Tag: Sunday Funday

  • Three cardinal sins – on day one?

    Six strong posted for a Sunday Morning jaunt on the trails.  The route was north bank to buttermilk  and back.

    NMM

    Sticky morning today, was drenched with sweat five minutes into the run.  YHC opted for the bike shorts and no shirt to start out.  I know that it is not a good look, and I would much rather cover up my 55 year old body…but, the weather dictates the outfit.  The rest of the PAX started with shirts on, but finished the day shirtless.

    Saab’s M has been hitting the trails for the past several months.  He finally convinced her to give it a go with us.  After throwing up upon seeing my outfit, she did well.   She has run the full monty of the trail several times now and is improving every time.  She got the name tourist as she spends a good amount of her time noticing everything along the way.

    Tourist broke three cardinal rules today.  YHC didn’t call her out on it as it was her first time, but can’t resist here.  First, she took a short cut.  We never, ever take short cuts.  Walking is fine, declaring a different route at the beginning is fine, taking shortcuts is never fine.  Second, she didn’t declare her shortcut, so the PAX was temporarily unaware of where she was.  Saab did a long back run until he realized what she had done.  Always tell someone if you are going to divert to a different path.  We leave no-one behind, but finding you is difficult if we don’t know where you are.  The third rule is while you are on the trail, you are to take in the ambience of the trail, see the scenery, and let go of the outside world.  About 2 miles from the finish she got a text and actually stopped and answered the text.  A reminder to everyone here, she is Saab’s spouse.  WHAT THE HECK, he gives me crap for listening to my iPhone on a 100 miler to distract myself.  A 7 mile run and your answering text’s?

    Ok, having said all that it was a pleasure to have her out there with us today.  The trail run is open to any and all comers or any skill or ability.  Come one, come all….it is a blast (and we will teach you the rules along the way).

    TYA OUT

     

  • F3 RVA Summer Tour – Starts Saturday, May 26

    F3 RVA Summer Tour – Starts Saturday, May 26

    https://youtu.be/Xf3mRZ7SHu0

    According to Phineas and Ferb, there are 104 days of summer.  What a better way to spend the summer than challenging yourself to visit all 24 F3 RVA AOs.  Although procrastinators can wait as late as August 6 to start, it would be best to spread this challenge out over the entire summer.  Once you complete the tour, you will have done the following:

    • 14 bootcamps
    • 7 runs including a trail run and evening run
    • 2 Kettle Bell workouts
    • 1 bike ride

    Don’t let not having a kettle bell or bike prevent you from participating in this challenge.  Borrow them if necessary.

    The challenge starts starts on Saturday, May 26 and ends on Labor Day.

    To sign up, click here.  

    To print the F3 RVA Summer Tour flyer, click here.

    See you all this summer!

    Phonics

  • We Must Build Dikes of Courage to Hold Back the Fear of Flood

    Four squeegees emerged from the Fart Sack to squeeze out a Dry Foot / Wet Foot Sunday Funday run.  The morning went something like this…

    6:40 YHC arrived at Pump House Parking Lot.

    6:41 YHC alone.

    6:42 Same.

    6:43 Same.

    …fast forward to…

    6:58 YHC still alone.

    6:59 YHC considering whether to run alone.

    6:59:22 Three cars pull up.  TYA, Vinny, and a player to be named later (YHC would say “No Idea who the other guy was,” but No Idea is a real guy.  YHC still does not know who the third car guy was.)

    7:00 Chatting…

    7:01 Chatting…

    7:02 Chatting…

    7:03 Start walking.  TYA ran 21 on Saturday, and he wants to walk up Pump House Hill.

    7:04 Walking / chatting…

    7:05 Walking / chatting…

    7:06 …same…

    7:07 …same…

    7:08 …same…

    …fast forward to…

    Trio makes it to top of hill by Maymont.  By now, 7:45. (This is poetic license – Suspend your disbelief).  Trio starts jogging.

    River running very high today, so the route went through Byrd Park and Randolph Neighborhoods.  TYA peeled off at Belvidere.  Vinny and YHC continued through Gambles Hill to Pottersfield Bridge to Riverside.  Reconnected with TYA and Saab in the 2000 Block of Riverside Drive.  Then, in the spirit of Brotherhood, the foursome split into 3 groups for the return trip.

    YHC and Vinny took Riverside to a detour back to Riverside to Reedy Creek.  Then, the Access Road through the James River (flooding) to the Access Road to 42nd Street Bridge to Riverside to Boulevard Bridge and back to the VSF.  About 7.5 miles.

    TYA and Saab, being wiser men, went home by other routes.

    NMS

    YHC was thrilled with the slow pace today.  After missing several Sundays, moseying seven plus was perfect.  YHC would have been happy to run all day at this pace.  Shout out to Vinny for good company and conversation.

    ETs was a blast as always.  Shout out to TYA for merely threatening to take his socks off.  Always good to catch up with Snowden.  Also, ETs crowd included EHing “Jeff with family who does F3 in Greensboro.”  He looks like he needs an F3 workout about as much as Usain Bolt does.  BOLO for him this week…

    Footnote: if you find your adult child(ren) sexting with TYA, there is a hotline you can call for help.  673-SAAB.  Trained volunteers are standing by.

  • Holy flock of wool batman!

    3 rested and ready posted on a Sunday morning for some fun on the trails.

    We went buttermilk to northbank this morning, crossing back over on the T. Pottersfield bridge.

    NMM

    Vinny is a beast.  Today was his first posting at the Sunday trail run for a 7 mile jaunt and he slayed it.  I am not sure what Vinny’s longest previous recent run was, but this was further than he has gone in a little bit.  He was rock steady the whole way, just punching in the miles, staying steady and moving forward the whole time.  I love when existing F3 guys come out to the Sunday run and punch in 7 miles when they haven’t done that in a while.  The best part is that in a months of so, they are keeping up with the PAX and have no problem with the trails.  It is impressive….Go Vinny!!

    Speaking of Vinny, he made us do 7 merkins in cadence following the run today in honor of his seven on the trails.  There was already a group of women looking at us curiously because they thought I had just got back from a swim (no kidding, they asked me), the merkins only added to us as an oddity.

    Great to run with Shakedown this morning.  He slowed his pace to accommodate both Vinny and I.  Despite the heat, the trails were a pleasure this morning.  It seems that every man in Richmond (except the 3 of us) took care of the family this morning.  This left the moms open to hit the trails.  And hit the trails they did.  There were a lot of folks on the trails and most were female.  As Vinny or Shake accurately assessed, most of the women that run on trails are in pretty good shape.

    TYA OUT

  • Train hopping hobos

    8 fleet footed men and a puppers hit the trails on this fine morning. Most of us ran 8 ish miles well paced by Pyro who made his second F3 posting this morning and in strong fashion brought a FNG – John Cassily, 51 (respect) who runs Fleet Feet on Patterson which earned him the name Foot Locker. Welcome Foot Locker (sorry ?)and we hope you come back.

    Lab Rat was already out this morning and was disc golfing by the time the PAX made it back to the parking lot

    Pyro suggested th start a little different this morning so we headed through Pump House Park and we’re hoping to cross the tracks but there was a coal train (headed east from hauling away mulenberg county) and we’re forced to run the tracks a bit. Sally didn’t like the trestle we had to cross one bit. Sally’s pretty smart. Offshore was lagging behind and took a wrong turn once back on the trails but as he encountered fresh spider webs he realized he was going the wrong way, we scooped him up a few minutes later and we’re off down the trails.

    If you’ve never been to Foushees Mill near TX Beach you should go check it out. Looks like a good place to take the 2.0s

    Pyro is a professional race pacer and he read us well. Paced us around 10:42 and we stuck together (pushing it) almost the whole way. Well done men.

    Great having Gumbo out this morning. TYA was notably absent – out of character, hope all is well. I’m sure it is. Saab’s been absent all week, special assignment I hear. I’m sure these guys will be back soon.

    Numberama, namerama, YHC took us out. Have a fantastic Sunday gentlemen.

    Ghost Flag at Hoedown tomorrow. Let’s get that thing SOJ!!

    If you like long winded tales, ask me sometime about my short career as a hobo

  • And your name?..

    6 men of honor and a faithful canine companion hit the trails this morning, one a little earlier than the rest. Basic loop, south to north. Rosie, Saab, and Shakedown added The Lariat. 7ish miles. TYA did more.

    We pushed the pace a little this morning and it felt good. 2nd F was a hoot  thanks fellas

    Don’t forget – Off Shore needs fluids

    I included the link to St. Baldricks. I don’t really want to shave my head but I’m gonna ao whadda ya say?

  • Running on the Beach

    Three trail dogs and one actual dog converged at the trail head for a spring time run.  YHC called the route and off we went.

    The Route:

    Across the nickel bridge to buttermilk.  Cross Belle Isle via the Lost Trail and pick up North Bank.  Take Texas Beach up to the pump house and back to the parking lot.

    NMS:

    Its been a long time since YHC has been on the Sunday trail run.  As we were about to take off, Saab concluded his run early morning run.  Although TYA’s car was in the parking lot, we never crossed paths with him.  After the COT, he emerged.  Perhaps he had been hiding out in the blue convenience huts all this time or on a wicked long run.  Either way, he made the Pax list.

    The trails in Spring are a time of peace and reflection.  Complement that with two primo running buddies and its a great time.  Advice was exchanged as we discussed the finer points on possession makes law and the corollary that while good fences make good neighbors, bad neighbors make bad fences.

    It also turns out Upchuck is pretty smart.  He let me take lead through the Texas Beach jungle sweeping the trail for face level spider webs.  I picked up my quota making the coast clear for others.

    ABT,

    Lockjaw

  • 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.

  • Post CSAUP Sunday Fun

    A PAX of one assembled for some post CSAUP merriment bright and early this Sunday morning.

    PAX decided to head down the North Bank towards Tpot. Beautiful weather and not many other runners out today. Between the Monument 10k yesterday and our own CSAUP turnout was light.

    I must say especially when in close proximity to the tracks the fresh spring breeze carried with it some dank odors. I don’t mean dank as in “The Rudeboy Pita from the Dank Eats food truck is diggedy-dank!” I mean dank as in “Are these bushes competely full of dog poop?” Once clearing the sewage smell it proved to be a pleasant day for the trails if not a bit warm and humid. Warm weather is here and so is perspiration. Keep hydrated.

    PAX decided to complete the 7 mile loop returning on Buttermilk, content to progress at Bootleg speed.

    NMS: YHC had a great CSAUP experience. Many thanks to Splinter for pulling it together and TYA for organizing the Richmond Proper team and everybody who helped make it happen. Thanks to my teammates and hats off to everybody who participated, came out to support in between other activities, or thought about us as we were out in the dark leaving a trail of samples across Richmond for Offshore to come back and collect.

    I needed more miles for the week even tho I was exhausted. After getting a nap and a full 8 hours last night it felt good to get out. ET’s with one of my 2.0’s was great.

    Get some rest folks. See you soon

     

  • Last cold Sunday

    Six studly stations posted this morning for the last cold Sunday Funday of the season. 7 miles North to South across Belle Isle right side loop. Saab added FHP for 10, Bootleg turned back at the river for 6. The trails were in good condition, our pace was steady, and the conversation was top notch. Second F at ETs was sublime.

    Prayers for Lab Rats family, prayers for everyone who could use some direction with big decisions

    Life is grand