Category: Richmond, VA

  • Rolling Hills of Westham

    With spring in the air, eight runners showed today to work some hills.

    Head around the baseball field and up past the football stadium and ascend snake hill.  4s and 5s take a side street to cutover to Bandy Field to the Village Shopping Center.  Head west on Patterson and pick up Westham Parkway.  Run the length of the parkway and double back to the baseball field, down the hill, and around the lake.

    4 milers cut short on Westham and didn’t have the lake loop.  6 milers didn’t get Bandy Field but had some quality distance on Patterson.

    Bleeder took us out.

    NMS:

    This workout kicks in with hills from the start.  No warm up; just a nice sustained climb.  Bandy Field was a nice diversion with opportunities to sneak up on various wildlife (several rabbits and raccoons).

    On our Westham cruise, the 5 milers were tempted to ring upchuck’s doorbell.  Hopefully he posted somewhere or next time he is fair game to persuade him out of the FS.

    The Pax was moving today.  Singer continues to push the distance and pace.  Taxi and EF were cruising and ready to race.  The 6 milers did well despite a couple of days of hard workouts leading up to this.  Good showing all around.

    Splinter was a ringer for the Sippy Cup look-alike contest.  Vest, visor, and sippy cup complete the look.

    Several of us continued with some second F while watching the seals at work.  Some familiar faces may be our new FNGs.

    Lockjaw

     

  • Big Dog and Winners Bitch

    The Top Dog is back and YHC had the Q. 9 Show Dogs came out to prove they are indeed the Best of the Best. The weather was awesome and the Dogs were in attendance to prove that they are more than just pretty faces. The beatdown went something like this.

    Mosey around the circle and the extended loop and get back to where we started.

    COP

    • SSH IC 20
    • Don Quixote IC 10
    • Hillbillies IC 20
    • LBC IC 25
    • Merkins IC 10

    Mosey down stairs to the sunken area. Lyndsey 30 Derkins and 10 box jumps/step ups…run to the up to the road and back, 25 derkins 15 box jumps.  Continue to 10 derkins and 30 box jumps/step ups. Plank for the 6 and Hardywood gave us a 10 count.  Mosey to the bottom of Hill of Questioning your existence.

    Dora 1-2-3 Partner up and the exercise were 100 push ups, 200 jump squats, 300 Freddie Mercuries.  While one partner starts the exercise, the other partner BEAR Crawled up the hill to the first light post( approx. 75 yards).  and ran back down, switch.  Audible Bear Crawl every other time you go up the Hill. Plank for the six. Wheel barrow gave us a 10 count.

    Flipdog Shuffle up the Hill to the tennis courts.  Native American run with a stop every so often for an exercise…….stopped about four times to do 10 merkins each time.

    Winners Bitch…In a single file line Head to feet hold a good form plank.  Front dog sprints the four corners of the tennis court, and planks at the back of the line, next dog takes off repeat until all dogs have shown.

    Mosey back to where the Shovel Flag should have been. Numberama/Namerama….COT YHC took us out.

    Moleskin:  Many of you know that YHC has been involved this year in the Dog Show arena, from the many clips YHC has received from Best in Show he is sure you are aware.  I am happy to announce the return of the Top Dog.  Swirly probably after much bartering and probably fibbing convinced his Ortho to let him back out. Not sure who has Swirly’s file but that goes in it, way to battle brother. This was a last minute Q for sure as I checked the Q sheet at 5:30pm yesterday and it  was open.  So theme was last minute idea. (throw me a bone)

    Tails were wagging over the thought of bear crawling up that damn hill. YHC considered the shock training collar but only a few barks and the pax went after it. Really proud of Cotton Mouth, this was not a beatdown for the faint at heart and he killed it.

    As always it was a pleasure to lead today!! Just Remember; Why does a dog lick himself?  Because he can!!!

    FlipDog

  • Familiar Ground

    4 of the RiverRun faithful showed up for the return of the run.  Nothing new or out of the ordinary for the run today, just the classic.  Down James River Road and into Tarrington, around the Ashwell Loop and up the hill to Robious.  Head first into the bush and down Twin Team.  Circle the schools to round out the 5 miles.

    NMM

    The group stayed together today after what seemed to be a tiring weekend for those in attendance.  Wilson bailed early this morning with a #runningsucks text in the early hours to Honeymoon.  The hills are still alive and well at RiverRun and we are looking forward to hitting them on a weekly basis.

    Enjoyed the run men, thanks for the company, it makes 5 miles go by quick.

    Rosie

  • #AAF

    Fudd and four others posted for a workout that was not as difficult as the beatings Fudd gives to himself.  Here’s how it went down:

    Mosey to South wall of school for warmup COP:  merkins, squats, ssh, hillbillies, some other stuff

    Brief mosey to the South wall for leg day:  Complete 20 (that’s 40 total) alt lunges, followed by 30 sec wall sit.  Repeat w/ 18 (that’s 36.., the counting gets important later) alt lunges and 30 sec wall sits.  Continue down to 2.  Then go back and repeat with the odds, 19 alt lunges and 30 sec wall sits…

    Mosey to field on West side for fast and furious calisthenics: merkins, full extensions, split jumps, squats, Freddy, scissors, clerkins, mtn climbers, werkins

    NMM:  For those of you following along at home for the past couple of years, F3 is largely about Fudd.., it’s like the silent F that everyone knows is there, but F4 doesn’t have as good of a ring to it.  For this reason, YHC would like to encourage the PAX to consider using #AAF (All About Fudd) where appropriate.  Today proved to be one of those days as we were all reminded that things are harder when Fudd does them to himself (comments welcome).  In this case, it was the leg workout that YHC and Fudd both came across in Men’s Health.  During the very first round of lunges Fudd explained to Splinter that he had recently done a workout with lots of lunges followed by wall sits. Apparently it was epic! YHC informed him that he was in luck because he was going to get to do it again.  The difference came in the fact that YHC made a mistake and had us going down by 4 reps each cycle vs. just 2.  Let me be clear about this: YHC was wrong, and Fudd apparently can count.  Has he been working the long con on us for years?  Anyhoo, once Fudd explained that his version was infinitely harder than what we were doing, the PAX had no choice but to go back and do all the odds.  The PAX was overjoyed, and many thanks were given to Fudd for noting this error.

    Strong work by all today, and good luck to the PAX in walking tomorrow.

    Stay Classy,

    Toga

  • Fat Flesh Anchor (Self) Designated as Trail Run Lead

    Five towering Redwoods overcame the seductive draw of their respective fartsacks, posted just before 0700 at Pumphouse, and took a spin around our city’s glorious downtown river trails with Johnsonville (YHFA = Your Humble Flesh Anchor) self-designating as Q. The PAX took the normal route in clockwise fashion, running down past Maymont, Hollywood Cemetary, and the old Tredegar Iron Works. We crossed to the southside via the T. Potterfield Memorial Bridge. On the southside, part of the route was blocked for construction. We redirected ourselves up the steep wooden stairs to the top of the climbing wall and then down to SunTrust Mortgage complex. We took the normal path over to the Buttermilk trail complex.

    Saab ran well ahead in order to add the challenging 3 mi Forest Hill Park trails. The PAX made its way back to the Boulevard Bridge, crossed, and did a COT with YHFA taking us out. Soon thereafter, Saab came flying in from his extended route.

    Thank you all for permitting me to lead each morning for 7 days in a row. Thank you for lifting my spirits as physical limitations threatened to block my way. It has been a humbling experience, but it has helped me to better understand and appreciate F3RVA’s character and cohesiveness.

    See ya in the gloom! Jville

  • Persistent Mumblechatter even after 10 Min of Burpees

    Ten strong men, two of whom are visitors from other regions, posted at Gridiron on a beautiful opening day of April. Johnsonville (YHC) planted a SF and took Q. This is what went down, more or less:

    Warmup with 50x ssh, 25x don quiotes, 25x imperial walkers, 2 min. plank sequence

    Mosey to schoolhouse. Redirect atop nearby grassy knoll area. 10 min of Burpees

    Mosey back down to schoolhouse. Classic triple play (wall sit/ merkins/ run). 2 min. plank sequence.

    Indigenous people run to pillars around rear of school.

    Line up along pillars. Pole smokers while person at end bear crawls to front (maybe 25m).

    Mosey back to SF area. 1 min. plank sequence.

    Kettlebell routine with 2-arm KB swings, single arm standing press, boat/canoe, sit & press, row, merkin row.

    Finish with chiabatta dips under picnic shelter.

    COT with Attila taking us out.

    ANNOUNCEMENTS —
    -Monthly challenge is 7 min of planks per day. We accomplished 5 today.
    -April 15 – 2.0 Scavenger Hunt @ GridIron, Q’d by Jville & Earthworm. Family friendly. LOMLs welcome to attend and/or workout with us.
    -New Bootcamp (#TwinTeam) commencing 4/7 at Bettie Weaver ES in Midlo. #RiverRun will revert to a run, as its name demands
    -Wed hill is permanent.
    -LabRat is leading an effort to expand F3 to Charlottesville. He has the organizational aspects well in hand, but needs us to help find leaders and a PAX there. Search your contacts please.

    MOLESKIN —
    Welcome to F3RVA, Snack. Welcome back Pigskin. Both are from other F3 Regions, and we are grateful you elected to come out. You are, of course, both welcome back to this AO or any others around RVA. Pigskin’s grandson celebrated is 1 year birthday yesterday. We hope that he had a good one.

    Attila and WhiteDeer usually direct their mumblechatter toward ope another. For some reason, they both started the morning by directing it at YHC. Something about the tightness of YHC’s shirt bothered them. Although I am sure it looks otherwise, I promise that I have not been taking steroids (and would not share them with you clowns in any case). Thankfully, it did not take WhiteDeer and Attila too long to direct their artillery toward one another.

    Thanks for coming out this morning. It was a privilege to spend the morning with these men and to lead this workout.

    Sincerely, Johnsonville

  • Celebrating Opening Day (and a nice sunrise) at Dogpile

    19 strong men posted to Dogpile to welcome in April 2017 with our version of an F3 opening day and, despite the wet baseball fields that YHC initially wanted to utilize, we made the most of our greatest AO.  It went like this:

    COP (all IC and all x27), including SSHs,Imperial Walkers, LBCs and Flutter Kicks.

    1 minute plank

    Mosey to the Amphitheater for 6 innings of some baseball.  Defense = exercises at the base of the amphitheater; Offense = sprint the steps to the top and back down.  1 minute of plank in between each inning (6 minutes of plank total), as follows:

    • Exercises in Innings 1 -3 – 30 merkins, 30 jump squats, 30 WWII situps
    • Innings 4 and 5 (bottom part of the order) – same exercises but 10 reps of each
    • Inning 6 (the big hitters again) – 20 reps of each exercise

    Mosey (swiftly) past the parking lot and to the bridge to take in the first sunrise of April with a burpee run across the bridge.  On the way out, 2 burpees at each lamppost.  Rabbits run all the way to Riverside Drive and turn around (no burpees on the way back).  When the non-rabbits are passed by the rabbits, do 3 burpees and turn around (no burpees on the way back).  Al Gore (or perfect invisible chair if your name is Helix) until the six gets back.

    Line up for an Indigenous People Run back to the SF.  Al Gore and LBCs for the six and finish up with 1 minute in elbow plank (for a total of 8 minutes today).

    COT, Number-rama, name-a-rama and YHC took us out.

    Announcements:

    1. Charlottesville expansion – get reach out to your contacts in C-ville, get them plugged in and send all contacts to LabRat at F3charlottesville@gmail.com.  See Lab Rat for more details.
    2. Breaking Bread has been added to the Q sheet – sign up for a Q and grab some volunteers for a great cause.  Good for 2.0s and family members.
    3. Monday, April 3 – River Run reverts to a run, as its names demands.  Join us on the southside for some serious hills.
    4. Friday, April 7 — new AO #TwinTeam begins at the same location as RiverRun (Bettie Weave ES) and this will be a bootcamp.
    5. Galactosemia golf tournament – May 19.  There are spots left – see Wilson

    NMS:
    A great group this morning.  Thanks for indulging YHC and his opening day theme.  The original plan was to run to the nearby baseball fields for some true F3 Baseball, but YHC didn’t think Richmond Little League would look kindly on us destroying their fields after the rain.  Nonetheless, we pushed through and got in a good beatdown and I expected no less.

    Mumblechatter was high this morning and YHC loved it.  There was great energy, encouragement and intensity.  We were all enjoying ourselves and pushing each other at the same time.  That is what I love the most about this group.

    We hope the Woodfin crew is killing it down in Daytona!

    Thank you for letting me lead.   I am always humbled to step out in front such an impressive group.

    No more Gumbo for you.

    P.s. – YHC took his kids out for a walk around Belle Island and then hit Pops Market for lunch – damn, those are some good sandwiches.  YHC will be posting at the next Thursday lunch for that Cuban!

  • Whitlock-Style Loops with a Pyramid Fartlek

    Nine veterans posted this morning at RAMM for an F3 group run. Johnsonville (YHC) planted a SF, gave a very very brief disclaimer and articulated the morning’s agenda as well he could. He directed men to run counterclockwise around the city block on which Mary Munford ES lies. The first loop was to be a mosey. Successive loops would be mosey-speed too except as follows:

    2 – fast along straightaway 1
    3 – fast along straightaway 1 and 2
    4 – fast along straightaway 1-3
    5 – fast along straightaway 1-4
    6 – mosey loop (recovery)
    7 – fast along straightaway 1-4
    8 – fast along straightaway 1-3
    9 – fast along straightaway 1 and 2
    10- fast along straightaway 1

    burpee-fest

    MOLESKIN:

    Ed Whitlock, the Canadian who broke 3:00 in a marathon in is 70s and who holds countless equally impressive running records, died earlier this month. If you have not heard about Mr. Whitlock or contemplated his achievements, this Runner’s World obit a good place to start — http://www.runnersworld.com/ed-whitlock/masters-marathon-legend-ed-whitlock-dies-at-86.

    One interesting fact about Mr. Whitlock is contained within this quote from Runner’s World:

    As for simplicity, Whitlock did practically all of his training in 5-minute perimeter loops of the Milton Evergreeen Cemetery, a short jog from his house. When asked why he chose that venue for training runs of up to four hours, Whitlock replied, “I would prefer not to run around in small circles day after day, but overall, taking everything into account, it sort of suits me. If it’s windy, I don’t have to face the wind for too long at any one time. If something happens, I can be home immediately. There’s nothing perfect in this world.”

    We did not entirely embrace Mr. Whitlock’s simplicity, but we did stay contained within a .75 loop. YHC was very grateful for that as waves of nausea came upon me late in the run — it was a short walk back to the SF. The fartleks also pressed YHC to sustain a stronger sustained pace at times.

    No one reached the burpee-fest stage. Rosie pushed way out in front this morning. I believe he completed loop 8, but he is invited to correct me on that. Saab, Lab Rat, and several others elected to stay back from him, instead carrying an unrelenting dialog. They did, however, finish very strong.

    We were fortunate to have barely missed the buckets of rain predicted to fall in RVA today.

    Thank you for coming out this moring and for permitting me to throw out something a little bit different. Don’t worry Lab Rat, I will not try to force small loops upon you on Sunday!

    COT with YHC taking us out

    Announcements:
    -LabRat is leading an effort to expand F3 to Charlottesville. He has the organizational aspects well in hand, but needs us to help find leaders and a PAX there. Search your contacts please.
    -Ashcake 5k is coming up. We are trying to field a big F3RVA group. Specify “F3RVA” when you register.
    -April 15 – 2.0 Scavenger Hunt @ GridIron, Q’d by Jville & Earthworm. Family friendly. LOMLs welcome to attend and/or workout with us.
    -New Bootcamp (#TwinTeam) commencing 4/7 at Bettie Weaver ES in Midlo. #RiverRun will revert to a run, as its name demands
    -Wed hill is permanent.

    Kind regards, Johnsonville

  • A Picnic of a Time

    7 Merry Gentlemen arrived on time and in good spirits at The Creek. To start we mosey around and ended up in the parking lot by the pavilion.

    Image result for picnic table

     

    COP

    25 SSHs IC
    1 lap of High Knee pulls
    1 lap of Frankenstien Walks
    10 Merkins IC
    10 X Country Skiing IC
    Mosey to field doing double lunges
    Mountain of Abs
      – 15 8 Count Swirlies
      – 12 4 Count Heels to Heaven
      – 8 10 Count Windshield Wipers
      – 12 4 Count ABCs
    Rest and Repeat
    Mosey to pavilion
    11s Picnic Style
      – V-sit-ups / Hardywood Jacks
      In the middle of the pavilion, Exercise – Bear crawl tables on the left then bear crawl over tables on the right, back in middle, Exercise, repeat till 11s are completed.
    Mosey back to the shovel flag
    Duck, Duck, Bear  – – Quack on each pax members head, say “Duck or Bear” on someones head, then if “Duck” hold ankles and run around Pax, if “Bear” bear craw around Pax
    10 Burpees
    Numberama, Namerama, YHC took us out.
    Announcements:
      – TwinTeams is starting up on 4/7 as a bootcamp workout on Fridays on the southside – – – http://f3nation.com/2017/03/29/riverrun-returns-and-twinteam-begins/
      – May 21st is the Ashcreek 5K
      – Good luck to all the Monument 10Kers
    NMS:
    A new day should bring new things. YHC likes all things new, he will especially like a new job…  To get the Pax rolling, YHC added some dynamic stretches to the mix and a healthy dose of abs.
    Chatter while doing the dynamic stretches started, but ended quickly as we moved into the Abs. In fact that pax struggled to keep count as the abs stretched on.  YHC was proud of the Pax as they embraced a challenging round of Ab exercises.  Three new abs exercises were added:
       – “Swirlies” where you on your six and elbows with legs straight out. You pull your knees to your chest on “1”, back straight again on “2”, spread eagle on “3” and back together on “4”, hold for 5, 6 and 7 and down on the count.
      – “Windshield Wipers” – on your 6. Legs straight and straight up (bend if you need to modify), arms out with palms down. Bring legs to left hand, six inches up, go back up to 12 o’clock and then go to right hand, six inches up, go back up to 12 o’clock – 1 – IC 10 count.
      – “ABCs”  – on your 6. Legs straight and straight up (bend if you need to modify), hands straigh1 up. “1” hands to right of knee, head raised, then head back down and hands straight up, “2” hands to center of legs, above knee, head raised, then head back down and hands straight up, “3” hands to left of knee, head raised, then head back down and hands straight up, “Count” head on ground.
    Picnic bear craws was an experiment, and as always – 11s take longer than planned.  At several points Abacus lost count and dialed a life line.  Spit was prepared and in firm control.  Thus was able to help out Abacus. Chatter rose as the 11s droned on.  Abacus is thinking how can he make this tougher…
    Given the time left, Abacus modified and skipped the picnic table Indian Run and went to “Duck”, “Duck”, “Bear”.  Most opted out for Bear as Duck was surprisingly challenging and fascinating to watch from afar. Of course our young buck – Bucket Mouth – ran down Byproduct in their race around the circle. Thus reminding everyone why we say “hate” to those under 40.
    In the circle, after all was said and done, Mister Rogers explained his long absence and gave us some wisdom in reciting at old Cherrokee parable:
    Image result for two wolves
    An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life…

    “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.
    “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.

    “One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego.

    “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.

    “This same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

    The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather,
    “Which wolf will win?”

    The old chief simply replied,
    “The one you feed.”

    Pax – feed the right wolf today.  You choose who you feed!

  • Still Not Angry …

    Seven men took the redpill this morning by posting at CircusMaximus with kettlebells in hand. Johnsonville (YHC) remembered to plant a SF, and led a workout along these lines:

    COT
    25x SSH
    25x DonQuiote
    10x burpees

    Mosey to courtyard by bus loop. COT
    15x arm circles (front)
    15x arm circles (back)
    10x big arm circles (front)
    10x big arm circles (back)
    20x kettlebell swings OYO
    10x burpees

    Mosey to pillar area by bus loop
    Ciabatta — single arm swings
    Ciabatta — sit and press

    Mosey to wall by parking area
    10x burpees
    DORA 1-2-3 (Normal teams of 2; 100 donkey kicks; 200 merican rows; 300 goblet squats). Runner runs without KB around landscaping area on other side of faculty parking lot.

    Mosey to SF area.
    12x slow American Hammers
    12x pole smokers / heels to heaven

    COT with Attila taking us out

    MOLESKIN –

    Attila and WhiteDeer were not as feisty toward one another as usual. I am starting to worry that they have reached some kind of a truce. Hoops was stood up by his sponsor (and mentor) Gumbo yet again. Hoops’ wingman, Cheetah, also stood up hoops in favor of a snug fartsack. Toga swung big kettlebells, taking care of business quietly and efficiently. Offshore shoes were super flashy this morning, making me think that they received a recharge last night. Offshore, himself, exhibited his usual steady and ultra-calm strength. Mudface deserves praise for many things, not the least of which are (i) showing up, (ii) always wearing a smile, and (iii) always giving it his all.

    Time flew by this morning, which is good because I am getting tired…. It was an honor to lead kind and strong men this morning in RVA. Respectfully, Johnsonville