Category: Richmond, VA

  • Post-Holiday Ab Blaster

    16 gloom warriors posted at NoToll this morning where the weather Sunny and 70 (as usual) with a little extra Humidity Sauce on the side.  The PAX showed up to work off some holiday excess and YHC was on a mission to put the monthly challenge goal in reach between this morning and tomorrow morning at W-Dog.  This is what went down…

    Mosey to the back parking lot for COP, which included SSHs, DQs (extremely slow), Copperhead Squats, Hillbillies (YHC tried his best to impersonate J-ville but there’s nothing like the real thing), LBCs and 25 WWII situps OYO.

    Mosey to the pavilion field and line up on the sideline for Black-jack with jump squats and WWII situps (last week’s SOT crew new the pain in store but as I believe Honeymoon said – at least the field is softer than the tennis courts at SOT). Plank-o-rama for the six.

    Mosey to the front field for a round of ascending 4-corners.  Start in corner #1 with 10 merkins, run to corner #2 and do 10 merkins and 20 WWII situps, run to corner #3 and do 10 merkins, 20 WWII situps and 30 single-count mountain climbers, run to corner #4 and do 10 merkins, 20 WWII situps, 30 mountain climbers and 40 single-count SSHs, run back to corner #1 and Al Gore for the six.

    Circle up on the field for a quick merkin ring of fire.

    Mosey back to the basketball courts for 5 WWII situps OYO (for an even 300) and a few minutes of mary with box cutters x20 IC and hello dolly x20 IC.

    2 minutes left and McRib just wanted to hug, so YHC obliged with 10 Burpees OYO and finish off with 1 minute of superman with some great vocals – 2x through the chorus.

    COT, number-rama, name-a-rama, announcements and YHC took us out.

    Announcements included:

    1. VQ week – June 26 – get on the schedule if you haven’t Q’d or try a new AO if you are a Q-regular
    2. 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/
    3. June 3 Moo and Brew for Crossover Healthcare (see Malpractice) — http://f3nation.com/2017/05/27/preblast-june-3-moo-brew-5k-benefiting-crossover-healthcare-ministry-redskins-training-camp-scotts-addition/
    4. June 10 Cornhole and Rock N Roll to benefit Reese Strong – see Phonics
    5. C-ville launch is in full swing and the men of C-ville need a little less Swirly, TYA and Bleeder in their lives, so get a clown car and get to C-ville.  Honeydo has this weekend and has 2 spots left (maybe?).  Roanoke has June 10, but then RVA has June 17 and June 24, so plan a day trip…BODOS and Rank shoes are just two of the many benefits for making the trip.
    6. If you have an eagle scout, Flatline says there is a FREE night at Southside Speedway _______
    7. Prayers out for EF Hutton’s father and Lockjaw’s father-in-law…we are thinking about you guys.

    NMS –

    Great work today men.  The gloom was thick and the sweat was rolling.  Great to see BFG and Shakedown posting regularly.  BFG was killing the Blackjack today – I see you working BFG – EB!  Great to see the New Market clown car continuing to roll strong…apparently Memorial Day is a sleep day in New Market.  And McRib appears to have cracked the Hallsley time zone issue.

    Some good mumblechatter today men.  And, everyone crushed the 4-corners.  Great work men.  An honor and pleasure to lead as always!

    No more Gumbo for you!

  • PreBlast – 2.0 Friendly Workout @ GridIron this weekend

    YHC is a single dad this weekend but doesn’t want that to keep him from posting to a workout…so why not Q a 2.0 Friendly workout? YHC is bringing both of his 2.0’s, so he could use a backup Q in case The Chicken Whisperer or Flying Squirrel can’t hang. Any takers?

    Looking forward to it!

  • Fist Full of Dollars

    Eleven gathered in the grey pre-dawn darkness for this week’s iteration of Spider Run.  The PAX gathered near the commons, asked who had Q, heard the plan and then contemplated quickly driving over to Heartbreak for an alternative choice.  Nonetheless, here’s what transpired.

    Warm Up
    – 1 mile.  Wander down to the golf course, head up Ridgeway, left on Roselawn and meet at the bottom of Towana

    The Route
    – Hill repeats up Towana.  Run up for 1 minute then recover back to the bottom of Towana in 1:45.  Repeat 8x.
    – Final loop up Gateway and around by the football stadium.  A few took an extra loop around the lake.

    Moleskin
    YHCs watch had it at 5 miles.  Your miles may vary.  Hill repeats continue to be a crowd favorite amongst the Spider Run regulars.  Two Can questioned his return to Spider Run this week, Fudd contemplated leaving and going to Heartbreak, Bleeder’s smile turned upside down when YHC announced we would be staying together today.  Singer wanted to get a head start today but YHC wouldn’t let him.  Head starts would do no good today.

    Lug Nut continues to unfortunately just miss the PAX upon departure from the Commons.  Perhaps this is a well timed excuse for the Nut to pursue his own route.  YHC is very thankful that Lug Nut announced the football stadium was open today.  We will have to keep an eye out to see if this is a trend.  If so, perhaps we will discover a Spider Run workout hated even more than hill repeats.

    The entire PAX cruised through 8 repeats this morning.  That is except Fudd.  Upon descending #5 YHC noticed Fudd was carrying a fist full of leaves.  When we got to the bottom Fudd disappeared into the woods, resulting in a miss of leg #6.  Fudd reappeared for #7, sans fist full of leaves.

    Bleeder and Two Can stole the show on #7 and #8.  Bleeder led the pack on #7, leaning into the hill and crushing it.  Two Can attempted the same on #8 but flamed out near the top.  Way to push it guys!

    Swirly was very astute to recognize that our recovery time used to be 2 minutes.  YHC dropped it to assess the impact.  By all accounts it was successful.  Keep pushing it guys.

    Announcements
    – Respond to Fudd if you can make his party.  He promises to have plenty of sausage.  Two Can will be swiping to even the numbers.
    – Mechanicsville takeover next week.  They may take over the Q but don’t let them show you up!
    – VQ week end of June.  Take the opportunity to Q somewhere you have never Q’d before.

    Splinter out.

  • Detention and a Hard Working Cockroach

    A magnificent seven with a plus one posted for a beautiful morning at Heartbreak Ridge.  Hilarity ensued as we engaged in the following:

    Mosey around parking lot to warmup COP: SSH, Imperial Walkers, Don Quixote, Merkins, meet our temporary mascot (more on this later)

    Mosey to field for intervals= 15 secs sprint, 45 secs mosey: repeato x10

    Mosey to pull-up bars for: 7 pull-ups, 15 froggers, 10 flutter kicks, WWII sit-ups while waiting for the pull-up bars: repeato x3

    Mosey to dip bars for: 7 jerkins, 10 SLOW heals to heaven: repeato x3

    Mosey to the Hill of Eternal Pleasure for 10-12 (number being debated) sprints up the hill.

    Mosey back to parking lot for 10 burpees in cadence and single leg APDs.

    YHC took us out

    NMM:  It’s always a pleasure to see the bright and shining faces of a strong PAX waiting to see what’s going to happen at the AO.  In this instance, the special surprise was the bright and shining carapace of our newest mascot hereafter known as Lunchroom.  Our six legged buddy saddled up next to Honeydo and then moved to the center of the ring to take the Q.  Ever the shy one, Lunchroom suffered from stage fright and moved back to the outer circle to finish the exercises with Garbage Plate.  For the life of me, YHC can’t understand why we didn’t immediately break into a round of Dying Cockroach, but maybe that would have been mean considering our guest.

    Speaking of cockroaches and their knack for not letting anything stop them, Kru made some comment about coming back and completing all of his runs up The Hill of Eternal Pleasure after the workout.  YHC hardly heard this due to the sound of everyone sucking wind, and little thought was given to the statement.  Guess who went back to finish his hill sprints after the COT.., that’s right, it was KRU!  YHC has seen people do monthly challenge reps after a workout and nut jobs like Sippy Cup and Saab run home, but YHC has never seen someone head back to the AO to get in their reps.  Detention well served!

    Announcements:

    • Malpractice has a fundraising 5k in the works.  Someone please post the link.
    • See Honeydo if you can clown car to CVille this Saturday.
    • There may be an over under on how long YHC can muster a Hardywood’esque positive personality when posting in Nashville.

    Stay Classy,

    Toga

  • One PAX follows instructions, the other PAX… has Swirly

    28 strong Converged at the Belle Isle parking lot for a special Memorial Day beatdown. A great mix of Davillians, SOJ’ers, and West Enders all got after it.  Weather was 66 and sunny with ample humidity to get the PAX sweating.  Here is how it went down:

    COP on Brown’s Island.  SSH, Merkins, LBCs, Don Qs, Helicopter.  Split up PAX into 2 groups.  Honeydo took the first group and Swirly had the 2nd group.

    Pax 1:  Mosey back to parking lot.  3 Rounds of Donkey kicks at top of hill on the brick wall and Mtn climbers at the bottom, Start with 10 and increase by 10 up to 30 for each.  Pass Q to EF Hutton.  3 rounds of step ups on curbs for 1 min, between 10 Merkins at each corner of space.

    Pass to Circle K for Jacobs Ladder.  Merkins from 1 to 7 up and down the hill towards North Bank trail.  McRib served up a Lazy Dora- 100 Merkins, 200 LBCs, 300 Squats.

    Pass Q to Spit.  PAX goes to Belle Isle footbridge. Start at 5 WWII Situps, up to gate increase WWII count by 5, repeato up and back to 25.  Mosey back to parking lot.  Meet up with 2nd pax.

    2nd PAX – Swirly took PAX to steps on Browns Island.  Dips and Derkins? up and down stairs.  Then Triple check, Burpee shuffle, Polar bears and WWII situps, steal YHC’s idea and do Donkey Kicks on brick wall.

    Combined PAX meets up and runs up hill (Mountain) to Virginia War Memorial.  American Hammers and Ring of Fire.  COT moment of silence and back down the hill for Numberama and Nameorama.

    NMS – YHC had been texting with Corporate last night to see about dividing the PAX depending on numbers who posted.  From there we were supposed to Hot Potato Q after we split at the COP.  YHC’s group kept the Hot Potato Q moving until the PAX met up to tackle the hill for the War Memorial.  Apparently Swirly was having too much fun serving up a beatdown to pass his Q on, to nobody’s surprise.

    All the PAX were able to experience the Donkey Kicks on the brick wall.  Several PAX almost flipped over while trying to DK with their hands well below their feet.  Most found the preferred method was to grab a bunch of grass to keep their hands from slipping.

    Many PAX were able to discover “goodies” while on the ground in the parking lot.  Glass, dead animals, and cigarette butts were found but the winner was a diaper.

    Great to see 28 out with a lot of RVA regulars out of town this weekend.  When we did this last year Belle Isle we had 12 PAX.  Amazing to see how F3RVA continues to grow 3 years in.

    Flatline swung by on his way to work.  Ironically his work attire of scrubs is more gloom appropriate than his normal attire when posting.  ETs was a blast as always with some interesting discussion of novel ways to stave off a bear attack.

    Finishing up at the War Memorial is a small way to honor those who died in service of this wonderful country.  Be sure to remind your kids what this holiday is all about.

    Silent Assassin signing off.

     

     

  • The river runneth over

    6 stalwarts posted on a Sunday morning for a holiday weekend run.

    The Thang:

    7 or 10 mile options this am.

    NMM

    Out of respect for Lab Rat (and the trails), we decided to stay off the trails because of the recent excess of rain in the RVA area.  Given that, YHC decided that we would hit the access road next to the river and then do a few laps around Belle Isle and then take Canal street back to the pump house.  Good plan?  Except, the access road next to the river was a few feet under water and in not such good shape for a morning jog.  Plan C.  Take Riverside drive to Belle and go from there.

    Plan C worked.  Although the streets are a poor substitute for the trails, Riverside drive is a pretty good road to run on.  The road was clear the whole way and we then took the bridge down and across to Belle Isle.  The first group led by Honeydo with Bleeder, Pucker, and Helix then ascended the stupidly steep hill near tredegar, headed to canal street and made their way back to the pump house parking lot.  Reported mileage was in the 7 mile range.

    Saab and I headed back over the T. Pottersfield bridge, to the flood wall (yes Circle K, TYA found the flood wall successfully) back over the bridge, along the canal, up the stupidly steep hill, and then up to canal street to head back to Pump House.

    YHC had a hard time crossing T. Pottersfield this morning.  The river was raging and while I was running forward, the river was crossing under me at 90 degree angle pretty rapidly.  I got dizzy really quickly.  I tried to concentrate on the bridge just in front of me, but could not help but see the raging river.  For those who have been on a cruise and tried to run on a treadmill while aboard, It was a very similar experience.  Your body is going in one direction and your mind sees the world moving in an incongruent way.  Very disorienting.  Thankfully, the bridge is pretty short and  recovered really quickly.

    Kotters to Bleeder for the Sunday run.  It has been a while, but Bleeder looked strong out there.  Pucker was also out after a brief hiatus.  Pucker and I discussed our mutual desire that Nashville wins the Stanley Cup.  In Boston sports, it seems to come down to who you hate less.  Nashville only has one or two players that we are required to hate being from Boston, so our routing interest lies there this time around.  Go PREDS, or more accurately, please don’t let the Pittsburg Penguins and Crosby win another cup.

    TYA OUT

  • An extended Wednesday run

    4 runner arrived at the run at four different times.  All PAX saw each other, but only two ran together.

    The Thang

    3 loops on the longer hillcrest loop.

    NMM:

    Last Wednesday was a busy day of the PAX.  I had a 630 appointment, Bleeder and Lug had to leave early, Swirly was the only one that had the appointed time free for the run.  Despite our scheduling difficulties, we all decided a run was in order on the hills.  Lug and Bleeder were the first two to arrive and the first two to start.  YHC arrived about 5 minutes into their run and staredt after them.  Swirly caught us at the start of his run and the end or ours.

    NEVER, AND I MEAN NEVER, try to catch up and pass Bleeder.  The dude is one stubborn SOB.  After the first loop I was a minute or two behind Bleeder and Lug.  In the first downhill, I caught and passed Lug.  I knew Bleeder was aware I was coming and that he would speed up.  Hence, I sped up as well.  After the second uphill he was in my sights and I was slowly gaining on him.  Once he realized I was close, his pace increased again.  He had a goal to make it to the top of the third hill until I caught him.  Mission accomplished Bleeder.  I laid down a 9:20 mile in the hills of hillcrest (most of it uphill) trying to unsuccessfully catch him. As I said, he is a stubborn and competitive SOB. Nice job Bleeder.

    Lug got lost on his second or third lap and got the opportunity to hit a few of the hills twice on that go round.  Swirly had a good run and knocked out his three laps alone.  As YHC is well aware, doing the hills alone sucks.  Just having someone else out there makes it much easier.  Hopefully our schedules will mesh better in the future.

    BRR is now only 103 days out.  Time to start hitting the hills gents. Time put in now makes the hills that much easier during the event.

    Shout out to EF Hutton who hit the hillcrest roads by himself later in the week.  Good to pop the hillcrest cherry of another PAX member.

    TYA OUT

  • No EW/WD, Let’s Call an Audible

    The rain has stopped, and the weather was perfect.  Seven strong redwoods posted for a Memorial Day weekend Gridiron.  Here is how it went down:

    • Warm-up
      • 25 SSH
      • 10 merkins
      • 20 Freddy Mercuries
      • 20 Russian soldiers
      • 20 helicopters
    • Burpee march
      • 15 burpees down the parking lot followed by:
        • 20 WWII sit-ups
        • 25 APD
        • 20 LBC
      • Repeat for a total of 5 cycles
    • Mosey over to the Pavilion…25 dips, 25 one leg step-ups (right leg), 25 dips, 25 one leg step-ups (left leg), 25 dips
    • 25 PLTs – rinse and repeat
    • Mosey to the track/field and line up in the end zone for an Indian crawl on the field:
      • PAX forms a line and the group performs an exercise while the man in the back bear crawls to the front of the group.  The exercise is switched once each man has bear crawled to the front, similar to an Indian run)
      • Exercises were deep squats, Carolina dry docks, hillbillies, planks, flutter kicks
    • Mosey to the track
      • Run 200m
      • Karaoke 200m
      • Run 200m
      • Mosey 200m
      • Backwards run to end zone (100m)
      • Burn-out 100 yard dash
    • Mosey to the parking lot with COT
      • Announcements:
        • Convergence on Monday at Belle Isle (6:30)
        • West End lunch now on Friday’s at Jason’s Deli
      • YHC took us out with a prayer of Thanksgiving

    Moleskin – YHC called an audible on the workout today when he realized Earthworm and White Deer were MIA.  Neither likes a good run (WD has a legitimate excuse with a replaced knee), so YHC took advantage of their absence by adding a little field work at the end.  EW/WD, you were missed, but today was not your day.  Things we did not do – one-handed snatches, boat/canoe, KB EMON’s…thing we did do – run.

    Welcome back Nightcrawler!  Johnsonville and White Deer’s Facetime intervention was  successful.  Although, Gridiron is not a day on the links, and Nightcrawler did not appear to come dressed for a beat down.  Did the golf shirt give that away?

    My second welcome back goes to Loose Goose.   The man who introduced me to F3 missed his alarm for Dogpile, so he got back to his roots with Gridiron.  Do not be a stranger Loose Goose.  It was great to have you.

    Mumble chatter was non-existent today.  The usual suspect (White Deer) was absent, and his replacements were Johnsonville, Cheetah, Chum Bucket and Flip Phone.  Those men are just quiet assassins.  They went about their business of just making my red pill look like a sugar pill.  Well done men!

    Enjoy your long weekend!  Hopefully we burned a few calories in order to make space for some stellar BBQ this weekend.  You’re welcome!

    Attila

  • Booker T Washington would not have planted peanuts in these conditions….

    Three Charlottesville denizens and 4 Richmond regulars converged in Booker T Washington Park for a second time as part of the CVille expansion and to explore what the new AO had to offer.  This is what transpired, more or less:

    Saab Q:  COP (SSH, DQs, Merkins, WWII, Imperial Walkers).  Mosey to Hill for a Jacobs Ladder (Derkins off Park Benches on bottom of hill, Burpees on top…all the way to 7)

    Swirly Q:  Beast:  (Merkins, WWII, Wide-Merkins, Squats, LBCs, Burpees)

    Bleeder Q: Curb Crawls:  Incline/Decline Merkins up to 7 and back down to 1 on each curb

    TYA Q:  Dora’s in groups of 4 and a group of 3.  WWII, Mountain Climbers, American Hammers.  Finish with a Merkin ring of fire and a few minutes of Mary (Rosalitas, Hello Dollys, WWIIs, Box Cutters: Spell the name of the park’s namesake…(The one who was not partial to peanut farming.)

    Naked Moleskin:

    Despite the holiday weekend, the second official workout of the CVille startup had 2 returns, 1 FNG, and 4 clowns from RVA.  The weather was perfect, the ground was thoroughly soaked, and the grass was newly sheered.  This gave way for the following observations, insights, and peccadillos:

    • The AO offers an extremely steep hill for a variety of punishing tasks.  However, having the PAX run down such a grade must be met with caution – particularly if one is recovering from a severe ankle sprain.
    • The thing about Hot Potato is that each Q throw’s in their most favorite punishing acts.  This can lead to a smoked PAX and higher than normal WWII situps.
    • The base of the park is surrounded by two hills, leaving plenty of standing water and grass clippings to run and play in, and work its way into various crevices.
    • It is entertaining to see the confused look of someone who exits their house to see 7 grown men crawling back and forth among their cul de sac.
    • In preparation for the Doras, TYA decided the PAX (of 7) should get into teams of 3.  The PAX was a bit flummoxed as they struggled through the Dora-counts.  (Knowing TYA’s acumen for numbers, YHC was not going to question or challenge his decision for the team numbers….the Q is “all knowing and in charge” after all.)
    • Swirly has a penchant for American history.  Apparently Booker T Washington, was not only an educator, orator, and adviser to the President, but he had a love for peanut farming…who knew?

    In all, the PAX performed well and worked through a punishing workout.  Second-F at Bodos was well attended and did not disappoint.

    Next weekend HoneyDo will be taking a clown car to CVille to lead the next AO.  Please see him to see if there are any seats to be filled.

    Saab abides

     

  • Let’s finish this with a BANG!!

    19 F3RVA Regulars climbed out of their fart sack on this holiday week for another addition of Dogpile. YHC arrived ready to finish off this Q week off with one last beatdown.

    This is how it went down:

    Mosey to the far circle next to the carillon

    COP

    • SSH
    • Cotton Pickers
    • Merkins
    • Freddie Mercurys
    • WWII Sit-ups
    • Flutter Kicks
    • Arm Circles

    Mosey to the Rusty Cages

    Burp-Up Special

    With a partner, completed 50 Burp-Ups

    Mosey over to Love Hill

    Love Hill BANG

    From the trail entrances to the bottom gate. First partner runs to the gate at the bottom of the hill then back with other partner completes an exercise then switch. Rinse and repeat till you reach the bottom. The following exercises were completed:

    • Lunges
    • Broad Jump Burpees
    • Polar Bears

    Mosey over to the toll booth

    WWII Surprise at Boulevard Bridge

    Run across Boulevard Bridge completing 5 WWII Sit-ups at every light pole (or telephone pole) till either you reach Riverside Dr or till the lead PAX is head back. Complete 5 WWII Sit-ups at each pole on the way back

    Mosey back to SF

    Numberama, Namerama, YHC took us out.

    MOLESKIN

    AND YHC IS FINISHED!! Thank you to all those that took part in this celebration. This week has been one that YHC will not soon forget.

    Today was just another challenge!

    YHC wanted to make sure not to repeat any areas already used early at WDog. Today was focused on three locations that just around a year ago would have been impossible to complete for him.

    Here is what YHC has learned: Pulls up are still a challenge, Love Hill has seem to get just a little shorter (not really), and Boulevard Bridge still sucks.

    Sorry not much to say about Mumble Chatter or recap so please include your “favor” parts of today in the comments.

    It was honor and privilege to lead you gentlemen today. I look forward even more memories this coming year.

    Just reminder: “The workouts don’t get any easier, you just get stronger.”

    ANNOUNCEMENTS

    • Reese Strong Rock and Roll Cornhole Tournment – June 10th – See Phonics
    • F3 Charlottesville – Plan a trip one Saturday!
    • Moo & Brew 5K – June 3rd – See Malpractice Preblast
    • Fudd is having a party the evening of June 10th – M’s are welcomed – See Preblast and comment if you can make it.

    SPIT ON THAT!!