F3 New Orleans

Tag: Moby Dick

  • 50 Reasons to Come Out and Play

    As the clock turned 6:30, the pacs who dared to walk outside during the corona virus hysteria, could not help but notice the coupons that were awaiting them for the beat down. But before we get to that, let’s warm up……

    Forward arm circles – 10 IC, Reverse arm circles -10 IC, Overhead Claps – 10 IC, Cherry Pickers – 10 IC, Air presses – 10IC

    At this point there were murmurs among-st the group in regards to my choice of warm up exercises given the coupons that were awaiting them, but those murmurs fell on def ears of the Q.

    Side Straddle Hops – 10 IC, High Knees – 10 IC, Butt Kicks – 10 IC, Imperial Walkers – 10 IC, 10 Merkins – OYO, 10 Plank Jacks – OYO, 10 Groiners – OYO, 10 Eight Count Body Builders – IC

    For those pacs that did not attend this beat down, but are wondering what the coupons could have been. Well read no further, 50 lb Bags of Sand. Each pac gets a partner. Each team of two is responsible for getting their 50 lb bag of sand to the shaft. Pac 1 to carries bag one block, while other pac ran ahead and planked until partner got there. Rinse and repeat until you arrive at shaft. Every one planks until 6 gets there, which in this case, and most cases, was yours truly.

    Keeping with the theme of 50 for 50 lb bags of sand, I kept the reps at 50 for the next group of exercises.

    Keeping your same partner, Pac 1 will run from shaft to designated oak tree and back while other pac performs burpees with bag of sand. Bag gets lifted to shoulders after merkin and groiner of burpee is performed, and bag is than pressed above head at end of burpee. Each team performs 50 in total.

    With same partner, Pac 1 will carry bag of sand overhead with arms extended to same oak tree and back while partner performs crunchy frogs. Rinse and repeat until 50 crunchy frogs are completed between both partners.

    At this point, I could see that the 50 lbs were literally weighing down the group. I decided to quote the great 6 time Olympia Winner, Dorian Yates in an attempt to rally the troops. “Muscle growth is an adaptation to stress.” Not sure if that helped, but I am just a Dorian Yates fan.

    Pac 1 bear crawls to oak tree and runs back to shaft. Before taking off on bear crawl, Pac 1 places the bag of sand on their partners back, so that they can perform merkins. Rinse and repeat until 50 merkins are completed between both partners.

    Time for some Mary…..At this point, many were thinking, yes, some Mary. We get a break from the bag of sand, not so much…..

    Stay with same partner. Partner one performs LMCs – 20 IC while holding bag of sand above their head. Partner two holds plank at elbows until LMCs are completed. . Partners trade off and perform same exercises

    Exercise #2 for Mary was a modification of dead cock roaches. While performing dead cock roaches, the bag of sand is held above head, 20 IC. Partner without bag performs flutter kicks, 20 IC. Partners trade off and perform same exercises. I knew I struck gold with the modified dead cock roached when I heard Grundy say, “These are tough.”

    With only ten minutes to go, I wanted to get a competition in before the beat down was over. Pacs broke into two teams. Object of competition was to see who could stack the bags of sand the fastest without the bags falling over. If your tower of sand fell over, you automatically lost. Only rules were that only one pac could move bag(s) of sand at a time, and the next pac could not touch or move a bag(s) of sand until the previous pac returned. Team 1 got smoked. They finished in 2 minutes and 9 seconds. Team 2, with a FRESH Capt Sparkles, finished in 59 seconds. Zoolander did his best by knocking over their tower of sand before Capt placed the last bag on top. Good effort Zoolander, but we got beat.

    At this point in the beat down, those 50 lb bags of sand had changed to anywhere from 0 to 45 lbs. Thank Goodness. In a collective effort, all packs were able to get remaining bags back to flag by swapping off between each other. Team Work makes the Dream Work. Kudos to Baby Yoda for powering his weigh through this work out. At 68 lbs, he was carrying, pulling, pushing and bag of sand that was nearly 75% of his body weight. The force is strong in that one Bush Wacker.

    The Manny Prayed us out!!!!!

  • He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother

    From Goose: As the PAX circled in the light of a cold Saturday morning, YHC received for the first time as Q the focused look of many men trying to guess the type and magnitude of the pain they’re about to endure. And, though the beatdown wasn’t an overwhelming challenge for most, it was certainly a different experience than they could have guessed.

    Warm-ups consisted of IC: SSH, Seal Jacks, Windmills, toe touches, high knees, and butt kicks. 

    The Thang was varied and sundry:

    First, moseyed to the small open field area before the gazebo and broke into two teams of eight, then into groups of four facing each other about 10 yards apart for 6 rounds of shuttle runs using small cones for moveables. Each round was followed by decreasing numbers of burpees and big-boy sit-ups.

    Then, moseyed about half a mile away from the flag, just over the bridge to a larger open field. Here, in honor of Valentine’s Day, we all got a little closer with some touchy-feely quality time. 

    This started with the Tunnel of Love during which all PAX lined up shoulder to shoulder in plank position while the man on the end army crawled through the tunnel followed by the next until all had wormed their way through and all jokes about overhead clearance were exhausted.

    We then flipped onto our 6 for the Bridge of Hate: all PAX lying shoulder to shoulder as the man on the end lowers himself onto the row of eager hands to be passed, crowd-surfing style, to the end. Each man endured the slow, sloppy process, though wardrobes threatened to malfunction, and the use of knees became necessary to move more than a few men. (Grover, however, being last, was shot like a javelin down the line.)

    This was followed by Three Amigos: the PAX split into groups of three, and each group stood back to back, linked arms, and dropped into a chair-sit position. They then walked in that position about ten yards, completed five copperhead squats together, and squat-walked back.

    We finished in that field with four rounds of exercises (50 LBC’s, 40 SSH, 30 jump squats, and 20 Merkins) each followed by a forty yard sprint into a ten yard army crawl.

    We moved back to flag using a lighter version of a Bataan Death March: Indian Run with the last man stopping and doing three burpees before catching up, tapping the new last man (so he can stop and do burpees), and running to the front. The line was long and the distance short, so most only had one round, but with the time left at the flag, we completed one round of vacuum cleaners and a couple of side-plank domino/waves in a circle. 

    Vacuum cleaners: partner 1 holds partner 2’s legs wheelbarrow-style and moves forward ten yards where partner 1 does 5 Derkins, then moves backwards in the same position to the start before flapjacking. Communication was key for this one, and hand-walking backwards was unexpectedly brutal.

    COT, Count, Name, and Maverick prayed us out.

    Thanks to all who posted for this VQ!  It’s truly an honor to journey with this crew!

  • 20-20

    5 veteran PAX rang in the New Year in the Gloom at The Gipper. After a quick warmup of 20 SSHs, it was off to the races with a fast mosey to the Justice Center for our first 20.

    20 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) with each round consisting of 20 hand release Merkins, 20 plank jacks, 20 ice skater hops and then a 420 meter run. Grundy led from the front and almost lapped the rest of us by the time the buzzer sounded.

    Recovery walk back to the Shovel Flag for our second 20. This time it was EMOM (every minute on the minute) for 20 minutes. We hit 10 exercises two times each for a total of 20 reps per exercise: SSHs, Bobby Hurleys, IWs, Sister Mary Katherines, Hillbillies, Star Jumps, Seal Jacks, clap Merkins, mountain climbers and one leg hops.

    Countorama, nameorama and Einstein prayed us out into the New Year.

    Thanks for letting me lead guys. Looking forward to another great year together!

  • The Road Ahead: A Pre-Hundo Adventure

    Was it as epic as expected?  You bet.  There were packs of wild dogs, gators lying in wait in the shallow ditches of Abita Springs, machete-wielding vagabonds hiding under the overpass, and, of course, 9 pairs of utterly destroyed feet.  

    As you might expect, this group of men started out strong.  After a quick COT where Tank prayed  us in with blessings and thoughts of safety, we set out.  At this point there was still a good deal of revelry happening on Girod Street, where Sips of the Season was winding down and more than a few men were teetering in and out of bars.  Caught one doing the sidewalk, using the hedges to try and keep upright.  Little did we know we’d have roughly the same gait by the end of the night.

    But we passed the revelry with a smile and a bounce in our step, ready to tackle the road ahead.  Gideon – the Navy Seal of Netflix and Pizza – got the party started with a killer mix, and we were off.   Running now at a brisk pace, more than a few of us looked around and wondered, “Wait, didn’t we say we were walking this thing?” 

    Getting to the Abita Trailhead (approx 9.5 miles in) was relatively quick.  Took a short break (with open facilities near midnight, no less), and forged ahead.  Now here’s where things started getting dicey.  Jose and Moby had decided early on that they’d keep at a brisk walking pace, and so the rest of the overzealous gang started seeing a bit of separation from them.  A few of us would run back and check in but eventually they seemed to be going pretty steady, and so everyone just kept moving.  Shortly after hitting the Abita trailhead, the trace goes pretty dark, a little less residential, and a lot more wooded.  Being the merry band of travelers that we were, we happened to rouse a few wild dogs in the woods.  Tank was in the lead when the barking began, and when it was clear they were following us, he quickly circled back to the group ready for war.  The dogs stayed with us for a block or so, obscured by the woods, with Tank flashing his lights in and catching the glint of at least 5 pairs of eyes.  As you can imagine, Tank was fired up.  He flipped his headlamp into strobe mode (hoping to give our canine friends a seizure, or at the very least some confusion), Speedy pulled out a small knife, and there was a good half hour discussion on the weapons that would need to be crafted for the return trip through that section (Spears, bats with barbed wire, you get the idea).  The dogs probably sensed all the testosterone and fell back as we forged ahead.   (Either that or they were simply residential dogs behind a wire fence that couldn’t we couldn’t see, but hey, not a theory YHC was ready to verify!)

    Soon thereafter we reached The Gipper and collectively felt pretty darn good about ourselves.  Roughly halfway and everyone was still feeling fresh.   Moby had been picked up by Vickie in Abita Springs and it was time to check in with Jose, who had now been traveling solo for a few miles.  Tank was quite worried about the pack of wild dogs, and sent Jose an urgent text message warning him of the dangers ahead. Unfortunately, some other “Richard” in Tank’s address book would be receiving that midnight message about the wild dogs of Abita, os Tank was not wearing his reading glasses at the time. For some reason, YHC imagines that other Richard will not be that surprised.

    Hammer kept it old school and broke out the Big League Chew, and after another short break, the men turned back to head for Mandeville.  Covington turned out to be just as active as Girod street had been hours ago – and, with all the drunken revelry surrounding us, more than a few men were reminded of the time we bear crawled down Bourbon Street for the Grow Ruck. 

    Apparently Jose had turned on the heat after passing Abita as we caught him just a few yards shy of the infamous Butter Krisp and, for a brief moment, the group was in tact.  At some point YHC got a little too close to a gator, who’s loud dash into the ditch sent me nearly knocking over Wacker. (A scene reminiscent of that Captain Sparkles surprise attack at the Scramble.).  

    Tank, Jose, and YHC eventually slowed down while the rest of the gang moved onward at a steady clip.

    Jose was undaunted by all Frank’s talk of rabid dogs, and in fact, he started heckling them as we got close.  Tank tried to quiet him and Jose said hey, if a dog attacked him, he’d sue the hell out of the owners.  Tank explained that it was a poor area and he probably wouldn’t get much.  Jose said, “That’s fine, I’ll liquidate their assets.”

    Tank’s reply?

    “I’ll liquidate those dogs’ nuts if I have to.”  Cue the grunting and strobing headlamps.

    Meanwhile, Speedy hit a physical and mental wall at Koop Drive and wasn’t sure he’d be able to continue.  The men stopped to support him, but not for long, as Speedy drew down deep, found some reserves, and pushed ahead.  

    Tank, Jose and I made it through Abita without incident, and, after telling the legend of the machete man who lives under the overpass, we started approaching Koop Dr.  Once there, Jose told Tank and I to turn it on, that he’d be fine the rest of the way.  

    Took a bit to catch up with the rest of the men, who had adopted a new strategy in our absence – run a song / walk a song.   This was a total crapshoot with Gideon’s mix, knowing that there’d an 8-minute Rebirth song hitting at some point.  But it was a great distraction and we quickly found our way to Grandmother’s tunnel for a photo op, before hitting the Mandeville trailhead.

    Another break, Butt Splice bandaged a badly blistered foot, and onward we went.

    It all got a bit blurry at this point, but here are a few things I remember: Tank and Bush passing me at the lakefront for their final mile, doing it at an under 8 minute pace;  the heroic image of Speedy, who thought he was done 10 miles back, running to Survivor with fists in the air to the finish line;  Splice, feet wounded but patiently awaiting the sunrise that would bring his hour-long Q.

    The entire group finally laid out on the lakefront lawn, just in time for Garfield to show up, stretching for the a Saturday morning pre-thang.  To no one’s surprise, Tank ran the pre-thang like he hadn’t just run/walked 33 miles.  And then, Splice Q’d the hourlong beatdown like the beast that he is, and unabashedly included many, many box jumps.

    33 miles. 1/3 of our final goal, and it was hard. Really hard. The road ahead to the hundo is dark, and yet because of you guys, YHC is undaunted. This night made us stronger, more prepared, and more knowledgeable. Most of all, it made us realize the incredible fortitude of the men around us. Success or failure, Hundo, here we come.

  • Select a (medium-sized) rock!

    Extremely proud of the PAX for joining me at the Gipper this cold morning. Thank you for keeping us accountable and making us better men!

    After a brief warm-up, the PAX gathered around the rock garden. Some men/boys chose a small-sized rock (hate), others chose medium/large-sized rocks (respect). The PAX enjoyed many kettle bell swings, hammer curls, squats, and overhead presses. Arms and shoulders felt nice and toasty, assuming you selected a rock that was appropriately sized.

    We made our way to the top of the parking deck and enjoyed a leisurely routine of either jump squats or burpees for everything three parking spaces. At each space the men would increase reps and at the end of the routine, the cold temperature did a number on our lungs (it burns!!!).

    Kudos to all that could join. Expect a similar workout next time…

  • Double Stuffed at the Gipper

    It was a dark and stormy morning… Considering those conditions, and it being mid-week, YHC glad to see such a strong turn out of 11. To our good fortune, the rain broke (for a bit). A few PAX did their usual Pre-Thang mile run, then we circled up.

    Warm Ups: Good Mornings, Toe Touches, Imperial Walkers, Hill Billies, Arm Circles.

    The Thang:

    Pax mosied over to the court house parking lot and did “Ascending Curb Crawls.” OYO, PAX Bear crawled to other side, turned & placed feet on curb and completed 1 derkin, crawled back and completed 2 derkins, and continued to 13. Moans and groans were heard almost immediately, and YHC took mental note as one of the PAX mentioned that on another occasion, the routine was done as “Descending” Curb Crawls, where merkins would decrease instead of increase.

    Next PAX mosied over to the parking garage where we partnered up and completed a modified “Burp Back Mountain.” Partner 1 proceeded to run backwards 1/2 way up the garage ramp and sprint forward back down, while partner 2 performed burpees. Partners continue to flapjack until 50 (modified from 100) total burpees were completed.

    Next PAX mosied to the front steps of the courthouse. OYO, PAX did merkins up the courthouse steps, did 5 Rocky Balboa’s at the top, and ran down the ramp around to the beginning. Pax Repeated 4 times changing the exercise up the steps each time. (1. Merkins, 2. Bunny Hops, 3. Squats, 4. Freak Nasties).

    (Began to rain)

    Next PAX did the “Burpee 1/2 Mile” (Modified from “Burpee Mile”). Total of 24 Burpees, 1/2 Mile. Pax did 6 Burpees, ran 1/4 mile x 2.

    At this point, one of the PAX feeling a bit sluggish confessed his Oreo habit, and soon others admitted some of their own indulgences.

    Finally, PAX mosied back to the flag to do some MARY under the pavillion out of the rain.

    Count O Name O.

    Shooter prayed us out.

    Later in the day, YHC was glad to get a text from an F3 Brother giving some kudos on the beatdown, saying the combination of burpees and bear crawls made the work out brutal, but that he liked it. Glad to hear someone got their money’s worth and was challenged, as YHC is usually behind in the game.

    Thanks Guys for letting me lead!

  • A very thankful 4 years of F3

    YHC was greeted this beautiful anniversary gloom by 11 PAX waiting to celebrate an F3 anniversary the right way, with a beatdown of course.

    While planning this beatdown, YHC started thinking how grateful he is of F3, Shorty EH’ing him hard to “just come out and see.” I’ll be forever thankful for the men (and Rudy) of F3 NOLA, and for the Northshore guys for taking a rival brother in like their own. You all are one of a kind!!

    The workout went something like this:

    COP: Warm Up: All IC X 20

    Grass Grabbers, Hillbillies, SSH, Windmills

    Mosey to the Justice center doing butt kicks and high knees en route. Arrive at Justice Center parking lot for some ‘Bone the Fish.’

    Left shuffle to one side, run forward, right shuffle back, back pedal to start

    Left Karaoke to one side, run forward, right karaoke back, back pedal

    Mosey to the top of the parking garage for 11’s (in honor of my favorite AO, Wolfpack Mountain)

    Burpees at the top of the mountain starting at 10, run down the ramp and do 1 merkin, descend burps and ascend merks until 1 burpee and 10 merkins.

    Because the breeze felt so nice, YHC decided to stay at the top of the garage for: Quarter Pounder: Each set of light posts represented 25 yds.

    Sprint 25 yds, 25 merkins, run backwards to start

    Sprint 50 yds, 50 squats, run backwards to start

    Sprint 75 yds, 75 LBC’s, run backwards to start

    Sprint 100 yds, 100 SSH’s, run backwards to start

    YHC REALLY wanted to make it a double quarter pounder but time would not allow, maybe next time.

    COP/ 6MOM: Hurricane Hoedown:

    4 variations of flutter kicks, meant to start at 7 reps each and work down to 1, but again, time messed us up so we started at 5 reps each.

    Hands up flutter kicks X 5, hands behind back flutter kicks X 5, lean back flutter kicks X 5, regular flutter kicks X 5

    Repeat X 4, repeat X 3, repeat X 2, repeat X 1

    Mosey back to the flag one minute late (sorry not sorry), where Grundy was waiting on us, apparently he went running with someone else? rude.

    F3 NOLA 5 Year Convergence this Saturday in City Park, 0630, Coffee, Beignets, breakfast to follow. 3 mile pre thang 0600.

    Northshore F2, Thursday October 17 at Barley Oak, 0600, 30 minute beatdown led by YHC with drinks to follow.

    Bean prayed us out.

    Thanks for letting me lead, and thanks for everything, F3.

    Heres to many, many more!

    -Cowbell

  • A Love Letter to the Gipper

    Hey Gipper! It’s been a while. Did you miss me? I sure missed you. In fact, I missed you so much that slow-ass drivers and blinding rain couldn’t keep me away this morning. As they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder! And, of course, my most sincere apologies for my lateness, but I made sure you were in the excellent hands of Barely Legal until I arrived. He made sure you were nice and warm with Windmills and other exercises by the time I got there. Though I had to be absolutely certain you were ready to break a sweat by adding Torso Twists and Scorpion Kicks to the list.

    I didn’t want to waste any time in getting reacquainted so I lead you to the top of the justice center parking garage, which seemed like the perfect setting for some…fun n games;)

    I was planning to honor Coconuts, and crown a new champion in Turbo Tax’s conspicuous absence, but, alas, I forgot my phone with the freshly downloaded Beep Test app. Instead, I – wouldn’t quite say settled – on Doracides to really get you all hot and bothered. Moby Dick was playing with himself, as we all teamed up to do cumulative 100 SSH, 200 Merkins, 300 Squats and 400 100s, while the odd partner did suicides with 1 or 2 burpees at each point.

    By this time our pulses were racing, but things were really about to get Jacked Up. In cadence, we did a set of x50SSH, then 40Seal Jacks, 30 Plank Jacks and 20 Smurf Jacks. I don’t know about you, but that really took my breath away!

    After revving our engines so hard, I wanted to finish things off a little more gently. So we mosied back to the flag for some Little Manny Crunches and Freddy Mercurys.

    Still flying high on the buzz of our electrifying encounter, the COT was immediately followed by some direct O MY HALLELUJAH from Einstein.

    I’m sorry I had to run out so abruptly when we finished, but, ya know, I had a… thing… I had to get to. You were incredible Gipper! My body aches in places I didn’t know I had, for cryin’ out loud! You’ll always be my favorite…be seeing ya.

  • Return of the Green Mile

    19 pax showed up to the Lakefront on Saturday Morning, for a beatdown known as the Green Mile.

    Pre-thang; 2 miles Tanked up, Bushwacker, Barely Legal and a late arriving YHC.

    The thang:

    Warm up: SSH, IW, Mt climbers, Slow skwaats, and dippy birds all IC x 20

    The Green Mile: 1/2 mile from shovel flag to eastern playground with 7 fire hydrants along the way. The pax were instructed to perform 5 merkins and 10 squats at each hydrant on the way down and 10 merkins and 20 squat on the way back. The pax returned to the shovel flag with 30 min to spare, just enough time for a second round. Only this time it was 10 merks/20 squats on the way down and 5 merks/10 squats on the way back.

    Cooldown: SSH, IW, Mt climbers, Slow skwaats, and dippy birds all IC x 20

    It seems that the pax has some superhumans among them: with Zoolander only weeks out of surgery for a lower leg fracture, leading the front of the pax…unreal. And Tanked-up despite finding a 7th gear to end the workout up front, well done guys.

  • Circuit court in Session

    Recovering from Waterpik’s light rep but high intensity beatdown from the day prior. YHC decided to bring some coupons of his own to the Gipper crew. Arrived at the AO to the sights of Moby, Akbar and Maverick loosening up around the flag. Knowing the PAX would soon swell by 4 as Cowbell rolls in hot and the prethangers of Legal, Turbo and Einstein come strolling in. Brief chatter as the instructions are given to what this beatdown will entail and wanting to make sure no modifications would be needed we jumped to it..

    Brief warmarama all IC 15 SSH, Imperial Walkers, Windmills and Toe Touches followed by our first 1:30 of the daily ISI (15:30 total for our final day) T-👏🏻 to all the participants on this great challenge offered up by the Northshore’s Bushwacker.. I never could have pushed through without the push of the PAX for this one but certainly glad I did.. Cowbell mentioned adding up the total cumulative count to know officially how long of planks we completed.. Look forward to seeing that number Cowbell, not to worry we will confirm with Grundy on your specs just to be certain nothing’s missed..

    Circuit court in Session

    PAX starts the Mosey carrying the coupons over to the Justice center and along the way Q has one of the PAX retrieve a medium boulder from the rock pile to add to our gadgets that will be used on this Gloom.

    Arrived in the middle for a long explanation by your YHC, but thankfully this high IQ PAX was able to put it all together. We created 7 stations with the 8th acting as our timer of sorts.

    S1 Band curls, S2 Jump rope, S3 Mountain climbers, S4 Boulder Shoulder raises, S5 Stretch Ball sit-ups, S6 30lbs plate press, S7 Alternating Step-ups and S8 controlled the timing by running to JC up the ramp down the stairs back up the stairs and backdown the ramp returning to the start creating on round of completion once of course the PAX dropped and completed 1:30 of Plank before the switch and the next round..

    Timing played out perfectly as each PAX completed the 8 circuits by 0640.. We gathered up our coupons and returned to the flag with a min to spare, so Q introduced a sample of next months challenge with a 30 sec hold in the lowered squat position.

    Counted off, announced the F2 plans, COT.

    Thanks to Maverick for leading us out with a prayer!!

    Always enjoy posting the Gipper with the Covington PAX and till the next Gloom 👍🏻👊🏻✌🏻!!