Category: Richmond, VA

  • Marv’s last walk to RAMM

    On Friday July 21 Marv walked for the last time to Ramm – and no one has heard from him since… I believe he is in the process of a move to a temporary home  while he awaits his new  house to be finished. Word is it will be ready on Thanksgiving – (BT said of what year) …. He is just kidding of course – it’s looking good Marv… Anyway – hope the move is going well Marv.  Marv is famous for a few things – allow me to list a few : His golden broadcaster voice – prayers, running, skunk shoes, VCU, writing excellent BB’s – and not posting BB’s which is why Corporate had to jump in on this one :).

    We ran Monument Ave last Friday – my apologies if I leave any of the pax that were there out – doing my best to remember that day…  But gotta get this posted – Big Data is for real !

  • Sweaty Sunday

    3 Regulars posted for a Sunday run.  Weather was 70 and sunny, beautiful day for a run.

    The Thang:

    North to south.  Over the T. Pottersfield bridge.

    NMM

    Started the day a little bit early today at 6:30.  Not sure if anyone else posted at 7, but I did not see any F3 stickers on the cars and didn’t see any Pax on the trail.  Given the likely weather for the next month, I am going to make the call and move the Sunday run to 6:15 until after the BRR.

    It was sticky out there today. YHC went through 2 full camelbacks full of water.  Thats 120 ounces of water in 7 miles.  Seems excessive, but I was not over hydrated afterwards.  YHC also started a new trend with the Sunday runners.  I started shirtless with a camelback and by the end of the run all of the other PAX members joined in.  Not a pretty sight, but a lot cooler.

    TYA OUT

  • Bat, man

    Four posted for this late July version of The Punisher on a cool morning brought by overnight showers.  The Thang:  Startup COP on Hermitage Road side of LHES with 20 x each of Imaginary Jump Ropes, Imperial Walkers, Don Quixotes, Hillbillies, and Hello Dollys, followed by forward and reverse Arm Circles.

    Mosey to the front schoolyard for variant of Red Barchetta (from the F3 Exercise encyclopedia).  Run from the hedge near the parking lot to the far sidewalk for 100 SSHs and return and plank.  Run to a power pole about 75% of the way across the yard and complete 75 Mountain Climbers and return.  Run to a closer pole about 50% of the way and complete 50 LBCs then return.  25% then 25 Merkins and return.  Finish with 10 meter run, 10 Burpees, and return.

    Jog around the school to the playground.  Complete 5 Pullups followed by 100 LBCs.  For LBCs, complete 50 with one leg bent and up (typical LBC position) and one straight and on or near the ground.  Switch leg positions and complete 50 more.  Hop up and complete 4 Pullups and do the LBCs again.  Repeat through 1 Pullup and completion of 5 rounds of modified LBCs.

    Head around the back of the school to the grass near the outdoor pavilion.  Complete 10 Burpees followed by PAX choice of 5 reps each of chest and leg exercises.  Repeat, reducing the Burpee count and rounding the circle with PAX choices.  Audible called by Q with time running out at 3 Burpees – completed 3, then 2, then 1 of the Burpees followed by last chest and leg sequence.  Got on the ground for quick Cobra pose, Downward Dog, Cobra sequence, then up and ShovelFlag return.

    NMS:  Nice work this morning guys.  Way to go Dexter – posting for a second workout following EH by Offshore.

    Attracted, perhaps, by heavy, early July morning insect activity, a solo (Sad Clown) bat circled overhead the PAX during the initial COP.

     

     

  • Muggy Monday Loops

    Four of F3’s finest posted on a muggy Monday morning for YHC’s second Q and it went something like this:

    Mosey to bottom of steps for COP

    • SSH x 20
    • Don Quixote x 10
    • Copperhead Squats x 15
    • Copperhead Merkins x 10
    • Hillbillies x 15

    Mosey down THOIR to the lake:

    Lake Loops: perform stated exercise at each lamp-post one time around, then step-ups on the picnic tables for the 6.

    • Loop #1 – 5 merkins
    • Loop #2 – 5 jump squats
    • Loop #3 – 2 count Mtn Climbers x 10
    • Loop #4 – audible called (mosey back up THOIR)

    Return back to the shovel flag for alternating Mary/Merkin

    • LBC’s x 20 – 10 regular merkins OYO
    • E2K x 20 – 10 widegrip merkins OYO
    • Dying Cockroach x 10 – 10 closegrip merkins OYO
    • Superman

    Mosey to far side of Stone House and partner up – Partner 1 does people’s chair, Partner 2 runs to Forest Hill and back.

    Circle up for Burpees / Mary

    • 5 Burpees OYO
    • 5 Burpees w/2 squats between each burpee
    • APD’s x 15
    • American Hammer x 15

    Return to shovelflag for Namerama/Numberama and COT

    NMS:

    After signing up for VQ week, YHC had a couple week break while on vacation / vacation recovery. After a lackadaisical return to F3, what better way to ensure a post than signing up to Q?

    YHC wanted to return to the lake (pond?) as it was a fixture in my early days of posting at Batteau, but the PAX has not visited in recent months. YHC envisioned more time being spent on the lake loops, but when Depends needed to modify after loop 2 due to injury recovery YHC decided it was time to cut the running short and mosey back up the hill.

    Not much was planned for after the lake loops, so the remainder of the workout was disjointed. Thanks to Honeydo for helping out with suggestions – and the rest of the PAX for sticking in with me on a random assortment.

    Welcome to RVA, Depends! He will be staying up here for 5 weeks while visiting from Lake Murray, SC – so make him feel at home!

    Announcements

    • Upcoming events in September: Reese Strong 5k and BRR
    • September 30th – F3 RVA 3 year anniversary convergence

    – Wheelbarrow

    Why walk when you can wheelbarrow?

     

  • Turn up for Tomatoes

    Hot and muggy plus some overnight storms that made it somehow more humid, was the overall sentiment of the day.  2 PAX got the full 6ish miles, a LIFO got a few miles of his own and a Starsky with 2.0.  YHC thought he was going to be running alone a few minutes before 6 but saw a car circling what is possibly the most confusing parking lot in RVA.  Though a screen of shrubs Wedding Singer appeared and with a slow mosey out of the parking lot looking for LIFOs we hit the pavement.

    A solid 6ish miles for us through the  heavy air of Midlothian.  Good to catch up with Wedding Singer who took advantage of the Off the Books early start time being up early and avoiding the heat as much as possible.  Good call, glad you came.  We caught sight of Honeymoon in the last mile, he showed up late and took his own route through the neighborhoods.   Marmaduke and his 2.0, fresh off vacation, posted at the coffeteria to give M Marmaduke a little morning break.  The coffeteria featured the sign noted in the title, unfortunately YHC is not tech savvy enough to figure out how to post a picture in the BB.  It loses most of its effect without the picture but it’s the title of the BB anyway.   BRR miles and hills are on the mind of the PAX, it’s getting closer and Singer is cranking up the mileage.  Some good training planned for the Honeymoon Q at RiverRun tomorrow, post if you can, you won’t regret it.

    Have a great day.  Stay cool

  • Appetite for Destruction

    30 came out to rock today in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the release of Guns N’ Roses Appetite of Destruction.

    COP – Double disclaimer inclusive of workout “you against you” and parental advisory for explicit lyrics.

    SSH, Helicopters, IW, Don Q

    All exercises from this point forward were AMRAP based on duration of the song.

    Mosey back to the Rusty Cage for “Welcome to the Jungle Gym”

    • 7 pull ups, 7 jerkins, run to fire hydrant for 7 4-count flutter kicks
    • Repeato til the song concludes

    Alas!  There are new sandbags ready for action.  Roadies grab a sandbag and mosey to the stage behind the Carillon.

    “It’s So Easy”

    • Alternate 10 bench presses with sandbag with 10 WW II sit ups with sandbag

    Partner up for “Nightrain” – Loaded like a freight train, flying like an airplane….

    • Partner 1 assumes merkin position while partner 2 places sandbag on his back – merkins with sandbag (freight train)
    • Partner 2 puts a sandbag on his shoulders and does squats with calf extensions (airplane)
    • Swap back and forth and repeato

    Place sandbags around the corners of a square for Sharks and Minnows to “Out Ta Get Me”

    • Minnows bear crawl, Sharks crab walk

    Mosey to the side of the Carillon also known as “Mr. Brownstone”

    • Partner 1 – touch a tree with ascending burpees (tree 1 = 1 burpee, tree 2 = 2 burpees….)
    • Partner 2 – donkey kicks and BTTW
    • Swap and repeato with the next cycle of touching a tree is 3 and 4 burpees, 5 and 6, etc…..

    Mosey to the field in front of the Carillon for “Paradise City”, where the grass is green and the girls are pretty.

    • Triple Check – Run the length of the field, derkins on the hill, and LBC

    Collect sandbags and neatly stack them back in the rusty cage for future use.  Touch down Al Gore but with a Slash guitar solo squat as the Pax convenes.

    Garbage Plate takes us down the pipeline to the road.

    The original “Sweet Child O’Mine”, Dora

    • Partner 1 runs the pipeline and cuts left to return down the trail
    • Partner 2 – 40 hand release Merkins, 80 American Hammers, 120 Flutter Kicks

    Circle up for first ever honey moon suite ring of fire.

    • Working around the circle, each Pax member leads the group in one of the following in sequence – diamond merkins, APDs, monkey humpers, pickle pounders to the tune of “Anything Goes”

    Mosey back to the SF via an all uphill route.

    YHC took us out.

    NMS:

    About five months ago, YHC thought it was nearing the 30th anniversary of the release of Appetite for Destruction.  Sure enough it coincided with a Dogpile and the rest is history.  Like many, YHC has high regard for this album and would consider it on his desert island mix with others such as Pearl Jam’s Ten.  Today it was an opportunity for F3RVA to celebrate the way we know how; with a beatdown.

    YHC had hoped EF and Labrat would show in their Axl bandanas, but no luck today.  Honey Do and T Swifty came ready to rock in their respective AC/DC and classic GNR T-shirts.  Well Done!

    It was awesome being paired with Flipper for a portion of the workout today.  Like YHC, he appreciates quality rock and not bashful about singing out loud.  For those at ET, there was a glimpse of a serpentine Axl strut Flipper pulled off old hat.

    If you ever wonder how YHC spent his Friday night, it’s filling sandbags with the M and 2.0s.  Many hands make short work and quite a few treasures were found in the sand pile.  I anticipate that we will have a run of workouts over the next three months with the shiny new sacks.  Enjoy!

    An entire AMRAP workout pushes you in a new dimension.  No rest til the end of the song.  Endless loops driven until the completion of the song.  The Pax did well.

    Of note, another Copperhead was found on the road behind Carillon, squashed by blunt force and well deceased.  Does this count as a Copperhead Squat?

    It was great to see Sippy Cup back in action as well as so many Pax from across the RVA!

    Time to Taper,

    Lockjaw

  • Hindsight 21 (sequel to Hindsight 20/20)

    Returning to the scene of the crime from the past February double-Q chapter with Yardsale, it was time to take a “look back” again for more Hindsight on July 21 (deja vu / but new and improved) Everything makes sense in hindsight.

    14 Davillians including 5 strapping 2.0s ditched their fart sacks on this HOT July 21st – Ready to rumble at The Creek at 5:30am (well, 5:31, sorry). The SF was planted next to the shovel flag and PAX ran to side parking lot.

    This is how it went down:

    COP (ALL IC)

    • 21 SSH
    • 21 Split Jacks
    • 21 Don Quixotes
    • 21 LBCs
    • 21 Arm Circles – each arm
    • 21 One-legged squats x3 positions – each leg (Thanks Tony Horton!)

     THANG

    Church Run – Partner Up

    1. One partner merkins / other partner runs around church and relieves first partner – continue till total = 120 merkins
    2. One partner LBCs / other partner runs around church and relieves first partner – continue till total = 240 LBCs
    3. Al Gore/Recover

    Hindsight 21

    1. Mosey to soccer field – 4 Corners
    2. Run BACKWARDS corner #1 to corner #2, 21 merkins
    3. Bear Crawl to corner #3, 21 supermen
    4. Run BACKWARDS to corner #4, 21 WW2 sit-ups
    5. Lunge back to corner #1, 21 Freddie Mercurys
    6. Thought we were done? Repeat the cycle in reverse

     Tricep Blast

    Mosey to picnic pavilion -Partner-up

    1. Partner 1 dips picnic table seats / partner 2 run the diagonal of soccer field / returns
    2. Switch –partner 2 dips / partner 1 runs

    Alphabet Soup

    On your 6, legs together 6-inches off ground – legs trace each letter of the alphabet in the air

    Mosey back to shovel flag

    1 minute left……5 merkins on own

     COT:

    Numberama / Nameorama / Wheelie sped by on a bicycle and waved. Sorry that doesn’t count as a post

    Wild Thing took us out. 

    MOLESKIN

    Excellent MC from all ages. PAX schooled QIC on what it’s like with shouts of the wrong cadence counts for each exercise. Lesson learned. Why didn’t you tell me this will drive a Q to drink?

    Always looking for ways to bring P90X into F3. The 3-position one-legged squats seemed like a hit. I thought Alphabet soup leg lifts were a new thing, but forgot Spit just did them at his Q.

    The Church Run originally had another full 120 burpees cycle planned, however in a rare moment of democratic collaboration and consensus, this was erased from the plan.

    With a strong contingent of young 2.0s, and constant joking, Front Porch was forced to make QIC face the fact that my humor has officially descended into pathetic “dad jokes”. My daughters will agree, but there’s a million jokes I haven’t done. You younger dads laugh now. Just you wait, just you wait.

    ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • Hot House

    5 F3 Richmond men showed up at Twin Team for a early morning heated tour of the AO.  The air was thick but 3 of the PAX were ready to go at 0530 with 2 more coming in LIFO.

    THANG

    Mosey around the bus loop for any possible LIFOs and form a triangle for a warm up.  SSH, IW, Crab Cakes, Freddie Mercuries, Dollies.  Honeymoon and Sparky arrived in McRib style, post SSH.

    Mosey to the Playground for 4 corners – 5 Pull-ups, 10 merkins, 15 jump squats, 20 4-ct Flutter Kicks – Repeato x 3.

    Mosey to the hill beside the school for Jacob’s Ladder – 1 burpee at the bottom, 2 at the top repeato up to 7.  Mosey across the field to the parking lot poles – Pole Smoker Indian Run.  Mosey to another JRHS parking lot that has not been used before for a shortened Dora – 100 merkins, 100 WWII, 100 Lt. Dan.  Audible to shorten the Lt Dans and mosey back to the flag for Mary.  American Hammer, Rosalita, APD – 10 merkins to close it out.

    NMM

    No one signed up to Q this morning and it was a light PAX as of just Wojo and YHC at 5:27.  YHC planted the flag and took the Q right before DK showed up to increase the numbers and off we went, reminiscing of the 13 at Twin Team last week for Dodgeball.  Summer days.  Typically I don’t notice the temperature of the pavement but it was noticeably hot this morning.  This was not a Hot Yoga class but maybe could have been.

    During the mosey Honeymoon pointed out a trash can that looked like it had been ravaged by a raccoon.  Does DK know anything about that?  DK informed us that he has not been letting raccoons go at Twin Team anymore, too close to home.  He is living in a current “house of death” with his chickens being attacked by raccoons and each other.  Time for some alternative action, maybe he can get some advice from Saab or Swirly on beating off wild animals.   YHC also knows of some people that do aura cleansing if the string of death continues.

    Great to meet Wojo, who has already become a regular around F3 Richmond.  Well done by all 5 pushing through the heat to get through the morning and get better.

    Appetite for Destruction tomorrow at Dogpile by Lockjaw.  No flannel required

  • Ghost Flag

    The idea of the Ghost Flag is to encourage PAX to travel outside their normal circle of AOs to meet, interact and generally get some 2nd F with PAX from other areas.  This is not a challenge to see who can keep the flag the longest, the goal is to have it passed around to all areas and AOs.  Areas outside of Richmond are welcome to join,  Hampton Roads has already expressed interest in stealing the flag and I expect Charlottesville might have a run at it too.  Below are a few ideas on the general rules of the Ghost Flag, these are general and should be enforced in accordance with advancement of the 2nd F.

    • The Ghost Flag should appear at least once every 2-3 weeks but can be more frequent.  It can appear at any AO of the GF holders choice.
    • The AO at which the GF will appear should be announced 2 days before it posts – Twitter, Facebook, and/or Backblast
    • In order to take the GF a group with a minimum of 5 PAX must show up at the AO on GF day.  All 5 PAX have to be outside their normal AO area but can be a mix of different areas.  ie 2 SOJ, 3 West End organize to go to DaVille
    • If more than 1 group posts with 5 PAX at a GF AO, the group with the most PAX at the AO takes the GF.  If there is a tie the Q gets to choose where the GF goes.  Could be to the group that has been the longest without the GF, a contest of the Qs choice to decide the winner or the group with the best mumblechatter.
    • The Ghost Flag can also make an unannounced appearance at an AO.  If it does, the holder of the Ghost Flag must bring at least 3 PAX and can commandeer the Q (non-VQ dates and commandeering a Swirly Q at your own risk).  If the Q is commandeered the Ghost Flag is passed to the original Q.
    • The GF may also hold contests, such as a Beast Relay, at various AOs and the winner will take the flag.

    Thanks to Lab Rat and Honeymoon for the idea, Lab Rat, Circle K and Hardywood for the creation of the flag, and various Emissaries for input on the above rules.

    If you have any questions/comments/complaints about the rules, my office hours are the same as TYAs but at various locations throughout the area.  I’ll be happy to help at that time.

    Any and all Ghost Flag disputes will be arbitrated by the Ghost Flag’s attorney, Gumbo.

    Let’s have some fun with this!  One more suggestion, bring your mumblechatter ‘A’ game.

    Rosie

  • I Just Felt Like Running

    3 Davillians climbed out of their fart sacks on this somewhat cooler July morning to run around Green Acres the hard way. The SF was planted next to the flag pole and PAX got to work.

    This is how it went down:

    COP (ALL IC)

    • SSH
    • Split Jacks
    • Merkins
    • Arm Circles

    THANG

    Burpee Mile

    48 burpees, 1 mile run. Done as 12 burpees, run 1/4 mile x 4.

    Merkin MIle

    25 merkins are completed after each 1/4 mile (Total: 100 merkins, 1 mile).

    Mosey to the football field

    Quarter Pounder

    • Run to the 25 yard line – Complete 25 Merkins
      • Run backwards back to the goal line
    • Run to the 50 yard line – Complete 50 Squats
      • Run backwards back to the goal line
    • Run to the 75 yard line – Complete 75 Mtn Climbers
      • Run backwards back to the goal line
    • Run to the 100 yard line – Complete 100 SSH
      • Run backwards back to the goal line

    Al Gore-O-Rama

    Squat 1/2 mile

    25 quarts are completed after each 1/4 mile (total 50 squats, 1/2 mile)

    Scout Run

    Pax forms a line and set a decent to slow pace. The front man takes off forward in a sprint to a self decided time or landmark and then turns around and sprints back to rejoin the pax at the back of the line. 3 Rounds were completed for about a 1/4 mile.

    AYG for 100 yards back to the SF

    Numberama, Namerama, YHC took us out. 

    MOLESKIN

    After LabRat’s Q last week that included mainly running, YHC decided we need to use the 200+ acre AO to fullest. So YHC “just felt like running”! The PAX seemed to enjoy the mosey around most of the park. Our run took us all the way to the back end of the park around the tree line.

    It was great having Scully join us this morning and get to know him better.

    MC was heavy most of the time since we had a small PAX. Scully shared about his trips with his family this summer. Emoji shared how much easier this was when he was in HS and college.

    Emoji would like to note that he did finish today!

    ANNOUNCEMENTS

    SPIT ON THAT!!