F3 New Orleans

Author: TripleShift

  • Leg-Towner

     

    Another beautiful morning seeing the sunrise!  YHC brought his TRX gear and prepped the PAX for a great workout and to pick up a big rock.  We did a short mosey to the area by the tennis courts and did the COP in cadence.

    30 x SSH, 20 x High Knees, 20 x Butt Kicks, 20 x Hacky Sacks, 20 x Eric Heiden’s, 20 x Imperial Squat Walkers and 20 x Plank Jacks.

    After the COP, we picked up our rock for the Main event # 1

     

    MAIN EVENT # 1

    2 rounds – Hold rock and lunge 10 steps out and 10 steps back.  25 Overhead Press with rock

    2 rounds – Hold rock and lunge 10 steps out and 10 steps back.  25 Bent Over Row

    2 rounds – Hold rock and lunge 10 steps out and 10 steps back.  25 Squats

    Whewww!  I was gassed.  Bubba gave us a 30 count and we headed to the play structure and headed over for Main event # 2

     

    MAIN EVENT # 2

    The pax split up into five groups of two as I set up the TRX for the Body Rows.  2 Pax did 20 Body Rows as the timer while the rest of the PAX did, Wife Pleasers (feet) on a bench, Atomic Pushups on the swings, LBCs and Dead Hangs.

    With 2 minutes left, we brought our rocks back and did 10 x IC Boo Boo Merkins (right leg) and 10 x IC Boo Boo Merkins (left leg).

    Countoff

    Namerama -Torque EHed his brother-in-law S. Brett Morris (Putt Putt).  Way to go Putt Putt!

    COT – So thankful to be able to lead my third Q this week and T-Claps to Kim Chi for the streak!

  • Lafitte’s Plunge Cancelled? Not!

     

    I woke up looking to give my body a break and do a little swimming instead of the H8 workout going on at Okwata.  Being a little beat up, a swim would be a great recovery.  Rolling into the Aquatic center at UNO around 5:28 am, I saw Maverick moseying up to the front I but didn’t see any other PAX or the Q’s vehicle.  Must be running a little late, or so I thought.

    When Maverick and I got to the outdoor pool, the gates were locked and things didn’t look so good.  No Q and no access to the pool!  What the $%##!  After a few moments, the facility person made his way out and apologized for being late and opened up the gates to the pool.  Wheww!…Hmmmm…still no Q.  Well, because we are leaders, we lead!  YHC came up with a quick 1700 meter (1.056 mile) swim workout.

    200 meter warm up

    4 – 50 meters / 1 minute (Basically swim a 50 and if you have time left before a minute is up, you take a break and go again when the minute is completed.  This proved a little too ambitious)

    8 – 50 meters / 1:05

    4 – 100 meters / 2 minutes

    2 – 200 meters

    100 meter cool down

    Finished with the namerama and the COT.  The substitute Q wanted to share something that helps us (Gen Xers) have perspective.  With all the places we have gone and things we have done in this life, It is of extreme importance to know where you are heading when this life is over.  I referenced the prophet Jeremiah’s writings from Jeremiah 9:23-24.

    Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

  • Rain and more Rain

    When YHC got up and looked at the radar, there was green and yellow all around.  Being the Q, I couldn’t fartsack so I had to put on my ‘Big Boy’ tights and get going.  After riding a mile to the start, I was hoping no one would show up but in the distance, I saw my faithful friend (Woz).  When I reached him, I was thinking he was crazy to come out but aren’t we all.  After the namerama and COT, we were off but not on the Metaire Lakefront due to all the construction of raising and widening the levee but on the New Orleans Lakefront.

    As we got on our way east to Landry’s Seafood, I could only think of the wonderful thoughts of cycling in a steady rain and darkness.  Unfortunately, the thoughts weren’t of joy and happiness that we still have the physical ability to pull this off but of but slips, crashes and suck.  The route is filled with small hills going over the levee and the one large bridge at Bayou St. John.  As we muddled through the 12 mile ride out to the Seabrook bridge and back, we said our silent goodbyes till next time.  See you out in the dry gloom next week!

  • Bucktown Coastie # 4

    Another beautiful day at the lakefront as the wind was blowing briskly which was a foreshadowing of the things to come.  YHC gave the disclaimer, count off, namerama and then a thought I wanted to share with the PAX.

    As we fight past the inertia of being lazy and passive in life, we were called to a greater purpose.  I took a quote from Paul in Acts 17 where he teaches that “For in him, we live, move and have our being.”  As fallen beings, we default to selfishness but our Creator calls us to be on mission to have a positive impact on our wives, children and community.  To have a positive impact, we have to push back those natural forces such as the wind and press (pedal) on.

    After the COT, we headed west and MoPed and YHC pulled away and MoPed questioned if we had a head wind.  I didn’t really know for sure but said yes and silently looked forward to coming back with a tailwind.  Torq and Hawgcycle were just behind us about a minute.  As MoPed and I reached the Treasure Chest, we planked up and waited for the Six.  Hawgcycle said their average speed was 18.4 mph which seemed kind of high with a head wind but the IPhone doesn’t lie.  Hawg and MoPed turned around and Torq and I continued to the end.  As Torq and I turned around, there was something seriously missing….my tailwind.  We had been pedaling into a heavy south wind and turning around didn’t make things easier.  The wind on this day made things difficult both ways but Torq and YHC made it too the start and our total time was 70-75 minutes.

    UPDATE:  As I write this BB, there were multiple tornadoes that impacted our area a few hours after our workout ended.  Tornadoes in the our area are extremely rare but the number and size of the tornadoes that touched down were historic.  Be in prayer for all those affected that God’s grace would sustain them in the recovery and rebuilding process.

     

     

     

  • Bucktown Coastie # 3

    YHC and the Pax started with our count off, namerama and COT.  Hawgcycle still only had one of his UFO lights working on his back tire and were looking forward to both wheels lit.  We headed west toward Kenner and we warmed up at a moderate pace until we got past the Causeway bridge.  From there we ran a paceline all the way to the Treasure Chest.  When it was Hawgcycle’s turn, he exploded to the front on his hybrid bike and baggy shorts.  The Pax with road bikes were impressed!  When it was our turn, the road bikes took off and then planked up at the Treasure chest but Bongo was nowhere to be seen.  Hawgcycle became the six and then turned around to catch up with Bongo.  Torq, Woz and YHC went all the way to the sea wall then turned around.  As the days are getting slightly longer, we are starting to see the beautiful sunrise as we head back.  Another wonderful day at the Bucktown Coastie!

  • Bucktown Coastie – Second Half Struggles

     

    Today our numbers increased 100% from last week and the air was crisp with very little wind.  With Hawcycle bringing his hybrid with blue lights on the back wheel (the ones on the front weren’t working), I was dazzled by the light display and thoughts of Close Encounters of the Third Kind or maybe what Ezekiel wrote about in his first chapter.  Anyway…it looked cool…on his bike.

    YHC and the Pax circled around our Virtual Flag, did a count off, Namerama and then a COT. YHC shared some thoughts from Psalm 90:12 – So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.  As we get older and move into the second half of our lives, there is a tendency to get tired and drift.  Prayers were for strength and perseverance as we live noble and honorable lives for our Creator.

    After the COT, we headed west toward Kenner and after a short warmup past the Causeway bridge, everyone took two (2) turns pulling the group for 1 minute intervals and then we stopped at the Treasure Chest Casino where Da Parish and Hawgcycle turned around and headed back. We averaged 18.5 mph with a max of 21 I think.   After we said our goodbyes, Torq and I headed to the end then headed back.  As we turned around and headed back east, the strong Northeast wind slowed us down considerably and the pleasantries ceased.  It was a beast all the way back.

  • Inaugaral Bucktown Coastie

    YHC and Torq started in the gloom at our virtual flag and did a short COT.  After our prayer for F3 and all the men that will be coming in the future, Torq proceeds to lose his balance while on his bike and scrapes up his knee and shin.  Not a good start but he wasn’t deterred.  After checking to see if he had broken anything, we start to pedal away but Torq’s chain had fallen off.  A bad omen….not likely because WE ARE F3 (SPARTA)!    We rode west on the Lakeshore path that ends at the sea wall in Kenner then turned around and headed back.  We did a steady ride that averaged 16 mph for a total of 19 miles and it took 75 minutes.

  • Pontiff Bucket Brigade

    WARM UP

    After posting a few times for the initial launch back in 2014 and the two anniversary convergences, I finally had my first Q…man was I nervous.  We started out in the gloom picking up eight (8) five-gallon buckets of pain for our workout and moving them to the AO.  After dropping off the buckets of pain, we did a mosey to a picnic shelter and then back to the AO.  After the mosey and hearing Rudy’s mumble chatter about the AO not being a run oriented workout, we warmed up with 20 x Side Straddle Hops, 15 x High Knees, 15 x Butt Kicks, 15 x Hacky Sacks, 15 x Eric Heidens, 15 x Imperial Squat Walkers and finished up with 15 x Plank Jacks.

     

    MAIN SET (a.k.a. Triple Shift Special)

    After warming we set up four separate stations with two (2) five-gallon buckets at each station.  With ten (10) PAX (a record at Pontiff), the numbers were off for my Triple Shift Special so we set up Two (2) stations that had three PAX each and two (2) stations that had two PAX each.  The main set for the three (3) person stations were.

    3 PAX station

    One member (timer) does a farmer’s carry with 55 lb bucket of sand 20 yards out and 20 yards back.  The other member does three (2) burpee broad jumps out and three (3) burpee broad jumps back.  The final member does AMRAP push presses with a 35 lb bucket of water (lids were sealed).  When the timer gets back, each member rotates to the next station until everyone does each exercise. The two following exercises were bent over rows and front squats.

    2 PAX Station

    One member (timer) does a farmer’s carry with a 55 lb bucket of sand 20 yards out and 20 yards back. The other member does AMRAP push presses with the 35 lb bucket of water.  Rinse and Repeat. The next exercises were bent over rows and front squats.

    After our MAIN SET, we walked to the play structure and I had technical difficulty with one of the two suspension trainers to do Body Rows but thanks to FracSac we overcame.  With two (2) Pax doing 100 body rows, the rest of the Pax were doing 100 x Wife Pleasers with shoulders on a bench and 100 x dips.  Seeing the log jam at the body row station, I changed things and substituted the 100 x body rows with 25 pull-ups for the PAX that were waiting.

     

    COOL DOWN

    Running out of time, we cut things short and went back to the AO to finish up with 20 x LBC, 10 x Swimmers, 10 x Superman with Lat Pull, 20 x Pretzel Sticks (10 each side) and 20 x Crab Jacks.

    At the COT, I reminded the PAX that the Mission of F3 is to ‘Reinvigorate Male Community Leadership’.  After going over the Mission statement, I wanted to inspire the PAX and I gave them a living definition of what REAL Manhood should be:

    1. Reject Passivity
    2. Accept Responsibility
    3. Lead Courageously
    4. Invest Eternally (Expects God’s greater reward)