F3 New Orleans

Category: Northshore

  • AB-solutely Appreciative

    “I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another” Thomas Jefferson

    And it was, indeed, a pleasure doing a good job whooping on the the PAX this morning!

    Warm-o-rama:

    Air Squared (people’s chair with seal claps) x20

    21s – SSH in cadence, 1-5 out loud, 6-21 in our heads. Shooter drew a yellow flag  by starting #22, so we dropped for 5 merkins and gave it another shot. An antsy Tanked Up tried throwing some accusations Water Pic(k)’s way, but the PAX wasn’t having a round 3.

    We finished up with a cameo from our ISI AMRAP, courtesy of Turbo Tax. Single-leg lateral hops, 1 minute each leg.

    The Thang:

    After moseying to Marigny and partnering up (thanks Beast for showing up late to even out our number), YHC unveiled the as-yet-unperfected Bushwacker’s Ladder. Using the 6 telephone poles as markers, while P1 did merkins at 1st pole, p2 bear crawled to second pole and proceeded to do merkins while p1 bear crawled to meet him. Proceeding thusly, burpees/ sprint, alt single leg lunge/ high step, plank/squat walk, and finally p1 &p2 together SSHed laterally to the last pole.  To get back to the lakefront p1 carried p2 half way, then switched to complete the journey.

    We mosied towards the little bridge near the “beach”, but, after realizing it was a farther mosey than YHC realized, we broke it up with a quick set of 25 merkins.

    At the bridge we secured our feet under the bottom rail and busted out 20 or so sit ups. Now realizing the agony of my decision to both our feet and tail bones, we shifted over to the grass for 25 LBCs and 25 Heels to Heavens.

    Half-way along our return mosey we stopped for an invigorating game of F3 Pinocle (f3nation.com’s spelling not mine). In a circle each PAX was issued before him 5 cards (though time only allotted the use of 3 each) from my son’s deck of average, non-playboy playing cards . Each at a time flipped and we all performed however many reps as the number on the card (A=20), with the suite determining the exercise: Heart = merkin, Spade = squat, Diamond = burpee, and Club = putin. Mostly putins, very few burpees, and only 1 Ace. YHC would like to think he wasn’t alone in being APPRECIATIVE that we did 3 rounds instead of all 5, as a revealing of the remaining unturned cards produced such terrors as the A of spades, A of hearts, and the dreaded A of diamonds.

    Mary:

    (2) 10x Outlaws aka OOOOH Marys (Someone check for security footage from Don’s!)

    25x Freddy Mercurys

    20x Feddy Flutters

    3 minute plank, while I expounded on my appreciation for the fine gentlemen who surrounded me, those who could not post today, and the F3 organization as a whole. We should never be so far gone as to lose sight of the gifts we’ve been blessed with.

    As a parting gift, the chiseled brother fresh on his journey into his 60th year on this planet, graced us and the Mandeville Lakefront public with a brief, but titillating, strip tease of male dancing as only a landscaper could!

    YHC prayed us out with more urgings of appreciation for all things precious

    Gentlemen, it was an honor and a pleasure

    Thanks for the generosities of Shooter

  • Challenge excepted

    YHC arrived at the Scramble on this chilly Gloom with the idea of challenging the PAX to a faster pace on our 5k journey. In past runs we average between 28-30 mins.. As we chattered about the previous months RRR challenge and how neither of the PAX present have ran since shutting it down on the 28th. A challenge felt right and of course the challenge was excepted eagerly by Steve and Waterpic.. Usually getting right to it, the QIC decided to change it up and get the heart rate going as well as stretching out some of the stiffness before our journey.

    warmup

    20IC SSH

    15IC WM

    15IC GM

    the thang

    Off to the races back and forth we take turns as we all are testing to see who is going to establish the actual pace. In the end Steve prevails with his galloping stride, which seems like a horse cornering turn 4 in the Kentucky derby or Preakness for the straight away with victory in sight. Non of the PAX actually timed it but we completed between 24-25 mins with 15 to spare upon returning. QIC decided to get right to the ISI of the day put forth by Turbo. It certainly reminded this YHC how much he dislikes the Burpee but also challenged him to compete as his brethren held him accountable. We then did a series of Merkin balance beam as one man climbed the monkey bars and then balanced crawled across the parallel bars releasing another man until each completed the obstacle. To wrap things up we hit the six for some core. 20IC FM, 20IC leg raise pulses and closed with an 8 count leg raise front/left/right total of 8 using the poles on the swing set for assistance..

    countarama, announcements, COT

    Thanks to Waterpic for taking us out in prayer!!

    Always enjoy the lead and fellowship with you F3 brothers..

  • Run for the Hills

    Beautiful morning at The Gipper.  Six men strong.  Glad to see Astro and Grundy back in action.

    Warmup with Seal Jacks, Windmills, Squats, Merkins all 20x IC.

    Mosey to the Landing for a Ring of Fire.  Merkins, Peter Parkers, Parker Peters, Plank Jacks, and T Stands between plank walks around the ring in both directions.

    Recovery walk to the Main Event:  Hill Sprints from the Landing up the gravel road to the second oak tree.  About 15 feet of elevation gain.  The PAX started each sprint from a prone position, jumping to their feet and hitting it hard for about 35 yards. Recovery walk back to the Landing.  Rinse and repeat for six quality sprints.

    Then it was time for the day’s ISI challenge:  AMRAP of Butt Kick Jumps for 60 seconds.  Partner up and count for your partner.  Just as hard as expected with everyone fatiguing as the minute mark approached.  T claps to the Southshore PAX who reportedly put in a 90 second effort this morning.  That extra 30 seconds must have been tough.

    Mosey to the STP Emergency Operations Center for two rounds of 10 burpees OYO, 5 clap Merkins OYO, and 20 SSHs and then Seal Jacks 20x IC.

    Final mosey back to The Gipper for Mary.  Pulsing, alternate arm/leg Supermans and then straight leg Freddy Mercurys, both 20x IC.

    Good stuff this morning guys.  Thanks for letting me lead.

  • Good Ol’ Boys

    Two PAX showed up on time, with a third PAX – Maverick, doing the best Dukes of Hazzard arrival, with a family vehicle, that I’ve ever seen.
    …flying into the parking lot, shooting gravel everywhere, some of which bounced off the Gipper statue, leaving R.R.’s nice patina, speckled, like a cheap polka-dot suit.
    Maverick “I’m here for the forty minute workout.”

    Indeed… To the best of my recall, here is how it went:

    Short Disclaimer …

    warmup
    all 20xIC; side straddle hops,good-mornings,windmills,imperial walkers,toe touches,hillbillys,arm circles,single leg lunges,squats,mummy kicks

    mosey to Bedrock; pick up a 10 pounder or so;
    all 15xIC; curls,overhead presses,rows,outward presses, elf on the shelf

    mosey to the front of the Taj Mahal for the MERKIN MEMORIAL
    here we have lots of brick pavers,each with a name and date,
    one pax, at a time, bearcrawls in toward the flagpole to a brick, reads the name and the date, chooses an odd or an even number, if an odd number,  we all bearcrawl counter-clockwise that many paces and do that many merkins, if an even number we all bearcrawl clockwise that many paces and do that many merkins. A crowd pleaser!

    mosey to the St.Tammany Parish Courthouse parking garage for sprints, backward lunges, and burpees.

    Indian Run back to the trail head

    count-o-rama, Moby Dick, on I.R., strolls up just in time to lead us out with a prayer.

  • Purple Rain

    If you live in Old Mandeville, and are up at odd hours like the men of F3, then you’ve surely noticed the otherworldly purple glow emanating from sky in the center of town.  Many have been beckoned by this glow, called upon to find out just what exactly is this heavenly luminescence?  And YHC can assure you, all were as disappointed as I was to discover that it was simply the car wash at the corner of Florida and Girod.  Effective marketing, though.

    But before I left the comfort of my home and saw the purple rain, my half-asleep wife asked me on my way out, “You guys still work out in this rain?”  The implication being, Well, maybe you work out in a light drizzle.  But a downpour like this?  That stopped me for a moment.  YHC has been in F3 for a year and a half now, and my wife doesn’t know the ‘rain or shine’ motto of F3 nation?  Hard to believe.  I guess I’ll have to double down on my efforts to post on rainy mornings in 2018.

    Luckily, though, Shooter and Chewy know the opportunities that a morning like this one provides, and were out there ready to go:

    Warm-Up: SSH, Seal Jacks, Windmills, IWs, Peter Parkers, Parker Peters, Plank Jacks, Nolan Ryans L / R, all IC, 20x.

    The Thang:  First up, a Dirty McDeuce.  YHC used to attempt to plan out all 12 exercises, but upon realizing the limits of my memory these days, I’ve determined the best course of action is to simply wing it.  So these may not be exactly right, but it went something like this:

    Merkins / Shoulder Taps / Lunges, all 12x IC.  Sprint half the corridor & back, sprint full corridor, up stairs and back.

    Burpees (12 oyo) / Mountain Climbers / Squats, 12x IC.  Sprints / stairs.

    Hand-release Merkins (thanks Turbo) / Absolution (killer 8 count exercise) / Slow-squat Jumps, 12x IC.  Sprints / stairs.

    Bodybuilders / Peter Parkers / Sister Mary Katherine’s, 12x IC. Sprints / stairs.

    Next up, onward to the benches for an old favorite: Freak Nasties IC, Lateral Jumps over Bench (oyo), Step Ups R / L, all 12x.  Then, more Freak Nasties IC, Knee Ups R / L, Bulgarian Splits R / L, all 12x.  And finally, Freak Nasties, Derkins, 12x IC.  This probably killed our chances of competing with Grundy in today’s ISI challenge (the likelihood of which was very slim to begin with).

    Mary: Mosey back to the stage for the finale, Hurricane Hoedown, a descending circuit of flutter kicks.  Start off seated, slightly reclined – 7x, IC.  Move to standard flutter, 7x, IC.  Then hands behind head, Freddie-flutters, 7x IC.  Back to first position, now 6x IC, eventually working our way all the way down.  With a minute to spare, we knocked out some Crunchy Frogs, did the countdown, nameorama, and Shooter prayed us out.  Thank you guys for posting in the rain and giving me the opportunity to lead, it really was pleasure!

  • Code Red at the Marsh

    It’s been fairly well-documented, but The Marsh has been on life support for weeks.  A harsh winter and the prolonged absence of Butt Splice has put the AO into a deep coma, and resuscitation has been slow and unsuccessful.  YHC provided some half-assed CPR this morning, but knows that it’ll take the return of Señor Splice and some warm weather to really get this AO moving again.

    Here’s what went down this morning: YHC rolls in a little early (that’s right, I’m back in a car now), and whips out the phone to see who’s Q.  A glowing, empty slot stares back at me.  So… it’ll either be a Round Robin, or no one will post.  Turtle made some vague mention of possibly-maybe-potentially showing, and one of the Seal Team 6 members can always surprise you.  But as the minutes wore on it became clear no one would post this morning, and YHC felt awake enough to do something.  Now, if this comes off as, Hey, look at me, guys! I went out and got some while you guys fartsacked!, let me just assure you that last Friday at the Cove was another no-show morning, and YHC did absolutely nothing.  (I noted to myself that it took 66 steps to get to the car and only 42 to make it right back to my bed.)  And this morning was not much more: a bit of standard warm up, jog around the block, descending ladder of pull-ups, the ISI challenge of the day, and some mary.

    Now, with the Marsh facing such decline, I’m going to make a commitment to make at least the next two Mondays.  Maybe the next three.  And I challenge you guys to do the same.  Shooter’s got the Q next Monday, let’s show the man some support!

     

  • It Was A Happy B.D. Because Of U!

    Being able to join my Brothers on a day of reflection does not get any better for a F3 member. I thank Turbo for encouraging me to join this fine group, just over one year ago. So many men I now know. Bonding to make us stronger indivudually and as a collective F3!!group.

     

    As a workout goes, wish we had doubled the Burpees, if only our workouts were longer.

    Warmup- finger stretches, arm stretches and rotation, SSH, squats, toe touches, toe hold, etc

    Thang–100 Burpees- give or take.. 10 sets of 10 halt at first man to 10….Butt/Bushwacker setting the pace for sure..rest of us not far behind.

    Cowboy and Indians– for fun, You had to be there.. Maverick — he had the best horseee.

    Serpentine–Sprints through 4 rows of cones with a sprint-loop. Butt Splice had to hang with the teacher to ensure 100 Percent effort..my soccer buddy. 4 reps in all..

    100-200-300–Merks, Squats, Mountain Climbers, with a run around the pole.  Steve/Tank took the count for sure, Turbo and I think his partner Waterpick,took the endurance portion. Waterpick- if not,then who?

    Shoulder Taps– close with a 5 minute challenge on the shoulders– Bush man fired up Turbo resulting in this challenge.. Was worth it and a fitting final exercise of the day..

    Announcements, prayer–The Manny- followed by, box jump competition, then good ole coffee and cake– thanks Captain, thanks all for a  great and memorable BD morning… U the best!

     

     

  • The man’s dedication is admirable

    Fresh off February’s Run Ranger Run challenge in which he logged in the neighborhood of 130mi, inlcuding  an impressive 13mi “mosey” Wednesday afternoon with Steve just to pad totals before the bell, Shooter posted on this gloom like it was just another day at the Scramble.   I was particularly happy to see him there, otherwise, I would have had what we all dread–a lonely workout.

    Warmup:  25 SSH IC, 25 GM IC, 25 WM IC

    And off we went…3.2 mi run through the streets of Old Mandeville, with a pit stop at the benches on the fishing pier for a set of Freak Nasties (25 OYO), and Derkins (20 OYO).

    Finished up w/ a round of Mary:  25 FK IC, 25 HD IC, 25 WP IC.

    Count off, and Shooter prayed us out.

    Thanks for joining me, Shooter!  You are an inspiration!

  • Mostability

    4 pax met at the trailhead in the gloom today. 3 of the 4 pax  had been logging alot of miles this month for the ISI challenge. With the eldest member of the pax close to breaking the 130 mile mark, pretty impressive.

    With all this running and not alot of stretching, YHC took it upon himself to introduce the pax to a new group of exercises working on mobility with a progression to stability. Primarily targeting the 4 big joint complexes that can stiffen up thus leading to sub-optimal functioning (Remember… tight muscles are weak muscles).

    The 4 joint complexes are: foot/ankle, hips, thoracic spine, and shlds. Each exercise today worked these joints in sequence (chain reaction) to stretch and then stabilize the body.

    The thang:

    mosey to parking lot

    ~ lower trap sets with Bilateral shld ext rotation or W’s  ~ great for scapula and rotator cuff stability to off set all the merkins and desk jockeying. 3 sec hold in cadence x 20

    ~Glute series: Sidelying leg raise or (Jane Fonda’s) x 15 IC follower by Single leg Glute bridges x 15 IC

    Now the fun begins:

    Anterior Lunge with Bilateral overhead posterior arm swing x 10 each

    Anterior foot reach for balance x 10

    Posterior Lunge with Bilateral posterior arm swing at ankle height x 10 each:

    Post foot reaches for balance x 10

    Lateral lunges with OH reach x 10

    Lateral foot reaches x 10 for balance

    Opp side Lateral lunge with OH reach x 10

    opp side lateral foot reaches for balance x 10

    Rotational Lunge with reach x 10

    Rotational foot reaches for balance x 10

    Opp side rotational lunge with reach x 10

    Opp side rotational foot reaches for balance x 10

     

    1 mile fun run to bridge and back

     

    COT, name-o-rama, prayer.

    Thanks, guys for letting me lead. Good to be back in the pax!

    Chewy

     

  • Unexpected appearance at the Marsh..

    Waking up to downpours, the YHC decided there would be no prethang run to the AO on this Gloom. Upon arrival at the Marsh, I see Captain Sparkles and Waterpic taking advantage of the covered pavilion making laps around the court getting the blood flowing. Captain Sparkles filled with excitement asked “Is Butt Splice Qing?”After letting him down softly the YHC turned to Waterpic who generally post other AOs and asked to what do we deserve the honor of your presence at the Marsh on this Gloom? Simply stated, the kids are off school today. Kudos to the Waterpic, as one could have easily stayed nested in the Sack and caught a little extra rest, but instead posted on this morning of not so ideal conditions to motivate his fellow F3 Brothers.. Definitely a hugh part of why I love being apart of this group of men who inspire this YHC to get up and get after it on Gloom’s like today..

    Let’s begin

    15IC GM, 15IC WM, 30IC BK, 30IC SSH, 15IC Arm Circles forward, up high, backdown reverse and  up high to close..

    YHC decided the only moisture that would occur today would be sweat equity, so the PAX utilized the court for the beatdown as the rain persisted throughout.

    First up we did Merkin suicides 20,15,10,5 and 20.. Started at one baseline with 20 Merkins and then bear crawled to the free throw for 15 Merkins, bear crawled halfcourt for 10 Merkins, bear crawled to other free throw 5 Merkins and completed at the other baseline with 20 Merkins.. After completion we switched to the lower half and journeyed back with the same count with squats and in between leg lunges.. After completing we went through a series of true suicides, forward and back pedal suicides, then lateral down and back, wrapping up with caricoas down and back (2). On the six for some core, 3 sets of 10IC FK into 10IC Lob Lollies as some would say never resting with continuous motion from one to the next.. Next up plankorama. 1 min front, left and right and then back to a 2 min plank front followed by a back plank for a 1 min.. With 10 mins to spare YHC realizing no beatdown would be complete without some Burpees we get back to the baseline for ascending Burpee suicides 2,4,6,8 and 10. To keep with the tradition of a classic the AO leader (Butt Splice) would bring we Bunny hopped between counts.. With 5 mins remaining we gather our bearings returning to the start point and proceed to complete 8 count body builders suicides with a series of 2,4,6,8 and 10. At this point no lagniappe in between just a simple mosey to completion..

    Count, Annoucements, COT

    Thanks to Waterpic for praying us out!!

    Today was one of those days where the YHC would most certainly not have put in this much work, but because of Captain Sparkles and Waterpic I was able to get through.. Appreciate you gentlemen!!