F3 New Orleans

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  • It’s all about Grip strength

    After the long Mardi Gras season, I think everyone in NOLA is a bit off their game the day after Fat Tuesday….but 5 PAX strong showed up on a cold Ash Wednesday to kick start our morning. Answering the call to fill in for Hawg I showed up with only a minimal plan in mind….we weren’t going to get wet!

    Warm – mosey to the covered pavilion circle up and get the blood flowing.

    • 10 Greg Louganis 
    • 10 low slow squat
    • 10 side lung
    • 20 SSH
    • 10 ea leg scorpion kick 
    • 10 

    Move over to the railing 10 each leg step ups

    Mosey to the center of the park area, circle up for push up ring of fire x 5 then mosey along the running path, stopped at street crossing 5 burpees on your own.  Mosey to the outdoor gym near W. Napoleon.  QIC has been reading the Iron Sharpens Iron chatter and this month Triple Shift has made an emphasis of “grip strength” by performing a Flexed Arm Hang – we started with a 1 minute effort; taking a 1 minute rest then 4 30 sec hangs with 20-30 sec reset in between.  A lot tougher than it may sound, so if you haven’t made an effort to grip the bar yet…..get some!

    Then…While at the gym we broke up into 5 stations – 5 low hang pull ups was the timer, incline merkins, box jumps, dips and elevated leg lifts (again this was harder than it looked).

    Mosey up the running track to the edge of the lake – lined up for some core work: 20 flutter kicks, 10 scoops, 20 more elevated flutter kicks on elbows.

    Mosey back towards the gym, lined up on the side of the track, line of jump squats x 5 x 5.  Rev Sox helped move this along.

    Mosey back towards the start….Oh QIC decided Indian run was best but didn’t communicate completely……It got worked out, last man did 3 push ups then ran to the front and so on.

    Stopped at parking lot, found some measuring points (parking spaces) lunged to one side of parking area performed 10 merkins, bear crawled back did 5 burpees.

    Mosey again – stopped at light poles (3 were in a row before crossing the bridge to the starting point) 10 merkins, 10 jump squats, 10 Catalina Wine Mixers.

    Mosey again – well to the bottom of the bridge – lunged walk up and over.

    Meet at the edge of the lake – another push up ring of fire except this time it was a catch me if you can around the outer parameter of the pavilion.  Kuch put up a good push which got everyone else behind him motivated. 

    Mosey to the starting point – 2 minutes of plank.

    COT – We push our selves to improve both physically and spiritually as solid men that lead.  I’m blessed to have been given the chance to be in a position today to be a part of the Popeyes PAX….Thanks. 

  • ROYAL RUN #2 2019

    We posted for a beatdown at 6am in preparation for the REX ROYAL RUN 2019. We arrived to find it under 40 degrees and to find Fracsac and Two Yutes had already run a lap around the park.

    A quick disclaimer – then we mosey’d over the bandstand. A brief warm up SSH x 20, imperial walker squats x 20, merks x 20, and peter pakers x 20.

    Then we did a short mosey over to the row bars. Rows x 20, Burpees x 10, Plank Jacks x 20, and Parker Peters x 20 Burpees was the count.

    Finally we mosey’d back to the pavillion. At the pavillion we did 20 decline merks, 20 power ups right, 20 power ups left, dips x 20 20 decline peter parkers –decline shoulder taps until the song ended

    Started to notice people gathering at the front of the park – circled up for a DJ style circle of mary. Here we did 12 of each exercise: dying cockroach, freddies, protractor, lbcs, lbts, flutter, vups, nolan ryans and finished with o-marys.

    As we were doing OMARY a few random dudes dressed up likes clowns came to stare at our Circle of MARY. Many odd expressions.

    We finished our beatdown here and mosey’d over to the rex tshirts lady. I had to make sure that FRACSAC got a shirt. Once we got a BEEFY T, some champagne and OJ, and king cake from Hi-dough. Then REX showed up with the QUEEN of Carnival, they fired a cannon, and off we ran to do one lap around Audubon Park for 1.7 miles We closed with a pic and a COT.

    Happy Mardi Gras!

    Hail Rex!



  • Nutria? Is it gnarly? Nope a beaver!

    Desperate to burn some king cake and booze, I decided to Q on ASH Wednesday so that I could beginning the healing process and recovery post-Mardi Gras. I wanted to start things off right with a nice little beatdown to get the ball rolling the right direction.

    IT was a very cold 37 degrees and windy to start. I like to remind myself that they have 0 degree beatdowns in Pennsylvania and Minnesota but it doesn’t make me warm up.

    We started off with a quick mosey over by the zoo. At the zoo we did a basic circle of pain warm up: SSH x 20, Reg Squats, x 20, Merks x 15, Mtn Climbers x 20, Peter Parkers x 20 On the way to this COP we lost GSpot- Nature calls when nature calls. We also gained 9 lives – meow!

    Then we mosey’d to Audubon Statue. Here we did 20 Dips – did a lap, 20 dips did a lap, and 20 dips and did a lap. So 20-20-20.

    After that we mosey’d up to the riverview at the FLY. Here there was all kinds of wildlife in the river. Probably a nutria. Angie’s swears it was a beaver. or a river otter or an eel or a snake.

    At the river we did a ring of fire. Merks and bear crawls.

    Then we did a mosey over the hill. At the hill Mariah was 100% sure he saw a fox but as we approached it was evident that it was NOT a fox but rather a cat. A huge cat but a cat. Not a jaguar.

    At the hill we did 20 hillbillies and then 19 low country crabs – 18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11. Evens were hillbillies and odds were crabs.

    Then we did a long MOSEY to Nip/Tuck’s pimp station. Guys did a BLIMPS and wait for the 6. Once the 6 arrived we all waited in plank while each PAX did pullups AMRAMP.

    After we got through the entire PAX we mosey’d back to the flag – we had an extra minute for a mission impossible plank.

    Thanks to the PAX for putting up with me.

    See you in the gloom.

  • Throw Grandma something, would ya!!

    Grandmas house looking for some throws on this Mardi Gras Gloom. Q decided to throw some new trinkets on this day for the dedicated men who decided to post… With a cold 34 degrees and a north wind 💨 YHC arrived to a ghost town at the Trailhead. Not knowing if anyone would post, Qs hopes were quickly lifted as the sight of headlights started rolling in from all directions. PAX quickly swelled to 6 with the late arrival of one masked Bushwacker with only eyes and lips showing..

    Circled under the breezeway for the warmup, which consisted of some new exercises not demonstrated by any other PAX to the Qs knowledge. Started with the traditional SSH IC 20, Hillbillies IC 20, Imperial Stormkickers (could not get the cadence) OYO to around 15, Febreze (2:10,4:20,6:30,8:40,10:50) first number big boy sit-up followed by feet 6 inches off the ground with second number air presses, concluded with Donkey Kick-offs (Plank position with kicks to 5 on the pillars with a 5 sec hold, R/R 10 kicks 10 sec hold, 15 kicks 15 sec hold) plenty warm by this point..

    Thang

    PAX assembled on Girard street for Four corners Escalator. C-1 10 Burpees, Mosey C-2 10 Burpees 20 Merkins, Mosey C-3 10 Burpees 20 Merkins 30 Mountain Climbers, Mosey C-4 10 Burpees 20 Merkins 30 Mountain Climbers 40 Shoulder taps.. With the sounds of grunts and groans replacing what would surly be the rumbling of tubas and trumpets as if marching down St Charles, Q calls for (2) 10 counts by Steve and Bushwacker.. Having destroyed the upper half, we turned and de-escalated to grind out the bottom half. Moseyed. C-1 10 Jump Squats, Moseyed C-2 10 Jump Squats 20 Lunges, Moseyed C-3 10 Jump Squats 20 Lunges 30 Squats, Moseyed C-4 10 Jump Squats 20 Lunges 30 Squats 40 Sumo Squats.. With the PAX finishing faster then anticipated, YHC had to react with quick thoughts to finish this carnival ride. Q moseyed the PAX back to the breezeway for the close. Partnered up, P1 did core work while P2 sprinted half of the breezeway up the steps and around the tower flap jacking. Core consisted of Plank, Right arm high/Left arm high, Chillcut, Misson Impossible, LBCs, Hello Dollies and Rosalitas..

    Circled for count, announce, COT.

    Water Pic returning from a guest post in Tallahassee shared that the PAX recites the Pledge at their AOs. We installed the same at Grandmas House on this Gloom.

    Appreciate The HAMMER for praying out the PAX!!!

    All 6 PAX gathered at the Waffe House for some F2 and reminiscing about the 80s and 90s programming. Talks of “Revenge of the Nerds 2” some “SNL” chatter and how Eddie Murphy saves the day.. But one that clearly stood out to the Q, The HAMMER mentioned the radio station WTIX and how they use to play 50s and 60s, but a recent tune in revealed that “Jesse’s girl” is now considered an oldie.. Whoa!!!

    The PAX all allowed that to sink in for a moment, then we continued some great F2.

    Appreciate the recommendation Water Pic of some coffateria after our beatdown on this local holiday. YHC enjoys the time shared with positive men looking to become better physically but ultimately better internally as stated on a recent 43 feet podcast with Dredd…

    Thank you for the chance to lead and ✌🏻 till the next Gloom!!

  • 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.

  • The 4th F is for “Fun”

    The 4th F is for “Fun”

    The early moring parade goers in Mid-City were treated to some sweet F3 eye candy on Saturday for the 4th annual Mardi Gras Mambo aka Endymion Run.  Our krewe consited of 22 PAX eager to start the day off right and get in the carnival spirit.  YHC had stewed on some new ideas for the past month and decided to incorporate a “float” consisting of a jogging stroller and boom box to be pushed along the route blarring some good ole Mardi Gras music to get the juices flowing.  Some festive chatter started as the Dr. John and Professor Longhair tunes came on.  Here’s a recap of our parade: 

    Warmup near The Peristyle:  IW, Lunges, WM, SSH with “bead wave” capped off with the tradional Mardi Gras Mambo song providing the guidance for 2+ minutes of syncronized planking, merkins, and plankjacks….always a crowd pleaser!  We followed with a mosey to City Park Ave and N. Olympia and stopped to go over the gameplan for the run topped off with burpees x10, just because.   

    Route Run – Leg #1:  Run at your own pace down Orleans trying to stay in clusters.  The float/stroller acted as the kaboose and stayed in the rear, similar to the speaker trucks following the Dance Connection, minus the purple fishnets.  Once at Carrollton, turn around and sweep the six.  T-claps to the PAX for taking turns pushing the float and also to the guys carrying two F3 shovel flags….Merica!!!  Lots of intrigued and possibly jealous onlookers wishing they were running with us. 

    Route Run – Leg #2:  Right on Carrollton all the way to Canal, at you own pace, sweep the six.  The motivational cheers from the spot watchers kept coming. 

    Route Run – Leg #3:  Back down Carrollton to Orleans veering off to the neutral ground for a COP.  Some grumbling was heard when YHC started with LSS x20, PP x25, ISW x20, and Plankorama w/Merkins.  Everyone survived and the moseying resumed.    

    Route Run – Leg #4:  Run back on Orleans to our starting point on N. Olympia, sweep the six.  Good to see lots of other running groups out there…”Happy Mardi Gras” and high fives were being dolled out right and left.  Might even try to work in some beads for next year. 

    Lagniappe Leg #5:  Once back along City Park Ave, we had enough time to take the long way back along Marconi for a peek at the floats, before heading back to the Great Lawn.  A few guys were able to modify the run with a shortcut.

    Great Lawn:  YHC wanted to make sure all PAX were ready for the rest of MG season and in stellar bead catching/throwing shape, so out came a bag of beads stashed in the bushes.  All PAX grabbed a good bead to throw and parterned up for “Bead Burpees” consisting of throwing beads 15 yards away to your partner, alternating with burpees.  This was not well received by the PAX, I’m guessing due to the sloppy terrain and the presumption that we were only going to run that moring.  After a minute of some hideousness with Bead Burpees, YHC felt the need to cut it short and move on to something more challenging.  Next up we did a bead throw and bear crawl circuit across the lawn, followed by a lunge walk and bead throw back.

    Mary:  After getting rid of the beads, we had enought time left to knock out LBC x20, Flutter Kicks x30, and Plankorama. 

    COT:  YHC was a tad woozy and run-drunk at this point so not sure of all the announcements and intentions.  We did pray for, among other things, a safe Mardi Gras weekened.  We also called out Amnesty for yet again missing the annual event he co-fathered. YHC forgot to mention that we consider striving to avoid over indulging this Mardi Gras season and instead focus on making the most of our time with family, friends, or perhaps ourselves, whether that be at a parade or elsewhere.  While pigging out and/or getting hammered may be something many of us have been guilty of during the carnival season, we should consider throttling that back on the guilty pleasures and possibly replace them with something more meaningful and healthy….just a thought.

    Thanks to the PAX for going along with my antics and helping to bring in the 4th “F”….FUN!     

    Tool          

  • But under the circumstances I’ll settle for anywhere.

    A nice brisk, soggy Monday morning in the park working off the copious amount of popeyes consumed over the weekend. 11 pax gathered for the disclaimer then a mosey to bandstand.

    At the bandstand: SSH x20, MDC x10, FAC x10, RAC x10, PP x20, PP x20, MC x20, SJ x20

    Mosey back to track with Medulla taking a extremely quick detour to the pristine facilities in the shelter.

    On the track: Burpee at the running man going up by one to the 9th man: 45 total burpees

    Three groups, three rotations at the rows: 1) rows, 12 squat jumps & flutter kicks, 2) rows, 12 Bobby Hurleys, & hello dollys, 3) rows, 12 LLS & RFMs – (after the 1st rotation a nice old lady ask if we wanted to “kiss down there” – unsure if she was looking for a good time or referring to her dog.) Nevertheless, the pax & especially the Q trudged back to the track a bit confused.

    At the track: Reverse it: Running backwards to each running man 8 burpees down to 1, total of 36 burpees

    At the row of lights, a quick two minute plank-o-rama

    Mosey to the shelter for some bench work: RLSU x20, Dips x15, RLPU x20 (with an O face halt), Incline merkins x10, LLSU x20, Dips x15, LLPU x20

    Finished with Mary: RT x20, Eblow plank PP x20, Scissors x20 & Crunchy Frog x20

    At the flag: count-off, name-o-rama, & prayer

    Good start to the week…thanks

  • 2nd Annual Death Star Trench Run

    OK my Disclaimer – I am not as creative as Tool. No babystroller with a speaker. No bead burpees. Tool is the man. This is a no frills, no extras run.

    The plan: Run down St Charles Ave in the valley of the ladders aka the Trench. Not Angie List’s trench. That is a totally different Trench. You don’t want any of that TRENCH.

    Brown Bag picked me up at 545am. On the way out the door we had our first strange encounter. A guy and a girls laughing or crying or fighting. Brown Bag and I made sure they were OK and we discovered she was crying because she was wasted and lost her cellphone.

    Then we moseyed down Napoleon to the launch site at Napoleon and St Charles. On our mosey Brown Bag informed me that in Jan and Feb of 2019 Urban South has sold more beer than their first 9 months! #tclaps Also got offers of beer , and the quote of the leg “i will drink for you, you run for me!”

    At NAP and ST CHUCK we assembled the Xwings for a serious trench run. A motley crew of men ready for the 5.5 mile Gnarly Nutria training run. Angie’s List was taking pics of the 80 yr old sleeping on the corner guarding her spot. It was a truly gloomy – gloom.

    First leg Napoleon to Louisiana – this is where the run gets its name. Lots of people protecting their spot. Ladders wall to wall on both sides of the route. You really do feel like you are running a trench.

    Second leg Louisiana to Jackson – things thin out – you could get a spot if you wanted one – apparently we saw Willie’s crew setting up their ladders for him. Let me say again that Willie was not setting up his ladders – a crew was doing it FOR #Willie. Could be Gabrielle and Mudbug just messing with Willy. This is the trophy table guys leg. They heckled us hard. Tclaps to Gabrielle for the hard e-headlock.

    Third leg from Jackson to the Circle formerly known as Lee. Tool and Hokey hit the circle and started back to Napoleon. Things really really thin out here. One person chilling per block. I learned here that Tool is a weed smelling expert.

    Fourth leg from the circle to Poydras – uneventful – the bleacher trenches. At Poydras we turned around. I am thinking next year we might push it through the quarter to Esplanade then back. On the circle back leg 5 – a Mazerati tried to impress us, then Voodoo had beads stuck in his shoes, then a guy stumbling back to his hotel looking for the Holiday Inn express he ran two blocks with us in jeans and a pink oxford shirt. LOL. The highlight of this leg was being behind the porta-potty emptying truck. I am still gagging on the smell of that – it was awful. Like running behind El Wire or Seaman.

    Leg 5 was the Circle to Jackson. More weed, more drunk kids, more sleeping people on the route.

    Leg 6 Jackson to Louisiana – just wanted to finish now – ran past the trophy crew again. Still getting rowdy.

    Leg 7 Louisiana to Napoleon – back in the trenches. Lots more people coming out of the wood work. Caught up with Tool and Hokie.

    We circled up – 12 pax and closed with a prayer. Angie’s List said it best – there is no way I would have got up today to run without the PAX making it easy to be out there together. It was a gloomy Sunday! #HailThoth #HailBacchus #HailMid-City #HailOkeanos


  • Full Effort Is Full Victory

    We cranked up the morning with a 2 mile run. Tanked Up shared a quote from a book he had on his shelf. The quote stressed when we work our butt off in the streets of Mandeville, or wherever you may be, the satisfaction of that workout lies in the “effort” you give. Full effort is Full victory. Something tells me most of us gave full effort this glorious morning.


    Warmup–SSH, windmills, arm circles, flutter kicks, low ssh,

    The Thang–

    Ab work- circle up in a plank position. Rotate right,stop, merkins, rotate merkins, rotate merkins. Let’s throw in Peter Parkers, Parker Peters and some Up/Downs.. Tanked Up challenged Brother Martin nemesis , Turbo and soccer pal, Jose 10k to some face to face up/downs. Raider Pride.😁

    20 minute challenge-4 exercises merkins, crunches, ssh, squats, 25 reps then run 300 yards. Repeat for 20 minutes.. Zoolander decided to come out guns blazing!

    To the sea wall– 2 exercises by the wall. Derkins Burpees 5,4,3,2,1 reps followed by ascending order 1,2,3,4,5

    Over to the flag for more AB work led by Bushwacker, could not tell you the exercises due to fatigue!

    Circle up for close out. Prayer led by Steve! Coffee and cake for one of the older men in the club.

    Enjoyed the morning with some of the best of the northshore..

  • RED Friday – The Crouch

    Today’s RED Friday was in honor of Cpl. William Crouch from Zachary, LA. Cpl. Crouch was killed by a roadside bomb in June of 2007 in Hadid, Iraq. He was a Calvary Scout for the 2nd Squadron, 1st Calvary Regiment of the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division of the United States Army.

    Cpl. Crouch was a sci-fi fan so we did Imperial Squat Walkers and Peter Parkers. He enjoyed kickboxing so we did Chuck Norrises, Floyd Mayweathers, and Donkey Kicks. He was in the Army so we did WWII sit-ups.

    We book-ended these exercises with burpees because they are hard. Cpl. Crouch had many normal interest. In addition to sci-fi movies and kickboxing, he enjoyed pizza and hanging out with close friends. But one thing set him apart and that was his decision to do the hard thing and serve our country. He lost his father at 13. His father was a policeman and Cpl. Crouch wanted to honor him by joining the military. This was not an easy way to honor his father. It was hard and that is what he chose to do.

    We started each round with a 400 meter run, since as a Calvary Scout, it was his job to run recon ahead of his fellow men. We did 21 reps of each exercises as a reminder that he gave his life at the young age of 21.

    The Thang
    • 400m run
    • Burpees x 21
    • Imperial Squat Walkers x 21 (2 is 1)
    • Peter Parkers x 21 (2 is 1)
    • Chuck Norrises x 21
    • Floyd Mayweathers x 21 (2 is 1)
    • Donkey Kicks x 21
    • WWII sit-ups x 21
    • Burpees x 21

    We stuck together and made it through 3 rounds. Scantron sealed the deal for us by leading us in 15 dying cockroaches

    Naked Man Moleskin
    • One of the great things about Pontiff Playground is that it serves as a flood control reservoir for the surrounding neighborhood. This means that it gets sloppy when it rains. Not sure if you have noticed, but it has been raining a lot lately. Conditions were perfect this morning for testing our physical and mental toughness by getting down and dirty and really wet. Just one of the reasons why F3 is so much better than other workouts.
    • T-claps to Scantron for leading us in a little Mary at a moment’s notice. He did a great job.
    • 126 burpees. Good work.
    • A few of us got in some post workout isometric exercises as we pushed in vain against Mahatma’s truck trying to free it from the hole of mud it had succumbed to. One by one we all left Mahatma on his own to figure it out. Within 10 minutes, he had it freed on his own.