Category: Richmond, VA

  • We are not alone!

    Well maybe Chum Bucket is alone, but there were ten at NoToll who were ready to get after it.  Here’s how it went down:

    Mosey to main lot of COP and disclaimer:  Mtn Climbers, Don Quixote, Merkins, Hillbillies

    Mosey to first field for something like a Crossfit WOD called Kelly:  Run a lap, 30x box/bleacher jumps, 30x muscle ups, ab fun and repeato x5.

    Mosey back to flag for 5 minutes of Mary

    NMM:  First, YHC was a bit concerned after reading the backblasts that it would be lonely at NoToll and going through the Kelly (you actually do wall ball shots instead of the muscle ups, but who has 10, 20lb medicine balls?) by yourself did not sound like fun.  This concern led to the need to find just the right My Morning Jacket track while driving by UR.  YHC almost took out a Spider Run participant, but maybe he needed to get to NoToll to work on those soccer arms?

    YHC didn’t let the PAX know how many rounds there might be, but I honestly didn’t hear any complaints till the end when Rosie questioned my creativity.  The PAX got after it, and there were strong performances all around.  Rosie kept up a strong lead with he and Honey Do finishing the jumps and MUs together.  Mr Roper (terrific F3 name) and FlashDance were grinding out the reps.  Oyster was egged into trying to beat Rosie back to the flag (it was close), and Hyena cruised in with a smile on his face.  Well done all!

    Announcements:

    • 2nd F Event Friday 1730 at The Answer- Pre Convergence chance to hang with Gnarly Goat
    • CONVERGENCE 0700 Saturday, DogPile with GROW school led by Gnarly Goat at ET’s immediately following the workout
    • BRR is oh so soon
    • 9/17 F3 team at Reese Strong 5k: http://www.reesestrong.org/reesestrong-5k/
    • 9/24 F3 Team at Spartan, see Toga or just signup
    • See Flashdance if interested in Festy run, early Oct.

    Stay Classy,

    Toga

    PS:  You may want to check this out.., it could come in handy very soon:

  • Grandmother Run

    9 fleet footed warriors posted for a Tuesday Spider run. Weather was 70 and sunny.

    The Thang:

    Down the hill to the path that follows CCV. Follow the path until the end and head across the Huguenot bridge. Take Riverside drive west until it hits Cherokee. Turn back around and head back to the shovel flag following the same route.

    NMM:

    This was the second time YHC did this route. The first time I got terribly lost coming back. Today, I carefully watched the first several turns to make sure I knew the route, fortunately, I got it right this time. Pucker was the only one that had a little difficulty with the assigned route. When he hit Cherokee, he thought we were supposed to run down Cherokee and back along Huguenot road. Fortunately, Seymour rescued Pucker and they came back following the right route. Upon reflection of Pucker’s misinterpretation of the route, I got more confused. He must have been really baffled when he saw the faster PAX doubling back after hitting the top of the hill at Cherokee?

    All the PAX had a interesting interaction with one of the bikers out for an early morning ride. The biker felt compelled to tell each and every one of us that a black outfit in the AM was not appropriate. From what I heard, we all let him know that we appreciated the advice and feedback and moved on to our days.

    Great to see Sippy back out at the run this morning. He tweaked this knee two fridays ago on RAMM. He was nursing it a little today, but looked strong as usual. YHC and several other PAX learned that Sippy nursing an injury is better than us at our full strength.

    Welcome to Zima. He posted today for the first time to F3 on advice from his brother in Raleigh. I’m not sure he knew today was a run, but he easily went along with the group. Zima is a cofounder of Hardywood brewery, so Marv quickly chimed in with three suggested names: Schlitz, Zima, and Bartles and James. He asked for his advice/preference and Zima was born. After the workout, I asked Zima for his email address/etc. He gave me one of his business cards. As a result, I learned a new word. Lima is a certified Cicerone. I honestly had no idea there was such a thing as a Cicerone, never mind that one could be certified in it. The good news is that F3 RVA now has a certified Cicerone in its ranks. Lab Rat, you will have to bring some of your home brew for the Cicerone to sample.

    Announcements

    Convergence on Saturday at 7am at Dogpile, Coffeetaria at Ellwoods post workout.

  • It Takes Two to Tango !

    Two faithful hit Batteau this morning and here is how it went down..

    Warm up : 20 SSH, 10 Windmills, 10 Helicopters, 10 Imperial Walkers. 10 Arm Circles

    Bench work:  Dips on the bench while partner runs to the tree – repeat 3 times – switch to sit ups on bench – run to tree – repeat 3 times.

    Curb Crawl : Bear crawl to the curb incline merkin crawl bear back decline merkin 1-5 and back down to 1.

    Tennis Courts : 4 corners – 20 merkins – 20 – 2 count American Hammers – 2- Carolina Drydocks – 20 pole smokers… Repeat 4 times ..

    Steps: Incline merkins while partner runs up to the top of the hill – repeat 3 times.

    Find a tree : run to 5 trees while partner does WW11 situps

    Mary : 10 cross leg lifts each leg – 15 APD’s, 20 Flutter Kicks, 25 LBC’s

    YHC was sure glad to see Fudd rolling in this morning because a  lone wolf work out is never as good as when you have a partner or partners.. It takes two to Tango and we Tangoed in the gloom as you can tell from the description above..  Way to push it Fudd enjoyed it brother. Have a good trip to the RIVA this week ..

    See y’all in the gloom..

     

  • River Downs Roller Coaster Part Deux

    5 stalwarts escaped the fart sack this Monday morning and attacked the day with a roller coaster of a run.  It was great to get Aisle 5 out to River Run for the first time – we hope to see him back again soon as he continues to log the miles.

    YHC has been fartsacking and basking in the rays of the sun for the last two weeks on vacation – with a few workouts mixed in but certainly not maintaining my pre-vacation routine, so what better way to jump back into the saddle then to sign up to Q the first day back.  It was great to be back with the F3 brothers and enjoy a run in the August humidity.

    The route was an out and back of about 4.86 miles with two significant hills to provide the ups and downs of the roller coaster ride.  Per onthegomap.com, 440ft of gain and 437 feet of loss along the way — http://goo.gl/7aYd0y

    Though, I think Rosie probably got closer to 6 as he smoked the PAX out and doubled back a couple times.  And, Aisle 5 nearly took flight coming down the Queens Grant hill on the way back to the flag.

    COT and YHC took us out.

    Way to work this morning fellas.  Those hills aren’t easy and hitting the reverse button at the halfway point and attacking the steep hill is always difficult.  It was a pleasure to be back in the fold and an honor as always to lead such a fine group.

    No more Gumbo for you!

  • Fourth planet from the Sun

    PAX of 1 for this morning’s offering of The Punisher.  No matter, it went down like this:

    Mosey to the sideyard for Seal Jacks x 20, Imperial Walkers x 20, Four Count Leg Kicks x 10 each side, Arm Lifts x 20

    Jog around front for, along the width of the school gym, High Knees down and back x 2, Butt Kickers down and back x 2, Half sprint down and back x 2.  Down and Bear Crawl down, Crab Walk back, Bunny Hop down, and Duck Walk back.

    Head to the bus loop for Curb Crawl variant. Bear Crawl across for 1 Incline Merkin, flip, and 1 Decline Merkin.  Back across for 2 of each and continue until 5 of each completed.

    Jog around the bus loop around the back of the school for Jenny – 86 Alabama Prom Dates, 75 Merkins, 30 Step Behinds, and 9 Burpees followed by a quick loop around the trees and back.  Another round with 86 Leg Circles (like Box Cutters but circles), 75 Carolina Dry Docks, 30 Four Count Squats, and 9 Burpees.

    Stroll to the outdoor pavilion for Lindsays – 30 Dips and 10 Two Count Flutter Kicks then 25 and 15 and adjusting by 5 until 10 and 30 are done.

    Mosey around western perimeter of AO and back to the ShovelFlag.

    ‘Skin:

    What is the singular for PAX?

    Spoiler Alert-

    Some comparisons with The Martian – the novel and movie (collectively, the “story”).

    An astronaut is left for dead on Mars when a mission is cut short by a storm.  The astronaut awakes to find his mission mates have left him behind and he needs to improvise to survive.

    OK, the only parallel is YHC was solo this morning.  The Punisher AO, in fact, offers the following advantages over Mars:  1) Oxygen – while scarce on Mars is plentiful at Linwood Holton Elementary; 2) Water – the “mission” this morning wasn’t long enough to require water, but last night’s rain left it all over the ground – again plentiful; and, 3) Proximity – the AO is about 20 minutes from anywhere in Richmond while a manned-mission to Mars takes years to arrive.

    After some discussions with several F3 brothers, we’ll keep The Punisher at 5:30 AM on Monday mornings with the expectation that the workout numbers will grow again in the Fall once vacations end.

     

  • Minority Report

    Four GridIron regulars, including our good friend PigSkin from F3 Charlotte, gathered at the appointed time for a workout that went, sort of, like the following:

    Thang:

    x25 SSHs IC
    x25 IWs IC

    EMOM 10 (PAX together):
    x20 Merkins (odd minutes)
    x20 Pole Smokers (even minutes)

    Partnered up for KB Farmer’s Carry and Mosey to Pillars Bus Loop

    EMOM 10 (PAX split squads):
    x3 – x5 Burpees and x20 CDDs
    Mosey to bars for x5 Elbows to Knees

    x25 KB Pullover and Press
    x25 APDs
    x25 KB Pullover and Press
    x25 APDs

    Partnered back up for Farmer’s Carry and Mosey to Pavilion

    True Grid:
    x1 Burpee
    x10 Step Ups
    x2 Burpees
    x20 KB American Swings/x20 Air Squats
    x3 Burpees
    x30 Alternating Lunges
    x4 Burpees

    Mary
    x25 APDs
    x10 WWII Sit-ups with KB Press
    x25 Ab exercise of choice

    Random KB exercises, including Halos and Snatches

    COT:

    Counterama and Namearama.

    Announcements, including Convergence at DogPile at 0700 next Saturday followed by Grow School; Atilla will try to “cover Q” the GridIron.

    Travel blessings for PigSkin as he heads home today and for J’Ville on his epic Odyssey; expressions of ongoing concern for White Deer as he recovers and for Toga’s father and those who minister to him; and unspoken needs and concerns.

    Prayer by YHC.

    Moleskin:

    Usually the Cricketeers look strangely upon the PAX as we do our Thang once we approach the diamonds located at the back of the school. A new addition, today, were the Volleyballers posting for some early beach-style play. The big surprise, though, was that the Volleyballers swelled in numbers from about 10 at 0655 to 50+ when the PAX arrived back at the Pavilion for the True Grid and Mary. We need to re-double our EHing on this group – clearly Top Five EH Excuse No. 3 is not an issue here; choice of footwear may be.

    Strong efforts by the Pax today – sweat stain replicas of F3 marks were observed in several of the PAX deadpools. The KB Farmer’s Carries were a welcome wrinkle to the moseying.

    Coffeeteria of two this morning – small numbers, big fellowship.

    Psalm 116

  • Rosie introduces another lady

    14 faithful rolled into Dogwood Dell for a cool summer beatdown.  YHC hasn’t had the Q at Dogpile in a while so there were a lot of things to do plus a look at the exercise list have me some ideas too.

    THANG

    Mosey to the first Circle for COP

    10 Abe Vigodas-  1 burpee

    20 Seal Jacks – 2 burpees

    15 arm circles foward/Reverse sobriety style – 3 burpees

    20 Hillbillies with optional Jville hop – 4 burpees

    15 dancing chilcutts – 5 burpees

    Mosey to the pull up bars for a modified Cindy – 5 pull ups/10 merkins/15 squats repeato until Q says stop.   10 minutes today

    Mosey down the pipeline.  Partner up for a couple pipeline runs.   Round 1 break dancers until your partner gets back,  round 2 captain Thor until your partner returns.   

    Mosey to Hate Hill.  Audibles needed here for time,  exercises ended up as inch worms, duck walk,  russian soldiers.

    Mosey to amphitheater.  Makthar N’diaye for the 6.  4 step ups alternating legs to the top.

    Flutter kicks x 20, dollies x 25

    Back to the flag.

    COT, Wilson took us out.

     

    NMS

    The PAX was strong today with maximum mumblechatter directed toward Cindy.  Apparently the ladies YHC introduces to the PAX are not well liked: Sally, Nicole and now Cindy.  Knowing that I am sure they will make a return visit at some point.  Upchuck and Honeydo were pounding out the pull ups while discussing their dislike of Cindy whether she had a connection to YHC or not.  Cindy is a full 20 min under the official list but YHC had to many other things planned to do that. 

    Break dancers made their way back into a Q after being introduced by Sippy some months ago.  Also the real Captain Thor with escalating 1:4 counts.   YHC enjoys that pipeline loop but pushed a little hard trying to catch up with the PAX.

    The original plan called for an animal kingdom Hate Hill but audibles were needed to speed our way up the hill to get to the amphitheater.  

    Singlet continues to post and crush it despite being on the road 5 days a week.  Keep pushing brother, you know you are getting stronger.

    The Carpenter posted after an excellent VQ on Tuesday at Daville.  We discussed the lack of sleep and adrenaline rush you get when Q.  Especially the VQ.  I expect a few more of the Daville men will be picking up Q’s once they get a few more workouts under their belt.

    2nd F at ETs was great as always with a Starsky from TYA.

    Great job today men a pleasure to lead such a good group.

    Until next time.

    Rosie.

  • Slightly South of Broad

    16 Runners and 2 Bikers showed up to cover some miles.  Relatively cool and slightly misty weather was a welcome relief to the heat and humidity of recent days.

    The Thang:
    East on Grove to Malvern.  North on Malvern to Broad.  West on Broad and take a left on Willow Lawn Drive.

    4 milers come back on Monument to Commonwealth.  5 and 6 milers continue on to Patterson west bound and 5s take Granite to Grove and 6s take Maple to Grove to come home.  6s finish up with a victory lap around the school for precise mileage.

    YHC took us out.

    NMS:
    YHC wanted to go into new uncharted territory this morning and Broad Street did not disappoint.  Bright lights and early morning bus commuters in contrast to the somewhat desolate roads we normally traverse offered some degree of liveliness.

    It was a pleasure running some with TYA and Wilson.  After passing many shop windows on Broad St, I believe YHC uncovered another of Wilson’s phobias perhaps originating from the not-so-classic movie Mannequin.

    Lifoing Fudd and Circle K swear they had an Oyster citing as they were catching up to the Pax.  Perhaps they startled an unaware neighbor out for a morning run.  Oyster, were you out there?

  • Pre Blast- 2nd F at The Answer Brewpub Friday, 8/5 530-Until

    Toga here.  Remember this pre blast for the Saturday 8/6 0700 Convergence and subsequent Grow School?                           Pre Blast- Saturday, 8/6 Convergence and Grow School                    

    Well here is the prequel to that event.  We’re having a special 2nd F event to meet with Gnarly Goat and maybe get some insight into what he’s got planned for Saturday morning.  We’ll meet at The Answer Brewpub at 530 and stay until…

    I look forward to seeing lots of you there!

    The Answer, 6008 W Broad St Richmond, Virginia (804) 282-1248

     

  • Afternoon swim

    The Thang and NMM:

    7 Redwoods posted for an afternoon run around Hillcrest. Weather was 70 and sunny, 0% humidity. Perfect weather for a run in the early afternoon.

    We did the Hillcrest loop, Q asked for 6 repetitions. Saab completed 8, Splinter 6 with an excursion onto some new territory, Swirly 6 with run up the Charmian Hill, 6 for DK, Circle K, and TYA and 4 for a Lifoing Lockjaw. Upon finishing the run we had some post run water and watermelon at the top of the hill. 2nd F ensued at TYA’s crib post run. A few observations:

    1. Despite the low humidity, we all looked like we had taken a dip in the river mid run. We were all soaking wet.

    2. DK packs heavy at all times. He had a dinner with a pal afterward. He brought a backpack with a change of clothes that would have crippled most Sherpas!

    3. TYA jettisoned his shirt on the third loop because it weighed about 20 pounds. I got lighter and whiter instantly. Apologies to the PAX and neighbors were given

    4. Circle K was deer hunting on his way around the loop. Wildlife as always was in abundance on the run. YHC does not have a keen hunting eye, so circle K helps me avoid the wildlife, but I did come face to face with one of our friends

    5. Splinter was out of commission for a couple weeks because of an old man problem (back problem from tying his shoes) Despite layoff, he was out in front with Saab for the first three laps

    6. I never saw Lockjaw on the loop, he just appeared at the top of hillcrest when I finished. Post workout I confirmed with others that LJ had indeed run some laps

    7. Saab is still trying to figure out when the BRR is. He has it on his calendar along with the Cloudsplitter but I think his calendar may be a bit different from the traditional one we all use.

    TYA OUT