F3 New Orleans

Tag: Chewy

  • Pre-thang to Northshore’s first 2 a day!!

    7 PAX converged on the Scramble this Gloom preparing for their first experience with a 2 day. Cowbell will be introducing an evening Q occurring at the Mandeville Lakefront for 6 followed by some F2 at the Beach house.. YHC had considered doing some interval training, however many have come to appreciate the routine of our 5k Scramble, so no reason to break with the norm.

    Warmup

    10 IC Imperial Squats Walkers, 10 IC Toe Touches, 10 IC Windmills, 20 IC SSH, 10 IC alternating lunges..

    Thang

    Took to the streets of Mandeville with the PAX staying together for the first 1/4 mile or so till we crossed East Causeway approach. After crossing a couple of different groups formed. The “Gazelles” Steve, Garfield and Cowbell jumped out to set the pace. Followed by Zoolander and Chewy with Water Pik and the Q not far behind.. Hats off to Water Pik for pacing with the all to familiar lagging YHC, as we chattered along catching up on conversations we hadn’t shared in some time..

    PAX all finished with respectable times ranging from 8-9 mins. Finished out with a series of exercises mostly performed on our 6 or reversed.. 2 30 sec holds of mission impossibles, 2 rounds of scorpion kicks 10 IC, 10 IC Wife pleasers, 10 IC one legged wife pleasers, 20 IC Flutter kicks, 10 IC Hello Dollies, 10 IC Heels to heaven and finishing with 20 IC LBCs…

    Appreciate the post F3 brethren..

    Count, Announce, COT

    YHC closed PAX out!!

    Till our 2nd meeting of the day 👊🏻💪🏻✌🏻!!

  • Hill repeats

    5 Pax met at Granny’s House today.

    Warm up: back lunge with reach x 10; side lunge with reach x 10; Glute bridges x 10IC; Jane Fonda x 10 IC; Hip Crossovers

    The Thang:

    Mosey to underpass: hill repeats x 10

    Plank, Single leg glute bridges x 10 IC; single leg RDL (Dippy Birds) x 10 IC

    Hill repeats x 6

    Plank

    Hill repeats x 2

    Mosey back to flag

    COM: JF, Flutter, HTH x 10 IC

    Name-o-rama, COT, prayer.

    Thanks guys!

    Chewy

  • The Sound of Cowbells on the Farm

    With an inspirational consistency not seen since the Ol’ Ringo of ’18, YHC feels compelled to give special mention to Ei for cranking out a Mandeville Straight right out of left field! Also tumbling through the vast emptiness of YHC’s brain was the fact that today marked the 2nd (1st time in Q’s solemn presence at least) meeting of veteran south shore and veteran north shore legends in Mr. Farmer and Mr. Schedler.

    Speaking of Mr Farmer, as per somewhat usual, his long-time neighbor and homie Chewy came rolling in just late enough to let the warm up breathe a little. Further speaking of…

    WARM O RAMA

    This morning demanded we start of with:

    10x Abe Vigodas (great job counting PAX)

    10x High Knees

    25x Cherry Pickers

    10x Imperial Walkers

    THANG

    As the PAX embarked on the regular route, the mumble chatter began in earnest, despite the already-ubiquitous humidity promising a Shooter-approved beat down.

    MARY

    Upon reconvergence and ample recovery time (depending on who you ask?) the PAX gathered at the workout equipment, where Freddy Mercurys were continuously performed while each man did 5 pull ups and 5 knee ups. When all were done the beat down was concluded with 2 minutes of plank, right hand up, left hand up and back to plank.

    COT

    Steve lead us out by speaking his appreciation, which appreciatively did not evolve into a meandering ramble, as our collective exhaustion could’ve lent itself to. Thanks guys, you each rock individually and as a PAX!

  • Raise Your Hand if You’re Steve

    YHC walked up to a healthy group of scramblers with words of salutation dripping from his already blustering pie hole. Never mind the fact that the thus-far gathered PAX were in the middle of a round of mumble chatter that caused looks of contemplative concern on most of their countenances. But more on that later…

    WARM O RAMA

    With a recent BB trend in mind, QIC lead the Pax in a random smattering Air Presses (my bad), High Knees, Butt Kicks, Torso Twists, Calf Raises and Slow Squats before High Skipping about 10 yards. Then away we went!

    THANG

    So, apparently, Steve has been battling a muscle receptor issue which was hindering his ability to straighten his arms. YHC has dealt with something similar in the past so he can empathize. However, this particular handicap made for a multiple-comment worthy running form as the scramblers scrambled along their scramble-licious route.

    T claps to the scramblers as a group, who have increased their average pace from around 9:30/mile last year to 8:30/mile now.

    MARY

    With our war torn compatriot in mind, Q wrapped things up with exercises modified to either lay flat on the back or tummy, including such bastardized favorites as Armless Freddy Mercurys, Hello Dollys, Rosalitas, Pumping Leg Presses, Circle O Superman, and Scorpion Kicks.

    COT

    Chewy prayed us out….

    Once again, F3’s resident physical therapist super hero, and the REAL reason we all post at the Scramble, Chewy was on the job. He got to polkin’ and prodin’ the Hobester, and after tricking a few of those muscle receptors, the arms were as straight as an arrow (though a bit sore).

    Guys, thanks for waking up at the butt crack of dawn and scrambling through the edge of Hades’ humidity to push yourselves and your F3 brothers.

  • I’d rather be, under the sea…

    With the sharp rise in temperatures and humidity this week, I think we’d all rather be in an octopus’s garden, in the shade.

    I’m sorry…. lame, I know. That’s the best lead line YHC could think of. (There were other, lamer ones – trust me.) Where’s Ei when you need him?

    So every time Ringo returns from the coast, YHC has to come up with another lame Beatles reference. In this case, it’s one of the two songs that Ringo actually wrote for the Beatles, so at least there’s that bit of trivia to carry you through the rest of this backblast.

    Anywho. The scramble. It was as it usually is – with the exception of a visiting Ringo and Cowbell’s first scramble experience.

    Parking Lot Warmorama: Lunges across and back, Frankenstein’s across and back, followed by SSH & IW’s, x20 IC.

    The Thang:

    Despite the humidity, it was a nice run and getting to chat with recent Southshore defector, Cowbell, made it pass even quicker. As one of the few H8! finishers, YHC looks forward to the painful beatdowns to come from him later this year. Also, he attempted to explain what is happening with this months ISI over on the Southshore, but I still left somewhat confused.

    Post-Thang:

    PAX flutter kicked their hearts out while one by one each man rose to do x10 pull-ups. After all men finished, we planked for a bit and performed the following: Merkins x10 IC, Makhtar N’Diayes x10 IC, and Peter Parkers x10 IC.

    COT and Chewy prayed us out. Thanks men for another opportunity to lead, your push and accountability is always appreciated!

  • Uniformed celebrity sightings at the Scramble!!

    5 PAX converged on the Scramble to post before the rain showers arrived.. YHC noticed Water pik already under the lamp post as I emerged from the park.. With no vehicle in sight Q realizing Water Pik had gotten in a little pre thang by running from home.. Garfield emerged from the darkness as Zoolander turned the corner and rolled in. With chatter bouncing around as each PAX joined, the time to begin quickly arrived but headlights rounding the bend revealed the Scramble would add yet another PAX in Chewy as he waited for him to join in…

    Warmup

    10 IC Imperial Squats

    15 IC Toe Touches

    10 IC Scorpion kicks (Garfield fav)

    15 IC Windmills

    Alternating lunge walk 30 yards to Zoolander’s car..

    Thang

    PAX began our Mosey down the standard ole Mandeville Route quickly establishing 2 different paced groups.. With Water Pik, Garfield and Zoolander pacing out front.. YHC and Chewy pulled the 6 with some great chatter along the way.. Returned to the AO for playground work with each PAX cycling through 10 pull-ups while the rest of us completed little Manny crunches OYO. 10 IC Freak nasties as each man completed Flutter kicks. Closed with Plank hold, left/right arm high as our Celebrity uniformed Captain Sparkles rolled in to make a down painment of different sorts..

    Count, announce, COT

    Appreciation to Zoolander closing the PAX with prayers to the sky Q!!

    Always enjoy the Gloom with you men 👍🏻👊🏻✌🏻 Till the next Gloom!!

  • Northshore Convergence – 3 Year Anniversary

    We all come to F3 as individuals, men with our own past and our own unique stories.  But we all share one very similar story, which is the story of our first post to an F3 beatdown.  This story usually involves a little fear, a lot of pain, and in some cases, a splash of merlot.  My story took place at Grandmother’s House (before it had a name), and I can be honest and say it was filled with trepidation: Will I be able to make it through this?  What if I don’t like some of these guys?  Are they going to ask me to lead part of it?  And why the heck am I up so damn early???

    Everyone knows how the story goes – YHC was accepted but quickly pushed to be a better man in all aspects. That impact – an effect felt on all F3 brothers – is what we came together to celebrate on the Lakefront today. F3 has now been thriving and changing men on the Northshore for three years now.

    A few lucky Southshore men arrived early, unaware they’d get roped into a 2 mile pre-thang. Back at the flags (four flags this morning), YHC gave a quick welcome and disclaimer, and we got this thing started:

    Warmorama:

    Three years, three sets of 8-count bodybuilders.  Founding year 2016, so 16 reps of each.  Sprinkled some standard warm-ups in between:

    • 8-count bodybuilders x16 IC
    • SSH, IW’s x20 IC
    • 8-count bodybuilders x16 IC
    • Toe Touches, Windmills x20 IC
    • 8-count bodybuilders x16 IC

    The Thang:

    3 Stations for 3 Years: Every Man Leads

    Leadership is one of the skills F3 hones that YHC is most thankful for. It’s also the thing YHC was most uncomfortable with those first few weeks. These stations were meant to honor the leadership impact that F3 spreads.

    The PAX was split into three groups, with three leaders picked for an impromptu lead at each station. The leader got two minutes to come up with a routine while the rest of the PAX circled up for Peter Parkers x15 IC, Shoulder Taps x15 IC, and Merkins x15 OYO.

    If memory serves, here’s what each leader had us performing:

    Station 1: The Gazebo, led by Sparky Time

    Freak Nasties x10 IC, Step Ups x10 IC (each leg), Squats x10 IC, repeat.

    Station 2: East Swingset Pad, led by Jose 10k

    Squats x10 IC, Jane Fondas x10 IC (each leg), Lunges x10 IC, Monkey Humpers x10 IC.

    Station 3: West Swingset Pad, led by Russo

    Little Manny Crunches x10 IC, Six-Inch Exercise x10 IC, Crunchy Frogs x10 IC. (Pretty sure there was something else in there….)

    Mental and Physical Toughness with Fracsac

    Next up, the baton was passed to Fracsac for a little taste of the Southshore. He told us of his recent Spartan Race with Triple Shift, how challenging it was, and how F3 had prepared him both mentally and physically.  So this next pearl would exemplify both. 

    The physical part was an Indian Run (PAX split into 2 groups), where the man sprinting to the front would yell out an exercise, the PAX would quickly disperse and perform 5 of said exercise (burpees, jump squats, derkins, one-armed merkins, to name a few) before getting back in line and continuing the run.  Halfway through we were stopped for the mental exercise: perform 21 SSH’s, with only the first 10 called out in cadence.  If one man fails to halt at exactly 21, there was a penalty of 30 burpees.  After some mumble chatter about who’s cadence was the correct cadence, we all performed the penalty burpees. The Indian run then headed in the opposite direction, with the same mental exercise waiting at the end of the line – this time 17 SSH and only 6 called in cadence.  Another failure and another 20 burpees were in order.

    Team Races: Pushing Each Other Forward

    YHC took the final pearl with some competitive team exercises. This section was cut short due to time, so we did one quick hopscotch race: the original three teams lined up in plank position, with the last man rising to bunny hop over the rest of his team, and then drop back into plank position. Teams finished once their last man crossed the finish line – the infamous lakefront shaft.

    The two losing teams would need to do a penalty exercise, but the true winning team would never be known because there were some last-second shenanigans on all three teams as they neared the finish line. So we all performed the penalty together: the 8-count exercise known as Absolution.

    Mosey back to the flag, where Shooter led a very abbreviated Mary of planking before we called it.

    COT: Count-o-rama, name-o-rama, naming of an FNG (welcome Stockboy!) and Triple Shift led us in a prayer of thanks.

    Coffetería brought out a few of our injured brothers, with Butt Splice, The Manny, and Tanked Up joining us. T-claps to our Southshore brothers for making it across the pond to make this a true convergence, it wouldn’t be the same without you guys. And t-claps to all the guys who led today, it’s an honor to work beside you men. SYITG.

  • Tomorrow Never Knows

    After a lousy night of sleep, YHC was not particularly excited to get up and Q Granny’s House. But you never know what surprises might await and, as often happens, this gloom brought a big surprise with the welcome return of Ringo. Back in town for a few days before the madness of Spring Break begins, the PAX was surprised to see that Ringo has lost a bunch of weight while not posting to F3 beatdowns and… while running a pancake eatery??? The mysteries of the world are endless, people.

    The surprise return of a slimmed-down Ringo did nothing to diminish the return of Captain Sparkles, though, as his post today marks the start of an intense (albeit, abbreviated) training for the Ragnar in two weeks. If you doubt this man’s methods, look no further than last fall’s half marathon, or even the grow ruck back in ’17. If anyone can prepare this quickly, it would be Cap.

    Warmorama: (all IC)

    SSH x10, Toe Touches x15, SSH x10, Windmills x15, SSH x10, IW’s x15, SSH x10, Copperhead Squats x15.

    The Thang: A quick mosey around the block to get Cap’s running legs back, and then down to business. First up, a set of stations in the amphitheater area of the trailhead:

    • Burpees x20 / Shoulder Taps x5 on the stage
    • Big Boy (Big Ass/Huge Ass, *copyright pending*) Sit-Ups x20 / Freddie Mercuries x5 (IC)
    • Irkins x20 / Derkins x5 on sitting platform
    • Jump Squats x20 / Monkey Humpers x5

    Rinse and repeat, but with each cycle the first exercise at each station goes down by 5, the second goes up by 5. After 4 rounds, we were done.

    Recovery walk over to the corridor for an Indian Bunny Hop: PAX planks in a line, first man bunny hops over and drops into plank at the end, next man up, and so on until we reached the end of what felt like a very long corridor.

    Next up, a set of sprints with a partner.  First two men would sprint 100% to the end and jog back, while PAX performed squats.  Next two up, and so on.  With Waterpik doing extra credit and all men giving it 110%, this was a bit of a blur and YHC can’t remember exactly how many rounds we did.  What I do remember is the Big Man – Shooter – burning me every single time, and Cap looking like Turtle back in his glory days. Nothing like sprints to get the PAX going!

    Finished with a little Mary: Flutter Kicks x30 IC, Hello Dolly’s x20 IC, Rosalitas x20 IC, and Nolan Ryan’s, each side x10 IC.

    COT, Ringo prayed us out, and we discussed the Northshore’s upcoming 3 year anniversary. Look out for an email soon! As always, thanks for the lead guys.

  • Full Moon Fever

    Anyone who has posted this week has probably gotten glimpses of the glorious full moon, made even more unbelievable in its larger, low-hanging position somewhere in the 0500 hour.  That, combined with our near perfect temperatures, makes this that rare Louisiana week that is about as good as it gets for running.  And run we did! But first…

    Warmorama: Toe Touches, Good Mornings, IW’s, Copperhead Squats, SSH’s, all 15x IC, then lunge walk over to Garfield’s car.

    The Thang:
    Settled into our traditional run at our traditional pace….

    … until about a mile in where Coconuts and Garfield hit their strides. Now if you haven’t run with Coconuts and Garfield, you wouldn’t know that Coconuts looks like he’s taking a gentle stroll at a 7:30 pace, and Garfield is literally walking as you gasp to catch up with him. If that sounds like standard backblast hyperbole, just ask the other Scramble regulars. Anyhow, YHC foolishly decides to try to keep up with Coconuts on this beautiful gloom and, though I was unable to, he did push me to my best Scramble pace yet. So thanks to Garfield and Coconuts for the extra motivation – there’s always something to get from your F3 brothers!

    Back at the flag, and with a quick goodbye to Chewy, we hit the playground equipment stations. Each man did one of the following while one performed 20x burpees to start the rotation: pull-ups, sit-ups, freak nasties, hanging knee tucks. After one full circuit, moving at a Coconuts-inspired pace, we were still able to get in some Mary with: flutter kicks x25 IC, crunchy frogs x15 IC, Putins x 15 IC, and Freddie Mercuries x20 IC. COT and Shooter prayed us out.

    Thank you men for following my lead and always pushing me to get faster, stronger, better!

  • Sorry this BB is almost 2 weeks late!

    One recent study by researcher Dr. Holt-Lunstad of BYU indicated that social isolation and loneliness kill more people than obesity.

    Thanks to all you guys in the pax that get out of the fart sack to be a part of some thing great like our F3 community. Let’s keep EH’ing those guys around us!

    The thang:

    Warm up at the Shovel flag:

    SSH x20; IW x 20; my climbers x 20 IC

    Mosey west to sea wall: 7’s

    6 irkins/1 Plyo —->1 irkin/6 plyo’s

    6 squats/1 jump squat —-> 1 squat/6 jump squats

    Mosey further west to oak grove:

    5 jumps squats, 5 merkins, 5 burpees

    Rinse and repeat x 10 rounds

    Jane Fonda’s and Nolan Ryan’s x 15 IC

    Mosey further west to playground: 20 Bulgarian split squats IC each leg

    Mosey back east : stop motion lunges

    All horses to the barn, sprint to shovel flag

    COM: flutter kicks, Russian hammer, Little manny crunches x 20 IC.

    Name O Rama, introduced FNG Phoenix with a powerful story of redemption!

    Circle of trust, prayer, and coffeteria.

    Thanks guys for letting me lead!