Category: Richmond, VA

  • Near Derailment

    On a beautiful Monday morning, 12 mighty warriors met up for a beatdown and i believed they received it.

    Warm ups:

    10 Don Quixotes, 20 Side straddle hops, 10 forward and backwards Arm circles and 10 Merkins

    First Exercise:

    Doras with 100 Gaga jumps (jumps over the Gaga Ball pit boundaries), 200 Carolina Dry Docks and 300 2 count flutter kicks, Other partner is running to the other side of the black top and back.

    Mosey to Hillsdale road

    Second exercise:

    Fireman Carry up the hill around the cul-de-sac back down the hill

    This is where Roger Roger carrying Bodos nearly toppled. I credit Roger Roger with a good save but it was close.

    Bear crawl up the hill ~1/8 mile jog down the hill and plank

    Mosey to the field behind TES

    Third Exercise:

    Triple check with Donkey kicks, Tricep dips and run to the chin up bar and do 5 Burp ups (burpies to a chin up).

    Last exercise:

    Run to the horsehoe and share in 65 PLTs. 65 to 1 were the odds of Country House winning (or winning by default) the Kentucky Derby. Was that a foul or not? I have no idea. Finish with 15 merkins.

    Announcements: Bodos first Q is this Wednesday at Dog Pile.

    We have Field Day this Saturday. For those at Tuckahoe Nano Region, represent with the collared shirt and old khaki shorts, I’d say even a visor.

    I had fun Q’ing again although I was unable to complete the triple check due to being slightly out of shape. I also had a few comments on my sleeveless shirt. I think my look resembled the latest photo of Christian McCaffrey (look up Christian McCaffrey jacked). Have a productive week and god bless!

  • Trying something new

    27 redwoods arose for a sunny and 70 beatdown with YHC giving the PAX choices. Choices are not typically what the Q doles out at an F3 beatdown but YHC was feeling generous. After couple days of teasing a split Q no one really believed it was going to happen, especially since Marmaduke was set as the other half. A warmup run over with the animal that we call Upchuck, he successfully pulled of the triple dip capping a week well into the double digits of posts.

    THANG

    Start off with a tribute to UNCC student Riley Howell, a true hero, with 21 burpees OYO for the 21 year old student.

    Mosey to the first circle for a little warm up of SSH, DQ, Russian Soldiers and IW. Brief explanation of the choices – High tempo running Q with YHC or ground and pound with Marmaduke. Swirly offered to grade Duke’s Q after the “incident” on Thursday.

    Rosie Q – Head down Love Hill to the bridge. Increasing merkins at each lightpole all the way up the hill, 1 up to 14. First finished goes back and finishes with the 6. Decreasing jump squats on the way back. Mosey over to the pipe loop for an individual triple check (quadruplish). At the bottom 20 CDD, 20 Monkey Humpers (hold the monkey if you need to Saab), 20 American Hammers – run the loop, repeato 3x. Head all the way up the trail to the rusty cage. Ladder down 5 pull ups to 1, in between rounds run to the fire hydrant for 10 WWII. Indigenous run through the Arts in the Park tents, around the field and back to the circle. Meet up with the ground and pound crew.

    While YHC was leading a group of fools around the grounds, Marmaduke was adminstering his own version of a beatdown that looked a little something like this:

    Ground and Pound Amphitheater Style! Ladders!

    Start at the bottom. — Choose an exercise and increase on each step by one.  1 rep on first step, 2 on second step, and so on all the way up to 18, and with the ladder you must come down.

    Exercises included:

    Incline Merkins

    Squats – Worked on Form

    LBCs

    Single Count Flutter Kicks

    Arm Circles – 18 forward, 17 Backward, 16 forward, etc…..

    Monkey Humpers

    Audible to Finish – 3 WWIIs on each step all the way to the top then mosey to meet other group.

    Lots of Plank variations in there as well ( Thanks UpChuck)

    NMS:

    Marmaduke: Mumble chatter was great!! Greenbow has some reading to catch up (Ill leave that alone, inquire as you wish or see Upchuck)  Tryhard brought FNG Cooper, now named Opie, who never left our sight, great mix to have a pup running around this morning.  Great to see Bone Thugs continue to push and post, keep it up brotha!!  Appreciate they PAX who put in work on the G&P this morning, hope you got a good one in. Also appreciate you letting me lead today after my debacle on Thursday, as Swirly said, I may never hear the end of that one but that is what this group is all about, and I agree with him whole heartedly!  Make it great one fellas!

    Thanks for indulging me this morning fellas. Been thinking about this for a while since we typically have such a large Dogpile crew. 25+ can be hard to handle. Welcome to F3RVA Ice9, great work today, way to push the PAX and the miles, hope you enjoy your stay in Richmond. Phonics was on fire across the bridge, he and Garbage Plate were cruising there and back. Hitchhiker and Shakedown took the hard way and hit the high tempo alternative after the Breakfast Club, the humidity did not do you any favors. Get ready for it boys, summer is on it’s way. Good feedback on the split Q, it may not be a weekly thing but I encourage anyone that is interested to set it up once every month or two, it worked great.

    Enjoy the weekend, every moment is precious.

  • 2+5=7 for 4 at 0500 or 0530

    7 circled the wagons for Breakfast Club. Temps were sunny and 70. Route was ET’s down Cary to Robinson, through the park to the Police Memorial, and past the campers into Dogpile.

    Reverse route (for YHC and Kubota) was Park through Carytown, then left on Ellwood (Main), and onto ET’s.

    2 miles down, 2 miles back.

    NMS:

    YHC rose early today in order to start a trifecta of posts. Pulling into Dogpile, a figure arose through The Gloom…”Is that Kubota?” Yep…already running through the park. Kubota, headed to an early workday, was kind enough to wait while YHC parked, stretched, and caught up. Great to have someone to run with, even better to catch up with Kubota. Thank you, my friend. That made the start of a long morning for YHC fly by.

    Breakfast Club was post #10 for YHC this week (including Breaking Bread). Counting Dogpile and Gridiron, the total rose to 12 by the end of the morning. The genesis for this personal CSAUP idea came up on Tuesday while YHC was running with EF Hutton. After consulting Hutton’s accounting skills, it was determined that YHC could hit 12 AO’s in a week…hey, it’s as pointless as any other mission. Let’s do this!

    YHC tried not to mention it much this week, generally to avoid the possibility of anyone realizing in case YHC didn’t make it. By chance, Handshake mentioned it on Wednesday morning. By today, YHC had it in the bag and couldn’t stop talking about it (anyone surprised that YHC couldn’t stop talking? Don’t answer that…it’s a rhetorical question).

    Ironically, a couple of years ago, YHC was with Hutton and the twosome decided on another run to visit every AO by the end of the year. (Memo to self: when in need of a solid CSAUP inspiration, run with Hutton).

  • Laps of Luxury

    YHC just needs to preface some workouts with “I am not a professional trainer, just an @$$ hole masquerading as one.”  Here is how today’s beat down at Gridiron went down:

    • COP
      • 30 SSH
      • 15 Russian soldiers
      • 15 IW
      • 15 helicopters
      • 10 2x merkins
      • 20 Suzanne Somers, each leg
      • 30 2x LBC
    • Mosey to the Pavilion for dips/step-ups – total of 75 dips and 25 one-leg step-ups (each leg)
    • Mosey to the upper football field for variation of the No Mercy Mile; this one referred to as the “Laps of Luxury”
      • Start at the 50 yard line with 25 monkey humpers
      • Run the sidelines
      • Series of exercises to traverse across the field (both ends) for each of the 5 total laps
        • Bear Crawl
        • Partner wheelbarrows
        • Lunge walks
        • Partner carries
        • Crab walks
      • 20 hand release merkins at the opposite 50 yard line
      • End with 10 burpees at the same 50 yard line we started from
    • Mosey back to the parking lot for a wall sit
      • Run the perimeter of the lot
      • Wall sit
      • WWII sit-ups
    • COT with YHC taking us out

    Good work by the PAX today.  Congrats to Upchuck on 3 workouts this morning and a total of 12 this week.  Strong! 

    Welcome back Cecil.  Perhaps you can resurface before August.

    YHC got the pleasure of carrying White Deer across the field.  YHC did not know hot air was so heavy.  Meanwhile, Earthworm might still be looking for member of the PAX to carry as he preps for future hikes. 

    Congrats to Adderall, Johnsonville, and Chum Bucket on their 50k last weekend.  Strong!

    Good work today.  Lots of cardio, which can be rare at Gridiron.  Enjoyed the fellowship at Einsteins that followed.

    God is good all of the time!

    Attila

  • How has it only been 3 years?

    Six men who choose to start their Friday off right posted at The Creek for a beatdown that went something like this.

    Mosey once around the church

    COP

    • 30 SSH IC
    • 10 Don Quixotes IC
    • 15 Helicopters IC
    • 10 step back Lunges IC
    • 10 Merkins IC
    • 20 Mountain Climbers IC
    • 20 LBCs IC
    • 20 Freddie Mercuries IC
    • 20 ABDs IC
    • 10 Box Cutters IC
    • 20 Burpees IC

    The Thang

    Stay in parking lot

    Triple Sprints – Get into 2 groups of 3. Two partners stay while the 3rd partner goes about 50 yards away. While one partner starts doing 5 burpees, the first partner sprint to the 2nd partner. When they tag, the first partner does 5 burpees. The 2nd partner then tags the 3rd partner. Do 5 burpees after each sprint for a total of 5 sprints and 25 burpees. Bear Crawl to the middle when all partners have completed 5 burpees.

    Triple Check – Alternate between Plank Walks, American Hammers, Run around the building a total of 3 times.

    Mosey to shelter

    Tabata

    • Round 1 – Alternate between Raised Back Plank dips and Rocket Launchers (4 rounds for each exercise = 8 rounds)
    • Round 2 – One legged Lunges – Alternate between Legs. (4 rounds for each leg = 8 rounds)

    Mosey back to VSF

    COT – Numberama, Name-o-rama, YHC took us out.

    NMS

    Today, YHC celebrated his 3rd anniversary as a member of F3RVA. In many ways, its amazing how quickly the time has gone by. In many ways, it seems like F3 has been a part of my life for much longer than 3 years which is a good thing. F3 has meant a lot to me over these 3 years. Beyond the fitness, it has connected me with others who have children who do activities like swimming, track, cross country, and chorus. Some of these PAX members who I have run into at my children’s activities are The Carpenter, Opus, Wheelie, Lab Rat, Helix, Emoji, Seymour, Bleeder, TYA, Rosie, Abacus, Yard Sale, and Bromance.

    Several observations from the Creek today.

    • SSHs during COP are performed very differently by the PAX members than any other AO in F3RVa.
    • PAX members who do what the Q does, not what he says. If he calls out the incorrect name of an exercise but means something else (windmills instead of helicopters), perform the exercise that he is actually doing.
    • Several regulars from The Creek were absent today.
    • Because of the time that the Triple Check took, only had time for 2 rounds of Tabata.
    • It had been more than 2 years since YHC had worked Tabata into the workout. I need to do this more.
    • Bulkhead, Emoji, and Opus posted at both of YHC’s Qs this week. Well Done!

    It was a pleasure to lead this fine group of men this morning!

    Announcements

    F3RVA Field Day – Saturday, May 11

    RVA Summer Tour – Starts the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and will last until Labor Day. This is your opportunity to post at every F3RVA AO. More information to come.

    Gotta Run!

    Phonics

  • Crabs, Gorillas, and Bears

    13 came out of the mist for today’s version of The Patriot.  With YHC moseying Down Range to his ancestral homeland of Northern Virginia, The Gloom shined a bit brighter today with temps sunny and 70.

    Lucius had the Q and appeared at 5:15 with a mix of traffic cones and a soccer ball – an added motivator.   

    COP

    SSHs x20 (so far, so familiar)
    Little baby arm circles 10 forward…5 bigger…Reverso…5 and 5
    Cherry pickers x9
    Standing Stair Climbers (just forget YHC mentioned these)

    Drop Sprint

    Run around track…at two points on the track, last man to the orange cone drops out and does 10 burpees.  Continue until all PAX have dropped.  The PAX really have only two options: win the whole thing, or do 10 burpees.

    Crabs, Gorillas, and Bears F3 Soccer

    3 teams with 3 goals in a triangle.  Each team tries to score at one goal while defending the other two goals.  Movement only by the assigned method per team.  Each team has one of the three methods at a time.  Swap methods among teams at end of each round.  3 rounds.  Each team tries each method.

    Sevens

    Round 1: Carolina dry docks and squats.  Run 50 yards in between end line and midfield.
    Round 2: Dips and 4x4s.  Run 50 yards in between sideline and other sideline.

    Mary

    LBCs
    Flutter kicks

    Number-a-ma, name-a-ram-a, Lucius took us out.

    NMS:

    YHC met a very cool group of guys today. Lucius brought a good mix of pain and fun…YHC notes that Shake Shack burgers for dinner + beat down + locked bathrooms = No joy.

    Welcome FNG Wee-aw (think the sound of a firetruck siren) who is a medical transportation something-or-other. For those who track these things, F3 The Capital named him on Day 1.

  • Garden Tour

    20 seasoned running vets and Gearheads showed up to support BT’s RAMM VQ with a new route. Here’s how it went:

    THANG:

    West on Grove to Tuckahoe, over Cary and down Paxton. Loop back up Ampthill over Cary and down Roslyn. Continue over Grove to Patterson and hang a right. 4’s take Woodlawn to Grove and back to home base. 5’s take Hamilton to Grove and back, and 6’s detour through Stonewall Ct on the way to Lafayette, then right on Grove back home.

    NMS:

    YHC was happy to find a route we hadn’t done yet and felt like we needed a little hill work. Also, it gave us a chance to run through the heart of the annual city Garden Tour. Thankfully, Ampthill was early in the run because it’s a doozy. Mileage was almost spot on, but the 5’s needed a another tenth to reach the mark. All in all YHC thinks it was a success and hopes it makes the rotation. Lug and Swirly headed out early and got an extra 3 miles; nice work boys. Great to see J’ville back after his 50k and drag Picabo away from the grips of competitive tennis. Hitchhiker left it all on the field; way to push my man! YHC tried to talk a little baseball with Marv and Sippy early on, but couldn’t keep up so enjoyed some hardball banter with Flatty on the tail end.

    ANNOUNCEMENTS:

    Field day next week, get your unis buttoned up and make sure you get Mother’s Day squared away. Positive vibes to the AT crew who are crushing over 100 miles this weekend (TYA, Circle K, Ollivander, The Whittler, someone else?). There was some other stuff but really can’t remember.

    Be awesome and have a great weekend!

  • Old Skool Bullseye

    Double digits posted at Twin Team this morning, but the PAX never saw the mountain.  After 2 days of back-to-back Gumbo beatdowns, YHC was too sore and exhausted for a hill workout. 

    Some of the Twin Team regulars may remember a strange dude doing his own thing – running the bleachers and playing on the monkey bars – at this AO a few years ago.  Not having a great plan for the morning, YHC reverted to this workout from his pre F3 days.  This is how it went.

    COP:

    Mosey to the Swamp parking lot for some SSHs, Russian Soldiers, DQs, and Helicopters. 

    Triple Check on the Bleachers:

    Mosey inside the Swamp to the bleachers for a modified triple check. 

    • Round 1, member 1 = runs up the bleachers 3x, member 2 = Dips, member 3 = Merkins. 
    • Round 2, member 1 = hops/jumps up the bleachers 1x, member 2 = LBCs, member 3 = lunge in place.
    • Round 3, member 1 = runs up 3x, member 2 = box jumps, member, 3 = railing crawls (you had to be there).    

    Murph (just the location):  

    Indian run back to the playground behind BWE.  Partner up for pull ups.  10 reps, 2 sets.  Do as many as you can OYO, then assisted by the partner to 10.  Switch and repeat.  Flange crushed these without help. 

    Modified Curb Crawl:

    Mosey to the bus loop.  On 1 side, do 10 walk-out Merkins.  Bear Crawl to the other side, stand, and do 20 curb hops.  Crawl Bear back and repeat 3x.  About to puke on round 2, YHC was second-guessing the count.  However, Flange was already on round 3, so it was too late to audible. 

    Indian Run:

    Indian Run leaving BWE across the street to the top of the hill / cul-de-sac.  At the top, recover and reverse back to the flag (2 at a time).  The last 2 in the line race to the front.  YHC had the pleasure of losing to Doozy, then Rosie, then Tobit.  Nice job fellas.

    Ring of Fire 

    Hold Plank while each member performs their favorite Merkin x10. Respect to Rosie for doing airborne pushups. 

    COT, Numberama, Namerama

    Announcements:

    • Field Day, May 11, at Dogpile.  SOJs uniform was discussed.  Reach out to Gumbo if you can make it.  Or just show up.

    Everyone was impressed with Whiteboard’s fitness level.  Clearly not a couch potato.  YHC had to beg him to pump the brakes when taking the lead on the Indian Run.  Hope to see you soon, Whiteboard!

    Thanks for coming out this morning, fellas.  You guys push me harder every day. 

    Neigh, neigh!

  • A New Crew to Meet!

    A much shorter drive this morning to The AO with PAX members and FNG’s getting a sit rep from DTH regarding the myth and legend of F3 RVA. Virgin Q at this AO for YHC and a smile to go with, 14 gentlemen posted to The Forge and what an AO to work with!! 0530.. time to mosey.

    Down the hill to the back parking lot next to HHS for COP: x 10 Don Quixote’s, x 30 SSH, x 20 Copperhead Squats, x 20 Flutter Kicks, X 20 LBC’s, x 20 Freddie Mercuries, x 20 Imperial Walkers. Time to move!

    With the track off limits, legally, modified Merkin Mile called. Run out to the 5th light pole approx 400 m and back. 12 Merkins after each out and back and repeat x 4. Mosey to wall near tennis courts.

    Triple Check- partner up x 3. Exercise 1-run backwards up the ramp to stadium entrance, run forwards back. Exercise 2-Chicken Peckers. Exercise 3-Merkins. WWII’s while waiting for PAX to finish.

    Mosey back up the hill to the Flag.

    Number-ama, Name-r-ama, Announcements: Field Day May 11, Dogpile. See your nano regions captain for uniform attire. With several new PAX members and FNG’s this am, YHC took a few minutes to explain the Q-COP, workout, COT, and F3RVA.org.

    YHC took us out!

    Naked Mole Skin: AO assessed yesterday afternoon and man, lots of ways to get crushed here. Hills aplenty and only 1/4 of the AO was assessed. This AO will have minimum mumblechatter once the workout starts.

    Dr. Tryhard, respect and congrats for EHing so many new PAX members. Awesome work and yes, the AO has an appropriate name!!

    To those new PAX members YHC met this morning-welcome to F3 RVA and keep posting. Yes, there is pain involved but it gets so much easier and the 2nd F is truly a blessing! Obvious you men already have the 3rd F! Sea-Doo (originally Kamikaze) YHC changed your name after talking with DTH and Tobit and you were gone-welcome. Same to Rocket and The Chaplain! YHC has never named 2 FNG’s before so 3 is super and made my day!!

    Lumbergh, way to push through triple check with just two of us. YHC sees your work!

    Tobit, Handshake, Sugar Sock, Don Draper-way to support a new AO! Your leadership and effort are commended!

    Keep posting and put in the effort!

    Only those who post understand.

    Loud and Proud,

    Flatline

  • Well at least he didn’t sleep in…he got Red Barchetta’d instead

    10 SOJ all-stars posted to Timberwolf all looking to impress the Field Day captain with their efforts and secure their spot on the tug-o-war line. One even middle-fingered our fine brothers from across the river and left them Q-less (and possibly clueless) for the gloom. He regretted that for many reasons. If only he did it intentionally! Regardless, here is what Timberwolf had in store this morning…

    Mosey down to the field for part two of Gumbo’s SOJ field comparison tour…better than SOT but Timberwolf still doesn’t hold a candle to NoToll…nonetheless, COP must go on. It included:

    • SSHs
    • DQs
    • Helicopters
    • Hillbillies
    • HRMs
    • LBCs
    • Flutter Kicks

    THE THANG:

    Red Barchetta

    Line up on the end line for the following:

    • Run 100 yards, do 100 SSHs, run back to the end line and plank for the six.
    • Run 75 yards, do 75 single-count mountain climbers, run back, plank.
    • Run 50 yards (or half-way as Lug pointed out), do 50 LBCs, run back, plank.
    • Run 25 yards, do 25 GOOD merkins, run back, plank.
    • Run 10 yards AYG (15 for YHC, its hard to stop once I get up to top speed), 10 burpees, run back, plank

    Palate Cleanser — Partner up for 25 PLTs x 3.

    Dora

    Partner 1 makes his way around the concrete square behind the endzone as follows – bearcrawl side 1, run side 2, bearcrawl side 3, run side 4. Partner 2 begins exercises. Switch and repeat until you complete as a team 100 squats, 200 single-count Freddie Mercuries and 300 (audibled to 200) single-count lunges.

    Palate Cleanser #2 – 25 APDs IC

    Burpee Battalion Run

    Akin to a Native American Run around the track. Keeping a slow pace, last man drops to do 3 burpees then runs to the front of the line. As he passes the last man in line that man drops to start his burpees. 1 lap around everyone got their turn at some burpees. Look out for Nancy Lopez on your left!

    Continue the mosey back up to the parking lot

    ROF x2

    • Round 1 – plank position – 10 Alternating Shoulder Taps when it is your turn.
    • Round 2 – still in plank – 10 plank jacks when it is your turn.

    3 MOM –

    • Hello Dollies x20 IC
    • Rosalitas x20 IC
    • American Hammers x20 IC – bell has rung!

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

    Announcements:

    • Field Day at Dogpile next weekend, May 11 – align with your nano region and get ready to battle.
    • Shakedown is shaving his head again for charity (St. Baldrics). Let’s support our brother for a great cause!
    • Apparently there is a Masters Class and a Remedial Class this Saturday at Dogpile. Rosie will be ramping up the pace in the Masters Division while Marmaduke will take his lumps and dish out some pain in the Remedial Division. No doubt both will bring the pain.

    NMS:

    YHC rolled in to Timberwolf right behind Nancy Lopez’s clown car at 0520 and we found LugNut’s ride empty. Way to get in some extra credit Lug – you’re looking strong brother! The rest of PAX was not far behind with Recall rolling in with the van — that thing could make one hell of a clown car. Just sayin! It was great to see Aisle 5 and Cerano this morning.

    Gumbo’s 2-day field comparison turn out as expected. NoToll fields are supreme. But, Timberwolf’s fields held strong today.

    Some good running and my abs are feeling it too. Great work this morning men. Way to push hard for 45 minutes.

    Fast forward to 0753 when YHC gets a text from Marmaduke who had received several texts confirming that he is still alive because as it turns out, he had the Q at 45MOM this morning…BRAIN FART! I see from BB that our brothers to the NORTH, you know on the other side of the RIVAH, put out a search party but when the big dog didn’t come running, they when to plan bit and passed a potato around a bit. Well done boys! Marmaduke – at least its one step above Wilson’s sleeping in and leaving me solo at OLD DARK SOT that one time….#nevergonnaletthatgo!

    Great fun men and great work!

    No More Gumbo For You!