Two guys eager to get a jump on the day managed to dethaw their cars and meet up at the cheapest country club in RVA. Since Hitch’s trunk was frozen shut, his kettlebell was unavailable- so we opted for laps and alternating sets of exercises between laps .
We managed to keep relatively warm and got some good work in, as well as some good conversation.
SYITG
Six Monday marauders attacked the new week with gusto. Abiding by the strict rules of SCCC etiquette, the workout commenced after a brief warm up as follows:
6 cyles of 8-round Tabata, with a running lap between each one
After last round, 2 laps around the track.
Namerama, Numberama, YHC took us out
NMS: Conversation topics this morning including skiing with Gwyneth Paltro, getting tattoos while drunk/high, and bankrupting Porta-Potty companies. Always a good time.
SYITG!
After only a 19-day review period, YHC is proud to finally submit this backblast. Accountability works… eventually.
Conditions: Cold. December cold. The kind where you remember it was cold, but not how cold.
Warm-Up:
Standard F3 warm-up. We stretched. Arms went up. Arms came down.
The Thang:
A very typical Tabata.
Specific movements have unfortunately been released from memory in accordance with long-term archival policy. What is known is that everyone did the work, no one cheated (probably), and time passed at a predictable rate.
Between rounds, the PAX ran. They returned. This happened multiple times.
Mumblechatter:
Minimal. Focused. Professional.
Any jokes made were immediately forgotten, much like the workout.
Attendance Notes:
COT:
Short. Efficient. Completed.
Backblast Notes:
This post is late.
Everyone knows it’s late.
This post acknowledges that it’s late.
We can all move forward now.
TClaps:
To the PAX for showing up on 12/22
To Bodos for ensuring accountability through public ridicule
To YHC for finally closing the loop
6 men of serious purpose linked arms at the latest edition of the St. Christopher’s Country Club. Conditions were 70 and sunny. According to the local rabbits out for a silflay, the following might have happened.
Round 1: stretch
Round 2: curls and lunges
Round 3: lawnmower pulls and triceps
Round 4: Something and something else
Round 5: squats and overhead presses
Round 6: Boat/canoe and WWIIs/press
Cool down: bench press and have a nice day.
Numbers, names, and YHC took us out.
Announcements:
Pigskin is leading The Bridge on January 24. Leave around 6, workout 7:30 to 8:15, the best coffee ev-erh, and likely a stop at The Cumberland Diner. Home by 10:30/11. Most of that is true.
Frozen Triangle is February 7. No Idea (not that guy) who to contact. Really. YHC does not know who is running this. Or, leading this. Or, really, anything. Please post details.
Faceplant would like to learn to use F3RVA.org on his phone. Does anyone have the time to lend a brutha a hand?
3 grown A$$ HIM showed up to see if Doozy really could figure out how to download a Tabata Timer App onto his Iphone. Like that we start with a 5 minute warm up, timer has everything scheduled where all YHC had to do was call the exercises. First lap was set to 2:30 and a request was made to get a little more time on the next lap. YHC was able to adjust the lap time to 3:00 but that going to shorten the overall time. The last lap was a once around, numbers/ names and Applesauce took us out.
NMS: @applesauce is a fan of the loosing team from this weekend and was able to provide all the reasons why they might have lost to the Hoosiers this Saturday. 🤷♂️
Format: :20 on / :10 off, alternating movements
Between rounds: 1 lap
After Round 6: 2 laps
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Finish: Two laps around the loop.
Moleskine
Where’s Upchuck?
Quality mumble chatter today, plenty of talk about PhDs, AI and higher education, and the PAX confirmed that even combined we don’t have as many master’s degrees as Hitchhiker does.
COT
The forecast called for rain, and for once it didn’t lie. Expectations for attendance were low, and YHC was fully prepared to enjoy a solo workout under the luxurious St. Christopher’s Sports pavilion — one of the finer outdoor fitness facilities in the greater West End.
To YHC’s pleasant surprise, Applesauce arrived, immediately elevating the gloom factor and the quality of conversation. The pavilion provided a dry, echoing backdrop for six rounds of Tabata, punctuated by laps around the pristine SCCC track.
Discussion topics ranged from family dynamics to the delicate art of managing in-laws — all tackled with the same intensity as burpees, though slightly more grace.
In the end, we were reminded that sometimes the best workouts aren’t about numbers, but about showing up, staying dry, and sharing a few honest words.
Announcements:
YHC took us out in thanks for simple mornings, and covered pavilions.
Upchuck said he was coming. Look, he said, there he is. He pointed to a vehicle pulling into the bus parking area at St. Christopher’s.
The vehicle made a U and pulled away.
I do not believe you, I said. Did not Faceplant’s Slack post imply that Handshake was Qing elsewhere this morning, torturing others with his accursed, Apple Watch alarm-inducing Pencil Rolls?
Look, Upchuck said, pointing into the Gloom. Here he comes now, walking with Faceplant.
Silly man, I said, that is not Handshake; can you not see that is Applesauce?
Wait, Upchuck said. He will come. I have even brought spare Implements of Whoa for him to use in strengthening his already prodigious muscles.
At 0530, we performed a set of exercises in the manner of Tabata. We ran a lap on the track.
Handshake did not come.
We performed a second set of exercises in the manner of Tabata, this time using our Implements. Applesauce borrowed the Implements intended for Handshake. We ran another lap.
Handshake did not come.
We performed a third set of exercises in the manner of Tabata. We ran another lap.
Handshake did not come.
Surely, I said, Handshake will not come now. Even Hitchhiker would not show up this late to a workout.
We performed a fourth, fifth and sixth set of exercises in the manner of Tabata. We ran four more laps around the track. Faceplant engaged in jocular discourse with a husband-and-wife pair of runners. He told disjointed story about Handshake being a first-year student at the Virginia Military Institute. We spoke of colleges with simulated airplane cabins and steakhouse dining halls on their campus.
And then it was over.
Shall we go, said Upchuck.
Yes, I said. Let’s go.
We went.
The bell rang, five pax materialized from the Gloom with their Implements of Whoa(TM), and the latest meeting of the St. Christopher’s Country Club was gaveled to order. Here’s what was accomplished:
Tabata Set 1: SSH / IW
Hot Lap 1
Tabata Set 2: Weighted Squats
Hot Lap 2
Tabata Set 3: S/S Lawnmowers
Hot Lap 3
Tabata Set 4: Bicep Curls / Overhead Tricep Press
Hot Lap 4
Tabata Set 5: Banded Monster Walks / Other Weighted Work
Hot Lap 5
Tabata Set 6: 4 Minutes of Mary
Hot Laps 6, 7
Spreadsheets from the Gloom:
_ OK, I’ve noticed something about RVA in my year here that I need to get off my chest. And no, it’s not my shirt …
There’s a real cult of male topless running in this town.
It’s not like this was unheard of in CLT. My good friend Six Mike had a rule that if it was 70 degrees at the start of a run, a shirt was optional. But in these parts, shirtless seems to be less a way to beat the heat than just a way of life for many running dudes.
What I was not prepared for was to show up at the 49-degree St. Christopher’s track (with all of us in long sleeves) and witness a pasty white torso circling the track as we did our Tabata sets.
SYITG, indeed!
It put me in mind of the sign on the side of the Sunflower Public House in Belfast that gave me a laugh during my recent visit:
_ With Blank Space in attendance, there was a lot of talk about the new Taylor Swift album and “Wood,” the song about Travis Kelce’s Swinging Richard. Reminder that Blank Space will mark his retirement from performing with his former band, Taylor’s Version VA, by sitting in for one song of their Dec. 13th (TSWift’s birthday, you know) show at the Broadberry. I’m OOT, but Faceplant (who listened to the entire New Heights podcast on which Taylor announced the new album) has promised to represent F3 at the show.
_ We also learned that the only thing standing between Faceplant and a career in the Marines was his inability to do the required pullups on the PFT, but apparently if you’re a middle-aged dude you don’t need to worry about pullups — just be able to hang from a pullup bar for two minutes … (?) That and do lots of squats, according to some fitness guru who has 100 followers (one of them Faceplant) on his YouTube channel. And maybe run your laps at the track with no shirt.
_ The Bridge is Saturday. You should go — four hours out of your life to nail all three Fs. I’ll be there. Ping Upchuck for details.
OBT