Category: Richmond, VA

  • Frank Abagnale’s Grandmother

    9 stallions posted for a Tuesday morning spider run.  70 and sunny as always

    The Thang:

    6 milers head up the hill to the main entrance and make a loop on campus.  Take the back entrance out of UR, through the shopping center, over the bridge, west on Riverside, 4 milers turn at park, all others proceed west until you hit Cherokee and turn back around and head back to the lake.

    NMM:

    1 year anniversary of Spider Run.  In my humble opinion this is the best road running venue we have in Richmond.  There are so many options at Spider run that we rarely do the same route more than a couple of times.  If we do, there always seems to be a twist to the run.  Today was no different.  The fast runners did a 8/10 of a mile hilly run before setting out to catch up with the rest of the PAX.  Every time a PAX member was caught, he owed 5 burpees at the finish.  YHC  forgot to do my 15 punishment burpees at the end, so pounded them out at the office this morning.

    Great to see Circle K out for the first time at Spider run.  He and Pucker were leading the 5 milers for most of the run.  Circle K was really focused on making sure he had his headlight on this morning.  So much so that he did not focus on his keys.  Both his keys and his phone were inside the car so he was temporarily stuck.  He hitched a ride to his wife’s office so he could borrow her car and rescued his car via locksmith because for some reason, he does not have a spare key.  Much cheaper to pay $50 to unlock the key than to dole out the $1.49 for a spare key or two.  Just saying.

    One modern day problem that he had as well was the lack of phone.  He had many phones to borrow to make a call, but because all the numbers are saved in the phone, the only one he knew was his spouses’. So, he couldn’t call his office or anyone else to help him.  Good lesson for all of us.  Learn a few phone numbers in case you ever need a lifeline (I still have not programmed Bleeder’s number into my phone for that reason alone)

    Singer continues to hone his running skills.  When he asked me this morning about the five mile route, I kept giving him the directions for the four.  It took me until the halfway point to realize he was in fact going to do the five mile route.  He rocked it today, pumping in 5+ miles for the first time at F3?  He has the Monument Ave 10k on his calendar for the weekend.  Good luck Singer…..

    Saab was flying this morning and lapped everyone…..except.  That is right, Bleeder.  He nearly caught up to Bleeder on the last stretch.  But once Bleeder saw him, he turned on his short stint jets and sprinted for the last quarter mile.  Dude has sprinting wheels.  Saab was on a mission.  He caught up to the five milers at the turnaround point.  Thats right he did 3.6 miles in the time it took us to do 2.7.  Ridiculous.

    Thanks for all the birthday wishes for YHC today.  Humbled by the number of birthday wishes in person, tweet, email, and text that I received.  Great to have so many great friends out there.  Thanks.  P.S.  This will be my last birthday.  54 is far old enough!

    TYA Out

  • April Monthly Challenge – Plank

    April challenge is 200 minutes total of plank. Daily numbers are total minutes planking, averaging about 7 minutes a day.  Elbow plank or regular. This is also walking boot friendly challenge…

    Goal is to get up to 3 min straight consistently with good form in Elbow Plank.

    New monthly challenge rule- pax who complete prior monthly challenge get to pick new monthly exercises. YHC will be picking Burpees for May so sign up for April challenge to overrule me.  As well it is up for review that challenge completion counts as posts in Big Data.

    Splinter has already updated the challenge spreadsheet.

  • Mountain Climber Extravaganza

    15 men denied themselves, kicked off the fart sack and punched the Sad Clown Syndrome in the face with a workout that went something like this…

    Mosey to the middle school parking lot.

    COP (all IC) – 20 mountain climbers, 10 don quixotes, 20 lbcs, 20 merkins, arm circles, 20 imperial walkers, 10 helicopters, 20 mountain climbers

    Mosey to the bus loop in between the middle school and high school.

    11s – 10 mountain climbers, run the outer loop of the bus loop to the other side, 1 merkin. Decrease/increase until complete. Add one additional loop with 6 mountain climbers / 5 merkins.

    Mosey to the front of the high school for mountain climber ring of fire.

    20 american hammers IC, 25 mountain climbers IC

    Sprint back to the flag

    Numberama, Namerama, Announcements, YHC took us out.

    Announcements:

    • Phonics is seeking to start a new AO in the 23111 zip code. He is eyeing Pole Green Park.
    • Abacus is also seeking to start a new AO on Sundays at Atlee and on another morning at Three Lakes Park
    • Ashcreek 5K is Saturday, May 20th. Spit is leading the charge. Register here –  https://www.raceit.com/Register/?event=39341. Include F3 as the team name.
    • Community Easter Egg Hunt (over 2500 eggs!) at Oak Knoll Middle School THIS Sunday, April 2nd. Food trucks and live music start at 11:30 am. The egg hunt is at 12:30 pm. Bring your family (tons of kids activities) and corn hole boards for some friendly competition. MOST IMPORTANTLY, let’s talk up F3 in our conversations and EH some guys to F3 workouts!

     

    NMS:

    The parking lot was empty with a slim 9 minutes to go but then the cars piled in. There was a tangible excitement in the air as 2 FNGs joined up with the PAX and the countdown the start was announced. YHC led the PAX to the original place in the Chickahominy Middle School parking lot where he went just over a year ago for the first time. The app listed the middle school as the location last year so YHC had to find the PAX that morning.

    One of YHC’s least favorite exercises is the mountain climber so THAT is what we focused on this morning. YHC weaved the exercise into all parts of the workout and the PAX did not disappoint!

    After the COP, YHC led this morning’s PAX on the same path that he took last year to find everyone in the bus loop. Doing 11s using the outer loop of the bus loop provided more fun (and pain!) than YHC anticipated. The mumble chatter was nonexistent because the PAX was focused on getting it done and they did. Spit, Spike, Helix and Abacus lapped most of the PAX multiple times and were particularly strong this morning. The 2 FNGs showed that they were a force to be reckoned with as well.

    The PAX let out a loud groan when YHC mentioned more mountain climbers at the end. The groan reminded him of the normal reaction to SSHs. Perhaps the mountain climber will become the new SSH for this year… What would it feel like to do 365 two-count mountain climbers during a workout???

    YHC had thoroughly enjoyed Q’ing a ton of workouts the past week in honor of the one-year anniversary of starting with F3. I continue to see the impact that F3 is having in my life and leadership in multiple arenas (marriage, parenting, church leadership, friendships, neighbors, etc).

    I will be looking to EH as many men as possible in the days ahead because F3 is the real deal and every man needs help crucifying the Sad Clown Syndrome in his life.

    I need help.

    We all need help.

    Let’s keep pressing on!

    The Carpenter

     

  • Old Glory; No Old Glory; Angry Jville; No Angry Jville (Yet)

    Seventeen of our finest posted at NoToll this morning. The weather was perfect, rain setting in just after our COT broke. Johnsonville planted a SF, took the Q (happily), and this is what went down, more or less:

    THANG:

    25x hillbillies
    25x ssh-burpees (its right out of the F3 exercise manual a’la South Carolina)
    25x LBCs

    Line Up single file for a feigned Old Glory.
    Native American Run to soccer fields and 2x laps around fields with flag carrier remaining at front, and men rotating up about every 20 or so seconds to accept and carry the flag. Plant flag inside front soccer field.

    COP around flag
    Single count merican ladder from 10 to 1 alternating between wide grip, regular, and diamond. Pan PAX.
    Single count merican ladder back up. Pan PAX.

    Line up on sideline for Elevens laterally across field with Lt. Dans and WWI situps.

    COP around flag
    20x pole smoker / heels to heaven in cadence
    17x 8 count body builder burpees pan PAX

    Return SF to parking area
    10x American hammers (slow cadence)

    COT with Loose Goose taking us out.

    -UPDATE: New Bootcamp (#TwinTeam) commencing 4/7 at Bettie Weaver ES in Midlo. #RiverRun will revert to a run, as its name demands
    -April 15 – 2.0 Scavenger Hunt Workout @ GridIron, Q’d by Jville & Earthworm. There will be a mix of Christian Easter themes and spring themes. We are bending the F3 rules for this special event to make it family friendly. LOMLs are welcome to attend, workout, and enjoy cofeeteria with us.
    -LabRat is leading an effort to expand F3 to Charlottesville. This effort will require (i) finding motiviated leaders there, and (ii) support on a number of levels by F3 RVA. For now, LabRat needs help identifying potential leaders in Charlottesville.

    MOLESKIN:

    I got a little worried that it was going to be a lonely week when only 2 cars were at NoToll at 0527. But, thankfully, a crowd arrived over the course of the remaining 150 or so seconds, and we took it from there. Wilson arrived driving a sweet TransAm. Nice!

    I thought of doing 365 hillbillies, since hi-reps are the “in-thang”, but I lost courage. Or maybe I just decided to save them for WDog. We’ll see. Feigning an Old Glory was fun.

    Things got downright hazy for me somewhere in that workout — I think during the merican ladder. Did I miss any exercises in the list above? The workout looks skinny on paper, but it hurt pretty bad.

    I did have to flip-flop the configuration of the elevens right after it commenced because I wanted the Lt. Dans to increase in intensity. That led to some confusion and complaints from those who had already knocked out 3-5 Lt. Dans, but those aggrieved stopped short of outright mutiny. YHC is grateful.

    Oyster carried the flag in this morning, flexing his impressive short-distance speed. He may be able to smoke me at any distance, but I know he would humiliate me over 100m or less.

    Thank you to Loose Goose for a well-spoken prayer this morning to close us out. Thank you to all for showing up (whew!) and for the opportunity to lead NoToll this morning.

    Sincerely, Johnsonville

    Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. James 3:13

  • Things that go bump in the night

    Six fleet footed striders posted for some Ragnar prep along the James.  It may have been close to 70, but it sure wasn’t sunny.

    Thang:  Meet at the usual trail run start, run the North Bank, take the new bridge, and head back along the Buttermilk Trail.  Maybe 7.5 if we split the difference in the various devices.

    BT took us out, and he just lost a friend to cancer.  Please keep the family in your prayers, and remember to make the most all that you have been given.

    NMM:  The Ragnar team needed some experience running in the dark, so we met at 0500 to end as close as possible to a typical F3 workout.  Apparently Old Man River and Sippy shared too many of their experiences running in the dark, so the PAX (very much YHC included) was expecting all kinds of mayhem.  There were discussions of wolf spiders, flocks of deer (TYA’s new term for a herd of deer), face rending owls and roots that explode out of the ground and bring runners down.  Some went out to purchase head mounted flood lights and the ever popular pelvic light (comment as you will).  Everyone’s fears were allayed as it ended up being a perfect morning for everyone except the stranger who seemed to have some Mad Dog 20/20 induced swerving in their morning stroll.

    The team is looking strong and ready to take on the trails of Pocahontas.

    Stay Classy,

    Toga

  • Search for the GOAT

    Five Batteau regulars joined up for a Monday morning stroll through Forest Hill Park.

    The thang:

    Warm-up – 25 SSH, 10 Don Q, 20 Slow bend squats, 20 plank dips

    Rusty cage – pull ups 1 up to 5 and back down, then under arm 1 up to 5 and back down

    Mosey to top of field – 11s – 10 merkins, 1 two-count mountain climbers, run to pathway at bottom of field, repeat to complete 11s.

    Honey-do loop – at picnic tables, 10 box jumps, 15 derkins, 20 WWII situps, run around tree, repeat two more times.

    Mosey to double tennis court – ring of fire sprints – each member takes a corner and planks, PAX #1 sprints to next corner and planks, PAX #2 sprints to PAX #3 when PAX #1 arrives, repeat. Completed 4 or 5 rounds.

    Mary – continuous 10 Rosalita, 10 Hello Dolly, 10 flutter. 20 box cutters OYO. Mosey back to flag.

    Great job everyone. Certainly not the same without Swirly pacing the grounds when the PAX arrives, or Sippy running up at 5:29, but the usual suspects are there to fill the void. Cottonmouth, doing excellent, way to go, you’re through the first h*ll week and onto to the second. Wheelbarrow and Bleeder kept a good click this morning in the 11s. The ring of fire sprints seem like a good candidate for repeating, good short interval burst work there, especially Hardywood running through stops into fences.

    YHC knows, the title alludes to another Tom Brady workout. Apparently a goat, a literal goat, is loose in the neighborhood, maybe even from the Farmers Market. No goat was seen on today’s workout path, but led to some good goat chatter and storytelling.

    TYA’s birthday run at Spider tomorrow, don your black tights and join the fun.

    Earth Day 5K from Viridiant (formerly Earthcraft) on  April 22., race is on Canal Walk. Announced by Hardywood, YHC has no comment, but will be running the race and maybe pushing a 2.0 if weather permits. Please join me if you’re interested in $25 shirts that last through two washing cycles.

    -Singer

  • Punished by Ye Olde Dirty MacDeuce

    Nine Redwoods posted at Linwood Holton ES on a drizzly, but very comfortable, Monday morning. Johnsonville (YHC), with substantial effort, planted his SF in the rock-hard clay. After brief chatting about some exciting NCAAB games, the gloom commenced. This is what went down, more or less:

    Warmup: SSH, Imperial Walkers, Don Quiote, 8 Count Bodybuilder Burpees (pan pax)

    Dirty MacDeuce (all in cadence except as noted; all in COP except wall work, laps, and moseys):

    Mosey to southeast side of the front circle/triangle drive for Round 1:
    12x merkins
    12x slow squats
    12x flutter kicks
    lap school

    Mosey to bare brick wall on south wing of school for Round 2:
    12x single count balls to wall OYO. Rinse and Repeat.
    12x jump squats with alternating ground touches
    12x donkey kicks
    lap school

    Mosey to middle of straightway in bus loop for Round 3:
    12x wide grip merkins
    12x back or curtsey lunges
    12x single leg Alabama Prom Dates (right); 12x single leg Alabama Prom Dates (right); 12x single leg Alabama Prom Dates (both)
    lap school

    Mosey to soccer field for Round 4:
    12x diamond merkins
    12x Lt. Dans
    12x box cutters
    lap school

    Bunny Hop the length of the field
    Bear crawl back
    Crab Walk the length of the field

    COP. Roxanne.

    Mosey to SF. COP.
    Plank.
    Right leg suspended. 10x touch left elbow.
    Left leg suspended. 10x touch right elbow.
    20x LBCs

    COT with LabRad taking us out.

    Announcements:
    -UPDATE: New Bootcamp (#TwinTeam) commencing 4/7 at Bettie Weaver ES in Midlo. #RiverRun will revert to a run, as its name demands
    -April 15 – 2.0 Scavenger Hunt @ GridIron, Q’d by Jville & Earthworm
    -LabRat is leading an effort to expand F3 to Charlottesville. This effort will require (i) finding motiviated leaders there, and (ii) support on a number of levels by F3 RVA. For now, LabRat needs help identifying potential leaders in Charlottesville.

    Moleskin:

    It was great to travel outside of my normal RVA sub-region and to re-familiarize myself with The Punisher. 8 Count Bodybuilders are harder than they they appear. Counting Lt. Dans in cadence is like being water-boarded. Running brisk laps around Linwood Holton is also like being water-boarded, particularly when trying to keep up with Splinter and Offshore (who had little trouble remaining out front). LabRat did not disappoint with mumble chatter throughout the workout. HoneyDo taunted and challenged YHC in the crabwalks. He fell slightly short, but he is getting close. YHC better start practicing during off-hours.

    Thank you for permitting me to lead The Punisher. It is a privilege and an honor to lead strong, motivated men. Johnsonville

    — Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves. Philippians 2:3

  • F3 Breaks Bread

    5 F3 representatives and 1 very awesome Tomato showed up at Medical Respite to serve and share a meal with 7 guests.  Here is a quick summary:

    Thang:

    BBQ sandwiches, mac n cheese, green beans (with loads of ham hocks), and brownies for dessert.

    NMS:

    Huge tip of the cap to Mrs. Amanda, who got this thing started, and who Lab Rat is lucky enough to work with.  She has an infectiously positive outlook on life, and is the direct cause of F3 being involved in this program.  She also put together most of the meal….the mac-n-cheese alone was worth the trip.

    Lab Rat made the BBQ, and showed up barely on time in order to complete the meal.  TYA was there waiting in order to duely give him crap about his tardiness.  TYA failed to recognize that Lab Rat has a long drive, and that the Gamecocks just got done showing Florida how to play some Havoc style defense.  Luckily, he also brought TSB to smooth out the rough edges.  Good to see her again, as she has been on IR for a bit from Sunday runs.  Get well soon, TSB!

    Rounding out the group, and sitting at the pro-UNC table for dinner were T-Swifty along with his  papa, HoneyDo.  They were easily put to task, and were slinging food within minutes.

    We all introduced ourselves, got some food orders, and happily served our guests.  We each sat at a table and struck up conversations.  Topics naturally drew towards the tournament, but we also heard some stories from the veterans in the group.  Of particular note was “Tip”, who served 15 years in the Navy….in anti-submarine warfare of all places.  Tip was super helpful in getting us set up, due to his unfortunate situation of having been in the Medical Respite for some time while going thru a couple rounds of chemo.

    We watched a little basketball and chatted a bit more.  Then we cleaned up, put the leftovers in some tupperware, and were out by 6:30 or so.  YHC thinks that the rewards were huge and the effort was relatively small.  This is a great way for F3 to step up and do some good in the community.  Therefore, Lab Rat will be signing F3 up for a regular monthly slot in the serving rotation at Medical Respite.  I highly encourage the pax to invest in this worthy cause.  Watch for signups on the Q sheet soon.

    Apology of the week goes to…..NOBODY!  Yay!

     

    Lab Rat apologizes anyways.

  • Ventura… Yes, Satan?

    4 determined souls posted for a Sunday morning trail run.  Weather is looking up in the RVA, so short sleeves and shorts was all that was needed.

    The Thang

    Northbank to potter bridge to buttermilk and back to the parking lot.  Approximately 7.25 miles covered.

    NMM

    It was a wildlife experience to behold this morning.  We started out on the northbank and when we went to make the turn onto the path just behind maymont, a pack of deer (somewhere between 3 – 100) go spooked by our approach and were scrambling out of there to get away.  One (or maybe 40) was stuck between Lab Rat and the path and was totally freaked out until Mr. Rat moved away.  We continued further down the path to see an otter in the water and 2 more deer on the railroad tracks (that were again spooked by our presences).  Along the way we encountered additional wildlife including a woodpecker and a few squirrels.  Reminded me of the scene in Ace Ventura when his landlord leaves the apartment and all of the animals come out of the woodworks to greet Ace.

    Trails were quiet today with only four of our PAX members (Saab was away on a camping trip) and not many others seen on the trail.  When we got back to the parking lot, it was packed, so they must have just gotten a later start than us today.  It was a great departure from last week when we were the only cars in the lot before and after our run.

    The trail running contingent continues to get stronger everyday.  Lab Rat is now working on his technical skills (rock hopping, etc) to get faster.  Offshore was also pushing the pace today making sure the PAX were moving along.  Taxi Cab, despite have only posted a few times to the trail run put in a great pace.  YHC had a good first half of the run, but is still not fully recovered from his race a couple of weeks ago and had a slow second half.

     

  • 2.0 TakeOver @ GridIron

    13 veterans and 3 2.0 FNGs took on GridIron on a beautiful March morning, and it went something like this:

    THANG

    Mosey to Football field for quick disclaimer

    COP: SSHs, DQs, Arm Circles forwards & backwards, Hand Release Merkins, LBCs

    Mosey to pavillion next to beach volleyball courts

    Jacob’s Ladder: 1 burpee up top for every 5 dips down low. Ascend to 5 burpees, 25 dips and descend back to 1 & 5

    Mosey to parking lot for parking lot tracers

    Mosey to Secondary Football Field for Polar Bear Challenge:
    AMRAP: Polar Bear or Bear Crawl for 2.0s…LBCs when your body says stop

    Mosey to School front for Triple Check: Wall Walkers or People’s Chair, Flutter Kicks & Run

    Mosey to field in front of school for COP
    Imperial Walkers, Bob & Weaves left and right, Freddy Mercuries, Hello Dolly, Rosalitas, 1 legged leg lifts each side

    Modified Arc Loader: Lunges, backwards run, Duck Walk, backwards run, forward crab walk, backwards crab walks, backwards lunges, crawl bear

    Mosey back to flag: 5 burpees OYO, LBCs in cadence

    COT

    Earthworm took us out

    NM

    Thanks to all the 2.0s who came out. Respect! Welcome to FNGs Pikachu, Titan & Bamboo.

    Really impressive work by the PAX this morning. YHC didn’t realize we’d be running as much as we did. Thanks for hanging in there.

    Nightcrawler and Emmy Loo Hoo rolled in 18:43 into the workout…a new record as observed by YHC. Glad to have them join us all the same!

    YHC isn’t sure Titan is pleased with her F3 name. YHC was a Trinity Titan @ Trinity Episcopal High School in RVA…and when Trinity introduced herself YHC couldn’t help himself.

    Respect to Sabotage who only attended his first F3 workout last Saturday…has posted 4 total times now…and brought 2 2.0’s out this morning. AYE!

    Enjoyed leading this morning. Thanks for the opportunity!

    Announcments

    April 15 – 2.0 Scavenger Hunt @ GridIron, Q’d by Jville & Earthworm