YHC has not been extremely active on the Q sign up sheet. This is kind of been disappointing b/c being the Q is the only payment that F3 truly request. After so much that has been given to YHC, he feels that he owes much more. Of course, he has his excuses, but if he were being completely honest, there is no excuse. If you can post, you can Q. When today’s scheduled Q did not show, YHC seized the opportunity to lead and to pay back F3.
W/U
SSH x 30
IW x 10; HB x 10
AC x 10; reverse x 10
PP x 10; PP x 10
J Lo x 10
Take a Lap around the Track
The Thang
Route 66 down the mall – Derkins
Mosey to the side wall of NOMA
Peoples Chair – List your F3 Name, Favorite Mardi Gras Krewe, Favorite Mardi Gras memory #HailThoth
Mosey to the Foundry
4 stations x 12 – Big Boy Sit-ups, Rows, Dips, Merkins
Run around the neutral ground by Christian Brothers & back
Partner up. Partner 1 mosey across infield, Partner 2 Spring 1/2 the track. Switch on the other side. (2 laps)
Mosey to the Flag
Annoucements
Amnesty has a quarter Keg of the Official F3 Beer, Shovel Flag. He will host an F2 Event on Wednesday 2/20 1800 at his home, 136 Middle Park Pl. New Orleans. (YHC could be up for a Pre-F2 Run)
COT – Lots of intentions were mentioned today for personal friends, F3 families, and thanks were given for our fortunes.
Thank you for the opportunity to lead, SYITG
Da Parish
NMM – Plenty of PAX are members of Mardi Gras Krewes. YHC rides w/ the Krewe of the Rolling Elvi (in Muses only), as well as Krewe of Thoth (float 9a, last man, top deck). YHC loves hearing the crowds and especially his name or see a sign. If you feel comfortable, share your Krewe & Float w/ the PAX.
I was looking forward to Q’ing Rock City for the first time, so I took some time over the weekend to plan out a beatdown for the PAX. The beatdown was to take place on the track & field inside Pontiff Park; however, due to the rain that came down over the weekend & Monday morning, the track/field were both too #moist for us to use that day. As a result, I had to call an audible & come up with something else for us to do on the fly. Fortunately, on the car ride to Rock City that morning Kuch had mentioned to me that the track/field were too wet to use on Friday as well when he went to the Uptowner, and he told me that they had used the jogging path instead since it was a good bit dryer. So with that fresh in my mind, I issued the disclaimer to the PAX & then the workout commenced.
Warm Up: Mosey on the jogging path to the shelter about 250 meters away. Then we lined up around the perimeter of the shelter and did:
25x Side Straddle Hops
20x imperial squat walkers
20x grass grabbers
21x arm circles (11 forward, 10 backward)
The Thang: We mosey’d from the shelter back to the rock pile, and then each PAX grabbed a rock. The Pax was then split up into 2 groups:
Group 1: ran 200 meters out & then 200 meters back to the rock pile
Group 2: while Group 1 was running, Group 2 was doing the following circuit:
5 standing bench press with the rock
10 curls with the rock
15 shoulder press with the rock
20 squats with the rock
_
When Group 1 was done with the 400 meter run, we switched, and then Group 2 ran the 400 meters while Group 1 did the circuit. Each group did the 400 meter run & the circuit 3 times. After that, we changed it up a bit and had:
Group 1: run 200 meters out & 200 meters back, but this time it was an Indian Run with each PAX carrying their rock during the run
Group 2: while Group 1 was doing the Indian Run with their rocks, Group 2 did merkins using their rocks. 10 merkins with the left hand on the rock, and then 10 merkins with the right hand on the rock, and then rinse & repeat as many times as possible before Group 1 got back. Then we switched & had Group 2 do the Indian Run with the rock & Group 1 do the rock merkins
After that, we circled up on the grass & did the following exercises in cadence:
15x bench press with the rock
20x bent over rows with the rock
15x American Hammer (with or without the rock)
20x Rocky Balboa’s using the rock
10x burpees (no rock)
After these exercises were done, Bogey pointed out that time was winding down, so we returned our rocks and Mosey’d back to the flag. Fortunately for the PAX, we still had 2 minutes left when the six reached the flag, so we each did 10 inchworm burpees on our own & then according to the $5.99 watch I ordered off of Amazon last week, we had reached 6:15am (however; according to Rudy’s watch, it was only 6:14am, so he was grumbling that the beatdown had ended prematurely. Classic Rudy, am I right).
COT: Next we did the count-off, the name-o-rama, & announcements. Hand Grenada had a birthday last week, but the PAX decided a good old fashioned pat on the back would suffice in lieu of having the PAX sing happy birthday to him in unison. Next we did intentions & then closed with a prayer. Thanks for letting me lead, fellas. Enjoyed it!
“Without continual growth and progress. such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” —Benjamin Franklin
The Muscleship blasted off in solid fashion this Saturday, thanks in part to the 16 PAX flight crew that hopped on board for the maiden voyage. This new workout and AO was strategically engineered to accomodate the every growing number of men eager to start their Saturdays with a F3 beatdown. Several guys got in some RRR miles before blast off…T-claps! As the clock approached 6:30, it was good to see several reguklars trickle in and a few koters to boot. After a brief description of what was in store, and of course the disclaimer, we made our way over to the front of NOMA to get started.
Warmup Part 1: IWx20, WMx20, LSSx20, SSAC (Sixty Second Arm Circles, from the F3 website…T-plank Left ACx15, LBCx15, T-plank Right ACx15), capped off with IPSWx20. In the middle of this we noticed The Mothership trying to invade our territory in the nearby field so we upped the volume on cadence in an effort to claim dominance. Before departing, YHC asked the PAX to start thinking of some good jokes, hoping Bogey would be the star of the show.
Warmup Part 2: Short mosey to the banks of The Big Lake for some Planking and Merkins. We lined up all holding a high plank, then 5 Merkins, then a joke, then 4 Merkins, joke, 3 Merkins, joke, 2 Merkins….at this point The Mothership did a fly by so our last joke was centered around them, then 1 last Merkin.
Foundry: Short mosey to The Foundry where YHC realized the PAX was too large for plan A so we settled for Plan B: Split up with group #1 doing 3 rounds of PIMPS (timer) near the pull-up bars and group #2 doing BLIMPS AMRAP in the grass. Flip flop with a “pimp daddy” being chosen in each group to be the timer. Lots of intense stuff here with very little opportunity for small talk.
Lake-North Side: Next stop was another stretch of shoreline for Inchworm Burpess x10, joke, x8, joke(s), x6, dirty joke, x4, another dirty joke, x2, maybe a final joke.
Lake-South Side: After a pit stop at the water hydrant to hydrate, we made our way over to the raised ledge along The Big Lake track. We rotated duties with mutiple PAX running cadence and various counts for LLSUx20, Dipsx20, RLSUx20, Derkins x15…breather….rinse and repeat with the highlight being Bogey and Abacus peforming a duet in tandem.
Lelong Drive for Cinco de Cardio: Here we gatherded for five 1-minute rounds of various cardio-rich exercises which proved to be much more manly than the moseying and frolicking that our counterparts were doing with The Mothership. We dug deep and did Semi-Circle Mountain Climbers, Rocky Balboas, Partner Plank Slaps, IPSW, and Groiners as the finale.
One minute left so back to the flag to call it a morning. COT, annoucements, prayer, and some admiration for the new steel encased shovel flag that may be worthy of it’s own name. Also, YHC thanked the PAX for posting and making The Muscleship launch a success. YHC wasn’t sure what to expect knowing so many of us enjoy and look forward to The Mothership each week and trying to split that up is no easy feat. The F3 vatican has always encouraged an “addition by division” concept when trying to grow so it was good to see all the PAX on board with that. YHC also mentioned a workout several years ago where a fellow PAX Q’d with some new exercises and routines, which worked well, and after talked about one of the strengths of F3 is that the group always supports those trying new things, typically with little or no heckling from the peanut gallery. Thanks to the PAX for pushing hard and helping to make it a good one!
F3 lost one of its own earlier in the week. Terabyte was a caring leader that pushed himself, and inspired other pax to become better. He will be missed.
YHC stated that we will carry a flag for our fallen pax as we trudged through the AO. We will sweat, push ourselves, and feel pain. In this way, we will honor him, ’cause that’s what we do. 40 men, including 3 FNG’s, were ready to go.
Brief disclaimer, then pick up the flag and mosey to the Great lawn for the warmup
SSH IC x 52 (Terabyte was only 52) IW IC x 15 Grass Grabbers IC x 10 Abe Vigodas IC x 10 Arm Circles IC x 10 Fwd x 10 Bwd Peter Parker IC x 20 Shoulder Taps IC x 20 Parker Peter IC x 20 Mountain Climber IC x 20 Recover, pick up the flag, and mosey….
Stop just short of the Bridge at Lagoon Number 11 on our way toward City park Avenue 10 Burpees OYO Mosey across the bridge and find an open space near City park Avenue Monkey Humpers IC x 20 10 Burpees OYO Mosey along to the next open green space LBC’s IC x 20 10 Burpees OYO Mosey to the entrance to NOMA at Lelong Drive Dying Cockroach IC x 20 10 Burpees OYO (there was much mumblechatter by this time) Mosey to the Tree line near NOMA YHC asked how may burpees left? We have smart Pax! 12 it is! 12 Burpees OYO which brings us to 52. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have more Burpees!
Mosey to the Fountain at NOMA Dips IC x 20 RL Step Up IC x 15 Incline Merkin IC x 10 LL Step Up IC x 15
Dips IC x 10 RL Step Up IC x 15 Decline Merkin IC x 10 LL Step Up IC x 10
Mosey to the tree line Sprint to first tree and back – 5 burpees Sprint to second tree and back – 5 burpees – plank and wait for the six
Starting at first tree, Burpee Broad Jump to third tree.
YHC requested Triple Shift to help explain the next exercise. Triple Shift had previously introduced the Genuflect and YHC wanted to incorporate it in. Genuflect from third tree back to first tree. Left knee down, right knee down, left knee up, right knee up, then lunge walk one step. Now do two genuflects followed by two lunge steps, then three……etc.
Mosey back to the Great Lawn for Mary: LBC’s IC x 30 Tin Snips IC x 20 Hello Dolly IC x 20 Flutter Kicks IC x 20 American Hammer IC x 10
Plank for one minute Recover, pick up the flag, and return to the other flags for the COT
Count off, Name-O-Rama, Announcement, and ended with a prayer.
Welcome Bingo Knight, Offsides, and CareBear! Great job on the EH’ing guys! We have had big numbers at the AO’s lately, let’s keep it going!
The Celebration of Life for Terabyte, aka Sidney Modica, will be held on Monday January 14th where visitation begins at 0900 with service to follow at 1030 at: Victory Fellowship 5708 Airline Hwy Metairie, LA 70003
If you have a flag or a ruck sack, please bring. Terabyte loved being part of F3, and we loved having him.
For may this was just a normal Monday. For YHC, this is Championship Monday! The Alabama Crimson Tide vs. that orange team in South Carolina. Living in New Orleans, I have come to obtain a lot of respect for the boys in Baton Rouge, but at Rock City, there seems to be a lot of mumble chatter about the Fighting Irish. The Irish live by one motto:
Unfortunately, playing like a champion at times gets you a point in the loss column, but hey at least they look good doing it. Alabama, on the other hand, has learned to be champions in everything they do, every day. Championships don’t start on the football field. Champions try to push themselves in everything. Coach Saban said it best:
So today the disclaimer--work like a champion. For YHC, that ended at the warm-up.
Warm-Up
SSH X 18…no make that 20.
Hillbillies X 0 (now this where the train really derailed) Q can’t call a cadence to save his life. “Must be from Bama,” they said.
Mountain Climbers X 25
Arm Circles X 10 (forwards and backwards)
The important thing to remember is that champions sometimes have to take one on the chin first. Like in 2009, when the #1 ranked Alabama had to block a field goal at the end of the game to beat unranked Tennessee 12-10.
Or when the 2011 Alabama team got cheated out of a 9-6 game at home against LSU (I still argue OJ Howard caught that ball on the goal line)…
Or when the 2012 Alabama team had to recover from getting sucker punched by Johnny Football 29-24 at home…
Or when the 2015 Alabama team lost to Ole Miss in week three 43-37…
Or when the 2017 Alabama team lost to that cow college in the Iron Bowl…
You get it. Sometimes champions get sucker punched, but it is not how you start it is how you finish. So let’s look beyond a botched warm-up and move on to a championship style beatdown.
The Thang
Grab a rock and mosey to the football field for an extended version of Dora. Pair up. As a team, complete the following:
Curls X 250
Squats X 200
Rows X 150
Shoulder Presses X 100
Burpees X 50
One Pax member works while the other Pax member runs a 40-yard dash and back.
Cowbell and KimChi finished early rewarding all who finished 100 LBCs.
Post-Thang
The PAX really did not like this idea. “I thought that was the workout,” they moaned. (Maybe in Gainesville or Knoxville but not here).
Bear crawl or lunge walk 20 yards and do 10 merkins, 20 more yards 10 merkins. (Rinse and Repeat).
Return Rock and mosey back to flag.
“We still have two minutes. On your six.”
Flutter Kicks X 20
Penguins X 25
“We still have 30 seconds. I paid for 45 minutes,” said Rev Sox
COT- Lord Jesus, allow us to seek you in everything we do. Make us the husbands, fathers, and coworkers that you have called us to be. In Jesus name, Amen.
Gentlemen, thank you once again for allowing me to lead. I could not do the things I do without the support of my F3 Family.
The PAX are all painfully aware of YHC’s deep love affair with the Irish, and all things related to Notre Dame. The PAX are also fond of pointing out the flaws in my beloved Irish – “What a cupcake schedule”, and “You should join a conference”. This year’s CFB Playoff offered the Irish another chance to silence the doubting PAX.
Returning from Dallas angry and a wee bit humbled, YHC asked the scheduled Rock City Q if he would be willing to give up his Q so the PAX could share in my pain. “Manbun” Hawg willingly agreed. So the PAX got to ring out 2018 with the Notre Dame Ladder of Despair.
Warm Up
Perhaps you are not already aware, but Clemson drummed the Irish in the Cotton Bowl by the score of 30-3. (YHC will happily discuss how the game was closer than that – but you’d have a hard time hearing him over the howls of outraged PAX).
Burpees, of course. 10x OYO. Repeat. Repeat. That’s 30 (for Clemson). 3 more (poor lonely 3 for ND).
SSH x30. 3 more burpees.
IW x30. 3 more burpees.
PP x30. 3 more burpees.
The Thang – The Ladder of Despair
Most PAX know that this was not ND’s first time getting blown out on the big New Year’s Day stage. But they may not understand the full depths of my despair. This morning, they will learn just how many consecutive times ND has gotten embarrassed this way. With a ladder. A ladder that calls out each of these games. How long will it take? How far back in time? Only YHC knows.
Game 1: 2018 Cotton Bowl. Clemson romps. 5 Burpees
Game 2: 2015 Fiesta Bowl. Ohio State destroys. add 10 Shoulder Presses
Game 3: 2012 National Championship. Alabama cruises. add 15 Curls
Game 4: 2006 Sugar Bowl. LSU crushes. add 20 Merkins
Game 5: 2002 Fiesta Bowl. Ohio State pancakes. add 25 Squats
Game 6: 2000 Fiesta Bowl. Oregon State thwacks. add 30 Rows
Game 7: 1995 Orange Bowl. Florida State trucks. add 35 Chest Presses
Game 8: 1994 Fiesta Bowl. Colorado routs. add 40 LBT
Fortunately for the PAX – the clock ran out, coinciding with the end of the streak. 1993 Cotton Bowl, ND romped over the Texas A&M Aggies. But now it was time to return the rocks. Final Tallies: 40 Burpees, 70 Presses, 90 Curls, 100 Merkins, 100 Squats, 90 Rows, 70 Chest Presses, 40 LBT. And worst of all – the cumulative scores of those 8 games? Foes: 304, Irish: 138. Average defeat of 38 – 17. Yikes.
Return to the flag for our COT. Count-off for 20 PAX. Nice showing, gang! (Even if the uptown members were too scared to show). Lots of upcoming stuff (Krazy Ivan, BR convergence, Mobile Spartan, Jackson Day race). Always exciting to hear all of the opportunities that PAX are pursuing. Remember – if you hear something you want to do, DO IT. Q IT. Talk it up with the PAX, you will almost certainly find someone to do it with you!
Thank you Rev, for taking us home with a thoughtful prayer, challenging us to be better men, better leaders, better followers into the New Year.
Thank you, as always, for the chance to lead you all.
This was my birthday Q (51 yrs old) and I wanted to make it special for the PAX NOLA. As Christmas day is tomorrow, I wanted to not only strengthen the body but also strengthen the mind as well. As I was thinking about the direction I wanted to go in the Christmas Eve themed workout, I realized that we already done a couple of 12 days of Christmas beatdowns and desired to go a different route. During the Christmas holiday season, the pace of life slows down enough for me to be more contempletive and I have more time to read. As I was reading a book by Ace Collins called ‘Stories behind the best-loved songs of Christmas‘, I came across the ‘real’ history of God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman which fit the theme of the beatdown today. Here is an excerpt.
“When people today say “Merry Christmas!” the word merry means “happy.” When “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” was written, merry had a very different meaning. Robin Hood’s Merry Men might have been happy, but the merry that described them meant ‘great and “mighty.” Thus in the 15th century (Middle Ages), a strong army was a merry army, a great singer was a merry singer, and a mighty ruler was a merry ruler….the word rest in the title means to ‘make’ or ‘keep’. As the angel told the shepherds, “I bring you good news of great joy.” That joy and the power of faith can be felt and experienced in every note and word of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” You just have to know how to translate the words into the language of the day in order to have a very ‘Mighty Christmas!”
WARMUP
Run over to the field by the rock pile and proceed with the following
51 SSH x IC, 20 Imperial Squat Walkers x IC, 10 Abe Vigodas x IC, 10 Arm Circles x IC (Forward and Backward), 20 J-Los x IC
THE THANG
I instruct the PAX to get a medium sized rock and we head to the football field for Bearicides. Because we had 15 men, I had to break the groups up into 3s. We line up on the sideline and PAX 1 and 2 perform 100 lunges, 150 goblet squats and 100 straight leg deadlifts. Meanwhile, PAX 3 bear crawls out and pushes the rock forward to the middle of the field then bear crawls back while continuing to push the rock.
After the bearicides, we did a Febreeze. This exercise consists of WW2 situps followed by air presses with feet 6 inches off the ground while in a sit up position. The count was 2 situps / 10 air presses, 3 situps / 20 air presses…all the way up to 5 situps / 51 air presses. Whew….that hurt!
Running out of time we did a Jack Webb with a rock press up to 7 merkins / 14 rock presses.
Time is running out so we put our rocks back and mosey back to the virtual flag.
COUNTOFF, NAMERAMA AND COT
Prayers for peace, hope and healing for Brad Brechtel, Hawg’s mom, Disclaimer’s 2.2 and all the intentions we hold in our hearts. Truly honored to be leading such a great group of men looking to get stronger physically, relationally and spiritually! Many blessings to you and yours this Christmas Season!
Twas the Murph before Christmas and all through the park not a creature was stirring except four PAX in the dark.
The question was asked “What will we do? Should we modify or would a real Murph do?”
A debate ensued and the majority ruled, four PAX ran out into the gloom.
A few steps in the oldest PAX bailed. He went to the track to forge his own trail.
The three PAX continued then up on the track there stood such a puddle they ran through the grass.
Then on to the playground where our oldest PAX stood. We decided twenty rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 squats would be good.
Then on to a discussion about a super seafood salad it carried on like a longwinded ballad
The time kept ticking as the rounds kept going we completed the twenty then back to the one-mile and closing.
A modified mile to avoid the big blue then a sprint to the finish War Eagle he flew.
On Bogey, on Eagle, on Pai Gow, and old Amnesty too…
Merry Christmas to all and to all a fit night…
On a serious note, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone. Continue to remember those who are celebrating Christmas alone and those who are celebrating their first and last Christmas with a dear loved one. Finally, remember that Jesus is the true reason for the season.
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.
