F3 New Orleans

Tag: Pelican

  • NKOTB Valentine Run

    Image result for nkotb

    With no Shooter, Steve or Chewy, it was no “old guard” and all “new guard” (The Pelican being “mid-guard”?) on this chilly Valentine’s morning. With Ringo rolling in hot and a little late (but back to his customary F3 winter uniform), the PAX had warm ups already underway.

    20 IC:

    Toe Touches

    Imperial Walkers

    Torso Twists

    High Knees

    Abe Vigodas

    With RRR in mind, YHC had intended close to 5miles in the gloom, but given an odd assortment of excuses mixed with a dusting of miscommunication, while the route slightly altered, the distance remained the same.

    Coconuts and Garfield lead the pack, with Ringo and The Pelican covering the middle ground, and Waterpik and YHC pulling the caboose.

    With 10 minutes to Mary, we finished with: Downward Dog, Lizard Pose, Planks, Chill Cut Planks, Mission Impossible Planks, Right/Left Side Planks.

    Pelican prayed us out, and off we went to welcome the day! Thanks to Waterpik for hanging back with this stumbling fool, to Coconuts for swinging back for us mosiers, and to the PAX for following instruction, if not lead.

    I’m very impressed and proud of the new wave of consistency and leadership in F3 Northshore that has been built on the leadership and committment that each of us found already here when we were FNGs. I consider this group to be a valuable and integral part of my life, and the lives of its member. Always remember, WE are F3 Northshore. Without US, it does not exist.

  • Silence of the lambs!!!

    With Q considering a day of rest from running, I awoke to a message from Waterpic. He mentioned that if I was running to Grandmothers house he would join in along the way. That is all the YHC needed was the simple EH from Pic to silence those negative thoughts and hit the pavement. Besides RRR is only one month and the miles count toward a great organization.. Appreciate the EH and the accountability Pic.. We arrive at the AO with no movement in sight, shortly after Garfield rolls in primed and ready to go as always as the Pelican and Ringo emerge as well. Knowing the forecast to be calling for Thunderstorms throughout the day, Q figured we would see a sighting of Bushwacker. He monitors the weather like a young “Bob Breck” knowing all the details and patterns of southeast Louisiana, besides I also believe he gets tremendous joy out of making ridiculous post in fridged temps, Thunderstorms, high heat index, etc.. With the mumble chatter building YHC rallies the PAX to begin.

    Warmup

    All IC 15 Windmills, Mummy kicks, Toe Touches and Air presses. IC (10) straight arm, 45 degrees and 90 degrees.. Not sure if my geometry is accurate on that, but we will go with it..

    Thang

    Lindsey’s aka forties from the F3 list would be our first at the bus stop.. Exercise consists of 2 chosen movements always equaling a total of 40 subtracting 5 from the top and adding 5 to the bottom. YHC chose Merkins and Freak nasties. First set 30 Merkins followed by 10 Freak nasties. Second 25 and 15, Third 20/20, Fourth 15 and 25 and final 10 and 30. Although it’s only a 100 total of each the combination seemed to quickly silence the PAX. So much so that as we began our Mosey to the tunnel there was no chatter for nearly half a mile, then Ringo mentioned as long as he was ahead of Wacker he was good. To appreciate that comment one would have had to be there, no PAX wanted to be behind Wacker as he had earlier demonstrated that his previous days meal would not allow for him to keep the Silence so to speak.. Arrived to the tunnel where the PAX was instructed of our next routine. Quarter Pounder (add onions) except for you Wacker.. Broke into 2 teams of 3. Team 1 sprinted 25 yards and completed 25 Merkins returning back pedaling while Team 2 did Al Gores (reversed sequence), Team 1 50 yard sprint and 50 squats back pedaled while Team 2 held plank (reverse), Team 1 75 yard sprint 75 plank Jacks back pedaled while Team 2 did alternating lunges (reverse) and finally Team 1 100 yard sprint with 100 SSH while Team 2 did LBCs (reverse).. Moseyed back to AO with Garfield reminiscing of a Mickey Rork show and mentioning other moments from In Living color with Shhh NayNay and Jim Carey. Both scenes related to Silence that sometimes is broken without saying a word.. Arrived at the AO for a min of Mary low Flutter, high Flutter and Hello dollies..

    Count off, announcements (mentioning about the Ragnar in April), COT

    Pelican took the honors of praying us out!!!

    Appreciate the post gentleman and the accountability!!

    Till the next Gloom 👊🏻👍🏻✌🏻!!

    • Ass-Kickers at The Roadhouse

      A warmer 62 degrees and a light rain, as we met up at The Marsh. Shooter had the PAX impressed that he ran over 2 miles from home to our AO.

      Greetings and banter before warm ups. As WaterPik and Coconuts called me out as having “Starbucks Hands” I immediately regretting wearing gloves on this warmer morning.

      WarmORama: Good Mornings, Wind Mills, Toe Touches, Hill Billies, Imperial Walkers, Side Straddle Hops.

      Guided by the blue light of Pelican Pointe Car Wash, the PAX moseyed to Ruby’s Roadhouse for a change of scenery, and did the Escalator routine: 10 ASS-KICKERS, 20 Burpees, 30 Merkins, 40 Squats, 50 Lunges. As if Burpees aren’t hard enough, WaterPik showed up the group by starting his on a fire ant pile.

      Next PAX moseyed all the way down to the lakefront sea wall and did 20 each: Box Jumps, Merkins, Step-Ups, Derkins, Lunges, and Freak Nasties.

      Next PAX moseyed over to Rip’s on the Lake where we did “Stair Barrows.” PAX partnered up. Partner 1 held Partner 2’s legs while he did a wheel-barrow up the stairs and 10 derkins, then both PAX ran down the stairs, then flap-jacked. PAX who were waiting did Partner 1’s choice of exercise for each round consisting of: Squats, Freddy Mercury’s, Flutter Kicks, etc.

      PAX moseyed back to the basketball court. As we arrived, YHC was ready to dish out some MARY, but was quickly interrupted and told that time had expired. (Apparently YHC’s watch somehow fell back 5 minutes during the beatdown). Since many PAX are already doing xtra credit with RRR, we went right into Circle of Trust.

      Thanks Shooter for leading us in prayer, and for the tip about Boudin by Jamison.

      Thank you guys for the opportunity to lead.

    • Rise When the Rooster Crows (or, Do Monkey Humpers when the Rooster Crows)

      Granny’s house is the only real wild card in the northshore schedule these days.  While other AO’s maintain a consistent crew, Granny’s House can fluctuate greatly.  And it’s kinda nice not knowing what you’ll get – sometimes it’s 8-10 pax, other times it’s 2.  For two weeks in a row, though, it’s been a packed house.  Maybe because of the special appearances by Captain Sparkles?  Who can say.  But it was nice to have a solid number of men in the gloom this morning, up early enough to hear the rooster crow.   Literally.  That’s right, we have a rooster at Granny’s House.  (Or, at least, in the general vicinity of Granny’s.) 

      Warmorama (under the safe confines of the covered corridor, while the rain petered off): Toe Touches x15 IC, 10 Merkins, SSH x15 IC, 8 Merkins, IW x15 IC, 6 Merkins, Copperhead Squats x15 IC, 4 Merkins, High Knees x15 IC, 2 Merkins, Butt Kicks x15 IC.

      The Thang:

      This beatdown was a bit of a medley – less rinse and repeat, more mosey from COP to COP.  Our first mosey was through the woods over to the Marigny intersection for a quick set of Peter Parkers, Alternating Should Taps, and Parker Peters, all 20x IC.  

      Then onward to the Lamarque intersection, where the Pax circled up to perform monkey humpers while each man got a turn at 5x jump squats.  A neighborhood dog caught sight of Wacker humping and, well, let’s just say it’s a good thing there was both a fence and the dog’s owner came out to restrain him.  Between that and the rooster, it was pretty clear that it was time to move on,  so we moseyed quickly over to the Marsh’s pull-up bars.

      First up, a set of 7’s : 6 hanging knees-to-chest to 1 Sister Mary Katherine.  Next up, 20 squat / pull-up combos OYO.

      Another mosey, this time back towards Granny’s, but with a quick stop on Girod to circle up for Al Gore, while each pax quickly performs 5x IW’s.

      Mosey onward, until we were safely back at the trailhead, where YHC confidently explained how to do Bear Crawl Merkins across the length of the corridor.  Incorrect explanation, but done with great confidence so no one questioned it until about halfway through, when someone realized the count should be an odd number to correctly alternate our staggered merkins.  Regardless though, the pax seemed to enjoy.

      Another mosey, this time to the bus stop benches for: 10x Jump Overs, Freak Nasties x10 IC, Knee Ups R Leg x10 IC, Freak Nasties x10 IC, Knee Ups L Leg x10 IC, Freak Nasties x10 IC.

      Back to the start for a blast from the past, an old favorite that YHC had nearly forgotten (thanks Bushwacker for mentioning groiners and triggering a light bulb moment): an 8-count exercise known as Absolution.  It involves groiners, Makhtar N’Diayes, and plank jacks, and it’s a pain in the ass to count off. But we managed to knock out 10 of those IC and then finally finished up with a muddy Mary of: flutter kicks, high flutters, LBCs, crunchy frogs, and Putins, all 20x IC.

      COT and Captain took us out with a special prayer for Dan Ziegler, who was seriously injured in the Metairie condo fire over the weekend.  Please send your thoughts and prayers to Dan and his family.  And thank you men for the opportunity to lead!

    • Getting Our Money’s Worth at Grandma’s House for Ringo’s Virgin Q.

      Upon arrival, most of the PAX aired grievances about how the Saints were robbed. This will probably be a topic of F3 discussions for many beatdowns to come.

      WarmaRama:

      Good Mornings, Windmills, Arm Circles, Imperial Walkers, Toe Touches.

      YHC kept getting a few of the warm up exercises mixed up, but thanks to the PAX for helping keeping everyone in line.

      Pax then moseyed to the tunnel.

      1st routine:  “4×4” – YHC called for 4 rounds. Group 1 did bear crawl down the slope of the tunnel, jogged the flat bottom part, then sprinted up, and repeated on the way back while group 2 did AMRAPs of 4x4s (Burpee to Plank, 4 Merkins, 4 Mountain Climbers).
      Doing 4 rounds proved to be good in theory, but just after the first round, YHC and Pax realized it had to be modified. It was taking too much time and losing our form, with many more fun and games planned. So, YHC called an audible after only Round 1 and Pax moseyed on to the next routine, but not without vowing to the 4×4 gods that we would be back. 

      Next we moseyed to the bus stop/benches and did 10 Box Jumps, 10 Merkins, 20 Step-ups, 10 Derkins, 20 Lunges, and 10 freak nasties. Pretty uneventful, but a good routine nonetheless.

      Next we moseyed over to the flea market area. 

      Next Routine: “Dora 1,2,3”- Pax coupled up and had a team goal of 100 merkins, 200 LBC’s, and 300 Squats. Pax alternated where 1 team member did sprints while other team member continued towards team goal. YHC and Pax lost count only a couple times.

      Finished just in time for Circle of Trust.

      One Pax mentioned that he “got his money’s worth” out of YHC’s VQ.  Although these workouts are Free, YHC chooses to believe it was a positive comment.

      Shooter prayed us out. 

      Special thanks to those who supported YHC today for my VQ and thanks to all of our F3 guys who inspire and keep each other motivated during each workout.

      ‘Til the next gloom…

    • Honeymoon Sandy

      Writing this as I’m about to take off to Chicago.

      Everyone got to meet my Sandy this morning (or honeymoon Sandy as Ringo called her because we can only assume that she will never be this light again.) Sandy is a 45 pound sandbag. Sandy was supposed to make her appearance with me the day before but you know what they say about newlyweds, they hardly ever get out of bed.

      We started by doing a quick loop to get in our miles for the ISI. As coconuts stated, it’s mandatory for the month.

      Upon returning we warmed up with a long shoulder series since we would be hitting that hard. After a couple of merkins we got started.

      Sandy is very clingy. She won’t do anything by herself. So since I wanted to give her a tour of Grandmothers House, we had to carry her. We formed a line and made a loop down the pavillion, up the stairs, and back.

      Then I wanted her to get to know some of the guys individually. While we circled up and performed 10 squats, merkins, and LBCs in a continuing sequence one PAX grabbed Sandy and went up the stairs and back. Rinse and repeat until we all went.

      I still wasn’t entirely sure that Sandy was feeling the love so all of the men formed a plank line where a “tunnel of love” was formed. We pulled Sandy through the tunnel and back three times.

      The rest of the workout continued to involve Sandy, the stairs, and loops.

      We concluded with some Mary and 15 burpees because why not?!

      Sandy will return soon, but King cake season will not be kind to her. So try to not make her feel so bad when you see her again. She’ll definitely have put on some weight.

      Thanks for letting me lead guys! It was awesome.

    • Back At It

      Ah, it’s exciting to be back to the month of January. A new year, another chance to join a run challenge I’ll almost immediately regret. A new year, another chance to see Shooter post to a 16º beatdown in shorts and sans gloves. And of course, a new year, another chance to don a tank top and claim the hammer at the upcoming Ivan.

      But first, there’s work to do. The PAX as a whole is incredibly strong these days and YHC has some serious catching up to do. One lesson that has crystallized for YHC the past two weeks is how hard it is to actually build something and how easy it is to let it fall apart. Nothing new, of course. It applies to nearly everything – relationships, spiritual life, career, fitness, etc. Deep down, though, YHC honestly thought that hey, I might be able to leave the PAX for 5 months and return, still able to knock out 500 merkins and run 10k’s.

      That, of course, is not the case.

      And so, humbled, YHC eased back in with my first Q in a few months. The scramble is one of my favorites, and seemed a great place to start.

      Warmorama: Toe Touches, Seal Jacks, IW’s, all 20x IC. Lunge w/ twists through the parking lot, and then off to the races.

      Ran the traditional route, with one exception – Chewy thought it’d be a good idea to run the loop in the opposite direction, considering the new year and all.

      Once back, YHC led the PAX over to the monkey bars, except, hey – there are no longer any monkey bars at the city hall playground! This is what happens when you’re gone for a bit. After some searching, we found a weird, arched-web piece of playground equipment near the back that kinda/sorta worked for our needs:

      Partner up, P1 knocks out 10 burpees and 10 pull-ups, P2 does scorpion kicks. Flapjack.

      Next, P1 knocks out 20 Australian pull-ups while P2 is doing 180º jump squats.

      Finally, a quick mary of Hello Dolly’s, Flutter Kicks, and Rosalita’s (all 20x, IC). COT and Shooter prayed us out. Guys, a sincere thanks for the opportunity to lead, it’s always a pleasure to get stronger with this group of men.

    • Creeping and Crawling

      CONDITIONS43°; > 90% humidity; 6:51 AM sunrise (well after the PAX hit the road)

      DISCLAIMER

      The experienced PAX knew YHC’s amateur status and mentally filed away all necessary disclaimers.

      THE WARM UP

      Split jacks X 15
      Toe touches X 10
      Ray Finkles X10
      Steve Earles Copper head squat finished with hill billy X 10
      High knees X10
      Butt kicksX10

      THE THANG PART 1: Ascending Steve Crawl

      The assembled PAX took a short trip to Old Rail to borrow their parking lot.  YHC called a routine that he first learned from our amigo Steve. YHC didn’t enjoy it then so he decided to inflict it open his F3 bros that morning.

      PAX started on one edge of the parking lot.  Bear Crawled to the opposite curb, turned, placed feet on curb and completed one Derkin, crawled back and completed two Derkins, continued to 13.  

      THE THANG PART 2: Rando Circuit

      YHC introduced this routine as something he found by some random dudes on Youtube.

      Circuit:
      each 30 seconds 10 second rest
      1.Burpee w/ merkins
      2.Arch ups
      3.spiderman pushups
      4.Sister mary katherines
      5.Mountain climbers
      6.Wojo squats
      7. Alternating planks

      rest 90 seconds. complete 3 circuits for about 16 minutes of non-stop fun

      PAX took a final mosey around the block to bring us to 06:00 on the dot.

      CountORama, NameORama, and COT

      Thanks to the Pelican for praying us out

      MOLESKIN

      Best wishes to the Pelican on his upcoming lasik surgery.  There’ll be no hiding from him when he has his new lazer-bionic eyes fully operational.

      Thanks F3-bros, for the fellowship, the beatdowns and for being willing to follow my lead.

      Shout out to y’all who are reading to the end of the backblast.

    • Nightmare before Christmas hangover!!

      With the dreaded sound of the alarm at 0430 Q arose still haunted by the previous Nightmares he experienced midday Sunday. While a fartsack is much easier to pull off when your not the Q for the day, consideration of pitching a curveball to a fellow F3 Brother did indeed cross my mind. However, knowing I Ehed Garfield from the Nightmare before Christmas it was most fitting to skip the snooze and commit with no excuses. Arrived hot at 0500 to 4 brethren awaiting at center court of the Marsh. Knowing we would be down one of our regulars for the day Ringo, instructions were brief and jumped right in.

      Warmup

      All IC 10 Good mornings, Toe Touches, Windmills, Butt kicks and Mummy kicks..

      Moseyed to the seawall for some Aiken legs. Consisted of 20 Squats, 20 Box jumps, 20 Leg lunges and 20 skip Jacks. R/R (3). Recovery walked a few and then moseyed to our lighted bus stop on Girard. Upon arrival we did a series of Burp O  to 10 R/R (3). Squat position down to Merkin and back to squat. This one reminded Water Pik of a lineman football drill in his distant past in which he may or may not have participated. Will need to clarify that one with some chatter at the Scramble. Moseyed back to the AO for some Bolt 45s with a little lagniappe on top. Did 4 rounds of Bolts followed by 70,80,90 and 100% sprints baseline to baseline between each set.. With 5 mins to spare we took to our six for Coconuts favorite of the day Core work. LBCs 20 IC, Hello Dolly’s 20 IC, Nolan Ryan’s each side 10 IC and finished things up with a min of Chilcut plank..

      Count, announce, COT

      👏🏻 to Coconuts for praying us out with a reminder of the season and the reasons of thankfulness!!

      👊🏻 to the PAX for keeping me accountable and allowing me to lead.. 

      ✌🏻 till the next Gloom!

    • November heat wave

      CONDITIONS

      YHC arrived to the AO wearing his mukluks and balaclava this morning after all the chilly posts this week but got to dump them when the temps hit 60°F this A.M.

      DISCLAIMER

      Q delivered the classic disclaimer copied from our friend Einstein: “It’s obvious that I’m not a professional.  Be safe out there.”

      THE WARM UP Proper

      The assembled PAX warmed up with the following sequence, all exercises done IC.

      -Split Jacks 15X
      -Toe Touches (just in time for our amigo Chewy to roll-in hot)  10X
      -Hairy rockette kicks 15X
      -Ray Finkles 15X (tough to maintain balance)

       

      THE THANG Scramble style

      YHC fiddled with his fancy fitness tracker gizmo for a minute or two. Then the assembled PAX pounded out the 5k on our usual scramble route.

       

      THE THANG Phase 2

      Paul Cordes park has new exercise equipment which the PAX put to use after returning from our run.

      First they ran through a session of “Morning Call”
      One pax cranked through pull ups while everyone else did Merkins and held plank until our whole crew made it through the circuit.

      With only two minutes to go before the buzzer sounded PAX finished with AMRAP of lunges.

      Thanks Mandeville Parks and Rec for the new toys.  Don’t say big government never did anything for you.

      CountORama, NameORama, and COT

      Thanks to Sprockets for praying us out with encouraging words of thanks and praise.

      MOLESKIN

      Special T-Claps to Ringo who “hit for the cycle” Northshore style and posted four consecutive times.  He started the week as an FNG and is now a regular.

      Thanks F3-bros, for the fellowship, the beatdowns and for being willing to follow my lead.