F3 New Orleans

Tag: Jose 10k

  • The Lord of the Thangs

    Huge thanks to the 20 men who posted this morning for Pope’s VQ! He’s been chomping at the bit to lead, and we greatly appreciate you guys making it so special for him, especially with our planning to move soon to an area where we’ll be starting F3 from scratch. Glad to know I can lean on him to Q every now and then!

    Excitement was in the air as more and more men made their way to the flag (Turbo Dog couldn’t hold it in.) The 11-year-old Pope had shown signs of natural leadership at previous beatdowns, so expectations were high, and he did not disappoint.

    The routine was centered around his new favorite topic, The Lord of the Rings. After having recently finished reading the books, a good percentage of his thought time these days is spent somewhere in Middle Earth, so the landmarks around The Gipper were quickly transformed into battlefields, fortresses, and volcanoes.

    Warmup: 20 Side Straddle Hops, 15 Windmills, 15 Merkins, 15 Cherry Pickers, 15 Butt Kicks, 15 High Knees

    Then, PAX grabbed age-appropriate coupons and mosey to the courthouse for the first stage of the Thangs:

    1st Stage–Battle at Helms Deep:

    Start as Legolas (fleet-footed elf) at the benches with 10 bench hops (hands on a bench and jump back and forth over), carioca run to the stairs, and run up to the top where each then becomes Gimli (short dwarf) and completes 15 dwarf jacks (smurf jacks). Then, down the ramp and back to the coupons where each becomes Aragorn (warrior king) and performs 12 sword unsheathings (overhead tricep presses).

    Three rounds of this, then haul the coupons up the stairs of the parking garage to the top ramp for…

    2nd Stage–Mount Doom:

    Hobbits Frodo and Sam teamed up to get the ring to the top of the mountain to destroy it in the flaming lava.

    PAX partnered up with partner 1 (Frodo) starting the beloved “Bear and Block” up the ramp: bear crawl a few steps, then drag/pull the cinder block forward from between your feet, then a few more steps, then drag, etc.

    Partner 2 (Sam) battled Gollum (coupon) at the bottom: 10 Man Makers for first round, 15 curls for second round, and 15 goblet squats for third. Once a set was complete, partner 2 ran up to Frodo to replace him dragging the block up the ramp, and partner 1 runs down to be Sam for a set at the bottom.

    Each time the block made it all the way to the top and was run back down, partners moved on to the next round’s exercise. After the third round, all PAX ran backwards with their coupons to the top (in the style of Gollum, dancing his way over the edge of the cliff).

    About half of the PAX found a way to destroy their rings/coupons early (a little too much “man” in the “Man Makers”) making their task a bit easier and making a Home Depot run necessary for YHC before next Wednesday.

    Moseyed back to the flag to replace the coupon fragments. COT with some great opportunities provided for giving back to the community, and Turbo Tax prayed us out.

    Thanks, again, for all the support for the young Q, and for allowing us to be a part of the F3 family! We’ll be taking full advantage of it until the day we’re moved out, and then we’ll be counting on your wisdom and support for getting F3 started in the Houma-Thibodaux area.

    God will provide!

    Goose

  • Murph: The Chill-mode Edition

    Yes, maybe it was a bit cruel to spring a Murph on the Marsh crew on a Monday morning.  I figured I’d get a, “Oh hell no,” from Cowbell.  And a, “Yeah, that’s great, thanks Steve.  After I’ve done 120 frickin’ ISI squats,” from Jose.  And a lot of eye rolling from the Wacker.  But c’mon, taken at slightly less intense pace (apologies Tank), the Murph is really not as bad as it sounds.  

    So we started with some warmorama just to give Cowbell some time to navigate around the deep and dangerous ditches surrounding the Marsh. Then ran the first mile down to the lake and back at a leisurely “warm up” pace, loosening us up for 20 sets of 5 pull-ups / 10 merkins / 15 squats.  We did it together, waiting after each set before starting the next, and I think the pax would agree, it really wasn’t so bad.  T-claps to Pixie Stick, who did great in his first (near-complete) Murph.  

    Another leisurely mile run to the lake and back, some flutters, and we were done.  Countdown, nameorama, and Jose offered up a powerful prayer to close it out, with intentions for Goose’s soon-to-be born baby, Akbar’s travel to the Smokey Mountains, and some healing for our divided nation.

    Thank you for the opportunity to get stronger and better alongside such good men.  I truly appreciate it.

  • Cloudy With A Chance of Unitards

    It’s been threatening rain all week.  And the forecast for Thursday evening’s F2 beatdown was no different, with a 60-70% chance as of that morning.  YHC seriously envisioned 10k and I sitting under the gazebo drinking alone (he his bud light tallboys, me my overpriced hipster beer), while 10k grumbled about the sunset and my beer.  And while that vision partially came true – with the added bonus of a “only-in-Hollywood” rainbow overhead – we were spared the actual rain and a decent size group posted.

    YHC had planned for no warmorama, since time was short, but as BBQ was dealing with securing his bike (he rode from Covington! 👏👏👏), we knocked out some SSH’s before jumping into 20x burpees OYO.

    Next up, a Lazy Dora.  Same as the usual Dora (100 merks, 200 squats, 200 LBC’s), but instead of running between sets, the alternating partner would hold a static pose until it was his turn.  So plank for 10x merkins, Al Gore for 20x squats, and 6” hold for 30x LBC’s.  Cumulative goals were reached pretty quickly, and we moved over to the seawall for some leg work.

    20x jump squats, lunge walk to sidewalk, 20x monkey humpers IC

    20x Bulgarians IC (10 ea.), lunge walk, 20x Apollo Ohno’s

    20x calf raises IC (balancing on the edge of the seawall, which was more difficult than you might think), lunge walk, 20x Sister Mary’s.

    Finally, back to the wall for shoulders: 15x freak nasties IC, 5x derkins IC.  Rinse and repeat with 10x freaks IC / 10x derks IC.  Then 5x freaks IC / 15x derkins IC.

    Around this time we had an In Time flyby, with his cross country team in tow, and we then circled up for an abbreviated Mary of heels to heaven and leg raises, both x15 IC.  

    Upon completion, the guys noticed a rather large and somewhat magical rainbow stretched across the lakefront sky.  Turbo joked that all we needed now was a unicorn and, lo and behold, the hero we both deserved and needed materialized: Amnesia, donning, that’s right, a unitard.  (At least, according to Jose that is the official name of said bodysuit.  The differences between a unitard and a leotard and a bodysuit is a mystery to me, and one I’m not willing to google.)

    COT, prayed out by Akbar, and we all headed to the Gazebo joined by Cowbell, Tank, and Tank’s son (a soon-to-be named F3 brother).  Good beer, good company, and a good sunset – what more could you ask for?  Great time out there with you guys, thanks for posting and thanks for the opportunity to lead!  

    *rainbow and unitard not captured on film due to Cowbell’s usual tardiness

  • Back to the Basics

    YHC signed up to Q long before knowing Tuesdays would become interval running days. The solution was simple, no running and do some quality exercises, Tabata style.

    Disclaimer was given and we did a short mosey to the commuter bus stop.

    COP #1) Warm Up

    20 X SSH, 20 Jlo’s, 10 X PP, 10 X PP, 20, Mtn Climbers, Arm Circles, 10 X LSS

    Mosey back to the stage area for little activity: Everyone take off your shirt and put it on the ground in front of you. Now get in balls to the wall stance and try to put your shirt on. I think we got close to 100% completion!

    COP #2) Tabata (10 Rounds, 1 min work, 15 sec rest)

    1. Burpees
    2. Merkins
    3. Sister Mary Catherines
    4. Freak Nasties
    5. LBC
    6. Derkins
    7. Box Jumps
    8. Serratus Merkins
    9. Crunchy Frog
    10. Low Plank Hold

    Rinse and Repeat

    We still had some time left so we started another round of Tabata to stretch out, something we all admitted we could use more of.

    1. Straight leg hold
    2. Hip Flexor Left
    3. Hip Flexor Right
    4. Quad Left
    5. Quad Right

    Mosey back to the flag for COT. Count, Name, Goose prayed us out.

    F2 this Thursday right in front of Barley Oak. 30 min beatdown led by Steve with Tailgate beers to follow.

    Thanks for letting me lead!

    Cowbell

  • Burpee Crowd Pleaser

    Ok ok, last week got away from me. But, here is the backblast nonetheless.

    11 men met out on a beautiful morning in at the Gipper.

    COP #1: Warm up (All IC X 20)

    SSH, IW, Hillbillies, Arm Circles (x10), Jlo’s, Grass Grabbers, Toe Touches.

    Mosey to the Justice center parking lot for the first crowd pleaser:

    COP #2: Merkin Variation Ladder

    10 regular merks, 10 wide arm merks, 10 diamond merks

    9 regular merks, 9 wide arm marks, 9 diamond merks

    and so on…. we got down to 5 and YHC asked the pax if they wanted to stop and the only voice he heard was from Einstein (Respect Respect) “Lets finish!”

    and finish we did..

    Moseyed to the 2nd deck of the parking garage for the main event crowd pleaser.

    The Thang:

    The instructions were so simple. 4 exercises, 5 rounds.

    Reps were: 50,40,30,20,10

    Exercises were: Burpees, Squats, Merkins, Big Boi Sit Ups

    Complete 50 reps of each exercise, run up the ramp to the other side of the garage, down the stairs and back and then begin the next round of 40 reps each…. etc.

    most of the pax completed 2 rounds while a few over achievers (Steve, Turbo, Zoo) got halfway through round 3.

    YHC will be back and we WILL finish!!

    Mosey back to the flag.

    Thanks for letting me lead, as always.

    Cowbell

  • Light June Jaunt

    We’re gonna keep this short and sweet, as YHC is behind the eight ball on these backblasts.  The usual crew posted this morning (minus Shooter, who may still be hauling trees Commando-style out at his camp, and minus Bushwacker, who is attempting to heal a wide assortment of ailments).  Cowbell doesn’t really count, because he is usually “stuck” at the beach anyway on Mondays.  Jose 10k rolled in mid-warm up after a disoriented drive around Old Mandeville finally reminded him of the Marsh location.  

    Warmorama – Good mornings, toe touches, SSH, arm circles, air presses, seal jacks, IW’s, all IC somewhere between 10-20x.

    YHC missed Cowbell’s reopening of the Marsh last week (it’s been barricaded for months), and though it was nice to be able to warmup under on the court again (which could’ve used a Captain Sparkles sweep, btw), we decided to take it on the road this morning.

    Mosey towards the lake, with a stop at each intersection for 15 merkins, 20 squats, and 25 IC flutter kicks.  5 blocks later, we headed over to Rips for a backwards bear crawl up the stairs, followed by calf raises (5x each step) going back down.  Calf raises for the guys either waiting in queue or finished and waiting.

    Already time to head back the way we came, with the same 15 merkins, 20 squats, and 25 flutters at each intersection until we returned to the court just in time.  (Well, ok, maybe a minute late.)

    Pik prayed us out, wishing his brother a happy 40th on this day, and we went on our way.  Thanks gents, posting with you guys is the best way to start the week!

  • 1 Mile Time Trial

    Writing this in a hurry, so i’ll keep it short and sweet.

    9 pax gathered this beautiful gloom for the first 1 mile time trail. YHC has had this on his mind for a long time to set a baseline for himself as well as the rest of the pax.

    We started with some running stretches, including Jose’s favorite high jump skips. The PAX then did an easy 1ish mile run to the starting line on Carondelet and Jefferson. Bushwacker immediately took off on his mile like a bat out of hell, he sorta looked like Eliud Kipchoge, right Akbar!?! While the rest of the pax took a breather and listened to the Q for the countdown..

    We took off and ran 1 mile down Jefferson St and finished at the corner of Lamarque.

    Finishing times were as follows:

    Steve 5:53

    Cowbell 5:53

    Waterpik 6:00

    Bushwacker 6:36

    Goose 6:55

    Speedy 7:30

    Akbar 7:50

    PixieStix 9:00

    Jose 10k 9:30

    We finished with an easy 2ish mile run back to the AO.

    Jose prayed us out.

    Looking forward to seeing the progress the pax makes at the next time trial.

    As always, thanks for letting me lead!!

    Cowbell

  • All Aboard! Hahahaha – 1 Yr Anniversary

    At this time last year, I showed up to my first lakefront beatdown (thanks Russo), and almost didn’t come back. I was a gym rat, couldn’t run a mile, ate like crap, and hovered around 190. But I was intrigued by the companionship of the PAX that day, the leadership focus, how no man was left behind, and pressed on. I attended Saturdays through September, then cancelled my gym membership, and went all in averaging 4 days a week, including the scramble (thanks Shooter). Since then, I’ve lost 25 pounds, done CSAUPS and F2 events, and ran 80 miles last Feb during Run Ranger Run. My only regret is that I didn’t find this earlier.

    PAIN TRAIN

    26 posted (6 under 17) at the mothership Saturday to help celebrate YHC’s 1 year anniversary, and take a ride on the Pain Train. We traveled from the flag to the shaft, stopping at 8 pain stations along the way, accompanied by motivational tunes. *I understand that most songs could not be heard, songs are listed after each station

    Pre-Thang: 2 miler

    Warmorama:  Arm Circles, SSH, Torso Twist, Self-Love, Hillbillies x10 IC

    THANG:  All About the Benjamins – Everything equals 100 reps.

    • Exercise 1: 25 reps at the wall
    • Travel in various ways 55 feet to the flags
    • Exercise 2: 25 reps, run back to the wall Rinse and repeat
    • Total of 50 reps of each exercise
    • All exercises done OYO, plank for the six

    Pain Station’s 1 and 2

    1. Freak Nasty, Bear Crawl, Mountain Climbers
    2. Run, repeat
    3. Dirkins, Flying Nun (Lunge with arm circles), Twinkle Toes (Al Gore calf raises)
    4. Run, Repeat
    • It’s All About the Benjamin’s,  P.Diddy et all
    • C’Mon ‘N’ Ride it (The Train), Quad City DJ’s
    • Crazy Train, Ozzy Osbourne
    • Breathe, The Prodigy
    • Song 2, Blur

    Pain Station 3: Let the Good Times Roll

    Burpees on Good Times Roll, air presses in between.

    • Let the Good Times Roll, The Cars

    Pain Station’s 4 and 5:

    1. Bulgarian Split Squats, Army Crawl, Superman’s
    2. Run, repeat
    3. Stone Mountain, Crawl Bear, Renegade Row (1 arm plank, 1 arm row)
    4. Run, repeat
    • The Kill, Thirty Seconds to Mars
    • Firestarter, The Prodigy
    • Fly from the Inside, Shinedown

    Pain Station 6: The SSH Motivator

    IC 10 full SSH, Shoulder level, down and out, then hands at sides, then 9 each, then 8, etc. non-stop

    • ‘Till I Collapse, Eminem & Nate Dogg
    • Gonna Fly Now, Bill Conti (Rocky Theme Song)

    Seemed easy enough, but what ensued was a painful comedy of errors. YHC had a tough time conveying and keeping the order of positions, which kept us out of synch just a tad. To curious onlookers it must have looked like a bunch of birds trying to take flight.

    After a while it seemed it would never end, why was it taking so long, why do I feel like I’m about to collapse? I kept my gaze at Bushwacker (who brought us The Motivator), seeking some rescue by mental telepathy – but all I got was a big smile.

    Legend has it the Arnold Schwarzenegger and his buddies would go camping and do squats until they couldn’t stand any more. This was not to be our fate, we would persevere!

    Later in the day I sought advice from the engineering mind of Grover and he did not hold back. “You did it wrong dad: the positions were wrong and you did a double count instead of single.”

    Ah, all makes sense now. So we did 440 SSH instead of 220. Way to hang in there guys.

    Pain Station 7

    Merkins on New Day Rising, plank in between

    Pain Station 8: Mary IC

    1. 8 ct Peter Parker Merkins (Perkins) x10
    2. Crunchy Frogs x20
    3. LBC x50
    4. LMC x25

    Count, Name-o-rama, Welcome FNG Laces!

    COT: Prayers for the crazy world we are in, safety, and thanks for blessings.

    Coffeteria: Book and the Bean

    All said and done, including WU and Mary – 1096 reps, 100 yards of crawls, 100 yards of runs

    Thanks for a great year, friendships, pushing me beyond what I ever thought I could do, and the opportunity to lead.

    SYITG – Akbar

  • QUAD-rophenia

    Blame Akbar.  This was his doing, really.  His “block party,” (henceforth known as ‘Akbar’s Abomination’) – which was preceded by Tank’s Murph – pretty much guaranteed that Saturday’s beatdown would focus on legs and core.  

    But first, the pre-thang : the usual 2 miles out and back with the usual suspects.  Now, YHC was definitely not looking at Bushwacker’s butt.  And neither was Tank.  But I mean, really, when the guy’s shorts are that tight and he’s running in front of you, it’s hard not to take note.  Looked like he had those things painted on.  Tank was comfortable enough in his masculinity to throw out a few catcalls.  Though, judging by Wacker’s mustache (which was recently tamed from a Guy Fawkes-type stache to a more respectable – and less anarchistic – Tom Selleck-type), it is possible that he is more in tune with the modern trends of the day and hey, what do I know, maybe the short shorts are making a comeback this year?

    Yes, this was created with MS Paint.

    Back at the flag, there was a surprisingly large group milling about.  Most noticeable were all the 2.0’s.  It was great to see the Baby Yoda, Pope, and Pixie Stick (along with Grover, who is now a fixture at most beatdowns) posting alongside their fathers.  Also of note, the (second) return of Backdraft, who’s already committed to leading in the near future.

    Warmorama: Good mornings, torso twists, IWs, toe touches, SSHs, merkins, shoulder taps, high knees, all at or around 15x IC.

    Somewhere around the SSH’s, Sparky shows up.  Turns out Bushwacker does not stand alone in his love of Magnum P.I.

    The Thang:

    Simple enough opening routine: Lt. Dan’s to the gazebo.  Which, okay, yes, is about 400 yards.  And felt longer.  But at least the guys had some time to catch up.  

    Next, Core COP: The Bruce Lee.  We’d do all six exercises, x20 IC, then take a 30 second break:

    • Hammers
    • Leg Raises
    • LBCs
    • Heel Touches
    • Crunchy Frogs
    • 100’s

    Rinse & Repeat. Initially we were going to do three rounds, but honestly, YHC can’t multitask – I can either call out cadence for 6 routines or I can suffer through them properly, but doing both proved too much for a third round.  So onward to the bridge!

    Partner up for a Dora:

    P1 runs up and over the bridge and back to swap with P2, who begins knocking out the cumulative reps of:

    • 100 Merkin Toe Touches
    • 200 Freak Nasties
    • 300 Squats

    Nearly out of time, YHC called it so we could make it back to the flag promptly.  Double lined Indian Run back to the flag, where we closed it out with a quick set of Jane Fonda’s.

    Countdown, namerama, and welcoming of FNG Pixie Stick!

    Grover closed us out in a prayer of thanks and everyone set out to coffeteria.  YHC feels blessed to have this group of men pushing me to be a better version of myself.  It felt good to be back out there with such a large group (25 men!), and to see the gift of F3 passed on to so many 2.0’s.  Thank you men for the opportunity to lead!  

  • Full-On Irish Beatdown

    Inspired by St. Patrick’s use of a shamrock to explain the mystery of the Trinitarian God, we soothed our anxious souls in the gloom this morning with a full-on Irish, trinitarian beatdown.

    Warm-ups were SSH, Seal jacks, arm circles, Windmill’s IW’s, high knees, and butt kicks. Then, after a moseyed lap we were back to the splash pad for the thang: three routines, each with three parts (shamrock-style).

    First: partners work together to complete 100 Merkins, 200 LBC’s, and 300 squats. While one did 10 Merkins, the other held a plank, then switched until 100 were done. Then, while one did 20 LBC’s, the other did a 6″ leg lift/hold until 200 completed. And, while one did 25 squats, the other held Al Gore position until 300 were done.

    Second: same partners–one ran up the stairs, around, and down while the other chipped away at 100 freak-nasties, 100 box jumps, and 100 walk-up incline Merkins on the benches.

    Third: each man for himself–sprint the length of the columns, then turn around and crab walk the length of three columns before gator crawling the length of two columns. Rinse and repeat for three times total. Competition was heavy, as was the breathing.

    Bonus: Chumba-burpees–played the song, “Tubthumping” by Chumbawumba since they are an Irish band whose lyrics only make sense to the natives of the Emerald Isle. SSH’s for the duration except for burpees every time they said “I get knocked down, but I get up again”. After the previous exercises, the SSH’s were the worst part…at first.

    Tempted to call it two minutes early, YHC decided instead to offer up a set of Freddy Mercury’s and box cutters for the Southshore F3 community since they’ve had to cancel for an undetermined time.

    On a serious note, it was truly a blessing to be able to post this morning during such turbulent times when everything seems to be out of our control. Having the chance to choose to run a little harder, to do one more burpee, to push through when everything in me wants to stop, and to have other men challenging and supporting me is a gift I’m not taking for granted. It’s an intense reminder that there is always something I can control: myself. I can control how much I’m willing to give, to keep pushing forward, and to choose to be a man for others, for something bigger than me despite the circumstances.

    Thank God for F3 and for you men. He will lead us forward.

    See you in the gloom,

    Goose