Tag: Currahee

  • Crazy 8s: Karens come a calling

    3rd F (Faith)

    • Thank you Greenbow for the powerful words to take us out this morning.
    • Next Virtual 3rd F will be hosted by BoBerry on Tuesday October 13th. Mark it on your calendar now so you don’t have any reason to not be there.

    2nd F (Fellowship)

    • Lots going on right now (See Slack for more details on the below)
      • Sit and Sip men’s retreat this weekend in Amelia Courthouse
      • 100 mile RVA relay run
      • October RVA shoe drive
      • Apparently everyone is looking for junior size golf clubs too??
    • If you are not on slack DM your email and i can send you a link to join

    1st F (Fitness)

    Currahee is a running AO so its pretty easy to plan but much harder to execute. Today’s route was a big figure 8 for 5.5 miles that allowed for a cut of to drop miles if needed. As the Q, you spend a lot of time ping-ponging back and forth to make sure the front crew knows the next turn and the back crew is hanging in there.
    Mubblechatter was ample this morning with discussions ranging from needing to get rid of excess CO2 to why Karens blow there horns at you in the morning while you are running to pax members looking to step up across the region to begin working out a SLT in RVA with a growth plan and regional focus.

    I look forward to seeing many of you this weekend.
    Friday is calling.. gotta go.
    SYITG!!!

    v/r

    John (Gypsy) Boles

  • The Q is always right.

    6 of RVA’s finest posted at Currahee on a beautiful Friday morning for a brisk jog (pronounced “yogg”)

    4/5 miles, bro-code style. Up Pump Road from the school, left as Pump Road changes and continue to Broad Street, hang a right and over to John Rolfe and another right and back to Pump and down to Godwin. Honeydo and Greenbow took a shortcut through Short Pump Park. 4.5 and 5.3 miles respectively for the group.

    Announcements: F3 Offsite Convergence (not “retreat” according to Gomer Pyle” Gypsy has the 3rd F Q this week.

    NMS: It was a nice morning with the crew. We talked about Gypsy being a lightweight and loving White Claws. Gomer commented about us running too slow. Spit was the Visitor of the Week and told us about the Daville Relay (congrats to that crew). Backblast title comes from a comment from Gomer Pyle about YHC and others parking in the “wrong spot” of the newly re-located meetup location at the Godwin parking lot. YHC parked where he saw other cars. It worked out too, Greenbow and Honeydo chatted with the other guys we saw in the parking lot on the run back, apparently they meet on Fridays to run. Hopefully Greenbow and Honeydo will be able will be able to EH the rando’s.

    YHC is really enjoying the mix of larger “more established” AO’s as well as the smaller tighter-knit AO’s. This has been a really good 6 months for YHC. It took a long time for YHC to fully meld into this crew, and YHC enjoys random texts and shit talking in group messages. Thank you all for the opportunity to lead.

  • Hunting for magic

    6 hunters ran off into the gloom to find some trail magic on a perfect cool morning. Easy bro code run 5.4mi. Handshake took us out.

    Old Prescott, Glen Eagles, Shire, Old Pump, Sunrise, Clary Preston, Church, JRP, Ridgefield.

    For you future Qs: Cut out all the loops and this is a good base route for 3 mile challenges as well – easy extensions to 4, 5, 6, 7, etc. No traffic on Old Prescott and Glen Eagles. Also all routes are posted in the BB. Excuses.

    NMS – we created some new suburban dictionary entries today but found no trail magic, heavy balance of flora v fauna today. Not enough obstacles for Bodo’s’s taste on this route, but ideas are flowing.

    Currahee!

  • Remembering 9/11

    At 5:30 I was solo and I wanted to recon the west side of the AO a bit more. Old Prescott, Glen Eagles, JRP, Ridgefield with some detours to see how it might work for shorter distance loops.

    Some decent short runs / hills on this route on a wide road with no traffic on Glen Eagles. Also plenty of ambient light in that neighborhood for winter runs. Still it is just dark enough and there is just enough traffic that a headlamp is a really good idea for this AO.

    NMS – 9/11 nineteen years ago. YHC was on a business trip at our R&D HQ outside of Minneapolis and was rushing to breakfast at the Hampton Inn when one of my work colleagues told me a plane crashed into the WTC. In the prior weeks there were some light / prop planes that were going too close to cities – cant remember where, maybe DC and NYC – my first that is that this was just a over-hyped news report like we had at the time. Then er watched the second plane as it plowed into the tower. We went over to the office and turned the news on and saw the first tower collapse. What chaos.

    Apart from the tragic circumstances, this set in motion some incredible logistical challenges for people to return to their families. As the Tech Lead running a development project at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, my team was on site. Most of the team were in more reasonable driving distances in DC and Raleigh, but one team member lived in Rochester MN and was trying to figure out how to get home. Since we were really flip flopping locations and could give each other updates on what it looked like. He ended up starting Wednesday to make the 21 hour drive – one way in a rental. While planning on doing the drive in the opposite direction, Thursday around noon flights slowly opened back up and I decided to stick with flying. MSP was chaos, and after switching fights ten times due to reroutes, and delays, I finally got back to RIC. And in the weird way the world works, despite all different flight numbers and routes, I only got home 30 minutes later than originally planned. I was just happy to be back with my family – and clearly we would never view the world the same.

  • Currahee!

    We did the 6.5 route again. Great mix of hills.

    Like 1LT Sobel says: “3 miles up and 3 miles down”. Not quite a mountain, but its what we have. Get some!

    Prayers for patience with our macro situation: school reopen, virus response, and impacted attitudes, There are lessons to find here. Prayers for F3 hurricane response team – best of luck brothers!

    Currahee!

  • Dog Park in lights (or headlamp)

    New route today. Old Prescott, Glen Eagles, JRP, Shire, old Pump, Pump, Dog Park trail, JRP, Pump.

    NMS. No mumblechatter, just focus. At dog park YHC saw a ton of cars but nobody actually in the dog park with their four-legged friends. Perplexing. Then on the trail, a stream of seal team pax appeared from the gloom and it all came together. John McGuire is looking good. Meeting a former fellow operator with a white headlamp in the dark is a little embarrassing. But this is from experience: it’s dark running at BMNT, and a broken foot will keep you from running for a while. Regardless as we are growing to know, the best routes at Currahee require headlamps.

    Get some.

  • Virtual Bone Thugs 10k

    After Mister Rogers appeared in the gloom at BMNT we agreed to run at least 6.2 in honor of our downtown brothers.

    NMS – The route was a new one with a little of this and a little of that. I knew it was going to be a smidgen long, but also know that Mister Rogers is up for anything. We were with you in spirit.

    Congrats Bone Thugs!

    Currahee!

  • Courage

    2 warriors jumped out of the fart sack and into the gloom for a 5 mile run.

    Route- Pump, Carisbrook, Oakway, Weathervane, Turnbridge, Gayton, Ryandale, Timberly, JRP, Glen Eagles, Summerwood, Pump.

    Prayers for folks who need courage – to overcome challenges from all walks of life whether addiction or bad situations.

    NMS – Courage was the topic today and what it takes to face bosses, employees, yourself to overcome what is challenging you. Thanks for the discussion and setting the example, Mister Rogers.

  • Why isnt there a 60 min run AO?

    4 horseman got together for a light run.

    6 mile run – Bro Code. Pump, Burnside, Glen Eagles, Shire, Church, Waterford West, Rutgers, Park Terrace, Three Chopt, Pump.

    Roger Roger took us out.

    NMS – After meeting up with Gypsy we started on a run. For the first few minutes we talked about whether folks were up for 5.5 or so. 5.5 sounded good. Then Gypsy said, I am surprised that all these AOs are 45 minutes I know a place where they are all 60 minutes (Roger Roger didnt hear him). Looking at the crew, we were solid horsemen so I decided we would run a little long. To make it a full 6, I knew we had to go the “fat way” around to Waterford West to add another 1/2 mile. (map above is the planned round)

    Announcements-

    Second annual inaugural retreat coming together Oct 3 outside of Amelia CH. Plan to camp overnight.

    Gypsy has some ideas for 2.0 workouts and also bringing Speed for Need to 2.0 workouts. Gypsy is also working on a “retreat site” at Lake Anna for the future – TBD.

  • ISO: A Well-Managed Running Club

    ISO: A Well-Managed Running Club

    6 warriors in search of an organized run AO converged on the parking lot at Godwin to welcome the gloom.

    YHC provided no guidance, and off we went. The pax knew “this is a well-managed run AO”, so, without complaining, they followed right along.

    The Thang:

    Mosey up the trail through the vast wilderness separating the high school from Raintree. Stop at Willowick Ln for intro and to tell the pax we’ll be doing sprint drills today. (Surprise!)

    Warm up run North on Willowick to dead end, then South to end of road at Windbluff Dr.

    Turn left onto Windbluff – without stopping, start a sprint (approx. 150 yd) – turn around at stop sign at Raintree Dr. or when you get to pax who has already turned around. Walk / light jog back to Windbluff.

    Go north to the next street, repeat: (Ashcresh, Maremont, Avenham, Willowick North cul-de-sac).

    After sprints were done, we took a loop of left turns back down Willowick, Ashcrest, Raintree Dr, Avenham. Run back through trail to Godwin, 2 loops around the bus loop, and done.

    Announcements / prayers:

    Windy Gap men’s retreat is Aug. 27-30, near Asheville. No big agenda, mostly rest, hike, swim. Cheap price, good times. Talk to Greenbow or Doozy if interested, we both went last year and loved it.
    Thanks to Splinter, who took us out, including a prayer for my son – who visited the Ortho Friday. His X-ray turned out good, so he was able to get his arm cast removed and is doing great!

    Moleskin:

    Gomer and I didn’t run together last week (he’s WAY too fast, and I was late..) but we had a great conversation, including me asking for advice how to get my run a little faster. He suggested some track work and sprints. The advice, along with Gomer being out of town, and a Spider Run where Splinter had us do sprints, led me to today’s workout!

    Sprint intervals were different from the usual, but allowed a slow guy like me to keep up with everyone – and we all got to push to see what a run at a faster pace / sprints feels like.

    Signing off from “the most well managed RVA Friday run AO”

    SYITG -Greenbow