F3 New Orleans

Tag: Steve

  • The Land of the Midnight Sun – from Steve

    Jose has returned! Well, technically he was already on his third beatdown of the week (ok, as of this writing, his fourth), but for the Covington crew it was his grand homecoming. And he returned with tales of a mythical land where the sun never sets, the summer temps never hit the 60’s, and F3 doesn’t exist. Though that’s not entirely true since Jose brought the F3 with him: apparently he roped some poor bastard into doing 100 burpees / absolutions with him each day. This man never stops.

    Brief warmorama, starting in a slow Gipper-cadence and then gently ramping up.

    Then off to the rear of the Justice Center for a brief fling with Jane Fonda. We hit all three stages of Jane today (straight Janes, pulses, heel-to-knees), all at 15x IC, each leg.

    Then looped around to the front of the JC for the main event – a series of 11’s between the courtyard benches.

    Started off with the chest/shoulders: Derkins on one end, bear crawl across the courtyard to the opposite set of benches for freak nasties.

    It seemed fitting that Jose would endure this one round and then have to leave for work, as he was the only Pax present to also have posted for Shooter’s brutal shoulder beatdown Tuesday, and Hammer’s brutal shoulder beatdown Monday. (YHC was reprimanded with a: “This is why you guys need to start writing backblasts!”)

    Next set of 11’s were Bulgarians (2:1), lunge walk to opposite end, Step Ups (2:1).

    Didn’t get to the core round, which was just as well since, really, what’s the point of crab walking when Legal isn’t there to show off.

    Finally, an old Maverick classic – reverse bear crawl (or crawl bear, as the kids call it) up the courthouse steps. Followed by some calf raises, and back to the flag for an abbreviated Mary.

    COT with announcement of Duke of Hazards’ VQ this Saturday! (Moby’s response: “Some $#%@& kid in diapers telling me to do 1000 burpees….”). Then we checked BBQ’s hat-o-meter only to see that the sweat lines weren’t quite up to last week’s beatdown (though still hot enough that ol’ Sonny gave the warm air one sniff before thinking, “Nah…” and settling back into Moby’s truck).

    And finally BBQ prayed us out. Prayers for BBQ’s niece’s son, ten-year-old Charlie, who is going through a very tough time as he awaits a kidney transplant. And as always, thanks for this great group of men and the opportunity to lead.

  • That Ain’t The Way To Have Fun, No – from Steve

    With Jose away, the Pax will play – we took a break from the Purple Rain and dove into some Purple Haze on this hot and humid gloom, sweating it out to some 70’s classics (Yes, YHC had to adjust the playlist decade for the Covington crew, which skews slightly older – one day Pickaxe will hopefully be doing the same for me cuz I ain’t working out to no Drake!)

    Partnered up at the back of the Justice Center for some 100’s (not the Bushwacker kind): 100 cumulative reps of the following exercises (P1), with P2 running up the courthouse steps and doing 1 Bobby Hurley (temporarily renamed Caitlin Clarks by BBQ) before returning to pick up where P1 left off.

    Squats
    Merkins
    Lunges (2:1)
    Boxcutters
    Freak Nasties
    Alternating Step Ups
    Apollo Ohnos (2:1)
    T-Merkins
    Monkey Humpers
    Flutter Kicks
    Plank Jacks
    Rosalitas
    Crunchy Frogs
    Burpees

    Yes, I purposefully buried the burpees with the hopes that we wouldn’t get to them, which worked. Unfortunately, we did get to the T-Merkins, which gave some of the Pax PTSD from Pik’s H8! this past Saturday.

    Wrapped it up on the Monkey Humper round – knocked out 40 together before heading back to the flag. BBQ noted that starting with Randy Newman’s Mama Told Me Not to Come was just as appropriate as wrapping things up with The Allman Brothers’ Whipping Post. Touché.

    Speaking of BBQ, we checked his hat-o-meter sweat lines at the end of the workout (as has been tradition the last few times I’ve posted) and he surmised this beatdown was one of the top three most sweat-inducing. And while I’d love to take credit for such an achievement, I think if he just laid on the concrete in front of the courthouse he’d probably have sweat just as much.

    Moby also then provided a profanity-laced PSA about heat stroke, which is indeed a good reminder for all of us: Don’t be a %#@*$ idiot and mess around with that shit, get yourself some %#@*$ water. Yes sir! (Respect, respect, respect.)

    Oh, and it’s unanimous – go watch Your Honor!

    COT and Fletch prayed us out with much needed prayers for world peace. Always a pleasure and an honor to be out there with you guys!

  • Can You Follow Instructions? – from Steve

    With Chewy calling in for a replacement Q the night before and Russo’s Altima nowhere in sight, YHC was pretty confident it’d be a solo beatdown.

    But that’s why you never bet against Russo, who pulled in shortly thereafter, barefoot but with shoes in hand, ready to rock. (The shoe-less drive, FYI, is not an uncommon thing – both Hammer and Bush have done this a few times as well.)

    YHC was happy to be the Q because I wanted something mellow today. So kept things simple, with a mosey to the lake, stopping at each intersection to add an exercise and ladder up:

    5 jump squats
    10 lunges
    15 merkins
    20 gas pumps
    25 shoulder taps
    30 flutters IC

    Along the way, we discussed the Olympics, drag queens, homeschooling, and the instructions test. Anyone remember that? Teacher gives you a list of instructions to follow, and basically the last one negates 90% of them, so then you look like an idiot if you did all 18 things on the list? Well, Russo and I both admitted to being that guy (but hey, that would be no surprise to my wife).

    At the lake, we worked in some Bulgarians and freak nasties (as is customary), and followed that up with another lake tradition, 5x calf raises up each step.

    Hit the road back to Granny’s with 10 merkins at each stop to get our merkin total up to 100, and closed it out with a little Mary.

    COT and Russo prayed us out. As always, thanks for the post and the camaraderie – appreciate you brother!

  • Synchronizing Our Cycles – from Steve

    6 men ran
    5 miles, drinking
    4 coffees afterwards, discussing
    3 things,
    2 of which were the Olympics and womens’ cycles, and
    1 of which was the unnecessary trip to Acquistapace’s that has been saving marriages in Covington for decades.

  • There are beavers in my creek – from Russo

    Pax of 3 this morning, mid 70s throughout. With doctor’s orders to keep the running to a minimum, we did just that with a Tabata at the stage.

    Warmup (all 10x)
    – arm circles
    – High knees
    – Toe touches
    – Hillbillies
    – Torso twists
    – Self love

    Tabata (37 seconds on, 23 off)

    Merkins
    Monkey humpers
    LBCs
    Plank jacks
    Imperial squat walkers
    Scissor kicks
    Peter Parker’s
    Apollo Ohnos
    Gas pumps
    Cherry pickers
    High knees
    Penguins

    We tabata’d that circuit almost three full times, with a slalom and a trip up and down the pilot house between the rounds.

    Around the middle of round 2, Pelican updated us on the status of a recent purchase: there were indeed beavers in his creek. What sounded like a euphemism was indeed a true statement, so the next few minutes were a discussion of how to treat the furry creatures: friend, foe, or delicacy.

    How we pivoted almost immediately to Joe’s shoes, the benefits of rebates, cash payments, manager discounts, and the overbearing presence of the eponymous owner, was a thing of beauty and the sign of good mumblechatter.

    No Mary to speak of, but we did of course wrap with a circle, announcements, and prayer. A special intention lifted up for a coworker’s family, and I’m happy to report things seem to be ok there.

    Thank you gents for joining / reading. SYITG

  • The Name Fits – from Waterpik

    Speedy Gonzalez. Yep that’s right! When he shows up for the scramble, the average
    Minute per mile decreases drastically. As in today, where he and Steve ran the last mile of the weekly 5k at a brisk 7:00 per mile. To put it bluntly, the man can move.

    The rest of the Pax ran the lakefront route today 3.7 miles at 9:00 minute a mile pace.

    Ruckers and runners, we had both.

    SYITG

  • Deck of Death/Doom with Coupons – from Einstein

    After a quick warmup, we grabbed the rain soaked coupons (which included some heavy monsters that Jose10K gifted to The Gipper), we deployed the deck – round robin style – with each pax drawing a card and choosing an exercise. We performed the card number of reps using the coupons. Joker draws were a lap around the city water tower triangle.
    Everyone had a good sweat going.
    Steve prayed us out.

  • Small World Over at The A1C – from Steve

    Small world when our downrange visitor from Lake Charles, X-Ray, not only knew Jose’s better half, but (much to Jose’s dismay) had actually spoken to her just yesterday.

    Also slightly awkward was when this conversation started, Jose had a hard time remembering Katie’s maiden name. But I guess to be fair, who the hell even remembers Jose’s maiden name? (Jose Mourinho, anyone?)

    Anyway, nice mild weather for a nice mild coupon beatdown this morning. Though initially YHC had a Bushwacker-esque time explaining how each round would work, we did eventually figure it out and Moby was thankful for the wasted time.

    4 sets of Squat thrusters x20
    Jump rope
    Merkins
    Big Boys
    Lunges

    After each round, backpedal the ramp and 10 burpees up top.

    Next round, replace squat thrusters with 4 sets of curls, and after that round, chest presses.

    Time snuck up on me quickly today, so we bailed on the next 5(!) rounds and headed up top for some Mary. 50 leg raises (of course) and some other stuff, then COT and BBQ took us out.

    And finally, what better way to send Jose out into the Alaskan wilderness than by a little singing. Startling YHC a little, Moby, BBQ, and Jose suddenly broke out into their own favorite classic country tunes (all at the same time, all different songs, mind you) forming a jangly, discordant racket that would’ve made Willie himself turn over in his grave. (Oh wait, Willie is still with us??)

    Trucoat’s got some flicker ball (or soccer?) in store for you tomorrow, or you have an alternate beatdown at the Marsh with the injured Manny and Bird. Choose your own adventure. And while I feel a certain shame in abandoning my Splashpad brother Russo this morning, it was certainly a pleasure being back at the A1C with their great crew and their great sunrise views. And welcome X-Ray! Hope to see you in the gloom again sometime soon. Jose, we’ll miss you brother – enjoy the trip and catch you in 3 weeks.

  • Come early come late the PAX will be there.. – from Shooter

    YHC arrived with Hammer, Steve and Ballz Deep well underway knocking out some ISI Burpees before the 0500 Spartan training.
    Hammer led us through a brief warmup and then 15 mins of rifle carry, disc carry, pull-ups, hangs, knee ups and Burpees. Russo, Waterpik and Akbar arrived so the time came to get them warmed up and ready for the streets of Mandeville.. After Cherry pickers, selflove 90, wide grass grabbers, Toe Touches, butt kicks, high knees, Abe Vogdas and seal jacks.
    As we were ready to start, Chewy turns the corner to join Russo and Akbar to go rucking..
    Normal route with 2x loop and 20 out 20 back.
    Waterpik, Steve and YHC set a comfortable pace throughout, while Hammer and Ballz Deep ran and stopped every 5 mins for 10 Burpees. Returned to the AO and closed with LBCs holding to 10, flutter kicks to 10 then hold for 10 around the group for 2x. Min plank closing with 10 OYO pickle pounders..

    Announcements, intentions and COT..

    Appreciate the post and until the next Gloom 👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼!!!

  • Blame Zoo – from Steve

    That was the refrain of the day after YHC called out, “Let’s get started,” and was met with a collective groan. Look, YHC isn’t even in the top 3 of the toughest Northshore Q’s (think Grundy, Hammer, hell, even Pickaxe/Chainsaw could give me a run for my money). Also, just personal philosophy here, but YHC believes we don’t need to be gutting it out every day during the week. Sometimes a simple four corners with some merkins and squats will suffice. Especially in this heat.

    However…

    There were burpees and Sister Mary’s to contend with if you happen to be a Spartaner participating in Zoo’s ISI challenge. And these gems (which otherwise would never have found their way into today’s beatdown, obviously) would unfortunately have to be passed along to the pax.

    The usual warmorama saw a little excitement when BBQ dared to poke the bear during torso twists, saying, “Now THAT is how you count torso twists. Some guys – not naming names (ahem, Jose 10k), just rush through it.”

    That was all it took – you could see the fire light in Jose’s eyes: “Oh, wait – hold up – you wanna talk cadence counting with me, BBQ?!?” The mocking began and eventually devolved into another gesture of self-love (not the warmorama kind) directed at BBQ. BBQ took his licks before YHC moved it along – nothing to see here.

    20x burpees, OYO. (“Zoo’s fault, not mine.”)

    Mosey over to the back of the Justice Center for some leg work:

    Round 1:
    20x squats
    20x lunge pulse left leg (SMK’s if needed)
    20x lunge pulse right leg (SMK’s if needed)
    20x mountain climbers (2:1)

    High knees run to the stairs, 5x calf raises up each step, mosey perimeter back to start.

    10x burpees to reset round (Again, blame Zoo.)

    Round 2:
    20x alt leg lunges
    20x monkey humpers IC (timed perfectly for a courthouse employee who made a very wide berth around us, though YHC had a hard time reading her side-eye of Moby, which seemed to be a mixture of lewd desire and also revulsion.)
    20x Apollo Ohno’s
    20x plank jacks

    High knees, calf raises, back to start. 10x burpees

    Round 3:
    20x Bobby Hurley’s
    20x star jumps
    20x smurf jacks
    20x Peter Parker’s

    And more high knees, calf raises, burpees.

    Amidst all the leg work we got to hear about Legal’s son’s pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago, all 700+ km of it over the course of 39 days. Apparently, it was “life changing.” But then again, Legal says that to his son, everything falls into one of three categories: awesome, incredible, life-changing. Ahh the sunny optimism of youth. There was none of that to be found here at the Gipper – sunny optimism or youth – as we listened to Moby grunting and muttering f-bombs (presumably directed at YHC).

    Over to the benches for a quick set of 11’s: Freak Nasties, up to the top of the stairs, to merkins. Halfway thru we modified to Moby-style (no running), which was more brutal but helped with timing.

    Back to the flag in time for a quick one minute plank (again, Zoo’s fault), and then COT where Einstein prayed us out, with thanks and healthy wishes for the Pax’s new grandchildren (congrats BBQ and Einstein!). As always, it was a pleasure to be amongst the fine (and refined) gentlemen of Covington – seriously, you guys are a great crew. Every time I make it out there, it motivates me to come more often.