Run as far as you can in 22:30 and then turn around and come back. The goal was to try and run farther than you ever have at the Stomp. Some accomplished that. Shuffles, who doesn’t have a watch, ran to where he always does, the other side of the bridge, and turned around. A few saw the top of the bridge for the first time. Kuch garnered 18 achievements on Strava. YHC earned one.
Another year in the books. Here’s to continued acceleration in 2020.
Conditions: A cool 50 degrees and clear. Dark.
For our last 2019 Rock City we looked back on the year that was.
Warm-up
We hit the most popular RC warm-up exercises of 2019 according to those that write backblasts:
A Sea of Crimson
Our first Rock City Workout of 2019 happened on July 7th. That just happened to be the day of the College Football National Championship. War Eagle must have been feeling good that morning as he delivered a brutal beatdown, on par with the beating his Crimson Tide took later that night.
We paired up for a quasi-dora with the following exercises:
While pax #1 did the exercise, pax #2 ran 40 yards and back.
Iron Pax
This morning we paid tribute to the Iron Pax workouts of 2019 by reenacting Week Zero. This time we did one round instead of six and we did the reps together.
Sgt. Bovia Tribute
We saved my favorite Rock City Workout of the year for last. It was the tribute Boo-Boo Qd for Marine Sgt. Joey Bovia. Sgt. Bovia was killed in Afghanistan on August 31, 2010. The Tribute consisted of 31 reps of 8 different exercises. This morning, we did as many as we could in the allotted time.
Time ran out before the 31 burpees. We brought our rocks back to the pile and moseyed to the flag for the COT.
NMM
6 men posted in a cold windy gloom where a shovel flag marked the spot to start their day off right with the commitment to improve. The thermometer said 38 degrees, but the wind made that seem much lower. YHC has not posted that many times at Popeye’s, and the blocked off areas made it even more challenging when coming up with a planned beat down. But the Pax posted for a reason, and YHC intended to deliver.
The clock hit 0530, time to give a disclaimer, then:
Warmup
Mosey to the Shelter to find some benches. There was some mumblechatter about the wall-less shelter really providing a wind breaker….YHC can take sarcasm all day…..
With the warmup over, mosey to the hill. There’s only one way to fend off the cold on a day like this….
COP 1 – Burp Back Mountain
YHC has pulled this one out at Okwata, which was always a crowd pleaser. Looking up this hill, it sure looked higher than the levee, which makes it that much more awesome!
Partner up! Pax 1 starts Burpees at the base of the hill. Pax 2 runs backwards up the hill (quadraphillia) to the top, then run back down x 3. Flapjack until 100 cumulative Burpees are achieved.
Once Burpees are complete, both Pax continue with Quadraphillia waiting for the six.
Now the Pax is really getting warm.
COP 2 – Burpees and Jump Squats on the Hill
Keeping the partner theme, Pax 1 starts Burpees at the base of the hill. Pax 2 Quadraphillia up the hill, completes 5 jump squats and runs back down. Flapjack until 5 evolutions are complete.
Finish it off with Catalina Wine Mixers IC x 10 (gotta
fit it in)
COP 3 – Suicides Circuit
Mosey back toward the flag, stopping at the parking lot. With 4 lamp posts to take advantage of, completed the following:
Starting at lamp post 1:
COP 4 – Mary
Dealers Choice….
Finish it off with 1 minute of planking.
COT
Count off and Name-O-Rama, intentions and closed with a prayer.
Thanks for posting with me today, and way to kill it in the gloom this morning! YHC is pretty sure this was the coldest day so far this fall/winter….
SYITG
praise the Lord it wasn’t raining!!!
Was gonna skip this one due to the cold front but then briefs reminded me the night before that I was q ing. Yikes
warm up: ssh, self love, windmills, mosey to the track with high knees, butt kicks, karaoke.
we used half the track as an out and back. This way everyone could run at their own pace yet still do the exercises “together”. When the first member made 100m, they did ten Merkins, everyone else would stop where they were and also do ten Merkins, this happened at 200m also, at which point we turned around and ran back. I scepter whenever the first person gets back to the 100m mark, we all do 10 Merkins together. Run back to starting point, plank and wait for the 6. The fast runners would catch the slow runners on the way back. Once the 6 arrives, Merkins in cadence.
the next round followed the same format except with squats. Round three was burpees.
next we took a jog around the track to catch our breath and did it in reverse order. This time only doing 5 of each exercise at each stop. Finished off with some rock climbers, hillbilly’s, imperial walkers, stretches and a mosey back to the flag.
There was a record prayer request/answered prayer session. So many praises and still so many needs. Guidance for our children/youth, Fathers/in laws with cardiac issues and upcoming cath, basketball head injury, the coach recovering from major surgery, prostate cancer recovery, The spine tumor that ended up benign benign, challenges in business, Bongo’s dad, special intentions. We better get to praying!
glad y’all all came out and let me be a part of your morning! Please let screwtop know I signed him up for New Years morning (2020, 2021, and 2022)
Three brave souls agreed to show up for the Wally Run Thanksgiving morning. Two of the three showed on time, who will remain nameless to protect Hobbs’s integrity, and set off on the traditional Wally Run route. The third showed up late, but was a man of his word and ventured out on his own. He smartly ran the route in reverse and found the other two turkeys, but was a mile short. After completing the three-mile Wally Run loop, all three took a lap around the one-mile asphalt trail. Then, extra laps for two of the three on the 1/4 mile track. Ended with a few minutes of Mary. Hobbs voluntarily completed another mile penalty lap to makeup the mile he lost in the beginning. In the end, all PAX completed more than four miles.
COT: intentions, prayer, have a great Thanksgiving! Glad we pushed ourselves.
Danger Zone 11/4
YHC was not at the latest running of the Danger Zone on Monday. No one was at the latest running of the Danger Zone other than Hawg. Hawg did many dynamic stretches. He sprinted 5 times. No one was injured. His legs were sore the following day. Hawg will continue to sprint 5 times every Monday morning at the City Park Track in preparation for the 2049 Boston Marathon. Join him at your own risk.
Wally Run 11/7
Six men came out for the Wally Run on this delightful fall morning. In an attempt to establish a standard route, Rev Sox led the men on the same course as the first three Wally Runs.
Following the disclaimer, the Pax ran around Pontiff to the park exit opposite of the imaginary flag (where are all the flags lately?). The Pax ran the two mile lap around the big houses in Metairie while engaging in profound conversations. Mambi truly missed out this morning.
The Pax finished the lap around Pontiff at our return, and we ran a 2nd lap around the park for a 4 mile run in total. The Pax ended with stretching and the discovery that YHC knows nothing about stretching.
Count Off, Name O Rama, Announcements, Prayer
-Rev Sox
YHC arrived early for round two of the Wally Run. This week seven men arrived early to stretch and begin the run. YHC announced we would complete a three-mile loop through the neighborhood and finish with some work on the track.
The seven fearless Pax members started off down the Pontiff track. A ¼ of a mile through the run, a dark shadowy figure approached. It was as strong as an ox, sneaky as a snake, and quick as a cheetah. It was the man, the myth, the legend—it was Hawgcycle! The eight men together completed the run and finished on the track. Some incorporated sprints, others simply kept running.
At 6:10, the wannabe Q, Rev Sox stopped running to include Mary. YHC questioned such a decision. Rev Sox said, “At The Stomp, we always do Mary at the end.” Well, Reverend Sox, “This isn’t The Stomp!” But, YHC obliged and concluded with LBCs, Flutter Kicks, and Reverse Crunches.
T-claps to Hokey Pokey. He was hesitant to try the three-mile loop but endured and finished. T-claps to Boo Boo. He expressed multiple times that he was not a runner but he came and completed the run anyway. T-claps to Rev Sox, Pai Gow, and Hobbs for constantly sweeping the six. T-claps to Tua and Hawg –we all want to be like you when we grow-up!
COT
It was a pleasure to lead. Join us every Thursday at Pontiff for the Wally Run. You won’t be disappointed.
On a windy Thursday by the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, history was made in F3 New Orleans.
Triple Shift and Kuch kicked off the festivities for the H8 VII! They split the Pax up into two groups due to the great showing of 33 men to take on the challenge. Little did anyone know that someone was about the conquer the H8 as never seen before.
YHC was the first and only one to bow out early due to struggles with his shoulder. The rest of the pack ran hard, bear crawled hard, and burpeed with everything they had through 40 minutes of pain and exhaustion. These are the men YHC is not ashamed to call his brothers.
Then what men said could never be done……….. it happened.
They said no one could run 100m in less than 9.6 seconds and on August 12, 2009 Bolt became the fastest man in the world at 9.58.
They said no one could run a marathon in under 2 hours and on Saturday, October 12, 2019 Eliud Kipchoge ran a marathon in 1:59:40.
They said no one could run 9 laps on the H8 and on Thursday, October 17, 2019 Shuffles ran 9 laps of the H8 with 30 seconds before the 40 minute mark.
Tclaps to Shuffles for 9 and Tclaps to all of our finishers for setting the bar and giving the rest of us something to strive for. Your Fall 2019 H8 finishers: Shuffles, Breadsticks, Mahatma, Sogo, Rudy, Tua, Col Mustard, Quarterpipe, Screwtop, and Tanner.
The Pax counted off, Name-O-Rama, Welcome to FNG Crackles, Intentions, and Prayer for the Pax
-Rev Sox
On Saturday, YHC discovered that the Q Sheet for Rock City was mysteriously blank for the upcoming beatdown. Knowing that these opportunities do not occur often. YHC jumped at an opportunity to lead his home AO.
Since the end of IPC, coupons have been the preferred weight of choice for YHC so before the Pax appeared from the gloom four heavy coupons were positioned at the starting point.
Disclaimer, Grab the Coupons, turn LEFT, and Mosey toward the parking lot.
Warm-Up: SSH, Imperial Squat Walkers, Hill Billies, Windmills, Arm Circles
After the warm-up, we counted off for some circuit work at the vastly underused playground on the south side of the park.
Thang #1
One minute of the following:
Group 1 – Pull-Ups at the playground
Group 2 – Alternating Leg Step-ups at the shelter
Group 3 – Shoulder Press w/ Coupon under the shelter
Group 4 – Underdogs at the swing set
Thang #2
One minute of the following:
Group 1 – Pull-Ups at the playground
Group 2 – Alternating Leg Step-ups at the shelter
Group 3 – Curls under the shelter
Group 4 – Underdogs at the swing set
Thang # 3
One minute of the following:
Group 1 – Pull-Ups at the playground
Group 2 – Irkins under the shelter
Group 3 – Squat Thrusters under the shelter
Group 4 – Underdogs at the swing set
Thang #4
Mosey to the football field and partner up.
Pax 1 – Run 10 yards do five merkins and return
Pax 2 – Squats until Pax 1 returns
Rinse and Repeat adding ten yards.
Once both pax completed 50 yards squats were replaced by LBCs until both pax completed 100 yards.
COT, Namarama, and special attention given to those battling cancer, and for all F3 men to be a better husband, fathers, and man.
After much discussion, the decision was made that Metairie needed a Thursday run-focused workout. It was unclear if the AO arose from a need for more running, a need for another beatdown in Metairie, or a pure hatred for Okwata. Nonetheless, six men appeared in the gloom at Pontiff playground for this inaugural beatdown.
Pai Gow, Mambi, and Hobbs arrived early to complete their first PT test introduced by Boo Boo at Popeyes. Hokey Pokey assisted them in completing their merkins and situps and clocked their times for a two-mile run. Rev Sox and YHC began the work of mapping out a “traditional route” for this workout.
After the two-mile run, four of the men continued running around the clay track. Rev Sox and YHC completed a three-mile run through the neighborhood before joining the remaining pax on the track. We all concluded with a five minute round of Mary and naming of the new AO.
Mambi suggested something with 31 in honor of Wally Pontiff. 31 Gaser was suggested considering Mambi farted in Pai Gow’s face during situps. YHC concluded that 3 Gaser would require too much explanation and was too wordy therefore the Wally Run claimed the official name.
Join us next Thursday at Pontiff Playground for the second installment of the Wally Run.
