Tag: The FORGE

13 seekers heeded the call. Playlist, check. Sunrise, check. Cool summer breeze and a guided meditation, also check.

Warmarama on the hill, Bernie up and do some reps (downhill facing mirkins, downhill facing LBCs, downhill facing plank jacks), mosey down then Bernie back up to make sure we saw the colors on the horizon.

Mosey to the circle for a triple check Coachella style with some Slayyyyter blasting. Jump squats, WW2s and timer on the loop.

Around the bend for a Pigskin special, wall sits with Muhammad Alis, Balls to the Wall, donkey kicks, repeato x3 with dirty hookups on the back end. Last Call “did not sign up for this.” True, but we were born into this life and must walk the path of destiny laid out for us. Even if it involves Australian mountain climbers.

To the amphitheater for some box jumps.

Then – 15 minutes of guided meditation by Ram Dass. Cool breeze on our skin, sun in our eyes, birds in the sky, nothing but breath and breath alone.

Mosey back to the flag for COT.

It is certainly an age of distraction in the current day’s attention economy. The hardest it has ever been to focus, to listen to something real, to find the breath and find peace. The ultimate challenge. And for just a few minutes this morning we were locked in, bro code with the breath. It was a beautiful thing, thank you for being there and for just being.

0530: COP (Warm-Up) — Upper Parking Lot

5 Minutes — 10-15 Reps Each, Cadence-Led

• Side Straddle Hops (SSH) (In Cadence)
• Imperial Squat Walkers (In Cadence)
• Cherry Pickers (In Cadence)
• Donkey Hotties (In Cadence)
• World’s Greatest Stretch (Oyo)

Mosey down to the lower parking lot fence.

0535: The “Thang 1” — No-Run Fence Elevens

12 Minutes — Continuous Muscle Flip

No running, no filler space. The PAX stayed directly under or next to the lower fence rail, rolling straight from one exercise into the next to keep constant tension on the upper body.

• Exercise A: Jerkens (Feet on ground, body angled under the fence rail, pulling chest to bar).
• Exercise B: Merkins (Flipped over right next to the bar).

Mosey to the football field. I had cut, begged, borrowed, and stolen 6 ropes, but when we started pulling on them the goalposts started wobbling more than an FNG merkin. This is when SCRAM told us he couldn’t go to jail again, an interesting revelation. YHC decided to scrap the piece of this workout I spent the most time on and modify, modify, modify. One rope thrown over each goalpost.

0547: The “Thang 2” — Split-Endzone Grinder

22 Minutes — 4 Full Rotations

The 9-man PAX split into one group of 5 (North Endzone) and one group of 4 (South Endzone), utilizing one rope per goalpost.

[ GOALPOST ] 
   |
   +-- Station 1 (THE TIMER): 15 Y-Ups + 15 T-Ups
   |
   +-- Station 2: Plank Hold
   |
   +-- Station 3: Air Squats
   |
   +-- Station 4: Field Sprints (Continuous back-and-forth across the endzone/field)

The Rotation Mechanic:

• The Timer: Person 1 hits the rope for 15 Y-ups and 15 T-ups.
• The Burnout: The rest of the group continuously performs their station (Plank, Squats, or Field Sprints) until the Timer finishes his 30 total reps.
• The Shift: On the Timer’s “ROTATE!” call, everyone shifts down one station, sending the Field Sprinter onto the rope.
• The Volume: The PAX pushed through 4 full rotations, ensuring everyone got multiple heavy cycles on the ropes and plenty of cardio mileage.

0609: The “Thang 3” — Resisted Hill Sprints

6 Minutes — Light-Post Relays

Mosey back toward the upper lot. The ropes were repurposed for heavy lower-body resistance work on the incline.

• The Setup: One PAX wraps the middle of the rope around his waist. Two other PAX members grab the ends of the rope to act as human anchors, creating high-tension resistance.
• The Execution: The runner drives hard up the hill against the resistance, fighting the incline and the anchors for the distance between two light posts.
• The Swap: Once the light post is reached, the PAX quickly rotates roles so a new runner can torch their legs on the next segment.

0615: COT

Arrive at the upper lot flag. Count-a-rama, Name-a-rama, and the Circle of Trust.

The Warm-O-Rama

The morning started with a gentle promise from the Q: “Don’t worry, there won’t be much running today.” That promise aged like milk.

We immediately moseyed to summit Mount Chaplin for the warmup, featuring:

• Bear crawl to the top side
• Side Straddle Hops (SSHs)
• Don Quixotes
• Merkins (or “Perkins” for the cultured)
• Ukrainian Soldiers
• WWIIs / Hillbillies

The Thang

Part 1: The Mounds & The Crevasse

• Bear crawl to the second mound $\rightarrow$ 10 Ab Exercises
• “Ohio Alternative Movement” to the third mound $\rightarrow$ 10 Ab Exercises 
• Mosey over to the Giant Crevasse for some high-intensity Conveyor Belt Skipping

Part 2: The Main Events (The Windows)

1. The Flagpole Triple Check: One partner takes off for a long run to the flagpole and back, while remaining partners cycle through Dips and Step-ups.
2. The Echo Chamber (In the D-Crevasse): Knocked out 3 distinct exercises in a People’s Chair, immediately followed by a ladder of increasing Donkey Kicks.
3. The Base Dora (At the Base of Mount Chaplin): Partner up to hit the magic cumulative numbers while your partner runs the base:
   • 50 Jerkins
   • 100 Hole Smokers
   • 150 American Hammers

Mary / The Finisher

We summited Mount Chaplin one last time, stopping for a fresh set of ab exercises at every single asphalt break. We finished strong with some Americans and worked our way back across the dugs to lock it in.

Moleskin & Announcements

• The S-Team: Huge turnout from the “S” family today—Scram, Snip, Salt Lick, Snuff, and Stag Man held down the alphabet.
• Brotherhood: It was an absolute pleasure to lead this morning. There is nothing better than having a band of brothers pushing and encouraging each other when the running gets real.
• 1st & 3rd F: Per request, keep your eyes locked on Slack for upcoming 1st and 3rd F opportunities in the near future. Get involved!
• Prayers / Smoke: Uplifting Dealer and his knee right now. We are wishing you a remarkably speedy, smooth, and complete recovery, brother!
• Great banter and shout out to Snuff for the coffee as always. Rumor is that Smokey and the Bandit is a movie about efforts to import Coors to Richmond.

Aye! — Machismo

12 studs showed up on a beautiful morning for ultimate frisbee.

Warmarama on the field with stretching and merkins while DTH set up cones. The PAX were reminded most of them weren’t in their 30s anymore, so should check themselves before they wreck themselves on the field.

6 v. 6 using full length of football field, but about half of the width.

Each time point is scored: scoring team does 10 double count flutters, loser team does 3 burpees.

Score ended something like 7 to 5. Team Snip won of course (DTH, Last Call, Heisenberg, Tin Man, and Belay) despite his numerous horrendous throws.

Mosey BTTF for announcements and prayer. Remember Dealer in your prayers as he is dealing with an knee injury. Machine Head’s family will be welcoming a new baby soon, prayers for speedy and safe arrival.

Great work gents. Enjoyed spending time with you all in my happy place.

We all missed Snuff’s coffee. Thanks DTH for cones and pennies!

12 is the perfect number. You can do anything, whether it be solo work, partner work, Triple Checks, Quad Checks, etc. Today, we had this perfect number at The Forge. We completed a couple of Triple Checks, partner work, and solo work, all while listening to the hottest hits of 2002, the year YHC graduated from high school.

With graduation season in full swing, YHC is taking note and using it as an opportunity to reflect on his own life. During the workout, a very vocal Last Call asked YHC what he was like in high school, what kind of car YHC drove, etc. YHC thinks about the summer of 2002 and the excitement of graduation and what was to come. It makes YHC excited for the young adults in our lives who are feeling that same excitement. There is so much opportunity ahead of them and so many unknown places and experiences they will have. We are fortunate to have these young men and women in our lives to help us appreciate that every day is a new opportunity for a new experience and a new chance to make a difference. Go out today and think not of what is, but of what it can be, and seize the opportunity.

Announcements – Memorial Day Convergence – Dogpile, 0700 on 5/25; Breaking Bread is opening the weekend of May 30th; L Woods is involved in a food drive on 6/13.

Prayer Requests – The consistent group in need of prayer: Fudd’s sister Mary, Roger Rogers’ FIL, Charlotte, and Wojo’s mom and family.

NMS – YHC worked late yesterday and was too tired to make a true playlist, so YHC phoned it in and used the “2002: Hits Radio” station on Pandora. There were some bangers, but there were also some duds. Fortunately, Last Call was there every step of the way to provide ample constructive feedback on where each song fell. At the end, Scam commented that he had never heard a single song that was played.

17 of RVA’s finest SOJ members came out this morning to witness Señor Frogs first Q at The Forge.

WELCOME FNG CHRIS WALLNER AKA HEADRUSH.

COP- Introductions, Disclaimers & Waivers.

Uphill fast mosey to the work truck to pick up a few shiny metal objects with no sharp edges.

Long slow mosey to back of school stopping for some Don- Quixote, Deep Squat, LBC & Merkin.

Mosey to tennis courts for some Balls to the Wall.

Mosey to the foos ball field for Merkin & WW2 at Goal & 50.

Mosey to big stone wall for some Balls to the Wall.

Mosey to the stadium seating for a Dip.

Mosey to the tennis courts for a Burpee.

Mosey back to the Flag for Numbers, Names, Announcements & Prayer requests.

Mole Skin: Thank You Last Call for praying over us this morning. Your words of wisdom were inspiring & profound. Pax disposition was 70* & Sunny. Mumble Chatter engaging. Cock-Rings functional. Welcome again FNG Headspace! Thank You for letting me lead this morning.

Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

Weekly Forge Coffee + QSource

5/16 0600 Dogpile Convergence for Flatline’s Deployment Q

5/16 4pm NTB Farewell Family Potluck

5/25 0700 Dogpile Memorial Day Convergence

6/13 10-1 Latina Food Distribution (contact LWoods) 

6/14 3p OTB Ruck at Sunday Park