Category: Richmond, VA

  • We’re all runners today

    4 PAX with varying degrees of intention to run met at Midlo middle today. 5:30 hit, some discussion of running route/plan and then we were off. Plan was to do some intervals with one minute faster, two minutes slower. Got in a little over 4 miles today and everyone pushed and got in a good run this morning!

    nmm

    great to run with yall this morning. Good to do something a little different. I haven’t been posting that much lately and it felt great to get after it a bit today. I like that doing intervals lends itself to picking up the 6 so we can stay together for the most part while each doing our own thing during the fast minutes.

  • Salty and Sweet

    A dirty dozen arrived for a tour-de-grooooove. Here’s the thing…

    4’s 5’s 6’s all head up Fairway to Iris, past St Stephens to Grooooove.

    Heading East, 4’s and 6’s tale left on Seneca which loops around to Tuckahoe, and on back to Grove.

    4’s head back to Iris whence they came

    5’s and 6’s take Tuckahoe south to Cary. Cross and get on Paxton…take to bottom and return up Ampthill. Cross from Ampthill to Greenway to Grooooove. 5’s return via Iris. 6’s return via Campus entrance (via access road parallel to Three Chopt), then run past stadium before returning.

    Saab Abides

  • KB circuit with Heist – Injury Free

    After losing two guys yesterday, I made sure everyone was warmed up and ready to rock.
    According to the spring peepers at Old Hundred Elementary, this is how things went down.

    Disclaimers, warnings, caution, check yourself before you wreck yourself, see a doctor if you have an erection lasting more than 4 hours provided to the Pax.

    Warmorama: SSH (20x), Ukrainian soldiers (15x), Don Quixotes (10x), Andy Dufresne stretch, Deadman hang stretch, LBCs(20x), Rosalitas(15x), Roscoe’s Mom stretch (both sides), downward dog, slowwww stand up.

    Thang: Farmer carry long sides of the parking lot to each corner, performing circuits as follows:

    1. Corner 1: 20x KB swings/15x squat + push press/Single Leg Curb Raise (think single leg APD with or without KB(20x)
    2. Pistol Carry to corner 2
    3. Corner 2: Single arm KB rows (15x), Single arm KB press (with or without bridge) 15x/ KB pullovers (20x)
    4. Farmer Carry to corner 3
    5. Corner 3: KB Deadlifts (20x) w/ option for single leg/KB Shoulder Press (15 x each side)/KB Teakettle bend (15 x each side)
    6. Pistol Carry to corner 4
    7. Corner 4: WW2 KB taps (20x)/KB Pull throughs with Merkin (10x)/KB curls (20 x)

    Quick eye of the storm: Guys picked 4 exercises (20x KB swing to OH/KB skull crushers/KB Nolan Ryan’s/ KB Alan Iverson’s. Basically – farmer’s carry from center (where 20x SSH performed) to designated corner exercise and back. 100x SSHs performed.

    Time!

    Announcements: MOT with Boberry TMW/Get your Ruck on a the the Forge. Most importantly – Futon is starting plans for a special Luv4Liv part 2 event this September. Hope to get a bunch of Pax and local community out for that.

    Prayers: Pray for Armstrong’s father who is in Hospice.

    YHC took us out.

  • Are you sure that’s mud?

    So State Farm and YHC decided to do a little extra credit this morning and did a pull up session for morning wood. We were planking in between sets of pull ups when YHC felt a fart coming on. Decided to try and squeeze it out and realized it was not just a fart just a bit too late! YHC had to hot trot back to the vehicle where luckily, there’s always a supply of Huggies. We’ll spare the details between here and the start of the Q.

    530 came as did Posh, and we moseyed over to the Taco Truck pad for the warmarama with our Rucks/weighted vests strapped on.

    Started with the usual Side Straddle Hops then on to Don Quyotes when YHC noticed some mud on his brand new shoes. State Farm who was privy to what happened earlier asked “Are you sure that’s mud?”

    Well we finished the rest of the warmarama and hit Bermuda’s version of Quadzilla’s Hill wit the Rucks on mind you.

    11s

    Start with 1 calf raise on an incline at the bottom of the hill and Bernie up to the top for 10 decline merkins

    Another set with Incline merkins at the top and double count ball dippers at the bottom

    Mosey back to the flag for 7s removing the Rucks.

    1 Burpees then run to the bathhouse for 6 donkey kicks

    We felt like we had super speed doing these after removing the Rucks!

    Next we moseyed over to the picnic pavilion and did a long set of chair dips

    Then some of Big Rig’s favorite Ab exercises in Cadence

    Folding suitcases (think crunchy frogs on crack!)

    Ric Flairs

    Seated Bicycles Forward and Reverse

    Big Rigs (Alternating Straight Legged LBCs)

    Mosey back to the flag for a few minutes of Broga led by State Farm. YHC had to use the Huggies to wipe the uhh… mud off his shoe.

    Announcements:

    State Farm has the Q at Satan’s Hill on Friday, he’s also signed up for the 10k at Ashland’s Railroad Run if anyone is interested in joining on Saturday, March 23rd.

    Names and Numbers

    Prayers for Florence, who’s having a tough time shaking a bad cold, and to all the wounded warriors out there.

    YHC was blessed as always to lead.

  • Serving up requested Core Work

    A terrific ten, including 2 tardy PAX, took off behind QMS to start their day at HBR. Bottle Cap from Waxhall(?) joined us from NC so YHC gave him a tour of the premier West End Tuesday AO.

    COP: SSH, Don Qs, Ukrainian Soldiers, Merkins, LBCs, Correct Scorpion Kicks

    THE THANG: 10 HRMs at all 6 basketball hoops, alternate bear crawl & lunge between. Partner up for Dora 123: 100 Donkey Kicks, 200 Carolina Dry Docks, 300 LBCs. Down to show our visitor the Jerkin Gym: 4 rounds of 8 Jerkins & try to stay out of the mud.

    Mosey over to benches for Benchkicks & Derkins: 3 rounds increasing each time. Back over to Jerkin gym for 3 more rounds of 6 Jerkins. Stop by the namesake Heartbreak hill: Up for 20 Squats at top them 50 Monkey humpers at bottom. One more time up and down, stop for some pickle pounders, then back to the flag. YHC took us out. Keep Homer and his family in your prayers.

    NMS: Good morning with 50+ degree temps to make it feel like spring in the Gloom. Adding Gypsy in to the mix with Atilla and Handshake leads to ample mumblechatter throughout. YHC took off to the blacktop behind QMS for a non-conventional COP location. Handshake let out a loud groan on the initial Don Qs, welcome to your 40s brother.

  • Brothers born for Adversity

    9 HIMs low on vigor gathered round for a motivational chat led by Machismo.  According to the disturbed car sleeper, this is what happened.

     
    The THANG:

    WARMERAMA:  25 fast straddle hops,  10s of Ukrainian soldiers, ESWs, DQs, Plank jacks, Groiners, rosalita dips, 10 No Cheat Merkins.   

    COP #1: Toll step up 11s crossing the bridge of no toll 10 step ups followed by 1 dip a the opposite log.

    Mosey to the dumpsters for Racoon Rattle triple check.


    COP #2:  Triple check with donkey gongs on the dumpster with Machism adding a little too much cow bell (hence the woken car sleeper)  Runner traverses parking lot and returns to the dumpster to find a Cindy-Swinger and no it wasn’t NTB pretending to be a woman in his Subaru Forester.

    • Mosey to the pavilion


    COP #3: Eye of Absolution.

    • Missing DTH and wanting to add an eight count exercise the pax started with a 10 count in cadence precursor and then divided into 4 corners to do 25 of various exercises before returning to perform 5 Absolutions.  (Groiner, to elbow plank, to chillcut plank jack, back to plank and 1)  Corners were No Cheat Merkin, SSH, Copperhead Squats, and WWII
    • Mosey BTTF and pay a 25 count dip toll on the way.


    COP #4: Circle up for Mary preceded by some arm circles.    In a rotating fashion guys led various plank position exercises that were supposed to hit abs but apparently the abbs were sufficiently smoked to throw a few merkins in there. 

    –


    COT:
    Counterama # Nueve
    Announcerama:  Ruck leaving from forge tomorrow at 5:30.  Oyster might be paying for something soon??? 
    Prayers for O.C.s family friend Sophia who at 18 her life was cut short in Georgia in a high speed car accident.  Hug your kids.  Prayers for DKs friend suffering through loss. 


    Naked Moleskin:

    9 Invigorated HIMs left the absolved pavement of No Toll ready to lead their communities. YHC was freed to lead nearly 2 years ago and is grateful for this Band of Brothers whose silhouettes he recognizes in the darkness.   Provers 17:17 says “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” 17 A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.

    Through all our mumble chatter and off count exercises YHC is grateful for the pax and the opportunity to lead.  If you’re struggling let a brother know.

  • A few good men: Dangers of the gloom

    Great to be back in the gloom with the Pax after taking nearly a week off laid up with Covid. Only one way to catch Swoop (and many others now) in the big data…get out and post. Anyway, according to the unidentified creature that puked on the street in Rountrey, here is how it went down:

    1. Long freaking mosey from Alamo to the Rountrey construction area (about a mile). Stretching. Demonstrated our new merkin style (Topeka two step). Mosey on for…..
    2. Construction site triple check: LBCs, lunges, with timer running to run pile. This is where we lost Hermey (twisted knee). Recover.
    3. Mailbox burpees back towards Alamo (this way). This is where we lost our dear friend Purple Rain (hopefully does not need a backetomy)
    4. Next part of the workout requires some explanation…hang with me. I try to come up with new routines for the guys, think of ways to avoid injury (that was the point of the long, but slow mosey), etc.  Hence,  I spend a bit of time here and there on YouTube looking up calisthenic routines.  Turns out that some dudes get JACKED doing hard time on.  Mosey to Alamo bunker (looks like a prison cell) for OYO 3 round burst sets of  three rounds of donkey kids(10)/squats(20)/Topeka two-step merkins (10)….most felt the burn by the end of the second round. 

    BTTF for a brief ring of fire with another incarceration inspired merkin variant: If you have been posting a little bit, you may notice many variations of merkins…Today we tried this variation

    If the title didn’t clue you in, we had a few injuries today (Hermey – knee and Purple Rain – back). Nothing serious (hopefully), but just a reminder to take care of yourself. Fortunately, DR Wildcat provided a quick assessment and Cookie was able to grab a car for Hermey (injury happened a little ways from the flag).

    Prayers for injured PAX. WC took us out.

    Rumor has it that sone much loved and long absent New Market guys are coming back out in the Gloom soon (stay tuned). 

    Enjoy the day. Be the positive light in someone’s life. 

  • Tool Time

    Twelve body sculpting craftsmen shook off the chill of a late February morning in time to answer the work bell for the latest edition of the Hoedown. Temperatures were 70 and sunny. According to the guy breaking into the Third Church construction site, the following might have happened:

    Mosey across the school parking lot, stairs, and grass, then over Forest to the Third Church parking lot (but just left of the normal spot) for the COP.

    SSHs x50
    IW’s x20
    Dead Man Hang (with elbow grab)
    Fudd’s Wife
    Wilson’s Wife
    Pigeon right, pigeon left
    Fudd’s Wife
    LBC’s
    Reverse Crunches
    Flutter kicks
    HRMs x15

    Mosey across the front of Third Church, then right to the back parking lot / construction site. Climb fence. road.

    Dora. 50 merkins per man, 150 LBCs, and 200 SSHs.

    Circle up for some stretching. Fudd’s wife, then various leg stretching.

    Mosey to the Block Parking Lot. Three groups of four.

    1. Walk with block overhead.
    2. Air presses
    3. slow squats
    4. monkey humpers

    Rounds 2-3, modify to walk while doing overhead presses.

    Mosey to the Walgreen’s Parking Lot. Triple check. Run the building (“It’s a big building”), WWIIs, and Carolina Dry Docks. Time narrowed this to one round.

    Mosey back to the front of the school, then line up for an elephant walk (aka, bear crawl in a line).

    Mosey back to the horseshoe. 2 minutes left for a set of merkins at each traffic cone. Call it 10–20 slow merkins.

    COT – Numbers, names, and YHC took us out with a message about .

    NMS:

    Hitch makes some interesting noises.

    Bodo’s has a lot going on, but still has enough free time after running a parish, a family, and a construction company to start a vehicle salvage business. He’s looking for investors in the start up. Kudos to his daughters for making their donations. Let’s go!

    Last Call believes that Walgreens is a “big building.” YHC notes that LC finds no problem with running YHC’s cold butt 1.5 miles down River Road in the pitch dark from First Watch to Panorama.

    Billy Surf may not quite have Hutton’s speed on the bear crawl, but he definitely has the stamina. Nice work!

    Several guys are on the mend…or just still recovering from their Saturday night hangover, or both.

    Announcements:

    None mentioned, but YHC notes that some dudes are adding fake weights to their bodies and learning to “live like a Clydesdale.” YHC guesses this is what is meant by walking a few miles in another man’s shoes.

  • Sunday 2/25 Edition

    YHC slow cooked some pulled pork and delivered it along with buns, BBQ sauce, coleslaw, and cookies to the residents of Southside Health Center. Was planning on sitting down with them for dinner but YHC’s entire family got sick in Florida this past week so I had Antoinette come pick up the food from my car downstairs while I masked up. Here’s Florence’s not-so-secret ingredients for pulled pork in the slow cooker :

    1 tablespoon Onion Powder

    ¾ cup Ketchup

    3 tablespoons tomato paste

    ¼ cup apple cider vinegar

    1 teaspoon paprika

    1 teaspoon garlic powder

    1 teaspoon mustard powder

    1 teaspoon cumin

    4 pound pork shoulder trimmed of excess fat

    Season with Salt and Pepper

    Slow cook for 9 hours

  • Getting Up Close with the Trails

    One of the best things about F3 is that someone will always show up to workout. Today was no exception.

    One trail runner and two trail ruckers launched on time. After conversing with someone who had just finished a trail run and was inquiring about rucking, off we went.

    Word of advice: Watch the slick and icy parts of the trail. With a ruck on, the center of gravity is higher and can result in a nose dive into the trail.

    Coffee afterwards was awesome and the discussion was excellent!