Category: Richmond, VA

  • Building the Beach Body

    It was a holiday weekend with many distractions and attractions for the PAX.   A quartet of noble warriors still answered the call, and here is what transpired:

    • COP
      • 25 SSH
      • 25 IW
      • 15 DQ
      • 20 FM
      • 10 2x merkins
      • 15 Scorpion Kicks
      • 20 LBC
      • 15 Pickle Pounders
      • 20 Helicopters
    • Mosey to the grassy knoll for 10 minutes of burpees
    • 40 APD
    • Mosey to the playground for a jerkin ladder – 8 & down
    • Mosey to the lower field for 4 corners – 10, 15, 20, 25 reps of same exercise at each corner
      • Scorpion dry docks
      • WWII sit-ups
      • Storm squats
      • Flutter kicks
      • LBC
      • Merkins
    • Mosey to the pavilions – 20 dips, 20 one-legged step-ups, 20 dips, 20 one-legged step-ups
    • COT with YHC taking us out

    Congratulations to Earthworm on the marriage of his son, WD-40!  Also, a big welcome back to Flip Phone…it has been too long.  Strong efforts from everyone, especially Johnsonville who often led the way.  Happy Memorial Day weekend.  See you in the humidity!

    God is good all the time!

    Attila

  • Three cardinal sins – on day one?

    Six strong posted for a Sunday Morning jaunt on the trails.  The route was north bank to buttermilk  and back.

    NMM

    Sticky morning today, was drenched with sweat five minutes into the run.  YHC opted for the bike shorts and no shirt to start out.  I know that it is not a good look, and I would much rather cover up my 55 year old body…but, the weather dictates the outfit.  The rest of the PAX started with shirts on, but finished the day shirtless.

    Saab’s M has been hitting the trails for the past several months.  He finally convinced her to give it a go with us.  After throwing up upon seeing my outfit, she did well.   She has run the full monty of the trail several times now and is improving every time.  She got the name tourist as she spends a good amount of her time noticing everything along the way.

    Tourist broke three cardinal rules today.  YHC didn’t call her out on it as it was her first time, but can’t resist here.  First, she took a short cut.  We never, ever take short cuts.  Walking is fine, declaring a different route at the beginning is fine, taking shortcuts is never fine.  Second, she didn’t declare her shortcut, so the PAX was temporarily unaware of where she was.  Saab did a long back run until he realized what she had done.  Always tell someone if you are going to divert to a different path.  We leave no-one behind, but finding you is difficult if we don’t know where you are.  The third rule is while you are on the trail, you are to take in the ambience of the trail, see the scenery, and let go of the outside world.  About 2 miles from the finish she got a text and actually stopped and answered the text.  A reminder to everyone here, she is Saab’s spouse.  WHAT THE HECK, he gives me crap for listening to my iPhone on a 100 miler to distract myself.  A 7 mile run and your answering text’s?

    Ok, having said all that it was a pleasure to have her out there with us today.  The trail run is open to any and all comers or any skill or ability.  Come one, come all….it is a blast (and we will teach you the rules along the way).

    TYA OUT

     

  • Grab your sack and hold on tight. Opus VQ

    28 showed up this morning for the Opus VQ at Dogpile — here is what went down…

    COP —
    Hillbillies
    Helicopters
    Don Quixotes
    Combo exercises —
    5 Plank Jacks, 5 merkins 5x
    5 WW2 Situps, 5 Freddie Mercuries 5x
    5 flutterkicks, 5 scissor kicks 5x
    5 copperhead squats, 5 pistol squats

    Mosey to the bathhouse for a triple check–
    1 person runs to the service road and back, 1 does Donkey Kicks, 1 does an ab exercise of their choosing

    Mosey to the hill behind amphiteatre —
    supposed to be a mountain with a partner consisting of
    100 jump squats, 200 mountain climbers, 300 amercian hammers, 200 mountain climbers, 100 jump squats
    modified to finish with the amercian hammers for the sake of time

    Mosey to the field (once YHC found it with the help of Saab)
    Old fashioned relay race.  3 teams.
    Sack race to first cone, bear crawl to second cone, sprint to third cone, sprint back to second cone, bear crawl to first cone, sack back to the start.
    All others were doing SSH, LBC’s and other exercises while waiting

    Grab stuff head to the amphiteatre–
    round of skull crushers 10 each side
    2 rounds of 4×4 merkins (4 derkins, 4 merkins on one side, 4 upward merkins, 4 merkins other side)

    Back to the flag…
    Numberama, Nameorama, Announcements, etc.

    Announcements —
    7 AM convergence at Tredegar Monday morning!  Be there!
    24 AO’s — 104 or so days to get to all of them.  Did Phonics say we could earn a cool patch for competing the Summer Challenge??

    NMS —

    It has been two years since YHC has been coming out to these F3 beatdowns — YHC made it a goal at the beginning of this year to Q a Dogpile workout before the end of the year.  Check.  Next goal?  Hit some different AO’s this summer.
    YHC had a few butterflies this morning on the ride over, but once it got going the butterflies were gone.
    YHC purposely left his glasses in the car so he could read the Weinke, but that led to getting lost a few times.  Thanks Saab for the help finding the field for the relay race (or at least I think it was Saab??)

    Naming new folks was especially difficult this morning.  Every time we would settle on a name, it was shot down.  We had to rename the new folks several times bc the original names were too… sketchy?  too long?  who knows?  Wilson kept pushing for Amber Alert… YHC liked Reading Rainbow… We settled on The Graduate — some story about Seymour and the new kid were at a graduation last night (they didn’t know each other before this) and Seymour out of the blue just invites this guy to F3.  “Hey little kid, come out and meet me at Dogwood Dell early in the morning, oh and bring your gloves”  And the guy came.  Welcome to the graduate.
    The other trouble was with Chief — he was originally named Bromance by some deviant in the group, bc YHC knows the dude’s brother and the conversation went on too long, so there ya go.  We nixed Bromance and went with Chief bc we are fellow Monacan grads!  I am the Q, dammit.  I pick the names so no more complaining. 🙂

    YHC loves relay races at F3 — we should do more of them…  It was especially fun getting to tell everyone this morning to grab their sacks and get moving.  Hardest part of the relay by far was watching everyone try to get themselves in the sacks!!

    Thanks guys for making this morning really entertaining!

    Opus

  • Hardywood’s Coffee Brings All The Boys To The Yard

    14 warriors emerged from the gloom: some, to defeat Twin Team Hill; others, following the olfactory siren song of coffee emanating from the back of Hardywood’s vehicle. One was drawn in all the way from NC.

    Either way, we got sweaty.

    Mosey across Robious to Twin Team, COP @ bottom. SSH, DQ, helo, something on the ground (YHC forgets).

    PAX ran to the top of Twin Team, marking five spots along the way. On the way down, perform 20x of prescribed exercise at each marked spot. From the top down: burpees, WWIIs, lunges, 2x flutterkicks, merkins. After PAX completed one set together, each man went at his own pace for round two, with a little extra credit thrown in at the end.

    Mosey back to Weaver for a little Man vs Bear. Groups of 3: wheelbarrow racing a bear crawler. In case you were wondering, the bear always wins. End with a quick round of Mary before moseying back to the flag.

    MOLESKIN

    YHC issued an apology to the PAX for his lack of a theme. The usual custom is, look for important events on that date and create exercises to commemorate. The perfect theme emerged: the 1977 release of Star Wars Episode IV. Unfortunately, the pressure proved too great, and YHC found himself paralyzed by his own expectations.

    I believe 14 is a Twin Team record! Huge props to Hardywood for not only bringing the boys with promise of coffee, but doing it in style. Dude pulled out a giant cooler full of piping hot water, and multiple French presses. Just because you’re in a parking lot, doesn’t mean you have to compromise on quality – let it be a lesson to us all.

  • Double Deuce

    22 of RVA’s Finest Road Scholars came forward to tackle distance with speed.  Four early bird runners, and six bikers did their thing, and the remaining runners did the following routes:

    • East on Grove and North on Hamilton.
    • Hamilton to Westwood and take a left.  Westwood turns into Malvern.
      • 4s take Malvern to Grove and home.
      • 5s and 6s head west on Patterson.
        • 5s take a left on Lexington and a right on Albemarle.  Left on Grove to the VSF.
        • 6s take a left on Seneca and a left on Grove to the VSF.

    Marv took us out.

    NMS

    Perfect weather for top speeds this morning.  The 5s set a nice pace with Shakedown doing so despite this being his 4th straight day of running.  BT dropped it in low gear for the last half mile using Grove as his personal passing lane.  Offshore and Swiper make running fast look effortless.

    YHC note:  Google brings back quite a few meanings for “doubel deuce”.  YHC was referring to the quantity of Pax in attendance today, however one member may have provided an additional interpretation with two Fudd’s en route.  Nice.

    Announcements:

    • Memorial Day Convergence – Be there!
    • Summer Challenge begins tomorrow.  See Phonics backblast on the matter.
    • YHC and Shakedown are going to meet our summer challenge with an amateur bike ride RAMMS.  Dust off the Schwinn and stay tuned.

    Stay safe this weekend, have fun, and appreciate good friends and family.

    Lockjaw

  • Friday on my Mind

    7 Grown men and one feisty 2.0 showed up for a beatdown this morning.

    Here is what transpired…
    Hallelujah Run around the church

    COP–
    Hillbillies
    Helicopters
    Combos (not the snack) All IC —
    5 SSH, 5 Merkins 5x (no stopping between exercises)
    5 WW2 situps, 5 Freddies 5x
    5 flutterkicks, 5 scissors 5x
    5 copperhead squats, 5 pistol squats 4x

    1 minute toe taps on curb
    30 seconds on, 30 seconds rest
    40 seconds on, 20 seconds rest
    50 seconds on, 10 seconds rest
    1 minute full on.

    Triple Checks at the benches–
    derkins, ww2s on benches, touch a car
    dips, skullcrushers, touch a building

    Catch me if you can — 
    one partner starts bear crawling around the building, other one does 7 burpees and then runs to catch the other one.  Switch roles.  Repeato until we make it round the building.

    Thanks to all the guys and girl who showed up today for this morning’s beatdown.  It was a beautiful morning with a little less humidity than normal.  Nothing stood out this morning as far as mumblechatter is concerned, but YHC thinks everyone was having a great time with the workout.  Pick two has become a regular again and we are glad for that!  Missed regulars Carpenter and Spit this morning.  Hope you both are doing well — see you soon!
    BTW — George Young of AC/DC fame was a member of the Easybeats back in the 60’s.  This is one of the first rock songs YHC remembers from his youth and still loves it!

    Peace
    Opus

     

  • FNG Tubbs Visits Circus

    Three of the faithful and one FNG posted at CircusMaximus with kettlebells in hand. Johnsonville (YHC) took the Q, and this is what went down, more or less —

    warmup with 25x ssh, 25x imperial walkers, 25x don quiotes, 25x flutter kicks, plank sequence, long-time arm circles

    mosey to sidewalk by bus loop for ciabatta lawnmower pulls, alternating arms.

    mosey about 1/2 way down bus loop toward pump rd for ciabatta kb swings.

    mosey to end of bus loop. run a brisk lap.

    ciabatta merkins (feel the burn!) Chum would have been stronger on round 8 than round 1 (that is, had he bothered to get out of bed).

    mosey around the school to the side facing pump rd. ciabatta WWII situps with KB presses at top.

    10 burpees

    KB carry back to VSF. Mary with Alabama prom dates, box cutters, and ‘merican hammers.

    COT with Attila taking us out.

    FNG Al Lombardy, introduced himself and presented himself for naming. But without the keen wit of DK, we were unable to come up with a fitting name on the spot, YHC having summarily rejected “Big Al”, “Weird Al”, and “Hemmeroid.” Upon reflection and in a state of 80s nostalgia, YHC takes note that a particularly heinous crime boss on Miami Vice was named “Al Lombard.” YHC thus names FNG Al Lombardy, “Tubbs.”

    Good job men! Jville

  • F3 RVA Summer Tour – Starts Saturday, May 26

    F3 RVA Summer Tour – Starts Saturday, May 26

    https://youtu.be/Xf3mRZ7SHu0

    According to Phineas and Ferb, there are 104 days of summer.  What a better way to spend the summer than challenging yourself to visit all 24 F3 RVA AOs.  Although procrastinators can wait as late as August 6 to start, it would be best to spread this challenge out over the entire summer.  Once you complete the tour, you will have done the following:

    • 14 bootcamps
    • 7 runs including a trail run and evening run
    • 2 Kettle Bell workouts
    • 1 bike ride

    Don’t let not having a kettle bell or bike prevent you from participating in this challenge.  Borrow them if necessary.

    The challenge starts starts on Saturday, May 26 and ends on Labor Day.

    To sign up, click here.  

    To print the F3 RVA Summer Tour flyer, click here.

    See you all this summer!

    Phonics

  • Yes I can count past 10!!

    YHC arrived to 45MOM with Big Blue posted and 2nd to arrive with TYA following close behind…..and the PAX quickly swarmed the parking lot! 23 F3 Soldiers posted-22 RVA and 1 ATL…for what can always be an amusing yet thrilling Q by YHC. 0530…time to mosey.

    COP at the basketball courts….x10 Russian Soldiers, x 10 Don Quixote’s, x 10 Box Cutters, x 10 LBC’s, x 10 Flutter  Kicks, x 11 Copperhead Squats (for you TYA), and x 12 Imperial Walkers. Let’s go….mosey to corner of the basketball court.

    Ascending 4 Corners…….Corner 1, x 10 Freddie Mercuries and bear crawl to Corner 2 for x 10 Freddie Mercuries and  x 20 LBC’s. Bear Crawl to Corner 3. x 10 Freddie Mercuries, x 20 LBC’s, x 30 SSH and bear crawl to corner 4. Corner 4, x 10 Freddie Mercuries, x 20 LBC’s, x 30 SSH, x 40 2 count Mtn. Climbers. Plank when finished.

    What goes up must come down!!!

    Descending 4 Corners…..starting in Corner 4, x 40 2 Mtn. Climbers, x 30 SSH, x 20 LBC’s, x 10 Freddie Mercuries. Lunge to Corner 3. x 30 SSH, x 20 LBC’s, x 10 Freddie Mercuries. Lunge to Corner 2, x 20 LBC’s, x 10 Freddie Mercuries. Lunge to Corner 1, x 10 Freddie Mercuries. Plank when finished.  Mosey to the soccer field.

    10×10…..Line up to run across the soccer field. AYG across the field. Ready positions,  IC with the entire PAX, YHC initiating and PAX counting, x 10 Merkins. Repeat 10 times. 1000 meters run, AYG, and 100 Merkins. With time to spare….

    Partner Carries….partner up and carry to midfield line, stop and each PAX members perform 5 burpees and switch. Partner carry to end of soccer field and 5 burpees for each PAX member. Switch and partner carry back to midfield, 5 burpees for each PAX member. Switch and partner carry to starting point. 5 burpees for each PAX member. Mosey back to flag with 0 minutes to spare and BOOM, finished!!

    Number-ama, Name-r-ama, Announcements: Memorial Day to Labor Day Challenge to visit all the AO’s. Phonics, nice flyer!! Simple, there should not be any questions. Memorial Day Convergence-only workout in town is at Tredgar/Belle Isle, below Virginia War Memorial!

    TYA took us out! Gracias Brother!!

    NMS…Definite mumblechatter about the Caps destroying game 7 and reaching Stanley Cup Finals!! And, TYA questioned YHC ability to count past 10. Yup, I graduated from The Institute, definitely not college! YHC was out front leading so definitely missed a lot of mumblechatter and 23 PAX is superb!!

    TYA, appreciate the words brother! Lockjaw, nice to see you in the PAX! Swirly, just go see the doctor when you get injured! Hell of a way to start the morning! Cosign, nice to see you out again! Grunt, way to push this morning and thanks for partnering up!!

    45MOM is awesome. Thank you for following this morning men! The blessings we are bestowed upon us are awesome, magnificent, and humbling. Let us not take these for granted. Take the energy we showed this morning out into the world. It needs some awesomeness!!

    Only those who post understand!

    Loud and Proud!!

    Flatline

  • Red vs Gray (and one stuck in the middle)

    7 SOJ regulars posted to Timberwolf this morning.  6 got the memo and split evenly, Red Shirts vs. Gray Shirts.  1 was LIFO (and extra LIFO to swap crocs for Brooks), and he came in wearing a blue shirt…odd man out.  Nonetheless, all 7 managed to work up a sweat doing the following:

    Mosey to the front parking lot for a Gumbo-led COP, including:

    • DQs
    • Helicopters
    • Cotton Pickers
    • Copperhead Squats
    • Imperial Walkers
    • Tempo Merkins
    • Box Cutters
    • Freddie Mercuries

    THE THANG:

    Mosey to the near corner of the parking lot for 4-corners:

    • Corner 1 = 10 merkins
    • Corner 2 = 20 Jump Squats
    • Corner 3 = 30 2-count mountain climbers
    • Corner 4 = 40 SSHs
    • Run from Corner to Corner stopping at each median/island for 3 burpees along the way.  6 medians in all, so 18 burpees along the way.  Add 1 more at the end for 19 total — punishment for VMI baseball’s 19-0 loss to Mercer in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament yesterday…OUCH!

    Aforementioned, LIFO (Mr. Roper), somehow didn’t see us in the front parking lot as he drove by, so after swapping footwear and running around the school, he came in from the East and joined the PAX in Corner #2.

    Gumbo passed the Q to Wilson

    Numbered Door Variety Show

    • Mosey to Door #21 for 21 merkins OYO
    • #20 for a wall sit while Gumbo did a 20 count
    • #19 for Homer to Marger (AKA Heels to Heaven)
    • #18 for Donkey Kicks
    • #17 for something YHC can’t remember, but I’m sure it hurt
    • #16 for Hello Dollies
    • #15 for Carolina Dry Docks

    Wilson passed the baton to Rosco…off to the track (YHC thinks Rosco was looking for the wooden benches for partner overhead presses, but thank goodness (for YHC’s shoulder) they were gone).

    Rosco’s Field Games

    • 20 Dips on the bleachers OYO
    • Mosey to the long-jump pit for tire flips — 2 tires (1 large, 1 medium) = 2 teams (Red (and Blue) vs. Grays) – flip the tires the length of the runway…TIE
    • Mosey to the track for 2 laps around the track
    • Back to the tires for another tire-flip race…switch tires…TIE again
    • Back to the track for Human sled drills and then sprint relays (about 75 yards)
    • Back to tires for another race – Bobber defected from the Gray Shirts to join the 40+ crowd of 5 men on the large tire vs Rosie and YHC on the medium tire…TIE again (questionable judging).

    Rosco passed the baton to Bobber for a Mosey back toward the flag and Mary

    Bobber’s Mary

    • 15 Merkins OYO
    • Crunchy Frogs (a Balzer company favorite apparently)
    • Monkey Humpers
    • Merkin ROF

    COT, COR, NOR and YHC took us out

    Announcements:

    • Convergence on Monday for Memorial Day – 0700-0800 at Tredegar/Brown’s Island.  Meet in the parking lot.  Bring a friend.  Plan for ET’s afterwards if you can. No other AOs in action Monday.
    • Opus takes on the big stage at Dogpile for his Dogpile VQ on Saturday – come out and support Opus.
    • NEW SOT at Midlo Middle is up and running.  LugNut (the original SOT Captain) laid  his ship to rest with a solo send-off yesterday — well don, sir.

    NMS:

    A great crew today at Timberwolf.  YHC personally was hoping to see Cougar Bait post again but it sounds like us old men put a whipping on him yesterday at SOT.  We must build out Bait’s stamina before we release him to the Cougars…looking forward to seeing you post again soon.

    The color scheme and numbers were all set for some triple-check team madness until Mr. Roper sauntered in LIFO.  But, no worries, we made do.

    Man oh man, that standing water on the edge of the field and track and the smell emanating from it instantly brought YHC back to muggy/muddy football practices.  Darn that stunk.

    YHC always enjoys Rosco’s feats of strength and mano a mano combat drills.  Today, YHC, was able to establish some leverage and use it to his benefit…I’m sure a rematch is in the plans for the near future.

    Great job today guys.  Take this energy into your day and make it great.

    No More Gumbo For You!