Category: Richmond, VA

  • And so begins the last year of hate

    A PAX of 11 posted at SOT to help YHC begin his final year of hate. Here’s what went down:

    Very long mosey along the trails behind MMS to the loop around Loch Lothian (the pond/lake at Midlothian Mines Park).

    Love (Half) Loop

    Partner up. Partner 1 runs to amphitheater area (about 0.3 miles away) and back while partner 2 does forward crab walks, box jump burpees, and bear crawl. Keep alternating and repeating until the end is reached.

    Run the rest of the loop and return to MMS. Plank-o-rama for the six.

    11s – Merkins and WWIIs

    A couple weeks ago, Bullseye made use of a really nice hill by the track. Can’t let something like that go to waste. …Perform 10 merkins at the bottom of the hill, run up the hill, 1 WWII situp, run back down the hill, and repeat with 9 merkins, 2 WWIIs….you guys know the drill.

    Mosey back to the parking lot.

    Numbers, names, announcements, and YHC took us out.

    Announcements

    HDHH today – 6pm Palani Drive

    Early risers on Saturday – 4am or something crazy like that

    No excuses workout on Saturday – 7am at DaVille

    Puppy Pile last Saturday in June

    NMS

    YHC is feeling blessed today. Although a bit muggy, it was a beautiful morning and a great way to begin YHCs 39th birthday.

    Thanks gents for indulging me this morning. YHC thought it was time to take the PAX on a field trip via the trails behind MMS. The loop around the pond at Midlothian Mines park is about 0.58 miles and YHC had intended to do the “Love Loop” all the way around (with two different sets of 3 exercises). That was perhaps a bit ambitious and so an audible was called after the first round to the amphitheater/pump/pulley/whatever. Aside from the goose excrement, YHC thought it was a rather scenic morning.

    Thanks again to Bullseye for introducing the PAX to that hill at the MMS track (can’t believe it hadn’t been used before). Phonics and Flange destroyed the 11s.

    Great to have Phonics and Opus out this morning on the summer tour.

    Also great to meet Hacksaw who posted today for his first bootcamp after posting on Sunday for Off the Books. Way to push today!

    Thanks to Flange (also on the summer tour) for making his first trip to SOT for YHCs Q.

    Well done fellas! As always, it was privilege to lead this morning.

    Make today a good one…and as Tim McGraw says “always be humble and kind”.

    Peace out!

  • Introducing: Pipe Loop 11s

    Fourteen posted for a new – possible – summer staple of F3RVA. No one was injured during the filming. Here’s what was captured:

    Mosey down to the Pipe Loop. Circle up. Helicopters x 10. Russian Soldiers x 10. SSHs x 20. Time to roll tape.

    Pipe Loop 11s: Divide PAX into two groups to spread out. First group starts out on the run. Second group starts out with the 10 WWIIs at the trail spill-out, then crab walk to the head of the trail for 1 LBC. 10 loops on the trail in total. Enjoy. Plank-o-rama for the six.

    NA Run: Up the hill towards the Carillon. Circle back to collect the six.

    WWIIS: x 50 IC

    Slow Mosey: Up to Putting Green West. 21 Burpees OYO

    BTTF

    Announcements/Prayers: HDHH tonight at 6:00 at Palani Drive. 2nd F at 6:45. Early Risers this Saturday at 4:00 a.m. Meet at Dogpile parking lot. Puppy Pile the last Saturday in June – see Marv. Prayers for Slippin’ Jimmy’s uncle who is having brain surgery today in Boston.

    Moleskin: During one of our winter jaunts on the Pipe Loop, YHC cooked up the idea of Pipe Loop 11s. Today was the day. Five minutes prior to launch, I handed out bottled water, which peaked intrigue. Various incorrect guesses as to what was coming ensued.

    Not a lot of mumble chatter today, as time and proximity didn’t really allow. I’m sure Lab Rat had some things to say …

    Great job today men. Thanks for the indulgence.

  • NoToll, but NoPain is NoGain

    Mid-seventies and muggy – perfect ingredients for another DTH sweatfest. No cards, no cabers, just pure ground & pound perfection. Fourteen veteran fartsack escapees woke up with a fever, and since DTH forgot his cowbell, the only prescription was more pain! 

    The THANG:

    Partner Up – Partner Carry (alternate as needed) to COP #1 in the Parking Lot:

    • SSH, Imp Walkers, Russian Soldiers, DQ’s, Ball Dippers, Cherry Pickers
    • x15 reps for each exercise, all IC

    Mosey around Field 1 and end up at bleachers for COP #2:

    • Partner up for 11’s 
    • Counting up with Box Jumps
    • Counting down with Bropees
    • Wheelbarrow between sides (much modification was implemented here)
    • ABC’s for the SIX

    Mosey to end of Field 1 for COP #3:

    • Quarter Pounder – Sprint out to complete exercises, then run backwards to beginning
    • 25 yard line – x25 Crowd Pleasers (Merkin + Groiner) 
    • 50 yard line – x50 Heels to Heaven
    • 75 yard line – x75 Crab Cakes
    • End Line – x100 LBC’s (rabbits help the SIX complete LBC’s)

    Mosey Back to Flag for COT:

    • Counterama #14
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Comments)
    • YHC took us out in Prayer

    NMS:

    • You know it’s gonna be a good day when your first mosey is Partner Carries. Granted, there were a few heels dragging… “wait no warm up exercises first?!” YHC was impressed with the light mood and cheerful mumble chatter  despite the steady grind of mind over matter…but that’s F3 for you – we thrive under pressure.  Keep posting fellas, and keep EH’ing those Sad Clown neighbors and coworkers who you KNOW are wasting away without quality fitness/fellowship/faith. 

  • Oh no, its 0515

    Mosey about 10 feet for COP. SSH, Helicopters, DQs all IC

    Mosey to the Soccer field behind AHS for Jack Webb abs. 1 WWII followed by 4 reverse crunches. 2 WWII followed by 8 reverse crunches. All the way up to 10 WWII followed by 40 reverse crunches. (The PAX can thank Chum for that one)

    Mosey to corner of soccer field for for corners. Corner 1=10 burpees. Corner 2=10 burpees, 20 LBCs. Corner 3=10 burpees, 20 LBCs, 30 merkins. Corner 4=10 burpees, 20 LBCs, 30 merkins and 40 squats.

    Mosey to BBALL courts for suicides. Regular and Reverse with 15 LBCs after each.

    Mosey to school wall for Chicken Pecker Line of Fire. Each PAX perform 10 Chicken Peckers while the rest of PAX holds BTTW.

    Mosey to front of school for LT Dans across the front of school.

    AYG back to the flag.

    Numerama, Namearama and YHC took us out with a prayer to challenge ourselves and our children. Showing our 2.0s how to handle adversity properly is one example of how we can become better fathers.

    NMS:Last night at Punisher, YHC commented to EF Hutton that YHC has only missed one Q due to oversleeping. It almost happened this morning as YHC awoke at exactly 0515. Thank goodness DaVille is only 3.5 miles from YHC house. YHC arrived and exited the Jeepster proclaiming “30 seconds till we mosey”. Also at last nights Punisher, Chumbucket brought out an oldie but a goodie with the Jack Webb abs variation. YHC thought it was a good idea to spread the pain a little with the DaVille PAX. All members of the PAX put forth maximum effort this morning. Job well Done gentleman.

    Thanks for letting me lead.

    Circle K

  • Experimental Q

    A six PAX posted at Heartbreak Ridge for 70 and sunny summer fun:

    Mosey to left field of the baseball field for COP: SSH, Hillbillies, Don Quixotes, Merkins, Carolina Dry Docks, Freddie Mercurys, Scorpion Kicks IC.

    Mosey to right field for Sally, first introduced to the PAX by Rosie. During Moby’s song Flower, hold plank and go down to 6 inches on “bring Sally down” and back up on “bring Sally up”.

    Mosey to the softball field for Frogger: Split into two teams. One team lines up on the first base path and the other on the third base path. One team crosses to the opposite base path with Broad Jumps (Frogger) while the other team crosses with a Bear Crawl (the logs?). If any PAX touches another, both do 5 burpees. Garbage Plate innovation: Each PAX must split the gap between two PAX on the other team as they cross. Repeat, returning back to the original base paths. Teams swap transportation methods and repeat.

    Repeat with Lunges and Crab Walk. Repeat again with Polar Bear Crawl and Broad Jump Burpees. Honeydo and Flipper tagged YHC for 5 burpees on back-to-back rounds, giving a clear signal to the Q that this game was over.

    Mosey to left field for Elevens with Reverse Crunches and WWII Situps.

    Mosey back to right field of the baseball field for more Elevens with Partner Jerkins where each PAX holds an appendage while the fifth performs Jerkins. Partner Jerkins are another Garbage Plate innovation. The other exercise was Plerkins (plank derkins). Time ran out after just two sets. Mosey back to the VSF for COT.

    NMS: Inspired by the summer of fun games hosted by the likes of ByProduct, DTH, LabRat, and Chum, YHC wanted to bring a new game. Thus, Frogger was introduced as a Demonstration Exercise. Credit goes to the M and other PAX with versions of Frogger for inspiration. The PAX agreed that it would be better with more PAX and therefore less room on the diamond. It is now up to the F3 IOC to determine if it gets elevated to an Official Exercise.

    Handshake will be FIFO on Tuesdays so that the M can get in a run at 0600. He opened Heartbreak Ridge and was running around the track when YHC arrived. He humbly asks for full Big Data credit.

    It was great to have Tobit up for his first Offshore Q. They are quite rare.

    .Flipper advises to keep your elbows in on the Partner Jerkins.

    Announcements: HDHH Wednesday, Early Risers and No Excuses Saturday, Convergence July 4th at Tredegar

  • Swirly will lead you out of the Woods

    19 runners posted to Spider Run, including many summer tourists. The clock struck 0530 and off we went with the New Market crew and others filing in the back door.

    4-mile route was out Westhampton Way and UR Drive to River Road, across the shopping center parking lot and across the bridge. Turnaround at the end of the bridge (no ramps) and retrace your steps and finish with a lap around the lake.

    5-milers – across the lake and down the trail to Campus Drive and across and up University. Left on Westham Pkwy and across River to Country Squire. Left on S. Ridge and follow along Westham Station to the bridge. Across the bridge and run the cloverleaf ramp and back to the flag via UR Drive and Westhampton Way.

    6-milers start with a loop up Gateway Rd by the b-school and down Richmond Way and then follow the 5-mile route.

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

    Announcements:

    • HDHH tomorrow 6:00 p.m. run; 6:45 fellowship at Palani Drive
    • Puppy Pile 6/30
    • Amateur Hour at RAMM Gears this Friday
    • No Excuses Workout in DaVille this Saturday 0730 – see Spit, The Carpenter or Phonics for details
    • Shakedown is bald – well done sir and well done PAX for supporting a great cause.

    NMS:

    New Market Crew (Honeymoon, Wilson, Marmaduke and Cerano), Doozy and Phonics all out on a summer tour. Honeymoon, sorry for leaving you behind at the start. Great crew this morning.

    We finally made it out of the trail on a Gumbo-led Spider Run (thanks Swirly), so maybe I’ll come up with a different route for next time. But I do love running down by the river back off of S. Ridge and Westham Station.

    A little chaos at the start but Saab and Doozy course-corrected and all was good. Great run fellas.

    No More Gumbo For You…until The Forge!

  • Bag Credit

    A PAX of six posted for the last spring Punisher faced a game time temperature of 91 degrees. YHC brought a Trader Joe’s bag with a couple of props with hopes of an even number of attendees. Offshore broke through the hedge row with a couple of minutes to spare giving us six.

    At 6 PM sharp we moseyed to the shaded school yard and started with a running warm up across the front of the school gym including 2 x High Knees, 2 x Butt Kickers, 2 x Karaoke, a 66% run, and a 90% finisher. Move SSW into the schoolyard for startup circle that included 25 x SSHs, 15 x Don Quixotes, 15 x Hillbillies, 15 x Helicopters, 15 x Carolina Dry Docks, 15 x Flutter Kicks (two count), and an Arm Circle medley.

    Brief jog to the edge of the school grounds for Jack Webb variation alternating WWIIs and Reverse Crunches. Started with one WWII and four Reverse Crunches. Added another WWII and four more Crunches for round two. Add the same ratio each round until 10/40 of each completed. Brief adjustment prior to round nine and ten by adding 15 x Alabama Prom Dates prior to the round start.

    Hop up and head to the playground for Cindy involving an AMRAP with 5 x Pullups, 10 x Merkins, and 15 x Squats. Complete as many rounds as possible within about a 10 minute period.

    Continue mosey around the school to the side of the kindergarten pen. Utilizing the contents of my Trader Joe’s bag, pulled out a soccer ball and some plastic cups for Crab vs. Bear soccer variation. Three on three action with two of each team in Crab Crawl position and one in Bear Crawl position. 25 x LBCs for out of bounds, but the kindergarten fence banking was fair play.

    Drop in place for one round of Ring of Fire with 10 x Merkins per PAX member. Roll over for some brief stretching. Hop up and return to the parking lot for COT and YHC took us out.

    Upcoming: 1) Hump Day Happy Hour (or more) – Roller Coaster at 6 PM departing from behind Palani Drive followed by fellowship at 6:45 PM – see PreBlast visible on F3RVA with Kubota taking the lead , 2) No Excuses Workout – Saturday at 7:30 AM – Milestone neighborhood in Mechanicsville – PreBlast posted in News section of F3RVA with The Carpenter taking the lead, and 3) Independence Day Convergence – details later. What else?

    Thanks and nice work gents.

  • New Running Territory

    9 Monday Runners including one 2.0, got their week started with some miles. YHC had warned the PAX on FB the night before that we would be running the Rutland Loop.

    Down Atlee Rd, turn at the Bojangles ( Hustler met us there and Bulkhead was shortly after since the live in Rutland), then head onto Rutlandshire Dr then on the main road Combs Dr.

    4 milers went to the end of Combs then back the same way. 5 milers turned into Cool Spring Forest where there was a Spike sighting. Cross over Cool Spring Rd into Cool Spring West neighborhood. A lap around the path then back to Cool Spring Rd then up the hill and back to Atlee.

    Hot and humid morning but the PAX push each other through it.

    SPIT ON THAT!!

  • First time rider

    3 SOJ vets and a summer tourist hit the mean streets of northwestern Chesterfield County for a ride on the roller coaster. Around the school, down Robious, into River Downs, up Queens Grant hill and back toward Gumbo’s abode. Cut through into Cross Creek added for close to 3 miles out and reverso.

    Phonics informed YHC that he would be visiting RiverRun today and since he had experienced Twin Team before we showed him what the roller coaster is all about. This is a one of a kind ride that hits some good hills on the out and the back. Orange Crush, Bullseye and I discussed the route and planned a flatter option if Phonics didn’t post. Little did they know that Phonics times his arrivals for anytime after 5:28. If you want real hill work, come to River Run, we’ve got you covered.

    Great way to start the week. Thanks for the push Phonics, I’m blaming the humidity for not being able to keep up with you. Word is now that school is out there may be some impromptu coffeterias popping up SOJ.

    • HDHH Wednesday at Palani Drive – 6pm run, 6:45 pm HH
    • Possible HDHH next week at Independence – see Gumbo
    • Puppypile 6/29

  • A Post-Father’s Day Hoedown With Summer Guests and New Guys

    11 (including 2 FNGs) started and LabRat joined LIFO to give us an even dozen for a good old sweaty hoedown. It went like this:

    Mosey a lap around the parking lot and over to what I assume is the faculty lot for COP, including the following (all IC):

    • DQs
    • Helicopters
    • SSHs
    • Copperhead Squats
    • Tempo Merkins
    • LBCs
    • Flutter Kicks

    THE THANG:

    Short Compounding 4 Corners – Staying in the faculty lot for a compounding 4 corners (waiting for LR) as follows:

    • Corner 1 = 10 merkins, run to corner 2
    • Corner 2 = 10 merkins, 20 jump squats, lunge to corner 3 (LR ARRIVED)
    • Corner 3 = 10 merkins, 20 jump squats, 30 single-count mountain climbers, run to corner 4
    • Corner 4 = 10 merkins, 20 jump squats, 30 mountain climbers, 40 APDs, lunge back to corner 1 and plank for the SIX

    Mosey over the bus loop and wall for a triple check now with a solid dozen

    Triple Check – good old fashioned triple check with Donkey Kicks, Box Cutters and a runner doing the bus loop with the last straight away backwards. Repeato x 3.

    Mosey up to the blacktop and partner up.

    Dora – Partner 1 runs to the first basketball hoop and does 2 burpees and runs back to switch. Exercises were: 100 HRMs (OUCH!), 200 Squats and 300 2-ct Freddie Mercuries.

    Double ROF – PAX in plank and first rotation was 10 merkins. Second rotation was Alternating Shoulder Taps, which turned into shoulder-tap merkins (Thanks Splinter, great idea!).

    4 Minutes of Mary: Hello Dollies, right into Rosalitas, then six inches starting iron-cross style then shifting to hands up to the sky and then straight overhead, then 10 WWIIs OYO and back to the flag…

    COT, Number-rama, Name-a-Rama and YHC took us out

    Announcements:

    • Rollercoaster and HDHH this Wednesday – 6:00 p.m. run 6:45 fellowship. Palani Drive
    • Lookout for an SOJ happy hour at Independence golf course next week.
    • Puppy Pile – 6/29 – rumor is Marv has the Q and Splinter has the backblast. Teamwork makes the dream work…or at least makes Big Data work in this case.
    • Fingers crossed and prayers for Toto’s mom who had an interview last week and is hoping for some good news this week.
    • July 4 convergence at Tredegar 0700

    NMS:

    Counting the takeover of DaVille (which I am), YHC needed a Tuckahoe Q to Q in all 4 regions…Hoedown looked ripe for the taking, and it was great.

    Great to get back over to Hoedown and to Q it. Last (and I think only) time I was here it was FREEZING cold. Today – the humidity was out in full force. Each man left signs of where they laid for box cutters and puddles where they held plank. Good work men.

    YHC had intentions of going slightly off-campus and using Lindsay hill for a round of Lindsays but LabRat called at about 0505 to let me know he would be coming in LIFO and hot and that he had an FNG coming. Truth be told, YHC was still sore from Dogpile and OTB, so keeping the moseys short and the running down was a welcome audible.

    Welcome to Shakeweight (Pete) who IS a certified personal trainer among other interesting facts (he’s an Aussie), but that is how we landed on Shakeweight. And welcome to Rolex (Shane) who met Lab Rat playing disc golf — he got his name because during the ROF YHC looked over at Shane and noticed the lovely old school shiny (read not a tech or fitness) watch on his wrist oh, and no gloves. Love that you guys posted this morning after meeting Offshore and Lab Rat, respectively, yesterday or this weekend. Way to push through this morning. Stick with and keep posting!

    And, don’t worry Kubota – I made sure to get you in the PAX list this time!

    Great morning fellas – thanks for letting me come take the lead.

    No More Gumbo For You!