Category: Richmond, VA

  • Sunday Frisbee

    One megastud (and one companion who will not be named) launched for a Sunday run at 6 am and ran for 13 miles.  This megastud started his trail running career less than six months ago and completed a full half marathon this weekend on the trails.  Bootleg is that megastud. He has consistently posted on Sunday’s and on other run days and increased his mileage along the way.  He is prepping for the Patrick Henry Half Marathon in late August and if yesterday was any indication he  will slay the run.

    Since the two early/late runners did not cross path’s with the normal Sunday trail runners, they were deemed to not be worthy of getting credit for the run.  Fair enough, but Bootleg deserves to have his awesome feat from this weekend memorialized.

    Unnamed companion out.

  • Soggy shoes and steep hills

    A fearless 5 PAX showed up for a rainy Monday morning at RiverRun – there was no shortage of rain or hills.

    The route – Queen’s Grant Hill to Gumbo’s house and back. Turn around at 23 minutes and try and get back in 22.

    Rosie, Honeymoon, and Swiper stayed as a group the majority of the time and finished the full route for a little over 5 miles. YHC took the medium pace and finished at 4.5 miles (just enough distance to get to the bottom of the second hill and turn around and climb back up 🙁 ). Lugnut took up the rear guard position and was back at the shovel flag when I returned – not sure on final distance.

    YHC took the Q for this one last week to force myself to post – good thing, because there is a near zero chance that I would have been running in conditions like this morning if not for F3. You all help me to become stronger, both physically and mentally. Thanks for pulling me along this morning!

    ~Why walk when you can Wheelbarrow?

  • A Farewell To Arms

    A mighty eight ventured into a rain storm developed especially for this workout.

    COP

    • Don Quixote
    • Arm Circles
    • Russian Soldiers
    • Imperial Walkers
    • Helicopters

    Head down past the maintenance shed and pick up some stones.  Time for Lindseys.  The exercises are dips at the bottom of the rock stairs of death and overhead presses with the stones at the top.  Exercises are in 30/10, 25/15, 20/20, 15/25, and 10/30 reps.

    Mosey up to the tennis courts for 4 Corners.

    • Bear Crawl the long side of the court and perform 10 APDs
    • Alligator Walk (plank like an alligator and perform a merkin with each arm forward) the short side of the court.  Perform 10 APDs, 20 Merkins
    • Bear Crawl the long side of the court and perform 10 APDs, 20 Merkins, 30 Carolina Dry Docks
    • Alligator Walk the short side of the court.  Perform 10 APDs, 20 Merkins, 30 Carolina Dry Docks, 40 Crab Cakes

    Up to the Old Stone House for Triple Check.

    • Run around the grassy loop
    • Elbow Planks
    • Step ups on the bench

    Circle up for Merkin Ring of Fire.  Pax member calls a Merkin style and a quantity between 1-10.  Pax performs exercise and next exercise decisioning is passed to the left.  This group didn’t stick with any basics and got medieval with the choices.

    Vinny took us out.

    NMS

    It’s raining, so it must be Monday.  The stone steps were a raging river of poorly lit hazards, but the Pax persevered.  At one point, we could feel the maintenance group drive by and study a bunch of guys in the pouring rain and dark lifting large rocks above their heads.  F3 at its finest.

    It was after the Lindseys that YHC informed the Pax that since we were on Swirly’s home AO, this workout would be called “A Farewell to Arms”.  I don’t think it disappointed.

    The 4 Corners were total silence as men got down to business.  Sippy Cup’s perfect form remained constant throughout the workout.  Likewise, his imitation of an alligator was true to form.  The rest of us varied and looked more like Komodo Dragons.  Sippy would be a great method actor.

    There was a truck where we did the Triple Check and the earth around the elbow planks smelled of cigarettes.  I guess the Smoking Man payed us a visit.

    Great workout.  Hopefully see others on the Summer Tour this week.

    PS – Welcome Green Acres who is visiting from Chapel Hill.  Heading out of town today, but hopefully we will see him soon.

    Always Be Tapering,

    Lockjaw

     

  • Dirt Church. Let’s make this a thing for realz.

    For the last four weeks or so, some PAX and some other dudes have been meeting Sunday mornings to make Pocahontas State Park’s newest trail system their collective b*tch.   Meeting at the Courthouse Church of Christ before their first service, we put ourselves in a spot to warm up (1.7 miles of gravel before hitting the trailhead) and to save on parking fees.

    The Thang:

    Fendley Station Trail and Loop A (gravel) to Sunsetter (a rad flow trail) to Bell Lap Return (also… rad) to Blueberry Hill downhill (even radder).  Escape out to fill bottles and then up to the Morgan Green Trail (old school leaf-covered single track) and then back to finish Blueberry Hill Return.  Then a single lap of the wackiness that is Freight Line, and then more gravel to the car.    18-20 miles depending on whether you had to turn around to find your friends or not.   900 or so feet of climbing.

    Notes:

    Sure is a lot of fun being on the Pocahontas trails these days… we are truly blessed to have access to the MTB resources we have!  YHC has ridden many of the Commonwealth’s trail systems, and gladly stays close to home.

    Very glad these guys came out to continue the month-or-so-old tradition that is “Dirt Church”.  We’ve been kinda doing this every Sunday for a while… Mr. Roper and his homie and I started it one week, and then add Mongoose joined us for another… Then Lab Rat came with a friend, and Wheelie was there once and Johnsonville was there…  you get the idea, and I forget the details.

    This week, we prepped via group text, and rolled out at 0800.  We warmed up with gravel.   I think everyone dug Sunsetter (YHC’s fave in the system).   We picked up BT’s homie, Nate, up the hill (these days, you can almost ALWAYS find someone you know at the top of the Swift Creek Trails) and dragged his ass around with us.  We went down the hill, over the creek, through the woods, and back up.   Good stuff.   I think BT has a little MTBer in him… we will see.  Best part of today’s ride:  NO ONE DIED.

    We all know we all have limits.  The best part about riding mountain bike trails with friends is that we can always push ourselves to these limits, or beyond them, and become better riders, regardless of fitness and skill level. Ride your bike.  Just ride.

    Dirt Church should be continuing going forward.  Sundays at 0730 or 0800.  Two hours of trails with bailouts available for the time-constrained.  YHC is always glad to Q anytime.

     

  • Amateur Hour… RAMM Gears this Friday. Pre-blast?

    Amateur Hour… RAMM Gears this Friday. Pre-blast?

    A couple of weeks ago, Phonics told me that this Friday, August 3rd, was to be the date for RAMM Gears, Amateur Hour, Part Deux (see https://backblasts.f3rva.org/2018/06/15/peloton/ for reference) and he asked me to put together a route.  Of course, my reaction was “F* YEAH… More dudes on bikes!”.

    If it’s truly the case, and this Friday is to be the second edition of the “run-what-ya-brung, dig-out-the-1990-something-Trek-and-come-ride”, I’m your guy, and I’d like to open it up to 2.0’s if they can make the early hour, unless there are objections.  I’ve got a route in mind, and plan to tune it for maximum satisfaction for those who can post.

    Additionally, if your old bike needs a some touching and loving before Friday, give a brother a holler (best to tweet at @bvay).  I actually do own tools, and have a deeply seated love for that bike you bought in college and haven’t touched since ya got married.

    I want to see you on your bike.

     

    No Tools

  • Solo OTB

    With the summer tour YHC thought there may be other runners there but it was a quiet Sunday.   Great weather for a run.

  • Hold On. This One’s Not Centered Right.

    Three ground pounders churned through sunny and 70 temps to grind out today’s version of Sunday Funday.  Here’s how it either happened (or YHC wishes it happened).

    Route: South Bank + Larriott + Pottersfield + North Bank.  Roughly 7 miles in total.  Ponch was squeezed for time, but shoe-horned somewhere in the 3-4 mile range with limited time.  Well done.

    Silent Number-am-a, Name-a-rama, and YHC mumbled something about what a treat this part of life is.  And, there was a bit of a silent remembrance for a friend.

    NMS:

    Great day for YHC to get back on the trails. It’s been a few weeks since YHC has done a Sunday run, so YHC was a little reticent given a tender ankle and a limited amount of miles over the past week or two.  Turns out…no worries.  Good stamina, even with the humidity.  Let’s hear it for me.

    Nice to see Ponch join us – he is building back up his endurance running.  Great job today.  And, way to push this morning in order to balance the first F and the Family F when crunched for time.  Squeeze in the miles when you can.  Looking forward to having you join us on more Sundays.

    Lab Rat was his normal chatty self, and between the two of us, many solutions were developed to the world’s problems.  Implementation seems to be lacking, but plans are in the works for addressing Trump, employment for those with special needs, female aging, and the appropriate times for a woman to announce she has put on a bra.  Glad to hear the coffee carts are going well.  Next week: male pattern baldness among other topics.

    UpChuck spits the bit.

  • Dogpile – No better place to be

    Nineteen brave men arrived at Dogwood Dell this morning for perfect weather and a beatdown.  This was YHC’s first attempt at an hour bootcamp.  This is what occurred.

    The Thang

    COP – All IC

    • 5 Burpees on your own
    • SSH
    • Arm Circles  – Forwards and Reverso
    • Backwards Lunges
    • Helicopters
    • Don Quixotes
    • Ball Dippers
    • Merkins
    • Angled Knee Jumps
    • Foot to Hand Mountain Climbers
    • LBCs
    • Sitting Freddie Mercuries
    • American Hammers
    • Merkins
    • Drop to 2 inches – Merkins
    • Normal Plank – Merkins
    • 5 Burpees on your own

    Mosey to Pump House Drive Field

    • Run of Shame Triple Check – In groups of 3, rotate and perform the following exercises 3 times.
      • Monkey Humpers
      • APDs
      • Run the loop on the outside of the trees

    Mosey to Pipe Loop Trail

    • With a partner, alternate between burpees and running the PIpe Loop Trail for a total of 100 burpees.

    Mosey up the Pipe Loop Trail to the Rusty Cages

    • With a partner, complete 50 pull-ups

    Mosey to the Amphitheater

    • At each row, complete 5 upright Alabama Prom Date dips and 5 two-count kick-outs.

    Mosey to the Shovel Flag

    • Ring of Fire
      • 10 Merkins IC
      • Rotate to side – Hold side plank then dip hip for 10 IC
      • Rotate to other side – Hold side plan then dip hip for 10 IC

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

    NMS

    In a little over 2 years, YHC had not had the privilege of leading Dogpile.  When he discovered that it was still open a little over a week ago, he knew it was time to Q his first hour bootcamp.

    Although YHC felt that most of the exercises were challenging, mumblechatter was strong the entire workout.

    While jogging with one of my 2.0s a week prior, YHC noticed Pump House Drive field.  This field allowed for plenty of room to do exercises while the trees gave a defined loop around the field.  This seemed like a perfect place to do a triple check.  As YHC gave out the exercises, it did not occur to him that grouping Monkey Humpers with APDs gave a NC-17 feel to the triple check especially with Shakedown’s demonstration.  It also led to a great deal of mumblechatter.

    Back to the triple check when PAX members are asked to identify the most difficult F3 exerciss, burpees, donkey kicks, sprint repeats, bear crawls, crab walks, and partner carries are normally mentioned.   YHC believes that Monkey Humpers need to be added to the list.  After about 12 of these, YHC needs to take a break.

    YHC had planned on completing several more exercises in the Amphitheater.  It did surprise him given an hour that he still did not have enough time to complete everything he wanted.  Maybe next time.

    ETs was great as always.  Conversation included a great deal of talking about swimming including summer swim team, year round swimming, masters swimming, the Olympics and an amazing Vinny story about a guy who accidentally competed in his birthday suit.  As YHC was getting ready to leave, TYA arrived.  All conversation then turned to his outfit including his tucked in shirt and his belt.  Thank you for joining us TYA.

    Gotta run!

    Phonics

    Announcements:

    • Puppy Pile – Saturday, August 25 at 7:05 am
    • Amateur bike ride at RAMM Gears – Friday, August 3 – This is a lot of fun.  Any bike is acceptable.  No Tools will lead the way.
    • Flatline may take us swimming at Dogpile next Saturday, August 4 depending on weather.  Look for pre-blast this week.
    • The RVA Summer Tour continues.  There is still time to join the 20 that are doing this.  Click Here for the F3 RVA Challenges page

  • 49 Year Old VQ

    Nine brave souls (including 1 FNG) fought off the fartsack to partake in ByProduct’s VQ at Gridiron on this beautiful humid morning.  After a few jokes about this morning’s cherry picking, we got down to business.  

    COP (IC):

    SSH – 49X

    Arm Circles – 15X/5X/15X/5X

    Don Quixotes – 15X

    Helicopters – 15X

    Imperial Walkers – 15X

    Crab Cakes – 15X

    The Thang:

    Mosey to the volleyball courts where we began the fun with 7 burpees.  The PAX was then instructed to bear crawl to mid-court for another set of 7 burpees followed by some sand crab walks to the other end of the court for 7 more burpees.  We repeated this sequence until 49 burpees had been completed.  It was noted how quickly the VQ had already worked up a sweat by some of the PAX. – Thanks WD

    We then made our way over to the playground where we partnered up and completed 3 sets of PLTs (20X) and Jerkins (10X). 

    Next stop on the BD tour was the football field where we completed a beast with Merkins going out and WWII sit ups coming back.  Chatter was mixed at this point, which was a good indicator that everyone was getting their monies worth!

    Moseyed to the pavilion for some dips (20X), step ups – right leg (20X), more dips (20X), step ups – left leg (20X) and even more dips (20X)

    Circled up where we began the morning for 10 more birthday burpees followed by an encore of 49 more SSH.  That was sure a crowd pleaser!

    Numberama, namerama and then ByProduct took us out.

    A bunch of us then headed over to Einstein’s for some coffee time.

    This morning was a lot of fun (especially on my 49th BD) and it was great to see some new faces at Gridiron! 

  • Time to make stuff up

    11 Davillians roused themselves from slumber, including one 2.0 FNG, to kickstart their day in the best possible manner.  Here’s what happened.  Honest.

    COP

    20 SSH   20 Helicopters   20 DQ   20 Imperial walkers

    20 invisible jump ropes

    Mosey to corner of church for 4 Corners

    20 LBC’s, frog hop to next corner, 40 Heels to heaven, lunge to next corner, 60 Freddie Mercury’s, frog hop, 80 flutter kicks, lunge back to first corner, repeat the whole thing cutting the numbers in half.

    Mosey to picnic tables, triple check, skull crushers, dips and last Amigo runs to road and back, go until everyone has done it three times.

    head to curbs for 11’s, hold six inches and 4 count flutter kicks, mosey to SF, numberama, namerama, YHC took us out.

     

    NMS

    YHC’s shoulder is a bit messed up, so had to come up with a Q that required no shoulder work–time for abs and legs!  COP involved YHC messing with the cadence, eliciting mumblechatter from Spit and Mudface.  You’d think they would be used to it by now….

    The PAX crushed 4 corners and triple check, such that YHC had to make up 11’s and couldn’t think of a new ab or leg exercise, thus the 4 count flutter kicks (thanks for the suggestion, Spit).  Seeing what the PAX (and YHC) called frog hops was entertaining, and Mudface even accused YHC of skipping “like a little girl” which is probably inaccurate.  Probably.  It’s always great seeing new faces, and congrats to Doc for doing so well today, although given that Spike is her dad, it’s also not that surprising.  Way to bring the effort, Doc!  Good to see Rounders out again–is it typical to work out in a puffy vest in July?  Army guys are weird….

    Announcements: Amateur RAMMgear next Friday, bring your bike, no matter if it was made this century or not.  Also, Preblast coming soon for Convergence at Daville (specifically 3 Lakes park) on Labor Day.

    Thanks for letting me lead.

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