F3 New Orleans

Blog

  • Life is Tough, so Persevere – from Lil Cuz

    YHC woke up to the sounds of thunder and lightning hoping it was closer to midnight than it was to 6am, but upon looking at the phone to assure me it was hours before we would be heading to the Peltch the phone read 5 minutes till alarm time. Not good…the weather would surely ruin any plans to listen to music through what would prove to be a daunting beatdown and the quiet would only add to the despair. Heading to the Peltch did not yield any better result as the rain continued to pour down all it had and YHC drove up to only one other car waiting in the parking lot. More cars started to arrive but each waited in their car as if they did not want to start the painful and miserable process about to begin.

    This start ended up being a perfect metaphor for the theme of today’s beatdown and Yankee Jeaux added to the hype with his own epic backblast as he spoke oh so eloquently, he is going to be a Dr. you know, about the path we are all on. How sometimes it seems we are not making progress but if we look back we can see how far we have actually come. This backblast was so good it was turned into hype for the next days beatdown as it applied to the theme. We push through life one day at a time and even one step at a time some days as we persevere through it all. YHC has been reflecting on the Armour of God: truth, righteousness and perseverance. We are called to persevere through life by relying on God and in this case on our brothers alongside us. We see them continuing along the path and this pushes us to continue as well. To persevere through difficulties we didn’t think were possible to overcome before, but we are lifted up by the guys around us in shared suffering to make ourselves better. Better for our wives, our children and our overall community. To do this, we have to put on our Armour of God and prepare for War.

    But first, we had to endure some shared suffering, YHC had forgotten his phone back at the truck so sprinted back to get it and the PAX did an assortment of exercises that in no way looked uniform. As if an army not yet trained for battle…

    Pre-Thang: Struggler by Brother Isaiah

    Side Straddle Hops for duration and a Burpee for each variation of struggle, struggling or struggler. This song lulls you into a false sense of strength and security but leads to a world of asking “when will this struggle end?” All the while, teaching you “every good thing is born of a struggle.”

    The MAIN THANG:

    The PAX would split into teams and throw 4 axes for points. This would determine the winner of the match; the loser would endure more suffering as a result. The target was set 15 feet away and the scoring is as follows: the black area (which is basically just hitting the board at all) would count as 1 point. The next ring is blue and would count as 2 points, then red as 3 points, and the final bullseye yellow for 4 points.

    Teams were as follows:
    Team 1:
    Cardinal
    Paradox
    Goose
    Duke

    Team 2:
    America’s Best
    Pope
    Lil’ Cuz
    Coyote / Pikachu

    Rd 1 Axe Battle:
    Team 1: 1
    Team 2: 0
    With some very errant throws undoubtedly affected by the 45 mph winds. It was a hurricane folks, nothing to see here.

    Round 1 Training:
    PAX begin with 20 merkins for the winner, and 25 for the losers
    Then a roughly 1/8 mile jog around the baseball field back to the thunderdome.
    Then 20 squats for the winners, and 25 for the losers.
    Bear Crawl around the thunderdome.
    20 Merkins for the winners, 25 for the losers.
    Roughly 1/8th mile around the baseball fields
    20 Squats for the winners, 25 for the losers.
    Lunge Walk around the Thunderdome.

    This was originally planned to be done at the Track, but EDW has locked every sneaky entrance we have found into this beloved new field and track establishment that the riff raff is no longer allowed to use. So we improvised by using the ever fitting “Thunder” dome as the rain continued to pour.

    Rd 2 Axe Battle:
    Everyone was losers with not one axe hitting the target. Horrible display from all, especially YHC who may or may not have spent hours the previous weekend working on technique.

    Round 2:
    This round followed almost the same as round one but the exercises were mountain climbers and leg raises. All did 35 reps as no team won this round. While jogging along around the baseball field YHC noticed a strange fellow sneaking behind a tree, “What could that man be doing?” I wondered. As YHC got closer it appeared he was urinating all over God’s green Earth in front of God and everybody albeit trying to hide behind the smallest tree he could find. This man shall remain nameless but maybe should be on a list somewhere.

    Rd 3 Axe Battle:
    Team 1: 0 from 15 ft
    Team 2: 0 from 15 ft

    Team 1: 4 from 10 ft
    Team 2: 3 from 10 ft

    Round 3:

    Followed the same exercises as Round 1 but due to time we called after/on the second round of jogging. Packed up our stuff and moseyed in the puddles back to the flag while being serenaded by AB’s impeccable Scottish (or maybe Irish) accent. He said stuff the whole way back but no one knows exactly what he said, as in true Scottish (or maybe Irish) fashion.

    COT, and Dox prayed us out.

    Thankful to be back to leading this group and looking forward to more suffering and perseverance in the future.

    Philippians 4:13

    SYITG,

    Lil’ Cuz

  • Mandevillians ASSEMBLE! – from Jose10k

    Lost my first one, so here’s my 2nd one. We ran, Mandevillians represented well, and Bushwacker brought a trailer for a 4 foot ladder

  • Not in This Life, Sucka! – from Yankee Joe

    “My brethren, consider it a cause of great joy whenever you endure various trials, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith will develop perseverance.4 And let perseverance complete its work so that you may become perfect and complete, and not be deficient in any respect.”

    James 1: 2-4
    ——————————–

    ‘Tis the season of resolutions. New year, new me. Keto diets and less sodas. Time to pass on the second helping of cake and put down the crack pipe.

    For men of faith, it is a season of renewed vigor in our relationship with God. It is a time for reflection, humility, and self denial. We are inclined to pause, take an account, and look up. Words like ‘trust’, ‘surrender’, and ‘vulnerability’ swirl around in our heads, desperately trying to make a connection with our hearts. It’s confusing, frustrating, infuriating, inspiring, exciting, terrifying…

    …at least that’s how YHC has been feeling. Perhaps an outlier, but doubtful.

    As such, heading into this Thursday’s Q at the Lion’s Den, YHC recalled an intriguing idea shared by Goose during the three-year F3 Thib manniversary. He shared that he prayed about his beatdown designs, letting the Lord lead…you know, about what might be best for a group of men… gathered in faith. Crazy, right?

    So, that’s what YHC did. What came was a glaring opportunity to share YHC’s struggles in his faith journey…something that required ‘trust’, ‘surrender’, and ‘vulnerability’. Interesting.

    ———————————

    The beatdown would consist of five rounds, taking the Pax through their own faith journey. The ultimate goal would be to sprint for10 minutes without a break at the end. However, before we could sprint, we needed to learn how to walk, jump, lunge, and crawl.

    As YHC neared completing the design, it was clear that there was a gap. Something was missing. After some more prayer, YHC realized that part of his struggle was…well…prayer.

    So, at the end of each round of the faith journey, YHC needed an exercise that would represent our struggle and growth in our prayer lives. But what? The Exicon offered nothing of substance. Maybe some ‘we’re not worthy’s’, but YHC didn’t want Goose to bring 20 coupons. Prayer pose in squat position? Nope, looked too much like a Buddha stance…like Paradox holding Al Gore.

    THEN, the answer was served up on a plate of spinach with a side of smirk and ‘be all you can be’ snark. Popeye quipped to Paradox that YHC’s Apolo Ohno form was unacceptable. Now, YHC is not an overly sensitive lad, but to publicly challenge another man’s form is a serious accusation and bears the burden of proof in a court of kangaroos.

    Yes, yes, ENRON. I hear you all the way in Mobile…the previous sentence may be the most hypocritical statement ever uttered in F3 Thibodaux. YHC has indeed been known to publicly challenge men about their form. But if it pleases this corrupt court, I offer the following evidence.

    Exhibit A: Montana’s AIR SQUATS (like standing geriatric monkey humpers)

    Exhibit B: Paradox’s MERKIN where his waist touches the ground with arms still fully extended (like ⅓ merkin, ⅓ pickle pounder, ⅓ cobra)

    Exhibit C: Enron’s JUMP ROPE (there is no description…it’s just uncanny)

    Exhibit D: Popeye’s BONNIE BLAIR’s (like a depressed MC Hammer shuffle after learning that Z Cavaricci’s went out of fashion)

    Exhibit E: Cardinal’s ARM CIRCLES just rotating at the elbow…no shoulders required

    Exhibit F: America’s Best’s THRUSTERS where the only thing he’s thrusting is Dave Matthews’ inexplicable existence into our ears. (It’s almost as bad as Dox’s entire catalog of music. Almost.)

    —————————————-

    Ok, so the Apolo Ohno. An Exicon favorite in tribute to the two-time Olympic gold medalist speed skater. YHC was mildly aware that he could put more effort into the exercise, perhaps getting lower to the ground, but it was more of a style choice. That said, after watching a few videos of Mr. Ohno’s form, closely studying the mechanics of his crossover cornering techniques, and asking around (for a friend, of course), the verdict was crystal clear.

    YHC’s form was off. I mean…WAY OFF. Like, Samsonite luggage way off. How did this happen? How did it come to this? Why didn’t anyone say anything before? Just like realizing for the first time that your endowment is only average size…at best, part of my world came tumbling down. A house of cards.

    Regardless, YHC now had his secondary theme to represent the morphing struggle of his prayer life.

    ———————————–
    How It Started

    As we moved through Warmarama, YHC included some Apolo Ohno’s as a teaser before the reveal. Here, it was immediately apparent that YHC’s form had NOT improved since watching the videos. I shushed Goose, pretending it was all part of the plan and we proceeded to the thang.

    The Thang

    For each round, the PAX would endure a stage of their faith journey interrupted by a different take on the Apolo Ohno. The versions were close, but a bit awkward…and though uncomfortable and hard, still somehow enriching.

    Round 1

    – Spider-Man crawl to cone
    – 25 That’s A No-hno – In honor of the No-No king, Nolan Ryan and a nod to landing seven uppercuts to Robin Ventura’s face: Apollo Ohno form on the side crossover, but mimicking the Nolan Ryan arm movements normally done in side plank.
    – Reverse Spider-Man back to start
    – Chilcutt Peter Parkers to wait for pax

    ————————————-

    So here we are. At this point, you have made a valiant effort. Excited to launch down a path of walking closer with God, you’ve managed to endure something rather difficult. Then it seems, you find yourself right back where you started.

    However, the question becomes, “Are you? Are you right back where you started?” For YHC, it often feels like running in circles or like taking two steps forward and 100 back. That said, regardless of where you are (physically, spiritually, psychologically), have you taken the time to reflect on where you’ve just been? Are you sure you haven’t grown? Learned? Armed with some shaky, hesitant confidence, you keep fighting the good fight. You might try to take on more though it may feel like sometimes your legs are being cut out from under you.

    Round 2

    – Boo boo bear crawl (three legged) with left leg up to cone
    – 25 Only Bo-noh’s – commemorating one of the greatest dual threats in history, Bo Jackson. Specifically, in memory of that time when he broke a bat over his head after striking out!
    Arms up on either side of head pulling down like breaking a bat over your head
    – Boo boo bear crawl with right leg back to start
    – Chilcutt Peter Parkers to wait for pax

    ————————————–

    Once again, you find yourself seemingly (and frustratingly) near where you started. You’ve suffered a bit more, limping along. This time, however, you are perhaps a bit more willing to pause and reflect. Maybe you acknowledge that you may not have to be in such a hurry. You’re starting to actually consider at a deeper level the concepts of ‘trust’, ‘surrender’, and ‘sacrifice’. The initial euphoria has started to ebb. You move forward, but with caution and A LOT more questions. As such, you take long, slow strides (with knees TOUCHING the ground, Popeye).

    Round 3

    – Flying nuns to cone
    – 25 Ronnie Oh Hell-nohs – In acknowledgement of Enron’s impeccable merkins form and impressive prowess…On either side of the crossover side step, drop down for a merkin (50 total merkins)
    – Reverse flying nun to start
    – Chilcutt Peter Parkers to wait for pax

    ——————————————–

    “And David danced before the Lord with all his might…” 2 Samuel 6:14

    At this point, you only thought your journey had been difficult. The last experience was a wake-up call: It can get a lot tougher. It nearly killed you.

    Except, it didn’t kill you. Actually, as you reflect (more naturally now), you realize that it wasn’t that bad. Not only did you persevere, you feel stronger. What’s more is that you realize you might have even liked the struggle. Not from a sense of misguided martyrdom, but rather from a place of genuine humility. Whoa. What am I going to do now? It’s a new kind of scary. Perhaps there is a sense of empowerment derived not from pride, but from freedom. Real freedom. If you’re like YHC, you’re skeptical, you fight the urge to give in. This ‘surrender’ is even more terrifying when you realize you might be capable of letting go. Regardless, you’re fired up, but you don’t know how to run. Not yet. So you leap.

    “…the baby leaped in her womb…” Luke 1: 41

    Round 4

    – Broad jumps to cone
    – 25 Yankee Jeaux-noh’s – Jump squat in between each ohno for a total of 25 jump squats.
    – Crab walk back to start
    – Chilcutt Peter Parkers to wait for pax

    —————————————-

    “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

    Romans 5: 3-5

    It is time to stand up. You are ready to run, while thanking God for the gift of wisdom to know when you should crawl. And the courage to do so. You may realize that these trials were and will always be part of the journey. Like Job, you might start to look at the setbacks as a Grace. For YHC, the distractions are not borne from difficulty, but rather because I put those things first. What if…just what if I were to give God the first fruits? Give Him all of it?

    You’re ready to run. You can stop whenever you feel like it. Whenever you feel like you have no more room to grow and that you’ve arrived at the pinnacle of your existence.

    You can stop.

    BUTTTT…you’re a man! You need metrics. You track outcomes. You crave structure. You compete to reach a destination. It might occur to you that there IS NO destination. There is no finish line. There is no rest. Well…we are promised that there is…

    …but not in this life, Sucka.

    Round 5

    – Sprint to embankment (approx. 60 yards) and crawl up hill
    – Let Your Yes Be Yes and Your No Be No-hno’s – 25 Apolo Ohno’s…real, authentic, perfectly formed Apolo Ohno’s
    – Sprint back to start
    – Repeato until time is called (approx. 10 minutes)

    ——————————————

    COT, ANIMAL went to MOM JEANS, and Honeysuckle prayed us out.

    Final Thought

    As I was demonstrating the broad jump squats in Round 4, I snarkily warned against incorrect form. I showed what poor form looked like. Then, I attempted to demonstrate the correct form. I then proceeded to FULLY bust my backside and landed flat on my six.

    Humility is a moving target. Once you think you got it, it’s gone.

    SYITG,

    Yankee Jeaux

  • Doom in the Gloom – from Kenna Brah

    7 Hims showed up, unaware of the pain about to be inflicted by YHC.

    Mosie’d to the Rock Pile for Warm Ups
    4ct – 10 Each with 5 Burpees in between each exercise
    Imperial Walkers
    Hairy Rockettes
    Hillbillies

    Next Level Ladders:
    Select a good rock, all exercises with rock
    3 Rnds
    5 Sumo Squat
    10 Clean/Press
    15 Curls
    5 Burpees
    10 Clean/Press
    5 Sumo Squat
    5 Burpees

    Main Thang:
    DORA Style
    Team UP: Timer – Rifle Carries selected Rock to the first Lit Light Pole and back.
    Other PAX man, does:
    100 Chest Press
    150 Pull Overs
    200 Rows

    With a few Minutes to spare, we employed Marie Laveau ( Mary;s evil sister)
    with 5 Burpees in between each PAX’s favorites ab exercises:
    We made 6 Rounds before MOSERY back (see what I did there?) to COT.

    OUT!!

  • The SWAT-a-thon – from Jose10k

    5 HIMS took the red pill this morning to put in the work on a warm but humid morning. The warm-up was the usual stretches of the old and sore muscles and joints. We started off on the second floor to a round of 11s. Squats on the top, burpees on the bottom, back pedal down, sprint to the top. During this workout, we began to notice an organization of individuals on the first floor. As time passed, the number of people grew. As did their weaponry and kevlar. We believe we saw the organization of a SWAT raid, as they each got into unmarked vehicles and drove off. Anywho, we finished up and did one armed row along the fence in cadence (2 rounds) followed by hip flexors. Then 2 calf raises up the stairs (can’t come to the A1C without calf raises). Lt. Dan the length of the parking garage and came back to circle up on your 6. Wife pleasers (all day and all night), another A1C favorite. A few more core and we were done. Intentions for Freon and his wife, Dark Wings friends’ father, and Fletch prayed us out. It was good to see Dark Wing and BBQ post again. Always glad when you get the band back together, we just were a “mindless” Einstein away from having a reunion tour. RunCajunRun has one more team on the northshore looking for members. Hammer has the Q tomorrow. As always, stay safe, stay dry, avoid the mud puddles, but never avoid the beatdowns. SYITG

  • Playing in Muddy puddles!! – from Shooter

    With 7.5 inches of rain from the previous day and misty conditions in this Gloom.
    5 PAX made the post at the scramble for a mix of warmups and roughly 4 miles through the streets of Mandeville. I promise this time I was not bashing anything about the sidewalk installation. In fact Hammer and I were having good chadder along the newly paved path. We had to detour at one point as it has not yet been completed. Well that is where the Muddy puddle comes in as we both nearly took a spill as we tried to switch from sidewalk to shoulder in a sloppy exchange. Luckily neither of us did and one day we will get to journey this newly installed shoulder to a shoulder as Pelican stated..

    Appreciate the post gentlemen and until the next Gloom 👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼!!

  • Cinder Block work at The Gipper – from Einstein

    Shelter from the rain was the order of the day, each of us grabbing a coupon and sheltering under the depot pavilion for most of the workout.

    Warmup: toe touch, sshops, grass grabbers, shoulder shrugs, imperial walkers, swimmers F&R, hillbillies, hi jack hi jill, planking star stretch.

    Thang:
    3 sets of cinder block workout, each separated by a run around the water tower block.
    sets included; curls, rows, presses, tricep ext, figure 8s thru the legs, lawn mower pulls, squats, kb swings, merkins, inclined merkins, blockees, wrist curls , murder bunnies, farmer carries, rifle carries, sit-ups with block, lunges with block.

    Mary:
    planking star stretch, world’s greatest stretch, 40 second plank

    Akbar led us out.

  • Burpees, Blockees, Baby Boo-Boo – from Bolt

    There was meaningful chatter and HCs in mumblechatter after YHCs roll call the night before and when the gloom came there was a generational slant to the pax who showed up—with Boo-Boo being the “baby” of the trio.
    Warmorama with a lower impact mobility start given the 150+ combined ages of the pax plus Scantron’s KnOTs the day before had my knees barking.

    The Thang: KnOT, lunge, high knee our way to JPAX but there was an accidental skip along the way so you know the tax: 5 burpees. Once at the destination: Begin with 5 minute EMOM of…10 BURPEES (MABA…duh), Boo-Boo was pleased.

    Prepare for possum altercation to retrieve coupons—no long-nosed cat to be found. Assembled pax for full body BD: 5 blockees followed by an exercise of 15 reps (con coupon) with 5 blockees between each exercise: squats, curls, big boys, alternating lunges, tricep press, flutter kicks, Yang squats, bent over rows, gas pumpers and finish with 5 blockees for a total of 55 blockees and just enough time to make our way back to the flag.
    COT: prayers for Wedding Planner’s daughter, gratitude, mental health and cancer struggles.

  • 3 on the Escalator – from Russo

    Muggy and not cool this morning at Granny’s, as low 60s returned, as did the sweating for YHC. Jose was wrapping up his pre-thing run, all business-like and ready to kick some tail. Steve joined shortly thereafter. Reason number 104 to come out to Granny’s: to catch Steve coming out for the darkness riding his bike, not looking a whole lot different than when Jigsaw wanders out to tell his next unsuspecting victim “I want to play a game.” Now I will ponder what a Saw-inspired beatdown would look like: “you have two minutes to complete 20 burpees with Waterpik form, or you’ll be subject to feeling the Jose summer sweat splashdown”.

    Warmup – all 10-15x IC
    Sealjacks, grass grabbers, high knees, imperial walkers, self love, toe touches

    Thang
    I had hoped to compete what YHC calls the Escalator, 8 exercises, varying rep counts 1 through 8, total rep for each of the 8 at 36, as we moseyed in a figure 8 pattern around Granny’s. Alas, it’s a farther mosey than expected, so we were only able to complete 4 of the 8 rounds. All told, even without a fancy Garmin, my phone said we did about 2 miles, or about 3200 meters. Which is 8 times around a standard 400 meter track. Math, Jose!

    Exercises:

    8 count bodybuilders
    SMCs
    Imperial squat walkers (2 is 1)
    Donkey kicks
    Big boy sit-ups
    Wide merkins
    Kid N Plays (2 is 1)
    Murder bunnies

    Mumble revolved around Mardi Gras, leaks, appliances, episode 8s, and New Year’s resolutions.

    COT, NOR, Announcements, Prayer, in that order.

    RCR, Camping, Ivan, all coming up.

    Major T claps to both Steve and Jose for posting after Sunday’s nightmare, made all the more impressive because of Jose’s IronPax / Au Lait / Nightmare trifecta. He continues to set the bar high.

    SYITG

  • Pardon the Interruption – from Honeysuckle

    On an unseasonably warm Tuesday Tuff morning, YHC arrived early to the Stage only to find Goose and Pope already waiting. So the fact that there were some exercises written down on paper was not going to be a surprise to them. But Jankee Joe, Safety Valve, and Goldilox arrived after YHC hid the sheet. Still, nobody knew what was about to happen. The warmarama began

    SSH, WMH, WM, IW, ACF/R, CP, TS, HK, BK

    Then the PAX moseyed to the start of Rich Man’s Loop and began an Indian Run with a 2-burpee drop off. This was done for the entire mile. Yankee Joe did in fact make it the whole mile, so he may be in better shape for RCR than he thinks. In the homestretch, a svelte figure emerged from the gloom and he revealed himself to be Smooth Operator coming in hot.

    Back at the Stage, YHC fetched the exercise list and described the 2-man Dora. 120 each of

    Shoulder tap merkins
    Tempo squats
    World War I situps
    Crab Humper / Crab Dip
    Reverse Crunch
    Bonnie Blairs

    While the second team member ran around the sidewalk around the field.

    This sounds straightforward enough, but there was a wrinkle to this Thang. Both the team member doing the exercise and the team member running would be subjected to interruptions. The exercising team member had to listen out for an EMOM beep, at which point he has to do two burpees before continuing on with the exercises.

    The running team member would only have to contend with the Hwy 308 traffic. For every vehicle that passed (most PAX also included vehicles exiting the subdivision), independent of where on the loop you might be, one burpee had to be performed.

    This was to challenge the PAX’s mental endurance as much as physical. The EMOM interruptions were clearly coming every minute, so everyone knew what to expect and when to expect them. That did not make handling the interruptions any easier, though. The highway interruptions were in an unknown quantity and interval. Let’s just say traffic was heavy this morning.

    The combination of planned and unplanned interruptions resonates with YHC following a week with a planned work trip, disrupting YHC’s own schedule as well as the family’s, plus several other unplanned issues that seem to be piling up. In other words, life, and we all can relate to it.

    The PAX wisely let the annoyance and tiredness wash over them as it was often hard to get momentum during the run portion. For example, picture a line of five cars passing, but after the five burpees were completed, only a single step could be taken before yet another car passed. And then another single step. Smooth Operator had a Lieutenant Dan moment when he was frequently seen mocking the highway for even more cars to pass.

    Due to time, the exercise quantity was reduced so we could finish, but no one was really upset about that. In fact, a determined Safety Valve was able to start and finish all the Crab Dips before Smooth and I (throuple) returned from the run. As per usual, Goose, Pope, Lox, and YJ crushed the beatdown but in lieu of planking YHC politely asked everyone to continue with the Hwy 308 burpees until time was called.

    Announcements, prayer intentions, Lox prayed us out.

    As always, it is a privilege to be a part of this group that continues to challenge and push each other to be better in every facet of life.

    SYITG,
    Honeysuckle