Author: Splinter

  • Triple the Fun

    Nineteen eager pavement pounders gathered at the commons and watched Circle K drive around looking for a parking spot. Lug Nut apparently came in hot and missed the festivities so he threw his own party. As expected, directions were withheld until T-minus 30 seconds. Run as a group through fraternity row and gather at the base of Horsepen and Waveny.

    The Thang
    Intervals up Waveny. 1 minute up at about 75% intensity and recover back to the bottom in 1:45. Repeat x4.

    Mosey up to Shrewsbury. Long intervals up Horsepen. 2 minutes up at whatever intensity you feel appropriate and recover back to the bottom in 3:00. Repeat x3.

    Saunter up Shrewsbury, paying homage to Toga. Left on Ridge Top and stop at Chandler. Time for 1 more 1 minute interval for those that want it.

    Head back via Gardiner and back by the stadium.

    Numbers, names, and YHC took us out.

    Moleskin
    Fantastic numbers for Spider Run this morning and enthusiasm was high for the route which never came. Some were surprised, some were not. Either way we all had fun (no report from Lug Nut on his fun factor).

    Someone may have coined the term Splintervals today. Not sure if that was a new term or something that people talk about in back channels when Splinter isn’t present. I’ll take it as a compliment until someone tells me otherwise.

    Intervals up Horsepen were difficult, especially after Waveny. All in all, I enjoyed this variation on intervals and the selective polling I did seemed to indicate the enjoyment was 100%.

    Enjoy the day fellas.

    Splinter

  • Pitchfork, my way

    Fourteen Spider Run regulars met with prepared enthusiasm for intervals. No intervals today, instead the Pitchfork Splinter-style was called. TYA briefly attempted to repeat instructions but failed, so YHC jumped back in and reiterated for the late arrivals. It’s a regular route so not many questions.

    The Route
    Proceed towards the bridge via the River Road entrance and continue down Westham Station. Everyone runs along the tracks then heads right up South Ridge to the light. 4 milers turn around at the light and head back. 5 milers turn around and make a left at Old Bridge on the way back and hit Highland to River. Return and back to the flag. 6 milers do the 5 mile + go all the way up Old Bridge then also hit Panorama on the way back.

    Digits, salutations and YHC took us out.

    Moleskin
    It was good to be back. Let’s hope this sticks and YHC can make this a regular occurrence again. Great group of guys to run with and an almost great morning.

    YHC enjoys this route as everyone gets to experience South Ridge. Plus there are plenty of crossover points where pleasantries and general words of encouragement can be exchanged along the way.

    Marv was hoping for a route by his abode so he could pick up his FND. TYA still hasn’t named her from her FND appearance three weeks ago. She can’t come back until TYA names her appropriately. FWIW, there are many suggestions out there.

    Great job to all. Mileage was closer to 4.3, 5.4, 6.4 for those keeping track.

    Announcements
    Puppy pile at 7:05 Saturday morning at Dogwood Dell

    Bear creek registration is open

    The McShin Foundation is a great recovery organization here in our own backyard. We all know someone that has dealt with addiction, past or present. Everyone needs a support network. Luckily our region has a great program like McShin to provide the support needed.

    Splinter out.

  • Night Lining. Just Lining the Field at Night.

    Seventeen steely eyed quants gathered at the hardpan known as 45 Minutes of Mary for a brief discussion on biscuits and the ‘ville where they are made. No time for questions, off the Q went with nary a sound. Regardless, the hoi palloi followed to home plate for a welcome, disclaimer, and reminder that the only barrier to entry is counting to 20. The following recap is close enough to reality:

    COP
    Don Quixote x10
    Burpee x1
    Copperhead Squats x15
    Burpee x2
    American Hammers x20
    Burpee x3
    Swimmers x10
    Burpee x4
    High Knees x15
    Burpee x5
    Imperial Walkers x20
    Burpee x6
    Freddie Mercuries x20
    Burpee x7
    Jump Squats x10
    Burpee x8
    Something else xSome number
    Burpee x9
    Something else xSome number
    Burpee x10

    The Thang
    Quick mosey over to the tennis court (since the field was occupied) and line up on the sideline for repeating line drills. Lines were the spaces between the courts + the end line on the far side. Every time you get to a “line” you stop and do an exercise. After each line drill perform various plankorama formations. Exercises were:

    Merkins x10
    Mountain Climbers – 2 count x10
    Jump Squats x10
    WWIIs x10
    Burpees x5

    Gallop over to the school for today’s variation of triple check. People’s Chair, LBCs, and the pace car bear crawled to the end of the world and back.

    Four minutes of mary including V-ups, speed round of APDs, American Hammers, and Flutter Kicks.

    Dart back to the flag where we all rung out our shirts and gloves, gathered for a counting exercise to 17 and then declared our F3 given names. YHC took us out with thoughts and prayers to all in our PAX that are recovering but specifically Viral. Keep him in your prayers.

    Moleskin
    YHC was performing his pre-workout ritual before leaving the house for WDog yesterday when he noticed that somehow the Mary Q was open for the following day. So YHC jumped on it, not having Q’d mary in quite some time. It was a pleasure to lead.

    Speaking of pleasures, YHC gathered there were many pleasures out there today. Grunts, groans, and many thanks for the burpee count today. Evenly spaced out, YHC believes they weren’t too bad today.

    Great to see TYA and Marv this morning. YHC thinks we were close to naming Marv’s dog from his FNG appearance 9 days ago but alas, still no declared name. Suggestions following some of the greatest calls in sports history will continue… to Vinny’s delight.

    Way to push through everyone, not a great day for a high intensity workout.

    YHC declares a moratorium on biscuit talk pre-workout.

    Announcements
    Puppy Pile at 7:05 on 9/28.
    Retreat next weekend. Meet Vinny at the Lowes on 360 at 11am or text him for address.

    Peace out fellas. Big Data is still watching…





  • Visitor Comes North

    Ten willing participants convened near the flag for this mid-August rendition of Daville. Greetings and salutations and then off we went for a little mosey around the school to the basketball courts.

    COP
    SSH x20
    Russian Soldiers x15
    Arm Circles x15
    Copperhead Squats x15
    Hug and Loves x15

    The Thang
    Mosey over to the parking lot for a Daville version of 11s (with 9 then 4 trees). Run up the right side of the parking lot stopping at each tree for increasing merkins. 1 up to 9. Run backwards down the left side of the parking lot stopping at trees for reverse 2 count lunges. 1 up to 4. Repeato with monkey humpers then burpees.

    Saunter over to the tennis courts for width-wise line drills. Start on the side line and do line drills across 3 tennis courts, stopping at each doubles alley. Stop on the far end for exercises. 5 merkins at each stop. 2nd set included karaoke followed by jump squats. 3rd set included karaoke the other direction and WW2s. Various forms of people’s chair in-between sets.

    Serpentine over to the baseball field for some fun on the bases. Single – run to each base and complete 10 merkins. 40 total. Double – run to second and do 20 squats then run home and complete 20 squats. Triple – run to third and complete 30 2-count flutters then single home for 10 more merkins. Home run – run around the bases (inside the park style) and complete 40 LBCs.

    Quick run back to the flag where we had 10 more seconds for 10 more merkins.

    Numbers, names, and YHC took us out.

    Moleskin
    It was great to get out to Daville this morning. I’ve been searching for the right day to make the trek and today was a perfect day. Always fun to get out and explore a new AO. Thanks to the Daville crew + Double Mint for allowing YHC to lead, even though you guys were counting weird at points.

    Appreciate the love out there today. There were definitely a few “sighs of joy” when announcing the exercises we were performing. YHC can only assume those were sounds of endearment.

    Big Data corrected a lot of data yesterday but today it’s all about chalking one up in the Daville column for Splinter.

  • Visual Props

    Map, out and back with 5 and 6 mile loops

    Twenty arachnids emerged from the dusk for some fun around UR. A few of the regulars expected intervals and were disappointed. Others were not expecting intervals and were not disappointed. Alas, off we went to follow the prescribed out and back route with some loops:

    • Across the lake, down the rocky path and cross College to University
    • University across Westham and Ridge ’till it dead ends at Ralston
    • Left on Ralston
    • Right on River via the sidewalk
    • Right on Glenbrooke Circle (East)
    • Left on Glenbrook Circle (West)
    • 4 milers turn around at Summit and return
    • Everyone else summit Summit and return to the bottom
    • 4.5 milers return via the same route
    • 5s and 6s take a right on Glenbrooke and complete the Glenbrooke Circle loop via East then West
    • 5s return while 6s add the first class streets loop of Windsor on the James
    • Everyone return to the VSF

    Count all fingers and toes, disclaim given names and YHC took us out.

    Moleskin
    YHC has wanted to introduce Glenbrooke Circle for quite a while but never got around to it. Today was the day. Given the recent trend of bringing laptops to describe routes, printouts seemed in order. While the route was fairly straightforward for the regulars, visual cues via a map without street names was the perfect accompaniment to some perfectly clear verbal directions.

    4s didn’t complain as they got lost and likely did 5. 4.5s appreciated the extra excursion up Summit. 5s were spot on at just over 5 miles. 6 milers were probably a little short. YHC owes you next time.

    Great to explore a new route. Will add this to the annals for a future repeat. Rumor has it Keymaster (a.k.a. “Hi Derek”) may Q a future Spider Run for those interested in laps around the lake.

    Big Data counted to 20 today. Nice work gents.

  • OG – Irregular Quadrilateral

    Four eager gentlemen gathered under the waning crescent for this morning’s iteration of Hoedown. Toto gathered his thoughts in his car, then emerged and off we went for an irregular old glory.

    Grab the flag and head south on Forest. Through the parking lot, left on Crest, left on Sunset, right on Lakewood, left on Hillsdale, wave to a sleeping Lockjaw, left on West Drive, left on Lindsay and back to where the flag was for the completion of the mile.

    The Thang

    • Run to recycling center for 20 merkins
    • Run towards the drop off loop, u-turn back up the stairs and to the gaga court for 20 jump squats
    • Up the hill, through the mulch and pick your monkey bar set for 10 pull ups
    • Run back through the covered walkway back to the grassy circle for 20 WWIIs

    Repeat for 20 minutes then reverse course for the 1 mile back.

    5MOM included LBCs, heels to heaven, freddy mercuries, flutter kicks, and american hammers.

    Digits, salutations and YHC took us out.

    Moleskin

    It’s been a long time since YHC has completed an old glory so while YHC was in the car yesterday this popped into mind. No real rectangular options on campus so improvisation was required. All in all it worked well. Kudos to Handshake for leading the way with 4 complete circuits.

    Great way to start the day gentlemen. High intensity indeed with the slight elevation changes and the pull-ups mixed in.

    Announcements

    • HDHH next Wednesday. Meet at Kuba Dos for some hills then 2nd F.

    Big data only counted 4 today at Hoedown. Where was everyone else?

  • Soupy and Poopie

    Two students with thumbs up

    Eight frolickers gathered in the thick mustard this morning, joined by an extra credit 2.0 for today’s rendition of WDog. Circle around the flag to start sweating, wait for Posh to come in hot, then off we went for a jog by the entrance of Maymont and over to Shields lake.

    COP
    7 Don Quixote’s
    17 Copperhead Squats
    78 SSH
    8 Burpees
    34 LBCs

    The Thang
    Partner up for no good reason and mosey to the nearest hill. Bear crawl up the hill, 10 merkins, crawl bear down, 10 merkins. Repeat for a total of 3 ups and downs.

    Mosey over to the nearest sidewalk and partner up for good reason. Partner 1 runs to the base of the staircase, up the stairs and returns while the other partner performs exercises. 3 iterations with exercises being burpees, jump squats, monkey humpers.

    Wait around for Wojo only to realize he is visiting somewhere on campus so we collected EF Hutton and mosey’d around Shields lake to the south stone wall. Line up in derkin position on the wall, first person in line completes 5 derkins then runs to the front of the line. Continue two times through the line.

    Line up in dip position on the wall. First person completes 10 dips and then runs to the front of the line. Modify from reverse plank to flutter kicks to freddie mercuries. Congrats to Saab for watching Bohemian Rhapsody. Two times through then mosey to the nearest hill.

    Clockwork merkins. 20x at 3, 6, 9, and 12 positions. Careful to navigate around the land mines left by the ducks and geese.

    Work our way back up to Spottswood for a final push of sprints, squats, reverse sprints, lunges. Repeat twice then run back to the flag for 3 minutes of Mary including LBCs, Hammers and Flutter Kicks.

    I learned something new today. Luke Bryan’s birthday is today.

    Numbers, names, and YHC took us out.

    Moleskin
    It was warm. It was moist. It was aromatic over by Maymont. Great job by everyone showing up and pushing through this fine midsummer RVA morning.

    Saab was trying out a new type of SSH this morning. Sorry you hate regular ones so much but they are a good full body warm up. Keep practicing brother.

    Everyone pushed hard today including Jaws who is working on a summer fitness program required through school. Multiple referencers to Mark Harmon in Summer School quickly occurred.

    Stay cool everyone. It’s a gross one out there.

    Announcements
    Early Risers this weekend. 4:00am. Have fun.
    Puppy Pile the following weekend. Marv will join via skype from Japan.

    Piles of Big Data out there just waiting to be cleansed.

  • PSA – Lost Data

    PSA – Lost Data

    There was a momentary loss of data yesterday evening on the website. As of 5:00AM this morning I had to restore the site to a backup from yesterday at 4:38PM. I have verified that any posts created during that window have at least been recreated; however, if you made updates after 4:38PM EDT yesterday and 5:00AM EDT this morning they are lost. Feel free to recreate any comments, or just forget about them all together.

    If anyone has any questions, just ping me and I’ll fill you in.

    #BigData should be clean. If you see otherwise, just ping me.

    Splinter

  • Finally Saw the river at River Run

    Solo post at River Run this morning. I waited an extra minute and then headed for the trails down by the river. Got turned around and ran back past the car, up Twin Team and then back around the school and parking lot to finish out the 45 minutes and 4.20 miles.

    I run faster with a group and when I know where I am going.

    Kids late for rowing drive really fast

    The river trails are kind of spooky in the foggy dawn.

    Prayers for Helix’s daughter. Peace fellas – see y’all tomorrow.

    Can’t add QIC, Date, Pax.. somehow I screwed up my posting options…not known for my WordPress skills and it keeps me from wanting to Q -I don’t mind writing, I just screwed this up in some way.

    Shakedown

  • [4, 6]

    Interval

    A combination of RAMMers, Gear-heads, and early risers tackled today’s iteration of RAMM. Only the RAMMers got to experience today’s long overdue interval plan. Here’s how it went:

    Group into 4 milers, 5 milers, and 6 milers. Everyone goes north on Commonwealth and right on Monument and returns the same way.

    15 minute warm up at a relatively easy pace
    15 minute pickups which includes 1 minute of fast pace followed by 30 seconds of recovery. 10 of these, reversing course after the 5th interval.
    15 minute cool down

    Numbers, names, YHC took us out.

    Moleskin
    It’s been over a year since we did this variation of the fartlek at RAMM. Based on the discussion post run, everyone (including Marv) seemed to enjoy the faster pace. Speed work is always good to mix in to break up the monotony of always running for distance.

    The idea is to stick together in your pace group. Phonics and Faceplant did a good job of doubling back on the recovery part of the intervals to make sure YHC’s group stayed together. Next time YHC will be a little more explicit about that desire to stick together. Thanks to Upgrade and Bleeder for captaining their groups respectively.

    Bootleg forgot to turn around and may still be running had he not seen the six mile group on the reverse course.

    Is TYA reading this BB? We know Marv won’t.

    Happy Birthday No Tools.

    Announcements
    – Puppy Pile 6/29. Marv has the Q.
    – Amateaur RAMM Gears next week with Lab Rat on the Q. Bring something that rolls for a fun day peddling on the streets. 2.0s welcome?

    Splinter out