Category: Richmond, VA

  • Namaste Monday

    Five pax stood in the parking lot looking at each other wondering where all the regulars were and who was going to Q.  When asked who wants it, all pax but Lab Rat took one step back.  OK then, let’s do some experimenting!

    Original plan came to a screeching halt when we went to do a lap around the school only to be met by a formidable fence.    We straightened back out and got some COP done in front of the school.  Nothing fancy here, but get the muscles warmed up and stretched out.

    We then moseyed back to the playground and quickly found a good 4-man circuit, and used a runner as the pivot.  We got in some leg crunches from the monkey bars, pullups, dips, and elevated planks.  Two rounds of those was plenty of upper body for a minute.

    Since there were 5 of us, I will name this next one “The 4 Pillars”.  Yoga is the one thing I wish I did more of.  I am extremely inflexible, so most of the yoga I do is just me rolling around doing my best, but I have always enjoyed the balance poses.  So, in trying to incorporate some of that, we set up 4 corners around the field, one pax at each corner holding poses.  The fifth pivot member would do 3 burpees then run to next corner and swap out. Polling the pax after this, it sounds like this movement is definitely a keeper if a couple tweaks were made.  Most notably, changing up the poses to more F3-ish friendly.  Examples thrown out were:  People’s chair (aka Helix squat), The Crane (wax on, wax off optional), and the summertime pool classic, The Jack Knife.  We actually did:  Tiny Dancer and Tree.

    The workout was finished up with 3 rounds of Barry Sanders up the paved hill with 10 squats at top and 10 merkins at bottom.  With a few minutes left, we got the blood flowing thru the legs with parking lot tracers to the back and 5 minutes of Mary.

    Thanks to Sabotage for taking us out this morning with a wonderful prayer of thanks.

    Apology of the week goes out to ME, and is owed to me by Fireman Ed for completely ruining the air quality in one corner of the playground and then LEAVING.  The vapor trail did not follow and lingered for an impossible amount of time…so long I wondered if I did the deed myself….but dont remember eating pho recently.

     

    Lab Rat apologizes…

  • Good morning for a dip

    5 fleet footed trail runners took off at 7 wondering where the other 3 F3RVA car owner’s would be on the trails.  Main PAX did:

    • Northbank to Pottersfield bridge, across to buttermilk, then down train tracks, hop in for a quick dip in James River before finishing up back across Nickel Bridge.

    NMS – YHC rarely can make the Sunday trail runs with family Sunday schedules but since YHC is a bachelor the next several days the first thing that came to mind was hitting the trails this am.  We started with just Ollivander and YHC but Hardywood pulled in at 7 and off we went.  Phonics and Betsy Ross caught us as we were getting started and our 5 PAX was cruising.  Ollivander forgot his socks but pushed through it.

    Nice conversation along the way with varying topics and all PAX were amazed how Rosie and Shakedown crushed the 50k in these warm temps.  Hardywood directed us down the river trails to his hidden spot where all 5 of us took a dip in the James for a few minutes.  Man that felt good.  Of the 4 dads in the main PAX 3 have 4 kids, or soon will.  Step it up Ollivander.  T-Claps for Prodigious Procreators!

    Arriving back at the parking lot Saab and TYA were waiting for us having hit the trails early.  Circle K came in on the bike at 7:05 with his watching saying he did 21 or so miles.  Hardywood took us out.

    Annoucements – TYA’s F3RVA Ultra is a go for 10/20. 3 mile loops, kryptonite, and fun.  What more could one want?  Also Hardywood’s Cap2Cap Bike&Run relay will happen, we just need to pick a date.

     

  • Pre-Blast for PuppyPile (July 21)

    Pre-Blast for PuppyPile (July 21)

    PuppyPile is set for July 21 at 7:05am.  Bring your 2.0’s for some fun and some exercise.  Starting immediately after DogPile.

    Upcoming Q’s, please announce this after your workouts.

    There may or may not be a tug-o-war rope involved.

    See you there!

    Kubota

  • Seeking Shade

    A group of 7 RVA regulars and one guest from Statesboro, NC came together in the early morning sun and humidity, and here is what transpired:

    • COP
      • 25 SSH
      • 25 IW
      • 15 DQ
      • 10 2x merkins
      • 20 FM
      • 20 2x flutter kicks
      • 15 scorpion kicks
      • 20 Helicopters
    • Mosey to grassy knoll for 10 minutes of burpees
    • 40 APDs OYO
    • Mosey to the pickle ball courts for a bearimeter – 20 PLTs at each corner provided rest
    • Mosey to the playground for a jerkin ladder (10 on down, 55 total)
    • Mosey to the lower practice field for a Dora
      • 100 Storm squats
      • 200 Hello Dollys
      • 300 LBC
    • Mosey back to the parking lot for COT with YHC taking us out
    • 3rd F at Einsteins for 6 of the 8

    Strong effort from all of the PAX today as we kept a good pace in spite of the hot sun..  A hearty welcome to our guest, Bob the Builder (BTB).  Strong showing from BTB in light of the 8 IPAs consumed the evening before.  A true warrior.  Good to see some familiar faces after YHC had been out of town 3 of the last 4 weekends.  Apparently Night Crawler has also been MIA, but good to see him back in the fold and going strong.  As always, White Deer was initially vocal with an abundance of mumble chatter and flatulence, but as the burpees and jerkins piled up, silence followed.  One thing to note, do not race him on all fours.  As always, White Deer lead the PAX in bear crawls, running laps around the rest of us.

    Prayers up to Earthworm and Johnsonville as they nurse injuries.  See you back soon brothers.

    God is good all the time!

    Attila

  • No More Gumbo For You…For a While

    31 PAX (including two 2.0s)broke the hold and left the comfortable AC behind this morning to post for a Dogpile beatdown to close out the month of June.  YHC planned to get in a few of his favorites before he leaves town for a while.  This is how it went:

    Circle up around the Flag for COP, including:

    • SSHs
    • DQs
    • Helicopters
    • Imperial Walkers
    • Tempo Merkins
    • LBCs
    • Flutter Kicks
    • 6 Burpees OYO

    THANG:

    Bridget Triple Check – Mosey down to the parking lot by the bridge and pair off in 3s for a triple check — 1 member runs out to the 6th light pole (count them however you want) and do 2 burpees and return, 2nd member is doing WWII situps and 3rd member is doing jump squats.  Switch off and repeat x3.

    Al Gore Palooza and Plan-O-Rama for the Six

    Pipeline Dora – Mosey down the road to the pipeline and team up for a Pipeline Dora — 100 merkins, 200 single-count mountain climbers and 300 single-count American Hammers.  Trade off with your partner while running the pipeline loop.

    Brief Cage Visit – Mosey up the pipeline to the Rusty Cage, perform LBCs until the six arrives, then each PAX member completes 5 Burp-Ups and then run to the amphitheater pit.

    Six inches and Flutterkicks IC until the six arrives.

    Proper Amphitheater Doras — Complete 1 incline merkin, 2 box jumps and 3 2-ct Freddy Mercuries on each step all the way up to the top.

    Plank in the circle or bear crawl to the man-hole cover in the middle and back to the edge for the six.

    Ring of Fire — Circle up around the big circle for Merkin ROF 10 merkins and pass, holding plank.

    Back to the Flag…COT, number-rama and name-a-rama and YHC took us out.

    Announcements:

    • July 4 convergence at Tredegar at 0700 — Kubota will kick things off and there will be coffeeteria in the parking lot afterwards.
    • Send thoughts and positive vibes to Rosie and Shakedown this evening as they will be crushing a 50K out in Farmville.  Good Luck Guys!  Sugar Sock is on logistics and will be tweeting updates.
    • July Puppy Pile needs a Q…step up if you can.
    • Guest Q at Grid Iron next Saturday.  Lab Rat has Dogpile if you want to take the hard way…according to LR.
    • Circle K and TYA and their 2.0s (or some of them) are heading off on a mission trip soon…good luck fellas.
    • Keep hitting those AOs for the Summer Challenge.  Lab Rat announced that Breaking Bread is Extra Credit.
    • Ultimate Frisbee at Heartbreak Ridge on 7/9 — white and black shirts

    NMS:

    Great morning fellas.  YHC rolled in around 0533 to find Big Blue of course and the AO secured.  After a brief visit to the blue building (and a near shared experience in the blue building with UpChuck…YIKES), YHC was ready to roll and the cars and PAX members kept rolling in one after another in the last 10 minutes.  0600…time to get it on…circle up!

    Mumble chatter was at a good level until we hit the pipeline…that takes it out of you.  Lab Rat declared the bridge Triple Check a failure before we started, but YHC thinks it worked out ok.  In hindsight, should have run further out onto the bridge and killed the burpees.  YHC loves the bridge and wanted to get it in again before leaving town.

    Strong work by all and thanks to Lab Rat and Swirly for partnering up today.  Tclaps to Dory and Pele – way to work!  Phonics was killing the bridge.  Swirly and Spike and Helix and Sippy and Hardywood were out front all day.  Great job guys!

    Have a great day, weekend and month gents!

    No More Gumbo For You!

     

  • Pre-Blast: Who Q? (Next Puppy Pile)

    Pre-Blast: Who Q? (Next Puppy Pile)

    “But he’ll remember with advantages
    What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
    Familiar in his mouth as household words,…
    …Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered.
    This story shall the good man teach his son,…”
      — Shakespeare, Henry V
    July needs a Puppy Pile, and Puppy Pile needs a Q.  Teach your son (or daughter, or sons, or daughters, or sons and daughters…).
    I’ll be out of town for a couple of weeks.  Need a H.I.M. to step up.  Who shall pick up the Gauntlet and lead?  (He’ll also need to pick a date and talk it up at workouts and to the up-coming Q’s).  Easy-peasy.

  • Back to the Circus

    COP all IC

    SSH

    Helicopter

    Don Quixote

     

    The Beast

    6 (or 7 if the Q forgets how to count) Rounds of 6 stations with 6 count of exercise performed at each

    lunge to first station, bear crawl to second, crawl bear to third, Frog Hop to fourth, Hop Frog to fifth,  lunge to sixth. All with KB.

    Sit and press

    lawnmowers

    snatch

    merkin row

    high pull

    goblet squats

    halos

    Triple Check

    Donkey Kicks

    Turkish Get-ups

    Waiter carry to end of pavilion and back

    Announcements

    4th of July Convergence

    Pick2’s wedding Q at The Creek July 6th

    Numberama

    Namearama

    J-Ville took us out

    NMS

    It has been 6 months since YHC’s last trip to the Circus. So when Opus asked if he wanted to go, he said “sure”. it was good to be back with this crew.

    Apparently YHC cannot count, he blames this on his Mechanicsville public education, and the beast went for 7 rounds instead of 6. Which everyone was very happy to point out.

    Everyone put in good work and it was great to see Wedding Singer come out for The Summer Tour.

    Thanks for letting me lead

     

     

     

     

     

  • Bison-tennial

    16 came out this morning to tackle a semi-themed workout at the Creek.

    Here is what went down–
    COP
    IJR, DQ, arm circles, tempo merkins, plank jacks, alternating shoulder touches, flutter kicks, roll-ups, box cutters

    Mosey to big field
    10 minutes of burpees — PAX members pick a number of burpees between 6 and 12 and complete that many in one minute — any extra time left over is rest time before the next minute starts.  Repeato 10 times.

    4 faces of Mount Rushmore
    1st face — 10 Lincoln Leg lifts
    2nd face — 10 LLL, 20 Roosevelt Roll Ups
    3rd face — 10 LLL, 20 RRU, 30 Jefferson Jump Squats
    4th face — 10 LLL, 20 RRU, 30 JJS, 40 Washington Werkins

    Mosey to Lot for Bisontennial

    One partner bear crawls to picnic tables and runs back while other partner does the following exercises —
    200 Crabcakes
    200 SSH
    200 Mountain Climbers

    Mosey to Flag for Numbers, Names, Announcements
    Emoji took us out.

    NMS —
    YHC will miss all you guys for the next month while he is gone on a family vacation whose original plans started a long time ago when the kids were young and watched a documentary on the redwoods.  It was at that point that the vision of this great cross country trip first started.  It is now much bigger than YHC could have even imagined at the very beginning.
    People’s reactions when we tell them what we are doing range from “That sounds like an amazing vacation” to “You’re crazy!”  We have thought the same things going through this process.
    Anyhow, the workout went pretty well — everyone loved the 10 minutes of Burpees just as much as YHC loved them the first time he experienced them at 45 MOM a few months back and the second time a short while ago at the Gridiron.
    Kudos to Sugarsock for kicking butt on the four faces of Rushmore.  Those roll ups were tough after about 10.
    Will post pics of YHC and family planking in front of Mt Rushmore for you all on Twitter.

    See you soon
    Opus

     

  • Snake River without the Water

    22 strong (7 on two wheels and 15 on two legs) attacked RAMM and RAMM Gears this morning.  5:26am and directions were given.  5:30am and BOOM! off we go!

    THANG

    Multiple distances were covered today including:

    4.2 mile route: Grove West to Tuckahoe Blvd to Granite to Cary to Tempsford.  Go down and up the Two Hills of No Mercy!  Return the way you came.

    4.9 mile route: 4.2 mile route but run to Malvern and back to Mary first.

    5.7 mile route: 4.2 mile route but run to Thompson and back to Mary first

    8.?? mile route: ?

    Multiple miles for Gears: ?

    3 Minutes of Mary at the Shovel Flag for those that finish early including Box Cutters, LBC’s and Flutter Kicks.

    COT, Numberama, Namearama and YHC took us out

     

    Announcements:

    July 4th Convergence coming up on Wednesday.  7am at Tredegar/Belle Isle Parking Lot.  Hot Potato Q.  YHC will start and then toss it.  Have some ideas ready!  Breakfast/Coffeteria/Jump in the River immediately following.

    Gumbo will be leading Dogpile tomorrow.  He will absent for a month after that so if you need to get your fill of Gumbo in, show up!  Have a safe trip, Gumbo and family!

    Lab Rat is leading Dogpile next Saturday.  (Just throwing that tidbit out there so he will be happy)

    Summer challenge is moving right along.  Will anyone catch Vinny while he is on vacation?  The ever-elusive Gridiron post is the only one he needs!!

    Pick 2 and Fiancee are leading The Creek next Friday for his Wedding Rehearsal Day.  Nuptials the next day.  Congrats in advance!

    Shakedown and Rosie are about to attack a 50k on Saturday.  Shoot them a text and cheer them on!  They GOT THIS!

     

    NMM:

    YHC sent a Pre-Blast out for RAMM yesterday but he had to call an audible at 5:25am this morning because it was not enough numbers.  So normal run it was.  The Challenge/Competition will have to wait for another time.  YHC’s routes were long for the 4’s and short for the 5’s and 6’s.  YHC apologizes, but everyone finished right around 6:15am so it worked out.  YHC took the Snake River route that Lockjaw devised in May (when it was flooded) and tweaked it some.  YHC wanted everyone to experience both Tempsford and Kennondale.  In YHC’s opinion, Kennondale may be more of a pain than Charmian.  Kennondale after Tempsford is just plain harsh!  Either way, hills were attacked after a nice flat warm-up jaunt and then a nice flat recovery run on the way back in.

    Welcome to my friend and FNG Re-Run (Clint).  Re-Run is an avid runner and decided to join us this morning after he ran the same two hills yesterday morning.  He must love those hills!  Lab Rat gets credit for the FNG naming since that is his new thing.

    YHC is not sure what the cyclists did, but it was great to see a large group of them out this morning.

    Swirly and TYA crushed the early-bird long distance route.  Great job!

    Have a great Friday all!

    Kubota

    keep posting

  • Sisyphus Takes on Twin Team

    Six of RVA’s finest defeated the sleep monster and posted for a trip into the unknown (as no one had signed up for the Q). After YHC’s customary on-the-dot arrival, YHC took the first Q. Brief COP on the spot to allow car exits for those not as well-versed in punctuality (it’s an art, fellas): SSH, IW, DQ.

    Mosey over to Twin Team Hill for a Sisyphus Run (TM):

    PAX ran uphill for 1 minute. Everyone goes back to wherever the 6 ended for a set of exercises, then another minute uphill. Repeat until summit. On the way up: 20 double count lunges (downhill of course), 20 WWIIs, 20 derkins, summit. On top, two sets of 10 burpees, then it’s back down.

    Faster downhills meant 30 second intervals: 1st, sprint back to the summit, then reverso of the exercises on the way up. Sprint the final leg at the end, where YHC passed the Q to Wedding Singer.

    Mosey back to Bettie Weaver for Triple Check: people’s chair, merkins, backwards run around dropoff loop. Singer passed the Q to Handshake.

    15 PLCs, followed by partner carry laps around the dropoff loop. 15 more PLCs, then one man lunges halfway around loop while partner waits with SSHs, switch at halfway point.

    Mosey back to the proverbial flag for a merkin ring of fire and WWII edition as well. Numbers, Names, ‘Nouncements.

     

    Not a ton in the moleskin today – glad as always to work hard alongside men of quality. Would love to see more of the PAX as a whole to post at Twin Team. This has become one of my favorite AOs, with plenty of variety in locations, elevations, and implements of destruction. You won’t be disappointed!