Category: Richmond, VA

  • From Survive To Thrive

    12 brave and fearless warriors arrived for a blustery Saturday morning.  This group of men was ready to take ownership of their effort and of Mt. Trashmore.  We were prepared for battle with just cause and able group of the willing.

    The thang:

    COP – SSH, Imperial Walker, LBC, Freddier Mercury X 20, Merkin X 10

    11s – Partner up.  Each team starts with Boo Yah Merkins and Partner Burpees.  Round one is 10 Boo Yah Merkins and 1 Partner Burpee.  Round two is 9 Boo Yah Merkins and 2 Partner Burpees.  Etc. to 1 Boo Yah Merkin and 10 Partner Burpees.

    Fantastic Four – Four rounds of four consecutive exercises punctuated by a run up to the top of Mt. Trashmore to “TYA Pole” and back down.  On each round add 10 qty to each.  Round 1 is 10 Dips, 10 Merkins, 10 Squats, 10 Leg Lifts then run to top of Mt. Trashmore and back.  Round 2 is 20 Dips, 20 Merkins, 20 Squats, 20 Leg Lifts then run again.  Round 3 is exercises X 30 then run.  Round 4 is exercises X 40 and run.

    Balls To The Wall – Three rounds of the following.  One partner gets in the Ball To The Wall position.  The other partner runs approximately 300 meters then switch positions.  Complete three rounds.

    Mosey back to flag for burpee shuffle and ring of fire.

    Numberama, namerama and Honey Do took us out.

    Moleskin:  YHC was pretty excited for this day, which lead to non-optimal sleep.  After the car was packed with a proportionate amount of coffee and shovel flags, YHC was not able a very necessary wallet.  This lead to a few brief moments of panic and then said wallet appear exactly where YHC had last placed it.  A few minutes after 5pm coffee was being poured in the Ellwoods parking lot and the clown car was loaded.

    Flipper held court for the drive down.  How in the world some one who doesn’t drink coffee can sound that much like Sam Kinison that early in the morning, YHC will never now.  Upon arrival at the AO we were greeted with the sight of shovel flags planted.  We were also greeted with gusty Atlantic winds that shivered me timbers.

    The Hampton Roads crew absolutely crushed it.  This was a full hour beat down.  If we are gonna drive down, we gotta bring our A game.  Mt. Trashmore is no joke and this place is an awesome AO.  Dreamliners super power is Balls To The Wall.  This exercise was done with such precision and closeness of his balls to the wall, there is a chance that in nine months there will be little baby walls with a Mt. Airy accent at Mt. Trashmore.

    The 2nd F was at Panera with most of the Pax able to make it.  Topics included the technical materials procurement division of NASA putting out a male calendar.  Amazingly, this hasn’t been done before.

    The clown car back to the nurturing biosphere of the mothership was a highlight for YHC.  There were many stories on the ripple effect this group of men has had directly and indirectly on the pax.  It is an incredible privilege to be a part of this community for YHC.  There’s a saying that you are the sum of the five people you spend the most time with.  That makes YHC a damn lucky fellow.

    Big thanks to Dreamliner for the consistent effort to build momentum here.  YHC is confident this will be a force in the years to come.

    Keep up the great work gents.

    Be super.

    Hardywood

  • .38 Special at Dogpile

    16 strong and faithful posted to Dogpile for this perfect Fall morning to break free from the tryptophan comas, work off the turkey, stuffing, pie and other excess and to help YHC celebrate his 38th birthday.  It went a little something like this:

    Mosey down the road past the field and to the far circle for COP:

    • SSH x19 IC
    • Arm circles x19 IC forward (10 small; 9 large); then reverse
    • DQs x10 Swirly slo-mo style
    • Imperial walkers x19 IC
    • Merkins x19 IC
    • LBCs x38 IC

    Mosey to the bottom of the hill for what YHC called .38 Special.  4 rounds of partner exercises.  Partner 1 performs exercise at bottom of the hill while Partner 2 runs up the hill to touch the curb of the circle and back.  Plank-o-rama between rounds to wait for the six and stay together. Exercises were:

    • Burpees x38
    • Jump Squats x76
    • Merkins x114
    • Box cutters x152

    Mosey down and around the back of Dogpile to the base of pipeline hill.  Pause under the street light for a Swirly-type “10-count” – Merkins x19 IC and Flutter Kicks x19 IC.

    Mosey past the Pump House and up to the bridge for .38 special bridge-style. Start at the first lamp-post and perform 2 burpees at each lamp-post all the way across the bridge for 19 lamp-posts.  At 19th lamp-post perform 2 burpees and 2 merkins then return to the beginning of the bridge performing 2 merkins at each lamp-post.  Plank up and Al Gore waiting for the six.

    Mosey to brick house for 38 donkey-kicks.

    Mosey back to the SF and perform 10 Merkins OYO.

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

    NMS:

    What a great morning to join my F3 brothers for a beatdown to get the blood flowing, feel alive and get stronger.  As I said in my prayer, I am so thankful for all the many blessings the good Lord has given me, including bringing me (through Rosie’s headlocking) into the F3RVA family.  It truly inspires me to be a better man every day, and not just physically. My outlook on everything has changed.  I feel better about myself than I have in a long time.  I attack every challenge with renewed confidence.  I handle my stress by looking forward to working out each morning and enjoying the fellowship with all of you. And, I am more patient and focused on enjoying every minute with my kids.  It is all about perspective and F3 has changed my perspective tremendously in just 9 months.  Thank you all!  I am grateful.

    Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend.  I hope you are able to spend time with friends and family and enjoy doing what you love this weekend.  I know I will.

    Continue to attack and own every day as men of F3 RVA!

    No more Gumbo for you!

  • Attention Kmart shoppers…Black Friday Special Aisle Highland

    7 faithful awoke from their Turkey comas and post at The Creek for a Black Friday special. The shovel flag was planted and we got to work.

    THANG

    COP – Black Friday Founded in 1932 (sets of 32 or 16):

    -SSH x 32 IC
    -Invisible Jump Rope x 32 IC
    -Helicopters x 16 IC
    -Rosalita x 16 IC
    -Crab Cake x 16 IC
    -LBC x 32 IC
    -Arm Circles x10 Small x 6 Big IC, Reverso

    Mosey to the field

    The Beast – Black Friday Style

    First Set – Walmart – iPhone 5(s) on Sale for $99
    – Merkins x 99 – 17 at each distance

    Second Set – Target – XBox One on Sale for $249.99
    – LBC x 250 – 42 at each distance

    Third Set – Target – Hover Quest (robot vacuum) on Sale for $199.99
    – Merkins x 200 – 34 at each distance

    Four Set – Best Buy – LG 40″ LED TV on Sale for $149.99
    – Alabama Prom Date x 150 – 25 at each distance

    Fifth Set – Amazon – Echo on Sale for $139.99
    – America Hammers x 140 – 24 at each distance

    Sixth Set – Toys R Us – Lifetime Basketball Hoop on Sale for $77.99
    -Jump Squads x 78 – 13 at each distance

    Mosey back to flag

    Numberama/Namorama

    YHC took us out

    Moleskin

    Great showing at the Creek today with most PAX members staying in their fart sacks or being on the road today.

    With today being Black Friday, YHC felt was only fitting to share with the PAX they specials they would be able to find today (these are actual specials at the retail stores for anyone that is interested).

    The final count on the Merkins should be around 300 to 305.

    The Carpenter made a comment it seems that it was smelling like we are still in our fart sacks. No worries it was just some near by septic tanks giving a wonderful aroma in the air.

    At about the halfway point the PAX ask if the Karate Kid could come back. HeHe not allowed.

    Welcome back to Tea Party! Glad that you were able to make it.

    YHC shared at the end how thankful he is for F3. This has truly be a major impact in his life. Thanks to The Carpenter and Abacus for their special F3 work out during Restoration’s Men Retreat back in May. You guys are inspiration to YHC, you have help this once Sad Clown become a leader.

    Thanks also goes out to Emoji, Opus, Lab Rat, and Circle K. YHC has love getting to know you guys in a deeper level. Really has put that 2nd F to work.

    Finally thanks to some of the DogPile guys (Swirly, TYA, Hardywood, and Honey Do). YHC truly looks up to you guys to push himself more and more every gloomy post to become stronger!!

    Announcements

    F3 Expansion – Virginia Beach at Mount Trashmore every Saturday
    F3RVA shirts on sale until today. Get them before time runs out!

    SPIT ON THAT!! 

  • Beware of falling objects

    5 RVA regulars and 1 from CLT – Huntersville posted to RAMM on a foggy and warm morning to jog of some of the Thanksgiving excess.  Temps were 50 degrees at the start.  Same route as last week.

    5 Milers – Commonwealth to Monument, Right on Davis, Right on Cary back to MM.

    6 Milers – Comm to Monument, Right on Allen, Cary back to MM

    NMS – So YHC took Q again at RAMM hoping to put in some extra miles in preparation for Bear Creek.  Unfortunately YHC’s legs were not in agreement with this plan and neither were any of the other PAX interested in some extra miles past the 45 minute timeframe, excluding Sippy who jogs out & back anyways.

    Glad to have Megaphone along for the run. He lived up to his name and made for good company for the 5 miles.  Even Lab Rat said he was chatty.  Hope to you can make it out to Dogpile tomorrow  while you are in town.

    On Monument with the 2 other 5 mile PAX running on one side of the street we heard a loud crash on the other side of the street, right where TYA was running.  Believing he had finally spontaneously combusted we stopped to make sure all was right.  Turns out a large limb had fallen off a tree 50 feet in front of TYA on the sidewalk.  Who knew running on the sidewalk on Monument Ave is more dangerous than the RVA trails.

    Sippy and Saab blew past YHC and Megaphone on Cary and made the 6 miles look easy as usual.

     

     

  • Happy Thanksgiving !

    25 dedicated posted this morning to begin celebrating the Thanksgiving Holiday and here is how we rolled…

    Warm ups : Mossy – SSH, Helicopters, Windmills, Imperial Walkers, Mountain Climbers, LBC’s.

    Partner up : Partner 1 Run the track – Partner 2 Merkins = 500 merkins per team.

    Polar bears : On the line @ the blacktop polar bear to the fence and back. (polar bears are a bear crawl with every 5 steps add a merkin).

    Native American run around the AO to the front bus loop.

    Partner UP/Down Merkins on the curb. Parnter 1 holds partner 2’s feet while partner 2 does a merkin on top of the curb and at bottom. Each partner does 3 sets of 10.

     

    Partner leg toss : 3 sets of 20 each partner.

    Fire Drill : pax member yells out fire while pax is running in place – they hit the ground roll to the right 1 merkin roll to the left 1 merkin back up to shuffle. All the way around the circle.

    Ring of Fire : 10 merkins while pax holds plank position – all the way around the circle.

    Mary: Cross leg lifts, APD’s, Flutter Kicks, Rosalita’s, Freddy Mercury’s, 6 inches, superman.

    Moleskin: YHC was hoping that the pax would want some merkins for Thanksgiving cause that’s what was being served…… Great to see everyone out in the gloom this morning. Think we worked ourselves up a solid appetite – well done guys… Welcome to FNG’s Spackler and Crimson – come back out soon fella’s. Great to have some visitors from Charlotte with us – y’all are welcome anytime it’s a pleasure to have you work out with us.. Special thanks to TYA for taking us out this morning –  as always – very well said my friend! Thanks to Hardywood, Bleeder, and others who helped with coffee after the workout – think we have started us a tradition here boys…  Excellent fellowship after a nice beat down – what better way to start the day…

    YHC’s M is  calling from upstairs that we have to be at the in-laws in an hour so i need to cut this short or I’ll be eating thanksgiving lunch in the shed:)

    Seriously : I’m not sure I could ever express how much this group means to me. I am blessed to be able to say that through F3 I have made some friendships that could not be stronger and will certainly last a life time – I hope you guys know who you are – Swirly loves you.. Thanks F3RVA for allowing me to be part of this group of excellent leaders – for pushing me to continue to make myself better everyday, for laughing and joking, for serious heart felt conversation, for your overall support and encouragement.

    I sleep with on leg out on top of the cover so I can hop out of bed and hall ass to the AO every morning – not just to tackle the day and push myself – but to see you guys and watch you all do the same thing. It’s freaken beautiful man – I love it and I would not trade it for the world.

    Happy Thanksgiving Brothers – see y’all in the gloom….

    Swirly

  • Don’t need no stinkin’ pants

    A PAX of 11 posted on a cool morning in Richmond’s Northside and we tackled the following:

    Start-up COP on school’s sideyard with 25 x Imaginary Jumpropes, Imperial Walkers, and Hillbillies, followed by 15 x Arm Circles, small and big and forwards and reverse.

    Mosey to the front for Black Jack.  Starting at one end of the school gym, Zombie Walk to the opposite end of the gym for 1 Merkin and 20 Box Cutters then backpedal to the start for 2 Merkins and 19 Box Cutters.  Repeat until 20 Merkins and 1 Box Cutter completed.  Al Gore variants until completion by all.

    Jog around the back of the school to the ball court for sprint work – started around 50% effort across the court with a slight increase on the return trip.  Repeat twice more with increased effort.  Final pass at full effort to the soccer goal.

    Initiated four corners variant on the soccer field.  High Knees down the field for 15 Carolina Dry Docks then Bear Crawl around the goal for 20 Squats.  Butt Kickers back down the field for 25 Alabama Prom Dates then Bear Crawl around the second goal for 30 LBCs.  Plank while waiting on completion by all.  Repeat, increasing reps for each exercise by 5.

    Wander to the playground for 5 Pullups followed by 5 Burpees.  Imaginary Jumpropes will waiting on completion by all.  Repeat with 6 of each.

    Return to the ShovelFlag for COT.  Fudd took us out.

    Moleskin and Announcements:

    As YHC approached, the Punisher contingent was gathered in the sub-30 degree morning outside of their cars.  Several arrived without long pants.  Not a problem.  Ronnie admitted to not owning any long pants.

    Fudd provided color commentary for the entire workout.  Apparently no stimulants were involved but YHC overheard Toga may have encouraged Fudd’s mumble-chatter.  Can’t be true.

    Nice work gents.  Announcements:

    Turkey Trot at U of R on Thanksgiving with Fudd offering up some hospitality after – see Fudd.

    F3 t-shirts available via F3 site – f3.mudgear.com

    Hampton Roads F3 rollout continues – Hardywood Q this weekend

    Thanksgiving 1 hour 45MOM starts at 5:30 AM.  Circus Maximus at usual time and for usual duration.

     

  • An ode to Jimmy J

    Three strong mosey into the gloom

    The Thang
    Mosey to the basketball courts
    COP
    10 x Helicopters
    25X SSH
    26x Hillbillies w. Jville hops
    26x LBC
    20x Crab Cakes
    26x Freddie Mercuries
    Mosey around the corner to the bus loop

    Jimmy Johnson
    Ascending number of merkins at each light poll 1-24 in 3 laps.
    Descending flutter kicks at each poll 24-1 in 3 laps
    Total of 48!
    Mosey to the gym entrance

    Triple Check
    BTTW, Plank, run around furthest sign
    Mosey to the flag

    COT

    Moleskin
    YHC learned today that McRib and Rosie both possess highly advanced mathematical skills. Not to mention exceptional athleticism.
    Most of today’s sweat fest took advantage of well-lit and even terrain. YHC is hopeful to advance to more challenging topography in the coming weeks.
    Great work men!

  • It was a bit of a zoo out there

    15 Faithful gathered for a brisk workout at the Carillon

    COP 10x Helicopters, 10x Don Quixote, 20x Imperial Walkers, 8x Sidewinder Merkins (at six inches move body from left to right then back up) 10x Bear Burpee OYO (start in bear crawl  positing and spring forward into a merkin, explode back into bear).

    Mosey to the Rusty Cage for: Orangutans–grab bar and move around cage as far as you can, alternating directions 2x.  Then 3 sets alternating Jerkins (8x) and partner dips on the parallel bars.

    Mosey to the top of love hill for a downhill Ark Loader  with multiple sets of:

    ABCD:  Alligator crawls (straight legs in plank position), Bear Crawls, Crawl Bears, and Dog Crawls (Down Dog position with straight legs)

    Crab walks with 90 degree turns at Q’s call.

    Lunges

    We ended about 2/3 of the way down the hill and moseyed to the bottom

    Partner Carry up the grassy hill.  Alternate when tired.  Balls to the wall at the top.

    Mosey back to the FLAG.

    COT YHC took us out with a prayer of Thanksgiving.

    MOLESKIN

    Great work by the Pax today.  It’s great to see Lola and Ronnie becoming regulars.  Several of the regulars were able to make it all of the way around the cage in the orangutan’s which was impressive!

    YHC decided to try a number of new, experimental exercises today.  The Bear Burpees were surprisingly tough as they require an explosive Merkin to get back into the bear position.  The Alligator Crawls are a real calf-burner.   The hope was to make it all of the way down the hill, but we ran out of time.

    The lack of intense cardio work and the long, long crawl down the hill kept the Pax together and there was a lot of mumblechatter.  I’m not sure who started the Chevy Chase movie quote string, but there were many references.  Feel free to pipe in with clips, etc.

    Announcements

    1 hour workout tomorrow at MM.

    Clown car going to Mt. Trashmore this weekend.  Talk to Hardywood if interested in going.

  • Winter Is Coming….

    12 eager and ready assembled at DaVille for a bitter cold morning. Having received notice the day prior that Abacus was not going to be able to make the Q, YHC stepped in without hesitation. Knowing it was going to be the coldest and driest the PAX had seen this season, YHC devised a workout that would not allow anyone within the PAX to grow cold. Here it is:

     

    The Thang:

    Parking Lot Chasers then Mosey to the front of AHS for COP.

     

    COP

    SSH x 30 IC

    Don Quixote x 25 IC

    Invisible Jump Rope x 20 IC

    Jump Squats x 20

    LBC x 20 IC

    Freddie Mercury x 20 IC

    Merkins x 30 IC

    Typical Arm Circles (10 Small – 5 Large – Reverso) IC

     

    Mosey to CMS track for 4 corners

     

    4 Corners

    Partner up and perform Merkins and Partner Leg tosses at each corner of the track. Beginning and finishing at the same corner, so ultimately 5 sets were achieved.

    Corner 1: 30 Merkins + 10 PLT

    Corner 2: 25 Merkins + 15 PLT

    Corner 3: 20 Merkins + 20 PLT

    Corner 4: 15 Merkins + 25 PLT

    Return to Corner 1: 10 Merkins + 30 PLT

     

    Mosey to Pull-up Bars for Elevens.

     

    Elevens: Pull ups and Burpees

    Alternate Pull ups and Burpees while beginning with 1 Pull up, run the back stretch of the track, then perform 10 Burpees, then return back to the pull up bars for the next set. Add a pull up and subtract a burpee each set until the final set is 10 pull ups and 1 burpee.

     

    ****Not all sets were completed as time was limited****

     

    Indian run back to flag for Numberama, Namarama, & Announcements.

    The Carpenter took us out.

  • Since its cold, we’ll just have to run faster…

    4 gathered at UofR on a (very) frigid morning to take on various hills in and around the campus and surrounding neighborhood.  Total distance was between 5 and 6 miles – coupled by some obligatory merkins in the beginning and end.

    Moleskin:

    With TYA off running a 20 miler in the mountains with Lab Rat, Marv in the Bahamas, and other regulars among the missing, it was a fairly light crew but we made the best of it.  Since Swirly was elsewhere (No Toll), YHC took it upon himself to crank out some solo merkins – many of which were performed in the comfort of the Student Commons.  Other than that, it was great to be running along with Sippy again and catching up on things.  Through this, YHC learned that Marv is currently in the Bahamas with the VCU Rams.  Assuming Marv will post some runs down there, let’s hope he experiences some weather in the low 70’s, so he can (almost) know what we are going through up here.

    BackBay and TwoCan did a great job today.  We stayed together as a pack and knocked out some really good hills.  YHC first wondered why he didn’t encounter Seal Team anywhere on the campus, but then he remembered that the temperature was below 35.

    The COT was brief considering the loss of feeling in various extremities.

    Saab abides