Category: Richmond, VA

  • Welcome to the Jungle

    16 strong warriors posted in the gloom to WDOG and here is how it all went down.

    Mossy to the Jacob’s ladder bowl for warm up = IW’s, Helicopters, Windmills, AC’s, SSH’s, APD’s, LBC’s.

    Love Hill : Partner up – run from the sign to the gate – 3 exercises = polar bears, LT. Dan’s, Russian Solder’s

    Amp Theatre: 1st step =   1 dip 1 incline merkin –

    2nd step 2 dips 2 incline merkins – 3rd step 3 dips 3 incline merkins then 3 burpees . repeat 6 times to the top of the steps.

    Pole Smoker Indian Run : 4 pole smokers run to the end of the line while pax does Freddy Mercury’s and Flutter Kicks .

    Wheelbarrows: Partner up wheelbarrow to the middle of the circle – 2 merkins wheelbarrow backwards 2 merkins – switch up partners and repeat. 2 times each partner.

    Curb Crawl Ladder: 1- 5 and back down – incline and decline merkins

    Indian/Native American Run – back to the flag .

    Highlights: According to a number of pax members  YHC takes these workouts pretty damn seriously 🙂 Dang right we are there to work baby ! It’s no secret YHC loves to lead the workouts. It’s hard to beat a beautiful morning and intense exercise combined with committed and dedicated men. Doing this 7 times a week makes YHC a better man – no doubt about it. News flash – it makes all of the pax better men too – so keep coming out keep pushing yourself and keep surrounding yourself with strong, solid dudes – cause I guarantee you – emotionally , Physically, Mentally you will be better equipped to handle what life throws at you.  OK I’ll get off my box now – on with the story….

    On the mossy towards love hill 3 nice size deer ran right in front of YHC which made me come to a quick stop. Circle K was right there with me but missed the deer – again … Thankfully nobody was hurt and we proceeded with the workout. Men’s Health had a story a few months back that said the Amazon look was back in style for women – yep YHC read this article in utter disbelief…. YHC is not a fan of having to use a machete – but we sure could have used one this morning cause the amp theatre was a jungle… Dude Hardywood – first question where were you this morning and second – the pax was saying you were the one that was gonna trim this bush….. YHC is here to tell you that bush needs trimming -( Not that there is anything wrong with that)… Thankfully we all made it out of the jungle alive. Sippy cup had a quick scare right at the end as he was going down for his burpee’s a morning dove shot out of the tall grass – it gave a few of us quite a jolt – especially cause we were all waiting for the first guy to land and come up with a snake..

    Lot’s of moans and groans as usual on the pole smokers… The wheelbarrow up and back were a real crowd pleaser – YHC partner Goldberg crushed it – well done dude … Some of the pax were being dragged back by their partners – hey whatever works baby – love the effort.  Bootleg pushed hard on the Indian run back to the flag – way to work man – keep pushing your doing great.  EF Hutton – glad to have you back man – our thoughts and prayers  are with your family at this time brother.

    Big thanks to Viral who took us out..

    Always a pleasure to lead fella’s – see you dudes in the gloom..

  • Rosie is Streaking…14 and counting

    A lucky (and completely useless for YHC’s plan) number 7 PAX broke the warm embrace and Posted in the deepest and darkest of gloom’s at SOT this morning and this is what greeted them:

    COP in the parking lot with DQs, IWs, Arm Circles, SSHs, Tempo Merkins and LBCs

    Line up for a 1-mile Native American Run to the track, 1 lap around, back around the bus loop and out onto Old Hundred Road (with headlamps illuminated for safety – SOP per LabRat) down to Brandermill Pkwy and around into the front parking lot of the school.  NOTE – Native American Run portion ceased once we hit the open road.

    Plank-o-rama on the curb for the six, then 10 incline merkins on the curb to catch our breath.

    Find some wall for 3 round of 20 Donkey Kicks and 10-second wall sits.

    Mosey to SOT’s love hill for Jacob’s Ladder – run up the hill to the end of the school and do 1 box cutter, back down for 2, back up for 3….up to 7. Plank for the six and then do 7 more box cutters as a group.

    Mosey to the basketball courts for 4- corners (not the Jville way) – corner 1 10 merkins, corner 2 20 werkins, corner 3 30 2-count mountain climbers and corner 4 40 monkey humpers (YEE-HAWW)- run between corners.

    Reverso going back to the starting corner with corner 1 – 10 monkey humpers, corner 2 – 20 2-ct mountain climbers, corner 3 – 30 werkins and corner 4 – 40 merkins.

    Mosey around to the side of the school by the bus loop for another 3 rounds of Donkey Kicks and 10-second wall sits.

    Mosey back to the flag for 5 MOM, including Rocky Balboas, Freddie Mercuries, American Hammers, Ring of Fire with holding six inches and taking turns doing 10 2-ct flutter kicks and Hello Dollies to close it out.

    COT, number-rama (sort of) and name-a-rama and YHC took us out

    Only announcement was a reminder of Hammer & Ales event this Saturday – see Viral or his pre-Blast for details

    NMS:

    Big shout out to Rosie who is streaking with 14 straight days posting to a workout.  Way to go Rosie.  Honeymoon was giddy with joy today that 14-days in a row and a night out last night with Gumbo and other HS buddies slowed Rosie down enough to let Honeymoon take the lead in Jacob’s Ladder today.  Rosie may have caught him on the 4-corners though.

    Also, the PAX got to hear Rosie complain just a bit — he is human!

    Have a great Hump Day men.  No more Gumbo for you!

  • Something New

    4 Davillians plus one crazy runner (who just popped in for the COP) came out this morning for something new.

    COP — the longest COP in history

    don quixote IC
    ww1 situps IC
    figure 4 crunches each side IC — new
    bird dogs IC — new
    single leg toe touches IC — new
    arm circles all big IC
    pistol squats without, then with KB IC — new
    Renegade Rows each side IC
    straight arm sit with KB — new
    lateral swings — start across body 10 each side — new
    side stepping swings — new
    one legged clean! — new

     

    The Rest —
    Triple Check with 4 people —
    One runs loop, Second does Sit up Presses, Third Does Bob and Weave

    Semi-lazy Doras
    100 goblet squats between the two partners while partner hangs in peoples chair, switch as needed
    150 overhead presses while partner holds plank or does merkins, switch as needed
    100 (due to time) KB swings while partner does SSH, switch as needed

    NMS —
    Think about some of the best times in your life.  How many of them came because of a change that stretched you, that challenged you?  Coming to F3 was one of those things that set YHC on a course for health and wholeness.  Is F3 easy?  No, but that is the point.  The best things in life aren’t easy.  There are growing pains.  There are bumps in the road.  Is it worth it?  Can I get an Amen?
    When Carpenter challenged YHC to come out to F3 a year and several months ago, YHC knew he needed it being several pounds overweight (ok more than several) and lacking energy and not having a whole lot of direction.  530?  Are you serious?  In the morning?  YHC went for it and has never looked back.
    So, this morning was all about stretching the PAX, trying new things, new exercises — realizing that we aren’t there yet and we can be so much better.  Some of the exercises this morning were a challenge to the PAX and YHC as well.  Some we could only do about 5.  And that is just fine.  Baby steps lead to better things — greater growth and the ability to realize that there is so much further for us to progress.
    Glad for the brothers in F3 and the bond we share through shared experience and growing together.
    TClaps to Spit who showed up during the middle of the run and did COP with us!

    Later,
    Opus

     

  • Not Charles Bronson, but Close

    Thirteen of the faithful gathered on a fairly “slow-day” (at least in terms of numbers) at NoToll. The weather was crisp — so much so that there were groans upon first reclining in the plush grass. Johnsonville (YHC) took the Q, and this is what went down, more or less:

    Warmup with 25x ssh, 25x scorpians, 10x merkins, 25x IWs, and 25x DonQuiotes.

    Mosey to back parking lot. 10 burpees, then run the Four Square in the parking lot (run four laps around the perimeter of designated area sprinting side 1, then next time around sprinting sides 1-2, then next time around sprinting sides 1-3, and then next time around sprinting sides 1-4). Plank

    Mosey to back right field. COP arm circles. 10 burpees, then run the Four Square in the back right field. Plank

    Mosey to the back left field. COP under the light near the shelter — flutter kicks. 15 burpees, then run the Four Square in the back left field. Plank

    Mosey to the front left field. COP under the light near the shelter — Boats/Canoes (WHITE DEER!). [FAKE NEWS ALERT ~ THIS ONE WAS PLANNED BUT DID NOT HAPPEN –> 15 burpees, then run the Four Square in the front left field. Plank]

    Mosey back to SF. American Hammers.

    COT with Viral taking us out

    MOLESKIN:

    We had some fast runners out at GridIron this morning (or else I was extra slow). Rosie gets special mention for having run there and back home. This was a workout of fairly constant cardio pressure, and several commented on how similar it felt to Saturday’s Charles Bronson.

    There were comments about how much the Boat/Canoes and wheelbarrows Saturday hurt. (Mouth of) Wilson was particularly mumble-chattery this morning, even going so far as to attempt to shorten the duration of planks. I did not hear RammMan say a word this morning, but I have a feeling that he was quietly/silently criticising YHC with extreme prejudice.

    Thanks for posting this morning! Jville

    Announcements:
    Hammers and Ales (click for link).
    3rd F Bible Study Series at Gridiron starts Oct. 13. Arrive at 0645 to participate.
    Prayers to Las Vegas victims and families, residents of Puerto Rico, and all those affected by those tragedies.

  • 54 and Sunny

    9 stars emerged from the fartsack to post at Spider Run.

    The Thang:

    Six Milers: Out back side of lake, up the hill, up Boatright, right on 3 Chopt, left on Grove, right on Oak, to the end of oak across Cary to Hillcrest, one loop around hillcrest and then back.  Five Milers: turn around at end of Oak, Four Milers: Turn around at Tuckahoe.  Lug nut: as always, do whatever the F you want.

    NMM:

    Swirly is on a mission.  He pumped in two laps around the lake to begin with and then another one at the end.  He was recovering from the first two loops, turned around and we were gone.  Fortunately, YHC had told Swirly what the route was the night before, so he was able to find us out on the road.  The turn on the Oak is always confusing.  The road sign is just hard to see.  Most, except maybe Swirly, caught the turn the first time around.

    On the way back to the lake, YHC saw Bleeder and Lugnut at the end of Grove. I was closing fast and caught them both at the turn.  I passed Lugnut at the turn and pulled even with Bleeder.  Upon seeing YHC, Bleeder turned on the after burners.  He put about 20 yards on me on the flats. but I started to catch him on the downhills.  I was never quite able to catch him, despite my best efforts.  As I have said in the past, Bleeder is easy to catch, but impossible to pass.  Man that boy is competitive.

    Sippy seems back to his usual form, almost.  He starts slow, then passes all the four and five milers within the first mile.  Then he reels in the six milers at some point. By the finish, he is even with the fastest of the runners.  Just to cool down he runs a mile or two backwards, at a pace faster than my forward run.

  • Make that a Triple

    There was a light fog covering Heartbreak Ridge that created an AO befitting a group of mighty gladiators.  Every PAX should have the privilege to get beat down in such glorious conditions.  Here is how it went down:

    • Karaoke parking lot tracers (yeah, we did a whole row, and yeah it is long)
    • Mosey to the front of the school for COP
      • 25 SSH
      • 25 IW
      • Arm circles – 10 small/5 large; both forwards and backwards
      • 20 flutter kicks
      • 10 merkins
    • Mosey to Honey Suckle Hill
      • 10 burpees
      • Triple check –  bear crawl the 30 yard terrain, WWII sit-ups, copperhead squats
    • Mosey to the football field
      • 10 burpees
      • Triple check – 100 yard run, Carolina dry-docks, LBCs
    • Mosey to Heartbreak Hill
      • 10 burpees
      • Triple check – backwards run up the incline, crab cakes, heels to heaven
    • Mosey to the parking lot for ring of fire
    • COT with YHC taking us out

    With YHC taking three Q’s on the West End this week, it only seemed appropriate to start it off with a series of 3 triple checks.  With a PAX of 6, plan was confirmed.

    If you have ever exercised in the fog, it is the stuff of gladiators.  As Seymour noted, nothing cooler than running to the other PAX members who are slightly hidden in the low hanging fog.  If that does not give you a little juice, you are not living.

    Enjoy your Tuesday, and remember to take note of Viral’s backblast on Saturday’s Hammers and Ales.  Come support a good cause.

    God is good all the time!

    Attila

  • DaVille takes it’s first shot at The Murph (or at least 1/2 of one)

     

    DaVille makes a return to some respectable numbers, with 14 strong this morning!  A beautiful morning, with temps in the 50’s and little to no wind.  There was a special request to get in a mile for the monthly challenge, so being that the Murph starts and ends with a mile run it seemed like it was time to give it a go.

    Parking Lot Tracers

    COP- SSH, IW, Abe Vigodas, Arm Circles, Shoulder Stretches

    The Murph (partner)- mosey to pullup bars, instructions given as follows:  Everybody runs 4 laps, then partner up:  Each partner does 5 sets of 10 pullups, 20 merkins, 30 squats (totaling 100, 200, 300). Run 4 more laps in the opposite direction, or until time.

    NMS- Somehow, YHC has never done this workout, so he had no idea on the time frame this would take.  While kicking a couple other ideas around in his head last night, this just kept coming up.  The allure of the run a mile challenge being checked off for the day was the bonus that put it over the top.  A couple notes for next time though:

    1. parking lot tracers and COP do not have a place for The Murph.  Best bet is to let pax know ahead of time and stretch out on their own.  We ran out of time.
    2. YHC needs to talk to the Southside people to see how they pull this off.  It seems as though the partners is the way to get thru this….do ya’ll do it solo?
    3. We need about 3 more sets of pull up bars.  It got crowded.

    All in all, the pax worked hard and maximum effort was put in.  Pit Bull is an absolute BEAST, with LionO right on his coat tails!  Well done!  YHC spent much time sucking wind, so I am sure there were some other peak performers that were missed.  Lab Rat definitely needs to hit the pullup bars on the regular though, or else that strength fades quick.

    Well done to everyone, dominate your day.

    Thoughts and Prayers:

    -The men of F3 Houston and the family of Big Wheel.  For those that don’t know, Big Wheel had a cardiac arrest on Saturday at an F3 workout, and the family took him off life support yesterday.

    -The families of the victims of the Las Vegas shooting.

    -Also, the family and friends of Tom Petty.  YHC’s first concert.

     

    Lab Rat Apologizes…

  • A little tour for a newbie

    Brisk, fall morning, great weather for a little tour of Forest Hill park.

    COP.  Squats, Arm Circles, Imperial Walkers, Merkins

    Mosey to the basin for Lindsay’s: Box jumps and Dips

    Mosey to the lake for a circuit with 10 merkins at every light pole

    Mosey to the base of the hill for Shifting Sands (30 strides up, 10 lunges down) back to basin

    Mosey to the Playground for partner pullups 1–>5, 5–>1

    Mosey to the rock pile and to the courts for (1) Rock throws, (2) Plank + suicides (one partner elbow planks with heavy rock on back, while other does 1 suicide, repeato). (3) 10x Crossover Merkins. (4) Rock throws. Take rock back and mosey to the flag.

    Moleskin.  YHC (Sippy) was a bit early this morning and showed up to very quiet AO.  Fortunately, Flatline showed for his first appearance at Batteau, and so we jointly Q’d–Flatline did the COP, and Sippy did the rest, giving a nice tour of most parts of the AO.  As is typical with a 2 person workout there was a lot of conversation during the moseys as we got to know each other a bit–that was fun.  There was certainly no talking during the Lindsays–box jumps will do that to you.

    Weird things with a workout of 2.  In the COP, do you face each other or stand in a line?  We faced, but didn’t make eye contact–would have been weird.  In the COT, how do you stand?  We did the side-hug formation like we typically do during the ball of man, it seemed appropriate and worked well.  Corporate, note it in your files–Side by side formations are best when the PAX = 2.

    Other notes:  Each week, we see a few more lights out around the lake.  YHC tried, see-click-fix this morning to see if it gets take care of.

  • Good things come in 3’s, or 7’s

    6 old salts and one really old, vehicularly challenged beefcake shook off the chill of an early fall morning to help ol’ BT celebrate his 3rd anniversary with F3.  After pleasantries were exchanged, we all got down to business.

    THE THANG:

    Mosey to side of the school for COP:

    Abe Vigodas x 10, SSH x 20, Russian Soldier x 20, Merkin (YHC prefers this spelling) x 10, LBC x 20

    Mosey to soccer field behind school for Super 7’s: 7 burpees, sprint across field, 7 merkins/7squats, sprint back.  Repeat x 7.

    Mosey to parking lot circle and partner up for 1k/5k:  exercises were 100 merkins, 200 Freddie Mercs, 300 flutter kicks, 400 LBC.  PAX holds Al Gore until everyone is finished.

    Gather around parking circle for Burp Dans (Lt. Dan followed by a burpee).  AMRAP but stop when first PAX reaches 10 reps.

    Mosey back to flag for COT.  BT took us out.

    Announcements:  1yr Hampton Roads anniversary coming up, keep an eye out.  C’ville 4-miler also on the horizon.  Fall is busy, so make sure to get out and post before the dreary winter gloom descends upon us.

     

    MOLESKIN:

    Between work travel and the dreaded man cold, YHC has been MIA for the better part of 2 weeks, so needless to say there was some concern that he would even be able to make it through a workout, much less a Q.  But alas, BT’s name was on the Q sheet and this being his 3rd anniversary with this distinguished group of men it had to be done.  Additionally, an oh-so-subtle drag race between YHC and a certain lead-footed PAX member on the way to Punisher got the blood pumping, and all was right with the world.

    The other concern was if anyone would show up.  The PAX has grown impressively, and AO’s have followed suit. So many options, would anyone travel to north side to engage the anniversary celebration?  Luckily, YHC ran into Pucker and Saab Friday evening and planted the seed.  Add a late text to ol’ Swirly Sunday who convinced Bleeder to ignore the pain of a long Indian Princess weekend and we had a PAX!  Goldberg was a nice addition along with Chum as the AO’s resident caretaker.

    Speaking of Saab, he met up with us after a COP at the onset of the Super 7’s. Apparently, the LR failed him again, but this time he was able to make it back to the house to shuffle to another mode of transportation from the Crabtree fleet.  Bleeder has said he can fix anything with a “brick and a string,” so we have started a collection for bricks, string and any pocket change you can muster to get the LR in tiptop shape.  Give much, give often.

    Fellas, as many have said many times before me, I am extremely thankful for this group.  Three years have flown by and I can’t imagine not being part of this brotherhood.  Many of you I would not have had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know without F3, and that would be a great misfortune to me.  You inspire, encourage, and support without pause or concern, and thankfully you dish out an equal amount of grief and ball-busting ridicule.   And on occasion, the banter is both intelligent and mildly enjoyable.  It is all MUCH appreciated and substantially needed.  See you all in the gloom.

    Aye!!

    -BT

     

     

     

  • Just the Regulars

    Three Davillians climbed out of their fart sacks on this cooler first Monday in October. Running routes were set and this is how it went down:

    MudFace and No Idea: Showed up early and headed out their normal run/walk route up and down the cross country course

    Spit (being the lone longer distance runner): Headed down the access route into Honey Meadows. Up the hill  Meadow Pond Dr to the Kings Charter fire road. Turn right until KCD and loop around at Altee Station back to the fire road. Head down Meadow Pond Dr and loop around the town homes before heading back to the AHS access road and parking lot. Complete a complete cool down laps around the parking lot. Total miles a little over 5.

    MOLESKIN

    YHC arrived  at the AO around 5:25 to find MudFace and No Ideas cars in the lot but they had headed out early. YHC did stay around till a little after 5:30 just in case any LIFO decided to show up. Seems like he would be only longer distance runner today.

    While heading out and heading back, YHC never ran into the two others posting (You fellas can add your highlights in the comments).

    SPIT ON THAT!!