Category: Richmond, VA

  • Return of Fall Weather

    10 strong and eager runners posted on a glorious Wednesday afternoon for a few hills.

    The Thang:

    Hillcrest loop…Charmian extension – choose the number of loops

    NMM:

    Only two weeks left until the BRR, one more Wednesday hill run. Pax all seem to be ready to roll. Weather is starting to help us on the training front. It was 85 degrees and low humidity for the run, and it was nice to finish a run without looking like I had taken a swim in the river. Swirly has so much energy around the BRR, that I am afraid he might start running towards Asheville starting Saturday.

    Bleeder posted for the pre-run hoping to get a look at TYA’s new toy (the toy was not on site, but Bleeder did manage to crash the toy within 2 minutes of operating it, this morning). One of Bleeder’s best friends stopped by during his bike training on Hillcrest. Bleeder has been trying to get this guy out to F3 for 2 years now. Now that he met a few of us and saw what we had to offer, I am not sure if he is more or less likely to post.

    The PAX headed to ET’s post workout. Issues continue with the service and the services at the bar. The normal non-existent staff was not there, plus the beer tap was out of commission. This did not stop the F3 crew. The crew just bought some bottled beer onsite and poured a few on the patio outside. Lab Rat continues to be a regular on Wednesday night. No, he doesn’t run on Wednesday’s, he just posts for the post race activities. I am a little worried that he might miss the running portion of the BRR and just show up at the post race house for the party. Only time will tell.

    A couple of classic highlights at Ellwoods. 1) Saab who was trying to track down Aisle 5 in the store, turned the corner at Ellwoods and yelled “Aisle 5″….lots of confused looks from the patrons and a bit of self consciousness from Saab 2) The naming of the new Monday morning run at Atlee (first non official run was this Monday). Lab Rat threw out the text stream he and Abacus were having, then suggested some pretty lame alternatives. He redeemed himself at the end coming up with “Tomato run” since its in Hanover…. 3) Aisle 5 drinking some Cabernet with the the rest of the boys chugging beers. YHC does not understand why he finds this so funny, but I do.

    TYA Out

    Next Wednesdays run followed by some food and beers at my house with a special showing of the Barkley’s Marathons

  • The Boys of Fall

    21 Gridiron Warriors posted for a two-a-day style 45MOM smashmouth beatdown.  Swirly planted the flag and EF took the snap.  Here’s how it went down.

    The THANG

    Mosey to the futbol field for warmup COP

    COP

    • SSH x DeAngelo Hall (23)
    • Russian Soldiers x Josh Norman (24)
    • Monkey Humpers x Bashaud Breeland (26)
    • Dollys x Duke Ihenacho (29)
    • Arm Circles x Kirk Cousins (8)
    • Merkins to failure – elbow plank, repeato

    Agility Drills

    • High Knees (Over and Back on 1, SET HUT!)
    • Crossovers
    • Karaokes
    • Drop Step Crossovers
    • Backpedals
    • Bearcrawl (halfway, roll, sprint)
    • Sprints

    Position Drills (5 mins each)

    • RBs (Partner Carries)
    • Linemen (Plank Rolls)
    • WRs (Pattern Tree – Hook, 10 and Out, Post, Fly)

    Bull in the Ring (F3 Style – Grassdrill Burpee Shuffle)

    Homecoming Suite

    • APDs x Matt Jones (31)
    • Pickle Pounders x Colt McCoy (16)

    Take a Lap and Mosey back to shovel flag

    MOLESKIN

    Every year around this time YHC drives by one of the local high schools and sees the team out going through the same drills YHC did about 18 years ago and boy does it take YHC back.  Those that really know YHC, know how much YHC lives for football.  YHC would do just about anything to go back, put the pads on, and go to war one more time.  There’s nothing quite like the Friday Night Lights (except maybe Saturday and Sunday for the lucky few).  The video included perfectly summarizes what football meant to YHC as a kid.  Anyone else get goosebumps watching that?

    The PAX seemed quite amused by YHC’s choice of shirts this morning.  Some debated whether YHC was heading straight for the golf course, some wondered if YHC was just planning to skip the showers and head straight to the office, while some thought YHC was just a plain weirdo.  As the beatdown unfolded, the PAX began to catch on and it made much more sense as the darkness of the gloom lifted and the workout ended.  YHC was sporting an original 1980s W&L HS coach’s polo worn by YHC’s own head coach Lee Sterner circa 1995.  YHC opted out of the old BIKE shorts.  The PAX was also baffled trying to figure out the basis for YHC’s COP counts. Prime numbers, really?  Nothing as cool as that, just your Washington Redskins starting DBs and Captain Kirk.

    As the PAX broke out into position groups it became clear that YHC better get his head back in the playbook as he totally drew a blank trying to deliver the assignment for the 4th position group  (Linebackers FWIW) and could not read his Chris Weinke in the gloom.  Perhaps YHC has a little bit of CTE.  Perhaps YHC has a little bit of CTE.  Wait, where the hell am I?

    If any of the PAX really wants to smash some heads Swirly and the kids at his park are down for a game of Smear the …..

    Men, thanks for coming out and indulging YHC.  Hopefully you all walk away today feeling like a 16 year old boy, check better man.  It was a privilege to step out front and lead once again.

    COT – 1-2-3 F3!

    ANNOUNCEMENTS

    Run next Wednesday then refreshments at TYA’s plus a screening of The Barkley Marathon

    Wear your flannel to Dogpile on Saturday as HoneyDo pays tribute to Grunge.  Sorry to have to miss though YHC is more of a Hair Band guy anyway.

    If you need access to F3 Nation and group communications text F3RVA to 97000.  Is that right Hardywood?  Charges may apply.

    Rugged Maniac on October 1 at Virginia Motorsports Park if anyone wants to join YHC.

  • Battling low energy at CM

    5 faithful posted to Circus Maximus on what seemed to be collectively 20 hours of sleep to toss around a kettlebell rather than a pillow. Here is how it went down:

    1 Lap around loop Waiter carry. COP – SSH, Merkins, DQs, Flutterkicks, KB Crab Cakes, 25 Swings

    Mosey to curb – 10 Jump ups w/ KB, Lunges, 20 HaLos R, repeato x4 alternating Halo side.

    Mosey to grass – Situp press escalator up to 10. 2 sets Clean press and 1 arm swing, each arm twice. 2 sets Figure 8s. KB Russian Twists. 10 more KB Crab Cakes.

    Lawnmowers and cleans x2. Back to grass for 1 more set of Situp escalators to 10, Mary of- Hello dollys, Freddy Mercurys, LBCs.

    COT , Atilla took us out.

    NMS – Apparently YHC was not the only one who got little sleep last night. Before the beatdown Atilla and Jville shared they were both running on fumes. Once the PAX got moving everyone woke up.

    Having tried KB Alabama Prom Dates on YHC’s original CM Q the next logical normal exercise to try with the KB was Crab Cakes. This was met with mixed results for the PAX.

    Mumblechatter was light and consisted mostly around the lack of attendance by Earthworm. Sounds like he has a lot going on at work, but YHC thinks he was wary of excessive Lunges possibly being on YHC’s Weinke. Instead of lunges the PAX got their fair share of another Earthworm favorite the Situp Press Escalator, doing that up to 10 twice got the PAX grunting. Nice work by all and good to see Flip Phone out at CM.

    Announcements- Bring your KB, ropes, etc. To Gridiron this sat. And at Dogpile be sure to wear a flannel shirt, and any other Grunge related attire.

    Honeydo Out.

     

  • Do You Even Lift Bro?

    9 brave and fearless men toed the line for the race we call life at W Dog this fine and beautiful morning.

    The thang:

    COP  – 20 X SSH, Imperial Walker, LBC, Freddy Mercury, +10 Merkin.  Homage paid to Gnarly Goat.

    Polar Bears – From the half field mark to the flower pots

    Kings Watching Soldiers – Four rounds with a partner.  One partner sit on the throne (sitting position with back against the wall) against the Carillon while the other partner runs to the flower pots and performs 15 WWII Sit Ups, then switcheroo.

    1030 – Mosey up to the top of the stairs.  Perform 10 dips and 30 merkins.  Next round perform 15 dips and 25 merkins, etc. until you are at 30 dips and 10 merkins.

    10 To 1 – Mosey to pull up station.  Perform 10 knees to elbows and 1 burpee.  Next round perform 9 knees to elbows and 2 merkins, etc. until you are at 1 KTE and 10 burpees.

    Mosey to amphitheater and complete 10 American Hammers on each step till YHC says stop.

    Mosey back to the flag.

    COT – Numberama, namerama and Viral graciously lead us out.

    Moleskin:

    Last week Swirly mentioned that when he leads a workout, he tries to do things that may not be in his core skillset (just yet).  Most of the workouts I have had the fortune of leading have involved lots of running.  Today, the running was minimal and the workload was maximal!  I haven’t heard that much grunting since I went to the National Zoo during gorilla mating season.  It was loud enough that Viral was able to find our group in complete darkness as he arrived after taking M Viral’s dad to the airport.

    In other news Flipper found out what a Merkin is and his response is so far it’s the best thing that has happened in 2016.

    Solid work today fellas.  You guys are warriors.  Hope to see some of you out tonight at Hillcrest!

    Cheers,

    Hardywood

  • Hillcrest it is

    Wednesday run is at Hillcrest, 530 pm, this and one more before the BRR.

    See you there.

  • DaVille’s parking lot lights work before 6 AM!

    What a great feeling morning in DaVille.  With temperatures in the 60s and the parking lot lights on, the atmosphere was perfect for 12 men to end the workout with a Tabata beatdown.  Here is what we did:

    COP:

    • SSH  x 15
    • Don Quixote  x 15
    • Arm Circles x10 little, x5 big, Reverso
    • Merkins x10
    • LBC x 20

    The Thang

    • Partner Suicides:  The first partner sprints to and from the first cone.  The second partner then does the same.  Each partner will run to and from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, then 3rd, 2nd and 1st cones.  Plank when complete.  Repeated with exception of counting down at the end.
    • Mosey to the school
    • 8 minute variety set:  10 Donkey Kicks followed by 10 Jumping Lunges.  Jog about 20 feet.  10 Hand to Elbow Merkins followed by 20 Mountain Climbers.  Bear Crawl to begin the circuit again with Donkey Kicks.  Do this for 8 total minutes.
    • Mosey back to field
    • 3 Sets of Tabata  (All had 8 Cycles for total of 4 minutes per set)
      • Set 1 – Alternate – cycle of Tuck Jumps followed by cycle of Angled Knee Jumps.
      • Set 2 – Merkins – For first 4 cycles, hands should be close and spread them each cycle until you are doing a wide grip Merkin by the 4th cycle.  Repeat.
      • Set 3 – Alternate – cycle of Burpies and a cycle of Friddie Mercuries.
    • Mosey back to Shovel Flag

    NMS

    In planning for his VQ, YHC had two huge concerns.

    1.  How dark it was the prior week because LabRat got lost while leading the PAX through the back of the campus.

    2.  What are the F3 names for many of the exercises YHC plans to do?

    Anticipating it being extremely dark on the Atlee campus, YHC arrived at 5 AM with cones and flashlights to set up the Suicide course.  What a pleasant surprise that the parking lot lights had been turned on by 5 AM throughout the campus.  This made YHC not worry too much about concern #2.

    While determining the exercises for the 8 minute variety set, YHC remembered what LabRat had told him about Qing:  Do a few exercises that you are good at and a few that you suck at.  The two YHC sucks at were Donkey Kicks and Bear Crawls.  Those two exercises gave the appearance that 8 minutes seemed much longer as pointed out by Sticky.

    Tabata was new to most of the PAX.  During the Merkin set, Circle K reminded YHC that people had to work that day.  YHC may have forgotten that detail since he was off.

    It was a pleasure leading this great group of men this morning.

    Announcements:

    • ReeseStrong 5K is September 17.  F3 team is currently in 3rd place.  Great job.  F3 will set up a tent.  For questions, see LabRat or Phonics.  The website is http://www.reesestrong.org/reesestrong-5k/.
    • DaVille now has a Facebook Messenger group with F3 nicknames.  This is a good way those who workout at DaVille to communicate with each other.
    • A run is going to be added on Mondays.  We will meet up at Atlee High School.  LabRat will set this up.
    • Saturday at Dogpile, wear a flannel shirt.  It is the 25th anniversary of Smells Like Teen Spirit.
    • For those that have yet to sign up to F3, we have a much simpler process now. Text F3RVA to 97000, process takes about a minute. That’s it! This will put you in the database, which will allow you to contribute to back blasts. Also, we will have emergency contact info in case something happens at a workout.

    Spike took us out.

  • No Love for the Haters

    15 strong men gathered on a seasonably cool morning at Huguenot Park. The celebratory beatdown went something like this…

    THANG

    COP: 40 SSH, 40 LBCs

    Mosey to Soccer Parking Lots

    40 x 4: 40 lunge strides then run around square parking lot…TD Al Gore when done. Repeat 4 times.

    Mosey to benches

    Forty (Lindsay): Box Jumps & Muscle Ups

    Circle up on field

    Double Tabatta: 40 on, 20 off (alternating between Imperial Squat Walkers & Box Cutters)

    Line up at end of field

    Abbreviated Beast: 4 stations per half, 5 reps…for a total of 40 reps
    1 set: Merkins

    Circle up quickly

    4 minutes of burpees: try to do 10 per minute for a total of 40

    Mosey back to VSF

    COT

    Johnsonville took us out.

    Naked Moleskin:

    YHC turned 40 yesterday and tried to incorporate as many things “40” as possible, coming just shy of passing out banana chips and listening to U2’s Forty.

    The Forty/Lindsay was in honor of Toga.

    Not much rest today…the PAX was strong…must have been the weather

    YHC found $25 cash money on the fields during the Beast. Not being claimed by a member of the PAX, the coffeteria that followed was courtesy of the poor soul who is missing $25. Good fellowship and outdoor seating! Cheers for that.

    No more hate…finally time to coexist.

    Cheers to Shawshank for working out with F3 RVA this summer while home from VMI. Good luck next year! You’re always welcome to join us whenever you’re back in town. Take Flipper up on his offer to buy you a bottle of Merlot.

    Announcements:

    BRR meeting @ TYA’s house after the Aug 31 Hill Run

    Grid Iron this saturday: bring kettlebells, jump ropes, medicine balls and 2.0’s

  • Fall is in the Air

    Fall was in the air this morning as cooler weather prevailed.  The kids are back at UR signaling the end of summer and the return to collegiate life.  We tackled the Westham 4 miler loop leading us along the parkway, down by the canal, and home along the overgrown road by CCV.  The Pax added on distance, either by hill or lake, ‘til 6:15.

    It was good to see almost all of the Pax travel to and from the AO for extra mileage.  Getting BRR tough.

    Marv took us out, in an excellent fashion as always.

  • Footloose VQ at Batteau

    This morning 5 faithfuls took a plunge into the dark abyss of Batteau to kick off our Sunday shoes and cure our Monday blues with a VQ beatdown from YHC.

    The Thang

    Mosey to bottom of stairs/hill

    COP

    SSH, Imperial Walkers, Don Quixote, LBCs, Flutter Kicks, Merkins

    Railroad Tracks

    Pax forms a line, then one member runs out five yards and goes into low plank, 2nd follows by jumping over first ‘track’ and then going 5 yards further to low plank. Each other Pax member follows suit. This process continued to the 5th light post around the pond.

    Ascending Burpees

    From the 6th light post, each PAX member performs 3 Burpees and run to next light post adding an additional burped at each lamp post then stopping at the bridge

    Dora 123

    100 Merkins
    200 LBCs
    300 Squats

    Other partner runs to 3rd light post and back

    Native American Runs up hill of ill regret (audibled half way up to OYO)

    Modified Eleven Curb Crawl

    BC to 1 side do 10 derkins
    CW to opposing side do 1 Dip
    proceed until you get to 1 derkin and 10 dips

    Wheel of Merkin

    Mosey to Flag

    Mary – dealer’s choice core work

    Freddie Mercury x 20 (Hardywood)
    Flutter Kicks x 20 (Slurpee)
    Alternating Leg Lifts X 20 (Swirly)
    Alabama Prom Dates x 20 (Flipper)

    Numberama, Name o Rama, No Announcements

    YHC took us out

    Moleskin

    Last night I noticed that there was an opening for the Q at Batteau, and since I had already planned to attend, I decided I should make this my VQ. Even though it was fairly last minute, I wanted to make sure that I had a decent plan in place.   So I worked last night to layout my approach and exercises for the workout. Unbeknownst to me that in the midst of my planning I neglected to set an alarm, and thus this VQ almost never happened. Thankfully, my son (who is 4 and couldn’t sleep) woke me up at 0440 to crawl in our bed.  Luckily, just in time for me to awake from dreaming about burpees and bear crawls and get out and do some.

    The weather was almost perfect and we used as much of the AO as time allowed. It was an absolute pleasure to take the Q and lead the PAX today. I must admit that all of the running almost did me in this morning. In hindsight, maybe the native American runs up the hill of ill regret was not such a good idea or even the bear crawls and crab walks that followed. But that is what is so great about F3. Each morning you get to go out and find out what you are made of, and use the opportunity to seek out our own physical boundaries, and get better.

    See you all in the gloom.

    KB

  • Minus one, minus three, plus 1, minus 1, plus a cameo appearance

    Ten pax showed up this morning, in what turned out to be a very lucid group.

    ROUTE:  North Bank to Belle Isle to the top of Belle Isle, then over and home on Buttermilk.  Q’s gps watch came in around 7.4.  Wilson’s phone reported 12 miles and change.  Reader can decide which is closest to true.

    NMS:

    • With the humidity still lingering, and watching two of our regulars overheat over the last week, going long didnt seem to be prudent.  The plan was initially to stretch out 11 miles and do the full monty, which got cut back to full loop plus Belle Isle hill.  With the oppressing heat and humidity looming large on the first couple miles, the Q threw in the towel and decided the same loop from last week would be the safe bet.  YHC received no arguments, so it must have been the right call.
    • TYA surprised everyone and provided YHC a welcome distraction from his unpreparedness by showing up in jeans and a golf shirt.  Turns out he was still feeling affects from Friday’s run and smartly decided running would do more harm than good at this point.  He did drop off TSB, who we have been missing while she was out nursing a sore ankle.
    • Lab Rat should not Q, as he is never ready to go and always seems to have issues.  He could not get the Jerusalem Cruisers adjusted properly, and suffered for it this morning.
    • Circle K took off on his own route on the bike this morning, quickly followed by Conspiracy, who was next to leave the group.  Our first planned stop of the morning brought us to Buttermilk trailhead, where we lost TSB (planned pick up by TYA) and Trophy (fighting thru a cold).  The pax also gained one member, when we invited FNGal Brooke to join us on our last leg.  She gladly accepted, and pulled Offshore and Saab along on a blistering pace for a couple miles.  She then bailed out on one of the switchbacks citing the need to be headed back to the house.
    • As pax was leaving to head over to ET’s, we spotted Hardywood.  He was in his usual bright eyed and bushy tailed mood, despite being 15 miles deep into a run that went God knows how long.  That gave Saab and YHC fodder for conversation on how anybody could be that perpetually chipper…..we are envious!
    • ET’s with the guys and TSB, as usual, was entertaining.

    Lab Rat out.