Tag: Sunday Funday

3 stalwarts posted on a foggy Sunday morning.

The Thang:

Nickel Bridge to Buttermilk to Belle Isle to Northbank and back to pump house.

NMM:

Lots of mumble chatter about the Belmonte and Bear Creek today.  Both Lab Rat and Upchuck were lamenting on how they were duped into upgrading/signing up for the respective races.  YHC was trying to hammer the point home that they indeed have choice and neither of them are required to run either race or a specific distance.  I am not sure that they got the point?   Alternatively, maybe i missed the point and the point was that they just wanted to complain about it.  Time will tell.

Upchuck and Lab Rat had a good chat going for most of the run today.  YHC hung back a few yards to get a little alone time.  Every once in a while they would attempt to pull me into the conversation, but I held out and missed most of the mumble chatter.  Discussion continued at Ellwoods post run where we had some good second F.  For a detailed discussion of the benefits and weaknesses of having the best or worst equipment for a row or a bike, see any of the PAX.

A bunch of  regulars missing today.  Saab is taking a well deserved break from the gloom to recover from the 100 miler.  100 miles in a 30 hours will take a toll on your body.  Saab does not want to take time off, but his body is making its wishes known.  Better to listen to the body now and preserve it for later rather than hurt yourself more.  We miss you out here Saab, but know that it is best to mend the body first.   Second regular missing today was TSB.  If you want to avoid my shameless bragging about my daughter, please skip this paragraph.   TSB had her second cross country meet yesterday.  In her first race, she posted a 27:05 for the 5k In a short week, she shaved off over 3 minutes from her time finishing in 24:03 shattering her previous PR.  Could not have been prouder as she sprinted the last 100 yards to make sure she did not lose any positions at the end.  .

5 regulars and two sunday run new G’s (guys and gals) posted on a blustery Sunday morning in RVA.

The Thang:

Cross the nickel bridge, take the alternate path to underneath the bridge and to the access road along the river.  Follow the road to Belle isle, take two loops around Belle Isle and head back to the south side.  Follow the access road back to the VSF. Route was just shy of 7.5 miles.

NMM:

TSB and I showed up a few minutes early today to an empty parking lot.  Rain was tapering off, but the wind was picking up.  52 degrees, so a little bit chilly.   Parking lot was still empty until 7:55 when Offshore pulled in.  3 more car with 4 more people arrived, leaving us with 7 folks for the run.  Since we had heavy rain for 24+ hours, we decided go stay off the trails and the roads.

The access path along the river was a perfect venue for this mornings run.  Several different approaches to the copious amounts of puddles along the path.  YHC and JVille decided the best way to attack the puddles was a straight on, straight through approach.  No trying to avoid the puddles, just jump right in.  Others tried to navigate around the water hazards.  Not sure what the best method was, but I am pretty certain that all of our shoes were soaking wet post run.

Post workout, the parking lot was devoid of cars except ours.  Must be some kind of unwritten rule that you cannot park there in the rain (or run for that matter).  Red Baron and his M joined us for the run.  They are taking on a trail marathon next week in NC (4th or 5th time for each of them).  Best of luck on the race.  Saab was out there for his first run post Cloudsplitter.  In case you were worried, the race did not slow him down at all.  Offshore and Red Baron were barely indistinguishable from afar.  Only hint was that Offshore had a hat on while Red Baron did not.  Saab and the Richmond Rabbit (FNGAL Christine (a)) were at the lead of the pack most of the day holding a conversation that was undeterred by there pace on the road.

Just because we are post BRR does not mean you cannot run the trails on Sunday…Join us folks, it is perfect weather for the trails once the rain passes.

Two of the faithful joined a headlockee and his LOML for spin around the river trails. The weather could not have been more perfect, and the four of us kept a slow but very steady pace taking on the trails in counter-clockwise rotation. We had great conversation.

The headlockee is a 9 year veteran of seal team. I sent him plenty of info on F3 and am trying to pull him to the convergence this weekend. Hopefully the weather will not wreck that.

The headlockee and his LOML are training for a trail marathon in a few weeks, so they continued on for another loop. The LOML was the fastest runner among us by far, and circled back for us a number of times. She seemed very interested in FIA.

It is perplexing to YHC that we can get 14-15 out one week, and then only 2 the next. Oh well — more elbow room for us!

Jville

14 pax plus an FNG (Ely) showed up for what was easily the largest trail group that YHC has been a part of.  Plan was for Lab Rat to go deep, taking the distance pax up to Forest Hill Loop, and Johnsonville taking the shallow route, with an out and back to Reedy Creek parking lot.  Individual mileages will vary wildly this morning, but YHC’s watch clicked off 7.8 miles.  Saab ran a bit extra for his preparations for Cloud Splitter 100M next weekend, and probably finished up between 11 and 12 miles.  Shorter routes should have been around the 4 mile distance.

The pax was large this morning, and with the shorter leg option more spread out than the norm…this is awesome, but makes it a tough task to write a backblast, since YHC was only with a couple guys for the majority of the run.  So instead of making this an entertaining BB, YHC will just say this:  Johnsonville’s idea of having a shorter run option has shown to have legs, and hopefully will be well utilized in the future by pax members who don’t want to be out for an hour and a half on a Sunday morning.

A quick word on FNG Ely:  he had a stumble and twisted his ankle on the run, so had to cut it off early.  Hopefully it was a minor thing and he will be out to join us again soon.  The decision was made to wait until he has a good outing to drop a name on him.  TSB noted however that he has a propensity to get injured often, so some thoughts on names were:  Masochist, Bubble Boy, or RG3.

Great job to all this morning, YHC hopes that the large groups will continue.

Lab Rat out.

Trail-running PAX are anxious to get new people out on the trails on Sunday mornings.  YHC has heard from several that the mileage is too much.  That dog no longer hunts: starting Sunday, there will be 3-4 mile routes offered in addition to regular routes to allow new runners to build up stamina.

Trail runs are at your own pace, and the PAX circles back every 1-1.5 miles to get the six.  No PAX left behind!

Join the PAX on Sundays at 7am to experience: sunrises over the James River and cemeteries, trail mermaids, the Spur, the Sugar/Slingshot Tree, scratching the Nutsack Tree, and, an awesome 1st and 2nd F before you hustle home to get your 3rd F on!

Four PAX tumbled out of the fartsack, one in bike shorts (yikes!), into a foggy muggy morning for a trail run.

The THANG:  Northside to the southside.  COT.

NMM: YHC began the morning by tapping the Offshore accounts and settling his gambling debts in DK’s survivor pool after the Aints dropped their opener to the Raiders last week.

The PAX maintained a slow and steady pace and stayed together on a tough last summer morning.  Expectations were for something more like fall weather, but conditions were conducive to profuse sweating, leading some PAX to question whether they had made any gains after training all summer.  BRRers DK and TYA noted that the trails seemed so easy compared their legs last week.  Non-BRRers wondered how that could be.

TYA could not wait for colder temps to bring out the tights, and so went with bike shorts.  A young woman with a pink leopard print steering wheel pulled up asking for directions to a restroom.  TYA claimed she just wanted a closer look, but the PAX weren’t buying it, nor his additional justifications throughout the run for bike shorts.

The trail running PAX are anxious to get new runners out there, and are offering 3-4 mile routes.   Too-long routes are no longer an excuse!

Announcements: Stay tuned for info on the Tidewater area launch.  Sign up for the Bear Creek 10-miler (12/4).

Two of the faithful posted at the pumphouse for a leisurely stroll around the the main Northbank/Buttermilk loop clockwise. The pace was very gentle since YHC has been on a (too) long hiatus from running and since the speedy guys are away for the BRR. About 10 minutes into the run, Conspiracy caught us from behind. He ran with us for 5-10 minutes, chatted, and then turned around and disappeared as suddenly as he appeared. I know it was real, but as I sit here I cannot help but wonder if my mind is playing tricks on me.

Similarly, on the Buttermilk side, a radiant mermaid passed us heading in the other direction. Offshore remained cool as always. I nearly ran off the side of trail into the abyss. Perhaps she was a mythological siren rather than a mermaid. Perhaps she also was a hallucination.

It was great morning out on the trail. I am looking forward to cooler weather and to building some running stamina back up this fall and winter. Congrats to the 2 amazing BRR teams from F3Richmond! Way to represent, guys.

Offshore suggested that we start offering a shorter, slower option on Sundays to get more people out trail running. I could certainly lead that for a while since I am in rebuilding mode. What do you all think????

Safe travels back home to the BRR guys. Jville

3 semi-regulars gathered for a Sunday morning run along the banks of the James River. 1 regular was already underway.

THANG:
NorthBank to Belle Isle, cross the river and return on ButterMilk

NM:
BlueBalls set a good pace, followed closely by Fudd with YHC pulling up the rear.
Fudd saw a beaver in the canal just across from Maymont.
Saab showed up just before crossing the suspension bridge. He ran the same course in the reverse direction.
YHC appreciated BB & Fudd circling back a few times.

Great run, ready for BRR!

11 stalwarts posted for a Sunday trail run. Weather at the start was 70, high humidity.

The Thang

Southside to Northside trail (optional hills on Belle Isle)

Toga and BT posted at 630 for a pre trail run jaunt around Dogwood Dell. They are prepping for the Spartan race on the 24th, and were pumping out a mile and then dropping down for some burpees. They joined us at 7am for the trail run proper, but continued the burpees along the way.

Conspiracy and Fudd ran together today the front of the PAX so they could get to church as early as possible. YHC got a text from Fudd at 5 of seven saying he was going to be a minute or so late. When I explained to the PAX that we were going to wait for Fudd, they observed that if Fudd said he was going to be a minute late, that must mean he’s going to be about 20 minutes late. Fortunately Fudd posted before the appointed 7am start. He reported that he had stayed up last night to watch “Ray, Ray” and couldn’t get to sleep after the show because he was so pumped up. As Fudd pointed out, running with little sleep would be good practice for the BRR.

Good second F at ET’s after the run. BT and Lab Rat both reported that they were going to just stop for Coffee and head home. The magnet of the 2nd F along with too many funny stories kept both of them there for 45 minutes or so.

Saab was missed out there today. There are not many Sunday trail runs when Saab does not post. It was strange for YHC to not see Saab every 15 minutes or so checkin on the back of the PAX. Hopefully he got a good long (but flat) run in at Kiawah Island.

BRR two weeks out.

Spartan and bike ride a month out.

Reese Stronge in 3 weeks.

Ten pax showed up this morning, in what turned out to be a very lucid group.

ROUTE:  North Bank to Belle Isle to the top of Belle Isle, then over and home on Buttermilk.  Q’s gps watch came in around 7.4.  Wilson’s phone reported 12 miles and change.  Reader can decide which is closest to true.

NMS:

• With the humidity still lingering, and watching two of our regulars overheat over the last week, going long didnt seem to be prudent.  The plan was initially to stretch out 11 miles and do the full monty, which got cut back to full loop plus Belle Isle hill.  With the oppressing heat and humidity looming large on the first couple miles, the Q threw in the towel and decided the same loop from last week would be the safe bet.  YHC received no arguments, so it must have been the right call.
• TYA surprised everyone and provided YHC a welcome distraction from his unpreparedness by showing up in jeans and a golf shirt.  Turns out he was still feeling affects from Friday’s run and smartly decided running would do more harm than good at this point.  He did drop off TSB, who we have been missing while she was out nursing a sore ankle.
• Lab Rat should not Q, as he is never ready to go and always seems to have issues.  He could not get the Jerusalem Cruisers adjusted properly, and suffered for it this morning.
• Circle K took off on his own route on the bike this morning, quickly followed by Conspiracy, who was next to leave the group.  Our first planned stop of the morning brought us to Buttermilk trailhead, where we lost TSB (planned pick up by TYA) and Trophy (fighting thru a cold).  The pax also gained one member, when we invited FNGal Brooke to join us on our last leg.  She gladly accepted, and pulled Offshore and Saab along on a blistering pace for a couple miles.  She then bailed out on one of the switchbacks citing the need to be headed back to the house.
• As pax was leaving to head over to ET’s, we spotted Hardywood.  He was in his usual bright eyed and bushy tailed mood, despite being 15 miles deep into a run that went God knows how long.  That gave Saab and YHC fodder for conversation on how anybody could be that perpetually chipper…..we are envious!
• ET’s with the guys and TSB, as usual, was entertaining.

Lab Rat out.