F3 New Orleans

Author: Steve

  • Back-to-Back Blasts

    Anyone who has posted with me knows that YHC is not much of a talker.  Hell, I can hardly find enough to say for one backblast each week.  And yet here we are.  YHC supposes it is a small price to pay for all the benefits of F3.  And hey, if a bear craps in the woods and no one is around to write a backblast about it, did it really happen?

    Pre-beatdown, with mumble chatter about our aches and pains from the last few days, Einstein noted that as the PAX gets stronger, the ceiling on beatdowns is pushed higher and higher.  It’s both great (hey, we get our money’s worth) and at the same time pretty awful (might not be able to walk like a normal human being the next day).  That got me thinking about Chewy’s request for a more restorative beatdown on the Northshore, which is a great idea.  Today’s beatdown, though, wasn’t going to be so restorative. And with that in mind, YHC gave a disclaimer for the first time in… well, too long.

    Warmorama: Air presses, overhead arm circles, arm circles forward and backward, SSHs, hillbillies, high knees.  All x 20 IC.

    The Thang: First stop, the quarry for some rock work.  Part of YHC’s mission this week was to introduce Cowbell to the various offerings at each AO, and this seemed to be one we hadn’t seen much of lately. 

    • Curls x12 IC
    • Squat-to-Overhead-Press x10 IC
    • Bent over Rows x 12 IC

    Rinse and repeat, swapping the counts. Then we gingerly placed the rocks back just as we had found them (so as not to offend the beautifying efforts of the Covington Garden Club), and we were off to the front of the Justice Center, where the bulk of today’s efforts would take place.

    First, a quick stop at the benches for lateral jump overs x20 OYO, and Bulgarians x10 IC each leg. Then partner up…

    P1 runs the length of the courtyard, up the stairs, does 15x jump squats, and returns to relieve P2, who is planking in front of a bench, walking his hands up onto the bench and then back down again, repeatedly. There’s probably a name for this or, at the very least better wording to explain it, but YHC can’t take the time to look it up in our exicon.

    After two rounds of that, we did a variation, P1 runs same route, does star jacks x10, while P2 is now walking his feet up to the bench and back down, adding a derkin in each time both feet are up on the bench. R&R.

    A quick 10 count then grab a bench for step ups x15 IC each leg, and freaks x15 IC.

    Next up, suicides across the courtyard for P1, Mahktar N’diayes for P2. Swaparoo. Again the beautifying efforts of Covington were appreciated, as some men opted to save the skin on their forearms and avoided the concrete, using instead the small gardens near each bench.

    And then the finale, P1 up at the top of the stairs holding a people’s chair and doing air presses, P2 bear crawling backwards up the stairs.  (We missed you Maverick.)

    Back to the flag for a quick Mary of 100’s, Crunchy Frogs, and LBC’s x20 IC.

    COT and Einstein Cowbell prayed us out.  Thank you for following my lead today guys, I sincerely appreciate it!

  • Make Grandmothers Great Again

    Without Coconuts or Ringo to provide the kind of steady care that Granny needs, she has been on her last gasps for a few months now.  We won’t go too far with the dying grandmother imagery (because that’s just tasteless), but let’s just say it’s been pretty bad here on Tuesday mornings.  Four men, however, posted on this particularly gloomy morning to provide a little resuscitation.  (Yes, this included Ei on his second consecutive post and third post of the month – don’t worry, Ei, no one’s keeping track.)  And, with the promise of Chewy returning from his triathlon and Cowbell firmly locked in, things should hopefully be looking up this summer for our dear Granny.

    So the intent of today’s workout was not to… take it easy, per se… but after Shooter’s brutal whipping yesterday at the Marsh, a lighter load might not be such a bad thing.  So we started with… 

    Warmorama: Abe Vigodas x10 IC, good mornings x10 IC, arm circles… at this point Ei interrupted to note that this was actually exactly how Shooter began yesterday’s beatdown. 

    Exactly?

    Oh well. On to reverse arm circles x20 IC, seal jacks x20 IC, and we’re off on a mosey to the tunnel.

    The Thang:

    First up, a set of 11’s:  starting at the base of the tunnel with x1 burpee, backpedal up the largest hill in Mandeville and, with no Wacker in sight to complain, perform Sister Mary K’s x10 IC.  With such a light crowd we did the 11’s together, and there was more chatter about The Dawn Wall (where we discovered that Cowbell was also a huge fan and had read the book), until the lack of moving air and burpees finally set in.

    Mosey back toward the trailhead with a quick stop at the benches for Freak Nasties, x10 IC.  

    Onward, with Cowbell showing off his athleticism with a few cow-gongs, and then we were at the amphitheater stage for some Rochamburpees.  Partners were Zoo and Ei, Cowbell and YHC.  Chillcut plank, rock-paper-scissors, winner takes the merkins and loser takes the burpees.  Count starts at 1 and play was up to 10.  Losing in the beginning is pretty inconsequential, but a loss on the final two is just brutal.  YHC was not sure what was going on with Zoo and Ei, as it looked like Ei was just laying on the ground watching Zoo do a bunch of burpees. Maybe he’s just that good at rock-paper-scissors?

    Finally, back at the flag for a simple Mary of flutter kicks, x40 IC.

    COT and Zoo prayed us out.  Thank you guys for posting in this ideal weather, and giving me the opportunity to lead.  SYITG.

  • Granny’s House: Into the Multiverse

    It was as if the LIGO super collider had been activated and, through some rip in the space time continuum, produced three Q’s instead of the usual one for Tuesday’s beatdown.  Either that or no one signed up to Q Granny and we did a Round Robin.   Dimensional warping or no, though, the varied leadership produced a worthy beatdown.  Here’s the gist:

    Warmorama (Steve): cherry pickers, arm circles (forward and back), imperial walkers, SSHs, high knees.  All x20 IC.

    The Thang:

    Part 1: (Steve) Over to the marsh for an AMRAP set of 5 pull-ups, 10 merkins, and 15 squats.  With a very-probable Murph coming up for Memorial Day (mark your calendar, gents), it seemed a good idea to start getting some reps in.  PAX did 50 pull-ups, 100 merkins, and 150 squats.

    Part 2: (Zoolander) Back to Granny’s for some corridor action.   Since many of us were denied the pleasure of finishing the Zoorich Classic and thus denied the broad jump burpee finale, Zoo decided we should get another chance and this time he doubled down on the pain.  PAX would broad jump burpee to the first column, then bear crawl back to start, broad jump burpee to the second column, bear crawl back, and so on.  After a few of these excruciating suicides, we partnered up for…

    Part 3: (Zoolander, with a suggestion from Cowbell) Modified BLIMPS: Partner 1 begins with the burpees, while partner 2 runs the corridor, up and down the stairs and back to relieve P1.  With time constraints, we nixed the cumulative count and simply each did one round of the following: burpees, lunges, imperial walkers, merkins, plank jacks, squats.

    Mary: (Shooter) Shooter, fresh off a trip to Grand Isle which found him… on the opposite end of rested, continued the pain with a round of crunchy frogs, LBC’s, wife pleasers, and Freddie Mercs, all around 20x IC.

    COT and Shooter prayed us out.  Thanks to the PAX for posting and leading – it was brutal and, as always, somehow fun. 👊

  • I’d rather be, under the sea…

    With the sharp rise in temperatures and humidity this week, I think we’d all rather be in an octopus’s garden, in the shade.

    I’m sorry…. lame, I know. That’s the best lead line YHC could think of. (There were other, lamer ones – trust me.) Where’s Ei when you need him?

    So every time Ringo returns from the coast, YHC has to come up with another lame Beatles reference. In this case, it’s one of the two songs that Ringo actually wrote for the Beatles, so at least there’s that bit of trivia to carry you through the rest of this backblast.

    Anywho. The scramble. It was as it usually is – with the exception of a visiting Ringo and Cowbell’s first scramble experience.

    Parking Lot Warmorama: Lunges across and back, Frankenstein’s across and back, followed by SSH & IW’s, x20 IC.

    The Thang:

    Despite the humidity, it was a nice run and getting to chat with recent Southshore defector, Cowbell, made it pass even quicker. As one of the few H8! finishers, YHC looks forward to the painful beatdowns to come from him later this year. Also, he attempted to explain what is happening with this months ISI over on the Southshore, but I still left somewhat confused.

    Post-Thang:

    PAX flutter kicked their hearts out while one by one each man rose to do x10 pull-ups. After all men finished, we planked for a bit and performed the following: Merkins x10 IC, Makhtar N’Diayes x10 IC, and Peter Parkers x10 IC.

    COT and Chewy prayed us out. Thanks men for another opportunity to lead, your push and accountability is always appreciated!

  • Dropping Like Flies

    Small crew at Granny’s House this morning.  With Coconuts on IR, Ringo beachside until the fall, Bushwacker taking on a Spring Break adventure (or at least attempting to), and Chewy… wait, where has Chewy been? … Well, anyway, it was up to Shooter, Pik and YHC to hold down the fort.  And Pik, relieved of carpool duty this morning, pulled a Shooter and ran to the AO, so his warm up was accounted for.  But there’s a format to this thing and by golly we’re sticking to it.  Soooo…

    Warmorama: Arm circles (forward & back), SSH, toe touches, IW’s, seal jacks, and butt kicks, all at or around 20x IC.

    The Thang:

    Mosey to the tunnel but, en route and surrounded by the darkness of Granny’s woods and a few lone fireflies, YHC decided to stop for an impromptu minute-and-a-half plank.  This hopefully gave us some time to take in our quiet surroundings, think about the day to come, and contemplate just how insane that running crew would find us if they happened upon us huddled on the pavement in the middle of the pitch black woods.  But alas, a minute and a half passes and not a soul in sight.

    Onward to the tunnel, and once at the base, we started a Burpback Mountain (one pair running backwards up the ramp while the other starts the burpee count), up to a cumulative x60 burpees.

    Having got what we came for, we head back through the woods to the bus stop.  Is this even a bus stop?  I’ve never actually caught a bus at this location, and I live on this street.  Either way, it’s been money well spent for our crew, and we stop for some derkins, step ups, hip slappers (legs up on the benches), Bulgarians, jump overs, and freak nasties.  All about 15x IC.

    Next up, an AMRAP routine at one end of the corridor: merkins x5, squats x10, wide-armed merkins x15, LBC’s x20, then run the corridor, up the stairs and back down, sprint 100% to the start to rinse and repeat.  After YHC’s arms couldn’t muster another round of wide-armed merks, I called it and we moved on to a true 6-minute Mary.  

    It must’ve been a while since YHC has done a full 6 minutes of Mary because this one seemed to last an eternity.  PAX knocked out crunchy frogs, Putins, flutter kicks, leg raises, 100’s, and LBC’s (all around x15-20 IC) before calling it for the COT, where we discussed Wacker’s status as the CSAUP king and then Pik prayed us out. Thank you men for the post, the push, the lead – nothing beats starting the day with guys like you two.

  • Northshore Convergence – 3 Year Anniversary

    We all come to F3 as individuals, men with our own past and our own unique stories.  But we all share one very similar story, which is the story of our first post to an F3 beatdown.  This story usually involves a little fear, a lot of pain, and in some cases, a splash of merlot.  My story took place at Grandmother’s House (before it had a name), and I can be honest and say it was filled with trepidation: Will I be able to make it through this?  What if I don’t like some of these guys?  Are they going to ask me to lead part of it?  And why the heck am I up so damn early???

    Everyone knows how the story goes – YHC was accepted but quickly pushed to be a better man in all aspects. That impact – an effect felt on all F3 brothers – is what we came together to celebrate on the Lakefront today. F3 has now been thriving and changing men on the Northshore for three years now.

    A few lucky Southshore men arrived early, unaware they’d get roped into a 2 mile pre-thang. Back at the flags (four flags this morning), YHC gave a quick welcome and disclaimer, and we got this thing started:

    Warmorama:

    Three years, three sets of 8-count bodybuilders.  Founding year 2016, so 16 reps of each.  Sprinkled some standard warm-ups in between:

    • 8-count bodybuilders x16 IC
    • SSH, IW’s x20 IC
    • 8-count bodybuilders x16 IC
    • Toe Touches, Windmills x20 IC
    • 8-count bodybuilders x16 IC

    The Thang:

    3 Stations for 3 Years: Every Man Leads

    Leadership is one of the skills F3 hones that YHC is most thankful for. It’s also the thing YHC was most uncomfortable with those first few weeks. These stations were meant to honor the leadership impact that F3 spreads.

    The PAX was split into three groups, with three leaders picked for an impromptu lead at each station. The leader got two minutes to come up with a routine while the rest of the PAX circled up for Peter Parkers x15 IC, Shoulder Taps x15 IC, and Merkins x15 OYO.

    If memory serves, here’s what each leader had us performing:

    Station 1: The Gazebo, led by Sparky Time

    Freak Nasties x10 IC, Step Ups x10 IC (each leg), Squats x10 IC, repeat.

    Station 2: East Swingset Pad, led by Jose 10k

    Squats x10 IC, Jane Fondas x10 IC (each leg), Lunges x10 IC, Monkey Humpers x10 IC.

    Station 3: West Swingset Pad, led by Russo

    Little Manny Crunches x10 IC, Six-Inch Exercise x10 IC, Crunchy Frogs x10 IC. (Pretty sure there was something else in there….)

    Mental and Physical Toughness with Fracsac

    Next up, the baton was passed to Fracsac for a little taste of the Southshore. He told us of his recent Spartan Race with Triple Shift, how challenging it was, and how F3 had prepared him both mentally and physically.  So this next pearl would exemplify both. 

    The physical part was an Indian Run (PAX split into 2 groups), where the man sprinting to the front would yell out an exercise, the PAX would quickly disperse and perform 5 of said exercise (burpees, jump squats, derkins, one-armed merkins, to name a few) before getting back in line and continuing the run.  Halfway through we were stopped for the mental exercise: perform 21 SSH’s, with only the first 10 called out in cadence.  If one man fails to halt at exactly 21, there was a penalty of 30 burpees.  After some mumble chatter about who’s cadence was the correct cadence, we all performed the penalty burpees. The Indian run then headed in the opposite direction, with the same mental exercise waiting at the end of the line – this time 17 SSH and only 6 called in cadence.  Another failure and another 20 burpees were in order.

    Team Races: Pushing Each Other Forward

    YHC took the final pearl with some competitive team exercises. This section was cut short due to time, so we did one quick hopscotch race: the original three teams lined up in plank position, with the last man rising to bunny hop over the rest of his team, and then drop back into plank position. Teams finished once their last man crossed the finish line – the infamous lakefront shaft.

    The two losing teams would need to do a penalty exercise, but the true winning team would never be known because there were some last-second shenanigans on all three teams as they neared the finish line. So we all performed the penalty together: the 8-count exercise known as Absolution.

    Mosey back to the flag, where Shooter led a very abbreviated Mary of planking before we called it.

    COT: Count-o-rama, name-o-rama, naming of an FNG (welcome Stockboy!) and Triple Shift led us in a prayer of thanks.

    Coffetería brought out a few of our injured brothers, with Butt Splice, The Manny, and Tanked Up joining us. T-claps to our Southshore brothers for making it across the pond to make this a true convergence, it wouldn’t be the same without you guys. And t-claps to all the guys who led today, it’s an honor to work beside you men. SYITG.

  • AKA, Patiently-Waiting Penny

    For the nearly three years that we’ve been coming to the Justice Center parking garage, she has been there.  Waiting, presumably, to clock in across the street.  But why two hours before?  Where does she come from?  What is she doing on her phone for two hours?  And why the heck does she leave her car running even in the greatest of weather?

    These questions and many more may never be answered.  And that is as it should be.  For Patiently Waiting Penny (AKA, Smartphone Stalking Suzie, Carbon Monoxide Camille, Facebooking Fanny) is an enigma and should remain one – something for the PAX to ponder as we  shuffle backwards up the parking ramp.  As such, a portion of today’s beatdown was dedicated to our most ardent, yet involuntary, fan.

    Warmorama: 

    Arm circles x15, toe touches x15, IW’s x15, Abe Vigodas x10, air presses x25, SSH’s x20, all IC.

    The Thang:

    Started with a mosey to the Taj, to do a riff on last week’s parking garage exercise: the pax is divided in two, with each half headed in opposing directions around the building.  Bunny hop the east/west sides, bear crawl north/south.  At the meeting point on the opposite side, we did 8-count bodybuilders 10x.  Head back the same way, and did another 8-count exercise, absolution.

    Next up, mosey to the bottom of the parking garage for a SCOP (semi-circle of pain): The Penny.  The Penny consists of the stupidest and most awkward-looking exercises in the exicon.  These are the exercises that are not suitable for the public eye.  But of course, with the amount of time Patiently-Waiting Penny has already put in with the Pax, she is practically one of us.  So we opened our circle to her and performed the following:

    • Goofballs x20 IC
    • Smurf Jacks x20 IC
    • Star Jacks x20 IC (look out PAX, YHC has a new favorite!)
    • Howling Monkeys (each man performs 10X IC monkey humpers while the PAX holds their ankles)
    • Wife Pleasers x20 IC
    • Hello Dollies x20 IC
    • Rosalitas x20 IC
    • Pattycake Merkins x20 OYO

    Having amused YHC, we moseyed (then sprinted) up to the top, where we then began a Bataan Death March.  Well, more of a Bataan Death Loop as we circled until each man got his burpees and sprints in.  Then a short Indian run back to the flag for…

    Mary:  Crunchy frogs, flutter kicks, and Freddie Mercuries, all x20 IC

    COT and Shooter prayed us out.  Thank you gentlemen for the push and for indulging me today’s lead –  I appreciate it!

  • Pre-Blast: F3 Northshore 3 Year Anniversary Convergence

    Calling all regional PAX! The Northshore will be celebrating its three year anniversary this upcoming Saturday, April 6th, at 0630 on the lakefront (0610 for the usual pre-thang). You won’t want to miss it – convergences are a great opportunity to meet your F3 brothers from across the pond and celebrate this great thing called F3.

    In the 3 years since F3 hit this side of the lake, many crazy things have happened.  Pokemon Go sent people walking off cliffs, Roseanne was back on and quickly back off the air, Michelle Obama and George W. became friends, and the UK kinda/sorta attempted to exit the EU.  But those events, and the many other wild things that have happened in the past few years, pale in comparison to seeing Shooter bear crawl down Bourbon street, or seeing Butt Splice go full predator mode at the Tough Mudder, or even to the legendary parties thrown by our very own, Tanked Up.

    So mark your calendars for next Saturday, April 6th – there’ll be fun and games, F3-style, as well as the usual misery.  Hopefully, a few brothers from the south and a few from the west will join us to celebrate and, of course, feel free to bring an FNG. Afterwards we’ll head over to Kona and have Tank regale us with stories from his youth. And while we won’t be walking off cliffs, I can’t promise that you won’t bear crawl or bunny hop off something.  

  • Tomorrow Never Knows

    After a lousy night of sleep, YHC was not particularly excited to get up and Q Granny’s House. But you never know what surprises might await and, as often happens, this gloom brought a big surprise with the welcome return of Ringo. Back in town for a few days before the madness of Spring Break begins, the PAX was surprised to see that Ringo has lost a bunch of weight while not posting to F3 beatdowns and… while running a pancake eatery??? The mysteries of the world are endless, people.

    The surprise return of a slimmed-down Ringo did nothing to diminish the return of Captain Sparkles, though, as his post today marks the start of an intense (albeit, abbreviated) training for the Ragnar in two weeks. If you doubt this man’s methods, look no further than last fall’s half marathon, or even the grow ruck back in ’17. If anyone can prepare this quickly, it would be Cap.

    Warmorama: (all IC)

    SSH x10, Toe Touches x15, SSH x10, Windmills x15, SSH x10, IW’s x15, SSH x10, Copperhead Squats x15.

    The Thang: A quick mosey around the block to get Cap’s running legs back, and then down to business. First up, a set of stations in the amphitheater area of the trailhead:

    • Burpees x20 / Shoulder Taps x5 on the stage
    • Big Boy (Big Ass/Huge Ass, *copyright pending*) Sit-Ups x20 / Freddie Mercuries x5 (IC)
    • Irkins x20 / Derkins x5 on sitting platform
    • Jump Squats x20 / Monkey Humpers x5

    Rinse and repeat, but with each cycle the first exercise at each station goes down by 5, the second goes up by 5. After 4 rounds, we were done.

    Recovery walk over to the corridor for an Indian Bunny Hop: PAX planks in a line, first man bunny hops over and drops into plank at the end, next man up, and so on until we reached the end of what felt like a very long corridor.

    Next up, a set of sprints with a partner.  First two men would sprint 100% to the end and jog back, while PAX performed squats.  Next two up, and so on.  With Waterpik doing extra credit and all men giving it 110%, this was a bit of a blur and YHC can’t remember exactly how many rounds we did.  What I do remember is the Big Man – Shooter – burning me every single time, and Cap looking like Turtle back in his glory days. Nothing like sprints to get the PAX going!

    Finished with a little Mary: Flutter Kicks x30 IC, Hello Dolly’s x20 IC, Rosalitas x20 IC, and Nolan Ryan’s, each side x10 IC.

    COT, Ringo prayed us out, and we discussed the Northshore’s upcoming 3 year anniversary. Look out for an email soon! As always, thanks for the lead guys.

  • Full Moon Fever

    Anyone who has posted this week has probably gotten glimpses of the glorious full moon, made even more unbelievable in its larger, low-hanging position somewhere in the 0500 hour.  That, combined with our near perfect temperatures, makes this that rare Louisiana week that is about as good as it gets for running.  And run we did! But first…

    Warmorama: Toe Touches, Good Mornings, IW’s, Copperhead Squats, SSH’s, all 15x IC, then lunge walk over to Garfield’s car.

    The Thang:
    Settled into our traditional run at our traditional pace….

    … until about a mile in where Coconuts and Garfield hit their strides. Now if you haven’t run with Coconuts and Garfield, you wouldn’t know that Coconuts looks like he’s taking a gentle stroll at a 7:30 pace, and Garfield is literally walking as you gasp to catch up with him. If that sounds like standard backblast hyperbole, just ask the other Scramble regulars. Anyhow, YHC foolishly decides to try to keep up with Coconuts on this beautiful gloom and, though I was unable to, he did push me to my best Scramble pace yet. So thanks to Garfield and Coconuts for the extra motivation – there’s always something to get from your F3 brothers!

    Back at the flag, and with a quick goodbye to Chewy, we hit the playground equipment stations. Each man did one of the following while one performed 20x burpees to start the rotation: pull-ups, sit-ups, freak nasties, hanging knee tucks. After one full circuit, moving at a Coconuts-inspired pace, we were still able to get in some Mary with: flutter kicks x25 IC, crunchy frogs x15 IC, Putins x 15 IC, and Freddie Mercuries x20 IC. COT and Shooter prayed us out.

    Thank you men for following my lead and always pushing me to get faster, stronger, better!