Author: Toga

  • Spartan takeover of Spider Run

    7 and 1 FNG posted for a very atypical Spider Run.  The weather, the hills, and the ROPE were perfect.  The Thang:

    Run by the lake, past the Robins Center and behind the fraternity houses to come out on Wheeler.  Make a left up to Ridge Top and start heading down Shrewsbury to YHC’s back driveway.  The PAX picked up a token(s) (kettle bells, dumbbells, cinder block…), walked them up to the stop sign at the Ridge Top intersection, back down to the Horsepen intersection, ran up to and climbed the rope hanging from the Toga family sweetgum tree, and then ran back to the Horsepen intersection to repeat till 0605.  Mosey back to UR and backwards run laps till time expired.

    NMM:  In all fairness, YHC thought there would only be 2-3 people at Spider Run.  What we got was Zima (now an established Spider Run regular) continuing his EH spree with FNG Matlock and a cast of other characters.  YHC also needed to work in some Spartan race style shenanigans to get ready for 9/24.  Enter the extended, uphill farmer’s carry and rope climbs.

    The PAX killed it with on all fronts except for BT’s rope burn (looks like someone is going to be buying some sexy stockings for the race) and someone who refused to even attempt the rope climb (hint: name rhymes with Swedish automobile).

    Welcome to Matlock who was most certainly expecting a run around UR.  I’m sure it will be more like that next time.

    Announcements:  Congrats to both BRR teams on such a strong performance!

    ReeseStrong 5k this Saturday:  http://www.reesestrong.org/reesestrong-5k/

    Spartan Race 9/24

    Stay Classy,

    Toga

  • Coupon Monday

    3 (yes, it’s the magic number) posted for another sunny (not really) and 70 (actually right on 70) day in RVA.  Here’s how it went down.

    Everyone grab a coupon (25 lb dumbbell, 35 lb kb or cinderblock) and mosey to corner of parking lot for warmup COP:  SSH, Imperial Walkers, Merkins, Don Quixote, something else…

    Grab coupon and mosey to basketball court.  Each of the PAX switched which coupon they carried each rotation of the following:

    Each of six rounds started with Coupon Suicide and 10 merkins with the following exercises rotated in for the third fun filled activity of each rotation: dry docks, weighted sit-ups, squats, Freddy, alt shoulder presses, and something else

    Mosey with coupons to picnic tables for triple check.  This was the usual drill with runs to a lamppost,   burpee box jumps and weighted sit-ups

    Mosey to poking lot for ring/line of fire.  Round 1 = 8 burpee block presses while the PAX held a plank, and Round 2 = 20 flutter kicks with block extended while PAX held reverse plank, repeato x2

    COT

    NMM:  YHC is not going to lie.  The trail run con burpees left a mark.  Why bring out the coupons? You might ask.  Well.., someone mentioned a few weeks back that The Punisher should be punishing.., right?  You can’t argue with the logic, so a certain level needed to be maintained.  Everyone got after it in true F3 style, and there was very little mumble chatter.

    No new announcements, but we do need to give a temporary farewell to everyone’s favorite cavity search, Pat Down.  He heads back to NC but promises he will return.  Safe Travels

    PSA: What’s up with Monday workout attendance?  Get your week started right and post on Mondays!

    Stay Classy,

    Toga

  • Maximus makes it over to Batteau

    8 strong (and about to get stronger) posted for a fun filled episode of Batteau.  Little did they know that Maximus would make an appearance.

    Mosey to steps to acquire rocks then mosey down the steps to the road and the gazebo by the lake.

    COP:  mtn climbers, Don Quixote, merkins, Russian soldiers, staggered merkins rt and lt

    Lift rocks above head and mosey to nearest lamp post.  20x chest press, 30x flutter kicks, repeato x3

    Rocks above head and mosey down the road to some random tree.  16x curls, 20x full extensions, repeato x3

    Rocks above head and mosey back to the lamp post.  20x shoulder press, 30x Slow Freddy, repeato x3

    Rocks up and back to tree.  10x weighted sit-ups, 10x supine overhead extensions, repeato x3

    Carry rock back up steps to first landing for 10x tricep extensions, 10x squats, repeato x3

    Deposit rocks for the next time and mosey back to flag.  Several minutes of Mary then Flashdance took us home.

    NMM:  Well that was nothing like what was going through Toga’s brain on the way to the AO.  Hardywood put down such a memorable/scarring beatdown at the inaugural Batteau that YHC wanted to give some of it another shot.  Unfortunately, YHC represented the only member of the PAX to bring a headlight.  NOTE:  It’s time again to start packing a light to the wooded AOs (Batteau, DogPile, maybe NoToll?).  You never know what will come out and grab you.., alright, it’s usually Lab Rat getting handsy, but maybe the lights will keep him off?  The PAX probably had an easier go with the beach muscle workout than the rock hiking adventure originally planned, but everyone got a peak at what a Circus Maximus workout looks like.  Hopefully we’ll see some converts real soon.

    Stay Classy,

    Toga

  • Pretending to be a Sherpa

    It had been a long time since YHC Q’d a workout at 45MoM.  Nothing really changed except for the shiny new traffic circles (more on that later).  10 strong posted for some traditional F3 fun vs. the recent influx of CrossFit WODs.

    COP:  SSH, Scap. Merkins, DX, Mtn Climbers…

    Mosey to corner and partner up for carry time.  Run down Westmorland, 10 burpees, partner carry down Cary, 10 burpees, backwards run down Commonwealth, partner carry down Grove, and finish with 10 burpees.  Repeato with 10x Super Man Merkins (assume Super Man position at the bottom of each merkin) instead of the burpees.

    Mosey to basketball court for Triple Check= run, good form squats and wall runners (merkin near base of wall then push yourself to balls to the wall position, come back down and repeat)

    Back to the flag for some ab fun.

    COT: Ricky Bobby and Marv spotted a rainbow framing the sunrise, and we simply stopped a minute to take that in.  Nuff said

    NMM:  YHC used a couple of CrossFit WODs over the past couple of days to try something a bit different, but today was back to basics.  The partner carry is always a blast, and it needs to be noted that TYA carried YHC up and down the road more than once without a break.  YHC also thought that the backwards run down Commonwealth would be a nice respite.  It turns out that it’s a lot farther than it looks.  Speaking of looks, Wedding Singer should have been looking out for the new traffic circles during the backwards portion of the circuit.

    Announcements:

    • 2nd F Event Friday 1730 at The Answer- Pre Convergence chance to hang with Gnarly Goat
    • CONVERGENCE 0700 Saturday, DogPile with GROW school led by Gnarly Goat at ET’s immediately following the workout
    • 9/17 F3 team at Reese Strong 5k: http://www.reesestrong.org/reesestrong-5k/
    • 9/24 F3 Team at Spartan, see Toga or just signup
    • See Flashdance if interested in Festy run, early Oct.

  • The Murph* 1.0

    9 faithful and 1 FNG posted for our inaugural attempt at The Murph* (explanation and our revised version to follow).  Here’s how it went down:

    Start promptly at 0530 to run the VITA trail and head to pull-up bars.  Following a brief/ineffective tutorial on kipping pull-ups, begin 100 pull-ups, 200 merkins and 300 squats.  Note: the pull-ups were on a team number, and the merkins and squats were individual goals.

    At 0602 we pulled the plug and ran the VITA again.  The PAX, minus the Q, engaged in some plank work and ended on time.  Viral took us out.

    NMM:  For those who don’t know, “The Murph” is a Crossfit WOD named after Navy Lt Michael Murphy who died in Afghanistan in 2005.  If you have seen the movie or read Lone Survivor, you know about his sacrifice.  Needless to say, we didn’t wear body armor, and we didn’t attempt the full 100 pull-ups per person.  This was more of an intro to a Crossfit classic, and I think we learned some things:

    • We’re going to need to learn to do kipping pull-ups to ever get to 100 per person.
    • Kipping pull-ups will rip even well established calluses right off your hands.
    • The Murph needs to be done in a 1 hr workout vs a 45 min slot.
    • We were close enough in this attempt that I am 100% that we can all do this!
    • Circle K can crank out some pull-ups!  Who knew?

    YHC has no idea how everyone else did, but Circle K completed our version, and YHC was 40 squats from being done.  Everyone else can post their results or not, but I know everyone put a very good dent in it.  Strong work by all!

    Special welcome to FNG – Patrick Murtaugh, now known as Bartles and Jaymes.  Zima is EH’ing after only one workout!

    Stay Classy,

    Toga

    Announcements:

    • 2nd F Event Friday 1730 at The Answer- Pre Convergence chance to hang with Gnarly Goat
    • CONVERGENCE 0700 Saturday, DogPile with GROW school led by Gnarly Goat at ET’s immediately following the workout
    • BRR is oh so soon
    • 9/17 F3 team at Reese Strong 5k: http://www.reesestrong.org/reesestrong-5k/
    • 9/24 F3 Team at Spartan, see Toga or just signup
    • See Flashdance if interested in Festy run, early Oct.

  • We are not alone!

    Well maybe Chum Bucket is alone, but there were ten at NoToll who were ready to get after it.  Here’s how it went down:

    Mosey to main lot of COP and disclaimer:  Mtn Climbers, Don Quixote, Merkins, Hillbillies

    Mosey to first field for something like a Crossfit WOD called Kelly:  Run a lap, 30x box/bleacher jumps, 30x muscle ups, ab fun and repeato x5.

    Mosey back to flag for 5 minutes of Mary

    NMM:  First, YHC was a bit concerned after reading the backblasts that it would be lonely at NoToll and going through the Kelly (you actually do wall ball shots instead of the muscle ups, but who has 10, 20lb medicine balls?) by yourself did not sound like fun.  This concern led to the need to find just the right My Morning Jacket track while driving by UR.  YHC almost took out a Spider Run participant, but maybe he needed to get to NoToll to work on those soccer arms?

    YHC didn’t let the PAX know how many rounds there might be, but I honestly didn’t hear any complaints till the end when Rosie questioned my creativity.  The PAX got after it, and there were strong performances all around.  Rosie kept up a strong lead with he and Honey Do finishing the jumps and MUs together.  Mr Roper (terrific F3 name) and FlashDance were grinding out the reps.  Oyster was egged into trying to beat Rosie back to the flag (it was close), and Hyena cruised in with a smile on his face.  Well done all!

    Announcements:

    • 2nd F Event Friday 1730 at The Answer- Pre Convergence chance to hang with Gnarly Goat
    • CONVERGENCE 0700 Saturday, DogPile with GROW school led by Gnarly Goat at ET’s immediately following the workout
    • BRR is oh so soon
    • 9/17 F3 team at Reese Strong 5k: http://www.reesestrong.org/reesestrong-5k/
    • 9/24 F3 Team at Spartan, see Toga or just signup
    • See Flashdance if interested in Festy run, early Oct.

    Stay Classy,

    Toga

    PS:  You may want to check this out.., it could come in handy very soon:

  • Pre Blast- 2nd F at The Answer Brewpub Friday, 8/5 530-Until

    Toga here.  Remember this pre blast for the Saturday 8/6 0700 Convergence and subsequent Grow School?                           Pre Blast- Saturday, 8/6 Convergence and Grow School                    

    Well here is the prequel to that event.  We’re having a special 2nd F event to meet with Gnarly Goat and maybe get some insight into what he’s got planned for Saturday morning.  We’ll meet at The Answer Brewpub at 530 and stay until…

    I look forward to seeing lots of you there!

    The Answer, 6008 W Broad St Richmond, Virginia (804) 282-1248

     

  • Pre Blast- Saturday, 8/6 Convergence and Grow School

    F3 RVA PAX,

    The Gnarly Goat will Q a special 0700 edition of DogPile on 8/6 (Note: This will be the Saturday workout for RVA with no 0600 DogPile).  Mr Goat comes to us from F3 Isotope (northern Charlotte).  He’s Capt in the Fire Dept, a Naval Academy grad and he’ll be leading a Grow School (with Coffeeteria) immediately after DogPile at Elwood Thompson.

    The purpose of the Grow School is to pass on leadership lessons and help move us towards regional status.  We’ll discuss personal leadership development, how we grow in our community, and how we leap outwards from RVA to pass F3 to our brothers who don’t how much they need it!

    We’ve doubled our number of workouts the past couple of months, and it’s awesome to see so many new faces posting.  This is a great chance for the PAX to get together at one of our best AOs while sharing some ideas on growth.

    BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!  We’ll also be having an F2 event Friday night, 8/5.  More to follow on that very soon.

  • Enter the Pentagon

    75 and moist pretty much describes the setting for another edition of the Circus.  Here’s how it went down:

    COP: SSH, Russian Soldiers, Don Quixote, Scapula Merkins, Goblet squats

    Behold The Pentagon of Joy/Doom: 30 sec kb swings in center of pentagon, bear crawl to one of the five points for 30 secs of designated exercise, bear crawl with kb back to center and repeat for all five points with swings in the center each time.  Repeato x 2 with stations = Goblet reverse lunge rt leg, goblet reverse lunge left leg, alternating shoulder press, curls, tricep extension

    Mosey around circle and return to COP: lawn mowers, merkins w kb rows, wtd sit-ups, clockwise and counterclockwise kb passes, The Rosie (bridge, press, extend, return), wtd sit-ups, brief Turkish getup training

    NMM:  YHC assumes everyone has a morning ritual.  Without getting into the details, let’s just say that mine didn’t happen due to user error on the alarm.  YHC still made it on time to get the pentagon setup, but YHC felt things were amiss throughout.  Irregardless, the PAX got right to work and tackled the workout without complaint.  Come to think of it, there wasn’t much mumble chatter at all.

    Thanks for the chance to lead!

    COT:  Everyone gave a name of someone in need of God’s grace, and we humbly asked for him to watch over them.

    Stay Classy,

    Toga

  • Lots of counting

    9 posted for a countdown fest at Circus Maximus.  It went something like this:

    Circle up for an extended COP.  The PAX completed the following exercises for 30 seconds each with the first round including 30 seconds rest between each exercise.  Round 2 = 30 secs on and 25 secs rest, Round 3 = 30 secs on and 20 rest… down to no rest for the last set.

    • Swings (single arm option)
    • High Pulls
    • Goblet Squats
    • Deadlift (single leg balance option)
    • Weighted Sit-up
    • Clean and Press (alternating hands each set)

    Bonus round= 30 secs of Halos, Lunges, Lawn Mower Row, and American Hammers with 30 secs rest between each exercise: repeato x2

    Finish with the Rosie’s prom date to press to extend maneuver

    NMM:  The PAX caught on rather quickly to the descending amount of rest as we went through our little routine, and there was very little mumble chatter.  YHC tried to keep the rotation fair and balanced on the single arm exchanges, but we were off by one.  My apologies to JVille on ruining his bodybuilding career.

    The PAX also had a visit from Henrico 5-0.  The same cruiser came by twice or the first one called a buddy to see the circus.  Either way, we were not stopped for questioning.  This proved helpful as YHC was trying to count the time throughout each set.  As DK so wisely noted, “there are phones for that,” but then maintaining the flow of AC/DC would have been complicated.

    Thanks to all for the opportunities to lead this week.  Strong work by a strong group, Aye!

    Stay Classy,

    Toga