Category: Richmond, VA

  • Is this the Real Life, Is this Just Fantasy?

    Twenty-two regulars + 1 FNG were caught in the landslide that is Dogpile for a brief 60 minute escape from reality.  The PAX gathered around the flag for much mumblechatter before embarking on our journey.  Saturday seemed like a great day for a slaughter starter, so we mosey’d to the field for the start.  Here’s how it went, more or less…

    COP
    SSH – 20
    Burpee – 1
    Merkin – 10
    Burpee – 2
    Copperhead Squat – 10
    Burpee – 3
    LBCs – 20
    Burpee – 4
    Werkins – 10
    Burpee – 5
    Ball Dippers – 10
    Burpee – 6
    Flutter Kicks – 20
    Burpee – 7
    Hand Release Merkins – 10
    Burpee – 8
    Imperial Walkers – 10
    Burpee – 9
    American Hammers – 10?
    Burpee – 10

    The Thang
    Mosey to the VITA trail for some station fun.  One lap around the VITA trail, stopping at each station for a set of exercises.  Exercises rotated through merkins, jump squats, WWII situps.  10x at each station.  Reverse plank call by Flatline after a lap while the PAX convened.

    Quick stroll towards the rusty cage with a stop a the poles for a pole smoker indian run.  Hold 6 inches while one PAX member completes 2 pole smokers.

    Work our way over to the rusty cage for pull-ups and jerkins.  Partner up for 5,4,3,2,1 pull ups and 10,8,6,4,2 jerkins.

    Saunter towards the amphitheatre for a quick round of 11s.  Merkins & WWII situps.  Finish up with a round of mary including Freddy Mercuries (with singing) and LBCs.

    Race back to the flag for high fives and a greeting by two pseudo-pax members itching for a little breakfast.

    Moleskin
    Today was a great day to open our eyes, look up to the sky and see what a brilliant day that was created for us.  Welcome to FNG Hitchhicker and thanks to the PAX for being so welcome to a Saturday morning Splinter Q.

    Given the extra time Dogpile allows us, YHC decided to try to bring the pain back to COP.  One PAX member figured out the pattern after the first set of burpees.  Well done, a pattern indeed.

    Flashdance, not being a poor boy but still desiring sympathy, on numerous occasions requested arm circles to no avail.  Glad you still retained the gift of gab throughout the workout.

    There was a breakout group during Mary, I believe lead by Swirly, broke out in a tribute to Freddy Mercury.  YHC attempted to retain cadence amongst the rising chorus but it was a challenge.  Kudos to the harmonics of that group.

    We all know that things in life are easy come, easy go.  Sometimes we are high, sometimes we are low.  That’s the great thing about F3.  Every day is a different challenge, with a different leader.  Hey, any way the wind blows, doesn’t really matter to YHC.  Let’s go out into the day and tackle whatever is put in front of us.

    Poetry in motion.  Splinter out.

    Announcements
    Fudd soiree next week.  Respond to his BB.  Duet being prepared with McRib.
    Reese Strong next weekend.  Cornhole, bands, tons of fun.  See Phonics.
    Clown car host needed for CVill on 6/17.  Confirm with Lab Rat.

  • Thanks Gumbo

    8 regulars gathered for a Rosie Q at Twin Team that did not include the twin team hill.  Plenty of other fun ensued.

    Mosey to the front of the bus loop for a warm up and to make sure McRib child find us.  SSHx20, DQx10, Arm circles x 15, (McRib joins) SSHx10, IWx10, FKx20.

    Sally – play Flower by Moby.  Bring Sally up,  up merican, Bring Sally down, down merican.  

    Mosey to the field behind the school to cool off in the grass with some Rosalitas.

    Nicole/Cindy hybrid – We’ll call her Charlene.  Around the track behind the school – 5 pull ups in corner 1, 10 merkins in corner 2, 15 squats in corner 3 and 20 Freddie Mercuries in corner 4.  Run between corners.  Rinse and Repeat until Q says stop.  15 minutes today.

    Mosey to the field beside the school for Lindsey.  CDD and Flutter Kicks 30/10 in the outfield, 25/15 at home plate – back and forth to 10/30.

    Back to the parking lot for Sally – 6 inches and Heels to heaven or Homer to Marge if you are from Mooresville.  Ring of Fire and 5 penalty burpees for everyone for the LIFO.

    COT, YHC took us out.

    NMM

    As usual, listening to the podcasts spawns ideas for a Q that hasn’t happened in a while.  Unfortunately none of the podcast PAX were around to appreciate it.  Gumbo’s talk of the ladies I have brought to F3 workouts reminded me that I need to bring them back. Those in attendance can thank him for the reintroduction of Sally, she was a crowd pleaser as always.  The Charlene took Cindy and added the running of Nicole.  She might be my new favorite.  Roxanne was lined up to visit but will have to wait for another day, maybe when the podcasters can participate.

    McRib is back on Hallsley time.  The Qs lately have been staying close to home to keep him in sight, hopefully we don’t head off campus anytime soon.  We revisited the SSH just so he could participate in a few today.  Honeymoon mentioned penalty burpees for LIFOs a few weeks ago so YHC decided to institute them for the day and see if it sticks.

    It’s been 2 years since YHC started with F3.  Lots of positive changes have occurred in that time both in my life and in those around me.  

    Announcements-

    • Charlottesville – Contact Honeydo and Lab Rat
    • BRR- Contact TYA
    • Fudd’s Party-Contact Fudd
    • VQ Week – Check the sign up sheet

    Great fun today men, thanks for the opportunity to lead.

    Everything’s coming up Rosie.

  • A Suboptimal KB Workout

    Seven (or was it eight?) PAX posted to the Circus for YHC’s virgin KB Q.  After a quick disclaimer that the workout may include dance-inspired exercises, the beatdown went something like this:

    The THANG:

    COP: Hammer Dance x20 IC, Don Quixote x10 IC, Windmill x20 IC, Men at Work x20 IC, Pickle Pounders x10 IC.  After each exercise, walkout Merkins OYO increasing from 1 to 5.

    Lindsay: Lunges and Merkins down the side of the school.

    Dora: Goblet squat, KB swings, Lawnmowers.  One partner exercises while the other jogs 20 ft to the ramp, crawl bear up the ramp, and jog back.

    Conveyor Belt: curls 5x each side, shoulder press 5x each side, upright rows 10x, KB bear crawl to next station.

    Merkin Ring of Fire.

    COT

    NMM:

    Welcome to the  June Merkin challenge!  By YHC’s count (not to be trusted), PAX completed 125 Merkins.

    Earthworm complained that there was too much running, despite walking all the 20 ft lengths in the Dora.  Johnsonville asked if this workout was optimized.  It was, but the objective function was to minimize WWII situps, with a constraint on a minimum number of Merkins.  YHC will need to incorporate multi-criteria optimization next time.

    Attila and YHC competed to see who could smell their gloves the furthest from their faces.  YHC’s gloves are soaking in Woolite in an effort to lose the next round.

    Krü continues to insist on finishing all reps during recovery periods, inspiring the other PAX to push themselves harder.  Tclaps!

    White Deer, Mudface, and Jville crushed the crawl bear.  The COP warmup must have gotten their juices flowing.  Their reward was more of the exercises during the Dora.

    Announcements:

    BRR runners and drivers needed – see TYA

    ReeseStrong (M Phonics) and Fudd party 6/10

    Crossover Clinic Moo & Brew 5k (Malpractice) 6/3

  • Lets go find some hills

    5 men greeted the early morning for a beatdown that went like this:

    Screw the COP and straight to plank for 25 merkins OYO.  Mosey about 1/4 to Half Pipe Hill for Jacobs Ladder.  1 merkin / run down hill and up other side to perform 5 American Hammer / Repeato increasing x5 American Hammers until reach 35.

    Mosey to softball field near dog park.  At Home Plate 10 merkins, run to right field to perform 10 merkins and 20 LBCs, run to centerfield to perform 10 merkins, 20 LBCs, 30 mountain climbers, run to left field to perform 10 merkins, 20 LBCs, 30 mountain climbers and 40 squats.  Return to Home Plate.

    Mosey to cross country course to run a couple more hills through the woods.  Continue mosey to baseball fields for ascending curb crawls with out the curb.  On sidewalk between fields, bear crawls across to perform 1 merkins.  Crawl bear back for 2 merkins.  Repeato until 10 merkins.

    Mosey to poles near main street.  Each PAX grab a pole and hold feet six inches.  First PAX member perform 5 pole smokers and run to end.  Repeato until all PAX have performed pole smokers.

    Mosey back 1/4  mile to front of school for Mary.  Each PAX calls and exercise.  Exercises included APD, UPright APD, Heels to Heaven, LBCs and Smurf Jacks.

    Short mosey back to VSF.

    Numberama, Namearama, YHC took us out with a quick prayer.

    NMS: Green Acres is huge and some of the PAX had not visited some of the areas towards to back of the park.  YHC has worked out many times at Green Acres, so off we went into the woods to find the hills and trails.  With that being said, we still have a lot to explore behind the baseball fields.  With talk of BRR heating up, YHC was in the mood for hills and the AO did not disappoint.  Half Pipe Hill is a SOB but all PAX crushed it, with Phonics leading the way.  Not much mumble chatter to report this morning but there was constant conversation about various topics.

    Circle K

  • AMRAP and Plerkins

    A lucky 21 came out to Mumford on a beautiful June morning. This is how it went down:

    COP – SSH, Merkins, Box Cutters, Don Qs, Imperial Walkers.

    Burpees up Westmoreland- Burpee at each tree up to Cary.

    Head to field for AMRAP Laps- AMRAP of a named  exercise then run length of field. Exercises were Merkins, Heels to Heaven, CDDs, WWII situps, Merkins again, Flutterkicks, Tuck Jumps.

    Burpees along Cary- Burpee for each tree. Lunge down Commonwealth to Tennis courts.

    Go length of courts – Bear Crawl and Lunge, then Crab Walk and backwards run. then sprint the courts.

    Triple Check- Plerkins and Run courts.

    Mosey to Basketball courts for Mary- American Hammers, Box Cutters, Alabama Prom Dates.

    Back to the flag. Viral took us out.

    NMS – Great Pax this morning. Mumblechatter was reduced with TYA leaving after the COP. Hope you feel better.

    Good to see some Kotters back at Mary including Pelosi 5.0 and fireman Ed. Viral was especially excited to have another Jets fan in the PAX, surely he will EH him into his local Jets-fan support group at some point.

    Merkin count was roughly 145 or so, your mileage may vary. A good start for the June monthly challenge.

    The Plerkins were a hit as always. They really are the perfect Triple Check pairing.

    Announcements – Fudd’s Party, F3 Cville. BRR is 3 months away.

    This is YHC’S 2nd 45Mom Q. Wanted to go back to where it all started for YHC 2 years ago this week. Here’s to many more with this great group of men.

     

  • Distracted wild animals

    5 runners posted at varied times and paces for some Wednesday Hill running action.

    THE THANG

    Standard Hillcrest Loops 1.67 each with a 3rd loop going to Virgina Ave to make 5 miles and a bonus round for those that had the time.

    Moleskin

    Wednesday hill running is coming back in vogue as the term BRR gets passed around the PAX( Please see the Back Blast below this one for more information)

    Honeydo, Swirly and TYA were all crushing it this afternoon. Lug Nut started early and was finishing off the Hills to head to the Shop Night to work on the race team latest creation and to fine tune the old reliable one(hmmm didn’t you blow the engine during the last race somewhere in the middle of Ohio -Keep forgetting the name of that track)

    YHC is happy to report that the month of May reintroduced miles to YHC’s legs, 47+ miles for the month. That’s the most distance YHC has had since the 2015 BRR. The knee seems to be cooperating this time.

    No bears were sighted during the run, but YHC did think that the hiking pole idea might be the most effect method of distracting a bear. The Doberman’s that YHC passed during one of the up hill segments appeared to be taken with the nearest fire hydrant. Avoiding two doberman’s has become a normal challenge of the Wednesday night activity on Hillcrest. The term F3 could stand for Flight,Fight or Finish, if the doberman’s suddenly become interested in the runner’s du jour.

    Bleeder out. Does someone have a band-aid?

  • Warriors & Bearways

    6 Regulars, 2 Kotters & 2 FNGs escaped the lure of the fartsack to challenge themselves with an SOJ beatdown that went something like this:

    THANG

    Mosey to inner track for COP (stay within sight of McRibb’s late arrival): SSH, Imperial Walkers, Copperhead Squats, Russian Soldiers, Merkins, LBCs, Crab Cakes, Bob & Weaves

    Mosey to end line of football field for The Golden State Warrior: In honor of #30 Steph Curry, The Golden State Warrior is a Beast modified to perform 5 exercises (rather than 6) at each of 6 stations for a total of 30 per round. Exercises were: SSHs, Copper head squats, Merkins, 2 count Mtn Climbers, Squat Jumps, Hello Dollies

    Mosey to bleachers for 2 rounds of Chiabattas: 4 min of Dips + 4 min of Step Ups

    Mosey to base of hill below tennis courts for Bearway to Heaven: 3 PAX admitted to be VT alumni and/or VT fans, so to pay for the sins of the VT Basketball program for letting Steph Curry go to Davidson, we did a Bearway Burpee Ladder: up to 3, repeat, back down

    Mosey back to SF

    3 min of Mary: Alabama Prom Dates, Capital Letters (Spell “GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS”), Rosalitas, American Hammers

    COT: McRibb took us out

    Naked Moleskin:

    Welcome to FNGs OJ & Clam Shell! Clam Shell found us on his own after meeting a NC F3 PAX member at a work conference in St. Louis. OJ is an ultimate frisbee player from the University of Buffalo, and was clearly holding back on kicking all of the PAX’s behinds.

    The New Market clown car was missed today, but a PAX of 10 is still impressive. Great to see Aisle 5 & Monkey Wrench back at it this morning, though YHC almost confused Aisle 5 for a Home Depot employee with his back support vest on.

    The Beast…even an abbreviated Beat…is still a soul crusher. Way to bang it out, boys. We used the full length of the football field, maybe that was the difference. The paths created by our feet running on the dew and cleared spots of the stations was a great view.

    YHC is still gobsmacked that there were only 3 of 10 PAX members who claimed to be VT fans.

    Announcments:

    June 26 – VQ week
    Charlottesville Launch – still ongoing
    DK is leading a 2.0 friendly workout this Saturday at GridIron

  • Prime Number Day

    14 (not a prime number) men took the red pill this morning and posted on ultimate prime day 5-31-2017 (all prime numbers), including one F3RVA RAMM Gears regular who was breaking the seal on the bootcamp for the first time, it may have been sunny and 70 in our minds but it was definitely thick and humid on the ground, and this is how it went down…

    Mosey to the circle in front of the Amphitheater for COP, including:

    • Don Quixotes (super slow) x5 IC
    • SSH x31 IC
    • Copperhead Squats x17 IC
    • Tempo Merkins (also nice and slow) x 5 IC
    • LBC x31 IC
    • Flutter Kicks x17 IC
    • 5 WWII situps OYO

    Mosey to the side of the Carillon for Prime Number Touch a Tree.

    • Round 1 – run to 5 trees and perform the following exercises:
      • 1st Tree = 5 Burpees
      • 2nd Tree = 5 Burpees + 11 Merkins
      • 3rd Tree = 5 Burpees + 11 Merkins + 17 WWII situps
      • 4th Tree = 5 Burpees + 11 Merkins + 17 WWII situps + 23 2-count mountain climbers
      • 5th Tree = 5 Burpees + 11 Merkins + 17 WWII situps + 23 2-count mountain climbers + 31 single-count SSHs
      • Plank-o-rama for the six
    • Round 2 – run to 5 different trees and repeat the above except substitute jump-squats for Burpees and CDDs for merkins. Al Gore variety for the six

    Mosey to the flower pots in front of the Carillon for a Triple Check (3 is a prime number!), including Balls to the Flower Pots, Box Cutters and run up the steps around the back of the tower and back down.

    Mosey to the circle in front of the amphitheater and partner up (2 is also a prime number!).  Face your partner and get in plank position between the curbs for Noah’s Ark — front pair perform 11 merkins and then run around the circle to the back of the PAX.  When they reach the back, the next pair starts the merkins and so on.  The PAX holds plank throughout.

    Form a circle in the grass area and perform 23 WWII situps OYO, then a little six-inches and Dolly Ring of Fire – PAX holds six inches and take turns doing 10 Hello Dollies (yep, the Prime Number theme fell apart — old habit going with 10 – and it just freaking hit me…DAMN!).  Time is up, let’s head back to the Shovel Flag for COT, number-rama, name-a-rama and Hardywood took us out today.

    Announcements:

    • VQ week – June 26 — sign up.  If you need a Q-partner or Q-mentor to bounce ideas off of, reach out.
    • Fudd’s Summer Soiree (5 p.m. June 10th) – RSVP here:  http://f3nation.com/2017/05/15/pre-blast-summer-soiree-at-fudds-house/
    • Cornhole and Rock N Roll – also June 10th – see Phonics for details
    • Moo and Brew — http://f3nation.com/2017/05/27/preblast-june-3-moo-brew-5k-benefiting-crossover-healthcare-ministry-redskins-training-camp-scotts-addition/
    • C-ville continues – HoneyDo is heading up Saturday and may have room for 1 or 2 more.  RVA also has weeks 5 (June 17 — needs a Q Leader) and 6 (June 24 – Lab Rat has the Q).  Jump in if you can.

    NMS

    Strong work today by the PAX and great to have No Tools out for his first bootcamp beatdown.  I think he was calling for his bike after the first round of touch-a-tree.  Way to push it brother.  Thanks for indulging the all prime numbers today, and for pointing out that we skipped 13 in our sequence of counts for touch-a-tree (I’m looking at you Lab Rat).  I wanted to get over 100 WWIIs.  Also, thanks for not pointing out my brain fart with the 10 Dollies in the ROF…habit.

    Thanks for letting me lead this morning me.  It is always an honor, a pleasure and a lot of fun!

    Til next time…No more Gumbo for you!

  • Exploration of the Atlee Trail

    Eleven locals stepped onto the grounds of Atlee High School for beautiful and humid Tuesday beatdown.  YHC had an unrealistic goal of what could be accomplished during the 45 minutes.  This is what occurred:

    COP – All IC

    • SSH
    • Don Quijotes
    • Arm Circles – 10 big, 5 small, reverso
    • Backwards lunge with front kick
    • Merkins
    • LBCs
    • Friddie Mercuries

    Mosey to the Chickahominy football field

    Triple Sprints – Split into groups of 3.  Two members stays on one side of field.  The other person goes to the other side.  One person sprints, tags the other member and then does 5 burpees.  The other member then sprints back and tags the 3rd member.  Each member will sprint 5 times.  After all have finished, the PAX then bear crawled to the middle.  After meeting in the middle, the PAX crab walked to the side.

    Mosey to the playground

    Pull ups – In teams of 2, complete 50 pullups.

    Mosey along the Atlee cross country trail to the bottom of the road.

    Triple Check – SSH, Merkins, run to top of hill, touch gate, and return. – Because of time, after one cycle, YHC called an audible and the PAX returned to the flag.

    COT

    YHC took us out.

    NMS

    There has been much talk in Mechanicsville about the size of the Green Acres AO at Pole Green Park.  We forget how large the Atlee HS/Chickahominy MS/Cool Spring ES AO.  After completing the triple sprints and the pull-ups, YHC led the PAX along the Atlee cross country team trail to an access road that runs along the football field.  This trail was built by the cross country team of the early 90s that included Anchovy.  YHC’s memory of the trail was that it was much shorter than it actually was.  By the time the ½ mile trail along with the ¼ mile jog to the trail was completed, it was 6:05 AM and the PAX was at least ½ mile from the SF.  Not only did YHC have to call an audible after one cycle, he also did not allow time to complete several other planned activities.  YHC’s poor time management was to the delight of many of the PAX members who were not looking forward to 2 more triple check cycles.

    Great job to the PAX today for staying with YHC during the long moseys.  Yard Sale told YHC that he was determined not to fall behind.  Mission accomplished!  YHC was also impressed that his 2.0 E.T. stayed with his dad the entire time.

    It was great seeing Anchovy and Sticky for their one year anniversary with F3.  Congratulations to you both!!

    Announcements

    • The Mechanisville Q Takeover is coming to an AO near you the week of June 5th.
    • ReeseStrong’s Cornhole & Rock ‘N Roll event at Marty’s Grill in Mechanicsville – June 10.  The event benefits the ReeseStrong Childhood Cancer Foundation.  The first band starts at 11 am.  The cornhole tournament starts at 12:30 PM.  See Phonics for more information.
    • Fudd’s summer soiree (aka stock the bar) – June 10th.  RSVP to the pre-blast if you can make it — http://f3nation.com/2017/05/15/pre-blast-summer-soiree-at-fudds-house/
    • VQ Week starts June 26.  Sign up now before all of the slots are gone.

    Phonics out!

  • PreBlast – June Monthly Challenge – Merkins

    Since Opus and YHC lead the PAX again in the monthly challenge, we have decided to bring back Merkins for the June Challenge. The goal is 5000 but let’s go for higher!

    Get after PAX and see y’all in the gloom!!