Tag: First Watch

River Road & Ridge

  • Missing Regulars

    Lots of missing regulars at FW.  Does YHC have a Pigskin reputation or something?

    Here’s what transpired:

    Mosey to Church patio

    COP

    • Don Quixotes
    • Michael Phelps
    • Helicopters
    • Hillbillies
    • Cherry Pickers
    • Plankorama
    • Merkins
    • LBCs
    • SSHs

    Mosey across the road to S Ridge

    Booyah Fest

    • P1 – Run to intersection where we were once told to shut the f*ck up and back to P2
    • P2 – Bearcrawl toward P1
    • At meeting point, Booyah Merkins x 10
    • Repeato until P1 and P2 are at the intersection
    • Round 2 head back to S. Ridge and River with Lunges and Booyah WWIIs x 10
    • Round 3 back to intersection with Broad Jump Burpees and Booyah Merkins x 10

    Mosey to Cameron and Culpepper

    DORA 1-2-3

    • P1 – Bernie up the hill and run back
    • P2 – 100 x Jump Squats, 200 x SSHs, 300 x Monkey Humpers

    Long Mosey down Cameron-Grattan-Culpepper-Ross-S Ridge-Country Squire-River-VSF

    • Mailbox on Right – Merkins x 5
    • Mailbox on Left – LBCs x 10
    • Fire Hydrant – Burpees x 2

    Mary

    • American Hammers
    • Heels to Heaven
    • 30 seconds of Stretching

    Numberama, Nameorama, COT

    MOLESKIN

    Great to have CB return to First Watch after a long hiatus.  I’m sure the regulars are sad to have missed him.  The upper body was hit hard, then the lower body was hit harder.  Then a nice long cool down mosey.  The weather was almost too mild.  YHC felt naked from the shoulders to the head band with no foreskin.  Perhaps a cooling version should be the next addition to the line.

    ANNOUNCEMENTS

    Frozen-ish Triangle – Saturday 0600 @ DogPile

    Prayers for Hash in Air Force bootcamp

  • In Perpetuity for a Bit

    A fine variety of 8 enjoyed the pristine temperatures that awaited the PAX for a well planned beatdown that was seconds in the making. Following Ronnie fishtailing his way into the parking lot, we went off for a variety of adventures and games. Here is how things went down.

    Mosey to the point of the triangle for introductions and disclaimers. Avoid any straggling ice along the route. Exercises, all in conversation, included Helicopters, DQ’s, Jazzercise, Ukrainian Soldiers, Arm Circles among others.

    Mosey down S. Ridge with stops along the way Lindsay style. Exercises included Mountain Climbers and Squats. Brocode style ending up at the base of Overlook.

    Mosey up a portion of Overlook for a noncounting Dora. Timer runs up the street and back. 1 round of merkins, 2 rounds of WWII’s, 3 rounds of LBCs. Mosey back down to Ridge.

    Catch me if you can on the way back up Ridge. Traveler lunges while partner performs 10 shoulder taps or jump squats then off to catch the traveler. Switch. Traveler switches to reverse lunge a portion up the hill. Mosey back to the tip of the triangle.

    Another round of exercises with drydocks and running.

    Enter into the parking lot for a rhombus shaped 4 corners. 10 merkins, 20 somethings, 30 monkey humpers, 40 SSH’s.

    Numbers, Names, Announcements and Prayers. Frozen Triangle run rescheduled for sometime coming up. See Slack. YHC took us out with phenomenal public speaking abilities.

    NMS: Great temps greeted the PAX although some dressed for cooler temps. A mixture of cooler breeze and warmer drafts awaited the PAX along Ridge. Good conversation along the way with some critiquing of YHC exercise selection and preparation. Great group as always a good time awaits in the early gloom. Well done fellas, thanks for the opportunity to lead.

  • Dark & Slushy

    Sub-optimal conditions greeted the First Watch PAX this morning.  Here is how it went down:

    • COP
      • SSH
      • IW
      • Ukrainian soldiers
      • Helicopters
      • Arm circles
      • DMH
      • Merkins
      • LBC
      • Penguins
    • Traveling Dora – 5 covered stops with 20/40/60 reps
      • 100 HRM
      • 200 squats
      • 300 LBC
    • Group 3x check under the overhang – 3 rounds of the following
      • Wall sit with 15 air presses, 15 milkers, 15 Muhamed Ali’s
      • 20 PLT (60 total)
      • 10 Mike Tysons (30 total)
    • Mosey back to the parking lot to stretch and COT with YHC taking us out

    Rain left the surrounding area slushy and slick.  The PAX was also void bright/reflective clothing so let’s stay dry and safe.   Good to be back at First Watch after a bit of a hiatus for ice and sickness.  The PAX is ready for the kids to resume school.

    Frozen Triangle this weekend.  Lunch next Tuesday at Firehouse Subs.

    God is good all of the time!

    Attila

  • Miracle on Ice (2026 version)

    Three regular First Watchers and one Brother-in-Law of the Site Q were successful in not injuring themselves this morning. That is the miracle.

    Working around the church building:

    COP: Standard Fare with some Ice Angels added in for flavor

    11’s: Carolina Dry Docks and WW2 Sit-ups

    PLT’s: 2 x 20 each

    Wall Sits with partner slowly jogging out and back as timer x 3 rounds

    10 x Burpees compliments of Gomer Pyle

    Lindsay: LBC’s and Squats including speed bump Burpees

    Bear Crawls, Lunges, Broad Jump Burpees

    Four Minutes of Mary

    Merkin Ring of Fire

    Numbers, Names, Announcements, Gomer took us out!

    NMS:

    40% (IYKYK) eye roll

    No wind made things bearable.

    Two were SOP!

    Welcome back to my BIL, Key Grip. It’s only been 6 years.

    Coffee at Sheetz, because Starbucks employees are weak.

    SYITG!

    Kubota

  • 9 for 19

    8 hearty souls emerged from the frozen gloom to join the QIC for a chilly beatdown. The car read 19 degrees as we departed the parking lot. Here’s what went down.

    COP – SSH, Don Q, Ukrainian shoulders (or soldiers depending on your preference), attempted hill billies, arm circles, LBCs and Merkins.

    Then depart for the UR Greek theatre with some exercises along the way.

    At the theatre, we did ascending incline merkins, descending dips, ascending box jumps, and then ascending burpees.

    On the way back to the flag we stopped at the triangle for a triple check but sadly ran short of time to complete.

    Nameorama, numberama, and Handshake took us out with a somewhat passive aggressive prayer.

    Announcements – Pigskin is leading the Bridge; frozen triangle coming up.

    Ronnie out.

  • Early In The Morning

    6 Boot campers and two walkers merged at the West End’s earliest AO to see what this rusty Q had in the hopper. Nerves were high for YHC’ s first Q in 15+ months. As the clock hit 5am, the PAX shot (or walked) off into the Gloom.

    Mosey around the church, burpee buy ins at each of the speed bumps, through the parking lot and back to the front of the church for an open air COP. The PAX was lively, they struggled with their counting, something that definitely gave this son of accountant some unease. Quick COP of Imperial Walkers, DQs, Soldiers, arm circles and reverso then a quick mosey back to the parking lot.

    Creative 4 Corners

    A very creative version of compounding 4 corners of consisting of 10 hand release merkins, 20 jump squats, 30 reverse crunches, 40 money humpers. YHC was the six… mosey to the triangle and Henrico County’s most exclusive park on Ridge Rd.

    Triple Check

    Pace car runs to River and Ridge intersection and back

    mountain climbers and box cutters to round out the exercises

    mosey to Ridge and Ross

    Catch Me if You Can

    rounds of bear crawls and merkins

    jump squats and broad jumps

    mountain climbers and lunges

    repeato to the triangle.

    back to the flag for some mobility and 3 minutes of Mary

    Numberama, Namerama, YHC took us out

    See slack for the full details

    Jan 24th – Pigskin led The Bridge

    Superbowl Saturday – The Frozen Triangle

    Two years ago, while I was shuffling between supporting my M at her weekly Prenatal Appointment and jumping to a coffee with a broker friend, for some reason I went home to re-charge and reset before my third round of caffeine that morning. Something just told me to be home.

    I needed to be home for what came through the phone lines around 9:30 that morning. I received the call you never can plan for from my little brother. He shared the shocking and heartbreaking news of Dad passing earlier that morning doing something he loved: working out. In the two years since, not a day goes by that I wonder how I’ll ever get past losing my North Star. You can read about this awesome guy here: https://f3rva.org/2024/05/01/happy-64th-dad/

    Dad shows up in ways every day. Sometimes it’s my son’s belly laugh, other times, an expected blessing. This morning he picked the first song on Shuffle as YHC drove to First Watch…. one of his faves and fitting for a pre-5am Wednesday morning

    To say the last couple of years have been a rollercoaster of highs and lows would be an understatement. Nothing can ever prepare you for heartbreak, overseeing your parent’s affairs, all while trying to grow a business and make sure you’re being the better than best dad and husband.

    Fortunately, the last couple of months I’ve started to shift over from treading water to swimming again. Searching for that North Star no longer became my journey, becoming that North Star became my purpose. I shared a couple years ago that it was my turn to own the next 64 years, taking the torch from my North Star. 2 years later, I’m encouraged I’m getting closer that promise.

    Thanks for letting me lead and share today. Enjoyed it! SYITG

  • Keeping It Moving

    Seven of the areas all-stars descended down the hill and back up – working out along the way. Moving was to cover ground – but also escape a certain Pax members gaseous releases. God help him.

    Handshake took us out.

  • Last First Watch of 25

    9 men broke free from the warmth of the fartsack for the early morning first watch and a bowl of Gumbo to close out their 2025. It was served up as follows:

    Mosey through the driveway (paying our burpee tolls at the two speed bumps) to the back parking lot. Line up for some warmups to increase the body temps, including high knees, buttkickers, karaoke, and bounders. Then circle up for traditional COP to Attila’s delight. COP included Froggy’s favorite time to shine – jazzercisers and a bunch of other stuff. COP ended with a controversial game of 2025 pop-trivia that resulted in more burpees than correct answers, but EF Hutton and Splinter were all over the Sydney Sweeney question. You’re welcome for cutting the questions short.

    THANG

    Four Compounding Corners – 10 merkins, 20 2-ct mountain climbers, 30 jump squats or squat jumps, 40 box cutters (add on at each corner).

    Reverso/Australian 4 Corners – 40 SSHs, 30 squats, 20 2-ct Freddies, 10 HRMs (take one off at each corner – going in the opposite direction)

    Wall Time – mosey over to side wall and wall sit for instructions:

    • Round 1 – 10 Donkey Kicks, 10 Mike Tyson Merkins, Lunge to hedges and mosey back to wall sit.
    • Round 2 – 20 DKs, 20 2-ct twisting crunches, Lunge, Mosey back.
    • Round 3 – 30 DKs and bear crawl to hedge

    Mosey BTTF for 3 minutes of Mary, including:

    • Pickle Pounders
    • APDs
    • Rosalitas
    • Hello Dollies
    • American Hammers

    COT with Numbers, Names, Announcements and YHC took us out

    Announcements:

    • Convergence at Dogpile tomorrow at 0700
    • Breaking Bread is up for 2026 – sign up
    • Bridge needs a Q for January

    NMS: Great way to start the morning and end the year. We even got a Handshake visit to coffeeteria following his solo workout at W-Dog. The SZN of Giving continued with some bubbly and minis to aid tonight’s festivities. Enjoy celebrating 2025 and all that was accomplished, enjoyed, overcome and experienced. Here is to the excitement of a new year. I wish everyone a happy new year, and I hope we all take our F3 energy into the new year with hope and optimism and that the new year brings health, happiness and prosperity to all in F3 RVA.

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • Distracted by Starlink

    Nine champions of the snooze gathered at First Watch waiting to see if the godfather would show. When 0500 arrived and no truck was in sight, off we went to the front of the church for:

    COP

    Various exercises including the ever popular SSH, helicopters, arm circles, jazzercises, mountain climbers, flutter kicks. After a comment on the non-traditional COP completing, off we went to the back of the church for:

    The Thang

    We broke up a Dora today into individual performances. 10x arms, 20x legs, 30x abs. Burpees were scattered throughout as well.

    Round 1/5 – Staggered merkins, jump squats, LBCs

    Round 2/6 – Staggered merkins, monkey hummers, box cutters

    Round 3/7 – Werkins, reverse lunges, HTH

    Round 4/8 – Diamond merkins, ball dippers, APDs

    Round 9-10 – Merkins, jump squats, LBCs

    Various runs and burpees were to be had with the occasional bear crawl to no where in particular.

    Numbers, names, YHC took us out.

    Moleskine

    Great morning for a workout with mild temperatures and energetic PAX. Kudos to Big Spoon who was back in town from Tulsa. Lots of Tulsa references from the PAX this am.

    Enjoy the goodies. See y’all soon.

    Splinter

  • Pervert in the Bushes

    A well rounded 12 men met for this weeks Season of Giving Handshake Q.

    Warm up at the small park to allow Fudd to arrive and get settled in. COP. Quick count off (more on this later).

    Mosey over to the top of Gaymont and partner up. P1 runs down the hill and back, P2 does an exercise. Running down the hill with your partner after both of run. Keep this up for a while. Down Gaymont, left of Rose Hill until we reached Ralston.

    At Ralston we keep forward progression. We stopped around Kubotas house and did squats and ran up the driveway, down the sidewalk, up and over the porch, then through the grass.

    Keep moseying up Ralston and stop at Finkles house for a 20 HRM’s and 10 Merkins.

    Mosey up to River and down River almost to Gaymont and stop at the pull off and do 36 Squats.

    Mosey back to the Parking Lot and get with your partner and do 20 single count Boo-yeah Merkins, 20 single count Boo-yeah WWII’s, 20 Boo-yeah Jump Squats.

    1 minute of stretching.

    Announcements – Kubota is leading The Bridge on 12/27. Festivus tomorrow at Circus. There will be a Kettlebell Workout next Thursday on Christmas morning at Circus.

    NMS – fun morning that wasn’t nearly as cold as it has been. Glad to see Wojo out in the fold. Atilla will be on Channel 12 news tonight for urinating on someone’s bush. Senor Frog was the random number I thought of before the workout and he was the real prize for this weeks Season of Giving.