F3 New Orleans

Tag: Wet Tap

  • Partner up for a wild ride – from Wet Tap

    Partner up for a wild ride.
    5 PAX showed up to the stage for a close encounters beatdown.
    After a normal warmup and a loss of concentration (YJ looking from across the gloom in a
    stunning turquoise tank top), the PAX answered in unison what happens if you step on a crack!
    A 1600 meter run around the loop. Can’t step on a crack or a 1burpee penalty. The PAX took
    this is stride and not one penalty occurred! Decent warmup.
    Thang 1
    Partner laid on his 6 15 yards out, the other sprinted out the blocks trying to overtake him. 50
    yds in total. Rinse and repeat from 10 yards with a partner flip. Looser gets a 20 lunge penalty
    2:1 Simple yet satisfying. Although is it… 3,2,1 or 3,2,1,go! It’s up for debate of course.
    Thang 2
    Close and personal! Mixing things up a little and making sure you know your partner, YHC
    thought an inverted row being held by your partner in Al Gore 10 count. Flip this after by the Al
    Gore turning into a partner deadlift 10count.
    This was a one and done. Eye contact was at an all time minimal, and it made monkey humper
    and wife pleasers a G rated kindergarten exercise. Next…
    Bear crawl carry your partner 25yd switch and a wedding carry return. The bear crawl was
    fun. The urge to put one hand in the air and slap YJ was heavy. I hope he doesn’t feel the
    same.
    Thang3
    Another partner move.
    Back to back drive. One partner locked arms with the other and drove a backpedal NUR with
    partner giving resistance.
    Shoulder to shoulder drive- same but with a lateral shuffle.
    Legs are burning and it still not time!
    Ring of fire.. everyone on their knees!
    Count off with a knees to feet jump. No hands buddy! A 50 count
    A little mary time.
    Partner is the name of the game.
    I had to join Goose and Dox on this one for a thripple. Everyone on their 6. Arms locked- a 30
    count of heels to heaven. Gently tapping toes with leg lifts. This is when all hell broke loose.
    What started as a gentle hum of a fainting song quickly lead to an all out 150 decimal Ballard of
    power rangers. Why? Why not?
    Finishing up with dead bugs and bird dogs the core was nice and warm. A few laps around
    the track and it was time!
    COT and prayers
    Another great workout with a PAX who pushes you to be better. Thanks to all!
    #Goose # paradox # Enron # Yankee Joe
    # wet tap

  • Oops, I Hit it Again…History of Baseball, Vol. 1.4 – from Yankee Joe

    Disclaimer:

    The following is a modified replay of a beatdown and blast from October 22. Thangs have been changed to protect the innocent. Butttt…since nobody is innocent, Duke can go ‘head and roll that bean footage like he’s Randall Floyd en route to buy Aerosmith tickets.

    In reality, YHC’s 2.3 got in and out of his crib 7,348 times, so yeah…modified re-run. Deal with it.
    —————————-

    Key Takeaways from The Morning:

    – This was a baseball themed beatdown and based on the throwing warm-up, we have a lot of work to do before we start riding up on our BMX’s and accuse folks of bobbing for apples in the toilet. Coyote and Pope were the only exceptions here. Our B-Rods as it were.

    – I think Dilly pointed out that Cardinal’s otherworldly crab walk talent apparently transfers to nurring. Seriously…the guy literally moon sprinted around the bases like his hair was on fire. Sha mon, hee heee!

    – While we’re on Cardinal, he was rocking the ANIMAL tank today. When I say rocking, I mean dang. This dude is ripped. I challenge you to find another man in the cloth with this brand of guns. Seriously…Contarini, Law, Richelieu…these Cardinals were fartsacking Crossfit workouts two weeks in.

    – Backward lunge walks are unnervingly difficult. Unless of course, you do them Picadilly style, then it’s more of a klaw. Yeahh…you get it.

    – A combined 800 reps of ab exercises was something. That said, Wet Tap’s grin seemed to grow with each rep, no doubt due to the turquoise euro trash tank showcasing his 12-pack mural of abdominals.

    – Speaking of tank tops, only Paradiddle could pull off wearing a Kenner dress shirt and Fidel Castro’s field cap…and still look cool. ¡Viva la Revolución!

    – Apparently, the best way to shut down Enron chatter is to talk about baseball. I assume this is because he’d rather play with his own stick, cradling it, swinging it, all to keep the ball in the head and then whack at other men’s sticks to get at their balls. (Lacrosse, people. Enron played lacrosse…sheesh.)

    – Ragnar Montana switched from man bun to a pony tail. It’s pretty impressive. Looks like an eternal flame over his head like the Presence at Pentecost.

    – Goose.
    ————————————-

    Warmarama

    Mosey to baseball field for pre game warmarama
    Side straddle hops
    Windmills
    Arm circles forward
    Arm circles backward
    Cherry pickers
    High knees 15 yards, back
    Butt kick 15 yards, back
    Carioca 15 yards, back
    Extended nur 15 yards, back
    Warmup throw & catch with partner (In cadence)
    — Wild throw = 1 burpee
    — Dropped ball = 2 burpees

    ——————————————

    Chapter 1: 1830 – 1845

    How many perfect games have been thrown? 23

    There are many references that seem to allude to a crude predecessor of baseball as far back as the late 1700’s. In 1845, Alexander Cartwright, considered the true father of modern baseball and a member of the original New York Knickerbockers, wrote baseball’s first code of rules. These rules made up the core foundation of the sport we know today. Of note, you could no longer throw the object or ball at the opposing player to “put them out.” A shame, really.

    To celebrate Mr. Cartwright’s contribution in 1845:

    Pre-Thang 1: 1845’s
    – Bear crawl to first, 18 burpees;
    – Bear crawl to second 45 leg lifts;
    – Bear crawl to third, 18 Bonnie Blair’s (the hard way);
    – Bear crawl to home, 45 lbc’s

    ——————————————

    Batter Theme Song #1: Centerfield

    – Hillbilly squat walkers during verses
    – Bobby Hurley’s on refrain

    —————————————–

    Chapter 2: 1845 – 1903

    What is the distance between home plate and the pitcher’s mound? 60 feet, 6 in.

    In 1876, the National League was created. By 1901, the rules as we know it were instituted. In that same year, the American League was formed. In 1903, the first world series was played between the Boston Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Red Sox won. They won 91 games that season.

    In honor of that achievement:

    Thang 2: 91’s

    Lunge walk to first, 91 SSHs
    Lunge walk to second, 91 freddie mercuries 1:1
    Lunge walk to third, 91 LBC’s
    Lunge walk to home, 91 flutter kicks (2:1)

    —————————————–

    Batter Theme Song #2: Glory Days

    – Leg lifts during verses
    – LBC’s on refrains – try of 25 each refrain

    ——————————————

    Chapter 3: 1905 – 1945

    Who was the first team Babe Ruth played for? Red Sox

    By 1905, as baseball was being recognized as the national pastime, a commission was formed to investigate the true origin of the game. Was it based on the English game of “rounders” or the American game of “Old Cat?” It is during this investigation that Abner Doubleday mistakenly found his way into baseball founding history lore. His involvement has been firmly debunked over the past decades. Omaha missed the memo.

    Thang 3:

    Sprint relay race around bases; two teams; sprint in oppo direction (one pax toward first base and the other toward third.

    – Round 1: Normal Sprint – non runners are doing SSHs, winning team does 15 groiners; losing team does 15 burpees

    – Round 2: Nur – winning team does 25 leg raises; losing team does 100 LBC’s

    – Round 3: Backward lunge walk/frog hops – winning team does 15 bobby hurleys; losing team does 25 prisoner squats

    ———————————————–

    COT, Cardinal bestowed the ANIMAL tank upon Pope…very well deserved. Tap passed the Euro Trash (I recommend calling her Gigi moving forward) to YHC. Fortunately, turquoise works perfectly with my complexion and sporadic back hair.

    Paradiddle prayed us out.

    Even though this morning was not a true original, I had a blast. YHC’s themes are a bit of stretch, and I appreciate the PAX playing along. You never know how it’s going to turn out, so you just jump in. As Yogi Bera once said, “The future ain’t what it used to be.” Respect and Gratitude for each of you.

    SYITG,

    Boston Joe out.

  • History Lesson, by Coyote – from Goose

    If you think about a specific day, you might think, “It’s this person’s birthday,” or, “Dang it it’s tax day.” If you go on google and look up a day like that, you will then think, “This is the day that everything happened.” That was what YHC thought when YHC looked up April 15th. The Pax and YHC started the warmups, we did the normal exercises, Side straddle hops, Imperial walkers, Windmills, that kind of stuff, then we moseyed to the Titanic (The playground, also today is the day the Titanic sunk) and sailed away while jamming out to “Come Sail Away” while doing Imperial walkers and when we heard “sail away” we instinctively shot the basketball like Bobby Hurly, then we hit the iceberg and we started climbing the ladders like Goofballs, and when we were done doing that, we raced and wrestled to get to the highest part of the ship, then the lifeboats. Sadly, Superfun(d) fell and had to start swimming like Scuba Steve. We did it again and we lost our Paradox. Today is also when the great Notre Dame cathedral caught on fire, so we ran from the sinking Titanic to the Thunderdome where we where surrounded by a ring of fire while doing flying buttresses (merkin and airplane) and laying down making the steeple fall down with six inch holds and leg raises. We ran from the burning cathedral to join the Boston Marathon, (today was the bombing of the Boston Marathon). We saw the bombs, they exploded, so we got in pairs and broke out in BOMBS. One runner ran a hundred meters and back, then the two partners switched places. It went on like this for fifty burpees, one hundred overhead presses, one hundred monkey humpers, one hundred big boy sit-ups, and one hundred side straddle hops. Smooth Operater had his two 2.0s. By the time everybody was done, he was dragging the wagon and doing monkey humpers, so we helped out on the sit-ups, straddle hops, and running. While we were hammering out those, Redfish was lying on the ground resting. With all the help, we finished pretty quickly. I then mentioned that today, ninety-four people died in a soccer stampede, so we ran around the track twice, and at each goal post, we would get trampled and do ten hand-release merkins, trying to get back up but getting knocked back to the ground. We moseyed back to the flag and did some eight minute Mary. YCH let the entire circle choose an exercise to do. After that, it was count off and name off, we congratulated Tractor for his fourth birthday, Cardinal forgot the Animal shirt, and the tank top was given to WetTap, and YHC did the cooldowns alone today. This has been history lessons with Coyote.

  • Pyramid and the JERF – from Wet Tap

    YHC pulled up to the Stage only a few seconds late to see the PAX eagerly awaiting a beatdown. Somehow subconsciously, the PAX had unassumingly formed a circle. This instinctive skill must be a defensive mechanism. Never-the-less, despite vomit, monsters, and God Thunder, YHC was ready with a quality Tuesday Tuff beatdown.

    The usual warm-a-rams without haste:
    SSH, high knees, Butt-kicks, arm circles F/R, Self-love

    The JERF goes back as long as time itself. Some say this was the brainchild of Moses, others Ancient Egyptians. I personally believe it pre-dates most of written history. Somewhere in the late 80’s an F3 folk legend names Yankee Jeaux eagerly typed these instructions on his state of the art typewriter (with delete function). The JERF is a mighty foe in itself, yet YHC yearned for more, call it ignorance.

    In typical fashion, the JERF includes 10 sets of:

    10 coupon curls
    30 squats*
    10 merkins
    10yd bear crawl
    10 merkins
    20 American Hammers (2:1)
    30 Lying leg lifts
    20 LBC

    YHC wanted a throw back pyramid training in-between each set. The standard pyramid sprint cycle goes like this:
    50 yd, 100 yd, 200, 300, 400, 300, 200, 100, 50

    The sprints would immediately follow each set.

    The eerie quiet of the PAX made me consider I bit of too much. Perhaps we’d run out of time? With the flash of lightning and rumble of thunder the party began.

    As we climbed the pyramid, all hopes of a low strain were gone; and at the summit a much needed 10 count ^2 let us admire the view. Back to work with high hopes. As we descended the subtle sounds of back against pavement cued Paradox to enforce form police mode. Without even a glance, Paradox can tell if those leg lifts are hittin’ just right!

    Beast mode was attained as Enron hit a 5th or 6th gear, leaving us wondering how and why? The unexpected strength and stamina exhibited by the PAX as we all finished together was something awesome. Leave no man behind was in full force as we all ran a little harder to finish the beatdown ( FrenchHorn-Goose).

    A 2 minute Mary was all we had left, giving us plank hold shoulder taps in sequence and a final 6 “ leg hold slow and steady fall.

    COT and prayer by French Horn
    @Goose, @FrenchHorn, @ Enron, @ Paradox, @Smooth Operator,

  • Hit ‘Dem Commitments! – from Goose

    A number of the PAX were with their wives on a married couples’ retreat with YHC over the weekend at Lumen Christi, and the rest of the PAX were gracious enough to meet us there at 6am for the official Saturday beatdown. The morning had already started with a number of awesome surprises:
    1. Two of the non-F3 retreatants came out after seemingly no interest shown the day before, one of whom had driven down from St. Louis. YHC happened to pack the trophy F3 St. Louis shirt won during the 2022 Make America Burpee Again CSAUP, and I only remembered that it was in my bag when he showed up that morning. It was an awesome “coincidence”, and the newly minted “Photoshop” will now be properly attired when he posts back home.
    2. A tall, dark, hooded being crept up silently in the cold darkness and refused to answer requests for identification until YHC recognized him when he was only about 10 feet away. Enron was ready to jump the stranger, but his wide smile and goofy laugh revealed the last Cotter we expected to see that morning–it was Cutthroat! After from swearing off F3, hills, and anything non-crossfit, he couldn’t fight that feeling anymore, and he was ready to battle the snakes, ant piles, and elevation that only this AO could deliver.
    3. Ben Naquin, to be later named “Prius”, caved to his brother-in-law, Fence Post’s pressure to get busy livin’, and despite a helluva tough year including some new physical limitations, powered out an incredible first beatdown with tenacity and perseverance matched by few.

    The joy of the 12 PAX at such a great showing was palpable, and the warmup was executed with high energy–a lot of the usuals with no arms; YHC’s shoulder is still needing some rest, so it would be lots of legs and abs today!

    The theme that would carry us through the day was the same as the retreat: Domestic Church–particularly the 7 commitments each couple chooses to improve upon over the course of their journey: individual prayer, prayer with Scripture, couple prayer, family prayer, couple dialogue, rule of life, and an annual retreat.

    Started with a combined individual prayer/prayer with Scripture, which was represented by an Indian run around the campus with the last guy dropping off for three genuflections before sprinting to the front of the line. Just like individual prayer, you gotta break the rhythm of the day to stop what you’re doing and hit your knees–it’s not gonna happen on its own!

    We stopped on top of the hill for couple prayer and partnered up for a lazy Dora. Each “couple” went back and forth offering their “prayers” in the form of splitting duty on 100 wife pleasers (the non-“praying” partner held bridge), 200 squats (other partner held Al Gore), and 300 flutter kicks (other partner held 6 inches). It was only later in the day, once the sun was up, that many of the PAX were able to see just how many ant piles were on that hill–it was truly a miracle no one laid in one or more and got munched. It really looked like we were all clear in the darkness of the gloom.

    Next was family prayer–a ring of fire with all PAX doing constant smurf jacks to represent a bunch of active kids waiting their turn to pray, or in this case, squat jump. We made it to 50 before YHC called it to make time for couple dialogue.

    Any Domestic Church veteran will tell you that couple dialogue, though typically a sleeper, is the secret sauce. This is where the real money is, where the major growth happens for the couples who take advantage of it. A couple dialogue allows a couple to make measurable progress–it takes time an effort, but if you don’t give up early, it’ll change you. It would be no different this morning–the memories and the PTSD would center around this routine: 11’s over the hill. We started on the lake side with 10 Apolo Onos and on the other did 1 gas pump–next time was 9 and 2 and so on until finishing at 1 Ono and 10 gas pumps. Transportation was nurring (running backward) up and running down (both ways). It was the nur. The nur uphill caused YHC to think more than once about calling this one early, and more than once I checked my watch to see if time would give me an excuse, but we were going too fast. Paradiddle and Wet Tap wouldn’t let YHC ease up without it being obvious–we were in it together, all in, or not at all. I’m grateful for those dudes, per usual, and for their tenacity and companionship, cuz there was no place for a tired, self-pitying Goose to hide, so I didn’t miss out on the chance for some solid growth in mental toughness.
    Huge T-claps to the two FNG’s (and Cutthroat, too) for their staying with this one–it was designed assuming we’d have nothing but veterans out there this morning, but these guys never gave up!
    Side-note–a few minutes into this is when another stranger emerged out of the gloom, this time with a bouncing phone flashlight, and tried to just enter the fray unnoticed, but his off-color, plant-worker humor gave him away, as did the 6:40 arrival time–typical Goats in the machine arrival time is 5-10 minutes late, but this time, his Lenten lack of social media usage made him 40 minutes late (didn’t check GroupMe), so he promised to do some Doras at home. Good to have you, Goats, regardless of how long we get you!

    We ended on the far side of the hill for rule of life and the annual retreat. For rule of life, we picked on of YHC’s household rules, no phones on the toilet. This was represented by 15 mountain man poopers, increasing in speed as the reps increased representing how quickly YHC can get in and out of the bathroom now.
    The retreat is a chance for us to pack up our wives and kids and drag them to a far off location in hopes that it will do us some good. So, we grabbed our partners and piggy-backed them up the hill, then dropped them, ran down, and flapjacked. This is where the highlight of the morning happened–Ben (“Prius”) was first carried by Superfun(d), who is not a small man, but when they flapjacked, YHC assumed there would be some modifications, but once Smooth dropped me at the top and I turned around, there was Ben, moving quick up the hill, a determined smile on his face. All our legs were dead at this point, but he wanted to see if he could do it. His digging deep blew the whole PAX away, and they erupted, cheering wildly as he topped the hill with his mustached rider. It was a thing of beauty.

    We moseyed back to the flag for 7 minutes of Mary, 20 IC of the following: crunchy frogs, leg raises, J-Lo’s, pickle pounders (excellent mumblechatter from Cutthroat and Cardinal about potential publicity issues with this), and Jane Fondas to go with Yankee Joe’s Donna Summers comments. Held plank for the last minute, and then called it.
    COT with some FNG naming fun, the Animal shirt going to the indomitable Paradiddle, and then Superfun(d) prayed us out. It was an awesome addition to the retreat, and another great shot in the arm for the F3 Thibodaux crew.

    SYTIG,
    Goose

  • SPORTSman Paradise VQ – from Superfun(d)

    YHC showed up at 4:55 to be the first one at his VQ since he usually shows up 2 minutes before to maximize his sleep. All behold, French Horn swoops in right before YHC like he’s preparing for Yankee Jeaux’s final. T-claps for him for his dedication and time he spends with his mentor. While sitting there waiting for more PAX to arrive, a douche wagon pulls up even with me but on the highway, the bald-headed man nonchalantly backs up to the entrance thinking no one is watching. A strong PAX of 12 showed up on this warm humid morning to witness my VQ.

    Warmarama: SSH, Imperial Walkers, Arm Circles (Front and back), Cherry Pickers, Self Love, Grass Grabbers with the clap

    Moseyed to the BB court. YHC jokingly wanted to have his VQ at Schneider Park for home field advantage. The park has the football and baseball field, but a while back, they demolished the tennis/basketball court. So the PAX was going to take a mosey down Chackbay until we found someone’s house to play BB.

    Thang 1: Basketball (Gotcha )
    – Chatter from the PAX(Paradox) murmured that they called it “Put Out” in the North. Well ole friend, this is bayou country, anything south of I-10 is Gotcha, Yankee! Knowing the PAX is very competitive, I made sure that the two basketballs were the same size with exactly 7 PSI each so I would hear no complaining. Once you were out, SSH until the game was over. Winner gets to pick the punishment exercise for the PAX for a 10 count. Knowing the Lions Den always had a double rim, I was waiting for some good laughs. Not thinking that 12 PAX would show up, the game lasted longer than expected. Eventually Paradox battled out Lil Cuz and became the victor. Paradox graciously gave out 10 burpees to the rest of the PAX. There was going to be round 2 but didn’t want to run out of time. Moseyed to baseball field.

    Thang 2: Football (11s)
    – Started with 1 squat, karaoke from the edge of the infield until the outfield fence (switch direction on each round), 10 Bonnie Blairs (2:1) then Nur back. Repeat. Moseyed to home plate.

    Thang 3: Baseball
    – The PAX split into two teams. This exercise was timed. One member at a time would run the bases until they got to home plate, then the second teammate would start and so on. Here’s the catch, each base had its own exercise to complete. 1st base: 10 merkins, 2nd base: 10 BBSU, 3rd base: 10 Toy Soldiers (1:1), then run home to tag next teammate. Team 1 would go first while Team 2 would plank the whole duration then vice versa. Team 1 edged out Team 2 with a time of 5:11 to 5:38. Team 2 graciously gave Team 1 15 burpees while they effortlessly did 15 imperial walkers. Moseyed back.

    COT and Goose prayed us out. Thank y’all for coming out to support my VQ. The fitness, fellowship, and faith is powerful in our group, and I greatly appreciate the F3 Thib PAX.

    Until next year,
    Superfun(d)

  • DJ DOD volume 3: Fat Tuesday Tuff – from Paradox

    A good beatdown can originate from many sources. Some days we sharpen iron, others we honor feasts. Sometimes a theme may be in order or maybe just a hodgepodge of track induced pain (yea Goose , we still salty).
    A few days ago after YHCc’s 3rd lifetime Mardi Gras parade, so many F3 worthy songs were heard that there remained only one course of action. A text to my DJ DOD counter part that it was time for volume 3. The supply of Mardi Gras jamz was high and the pax demand for fun on Fat Tuesday even higher. If only we had a professor of marketing (who is also a self proclaimed traditional NOLA Mardi Gras expert ) to guide us. Well maybe one day, I guess it’s next man up. So we dusted off the deck of death and two north La rednecks shouldered the burden of what became Fat Tuesday Tuff.
    Pit Boss Ronnie set the tone early with a pair of seizure shades and several parade props to distribute amongst the Pax. 4 more pax saddled up and we let the good times roll! ( it’s a traditional Nola greeting , look it up )

    Duke ! Get the bean footage!

    Warmup
    Ronnie led standard warmup
    While YHCc was adding increasing burpees between each warmup. Goose saw the tactic immediately and looked like he smelled a dead animal carcass in the bayou while Cuz begged for more than 1 each round because he wore his scuba shorts for extra sweat.

    The Twerkin Mile
    A twist on a TT classic to get the core fully activated.
    Standard Merkin mile course with four stops for :
    20 leg raises
    40 big boys
    60 gas pumps
    80 flutter kicks (2:1)

    This is where the chatter picked up and we were introduced to an entire new segment called the Tana Tumbler. Here’s how it works . During a group run you introduce a topic to Tana and he will run with it while introducing new topics on top of it until we are all in stitches. In this very manner we covered Scientology , The great hot sauce debate, what the Superman move actually means and even post BD he couldn’t be stopped and gave us a history of pre-ATT devices. We have our beatdown fact checkers working overtime and will give a full report on percent accuracy of the Tana Tumbler claims.

    Back to the flag for some DJ DOD

    Song #1
    Mardi Gras Day
    Boat hold into Superman on all “mardi gras days”
    YHCc kept feeling like a beached whale and in retrospect we might need to do this in the grass or maybe never again.

    DOD
    Special Mardi gras edition
    Ronnie will throw the cards up in the air and if you catch multiple you get to pick which exercise .

    Goose started with a great strategy to “breadbasket “ the cards and gifted us 100 calf raises
    Wet Tap gave us 14 Carolina dry docks and several excuses as to why he wasn’t a wide receiver.

    Song 2
    YHCc stressed again that we would stick to Traditional NOLA Mardi Gras music so we went for an old timer classic…
    Silentos “Whip and Nae Nae “ -hold plank
    Whip -merkins
    Nae Nae -side reach
    Stanky leg -lift leg
    Break yo leg – MC

    Still not sure I wanna know what a Superman is.

    DOD
    Tana brought us 9 ranger merkins and Cuz caught some high flutter kicks that were particularly nasty .

    Song 3
    Saints go marching in
    Bearcrawl /crawlBear to first picnic table
    Dolphin hop on Saints
    Silence followed by grumbling, ahhhh sweet music to my ears.

    DOD
    YHCc caught zero cards , blamed the wind and we did 60 2 is 1 Freddy mercuries. Lil Cuz has not fully learned to translate YHCc’s slurred speech and began to dutifully pound out 60 Freddy Merkins. Love that attitude cuz. Bonus Merkins with a smile will always get T claps at F3 thib.

    Ronnie was last, caught two cards with his hands and one on with his chest sweat (like a real man) and we rounded out with 20 low and slow squats.

    Song 4
    Carnival Time Finisher
    Burpees on carnival , SSH on rest

    COT and Wet Tap prayed us out .

    Had an absolute blast out there in the gloom today fellas. Special thanks to Ronnie for all the props and for willingly looking like a crazy person with me.

    SYITG
    DJ Texaco Cat

  • I Wanna Know What Love Is, and I Want Goose to Show Me! – from Goose

    8 PAX arrived by ones and twos for the first ever “Valentine’s Day Tuff” beatdown, and it was clear that these lugs were in need of some educatin’ on the true meaning of love. Thankfully, though YHC may not be a smart man, I know what love is.
    The warmup started with Seal Jacks, which blew everyone’s mind, causing the schismatic tendencies of Yankee Joe, Paradox, and Enron to flare up for the first of the typical ten or so times this beatdown. But, we made it through via synced clapping, which is always a morale booster. Warmup continued with the usuals plus some mountain climbers, high knees, and butt kicks without much of a break between each exercise–YHC knew we needed time for all the lecturing that was to be peppered (heavily) throughout the beatdown.

    We started with a song to get the juices flowing and the cardio system blowing in preparation for another Merkin Mile for time. YHC chose “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys to illustrate that the earliest, shallowest stages of love pretty much consists of idealism and brain chemicals. Though important to the process, this stage should be endured without making any major decisions or doing anything that can’t be undone. So, we let the “good vibrations” and “excitations” be our trigger words for burpees while SSH’s carried us through the rest of the song. Most idealism driven chemicals come and go pretty quick, especially when real life kicks in, like endless burpees.

    The stage after the initial buzz of being struck by the arrow of love is typically a sort of tunnel vision–it takes over all your thoughts and all your time, and you can’t focus on anything else. What better way to navigate this stage than a manly Tunnel of Love. YHC hearkened back to my VQ exactly three years ago where this routine was one of the highlights. You can’t beat crawling through a sweaty man tunnel fraught with stalactites, stank breath, and butt slaps. Once again, being hit with the reality of life is the only way to safely navigate to this stage.

    The third stage of love is usually defined by a sense that we can conquer the world together, there has never been a love as strong as ours, and we’ll “stay right here forever, until the sky falls down on us”. Again, this is chemicals talking, so still not rooted in reality, but an important part of the process, nonetheless.
    This stage would be experienced by the PAX through completing the weekly Merkin Mile (1 mile run w/25 merkins at each quarter mile), which has been given special attention due to the superhuman efforts of Pommel Horse from Lake Charles setting the bar at 7:47. The PAX started with watches synced and a belief that our determination, desire, and confidence (brain chemicals) would see us through to at least a sub 8:00 time. Alas, reality broke through again–nothing kills determination and confidence chemicals like survival instinct chemicals kicking in somewhere between that second and third set of merkins. Self-preservation is ultimately the enemy of love, and every man felt it this morning. The fastest time was 8:25, which was slower than the previous week’s posting, most likely because of that added block that was mistakenly left out last week. But, the push was, again, impressive, and it set us up well for the next stage.

    So, if love isn’t a feeling, if it isn’t just a natural chemical reaction that runs the risk of fading away when things get tough, then what is it? We’re naturally attracted by the “other-ness” of the other, but it’s exactly that “other-ness” that tends to wear on us over time and cause us to go into self-preservation mode. And, our brains actually can’t handle a non-stop flow of those “in-love” chemicals; they actually have to fade for us to be able to properly function. So, what is love, then?
    IT’S A CHOICE.
    When the body says I need to take care of me, it’s a choice to live for another. When I get tired and want to retreat, it’s a choice to push forward into the mystery, into the pain, into the risk of losing it all because the other is truly worth it, and there is so much beauty yet to be discovered.
    This morning, there was so much concrete, grass, and mud yet to be discovered, and the only way to get better at pushing through the instinct to self-preservation is practice. So, since practice makes perfect, and the number 7 is the symbol of perfection, 7’s it would be.

    We started at the stage with 6 curls (for the girls in our lives) and then block and bear across the field to the sidewalk for 1 thruster before murder bunnying back to the stage for 5 curls, etc. The tenacity of the men was impressive, especially Enron’s, who used his sprint/stop/sprint technique and his long limbs to draft YHC for the duration and then powerfully pass me on the last stretch. Also, Smooth Operator continues to show the same solid determination and drive that’s got him #1 in the rucking category for Run Cajun Run–even once time was called, he refused to stop and finished strong on his last stretch of bunnies. What a beast!
    We didn’t finish the 7’s because we still have a long, long way to go before we’re perfect in our ability to love our wives. So, bring on the blocks, bears, bunnies, merkins, burpees, crying babies, financial unknowns, in-laws, mood swings, and getting older. It’s gonna be a helluva ride.

    COT and Paradox prayed us out. It’s an awesome gift to be able to train not just the body but the mind and heart through F3, and it wouldn’t be possible or nearly as fruitful without you guys. Deeply grateful for the camaraderie this morning, and looking forward to continuing to improve with y’all!

    SYITG,
    Goose

  • Cold Hands, Warm Hearts, Can’t Lose! – from Lil Cuz

    The game is over, you’re a Champion! You finally accomplished all that you have been working towards and now what…relief? Excitement? What comes next? The greatest players of all time always answer one thing to this question. “Let’s get back to work.” Most elite level athletes allow themselves the night of the biggest wins of their careers to celebrate, but when the next morning comes, they are back to working just as hard as if they are rookies again walking onto the field for the first time. This is the mindset that needs to be sought after in order to continue growing throughout life. Living in humility and knowing you can take care of business when the call comes.

    We may not be Superbowl winning level athletes, but we can apply this same work ethic in our everyday lives. We relax and enjoy our families on Sunday but Monday rolls around and it’s time to get back to work and continue on this path with our cross on our shoulder. We march on, thankful to God for the reprieve of Sunday and thankful to God for the strength to keep moving and working to better ourselves. So this Monday morning, in the cold and in the dark; We got back to work…

    Thang 1:

    Start by Shovel Flag with 50 SSH’s.
    – Sprint to concrete on opposite side of field.
    – Bear Crawl to halfway point of field.
    – Mosey around track back to Shovel Flag.

    Complete 25 Merkins.
    – Repeat sprint, bear crawl and mosey back to Shovel Flag.

    Complete 15 Burpees.
    – Repeat sprint, bear crawl and mosey back to Shovel Flag.

    Complete 50 LBC’s
    – Repeat sprint, bear crawl and mosey back to Shovel Flag.

    Complete 40 Jump Squats.
    – Repeat sprint, bear crawl and mosey back to Shovel Flag.

    Thang 2:
    Relay race with the Pax split into 2 teams and team members spread out to the four corners of the Stage track. All Pax doing SSH’s while waiting their turn to run. Runner gets to next Pax on his team and calls a workout of which the next Pax to run would do a set of 15 before running to his next teammate. Two laps and winning team would get to relish in their “prize”. We had some real shiners that chose today to showcase their true speed, and a bunch of racers whose competitive spirit really showed through. The relay was neck and neck the whole way through, but Team 1 pulled out the win in the very last section of the race.

    Winning team would get to choose an additional 5 reps of each workout if they wanted to get the extra burn this morning or could take 5 reps away if they would like to relax. This was chosen in silence between the individual Pax and God, not as a team.

    Thang 3: Back to Thang 1 and this time seemed to be done much slower than the first, and each round felt so much sweeter as we got closer and closer to the end.

    Admittedly, YHC thought that thang 1 would take up much more time, but these fellas came to workout this morning and they weren’t having any slow counts in the cold. Relay race was supposed to be a finishing round but ended up as a middler to really see how far our muscles could be pushed. Everyone pushed so hard to finish and we did it with 1 minute to spare. There was dispute as YHC was under the impression we exercised for an hour during the week but YHC was quickly downvoted and told to lay off the Q-drenaline as we only had 1 minute left.

    :30 – :45 of Mary to close which consisted of 6-inch hold for duration.

    COT, name-o-rama, and Dox prayed us out.

    Thanks for the backblast name, Wet Tap! Cold Hands, Warm Hearts, Can’t Lose! This really has described the Thibodaux F3 Pax throughout the winter and I can’t wait for the next one.

    SYITG,
    Lil’ Cuz

  • Super Bowl Pair-a-Dice (by Pope) – from Goose

    It’s Super Bowl weekend, and YHC was ready to rock, both at the flag this morning and in front of the TV later.
    After warmups, YHC introduced something he devised called “Down for the Count”, where the PAX did merkins in cadence and held Mission Impossible plank after the final rep, holding while counting around the circle in a Ring of Fire fashion, followed by the same thing with squats (holding Al Gore) and leg lifts (six-inch hold).
    Next we headed to the Thunderdome for what YHC dubs “Paradise & Pair-a-Dice”. YHC hit up JBL, who told us what he would do “If I had $1,000,000” (8-count BB on “If I had $1,000,000” with SSH/Imperial walkers in between) before rocking “Gangsta’s Paradise” (penguins during verses, gas pumps during refrain).
    When playing some role-playing games, dice with varying numbers of sides are often used to determine outcomes. Today was no different; the numbers rolled by the dice provided by YHC would decide between life and death for the PAX. Each PAX rolled three dice—a 4-side, a 20-side, and a 10-side (with numbers ranging from 10 to 100). The 4-side indicated the exercise (1: burpees, 2: 8-count BBs, 3: Catalina wine-mixers, 4: SSH) the 20-side gave us the reps for rolls of 1, 2 and 3, and the 10-side set the amount of SSH in the case of a 4 being rolled.
    The PAX then moseyed to the ED White football field, where we split op into two 6-man (or kid) teams. The following game of F3 football brought out two things—the Dion Sanders in Paradox and the “bigger, stronger, fast-ish” in the rest of the Thibodaux PAX.
    Prior to each down, the offense and defense did a set number of 8-count BBs (offense does 1, defense does 5 on 1st down, 2:3 on 2nd down, 3:2 on 3rd, 5:1 on 4th). The initial plan was for a scoring team to do 10 star jumps versus the defense’s 10 burpees, but 1) YHC forgot to mention it and 2) nobody scored. With interceptions by Yankee, Goats and Enron and a sack by Coyote, it was a defense-dominated game. Hmm… prelude to the Super Bowl? Perhaps.