Category: Richmond, VA

  • Center the Sippy Cup and get ready for some ladders

    21 brave men gathered in the misty fog for a little bit different WDog beatdown.  The workout went something like this:

    Mosey to the far circle for:

    COP: Helicopters, DQ, Imperial Walkers, Arm Circles, Merkins.

    Sippy Cup Crawl.  Bear crawl to sippy cup in center of circle, 5 merkins, Crawl Bear back, 5 merkins  Repeat with crab walks and military crawls.

    Mosey to the stage for ladder #1.  Squat jacks.  10, 20, 30, 40 seconds of squat jacks with a 15 sec rest between, then 50 seconds of Burpees, followed by 40,30,20,10 of squat jacks.

    Mosey to the rusty cage for partner pullups 1-5 and then chinups 5-1.

    Mosey to the stage for ladder #2.  Elbow plank (same 10,20,30,40, etc pattern as above).

    Mosey to far circle for ladder #3. Merkins, same pattern as above.

    Mosey back to flag for announcements and COP (YHC took everyone out).

    Announcements.

    Talk to TYA about a movie  viewing (Parent Trap) this weekend that his daughter is planning as a fundraiser.  Last chance to sign up for ReeseStrong5K this weekend.  Convergence on Sept 30th.

    Moleskin.

    The misty air made for an interesting, particularly dark and gloomy morning and made the haunted playground noises we’ve been hearing lately a bit more creepy.  Does anyone know what is making that noise?

    Today’s workout was designed to be light on running for those post-BRR hurting legs. There was a lot of groaning today during the intervals.  Squat Jacks were tough, Elbow plank was deceptively hard, and the merkins were a real crowd pleaser this am.

    Welcome to FNG Chernobyl a friend of Sabotage, who was named in contrarian fashion because he has environmentalist John Muir on his licence plate.

    It was a pleasure to serve you men this am!

  • Back in Black

    Six men drummed up will power and fought off cobwebs to conquer a foggy morning of kettlebells.

     

    The Thang

    COP

    SSH IC x 15

    Merkins IC x 10

    Shoulder stretch to straight-armed Pickle Pounders IC x 5 (2 sets)

    Arm Swings (all big), front, back, sideways, IC x 10

    Halos – 10 each way OYO

    Slingshots – 10 each way OYO

     

    Kettlebell shuffle around the track

     Repeating cycles of the following four exercises with 20 alternating side-lunges in between each exercise:

    • Turkish get-up x 1 each side
    • Clean & press x 5 each arm
    • Single-hand swing x 5 each arm
    • Snatch x 5 each arm

    First person to finish reverses direction followed by others, until leader catches the six.

     

    Ring of Fire

    Boat-canoe, 3 rounds

     

    Kettlebell pendulum clock around the bus loop

    Pax spreads out along grassy strip in center of bus loop. Man nearest the parking lot entrance leaves kettlebell and runs around the loop. Remaining men perform two-handed kettlebell swings, rotating to follow the running man. Change to squats temporarily when runner gets to each end. After a full loop, the next man runs, in the opposite direction.

    Repeato, substituting slingshots for swings

     Brief stretch

     

    COP variety – exercises with interwoven stretches

    Ring of Fire with 10 2-count mountain climbers

    American hammers IC x 6

    LBCs IC x 15

     

    Numberama, Nameorama, Opus took us out.

     

    Naked Moleskin

    YHC was pleasantly surprised to see so many cars roll in after getting notice from a couple of regulars that they would not be in attendance. No Idea gave YHC a lift, and Opus pulled up with his own transportation shortly afterward. (YHC should check his text messages more often – sorry, Opus.) Chum Bucket and Rounders made inaugural Manndate appearances. Emoji got the adrenaline flowing as he pulled in jamming to AC/DC. “I’ve been too long I’m glad to be back.” We all let ourselves loose from the noose that kept us hanging about and took on a grinding workout.

     

    True to form, Emoji crushed the exercises around the track (“back on the track and [he’s] beating the flack [PAX?]”) and circled back to get the six (AKA, the QIC). Rounders looked like he was “Number one with a bullet, [he’s] a power pack”, even just knocking out the side lunges. YHC was grateful for the PAX helping him to distinguish boat from canoe. Clearly YHC is not much of a waterman.

     

    The Q was not the only one confused, though. It was music to YHCs ears to hear at least two men ask for guidance about which direction to run during the kettlebell pendulum clock around the bus loop – oxygen deprivation manifesting as disorientation is a clear sign of a successful Q (or at least that is how YHC chooses to interpret it). Other notable events during the bus loop exercise were Opus putting on the afterburners (“They’ve got to catch me if they want me to hang”), and No Idea and Emoji pausing to do…not sure what…behind the parked cars. Kudos to Chum Bucket for consistently strong work throughout. Everyone put up a solid performance.

     

    Announcements

    • Reesestrong races are this Saturday, followed by seafood at Circle K’s.
    • Convergence will be at Grid Iron on the 30th with two workouts (0600 to 0700, and 0700 to 0800); double-dipping is encouraged.

  • Preblast (Final)-Reesestrong 5K

    This Saturday, 9.16.2017, is the Reesestrong 5K organized by our very own Phonics.  This is a great race and benefits a great cause, Childhood Cancers.  F3RVA set a goal of fielding the largest team in the 2017 event.  When a challenge is thrown down, F3RVA responds.  As of this morning, F3RVA is the largest team with 59 members.  It is still not too late to register.  Online registration ends at 1159pm tonight, but I am sure Phonics will still take your money the morning of race day.  This is a race for every level of participant.  You can run or walk or you can participate in the 5K The Hard Way (25 merkins and 25 squats every 5 minutes.)  As this is a very family friendly event, there are 2 kids runs as well.  As you can see, there is something for everybody to do at this race.  Kids races start around 830am and the 5K starts at 855am.

    After the race, the plan is for everybody to Mosey to YHCs house for some good eats and coldbeer.  The menu will include: Crabs, Oysters, Shrimp, Hotdogs, Lab Rats BBQ, Coleslaw, Baked Beans, Water, Gatorade and COLDBEER.  If you make a side dish that you think everybody would enjoy, feel free to bring to share.

    The only thing I would definitely bring is a folding camp chairs, as I will not have enough for everybody.

    YHC will also have cornhole (for TYA), Badminton (for the kids), and footballs to toss around (Swirly). YHC will also have a couple of TVs setup to watch college football. This is a great way to experience 2ndF with our F3 brothers families.  Even you are not available to run the race, plan on stopping by sometime (in between kids athletic events) during the afternoon.  YHC will have the food ready sometime around noon and then we can hang out the rest of the afternoon.

    Circle Ks address

    8146 Ashby Ridge Place

    Mechanicsville, VA 23111

    804-787-3720 cell

    Reesestrong 5K website-to sign up for race (do not forget to sign up as a member of the F3RVA team)

    www.reesestrong.org/reesestrong-5k

     

  • Who’s Q?

    4 men today for a who’s Q is it day!

    Mossy to Clover Hill High school to start the warm up which went a little something like this.

    15 SSL

    15 Cotton pickers

    15 squats

    10 push-ups

    15 dips

    Head to the track for 2 rounds of 4 corners.

    Round 1:

    1. 10 squats
    2. 10 push-ups
    3. 10 LBC
    4. 10 Burpee

    Round 2:

    1. 15 squats
    2. 15 push-ups
    3. 15 LBC
    4. 15 Burpee

    Little round of Lindsey brought to us by McRib

    • 30 Incline push-ups and 10 box cutters – Up and down the bleachers
    • 25 Incline push-ups and 15 box cutters – Crawl bear to light pole
    • 20 Incline push-ups and 20 box cutters – run 1 lap around the track
    • 10 Incline push-ups and 30 box cutters – run 1/2 lap around the track

    Back at the flag

    • Quick round of ring of fire with American hammers to finish.

    COT, Name-a-rama, Number-rama

    Good work today with high humidity and a light mist of rain.  Continue to keep encouraging PAX to show as we need to increase the numbers as we head into winter season!  Always a pleasure to lead such a fine group of men.

    Iron sharpens Iron!

  • JackPot

    19 strong men came out for our lucky jackpot event.   Evan after the BRR the runners were strong. And the rain held off just enough for our jackpot beatdown.  Some remember when I brought this out the last I think everyone enjoyed the simplicity of the event!!!

    The Thang:   Circle up

    20 SSL

    20 LBCs

    10 cherry pickers

    We teamed up in 2s with one man running and one starting a physical activity. We ran around the field once and than pick up where our partner left off.

    1 Run/ 250 merkins

    2. Run/500 LBCs

    3. Run/750 jump squats

    Round 2

    Triple check

    1. Run 2. jump ups 3. bench flutter kicks
    2. Planked on the curb for the crawl to the left/right 10 merkins left/right 10 merkins
    3. Ran back to the flag for American hammer ring of fire

    It was a pleasure to lead this morning and so see all the BRR folks back in one piece.

    Thanks J-Ville for taking us out with a prayer.

    FYI I only count 18 who am I missing?

  • What you crazy boys doin’ over there?

    10 stalwart modern day warriors met on a perfect morning to sharpen iron

    THANG
    Warmup IC
    20 SSH
    10 DQ
    10 helicopters
    10 Merkins
    10 plank
    20 FK
    10 Rosalita
    James Bond for 10 each position
    10 FK
    10 Hello Dolly

    Mosey to Noah’s half built Children’s Ark
    Bear Crawl
    Plank for 6
    Duck Walk
    Al Gore for 6
    Crab Walk
    Plank
    Monkey Humper
    Gorilla Humper
    Bear Crawl to start

    Triple check – audible
    Run to treeline, balls to fence, thermapaedic fence chair

    Plank a Rama 

    Hail Mary – audible
    Pair up. 20 picnic bench dips using partners planking back. X3

    Proud indigenous people run back to start

    Guantanamo. PAX in circle facing out. Feet at 90 in air.  PAX take turns running around circle pushing feet down.

    Ring of fire 

    COT – YHC took us out.

    NMMS
    Not much mumble chatter today as the warmup moved to high gear. Some comments about what YHC was doing running with a traffic cone – That was supposed to be a target for a CMU coupon toss, but HCPS decided to use my coupons for Learning Cottage construction. Audibled a triple check. Hail Mary is my new favorite exercise – while planking I found I was counting WoJo’s dips as much as he was.  Guantanamo is a keeper, especially when a passing school bus driver remarked “what you crazy boys doing over there?”

    Looking forward to next Q at DogPile.  Nurses will have Vit B shots available.

    Announcements
    West End 2nd F at Whole Foods noon Thursday.

    ReeceStrong 5k 8a Sat
    Circle K 2nd F 11a Sat

    Convergence 9/30 @ GridIron
    Tuckahoe Takeover 9/25 – 9/30 last week of September

  • Hmmmmm…..what to do…..what to do…..

    A pax of 7 posted this morning for DaVille.  The Q was in Lab Rat’s hands, even though he had no real game plan at all.  He did have a couple of ideas of things we COULD do, but wasnt really excited about any of them.  However, at 0530 he looked around and saw all capable runners and completely dumped any previous plan.  You know that saying from Friday Night Lights?  “Empty heads, clear hearts, can’t lose!”  Or something like that.  Here is what we did:

    Parking Lot Tracers (obviously)

    Run to the back almost to the gate, where we spotted a hill.

    COP- SSH, DQ, arm circles

    Jacob’s Ladder to 11- run up hill to fence, do a burpee.  Run back down to road do 2.  Continue to 11 then plank.

    Happy Feet- one foot on the curb, one off.  Switch feet so that only one foot is ever on the curb at same time.  Go one minute.

    7X7: Line up in plank, first victim goes down the line doing 7 booyah merkins per pax. Fall back in line when complete.  All pax members do 7 with all other pax.

    Mountains out of mole hills: Line up on little bump of a hill at bus loop on your six, feet on the high end, head below.  LBC’s IC.  Flapjack to head high feet low, Heels to heaven IC.  Re-muster on level ground for Freddie Mercury IC.

    Extended Indian run back to Atlee, then around parking lot.  Most (if not all) pax took advantage of optional burpees.

    Ring of Fire Rosie style- Al Gore while first man does merkins X10, then hold plank.  Go back around, X10 merkins then hold Al Gore.  Go until all pax are back in Al Gore.

    NMS-

    Nothing fancy planned actually turned in to quite the workout by utilizing the runner heavy pax and whatever landscape options were made available as we ran the perimeter.  The booyah merkins were the downfall of YHC, that was alot of those in a row.  LBC’s are slightly harder on an icline, but Heels to heaven on a decline are dang near impossible.

    The pax stayed as a group today, which was nice.  We were able to be distracted from time to time as a runner/rider duo would go by….the rider wearing a Tron.  Hard work was put in across the board….Lab Rat was far and away the weakest link in this group of athletes.

    Announcements:

    ReeseStrong and Crab Feast Saturday

    Convergence Sept 30

     

    Apology of the week goes to Grabber for calling him “cute”.  Lab Rat should know better as he has seen Bull Durham too many times.  Baby Ducks are cute, Grabber would prefer to be called “sexy” or “exotic”.

    Lab Rat apologizes….

     

     

  • BRR 2018 Training: Peacock Run

    Ten of the usual suspects rolled into UR for a beautiful 60 degree morning run.

    The thang:

    4 milers – take UR drive our to River Road, cross bridge, cloverleaf the exits and back the same way.

    5 milers – same as four milers, at bottom of exit ramp head west to stop sign, go left (south) up Southampton to Cherokee, return to beginning after hitting Cherokee.

    6 milers – cross bridge, head west upriver to Hickory until Cherokee, return to Southampton, head up Southampton to Cherokee again, return to beginning.

    Moleskin: Saab is back! Well, kind of, he seemed in good spirits from the take off. Apparently Flipper has magic hands. Good paces out there today. Glad to hear the 6 milers at least tried the intended route which as Splinter points out might is nearer to 6.25 or so for the 6 mile route. YHC was aiming to keep this a light hill day after the BRR last week, just get the legs moving again, thus the bridge route was chosen. YHC almost took out a Seal Team member running across the bridge, the PAX didn’t seem to mind if this happened.

    As noted above, YHC has seen a peacock living in the area near Southampton and Cherokee on his travels to work. The peacock was not seen or heard from this morning, but YHC is hoping he makes an introduction on one of the south of the James runs.

  • BRR 2017: One First After Another

    BRR 2017: One First After Another

    22 runners and a pit crew of 5 took a giant step forward to tackle this year’s 208 mile trek from Grayson Highlands VA to Asheville NC.  With an abundance of accomplishments and stories too extensive to capture here, enclosed is a “brief” summary of what transpired over the event. YHC will leave it up to the PAX to weigh-in on any omissions, distortions of truth, or dispel any unfounded rumors regarding one’s ability to keep a van upright on a dark country road…

    Acknowledgements and Accomplishments:

    • A sincere and hearty thanks to Bleeder, Swirly, and TYA for your end-to-end arrangement of this year’s BRR.  Logistics, equipment, and accommodations were outstanding.  The PAX thanks you all for your extensive effort in pulling this together VA…it just gets better every year
    • Thanks to all the runners who managed to exceed expectations.  Elevation changes make this a beast of a race, and ALL participants truly crushed-it.
    • Extended thanks to the drivers and logistics team:  Viral (driving lead), Marmaduke, Loose Goose, Flipper (logistics), and Saab**.  Viral was truly the lead driver and resident-concierge. Flipper prepared the house and made breakfast for the early arrivals and also put in overtime helping to heal hurt joints by bringing Holland Chiropractic to Asheville.
    • Thanks to Wilson and Circle K who were on top of preparing a damn fine dinner for all the PAX Saturday evening. Despite being awake for 40 hours you guys were on top of it.
    • Welcome and thanks to some Superior runners who stepped-in last minute to fill some open seats:
      • Kevin (who shall be named):  The guy who looked like a kid at Christmas both before and after each run – all of which he truly nailed.
      • Ronaldo:  The “Scotty” of RVA Graphics, who makes the Corporate vans the envy of other F3 regions.
      • Swallow (birth name Sparrow):  Formerly named Scissorhands (nevermore), who fully embraced his new handle with great humor and enthusiasm…our kind of PAX.

    Results:

    • This year’s race involved a head to head between two teams starting at 5:30 am.  Team 1 (F3 Corporate LLC) finished in 30:50:46, while team 2 (F3 Corporate INC) completed the route in 31:43:30.  For those history buffs, prior year times were as follows:
      • 2016:  12 man team (32:55) and 9 man team (29:16)
      • 2015:  12 man team (32:16)

    Moleskin

    It would be impossible to capture every that occurred over a 3-day event that involved travel to a quiet country inn in Southwestern VA, a relay consisting of 22 PAX spread across 4 vans, and a stay-over at a terrific mountain house to recover and celebrate.  As such, enclosed in no particular order is just a brief list of observations, experiences, and (humorous) incidents…participating PAX are at license to supplement as needed.

    • With a supply of Swedish Fish and pink frosting, one can make a confection depicting the female anatomy …who knew?
    • On a similar subject, inflatable vulvas appear to be all the rage this year…although it took some effort to get them prepared for active use.
    • Lost and Found:  Viral discovered a black thong while cleaning out his van.  Will the owning PAX please claim the lost article of clothing before Viral decides to keep it for himself.
    • When staying in a rural hotel, it is best not to keep one’s door open while watching a ball game, lest it attract a violent and unstable meth-head by the name of Bully who will punch himself in the face repeatedly once asked to leave.
    • Swirly does not like when playtime is over and has no patience for those retiring early. Swirly also likes his Bag Balm…Had we known it was his birthday we would have ordered him a gallon jar.
    • On the subject of Bag Balm, one needs to be cautious when approaching the van or they may catch a full-frontal view of said-product being applied to one’s nether-region, or perhaps witness a PAX member urinating in a clear plastic bottle (one with a wide-mouth opening of course)
    • Viral won the award for most attentive driver. After one PAX muttered his desire for coffee, Viral was at the local department store purchasing a high-dollar camp stove. Upon discovery by another PAX who did not want to subsidize such a purchase, he was promptly sent to the store’s return-desk.
    • There are many other tales of Viral’s attentiveness to runners including offering massages. At one point it was questioned to what lengths he would go to assist others no matter how unpleasant…none of which can be repeated here. (Note: you can ask Honeydo to demonstrate…it will be worth it.)
    • In the pre-dawn hours, when a passing female asks if she could “choke the chicken” that was crowing in the background, one should consult urban dictionary before responding.
    • According to Circle K, you don’t need a GPS as long as you are heading either North or South, have Jalapeno Tostidos, and only TWO cold beers (36oz of course).
    • Interactions with locals were varied, as Lug Nut reported a number of late night run-ins including a pack of hunting dogs, a man on a porch who yelled “go home”, and another who informed him that “planting his corn early” would be in his best interest. All the while Lug Nut maintained his cool and friendly demeanor.
    • After an opposing van provided Lola first-aid during his run, someone briefly muttered that the team be subject to a 5 minute penalty. Viral, who is passionate about helping out, jumped up and began walking toward the race officials…he was quickly called-back.
    • Rosie’s arsenal of leg rollers resembled marital aids that would make a female passer-by blush.

    That concludes all the items YHC can recall or speak to first hand**. The remaining abbreviated list is for the PAX to comment and elaborate on as they so choose…

    • TYA’s acumen for predicting finish times of each runner, yet somehow managing departure that was 45 minutes late.  Screaming “Channel the Zebra” (cake)..Abacus.  Gomer Pyle’s way with women.  Circle K buying a used pillow from an antique store (because…why not).  After Abacus demonstrates his elaborate method for removing a bottle cap, Offshore casually pointing out the beer is a twist-off.   Keen identification of “Pace Cars” at legs 31 and 32 (Trophy chasing them down).  Enough with the chocolate milk already! Flatline gets lost.  Police cars flying through Bakersfield and nearly killing the runners.

    **Alas, let’s not forget Saab running the van off the road and nearly rolling it down an embankment in the pre-dawn hours between legs one and two.  Passengers did not realize how steep the embankment was until EF Hutton jumped out the side door and practically disappeared.  Once all runners were loaded into a van full of ladies who had stopped to help (you’re welcome guys), Saab and TYA awaited assistance.  When an F3 van from another region approached they inquired which city we were from, without hesitation Saab proudly stated “Charlotte!”.  It was after that time our savior Charles Young appeared out of the mist.  After instructing Saab to get in the van and be sure to buckle up (in case the van were to roll down the embankment), the van was pulled out of its precarious position…all the while TYA was smiling and filming the entire event.  As Saab put the van in drive he turned to TYA and said “you were right…it was worth it”.

    And so Saab has solidified his place in F3RVA lore and established a virtual guarantee he will never be asked to drive in a relay again (or let’s hope so).

    Saab abides

  • Tired legs and a cracked rock

    YHC took the Q on the fly this morning, after taking a look at Swirly and seeing that he not did have his usual pep (the BRR will do that to you).  The workout went something like:

    Mosey around circle:

    COP.  DQs, Imperial Walkers, Helicopters, Push-Pull Squats, In place lunges, and Merkins.

    Mosey to rock pile and take a rock.  20x rock throws, 20x tenderizers, 20x crossover merkins, 20x WWIIs with rock.

    Mosey to tennis courts for: Merkin Plank-a-rama.  One Pax gets into elbow plank, while the second puts a heavy rock on the planker’s back and does 15 Merkins (on the court) and then removes the rock.  Flip roles and Repeat 4x.  Mosey around the tennis court.

    Head back to do 20x tenderziers and 20x WWIs with rock.

    Mosey to tennis courts for set 2 of Merkin Plank-a-rama.  Same as first time, but the Pax does 8x crossover pushups on a second rock.  3 sets.

    Mosey to rock pile to put back rock.

    Mosey to flag for: Cross leg lifts and Flutter kicks.

    COT–YHC took us out.

    Moleskin.  Beautiful morning for a workout this am, and it was nice to be with Swirly who ran/walked/limped over from his house.  YHC focused on the core and arms this am to spare more beatings to his BRR shredded legs.  Swirly’s rock cracked in 1/2 during the rock throws, and that lightened his load a bit. The Merkin Plank-a-rama was a real crowd pleaser as both exercises came with some good dread.  It was also nice to hear a recap of the BRR.