Category: Richmond, VA

  • The Most Merkin Conquest

    The studliest and craziest eight gloom warriors in all the land posted to The Forge this morning to win back the Most Merkin Banner. With a minimum of 860 to beat the Mary boys, and the pressure of Mudface and his Anvil men competing this AM for the same honor, DTH felt compelled to pull out all stops… as follows:

    The THANG:

    Light Pole Warmerama

    • Mosey toward school, completing x10 merkins at each light pole
    • Running total = 80

    Seven of Diamonds

    • Stop in bus loop to complete merkins at each corner of the Diamond
    • 1 Round completed (7/14/21/28/21/14/7)
    • Running total = 192

    21’s Top Half

    • Mosey to the soccer field
    • Complete descending reps on either side of field from 21 down to 10
    • x21 Werkins, x20 Carolina Dry Docks, x19 Werkins, x18 CDD’s (etc)
    • Running total = 378

    Amphitheater Ascent #1

    • Mosey to Amphitheater 
    • Complete x5 Incline Merkins on each of x7 steps, run around side to bottom
    • Complete x5 laps
    • Running total = 553

    Merkin Beast

    • Mosey back to soccer field
    • Complete x6 reps at each of 6 Beast points crossing field and back
    • Round 1 – Standard Merkins
    • Round 2 – Chuck Norris M’s
    • Round 3 – CDD’s
    • Round 4 – Werkins
    • Round 5 – CDD’s
    • Round 6 – Standard Merkins
    • Running Total = 769

    Amphitheater Ascent #2

    • Mosey back to Amphitheater 
    • Complete x5 Incline Merkins on each of x7 steps, run around side to bottom
    • Complete x5 laps
    • Running total = 944

    The Grand Finale

    • Mosey around the back loop dropping for x10 Merkins at each of 20 light poles BTTF
    • Final Total = 1144
    • Total Distance = 2 miles

    COT:

    • Counterama #8
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Comments)
    • YHC took us out in Prayer

    NMS: 

    • Whew! Over a thousand!? In my best Hardywood exclamation – Are you kidding me?!? That was AWESOME!!! So proud of these guys’ effort this morning. And special thanks to Don Draper for joining us for over a thousand squats, as a recent injury is keeping him from the merkins. Whatta stud! (granted he wont walk straight for a week) #CSAUP4LIFE

  • Weightmen Challenge

    A mighty 10 strong showed up on bitter cold (Cerano’s car showed 29 degrees) beat down at Timberwolf. The weightmen challenge was on the menu. To make a long store short when YHC was in track the weightmen (shot put/discus) men would challenge the 4×400 relay team (They had to do exercise during relay while we just ran) to relay and if we won we got to run in the meet. This was a twist as in true F3 fashion we all did exercises (see below). Can you guess if I was a weightmen?

    5:30 time to Mosey and get that heat flowing:

    COP

    20 SSH, 10 DQ’s, 15 Jazercise, 15 Arm Circles, 10 Heli’s, 15 IW’s, 15 Merkins, 20 LBC’s. (YHC tries to pick exercises you can abbreviate). YHC may have had a few struggles with cadence but fear not he is going to meet with OC for cadence tutorials very soon.

    The Beatdown:

    Divide into 3 groups based on running speed: good, better, best. Group 1 (Honeymoon, POG, Dozey), Group 2 (DK, OC,Hermè, ) Group 3 (Duke, Nancy, Peedee). Can you guess which group was the faster group.

    G3 Takes off running while G2 does 5 Burpee’s, G1 Al Gore’s until G2 finishes Burpees then does there 5. After Burpee’s take off running. All groups (at corners) do 10 Merkins, 15 WWII’s, 20 CHS’s. Try to catch the group in front of you! G3 completes there 5 merkins on return. Alternate between AG’s and Planks for the six. 3 rounds like that then switch to 20 merkins, 30 MC’s and 40 box cutters for 3 more rounds. YHC had to switch rounds 5&6 off mountain climbers to jump squats due to his shoe falling apart. To the tennis courts for a quick 20 merkin each Ring of Fire and back to the flag.

    Always an honor to be able to lead, thank you all!

    Dozey was breathing down my neck on the first couple laps. Duke was putting all that running to use and was finishing strong. Hermè may have jumped groups in the middle but was bringing it. Honeymoon had some left in the tank and was determined to leave it out there leading the last few laps. POG worked on his form to help him move from the 1/2 to the full marathon. Peedee great to see you continue to post. DK was pushing leading G2. OC let’s set up that tutor session.

    Announcements: TYA Thanksgiving beatdown and Black Friday loop run (see pre blast). F3 day at Duke’s garage for Sunday Football. There may have been more..but YHC was cold and had brain freeze. YHC also needs to work on recording skills as he recorded nothing!

    YHC took us out in prayer.

  • Carl Friedrich Gauss Shows Up TYA

    Carl Friedrich Gauss Shows Up TYA

    Thirteen randomly dressed middle aged men assembled near the high pitched hissing generator for today’s 45 Minutes of Mary. Many wondered if it would be 45 minutes of merkins given the gauntlet thrown by El Doctor on the other side of the river. Alas, no gluttony, just a healthy dosage of merkins.

    Mosey over near 2nd base on the blacktop for today’s rendition of COP which went something like this:

    • SSH x25
    • Merkin x1
    • Copperhead Squats x10
    • Clerkins x2
    • Imperial Walkers x15
    • Werkins x3
    • Russian Soldiers x10
    • Stagger Merkins x4
    • Arm circles x10 (no big ones)
    • Stagger Merkins x5
    • Mountain Climbers x10
    • Merkins x6
    • LBCs x20
    • Clerkins x7
    • Jump Squats x10
    • Werkins x8
    • Helicopters x10
    • Stagger Merkins x9
    • Lunges x10
    • Stagger Merkins x10

    Quick jaunt over to the east end of the field via the west end of the field. Continue the escalating merkin pattern with sprints across the field. Sprint across the field, do X number of merkins, 20 leg exercises, 30 ab exercises then sprint back and repeat, adding 1 number to the merkin count each time. Planks and Señor Gore’s between even sets to collect the PAX

    • 11 merkins, 20 jump squats, 30 WWIIs
    • 12 merkins, 20 jump squats, 30 WWIIs
    • 13 diamond merkins, 20 lunges, 30 flutter kicks
    • 14 diamond merkins, 20 lunges, 30 flutter kicks
    • 15 werkins, 20 reverse lunges, 30 american hammers
    • 16 werkins, 20 reverse lunges, 30 american hammers
    • 17 stagger left merkins, 20 mountain climbers, 30 ab exercises of some sort
    • 18 stagger left merkins, 20 mountain climbers, 30 ab exercises of some sort
    • 19 stagger right merkins, 20 squats, 30 freddie mercuries
    • 20 stagger right merkins, 20 squats, 30 freddie mercuries

    Jovial saunter and circle up around the pull up bar for ring of fire. 5x pull ups while plankorama ensues. Hitchhiker awarded the Merkin Presidential Award to Swirly during the process.

    Cozy little stroll back to the VSF for 21 merkins since we had another minute.

    YHC forgot to prompt for announcements but we counted our digits and proclaimed our given and re-given names before YHC took us out.

    Moleskin
    Quite a lively crew today and Marv took much of the brunt of pre-launch banter due to his choice of outfits. That and his appearance for Mary which used to be a staple of his. Glad to have you out.

    Other poking and prodding of individuals was limited during the workout until the end when TYA’s math skillz were highlighted. Proud of his ability to recant Gauss’ formula and his overwhelming confidence in his correct answer that the number of merkins performed was 210 for the day, YHC gave him the opportunity to think about his answer and then call me later in the day to discuss. After showing his math, TYA did realize his mistake and the walls came crumbling down. My attempt to be gracious in victory was overwhelmed with TYAs desire to be right.

    231 gentlemen. Even Carl the kindergartener could have figured that one out.

    Splinter out

  • Gluten-free Hot Potato

    The season of hot potato Qs continue with a KB version at Circus Maximus this morning.  Here is how it went down this morning:

    • Johnsonville
      • COP with merkins, SSH, DQ, IW
      • 11 with burpees and snatches
    • Loose Goose – series of partner run/lunges while another man performs double weighted exercise, which included curls, squats and overhead pulls
    • White Deer
      • series of 10 sit ‘n presses followed by decreasing rest periods
      • Boat/canoe
    • COT with Johnsonville taking us out

    No Circus Maximus next week as the PAX will converge at 45 MOM at 6 am.  Prayers to TYA on the loss of his father.  Good time of the year to be thankful for the PAX and their fellowship.  The PAX learned today that we are not thankful for one stall men’s rooms at Wawa after Johnsonville has had gluten.  The greater RVA area needs to be on high alert when such circumstances repeat. 

    Thanks to those that Q’ed today. God is good all of the time!

    Attila

  • Love Track Baby

    Nine redwoods attended SOT for a morning workout by YHC. Here’s how it went down:

    Mosey to bottom parking lot. SSH, Don Q, Mountain Climbers, Merkins, Freddie, Hillbillies

    Mosey to track: Love Track. Similar to love hill only on a track. Partner up. Partner one runs around track to point of beginning and then returns back to where partner two is. Partner two does BLIMP – burpee broad jumps, lunges, imperial squat walkers and polar bears – until Partner One returns. Switch. Finish at end/beginning line, one time around track.

    Ring of Fire – 10 merkins.

    Mosey to bleachers – lindsays. dips, run across field, reverse crunches.

    Mosey to base of hill – triple check. peoples chair, WWII situps, run up hill.

    Return to flag.

    Great work men! YHC thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie this morning, and the first time to lead in a while. Some grunts and maybe swear words were heard from the PAX during Love Track. YHC knows this is better than chattiness and laughing. The BLIMP was performed not in a row as usual, like 5 Bs, 10 Ls, 15 IMs, 20 Ps, but rather broad jump until partner two returns, then next round lunge until partner returns. In retrospect that first broad jump burpee was long and painful. Everyone completed the task at hand with vigor!

    Congrats to POG, Circle and Lug completing their respective 1/2 marathons.

    announcements-

    Next Tuesday at No Toll for TYA, be there.

    Turkey day at Mumford, 6:00 AM.

    Black Friday loops at Forest Hill Park.

    -Singer

  • Back From a Long Absence

    Mosey around the bus look in case in LIFO’s posted.  Circled up at front doors of the school to warm up.  Side Straddle Hope, Arm Circles, Hand Release Merkins, LBC’s and Hillbilly’s.  Short mosey to the wall.  Find a partner.  One partner does Balls to the Walls while the other does 20 Halo’s with their KB.  Switch back and forth until each team has done 80 Halo’s, 80 one handed swings (thank you MudFace for fixing our form), 80 Goblet Squats and 80 Lawn Mowers.  A little chatter was heard about why we were doing Balls to the Walls during a KB workout.  Because the Q said so.  Next was 4 Corners of the Bus Loop.  The corners were 20 Pullovers, 20 Around the Waists, 20 Monkey Humpers (w/o KB) and 20 Boat-Canoe’s.  Next was 11’s across the parking log.  11’s consisted of Monkey Humpers (w/out KB) and Clean/Presses.  You ask why Monkey Humpers?  Ski season is coming quickly and need to work on those thighs.  Nobody completed the 11’s before we ran out of time.  Circle Up.  One minute left so we did some Boat-Canoe’s in honor of Chewy.  Numberama, Namarama, Anouncements and Closing Prayer.  An announcement was made by MudFace.  On Thursday there is a Merkin Challenge.  The goal is to do 900 Merkins in 45 minutes at the workout (a merkin every 3 seconds).   I’ve been out for the better part of 3 months, it’s great to be back with the guys.

     

  • Great 8 @ WDOG

    We had 8 warriors show up for a hump day morning workout and here is what went down:

    COP

    We moseyed to Amphitheater to start our warm ups with 20 SSH, 10 DQ, 15 arm circles 10 small 5 big (I mistakenly called out Helicopters and quickly understood the confused looks) so we did reverso 10 small 5 big, then 10 Helicopters(for real this time), 20 Freddie Mercuries and 20 merkins.

    The THANG

    We moseyed to the Triangle at the crop circle divided into 2 groups of 4. 1st pair ran down to the corner and ran back. The other pair did PLT’s (partner leg tosses) and switched when then 1st pair reached the bottom of hill and then became the running pair when first pair arrived at the top of the hill while the first pair did PLT’s. We repeated this 3 times. Al Gore for the 6.

    Moseyed to Field in front of the war memorial. 4 corner escalator (non stacking) 1st corner 10 squats, 2nd corner 20 merkins, 3rd corner 30 LBC’s and 4th corner 40 Monkey humpers. We returned back to start in decreasing fashion with 30 LBC’s, 20 merkins and 10 squats. Al Gore for the 6.

    Moseyed to the cage and partnered up. Partner 1 ran to hydrant and back while partner 2 did 5 pullups, 10 merkins and 15 squats . We did 5 repeats of this effort.

    Moseyed back to flag for MOM where each person picked a style of merkin for 5 reps for the circle to perform.

    FYI– 631 active and 740 total calories for today’s workout we did (20+20+20+25+40=125 merkins this morning)

    Numberama, Namerama YHC took us out.

    Gentlemen, always an honor to lead and I look forward to seeing you in the gloom!…Cheers, CB

  • That sounded moist.

    A fab five with four kettlebells and one rucksack set forth on another 5am edition of the gloom at River and Ridge. With YHC on the mend from the week long plague, and a full dose of cabin fever, it was time to get out of the house. Near perfect temps for the Early Bird Special …. can’t get much better than that.

    COP

    Mosey to the Westham Parkway Wedge.

    SSHs, Imperial Walkers, DQs, Merkins, LBCs

    The Thang

    Mosey back to the parking lot, grab your kettlebell and/or rucksack.

    Exercise 1 – 4 Corners

    • 2 rounds
    • Around the world on the straight-a-ways and curves
    • 1st corner Hand Release Merkins (20)
    • 2nd Corner Goblet Squats (20)
    • 3rd Corner KB Swings (20)
    • 4th Corner LBCs with KB (20)

    algore for the six.

    Exercise 2 – Quad/Quint Triple Check

    Divide and conquer among 5 PAX members

    • Pace Car: Run the Parking Lot Loop
    • Kettlebell Swings
    • Kettlebell Snatches

    Plankarama for the six.

    Exercise 3 – Ladders

    • Round 1 – Merkin Ladder -> 1 Merkin at First Parking Space….. 10 Merkins at 10th Parking Space, lunge back.
    • Round Two – Figure 8s ladder -> 1…… 10, mosey to the flag

    Flutterkicks, LBCs and Merkins for Mary.

    Numberama, Namerama, YHC took us out.

    • Merk-A-Rama at the Forge and The Anvil tomorrow morning. Tassles and chest palpitations up for grabs.
    • TYA Turkey Day Special at Mary…. 6am
    • Watch/join TYA run for 24 hours the day after (Thanksgiving). See the pre-blast.

    Strong mumble chatter both vocal and gastrointestinal this morning. Enjoyed incorporating elements of this beatdown normally reserved for Circus Maximus, MANNdate and Mondays at Midlo Middle. The Tuckahoe EarlyBird Special momentum remains strong as PAX members continue to relish in the “gained 30-45 minutes” each Wednesday.

    Enjoyed it fellas! SYITG. -Wojo

  • Kettle Beast

    Three strong men showed up for another off the books kettle bell workout at Midlo Middle on a Monday morning.

    Still being an unofficial AO, YHC coordinated and took the Q. Not having any terribly original ideas, YHC just looked at the most recent Circus Maximus BB and shamelessly copied the workout with some alterations.

    Here’s how it went down:

    Farmer’s carry to the front NW corner of the school.

    COP:

    • SSHs (to get things moving)
    • Jazzercise
    • Cherry Pickers
    • Helicopters

    The Thang: A Beast with Bells

    Using the front of the school (~100 yards), and stopping at 3 spots down and back for exercises. 6 of each exercise at each of the 6 spots (at the “25”,”50″,and “75”, and the “75”, “50”, and “25”), with the exercises adding up cumulatively with each round. Alternate around the worlds and lunges in between each spot (YHC audibled to only around the worlds after realizing that lunges were going to be too slow and painful, especially with all the goblet squats each round)

    Round 1: Goblet Squats
    Round 2: Goblet Squats, Halos
    Round 3: Goblet Squats, Halos, Lawnmower Pulls

    Pause the Beast to run a lap around the school Indigenous People run style, and a pretty fast pace!

    Round 4: Goblet Squats, Halos, Lawnmower Pulls, High Pulls

    We ran out of time for 6 full rounds with the cumulative exercises taking more time, but thankfully, had a few minutes to do a bit of Mary.

    Mary:

    • Boat/Canoe – several rounds at the Q’s call
    • Weighted American Hammers (IC x10)

    Farmer’s carry back to the flag

    COT:

    Numberama, Namearama

    Announcerama – Please keep YHC’s niece in your prayers as she’s struggling with depression.

    NMS:

    Thanks for showing up for another KB beat down. KB might stand for Killer Beast this morning! It was tough!

    Trying to get out of the parking lot was an adventure, as what seemed like half of the middle school student body and their parents were trying to squeeze into the parking lot.

    Per Rosie’s suggestion at No Toll, YHC plans to invite Johnsonville and White Deer to join us next week, as this might be a more convenient KB option for them to partake of.

    SYITG!

  • Caravan of cars at HBR

    An even dozen, including 1 visitor, arrived at varying times to Heartbreak Ridge on a gorgeous morning. Again no Q so Handshake started us off:

    COP: SSH, Don Qs, Merkins, Flutterkicks, Hairy Rocketts (horizonal version) aka inverted upside down Scorpion kicks. Back to main lot for: Quad Check – 1) B2tW, Flutterkicks, Merkins, Run lot & back. Head down to Jerkin Gym: 3 Sets of 10 Jerkins. Pass Q to Offshore:

    Over to Heartbreak hill – Triple check of Merkins, WWIIs, Bernie Sanders up hill.

    Hand Q to Garbage Plate, 1 lap of Indian Run then over to ramp: Crawl Bear up hill, bar shimmy down. 2 times. Q over to Honeydo: 3 sets of PLTs, back to flag for some Pickle Pounders. YHC took us out.

    NMS – Today was textbook Hot Potato where PAX were pushed for the full 45 min. Quad check got us going from Handshake then other Qs never let up. Good to have Stump Jumper back visiting RVA. He debated whether on posting at Spider Run or HBR but in the end he gave us the perfect dozen number to work with. P-Trap, the married version, was back out having resting his shoulder injury. No clue whether the shoulder injury occurred on the Honeymoon or not, hence the need for more Pickle Pounder practice.

    Fireman Ed was extra mouthy today, with his JETS drubbing on the Skins still on his mind. Low, low times for those who still HTTR. Lighthouse is officially a HBR regular now as YHC can’t remember a week he wasn’t there. Merkin count estimated in the 180-200 range based on Quad & Triple check inclusions. Your mileage may vary.