Category: Richmond, VA

  • Kings Hanging Out In The Meadows

    2 Davillians climbed out of their far sacks this morning to continue  their half-marathon training by taking a stroll through Mechanicsville Atlee district.

    Here is the route taken:

    Head down Atlee HS service road to Honey Meadows, turn right onto Honey Meadows Pond Dr to the fire road into Kings Charter. Turn right onto Kings Charter Drive. Head down KCD until total distance was around 2.5 miles and turn around at Seatoncroft ct. Head back to the fire road and turn left back onto HMP drive. Head down the hill and turn right onto the trails. Come off the trails onto Pollen Dr. Head back to the service road and HS parking lot

    Total distance: 5.67 miles

    https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1971511160

    MOLESKIN

    Here are some short observations from today:

    • Seems like some Davillians enjoy the first Sunday of NFL to much since only two of us made out this morning.
    • It was nice catching up with Grabber this morning.
    • Grabber some new kicks that were really bright yellow and somehow YHC didn’t notice till the end

    ANNOUNCEMENTS

    • Reese Strong 5K 9/16 – We now have 49 signed up!! 1 more to hit our goal. You have until Wednesday to sign up online. Click this link to sign up: https://runsignup.com/RaceGroups/4045/Groups/386047
    • F3RVA Crab Fest 9/16 (right after Reese Strong) Circle K’s See Pre-Blast
    • Convergence on 9/30 –  come out at 6:00, stay until 800 if you can.  Second workout starts at 0700 for late risers.  Bring a friend or two.

    SPIT ON THAT!!

  • Working out some lactic acid…

    3 vets posted for River Run this morning – 2 beasts working out the lactic acid from BRR and YHC determined to start getting his running legs back.  Expecting a light crew and possibly some BRR survivors, YHC decided today would be a Hill Holiday.  Instead, we hit the track and put in some flat miles (about 3.8 in total) with 3 brief pain stops (25 merkins and 25 LBCs) at random intervals.

    After returning back to the flag with 10 minutes to go, we did some COP (Slow Imperial Walkers, cotton pickers and stretching) and some Mary – Rocky Balboas, LBCs, APDs, Heels to Heaven and Superman.

    Major respect to Honeymoon and Rosie for posting this morning.  Always great to run and chat with you boys and thanks to BRR, I was able to actually keep up with you guys today!

    Great respect and props for all BRR participants.  Way to slay those hills and push through the pain guys.  Sounds like an epic weekend and it sounds like all of you crushed it and exceeded personal expectations.  Way to go!

    Announcements:

    • ReeseStrong 5K and Crabs this Saturday.  Still time to sign up.
    • Convergence 9/30 – come out at 0600, stay until 0800 if you can.  Second workout starts at 0700 for late risers.  Bring a friend or two.

    Have a great day men!

    No more Gumbo for you!

  • Is that your pickle pounder?

    A mighty four redwoods emerged today for Punisher.

    COP – Helicopters, Don Quixote, Hillbillies, Russian Soldiers, LBCs.

    First Up – Triple Check – Plerkins and run to the light post in the median.

    Mosey over to the picnic table for 11s – Merkins and dips.

    YHC missed this event from this past weekend’s longhouse, so we progressed behind the school with “bridges and boulders”.  Finish with a jog to the playground.

    7 pullups and 20 PLT – 3x through

    Lindseys! Scorpions and box cutters.

    Honeymoon suite ring of fire – Monkey humpers, diamond merkins, APDs, pickle pounders.

    Mosey to the bus loop for fireman carry the long side of the loop.  Repeat.

    Make our way to the front of the school for round 2 of triple check.  Finish with what we started, except this time through we did BTTW and flutter kicks, while the runner goes to the far tree line and back.

    Keymaster took us out.

    NMS:

    YHC arrived early this morning and secured the AO.  Ten minutes to go and no one was there.  Will anyone show?  Alas, Dexter pulls in with Sabotage behind him and makes a full loop and leaves!  Sabotage almost leaves but parks instead as this is his first time to this AO.  Splinter joins us with Keymaster arriving early in the COP.

    A small Pax today with a few others working out on their own in the shadows.  Might be an opportunity to EH in the future.  Our pickle pounders started out in diverse form as we had multiple interpretations.  Splinter set us straight with the official motion.  Seems the pax need more practice with the pickle pounders.

    It was great to lead this fine group this morning.  Good to see new faces at Punisher and hope to see Sabotage and Keymaster back soon.

    As you go forward today, think of all that you have to be thankful.  Health, friends, and family.

    Announcements:

    • Tuckahoe Takeover – less than two weeks away.
    • Bear Creek 10 miler – sign up is open now

     

  • Kobayashi style

    A cooler, late summer morning brought a PAX of 8 for GridIron.  Byproduct arrived first followed by Mr. Holland (new to the GridIron AO), Alpo (recently relocated to Fredericksburg from Kernersville, NC F3), GridIron regulars Attila, White Deer, and Flip Phone, and YHC.  Right, you count 7 names.  More on that later.

    We planted a ShovelFlag at the edge of the parking lot, exchanged proper pleasantries, and proceeded with this Thang:  Startup COP with SSHs x 25, 20 x Imperial Walkers, Don Quixotes, and Helicopters, and 15 x Arm Circles (forward and reverse, big and small).

    Most other Saturdays, we’ve had Pouncey Tract Park to ourselves and we’ve sometimes used the Bermudagrass football field for our workouts.  This week, the sides of the field were roped off and the field itself included fresh lines prior to the Tuckahoe Tomahawks’ first home game.  YHC planned to use one of the fields.  We moseyed around the fresh field and up the short hill to the Middle School’s football field and started a deconstructed all-Burpee Beast.

    Takeru Kobayashi has won Nathan’s hot dog eating contest multiple times and has done so by separating the hot dogs from their buns and eating each separately.  We broke the usual Beast into smaller parts, completing 9 Burpees and running about 40 yards (over 25 yards) and back, and doing so 24 times.  We collected the PAX every couple of rounds by having faster finishers complete other exercises until all were done, including LBCs and APDs.  We also moved from the field to the nearby high jump area for other exercises, including Box Cutters, Squats, and more LBCs and APDs.  We completed the final rounds with a couple of minutes to spare and remained on the field for a couple of stretches.

    We moseyed back to the ShovelFlag and, amid gathered youth football players and fans, we found Night Crawler with 2.0s in tow, and preparing to workout.  COT, with all 8 of us, and Attila took us out.  Coffeeteria afterwards at the usual spot, Einstein Bros.

    Moleskin:  We’ve talked over the past few months about an all-Burpee Beast.  Sorry to do this without Johnsonville, but J’ville was in NC completing BRR legs with our F3 brothers.  Get better soon Earthworm.  Good to see the guys this morning – the regulars, of course, but also Mr. Holland and Alpo.  Keep coming back fellas.  Good seeing Cecil and M Cecil at coffee – Cecil will be back in action soon.

    Announcements:  1) ReeseStrong 5K followed by Circle K Crabfest – next Saturday, 2) GridIron AO Anniversary – next Saturday – hot potato Q, and 3) Broader F3 Richmond Anniversary celebration through Convergence – September 30th.  Second F pregame at GridIron starting in October – details later.

  • Release Me!

    7 fighters showed up to tackle a workout at The Creek that went something like this…

    The Thang…

    Mosey around the field and back to the far corner of the church building.

    All IC – 25 SSHs, 10 hand-release merkins, 15 imperial walkers, 10 hand-release merkins, 30 lbcs, 10 hand-release merkins, 10 don quixotes, 10 hand-release merkins, arm circles, 10 hand-release merkins.

    Mosey around the church building – running forward for one side, running backward for the next side, following that pattern until returning to the starting location.

    Dora 1-2-3 – Partner up. 100 merkins, 200 lbcs, 300 squats

    Mosey to the pavilion and picnic tables

    All IC – 10 skull crushers with one leg, 10 skull crushers with other leg, 10 dips.

    All IC – 20 skull crushers with one leg, 20 skull crushers with other leg, 10 dips.

    All IC – 30 skull crushers with one leg, 30 skull crushers with other leg, 10 dips.

    Mosey to the flag

    10 flutter kicks, 10 hand-release merkins, 10 american hammers, 10 hand-release merkins, supermans, 10-hand-release merkins

    Moleskin

    YHC hasn’t Q’d a workout since the DaVille takeover way back in June. Spit lit a fire under YHC to come out of retirement and step up. Challenge accepted.

    A smaller PAX showed up and it was quickly noted that the 2.0s were all in the fart sack in light of the first week of school (some dads were too). YHC was pleasantly surprised to see Mudface avoid being a LIFO but then realized that his three 2.0s were asleep. He noted that it was a lot easier to show up on time without the 2.0s.

    The mosey around the field soaked all of our shoes but warmed up the PAX for some hand-release merkins fun. The moaning grew over time in the COP. Opus made some comment and that led to an automatic doubling of the number of LBCs. He has been known to trigger YHC in this way.

    The PAX smashed the rest of the workout, including the increasing skull crusher pain under the pavilion.

    It felt great to be back in the lead. Thank you to Spit and the PAX for the encouragement and challenges. We are all better when we light fires under each other.

    Announcements:

    Reese Strong 5K – We have 44 signed up. Our goal is 50. Let’s close the gap!

    Prayers for Lab Rat in light of the loss of his grandmother.

     

  • Please enjoy an opening act by Hardywood…Gumbo will be fashionably late…

    13 veterans escaped the fartsack (YHC just barely) to post on this gorgeous Saturday morning at Dogpile for a little beatdown inspired by our F3RVA brothers who are killing the BRR.

    COP – Opening Act – presented by Hardywood…. YHC arrived for LBCs and merkins.

    Time for the main event:

    Mosey to the amphitheater for an ode to the 36 legs of the BRR.  Starting from the bottom ascend the 18 steps with 2 box jumps on each step.  From the top, descend with 2 Burpees on each step.  Plank for the six.

    Mosey to the Carillon for the first round of 11s for Team 1:  At the flower pots, 10 merkins, run up the left steps and 1 box cutter at the top of the Carillon, run down the right steps back to the flower pots and 9…2….Al Gore for the six.

    Mosey to the field for the second round of 11s for Team 2: 10 2-count mountain climbers (for our Mtn Goat brothers) and 1 LBCs, run to the other side, 9 & 2…  plank for the six.

    With the gloom lifting and enough light shining through, Mosey to Love Hill and gather about 1/2 way down and pair up for Love Hill.  Exercises were Polar Bears, Lunges and Broad-Jump Burpees.  Runner goes up to gate and back.  Al Gore for six.

    Circle up around outside of circle in front of amphitheater for Boo-yah Merkin  Ring of Fire – bear crawl to meet  your partner in the center, perform 10 Boo-Yah Merkins and crawl-bear back.  Al Gore while awaiting your turn.

    Traditional Ring of Fire with 10 merkins each…flair encouraged.

    5MOM with Flutter Kicks, Freddie Mercuries, Rocky Balboas, Hello Dollies, American Hammers

    Mosey back to the Flag – number-rama, name-a-rama and YHC took us out.

    NMS:

    YHC closed his eyes late last night with an alarm set for 0500 (or so he thought) and grand ideas of securing the AO Swirly-style, knowing that Big Blue would not be there.  YHC even planned on sending a picture of secured AO to our BRR brothers.  Best laid plans…

    So, YHC popped out of the sack and looked at the clock…0538…I looked at my watch (aka, my alarm)…0330..WTF?  OH SH*T!  Thank goodness for no law enforcement on my way to the AO.  I arrived 4 minutes late.  Thankfully, Hardywood grabbed the bull by the horns and lead the PAX into COP.  Upon arriving and finding the PAX, YHC jumped in and took over…thanks Hardywood – check’s in the mail for being my opening act.

    The PAX knew from the first exercise that BRR was on YHC’s mind.  We were sending good vibes to our Mountain Goat brothers as they finish up their final legs strong.  We hope everyone is doing well and feeling strong!

    Announcements:

    • ReeseStrong 5K next Saturday.  See Phonics for sign-ups — Crab Picking at Circle K’s afterwards
    • Convergence 9/30 at GridIron — workouts at 0600 and 0700.  Come early and stay for both…BRING A FRIEND!

    Strong work PAX.  Thanks for letting me lead.

    No more Gumbo for you!

  • Caring for calluses

    Three regulars posted for this week’s Circus Maximus. YHC arrived in the Mills Godwin High School parking lot with a handful of minutes to spare and at the same time as Attila.  As the ShovelFlag was being planted,  Johnsonville arrived.  After briefly questioning Johnsonville about his decision to post prior to taking a seat in the ClownVan for BRR later in the day, we got started with this Thang:

    Imaginary (yes imaginary) Jump Ropes x 25, 20 each of Imperial Walkers, Don Quixotes, Helicopters, and Russian Solders, and 15 x Arm Circles to and fro and big and small.

    Without a mosey, we started an EMOM with an 8 minute duration, alternating between Two-Handed Kettle Bell Swings and some other thing YHC forgot – 20 reps per minute target.  Suitcase carry across the parking lot with Bell in one hand for 25 SSHs and suitcase carry back in the other hand.

    Another EMOM with an 8 minute duration, alternating between One-Handed Overhead Shoulder Presses and Lawnmower Pulls (aka Crab Pot Pulls) – 10 reps per side per minute.  Waiter carry in one hand across the parking lot for 25 SSHs and waiter carry back with the other hand.

    Another EMOM with an 8 minute duration, alternating between the Sit and Press and Kettle Bell Merkins – 15 reps per minute.  Stayed put for 20 x Pullovers, Skull Splitters, and APDs – two rounds.

    COT.  Attila took us out.

    Announcements:  1) BRR underway – have fun boys,  2) ReeseStrong 5K and Circle K Crabfest upcoming, 3) September 30th convergence – Q coverage being sorted out soon so stay tuned and do some EHing on new dudes and Kotters, and 4) down the road – Bear Creek in December and Bel Monte in 2018.

  • An Apocalypse Several Standard Deviations from the Mean (using a Gaussian Distribution)

    Four steely horsemen saddled up and secured their headlamps for the latest edition of the RAMM (no takers on RAMM Gears).  With temps fluttering just below sunny and 70 (but nonetheless extremely comfortable), here’s how it went down…YHC surveyed the group (4 milers?, 5 milers?, 6 milers?) and found a consensus to run in a pack…reverse Carillon, 5 mile route.  BT and Splinter set forth with long strides while Sippy Cup and YHC maintained a steady 1.5 strides per BT/Splinter stride, and still fell behind (YHC was clearly the anchor).  45 minutes later…all was done.

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

    Announcements:
    BRR starts today…keep those guys in mind
    Reese-Strong 5k next weekend…sign up now
    Convergence Sept 30th from 6-8 (or just come for an hour).  Location = Gridiron
    Sign up for 2018 BRR starts Monday…see TYA

    Moleskin
    With Swirly dispatched to monitor the 209 mile AO that is the BRR, YHC took it upon himself to arrive early to evaluate the AO this morning.  YHC arrived at MM at 2:13 a.m. (is that a record, Corporate?) on the way home from the airport.  All was clear and in order.  YHC considered just sleeping there, but figured Richmond’s Finest might object, so YHC dispatched himself homeward for some zzz’s.  Returning at 5:22 a.m., all remained in order, essentially unchanged (same cars, same spots).  “Nichts zu berichten.”  YHC parked in Swirly’s spot with BT pulling into TYA’s.

    YHC appreciated Sippy Cup down shifting today to keep up with YHC’s pace.  Not only is YHC thankful for the company, but YHC was absolutely fascinated by Sippy’s descriptions of protein level cancer research.  Sippy had better start running faster or he has doomed himself to six months of YHC’s questions.  Inspiring stuff.  YHC will never call a statistical distribution “normal” again – the word is Gaussian.  YHC will demonstrate by using it in a sentence, “I’ll take ‘Gaussian Distributions’ for $1,000, Alex.”  It’s also highly possible that YHC has botched this example and / or the spelling.

    All else aside, YHC was expecting today to be a tough one after a long day (including the wee hours arrival) spent  preparing in south Florida for Hurricane Irma with his work team.  YHC then spent several hours in the Miami International Airport, where the human cocktail contained inexperienced travelers galore dragging along kids, grandparents, in-laws, and seemingly every pet or animal-that-passes-for-a-pet (macaw, anyone?) in south Florida.  YHC found himself watching exasperated travelers, many appearing to be of reasonable means, exhorting ticketing agents for special treatment to get kids, grandparents, in-laws, and seemingly every pet or animal-that-passes-for-a-pet onto a flight to anywhere out of the storm’s path.  In the word’s of one traveler, with not a drop hyperbole,”If I can’t get out, I might die here.”  This seemingly had little impact on the agent, who YHC guesses was planning to ride out the storm “here,” and clearly wanted to say,”I might die here too.”  YHC realized his own need for sensitivity training when his in-flight beverage arrived ‘with ice’ when the request was ‘no ice.’  On second thought, anything on the way to a safe spot will be just fine.  In general, a sobering reminder of the gifts YHC enjoys in his life (roof, food, great family, safe place for family, and opportunity to “leave” when the going gets tough).  YHC suggests loading both barrels with prayers this weekend for the folks in Florida and the Caribbean who have or are going to experience a monster of nature’s power multiple exponents greater than anything most of us have seen.  TV won’t do it justice.

    Final note: happy birthday to my mom…a spry 78 today.  Thanks for being you (Yeah, I said it.  My mom reads my back blasts.  What’s it to you?)

  • A BRR Salute @ Twin Team

    3 Robious Corridor Soldiers converged for a Twin Team Workout. The Q was operating on less than 5 hours of sleep, but escaped the lure of the FSack and remembered his headlamp! The workout went something like this:

    COP: SSHs, DQs, Bob & Weaves, Merkins, Freddie Mercuries, BoxCutters, Russian Soldiers

    Mosey across Robious to Twin Team

    10 Burpees OYO in cul-de-sac

    In honor of our F3 RVA Brothers running big hills, run up Twin Team. Run back down.

    Circuits up & down Twin Team: different combinations like
    40 strides forward + 20 bear crawls strides
    40 strides backwards + 25 LBCs
    40 lunge strides forward
    40 crawl bear strides
    20 Lt. Dans

    Run back up Twin Team.

    Mosey back down and catch the sun rise.

    10 Burpees OYO in cul-de-sac

    Mosey back to school for 2 min of Mary: Hello Dollies + Capital Letters

    COT

    Naked Moleskin

    YHC watched the NFL Kickoff game to the very end…many beers amid excitement of Kareem Hunt’s debut…

    Given BRR participation & late NFL game, YHC wasn’t sure what he’d find upon arriving at the AO. He was very happy to see Roper & Jenny Craig, though any of us agreed we would have wussed out had we been on our own. Glad that wasn’t the case.

    Jenny Craig saw a shooting star during the COP.

    The headlamp was a necessary accessory on Twin Team this morning.

    Missing the BRR! Run well, boys!

  • BRR 2017 F3RVA Corporate Updates