F3 New Orleans

Author: Hawgcycle

  • Q-less

    Seems JV had a flat on the way to the AO, leaving the Pax to fend for themselves.  Good mix of old and new with a couple of Kotters sprinkled in.  YHC gave a disclaimer and headed around the Mardis Gras Fountain.  It was one of those breezy mornings by the lakefront that allows you to be showered by the fountain as you pass.  We circled up in the grass for…

    The Thang

    Warm-up COP (All IC) SSH x 31, DQ x 15; Parker Peter x 31; J-Lo x 20; Mountain Climbers x 30; IW x 31

    Mosey to the crashing waves of the Lakefront for two rounds of Tabata followed by some burpee pain.

    Tabata Round 1:  Burpees, Big Boy Sit-ups, Merkins, Squats – Repeato

    Tabata Round 2: Channing Tatums, Irkins, Tatum Channings, Derkins – Repeato

    5×12 Burpees – one minute to complete 12 burpees.  Do that 5 times.  This one sucks.  T-claps to the pax for pushing through and not throwing me in the Lake after the first round.

    Mosey to the top of the levee for…(Cowbell knew it was coming and seemed excited)….Quadraphilia (Run down the levee and back up always facing the lake.  Continue for 4 minutes).

    Mosey to the other side of the levee and circle up for DJ Style Mary.  Everyone Led (except YHC)

    All IC

    • Cowbell – American Hammer x 30
    • Triple Shift – Hello Dolly  Flutter Kick Hello Dolly x 20
    • Torque – Freddie Mercury x 20
    • Da Parrish – Slow Scissors x 20 (brought the pain)
    • Belloq – Les Miles Merkins x 10 (Eat grass every time you go down)
    • Gris – LBC x 30
    • Woz – Wozian Mt. Climbers x 10 each leg (On your 6, one leg straight up, climb your hands up the leg and touch your toe).

    Head back up over the levee to the VF for COT.

    We were spared a JV Okwata Beatdown, but I think we did alright for ourselves.  Okwata is always a pleasure.

    Remember:  Thursday night Football tonight.  Amnesty is hosting an F2 event at his house.  The address is 136 Middle Park Place.  (In Lakeview) 

    -Hawg

  • Other People’s Rocks

    YHC awoke to another flat tire on my bike.  As I was walking to Pontiff, Marlin zipped by me on his way to meet up with Tool and Amnesty.  Not long after I arrived, JV came over the levee, guns blazing.  I gave the disclaimer and then it was off to the rock pile.

    The Thang:

    Warm-up COP (All IC): SSH x 25; Peter Parker x 25; DQ x 20; J-Lo’s x 20; IW x 30

    Grab a medium sized rock and mosey back to the virtual flag for Fence Chunkers x 30ish

    Mosey back to the rock pile, where we picked a larger rock to go with our medium rock.  Circle up for a Rotating COP.  Choose the rock that suits you. All Exercises IC.  Squat Press x 10; Row  x 15; Curls  x 15; Merkins (Hands on Rocks) x 10.  Rotate to the next man’s rocks and repeato until we have completed 5 sets.

    At this point Marlin needed to bounce early for work.  We grabbed a rock of choice and followed him back to the VF for another round of Fence Chunkers x 20ish

    Head back to the rock pile to put away our toys and then horses to the stable.

    Moleskin

    Good to have Marlin and Amnesty back after they had been out of town some.  Rotating the COP led to a lot of juvenile comments about touching other people’s rocks.  High comedy.  Thanks for always making the workout enjoyable.

    -Hawg.

     

     

  • Form and Function

    YHC waffled on scheduling the Bible Study this week and decided to cancel it late last night.  Unbeknownst to me, JV hasn’t seen his phone for the last 2 days and showed up at 0600 for thirty minutes of solitary meditation.  #Cobains.  YHC gave the disclaimer and we headed to the great lawn for…

    The Thang

    We circled up for the Warm-Up COP (All IC): SSH x 30, IW x 30, J-Los x 20, Moroccan Nightclubs x 50, Peter Parkers x 30, Wife-Pleasers x 15.  SFx started in with his customary warm-up mumble chatter.  Something about Side Straddle Hops and YouTube channels.  I wasn’t really listening.  I was too busy counting and focusing on the best side straddle hops anyone has ever seen.

    YHC then joined the circle and we paired up to work on our Merkin and Squat form.  One partner did 10 merkins focusing on form while the other planked and gave feedback – “You’re back’s not straight, get your butt down, look forward, activate your glutes, etc..”  After 10, flapjack, until each partner completed 50 Merkins.  Next we did the same thing with Squats, focusing on widening the chest, going down as far as possible, and keeping our weight on our heels.  Each partner completed 50 Squats

    Stay in the circle for a Pulsating Circle of of animals.  2 rounds.  First round each exercise about 40 yards, second round about 30 yards: Crawl Bear, Bear Crawl, Jameis Winston, Winston Jameis, Walk Duck, Duck Walk, Frog Hops x 2.  Somewhere during this set, Bubba mumbled something derogatory about the great state of Arkansas and animals and walked off.

    10 Burpees and mosey to the water fountain.

    Mosey to the Planter on the back side of the sculpture garden for a modified Chili Pepper:  RLS x 20; Derkins x 10; LLS x 20; Irkins x 10; RLS x 16; Derkins x 8; LLS x 16; Irkins x 8; RLS x 12; Derkins x 6; LLS x 12; Irkins x 6; RLS x 8; Derkins x 4; LLS x 8; Irkins x 4; RLS x 4; Derkins x 2; LLS x 4; Irkins x 2;

    Back to the Great Lawn and Circle Up for 10! – Merkins, Big Boy Sit-ups, and Squats

    Then a couple of minutes of Mary all IC: Lance Armstrongs x 15 both sides, slow scissors x 5

    Bear Crawl to the end of the Great Lawn.  Approximately 50 yards.

    Mosey to the flag for COT.  Prayers for family members fighting illness and SFx family for pending move.

    Moleskin

    Congratulations to SFx on his new job, but we will all miss him greatly.  Who among us is going to step up to replace his smart-alek mumble chatter, especially during warm-ups, and the epic beatdowns he delivers.  F3 NOLA will never be the same.  Let’s start getting ready for the F3 Philadelphia launch.

    -Hawg

  • 610 Stomp #56

    Good turnout today at the 56th running of the 610 Stomp with 6 participants.  We went traditional today – Bayou route, 6 minutes on / 1 minute off with burpees during the “recovery.”  YHC gave the disclaimer, but didn’t take the time to explain where we were going to Da Parrish who was enjoying his first Stomp.  Luckily Tool and Amnesty were around to make sure he didn’t get lost.

    Moleskin

    T-claps all around:  To Amnesty and Tool for being faithful members of the Stomp, to Da Parrish for completing his first stom, to my running buddies, DQ and Fracsac.  They pushed it hard today.  We went to Cleveland Street, which according to Google Maps is a 4.2 mile round trip run.  That puts us at a 10:36  per mile pace for the entire stomp.  If it makes anyone feel better we were running at a 9:24  per mile pace during the running part.  Don’t worry about how I calculated that, just know that I have a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the Harvard of the South aka Arkansas State University.  (Actually, rumor has it that Harvard refers to itself as the Arkansas State of the North).

    Prayers for all of those that are suffering in our community.  Let’s look for opportunities everyday where we can help.

    -Hawg

     

  • Hayfever

    9 Okwata warriors gathered together on a blustery summer morning at the lakefront.  A kotter from Shorty and a second post from the now veteran Da Parish were welcome sights.  I was also glad to workout with Belloq for the first time, after reading that the Pax had named someone after an Indiana Jones villain.  However, I was disappointed he was not wearing a fedora for the workout.  Quick disclaimer than off toward the fountain…

    The Thang

    Mosey around the fountain and catch a cool mist from the wind.  Circle up in the rutted grass in front of the fountain.  Probably not the best place for the warm-up, but I’m going with the fact that the ruts and unevenness of the ground adds variety.

    Warm-up (All IC):  SSH x 30, Plank Jacks x 25*, Imperial Squat Walkers x 30**, Peter Parkers x 25, Lunges x 30, Merkins x 20, Calf Raises x 30

    * Bubba told me about the new Rudy Jacks at the Uptowner this morning.  They sound perfectly awful, a lot like Rudy.  If only I had know about them earlier

    ** I totally fouled these up, but didn’t let that phase me.  I plowed on through for 30 terribly counted Squat Walkers.  As Dredd says “I violently executed plan wins most of the time.”

    Mosey to the Lakefront to enjoy the crashing waves and some planter tabata

    Tabata 1 using a planter:  Box Jumps, Irkins, Freak Nasties, Derkins (Repeato, but that goes without saying since it is Tabata and Tabata = 8 sets)

    Tabata 2 sans planter: Burpees, Merkins, Squats, Man size sit-ups (Without saying…you know what tabata means)

    Jaywalk to Pull-up Pavilion where we divided up into 3 groups of 3.  One group goes Bernie Sanders on the pull-up bars, while another does Freak Nasties AMRAP, and the third does 15 Merkins.  Rotate through all three stations and then repeato with 10 reps at Merkin station.

    Line up at the base of the freshly mowed levee***:  Crawl Bear**** to the top, Bear Crawl down, Jameis Winston to the top, Winston Jameis down, Bear Crawl to the top, Bear Crawl down, Bear Crawl to the top.

    *** Cobains to all the Pax suffering from allergies.

    ****T-claps to F3 Dallas for reminding me how much it sucks to Crawl Bear up an incline.

    At the top of the levee as we did 20 Lance Armstrongs on each side.  Instead of buying souvenirs, I brought this exercise back from Dallas.

    Quadraphilia – #Crowd Pleaser.  I think Shorty kottered this morning because he knew I would Q this.  What did we learn?  Shorty is a masochist.  I always thought he was a little “off” but this confirms it.  He is definitely DSM-IV material.  On another note, I didn’t hear Tool say anything negative about Quadraphilia, this morning.  I think he is starting to enjoy it.  Don’t be surprised if it is part of his next Q.  I decided to count my reps this time.  It’s a little fuzzy, but I think anything more than 10 reps is a decent goal.

    Mosey back to the flag Dawhere we counted off, had name-o-rama, a shout out, and ant bites.

    Okwata is always a pleasure.

     

     

     

  • 610 Stomp #53 – Records are Made to be Broken

    It was a PAX of 4 for the 53rd running of the 610 Stomp.  YHC had a  goal in mind for today and without Shorty, SFx, and Nip/Tuck around it looked like it could be a record-setting day.

    The Thang

    A plain ol’ run down the Bayou route as far as you can go and get back in 45 minutes.  As far as YHC knows the top of the interstate overpass is the farthest anyone has ever made it.  SFx and YHC made it there once when we were doing a 30 second sprint / 30 second walk every 6 minutes.

    Like animals running from a flood, we set out 2×2 to reach our goal.  I shared my goal with Cowbell about 5 minutes in and he seemed for it.  We made it over the overpass and about half way down the far side (3rd light from bottom).  We turned around, apparently picking up the pace a little to ensure we made it back on time (therwise, I don’t think our distance record would count).  44:10 after we started, Cowbell crossed the finish line a few seconds ahead of me.

    Tool and Amnesty were there to help us seal the deal with 10 burpees.

    Moleskin

    • T-claps to Cowbell for setting the Stomp’s Distance record today.  Records are made to be broken, so let’s see what happens.
    • Cowbell and I actually had a negative split on the 3rd mile.  It was our fastest at about 7:54 min/mile pace.  Our slowest mile was our first mile at just under 8:30 min/mile pace.  That’s what having a partner and a goal will push you to do.
    • I didn’t realize it until I started writing the backblast, but today’s workout began the Stomp’s 2nd year.  Here is the backblast from the first stop 1 year ago.

    COT

    Prayers for Brady, Mason, and Cowbell’s aging grandparents.  Please pray for Cable Guy.  His wife Melissa passed away Monday.  Here is a link to a fund his friends have put together.

     

     

  • The Louisiana Flood

    The New Orleans area was spared from the flooding that occurred last week.  None of us are having to gut our houses, our grocery stores and gas stations are open, our cars run, our churches are having services, our jobs are intact and we are at work.  But that is not the case 70 miles to our west.  There life is not normal.  There 40,000 homes were flooded.  There people need help.  If you would like to volunteer or donate here are some resources:

    Volunteer Louisiana – State website with contact information for volunteer and donation opportunities.

    Crisis to Love Ministries – A crisis pregnancy center without flood insurance that lost about $450,000 in equipment.  You can contact them by calling 225-229-5826 or 225-266-7075 or email life@ctlm.org.  The address is:
    3813 N. Flannery Rd.
    Baton Rouge, LA 70814

    Friendship Baptist Church – Former church of one of the NOLA Pax.  It flooded and so did the homes of many members.
    10011 Comite Dr. Baker, LA 70714
    Telephone: (225)261-1412

    Community Bible Church in Baton Rouge – Baton Rouge Church organizing relief efforts. If you can help please contact Steve Foster (225) 328-8424 to set up a time and get an assignment.

    First Baptist Gonzales This church is coordinating a lot of efforts.  There are a group of guys coming from F3Nation to work with them this week.  Contact the church at:
    (225-647-8575) or fbcgonzales@eatel.net

    The Thang

    A group of NOLA Pax along with family members met at the Peristyle at 0530 Saturday morning.  We divided ourselves into two teams and headed out.  My team, let’s call ourselves team #1, headed to Ponchatoula while team two headed to Baton Rouge.

    We arrived in Ponchatoula to help one of Shorty’s co-workers who was flooded.  When we got there we noticed she and her husband were in the process of selling their home.  Fortunately, the buyers still want it.  Her house was in relatively good shape.  All the furniture and carpet were out and the sheetrock was cut.  We just needed to clean up her tile and spray the studs and she was good to go.  It didn’t seem like much, but it would have probably taken her most of the day, seeing as she had a 1 year old strapped to her in a Baby Bjorn.  Once we finished our cushy air-conditioned job we called Team 2 to see how they were progressing.  They were gutting a house for an elderly couple in BR.  They had two wheelbarrows, but seemed to be having trouble operating them.  We decided we should head that way and see if we could help them figure it out.

    We arrived to find a group of much dirtier and sweatier men than ourselves.  They were gutting the house floor to ceiling and seemed to have figured out how the wheelbarrows work.  This place did not appear to have the air conditioning that Team #1 had become accustomed to, so we quickly asked if there were other places in the area where we could assist.  They pointed us to a Crisis Pregnancy Center about 10 minutes away, with the intention that they would join us in about an hour.

    At the Crisis Pregnancy Center we found a group of about 7 dedicated people that had been hard at work all week.  They had no idea who we were, but they didn’t really care.  They needed help and lots of it.  The center consists of two buildings, a clinic and an administrative building.  The team had dedicated the prior week to getting all of the dry files and equipment out of the building and into storage.  Today they were working on getting the wet stuff out.  We started by destroying furniture and carrying it out.  The girls seemed to enjoy using the sledgehammer, taking out some of the frustrations that come with a life spent with Shorty and Cowbell.  We cleared the administration building by the time Team 2 arrived.  Then we tackled the clinic, hauling out thousands and thousands of dollars worth of medical equipment.  This place lost a lot.  Fortunately we were able to clear out both buildings and pull out the carpet.

    YHC had to leave early, but the rest of the Pax stayed to make sure the carpet was cleared.  It was important to get the carpet out of there and I’m glad they were able to do it.

    There were others helping also.  Side Effects went solo to help those at his former church, while Griswold spent the latter part of the week and the weekend in Denham Springs helping a friend.  He was able to put together a team of friends to help gut a house on Sunday.

    Continue to pray for the people of Louisiana and please consider helping in any way that you can.

    -Hawg

  • Negativity Abounds

    HVAC and YHC walked up from different directions to make an even half dozen for this morning’s Uptowner.  YHC had found a workout called the 1 x 20 workout that I wanted to try.  T-claps to Tool for tweeting out the website where I found it.  I only wish he could have been here to enjoy the pain it created.

    I gave the disclaimer and we were off for about a 20 foot walk to our warm-up COP.

    The Thang

    Warm-up – All IC:  SSH x 25; IW x 25; Good Morning x 10; DQ x 15

    Negatives:  All exercises are 1 set of 20 reps.  We did 1 second on the up and 5 seconds on the down.  The count was a little weird at first, but we got used to it.  The idea was that each set would take about 3 minutes and the last rep should be very painful.

    • Squats
    • Rows
    • Right Leg Split Squat
    • Bench Press
    • Left Leg Split Squat
    • Shoulder Press
    • Calf Raises
    • Curls
    • Skull Crushers (needed to break this up into a set of 12 and a set of 8 for the Q’s cranial safety)

    Walk to Playground with your heaviest rock.  Paired up and completed the following circuit twice (10 reps each time with 1 second on the up and 5 seconds on the down).

    • Pushups
    • Dead-Lift
    • Pull-Ups

    Walked back to the rock pile and replaced our selected rocks.  This took a while – Rudy had 4 to return.

    Count off, Name-o-rama, and praise for blessings and prayers for those affected by the floods.

    Moleskin

    This hurt.

  • Nostra-damn-us

    YHC awoke a 0400 to a heavy downpour, wondering if flooded roads might prevent the PAX from posting.  The skies cleared and I arrived to find 11 men ready for a Tropical Beatdown.  I started on the disclaimer, which was apparently all Bongo could take, because he took off in a dead sprint.  We took off trying to catch him, my running form greatly altered by JV’s endless People’s Chair the previous day.  Luckily we caught him and we all circled up next to NOMA.

    The Thang

    Warm-up COP:  SSH x 31; Good Mornings x 11; Peter Parker x 31; Squats x 21; Upright Row x 10; Mountain Climbers x 31 

    Mosey to the lily pad pond for a round of Tabata – 20 seconds all out, 10 second recovery.  Tatum Channings, Derkins, Channing Tatums, Dips – Repeat  *YHC undeservedly called out Swenson for his form and speed on the Tatums.

    Mosey to the north side of NOMA for People’s Chair – duration was up to JV.  He brought the Thunder.

    Mosey to the south side of NOMA for Ball’s to the Wall – approximately 30 seconds.

    Walk back to our warm-up spot for Deck o’ Death: Burpees, Merkins, Grown Man Sit-ups, and Squats.  After discussion with Bubba, the Commissioner of the Deck of Death, it was decided that Jokers would be included and would represent a repeat of the previous card.  Totals: 135 Burpees, 104 Merkins, 104 Sit-ups, and 104 Squats.  *Douille deservedly called out YHC for his squat form.

    We finished the deck in a respectable 30 minutes and moseyed past the flag near the Tai-Chi rap battle occurring at the Peristyle.  We finished the workout with about 5 minutes of plank o’ rama:  Superman, Yankee’s Awkward Plank, Elbow Plank.  *YHC undeservedly called out Yankee for his questionable surfing of the interwebs

    Back to the flag for counting to 12, name o’ rama, and prayer.

    Moleskin

    Ususally Rudy’s mumble chatter consists of teaming up with Swenson to ask and endless amount of questions regarding the Q’s directions.  However, today he decided to reveal his fortune-telling abilities.  About 3 or 4 cards into the deck we hit a Queen of hearts, which meant 12 burpees.  Rudy, must have been feeling spry, so he called for a Joker and it hit.  12 more burpees.  A few cards later we were hit with the 9 of hearts.  Rudy decided this would be a good time to call for another Joker.  Bam 2 for 2.  9 more burpees.  A few more cards pass and Rudy,  feeling the need for more burpees made a call for the card we were all fearing – Ace of hearts.  Unbelieveable – he called it again.  If only the might Creskin would use his powers for good rather than evil.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Pump You Up

    YHC stepped out the front door to find a very soggy front yard.  I walked to Pontiff and found an even soggier Playground.  The track had about 2 inches of standing water, Tool had to plant the flag outside of the normal plant zone, there was rolling white water coming down the slight incline, and an ominous humming sound in the distance…THE PUMPS ARE ON!  YHC has been waiting for this day.  I missed the only other Pumped Up workout (which just happened to be Marlin’s VQ).  For those of you unfamiliar with Pontiff Playground and Jeff Parish Flood Control, the playground was turned into a reservoir after Katrina.  When it rains hard in the neighborhood, excess water is pumped into the playground, right by the rock pile.  The Playground has a levee around it, so in theory it could hold a few acres of foot deep water.

    A special disclaimer was given regarding moving waters and we were off to explore the damage.

    The Thang

    On the way to the rock pile we were met by Target’s ownern (the dog, not the store) as she had seen the devastation ahead and turned around.  She gave us a second disclaimer.  We took her kind warning under consideration, ignored it, and charged forward with even more excitement.  I opted to circle up in the grassy area opposite the pump after considering warming up right next to it.

    Warm-Up (All IC): SSH x 30, IW x 25; J-Lo from on High x 20; DQ x 15; Twist x 10; GM x 10

    Grab one of the partially submerged rocks and Indian Run to the Hill.

    Jacob’s Descending Ladder:  We all know where a descending ladder goes.  Run over the hill con roca and do 10 shoulder presses, back over the hill con roca and do 7 burpees.  Continue always doing 10 shoulder presses on the far side and descending the burpees to one on the near side.

    Continue exploring the condition of the park as we continue around the track.  Indian walk – all pax walk while one man runs from back of the line to the front.  We broke out into an all out jog once we got closer to the baseball bleachers.

    Modified Chili Pepper – All IC: Right Leg Bulgarian Split Lunge Squat x 12; Decline Merkin x 6; Left Leg Bulgarian Split Lunge Squat x 12; Incline Merkin x 6; RLBSLS x 9; LLBSLS x 9; DM x 6; IM x 6; RLBSLS x 6; DM x 6; LLBSLS x 6; IM x 6

    Walk to the Blue Playground (at least that’s what my daughter calls it).

    Murphish Tiny Sets –  Partner up.  3 exercises in each set:  5 pull-ups, 10 Rock Squats, 15 Bench Presses.  We cycled through 2 sets.

    Jog with the Rocks until we hit the track again on the west side.  Commence Indian Walk to the Rock Pile.  Return the rocks and head back to the flag.

    Time for a 2 minute elbow plank and COT.

    Moleskin

    • T-claps to Kim-Chi for Larry Birding on Jacob’s Ladder…actually T-claps to all 5 of you for Larry Birding at Jacob’s Ladder.
    • YHC had some issues with the Chili Pepper, which prompted some of the PAX to request their money back.  Checks are in the mail.
    • Bogey and I are looking for a couple of people to join us in a Dealer’s Choice Multi-Q coming to Pontiff soon.
    • We need badges for anyone that has worked out at Pontiff with the Pumps On.
    • The Plank at the end was inspired by the Uptown Plank-off last week.  We must not let them get stronger than us.  Tool estimates 6 minutes will win you second place at the next NOTC event.