F3 New Orleans

Author: Steve

  • The Deck of (Mild) Death

    Simply the bookkeeper on this one, as Turtle is getting his login info today and should be up and running for his next Q.

    Turtle and YHC did the ol’ deck o’ death last week to pretty mild results: both of us thought it could’ve been a little tougher.  So Turtle’s Q today revisited the deck, only with fewer exercises this go-round (only merkins and LBCs, as opposed to the merks, LBCs, sprints, & squats we did last week).  The thought being more reps and less recoup time might push us harder.  And the discovery?  Turtle is simply getting stronger, as this still was not enough.  So watch out for his next deck, he’s threatening to go full Ray Lewis with merkins being the sole exercise.

    We wrapped up the deck pretty quickly, and went for a 1.5 – 2 mile run, back in time for a 2 minute plank, followed by a lame attempt at the mission impossible plank (maybe 30 seconds?), and finished with the COT.  Welcome to the Northshore PAX, Pelican.  Now, I’m pretty terrible at naming FNG’s, but let it be known that Pelican was named in Houston attending his first F3 beatdown with Shorty (t-claps to Shorty for getting him out there).  Good to have you with us, and thanks for the great beatdown, Turtle.

  • Bringing It Home

    “Baseball may be a religion full of magic, cosmic truth, and the fundamental ontological riddles of our time, but it’s also a job.”  Bull Durham
     
    Same truth goes for F3 beatdowns.  And the job at hand this morning at The Gipper was pretty simple for YHC – gas the PAX and try out a few new things in the process.  Yes, that meant there were no Bulgarians this morning, but there were more than enough squats to satisfy anyone of Balkan descent …
    Warm-Up:  SSH, Toe Touches, Good Mornings, IW’s, Mummy Kicks, Butt Kicks, all 20x, IC.
    Thang:  Mosey to the School Board and circle up at the back memorial for a medley of merkins and squats, all 15x IC:
    • Wide-to-Narrow Merkins (killer)
    • Wide-to-Narrow Squats
    • Atomic Merkins
    • Sister Mary K’s
    • Shoulder Tap Merkins
    Onward to the loooooong parking garage rooftop for a set of suicides, flutter kicks 20x IC, suicides, plank jacks 20x IC.
    Next up, rooftop F3 baseball: 1st base LBC’s, 2nd base Parker Peters, 3rd base Freddie Mercs, and home base 15 burpees.  Rotate after home base completes their set of 15, bear crawling to the next base.  Completed once everyone has hit each base.  (After nearly skinning my face on the concrete, YHC offered a very, very late disclaimer.)
    Finished up with Lt. Dan’s across the parking lot (1:4 ratio) and mosey back to the flag.  The PAX was out of time for Mary but, after a quick COT, put in a little extra by helping set-up the tables for the Covington Farmer’s Market.  Thanks guys, enjoyed leading today.

  • Saturday’s Super 21’s (Or Something Similar)

    It felt like Ei was missing his natural foil the past few weeks without Chewy in the fold, so it was a welcome sight to return from the 2 mile pre-thang and see them bickering at the flag again.  Welcome back Chewy, we missed ya.  18 men strong this Saturday morning.

    Warm-Up:

    Seal Jacks, Toe Touches, IW’s, Windmills, Good Mornings, all 15x IC, with OYO Merkins interspersed (10, 8, 6, 4, 2) between.  Next up: High Knees, Butt Kicks, and Smurf Jacks, all 30x IC.  Yeah, I could barely keep the cadence count here, at one point sounding like kid hitting puberty instead of a full-grown man.   Wrapped it up with 10 Merks, OYO.

    The Thang:

    It just wouldn’t feel natural if YHC led a beatdown that didn’t include the Bulgarian Split Squats.  It’s a staple that the PAX loves (or loves to hate).  Either way, YHC decided to knock it out early: Freak Nasties, Left BSS, Freaks, Right BSS, Freaks, everything 15x, IC.

    Then a mosey over to the playground for an…. Overly-Optimistic-Semi-Mangled-Super-21 (Minus-Some).  Start with 10 Merks, 10 MCs, and 10 Plank Jacks, then lap the playground to return for 11 Merks, 11 MCs, and 11 Plank Jacks.  Onward and upward until you hit 20.  A LOT of bitching about this being an unlikely goal, with talk of rainbows and unicorn flying out of butts being bandied about.  Nevertheless, the PAX got to work, with a kale-powered Butt Splice leading the charge.

    Well, YHC had a watch that morning and can say for certain that the PAX could  have finished.  But Bushwacker wanted more core this morning, so YHC called an audible and ended the misery (most got to around 17) to circle up for some Captain Thor.  The PAX did not show much appreciation.  (But YHC had a good laugh watching Ei do something that barely resembled sit-ups and looked more like simply rolling around in the grass.)

    Then it was a Bataan Death March back to flag.  T-claps to Shooter who suggested two lines, so that everyone could get at least a set of burpees in.

    Countdown, announcements, Splice prayed us out, and on to coffeeteria for a heated debate on the F3 naming conventions.  Thanks guys, hands down my favorite way to start a weekend.

  • Labor Day Labor at the Marsh

    It was kinda a rough morning for YHC.  The wine was flowing last night and, as early as I cut myself off, it wasn’t nearly early enough.  But the sight of two FNGs and our usual gang of men helped bring YHC into focus (albeit, after a very fumbled disclaimer and some pretty shoddy counting).

    Warm Up: Good mornings, IW’s, High Knees, Butt Kicks, and Windmills, all 20x IC

    The Thang:

    Hit the basketball court first for a few rounds of suicides.  Each round interspersed with peter parkers, plank jacks, parker peters, and merkins.  T-Claps to Captain Sparkles for showing up early and sweeping the court.  YHC threw in one round of a full court bear crawl (bunny hops on the way back) just to take advantage of that newly cleaned floor.

    Over to the monkey bars for a few rounds of Knees-to-Chest, 15x IC.  Back to the benches for Bulgarian Split Squats, right leg 15x IC (I know, I know, it’s getting old…).  Back to Knees-to-Chest.  Left leg Split Squat.  10x Pull Ups OYO.  15x Box Jumps OYO (bad idea, by the way, on a metal bench in a residential neighborhood).

    Over to the swing sets for a set of 11’s in the pitch black:  Australian Pull ups to Sister MK’s.  And then back to the court for some:

    Mary: Jane Fonda’s, Quick Pulses, Heel to Knees, each leg 15x IC.  Flutter Kicks, 35x IC.  Hello Dollies 20x IC.

    Finished it off with AMRAP Merkins 1 minute.  Everyone knows how many merkins they can do in a minute before the beatdown, we wanted to find out the answer after the beatdown.  (Turns out it’s roughly the same for beasts like Grundy and Captain Sparkles.)

    Welcome to the gang Joker and Whip (Shooter 2.0), great to have you guys in the group.  Hope to see a lot more of Whip in the future, and Joker, you gotta look up our brethren on the southshore!

    Thanks guys, I needed to be out there this morning.  Always great to lead you men.

  • Total Eclipse of the Fart(sack)

    Sorry guys, couldn’t help myself with the title there.  Ocho did indeed fartsack to go see the eclipse in Tennessee (I’m assuming a video will surface of him bear crawling up a mountain, in which case, totally excusable), but this was more about YHC fartsacking twice last week.  That’s not terrible in the grand scheme of things, but then also being out of town for Grundy’s epic mothership beatdown Saturday and having to hear all the mumble chatter about everyone’s legs killing them, it sure felt like I missed a lot.  So today’s Q was a bit selfish, designed more to punish me than anything else.

    Here’s what went down:

    Started things off with high knees to get everyone’s aching legs back in working order.  20x IC.  Drop for 10 OYO burpees.  Plank up for Peter Parkers, Plank Jacks, Parker Peters, and back up for butt kicks, all 20x IC.  Legs, legs, legs.

    Mosey to Ei’s benches (which somehow no one in this PAX knew existed??), hit some Freak Nasties, followed by left leg Bulgarian Split Squats, Freaks, Right Leg BSS, Freaks – all 15x IC.  T-claps to Shooter, who was going so deep on these splits, he nearly took down one of the concrete benches.

    Mosey back to the Trailhead corridor for a partner routine: 1 man does Merkins while the other sprints the walkway and back, then swap.  Up to 100.  Then onto 100 Jump Squats, but instead of sprints we turned around and hit the trailhead stairs, up and back.

    Mosey back to the benches: Freaks, left leg Step-ups, Freaks, right leg Step-ups, Freaks, all 15x IC.  More grumbling about legs and how YHC wasn’t present Saturday, so couldn’t possibly know the pain the PAX was in.  Yeah, yeah, yeah…

    Mosey to the grass for Captain Thor, up to 10 big boy sit-ups and 40 Putins.  Then finish off the thang with Burp ‘n Merk, all the way up to 10.  T-Claps to Grundy, who not only went up to 10 while the rest of us were gasping and groaning, but also went all the way back down to 1.

    Quick Mary of Flutters, Hello Dolly’s, Freddie Mercs, 20x IC, then Jane Fonda’s (R&L) and quick pulses (R&L), 15x IC.

    You guys are beasts, thanks for letting me lead.  Keep on pushing.

  • Dog Days at The Gipper

    With the little ones heading back to school tomorrow, it seems summer is coming to a close.  In reality, of course, it’s been a mild August thus far, so we’re probably in for a pavement-melting October.  Regardless, YHC was happy to have the (ever-so-slight) dip in humidity this morning, though it did little to deter the PAX from sharing multiple stories of splashing merlot (along with specific locations) to our FNG before we even got rolling.  (spoiler: he did fine)

    Alright, let’s get this thing going…

    Warm-Up: Seal Jacks, Windmills, Mummy Kicks, High Knees, Butt Kicks (All 20x IC)

    The Thang:  Mosey to the justice center garage for Burpees (15), Lunges (20 IC), Imperial Walkers (25IC), Merkins (30), Plank Jacks (35IC), and Squats (40).  That’s right, BLIMPS, with some backpedaling and sprints in between as we made it up the garage ramps to the top.

    Up top we tried a new one – Dominoes.  All PAX line up in a left arm high plank along the curb, and the left-most man kicks things off by dropping into standard plank and doing 5 merkins.  Next man, and so on, until all have completed and are now in standard plank position.  Then swaparoo, with right arm high.  Two rounds of this had YHC recalling Grundy’s Plank Challenge from yesterday, and I called it.

    Down to the Justice Center for some quick leg business: Step Ups (each leg, 10x), 1 minute of Rocky B’s, up and around the stairs 2x, Bulgarian Split Squats (each leg, 15x), 1 minute of wider stance Rocky B’s, up and around the stairs 2x.

    Over to a patch of grass for Jack Webbs – up to 10 merks and 40 air presses.  YHC wanted to go one more, if only to mentally mess with Grundy, but alas, time called us back to the flag for an abbreviated Mary: Jane Fondas (15x IC) and leg pulses (15x IC), each leg.

    Countdown, naming and welcoming of FNG Dr. Buckeye (welcome brother!), announcements (get ready for the 10k sando and, if you’re interested, a street-fighting class courtesy of Turbo’s posse) and finally, Moby prayed us out.  Thanks for letting me lead guys, always a pleasure!

  • Gettin’ Jiggy With It

    17 PAX strong this morning, a record for the Northshore mothership?  Perhaps.  I’ll leave the numbers to a shoeless Grundy.  All I know for sure is we got lucky with the (slightly) cooler weather and everyone pushed themselves hard this morning.

    It started as it usually does, with a little foreplay (t-claps to Butt Splice for the proper terminology): the 6:10 warm-up run.  With the improved speed the PAX is turning in, it seems like this foreplay just isn’t enough.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see this warm-up run expanding in the near future…

    Warm Up:

    SSH, Windmills, IW’s, Butt Kicks, High Knees, MC’s, all 20x IC, with the exception of the MC’s, which we took to 40x IC just to keep everyone on their toes.

    The Thang:

    Mosey to the seawall to kick things off with a set of 11’s, derkins on one end, Sister Mary Katherine’s on the other.

    Everyone then partnered up to do some one leg squats (10x each leg).  Then partners lined up back to back for a People’s Chair, held for one minute.   Next up, one partner elbow planked while the other did lateral hops over him (20x), then swaparoo.   Finally, Moonshine had a modification on the first exercise that added a twerk (I believe it was called the… Badonkadonk), so we threw that into the mix at the end.

    Slight communication breakdown as YHC attempted to split the PAX in two for a relay race.   Both teams lined up in a plank, while one man from each team sprinted about 30 yards and back to tag the next man.  Round 2 was bunny hops there, bear crawl back, while PAX performed continuous squats.  Ei noted Cap’n Sparkles was running like he was saving a baby (or a cat) and Rainbow Unicorn unleashed the fastest bear crawl we’ve seen yet, together they gave their team the edge it needed to win.

    Back in to partner exercises with Pray to Gods 20x, and some leg push downs (20x), which are now officially called Tea Baggers, compliments of Moonshine.

    Then we circled up for some T-Plank arm circles: left arm (10x IC), flip onto back for LBC’s (15x IC), right arm (10x IC), flip to front plank for merkins (15x IC).  Back over to left side up t-plank for left knee-to-chest (10x IC), LBC’s (15x IC), right knee-to-chest (10x IC), flip back to front plank for final 15x merks.

    Mosey back to the flag for a cigarette and some cuddling: Scorpion kicks (15x IC), superman hold (1 min), raised scorpion kicks (15x IC), Hello Dolly (15x IC), and Rosalitas (15x IC).

    Countorama, nameorama (welcome FNG’s Firewall and Lucky Charms), announcements and coffeeteria.  T-claps to Moonshine for dropping in from Raleigh, hope to see you again brother.  Thanks for letting me lead guys, always a pleasure.

  • It’s 6am on a Saturday, the regular crowd shuffles in…

    First off, t-claps to the gents who made it out Friday night for the 4-hour ruck and turned it all around to make the 6:10 warm-up run… and still outpaced YHC.  It is both annoying and inspiring, and YHC has vowed to make it to next Friday’s 4-hour ruck just to be part of the club.

    Warm-Up: SSH, Windmills, Cossack Squats, Toe Touches, Imperial Walkers, and Butt Kicks, all 20x IC.

    The Thang:

    To the sea wall for a set of 11’s: Freak Nasties on the sea wall, burpees at the curb.  YHC learned the hard way that there’s a reason no one incorporates burpees into a set of 11’s.

    Mosey to the playground for some Captain Thor (1 sit-up : 4 Russian Twists), where Grundy quoted Emerson, saying, “Man’s life is a progress, not a station.”  Or something along those lines.  The PAX took it to heart and progressed 1 up from our personal best, reaching a set of 8.  And I’m still feeling it.

    Next up, hands outstretched, palms up, then down.  50x.  No, that didn’t do anything… 100x.  Still nothing… 200x does the trick!

    Mosey to the perimeter for four stations: merkins, LBC’s, Mountain Climbers, and Squats.  Two teams of 4, with one teammate at each station.  The teammate doing the merkins does 15, sprints to relieve his teammate at the next station, sending that PAX to the next, and so on.  Rotating each PAX through all four stations twice.

    And finally, not much of a surprise, but a trip to Rips was in the cards this morning.  The usual Rocky Balboas, up and over, lateral RB’s, up and over.  Rinse and repeat until time’s up.

    A sprint back to the shovel flag where Tank finally took home the gold (Grundy sat it out), and immediately on to the countdown, nameorama, welcoming of FNG Boomer, announcements and coffeteria.  Thanks guys for a great Saturday morning!

     

  • The Morning Call

    New faces, new workouts at Saturday’s lakefront beatdown.  Warm welcome to FNG’s Ace Ventura, Dollar Bill, and Manny, hope to see you guys at the next one.  It started as it usually does, with the pre-warm-up run continuing its current trend of picking up the pace each week.  Trying to keep up with Turbo and Tanked Up left YHC particularly destroyed.

    But no time to rest, it was onto the warm up.  With no Chewy to captain the ship, the PAX settled on a round robin, starting with YHC.  Pretty standard stuff: Seal Jacks, IW’s, Mountain Climbers, SSH’s, and Windmills all 20x IC.  A few more PAX trickled in and then a quick mosey to the sea wall to begin the thang:

    Set of 11’s: Freak Nasties, jog to curb, frog jumps back and forth.

    YHC had planned to forego the usual leg routine which seems to be wearing on everyone, but Grundy insisted, so I caved: Steps Ups each leg 10x IC, Bulgarian split squats each leg 15x IC.

    Grundy then took over, starting with an Indian Run to the playground for a new one: the Morning Call.  All PAX hold plank while one does three pull ups, in cadence with these pull-ups the entire PAX does three merkins.  Completed once every PAX has done the pull ups.

    Next up was Grundy’s boat rockers, made it to around 7x, IC.  Then Turbo took over for some more core exercises: Freddy Mercuries, Scuba Steves, Side Jacks, and some other killer routines that have slipped my memory.

    Over to the splash pad for a Dirty McDeuce: Split into groups of two for 3 exercises 12x IC, followed by each group doing a lap around the playground (up and over the two jungle gym structures) in opposite directions.  T-Claps to Butt Splice who added the challenge of reversing the direction and going up the pole, which became especially tricky after it was dripping with sweat.  Four rounds and a little splashed merlot and we were done.  (A few examples of the 3 exercises done: Merkins, lateral jumps, slow squats, shoulder taps, peter parkers, parker peters, hand-release merks, and the list goes on far beyond what I can remember.)

    On the mosey back, Butt Splice took the Q and had us drop for 10 Burpees.  Then we circled up to hold plank while each PAX took a 25 yard sprint.  There may have been merkins or something else in there…

    And what would a lakefront beatdown be without a trip to Rips?  We finished there with an AMRAP of 5 merkins and a trip up and over their famous stairs.  YHC had no watch that day, so I can’t be certain how long we went, but I am fairly certain at some point we’ll need to all pitch in to help them repair that staircase.

    Quick sprint back to the flag where, as usual, Grundy beats Tanked Up for the gold.  One day Tank, one day!

    Forgive YHC if I’ve mis-remembered something or someone (did we do a Mary?)….

    And be sure to check out one or all of the following this week: Mystery Q at the Mandeville trailhead Tuesday morning (5:15), a Turbo beatdown at the Covington Trailhead Wednesday morning (6:00), early morning run at Mandeville City Hall (5:15), Grow Ruck special Thursday evening at the top of the Justice Center parking garage (7pm), and Chewy’s return to Q Saturday at the lakefront.  See you gents out there…

  • The Growing Northshore PAX

    The Northshore hit 11 PAX at this morning’s beatdown on the lakefront.  With cards and flyers being made, you guys can say you got in on the ground floor.

    It started as usual, with the pre-workout run beginning promptly at 6:10.  Turbo lived up to his name, picking up the pace and pushing us a little harder than usual.  Then, it was down to business…

    Warm-Up: Seal Jacks, Windmills, Imperial Walkers, Squats, and SSH.  All 20x IC.

    The Thang:  The Gazebo proved too small for our growing numbers, so we circled up near the sea wall for a set of 40s: 30x Merkins/10x Freak Nasties, 20x Merks/20x Freaks, 10 Merks/30 Freaks.

    Mosey east for some more sea walk action: Bulgarian Split Squats and Step Ups, 15x IC, alternating legs.

    Circle up for Captain Thor (1x Sit Up to 4x Russian Twists), multiplying until around 7 sit-ups and 28 Russian Twists.

    Onward to the playground, where we partnered up: 1 runs the perimeter, the other does Mountain Climbers.  Switch.  Then onto LBC’s, and finished with Imperial Walkers.

    Into teams of three for a Triple Check: #1 holds Al Gore, #2 holds plank, #3 sprints to the fire hydrant and back, taking over for the Al Gore.  Rotate until each PAX has sprinted 3x.

    Indian Run back to the flag for Hands of Time, where Big Fish modified the count and pushed us beyond 60.  A round of Jane Fonda’s and quick pulses, each leg 20x IC.

    Countdown and a welcome to FNG Hacksaw, who got lucky that Ei had to take a phone call during his naming. (By the way, Ei, the ladies were disappointed you didn’t make it to coffee.)

    T-claps to Prep H, who made it back after a lengthy hiatus, good to have you back.

    Announcements: Go Ruck training is heating up, and Turbo and Big Fish will lead a group Sunday (tomorrow) at 2pm at the Mandeville Trailhead.  Bring your rucks, we’ll go for approximately 2 hours.

    Be sure to also make it out to the Covington Trailhead Wednesday for Grundy’s virgin Q, and Butt Splice will close out the week leading us on Saturday.  Thanks for letting me lead guys, it was a great start to the weekend.