Category: Richmond, VA

  • Danger Zone

    A lucky 7 came out to enjoy another cooler fall like morning for a fun in the construction zone.

    This how it went down:

    Mosey around parking lot then start heading to Atlee road. Wait we have a LIFO, 20 LBC’s IC to let Kit Kat catch up. Keep moseying up Atlee road on the new “closed” sidewalk then turn right at the non active stop light on the the closed part of Atlee Station and the “Danger Zone”

    COP (ALL IC) – Invisible Jump Rope, DQ, LBC’s, Freddy Mercury, Tempo Merkins, Helicopters, Dying Cockroach, Arm Circles

    THANG

    Hilly 11’s – Using a newly completed road start with 1 Crunchy Frog at the top, bear crawl down (run down after 3 times), 10 Merkins, Bernie Sanders up. Rinse, repeat, and plank for the six

    Small Dora – 50 WWII Situps, 100 Merkins, 150 (2ct) American Hammers while partner runs down Atlee station run to the closed road sign and back. Switch, Rinse, and Repeat

    Mosey back to the SF and hold elbow plank for the six

    Numberama, Namerama, Announcements, YHC took us out

    MOLESKIN

    During YHC’s run yesterday he cut through the construction zone and remember he had the Q the next day. This construction seems like it will never end. The stop light and roads that the PAX enjoyed today have been done for over a month it seems but still it stands closed. Well theirs our taxes dollars hard at work.

    Guessing (and hoping) these roads will be open by next week, it only seemed fitting to “break them in” before traffic is allowed on them.

    The hill that was used during the 11’s is a side road for 3 or 4 homes that used to be directly off Atlee station rd a way out. It’s no twin team but we will take it.

    The PAX learned to during the Dora not everyone got the memo that this was closed road. The paper boy came rushing down the road and from YHC’s eye seemed to be laughing. One only guess what was so funny to him (probably seeing 7 crazy men out in the middle of the road at 5:30 in the morning)

    ANNOUNCEMENTS
    • Marmaduke is still collecting coats/jackets during Dogpile. If you can make it out give them to someone who is a Dogpile regular

    SPIT ON THAT!!

  • His cadence sounds……

    18 arose from the warmth of their bed to post at No Toll this morning to start our day off in the most glorious of fashions! And yes, those beds are getting warmer………0530 time to mosey.

    COP- x 25 SSH, x 11 Helicopters, x 15 Copperhead Squats, x 25 Plank Jacks, x 25 LBC, and x 15 Flutter kicks. Evidently the PAX was amused at YHC’s cadence call and I thought it had gotten better. Enough, time to mosey.

    Merkin Mile- 2 laps around the soccer field and every half lap stop, x 12 Merkins and x 12 Merkins for first lap. x 12 HR Merkins, x 12 HR Merkis for second lap.

    11’s- Exercise one, Copperhead Squat, x 1 and run across soccer field for exercise two, Mountain Climbers, 2 count, x 10. Rinse and Repeat going up on squats and down on mtn climbers till x 10 squats and x 1 mtn climbers. Mosey to the basketball court.

    Doracides- partner up. x 150 LBC’s, x 250 SSH, x 350 LBC’s. Partner one runs suicides while partner two performs exercises. Complete reps, move through the exercises, and run suicides.  With time to spare….

    Ring of Fire. YHC starts on one side, Rosie started on the other. Moving to the Left, each PAX performs 20 Merkins-any type! 0617….slightly over time but extra credit is super! Mosey back to the flag!

    Number-ama, Name-r-ama, Announcements: Puppypile this Saturday 0700-see Marv! CSAUP recap-totally super! Dogs and Cats!

    YHC took us out!!

    NMS: YHC was glad to reintroduce himself to “newer” PAX members. PAX, keep pushing yourself and never settle!

    Yes, YHC believes his cadence is a little……blah…..but gotta keep up with the count! Always glad to provide humor for F3 RVA, especially at 0535 in the am!!

    During the Merkin Mile, YHC was sure there was some mumble chatter that was missed. Feel free to elaborate!

    This morning I received word from one of my best buddies and the passing of his father, very sudden!  So today, YHC is glad to receive the spiritual blessing from my F3 Brothers!! Men, hug your loved ones as often as possible and even more when you don’t want too!!

    God Bless F3 and each of you! Only those who post understand!

    Loud and Proud!

    Flatline

     

  • A little extra credit (and don’t follow the Q) at Spider Run

    14 runners descended upon Tyler Haynes Commons before 0530 looking for a few miles and here is what they got:

    4-milers – exit campus via Richmond Way, Westhampton Way and UR Drive (i.e., not the Bat Cave), cross River Road through the shopping center and across the bridge.  run the cloverleaf and retrace back to the Flag.

    5-milers – cross the lake to the trail, exit onto College Road and across to University.  Up to Westham and take a left.  Cross River onto Country Squire Lane down to S. Ridge to Westham Station Rd up to the bridge.  Cross the bridge, run the cloverleaf and head back via UR Drive, Westhampton and Richmond Way.

    6-milers: run a loop up Richmond Way and down Gateway back to the starting point, then follow the 5-mile route.

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

    Announcements:

    • Marmaduke is still collecting coats/jackets.  Let’s fill him up – (I got a few for you this morning from Kubota)
    • I think there is puppy pile this Saturday – maybe someone can confirm in the comments.
    • Splinter is throwing out an optional (really?) extra credit start at Spider Run – 0510 – next Tuesday for an extra mile or two, finishing back at the Flag at 0530 to pick up the PAX (i.e., Slackers) and run the normal 4,5,6 mile routes.  If there is interest it might stick as a monthly occurrence.

    NMS:

    So, I had all along planed for the 5-mile route to be a little long (about 5.3), but add in a pre-mature exit (I SAID EXIT) off the trail by YHC – done with such confidence that Swirly, BT and Shakedown unfortunately followed – and a winding trail through the woods, including finding some  hidden frisbee golf holes and the need to double back down College Rd to University and the 5-mile route turned into just over 5.5 miles for us.  No worries, Swirly picked up the pace and found the zone trucking down Country Squire and S. Ridge.

    Unfortunately, Swirly was in such zone that he ran right passed the bridge and had to double back again.  He might have gotten 5.7 in today.

    Crossing the bridge, a blur of a Tron passed Shakedown and me heading back to the Flag….man, Bleeder was pushing it today.  Well done sir.

    The Sixers caught us all on the bridge and Splinter and Faceplant left a vapor trail (not literally, like Wilson) as they passed us.

    Great running with Swirly, BT and Shakedown for a while.  And, thanks to Swirly setting the pace to get us back on track, YHC logged two miles under 8 minutes, with a 7:47 mile — by far the fastest YHC has run in a LONG time…maybe fastest since leaving the Institute.  Still, no match for Marv as he overtook me in the Shopping Center.

    Great morning guys.  A hearty Lab Rat’esque apology to Swirly, BT and Shakedown for the detour.

    Have a great day men.

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • always read the fine print

    A PAX of 11 came out to Heartbreak Ridge to buy what Mr. Holland was selling; namely, a beatdown to write home about. After the briefest of moseys, the Q dispensed with COP and went straight for the Track Beast.

    Six laps around the track, stopping at six points along the way, to perform six of each prescribed exercise (merkins, WWIIs, lunges, mt. climbers, American Hammers, burpees). It wasn’t until the 2nd lap, when the PAX learned that with each lap exercises are additive rather than replaced, that Honeydo and friends learned the valuable lesson of always reading the fine print (whether actually printed or not). When Holland is on the Q sheet, you’re probably doing things The Hard Way.

    Pax finished just in time to take a victory lap around the track before numbers, names, ‘nouncements.

    Per request, keeping the word count down today.

    YNWA

  • 5 Men in a Creek

    Warm Up:  Did random number of the following to make sure the guys were awake.  They must have been asleep because I don’t think anyone said a word.  Side Straddle Hops, Hillbilly’s, Copperhead Squats, LBC’s, Hand Release Merkins, Helicopters.

    Parking Lot Tracers.  This was a little different because there were cars in the lot.  There was a little discussion about who had the cleanest car.  It certainly wasn’t me.

    We headed to the shelter and broke into groups of 2 and 3.  One runs to the hard road and back while the other does skull crushers, flutter kicks, WWII Situps and Squats with your rear touching the picnic table on the way down.  Each partner ran 4 times and performed the exercise while their partner was running.

    4 Corners of Church.  Run to first corner – 20 LBC’s, Karaoke to 2nd corner 20 Merkins, run backwards to 3rd corner 20 American Hammers, Karaoke to 4th corner 20 Heals to Heaven.

    Indian run once around the church.

    Over to the parking lot for 11’s which consisted of Merkins, Bear Crawl to the other side, WWII Sit Ups and run back.

    To the flag for a ring of fire.  1st Burpees and then Merkins with a clap.

    Numberama, Namarama.  Announcements.  There was one upcoming event announced by Spit but I forget what it was.  Maybe I would have remembered if I had posted this backblast in a timely manner.  Busy Friday and weekend – I will do better next time.  As always, it was a pleasure leading these friends.

     

  • The park is ours again

    Following heavier use for non-F3 purposes during the warmer months, the parking lot at Pouncey Tract Park was, once again, ours on Saturday.  Cooler temperatures and some rain helped our cause.  Eight posted, including six Redwoods, one Kotter, and one FNG.

    Following a few minutes of conversation (comprised mostly of sarcastic comments), we moved across the parking lot to the stripes for some warm up speed work across two parking rows, including High Knees (down and back twice), Butt Kickers (again, twice), Side Skips (just down and back), and Sprints (down and back).  Assemble in a circle for Don Quixotes, Hillbillies, Cherry Pickers, Helicopters, Squats, and Arm Circles.

    Line up and move towards the picnic shelter nearest the Pickleball courts through mobile Imperial Walkers.  The PAX member at the back of the line moseys to the front, Indian Run-style, and resumes IWs.  At the pavilion, one PAX member completes 10 Dips and 10 Step Ups (5 each leg) while the others complete Side Straddle Hops.  About every third guy, we stopped and held Al Gores for a few seconds before resuming the SSHs.

    Line up again and move to the picnic shelter nearest the playground through mobile Russian Soldiers also done Indian Run-style.  One PAX member completes 10 Abyss Merkins and 10 Jumps (done with palms on the table).  The other PAX members performed Invisible Jump Ropes with short Al Gore moments thrown in.

    Line up yet again and move to the picnic shelter nearest the starting parking lot through mobile IWs again, also Indian Run-style.  One PAX member starts with 10 Decline Merkins and completes an inverted walk along two picnic tables – down, back, and down again – termed Walk The Plank by Adderall.  SSHs by the remaining PAX while one guy does this sequence.

    Complete two rounds of 20 Pole Smokers – two PAX members complete these at at time while the other guys complete Merkins alternated with Alabama Prom Dates.

    Finish on the football field with kick and chase with YHC’s soccer ball.  Return to the parking lot for COT and YHC took us out.

    Good to see Cheetah again.  Welcome to Mr. Cox – with the F3 name of Touchma – get it.  The coffeeteria at Einstein Bros afterwards was good as always.

    What did I miss, fellas?  Thanks!

     

     

  • Return of the evening gloom

    A PAX of four posted for last week’s Punisher.  Scar, who recently relocated to RVA from the Raleigh, NC area, was on foot on the east end of Holton Elementary looking for evidence of F3 activity as YHC approached the AO.  We strolled back to the parking lot.  Krü arrived via vehicle moments later.  Offshore arrived, too, but on foot following a run from VCU.

    Startup COP under the trees and among the acorns in the front school yard with SSHs, IWs, DQs, Hillbillies, Cherry Pickers, and Arm Circles.  Short mosey to thicker, acorn-free grass for EMOM – 8 minute rotation to start with as many reps as possible (but at least 15 of each) within a minute for Merkins in the odd minute and Squats in the even minute.  Shifted to the bus loop for alternating exercises at each orange cone surrounding the loop – 10 Carolina Dry Docks at the first cone, 15 Box Cutters at the second cone, and repeat for 16 cones.  Return to the grass for another EMOM with Plank Shoulder Taps for the odd minute and Side Lunges for the even minute.  Remain in place for Mary.

    Mosey to the parking lot for COT and YHC took us out.

    Welcome Scar – nice job starting the EMOM with 50 Merkins. Good seeing Krü and Offshore, too.  Thanks guys.

  • Am I at the right place?

    Two eager men arrived for a beat down in the dark, beautiful cold morning of Batteau. What ensued goes something like this…

    Mosey to the Maintenance building for a quick warmup COP:

    -Don Quiotes, Windmills, SSH, Flutter Kicks, American Hammers, Merkins

    The Thang:

    Flange: Mosey over the steps for 11’s.  Hand release Merkins at top of stairs, dips at the bottom with the benches provided just for us.

    Faceplant has an idea: Mosey down to the Lake.  Perform an exercise at each light post, completing the full loop around the Lake.  10 WWII’s at each light post, alternating a run and lunges between each post…this took a little longer than we expected.

    Back to Flange: Run one more complete lap around the Lake, take a right up the paved hill, left half way up and back to the “flag”.  Five minutes to go…let’s do a curb crawl.  Start one side, bear crawl to other and do 1 Incline Merkin, bear crawl back and perform 2 Derkins, so on up to 10.  25 LBC’s, 25 Freddie Mercury’s.

    Circle up…uh face each other.

    YHC took us out.

    NMS: YHC arrived at 5:25 this morning with no others in sight.  Could I be in the wrong place…there’s the stone house!  Where’s Swirly or Vinny?  Surely, I’ll see Sippy Cup’s bouncing headlamp coming any second now?  5:27 and YHC sees headlights!  Faceplant pulls up probably expecting to see more than just YHC there, but with only a couple of minutes to spare and a brief conversation, we were off.  Our quick intelligence at 5:27 in the morning told us that folks had given all they had at CSAUP over the weekend and needed a well deserved Monday morning rest.  Congrats to those that crushed it over the weekend…much respect!  YHC and Faceplant were unable to join in the fun Saturday, so this morning presented a great way to start the week.  Thanks to Faceplant for offering some help today and allowing YHC to stay on target for his first official VQ this week.  Also, thanks to Faceplant for keeping me on pace and pushing each other.  Make it a great day, all!

  • Who is Saab and what will he have me do….?

    …two questions that YHC was asking himself during COP one year ago during his first F3 post.  YHC was thinking to himself during COP that if he could be in half the shape that Saab was after a few F3 workouts, then things would be ok.  After Slurpee and Keymaster made YHC run one mile from his house to the AO, YHC was already out of breath before the words “let’s mosey” were uttered by Saab.  Damn, YHC thought, I have already run/walked a mile (mostly uphill), I don’t think I can finish this workout!

    In our normal and ordinary life, it was 35 degrees and dark this morning at Tuckahoe Elementary, but in our other life (F3 life), it was 70 and Sunny.  A stalwart 15 descended upon TES for light calisthenics.  This is what transpired….

    COP:

    Helicopters x 15

    Don Quixotes x 10

    Imperial Walkers x 15

    Merkins x 10

    LBC’s x 20

    …..and for the Redskin’s BIG win against the Cowboy’s….. x 20 Burpees OYO!!!  FIRST PLACE, Baby!!!!

    mosey over to and down Lindsay Ct for a round of Lindsay’s

    10 Merkins/30 Heels to Heaven

    high knees 50 yards up Lindsay Ct

    15 Merkins/25 Heels to Heaven

    butt kickers 50 yards up

    20/20

    carioke 50 yards up

    25/15

    backwards run 50 yards up

    30/10

    mosey to the field behind the school for:

    5 x Donkey Kicks on school wall, bear crawl 15-20 yards and perform 5 x merkins, run to other side of field and perform 5 x jump squats.  Repeato x 10, x 15, x 20.

    Mosey over to Asphalt Abyss for:

    Build-A-Burpee:

    Perform 1 x merkin, run halfway to fence and perform 1 x jump squat, run to fence and perform 1 x Burpee, run back to start.  Repeato x 2, x 3, x 4, x 5, x 6, x 7.

    Mosey over to Shovel Flag and partner up for:

    2 x 20 PLT’s each partner

    Two Minutes of Mary:

    Reverse Crunches

    Rosalitas

    One Burpee for the Redskin’s win against the Carolina Panthers two Sundays ago.

    TIME UP!

    Numberama, Namearama, Announcements and YHC took us out!

     

    NMS:

    Wow!  What a year!  YHC could barely make the mile up to the AO on the morning of his first post and then he had to run the mile back home after the workout.  YHC admits, he walked a lot of it back home and it was mostly downhill.  It would take YHC a week to almost recover so that he could post at Hoedown again!  For the first few weeks, it was only Hoedown for YHC, until he got a little stronger and found out about other AO’s that F3RVA had during other days of the week.  After a clown car of 5 River Road Hills PAX made it to a 45MOM post, YHC knew that he was locked into the F3 world!

    It only felt appropriate to re-play my first workout this morning.  Saab did a great job of beating my a*s, so I wanted to see how far I had come since that first morning.  YHC thinks he did a pretty good job of beating his own a*s this morning, too!  Who did the Q better?  I am not going to say because it would not be fair to Saab since he wasn’t there!!!  Safe travels for work, buddy!

    YHC does know that the following is true:

    1st F:  Like YHC wrote earlier in this post, he could barely run/walk the mile up and back during his first post, but he just ran over 10 miles last Friday at RAMM for a half marathon training run!  YHC would have to say that he is in the second best shape of his life at the age of 41 and it is all because of you, the fellow PAX members, that push me each morning!  Playing High School Football would be the beast shape he was ever in (Glory Days).

    2nd F:  YHC considers all of you his friends and family!  He has been on camping trips with PAX members, served food to the homeless with PAX members, gone out to eat with fellow PAX members, and his contact list in his cell phone has grown substantially!  This may be the most important of the three F’s if YHC had to rank them!

    3rd F:  YHC knows that he can post to an AO and someone else will be there to help YHC grow in his faith in others and in God.  Praying or speaking at the end of the workout is YHC’s favorite time of the workout!  YHC also knows that he has faith in the PAX to be there for each other in times of need.  FAITH, in general, is a strong thing and can mean everything to those that you come in contact with and share your lives with (friends, family, co-workers)

    After 180 posts and 40 Q’s in his first year, YHC would like to just say, “THANK YOU!!!!

    Life is good, but there is always room to make it better, especially for someone else!

    Kubota

    keep posting!

  • Who doubles back to the Six in the middle of the biggest hill?…

    The answer, of course…ROSIE.

    5 brave SOJers arose from the warmth of the sack this morning and braved the sub-40 degree temps (I mean, 70 and sunny, of course).  YHC called out the River Downs Roller Coaster with a bro-code twist – the rabbit (ROSIE) would double back for the six every 3-4 minutes and each PAX member would double-back with Rosie when passed, pick up the six and continue on.  Well damn near the top of the Queens Grant hill (a big one), what does YHC see but a headlamp coming back at him…OH SHIT, I thought.  You mean I have to turn around and go back and then do the steepest part again…and, right on cue, Bullseye (Kotters) says “who turns around on a hill?”  Well, Rosie does and since he is the rabbit = we do.  As Bullseye or Roper (can’t recall?) said, I guess that is our punishment for being slow!  Amen, brother.

    Great run this morning guys.  Look for another bro-code (i.e., Rosie Fartlek) style run again soon.

    Have a great day.

    No More Gumbo For You!