Category: Richmond, VA

  • Respite from the soup

    Six men emerged from the gloom to take in an unexpected break from the recent heat and humidity and spend this July morning strolling along the banks of the James River. According to the gentlemen posted to make sure nobody staged an impromptu performance of West Side Story at Dogwood Dell, this is what occurred.

    COP: SSH, DQ, IW, Copperhead Squats, Merkins, LBC’s, APD’s all in cadence

    Mosey to the Ampitheater – Decrementing Dips starting at the top at 18, 5 Incline Merkins on each step up, and back down doing 5 Boxcutters on each step.

    Head to the Triangle – First pass – 10 Carolina Dry Docks / 10 2 ct American Hammers / 10 Merkins, Second pass – 10 jump squats / 10 WWII / 10 Merkins, Third pass – 10 LBC / 10 Heels to Heaven / 10 Merkins

    Jog to the Pipe – Triple check – WWII / Plank / Run the pipe

    Back to the start for numbers and names. Handshake took us out. 2nd F at Libbie Market.

    Announcements: Get your pickles and balls ready for the Back to School Pickleball Tournament on August 26 (look for the pre-blast). CSAUP Alert! – Check out the slack #1st-f-fitness and #soj threads for information on the Homegrown Half and Homegrown 10K runs launching from Robious Landing on August 19.

    Thanks for joining and letting me lead the workout at Dogpile this morning. The physical exertion and camaraderie always sets a positive tone for my Saturday mornings and reminds me there’s more to life than the stressors and struggles I always seem to give more head space than deserved.

  • What is your profession…(oh #@%k)

    Disclaimer….sorry for the delay on the post(issue with the site not allowing things to work so taking extra time to post this). Once the word announced that it is back up, Florence already did his for Saturday, I am getting Friday’s in. An amazing turnout of 20(yes 20) came out to Satan’s Hill to continue their tours but also those rumors of a Mudslide Q. The amazing thing….I had 17 stations of work set up(I still needed 3 more), next time at the hill, I may need 25. I am sure people who pulled in and saw things trying to park were going WTF. I knew to get there early(5am) to set everything up, unload and be ready for what lies ahead.

    The start…a little run down to the stop sign and back. Then WARMARAMMA(Imperial Walkers, Ukrainian Soldiers, SSH, Helicopters, Jazzercise(a callout to Nancy who was in NC). our new favorite(cherry poppers), Merkins and LBCs. Then a little mosey down to Spartan grounds. The request to bring toys out and see what devilish workout I had created.

    There were 2 timer stations: a 50 pound sandbag carry up to the green transformer box, a bucket carry to the gazebo/dog park area and back. When you returned from the sandbag carry, this what lied in wait:

    –Lawnmower pulls/Guerilla rows, Goblet squat to Tactical lunge, WW2 with the slam ball, Rainbow presses with the cinder block, Up Up Down Down with a plank jack, Toe taps, Odin’s Sledgehammer(a 25 pound sledgehammer(rubber) onto a mat

    The turn made onto the bucket carry, after that you had: Upright row with cross press, Single V-up to Double leg V-ups, Tire Slams, A little boxing/mma with jab cross, hooks, upper cuts and front kicks with a 5 pound sand weight in each hand, Cinder block skull crushers, Jump rope(3 chooses on the rope ranging from 1 to the black one at 5 pounds) and battle ropes.

    With about 7-8 minutes left….the bands were here. A round each of quick feet with change in directions. After that, broad jumps with a bernie back. A little stretching out, then time was up

    Count outs, Announcements(see slack for updates and anything new that you might have an interest in), the prayer by YHC to close. Once again, thanks to Pigskin for providing water after everything.

    A couple of final things….I made some changes recently, the improvements are starting to show. Before I leave home, I do a little meditation, then a little flexibility/mobility to get myself ready. One thing, it does help me to calm down early mornings(don’t feel so rushed) plus the mobility work is helping that I am moving a lot better. It’s a long road still, little by little things come together but it does take a good while to open up the body and get it to that point of moving in a way that feels great, loose.

    When i am at a race, I always am amazed those older than me getting out there and knocking it out with ease. Pigskin no doubt at 70, ChaCha at 59 are those that you go ok i am in my 30s and 40s, if they can continue to come out, put in that effort each time than why can’t I when I am that age do it. Example I met a guy at my last race in NC(61), he started doing Spartans at 52, was 230 pounds way overweight made the change to better himself. He lost 75 pounds, looks amazing and also does wrestling tournaments at his age. Spartan on their social media has a woman who’s 71, been doing them the last 10 years and has a blast. What drives me…the ability to come out each time not only hang with those that are younger, but also keep pushing and showing what is possible as you get older

    If my memory is correct, I will lead the Q at Timberwolf Thursday, stretch out do a little movement I will see long as I have power tomorrow at Alamo

  • A Bridge to Body Builders

    13 PAX ventured over the Bridge and into the gloom. We were blessed with  a (relatively) cool and dewy morning to share with the men at the Bridge. YHC got a taste of this AO last month and couldn’t wait to come back. With Shakedown on partial I.R.  (BMX is a young man’s game apparently…) and TYA still partially cyborg, the Q was up for grabs – how could one resist!?

     After donning some new gloves and giving the house mascot (Lucy the dog) a quick scratch – the team got after it. Here’s what happened…

    THE THANG

    WARMERAMA:

    • Mosy to the corner
    • Welcome & Disclaimer
    • Dead man hangs, Ukrainian Soldiers, SSH, Helicopters, Alabama prom dates, LBC’s
    • Inchworm to the light poles
    • Mosy to the parking lot
    •  

    COP 1: Clock Tower

    • All PAX at own pace
    • Perform # of reps corresponding to the “time on the clock” at each position around the grounds.
    • 3 o’clock – 3 burpees
    • 6 Merkins
    • 9 Squats
    • 12 LBC’s
    • Two times through – Atlanta and Gourmet ALWAYS circled back for the six – leave no man behind!

    COP 2: Triple Check – Hop Over Merkins

    • PAX 1 – Jump over PAX in Merkin (down Position)
    • PAX 2 – Merkins (pause for PAX 1 to jump over)
    • PAX 3 (timer) – Run to Picnic table and SLAP IT
    • Modifying Merkins and Jump overs as needed – But all PAX pushed it

    COP 3: Light Pole 6’s

    • Mosy to Light Poles
    • Run to light pole – 6 reps of … Pick your poison!
    • 6 light poles down and 6 back
    • Gourmet is fast

    MBTTF

    Finisher: Body Bag Builders

    • Circle Up
    • YHC thought 20reps of 10ct body builders would be appropriate
    • 10reps in – we were smoked

    Finished off with miscellaneous abs and holding legs “six inches” above grade (Shakedown observed YHC is not a great judge of that dimension…) 

    COT:

    • Counterama #13
    • Namerama
    • Announcements: None
    • Closed out in Prayer: One Man Band had someone special on his heart – an 11 year old Tindy, that was a friend of the Bridge going through some difficult medical challenges. YHC requested some healing and courage for that family. Closed with some gratitude for the strength to gather and move on the earth for the morning. 

    NMS:

    I think the largest group yet, with 9 Bridge men and 4 Rva travelers made this Saturday special. Anthrax and Shakedown brought the heat, while TYA tailored a great workout with Bus around the grounds. It is really tough to express how impactful this experience is. YHC was in awe at the sheer GRIT these brothers possess. From the second we mosy to the final call at COT, these PAX give it their all – always seeming to understand – “it’s you against you”, and pushing/modifying/rallying themselves to the brink.

    YHC connected with a PAX that shared a variety of mutual friends and folks hailing from South Central Va. A small world indeed. But what stuck, was to think how often common threads, towns, people, goals, challenges, and general life experiences tie us ALL together. And I think one of YHC’s favorite things about F3 – brotherhood.

    But hey – in closing – there is no better AO to remind us of that bond. Put next month on your calendar and venture to the Bridge for some brotherhood.

    -State Farm

  • Aint Nothin But a Gangsta Party

    16 Vatos jammed out to the greatest hits of Tupac, Biggie, T.I. and DMX. Here’s what the potential FNG’s walking around Rockwood Park witnessed :

    Mosey to far basketball court 

    F3 Disclaimers

    Warmarama : 20 SSH IC, 15 Ukrainian Soldiers IC, 15 IW’s IC, 10 Merkins IC

    THE THANG :

    Mosey to concession stand

    Triple Check : Wall Sits (shoulder blades touching wall only, no lower back), Dips, Timer runs down the stairs then up the other stairs

    Mosey to big boy parking lot

    Quarter Pounder : sprint 25 yards and do 25 merkins then Bernie Sanders back to start. Sprint 50 yards and do 50 squats then Bernie Sanders back to start. Sprint 75 yards and do 75 Mountain Climbers DC then Bernie Sanders back to start. Sprint 100 yards and do 100 SSH then Bernie Sanders back to start. 

    4 Corners prostitute : 5 Navy Seal Burpees, 20 one legged LBC’s, 30 squat jumps, 40 SSH

    Mosey into forest trail to the workout station 

    Triple Check : Pull Ups, Calf Raises, Timer runs to sign and back

    Mosey back to basketball court

    Mary : 1 minute Flutters IC, 1 minute WWII’s IC, 1 minute LBC’s IC

    Line up on sideline

    Running punches there and back

    Running kicks there and back 

    Running punches there, running kicks back

    DONE

    Numbers, Names, YHC took us out in prayer

    Check Slack for announcements. There’s a lot of them

    Ponch turns 40 on Monday to kick off his decade of silence

    NMMS : Enjoyed having Honeydo join us for his summer tour.  OC thought YHC’s boom box looked like a fog machine which is an accurate description. Great group overall this morning and great 2nd F at Starbucks after. Glad OC got his car working

  • Fartleks on Fitz-Hugh

    Five fearless fun-seekers flocked to the faculty field (of asphalt) for our Friday formalities. Unbeknownst to the Q, an alliteration was called. Fartleks on Fitz-Hugh.

    The Route

    • East on Grove to a left on Lafayette
    • Left on Fitz-Hugh
    • Fartleks on Fitz-Hugh. Run 2 blocks at 80%, recover for a block. Some modified to 1 & 1.
    • 4s run all the way to willow lawn then back to Antrim
    • 5s run to willow lawn, back to Lafayette, then back to Blacker
    • 6s run to willow lawn, back to Lafayette, back to Willow Lawn, then back to Sauer
    • Run south back to the VSF wherever you end on Fitz-Hugh

    Numbers, names, YHC took us out.

    Announcements

    • Bridge crew heading out tomorrow. Probably a full car but check with State Farm/Shakedown
    • Lots of summer travelers

    Moleskin

    YHC woke up today noticing no Q was on the sheet. Realizing intervals at Mary hadn’t been called in a while, YHC took the opportunity. It was hot, sweaty, and fun. Everyone agreed.

    You are welcome Wedding Singer for the audible reminder of how sweaty it was today.

    Splinter out.

  • Not Really Sure What To Do

    A double digit turn out converged onto Betty Weaver to experience the heat and humidity of a fine summer SOJ day. Todays PAX was made up of some Twin Team regulars, not so regulars, summer tourists and newbies. Kettlebells was the primitive plan but with Twin Team virgin in the group, an audible was called for. Here is how I remember things going down.

    Everyone pull out your weighted handleballs or light blocks and stash them in a group to be played with later. Short mosey to the base of Twin Team Hill for introductions, disclaimers and warm ups that consisted of SSH’s, Helis, DQ’s, Dead Man Hang, Heels to Heaven, Freddie Mercuries and Dying Cockroaches.

    With everyone primed and ready, lets get up the hill. 5 merkins at each driveway on the way up. 5 squats on the way down. Toto enjoyed the modern amenities such as sidewalks and pavement that may or may not have been there during his earlier years. Heartrate up so lets get back to Betty Weaver, picking up McRib along the way.

    Circuit work with Kettlebells. 10 stations with variety of exercises while timer runs the loop. Exercises included swings, curls, tricep trusts, lawnmowers and block press with Handshakes lego block. Other exercises were included but you had to be there to know. 2 rounds were completed.

    Mosey to the blacktop at the rear of the school. Indigenous Peoples Chair against the building. 1 person bear crawls across the blacktop and runs to the end of the line. 2nd round, Bernie across and run back. Time was called so BTTVF.

    Numbers, Names, Announcements, Prayers. Toto took us out. Some decided another trip to Twin Team was needed, YHC was not one of them.

    Announcements: CSAUP a plenty. Twin Team 1/2 marathon or 10k coming in August if you like running hills. See a rabbit for details (Draper/Rosie/Tobit).

    Food Ruck across Salisbury and back in October. Some houses along the way could be rolled. See Orange Crush, Doublemint for details.

    Oyster Paying – Thursday lunch at Rusty Taco.

    Good luck to Hutton with the removal of a tree off his house.

    NMS: YHC had no clue how to do a dedicated Kettlebell workout. Improvisation was the word of the day. Great turn out this morning with mumble chatter strong. Great to see Handshake and Hutton cross the river along with Toto’s 1st trip back to Twin Team since his adolescent years. Doublemint has been cleared for full contact and is coming after the Pickleball crown. Thank you fellas for showing up. Enjoy the weekend.

  • No Ruck Day

    Two DaVille Runners and YHC who decided to pace walk today made to it to Tomato Run this morning.

    YHC set a traditional route through Rutland, Knollwood, and Cool Spring West. The guys decided to add some trail run and got in close to 5 miles

    YHC who was sick earlier in the week didn’t feel up for a run so instead did a walk but keep under 15 min mile pace and got in 3 miles

    nice morning for both choices.

  • Beer and Breast Milk

    7 warriors gathered in the semi gloom to work with KBs. Here is how it went:

    COP: DQs, DMH, merkins, MCs, FMs, LBCs Mosey to side of school away from Pump Road.

    Catch me if you can with 3 burpees and walking with two KBs (yours and partners).

    Triple check with two people/exercises: Bear crawl and run back, sit and press 3X. Mosey to front parking lot with 2 sets of 25 bench presses on the way.

    Four corners with 10 burpees, 20 overhead presses, 30 coupon squats and 40 curls for the ladies. Mosey to bus loop.

    One the mosey do 4 sets of rows first 10 each arm, escalating by 5 to 25 per arm. Did a couple of coupon calf raises on route. At this point in the mosey I overhead an odd conversation about drinking beer is like having breast milk. It made so little sense to me and Attila thought it was a good backblast title so I went with it.

    At the bus loop lunge to the fire hydrant do 10 swings, walk to the other side do 15 swings, lunge another 200 feet do 20 swings and then walk to the starting point do 25 swings. Mosey to home base and add some tricep work because some ladies like triceps.

    Finished with American hammers and DMH.

    Prayers for Mr. Rogers and his son Lincoln and safe travels for Attila to visit his home state of Bama. There is a weekly gathering at Dunkin Donuts at Lauderdale and Broad Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Join them if you can.

    Thanks again for letting me lead.

    Fireman Ed

  • Come for the Croquet, Stay for the Corn

    A trio of trios emerged from the swampy gloom to see what was in store at The Forge. Rumors were abound for a variety of cultured games including Croquet, Red Rover and Duck Duck Goose. YHC would have no such shenanigans on his watch. Here is what really occurred as far as I can tell.

    Mosey down to the turnabout. On the way stopping at each light for 5 merkins to get the blood pumping. Introductions, disclaimers and salutations followed by warm ups that included SSH’s, Arm Circles, Dead Man Hang, Jazzercise, Heels to Heaven, LBC’s and Suzanne Summers. All seems good in the world, let us begin.

    Perfect conditions for a triple check. Mosey over to the visiting locker room wall. Donkey Kicks, Hoedowns while timer runs to the driveway and returns.

    Back to the base of the sac for 11’s. 10 jump squats, 1 WWII at the 1st lightpole, 9/2 at the 2nd…..Plank for the 6 at the final light pole.

    Mosey to the ticket booth. Unfortunately no rear entry access to the fields this morning, so we modify. Triple Check it is. Dips, American Hammers, timer runs up the stairs and around.

    Slow walk up the stairs then partner up for love hill w/o the hill. Bear Crawl, Lunge, Broad Jump. Partner runs to the flag poles and returns. Carpenter won the partner challenge as Snuff was to the flag poles before many of the running PAX.

    BTTF for merkin ring of fire. Time still on the clock for a brief Shavasana to slow the heart beat and breathing. Numbers, Names Announcements, Prayers. YHC took us out.

    Announcements: Oysters Paying: Lunch next Thursday. McRib is jamming tonight at Hurleys Tavern.

    Prayers: Snuffs friend (and DTH’s neighbor) has some serious health concerns. Take care of yourself fellas. Listen to your check engine light.

    NMS: Great numbers for the Forge this morning. YHC tried to lead an extended version of SSH in honor of Carpenter’s return but did not have the endurance. Carpenter is really growing the New Jersey F3 chapter. Hopefully they will find a challenger for Hardywoods 100,000 merkins in a month, Good luck. Good to see Opus and Oyster punch their summer tour passports. Mumble chatter is always strong with this group and always welcome on these sticky mornings. Great work this morning. Enjoy the corn.

  • Cherry Topper

    11 strong posted out to a beautiful gloom that included 3 travelers from far away lands and 8 SOJ regulars. There will calls for children’s games but YHC was in the mood for a good old beatdown

    COP- 20 each SSH, LBC; 10 Each DQ’s, Jazzercise, Helicopters, Imperial Walkers, , Coper head squat, Dead man hang, Merkins, Flutters, Plank jacks, 

    Proper light pole alley.  Starting with 50 working down by 5, starting at furthest light pole working way to closest.  Doing called exercise on each end.  Exercises: Merkins, Freddy Mercuries, heels to heaven, squats, Drydocks, and many more.  

    To tennis courts for various runs across 3 courts until time was called.  

    Announcement: Looking to start an AO in deep south SOJ to capture Mag Green/Foxes.  

    Prayer Requests:

    YHC took us out in prayer.

    Make Today Awesome!