Category: Richmond, VA

  • CSAUP practice

    A tenacious 21 took over Dogwood dell on a rainy cold morning. Conditions were better, or slightly worse, than last week’s snowstorm. Here is what transpired:

    COP- SSH, Merkins, LBCs, Imperial Walkers, Helicopters. Mosey to field for Human Centipede. 2 rounds through.

    Mosey to Burpee Road- 3 per lamppost. Up and back. Mosey to Rusty Cage. Partner up and share a Sandbag. Back to Carillon for Modified Dora.

    Partners do total of 60 Situp presses, 80 Boat-Canoe, 100 Squats, all with Sandbag. While partner 1 is completing reps, other partner runs up carillon l, does 15 Merkins, then back down.

    Next round partner bear crawls up and around carillon while other partner does exercise- Side lunges, Shoulder presses, & Alabama Softball Players.

    Mosey back to Rusty Cage.  3 rounds of 6 pull ups, then 3 rounds of 6 Jerkins. Mosey back to COP circle for mary- American Hammers & Freddy Mercurys. Back to flag, Fudd took us out.

    NMS- way to get after this morning PAX, 21 strong in the cold rain. YHC had a plan for Sandbag exercises but it hinged on how many PAX showed up. 21 is more than our sandbag count so partner up was required.  YHC was unsure of the proper count on the Sandbag Dora. 60 Situp presses is more than enough.

    The was not nearly as much mumblechatter as anticipated during the Human Centipede. Either the PAX was smoked or enjoying their time planking on the wet ground.

    We haven’t done Burpee Road in a while so the PAX needed a reminder but attacked them once we got going.

    Glad to see Bleeder back in the gloom at Dogpile. YHC saw him running with sandbag on his shoulder back to the Rusty Cage, not sure if his Dr would approve but we won’t tell.

    During the ASPs many a good laugh was had, apparently making squishing noises on the wet ground on prom night brought back memories for some. Hardywood shared he went to Lillith Fair with his date after prom, not sure if he was joking or not…

    Announcements – Frozen Triangle next Saturday. Reply to the Preblast if you have not already.

    Pleasure as always to lead this morning.

     

     

  • 32 Never Looked So Good!!

    25 including 2 FNG’s bright-eyed and bushy-tailed men storm the parking lot of New Highland to help YHC celebrate being another year older as well as the 1st birthday of his 2.0!! This is how it went down:

    Short run around the parking lot to the back

    COP

    • SSH x32 IC
    • 1 min LBC’s
    • Don Quixotes x16 IC
    • 1 min cross arm LBC’s
    • American Hammers x32 IC
    • 1 min LBC’s
    • Crab Cakes x16 IC
    • 1 min cross arm LBC’s
    • Arm Circles x10 small x6 big reverso
    • 1 min LBC’s

    You only get better with Age

    Pax partners up. 1st partner runs around the church while 2nd partner completes exercise then switch. Exercises were as followings:

    • HRM (Hand Release Merkins) x 32
    • Copperhead Squats x 64
    • Flutters (2 count) x 96
    • LBC’s x 128

    Mosey to the Shelter 

    Complete the following:

    • 32 Dips
    • 32 Derkins
    • 32 Step Ups

    Mosey back to the parking lot

    12 Booyah! Merkins (in honor of YHC’s 2.0 daughter being 12 months old) x2

    Mosey to the Flag

    Ring of Fire (with 12 Merkins)

    Numberama/Namorama

    Carpenter took us out

    Moleskin

    YHC is another year older (and maybe wiser) this past Wednesday and he could think of a better way to celebrate than to Q at the Creek.

    The PAX was strong today setting once again a new record of 25 at the The Creek. (Thanks to all PAX Members that did some EHing last night).

    Things got started with an extra long COP. YHC turned 32 this past Wednesday and his 2.0 will be 1 on Saturday. With the LBC Challenge in full switch, it was necessary to get in as much as possible. The PAX  reluctantly agreed! To really work that core today, YHC ask that during two of the 5 minutes of LBC’s that the PAX alternate touching knees.

    During the “You only get better with age” Emoji was see leaving the PAX for the wood. A lot of speculation on what really happen there. Only emoji would truly know.  Also between exercises the PAX would plank while waiting for the rest of the back. Abacus yelled out “we should be during LBC’s”. Your wish is YHC’s command!! A lot of groans were heard after that.

    Welcome to Putt-Putt and Thumper. Glad you could join us today and hope to see you back each week.

    Welcome also back to a few PAX members that seems to be hibernating during the colder morning. (Ratio, Suitcase, Grabber, Spare, Psycho, and I-Beam). YHC hold the rest was good and glad you came back to the PAX!!

    Announcements

    • CSAUP next Saturday 1/21 starting at DogPile at 6. Be sure to respond to Circle K’s Pre-Blast if you are planning to attend.
    • Remember “The Shining” (3rd F Workout) every Thursday 6:30 at Rise and Shine Diner

    SPIT ON THAT!!

  • Hamilton!

    Fifteen strong showed up for spring time in January.  Fourteen by foot and one on two wheels.

    Commonwealth to Cary and head East.  Take a left on Hamilton and take to Westwood.  4 and 5 milers take a left on Westwood coming back on Malvern to Grove with 5 milers taking a victory lap around the school block when they get back.  6+ milers take a right on Westwood to the Boulevard and back on Grove.

    Marv took us out today offering a special prayer for the treasonous Aaron Burr.

    NMS

    YHC has been reading Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton and wanted to honor the founding father with a route the entire length of his namesake road.  Running with Lab Rat and Upchuck, YHC did not realize he would also get a musical today.  Going under the first underpass we experienced “Under the Bridge” by the Chili Peppers and upon the second underpass “Under the Boardwalk” by the Drifters.  There was also some Dark Side of the Moon (during the impromptu astronomy discussion) , Timberlake, and yes, Hanson.

    On another note, it turns out there is a massive WDog headquarters on the other side of Broad St.  That AO is taking off!  It must be the t-shirts.

    This may be episode one of YHC’s founding fathers running series.

  • Kettlebell Deck of Death at CircusMaximuis

    Ten towering redwoods posted to CircusMaxims this morning with kettlebells in hand, two of which are F3 veterans but newcomers to CircusMaximus. It was wet and warm out, but not raining. Johnsonville (YHC) took the Q, and this is how it went down, more or less.

    speedy warmup: ssh, scissor lunges, arm circles

    Deck of Death —

    Aces — 50 mountain climbers or 50 LBCs (amended after 2 rounds to 100 LBCs since 50 mountain climbers is 300% harder than Lame-O LBCs)
    Hearts (garden variety) — Merkin (kettlebell) Row
    Hearts (face cards) — 10 plank walks with jump
    Diamonds (garden variety) — Single Arm Swings (1 per arm per value on card)
    Diamonds (face cards) — 10 burpees
    Spades (garden variety) — Goblet Kettlebell Squat Press
    Spades (face cards) — 10 jump lunges
    Clubs (garden variety) — Sit up with Kettlebell Press
    clubs (face cards) — 10 crab cakes

    It is hard to get through a deck in 45 minutes. Thus, we had almost no downtime.

    For some reason, we only did 10 crab cakes. I know there were 52 cards, so we must of doubled or tripled up on some other things. Q’s brain don’t function too good sometimes.

    Rosie finished many sequences first even though he was swinging a big KB… show-off. Offshore had flashing lights on his shoes (psychedelic man) and a brand spanking new Christmas-gift-looking gray kettlebell. He and KevinBacon are the CircusMaximus newcomers. They rocked it, and it was great having them out (if for no other reason, so Offshore can optimize some processes and other shi** and so KevinBacon can keep you up to speed on the status of your past classmates and distant relatives).

    HoneyDo quietly took care of business, and had to roll immediately after. Gumbo seemed to want more mericans than was on order. WhiteDeer appeared quiet to YHC (who was fairly busy trying to flip cards and translate them into exercises); others say he was his normal chatty self. Stay gold, Ponyboy.

    FlipPhone arrived late, but that is ok since he came from ChurchHill. Earthworm was with us, but did an alternative exercise for nearly everything. That is better than an FS.

    YHC faced a verbal assault when be tried to describe what cards signified what exercises. Apparently, this PAX does not accept any level of complexity. YHC stopped to allow the assault to subside, and DK hilariously asked if YHC was having a “Wilson moment.” Those who have seen Wilson react to unexpected events during a Q know what that means… Anyhoo, it was quite funny and delivered with DK’s lightning-fast wit. We do love you, Wilson.

    It was hard to follow Toga’s Q from the prior week, where here brought out a mixture of jiu jitsu, acrobatics, and Michelangelo painting The Last Judgment. But, I did what I could. Thanks for permitting me to lead — it was a pleasure.

    Jville

  • Function follows form, at least for a little while

    16 showed up, the weather was notable, the pax was hungry.  Here is what we did:

    COP

    • SSH IH (in harmony)
    • Ball Dippers IC
    • Arm Circles IC
    • Merkins IC
    • Freddie Mercury IC
    • Don Quixote determined to be not necassary by pax

    THANG

    • Playground Tracers:  Follow the leader: run up one side of playground, karaoke over to next corner, backwards run down, then karaoke back to starting point.
    • 11:11 left in the game, 11 seconds on the shot clock on 1/11 (aka 4-corners):  4 groups of 4 (or whatever the hell the pax wants to do), each group starts at a station and rotates thru all stations twice:  Merkinville, Kneeliftsland, Pullupington, and Diptopia.  Emphasis was put on maintaining good form, over high reps.
    • Too Many Lunges:  Partner up, 1st pax starts lunging, 2nd pax starts running around the track.  Flapjack whenever runner catches lunger.  Go around the track once.
    • Plank Walk Do-si-do:  Keep same partner, form 2 lines facing each other.  Bow/Curtsy to partner, then plank up.  Plank walk 10 steps IC North, then 5 merkins IC.  Repeato South, East and West.

    NMS

    YHC was running late this morning, and was very happy to make it on time….with 2 minutes to spare.  That is fine when one of the pax, but way too close for the Q.  My apologies for that.

    YHC tried to make it up to the pax by starting off with a “glorious sound” as Opus would say….we sang Do Wah Diddy Diddy during SSH’s (2 of 3 verses, thanks Pucker).  This was an attempt to maintain Lab Rat’s 2 new year’s resolutions:  1) make a pax member laugh at every workout and 2) make a pax member roll their eyes at every workout.  Mission accomplished?!?  The pax took a minute to warm up, but was sounding wonderful by the time we hit the chorus.

    The 4-corners was re-named while listening to the smooth oral stylings of our very own Marv during the game last night.  Speaking of always making the audience smile, my man has a gift!  The Q almost did 11’s, but decided that would just be too literal.  YHC still needs to ask Marv what the difference is between a rolling timeout and a “slick tip”.  Maybe Saab knows….

    Plank walk Do-Si-Do brought the house down….as noted by the groans coming down the line towards the last set of merkins.  That will have to start becoming a regular in the Lab Rat arsenal.  Special thanks to my partner Hardywood for that picture perfect curtsy.

    Also thanks to EF for busting out the SF this morning after the tomatoes of the family teamed up to break mine in half.  Anybody know where to get a new one???

    Great job to the pax this morning, way to not get your back readjusted by falling branches.

    Announcements:

    • Willis River 35K goes off Sunday at 8:00
    • CSAUP:    http://f3nation.com/2017/01/06/pre-blast-f3-rva-frozen-triangle-csaup/#comment-102057 .  Sign up so that Circle K will know how many wieners to get.
    • Lunch today, 12:00 at Pop’s Deli on Grace.  Lab Rat is a hard commit.
    • LBC count:  0

    Lab Rat out.

  • Balls and Brains are not Co-Located

    Deciding to brave the elements after an extended exchange with Mrs. Chum Bucket concerning the wisdom of YHC’s decision, YHC arrived at the AO last Saturday for GridIron.  En route, the roads were mostly empty as snow continued to fall.  YHC arrived to, not unexpectedly, find no other takers for the morning’s workout.

    The show did go on and it went down like so:  Initial COP with SSHs, Hillbillies, Don Quixotes, Imperial Walkers, and Arm Circles.  Trudged to the road on the opposite side of the pretty, but snow-laded football field for The Beast (paralleling the field itself) with Burpees, LBCs, Carolina Dry Docks, Mountain Climbers, Flutter Kicks, and Wide Grip Carolina Dry Docks.  Using, effectively, the same cleared path, followed with Black Jack – started at one end of the path with 20 Merkins and 1 LBC and continued back and forth until completion of 1 Merkin and 20 LBCs.  Staggered back around the field to the picnic pavilion for Squats and Dips.  Done.  The COT was completed silently.

    No doubt that while the conditions were challenging, the morning was beautiful without interruption, despite the periodic spitting and snot-rocketing of YHC.  An advantage of an absolute you-against-you morning is that the SSHs could be interrupted so the Q could complete a couple of text messages – one to Johnsonville and one to Mrs. Chum Bucket, both indicating successful arrival.

     

  • A Circus at SOT…

    3 brave souls escaped the fartsack and showed up at SOT for some light calisthenics all gear toward avoiding the remaining ice at SOT and crushing some LBCs.  At least we crushed some LBCs…  Here is how it went down:

    Mosey to the adjacent parking lot for COP:

    • SSHs x20 IC
    • DQs (Swirly style) x10 IC
    • Imperial Walkers x20 IC
    • Copperhead Squats x10 IC
    • Arm Circles – just small x10 IC forward then reverse

    Slaughter Starter – 20 Burpees OYO

    5 Minutes of LBCs – 1 minute of LBCs followed by 15 seconds of rest repeato x5

    Mosey with kettle bells to the front of the school for some kettle bell, Circus Maximus inspired triple checks

    First Triple Check included, run around the bus loop (and slip and bust your ass if you are YHC), two-handed KB Swings with 25 lb KB and Goblet Squats with YHC’s shiny new toy (a 35 lb KB).

    Second Triple Check, included one PAX performing 100 LBCs as the trigger-man for the switches, upright rows with the 25 lb KB and shoulder presses with the 35 lb KB.

    Mosey back to the flag for COT, number-rama and name-a-rama and YHC took us out.

    Announcements — CSAUP Frozen Triangle Jan 21 – be there for some or all…just be there.

    Moleskin:

    YHC has been fart (smart) sacking Monday and Tuesday given the icy conditions fearing that I would certainly find the icy patch and bust my ass.  Karma is a bitch as I found the only dangerous icy patch on our run today and hit the deck.  Point taken, Karma.  You win.

    Also, YHC couldn’t resist the chance to take his shiny new 35 lb Kettle Bell out for a whirl.  Thanks to Amazon for delivering it last night…I know McRib and Carmen certainly thank you.

    Way to work this morning men.  A pleasure to lead as always.

    No more Gumbo for you!

     

  • I Made Em Extra Schloppy For Ya

    Ten brave souls ventured out into the the downright balmy 37º pre-dawn gloom for a slushy and extra schloppy good time.

    Mosey to the circle on the near side of The Carillon for COP

    20 Slippery SSH (IC), 10 Donny Qs (IC), 5 Arm Circles, then big, then reverso(IC), 10 Merkins (IC), 20 LBC (IC)

    Mosey to the stage of the amphitheater
    Tabatas: LBCs then squats lunges, 4X
    Three corners: Using the “three corners” of the amphitheater we did four sets. Plankarama & Gore-a-rama between sets.

    • 10 burpees, 20 merkins, 30 LBCs
    • 15, 25 merkins, 35 LBCs
    • 20 box jump burpees, 30 merkins, 40 LBCs (IIRC?)
    • 20 jump squats, 30 Thor’s Hammer, 40 merkins ball dippers (IIRC?)

    Mosey to The Carillon for Partner Touch a Tree.  Peoples chair + 5 trees. Repeato.

    10 Merkin Ring of Fire to close it out.

    Numberama, Namearama, Splinter took us out

    Announcements: Be sure to check and RSVP to Circle K’s awesome Preblast of the Walking in a Winter Wonder CSAUP event coming up on 1/21.

    NMS: The PAX left right at 530 for the circle this morning, which meant we left some stragglers in dust cold fog. YHC refuses to mark Sippy as LIFO because his transportation is less reliable in snow than most.

    Finding good footing, staying off sheets of ice and avoiding massive 35º puddles was the order of the day.  Despite the sloppy weather, everyone was in great spirits throughout the workout. Is that a sign YHC didn’t put enough beat in the beatdown? Knowing there was lots of snow, ice, slush and puddles YHC thought staying in close might be the best strategy to prevent overly slushy shoes.  It partly worked for YHC.

    Qing and counting is still not second nature to YHC. That and a slushy brainfreeze didn’t help. So thanks for the prompts from the PAX today. “Can we recover?” “Wait .. lunges, not squats?” Saab’s response to YHC’s encouragement to make them deep lunges … “all six inches.” Hilarity ensued.

    The PAX got to pick workouts on the third and fourth rounds of the Three Corners. Offshore’s box jump burpee suggestion almost brought down slushballs on his head. Meanwhile, Hardywood greatly enjoyed YHC’s declaration on one of the last of the Three Corners that YHC “made ’em extra schloppy for ya.”

    LADY, YOU’RE SCARING US!

    Here’s to a less sloppy beatdown tomorrow. See you in the gloom!

  • The Snowdown Throwdown!

    13 PAX drove over snow and ice in order to slam into the Atlee High School parking lot this morning for Daville. The PAX gathered for some quick hellos and then the fun began. YHC instructed the PAX to grab a big ball of ice or snow and then mosey over to the bus loop.  Here is how it went down…

    Snowdown Warmup

    The PAX slammed the snow & ice balls to ground.

    100 SSHs, 2 minutes of LBCs, 10 Don Quixotes, 10/5 arm circles forward & backward.

    Mosey over to the field.

    Snow Pyramid (Igloo?)

    Line up in front of the goal posts.

    1 burpee, 2 merkins, 3 wwII sit-ups, 4 jump squats – run across the field to the other goal post.

    5 burpees, 6 merkins, 7, WWII sit-ups, 8 jump squats – run backwards across the field to the goal post.

    9 burpees, 10 merkins, 11 WWII sit-ups, 12 jump squats – run back across the field.

    13 burpees, 14 merkins, 15 WWII sit-ups, 16 jump squats

    Touchdown Al Gore until everyone finished.

    5 pull-ups on the goal post or the pull-up bars on the far side of the field.

    Mosey on the road around to the gate. LBCs until everyone caught up.

    Snow Crunch

    Run the (icy) road that loops back to the far side of the high school. Stop and do 10 LBCs at every other light post.

    Mosey back to the flag. 10 SSHs… Number-rama, Name-a-rama, COT.

    SPIT took us out.

    6 gathered for coffeeteria at the Starbucks in Kroger afterwards.

    Moleskin

    Most of the PAX stayed in their cars until the final seconds before the beginning of the festivities. YHC called for each man to grab a large ice or snow ball and run with it. The mumble chatter wondered if we were going to carry these ice balls for the whole workout. That question was answered after the PAX circled up for the initial exercises.

    The theme of this workout was “The Snowdown Throwdown.” YHC did not want to hide from the snow and ice. We were destined to attack and tackle the snow and ice head on. Why not show who is boss by smashing ice balls into the ground? That is what we did with vengeance.

    The bone-chilling cold was starting to take root after the throw down so YHC decided to fire up 100 SSHs to take care of that issue. Problem solved! Groans went up as YHC called for 2 minutes of LBCs on the snow. Many groaned as the 2 minutes seemed to last forever. One voice exclaimed, “Did you say 2 minutes or 2 hours?” YHC’s response? “You just wait…”

    The run over to the track and field provided a preview of the icy challenge as many tried to avoid the black ice, white ice, green ice, any ice… The transition to the snowy field was somewhat welcomed in contrast to the ice. The PAX tackled the exercises in style, including sprints across the football field. The lone lacrosse goal in the field almost captured some as we sprinted for the touchdown but no injuries were reported. Pull-ups on the goal post brought laughter and multiple Christmas Story references of “don’t put your tongue on that bar…” Slightly awkward but appropriate for the moment…

    The PAX smashed the full loop around the three schools with LBCs on the icy road. Some took the wiser route of running on the sidewalk while others fought through the challenge of running on ice.

    We had fun this morning for sure. The large amount of running may not have been universally embraced by all but it kept us moving.

    I couldn’t have been prouder of this team and the commitment to getting stronger together.

  • Figure Eight…

    5 intrepid runners presented themselves for a jaunt around UR.  Although the temperature was about 15 degrees, it seemed pleasant given the single digit temperatures we had experienced in prior days.

    Given the conditions in surrounding neighborhoods due to the recent snowfall, YHC chose to keep the run within UR grounds.  The route was essentially a “figure-eight” covering the two main loops among the campus.  Some ran two iterations while others in added one more loop at the end.

    YHC enjoyed his run and conversation with Sippy and Marv.  Not too much else to report, but YHC did take pride in being called-out for wearing shorts by some local moms walking their dogs (oh yeah)

    Announcements:  Warmer weather is on the way!

    Saab abides