Category: Richmond, VA

  • “I was looking for Antrim with a U”

    21 pax and evidently a pair of ghost bikers met the day with ferocity this morning.  Serpentine route maps were handed out and met with groans….but in the end most seemed to like the route.  Shakedown even sent me a pic of the route on a map because he said it looked cool!

    Nobody got lost, but Singer joked that he got lost because he was looking for Antrim with a “u”…obviously my prowess as as cool looking route designer is not matched by spelling skills!  So much for laminating these maps! Back to the drawing board…

    No ice or barking raccoons this morning….which was a first on the Serpentine run.  Handshake was barking a bit and laying waste to runners in his tailwind, but that’s par for the course around here.

    Here’s to hoping everybody had an awesome day!

     

    Lab Rat apologizes…

  • PreBlast – PuppyPile CANCELLED

    PuppyPile is cancelled for tomorrow.  The weather is supposed to be in the low 20’s and I don’t think that’s great for young kids.  It’s super disappointing because my 2.0 (Churchill) has been talking about it all week and even practicing some of the exercises (PLT’s and Wheelbarrows are his favorites).

    I’ll keep an eye on the weather and will get something on the books soon when it gets more tenable.  See ya in the (cold) gloom.

    Ollivander

  • Swim Practice with Kettlebells

    It was warm but wet Thursday morning at Circus, which adds a slight element of danger to kettlebelling.  It was Johnsonville’s (YHC) day to Q, and this is what went down, more or less:

    Mosey over to the far end of the bus loop under the bus loop shelter (which offered little shelter from sideways rain).  Warmup with SSH, don quiote, imperial walkers, LBCs, APDs (two and one leg variations), and arm circles.

    Dirty McDeuce consisting of the following:
    Round 1 –
    12x sit & press in cadence.
    12x merkin rows in cadence.
    12x goblet squats in cadence.
    Bear crawl down pillars about 30 yards and run loop.

    Round 2 –
    12x clean & rack (right) in cadence.
    12x clean & rack (left) in cadence.
    12x standing rows in cadence.
    Bear crawl down pillars about 30 yards and run loop.

    Round 3 –
    12x halos (right) in cadence.
    12x halos (left ) in cadence.
    12x Alabama Honeymooners in cadence.
    Bear crawl down pillars about 30 yards and run loop.

    Round 4 –
    12x snatch (right) in cadence.
    12x snatch (left) in cadence.
    12x lawnmower pulls (OYO each arm).
    Bear crawl down pillars about 30 yards and run loop.

    Wall of fire while each person does 10 merkins and 20 SSH in succession.  Go ’round twice.

    COT with YHC taking us out.

    Great work, men!  Jville

  • No Mercy VQ #2

    With a sentiment of TGIF, 11 zero-dark-thirty warriors set off for a latecomers “Courtesy Loop” around the Parking Lot with a little COP of x20 SSH. Unfortunately the hoped for FNG was a no-show, so off we went. En route ROSIE suggested YHC should add house calls to my EH’ing – apparently the elusive FNG is more likely to escape the fartsack if you are leaning on your horn outside his house at 5AM. Duly noted!

    The THANG:

    Mosey to COP #1: (Playground)

    • Morning Call:  First man completes 5 pull-ups calling cadence to the pushing PAX who completes 5 matching Merkins – after 5 pull-ups completed, brother-on-bar calls out his F3Name – echoed by the pushing PAX. Repeato for each member, 55 Merkins total.

    Mosey to COP #2: (Lot near Track)

    • Imperial Squat Walkers (4 count, nice & slow)
    • Around the World Lunges (12 count to lunge Rt leg to 12/3/6, then Left Leg 6/9/12)
    • Jingle Balls (Plank position – Each foot brought up to Each Hand, 4 count)
    • CrabJacks (crab walk position, legs extended/split/return, 4 count)
    • Windshield Wipers (on six, arms out to sides, leg together & touching sky, dropped to right, then up, then left – 4 count) …similar to WWII’s on a slope YHC found himself “walking” slowly down the slightly graded pavement
    • Hands above head Flutter Kicks (audible appreciation from PAX for a COP exercise they recognize)

    ROSIE:  “We need to stop him from reading the Exicon!”

    Mosey to COP #3: (Track)

    • No Mercy Mile (Modified)- PAX completes 4 laps around track, each time stopping at the first 50 yard line to complete 25 Merkins, 25 Monkey Humpers at opposite 50 yard line, and Captain Thor’s at completion of lap to wit for the Six. Straightaways run, while curve exercises varied for each lap:
    • Lap 1 Curves: Bear Crawl & Lunges (ouch, let’s not do that again)
    • Lap 2 Curves: Alternate Partner Carries (Felt like I was floating off the ground after carrying 210lb of Beaker!)
    • Lap 3 Curves: Carioca both ends
    • Lap 4 Curves: Partner Wheelbarrows (where’d my breath go?!)

    OUT OF TIME …AYG sprint through muddy field back to Shovel Flag

    (Will plan better next time to leave room for the DTH “Circle Merk” closeout exercise)

    COT:

    • Counterama
    • Namerama
    • Announcements (included below in Comments)
    • Prayer

    NMS:

    • YHC slightly disappointed at the start due to an FNG no-show, but warmly cheered up by the 10-strong PAX moving through this morning’s routines with great enthusiasm. The Exicon continues to produce entertaining options, though YHC getting the cadence right for the CrabJacks was initially challenging (PAX patience & humor much appreciated). The No Mercy Mile took us a lot longer to complete than expected, so an action packed Triple Check YHC had planned will have to wait for next time – perhaps for YHC’s next Q at HeartBreak Ridge on Tuesday (1/29). Getting all the feels this AM – humbled and privileged to be a member of such an amazing group of Men. Thank you!!!

  • The Great Debate

    Which has a larger perimeter: Midlothian Middle School or Tomahawk Creek Middle School?

    This is mostly what the Pax deliberated during a DK beatdown in the driving January rain that went something like this:

    (Please note: From hence forward, “1 Perimeter” denotes 1 Tomahawk Creek Middle School Perimeter, including running down to entrance and back up to normal PAX parking spot)

    1 Perimeter

    Assemble at main entrance to seek shelter for 3 for COP, completely in conversation: DQs, Imperial Walkers, Squats, LBCs, Dying Cockroaches, Arm Circles

    Following, Bullseye’s lead: Set of Moving DQs (move foot forward as you come up)

    1 Perimeter

    Assemble at main entrance again for BLIMPS down to the drive entrance and back up: forward lunge, backward lunge, forward Lt. Dan Walkers, backward Lt. Dan Walkers, Bear Crawl (made it to bottom, now going back up), Crawl Bear, Walk Outs, backward Crab Walk, forward Crab Walk, forward Duck Walk, backward Duck Walk, bunny hops, broad jumps

    1 Perimeter

    Assemble close to main entrance for Ciabatta: Step Ups – 20s on, 10s off

    1 Perimeter

    Assemble back at main entrance for Accelerators – run 75% of straightaway, sprint last 25% – Repeato x 2

    Mosey back to VSF for COT. YHC took us out with a moment of silence for government employees who haven’t been paid in weeks.

    Naked Moleskin:

    It was wet…real wet. But it was warm…like sunny and 70.

    Quote of the morning came from Gumbo who said he had started sweating…and YHC reminded him that he was covered in rain…and Gumbo said “it’s sweat; it tastes different.”

    The New Market clowns were nowhere to be seen.

    Announcements:

    Dr. Tryhard Q tomorrow at Twin Team.

    Order your F3 RVA shirt here: https://f3.mudgear.com/products/f3-rva-shirt-pre-order Cheers to Dr. Tryhard for coordinating (Döner Kebab is exactly 11 characters…boom!)

  • Tawm Bradee Rode An Elevata

    Eighteen NFC fans posted at 45MOM to discuss all things Rams. Here’s what we talked about:

    COP: Invisible jump rope / IJR left leg only / IJR right leg only. On your six. Flat on the ground. Arms above your head. Flutter kick position. Now assume merkin position. Recover – just for you TYA. SSHs / Hillbillies.

    Sammy Sosa (Marmaduke calls it The Prostitute. I call is baseball. Sammy Sosa seems like a fair compromise): Home Plate: hold :60 elbow plank. First Base: 10 burpees. Second Base: 20 merkins. Third Base: 30 american hammers (2-count). Home Plate: 40 WWIIs. Start at HP and hold :60 elbow plank. Run to first base, perform the exercise and back to HP for plank. Run to first and second, perform the exercises and back to HP for elbow plank until you’ve circled the bases, performed the exercises, and finished back at HP with a :60 elbow plank.

    Catch Me If You Can: Pax was expecting the usual 5 WWIIs and play by normal rules. Not today. If Tom Brady can deflate the football, we can all change the game. 20 WWIIs and go. The goal here was to catch your partner – running backwards – if you could. It’s called Catch Me If You Can. Not, Catch Me A Whole Bunch and Switch. Some caught their partner, some did not. But everyone ran their butts off, and earned their avocado ice cream.

    Crab Walk Beast: Starting line is doubles line on first tennis court. Turn around line is center line of court number 2. First exercise: LBCs. Second exercise: SSHs. Third exercise: HR merkins. Time running out. Modify fourth round to lunges and jump squats. Buzzer rang. Back to the flag.

    Pucker, riding that Patriots high, took us out.

    Announcements: Puppy Pile is a maybe for Saturday. Stay tuned. My law firm is running a canned food drive for furloughed federal employees in need. Reach me at 804-852-0800 for details. Dr. Try Hard has limited add space left on his shovel flag if you are looking to expand your marketing. New AO opening on 4/4 at Huguenot HS. Dr. Try Hard – well done setting this up. You may lose out on naming rights, however. Breakfast Club launches from ETs at 05:30 every Saturday. Bring your shovel flags and run with us. It is a really cool experience.

    NMS: TYA was lucky enough to experience one of the coolest events in sports, an NFL conference title game, in KC this past Sunday. His Chiefs fought hard, but in the end, were robbed by the NFL – Bob Kraft machine. While he was there, Tawmmy Avocodo rode in an elevator. And no TYA, we are not changing Friday’s run name from RAMM to PATS for the next two weeks.

    Great work today men. The energy was awesome! The gloom really is a powerful thing. Loved having y’all out there with me today. Go Rams!

  • I would like door number…

    8 men braved the not quite as cold pre-dawn to swing around some iron and shape up their spleens.  This is what happened.

    COP  SSH    merkins    arm circles      maybe something else??

    Mosey to bus loop, time for fun!  AMRAP (As many rounds as possible, DaVille version), for 10 minutes, rotate between single leg deadlift snatch, sit-up straight arm toe taps, and some squat variance, 5 reps of each per round.  One minute break (to run the loop), second 10 minute AMRAP, halos both ways, sling shots both ways, lunges, again 5 reps of each per round.  One minute break while doing some burpees.  3rd 10 minute AMRAP, lawnmowers, 5 each arm, superman bananas, 5 each direction, calf raises on the curb.

    Mosey to flag, plank up, only KB needed was Rounder’s 55 pounder!  While planking, reach through and pass the KB around, one complete circle each way.

    Numberama, namerama, Emoji took us out.

     

    NMS

    Mudface hates writing backblasts but loves leading workouts, and YHC likes writing backblasts, so we have teamed up–YHC will sign Mudface up for a Q, any Q, and YHC will attend and write the backblast.  This is the inaugural effort, let’s see how it goes.

    There was an inordinate amount of mumblechatter focused on whether this was a good spleen workout, in the end consensus is it did a great job.  No need for handwarmers this morning, it was a balmy 30 when we kicked things off.  Some of the exercises needed explanation, and the superman bananas (on stomach, arms stretched out grasping KB, lift KB up a few inches, maintain this form while rolling to side, then roll back, put down KB, that’s one) roughed up the PAX.  Mudface, as is his custom, asked the PAX to pick a workout, as he had 2 prepared, and we chose option A, which thankfully did not contain Turkish getups.  Bulkhead worked out a little closer than last week, which Helix attributed to him (Helix) having put on deodorant today, perhaps next week he’ll actually join the group!

    Only announcement is that Rounders is hosting a poker game this weekend, get in touch with him for details.

    As usual, Mudface and I have No Idea what we’re doing.

  • Shorty’s

    4 studs posted for Roller Coaster this evening and here is how it went down.

    Kubota and Husky – ruck loops = boom!

    TYA – Late night run = boom !

    Swirly – 5 short loops = Shorty’s – boom !

    Well done guys – t -shirt weather run in January – can’t beat it!

    Anybody thinking about BRR this year – then come on out and join us for some extra hill work!

    See y’all in the gloom.

  • Rule Number 1 – don’t get hit by a bus

    Eight regulars came out to SOT for a hot potato Q, something like this:

    Rosie – mosey to back parking lot, SSH, Don Q, Hillbillies, shoulder taps, merkins, LBCs. Mosey to track for fantastic four hundreds – flutter kicks, monkey humpers, SSH, merkins, 10, 20, 30, 40 with the number of reps rotating each round. Total 4 rounds – one mile.

    Sugar Sock – mosey to other side of field, partner up for dora – 100 merkins, 200 flutters, 300 squats (might have screwed up that recollection of exercises, apologies)

    Wedding Singer – mosey to parking lot hill – triple check – balls to wall, merkins, run up hill.

    Moleskin- For some reason it felt colder today at 30 than yesterday at 19. Thanks to Rosie for warming us up in protection of the wind behind the bus. Great job to Rosie and Sugar Sock for getting us going, YHC only had time for two rounds of the triple check. Although it is icy on the hill, rule number one is always ‘don’t die’ in which this particular morning meant ‘don’t get hit by a bus’.  Great job men.

    Dr. Try Hard is selling shirts for the PAX…..with our  God given F3 name on them so Handshake doesn’t longingly call himself Shakedown again. See the Docs blackbast for details, more choices will be available soon. For those of us with more than 11 letters, suck it up.

    -Singer

  • Earning the Presidential Award-F3 Style!!

    18 of RVA’s Finest arose this morning to post at W-Dog in hopes of continuing our journey to be the best men we can be! 0530….time to mosey.

    COP…x 10 Don Quixotes, x 10 Russian Soldiers, x 15 Copperhead Squats, x 10 Flutter Kicks, x 20 LBC’s, x 10 HRM’s, and x 10 Boo-ya Merkins.

    Mosey to The Rusty Cage=Exercise 1- partner up for the fun of it. Perform as many pull ups as possible, OYO or with slight assistance.  Mosey to the field in front of the stage and keep your partner.

    Exercise 2- As many sit-ups as possible in 2 mins! Partner holds feet, switch, repeat!

    Exercise 3- The Millennial. (Way better than 1.5 mile run) The Pax will run 100 yds and perform set exercise, with 100 reps of stated exercise. Perform 10 Lawn runs with exercise change after each run. Exercises were= 1. Flutter Kicks 2. Mountain Climbers 3. Crunchy Frogs 4. Merkins 5. SSH 6. Freddie Mercuries 7. Alabama Prom Dates 8. Plank Jacks 9. Squats 10. Burpeees (as a Pax, 100 Burpees were well completed but audible called due to time).

    Mosey to the Flag for Ring of Fire- Handshake and Offshore started, moving to the L, each Pax member completes 10 Merkins. And times up!

    Number-ama, Name-r-ama, Announcements: Puppy Pile, tentative on Saturday depending on the weather-see Ollivander. BRR is an awesome event. See Flatline or TYA if interested. Spaces available for 12 man team. Vinny has a food drive for federal employees not receiving their paycheck if you would like to help. 0530, every Saturday morning extra credit run from ET’s to Dogpile and back. With Shovel Flags! Running up and down Cary with Shovel Flag fills the America Spirit Tank. Don’t ask-just show up and run=Awesomeness!!!

    Greenbow took us out!

    NMS: VMI Fitness Test minimum= 5 pullups, 60 situps in 2 minutes, and running 1.5 miles in less 14 minutes. Slight modification this morning with The Millenial vs a timed run! Way better too!

    Bodos…agreed that a partner was not needed for pullups. Good call but there were the situps so that was the reason for partner call at The Cage.

    Sippy Cup-outstanding work with 45 situps with 12 lbs weight vest on. Even more kudos for purchasing your weight belt at Aldi’s. That is awesome!!

    100 Burpees, individually, is no joke! Outstanding job cranking out those Burpees men!

    Thank you for following this morning! Working on cadence and not using _ _ C-at all! Let us not foresake these blessings that fill our life. Go out in the world today and shine that light as bright as possible!

    Only those who post understand.

    Loud and Proud,

    Flatline