Author: THE Yankee Aggressor

  • Gorilla (s) in the Mist

    2 Bikers and 18 runners posted on a humid June morning for a beatdown.

    The Thang:

    Right on Grove, 4 milers turn at Lafayette, 5 milers turn at Roseneath, 6 milers turn at the Boulevard, and 7 milers turn at Robinson. All proceed to Three Chopt, turn around and head back to the shovel flag.

    Ramm Gears folks road to Williamsburg and back for a quick morning jaunt of just under 100 miles. Great job guys

    NMM:

    TYA spent months researching routes in and around the AO. Having done my due diligence, I quickly settled back onto the Grove Avenue loop that we started on and did for the first six months or so of the run. Many groans were heard when I announced the route. In my defense, I did add another option, the seven mile loop, to mix things up a bit. No one took me up on the new route.

    Very hot out there this morning. 75 and humid to start things out. Sippy was the first to start shedding clothes. He began and finished the run shirtless. YHC jettisoned his shirt after the first part of the run when we went back by the shovel flag. Toga also opted for the shirtless option and was quite a vision with no shirt and no hair on his head. Toga was out front today. When he looped back around BT yelled over to him something like “Lookout, a bald Gorilla is on the loose”. Luckily no children where up that early in the morning to witness the scene.

    Announcements:

    TShirts are on sale for Spider Run. Sign up now so we can meet our minimum order quantity.

    Fudd is having a barn raising party tomorrow. Starts at 8am. Come on out. He will have warm beers and nearly empty bags of chips with only crumbs left for refreshment.

    Lab Rat mentioned two charity events that Phonics is sponsoring. One was a corn hole tournament on June 11th. The other was a 5K run. See Lab Rat or Phonics for details. (just as an aside, corn hole means something entirely different in the Northeast. I can assure you we do not have that kind of tournament in Massachusetts)

  • Hillcrest is under construction

    3 stalwarts posted on a sunny Wednesday evening.

    The Thang:

    Extended hillcrest loop. Run down West Hillcrest, left towards Charmian, Follow Charmian around to East Hillcrest. Back up East Hillcrest to finish the loop. Repeat x3.

    NMM:

    When we arrived, the Richmond road repaving crew was already set and ready to roll. That left very little parking and space for the PAX to park. Swirly and I found enough parking and waited for any additional PAX. TSB arrived shortly after having walked up the hill from here house. She refuses to take a ride up the hill because its a two minute walk (cannot argue with her logic).

    Road paving operations were underway, so we modified our route to minimize the time on East Hillcrest. It ended up being a good call as the pavement operations were both smelly and hot. Additionally the vehicles were spewing out there diesel exhaust. Made for a hard run…but we prevailed.

    Next week we will find a new route so that we miss the repaving….

    TYA out

  • Back to Hillcrest

    Wednesday hill run will return to Hillcrest today. 530pm for a few laps on the hills. See you there. BRR is only 107 days away!!

    TYA

  • Wednesday Hill Run @ Hillcrest

    Gents, we are going back to the hills of Hillcrest tomorrow. 530 PM. Hillcrest is 3/4 of a mile west of Mary Munford. Follow cary west, take a left onto Hillcrest and park on either side of the rode.

    See you tomorrow

    TYA

  • F3 Repels ticks

    Seven redwoods posted for a Wednesday morning beatdown. Weather was a little damp, but otherwise beautiful…Seemed like 70 and sunny to me.

    The Thang:

    Mosey towards nickel bridge. COP, disclaimer, 35x SSH, 30x LBC, 10x arm circles (front and back), 20x mountain climbers. Mosey to first shelter. Bearmuda triangle with Berp and Merks. Bearcrawl to light pole 1 x burp/merk, bear crawl to tree, 2 burp/merks, bear crawl to fireplace 3 burp/merks. Repeato x 3. Mosey towards other shelter, on the way pick up fallen limb and transport to the brush pile. Mosey to other shelter. Elevens with WWII situps and 4 count mountain climbers. Eleven route is down the hill about 100 yards and back up to the shelter. When completed, do hill repeats until all pax are finished. Mosey back to shelter. Tabata dips followed by tabata LBC, followed by ring of fire with 10 push ups. Mosey towards flag. 3.5 minutes of mary with American hammers, LBC, Bay City Scissors.

    COT with Fudd taking us out.

    NMM:

    Awesome to have Bleeder back out there for a workout, for the most part. He put in a good workout, but could not resist messing around with the Q. When YHC started the workout with SSH, I was determined to do as many proper SSH as possible. Having spent the past 1.5 years perfecting my technique, I was all ready…until, I turned towards Bleeder and he was doing his best to imitate my worst SSH form.

    Fudd is a constant feedback machine. He was really happy when I described the Bearmuda triangle. He also loved the Bay City Scissors giving the Q ample feedback. If “feedback is a gift”, Fudd is the biggest present you could ever get. (I know I might get feedback that this is a little hypocritical for me to say…but what the heck).

    I am going to throw out a new corporate challenge for the PAX. It is going to sound easy…but I bet no one can accomplish it. The challenge is simple. Beat Swirly to a workout. Any workout will do, you just have to get to the AO before him. Good luck to all.

    Welcome to Last Time, Keith. He posted for his first workout from a recommendation of a friend who had posted once. He has been doing Seal workout for sometime and was looking for something a little bit different. Hopefully F3 will fit the bill.

    Finally, over my 1.5 plus years as an F3 PAX, I have found many amazing benefits of F3. This morning, I discovered one additional benefit. An F3 workout will eliminate ticks from your body. On the way in, I felt a bump in my underarm and noticed that I had a tick. The tick appeared pretty happy and content in its new abode. That is, until I stared the F3 workout. The beatdown was too much for the tick. When I completed the workout, the tick was gone.

    See you in the gloom

  • Time to put in the work!

    Gents, BRR is now about 4 months away. If you have not started to train yet, the time is now. A good way to think about the BRR from a preparation perspective is to get your body prepared to run a half marathon (maybe a little more for the 9 person team). Last year Jville helped out and put together an individula training plan for me. If you would like help putting one together, feel free to reach out to me or Jville directly.

    One of the things we did last year was a Wednesday afternoon hill run. We are going to start that again this week. We will rotate location (and Q’s). This Wednesday will be at 5:30 at Hillcrest avenue in the city. It is 3/4 of a mile to the west of Mary Munford school. Take a left onto Hillcrest and park on either side of the road. TYA will be the Q for this run (so you can imagine how creative it will be).

    One of the other benefits of the Wednesday afternoon run is that you can simulate what it is like to run on consecutive days by adding in SOT or W-Dog on Wednesday am and Thursday AM 45 MOM. Doing those three workouts in succession is about the same amount of time your body has between BRR legs (of course, it does not simulate the complete lack of sleep).

    Everyone and every running level is welcome. See you out there tomorrow.

  • Patterson here we come

    9 runners and 1 strong biker posted for a Friday morning workout. Weather continues to be stellar for the morning workouts. Early morning workouts certainly take advantage of good weather conditions.

    The Thang:

    5 milers, Commonwealth to Patterson, Patterson to St. Christophers, Left onto access road in front of Three Chopt, Left on Grove, back to school and one lap around school to finish. 6 milers, right on grove to Hamilton, left on Hamilton, Left on Patterson, then follow the 5 mile route back. Bikers, head to UR and play on the hills for 45 minutes.

    Naked Moleskin.

    Always interesting to do a new route. This is one of my favorites from the past, when I used to live at the intersection of Patterson and Malvern. Good memories of the route and it did not disappoint me. With a new route, comes directions. When YHC was explaining the turn onto access road in front on 3 Chopt, I was having a hard time conveying the concept to the PAX. Splinter quickly cleared things up “look, just dont run on three chopt”. That worked and it seemed like everyone got the idea. Only problem with the route was the stated mileages. I was off by about a half a mile on the 45 and 6. The PAX were very accommodating, just adding the trek around the school to get the stated distances.

    YHC was in hot pursuit of Gumbo for the whole run today. Gumbo is much like Bleeder. You can catch up to him, but there is no way to pass him. I caught him on 3 occasions, did not change my pace, yet he pulled away again and again. Oh well, maybe next time.

    We had three takers for the six mile route today. Sippy, as usual. He was joined by Splinter and Rosie. Not sure if Splinter is a regular six miler, but this was Rosie’s first round with the longer route. Great job fellas. I only hope one day to be able to do that.

    YHC took us out.

    One slot left for the BRR sign up soon. Talk to HC

    Marv and Saab were missed along with many other regulars. See you guys back out there in the gloom again soon.

  • 7, 10, 17. Your Choice

    5 Faithful posted on a Sunday morning to take on the trails or Richmond.

    The Thang: Several routes were run this morning. TYA, TSB and Offshore opted for a 7+ mile route that started at the pumphouse, traversed to the other side of the river, took the buttermilk to forrest hill park, back on the butter milk and back to the shovel flag. Lab Rat wanted a little more mileage so he opted to return via belle isle and the northbank trail for a total of 10+. Saab headed out early, did the extended loop including forest hill and then repeated the buttermilk northbank loop for 17+ miles.

    Moleskin

    Saab took off early. No idea what time, as he was on the move by the time I showed up at 655. He ran into Lab Rat on the final part of Lab Rat’s route, but never made contact with the rest of us. I cannot wait to hear what race/event Saab is training for. Is he a candidate for Barkley’s? Another run at the JFK 50? Or maybe, just maybe he will run the entire BRR by himself. Whatever he decides to do, I know he will slay it. That man has an engine that wont stop.

    For a few minutes, I thought it was going to be just TSB and myself on the run this morning. It was good to see Lab rat pull and followed by Offshore (who was in just under the starting gun). Today we kept pretty close to each other the whole way. Offshore not having Saab to chase after slowed his pace a bit. Good to run with everyone today.

    Weather is improving, so there are a lot more people on the trails. For the first time in a long time, we saw mountain bikers on the trail. Since it is the beginning of the year, everyone was super patient and respectful of each other. Let keep that vibe going as long as we can. BRR is less than 175 days away now. Looking forward to seeing more of the PAX out there on Sundays to start hitting the hills.

  • A Southern Belle arrives

    Four faithful and one FNG posted for a Sunday morning on the trails. Weather was perfect, 40 degrees, no wind and sun rising.

    The Thang:

    Start at pump house parking lot, Head across bridge to souths side, Buttermilk to Belle Isle, Belle Isle outside loop to Northbank trail. Northbank back to pump house parking lot.

    NMM:

    Great to have Honeydo and Rosie back out on the trails with the PAX. Blue ridge relay is now less than five months away and it is time to start putting in the miles. Honeydo and Rosie had a good pace going the whole time. Total round trip for the PAX took about 80 minutes, a good pace for the trail run.

    Saab is on a quest. A quest for what, we do not yet know. All I know is that if he watches the Barkley Marathons video again, he likely will quit our blue ridge relay team and try to do the whole race on his own. He asked YHC what the route was today and it was clear from the start that he had another route on his agenda. Do not know what he had in mind or what he ended up doing, but I am sure it was in the 15- 20 mile range. Run Forest Run!

    IT was a blessing to share the trails with my daughter this morning. She was also inspired by the Barkley’s video and declared that she wanted to do the trails as much as possible from now on. She posted this morning and put in an awesome run (first time or not). As mentioned, we completed the loop in 80 minutes, which is a pretty good pace for the PAX. She was second only to SAAB for the first couple miles, the settled in behind Honeydo and Rosie for the rest of the route. Today was the longest run of her life, but I am sure that will not be the case for long.

    Along the route, I had been contemplating names for my 2.0. Although I had a half dozen names locked and loaded to suggest, I did not have to suggest one. When I asked for suggestions. Rosie said “Well we have the Yankee Aggressor, how about the Southern Belle”. It was one of my suggestions and fits all the F3 naming criteria, so THE Southern Belle it is. I am sure she will post for the run again in the not so distant future.

    Thanks to Rosie for taking us out in the COT. He did a great job adjusting the usual “Let try to be better fathers…. by adding daughters and student to the usual list of roles we play in the world.

    2 slots left for BRR. Join soon or you might miss out on this awesome event.

    HDHH this week sponsored by Dr Flashdance. RSVP so he can have the right amount of refreshments available.

    See you in the Gloom.

  • Tour Da Ville

    5 Faithful posted on a blustery Spring (??) morning. Felt more like mid winter thanks to a 40 degree drop in temperature during the previous 9 hours.

    The Thang

    Mosey to from Shovel flag, across parking lot to corner adjacent to greenhouse. Warm up COP. 15x Don Quixote, 20x LBC, 25x SSH, 30 (15 on each side) arm circles. Head down the street towards the stadium. Light jog to first pole, sprint to next pole, repeato until close to corner number 2. Ascending and Descending curb crawls, ascend to 8 and descend back down to one. Mosey to base of hill for a mini Beast. Run to top of hill, 6 carolina drydocks, run to bottom, 6 decline merkins, repeato x 6. Mosey to bus loop in front of elementary school. Elevens on the front stretch of the loop with Lt. Dan’s and step ups. Mosey to field next to track for 3 MOM. 15x LBC, 20x flutter kicks, 25 x Russian twists. Mosey back to shovel flag for a quick COT and everyone goes out into the day.

    Naked Moleskin

    Great to lead at the new AO. When Circle K led the first workout there, we did a lap around the entire AO. ON my VQ of the AO, I wanted to make it around the loop again. So, we did a modified four corners of the entire AO. 2.5+ miles or running plus a beatdown on arms, legs and abs is what we got. This AO is very rich with options of things to do. Several tracks, several fields, a stadium, 3 bus loops, a trail, and a great shortish hill. Additionally, there are a few large parking lots which could be creatively used.

    Very quiet today during the workout. Very little mumble chatter, except for the occasional enthusiasm from Abacus. Not sure if it was the AO norm or just a good beatdown with no time for chatter.

    COT message today by YHC was about patience. My message must have been a premonition of what I would need today. I had several time during the day where I needed maximum patience. Luckily, I was able to remember the message and keep my cool….

    Announcments

    W-Dog starts tomorrow. Come on out and check out the new weekly workout. Circus Maximus starts on Thursday, bring a kettlebell or block and check it out. With 13 workouts per week now it give all of us a great opportunity to lead and to get more folks out to the workouts. Keep ehing folks, lets build this thing and make Richmond a stronger region.

    See you in the gloom.