6 dedicated men posted in the gloom on a chilly 39 degree Wednesday morning. YHC was listed as the Q, so the Shovel Flag was planted, the disclaimer was given, and then….
Mosey to the track for the Warmup
SSH IC x 31
IW IC x 15
Arm Circles – 10 Fwd, 10 Bwd
Abe Vigodas IC x 10
Grass Grabbers IC x 10
Catch Me if You Can – Partner Up
Pax 1 – Run Backwards on the track
Pax 2 – 5 Burpees then sprint to catch partner
Flap Jack until each Pax does 20 Burpees
Four Corners At the start, sprint straightaway to first corner Catalina Wine Mixers IC x 10 Mosey to corner 2 Partner Decline Merkins – Pax 1 holds Pax 2 feet off the deck while in Squat position – Pax 2 does 10 Merkins – Flapjack Sprint straightaway to corner 3 Merkins IC x 10 Mosey to corner 4 Diamond Merkins IC x 10
Mosey to Foundry, stopping at each lightpole for 5 jump lunges Stations Station 1 – Pullups AMRAP Station 2 – WW2 Situps AMRAP Station 3 – Run to bike track, 3 burpees and run back (timer) Rinse and Repeat
Find a pull up bar, and hang so your feet are not touching the deck. Hang for 1 minute. This was a great test of grip strength, and one we will see again.
Mosey back to the flag for Mary Flutter Kicks IC x 15 Tin Snips IC x 10 Hello Dolly IC x 15
Count off, Name-o-rama, Announcements, Intentions, and closed with a prayer to the Sky Q. Thanks for posting with me today! SYITG!
As YHC pulled up to the Wednesday rendevieu point for “we south of I-12” a familiar looking vehicle simultaneously pulled in a few spots away.Taking the gamble that I wasn’t about to make a fool of myself, I jumped out pointing and waiving my hands. Sure enough, Steve had returned on a more permenant basis to reclaim his moniker of Out of Work Hair Dresser! Shooter pulled up and we were on our way to meet up with the Wednesday warriors of The Gipper.
The frosty gloom was ripe for a proper beat down, and QIC was ,indeed, hoping not to disappoint.
WARM O RAMA
Toes Touches x20
Cherry Pickers x 15
Imperial Walkers x10
Fire Hydrants Rx10 Lx10
Scorpion Kicks x10
THANG
Gathered at Clock Tower, PAX did_____ while each individual did _______…..
R1 Hi Knees, 50%/100% sprints
R2 Butt Kicks, Side Shuffle
Mosied to court house for Irky Dirks: OYO Irkin up each step, Dirkin down each step
Mosied to parking lot outside parking garage; suicides to each parking space line
Mosied up the parking garage ramps and down the steps and over the front of court house for some Freak Nasties, Box Jumps, Irkins, and Step Ups
Indian Run back to clock tower to continue…
R3 Squats, Backward/forward sprint
R4 SSH, Bunny Hops
COT – Out Of Work Hair Dresser prayed us out
Many thanks to the brave souls showed up and stuck it out even when they discovered it was Bushwacker they would be following. APPRECIATION
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go….except City Park. YHC took extra care and effort to create a Map My Run Route for a Christmas 610 Stomp. This route would take the PAX down Roosevelt Mall and Lelong Dr and along the City Park Walking path next to the small lagoon so that we could witness the lights and celebration of the Holiday Season. I have attached a few photos below of the sites witnessed this morning.
Here are the lights at the corner of City Park Ave and CarroltonHere are the lights hanging in the trees as we crossed Anseman Ave near the City Park Ave. EntranceThe PAX mid stride as we admired the lights in the Peristyle Here’s me taking a selfie directly in front of the Celebration in the Oaks entrance. The rear view of the Botanical Gardens. Aren’t they magnificent?
The PAX reached the flag and then turned around to sweep the 6. As a team, we entered the practice track for 1 lap and circled up for some Mary (IC)
LBC x 24
Penguins x 24
Wife Pleasers x 24
Flutter Kick x 24
Dying Cockroach x 24
Plank (Center, Left, Right)
Merkins x 12
Mosey Back to the flag for Counterama, Namerama, and COT. Today YHC requested that we keep request intentions in our hearts and speak those intentions of thanks to the Sky Q for the fortunes we have received. Thank you for the opportunity to lead. SYITM
NMM – YHC has contacted City Park via a public tweet and requested that the lights be turned on from 0515 till sunrise. Now, we play the waiting game.
3 pax met up at the Mandeville trailhead, with YHC coming in hot as per usual. The outside temperature read 30 degrees and Coconuts, with only a light jacket… no pants , hat, or gloves, seemed unfazed by the elements.
Warm up: mosey to bus stop:
Ssh and IW x 20 IC
Forward lunge with bows to the ground x 4
Back lunge with twist x4
Lateral lunge x 4
Sumo squat to stand x 4
The thang:
Step ups x 10/ shld taps x20
Mosey to corner x 100 yd dash/ mosey x 100 yd dash
Pistol squats x 10/manmakers x 10
Mosey/ x 100 yd dash/ mosey x 100 yd dash
Split squats x 10/ Plyo push-ups x 10
Mosey to corner, lunge walk 1/4 of the way, x 75yd dash, mosey to corner, back pedal x 25 yds, 75 yd dash (slight modification due to bronchospams)
Sit to stand single leg x 10/ vaults x 10
One more round of modification mosey/ dash
X 10 burpees to finish off.
Name o rama, cot, prayer
Thanks guys for pushing me out of the warm fart sack this morning!
Being inspired by Yankee’s gentle reminder to post our backblasts, I went looking through my phone notes hoping I had written everything down. Luckily I never delete anything and found my notes at the bottom of a grocery list.
We started with the circle. I forgot to write these numbers down so the circle reps might be a little off.
Secure Shells(A little IT humor) x 30
Windmill x 30
Peter Parkers x 30
Mountain Climbers x 30
Imperial Walkers x 30
Then we did an Indian run to the top of the mountain.
At the top of the mountain we partnered up and took turns running all the way down the stairs and then back up and doing the following:
Burpees x 50
Jump Lunges x 100
Real Freddy Merucrys x 200
Next we moved to the benches for some rapid fire dips and incline m’rcans. We started with 12 of each back to back with no break and the intent was to work our way down to 1 reducing by 1 each time. Turns out this is ridiculously hard so once we got to 8 we reduced by 2 each time.
Once done we stayed at the bench for some step-ups and then moseyed back to the flag for a little bit of mary.
After the mary we did name-o-rama and and honored Ron Jeremy by naming the FNG Hedgehog.
28 PAX ignored the threat of rain and made it out The Mothership this Sat. We lucked out with a “calm before the storm” as the the guys assmebled and prepared for takeoff. YHC wanted to mix things up with an old school City Park history tour as part of the workout, similar to a few beatbowns circa 2015. The night before had the forecast looking nasty, so the plan was to stay close to cover and hone in on a few of the iconic landmarks right there in the original part of the park. The 1300 acre park was established in 1854 and has lots of history, great architecture, nature, wildlife, and of course trees….home to one of the largest collection of live oaks in the world. Generations of New Orleans residents and visitors alike have enjoyed the park so it only seemed fitting to pay homage to a few things that make it a great place. As the clock struck 5:30 we discussed the plan for the day, followed by the disclaimer, then off to….
First stop, The Peristyle, built in 1907 to have outdoor dances and concerts for the “well heeled” New Orleanians….some chatter from Rudy about Jingle Vader being in that category. Using the year as the rep count, we started with Imperial Walkers x19 and Windmills x7.
Then an ugly mosey around The Casino Building with some doubt from the PAX before going up and over Popp Bandstand for Stop #2 on the nearby grass.
With 12 granite columns and topped with a bronze dome, Popp Bandstand was named for is benefactor, John F. Popp, and is a replica of the Temple of Love in Versailles. In 1916, Popp made a donation to the park to build the Popp Bandstand which was completed in 1917. The Spanish Mission Revival-style “Casino” building opened in 1913 as a place that sold refreshments. Because of that, the City Park legend says that the building originally was called a cantina, using the Spanish word for a place where food and drinks are served. In a 2008 Times-Picayune story, City Park Executive Director Beau Bassich said he believed the New Orleans dialect colloquialized the word into “casina.” However, 1913 newspaper articles do use the word “casino” to describe the new building, explaining it will be “the amusement center of the park,” though there is no mention of gambling.
Here we circled up using 1917 and 1913 to inspire the rep count for Peter Parkers x19, Low Slow Squats x17, Mountain Climbers x19 and Arm Circles x13.
Then we recaped the age of the park, 164 years, with a Plank Merkin circle where all PAX held a high plank while merkins were cranked out individually in a clockwise manner up to 164 total.
Then a mosey over the stone bridge towards City Park Ave for a meandering jog through the oldest grove of mature live oak tress the world. We made sure to recognize the two oldest ones by looping around McDonough Oak and then, after some doubt from the PAX about my navagation ability, made our way to the Ansmen Oak, both of which are approx 800 years old. Here we circled up for an 8 round burpee countdown, one round for each century…Burpees x8,x7,x6,x5,x4,x3,x2,…x8 for the crowdpleaser! More about City Park trees here: http://neworleanscitypark.com/in-the-park/trees-in-city-park
Then a mosey over the Ansmen Bridge, one of 9 built by the WPA, and back to The Peristyle where we lined up on one side for a partner circuit. This included 8 rounds of PAX #1 performing the specified exercise across the Peristyle and back (timer) while PAX #2 stayed put with a stationary exercise.
1)Inchworm & Wall Sit
2) Bearcrawl fwd/bwd & Balls to the Wall
3) Duck Walk & Declined Plank
4) Crab Walk fwd/bwd & Wall Sit
5) Lunge Walk & LBC
6) Kong & Balls to the Wall
7) Fiddler Crab & Flutter Kicks
8) Lateral Lunge & Wall Sit
Next up, we couldn’t leave out the adjacent Great Lawn that has hosted countless hours of F3 beatdowns. Built in 2010, the Goldring/Woldenberg Great Lawn is enjoyed by many and has seen a slew of picnics, concerts, yoga classes, and side straddle hops over the past 8 years. So we moseyed a quick loop to the Great Lawn and back to the nearby benches for a partner circuit of: PAX #1 Dips x20 OYO while PAX#2 runs to GL for Merkins x10 and back. Rinse and repeat for 3 rounds total follwed by a “victory lap” around the GL topped off with planking to wait for the six.
Still some time left for a few more history lessons so over to the rear of The Peristyle to gaze upon the banks of Bayou Metairie. Although it is now a landlocked lagoon, Bayou Metairie was originally a natural waterway spanning from Bayou St. John to the swampy area near what is now Old Metairie, essentially following the path of current day Metairie Rd. Once used by the Native Americans and early settlers, the banks of the bayou gradually formed the Metairie Ridge which provided high ground for ground transportation and later development of homes.
Since we didn’t have a year to use for rep count, we shifted our focus to 1946, the year of the first City Park Big Bass Rodeo, which is the oldest freshwater fishing rodeo in the country. At this point YHC had to alter the planned exercises and went with the first thing that came to mind, burpees, which really seemed to excite the PAX and peanut gallery, given the initial silence of disbelief followed by some grumbling and the “we already did enough burpees” comments. So PAX#1 knocked out Burpees x19 while PAX #2 held a wall sit on the ledge along Bayou Metairie, which had an awkward slope not conducive to said exercise. Then partner plank slaps, aka patty cake, holding a high plank and alternating hand slaps up to 46.
Nearing the end of our hour, we had just enough time remaining to circle up under The Persistyle for some themed Mary. YHC breifly talked about the various projects completed by the WPA (Works Progress Administration) in the 1930’s throughout City Park, including Tad Gormley Stadium, nine concrete bridges, a golf course, several art deco conrete benches, and Roosevelt Mall. In 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt came in town for the dedication ceremony. Pics below and more info at: http://neworleanscitypark.com/in-the-park/works-progress-administration-in-new-orleans-city-park
In this undated archival photo, President Roosevelt chats with New Orleanian Paul Alfred Montreuil, 7, at the dedication of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Mall in City Park. Also pictured: Marcel G. Montreuil, park superintendent; George Grundmann, chairman of the dedication committee and vice president of the park board; and James H. Crutcher, administrator of the WPA in Louisiana.
Our WPA and FDR themed Mary consisted of:
W – Weezey Jeffersons x10IC
P – Pickle Pounders x15IC
A – American Hammer x20IC
F – Flutter Kicks x20IC
D – Dying Cockroach x15IC
R – name??? exotic exercise led by Triple Shift x25IC
Moseyed back to the flag with some rain for added bonus. Capped things off with a COT and announcements. T-claps to War Eagle for stepping up to lead the prayer. He’s a pro at that stuff and much more eloquent in that field than YHC.
NMM – Thanks to the PAX for bearing with my non-professional tour guide ability and abbreviated history tidbits throughout the morning. As always, the peanut gallery led by Rudy and others kept it entertaining. T-claps to Mahatma and others for the occasional motivational cheers and USMC grunts to keep the PAX in high gear. Several guys asked for links (http://neworleanscitypark.com/in-the-park) to some of the City Park history in so I included several in this backblast, which may be one of the longest in F3 history….sorry for the long read, if you made it this far. My wife asked if I was writing a book.
With it being just over two weeks before Christmas, bells could be heard along the lakefront in Mandeville on a cold and dreary Saturday morning. Could it be the salvation army ringing their bells to get donations from the dedicated runners on the Lakefront? No sir, it is a bunch of idiots doing ten burpees everytime they ring a cowbell…..
Warm Up:
15 Toe Touches IC, 20 Windmills IC, 20 IW’s IC, 20 SS Hops IC, 20 Butt Kicks IC, 20 High KNees IC, 10 Forward Arm Rolls IC, 10 Reverse Arm Rolls IC, 10 Overhead Claps IC
Cowbell Instructions:
Every time you hear the cowbell, stop and do ten burpees. At the beginning of the beat down, that cowbell was like the pretty girl at the dance. Everybody wanted to have some time with it. About half way through, she turned into the ugly girl at the dance. Nobody wanted anything to do with it. BUT, everyone had their chance to dance which meant, with 10 Pax, we did a hundred burpees through out the work out. I think Zoo Lander might have rang it twice, so maybe 110.
Mosey to first block: Bolt 45s, 5 Dive Bomber Push Ups IC, 5 Lunges IC
Mosey to second block: Rinse and Repeat exercises from Block 1 and add 5 Absolutions
Mosey to third block: Rinse and Repeat exercises from Block 2, and add 10 Freak Nasties IC
Mosey to the park: Ascending Burp and Groin
Each pac does a burpee. After the merkin part of the burpee, do a groiner. Everytime you do a burpee increase the merkin and groiner by one rep. Do this until you get to ten merkins and ten groiners. So I guess if you add these burpees into it, we did 120. By this point, who the hell is counting.
Rinse and Repeat this three times. Second set increase reps to 12 for all exercises. On the third set, increase reps to 15. Kudos to Coconuts to ringing the cowbell during the Mary to give our abs a break. Only at F3 is doing 10 burpees a break from anything.
Indian run back to the flag.
Bushwacker prayed us out. Great F2 at the coffeteria after.
This back blast is going to be short and sweet since I am off to train for the Nightmare Before Christmas beatdown 12/16 at the lakefront!
It was a little cold so we just started with 50 SSH in cadence to warm everyone up. We followed that with some windmills and merkins.
Today’s beatdown was a little something I have been doing at the house where you have a list of exercises correlating with the ABC’s. Every letter has an exercise (like 10 burpees, 16 jump squats, or hello dolly’s for example.) During the course of the workout the PAX would shout “What’s my name”? We would spell out their name and do the exercises for each letter.
With all of the people at the beatdown, we had to shorten some people’s names in order to get through it. We had the most fun I think spelling out “Ben”.
One other addition was when all the PAX did a wall squat and we passed a 30-lb plate down the line. Once it was at the end the person at the end took the weight up and down the Taj Mahal staircase and back to the front of the line to start the process again.
We rallied back at the flag for the last name (Ringo) and Bushwacker closed us out.
Thanks for letting me lead. Every day we get a little stronger, and that’s because we push each other so well.
