Many successfully completed the 5000 merkin challenge in November. That was some good work, but November is now behind us. I challenge men of F3Richmond to complete 3000 burpees over the course of December. Do you have what it takes?
PS — For those accepting the challenge, I have created a spreadsheet to help track progress. It is at Goolge Sheets Link (credit Splinter for creating the brilliant form). Copy and paste a column for yourself…
A sturdy seven showed for the last November ’15 version of #ThePunisheRVA. Undaunted by intermittent drizzle, we went after it like so:
Mosey around the front yard and around to the west side of the school for the initial circle with: 25 x Russian Soldiers, 25 x Imaginary Jumpropes, 25 x Don Quixotes, and 25 x Standing Snow Angels.
Jog around the back for a Four Corners variant on the blacktop – Bear Crawl to a corner and complete 9 Burpees (3 to the second power – squared, get it), Zombie Walk to the next corner for 16 Lunges, Crab Walk to the next corner for 25 Merkins, and skip to the fourth corner for 36 Mountain Climbers. Rinse and repeat 3 times.
Stumble to the playground equipment for a Triple Check – one PAX member completes Pikes while positioning his feet within a playground swing, another completes Pullups, and another jogs to a sign at the Bus Loop and back – performed three rounds.
Stagger to the sidewalk on the west side of the school grounds for some Mary time – Indian Run style. PAX pick a concrete square and complete 10 LBCs. Hop up and jog to the next available square beyond the southernmost PAX member for 10 Hello Dollys(ies?). Hop up and jog to the next available square for 10 Rosalitas. Continue moving squares and completing the Mary rotation until we hit the stoplight at Laburnum. 25 Merkins while on our final square.
Quick jog to the ShovelFlag for 24 Merkins and finish with COT.
Moleskin:
Our front yard at Holton is a sales lot for Christmas trees. We avoided that space for this workout.
Oddly enough, heavy rain happened later in the day. Was comparatively dry for our time outside.
Started with two count Lunges and Mountain Climbers for first two Four Corners trips – audibled to single count.
There was some discussion about the November Merkin challenge. YHC thinks a 10K Merkin target is insanity. While Johnsonville seems geeked about a Burpee challenge, the group seems very interested in an LBC challenge instead.
Good luck to our brothers participating in the Bear Creek run this coming weekend.
Sign up for open Q slots.
Reach out to folks who haven’t been out in a while.
Seven of the faithful posted at #GridIron during a comfortable late-autumn Saturday morning. Johnsonville planted a SF and took Q. This is how it went down, more or less:
COP near SF
25x ssh
15x merkins
elbow plank
25x don quiote
mosey to playground for COP
25x lat pull ups
25x merkins
15x imperial walkers
15x hillbillies
mosey to shelter near old schoolhouse
Ciabatta (alternating between dips and squats)
mosey to grassy knoll
10 minutes of burpees
mosey to old schoolhouse
Triple Check (alternating between wall sit, rotating plank, run to and around vollyball court)
indian run to far side of track
Ciabatta (alternating single leg Alabama prom dates)
line up on track
Ciabatta along track (alternating between bunny hops and walking lunges)
COP
25x bicycle
superman (greatest american superhero theme song x 2)
30x boxcutter (reversing direction mid way)
leg lifts
Mosey to SF (Earthworm sprint!)
COT
Moleskin —
Ty Webb’s parents live down in Powhatan, and he was vising from Charlotte. We were glad he decided to post with us.
Ty Webb and Jolly Rancher ran together on the triple checks, and they seemed to get a bit competitive. Jolly Rancher knocked out 12 burpees per minute at the grassy knoll, but struggled later the workout. YHC suggested that he try to pace himself a bit better.
Earthworm lagged during the indian run, but then blew everyone out during the 100m “mosey” back to the SF. Unlike Jolly Rancher, Earthworm does know how to pace.
Groh had made the long track back from Alabama the day before to make F3. We like to think he is ultra-dedicated. I supposed it could be that he can tolerate family for only so long.
After having completed the 5000 merkin challenge about 10 days early, Chum Bucket is looking like he can bench press about 300 lbs.
Honey Do was the sole double dipper and showed no signs of wear.
Jville
7 faithful posted for a sunday morning run. Weather 70 degrees and sunny.
The Thang:
Northbank to Belle Isle to Buttermilk. Optional jaunt through forest hill park.
Naked Moleskin:
Five of the faithful took the 7 mile option skipping the forest hill park options. Saab and TYA were the only takers for forest hill. Saab and I got a little lost during our run through the park and got and extra mile done for a total of 11 miles. Both options were good runs and should have us all ready for next weeks’ Bear Creek 10 miler.
Lab Rat took a spill early on today. Little shaken up, but no blood and generally not worse for the wear. Heard on the trail today “I remember when Chum and Jville used to do trail runs”. We do miss you guys out there. Come on back for a run.
11 Pax joined us on a crisp fall morning.
Sippy Cup leading:
COP
SSH x 25
Russian Soldiers x 20
Arm circles OYO big/little, backwards/forwards palms up/down
Merkins x 12
Russian Twists x 30
Peggy Flemings (new calf burner exercise) Balance on left leg with right leg out in front of you ~ 6 inches of the ground. Hold. On Q’s command swing the right leg back behind you while bending at waist to maintain balance. Hold. Repeat front and back one more time. Switch legs and do the same with the right leg straight and left leg off the ground. 10-15 seconds per hold was a good challenge.
Mosey up to top of carrilon steps for a 4 corners. 10 Burpees, 20 Ball dippers, 30 Merkins, 40 LBCs all on the carillon platform. Bear crawl between corners, rather than run.
Mosey to Hate Hill. Exercises: Lunges, Walkout pushups, Duck walks, repeat
Run up pipe and when you get to top do an isometric hold with locked arms on the parallel bars while waiting for the six.
Wilson leading.
Diagonal 4 corners (run along short end of field, sprint diagonally). Exercises all x15 (LBCs, Right cross leg lifts, Left cross leg lifts, heel touches (from crunch position)). Done 2x. Finish things off with 10 pickle pounders in cadence.
Dealers Choice Ring of Fire. Each man calls out exercise for person to his right. When dealer calls bonus, everyone does the exercise. Exercises included: burpees, merkins, Carolina dry docks, Scorpoin dry docks, Peter Parkers, Mountain climbers, Parker Peters and some others.
Partner up for Pole smokers x 15. Finish off with 50 Merkins.
Mosey back to flag.
COT
Moleskin:
It was nice to have out of town guests Sir Topham Hat, OBT, Disney, and Exeter from Charlotte with us today. They have family in Richmond and are up for the Thanksgiving weekend. Have a safe trip back gents.
Peggy Fleming is worth doing again. The credit for naming Peggy Fleming goes to OBT. There was a lot of laughter during this exercise—some of the Pax are balance-challenged, and others became balance challenged when they were laughing at those who were. We tend to lack calf-specific exercises, so this is a good addition.
Part way through Hate Hill, several Pax relayed the message that there were dogs and “Look out for Bobo.” As it turned out, halfway through our exercise a man had pulled up in a pickup truck and had let out his dogs. The first two dogs were unchained didn’t care at all that we were there, and YHC and TYA, who were running together, wondered what the big deal was. As it turns out Bobo, the third dog, was chained to the truck right near the gate where our turnaround was. As TYA approached the gate, Bobo him know with a vicious bark and snarl that getting any closer would be very unwise. Everyone gave Bobo a wide berth after that. “Look out for Bobo” became a workout theme.
During the 4-corners diagonal exercise, Aisle 5 seriously impressed with his speed, blowing away most of the rest of the PAX. Wow! Sir Topham Hat, Disney, and Rosey also brought their wheels.
Not all of the PAX made it up to 50 Merkins to finish off the workout—but we are getting stronger and even to suggest this exercise several months back would have been laughable.
YHC’s choice of Hate Hill was a bit questionable since it was still kind of dark. It would be best to move that to the end of the workouts until the morning light comes earlier.
Good work guys!
7 faithful gathered on a crisp morning to burn some post-Thanksgiving calories. They were introduced to a new type of running “game.”
The rules:
Game Start:
Game End:
COT.
Moleskin:
Game recap:
In order to make the slow group more visible, Honeydo was given the honor of wearing a hot pink runners belt with a flashing red, dangling orb.
The fast group (Sippy Cup, Saab, and Marv) got a bead on the slow group (TYA and HoneyDo) after about 15 minutes, and after a several blocks of cat and mouse caught them on the north side of the grid. Marv’s knowledge of the neighborhood and outstanding eyesight proved to be quite helpful in spotting the slow group from several blocks away. On the other hand, Saab, who runs without his glasses, is nearly blind to distant objects. Fortunately, his speed came in handy in tracking down the slow guys in the half-block sprint.
The medium group (Toga and Offshore) was unsuccessful in finding the merged slow/ fast group until the very end when we all converged on the school.
We all agreed that this was a fun way to make the 45 minutes of running go by and was a good change of pace. The grid seemed to be about the right size too, and the consensus was that the fast group was fairly lucky in catching the slow group in just 15 minutes. It was a good change of pace.
15 faithful posted for a pre-thanksgiving meal beatdown. Weather was 40 and sunny, beautiful day for a workout
The Thang:
Mosey to side of school, 16x Don Quixote, 21x Side Straddle Hops, 16x Merkins, 21x copperhead squats, 16x arm circles, 21x LBC. Pucker identified the significance of 1621 – the year of the first Thansgiving. Next trivia quesion: Where was the first Thanksgiving. 16 burpees OYO if you knew that first thanksgiving was in Plymouth Massachusetts, 21 if you believe it was anyplace other than Plymouth Mass. Double Applesauce Indian run to tree line and then to other end of field. Turkey day 10s. 46 Million turkeys eaten this year (so we will use the 4 and 6. Run to end of field, 6 burpees and 4 merkins, run back, 4 burpees and 6 merkins, Repeato x5. Mosey to tennis courts. 4 corners (to acknowledge the four states, LA, NC, TX, AZ, that have a city named turkey. 19 Stuart Scott Merkins in corner one, 34 WWII situps in corner two, 19 partner squat jumps in corner 3, and 34 LBC in corner 4. Repeato x 4. Circle up in middle of tennis courts for 6 MOM, dealers choice. Loose Goose selects Russian Twists x16. Toga selects Alabama Prom dates x 16, Q decides we should do the whole honeymoon suite (alabama prom dates, pickle pounders, morning wood, and monkey humpers) x 16. Mosey back to shovel flag for COT and out into the day.
Naked Moleskin
Hearty welcome to OBT in town from NC for Thanksgiving. Good to have him back at an RVA workout. He was the Q last Thanksgiving. Kotters to Dick Trickle. Also good to have him back in the PAX. He and many of the other PAX were confused at 7:45 when we continued the workout. It was indeed going to be a one hour beatdown.
Lots of mumble chatter heard during the honeymoon suite series of exercises. OBT kept mentioning an obsession by F3 Isotope with hip gyration types of exercises. Wilson refused to do the morning wood exercises. After a great demonstration of the exercise by Loose Goose, Wilson tried one, maybe two of the exercise. After that he switched over to some Wilson’s Wife Approved alternative.
Both Saab and Sippy Cup ran to (and from) the workout this morning. They had certainly paid it forward as far as pre-meal calorie burning. YHC saw Saab running down Commonwealth on my way to the workout. Saab was bobbing and weaving down the street. YHC asked if he was drinking this morning and he admitted it was not this morning, but he did have more than a few last night. Several of the PAX were double dipping after the working running either the Salisbury Turkey Waddle or the UR 10k. Best of luck to all.
Thanksgiving theme was inspired by my first Thanksgiving in RVA. I was invited to dinner at Bleeder’s in laws house (long time Richmond residents and staunch southerners). During dinner conversation, one guest mentioned the morning article about the first thanksgiving. YHC queried about the article and what they had to say about the first Tgiving in Plymouth MA. “No, the article was about the true first Thanksgiving, the one in Jamestown”. I was stunned, but somehow kept my composure and let it go. Couldn’t help myself this morning when I had the lead. Had to make sure all know that the true genesis of Thanksgiving was indeed in good old MA.
Great work out there this morning men. Although none of use have the perfect life (except maybe Bleeder), we all have a ton to be thankful for. We are truly the lucky ones in the world, living in the U.S., tons of opportunity, food on the table, and loving friends and family. I am thankful for all of that today as well as the F3 group that has been created here in RVA. Great group of folks….I now look forward to getting up at 5am daily to workout.
6 gathered in the fall chill to stretch the legs and enjoy #SoT. Mosey to the basketball courts for COP:
COP
– SSH x 25
– Mountain Climbers x 20
– Don Quixote’s x 20
– LBCs x 25
The Thang:
– Mosey around the school for a quick warm up run.
– Stop at the bus loop for everyone’s favorite, curb crawls. Bear crawl forward, crawl bear backwards, up to 8, repeat 8 and back down. Ouch. 72 total merkins.
– Mosey to track for around the world. Partner up and run opposite directions around the track. When you meet your partner stop and do an exercise. Then continue around the track to the start and repeat exercises. 20 at each stop. Exercises included PLTs, Wilson’s Wife, Stuart Scott Merkins. 40 total merkins for those counting.
– Saunter to end zone for plank hurdles. All start in plank in the end zone. One PAX runs 10 yards and planks, then next runs to the first person, hurdles and then runs 10 more yards and planks. Continue in leapfrog fashion until you reach the other endzone.
– Commence 4 Corners of Mary on the football field. 10 WW1 situps, 20 2-count russian twists, 30 2-count flutter kicks, 40 LBCs. Run between each station. Repeat until time runs out.
Moleskin
Thanks for the south siders for welcoming a Splinter Q. The runs between the exercises this morning was supposed to get the body temperature up on a cool morning. Mission accomplished until 4 corners of mary where YHC’s backside proceeded to go numb.
Kudos to the PAX on the curb crawls. Last time YHC pulled that out we only went up to 6 and the distance between the crawls was much shorter. Nice work pushing through the pain.
Clearly YHC needs a lesson on Wilson’s Wife. The description resulted in three different exercises amongst the PAX pairings. The intent of the exercise was to have the person grabbing the ankles perform the shoulder press. TClaps to Swirly and Wilson who demonstrated the ranger version, essentially hand stand merkins.
Apparently the infamous Swirly’s Sausage Balls are making an appearance at TDay tomorrow at a special edition celebration at the Homestead. Fair warning to the Hot Springs resort to ensure the septic is in working order.
Announcements
Safe thanksgiving travels to all.
15 faithful and 1 FNG posted on a crispy morning, the temperature gauge showing 29 degrees at start of the beatdown:
THE THANG
COT: 45 SSHs, 10 Merkins, 20 Flutterkicks, 15 Don Qs then 1 lap around parking lot
Mosey to soccer field #1 for: Merkin Ladder
Run width of soccer field, 20 Merkins, run back to other end, 19 merkins, and so on to 1, 210 Merkins in all
Mosey to shed/poles for Triple (double) check: Balls2the Wall, Pole smokers, run to gate in middle of the road, repeat 2xs. Finish Triple check with 20 Merkins IC.
Mosey to soccer field #3 for: Honeymoon Suite
2 Sets 20 each of Monkey Humpers, Alabama Prom Dates, Pickle Pounders
Mosey back to the flag
MOLESKIN:
Nice showing of 16 strong on a cold morning. YHC underestimated how long the Merkin ladder would take but glad we did it, for those doing the November Merkin challenge this morning was 250 in total. The Side Straddle Hops were supposed to go to 40 but BT commented about this being a Jville like start causes an additional 5 more. In all honesty YHC wanted to get to 50 but started to get out of breath, don’t know how Jville does that! Props to TYA on posting after staying up late to watch the Pats victory, that is dedication.
Welcome to Salad Cream! Posting on a cold morning and diving right in with the Merkin Ladder is a great way to start. YHC is also glad to have more mid-30’s aged PAX like EF Hutton and Salad Cream to take some of the Hate away from those in their late 30’s.
The Honeymoon suite did not devolve too much into infantile comments at the end.
Announcements:
45MOM Thursday is at 7:00. OBT is in town so come out if you are in town. As well many PAX are participating in various Turkey Trots.
Have a great Thanksgiving!
8 posted for our first return to below freezing temps. There was no sun, and I’ll let the PAX decide if there was any fun.
Thang:
Mosey to area by the Xmas tree selling lot (yes, that’s there now) for COP: 30 count side plank on ea. side, 10 2-count merkins, 10 rotating merkins, 10 squat hop to plank, lateral lunge jump (we are not good at this): repeato x3
Mosey to parking lot, partner up, run the loop, and then alternate partners so that each has to execute two partner carries and wheelbarrow with runs around the lot after each.
Mosey to Xmas tree lot for bear crawl and crab walk slalom around the posts, repeato x2
COP for 10 plank jacks, 10 side oblique dips on ea side, 10 2-count sprinters: repeato x3
Wheel of Mary w ea. PAX choosing what was supposed to be an ab/core exercise= WW2 situps, mtn climbers, rosalitas, jelly rolls, burpees, Freddy M, something else
Once more swiftly around the lot and back to the flag.
NMM:
Strong work today as we got right to it with no counts in between. It was interesting to get back to some colder temps. Last yr it still held some mystery, but there is none to be found now. The Xmas tree lot was an interesting surprise, and it was nice to use the posts for something before they get lined up with trees. It should also be noted that Bleeder and Wedding Singer led the partner carries and wheelbarrows. I don’t know if this involved the use of a time warp, Bleeder’s bionic knee or performance enhancers.
Announcements:
0700 Thanksgiving workout at Mary Munford
Various Turkey Trots to attend
It’s a great week to be thankful for all that you have been given!
Stay Classy,
Toga