F3 New Orleans

Tag: Russo

  • Can Do! And we miss Einstein. – from BBQ

    Can Do! The PAX was a mighty 4 on the upper deck of the A1C. A deck of cards from a transportation trade show was used for the exercises. This swag was from a rail service in Canada named Cando. “Can Do “ became the theme and battle cry. After the warm up cards were drawn one at a time. Each suit represented an exercise. The four were hand release merkins, jump squats, LBC’s and leg lifts. Each card represented the # of reps and 1-13. 91 total reps for each exercise were done except LBC’s were doubled. The jokers were a mosey with star jacks mixed in. SJ’s are an Einstein fav. We missed him and hope his shoulder therapy will work. And he is back soon. In his honor the warm ups and cool downs included swimmers, thumb drives and shoulder rolls. Russo prayed us out. He challenged the PAX to be the light and help others.

  • All The World’s A Stage – from Steve

    Decent crowd at Granny’s yesterday for a kinda-sorta cinderblock beatdown. Kinda-sorta because YHC only brought 3 coupons and there were 7 players in company. But, as always, we made it work (I will say, it was helpful to not have Bushwacker there undermining the Q’s efforts with constant griping about said cinderblocks!).

    Warmorama: SSH, IW’s, arm circles, cherry pickers, hillbillies, grass grabbers, seal jacks, and 20x merkins.

    Cowbell finally rolled in, which meant it was officially the end of warmorama and time to get after it.

    Thang:
    Mosey over to the stage for a rotating circuit. Each pax has an exercise, with one guy knocking out 20x burpees as the timer. Exercises were:

    Burpees x20 (timer)
    Curls
    Squat thrusters
    Tricep extensions
    Lunges
    Sit-ups
    Plank jacks

    YHC initially experimented with a cinderblock exercise called “forearm thingies,” (Bushwacker would’ve had an aneurism) which poor JV dutifully knocked out before Waterpik took over and wisely transitioned to tricep extensions.

    Once everyone had hit each station, we did a quick mosey around the trailhead in an attempt to at least get some mileage for RCR, and then rinse and repeat. After a second mosey around the trailhead, we hit the bus depot for YHC’s usual leg business:

    Bulgarians right and left, x12 IC each
    Freak Nasties, x12 IC
    Step ups, right and left, x12 IC each
    Freak Nasties, x12 IC

    And back to the stage to finish up with a different set of exercises, this time the rotation was:

    Burpees x20
    Goblet Squats
    Alpos
    Chest Presses
    Jump Squats
    Freddies
    Peter Parkers

    We only completed one round of this before it was time. COT, nameorama, and Pik prayed us out. Good to see Grundy out there now that he’s officially local. And t-claps to Hog’s Breath, since he’s decidedly not local and yet often makes it to at least one weekday beatdown. Appreciate the push you guys provide, and the opportunity to lead.

  • The Merkin Trap, Episode 4: The Search for Plutonium – from Akbar

    Admiral Gail Akbar of the Mon Calamari returns to the Northshore Mothership once again, to fight another battle against Darth Fartsack and the Sad Clown Empire. His secret mission this trip is to investigate the galactical mystery of Plutonium, reportedly found in the NOLA area by some beast named Hawgcycle. The commander of the Rebel forces knew this human was clever and dangerous – using words like isotopes, casualties, retrospect, and defecate in past correspondence about this discovery. He was at this beatdown before, maybe he would return. Key reinforcements – Baby Yoda, Bushwacker, Pickaxe, Chainsaw, and Shooter were missing. But we had new blood to make up the difference – a burly man named Cathe, with medical-surgical powers specializing in catheters, and a visiting pirate from Cape Fear named Teach. We were pleased with our chances.

    The Admiral received this note before his journey:

    Before night falls on this long winter day,
    A shining sword must find its way
    Into your hands and out of the gloom—
    Or Admiral Akbar shall meet his doom.
    To begin your quest for the Sword of Light,
    Call for the help of another to get right.
    You can always depend on an F3 brother,
    As Iron Sharpens Iron, so one man sharpens another.

    PAX

    Waterpik, Dangerfield, Freon, Bubba, Moby Dick, Bean, Russo, Jose 10k, Barely Legal, Speedy, Grundy, Bird, Zoolander, Maverick, Akbar, Hammer, Junior Varsity, Cathe (FNG), Teach

    Conditions – 40ish, no wind, a little foggy

    Warm Up – Arm Circles (F/B), Self-Love, Imperial Walkers, Grass Grabbers

    Thang

    Mosey up and down the Lakefront stopping for 2 exercises in each set, one of which would always be Merkins. 12, 8, 5 IC or 24,16,10 OYO. Each set = 50 Merkins, and most were 50 of another exercise except for a couple done Copperhead style.

    1 – Flag SSH, Merkins
    2 – Rips Calf Raises, Wide Merkin
    3 – Parking stripes Lunge walk, 5 Merkins every 2nd stripe
    4 – Noah Wall Tempo Freak Nasties, Dirkin
    5 – Grass Circle Al Gore/Shoulder raise, Wide Merkin
    6 – Wall Copperhead Squats, Irkin
    7 – Grass Circle Scuba Steve, Stone Mountain
    8 – Grass Circle Al Gore/Shoulder raise, Merkin
    9 – Noah Wall Scuba Steve, Diamond Irkin
    10 – Rips Twinkle Toes, Prime Time Merkin
    11 – Flag Little Manny Crunches, Merkin

    Total 550 Merkins

    Mary – x10 IC

    Fire Hydrants, Leg Raises, Hello Dolly, LBC’s, Lay flat on your back for 1 minute, time called

    Count-o-rama, Name-o-rama. Welcome FNG Cathe! Pronounced Cathy

    Announcements

    – Run Cajun Run, log your mileage
    – Hammer, Grundy, Steve, and Tanked Up! have put together a team to support The
    Nehemiah Project. They will run 48 miles over 48 hours on March 18th at Fontainebleau
    State Park. Check Slack for more.
    – Bird has the Q next Saturday

    COT

    YHC prayed us out with thoughts of words like man, father, husband, brother, friend – all verbs – and to take action this week remembering to flex our heart muscle. Don’t forget tomorrow is Valentine’s Day

    Alas, the Admiral did not find Plutonium, or Hawcycle, or the Sword of Light. But what he did find was a group of men who sharpened each other – enjoying camaraderie, food, and a hot cup of coffee for their efforts. Sad, but undaunted, he shall return next year.

    Thanks for letting me lead, and for following.

    SYITG – Admiral Akbar

    NMM

    Of all days to be late, YHC misplaced the keys and had to hall butt to make it there just in time to start.

    Great to have Teach from F3 Cape Fear make the drive from Gulfport while working out of town for a while.

    Bird brought Ian, a FNG who we named Cathe, pronounced Cathy, he works in med devices sales with vascular catheters.

    YHC had to modify pretty quickly after the Dirkins in the 4th set – in which QIC almost face planted from exhaustion. The plan was to go all the way to the playground and work my way back, but time forced a modification. We still got in around 550 Merkins in an hour

    Grundy showed up late, half way through, and owes 250 Merkins.

    I’ve been reading a lot of Jack and Annie books with the kids, and the poem came from a Merlin Mystery novel. I have to admit, these books are great – historical fiction and mystery combined. Kids and adults alike will love them. Sometimes, the book titles become backblast titles.

    The Plutonium reference came from the master backblast writer himself, Hawcycle. Look back and read it, it’s good stuff.

    Coffeeteria was great, this time including more King Cake, breakfast bowls, and my 2.0’s showed up for sugar and hot chocolate.

  • Tunnel Vision – from Russo

    Slightly warmer 42 outside this morning. RCR is in full swing, because 2 HIM were logging some miles when YHC arrived. Pax grew to 4 eventually for the simplest beatdown YHC has Q’ed in a while (i.e math was kept to a minimum, no permutations, calculus, finance, gambling, or geometry necessary)

    Warmup (10x to 20x, all IC)
    -SSH
    -Imperial walkers
    -Toe touches
    -Self love
    -Cherry pickers
    -High knees
    -Grass grabbers

    Thang
    Mosey over to the tunnel for a round of 11s:
    – Merkins and jump squats
    – Mosey down the ramp, side shuffle step through the tunnel, back pedal up the ramp

    Mosey back just in time for a quick plank until the clock expired.

    COT, Name-o-Rama, announcements, and prayer closed us out.

    Thanks for joining/reading. There was some great work this morning, you guys made it look easy.

    Let’s go out and have a great week.

    SYITG

  • Never have I ever (Yes I have!) – from Russo

    Disclaimer: yes, most of this was written well ahead of time, Zoolander, and copied and pasted, edited, and spellchecked (I think).

    30 degrees greeted a Pax of 13 this morning, perfect sunrise, a little chilly from the remnants of rain.

    Too cold to be called a Warmup (all IC, between 10 and 25x)
    – Sealjacks
    – Good mornings
    – High knees
    – Cherry pickers
    – Grass grabbers
    – Self love
    – Imperial walkers

    Thangs before the Thang
    (1) Mosey down Girod, stopping every block or so for some Ro-Cham-Burpee (10 rounds of rock, paper, scissors, the winner performs merkins, the loser burpees)

    Things we learned:
    – Zoolander and Jose were “pretty even” through 2 rounds
    – Guinea Pig had incredible fortune until he ran into the buzzsaw of YHC’s scissors
    – The ground is cold without gloves

    (2) Card sharks (Complete exercises based on card count, next round guess higher or lower, a correct guess multiplies the rep 2x, incorrect 3x)
    – Crab cakes
    – Scissor kicks
    – Peter Parker’s
    – Big boi situps
    – Plank jacks
    – American hammers
    – Murder bunnies
    – Monkey humpers

    Things we learned:
    – Murder bunnies are a favorite of YHC
    – The deck was most certainly not stacked to finish on an Ace (with a 3x multiplier)
    – Guinea Pig played great strategy on the 10
    – Jose redeemed himself with higher/lower

    Thang

    YHC is not what one would call creative. Completely left-brained, my world revolves around number and order and sequence. I struggle to keep beatdowns fresh. Most of my planning is either “that’s a good idea, let’s modify that” or “what’s a game I’ve played that can be transformed into a beatdown?” The latter held true for a spirited and, at times, confusing, game of:

    Never have I ever (Q calls out an action, If you’ve done said action, move to one side. If not, move to the other. Exercise and rep count will vary based on what side you’re on)

    Actions (“Yes” first exercise listed, “No”second one listed, most of them look right, there was some modification)

    (1) Q’ed the Mothership – 10 merkins, 5 burpees

    (2) Fartsacked a Q – 10 burpees, 10 merkins

    (3) Intentionally run a red light – 10 burpees, 15 squats

    (4) Picked up the 6 – 3 calf raises, 15 SMCs

    (5) Fallen asleep at work – 25 hallelujah squats, 5 Peter Parker’s

    (6) Called a partner the wrong name – 10 donkey kicks, 5 arm circles

    (7) Cut my own or someone else’s hair – 10 merkins, 20 SSH

    (8) Dated a friend’s ex – lap around Granny’s, 5 merkins

    (9) Stopped to help some with roadside car trouble – 5 jump squats, 25 Apollo Ohnos

    (10) Let someone cut in line in front of me – 10 mountain climbers, 10 burpees

    (11) Played wordle – bear crawl, mosey

    (12) Slept in my car – 20 star jumps, 10 arm circles

    (13) Hit a parked car – 20 groiners, 5 merkins

    (14) Sent an inappropriate text or message to the wrong person – 5 burpees, 5 merkins

    (15) Been frisked or in a police car – 30 squats, 10 cherry pickers

    (16) Removed an inappropriate amount of clothes in public – 10 burpees, 1 burpee

    Things we learned:
    – Too many lawyers in the Pax. We had to define “partner”, “hit”, “date”, “mothership”, “intentional”, as well as clarify what is meant by “inappropriate” and “slept”
    – Even after 16 rounds, some of us aren’t really sure which side to go to
    – There were at least two people who found themselves on the side I didn’t expect them to be on (Names redacted, let the speculation commence)
    – Other things that should not be broadcast here to protect the innocent
    – Best line of the Thang (paraphrased): I paid for that 20 years ago and now Russo is making me pay for it again.

    After enough absolution, Pax moseyed back to the flag in a modified Indian run where the lead runner peels off and heads to the back.

    COT, Name-o-Rama, announcements, and prayer closed us out.

    Announcements
    – HogsBreath and Pass Interference are planting the Slidell flag on Monday at 5:30!
    – Hammer is pulling together a fundraiser for the Nehemiah Project in mid-March. I’ll let him provide more details on this worthy cause.
    – There were multiple prayer requests, including friends and family of Akbar, Bubba, Bird, and Jose, so a focus of our prayer was on mental/physical health and God’s gifts of healing, comfort, mercy, and peace.

    One final word on something Bubba brought up:

    There is an awful lot we shoulder every day: work, family, commitments, temptation, life’s difficulties, you name it. We may tend to bottle up stress or pressure until we just can’t take it anymore.

    Most of us have found F3 to be a release of some of that pressure. We’ve stumbled upon a group that, despite our imperfections, will absolutely stand tall in the face of adversity and stand with our brothers. I thank God every day for this group, and each of the men that have helped to shape me into a better human being. You are all leading by example and my prayer is that we do that for everyone around us.

    Maybe you pick up the 6 more, or reach out to ask how something went for someone this week. Maybe you share your Q source, and then make sure it gets read. Maybe you spend a couple hours to drop everything and help someone move. There are countless other examples that I hope we have and can point to when things get tough. There are too many other examples for me to list.

    If anyone is struggling, reach out. My ear is always ready to be bent. SYITG 🤛🏼

  • Krazy Ivan IV: Speedy Sings, Fracsac Frowns – from The Hammer

    It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…for Fracsac apparently. The man who has a folder on his phone dedicated to the Freedom Hammer was crestfallen for a second year running. Bordering on tearful, Fracsac and his Southshore breathern had to witness a spritely Speedy Gonzales hoist the Freedom Hammer in triumph after the Northshore thumped the Southshore for the Crazy Ivan IV, 257 to 153. Precision results, thoroughly vetted and audited by the governing body, are as follows:

    1. Speedy Gonzales 31:22 (6:30 average pace)-recruited years ago by Jose 10k
    2. Amnesia 33:55
    3. In Time 34:07
    3. Cowbell 34:07
    5. The Hammer 34:34
    6. Saban 35:09
    7. Kuch 35:37
    8. Steve 36:45
    9. TankedUp! 37:20
    10. RevSox 37:36
    11. Sogo 37:47
    12. Hog’s Breath 40:25
    13. Thumb War 41:30
    14. Bongo (time between 41:30 and 42:43-you should have found me afterwards Bongo!)
    15. Snooze 42:43
    16. Pelican 42:44
    17. Shooter 43:34
    18. Flea 45:16
    19. BBQ 46.35
    20. Russo 46:55
    21. Jose 10k 47:38
    22. Pai Gow 49:55
    23. Baywatch (it was raining hard, lots was happening, Hog’s Breath was talking to me…sorry Baywatch I didn’t get your time)
    24. Belloq
    25. JV (not that JV, the other one) 55:19
    26. Kenner Brah
    27. McGiver

    And honorable mentions to PickAxe and Chainsaw, The Hammer’s 2.0s, who finished the first lap together in a blistering 13 minutes.

    Thanks for coming out guys. You all get a trophy for participating in this unequivocally, completely stupid and utterly pointless annual competition. YHC was thoroughly impressed with the total disregard for your personal wellbeing and safety and looks forward to a repeat performance same time next year. Over and out.

  • What’s the Ladder with you? – from Russo

    Not-quite-as-cold-as-it-has-been 45 degrees this morning, slight drizzle that Steve lamented was relenting. 4 HIM tackled the ladders Granny set up this morning.

    Things we learned this morning: Rummel has/had some fantastic lunch options, none better than daily square pizza and bi-weekly chicken parm on Thursdays. Raider Pride! This statement was confirmed by all 2 Raiders present, and before Pik could disagree and let the Metairie scum know how much better Jesuit fare is. There were no Crusaders, Cavaliers, Purple Knights, Eagles, or Tigers present to object, so by unanimous consent, Rummel is the undisputed king of lunchtime for the old school Catholic league. Print the shirts!

    Warmup (all IC)
    22 SSH
    22 cherry pickers
    11 grass grabbers
    11 good mornings
    11 imperial walkers

    Thang
    Ladders
    Rounds 1 and 2 (rep count 1 to 7, then rep count 7 to 1 next round)
    7 and 1 Freak nastys
    6 and 2 Step ups (2 is 1)
    5 and 2 Derkins
    4 and 4 Bulgarian split squats
    3 and 5 Shoulder taps
    2 and 6 Urkins
    1 and 7 Hip slappers

    Rounds 3 through 9 (start with the count below, then next round, move the 1 rep “up” to the next exercise, replace first exercise with 7) – rinse and repeat until each exercise completes 28 reps
    7 Burpees
    6 Deep squats
    5 Merkins
    4 Nutcrackers (2 is 1)
    3 BB sit-ups
    2 Mountain climbers
    1 Star jump

    Ladders 10 through 12 – Pax killed the planned ladders, so we added exercises and reps. In addition to the above, we worked through 8 monkey humpers, 9 groiners, and 10 Supermans.

    Ladders 13 and 14
    7 and 1 Hello Dollys
    6 and 2 LBCs
    5 and 3 American hammers
    4 and 4 LMCs
    3 and 5 Scissor kicks
    2 and 6 Leg raises
    1 and 7 Dr. W (a terrible, awful, no good exercise to cadence by the way)

    Certain rounds got a bonus mosey between them to break up the monotony and give us a chance to mumblechatter.

    After ladders, Pax climbed up the pilot house, 2 calf raises each step.

    COT, name-o-rama, announcements, and prayer closed us out.

    Reminders included RCR, Krazy Ivan 2/3 @8, and sign up to Q!

    Another superstar group this morning, thanks for letting me lead.

    SYITG

  • A Hose By Any Other Name – from Steve

    35º temps may have kept a bunch of the regulars away, but it brought in an old (in all senses of the word, especially compared to his firehouse brethren) regular who was… still on the clock! This meant my original trip down to the tunnel would be off the table – gotta stay in radio distance – but you know what they say: one door opens, and out through the other door comes Wacker with a 100 feet of bundled hose. That’s right, he came bearing coupons this morning.

    And to be honest, YHC was thankful it wasn’t the 130 lbs dummy that has been oft teased, as fun as it sound picking that thing up with frozen fingers. Also, the buried memory of carrying Frank through a path of slop during a Tough Mudder would’ve no doubt resurfaced, and sometimes it’s best to keep those things buried.

    And of course, Granny’s favorite grandson, the ever present Russo, was also there. So after some chatter, we got down to it: SSH, GMs, ACs, HBs, IWs, GGs, and a quick lap around the trailhead to finish warming up (and also give me time to come up with a plan!).

    Thang:

    First up, 1 guy would carry the coiled hose up the stairs and back, while the other 2 would be performing steps ups. Rotate until everyone’s carried said hose. (There’s a joke in here that I’m missing – where’s Zoolander when you need him?)

    Next up, same thing but instead of step ups, we did freak nasties and derkins.

    Time to give the hose a rest and get started on legs. Lunge walk the small field along the corridor, stopping at each tree (there were 5) for a set of: x5 squats, x5 jump squats, x5 monkey humpers, and x5 Apollo Ohno’s. The original plan was to head back bear crawling and doing 4 different type of merkins x5 at each tree, but that sounded terrible, so instead we did some Rochamburpees.

    Now, while you may see YHC at 0515, I don’t actually become a functioning human until around 0800. So while this seemed like good idea with three people (“hey, there’ll just be two losers or two winners”), the actuality is that it doesn’t really work if each of the pax chooses a different shape. That’s just a tie. So we modified and when that happened we simply split the number of burpees/merkins.

    Nearing the home stretch, we finished up with a sprint down the corridor, quick trip up the stairs and back, sprinting back down the corridor to the start.

    Mary consisted of quick rounds of leg raises, heels to heaven, lbcs, Freddie’s, Dolly’s, Rosalita’s, and 10x merkins.

    Countdown, nameorama, announcements (remember to send in your RCR team members, shirt sizes, and payments ASAP!) and Russo offered a thoughtful prayer of thanks. Which I second – thank you guys for posting on such a chilly morning, offering me the opportunity to lead, and just generally pushing me to be better in so many ways. Appreciate it.

  • “The cold made my wee wee go pee pee.” – from Akbar

    Things you’ll only hear at Waffle house. This was said as a grown man walked through the door, and decided to tell YHC, Steve, and Russo what business he had to take care of – as if his inner child woke up at that opportune moment. YHC knew it was going to be cold, obviously everyone else knew as well. 5 Pax gathered this cold and gloomy morn. Grover EH’d a guy who fartsacked, but it was great having him in the gloom again. The plan was to get warmed up really quick.

    Conditions: Cold, as mentioned above, with a slight wind.

    Warm Up x 10 IC – High Knees, Butt Kicks, Self-Love, Cherry Pickers, Arm Circles F/B, IW

    Playground: 11’s of Swerkins (plank position, legs in swing ab crunch/Merkin) and Pullups with 25ish yard run in between.

    Mosey to the Lakefront by Rips down Noah’s Ark with a modified Red Barchetta to get the blood pumping. Stop at each intersection for 1 exercise until we reached the wall – 50 SSH, 40 Mountain Climbers, 30 LBC’s, 20 Merkins, and 10 Squats.

    Wall x 20 IC, 2 sets. Freak Nasties and Shoulder Taps

    Stairs at Rips to climb the Stairway to 7. Pax line up in plank, 1 at a time do: 1 Freak Nasty, 1 Dirkin on the bottom step; run up to the top for 1 Squat, run back down the other side. Rinse and Repeat adding 1 rep for 7 rounds. Pik reminded QIC of the time check and we only got to finish 6 rounds.

    Run back to the Marsh in time for COT followed by breakfast at Waffle House.

    Announcements: Krazy Ivan Feb 3rd 8pm. Run Cajun Run – get your teams together, sign up coming. Sponsors due by Jan 26th.

    NMM
    We are told to always plan for more than we need in case time runs out. I had enough for another 30 minutes. I haven’t fully figured out how to work the new Garmin I got for Christmas, Pik saved me from going over. Great conversation as always, which continued as expected at Waffle House.

  • Deck of Death Part IV: A New Hope – from Russo

    36 degrees greeted a Pax of 6 at Granny’s for the return of the deck of death: version 2022.1. This upgrade featured the “Animal activity pack”, with crowd favorites Monkey Humpers (you’re welcome Hogs Breath), Crab Cakes (just for you Jose!), Donkey Kicks, and Crunchy Frogs.

    Warmup (all IC, varying reps, like a locker combination: to your RIGHT!)

    -Seal jacks
    -Cherry pickers
    -Imperial walkers
    -Grass grabbers
    -Self love
    -High knees

    Thang

    Bench work with 20 freak nastys and 20 step ups, followed by 10 of both, and then 5 more.

    After a quick mosey, Pax knocked out the Deck of Death (exercise and count based on value and suit of the card turned over from a standard deck of playing cards). YHC likes to split the deck into 4 groups to vary up the exercises, with some moseying before, during, and after.

    Hearts – Monkey Humpers, Jump squats, SMCs, Nut Crackers
    Diamonds – Diamond Merkins, Merkins, Peter Parkers, Shoulder Tap Merkins
    Clubs – LBCs, Leg Raises, Crunchy Frogs, American Hammers
    Spades – Crab Cakes, Donkey Kicks, Gas Pumps, Angels in the Outfield

    Mary
    With about 5 minutes left, Pax completed some calf raises up the pilot house, 2 each step, a minute of plank, and a final 10 merkins.

    COT, Name-o-Rama, announcements, and prayer closed us out.

    Note the Crazy Ivan is coming up on 2/3 and HogsBreath and Pass interference are working on a Slidell AO. Keep checking Slack for more info.

    Thank you all again for joining, letting me lead you all. As always, really enjoyed the mumble chatter.

    And finally, the vote count, subject to independent verification next week, was 11 A’s and 7 T’s. And in case you’re wondering, I vote T.

    SYITG