming.

There are a few spots left for the BRR, talk to TYA. It will be epic!

Moleskin:

Today’s workout was a mishmash of some of my favorites from Orville (bunny hops), Loose Goose (Lucky Horeshow), and Saab (Dip ladder down).

It was a quiet workout today without much mumblechatter, the Pax was either out of breath or in pain. We all agree the Lucky Horseshoe is tough without running. YHC was thankful to BT who prepared the laminated Lucky Horseshoe placard months ago.
YHC will also remember in the future to call on Bleeder when a very long 10 count is needed in a static hold (today it was 6 inches). Way to push us Bleeder. Swirly and Rosie were the first to finish the Horseshoe, and Swirly again was able to do the partner pullups without help. We’ll all get there someday!

Several of the Pax ran the monument ave 10k last week. Honeydo ran it in under 48 minutes. Solid work! He’ll be up with the fast RAMM group soon, I’m sure.

It was nice to have Hardywood back with us after an extended absence, and it was nice to see Guiness’s trademark bottoms up drinking gesture first hand in the COT.

It was a pleasure to lead you all today, men.

14 Pax showed up in the gloom in perfect 45 degree workout weather.

COP

20x small arm circles each direction

10x helicopters

15x Don Quixote + 5x more stretch

20x Imperial Walkers

30x LBCs

10 burpees OYO.

Mosey to toll booth.

Run across bridge up to the street on the opposite side.  Yo-yo back to the slowest runner until all are at the top of the opposite hill.

Plank and 20 merkins.

Run back down across bridge to toll booth, with 2 burpees at every light pole.

Carry the cross.  Start at the base of the hill near the toll both.  Partner carry up the hill to the brick building. Switch with your partner when you get tired.

Mosey to the pullup bars for partner pullup ladders.  Alternate pullups 1,2,3,4,5, then chin ups back down 5,4,3,2,1.

Mosey to the Carillon for 4 stations of the cross.  Station #1: West grass circle.  Break dancers for 2 minutes.  Station #2: Top of carillon platform. Broad jumps around the carillon-1 lap. Station #3: North end of carillon field. 2 minutes of burpees. Station #4: East grass circle.  Box cutters for 1.5 minutes.

Mosey back to flag.

Announcements.

New workouts: W-Dog at the Carillon starting on April 6 at 5:30 am.  Circus Maximus at Godwin High starting April 7 at 5:30.

EF Hutton requested softball players for his church team.  Talk to him if you are interested.

COT.  YHC took us out.

Moleskin.

For those of you keeping track of miles this month, we covered about 3.2 today during the workout according to his GPS.  Good work, men! Flash Dance mentioned that he felt relatively better this time around, and it was good to see so many pushing it hard back across the bridge.

Welcome back to Blood Test who made his first appearance in a while.  And welcome to The Carpenter who first posted at DaVille on Tuesday.

Compared to the last Bridge run done this winter, we appreciated the warmer weather and relative lack of wind.  Spring is here!

Partner pullups were a clear favorite again.  T-Claps to Swirly and Saab who were able to get through all of the reps unassisted.  YHC is convinced that Swirly’s secret power comes from his loud grunting.  Grunts replaced mumblechatter for everyone during these.

The stations of the cross workout was interrupted by a small white terrier who took a liking to Saab’s face.  Undeterred by the attention, Saab continued to do the break-dancing exercise while the dog licked his forehead.  Way to focus, Saab!

Being the Saturday before Easter, YHC snuck in some Good Friday themes today.  It seems a little sacrilegious to call it a Good Friday themed workout, but some of the workout was borne out of reflection on Jesus’s suffering on the cross.  Not that our suffering could hold a candle to his, partly because he had to go it alone.  It was a pleasure being with you and leading you today, and it was good 2^nd F hanging out with you at E-T afterwords.  Happy Easter, men.

If you were at today’s workout, just the title has planted an insidious  song in your head.  In case you weren’t, the video will help you catch the vibe.

COP

20x Russian Soldiers

10x Don Quixotes

10x Don Quixotes (focusing on getting the extra stretch)

Arm circles

20x Imperial Walkers

30x LBCs

2x Plank walk outs

10x Merkins

Head to the amphitheater for the Cupid Shuffle.  Play the Cupid Shuffle.  Start in Decline plank.  For every “down, down” do 2 merkins.  For every “to the left” or “to the right”, move in the appropriate direction maintaining plank.  For “now kick” alternate kicking legs up in the air.  When you hear “now walk it by yourself” spin around to do the opposite form of plank (decline to incline, or incline to decline).  Maintain this form of plank and follow directions until the next “walk it by yourself.”

Head around the back of the amphitheater for touch a tree.  Balls to the wall while partner runs down and up the bowl and touches 3 trees. Flapjack.

Clockwork Merkins.  Start on one hill and do 1 set of 5x5x5x5 clockwork merkins.  Run to other hill and do the same.  Run back to start.

Mosey down love hill and to the base of the pipe.  LBCs while waiting for the six.

Half-pipe Dora 123.  Exercises: 100 (decline merkins), 200 (squats), 300 (LBCs).  Run up half of the pipe turn left and turn left again on the trail to meet your partner.

The pipe.  Run up the pipe to the parallel bars and hold yourself up while waiting for the six.

Partner Pullup ladders.  Partner up and either do pullups or cheer/assist your partner. Alternate after every set.  Sets of 1,2,3,4,5 pullups.  Then sets of 5,4,3,2,1 chin ups.

Mosey back to amphitheater for Pac-Man.  Swirley and Saab were the Pac-Men and were both gobbled up by the ghosts.

 Ring of Fire. 10x Merkins one time around.

Mosey back to flag.

COT.

Moleskin.

Today was YHC’s 1-year anniversary in F3.  You can check out that workout here.  http://f3nation.com/2015/02/28/amphitheater-highlights-johnny-cash/

Swirly led the workout 1 year ago, and although many of the details are now foggy, there were a few things that stood out from that first workout.  I remember being kind of confused during the COP, but eventually getting it.  I remember Toga clueing me in to some of the lingo during the beast in order to help me keep up.  When I saw Toga and Fudd crushing the Beast, basically diving into the snow as fast as possible in order to do their exercises, I was impressed.  The multiple sets of 6 merkins were impossible!  Another thing I remember—Swirly was kind of slow!  I also don’t think I was able to do more than 1 pullup.  Lastly, we did the ring of fire at the base of the amphitheater, and my hands were freezing in the snow, but the singing was fun.  I think my range of motion was about 2 inches for those last 5 merkins.  I was certainly pushed physically, but also welcomed.  In looking back, I can’t believe that that workout took a whole hour to do!  We’ve come a long way, men!

As a good scientist, there were some experimental aspects to this workout–

There was lots of mumblechatter today about the Cupid Shuffle.  YHC promises that this is not on his normal playlist!  4 minutes is a long time to plank, and the music certainly helped us all push through it, cheesy as it was.

The Half-Pipe Dora 1-2-3 was inspired by Honeydo’s Dogpile workout a couple of months ago where he had us running on a hilly section of road.   Not much mumblechatter, except from Lab Rat when YHC gave some general guidance about keeping form on squats.  Flashdance was clearly dazed after running up the pipe the last time and had to be given instructions on how to give a 20 count.  EF Hutton, also underestimated steepness of the pipe and fizzled out before the end.

Pullup ladders were a clear hit, as the groaning reached new heights.  Swirly suggested doing a hang as a part of the last set—good idea.  We will definitely see those again.

Other notes:  We welcomed Early Bird, joining us from DC today.  Swirly, did he beat you to the AO and live up to his namesake?Saab gashed his shin in Pac-Man and had a nice wound, Swirly’s trail shoes are now toast, and the rendition of Ring of Fire was raucous and echo-ey in the amphitheater—thanks Toga for leading us again like you did a year ago.  It was great to have you back at Dogpile.

Brothers—F3 has been one of the highlights of my last year, and I am so grateful that J’Ville EH’d me a little over a year ago.   Here’s to many more years in the gloom!

It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day’s journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed.

— Herodotus

The THANG

Mosey to the circle with snow shovels in hand for a snowy COP.  Dig out a spot for 25x SSH, 20x Russian Soldiers, 10x Merkins.

Starting at the road circle, scoop a shovelful of snow and run to center of circle, dumping it there, run back to starting place.  Repeato ~15x.

Mosey to center of circle.  Shovel to make the mound larger, and then, Bearcrawl from the edge of the circle to the mound and then do 5 Derkins with feet on the mound.  Bear Crawl back to edge.  Repeato 3x.

10x slow bending squats with shovel overhead.  10 x slow bending squats with shovel overhead filled with snow.  Al Gore with Shovels at shoulder level gripping and pulling apart hands until the 2^nd crew arrived.

Split up onto groups.  2 guys run around circle while the rest build up the mound. Swap roles.

Mosey with shovels to the area west of the carillon for Touch a Tree.  Touch 3 trees, then 5, then 10 trees each time returning to starting position and planking.

Mosey to pullup bars and plant shovels.  Navigate the trail down the pipe to the road.  100 LBCs OYO.  Run up the pipe to the pullup bars and hold body aloft on parallel bars until all PAX arrive.

Down under pullups to failure on parallel bars.  Plank, 10x Merkins in Cadence.  Down under pullups to failure. Plank, 8x Merkins in Cadence.  Down under pullups to failure. Plank.

Mosey the area behind the amphitheater.  20 Donkey kicks on the stone wall followed by balls to the wall while we wait for all of the sleds to be gathered and the last 2 Pax to arrive.

Sledding on Jacob’s bowl.  Sled down, run up opposite side for 4 minutes.

Mosey back to flag for COT.

Moleskin

Unlike many workouts, the adventures began before the workout started.

YHC arrived on foot about 15 minutes early to Dogpile this morning to see one car in the lot waiting and a Woodfin truck, Swirly’s, leaving the AO (more on this later).  The other vehicle, belonging to Circle K was a nice shelter from the snow and ice while we waited for the rest of the Pax to arrive.  Circle K stopped by 7-11 on the way in and said the cashier was mystified that he was on his way to an outdoor workout.

Just before 6, Splinter and Honeydo arrived, and we started the workout on time with our shovelfest.

About 8 minutes in, a clown car of Saab, Lockjaw, Fudd, and Offshore pulled in and joined us.  TYA and Swirly came 40 minutes later and participated in the donkey kicks and sledding.

It turns out that Swirly had left the AO in order to rescue TYA, who had ended up in a ditch.  He didn’t make it very far from his house, only getting a few yards up his street before sliding off the road into a ditch.  TYA was the only one who braved the elements in a small, non 4×4 vehicle.  Foolhardy New Englander!  Anyway, using a tow strap Swirly eventually was able to pull him out and they were able to get his car back into the driveway.  He will get some grief from M TYA for this one.

Attire:  It was interesting to see how the PAX dressed for the snowy conditions.  Honeydo came robed in his military fatigues, but most PAX wore snow pants and ski gear as well as boots.  YHC wore running attire, running shoes and thick wool socks, which were great for mobility but NOT insulated enough once we stopped moving.  TYA came with plastic grocery bags tied around his ankles that inflated somewhat when the wind caught them just the right way.  Hmm.

Audibles.  YHC was not planning on running up and down the pipe due to darkness, but the snow made the trail completely visible, and beckoned to him.  Fudd did not approve of this decision, but we made it out okay, except for one spill.  Also, the pullup bars were slick with ice and impossible to grip, so we, at Fudd’s suggestion did down under pullups instead.

Spills.  Despite the slick conditions, only two PAX bit it during the workout as far as YHC is aware. Splinter took a fall on the trail, and YHC fell down a few feet from the flag at the end of the workout.

Fellowship.  The conditions were harsh, but everyone was in a good mood after the workout.  In fact, everyone stuck around for at least 15 minutes in the cold to catch up. At one point, we all realized how crazy we were and retreated to our cars.  Even YHC opted for a ride home–thanks Saab!

Crazy.  YHC’s M commented last night that “you’ve finally found a group of guys as crazy about working out as you.”  I concur and am still amazed that 10 of us showed in snow ice and wind.  This week should be a fun one too.

Announcements.  It looks like a group is meeting on Sunday at 7 at Tuckahoe Elementary for an impromptu workout. Check with Saab or TYA for details

8 Pax gathered on a surprisingly warm mid-December morning.

The Thang

COP:

Arm circles w/o cadence switch directions and angle of palm on Q’s command.  Imperial Walkers 20x, SSH 20x, LBCs 20x, Mountain climbers 20x.

Mosey to the star for a tower workout.  Pair up, bunny hop up stairs and proceed around the back of the carillon until you meet your partner, then proceed doing the backwards version of the exercise until you reach the steps.  Run back down the stairs to the star.  1st Bear Crawl/Crawl Bear. 2nd Duck Walk/Backwards Duck Walk, 3rd Crab Walk/Backwards crab walk, 4th Lunges forward and backwards.

Mosey over to pullup bars.  Partner up.  Do max pullups + 5 with help from partner.  Switch roles.  3 sets.

Mosey to the carillon field for 4 Corners Choose Your Poison.  For each evolution, the Pax chose arms, legs, or core.  Once chosen, the pax did the same exercise on all 4 corners.

Rnd 1: Arms: 10 close grip merkins; Legs: 10 Storm Squats; Core: 10 cross leg lifts.

Rnd 2: Arms 20 merkins; Legs: 20 Ball Dippers; Core: Freddy Mercury.

Head over to Vita course for Burpees or a 1 mile time trial.  Each Pax could choose to do 100 burpees or run around the vita course (1 mile) at max pace.  The Burpee group’s goal was to complete their 100 Burpees before the last runner completed the circuit.

Head back for ~100 meter sprints.  1 at 50%, 1 at 75%, and 1 at 100%.

COT

Moleskin:

Last week YHC learned that the rest of the PAX places bets on when he’ll show up (as I’m usually one of the last guys to post).  So this morning, I arrived early and snuck up on the gathered PAX taking a running route that placed me behind Swirly’s Woodfin truck.  I enjoyed the extra few minutes of joking in preparation for the workout and will plan to arrive early more often.  Aisle 5 was in a particularly jovial mood and asked me if I ever stop flexing my legs.  Nope, permanent flexion. Actually, I would gladly exchange my rippling legs for those 6 inches longer.

For the workout, YHC chose the pick your poison so that he could avoid doing any Merkins as his pecs and back are still sore from the 5000 Merkin challenge.

We were able to calibrate our 1 mile times to a new metric–which I will call the Wilson Burpee Scale (WBS) .  In this first iteration, the numbers ranged from 80 to 110.  YHC finished in 80WBS, Rosie ~85 WBS, Grizzly came in at ~100 WBS, and Aisle 5 was at 110 WBS.

It is great to see that Winstons is becoming a Dogpile regular.  He particularly impressed today on the Carillon exercises.  And, Rosie and Aisle 5 have some serious wheels on the sprints.  Aisle 5’s back stride is particularly impressive on those all-out sprints, I think his heel comes almost as high as his head!  I’m still in awe of Blood Test and Grizzly who push themselves hard and earn their Respect/Respect and Respect, respectively.  Swirly, as usual rocked the Pullups and Merkins.

This was a tough workout, but you guys are a pleasure to lead.  Good attitude, guys!

Announcements:

It is Virgin Q week!  Lab Rat on Sunday, Circle K on Monday, Rosie on Tuesday, and Aisle 5 on Wednesday.

HDHH will happen on Wednesday.  Lockjaw is in charge–