Category: Richmond, VA

  • Jams & not elevens

    It was a perfect morning for nine to gather at daybreak for Heartbreak & YHC was honored to Q after a long hiatus. Honeydo showed up in his colorful jams, matching sneakers and off we went to the ES parking lot.

    COP: 15xSSH, 11xDQ, 10xHC, 10xIW, 10xHRM, 15xLBC, air spell Heartbreak Ridge (lowercase for Slippin Jimmy). Ready to rumble, we meandered to the little playground for a triple check: Big Boy Sit-ups, shoulder taps & the timer runs a loop. After mr. jams man pined for a release from the shoulder tap movement, the crew was treated to 10x Scorpion Kicks OYO. Dealer’s choice for regular style to release one’s lower back or to invert and avoid the infamous pressure.

    Mosey back to the rear asphalt field and partner up for a Dora: 100 x HRM, 150 x LBC, 150 x squat with alternating bear crawl / lunge route as a timer. Native American mosey to the GP railings for a signature 2x over/under crawl bear / rail crawl combo.

    With 7 minutes remaining we started a set of 11’s, convoluted & without any counts that added to 11… scorpion kicks at the bottom of heartbreak ridge, bernie to top & do odd number sets (1,3,5,7,9,11) x 3 of heels to heaven. YHC abandoned this chaos at round 4 to hit a single set of 12x jerkins and mosey back to the flag. Numberama, Namerama, Announcements (Convergence Memorial Day at Tredegar 7a) and YHC took us out. Thanks for the colorful and wonky morning! Until next time, GP

  • 200 Alabama Prom Dates? Swimsuit season is upon us and this PAX will be ready for it.

    YHC jumped on the empty Q sheet slot Monday evening. It’s been a minute since YHC has Q’d at NoToll and was happy to see 10 HIM’s in the parking lot ready to get in shape for beach season. 530am on the swatch watch? Time to go.

    A short jog to the parking lot for 5 burpees to cross the bridge onto No-Toll field. Run down to the other end of the field for 5 more burpees and back over bridge #2. The PAX agreed that without the burpees a troll was likely to reach out and grab you as you crossed the bridge. Gotta pay that toll at no-toll.

    Continue on our journey to the field pavilion for a little warm-a-rama: SSH, Don Qui-Low-te’s, Helicopters, Imperial Walkers, Copper head squats, Merkins, LBCs.

    Thang:

    • 25 Burpees / Jog the perimeter of the soccer field
    • 50 Merkins / Jog the perimeter
    • 75 Monkey Humpers / Jog the perimeter
    • 100 Alabama Prom Dates / Jog the Perimeter
    • 125 LBC’s / Jog the Perimeter
    • 150 2 count touch the heels / Jog the Perimeter. Note to self – 150 was a bit to many to count here. DTH kept us honest though. Where would we be without DTH? Probably just sitting around with flabby abs.
    • 125 LBC’s / Jog 1/2 the Perimeter
    • 100 APDs / Jog the 1/2
    • 75 Monkey Humpers / Jog the 1/2
    • A bit short of time to finish the Merkins and Burpees, so 15 burpees and let’s head back to the flag.

    On the way back to the flag, cross the bridges again with 10 merkins on both sides.

    Arrived at the flag with 90 seconds to spare, so a quick ring of fire for 5 of your favorite merkins.

    Time Called.

    Announcements: Many. Check Slack and reach out to members who have recently joined to attend.

    Prayer requests: None

    Don Draper took us out.

    PAX logged just over 2 miles today. Well done MEN!

  • A Good Route

    We hit some hills – including owl strike corridor – new roads, a little bit of trail, and the scenic campus tour. Fun was had by all!

    Hitchhiker took us out.

    Announcements – Pickle ball tournament coming up. See slack for details and “how-to” videos.

  • Anvil Trail Day

    7 brave souls hit the area trails with a bro-code run. Runners launched south into Giles, looping through the northern part of that neighborhood’s paved trails, hitting as many of the paved trails in Taylor Farms as we could, and then finishing off with the generally unpaved, and sometimes rooty, Honey Meadows trails. We saved those for last because they somehow seem dark even after sunrise. We all covered between about 4.3 and 4.7 miles. After numbers and names, Opus took us out. The only announcement was a reminder about the upcoming Memorial Day Convergence.

    Trail running is my personal favorite, but we generally do not do it at this AO outside of the brightes two months of the year. The bro-code run kept the PAX together on what is a rarely used route. This also kept the mumblechatter steady. Thank you to Anchovy who knows the Honey Meadows trails better than I do and kept us on the right track.

  • Don’t Fall Asleep

    3 of the finest Brogi’s rose early to answer the call and limber up prior to the OC No Toll beatdown. Quads, hips, hamstrings, shoulders and back were emphasized this morning. Shavasana was extended due to the ideal conditions leading some to doze off with the cool breeze. Enjoy the day fellas, thanks for joining me.

  • Tuesday…after Wildcat’s VQ

    It looks like Wildcat did a number on a lot of guys yesterday(excellent) so we had a strong group of 6 come out to Old Hundred for the Tuesday Kettlebell feast. I make sure to bring the tunes to keep us going. After a warm up lap run, back to the flag for a warm-up(SSH, Helicopters, Don Quixote, Imperial Walkers, Ukrainian Soldiers, Cheery Pickers, Merkins and LBCs). Once completed….time to get to work

    Descending ladder was first up…the main part of today’s workout. We start at 10, work our way down to 1. The exercises: presses per side, rows, figure 8s, goblet squats, swings. After each round completed, we did a farmers carry down a bit then back. I added a little extra to the carry adding a grip tool to work the hands and forearms a little.

    After that, we paired up for a 2 part exercise, bear crawls and cleans. The goal is to at least match the number your partner does while they bear crawl. You find out that both there’s going to be a strong side but the next part is the next round, after you go out strong the round before that the number decreases. Finished it up, then another partner exercise one person does 10 swings, the other does jump reaches(side jumps with the reach in the air). The idea of still keeping that heart rate up

    On the 6 next for 1 minute of Kettlebell WW2 with a raise up then press out to the left and right. One final thing, we all planked up and did plank pull-thrus with merkins after you pulled the weight. The group got to 6, then a little time left to stretch and hit the 45

    Count-outs, announcements(Slack has a lot right now plus I will add one on the first fitness page about Spartan upcoming that will be helping an old friend get their first). Prayer by YHC and that is it for today. Have a good one

  • Long time Coming

    This was my VQ. I have been coming out for about 6 months so it was about time I led this brotherhood. Even had an FNG (accidently called him FNQ) who powered through.

    Warm up:

    Side straddle hops, Don Quixote, helicopter, Ukrainian soldiers, cherry pickers, LBC’s and mercans (forgot to add the Jazzercise for Nancy Lopez to demonstrate flawlessly….will do that next time)

    Work out #1 (11’s):

    Run length of parking lot and complete10 mercans, run back and complete 1 diamond push ups, run length of parking lot and complete 9 mercans, run back and complete 2 diamond push ups etc……

    Work out #2 (Triple Check):

    Partner 1: Run full loop from the end of tunnel to the beginning, Partner 2: air squats, Partner 3: Wall sits

    Work out #3 (Hill Burpees):

    Run up and down the wet grassy hill then complete 5 burpees for a total of 10 rounds

    Cool down: Stretch with deadman hangs

    Announcements and prayers completed. Shout out to Futon who is an FNG who hung tough. God Bless all you guys for making my VQ go somewhat smoothly.

    Romans 5: 3-5

    “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

  • Graveyard Shift

    The Running Dead

    3 running zombies came together at Rockwood Park for another installment of the Running Dead Graveyard Shift. YHC was coming in hot, but made it with about a minute to spare.

    Conversation started about the Family Night the night before and general concensus was that it was a success!

    We made our way to the park entrance and made a right onto Courthouse Rd. Basically doing the same route that YHC took last Monday. We made a right onto Sea Cliff and took a tour of the neighborhood. Last week YHC got a bit lost but I managed to make our way back to Courthouse and then back to Rockwood for a couple laps around the park.

    At the end my watch had us at 4.3 miles in 44 minutes. My watch has been known to short a few tenths of a mile.

    Numbers and names

    Check Slack for announcements.

    Good run. Chaplain and Florence are always good running mates.

  • Just the two of us

    Gypsy said he is coming, but the late night talk with daughter interfered with his plans. Unexpectedly Homer showed up. We had a pretty pleasant five-mile run. It was light outside and still pretty cool. We chatted along the way about this and that (mostly work staff). So much better to run with someone else then just by myself.

  • Living life with a Microblock

    10 of the coolest dudes in RVA gathered to see what random tasks YHC had in store for this weeks episode of Hoedown

    Mosey to the Recess Blacktop for COP of various exercises, most notably Inverted Scorpion Kicks

    Mosey to Lil’ Blue #1 to gather the Microblocks, 1 per person

    Mosey to the the Cul-de-sac at the bottom of Lindsay Drive. Various block exercises and then partner up. P1 does 5 Burpees while P2 takes both blocks and Bernie Sanders up the hill. P1 catches P2 and switch until the top of the hill.

    Mosey back up to the Asphalt Hill opposite the Gaga Pit. Drag the block up the hill, then various Block exercises, then drag the block back down the hill.

    Gorilla Shuffle across the parking lot.

    Mosey over to the Cafeteria area for a Triple Check. P1 run the loops with both Blocks, P2 uses one block for Curls for the Girls, P3 does a Wall Sit. Two rounds were completed.

    Mosey to the grassy area for final block work to complete the workout.

    Announcements – Convergence at Tredegar Iron Works on Monday 5/19. Gomer Pyle needs volunteers on the Broke D$ck Brigade to help get Coffee and Bagels for the 2nd F after the workout.

    No prayer requests today.

    NMS – this is likely one of the quietest workouts YHC has been to in a while. Hardly any mumble chatter. Maybe that means YHC did a good job? YHC hopes everyone has a good week.