Category: Richmond, VA

  • The morning after the loss

    Despite the USA’s 4-1 loss the previous night, six guys posted to Atlee High School with great hopes for the future beginning with a morning run or ruck. Runners doing the 4-1 would have made perfect sense, but since there was no Opus, the runners did the reverse route for the 2nd straight week going to Summer Duck, then Chickahominy Oaks, then Madison Springs, Kings Charter, Honey Meadows, and back to the AO for 4.5 miles. The ruckers rucked around and finished a few minutes early.

    COT: Numberarama, Name-O-Rama, Announcements, Mustang took us out.

    NMS:

    It was a great day for some exercise today. Much of the talk this morning dealt with 2 topics, the USA loss and VO2Max vs. Threshold training. With the heat and humidity, an easy pace was necessary.

    Announcements:

    • Summer tour comes to Manndate on Wednesday

    Gotta Run!

    Phonics

  • Jaunt to the James

    Ruckhenge was swarmed by an enthusiastic dozen SOJ brothers and the PAX was launched into a speed ruck by YHC with nary a log or sandbag in sight – just a goal to reach the James and swap interesting life stories. The PAX covered 3.4 miles with a respectable altitude difference. T Claps to Armadillo making it back out for the second time in his first week! Yours AYE! ~DTH

    COT:

    • Counterama # 12
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • BOM Prayer – lifted up David in recovery

    Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

  • Ronnie and The Jumbo Athletes

    4 Clydesdales (3 current, 1 aspiring) fought off the fartsack for this week’s rendition of The First Watch Lounge. 3-4 minutes before kickoff it looked like a repeato of last week’s FW Clydesdale crew until Ronnie emerged. Ronnie seemed eager to learn the ways of F3’s husky division, where great momentum and force are achieved without ground speed record pace. As the clock hit the top of the hour, this quad set off toward the Church parking lot.

    2-burpee buy-in at the speed bumps and circle up

    Warm-up consisting of dead man hangs, some broga, imperial walkers, Ukrainian soldiers, 30 seconds of jazzercise

    The Thang
    Classic 4 Corners around the church parking lot
    20 hand release merkins
    50 LBCs
    50 Monkey Humpers
    100 single count SSH
    Walking lunge in between the corners
    Active recovery to the church steps

    Quad Check
    Pace car traverses the lot and back
    Exercises of WWIIs, People’s Chair, and bench dips

    Repeato and reverso of the Classic 4 Corners
    100 SSHs
    50 Monkey Humpers
    50 LBCs
    20 hand release merkins
    Choose your own adventure between corners: some lunged, some karaoke’d, some bernie’d


    Active recovery back to the flag; buy-out of 2 burpees and a loop around the lot
    1 minute of choose-your-own Mary adventure

    Numberama, Namerama, YHC took us out.

    Lunch next Tuesday in the West End + Homegrown Half upcoming. See Slack for details.

    Strong mumble chatter for a lounge-influenced ground and pound. Topics included the usual overshare, beach house drama, the definition of a “Jumbo Athlete,” and Ronnie’s car color preferences. The PAX did eclipse the mile threshold with the loop around the overflow lot, which could make today’s bootcamp ineligible for Lounge status. Happy to debate and thankful to lead.

    SYITG
    Wojo out

  • Tourists Welcome… Regret Included

    Four PAX assembled at Goyne Park for another installment of The Bermuda Triangle. The lineup consisted of one Bermuda regular, one former regular making a triumphant return, and two Summer Tour tourists, who apparently looked at today’s tour stop and thought, “How bad could it be?”

    We kicked things off with a mosey to the school entrance for the usual Warmarama, complete with a few Hoe Downs to shake the rust loose.

    From there, we took the unnecessarily long route around the school to the playground. Why take the short way when extra mileage is free? YHC realized pull-ups and dips have quietly disappeared from Bermuda workouts lately. That’s the kind of mission drift we simply can’t allow.

    At the playground:

    – Pull-up pyramid: 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1. While your partner was hanging from the bar questioning life choices, you were knocking out squats.

    – Dip pyramid: 8-9-10-11-12-11-10-9-8. Waiting your turn meant Imperial Walkers, because standing around is highly discouraged.

    Next stop: the bus loop for a pair of Four Corners.- Round 1: 10 double-count Mountain Climbers at every corner.- Round 2: 10 Plank Jacks and 10 Jump Squats at every corner, just in case anyone’s legs were feeling optimistic.

    On the way back we made our annual (okay, weekly) pilgrimage through Chaplain’s Pole Alley, completing 40+ Polesmokers—one for every AO on this year’s Summer Tour. Consider it our official passport stamp.

    Back at the yoga mat, YHC decided everyone’s core hadn’t suffered nearly enough:- Tater’s Irish Clovers- Flutter Kicks- Hip Circles- Arnold Fondas (each leg)- V-Ups- American Hammers- Oblique LBCs- DTH’s Protractor

    The Protractor nearly sparked a revolt. Oddly enough, nobody objected to the extra core work. The real issue was the unexpected requirement to perform geometry before 6:30 a.m.

    A final mosey brought us back to the flag with no one left behind, although a few abdominal muscles may have filed missing person reports.

    Announcements:- Summer Tour is in full swing. Keep posting and collecting those AOs.- Homegrown Half Marathon / 10K Ruck is August 1.

    Thanks to Posh for returning home for a visit, and to Boberry and EF Hutton for dropping in. Bermuda may not have the biggest attendance, but we continue to provide premium suffering in a small-group setting.

  • Full Body Workout

    Three HIMs arrived at the Old Hundred this morning ready to pump some iron. YHC planned the concept of a full body workout. Here’s how I recall it happening.

    Mosey to get started followed by stretching to loosen up. The goal was a full body workout a beatdown. Each evolution was two sets of each, 20 reps of each.

    First Evolution: Overhead press, skull crushers, 21s

    Second Evolution: Teapots, bench press, Purple Rains

    Third Evolution: American Hammers, WWIIIs, Planks

    Fourth Evolution: Swings, Squats, Romanian Deadlifts

    Fifth Evolution: Calf Raises, Single Leg Deadlifts

    COT: names, numbers. Check Slack for announcements. Prayers for each other and the Pax.

    Full body workout complete. Honored to lead.

  • Humility, or is it Humidity?

    Always 70 and Sunny, and “uncomfortably humid”.
    We started off with the usual disclaimer.
    • I am your Q for the day.
    • I am not a professional
    • This workout is ‘you vs you’
    • Push yourself but don’t hurt yourself
    • Feel free to modify any exercise.
    Mosey over to the Quioccasin parking lot in front of the school: in cadence
    • 20 SSHs
    • 10 Manmaker Merkins
    • 15 Crunchy Frogs
    • Stretch: Left hand/Right foot
    Mosey to the parking lot at Pemberton: in cadence
    • 20 IWs
    • 10 Diamond Merkins
    • 10/each side Suzanne Somers
    • Stretch
    Mosey to the back of the Pemberton parking lot for triple check:
    • Timer runs to 2nd island and back
    • Partner 2 Squats
    • Partner 3 Hand Release Merkins
    • Stretch
    Mosey to the pull-up bars for 3x:
    • 8 pull-ups
    • 16 Merkins
    • 24 Dollies
    • Stretch
    Mosey to the parking lot in front of Pemberton for triple check:
    • Timer runs to the end and back
    • Partner 2 Drydocks
    • Partner 3 Heels to Heaven
    • Stretch
    Mosey back to the Quioccasin school Wall and at Whitesnake’s request:
    • 15 People’s chair airpress
    • 10 BTTW Shoulder Taps in cadence
    • 15 Donkey Kix OYO
    • 15 People’s chair Milkers
    • 10 BTTW Australian Mountain Climbers
    • 15 Donkey Kix OYO
    • 15 People’s chair Lalannes
    • 10 BTTW toe taps
    • 15 Donkey Kix OYO
    We had more time left than I expected so a visit to the benches for
    • 15 Dips in cadence
    • 10 Derkins in cadence
    • 15 step-ups (each leg) OYO
    Mosey back to the flag for
    • 20 Flutters in cadence
    • 15 APDs in cadence
    • 60 second 6-inch leg lift
    Time’s Up!
    Announcements:
    Tuesday 7/14: 2nd Tuesday, 2nd F at Capital Ale in Innsbrook. (I’ll be in Honduras but Gomer and Whitesnake will be there.)
    COT
    Humility is the foundation of all virtues, for it allows us to approach every situation with an open mind and a willingness to learn from others. Marcus Aurelius

  • 8 Weeks to IPC 26!

    As the fog slowly rolled out with the rising of the sun, 2 HIMs rallied in a dry location on the Pine Fork Park asphalt parallel to the football field with kettlebells and sandbags. We had a little bit of mumble chatter take place and quickly got to work with the following basic IPC inspired beatdown! Let us not forget, we almost died today via the gray Kia that wouldn’t get over for us! Here’s what she witnessed!

    4 Rounds

    • Run 600m
    • 24 Sandbag Lunges – 50 lbs
    • Run 400m
    • 18 KB Woodchoppers
    • Run 200m
    • 12 Burpee Broad Jumps

    Numbers & Names!

    Announcements – Muddy Run coming up on the 27th. So far we’ve got 5 F3 men attending!
    IPC 2026 begins in Sept! That less than 8 weeks away!

    YHC closed us out with a prayer.

  • Every Method Covered

    Six stellar USA fans gathered in the stale air behind the Commons for this week’s iteration of Spider Run. After confessing to not staying up to watch the 2nd half of the game last night, YHC called time and off we went.

    Route

    5s: https://onthegomap.com/s/mimfd0g2

    Numbers, names, YHC took us out.

    Moleskine

    YHC saves this route for when there is ample daylight. Primarily to avoid tripping on the path to the park, but secondarily to observe what some people declare is a “scary man’s house.” No issues traversing the path to the park and venturing into rarely used Spider Run territory.

    We had every mode covered today. With six people, that’s an accomplishment. Rider ✅. Runners ✅. Walker ✅. Run / Walker ✅. Everyone complained about the humidity but everyone did it.

    Well done everyone. Prayers to those out there struggling with balance.

    Splinter out

  • Orthopedic Audible

    Fresh off Team USA’s crushing 4-1 loss to Belgium, nine PAX gathered expecting a spirited game of Ultimate Football. Unfortunately, before the first snap could be taken, YHC was met with an orthopedic mutiny. Four PAX, citing a dangerous combination of missing cleats, questionable knees, and a strong desire to avoid becoming NOS’s next orthopedic consult, declined to participate. With the rebellion complete and democracy having apparently prevailed, YHC called an audible and led the PAX to the center pavilion for a beatdown instead.

    COP 1 – Eye of the Storm

    Run to each corner and back to the pavilion, completing 5 burpees after each return.

    • Corner 1: 30 Double-Tap Shoulder Taps (2-count)
    • Corner 2: 40 Side Straddle Hops
    • Corner 3: 50 Jump Squats
    • Corner 4: 60 Monkey Humpers

    COP 2 – 11s

    Between the pavilion and the end of the field:

    • Pickle Pounders
    • WWII Sit-ups

    COP 3 – Triple Check

    Three-man teams:

    • One PAX ran to the baseball backstop and back.
    • One PAX performed Step-Ups.
    • One PAX performed Incline Merkins.

    A little friendly competition ensued, with the two losing teams earning 15 burpees.

    Paid the toll back with:20 Decline Merkins, 20 Dips

    Finished with a little Mary, holding plank while each PAX called and completed 10 reps of the exercise of his choice.

    Announcements

    • DTH’s Poker Night – Friday evening
    • Home Run Derby at No Toll (meet at the baseball fields at Robious—not Huguenot Park!)
    • Homegrown Half – August 1

    Prayer Requests

    Please keep Doozy and the family and friends of Bruce in your prayers following Bruce’s recent passing.

    F3 is more than workouts. We’re here to shoulder burdens in times of sorrow and celebrate life’s victories together. That’s what this brotherhood is all about.

  • You can taste the air

    Four Hoedown regulars showed up to see what YHC had in store for his return to the Q sheet after a long absence.

    Warm Up

    Mosey to the side teacher parking lot for warm ups that included:

    • SSH
    • DQ
    • DMH
    • Fudd’s Wife
    • Wilson’s Wife
    • Merkins
    • Scorpion Kicks
    • Flutter Kicks
    • WWIIs

    Thing 1

    Mosey to the far Third Church parking lot for a modified triple check with coupons. With 5, we did three rounds of each of the following:

    • Curls
    • Swings
    • Overhead press
    • Alternating Merkins with block
    • Timer runs loop around the parking lot

    Thing 2

    Mosey to the Third Church lot behind the Church for another modified triple check.

    • BTTW Shoulder Taps
    • Arm Circles
    • APDs
    • LBCs
    • Times runs to the end of parking lot and back

    Thing 3

    Mosey down Silverspring for some parked car bingo. 5 merkins for each truck or SUV. 5 squats for all other 4-wheeled motorized vehicles.

    Numberama / Namerama / Announcements

    Prayers for Salt Lick’s friend whose M died suddenly.

    YHC took us out.

    Thanks for letting me lead today. It was good to get back on the Q sheet.