With all the new NOLA PAX members that have taken the Daily Red Pill and joined our ranks, there are so many great workouts they have missed since the inception of F3 NOLA. One of my favorites at Okwata is the 40! Thank you, Rudy! Other epic beatdowns such as the H8 and Elevens with Burpees at Okwata are always crowd pleasers. Since the Army Corps of Engineers raised the height of the lake levee, this AO is like no other in the city. As a side note, you can also thank Mayor Cantrell and former Mayor Landrieu for keeping the grass well manicured over the years.
WARMUP
After my disclainer, we do a quick mosey around the Mardi Gras fountain with side shuffles, high knees and butt kicks and head over to the levee. The space between the sidewalk and the bottom of the levee is very spongelike and lumpy so watch your step.
THE THANG
As I give the instructions, I hear some groans from the veterans and get some puzzled looks from the newcomers as they process the task ahead of them. It’s pretty simple. Run up and over the levee 40 times and perform 10 exercises 40 times. The sequence of the beatdown is as follows:
It’s 6:13am and we head back to the Freedom Hammer
COUNTOFF, NAMERAMA AND COT
Honored to lead all the HIM (High Impact Men) today and grateful for your friendship, camaraderie, and accountability. Prayers for those fighting cancer and those who have lost loved ones! Lord help us be the leaders we were destined to be for our wives, children, and community!
14 Pax set off into a mild, dry gloom that looked more like midnight than morning to find a good warm-up spot and get a little practice in for the upcoming H8. YHC was initially excited about not having to warm up in Surge’s favorite intersection, but the weeds were a little high, and we found ourselves back in the familiar intersection oval for warm-ups, consisting of:
Arm Circles
Hill Billies
SSH
Parker Peter
After the warm-up, we were back to everyone’s favorite Okwata exercises: levees and burpees and burpees and levees, and a few merkins thrown in.
Exercise 1: Sprint up the levee, jog down, 10 Burpees. Sprint back up the levee, jog down, 10 Burpees, 25 merkins, Plank and Wait.
Exercise 2: Indian Run where the sprinter drops for 3 Merkins before sprinting to the front. Rudy claims Jesus Juice almost passed me on a sprint despite the 3 merkins, but I think we should all consider the source. Although Indian runs are not necessarily part of the H8 (or at all part of it), I do hate them.
Exercise 3: Sprint up the levee, 5 Turk and Burps; jog down, 5 T&B; jog back up, 5 T&B; jog back down, 5 T&B. A little controversy about the form for these, so below is a demonstration of the Turkish Get-Up that I at least attempt to follow. It’s a great exercise for any workout, and worth practicing on your form. Start light if you do; a 10-lb kettlebell should be plenty at first.
Exercise 4: At Okwata, there is always time for running backwards up a levee, and this workout was no exception, so we did a couple rounds of Bernie Sanders, planked and waited for the 6, and then moseyed back to the flag, where we got in a few LBC’s as the clock struck 6:15.
We wished Jesus Juice a happy 35th, and welcomed Edible Arrangements from F3 Nashville. We prayed for some of our F3 brothers who are going through some tough times right now, and we recognized how thankful we are that we were able to come together this morning for a workout.
I’m also thankful for the opportunity to lead this group. -Kuch
23 PAX posted in the the dark at Rock City. The effects of the time change were felt as I tried to wake up and get ready to make the trek to Metairie. It was still so dark I could barely see who all had shown up in the dark gloom. At 5:30 The announcement and disclaimer were given and off we moseyed to the grassy area near the rocks for Warm-up.
Warm-Up
SSH x 20, Hillbillies x 20, Moroccan Night Clubs x 15, Fwd Arm Circles x 15 Rev. Arm Circles x 15, Mountain Climbers x 20
THANG1 :
Grab a Rock – Form 2 lines on the path, walk path around to the hill doing Left, Right, Center with Rock above head (don’t rest it on your shoulder!)
THANG 2
Dora 1, 2, 3 First stop at the Hill – Partner up –
100 Thrusters combined while PAX 2 goes over the hill and back, flapjack. Plank and wait for the 6
Mosey to the large field with your rock
200 Curls for the Girls combined while PAX 2 runs to tree line and back. LBC and wait for the 6
300 Chest Press combined while PAX 2 runs tree line and back. LBT and wait for the 6.
THANG 3
Circle up for a Merkin wave. Plank up, Q starts with 10 alternating arm rock push ups, next person starts on second rep and goes around. With 23 PAX there was lots of mumble chatter about the length of time planking.
6 MINUTES OF MARY
LBC’s x 43 – (My last beat down at age 43)
Flutter Kicks x 15, Penguins x 20, Dying Cockroach x 20, American Hammer x 15
Put up your rock and Mosey back to the flag.
COT
Count-o-rama, Name-o-rama, No FNG’s, Very disappointing because I love naming people and then hearing about it the next day. Announcements: Sunnyside for 2.0’s March 17 at Audubon Park – Drew Brees Playground. F2 at Wrong Iron March 21st 6:30 PM. Special Intentions, & Prayed it out with a sweaty ball of man, still in the pitch black darkness.
Always and honor and pleasure to lead this group of High Impact Men that motivate and drive me everyday to be the best I can be.
The early moring parade goers in Mid-City were treated to some sweet F3 eye candy on Saturday for the 4th annual Mardi Gras Mambo aka Endymion Run. Our krewe consited of 22 PAX eager to start the day off right and get in the carnival spirit. YHC had stewed on some new ideas for the past month and decided to incorporate a “float” consisting of a jogging stroller and boom box to be pushed along the route blarring some good ole Mardi Gras music to get the juices flowing. Some festive chatter started as the Dr. John and Professor Longhair tunes came on. Here’s a recap of our parade:
Warmup near The Peristyle: IW, Lunges, WM, SSH with “bead wave” capped off with the tradional Mardi Gras Mambo song providing the guidance for 2+ minutes of syncronized planking, merkins, and plankjacks….always a crowd pleaser! We followed with a mosey to City Park Ave and N. Olympia and stopped to go over the gameplan for the run topped off with burpees x10, just because.
Route Run – Leg #1: Run at your own pace down Orleans trying to stay in clusters. The float/stroller acted as the kaboose and stayed in the rear, similar to the speaker trucks following the Dance Connection, minus the purple fishnets. Once at Carrollton, turn around and sweep the six. T-claps to the PAX for taking turns pushing the float and also to the guys carrying two F3 shovel flags….Merica!!! Lots of intrigued and possibly jealous onlookers wishing they were running with us.
Route Run – Leg #2: Right on Carrollton all the way to Canal, at you own pace, sweep the six. The motivational cheers from the spot watchers kept coming.
Route Run – Leg #3: Back down Carrollton to Orleans veering off to the neutral ground for a COP. Some grumbling was heard when YHC started with LSS x20, PP x25, ISW x20, and Plankorama w/Merkins. Everyone survived and the moseying resumed.
Route Run – Leg #4: Run back on Orleans to our starting point on N. Olympia, sweep the six. Good to see lots of other running groups out there…”Happy Mardi Gras” and high fives were being dolled out right and left. Might even try to work in some beads for next year.
Lagniappe Leg #5: Once back along City Park Ave, we had enough time to take the long way back along Marconi for a peek at the floats, before heading back to the Great Lawn. A few guys were able to modify the run with a shortcut.
Great Lawn: YHC wanted to make sure all PAX were ready for the rest of MG season and in stellar bead catching/throwing shape, so out came a bag of beads stashed in the bushes. All PAX grabbed a good bead to throw and parterned up for “Bead Burpees” consisting of throwing beads 15 yards away to your partner, alternating with burpees. This was not well received by the PAX, I’m guessing due to the sloppy terrain and the presumption that we were only going to run that moring. After a minute of some hideousness with Bead Burpees, YHC felt the need to cut it short and move on to something more challenging. Next up we did a bead throw and bear crawl circuit across the lawn, followed by a lunge walk and bead throw back.
Mary: After getting rid of the beads, we had enought time left to knock out LBC x20, Flutter Kicks x30, and Plankorama.
COT: YHC was a tad woozy and run-drunk at this point so not sure of all the announcements and intentions. We did pray for, among other things, a safe Mardi Gras weekened. We also called out Amnesty for yet again missing the annual event he co-fathered. YHC forgot to mention that we consider striving to avoid over indulging this Mardi Gras season and instead focus on making the most of our time with family, friends, or perhaps ourselves, whether that be at a parade or elsewhere. While pigging out and/or getting hammered may be something many of us have been guilty of during the carnival season, we should consider throttling that back on the guilty pleasures and possibly replace them with something more meaningful and healthy….just a thought.
Thanks to the PAX for going along with my antics and helping to bring in the 4th “F”….FUN!
