Category: Richmond, VA

  • Beautifying Barrington

    Three men broke through the gloom on a perfect WTH day to improve the local neighborhood. One mile out. Working our way back we did 3 sets of 11s. 4.1 total miles.

    • Round 1: Merkins & WW2
    • Round 2: Jump Squat & shoulder taps
    • Round 3: LBC & Peter Parker shoulder taps

    YHC took us out.

    Announcements: BRR, Tomato relay,

    NMS – we worked pretty hard today. Minimal chatter. Gypsy is thinking about outreach to young men that need some guidance. I am too. For many sports is an outlet – but these require such an outlay for, equipment, advanced training, travel, or body type, there has to be something any body type can do for free. Hmmmm, do we know anything like that? To reach those that really need it – we need ideas that work through the liability issues in our current environment and a way to solve transportation limitations.

  • Home Alone?

    8 strong showed up for a boot camp while 7 runners launched from SOT. Along came FNG who was told to show up for a run. Unfortunately Boberry left him Home Alone and poor guy did not know where to park or find the group. We obliged by welcoming him into the gloom with a beat down. Welcome FNG Wet Bandit.

    COP- Mosey to front bus loop. 25 SSH, 10 Each: DQ’s, imperial walkers, helicopters, deadman hang. 15 each MErkins, LBC’s, Plank jacks, Dollies (Just to make wilson get back on ground.

    Thang: Mosey to track for a Dora. Runner, 100 Carolina Drydocks, 200 LBC’s, 300 squats. Mosey to bleachers for incline merkins, dips, step ups, lunges, merkins, dips. Mosey to bottom of hill. Triple check: Runner, donkey kicks and WWII’s. Audible to peoples chair in place of donkey kicks for round 2 and 3. Bernie up hill, lunge across lot at top halfway then mosey BTF. 4 MOM with dealer choice 10 reps. Time was called.

    Announcements: Get signed up to donate or volunteer for blood drive. If you are available after Dogpile Doublemint is doing some really cool work with his 2.0’s cleaning up a cemetery on the east end. I wish I could make but out of town! Will plan next month. See pre-blasts.

    Hermie took us out in prayer. Thanks to all those that posted and pushed each other. Always an honor to lead. Make today awesome!

  • A DaVille OTB Run

    3 DaVilians continued their training and got in a longer run on Saturday

    YHC got early and ran 2 miles then Corned Beef and Hash joined at 6 to get in 5.5 miles on the Rutland Loop.

    YHC then ran another 2 miles to complete a 15K+

    It was a great morning with temps in the lower 50’s at the start.

    SPIT ON THAT!!

  • Metric OTB

    4 Young men met up for some jogging. The theme of the run aside from the “mom” and “tobit” jokes was how the metric system should be implemented into American culture. Temperature was noted to be nice at 12C. We logged about 11.6 Km. Everyone in the group was in agreement that 12km sounds better than 7 miles. The group then practiced converting F to C by simply subtracting 32 and multiplying by 5/9. Next weeks run we will be working on velocity (km/h) and height (m). Also discussed was a strategy for confronting the uneducated when using our newly acquired knowledge and superiority.

  • Beastly, Dark, and Full of Merkins

    Thomas Hobbes once described the natural state of man to be one of “continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Pulling into an empty Anvil parking lot, YHC couldn’t help but contemplate those words. As 5:30 ticked away into 5:31, a hand reached up to put the car in gear and dejectedly return to the ooze from whence I’d emerged, when like a knight in a shining Highlander, Yard Sale arrived and saved the day. Neither of us having a plan, here’s what we ended up on:

    COP: cotton pickers, arm circles, Freddie Mercury, and possibly something else.

    Mosey to the track for a Track Beast, consisting of merkins, monkey humpers, mountain climbers, American Hammers, WWIIs, and burpees.

    On the blacktop for Four Corners, with weird counting. Exercises were merkins, squats, flutter kicks, and side straddle hops. 10, 20, 30, 40, but then keep the exercises in the same place but rotate the numbers. Over four rounds, each corner got each number of reps. 40 merkins is hard when it comes after 10, 20, and 30 of them. YHC was briefly reminded once again of Hobbes, but was saved by the running chatter from Yard Sale.

    A couple suicides for good measure, and then it was back to the flag.

    Anvil has been a small gathering of 2-3 for several weeks now. While I’d enjoy seeing some more faces in the gloom, it’s been a good time to connect with the Anvil faithful, as well. Maybe Hobbes didn’t have it quite right, after all.

  • You can take the boy away from his Miata, you can’t take the Miata out of the boy

    You can take the boy away from his Miata, you can’t take the Miata out of the boy

    A perfect Six chose to be camera shy and play in the mud instead. We did;

    COP in top field: SSH (elbow bend optional), Imperial Walkers, Russian Soldiers, Merkins, Flutterkicks, Scorpion Kicks.

    Field of Dreams: Run between Lightposts on the field. First Round – 8 HRMs at each post. 2nd Round – 16 Jumpsquats.

    Mosey down to Coupon zone, grab a coupon, then over to Heartbreak Hill. 4 rounds of: 10 V-Ups at the top, 15 Thrusters at the bottom. Over to bleachers. 4 Rounds of: 10 Block Pullovers & 25 Benchkicks.

    Drop off coupons and head over to front of track & Lucia memorial- 12 burpees for the 12 year old senselessly killed on Friday. Back to flag, few seconds of Mary. Atilla took us out.

    Announcements: 3rd F tonight at 8:00. Blood Drive on 5/1. Doublemint led service opportunity this Saturday after Dogpile.

    NMS: The field turned out to be a lot wetter than YHC anticipated but the pax knocked Field of Dreams out. Appears some PAX are opting for the BMI clearance to qualify for the Jab. Ample mumblechatter about a HBR favorite – Ronnie’s Miata obsession. Turns out he did test drive a 95 Miata last week. YHC looks forward to the day he sees Ronnie pull up to HBR in the gloom in a 20th century Miata again.

  • 3rdF Service Opportunity: Historic Evergreen/East End Cemetery Cleanup

    3rdF Service Opportunity: Historic Evergreen/East End Cemetery Cleanup

    Gents – after Dogpile this Saturday (4/3/21), I’m heading out to the East End with the 2.0s to do some heavy lifting for a good cause. The community service organization that oversees the event offers volunteer slots from 9-10:30 and from 10:30-12. Please join if you can! Here is a description:

    Historic Evergreen Cemetery is a historic African-American cemetery, created in 1891 and located in Richmond’s East End. East End Cemetery was established in 1897 next to Evergreen Cemetery. These cemeteries are the resting place for many of Richmond’s African-American leaders of the 19th and 20th centuries, including Maggie L. Walker, Hezekiah F. Jonathan, John Mitchell, Jr., Rosa D. Bower, and Rev. J. Andrew Bowler. There are an estimated 23,000 plots in Evergreen and East End, most of which have become overgrown after over 40 years of neglect. Clean-up activities have been conducted at Evergreen and East End Cemetery for several years. We are walking in the footsteps of some amazing volunteers – including family members who gave their time to hold the line for years. Thank you!

    signup link is here: https://www.handsonrva.org/opportunity/a0C1J00000JENbZUAX

    Make it a great one!

    Doublemint

  • 30 of Everything

    The SOJ PAX Pack celebrated the 30th with the following ground and pound. No man was left behind, and no man was left where we found him. 

    The THANG:

    COP #1:

    • Mosey to the Lot and Circle Up
    • Welcome & F3 Disclaimer
    • x30 SSH IC
    • x30 Squat Walkers
    • x30 Arm Circles (Variety)
    • x30 Leg Up Merkins (split ea side)
    • x30 Dying Quixotes
    • x30 Oblique LBC’s (split ea side)

    COP #2:

    • GRABASS:  Q calls out a Man, first PAX to catch him calls the next exercise
    • x30 Reps of each exercise completed
    • Circuited the Fields to the Pavilion

    COP #3:

    • Line Up at the Pavilion
    • Count down even numbers from x30 Reps, crossing the field between each set
    • Rotate through sets: x30 SSH, x28 Merkins, x26 Squats, x24 LBC’s, x22 SSH, x20 Merkins, etc etc
    • Await the SIX with x30 Am Ham’s IC

    COP #4:

    • GRABASS:  Q calls out a Man, first PAX to catch him calls the next exercise
    • x30 Reps of each exercise completed
    • x5 Burpee penalty for failing to catch Fresh Prince on our final sprint to the Bball Court

    COP #5:

    • Line up on the BBall Court
    • x30 Burpees – completed as sets of x5 on either end of the court
    • PAX given variable methods for crossing court six times

    Circle up for COT:

    • Counterama #11 + #2 pups
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Comments)
    • YHC took the PAX out in Prayer

    NMS:

    • Slightly cooler temps welcomed a quiet PAX this morning, but boisterous pups lightened the mood. The PAX were given a heads up after the Disclaimer that we’d be doing 30 of everything, but even YHC wasn’t prepared for that many leg-up Merkins in cadence – holy burnout batman! The Grabass sprints are a fun way to move around the AO, and YHC continues to be impressed with how many of the SOJ men can really turn on the after burners when being chased. Of course Fresh Prince and Snuff and Doozy were our main greyhounds bringing down the quarry. Respect to all! Thanks for permitting me the opportunity to lead. See ya’ll at the Forge Thursday for our 2 year anniversary. Lots of fun in store! ?

  • Best Instructions Ever…

    A (recent) record of 20 titans and road scholars descended upon UR for a run in near perfect conditions with a full moon lighting the way….

    4’s and 6’s: Ball stadium to Robbins parking lot out to College. College to University.

    4’s take a left on Pinetree to Westham Pkwy. Head south toward river.

    6’s take right on Wood. Wood all the way to Waveny to Westham. Take Westham south toward River

    5’s take Lakewood to Wood, to Baldwin. Take Westham south toward River

    All (Back-end): Taking Westham to River. Cross at Country Squire, to South Ridge Rd. Take down to Westham Station.

    Take first left on Old Bridge to Hillside. Turn around when you reach River back down to Westham Station. Take to shopping center then bat cave to Commons.

    NMS: YHC can’t decide which was better, the route or how well the directions were administered…

    Announcements: BRR!….and Hitch could use some moving boxes.

    Saab Abides

  • Mighty three

    3 studs showed up for the beatdown this morning. Here is the gist of what happened…

    Parking Lot Tracers while we waited for Bulkhead….
    No Bulkhead so we moseyed

    Travelling COP —
    SSH, DQ, crunchy frogs, t merkins, sumo squats

    Triple check at the playground
    1. push ups/pull ins on swing set
    2. mountain climbers
    3. run to the bus loop and back

    CUIYC — one person stays back and does 5 burpees then runs after the other two who are bear crawling. Rotate through each person doing the burpees twice.

    Run back, stops along the way for some ab exercises and some donkey kicks

    1 minute of stretching

    Numbers, names, YHC took us out Dapile will happen this Saturday at 6:30 AM.

    Good working out with you two this morning! SYITG!