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  • End of February, end of RRR

    Gloomy morning at Okwata. Last day of February, last day of 2019 RRR and YHC’s legs are definitely feeling it. Been a great month – getting pushed by all the PAX to pull a Forest Gump and just keep running.

    And as 5:30 approaches, out of the gloom emerge Kuch and Ya Mom’N’Dem – 2 PAX who have been pushing and inspiring me all month. Running to the workouts, running home. Way to go guys!

    Disclaimer given, and off we go – looking for a rare patch of dry ground in the swamplands of Okwata.

    Warm Up

    Circle up at the foot of Canal Street. Typical Warmup, as YHC is a bit of a creature of habit. As Triple Shift noted – all exercises in cadence x28 (28th day of February. SSH, Hillbilly, Peter Parker (“Stay here” yells frac, so we may as well stay here), Shoulder Taps (“stay here” the Pax grumbles, so YHC obliges), Parker Peter. Recover

    But wait – no warmup is complete without burpees. So we’ll do a Burpee Box: run the canal St loop with 7 burpees at each corner (28 total burpees). If you finish, sweep the 6 and join them for their burpees as well. Mahatma quickly identifies that the name of the game is “stay together”. But he and Cowbell sprint off anyway, earning the opportunity to sweep and pick up two more sets of burpees. Nice work!

    Animal Crossing

    A few rounds of mosey up the levee, animal walk across, and mosey back down the levee. First its Bear Crawls, then Crab Walks, then Duck Walks. Each time, plank at the bottom for the 6. Make room for the sandal-footed hippie who decided to disrupt the workout on his run to nowhere.

    Route 66

    Across the street. Route 66 with Merkins. Go. Certain unnamed PAX reached lightpole #10 and became confused with what to do next. Ole Miss apparently does not cover counting when numbers exceed fingers.

    Cirlce of Time / Benches

    Back across the street to one of the underutilized areas of Okwata – the circle of 8 benches. A PAX of 17 made this a bit crowded, but we’ll make do. Partner up at each bench. We’ll go clockwise around. PAX noted that it was wet. Quite wet. Shoes will be wet. But – no griping allowed. Persevere. Accelerate. Own It.

    • Right Leg Step Up x20 (everyone). Lunge Walk clockwise to the next bench.
    • Left Leg Step Up x20. Lunge Walk clockwise.
    • Monkey Humpers x25. Lunge Walk clockwise
    • Low Slow Squats x20. (this was to be Box Jumps – but the dampness and crowds seemed to make that a bad idea. So improvise…). Lunge Walk clockwise.
    • Dips x20. Bear Crawl clockwise
    • Incline Merks x20. Bear Crawl
    • Regular Merks x20, with the whole group throwing in extras to motivate the rest of the PAX. YHC shoulders are feeling the burn. Bear Crawl onward.
    • Derkins. AMRAP. YHC has a clock. Go. Much grumbling and groaning ensured. 1:10 of derkins.

    A soggy group of PAX gathered up and moseyed back to the flag, where we got in a last round of LBC x28

    And with that, we wrap up the end of February. 2.3 miles earned for RRR. Close out with intentions (several PAX praying for close friends and family suffering with illness). And then prayers – as always YHC asks for the grace of God’s wisdom to use the gift of a day in service of Him, and in service of his family and friends.

    Then – as a little bit of lagniappe, Team Okwata (cowbell, mahatma, kuch, ya mom’n’dem, rudy) took off on one last 2 mile run to celebrate the end of RRR. Thanks for the month – for the inspiration, and for the F2.

  • F3 Exercise Wheel

    F3 Exercise Wheel

    It was tough getting up early after our late night Mardi Gras parades. But three brave PAXs ventured into the early morning hours to cycle through the F3 Exercise Wheel.

    After a quick warm up of 20 – SSH, 20 – Smurf Jacks, and 20 – Plank Jacks, T-Square, FroZone, and Thighs mosey-ed to the center of the F3 Exercise Wheel, which for our AO is a padded playground.

    Then from the center of the F3 Exercise Wheel (playground), we branched off to 5 different pavilions that were located around our AO’s track.
    Below is a description of this partner exercise.

    We partnered up, and as one partner went to a spoke of the wheel, the other stayed in the center to do continuous Ab exercises. Then after that partner finished bear crawling back to the center, the new partner ran to the next pavilion on the route.

    After completing one revolution of the wheel, the center exercise changed to the next round. The picture below shows 4 rounds of the wheel.

    We completed three rounds this morning.

    It was tough. We were winded from the bear crawling. Our muscles were screaming after all the ab and arm exercises.

    We are all looking forward to next time, as we find creative ways to build our muscles.

  • 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!

  • And so it begins…

    Yes, yes, YHC recognizes that Mardi Gras festivities started several weeks ago now (Hail Chewbacchus!), but it really starts in earnest today, Wednesday, with Nyx and Druids (geaux F3 Druids!).  Why don’t we get some work in so we don’t feel so guilty with what we are going to do to our bodies in the next week?  Oh, and we do need to get just a few more miles for RRR (looking at you F3 NOLA HNJ).  With a short disclaimer, off we go!

    Mosey to track form 2 columns:

    March to High Kicks till Q yells Halt then

    • IW I/C X15

    March to Butt Kicks till Q yells Halt then

    • Forward Arm Circles I/C X10 Reverse Arm Circles I/C X10

    High Kicks (aka Supreme Leader’s aka Kim Jong-Un’s aka Un’s till Q yells Halt then)

    • Hillbillies I/C X15

    Open Gates till Q yells Halt then

    • Self Love I/C X10

    All of the above were done in columns.

    Mosey in Columns to Row Workout station for:

    • 4 station-workout
      • 10 burpees is count
      • Plank Jacks
      • Rows
      • Peter Parkers

    Cycle through until PAX completes all stations.

    Indian Run to Fountain (watch out for ducks crossing) for:

    • Incline Merks I/C X15
    • SL Stand Ups LL Up I/C X8
    • Dips I/C X15
    • Decline Merks I/C X15
    • Dips I/C X15
    • SL Stand Ups RL UP I/C X8

    Indian Run to Middle Green for Jack Webbs I/C X11 (1 extra for Catfish)

    Back to track for Indian Run to Pull-Up Station

    10 Count Pull Ups

    • 10 Pull Ups is count
    • Jump Squats
    • LBC’s
    • SSH’s

    Cycle through until PAX completes all stations.

    Indian Run to Shelter

    • RL Step Ups I/C X10
    • LL Step Ups I/C X10

    Mosey around horseshoe back to flag.

    Count-Off, Name-o-rama, Announcements (lots of Mardi Gras-themed workouts coming up, Endymion Run, Death Star Trench Run on St. Charles on Sunday, Tsunami/Rex Run on Mardi Gras day), and Prayer.

    Thanks PAX for letting me lead.  Have a safe and happy Mardi Gras!

  • Krewe of F3!

    Is Mardi Gras the world’s longest-running, largest, free, annual, outdoor celebration? I’ll let the PAX chew on that for a while. In the meantime, there was no celebrating yet at the Mandeville City Hall Scramble as it was business as usual for the veteran PAX of F3 Northshore. Word has it there will be a Birthday Bash worthy of RESPECT, RESPECT on the Lakefront Saturday morning. For those looking for a good beatdown before heading out to the parades, be sure to post on the Mandeville Lakefront on Saturday to find out what’s in store! But back to the task at hand:

    YHC led the PAX through a brief warmup consisting of SSHs, HKs, BKs, WMs, and GMs, before departing for the weekly 5K jaunt on the traditional route through Old Mandeville and Sunset Point.

    Back at the Ranch, aka, the AO, we finished up with Merkins x 40 OYO, Flutter Kicks X 20 IC, Hello Dollies x 20 IC, and Imperial Walkers Squats x 20 IC.

    Nameorama, Countoff, and COT. Thanks to Coconuts for praying us out into the day!

    Moleskin: Best of luck and Best Wishes to Ringo who departs our company for a short time to the beaches of Florida’s panhandle.

    As always, thanks, men for inspiring me to try to become the best version of myself today and everyday. And, as was mentioned on the most recent episode of F3’s 43 feet podcast, thanks for helping me to increase my mental and physical toughness over the past 14 months. As a group, we are stronger than any one individual by influencing and inspiring one another and constantly pushing one another.

  • Splish Splash And Over The Hills We Go

    YHC was excited for his second trip and first Q at the newly established AO Popeyes (Lafreniere Park) and had a decided on a nice plan to use the hills that are nicely spread out to get some miles in for RRR.  Quick disclaimer was given and we moseyed a bit for the warm up.

    Warm-Up

    SSHs x 20

    Grass Grabbers x 20

    Arm Circles x 10 forward and x 10 backwards

    Low Slow Squats x 20

    The Thang

    11’s were going to be the theme of the day but with the heavy rain over night the ground was to say the least damp and the standing water/puddles quickly became the theme of the day.  7 Pax strong trudge up and over hills and through the occasional puddle.  Utilizing four hills that are spread out on the parks grounds we set out for 2 rounds of 11’s.

    Round 1

    10 Burpess at the base of hill one, up and over the hill and 1 LBC at the base of the hill.  Run to the base of hill 2; 9 Burpees at the base up and over the hill and 2 LBCS at the base of the hill.  Move onto hills 3 and 4 using then circle back through the hills until the 11’s were complete.  This was not as confusing at it seems and thankfully Rudy was not there to ask questions or confuse the Pax.  The Pax took my simple and clear directions “You will not run up and over any hill two times in a row” and the 11’s were completed at the base of the 4 hill.

    Round 2

    10 Jack Webs at the base of hill one, up and over the hill and 1 Squat Jump at the base of the hill.  Follow the same hill patter as in round 1.

    Quick check of the time and still time for one circuit of exercises on the gym equipment.

    Time is running low so back to the flag for a 20 Russian Twists to close things out.

    COT

    Count O Rama, Name O Rama, announcements and intentions.  This is a great new AO that has a lot of potential so if you have the opportunity come out and join us at Popeyes.  As always it is an honor to lead and workout with the F3 brotherhood.  SYITG.

    Two Yutes

  • We’re up all night to get War Eagle a little culture

    [5:25 AM, City Park, on a wet gray morning]

    War Eagle: What is that thingamabob in your hand, Kuch?

    Kuch: That’s a bluetooth speaker. It plays music.

    War Eagle: Where I’m from, dancing is outlawed and the only music allowed is people singing Sweet Home Alabama.

    Thus, it became clear to YHC that some music would be important to War Eagle’s continuing New Orleans education. So after a quick disclaimer, off we set to find a dry spot to warm up and moseyed up Roosevelt Mall to an intersection. Only the day before, I’d been humiliated around this very spot as I attempted to sprint to the finish ahead of Cowbell and Hawg at the Stomp, only to have them “jog” right by me. Cowbell was a little late today and did not reach the mosey spot until after we had already warmed up, so I will call it even.

    Warm-up – all x20 or so

    • Arm Circles
    • Hill Billies
    • Windwills
    • Parker Peter
    • Some hip stretches
    • Mosey back down Roosevelt Mall to the far side of the track for the workout

    First Tune of the Day – Tubthumping by Chumbawamba

    • “I get knocked down, but I get up again” = burpee
    • Everything else = SSH

    We started getting a little sloppy on the SSH, so we did some in cadence. When we finished, one lap around the outside of the track to maximize those RRR miles.

    Second Tune of the Day – Get Lucky by Daft Punk

    • “We’re up all night to get Lucky” = airsquat
    • Everything else = Al Gore

    Again we got a little sloppy, and there was a bit of mumblechatter about whether YHC had thought this one through all the way. Instead of acknowledging that this might actually have been a pretty terrible idea, penalty burpees were handed out. When War Eagle critiqued YHC’s form on the penalty burpees, more penalty burpees were issued. Mumblechatter died down a bit after that. Another lap around the track, and T-claps to Cowbell, Smooth, War Eagle, & YaMom & Dem who took it upon themselves to sweep the six each time. I have been the six, and I know what it feels like to have people push you. Knowing you are not out there by yourself while everyone else moves on is a big deal, so kudos guys.

    Third Tune of the Day – Flower (the Sally song) by Moby

    Only one thing to do here, and that’s up and down merkins holding it at the top and bottom. Another lap around the outside with some more sweeping from the fast crew.

    Fourth Tune of the Day – Proud Mary

    What else would you do to Proud Mary other than some Mary? So we got down on the wet ground and alternated 10 lbc’s and 10 flutter kicks IC, one after the next, till the song ended.

    Out of tunes to play, we Indian ran back down the track to the exit, where we moseyed to the flag for a minute or two of planking. Next time, we will get to Thunderstruck…

    As always, thanks for letting me lead. It’s a privilege. F3 has stripped me of my excuses, and forced me to accept being uncomfortable. When we started RRR 4 weeks ago, I didn’t think I could run more than 2 days in a row, I thought I needed more sleep, thought my knee needed more rest and my shin splints and my back would keep me from ever running any real distance again and so on. As we close in on the end of this challenge, I know that I have vastly exceeded what I thought I was capable of just a month ago. For that, I can only thank all of you who set a constant example of hard work, dedication and consistency. SYITG – Kuch

  • King Kong Escaped Audubon and Found His Way to Rock City

    Filled with excitement, YHC grabbed his passport this morning and went on a Metry field trip to Q his very first Rock City. YHC got to the AO about 15 minutes early and spotted Kuch, YourMomandDem, High Rise, and Abacus getting a head start by running a lap around the park to get some miles for the Run Ranger Run. T-claps for that!!! 22 strong Pax showed up on a cool, dry, windy Monday. YHC gave his standard disclaimer and told the Pax to mosey to the rocks, to pick up a decent size rock and mosey straight to the middle of the football field. Mumblechatter from Rudy telling YHC that Metry folks don’t lift up the rocks before warm-ups. Well… too bad. Off went the Pax.

    Warm-ups

    Circled up in the middle of the football field and did the following in cadence

    SSHs x 20

    Windmills x 10

    Hill Billies x 20 (YHC was trying to stay focus with his cadence count while Rudy was doing Imperial Walkers instead. Rudy claimed that Pax in Metry don’t do Hill Billies.)

    Seal Jacks x 20

    The Thang

    Pax lined up in the middle of the football field with their rocks facing the field goal. Pax did the following exercises in the following sequences without stopping except in the middle of the workout where Mahatma gave us a 20 count.

    Moseyed toward the field goal and performed 10 slow merkins IC.

    Moseyed back to the middle to the rocks and performed 10 manmakers OYO.

    Moseyed toward the other field goal and performed 20 plankjacks IC.

    Ran back to the middle and performed 15 low slow squats with the rock IC.

    Ran back toward the field goal and did 10 Cat Wine Mixer IC.

    Ran back to the middle and performed 15 thrusters OYO.

    Jogged toward the other field goal and did 20 Peter Parker IC.

    Jogged back to the middle and did 15 rows IC

    Jogged to the field goal and did 10 genuflects IC x 2 (10 on each leg).

    Moseyed back to the middle and muscled up another 10 manmakers OYO.

    Moseyed toward the other field goal and did 20 Parker Peter IC.

    Moseyed back to the middle and did 20 chest press IC. (With a serious tone, Mahatma said to the Q “lets do 100 of these,” and YHC knew that was not going to happen.)

    Ran to the field goal and did 15 lunges IC.

    Ran back toward the middle and muscled up another 15 thrusters OYO.

    Ran to the other field goal and lined up by the goal posts and bear crawled back to the middle and ended with last 10 manmakers OYO.

    To sum up the workout, Pax did 20 merkins, 30 manmakers, 30 thrusters, 40 plank jacks, 40 Peter Parkers, 40 Parker Peters, 15 low slow squats with the rock, 30 rows, 40 chest presses, 10 Cat. Wine Mixers, 20 Genuflects, 30 lunges, and about 1.6 miles of running in between.

    Round of Mary

    Everyone stayed in the middle of the football field and did the following exercises in cadence:

    LBCs x 20

    Flutterkicks x 15

    Hello Dolly x 15

    Dying Cockroach x 20

    Brought our beloved rocks back to their home and moseyed to the flag. While waiting for the Six, Pax planked and did 5 Nolan Ryan IC on each side.

    COT

    Ended the day with Count O Rama, Name O Rama, announcements and intentions. No FNGs. We prayed for all the mentioned intentions and also a safe Mardi Gras season for all of us. YHC is very grateful to be able to lead the workout. Always an honor to workout with my F3 brothers. Thank You for accepting an Uptowner at a Metry AO. SYITG.

    King Kong

  • Just Being HIMs

    It’s a start of a new year.  So just get at it.  A PAX of eight on this blustery morning, waves crashing onto the promenade.  After a brief disclaimer and a mosey around the fountain and across the street, The Thang:

    Warm Up:

    • SSHs 25xIC
    • Low Slow Squats 25xIC
    • Merkins 25xIC

    First COP: Route 66 along the planters with box jumps: one at the first planter, mosey back; two at the second, mosey back; etc. up to 11 box jumps at the 11th planter.

    Second COP: Mosey down aways for

    • Dips 20xIC
    • Half V-Ups 20xIC
    • Dips 20xIC
    • Dying Cockroachs 20xIC

    Third COP: Mosey to the bottom of the levee.  Then lunge walk to the top, 50 LBCs, duck walk back down, Bernie Sanders back up, 50 more LBCs; then mosey back to the flag.

    Circle of Mary:

    • Russian Twists 20xIC
    • Big Boy Sit-Ups 20xIC
    • Flutter Kicks 20xIC
    • Penguins 20xIC
    • Dr. W’s 10xIC

    Close it out with 12 burpees.  Then count off, name-o-rama, and COT.  Thanks.  Push me harder for this year; I could use it.  –JV

  • Old Guys Rule… at least when no young bucks are around

    Thanks to Woodstock, Green Screen and YHC, age won before beauty or youth. So with apologies to Brown Eye as our youngster for the day, here’s The Thang.

    Warm up
    SSHs 35xIC (changing cadence was tricky for some, but YHC persisted)
    Low Very Slow Squats 20xIC
    Hill Billies 20xIC
    Slate Grabbers 20xIC
    Plank Jacks 20xIC
    Parker Peters 20xIC
    Peter Parkers 20xIC
    Merkins 20xIC

    Short mosey to the side of the Museum, where the PAX split up with half doing a Tooth Fairy up the 14 steps (one merkin on the first step, two on the second, etc., to 14 merkins on the 14th step) while the other half sat in People’s Chair watching the day go by. [YHC is convinced that the other half of the PAX was purposefully, and vindictively, slow on their round of Tooth Fairy.]

    Short mosey to the other side of the Museum, where the PAX again split up with half doing a reverse bear crawl up the 14 steps with the other half did LBCs.

    Short mosey to the great lawn for some tree trimming. One burpee at the first tree, all the way to 11 burpees at the 11th tree. In between it was bear crawls, then duck walks, then reverse crab, then forward crab, then Donkey Kongs; and then repeat because the PAX traversed across 10 trees.

    Short mosey to the fountain:
    Leg Leg Power-Ups 20xIC
    Dips 20xIC
    Right Leg Power-Ups 20xIC
    Derkins 20xIC
    Saunter to the curb for 50 Rocky Balboas, then bunny hop up the Museum Steps and 5 SSHs at the top; rinse and repeat twice more times.

    Short mosey back to the grass for Circle of Mary:
    Flutter Kicks 20xIC
    Dying Cockroach 20xIC
    Russian Twist 20xIC
    Hello Dolly 20xIC
    Penguins 20xIC
    And finish off with 30 seconds of Mission Impossible.

    Thanks for letting this old guy Q. Jingle Vader