Category: Richmond, VA

  • APB out for Roper’s Shoes…

    17 PAX (almost 18) posted for a Tuesday morning helping of Gumbo, it was served up with constant motion like this:

    First at 0517, Mr. Roper’s 4Runner pulls in next to the SS Gumbo and the window rolls down. Roper has a wry smile on his face and says “I forgot my shoes…well, see ya later Roper.” The morning shoe routine finally bit Roper in the arse. It would have been great to see Roper workout in his crocks, but instead, off he went. Hope the day turns around for you, Mr. Roper!

    0524 and only 4 cars in the lot, then the calvary came rolling in, including Ollivander coming in DK-hot and nearly ending Bone Thugs’ day before it got started…disaster averted, all is ok, let’s mosey.

    Off to the backlot for COP (and to be joined by a couple LIFO’s – Fresh Prince and maybe Snuff or Chaplin? – it was dark), that included:

    • Jazzercisers x10
    • DQs x10
    • Helicopters x10 — yes, Gumbo’s back was tight this morning
    • SSHs x20
    • Merkins x10
    • LBCs x 20
    • Warmups: form 5 single-file lines at the far end of the parking lot and traverse the parking lot as follows:
      • Round 1 = High Knees, plank for six, High Knees back, plank
      • Round 2 = Karaoke, plank, Karaoke, plank
      • Round 3 = Sprint, plank, Sprint, plank

    THANG:

    Proper Dora – Mosey over to pavilion and partner up. Together complete 50 proper dora sets of 1 WWII, 2 Squats and 3 Merkins. While one partner exercises, the other runs across the field and back.

    Plank-o-rama for the SIX

    Circuit Trio

    Round 1 = 10 Box Jumps, 10 WWIIs, 10 SSHs – plank for six

    Round 2 = 15 of each then plank for six

    Mosey back to bball courts

    Variety Suicides with Exercises and Mary

    Round 1 = normal suicides with 1 burpee at each stop

    Flutter Kicks

    Round 2 = backward suicides with 2 jump-shot squats at each stop

    Hello Dollies and Rosalitas

    Round 3 = half=suicide (only to the foul line and back, then to half-court and back) bear crawl and 5 merkins at each stop

    Freddie Mercuries for SIX

    Round 4 = Lung suicides with 5 SSHs at each stop

    BTTF for COT, Number-rama, Name-a-rama and YHC took us out.

    Announcements:

    • HDHH, March 18 at ET’s – see preblast Oyster put up
    • Doozy has Q at NoToll next Tuesday (St. Patty’s day). He’s got big plans. Come see POG dressed like a leprechaun
    • Bone Thugs running 5K April 24 – keep pushing bro
    • Golf Tourney (May 15) to support Galactosemia Foundation – www.forethecause.org. Sign up, get on a team. Support Nancy and Wilson.
    • Prayers for Marmaduke’s mom – surgery tomorrow

    NMS:

    Great work today men. No real plan (as you could probably tell). Just wanted to keep things moving the entire time. For future reference – need a longer run to really get some of those Proper Dora sets done. But it worked out. Great partnering with POG on those.

    Gorgeous morning for a workout. Way to show up and get better guys. Great to see Bone Thugs posting and pushing it. Can’t wait to see him kill that 5K. Also, great seeing guys becoming new regulars like Snuff and Rosetta. EH and bring guys out as the weather gets better and before the heat shows up.

    Thanks for letting me lead. Hope that had enough spice for you Boberry!

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • March HDHH – cancelled.

    March HDHH – cancelled.

    Hump Day Happy Hour – cancelled!
    March 18, 2020
    6:00pm — Ellwood Thompson

    We are no longer meeting at Ellwoods for HDHH.. I’m going to knock Out the last AO off my list and will be over at Roller Coaster doing laps.

    Winter is over!! The Winter Tour is almost over. Let’s celebrate it always being 70 and sunny. Come out to HDHH on March 18th 6:00pm at Ellwood Thompson.

    We will run a route and then head back to Ellwoods for a HDHH celebratory beer.

    Oyster

  • It’s time for a comeback tour

    A merry band of 6 this morning at Heartbreak, all seasoned veterans, but some coming of injuries and fart sack hiatus.

    COP – Side Straddle Hops, Don Quixote’s, Merkins, LBC’s, Inverted Scorpion Kicks, Freddie Mercuries, Burpees

    The Thang – Mosey over to the side parking lot of Pemberton Elementary School. Grab (2) coupon Bricks (Cinderblocks are no longer there). Jack Webbs, 1 Merkin on the Bricks and 4 shoulder presses. Repeat and ascending to a total of 10 Merkins and 40 shoulder presses.

    Mosey to the front parking lot of Pemberton Elementary for a confusing Triple Check. Partner 1 Runs the small loop, Partner 2 Donkey Kicks, Partner 3 lays in the Grass and Flutter Kicks. Oddly enough the Grass felt like it was made of spikes plastic and laid over a bed of Concrete.

    Mosey to the Football Field for a Mini-Michigan. (5) 100 yard dashes, (4) 80 yard dashes, (3) 60 yard dashes, (2) 40 yard dashes, (1) 20 yard dash.

    NMS – It was great to have Ronnie, Loose Goose and P-Trap back in action. Ronnie was in a car accident in late December and needed a couple months to rest and recover.

    Announcements – Prayers for P-Traps Grandmother and family. It appears his Grandmother will not make it more than the next few days. We rejoice that she is a Believer and will soon be in the arms of the Lord. We are thinking about you during this difficult time, P-Trap.

  • “This is Pleasant”

    Fourteen men and a canine hit the Tuckahoe region this morning in sublime running conditions. It is hard to beat 56 in early March.

    The Thang;

    We gave the bat cave a try today and it was glorious. Other than a possible twisted ankle. Seriously, it is going instantly become a favorite way to leave the depths of the UofR. Everyone took the Batcave out to Huguenot.

    From there, Huguenot to Westham Station all the way up to Westham. Cross River and enter into the idyllic Westham community.

    4s hang a right on Baldwin. Right on Wood. Left on Lakeside and then by the baseball field and back to the flag.

    5s hang a left on Baldwin, right on Rock Creek, which truly never stops going uphill. Right on Woodberry (after a detour to Patterson for some 5s). Woodberry to Horsepen. The Pen all the way down to the fraternities. Get back on college and through the parking lot and back to the flag.

    6s hang that same Baldwin left…stop at 705 to pick up Onions…and then to Hollins. Hollins to Woodberry, Woodberry to Horsepen. Horsepen is quick…as you take a left on Devon. That’s pretty quick too…you make your next right on RidgeTop. RidgeTop to Mighty Chandler…all the way up Chandler and then back down to Gardiner.

    Gardiner takes ya around to the cut through, lighted, path to end on Boatright. Theoretically, you hang a right on Boatright and run to Three Chopt then back down, through the parking lot and back to the flag. If you pause to get a dog, you run College Ave, to Campus to Gateway to Richmond Way and back to the flag as you have made yourself short on time.

    Great to see Rosie on this side of the river this morning…it’s always fun running with him.

    Weather permitting, looking to 2.0 at the end of the month.

    Prayer request for Splinter’s dad who is having his eye examined this week as well as his heart.

    Pull for the Rams this week in Brooklyn, boys.

  • Fartlek Hills

    A long weekend away and YHC was ready to get back in the swing of things. Not being able to decide between doing hills or speed work today, I decided we could do both and make everyone happy. The PAX was excited to hear the plan and took off as a group of 10, leaving Hermie on his own to hide in his burrow at the bottom of Twin Team. We stayed as a pack into Tarrington and went up and down some hills with varying effort, lengths of time, pickups, and hills. Note to the PAX don’t let Marmaduke lead the pace on downhill cool down sections. Also, don’t leave your front door open so your dog can see 10 men running by at 0530, the dog might go nuts and wake up the whole house, just an observation.

    Prayers for various friends and family of the PAX , including Marmaduke’s mother, that are going through treatments, illnesses and hard times.

    YHC, POG and Honeymoon are heading to Smith Mountain Lake for a weekend in April to run the Blue Ridge Half Marathon. If anyone wants to join, let me know. Races with lengths from 1 mile to 2x marathon available on the trip as well.

  • Batteau Trifecta

    Three studs arose to greet the dawn of a new day. According to legend, it went a little something like this.

    Swirly started us off with the COP:

    SSH X 20, DQ X 10, Helicopter X 10, Merkin X 10, Flutter Kick, 10

    Rock Show – Swirly; grab a batteau coupon

    • Round 1 – 20 curls, 10 overhead press, down stairs with coupon, 15 dips.
    • Round 2 – Round 1, plus 15 bench press.
    • Round 3 – Round 2, plus 20 squats.

    Triple Check – Offshore

    • One person runs up hill to light pole, exercises are decline merkins and flutter kicks.

    Team Jerkins – Offshore

    • 10 jerkins completed by pax holding the hand of the two other pax. 2 rounds.

    Hardywood Special – Hardywood; mosey to tennis courts

    • Run to 1st corner for 10 merkins and back to start.
    • Corner 1 10 merkins, Corner 2 10 merkins, 10 WWII, corner 1 10 merkins, back to start.
    • Corner 1 10 merkins, Corner 2 10 merkins, 10 WWII, Corner 3 20 ball dippers, 10 merkins, 10 WWII, Corner 2 10 WWII, 10 merkins, corner 1 10 merkins, back to start.

    3 Min of Mary – Hardywood

    • 20 American Hammer
    • 20 Cat Killers (in American Hammer position, except doing arm circles)

    Numberma, namerama and YHC took us out.

    Keep Double Mint in your thoughts are prayers. His dad has been placed on hospice. Kudos to Hitchhiker for 100 days in a row of working out and eating clean! Way to set the bar for the rest of us.

    Bone Thug 5k – 4/24 at 45MOM.

  • 4 Count WorkOut

    While our bodies were wondering what we were doing up at 4:30am, eight men gathered in the near west end under a brilliantly bright moon to tell daylight savings where to go and how to get there. And to do a 45 minute workout.

    The Thang:

    Two laps around the traffic circle and then the COT up on the blacktop.

    10 Helicopters. 10 Don Quixiotes. 25 Side Straddle Hops. 10 arm circles (forward and reverso) 10 Mercans. 15 LBCs. 10 four count Freddie Mercury’s. 5 burpees.

    Mosey to the west end of the black top for “full blacktop agilities”. Start at the west end, agilitize to the east end, do an exercise, agilitize back. The agilities:

    Kareoke–5 mercans High Knees–3 burpees Ballerinas–10 LBCs Leaps and Bounds/Butt Kicks–10 2 count side straddle hops. Sprint–10 Hand release mercans.

    Mosey to the field for “Make them Up as You Go 4 Corners”.

    Three sets for four corners for the group:

    Corner 1: 10 Mercans. Corner 2: 10 Mercans. 10 LBCs. Corner 3: 10 Mercans. 10 LBCs. 5 Burpees Corner 4: 10 Mercans. 10 LBCs. 5 Burpees. 10 Freddie Mercurys

    Corner 1: 10 LBCs Corner 2: 10 LBCs, 10 four count Freddie’s Corner 3: 10 LBCs, 10 four count Freddie’s, 5 Burpees Corner 4: 10 LBCs, 10 four count Freddie’s, 5 Burpees, 10 2 count SSHops

    Corner 1: 10 Four Count SS Hops Corner 2: 10 Four Count SS Hops Corner 3: 10 Four Count SS Hops Corner 4: 10 Four Count SS Hops

    Mosey to the Triple Check wall…yet we did double checks. Partner would circle the traffic drop off circle while the other partner would do the following…

    Balls to the Wall Mercans LBCs Arm Circles People’s Chair Monkey Squats

    It was a continuous motion type of thing with the QIC more or less making it up as he went. It wasn’t ideal, but did keep the motion going constantly with no rest.

    COT– 20 American Hammers. Spell “Mister Holland” with your legs, 20 American Hammers.

    Congratulations to Handshake, it’s been almost 2 years since he showed up at Hoedown…well done sir.

    Also, for much of the Q I called Mr. Holland, Don Draper. Both are male characters in motion picture and TV dated dramas respectively, so it’s easy to get them confused. I apologize to Mr. Holland and, in some respects, Don Draper as well.

  • Friday Windsor Jaunt

    A solid double dozen men showed up on a just warm enough to wear gloves but not cold enough to wear long pants morning for a run around the southside of Cary Street.

    The Thang…

    Everyone:

    East across Commonwealth to Willetta which winds east to Kingscrest (one of the two “crests” that were run today). Kingscrest deadheads into Malvern.

    Go South on Malvern, across Cary into the wonderful Windsor Farm community. From there, you are on Canterbury and you bear to the left on Canterbury to start running towards the back of the community.

    In the early 1960s, the Canterbury family and the Sulgrave family got into a pretty large brouhaha about land, liquor and the respect of their women. The Sulgraves won. Thus, about halfway down your route on Canterbury, it turns into Sulgrave. Long live Sulgrave.

    The Sulgraves, however, just couldn’t keep it together in the 1970s and the Berkshire family took over that part of the neighborhood around 1976. While the Sulgraves fought hard, mainly over cattle and a few llamas…the Berkshires succeeded to grab that land and that part of the road.

    Take Berkshire to Dover, right on Dover. Dover runs into Locke. Take a right on Locke and immediately go through the natural area to get yourself on Pocahontas. Make sure you take the 2nd opening of the natural area, the first can be a bit prickly, as found out by the YHC and FacePlant (but avoided by Hardywood and Splinter).

    Pocahontas to Kingscrest. Right on Kingscrest.

    The 4s get out of the Kingscrest loop at Cary. Across the street to Oak. Oak to Grove, Grove back to the Shovel Flag. A bit heavy on the final number (4.3 miles).

    The 5s take the Kingscrest loop all the way around. Take the steepest part for the 2nd time and then to Oak to Grove and the back to the Shovel Flag.

    The 6s take the Kingscrest loop all the way around but continue going another 1/2 lap. They take the first Charmain right (not the 2nd) which eventually, somehow turns into West Moreland. (Have you ever looked at a map and seen what Charmain, the road, really looks like. It is bizarre and very unorthodox).

    Anyhoo, take a hairpin turn from West Moreland back to Locke. South on Locke. Left on Dover, that runs you to back to the Berkshire Family’s road. Left there, which takes you to Cary. Cross Cary to Commonwealth and Back to the Flag. (For the 6.5’s, take your first left off Dover onto Nottingham, take Nottingham to Coventry, to Calycanthus, to Lilac to Nottingham to Dover to freakin’ Locke to Cary to Commonwealth to back to the flag. I can’t get a run done in this neighborhood without getting lost.

    Dueces.

  • 4 at Tomato Run

    We formed up to split into two man teams, Mud Face and No Idea did the route around the School Campus and Trout and Corned Beef did a four mile route through King’s Charter posting a fast sub 8:30/mile pace.

    Great workout and Trout took us out.

    Brief BB as there was little to report from Monday.

    SYITG … CB

  • Against the Wind

    7 able bodied warriors including yours truly set out on a great adventure in the howling winds of Short Pump, VA.

    COP: Mosey two times around the football field, Don Quixotes, Side Straddle hops, Freddie Mercuries, Merkins and Arm Circles.

    E1: Mosey to front of school. Do each exercise 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off. Balls to the wall, Donkey kicks, Wall sits, plank and mountain climbers. Repeated balls to the wall and donkey kicks.

    E2: Mosey to football field. 10 burpees at the 10 yard line, 20 WWIIs at the 20, 30 merkins, 40 jump squats, 50 2 count flutter kicks. Reverso after a quick rest.

    E3: Mosey to school courtyard and use cards to determine exercises. These include crabcakes, diamond merkins, heels to heaven and LBCs. The cards kept blowing around making this difficult to sustain.

    E4: Mosey to pickleball court. First bear crawl halfway down and back. Second, lunge 3/4 way and back. Lastly wheelbarrow all the way and back.

    E5/6: Go to little pavilion. Do 3 sets of 40 seconds on and 20 seconds off of dips. Mosey to parking lot and finish with round of American hammers and merkins.

    Closed in prayer. This is my first Q since before I broke my ankle on 12/26. It is good to be back and let’s put those with health issues in our prayers. Have a productive and enjoyable weekend.

    Peace out.

    Fireman Ed