Category: Richmond, VA

  • A Record Day on the Trails

    A strong 7, including one SOPer, posted for a record day on the trails.

    The THANG: The Q called north side to south side, crossing at Belle Isle.  The PAX performed 0 burpees, one for each degree Fahrenheit, and began the journey.  Saab crossed at T. Potter.  Lab Rat, TYA, and Shakedown added the Forest Hill loop.

    NMM:  According to YHC’s records, this was the coldest Sunday trail run, the previous being at 5 degrees last year, and both completed by Saab in shorts.  Perhaps even more remarkable was Flatline’s first post to the trail run ever – heck of a day for an inaugural post.

    The Q informed TYA that he was not allowed shortcuts, nor to venture from the group, which probably led to TYA adding the loop.  YHC hopes he got the solitude he sought and finished strong.

    PAX noted that the trails were surprisingly pleasant this morning.  There were no mountain bikers, no other runners or hikers, and no trail mermaids, although Whistleblower did a song and dance as she imagined at one point that a salamander was crawling up her leg.

    To Honeydo’s “foolish is better than stupid” and Gomer’s “dry is better than warm,” we can add “snow-covered rocks are better than clean rocks.”  Flatline took a bit of a spill at one of the creek crossings, and YHC hopes he is okay.

    Shakedown and Saab documented frozen beards, eyelashes, rivers, and Hannibal Lecter masks with their cell phones.  Hopefully some pictures can be posted here.

    Saab: Ever notice that when we work out in these temperatures that cell phone batteries get drained?

    Offshore: No… crap, my phone just died.

    Thanks to Whistleblower and Flatline for the company and conversation along the Buttermilk.  Tclaps to Saab for beating the PAX to the pump house despite taking the long cut.  Tclaps to the other PAX for completing 10 miles (assuming you made it back…).

  • Celebrating the New Year (at the North Pole)

    Mother Nature’s hammer was fierce and wicked, but 7 noble (and bundled) warriors answered.  Here is how we welcomed in the first Gridiron of 2018.

    • COP
      • 18 SSH
      • 18 DQ
      • 18 IW
      • 18 merkins
      • 18 flutter kicks
      • 18 lunges
      • 18 helicopters
      • 18 dips
    • Mosey to the playground for a jerkin ladder starting and 8 and counting down to 1
    • Mosey to parking lot to celebrate the new year – 1 constant exercise (running) with 8 alternating exercises at various corners of the parking lot (6 reps at 3 corners of the 4 corners of the parking lot for a total of 18 reps of each exercise below)
      • Burpees
      • Monkey Humpers
      • Merkins
      • LBC
      • Pickle Pounders (aka blue ballers in this weather)
      • Heels to heaven
      • Carolina dry docks
      • WWII sit-ups
    • 18 APD
    • Rinse and repeat on the celebration of 2×18 (see above)
    • 18 APD
    • 18 3 count deep squats
    • Sprint the parking lot x2
    • 18 3 count deep squats
    • COT with YHC taking us out
    • Fellowship at Einsteins

    Lots of reps of 18 to celebrate the beginning of a new year at Gridiron.  For the record it was cold, but it was great to see a loyal PAX supporting YHC in his efforts to Q.  I was thrown for a loop when Nightcrawler appeared.  Rumor had it he would be hunting birds, and his camo Elmer Fudd hat hinted at doing that later.

    Welcome to Ginger!   Great effort in the freezer-like conditions today.  Do not be a stranger.  As for those out with injuries (Byproduct and White Deer), get well and come back soon.  You were missed.

    Even in the frigid cold, God is good all the time!

    Attila

  • Let’s Celebrate!

    19 great fellas decided to brave the bitter cold (NO Patriot Fans) to enjoy a Wilson celebration of the Buffalo Bills breaking the 17 year playoff drought!

    Here is how it went down

    Short mosey to the circle for COP (17 each exercise)

    SSH, Russian Soldier, LBC, Saggy 6 & Don Quiote

    Mosey to amphitheater for a modified deck of death. Here were the rules

    Face cards = 17 reps, #4 cards = 4 burpees each step (thank GOD we did not get one) & Joker = 20 count rest (informed while in gloom there were no jokers in the borrowed deck.)

    Exercises – Hand Release Merkins, Dips, Wheel Barrow, WWII (legs up), Dive Bomber Merkin, Sword Fight & Superman.

    Mosey to circle for rotating ring of fire – 4 burpees at each cone. Started w/ Merkins and audibled to other exercises.

    Thanks for letting YHC lead you today. Some work needs to be done on that beat down, but wanted to keep running to a minimum as I am fighting a chest cold.

    COP chatter was great and the Saggy 6 will return, but likely with some rocks next time.

    My feet are STILL cold, but hopefully will warm up this weekend!

    I wanted to celebrate the Buffalo Bills making the playoffs, but failure to use hands or breathe made it difficult. Oh well – here are some fun facts about the Buffalo Bills!

    est. 1960 owned by Ralph Wilson

    Best Seasons 1990 & 1991 (13-3)

    Worst season 1971 (1-13) Proud to say we NEVER had a winless season like the Browns this year!!!

    Attended FOUR Super Bowls as players (not fans) and walked away with a great dynasty of losing! 1990-1993

    Last time in playoffs was 1999 – until now 17 YEAR drought. We gladly pass the record off to the Browns. We hope you hit 18 years or more!!!

    ET’s was entertaining – Swirly needs to get his work computer checked for viruses!

    GO BILLS!

  • Kettlebells and West Enders

    1 SOJer posted with 3 west enders for a SOP friendly workout at TwinTeam.  The F3 RVA forecast was sunny and 70 but the temperature for the rest of the world was 11 with -1 wind chills.

    YHC dragged 2 kettlebells out of the backseat of the car at 0529 to the surprise of the PAX.  Mosey (easy walk since the parking lot was mostly packed snow or ice) to the entrance of the school for a dry spot that was hopefully shielded from the wind (not so much).

    Warm up SSH, Helicopters, Hillbillies, Flutter Kicks, Merkins

    Quadruple Check – Run (find a snowy chunky path and make your way) around the drop off loop, Freddie Mercuries, KB Press, Goblet Squats

    Lazy Dora – 100 KB Swings (10 each while partner in Al Gore), 100 merkins (Partner in plank), 100 Dollies (Partner 6 inches)  Round 2 – Switch KBs 100 swings, 200 squats (wo KB), 200 LBC

    6 minutes of Burpees – Each minute add 1 start at 5 up to 10

    Mary – American Hammers, APD, Heels to Heaven

    Numbers/Names – Flipper took us out

    NMM

    Honeydo tweeted last night that he was considering which AO to post to and realized another SOP had the Q at TwinTeam.  This meant he would not have a repeat of army crawls and burpees in the snow, decision made.  The SOP crew may be foolish for wearing shorts in these conditions but we are not stupid.  YHC was happy to make a SOP friendly workout and tried to stay out of the wind too but that didn’t work out as well.  Mr. Holland’s first time with kettlebells, and maybe Flippers too, and they rocked it.  Simple KB exercises today but now that the KBs are back in the vehicle they could make another appearance at an AO with lower attendance #s.  The west enders took over TwinTeam today, outnumbering YHC, hopefully warmer weather will bring the SOJ regulars back out.

    Announcements

    CSAUP – AO to AO run April 13-14.  Get your team nano region or otherwise together.  More details to come.

     

  • Staggered Start

    12 runners eventually showed up for the run this morning….either the roads or the extreme cold made for an unusual start this morning.  The kicker was BIG Tennessee, who was going to do a drive-by, but unfortunately saw us on Grove and begrudgingly came to a sliding stop and joined in.

    Route:

    Serpentine route- Run down Grove to Hamilton, then serpentine your way thru the neighborhood streets. 4 miles go shorter, 6 milers go longer.

    NMS

    -The roads were for the most part snow covered, but there was enough ice out there to make you pay attention.  The cold was no joke, and turning in to the wind really sucked.  Personally, I liked running on the packed snow but I think it affected everybody’s times and nobody was able to finish their normal distance in 45 minutes….or it was close.

    -I have no idea what Oyster did this morning, but I think there might have to be a new F3 term for what he did.  Let’s see, First in the parking lot, last out of the car, then first back in the car.  At least he gave us high 5’s on Commonwealth from his window as the 5 milers were finishing up!  (I realize that Swirly was actually first in the lot, it’s called poetic license, people.)

    -I am convinced that this route needs to be in the regular rotation.  My goal is to be able to walk up, call out “serpentine route” and everybody knows what to do.  It’s not nearly as confusing as what it sounds, but giving the directions is a real pain.  Most folks caught the cut thru this time though, which is an improvement.

    -Great job to everybody that posted this morning, no matter what form that took.  It was an easy morning to hit that snooze button.

    “Second” Apology of the week goes to TYA.  I really don’t have anything to apologize about, but I’m sorry anyways.

     

    Lab Rat apologizes…

  • Snowball Snowcrawl!

    Snow, ice, wind… Who cares? Not the 6 fighters who stormed into The Creek for a fun fest that went something like this…

    10 burpees, mosey (including some skating) halfway around the church building, 10 burpees, mosey back to the start.

    COP – All IC – 50 SSHs, 20 mountain climbers, 10 snow angels (WWII setup with snow angel motion while down), 25 LBCs, 10 don quixotes, arm circles, 25 LBCs, 50 SSHs.

    Mosey to the pavillon

    1 minute bench jumps, 1 minute dips, 50 LBCs IC – repeat

    Mosey to the snow field

    Snow Corners

    10 burpees, run to the first corner, 10 merkins, bear crawl to next corner, 10 snow angels, lunge to next corner, 10 squats, bear crawl to next corner…

    50 LBCs IC

    20 burpees, skip to the first corner, 20 merkins, skip to next corner, 20 snow angels, skip to next corner, 20 squats, skip to next corner…

    50 LBCs IC

    Mosey to the SF…

    Spit took us out

    Note: LBC (LFC if you prefer) count – 400

    NMS

    YHC had a tough decision last night regarding the name and theme for this workout. Do I go with “Skating at The Creek” in light of the icy parking lot or “Snowball Snowcrawl” in light of the opportunity to crawl around the field… YHC went with the latter even though the former could have applied as well.

    Legend has it that Mudface drove into the parking lot to find Emoji walking around by himself. Emoji didn’t have a car so he ran to the AO. YHC heard from one of the PAX that his wife had said, “What? Are you really going?” in light of this morning’s weather and road conditions. We are doing something write if the M’s are saying things like that!

    The PAX took off running and skating around the parking lot of 10 burpees fired up the engines a bit. YHC included a healthy about amount of LBCs in light of the monthly challenge (even though none of the PAX knew about the monthly challenge). LBCs were renamed LFCs this morning (little frozen crunches) in light of icy parking lot surface.

    Mumble chatter was light and the groans came early and often with the LFCs… Nobody seemed cold though.

    The “Snow Corners” brought a ton of snow fireworks as YHC instructed the PAX to grab handfuls of snow and toss them in the air for each jump up during the burpees. Snow was flying everywhere. A LOT of snow was sent toward Mudface in light of the MURPH he threw down on us at MannDate a few days earlier.

    LP is a fighter. The 9 yr old 2.0 requested to still join the PAX even though his dad (Chowdah) was leaving town on a mission trip to Costa Rica. LP pushed through the workout. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury due to Emoji tripping due to a big hole in the ground during the Ring of Fire. Emoji landed on LP’s leg and caused some freezing pain. The PAX rallied around the little warrior and Spit did a noble job of praying for him as we all surrounded him.

    With F3, nobody is alone. We are in this together. 9 or 99 years old. It may be “you vs you” but we are cheering and challenging each other along the way. When it comes to life’s challenges, it is “you WITH you.”

    Let’s keep looking for ways to pick one another up when we are down.

    Let’s keep pushing to strengthen not only our bodies but our spirits and relationships.

    Let’s keep pushing in 2018!

    The Carpenter

  • Timberwolf and it’s Snow pack

    Initial forecast of light dusting of snow was completely off. A brave group of 6 emerged promptly from their vehicles at 5:30 on the dot.

    Brief jog around the school to find shelter from the wind – but no shelter to be found. Light warm up to get the blood flowing and a little bit of stretching. Light Jog back to the bottom of the hill/entrance of the school.

    The Punisher

    • 10 Sandbag Lunges
    • 5 Weighted Sandbag Burpees
    • 10 Sandbag Bent over Rows
    • 5 Weighted Sandbag Burpees
    • 10 Merkins
    • 5 Weighted Sandbag Burpees
    • Sprint all the way up the hill to the cars and back down

    5 times through the above. Light progression of weight if you could stand it.

    2nd half of Punisher is as follows: 60 Mountain Climbers, 50 Prisoner Jump Squats, 40 Monkey Humpers, 30 Merkins, 20 Long Jumps, 10 Burpees.

    Ruck Sandbags back up the hill to the cars.

    Numbered off, announcement, brief pray before wind picked up.

     

     

  • Snow Day

    A dirty dozen came out to play in the pristine Winter Wonderland of Mary today.

    Here is how the fun began….

    Mosey to side of school for COP.  A couple of late arrivals showed after taking necessary precautions on the drive in.

    • Don Quixote – Slow Saab Style with a Reach
    • Helicopters
    • Hill Billies
    • Drop on your six for a couple of snow angels and roll into LBC
    • APDs

    Quick mosey to the track for partner 4 Corners.

    • Corner 1 – Jerkins x 7
    • Corner 2 – Plerkins x 15
    • Corner 3 – Chin Ups x 10
    • Corner 4 – PLT x 25

    Three times through.

    Mosey back to the soccer field for the debut of the Anhinga!

    This is an exercise YHC created after seeing the namesake bird in action.  This South American bird swims underwater to catch fish, pops up periodically for air, and resubmerges to continue fishing.  As this bird is a submariner, it’s feathers do not have oil.  After a swim, it must stand on the shore with it’s wings raised to dry in the sun.

    Putting that in action, we commando crawled 10 paces, popped up and did a burpee, and resumed the crawl/burpee combo the width of the soccer fields.  At the end, break into SSH to dry those wings.

    We ended up going halfway across the field and transitioning into lunges.

    Next exercise:  We traversed back across the soccer fields with a bear crawl.  A true polar bear.

    Shifting around to face the long length of the field, we traversed the soccer field for some boulders and cave.  Alternating pax ball up or plank up allowing other Pax to go over or under.  We did one length of the field.

    Finishing up with a return down the soccer field with 11s.  Monkey Humpers and Captain Thors.

    YHC took us out with Saab reminding us of the fragility of life and to seize the day.

    Announcements:

    • CSAUP 2018 – BRR style relay run across all RVA AOs.  April 13-14.  Start your training and the forming of your 6 or 9 man teams.  This sounds like a nano region challenge.  Who will prevail?

    Time to Taper,

    Lockjaw

  • Jack Frost is a Jerk

    6 men who cannot read a thermometer gathered in the morning gloom to move some iron around

    Murph

    Run a mile

    100 Clean and Press (50 each arm)

    200 Situp Presses

    300 Goblet Squats

    Run a mile

    Numberama

    Namearama

    THE Carpenter took us out

    NMS

    The first MANNDate Murph of the year and one PAX member turned up for every degree. Cold weather gear was in evidence today, including snowmobile gloves and what can only be described as hunter safety Mickey Mouse hands.

    The PAX put in some good work this morning

    Thanks for letting me lead

     

     

     

  • Quarter Pounder with LBCs please (and a side of Chicken Peckers)

    16 F3RVA regulars left the comfort of a warm home to push themselves in 70 and sunny weather.  This is what we accomplished:

    Mosey to first circle for COP.  Exercises included Invisible Jumpropes, DQs, LBCs, and Copperhead Squats all IC.

    Mosey to Carillon field for the Quarter Pounder.  Run to 25 yd line for 25 merkins.  Run Backwards to the start line.  Run to 50 yd line for 50 squats.  Run backwards to the start line.  Run to 75 yd line for 75 2-count Mountain Climbers.  Run backwards to start line.  Run to 100 yd line for 100 LBCs.  Run backwards to start line.

    Quarter Pounder on steroids.  Run to 25 yd line for 25 merkins.  Run backwards to start line.  Run to 50 for 50 squats, stopping at 25 yd line for 25 merkins.  Run backwards to start line.  Run to 75 yd line for 75 mountain climbers stopping at the 25 for 25 merkins and at the 50 for 50 squats.  Run backwards to the start line.  Run to the 100 yd line for 100 LBCs stopping at the 25 yd line for 25 merkins, at the 50 yd line for 50 squats and at the 75 yd line for 75 mountain climbers.  Run backwards to the start line.

    Mosey to the outdoor stage for Touch a Tree.  Partner up.  One partner performs Chicken Peckers while the other partner runs to touch 3 trees.  Switch.  Repeato for 6 trees and 9 trees.

    Mosey back to the first circle for LBCs Ring of Fire.  Each PAX perform 20 LBCs while the remainder of the PAX holds feet at six inches.  Repeato until all PAX has completed their 20 LBCs.

    Mosey back to flag.  Numberama, Namearama.  YHC took us out with thanks for the warmth of our houses, while there are many in out communities, nation and the world who go to sleep in the cold every day.

    Announcements – Too cold for announcements.

    NMS : More PAX than degrees again this morning for F3RVA.  YHCs thought is that if you are going to post in the cold, you better be moving the entire time to build up some heat.  For this reason, we had an abbreviated COP and got straight to work running the field.  Not much mumble chatter this morning due to everyones teeth chattering maybe.  You would not have been able to understand anything Offshore said anyway as he donned the ski mask.  Dude sounded like Mushmouth or Charlie Browns teacher during Namearama, but his face was warm.  Flipper took a tumble during one of the backward runs, but dude made it look graceful as he completed a backwards roll (sort of) and popped right back up to continue.  BTW, that is a long way to run backwards.  Chicken Peckers during the Touch a Tree might have been a bit much, but the PAX pushed through with much groaning.  A small key fiasco averted as Pucker somehow lost his key out of pocket and then more amazingly found it around the AO.  390 LBCs for the morning (Good start for the day)

    Side Note : TYA is looking to Ice Skate this weekend.  Somebody tell him this is not Boston and get him a life jacket.

    Circle K