Author: Rudy

  • Beware The Ides of March – from Hawgcycle

    Some people argue that the Wally Sprint is the best workout in F3 NOLA. YHC was hoping not to tarnish it’s reputation by taking the Q this morning. As I headed out the door I was greeted with a lightning strike and thuderclap. What?!? Is it supposed to rain? Quick check of the phone and yep. I put my bike back up, grabbed the truck keys and modified my plan on the 2 minute drive to Pontiff.

    Was pleasantly surprised to see 4 hearty souls waiting for me in the gloom. We proceeded to do a little CCC training
    – 1 mile warm-up jog around the park
    – 4 accelerations
    – 0.75 miles at 10K race pace.
    – .25 mile recovery jog
    – 0.75 miles at 5k race pace.
    – 0.25 recovery jog
    – 0.75 miles at 1 mile race pace.
    – 0.25 recovery jog
    – Cool down jog to close it out.

    In the end YHC logged 4.8 miles. We all agreed that the final 0.75 miles at our mile pace was difficult to say the least. The entire workout was in the rain, but it never go that bad. As Big Willy said, at least it wasn’t 15 degrees colder.

    We went over announcements, Frac saved MacGyver, and I prayed us out to close.

  • Thursday Tempo – from Hawgcycle

    Rev, Tenderloin and I met in the gloom for a slightly planned Wally Run. Tenderloin was gimpy in the knee but planning to stick to his goal. Rev and I wished him luck as he headed to the track.

    I informed Rev that he and I would be doing a tempo run. I texted him the Jack Daniels VDOT Running Calculator Wednesday night – https://runsmartproject.com/calculator/

    Using his 2nd place 10 mile finish at the Lakeview Distance Festival, The Rev came prepared with his threshold pace of 8:15/mile. I had calculated mine to be 7:15/mile. I told him we would warm-up on the way to Duplessis and then we would run two Wally Run Big Loops (3 miles total) at our threshold pace. We got to Duplessis ( a little faster than I wanted) and I proceeded to increase my pace to 7:15/mile. As I sped up the good Rev was right beside me. Had I forgotten to inform him that because of our different paces, we wouldn’t be running the loops together? Maybe his Chinese Knock off watch was telling him that he was running at an 8:15 pace? Was he scared of the dark? Is he lonely and crying out for help? Was he wanting to finish telling me his book review of about the latest archeological find in the caves of Isreal? I really have no idea. I can’t think and run at the same time, so I decided not to worry about it.

    The Good Reverend did slow down eventually, but not that much. His pace was at least a half minute faster during the tempo run than he was planning on. He’s obviously faster than he realized and is now the odd’s on favorite for a first place finish in next years Lakeview Distance Festival. I hit my pace about right. We finished up with a slow jog back to the start where we found Tenderloin finishing his final lap to meet his goal.

    YHC prayed us out.

  • Party Gras (Don’t mind the date) – from Russo

    The radar this morning did not look promising, so YHC was pleasantly surprised to see JV, Fletch, and Cowbell brave the showers and join me for Granny’s Party Gras ™, 2022 edition, even if it was postponed 2 weeks and scaled back.

    Never one to let a moderately adequate planned Q go to waste, the plan was to base the beatdown around everyone’s favorite floating holiday in this area (unless you’re a bigger President’s day, Labor Day, Flag day, or Thanksgiving fan).

    WARMUP (all IC, 10x – 20x)
    Sealjacks
    Good mornings
    Arm circles
    Windmills
    Self love
    Imperial walkers

    THANG
    Trivia, then corresponding exercise (with column slaloms intermittently disbursed between questions)

    How many official colors of Mardi Gras? 3
    – Suicide – 3 merkins at each column

    What year was the first known Mardi Gras parade? 1837
    – 18 burpees, 37 lunges

    What year were floats introduced? 1857
    – 18 merkins, 57 squats

    When does Mardi Gras season start? King’s day, January 6, or 1-6 (correct answer from Fletch!)
    – 16 SMCs

    How many floats were in this year’s Thoth parade? 41
    – 41 plankjacks

    What float number was I on? 31
    – 31 monkey humpers

    How many scheduled parades (riding, walking, dog) were in and around the New Orleans area this year? 71
    – 71 high knees (2 is 1)

    How many all-female Krewes are there? 8 (Nefertiti, Cleopatra, Eve, Femme Fatale, Nyx, Muses, Selene, Iris)
    – 8 8 count body builders

    Tabata (40 seconds AMRAP, 20 seconds rest)
    – Crab cakes
    – LBCs
    – Wife pleasers
    – Peter Parker’s
    – Apollo Ohnos
    – Crunchy Frogs
    – Butt kicks
    – American Hammers

    – 90 second plank

    COT, Name-o-Rama, announcements (Nehemiah project’s Endurathon this weekend, see/contact Hammer for more info) and prayer closed us out.

    Thanks for joining/reading. You guys make it easier to get up before 5 with the threat of showers looming and push myself to get better.

    SYITG

  • I will Rock Q – from Kenna Brah

    March 14 2022 Rock City
    15x Wanm up
    Arm Circles front/back
    Standing Twists l/r
    Imperial Walkers
    Tin Soldiers

    To the Rocks, to the field
    RND 1
    15x each
    Pullovers
    Chest Press
    ON KNEES- OHP
    ON KNEES – CURLS
    From KNEES Single Leg Up
    Run around goal post repeat for 3x

    RND 2
    From KNEES Single Leg Up ROWS
    DeadLift
    Front Raise
    Tricep Extension
    Run around goal post repeat for 3x

    7 min of Mary with ROCK
    Back to flag –
    COT – OUT!

  • Shock and Scrum – from Fracsac

    Charmin, RevSox, Boo-Boo and PVC showed up at the Scrum ready to get stronger.
    With the Shovel flag planted, a disclaimer was given, then a short mosey to a nice grassy area near the outdoor gym.

    Warmup consisted of the usual stuff, skipping the unnecessary stuff.

    Stations at the outdoor gym:

    Sandbag over shoulder toss x 10 (timer)
    Big boi sit-ups
    Merkins
    90 degree arm hang
    Step ups

    Mosey to the middle of the bird watching zone for dips and derkins.

    Mosey to a new spot of grass and feel a little shock and awe

    5 SSH 10 burpees
    5 SSH 9 burpees
    5 SSH 8 burpees
    ……
    5 SSH 2 burpees
    5 SSH 1 (NOT) 10 burpees! Who does 1 burpee??

    Mini Dora

    50 burpees
    100 big boi sit-ups
    150 squats

    Back to flag for COT

    NMM

    RevSox really likes burpees. Seriously, he’s very vocal about it.
    Boo Boo likes chasing rabbits, and he’s agreed to Q a beat down with that theme as the premise. It’ll be Epic!
    Charmin has a gift for sarcasm, which makes him ideal for F3. His Qs are gonna be the best.
    PVC has embraced this F3 Thang with 7 consecutive posts! T-Claps

    Love you brothers!

    SYITG

  • The Great Nursery Rhyme Beatdown of 2022 – from Goose

    Kilo warned us it might happen. “Bring a towel,” he said. “It might be wet out there,” he said. But, little did he or the rest of the PAX know the level of carnage that YHC had in store for this cold, windy, soggy morning. Of course, Cardinal may have used his spiritual upper hand to gain some kind of foresight that led to his admittedly pure, unexcused fartsacking. The rest were caught off guard by what at first seemed to be just a semi-creative way to work through a hard, but not impossible Tabata list. But, then came Jack and Jill…

    Warmup: the usual Goose faves–SSH, WM, AC, IW, and Self-Love with some high knees and butt kicks to wake up the cardio system

    Thang 1: Tabata (“It’s Italian for…”)
    One minute, as many reps as possible (AMRAP) of each of the following exercises, with 30 seconds of rest in between, which was long enough for YHC to explain the next nursery rhyme and its connection to the assigned exercise:
    * Humpty Dumpty—wall sit
    * Jack be nimble—hop back and forth over a line, feet together
    * Sing a song of sixpence—8-count body builders (the king was in his counting house…)
    * Pop Goes the Weasel—monkey humpers
    * Old King Cole—wacky jacks (like a jester)
    * Georgie Porgie—suicides (when the boys came out to play, Georgie Porgie ran away)
    * Little Boy Blue—BBS (wake up, boy!)
    * Little Miss Moffet—Dips (rise up off that tuffet!)
    * Peter Peter—Peter Parker Peter
    * Old Mother Hubbard—Nolan Ryans (reaching into a bare cupboard, coming up empty-
    handed)
    * Rockaby Baby—LBC’s
    * Three Blind Mice—mosey to the sidewalk in front of the playground (see how they run).

    Thang 2: Jack and Jill
    Partner up (Jack and Jill): Jack (partner 1) runs up the hill to fetch a pail of water, and does five jump squats at the top before coming back down, while Jill (partner 2) falls down (burpees). Partner 1 takes over the burpee count upon returning until 100 are completed. Then, Jack broke his crown: 100 Carolina Dry Docks, while partner 1 still ran up the hill to do five jump squats. Lastly, Jill came tumbling after, which meant 100 Superman/Canoes while Jack still ran up for jump squats. Superman/Canoes = PAX started on faces in Superman position (arms and legs up), then rolled to the six without the use of hands to Canoe position (head and legs a few inches off the ground, hands down by hips).
    The combination of that many consecutive burpees with jump squats at the top of a small hill seemed to be a new level of suck for many of the Bayou PAX, but complaints were few. Could’ve been because we still hadn’t laid in any cold puddles yet (Superman/Canoes were done on the sidewalk.)

    Thang 3: Deal or No Deal
    YHC left the nursery rhyme theme behind for the last 15 minutes as we moseyed to the practice field and the heretofore hidden F3 Deck of Death was revealed. (Note: the cards are very much waterproof, mudproof, and tear proof, but the box is very much not.) Each PAX was given a chance to pick two cards but only look at the first. They could then decide whether all would complete the first card’s exercise, or blindly commit to the second.
    Though most of the ridiculously hard cards were avoided, the greater majority of exercises chosen seemed to require lying in the mud, so Kilo’s warning was well grounded. Due to the high winds, most PAX were still wearing their sweatshirts (even after Jack and Jill) so they soaked up the frigid puddles like sponges. The mosey back to the flag was heavy and cold, but spirits were high as the proud PAX discussed making t-shirts or getting tattoos that said, “I survived the Great Nursery Rhyme Beatdown of 2022!”

    COT and Paradox prayed us out.

    Thanks for letting me lead and being willing to keep pushing, especially you new guys who are still working through your first weeks of this! And, much gratitude for you somewhat more experienced PAX who have decided that F3 is now a part of how you do life well. Your companionship in the gloom is a gift beyond value!

    See You in the Gloom,
    Goose

  • I Wanna Go Fast- Mario Kart – from Paradox

    Strong showing in the gloom of the stage on a cool bayou morning with 4 PAX for our first 5:30a beatdown. Goose supplied the coups, Kilo made seven traffic violations on his way in and Perc rounded out the group and told the Monday meetings they can wait. This beatdown creation comes from my longtime love of mario kart and a recent run club variation I picked up while cruising the deep web for beatdown inspiration (please exercise caution typing “car themed beatdown” into your googler). YHC has been letting this pot of pain simmer for a few weeks in the beatdown laboratory. An extra merkin there, a dash of burpee here and the concoction was ready to serve to a hungry PAX.

    Warmorama IC 10-15 counts
    SSH, WM, IW, Chinooks, Cherry Pickers, Self Love, High Knees, Butt Kickers
    New Feature: Deep Squat Dislcaimers (nothing worse than dead air). We aired our grievances and discussed how poor form on burpees turns you into a GroupMe castaway.
    *followed by a brief track mosey so the PAX could get a feel for the course.

    Thang 1/Extended WarmUp

    A few songs to get the Pax into a racing state of mind:

    Low Rider: Hold plank with slow merkins on “low rider”
    Mustang Sally: headed to the pavilion for Mario power up steps on “sally” ( future note add incline merkins on non sally time or mustangs, I could feel the internal mumble chatter for not adding more pain)
    FUN, fun , fun- Beach boys: Coupon Calf raises on song, Coupon OHP on FUN

    Its time for the main event…THANG 2

    Mario Kart Rules
    There are 8 stations designated by neon cones placed at intervals on the track. Underneath each cone are 3 banana peels. Each peel contains an exercise. At each cone you will select a banana peel and complete the exercise then advance to the next station with standard mosey as your mode of transportation. Exercises may include the following:

    LIGHTNING-yell lightning and all PAX doing smurf jacks while the card flipper sprints 1 lap on track
    BLUE SHELL: All pax do 7 burpees
    RAINBOW ROAD: mosey to bumper, sprint back
    *if you arrive at a station and flip a banana with a currently being used prop, hold plank until ready

    All Pax were given a green turtle shell token. Each token has the power to be handed to another man and end his current suffering and advance him to the next station. Use them wisely. Leave no man behind, but no many where you found him.
    We got started and used our guesses at how many “funs” were in the last song to determine pole position. (39 )was correct, Perc was closed with 32, Goose used his typical price is right theory with a high 56 and Kilo with a nice lowball 26.
    Starting with station one, 30 second plank and 15 second rest, deployed men at 15 second intervals into the track: Perc, Kilo, Goose, YHC.
    Many Blue Shells were endured, Lightning attacks were numerous. With great power came greater responsibility. I think this one will be a staple and we can add wrinkles as we go. (See attached picture for rotation setup).
    Wrapped up Lap 2 Blue shells at 6:15. (where is our sunrise?!)

    BIOSTATS:
    YHC Max HR: 162 : rainbow road sprint?
    MumbleChatter: a calm 32%
    Lost in Translations: 0? YHC had less coffee, so the speech was clear

    Continued prayers for Ukraine/Russian Conflict, Happy house hunting to Kilo (let him know if you have a hot real estate tip!)

    COT and Goose prayed us out,

    Appreciate the extra savings time effort fellas. It’s a great privilege for me to lead.

    SYITG

  • Alone but with integrity – from Kenna Brah

    Simple warmup
    Since I was alone, me and my trusty ruck plate got to work
    10 reps 10 times
    OHP
    CURLS
    ROWS
    SQUATS
    TRICE EXTENSION
    DEADLIFT

  • Perfect F3 weather – from Kenna Brah

    4 PAX bravely faced the elements in the shadows of Thrillville
    Appetizer:
    Mosey to the GYM
    Arm Circles
    Tin Soldiers
    Imperial Walkers
    Twists

    A version of Route 66
    On the jogging path
    10 Walking Lunge to next light – 10 Merkins for 3 lights
    Bear Crawl next two lights – 10 Merk at each light
    Rev walking Lunge next 3 lights – 10 merks again
    At the entrance
    3 station Rotation: 10 rep 5x
    On your SIX and backup without using hands
    Below parallel leglifts while on an elevated flat surface
    Slow Squats
    2 PAX left their phones in the open when rain came, so we hustled back to the Gym to complete the action
    Finished with Mary
    COT

    Thank you!!

  • Pre St. Party’s Day – from Almonaster

    Pre-St. Patrick’s Day Celebration!

    PAX:

    – Almonaster
    – Old Bay
    – Chiquita
    – King Kong
    – Couch
    – Gabby
    – Willie
    – Douille
    – Subprime

    Mosey to Tulane breezeway by Freret

    Warmup:

    SSH – 10 IC
    Arm Circles -10 IC
    Reverse Arm Circles – 10 IC
    Imperial Walkers – 10 IC
    The Morpheus – 10 IC
    Balance on 1 foot for 10 seconds – each
    Grass Grabbers – 10 IC
    Windmills – 10 IC
    Mountain Climbers – 10 IC

    The Thang:

    Mosey to the Grotto.
    Wall Crawl Incline Merkins – 10 IC – Switch halfway
    Right Leg Step-up – 10 IC
    Leg Lifts – 10 IC
    Take a Lap.

    Submarine Merkins – 10 IC
    Left leg Step-ups – 10 IC
    Flutter Kicks – 10 IC
    Take a lap.

    Dips – 10 IC
    Squats – 10 IC
    Box Cutters – 10 IC
    Take a lap

    Partners – all of the ledge holding feet.
    Air Crunches – 10 IC
    Air Twists – 10 IC
    Air hangs – 3 sets at 20 seconds

    Mosey to the Newcomb Building

    Steps – Run to the top
    Hops – to the top
    Repeat

    Mary
    Mosey to the building with the swings.
    LBC’s – 20 IC
    Freddie Mercuries – 20 IC
    Hello Dolly’s – 20 IC
    Douille’s – 20 IC

    Back to flag!

    Thanks for the opportunity to lead!