Category: Richmond, VA

  • Where are the pull-up bars?

    18 Pax members stumbled into WDog, all with plenty of time to spare – except for Phonics.  As expected, Swirly arrived early and had taken up residence with other Pax members in the truck.

     

     

    COP:
    47 SSHs IC

    1 lap of High Knee pulls

    1 lap of Frankenstien Walks

    10 Merkins IC

    Mosey to some area on the way to the pull-up bars

     

    Abs of Fun 1:

    – 15 8 Count Swirlies

    – 12 4 Count Heels to Heaven

    – 8 10 Count Windshield Wipers

    – 12 4 Count ABCs

    Rest and Repeat

     

    Mosey to pull up bars

     

    Pull to the stars 

    Count off by 4s

    – First team does 50 pull ups collectively

    – Second team does dying cockroaches till team 1 finishes their pull-ups

    – Third team does smurf jacks till team 1 finishes their pull-ups

    – Fourth team does Bear Crawl boxes (bear crawl straight to tree 1, side bear crawl to tree 2, bear crawl backwards to tree 3, side bear crawl to tree 4 – repeat

     

    Repeat

    Mosey back to Lacrosse field

     

    Abs of Fun 2:

    – 20  2 step spread eagles

    – 10 Low Cadence Freddie Mercuries

    – 12 V-Situps

    – 15 Hardywood Jacks

     

    Mosey back to shovel flag

     

    Duck, Duck, Bear

    Quack on each pax members head, say “Duck or Bear” on someones head, then if “Duck” hold ankles and run around Pax, if “Bear” bear craw around Pax. While waiting for Duck or Bear, Pax holds plank. While racing each other down, Pax does Merkins.

     

    Numberama, Namerama,

     

    Announcements:
    Lab Rat is leading the charge to launch F3 Charlottesville. If you know anyone in CVille who might be interested, contact Lab Rat – – f3charlottesville@gmail.com

    We will have a table at the Ashcreek 5K. Sign up and EH others to come out.

    Emoji took us out.

     

    NMS:

    The YHC was excited to Q the WDog as it is a different venue and a combo of many things F3 RVA.  Not wanting to do the same and desiring to stay away from any running, YHC settled on a heavy Ab bootcamp.  Taking some of his daughters favorite ab exercises and creating some others YHC settled on a “nice” combination.

     

    TYA gave Abacus a difficult time for asking Toga to be the time keeper.  Abacus thought it was interesting that TYA would poke the bear just before the start. Noting this poke, YHC grinned.  Not being 100% familiar with the AO, YHC needed to also ask where the pull up bars were located, not once, or twice but at least three times.  Inside, the Pax was wondering how many pull-ups where going to be on order for the day.  But little did they realize they would wish for more pull-ups by the end of the day.  At the bottom of Jacobs Ladder, YHC pulled up and started their Abs of fun 1.  Demonstration was in order for the 4 exercises for this round. YHC showed them all at once to make sure we can quickly move to the next during each round.  Oh what fun.  The most fun was had by Windshield Wipers.  Modifications appeared to be on the menu for many. Not sure as the YHC was grinning in fun and enjoyment.  Time flew by as we did some stations and returned to the bottom.  Groans and fear was plenty as the Pax hit the bottom of Jacobs ladder.  And of yes! Another whole new set of Abs of fun was called to order.  However, this was only done once as the YHC wanted to get back for some Duck, Duck – Bear.  Great fun was had by the Pax as we ran each other down. Toga showed complete and utter superiority as he snagged Abacus on the offset to start things off.

     

    YHC enjoyed spending time with the F3 RVA family this AM. Till next time.

  • Abs of fun

    14 bright tailed and excited Pax members sprang into action on this 4th day of April at the Da’Ville.  Arrivals started with about 10 minutes before 5:30 and with Phonics bringing up the rear.

    :

    COP:
    25 SSHs IC
    1 lap of High Knee pulls
    1 lap of Frankenstien Walks
    15 Merkins IC
    Mosey to Lacrosse field
    Abs of Fun 1:
      – 20  2 step spread eagles
      – 10 Low Cadence Freddie Mercuries
      – 12 V-Situps
      – 15 Hardywood Jacks
    Rest and Repeat
    Mosey to pull up bars
    It is All Meaningless 
    Count off into 3 teams of 4
      – First person in team does 7 pull ups
      – While person 2 does dying coach roaches
      – While person 3 goes and finds and brings back a leaf(w/o stealing it)
      – While person 4 does 1 legged AL prom dates 10 on each leg
    Once person 1 finishes his pull ups he moves to dying coach roach, who goes and finds a leaf…
    Repeat till 77 pull ups are completed

    Mosey back to Lacrosse field

    Abs of Fun 2:
      – 15 8 Count Swirlies
      – 12 4 Count Heels to Heaven
      – 8 10 Count Windshield Wipers
      – 12 4 Count ABCs
    Mosey back Middle School
    Circle of Favorites
    Pax member calls out his “favorite” exercise. YHC lead Pax to 3 of that execercise:
      – Abacus – – Burpees
      – Opus – –
      – Sugar Baby – – Burpees
      – Helix – –
      – Mister Rogers – –
      – Lab Rat – – Lt. Dan’s
      – Rucker – – Peter Parker
      – Quaker – – LBCs
      – Phonics – – Jump Squats
      – Spike – – Wirkens
      – Gumband – –
      – BucketMouth – – Merkins
      – Emoji – – DQs
      – Spit – – Smurf jacks
    (Please place in comments corrections and omissions for me to correct)
    Mosey to the shovel flag
    Numberama, Namerama,

    Announcements:
    Lab Rat is leading the charge to launch F3 Charlottesville. If you know anyone in CVille who might be interested, contact Lab Rat – – f3charlottesville@gmail.com

    We will have a table at the Ashcreek 5K. Sign up and EH others to come out.

    Spit took us out.
    NMS:
    Fun times where had as the YHC got ready to bring some Da’Ville fun to the South.  Knowing that Gimpy (previously known as Swirly) might be there, YHC is looking to stay away from the running. The pull up bar fun didn’t go as well as planned. Partially as YHC struggled to get the pax in groups.  He got his just revenge with another round of Abs of Fun with lots of different cadence. Enjoyment for the YHC was plentiful when the pax counting was labored to a low, low whisper.

  • Us vs. You

    13 strong NoToll veterans emerged from their fartsacks just hours after a team was crowned NCAA Men’s Basketball National Champions. YHC signed up to Q, then realized last week that it would be the morning after the game. Before the first COP, YHC asked the PAX to gather in 2 groups: Those who watched the whole game vs. Those who did not. The 3 of us who watched the whole game were granted immunity from a Hot Potato Q. The workout went something like this:

    (Döner Kebab) COP: SSH, DQs, Peter Parkers, Merkins, Hello Dollies

    (Flatline) Mosey to tennis courts for modified Dora/suicide combo: 150 LBCs, 250 Mountain Climbers, 350 Hello Dollies/Flutterkicks

    (Loose Goose) Mosey to Fields for Triple Check: Dips, planks, run. Plank-o-rama

    (Wilson) COP: Cross Leg Lifts left & right, APDs, Heels to Heaven, Freddies, Pickle Pounders, Superman

    (Flashdance) Mosey to parking lot for Double Check: Diamond Merks on the Poles/Pole Smokers + Run

    (Döner Kebab) Mosey back to Shovel Flag, 12 Burpees OYO

    COT – Gumbo took us out

    NM
    YHC learned his lesson last year: always watch the final game. YHC missed the epic result between UNC & Villanova last year, mostly out of anger after UVA’s collapse to Syracuse…so it seemed right to punish those who made the same mistake this year. Thankfully Flatline & Flashdance were quick to admit their sins as soon as they arrived by asking what the score was & who won the game. Gotcha!

    The creativity of the PAX was appreciated after a late night. Cheers to those tapped to lead a set of exercises. Great job all around.

    Gumbo delivered the greatest joke before everyone arrived…and had YHC chuckling throughout the entire workout. I won’t give it away…but damn, that was good.

    It was good to see Big Blue in the NoToll parking lot this morning. Take your time getting back up to speed, Swirly. Two words I never thought I’d write “Swirly (Kotter)”. Welcome back, buddy!

    Announcements:
    Lab Rat is leading the charge to launch F3 Charlottesville. If you know anyone in CVille who might be interested, contact Lab Rat

    Friday is the start of a new Bootcamp @ Bettie Weaver Elementary School on the Southside.

    Flashdance is in charge of HDHH this month. Plans still in the works.

  • Rolling Hills of Westham

    With spring in the air, eight runners showed today to work some hills.

    Head around the baseball field and up past the football stadium and ascend snake hill.  4s and 5s take a side street to cutover to Bandy Field to the Village Shopping Center.  Head west on Patterson and pick up Westham Parkway.  Run the length of the parkway and double back to the baseball field, down the hill, and around the lake.

    4 milers cut short on Westham and didn’t have the lake loop.  6 milers didn’t get Bandy Field but had some quality distance on Patterson.

    Bleeder took us out.

    NMS:

    This workout kicks in with hills from the start.  No warm up; just a nice sustained climb.  Bandy Field was a nice diversion with opportunities to sneak up on various wildlife (several rabbits and raccoons).

    On our Westham cruise, the 5 milers were tempted to ring upchuck’s doorbell.  Hopefully he posted somewhere or next time he is fair game to persuade him out of the FS.

    The Pax was moving today.  Singer continues to push the distance and pace.  Taxi and EF were cruising and ready to race.  The 6 milers did well despite a couple of days of hard workouts leading up to this.  Good showing all around.

    Splinter was a ringer for the Sippy Cup look-alike contest.  Vest, visor, and sippy cup complete the look.

    Several of us continued with some second F while watching the seals at work.  Some familiar faces may be our new FNGs.

    Lockjaw

     

  • Big Dog and Winners Bitch

    The Top Dog is back and YHC had the Q. 9 Show Dogs came out to prove they are indeed the Best of the Best. The weather was awesome and the Dogs were in attendance to prove that they are more than just pretty faces. The beatdown went something like this.

    Mosey around the circle and the extended loop and get back to where we started.

    COP

    • SSH IC 20
    • Don Quixote IC 10
    • Hillbillies IC 20
    • LBC IC 25
    • Merkins IC 10

    Mosey down stairs to the sunken area. Lyndsey 30 Derkins and 10 box jumps/step ups…run to the up to the road and back, 25 derkins 15 box jumps.  Continue to 10 derkins and 30 box jumps/step ups. Plank for the 6 and Hardywood gave us a 10 count.  Mosey to the bottom of Hill of Questioning your existence.

    Dora 1-2-3 Partner up and the exercise were 100 push ups, 200 jump squats, 300 Freddie Mercuries.  While one partner starts the exercise, the other partner BEAR Crawled up the hill to the first light post( approx. 75 yards).  and ran back down, switch.  Audible Bear Crawl every other time you go up the Hill. Plank for the six. Wheel barrow gave us a 10 count.

    Flipdog Shuffle up the Hill to the tennis courts.  Native American run with a stop every so often for an exercise…….stopped about four times to do 10 merkins each time.

    Winners Bitch…In a single file line Head to feet hold a good form plank.  Front dog sprints the four corners of the tennis court, and planks at the back of the line, next dog takes off repeat until all dogs have shown.

    Mosey back to where the Shovel Flag should have been. Numberama/Namerama….COT YHC took us out.

    Moleskin:  Many of you know that YHC has been involved this year in the Dog Show arena, from the many clips YHC has received from Best in Show he is sure you are aware.  I am happy to announce the return of the Top Dog.  Swirly probably after much bartering and probably fibbing convinced his Ortho to let him back out. Not sure who has Swirly’s file but that goes in it, way to battle brother. This was a last minute Q for sure as I checked the Q sheet at 5:30pm yesterday and it  was open.  So theme was last minute idea. (throw me a bone)

    Tails were wagging over the thought of bear crawling up that damn hill. YHC considered the shock training collar but only a few barks and the pax went after it. Really proud of Cotton Mouth, this was not a beatdown for the faint at heart and he killed it.

    As always it was a pleasure to lead today!! Just Remember; Why does a dog lick himself?  Because he can!!!

    FlipDog

  • Familiar Ground

    4 of the RiverRun faithful showed up for the return of the run.  Nothing new or out of the ordinary for the run today, just the classic.  Down James River Road and into Tarrington, around the Ashwell Loop and up the hill to Robious.  Head first into the bush and down Twin Team.  Circle the schools to round out the 5 miles.

    NMM

    The group stayed together today after what seemed to be a tiring weekend for those in attendance.  Wilson bailed early this morning with a #runningsucks text in the early hours to Honeymoon.  The hills are still alive and well at RiverRun and we are looking forward to hitting them on a weekly basis.

    Enjoyed the run men, thanks for the company, it makes 5 miles go by quick.

    Rosie

  • #AAF

    Fudd and four others posted for a workout that was not as difficult as the beatings Fudd gives to himself.  Here’s how it went down:

    Mosey to South wall of school for warmup COP:  merkins, squats, ssh, hillbillies, some other stuff

    Brief mosey to the South wall for leg day:  Complete 20 (that’s 40 total) alt lunges, followed by 30 sec wall sit.  Repeat w/ 18 (that’s 36.., the counting gets important later) alt lunges and 30 sec wall sits.  Continue down to 2.  Then go back and repeat with the odds, 19 alt lunges and 30 sec wall sits…

    Mosey to field on West side for fast and furious calisthenics: merkins, full extensions, split jumps, squats, Freddy, scissors, clerkins, mtn climbers, werkins

    NMM:  For those of you following along at home for the past couple of years, F3 is largely about Fudd.., it’s like the silent F that everyone knows is there, but F4 doesn’t have as good of a ring to it.  For this reason, YHC would like to encourage the PAX to consider using #AAF (All About Fudd) where appropriate.  Today proved to be one of those days as we were all reminded that things are harder when Fudd does them to himself (comments welcome).  In this case, it was the leg workout that YHC and Fudd both came across in Men’s Health.  During the very first round of lunges Fudd explained to Splinter that he had recently done a workout with lots of lunges followed by wall sits. Apparently it was epic! YHC informed him that he was in luck because he was going to get to do it again.  The difference came in the fact that YHC made a mistake and had us going down by 4 reps each cycle vs. just 2.  Let me be clear about this: YHC was wrong, and Fudd apparently can count.  Has he been working the long con on us for years?  Anyhoo, once Fudd explained that his version was infinitely harder than what we were doing, the PAX had no choice but to go back and do all the odds.  The PAX was overjoyed, and many thanks were given to Fudd for noting this error.

    Strong work by all today, and good luck to the PAX in walking tomorrow.

    Stay Classy,

    Toga

  • Fat Flesh Anchor (Self) Designated as Trail Run Lead

    Five towering Redwoods overcame the seductive draw of their respective fartsacks, posted just before 0700 at Pumphouse, and took a spin around our city’s glorious downtown river trails with Johnsonville (YHFA = Your Humble Flesh Anchor) self-designating as Q. The PAX took the normal route in clockwise fashion, running down past Maymont, Hollywood Cemetary, and the old Tredegar Iron Works. We crossed to the southside via the T. Potterfield Memorial Bridge. On the southside, part of the route was blocked for construction. We redirected ourselves up the steep wooden stairs to the top of the climbing wall and then down to SunTrust Mortgage complex. We took the normal path over to the Buttermilk trail complex.

    Saab ran well ahead in order to add the challenging 3 mi Forest Hill Park trails. The PAX made its way back to the Boulevard Bridge, crossed, and did a COT with YHFA taking us out. Soon thereafter, Saab came flying in from his extended route.

    Thank you all for permitting me to lead each morning for 7 days in a row. Thank you for lifting my spirits as physical limitations threatened to block my way. It has been a humbling experience, but it has helped me to better understand and appreciate F3RVA’s character and cohesiveness.

    See ya in the gloom! Jville

  • Persistent Mumblechatter even after 10 Min of Burpees

    Ten strong men, two of whom are visitors from other regions, posted at Gridiron on a beautiful opening day of April. Johnsonville (YHC) planted a SF and took Q. This is what went down, more or less:

    Warmup with 50x ssh, 25x don quiotes, 25x imperial walkers, 2 min. plank sequence

    Mosey to schoolhouse. Redirect atop nearby grassy knoll area. 10 min of Burpees

    Mosey back down to schoolhouse. Classic triple play (wall sit/ merkins/ run). 2 min. plank sequence.

    Indigenous people run to pillars around rear of school.

    Line up along pillars. Pole smokers while person at end bear crawls to front (maybe 25m).

    Mosey back to SF area. 1 min. plank sequence.

    Kettlebell routine with 2-arm KB swings, single arm standing press, boat/canoe, sit & press, row, merkin row.

    Finish with chiabatta dips under picnic shelter.

    COT with Attila taking us out.

    ANNOUNCEMENTS —
    -Monthly challenge is 7 min of planks per day. We accomplished 5 today.
    -April 15 – 2.0 Scavenger Hunt @ GridIron, Q’d by Jville & Earthworm. Family friendly. LOMLs welcome to attend and/or workout with us.
    -New Bootcamp (#TwinTeam) commencing 4/7 at Bettie Weaver ES in Midlo. #RiverRun will revert to a run, as its name demands
    -Wed hill is permanent.
    -LabRat is leading an effort to expand F3 to Charlottesville. He has the organizational aspects well in hand, but needs us to help find leaders and a PAX there. Search your contacts please.

    MOLESKIN —
    Welcome to F3RVA, Snack. Welcome back Pigskin. Both are from other F3 Regions, and we are grateful you elected to come out. You are, of course, both welcome back to this AO or any others around RVA. Pigskin’s grandson celebrated is 1 year birthday yesterday. We hope that he had a good one.

    Attila and WhiteDeer usually direct their mumblechatter toward ope another. For some reason, they both started the morning by directing it at YHC. Something about the tightness of YHC’s shirt bothered them. Although I am sure it looks otherwise, I promise that I have not been taking steroids (and would not share them with you clowns in any case). Thankfully, it did not take WhiteDeer and Attila too long to direct their artillery toward one another.

    Thanks for coming out this morning. It was a privilege to spend the morning with these men and to lead this workout.

    Sincerely, Johnsonville

  • Celebrating Opening Day (and a nice sunrise) at Dogpile

    19 strong men posted to Dogpile to welcome in April 2017 with our version of an F3 opening day and, despite the wet baseball fields that YHC initially wanted to utilize, we made the most of our greatest AO.  It went like this:

    COP (all IC and all x27), including SSHs,Imperial Walkers, LBCs and Flutter Kicks.

    1 minute plank

    Mosey to the Amphitheater for 6 innings of some baseball.  Defense = exercises at the base of the amphitheater; Offense = sprint the steps to the top and back down.  1 minute of plank in between each inning (6 minutes of plank total), as follows:

    • Exercises in Innings 1 -3 – 30 merkins, 30 jump squats, 30 WWII situps
    • Innings 4 and 5 (bottom part of the order) – same exercises but 10 reps of each
    • Inning 6 (the big hitters again) – 20 reps of each exercise

    Mosey (swiftly) past the parking lot and to the bridge to take in the first sunrise of April with a burpee run across the bridge.  On the way out, 2 burpees at each lamppost.  Rabbits run all the way to Riverside Drive and turn around (no burpees on the way back).  When the non-rabbits are passed by the rabbits, do 3 burpees and turn around (no burpees on the way back).  Al Gore (or perfect invisible chair if your name is Helix) until the six gets back.

    Line up for an Indigenous People Run back to the SF.  Al Gore and LBCs for the six and finish up with 1 minute in elbow plank (for a total of 8 minutes today).

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

    Announcements:

    1. Charlottesville expansion – get reach out to your contacts in C-ville, get them plugged in and send all contacts to LabRat at F3charlottesville@gmail.com.  See Lab Rat for more details.
    2. Breaking Bread has been added to the Q sheet – sign up for a Q and grab some volunteers for a great cause.  Good for 2.0s and family members.
    3. Monday, April 3 – River Run reverts to a run, as its names demands.  Join us on the southside for some serious hills.
    4. Friday, April 7 — new AO #TwinTeam begins at the same location as RiverRun (Bettie Weave ES) and this will be a bootcamp.
    5. Galactosemia golf tournament – May 19.  There are spots left – see Wilson

    NMS:
    A great group this morning.  Thanks for indulging YHC and his opening day theme.  The original plan was to run to the nearby baseball fields for some true F3 Baseball, but YHC didn’t think Richmond Little League would look kindly on us destroying their fields after the rain.  Nonetheless, we pushed through and got in a good beatdown and I expected no less.

    Mumblechatter was high this morning and YHC loved it.  There was great energy, encouragement and intensity.  We were all enjoying ourselves and pushing each other at the same time.  That is what I love the most about this group.

    We hope the Woodfin crew is killing it down in Daytona!

    Thank you for letting me lead.   I am always humbled to step out in front such an impressive group.

    No more Gumbo for you.

    P.s. – YHC took his kids out for a walk around Belle Island and then hit Pops Market for lunch – damn, those are some good sandwiches.  YHC will be posting at the next Thursday lunch for that Cuban!