Tag: Spider Run

A dozen strong and fleet posted on a Tuesday morning at U of R.  Mid 70’s , medium humidity…not terrible for an August morning in Richmond.

The Thang:

Run past the commons, take a left and follow the road to the main UR entrance.  Take a right onto Boatwright, right onto Three Chopt access road,  left on Grove.  4 milers turn around at Rosslyn Rd.  5 milers take a right on Oak and run to intersection of Oak and Cary (Street Road) and turn around, 6 milers continue on to Hillcrest, run the Hillcrest loop and then everyone reconvene at the lake.

NMM:

Ok, no real reason for this rant, but what the hell.  What is it with Richmond and its naming of Roads.  The actual name of the roads are fine.  Cary, Broad, Hull, all acceptable names for roads.  But the Richmonders could not just leave well enough alone. For some unknown reason, they could not settle on whether it was a street, road, boulevard, lane, avenue, or whatever.  So, they picked two and called them Street Roads.  WTF is a “street road”.  You only get to choose one.  No cheating and picking two, it makes no sense  What are we going to have next, a “lane boulevard road”.  Honestly, there is absolutely no justification for this.  It was probably started by the same people who name their daughter with the same name as the mother or the people that give their children two first name ala Mary Dutton.  Mary and Dutton are two separate names.  You can’t just add them together and make one name out of it. Lets get back to reality folks.

Renaldo joined us for the Tuesday run for the first time.  Renaldo is joining us of the BRR and it was good to have him out there today.  He had a little bit of a problem finding the starting point (he was probably on boatwright ave road instead of boatwright road).  Lug walked him into the lake area and although he was a few minutes late, the regulars waited for him to start.

Theta joined us for the beginning of the run and was absent at the end.  When she was less than a mile from her house, she decided to continue on and go home.   Honeydo took the opposite approach and ran to and from the AO this morning.

TYA OUT

Ten Spider Run regulars convened to take a slice out of the humidity this morning.  No one signed up so YHC tossed out a half-baked route he had been thinking about for a while.  Results were mostly inconsistent with design.  Route was intended to be:

General idea was to use Westham Pkwy as the artery and the other roads as the capillaries, always returning to Westham if you take an offshoot.  Specific instructions were:

Work our way to Lakewood.  Six milers do an extra loop, everyone else run up Lakewood to Westham.  Everyone goes left on Westham.  5 & 6 milers take a right on Lakewood to Forest and return to right on Westham.  Left on University down to College.  Return to Westham.  5 & 6 milers cross Westham, taking University to Ridge.  Return to right on Westham.  Left on Pinetree to University and return.  5 & 6 cross Westham on Pinetree to Ridge.  Return to right on Westham.  Left on Glen Pkwy to the bottom and return to Westham.  Left on Westham and left on Club Vista.  Left on College and right meandering through Westhampton back to the VSF.

I now acknowledge that this was a little too complex.  Hey, I had 5 minutes to prepare.

Nothing went right.  Some of the 5 milers stuck with the route, some didn’t.  4 Milers did their own thing and then one was lost.  The 6 milers and a few of the 5 milers picked up 2 dogs along the way.  Swiper being the swiper he is attempted to corral the dogs in a white picket fence while Marv contacted the owner of the dogs.  Neither of those were successful.  Off we went to attempt to return the dogs to their home.  We made it back to the point where the dogs led the way and they found their owner.

Post run, Marv received a text informing us that there were 3 dogs.  Sorry dude, we did more then was customary in this situation.  Kudos to Swiper for being the Samaritan.

Apologies to all for the scattered route and logistics.  In the end, all 10 returned so YHCs job was done.

Splinter out.

Ten strong mosey into the rainy gloom.

The Thang

Leaving the lake the 4 milers cross the Huguenot Bridge make the cloverleaf and return.  5 milers extend to Rockfalls Drive and return, 6 milers extend to the Damn and return.

Moleskin

YHC decided to follow the KISS method when planning the route this morning.  No one got lost and the PAX all returned safely without any concern.  I will call that a victory!   The PAX, as always, was quite impressive both collectively and individually. Running to the gloom, putting in extra mileage, #SOJTakeover leader flying by with a mile to go, Corporate motivation, learning where the real entrance to U of R is located, new construction timelines, practicing yoga by the lake, and of course shipping beer to your vacation destination.  The priorities of BRR prep are evident.     Well done fellas!

A perfect 10 showed today for a nice run in the neighborhood.  The humidity was relatively low today.

All routes departed towards the Commons and up the big hill to the main entrance.  Taking a right on Towana and a right on Henri to Grove.  Left on Grove.

4s take a left on Maple to Patterson.  5s take a left on Granite to Patterson, and 6s take a left on Bunting to Patterson.  All routes take Patterson West to Honaker.  Take a left and cut across Three Chopt to take Boatwright down the hill, past the Robins Center, across the parking lot to the late.  5s take a lap around the lake.

Swiper took us out.

NMS:

YHC enjoyed a return to the Spider Run.  The Pax enjoyed getting the hills out of the way up front with a nice and fast downhill at the end.  Everyone made it back though Wedding Singer took a detour and headed out in the direction of Short Pump.  Fortunately, he made his way back to the SF.

Good discussion after the run catching up on the latest Pax news, anticipation of the BRR, GNR concerts, and thoughts going out to Saab’s speedy recovery.  Other Pax were spotted with another running group.  Corporate took notice.

It’s crazy how much time flies, doesn’t it?  For a decent stretch in the winter, the Mt. Henrico Spider Run was a relative mainstay.  Introduced by Splinter in the fall of 2016, the run begins at the bottom of The UofR and extends to what is known as the highest elevated point in Henrico County…right there on the corner of Parham and Julian Rd.  During the winter months, you could count on Mt. Henrico showing up once every four weeks or so.

Until it didn’t.

For whatever reason, ol Mt. H got on the bad side of the Spider Run PAX.  Fudd Run?  Still popular.  Grandma’s Over the River Run?  Mainstay.  Even Saab’s Finger Runs near CCV have received a pretty consistent call.  But Mt. Henrico, for whatever reason, lay dormant since, well, since anyone can remember.

Until Today.

Fourteen men, dodged the alligators and the manatees in what has officially become “Swamp Richmond” as they bounded around the near west end as we revisited the Mt. Henrico Run.

The Thang
Take Richmond Way to the Robins Center Parking Lot
Realize it’s been three years since the VCU Rams have lost in that building
Head West through the Robins Center Parking Lot, down to College Road
Left on College Road
Right on Lakewood
Right on Wood
Left on Baldwin
Left on Rock Creek by the big church
Left on Forest
Right on University
6 Milers take a right on Arlington Circle and rejoin University
Right on the name of the Road where the Arizona Cardinals play and where the NCAA Basketball Championship was this past April (Glenside)
Right on Julian Road
Get to Parham and Backtrack.
Other than that, it is pretty much a straight shot.

The PAX got to see an update on the latest handiwork from Lally Construction at the prodigious 705 Baldwin Road. Needless to say, at 5:40 and 6:08 no one had shown up to 705 Baldwin yet to work. We’ll all keep that in mind around Thanksgiving. All joking aside, Baldwin is starting to take shape as the framing is in full force.

Think about inspirational views that you’ve had during your life. Maybe you’ve seen the Grand Canyon, or sunrise at the Outer Banks, or the Final Four Banner at the Siegel Center.

For us today, the inspiration came from seeing Sippy Cup out there running with us on a Tuesday. Can you believe its almost been 3 1/2 months of rehab for one of F3RVAs most elite runners? Tip of the cap to the patience of one Cup, Sippy as he has slowly but surely worked his way back.

Also good to see Pele and Theta out and about this morning. Not 100% sure the route that Pele, Swiper, Sippy and LugNut took on the way back from the Henrico Peak but all is well that ends well…even if the ending is at 6:25 in the morning.

Happy New Shoe day to Swirly. Jeff Bezos appreciates your business. (Fun fact…who had more revenue in 2016…Amazon or Apple?)

Finally, the PAX took a brief moment to think about Circle K’s father. Let’s all keep him in our thoughts and prayers as he handles the services this week to honor his dad.

See everyone in the gloom.

PS–It was Apple? I missed that one when I first heard it. Who would’ve thought that?

9 Runners arrived at Spider Run for a 70 and Sunny run in RVA.

The Routes

6ish Miles, Head to Westham Parkway to Westham Station, Hit Panorama up & down, run across the bridge, do the cloverleaf, and back to the bat cave with a loop around the lake option.

5ish Miles, Same as the 6 Mile with removing Panorama.

4ish Miles, Same as 5 miles, just clear the water under the bridge.

COT Best Shot took us out

Moleskin:

Arriving at the AO, YHC noticed Wedding Singer had opted not to have a repeat victory in the Home Run Derby, but instead focused on his training, with a brief intro of the route, Singer was off before the clock struck 0530 to ensure he got in his extra miles.

Toga’s smiling face ran up to the group just before the actual start time, YHC had just explained all routing options; Toga kindly, politely and graciously inquired if anyone was had signed up to Q. YHC explained the route again, and Toga commented that as long as he could see and or hear another PAX member he would be ok. When YHC arrived at the finish line, a positive and enthusiastic Toga was giving instruction on either Stretching, YOGA, or how to test the elasticity of his shorts; laying on curb with some odd pelvis infection, which he even claimed was a great exercise when coupled with Kegels.

Best Shot and Scrappy were at the AO early, Best Shot gave Scrappy(his 2.0) the instruction to run with Splinter if he wanted to put in six miles. Scrappy opted to run with Best Shot as he came to the bridge; he thought he was going to puke had he tried to stay with the lead group; no splashing was seen or heard.

Announcements:

Hump day Happy Hour at the Answer tomorrow night. Come say good bye to Toga, again…

Bleeder out

Eleven RVA and one lost Davillian pax joined up at UR for a beautiful stroll across the bridge.

The thang:

4 milers – out UR Drive and across bridge. Run to west intersection of Southampton and Riverside, return ( or just cloverleaf the off ramp as Bleeder mentioned).

5 milers – out UR Drive and across bridge, take off ramp and turn left to intersection, turn left up Southampton to Cherokee, return to UR.

6 milers – out UR Drive and across bridge, head west on Riverside Dr to Hickory and up to Cherokee, turn around at Cherokee, back to intersection of Southampton, go straight up Southampton to Cherokee, return to UR.

YHC’s first non-bootcamp style Q for VQ week. Without TYA checking on the six, YHC tends to get lost in the maze of the UR back roads. So the plan was to go where YHC drives every morning, and not get lost, hence the Singer Stroll. Southampton is a nice .4-.5 mile uphill run to Cherokee. The six milers went rogue a bit from the desired path but running is still running when you are….running.

Good to see Saab getting his legs back under him. Swirly and son picked it up a level on the return.

Need a ‘V’Q for Saturday Dogpile. Tobit’s VQ tomorrow at WDog.

-Singer

and through the woods; eight regulars, including 1 Spider Run n00b, convened for an oldie but goodie route.  No one had the Q so democracy prevailed.

The Route
BT was voted class president and guided us across the river and up the hill to Cherokee.  The Bat Cave was avoided due to recent rains, adding on a little distance to the typical 5 mile route.  6 milers added a quick excursion up Rustic Road.  Everyone turned around and headed back to the start.

Moleskin
Welcome Flatline to Spider Run.  This route is our typical recovery run as it is about as flat as it gets.  YHC is sure that Singer will have some hills in store for next week’s VQ week.

TYA is on a quest to replace a pair of shoes every month with the amount of miles he is putting in on a regular basis.  Today, he opted for a dive in the river (or at least it appeared as if he did).

Great route today gentlemen.

Announcements
7/1 – Launch of f3rva.com
7/11 – No Toll @ Huguenot Baseball Fields
Plenty of Q spots open this week and next.

Nine fearless runners plus El Duderino himself convened at the commons for what felt like a run through peanut butter.  Singer confused himself and no one else had the Q so YHC grabbed it.  Swirly and YHC were on the same page which made today’s route an easy call.

The Route
Mosey to the intersection of Westhampton and UR Drive.  Partner up for tag team.  Partners run in opposite directions toward the alumni center.  When they met they turned and came back to Westhampton / UR Drive.  Repeat, this time trying to “beat your partner to the spot”.

Mosey to the base of Gateway & Richmond Way.  Pick a new partner and repeat.  Run in opposing directions up Gateway and Richmond.  Meet somewhere near the football stadium, switch directions and return.  Repeat, trying to beat your partner to the spot.

Mosey back to the start and finish with a quick clockwise loop around the lake.

Numberrama, namearama and Marv took us out.

Moleskin
YHC thinks Singer had it right by announcing after the run, “what a beautiful day for a swim in the lake”.  Surely the humidity added 20% distance today.

YHC enjoyed watching Marv take on Grunt in the 100YD dash at the end of the run.  Unfortunately, given YHC was dragging ass, YHC was unable to accurately report on the winner of the sprint.  Grunt was smiling and certainly looked proud.  Marv likely has a different accounting.

For big data purposes, YHC would like to report we made it 0.39 miles before TYA took us to the gutter, earning the title of this backblast.

Announcements
– Taxi Cab is proud to say he can now run to a workout
– Still looking for someone to lead Saturday @ CVille

Best wishes to The Dude and his continued recovery.  Kick back, recover and have a white russian.  You’ll be better than ever before you know it.

Splinter out