F3 New Orleans

Author: Steve

  • Lundi Gras Legs

    With many Marsh-vets out of town for Mardi Gras, drastically plummeting temperatures, and some excessive crawfish eating, low turnout was expected this morning. What was unexpected, though, was Jose 10k. Lured out by Wacker’s promise of a treat (sorry, can’t disclose – you have to post to find out about such things), it was nice to have a new face at the marsh. YHC had been waffling between a chest or leg-centric beatdown, but that all solidified when I saw Jose, who hadn’t been through my old standby, my bread and butter, the legs, legs, legs beatdown.

    First up, though, it was cold and YHC was half asleep. Warmorama would actually have to do just that – warm us up – so we kicked into high gear with SSH, High Knees, and Butt Kicks, all 30x IC. Then into Toe Touches, IW’s, Good Mornings, x15 IC. There must’ve been something else in there that I’m forgetting, as Wacker quipped that it seemed like we might only do a warmorama on this fine gloom. As much as YHC might like that, only a fool would do an entire beatdown consisting of warm up exercises…. 🧐

    The Thang: PAX assembled on one end of the court to do the San Antonio Shuffle across. (Looked that one up just for you, Wacker.) I suppose it’d be a Semi-San Antonio Shuffle, though, as the real deal calls for a plank jack somewhere in there, and does not include a broad jump. PAX instead did left leg lunge, right leg lunge, burpee, broad jump. Rinse & Repeat for length of court and back. Next up, bear crawl to half court and back, then slow-mosey over to the pull up bars for…

    Set of 7’s: 6 pull ups to 1 merkin. Then 15x hanging knees to chest. As the PAX noted, this was going to severely limit our chances of performing the ISI challenge.

    Next, mosey to the trace until we hit Marigny, for a quick leg COP: 15x IC groiners, 15x IC jump squats, 15x IC monkey humpers.

    Onward to Grandma’s House for a quick use of the stairs: partner up, partner 1 holds a people’s chair while doing air presses, partner 2 runs up to do 2x merkins. Flapjack, and once it’s back to partner 2, add 2x merkins. Up to 10x merkins for each partner. T-claps to the older couple that gets out there (seemingly) each morning at 0500 and doesn’t mind sharing the stairs with the sweaty pax.

    Hit the benches next for Bulgarian Split Squats, each leg 15x IC. Freak Nasties 10x IC. Then knee-ups, each leg 15x IC.

    Mosey back to the Marsh in time for an Ei favorite, the Jane Fonda’s. Left leg 15x IC, held it up for quick pulses 15x IC, then heel-to-knee 15x IC. Other leg and time was up.

    Countdown, announcements, and Shooter prayed us out with special intentions for the victims of the Esplanade crash yesterday.

    The pax being the pax, the regular beatdown wasn’t enough and so we all moseyed back to the pull-up bars to complete the ISI challenge. Even Jose, who had already completed his before the beatdown (of course he had!), took part.

    T-claps to Jose not only for the double ISI, but also for making the most of his week off by posting at the Marsh. And T-claps to Bushwacker for both the delicious treats, and for getting Jose to commit to his VQ on April 16th. Take a page from the Wacker and spread that leadership love, gentlemen. It’s definitely a big part of what makes F3 special to me. Thanks for following me on this chilly morning, Mondays at the Marsh with you men are hands down the best way to start a week.

  • Pre-thang, Shme-thang

    As the clock runs out on February, YHC happily bids adieu to RRR and all pre-thangs associated with it. With only a day left, the Gipper’s 1 mile run wasn’t terrible, but some secret, John-Hancock-related activity beforehand did leave us a bit behind schedule and, at 0601, we were rightfully greeted back at the flag with a, “Nice of you men to show up.”

    In an attempt to retroactively ‘respect the time,’ YHC took it upon himself (myself? this YHC thing continues to confuse me…) to pack in as much into the remaining 44 minutes as possible. That said, we quickly jumped into…

    Warmorama: Abe Vigodas, Good Mornings, ISW’s, all 10x IC, 20 OYO merkins, and SSH 25x IC.

    The Thang: Then a quick mosey over to the back of the courthouse for an AMRAP routine: 10x merkins, 10x freak nasties, up the stairs, 10x groiners, then run the perimeter of the courthouse parking lot to the start to begin again. About 10 mins later, onto the second portion of today’s thang…

    The Bruce Lee. YHC has never seen Bruce Lee’s most famous movie, Enter The Dragon, but I have seen The Way of the Dragon, which features an epic fight between Bruce and a young Chuck Norris, with Rome as the backdrop and a small kitten as the sole spectator. There’s a lot to love in this fight sequence, including a weirdly prolonged moment of both men removing their shirts, a moment where Bruce rips out a handful of Chuck’s chest hair, and some crazy push-ins on the aforementioned cat. Oh, and there’s also some of the best martial arts in there as well. Anyhow, Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris never met Turbo Tax, so to call this one of the best fights ever may be a tad premature. But it’s pretty good nonetheless.

    So the Bruce Lee. Wacker introduced us to this a while back and, as YHC wanted nothing to do with legs, core seemed like the only decent substitute. 10x IC of Putins, Leg Raises, LBC’s, Heel Touches, Crunchy Frogs, and 100’s. 30 seconds rest between sets, we went 4 rounds.

    Mosey up the parking garage to do the fastest Burp-back Mountain on record. Partner up, partner 1 backpedaling the ramp and jogging back down, while partner 2 starts on the cumulative burpees until they reach 50x.

    Back to the flag right in time for countoff, announcement of Tanked Up’s upcoming birthday, and Ringo prayed us out. Thank you men for following my lead and helping to make us all better and stronger!

  • The Extra Mile Is Never Crowded

    Unless, of course, you’re running in Old Mandeville, where there are always other running crews hitting the pavement before 0500.

    First off, t-claps to Coconuts for showing up with some reflective running schwag, instantly making the pax both safer and giving us that “seasoned runner” look (so that when the group of women doing a 6-minute pace passed us, they knew they were passing some serious men).

    Secondly, t-claps to Waterpik, who has posted to more than a few beatdowns while he rehabs his ankle.  He got YHC thinking this morning: would I show up if I couldn’t run?  Probably not.  Maybe the first week, but then the temptation of an extra hour of sleep (maybe 2 for an outta work hairdresser?) would be too much.  Pik leads by example and character like his is one of the biggest reasons why I’ve made F3 such an integral part of my life.

    The Thang: Once our new reflective bands had been properly secured, YHC warned the pax that we’d be skipping our usual warm-up in lieu of a little more distance: 4 miles rather than our usual 3.2.

    Today’s route:

    Back in time for a few flutters (30x IC) and a few merkins (20), before COT with Chewy praying us out.  Thanks for going the extra distance today guys, appreciate it!

  • Rise When the Rooster Crows (or, Do Monkey Humpers when the Rooster Crows)

    Granny’s house is the only real wild card in the northshore schedule these days.  While other AO’s maintain a consistent crew, Granny’s House can fluctuate greatly.  And it’s kinda nice not knowing what you’ll get – sometimes it’s 8-10 pax, other times it’s 2.  For two weeks in a row, though, it’s been a packed house.  Maybe because of the special appearances by Captain Sparkles?  Who can say.  But it was nice to have a solid number of men in the gloom this morning, up early enough to hear the rooster crow.   Literally.  That’s right, we have a rooster at Granny’s House.  (Or, at least, in the general vicinity of Granny’s.) 

    Warmorama (under the safe confines of the covered corridor, while the rain petered off): Toe Touches x15 IC, 10 Merkins, SSH x15 IC, 8 Merkins, IW x15 IC, 6 Merkins, Copperhead Squats x15 IC, 4 Merkins, High Knees x15 IC, 2 Merkins, Butt Kicks x15 IC.

    The Thang:

    This beatdown was a bit of a medley – less rinse and repeat, more mosey from COP to COP.  Our first mosey was through the woods over to the Marigny intersection for a quick set of Peter Parkers, Alternating Should Taps, and Parker Peters, all 20x IC.  

    Then onward to the Lamarque intersection, where the Pax circled up to perform monkey humpers while each man got a turn at 5x jump squats.  A neighborhood dog caught sight of Wacker humping and, well, let’s just say it’s a good thing there was both a fence and the dog’s owner came out to restrain him.  Between that and the rooster, it was pretty clear that it was time to move on,  so we moseyed quickly over to the Marsh’s pull-up bars.

    First up, a set of 7’s : 6 hanging knees-to-chest to 1 Sister Mary Katherine.  Next up, 20 squat / pull-up combos OYO.

    Another mosey, this time back towards Granny’s, but with a quick stop on Girod to circle up for Al Gore, while each pax quickly performs 5x IW’s.

    Mosey onward, until we were safely back at the trailhead, where YHC confidently explained how to do Bear Crawl Merkins across the length of the corridor.  Incorrect explanation, but done with great confidence so no one questioned it until about halfway through, when someone realized the count should be an odd number to correctly alternate our staggered merkins.  Regardless though, the pax seemed to enjoy.

    Another mosey, this time to the bus stop benches for: 10x Jump Overs, Freak Nasties x10 IC, Knee Ups R Leg x10 IC, Freak Nasties x10 IC, Knee Ups L Leg x10 IC, Freak Nasties x10 IC.

    Back to the start for a blast from the past, an old favorite that YHC had nearly forgotten (thanks Bushwacker for mentioning groiners and triggering a light bulb moment): an 8-count exercise known as Absolution.  It involves groiners, Makhtar N’Diayes, and plank jacks, and it’s a pain in the ass to count off. But we managed to knock out 10 of those IC and then finally finished up with a muddy Mary of: flutter kicks, high flutters, LBCs, crunchy frogs, and Putins, all 20x IC.

    COT and Captain took us out with a special prayer for Dan Ziegler, who was seriously injured in the Metairie condo fire over the weekend.  Please send your thoughts and prayers to Dan and his family.  And thank you men for the opportunity to lead!

  • A Miscue at the Marsh

    This morning’s beatdown had no creative themes and no coupons were used. There were no musical numbers. And this backblast (probably) won’t have any rhyming couplets. And that is because this beatdown, though it was to be led by the always-reliable and always-creative Grundy, was, in fact, Grundy-less.

    But that was no problem with the crew the Marsh brings in these days. There was some Saints-Eagles chatter while we waited (Bushwacker reminding us that Grundy usually comes in hot), but alas, we eventually had to pull the trigger and YHC was the first to grab warm-up duties.

    Warmorama: Good Mornings, Toe Touches, Windmills, SSH, Seal Jacks, High Knees, (all 20x IC) and 20x merkins OYO.

    The Thang: Started with a warm-up run around the block to hit our 1 mile ISI challenge, then off to the pull-up bars to get to business:

    1st Set of 7’s: 6 pull-ups to 1 merkin, down to 1 pull-up and 6 merkins.

    2nd Set of 7’s: 6 hanging knees-to-chest to 1 burp-up (NOT to be confused with a burpo. Totally different and YHC knows the difference, totally.)

    Over to the rickety metal benches for some loud leg work:

    • Left leg knee ups, right leg knees ups, 10x IC.
    • Irkins 10x IC
    • Left leg Bulgarians, Right leg Bulgarians, 15x IC.
    • Freak Nasties, 16x IC
    • Box Jumps x10 (cut short, as we only intended to wake up the neighbors on Livingston, not the entirety of Old Mandeville).

    [Sidebar: All numbers above are entirely accurate, Wacker. Though YHC will admit he’s lucky that he does not have to be audited by Grundy (since, again, he was not there).]

    Over to the court for a round of: Monkey Humpers 20x IC, followed by bunny hopping half the court, bear crawling the rest. Rinse and repeat back.

    And finally some Mary: big flutter kicks, little flutters, hello Dolly’s, Freddie Mercs., all at or around 20x IC.

    COT, Pik prayed us out. Thanks men, enjoyed the impromptu lead! And thank you, Grundy – looking forward to tomorrow’s meeting with Sandy!

  • Grandma’s Boys

    Another day in paradise at Grandma’s House.  The Tuesday beatdown that started it all here on the Northshore has had relatively low turnout lately, but the company couldn’t be better.  Grandmother-regulars Chewy and Shooter both posted and reminded YHC of the high quality of men F3 seems to attract.  We’re all works-in-progress, but these guys seem to be a bit ahead of the curve in terms of their attitude, priorities in life, and the standards they set for themselves and others.  Getting up early with guys like Shooter and Chewy is one of best things about F3. (Quick aside, YHC has not seen the movie that loosely inspired this post’s title and so can neither endorse nor dismiss it. We’ll need Choppa to come back from his extended leave and give us a full breakdown and analysis.)

    Alright, let’s get to it before Einstein cranks out his backblast and makes my tardiness even more apparent (couldn’t beat Pik though, that man is too quick!).

    Warmorama: Good Mornings, Abe Vigodas, Toe Touches, IW’s, SSH, Butt Kicks, all at or around 20x IC.

    The Thang:
    Zoolander’s challenge seems to have single-handedly resuscitated ISI and, since the 1st, we’ve all become a bunch of running fools.  So first thing up was a run to the tunnel and back, rounding the block to make it an even 2 miles.

    Next up (and last up), was a routine, running to the following stations:

    • Up to the top of the stairs for 10x merkins
    • Down and over to the benches for step ups with knee raises 10x (5 ea. leg)
    • Run the corridor to the end for Mountain Climbers 10x IC
    • Over and up to the stage for Plank Jacks 10x IC
    • Hop down and to the wooden platform for LBC’s 10x IC

    Then back to the start, add 2x to each exercise.  Again and again until time expired.

    COT and Chewy prayed us out.  Thanks guys for the steady inspiration – it’s always an honor to be in your ranks!

  • Back At It

    Ah, it’s exciting to be back to the month of January. A new year, another chance to join a run challenge I’ll almost immediately regret. A new year, another chance to see Shooter post to a 16º beatdown in shorts and sans gloves. And of course, a new year, another chance to don a tank top and claim the hammer at the upcoming Ivan.

    But first, there’s work to do. The PAX as a whole is incredibly strong these days and YHC has some serious catching up to do. One lesson that has crystallized for YHC the past two weeks is how hard it is to actually build something and how easy it is to let it fall apart. Nothing new, of course. It applies to nearly everything – relationships, spiritual life, career, fitness, etc. Deep down, though, YHC honestly thought that hey, I might be able to leave the PAX for 5 months and return, still able to knock out 500 merkins and run 10k’s.

    That, of course, is not the case.

    And so, humbled, YHC eased back in with my first Q in a few months. The scramble is one of my favorites, and seemed a great place to start.

    Warmorama: Toe Touches, Seal Jacks, IW’s, all 20x IC. Lunge w/ twists through the parking lot, and then off to the races.

    Ran the traditional route, with one exception – Chewy thought it’d be a good idea to run the loop in the opposite direction, considering the new year and all.

    Once back, YHC led the PAX over to the monkey bars, except, hey – there are no longer any monkey bars at the city hall playground! This is what happens when you’re gone for a bit. After some searching, we found a weird, arched-web piece of playground equipment near the back that kinda/sorta worked for our needs:

    Partner up, P1 knocks out 10 burpees and 10 pull-ups, P2 does scorpion kicks. Flapjack.

    Next, P1 knocks out 20 Australian pull-ups while P2 is doing 180º jump squats.

    Finally, a quick mary of Hello Dolly’s, Flutter Kicks, and Rosalita’s (all 20x, IC). COT and Shooter prayed us out. Guys, a sincere thanks for the opportunity to lead, it’s always a pleasure to get stronger with this group of men.

  • Seemed like a good idea at the time…

    YHC had heard that both fall weather and EIEI had returned to the F3 Northshore, so naturally it felt like the right time to make an appearance.  And while neither of those turned out to be true (or were at the very least very premature), it was still a very welcome sight to see the regular crew roll into the Marsh this morning after such a long absence.

    Saturday’s New Orleans convergence marked YHC’s first beatdown in 4 months.  It felt great to be back even though, predictably, there were a few speed bumps: slightly off-cadence, misremembering exercises, and, of course, losing all arm strength about halfway through.  I could barely move the next morning.  Still, when I noticed an empty slot in the Q sign-up yesterday, it seemed like a brilliant idea that my (temporary) return to the Northshore should be marked by my very own Q.

    Brilliant idea indeed – until YHC got up this morning and still couldn’t quite bend over to tie my own shoes.  This beatdown would be a “do as the Q says, not as he does” type of event, with no comments on the Q’s form, please.

    Warm0rama: SSH, ISW, toe touches, windmills, high knees, butt kicks all at or around 20x IC.

    The Thang:

    My original thought was that this entire thing would be filled with AMRAP challenges, which would provide two things: a break from counting cadence that would give me (literal and much-needed) breathing room and also the ability to go at my own pace (again, much needed with this crew of hard-hitting Northshore men).  That didn’t last too long, but we did start with two AMRAP challenges:

    • 90 seconds of hanging knees-to-chest
    • 3 minutes of 8-count bodybuilders

    Somewhere in here, mid-bodybuilder, Bushwacker informs me that, if I didn’t already know, if I hadn’t been keeping up – the beatdowns have taken on a lighter, more playful vibe since the end of the summer… playing football, frisbee, etc.  Touché, Mr. Wacker.  As if 3 minutes of bodybuilders wasn’t fun for you.

    Next up, sprint the block to Marigny, winner foregoes the 20x IC shoulder taps that would follow.  (As expected, the winner – Pik – refused the special treatment and knocked out the shoulder taps with the rest of us.)  Sprint the next block to Girod, Peter Parkers, 20x IC.

    Then a mosey up to the Old Rail parking lot for a pub crawl: 1 derkin, bear crawl across to the opposite curb, 2 derkins, back, 3, and so on, up to a miserable 13.  YHC had done this one a while back in the pouring rain, and had somehow remembered it fondly.  Today it was just awful.  So I can’t really blame Shooter, who was ready to pitch in and book my flight back to L.A.

    Mosey back to the Marsh for some Mary: Leg Raises & Crunchy Frogs, Jane Fonda’s, pulses, heel to knees, all 20x IC.

    Countdown, announcements, and Garfield prayed us out.  Thanks guys for the warm welcome back.  I can’t tell you how much I appreciate being back around such a group of inspiring men.

  • Fear Does Not Exist In This Dojo

    Except maybe when it comes to 10k merkins in a month.  And with approximately 6660 merkins bearing down on us ISI challengers for the remainder of the month, it was really no surprise what would be on today’s menu.  YHC would try to alter the flavor slightly, but whether it’s in the form of Bushwacker-sans’ Deck o’ Death (416 straight), or Maverick-sans’ Mucho Chesto Extravaganza (200+ spread over the course of an hour), it all ultimately goes down the same (with a lot of grunting and groaning).  

    Paint The Fence: GWs, Toe Touches, Imperial Squat Walkers, Windmills, SSHs, Seal Jacks.

    Wax on, Wax Off: Time to leave the premises.  PAX would be running 5 blocks to the lakefront, alternating between 2 exercises at each intersection: 25x merkins / 40x IC flutter kicks.  Who knew it’d be the flutter kicks that got us?

    Sweep The Leg:  Once to the lakefront, lunge walk to the sea wall.  Gusty winds and crashing waves gave this beatdown some much-needed gravitas, as we stood  atop the wall to do calf raises (40x IC).  Even though it was a dicey proposition considering the balance issues YHC was having with the calf raises, we elected to stay atop the sea wall for Jump Squats, x20.  No one pulled a Waterboy and jumped in.  “Balance good, everything good.  Balance bad, better pack up and go home.”  Then Knee-Ups (each leg, 15x), Bulgarians (each leg 15x), and finally some Monkey Humpers to finish off the leg portion of this beatdown.

    No Mercy: Next up, a merkin/groiner combo.  Ascending first (up to 5 merks / 5 groaners) and then back down.  

    Going Home In A Body Bag: And finally, that’s right, we returned the way we came – alternating between 25 merkins and 40 flutters at each intersection.  T-claps to Pik, who’s nursing a couple injuries and somehow made it through unscathed. A minute late but finished with the COT, Pik prayed us out.

    As you can probably tell, this was a retroactively-themed beatdown.  Maybe one day I’ll prepare a bit more and pick up where Grundy-san left off with his well-thought out movie themed beatdown.  But for now, this’ll have to do.  Thanks guys, sincerely, for coming out and for the opportunity to lead.  Not just today but for the past year and a half.  It’s gonna be tough not having this group of guys to lean on for support for the next few months.  I won’t get too sappy, but let’s just say that going back to the days of sad clown workouts will indeed be… sad.   You guys will be missed.

    But I’ll see you men in October, hopefully in time for the Northshore Half.  Until then… sayonara, gents.

  • Do You Know What It Means To Miss (F3) New Orleans?

    Last week’s hiatus from F3 gave me a bitter taste of what my next four months would be like.  I mean, sure, I was well-rested.  Aside from that, though, there was a massive hole in my daily routine.  It just proved to me that F3 is irreplaceable, and can F3Nation just hurry up and expand westward already??

    YHC has been getting over a nasty cold and wasn’t sure I’d be able to get the count out in the manly fashion the PAX is used to from me.  But the coughing fits subsided long enough and all went fairly well.

    Started things out as we often do, with SSH.  Then: IWs, Hillbillies, Toe Touches, High Knees, Butt Kicks.  All 20x IC.

    Then up onto the trailhead stage for The Dirty McDeuce.  3 sets of exercises, 12 reps each, followed by a mosey around the trailhead perimeter.  4 times.  The exercises were:

    Merkins – Squats – LBCs

    Hand-release Merkins – Jump Squats – Freddie Mercs

    Derkins (off stage wall) – Monkey Hummers – Heel Pulses

    Burpees – Sister MK’s – Putins

    Next up, partner up: P1 Lt Dans across the corridor to P2, who is performing Sumo Squats.  Flapjack.

    Then over to those brand-new blue benches: P1 knocks out AMRAP Freaks Nasties, while P2 does three laps up and down the stairs.  Switcheroo.  (Clearly, someone on the city council caught footage of the beast Shooter pumping out a set of Freak Nasties on those flimsy wooden benches and thought it a wise idea to replace them.  Smart move, we were definitely gonna break one at some point.)

    And finally, a little Mary: Hello Dolly’s, Flutter Kicks, and LBC’s, 25x IC.

    Thanks men, it was good to be back in your company this morning.