Category: Richmond, VA

  • Playing It Cool

    Five strong mosey into a brisk & breezy gloom

    The Thang

    Mosey down to bottom parking lot

    COP –

    10x SSH

    10x Abe Vigoda’s

    10x Imperial Walkers

    10x LBC

    10x Slow bending squat

    Mosey to the bottom of the hill

    Play it Cool

    Chair sit when you see a car

    Millennial

    10x 100 ct exercise – 100M jog

    Once 1st member of the PAX complete exercise all run 100M

    (cannot be same person each time)

    SSH

    LBC

    Lunges

    Hillbillies

    Jump Squats

    Arm Circles

    Merkins (2X50)

    Flutter Kicks

    Copperhead Squat

    Burpees (200 total)

    Mosey up steps to bleachers

     Racoon Crawl

    Across bleachers and back

    Tracers – Group Style, all lines touched – several times

    Howling Monkeys

    3 rounds

    Mosey back

    COT

    Moleskin

    Great fun this morning, the PAX was “playing it cool”!

    The Millennial was a first for YHC.  100 reps of an exercise, 100M jog, 10 times was going to be a challenge, I wasn’t sure we would be able to finish.  I was WRONG!  The PAX crushed it. 

    Lesson’s learned:

    Not only does Mr. Roper have freakish SSH skills he is also now registered as the world’s fastest Racoon Crawler.

    Orange Crush has mad stretching skills, especially when YHC prematurely ends the beatdown.

    Bullseye learned that sometimes it is helpful to wear long pants.

    Rosie was well, Rosie….

    Great work men!

  • Kicking off Lent with a Beatdown

    16 veterans of the Gloom layered up and posted on this brisk morning to W-Dog to start our morning and our season of Lent the only way we know how – with some fellowship and some pain. Here is what transpired:

    Mosey to the circle in front of the amphitheater and do some Flange-esque warm up around the circle with shuffles and butt-kickers and high knees. Then circle up in the grass for traditional COP, including:

    • SSHs
    • DQs
    • Helicopters
    • Imperial Walkers
    • Merkins
    • LBCs
    • Hello Dollies
    • Freddie Flutters

    The THANG:

    The Season of Lent is 46 days

    Mosey to the bottom of the amphitheater and announce our next 46-inspired exercise — 10 Burpees OYO in the mosh pit, then 2 Burpees per step all the way up to the top…46 total. Al Gore for the Six

    What goes up….

    2 Dips on each step on the way down and 12 dips on the last step…46…BOOM.

    Plank for the Six, then some plank-o-rama all together.

    My Lenten Sacrifice…

    I hate the Rusty Cage or, well, it hates me, so today my sacrifice was to work it into the beatdown. Mosey over to the fire hydrant and gather up. The circuit shall consist of 10 WWII sit ups a run to the cage and 5 pull-ups/chin-up/jerkins (your choice or mix n match), then run back to hydrant. Repeato x 5. Early finishers LBC for the Six.

    Um, I thought it was 40 Nights…

    The little mumblechatter that occurred during the Burpee fest was “hey, wait, I thought it was 40 nights?” So YHC obliged with a traditional 40 “Lindsay” exercise. Mosey over the far circle and the top of Rugby Rd Hill. 30 Merkins at the top, run down, 10 Jump Squats, run backwards back up. +/- by 5 and repeat. Audible called at the 20/20 to do both exercises at top and bottom. Rabbits get APDs until the six is done.

    3 MOM in the grass, all IC:

    • APDs
    • Rosalitas
    • Freddie Mercuries – SLOOOW then Fast

    AYG back to the Flag!

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

    Announcements/Prayer Requests:

    • LabRat has challenged himself to lose some lbs by May 1. If he doesn’t, Shakedown has a $100 check from LabRat ready to be sent to PETA. You got this brother.
    • A group is rucking from RAMM this Friday – setting off at 0515.
    • Hardywood is putting together a blay certification class at Peak Exerience. See him if you are interested.
    • Roger Roger’s father-in-law has eye-cancer. Keep him in your prayers.
    • Bodos’ church has ashes service tonight at 7 pm if you are looking for one.
    • Keep praying for Sugar Sock to defeat the plague and get back out in the gloom.

    NMS –

    It was great to be back out at W-Dog and to Q. PS – thanks to Tobit for the reminder yesterday at NoToll that I had this Q. Thanks to the PAX for following my lead this morning. It is always an honor to step into the circle before such a fine group of men. Way to push yourselves today, and let’s each push ourselves just a little harder over these next 46 days until Easter to be better in some way – whether that is doing something positive, being more present and attentive to our families or sacrificing something for this period of time, let’s all find a way to push ourselves just a little extra.

    SYITG.

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • This is a g-g-g-good idea?

    5 PAX including 2 hardy 2.0’s, made it out for a rucking good time at TR.

    YHC and Mudface, trailed closely by Pinky, Fife and Red, put in a little over 3 miles on a cold and very windy morning. Nice job guys!

    As usual, I have No Idea what I’m doing.

  • Stairway to Heaven

    On this day in history in 1971, Led Zeppelin performed their iconic hit “Stairway to Heaven” live in England.
    In honor of this historic day, the COP was done with the song as accompaniment to YHC’s cadence. 12 cherubic men showed up to take on this celestial beatdown.

    • arm circles
    • don quizotes
    • copperhead squats
    • helicopters
    • imperial walkers
    • Alternating shoulder taps
    • american hammers

    Mosey round to the back of Cool Spring where the bus loop is. On the way do 5 merkins every other light post (or so).

    LOVE LOOP —
    One partner runs the full loop and then heads back towards the partner who is doing frog jump burpees, then lunges, then bear crawl. Finish up and do booyah merkins till the PAX is done. Hang out and do some Flutterkicks in Vinny’s honor.

    Fartlek back —
    Slow jog until one of the PAX members calls out a spot to run to — sprint to that spot. First one there gets to choose the exercise the PAX does until the 6 arrives. Repeato until we are back to the flag. Exercises included were WW2 situps, merkins, SSH, and one more YHC does not remember right now.

    NMS —
    Sometimes relationships feel like a stairway to heaven. Other times not so much. This morning celebrated the good times, the times when all is going right, nothing can upset the apple cart, so on and so forth. YHC and his M celebrate 20 years this Wednesday — some of our times together have been like heaven. Some not as much. That will be the theme tomorrow at Manndate!
    Other than that, sprinting was fun. And watching really fast people was also fun. Carpenter killed it on the last sprint. Nice work!
    BTW, If you want to hear a really good cover of Stairway, check out the band Heart playing it at Kennedy Center Honors. It really cooks.
    SYITG!

  • “Even done WRONG, they hurt!”

    A total of 15 optimistic daffodils escaped the warmth of their bulbs to bloom this beautiful Spring morning. Here’s how YHC watered the flowers:

    The THANG:

    WARMERAMA on the BBall Court:

    • 4×4-icides – Suicides with x3 4×4’s each time you hit the baseline (each Burpee has x4 Merkins & x4 Mountain Climbers)
    • LUMBERGH & HARDYWOOD arrived late, but just in time to join the fun and say – “wait, what’s a 4×4?”

    Mosey to COP #1: (parking lot)

    • Crab Cakes – 4ct x10
    • Breakdancer Merkin – 4ct x10
    • DR. W – Dolly / Rosalita / W – 8ct x10
    • Angle Grinder – Merkin, Rt hand to Lt knee, Merkin, Lt hand touch Rt knee – 8ct x10

    Mosey to COP #3: (run loop around to main field)

    • Four Corners (+Escalator):  x10 Dive-bomber Merkins, run, add x20 Ball-dippers (2ct), run, add x30 American Hammers, run, add x40 Mountain Climbers …escalator back to start
    • ABC’s for the SIX

    Mosey Back toward Flag:

    • Capture the Flag – Two planking lines facing one another – Caterpillar 50 yards to the ShovelFlag (last man box jumps over planking teammates to the front, repeato until flag reached). Winning team performed Flutter Kicks while the Runners-Up enjoyed 10 more Burpees.

    10 Minutes remaining – Repeat the fun:

    • 4×4-icides – Suicides with two 4×4’s each time you hit the baseline
    • DR. W – Dolly / Rosalita / W – 8ct x10
    • Angle Grinder – Merkin, Rt hand to Lt knee, Merkin, Lt hand touch Rt knee – 8ct x10
    • x20 Freddie M’s IC … “just for funsies”
    • Finish up with the DTH CircleMerk (x3 one-armed Merkins completed in tight plank circle, right arm over back of next man) 

    COT:

    • Counterama #15
    • Namerama …mostly DTH’s present today
    • Announcements (included below in Comments)
    • YHC closed in Prayer

    NMS: 

    Wow, where to even begin?! The contagious good humor, corrupting our every intent to perform quality exercises – granted they may have been new – and YHC may have messed up the cadence once or twice… then the brutal four corners escalator with DRAPER modifying the depth of his Ball Dippers to account for his testicular enormity… then an impressively competitive Capture the Flag. Getting back to the new exercises at the end, the general form looked much better…will have to use Dr W & Angle Grinder on the regular. And finally, what a way to end! There are now 4 Dr TryHards and one “Big Balls” Draper in our PAX…good luck Big Data. You guys crack me up – thanks for allowing me to lead and join you today.

    SYITG, The REAL Dr TryHard

  • Burpee Style

    9 of Richmond’s best braved the Quioccasin terrain for some light exercise on a brisk Tuesday morning.

    COP:

    Quick warmup lap and mosey to the front of the school, followed by 20 SSH’s, 10 Merkins, 20 LBC’s, 7 Don Quixotes and 15 ceremonial Arm Circles.

    The Thang:

    Start up – Alternate 5 Box Jumps and 30 Merkins, ascending 5 jumps and descending 5 Merkins until 30 BJ’s and 5 Merkins. Al Gore for the six.

    Tennis time – Mosey to the rear tennis courts for 30x each of front, side and cross line jumps, each followed by a tennis court shuttle. Next up was one tennis court suicide with 5 jump squats at each stop. Mosey on to the basketball courts.

    Jerkin Gym – Given the excellent Heartbreak Swamp conditions, groups of 3 completed makeshift Jerkins at the basketball courts, 10 each followed by 100 cumulative donkey kicks. Repeat 3x. Plank for the six plus bonus plank time. Mosey to the track.

    Bench + Dip + Abs:  At the bleachers, bench kicks x 30 then up to the wooden bleachers for dips x 30. Repeat 3x. 20 inclined WWII’s followed by American Hammers to round out a beautiful morning workout.

    No Burpees were performed as part of this workout.

    Numberama, Namerama, COT

    Announcements:  Go Ruck coming up soon – see other back blasts for details.

    Moleskin – I was thankful for the chance to lead such a fine group this morning, inadvertently including “Burpee Style” during tennis time instruction. PAX was thoroughly confused but embraced the lack of burpees and the days theme was solidified. Later, after brief debate, it was also determined conclusively that it will in fact be darker next Tuesday morning than it is today. Spring forward. Case closed. Finally, 810 bench kicks were performed in an unspoken tribute to Honeydo this morning. Garbage Plate is still skeptical the bench kick is a true F3 movement, yet we will persist.
    Peace – GP

  • Sippy Found a Finger

    A loquacious eleven presented themselves for a classic multi-fingered spider run. Each finger represented a hill-route up toward Three-chopt road. Those involved chose the number they were comfortable with, but everyone got at least 3 in. Sippy introduced YHC to an additional finger. It was tough to take in the tail-end of the run, but it will definitely be added to the repetoire…it was a real burner.

    YHC found today how the pax continues to develop and improve. Everyone completed the legs in a faster time than they had before. I will need to add more mileage to such routes…much respect fellas.

    Announcements:

    • Bootleg will be running the Bel Monte 50k this weekend. Much luck and RESPECT buddy…you will do well.
    • Shakes is leading an early 1 hour ruck at this Friday’s RAMM starting at 5:15
    • Wedding Singer’s M has an Earth-day event coming up. Please see Singer for a t-shirt commemorating the event.

    Saab abides

  • Mexico

    F3 – Mexico version .

    6 miles everyday on the beach followed by a few swims in the pacific ocean.

    Boom !

    Swirly is back – see y’all in the gloom…

  • The Rollercoaster is always fun

    7 SOJ studs didn’t let last night’s downpour keep them from logging some miles this morning. Admittedly, Doozy had better ideas for what to do with his morning but he shook off the doubt and posted anyway (and CRUSHED it).

    0527 and YHC called out the Rollercoaster, which brought delight to those who know the route…Slumlord and Orange Crush were in for a treat. Off we went.

    Hang a left out of the parking lot toward the High School and around to Robious Road. West on the sidewalk to the new traffic light and left onto River Downs South. Second Left onto Queens Grant and up the big, twisting hill. Right at the top onto Royal Crest Drive and go until you hit Gumbo’s cul-de-sac or until 23 minutes. Turn around and bust it back to the flag.

    Great work by all this morning. It was fun running with Doozy (for a little bit) and with Orange Crush the entire way. Doozy left us in the dust on QG hill and several times on that hill and on the return up Royal Crest’s steep but short hill, OC and YHC were wishing we had Rosie’s motor that seems to allow him to traverse mountains without breaking stride or slowing his pace. All in all, 5.17 miles by my watch at an 8:33 pace…I’ll take it!

    COT, Number-rama, Name-a-rama and YHC took us out. Conquer the week men!

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • Ed’s Random Number Generator

    8 above average PAX including myself braved the 35 degree somewhat breezy conditions to get a good workout.

    The workout went something like this:

    Warm-up: Mosey to the Rite Aid and do 25 side straddle hops, 10 Don Quixotes, 13 LBCs, 7 forward arm circles, 6 backward arm circles. Honey Do was remarking on my odd counts and asked if I had a random number generator to which the answer is yes.

    Exercise 1: Doras with 100 merkins, 200 jump squats and 300 two count flutter kicks while the partner runs around the Rite Aid.

    Exercise 2: Cross the street. Same partner. Partner 1 does 5 merkins, partner 2 bear crawls, Partner 1 catches up to partner 2 and they switch.

    Exercise 3: Go to the driest ground in RVA; otherwise known as Bodos’ backyard. Share 100 PLTs.

    Exercise 4: Using what little I know about the NFL combine (did you see that a 260 pound defensive lineman ran a 4.41?) I had the PAX try 3 attempts at the 40 yard or meter dash (Offshore and Garbage Plate appeared to be the fastest) and then try 3 attempts at the 60 yard or meter shuttle. Kubota did a Forrest Gump like over run on the first attempt (Stop Kubota Stop). Upchuck made a failed attempt at recasting the “Hi Roger” event from a couple months ago.

    We finished with 25 plank jacks, 30 American Hammers, 25 2 count mountain climbers and 25 side straddle hops.

    No announcements of note and the Fireman closed in prayer. It was good to see Splinter back in action.