Category: New Orleans

  • Get out of bed sleepy head!

    Whenever I sign up to Q or when someone signs me up to Q (Fracsac, Hawgcycle, Tool, et. al., there is always a nervous energy that starts to build up until the morning of the beatdown. I’m not exactly sure what causes that. Maybe its leading the PAX, maybe its the unspoken expectations of a great workout, maybe its the work that will be required, or maybe its the bean burrito I ate the night before. Well, whatever it is, the date on the calendar doesn’t move no matter what happens the day before. I can’t let my F3 brothers down!

    DISCLAIMER AND WARM UP

    Arrive at the virtual flag in front of NOMA, give the disclaimer and then take off to the coupon pile by Tad Gormley. Man, that is far! Maybe we can move the AO to the baby foundry to be more centrally located to the coupons, but I digress. We arrive at the coupon pile and break the pax up into groups of three (3). 2 pax members grab one coupon each and the other pax member grabs two coupons as we head to the field next to Roosevelt mall. Circle up for a warmup of 20 SSH, 20 Hacky Sacks, 20 High Knees and 20 Butt Kicks, and 20 J-Lows all IC.

    THE THANG

    Line up in groups of three facing the sidewalk of Roosevelt Mall and perform the following exercises.

    PAX 1 (Timer) – Farmers carry two coupons to the sidewalk and back (25 yards). PAX 2 – Burpee broad jump three (3) times out and three (3) times back. PAX 3 – Thrusters with coupon. 2 rounds

    PAX 1 (Timer) – Farmers carry two coupons to the sidewalk and back (25 yards). PAX 2 – Lunge walk with coupon overhead five (5) times out and five times (5) back. PAX 3 – WW2 situps with coupon. 2 rounds

    PAX 1 (Timer) – Farmers carry two coupons to the sidewalk and back (25 yards). PAX 2 – Side lunge with coupon five (5) times out and five times (5) back. PAX 3 – Sundial – plank walk in a circle with feet on a coupon. 2 rounds

    THANG TWO (2)

    Absolution x 10 IC, Angle Grinder x 10 IC and A.L.A.R.M. (Shoulder press, lunge, LBC, run to the sidewalk and back, and mountain climbers all with a coupon.

    Put the coupons back, headed back to the virtual flag and was incensed that the Mothership crew was tresspassing and, of course, mumblechatter ensued :-). With a few minutes left, we do some mobility to cool down.

    COUNTOFF, NAMERAMA and CIRCLE OF TRUST

    So honored to lead such a great group of men. Prayed for Rudy’s father, for the safety of Amanda Eller (she is the niece of my mentor and is the missing woman in Hawaii) and that we would positively impact others by being involved and virtuous.

  • A-B-C, Easy as 1-2-3 1

    Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Da Parish, Happy Birthday to me.   YHC is not sure who started this tradition of Qing a PAX special day, but the gloom was not the first thing I wanted to greet on the first day of my 37th year.   But alas, I put my name on the spreadsheet, as I do every year. 

    The Thang

    • A – Abe Vigoda
    • B – Burpee
    • C – Catalina Wine Mixer
    • D – dying cockroach
    • E – E2K (elbow to knee)
    • F – Floyd Mayweather
    • G – Goofball
    • H – Hurpees (burpee with hand release merkin)
    • I – Imperial Walkers
    • J – J Lo’s
    • K – Knerkin (knuckle merkin) 
    • L – LBFCs (LBC’s while flutter kicking)
    • M – Monkey Humpers
    • N – Nolan Ryan’s
    • OP- Partner up for overhead claps+people’s chair & plank jacks
    • Q – quad stretch + hamstring stretch
    • R – Rosalita (while we listen to Bruce Springsteen’s Rosalita)
    • S – Seal Jack’s
    • T – Travoltas (while we listened to the BeeJee’s Staying Alive) 
    • U – Up Straddle Hop (1 legged SSH)
    • V – V Ups
    • W – Wife Pleasers
    • X – X Lunges (I just made this up.  2 forward & 2 reverse lunges forming an X),  
    • Y – Y’s (a higher than normal air press)
    • Z – Zombie crawl back to the flag.

    Thanks were given to the Sky Q for the ability to better ourselves this morning and give strength & patience to those who need it. Closed with the serenity prayer.

    Thank you for the opportunity to lead, SYITG,

    Da Parish, age 36

     

  • Party at Okwata

    There was excitement oozing from GroupMe yesterday in anticipation of the party at Okwata. Bones was trying to draw the uptown crowd in. The lakeview clown car(s) all showed up! 16 Pax joined YHC on the lakefront to celebrate the day a legend was born. Brief disclaimer, then a mosey around the mardi gras fountain with butt kicks, high knees, and carioca.

    Circle up on the grassy area for a warmup.

    SSH IC x 49 – Hokie Pokie figured it out……
    Abe Vigodas IC x 10
    Arm Circles IC x 20
    Grass Grabbers IC x 15
    Peter parker IC x 20
    Mountain Climbers IC x 20
    Parker Peter IC x 20

    Party favor 1

    Mosey to the top of the levee for a disperse Indian Run. Last pax runs to the front and yells disperse and an exercise. Pax disperse either side of the levee, complete 3 of the exercise, and run back up the levee back in formation. YHC called it a little over half way through as time was a concern. Regular Indian run to a clear spot for:

    Catalina Wine Mixers IC x 10 (Crowd pleaser)
    Disperse Indian Run is a challenge with 17 Pax. But no complaints here!

    Party favor 2

    Mosey back to a drier area for a little Shock and Awe (Happy Birthday to Me!)
    SSH IC x 6
    10 Burpees OYO
    SSH IC x 6
    9 Burpees OYO
    SSH IC x 6
    8 Burpees OYO
    ……..
    ……..
    SSH IC x 6
    2 Burpees OYO
    SSH IC x 6
    10 Burpees OYO (cause we don’t do 1 Burpee)
    Nobody commented on the odd 6 SSH. YHC let an extra slide by the first time, but there was no chance of letting anyone actually know. So 6 SSH’s it was throughout…….

    Mary
    Tin Snips IC x 15
    Flutter Kicks IC x 20


    Party favor 3

    Mosey back to the levee for :
    Quadraphilia with 5 burpees at the top of the levee each time up. Completed approximately 5 minutes of this horrible evolution before time was up

    Mosey back to the virtual shovel flag for countoff, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and closed out with a prayer to the Sky Q.

    NMM

    Thank you for showing up in force this morning and celebrating my birthday with me. A legend was born this day. That’s right, YHC shares a birthday with Janet Jackson………

    Bar-a-thon tomorrow night!!!

    ISI point!

    SYITG




  • Foundry McDeuce

    13 men arrived at the Foundry on a really beautiful May morning. Clear skies, cool, sun rising. Days like this really make you appreciate the beauty in the world, and make getting out of bed worth it. Enjoy it while it lasts fellas, because the heat is coming. A disclaimer and off we go.

    We mosey to the track for the warm-up COP: SSH x 20 IC, IW x 20 IC, Windmills x 10 IC, Arm Circles 10 forward 10 backward IC, J-Lo’s x 10 IC, Mountain Climbers x 10 IC.

    We stayed at the track for a Dirty McDeuce. 3 exercises with a 12 count (1 arm, 1 leg, 1 core), then a 400m lap around the track.

    • Round 1: Merkins, Squats, LBC’s
    • Round 2: Right leg cross-over Merkins, Side Lunges, Flutter Kicks
    • Round 3: Left leg cross-over Merkins, Jump Lunges, Hello Dolly
    • Round 4: Teepee Merkins, Monkey Humpers, American Hammer

    Next we moseyed to the Foundry, stopping at each Light post for 5 Merkins. At the Foundry, 4 stations for circuit work.

    • Round 1: Body Rows, Step-ups, Pull-ups, 15 WWII sit ups (the count)
    • Round 2: Body Rows, Dips, Hanging knee ups, 20 Squats (the count)

    We mosey back to the track for a 200m sprint, then mosey on to the flag for count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and a prayer. Days like this are really what it’s all about. A beautiful crisp day spect with friends trying to make ourselves better. Thank you guys.

    Walleye

  • Don’t You Wish You Had Mandals.

    15 strong at The Stomp for a rousing round of rarájipari. We divided into to 4 teams and YHC gave the obligatory disclaimer about the inherent dangers to your ankles. I then called out a destination that only a few were familiar with and the race was on.

    The Thang

    Two teams headed down Roosevelt Mall toward the museum and two headed the opposite direction. YHC gave the team of Screwtop, Shuffle, and Manscape some bad directions a couple of times which allowed our team of Bongo, Kuch, El Guapo, and me to catch up. Once we made it to the woods we could hear another team. After much wandering around in the Couturie Forest, the team of Tool, Fracsac, Rev Sox and Abacus made it to the top of Laborde Mountain first, where Tool being the HIM that he is, immediately started leading everyone in some Mary. After a couple of rounds of Mary there was still no sign of team four (Dirty Dell, Briefs, Room Service, and Half Nelson). Being up against the clock, YHC had everyone start race #2 back to the flag while I went deep into the forest to locate the Team Dirty Briefs. They were close. YHC led them to our city’s highest point for future reference and then we were off to the flag. When I caught up to the other teams, Team Screwscape Shuffle was nowhere to be found. They were about a mile ahead of everyone else. My team made the decision to take Marconi on the way back and we got to the flag with about 5 minutes to spare. Still no sign of the Screwscape Shuffle. We found them at 6:15 apparently running victory laps around City Park.

    The Skinny
    • Mandals are freaking awesome for playing rarajipari. It’s as if the game was invented by people that wear them. Just ask Kuch about my sandwedge ability to get the ball out of the rough
    • T-claps to me, Bongo, and Kuch. We were on a team with El Guapo and he didn’t run off and leave us. Maybe he could have, but I’m going to believe that we hung with him out of our own improvement
    • Marconi is definitely the fastest way to Laborde Mountain. We will have to outlaw that route in the future.
    • T-claps to the Lakeview Krewe as they continue to successfully EH every man in the greater New Orleans area. This is Hall of Fame type EHing that we are witnessing by Screwtop et al., a la Reluctant Yankee 2015-16, 2017 Triple Shift, or the HNJ Flood of 2018.
    • T-claps to Rev Sox for rocking the tank on an unofficial Tank Top Tuesday.

  • Bacon Rarajapari with a slice of ultimate burpee bacon

    It’s my birthday week so indulge me and let me do what I want with this beatdown. 70 degrees cool and beautiful outside. Showed up with my bucket of baseballs, and a frisbee. The pre-beatdown chatter focused on the Bourbon Rodeo on Monday night – total FOMO from me. I had a great B-Day with the fam but totally jealous of the food and booze beatdown hosted by Sandbar, Squeal, and 86.

    Started off with grabbing some baseballs out of the bucket. We ran to the parking lot in front of the zoo. SSH x 20. Imp Walkers x 20 and Morning Glories x 10. Drop your ball and run to Audubon Statue.

    At Audubon we did around the clock merks x 15 at 3,6,9,and 12 – That means inclined merks, right arm raised merks, decline merks, left arm raised merks.

    Drop the ball and run to the FLY beach playing Rarajapari with partner – only rule is that you can’t kick the ball twice.

    At the FLY beach we did Monkey Humpers x 20 and Mtn Climbers x 20

    Drop your ball and run the big hill with your partner and your ball – finish by kicking your ball over the hill.

    At the FIELD we played Ultimate Frisbee. We divided teams based on F3 shirts. 2 burpees for a change of possession. 7 burpees for a score. Final score was 7-3. So my team did 49 burpees and the bad guys in F3 shirts who enjoy ruining birthdays did a mere 21 burpees. Not including turn overs.

    Some observations–Angie’s List is the Honey Badger of ultimate – knocking frisbees out of peoples hands with reckless abandon, Bones used to play professional ultimate – he even knew the correct terms for different plays,etc. If you ever need a ringer call Bones. Nip Tuck has a ridiculous wingspan – he was pulling out some crazy plastic man long arm catches. Peaches can sail a frisbee – his first kick off was two football fields away–guess I made the field too small for him, G-Spot has Drew Brees like accuracy with the frisbee – he landed 2 kickoffs on the goal line, Quarterpipe also may have played ultimate in Division 1 – punk, King Kong got attacked by the wet grass monster – I hope your knee and your groin are OK, he is not afraid to dive and finally Wipeout is a post up beast. Just throw it up in the air and he will come down with it. Nice TD. Sorry to the guys who didn’t get a mention.

    Rarajapari back to Audubon Statue. At the Statue LBCs while you wait. Also had a minute for Low Country Crab x 20. It wouldn’t have been my beatdown without them.

    Finally back to the FLAG with some Rarajapari. Careful crossing Magazine. Got back 30 sec early so we did MISSION IMPOSSIBLE to finish.

    Thanks for allowing me the chance to lead. Always a pleasure. In the prayer I asked everyone to BE THE BACON. Be the thing that people look forward to in everything that you do.

  • Tee-Tee Returns

    Thanks to Douille for giving up his birthday Q so I could lead a 3-year anniversary beat down. I meant to give him a shout out during the work out and totally forgot so please tell him happy birthday next time you see him. I racked my brain to come up with a good workout involving the number 3 but none seemed to want to stick. I figured I’d catch my groove with something and moved on to the idea that I would provide a little F3 Nola 5/11/16 trivia.

    Warm UP:

    Disclaimer and quick mosey to the peristyle. It’s always refreshing to see America’s future lounging around the lagoon with a good vape in hand at 6:30. I must say I was a little jealous of the one guy with three girls but recalled that set up usually meant no deal was going to be sealed and buddy you might just need to pack it in the for night. Nonetheless I think they were curious of the pax and when one young lady started doing side straddle hops I lost the pax momentarily. We re-centered though and knocked out those SSH IC x 30, IW IC x 30, Grass Grabbers IC x 30, Peter Parker IC x 20, Mountain Climbers IC x 20, Parker Peter IC x 20, and something else.

    The Thing:

    Mosey around the way OYO to the little foundry. Plank and wait. Divvy into groups of 3: Al Gores, Pull-ups (count, 10), Dips. Rotate and repeat x 1.

    Mosey further around the way OYO to the track.

    Trivia fact one: 5/11/16 was a banner day at The Skinny. FNG’s included YHC plus Quick Draw (anyone spotted our favorite boy in blue lately?) and G-spot. Not sure who in the pax that day knew that ‘G-spot’ is a nickname for Greensboro, NC but the name caught on. I assume G-spot omits that nugget when detailing how he really got his name.

    Anyway the pax has caught their breath by now and is ready to run a mile. Easy enough but catch 10 burpees at the start of each lap. On the last lap instead of crossing the finish line the leader stops 20 yards short of the finish line and the next guy stops 20 yards short of him etc, etc. Plank and wait and the 6 with sweep you up to the finish. This went ok.

    Trivia fact two: I left my first beatdown with the name Tee-Tee. There was some trepidation in the name but urinary names can do that. My kids were stoked when I came home from the gloom and explained my new name. Well it didn’t last. Sometime between the post and the publication of the backblast (Shorty was Q so it may have been a bit) I was renamed Tinkles. Some backroom maneuvering but I think the right call was made.

    Indian run to the NOMA fountain. Spirits were running high so no need for more trivia. Need was for: RLSU IC x 20, LLSU x 20, Classic Tinkles (someone else said it not me) IC x 20.

    Partner up. Partner one stay and do modified LBC with feet on the bench. Partner two run around the now-open circular drive around NOMA. A pleasant mix of AC and paint fumes hung in the air around the museum. I almost vomited but survived. Switch.

    Just enough time to catch a view of Muscleship doing classic Muscleship aka Indian Walk or something like that.

    Mosey back to the flag with just enough time for some plank work on the side walk. We welcomed back Rudy from his butt cyst recovery run. Didn’t see any bloody discharge on the back of his shorts so I assume that it went ok.

    Circle up. Trivia fact three: I was EH’d by Walleye with an assist from Roots. This gave me the idea of having the pax say who EH’d them during the namorama:

    • JV- Yankee
    • Rudy- Heisenburg
    • Catfish- F3nola.com
    • 86- Tinkles
    • Angie’s List- Willie
    • Douille- Bagasse/Yankee
    • King Kong- Angie’s List
    • War Eagle- Baby Face
    • Two Utes- Hawg
    • Colonel Mustard- Seaman
    • Bongo- Maverick
    • Gabrielle- Seaman
    • Triple Shift- Triple Shift
    • Organ Grinder- Google
    • Fracsac- Maverick/Bubba
    • Heisenbery- Bogey

    T-claps to Seaman, Yankee, and Maverick for topping list of EH’ers

    Close with a prayer with special dedications to Fracsac’s mom, Triple Shift’s friend, and Moms. Thanks for the chance to lead and looking forward to another 3 years!

  • F2 Whiskey Rodeo

    “Thanks, can I have another?”

    21 PAX met in the gathering gloom of a May monday, each with a bottle in hand. The warm glow of Patois (T-claps to Squeal!) beckoned the PAX in for a communion of the spirits. Mostly the brown and amber kind.

    First up from YHC, were a couple batting practice pours to investigate a new expression from the YHC’s flatboat lab. The PAX were gracious guinea pigs.

    Then our minister of spirit and education, whiskey guardian and general great guy, one Andy Borbely, picked up the Q and delivered a homily to warm our souls. Only the hardy could withstand this THANG. 17 whiskies in 4 hours. Sniff, Sniff, Sniff again, sip, and quaff. Note the subtle hints of Peaches. Something about peat. Or was it Pete? Lather, rinse and repeat.

    The brave PAX sampled bourbons, Irish whiskies, Japanese expressions, more bourbon, and Scotch. Here’s the sequential list.

    • Elijah Craig
    • Old Forrester, 1920
    • Old Forrester, 1870
    • Weller Wheat
    • Angel’s Envy!!
    • Tyrconnell
    • Jameson Black
    • Toki
    • Hibiki Harmony
    • Wild Turkey Rye
    • Pinhook
    • Blanton’s
    • WT Rare Breed
    • Macallan 10
    • Balvenie Double Wood 12
    • Laophraig

    To nourish the PAX and keep them going for the long haul, Squeal and 86 laid out delicious provisions including boudin balls, wings, pork tacos and fries. T-Claps and much gratitude from the PAX. YHC is sure their significant others thank them as well. And T-claps to the uptown PAX for coming together for a great show!

  • Easy Like Sunday Morning….

    YHC was feeling the need to add some manliness to the Sunday routine. With the kettle bell movement in full swing uptown (see what I did there), YHC took the opportunity to bring a good old fashioned beat down to the World in the confines of City Park. What YHC did not account for was the wrath of Mother Nature. The lightning show died out around 0620, along with the rains, which made for a quiet and cool time in City Park. The only issue now was the high water. YHC drove slowly down the river called Marconi Drive, and made it to NOMA.

    At 0630, YHC made a quick mosey toward the Great Lawn just in case there were Pax loitering about there, but nay, no Pax present. Mosey back to the big lagoon for a quick warmup of some side straddle hops and something else, then a run around the lagoon with some burpees. Mosey to the Foundry, where the path leading to the bike trail was over ankle deep with high water, keeping YHC from entering it. YHC did pullups, Burpees, and WW2 situps.

    Mosey to the practice track, where Roosevelt Mall was hiding under the standing waters, but YHC hopped along the protruding islands and only had to endure a few moments of submerged feet. At the practice track, which was high and dry, YHC did some sprints on the straightaways, mosey on the curves, and stopped in the practice area for a few other exercises, like burpees and such.

    Mosey back to NOMA for the virtual COT (tough to do COT with a single Pax). Announcements included the Bar-a-thon, but YHC reminded the Q that he was already signed up. Prayed for those that had damage from the waters and the storm, and that a quick recovery was in their future.

    NMM

    YHC managed a little over 4 miles, and racked up the only ISI point of the day. The new AO name shall remain unnamed, with a name coming in the very near future, one would hope, unless Mother Nature has something to say about it.

    SYITG

  • I’m told there was a 45-minute workout today

    Last week, High Rise was thrust into the spotlight at the Danger Zone when the Q failed to show. This week, High Rise was thrust into the spotlight when YHC had to make an abrupt exit to take care of a most urgent matter.

    Before all that though, we warmed up with a lap around the track, where we did some high knees, butt kicks, skipping, running sideways, zombie walks, and moseying.

    Next, we split into 2 heats for the following:

    • sprint 100, jog 300
    • sprint 200, jog 200
    • sprint 300, jog 100
    • sprint 400

    Somewhere around the time we came around the second turn of the 300 sprint, YHC broke the news to High Rise that he would, in fact, be Q’ing another workout on very short notice. Luckily, High Rise took it in stride.

    • YHC: Yo, I gotta go. real bad. you got this
    • High Rise: Sure thing. What’s next
    • YHC: Uh, sprints
    • High Rise: uhhhhh. okay

    YHC had planned some parachute runs and round two with the new, hopefully fixed, speed ropes, but when ISI doubled the normal turnout at the DZ, those plans were scrapped for a “spur of the moment” workout. Luckily, High Rise was up to the challenge. I’m told the following occurred while I was gone:

    • 400m sprint
    • Relay Races
    • PAX choice MARY (dying cockroaches, penguins, merkins, crab cakes, Freddie Mercury)

    Luckily, YHC returned in time to suggest we finish up by timing our fastest quarter mile. This was met with some groans – apparently there had been running while YHC was busy handling nature’s call. Who knew?

    We finished up with some stretching and a bit of grumbling from Rudy, so I’d say we were fully back on track by the end. War Eagle prayed us out. Thanks for letting me lead half a workout, and thanks to High Rise for being a great sport and taking the reigns. – Kuch