F3 New Orleans

Tag: Russo

  • December Flickerball Challenge – from TruCoat

    A robust group assembled Saturday morning for some friendly strife on the Northshore Flickerball Field and a bit of personal challenge. The group began the work-out by competing in an abbreviated IronPAX 2022 Challenge, CARE BEAR SQUARED. Each competitor completed several iterations of a 100-yard course, with sets of 25 air squats, merkins, big boy sit-ups, and burpees interspersed by different forms of the bear crawl. Most hit the intended mark of 250 reps or 2.5 total iterations in the 20 minutes allotted.

    With the warm-up complete, we turned to the main event, Youth versus Beauty (Seniors) in a 25-minute game of flickerball. As expected, the Seniors built momentum early and took the lead as Zoolander whizzed one into the narrow goal. The game remained 1 to nil despite constant attacks by the Seniors, with the Youth’s star defended, Dukes of Hazzard, devoting his body multiple times to the ensure a solid defense! Dukes’ dedication sparked several inspired runs by the Youth, capped off three times by the unstoppable Brexit. With the score flipped in the Youths favor and time winding down, the Seniors launched multiple attacks to no avail. The game ended dramatically with a ball in the Lake drifting towards New Orleans. Bushwacker, aka WaterBoy-Aquaman, bravely entered the ice-cold, gator infested waters to retrieve the ball and commit to a re-match against the Youth one day. Prayer and coffee followed.

  • Someone used to be reliable with those backblasts. – from Russo

    Let me tell you about this morning’s workout from the perspective of Jose10k, who, mind you, wasn’t leading but set a personal goal with paxminer. The only way to achieve the goal is to get credit for the workout.

    First off, Jose10k, being the overachiever he is, strapped on a 25-pound ruck sack and decided to play Man vs. Mandeville before we even started. He ran through the downtown streets, up and down the Trailhead, and even made the stairs his personal Everest—for 40 minutes. This man was on a mission to redefine cardio. My backblast, my own personal compliments.

    Then Russo, the designated leader (but clearly not the main character), took over. He started with a warmup—nothing too fancy, just enough to make us wonder if Jose had extra oxygen tanks in that ruck sack. Afterward, we moseyed to the well-lit arches on the trail, probably so Russo could see the look of regret in our eyes as he introduced 11s: shoulder-tap plank jacks and merkins. Shooter made light work of the situation. Performing each exercise with perfect form and precision. He thoughts of the buck he’s been seeing on his deer cameras. His focus was on bagging this deer, and the pavement felt his wrath.

    Here’s the kicker: to get from one end to the other, we lunge-walked. Yes, lunge-walked, like we were auditioning for a low-budget version of the nutcracker. Then we backpedaled to the start, because apparently walking forward wasn’t hardcore enough. To top it off, we had to slalom the entire Trailhead back. By “slalom,” I mean weaving like we were training for the Winter Olympics, except instead of snow, it was pavement, sweat, and a faint sense of dread.

    Russo’s idea of “rinse and repeat” wasn’t so much about refreshing us as it was about turning our legs into spaghetti. Meanwhile, Jose10k cruised through it all with the casual intensity of a man who already ran a marathon before breakfast. Shooter set the pace, while we chased after him as fast as we could. Plus, as per the norm, Jose had to duck out early to educate the future leaders of tomorrow. As I heard through the grapevine, Shooter crushed the remaining 11s, and God help that Buck try to survive Shooter’s pursuit.

    In summary: Russo led the workout, but Jose10k was the workout.

  • Jose Can You See, By The Dawn’s Early Light – from Steve

    Yeah, I don’t know – I’m not spending 10 minutes racking my little brain for good title today.

    So it was a raucous start to the beatdown this morning, which was surprising considering both Russo and YHC were still half asleep when the gun went off. And that gun? Well, that would be everybody’s favorite jailbird, Jose 10k, fresh off the chain gang and coming in hot with a 5k already under his belt.

    Russo mentioned offhandedly that Shooter had signed up to Q for “like, the whole week,” and man oh man, that was when the fireworks began.

    “The whole week? 2 Q’s equal the ‘whole week’?! Do you Mandevillans know how to count?!?”

    I get it, though – don’t disrespect both math and the man’s 6-day Q streak in the same breath. Too soon, Russo, too soon.

    Well, it was time to get this party started, so naturally Russo took off his long sleeve shirt because yeah, even before the warmorama, 42 degrees is just too hot for him.

    Usual warm up before relocating to the beautifully lit archway on the trace (even Jose will allow that it is a “feature” of Granny’s/Splashpad) for a set of 11’s: T-merkins on one end, merkins on the other. We got maybe a third of the way through before Jose had to make his usual early departure, whereupon Russo and I quickly shut down the 11’s and headed out to the tunnel.

    20x lunges at every intersection. Then a quick incremental ladder of B.O.M.B.S with backwards run up the ramp between sets, and it was time to return, stopping for Bulgarians and calf raises and an abbreviated Mary.

    COT, with prayers for JV’s flight test today (he passed!). Thanks Russo and Jose for the laughs, the conversations, the push – appreciate you both.

  • DR + FNG FTW – from Russo

    Oh Jose, you know not of what you speak. Up until around 5:28 today, you would have been right. After Thanksgiving…Cold-ish for mere mortals…some rumored Turkey day double postings. Who could blame anyone for fartsacking and leaving me sad clown. I knew I’d have to begin working off the extra pounds, so with Pelican resting up, I started slaloming the columns and doing some pilot house climbs.

    The Pad has been decked out in its Christmas best sparkles and tinsel for a week or so, but today I spotted something new: an 8 foot tall light-up snowman on the stage (We have a stage). My mind immediately thought “Get a selfie with it, and post it saying something like ‘we had a downrange poster’”.

    Alas, that was not needed, because out of the dark I see an F3 shirt. It was Houston’s Einstein. And he brought an FNG. The 4 leaf clover-type rarity: A downrange post with an FNG in tow. I love ya, HogsBreath, but that beats a semi-regular dirty ‘Dell post any day of the week.

    Regardless, it was in the 40s as we went a little long because of the late start.

    Warmups (IC 10x)
    – SSHs
    – Self love
    – High knees
    – Toe touches
    – Imperial walkers
    – Arm circles

    Thang
    Ye olde tried and true deck of death, using the bus stop and stage as changes of scenery:

    Spades – urkins
    Clubs – step ups
    Diamonds – freak nastys
    Hearts – gas pumps

    Spades – Peter Parker’s
    Clubs – shoulder tap plank jacks (2 is 1)
    Diamonds – lunges (2 is 1)
    Hearts – leg raises

    Spades – Carolina drydocks
    Clubs – Monkey Humpers
    Diamonds – SMCs
    Hearts – heels to heaven

    No Mary to speak of, but we did finish with COT, NOR, and quick prayer. Welcome FNG Coachella (who is a Mandevillian), and word is Einstein will join us for Bird’s birdday party tomorrow.

    SYITG

  • Tunnel of Love: Nope, the Ladder of Hate – from Jose10k

    Muscle memory had me up early this morning, so YHC ran 2 miles before the beatdown. Of course there was music, classic soundtrack from American Pie inspired me to dance before the warm-up. It amused the guys.
    Simple warm-up- then to the tunnel……To the tunnel, are ya’ll crazy? Jose doesn’t do the tunnel. We moseyed to the outside of the stage where we were joined by an out of town visitor: Drillbit. Here is where we started the thang: Ladder Time. 10 reps of sumo squats, then run to the stairs, up the stairs, and back to the beginning. 10 more sumo squats and 10 lunges, run up and down the stairs again. Sumo squats, lunges, monkey humpers, dirkings, freak nasties, stone mountains, burpees, big boy sit ups, crunches, American Hammers, Penguins, and flutter kicks. Great mumble chatter and some grumble grumble. COT with Russo praying us out for safe travels for DrillBit and all those traveling for the Holidays. Thanks for letting me lead/reading this backblast if it posts….SYITGhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq8dCkkhYsk

  • I Have No Answer at the Moment – from Bushwacker

    The Todd boys pulled up with 5 minutes to spare, and poured out of the swagger-wagon to see the flag blowing in the chilly breeze of the gloom, not a single man standing in its shadow. Shooter and Zoolander were off hunting, José woke with a migraine and wouldn’t be posting, but Steve and Waterpik jogged up, completing the prethang. There we few stood judging all the F3 Northshore world for their wussification in the face of 40° weather, when, as we should have known, the lakefront started getting more crowded with PAX coming in from every angle!

    WARMORAMA

    X10 IC:
    SSH, Good Mornings, Torso Twists, Toe Touches, Windmills, Self Love

    THANG

    Starting at the flag, x5 OYO: Burpees, Sister Mary Katherine’s (1is1), Big Boy Sit Ups, Freak Nasties, Jump Squats

    Mosey westward and at each street increase reps by 5 (Lafitte x10, Carroll x15, Coffee x20, Adair x25), and return, decreasing reps by 5.

    Indian (Indigenous?) Run from flag, around Noah’s Ark and back

    MARY

    IC x20 Flutter Kicks
    OYO 100 100s

    COT
    Hammer joined us just in time, and we even had a Cowbell sighting. Count, Name, True Coat prayed us out.

    It was a tough one, and QIC was impressed and proud to be leading these guys. T Claps to Swoll Patrol for giving everything he had, plus some he didn’t even realize he could!

    SYITG

  • Bleeping Walls of Jericho, VQ – from Ballz Deep

    As the light dappled across lake Ponchartrain, it was clear in @Chewy’s eyes he regretted posting. In fact, on this day, @Ballz Deep’s VQ, I think he regretted EH’ing me 9ish months ago.

    Arm circlesx10forward/x10backward, hillbilly walkersx10, ass grabbersx10 (thanks @Jose 10K I need to practice that Exicon!), windmillsx10, and side straddle hopsx25 for the warmup. I empathize with @Brexit, as English is his second language, in learning cadence. That stuff is hard!!

    Mosey’d to The Shaft, where accelerated fitness awaited us.

    Main Workout: Shuttle Run “bleep test” and Wall of Jericho.

    Shuttle Run level + Wall of Jericho had to equal 12. i.e. – level 5 shuttle run finish, leaves you with 7 rounds of the Wall of Jericho workout. Wall of Jericho (7 exercises of 7 reps +1 lap around cones and The Shaft) were Plank Jacks, SMKs (2 is 1), Burpees, Air Squats, Mountain Climbers (2 is 1), American Twists (2 is 1), and Flutter Kicks (2 is 1).
    A round of 7s (mtn climbers and flutter kicks) plus Indian Run and a plank-0-rama closed us out.

    Chance, Buttsplice’s nephew, joined us! FNG named WetSocks, for his astounding ability to run from the Shaft to Homebase in a pair of socks.

    P.S – I believe I’m forgetting the 16th PAX. I’m sorry. Reply if you remember, and I’ll edit/add you.

    SYITG!

  • Lib-Tards ASSEMBLE! – from Bushwacker

    So I was trying to keep up with Russo all morning. I really thought I had him for a while there. I thought there was no way he could beat me. I was wrong. In fact, I was foolish to think that I was ever in competition with one of the princes of the F3 sweat kingdom!

    WARMORAMA

    X10 IC: SSH, TRUE Abe Vigotas (Mr. Shooter;), IWs, Torso Twists, LRCs

    THANG

    Being we three, 1 man did cumulative 100 SMKs (1is1), 200 Monkey Humpers, 300 SSHs
    Meanwhile, in a rotating fashion amongst the three amigos, 2 men slalomed the columns, ran up the stairs and returned.

    Mosey to bus stop for:
    X10 IC: Hop Overs, Freak Nasties, Derkins

    Mosey to Tunnel where, in mirror image of the 1st routine, two men performed rounds of Freddy Mercurys and American Hammers while each man individually ran down the ramp, did 3 Burpees, Bear Crawled up the opposite ramp, did 3 SSHs, backwards ran back down the ramp, then turned and ran up the ramp to the start.

    No Mary, as we squeezed all the juice (and sweat) out of the 45 minute beatdown. And being a good steward of our time together, QIC landed the plane just in time for COT

    COT
    Count, name, Steve prayed us out in an inspired fashion that likely impressed the Bible Study out of Russo, with intentions for Jose, Katie, and her family in their trials.

    I’m sorry to have missed Pelican, though I suspect some conspiracy to avoid a Splashpad that would demand a pound of flesh (or sweat), but I appreciate getting in the trenches with the Shmedium Wacker and my fellow Raider. Until next time, gents…..

    SYITG

  • Election Interference – from Steve

    Well, the day has finally come. Would Tank make it through this final stretch without having an aneurysm or a heart attack? Quinnipiac polls had it at 50-50 odds. But of course we all knew that if the 100 miler or the Beast or the 2 Murphs a day couldn’t kill him, this election was also unlikely to.

    But not everything went smoothly yesterday – over at Granny’s we had some election interference with an unregistered voter named “Excitebike” attempting to cast a vote outside his district (and state!). Apparently, Excitebike (who could provide no proper identification), is in the process of Northshore naturalization and, after a pending move from Katy, TX within the next year, we will be seeing a lot more of him. So of course Granny welcomed him with open arms and we took off for the polling booths scattered down Girod Street towards the lake.

    Add an exercise at each intersection for two short ladders:

    R – Ranger Merkins x10
    E – E2K x20 (2:1)
    P – Peter Parkers x30

    D – Donkey Kicks x10
    E – E2K x20 (2:1)
    M – Merkins x30

    Once at the lake we did some sea wall business (Bulgarians, Freaks, Step Downs, etc.) and then over to Rips for some stair business (climb the stairs 4x skipping steps, calf raises), until finally it was time to head back for our last ladder:

    I – Iron Mikes x10 (2:1)
    N – Never Cross Dolly x20
    D – Derkin x30

    The remaining 3 intersections were simply stops for merkins cuz… well, ‘Merica.

    Back at the flag, we made sure there were no chads left hanging, as we closed it out with a quick Mary and COT. Russo took us out with prayers for healing our country and especially prayers for Jose and his family as they deal with the loss of Katie’s mom.

    Welcome Excotebike, looking forward to more posts with you, brother. As always, appreciate the opportunity to lead and to get better out there with you gentlemen.

  • Taylor Swift’s Rhythm Nation Halloween Spectacular (with special guest Brooks and Dunn) – as edited by Steve – from Russo

    About 65 degrees to start. It’s amazing what conversations can be had early on a Tuesday, all started with the simple “How was your weekend?” It takes me a while to warmup the motormouth, and I’m not the best at small talk, but once the motor revs it’s tough to slow down.

    Great conversation throughout revolving around T Swift and other concerts, Oscar-worthy film editing, boring desk jobs, bizarro beatdowns at the ‘Pad, and other minutia that kept things fun.

    Warmup – all 10x IC
    Seal jacks
    Toe touches
    Self love
    Imperial walkers

    Thang
    Mosey to the bridge, with 10 merkins and leg raises interspersed.

    At the bridge

    10 on each side, either wide merkins and flutter kicks, or Peter Parker’s and Rosalita’s, with alternating side shuffles, backpedals, mosey, or cariocas from one side of the bridge to the other.

    COT, Name-o-Rama, Announcements (Jose needs a Turkey trot compatriot), Prayer, in that order.

    Splice had Saturday lakefront Q, YHC has Splashpad Friday Q, and Halloween is somewhere in there.

    SYITG