Category: Richmond, VA

  • A Cage Fight at Grid Iron

    3rd F: Faith

    • Thank you Chum Bucket for taking us out.
    • Pray request for YHC’s Uncle Greg. He was diagnosed with Lung Cancer yesterday and they are still determining what stage and type.
    • Virtual 3rd F Q openings are available.
      Come talk with your brothers across the region every other Tuesday from 8pm to 9pm as we explore thought and ideas from a faith perspective for today’s challenges of life.

    2nd F: Fellowship

    • Shout out to UpChuck with lining up and supporting the Breaking bread. read more here:
      https://backblasts.f3rva.org/2020/10/14/breaking-bread-we-need-you-now-two-nights-per-month/
    • Grid Iron will be on the road next week as we go support BlueMoon at this Richmond Marathon that he will start at 6:30 am. More details to come out this week so please stay posted to the Slack 1st F channel.
    • The RVA shoe drive has been more successful than we 1st anticipated. We are over 100 pairs of shoes and YHC will be getting a final count tomorrow morning as I understand more came in today around the region.

    Announcements:

    Merkin challenge is starting tomorrow 11/1. Keep yourself accelerating and burn off some of those Thanksgiving calories ahead of time.
    SIGN UP TODAY so you are not starting up behind. See more details here:
    https://backblasts.f3rva.org/2020/10/30/november-merkin-challenge-2/
    Virtual Happy Hour and Kettle bells has moved from Mondays at 530PM to Thursdays at 530PM. The Zoom link will be posted in the 1st F Slack channel Thursday morning.

    1st F (Fitness)
    The Thang: Cage Fight

    6:50AM. finished the pre-run and found a few pax already standing outside on this cool fall morning. As the PAX continued to roll in, YHC knew that the we had a lot of work to get in this morning so I gave the disclaimer right at 7am and we took off immediately for a mosey to get the blood flowing.
    Circle up at the Tennis Courts on the back side of the school.

    COP: (Circle of Pain) warm-up
    1 BLIMPS

    • 5 Burpees
    • 10 Lunges
    • 15 Imperial Walkers
    • 20 Merkins
    • 25 Plank Jacks
    • 30 Squats

    4 Corners
    Starting in the center of the 4 tennis courts you run to one of the 4 corners and perform 10 of a set exercise then run back to center for 2 Burpees.
    Go to the next corner and so on and so forth until all 4 corners and 4 sets of burpees are completed. We did 4 rounds of this with the following exercise in the corners. (32 burpees in the middle as well)

    Round 1MerkinsWide arm MerkinsNarrow MerkinsCarolina Dry-dock
    Round 2WW2Reverse LBCFluttersHells to heaven
    Round 3SquatsLungesReverse LungesJump Squats
    Round 4MerkinsWW2SquatsBurpees
    10 or each exercise

    Great Work guys!!!


    Why are we standing around talking about F3 Disaster Ops and F3 Mission trips, WE have more work to do.
    (but seriously if you want to know more about the Nations 2nd F events, DM me and I can get you connected with the events NANTAN or Q lead)

    The PAX looked like they were getting chilly as YHC talked their ears off so figured we needed to warm up with 1 round of BLIMPS:

    • 5 Burpees
    • 10 Lunges
    • 15 Imperial Walkers
    • 20 Merkins
    • 25 Plank Jacks
    • 30 Squats

    Modified CAGE FIGHT WAR!!!
    YHC has a pack of F3 Workout cards. (See MudGear site to order a set)
    The game is simple: PAX lines up against the cage fence. One by one you draw a card, announce the exercise on it and keep it. (yes Chum.. you keep just your card)
    (Number cards you add 10 to it, face cards are 20, aces are 100)
    The entire pax does the exercise at the far end fence (4 tennis court lengths away) and return to start. This is done until each pax member has pulled a card.
    To finish this off; after each pax has their card, in pairs, they pick another pax member to “Play war” with. The higher card is the winner and the reward is we all get to do the exercise before collecting those 2 cards.
    Exercises pulled today: Heels to heaven, 100 M lunge walk, Ranger Merkins, Calf raises, Low Slow Squats, Flutters, Freddy Mercury, Explosive Merkins, and ??. (I forgot the last one).
    Mosey back to the AO launch.

    DONE!!. Lets go get coffee and Bagels

    NMS (Naked Mole Skin)
    Great work by all today!
    It was a bit chilly so YHC wanted to keep us moving and NOT roll in the wet fields. YHC DOES NOT LIKE rolling around in the cold wet fields. So a good ol’ Fashion cage fight was perfect for today:
    3 miles of intervals almost all within he confines of the cage
    200 calf raises
    100 Merkins
    52 burpees
    Countless Squats, Lunges, and Core.


    Key notes taken from today.
    Johnsonville can whistle REALLLLLY loud..
    Chum Bucket cant hear Johnsonville whistle
    Fireman ed is never allowed to play F3 War again. (My Calves are still burning from 200 Calf Raises)
    BlueMoon ditched us to go run in traffic.
    Deuce is a runner in disguise. (and fast on a sprint)
    Attila loves bootcamps with lots of squats, lunges, jump squats, calf raises.. more squats and a few more lunges.
    LightHouse doesn’t tie his shoes??? No idea how he does that for a workout and not trip??
    Tater has more energy than a 10 yr old on 3 Monster energy drinks and a red bull.
    Pinto is secretly in the Secret Service but wont tell any one so keep that just between you and me. SHHHHHHHHHHH!.
    This ENTIRE PAX crushed it today. I look forward to seeing you in the gloom again soon. (like at WTH on Wednesdays. #ShamelessPlug ? )

    AS always: If you have read this far. Take the next 30 seconds to text a person in your life that you have not heard from in a while. It may be what helps them through the day.

    Thank you for allowing me to lead.
    v/r
    John (Gypsy) Boles

  • A Killer good time

    Twenty-One Trick or Treaters posted to Dogpile on all Hallows Eve for another Honeydo Q on Halloween. Some were wondering: was this a sequel, a reboot of the original, or all new material for a themed Q. Here is what we did:

    COP: Invisible Entrails Jumps, Zombie Kicks, Monster Mash Merkins, something else spooky. Mosey to field but stop by lightpost on the way for Exorcist possession: 20 of a given exercise called by random pax member.

    Zombie Chaser Sprints: Pax sprints to hill and last 3 are taken down and turned into Reverse Crunch Zombies. Last round was controversial as Probation cheated to win.

    Jacobs Ladder (horror style): Go width of field and increase burpees up from 1 to 7. Between sides alternate Bear Crawl and Crab Walk.

    Head over to Burpee Road for long Exorcist Lightpost exercises. Lots of variants: Helix Squat, Train to Busain scoots, Mtn Climbers, etc. Finish with 20 burpees at last lightpost.

    Line up in team of 3 for: Human Centipede: Line up in plank feet to head and last pax broad jumps up and over until at the front. Repeat 2 times through. Mosey down to bottom of Rugby for: 7 Minute Abs (aka 3 sets of 25 PLTs per man).

    Partner up while at the bottom: Wheelbarrow all the way up to the COP circle. Finish up with some HRMs and back to the flag. Bone Thug took us out as this is his 2 year Anniversary this week, Aye!

    Annoucements: November Merkin Monthly challenge starts tomorrow. 5,000 Merkins for the month, 167 a day. Prayers for peace this week for the election – let’s share grace and patience with those around us needing it.

    NMS: Solid numbers who were up for some goofy theme fun this morning. Hardywood’s definition of horror is definitely difference from YHC. The Zombie Chasers and Jacobs ladder were a ripoff from the original Q YHC did a few years ago. The Exorcist Lightpost exercises along Burpee Road were new and lots of fun, good variation of exercises for the PAX. Boberry and Seymore were in the Halloween spirit in costume. We had a Sippy Cup run-by after the beatdown, a welcome sight.

    Human Centipede needs to come out more in the gloom, although the pax struggled with the initial directions. Upchuck and YHC dominated the partner wheelbarrow to the top, maybe there are Ab muscles in there somewhere. Good times as always at ETs, however proposals are being accepted for appropriate cold-weather location for Coffeteria.

  • The mean streets of West Broad Village

    Mean Streets Review | Movie - Empire

    3 suburban warriors showed for the 5:15 WaThoHuk (Or as I prefer, WTH!) pre-run of 1.7 miles. West on Three Chopt, North on John Rolfe. East into West Broad Village (WBV), round the lake and reverse route back to the flag.

    We picked up another 4 passengers, for a total of 7 brave souls, and departed into the gloom.

    The Thang:

    Quick warm up waiting for Don Draper: SSH x10; Merkin x15; LBC x25

    Mr. Draper, as it turns out, drove all the way to Short Pump, but realized when exiting 288 he had FORGOTTEN HIS SHOES. ? Not gonna work for a run/PT AO, folks.

    Off we go. Run East on Three Chopt; North ramp into WBV; Stay right toward lake; gravel path on right to cross Three Chopt; South on Thamesford Way.

    At each street (dead end) on the West side of Thamesford Way, run to the end, circle back-to-last until pax is together. Then, perform exercise prescribed by the Q:

    Harcourt Ln: Merkin x10; Tottenham Ct: Burpee x10; Tottenham Pl: Squat x1 (celebration of the 2 mile mark); unnamed circle: WW2 x10; Ivy Home Terr: Squat x10

    Start the trip back North. Repeat run to end, back-to-last, exercise for each street (dead end) on the East side of Thamesford Way:

    Ivy Home Pl: Merkin x10; Thamesford Ct: WW2 x10; Harcourt Terr: your choice x10

    Cross Three Chopt; right to continue around lake; back-to-last until we all reach the gazebo on Geese Landing.

    Burpee x10; Trip & Stunt Roll x1 (although I was the only pax who completed this one)

    West on Geese Landing, take ramp on left to Three Chopt; back to flag; back-to-last

    Last few minutes – Mary: Merkin x15; Flutter x20; LBC x10

    5:30-6:15 mileage: 4.5 – 4.9 miles (depending on your speed and how much you doubled back to last)

    Total mileage, including pre-run: 5.3 – 5.7 miles (!)

    NMS:

    YHC hasn’t led a workout in a few months, other than Curahee runs.. So, in the spirit of Saw Walton (“Most everything I’ve done I’ve copied from someone else”) I borrowed from an earlier WaThoHuk beta workout by Gypsy..

    Enjoyed leading this one – as a slower runner (9-9.5 min mile) it’s a puzzle to figure out how to push the pax and get a good workout for the faster guys, without them leaving me in the dust.

    We did a lot of back-to-last running in a previous bootcamp workout group, and I love it. It’s a push for all – the fast guys can chase each other down – and when they come back to last, it’s a great incentive to chase / push for those of us a little slower.

    Announcements:

    Shoe drive was a great success – nice work Gypsy!! Maybe some others I had in my draft of this post, which was eaten by wordpress.

    Side note: Don Draper, if you’re scared of WTH, just say you’re scared.

    Take a moment, reach out to someone. Or, if you have something going on, reach out to a fellow brother!

    Greenbow out.

  • Rainy, Cold, and Windy

    Some times its the accountability partner that gets you out of bed to go post. This morning was one of those times.. when you hear the wind howling and its raining at 430 am, all YHC wants to do is go back to bed.. but after texting with Roger Roger last night and him saying he was going to be there.. welp, then you cant just not show up.

    0530 AM… YHC is sitting in the AO parking lot alone. ?
    about to head back to the house had this nagging feeling to go check the back parking lot where Currahee use to meet. Sure enough there was Roger Roger’s car…. but no Roger Roger. Let the hunt begin.

    Once found (He was running circles on his own in the student parking lot) we decided on slow Bro-Code 4 miler.. 2 miles out to Three Chopt rd and back. Some good 2nd F conversations and great accountability partnership.

    COT was one-on-one. Announcements are found in Slack.

    v/r
    John (Gypsy) Boles

  • Circus Maximus: West End RVA Marketing

    Lots of good things happening around the RVA region. But have to say the West End Pax (I understand the line of West End keeps moving, so for now I was told it is west of Parham) are stepping it up with not just 1, but 2 AOs launched during the COVID times.
    After a month of a Soft pre-launch and getting positive feed back, a great name suggestion, and tweaks to the workout style; the Q Sheet is now open for WaThoHuk Official launch on November 4th.

    F3 Mission: Our mission is to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership.

    Pretty good all around fitness line up these guys have put together
    Monday: HoeDown for a 1st of the week bootcamp (even though its is juuuuust east of Parham)
    Tuesday: Heartbreak Ridge for a Bootcamp at Quioccasin Middle School
    Wednesday: WaThoHuk a Run Focused bootcamp out of Pocahontas Middle School or for you early birds there is First Watch
    Thursday: Circus Maximus Kettlebells at Godwin High School
    Friday: Currahee a Running AO out of Godwin High School
    Saturday: BlueMoon 6 mile pre run… Bootcamp Grid Iron.. 2nd F Einstein

    Nuf’ about all that.. if you have a pax you have been working on in the West End.. whether or not they are a Runner or a Meat head.. there is a work out for them and the PAX is ready to help them accelerate.

    1st F: (Fitness)
    The Thang: Kettlebell Ladder. 1 Min rest between rounds. Round 1 started with 10 reps of each exercise and we work out way down to 1

    SwingsClean and Press
    Both Arms    		Sumo Squat to
    Up-right Row    		Flutter PressCurls
    2010101010
    209999
    208888
    207777
    206666
    205555
    204444
    203333
    202222
    201111
    200 total55 total55 total55 total55 total

    Kettlebell burn out
    7’s
    With out putting your KB down:
    7 Upright row, 7 full Squats.
    6 Upright row, 6 full Squats.
    5 Upright row, 5 full Squats.
    …..
    1 Upright row, 1 full Squats.

    And done!!! (well almost done.. YHC still needed to go meet BlueMoon for a 6 mile taper run for his Marathon on the 7th of November at 0630)

    NMS:
    The rain doesn’t keep everyone in the fart sack .. and at Circus Maximus there is also the walkway cover to keep us mostly dry. I love the Kettle bell work outs as you can really challenge yourself and bring multiple bells to work the different muscle groups accordingly.

    Announcements:
    The Shoe drive is still rolling along. This weekend will be the final pick up and we are not in over 100 pairs of shoes.
    The November Push up challenge starts on 11/1. Sigh up sheet on Slack 1st Channel.
    Come on out and support Blue Moon in the RVA Marathon on 11/7. Run a few miles with him or the whole thing. YHC will be pacing him for miles 16 through 26.2.

    As Always: if you have read this far.. take the next 30 seconds and text a pax member you have not heard from in a while.

    v/r
    John (Gypsy) Boles

  • And The Creek Runs Through it…

    6 Davillians show up to a wet AO this morning to finish out their week.

    This is how it went down

    Warmup – Mosey around the school and parking twice, turn back for the 6, then circle up for COP (got in around .85 miles)

    COP (ALL IC) – SSH, DQ, Hillbillies, Alternating Shoulder Taps, HRM’s, LBC’s, Flutter Kicks (w/ arm above head), Arm Circles

    THANG

    Mosey to the courtyard

    Triple Check – Donkey Kicks, WWII situps, loop around the court yard

    Hop, Skip, Jump – One loop around the court yard while jumping to touch each beam above the sideway

    mosey to the playground

    Mini Dora – 50 Pull-ups, 100 Merkins, 150 SSH, partner runs short straight to the school and back

    mosey back to the SF

    Tabata Time – 10 Rounds, 20 secs on, 10 sec rest. 5 sets of Merkins and 5 sets of American Hammers

    Numberrama, Namerama, Announcements, YHC took us out

    MOLESKIN

    It felt go to be back at The Creek. It had been months since YHC has come out with using Friday’s for training runs and this month his own Tour.

    The warmup run was a gift to Mudface from YHC. Your welcome, haha

    YHC has been looking for a reason to use his WOD Timer since downloading it for the IPC. After seeking there was a Tabata time on the app. A plan was set and do except to see this again!

    Glad to have Sally back out for a second week in a row! We may have a regular yet!

    ANNOUNCEMENTS

    • Tomorrow is the last day for the Gypsy’s shoe drive. Either show up for Gridiron where he is Qing tomorrow with them or see Honey Do at Dogpile.
    • Corned Beef, Bulkhead, and YHC are running a 10 miler on the Capital Trail tomorrow starting at 10. Either come join us or meet up for the 2nd F at Stone Brewery at noon
    • Merkin Challenge starts on Sunday. See spreadsheet to sign up! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-L8e9W24ygnU0suaGyKxzi1PgPqY1CBd57hLrKTZI-g/edit?usp=sharing
    • YHC will be Qing an Amateur Bike Day at RAMM Gear in two week to wrap up the tour. Preblast coming soon.

    SPIT ON THAT!!

  • November Merkin Challenge

    November Merkin Challenge

    It's Merkin Season - F3 Greensboro

    The annual event is back and added to the monthly challenge spreadsheet.

    5,000 is the goal (some have been known to go for 10,000!!)

    Here is the link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-L8e9W24ygnU0suaGyKxzi1PgPqY1CBd57hLrKTZI-g/edit?usp=sharing

    SYITG!!

  • Pre-Halloween Beer Run

    A sweet 16 embraced cooler temperatures and a soggy road to pre-emptively burn off some Halloween calories.

    Off we went north on Commonwealth turning right on Broad. Left on Roseneath. 4s turned around a Veil and took a scenic run down Roseneath to Grove and back to the flag.

    5s and 6s continued on in Scott Addition, turning right on Norfolk and a right on the Blvd. 5s take the Blvd to Grove and home. 6s turn left on Broad and a right on Strawberry to Grove and home.

    eHarmony took us out.

  • Chop wood, carry water, do pullups, merkins and squats…

    Five dudes sought enlightenment in the gloom at Twin Team; here’s what they got instead:

    Welcome FNG, disclaimer, oral indemnification, liability waiver and assumption of the risk agreements (legally binding and enforceable in all 50 states!)

    Warmarama: IPR up Twin Team hill and back.

    The THANG: mosey to the playground for some Murph. Ten rounds of

    • 10 pullups OYO
    • 10 merkins IC
    • 15 squats IC

    Mosey BTTF by way of a 400m detour around the Swamp for some cool down stretching.

    Numbers, names, YHC took us out.

    Announcements – final push for the shoe drive; bring ’em to Dogpile tomorrow! Prayers to lift up Offshore and his family with the passing of his MIL.

    NMMS: YHC saw an open Q at Twin Team, noticed that it was the end of the month and figured it was time to start bringing back an old favorite. Tclaps to Greenbow for bringing out FNG Adam (Bagman). Coming out of the gates with a run up Twin Team hill and the Murph is no joke. Make it a great one, caballeros!

    Doublemint

  • Anvil Tomato Run

    What do you get when you combine an Army and Marine Vet? A beast 3 mile run followed by a 2 mile cool down. We ran the farmhouse loop in Kings Charter. It was very humid but cool and at Mile 3 we slowed down to a fast walk for the remaining workout. See the splits below… fun run and recovery walk with great 2nd F mumble chatter this morning.

    SYITG Cheers from CB and BH