Tag: Sunday Funday

7 Studs showed up on a wet Sunday morning.

The thang:

Over the bridge to the access road near the river, to Belle Isle, lap around Belle isle, to northbank trail and back to the parking lot.

NMM

Great to have Hootie out with us from Charlotte this AM.  He is a great runner and was awesome to have out there with us this morning.  He is running on  a 6 person BRR team next week, so we will hopefully see him next week.

Although Hootie was born in Richmond, he has spent a majority of his life in NC.  That became quite apparent to YHC right from the start.  We all exchanged pleasantries, then Hootie began to describe his purpose for this trip to Richmond and ultimately the river.  After a minute of explanation, YHC turned to Circle k and asked him to translate Hootie’s answer.  Although it was in english, it was with a thick NC accent and many NC colloquialisms.  It reminded me or the show “Moonshiners” where the NC, VA and WV boys dialogue in english is subtitle in english.  (he honestly wasn’t that bad, just want to introduce him to TYA).  Later in the conversation he fought back with many barbs hurled at the Yankee.  Turn about is fair play, and I did start this battle in Richmond VA.

Bleeder took a slightly shorter (or longer) route this morning.  On the way back, he skipped the Belle Isle loop, but took the railroad track back to the pump house.  At one point I think he had to cross a creek or stream and got a bit wet in the process.  Circle K opted of the safe route an took the bike out this morning.  Great example of “active tapering” right there.

TYA OUT

6 brave souls met up this morning to get in one last big run before the BRR.  A nice break in the temps gave us the push to go a little longer than comfortable.  Here is what’s up:

Route:  Buttermilk to Forest Hill Loop.  Back to Buttermilk, eastbound along the floodwall to Mayo Bridge.  Cross the river to pipeline, home on the North Bank.  THC split the difference in other mileage trackers with 11.6 miles total.

NMS:  A couple of the pax commented to the Q that this was a high-water mark day for them on long runs.  Great job to everybody for pushing it today.  Conversations flowed throughout the pax today.  Best Shot is ramping up his running in a serious way, and is a HC for 2018 BRR.  Everybody else that ran is getting excited and nervous over their BRR legs, so naturally the conversations were BRR-centric.

We picked up a lurker on the floodwall that followed us over to Pipeline and caught up with us while we were taking a dip in the river.  He is going to be stationed at Fort Lee for a few months while taking a class….coming to us from West Point.  We invited him to join us, as he was following us trying to figure out the trails in a new town.  We could not get him to finish with us, therefore no name given as of yet.  Hopefully, he will show up at a workout soon and be an official member.  We had fun bouncing around a few names for him though…

Great job today.

Lab Rat apologizes…

Four BRR runners emerged in the gloom for a Sunday trail run.

The Thang:

Southside to T. Pottersfield bridge to northside and back to the pump house.  A little over 7 miles for the loop.

NMM:

Weather was sticky but not overwhelming the morning.  Temps in the mid to high 70’s to start and given that the days highs were only in the low 90’s things were tolerable.  Even so, most runners ended the run shirtless (Oh, the humanity).  Shakedown lost his glasses somewhere after the finish of the run.  He was explaining this to us at the second F at Ellwoods, then he reached down to his shorts and found the glass tucked in his waist band.  After he discovered them missing when he was on his way to ell woods, he returned to the pump house to see if he could find them….Glad he found them, but pretty funny.

Once a month there is a group that runs from the pump house at 8am.  For some reason, they guy who leads the run finds it necessary to brink his gas powered blower to the parking lot and blow the rocks.  It honestly does not seem to accomplish anything, but he brings it everytime.  One thing he does accomplish each time is to completely piss off Lab Rat.  For some reason, this one mans obsession becomes another mans pet peeve.  I am no Freud, but Id love to find out what happened to lab rat as a child that caused this reaction.

Nice smooth run this morning for YHC and all others.  Nothing really of note on the trails.  Looking forward to the weather turning and the humidity leaving.

TYA OUT

Well, YHC was raised in Georgia and Alabama, so perhaps that is qualification enough to closeout SOJ week.

A PAX of one posted just before 0615, cursing TYA because posting at 0615 on a Sunday is no joke.  Mosey to Texas Beach, stopping to chat with the Jazz Fest volunteer and to visit the blue box along the way, and back.  Stretch 0657 to 0702, then mosey to Buttermilk, somewhere between Reedy Creek and Belle Isle, and back.  Saab must have run through too early again, because the spiders seemed to have had time to resume their work.

A tip for future travelers: if you are sweaty and in the middle of a run, don’t put TP down on the seat of the blue box and expect to leave it all there.  No, sir, that dog don’t hunt.  Better to wipe the seat and take your chances, or… pull a Fudd.

To celebrate the end of SOJ week, YHC recommends reading The Creek BB and comments about what it means to be SOJ.  Classic.

Four solid hit the trails this morning at the new time.  Three were ready to roll and one was lollygagging about at the designated go-time, until lollygagger told us to leave.  OK, here we go. Designated route was Buttermilk to Forest Hill loop and back, but Offshore was ready to go and wanted to get in some hill repeats as well, so we ran a little extra.  All said and done, we got in 8.5 miles by Lab Rat’s watch.  ShakeDown must have a Wilson watch, because he had considerably farther.

the quick moleskin is this:

-Bleeder is lean, mean, and off vacation.  He continues to put in miles at Bleeder’s pace.  Respect.

-Offshore seems to be back and putting his plantar pains to bed.  He may still be dealing with it, but it showed no signs this morning.  He was man on fire and definitely the motivator in the trio that ran together.

-Lab Rat’s first time running with ShakeDown.  Very interesting cat with a great life story.  YHC truly enjoyed the conversation.

-2nd F with TYA, who is under the weather, and Saab who is days away from running.  Bleeder and YHC came after the run and Lab Rat got to hear Saab and Bleeder swap knee related war stories.  Also, a good rundown on what’s good (and unwatchable) on Netflix.  Apparently, Saab’s mom is NOT named Siskel or Ebert.

Lab Rat apologizes…

Three pax charged into the morning, and were blessed with a dropping humidity to make the sunny and 70 a little more tolerable.

Route:  North Bank to Belle Isle, hug the downstream side of the island, and up to Buttermilk.  Return on Buttermilk for 7 miles, and optional Forest Hill loop to make it an even 10.  1/3 of the pax took the option.

NMS:  Pucker and Offshore kept each other company in front most of the morning, while Lab Rat guarded the six.  Awesome to see these two men out here this morning!  Great run, enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Lab Rat apologizes.

4 runners posted at varied times, but all with strong legs for some Trail running action.

Lab Rat and YHC ran ButterMilk to Potterfield(LB)/Belle Isle(YHC) and back on North Bank, We came across BT and Phonics who were running shorter legs on the North Bank.

Coffee at ET was enjoyed by BT, Lab Rat and YHC. BT gave a excellent review of Hamilton and Chicago Cubs Baseball.

TYA was missed, no socks were wrung out on the patio.

Bleeder out

A questionable number of runners descended upon the trails today at differing times, with the main brunt leaving at the designated 0700.  It was hot and sticky, which will be the name of the game for the next couple of months, so we may as well embrace it.  Here is the shakedown:

Route: North bank to Canal walk and loop around the Pipeline trail (swim break).  Cross the river on T. Potter bridge and return on Buttermilk.  Official GPS (mine) clocked in at 8.5 miles.  YMMV

NMS:

-Always a pleasure to have Obama join us for trail run!  He acted as group photographer today and kept Helix and Hat Trick from taking it easy.  Speaking of Helix and Hat Trick, they were the only other takers on swim call.  What doesnt kill you makes you stronger!  We’ll have to continue it when the water gets colder.

-Aisle 5 is feeling the calling of the mountains and has upped his running game in preparation for BRR.  Hell of a job today, buddy!

-Special thanks today to Upchuck for minding the six.  Appreciate it, man!

-Great to run with EF Hutton today, even though I broke his heart.  He informed me he was finishing up Corporate Challenge today.  I asked him how was the double dip yesterday and he said “what do you mean?”  Whoops.  Good job on the streak though.  He lamented on that the rest of the run….

-We caught up to Saab limping his way back along Texas Ave. with yet another injury.  Tough break, buddy.  Get well quick.

-RUMOR has it that Bleeder ran this morning.  Soooooo……what does Big Data count, cars or faces?  YHC is being generous with the pax list today, but he thinks that some rulings need to be made on this subject.  The pax was joined by TYA and Wedding Singer who either took a shower right before we showed or actually ran today.

A group of 8 posted for a Sunday morning trail run.  Weather was sunny and 70, 0% humidity.  Perfect for a run.

The Thang;

Over the bridge to Forrest Hill, Forrest Hill loop counter clockwise, then back to the buttermilk and back on the bridge.

NMM:

Good to have Lockjaw back out there today.  He had been absent from the trail run for some time and he had a good showing on his first time back out.  Welcome to Longhorn (FNG Anna).  She is a Houston native and a non UT fan, hence the name.  She is a strong runner and had great showing for her first run.  She is a neighbor of Honeymoon, who also posted for the first time in a while.  He is starting to get ready of the BRR.  Oh, did I mention, that he is not running the BRR with the RVA PAX.  He is running with his NC PAX. I guess deep down, I cannot blame him, but the inner TYA has a little bit of resentment……maybe next year Honeymoon?

Helix is a machine.  He just keeps pumping in the miles.  I think we might need to rename him cyborg or something similar.  He is so consistent running its a pleasure to view.  Thanks to Saab and Lab Rat for running with me for a while.  YHC had a foot cramp/some plantar issues this morning.  After the first 2.5 miles the running was slow and painful.  Very frustrating.  Maybe the body needs to rest a few days.  Will play it by air.

Looking forward to the run next week.  Should be more and more BRR folks getting out there in future weeks.  74 days to game time.

Great 2nd F at Ellwoods afterwards.  Upchuck spoke about a potential new AO and outreach effort in Manchester.  YHC is fully on board and we are exploring ways to integrate this into the F3 RVA schedule.  Upchuck also loved TYA’s personal hygiene actions while at Ellwoods.  Inappropriate, maybe, did it make me more comfortable, absolutely.

TYA OUT

A Magnificent 7 posted for a gorgeous morning on the trails.  Here’s how it went down:

Run clockwise on Northbank, cross Potterfield Bridge, continue on Buttermilk and then back to the cars.

NMM:  This was truly a morning of firsts.  YHC has never been required to pull a Fudd #AAF during a workout.  Fortunately, YHC arrived with time to spare.  Unfortunately, Helix drove in during the half hearted attempt to sneak into the woods, and TYA rolled in during the exit.  What could you do but smile and wave?  TYA believed this to be creepy, but hey, everybody does it.

YHC then started down the hill with Hat-Trick right on the heals and Helix coming up fast.  It was during this time that YHC learned that Hat-Trick was Helix’s progeny, and it can safely be assumed that Helix grew up in WV with YHC #GeneBackwater and started his family while in his teens.., or he is a vampire who doesn’t age?

After teaming up with UpChuck for some time, YHC realized the M was teaching Sunday School, and there was no time to delay.  This brought about the next First as this was the first time during a Q that people were left behind.  TYA may still be running or is feeding crows.  Someone let me know!

Lastly, this was Fathers Day, and it was YHC’s first without his.  The well thought out prayer planned for the COT never happened, but YHC’s dad liked long speeches even less than YHC.  With that in mind, we’ll leave it to this quote:

“And I think about him, now and then
Every time I try and every time I win” – Johnny Cash

Thanks to all the fathers out there who teach through the examples of hard work and never quitting.

Stay Classy,

Toga