Category: Richmond, VA

  • Praise the Lord, and pass the Gatorade. (preblast… Dirt Church Sundays at 0800)

    For a couple of months now, some of us have been assembling on the short street in front of the Courthouse Church of Christ for a Sunday Funday Liturgy of Singletrack and Gravel.  Non-demonenational (we’ve even had ‘cross bikes), and no-drop, with routes that can be as short as an hour and as long as twice that and change.   It’s real mountain biking, so helmets are required and you’ll want to be prepared.  Bailout points will be available for the time-compressed.  When RVA MORE closes the singletrack for weather-related reasons, this ride very easily becomes Gravel Church.  We roll at 0800.

    YHC has been riding the venue for about ten years and has seen the scene mature and Pocahontas State Park become a real MTB destination.  Plenty of old dudes (and not so old dudes, and not dudes, for that matter) are out here every weekend and you may see someone you already know.

    Come channel your inner Tinker Juarez with us (he’s 57 now, btw).

     

  • Carillon the Right Way…

    24 descended upon Mary to see where their legs and wheels would carry them.  After Splinter provided a quick translation of the Belizeian word for “Hello”, we were off.  Runners covered distances ranging from 4 to 8 miles, and every distance in between.  Bikers covered all that is RVA.

    YHC’s Lab Rat-esque apology goes to the 4 and 5 milers, who got slightly lost – but gained extra distance – thanks to poor instructions from the Q.

    Announcements:

    • Puppy Pile next Saturday
    • Dirt Church coming to a back blast near you

    Saab Abides

  • The Twenty Difficulties – The Buddha at LMM

    There are twenty difficult things which are hard for human beings:

    1. It is hard to practice charity when one is poor.
    2. It is hard to study the Way when occupying a position of great authority.
    3. It is hard to surrender life at the approach of inevitable death.
    4. It is hard to get an opportunity of reading the sutras.
    5. It is hard to be born directly into Buddhist surroundings.
    6. It is hard to bear lust and desire without yielding to them.
    7. It is hard to see something attractive without desiring it.
    8. It is hard to bear insult without making an angry reply.
    9. It is hard to have power and not pay regard to it.
    10. It is hard to come in contact with things and yet remain unaffected by them.
    11. It is hard to study widely and investigate everything thoroughly.
    12. It is hard to overcome selfishness and sloth.
    13. It is hard to avoid making light without having studied the Way enough.
    14. It is hard to keep the mind evenly balanced.
    15. It is hard to refrain from defining things as being something or not being something.
    16. It is hard to come into contact with clear perception of the Way.
    17. It is hard to perceive one’s own nature and through such perception to study the Way.
    18. It is hard to help others towards Enlightenment according to their various needs.
    19. It is hard to see the end of the Way without being moved.
    20. It is hard to discard successfully the shackles that bind us to the wheel of life and death as opportunities present themselves.

    THE THANG

    WARM-UP – Wind mills, bend-and-reach, legs spread bend-and-reach, one lap around park

    Three kettle bell exercises (1×20) per evolution, while meditating on one of the Twenty Difficulties:

    Evolution 1

    Halos

    Lunge

    Goblet Squat

    Evolution 2

    Press and Push

    One-arm extensions

    Beep, Beep – I’m a Jeep

    Evolution 3

    Squat and curl

    Plank

    Upright row

    In between evolutions, 5-minute run, then bear crawl or crab walk 15 yds

    COT

    Prayers for continued strengthening of the Pax
    Prayers for Fire, Police, EMS, Military
    Welcome visiting Pax F3 Spit from Richmond
    Congrats to Snickers and other GO RUCK finishers – Strong Work!

    MOLESKIN

    As a preacher’s kid growing up in the church, there was an implied expectation to make everyone *happy. Hence, I quickly got into the business of *trying to make people happy. I have seen this unrealistic dynamic work out in friendships, my marriage, and most especially with my kids. And the results have often been mixed if not disastrous.

    Alas, I have become weary.

    Trying to make people happy is that way. It also makes you anxious, fearful, apprehensive, uncertain and a dozen other unappetizing states of being.

    So recently I’ve stopped.

    “So you’re giving up?” said a friend.

    “No, I think I’m just letting go,” said I.

    Life is difficult (see above), and the only real thing we can do is sit with each other at our respective times of distress and suffering. Sit and sit quietly. You’d think the “doing” would be the hardest thing in trying to relieve someone’s suffering, but it’s actually the “not-doing.”

    Hoff, out

  • Sweating Shoes

    7 studs showed up for a Wednesday jaunt…we all did some loops around hillcrest.  So as not to offend some of the sensitive tuckahoe folks, I will not review who did what.

    NMM

    Honeydo pounded a beer before the run in preparation for training for the CSAUP in Oct…apparantly he is doing the 6 pack version….go Honeydo.  Rumor has it that he will pound 24 beers on Saturday night and call it a training run.

    Bleeder launched a few second early and held Swirly and BT off for the first mile.  Give the man an objective (or let him make one up) and he will go after it.

    Plenty of bathroom issues were taken care of during the run…i have to step carefully walking the dog this weekend.

    Sweating through the soles of your shoes is possible…just look at TYA or Swirly post run on a really humid day…

    TYA OUT

  • Wally World

    18 studs came out this morning for a beatdown that went something like this.

    Short Mosey to a longish COP
    ATM — 15 Alternating shoulder taps IC, 10 tempo merkins IC, 10 reg merkins OYO
    Smurf Jacks
    Crab Cakes
    Flutterkicks
    Boxcutters
    American Hammers
    arm circles
    tabletops
    One more round of ATM’s

    Wally World
    PAX will perform one set of the following:
    5 Donkey Kicks, climb to Balls to the Wall position, hold for 5 seconds, bring it down and do 5 stump merkins
    Repeato with 10
    Then with 15

    Mosey to the Tennis Courts
    Triple Check — one does suicides across the court, others are doing PLT’s, switch up, do 3x of course.

    Back to Wally World for the deodorant we forgot from the first trip
    see above, but this time modify to regular merkins instead of stump merkins
    We did 20 and finally 25!!  Good work, guys!

    Quick Catch me if you can
    One runs backwards, the other does 5 burpees and then catches up with the partner.

    Circle up
    Various members called out exercises and we had to do ten of whatever was called out.
    WW2 situps, one legged crossover raises,  low merkin hold around the circle (everyone had to count ten seconds), run to the wall and back.  I think there was one more, but YHC has no recollection of what it was.

    Mosey back to the flag
    Numbers, Names, YHC took us out

    Announcements —
    Check preblasts for the upcoming CSAUP’s and the Labor Day convergence.
    Aug 25th is the next Puppy Pile — bring your 2.0’s!

    NMS–
    Confession time.
    YHC likes big Weinkes and long COP’s.
    YHC is also very fond of Donkeys.
    There it is.  In a nutshell.
    Not that there is anything wrong with that.

    SYITG,
    Opus

  • BLIMPS with 800m Repeats

    This is one of those “better late than never” posts. Sorry for the delay.

    Three of the GridIron faithful convened at Pouncy Tract Park on a wet morning, following buckets of rain the evening before. Johnsonville (YHC) took lead, and ran through a typical F3 round of in cadence warmups (SSH, Imperial Walkers, Cherry Pickers, Don Quiotes, LBCs). Chum Bucket came in a bit late, and slowly integrated himself into the PAX, making 3.

    We then moseyed over to the track, and took a position on a corner of the football field for a round of BLIMPS – 50 seconds on, 10 seconds off AMRAPs consisting of Burpees, (stationary) Lunges, Imperial Walkers, Mountain Climbers, Plank Jacks, (WWII) Situps. Run 2 laps around track at a brisk pace.

    Move to another corner. Repeat BLIMPS, but 45 seconds on, 15 seconds off. Run 2 laps around track at a brisk pace with a sprint leg.

    Move to another corner. Repeat BLIMPS, repeating 45 seconds on, 15 seconds off. Run 2 laps around track at a brisk pace with a sprint leg.

    Move to the final corner of the field. Repeat BLIMPS, but 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off. Run 1 lap around track at a brisk pace with a sprint leg and mosey back to VSF.

    COT with Attila taking us out.

    Thanks for letting me lead! Jville

  • Is it me?

    3 hardy (enough) souls roused themselves out of their fartsacks and arrived to pass around some kettlebells.  Here is what happened.

    COP – IC

    SSH      arm circles          windmills       Freddie Mercurys

    Mosey to loop for some solo KB work, Mudface Q

    First exercise, which will be called the KB pivot–PAX line up single file, first PAX lifts the KB, turns at waist (feet don’t move) and hands off to PAX directly behind, then runs to end of line.  You only need 1 KB for this, and we used Mudface’s 40 pounder.  Repeat process until you get to the end of the loop, then repeat going the other way to starting point.

    Second exercise, called the Lumberjack, PAX lines up slightly more than shoulder width apart.  First PAX lifts KB from outside their left foot, up in one smooth motion to extend above their head, then down to place on outside of their right foot, where next PAX retrieves it and repeats.  PAX runs to end of line after doing exercise.  Continue until end of loop is reached, then reverse until starting point is reached.

    Switch Q to No Idea

    11’s with Goblet squats and that thing where you lie on your 6, lift KB up, down behind your head, then back to center and press up.

    Mosey to SF for COT, numberama, namerama, Chewy took us out.

     

    NMS

    Mudface sent out a message yesterday that MANNdate lacked a Q for today, and received no offers to Q.  That was a clue to how this morning would go.  YHC texted Mudface last night suggesting a joint Q, and Mudface hinted that he had some solo KB workouts in mind.  When YHC arrived to find only Mudface and Chewy in parking lot, it dawned on him that perhaps the reason no one took the Q yesterday was because no one else was coming, which was quickly confirmed.  YHC has Q’d twice this week, with a total of 2 other PAX showing up–does YHC smell worse than normal?  The solo KB workout was made much tougher with just a few people, as by the time you ran to the back of the line it was your turn to grab the KB again.  YHC also had more planned, but the solo KB exercises ran long.  Mudface promises to bring these back soon, along with a few others.  There was a lot of mumble chatter during COP because we couldn’t hear Chewy count, so Mudface picked Chewy’s least favorite exercise and we did it until he started counting.  The solo KB workouts really emphasized form, which was great and ensured the PAX paid close attention.  Hope to see greater numbers next week when some of the regulars return from trips and health concerns.

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

  • WDog Grabs the Potato and Runs

    The potato was warm and buttery as 15 descended upon WDog.  While many were expecting to find CircleK and his beloved Tire, it was Swirly who had the superior alarm clock and started off the HP-Q.  (There was speculation that Mechanicsville PAX haven’t yet adopted modern day alarm clocks and still rely upon roosters…which can be unpredictable.)

    Those who took the potato were Swirly, EF Hutton, Rosie, Saab, and Sippy Cup respectively.  This is what went down…

    First Q:  COP (lots of good stuff), Touch a tree while other partner does series of exercises….WWII’s, Plank, Burpees.

    Second Q:  Circle up for series of rotating ab and upper body exercises while PAX rotates bear-crawling outer perimeter.

    Third Q: 6 pack at rusty cage.  Rotate between pull ups, run to hydrant and perform crunchy frogs

    4th Q:  Run up and down the bowl while performing ascending merkins and J-Squats.  Stop at 10

    5th Q:  Amphitheatre.  Perform series of merkins with alternating legs held high (very difficult), then decline merkin/Carolina Dry Docks off steps….

    Back to Flag.

    Announcements:  According to Swirly, having a hot potato Q at WDog was a first, if not a rarity.

    YHC has to keep this brief since he had to deal with a dead battery this morning.

    Saab abides

     

  • Doors Nearly All Accounted For at SOT…

    3 SOJ vets broke the hold and converged on SOT for another unseasonably mild morning.  The menu was full of Gumbo and here was today’s recipe:

    Mosey down to the far bus lot for COP, including:

    • DQs
    • Helicopters
    • Cotton Pickers
    • Arm Circles
    • Imperial Walkers
    • LBCs
    • Freddie Mercuries
    • Hand Release Merkins

    THANG

    Triple Check 1

    At corner of the school where the bench is – dips, flutter kicks and 3rd PAX member runs to far tree in the line, does 10 SSHs and runs back.  3 times each.

    First set of Door Checks

    Starting on the side of the school at door 5 and going through the “gauntlet” to door 18 — at each odd numbered door do squats x the number on said door.  At each even numbered door do box cutters x the number on the door. Stop at stairs down to the track.

    Triple Check 2

    From the sideline benches — step-ups, American Hammers and run up the steps and back down… x 3

    Elevens with monkey humpers and LBCs and run up/down the stairs between each round.

    Door Check #2

    At the top of the stairs, starting at door #26 and working our way around to door #33 – do 2-ct mountain climbers at the even numbered doors x number on the door and do 2-ct flutter kicks at the odd numbered doors.

    3 MOM, including Dollies, Rosalitas and Hold Six Inches.

    COT, COR, NOR, and YHC took us out.

    Announcements:

    • Puppy Pile (Marv Q) Saturday 8/25 right after Dogpile.
    • Breaking Break (Gumbo Q) Sunday 8/26 at 5:00p.m. until about 7:30 p.m.  – Let me know if you can help out.
    • Labor Day convergence – 3 lakes park – see preblast
    • 10/20 CSAUP – get ready!

    NMS:

    For a few minutes this morning I thought I had a solo beatdown coming, but then Tobit rolled in and Mr. Roper shortly after.  I had planned to do a full tour of the doors today but scrapped that thinking I’d wait for a larger crowd to hear the displeasure.  After the first triple check I decided a dry run of some doors might be good.  The gauntlet will be as brutal as expected and when you get into the mid-twenties, everything sucks!  One day we will do the full tour…

    Great job by the PAX today.  I realize (now really) that monkey humpers, step-ups and stairs are a terrible mix one after the other…I’m already hurting.  We focused mostly on legs and abs – the kind that will seize up and hurt around 2 pm today…you’re welcome!

    Enjoyed the conversation as well.  Thanks for posting.

    Until next time, no more Gumbo for you!

  • Fire truck hell

    14 eager runners posted on a fall like August morning.

    Out of parking lot and left towards main entrance, right on Campus, right on 3 Chopt, left on Grove.  4 miler turn around at Oak and back, 5 milers take a loop around Lexington/Albermarle and back and 6 milers do Lex/Abermarle loop and take a right onto grove and turnaround in the Mary Mumford bus loop.

    Bonus miles for all today… the 4 milers did 4.15, the five milers had 5.1 and the 6 milers did 6.11.  That extra mileage comes free of charge from YHC to you.  No need for thanks…thats just the type of guy I am.

    Everyone was flying today…Saab and Dutch led the pack.  The 52 year old did a good job of making the 30 year old work to catch him.  Marv and Sippy were next and the last two of the 6 milers.  Gomer Pyle and Swirly led the five mile charge.  They were not too far  behind the 6 milers and finished the loop in under 40 minutes for  a 7:55 pace.  Next were BT, EF Hutton and Jack Sparrow.  YHC was making a late charge to catch up to them, but couldn’t quite make it.  Singer, Handshake, Vinny and Bleeder all hit the four mile mark (I think).

    Weather was perfect today…the first fall feeling morning for a run in a long time.  Still got sweaty and wet by the end, but the coolness and relatively low humidity made for optimal conditions.

    Two things I learned or relearned this morning: 1.  Watch out for firetrucks.  Hell, if I hadn’t jumped to the side of the road, the firetruck would have slammed right into me….same for Bleeder and Saab.  Second, as I have learned before, it is possible to catch up to Bleeder, but impossible to pass him.  Thanks for letting me chase you back to the flag thought.  Good practice for a fast BRR downhill run.

    TYA OUT