Tag: Sunday Funday

Weather was 70 and time of day was Sunrise

Four Pax “braved the weather” for Lab Rat’s virgin Q, kicking off what has turned out to be Virgin Q week here in RVA, We were greeted to a stunning sunrise while heading across the nickle bridge. With Offshore in the lead, we headed down Buttermilk Trail and picked up Forest Hill Loop, then back home the way we came. This gave us a total of a shade over 7.1 miles total.

Nobody was in much of a rush this morning, and even the speedy Offshore seemed content to keep the pace at a comfortable level. TYA tried to do a little complaining to break YHC in to life as a Q, but it was half-hearted at best. Overall, it was just a great day for a run, and spirits were high.

Although some of the rocks and roots were sneaky slick, everybody managed to keep the blood on the inside this morning. Circle K battled thru a bum wheel, and YHC hopes that it won’t effect his Q in the morning. Wild horses couldnt keep me away from that workout.

Coffeeteria afterwards, where TYA and YHC were introduced to come Circle K wisdom: That stuff that goes on top of green bean casserole is called “french fries.” Thanks for the coffee and the laughs, Circle K.

AYE!

THE Lab Rat

1 PAX posted for the Sunday morning trail run on the Buttermilk.  Wondered what was going on for a while….standing out in the cold all by my lonesome (cue Roy Orbison), and then was reminded by a fellow trail runner that passed me 1 mile in that the Bear Creek 10 miler was the same morning.  Figures that the first Sunday trail run I’ve done since July is the one where no one else posts.  No worries……it was a glorious morning for a run along the river.  The sun was burning the fog off the water, and geese and ducks were out in abundance. Mornings like this are why I run….the beauty of God’s creation compels me to thank Him for the privilege of enjoying it.  Ran east along the north bank, across Belle Isle, and back along the south bank to the nickel bridge crossing.  Total time 1:09, distance 6.45 miles.

Fudd

7 faithful posted for a sunday morning run. Weather 70 degrees and sunny.

The Thang:

Northbank to Belle Isle to Buttermilk. Optional jaunt through forest hill park.

Naked Moleskin:

Five of the faithful took the 7 mile option skipping the forest hill park options. Saab and TYA were the only takers for forest hill. Saab and I got a little lost during our run through the park and got and extra mile done for a total of 11 miles. Both options were good runs and should have us all ready for next weeks’ Bear Creek 10 miler.

Lab Rat took a spill early on today. Little shaken up, but no blood and generally not worse for the wear. Heard on the trail today “I remember when Chum and Jville used to do trail runs”. We do miss you guys out there. Come on back for a run.

7 posted on a crisp morning for a trail run

The thang:

Northbank trail Belle Isle, take outside track at Belle Isle and cross bridge to Buttermilk. 4 of the 7 went straight on the Buttermilk and back to the parking lot. 3 of the faithful took a single lap around Forest hill park and then back to the Buttermilk and parking lot.

Naked Moleskin:

Good to have Toga and Brain Tumor back out on the trail run. Toga brought his brother in law (?) Craig to the run. They had a church commitment so they went straight through to the end with no turnbacks to catch the back of the pack (TYA). Brain Tumor and Lab Rat skipped the Forest Hill loop and headed back to the parking lot. Not sure if there was a naming ceremony for Toga’s FNG? Base route about 7.1 miles.

Saab, Offshore and TYA took the Forest Hill loop. YHC was the only one that had run the loop in a long time so I was navigating. I admitted early on that I was a little unclear about the route at the end. We made it most of the way around with no issues. Had to ask directions at the end, but we were able to easily find our way back. With Forest Hill loop, the run is a bit over 10 miles.

Two weeks til the bear creek 10 miler. Come on out next week for a post Thanksgiving day run.

3 Veterans and two trail run FNG’s posted on a crisp fall morning.

The Thang: Cross over Nickel Bridge, Buttermilk trail to Belle Isle. Take outside loop around Belle Isle and back over to the Northbank trail. Northbank trail back to parking lot. 7.1 miles done by 8:20 am, COT and out into the day.

Naked Moleskin:

Splinter and Lab Rat posted for their first trail runs with F3. Both had great runs and enjoyed the trail experience. Splinter hung around at the front of the pack with Saab, and Lab Rat spent a good majority of the day with or in front of TYA. No rain on Saturday so the leaves were a little more forgiving. When we hit the Belle Isle bridge from the south side we found the ice/frost. As we took our first several strides on the bridge I look over and Saab was sliding down the new wood. We all quickly moved onto the middle/older section which had a lot more grip. The quick change allowed us to avoid any issues. We met oyster at the start of the buttermilk. He turned around and joined us for the run back along the northbank. Oyster got his usual 20 minute headstart on the run.

Lab Rat and YHC had quite a bit of time to converse on the buttermilk side. Lab Rat is very knowledgeable on the trails and had many great suggestions for add ons and options. He has spent a good amount of time on the trails in the past. We also caught up with each other and realized that we had a bit in common. Both of us have adopted girls from China, and they both compete at the same gym. It was easy for us to figure out who the others daughter was as they are the only two Chinese girls at the gym. Small world.

Long discussion after the run about a few subjects. First was Saab’s daily trip to Martin’s to pick up “lunch meat”. Only the northerners used the alternate “cold cuts” designation for deli meat. The other discussion was about preparing live seafood for eating. TYA admitted that he was uncomfortable killing fish/shellfish and is extremely happy not having to hunt and prepare other types of food. Both TYA and Saab admitted that they would probably starve if they had lived in a time that required the hunting and preparing your own food. Saab relayed a story about a friend of his that put live crabs in the oven for cooking. Wow…

Weather is perfect for trail running. Join us if you can.

4 faithful posted for a sunday morning jog.

The thang.

Head East on the northbank trail towards downtown. Cross over to Belle Isle. Head into the trails of Belle Isle for a loop. Head back across the river to the northbank and head back to the parking lot.

Naked Moleskin

Good to hit some new terrain today. Belle Isle is full of trails and we have explored just a few. YHC has yet to find a good map of the trails, so we explore and learn as we go. Total loop today was somewhere between 7 and 7.5 miles.

YHC slowed the guys down a more than a bit on the way back. Not eating before the run is not recommended. Apparantly I had enough energy to do the first half and Belle Isle. My pace was much slower on the way back.

Honeydo took a small spill along the way. When YHC asked him if he was OK, he quickly waved me off… it was just a small fall and he wanted no attention as a result. Saab and Offshore continue to set the pace on the runs. Great to run with these guys. They always keep me motivated to try to keep pace. Thanks for he inspiration along the way.

One #toweringredwood (YHC) posted for this morning’s Trail Run. Oyster’s car was parked at pumphouse when YHC arrived at 6:50A, and YHC got very excited about having a trail running companion. However, Oyster was nowhere to be found, so YHC flew solo. #OysterFallBackwards. YHC did the normal Buttermilk/North Bank trails in the CCW direction but added the Forest Hill Park hill-fest. 10mi total. #tiredlegs.

Jville

3 + 1 posted for an early morning trail run.  Although we are starting at 7 am, it is still dark outside for the first half hour or so.  Cannot wait for the time change.

The Thang:

Cross river, take buttermilk trail to Belle Isle.  Run the middle of Belle Isle, Rock hop back to the buttermilk at the set of stairs and head back to the shovel flag.

Moleskin

Oyster posted early this morning to get a headstart.  When he arrived at the AO, he read the previous nights Twitter activity and noticed that TYA had announced that a new route was in store for the PAX.  Oyster headed out on the usual route about 20 minutes early starting out on the northbank.  We ran into Oyster at the crossover to Belle Isle.  He kept going on the Buttermilk, determined not to be caught.  After we finished the Belle Isle loop, we were in hot pursuit.  Oyster did beat us back to the parking lot, but Saab spied him taking a short cut up the set of steps towards the end of the trail.

YHC took a good spill today.  I have been running the trails for over six months now and have yet to fall.  After surviving the first 1/2 hour in the dark, I was fine on the run until 3/4 of the way back.  Shortly after the Reedy Creek parking area, I tripped going up the hill.  Went down on my left side, getting a good case of road rash on my knee and thighs.  No other damage, so brushed myself off and finished the run.  No worse for the wear.

Saab posted after a long day and a late night. He was trying to recruit pucker for the run, but Pucker was burning the midnight oil (with a few cocktails to help him along his way)

Four seems to the be the magic number for the run these days.  More company is always appreciated.

Four of the faithful posted early Sunday to run the Buttermilk/North Bank trails. The temperature was in the upper 30s. That was a bit shocking to me at first. But, I quickly warmed up and enjoyed the perfect running temperature. As an extra bonus, the temperature was just cold enough to keep the pesky mountain bikers and dog-walkers away.

We ran the trails in the clockwise direction for the first time in a few months. Offshore enjoyed the lead most of the time and finished very strong.

We started off in the dark. Several of us had headlamps. To avoid twisted ankles (or worse), I strongly suggest that everyone bring headlamps to the Sunday trail run, at least until the time changes back to EST.

There is talk of getting a group together for the Bear Creek 10 miler on Dec. 6.

There is also talk of getting a group together for the Willis River 35k mid-January.

Annoucements:
Humpday Happy Hour Splinters House Oct 21st
GORUCK Oct 24th
Great Pumpkin Run Oct 31st

4 Motivated runners appeared just after sunrise on a beautiful Sunday morning in RVA.

The Thang.

Back to the trails.  Cross the bridge, onto buttermilk trail, cross over at Belle Isle and take outside loop to Northbank Trail and back to the cars.  7 miles traveled.

Moleskin

Pucker was a V-Sunday Run participant.  Having done the trails before, he had no problems navigating the 7 miles.  He was fighting a sinus infection and littered the trail with snot-rockets through out the run.  Trail behind Pucker was a bit slippery.

Saab and Offshore led the pax followed by Pucker and YHC.  Although I was a bit slower than the rest of the PAX, the group stayed pretty tightly grouped.

Saab has a good new route mapped out for us for the next trail run.

See you in the gloom.