Tag: Spider Run

University of Richmond

  • Up Iris…But Avoid Swirly’s Hole

    13 runners managed to conquer the uphill exit from Spider Run, via Fairway, Robin and Iris, and it appears that all managed to also avoid Swirly’s Hole.

    This was the first time, since Swirly found said hole on a RAMM run, that YHC has been on Iris.  It may not be Hillcrest or Twin Team, but that exit from Spider Run up to Three Chopt via Iris packs a punch, especially right out of the gate.  Nevertheless, the PAX crushed it and crushed the miles that followed today.  Great job everyone.

    Remainder of the route:

    • 4-milers: cross Three Chopt, immediate right on Henri (or the Bridgets parking lot) up to Grove, left on Grove to Libbie, Left on Libbie to Patterson, Left on Patterson to St. Christophers, Left on St. Christophers back to Three Chopt, but take a Right on the little access road that crosses Three Chopt and becomes Towana.  Towana to College, left at the campus entrance and immediate right onto Richmond Way, downhill past the Law School and football stadium and back to the Flag.
    • 5-milers: same as the 4 milers but stay on Grove until Oak.  Left on Oak to Patterson and back.
    • 6-milers: stay on Grove to Westmoreland, Left on Westmoreland to Patterson, Left on Patterson back to St. Christophers.  Instead of returning to the flag via Towana and College, stay straight across Three Chopt and return via Tapoan and Fairway.

    COT, COR, NOR and YHC took us out.

    Announcements:

    • SOT has a new AO – Midlothian Middle School – starting tomorrow.
    • Memorial Day Convergence – 0700 at Tredegar/Browns’ Island parking lot.  One hour, Hot Potato so post and bring an idea…in case Swirly actually passes the Q this time.
    • Ghost Flag will be up for grabs tomorrow at WDog.  Shakedown has the Q and is celebrating his 1-year F3 Anniversary.  Should be good times.
    • By the sounds of it, there is an epic little league battle brewing at Richmond Little League for this afternoon…all situational strategies should be sent to BT and Marv today for use tonight.

    NMS:

    • Bleeder got a head start, TYA got a late start, all returned unscathed…sweaty as hell, but unscathed.
    • Swiper fought with ideas of 6 miles but ultimately compromised by slaying the 5-mile route with a little navigational help from YHC — good thing you stayed vaguely within shouting distance.
    • Saab started on fire and finished on fire.
    • Grunt returned to F3 from a hiatus for that little inconvenience called college, and crushed five miles with his pops.  Great seeing you guys finish strong together.

    A pleasure running with you men this morning.  Have a great day!

    No More Gumbo for You!

  • Up Hill. Both Ways.

    Honey suckle sweetens the air.  Headlights were barely in use.  Lockjaw had a new route that went like this.

     

    6s added a loop of the lake at the end.  4s turned around at the fork in the road.

    Offshore took us out.

    Announcements:

    • Marv is dancing for money on Friday night as part of a fund raiser.  There is a set donation amount, but bring folded singles as well.  See Marv for details.
    • Shakedown hit 84% of his goal.  Let’s see if we can get him to 100%.  Does that include shaving the beard?
    • HDHH tomorrow.  See Gumbo’s post.
    • Golf tournament this Friday.
    • Puppy Pile on Saturday – 7:05.  Bring those 2.0s.  No sleeping in!
    • Memorial Day Convergence – 7:00 Brown’s Island

    NMS:

    Nothing like a spring morning after a storm to really clear things up.  YHC really liked this new route and thinks its a keeper.  Anybody want to post a suggested route name in the comments?

    ABT,

    Lockjaw

  • Like a Squirrel In The Road

    A Lucky 13 came out for full light late Spring run.  We took the batcave entrance and crossed the bridge to pick up Riverside Dr.  Heading east/downstream, we turned around at the appropriate spots and returned to the SF.

    Upchuck took us out.

    NMS

    It was great running with Upchuck on a Tuesday.  Great conversation as always bro.  Upchuck even provided alert as a high speed car came around the corner near the batcave bearing down on TYA and YHC.  Hence the backblast title.

    Announcements:

    • Puppy Pile (2.0 friendly workout) – 5/19 at Dogwood Dell
    • HDHH – Next week – Practice some golf and then a beverage.  See Gumbo for details.
    • 5/18 – Wilson’s golf tounament
    • Shakedown’s raising funds for childhood cancer.  Sounds like he is around 60% of his goal if I heard him correctly.  Let’s get him the rest of the way.

    Time to Taper,

    Lockjaw

  • Tour of UR with a little catch me if you can…

    10 strong posted on this beautiful first day of May 2018 to get a tour of the UR campus and surrounding neighborhood and log some miles.  The routes were as follows:

    4-mile loop took us up gateway past the b-school, left on campus, left on boatright, right on university, left on pinetree, left on Westham pkwy, cross river road onto country squire lane, left on s. ridge and around on westham station through the river road shopping center and back to the flag via the UR drive entrance off river road.

    http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/2026945312

    5 milers and 6 milers started with a 1-mile loop up by the baseball field and around the lake.

    6 milers (Saab and Sippy) added a second 1-mile loop at the end.

    http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/2026948438

    COT, Number-rama, Name-a-rama and YHC took us out.

    NMS:

    Perfect morning for a run and strong effort by everyone, especially Saab for setting the pace today.  He was shot out of a cannon from the work GO and never looked back.  Try though he might, Sippy couldn’t track him down.

    A few deceptive uphill stretches (a least more than YHC expected), especially climbing Pinetree to Westham Pkwy.  Great to run with Shakedown and have him push my pace today.

    Announcements:

    • HDHH – May 16 at Independence Golf Club.  Nothing formal but plan to meet between 5:30 and 6:30 to hit some balls on the range if you want.  Followed, by some food and drink there at Tavern 19.  Come out for some fellowship and iron out the kinks before Wilson’s golf tourney on May 18.
    • Wilson’s golf tourney May 18 – www.forethecause.org.  Find a team or create a team.  Come out and support the cause.
    • Congrats to Hot Rack on his retirement from the army after 28+ years (I think is what I heard from TwoCan).  MUCH RESPECT and thank you for your service!  Hope you enjoy retirement and hope to see you back out at F3 soon.

    As I said when I took us out, it is such a blessing to be able to show up to different AOs and catch up with different groups of guys anytime but always knowing that a few things remain constant – positive energy, motivation and enthusiasm for the day and for facing our challenges head on.  It is uplifting and inspiring, and I am grateful for it every single time I post.  Thank you!  Keep up the great work men!

    No More Gumbo For You!

  • The Naturalist

    What?  No rain?

    What was supposed to a certain downpour held off for this illustrious group of ten to get a few miles in.  Only takers were for 5 and 6 miles.

    The Routes:

    Up the main entrance to taking Gateway/Campus/Towana to Three Chopt and the Henri access road.  5s turn on St Christopher’s and 6s go to Grove and a left on Granite with both coming out on Patterson.

    West on Patterson to Westham Pkwy and take a left and then another left on University Dr.  Through the woods and around the lake.

    NMS:

    It was great running with Taxi Cab today and glad to see him resist the urge to taper post CSAUP.  EF Hutton reeled us in midway through the run with a cadence that sounded like Dutch’s (Yes, YHC can recognize the cadence of those who typically pass me.)  Swiper was looking strong despite getting over the flu.

    All runners resisted the urge to perform Tron squats in Fudd’s front yard.  However, TYA spotted Wedding Singer in or near the creek.  Bird watching?  Looking for tadpoles and crawfish?  Taking in the sights?  Or perhaps a time of reflection.  One may never know, it is earth day after all.

    As advertised, the 6 mile route was 0.08 short while the 5 route was spot on.  I will make sure the disappointed 6s get a little more on Friday.

    Announcements:

    • Swirly offers a service to turn white shirts into a fashionable grey color which involves putting them through a boot camp.  (Yep, it was a slow day for the mumble chatter.)

    Time to Taper,

    Lockjaw

     

  • Its not about Desiree

    10 stalwarts posted on a perfect Tuesday morning in RVA.

    Route for the day was “Mount Henrico”.  4 milers head towards mount Henrico and do one lap around Arlington Circle.  Five milers skip Arlington and head to the top,  Six milers hit Arlington circle on the way to and the way from Mount Henrico.

    NMM

    Mileages were a little bit off today…YHC hates that.  I knew that the five miler was a bit more than five miles and I clocked it in at 5.3.  Bleeder reports that the four mile route was about 3.7 and Splinter and Saab clocked the six miler in at 5.7.   I will have to take a look at the options for adding a bit to the 4 and six mile routes for the next time we do that route.

    During yesterdays Boston marathon, a wonderful thing happened along the way in the women’s elite race.  One of the favorites, Shalene Flanagan (from Boston BTW), let one of the other runners know that she had to take a pit stop to the porta johns.  The other runner slowed her pace to wait for Shalene to make it easier for Shalene to catch up to the lead pack.  They caught up pretty quickly (Shalene has some super porta john skills and was in the blue monster for just under 20 seconds) and continued on in the race.  The women who helped Shalene was Desiree Linden, the eventual winner of the women’s race.  What a great example of being a good sport and selflessly helping another human being.  I just hope that we can exhibit this type of behavior more often. As Inky Johnson says “Its not about you”

    TYA OUT

     

  • The Night We Saw Them All

    A PAX eclipsing 40 ditched all common sense for about 18 hours to receive a plentiful helping of each of the three Fs.  This was the F3RVA Century Classic.

    YHC has conversed with a number of individual PAX members about their experience, taking notes during the event and thinking about how to transcribe all of these memories into a backblast.  There is no way YHC could do the stories justice by attempting to capture them for the collective PAX.  Then, after chatting with Lockjaw and the (sober) Ronnie, it became clear.  Treat the backblast as a living backblast.  YHC will make no attempt to capture the essence of this workout, only setting the stage for each and every PAX member to capture it for himself.

    My memories are collected below.  I encourage everyone to add to this list by commenting with your favorite memory.

    Leg 1:  Trying to contain my energy for the CSAUP while stuck in traffic for opening night of the squirrels game
    Leg 2:  Praying for Saab on Meadowbridge and Atlee Rd.  Kudos to all that ran that leg, a true game of frogger
    Leg 3:  All the Mechanicsville PAX member who were not running, companion running with the actual runners.  Kudos!
    Leg 4:  The Creek parking lot is great for fellowship.  This truly felt like a tailgate parking lot.  The energy, games and conversation were all electric.
    Leg 5:  The headlamp on my run reflecting all the pollen flying through the air with me initially thinking it was raining.  30 minutes later realizing all that pollen was being sucked into my lungs at an incredible rate.
    Leg 6:  Hearing of TYA and Swirly questioning if YHC actually marked his legs of the course and me telling them where they can shove it.
    Leg 7:  Realizing how peaceful and quiet the city can be when when you are in it and surrounded by trees.  The new moon highlighted the stars and all their brilliance.
    Leg 8:  Showing up to Hoedown and having Ronnie greet us after his enjoyable evening.
    Leg 9:  Marv almost taking out another animal with his running shoes.
    Leg 10:  Thinking about how comfortable it is to try to sleep on the top of a picnic table.
    Leg 11:  Watching the back and forth between Saab complaining about not being able to sleep and Upchuck for waking him up.
    Leg 12:  Waving to the UR security guard while sitting in a white van with 4 men laying on the ground.  He waved and continued by.
    Leg 13:  Marv learning that Fudd was going to show up only for leg 18 and would still get a tshirt.
    Leg 14:  Seeing Lockjaw drive 20 in a 45 on Charter Colony so he could stay between the lines.
    Leg 15:  Reminding Marv that Fudd was still sleeping.
    Leg 16:  Hearing of a certain individual’s multiple escapades to the bathroom at a singular Wawa.
    Leg 17:  Making the van take a 3 mile detour to Wawa so YHC could get a breakfast hoagie, thus missing the final hand-off.
    Leg 18:  Pulling into Dogpile, realizing it was almost over and thinking the whole experience was too fast.

    This humble correspondent would like to thank everyone involved with making this event successful, especially those listed in the QIC list.  Without it, this would have been a completely stupid and utterly failure of an event.

    Splinter out.

  • Keep It Simple……..

    16 Road Warriors posted to YHC inaugural Q for Spider Run and keeping with the time honored tradition YHC was calling Patterson but meaning Grove and calling Grove but meaning Patterson….go figure. Within 2 minutes before 0530, the route was explained:

    Up the Hill….Gateway to Campus across Three Chopt Rd, L on St Christophers, R on Patterson..

    4 milers-R on Libbie, R on Grove Ave, R on Henri and back down to UR.

    5 milers-R on Harlan, bare L on Oak St., R on Grove, R on Henri and back down to UR.

    6 milers-R on Bunting, R on Grove, R on Henri and back down to UR.

    Number-ama, Name-r-ama, Announcements–CSAUP. TYA states Splinter has routes for Richmond Proper so please consult TYA with questions.

    YHC took us out!

    Naked Mole Skin: Saab looked around for YHC at 0526 than said, “there you are. Where we going?” And in true fashion, run where I mean, not where I say but that is difficult. So after stating the correct roads, off we went! Marv quickly caught Saab and Splinter with Sippy Cub right next too. YHC thought about 6 miles today…

    Shakedown thanks for pushing YHC! BT, Swirly, Shakedown, 2nd F during 1st F is always awesome! Great to see Bleeder posting this am. Solid!

    16 men at Spider Run is outstanding. Sorry YHC scuttle fudged COT…..with little blonde hair left, YHC had a blonde moment!

    Splinter-kudos and thanks for all your hard work to CSAUP. ALL of IT! Much respect!!

    Thoughts and prayer go out to BT’s family and Labrat and all others who might need them!! Gentlemen, we are blessed and this morning we opened our mind, hearts, and spirit with Spider Run. Thank you for following!

    Only those who post understand!!

    Loud and Proud!

    Flatline

  • Countryside Lollipop

    Eleven intrepid runners tried something new today, heading west into uncharted territory.  Pretty straightforward instructions today:

    The Route
    Head west around the lake, through the trail and up University.  Cross Forest, quick jog to the right on Ralston and continue on University.  When University takes a hard right don’t turn, instead go straight into someone’s driveway, continuing along the path and through the park to get dumped out on Roslyn Hills.  Right on Roslyn Hills.  4 milers go to the top of the hill and return the way you came.  5 milers take a left on September, which turns into Countryside, left on Ruggles, Left on Roslyn Hills then right into the park and back home.  6 milers did some mother goosing to make sure instructions were clear.

    Circle up to listen to the geese, ducks and seals where YHC took us out.

    Moleskin
    The PAX was excited to try something new today, and YHC was happy to oblige.  There were many raised eyebrows and questions when the instructions came to “continue down someone’s driveway”.  For those in the know, it’s a common cut through to the park.

    There were also many suppositions regarding the street name Ruggles.  After some Internet research, YHC determined the joke was really around The Rutles, which was a Beatles parody band.  Still never heard of them.

    Always fun catching up with Saab on a run.  Great work everyone, will bring this one back out when our natural light illuminates the path a little more.  Lab Rat managed to not get lost, which makes for a successful rote.

    Post COT chatter centered around appropriate and questionable usage of activated charcoal, frequency of Chipotle visits, and Lab Rat congratulating EF Hutton (virtually) on his championship in the F3 bracket.

    Enjoy the day.  Splinter out.

  • No Parking in the Blue Zone

    14 Roadrunners assembled for this week’s edition of the Spider Run. We did the reverse Kanawha routes in 4, 5, and 6 mile increments.

    Gumbo took us out.

    Today may have been a record turn out.  As YHC approach the AO, all the usual spots were filled and I had to double back to a different lot.  Still plenty of parking for those interested in joining us for a Spider Run, so do not be deterred.

    It was great to see Gumbo out for his first Spider Run as well as Swirly’s return to Tuesday runs.  This may have been Wheelbarrow’s first SR too.

    The 5s ran as a pack for almost the entire route.  Great camaraderie along the run.

    CSAUP is two weeks from Friday, so nurse those injuries, ponder your tapering plans, and familiarize yourself with your routes.

    ABT,

    Lockjaw