Author: THE Yankee Aggressor

  • First VQ of the week

    Weather was 70 and time of day was Sunrise

    Four Pax “braved the weather” for Lab Rat’s virgin Q, kicking off what has turned out to be Virgin Q week here in RVA, We were greeted to a stunning sunrise while heading across the nickle bridge. With Offshore in the lead, we headed down Buttermilk Trail and picked up Forest Hill Loop, then back home the way we came. This gave us a total of a shade over 7.1 miles total.

    Nobody was in much of a rush this morning, and even the speedy Offshore seemed content to keep the pace at a comfortable level. TYA tried to do a little complaining to break YHC in to life as a Q, but it was half-hearted at best. Overall, it was just a great day for a run, and spirits were high.

    Although some of the rocks and roots were sneaky slick, everybody managed to keep the blood on the inside this morning. Circle K battled thru a bum wheel, and YHC hopes that it won’t effect his Q in the morning. Wild horses couldnt keep me away from that workout.

    Coffeeteria afterwards, where TYA and YHC were introduced to come Circle K wisdom: That stuff that goes on top of green bean casserole is called “french fries.” Thanks for the coffee and the laughs, Circle K.

    AYE!

    THE Lab Rat

  • At Least Two

    16 motivated runners posted on a beautiful Friday morning.

    The Thang: Right onto Grove to The Boulevard and turn around. 4 mile loop turn at Wisteria, 5 mile loop turn at Tuckahoe, 6 mile turn at Three Chopt. Back to the shovel flag.

    Moleskin

    YHC declared early just before the run that it was a perfect day morning for a run. One of the PAX pointed out that I say that every week. That is true…but we have had a string of exceptional running weather.

    The PAX was on fire today. Most were back at the shovel flag prior to 6:15 running their normal distances. We might have to expand out distances soon to occupy the time.

    The run has been taking place for over a year now. When the run started, I would often ask Bleeder the night before the run, how many did he think we would have for the run. His response, every time was “at least two”. The run has come a long way. We routinely have double digit numbers at the run. If today was not a record number of PAX, it was darn close. Pleasure to run with you guys on Friday’s.

  • Bear (or Beer) Creek Trail Run

    8 Faithful F3ers and 142+ other folks posted for a trail run at Bear Creek State Park. Weather was a little chilly to start but was glorious by end of the run

    The Thang:

    5 mile out and 5 mile back trail run. Try to follow the white markers and white blazes on the trees to stay on route.

    Moleskin

    Much like the BRR descriptions of the terrain, the Bear Creek description that YHC received from Saab and LockJaw was nowhere near what was described. Relatively flat, no significant elevation changes. I saw no flat ground the whole run and although the elevation change was not a mountain goat hard leg, there were some pretty good hills. Five (or more) stream crossings along the way. Thankfully the recent weather left the stream levels low and at most the water hit the top of your shoes.

    First trail race for several of us. I know that it was the virgin trail run for Splinter, Oyster, Offshore, and TYA. I know for sure that Saab, Lab Rat and Lockjaw have done trail runs before. Not sure about Honeydo.

    Tclaps to Lab Rat for the post race meal. He threw together a rice, chicken and hot dog treat that hit the spot post race. Great second F after the race with a variety of adult and non adult beverages available. Splinter and Oyster’s daughter enjoyed a post race chocolate milk. Tclaps to Oyster wife for the post race Dunkin Donuts. Beer and donuts are a great combination.

    Much talk after the race about the BRR and this experience. Saab declared that he would most likely not do the BRR again because “how could it possibly top the first experience at the BRR”. Well, I say that we find out how.

    Back to the RVA trails next week.

  • Coming in Hot

    10 fast faithful and 1 FRNG posted for a run Friday morning. Weather was perfect for a run, mid 30’s and clear.

    The thang:

    All run from school on Commonwealth to Monument, right on Monument. 4 mile turn at THE Boulevard, 5 mile turn at Allison, and 6 mile turn at Stuart Circle. Circle back on monument and then left onto commonwealth and back to shovel flag.

    Naked Moleskin:

    I pulled into the parking lot at 5:26, one car (Toga) in my rear view mirror and Sippy Cup parking his bike. No Swirly, no Bleeder, very strange. Thought we were going to have a small group this week, but the folks started to stream in to the parking lot. By the time was all said and done there were 11 of us on the run, including two clown cars (Toga and Lockjaw in one Circle K and Lab Rat in the other).

    YHC gave directions to all and warned everyone that although it was a very simple route, the last time we did this route, Swirly got lost. Circle K and Lab Rat being the last two to arrive missed the warning. As Lab Rat was running with a group of four he was easily able to navigate the route. Circle K on the other hand managed to get off route. He claims he was not lost because he always knew how to get back to the school. You make the call.

    Welcome to Tramp Stamp. Friend of Marv’s who showed up for his first posting. He had a good run finishing with the 4/5 mile group. Tramp Stamp is an Ex-UVA baseball player who currently runs SkyZone. Marv being a good host suggested Tramp Stamp and having no other more humiliating name, it stuck.

    Kotters to LockJaw who posted for a run for the first time in a long time. He was trying to prepare for Saturday’s Bear Creek 10 miler. I think one four mile friday run should be ample preparation for a ten mile trail run!

    Good luck to all who are running Bear Creek on Saturday.

  • Seven Eleven

    7 faithful posted for a sunday morning run. Weather 70 degrees and sunny.

    The Thang:

    Northbank to Belle Isle to Buttermilk. Optional jaunt through forest hill park.

    Naked Moleskin:

    Five of the faithful took the 7 mile option skipping the forest hill park options. Saab and TYA were the only takers for forest hill. Saab and I got a little lost during our run through the park and got and extra mile done for a total of 11 miles. Both options were good runs and should have us all ready for next weeks’ Bear Creek 10 miler.

    Lab Rat took a spill early on today. Little shaken up, but no blood and generally not worse for the wear. Heard on the trail today “I remember when Chum and Jville used to do trail runs”. We do miss you guys out there. Come on back for a run.

  • Thanksgiving Lesson

    15 faithful posted for a pre-thanksgiving meal beatdown. Weather was 40 and sunny, beautiful day for a workout

    The Thang:

    Mosey to side of school, 16x Don Quixote, 21x Side Straddle Hops, 16x Merkins, 21x copperhead squats, 16x arm circles, 21x LBC. Pucker identified the significance of 1621 – the year of the first Thansgiving. Next trivia quesion: Where was the first Thanksgiving. 16 burpees OYO if you knew that first thanksgiving was in Plymouth Massachusetts, 21 if you believe it was anyplace other than Plymouth Mass. Double Applesauce Indian run to tree line and then to other end of field. Turkey day 10s. 46 Million turkeys eaten this year (so we will use the 4 and 6. Run to end of field, 6 burpees and 4 merkins, run back, 4 burpees and 6 merkins, Repeato x5. Mosey to tennis courts. 4 corners (to acknowledge the four states, LA, NC, TX, AZ, that have a city named turkey. 19 Stuart Scott Merkins in corner one, 34 WWII situps in corner two, 19 partner squat jumps in corner 3, and 34 LBC in corner 4. Repeato x 4. Circle up in middle of tennis courts for 6 MOM, dealers choice. Loose Goose selects Russian Twists x16. Toga selects Alabama Prom dates x 16, Q decides we should do the whole honeymoon suite (alabama prom dates, pickle pounders, morning wood, and monkey humpers) x 16. Mosey back to shovel flag for COT and out into the day.

    Naked Moleskin

    Hearty welcome to OBT in town from NC for Thanksgiving. Good to have him back at an RVA workout. He was the Q last Thanksgiving. Kotters to Dick Trickle. Also good to have him back in the PAX. He and many of the other PAX were confused at 7:45 when we continued the workout. It was indeed going to be a one hour beatdown.

    Lots of mumble chatter heard during the honeymoon suite series of exercises. OBT kept mentioning an obsession by F3 Isotope with hip gyration types of exercises. Wilson refused to do the morning wood exercises. After a great demonstration of the exercise by Loose Goose, Wilson tried one, maybe two of the exercise. After that he switched over to some Wilson’s Wife Approved alternative.

    Both Saab and Sippy Cup ran to (and from) the workout this morning. They had certainly paid it forward as far as pre-meal calorie burning. YHC saw Saab running down Commonwealth on my way to the workout. Saab was bobbing and weaving down the street. YHC asked if he was drinking this morning and he admitted it was not this morning, but he did have more than a few last night. Several of the PAX were double dipping after the working running either the Salisbury Turkey Waddle or the UR 10k. Best of luck to all.

    Thanksgiving theme was inspired by my first Thanksgiving in RVA. I was invited to dinner at Bleeder’s in laws house (long time Richmond residents and staunch southerners). During dinner conversation, one guest mentioned the morning article about the first thanksgiving. YHC queried about the article and what they had to say about the first Tgiving in Plymouth MA. “No, the article was about the true first Thanksgiving, the one in Jamestown”. I was stunned, but somehow kept my composure and let it go. Couldn’t help myself this morning when I had the lead. Had to make sure all know that the true genesis of Thanksgiving was indeed in good old MA.

    Great work out there this morning men. Although none of use have the perfect life (except maybe Bleeder), we all have a ton to be thankful for. We are truly the lucky ones in the world, living in the U.S., tons of opportunity, food on the table, and loving friends and family. I am thankful for all of that today as well as the F3 group that has been created here in RVA. Great group of folks….I now look forward to getting up at 5am daily to workout.

  • 7 or 10 miles on the trail

    7 posted on a crisp morning for a trail run

    The thang:

    Northbank trail Belle Isle, take outside track at Belle Isle and cross bridge to Buttermilk. 4 of the 7 went straight on the Buttermilk and back to the parking lot. 3 of the faithful took a single lap around Forest hill park and then back to the Buttermilk and parking lot.

    Naked Moleskin:

    Good to have Toga and Brain Tumor back out on the trail run. Toga brought his brother in law (?) Craig to the run. They had a church commitment so they went straight through to the end with no turnbacks to catch the back of the pack (TYA). Brain Tumor and Lab Rat skipped the Forest Hill loop and headed back to the parking lot. Not sure if there was a naming ceremony for Toga’s FNG? Base route about 7.1 miles.

    Saab, Offshore and TYA took the Forest Hill loop. YHC was the only one that had run the loop in a long time so I was navigating. I admitted early on that I was a little unclear about the route at the end. We made it most of the way around with no issues. Had to ask directions at the end, but we were able to easily find our way back. With Forest Hill loop, the run is a bit over 10 miles.

    Two weeks til the bear creek 10 miler. Come on out next week for a post Thanksgiving day run.

  • Porsche or Mr. Woodfin? Gingivitis of the Eye?

    10 strong and fast posted for a morning jog at RAMM. Weather was fantastic, clear, 45 degrees and little wind.

    The Thang:

    Right onto Grove, 4 milers turn at Malvern, 5 milers turn at Roseneath, 6 milers turn at The Boulevard. All the way to Three Chopt then run back to the shovel flag.

    Naked Moleskin:

    We have been parking in the staff parking lot on Thursday and Friday for the past three months. Usually during the morning we are the only ones in the parking lot at 530 and there may be a new car or two that arrives during our workouts. Plenty of room in the parking lot, so no problem at all for anyone….well maybe not.

    This morning a women turns in at 5:28 just before our departure, pulls her car to the side, leaves it running and gets out of the car. Very nice and polite women with a reasonable request. She has been working at the school for 21 + years and parks in the same parking spot everyday. If she does not park in that spot, it throws her whole flow and that of the entire school into chaos. Would it be possible for us to not park in her spot from now on so harmony can return to the school (we of course honored her request and Swirly moved his truck so she could have her rightful spot back). She noticed that the two cars that parked there were “a Porsche and Mr. Woodfin”. This comment led Swirly and Bleeder to spend half of their run trying to figure out how she knew that Mr. Woodfin owned the Porsche. Pax cleared things up for Swirly and Bleeder at the end explaining that the car other than the Porsche was Swirly’s old Woodfin logo wrapped vehicle.

    Pax has been nursing its way through many aches and pains over the past several months. Some big injuries and some minor aches and pains. Swirly, who will work his way through any issue small or large, declared he would never work out if he didn’t work through pain or injury of some kind. He was in fact today dealing with a bad case of “Gingivitis of the Eye”, which did not slow him down one bit.

    Rat pack finally posted on time today. He has tried to post two straight weeks to the Friday morning run. First day he made it to the AO about a minute after the Pax took off for the run and did not know the route so he ran a randomly selected route and then met us back at the shovel flag for the COT. Last week, determined to make it on time, he posted at 5:45, what he thought was 15 minutes early for the 530am run (he usually posts on Saturday so assumed start time was the same as Saturday’s 6am start). Unfortunately he missed us again, so he went home and ran that afternoon. Great to have you out there with us today. Third time is a charm.

    BT recapped Fudds neat “vision quest” outfit from the previous day. TYA announced the 5k Turkey Waddle in Salisbury on Thanksgiving morning, but forgot to mention Fudd’s favorite race that he is thankful for that I think is in Richmond somewhere, maybe on Thanksgiving morning? Fudd?

    Kotters to The Scream, he was back for the run for the first time in a few months. Good to have you out there. BT and he had a nice run and some good fellowship together this morning.

    Sippy is back to his old form. He started a few minutes late, ran six versus YHC’s 5 miler and caught me before I hit three chopt. Great work brother, fantastic to see you almost back to full strength

    Announcements

    Special time for Thanksgiving day workout, 7am.

    Several races after the workout that you can easily make for a great double dip. Waddle 5k in Salisbury at 9, a race in Ashland, and the Turkey Trot 10k at the UofR. See Fudd for details of the UofR run. Plenty of parking at Fudd’s house for those attending that event.

    Safe travels to all and a great Thanksgiving week.

  • Slippery when frozen

    3 Veterans and two trail run FNG’s posted on a crisp fall morning.

    The Thang: Cross over Nickel Bridge, Buttermilk trail to Belle Isle. Take outside loop around Belle Isle and back over to the Northbank trail. Northbank trail back to parking lot. 7.1 miles done by 8:20 am, COT and out into the day.

    Naked Moleskin:

    Splinter and Lab Rat posted for their first trail runs with F3. Both had great runs and enjoyed the trail experience. Splinter hung around at the front of the pack with Saab, and Lab Rat spent a good majority of the day with or in front of TYA. No rain on Saturday so the leaves were a little more forgiving. When we hit the Belle Isle bridge from the south side we found the ice/frost. As we took our first several strides on the bridge I look over and Saab was sliding down the new wood. We all quickly moved onto the middle/older section which had a lot more grip. The quick change allowed us to avoid any issues. We met oyster at the start of the buttermilk. He turned around and joined us for the run back along the northbank. Oyster got his usual 20 minute headstart on the run.

    Lab Rat and YHC had quite a bit of time to converse on the buttermilk side. Lab Rat is very knowledgeable on the trails and had many great suggestions for add ons and options. He has spent a good amount of time on the trails in the past. We also caught up with each other and realized that we had a bit in common. Both of us have adopted girls from China, and they both compete at the same gym. It was easy for us to figure out who the others daughter was as they are the only two Chinese girls at the gym. Small world.

    Long discussion after the run about a few subjects. First was Saab’s daily trip to Martin’s to pick up “lunch meat”. Only the northerners used the alternate “cold cuts” designation for deli meat. The other discussion was about preparing live seafood for eating. TYA admitted that he was uncomfortable killing fish/shellfish and is extremely happy not having to hunt and prepare other types of food. Both TYA and Saab admitted that they would probably starve if they had lived in a time that required the hunting and preparing your own food. Saab relayed a story about a friend of his that put live crabs in the oven for cooking. Wow…

    Weather is perfect for trail running. Join us if you can.

  • Belle Isle Excursion

    4 faithful posted for a sunday morning jog.

    The thang.

    Head East on the northbank trail towards downtown. Cross over to Belle Isle. Head into the trails of Belle Isle for a loop. Head back across the river to the northbank and head back to the parking lot.

    Naked Moleskin

    Good to hit some new terrain today. Belle Isle is full of trails and we have explored just a few. YHC has yet to find a good map of the trails, so we explore and learn as we go. Total loop today was somewhere between 7 and 7.5 miles.

    YHC slowed the guys down a more than a bit on the way back. Not eating before the run is not recommended. Apparantly I had enough energy to do the first half and Belle Isle. My pace was much slower on the way back.

    Honeydo took a small spill along the way. When YHC asked him if he was OK, he quickly waved me off… it was just a small fall and he wanted no attention as a result. Saab and Offshore continue to set the pace on the runs. Great to run with these guys. They always keep me motivated to try to keep pace. Thanks for he inspiration along the way.