Category: Richmond, VA

  • And then there were two.

    YHC pulled into a dark parking lot at Atlee High School on this perfect Saturday morning to find himself all alone. A minute late, Trail Mix joined him and off they went. This is what possibly occurred in this hot potato Q.

    Phonics’s Q

    Parking Lot Tracers

    COP – SSH, Helicopters, Arm Circles, Don Quixotes, One legged lunges, other leg, Merkins, Angled Knee Jumps, LBCs, Freddie Mercuries, Flutter Kicks

    Partner Up for 3 rounds in Tennis Courts

    • Round 1 – One partner runs to end of each court and back and does 5 Merkins at end for total of 15 merkins while other partner does The People’s Chair. Alternate
    • Round 2 – One partner runs to end of each court and back and does 5 jump squats for total of 15 while other partner holds 6 inches. Alternate
    • Round 3 – One partner runs to end of each court and back and does 3 burpees for total of 9 while other partner does APDs. Alternate

    Lat Hangs/Merkins

    Alternate 3 times for this exercise. Hold Pull-up for 10 seconds and then lower for 5. Then do Merkins In Cadence. Merkin Exercises were: Regular, Hand Releaded, Diamond, Wide Grip, Incline, Regular

    Trail Mix’s Q

    Mosey to bus loop.

    Run in opposite directions around inner bus loop. When meet up, alternate between 20 LBCs and 20 Flutter Kicks. Did 5 laps.

    Do Dips while timer runs to bus loop and back. Did 5 times.

    Mosey back to VSF

    COT – Numberarama, Name-O-Rama, Announcements, Trail Mix took us out.

    NMS

    Great to be out this morning working out with Trail Mix. It felt like we were in constant motion and got in a fair amount of steps. YHC headed home after the bootcamp but Trail Mix joined others including BAM! and Opus at The Local Cup for the 2nd F.

    Announcements:

    Sign up for Breaking Bread and The Bridge

    Gotta Run!

    Phonics

  • The false start burpee

    Despite their better judgement, 10 SOJers met at the cool and moist fields of Timberwolf for the final installment of IronPAX 2025, the Bert WOD. After some explanation to those who didn’t know the plan, and as Captain Kirk and Nancy Lopez joined us, we hit the ground running with:

    Background: The Bert WOD is dedicated to U.S. Marine Cpl. Albert Gettings, 27, of New Castle, Pennsylvania, who died on Jan. 5, 2006, while conducting counter-sniper operations in Fallujah, Iraq. Cpl. Gettings was serving as a team leader with the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, at the time of his death.

    Every quarter, Cpl. Gettings’ fellow Marines in Fox Company complete a special CrossFit workout in his honor as part of the Cpl. Albert P. Gettings Award ceremony.

    He is survived by his wife, Stephanie Palimino; parents, David and Juliet; and sister, Cori.”

    Bert WOD

    • Format
      • For time workout
    • Equipment
      • Standard coupon
      • Timer
      • 100-yard field
      • Cones to mark 5 yards, 10 yards, 15 yards, and 20 yards

    The Thang

    START THE CLOCK

    • 50 burpees
    • 5-yard murder bunny, mosey 95 yards and back 95 yards to your block, reverse murder bunny for 5 yards back to start
    • 100 merkins
    • 10-yard murder bunny, mosey 90 yards and back to your block, reverse murder bunny for 10 yards back to start
    • 150 lunges (easy way)
    • 15-yard murder bunny, mosey 85 yards and back to your block, reverse murder bunny for 15 yards back to start
    • 200 air squats
    • 20-yard murder bunny, mosey 80 yards and back to your block, reverse murder bunny for 20 yards
    • 150 lunges (easy way)
    • 15-yard murder bunny, mosey 85 yards and back to your block, reverse murder bunny for 15 yards back to start
    • 100 merkins
    • 10-yard murder bunny, mosey 90 yards and back to your block, reverse murder bunny for 10 yards back to start
    • 50 burpees

    STOP YOUR CLOCK

    The title comes from what happens when YHC attempted to do start the second set of burpees and the ole legs rejected that idea. Had to count to one twice.

    TCLAPS to everyone who posted at IronPAX this year! These workouts are no joke! Big shoutout to Crabgrass, Tzatziki , and Warby for posting every week of the challenge. Until next time. SYITG!!

  • Bon Air’s Newest Grand Prix… and a Tremendous Wall

    Date: 10/04/2025 AO (Area of Operations): Bon Air Elementary School QIC : Machismo PAX (Persons Attending): Last Call, Scram, Dookie, Snip, Sable, Punkie Brewster, Machismo (Q) Total PAX: 7

    Conditions: A perfect, crisp Saturday morning in the gloom, ideal for putting in work.

    Intro: Record Numbers for Bon Iron: Seven HIMs (High Impact Men) including the Baron of Bon Air bypassed the fartsack to get stronger together. The morning began with a mosey to the bus loop, where the PAX discovered a freshly painted, intricate children’s bike course. The gears started turning for a future Q’s diabolical plan, but for today, it served as a perfect spot to get warm.

    Warm-o-Rama:

    • Side Straddle Hops (SSH) x 20 IC
    • Imperial Squat Walkers (ISWs) x 15 IC
    • Ukrainian Soldiers (UKs) x 15 IC
    • Tempo Merkins x 10 IC
    • WWII Sit-ups x 15 IC
    • Don Quixotes (DQs) x 10 IC

    The Thang:

    Thang 1: Playground Grinder With the PAX sufficiently warmed, we moseyed to the playground for a four-station grinder. The format was simple: complete the exercises at a station, then run a full lap around the track before proceeding to the next.

    • Station 1: 5 Pull-ups & 10 Knee Raises, followed by a lap.
    • Station 2: 10 Dips & 10 Derkins, followed by a lap.
    • Station 3: 5 Burpees & 10 Squats, followed by a lap.
    • Station 4: 10 Pole Smokers & 10 Freddie Mercuries, followed by a lap.

    Thang 2: The Tremendous Wall After the playground, the PAX took a trip to what can only be described as a big, tremendous, beautiful wall for a Triple Check.

    • Timer: Run a lap around the parking lot.
    • Exercise 1: Donkey Kicks on the wall.
    • Exercise 2: Hoe Downs. PAX rotated through until all were gassed.

    Bonus Thang: Indigenous Curb Crawl We returned to the bus loop for an Indigenous People’s Curb Crawl. The man at the back of the line performed 5 Derkins, then sprinted to take the lead. This continued the length of the bus loop, keeping the PAX together and pushing the pace.

    Thang 3: Mini DORA To ensure no energy was left in the tank, we partnered up for a quick DORA finisher.

    • 50 Merkins (cumulative)
    • 100 Squats (cumulative)
    • 150 LBCs (cumulative)

    Mary: With the clock winding down, we circled up for a final 5 minutes of core work to finish the morning strong.

    Count-o-Rama / Name-o-Rama: 7 PAX

    Announcements:

    • Coffeteria next week. A great chance for 2nd F (Fellowship)!

    Prayers/Ball of Man (BOM):

    • Prayers for L. Woods, Pad Thai, and NTB as they endure the GrowRuck challenge tonight. T-Claps to these men for stepping up.
    • Prayers were lifted for our children. A powerful reminder to all of us to: “Love them well, coach them better.”

    It was an honor to lead this strong group of men this morning. You all pushed hard and made it easy on the Q.

    SYITG, Machismo

  • “Possum Kingdom”

    The feeling was bittersweet as 4 of us came to close out the Iron PAX Challenge of 2025 with the Week 4 Bert WOD this gloom. YHC had to redeem himself for the poor DJ mix from Week 0 and hope yalll were happy with this mornings mix, as Possum Kingdom by Toadies was very fitting once we were in the 2nd half of the WOD.

    The Thang

    START THE CLOCK

    • 50 burpees
    • 5-yard murder bunny, mosey 95 yards and back 95 yards to your block, reverse murder bunny for 5 yards back to start
    • 100 merkins
    • 10-yard murder bunny, mosey 90 yards and back to your block, reverse murder bunny for 10 yards back to start
    • 150 lunges (easy way)
    • 15-yard murder bunny, mosey 85 yards and back to your block, reverse murder bunny for 15 yards back to start
    • 200 air squats
    • 20-yard murder bunny, mosey 80 yards and back to your block, reverse murder bunny for 20 yards
    • 150 lunges (easy way)
    • 15-yard murder bunny, mosey 85 yards and back to your block, reverse murder bunny for 15 yards back to start
    • 100 merkins
    • 10-yard murder bunny, mosey 90 yards and back to your block, reverse murder bunny for 10 yards back to start
    • 50 burpees

    STOP YOUR CLOCK

    CoT – short and sweet, we were beat, and folks had to get.

    For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

    Matthew 7:8

  • Going through a transition…?

    9 of us gathered at Grid Iron to celebrate a cool morning and the transitioning from summer to fall. But it was more about Roger Roger transitioning. No, no…he’s transitioning back to becoming an active pilot. Good luck brother. Meanwhile we had a boot camp this morning including:

    SMITH 5 Corners (Because 4 wasn’t enough)- 25 Squats, 25 Merkins, 25 Incline Merkins, 25 Taps (Shoulder), 25 Heals to Heaven. And add 5 Burpees at mid field between each corner exercise.

    7’s (Because 11’s would be just too much Abs)- Get Up’s and Irish Hammers

    Colonnade and the Poles- Slow march down the colonnade with 10 Burpees every other pole, followed by Squats every other pole until we reached our landing spot for a Triple Check of: Chicken Peckers, American Hammers, and a Run. Slow march back down the colonnade with 10 exercises at every pole. 9 of us got to choose 2 exercises each so that’s 180 of a mixture from: Chuck Norris, WW IIs, Sumo Squats, Imperial Walkers, Bear Crawls, Pole Smokers, Ranger Merkins, Crunchy Frogs, Hitchhikers, and more.

    Finished with some stretching and 50 ab related exercises.

  • Odd or Even

    On a perfect fall morning, 7 HIMs showed up to Satan’s Hill thankful the IPC has come to an end. Kudos to all that participated and made themselves that much stronger and better. The PAX was welcomed today with a wooden block dice that would control our destiny, and man was there a lot of luck on our side; unlike the luck of Nancy Lopez’s Guardians and YHC’s Red Sox whose dreams of a World Series came to an end. Here is how it went down:

    Warm up: Mosey to the end of the parking lot and back to the start to circle up for various IC exercises/stretches.

    COP 1: Each PAX member grabbed a coupon and circled up in the parking lot. A roll of the dice decided if we would run down Satan’s Hill (Odd numbers) or up Satan’s Hill (Even numbers). The number shown decided the quantity of Mike Tyson Merkins (at the bottom of Satan’s Hill) or Monkey Humpers (at the top of Satan’s Hill) we would complete. Odd numbers were rolled at a statistically much higher rate than expected as 6/7 times we ran down the hill. Prior to the run each time we completed 2 different exercises x 50 reps. Exercises included Curls, Overhead Press, Skull Crushers, Leg Lifts over the Block, Chest Press, American Hammers, Preacher Curls, Rainbow Overhead Presses, Bus Drivers and a few others I can’t remember.

    COP 2: Carry coupon to the bottom of the hill. Goal is to make it to the top of the hill via 3 different modes of transportation (use any number of them needed, but once you change to a new MOT, you can’t go back to the old one. MOTs included Farmers Carry, Rifle Carry or Lunges.

    Returned to the parking lot for names, numbers, announcements (Great work on donations of shoes and money for Kenya. F3 is 100% made up of some damn good dudes!) Prayers (Hermey’s wife for medical concerns)

    Appreciate you fellas coming out this morning after a tough day at Timberwolf for the final IPC day. Great way to start a Friday! Have a blessed day!

  • Old men running fast

    At least that’s what it felt like… until we arrived back at the flag with fewer miles than expected.
    Next time we’ll be faster.

  • Abrasaurus Rex

    2 strangers lurked in the gloom at the strangers parking lot as YHC rolled in making it 3 gloompadres. The SF was staked into the soil, we met up, waited for any latecomers and moseyed to the trailhead and down around the football field and back to the east helipad.

    Warmarama

    • 10 Busch Garden Machines IC
    • 10 Hill Billy Walkers IC
    • 10 Slow Merkins IC
    • Choo Choo Runners
    • The 3 Wives

    COP 1 – Quarter Pounder on the Bermuda Dew! MoT – Karaoke the football Field.

    • 100 Flutter Kicks
    • 75 WWIIs
    • 50 Penguins
    • 25 Heels To Heaven

    COP 2 – 11’s from east to west helipad. Mountain Climbers & Fox Holes

    Run down the clock with Commandos on the east helipad and state the 5 core principles.

    CoT – Numbers and Names.

    Prayers requests- for Dexters family, his wife just lost her sister to cancer after battling for 10 years. Prayers for Handshakes niece as she battles with cancer.
    Announcements – IPC Week 4 tomorrow at 0700 – The Lumberyard. Schedule change: swapping ruck to Mondays and KB’s to Tuesday.

    In your darkest times be a light to someone else by staying strong in your faith. You never know when that someone might be watching.

  • Ten Strong for the Reverse Caroline Challenge

    Ten Strong for the Reverse Caroline Challenge

    Ten enthusiastic runners showed up this morning for a nostalgic route—the reverse Caroline with a few creative tweaks. But this wasn’t just any ordinary run.

    The Mission

    Today’s special challenge: count every port-a-jon along the route. The PAX member with the highest count would earn bragging rights and a special prize at the end.

    The Results

    After the run, we gathered to reveal our counts. The competition was tight:

    • Splinter and Chippendale each spotted 9 port-a-jons
    • Sippy Cup took the victory with a total of 10

    The Prize

    YHC is currently developing a port-a-jon tracking iOS app (because why not?). As our winner, Sippy Cup will receive a lifetime subscription complete with an exclusive promo code when the app launches.

    Congrats to Sippy Cup on the sharp eyes, and respect to all ten who posted this morning! 🏃‍♂️

  • Coffee at the Lounge

    The 5 studs that were obviously the targets of the orbiting satellites thought they had a Chaplain Q to look forward to but got sucked into a Rosie time warp while waiting for coffee to brew.

    Standard lounge warmup in conversation while Doozy told stories of a Radford parent weekend. He found a college party for his M and daughter, saw the sign that said “Hot Moms Enter Here”, dropped his M off, yada, yada, yada, he picked them up later in the day. If you are in a college acapella group on parent weekend – the obvious choice of song to sing is “Stacey’s Mom” – no one in the audience will feel uncomfortable, especially if the lead singer is obviously scanning the crowd for eye contact during the performance.

    Doors – various exercises at each numbered door looking for alternative outlets for coffee makers. 3 total burpees were performed, staying withing the threshold set for the lounge. Kubota would have appreciated the pace of the first loop around the school. Mosey to the playground for 3 mini-Murph rounds – 5 pullups, 10 merkins, 15 squats – run the loop. At this point YHC realized we had entered the time warp as these men blew through the exercises and still had over half the time left to fill.

    Round of various Mary through the mumble chatter on the basketball courts. Another round of doors, this time OYO, increasing merkins. Good thing there are only 10 doors at this school and not 20+ like the original SOT (Lugnut remembers). Random bench work – step ups, dips, inclines, squats. Finish off with another round of Mary. YHC fought off the encouragement to end early to check the coffee and filled the entire 45 minutes.

    NMM

    Good times and discussion at the DTH firepit last night – good things to come. Machismo found out that he can work out on Saturdays too and is making the official launch of Bon Iron on Saturdays. A new KB workout possibly coming to RVA soon. New CSAUPs discussed – many options on the table – some good ideas, the stupider the better.

    Highlight discussion topic – COFFETERIA – trying to piggy back on the success of the Circus Maximus onsite brewing extravaganza, YHC encouraged trying onsite coffee at other AOs. The Lounge at Twin Team has been kicking around the idea since the summer when Last Call found an outlet nearby. Finally the crew was able to make it happen today, Last Call brought the coffee maker, YHC brought some fixings, and 3 non-coffee drinkers and 1 caffeine aficionado stuck around for some high quality 2nd F. Now that the coffee is flowing, expect it at Twin Team on a regular basis.