Tag: Dogpile

Seventeen sweaty and soggy faithful posted to Dogpile for yet another rainy and humid beatdown. Theme for the day was 100 in respect to our brother Saab undertaking the Cloudsplitter today.  It went down like this:

COP:  100 SSH, 100 Merkins, 100 LBCs.  SSH were IC.

Mosey to field:  100 PLTs, each partner 4 sets up to 100.  Then Elbow plank – Indian run to end of field.  Then Burpee Road, but escalating.  All the way up to 8 burpees at the 8th streetlight.

Mosey down road to right.  Partner up again.  Bear crawl across street and up hill to top & back while partner does Donkey Kicks.  Switch and repeato.

Mosey back to Burpee road.  Same thing 1-8 increasing burpees at every streetlight.

Mosey to Carillon.  10 burpees more.  Partner up again.  Run up and around Carillon while partner does Freddy Mercurys.  9 more burpees.  Mosey back to the rcircle.  American Hammers then round out to PAX’s 100th burpee.  Mosey back to the flag.

NMS:  YHC enlisted some help from the PAX to call out Cloudsplitter during exercises to change the count to 100.  Lab Rat, always game, started with the 1st call at SSH.  100 of those in cadence is awful.  Calling cadence throughout is even worse, but when compared to running 100 miles today not so bad.

The rain started back up during the PLTs.  YHC actually enjoyed the rain as it washed off the grass and other muck hitting my face while knocking those out.  YHC was impressed with all the ground the PAX covered that Fudd was able to follow directions without the usual diagrams and printed instructions sometime required.

The Bear Crawl / Donkey kicks proved to wipe out the PAX.  YHC decided to run down the hill the first time and proceeded to wipe out hard at the bottom.  The audible to 2 rounds instead of 4 was well received.

The rest of the beatdown was a blur of burpees and rain.  Way to hit the 100 burpees PAX!  Mumblechatter centered around Saab’s race today of course.  During the burpees back on the road Trophy lamented his choice of attending a Honeydo Q.  YHC savors those comments.

What was even better was seeing Receptile, Flatline, and Taxi Cab posting again.  Great to have some energy from the recent FNGs in the PAX.

Announcements:   Convergence next Saturday, 2 hour.  The 6:00 show is totally different from the 7:00 show.  F3 Hampton Roads kicks off 1st week in November.  See Jville for more details.  Lab Rat has issued the Oct monthly challenge to run 1 mile every day.  There was some debate on whether beatdown mosey’ing counts but the challenge required contiguous (not necessary straight line) running of 1 mile.

Good luck Saab!

27 faithful and newly anointed presented themselves at Dogwood Dell today for what YHC hoped would be a satisfactory beat-down. This is what transpired (more or less)…

COP: SSH, DQ’s (Abe/Swirly style!), Arm Circles, LBC’s, maybe something else…
4 Corners (on a Triangle?): 25 WWII, (Bear Crawl to next station), 25 Merkins, 25 Burpees, 25 Flutter Kicks (4 count)…all done near “far traffic circle” past the Carillon.
Doras (Carillon): 100 Merkins, 100 LBC’s, 100 Box Cutters, 100 Jump Squats,
Rusty Cage: 5 pullups (overhand, underhand), 5 Jerkins (overhand, underhand). Repeato
Jacobs Ladder (Burpees) on pit of pain
Amphitheater: Lindsays (Dips x30, Merkins x10). Advance up step each time. (YHC then called an audible for two sets of American Hammers and Rosalitas.)
Polesmokers: Hold 6 inches…Person in back does 5 merkins then advances to front.
Ring of Fire (Merkins)

Moleskin:
It has been many months since YHC had the opportunity to take in Dogpile without the spectre of a long Saturday run and he hopes his enjoyment of the day was evident. YHC did enjoy seeing Wilson perform his signature “early start” during the instruction period for Doras. Beyond that, not much mumble chatter to draw upon for this writing, either because YHC was slightly distracted (as usual), or everyone remained steadily busy and winded.

We welcomed 4 new FNG’s today and all were given awesome handles: Receptacle, Flatline, Cosmo, and DaVinci. Kudos to Lockjaw’s 2.0 DaVinci who gave the F3 workout an enthusiastic review and was already asking afterward if there is a workout he can join tomorrow (did I mention he is 7 and 1/2 years old). Needless to say, it was great to have all our FNG’s there today and we sincerely look forward to seeing you all again.

COT: We wished those on the Spartan run today much success and enjoyment. Way to go guys (BT, Toga, others?)!…RESPECT for completing what I understand is an extremely challenging event. Also, we officially retired “Blue Balls” for the more g-rated and family friendly “Helix”.

Announcements:
> Bear Creek 10 miler (great trail run and post-run tailgate planned)
> Those new to F3: Text F3RVA to 97000 to gain info and get setup on-line. (Doesn’t mean you can’t still see Wilson about “the App”)
> Winstons is soliciting some volunteers to come up to Hanover on 10/15 and lead an F3 style workout for a church retreat. Please see Winstons if interested…have no doubt this will help with F3 recruitment in the area.
> Workout and Happy Hour on Wednesday. See back blast from Hardywood (all meet at Crossroads at 6:00pm)
> Mechanicsville has a new AO on Fridays…that makes 3 total for the week. Way to go guys. (YHC heard we were up to something like 18 AO’s in RVA…nice!)
> Convergence on Oct 8…please reach out to FNG’s and those who haven’t attended for some time.

Saab abides

YHC was delighted to see all of the pax this morning along with a special out of town F3 guest OBT ! A beautiful morning indeed – and here is how we rolled..

Warm ups : 20 SSH, 10 windmills, 10 helicopters – 10 Arm Circles – 10 Imperial Walkers – 10 APD”s 10 LBC’s.

Rusty Cage : 3 sets of 5 overhand pull ups – 3 sets of 5 under hand pull ups

Rusty Cage 2 : on the dips bars – partner holding feet. 3 sets of 5 overhand pull ups 3 sets of 5 under hand pull ups.

Dips Ladder : 18-1 down the amp theatre – work it back up 2 incline per step 18- steps.

Short side beast : width of the field – run to 25 yard line 6 exersice  – 50 yard line  6 exercise  – 25 yard line 6 exercise – return the same way. 6 reps @ each yard line – exercises were – Jump Shot Squats – WW 11 situps – Merkins – LBC’s- Seal Jacks – Burpee’s

Pole Smoker Indian Run : 4 pole smokers while pax holds 6 inches till the end of the poles…

Burpee Shuffle : Shuffle feet – a member of the pax going clock wise says burpee or go – everyone does a burpee .

Ring of Fire : 10 merkins while pax holds plank all the way around!

Mary : Cross leg lifts 10 each leg – 10 rosalita’s – 10 Flutter kicks, 20 LBC’s

YHC loves to see the energy of the pax on a Sat dogpile morning… BT announced to the pax that YHC was full of piss and vinegar (IE: A typical Swirly Q) .. The rusty cage was a huge crowd favorite – lot’s of grunting and moaning – YHC and Sippy were giving it everything on those last reps – 1-3 ok – 3-5 rough.. I hear from the rest of the pax this is what they felt as well…. YHC gave the pax a small gift working our way up in the theatre after the dips ladder and heard gumbo and Wilson mumble chatter – Swirly gift – yeah we will be paying for this later…

The short side beast – was not short 🙂 the pole smoker Indian run was long and everyone just loves to finish up with a burpee shuffle and a ring of fire..

Great job today guys – It was a pleasure to lead such a fine group of men. Huge props to those in the pax that went out and ran the 5k in the heat F3 style           ( Merkins Squats every 5 min)  that’s F3 style – also thanks to everyone who came out to support such a worthy cause…

Bear Creek – sign up now  F3RVA baby10 mile trails – food cold beer – fellowship 12/4/16

Keep BT and Toga in your thoughts as they tackle the Spartan this coming weekend – you guys will do great !

Hampton Roads : we will be asking a few of the pax to help lead a workout in Hampton Roads – Dreamliner is taking the lead down there – atta baby….. Your brothers in RVA will be there buddy..

YHC is exhausted – BRR – ran to Battuea – did no toll – WDOG – Wed hill run- Mary Mumford – RAMM and Q’d dogpile today… Swirly is taking tomorrow off..

Excellent week guys – y’all are the best – have a great rest of the weekend.

Swirly out

An enthusiastic PAX of seven posted for Dogpile just ahead of the SpeakUp 5K planned for later that morning.

The Thang:

We moseyed from the Dogwood Dell parking lot across the driveway northward to a grassy knoll for the COP with 15 x Imaginary jumpropes, 20 x Hillbillies, 15 x Don Quixotes, and 15 x Arm Circles (little then big, forward then reverse).

We headed north for a jog around the perimeter of the Vita Course, sticking to the sidewalks and less busy streets.  Stop at each lit streetlight for Little Baby Crunch set of 20 – YHC didn’t count the number of streetlights.  Upon completion of an LBC set, PAX members would jog in place.  Approximately 8 streetlights lined Blanton Avenue as we jogged north and another 6 along Trafford Road after we took a right turn.

At the north end entry to the Vita Course, the PAX took a break for Jenny.  For those of you getting a little “hate” at workouts, Jenny’s phone number, from a 1981 song by Tommy Tutone, was 867-5309.  At the north end entry, the PAX completed 86 x Leg Circles (Box Cutters but with circles), 75 x Carolina Dry Docks, 30 x Squats (4 count), and 9 x Burpees.

We continued our jog around the corner at Trafford Road with a left on Spottswood Road headed south.  Streetlights thinned out on Spottswood, but that side of the course was a little longer, so we finished another 7 or so LBC sets.   Near the south end of the Vita Course, we completed another round of Jenny with 86 x Alabama Prom Dates, 75 x Wide Grip Merkins, 30 x Step Behinds (2 count), and 9 x Burpees.

We jogged south across Park Drive to the posts lining the Dogwood Dell.  Each man gets a post and finishes 10 x Pole Smokers, 10 x Tip Toe Squats, and 10 x Incline Merkins.  PAX ran a weave through the posts towards the toll plaza.  At the transition from posts to rocks, we picked a rock and completed another set of the same three exercises.  Weave through the rocks to just before the turn to the Pump House and complete one more set.

Mosey up the hill, past the dog park, behind the ampitheater, and down the hill to the Rusty Cage (Pull-Up Bars as named by Honey Do – missed the Grunge themed workout).  PAX completed three rounds of 5 x Pull-Ups, 10 x Rows (underhanded on Dip Bars), and 10 x Xs and Os.

Return to the ShovelFlag

Moleskin:

PAX discussed apparent Blue Ridge Relay exploits of our brothers running the NC mountains.  We were pulling for you guys.

YHC was very glad to meet some Daville-ians.  Glad to put some faces with F3 names.

It seems there are two spots in that vast parking lot where one can get a ShovelFlag in the ground.  The rest is grassy gravel.

The beer truck arrived at the scene of the SpeakUp 5K before 6 am but, alas, no samples were offered.

It’s been a while since YHC has experienced such a wet & muddy AO. 20 brave & strong men left the comfort of the fart sack looking for a solid beat down.

The THANG:

Mosey to the amphitheater stage for a dry comfy Earth Worm ground & pound style workout to music! Perform the called out exercise for the entire song!

Disclaimer – not the normal one, but one from Wilson’s wife. “Don’t get injured or let anyone else get injured a week before BRR!” She got a bit worked up over it…more on that later!

SSH – Yankee Rose

Merkin – Jump

American Hammers – Eye of the Tiger

Tricep Push Ups – Panama

Superman – Believe it or Not

SSH Front Clap – Whatever

Under Fence Merkins – Get Low

LBC’s – Boom

Upward Plank Leg Lift/Dip – De do do do (Sting)

Squat/Rear Lunge – OPP

Mountain Climbers – Hot for Teacher

Arm Circles – Save a Horse

Alabama Prom Dates – Me So Horny

SSH – Jane Says

Pickle Pounders – Final Countdown

Burpees – Don’t Stop Believing

Circle up on stage for a quick conversation with the superior being!

MOLESKIN:

So YHC had been thinking about this type of workout for some time #runningsucks! When an open spot opened for dogpile Q the Saturday before BRR – well I had to jump on it. Many thanks to Honey Do for the rental of his speaker! There were a few LIFO’s led by FUDD!

YHC REALLY likes Van Halen – ALL era’s. Even the Gary Shirone years (my first concert was Extreme). With the rain I made the choice to perform exercises on the stage of the amphitheater (to keep the audio equipment safe – don’t want Honey Do’s M upset!)

My 2.0 helped pick the exercises, but then tried to put her own audible in when I explained the plan. Wilson’s wife was all worked up about injuries. I am happy to report no injuries that I know of.

Winston’s said it best, I like the songs, but they could have cut them down by a minute or two!

We seem to have some hidden talents – Lab Rat CAN talk through an entire workout, Swirly can hit the high notes and enjoys karaoke on occasion. Most of the PAX was singing during the country song…hmmmm! Sippy Cup has superior form no matter the exercise!

This was truly a you vs. you workout. The mumble chatter was high at times. Thank you for allowing me to lead this group of outstanding men! #runnigsucks #FEBA

Have a great day!

Twenty “Teen spirited” tallboys took to Dogpile on the 25th anniversary of Nirvana’s debut video on MTV.  For the Silver anniversary occassion YHC requested the PAX show up in Grunge garb to enjoy another themed beatdown.  Temperature at 6 was 84 with high humidity, not ideal for extra flannel layers, but still the PAX persisted:

COP – 30 of all exercises to note 30 million albums of Nirvana’s Nevermind.  SSH, Merkins, Flutterkicks, IWs, Arm Circles.  Mosey to Amphitheater for

Modified Beast – 6 sets of exercises, 6 for each step, up to the 6th Step.  6 also was the highest that Smells like Teen Spirit peaked on the charts.    Box Jumps, Derkins, Tuckjumps, Dips, Mtn Climbers, Carolina Dry Docs.

Mosey to field for Pearl Jam tribute, their first album was Ten so of course we did:  10 Minutes of Burpees.

Mosey to Rusty Cage (aka pull up bars) for 5 sets of partner Pull ups (4) and Balls to the Bar (5).  Mosey to Carrillon for Alice in Chains triple check-  Plerkins (1 PAX planks while other puts feet on back to do Merkins) while 3rd PAX runs up and back down Carrillon steps.

Back to the flag for some Mary:  Freddy Mercurys, LBCs, Cross Leg lifts, Russian Twists.  COT & Flashdance took us out.

NMS – This theme’s genesis goes back to RAMM several months ago, at least 8 months since YHC was running with Rosie which he has not been able to keep up with for at least that long, in discussing music and the fact these Grunge albums us late-hate somethings grew up with are now 25 years old or more.  YHC did some research and determined Smells Like Teen Spirit’s video debuted this weekend so signed up to Q and pleaded to the PAX for plaid attire.  Well done in responding F3 RVA.  However flannel long sleeve shirts and August summer heat do not mix well as this was one sweaty beatdown.

Mumblechatter was high during the 10 min of burpees, who knew so many PAX hated Eddie Vedder.  One plus of long sleeves is Elbow plank is much better on the arms, there may be some method to the madness of Wilson, who at the end mentioned he might need YHCs speaker for a future beatdown theme.  Looks like the seed has been planted now we will have to see what he comes up with.

The Balls to the Bar did well this 2nd time out, that one could use a better name but the exercise is here to stay.  The Plerkins/Triple check was a hit as many PAX mentioned their displeasure with the new Plerkin exercise.  YHC encourages all to take that ire on to Offshore for introducing that to F3 RVA at Punisher this week. Also great to see Best Shot back out, hope to see you back out again soon!

ETs afterwards went on for what seemed like a record amount of time with, as usual, a wide array of topics ranging from Lab Rats graduation party, capital murder, circumcision, HR policies, and of course BRR. TYA was there as well with his drone to do some taping.  We’ll see what he was able to record.

Pleasure to lead this AM, thanks for going along with this loose flannel thread of a theme!

15 faithful emerged from the fartsack and decided instead to attack this beautiful morning at Dogpile to get their day started off right.  After possibly the shortest mosey in Dogpile history and figuring time would be of the essence today to complete the planned decathalon, YHC dispensed with a quick disclaimer seeing no FNGs and got right into a short COP that went something like this:

• SSH x20 IC
• DQ x10 IC
• IW x15 IC
• Merkins x10 IC
• LBC x20 IC

In the spirit of the Olympics and after watching American Ashton Eaton successfully defend his Decathlon title this week, YHC wanted to take a shot at completing our own F3 Decathlon, it went something like this:

1. One-mile run on the VITA trail, followed by some plank-o-rama in our usual COP location while we waited for the six;
2. Mosey to the pull-up bars for AMRAP in 2 minutes;
3. Touch-a-Tree x3 with 1 burpee at the first tree, 2 at the second and 3 at the third, then run back to the start and plank;
4. Mosey to the amphitheater and spread around the top step for dips corresponding to the step number starting with 18 on the top step and working our way down to 1 on the bottom step, then bunny-hop/box jump (1 per step) back up to the top;
5. Mosey to carillon steps for triple check consisting of (a) run up the steps, lunge across, run down, (b) people’s chair and (c) derkins.  The lunges were scrapped in the final round;
6. Mosey to field for 40-yard sprint relay;
7. 20-yard bear-crawl (I couldn’t resist) relay x2;
8. 40-yard relay – back pedal 20-yards then sprint back 20-yards;
9. Football/Frisbee Toss – 1 PAX member throws the football or Frisbee (his choice) and the PAX runs to it – first PAX member there calls the exercise then gets  to throw – which included merkins; burpees; WWII situps; LBCs; clerkins and crab-walk (forward and back); and finally
10. Native American Run back to the shovelflag

We finished with a couple minutes of Mary, including APDs, Freddie Mercuries, Dolly (with 60-second hold of 6 inches), Flutter kicks (all IC) and then 10 merkins OYO to finish.

Announcements – per Phonics, the F3 team is the 4th largest for the Reesestrong 5K.  Lets move up the leaderboard gentlemen.  All those interested in a pre-race workout at Dogpile to warm-up, there will be some clown cars heading to DaVille from Dogpile.

COT, number-rama, name-a-rama and YHC took us out.

NMM:

Great work today guys.  No 10-counts because we had to keep moving, but all PAX members kept the intensity high throughout and dominated the decathlon.  And a special thanks to Sippy Cup for setting YHC straight (total brain-fart or lack of oxygen) so that we could correctly number off into 5 teams of 3 for the triple checks and relays.

Today was a special day for YHC to step out front and lead for the first time at Dogpile.  As I mentioned in the prayer, today would have been my father’s 79th birthday.  We lost him a few years ago to pancreatic cancer and it of course hasn’t been the same since.  But, the ability to participate with, and occasionally lead, such a fine group of men and having such a great group of men to lean on and push forward with is going a long way to filling that void, and for that I truly appreciate each and every one of you and thank you for inspiring me, leading me, pushing me and letting me do the same for you.  It’s an honor.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I’ll see you in the gloom… Gumbo

11 extraordinary men dominated Dogpile on a beautiful Saturday including one FNG. The conditions were optimal for success.  We took full advantage of those conditions.

The thang:

COP  – 20 X SSH, Imperial Walker, LBC, Freddy Mercury, +10 Merkin.  Homage paid to Gnarly Goat.

4 Rounds – Run up stairs at The Carillon, lunge across, back down, bear crawl to flower pots and run back to stairs.

Ladder Of Domination – Picking six trees of semi equal distance apart in the field in front of The Carillon, run to the first tree to perform 5 merkins and 5 LBC.  Run back to start, then to the next tree line for 10 merkins and 10 LBC.  Repeat this to 30.

Even Steven – Perform the following 10 pull ups (by any means) then run to the fire hydrant to perform 10 two count American Hammers.  Sets decline in volume to 8, 6, 2, 4

Dora’s Valley Of Doubt – With a partner complete  50 burpees, 100 merkins, 200 dips, 300 SSH.  While one partner exercises the other runs the valley behind the amphitheater.

Mosey back to the flag.

COT – numberama, namerama and The Carpenter graciously lead us out.

YHC is happy to report this workout produced a soreness that still lingers as a pleasant reminder. Without confirmation from the USGS, YHC is lead to believe that the sides of the hill got steeper and longer with each rep of Dora’s Valley Of Doubt. Bleeder has the best bear crawl on the planet.  YHC has it on good authority that the Maymont bear has hit him up on Twitter for tips.  Oyster is the F3 version of a pool shark.  No person at anytime should challenge him to a footrace.  He will pretend he has never run before, present you with an aw shucks look and then proceed to run so fast that his hat will catch on fire.  Welcome Bypass and congrats on the new job.  The Carpenter is so good at closing the COT he should look into doing that as a profession.

It is with great intention that I present challenges that are just hard enough to have the little voice inside your head say “you have got to be flipping kidding me”.  Perhaps it’s one of those things that I really want to learn and that’s why it’s so important to me.

Life is full of challenges and doubt.  For better or worse, I don’t know that you can live any kind of life you’d be proud of without either of those two things.  So rather than avoiding them, what I do think you can do is learn how to respond. When things look a little overwhelming and you aren’t sure you have what it takes, you have a couple of choices.

You can throw your hands up in the air and tap out like normal people.  Or you can look at the pool of your own sweat and will your body to come back for one more rep.

I say, one more rep.

Hardywood

 

22 hard-chargers sallied forth to take a stiff shot of Dogpile with a #growSchool chaser.  Humidity met stupidity as we undertook this THANG:

Front leaning rest for muster, instruction and inspection.  All hands were accounted for, so we shoved off and were underway/making way.

Mosey, Karioca run, side shuffle over to the 240′ Carillon Tower where we took station on the brick courtyard for CoP.

30 x ssh

10 x windmill

15 x IST

15 x toy soldiers

1 min invisible jump rope

John “IHOP” Powers IHOP’s x2 rounds

All hands muster on the Great Lawn for “The Michigan”

Re-convene on the bricks for a little stretchy-stretch

Partner up for partner wheelbarrows up the grand staircase x2 for each pax

Adjourn to the pull-up forest

20 x squats

“50 in 5”  (crowd pleaser)

Slowsey to a steep hill for Quatro minutes of Quadraphilia

Mosey back to launch for people’s choice Mary which included (at a minimum)… low flutter, Alabama Prom Queen, Low Dolly, etc etc

And oh by the way, we also did 300 good-form ‘mericans.  (crowd pleaser)

Ye Olde Moleskin:

1.  RVA pax are fierce and ruthless.  When YHC called for a little stretchy-stretch they told me to take that weak-a$$ action back to Isotope and I think they might have even called me a sister wife. Strong.  YHC likes that spirit.  Someone even “coo’d” when I called for pigeon… never fails, there’s always a coo’er in the pax.
2. Circle K got a “94” on something and tried to tell us it was not a big deal.  Listen here Circle K, if YHC ever got a 94 on something I’d be walking around like Nature Boy Ric Flair.  Own it!  BZ as we say in the Navy.
3. It sounds like Honey Do is actually Honey Did when it comes to shedding some extra lbs.  Good job sir… now go pick up some milk on your way home.
4. Was that Wilson threatening violence agains YHC’s timepiece?  Remember to aim your violence at the watch sir… I’m just the messenger.  #pavlov
5. Yankee Aggressor strong war daddy.  Aye.
6. Congrats to Fudd for his new gig.  Don’t embarras us.
7. Apparently bad Toga is back to the delight of the pax.  Apparently good Toga was insufferable.

Growschool moleskin:

1.  Awesome – and wide-ranging – discussion.  Notes:  Do you have your EH elevator speech ready? M’s can have a positive EH effect.  Church groups are good places to reach men.  Explain F3’s larger purpose.  Addition by division.  Man-to-man is best EH.  When to add or kill a workout/AO.  Develop a leadership structure that’s appropriate but doesn’t become burdensome. Etc etc.   Great discussion all the way around.  Lots of energy about an RVA homegrown csaup event and a possible rookie day in the near-future.  BZ.

 

1. Summary:  YHC has driven 95 through RVA hundreds of times but never had the guts to stop.  Toga took me on a tour.  My assessment?  Rockin’ cool city and rock-solid pax!  So this weekend I was able to:  get some hours in the swagger wagon listening to 80’s rock, classic country, and the Click and Clack Brothers… enjoy a tasty beverage at an RVA hip brewery…. dispense a noteworthy beatdown to a bunch of hard-chargers… obtain a sweet RVA F3 jersey…and finally spend time discussing F3 with men determined to be High Impact Men and to help others be the same.  That’s a weekend I can hang my hat on.  Aye.

Thanks for having me up.  RVA rocks!

Goat sends.