Old Stony Point ruck
New moon rising. Six of RVA’s finest gathered at the usual spot for a walk in the woods. We took a sandy with us and covered a decent 3.1 miles in the hour. Great to have some cooler morning temps and as always great company and banter. Thanks gents.
Announcements: Late night ruck event starting at the Alamo this Friday. Check slack for details.
8 men assembled at Einstein’s Bagels for the latest edition of RH (not all at the same time). Given the countdown clock is steadily moving towards the upcoming growruck, we added some extra pounds and swam off into the Bon Air morning. First 20 mins spent on the firmer streets followed by a station of the following:
Round 1, 1st pax completes 5 slow deep squats with 60# sandbag, 2nd pax KB swings with the 35. remaining pax Aussie mountain climbers. Finishing sandbag reps, 1st pax drops sandbag and does a short timer walk before rotation through the crew. Round 2 we switched out for bent over sandbag rows and KB upright rows, other pax alternating flutters and Aussie Man climbers. Hardest part is getting up after flutters. Finish the round and head back along the yellow/red blaze in Larus P. to SP and EBs.
Solid work this morning men, thanks for the company!
Announcements: Labor Day Convergence Batteau. Check Slack for details.
Prayers: DTHs friend is recovering well and has some support to ease that transition.
11 of the deep SOJ finest came out to Satan’s Hill to end the week with a highlight. YHC had anticipation of the Ghostflag, but was prepared nonetheless! According to PAX who used to post but now just drive by in the morning, here is what went down.
Mosey to stop sign and back to lot.
COP- 20 each SSH, LBC; Willy Mays Hayes, 10 Each, Jim Duggan’s, Jazzercise, Helicopters, Imperials Walkers, , Copper head squat, Cherry pickers, Merkins, Dollies, Flutters.
The 804:
25 each of: Merkins, Curls, Overhead press, Squats, Carolina Drydocks, Skullcrushers, Bent rows, Calf raises. Most exercises performed with Cindy. 1 Burpee. Total 201 reps. Run up hill and back.
Repeato 3 more times. Total 804 reps.
Announcements: Breaking bread sign up on Q sheet. Labor Day convergence at Forest hill park. 9/11 Ruck.
Prayers: To Wildcats scans, For Taziki’s dad, and more. YHC took us out in prayer.
Always an honor to lead and start the day with something hard.
Large crew today. 13 strong. We hit every church, school, and library in the area and stopped for short prayer for the new school year, alternating plank or squats at each location.
YHC mischaracterized St. Michael’s as catholic, oops. What’s the difference between Episcopal and Catholic anyways? At least they aren’t Baptist.
Stop at Snuff’s house and prayer of thanksgiving for his studliness & commitment to coffee and for his beauty rest, he needs it.
~3miles covered and record amount of prayer for this AO.
Ruckhenge Q sheet is looking wide open, get your name on it if you haven’t Q’d in a while (i.e. if your name isn’t DTH or Snip)
Announcements:
TH: Heisenberg VQ;
FR: Snuff family firned poop/pool party, whichever you desire;
SAT: L. Woods organized food distro event;
SUN: Dealer led ~6mile ruck
(Now 8?) HIM’s accepted the challenge to get under the log for an hour ruck through the hills of Larus Park. An additional 30# KB was brought to share around. It was great to have our Site Q SABLE back from his Euro/Afro travels and also a delight to welcome House Party back to the gloom after a knee-resting hiatus. Just under 3 miles completed with regular stops to switch coupons and get in some deep squats. The coupons were also momentarily set down for a jog to the bottom of Love Hill and Bernie back up. Solid burn for the legs and shoulders today. Thx for letting me lead brothers. Yours AYE! ~Dr Tryhard
COT:
Announcements (SEE SLACK!)
9 amateur historians went bushwhacking deep into the history of Bon Air.
Sightseeing included the old reservoir now filled in with silt, the stonework dam and waterfall including 2 tunnels under the railroad, the ruins of the pump house, the site of the old train station, and a track’s eye view of the Buford Rd bridge where part of the station used to be.
Up through YHC’s backyard to the site of the Bon Air Hotel, and then hotfoot back to the flag where we picked up Doozy along the way.
COT.
Great to host Coonbait from downrange, and sorry Doozy but you were never going to find us deep in the jungle. Thanks to the PAX for doing some crazy bushwhacking, I swear there used to be a trail there somewhere. Don’t forget to tick check.
An intrepid band of nine SOJ stud ruckers chose the hard way this morning, no – not with coupon carries, but by following their fearless leader into the unknown with only Google Maps and Yahweh as their guides. The PAX launched immediately into uncharted territory skirting behind nearby apartments and crashing through woods onto Huguenot to avoid wading through a retention pond. Then we briefly paid our respects to Yahweh at the Jewish temple and ducked back into the woods alongside the pond via the “Or Ami Origami Lake Path” which was new to all of us and surprisingly clear. YHC kept a brisk pace and the PAX then had a little road-time moving back around the Trader Joe’s shopping center, stopping periodically to complete squats for the SIX. Next up – invasion of the Stony Point apartments, and break through the other side into uncharted parts of Larus park. The PAX briefly encountered nice clear trails but the Q was determined to remain off-road, traversing muddy gullies, climbing steep woods hills, and navigating countless fallen trees. The rain was a nice distraction, interval stops to do squats for the SIX kept the quads lit, and no injuries were incurred. All PAX expressed appreciation for the hard way this morning and we had a fantastic coffeerama and spiritual discussion at Einstein’s afterward. Always a pleasure gentlemen! Yours AYE! ~DTH
Announcements (SEE SLACK!)
Seven studs set off promptly at 5 to meet our stretch goal for the morning: 4.1 miles to complete the 17.76 July ruck challenge. This is about 1 mile farther than the typical hour long ruck distance for this group. How did we do it? We didn’t drop weight. We didn’t drop packs. we added some faster intervals to push the pace and close the gap.
YHC wanted a nice flat route for this challenge, so we took a quick stroll down Huguenot, into Wayland neighborhood. Purely residential. Every 2 tenths of a mile we pushed the pace to a slowish jog. Then dropped back to a fast walk. Repeat 2 miles in we were right on pace. The runners circled back for the six each time to keep the PAX tight. Retraced steps BTTF. We were welcomed back by Last Call right before we ordered a McPain, supersized.
Total distance ended up at 4.13 miles. Goal met. 30 seconds to spare. Beautiful morning, fullish moon and red sunrise.
Good work gents!
Numbers, names, announcements (see Slack!), prayer requests, and coffee.
Thunder boomed in the distance. F3 is rain or shine! 0530 and four CSAUP-loving SOJ studs shouldered the 60# sandbag and took off into the gloom. The goal was to reach DTH’s house and back within the hour. The neighborhood route was chosen to maybe dodge the risk of tree-falling injuries in the woods. Within 2 minutes sheets of driving rain drenched the PAX to the bone and filled our boots with an extra 5-10 pounds of rain water. Lightning in the distance was noted with due awareness but remained at least a mile away. High speed pace was maintained in a mostly downhill route to DTH’s place, dropping the Sandy in the new carport, then hustling the uphill Oxford streets back to the AO by 6:02. Nobody died. Scram is a Double-Respect BEAST. Memories for life. Yours AYE! ~DTH
Announcements (SEE SLACK!)
10 strong set off for an adventure. New streets unlocked passed the grand summit neighborhood in YHC’s old stomping grounds (Ben Nevis). I had to hold the PAX back from a detour skinny dipping in the local pool. Halfway through the ruck we stopped, dropped packs, and knocked out 20 merkins and 20 WWIIs. Rotate to the next rucksack to your left to hump your partner’s ruck back to the flag. Much trash talk on relative ruck weights ensued. ~3.2 miles covered.
Naked Moleskin: We were reminded this morning of the strength we have in community when we 1) open up to other men regarding the burdens we carry and 2) the joy we receive in helping our brothers carry their burdens. Let us remember to be real with one another and offer our time and help when a brother is in need.
Announcements: (see SLACK!)
Prayer Requests: