F3 New Orleans

Tag: Snooze

  • No Peace Without War

    Like many of you, I’ve taken to reading and following David Goggins, whose story is both inspirational and at times, crushingly real. I won’t spoil any of it – the book is well worth the 20 bucks.

    One of Goggins’ guiding principles is the concept of going to war with yourself on a daily basis. He believes in challenging yourself, putting yourself in uncomfortable or impossible positions where you’ll be forced to make a decision to either quit or push through. Only by choosing to accept and push through the pain does real growth occur. This of course turns out to be a metaphor for life, where our ability to handle the difficult, the uncomfortable and the stuff no one else can do leads to true fulfillment.

    Today, as we set out on absolutely perfect morning, greeted by a breeze, temperatures in the 70’s, and a perfect sunrise, I borrowed some words of encouragement from his book. It’s only by giving more than we thought we had when we got there this morning that we grow. I think we all lived up to that today.

    Quick warmup of SSH, Hill Billies, Arm Circles and Mountain climbers, followed by a brisk run (thanks Catfish) to the base of the intersection.

    Once we arrived we partnered up for some 1. AMRAP Mary (to give the shoulders a break from Iron Pax) 2. sprints up and mosey down the levee.

    Once complete, we lined up for an Indian Run down the levee. Swept the 6, turned back for a Bataan Death March all the way back. As we got close, everyone was instructed to drop for burpees and sprint it out.

    We swept the 6 and headed back to the flag for some burpees to seal the deal as the clock struck 6:15. Moment of silence to focus on thankfulness for the present and how we could help others today. Surge led us out with the prayer for generosity.

  • Surprise…cinder blocks!

    When the opportunity arose to step up and take the Q on Friday I jumped on it. I had signed up a bunch of Pax to Q a while back and was waiting my turn to stock the new AO with some cinder blocks! I stopped at Lowe’s on my way home from work on Thursday night and bought 12. My little Audi A4 had a hard time making it up Wisner Mountain with all the extra weight in the trunk! Even got some gloves because I figured the pax wouldn’t be ready for this.

    The thang

    Five pax showed up on this wet morning. We moseyed towards Wisner Mountain but pulled off in the grass to do a little warm up. There was some mummblecatter about how Catfish would not have approved on the length of the grass.

    Hillbillies x 20

    Grass Grabbers x 10

    Peter Parkers x 20

    We moseyed on to the base of the mountain. Started things out with 10 burpees before heading up. At the top of the mountain exercises were:

    Decline Merkins x 15

    Low Slow Squats x 15

    Merkins x 15

    Moseyed to the other side of the mountain and around the road underneath the bridge. I had seen what looked like to me a whole bunch of pull up bars. To the not F3 person these were just the beams that held up the bridge. We congregated here for 10 pull-ups OYO. We then started to mosey back to the base of the mountain when we stumbled upon these 12 cinderblocks under the bridge! There was conveniently 5 pairs of gloves to hold these cinderblocks with! We each grabbed a cinderblock and headed to the base of the mountain. Exercise that followed was quite painful:

    Ascending Manmakers up the mountain. At every other line we did a manmaker but increased the block press each time (kinda like Jack Webbs). First line, one manmaker plus two block presses

    Second line, two manmakers plus four block presses

    And so on, all the way up to ten manmakers plus twenty block presses.

    Needless to say we needed a breather after this. We walked our blocks back down to the base of the mountain. Next, we did squats with our blocks up the mountain in the same ascending fashion:

    First line, one squat

    Second line, two squats

    Third line, three squats… all the way up.

    Time was running out so we walked our blocks back to their storing place and moseyed back over the mountain all the way to the pavillion.

    Circled up for count off, namorama, announcements, and prayer.

    Intense workout, good company.

    Appreciate the opportunity to lead.

    The AO is stocked with 12 blocks if anyone is interested in using them for any future Q’s!

  • Broken Metronome @Mothership

    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.

  • D.B.B’s (Decline Bridge Burpees)

    Gentlemen,

    Today ‘twas my first Q since sometime earlier this year. Apparently having a 3rd child during a global pandemic can be a bit cumbersome, but fortunately I’m back in the proverbial saddle and back out in the gloom attending some beatdowns with the boys. To get things kicked off, we did a warmup:

    Warmup:

    • Side straddle hops – 25 in cadence
    • Mountain climbers – 25 in cadence
    • Windmills – 10 in slow cadence
    • Arm circles – 10 forward, 10 backward in cadence
    • Grass grabbers – 15 in cadence

    The Thang:

    Next, we mosey’d over to Wisner Mountain. At the base of the mountain, we partnered up and then we sprinted at 85% to the top of the bridge. Once at the top, we rotated some exercise as follows:

    • Dirkins – 25 count
    • Box cutters – 25 count
    • Low slow squats – 25 count

    Then, we mosey’d down the other side of the bride and did the following:

    • High/Middle/Low push ups – till arms got tired
    • 1 legged squats – 15 per leg
    • Calf raises – 25 cadence count
    • Dying cockroaches – 25 cadence count
    • LBC’s – 25 cadence count
    • Merkins using the bridge to hold up our feet – 25 in cadence

    After that, we hit another sprint at 85% back to the top of the bridge. Once at the top, we did D.B.B.’s (Decline Bridge Burpees) all the way down the back side of the bridge. At each new slab of concrete, we stopped and did a burpee. I obviously didn’t do a great job of counting the concrete slabs on my initial sprint up the bridge because I thought this would equate to around 15 burpees or so. But by the time we got to the bottom, I would estimate that we each did between 30-40 burpees on the way down the bridge. One theory on how my burpee estimate was so off is that on our first trip up the bridge, we were sprinting so fast that it was physically impossible for any human to accurately count the number of concrete slabs on the bridge. Tool was next to me while sprinting, so he may be able to verify if this was indeed the case.

    In any event, after finishing the burpees, we took a brief stretch break and then mosey’d back to the flag. Once there, we did the count-off, name-o-rama, announcements & prayer. We also had an FNG out in the gloom with us this day. Roots brought a pal of his out there named Jake. Jake was wearing a red shirt, and somehow or another someone ended up calling him Jake from State Farm at some point, so after a little banter we decided to name him ‘khakis’ referencing the fella named Jake who is wearing khakis in those State Farm commercials. Thanks for the opportunity to lead, guys. Felt great to get back out there and lead a beatdown again.  

  • Stomp #260 – Barefoot and Barechested

    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.  

    Good stuff, great way to start the day. 
    -Tool 

  • 76’s

    I was on the drive home from Florida when I realized that I had the Q on Monday morning for swolefest. I had a lot on my mind as I was thinking about my dad and who he was and what he meant to me. I wanted to offer a solid beatdown and show honor to my father through the things that he taught me throughout his life. My dad lost his struggle with cancer on January 22, 2017 after a 20 year fight. Yesterday, August 9th, would have been his 76th birthday…

    FOURTEEN pax showed up for the beatdown. It was good to see a number of guys getting back out after a long hiatus. I was pleased to see Breadsticks, especially since I had just eaten at Vincent’s last Thursday for my birthday. After the normal F3 disclaimer, I informed the group that the beatdown would be inspired by my late father.

    I also had to give a disclaimer that we would not be running or doing much lower body since I have a torn meniscus in both of my knees. And without further ado we were off. Started the warmup with sets of 20 which represented the number of years that my dad fought cancer:

    Hillbillies x 20

    Wind Mills x 20

    Peter Parker x 20

    Parker Peter x 20

    Next, I informed the group that my dad’s name was Jack and that I had done some research on the lexicon last night to find some good “jack exercises”.

    In my three years of F3 I hadn’t come across these, Happy Jacks. Five count jumping jack in cadence followed by two jump squats. We did four rounds of 5 counts.

    My dad would have been 76 yesterday so I let everyone know to look out for that number. Some of the exercises would be difficult but if there was one thing that I remember about my dad was that he was a fighter. A lot of times you have to push through the struggle in order to get to the joy on the other side.

    We started the 76’s easy with plank jacks. All of the exercises would be done on your own so I let the pax know to go at their own pace:

    Plank Jacks x 76

    From there we got into a more difficult exercise, man maker merkins! I chose this exercise because it reminded me of the things my dad taught me about being a man. This was the highlight of the workout for me. The exercise starts with your block to your right while in merkin position. Perform one merkin then pull the block across the ground to the other side, perform another merkin, and pull it back to the right. One is one, all the way up to 76! There were some breaks in between but we all made it through.

    Next, we did curls. 76 reps OYO.

    My dad was an architect and a builder so we had to get some 8 count body builders in. We did them with the coupon, Catfish would have been proud! I intended to push for 76 but realized that was not realistic about 10 reps in. We made it to 30.

    I could tell that we were needing to give the upper body a break so next we went to goblet squats, 76 reps OYO.

    Finally, had to get one more jack exercise in and multiple pax knew it was coming, Jack Webbs…actually, Block Webbs!

    We changed the count to one merkin and one block press. We aimed for 10. On the 9th round I began to feel nauseous. I thought for a moment that maybe we would stop at 9 but got encouragement from the group to push through to 10. We did it!

    When I stood up I felt like I was going to pass out. There were just about 5 minutes left in the workout but it was that bad. I had visions of Holy Grove passing out of dehydration at WPM and knew that I had to get some water. I told High Rise to lead the group in some Mary to finish things up. Tool followed me to my car to make sure I was alright. I took a sip of water but still felt like I was going to pass out. I sat down, another sip, still nauseous. Finally, I laid on the ground. I was there for about 30 seconds then miraculously felt instantly better. Took another sip of water and walked back over. I was able to finish the last two Mary exercises with the group.

    So thankful for F3 and for the group of guys that were out this morning! F3 has meant so much to me over the years. My attitude has suffered over the last month or so that I have been out dealing with the torn meniscus. That’s why I keep pushing to go out even though I know that I should be resting. F3 gives me resilience throughout each day to push through the difficult parts of life.

    You know, you get that part every morning that you post. There is always someone there pushing you to finish strong and I really appreciate that. But this morning I experienced what makes F3 so special. It’s not every morning that you push yourself to the brink of exhaustion both emotionally and physically but that was the case this morning. I am forever grateful to have my health and to know that if I fall that there is someone there to help me up. It reminded me of the verse in Ecclesiastes 4:10 that goes like this:

    “For if they fall, one will lift up his brother. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!”

    Thank you Tool for looking out and thank you brothers for pushing me every day to be stronger and thank you dad for being such a good father to me and showing me what its like to be a good man. I miss you dearly.

    Thankful for the opportunity to lead!

  • RED Friday at Wisner Mountain

    5 Patriots arrived at City Park for a RED Friday workout. The real disclaimer today is that the workout was devised by @Boo-Boo, and we just completed it at City Park. Thank you for the workout @Boo-Boo, and reminding us to remember and honor our servicemen and servicewomen around the world.

    And welcome back, Ya Mom’n’Dem!

    The workout today is in honor of 9 men and women who died in a military training exercise on 7/27/20. 9 exercises for 9 fallen soldiers, 27 reps each. As we felt the burn, we tried to remember the pain (physical, emotional, psychological) that American soldiers endure as they fight for and protect our Freedom around the world.

    Warm-up COP: SSH x 20 IC, IW x 20 IC, Arm Circles 10 forwards 10 backwards, Grass Grabbers x 10 IC, Windmills x 10 IC, MC x 10 IC.

    We moseyed to Wisner Mountain for Tha Thang: 9 exercises for 9 fallen soldiers, exercises at the top and each side of the mountain, 27 reps each in cadence in honor of the day of their passing.

    Merkins, Squats, Flutter Kicks, Lunges, Dips, Hello Dolly, Shoulder Taps, LBC’s, and Low Slow Squats.

    We moseyed back to the Pavillion for 10 Pull-ups and 1 minute of Plank-o-rama. Count-off, name-o-rama, intentions, and a prayer. Thank you to all of servicemen and servicewomen around the world for protecting our Freedom.

    Walleye

  • Jinglefishes (Mothership 2020-08-08)

    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).

    Back to flag for COT.

  • Pull ups? Oh yeah, pull ups!

    It had been a while since I had done a beatdown involving pull ups. The more I thought about it I had not done a pull up since the Murph Memorial Day Beatdown. And prior to that it had been since the Covid shutdowns began. So I really felt like doing some pull ups. Well it just so happened I was the Q. So guess what exercise I included today?

    Warm up

    Mosey over to the parking lot adjacent to the track and circle up.

    • SSH x 20 IC
    • Windmills x 10 IC
    • Grass grabbers x 15 IC
    • Arm circle x 10 Fwd/rev each IC
    • Self love x 15 IC
    • Hillbillies x 15 IC
    • Mountain climbers x 20 IC

    Next up we performed an Indian Run down the street to the foundry. Sweep the 6. Leave no man behind.

    Tha Thang:

    It’s Tabata time! I wanted to incorporate a beatdown that addressed all major muscle groups. With a little help from some Youtube workouts I found 10 exercises I wanted to complete. 25/10 Tabata timer was set for 5 stations.

    Round 1:

    • Pull ups
    • Dips
    • Rotational merkins
    • Bulgarian split squat
    • Hamstring RDL

    Rinse and repeat

    Round 2:

    • Human pullovers
    • Inverted chin curl
    • Long leg bridge
    • Derkins
    • W’s

    Rinse and repeat

    Mosey back to the virtual flag. Sweep the 6. Plank for over 1 minute until 6:15.

    Countoff, name-o-rama, annoucements, intentions, physically distanced COT.

  • Sprinting on Wisner Mountain

    A hot but not so muggy morning presented me with another opportunity to Q. Over the last several weeks we have done some interesting beatdowns involving the Wisner overpass. I thought I’d try something different today. Kuch and Snooze joined me by the festival grounds for a change of pace.

    Warm up:

    Mosey around the parking lot and circle up.

    • SSH x 20 IC
    • Windmill x 10 IC
    • Grassgrabbers x 15 IC
    • Standing quad stretch each leg x ~30 seconds
    • Mountain climbers x 20 IC
    • Walking Frankenstein kicks through the parking lot

    After the warm up we moseyed over a portion of the trail surrounding the festival grounds on the way to the base of Wisner Mountain. From here, for research purposes, we moseyed up and over the mountain at a steady pace which took ~3 min (I’ll bank that knowledge and use it at a later date).

    From here we would work on some sprint intervals.

    • Sprint to the first expansion joint, recovery walk back to the start
    • Sprint to the second expansion joint, recovery walk back to the start
    • Sprint to the apex of the mountain, continue recovery walking to the other side

    Following a brief rest the running resumed

    • Mosey up the mountain and sprint the decline to the bottom of the other side
    • Sprint to the apex of the mountain, recovery walk to the bottom on the other side
    • Mosey back to the playground

    A round of round robin Mary commenced. Count off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and physically distances COT. Thanks for the change to once again lead. God bless.