F3 New Orleans

Tag: Bongo

  • J

    praise the Lord it wasn’t raining!!!

    Was gonna skip this one due to the cold front but then briefs reminded me the night before that I was q ing. Yikes

    warm up: ssh, self love, windmills, mosey to the track with high knees, butt kicks, karaoke.

    we used half the track as an out and back. This way everyone could run at their own pace yet still do the exercises “together”. When the first member made 100m, they did ten Merkins, everyone else would stop where they were and also do ten Merkins, this happened at 200m also, at which point we turned around and ran back. I scepter whenever the first person gets back to the 100m mark, we all do 10 Merkins together. Run back to starting point, plank and wait for the 6. The fast runners would catch the slow runners on the way back. Once the 6 arrives, Merkins in cadence.
    the next round followed the same format except with squats. Round three was burpees.
    next we took a jog around the track to catch our breath and did it in reverse order. This time only doing 5 of each exercise at each stop. Finished off with some rock climbers, hillbilly’s, imperial walkers, stretches and a mosey back to the flag.

    There was a record prayer request/answered prayer session. So many praises and still so many needs. Guidance for our children/youth, Fathers/in laws with cardiac issues and upcoming cath, basketball head injury, the coach recovering from major surgery, prostate cancer recovery, The spine tumor that ended up benign benign, challenges in business, Bongo’s dad, special intentions. We better get to praying!

    glad y’all all came out and let me be a part of your morning! Please let screwtop know I signed him up for New Years morning (2020, 2021, and 2022)

  • 12 Days of Christmas – Sunnyside

    More 2.0s than Dads gathered at UrbanSouth Brewery for the annual Christmas beatdown and fest. Quick disclaimer and we were off up Market St. Some ambitious 2.0s had to be full-stopped before racing across Religious St. in the dark. A few motorists were surprised by the pack the of seemingly feral children that were leading a group of wheezing middle aged men, winding through the dark streets between the warehouses.

    We arrived at Annunciation Square and circled up. Quick 20 SSH in cadence to warm us up. Then the began the days, using the 2.0s as coupons where possible. YHC lucked out with a 2.0 under 25lbs. For PAX without a 2.0, they borrowed from others with several to spare. Modifications were offered if 2.0s were uncooperative.

    1. Partridge in a Pear Tree – squat thrust 2.0 up to the shoulder; or a burpee
    2. V-Ups
    3. Lords/ladies leaping (2.0s hop over dads in plank)  or Russian Twists
    4. Flutter Kicks 
    5. Dizzy Bears
    6. Dying roaches
    7. Plank Jacks
    8. Freddy Mercurys
    9. Measly Merkins
    10. Baby crunches
    11. Crabs a crawling
    12. Burpees or a (12) Partridge in a Pear Tree. 

    The PAX then went to COT and the naming(!) Lots of creativity and individual expression from the 2.0s. Then a mosey back to Urban South to a feast, a bounce house, sweaty & dirty children, and excellent fellowship. Much good food, but shout out to #bones for the smoked boudin he served up.

  • Poker Run

    Its the game all the new cool kids are playing.

    “A poker run is an organized event in which participants, usually using motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, boats, snowmobiles, horses, on foot or other means of transportation, must visit five to seven checkpoints, drawing a playing card at each one. “

    YHC has previously over-estimated the PAX’s ability to listen to and understand directions. And YHC was afraid that this particular set of instructions was going to be beyond the attention span of the PAX. The PAX were warned that this was going to require attention. And all but Angie’s List seemed willing to give it a shot.

    Quick warmup with some SSH (x31 – to celebrate 31 years since ND’s last National Championship. YHC promised this would be the only ND reference during the workout) and Windmills.

    Then – PAX assume plank position while YHC explains the game. The more backtalk and sass, the longer we stay in plank position. Except Jingle Vader. JV apparently has some objection to Plank, so he stood in the Vertical Plank with arms crossed.

    The Rules: there are 5 stations around the park. See the map. At each station there are some cards (playing cards) and a card (workout card). Each group picks a playing card, and the workout card tells you what to do (which exercise, how many reps).

    Each team visits each of the stations, getting 5 cards. OK, there were other rules too. But I don’t need to go through them all here. The 3 teams (Hawg, King Kong and Bongo; Douille, Angie’s List, Jingle Vader; Catfish, Rudy, iHeart, Da Parish) each took off.

    5 Stations with Legs, Planks, Merks, Abs, Burpees. Side note: drawing the Ace of Hearts and its 30 8 Count Body Builder reward kind of sucked. Thanks Catfish.

    OK, its about 7:20 and everyone is back in the Great Lawn with 5 cards. Circle up for opportunities to replace cards.

    Monkey Humpers: Do Monkey Humbers for longer than YHC, and your team can exchange a card. Rudy got to x40. Hawg, King Kong and Bongo tapped out after 2, and assumed the Al Gore position of shame.

    Plank: Plank longer than Rudy and your team can exchange a card. Rudy got to about 90 seconds. Hawg, King Kong and Bongo tapped out after about 10 seconds.

    Burpees: Everyone on your team get 10 burpees in less than a minute? Exchange 1 card. Hawg, King Kong and Bogo tapped out at exactly 9 burpees each.

    NOTE: Everyone should have realized something by this point.

    The Wager: Each team automatically antes 10 burpee. Winner does no burpee, losing teams pay the bet. Douille, Angie’s List and Jingle Vader call the lazy triplets at 25 Burpees. While Catfish et. al. ponder their move, Hawg announces the natural full house they pulled. Fortunately, that allowed Catfish et. al. to Fold and only pay a 15 burpee penalty.

    Congrats to the winners who SWEAR they drew 3 7s and 2 10s blind.

    Thanks all for giving this a shot!

  • The Freaking Exception (?)

    After reading the email this morning, it occurred to me that I may have forgotten something important last week. It wasn’t my wife’s birthday, remembered that. Thanksgiving? Who could forget it. Black Friday? My coffee at uptown PJ’s only cost an arm and half a leg in celebration of Black Friday, so it wasn’t that. No, YHC may have (allegedly) forgotten (potentially) to post a BB from the Foundry this week. I may have (according to some sources) been mentioned in the weekly email. For this – if it refers to me – I am deeply sorry (allegedly). Regardless, as I have gotten on others before about failing to post a BB, no excuses. Just like it’s better to send a wedding gift six months late than not at all, please allow the following to serve as YHC’s BB from last week.

    On Wednesday, we were joined by 1 FNG and 3 out of towners – Side Effects, Charmin, and Uptown Girl – for out traditional foundry workout, consisting of offensive music, an appropriate amount of mumblechatter, and Tabata. The mumblechatter is because we always forget the rotation halfway through; Tabata is because it’s a rockin good time; and offensive music is required by law as a tribute to Jesus Juice, whose playlists consist mainly of people screaming obscenities over 300 beats per minute.

    But first, on a muggy morning, we did a quick warmup on the track of

    • SSHx20
    • Arm Circlesx20
    • Mountain Climbersx20
    • IWx20
    • Self love OYO as we walked to the lanes of the track

    From there, the usual: 2 lines, Indian Run to the Foundry.

    When we arrived, 8 stations of Tabata, consisting of

    • Snake Derkins (just a Derkin on the thing we call a snake, not some cool new exercise that involves slithering around while doing merkins. although….)
    • Upright rows 
    • seated dips
    • Squats 
    • Shoulder taps
    • Hanging crunches 
    • Plank + alternating arms up in the air
    • Burpees

    We got 5 rounds in, and Indian ran back to the track for some cyo Mary, including

    • LBC’s
    • Doctor W’s
    • flutter kicks
    • something else

    We moseyed to the flag where we arrived at 6:15 sharp. COT, prayer, and then coffeeteria at PJ’s on Canal. Thanks for coming out. – Kuch

  • Weather Change

    Unfortunately Tool was unable to Q this morning and was a late scratch. And whenever there is a need for a Q somehow I seem to be the guy to do it. I usually welcome it as a challenge and I had never been Q for a Stomp before. So 11 lunatics joined me for a brisk morning run with a lovely breeze.

    Disclaimer was given. I chose to do something radical and gave the instruction to run 20 minutes out and 20 minutes back. The wind was mostly at our backs on the way out which allowed for a lovely run. Unfortunately the wind in face on the way back with some occasionally strong gusts made for an interesting challenge. However as you would expect all PAX powered through. I am typically among the slow runners so upon my return to the flag Belloq took the lead and had the PAX performing some 8 count absolutions which is always a crowd pleaser. Once the 6 returned a quick round of Mary was done. Countoff, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and sweaty ball of man.

    Lately with Thanksgiving nearing my M has been challenging the 2.0s and me to come up with something we are thankful for everyday. I challenged the PAX to do the same since despite whatever trials and tribulations we or any family may be experiencing in life we have so much to be thankful for. Looking forward to the next Q (which will be tomorrow).

  • Crescent City Fall Classic Preview

    The Q sheet for The Stomp was mysteriously blank for this beautiful Tuesday morning. On Monday, YHC wondered why would such a popular beatdown did not have a Q — rain in the forecast (we all know Lakeview people can’t handle a little rain). So at 5:01 am, YHC took the Q, his first at the beloved 610 Stomp.

    This Saturday morning is the Cresent City Fall Classic. YHC has always dreamed of running the Cresent City 10k from a timed coral. The fall classic and the St. Patty’s two-miler are the qualifiers for the 10k but YHC cannot attend either this year. So, why not make the entire Stomp crowd attempt to run qualify for the race at an F3 workout.

    We mosey from the flag to the starting line. Along the way, we warmed up with high knees, butt kicks, carioca right, and carioca left.

    At the starting line, the course was roughly explained. Runners were reminded that a CCC10k qualifying time was 22:00. With that disclaimer, we were off.

    After passing Christian Brother’s the kind security guard told us that our route would need to be modified (darn VooDoo Fest). No worries we modify and move on.

    At the conclusion of the run, a few things were determined.

    1. The Pax determined that Shuffles probably qualified and no one else.
    2. YHC discovered how his M feels when I don’t follow directions.
    3. F3 is full of leaders and followers, both were on display today.
    4. Amnesty plays by his own rules.
    5. The park is safer than running down the bayou (except for that one part when I lead the Pax into the middle of Wisner).

    Finished with Mary, stretching, and burpees.

    COT

    It is always a pleasure to lead. Thank you, gentlemen.

  • You don’t have to be perfect, just better than yesterday

    20 runners were greeted with an absolutely perfect pitch black morning at the Stomp today. The temperature hovered around 65 degrees for the entire run, and at no point did we see the sun. Thanks to Daylight Savings Time and those long Spring and Summer days, we’re treated to at least a mid-workout sunrise for most of the year. In fact, the sunrises will be back next month when Daylight Savings Time kicks in. Until then, let’s enjoy these last few chances to make our way through the dark, quiet streets of New Orleans while the city sleeps.

    About 6 months ago, some of us timed ourselves in a 1-mile at the Danger Zone. Since the DZ is no more, YHC decided to bring the time trials to The Stomp. The instructions were simple…. well, I thought they were simple at least.

    • Bring an activity tracker
    • All run one warm-up mile together
    • Once your activity tracker makes 1 mile, run Mile 2 as hard as you can
    • Regardless, turn back at 20 minutes and run back to the flag.
    • Send me your mile 2 time

    Even with a little confusion, this mostly went off without a hitch. The purpose of the time trial is not to see who’s fastest, but see how we’re improving. Sure, it’s fun to run around in a tank top in the early morning grabbing grass and doing a few burpees, but overall, I think we all want to get a little better, faster, stronger. To that end, I’ll post your time from today if you send it to me, and I’ll tag this post with #timetrial . Search that tag next time we do this and see how you’ve improved. Here is what I have. This is not necessarily the order in which they finished:

    1. Shuffles
    2. Tua 6:47
    3. Dirty Dell 6:37
    4. Briefs
    5. Screwtop
    6. Belloq 6:51
    7. Hawg 6:40
    8. Jesus Juice 7:02
    9. Rudy
    10. Kuch 7:06
    11. Breadsticks 6:32
    12. Rev Sox 7:51
    13. Tool 8:49
    14. Woz
    15. Bongo
    16. Chips
    17. Tugboat
    18. Hokie Pokey 10:30
    19. Thumb War 8:13
    20. Gideon

    Few rounds of Mary led by different PAX, and then 5 burpees for each pax member who did not stick with the group early on. The usual formalities and a prayer for peace and stillness in our lives. Thanks for having me. – Kuch

  • 5 year CONVERGENCE!

    Well – 5 years later we are still going STRONG! I remember when we started thinking I don’t have time in my life for this group. After a week of beatdowns I knew that we had to commit to growing this group – it had already begun to change my life and they way I interact with people everyday. I know after a nasty 530am beatdown – that I can handle anything the day throws at me. Thanks to all the guys here in NOLA that keep things running so that we can continue to be a group. Thanks to OBT for taking time out of his life to get us going in the GLOOM! Looking forward to 5 more years of F3 in NOLA.

    Today the pre-run started with about 20 PAX for a run down BAYOU ST JOHN. Beautiful weather, cool air and a crisp breeze. We ran 12 min out and 12 min back so that we could arrive in time for the fun.

    KUCH – has a been a great EH’er and a nice addition to F3 NOLA. Kuch started the party off with a WARM UP circle. SSH, Imp Walkers, Arm Circles, Peter Parkers, Merks.

    Then we divided up by 5 count into teams. We did 5 burpees, 5 Lunges, 5 Merkins, 5 Squats, 5 Plank Jacks. Bear Crawl across the lawn. Run back. KUCH did an excellent job getting the teams set quickly

    5 reps. We ran out of time and had to call it after 3 reps. No team won due to the shortened KUCH set. Kuch represented NOLA well – with a pretty gnarly start to a celebratory event.

    2nd set with DURACELL – FROM BATON ROUGE

    Duracell brought out 2 coupons. 40lb cinderblocks. 2 PAX ran to the center and did 3 thrusters. We went two different directions. A slow starter but once the PAX got the hang out this one – this was a solid beatdown. Duracell had to do about 15 exercises in cadence to 20. Exercises ranged from a regular plank, to shoulder taps, to merk variations to squat/lunge variations. The highlight of this section was Mathlete’s 2.0-Bear getting that cinderblock in the right position and up. Duracell represented the RED STICK well.

    THIGHS FROM THE WANK- 3rd quarter. We started with a solid mosey over the to the lawn in by the museum. Upon arrival we see that Thighs has organized with some printed out signs a 15 min beatdown that is going to suck. At each sign there was an exercise- PAX had to complete 20 reps the first time through, 15 reps the 2nd time through. (Possible 3rd time for the fastest pax members). Exercises were:

    1. Bonnie Blaires
    2. Diamond Merks
    3. Reverse Crunches aka Gaspumps
    4. Bobby Hurleys
    5. Merkin Toe Touches (need to incorporate this more in my Qs)
    6. Freddie Mercs

    RUN back to the start line and do this again. Thighs had the teams organized in a way by street names. Due to 75 PAX that didn’t quite workout but Thighs quickly modified and let the teams fall where they were. A good quick call. Thighs demonstrated that there is nothing easy about the WANK. Those guys are tough! Great turnout by the WB.

    STEVE FROM THE NORTHSHORE- FINISHED OFF The PAX back on the great lawn. Each pax got a partner.

    You had to do your partners age in burpees, your partners weight in LBCS, and your partners months in F3 in Freddies.

    Steve had a few minutes left so he finished with some Peter parkers, and some American Hammer.

    After a 75 PAX NAME O RAMA, NUMBERRAMA – Hokey POkey finished us off with an awesome prayer!

    After the whole beatdown we gathered at Cafe Du Monde for a 5 year celebration party. Tclaps to Rudy, Tool and Gabrielle for making that happen. There were eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, biscuits, beignets and plenty of coffee!

    Thanks to our awesome Qs! IT is NOT easy to Q 75 PAX!

    So blessed to be a part of this group- cheers to 5 more years of F3 NOLA!

  • Failing Upwards

    These warm, thick, moist ( I said it) Southern mornings seem to stretch in front of and behind us without variation. It’s unmistakable. That feeling, the transition, of stepping from your front door (that sweet clean cool conditioned air) into the physical force of warm jell-o that is the south. A low level of perma-sweat is the accepted norm. Under these conditions 20 men (one FNG) met, with great enthusiasm, in the gloom of City Park.

    YHC was looking forward to his Second Q. He even planned out a few maneuvers he thought might be fun and thought of how to map out the days work. However, today’s BB is not a story of great triumph, it is one of progress.

    To start YHC forgot about the disclaimer momentarily, so some men did think I was a professional and did not know that they could modify. Second, YHC bumbled through the lead-in to each warm-up exercise, giving a variation for each, which opened the door to chatter amidst the ranks. As Q, variation can lead to chatter, chatter, can lead to dissent, dissent can lead to mutiny. A fair warning for any who might take the mantle as future Q. But not to worry, YHC was open to input, heard the people and adjusted accordingly.

    The THANG

    Warm Up in Peristyle (…to the best of recollection)
    x10 Arm circle fwd/bck
    x10 Hill Bill
    x20 Peter Parker
    x20 Parker Peter
    x15 jump jack
    Then everyone pick a column x3sets of Sunday Mornings:
    People’s chair w/ x10 jack web
    Donkey kicks x5
    Balls to wall, count to 10
    (three movements = 1 set)

    Line up – Mosey/Indian run to practice track
    Partner up
    1. Catch me if you can – Partner runs ahead backwards while other partner drops for 5 burpees, sprint to catch, alternate, 400m
    Cont. w/ Partner – following cumulative
    2. 100 Merkins – Sets of 10, partner holds plank while other partner completes set, alternate to total
    3. 200 LBCs – Sets of 20, partner holds legs raised while other completes set, alternate to total
    4. 300 Squats – Sets of 30, partner holds squat while other completes set, alternate to total

    At this juncture YHC had two ideas of what he wanted to do, but was a little uncertain of time. Opting to start a mosey back to the Great Lawn, he lost a little control of the group, who, like cats when not given explicit direction, had a mind of their own. This led to a different route back, which altered timeline. YHC takes full responsibility for this fork in the road, which was a result of indecision. Once outside my comfort zone, I turned to a wisened veteran, Screwtop for a tip on a next workout, he advised 4 corners. Since YHC wanted to keep momentum and control, he jumped on idea, announced to group, and tasked 4 individuals with deciding on a movement for each corner. However, in haste, I was not clear about time spent at each corner, or much of anything, so it turned in to everyone being responsible for their own time in 4 corners.

    While this was not the smoothest F3 beatdown that many know and love, I feel like there was plenty of sweat and ready-to-be-done’ness’ by the end of our hour to say it was a successful day nonetheless.

    My lesson – don’t go in to a Q with too many ideas of what to accomplish. Pick your workouts. Keep it simple. And stick to your plan. Any time allowed to think about what to do next, gives rise to chaos. Anarchy. (Don’t look into applying this reminder to life… it might lead to improvement). Also, the older I get I find myself abiding the principle, “If you haven’t failed at doing something, and gone back to it to keep doing it, are you even invested in it?”


    I appreciate the patience of all while I had a growth Q and want to thank the spirit of F3 for keeping it fun for all. Veterans stepped up, tclaps to those who did, and ultimately this group is about camaraderie, practicing leadership, and pushing each other to be better all around. I am excited to step up to another Q in the near future, and tighten up the execution then.

  • Stompkwata

    Despite fair warning, 14 men set off into a pleasant September gloom this morning at Okwata. The warning: bring your running shoes, we’re trying something new. And so we did.

    Since we started doing Okwata, YHC has been wanting to run to the large Lakeshore Drive bridge for a change of pace. Today, we did it.

    It’s around 1.1 miles just to get there, so we had to be quick. We wrapped our warm-up into our mosey with some high knees, butt kicks, Super Marios, carioca, and Zombie walks.

    When we got to the bridge, the instructions were simple: 11’s with burpees at the bottom and merkins at the top. YHC had measured it out, and from base to center of the bridge is about 1/10 of a mile, so each “lap” would be 2/10 of a mile. No one quite completed the 11’s, but Breadsticks was close. Breadsticks seems to have found another gear lately. T-claps for that.

    T-claps to Two Yutes, who went back and swept the runners on the way there, giving them the instruction so everyone could get started. We called an end to the 11’s leaving around 12 minutes to return to the flag, and according to my calculations***, we arrived exactly on time. All in all, we ran about 4 miles, with about 1 mile of that being uphill, broken up with some burpees and merkins. We may try this one again during Run Ranger Run.

    Surge closed us out with a prayer. Thanks for trying something new with me today. – Kuch