Category: Richmond, VA

  • Elvis should have exercised more…

    9 showed up for a run up and around UR and its surrounding residential area. Routes varied depending upon personal interest and the status of one’s GI tract – Fudd run, River Run, or Stifler’s Mom…take your pick. Kudos to those on ran to the AO today: Sippy, Marv, Pucker and Fudd. Some other brief observations:
    – It is consistently dark now, so lights are necessary
    – It may not be winter, but potholes are still a threat
    – A well-placed light around one’s abdomen will illuminate all kinds of things
    – The BRR is only 24 days away (or 31 by my calendar)

    Saab abides

  • #GridIron Welcomes the Next Generation

    Fourteen of the faithful and 4 FNGs posted at #NoToll on a bistering Saturday morning. Johnsonville (YHC) planted a shovel flag in a parking lot divider, and took Q. This is how it went down, more or less:

    COP near SF
    25x SSH
    25x Don Quiote
    25x imperial walkers -> hillbillies

    Mosey around parking lot for COP adjacent to beach volleyball courts
    10x merkins
    25x bicycles
    25x squats

    Mosey over to small hill near baseball diamond
    Elevens consisting of merkins at the bottom, and Lt. Dans at the hilltop

    Mosey to end zone of nearest gridiron for COP
    25x LBC
    24x single leg Alabama Prom Dates (switching legs halfway)

    Mosey to middle of field for COP
    chiabatta (bunny hops and crab cakes)
    10x Richard Kimble OYO

    Mosey to school entrance for classic 3-play sequence

    Mosey gridiron in front of the school for F3-style frisbee football (with kids calling the exercises), which included a number of OYO exercises including 10x burpees, 10x reverse crunches, etc.

    COP at midfield
    25x LBCs
    25x box cutters

    COP (Atilla)
    Coffeeteria

    MOLESKIN:

    It was great to have so many strong men and so many strong kids come out. YHC had a game plan for this workout, but that went out the window with these numbers. What a great problem to have!

    The heat and humidity at 0700 was brutal. YHC began sweating profusely right for the start and quickly became water-logged.

    The elevens followed by a tough chiabatta brought on deep gloom, and I thought we were going to lose some folks. But, the PAX stayed strong.

    Mighty Mouse has quite a competitive streak (definitely Lab Rat’s 2.0). YHC barely edged her out at the end of the 2nd three-play run. She did not like that a bit, and came out of the blocks on the third set like Usain Bolt. There was not even a prayer of chasing her down.

    YHC reflected on names a bit more after the workout, and decided to change Ahab’s name to Mariner. It is thus so.

    Prayers to Toga’s dad and family. Isaiah 33:2

    Johnsonville

  • Maximus makes it over to Batteau

    8 strong (and about to get stronger) posted for a fun filled episode of Batteau.  Little did they know that Maximus would make an appearance.

    Mosey to steps to acquire rocks then mosey down the steps to the road and the gazebo by the lake.

    COP:  mtn climbers, Don Quixote, merkins, Russian soldiers, staggered merkins rt and lt

    Lift rocks above head and mosey to nearest lamp post.  20x chest press, 30x flutter kicks, repeato x3

    Rocks above head and mosey down the road to some random tree.  16x curls, 20x full extensions, repeato x3

    Rocks above head and mosey back to the lamp post.  20x shoulder press, 30x Slow Freddy, repeato x3

    Rocks up and back to tree.  10x weighted sit-ups, 10x supine overhead extensions, repeato x3

    Carry rock back up steps to first landing for 10x tricep extensions, 10x squats, repeato x3

    Deposit rocks for the next time and mosey back to flag.  Several minutes of Mary then Flashdance took us home.

    NMM:  Well that was nothing like what was going through Toga’s brain on the way to the AO.  Hardywood put down such a memorable/scarring beatdown at the inaugural Batteau that YHC wanted to give some of it another shot.  Unfortunately, YHC represented the only member of the PAX to bring a headlight.  NOTE:  It’s time again to start packing a light to the wooded AOs (Batteau, DogPile, maybe NoToll?).  You never know what will come out and grab you.., alright, it’s usually Lab Rat getting handsy, but maybe the lights will keep him off?  The PAX probably had an easier go with the beach muscle workout than the rock hiking adventure originally planned, but everyone got a peak at what a Circus Maximus workout looks like.  Hopefully we’ll see some converts real soon.

    Stay Classy,

    Toga

  • Aniversario Repeato

    Three PAX posted for a beatdown in the still-humid gloom.

    The THANG:

    COP: imperial walkers x25, SSH x25, Moroccan dance party x10, arm circles front/back small/big x15, prisoner squats x25, plank dips x10

    Mosey to the pavilion for a “Whole Lotta Rosie:” mountain climbers (two count) x30, LBCs x42, mountain climbers x30, American hammers (two count) x39, mountain climbers x30, flutter kicks (single count) x56.

    Bear crawl to the shed, jog to Hermitage Road back to the entrance, zombie walk back to the pavilion for “Mucho Chesto:” merkins x10, werkins x10, clerkins x10, staggered merkins x10 each side, dead cockroach until PAX finishes.  Repeato.

    Bear crawl to the shed, jog to Hermitage Road back to the entrance, zombie walk back to the pavilion for another round of Whole Lotta Rosie.

    Bear crawl, jog, zombie walk back to the pavilion again for 40s with dips and WWI situps (35/5 to 5/35).  Mosey to the VSF for COT.

    NMM:

    For his one-year anniversary Q, YHC decided to repeat the beatdown that Chum delivered at his inaugural posting.  Glad to have Pat Down out again, visiting with us from Charlotte for a few weeks.  Singer battled through back pain to post and complete exercises – strong work, and YHC hopes you get some relief soon.

    The PAX decided last time that the Moroccan dance party was not really an exercise but something for little old ladies at a Moroccan dance party who can’t otherwise move, but it was included to honor the memory.

    Other memories from the first posting:

    • After the Moroccan dance party, YHC thinking, “so far so good, just 42 minutes left – how bad can it be?”
    • Spending a lot of time doing poorly-formed dead cockroaches, despite not having finished the previous round of exercises – YHC was smoked early.
    • Bleeder, breathing heavily through a face full of sweat, saying, “you get to where … you can do … more and more of the workouts.”
    • A moment of panic in the COT when YHC realized that his car key had fallen out of his pocket (probably during the dead cockroaches).  Stranded at the first posting!  Seconds later, Best Shot held up the key, asking the PAX if it belonged to any of them.

    Thanks for a great year.  Looking forward to many more anniversaries with F3.

    Announcements

    • RiverRun #2 tonight at 7:30pm
    • YHC is organizing an F3 team for a bike ride on September 24th benefiting the American Diabetes Association http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?team_id=728706&fr_id=11465&pg=team.  MOffshore has been type I for 30+ years, and mother of Offshore has been type II for 10+ years.
    • Toga is recruiting participants for a Spartan Run on September 24th.
    • ReeseStrong 5k is September 17th.

     

  • Old Stomping Grounds

    2 of the RiverRun regulars and 1 PAX familiar with the territory out set out to do some work on the hills this morning.

    The route was the typical one, Riverton Ridge into Tarrington, Ashwell Loop up to Robious and down Twin Team lane with a lap around the school to finish.  +/- 5 miles

    MOLESKIN:

    Splinter rolled in the morning to his old stomping grounds of James River High School.  Splinter was part of the first graduating class when the school was opened.  There were some mud trails back then but no smooth neighborhood roads like there are now.

    It was nice to catch up with Splinter during the run, talks revolved around upcoming reunions for James River and Midlothian.  Also a little BRR talk as Splinter assured YHC he would enjoy the legs that TYA has hand selected for him.  I don’t know if that’s good or bad.

    Lugnut plans to run this evening at 7:30 from Bettie Weaver if any PAX want to join him.  YHC will not be able to make it.  Contact Lugnut if you are interested in meeting him out there.

    Buzzkill has signed up for his VQ tomorrow at NoToll and based on his effort at previous posts I expect an excellent beat down.

    See you in the gloom

  • The Million Merkin March

    11 extraordinary men dominated Dogpile on a beautiful Saturday including one FNG. The conditions were optimal for success.  We took full advantage of those conditions.

    The thang:

    COP  – 20 X SSH, Imperial Walker, LBC, Freddy Mercury, +10 Merkin.  Homage paid to Gnarly Goat.

    4 Rounds – Run up stairs at The Carillon, lunge across, back down, bear crawl to flower pots and run back to stairs.

    Ladder Of Domination – Picking six trees of semi equal distance apart in the field in front of The Carillon, run to the first tree to perform 5 merkins and 5 LBC.  Run back to start, then to the next tree line for 10 merkins and 10 LBC.  Repeat this to 30.

    Even Steven – Perform the following 10 pull ups (by any means) then run to the fire hydrant to perform 10 two count American Hammers.  Sets decline in volume to 8, 6, 2, 4

    Dora’s Valley Of Doubt – With a partner complete  50 burpees, 100 merkins, 200 dips, 300 SSH.  While one partner exercises the other runs the valley behind the amphitheater.

    Mosey back to the flag.

    COT – numberama, namerama and The Carpenter graciously lead us out.

    YHC is happy to report this workout produced a soreness that still lingers as a pleasant reminder. Without confirmation from the USGS, YHC is lead to believe that the sides of the hill got steeper and longer with each rep of Dora’s Valley Of Doubt. Bleeder has the best bear crawl on the planet.  YHC has it on good authority that the Maymont bear has hit him up on Twitter for tips.  Oyster is the F3 version of a pool shark.  No person at anytime should challenge him to a footrace.  He will pretend he has never run before, present you with an aw shucks look and then proceed to run so fast that his hat will catch on fire.  Welcome Bypass and congrats on the new job.  The Carpenter is so good at closing the COT he should look into doing that as a profession.

    It is with great intention that I present challenges that are just hard enough to have the little voice inside your head say “you have got to be flipping kidding me”.  Perhaps it’s one of those things that I really want to learn and that’s why it’s so important to me.

    Life is full of challenges and doubt.  For better or worse, I don’t know that you can live any kind of life you’d be proud of without either of those two things.  So rather than avoiding them, what I do think you can do is learn how to respond. When things look a little overwhelming and you aren’t sure you have what it takes, you have a couple of choices.

    You can throw your hands up in the air and tap out like normal people.  Or you can look at the pool of your own sweat and will your body to come back for one more rep.

    I say, one more rep.

    Hardywood

     

  • HEAT

    7 Pax members practiced questionable judgement, ignored the heat advisories, and showed up to get some miles in on the trails this morning.  It was hot.  This is what we did:

    -North bank Trail to Belle Isle, around the west side.  Buttermilk trail back to the barn.  The Q’s gps watch clocked in at 7.25 miles, individual mileage may vary.

    NMS

    There was some dissension in the ranks this morning as the Q mentioned the planned shorter distance due to the heat…YHC is all about hard core, but this morning was not one to mess with Mother Nature.  The goal was to get in a good run and get the hell out of there.  Planned run should have been shorter to be honest.  Hopefully next week will be more conducive to higher mileage.  BRR has firmly grabbed hold of this group!

    Saab had places to be afterwards, so he and Conspiracy took off to clear the spider webs out for us.  Turns out there was no need, seeing that the trail was absolutely packed with early risers trying to beat the heat….more people that I can remember seeing on the trails on an early morning.  The rest of the pax stuck together in no rush, taking turns circling back.

    Rosie lived up to his namesake, bright and chipper all morning.  Great to have you out, YHC hopes this morning’s run was tick free for you!

    Blue Balls continues to post to Sunday trails, and is now considered by YHC to be a regular member of the pax here now.  Great to have you around, BB!

    Aisle 5 had a hard time finding his groove this morning, and actually had to let a little steam out of the radiator afterwards, but there is no quit in this man.  AYE!  Aisle 5 has really shown YHC what hard work means, and YHC is proud to get to run with him every week.

    Saab still abides as well, even with his ridiculous schedule.  YHC thinks that his “fallback week” is BRR.

    There was a definite hole in the pax this morning without TYA.  Hope you are feeling better, buddy!

    2nd F at ET’s for Aisle 5 and Lab Rat, where topics covered were:  Family, gluten, beer, and our mutual admiration of all things Wilson.

    Announements

    • Offshore is organizing an F3 team for a Family Fun bike ride (10 or 20 mi) benefitting the American Diabetes Association: http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?team_id=728706&fr_id=11465&pg=team on September 24th.  Registration is $20.  YHC pledges to satisfy the fundraising requirements for all F3 Richmond members, Ms, and 2.0s, though additional fundraising is most welcome.  With the release of the Panama papers, its time to empty some Offshore accounts
    • F3 team for Reesestrong is here:  https://runsignup.com/RaceGroups/4045/Groups/284254

    Lab Rat out.

     

  • You know you should look both ways before turning, right?

    13 runners and 2 bikers posted on a clear but humid morning for a run or ride.

    Head east on Grove, right on Thompson, east on Ellwood to Main, return on Cary to Thompson back to Grove.  Four milers turn on Robinson, five milers turn on Meadow, six milers turn on Morris.

    This was one of YHC’s old training routes because of the long stretches of streets with sidewalks, and was happy to be running it with the PAX.  YHC would struggle to resist the urge to throw in the towel and grab a burger and beer at one of the many eating establishments along the way.  Carytown cleans itself up nicely in the morning, and tempting smells did not seem to be an issue.

    Every street sign on Ellwood/Main was turned, twisted, or otherwise vandalized, making the turnaround difficult.  Props to LugNut for adding some extra mileage because of the jacked up signs, and making his way back right at 6:15.  Sippy and Marv were the only six milers this morning.

    There was more traffic than expected on Main and Cary.  UpChuck, one of few PAX properly dressed for a run in the dark, was ready with driving tips for the cars we passed.

    Genny Light almost earned his first LIFO trophy, showing up late but then finishing first among the five milers.  Aisle 5 snatched the honors away, arriving after the PAX had left and running an alternate route.  So Genny Light gets the STLIFO (second-to-LIFO) award.  It turns out that he initially posted to the location on our map – there are different locations for RAMM and RAMM gears.  Can tech services look into that?

    Announcements

    • Fudd needs to go to the bathroom.
    • LugNut announced a second RiverRun on Monday evening at 7:30pm.
    • No Tools is mountain biking at Pocohontas tomorrow at 0700 or 0800 and looking for additional riders.
    • YHC has an anniversary Q at The Punisher on Monday.
    • YHC is organizing an F3 team for a Family Fun bike ride (10 or 20 mi) benefitting the American Diabetes Association: http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?team_id=728706&fr_id=11465&pg=team on September 24th.  Registration is $20.  YHC pledges to satisfy the fundraising requirements for all F3 Richmond members, Ms, and 2.0s, though additional fundraising is most welcome.  With the release of the Panama papers, its time to empty some Offshore accounts.
    • Toga is recruiting participants for the Spartan Run at Wintergreen, also on September 24th.  YHC’s feelings will only be hurt if you don’t participate in either of our events.
    • YHC just registered for ReeseStrong 5k, and is pumped about it.

     

  • 9 rounds of Triple check + 125 SSHs = Good Times

    What a great showing today, TYA clowned this morning with 3 young FNGs and Marv head locked his pastor out for Mary. We had 16 regular hard cores, 4 FNGs and one out of town from area 51, PatDown.

    The Thang:

    Today’s theme was living in the moment; I was not sure how many sets of triple check or SSHs we were going to do.  But I knew we had to beat the Carpenters 100 SSHs so we landed on 125, thanks for all who helped us get to 125 I can’t count that high.

    4 rounds of triple check with (run-merkins- deep squats)

    2 rounds of triple check with (run-flutter kicks- burpee)

    3 rounds of triple check with (run- abs- bear crawl)

    Than we single legged squatted and sided hopped on the 4 corner tack.

    Ran back to the flag to finish 25 SSHs to take the Gold medal

    Thanks again men for letting me lead today!!!  And thanks to Marv for the prayer its always great to be inspired before the day starts.  I am also grateful for you all and this group its been life changing.  Before I started last year my prayer that I said over and over was ” I want to meet healthy like minded men that wanted to push themselves and grow” so be careful what you ask for God will answer your call!!!

    Flashdance over and out!!!

  • I don’t even think that’s a Farmer’s Carry

    5 strong gathered for a KB beatdown in the thick humidity. It went something like this.

    THANG

    COP: 20 SSH, 20 DQs, 20 Hand Release Merkins, 20 Box Cutters, KB Roundabouts OYO – 10 each side, KB Figure 8’s IC – 10 each side

    Beast:
    Use the bus loop like a field. 3 stations on each side of loop. Farmer’s Carry in between stations.
    Dealer’s choice exercises
    1) KB Swing – YHC
    2) Burpee – Jville
    3) KB Lawnmower Pulls – 6 each side – Chum Bucket
    Plank-o-rama break
    4) KB Situp – Toga
    5) KB Tricep Curl – Atilla
    6) KB Goblet Squat – YHC

    2 min Parade of Elephants: sitting backs to each other, 2 KB Presses, pass KB to right

    10 KB Bridge Press OYO

    COT

    Atilla took us out.

    Naked Moleskin

    We’ve been doing Waiter’s Carries…not Farmer’s Carries…but no matter, they are difficult…and time consuming. It took almost the entire workout to complete a KB Beast. It was a workout built for Earthworm, but he was a no-show. JVille suggested that maybe he feared the Conveyor Belt. YHC isn’t sure which is more difficult: Conveyor Belt or KB Beast. Either way, well done PAX!

    We worked together as a group for the most part, and there was ample mumblechatter en route. Topics included Orange Fitness Theory and CLT’s Nancy Drew’s focus on heart rate targeting. We concluded we prefer bootcamps over restrictor plates.

    Thoughts and prayers for Toga’s father and family.

    Announcements:
    There’s interest in a re-print of F3 RVA’s Keep Calm & Mosey On shirts. We should be able to make preorders soon. Contact Döner Kebab if you’re interested.

    4 weeks until BRR. We still need 1 driver and 1 runner.

    Grid Iron will include 2.0’s this Saturday. Bring your kids out. My son, CDubs, loves it.

    Enjoy the humidity.