Category: Richmond, VA

  • The Hunt For Pavement

    I was cruising down Courthouse Road at 5:50 am, and passed a couple of dudes running – who could possibly be out at this hour on a major thoroughfare? Of course, it was Big Rig and Boberry. They linked up with us briefly at the park, then continued on their journey.

    Woodsman and I rucked through Rockwood for an hour, and checked out potential ice free spots for the workout.

    Post-workout surveys suggested that a good time was had by all.

  • Black Squirrels, Cannibalism, and Ice Humping

    Just another day at Rock N Roll. Here is a brief summary for your viewing pleasure:

    Big Rig and Boberry elected to continue their run – the rest of the PAX gathered on a nearby ice free spot for Warm-Up:

    Side Straddle Hops, Imperial Walkers, Ukranian Soldiers, Helicopters, Shoulder Taps, Freddy Mercuries, Knee Pulls, Mummy Kicks, Side Lunges. I may have missed a couple.

    Ice Shuffle down the main road. Crab Walk on the dry spot, then onward to the parking lot.

    Quadruple Corners: 4 corners with 4 escalating exercises each. Started with 10 merkins, 20 squats, 30 LBC’s, 40 Side Straddle Hops. Increase by 10 at each corner. We didnt really have a square to work in, so it was more of a “T.”

    Mosey down the path and stop at the next opening for Hump Circuit: Pickle Pounders, Alabama Prom Dates, Monkey Humpers, Bone Rubs, West Virginia Prom Dates, Gorilla Humpers.

    Mosey on: Stop for 50 Heels to Heaven.

    to Victory Hill – Slide down the hill in any manner possible. Bear Crawl back up. Round 2 – Slide down, then Reverse Crab Walk.

    We grabbed a spot on a thick sheet of ice for the following exercises:

    Australian Snow Angels, Superman, Hand Release Merkins, WWII Sit-ups, Freddy Mercuries.

    Back to the Flag just as time runs out. COT and YHC took us out!

    Final thoughts – I was half expecting a solo workout this morning given the ice at Rockwood and ridiculously low temps. But the Rockwood crew showed up as usual! Time really did fly by on this one. Big Rig and Boberry appear to have been running for 2 plus hours, so respect to them. Great mumblechatter this morning as evidenced by the backblast title.

    SYITG

  • Winter Olympics at the Boneyard

    12 Pax braved the cold and icy conditions to embark on the Milano de Gridiron Boneyard Olympics. Contests consisted of sledding, winter golf and ice discus throwing.

    While the workout conditions may have led to high levels of modifying, fun and some exercise was completed.

    COP: typical Fireman Ed stuff including DQs, helicopters, jazzercise, mercans, arm circles and LBCs.

    1. Sledding – one Pax sledded across the field being pushed by PAX #2, Pax 3 is supposed to do step ups, PAX 4 was supposed to do derkins. Everyone gets a gold for participating.
    2. Ice putting competition – 2 pax lunged or bear crawled half way across the field and back and then tried a 20 foot ice putt into a hole in the ice. Other PAX did various exercises, some even did the exercise that I asked them to do. Worked on abs, legs and arms. Whitesnake won the gold, Tater the silver, I think I won the bronze (I hit one putt in).
    3. Discuss curling. Throw a discuss with the target being the bottom of the goal post. Closest to the goal post gets the gold medal. I called various exercises for those watching the thrower. Some did the exercises that I called; others modified. Tater won the gold, Whitesnake the silver and everyone else gets a bronze for participating.
      • Finished the workout with 5 burpees and some stretching.
    4. Was a fun time with all the PAX. I knew it would be interesting today when some strange individual was doing donuts in a Volvo when I arrived. Oh that was Pinto! Frozen triangle next week (watch it hit 50 and all the ice melts just in time). Prayers for everyone to be safe and for Fudd’s sister, Handshake’s niece and Gypsy’s step father. It was good to see Lighthouse and Gypsy at coffeeteria. They did not want to embark on this low step workout. Thanks for letting me lead. Fireman Ed signs off.

  • ICE can’t detain THESE HIM’s!

    In spite of ICE’s best intimidation tactics, seven NOS HIM’s beat the allure of a cozy fartsack to embrace the warmth of a DTH beatdown. Here’s how we all gave and received a glowing after action report:

    The THANG: 

    WARMERAMA: 

    • Mosey loop around to a clear patch of pavement to circle up
    • Welcome & Disclaimer
    • Warm-up Reps IC with plenty of stretching

    COP #1:

    • Partner up for a DORA 1-2-3
    • x100 Merkins
    • x200 Squats
    • x300 LBC’s
    • Runner moseys down the cleared road and back to switch 
    • ABC’s for the SIX

    COP #2: 

    • Mosey the extent of the cleared sidewalk and back around to a dry patch near the wall
    • x40 Hoedowns IC
    • x20 Dirty Hookups IC
    • x40 M.Ali’s IC
    • x10 Hip Slappers IC

    COP #3:

    • Mosey back to the pavement circle for a spot of Q SCHOOL. 
    • Each PAX takes a turn to step into the center and practice executing a perfectly called exercise in cadence, after which the rest of the PAX provided an After Action Report (what was done well, and what needed improvement).

    Circle up for COT:

    • Counterama # 7
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • BOM Prayer
    • Pullups on the mobile bar
    • Polk House Coffeerama

    NMS:  Solid 7-PAX for another frigid morning dodging the treacherous undercover ICE agents. Excellent effort by the PAX practicing all the proper language for Q’ing in cadence, and SCRAM is signing up for his VQ soon! Congratulations to Machinehead for not just a healthy pregnancy but the wonderful news of a BOY!!! May Machineboy be just as likely as his old man to be the BEST Q anyone has EVER witnessed! And TClaps to Machismo for the delicious coffee after. Appreciate all you guys coming out. NOS is the best. Period. Yours AYE! ~DTH

    Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

    • Weekly Forge Coffee + QSource
    • 2/7 Frozen Triangle
    • 3/7 NOS OTB RUCK 
    • Monthly: Breaking Bread, Bridge
    • SEPT GROW RUCK!

  • Perimeter secured

    Tres Amigos met in the parking lot at Godwin. Gypsy and I drove our vehicles while Mr. Rogers, sans Wally, jogged over wearing his Sippy Cup inspired Hokas with screws in the soles for better traction in the treacherous conditions. We had heard that roving packs of cabin-fever crazed zombies were out searching for bread and milk. These rumors needed to be verified or debunked.
    We decided to divide and conquer. Mr. Rogers would circle the school looking for signs of mischief while Gypsy and I would investigate the situation in the surrounding neighborhood.
    Gypsy wore his bullet proof vest with 20 pounds plates front and back and carried a mug of coffee with some kind of foul-smelling flavoring added. (I drink my coffee black.) I wore a bullet proof kettlebell in my backpack and mostly walked behind Gypsy figuring that in case of trouble, he would be targeted first.
    Once we got across the ice-covered parking lot parallel to Pump, we went thru the neighborhood to get to Falconbridge. The road was like a minefield and we had to pick our way carefully, but we made it to Falconbridge with no injuries. We turned left intending to circumnavigate the neighborhood via Raintree, Ridgefield and Pump back to the AO. Falconbridge and Raintree were immaculately clear of snow and ice. Minimal activity was encountered; only 1 jogger on Raintree and he appeared to be normal.
    However, Ridgefield was a danger zone. We encountered numerous enemy cars requiring us to leave the road and hide behind the blocks of ice piled up in the sidewalk on about 4 occasions before we got to Pump. Fortunately, they didn’t see us despite our headlamps and we escaped unharmed.
    Having secured the area, Mr. Rogers headed home and Gypsy and I went to Dunkin.

  • Cold Potato Q

    Two loungees arrived to an ice-covered AO much like the rest of the area. Still, there was exercises to be completed, slowly, and bones to be warmed, off we went.

    Trying to stay off the ice, we moseyed down to the high school to find one clear lot. 30 minutes of Dora (merkins, squats, LBCs) later, attempt to mosey towards the track only to find the road less cleared. Retreat to the baseball field in between the elementary school and high school, bear crawl (because walking up might have been impossible) up the hill. Back to BWE, locate the paved walkways, run around them performing merkins and WWIIs. End.

    Many thanks to Chaplain for holding true to his word and making an appearance. No doubt the lounge has its limits, weather being one. Still, Chap and YHC made the best of it, tried to stay warm over OYO counts and conversation.

    -Singer

  • Dolly Farts

    With running conditions less than ideal and a change of scenery in order, six non-Wellesley residents braved Members Only aka Tunnel Vision. 

    Tater Q

    Mosey about 10 steps down the parking lot 

    COP

    • SSHs
    • Don Quixotes
    • Dead Man Hang
    • Unnamed Stretch
    • Merkins
    • APDs

    Mosey over and through the famous Tunnel

    • Burpees 1-5 at each overhead light

    Mosey by the tennis courts to the pavilion

    Lindsay – Step-Ups and Dips

    Gomer Q

    • Derkins
    • LBCs with feet on bench
    • Sit-Down Squats
    • Repeato, Repeato?
    • Mountain Climbers just for fun

    Pinto Q

    Find the Icy-est areas possible and reconsider

    Mosey back across Lauderdale to parking lot

    Triple Check

    • Mosey Loop
    • Merkins
    • WWIIs

    Elevens

    • Merkins & Jump Squats
    • Mosey about 50 yds between sets

    EF Hutton Q

    3 Minutes of Mary

    • Flutter Kicks
    • Helly Dollys
    • Freddie Mercurys

    Numberama, Nameorama, COT

    MOLESKIN

    Plenty of safe (enough) places to workout this morning.  YHC dropped a couple of bombs.  Handshake prefers Attila’s flavor.  Gomer Pyle has a weird Dolly Parton fetish.  Wojo’s still rocking the same sweats since high school.  Tater uses double protection, two hats, at all times.  Pinto is a hot potato Pro, thanks for allowing me to lead.

    ANNOUNCEMENTS

    Frozen Triangle – Next Saturday the 7th starting at DogPile

    The Bridge – next date TBD?

    Breaking Bread – monthly

  • Yeti’s Hill

    With Satan’s Hill iced over and none of the PAX owning ice skates as a form of cardio, YHC wisely chose against running and leaned into a coupon heavy, upper body smoke fest at “Yeti’s Hill.” The goal was simple – perform exercises while maintaining form and staying upright. Song requests were accepted the evening before for what Spotify may classify as the weirdest compilation of songs (see below). The JBL party box lit up and blasted our first song and the workout went like this:

    Warm Up: Various IC exercises to get the blood flowing

    COP 1: Partner up with a sandbag per pair. P1 performs exercise while P2 stays warm performing their choice of Mountain Climbers, SSH, Monkey Humpers, Firecrackers or Plank Jacks. Partners were allowed to switch off exercises in whatever quantity they wanted, but both partners had to complete all reps. Exercises were: 100 Overhead press, 90 Curls, 80 Skull crushers, 70 Chest Press, 60 Upright rows, 50 Anterior raises w/ palms up, 40 Dips, 30 Merkins on the bag, 20 Bag pull thrus, 10 Bagees.

    COP 2: 2 minutes left to hit abs with 10 Box Cutters, 20 DC Flutter Kicks and 30 LBCs

    Time called, Numbers, Names, Announcements (Frozen Triangle 2/7) Prayers (Heist’s M’s Friend battling 2nd bout of cancer, safety with winter weather this weekend, schools opening back, patience with having kids at home while trying to work)

    Playlist: Enter Sandman by Metallica (Requested by The Duke), Mr. Jones by Counting Crows (Requested by Ponch), Frosty the Snowman – Hip Hop Version found by YHC by Tha J-Squad, Remix Maniacs (Requested by Nancy Lopez), Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice (Requested by Ponch), Dragostea Din Tei by O-Zone (Requested by Rosetta), Snowblind by Black Sabbath (Requested by Warby), Let It Go – Disney goes Heavy version by Our Last Night (Requested by Pad Thai), Church Clap by KB and Lecrae (Requested by YHC), My Name is Mud by Primus (Requested by Boberry), The Elements by TobyMac (Requested by Pad Thai), Cold Hard Bitch by Jet (Requested from number I don’t have a name tied to from Rountrey group), It’s Raining Men by The Weather Girls (Requested by Fandango)

  • Atlee Campus Ruck

    From Tuesday Ruck Experience with no sidewalks, YHC did a recon Wednesday Evening to see the lay of the land on the roads as many are still snow covered and slick. Route was determined to walk to Honey Meadows and Back for 2 mile ruck. This was slower due to the slick conditions, but a great workout with the up hill return.

    Numberama and Namerama, Yardsale took us out in prayer.

    No runners today.

  • Sunrise Ruck

    YHC and one other brother arrived for a cold am ruck in DaVille. We launched from Atlees HS and rucked to Starbucks on 301 and Back. Slick roads and we took our time crossing and staying safe while rucking. We also witnessed a great red sun rise this morning. Great workout and mumblechatter!

    No Runners just ruckers. Numberama, namerama YHC took us out in prayer.