Category: Richmond, VA

  • Hey TYA, Did you get a Raccoon?

    4 runners posted, followed by 3 Gear Heads with bikes to the wednesday evening hill run that is the Hillcrest torturous loop

    THE THANG

    Run(bike) the Hillcrest loop in various designs of Jug Handles or Sans Jug Handle Loops

    Moleskin

    YHC arrived mid loop with the runners in full motion. YHC had two other cyclist of the younger in age variety(Offspring of YHC) YHC first encountered Saab as was setting a furious pace up the jug handle(Chariman Road) Saab was slightly Shocked to see YHC on a bike. YHC has missed one full week of workouts due to the left knee and YHC’s own stupidity. Today was the first day without limping, so why not try biking up a serious hill, it’s only a circle.

    Lockjaw finished several loops and declared that he is all in for the BRR and has not missed a run since July 1, Wait isn’t today the 6th?

    TSB was cranking up the final hill just ahead of TYA. TYA looked as if he managed to include a lap across the Rivah when he arrived back at the top of the hill.

    Post-Run festivus at TYA’s humble abode included several fine crafted beers, one could only describe as Grapefruit oriented( although pricing was in full debate of said beer) As the group discussed the finer points of Hover-boards, the BRR history, the TYA/Bleeder vs OBT/Dredd BRR mountain Goat battle Royale and TYA family selection of pets or rabid animals.

    Peace out,
    Bleeder on TYA’s Machine. No, Bleeder using TYA’s… No, Bleeder pounding on TYA’s Keys.. Damn it… you get the idea.

  • Hills and a cooler

    Wednesday afternoon hill run on Hillcrest. Bring a cooler with your desired cold beverages and we can have a little second F on my back patio. 5:30 for the run, Second F to follow.

    TYA Out

  • Apparently Rats Like Merlot

    This morning 12 brave and fearless men met at W Dog for a little hump day fun.

    The Thang:

    COP – Mosey over to circle and perform the following 20 SSH, 20 LBC, 20 Merkin

    Cut The Air – Run up and down stairs of monument to complete 10 incline merkin, bear crawl to star, 20 (2 count) mountain climbers.  Complete 4 rounds

    5/10/15 – Teams of two rip through 5 pull-ups, 10 dips, 15 WWII Sit Ups.  Complete 3 Rounds

    Love Hill – Teams of two complete a long stretch of love hill.  While one is running to the top gate, the other completes the prescribed exercises making progress to the top of the hill.  Team members complete each exercise after their run is done then move on to the next exercise.  As follows – Broad jump burpees, lunges, Polar Bear (5 step bear crawl with a merkin thrown in every 5th step).

    Swirly Homage – Start at the top of the amphitheater.  On each of the steps perform an incline merkin. Work in descending order.  On the 18th step, 18 merkins.  On the 17th step, 17 merkins. Etc.  All the way to the bottom.

    Mosey back to flag and COT.

    The air was thick and heavy my friends, thick and heavy.  YHC is pleased at the volume of work that got done in 45 minutes.  You all should be damn proud.  Toga laid down the hammer early and was out to send a message to the pax.  This crew dominated the pull up station.  5 has become the comfortable number and it is in the opinion of YHC that we will have to start increasing the volume very soon.  With 8 minutes to go we started Swirly Homage.  The pax was focused and purposeful.  Flipper is so good at the incline merkin, he will soon be releasing a how to video.

    In a testament to the intensity level of today’s workout Shawshank spilled the merlot pre-COT.  There’s probably no better way to put it.  A triple hate VMI keydet pushed the limits, and the limits pushed back.

    As men of a certain age we all have very full plates and obligations.  Often this leads to a very busy internal dialogue and heavy hearts.  That weight can some times seem unbearable.  But then you come out to a workout like this, with men like those who circle our flag.  You push through and hold on.  Not always you think you can, but out of respect to the others who are clearly putting out a max effort.

    For YHC just about everything I learn in the gloom, I can apply in some other part of my life: Do the work, help others and when it gets really hard and normal men would quit, double down and push through. My gratitude runs deep.

    Well done gentlemen.

    Hardywood

  • Post-Fireworks Smolder

    10 Brothers gathered in the humidity to prove there were still some fireworks to light.

     

    The Thang:

     

    COP

     

    • SSH IC X 30
    • Front Arm Circles IC X 10 little X 5 big, Reverso
    • ATMs – In plank, Alternating Shoulder Taps IC X 15; Tempo Merkins IC X 10; 10 fast Merkins OYO
    • American Hammer IC x 20
    • Mountain Climbers IC x 20

     

    Doracides (with partner)

     

    • One Pax does three-point suicides on the basketball court with 1, 2, then 3 burpees on the last stretch
    • Meanwhile partner Pax works through Squat X 100, LBC X 200, SSH X 300

     

    Ring of Fire

    • All Pax in a circle, hold People Chair
    • One Pax does 10 Werkins and then holds Six-Inches, then next Pax does Werkins until all Pax in circle are doing Six-Inches
    • Then one Pax does 10 Reverse Crunches followed by People Chair, around the circle
    • Final round is 10 Mexican Jumping Bean Squats followed by Six-Inches

     

    Indian Run around all three schools and then back to flag

     

    MOM

    • Superman
    • Flutterkicks

     

    COT

     

    BOM – The Carpenter took us out.

     

    NMS

     

    After a drenching couple of days, this morning felt like the muggy July it is supposed to be in DaVille. Lab Rat brought the shovelflag for YHC to plant. Grabber biked in as others arrived. Emoji woke us all up with his inspirational attitude and international orange shirt.

     

    The Pax seemed to breeze through the COP, even the ATM pusharama. This impressed YHC considering the brutal upper body beatdowns of late. Mumblechatter picked up at Doracides with a mix of groans and encouragement. Lab Rat and Stewardess engaged in a military style domestic dispute throughout the morning. The result was clearly positive motivation as Stewardess put on the afterburners during suicides. Considering Stewardess’s determined and less-than-pleased game face, YHC was grateful he was not in the cockpit of an F-22. The ROF elicited more groans, but all pushed through the challenge. TYA muscled through some straight-legged reverse crunches. The PAX must have appeared a proud, if ragged, team cruising through the Indian Run home. During Superman, Lab Rat reminded us that together we could all be the Greatest American Hero.

     

    Announcements

    Emoji shared that his bride is battling breast cancer. She has a crackerjack medical team and social support. They are poised to overcome this. He asks for thoughts and prayers. We are with you for anything you need, brother.

     

    Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of such an amazing group of men.

     

    Gratefully,

     

    Blue Balls

  • 4 after the Fourth

    4 fought off the Fartsack after the Fourth, opting for their DRP instead.  Things were back to normal as the rains from the day before made the fields water-logged as we’ve all come to know and love. It went down like this:

    Mosey to parking lot for COP- 25 SSH, arm circles – forwards and backwards, 20 LBCs, 15 Flutterkicks, 20 Hillbillys. Mosey to benches, partner up.

    15 shoulder presses – wheelbarrow 10 yards then 15 Derkins. Switch partner to go back. Repeato x3.

    Mosey to new fence. 20 PLTs, switch partner. Repeato x3.  Stay with partner for Donkey Kicks. 1 oes DKs, while other runs to shelter to do 5 Box Jumps and run back. Switch and Repeato x3.

    Hold elbow plank for 1 min at end as PAX. Run lap around field, do 5 burpees each corner. Then mosey to Basketball court for:

    Suicides. 1 set just running, 2nd Set 5 LBCs, 3rd set 10 merkins, last set just running. Square up for Mary – 1 min plank, 20 IC Hello Dolly, 10 R and L leg lifts.

    NMS: Small but strong PAX, YHC was glad to see Ricky Bobby arrive to make it an even 4. Strong showing by Trojan Drone on his 2nd posting. There was discussion as always on how hard Shoulder presses get when they start out easy. YHC wanted a lot of core work today to fight off the excesses of the 4th. Think that was accomplished. The PAX was not a fan of the elbow plank, we need to do much more of that. Wilson is definitely getting faster with all his running.

    As a bonus the PLTs made sure to get complete grass coverage all over, including face and eyes.

     

     

     

  • Let’s all give thanks for the Bikini

    5 showed at UR today for a moderate impact run around Westham. Using a derivative of a route Bleeder led a few weeks ago, we went up Westham parkway, down to the canal via Ridge, and then back along the golf course to the commons.

    YHC was beginning to prepare for a lone-run this morning, but the PAX eventually all arrived at about the same time. The route chosen had fewer hills and less distance than prior options due in no small part to the difficult weekend YHC and others experienced with regard to F3 workouts and other running excursions. While we all worked to stay together, the decision for the pack to run up westham station and back down – with the intent to catch up with Lugnut turned out to be a slight miscalculation. As we worked to track him down we did not see him on the return route…YHC feared he would end up lost similar to TYA’s experience a few months ago. Fortunately, despite taking an alternate entrance back into the university, Lugnut was able to find his way once he came upon the chapel where he first entered the world of marital bliss. Otherwise, chatter centered around the July 4 beatdown at Batteau (Hardywood), and “where’s Lockjaw?” (per his stated commitment to step-up his running beginning in July).

    Just a word about the title…on this day in history in 1946 the bikini was first introduced in Europe.

    Saab out.

  • Back Blast from the Past

    9 Pax came out in the calm after the storm to cover some miles.

    We took a new route into Scott’s Addition.  4 milers turned around at Ardent, 5 milers came back on the Boulevard to Elwood to Grove, and 6 milers came home on Hermitage to Grove.

    NMC
    Power loss and vacation provided delay in the getting the back blast out.  However, YHC believes its better late than never to chronicle our post.

    It was a nice change of scenery to venture north into Scott’s Addition which was vacant at that hour.  Perhaps we should do it 12 hours later in the day and do a tour de brewery.

    Several trees were down on Grove including one on a car.  The Boulevard showed signs up high winds with some signs in disarray.

    Hardywood provided a tourism PSA for Austin, TX.

  • Batteau Beatdown – July 4th Spectacular

    16 brave and fearless men showed up for the July 4th Batteau Beatdown in Forest Hill Park.

    The Pursuit of Happiness

    • Mosey down to Reedy Creek for COP:  20 SSH, 10 Burpee, 20 LBC, 20Merkin

    Suck It King George

    • Pax to large pile of rocks.  Each man grabs a rock of considerable size.  Not heavy enough to throw like a football, not too heavy that you can’t lift it over your head.
    • Native American Run from Reedy Creek to Forest Hill Pond with each member of the pax carrying their rock.

    Continental Congress

    • Teams of two complete the following – 50 burpees, 100 squats with rocks, 200 merkins, 300 two count American hammer, 400 side straddle hops.  While one person is ripping through the exercises, the other is running a hill circuit.  To make this a little more fun, the hill circuit was completed with rock in tow.

    Move Over John Hancock

    • Run up the hill of despair.  Start with five burpees at the first light post, add five more at each succeeding light post finishing with 20 burpees at the final post.  Mosey back to the flag.

    NMS – Let’s start with a huge shout to Kudzu for dominating today’s workout and to Fudd for raising a damn fine young man.  We could all be so lucky. Saab came off of another monster week of miles.  He is the gold standard in fortitude.  There was idle chatter amongst the pax during COP.  Once the stones of success were gathered, mum was the word.  The celebration libation provided by Lab Rat signaled the transition into the days festivities.

    Make no doubt about it, this was a really hard workout.  YHC had been thinking of something like this since the day Swirly mentioned this could be a good place for an AO.  The motivation of YHC was two fold. 1) To do something unique and creative that would make for a great story. 2) To have it be just hard enough that doubt made a small appearance.  One of the most valuable things this pax does is learning how to respond when life gets uncomfortable and overwhelming.  This is a damn fine skill to learn and there may be no better place to forge it.

    It is a great privilege and honor to lead this group today.  Thank you for the trust to put a big challenge before you.  An even bigger thanks for putting your best effort forward.  This is an amazing place to find one’s voice.

    Big cheers to you all and happy 4th of July.  See you in the gloom.

    -Hardywood

  • Obama wears a Reagan/Bush hat

    8 strong and determined runners posted for a Sunday morning saunter around the trails of Richmond VA. Weather was 65 degrees and cloudy, a bit of rain towards the end.

    The Thang:

    Nickel Bridge to Buttermilk trail. Buttermilk to Reedy Creek, crossover stream to Forest Hill Park. Do the Forest Hill Park loop in the clockwise direction. Back over to the Buttermilk and back to the shovel flag. Route clocked in at just about 7.5 miles.

    NMM:

    First off, thanks to Obama for joining us for the second consecutive day from Greensville. Pleasure to have you as part of the PAX in RVA. Having been born and raised in Richmond, he had a great familiarity with the trails and was able to make sure Toga (a Forrest Hill Virgin) and others were following the right path through the woods. “Obama” it seems is trying to dis-associate himself with his namesake. He was proudly wearing a Reagan/Bush hat from 1984 to make sure that his political affiliation was clear.

    The list of items that are quirky about Wilson is growing. Lets see, there is the fear of running in the dark, confusion over things that come in odd numbers (especially when it is the PAX count), aversion to the smell of Petrully (whatever the heck that is), and the obsession with wearing long sleeves (with another shirt underneath) all year long. Today brought a new one out: when we finished the run, Wilson was in a panic to do the COT and leave the AO as soon as possible. Did he have a family obligation? Did he need to get to church? No, he hates getting wet and it was beginning to rain. Quirky, Yes. Awesome and a blast to hang out with, Yes again.

    Finally, I am not sure why, but when a visitor, or a new guys comes around, I have noticed that they have a tendency to snicker when I announce my name. Maybe it is just paranoia coming from TYA (you guys know how sensitive I am), something quirky that I do when I say may name (maybe a twinge of my Boston accent coming to the forefront), or an inside joke that I don’t yet know about. I don’t know? If it continues, I just might take BT up on his offer to take over the dreaded name that begins with an H that has been threatened to be thrust upon many an FNG.

    Special 1 hour 4th of July workout tomorrow at Batteau. Should be an epic beatdown from Hardywood and a great way to start your holiday.

    TYA Out.

  • An Impromptu Q and Some 40s for the 4th

    White Deer was slated to Q, but was forced to step out at the last minute due to illness. Jville (YHC) stepped up to Q on the fly, and this is how it went down, more or less:

    COP
    30x SSH (ultra slow, med, fast cadence)
    25x don quiote
    25x LBCs
    15x merkins
    25x imperial walkers transitioning to hillbillies

    Mosey to sand volleyball court over by Striker Field
    bear crawl the length of the sandpit
    10x merkins
    crab walk back
    10x merkins

    Mosey to grassy knoll by old schoolhouse
    10min of burpees

    Mosey to old schoolhouse
    classic triple check

    Mosey back to sand volleyball court
    karaoke back and forth
    bunny hop length
    single leg side hop back and forth
    crawlbear
    10x merkins
    feet first crab
    10x merkins

    mosey to playground
    Lindsays (40s) consisting of body weight rows and crab-cakes

    mosey to benches
    Lindsays (40s) consisting of box jumps and Carolina drydocks. This was cut a bit short for timing.

    COT with Atilla taking us out.

    Moleskin:

    Welcome to Rooney, who was visiting family up from the Fort in SC. Please get your brother in law from Midlo out!

    Our numbers were small this morning due to vacations/sickness, but it was this a great group of strong men. Everyone worked very hard. It was an honor to lead these men.

    Convergence at Batteau on Monday — 0700.

    Love and enjoy your families. Have a safe and happy 4th!