Category: Richmond, VA

  • Bricks to the ‘Pile!!

    And it goes a little something like this…..

    YHC showed up to Dogpile around 0530. O no……The Blue Truck is missing.  I believe, C-ville with TYA! Thrown off for a hot second, but must continue with my prep!!! Markers placed in THE FIELD and back to the gloom to stake the flag and prepare….10 bricks thrown on the ground next to the flag. YUP, YHC brought a prop for his FIRST Q at Dogpile. Now, at 12 minutes to the hour, YHC was the only one present, and I thought, this sucks. But than, YHC saw Hardywood appear from the south, walking to the gloom, and the vehicles started to appear in mass quantity. YHC had to keep adding bricks to the pile and when it was time to mosey, YHC instructed every man to grab a brick and 31 men posted for an inaugural Flatline workout at Dogpile!!! And, YHC had to be reminded to grab a brick himself…oops!

    Mosey to the COP, bricks in hand, and here is how it went (COP=no brick use): arm circles X15, copperhead squats X 20, diamond merkins X 13, scissor kicks X 20, and SSH X 20. Now, for those of PAX who have not experienced a Flatline Q, yes counting needs improvement, but much better-ask Hardywood how my VQ went at No Toll (lifesupport)!! Time to mosey…

    Exercise 1- Colonel Troutman= 10 min exercise with a partner. One partner runs to rusty cage performs 3 pull ups and other partner performs merkins (AMARP), and switch! Bricks stashed under near by tree. Time to mosey to fish bowl behind the theatre…

    Exercise 2- Blackjack Bernie Sanders= You vs You exercise. One LBC than run down the hill to other side-now, when running uphill, PAX members were instructed to run UP HILLS BACKWARDS- and at the top on the road, 20 mountain climbers. Than back down hill and backwards up for 2 LBC’s and repeat till mountain climber side has 1 rep.  YHC called an audible due to time constraints at 8 LBC’s and 13 mountain climbers. Now, through first two exercises, Fudd was being quite loquacious with Wilson finally gave a direct order “Shut Up, Fudd.” YHC loves me some Fudd but I have gotta give some love to Toga as well. He is the antidote for Fudd! YHC had another idea to quite Fudd. Mosey to THE FIELD with bricks in hand.

    Exercise 3- Brickbarrow vs Bears and Bricks= Partner up. YHC placed halfway markers in the middle before The Gloom. First half, PAX member walks 10 “steps” with bricks in hand, while partner “wheelbarrows” your feet. At this point, Fudd was quiet!! Switch at half way marker- 2nd half, in bear crawl position, PAX members throws his brick than bearcrawls to it and repeat till the end of the field. Modified WWII situps with bricks till PAX finished!! Repeat two exercises and switching at halfway back to beginning of THE FIELD. PAX members performed “Carillon Stairs” until PAX was finished.

    Exercise 4- Lt Dan Taylor= You vs You exercise. lunges X 4 and jump squat X 1 till the end  of THE FIELD-traversed again!! With little time left, 2 lines formed and Indian Runs around Carillon back to The Flag. YHC called jailbreak at Dogwood Dell. F3 workout with MARV at 0700 had 2.0’s looking at us like we were all crazy( YHC believes that was who was staring). Bricks thrown in a pile and on to COT…thanks for loading YHC’s SUV with his props.

    COT, Number-a-Rama, Name-a-rama, and thanks to Guinness from Charlotte for taking us out!!

    Announcements: 7/11, No Toll AO will be at Robious Baseball Complex for 2nd anniversary All-Star Game celebration. Gumbo has the Q.

    Weekend after BRC, childhood cancer fundraiser in Da’ville. See Phonics.

    August 12th?(Monday), Up Chuck has charity golf tournament in Stafford for El Salvadorian people without health care. See Up Chuck for details.

    Saab, way to post and workout even with a bum wheel. Nice work!! Hitchhiker, good to see you again. and same to Guinness!! Gents, thank you for all your support!!

    First Q at Dogpile was meant to be memorable! Flatline promises to work on his counting but I also promise that when I Q, a 100% effort will be made for a total beatdown!! Thank for following me this morning.

    Be thankful for the day the Lord has made!! May we each realize our blessing and make the most of THIS day!! God Bless!

    Loud and Proud,

    Flatline

  • PreBlast – July HDHH @ The Answer

    July’s HDHH will be a send off for Toga as he departs for a different AO toward the west.  We will meet at The Answer at 6:00 pm on Wednesday, July 12.

    We hope to see you there as Toga makes his farewell tour.

  • 16s on the 16th for the 16th!!

    12 men slipped into the gloom this morning to be there for LP’s VQ.

    Mosey around the church building

    COP

    –  SSH

    –  LBCs

    –  Don Quixotes

    –  imperial walkers

    –  Finkle swings

    Mosey to the picnic pavilion

    16s on the 16th

    16s at the picnic pavilion

    Monkey humpers and derkins

    Mosey to church building

    Catch Me If You Can

    PAX partners up

    Partner 1 runs to opposite building corner and does 16 plank jacks

    Partner 2 stays and does 16 LBCs

    Loser does 5 Burpees

    Switch it up

    Mosey to picnic pavilion

    16s….again

    2 count skull crushers (evolved to 1 counts midway through) and double dips

    Mosey to field

    Home run derby

    1st Base – 16 heels to heaven

    2nd  Base – 16 merkins

    3rd Base – 16 2 count flutter

    Home – 16 workins

    Mosey to flag

    Ring of fire – 16 merkins each

    Numberama, Namerama, LP took us out.

    Moleskin

    The day after the last day of school, QIC still managed to get up and team up with his dear old dad (Chowdah) to lead his very first F3 workout. In honor of QIC’s 16th wedding anniversary (Chowdah, not LP), there were lots of sets of 16s today. Plus, the challenge of the month is merkins, so we tried our best to get as many of those in as possible.

    The PAX arrived early, starting with Spit and No Idea. Soon followed by Abacus, Emoji, and Opus. The rest of the crew rolled in, the shovel flag was planted and we got under way.

    Everybody seemed in good spirits this morning despite the nasty humidity. Lots of chatter but everyone came to sweat, and sweat they did.

    During Warmarama, Chowdah tried to help QIC along and was promptly scolded by Abacus, telling him, “Let him Q!”

    At the picnic pavilion, QIC created a new workout, dipping between the picnic tables. Somewhere along the way, Emoji lost count of his 16s and from the sound of it, there were many in the PAX who left their calculators at home as they struggled to remember where they were. Guess we need to stick with 11s with this crew in the future.

    Catch Me If You Can around the building with the loser doing burpees. Always the overachiever, Spit decided he needed to get some more blood pumping and inspired the PAX (or at least half the PAX) to join the losers in doing burpees.

    Never one to be outdone, LP decided for a one armed merkin to end his 16 during Ring of Fire. Spit did his handclap for his final one. Even Wild Thing got in on the action, accomplishing a one armed merkind himself. Chowdah tried his best to follow with the one armed merkin and fell flat on his face. You win some, you lose some.

    There was great support today for LPs VQ. Thanks to all for being there and supporting him. It’s hard to describe just how much it means for so many men to be pouring into the life of this 2.0. This is a great picture of F3.

    (From LP)

    Everybody worked their butts off today! They were pumped up and ready for the workout. Everybody pushed themselves and got it done. Great job everybody and thanks for coming!

    Announcements

    VQ week coming up. Grab a Q for the first time or a Q somewhere you haven’t before.

    QIC (LP) has been crushing the ball the last few weeks and his little league team is heading to the championship tonight!

  • It’s Swampy…

    8 men gathered at Betty Weaver ES parking lot this morning and immediately wondering why DK was entering the parking lot, as if he just left Robious Landing Park? Seems DK has been trapping raccoons because of their love for his chickens and DK released one before he met us at The Gloom!  And, the Q teased everyone by having frisbee’s in hand but NO ultimate frisbee this morning!!

    0530 off we mosey to football stadium at JRHS for a Flatline led Q-thanks to Honeymoon for confirming correct turn to football stadium. Arriving at the stadium, Q noticed that yes, the sprinklers were on, and the stadium is named The Swamp.

    Circled up for the COP: Arm Circles X 15, Copperhead Squats X15, Imperial Walkers X15, Scissor Kicks X20, and SSH X20.

    First Exercise: Merkin Mile- x4 laps around the track. Each straight away AYG (all you got) and mosey in the turns. After each lap completed, 20 merkins!

    Second Exercise: DMC- Duck walk, Many exercises, Crawl bear. Now this is where the Q used frisbees- yard markers. One frisbee marked-10 yds, 20 yds, 30 yds, 40 yds, and 50 yd line. Duck walk to each yard marker and Crawl Bear back to end line in the end zone. Duck walk to 10 yrd line, 10 mountain climbers and Crawl bear back to end zone line. Duck walk 20 yd line, 20 Merkins, Crawl Bear back. Duck walk to 30 yd line, 30 arm circles, Crawl bear back to end zone line. Duck walk to 40 yd line, 40 LBC’s, Crawl Bear back to end zone line. Duck walk to 50 yd line, 50 SSH’s, Crawl Bear back to end zone line. Swampy describes the field…

    Third Exercise-Triple Check, audible, Quaruple Check…8 PAX members, audible had to be done. Exercises were-stadium stairs, 2 evolutions, LBC’s, Mountain Climbers, and Aussie Mountain Climbers. Due to time constraints, Q called another audible and 1 evolution of quadruple check performed.

    Final Exericse- Indian Run back to the flag. Thank to Marmaduke and PAX for retreiving frisbees!!  Indian Run turned into frisbee toss-last man tossed a frisbee to lead PAX runner in hopes of a catch. A few catches, a few bad throws, but no one was injured on the way back to the flag. With 50 yards out from flag, Q called AYG (all you got), final sprint to the flag.

    In the parking lot at our final turn, two ladies, asked, “What running group are you with?” No one could muster an answer, until Honeymoon mumbled something like, “Bring your husbands!” I am sure we all wish we could have answered those ladies in a more suitable fashion, but the PAX was gased!!

    Circle up-number-a-rama, name-a-rama, and age!

    Announcements: C’ville may need a Q this weekend. Check with Corporate if you want to lead

    July 11-No Tool will be at Huguenot Little League ball fields, behind Robious ES in honor of All-Star Game. Same day, just temporary AO!!

    Gumbo volunteered to take us out!!

    To the PAX members who attended this morning, thank you for following and the mumble chatter about the Q’s monotone voice is great!! God has blessed me to find this group. Our ability to work out in the am, mumble chatter, and fellowship is a true gift from Him!! May we all be thankful for this day the Lord has made!!

    Loud and Proud,

    Flatline

     

  • If I See Another F’ing runner!!!!

    12 Redwoods posted for a morning workout.

    The Thang:

    St. Chris’s loop for the runners.  6 milers take a right on Grove, Left on Roseneath, Left on Patterson, Left on St. Christophers, Left on Three Chopt, Lett on Grove and back to the shovel flag.  Five milers Left on Malvern, Left on Patterson …..   Raam Gears guys were led by Clavin on a morning jaunt.

    NMM:

    Ok, first things first.  Take a look at the PAX list and the QIC part of the backlist.  What is wrong with this picture?  Two things to start.  One, YHC was the Q today, not Lockjaw.  After a four month string of Q’s,  Lockjaw was not signed up (I think I might be able to remedy that) so I took the lead. Second and most importantly, No Lockjaw in the PAX list.  For those of you who have wondered (or even asked) why I took it upon myself to sigh Lockjaw up to Q for so long, now you know why.  NO Q, NO POST for Lockjaw.  Was he out of town?  I don’t thing so.  Was he injured or ill.  Not that I know of.  there seems to be only one way to make sure Mr. LJ posts and that is for him to be the Q.

    It was a little sticky out there this morning.  Although in reality it was 70 and sunny, it felt more like 95, 100% humidity and sunny.  The PAX was drenched post run.  Poor Saab (and the gears folks) during the COT.  The PAX was soaked and Saab was relatively dry …. until the COT.  He mentioned as he was leaving that although he didn’t sweat that much, his shirt still stunk from the hugs from the other PAX members.

    Marv had to take a little detour pre run.  Seems his alarm did not go off on time and he did not have time to take care of business.  Luckily he lived close enough to the AO to head back home and meet the folks along the way for the rest of the run.

    There was one angry lady this morning out on the route.  As we approached Patterson and Grove, the five milers heard quite a commotion.  An elderly lady was yelling at someone (not sure who), with and expletive laced diatribe.  Seeing a group of runners pass, she quickly redirected her ire towards us.  She is apparently not too enamored with runners, and she made that very clear.   I was a bit worried that when Swirly came upon her an altercation might ensue.   Swirly seemed fine, not sure if the lady is still ambulatory…

    TYA OUT

  • Is it Raining?

    Four soldiers posted for a Wednesday afternoon run on Hillcrest, including one Wednesday run FNG (EF Hutton).

    The Thang:

    Mayhem ensued.  Circle K ran three small circles then a loop to Mary Mumford and back, Swirly did 9 small loops, and EF and TYA did 3 large and 1 small loop.

    NMM

    The story of the day was the weather.  An hour prior to the workout, a storm rolled in and the temperature dropped from the mid 90’s to the high 70’s.  Rain held off for a majority of Circle K’s jaunt, but the rain was in full force for the run for all others.  The PAX really enjoyed the weather as it kept things cool for the whole run.  A short reprieve in the rain threatened the PAX, but it came back and keep all happy.  Post workout, we hung out at the top of Hillcrest in the pouring rain and got a bunch of strange looks from the passersby.  Honestly, it was as pleasure to hang out in the rain afterwards.  I felt like a little kid again, standing in the rain and splashing in the puddles.  Just one other benefit from working out in all weather…

    Circle K took the back roads for the trip to Mary Mumford.  On the way back he opted for Cary Street.   Cary Street Road (WTF RVA) is fine until most of the way until you hit a section which is street or deep woods…Circle K survived, but learned his lesson and will never again try the Cary option back to the flag.

    BRR is less than three months away…time to hit the hills gents.

    TYA OUT

  • Elevens on Half Pipe Hill

    Two veterans and one FNG planted the VSF and bravely moseyed down the road towards the Half Pipe Hill.  One other veteran missed the PAX and ran on his own.  This is what occurred.

    Mosey down and up the Half Pipe Hill for COP.

    COP

    • SSH
    • Imperial Walkers
    • Don Quixotes
    • Merkins
    • Mountain Climbers
    • LBCs
    • Freddie Mercuries

    Elevens at Half-Pipe Hill – 1 Merkin, down and up the hill – 10 Burpees.  Continue until 10 Merkins and one Burpee.

    Mosey to school playground

    Pull-ups – 25

    Mosey to school

    Balls to the wall/Plank to the wall – Hold balls to the wall for 15 seconds.  Walk out to Plank to the wall holding for 15 seconds.  Walk back to Balls to the wall holding for 10 seconds then walk to plank to the wall holding for 10 seconds.

    Plank-O-Rama – Get in plank position

    • Alternating Carolina Dry Docks/Merkins – 10 IC – hold Plank
    • Rotate to side plank – hold – after about 20 seconds, drop hip and raise – 10 IC – hold plank
    • Rotate back plank– Hold – after about 20 – Inverted APD – 10 IC – hold plank
    • Rotate to other side plank – hold – after about 20 seconds, drop hip and raise – 10 IC – hold plank
    • Rotate to plank position – hand released merkins – 10 IC – hold plank
    • Rotating elbow planks – 10 IC – hold plank
    • Mountain Climbers – 20 IC – hold plank and then recover
    • Lower to 2 inches.  Hold for 10 seconds
    • Press back up to plank position.  Hold for 10 seconds and recover.

    Mosey back to VSF

    Numberama, Name-o-rama, Announcements.

    YHC took us out.

    NMS

    When YHC pulled into the Pole Green Elementary parking lot, Wheelie was the only one there.  A few minutes later, FNG Scully arrived.  He had been looking for the PAX in the back of the park but pulled into the parking lot just before we began.  Because both Wheelie and Scully are talented runners, YHC thought, “What would SAAB do?” and decided to try elevens at the Half Pipe Hill.

    Two weeks ago, Circle K introduced the PAX to Half Pipe Hill where he had us do Jacobs Ladder which meant the  PAX was going to take 5 trips down and up the hill.  To try elevens on the hill would take us down and up the hill 10 times.  This was a tall order but YHC felt that the PAX was up to the challenge.   All PAX members performed outstanding.  Because of the size of the hills, the elevens took longer than expected.

    After YHC arrived home, Emoji had sent a message saying he arrived at the AO a few minutes late.  After running around the school trying to find the PAX, he decided to run on his own.  He left before we arrived back at the VSF.  YHC decided to count Emoji as part of the PAX for the following reason.  The PAX circled up on the other side of Half Pipe Hill which is on the other side of the woods and we did not emerge from this location until close to 6:05 AM.  It would have been very difficult for Emoji to ever find the PAX in the park that he is not that familiar with.  Even though Emoji was gone before the PAX arrived for COT, he does received Big Data credit but is now the definition of LIFO.

    Welcome Scully!  For an FNG, your performance today was impressive.

    Announcements

    • C-Ville needs you! – Labrat is looking for members of the Pax to take a leadership role and help establish that AO.  See him for details.  It’s a great AO.  Not a single hill or anything resembling one.
    • New F3RVA website launching July 1.  See the new site for future backblasts and announcements.
    • Upchuck has a golf tournament on August 8 for a good cause.
    • VQ week is coming up soon!  Lot’s of open spots.  If you haven’t Q’ed, sign up before Corporate instates the VQ draft.
    • Lockjaw will Q the July HDHH.  It will be a proper send off for Toga.  More information to follow.
    • ReeseStrong 5K – Saturday, September 16 in Mechancsville.  Registration starts soon.  See Phonics for more information.

    Phonics Out!

  • The tale of the lost Weinke

    Eight hard chargers posted for a soupy day at the Circus.  Here’s how it went down:

    Circle up in lot for warmup COP: SSH, hillbillies, imperial walkers, russian soldiers, scorpion kicks, T stretch

    15 min AMRAP: 10 kb squats, 15 deadlifts, 20 WWII sit-ups

    10 min EMOM: 20 kb swings odd minutes and 10 burpees even minutes

    12 min AMRAP: 10 close grip merkins w hands on the bell (these are awful), 5 kb shoulder presses ea hand, 10 leg raises

    Mary: 10 skull crushers and 10 Alabama Honeymoons

    COT and Attila took us out

    NMM: Let’s start with the issue of who had the Q.  This workout can be a bit like Batteau with nobody signing up till the last minute.  YHC logged on to signup only to discover that HoneyDo had indeed stepped up.  As YHC’s weinke was already prepared, YHC politely consulted with HoneyDo to see if he was OK giving up the Q.  Without hesitation, HoneyDo cracked another brew and gave up the Q.  Enter Johnsonville who waited till YHC started the 0530 speech to claim that he was in fact the one with the Q.  There was a second where the two rams were about to go at it, but British style manners prevailed.

    Toga: “No really, you take the Q.”

    JVille: “Oh no, I couldn’t possibly, you should do it.”

    Sad!

    Once we got to work, everyone kept up a good pace with Chum Bucket and Offshore lapping everyone on the AMRAPs.  White Deer and Johnsonville even managed a call and response of the rear end horn section.  Chili Fest at Denny’s is hard on F3!

    Re the title, yes, there was a weinke.  It was lost somewhere in the middle of the workout, and YHC could not find it in his short pockets or in the small area we were using for the AO.  The document revealed itself towards the end of the workout.  Was it stuck to YHC in some inconvenient location, did White Deer hide it in hopes of avoiding some of the workout, did Conspiracy return it during the COT with nobody noticing?  The world may never know.

    Stay Classy,

    Toga

  • Beast Bound and Down, Loaded Up and Truckin

    18 thought the rain was over and thought today would be a dry workout.  The humidity and this workout proved all wrong….

    COP – SSH, IW, Don Quixote

    Mosey back to the soccer field for the Beast:  Monkey Humpers, WWII Situps, Burpees, Copperhead Squats, Heels to Heaven, Scorpions

    Onward to the tennis courts for the Triple Check: Plerkins and running the length of the court.

    Back to School: Lindseys – 30 Donkey Kicks, Bear Crawl out to the track and 10 Mountain Climbers, Mosey back and repeat til the split is 10/30 (increase and decrease by 5).

    Quick Mary – APDs, Dealers Choice for American Hammers (Marv), Merkins (Tu-Can)

    Back to the flag where Circle K took us out.

    NMS:

    The Beast kicked off with a little mumble chatter this morning, but by round 3 (burpees) silence came over the Pax.  (Note to self, open with burpees earlier in the Beast).

    It also appears that Keymaster carries his dog in the back of his wagon.  Circle K is a big fan of large dogs.  K9 + Colbeer = Circle K nirvana.

    We may be on to a K9 friendly concept Q.  Perhaps Labrat will run with that…

    Announcements:

    • C-Ville needs you! – Labrat is looking for members of the Pax to take a leadership role and help establish that AO.  See him for details.  It’s a great AO.  Not a single hill or anything resembling one.
    • New F3RVA website launching July 1.  See the new site for future backblasts and announcements.
    • Upchuck has a golf tournament on August 8 for a good cause.
    • VQ week is coming up soon!  Lot’s of open spots.  If you haven’t Q’ed, sign up before Corporate instates the VQ draft.
    • Lockjaw will Q the July HDHH.  It will be a proper send off for Toga.  More information to follow.

    Lockjaw

  • Donkey Kick This!

    6 regulars brought their kettle bells, YHC planted the SF and then all engaged in a battle on this sunny and 70 (literally) morning.

    COP (all IC)

    20 SSHs, 10 merkins, 10 sit up presses, 10 merkins, 10 goblet squats with kbs, 10 merkins, 10 don quixotes, arm circles (10 / 5 – reverse), 10 merkins

    Donkey Kick This!

    Mosey to the wall and line up

    10 donkey kicks against the wall, lunge across the parking lot to exercise on the grass, exercise and side lunge back to the wall, repeat four times with these exercises

    • 15 halos each way
    • 30 double hand swings
    • 30 sit up presses
    • 30 overhead presses

    Jog around the bus loop forward. Jog around the bus loop backward. 20 merkins IC.

    20 donkey kicks against the wall, walk across the parking lot with kettle bell held high to exercise on the grass, exercise and walk back to the wall with kettle bell held high, repeat four times with these exercises

    • 15 halos each way
    • 30 double hand swings
    • 30 sit up presses
    • 30 overhead presses

    Mosey to the curb and line up. Overhead curb presses as the first three run the bus loop. Sit-up presses as the last three run the bus loop.

    Mosey to the flag. 20 merkins IC.

    Numberama, Namerama. Opus took us out.

    NMS

    YHC almost forgot that he was leading today until he checked the Q sign-up sheet a few days ago. The DaVille area Q’s have been filled for weeks and this was the only open one. The PAX was ready to get to work right from the beginning.

    The monthly challenge continues to inform the workouts as merkins were incorporated at various points. Some mumble chatter spoke of placing kettle bells on our backs as a way to increase the pain. That didn’t happen but the idea is intriguing. Others spoke of trying SSHs with kettle bells. That didn’t happen either but that idea is very intriguing…

    Helix garnered the respect of the PAX as he continued with his 35 lb kb after using 25 lbs until recently. Helix challenged all of the PAX by his example with form and weight. Iron sharpens iron and the PAX took note of his fighting spirit throughout the morning.

    Donkey kicks always add fuel to the fire and that was the case again this morning. YHC led a similar workout a few months ago and was encouraged to see that the PAX was clearly stronger this morning after months of work. Indeed, the workouts do not get easier but we get stronger as we engage.

    No Idea put forward a valiant effort and continues to show how unwavering commitment leads to growth. He celebrate his one month anniversary this morning and the PAX all noted how far he has come. There are millions of excuses to drop off the F3 planet but those who choose to stay in the fight receive the benefits of fitness, fellowship and faith.

    YHC is about to leave for a cross-country trip and he is going to miss the PAX while away. YHC will be looking for workouts along the way but may will most likely be posting for mini-workouts at rest stops and at camp sites (lots of picnic tables for step ups, skull crushers and derkins!).

    It is always an honor to serve through leading the workout. Thank you to the PAX for making this morning another memorable morning with F3RVA!

    The Carpenter