F3 New Orleans

Tag: Captain Sparkles

  • Nashville Nasty – from Akbar

    17 showed up today to a warm 61 degrees, the first real sweat in the past few months (except for Russo). Tiga showed up from a recent beatdown in Austin where he was named, jumping right into the fold like he’d been here a year. A surprise comeback from Captain Sparkles was a pleasant surprise.

    4 came jogging up from the pre-thang and we were ready to go.

    Warm up:

    SSH, Arm Circles, Self Love, Imperial Walkers, Grass Grabbers, High Knees

    Grab blocks from the truck and rifle carry to the fire hydrant for 8 ct Rocky Balboas x10 IC, and jawbreakers (alternating Merkins on the block) x 10 OYO.

    Run stairs at Rips, 10 calf raises at the top, return to the blocks.

    Raffle Carry to Noah’s Ark for the Nashville Nasty

    YHC was on a business trip and decided to attend a beatdown in 20° weather with snow on the ground in Nashville. It was cold, but warmed up quickly due to the ascending reps beatdown. It was love at first sight.

    The Nashville Nasty

    6 exercises, 10 reps each, run Noah’s Ark = 1 round. Increase 1 rep each round.

    Lots of Mumblechatter which lessened the pain.

    Grundy was out of the gate first as usual, and we all endured the pain for around 30 minutes. YHC’s unofficial count for most was up to 7-8 rounds, equaling over 500 reps.

    Head back to the flag with a Rifle carry to the fire hydrant, for 2 exercises x10 IC. Maybe Mountain Climbers and Rosalitas, but not quite sure.

    Put up blocks and circle up for Mary x10 IC

    Hello Dolly, Rosalita, Dying Cockroaches, Penguins, Heals to Heaven, Nolan Ryan’s, Jane Fonda’s, 8 count Merkin mountain climbers.

    Count, Name, and Waterpik prayed us out.

    Coffeeteria at Book and the Bean was well attended, with Steve joining us after his run. Grundy brought cookies for all.

    Announcements

    Run Cajun Ran- log your miles
    Krazy Ivan- Saturday Feb 17th

    Thanks for following the lead gentlemen! 👊💪👍

    SYITG- Akbar

  • 50 Reasons to Come Out and Play

    As the clock turned 6:30, the pacs who dared to walk outside during the corona virus hysteria, could not help but notice the coupons that were awaiting them for the beat down. But before we get to that, let’s warm up……

    Forward arm circles – 10 IC, Reverse arm circles -10 IC, Overhead Claps – 10 IC, Cherry Pickers – 10 IC, Air presses – 10IC

    At this point there were murmurs among-st the group in regards to my choice of warm up exercises given the coupons that were awaiting them, but those murmurs fell on def ears of the Q.

    Side Straddle Hops – 10 IC, High Knees – 10 IC, Butt Kicks – 10 IC, Imperial Walkers – 10 IC, 10 Merkins – OYO, 10 Plank Jacks – OYO, 10 Groiners – OYO, 10 Eight Count Body Builders – IC

    For those pacs that did not attend this beat down, but are wondering what the coupons could have been. Well read no further, 50 lb Bags of Sand. Each pac gets a partner. Each team of two is responsible for getting their 50 lb bag of sand to the shaft. Pac 1 to carries bag one block, while other pac ran ahead and planked until partner got there. Rinse and repeat until you arrive at shaft. Every one planks until 6 gets there, which in this case, and most cases, was yours truly.

    Keeping with the theme of 50 for 50 lb bags of sand, I kept the reps at 50 for the next group of exercises.

    Keeping your same partner, Pac 1 will run from shaft to designated oak tree and back while other pac performs burpees with bag of sand. Bag gets lifted to shoulders after merkin and groiner of burpee is performed, and bag is than pressed above head at end of burpee. Each team performs 50 in total.

    With same partner, Pac 1 will carry bag of sand overhead with arms extended to same oak tree and back while partner performs crunchy frogs. Rinse and repeat until 50 crunchy frogs are completed between both partners.

    At this point, I could see that the 50 lbs were literally weighing down the group. I decided to quote the great 6 time Olympia Winner, Dorian Yates in an attempt to rally the troops. “Muscle growth is an adaptation to stress.” Not sure if that helped, but I am just a Dorian Yates fan.

    Pac 1 bear crawls to oak tree and runs back to shaft. Before taking off on bear crawl, Pac 1 places the bag of sand on their partners back, so that they can perform merkins. Rinse and repeat until 50 merkins are completed between both partners.

    Time for some Mary…..At this point, many were thinking, yes, some Mary. We get a break from the bag of sand, not so much…..

    Stay with same partner. Partner one performs LMCs – 20 IC while holding bag of sand above their head. Partner two holds plank at elbows until LMCs are completed. . Partners trade off and perform same exercises

    Exercise #2 for Mary was a modification of dead cock roaches. While performing dead cock roaches, the bag of sand is held above head, 20 IC. Partner without bag performs flutter kicks, 20 IC. Partners trade off and perform same exercises. I knew I struck gold with the modified dead cock roached when I heard Grundy say, “These are tough.”

    With only ten minutes to go, I wanted to get a competition in before the beat down was over. Pacs broke into two teams. Object of competition was to see who could stack the bags of sand the fastest without the bags falling over. If your tower of sand fell over, you automatically lost. Only rules were that only one pac could move bag(s) of sand at a time, and the next pac could not touch or move a bag(s) of sand until the previous pac returned. Team 1 got smoked. They finished in 2 minutes and 9 seconds. Team 2, with a FRESH Capt Sparkles, finished in 59 seconds. Zoolander did his best by knocking over their tower of sand before Capt placed the last bag on top. Good effort Zoolander, but we got beat.

    At this point in the beat down, those 50 lb bags of sand had changed to anywhere from 0 to 45 lbs. Thank Goodness. In a collective effort, all packs were able to get remaining bags back to flag by swapping off between each other. Team Work makes the Dream Work. Kudos to Baby Yoda for powering his weigh through this work out. At 68 lbs, he was carrying, pulling, pushing and bag of sand that was nearly 75% of his body weight. The force is strong in that one Bush Wacker.

    The Manny Prayed us out!!!!!

  • The Return of Captain Sparkles!

    An unexpected hero materialized out of the gloom this morning: Captain Sparkles, the firefighting leader of men with his amulet of FD power returned to show the PAX how a real man carries another man through a tunnel.

    Warm-ups were SSH, Windmills, Arm Circles, IW’s and Butt Kicks. Then, we moseyed to the tunnel for the thang that YHC has been dreading for two days:

    THANG: Basic premise is moving through the tunnel using a variety of methods with 10 burpees after each. All methods of forward progress (except the alligator crawl, which could only be completed halfway up the opposite ramp) were accomplished on both the down and up ramps with a short, slow-mosey break on the flat part at the bottom, and each followed by 10 burpees at the top.

    Started with lunge walk, then crab walk, then partner carry, flapjacking for a second round after burpees. This is where Captain Sparkles’ years of fire rescue skills left YHC in the dust carrying Zoolander on his back, confidently riding like an ostrich-jockey (metaphor provided by Hammer). Next was the brutal alligator crawl, followed by back-pedal, then sprint, and finally bear crawls (and 80 burpees overall).

    After arriving back to the flag two minutes over time, COT, and Hammer prayed us out.

    Thanks, gents, for your willingness to persevere and for giving YHC a reason to finish what we started this morning.

    See you in the gloom!

  • Crowd Pleaser

    Let’s just acknowledge that there was an actual “crowd” to please in the first place – Grandma’s was a-hoppin’ this morning. Aside from the regulars, there was Zoo, who has started to become a regular. There was Hammer, who not only posted today, but yesterday at the Marsh as well. And then there was Captain, the Chief, the Sparkliest of firefighters and most notable of actors in the Hollywood South, who made a rare guest appearance. Sounds like he may soon bump himself up to a series regular if we continue to EH him (hint, hint). There was also a very vocal owl that greeted the Hammer and I with eerily childlike rantings (YHC was reminded of the Hammer’s demonic, discarded doll), but he didn’t stick around long enough to make the cut. Anyhow, for Granny, it was a packed house.

    Warmorama: IWs, torso twists, toe touches, SSHs, and probably something else. Finished with 20x merkins OYO.

    As the fall weather settles in, YHC sometimes worries that the PAX just won’t sweat enough. This is the kind of stuff that keeps me up at night. I mean, if Shooter doesn’t sweat during a beatdown, then really what was the point? Luckily temperatures hadn’t dropped too much, but YHC decided to start with a quick mosey around the block to get the blood flowing.

    Next up was the “crowd pleaser,” a term YHC takes at face value, rather the ironic one that seems to be intended. In front of the stage (which was well illuminated for some reason this morning), we spread out to four imaginary corners. The routine would be to travel clockwise to each corner, and perform the same exercise x10 until you’ve returned to your original corner. So:

    Bear crawl, x10 merkins at each corner
    Lunge walk, x10 squats at each corner
    Crab walk, 10x big boys at each corner
    Frog jumps, 10x burpees at each corner

    Recovery walk over to the corridor for partner sprints: P1 holds a people’s chair while doing air presses, P2 sprints half the corridor and back, then the full thing (including the stairs but mindful of our friendly stair-climbing couple) and back to flapjack.

    The Grand Finale was a last minute call – seeing that stage so well-lilt, and having an actor in our presence, it seemed necessary to get up there in the spotlight. So we hopped up to center stage for a little game of Rochamburpees. Same partners, rock/paper/scissors with the winner doing 1 merkin and the loser, 1 burpee. Redos for ties, and an ascending count each round, up to 10x. As the odd man out, YHC unfortunately hitched his wagon to the wrong horse, with Captain defying the odds and losing the first 8 straight. Out of sympathy, Cowbell even tried purposefully losing, which failed as well. Such was the bad luck of Cap. In the end, though, he came through when it mattered and secured the final two wins.

    Back to the flag for a some Mary: Crunchy Frogs, LBC’s, Putins, Flutters, and 100’s, all x20 IC. COT and Shooter prayed us out. Thank you men for getting out of the sack this morning and helping me become a stronger and better man.

  • Holy piñata! It’s a tabata plankorama, Batman!

    Five PAX made it out to the Marsh this morning, itching to get back to work after a grueling holiday weekend.  This included a special appearance by (Chief) Captain Sparkles, who posted despite a traumatic rope swing injury suffered while impressing a lady.

    YHC imagines it looked something like this…

    Despite the busted arm, Sparkles suffered through the beatdown admirably, and we’re all hoping that, once healed, this’ll be the start of a Sparklanaissance. Ok, so here’s what went down this morning:

    Warmorama: Arm circles, SSHs, IWs, toe touches, good mornings, all x20 IC.

    Next up, knock out half the ISI with a 2 minute plank.  Shooter got an early start on this, planking as YHC arrived, so t-claps to him for getting a little extra in today. (And while we’re t-clapping, let’s also give it up for Waterpik, who continued his trend of running to the AO’s. At least someone is preparing for the Nutria!)

    Then over to the monkey bars for a tabata series.  We did three 4-minute series of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest.  We alternated between two different exercise each round.

    First round:  merkins / big boy sit-ups

    Second round: squat jumps / burpees

    Third round: hanging knee tucks / mountain climbers

    Next up, a game of Catch Me If You Can: Partner 1 runs toward the lake, P2 does 10 plank jacks and 10 mountain climbers before sprinting to catch up.  Flapjack.

    Once at the lake, we finished up our ISI with another 2 minute plank on the sea wall.

    Since we were there, why not knock out freak nasties, x15 IC?  YHC resisted the (very strong) urge to jump into some Bulgarians…

    And then another Catch Me If You Can back to the marsh, this time with 10x merkins as the exercise.

    Mary consisted of Cowbell Flutters, LBC’s, Freddie’s, and leg raises, all x20 IC.  

    COT, with Shooter praying us out.  This is hands down the best way to start off the work week, so thank you guys for the opportunity to lead, and for your dedication and consistency!

  • Ragnar or Bust (Selong Delong)

    After multiple reports (including my own) of some of the M’s quickly growing worn out and weary of our battlefield chronicles, YHC decided to keep this CSAUP back blast short, ambiguous, and hopefully entertaining.

    To be certain, the Ragnar weekend was a grand adventure, complete with near death experiences, incredible feats of athletic performance and endurance, more laughs than any group of guys should be blessed to have, new friends and teammates and enough post-race alcohol that the rest is a bit hazy…

    From the time we took off from the Winn Dixie parking lot in Mandeville until the return trip, the nick names were flowing with abundance. Some had multiple names in fact! With that, you’ve seen the PAX list, try to match the nicknames with the Ragnarian. To see if you’re right, be sure to post at your nearest northshore AO. (1 did not get a nickname and several had more than 1. Also, some names have been slightly altered so as not to offend any non F3 readers that may see this on social media):

    -“Male Chicken”-Ring, Teabag, Broke “Richard” Mountain

    -Mr. Awkward, Medium (Shmedium)

    -Shaddow

    -Confusion

    -Wet Wipe, William Wallace

    -Hail to the Chaif, Beef Jerkey

    -Sinatra, Shane

    -McConaughey, Chip n Dale

    -Cocktail, Post Post

    -Story Time


    Thanks for enduring this insider info. Next time take the red pill and be on the inside. The opportunities are everywhere, including anywhere you see an F3 Shovel Flag!

  • Ragnar Ready

    Mother Nature cooperated for our weekly appearance at the Milestone Marsh at 0500. Rain was in the forecast, but today, we must have been livin’ right because all was dry (except the streets). Yes, it was very gloomy and damp, but for F3 Northshore, our best work is always done in the gloom.

    With the much awaited and anticipated Ragnar Relay less than a week away, Bushwacker and his men are continuing preparations before departing for the Atlanta area at the end of the week. Best of luck, guys! I know you will make us proud.

    Warmarama

    SSH, Imperial Walkers, Toe Touches, Arm Circles, all IC x 15.

    Thang

    Mosey down Marigny St. to the Lakefront. At each intersection, the PAX stopped to do some exercises. To name a few: Flutter Kicks, Hello Dollies, Imperial Walker Squats, Groiners, Burpos, Al Gore’s, Jumpsquats, Calf Raises, Leg Raises, Merkins (start at 10, ascend by 5 @ each intersection).

    The PAX then headed over to Rips for some up and overs, while the men on the ground did some Rocky Balboa’s, Jump overs, SSHs.

    Mosey back to the Marsh just in time to close out w/ count off, Namorama, COT and thanks to Steve for praying us out.

    Thanks, guys, for committing to post even though the forecast looked bleak as late as last night. Thanks for letting me lead you today as you prepare for the Ragnar.

  • Running Interference

    YHC woke to the sound of rain, knowing he may have to adjust the planned Beatdown a little. A lot of uphill/downhill sprints were originally planned, but we all know how slippery the tunnel of love gets when wet.

    YHC arrived a little earlier than usual for the Q, but surprisingly, half the PAX was already there. Shooter already drenched in sweat from his run from home. All arrived, 5:15am came, so off we went…

    WarmOrama: Good Mornings, Windmills, Toe Touches, Imperial Walkers

    PAX moseyed to “The Love Tunnel”: Along the way there was concern that a band of rain was on the way. At Grandma’s, there is a covered area to perform exercises, but we took our chances.

    PAX separated into 2 groups of 3. Almost forgetting, YHC gave disclaimer. While group 2 did Freddy Mercurys, Group 1 jogged down the slope of the tunnel, ran at about 80% on the flat, then ran at 100% up the other side, then did the same on the way back. The groups flapjacked. Rinse and repeat; We did a 2nd round, doing squats in place of Freddy Mercurys.

    PAX moseyed to “Interference” bar and Saia’s parking lot, a new venue for the PAX.

    A variation of a routine borrowed from Maverick:

    Pax separated into two groups, and started catercorner to each other across the parking lot. PAX performed 25 reps of a different exercise at each corner of the parking, running from corner to corner: Burpees, Merkins, LBC’s, Lunges. Rinse and repeat for 2 rounds.

    Next, PAX moseyed back to the Farmer’s Market area. As we ran through Wendy’s Drive-Thru, some of the PAX mentioned their favorite Wendy’s meals, like the “Double Stacks;” however, Pelican said that he favors Jack in the Box, going into detail about their tacos…If only Wendy’s were open…

    Arriving at the Farmer’s Market area with only 10 minutes remaing, YHC called for a modified(shortened) version of Dora 1,2,3. Teams of 2 PAX working together to reach cumulative exercise goals of 50 Merkins, 100 Freddy Mercurys, and 150 Squats. PAX 1 executed as many reps as possible while PAX 2 back-peddled about 20 yards down and sprinted back, flapjacking until the team goal was reached.
    PAX finished at exactly the 6:00 buzzer.

    We did circle of trust, and CountOnameO. Thank you Steve for praying us out, thanks Guys for the opportunity to lead…and thank you God for holding up on the rain.

    As PAX dispersed, Bushwacker shared that he knows its a good Beatdown, when he feels a litttle anger towards the Q….

  • The Extra Mile Is Never Crowded

    Unless, of course, you’re running in Old Mandeville, where there are always other running crews hitting the pavement before 0500.

    First off, t-claps to Coconuts for showing up with some reflective running schwag, instantly making the pax both safer and giving us that “seasoned runner” look (so that when the group of women doing a 6-minute pace passed us, they knew they were passing some serious men).

    Secondly, t-claps to Waterpik, who has posted to more than a few beatdowns while he rehabs his ankle.  He got YHC thinking this morning: would I show up if I couldn’t run?  Probably not.  Maybe the first week, but then the temptation of an extra hour of sleep (maybe 2 for an outta work hairdresser?) would be too much.  Pik leads by example and character like his is one of the biggest reasons why I’ve made F3 such an integral part of my life.

    The Thang: Once our new reflective bands had been properly secured, YHC warned the pax that we’d be skipping our usual warm-up in lieu of a little more distance: 4 miles rather than our usual 3.2.

    Today’s route:

    Back in time for a few flutters (30x IC) and a few merkins (20), before COT with Chewy praying us out.  Thanks for going the extra distance today guys, appreciate it!

  • Rise When the Rooster Crows (or, Do Monkey Humpers when the Rooster Crows)

    Granny’s house is the only real wild card in the northshore schedule these days.  While other AO’s maintain a consistent crew, Granny’s House can fluctuate greatly.  And it’s kinda nice not knowing what you’ll get – sometimes it’s 8-10 pax, other times it’s 2.  For two weeks in a row, though, it’s been a packed house.  Maybe because of the special appearances by Captain Sparkles?  Who can say.  But it was nice to have a solid number of men in the gloom this morning, up early enough to hear the rooster crow.   Literally.  That’s right, we have a rooster at Granny’s House.  (Or, at least, in the general vicinity of Granny’s.) 

    Warmorama (under the safe confines of the covered corridor, while the rain petered off): Toe Touches x15 IC, 10 Merkins, SSH x15 IC, 8 Merkins, IW x15 IC, 6 Merkins, Copperhead Squats x15 IC, 4 Merkins, High Knees x15 IC, 2 Merkins, Butt Kicks x15 IC.

    The Thang:

    This beatdown was a bit of a medley – less rinse and repeat, more mosey from COP to COP.  Our first mosey was through the woods over to the Marigny intersection for a quick set of Peter Parkers, Alternating Should Taps, and Parker Peters, all 20x IC.  

    Then onward to the Lamarque intersection, where the Pax circled up to perform monkey humpers while each man got a turn at 5x jump squats.  A neighborhood dog caught sight of Wacker humping and, well, let’s just say it’s a good thing there was both a fence and the dog’s owner came out to restrain him.  Between that and the rooster, it was pretty clear that it was time to move on,  so we moseyed quickly over to the Marsh’s pull-up bars.

    First up, a set of 7’s : 6 hanging knees-to-chest to 1 Sister Mary Katherine.  Next up, 20 squat / pull-up combos OYO.

    Another mosey, this time back towards Granny’s, but with a quick stop on Girod to circle up for Al Gore, while each pax quickly performs 5x IW’s.

    Mosey onward, until we were safely back at the trailhead, where YHC confidently explained how to do Bear Crawl Merkins across the length of the corridor.  Incorrect explanation, but done with great confidence so no one questioned it until about halfway through, when someone realized the count should be an odd number to correctly alternate our staggered merkins.  Regardless though, the pax seemed to enjoy.

    Another mosey, this time to the bus stop benches for: 10x Jump Overs, Freak Nasties x10 IC, Knee Ups R Leg x10 IC, Freak Nasties x10 IC, Knee Ups L Leg x10 IC, Freak Nasties x10 IC.

    Back to the start for a blast from the past, an old favorite that YHC had nearly forgotten (thanks Bushwacker for mentioning groiners and triggering a light bulb moment): an 8-count exercise known as Absolution.  It involves groiners, Makhtar N’Diayes, and plank jacks, and it’s a pain in the ass to count off. But we managed to knock out 10 of those IC and then finally finished up with a muddy Mary of: flutter kicks, high flutters, LBCs, crunchy frogs, and Putins, all 20x IC.

    COT and Captain took us out with a special prayer for Dan Ziegler, who was seriously injured in the Metairie condo fire over the weekend.  Please send your thoughts and prayers to Dan and his family.  And thank you men for the opportunity to lead!