Category: Richmond, VA

  • 3 Fs in balance – or – You v you

    18 Redwoods, looking for a you v you experience descended on DogPile to see what Gomer had planned – frankly it was up in the air til go time. Contemplated one of three options including the use of some prop rings that Senor Frog was happy to lend to the PAX. According to the vehicle sleepers we work with our antics it went down something like this…

    Welcome. Disclaimer. Gitty up start with 8 Gurprees. Mosey to COP. 

    You v you workout. Do more, do less – keep yourself accountable. Find personal max ‘mer’can. Find personal max WW2. Store in the memory banks for later. 

    COP all IC: 10x Don Quixote, 10x Turn and Bounce, Fun with LBCs: 15x LBC, 10x left leg straight (LLS) LBC, 10x RLS, 10x BLS, 10x 45 degrees legs straight , 10x 90 deg legs straight, 10x APD, 10x Pilates APD, 25x Flutter Kicks. Albatross arms: 20x forward, 20x back, 10x seal claps, 10x overhead claps. Mercanorama: 6x diamond, 6x wide, 6x ranger, 6x fingers in, 6x fingers out. Mosey to amphitheater open book stretch. 30 min in. 

    30min of sharing while stretching OYO. Topics to help us be better men: father stories, F3 why. More below.

    YHC took us out.  Prayers for WoJo, Roger Roger, Charlotte , monument 10k, the PAX. Prayers to help us give F3 away and lead you v you through an impactful F3 success story heard this week. Give it away.

    TClaps to Snuff for coffee. And for 1k post club support to Upchuck and Horneydo. 

    NMS – For YHC, 1k post milestone reached today. Also nearly 9 years of F3 starting at Dogpile on Wednesday this week. Thanks again to Fudd and Hardywood and all the other PAX that kept me around.

    Congrats to all milestone makers. Gumbo has also recently hit 1000 posts.

    Today we had the perfect 3Fs in balance, 30 min 1st F, 30 min (at least) 2nd F, and 30 min 3rd F.

    YHC heard about 30 for 30 and wanted to try it. F3 men lucky enough to have found a good circle or shield lock are used to sharing. Many of us do not: some never share; some run off to real commitments to dogs and kids. YHC sought to create the opportunity to form new bonds within the PAX. Topics:

    1. Fathers. Not everyone is a father, but everyone has had one. Not everyone had a “great” father; but also not everyone had a “bad” father. Regardless fathers are our first male leaders and they teach us a ton on purpose or not. Today we shared what have we embodied most into our adult lives based on this experience.

      Parting thought that has sit with me for a while: all of us have a father that taught us something IN our life. As a father, my children ARE my life – the center of my decision making as a provider.
    2. Give it away. As leaders we should be creating leaders – it’s in rhe F3 mission. The best way is to give away what we have in F3 with all who will give it a listen. Once men are here, we should be about creating opportunities for men to lead. That is invigorating male community leadership. 

    Get some!

  • People start pollution. People can stop it.

    Eleven of the finest men on this side of the Mississippi got an extra hour of sleep, joined Gridiron and did their part to save the world.

    5 burpee start in honor of Gomer’s 1000th post. Then after the four ruckers and a late Chum joined, we did it again. A traveling COT eventually made its way to the far end of the track. Back in 1989, when Gomer and I were doing shots of Vodka before going out to fraternity row, we dreamed about doing the biggest four corners known to Gridiron. While his days of running are over, I think the goal was met today.

    The running group started at the far end of the track with 50 WW2, then ran to the basketball courts in the back of the school for 50 Merkins, then we ran to the blue playground for 50 Squats and then joined back with the walkers in the newest pickleball lot for 50 SSH. The walkers did the same exercises but their 2nd stop was the front of the school and their 3rd stop was at the football field.

    It was at the parking lot that we saw that thanks to the “cool” high school kids who hung out at the courts last night, the parking lot was full of trash. I think I saw a crying Indian somewhere too. Instead of “touch a tree” we did “touch some trash” and did 3 rounds of running to grab trash & throwing it out. Chumbucket found a lovely smelling rice bowl while most of the trash was alcohol related. Rumor is finger prints could reveal Mariner or Joey Chesnutt were there (because they seem cool). We will never know. Either way, good work by the pax to clean up the parking lot.

    We then went to the sunny gridiron for a Quarter Pounder. 25 HRM, 50 single count flutters, 75 jump squats, 100 SSH. At some point, Pigskin had to leave to cheer on some family at the 10K.

    Shade was needed by YHC so we moved to the front of the school for a triple check with balls to the wall and heals to heaven as the fun parts.

    We slow moseyed to the lower football field, did 25 WW2, then 3 rounds of Pigskin-ups with ten merkins at the top of the hill. Running out of time, we went back to the flag for numberama.

    Ended up with almost 2.5 miles of distance today! Well done Pax!!

    While 4 of us gathered before launch, Tater asked me to predict numbers. I said 11. Him and Pinto took the under. 11 was the final number. As a result of my Nostradamus-like genius, here are some other predictions:

    1. Commanders trade up and get the RB. Trade next years #1 which they think will be #30 but it will be top 10 (again).
    2. CM Punk retains the title at Wreslemania. Turns heal in the process.
    3. The Dow will hit over 50,000 on Monday, drop under by the end of the week and not hit it again until 2027.
    4. The founders of F3 will rename it to F3-AI and the stock will triple.
    5. Tater will Q Gridiron soon and do lots of abs.

    Thanks for letting me lead

  • Projectile Dysfunction

    Six men showed up in the gloom with no coupons in sight… just bows, arrows (tipped with lighted chem sticks), and a bad feeling about where this was headed.

    We opened with a strategically slow mosey (Excel already managing energy output), followed by stretching and what may have been the most important evolution of the morning:

    The Archery Disclaimer & Safety Briefing

    “Range is hot.”

    “Range is cold.”

    “Don’t shoot each other.”

    “Yell “fore” before shooting each other”. 

    • Gotham nodded like he’d heard this before.
    • Snooki looked concerned.
    • Trespass was already scanning for shortcuts.
    • Futon was wondering where he could take a nap at.

    The  beat down Begins:

    PAX split into 3 teams of 2 and launched the first volley of arrows lighting up the AO — glow sticks streaking across the sky like tracer rounds.

    From there:

    • Sprint to your arrow
    • 3 burpees at impact
    • Regroup
    • Shoot again until target is hit

    1st team  to hit the target 

    -1 burpee

    2nd team (AKA – 1st place losers) to hit the target:

    -3 burpees

    3rd team to hit the target

    -5 burpees (sucks to lose)

    Winners called out the next target. Rinse and repeat. 

    Notable Events (aka the highlight reel)

    • Trespass attempted a “tactical shortcut”… and successfully navigated his team directly into the woods and temporarily off-grid
    • One team (names withheld to protect the guilty… looking at you, Snooki ) struggled with the basic concept of how to shoot a bow and arrow
    • Excel stayed methodical, likely tracking all his misses in a mental spreadsheet
    • Gotham operated like a man who’s seen worse — calm, steady, and mildly disappointed in the rest of us
    • The younger PAX applied pressure early and often, proving once again that youth + cardio = bad news for the rest of us
    • Multiple allegations of intentional targeting were raised, but there were no confirmed hits. Although there were several suspiciously close “near-misses.”

    We’ll call it controlled chaos. 

    What We Learned:

    • Accuracy saves burpees
    • Shortcuts lead to the woods
    • Not everyone earned an archery merit badge
    • Glow sticks make bad shots easier to track
    • Brotherhood > accuracy

    Takeaway:

    This wasn’t about perfect shots or clean wins. It was about showing up, doing something different, and pushing each other through a workout none of us will forget (mostly because we were all grown men running all around the AO like a bunch of little school kids literally chasing something shiny. 

    Most AO’s do a beat down at 0530. This week the Woodshed prepared for the zombie apocalypse with a stupid amount of burpees thrown in for good measure. 

    Closed with countorama, nameorama, announcements and prayer. 

  • 2+2+2 = 6

    16 grown-boys came out to run around Satan’s Hill this morning. Warby was all set to lead the boys but YHC swooped in with the Ghost Flag!

    HIGHLIGHTS

    • Running
    • University of Michigan trivia
    • Lifting rocks
    • Confusion
    • YHC got feisty and used some potty words

    ANNOUNCEMENTS

    • Boys of Summer coming up!

    PRAYERS/WINS

    • Heist’s BIL
    • 2 FNG’s today!

    Not my finest work but thanks for allowing me to lead!

  • He might have a face made for Podcasts, but his body just won’t quit.

    4 absolute legends joined YHC for some quality Twin Team Lounge work this morning. With perfect conditions, YHC set out to show our Bon Air guest what the Lounge was all about.

    Warm-a-rama: Walking warm up. Some stretches, some high knees, some kicks, some arm circles.

    Thang 1: Quarter Pounder (wasn’t the same without our brother Last Call). Bro code was invoked on the pace.

    • 25 SSH’s
    • 50 Monkey Humpers
    • 75 Squats
    • 100 of some exercise that I don’t remember

    Thang 2: Mozey to The Twin Team namesake. Bro code jog up to the top stopping an each mailbox to do 5 of some type of exercise. Round robin format kept it fresh and interesting.

    Thang 3: Mozey bro code style to the bottom, stopping at most mailboxes on the way down. We celebrated with 1 burpee when Doozey announced that he’s finishing up with Dealer’s renovation project this week. There’s no one more excited than Dealer as he gets to move back in to his house.

    Mozey back to the start for a little broga. Time called.

    Backblast title credit goes to Deep Dish who spoke about his recent work in the podcast realm.

    YHC was excited to see Dealer in the parking lot this morning. Hope it happens again soon.

  • The Wimps Went to Tunnel Vision

    After I posted that we were gonna run hills for 45 minutes, I thought numbers would be lower, but 11 showed up to suffer for a while, leaving only the wimps of Westhoe to go to Tunnel Vision.

    The Main Event: We ran up Glen Eagle, going up and down any dead end with some incline in it. Once we hit 22.5 minutes, we retraced our steps. Lots of hills today. Well done men!

    Names. Numbers.

    Announcements: Upchuck is still hoping a HIM will reach out to him about taking on RVA’s Site Q responsibilities for The Bridge.

    Prayers: Prayers for those still in need of healing and comfort.

    YHC took us out in a thick fog of gas, which no one owned. I’m not sure anyone heard the prayer, as we were being choked out.

    Moleskin: Discipline makes us stronger. When you get more comfortable in the fire, you are able to handle more. Today was all hills and horrible gas. And somehow we are all a little better for it. I hope everyone has an excellent Friday. It could only get better after this start to the day.

  • Zippy Cup (TM)…

    ~13 or more arrived at Mary to run and bike and ask questions about a route that largely stuck to one road: Monument.

    Nevertheless, all runners stuck together and covered the 5M option which was quite enjoyable.

    Best of luck to those running the Monument Ave 10K tomorrow – which today’s running route was a homage to. Also best wishes to Hitchhiker on his latest business venture…an appearance on Shark Tank may be around the corner.

    Saab abides

    ALL: Commonwealth to Monument then head West toward Chantilly; Turn at Chantilly then heading East on Monument …

    4s turn back at Cleveland…
    5s turn back at N. Robinson
    6s turn back at N. Meadow

    Return on Monument to Westmoreland

    RAMM – Monument Ave “10k”
    6 mile route
    5.1 mile route
    4.1 mile route

  • 999 and some 1st Times

    Seven lucky PAX members snorted pollen and mopped up the asphalt as the week comes to an end.  Here is how it went down:

    • COP
      • IJR
      • IW
      • Ukrainian soldiers
      • Helicopters
      • Arm circles
      • DMH
      • Suzanne Somers
      • HRM
      • LBC
      • Penguins
      • APD
    • Mosey toward the bridge and bear crawl across the bridge and mosey down the hill to the basketball courts
    • 3x check
      • Hill run
      • Dips
      • H2H
    • Mosey back up the hill and across the street to the parking lot
    • Lindsay with merkins and WWII sit-ups – 100 total reps of each
    • Quick wall rotation
      • Wall sits with 15 2x air presses
      • 20 PLT
      • 10 Mike Tysons
    • Mosey back to the flag
    • Mary
      • FK
      • Cross legged, cross crunches, each side
      • LBC
    • Stretch
    • COT with YHC taking us out

    Great work from the PAX.  Happy 999th time Gomer told us he had relations with his wife this week during COP.  TMI.  1K posts for Gomer at Dogpile manana.  Good to have Foretran and Byproduct.  Do not be strangers. 

    God is good all of the time!

    Attila

  • Bathroom Dessert…

    Lots of chatter about Hitchhikers next foray into the ever expanding market for providing greater accessibility of utilities that facilitate bodily functions…

    Saab abides…

  • Super 7 of Diamonds

    A brave quartet came out to The Crossing to experience the scorching pavement on the hottest day of the year. Here’s what went down.

    Warmarama –

    Quick mosey followed by SSH’s, DQ’s, Imperial Walkers, Ukrainian soldiers, Helicopters, Merkins, and flutter kicks

    Mosey to the lower parking lot for a Super 7 of Diamonds-

    7 Merkins

    14 WWII’s

    21 Shoulder Taps

    28 LBC’s

    35 Monkey Humpers

    42 SSH’s

    49 Flutter Kicks

    Mosey to the upper parking lot for several rounds of exercises

    Exercise for 1 min. then run the length of the parking lot and back.

    Exercises were merkins, scrunchy frogs, Flutter kick

    BTTF for about 3 mins. Of Mary

    Prayers for DTHs trip to Nicaragua, NTB and his family’s move. Congrats to L. Woods and family for the safe delivery of baby Gia.

    Strong work by the Pax on the hottest day of the year thus far. HIGH HEAT AND HIGH REPS. Cant beat it!

    Thanks for letting me lead,

    House Party