Category: Richmond, VA

  • Meet in the Middle

    “I Start Walkin’ Your Way, you start Walkin’ Mine, we meet in the middle ‘neath that old Georgia pine.  We gain a lot of ground when we both give a little.  Ain’t no road too long if we meet in the middle.”  — Diamond Rio

    16 strong (including one FNG) gathered for my VQ this morning —

    Started with the Slaughter Starter (Thanks, Upchuck!) — 20 burpees on our own

    Brief quick run around the church to the other side of the parking lot.

    COP

    • x30 — SSH
    • x30 — IJR — PAX was encouraged to come up with creative ways to jump rope today and they did not disappoint!
    • x30 Heels to Heaven — thanks Helix for the reminder!
    • x20 — Dollys
    • x20 — Rosalitas
    • x20 — American Hammers
    • 1 ATM — 15 3 count shoulder taps, 10 tempo merkins, then 10 fast merkins with no stopping

    I lost my Weinke along the way, so there may have been one exercise I missed on the BB.

    THE THANG

    Mosey over to the field for the next segment called Meet in the Middle — for F3 purposes, we shall call it MIM. 🙂

    I created this section because I love partner exercises and I love the Diamond Rio song of the same name.

    Everyone partnered up and headed to opposite ends of the field and proceeded to do the following

    1. Billy Idol Lunges (complete with fist pump) till partners met up in the middle, Booyah Merkins, then run back to your own side.  Rinse and Repeat — 10x, then 15x, then 20x on the Booyahs
    2. High Knee Run to partners in the middle, then Partner Leg Tosses, run back to own side (again 10, 15, and 20)
    3. Bear Crawls to partner in the middle, then Partner Derkins (one partner in plank the other does Derkins).  In the interest of time, we did 5, then 10, then 15.

    We finished up with the Tunnel of Love.  More on this later in the Wrap up.

    Mosey back to the flag

    COT/NAMEORAMA

    MOLESKIN

    What can I say about my first time out as Q?  I have to be honest — I was nervous from the moment I decided to take that step until the workout started this morning.  And then, I was fine and had a ton of adrenaline to push me through!  If I can do it, anyone can do it!  Make it a New Years Resolution to Q in 2017!

    We had a very friendly PAX this morning — no surly faces, at least not that I noticed in the gloom.  After we enjoyed the 20 burpees to get us warmed up, we hit the Circle and got ourselves moving.  During the IJR’s I saw some really good jump rope moves and even some guys going double time with the rope.  Impressive.  Could they do that with a real rope, I wondered…  I wish I had hit the ATM one more time in the circle, but I moved on to make sure we had time for Meet in the Middle.

    The hardest part of “meet in the middle” was the actual meeting in the middle since it was so dark out in the field.  I heard PAX members shouting out their partners names trying to find them in the gloom.  It actually added an element of fun to the whole thing.  I almost stepped on a 2.0 at one point — that would have left a mark.  Looking back, I think I would have done more reps of the meet in the middle exercises, but not knowing how much time anything would take, I think it turned out okay.

    There was definitely a slowdown in the tunnel today as we crawled our way through.  Part of the reason might have been the unexpected sharp turn in the tunnel as people made their way through to the end.  We rectified the situation eventually and the back up in the tunnel subsided.  We headed back to the flag and finished up!  Why was I so nervous??

     

    Announcements:

    • CSAUP Saturday January 21st. 9 to 10 mile run with short AO in between. 3 to 4 hour with cook out afterwards. See Circle K and more Pre-blast for details
    • LBC’s Monthly Challenge – January. 10k is the Goal. See link below to sign up!

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-L8e9W24ygnU0suaGyKxzi1PgPqY1CBd57hLrKTZI-g/edit#gid=656233322

    • Order your Focus Prayer Books by paying Abacus $20 and going to this link and filling out the form – – – http://www.paracleteanswers.com/material.html
    • Emoji’s M had surgery this week — please continue to pray for the family!

     

     

     

     

  • An End To A Taper…

    17 strong came out this morning for perfect running weather.

    4 Milers – East on Grove, Left on Boulevard, Left on Monument, Left on Westmoreland

    5 Milers – East on Grove, Left on Meadow, Left on Monument, Left on Westmoreland

    6 Milers – East on Grove, Left on Harrison, Left on Monument, Left on Commonwealth

    YHC took us out.

    NMS

    There was great turn out today with some regulars, a few visitors, and 2 FNGs, all with the purpose of covering some end-of-year miles.  YHC planned routes with the intent of bringing everyone down Monument to take in the holiday lights and decorations, but alas there were few to be seen.  Either everyone is using timers or Monument has moved past the holidays.  Time will tell.

    Beyond the usual discussion regarding tights vs no tights, TYA pioneered the use of very pale skin colored tights opening yet another dimension to the debate.

    Personally, today marks the end of a running taper that extended way too long.  It was good to be back on the road once more, injury free and ready to tackle 2017’s challenges and goals.  The end of a year provides time for reflection of the ground we have covered both as individuals and as a Pax.  Countless personal goals we have all individually realized (100 milers, weight loss, commitment to fitness) and the achievements as a team (expansion, leaps, BRR) are only a part of the F3 experience.  Friendships, both new and old, are the fabric that ties us together through the good times and the challenges.

    As Swirly and J-ville close out the 2016 chapter tomorrow, I look forward to next year’s adventures.

    Lockjaw

     

  • Soar Like an Eagle

    5 pax plus 1 FNG showed up on a raining morning during this week between Christmas and New Years.

    This is what transpired:

    COP

    Chatter and Fellowship as food orders were taken.

    Reading of Isaiah 40:31 –  …but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

    A Daily Prayer:

    • God, I offer myself again to you. You are in charge. I am your agent. Whatever you have in store for me, let me accept it and do with it as you would have me do. Your will be done, not mine. Please use me to be a help to another suffering sinner today.

    After the prayer we moved into our main workout which today was a Singlet – a study of a single verse.  This was an audible as the attendance was light.

    THANG

    Singlet of the day – Isaiah 40:31

    Broke the verse in 2 parts – What is the “IF”?  What is the “THEN”?

    What does it mean to “hope in the Lord”? Divot read out of another version and it said “wait upon the Lord” and Elmer stated that his notes say that to hope is to trust in the Lord.

    What does it mean to “soar on wings like eagles”? YHC mentioned how this could mean that we can reach new heights or go further. Fast Food talked about seeing more clearly. Elmer talk about not being tossed around by the world but being in control.

    What does it mean to “run and not grow weary”? Discussion around if you in life and worn down, most likely you are not in God’s will. Yikes!

    What does it mean to “walk and not be faint”? Discussion centered around endurance and consistency.

    NMS

    The Pax started arriving at The Shinning at around 6:25.  The Pax was light so we all gathered around in one table.  Given the numbers YHC modified and changed the workout from the next Headliner around Love to a Singlet on Isaiah 40:31.  This was the verse of the day in the Bible App…  After reading the verse Mud Face arrived and YHC took the opportunity to read the verse again.

    After the read we talk about “hoping in the Lord” and read some other versions.  Worm, being the book worm he is, brought us to verse 26 of Isaiah 40.  From there discussion really start flowing from the pax.

    The majority of the discussion centered around the what it means to “hope” / “trust” in the Lord. Then YHC shared how when he is upset with timing that he is not looking expectantly to the Lord and out of the Lord’s plan.  At the end of study YHC shared his action step was to go to the scriptures when he finds himself out of God’s will and to surrender on his knees daily. YHC challenged each man to make their own action step and do it!

    After announcements Fast Food took us out in a prayer.

    Announcements:

    • F3 tomorrow AM at “The Creek” – New Highland Baptist church – Opus will have his virgin Q!
    • Order your Focus Prayer Books by paying Abacus $20 and going to this link and filling out the form – – – http://www.paracleteanswers.com/material.html

  • No. White. Flags.

    “That’s what dads do.  They past the best of themselves on to their kids.” – Steve Gleason

    After nearly summer time Texas temps yesterday, the winds of the plains came back with a vengence.

    The thang:

    COP – Four mile run with the M.

    Worlds Worst 11s – The exercises were an Air Bud Merkin (both hands off the ground at the top of the merkin) and a weighted Texas Hammer.  This is a WWII sit up with a 10 lb weight, at the top of the sit up, perform a one count American Hammer.  10 Texas Hammers/1 Air Bud Merkin, 9 TH/2 ABM, etc.. 1 TH/10 ABM. A short run was included between rounds.

    Fantastic Fours – The exercises were SSH, merkin, weighted Texas Hammer (10 lb), weighted squats (35 lb) followed by a short run.  There are 4 rounds total.  On the first round do 10 of each exercise.  Round 2 do 20 of each exercise.  Round 3 do 30 of each exercise. Round 4 do 40 of each exercise.

    5 Minute Burpees – Starting the timer at 5 minutes complete 5 burpees in the first minute, 6 burpees in minute 2, 7 burpees in minute 3, 8 burpees in minute 4 and 10 burpees in minute 5.

    Namerama, numberama, Hardywood lead us out.

    Moleskin – YHC must reiterate doing this by yourself is the worst.  Today’s title came from one of the finest examples of a man to ever walk the earth.  If you don’t know the story of Steve Gleason , drop what you are doing and get familiar with him.  While a star special teams player with the New Orleans Saints he was diagnosed with ALS.  His story is a lesson for the rest of us.

    My theme for 2017 just might be NO WHITE FLAGS.

    Be super.

    Hardywood

  • 3, no 4 runners on the AT

    3 hardy souls took the trip to Waynesboro to hit the AT and put in some trail miles.  One stalwart headed out on his own to the same trail to put in a few miles.

    The Thang:

    Drop the car off at Blackrock Gap and take a shuttle back to Rockfish Gap.  Hit the AT and traverse our way back to the car (a reported 18.7 miles).

    NMM

    After about an hour into the trip, we ran into the Whittler who had just turned around to head back to Rockfish Gap.  Since he had an aborted trail run on Monday, he was worried about going the full distance so was going to put in 10+ on his own.  We pleaded and cajoled him into joining us and making the remainder of the trip to Blackrock.  Great to have four of us out there together to make this trip.

    The first three or four miles of the trip were uphill and rocky and provided very little opportunity for actual running.  The terrain and vegetation took a quick turn thereafter and was much more runner friendly.  This section of the trail saw some major elevation changes.  We climbed just over 4500 feet and descended about 4100 feet, gaining just over 400 feet for the trip.  Also along the way we crossed the road 4 or 5 times.  After a while, once I saw a road, I was pretty unhappy because each road signaled a major climb on the other side.  For the trip, Lab Rat had us logged in at just over 20 miles, while YHC had us at 19.4.

    More people on the trail today than our last trip to the AT.  We saw one hiker that was covering out route today and an older gentleman from Colorado who was one segment away from finishing the 105 miles in the park (later in the spring, his wife is going to join him and traverse the whole trail).  We saw this gentleman hitchhiking back to his car at the end the day and Upchuck turned his vehicle around and gave him a ride back to his vehicle.

    An obligatory stop at Bodo’s on the way home saw each of the PAX ordering enough food to feed several people.  Bodo’s is always good, but after miles on the trail, it is exceptional.

    The trips to he AT are long days, but incredibly fun and challenging.  Nothing like the hills you get on the AT to train you for a long distance jaunt.  Also, running the trails of the AT brings a whole new appreciation and understanding of the challenges or trail running.  YHC, incredibly, was the only one to take a fall today.

  • Gloomiest Gloom

    10 willful souls posted on a Thursday in late December.  Weather was 70 and sunny..or maybe it was high 30’s and raining…either way, the sun was shining at Mary Mumford.

    The Thang:

    Mosey to the circle at the front of the school.  15x Don Quixote.  20x Imperial Walkers, 25x LBC’s, and 30x SSH’s.  Ascending curb crawls up to 13.  Mosey to corner of school.  Lt. Dan’s to the front entrance of the school.  Mosey to benches in front of school for tabata dips and step ups.  Mosey to side of school for double-triple check (peoples chair, mountain climbers and run to fence).  Mosey back to front of school for Descending curb crawls from 13 (as Swirly say at the amphitheater, what goes up, must come down.  Lt. Dan’s around parking lot and back to shovel flag.

    NMM:

    Today the weather brought us the gloomiest of the gloom.  30 degree weather with steady rain (the only salvation was that he rain did not start coming down steadily until a few minutes into the workout). These are the most difficult days for YHC as the combination of the wet and the cold make the workouts the hardest.  I would much rather the bitter cold, snow, pouring rain in the summer, or extreme heat.  I think the PAX agrees, as the amount of second F post workout was at a bare minimum.  2 minutes post COT only 1 or 2 cars remained in the parking lot and all PAX had taken refuge in their cars. T claps to all that wrestled themselves out of the fartsack and made it out today.

    Lots of attempts to manage the rain and cold this morning.  YHC went with the raincoat, which worked to a certain degree, but it was soaked at the end.  Toucan and his crew went with the big canopy tree for the tabatas.  Others went with the minimal amount of clothing to reduce the amount of water carried around for the day.  Either way, we were all pretty wet and cold by the end.

    Rack PT.  Enough Said.

    Announcements

    January monthly challenge is LBC’s.  Sign up now.

    Smokey mountain relay and ragnar coming up in April,  Start training now.  Check with Swirly on SMR and Toga on Ragnar.  Both are great runs and a good goal and challenge.  Stretch yourself and sign up for one now.

  • The Circus welcomes Dr. Evil

    3 regulars & 1 visitor braved a soaking rain to post to a Kettlebell beat down @ Godwin High School that went something like this:

    THANG

    Mosey to bus loop shelter

    COP: SSH, DQs, Tempo Merkins, Crunchy Frog, Crab Cakes, KB Press with PAX backs to one another

    Quadruple Check/KB Stations

    1) KB Wall sit (millennium falcon), KB Swing, KB Press/Bridge & Over, Forward lunge 3 columns & back

    2) KB Halo, KB Goblet Squat, KB clean-rack-press, Backward lunge 3 columns & back

    3) KB Standing Row, KB Merkin Row, KB Lawnmower, Bearcrawl 3 columns + Crawlbear back

    4) KB Around the World, KB tricep press, KB Bob & Weave, run to end of bus loop + 5 burpees + run back

    5) Wall Plank, KB Figure-8, KB Swing – pause with KB overhead, KB Death Crawl (Bear Crawl w/ KB) 2 columns & back

    6) Left hand KB swing, right hand KB swing, Alternating single hand KB Swing, Crab walk 2 columns & back

    Plank-o-rama into COP: plank dips, flutter kicks, LBCs (fast-slow-fast)

    COT – Atilla took us out

    NM:

    Nice to meet Dr. Evil after seeing his name in RVA backblasts in the past. Dr. Evil visited the Circus for the first time and arrived without a KB. No problem. This gave us the perfect opportunity mix in some none KB activities so that nobody maxed out throwing weight around.

    YHC had nothing planned and thought a hot-potato workout was in order. However, Johnsonville was operating on very little sleep and didn’t appear capable of calling a cadence. So, he & Atilla helped YHC incorporate many KB exercises we use at Circus Maximus. It was a good intro to anyone new to KBs. Thanks for everyone’s help!

    The bus loop shelter provided sufficient cover from a constant rain, though some exercises were still performed in the rain.

    We’re all thinking of Earthworm and hope that he gets better soon!

  • Back to the Mount

    10 strong and fleet and one four legged friend (Oakley) posted for a Spider run on a glorious Tuesday morning.

    The Thang:

    Mount Henrico: From the lake take the road around to the baseball field and through the parking lot to the main road, turn left, right on lakewood, right on wood, left on baldwin, right on westham parkway, left on baldwin, left on rock creek, left on ridge, right on university, right on julian, summit the hill to Parham road.  Reverse directions for five milers.  Six milers add the loop on Arlington on the way back.

    NMM:

    Two choices offered to the PAX today for the run.  1) over the river and through the woods – across Huguenot bridge to she south side and then either up or down river and 2) Mount Henrico  Second, hillier route was chose.  As Sippy Cup said “we came to run hills, we might as well do them”.   I was hoping the PAX would choose the easier river route, but in the end was glad to summit Mt. Henrico again.  YHC was told that when the faster crew reached the top, Marv insisted that the group take a right onto Parham and navigate to intersection of Patterson to make sure they had indeed made it to the highest point.

    YHC had “promised” a couple of the PAX that were doing the Appalachian trail on  wednesday that we would do an easy four miler.  After the PAX chose mount henrico and given the groupings and numbers, I reneged on my promise and made Lab Rat and Upchuck come along for the full tour de Mount Henrico.  Lab Rat had EH’d FNG Rex to come along for the run.  He told Rex that the plan was for an easy 4 miler.  When Rex saw the speedsters and heard the option, he quickly changed his mind and went all in with the fast group (one of the benefits of being young and in college is that speed is still in your side).  Glad to have him out there with us.

    When i saw Saab this morning, i was a little disappointed.  I also punched him to show my displeasure with his posting.  I had the mistaken impression that Saab was going to take the week between Christmas and New Years to let his body rest and heal.  Alas, he posted for Spider Run after all, not being able to resist the workout.  I am not one to take time off either, but sometimes discretion is the better part of valor.  Hopefully he will take some time off while in NJ (if Mama Saab lets him)

  • Putting on the post holiday pounds, 40 pounds worth

    Eleven RVA regulars and 3 visitors posted to WDOG for a mid-holiday week beatdown. The PAX found some leftover presents from YHC to play with.

    COP- SSH,  Merkins, DQs, Freddy Mercurys, Helicopters.

    Mosey to Rusty Cage, pick up a Sandbag, mosey back to Amphitheater. Partner Up.

    1 Partner scales the Amphitheater steps and back with sandbag while other does exercise. Round 1- Overhead presses. ROUND 2- Flutterkicks with bag held up. Round 3- Squats. In between rounds Sandbag APDS and WWII Situp presses with SB.

    Mosey to field. Lunge width of field with SB, drop it and run up carillon & back. Repeato.

    Mosey to circle- Side lunges, APDs, Boat-Canoe, all with sandbags.

    Mosey back to Rusty Cage, drop Sandbags. AMRAP Pull ups and Jerkins x2. Long mosey back to the flag. COT & Viral took us out.

    NMS – YHC had given the PAX fair warning via Twitter about the Sandbag workout. 20 of them were waiting for the pax when we got to the Rusty Cage. The sandbags and PAX held up for the beatdown. YHC was concerned about someone throwing out their back, but instead everyone attacked the weight with gusto. YHC borrowed from his Circus Maximus Qs for Sandbag exercises. The Boat-Canoe and Alabama Prom Dates seemed to be a hit with the pax. Situp presses are just as awful with a Sandbag as a Kettlebell.

    Mumblechatter mostly centered around how YHC managed to get 20 full Sandbags to the Rusty Cage awaiting the pax in the gloom this am. It is all in the Qs commitment to the theme.

    Glad to see the familiar visitors back in Dr.Evil and Guinness. Always good to have you guys in town.

    Announcements – Frozen Triangle CSAUP on Jan 21. Mark your calendars! Even the Hampton Roads guys are coming up.

    Pleasure to lead this am and thanks to the Pax for trying something new.  The sandbags are staying there so anyone Q’ing is welcome to bring them out to play at Dogpile, until they fall apart or some recalcitrant PAX member slits them open…

     

  • The Cooper & Conveyor Belts @ SOT

    4 SOT regulars & 1 returning visitor from the West End gathered at Swift Creek Middle School for a holiday beatdown that went something like this:

    THANG

    Mosey to front of school.

    COP – SSHs, DQs, Tempo Merkins, Hello Dollies, Plank Dips

    Mosey to right side of school.

    Conveyor Belts:
    1) Bear Crawl + 10 Copperhead Squats (Repeato)
    Plank-o-rama
    2) Crawl Bear + 10 Monkey Humpers (Repeato)

    The Cooper (modified)
    10 burpees, 10 merkins, 10 squats then run lap around parking lot medians
    Repeato, reducing by 2 reps each time

    Mosey to left side of school

    4 Walk Walkers

    Catch Me if you Can
    Partner up: 1 partner runs to catch other partner performing exercise.
    3 Rounds: bear crawl, walking lunge, walking imperial squat walkers

    COP – Plank, Peter Parker, LBCs, BoxCutters, Cross Leg Lifts

    NM:
    Great to see Splinter post to “the other side of the river.” Good luck with your bathroom demolition project!

    Wilson was missed. Gumbo was disappointed not to see the Wilson/Honeymoon clown car.

    McRibb dominated the modified Cooper.

    Squats & Monkey Humpers are no joke when combined with a Conveyor Belt

    Good work gents.

    Looking forward to the CSUP on Jan 21.