Category: Richmond, VA

  • Well look at that!

    Came rolling in hot and ready to get after it. Master Oogy was already there locked in and ready to go. At 5:29 Commando came rolling in with a fresh new flag to add to the collection.

    We got the usual warm up and stretching knocked out then got straight into it.

    Started things off with 11s pull through merkins and goblet squats, using around the worlds as our transportation.

    Then Commando grabbed the wheel and delivered an upper body beatdown that felt like every arm, chest and shoulder exercise ever created.

    Announcements:

    • Commando will be doing a nighttime trail run during Dominion Riverrock Belle Isle.
    • Beaver is set to run the Christy Puller out in West Point.

    Always grateful for the ability to show up and push through these sometimes silly workouts. Even more grateful for the fellowship and brotherhood built with these men and the rest of F3. I’m personally thankful our paths crossed.

    Closed it out with a prayer from Commando

  • Something A Little Different

    It was a dynamic duo at The Bermuda Triangle. We started out with a bit more than a mosey around the neighborhood. A 2 mile run. After returning, we grabbed our restrictor plates and walking lunged our way to the playground for some pull up negatives and squats. Return the restrictor plates and finish up with about 10 minutes of Mary.

  • Clear as Rudy (Mud)

    A strong showing on a brisk morning, but Alamo crew was as strong as a 3 month old baby. Yeah Swoop is a beast, but I guess it was too fridged for the rest.

    Quick mosey around the lot. Basic introduction. SSH, IW’s, Jazzercise, DQ’s, Willy Mays Hayes, Roscoe’s mom, merkins, LBC’s ETC.

    Despite crystal clear directions the PAX struggled with understanding where I was going or trying to lead them?

    Split the Pax in 2. Go to separate ends of lot. 1 runner from each team race to the center for 10 Bouyah Merkins or WWII’s alternating. Remaining PAX does exercise of runners choice. First round was like coaching my 5 year old son in Tee Ball! Losing team does burpees.

    Mosey to the bunker for round 2 and 3. Same premise but start at top of hill and race to center of bunker.

    Some wheels were shown, no one was hurt and beatdown was complete.

    Prayers to Hermie’s 2.0. YHC took us out in prayer.

  • Bogey’s on time

    Not really. He was fashionably late. But we hadn’t gotten far when he drove into the parking lot.
    No refunds today. We finished on time.
    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 Flutters
    • 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
    Mosey back to the flag for
    • 15 American Hammers
    • 15 APDs
    • 60 second 6-inch leg lift
    Time’s Up!
    Announcements:
    • Coffee at Starbucks afterwards
    • 15th Annual Richmond Bluegrass Jam this Saturday. Whitesnake is El Jefe for this! To raise money for our military veterans and their families through the Richmond Fisher House and Liberation Veteran Services. Park at James River High School.

    COT
    Four things you can’t get back
    • The stone after it’s thrown.
    • The word after it’s said.
    • The moment after it’s missed.
    • The time after it’s gone.

  • The Ol’ Hundo

    7 Men gathered at the old hundred this morning for some kettlebell action.

    Short mosey and warmup.

    11s with squats and WWIIIs

    4 corners: swings, Romanian deadlifts, American Hammers, Curls

    Hurricane (Ring of Fire rotating weights with each exercise)

    4 corners again

    Ring of Fire

    COT: Boys of Summer kicks off May 7 at Timberwolf, check Slack for Mem Day Convergence details. Prayers for Hermie’s son.

    I almost slept in this morning. Thankful I didn’t. You fine gents provide the motivation to be better and its a honor to know yinz.

  • Not a Race

    Ten pavement pounders plus one wind pusher gathered on a somewhat chilly morning for today’s Spider Run. After ample discussion on game 5 of the Pens/Flyers game, routes were called.

    Routes

    The general route was, get to Westham, get to Patterson, get to Boatwright. Detailed directions were:

    4s:  https://onthegomap.com/s/r5lh250k
    5s:  https://onthegomap.com/s/dfmjctmj
    6s:  https://onthegomap.com/s/50s7gjns

    Numbers, names, YHC took us out.

    Announcements

    • Prayers for those in Marv’s circle dealing with various forms of cancer
    • Thoughts are with all those PAX members traveling this week

    Moleskin

    Lots of turns in this route but most are well known. 6s decided to evaluate which route was shorter at the base of Boatwright, continue down college or turn down campus. It wasn’t a race, but Marv got back first.

    Splinter out

  • Draft Day!

    (8) grown-boys showed up for YHC’s third annual Draft Day workout. Moseyed down to the field, took a lap, stretched out and got into it.

    (12) total “picks” and each was repeated on the way back down.

    (1) Run to the other end of the football field and back

    (2) Burpees

    (3) Merkins

    (4) CDD’s

    (5) Squats

    (6) Joe Louis

    (7) Steve Earle’s

    (8) Jim Braddock’s

    (9) Crabcakes

    (10) Flutter Kicks

    (11) SSH’s

    (12) Up Downs

    Thanks for allowing me to lead and spread my love for the NFL Draft!

  • Operation 300

    The Mission

    To celebrate the grit of the recent Ragnar runners and push the upper body to its absolute limit with a “300” themed beatdown.

    Warm-A-Rama

    We began with a mosey through the dark, winding trails. The atmosphere was reminiscent of the Ragnar overnight legs—quiet, focused, and slightly damp. We kept the heart rate up with:

    • High Knees (in stride)
    • Butt Kickers (in stride)
    • Side Straddle Hops
    • 10-Down DQs (Extremely slow count) shall we continue for 45minutes?
    • Imperial Squat Walkers
    • Ukrainian Soldiers
    • Ww2s

    The Thang: Operation 300

    I. The Primary Ladder

    The goal was to hit the magic 300 number right out of the gate. We performed a descending ladder of Merkins.

    • Count: 24, 23, 22… down to 1.
    • Cumulative Total: 300 Merkins.

    II. Eye of the Mericane

    We moseyed to the pavilion to utilize the structure for the next phase.

    • Descending Ladder: Starting at 22 reps and working down. PAX went to each of the four corners to do:
    • – 25 WW2s
    • – 50 Alabama prom dates
    • – 75 LBCs
    • – 100 flutters

    Return to the pavilion for a descending count of merkins 

    III. The Dan-Merkin Hybrid

    Combining the burn of the chest with the fire of the quads.

    • 18 Merkins / 2 Lieutenant Dans (1 Squat + 4 Lunges)
    • 17 Merkins / 3 Lieutenant Dans
    • Continuing the pattern until reaching 10 Merkins.

    IV. Paying the Toll

    A quick transition to hit different muscle heads before heading to the courts.

    • 10 Incline Merkins
    • 9 Decline Merkins
    • This is where I snuck in an extra ten merkins on the pax

    V. Suicide Burpees

    We took to the basketball courts for high-intensity sprints paired with descending Burpees.

    • Set 1: Suicides with Burpees at each of the three lines and the end line.
    • Reps: 8, 7, 6, 5.
    • Set 2: Final Suicides to empty the tank.
    • Reps: 4, 3, 2, 1.

    Mary

    We gathered for a final round of core work to stabilize after the heavy upper-body load.

    • [Insert specific Mary exercises if applicable, e.g., LBCs, Flutter Kicks, Plank]

    Moleskin

    Sixteen men showed up in the gloom today and absolutely crushed a high-volume Merkin workout. The trails provided the perfect backdrop, especially for those still feeling the Ragnar high. Taking the Merkin count from 24 down to 1 is a mental battle as much as a physical one, and no man was left behind.

    COT / BOM: prayers out for Flatty and his trip to Germany for a year’s deployment. Also, coming up is NTBs departure party at DTH’s house 

    Aye! Aye!

  • Average age 47.6

    In a moment of zealousness, YHC jumped right into the exercises—until Upchuck called the Q out with a very fair “why aren’t we stretching first?” Audible made, and we kicked things off with a proper stretch to get loose.

    From there, we moved into five rounds of Tabata-style paired exercises, with one lap run between each set. On the final round we do two laps.

    Strong showing this morning with an average age of 47.6 years young.

    Mumble chatter was entertaining as always:

    • Hair loss solutions and whether a trip to Turkey for plugs is in our future
    • College reunion stories and what’s changed (and what hasn’t)
    • Hitchhikers apparently signing up for the London Marathon
    • A surprisingly deep dive into Korean healthcare

    Closed things out with a quick reflection on friendship—how as we get older, it takes more intentionality to stay connected, but mornings like this make it easier. Grateful for this group and the consistency, laughs, and accountability.

  • At Least We Showed Up for Breaking Bread

    Two chefs loaded up and delivered a delicious meal in the latest edition of Breaking Bread, F3 RVA’s oldest continuously operating 3rd F (ok, we only have two 3rd F events…). Temperatures were 70 and sunny. According to the jealous police officers watching the food zip past the 2nd Precinct, the following might have happened:

    Tacos

    Beef, lettuce, tomatoes, chips, beans, cheese, onions, and hard and/or soft shelled tacos were on the menu.

    But, with the weather seasonally warm and comfortable, several of the guests were late arriving back to the facility. 2 were served, one we hope had a safe trip to the hospital, and several were late.

    Numbers, names, and YHC took us out.