Category: Richmond, VA

  • Purple Pain

    Seven, the number of completion, that’s how many HIMs redlined it this morning. We were joined by Mark, an FNG who is Cha Cha’s neighbor. The morning was peaceful, but at 7 sharp, that all changed. 

    Run around the perimeter of the park to the tennis courts. 

    Reviewed F3’s mission, credo, and the five core principals. Disclaimer given. Onward! 

    Arm circles, jazzercize, rotator cuff stretches, dead man hang, cherry pickers, SSHs, copperhead squats, butterfly stretch, one leg hamstring stretch, APDs, scrunchy frogs, tempo Freddie Mercurys, merkins, V-ups. 

    11s across the tennis courts. Exercises were scrunchy frogs and spiderman merkins. 

    Mosey to the concessions stand. 

    Dora. 100 jump squats, 200 single-count lunges, 300 monkey humpers. Timer bernies up the steep hill next to the baseball field then down the stairs to swap with their partner. I nicked this one from Big Rig. Quad devastation. After everyone finished, one last group bernie up the hill then mosey to the exercise area off the trail just inside the forest.

    Circle up. One PAX member at a time calls out an exercise, then goes to the monkey bars to perform 10 pullups. After the pull upper returns to the circle, the PAX member to their left calls out a new exercise and departs to complete their pullups. We made it around the circle twice. 

    BTTF. Numbers. Names. Announcements:

    – Chili cookoff 11/23 at the Alamo 

    – Daddy/daughter dance sometime in December

    FNG Mark is an interesting guy with a unique background. He’s lost something like 80 lbs. in the last year or so. Now he’s looking to torch the rest with high-intensity F3 workouts. Mark lived in Russia for 3 years teaching English. He has also spent time in Ukraine and several other countries. He enjoys kayaking and is planning a Richmond to Newport News paddle in the upcoming future. Mark crushed it this morning. His first memorable concert was classical music. The repertoire? Tschaikovsky (I would like everyone to know I spelled that perfectly the first time without google or spellcheck). And so, Nut Cracker was born. Welcome! 

    Quick note; the name “Nutcracker” is already taken, but Nutcracker has zero posts that I could find. Unfortunate in a couple of ways, but rather than rename our FNG (I discovered this conflict five minutes ago), can we split his name? “Nut Cracker” it is! Do we have an F3rva policy re: retiring and restocking dormant names?

    YHC took us out. Prayers for Ukraine, for Broadway, for my neighbor Kevin who has been in and out of the hospital since a knee replacement this summer (currently in the hospital). Gratitude offered up for our innumerable blessings.

    F3 first thing on Saturdays is my favorite way to kick off the weekend. Thank you, guys, for joining me, and for allowing me the privilege of leading you fine gentlemen.  

  • WTH are the Pull-Up Bars?

    After missing Gridiron for multiple weeks with travel baseball, YHC returned to the Gridiron with a heart fully of gratitude ready and ground and pound mindset.  Here is how it went down:

    • COP
      • SSH
      • IW
      • DQ
      • Helicopters
      • Arm circles
      • DMH
      • HRM
      • LBC
      • APD
    • Burpee march down the parking lot with 20 WWII sit-ups and 20 APDs, rinse and repeat for 3x
    • Mosey to the turf field for a Dora
      • 100 HRM
      • 200 FK
      • 300 LBC
    • Mosey to pickle ball pavilion for a 3x check
      • 15 set-ups, each leg
      • 20 PLT
      • 25 dips
    • Mosey to the football field for a 25-yard arch loader
      • Bear crawl
      • Crab walk
      • Bunny hop
      • Froggers
      • Duck walk
      • Cheetah sprint
      • Bear crawl
    • Mosey to the parking lot for some Mary
      • FM
      • Side crunches – each side
      • WWI crunches
    • COT with YHC taking us out

    Welcome back to our resident pharaoh, Pigskin.  Good to see you brother! 

    WTH with our pull-up bars?  County of Henrico has removed any evidence that they once existed!   I guess real workout equipment for real men in the middle a punch wimpy pickleball courts was too much for the that segment of the population.  The whereabouts of our pull-up bars will likely remain a mystery.

    Prayers up for those looking for jobs, dealing with cancer and others dealing with the greatest of losses. 

    God is good all of the time!

    Attila

  • Lookin’ Good Fellas

    According to the flock of tomatoes running on Westover 8 studs were getting it done. 

    Here’s what transpired: 

    Slaughter Starter 

    Mosey down Shirley to the intersection 

    COP (IC) 

    • Don Quixotes 
    • Ukranian Soldiers 
    • Jazzercises 
    • Helicopters 
    • Copperhead Squats 
    • Hand Release Merkins 
    • Plankorama 
    • Mountain Climbers 

    Mosey to the hill next to Shields Lake 

    Bernorama 

    • P1 – Bernie up the hill and run back (each round add a Bern, max at 3) 
    • P2 – Merkins, Jump Squats, Freddie Mercurys 

    Mosey over to the wall 

    Dipkins 

    • Dips x 20 
    • Derkins x 10 
    • Repeato, Repeato 

    Mosey up to Westover and Berkley 

    Quad Check 

    • P1 – Run about 100 yds to the white sign and back 
    • P2 – Imperial Squats 
    • P3 – Captain Thors 
    • P4 – Hand Release Merkins 

    Mosey down Berkley across the VITA Trail to the end of the Carillon field 

    Booyah If You Can 

    • P1 – Run to the end of the field and back 
    • P2 – Bearcrawl, Lunge, Broadjump Burpees 
    • Booyah Merkins x 10 at each switch, continue until both partners are at the Carillon 

    Mosey up to the rooftop 

    • Scissor Sisters x 3 sets 

    Mosey to the Amphitheatre 

    • Alternate Box Jumps and Incline Merkins 

    Mosey back to the flag 

    • Mary (Heels to Heaven, Hoco Prom Dates, LBCs) 
    • Ring of Fire 

    Numberama, Nameorama, COT 

    MOLESKIN 

    There were moans, there were groans, and possibly some soiled underpants, plus plenty of mumblechatter and some real solid scenery.  All in all, a heck of a way to celebrate 10 years.  Grateful for it all, the opportunity to lead, and hopeful to do it 10+ more.    Fist bump to the gentleman, his kid, and dog at 900 Westover Rd, thank you for being cool.   

    ANNOUNCEMENTS 

    The Bridge 10/25 (Bootleg) and 11/15 (EF Hutton) 

    Need someone to take Breaking Bread 10/26

  • Bon Iron (Ghost Flag Version)

    YHC caught wind of the new Saturday AO NOS was launching and thought—what better spot to drop the Ghost Flag than when they’d least expect it? Grabbed Warby and Swoop and made our way up to Bon Air Elementary. At first, we weren’t sure where to go—thought we caught a glimpse of Snip and Machismo darting past—but soon realized we were alone in the dark. Then, to our surprise (and theirs), we spotted a group of 5 HIM running toward the fields, completely unaware that the Ghost Flag was about to make an appearance. 5 became 8 and off we went!

    Ran around the outside to the long entrance on the far side. Circle up for standard warmup.

    Line up for 11’s: Merkins & Firecrackers. Start at circle and run to the halfway point

    Mosey over to the buses. Oh what’s this, sandbags? Huh. Might as well put them to good use!

    Dora: 100 squats, 200 merkins, 300 sandbag pull-throughs (what a psychotic idea)

    Ran up against time, moseyed over to where the Flag is actually planted, the back side of Stony Point Church.

    Ghost Flag has been handed-off to Machismo.

    FNG – “The Mule”. Ryan Horton works for the State Department and does stuff that would require him to kill us if he told us, but glad he’s out there protecting us. Pretty big flex to FNG a workout wearing a weighted vest the entire time, when The Mule starts Q’ing he’s gonna bring the heat!

    Announcements – Chili cook off 11/23. Daddy Daughter Dance 12/6. New KB AO at Forge starting 11/3.

    Prayers for “Big Bird” with blood clots and Broadways recovery.


    Great Saturday AO added to the roster now, glad we were able to find y’all and get a good workout in. Coffeeteria afterwards is always a great 2nd F. SOJ – a tall man with a black flag is coming to your AO soon…

  • Solo run and group ruck

    Ruckers 2.4 miles going towards Honey meadows and returning to front os Atlee HS.

    Raider run ruck welcomed 5 Ruckers and 1 runner for this morning’s workout.

    Solo run was Giles then Ross over to CMS to Atlee.

    Great cool morning for a workout and hope to see you in the gloom soon.

  • Return of Swoop

    9 HIMS showed up to see if YHC was actually back on the Q sheet. It has been a while and I was excited to bring it back in the right fashion. The colder temperatures may have keep 1 or 2 away this morning under their warm covers but it was 530 and time to roll.

    mosey up satans hill and a quick horseshoe run over to wilson’s cul de sac for some Warmarama ( SSH, Imperial walkers, incline merkins, decline merkins, LBC, Freddies, cherry pickers and dead man hang)…..then mosey back down to the parking lot for the action

    Grabbed 3 sandbags and the rest of the pax grabbed a rock for a rock and sand bag triple check. Followed up with some rock work via Mary and then on to finish it off at the hill

    triple check runner to the top of the hill , second man sand bag going half way up the hill and third member doing called excercise ( plank jacks, lbcs, WWIIs)

    Annoucements / Prayers

    Thanks for the opportunity to lead!

  • Paging Dr. Cooksie 🎹🥃👶🏼

    It was a beautiful morning to run. The 4, 5, and 6 milers all ran by the building I was born in – St Mary’s.
    I told a funny story about the day I was born in 1973, the Dr was missing and his nurse found him at O’Tooles drunk and playing the piano. He used the forceps on my giant head and squeezed a bit too much. Imagine how smart I’d be if I wasn’t brain damaged at birth – lol. Not to worry, that doc lost his license to practice soon after my original birthday.
    Great to see everyone this morning- I really appreciate and value the friendships and relationships I’ve developed with you guys over the last 8 years. Grateful.

    Shakedown

  • Like Old Times!

    3 East End F3 elders emerged from the chilly gloom for a session of Camp Beaver(nothing special, just a little stuffed Beaver mounted on the hood, some music to work out to and a deck of F3 cards). Let’s mosey!

    Warmup

    • Arm Circles
    • Don Quixotes IC
    • Ukrainian Soldiers IC
    • Wilson’s Wife
    • Fudds Wife & Toe Taps IC
    • Leg Stretches

    The Thang! 1 COP – Divide deck into the 4 suits. Draw 1 card of each suit. On the football field use MoT from the Cardio deck and travel 100 yards. Do the 3 exercises of drawn abs, arms and legs at the 100/75/50/25 yard lines on the way back. We got 4 rounds logged on the ice cold Bermuda.

    Set 1

    • Karaoke
    • LBCs
    • Ranger Merkins
    • Wojo Squats

    Set 2

    • Bear Crawl
    • Oblique Crunch
    • Chuck Norris Merkins
    • Smurf Jacks

    Set 3

    • Butt Kick
    • Flutter Kicks
    • Diamond Merkins
    • Standing Lunge

    Set 4

    • Sprint
    • Freddie Mercury
    • Hand Clap Merkins
    • Backward Lunge

    Circle Up for conversation and CoT. All that talk about building things has Beaver geared up for some wood working projects!
    Have a blessed day men, keep those butts warm!

  • For Unto Us A Child Is Born

    Runners, walkers, ruckers, dogs, and Currahee virgins united for various routes around Godwin HS.

    Here’s where the runners traveled:

    • L on Pump
    • L on Falconbridge
    • R on Idlebrook and continue on Sorrento
    • L on Dawndeer
    • R on Flintwood
    • L on Ridgefield
    • R on Eagles View
    • L on Glen Eagles
    • L on Old Prescott
    • Circle Godwin and back to the SF

    Numberama, Nameorama, COT

    MOLESKIN

    Fresh as a daisy while running on 4 hours of sleep and having brought peace to the Middle East, Pigskin was back in action.  Rumor has it, when the Boogeyman goes to bed at night, he checks under his bed for Pigskin.  We also welcomed Chum to the front side of the school.  YHC was a little disappointed no one opted for 10 laps around Godwin.

    ANNOUNCEMENTS

    Prayers for Chicharonne’s coworker

    The Bridge 10/25 with Bootleg and 11/15 with YHC

  • Moans or Groans

    7 loungey veterans were joined by an FNG and a 4 legged companion for a casual beatdown followed by a flavor infused coffeeteria. After cafe set up and turning on the pot, we ventured out into the darkness towards the High School. Here is where we circled up for introductions and disclaimers. Warm Ups included invisible jump ropes, dead man hang, helis, DQ’s, Imperial Walkers and maybe a few other erect exercises. YHC was humbly reminded that there is not counting in the lounge and quickly pivoted to conversational warm ups.

    Mosey to the front of the school for triple checks. Timer runs the loop while partners perform hoedowns and balls to the wall. 3 rounds completed so we mosey on to the football stadium entrance. Singer and his K-9 Ruby found us here bringing ideal numbers for a quadruple check. Timer runs out into the parking lot and around the vehicle while partners perform pole smokers, squats and carolina dry docks. 3 rounds completed.

    Mosey into the parking lot for brocode exercises to the grassy area. Bearcrawl to the 1st light and perform 1 burpee. Lunge to the 2nd light and perform 1 squat. Reverse lunge to the 3rd light where Singer abided by the social contract of cleaning up after Ruby.

    Mosey back to the school for some bench work in close proximity so we could all share our feelings along with dips, step ups and incline merkins.

    BTTVF for quick stretching, numbers, names and announcements. Welcome Rousey, hope to see you back out in the future. Originally Baby Billy but given the connection to MMA, was later changed to Rousey.

    Announcements: see slack for Machismos Burger Night and fill up Breaking Bread.

    NMS: Great turn out this brisk morning. Always nice to have Handshake enjoy a true lounge beatdown. Much mumblechatter including Froggys vacation attire and grooming habits, Rosie is renting a 40 person compound on the lake, Chaplain gets the weekend of no basketball gyms, while Handshake, Doozy and YHC continue to work on “projects” to limited success. Great work today fellas. Thank you for the opportunity to lead. Flavored coffee afterwards looked well received.