F3 New Orleans

Tag: Pelican

  • 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

  • The Return of Captain Sparkles!

    An unexpected hero materialized out of the gloom this morning: Captain Sparkles, the firefighting leader of men with his amulet of FD power returned to show the PAX how a real man carries another man through a tunnel.

    Warm-ups were SSH, Windmills, Arm Circles, IW’s and Butt Kicks. Then, we moseyed to the tunnel for the thang that YHC has been dreading for two days:

    THANG: Basic premise is moving through the tunnel using a variety of methods with 10 burpees after each. All methods of forward progress (except the alligator crawl, which could only be completed halfway up the opposite ramp) were accomplished on both the down and up ramps with a short, slow-mosey break on the flat part at the bottom, and each followed by 10 burpees at the top.

    Started with lunge walk, then crab walk, then partner carry, flapjacking for a second round after burpees. This is where Captain Sparkles’ years of fire rescue skills left YHC in the dust carrying Zoolander on his back, confidently riding like an ostrich-jockey (metaphor provided by Hammer). Next was the brutal alligator crawl, followed by back-pedal, then sprint, and finally bear crawls (and 80 burpees overall).

    After arriving back to the flag two minutes over time, COT, and Hammer prayed us out.

    Thanks, gents, for your willingness to persevere and for giving YHC a reason to finish what we started this morning.

    See you in the gloom!

  • Running in Circles

    Maverick put such a whuppin’ on our upper bodies yesterday at the Gipper that YHC had preordained there’d be no burpees, no merkins, and no pull-ups at the (post) Scramble this morning.

    We began with one the slowest warmoramas YHC has led, and I’ve led some pretty slow ones. Good Mornings, at an excruciatingly sluggish pace, followed by windmills, toe touches, IW’s, and lunges, all x12 IC for Mackenzie’s birthday. Happy birthday, Mackenzie, whoever you are.

    Finally, time to mosey. Traditional route plus some – after Sunset Point we doubled back to hit the Hermitage loop for a second time, bumping our mileage up to an even 4.

    Things went south at about this point, when Akbar went AWOL, which in turn sent Shooter running in circles, which in turn had the rest of the PAX performing exactly 127 LBC’s. This, along with some overly-chatty announcements, sent us over on time by about six full minutes. Luckily, Turtle was not present to note my disrespect of the time.

    Soon-to-be-retired Garfield prayed us out and the PAX scattered like the wind. Thanks men for getting me out there today, some mornings are tougher than others, and I’m incredibly thankful I have you guys to hold me accountable.

  • Nacho Libre & The Bandana-Free Bandit

    Two notable occurrences right outta the gate at Granny’s this morning: Nacho posted for the first time in aeons, and Cowbell posted naked.  Well, not technically naked, but in his mind I’m sure it felt that way.  In his four years of F3, this was his virgin sans-bandana post.  It’s like Haley’s Comet, you’ve gotta wait another 75 years to see it again.

    Warmorama: Seal jacks, toe touches, SSH, good mornings, IW’s, all at or around 20x IC.  And then the warmorama kinda morphed into a quick COP: mountain climbers, shoulder taps, peter parkers, all 15x IC, followed by 15 merkins OYO.  

    Mosey over the river and through the woods to the tunnel for a simple but miserable routine (welcome back, Nacho!): 10 burpees, 10 squats, 10 big boys, 10 merkins.  Run down through tunnel and up to the other side, 9 burps, 9 squats, 9 big boys, 9 merkins.   Back and forth and back and forth, descending until completed.  That put us on the opposite side of the Florida, so we did a nice long run of Lt. Dan’s back across.  Pelican asked why it was called Lt Dans, and I explained the reasoning (afterwards, you “ain’t got no legs”).  But, Pelican countered, at the end of the movie, Lt. Dan has magic legs.  Hmm… YHC didn’t know how to respond to that….

    Mosey back to the flag with time enough for 30x IC LBC’s, and then Chewy prayed us out, reminding us to be thankful for our good health.  T-claps to Nacho for the return post (aka kotter), hope to see you back out again this week.  Thanks men for the chance to lead, appreciate you guys helping to keep me strong and sharp!

  • Crowd Pleaser

    Let’s just acknowledge that there was an actual “crowd” to please in the first place – Grandma’s was a-hoppin’ this morning. Aside from the regulars, there was Zoo, who has started to become a regular. There was Hammer, who not only posted today, but yesterday at the Marsh as well. And then there was Captain, the Chief, the Sparkliest of firefighters and most notable of actors in the Hollywood South, who made a rare guest appearance. Sounds like he may soon bump himself up to a series regular if we continue to EH him (hint, hint). There was also a very vocal owl that greeted the Hammer and I with eerily childlike rantings (YHC was reminded of the Hammer’s demonic, discarded doll), but he didn’t stick around long enough to make the cut. Anyhow, for Granny, it was a packed house.

    Warmorama: IWs, torso twists, toe touches, SSHs, and probably something else. Finished with 20x merkins OYO.

    As the fall weather settles in, YHC sometimes worries that the PAX just won’t sweat enough. This is the kind of stuff that keeps me up at night. I mean, if Shooter doesn’t sweat during a beatdown, then really what was the point? Luckily temperatures hadn’t dropped too much, but YHC decided to start with a quick mosey around the block to get the blood flowing.

    Next up was the “crowd pleaser,” a term YHC takes at face value, rather the ironic one that seems to be intended. In front of the stage (which was well illuminated for some reason this morning), we spread out to four imaginary corners. The routine would be to travel clockwise to each corner, and perform the same exercise x10 until you’ve returned to your original corner. So:

    Bear crawl, x10 merkins at each corner
    Lunge walk, x10 squats at each corner
    Crab walk, 10x big boys at each corner
    Frog jumps, 10x burpees at each corner

    Recovery walk over to the corridor for partner sprints: P1 holds a people’s chair while doing air presses, P2 sprints half the corridor and back, then the full thing (including the stairs but mindful of our friendly stair-climbing couple) and back to flapjack.

    The Grand Finale was a last minute call – seeing that stage so well-lilt, and having an actor in our presence, it seemed necessary to get up there in the spotlight. So we hopped up to center stage for a little game of Rochamburpees. Same partners, rock/paper/scissors with the winner doing 1 merkin and the loser, 1 burpee. Redos for ties, and an ascending count each round, up to 10x. As the odd man out, YHC unfortunately hitched his wagon to the wrong horse, with Captain defying the odds and losing the first 8 straight. Out of sympathy, Cowbell even tried purposefully losing, which failed as well. Such was the bad luck of Cap. In the end, though, he came through when it mattered and secured the final two wins.

    Back to the flag for a some Mary: Crunchy Frogs, LBC’s, Putins, Flutters, and 100’s, all x20 IC. COT and Shooter prayed us out. Thank you men for getting out of the sack this morning and helping me become a stronger and better man.

  • Remembering

    5 men did the annual 9/11 stair climb on Tuesday to remember and honor those 2792 men, women, and children who died 18 years ago. Hard to believe it’s that long ago already, and how much that event changed our world.

    With the grueling Iron Pax Challenge happening both the day before and after this beatdown, this was a great opportunity for us to slow down a bit, talk, and reflect.

    Sweating profusely with the 100% humidity that seems to accompany every day here, we wondered aloud how difficult it must’ve been for those firefighters to ascend in all their gear, with all that weight and heat, and with the knowledge that things would likely not go well for them. YHC cannot imagine the fear that would produce, and that these men were able to push that aside and rush up is astonishing.

    So we climbed 82 1/2 flights at Grandmother’s, which according to Pelican’s calculations approximated the 110 floors of the WTC. Quick Mary of 20x Merkins, Hello Dolly’s, Freddie Mercs, and LBC’s. COT and Chewy prayed us out, reminding us to be thankful for the sacrifice those men and women made for our country.

  • B-Limps

    8 pax met at Gma’s house on the gloriously muggy morning.

    The attendance was a little up this morning, after Cowbell’s call to action on Saturday at the lakefront.

    The Thang:

    Mosey to parking lot for Quick Warm up:

    SSH x 20; IW x 20; Merkins x 20 all IC

    Mosey to the under pass for

    1 lap of hill repeats and 25 Burpees, Lunges, IW, Merkins, Plank J’s, and Skwaats after each

    Mosey back to the Flag
    Distance 2.5 miles according to Cowbell.

    COM: including Side ups, and V Ups x 25 and BB sit ups x 10 led by Zoo

    Zoolander, again showing his ability to heal like Wolverine, running hill repeats < 10 weeks post-op ankle surgery.

    COT, Name-o-Rama: Welcome FNG Handy, who is married to Zoolander’s sister. Prayer .

    thanks guys for letting me lead,

    Chewy.

  • SOAP Note

    Subjective: The pax arrived at Shovel flag, everyone was happy to see EiEi and Burgundy. They haven’t been around in a while.

    Objective: Warm up exercises including jane fondas, wife pleasers, Mt climbers and IW x 20 each. The pax then ran 3.something miles, and then finished up with 100 skwaats.

    Assessment: Cowbell and Waterpick are fast, they had to plank a long time waiting for Ei and YHC. There was a lot of grumbling about the 100 skwaats, but overall everyone enjoyed the run and seemed to tolerate it well.

    Plan: Lets do it again next Thursday!

    Thanks for letting me lead,

    Chewy

  • Circuit Soup

    4 pax met up at Gma’s house last tuesday for a circuit of exercises in the 95 degrees heat and humidity at 5:00 am.

    Is November here yet?!

    The Thang:

    1/4 mile run around the block followed by

    -10 Aussie Pull ups

    -15 HR Merkins

    -20 Good Mornings

    -25 Skwaats

    Rinse and Repeat x 6

    Name-o-rama, COT, Prayer.

  • When You Gotta Go…

    Mid 70s never felt so humid! How foolish to suppose that a respite from the summertime blues would result from an unseasonably cool beginning to the eighth month of 2019. And speaking of beginnings…

    WARMORAMA

    x10 IC:

    Toe Touches

    Torso Twists

    Imperial Walkers

    SSH

    Windmills

    THANG

    The prescribed scramble route was taken in earnest by the cavalier band of brothers, which included the long lost Pelican! After a near miss early on by a Charger which obviously couldn’t conceive of pre-dawn runners on the streets of it’s neighborhood, the trio of Steve, Cowbell, and the road warrior Waterpik were off to a respectable 8:25 pace. Meanwhile, Pelican and YHC were tangled in conversation over the merits and/or faults of letting females into traditionally all male organizations such as scouts and military.

    Upon exiting Sunset Point, Q’s bowels suddenly reached critical mass! Instructions were quickly proffered for Pelican to lead ISI for the day, as a super-scramble was made to the providentially placed port-o-potties.

    While back at the flag, Waterpik was making Shooter-inspired sweat angles, Steve was making Grundy-inspired form corrections, and Cowbell was having Bushwacker-inspired diarrhea of the mouth…or so YHC could only imagine!

    MARY

    At the exercise area, PAX did LBCs while each man bear crawled across the space and back. Similarly, was Freddy Mercurys/Bunny Hops, and Leg Raises/Duck Walks.

    COUNT/NAME

    Pelican prayed us out and the PAX dispersed to greet the day.

    Thanks for your patience with the Q today guys!

    *Alternate title: I Really Hate to Poop n Run, Guys