Category: Richmond, VA

  • This Roller Coaster Ride is Full!

    12 strong (9 big, 3 small) attacked the Roller Coaster on Wednesday evening in the rising temperatures.

    Kubota, Husky, Hardywood, Halfpipe, Vinny and Shark Bait all did 2 short loops.

    Swirly did 2 long and 1 short loop.

    TYA did 6 short loops.

    Opus and Sugar Sock did 4 short loops.

    Rosie and Bleeder did a mixture of both loops (unknown, YHC forgot to ask)

    Numberama, Namearama and YHC took us out

     

    NMS:

    Possible record numbers at Roller Coaster this evening!!  Between a mixture of Pax wanting to check this off of the challenge list, veterans who are training for BRR, regulars like YHC, and 2.0’s wanting to hang out with their cool Dads, Roller Coaster was the place to be.  There was mumble chatter about Vinny’s upcoming Dogpile Field Day and Husky’s Elementary School Field Day that just occurred.  Owls were hooting and mosquitos were biting.  It was nice to have the 2.0’s out so they could have fun with their Dad’s and each other.  YHC overheard Halfpipe tell Shark Bait to “drop and give me 10” after the run was over.  Shark Bait obliged!

    YHC has really grown to enjoy Roller Coaster over the last few weeks and will make it part of his permanent weekly posting schedule.  Don’t just come out to check it off your challenge list, come back and have fun and get a nice run in at the same time.

    Have a great evening all!

    Kubota

    keep posting

    P.S.  Saab and family were seen in front of Beijing on Grove on YHC’s drive home.  YHC’s day is now complete.

  • Enthusiasm Smasher

    6 warriors shook off the fart sack, grabbed their kettle bells (yes, that says bells) and stormed into the school parking lot for an adventure that went something like this…

    COP (all IC) – 20 invisible jump ropes, 20 freddie mercuries, 10 goblet squats, 10 helicopters, 10 don quixotes, arm circles.

    Mosey to the school wall and line up.

    Donkey Kick Party

    10 donkey kicks against the wall, lunge across the parking lot to the grassy area, exercise, side lunge back to the wall, repeat four times with the following exercises:

    • 15 halos each way
    • 30 kettle bell swings
    • 30 sit-up presses
    • 30 overhead presses

    Merkin “Break”

    10 merkins IC, run around the parking loop, 10 merkins IC, run backwards around the parking loop, 10 merkins IC

    Donkey Kick Party – Remix

    20 donkey kicks against the wall, carry kettle bell above the head across the parking lot to the grassy area, exercise, carry kettle bell above the head  back to the wall, repeat four times with the following exercises:

    • 15 halos each way
    • 30 kettle bell swings
    • 30 sit-up presses
    • 30 overhead presses

    Mosey to the flag – 20 flutter kicks IC, 1 SSH

    Numerama, Namerama, Announcements, Yardsale took us out.

    NMS:

    YHC still has “fond” memories of Honey Do’s Groundhog Day beatdown from a few years ago and he leaned on that template this morning. The PAX rolled in just in time to get started. Yardsale brought an enthusiasm that was at a whole different level than the rest. He bounced out of his car and was full of energy!

    The Donkey Kick party started to dent this enthusiasm but he rallied to keep up the mumble chatter. Over time, his enthusiasm began to wane. The Donkey Kick party remix seemed to be the enthusiasm smasher for the morning for him. The PAX pushed through and knocked out the exercises well this morning.

    Helix continues to get an A+ for his form and for even going the extra mile on the sit-up presses by pulling the kettle bell over his head in between the sit-ups. That guy doesn’t mess around and he gets his money’s worth (though our workouts are free). He takes “you-vs.-you” to the next level every time!

    The Carpenter

  • Yeah Booooy!

    An even 13 old school rap afficionados posted at WDog to beat the heat and reminisce about when rap music used to be good. Mosey to field beside amphitheater for COP by a sign that says stay off grass.

    COP: Helicpoters x 12 / Willie Mays Hayes x 9 / Reverse Sit-ups x 12 … Mosey to hill behind amphitheater.

    THANG: 

    Big Ass Clock Merkins OYO x 3 Merkins at each hour, clockwise. Sprint down and out of bowl to tree at the top, then bring it back for another round of BACM’s OYO x 3 at each hour, this time counterclockwise. Mosey to stage. YHC had plans for a quick stage party, but that got interrupted. More on that later.

    PLTs progressive to the top of the stairs. Al Gore and a lap around the circle until PAX finishes up.

    Lawnmower Merkins Partner up for wheelbarrows. Every 5th pace stop and complete a merkin while in wheelbarrow position. Repeato x 3. Then backwards lawnmower merkins back to original starting point. Each person completes one circuit.

    Wheelbarrows Same partners wheelbarrow across the circle and switch. Bring it back.

    Mosey to Rusty Case for Triple Check 1. Hanging knee-ups (left/right/middle) 2. Row Boats 3. Sprint to fire hydrant for 3 burpees. Repeato x 3.

    Mosey back to the circle. Ring of Fire 1-5 and type of Merkin called out by each PAX member. Jog in place in between. YHC called out Swirly Merkins to finish things off. Back to the flag.

    MARY 25 crab cakes OYO

    Announcements

    F3RVA Field Day is this Saturday. See the Preblast for details. The Ghost Flag will be up for grabs. Weat a t-shirt that represents your elementary school days.

    Puppy Pile – 6/23 / July 4 Convergence / RAMM GEARS Amateur ride is this Friday. 

    NMS

    YHC pulled into WDog at 4:57 certain he’d get his choice of parking spaces. But ole Big Blue proved me wrong once again. 5:25 and only three PAX members were on site. Then, like in Field of Dreams, they poured into the parking lot ready for a beatdown.

    YHC recently learned that Flava Flav is throwing out the first pitch for the Squirrels next Thursday and had to work in an ode to the trend setting, clock wearing, lyrical murderer. Hence, Big Ass Clock Merkins.

    YHC had a nice little rap concert planned on the stage but apparently I didn’t get my stage rental application in on time. When we arrived at the stage, a nice gentleman was there taking a nap after presumably a late night of Shakespeare. Oh well, YHC now knows better.

    YHC also learned about Willie Mays Hayes’s during my recent trip to F3 Arlington. Lots of mumble chatter ensued from that exercise. See Swirly for a movie quote rap battle. He’s taking on all comers.

    “Heywood leads the league in most offensive categories, including nose hair. When this guy sneezes, he looks like a party favor.” – Harry Doyle

    Thanks for letting me lead.

     

  • Four Point Conversion

    Nine Ballers entered the arena for a Richmond Roughriders inspired beatdown.  Here’s how it happened.

    THANG

    Mosey in front of school to bus parking lot.

    COP

    • SSHs x 18
    • Copperhead Squats x 18
    • HR Merkins x 18
    • Reverse Scorpions x 18
    • Crabcakes x 18
    • Helicopters x 10

    Mosey around school and down to football field

    Agility Drills

    • High Knees across field, repeat
    • Karaoke across, repeat
    • Back Pedal, repeat
    • Slurpees (Slide 5 steps, Burpee) across, repeat

    F3 Gassers

    • Sprint Goal Line to 10yd line and back, repeat to 20yd line, 30, 40, 50,…. opposite Goal Line and back

    Passing Tree (Waiting PAX does SSHs, Jump Squats, Lunges, LBCs) Dropped pass = 2 Burpees for all

    • 10 and In
    • 10 and Out
    • Post
    • Fly

    Arena Bowl I (4 on 4)

    Mosey back to SF

    Numberama, Nameorama, COT

    MOLESKIN

    Those who know YHC well are quite aware of his love affair with obscure sports, particularly minor league arena football.  Yeah, that’s right, in case the PAX didn’t know, there is a team in town called the Richmond Roughriders and they’re awesome.  18-1 over two seasons to be exact and the #1 seed heading into the American Arena League playoffs kicking off this Saturday at the Coliseum.  The games cost the same as a Squirrels’ outing but are twice as fun, money back guaranteed.  Notable current Roughriders’ players include former NFL Pro-Bowler, part-time UFC fighter and all around good guy Greg Hardy, former Saint and Super Bowl Champion Robert Meachem, plus local Hokie hero Davon Morgan.  The games are high-paced, hard-hitting, and will keep you on the edge of your seat.  YHC planned this workout to bring awareness to this great game and source of entertainment.  Apart from the Braves/ Squirrels, professional sports teams have a long history of failure in RVA and YHC would like that to change.  YHC encourages all PAX to get out and see a game and support these weekend warriors who lay it on the line simply for love of the game.  YHC will be at the Coliseum at 6:30 at the box office across 7th street from the parking deck if anyone would like to join Rider Nation.

    Team 1 (Rosie, DK, Phonics, and Offshore) were stifled and confused by the half zone/ half man defense of Team 2 (EF, Gumbo, Tobit, Bag Phone).  Gumbo led Team 2’s aerial attack, but was let down by YHC’s stone hands.  Offshore throws a pretty ball with his slick left handed Vick-like flick.  Shakedown opted to take some laps.  In the end Arena Bowl I ended in a very un-arena football like 0-0 tie.  YHC provided some comic relief while just missing on a perfectly thrown corner route by Gumbo stepping in a mud puddle and sliding on his back about 6 feet.

    ANNOUNCEMENTS

    Happy Hour, today Hardywood West Creek whenever you can get there

    RVA Summer Tour rolls on

    Amateur RAMM Gears this Friday, anything with wheels counts (bike, roller skates, Walmart motorized scooter)

    Welcome Bag Phone

  • Prom Pain… 25 years later…

    The morning was 70 and partly sunny… 8 fighters stormed into the Atlee High School parking lot for a fun fest that went something like this…

    Mosey around the parking lot and back out parking lot entrance to the neighboring building.

    COP – ALL IC – 20 SSHs, 5 merkins, 20 imperial walkers, 5 merkins, 20 copperhead squats, 5 merkins, don quixotes, 5 merkins, 20 LBCs, 5 merkins, arm circles.

    Mosey to the far end of the parking lot.

    Curb Crawl – 11s 

    Bear crawl across the parking lot, 1 hand-release merkin. Crab crawl back across the parking lot, 10 heels-to-heaven… continue for 11s…

    Mosey to the front of the parking lot

    Construction Zone Running & Exercises

    Partner up. One partner exercises while the other runs up the construction area toward the yet-to-be-completed bridge (about 2/3 of the way up) and back. The other partner exercises. 50 merkins, 100 WWII sit-ups, 50 merkins. Each partner did the full set of exercises.

    Mosey to the SF

    30 flutter kicks IC

    Numerama, Namerama, Announcements, YHC took us out

    Announcements:

    • Summer challenge
    • 2018 Reese Strong 5K is a few months away
    • 2019 Reese Strong 5K is a few more months away

    NMS:

    YHC’s older sister has reminded him that June 12th was one of the worst days of YHC’s life… It was on June 12th, 1993 that a girl smashed YHC’s heart after the junior prom. YHC was kinda dramatic back in the day and the memory has taken on a life of its own.

    YHC’s goal for today’s workout was to dish out the same level of pain that he felt on that fateful day 25 years ago!

    The PAX took off running toward the News 12 van (election day!) and made their presence known early. YHC led the PAX to some new territory “off campus” at the neighboring building. Mumble chatter was light at first and everyone noticed that Lab Rat wasn’t present or maybe only YHC noticed that…

    The curb crawls provided all kinds of surprises. Spit and Spike noticed a frog at the end of the parking lot as they bear crawled toward it. The frog eventually leaped toward YHC’s spot and then was gone. The sound of more frogs in the background led some to believe that we might be under attack by a swarm of frogs soon but that never transpired.

    A new section of road is being built on Atlee Rd and it involves a sizable elevation gain toward the bridge that will eventually go over the railroad tracks. YHC had in mind to make the PAX run up and down the road after seeing someone jog on it a few weeks ago. Mission accomplished. The PAX seemed to enjoy conquering new territory and getting a nice view of the surrounding area. Spike wondered if the police would arrest but then realized that he could blame the two pastors present for the decision to run on the new road. YHC let SLASH know that he could hide in the port-o-john if needed since it was halfway up the hill…

    Emoji was full of crazy energy. Some things never change. Kit Kat was a silent assassin who went to work and killed the workout. Spit dominated the hill and left everyone in the dust.

    YHC revealed the June 12th theme at the very end of the beat down. It may not have been as painful as having someone crush your high school heart but it was still painful. Maybe one day I’ll get over it but it may not be until June 12th, 2043 (the 50 year anniversary). I hope to still be attacking the F3 workouts at that point with my brothers in the gloom!

    The Carpenter

     

  • It’s a solid concrete container

    2 second-timers, 1 summer tour participant, and 4 regulars tackled the dawn at Heartbreak Ridge this morning.

    THANG

    Mosey to front grassy area

    Disclaimer. COP: Invisible jump rope x20, Russian Soldiers x15, Russian Kickbacks x15, IW x15 Freddie Mercury x15, CDD x15

    Mosey to the bus loop on other side of the school

    Curb crawls – bear crawl to other side, do 1 decline merkin. Bear crawl back, do 1 merkins. All the way up to 11.

    Indian Run around the perimeter of the AO counter-clockwise all the way to the Jerkin Gym

    With partners, do 3 sets of 10 Jerkins

    Mosey to other side of track.

    Triple check – dips on hill bleachers with feet also up on the next bleacher down, back plank, run to other end of parking lot & back

    Mosey to the wall of the school

    Legs:
    – 90 seconds of lunges
    – 90 seconds of wall sits
    – 90 seconds plank
    – 40 donkey kicks
    – 60 seconds of Lieutenant Dans

    Mosey back to SF

    Stretching COP: quads, hammys, butterfly, IT band/hip flexor

    COT

    Announcement – Hump Day Happy Hour at Hardywood West Creek location tomorrow. See pre-blast, this is a send off for Flashdance and Fudd (though Fudd will not be there.

    NMS
    – Good to see our newbies back out, way to get back at it again, Le Tigre (not Tea Gray, as in Earl Grey Tea) and Ponch. Look forward to seeing you continue to post
    – A generally quiet pax this morning… except for groans about the Curb Crawls, led by Attila. This “Bob Vila of Qs” takes that mostly (?) as a compliment. YHC is already sore from curb crawls, lunges, and wall sits in particular. Sore is good.
    – A bit of a surprise to not see Vinny present and sporting his team’s colors. If he’d asked YHC to give up the Q it probably wouldn’t have happened. YHC is happy for Caps fans, though prefers to not participate in the celebration of a rival’s championship. Perhaps one of NoToll, DaVille, or Spider Run is calling next week.
    – The title is a genius quote ascribed to the great Bob Vila

  • Doing the Butt(e) Route

    13 strong converged on the U of R lake to attack the “Butt(e) Route” or the “Up to the Butt(e) Route.”

    4’s, 5’s and 6’s all exited campus via the River Road entrance and skirted through the shopping center parking lot and headed across the river.  Exit right at the end of the bridge and head up river.  All routes turn around at Butte Road.  4’s return as you came for a 4.3 mile run (yes, YHC miscalculated, but YHC feels good about it!)  5’s return across bridge and hop onto Westham Station and go down and take Old Bridge up to Highland to River Rd.  Left on the grass strip by River to a right on College down to the lake and come around the top side of the lake.  6’s come back across bridge, hop onto Westham Station and take it around to S. Ridge.  Up S. Ridge to River Rd.  Ease left until you get to Gaymont and take Gaymont up to University.  University down to the lake and come around the top side of the lake.

    Numberama, Namearama, Announcements and YHC took us out.

    NMS:

    Nice temperature for a stroll this morning!  YHC was hoping to get a sunrise in over the river, but the clouds dominated.  A few deer were hanging out in the field below the bridge.  YHC tried to EH a couple other runners that passed Slurpee and I on the bridge.  It ended up that one of them knew Splinter.  Splinter told YHC that guy ran the Boston Marathon in 3 hours, so YHC is not sure he wants that guy to post and show us up.  The 4 mile route ended up being 4.3, so “your welcome” to everyone who chose that route.  All came in under 45 minutes!  Swirly and Grunt did a cool 5 and Marv, Splinter and Sippy Cup crushed the 6 mile route which may have been a tenth or so over 6??  7.22 minute miles I heard??  Great job!  Great to see Vinny and Slurpee out to their first Spider Run!  Sugar Sock, Vinny and Wedding Singer checked this AO off on the challenge.

    Announcements:

    HDHH this Wednesday at 6pm at Hardywood West.  Come out and help us honor and send off Flashdance and Fudd to new lands!

    Old School Field Day at Vinny’s Dogpile VQ this Saturday.  Wear a cheap t-shirt from your formative years.

    Puppy Pile 6/23 at 7:05am.  Sippy Cup has the Q.

    July 4th Convergence at Tredegar 7am.  YHC will start us off.  Only AO in town that day!!  Coffeteria/Breakfast immediately following.

    Summer Challenge is in full force!  Who is going to catch Vinny, Shakedown or Sugar Sock??

    Shakedown and Rosie are competing in an Ultimate on June 30th on and around the High Bridge Trail near Farmville.  Sugar Sock is helping with logistics.  If anyone else would like to help him(them), contact Sugar Sock.

    RAMM Amateur Gears is this Friday.  Lockjaw has the Q for what could be a comedy fan’s dream come true!

     

    Have a great Tuesday all!!

    Kubota

    keep posting!!

  • The Widest Ultimate Field of All Time

    An old Polish joke:

    After a particularly nerve wracking landing, the pilot of Polish Airlines flight 704 wipes the sweat from his brow and turns to the co-pilot:

    -Pilot:  WOW!  Was that not the shortest runway you’ve ever seen?!?

    -Co-pilot:  YEAH!  But look how WIDE it is!

    14 pax showed up this morning to see what this Ultimate thing was all about.  A few followed directions and brought a light and dark shirt, but most didn’t.  Posh rolled in late to provide black shirt team with a rotation to keep play at the legal ULTIMATE number of 7 on 7!  For Phonics and I, this was deja vu, as I didn’t change a thing from last week’s run from DaVille.  For those of you that didn’t read that, we did a quick loosen up COP, followed by a Lindsay around the field to get in some merkins and situps, and establish teams.  The first to finish is 1, on down to the last, who was 14.  Evens were black shirts, odds were white.  We were a couple shirts shy of having enough whites, so Honeymoon wore pink and Lab Rat went “Girls Gone Wild”.

    Before the game got started, however, DK had to do some field maintenance.  I arrived early enough to set the cones along the field, but was horrified to discover that the chalk lines were not visible any longer.  I did my best, but left a little too much room in the width department.  Several volunteers RAN out to help….to which Phonics noted I did not ask him to go.  He was grounds crew last week and was somehow slow to get the job done.  The southside boys were ready to play though, and we had a somewhat regulation field ready to go in no time.

    The teams looked pretty evenly matched, but DK’s prowess quickly came to light as he started barking orders to the black team.  It became apparent that he knew what he was doing, as they squashed the white team’s early lead and pushed ahead.  Handshake provided an easy target I guess, as he caught at least 3 TD’s while standing in the endzone all by his lonesome!

    White team tried to come up with a strategy of their own, and started playing man on man defense.  Problem is turnovers happen so frequently that man on man quickly goes to pot as soon as somebody drops the disc!  We did our best however, and actually kept the lead from getting too out of hand thanks to some great hustle by Offshore, Rosie, and Honeymoon.

    Oyster proved to be very aggressive on the defense for the black team, so much that he had to be warned a couple times that he was in violation of the 1 meter rule.  To my knowledge though, there is no punishment for violating the rules, except maybe you dont get to smoke weed afterwards.  Maybe DK knows the actual rules, but we never bothered to ask.

    Play of the day came from Hardywood with a diving catch just shy of the endzone.  I say just shy, but team black called it a TD on the spot.  Fair enough, it was a hell of a grab so we’ll spot him the yard for the glory shot.  I was disapointed by the TD dance routines though….not near enough flair.  That’s probably why we are still amateur status.

    The final score would have been 8 to 5 black, but since the Q called out last score wins, Team White wins the game!  Just coincidence that this was my team….

    Good times had by all, I think….and no injuries reported!  Well done, thanks for not arguing too much on what a Lindsay is….and most of all, thanks for the excessive mumblechatter during COP!  It makes my heart happy.  By special request, we will do this one more time next week at Heartbreak Ridge!

    Apology of the week goes out to any pax of Polish descent.  Lab Rat loves all.

    Lab Rat apologizes…

  • Staycation / Punisher Digest

    We’re flipping over the mattresses and wiping down the pool chairs at The Punisher in anticipation of F3 RVA staycation visitors.  6:30 PM.  No plans to change back to AM.

    We are sorry for the backblast silence but we have been gathering, albeit in small groups, to keep the AO going.

    For the past two Mondays (5/28 and 6/4), YHC and Sonny have posted.  We stayed on the school grounds for a dose of the usual on 5/28 (11s, Double Checks, etc) and ran off campus to the Acca Temple for a parking lot workout on 6/4 (Merkins, Squats, Crawls, Lunges, etc).

    On 5/21, Nightcrawler, Tricycle, and Change Order posted.  We focused, once again, on the usual in the school yard – a Dora 123, some Bear Crawling, and a couple of Lindsays.

    See you out there!

  • Four’s a crowd!

    The roster for Tomato Run doubled this morning, as 4 hardy men skipped the fartsack and put in some miles.

    Opus and EF Hutton ran for about 4.5 miles, winding through Honey Meadows (and maybe Kings Charter, YHC is unsure of their exact route).  Mudface and YHC put in a little over 3 miles, at a pretty good walking clip as Mudface continues to impress by rucking it with a 30 pound steel plate in his backpack.

    Numberama, namerama, YHC took us out.

    NMS

    There were a LOT of dogs walking their humans this morning, as YHC and Mudface saw at least 8-10, which is about 5 times the normal crowd for TR.  Opus showed up to celebrate his last week of work for a while, and EF Hutton is getting a jump on visiting all the AO’s this summer, with Opus close on his heels.

    As usual, I have no idea what I’m doing.