Category: Richmond, VA

  • Just Like ESPN (Almost…)

    10 men stormed into #TheCreek on a crisp morning at 5:30 AM. The GLOOM was deep without a doubt! Abacus buried the shovel flag, and YHC (The Carpenter) fired up the troops for fast-paced Q. The theme for the Q was “Just Like ESPN (Almost).” The PAX tackled almost all of the exercises in sets of 20 while wondering how ESPN had anything to do with the challenge.

    THE THANG

    Mosey around the parking lot with a sharp turn away from the entrance back toward the bell tower. The PAX stopped where they left off last week in the grass behind the DUMPSTER.

    COP

    20 SSH, 20 Imperial Walkers, 20 SSH, 20 Hillbillies, 20 SSH, 20 Arm Rotations, 20 SSH, 20 American Hammers, 20 SSH

    Mosey to the picnic area.

    20 step-ups on the picnic table seats. Sprint around the church building. 20 step ups.

    Hallelujahs – Sprint around the church building with hands in the air. 20 step ups hallelujah-style with hands up!

    Partner up and do 3 Hail Mary sets on the picnic table flap jacking between partners.

    20s for 20

    Mosey across the field and located a corner.

    Exercises moving through each corner of the field for a total of 20 minutes:

    1. 20 jump squats
    2. 20 merkins
    3. 20 world war II sit-ups
    4. 20 dips

    Mosey to the flag at the edge of the parking lot.

    End Of The Show

    20 SSHs with crowd cheers!

    COT, Numberama, Namerama…

    FNG was named Toothbrush because Guppie saw him brushing his teeth in his truck before the start. Guppie couldn’t believe that someone would brush his teeth in a truck in a parking lot at 5:28 AM! Guppie has a lot to say for 13 year old… YHC took us out with a prayer and call to love and lead this day.

    MOLESKIN:

    This was the second Q for YHC after getting some (much-deserved) heat for not stepping up from The Creek and DaVille. 10 men, including a FNG (Toothbrush) and a guest from Raleigh (Fluoride) arrived in waves. The energy was high and the cool fall air appears to be igniting a higher level of engagement.

    There was some pre-workout theatrics as Chapstick forgot his gloves. YardSale (his Dad) drove off at 5:22 AM to get them and the PAX wondered if he would make it back. Abacus showed up with his normal fire in his eyes but then realized that he wasn’t going to Q because YHC had signed up on the spreadsheet. Abacus and Guppie (his son) had set up a full Q with cones and a full line-up of exercises. Abacus pocketed the Q for another morning. Yardsale rolled back into the parking lot at 5:29 AM in dramatic fashion to a cheering crew!

    YHC reminded the PAX the basic idea that F3 is a you-vs-you workout. Shortcuts do not do you any favors. If someone is ahead of you, then do not cut short your reps in order to keep up. Work harder so that you get stronger so you won’t have to do that in the (near) future. “The workouts don’t get easier but you will get stronger!” C’mon, MAN!

    There was a good level of mumble chatter throughout the morning as the team got to work. The Hallelujahs running added a twist to the normal sprints around the church building at The Creek. Spit took the lead and showed how committing to 3-4 F3 workouts per week can up the game!

    The PAX stopped in the middle of the field and looked up at the stars for a very short respite. Sometimes we need to look up in order to look forward and (re)engage with facing life’s challenges. The brief glance up set up the 20s for 20 throw down in the field.

    Guppie and Abacus lapped some of the PAX in their aggressive attacking of the “20s for 20” exercises in the field. They are a strong and competitive father/son combo. YardSale gave the “Thank you, Carpenter. Give me another!” part way through the “20s for 20” that showed that he was in for a good fight (against himself in F3 style). Toothbrush shared that he was about to throw up in the field. THAT is the goal, brothers! A splash merlot makes everything better but he was able to hold it in (this time).

    It was also noted the SSH total was 120 and it looks like YHC wants to increase that number with every Q (45 minutes of SSH…?)

    ESPN’s “30 for 30” documentary films was the inspiration for today’s Q. We went with “20 for 20” today but the PAX showed that they could step up to a “30 for 30” beat down in the very near future. we were just like ESPN (almost) today. Stay tuned for this possibility at The Creek or DaVille in the weeks ahead…

    The Carpenter

    Aye!!!

  • October HDHH This Wednesday, the 19th!

     

    Hardywood Park Brewery

     

    ALL PAX TAKE NOTE:

    • Come one come all to see what your fellow PAX members look like in the light of day!  No pre-workout, so no change of clothes or old stinky towel required.  Just good old fashioned 2nd F.
    • Everyone is invited, even your dogs and 2.0’s!  (kids must be leashed at all times).
    • Long term weather forecast is fantastic for hanging outside around the picnic tables, maybe throw some cornhole.
    • Divide Ride taco truck will be on hand…..making tacos I guess.  Saab also volunteered to make an extra peanut butter sandwich to share.
    • Zima sez:  tell the server you are with F3 when you order!  He did not specify whether this will get you a discount or extra saliva in your beer.  Take your chances and see!

    WHO:  All pax and accompanied guests

    WHAT:  Beers and lies.  You may even get to hear what somebody else’s voice sounds like besides Lab Rat’s.

    WHEN:  Wednesday, October 19th, starting at 5:00.

    WHERE:  Hardywood Park Brewery 2408 – 2410 Ownby Lane Richmond, Virginia 23220

    WHY:  Third Wednesday of the month

    No RSVP required, as this is a large facility.  But, feel free to sound off in the comments.  This is the RVA after all.

     

    Lab Rat out

     

     

  • Your Friday Monument Jaunt

    A lucky crew of 13 men braved the almost perfect 50 degree weather to trundle down one of the country’s best running routes–Monument Avenue.  Truly, the largest question looming was weather or not a long sleeve shirt was necessary as the temperature was at that sweet spot of being good for short sleeves or long sleeves.

    During the first week of April, tens of thousands of people spend upwards of $45 to $50 to run on Monument Avenue in the Monument Ave 10K.  This was the first year that I actually ran it, and really, only because a buddy of mine had a free bib because his friend bailed on him at the 11th hour.  I always regret not running our phenomenal city’s signature running event, but then I realize at any point in time I could put on shoes and run it for free…much like we all did this morning.

    It was a relatively easy route, comparatively speaking to the other routes I’ve led us on in the past. To quote Saab (who was sorely missed), “it’s a effing square people.”   Four milers went from Mary Munford to Sauer, to Monument to The Boulevard to Grove and back to Mrs. Munford’s fine elementary school.

    Our hearty five mile crew took Boulevard to Cary and got to enjoy all that the CaryTown run has to offer…which is mainly the free smells from Can Can.

    The six milers actually went to the Columbus statue at Byrd Park (or Bird Park if you are mapmyrun.com) and went around the lake, headed towards City Stadium (looking oh so pristine…in the dark) then to CaryTown and back to Commonwealth.

    Speaking of Columbus.  Raise your hand if you knew that Columbus never (EVER) set foot in America.  That would not have been me until Monday.  Seriously, google it.  Not only did he not step foot in America but he also was pretty much a tyrant and war monger…killing a massive amount of indigenous people in Bermuda.  It’s true.  I mean, I don’t want to compare him to a Hitler or anyone on that scale…but he’s a lot closer to those guys than he is, say, Ricky Bobby.

    Yet this week is Columbus week in the first grade at Mary Munford.  Poems, word finds, necklaces, coloring books…the works.  For a guy who was truly an awful person and is known for something he didn’t come close to doing?  Crazy, huh?   The weirdest thing about it is that on Saturday, if you would’ve asked me who discovered America, I probably would’ve said “Columbus.”  Talk about my own Age of Enlightenment.

    Either way, I guess the moral of the story is that it’s not a terrible idea to question things.  Or at least surround yourself with people who question things. You may learn something new.  (Seriously, does it bother anyone else that they teach this to our kids?  It. Isn’t. True.)

    So here’s to saving $45 on the run, on top of the $100 from other opportunities that are out there for early morning workouts.  Have a blessed weekend, gentlemen, enjoy the sunshine and feel free to give your condolences to Sippy who had to endure my Columbus questioning as we circled the lake.

    MARV

  • They are just Sit-Ups, right?

    Eight of the faithful posted to #CircusMaximus on a damp, cool autumn morning. Rosie planted DonerKebab’s shovel flag, and YHC (Johnsonville) took Q just minutes after arriving, Weinke in hand (but only faint light to read by). This is how the thang when down, more or less:

    COP warmups including SSH, DonQuiote, Plank Series, and ScapMerkins ….

    Mosey behind school under the single orange flood light for COP:
    6 Merkin Row Body Builders OYO
    Forties (Sit up KB presses / Flutter Kicks)

    Mosey south behind school to the wet field hockey field for COP:
    6 Merkin Row Body Builders OYO
    Forties (Goblet Squats / Freddie Mercs)

    Mosey around north side of school to staff parking lot at front entrance:
    3 Merkin Row Body Builders OYO
    Forties (Russian KB Twists / Pole Smokers)

    Mosey back to SF.

    COT (Atilla taking us out with heartfelt prayers)

    Moleskin:

    There was not a lot mumble chatter this morning, but we worked through some deep gloom. Doing 10 sit-ups with KB presses at the top is not that bad. Doing 30, followed by multiple sets of more, is just plain hard. But, F3 is about sharpening steel, not about comfort.

    After last week’s soaking at the convergence, some of the PAX seemed a bit reluctant to get down in the wet grass. We pushed through that.

    The remainder of the workout was not easy either. During the COT, YHC found himself in a “flat-line” state of consciousness. Thank you, Atilla, for taking us out with spiritual leadership (and saving me from having to struggle to form words)!

    “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” 1 John 4:7

    Have a great day! Johnsonville

    Announcements —
    —> 2.0 friendly workout at #GridIron this week
    —> 6 part (weekly) 3rd F bible devotional series starts at 0645 at #GridIron. Earthworm leading this week. Need other leaders. Topic/materials have been prepared.
    —> Tidewater Expansion starts 11/5 and continues into Dec. Toga is the team leader on 11/5. I am part of his crew and plan to drive a 2nd car, if needed. If you want to road trip that day, talk to Toga or me. This is a worthy project. It is a great way to give something back to the F3 community and should, if successful, contribute to F3Richmond’s continued growth.
    —> Please remember that the #SundayTrail run remains open to F3 Friends, whether male or female. I will continue to offer a short option for those who are not ready to take on the full 7ish miles. That short option can be as short as needed to accommodate anyone.

  • Maximus One (no circus)

    23 of the faithful PAX ran out into the foggy gloom for a good Thursday morning workout.

    The thang:

    Warm up – 25 SSH, 10 Don Quixote, 15 Slow Bending Squats, Alphabet Capital letters with legs together

    Curb crawl – bear crawl -> irkin – crawl bear -> derkin, up to 5 and back down

    Circuit – 10 pull ups, box jumps, jerkins, LBCs

    21s – modified to 18s – 1 merkin increasing up to 18 with field run in between

    Moleskin – excellent work this morning PAX. Today’s Q was inspired by my firstborn child Maximus, born a year ago today. Thanks to TYA for leading a Maximus workout a year ago. YHC threw in some alphabet abs, Little baby crunches, bear crawls for the kid’s current workout routine, and 18s for the year my kid will hopefully depart from our home. Way to push it on the 18s to those who finished.

    Bring the 2.0s out to Saturdays Gridiron, DK is inviting all children to attend. The fake Hardywood and the real Hardywood are discussing a social event at the location Hardywood in a few weeks, stay tuned for more details.

    -Singer

  • It almost happened AGAIN!

    Three total showed up to what turned out to be a cool, crisp & damp morning south of the river.

    COP:

    Mosey to around bus loop to the basketball courts

    SSH x25

    Arm Circles x25 front & reverse

    Don Quixotes (Wilson slow) x15

    Imperial Walker x25

    LBC x25

    Mountain Climbers (with bonus thrusts)

    Mosey to Field for the BEAST!

    Merkin

    Squats

    Seal Jacks

    Imperial Walker (2 count)

    Mountain Climber (2 count w/ thrust at end)

    Burpee

    Short mosey to paved area by the track

    Ring (triangle) of fire 1 round of 10 & 1 round of 5

    Mary time

    Cross Leg Lift x20 per leg

    Freddie Mercury

    Alabama Prom Date

    Pickle Pounders

    Finish up with jogging in place for 2 minutes or so.

    Mosey back to VF. YHC took us out.

    Moleskin:

    Some e-mails were traded yesterday as Lugnut has hurt himself and he needed a sub on the SOT Q. JVille & YHC both responded and YHC walked away with the opportunity to redeem himself after leaving Gumbo stranded to a solo workout some weeks back. I mean I already had a weinke prepared!

    So this is where it gets dicey……..YHC alarm went off around 5:11. Yeah I don’t live 30 seconds from SOT anymore. I sprang out of the Fart Sack with a sense of urgency even waking up Wilson’s Wife (I’ll pay for that later). I jumped in the car and drove like a race car driver. Bleeder, Lugnut & Ricky Bobby would be proud. Braking into the turns, accelerating out, finding the late apex………you get the point! If you have time check out the video. Think I can convert the TL! During that drive Van Halen & Def Leopard played. It took some of the scare of being really late away, but not really. As I pull into SOT I see Gumbo’s ride and no Gumbo, but thankfully I saw Aisle 5 in the Subaru waiting. Way to stay committed Gumbo to getting your daily mile in.

    I was happy to arrive as Gumbo was finishing. He made the point that Jville was going to take the Q and took the opportunity to secure the Fart Sack (I can relate).

    It was a pleasure to lead today. Thanks for pushing it! Have a great day!

  • American-Mexican Relations Are Perplexing

    A Terrific Twelve turned up for WDog for another cool fall morning in the gloom.  The PAX knew it was trouble when YHC brought out the headlamp.

    COP- 15 of SSH, Mtn Climbers, Freddy Mercurys, Merkins, DQs. Mosey to field for: Bunny hops and butter kickers, x2. Then Karaoke across x2. Mosey to Rusty Cage.

    Pull Ups and Chin Ups. 4,6,8 then back down to 4. Then Jerkins, 2 sets of 6 each: overhand and underhand. Back to Pull ups. AMRAP with partner, 2 times  then AMRAP Jerkins x2.

    Mosey to Carillon for Triple check. Plerkins  (Elbow plank and Derkins on partner back) while runner goes up and down Carillon.

    Mosey to field for Honeymoon Suite: Diamond Merkins  (focus on triangle placement ), APDs, Monkey Humpers, more Diamond Merkins, the ln Pickle Pounders. Finish up with Circle Burp. Mosey back to flag.

    COT and BackBay took us out.

    NMS – YHC learned upon arrival he was the topic of discussion at Spider Run yesterday, thanks Splinter. At least that lead to a legitimate chance to use a Lebowski quote in context. YHC was also surprised to see TYA post, given his longstanding aversion to YHC’s Qs, maybe he has heard Honeydo Qs are getting soft, and we can’t have that.

    The PAX spent most of the beatdown in the dark at the Rusty Cage. There was some confusion as to how the 468 was to work but the PAX figured it out. On the 2nd round YHC made the call to AMRAP the pull ups to which some PAX wondered what that meant. Apparently we do not AMRAP enough exercises and YHC will aim to fix that. Also PAX be warned there is a written part of Corporate re-certification that pulls heavily from the Lexicon.

    This 2nd iteration of the Triple Check using Plerkins was a hit again. YHC made a crucial miscalculation by partnering with PAX member with tree trunks for legs making the plank all the more painful.

    The Honeymoon Suite produced very ltitle mumblechatter this time, even with the addition of the Diamond Merkins. Either the PAX was spent by then or the HS has outlived it’s cache. Also good to see Peaches out 3 days in a row this week, Aye!

    Announcements- be sure to EH and sign up to help with a Hampton Roads beatdown in November. DK is leading a 2.0 friendly Gridiron this Saturday.

    1. Pleasure as always to step out and lead this am.

     

     

     

     

  • Pre-Blast for GridIron on Sat Oct 15, 2016 – 2.0 Friendly Workout!

    Döner Kebab is Qing a 2.0 friendly workout at Grid Iron this Saturday.
    Bring your sons and/or daughters and/or selves for some fun.
    YHC will work on the Chicken Whisperer’s cadence calling to see if he’s up for leading some COP!

  • Born to Run Baby…

    Yes I know it is cliché, but on this day in history (’75) Springsteen had his first pop hit with “Born to Run.” How fitting given the 7 devoted who showed up at UR for today’s Spider Run. Chosen route was the River Run (take TYA bat cave, cross the bridge, take Riverside Drive to Cherokee and then back).

    YHC was pleased to be back in groove of posting a weekday run. Whether due to the weekend trail run, or just a protracted recovery, YHC was a little stiff near the end of the run but enjoyed the cool weather and conversation nevertheless. On the way back, several PAX avoided the bat cave and chose the entrance to UR for their return – in the interest of keeping their feed dry or at least not getting them any wetter due to standing water along the path.

    YHC found the pre-and-post run chat quite educational: While it may take a village to save a pair of skunk-laden running shoes, you can come out ahead with two pair; Cucumber wipes are the swiss-army-knife of personal hygiene; Relieving oneself on someone else’s front yard is moderately acceptable, but on one’s own front yard?…not so much.

    See you in the gloom guys

    Saab abides

  • Building Blocks of Pain

    16 F#RVA Daville faithful fought off the fartsack on a crisp fall morning to make themselves and the community better by pushing through a beatdown that went something like this:

    Start of in plank at Shovel Flag.  Wilson’s wife, Fudd’s wife followed by merkins x 12 IC

    Mosey across parking lot to YHC’s trailer to select  your Building Block of Pain (cinderblock) to be used throughout the rest of the beatdown.  Circle up in center of parking lot for COP.  Exercises:

    Invisible Jumprope x 20 IC, Arm circles x10 front and back IC.

    Mosey to front door of Atlee High School with block.  Lunge to bus loop with block.

    Four corners around outer bus loop.  Exercises included LBCx25, Flutterkickx25, WWIIx25, Freddie Mercuryx25.  Run between stations with block.

    Mosey to behind Atlee High School for Triple Check.  Run with block to other side of bball courts.  Kettle bell swings, and balls to the wall.

    Restrictor plate removed for suicides. (without blocks)  Regular, Burpee, Run backwards, Reverse Suicides.

    Mosey to greenhouse with blocks.  Lunge back to YHCs trailer to return block.

    Merkin Ring of Fire (merkinsx10) and Burpee Shuffle.  Mosey back to Shovel Flag.

    COT, Numberama, Namearama, YHC took us out with prayer.

    NMM : So when YHC showed up to the DaVille AO with the trailer, it might have been assumed that the PAX was going to have a little fun with the Tractor Tire.  Wrong. (Sorry LabRat) Instead YHC visited one of TYAs jobsites (with his permission of course) and came home with 18 of the most beautiful cinder blocks you could ever want to swing and/or carry during a workout.  We did both and the PAX crushed this morning beatdown, even with the restrictor plate included.  Couple of observations from this morning:

    YHC has finally figured a way to keep up with Anchovy, Phonics, and Spike.  Add a cinder block to the mix.  Although their speed immediately returned during the suicides (sans blocks) and YHC could only see their backs.

    YHC noticed the DaVille PAX this morning included 3 members under the age of 18 (Guppie, Chapstick and Psycho)  Amazing young men to be up at 500am and start the day the only way F3 men know how.  Much HATE and RESPECT.

    45 minutes of running around Atlee High School with a group of guys carrying a cinder block is a hell of a lot of fun.

    Circle K

    Aye!!!