Category: Richmond, VA

  • No Glam to See Here, Carry On.

    No Glam

    9 were greeted with a punishing lower body beatdown at the punisher this morning.  Here’s how it went down.

    Wait for Lab Rat to get settled then run from the parking area to back basketball courts.

    COP

    • Invisible Jump Rope x 22
    • DQ x 22
    • IW x 22
    • Knee Pull x 22
    • Ankle Pull x 23
    • Penguin Pull x 22

    The Thang

    Mosey to the Pavilion for step ups and leg thrusts. 22 (step ups)/11 (leg thrusts) first set. 11/22 second set. 22/11 third set. Al Gore between sets.

    Mosey to circle in front of the school for 11/22/22. Three exercises followed by a lap around the loop. Exercises were jumper squats, cross leg mountain climbers, ball dippers. All single count. Sets were as follows with a 10 second Al Gore in between each set.

    11/22/22/lap
    9/20/20/lap
    7/18/18/lap
    5/16/16/lap
    3/14/14/lap
    1/12/12/lap
    2/13/13/lap
    4/15/15/lap
    6/17/17/lap
    8/19/19/lap
    10/21/21/lap

    Team up for a modified triple check. People’s Chair, calf raises on the curb, 11 single leg APDs on each leg. The APDs station was the pace car for the triple check.

    Circle up for 11 count Monkey Humper Ring of Fire.

    Back to shovel flag.

    Moleskin

    The Pax was thrilled when Q announced this was a “No Glam Muscle” workout. Lab Rat quickly proclaimed that this would be easy due to his bulging calf muscles. No evidence of said claim was witnessed. He does enjoy talking during his prom dates though.

    Offshore thought the PAX was being stalked by what appeared to be a “shadowy beast” that was approaching COP.  Alas, it was Flipper in typical LIFO fashion.  Offshore quest for Bigfoot is still incomplete.

    Hypothesis of the day is the PAX has a balance problem, likely due to the traditional emphasis on upper body during workouts.  The single leg dynamic stretching in COP supported the claim while the calf raises on the curb proved the hypothesis.  We all need more agility.

    Random thoughts:  As usual, Swirly had great form on the jumper squats.  YHC knows he is looking forward to 3/17.  Honey Do started shedding clothes half-way through 11/22/22.  Keep it in line next time.  No glam means no glam.  No sun, no guns.  YHC thinks Singer was pleased that the triple check did not include a run today.  YHC is not that crazy…  Bleeder, hope the leg workout wasn’t too painful on the knee.

    Welcome back to the states Rosie. Glad to hear F3 prepared you for the mountains of the Spanish Sierra Nevada.

    Announcements

    New Mechanicsville workout at Atlee High planned, possibly in conjunction with HDHH in March. Lab Rat to provide more details soon.

    The Q sheet is stacking up but don’t be afraid to sign up for a VQ even if it is a few weeks out.

    Splinter out.

  • Cool, Comfortable, Bit o Mud

    4 PAX embarked on the trail run today logging in various distances, trails, and start times. This is how it went down…

    Course A: Travel across bridge to buttermilk trail, cross at Brown’s Island, then return on North-side.
    Course B: Arrive and depart early, traverse the above route in reverse (Oyster)
    Course C: Take a 2 or 3 mile course with man’s best friend (Flipper)

    Offshore and Saab took off at the prescribed start time. Discussion immediately went to thoughts of TYA and hopes THE Yankee Aggressor will be back in the gloom as early as possible. YHC enjoyed the chat with Offshore on such topics as Dogpile, busy Saturdays, and growlers (always my favorite). Learned Corks and Kegs has very aggressive pricing in this space so I will have to re-visit them.

    We eventually happened upon Oyster who was traveling in the opposite direction. It then became our goal to keep pace and get to the parking lot to meet Oyster in the end. No abandoned vehicles on the trail this weekend, but tire-tracks were still visible. Timing was just right to meet up with Flipper and Oyster in the end. Briefly discussed future runs where we will work to offer alternative distances/trails for this who want to get started but find the standard distances too daunting.

    Saab out.

  • Shorts? No Hat? No Problem!

    Lucky 13 attacked the Dogpile as follows

    COT – 25 SSH, 15 Don Quixotes, 10 Russian Soldiers, Arm Circles – forward and reverse

    Mosey over to the Carillon – Partner up!

    Run to the top of the platform – 20 merkins

    Run down and fireman carry to the end of the brick walk – 20 squat jumps

    Repeat

    Mosey to the side of the Carillon – Find a Tree!

    Round 1 – Freddy Mercurys while the other partner finds 3 trees, swap roles

    Round 2 – Scorpion Dry Docks while the other partner finds 8 new trees, swap roles

    Back to the pull up bars:

    Round 1 – 10 pull ups, 25 pole smokers, 10 dips

    Round 2 – 8 pull ups, 25 pole smokers, 8 dips

    Round 3 – pull ups to failure, 25 pole smokers, dips to failure

    Pick up the trail and head down the pipeline to the road – on your six and do 35 LBC and flip and do a ring of fire.

    Face up the hill on the road – sprint to two light posts, recover, sprint to two more light posts uphill

    Mosey back downhill to the pump station for Triple Check – Merkins, Flutter Kicks, and Run up the hill to the fence.  Progress through the cycle twice.

    Over to Love Hill and make your way to the top with lunges, walk out merkins, and bear crawl.

    Back to the VSF where Saab took us out.

    NMM

    Spring is in the air and YHC felt pounds lighter without all of the winter gear.  The AO was jamming as Swirly was updating the corporate policy on noise control.  Mumble chatter was aplenty as Aisle 5 announced that now that he had “Respect and a new body” he could drink much more.  Fudd came in hot with a few seconds to spare and it was time to workout.

    Coming down the pipeline we startled a pack of deer grazing.  Pretty cool.

    The partner workouts throughout today’s workout were getting to Wilson due to the odd numbers but he kept it under control.  Order was restored to the universe when Fudd needed to depart for class and we had an even number of Pax.

    We came across another group working out in the AO, however we were skeptical.  From a far, their boxcutters looked like Os.  Oh well.

    Coffee at Ellwood Thompson’s.  Lot’s of good discussion, bonding, and 2nd F.  By the way, ET has a beer and wine bar.

     

  • No Picnic at the Pavilions

    Beautiful morning at the GridIron with a five PAX posting that expanded to six with a double-dipper.

    The Thang (as best recollected from “stream of consciousness” workout):

    x25 SSHs IC
    x25 IWs IC
    x25 DQs IC
    x20 Merkins IC
    x25 APDs IC

    Mosey to Pavilion #1:

    x25 PLTs (x25 Pole Smokers/HTH for odd man)
    5 sets of: x20 Bulgarian Split Squats, x20 Elevated Single Leg APDs, x20 Split Jump-ups, x20 Decline Merkins
    x25 PLTs (x25 Pole Smokers/HTH for odd man)
    x25 Air Squats IC

    Mosey to Pavilion #2:

    Rapid fire dips — 5 sets x25 dips OYO
    x25 PLTs (x25 Pole Smokers/HTH for odd man)
    3 sets of x25 Air Squats OYO
    2 sets of PLTs

    Mosey to Playground:

    5 sets of x20 Australian Pull-ups OYO interspersed with 2 sets of x25 Air Squats OYO.

    Mosey to Parking Lot:

    Plank Jacks OYO – x25 Hand Plank Jacks, x25 Forearm Plank Jacks, x25 Left Forearm/Right Hand Plank Jacks, and x25 Right Forearm/Left Hand Plank Jacks interspersed with Superman holds

    Hand Plank hold with hand walk-back to Pike.

    Mosey to Pavilion #3:

    Rapid fire dips — 6 sets x25 dips OYO
    Supine rows/crunches OYO

    Five steps to Parking Lot

    COT:

    Unspoken prayer concerns acknowledged and closing prayer by Attila.

    Moleskin:

    Johnsonville under weather all week – he was missed (and his pre-workout text sending regrets was appreciated). Also missed were Flip Phone and White Deer, for whom concern is expressed as they grieve and heal, respectively.

    Strong sophomore posting by Lucky Charm – great work and a fine description of Hurling (fastest game on grass). We look forward to the results of his head-locking efforts this week. LC will let us know when he’s ready to Q and where to purchase hurleys for a Gaelic-themed beatdown.

    Chum Bucket made the Merkins look ridiculously easy, DK executed graceful Bulgarian Split Squats, and Attila’s yawns somehow prevented a full-blown narcoleptic episode. Offshore double-dipped and set the unofficial record for earliest DD posting time (0727) – he claimed that he didn’t get enough Pole Smokers at DogPile but we think he made a GridIron posting promise to LC which he was duty-bound to honor. Where’s Wilson?

    DK told the PAX to listen up – that EF Hutton was executing his first Q at No Toll this coming week. Regrettably, YHC will be in Texas and will have to miss (this is where Honey Do says “yeah right – EW doesn’t do weekdays”). Others – come out and support this first Q!

    The path of life leads upward for the prudent to keep them from going down to the realm of the dead. – Proverbs 15:24

    Excelsior!

  • Henri – Pronounced Hen-rye, Henry, or Ahn-ri

    11 runners and 3 bikers showed up for business on this cold morning before a highly anticipated  tropical weekend.

    4 Milers -West on Grove, Right on Libbie, Right on Patterson, Right on Malvern, Right on Grove back to VSF.

    5 Milers – West on Grove, Right on Henri, Right on St Christophers, Right on Patterson, Right on Malvern, Right on Grove back to VSF.

    6 Milers – West on Grove, Right on Henri, Right on St Christophers, Right on Patterson, Right on Rosneath, Right on Grove back to VSF.

    Marv did a great job taking us out today.

    NMM

    The pax quickly broke into their groups – 6 milers, faster 5 milers, and the rest of the pack.  The 5 mile Pax was pretty quiet for the first two miles.  Not much was said until Labrat came from the six and caught up.  Waiting for the GPS to synch never pays off.

    Conversation unfolded about Labrat’s weekend vacation plans.  Mention of the upcoming Tesla show at the National lulled the Pax into a reminiscent discussion of days of the youth….surfing, Slayer; and the hobbies of today….fishing and golf.

    Rounding the corner back on Grove, Swirly dropped the hammer and set the clip into the finish.  Well done Swirly!

    It should be noted that early in the run, the 6 milers and fast 5s took a wrong turn off of Henri onto Henri and not St Chris.  Saab said that they covered the same distance, even though they cut the turn around shorter.  Good thing Saab doesn’t have a profession in accounting.

    It was also interesting to hear multitude of pronunciations for “Henri”….from deep Southern to French accents.

    Lockjaw has Q tomorrow at Dogpile.  The Sunday trail run will be led for the first to arrive.

     

  • Tempo

    20 Strong attacked MM in the gloom!

    COT: SSH, Windmills, EW, Flutter Kicks, LBC’s AC.

    Curb Crawls : Bear crawl to the curb incline merkin – crawl bear back decline merkin up the ladder to 10.

    Pavilion: 50 pole smokers

    Triple Check : teams of three – run to the fence and back – merkins – squats – repeat three times.

    Four Stations : break up into the 4 stations – 5 pull ups – 5 chin ups – WW11 sit ups Dips – twice around.

    Tennis court : Sprints across three courts – 2 @ 75% and 2 @ 100%

    Burpee Shuffle : circle up run in place until burpee is called out then pax drops and does 1 burpee – repeat 20 times as the burppee call out passes counter clock wise.

    Indian Run : Back to the flag

    Mary: APD’s, Rosalita’s, Hello Dollies, 6 inches

    Moleskin:

    As the pax began to gather in the gloom this morning YHC saw TYA walking up in the shadows and was shocked! Way to represent TYA (just coming off a kidney stone issue) beast mode baby … The small mumble chatter during warm ups ended rather quickly as we moved right into curb crawls and the grunts continued during the pole smokers in the pavilion.

    That may have been the darkest Triple check YHC has ever seen @ MM –  that black top was a bit slick too – glad to see there were no injuries during that exercise… The 4 stations slowed the pace down just a bit and then we turned the dial back up with some sprints, the burpee shuffle and the Indian run ! No 10 counts –  it’s all about tempo baby…. Apologies to Bleeder for not giving him a heads up before the sprints (woops) way to quickly hop on that monster bike Bleeder!  Saab, Utter, and Tramp Stamp crushed the pull ups and chin ups way to work fella’s ! Flashdance was booking during the Indian run – what an improvement – way to push it Flashdance!  BT and Toga flew by the pax during that Indian run back to the flag as well – way to show the speed guys!  The grunts seemed to come back during Mary – especially during 6 inches – but no pain no gain right fella’s – aye!

    BT appropriately approached YHC (Corporate) to make me aware of his absence next week as he will be out of town – well played BT – absence excused – have a great trip!

    Marv as usual did a beautiful job taking us out – problem was after his prayer I was ready to go again – aye !

    Great work today guys- corporate sees you!

    Announcements : be on the look out for a Viral Q – EF Hutton VQ next Tuesday… Be thinking about assisting with the start up of F3 Hampton – if interested in helping out with this  get with Toga – there will be some clown car road trips to Hampton in the future. LabRat will have a Mechanicsville AO up and running soon – stay tuned! Labrat asked if anyone could assist him with his heat pump problem – and a loud hell yeah we can came from Bleeder and YHC – Woodfin Your Home Team will take care of you Labrat! See info below on the suicide prevention golf event that Fudd as mentioned to the pax – please consider participating in this good cause..


    Info Link

    Lockjaw/ Bleeder on for Qing RAMM tomorrow – see y’all in the gloom!null

  • HDHH: Loose Goose thinks the beer has gone bad at The Answer

    THE THANG: Drink good beer and fellowship at The Answer.

    The PAX were quite successful in their mission.  Well done to all!

    Here’s some notes on the night:

    Splinter and Toga were eagerly participating in THE THANG well before six.  YHC arrived shortly prior to the designated time and found them well into the workout already.

    Happy 40th to Loose Goose!  Goose now having trouble seeing small type and was overwhelmed by the scrolling HDTV beer lists behind the bar.  YHC bought Goose his first beer in celebration of the day, to which this scene from Can’t Hardly Wait played out almost word for word.

    Toga is the Johnny Cash of our PAX; he’s been ev-er-y-where, man for F3 workouts.  “Brother Trent” has been anointed with the laying on of hands in Jacksonville, he’s had his heels nipped by the Hate-Hates in Nashville.  There’s even a rumor Toga barely avoided a tune-up by insensitively using the phrase “Hate-Hate” at some youngins once.  Ah Millenials … apparently for the twentysomethings “Hate-Hate” is THEIR word, not ours, Toga.  Maybe we can see about donating a Lite Brite for their safe space?

    Rumor has it that many moons ago after TYA finished business school, he bicycled across the United States with his wife.  YHC has no confirmation whether they rode a tandem like the Doublemint Twins right over the Rockies but until proven otherwise that is how YHC will imagine it forever in his mind.

    Speaking of biking, Lab Rat is considering the 100 mile run/ 100 mile bike challenge in March, but needs some convincing.  YHC observed he might be self-conscious of showing up to class at VCU off his bike as not just “the old guy” but as “the old, stanky, sweaty guy” once the warmer weather comes in March. Courage, Lab Rat, courage …

    The PAX has noticed that Spinter’s hair is getting decidedly shaggy, much like Mattingly’s sideburns.  Will the coming of spring force Splinter to shed once he sees the shadow of his emobangs?  Stay tuned.

    Lockjaw was quite proud of his increased aptitude at counting from his VQ to his second Q.  As Lockjaw told YHC on sharing my hesitance to Q due to my athletic inabilities. “If you can count, you can Q!”

    Well said, Lockjaw.

    The PAX is very interested in what EF Hutton has up his sleeves for his Virgin Q at NoToll this coming Tuesday.  Come out and see for yourself!

    Keep an eye out for more AOs!  Lab Rat is eager to get a workout up and running in “Da Ville” (which confused everyone into thinking “C-Ville” because we forget Mechanicsville is a real place .. Godspeed on that one, dude) and Goose seems all fired to get someone else to initiate a Tuesday workout in the Pemberton/Quioccasin area… maybe Byrd Middle School?

  • Happy Birthday SOT!

    The Thang
    Mosey to the bus loop
    COP
    20x SSH
    15x Mountain Climbers
    20x Imperial Walkers
    40x LBC
    20x Imperial Walkers
    15x Mountain Climbers
    20x SSH
    Zombie Walk
    To middle of bus loop then jog to Tennis Courts
    Escalator Four Corners
    10 Merkins
    10 Merkins, 20 LBC
    10 Merkins, 20 LBC, 30 Deep Knee Bends
    10, Merkins, 20 LBC, 30 DKB, 40 SSH
    Plank & unwind
    40 SSH, 30 DKB, 20 LBC, 10 Merkins
    30 DKB, 20 LBC, 10 Merkins
    20 LBC, 10 Merkins
    10 Merkins
    Rinse & repeat
    Mini Beast
    At the end of each court (4) do 50 LBC to plank
    Rinse & repeat
    At the end of each court to 10 Merkins to plank
    Rinse & repeat
    Lunge back & across
    Mosey to the Shovel Flag for COT

    Moleskin
    One year ago YHC Q’d the first Source of Truth AO on a cold and semi-frozen morning. The beatdown was challenging in it’s day. One year later YHC wanted to see if it was possible to duplicate the workout, this time however the pax would repeat each exercise TWICE. Mission Accomplished!!

    It was quiet in the gloom as only Swirly and YHC were the only ones to post. Swirly continues to contribute a powerful effort in the beatdown motivating YHC to keep pushing forward. I saw an F3 post last week that said “It won’t get easier, you just get stronger” and we proved that today.

    Well done Swirly!

    Peace

  • Hate Me, Baby, One More Time

    10 (ten) dedicated and faithful PAX disregarded the clear signals of “messy weather” to find some adventure and pain in the #Gloom at NoToll. All were ready to rock & roll, and most (all?) were dressed ready to help dry off the pavement a bit.

    THE THANG

    Warm-up mosey out toward Robius, turn around at the beginning of the ice. Back the other way and into the woods behind the tennis courts. Just in case you forgot, there’s blocks in dem dere woods! Grab your #coupon and circle up back in the parking lot.

    Warm-up COP
    Don Quixote x20
    Block Merkins x10
    Russian Soldiers x20
    Block Mountain Climbers x20
    LBCs x25

    Mosey with coupon out to the back larger parking lot

    Blocked Four Corners
    Corner 1 – Block Curls x20
    Corner 2 – Merkins x20
    Corner 3 – Block Rows x10 each arm
    Corner 4 – Burpees
    Repeato all x3

    ‘Round the Lot – Clockwise this time
    Leg 1 – Partner carry
    Leg 2 – Wheelbarrow Crab Walk
    Leg 3 – Bear Crawl
    Leg 4 – Wheelbarrow Lunges
    Repeato all x2, second time around partner switch on first leg

    King of Hearts
    Round 1: sprint to corner, sprint back. Plank when finished
    Round 2: side shuffle left to corner, sprint back. Plank when finished
    Round 3: side shuffle right to corner, sprint back. Plank when finished

    Grab your #coupon & head back to where the shovel flag should have been. Replace block in dem dere woods along the way

    COP – 2 minutes of Mary
    LBCs x20
    Alabama Prom Date x15
    Freddie Mercury x20

    COT

     

    MOLESKIN

    – @Sippy Cup is so strong he broke a block. Apparently it was completely pulverized because it was nowhere to be seen after that.
    – As is the case with most times that YHC is Q, there was much that we did not get to on the #weinke. You can bet that it will all make it into a future workout.
    – Multiple audibles were called in this one today, most notably shortening the warm up run and multiple changes/deletions of the intended Wheelbarrow. YHC believes there was no love lost on the latter.

    ANNOUNCEMENTS

    – HDHH tomorrow 6:00PM at The Answer (behind Mekong on Broad Street). Come one, come all!
    – F3 Hampton launches in May. Plan on heading there for a Sat workout.
    – Toga & Swirly charged the group to start talking up F3 at any men’s groups at church, etc. Get to it.
    – Fudd has details on golf tourney. Once he sends them to YHC this space will have them too.

  • PREBLAST: HDHH – Wednesday February 17 @ 6pm – The Answer !!!!

    Loose Goose is about to enter the hate-less zone … so wish him a happy birthday at The Answer!  Meet there at 6PM … see you then.

    The Answer Brewpub
    6008 W Broad St
    Richmond, VA 23230

    Website: TheAnswerBrewpub.com

    (Park behind Mekong, entrance to The Answer is from rear of the same building at Mekong)