Category: Richmond, VA

  • She’s done stretching, let’s go.

    3 regulars posted on a sunny Sunday morning to attack the trails.

    The Thang:

    Cross the bridge and head up the hill, left onto Riverside Drive. Cross river at Manchester Bridge. Left onto Spring, amble through Oregon Hill and head west on Idlewood, Cumberland, Lakeview. Take Love Hill back to parking lot to finish out the run.

    Naked Moleskin:

    YHC checked the trails and the access road yesterday to see if running were possible (and wise). Although there were a few runners on the trails, the footing was still pretty bad and there was a lot of snow, water, mud, and ice. So…we decided to do a “near trail” run. We essentially did the same route as we usually do, a little off the trails and on the road. Total distance traveled 7.2 miles in a little over 65 minutes.

    Southside of the river on Riverside drive was awesome. We saw zero cars and one walker on the entire 3+ miles down riverside drive. Great views and it was awesome being able to run in the middle of the road, avoiding the little bit of ice and snow on the side of the road Last time I ran Manchester bridge was with Offshore and Honeydo when the remnants of the hurricane were passing Richmond. The wind on the bridge that day was brutal. No wind today, but I always forget how long that bridge is. It seemed as though we were running that bridge for 1/2 the time today. On the way back we were very close to Sippy’s house. YHC suggested a quick pop in for coffee, but Saab and Offshore did not think Sippy would appreciate it (plus they could not remember exactly which house his was).

    After the workout, Saab was taking his usual trip to the store for coldcuts. Offshore was heading to teach Sunday School.

    See you in the Gloom

  • Still plenty of ice to go around….

    13 maintained the fortitude to crawl out of their respect fartsacks and show up for a 6:00am workout at Dogwood Dell. Included a PAX from Charlotte and Chesney for his fairwell beatdown before he departs Richmond. This is how it went down.

    Mosey to a circle: SSHx30, DQx20, Squatsx20, LBCx30, Merkinsx20
    Carillon Stairs: 10 Merkins (bottom), 20 WWII Situps (Top) – 3 rounds
    Touch a Tree (Variation): PAX does Merkins at each tree. Merkin count corresponds to tree number you are at (1, 2, 3…). 3 Rounds (3 trees, 6 trees, 10 trees)
    Amphitheatre: From bottom to top…Progressive dips corresponding to each level. Standing-jump to next level. From Top to Bottom…progressive Derkins on way down.
    Field: Run suicides to 25, 50, 75, 100 yard line. At each point perform a squat jump. Increase count with each turnaround point.
    Pull Up Bars: Two sets of pullups (5) and “horizontal” pullups (5)
    7 minutes of Mary….

    Moleskin:
    Saab struggled with his cadence – particularly during the Merkins. He is re-thinking those lessons he received from Lockjaw. Progressive Merkins back-down the amphitheatre seemed like a good idea at the time. As HoneyDo said near the end, “it may as well be a million.” Should have just kept it at 1 each step. Consensus was triceps were too burned on the going up trip. Swirly, however, made it look easy and appeared to be the one to complete all steps. Awesome job Swirly!

    Field turned out to be too icy for proper suicides so Q called it after one iteration. Moseyed to the pull up bars before finishing up with 7 MMM. Charlotte PAX said it was one of the better workouts he had attended. He also had his first exposure to the Alabama Prom Date (in name only I presume) and quickly found the humor in it.

    We all bid a fond farewell to Chesney….Save travels

    Saab abides….

  • On this day in history, nothing happened….

    18 runners and 2 bikers came together this morning and here is how it went down:

    4 Milers:

    East on Grove, Left on Boulevard, Left on Monument, Left on Westmoreland, back to shovel flag

    5 Milers:

    East on Grove, Left on Boulevard, Left on Monument, Left on Chantilly, cross Patterson and veer right (the dog leg the bewildered many) onto Bunting, to Grove, victory lap around the school’s block to shovel flag

    6 Milers:

    East on Grove to Belvidere, turn around and take Floyd back to end, get on Grove to shovel flag

    Moleskin

    Compared to the last run full of historical way points, YHC opted for the basics.  The pax negotiated snow and ice without difficulty.  It was also good to see our biker pax on the roads.

    Way to go Aisle 5 – hanging in there to the end the and upping your distance.

    Interested to spending time in a van?  TYA is ready to take your name for the BRR.  It’s a great time and we have a few seats available.

     

     

  • Off Script, Sort of…


    Two faithful arrived, surrounded by 18 other Faithful who opted not to bring bikes, for some RAMM GEARS.

    THE THANG

    After briefly listen to RAMM’s Q described routes, which included Dog legs, Round-a-bouts and some form of Monuments.

    RAMM Gears’ Q opted for riding down Grove to Boulevard then back to Three Chopt and back until we hit about 10 miles then back to the Shovel Flag.

    COT With the RAMM Group

    Moleskin

    KUDOS to the Sheik for making the continual appearances with Bike in tow. Although today may not have been the best day to forgot ones helmet. With Temps just above freezing, Patches of ice were frequent. Both riders maintained steady control, with only minor slippage in one area.

    As we came back by the RAMM group giving words of encouragement, YHC realized TOGA was giving us a Bird Signal. Looking for birds this early in the morning can be challenging, but apparently TOGA knows how to flick one!

    As we passed Big Ben and Parliament for the third and fourth times on our ride; The Sheik commented that Gravity seemed to be effecting us more and more, especially on the climb from 195 to Malvern on Grove. We manage to make our loop and circle back to catch Lug Nut on his way back to the Shovel Flag. On our Trek back down Westmorland, YHC realizes that TYA was just turning at Grove. The Sheik suggested we drop into stealth mode and do a Fly-by at Close Range with TYA; It was surprisingly successful.

    Anyone is welcome to join the RAMM Gears! Thanks to DK for getting on the F3RVA weekly Calendar

  • Outdoors, but under a roof

    19 faithful and 1 FNG braved the icy conditions at Mumford. 28 degrees and black ice abounded but the PAX put in a great workout:

    Mosey up and down commonwealth, slowly. COP attempted in the street but aborted, moved to the pavilion.

    COP: 40 SSH, 10 Merkins, 20 Flutterkicks, 20 IPS, 10 burpees OYO

    Stay in Pavilion for Dora 123- partner up for 100 merkins, 200 jump squats, 300 boxcutters. One partner runs to grove and back while others does exercise

    Partner shoulder presses – 20 reps each partner, repeato. PLTs – 20 count, 3 sets each. Finish with Mtn climbers x30 then Ring of Fire

    Mosey back to flag. Toga took us out in COT.

    Moleskin

    YHC had a very different  beatdown planned but the snow turning to ice caused a change in plans. The PAX was tight in the pavilion but stayed mostly dry. The Dora 123 YHC stole directly from Swirly’s BB from SOT yesterday.

    Only YHC and Lab Rat had a good almost slip, but no wipeouts with all the ice. Welcome to Snooki (e)(sp) , great work on your 1st beatdown.  That makes a handful of Double- haters now at 45MoM. Also Chesney is headed back to Nashville next week, show them F3 boys there how RVA does it.

    Prayers offered up for BT and hs family, thanks Toga for leading us out.

    Announcements – regular workouts planned for rest of week.

     

  • Pants or Shorts ?

    7 faithful showed up to SOT in the rather warm gloom!

    COT: SSH, Windmills, Hillbillies, Arm Circles, Russian Solders

    Bus Loop : Partner up :run/bike  laps around bus loop while completing -100 Merkins, 200 Squats, 300 Flutter Kicks, 400 LBC’s.

    Snow bank curb crawls : Bear crawl up crawl bear back from snow bank to snow bank – merkin ladder  up to six and back down to 1.

    10 Burpees on your own.

    2 laps around bus loop – 4 laps/bike

    Ring of Fire – 10 Merkins

    Mary : Alabama Prom Dates, Rosalitas,individual  cross leg lifts, hello dollies, 6 inches.

    Moleskin:

    The pax was split in attire this morning shorts v pants ….  LugNut woke up to the sounds of beeping and scraping as the trucks were plowing his neighborhood @ 4.45 (Chesterfield County)… His Phone temp said 40 and the car stat read 35 so there was some confusion on what to wear not only for Lug but for the whole pax and we ended up half shorts/half pants. YHC changed the plan from a snow filled workout to a let’s keep to a clear path work out late yesterday evening  and this did not fair well for Wilson as he did not wear his running shoes and brought his kick but snow shovel… Sorry Buddy… Way to battle through .. Aye!

    YHC had hoped that this change in plan would keep the pax somewhat dry… Not…. We were fairly dry for the most part  until the snow bank curb crawls (our gloves are sure to be wet for the next several days) and that last few minutes of mary when the water started running down our backs. YHC heard alot of noise from the pax on the last exercise( 6 inches) as we were all straining to keep those feet from hitting the ground.

    Way to push it fella’s time seemed to fly by as we took no breaks and battled through all the exercises.  YHC is happy to report that there were no spills running/biking around the bus loop as there were some patches of ice along the loop – way to stay alert guys…

    Honeydo on Q tomorrow – see y’all in the gloom!

    Swirly

  • Bleeder likes Doughnuts

    16 stumbled into #NoToll for a split Q beatdown between Fudd/Splinter.  Here’s how it went down.

    Run from the parking area to the gate and back while Bleeder shoveled snow (and made a pile in front of Fudd’s car 😕).

    COP in the grassy knoll

    • SSH x 20
    • Merkins x 15
    • Imperial Walker x 20
    • LBC’s x 30
    • Slow bending squat x 20
    • Mountain Climbers x 15
    • Don Quixote x 20

    The Thang

    Grab shovels and mosey to the basketball courts.  Pair up: one man shovels snow and the other runs to the gate and back. Each man runs 3 times.

    Transfer Q to Splinter.

    Line up on opposite end of basketball court for “Broad Side of a Barn”.  Line in the snow made at the top of the key.  Each person must make a snowball and attempt to hit the backboard from the top of the key.  If they hit, then half-court bear crawl followed by 10 of exercise.  If they miss then, full court bear crawl followed by 20 of exercise.  Exercises were as follows (more or less):

    • Splinter hit.  Half court bear crawl + 10 merkins.
    • Bleeder miss.  Full court bear crawl + 20 snurpees
    • Aisle 5 miss.  Full court bear crawl + 20 deep knee bends
    • Rosie miss.  Full court bear crawl + 20 (2-count) LBCs
    • BT hit.  Half court crab walk + 10 carolina dry docks
    • Offshore miss.  Full court crab walk + 20 merkins
    • Wilson hit (he cheated).  Half court crab walk + 10 Lt. Dans
    • There may have been another one in there somewhere…
    • TYA solidly nailed the double or nothing and we were officially done with broadside

    4 MOM

    • American Hammer x 20
    • Flutter Kicks x 20
    • LBCs x 30
    • Superman x1 + 10 count

    Moleskin

    Bleeder does love his toys.  YHC saw a blur fly by him on Robious just prior to Huguenot Park.  This preceded a series of doughnuts in the snow towards the end of the parking area.  TClaps to TYA who did not lose his breakfast.

    It was interesting to see the shoveling technique during the snow shovel/touch a gate tag-team.  Offshore and Toga went for the skinny and long.  BT and YHC opted for girth.  Others were quite crooked.  Whatever works!

    The PAX was brutally bad at broadside of a barn.  Perhaps YHC should have picked the free throw line (or lower block) for the snowball toss.  Offshore couldn’t even make a snowball as he needed help from another PAX member to consummate his attempt.

    Apparently Offshore’s steering column broke during the blizzard as his car now only goes forwards and backwards.

    Announcements:

    Swirly has Q at #SoT tomorrow.  Bring a shovel just in case you need it.  Wilson suggested to bring a crib mattress for some reason?

    Respect coming for one of our PAX next Tuesday.  BT not giving up his Q so it must be epic.

    Best to DK and his recovery.  Hopefully it runs as quick as it did through BT.

    Splinter & Fudd out.

  • A More Egalitarian Workout

    3 posted at the frozen tundra that is LHES.  After a couple of laps around a semi cleared parking lot, it was all snow all the time.

    Thang:

    2 laps around lot then COP: Russian Soldiers, SSH, Merkins, Flutter kicks

    Pick a parking spot for Gorilla in the cage:  Gorilla walk forward and back x3 then one rotation right and one left: repeato x2

    Mosey to pavilion for triple check: dips, flutter kicks, run to where the sidewalk should have been

    Mosey to basketball court for The Beast: squats, lunges, merkins, LBCs, mtn climbers, snurpees

    Mosey to flag for quick round of American Hammers then COT

    NMM:

    Pelosi and YHC saw the backblast for the rogue f3 workout in our neighborhood on Sunday and felt more than a little rejection.  It’s totally understandable to leave YHC off the list, but Pelosi is a good fella.  Apparently EF Hutton was also ostracized, and Oyster didn’t get the note either.  At least we keep things open for the people at The Punisher.

    YHC was also a bit late as the time to break through a newly plowed wall of snow at the end of the drive was not taken into consideration.  Poor Oyster was about to start running laps as Pelosi and YHC rolled in.  He may have preferred the laps after we started punching through the snow.

    The snow certainly makes everything.., interesting.  You quickly find out where any openings might be in your winter ensemble.  Last year came back to YHC as snow drifts and those frozen/crunchy spots presented themselves to the PAX.  The PAX gutted it out with zero complaints!

     

  • Sunday bonus beatdown, with Snurpees

    Four from Sippy’s Dogpile gathered again for an extra Sunday beatdown in the snow and to plant a shovel flag in maybe the deepest snow seen at any F3..  Conditions were 20 degrees and a little icy but to those of us who like to play in the snow it felt like 70 and sunny:

    Start on Lindsey Rd with Mosey to Westham Pkwy.  COP in the road: 30 SSH, 15 Merkins, 20 Jump Squats, 25 Don Qs.  Mosey back up to School:  Bear Crawl up fresh snow on hill x4

    Mosey to Forest – Merkins in the road, Mosey back to Westham.  Stop midway for 100 LBCs.  More Merkins at Westham.  Lunge 50 yards then mosey back to Forest.  Merkins in the road x12, 25 Jump Squats, then Crab Walk 50 yards then mosey back to Westham.

    Stop in school parking lot:  Broad Jump length of parking lot in virgin snow.  Mosey back to Westham, more merkins, then Bear Crawl up hill x3 again.

    Finish with 4 min Mary in the road-  60 LBCs, 20 Alabama Prop Dates, 20 BoxCutters, 20 Rosalitas.

    Finish back at Shovel Flag with 10 Burpees in virgin snow – Snurpees.

    Moleskin:

    YHC threw out a suggestion after all the fun at Dogpile yesterday to have a Sunday beatdown since the Trails were closed.  Since TES is near many RVA PAX with the road conditions YHC chose it.  Glad to see 3 others from yesterday there.  There was a lot of going back & forth on Lindsey as the 14+ inches of snow made it difficult to go off the road.  When the PAX did venture off the road it got messy quick with the uphill Bear Crawl getting the PAX covered in snow.

    The broad jumps across parking lot were very tough, YHC was wiped out after that.  The Snurpees at the end were fun to see how our weight could leave a detailed impression after finishing.  Lots of discussion on the mosey about BRR, again if you haven’t signed up – do it!

    With all the snow and ice none of the PAX slipped or wiped out.  YHC fell backwards during the broad jumps but that was from exhaustion not ice.

    For those who haven’t posted in the snow yet – come out to an AO you can get to this week, the snow isn’t going away anytime soon. If you are worried about your feet getting cold talk to TYA about his wrapping your feet in grocery bags strategy. It is always fun to get out and play in the snow no matter what age you are!

  • A little bit crazy

    It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day’s journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed.

    — Herodotus

    The THANG

    Mosey to the circle with snow shovels in hand for a snowy COP.  Dig out a spot for 25x SSH, 20x Russian Soldiers, 10x Merkins.

    Starting at the road circle, scoop a shovelful of snow and run to center of circle, dumping it there, run back to starting place.  Repeato ~15x.

    Mosey to center of circle.  Shovel to make the mound larger, and then, Bearcrawl from the edge of the circle to the mound and then do 5 Derkins with feet on the mound.  Bear Crawl back to edge.  Repeato 3x.

    10x slow bending squats with shovel overhead.  10 x slow bending squats with shovel overhead filled with snow.  Al Gore with Shovels at shoulder level gripping and pulling apart hands until the 2nd crew arrived.

    Split up onto groups.  2 guys run around circle while the rest build up the mound. Swap roles.

    Mosey with shovels to the area west of the carillon for Touch a Tree.  Touch 3 trees, then 5, then 10 trees each time returning to starting position and planking.

    Mosey to pullup bars and plant shovels.  Navigate the trail down the pipe to the road.  100 LBCs OYO.  Run up the pipe to the pullup bars and hold body aloft on parallel bars until all PAX arrive.

    Down under pullups to failure on parallel bars.  Plank, 10x Merkins in Cadence.  Down under pullups to failure. Plank, 8x Merkins in Cadence.  Down under pullups to failure. Plank.

    Mosey the area behind the amphitheater.  20 Donkey kicks on the stone wall followed by balls to the wall while we wait for all of the sleds to be gathered and the last 2 Pax to arrive.

    Sledding on Jacob’s bowl.  Sled down, run up opposite side for 4 minutes.

    Mosey back to flag for COT.

    Moleskin

    Unlike many workouts, the adventures began before the workout started.

    YHC arrived on foot about 15 minutes early to Dogpile this morning to see one car in the lot waiting and a Woodfin truck, Swirly’s, leaving the AO (more on this later).  The other vehicle, belonging to Circle K was a nice shelter from the snow and ice while we waited for the rest of the Pax to arrive.  Circle K stopped by 7-11 on the way in and said the cashier was mystified that he was on his way to an outdoor workout.

    Just before 6, Splinter and Honeydo arrived, and we started the workout on time with our shovelfest.

    About 8 minutes in, a clown car of Saab, Lockjaw, Fudd, and Offshore pulled in and joined us.  TYA and Swirly came 40 minutes later and participated in the donkey kicks and sledding.

    It turns out that Swirly had left the AO in order to rescue TYA, who had ended up in a ditch.  He didn’t make it very far from his house, only getting a few yards up his street before sliding off the road into a ditch.  TYA was the only one who braved the elements in a small, non 4×4 vehicle.  Foolhardy New Englander!  Anyway, using a tow strap Swirly eventually was able to pull him out and they were able to get his car back into the driveway.  He will get some grief from M TYA for this one.

    Attire:  It was interesting to see how the PAX dressed for the snowy conditions.  Honeydo came robed in his military fatigues, but most PAX wore snow pants and ski gear as well as boots.  YHC wore running attire, running shoes and thick wool socks, which were great for mobility but NOT insulated enough once we stopped moving.  TYA came with plastic grocery bags tied around his ankles that inflated somewhat when the wind caught them just the right way.  Hmm.

    Audibles.  YHC was not planning on running up and down the pipe due to darkness, but the snow made the trail completely visible, and beckoned to him.  Fudd did not approve of this decision, but we made it out okay, except for one spill.  Also, the pullup bars were slick with ice and impossible to grip, so we, at Fudd’s suggestion did down under pullups instead.

    Spills.  Despite the slick conditions, only two PAX bit it during the workout as far as YHC is aware. Splinter took a fall on the trail, and YHC fell down a few feet from the flag at the end of the workout.

    Fellowship.  The conditions were harsh, but everyone was in a good mood after the workout.  In fact, everyone stuck around for at least 15 minutes in the cold to catch up. At one point, we all realized how crazy we were and retreated to our cars.  Even YHC opted for a ride home–thanks Saab!

    Crazy.  YHC’s M commented last night that “you’ve finally found a group of guys as crazy about working out as you.”  I concur and am still amazed that 10 of us showed in snow ice and wind.  This week should be a fun one too.

    Announcements.  It looks like a group is meeting on Sunday at 7 at Tuckahoe Elementary for an impromptu workout. Check with Saab or TYA for details