Category: Richmond, VA

Another brisk winter morning in Richmond saw 8 faithful post to rise to LG’s challenge to do a “real man’s workout”. With some great fellowship and chatter along the way, the group seemed to enjoy this good ol’ beatdown.

THE THANG

Jog to front of park near the old schoolhouse. COP – SSH x25, Merkins x11, Hello Dolly x17, Rosalia x16 (missing one exercise?)

Take a jog on the path along Pouncey Tract Rd toward the track, cross over the track to the bottom of the biggest & baddest hill at this AO. Start at baseline and do Jacob’s Ladder OYO — sprint to top of hill, do 1 burpee, sprint down to baseline. Turn around, sprint up again and do 2 burpees. Continue up to 5 burpees. Plank up at bottom when done.

Mosey around to the back of the school to the tennis courts.

Al Carmichael Push-o-Rama — sprint from baseline of first court to end line of 4th/final court and do 10x of the allotted exercise, then sprint back and do 10x of the allotted exercise. Plank and await further instructions. Allotted exercises: one arm push-up R/L, Peter Parker push-up, Werkins, Fingertip Push-ups, Diamond Pushups (selected by @Jolly Rancher, who called them “Crystal Push-ups”), and Carolina Dry Docks.

Thank your lucky stars that we’re done with tennis court… But not to be so. Still at tennis court, do Noah’s Ark — zig zag hop to beginning of 3rd court, sprint to end and back to baseline. Karaoke L down, sprint back. Karaoke R down, sprint back. Backwards run down, sprint back. Suicides (also selected by @Jolly Rancher) to end line of all 4 courts.

Pick up extra hats, gloves, etc. and head to front of the school by the wall for Triple Check. Partner 1 sprint to cone while Partner 2 does Balls to the Wall and Partner 3 plank.

3 minutes and a tiny bit of energy left? Perfect for Bring Sally Up. Push up position and go to up position every time the song says “Bring Sally Up” and down position at “Bring Sally Down”.

MOLESKIN

The unpredictability theme of this workout was inspired by the following quote from “Build Your Own F3 Workout.pdf” given to the initial Richmond PAX by @OBT: We count cadence in a modified military style because it sets a rhythm for the pax and because it keeps people from budgeting their effort to reach the goal when you tell them beforehand that they have to do, say, 20 Merkins. Because the pax never know how long the leader is going to go for, they are forced to push their bodies to go for as long as they have to. This has a wonderful mental and physiological benefit; over time it teaches the pax that they can do far more than they ever would have allowed themselves to. It is the humble hope of IHC that this purpose was achieved in this workout.

IHC considered playing “King of the Hill” with the group, and also heading further along the path to Striker Park, but settled in between the School House and the road for that first COP.

The group was glad to be joined at the halfway mark (near the end of Al Carmichael Push-O-Rama) by @Wilson and @Oyster, who can officially claim “Double Down” status after they had their coffee & donuts at DogPile before coming to Gridiron.

T-claps to Johnsonville for posting with a few broken ribs from Sunday’s hike. Godspeed to recovery, brother. And good job with the flying EH to the umpire-in-training with the lawn chair.

@Wedding Singer’s sentiment: “I thought the tennis courts would never end”. Unpredictability achieved.

Bring Sally Up smoked every single one of the Pax. IHC has never seen that happen and it felt great. That might need to be a staple of Gridiron until we can claim mastery.

DON’T FORGET TO BUY FLOWERS AND/OR SOMETHING NICE FOR YOUR WIFE/GIRLFRIEND! If you don’t have restaurant reservations yet, you’re likely in trouble.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

NoToll 0530 Tuesday 2/10 – Wilson’s Virgin Q!

45 Minutes of Mary Thursday 2/12 – Q needed

RAMM Friday 2/13 – Q needed

DogPile Saturday 2/14 – Q needed

Gridiron Saturday 2/14 – Q needed (Wilson??)

Upcoming June CSAUP “The F3Richmond Four State Challenge,” involves hiking a 43.5 mi. section of the Appalachian Trail coursing through parts of VA, WV, MD and PA in less that 24 hours while, of course, carrying an F3 flag.  More information on The Four State Challenge can be found here.

Mosey to LF Pole for Pole to Pole/1B to 3B circuits:

Run to RF Pole and 10 Burpees
Karaoke or back run to 1B skin edge
Sprint to 3B skin edge and 10 jump squats
Karaoke or back run to LF Pole and planks

Run to RF Pole and 10 Imperial Walkers
Karaoke or back run to 1B skin edge
Sprint to 3B skin edge and 20 LBCs
Karaoke or back run to LF Pole and planks

Lunges to RF Pole and planks
High skip to LF Pole and planks

Mosey to the “Pillars” for OYO 40s –

Merkins and Imperial Squat Walkers
30/10, 25/15, 20/20, 15/25, 10/30 with
Slalom run the Pillars between each set

Plankorama/6MOM

Mosey to GridIron for:

Monkey Rolls (sort of, see Moleskin)
100 yard Lunge
Planks finale

Mosey to ShovelFlag for COT

MOLESKIN

TClaps to Lug Nut for pushing through a first metatarsal/first proximal phalange malfunction.  He and brother Iron continue to post with All American enthusiasm that belies the Gloom.

Takeaway from the Pole to Poles: Loose Goose is a masterful lunger (despite later musings to the contrary) and Trophy’s high skip performance (kangaroo-like) is worthy of high praise.

Spirited chatter commenced immediately upon the arrival of the Dog Pile crew about half-way through the OYO 40s.  LG kindly instructed Wilson that the sequence of “squat, left knee to right elbow, squat, right knee to left elbow” counted as 1 ISW and not 2.  Conspiracy – demanding that the PAX weave through each Pillar, not every other Pillar – received mixed results with his “reset” attempt concerning the slalom runs.  It was observed that Johnsonville and Donor Kabob blindly succumbed to the brinksmanship; the rest of the PAX faithfully adhered to the Q’s original instructions.

The chatter escalated to smack talk during the Plankorama/6MOM, especially with DK being denied a partner and sent to a Pillar.  But the smack talk was temporarily quieted during the mosey to the Grid Iron end zone as the PAX contemplated the coming Monkey Rolls.  Conspiracy, Wilson, and DK – based on their superior athletic talents (err … age) – were volunteered to demo the exercise.  Despite the advantages of specific, detailed, and patient instruction, the “dream team” performed abysmally and were mocked heartily (uproarious laughter punctuated the mocking) – so bad, in fact, that the PAX called for the BlackTahoe.  Handicapped by exposure to the egregious demo, teams 2 and 3 fared only modestly better.  Let’s just say that improvement is in order – YouTube is reported to show octogenarians expertly executing Monkey Rolls without mouth guards, knee braces, and head protection.

Humility, though, is truly fleeting.  Speed eating his way to the bottom of the pie (humble) plate, one unnamed PAX (the usual suspect) let loose a relentless barrage concerning proper lunge technique as the PAX strained to the opposite end zone to put 6 on the board.

COT announcements included:
–  J’ville made a “last call” for the “Rugged Maniac” – commit now if interested.
–   LG called for Q commitments for coming workouts.
–   The Four State Challenge was discussed generally.  J’ville cautioned against participation by anyone other than the most virile – he discourages the faint-hearted.
–   DK, J’ville, and Earthworm (maybe others) visiting “The Priest” tomorrow for a “confessional” hike with one very steep climb – meet at Daily Grind parking lot in time for prompt 0500 departure.

LG closed with a strong prayer of acknowledgment, gratitude, and supplication.  Amen.

1 Corinthians 16:13-14

(Jville posing for Earthworm)