Category: Richmond, VA

  • Gloomiest Gloom

    10 willful souls posted on a Thursday in late December.  Weather was 70 and sunny..or maybe it was high 30’s and raining…either way, the sun was shining at Mary Mumford.

    The Thang:

    Mosey to the circle at the front of the school.  15x Don Quixote.  20x Imperial Walkers, 25x LBC’s, and 30x SSH’s.  Ascending curb crawls up to 13.  Mosey to corner of school.  Lt. Dan’s to the front entrance of the school.  Mosey to benches in front of school for tabata dips and step ups.  Mosey to side of school for double-triple check (peoples chair, mountain climbers and run to fence).  Mosey back to front of school for Descending curb crawls from 13 (as Swirly say at the amphitheater, what goes up, must come down.  Lt. Dan’s around parking lot and back to shovel flag.

    NMM:

    Today the weather brought us the gloomiest of the gloom.  30 degree weather with steady rain (the only salvation was that he rain did not start coming down steadily until a few minutes into the workout). These are the most difficult days for YHC as the combination of the wet and the cold make the workouts the hardest.  I would much rather the bitter cold, snow, pouring rain in the summer, or extreme heat.  I think the PAX agrees, as the amount of second F post workout was at a bare minimum.  2 minutes post COT only 1 or 2 cars remained in the parking lot and all PAX had taken refuge in their cars. T claps to all that wrestled themselves out of the fartsack and made it out today.

    Lots of attempts to manage the rain and cold this morning.  YHC went with the raincoat, which worked to a certain degree, but it was soaked at the end.  Toucan and his crew went with the big canopy tree for the tabatas.  Others went with the minimal amount of clothing to reduce the amount of water carried around for the day.  Either way, we were all pretty wet and cold by the end.

    Rack PT.  Enough Said.

    Announcements

    January monthly challenge is LBC’s.  Sign up now.

    Smokey mountain relay and ragnar coming up in April,  Start training now.  Check with Swirly on SMR and Toga on Ragnar.  Both are great runs and a good goal and challenge.  Stretch yourself and sign up for one now.

  • The Circus welcomes Dr. Evil

    3 regulars & 1 visitor braved a soaking rain to post to a Kettlebell beat down @ Godwin High School that went something like this:

    THANG

    Mosey to bus loop shelter

    COP: SSH, DQs, Tempo Merkins, Crunchy Frog, Crab Cakes, KB Press with PAX backs to one another

    Quadruple Check/KB Stations

    1) KB Wall sit (millennium falcon), KB Swing, KB Press/Bridge & Over, Forward lunge 3 columns & back

    2) KB Halo, KB Goblet Squat, KB clean-rack-press, Backward lunge 3 columns & back

    3) KB Standing Row, KB Merkin Row, KB Lawnmower, Bearcrawl 3 columns + Crawlbear back

    4) KB Around the World, KB tricep press, KB Bob & Weave, run to end of bus loop + 5 burpees + run back

    5) Wall Plank, KB Figure-8, KB Swing – pause with KB overhead, KB Death Crawl (Bear Crawl w/ KB) 2 columns & back

    6) Left hand KB swing, right hand KB swing, Alternating single hand KB Swing, Crab walk 2 columns & back

    Plank-o-rama into COP: plank dips, flutter kicks, LBCs (fast-slow-fast)

    COT – Atilla took us out

    NM:

    Nice to meet Dr. Evil after seeing his name in RVA backblasts in the past. Dr. Evil visited the Circus for the first time and arrived without a KB. No problem. This gave us the perfect opportunity mix in some none KB activities so that nobody maxed out throwing weight around.

    YHC had nothing planned and thought a hot-potato workout was in order. However, Johnsonville was operating on very little sleep and didn’t appear capable of calling a cadence. So, he & Atilla helped YHC incorporate many KB exercises we use at Circus Maximus. It was a good intro to anyone new to KBs. Thanks for everyone’s help!

    The bus loop shelter provided sufficient cover from a constant rain, though some exercises were still performed in the rain.

    We’re all thinking of Earthworm and hope that he gets better soon!

  • Back to the Mount

    10 strong and fleet and one four legged friend (Oakley) posted for a Spider run on a glorious Tuesday morning.

    The Thang:

    Mount Henrico: From the lake take the road around to the baseball field and through the parking lot to the main road, turn left, right on lakewood, right on wood, left on baldwin, right on westham parkway, left on baldwin, left on rock creek, left on ridge, right on university, right on julian, summit the hill to Parham road.  Reverse directions for five milers.  Six milers add the loop on Arlington on the way back.

    NMM:

    Two choices offered to the PAX today for the run.  1) over the river and through the woods – across Huguenot bridge to she south side and then either up or down river and 2) Mount Henrico  Second, hillier route was chose.  As Sippy Cup said “we came to run hills, we might as well do them”.   I was hoping the PAX would choose the easier river route, but in the end was glad to summit Mt. Henrico again.  YHC was told that when the faster crew reached the top, Marv insisted that the group take a right onto Parham and navigate to intersection of Patterson to make sure they had indeed made it to the highest point.

    YHC had “promised” a couple of the PAX that were doing the Appalachian trail on  wednesday that we would do an easy four miler.  After the PAX chose mount henrico and given the groupings and numbers, I reneged on my promise and made Lab Rat and Upchuck come along for the full tour de Mount Henrico.  Lab Rat had EH’d FNG Rex to come along for the run.  He told Rex that the plan was for an easy 4 miler.  When Rex saw the speedsters and heard the option, he quickly changed his mind and went all in with the fast group (one of the benefits of being young and in college is that speed is still in your side).  Glad to have him out there with us.

    When i saw Saab this morning, i was a little disappointed.  I also punched him to show my displeasure with his posting.  I had the mistaken impression that Saab was going to take the week between Christmas and New Years to let his body rest and heal.  Alas, he posted for Spider Run after all, not being able to resist the workout.  I am not one to take time off either, but sometimes discretion is the better part of valor.  Hopefully he will take some time off while in NJ (if Mama Saab lets him)

  • Putting on the post holiday pounds, 40 pounds worth

    Eleven RVA regulars and 3 visitors posted to WDOG for a mid-holiday week beatdown. The PAX found some leftover presents from YHC to play with.

    COP- SSH,  Merkins, DQs, Freddy Mercurys, Helicopters.

    Mosey to Rusty Cage, pick up a Sandbag, mosey back to Amphitheater. Partner Up.

    1 Partner scales the Amphitheater steps and back with sandbag while other does exercise. Round 1- Overhead presses. ROUND 2- Flutterkicks with bag held up. Round 3- Squats. In between rounds Sandbag APDS and WWII Situp presses with SB.

    Mosey to field. Lunge width of field with SB, drop it and run up carillon & back. Repeato.

    Mosey to circle- Side lunges, APDs, Boat-Canoe, all with sandbags.

    Mosey back to Rusty Cage, drop Sandbags. AMRAP Pull ups and Jerkins x2. Long mosey back to the flag. COT & Viral took us out.

    NMS – YHC had given the PAX fair warning via Twitter about the Sandbag workout. 20 of them were waiting for the pax when we got to the Rusty Cage. The sandbags and PAX held up for the beatdown. YHC was concerned about someone throwing out their back, but instead everyone attacked the weight with gusto. YHC borrowed from his Circus Maximus Qs for Sandbag exercises. The Boat-Canoe and Alabama Prom Dates seemed to be a hit with the pax. Situp presses are just as awful with a Sandbag as a Kettlebell.

    Mumblechatter mostly centered around how YHC managed to get 20 full Sandbags to the Rusty Cage awaiting the pax in the gloom this am. It is all in the Qs commitment to the theme.

    Glad to see the familiar visitors back in Dr.Evil and Guinness. Always good to have you guys in town.

    Announcements – Frozen Triangle CSAUP on Jan 21. Mark your calendars! Even the Hampton Roads guys are coming up.

    Pleasure to lead this am and thanks to the Pax for trying something new.  The sandbags are staying there so anyone Q’ing is welcome to bring them out to play at Dogpile, until they fall apart or some recalcitrant PAX member slits them open…

     

  • The Cooper & Conveyor Belts @ SOT

    4 SOT regulars & 1 returning visitor from the West End gathered at Swift Creek Middle School for a holiday beatdown that went something like this:

    THANG

    Mosey to front of school.

    COP – SSHs, DQs, Tempo Merkins, Hello Dollies, Plank Dips

    Mosey to right side of school.

    Conveyor Belts:
    1) Bear Crawl + 10 Copperhead Squats (Repeato)
    Plank-o-rama
    2) Crawl Bear + 10 Monkey Humpers (Repeato)

    The Cooper (modified)
    10 burpees, 10 merkins, 10 squats then run lap around parking lot medians
    Repeato, reducing by 2 reps each time

    Mosey to left side of school

    4 Walk Walkers

    Catch Me if you Can
    Partner up: 1 partner runs to catch other partner performing exercise.
    3 Rounds: bear crawl, walking lunge, walking imperial squat walkers

    COP – Plank, Peter Parker, LBCs, BoxCutters, Cross Leg Lifts

    NM:
    Great to see Splinter post to “the other side of the river.” Good luck with your bathroom demolition project!

    Wilson was missed. Gumbo was disappointed not to see the Wilson/Honeymoon clown car.

    McRibb dominated the modified Cooper.

    Squats & Monkey Humpers are no joke when combined with a Conveyor Belt

    Good work gents.

    Looking forward to the CSUP on Jan 21.

  • Payback for leaving me at NoToll

    9 Men showed up this morning for my payback for being left at NoToll last month.  We had 2 visitors one from NC, water wings and House from SC.

    Ran to the AO circle than did 10 SSHs and then past it to the left for 10 = 90 SSHs

    LBCs 10 than past to the left = 90

    Ran to the benches for 3 sets of one lap than 25 dips than one lap 25 dips 50 merkins than one lap add side squats than 2 labs

    lined up for triple check with Carolina dry docks, American hammers and run, 3 sets

    Then we lined up for fallow the leader

    We ran to the poles for heels to heaven pole smokin relay, this was a ton of FUN.

    Than we lined up and ran back playing fallow the leader.

    Thanks again men for letting me lead today, I think we got in 3 miles to boot.  It was great having 2 out of town f3ers.  Also the cofferteria with J-ville, HoneyDo and water Wings was a great time just relaxing at Starbucks usually I have to run off and don’t get a change to out.

    COT: My challenge this Month’s to my fellow brother’s: make a deposit into your marriage by planning a date night from soup to nuts, your wife just has to show up.  Usually its the other way around we just have to show up!!!

    Thanks again brothers of the Gloom

     

  • Merk, Merk, Bear!

    6 pax plus one FNG showed up for this last workout for 2017 for DaVille.  This is what transpired:

    Mosey to the side parking log

    COP

    • X25 SSH
    • X25 Imperial Walkers
    • X25 Don Quixotes
    • X25 Invisible Jump Ropes

    X2

    THANG

    Mosey to soccer field:

    “In It Together Forever”:

    • Sumo Squat Walks (Legs more than shoulder width apart, half squat, walk 3 steps, deep squat, repeat) to Cone 1 Crab walk (15 yards)
      •     LBCs (10 once last person arrives)
    • Deep Lunges to Cone #2 (15 yards)
      •     Freddie Mercuries (10 once last person arrives)
    • Polar Bears to Cone #3 (15 yards)
      •     Box Cutters (10 once last person arrives)
    • Rabbit Jumps to Cone #4 (15 yards)
      •     V Sit-ups (10 once last person arrives)

    Move cones out 3 Paces and repeat

    Move cones out 3 Paces and repeat

    Leg / Arm / Core Challenge

    Number off to make teams

    • Leg – Mud Face and Guppy
    • Arm – Suitcase and Kit Kat
    • Core – Opus and Spike
    • Timer – Abacus

    Challenge 1

    • Mud Face challenges Suitcase and Opus to most squats in a minute
    • Mud Face wins
    • Mud Face chooses for pax to lunge to 2 poles  and run back to cones

    Challenge 2

    • Kit Kat challenges  to reach their age in Merkins first (Guppy to do 3x of age)
    • Guppy wins
    • Guppy chooses to do parking lot suicides

    Merk, Merk, Bear

    • Bear 1 – Spike
    • Bear 2 – Opus
    • Bear 3 – Guppy
    • Bear 4 – Mud face
    • Bear 5 – Abacus
    • Bear 6 – Suitcase

    Mosey back to Flag

    10 American Hammers

    COT/Namorama

    Moleskin

    A light crowd was out today as the temperature soared to 58 degrees.  The wind was present as most of the pax hid in the fartsack.  An extended warm up was provided as YHC wanted to keep the pax guessing.  During the first round of exercises FNG Suitcase joined the fun.  The Pax then ran to the soccer fields and saw cones already laid out for them to enjoy.  Gulps and gasps were heard as the pax understood that this period of pain was planned.

    Instructions were provided on each of the exercises and the pax tore at the box.  A new exercise was introduced – – > Sumo Squat Walks.  A YHC brainchild as he thought of honoring Mud Face and his leg power.  Once round one of In It Together Forever was completed, the cones were moved out 3 paces, and round 2 began.  Chatter was heard but it wasn’t coherent.  Once round 2 was done, we moved the cones out 3 more feet and the chatter died away as breath was saved for round 3.

    Next up was an opportunity for the pax to challenge each other.  We number off and the 1s were given team “legs”, the 2s were given team “arms” and the 3s were given team “core”.  The winner of the challenge (chosen by legs then by arms) then got to choose an exercise for the pax to tackle.  In Challenge 1 Mud Face challenged the others in group 1 (suitcase and opus) to do as many squats as they can in a minute.  Group 2 got in an Al Gore position to watch. Quickly, 20 seconds, they all learned that a minute is a long time.  We also learned that Mud Face can knock a boatload of squats!  Upon winning, Mud Face struggled with the exercise he wanted to choose.  He settled on lunges to 2 light poles.  Holy Smack – after a ton of squats… That hurt.  Next challenge, the groups changed and Kit Kat challenged the others to do their age in Merkins the fastest.  Guppy, being 13 had to do 3x his age – 39.  Off they went and Guppy, with the wings of youth, was able to finish before the others.  His exercise for the pax was suicides.

    YHC, wanting to introduce a new exercise he cooked up with his M, moved the Pax quickly to the next ball of fun – Merk, Merk, Bear.  The Pax circled up and started doing Merkins.  YHC choose Opus to go around and tag everyone and say Merk.  Then Opus got to choose one and say “Bear”. At that point both him and the tagged “Bear” chased each other around the circle in a bear crawl to the emptied spot.  Opus got around to the spot without being tagged and was able to join  the circle of Merkins.  And repeat.  Lots of joy was had as the pax really turned it on to escape their friends grasps.  After almost everyone had a chance to chase or be chased, the pax picked up the cones and returned to the flag.  25 American Hammers were knocked out before we finished up with Number-rama, Name-a-Rama and Abacus closing us with a prayer.
    Announcements:

    • TheCreek needs a que for this Friday
    • CSAUP Saturday January 21st. 9 to 10 mile run with short AO in between. 3 to 4 hour with cook out afterwards. See Circle K and more Pre-blast for details
    • LBC’s Monthly Challenge – January. 10k is the Goal. See link below to sign up!

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-L8e9W24ygnU0suaGyKxzi1PgPqY1CBd57hLrKTZI-g/edit#gid=656233322

  • Boxing Day at The Punisher

    6 faithful shook off the post-Christmas food coma this morning to help un-wrap a special Boxing Day version of The Punisher.  Known as the day to re-gift any unwanted Christmas presents, Boxing Day offered the PAX an adventure around the AO to seek out a few boxed treats.  Here’s what the PAX found:

    Re-Gift #1 (left on YHC’s car window):
    Slaughter Starter: 20 in-cadence burpees done cold (well, modified version…the PAX allowed themselves 10 seconds to stretch).  Way to pound them out!

    COP:
    SSHs x20
    Imperial Walkers x20
    Don Quixotes x10
    LBC’s x20
    Sweat Angels x20

    PAX picked up bricks and sprinted to First Tree (a dead-ringer for Charlie Brown’s sapling).  Note: when this PAX is receiving gifts, this PAX don’t mosey. The PAX found 3 gift boxes mysteriously left at base of Charlie Brown’s tree.

    Re-Gift #2:
    Partner up.  First partner does polar bear crawl x8 (gift box 1) and then completes the circuit with a sprint of about 75 yards (gift box 2).  Second partner performs Wonderbras (gift box 3) along the brick wall.  Switch positions. Repeato x3

    Sprint to massive fir tree…”Oh, wow, MORE GIFTS!”  PAX found three more gift boxes at the base of the tree.

    Re-Gift #3:
    Each PAX performed shoulder taps in cadence (gift box 1) x15 then arc loaders (gift box 2) and finished with a 25 yard sprint to perform 20 reverse crunches (gift box 3).  Reverse direction with arc loaders and back to starting point.  Repeato x3.

    Strong run to front of school in search of more gift boxes…which, lo and behold, the PAX found 3 more of.

    Re-Gift #4:
    Triangle of gifts this time…start with an ATM (gift box 1)…that’s 15 shoulder taps plus 10 Tempo Merkins plus 10 regular merkins). Sprint to station 2, where PAX performed Dollys x20 (gift box 2) before sprinting to station #3 to perform an Alphabet (gift box 3).  Repeato x2.

    Reverse run around school to pick up gift boxes and bricks, then back to flag.

    Number-rama, Name-a-Rama, and YHC took us out.

    Moleskin:
    This group starts strong.  YHC was solidly enthused by the positive response to the Slaughter Starter…the PAX jumped on it and didn’t look back.  Great job, men.

    For the day after Christmas, the PAX was heavily populated by travelers determined to remain on the ball over the holidays.  Great to see Water Wings from Raleigh and The Whittler from Boston.  Opus came all the way from Mechanicsville…he continues to get stronger each time out – nice work!

    Thanks also to the PAX for joining the impromptu 2nd F at Starbucks.  YHC’s belt buckles express their eternal gratitude to the PAX for consuming YHC’s Christmas candy (hidden in each gift box).  Re-gifting a couple thousand calories never felt better.

    It was a pleasure to lead you all this morning.  Looking forward to seeing you all in The Gloom.

    Announcements:

    • CSAUP Saturday Janurary 21st. 9 to 10 mile run with short AO in between. 3 to 4 hour with cook out afterwards. See Circle K and more Pre-blast for details
    • Trip to the Appalachian Trail on Dec 28th. Planning 18 to 20 miles, take about 5 hours. Meet at the Gum Spring exit on I64 (exit 159) at 6:30am. See LabRat or TYA for more details.

    Additional announcement:

  • Post Christmas Expedition at River Run

    This post Christmas morning, 4 brave RVA men ventured into the River Run AO to shake off the egg nog and cookies and take on the last Monday of 2016.  Here is how it went down.

    CoP

    • 20 X SSH
    • 12 X Don Quixote
    • 20 X Imperial Walkers
    • 15 x Arm Circles
    • 20 x Flutter Kicks
    • 12 x Merkins

    4 Stations Around Track

    • Station 1 = 10 Pull Ups (This person triggers rotation)
    • Station 2 = AMRAP WWII Sit Ups
    • Station 3 = AMRAP Hanging Leg Lifts
    • Station 4 = AMRAP Merkins

    repeat until PAX performs each rotation 2 times

    Mosey to the JR Football Field 

    Swamp and Forth Relay 

    Partner up

    • Partner 1 = Run to opposite goal post and back
    • Partner 2 = Perform Polar Bears then Lunges then Broad Jump Burpee
    • Switch off until exercising partner reaches the goal post
    • Rinse and repeat back to starting end

    Conveyor Belt at JRHS Parking Lot

    • Rotation 1 – Monkey Humpers 10 x IC for 4 rotation (BC to next parking lot space)
    • Rotation 2 – 10 Merkins IC for 4 rotations w. BC to next station

    Mosey back to parking lot for Native American Flutter Kicks on Poll 

    Mary 

    • Rosalitas X 20 IC
    • Freddie Mercury x 15 IC
    • Hello Dolly x 20 IC
    • Merkin Ring of Fire w. Plank hold at the end

    Numberama and Name O Rama

    Announcements

    • CSAUP event scheduled for 1/21 starting at Dogpile at 6AM for 20 Minute bootcamp, then mosey to Punisher for 20 minute bootcamp, then mosey to 45MoM for 20 minute bootcamp then mosey back to Dogpile to complete (expecting 3+ hours total)
    • LBC Challenge coming in January

    YHC took us out

    NMM

    YHC was pleasantly surprised to see Wilson and Honeymoon ready and waiting in a clown car after pulling up to the AO for this after Christmas rendezvous.  This eased my fears of possibly pursuing a lone wolf mission this morning, which was definitely not in the cards.  A minute or so later an unfamiliar Toyota Highlander pulled up to the RR parking lot under a shroud of mystery.  YHC was secretly excited as 4 was an ideal minimum number for what was planned, but there was an element uncertainty in trying to determine who the 4th person was.  YHC was happy to find out that this mystery vehicle belonged to none other than Sippy Cup who was staying with family in Midlothian for the holiday.

    YHC hates to separate a PAX, but wanted to break into this morning with a little alone time by using the 4 station relay as a way to get started.  During this YHC was still reeling from the burp Ups and Jerkins from Spit’s Dogpile Q on Saturday and as such the pull ups were especially tough.

    The Swamp and Forth Relay was a RR flattened version of Love Hill relays from dogpile.  The Swamp at James River may have been the coldest part of the morning as the leftover rain from Christmas Eve had left the football field pretty wet and added a chilling flavor to the polar bear crawls during the relay.

    Note to RVA Pax…monkey humpers will crush you in high repetition.  A quick audible had to be called to shorten the number of IC monkey humpers from 15 to 10 after 1 rotation.  The switch to merkins in the 2nd round was also tough with bear crawls mixed in…(my shoulders were still pretty useless from Saturday’s BTWW Triple Check and from spending most of the last 48 hours putting things together (Lego’s are a workout for the body and mind)).

    All in all not much mumble chatter during the workouts today, but a fair amount of discussion took place about the upcoming CSAUP on January 21 post COT.  This will definitely be a grueling and awesome event, and YHC is definitely excited and nervous to participate.

    In closing and without question, the best way to start the last week of the year is with my F3 brethren.  Thanks for humbling me today and allowing me to lead.  It’s always an honor and a privilege.

    See you all next time.

    McRib

  • No Theme, Just Gloom

    3 Strong and brave kicked off the last week of 2016 with a Batteau bang.

    EF planted the flag, here’s how it went down.

    Mosey around to the front of the Stone House

    COP

    • SSH
    • Russian Soldiers
    • Reverse Russian Soldiers
    • Merkins
    • Dollys
    • Southpaw Shuffle

    Mosey down to Tennis Courts

    • Sprint 1 Leg, 3 Mosey
    • Sprint 2 Legs, 2 Mosey
    • Sprint 3 Legs, 1 Mosey
    • Sprint 4 Legs

    Mosey down stairs to Pond

    • Escalating Burpees at each light post 1,2…11

    Partner carry up THOIR

    Mosey to Circular Sitting Area

    • LBCs IC
    • Box Jumps x 30
    • Derkins x 40
    • Dips x 50
    • Plankorama

    Mosey to top of stairs

    • Coupon Curl and Press x 25

    Mosey back to Tennis Court

    Repeato Sprint/Mosey cycle

    Mosey to Stone House

    Repeato COP + Crossover Leg Raises

    MOLESKIN

    YHC will assume the small yet strong PAX was due to one of three causes.  Either the PAX spread too much cheer yesterday, the PAX posted out of town, or the PAX was up late celebrating YHC’s fantasy football championship.  Most likely it was the latter.  Splinter got his first taste of what Batteau has to offer.  He was impressed by the Buck we saw wondering through in the distance prior to take off, but not impressed with the 11th light post or THOIR aka Mount Saint WTF Am I Doing.  Flipper enjoyed the sites of Batteau land as well before joining the PAX mid workout.  YHC hopes Wheelbarrow is not out there still looking for the PAX.  Flipper confirmed his LIFOness was due to a heavy Q of bourbon eggnog and a Christmas beatdown that YHC would not like to post for anytime soon.

    ANNOUNCEMENTS

    CSAUP upcoming

    COT

    EF Hutton Has Spoken.