Author: Splinter

  • Classic Rewind on Cue

    Thirteen, that’s right, thirteen of the hoe’s and near-hoe’s finest, gathered in the fading gloom for this week’s iteration of Hoedown. After the celebration of Oyster’s arrival, we avoided the petting zoo gifts and mosey’d to the front of the school for:

    COP

    • 25x SSH
    • 10x DQ
    • 20x Copperhead Squats
    • 20x LBCs
    • 10x HRMs
    • 10x Mountain Climbers
    • 10x Side (not front) lunges

    The Thang

    Mosey back to the top of Lindsay Ct and partner up. With odd numbers, YHC joined forces with NTB and Señor Frog. Inverse love hill. Partner 1 runs to the bottom and back while partner 2 does exercises. Flapjack and continue until you reach the bottom of the hill. Exercises were crab walks, lunges, broad jumps.

    10 count followed by 20 merkins.

    Back up the hill. Same partners, this time exercises were polar bears, duck walks, broad jump burpees. Tons of excitement as we went back up the hill. Al Gore at the top for the 6.

    Short saunter back over to the traditional 11s place for, you guessed it, 11s. Bernie to the hill and up it, WWIIs at the top. Mitt Romney back to the other side for jump squats.

    Circle back up for 4 MoM which included 10x APDs, 20x freddie mercuries, 10x HTHs, 20x american hammers.

    Numbers, names, YHC took us out.

    Moleskine

    Upper 40s brought out some overdressed PAX members. Even with the extra layers, energy level was quite high today. Oyster even earned a round of applause for joining pre-launch.

    BB title comes from the impeccable timing of Classic Rewind this am. As YHC got in the car to depart, Bicycle Race by Queen started on the radio. With a fade in effect as if they were waiting for me to start the car. Must have been the Freddie Mercuries we did during Mary.

    Announcements

    • The Bridge 5/10. See Hermes for details.
    • CSAUP this Friday. See your local lead.
    • Breaking Bread is available in May. Sign up!

    Have a blessed day everyone.

    Splinter out.

  • Delegating Duties

    80% of the Splinter clan planned and participated in this past Sunday’s Breaking Bread. Last minute commitments prevented us from breaking bread with them, only drop off and setup this time around.

    2.0s planned, shopped, prepared, cooked, packaged, and served this week. YHC was only required for transportation.

    Meal was parmesan crusted chicken, asparagus, french bread, caesar salad, and cookie brownies for dessert.

    A fun time was had by all.

  • Tour de Crabs

    Nine Mary nincompoops gathered for a potential duel that was eagerly anticipated. After YHC signed up in a blank cell last night and created a route, Saab also signed up in a blank cell last night and created a route. After some threatening text messages back and forth, it was established that it would be figured out in the AM. Under a haze of disappointment, it turns out there was no duel. Bodos had studied YHCs route and was planning on running that. Saab wanted hills and was planning on running his route. So it was left to YHC, as others were either walking or had no clue what was going on. 0530 arrived and after some studder stepping in each direction, YHC’s route was chosen. Off we went, for a flat, somewhat of a double lollipop kind of route. Turns out Bodos didn’t study it enough.

    The Route

    • East on Grove
    • North on Nansemond
    • West on Patterson
    • North on Spokane (who knows why there is a Spokane in RVA)
    • Jog over to east on Monument
    • 4s turn at Commonwealth, 5s at Hamilton, 6s at Tilden
    • West on Grove

    Numbers, names, YHC took us out.

    Saab hasn’t yet signed up for 3/21 but promised he would. Someone needs to check their internet connection b/c one of us was wrong last night.

    Title was stolen from Saab’s comment that the route apparently passed by each of his youngin’s homes.

    Splinter out.

  • Wisdom Prevails

    Fifteen, including many elder statesmen, gathered in the darker than usual commons bowl for this week’s iteration of Spider Run. After claiming the Q last week, there were many inquiries of whether or not intervals were on the docket. Not today fellas, just a good ole Spider Run classic. Glenbrooke Circle route was called and off everyone went:

    The Route

    • Alongside the lake, across the bridge, and through the trail
    • Up University, across Ridge, then left on Ralston
    • Take a dump in Kubota’s yard
    • Right on River, right on Glenbrooke Circle
    • Left on West Glenbrooke Circle
    • Right on Summit and back down
    • 4s return
    • 5s take a right and continue, clockwise, around Glenbrooke Circle then return
    • 6s do the Glenbrooke Circle and add the Windsor on the James loop as well

    Numbers, names, YHC took us out.

    Announcements

    • Frozen Triangle 6am @ Dogpile Saturday
    • See Shakedown for assistance with the Healing Place 10k training

    Moleskine

    Mentally strong group of runners and walkers today. Running may have been not as strong for some, but the camaraderie made up for not meeting peak performance. Always great to have such wisdom in our presence guide us as we start the day.

    Marv is happy metal detectors work.

    Splinter out

  • We Just Passed Some Perfectly Good Hills

    Seven very suspecting gentlemen gathered in Spider Run’s perfect hiding spot for the last hill workout of the year. Given the Q signed up with clear intent for what was in store today, YHC was glad to see 7 show up. 0530 rang and off we went:

    The Route

    Mosey to the end of the bat cave and back, passing the start and heading up through the path towards Towana. Pucker was offered the choice of left or right, he chose left so the first three intervals were up Towana. 1 minute up with a 1:45 recovery back down.

    Next three intervals were up Roselawn. Given YHC is a man of the people, Wedding Singer was offered the choice of left or right when we did our third interval up Roselawn. He was indecisive so we waited for a decision until it was necessary. After pressure, he chose left, so we continued on Roselawn then took a left on Campus.

    This was a slightly longer jaunt than remembered, so by the time we got to our last interval hill, we only had time for 2. We made these our best effort up Bostwick, last one leaving nothing on the table.

    Slow mosey back down Campus to UR Drive then BTTVSF.

    Announcements, no wait, numbers, names, announcements before YHC took us out.

    Moleskine

    The PAX was sincerely confused this morning, passing perfectly good hills to take the flat path through the bat cave. Multiple comments were made before we turned around and headed back towards the fun. These three hills are good ones, with the last being one of the steepest around.

    Props to Doozy who ran 8 yesterday and followed it up with hill repeats today.

    Until next year!

    Splinter out

  • It’s clo-VELL’-ē. Perhaps French?

    Twelve of the most loyal fellas east of Parham road gathered in the most well-lit parking lot in the city for today’s edition of RAMM. Route was posted early so there weren’t many questions. In fact, even Faceplant generally knew where he was going.

    The Route

    https://onthegomap.com/s/hg080or6

    Everyone go east on Grove then south on Malvern into Windsor Farms. Begin the horseshoe, veering left at the triangle park onto Clovelly for some virgin ground. Touch the bottom then reverse course. 4s turn around at Park, 5s at Broad, 6s all the way to Top Golf and inspect the parking lot there.

    Everyone returned on time before numbers, names, and YHC took us out.

    Moleskin

    YHC hadn’t Q’d RAMM since the summer so was well overdue. Creativity was lacking yesterday so the good ole topographic map of Richmond was consulted to try to find a strong contrast of red/green while keeping us generally close to the AO. Clovelly was found and thus the route was created using that road as inspiration.

    It was virgin ground for YHC. Even if I saw 4 gentlemen exit the depths of Clovelly as I was entering, that’s still new ground for me. Post run mumblechatter was generally positive, with comments on how that road could be combined with other hills over there to make a better route than out and back on Malvern. Regardless, seems like a keeper.

    YHC ran solo today but still had great conversation. You’ll have to ask what we discussed.

    Announcements

    • Visit Dogpile tomorrow for special recognition of Hitch. See Slack for details.
    • Breaking bread is covered for 2024 but 2025 dates are open.

    Splinter out.

  • Club of Months, Jelly Edition

    Ten enthusiastic and insightful human beings gathered in the post-broga gloom for this week’s edition of First Watch SZN of Giving. After some debate on whether or not Gomer was early or late, Handshake rolled in and off we went, determining that only our guest would be late today. Short mosey over to the not dry patio for:

    COP

    • 10x Helicopters – choose your own direction
    • 10x Don Quixotes – apparently too fast at first, but just slow enough to greet our guest
    • 25x SSHs – to perfection
    • 10x Mountain Climbers – with no comments
    • 10x Inverted Scorpion Kicks – to much fanfare
    • 20x LBCs – just enough to get the joints lubed

    The Thang

    Slow mosey to the small back parking lot, ignoring a request from one PAX to show everything the AO has to offer. Up for debate, but the AO proper is the church. Everything else is bonus territory. Go ahead, change my mind.

    We (read YHC) decided to do escalating 4 corners, compounding style. What does that mean? It means what I decided at the time. Small lot 4 corners, repeating previous exercises at each new corner. 10x merkins, 20x jump squats, 30x SSHs, 40x LBCs. Bear crawl between stations.

    Use the full parking lot for round 2. HRMs, monkey humpers, plank jacks, reverse crunches. Bernie between stations

    Use the full AO for round 3. Diamond merkins, lunges, mountain climbers, american hammers. Run between stations.

    Mosey to the triangle park for a variation of triple check, competition style. Two partners run to the light and back while the 3rd does an exercise. If you beat your partner, guess what, you get to run again! Swap out a number of times. Exercises were american hammers, squats, something else everyone was excited about. Even thought the Q never said stop, the PAX eventually stopped. So we meandered back to the launch site for one quick round of ROF, dealers choice.

    Numbers, names, YHC took us out.

    Moleskin

    YHC has missed this crew the past few months. Good to see everyone and to share in the season with some partially home-baked goods.

    Thanks for coming out. Glad it never rained on us till the end.

    Announcements

    • 12 Days @ NoToll next Tuesday. Too late to participate in Secret Santa unless you get a waiver from Hutton.
    • Clown car to the Bridge this Saturday. Regrets to Upchuck.
    • Gomer & Pigskin accepting donations for Barnabas, see Slack.

    Splinter out.

  • Just Because

    Eighteen early birds gathered at various times to tackle the first challenge of this week of giving thanks. After some confusion as to whether the 5 milers or 6 milers did their math correctly, everyone departed and paid respect to the old UR turkey trot. Two left sometime prior to 0500, a gaggle left at 0500, then two more gaggles at 0515, followed by another duo at 0525. All in all, no one got lost. Even Anthrax guided a group successfully.

    The Route

    10k for everyone. Unlike the perennial discussion on which one was the first Thanksgiving, no arguing that this is one of the most difficult 10ks around.

    Turkey Routes

    Moleskin

    This route has been reused for 4 years in a row. This year, YHC didn’t even have to walk through the directions for anyone as each group navigated the course with minimal difficulty.

    As mentioned during COT, credit to Bleeder for first introducing the official turkey trot route to the spider runners, way back on October 17, 2017. You’ll have to ask Bleeder what inspired him to prescribe that route that day. Perhaps it was good marketing? Did he learn his race marketing skills from Singer? Only Bleeder knows…

    Dog gone Turkey Trot

    Turns out, YHC tried this back in 2016 but we never finished it. Apparently it rained that day.

    The Turkey Drowned

    Apparently, Saab really didn’t appreciate it being canceled the first year of COVID, as was evident with his backblast title Thanksgiving week of 2020.

    A Middle Finger with a Secular Close

    I digress. What I do know is this is the fourth consecutive year we have brought this route back on the week of Thanksgiving. COVID may have killed the UR turkey trot, but our spirit keeps it alive.

    Backblast title is a reminder of why we have Thanksgiving. It doesn’t matter where the first Thanksgiving was held (we all know the answer to that). The purpose of Thanksgiving is to give thanks to those around us. Why? No real reason. We shouldn’t even have to wait until Thanksgiving to give thanks. We should always be seeking ways to thank those around us, do a good deed, and to help our collective humanity lick our self-inflicted wounds.

    As I was driving away from Spider Run today, this song was just finishing up on Lithium. Tom Morello came on and described how this song was about doing a good deed. For no real reason other than to do it. Just because…

    Splinter out.

  • Football Fans Galore

    The Splinter abode planned and prepared a meal for Breaking Bread this past Sunday. After much discussion, chicken parmesan, green beans, biscuits, and cookie brownies were offered. After the aroma wafted through the car for the 17 minute drive to belt boulevard, we unloaded and served for this week’s guests.

    Moleskin

    Who knew there would be such passion towards football this Sunday? Prime Time appeared in his Eagles sweatshirt, prompting much discussion about the close games of the afternoon. Especially pleased was the gentleman wearing the Chiefs jacket, happy his team squeaked out yet another win.

    Oyster and Upchuck say this plenty, this is an easy #3rd F opportunity for you and the rest of the family.

    Splinter out.

  • A Haunted Precursor

    Fourteen able bodied thrill seekers gathered for today’s launch of Spider Run. After routes were posted at a reasonable time yesterday afternoon and no one saw them, YHC quickly breezed through the following:

    The Route

    • West around the lake and through the path to University
    • Up University, cross Ridge, right on Ralston then quick left back on University
    • Resist the urge to veer right on Ziontown and instead head down the driveway past the not-so-haunted house and down through the park
    • Right on Roslyn Hills then left on September
    • 4s: left on Melwood, left on Roslyn Hills
    • 5s: September to Countryside to left on Ruggles, left on Roslyn Hills
    • 6s: September to Countryside, right on Higginbotham, left on Running Cedar, left on Ruggles, right on Charnwood, left on Standish, left on Roslyn Hills
    • Everyone right back through the park and back whence they came

    Numbers, names, and YHC took us out.

    Announcements

    • The Next 43 webinar next Tuesday 10/22 5-6 EDT with special guest Richard Reeves. See post on Slack that OBT shared.
    • Breaking Bread spot open for October. See the Q sheet.

    Moleskin

    YHC missed the daylight opportunity to throw this route in the mix. Most of the time the PAX prefers to pass the haunted house in the daylight hours. Not so haunted today although the trail continues to provide tripping hazards. Good route in not-oft-used roads west of the park.

    6s mumblechatter centered around college essays and how to piss of administrators at the Richmond International Airport. If you see one of our PAX being detained by security for unknown reasons, just walk the other way.

    Splinter out.