Category: Richmond, VA

  • Payback for leaving me at NoToll

    9 Men showed up this morning for my payback for being left at NoToll last month.  We had 2 visitors one from NC, water wings and House from SC.

    Ran to the AO circle than did 10 SSHs and then past it to the left for 10 = 90 SSHs

    LBCs 10 than past to the left = 90

    Ran to the benches for 3 sets of one lap than 25 dips than one lap 25 dips 50 merkins than one lap add side squats than 2 labs

    lined up for triple check with Carolina dry docks, American hammers and run, 3 sets

    Then we lined up for fallow the leader

    We ran to the poles for heels to heaven pole smokin relay, this was a ton of FUN.

    Than we lined up and ran back playing fallow the leader.

    Thanks again men for letting me lead today, I think we got in 3 miles to boot.  It was great having 2 out of town f3ers.  Also the cofferteria with J-ville, HoneyDo and water Wings was a great time just relaxing at Starbucks usually I have to run off and don’t get a change to out.

    COT: My challenge this Month’s to my fellow brother’s: make a deposit into your marriage by planning a date night from soup to nuts, your wife just has to show up.  Usually its the other way around we just have to show up!!!

    Thanks again brothers of the Gloom

     

  • Merk, Merk, Bear!

    6 pax plus one FNG showed up for this last workout for 2017 for DaVille.  This is what transpired:

    Mosey to the side parking log

    COP

    • X25 SSH
    • X25 Imperial Walkers
    • X25 Don Quixotes
    • X25 Invisible Jump Ropes

    X2

    THANG

    Mosey to soccer field:

    “In It Together Forever”:

    • Sumo Squat Walks (Legs more than shoulder width apart, half squat, walk 3 steps, deep squat, repeat) to Cone 1 Crab walk (15 yards)
      •     LBCs (10 once last person arrives)
    • Deep Lunges to Cone #2 (15 yards)
      •     Freddie Mercuries (10 once last person arrives)
    • Polar Bears to Cone #3 (15 yards)
      •     Box Cutters (10 once last person arrives)
    • Rabbit Jumps to Cone #4 (15 yards)
      •     V Sit-ups (10 once last person arrives)

    Move cones out 3 Paces and repeat

    Move cones out 3 Paces and repeat

    Leg / Arm / Core Challenge

    Number off to make teams

    • Leg – Mud Face and Guppy
    • Arm – Suitcase and Kit Kat
    • Core – Opus and Spike
    • Timer – Abacus

    Challenge 1

    • Mud Face challenges Suitcase and Opus to most squats in a minute
    • Mud Face wins
    • Mud Face chooses for pax to lunge to 2 poles  and run back to cones

    Challenge 2

    • Kit Kat challenges  to reach their age in Merkins first (Guppy to do 3x of age)
    • Guppy wins
    • Guppy chooses to do parking lot suicides

    Merk, Merk, Bear

    • Bear 1 – Spike
    • Bear 2 – Opus
    • Bear 3 – Guppy
    • Bear 4 – Mud face
    • Bear 5 – Abacus
    • Bear 6 – Suitcase

    Mosey back to Flag

    10 American Hammers

    COT/Namorama

    Moleskin

    A light crowd was out today as the temperature soared to 58 degrees.  The wind was present as most of the pax hid in the fartsack.  An extended warm up was provided as YHC wanted to keep the pax guessing.  During the first round of exercises FNG Suitcase joined the fun.  The Pax then ran to the soccer fields and saw cones already laid out for them to enjoy.  Gulps and gasps were heard as the pax understood that this period of pain was planned.

    Instructions were provided on each of the exercises and the pax tore at the box.  A new exercise was introduced – – > Sumo Squat Walks.  A YHC brainchild as he thought of honoring Mud Face and his leg power.  Once round one of In It Together Forever was completed, the cones were moved out 3 paces, and round 2 began.  Chatter was heard but it wasn’t coherent.  Once round 2 was done, we moved the cones out 3 more feet and the chatter died away as breath was saved for round 3.

    Next up was an opportunity for the pax to challenge each other.  We number off and the 1s were given team “legs”, the 2s were given team “arms” and the 3s were given team “core”.  The winner of the challenge (chosen by legs then by arms) then got to choose an exercise for the pax to tackle.  In Challenge 1 Mud Face challenged the others in group 1 (suitcase and opus) to do as many squats as they can in a minute.  Group 2 got in an Al Gore position to watch. Quickly, 20 seconds, they all learned that a minute is a long time.  We also learned that Mud Face can knock a boatload of squats!  Upon winning, Mud Face struggled with the exercise he wanted to choose.  He settled on lunges to 2 light poles.  Holy Smack – after a ton of squats… That hurt.  Next challenge, the groups changed and Kit Kat challenged the others to do their age in Merkins the fastest.  Guppy, being 13 had to do 3x his age – 39.  Off they went and Guppy, with the wings of youth, was able to finish before the others.  His exercise for the pax was suicides.

    YHC, wanting to introduce a new exercise he cooked up with his M, moved the Pax quickly to the next ball of fun – Merk, Merk, Bear.  The Pax circled up and started doing Merkins.  YHC choose Opus to go around and tag everyone and say Merk.  Then Opus got to choose one and say “Bear”. At that point both him and the tagged “Bear” chased each other around the circle in a bear crawl to the emptied spot.  Opus got around to the spot without being tagged and was able to join  the circle of Merkins.  And repeat.  Lots of joy was had as the pax really turned it on to escape their friends grasps.  After almost everyone had a chance to chase or be chased, the pax picked up the cones and returned to the flag.  25 American Hammers were knocked out before we finished up with Number-rama, Name-a-Rama and Abacus closing us with a prayer.
    Announcements:

    • TheCreek needs a que for this Friday
    • 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

  • Boxing Day at The Punisher

    6 faithful shook off the post-Christmas food coma this morning to help un-wrap a special Boxing Day version of The Punisher.  Known as the day to re-gift any unwanted Christmas presents, Boxing Day offered the PAX an adventure around the AO to seek out a few boxed treats.  Here’s what the PAX found:

    Re-Gift #1 (left on YHC’s car window):
    Slaughter Starter: 20 in-cadence burpees done cold (well, modified version…the PAX allowed themselves 10 seconds to stretch).  Way to pound them out!

    COP:
    SSHs x20
    Imperial Walkers x20
    Don Quixotes x10
    LBC’s x20
    Sweat Angels x20

    PAX picked up bricks and sprinted to First Tree (a dead-ringer for Charlie Brown’s sapling).  Note: when this PAX is receiving gifts, this PAX don’t mosey. The PAX found 3 gift boxes mysteriously left at base of Charlie Brown’s tree.

    Re-Gift #2:
    Partner up.  First partner does polar bear crawl x8 (gift box 1) and then completes the circuit with a sprint of about 75 yards (gift box 2).  Second partner performs Wonderbras (gift box 3) along the brick wall.  Switch positions. Repeato x3

    Sprint to massive fir tree…”Oh, wow, MORE GIFTS!”  PAX found three more gift boxes at the base of the tree.

    Re-Gift #3:
    Each PAX performed shoulder taps in cadence (gift box 1) x15 then arc loaders (gift box 2) and finished with a 25 yard sprint to perform 20 reverse crunches (gift box 3).  Reverse direction with arc loaders and back to starting point.  Repeato x3.

    Strong run to front of school in search of more gift boxes…which, lo and behold, the PAX found 3 more of.

    Re-Gift #4:
    Triangle of gifts this time…start with an ATM (gift box 1)…that’s 15 shoulder taps plus 10 Tempo Merkins plus 10 regular merkins). Sprint to station 2, where PAX performed Dollys x20 (gift box 2) before sprinting to station #3 to perform an Alphabet (gift box 3).  Repeato x2.

    Reverse run around school to pick up gift boxes and bricks, then back to flag.

    Number-rama, Name-a-Rama, and YHC took us out.

    Moleskin:
    This group starts strong.  YHC was solidly enthused by the positive response to the Slaughter Starter…the PAX jumped on it and didn’t look back.  Great job, men.

    For the day after Christmas, the PAX was heavily populated by travelers determined to remain on the ball over the holidays.  Great to see Water Wings from Raleigh and The Whittler from Boston.  Opus came all the way from Mechanicsville…he continues to get stronger each time out – nice work!

    Thanks also to the PAX for joining the impromptu 2nd F at Starbucks.  YHC’s belt buckles express their eternal gratitude to the PAX for consuming YHC’s Christmas candy (hidden in each gift box).  Re-gifting a couple thousand calories never felt better.

    It was a pleasure to lead you all this morning.  Looking forward to seeing you all in The Gloom.

    Announcements:

    • CSAUP Saturday Janurary 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
    • Trip to the Appalachian Trail on Dec 28th. Planning 18 to 20 miles, take about 5 hours. Meet at the Gum Spring exit on I64 (exit 159) at 6:30am. See LabRat or TYA for more details.

    Additional announcement:

  • Post Christmas Expedition at River Run

    This post Christmas morning, 4 brave RVA men ventured into the River Run AO to shake off the egg nog and cookies and take on the last Monday of 2016.  Here is how it went down.

    CoP

    • 20 X SSH
    • 12 X Don Quixote
    • 20 X Imperial Walkers
    • 15 x Arm Circles
    • 20 x Flutter Kicks
    • 12 x Merkins

    4 Stations Around Track

    • Station 1 = 10 Pull Ups (This person triggers rotation)
    • Station 2 = AMRAP WWII Sit Ups
    • Station 3 = AMRAP Hanging Leg Lifts
    • Station 4 = AMRAP Merkins

    repeat until PAX performs each rotation 2 times

    Mosey to the JR Football Field 

    Swamp and Forth Relay 

    Partner up

    • Partner 1 = Run to opposite goal post and back
    • Partner 2 = Perform Polar Bears then Lunges then Broad Jump Burpee
    • Switch off until exercising partner reaches the goal post
    • Rinse and repeat back to starting end

    Conveyor Belt at JRHS Parking Lot

    • Rotation 1 – Monkey Humpers 10 x IC for 4 rotation (BC to next parking lot space)
    • Rotation 2 – 10 Merkins IC for 4 rotations w. BC to next station

    Mosey back to parking lot for Native American Flutter Kicks on Poll 

    Mary 

    • Rosalitas X 20 IC
    • Freddie Mercury x 15 IC
    • Hello Dolly x 20 IC
    • Merkin Ring of Fire w. Plank hold at the end

    Numberama and Name O Rama

    Announcements

    • CSAUP event scheduled for 1/21 starting at Dogpile at 6AM for 20 Minute bootcamp, then mosey to Punisher for 20 minute bootcamp, then mosey to 45MoM for 20 minute bootcamp then mosey back to Dogpile to complete (expecting 3+ hours total)
    • LBC Challenge coming in January

    YHC took us out

    NMM

    YHC was pleasantly surprised to see Wilson and Honeymoon ready and waiting in a clown car after pulling up to the AO for this after Christmas rendezvous.  This eased my fears of possibly pursuing a lone wolf mission this morning, which was definitely not in the cards.  A minute or so later an unfamiliar Toyota Highlander pulled up to the RR parking lot under a shroud of mystery.  YHC was secretly excited as 4 was an ideal minimum number for what was planned, but there was an element uncertainty in trying to determine who the 4th person was.  YHC was happy to find out that this mystery vehicle belonged to none other than Sippy Cup who was staying with family in Midlothian for the holiday.

    YHC hates to separate a PAX, but wanted to break into this morning with a little alone time by using the 4 station relay as a way to get started.  During this YHC was still reeling from the burp Ups and Jerkins from Spit’s Dogpile Q on Saturday and as such the pull ups were especially tough.

    The Swamp and Forth Relay was a RR flattened version of Love Hill relays from dogpile.  The Swamp at James River may have been the coldest part of the morning as the leftover rain from Christmas Eve had left the football field pretty wet and added a chilling flavor to the polar bear crawls during the relay.

    Note to RVA Pax…monkey humpers will crush you in high repetition.  A quick audible had to be called to shorten the number of IC monkey humpers from 15 to 10 after 1 rotation.  The switch to merkins in the 2nd round was also tough with bear crawls mixed in…(my shoulders were still pretty useless from Saturday’s BTWW Triple Check and from spending most of the last 48 hours putting things together (Lego’s are a workout for the body and mind)).

    All in all not much mumble chatter during the workouts today, but a fair amount of discussion took place about the upcoming CSAUP on January 21 post COT.  This will definitely be a grueling and awesome event, and YHC is definitely excited and nervous to participate.

    In closing and without question, the best way to start the last week of the year is with my F3 brethren.  Thanks for humbling me today and allowing me to lead.  It’s always an honor and a privilege.

    See you all next time.

    McRib

  • No Theme, Just Gloom

    3 Strong and brave kicked off the last week of 2016 with a Batteau bang.

    EF planted the flag, here’s how it went down.

    Mosey around to the front of the Stone House

    COP

    • SSH
    • Russian Soldiers
    • Reverse Russian Soldiers
    • Merkins
    • Dollys
    • Southpaw Shuffle

    Mosey down to Tennis Courts

    • Sprint 1 Leg, 3 Mosey
    • Sprint 2 Legs, 2 Mosey
    • Sprint 3 Legs, 1 Mosey
    • Sprint 4 Legs

    Mosey down stairs to Pond

    • Escalating Burpees at each light post 1,2…11

    Partner carry up THOIR

    Mosey to Circular Sitting Area

    • LBCs IC
    • Box Jumps x 30
    • Derkins x 40
    • Dips x 50
    • Plankorama

    Mosey to top of stairs

    • Coupon Curl and Press x 25

    Mosey back to Tennis Court

    Repeato Sprint/Mosey cycle

    Mosey to Stone House

    Repeato COP + Crossover Leg Raises

    MOLESKIN

    YHC will assume the small yet strong PAX was due to one of three causes.  Either the PAX spread too much cheer yesterday, the PAX posted out of town, or the PAX was up late celebrating YHC’s fantasy football championship.  Most likely it was the latter.  Splinter got his first taste of what Batteau has to offer.  He was impressed by the Buck we saw wondering through in the distance prior to take off, but not impressed with the 11th light post or THOIR aka Mount Saint WTF Am I Doing.  Flipper enjoyed the sites of Batteau land as well before joining the PAX mid workout.  YHC hopes Wheelbarrow is not out there still looking for the PAX.  Flipper confirmed his LIFOness was due to a heavy Q of bourbon eggnog and a Christmas beatdown that YHC would not like to post for anytime soon.

    ANNOUNCEMENTS

    CSAUP upcoming

    COT

    EF Hutton Has Spoken.

  • Reindeer Games Part 3 “The Finale”

    17 Regulars, including 1 2.0, and 2 returns from Part 1 and 2, put on their antlers one last time to deliver the Reindeer Games finale. The Shovel Flag was planted while Swirly keep a watchful eye by night and the festivities began:

    Mosey to the Carillon circle

    COP

    • SSH x25 IC
    • Invisible Jump Ropes x 20 IC
    • Don Quixotes x 15 IC
    • Crab Cakes x 15 IC
    • LBFC x 15ish IC
    • Arm Circles x 10 small x 5 big IC reverso

    Mosey to the side of the Carillon

    Donner’s Triple Check

    Chestnuts to the Wall
    Lunges up and down the Carillon
    Mtn Climbers
    3 Sets each

    Mosey to the rusty cages

    Blitzen loves the Rusty Cages

    Each PAX completed the following:

    • Burp-ups x 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
    • Jerkins x 2, 4, 6, 8, 10

    Mosey to the field in front of the Carillon

    Rudolph lights to way

    With a partner complete the following:

    • 100 Flutters
    • 150 Jump Squats
    • 200 LBC’s

    One partner is running across the field and back while the other completes the exercise the switch.

    Mosey back to the flag

    1 minute Superman

    Numberama/Namorama

    YHC took us out

    Moleskin

    YHC had been waiting a long time to finally Q at DogPile. He has made the decision over a month ago the best time was on Christmas Eve. Also to get fired up for it, test runs were needed. Thus the reason for the theme and 2 other prior Q’s at DVille and The Creek.

    The mumble chatter was ongoing mainly because LabRat finally decided to show up to one of these but also YHC feels the PAX was doing whatever they could get him off his game. He appreciates the effort!

    Many PAX members showed there disgust (cough Fudd) for doing lunges thus causing them to complete Chestnuts to the wall longer. Oh well they completed them anyways.

    BT point out that YHC was great Rudolph leading the PAX with is bright yellow stocking cap.

    YHC introduced another new exercise today called Burp-ups. This is a standard Burpee done (typically under monkey bars) where you do the Burpee, then when you jump you grab the monkey bar and go straight into a pull up. YHC will definitely be using this again.

    Great job McFalcon Crest! Only second time out and hit the ground running this morning. Hope to see you back soon.

    Announcements

    • CSAUP Saturday Janurary 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 – Janurary. 10k is the Goal. See link below to sign up!
      https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-L8e9W24ygnU0suaGyKxzi1PgPqY1CBd57hLrKTZI-g/edit#gid=656233322
    • Trip to the Appalachian Trail on Dec 28th. Planning 18 to 20 miles, take about 5 hours. Meet at the Gum Spring exit on I64 (exit 159) at 6:30am. See LabRat or TYA for more details.

    YHC would like to thanks all of those that have encourage him to step up and Q at DogPile. 8 month ago when YHC first posting at a Men’s Retreat, he never would have imagine leading a group of men (mostly older and more fit than him) in workouts. Thanks again to all F3RVA PAX Members!

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

    SPIT ON THAT!!!

  • The Obstacle Is The Way

    “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” Marcus Aurelius

    Another rainy day greeted a pax of 1 in New Boston, TX.  Humidity and doubt were the entry fee for those in pursuit of glory.

    The Thang

    COP:  SSH, LBC, Freddy Mercury X 20, Merkin X 10

    Polar Bear 40 Meters

    Airing of Grievances  – Utilizing two aluminum benches complete the following exercises in a round – Box jumps, dips with feet on opposite bench, incline merkin with one hand on each bench followed by a short run.  Round 1 is 10 count, Round 2 is 15 count, etc to Round 5 of a 30 count of each exercise.

    Power of 10 – Complete 10 rounds of the following: 10 X 4 count american hammer, 10 split lunges, short run.

    Ladder 2.0 – This ladder consisted of 6 stopping points.  On the first stopping point complete 1 exercise. Run back to the start then to the second stopping point and complete 2 of the exercise.  Etc. to the sixth stopping point.  Round 1 squats, round 2 merkins.

    Namerama, numberama, Hardywood lead us out.

    Moleskin – YHC cannot overstate how much this sucks to do by yourself.

    2.0 Joined for the Ladder 2.0 exercise.  We found a huge covered pavillion in which this 6 year old, future F3 warrior arrived only to skateboard, and left drenched in sweat.  The heart of YHC grew three sizes.

    Continued thoughts and prayers for TYA and his family.

    Swirly is planning a CSAUP adventure on 1/21.  See him for details.  Do not take this lightly.  By the sounds of the itenerary, most people would pay to have this kind of lactic producing adventure.

    Lab Rat is looking for the original creator of the Hill Billy COP exercise.  This is injunction with an 18-20 mile trail run on the AT on 12/28.  See Lab Rat for details.

     

  • First Annual Christmas Treasure Hunt at #GridIron

    Fourteen (14) towering redwoods and two (2) FNGs overcame well-founded objections from moms and posted at #GridIron for the First Annual Christmas Treasure Hunt. The weather left much to be desired, the temperature hovering around 37F and rain falling relentlessly. Johnsonville took Q, and this is how the Treasure Hunt went:

    CHRISTMAS EVE THANG:
    Warmup (24x ssh, 24x don quiotes, 10x mercans, 40x arm circles)

    YHC informed the pax that earlier that morning, he had spotted and apprehended a wary Christmas elf. The elf told YHC that a stash of cupcakes was hidden somewhere in the AO. The elf could not tell YHC where the cupcakes were hidden, but said there was a clue somewhere near an old wooden bridge.

    The pax mosied to the wooden bridge leading to the beach volleyball courts and were thrilled to find a clue. After some exercises, that clue led to another, which (after some exercises) led to another, etc. The following was the succession of clues and exercises:

    Clue #1: Do 10 squats together in perfect cadence to reveal Clue #1
    This bridge is here to cross the wet lands; maybe you should look amongst the white sands. (mosey to volleyball court)

    Clue #2: See who can bear crawl and crab walk the farthest across the sands to reveal Clue #2
    Rudolf’s nose glows red like a jewel, but the next clue is near an old house made for school. (mosey to old schoolhouse)

    Clue #3: Do 10 burpees on your own, then reveal Clue #3
    You may dance, and you may strut, but you should go check a nearby small hut (mosey to park shelter)

    Clue #4: Step up on the benches 100 times each to reveal Clue #4
    Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen, a swing-set is where I like to hide tricks-in (mosey to playground)

    Clue #5: Plank sequence; repeat to reveal Clue #5
    On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donner and Blitzen, check around bin folks put trash in (mosey to trash bin adjacent to parking lot)

    Clue #6: Dance in cadence like crazy hillbillies, then reveal Clue #6
    Now dash away! dash away! dash away all, to the 50 yard line of the field for football (mosey to center of football field)

    Clue #7: Bunny hop across the field; lunge back to reveal Clue #7
    As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, look up at the place where runners pass by (mosey up to track)

    Clue #8: Run around the track 1 time to reveal Clue #8
    Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound, but you should check ‘neath the bleachers inside the round. (mosey to bleachers on far side of track)

    Clue #9: Do 20 crabcakes in cadence to reveal Clue #9
    St. Nick is chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, a flagpole may help mark a clue for yourself (mosey to center flagpole in front of school)

    Clue #10: Do 40 mercans on your own resting when necessary
    Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night, check the bushes nearby for cupcakes delight

    While 2.0’s dined on cupcakes, the dads did a mercan ladder from 10 down to 1.
    Mosey to VSF for COT with Earthworm speaking about the symbolic meaning of candy canes and Attila taking us out.

    MOLESKIN:

    It is hard to imagine worse weather for this kind of event. I am glad folks came out. I hope everyone had fun and took a long, warm shower afterward.

    A number of funny things happened. While setting up the clues in the morning darkness, Earthworm lost clue #6. Fortunately, one of the 2.0s found clue #6 while in route to find clue #4. YHC was able to step away and set clue #6, thus preserving the Treasure Hunt’s unbroken chain.

    While doing hillbillies, YHC’s 13 year old daughter, Snolfin, appeared slightly embarresed by YHC’s dancing style. I am a pretty sensative guy, so it may just have been my imagination….

    While running the track to reveal to reveal clue #8, Emmy Lou Hoo spotted clue #9 beneath the bleachers. She dutifully retrieved clue #9 and brought it back to clue #8’s home base. Fortunately, we were able to gloss over that break in the chain.

    After completing the Treasure Hunt, which covered much of our large AO, Earthworm realized that he had lost his keys somewhere along the way. The PAX split up to form search parties. Fortunately, the keys were located on the site of the bearcrawls/crabwalks near beach volleyball.

    Thank you for permitting me to lead this morning. Have a blessed and merry Christmas! Respectfully, Johnsonville

    Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. James 1:17

  • Update to Preblast: Holiday Treasure Hunt — 0700 Tomorrow!

    There will be a Holiday Treasure Hunt at the 2.0 friendly workout at #GridIron. The clues are all sealed in baggies with candy canes and ready to be hidden around the AO. The trail will lead to a hidden stash of cupcakes. Mmmm. Dress ’em up warm and dry.

    Johnsonville

  • The Grand Excursion – Freeman’s Revenge

    “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” Jefferson

    On a cold blustery December day at New Boston High School a pax of 1 showed up.  The call to arms was made.  In the air was equal parts rain, doubt and determination.

    The Thang

    COP:  3 mile run on rural dirt road with the M. Then take vehicle to the New Boston High School football stadium for a solo beat down.  Wait a minute, that came out wrong.  I mean, getting after it by myself.

    Usain In The Membrane:  100 yards of broad jump burpees.

    Fantastic Fours:  Exercises were merkins, heels to heaven, Freddy Mercury, squats.  Start with 10 count of each exercise (two count FM) and run 100 yards.  This is a round.  On each successive round add 10 count.  Round 2 is 20 count of each.  Round 3 is 30 count of each. Round 4 is 40 count of each.

    Lindsey’s Softball Playing Sister, Bertha – Start with 1 tire flip. **Please note this was the biggest tire YHC has ever flipped.”  Run approximately 50 meters to another tire and complete 10 decline merkins.  Back to the “Big Ass Tire or BAT” for 2 tire flips.  Back to the other tire for 9 decline merkins.  ETC till 10 tire flips at the BAT and 1 decline merkin.

    Burpee Ladder Emmit Smith Style – Perform one burpee at the 10 yard line, back to goal line and run to the 20 yard line and complete 2 burpees.  Back to the goal line then to the 30 yard line for 3 burpees.  Etc till the entire field is completed with 10 burpees at the opposite goal line.

    Namerama, numberama, Hardywood lead us out.

    Moleskin – This was a self preservation effort.  After two days of driving across the country and a stop in Hot Springs, AR YHC was in dire need of a solid workout.  Let it be know that doing this crap by yourself is 10 times harder without the rest of the pax.  On every single workout YHC wanted to quit or cut it way back.  However, completing this solo and in 40 degree rain lead to a huge feeling of accomplishment and connection back to the friendly biosphere of the RVA mothership.  I have the deepest gratititude for the outstanding men of F3 Richmond. There is zero chance I do this workout in these conditions without the incredible guidance and support I have received over the past year.

    The title of this post is in reference to fellow Virginian Thomas Jefferson.  During the same time as the Lewis-Clark Expedition, Jefferson had sent Thomas Freeman and Peter Custis to explore the Red River in what he called “The Grand Excursion“.  It was labeled as a scientific journey, but he was really laying the ground work for westward expansion.  He knew that if he didn’t do it another country would.  Despite a well outfitted team, they were turned back by the Spanish on the Red River.  This spot is only a few miles from the NBHS stadium and is now known as Spanish bluff.

    Thoughts and prayers go out to the great Yankee Aggressor and his family.

    Please see Lab Rat’s “Appalachian Vacation“.  This is a trail running adventure on 12/28 on the AT.

    Be super.

    Hardywood