Mary Munford Elementary
Sixteen mighty ran
Lockjaw called Haiku for all
Upchuck lights the way
Pair by pair we ran
To the Spider Run and back
It’s dark in the woods
Leave your haiku in the post to celebrate the run.
Ricky Bobby took us out.
Announcements:
ABT,
Lockjaw
Four steely horsemen saddled up and secured their headlamps for the latest edition of the RAMM (no takers on RAMM Gears). With temps fluttering just below sunny and 70 (but nonetheless extremely comfortable), here’s how it went down…YHC surveyed the group (4 milers?, 5 milers?, 6 milers?) and found a consensus to run in a pack…reverse Carillon, 5 mile route. BT and Splinter set forth with long strides while Sippy Cup and YHC maintained a steady 1.5 strides per BT/Splinter stride, and still fell behind (YHC was clearly the anchor). 45 minutes later…all was done.
Number-rama, Name-a-rama, announcements, and YHC took us out.
Announcements:
BRR starts today…keep those guys in mind
Reese-Strong 5k next weekend…sign up now
Convergence Sept 30th from 6-8 (or just come for an hour). Location = Gridiron
Sign up for 2018 BRR starts Monday…see TYA
Moleskin
With Swirly dispatched to monitor the 209 mile AO that is the BRR, YHC took it upon himself to arrive early to evaluate the AO this morning. YHC arrived at MM at 2:13 a.m. (is that a record, Corporate?) on the way home from the airport. All was clear and in order. YHC considered just sleeping there, but figured Richmond’s Finest might object, so YHC dispatched himself homeward for some zzz’s. Returning at 5:22 a.m., all remained in order, essentially unchanged (same cars, same spots). “Nichts zu berichten.” YHC parked in Swirly’s spot with BT pulling into TYA’s.
YHC appreciated Sippy Cup down shifting today to keep up with YHC’s pace. Not only is YHC thankful for the company, but YHC was absolutely fascinated by Sippy’s descriptions of protein level cancer research. Sippy had better start running faster or he has doomed himself to six months of YHC’s questions. Inspiring stuff. YHC will never call a statistical distribution “normal” again – the word is Gaussian. YHC will demonstrate by using it in a sentence, “I’ll take ‘Gaussian Distributions’ for $1,000, Alex.” It’s also highly possible that YHC has botched this example and / or the spelling.
All else aside, YHC was expecting today to be a tough one after a long day (including the wee hours arrival) spent preparing in south Florida for Hurricane Irma with his work team. YHC then spent several hours in the Miami International Airport, where the human cocktail contained inexperienced travelers galore dragging along kids, grandparents, in-laws, and seemingly every pet or animal-that-passes-for-a-pet (macaw, anyone?) in south Florida. YHC found himself watching exasperated travelers, many appearing to be of reasonable means, exhorting ticketing agents for special treatment to get kids, grandparents, in-laws, and seemingly every pet or animal-that-passes-for-a-pet onto a flight to anywhere out of the storm’s path. In the word’s of one traveler, with not a drop hyperbole,”If I can’t get out, I might die here.” This seemingly had little impact on the agent, who YHC guesses was planning to ride out the storm “here,” and clearly wanted to say,”I might die here too.” YHC realized his own need for sensitivity training when his in-flight beverage arrived ‘with ice’ when the request was ‘no ice.’ On second thought, anything on the way to a safe spot will be just fine. In general, a sobering reminder of the gifts YHC enjoys in his life (roof, food, great family, safe place for family, and opportunity to “leave” when the going gets tough). YHC suggests loading both barrels with prayers this weekend for the folks in Florida and the Caribbean who have or are going to experience a monster of nature’s power multiple exponents greater than anything most of us have seen. TV won’t do it justice.
Final note: happy birthday to my mom…a spry 78 today. Thanks for being you (Yeah, I said it. My mom reads my back blasts. What’s it to you?)
A record 24 said no to tapering and showed up for an end of summer Lockjaw run.
Mosey to the TJ track and divide into groups of three with approximate comparable abilities.
As a part of a relay team, everyone completes two 600M runs and six 200M runs. Focus on speed and form.
Mosey back to the VSF.
NMS
BRR talk is in the air. In one week precisely, the teams will begin the race. These teams are ready for what’s in store.
Relay running for speed work is a great way to push oneself. Some of the relay team membership was in flux as we lost our hand off partners and found new ones. Everyone got a good workout. You can see the speed demon’s silhouettes from the light of Broad Street. Impressive.
Everyone seemed to go all out on the last 200M run. There were pulled hammys and other ailments. Upchuck converted his Explorer to an impromptu SAG wagon and collected a record number of injured. Hopefully a little ice will lead to full recovery.
Time to Taper,
Lockjaw
Four consistent cyclists showed up this morning for RAMM Gears, but a record 19 runners pulled into the Mary Munford parking lot for RAMM. At our 5:30 departure time we were exactly two weeks, or 336 hours, away from the start of the Blue Ridge Relay. By the time you read this, several of those hours will have disappeared. This looming deadline appears to have motivated many of the pax to pack in additional miles this week.
The Route: Reverse Carillion. An old standard used at the AO several times this year. Always an energizing run as all participants end up racing west on Grove and the six milers attempt to catch those with shorter routes. YHC was therefore somewhat familiar with the path, although grateful to Lockjaw for providing a more detailed description. Apologies are due for some less than clear directions given. Saab took us out.
Mumblechatter: With TYA’s release of the BRR team assignments there was much sorting out between new rivals. Taunts and insults were heard as BRR participants realized former friends had become adversaries. Swirly, TYA, and Wedding Singer left early to add additional mileage. The five milers ran together for the first mile and then spread out as the six milers caught up. Lockjaw was missed during the debate on proper tapering technique (too late already?)
Gumbo could still use help with Breaking Bread on Sunday afternoon.
ReeseStrong 5k in three weeks.
The AO was calm
Like just before hurricane
No Big Blue in sight
An elite seven
Running a route forty-two
The one Marv prefers
East on Monument
Back to the AO
The routing for most
Swiper got rolling
Crossed county lines with Scrappy
Followers beware!
Upchuck’s Announcements
Just one year ’til golf event
Takers anyone?
Thirteen men rolled out of the sack to enjoy a Friday morning run.
The thang: Repeat Lockjaw’s ‘Setaukit’ route from last Friday but in reverse.
Moleskin:
Aye! YHC thought this would be much easier than it was. 15 PAX handled this route flawlessly last week, so just reverse it and those who didn’t know the path could partner up, even though there were many turns involved. Only YHC and Marv made it through the designed course, but one way or another everyone got their miles in. Props to Lockjaw commandeering the PAX through the normal route on a weekly basis. YHC will work on his run Q leadership skills as mentioned in the prayer.
Welcome Bronson ‘Paris’ to F3RVA.
Announcements – BRR coming up soon! May need more runners as a few have dropped out. Reesestrong 5K/cold beers and crabs Sept 16th.
-Singer
17 Pax had a strong showing today with the Setauket route before them.
OBT took us out.
NMS:
YHC provided route instructions and maps prior to the run which kept us closer to the intended course, but there were a few strays. The third time will be the winner!
YHC likes this route with the various neighborhoods and terrain – rolling hills as well as long stretches on Dover. The hill on Charmian did not disappoint and brought some BRR love to the RVA. You are welcome.
The good samaritan award goes to Upchuck. Upon seeing an older lady standing on the sidewalk at 5:30, he looped back to make sure she was ok. Turns out she was waiting for the bus, but Upchuck’s character came through.
Announcements:
Time to Taper,
Lockjaw
Pre-Blast Setauket Route for tomorrow’s RAMM.
4 Mile Route
5 Mile Route
6 Mile Route
17 escaped the lure of the FS to hit the roads today.
Reverse Carillon routes for the runners. Splinter was the lone 6 with many groups running 5.
Fudd took us out.
NMS:
Today it looked liked we went in the pool. I think I was less wet yesterday.
It was good to see Fuddski in a surprise appearance after a while away.
TYA continues to push both fashion and technology with his cooling suit. It is slightly odd with him putting ice packs down his pants before a run. Maybe Wilson was on to something with the long sleeves in summer…..
As the BRR approaches, its been good to see the Pax come out and push their distance and pace. Keep it up! Almost there!
Time to Taper,
Lockjaw
On Friday July 21 Marv walked for the last time to Ramm – and no one has heard from him since… I believe he is in the process of a move to a temporary home while he awaits his new house to be finished. Word is it will be ready on Thanksgiving – (BT said of what year) …. He is just kidding of course – it’s looking good Marv… Anyway – hope the move is going well Marv. Marv is famous for a few things – allow me to list a few : His golden broadcaster voice – prayers, running, skunk shoes, VCU, writing excellent BB’s – and not posting BB’s which is why Corporate had to jump in on this one :).
We ran Monument Ave last Friday – my apologies if I leave any of the pax that were there out – doing my best to remember that day… But gotta get this posted – Big Data is for real !