Category: Richmond, VA

  • A super power or some folk hero like John Henry

    7 PAX members posted at Circus Maximus on a cool early morning.  We were greeted by a new FNG as he came running through the tall pines.  He appeared to be like some super power or some folk hero like John Henry.  Yes, the looks of a “steel-driving man”.  His name was BO. He had no kettlebell in his hand but was willing to run home and grab his 53-lb. KB. Mudface was quick to put him in his place by offering him his 10-lb. starter bell.  Offshore claims he met Bo about 6 months ago and told him all about the workout. Well, maybe not the most important part, the kettlebell.

    Here’s how it went down:

    Warmup started with 25 SSH, arm circles, helicopters one direction, Alabama prom dates, plank challenge, dirty dog or somebody’s wife, wind mills, and one round of rotate your kettlebell around the PAX circle so everyone could enjoy a heavy KB during  our favorite “Boat- Canoe”.

    A short mosey in the parking lot to start an abbreviated beast with snatches, burpees, halos, sit & presses, squat & presses, lawn mower rows both sides.

    Not sure why, but the mumble chatter was excessive and coming from everyone this morning. Some of it was focused towards Hoops and Cletus, who was given a brief education on terminology APD’s and dirty dogs.

    Come to find out, Bo’s full name is Robert “ Bo”  Lewis Nixon Wren III, we named him “Daisy”. He came up from Georgia to Baltimore and then to Richmond on the CSX railroad. Yep, some kind of train engineer.  Off shore knew all about his friend and even told us about Bo’s nine-month-old son and 4-year-old lab.

    Hoops still isn’t sure if Gumbo exist, we hope you come back to the CM.

    The 45-minute workout went by in a flash, hope everyone got their own deserved beat down.

    Attila took us out

    Announcements:

    Convergence at the Gridiron on September 30th – 6 am and 7 am workouts: bring the numbers

  • Simple is good

    5 determined men eschewed the fartsack for a SOJ takeover Q at Green Acres.  The weather was a cool 62 degrees, perfect for a morning of putting in some work to get better.

    THANG

    Mosey to the bus loop for a warm up.  10 burpees OYO, SSH, DQ, Hillbillies, Alternating shoulder taps, LBC.

    Mosey to the fields (the size of this field puts others to shame) for a Round and Round.  Here’s how it goes.  Using the light poles as markers, start at the corner do 5 burpees, run down the sideline to the first light pole 5 more, repeat for a total of 4 light poles on one side, cross the field and repeat for the 4 light poles on the other side.  Back to the start (total 8 sets) and plank for the 6.   Repeato with 10 merkins, 15 squats and 20 flutter kicks.

    Mosey back to the front of the school for Mary – Crunchy Frogs, Diamond Merkins, Dollies, Werkins, Box Cutters, Merkins, American Hammers

    COT and YHC took us out.

    SOJ takeover has been great so far this week, checking out new AOs and seeing new faces.  YHC had heard good things about the size and opportunities at Green Acres and decided to check it out for myself.  By driving Bleeder style down I295 YHC arrived a few minutes early to the AO and drove to the back, there’s a ton of space there and should be a great AO.  Unfortunately YHCs creativity bucket was empty this morning so round and round the field we go.  It was a simple workout but we got about 2.5 miles with a few other things worked in.

    The end of round 1 was met with more wildlife.  This time I don’t think it would have been good luck.  A skunk decided to try to cross the field as everyone was getting back to the starting point.  YHC tried to keep Opus out of the skunk’s Path, at first he thought YHC was offering words of encouragement.  The urgency was quickly realized and we allowed the skunk to take cover and were able to proceed.  This would have taken Marmaduke’s bird incident to a new level if someone had been Marv-ed by a live skunk.

    BoomBoom and Bucketmouth are heading back to school soon but it was great to meet them, YHC and the F3 family wishes them luck as they head back.  Opus and YHC finally got our “first wind” on the final round and were able to separate from the pack, although it’s likely Phonics was holding back in conversation with Boom Boom.

    Great work today men, it was a pleasure to make the trip to lead.

    -Everything is coming up Rosie

  • SOJ Favorites @ 45MOMM

    Space

    16 regulars and 1 FNG posted for a beautiful morning in the near West End.  The fields of Mary Munford were closed but the PAX was not deterred.  The beatdown went something like this:

    Slaughter Start – 10 Burpees OYO

    Mosey around full, long blocks

    Circle up for COP: SSH, DQs, Russian Soldiers, Merkins, Flutterkicks, Crab Cakes, Bob & Weaves

    Mosey to fields only to discover they are closed.  Audible to Tennis Courts.  Partner up for Darrell Greens – 1st partner starts in merkin position, 2nd partner sprints to end.  Upon starting, partner on the ground performs a merkin and sprints to try to catch partner 2.  Repeato x 4

    Slow it down for the Human Centipede – groups of 4 – 6 plank head to foot, guy in back bear crawls to front, resume plank.  Repeato until group reaches the end

    Partner up for 2 more Darrell Greens

    Mosey around fence to basketball courts for Space Invaders – majority of PAX lines up as aliens in horizontal columns and Bob & Weaves left and right, shooters line up 20 yards back and lunge in a straight line trying to tag an alien without reaching out.  If tagged, alien becomes a shooter.  If missed, shooter does 10 burpees.  Repeato x2

    Partner up in groups of 3 for Triple Check – donkey kick, plank, run to fence and back

    Circle up for 4 min of Mary – LBCs, Capital Letters, Freddie Mercuries, American Hammers, X’s & O’s

    Mosey back to flag

    COT – Bleeder took us out

    Naked Moleskin

    Wow…the PAX accomplished a lot this morning…more than YHC had planned.  The Triple Check and Mary were audibles.  YHC pulled some new things out of the bag while bringing back some SOJ favorites (slaughter start, crab cakes, x’s & o’s, darrell greens).

    This was definitely the first time YHC remembers a member of the PAX trying to carry on a conversation with the Q while he’s counting cadence.  TYA wasn’t phased by the fact that YHC was counting out Russian soldiers when engaging in preseason NFL smack talk.  Like his Patriots, and in true Agressor form, TYA must think the rules and etiquette don’t apply to him.

    Seriously, Saab, when was the last time you crossed the river that didn’t involve traveling to an F3 workout?

    6 sprints are 6 too many, especially if you partner up with Oyster.  Dude has wheels…and finally caught YHC on the last Darrell Green.  Well done, sir.

    Space Invaders was good fun.  YHC had considered bringing water balloons but didn’t want to deal with cleaning up the mess.  We played 2 rounds.  Round 1 starting shooters were those living SOJ.  Round 2 starting shooters were anyone who had been part of an F3 Podcast, which ended up being 80% of the PAX.  Impressive.

    Lots of mumblechatter today, especially when the PAX was circled up.  The Capital Letters shut everyone up quickly…followed by the X’s & O’s with a dead silent, slow 10-count by Swirly to end things in X formation.

    Welcome to Kubrick!  Way to crush the workout this morning.

    Peace, Love & Hail to the Redskins tonight!

     

  • Rollercoaster Haiku

    It was five thirty

    The Q said run, so they did

    5 miles plus for all

    It was good to come back to those hills, it’s been a while for YHC.  Thanks for the col beer post run Circle K.

    -Everything is coming up Rosie

  • South Side Takeover Week Continues with a NEW AO!

    NINE men went into the unknown today! The goal was to test a potential new AO. The test was successful and a NEW South Side AO has been determined. We are proud to present Timberwolf to the RVA PAX. It is at Tomahawk Middle School. The grounds offer everything the RVA F3 PAX would expect. I am sure once corporate attends he will approve.

    Next Thursday 8/17 will be the inaugural workout led by Sparky. When the New Market Crew started discussing finding a new AO we threw out a ton of places, but once we decided to try Tomahawk Middle, Sparky was all over wanting to lead the test & inaugural workout. Way to step up Sparky.

    The test was successful, so much the workout lasted an HOUR. With ZERO complaints. Normally this is when YHC would outline the workout, but not this time…………..show up next Thursday for a 45 minute version of today. It was a serious beating leaving all 9 men gasping for air.

    You decide for yourselves if Timberwolf will be a success. All you have to do is show up next week.

    As football is getting started, I wanted to share some highlights of the Bills 90’s run. They made the dynasty list………you decide.

  • MudFace FartSacks his Own Back Yard

    Six of the faithful posted at #MannDate on a dark, humid morning with kettlebells in hand. Johnsonville, visiting from southside, took the Q and this is how things went down, more or less:

    THANG:

    Extended warmup with 50x ssh, 50x LBC, 50x arm circles front, 50x arm circles back, pickle pounders, and crab cakes

    DORA (extended) pairing up, with one man running the parking lot loop (about 230m I would guess) and one man performing the kettlebell exercises. Once the runner returned, the pair flip flopped maintaining aggregate counts. The DORA exercises were:

    50x sit and press
    100x lawnmower pulls
    150x goblet squats
    200x two arm swings
    250x tricep press
    300x halos

    COT with YHC taking us out.

    MOLESKIN:

    It was good to visit a new AO, especially one at the opposite end of RVA from YHC.

    MudFace had been talking up #MannDate months, claiming that the #CircusMaximus PAX had a lot of catching up to do to rival #MannDate’s intensity. YHC was excited to come up to MudFace’s back yard and see that intensity first hand. The PAX was eager and welcoming, and certainly delivered an awe-inspiring level of intensity. But, all of that intensity was delivered sans MudFace.

    Emoji said that he heard Mudface was planning to watch a Twilight marathon on A&E the night before. I guess that must have been pretty scary with all those scantily-clad vampires running around making out with each other. In any case, MudFace stayed in the old FS.

    All in all, it was a good road trip and a great morning feel the F3 gloom. See ya in the gloom.

    Jville

  • SOJ Take Over Week Continues: Beautiful Morning at WDog

    This morning 11 brave souls and 1 FNG with modified parking ventured into the gloom of WDog to start a beautiful Wednsday morning.  Here is what went down:

    COP

    • SSH IC x 25
    • Hillbillies IC x 20
    • Don Quixote IC x 10
    • Arm Circles IC x 15
    • Merkins IC x 10
    • LBCs IC x 20

    Burp around the clock

    • Start at 12 O’clock on the roundabout
    • Bear crawl to 3 o’clock and perform 3 burpees
    • BC to 6 o’clock and perform 6 burpees
    • BC to 9 o’clock and perform 9 burpees
    • BC to 12 o’clock and perform 12 burpees
    • Al Gore and wait for the PAX

    Mosey to amphitheater

    Step Ups/Box Jumps Escalator

    1 to 18

    Dips Escalator back down the Amphitheater

    Mosey to Rusty Cage

    6-Pack

    • 5 pull ups/ 1 squat
    • 4 pull ups/ 2 squats
    • etc down to 1 pull up/ 5 squats

    Mosey to circle

    Mary

    • Burpee Shuffle
    • American Hammers IC X 25

    Mosey back to flag

    Numberama/Name o Rama

    Announcements

    • 9/30 Convergence
    • Reese Strong 5k
    • Circle K Crabfest (RSVP to backblast)
    • New AO SOJ at Tomahawk MS starting 8/17
    • MC Hammer is coming to RVA on 8/19 (did I get this right Offshore?)

    Lab Rat took us out

    NMS

    SOJ takeover week continued this AM on a beautiful August morning at WDog.  The weather was clear and a brisk 63 degrees, quite the contrast from yesterday at No Toll.  As such, YHC felt the need to spread the PAX far and wide to see as much of this great AO as possible.  Upon 5:30 a PAX of 11 took off toward the Carillon to get the party started.  On the way, a figure appeared out of the dark asking questions about F3, so we asked him to join the fun as his car was parked right next to where we were going to start.  After a quick disclaimer and a fair amount of chide and mumble chatter the COP got started.  Hillbillies were welcomed as a staple for SOJ takeover week.  A lot of hopping and giggling ensued during this part of the workout.

    The burp around the clock was something that YHC had tried initially on a business trip to Chicago with Lockjaw last year.  It was originally performed around a rather reasonably sized sun dial.  Performing this around the circle to the east of the Carillon was a bit more of a chore.  Bleeder had no trouble leading through this exercise with his abnormal superhuman bear crawling skills, the rest of the PAX were fairly taxed as they pushed through with a strong effort.  Dr. Phil mentioned that in Greensboro we call this something that looks good on paper.  YHCs response to that was the original plan called for a reversal of time by crawl bearing back around the circle and performing donkey kicks at each interval, but an audible was needed.

    The mosey to the amphitheater was fairly quiet with little fanfare and mumblechatter with the exception of inquiring of the FNG (Valet) of his connection to F3RVA (friend of Splinter who was MIA).  Once the PAX was in the amphitheater, Lab Rat requested Swirly to provide a vocal performance, upon which Swirly reminded everyone of the Queen medley he performed upon doing Freddie Mercuries at DogPile recently.  Much to the dismay of the PAX an encore performance was not provided this AM.

    The Rusty Cage was a bit murky and dark this AM, but around 6AM there was enough light to get the PAX safely there and perform the 6 Pack.  Circle K was disappointed as this exercise was explained as there was no evidence of col beer included.  The PAX effectively crushed the pull ups though and completed in enough time to get in some more burpees and finish strong with American Hammers.

    YHC had never Qd before at WDog and YHC thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to utilize a lot of the great amenities at this AO and have a lot of fun with the great men and 2.0s of F3Rva.  It was a pleasure and privilege to take the lead this AM.  I am honored and humbled to the PAX for indulging my leadership and other antics this AM.  Thanks for letting YHC lead.

    Welcome to Valet.  You crushed it this AM and YHC looks forward to seeing you again soon SOJ.

    Til Next Time

    McRib

  • Revenge of the Sparrow

    8 Fearless Warriors showed up at SOT ready for a beat down. With heads ducked against aerial attacks they moseyed to the tennis courts and got to work.

    COT

    • SSH x 20
    • Hillbillies x 25
    • Don Quixote x 10
    • Merkins x 10
    • LBC’s x 20
    • Bob & Weave x 20 (shout out to DK)

    Mosey to the baseball field

    Field Of Dreams

    4 stations, 2 PAX at each station, workout until switch is called

    • Station #1 – Merkins (10 yards past 1st base)
    • Station #2 – Squats (10 yards past 2nd base)
    • Station #3 – LBC’s (10 yards past 3rd base)
    • Station #4 – 15 burpees then call switch (home plate)

    Mosey to the football field

    DMC

    1. Start at the end zone – duck walk to 10 yard line, do 5 merkins, crawl bear back to end zone.
    2. Repeat to the 20 yard line
    3. Repeat to the 30 yard line

    Mosey to the tennis courts

    4 Corners

    Four rounds – Corner 1 = squats, Corner 2 = 2-count Mountain Climbers, Corner 3 = Flutterkicks, Corner 4 = WWII situps (audible to Hello Dolly after round 2)

    Round 1 = 10 reps at each corner, Round 2 = 15 reps, Round 3 = 20 reps, Round 4 = 25 reps

    Alternating Mary

    • 20 LBC’s IC
      • 10 Carolina Dry-docks OYO
    • 20 Freddie Mercury IC
      • 10 Werkins OYO
    • 20 APD’s IC
      • 20 Monkey Humpers OYO
    • 20 E2K IC
      • 10 Diamond Merkins OYO

    Mosey back to parking lot for Numberama/Namerama/COT

    Announcements

    • BRR in September – several openings due to injuries. See TYA or Swirly if interested
    • ReeseStrong 5k followed by Crab Fest at Circle K’s – September 16th
    • September 30th – convergence at Gridiron – 6:00 – 8:00

    NMS

    YHC had never been to SOT before, but with the SOJ Takeover in full swing I was willing to plug in wherever needed. Google Earth and some Exicon digging led to coming up with the Field of Dreams and DMC in an effort to come up with something I haven’t done before.

    Field of Dreams was received with some hesitation by the PAX – not sure if this was the muddy in-field (PAX moved the home plate location to the on-deck area to avoid the mud) or just dislike of the plan. Note for the future – don’t put Merkins at the station following Burpees.

    DMC was received with consternation and outright groans. YHC planned to do 5 rounds with the last round all the way to the 50 yard line. The groaning started after round 1, and after attempting to crawl-bear 30 yards on round 3, YHC realized that any further would be insanity.

    During COT, Marmaduke experienced an aerial bombing from a member of the local avian community to the back of the neck – somehow this was noticed in progress by Ocho.

    Thanks for putting up with the experimentation this morning guys!

    -Why walk when you can wheelbarrow?

  • This way, then That way

    Ten strong mosey into the rainy gloom.

    The Thang

    Leaving the lake the 4 milers cross the Huguenot Bridge make the cloverleaf and return.  5 milers extend to Rockfalls Drive and return, 6 milers extend to the Damn and return.

    Moleskin

    YHC decided to follow the KISS method when planning the route this morning.  No one got lost and the PAX all returned safely without any concern.  I will call that a victory!   The PAX, as always, was quite impressive both collectively and individually. Running to the gloom, putting in extra mileage, #SOJTakeover leader flying by with a mile to go, Corporate motivation, learning where the real entrance to U of R is located, new construction timelines, practicing yoga by the lake, and of course shipping beer to your vacation destination.  The priorities of BRR prep are evident.     Well done fellas!

     

  • Lindsay don’t like the rain at No Toll

    7 brave souls entered the wet conditions at No Toll to beat the rain and enjoy a solid beat down.  Here is what went down.

    COP

    • SSH x 25 IC
    • Hillbillies x 20 IC
    • Don Quixote x 11 IC
    • Merkins x 20 IC
    • LBCs x 20 IC

    Mosey to Pavilion to meet Lindsay

    Lindsays

    • Round 1 – Dips and Copperhead Squats
    • Round 2 – Derkins and Box Cutters
    • Round 3 – Incline Merkins and American Hammers
    • Round 4 – Merkins and LBCs

    Stay in pavilion for Native American Pole Smokers

    • PAX holds 6 inches while rotating through 10 pole smokers each

    Long mosey in the rain back to the Tennis Courts

    Mary

    • Burpee Shuffle
    • Merkin Ring o Fire
    • Alternating Leg Lifts
    • Alternating Leg over knee LBCs
    • Superman

    Numberama, Name-o-rama

    Announcements

    • Convergence on September 30th at Gridiron
    • Reese Strong 5k 9/11
    • Circle K crabfest 9/11 after 5k (see Pre-blast to RSVP)
    • New SOJ AO starting 8/17 at Tomahawk Middle School (Name TBD)

    YHC Took us Out

    NMS

    There was a 100% chance of rain at No Toll when YHC checked the weather before hitting the fartsack last night and thus a decision had to be made.  Make a plan to keep the PAX relatively dry or go all in and plan for a soak fest at No Toll.  Being the conservative soul YHC chose option 1 and decided to alleviate the PAX from being pelted by the downpour this AM.  That and Lindsay don’t like no rain.  The plan was to utilize the pavilion as long as it was pouring, which it did for most of the allotted time.  As YHC pulled into the lot, there was only 3 other PAX waiting.  This number held firm until the New Market clown car showed up as the others were doing side straddle hops during COP.  From there, the PAX worked the upper body pretty hard today, which was very much appreciated by Shakedown and his achy knee, and much needed after YHCs week at the beach, which included a lot of over indulgence of food and beverage.

    It was great to be back in the wet and mossy gloom of No Toll.  Welcome also to Dr. Phil who is visiting up from Greensboro, NC.  You crushed it today and the SOJ crew was glad to have you.

    Great job to all, and thanks for dealing with Lindsay and all of her antics, as well as indulging my spotty and suspect leadership.  YHC is humbled as always to lead such a fine group of men.

    Til Next Time

    McRib