Mosey down Dreyfous, around the Great Lawn, back on Dreyfous and over the bridge to the Anseman Oak for warmup:
SSH
Pagodas
Grass Grabbers
Batwing
Imperial Walkers
Hill Billys
Mosey to Solomon Place Path then, bear crawl to Allard Blvd path. LBCs to wait for six.
Crab Walk to Sherwood Forest Drive path. LBCs to wait for six.
Lunge walk to corner of Carrollton Ave and City Park Ave.
Mosey to Dreyfous Meadow for:
Dying Cockroaches
Real Freddy Mercs
Merkins
Imperial Walkers
LBCs
Flutter Kicks
Mosey to Great for:
Dying Cockroaches
Real Freddy Mercs
Merkins
Imperial Walkers
LBCs
Flutter Kicks
Supermans
One round of Mary Fire
Mosey back to circle of trust
Count-off, Name-O-Rama, Intentions, and quick reflection on words attributed to Michelangelo: “The sculpture is already complete within the marble block before I start my work. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.” For me, F3 is a tool for this, and for sculpting ourselves physically and mentally. Chipping away at what doesn’t fit. Supporting each other and building our guardrails. Also reflection about my two kids, 6 and 4, and their intense sincerity. We are born sincere, though it can get lost as we age and get a bit more defensive. We can and should re-find it and nurture it.
Clear, 73 degrees, Feels like 74, Humidity 86%, Wind 3mph from SW
Warm-up:
IW x 31; Grass Grabbers x 15; Low Slow Squats x 20; Merkins x 30; Peter Parkers x 25; Bat Wings (Everything x 22 except MNNs x 31)
The Thang:
Wall Work: Ascending Testicles; Balls to the Wall; Plank Walk x 15; Shoulder Taps x 15; Hip Slappers x 15
Proceed to Rock Pile for 10! (Squats, Curls, Shoulder Presses)
Repeat Wall Work
Proceed to the Football Field for 100 yard Bear Crawls x 4
NMM:
I was not planning on doing Bat Wings during the warm-up. Don’t want to be too predictable. But, I couldn’t help it.
I was not planning on doing so many bear crawls. Don’t want to be too predictable. But I couldn’t help it.
We welcomed FNG Cake Boss. T-Claps to Rudy for the EH. Unfortunately Cake Boss was only visiting the area. He headed back to Jersey after the workout. He just graduated from American University where he ran track and Cross-Country. His PR for the 5K is in the 15 minute range. Rudy is working on making sure he needs to be in New Orleans for work the third Wednesday of every July.
Another 610 Stomp in the books…the 260th one to be exact-ish. Strong showing with 14 PAX ready to run and test the limits of our middle-ages chassis. This was the 3rd Summer Series 2-mile time trial, with several of us gunning to break our previous times, and perhaps set a new PAX record. Started with a warmup mosey on a Palm Dr with a pitstop COP to make sure all cylinders were firing, then moseyed to the Festival Grounds track for a 2-mile timed run/race. Times were as follows:
High Rise 17:23
Einstein 16:07
Rudy 16:15
Bongo 16:37
Boo Boo 18:08
Belloq 18:34 *ran barefoot!
Catfish 13:20
Kuch 16:00
Snooze 18:54
Screwtop 15:10
Breadsticks 15:15
Tool 16:44
Sheetrock 13:45
Saban 17:00-ish *modified/planked
Mosey back to base via the “short route” after zero enthusiasm was directed towards the long route option. Capped things off with LBC, Flutter Kicks, Dying Cockroach, followed by a minute of stretching and COT.
NMM:
Good to see Sheetrock back in the gloom, running shirtless in case the ladies were out.
Very little traction could be gained for the rename of Catfish to Barracuda or some other fast swimming fish.
Saban ran, likely to defend his first-place title, even if it meant he could blow his third knee out.
Belloq continues to be a beast. He ran barefoot again as he deals with an injury…most would take a few weeks off from running, but not this guy.
A new 2-mile record was set today, by over 1 minute. T-claps to Catfish and Sheetrock for being the first to run sub-14:00 times!
T-claps to Kuch for the mid-workout EH on a fellow runner at the track.
Einstein posted 2 days in a row! Welcome and glad to have you in the mix.
Boo Boo posted despite an iffy knee. Way to stay committed and always good to see some PAX from the western parts pop in from time to time.
Rudy implied that 20 flutter kicks were sufficient, no need to do 25 like everyone else. YHC was glad to see the quarantine has not affected the rudyisms that we’ve all grown to enjoy.
Another balmy morning at the Mothership with 9 PAX: Moana, Sphinxter, Snooze, Fracsac, Rudy, Dry Socket, Machete (FNG), Heisenberg, and Catfish (Q).
Started on the Great Lawn with some Abe Vigodas and Grass Grabbers. Then got in a little SSH, then arm circles, overhead claps, then seal claps. Moved to faces for peter parkers, shoulder taps, plank jacks, and a nice plank hold. Got back to feet to round out the warmup with 8-count bodybuilders.
Lined up at south end of lawn for some Killer Bs (bear crawl, broad jumps burpees). PAX bear crawled 3 tree lengths, then broad jumped back, stopping to do 3 burpees after each 5 broad jumps. After first round, moved to sixes for flutter kicks and dying roaches. Did another round of Killer Bs, then to six for penguins and LBCs. Did a third round of Killer Bs, then to sixes for V-ups and Freddie Mercury.
Crossed the street to the benches. Did a round of Back Webbs (decline merkins and Y-ups). Hit the benches for bulgarian split squats (one set each leg in cadence), box jumps, and dips. Added some box jumps for good measure, then did a round of Leg Webbs (Squat / Bonnie Blairs with 1:2 ratio like a Jack Webb).
Moved to peristyle for calf raises. Then moved to monkey humpers, then donkey kicks. Did a bear crawl lap around the peristyle to rest the legs, then handstand presses. Got in some more Mary with tin snips, then a round of nickels and dimes (5 burpees, 10 hand release merkins in a minute).
This 50-year old virgin got the first taste of Q-world with a strong showing of “respect” from a GREAT group, including those from The View who closed shop to schlep over to Pontiff. After greeting in the track-side cage, moseyed to the rock pile for warm-up and rock choice. Then onward to the field for 20+ minutes of 11’s while the thunder rolled in. By the end of the Thang the sunrise was covered by rain clouds which opened to cool the pax from the humid 90-degree heat. After recovering during plank and Al Gore, ended with a few more routines in our circle of gloom. COT and naming of the FNGs, DoorDash and Poppa Smurf.
WARMUP
20 4-count side straddle hop
10 4-count forward arm curls
10 4-count backward arm curls
10 4-count grass grabbers
10 4-count windmill
14 4-count peter parker
THANG
11’s:
-Rock in the middle
-Plank Jacks
-Bear Crawl
-Rock Squats (with your heels on the ground says Mahatma!)
-Big Boy Sit-up
-Rock Shoulder Presses
-Lunge back to Start
LAGNIAPPE
Al Gore – 1 min
Plank – 1 min
Ring of Fire: Bonnie Blairs + Al Gore
X-Cross Body Rock Lifts– x10 right/left
Modified Reverse-order Jack Webbs OYO
Looking forward to the next Q! Very grateful to be part of this great group @ F3 Nola.
Lovely day with 10 PAX at city park as we continue to re-commence with our regular F3 workouts: Bongo, Gabby, Hokie Pokie, Belloq, Beignet, Da Parish, Tool, Heisenberg, Rudy, Catfish (Q).
Started on the Great Lawn with Abe Vigoda, Grass Grabbers, and Arm Circles to get stretched. Broke a sweat with side straddle hop, some deep lunges, and 8-count bodybuilders.
Moved to faces for Plank Jacks, Peter Parker Peters, and Mountain Climbers. Rounded out the warmup with 8-count bodybuilders.
Moved to the Great Lawn treeline, partnered up for BOMBS (modified with V-ups instead of Big Boys Situps, and Jump squats instead of squats). Count was cumulative (w/ partner) 50 burpees, 100 overhead claps, 150 merkins, 100 v-ups, 50 jump squats. One partner did exercises while other ran to end of field, did one burpee, and ran back.
Moved over to peristyle for a “column conveyor”: hand stand on columns in a line, last person in the line bear crawls to the front (like an indian run). Did one brutal round, then a few handstand presses. Grabbed a bench for dips, then calf raises at the columns, then donkey kicks on the columns, then box jumps.
For the end, busted out the F3 deck and did some Card battle. Each person got a card, paired up with someone else. Cards were shown, higher card was the exercise, with the combined #s the number of reps.
Something has been going on in the last couple months that just doesn’t seem right. I haven’t had proper care for much longer than that, but at least I have good company every week, that is until sometime mid-March. You see, there is this awesome group of Men that make me feel like I have purpose. They don’t just sit on me or leave trash all over me. They really care. Not like that so called “groundskeeper” that doesn’t know anything about grass. I’m only about 10 years old, so I’m still trying to figure things out.
I’m sorry, let me introduce myself! I’m the Great Lawn, and I was shown some serious Respect this last Saturday, 16 May. It’s been rare to see these fine Men gather here as of late, except for F3 Fest, which was a total blast by the way! That guy Tool really knows how to throw a party….
The one they call Fracsac gave a disclaimer, had the men count off and remember the numbers, and then brought all 12 Men to my domain Saturday morning in what he referred to as a Phase 1 celebration. I guess that means F3 is back, which is awesome. I missed these Men. Well most of them anyways. I try not to play favorites, but have you met that Rudy guy? But I digress……
There was a warmup:
SSH IC x 50 – wait a minute….Why more than 31? I’m confused
IW x 20 IC
GG IC x 10
AC IC x 20
PP IC x 20
Then they moseyed to one side of me for the first Routine:
Blimps – Starting on one side, do an exercise, run to the other side of me, do the next exercise, then run back. You get it, right?
Burpees x 10
Lunges x 10
IW x 15
‘mericans x 20
Plank Jacks x 25
Squats x 30
Then he had then split up by even and odd numbers, using the count off from the disclaimer. It was a real disaster, but so was the Routine:
Start at each corner…..it was so bad, we’ll just say they did Burpees x 10, and 8 count body builders IC x 10. Probably something else too, but we just need to get past this one. I thought this Q was educated……
Mosey back to one of the corners for next Awesome Routine:
DirtyMacDeuce!
Round 1
‘mericans x 12
Squats x 12
Bigboi situps x 12
Run a lap around me
Round 2
Shoulder Taps x 12
LBC’s x 12
Lunges x 12
Run a lap around me
Round 3
Floyd Mayweathers x 12
Bonnie Blairs x 12
Freddie Mercury x 12
Run a lap
Round 4
Cataline wine mixers x 12
Jump squats x 12
LBT’s x 12
Run a lap
The next Routine was a test of mental fortitude:
Spoiler alert, it didn’t go well
The Q would ask for 2 numbers from the pax. One was for the number of SSH IC, the other was for SSH in silence, ending in unison with the Q. A failure would result in a penalty.
After 4 rounds of 10 penalty burpees, the Q called it. But on the bright side, the Pax got to do 40 more burpees! Good times!
Finished with some Mary.
Ended with a COT
I overheard some new Respect from the Pax, apparently the one they call Fracsac turned 50! Wow, how did that happen?
That must have been a real downer to turn 50 during a pandemic. As it turns out, that guy had a pretty awesome day. After enjoying some coffeteria at the re-opened Café Navarre, several of the Pax surprised him with a drive by birthday and visit! What an awesome organization F3 is! I wish I could get up and join them. Maybe someone will put some good grass on me……
SYITG
Coffeteria at Cafe NavarreBirthday Drive ByBirthday Ride ByAwesome F2 Surprise
Back in January, I have already heard about the Coronavirus because of my family living in Hong Kong. My father, who is still currently stuck in Hong Kong due to the travel restriction, had informed me how bad this thing is and how many people had already died in China. I knew it was somewhat serious, but I never expect it to be THIS bad where it will affect everyone of us for a very long time. Particularly, I remember my parents were in Hong Kong when SARs broke out in 2003. Because Hong Kong did a great job containing SARs, I never thought a similar highly contagious respiratory infection would hit us all the way to NOLA.
Before City and Statewide stay-at-home mandate, we get a chance for one last Saturday beatdown. 20 PAX showed up on a beautiful morning. I gave my standard disclaimer and off we went!
We started off with a lap around the great lawn and back to the Peristyle for our warmups in cadence:
SSHs x 20
Forward & Backward Arm Circles x 10 each
Windmills x 10
Grassgrabber x 10
Hill Billies x 20
Peter Parker x 15
Mountain Climbers x 15
Parker Peter x 15
Part 1
Picked a column at the Peristyle. In plank position, each Pax did hands on the wall x 20. Then did 20 right leg step ups. Then back to a column and did another 20 hands on the wall in plank position. Then back to the bench to finish with 20 left leg step ups.
Part 2
Walked across the street to the Great Lawn. We were using palm trees on the right as our markers. At the first tree, we started off with 1 lunge (Two is One). At the second tree, we did 2 lunges (Two is One), at the third tree, ….. all the way to the eighth tree. Then sprinted back to the very first tree and planked / waited for the Six. Then we added another layer of exercise. At the first tree, we started off with 1 lunge (Two is One) and 1 big boy sit-up. At the second tree, we did 2 lunges (Two is one) and 2 big boy sit-ups. At the third tree…. all the way to the eighth tree then sprinted back to the beginning and waited for the Six again. Final layer of exercise we added on was everyone’s favorite: burpees. At the first tree, we did 1 lunge, 1 big boy sit-up, and 1 burpee….. all the way to the eighth tree again. So in total, each PAX ponied up 108 lunges (2 is 1), 72 big boy sit-ups, and 36 burpees.
Part 3
We moseyed to the fountain in front of NOMA. We picked a partner and did DORA 1, 2, 3. The exercises were 100 leg raises, 200 inclined merkins, and 300 LBCs. While one pax was doing the exercise, the other partner was burpee broad-jumping towards NOMA on the flat surface and bunny hopped on the steps. Then ran back to flapjack with the partner.
We ran back to the flag for COT. We went overtime by a minute or so. At every COT, I always mention how grateful I am able to do this with the PAX on a regular basis. F3 is a big part of my life. I do this 4 to 5 times a week. I enjoy the F2 part the most. We had our last Cafe Navarre breakfast together. Now, I still workout with few PAX in a smaller group and keeping our social distance. I’ve been running into other smaller F3 groups here and there in the gloom. I cannot wait till we can all get back together with 30 plus PAX at the WPM, Mothership, Rock City, The Skinny, Chamber of Horrors, 610 Stomps, Tsunami, The Birdcage, Foundry, Popeyes, Okwata, Stiffler’s Mom, Master Melvin, Wally Run, Uptowner, Sweaty Bells, and Renaissance. Until then, stay safe!
Today is March 2nd, which means we’re nearing the end of the (sometimes) cold season here in New Orleans. For those of you keeping track, and I’m sure you all are, my attendance has been spotty over the past several months in what can only be described as F3 hibernation. I loathe below-50 degree weather and do my best to avoid it, especially if its also been raining. I know many people hate the humidity here, but I’ll take the heat any day.
Now, given the Calvinist nature of the Q assignment, we (usually) don’t select our own Q-ings, but are predestined according to the (presumed) foreknowledge of the AO site coordinator. And as such, I’ve only “reported for duty” on days when the temperature was 50+, unless I was predestined for Q-ing in the cold (see 11/13/2019). But it seems that Rock City AO coordinator Mahatma, in his grace and mercy, saw fit to elect me to Q on March second, a day that had no cold and no sloppy ground – really a perfect weather day.
So it began with warm-up exercises in the traditional Rock City warm-up area. It was the usual bag of tricks:
SSH
Abe Vigodas
Imperial Walkers
Grass Grabbers
Peter Parkers
Arm Circles
All @ 26 each. There appeared to be some great letdown among the PAX that 26 had no significance other than having an equal number of forward and backward arm circles. Sorry for those that thought that I might be honoring P.J. Williams or celebrating my 26th birthday…
Next up we gathered our rocks and headed to the football field, where we paced 10 yards for every exercise, from the goal line, in reps of 15, in cadence:
Curls
Tricep Extension
Merkins
Chest Press
Shoulder Press
We then partnered up for a dash from the 50 yard line to the goal line and back, while the alternating partner worked to complete the following:
Burpees x 50
World War II Sit-Ups x 100
Squats x 150
Flutter Kicks x 200
Rows x 300
Finally, we reversed our 10 yards/reps of 15/in cadence to the original goal line, finishing with just enough time to return our rocks and circle up. I have to say, given my F3 hibernation as of late, I’m definitely not in the same shape I was in November. So much so, that I was fading badly on the last set of tricep extensions and apparently lost the ability to count. Fortunately, Mahatma stepped in and picked up my slack continuing the cadence. It reminded me of that scene in Casino when Joe Pesci is all coked out near the end of the film, and he starts to beat a guy to death, but then doesn’t have the stamina to finish, so one of his henchmen takes over to finish the beatdown. Only without the coke. Or murder.
In closing, we had no announcements, only prayers for those in our F3 community and those connected to it, giving thanks and glory to God.
*The title of this post was a line uttered by Danny Zuko (John Travolta) in the movie Grease referring to…well, not muddy fields or March 2nd.
