F3 New Orleans

Tag: The Pelican

  • Self EH Strikes Again! – from Bushwacker

    QIC knows that Russo and Pelican have their sweetheart love-fest many a Friday at The Splashpad, usually with more mumblechatter than work and sticking to a narrow range of politically conspiratorial topics of conversation. But it happened that Wacker had plans to crash their party with a little Rinso Repeato!

    WARMORAMA

    X10 IC: SSH, etc, etc.

    THANG

    X10 IC:
    Merkins
    Squats (alt Slow Squats)
    Freak Nasties
    Alt Lunges

    10 laps up and down the stairs

    R&R

    MARY

    X10IC:
    Starting with Hammers, ending with 100 100s OYO with plenty in between

    COT

    Count/name, special intentions for Russo’s co-worker and Tank

    Great to see Pelican again, and always a pleasure to see the whimsical Russo. Until next time…SYITG

  • These Hands, They Look Like Good, Strong Hands (or: Are You Happy To See Me, Or Is That a Buck Moth In Your Pants?) – from Steve

    [*Again, a situation where YHC could use a GIF (hard g, soft g, doesn’t matter), for those who didn’t grow up with a luck dragon named Falkor, being chased through the swamps by The Nothing and a bad tempered, green-eyed wolf. And as for the buck moth in your pants, well, that’s not something we’re going to delve into here… file that as one of those had-to-be-there moments.]

    So. A fairly big (six!) crowd at the Pad this humid morning – and, incredibly, Bushwacker somehow simultaneously posted to both the Splashed and the A1C. He and his clone are working overtime this month to blow the lid off those Pax Miner charts.

    But – before Bush’s clone rolled in with a buck moth in his pants, and before any of the other guys rolled in – it was just Russo and some young woman with a knee brace knocking around a soccer ball. She kept suspiciously re-parking her car in various spots around the trailhead – maybe looking for some privacy? Unfortunately for her, on this particular day we happened to be bear crawling all around the trailhead, which proved slightly awkward when every now and then we’d turn a corner and catch a glimpse of her coming out of a thicket of bamboo with her ball. It was very bizarre, though I’m guessing she thought the same – seeing six men crawling up the corridor and down the street.

    And that, obviously, was the main order of the day – bear crawling. We started on the eastern-most end of the corridor, crawling the long straightaway first before stopping for:

    10x merkins
    10x slow squats
    10x Apollo ohno’s (2 is 1)
    10x star jumps

    More crawling, this time to the stage, and again the same 4 exercises. Then to the west end of the corridor, and yeah, you get the idea. We eventually found ourselves at the bus depot for the usual leg business:

    Step ups, freak nasties, step downs, freak nasties, Bulgarians, freak nasties, jump overs, freak nasties – all x12 IC.

    Bear crawling our way back to the start, we swapped out the initial 4 “rest” exercises for:

    10x big boy situps
    10x crunchy frogs
    10x american hammers (2 is 1)
    10x 100’s (4 is 1)

    This is when things started to get a little dicey and when YHC realized just how soft I’ve gotten lately – quite literally. I guess wearing gloves the last few years has made me a baby because my hands have been jacked up since that beatdown. I don’t know if it was the loose gravel or what, but I’ve got blisters all over them. And the big boys would’ve likely have added a flayed coccyx to the list of injuries (hmm, that does not sound right), but most of us wisely took to the grass for those.

    COT and Pelican prayed us out. Thank you gents for the camaraderie, the push, and the opportunity to get out there and get stronger alongside you. I appreciate you guys.

  • Growing Up with Throwing Stars & Brass Knuckles – from Steve

    YHC was so sure that no one would be posting at the Splashpad this Friday that I had a contingency plan for a solo beatdown, but no actual plan if someone were to show up.

    With Akbar waiting in the parking lot and Pelican coming in soon after, plans to head to the Marsh for a murph were scrapped and it was time to wing it.

    Usual warmorama proceeded by four corners: 5x kraken burpees, 10x lunges, and 15x big boys at each corner.

    This Friday’s topic of conversation was growing up in the late 80’s, those troublemaking friends you had that for some reason had throwing stars and knives and BB guns lying around their house and no parents in sight, and just how much of a leash you should give your kids nowadays so they can still make their mistakes and learn from them. (Poll revealed that despite the unlimited access to everything these days, our particular kids are all somehow more sheltered than we were at that age.)

    Next up, a stop by the Depot, where Step Downs are finally gaining some traction with the Pax (YHC heard Akbar complaining about them Saturday). Mix of the usual, step ups, Bulgarians, step downs, jump overs, calf raises, slow squats, x10-12 IC, punctuated by some freak nasties between sets.

    Head over to the trailhead steps for a set of 11’s – merkins at bottom, Sister Mary’s up top.

    Wrapped up with a quick Mary, COT, and Pelican prayed us out, reminding us to be thankful for the gift of forgiveness. Happy Easter gents.

  • Workin’ Our Legs, Workin’ Our Core, and Workin’ Our jaws – from Bushwacker

    Heading to bed, YHC noticed no Q for the Splash Pad. Sure that at least Russo, the Guardian of the Mandeville Trail Head would be there (plus a bonus in Pelican), Bushwacker was on the Q sheet. Around 40 degrees after what ( in February?!) may well be our last significant cold front, it was a brisk morning calling for some immediate thermogenesis.

    WARMORAMA

    QIC recalls starting with 10 IC High Knees and 10 Butt Kicks, but after that it’s all a bit fuzzy.

    THANG

    The PAX mosied down Girod towards the lake, stopping at the Rusty Pelican’s “waiting shelter” for some step ups, and probably 1 or 2 other exercises. What was really focused on during the mosey, as well as for a few minutes every time we stopped, was high level mumblechatter!

    Next was the book and the bean for some quick yoga with our coffee in the form of bungled, but effective Lizard’s Poses. The sea wall was the next stop, and honestly I don’t remember what we did other than more yapping.

    Returning up Lafitte, we paid homage to the out of town (though not out of work) hairdresser, and his lovely family with some Toure de Humpers!

    MARY

    Back to the trail head with 2 core exercises followed by an ever extended jog up the stairs and around ALL the columns,l etc, etc.

    COT

    Count and Name and Pelican prayed us out, and he and myself rounded out the miles for RCR

    Adieu Adieu to you and you and you…and merci beaucoup!

  • The Pelican Emerges from Anti-Hibernation aand The Wack is Back! – from Bushwacker

    After declaring 33 degrees too cold for his bones, our most recent south shore transplant (& from what I hear from The Duke potentially my future in-law) Quarter Pipe bowed out from Q at the Splash Pad. Fortunately the stars were aligned: my schedule allowed, Akbar stayed local, and Steve needed to redeem himself. All combined for the return of the Wack! BONUS: as the beatdown began in earnest, a set of headlights rounded the corner. No, it wasn’t Cowbell, but the recently-memorialized-by-Russo Pelican returned (Marsh was actual return) from his summer hibernation

    WARMORAMA

    x10-15 IC:
    SSH
    Windmills
    Imperial Walkers
    Fire Hydrants

    THANG (AKA WHACK ATTACK… last one I promise!)

    Mosey to the tunnel, and paired off. P1 ran down the tunnel, burpee in the middle, up the other side the returned running backward up the near side. P2 did the following:
    Burpees
    Squarts
    Hammers
    Plank

    Mosey back to the “flag” where the PAX switched for 2 rotations between 4 stations, 1 minute each:
    25lbs Farmer Carry across the great lawn and back
    25lb Prisoners Carry up and down the stairs
    SSH
    Freddy Mercs/Flutter Kicks

    COT

    No time for Mary, so count, name, and yours truly took us out with words of inspiration to send the PAX out into a day flush with potential.

    It was great to be back in the driver’s seat, and I greatly appreciate my brothers for hopping on the wacky bus with me once again in the gloom! (sorry, had to slip that last one in;)

  • Burn, Burn, Burn – from Akbar

    Wicket and I arrived home from the F3 Campout around 2pm, just in time to air everything out and start washing clothes, when some friends came over for a couple of hours. All of the sudden it was 6pm and YHC remembered he had the Q. During said camping trip, yours truly literally fell into a ring of fire (for about 2 seconds). Long enough to feel the burn, burn, burn. After it was clear that everything was OK, Whacker quickly said he would change my name to Johnny Cash. Knowing that mobility may be an issue, blocks were on the menu for today – with a burn.

    Warm up
    SSH, IW, Grass Grabbers, Self-Love, Butt Kicks IC x 15

    Thang
    Grab the coupons starting with 10 reps moving down the assembly line until all have finished, if you finish early plank for the 6.

    1. Grave Diggers
    2. Curls
    3. Shoulder Presses
    4. Skull Crushers
    5. Brick Flyes
    6. Renegade Row Merkin (20 lb Dbell)

    Jog down to the mailbox and back.

    QIC made a couple of changes since the Grave Diggers and Renegade Row Merkins took so much time, and took out the run. We did 5 more rounds, increasing reps along the way for 15, 20, 25, then decreased by 5 until time was called. After each round we bear Crawled to half court, skipped the rest of the way. Then Bear Crawl half, and backpedal.

    1. Curls
    2. Shoulder Presses
    3. Skull Crushers
    4. Brick Flyes
    5. Merkins

    Mary
    X 15IC Little Manny Crunches, LBC’s, Flutter Kicks, Hello Dolly

    Time called, Count, Name, and Hammer prayed us out.

    Thanks for showing up and following my lead.

    SYITG – Akbar

    NMM
    • Although it was in the 30’s, no dampness made it bearable.
    • Good to see Steve back out again at the Marsh.
    • The knee injury was laughable on some exercises – especially warm up – since I couldn’t lift my left leg above 5 inches.
    • Got to here about Hammers Eagles concert with his daughter, talked about camping, football, and a host of other things.

  • Winters last gasp – from Waterpik

    Cool temperatures greeted the PAX this morning out at mandeville city hall. We took the regular route today, then hit the Play ground equipment for some exercises such as Merkins slow squats Peter Parker‘s 100s crunchy frogs.
    T-claps to shooter for showing up And riding the bike with us despite having a bum ankle

  • Dreams Do Come True – A Tribute to MLK – from Akbar

    YHC arrived at the Marsh to a cool 32 degrees this morning. While Grover and I sat in the car for a pre-thang warm up, we were not the first to arrive. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a lone figure doing Burpees. At first I thought it was @Cowbell, since he left the only reply to my Pre-Blast about F2 after the beatdown. But no, it was none other than Russo. His Burpees were polished, in cadence, reminiscent of Mr. Miyagi’s flowing Crane kick. Alas, Cowbell did not show.

    Today we would celebrate Martin Luther King. A man with humble beginnings who had a dream that did come true.

    Warm Up: Grass Grabbers, Plank Jack, Self-Love, Big Arm Circles (front and back), Torso Twist IC x10-20

    Thang

    Modified Hero WOD for MLK based on events in his life.
    *The first 3 events, second exercise were 1 is 1; the rest of the second exercises were 2 is 1

    1929: Born in Atlanta

    19 Merkins 29 High Knees

    1944: King entered Moorehouse college at the age of 15. He would go on to receive a Bachelors in Divinity from Crozer Seminary and a Doctorate degree from Boston University’s School of Theology

    19 Freak Nasty’s 44 Randy’s (arms, up in field goal position, lower down and back up)

    1946: Atlanta Constitution publishes a letter to the editor from King stating black people should have same rights and opportunities as all American people

    19 Block Curls 46 Butt Kicks

    1955: The Montgomery Bus Boycott with Rosa Parks, King is thrown in jail for protesting

    19 Block Rows 55 Moroccan Night Clubs

    1956: US Supreme Court affirms Browder V Gayle – declaring Montgomery and Alabama bus segregation laws unconstitutional. King is one of the first to ride a bus with whites.

    19 Goblet Squats 56 Mountain Climbers

    1960: King met with Lyndon Johnson, Dwight Eisenhower and John F Kennedy to discuss racial inequality

    19 Shoulder Thrusts 60 Butt Kicks

    1963: The march on Washington DC, Kings I Have a Dream speech

    19 Merkins 63 Step Ups

    1964: King receives the Nobel Peace Prize and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is passed

    19 Freak Nasty’s 64 Freddy Mercury’s’

    1965: The 54 mile march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery ending at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Riots broke out and this day would be known as Bloody Sunday.

    19 Block Curls 65 Lunges

    1968: King assassinated in Memphis, TN

    19 Block Rows 68 Arm Circles

    1986: Inaugural Martin Luther King Day

    19 Goblet Squats 86 100’s

    1/18/21: MLK today

    18 Shoulder Thrusts 21 Burpees

    Mary IC
    M: 20 Merkins
    L: 50 LBC’s
    K: 20 Knee Raises
    Heels to Heaven, Hands to Heels, Crunch Frogs for (the missing) Cowbell x10 IC

    Count, Name-O-rama

    Announcements: Krazy Ivan, Run Cajun Run (replacing Run Ranger Run)

    Although Russo, Waterpik, and The Pelican had to work, the rest of us had a great breakfast and F2 at the Waffle House.

    Always great to hang with you guys for F3 and F2. Thanks for letting me lead

    SYITG,

    Akbar

  • It really did happen.

    You guys will do whatever it takes to keep a guy on the straight and narrow.  Looking back at my one and only backblast (VQ on 11/14), it was late just like this one.  A little headlocking and friendly ribbing may just be the encouragement some of us need. I know I do.  So without further ado, see below for Bird’s yoga inspired Q – it actually did happen Wacker! 

    0510 – Q posts with computer, yoga mats, speaker and phone in tow in preparation for said event.  Borrowed yoga mats courtesy of Bayou Yoga studio, which if I’m not doing some craziness with you guys ITG is where I might be otherwise on an early morning.  Oh who am I kidding, if I don’t show I’m probably still in bed at 5:15!  Actually, I do enjoy the yoga, although I’m not sure if my illicit affair is with the yoga studio or F3 – depends on who you ask I guess. 

    Shortly after distributing yoga mats and various props arrive the following members of PAX: Shooter, The Pelican, Steve, and Zoolander. 

    0515 – Chilly morning, albeit not as bad as the forecasted high 30 temps.  The combination of cold temps, yoga, and those of you who aren’t so flexible could have been a recipe for disaster!  Cold temps abated with a quick warm up consisting of high knees, butt kicks, side straddle hops, seal jacks, torso twists, windmills, mountain climbers, and merkins (10 each IC). 

    0520 – Just to ensure all the sensitive areas were good and warm, PAX took a quick run to the tunnel – gotta remember a headlamp next time for the spooky, dark forest in the turn northward.  Eventually, the light of the tunnel approaches and PAX regroups with a plank a ten count merkins in cadence before the return run. 

    0530 – PAX regroups on stage where yoga mats are spread.  Shooter was the only one who got the memo about bringing a mat, but it was some sort of blanket from south of the border – not your typical yoga attire.  Speaking of which, thankfully there were no yoga pants to be seen either.

    After circling up for the upcoming spiritual experience, Q reminds PAX that yoga should be done with intention, gratitude, and purpose.  One of the nice thing about the practice is that it allows the space for thinking about those things.  Did I mention I’m grateful for the PAX?  I am. 

    First yoga series consisted of:

    • Child’s pose
    • Table, right-arm up, twist under, breath
    • Table, left arm up, twist under, breath
    • Bird dog, right arm out, left leg up, knee to elbow five times
    • Bird dog, left arm out, right leg up, knee to elbow five times
    • Table to bear pose to down dog
    • 10 Down dog pushups (aka Carolina Dry Docks)
    • Repeat 1x

    Second yoga series consisted of:

    • Two rounds of sun salutation A (i.e., forward fold, halfway left, plank to chataranga, up dog, down dog, jump or step to hands)

    Third yoga series consisted of:

    • Sun Salutation A
    • Right leg up to runners lunge
    • Rise to crescent
    • Twisting crescent
    • Hands to hear center and bend forward to hook elbows on knee (twisting lunge)
    • Open arms
    • Twisting crescent
    • Crescent
    • Repeat 1x

    Fourth yoga series consisted of:

    • Sun Salutation A
    • Right leg up to runners lunge
    • Warrior 1
    • Warrior 2
    • Reverse warrior
    • Right angle pose (bind encouraged)
    • There was a bunch of stuff I had planned after that that I forgot that will save for next time
    • Warrior 2
    • Warrior 1
    • Repeat 1X

    Fifth yoga series consisted of:

    Honestly gents, it’s been so long since the Q (it actually did happen Wacker) that I’ve gotten a little fuzzy on what happened next, but there was some yogi squat action, lizard lunging, and flying into configurations inspired by birds of sorted varieties.  Zoolander covered a few of them.  I can’t even remember if we did a little meditating at the end or did a shavasana, but I do recall some focused breathing – cool are in through the nostrils, arm air out through the nostrils – and the obligatory namaste.  For those of you who’ve gotten this far, a little Wikipedia explaining a shavasana – if we didn’t do it last time, we will the next time. 

    Shavasana (Sanskrit: शवासन; IAST: śavāsana), Corpse Pose, or Mrtasana,[1] is an asana in hatha yoga and modern yoga as exercise, often used for relaxation at the end of a session. It is the usual pose for the practice of yoga nidra meditation.  Shavasana is intended to rejuvenate the body, mind, and spirit. In the pose, the breath deepens, and the stress of the day is released. The yogi forgets all other thoughts and surrenders any psychological effort. While in Savasana, yogis slip into blissful neutrality and reflect on the practice.[7] Comfort is essential in the pose; the slightest point of discomfort can be endlessly distracting. Shavasana is a good way to reduce stress and tension.[8]

    Namaste ended the practice and brought the PAX back from oblivion into the present moment.  Following a few quick announcements (last week was a busy one!), Steve led us in prayer. 

    A quick afterthought…yoga isn’t something you do as a one off.  Like anything, to get good at it and realize the benefits, one has to practice.  PAX performed admirably considering yoga isn’t in the regular lineup of F3 beatdowns.  Looking forward to rotating this in on occasion and adding flexibility to the list of qualities that describe such a fine group of men. 

    Glad to be with you all,

    Bird