F3 New Orleans

Tag: Lakefront

  • Plan B – from Akbar

    Gloomy morning and a great day for Ultimate Frisbee, F3 style. 14 PAX gathered with 3 doing the pre-thang 2 miler. Great to see Egg Toss back for another beatdown and Grover in town for a couple of weeks. It’s cold, rainy, dark – what could go wrong?

    Conditions: 42, Feels like 38, drizzling rain

    Warm Up

    IC x 10/20 – Torso twist, Copperhead squats, SSH, Apollo Ohnos (yes, IC), Leg Swings, Arm Circles, Hamstring stretches, Sit Through (Thor favorite), Imperial Walkers, Copperhead Merkins, T Spine Rotations

    Mosey toward the Gazebo for Thang 1

    – x10 IC Copperhead Merkins, Sit through

    Mosey toward the shaft for some frisbee warm ups:

    Lunge Walk, High Knee Hug , Drinking Birds, High Knees

    Wall:

    x10 IC Dirkin style Peter Parkers, Freak Nasties

    Mosey to the Shaft – High Skip, Backwards Run, Shuffle in varying distances

    Thang 2 – Ultimate Frisbee

    Regular Rules with intensification. Penalty exercises for 1st 5 Drops/OB: x10 descending to 2. After 5 drops, regular play – no penalty exercises. Ie: 1st drop 10 reps, 2nd 8 reps, 3rd, 6… down to 2. Regular play without penalty exercises until score.

    Penalty Exercises: Stone Mountains, Twinkle Toes, American Hammers, Merkins

    Scores: Scoring team holds plank while opposing team Bear Crawls back to kickoff position.

    Team 1 came out strong leading 3-2, then Zoolander threw the frisbee in the lake.

    Thang 3

    YHC realized we were on a makeshift football field, so we lined up at the end zone for:
    • Bear Crawl to midfield, 10 Merkins, Sprint to the Flag
    • Bear crawl to midfield, 10 Stone Mountains, sprint to flag
    • And so it went on with sprints, backpedals, exercises, and other forms of moseys.

    Thang 4

    Head to Gazebo, circle up for Copperhead Merkins and Shoulder Taps IC 10. And some other stuff.

    Mary

    Plank up for a round of: Copperhead Merkins, Mountain Climbers, Peter Parkers, Parker Peters x 10 IC

    Jane Fonda’s each side with single leg heal to knee, wife pleasers, LBC’s, Little Manny Crunches

    Count-o-rama, Name-o rama

    Announcements

    Run Cajun Run, Krazy Ivan, Franco’s Dip and Dash, Light up Trace ride at Covington Trailhead; F3 Camping trip Januaryish;
    – Russo has Q next Saturday for a Christmas theme.
    – Jose 10k leads the Battle of Nakatomi Plaza at the A1C Friday. Yippie Ki Yay

    Intentions

    Jose 10k’s school family battling cancer; Jose10k’s father in law Carl. Praise for good results on Waterpik’s M radiology results.

    YHC prayed us out with thoughts of managing our Kingdom around us, preparing to keep the enemy at bay. Fight, act decisively, remember where our strength comes from. Help us to be great Kings for our Concentrica.

    Coffeeteria at Book and the Bean

    SYITG – Akbar

    NMM:
    – Ultimate frisbee gave us great cardio, and about 180 reps in the game alone.
    – YHC had thought about what would happen if the frisbee went in the water, but never really acted on it as a plan B. I’m sure Russo could tell us the statistical chances of that happening.
    – Grover walked the plank to get the frisbee afterward as I prayed he wouldn’t fall in. Although it would have been pretty funny.
    – It’s only through continuous Q’ing that helps in an O.S. moment. We were already on the field, why not use it.
    – Lots of shoulder work today. I’m going to take a nap.

  • All Star Festivities (4 year anniversary) – from Russo

    Beautiful weather this morning topping out at 60 degrees. Flags came in quickly as Shooter and JV arrived early and off we went with the mumblechatter.

    Around 4 years ago, an offhand “You should join us” from Toto began my adventure with F3, so today I thought we’d honor those folks that have shaped our beatdowns and who continue to be positive role models for their friends, family, coworkers, and in their corner of the world. While certainly not the only ones, each of these men have had a favorable impact on my F3 experience and have helped me grow tremendously over he years, with plenty of room for more growth and learning to go. Despite objection, SmashMouth was NOT played.

    Warmup (mostly IC)
    – Sealjacks
    – Arm circles
    – Self love
    – Imperial squat walkers
    – Toe touches

    All Star recognition 1: Zoolander – the HIM most likely to EH someone (and then we never see them again) – Goofballs and then 5 knuckle merkins

    Thang
    All star Speedy – the Crazy Ivan Ringer – mosey to the gazebo

    All star recognition 3 and 4:
    Hammer: pushed me as hard mentally as I’ve ever been pushed by F3 with 1,000 burpees, and Grundy, whose cakewalk is the hardest non-Iron Pax I’ve ever been pushed – cakewalk of 5 merkins

    Mosey to the shaft for more All Star recognitions:

    WaterPik- King of Form: 10 8 count bodybuilders IC

    Moby: Leader of the chain gang – without his chain, we subbed with an Indian bear crawl

    Turbo: the Godfather – mosey back to the flag, teams of 3, passing the tennis balls (NOT golf balls). If the ball hits the ground, team performs 3 merkins (in honor of All Star Akbar: Mr. Merkin Trap). Many T claps to Wicket and JV for being in sync all the way, and leading like they’ve been QBs and/or WRs all their lives.

    On the wall, we honor All Star Bushwacker: King of the impromptu Q: 10 IC freak nastys and 10 durkins, rinse and repeat. We skipped the additional 15 rounds he made us do one week.

    Move to All Star Barely Legal: Who knew his crab walk skills? Crab walk to the street and back to the wall. Bird, I hope your hands are ok.

    Mosey around Noah’s Ark where we honored All Star Jose 10k: most Supportive, Mr. Will Do Anything Another Brother Asks, always one of the first to join in, NOT Mr. Grumble, who “won” White Elephant 2021, by doing cherry pickers while moseying.

    At the block, we stopped to honor All Star Cowbell, Prince of Punctuality: 25 crunchy frogs (just enough for Jose to note “He’s waiting for everyone to just stop”)

    Back at the sea wall, we honored (1) All Star Steve: Most likely to outwork you and smile the entire time: 5 Kraken burpees

    and then (2) All Star Shooter: Most 6 pickups (at least when I was 6): 10 donkey kicks, where MVP was Bird and his handstand yoga walk

    followed by (3) the Futures portion: the 2.0s

    – Pickax
    – Wicket
    – FNG Wookie!
    – Yoda
    – Pixie stick
    – Hazard
    – Chainsaw
    – Gilligan
    – Minnow
    – Bear
    – Trakbar
    – Grover (Welcome back!)
    – Machete

    In their honor we performed 26 Smurfjacks IC (13 x 2.0)

    Moving over to Rip’s, we paused for the In Memorium portion of the festivities, up the steps and back down to honor those that we hope rejoin us one day, including but not limited to:
    – Bypass
    – Butt paste
    – Mick
    – Stock boy
    – Coconuts
    – Amnesia
    – Bends
    – Slider
    – Toto
    – Ocho
    – Pelican
    – Pea shooter
    – Swoll patrol

    Back at the sea wall, it was my pleasure to honor All Star Manny: Encouragement personified, the first to tell me “Just keep coming” – 10 LMCs IC

    Quickly running out of time, we wrapped up with our final All Star: Maverick: the Music Man, who makes me hate Roxanne to this day. Performed to “She’s so Cold” by The Rolling Stones, high knees, with a squat every time you hear “hot” or “cold”.

    Mosey back to the flag where COT, count, Name-o-Rama, announcements, and prayer closed us out.

    Announcements about NOLA convergence next week, Bushwacker’s camping trip and wife’s birthday party, upcoming potential Halloween beatdown on Sunday 10/30, among others. Check Slack for more info.

    Special welcome to Wookie, Chewy’s 2.0 and our newest HIM.

    One final note: as each year passes, I remember less and less of that first October post back in 2018: pre-COVID, pre-Joe Burrow becoming Joe Burrow, pre- many of our newest brothers, 10 pounds lighter.

    I remember I was late, Buttsplice had Q, we did some yoga. But I’ll never forget feeling sore for at least 3.5 days after, and loving it. Doing something different. Outside with no weights.

    Not wanting to make that same mistake, lest I be judged, I was about 20 minutes early, either the next week or the week following that, and made the mistake of being TOO early, to where I joined the pre-Thang run and after about 40 yards, thought “This was a mistake”.

    But then either Tank or Shooter picked me up as the 6 (details aren’t important, because both have done it repeatedly and offered encouragement). Having started off on the wrong foot, not one but twice, would have normally sent me packing and wishing the group the best in future endeavors. But the encouragement sparked me. That kept me coming back.

    I said it last year, and the statement holds true: Because of what we do, and what our mission is, our reach extends beyond losing a few pounds, getting bigger arms for the gun shows, or finding our abdominal muscles again. If we’re doing it right, we’re improving confidence in those around us, encouraging each other to be impactful in our commmunity, and exemplifying Christ’s disciples in our words and actions. My prayer is that we keep doing that. Whatever “that” is, keep doing it. We’re doing something right.

    That’s my goal, and even if I fall short, I know I’ll have another opportunity to do it soon enough.

    Thank you for making that commitment and for all that you do. SYITG

  • IPC Week 3 – Mrs. Burns – from Akbar

    Saturday, what a great day. YHC hasn’t really thought about it lately, but it’s true. As Wicket told me after Coffeeteria – On Saturdays I get to go to F3, wear my gym shorts all day, play with friends, don’t have to do school, and eat donuts and pancakes. That’s good, and so was the beatdown.

    YHC and Wicket arrived early to set up, seeing Pik and Speedy for the pre-thang 2miler. Circle up for the flag just in time to hear loud crying – Hammer brought Machete out for a beatdown. Machete cried pretty much the whole time, until we started the warmup. The cadence call was like a lullaby for the young man.

    Everyone arrived and we started out with warm ups x 10 IC, except for 1 exercise that was x9IC. SSH, arm circles front/back, imperial walkers, hillbillies, high knees, butt Kicks, self-love, toe touches, and grass grabbers.

    Grab blocks, head to the tree/start line and instructions were given.

    Week 3 was called Mrs. Burns, doing 571 reps to honor Kathleen Walzer and her fight with pancreatic cancer for 571 days.

    5 Rounds + one extra 400m run at the end. 571 reps for time

    20 Overhead Presses

    20 Burpees

    20 Curls

    20 V Ups

    20 Goblet Squats

    13 Manmakers

    400m run

    Grundy, Tank, and Steve were out of the gate fast. Wicket did some stuff, then put on my shades and decided to DJ for a while – then got back to work. This was brutal. The workout pretty much took everything out of you making the run harder. So instead of making up time on the run, it was more recovery. Halfway through a guy joined us that was unrecognizable, and I thought we may have another Fly By EH. But it turned out to be Gronk who we haven’t seen in a couple of years. Great to have you back man.

    T Claps to the top unofficial finishers, meaning the guys sitting on the wall while everyone else was still working hard. Grundy, Tanked Up, Steve, and Hammer

    Time called, with a short rest in the grass. A brief glimpse of Jose 10k holding Hammers legs over the seawall. YHC figured Machete had dropped a baby toy in the water. Hammer waded in the murky water to retrieve only his hat. Which is much better than dropping a toy.

    Head back to the flag just in time for Count and Nameorama.

    YHC closed us out with this prayer – which was said each day the Kathleen Welzer had pancreatic cancer:

    “Lord, we thank you for this day. A day we get to choose. We get to choose between darkness or light. Today, we choose light. Amen”

    Coffeeteria at Book and the Bean:

    Great work today guys, way to push hard and get it done. 1 more week and IPC is in the books.

    SYITG – Akbar

  • Split Q (IronPax and Cakewalk) – from Russo

    78 degrees to start today, and looking for any reason for positive weather news, (1) there was no rain and (2) it was slightly less humid than it has been. Really good start to the morning for a split Q of IPC week 0 and a birthday cakewalk.

    Warmup (between 10x and 14x, all IC)

    -Toe touches
    -Arm circles
    -Self love
    -Cherry pickers
    -Grass grabbers

    Thang: while Zoolander took half the pax to the west for IPC, YHC led a cakewalk (trademark to either Grundy or Zoolander), your basic descending ladder of exercises and reps, starting at YHC’s age (in this case, 44) and work your way to 1, with some moseying in between around Old Mandeville/Lakefront.

    The order:

    44 High knees (2 is 1, which YHC forgot right off the bat and thought “count by 2”, so thanks to Jose for keeping me honest. Math is hard)
    43 SSHs
    42 Plank Jacks
    41 goof balls
    40 squats
    39 Hello Dollies
    38 Calf raises
    37 Apollo Ohno’s
    36 Freak Nastys (correctly guessed by JV Raider Pride!)
    35 step ups (also correctly guessed by the Pax)
    34 flutter kicks
    33 butt kicks (2 is 1) (lead IC by the entire pax rotating, very nice job, gents!)
    32 Peter Parker’s (2 is 1)
    31 imperial walkers
    30 Shoulder taps (2 is 1)
    29 American hammers
    28 Monkey Humpers (Happy Birthday JV!)
    27 Merkins
    26 Smurf jacks (where we were joined by Ms. Cute Young Jogger, who either (1) felt bad for the old guys struggling to mosey and catch their breath, (2) knew it was JV’s birthday and wanted to give him an early birthday present, (3) was on a runner’s high and wanted to be friendly on a Saturday morning, or (4) some combo of all of the above)
    25 leg raises
    24 Rosalitas
    23 crab jacks (crab position – think reverse plank jacks, which Moby was having none of)
    22 groiners
    21 Bear crawls (counting your right hand as a rep)
    20 murder bunnies
    19 Wide merkins
    18 Bobby Hurley’s
    17 crab cakes
    16 circle ups
    15 Bulgarian split squats
    14 durkins
    13 big boy sit-ups
    12 LMCs IC
    11 diamond merkins
    10 star jumps
    9 donkey kicks (an ode to Shooter)
    8 wife pleasers
    7 merkins
    6 6 inch drills
    5 Carolina dry docks
    4 SMCs (2 is 1)
    3 jump squats
    2 burpees
    1 minute plank

    COT, name-o-rama, announcements, and prayer closed us out.

    Thank you, gents, for either joining me or pushing yourself hard with IronPax. And a larger thanks to each of you for not only pushing me harder, making me better through your example, and providing friendship for 4 of my 44 years, but for being a light in your families, work, and communities.

    SYITG

  • Kickball Redeaux – from Akbar

    21 strong at the Lakefront for a redeaux of Kickball. This time, it was simple.

    Conditions
    Wet, muggy, just another day in SE Louisiana.

    Warm Up
    SSH x20 IC, Grass Grabbers, Butt Kicks, Self Love, High Knees, Imperial Walkers, Mountain Climbers, Merkins – x15 -10 IC

    Thang
    Mosey to the baseball field, count off 1’s and 2’s and teams were made. Regular rules apply this go round, with exercises called by QIC at random of Merkins and Sister Mary Catherines. Team 2 came out strong with a big lead, while Team 1 went 3 and out pretty quickly. A modification was made to not let all the kids kick first, and it was better. After a couple of innings, we were getting stomped. At this point, Mathlete had a suggestion that YHC implemented- Team 2 would have to Bear Crawl the bases to give us a chance. We made a short rally, but still got squashed by double digits.

    We headed back to the flag a little early since we didn’t really exercise that much and YHC implemented the Red Hot Chili Pepper. A standard of Hogcycle, we did Merkins and Squats to finish out in 3 rounds. Merkins and Squats x20 IC, Merkins and Squats x15 IC, Merkins and Squats x 10IC

    Count, Name
    Announcements

    Sept 10 5k/5mile at Covington trailhead

    Iron Pax is coming in September

    Hammers bible study Wednesday at 8:30 at the Crisi Pregnancy Center

    Bubba prayed us out with special prayers for JV’s Grandma who passed this morning at 98.

    Head to Coffeeteria and called it a day

    Thanks for following my lead – Akbar

  • Fire Fighter Challenge Part Deux – from Bushwacker

    I feel I’ve been so delinquent in my commitment to F3 lately and it showed as I tried to start the warmorama. IMHO (as the kids put it), that delinquency continued right on through the beat down with my unorganized leadership, chaotic participation, and off-the-cuff modifications. But YHC brought the coupons, set the games in motion, and we all watched with little surprise as the former Marsh Madness champion and current King of Distain quite literally ran away with the Badaxe award this go ’round. Nonetheless, all men (regardless of age) put forth an effort most valiant indeed!

    WARMORAMA
    As previously mentioned, QIC felt entirely out of practice, forgetting exercise names, miscalling cadences, and generally flubbing my return. But PAX kept showing up until the ranks grew to a respectable number. Even after out our mosey to the shaft, Grundy popped up to fiddle around with our tires.

    THANG
    Farmer’s Carry
    Sledge Hammer Tire
    Tire Flip
    Tire Pull
    Prisoner’s Carry
    Tire Drag
    Chain of Doom
    Lunge Walk

    Teams of 2-3 did 3 1 minute rounds switching between the coupon and plank or al gore. We kept this up until, with 5 minutes remaining, the 4 bad asses competing for the Badaxe award ran the tire drag for time. As previously mentioned, our own reverend pastor preacher man took home the prize… until next time!

    COT
    On the spot we carried out count/nameorama, with zoo having departed prematurely. I appreciate you guys. I cherish my time with you guys. Many many thanks!

  • F3 Kickball: Chico’s Bail Bonds v Xscissor – from Akbar

    18 men showed in the gloom this morning for a game of F3 Kickball. We are taught to modify as necessary, and learn through trial and error that some things work, and some things don’t. Even the best laid plans go wrong sometimes, and it happened today. Below is the way YHC envisioned it, and then what really happened.

    PAX Hammer, Minnow, Chainsaw, Pickaxe, Gilligan, Moby Dick, Agent Carl, Jose 10k, Zoolander, Grundy, Steve, JV, Shooter, Waterpik, Dangerfield, Maverick, Russo, Akbar

    Warm Up x10 IC – Merkins, IW, Self-Love, Grass Grabbers, SSH, Arm Circles F/B, Toe Touches

    Thang: F3 Kickball
    Count off 1’s and 2’s to form 2 teams. Run to the baseball field in teams, arrive at the field, plank up in teams to pick team names.

    Rules for Kickers

    Kick the ball and mosey around all bases without stopping while kicking team holds plank until the kick is launched. Modes of travel will change in each inning. Modification for runners is always a backwards run. When you score, you get 1 point and lead your team in 5 Wife Pleasers IC while the fielders do Nolan Ryans. Penalty exercises on outs, strikes, and fouls – 10 Australian Mountain Climbers (2=1) OYO while field does Nolan Ryans. No bunting.

    Rules for Fielders

    Ball is not in play until it touches the ground. When the ball hits the ground, fielders must do an exercise before they touch the ball – unless it is a pop fly. If a pop fly is caught, catcher gets to choose kicking team exercises x 5IC or 10 OYO. If ball is dropped on the catch, regular rules apply and exercises must be done before touching the ball. No pegging runners while running with blocks and no forced outs.

    Game
    3 outs or 1x through the lineup, no catcher, winner chooses exercise for losing team at the Flag.

    Pre-Game – The PAX lined up for the National Anthem by Metallica.

    Exercises for Kickers and Fielders
    Inning 1: Farmers Carry, Squat Hold and 30 Air Presses
    Inning 2: Brick Fly Runs, 20 Bobby Hurleys
    Inning 3: Rifle Carry, 20 Big Boy Situps
    Inning 4: Brick Hallelujah Run, 20 Diamond Merkins
    Inning 5: Bear Crawl, Renegade Row Merkins

    What really happened – YHC explained the rules clearly and effectively and it was decided the rules would be explained as we played. The idea is the fielders do exercises to give the runners time to score, assuming that all balls would be kicked in the outfield. That was not the case. By some magic, the balls were kicked into the players at the infield and just sat there. Someone mentioned very early on this would be a low scoring game. In fact, the first inning lasted about 20 minutes. Even the QIC forgot to do exercises sometimes.

    So we went to straight up kickball, regular rules, for the last 10 minutes and a new plan for the next game swirled around in YHC’s head.

    The final score was 9 to 7, Chico’s Bail Bonds took home the pride.

    We got back to the flag a little late, and Shooter prayed us out. Great to have Agent Carl with us, EH’d by Toto, who has been lost somewhere in Oz for the last year. Come back Toto!

    Count, Name, and Shooter prayed us out.

    Thanks for following my lead –
    SYITG, Akbar

  • On Your Mark. Get Set. Go! – from Bird

    Cool morning at the Lakefront with 14 PAX posting. Looked to be a slim crowd at first as QIC was greeted by Moby Dick and Sonny (aka Turbo Dog) after returning from coupon delivery to Milestone Marsh. Welcome to everyone, glad to see Cathy returning following the previous week’s Merkin Madness, now let’s get to it.
    Warmarama consisted of SSH (20 IC), Good Mornings (10 IC), High Knees (20 IC), what’s that exercise called where you touch your elbow to your knees? Oh year, Imperial Walkers, thanks Russo (10 IC). Hillbillies, the alter ego of Imperial Walkers (10IC), Windwills (10IC). QIC directed to plank position to complete Mountain Climbers (10IC), Peter Parkers (10IC), Parker Peters (10IC), Groiners (10IC), and Merkins (10OYO). As PAX would come to find out, we would end the day in similar fashion… Upon completing the warm up, PAX mosied to Noah’s Ark.

    QIC divided PAX into two teams by counting off and groups separated on each side of the neutral ground (do we call it that on the Northshore?). QIC attempted to explain the workout, although some clarification and tweaking was required as we moved through. The theory was for each team to sprint one block (app. 0.1 mile – 200 meters-ish) for the five blocks from Lakeshore to Livingston (five round). As each person arrived, they would immediately commence prescribed exercise doing AMRAP until final member of team arrived. Cumulative reps of the team were counted when all members arrived and the team with the most reps was declared the winner. Losing team was then assigned double the number of reps to complete for a core exercise to be prescribed by winning team. Losing team, in turn, prescribed core exercise to winning team. I know, confusing right, thus the required tweaking.

    On Your Mark. Get Set. Go.

    Round 1. After impressive sprints by all PAX, round 1 exercise was jump squats. Team 1 proved victorious with 48ish cumulative total compared with Team 2 40ish. Team 2 was assigned 96 hello dollies and Team 1 was assigned 40ish American Hammers. “How does this work again, cause that’s a lot of reps!”

    Round 2. One Legged Burpees. Team 1 victorious again. Team 2 assigned double reps of leg raises (don’t remember, but it was a lot of reps – 40-50). Team 1 assigned Crunchy Frogs (Q didn’t feel number of reps was beneath the victorious Team 1 sprinters, so he assigned Crunch Frogs (IC).

    Round 3. Merkins. At this point, the number of reps was getting ridiculous (in the 100s and double that would have crippled the rest of the workout), so QIC audibled and assigned the same exercise to each team (LBCs) with no doubling. Team cumulative reps assigned to opposing teams were retained.

    Round 4. Sister Mary Katherines. Core exercise that now alludes me.

    Round 5. Burpees. 100s
    After first phase of workout complete, PAX recovery walked to Milestone Marsh and removed coupons from back of QIC’s truck. Three rounds of four exercise (10 reps each OYO) consisting of thrusters, kettle bell swings, pullups, and hanging knee raises. QIC directed to hold plank until the six completed each round before beginning the next.
    With three rounds complete, PAX loaded back coupons, short recovery walk, and then mosy (app. 0.5 mile) back to the flag. A few of the PAX held a brief interlude at the seawall to complete 25 freak nasties (IC).

    Back at the flag, QIC demonstrated Absolution as the final exercise of the day, an eight count routine consisting of (from plank), groiner (1, 2), low plank (3, 4), plank jack (5, 6), high plank (7, 8). PAX did five IC and then directed to complete OYO until 0730. With PAX waning, QIC called for five more and then time.

    COT. Announcements (don’t forget the Nehemiah Project – Hammer, Grundy – on starting on March 18th). QIC prayed us out.

  • The Merkin Trap, Episode 4: The Search for Plutonium – from Akbar

    Admiral Gail Akbar of the Mon Calamari returns to the Northshore Mothership once again, to fight another battle against Darth Fartsack and the Sad Clown Empire. His secret mission this trip is to investigate the galactical mystery of Plutonium, reportedly found in the NOLA area by some beast named Hawgcycle. The commander of the Rebel forces knew this human was clever and dangerous – using words like isotopes, casualties, retrospect, and defecate in past correspondence about this discovery. He was at this beatdown before, maybe he would return. Key reinforcements – Baby Yoda, Bushwacker, Pickaxe, Chainsaw, and Shooter were missing. But we had new blood to make up the difference – a burly man named Cathe, with medical-surgical powers specializing in catheters, and a visiting pirate from Cape Fear named Teach. We were pleased with our chances.

    The Admiral received this note before his journey:

    Before night falls on this long winter day,
    A shining sword must find its way
    Into your hands and out of the gloom—
    Or Admiral Akbar shall meet his doom.
    To begin your quest for the Sword of Light,
    Call for the help of another to get right.
    You can always depend on an F3 brother,
    As Iron Sharpens Iron, so one man sharpens another.

    PAX

    Waterpik, Dangerfield, Freon, Bubba, Moby Dick, Bean, Russo, Jose 10k, Barely Legal, Speedy, Grundy, Bird, Zoolander, Maverick, Akbar, Hammer, Junior Varsity, Cathe (FNG), Teach

    Conditions – 40ish, no wind, a little foggy

    Warm Up – Arm Circles (F/B), Self-Love, Imperial Walkers, Grass Grabbers

    Thang

    Mosey up and down the Lakefront stopping for 2 exercises in each set, one of which would always be Merkins. 12, 8, 5 IC or 24,16,10 OYO. Each set = 50 Merkins, and most were 50 of another exercise except for a couple done Copperhead style.

    1 – Flag SSH, Merkins
    2 – Rips Calf Raises, Wide Merkin
    3 – Parking stripes Lunge walk, 5 Merkins every 2nd stripe
    4 – Noah Wall Tempo Freak Nasties, Dirkin
    5 – Grass Circle Al Gore/Shoulder raise, Wide Merkin
    6 – Wall Copperhead Squats, Irkin
    7 – Grass Circle Scuba Steve, Stone Mountain
    8 – Grass Circle Al Gore/Shoulder raise, Merkin
    9 – Noah Wall Scuba Steve, Diamond Irkin
    10 – Rips Twinkle Toes, Prime Time Merkin
    11 – Flag Little Manny Crunches, Merkin

    Total 550 Merkins

    Mary – x10 IC

    Fire Hydrants, Leg Raises, Hello Dolly, LBC’s, Lay flat on your back for 1 minute, time called

    Count-o-rama, Name-o-rama. Welcome FNG Cathe! Pronounced Cathy

    Announcements

    – Run Cajun Run, log your mileage
    – Hammer, Grundy, Steve, and Tanked Up! have put together a team to support The
    Nehemiah Project. They will run 48 miles over 48 hours on March 18th at Fontainebleau
    State Park. Check Slack for more.
    – Bird has the Q next Saturday

    COT

    YHC prayed us out with thoughts of words like man, father, husband, brother, friend – all verbs – and to take action this week remembering to flex our heart muscle. Don’t forget tomorrow is Valentine’s Day

    Alas, the Admiral did not find Plutonium, or Hawcycle, or the Sword of Light. But what he did find was a group of men who sharpened each other – enjoying camaraderie, food, and a hot cup of coffee for their efforts. Sad, but undaunted, he shall return next year.

    Thanks for letting me lead, and for following.

    SYITG – Admiral Akbar

    NMM

    Of all days to be late, YHC misplaced the keys and had to hall butt to make it there just in time to start.

    Great to have Teach from F3 Cape Fear make the drive from Gulfport while working out of town for a while.

    Bird brought Ian, a FNG who we named Cathe, pronounced Cathy, he works in med devices sales with vascular catheters.

    YHC had to modify pretty quickly after the Dirkins in the 4th set – in which QIC almost face planted from exhaustion. The plan was to go all the way to the playground and work my way back, but time forced a modification. We still got in around 550 Merkins in an hour

    Grundy showed up late, half way through, and owes 250 Merkins.

    I’ve been reading a lot of Jack and Annie books with the kids, and the poem came from a Merlin Mystery novel. I have to admit, these books are great – historical fiction and mystery combined. Kids and adults alike will love them. Sometimes, the book titles become backblast titles.

    The Plutonium reference came from the master backblast writer himself, Hawcycle. Look back and read it, it’s good stuff.

    Coffeeteria was great, this time including more King Cake, breakfast bowls, and my 2.0’s showed up for sugar and hot chocolate.

  • Never have I ever (Yes I have!) – from Russo

    Disclaimer: yes, most of this was written well ahead of time, Zoolander, and copied and pasted, edited, and spellchecked (I think).

    30 degrees greeted a Pax of 13 this morning, perfect sunrise, a little chilly from the remnants of rain.

    Too cold to be called a Warmup (all IC, between 10 and 25x)
    – Sealjacks
    – Good mornings
    – High knees
    – Cherry pickers
    – Grass grabbers
    – Self love
    – Imperial walkers

    Thangs before the Thang
    (1) Mosey down Girod, stopping every block or so for some Ro-Cham-Burpee (10 rounds of rock, paper, scissors, the winner performs merkins, the loser burpees)

    Things we learned:
    – Zoolander and Jose were “pretty even” through 2 rounds
    – Guinea Pig had incredible fortune until he ran into the buzzsaw of YHC’s scissors
    – The ground is cold without gloves

    (2) Card sharks (Complete exercises based on card count, next round guess higher or lower, a correct guess multiplies the rep 2x, incorrect 3x)
    – Crab cakes
    – Scissor kicks
    – Peter Parker’s
    – Big boi situps
    – Plank jacks
    – American hammers
    – Murder bunnies
    – Monkey humpers

    Things we learned:
    – Murder bunnies are a favorite of YHC
    – The deck was most certainly not stacked to finish on an Ace (with a 3x multiplier)
    – Guinea Pig played great strategy on the 10
    – Jose redeemed himself with higher/lower

    Thang

    YHC is not what one would call creative. Completely left-brained, my world revolves around number and order and sequence. I struggle to keep beatdowns fresh. Most of my planning is either “that’s a good idea, let’s modify that” or “what’s a game I’ve played that can be transformed into a beatdown?” The latter held true for a spirited and, at times, confusing, game of:

    Never have I ever (Q calls out an action, If you’ve done said action, move to one side. If not, move to the other. Exercise and rep count will vary based on what side you’re on)

    Actions (“Yes” first exercise listed, “No”second one listed, most of them look right, there was some modification)

    (1) Q’ed the Mothership – 10 merkins, 5 burpees

    (2) Fartsacked a Q – 10 burpees, 10 merkins

    (3) Intentionally run a red light – 10 burpees, 15 squats

    (4) Picked up the 6 – 3 calf raises, 15 SMCs

    (5) Fallen asleep at work – 25 hallelujah squats, 5 Peter Parker’s

    (6) Called a partner the wrong name – 10 donkey kicks, 5 arm circles

    (7) Cut my own or someone else’s hair – 10 merkins, 20 SSH

    (8) Dated a friend’s ex – lap around Granny’s, 5 merkins

    (9) Stopped to help some with roadside car trouble – 5 jump squats, 25 Apollo Ohnos

    (10) Let someone cut in line in front of me – 10 mountain climbers, 10 burpees

    (11) Played wordle – bear crawl, mosey

    (12) Slept in my car – 20 star jumps, 10 arm circles

    (13) Hit a parked car – 20 groiners, 5 merkins

    (14) Sent an inappropriate text or message to the wrong person – 5 burpees, 5 merkins

    (15) Been frisked or in a police car – 30 squats, 10 cherry pickers

    (16) Removed an inappropriate amount of clothes in public – 10 burpees, 1 burpee

    Things we learned:
    – Too many lawyers in the Pax. We had to define “partner”, “hit”, “date”, “mothership”, “intentional”, as well as clarify what is meant by “inappropriate” and “slept”
    – Even after 16 rounds, some of us aren’t really sure which side to go to
    – There were at least two people who found themselves on the side I didn’t expect them to be on (Names redacted, let the speculation commence)
    – Other things that should not be broadcast here to protect the innocent
    – Best line of the Thang (paraphrased): I paid for that 20 years ago and now Russo is making me pay for it again.

    After enough absolution, Pax moseyed back to the flag in a modified Indian run where the lead runner peels off and heads to the back.

    COT, Name-o-Rama, announcements, and prayer closed us out.

    Announcements
    – HogsBreath and Pass Interference are planting the Slidell flag on Monday at 5:30!
    – Hammer is pulling together a fundraiser for the Nehemiah Project in mid-March. I’ll let him provide more details on this worthy cause.
    – There were multiple prayer requests, including friends and family of Akbar, Bubba, Bird, and Jose, so a focus of our prayer was on mental/physical health and God’s gifts of healing, comfort, mercy, and peace.

    One final word on something Bubba brought up:

    There is an awful lot we shoulder every day: work, family, commitments, temptation, life’s difficulties, you name it. We may tend to bottle up stress or pressure until we just can’t take it anymore.

    Most of us have found F3 to be a release of some of that pressure. We’ve stumbled upon a group that, despite our imperfections, will absolutely stand tall in the face of adversity and stand with our brothers. I thank God every day for this group, and each of the men that have helped to shape me into a better human being. You are all leading by example and my prayer is that we do that for everyone around us.

    Maybe you pick up the 6 more, or reach out to ask how something went for someone this week. Maybe you share your Q source, and then make sure it gets read. Maybe you spend a couple hours to drop everything and help someone move. There are countless other examples that I hope we have and can point to when things get tough. There are too many other examples for me to list.

    If anyone is struggling, reach out. My ear is always ready to be bent. SYITG 🤛🏼