F3 New Orleans

Tag: Half Nelson

  • Bridges & Burpees in lieu of Bars & Beers

    Strong showing of fourteen runners and four cyclists posted at the Stomp in City Park to get their usual Tuesday fix.  With the annual Bar-a-thon just 10 days away, YHC figured the PAX could use some training to make sure the legs and lungs will be up to par for the pinnacle of F3 CSAUP events….liver training will be OYO in evenings.  Since it wouldn’t be practical to squeeze in 6 miles, 6 bars, and 6 beers in the gloom, we opted for a “Bridge-a-thon” instead to include 6 kilometers, 6 bridges, and 6 rounds of burpees.  Goal was 40 minutes, F2 encouraged, and awards to follow for various categories TBD.  As the clock neared launch time, we recapped the 6K route w/burpees x10 at each of the 6 bridges:  Start with normal run down Roosevelt Mall, across bayou, left on Moss St., left on Desaix Bridge, right onto Wisner overpass, run down paved path along bayou, hit Harrison bridge, turn around, pass in front of Pan Am Stadium down Zach Taylor Dr, left at underpass, then Henry Thomas Dr to Roosevelt Mall back to the flag, then sweep the six or start some Mary. 

    The PAX all completed the mission, some modified up or down, most with extra time for additional running and/or Mary.  The guys on bikes embarked on a longer route and met us back at the flag, just in time for the “awards ceremony“.  In true Barathon fashion, koozies were awarded for the following random categories, with the entire PAX coming to a 2-3 second consensus for each award:

    Fastest Runner – El Guapo took home the chic Nyx koozie, since he was the manliest guy that morning and can best pull off using a girly koozie

    Most Sophisticated/Best Dressed – Chips was unanimous winner with his tank top and bright orange shoes…he left with the fancy zip-up longneck koozie

    Most Ordinary/Average PAX – After a breif debate, War Eagle took this title for the morning and left with the most average, used koozie that YHC could find in his garage. 

    Best Cyclist – Amnesia was awarded this by his fellow biking peers, I think for his speedy use of the Blue Bike.  

    Sweatiest Guy – This was to be the most coveted award since it meant you probably worked the hardest….went to Screw Top, who took home a custom, one-of-a-kind vintage F3 puffy foam koozie. T-claps for pushing hard!

    T-claps to all, and sorry that everyone didn’t get a trophy.    

    COT included usual announcements, GiveNola details, and a reminder that while many of us might joke about beer drinking being a “sport”, YHC suggested we strive to do it in moderation and not let it get the best of us….and to be a help to others around us who may be slipping down that slope.  We lifted up several intentions for those battling illness as we closed with a prayer.

    Great to see lots of new faces lately consistently out in the gloom.  And lots of good F2 as always.  I was able to chat with a few guys along the run, which is always a good way to start the day. Also shout out to Dirty Dell who used his doctor skills to asses a downed PAX. Fortunately all was well.  

    Hope to see everyone at the Tchoupitoulas Barathon on May 17.  It’s always a blast, even if you’re not a beer drinker.  Details here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2019-tchoupitoulas-social-aid-athletic-club-bar-a-thon-the-38th-registration-46260502408

    Tool       

  • Hoke no like Cinder Block. Hoke Smash.

    On a warm, muggy morning that serves as a reminder of what’s to come in the next few months, 13 PAX (a Popeye’s record) gathered for YHC’s Q, motivated only by getting better and not missing YHC’s Q…. and maybe because Popeye’s was the ISI point today. Perhaps they knew there would be smashing involved.

    Brief mosey to one of the workout areas with some high knees and butt kicks along the way, followed by a fast-paced warm-up of the following:

    • Imperial Squat Walkers x10
    • SSXx20
    • Arm Circlesx20
    • Parker Peterx20
    • Self love

    The workout

    8 stations using Tabata as a timer (20 seconds on, 10 seconds to rotate)

    • Turkish Get Up’s w/ 10lb Kb (became sweat angels when we “ran out of” a cinder block)
    • Jumping rope (with 2 recently purchased speed ropes, neither of which withstood the workout. This eventually became Rocky Balboas)
    • Pull-ups/hang from pull-up bar
    • Burpees (of course)
    • 8 count bodybuilders (right after burpees because why not?)
    • Dips
    • Jump Squats (side note: while on vacation recently, I attended a yoga class that took place on a raft in the pool. One exercise was jump squats, and let’s just say the instructor’s form was a bit better than mine. He would squat down, jump up, turn 180 degrees in the air, and would drop back into a squat as he landed. This resulted in YHC falling off the raft several times, but being convinced this was the right way to do a jump squat. YHC encouraged everyone to try it this way today.)
    • Curl and press with cinder blocks.

    A couple rounds in, and we were all feeling it, some more than others. And by some, I mean Hokie Pokey, who opted for a demonstration of strength during this exercise. And by demonstration, I mean he smashed the cinder block at his feet, and then stood over it like a DB who had just leveled a receiver coming across the middle. We all applauded this feat of strength, made certain modifications and mental notes, and moved on.

    All in all, I think we got 5 rounds of this Tabata circuit in. For the first 3, we listed to Rage Against the Machine songs, but YHC made the mistake of throwing out a couple song choices to the Pax. Thus, our final round was done to “Video Killed the Radio Star”, compliments of Frac Sac. Thanks?

    We moseyed back to the flag, down a coupon, for some stretching led by Mahatama, and then a bit of planking. We gave thanks for the day, and remembered to appreciate even the hot, muggy days.

    Thanks to our Uptowners, Nip Tuck, Bones and JV who hopped on their flights this morning and made it all the way out to Lafreniere. And thanks for letting me lead. – Kuch

  • 11 from Heck

    Okwata started with a beautiful moonrise and gentle breeze and then quickly went to CSAUP.

    After the disclaimer, the PAX moseyed to the Center of the Universe for the warm-up: SSH x 25, Abe Vigoda x 15, Imperial Walkers x 25, Peter Parkers x 20, Parker Peters x 20, Sun Gods x 10 (each direction). The PAX then moseyed to the bottom of the levee for the THANG.

    The THANG was an 11 using one-side of the levee: Merkins at the top (descending) and LBCs at the bottom (ascending). To achieve full CSAUP status, YHC directed the PAX to Quadrofeelia (a.k.a. Bernie Sanders) up the levee and Bear Crawl down the levee during the 11. After this, YHC needed O2, so Two Youths gave the PAX a twenty-count.

    Next, the PAX moseyed to the seawall in front of the MG fountain for a Hurricane Hoedown. YHC was so spent the PAX DJ-ed the cadence. Then, the PAX DJ-ed some additional MARY: Sweat Angels, Dying Cockroach, Real Freddie Mercury, and more LBCs.

    The PAX moseyed then to the virtual flag for the COT. Count Off. Nameorama. Announcements. Intentions. Prayer. Lord, teach me to be generous. . . .

    Moleskin: It was a great effort from the PAX today. YHC was beat after the 11. The PAX also stepped up to help YHC with cadence and then MARY. Future Qs sharpening. Fellowship. Teamwork. You name it.

  • These are a few of my favorite things

    14 Pax including 1 FNG posted in the gloom at City Park next to the imaginary flag.

    The QIC (YHC) was commemorating a belated birthday Q (first Q in over a year), and thought it would be fun to do a few of his favorite things. But first, a quick mosey to the grassy neutral ground for a little warm-up COP.

    • SSH – in cadence x 20
    • Hillbillies – in cadence x 15
    • Self Love – ic x 10
    • Merkins – ic x 10
    • Slow Windmills – ic x 10 (or was it 15?)
    • 10 Burpees on your own

    Then the Pax followed a slightly lost Q to “the Refinery” – a bit farther away than YHC remembered for some simple exercises in groups.

    • Burpess x 10 for the count
    • jump the snake
    • pull ups
    • dips
    • knee ups

    And with all that out of the way, the fun was about to begin. Mosey over to the big grassy area next to the water – it was nicely lit by the construction lights at the Children’s Museum. Pax put on a show for the construction fellas.

    First: Tabata!! (20 seconds on, 10 seconds off x 8)
    Exercises: mountain climbers, burpees, squat jumps, lunges, and repeat.

    Now that the PAX was nicely lathered up, some more fun was to come: Animal movements! Out about 10 yards and back, 5 burpees then the next movement.
    Movements: bear crawl, frog jumps, crab walk, shoulder rolls (followed by dizzy burpees)

    There was some mumble chatter about this time, especially about prickers and dizziness. YHC was having a blast.

    On to the climax of the morning – mosey to the track for … 1000 meters of Hades!!
    Run/sprint 400m, walk 100m
    Run/sprint 200m, walk 100m
    Spring 100m, walk 100m

    By now, we had run out of time for anything besides the short mosey back to the imaginary flag and the COT where we named SlowJo.

    Happy birthday to me.

  • Danger Zone 1 Pax 0

    This morning 9 of the fastest F3 PAX decided to take on the Danger Zone. I gave the disclaimer at 5:30 a.m. and we moseyed on over to the Track a.k.a. the Danger Zone (DZ).

    Warm-O-Rama
    We did a light mosey around the track with high knees, butt kicks, carioca right/left side. We finished warming up with a few 30 yard warm-ups that honestly I forgot what they were!

    We then headed on over the the Agility ladders. Here we did the following:
    – Two feet in each square then sprint 30 yards
    – Jumping Jack Feet then sprint 30 yards
    – Icky Shuffle then sprint 30 yards
    – One left foot hop then sprint 30 yards
    – One right foot hop then sprint 30 yards

    We did a 25 second breather and we were onto a 1 mile run which included Sprinting the straights and jogging the turns. Some of the PAX did a lap cool down while others (myself included) were gasping for air—last time I eat Mexican at 8:00pm before a workout!!

    Next up we did 3 heats of 100 meter sprints – due to the popularity of the Danger Zone in just 2 weeks we had to split up into 2 heats. After the first round we realized we needed some more stretching so we stopped and did some more stretching before Heat 2 and 3.

    Apparently the stretching didn’t help Jesus Juice as he has been complaining all day at work about how he pulled a buttocks muscle and is limping around the office like a wounded animal.

    We then used the agility ladders for some ladder push ups X2. We did a cool down stretch and moseyed back to the flag right on time.

    We did Count-o-rama, COT, and Prayed. Fun time this morning in the DZ hope Jesus Juice gets his rear end back for next week.



  • 21 – Blackjack Baby!

    So I googled “blackjack quotes” and the following was the first one that appeared.

    “I like to play Blackjack. I am not addicted to gambling. I am addicted to sitting in a semi circle. ” Modify as needed – “I like the count-off and name-o-rama and intentions. I am not addicted to F3. I am addicted to the COT and standing in a circle.”

    The Lakeview clown car pulled up to the front of the museum with just a few minutes to spare this morning. After a quick disclaimer, the PAX moseyed for a warm-up run around the Museum and settled back on the grass in front of the lake for warm-ups as follows:

    SSH x 21, Windmills x 21, Peter Parkers x 21, Nolan Ryan x 21 (R & L), Merkins x 21 (this was input from youngest son last night when planning Q) and finish warm-up with some self love for one minute.

    Thang 1 – searched the F3 lexicon last night and stumbled across the “Blackjack” – we moseyed back to the area by the Muscleship flag, look up and see the Mothership PAX approaching/crossing the railroad tracks – like a scene from West Side Story, Romeo & Juliet, or possibly Revenge of the Nerds, a battle seemed imminent. Some mumblechatter ensued between the PAX and the Mothership PAX proceed to greet us with monkey humpers, but the Muscleship PAX cannot be distracted and remained focused on the beatdown and the F3 task at hand. Blackjacks – similar to 11’s, but better – ie. 21’s. Start with one Merkin, run three trees, then 20 LBC’s. Continue 21’s until 20 merkins and 1 LBC. The PAX powered through the end for the last 20 merkins. Apologies to Chips for not providing clearer instructions to the PAX. You may have done a few more LBC’s but your abs will be thanking you tomorrow.

    Thang 2 – continuing with the “21” theme we moseyed to the neutral ground in front of NOMA and lined up in single file line facing the museum for some 21’s. SSH x 5 in cadence. SSH 6-21 done in silence and PAX to stop at 21. Abacus, the Q, lost count and did one too many. No penalty burpees.

    Thang 3 – son Joel suggested toe-taps, aka Rocky Balboa’s. So the PAX did 100 Rocky Balboa’s on neutral ground by NOMA. 20 second rest then another 100 Rocky Balboa’s.

    Thang 4 – sensing the PAX shoulders were still steaming from the 21’s, we altered the Q’s plan and moseyed to the deck in front of the lake by NOMA. Time for some leg work. “Aiken legs” done in succession with no rest – Squats x 21, Lunges x 21, Box jumps/step-ups x 21, and Monkey Humpers x 21. 20 count recovery. Rinse and repeat a second time. The Q did not want the legs to miss out on the work-out.

    Thang 5 – short mosey back to the flag for the “Bear Crawl Ring of Fire” – circle up near flag and bear crawl in counter-clockwise motion. Upon direction from Q, stop and do 10 merkins. Resume bear crawl again. 10 additional merkins. Close out the last few minutes with some flutter kicks x 21 and warrior one stretch poses.

    Circle-up for count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, and intentions. Thanks to Kenner-Brah for reminding the 10 PAX of the importance of thankfulness and gratitude. Well said. Weather was perfect this morning, with sunrise over the lake by NOMA, slight breeze. Soon enough we will be working out in the “dog days” of summer. Thankful for the support and opportunity to lead the PAX this morning.

  • A Fill in Fartlekker

    Rudy’s not allowed to Fartlek right now, so he needed a fill in for the 610 Stomp. YHC is an old Fartlekker so it was not a probably for me. I showed up at roughly 0529:40 and gave the disclaimer. It was a beautiful day for a run. Here’s how it went

    • Normal Pace to the NOMA Fountain. I call it the fountain, but there is no fountain, just a lily pond with a huge statue of tri-colored bacon. Upon arrival I gave the instructions. I would call out an effort number from 1-100 (100 being a full out sprint) and a landmark to run to. After reaching said landmark, the pax was to circle back and pick up the 6.
    • 75 to the end of Lelong Drive
    • Easy jog to across Esplanade and down the sidewalk to Moss Street
    • 100 to the first big tree on Moss
    • 70 to the curve
    • Easy jog to Dumain
    • 50 to Orleans
    • 65 to the Lafitte Greenway
    • Easy jog to Bienville
    • 58 to Canal
    • Easy Jog back to Bienville
    • 70 to Conti
    • Avoid the car and truck at the Lafitte Greenway
    • 55 to Orleans
    • 70 to the curve (the real curve) near Cabrini
    • Easy jog to the bridge
    • 60 to Esplanade then an easy jog to City Park until the 6 arrives.
    • Easy Jog to Roosevelt Mall
    • 88 to the Flag
    • Seal the Deal with 20 Burpees
    The Skinny

    If you question the accuracy of the above – you should……my nine year old and Rev Sox both have this in common: they giggled when I announced our exercise this morning. I’ll have everyone know that fartlek is a bonafide Swedish running term used with a straight face by Kinesiology majors around the world no matter how funny it sounds in English……we covered approximately 4.5 miles give or take, depending on how many times you swept the 6. I feel like we got our money’s worth……I was glad to see that so many guys survived Tool’s Big Rock Challenge on Monday. Cowbell reminded me of my own foolishness. Is it better to not be able to perform any of the exercises or admit defeat and take the walk of shame? I contend that the walk of shame is never acceptable…….we had a Recall sighting. He ran with us for a bit on the bayou then peeled off to run the Wisner bridge. Not sure why he is choosing to run alone instead of with the pack. Perhaps it is the shame associated with being a Razorback fan. It does make life difficult, but you have to be tough and overcome it…….sealing the deal is a Stomp Tradition and it brings joy to Fracsac’s heart. Our next site Q needs to make sure it regularly happens ……. speaking of which, thanks to Cowbell for his reign as Stomp Commander. Under his tutelage the Stomp has grown at least two-fold in average attendance. If U.S. Presidents can take credit for economic growth, then Cowbell should be given credit for this ……. next man up. Who will take the reigns at the Stomp and fill the teeny-tiny shoes of Cowbell? From what I can tell, it mostly involves having someone else type your name into the spreadsheet, occasionally telling people to sign up to Q, then ignoring messages on GroupMe from people that need to reschedule their Q until someone else answers them and says that they will take it. You can’t really mess it up, well actually you can, but that takes a very special person.

  • 4-getta-bout-it


    It was a beautiful Thursday morning on the lakefront last week. After a little chatter amongst the PAX, I issued the disclaimer and we mosey’d to the corner of lakefront drive / canal blvd. Once there we commenced with the warmup:

    • side straddle hops – 20
    • imperial squat walkers – 15
    • grass grabbers – 15
    • peter parkers – 15
    • arm circles – 10 forward, 10 backward

    Seeing as how the H8 was coming up in 2 weeks, I thought it might be good to do a little H8 pre-work. After Kuch’s Q at Popeyes on Wednesday, the LV clown car was talking about some different TV shows, and one of the shows that came up was the Sopranos. Anytime i think of that show, the word “for-getta-bout-it” comes to mind. Well since i was thinking of that show at the same time i was trying to think about what exercises to use during my Q, a nice exercise creation was born. It would aptly be called, the “4-getta-bout-it” and it would entail 4 figure 8 laps up & down the paved part of the levee with bear crawls across the center (just like the H8). We would also do a burpee / merkin ladder like the H8 as well. The difference with the 4-getta-bout-it would be that the PAX would have to run up each of the levees backwards (Bernie Sanders style backwards). So the good news is that it would be only 1/2 of the laps as the H8; the bad news is that running up the levee backwards is not what most people consider fun. Ultimately, all of the PAX completed the 4 laps (Smooth actually completed 5 laps, which has come to be known as the “High Five”), and then after a brief 20 count from Cowbell, we mosey’d to the benches. Once to the benches, we did the following:

    • dirkins – 15
    • squat jump clockwise to next bench
    • left / right leg step ups (10/10)
    • squat jump clockwise to next bench
    • dips – 15
    • squat jump clockwise to the next bench
    • irkins – 10
    • squat jump clockwise to the next bench
    • windmills – 15
    • squat jump clockwise to the next bench
    • LBC’s – 15
    • squat jump clockwise to the next bench
    • dying cockroaches – 15
    • squat jump clockwise to the next bench
    • flutter kicks – 15
    • squat jump clockwise to the next bench

    Once completed, we mosey’d back to the flag for the announcements, intentions and the prayer. As always, thanks for the opportunity to lead, fellas. It’s a pleasure grinding through the beatdowns with y’all!

  • Lightening don’t strike twice. Please.

    YCH needed no alarm early Friday. Sky Q took care of that with a pretty spectacular lightening storm that got cranked up around 4:50. I have yet to miss a workout due to weather but I do have a decent amount of mouths to feed so I reached out to Yankee. Yankee let me know he generally sits out the lightening workout but he had a guy in from Chicago and he felt he couldn’t say no. Not wanting any electrocutions on my watch I tapped out a quick message about not judging anyone for sitting out due to lightning. As it turns out storm blew through and was completely done by 5:15 or so. So 23 PAX assembled at St. Charles and Audubon Park. After a quick disclaimer, we were off.

    Warm ups at Palm Circle

    • SSHX20
    • Arm Circles forward and reverse X10 each
    • WMX20
    • PPX20
    • MCX20
    • PPX20

    Mosey to Wolfpack Hill then on to Wolfpack Mountian.

    After warmups we headed to the rarely visited Wolfpack Hill. 2 lines at the base. Indian up. Indian down.At the base of Wolfpack Mountain, you guessed it, 2 lines/ Indian up to the top.

    The Dora Thang Up top

    • Partner up.
    • 1st round 60 burpees. Partner runs to opposite end of garage and back.
    • 2nd round 120 plank jacks, partner runs.
    • 3rd round 240 LBC’s, partner runs.
    • Plank and wait for 6. Inspired by Fracsac I burpeed and waited for 6. Much respect.

    Stairs to the benches

    • Grab a bench.
    • RLSUX20
    • DipsX20
    • LLSUX20
    • DipsX20

    Mosey back to the flag

    We arrive 3 minutes early so Mahatma leads the group in a circle of merks. 10 is the count, 5 is the start from the man next to you. After that with time to burn I offer up more merks. 10 in cadence quickly changed to 15 cause they just feel so damn good.

    We wrap up with COT count off, name o rama, announcements, prayers.

    I am very grateful for the opportunity to lead twice in one week!

    (Also after the beatdown I let everyone on mumblechatter know that because I had shown up i rwas recanting my “no judgement” position to one of full and total judgement.

  • Take Me Out To The Ballgame

    YHC was honored to perform my VQ at The Foundry today. Thankfully rain has held off for several days as I was concerned about possibly ruining the grass for the exercises I had planned. I had been bouncing some ideas around in my head and reviewed the entire Exicon to get some good ideas. Despite their absence from the Lakeview Clown Car today, Tclaps to Kuch (sickness) and YaMomAnEm (out of town) for providing suggestions, guidance, and allowing me to bounce ideas off of them. The remaining members of the LCC, Half Nelson and Abacus, happily joined along for what was hopefully going to be an entertaining workout.

    15 PAX gathered in the gloom today at the usual spot in Roosevelt Mall and after what could’ve been the shortest disclaimer I recall we mosey’d over to the track.

    THE WARM UP – all in cadence

    • SSH x 27
    • Windmills x 9
    • Peter Parkers x 9
    • Parker Peters x 9
    • Wife pleasers x 9
    • Left single leg wife pleasers x 9
    • Right single leg wife pleasers x 9

    Next we performed a “Cleveland Indians” run. Due to the size of the PAX (thankfully it was an even number) I opted to split into 2 groups as we ran towards NOMA then promptly continued the loop and headed back towards Falcon Field. Along the way the running group I was a part of realized the other group had dwindled from the initial 8 members down to 5. Some comments were made as we realized we were not following the motto of “No Man Left Behind.” Those PAX members who had already reached Falcon Field promptly decided to sweep the 6 and complete the run.

    Thanks to the Exicon I was able to determine what would be meat of our workout today. Since I am a baseball lover I thought “Field of Dreams” would be a great way to include a little bit of everything. After splitting inot 4 teams of 4 men instructions were spelled out.

    • Home plate group perform 18 burpees and would be our counter.
    • While group at home plate performed burpees, first base group performed squats, second base group performed merkins, and third base group performed LBCs. All of these groups would perform AMRAP.
    • Once home plate group completed 18 burpees they would “Chicago Cub” crawl to first base. At that time first base group would “Chicago Cub” crawl to second base, etc. until all 4 groups had completed all 4 stations.

    After a small amount of confusion on when to crawl, the PAX quickly understood the rules of the exercise upon my second attempt and completed without incident and most importantly without injury.

    After a 20 count from War Eagle we moved on to a timed team competition. PAX was again split into 2 groups. Group 1 lined up at home plate to run the bases. The first participant would take off and upon reaching second base would yell for the next runner to go until all members had hit all 4 bases. While Group 1 ran, Group 2 headed to left field for some walking lunges until Group 1 had finished. We then swapped and while Group 2 ran the bases Group 1 performed an exercise which looked like more LBCs. I realized afterwards I did not actually instruct this group on what to do while Group 2 ran the bases so they thankfully took it upon themselves to lead each other.

    Finish times:

    • Group 1: 1 min, 32 sec
    • Group 2: 1 min, 23 sec

    Since Group 1 had lost in admirable fashion they performed a penalty run along the warning track with a stop in center field for 9 burpees. Group 2 headed to the left field line for some celebratory Nolan Ryan’s. 9 reps on each side were performed in cadence followed by a plank and wait until Group 1 returned. Cowbell requested group to plank on elbows so his request was granted.

    With the PAX whole again we completed the workout at Falcon Field with 27 “Los Angeles” Sweat Angels. Mosey back to flag (or at least where flag typically is located.)

    COT – countarama, namearama, intentions both spoken and unspoken, and prayers of thanks.

    Thanks to everyone for allowing me to Q today and try something out at the baseball field I had been wanting to mix in. Now that I have my VQ under my belt I look forward to future Q’s.