F3 New Orleans

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  • “Hello Dolly!” or is it “Rosalita!”

    YHC arrived with the return of Waterpik awaiting in the Gloom. Fresh off a trip to NY. We started some chatter about his experience while away. It appears there is a play named “Hello Dolly” that the pik and his M took in on there trip. All along one might think F3 had created the term or redefined its meaning of sorts, which the latter must certainly be correct. Simply put, I don’t think the play in NY was based on grown men laying on their backs and swinging out there legs in cadence. Although that may be appealing and theatrical in a place like NY. After all it is a big city with many different walks of life and one would never know what to expect or SWING into in such a place.. Maybe her name was “Rosalita!” Who really knows? Either way with Steve rolling up right on time, we get after it starting with a little warmup before our journey on this cool below 50 degree Gloom. 20 IC SSH, 10 IC GM, 20IC WM and 10IC Ws (chewy), which amount to what seems to be a reverse shrug compressing the upper back muscles. With headlights approaching the PAX is soon joined by the Choppa right before our departure.

    thang

    QIC explains to the PAX that we will be incorporating intervals of 30 second burst starting at 20 percent, 30 percent, etc. etc. increasing through the run till the final burst. We went after it at 100 percent completing the last as a sprint to the finish.  Now it did feel fitting to skip the 90 percent since we started with the 20 instead of 10. So in all when complete we totaled 8 intervals. YHC quickly realized on the last interval that Waterpik runs similar to the shifting of a CVT transmission.  His pace just continued to climb with no shift point and no chance of getting passed with a passing gear applied by the Q.

    Nice finish Waterpik!!

    Arriving with 15 to spare we head to the playground to tackle the ISI challenge of the day (1 min pull-ups) Upon completion we hit the deck for Spider man Merkins each leg totaling 10 in all. Then we take to our six for Mary. First we do hip raise hold better known as wife pleasers. Q implemented a 3 count hold at the top to 15. Next we did 15IC FK, 15IC Hello Dollies and closed with 15IC Rosalitas..

    count off, announcements, COT

    Appreciate Choppa for taking us out in prayer!!

    Always enjoy the lead gentleman!

  • Cooler (and possibly better) than Rudy

    Q list had Rudy scheduled for this Monday and YHC for the next, but that date was looking iffy.  After working a trade over the weekend, it meant YHC would be leading Rock City sooner than later.  Knowing it would be hard to deliver a beatdown that tops Rudy’s iconic Fighting Irish themed workout of years past or the recent 40’s on the levee, YHC brainstormed up a few ways to appease the PAX that were expecting their favorite ND alum instead.  Here’s what we did:

    Mosey to the usual area for a warm-up COP:

    • IW x25
    • Abe Vig x10
    • Arm Circles x10
    • Burpees x5
    • Burpees x5
    • Burpess x5
    • Burpees x10 #crowdpleaser

    Grab a rock good for curling, hold it overhead, and meander over to the track/field for COP #2 to work on the guns:

    • Curls x15
    • Rows x15
    • LS Squat x20
    • Curls x12
    • Press x12

    Partner up along the back of the end zone for 3 rounds of:

    • Partner 1 runs to opposite endzone, knocks out 5 Burpees, and runs back (Timer) while
    • Partner 2 cranks out x10 Curls, x20 LBC, x10 Curls, x20 LBC,…..

    T-claps to Abacus for the burst of speed on the final run!  #beastmode

    Next up would be yet another crowd pleasing circuit, hopefully way better than whatever Rudy had in store.  Here we circled up for (2) 3 minute rounds of “The Suck” which consisted of as many rounds as possible of SSH x6, Merkin x6, Squat Jumps x6, rinse and repeat for 3 minutes, calling out your count after each round.  Despite the one minute break between rounds, the grumbling never really subsided.  Once done there seemed to be a harmonious feeling of accomplishment.  T-claps to the PAX for pushing hard.

    Grab your rock and start heading back to base, knocking out shoulder presses along the way.  Circle up for one last COP:

    • Flutter Kicks holding rock x20
    • Penguins x20
    • Wife Pleasers x20
    • Curls x15

    Head back to the rock pile but first, SUDDEN CHANGE – Shoulder Press x10.

    Mosey back to the flag with one minute left for some hip flexor stretching.

    COT to seal the deal.

    Hopefully the PAX enjoyed this more than the Hamlet themed stuff Rudy probably would have subjected everyone to.

    Thanks for letting me lead,

    Tool

    P.S. – I had to pick on Rudy since he heckled me for the untimely backblast

     

     

     

     

  • Spring is in the air

    5 men gathered in the gloom to start their day off right with the commitment to improve. YHC has noticed that recent Q’s have been making F3 beatdowns more challenging, and YHC could only hope that he would be able to continue the trend.
    The clock hit 0530, time to give a disclaimer, then mosey to the track for:

    Warmup

    SSH IC x 31
    Abe Vigodas IC x 10
    Imperial Squat Walkers IC x 15

    Bataan Death March
    Traditional Indian Run on the track, only thing added is the last Pax drops for 5 Burpees and catches up with the other Pax to take his position in the front, tagging the last Pax as he passes. Continue until all Pax had the pleasure of 5 burpees.
    Continue one lap of regular Indian Run, just because we can.

    COP – Johnny Cash (Ring of Fire) #1

    Muster on the matted area inside the track and circle up.
    Each Pax completes 5 merkins, then says next, sending the fire clockwise in the ring. All Pax hold plank position until YHC calls it, which was 5 revolutions.
    Back to the track for:

    4 Corners!

    Corner 1 – Bobby Hurley’s IC x 10. Run to next corner.
    Corner 2 – Catalina Wine Mixer IC x 10. Run to next corner.
    Corner 3 – Iron Mike’s aka jump lunges IC x 10. Run to next corner.
    Corner 4 – merkins IC 4 count x 10. Run to matted area.

    COP – Johnny Cash (Ring of Fire) #2

    Muster once again on the matted area inside the track and circle up.
    Pax does continuous monkey humpers, one Pax does 1 burpee then says next, sending the fire clockwise in the ring. Each Pax did 10 Burpees and a lot of monkey humpers!

    Mosey to the Foundry

    Five Stations:

    Station 1 – pull-ups AMRAP
    Station 2 – Dips AMRAP
    Station 3 – Box Jumps AMRAP
    Station 4 – jumping back and forth over the green snake AMRAP
    Station 5 – run to track, 5 Burpees and run back – Timer
    Rinse and Repeat

    The Pax completed 2 revolutions, and it was time to mosey back to the flag.

    COT
    Count off and Name-O-Rama, intentions and closed with a prayer.
    Thanks for posting with me today, and way to kill it in the gloom this morning!

  • Another day at the Office

    Another beautiful morning at The Gipper and another beat down in the books.

    Warmup of lateral lunges, airplanes, seal jacks, squats and forward lunges.  All 20x IC.

    Mosey to the Justice Center for some 11s.  Merkin/Shoulder Taps combo at the bottom of the stairs, In and Out Squat Jumps at the top.

    Recovery walk to the Justice Center benches.  Lateral shuffle between two bookend benches with a lateral step up at each bench.  5 trips OYO.  Then back to lateral steps ups 7x IC, cross over lateral step ups 15x IC, then regular lateral step ups again 8x IC.

    Back to the Justice Center entrance for our ISI AMRAP Challenge of the day:  how many Merkins can you do in one minute?  So simple, yet not so easy.

    Circuitous mosey up and down the Justice Center parking garages ramps and stairs before heading back to the shovel flag, the PAX hitting some short accelerations along the way on the command of “sprint” and some soccer headers on the command of “jump.”

    Mary of windshield wipers 20x IC, Nolan Ryans 20x IC each side, Jane Fondas 10x IC each side, and 45 degree leg raises 10x IC.

    Moby Dick, still on IR but almost ready to get back in the game, joined the PAX for our countorama, nameorama, and Einstein’s prayer.

    Thanks for letting me lead, guys.  I always look forward to Wednesday morning at The Gipper with you.

     

  • 610 Stomp: Through the Woods and up the Mountain

    6 F3 vets gathered around an actual flag on this perfectly gloomy morning.

    DISCLAIMER

    YHC was feeling like a throwback was due to mix things up a bit.

    The route:
    Go under 610 and take a left, past the dog park and cross harrison ave. (~1.5 miles)
    enter the woods of greater New Orleans, follow the trail (and Hawg) til we reach the highest land elevation in the city, just behind the rocky mountains in total feet. (~.5 miles)

    Once at the top, conveniently, there was a perfect ledge for #ISI. 2 minutes of Rocky Balboa’s.

    Head back to the flag (~2 miles) with 5 minutes to spare.

    30 X LBC
    20 X American Hammer
    20 X Crunchy Frog (RIP Shorty)
    20 X Penguin
    10 X J-Lo (RIP Amnesty)

    Finished with COT.

    Thanks for letting me lead!
    Cowbell

  • Madness in the Gloom

    It was a true cinderella story! The dream of young men and old men aspiring to greatness coming true! To rise before the sun. To journey out into the damp gloom, a dampness that foreshadows summers brutal heat that hammers us with the heat of Hephaestus’ forges! Yes it was that kind of morning!

    Seizing the moment that I dreamt of, yhs launched the pax into the gloom;

    First Preal
    Imperial Walker x21
    SSH (obligatory) x21
    Mountain Climber x21
    Hilly Billy x21

    Back to the track and to the Row Bars
    Count was 20 Rows
    Group of Lunges
    Group of Hello Dollies
    Group of Parker Peters
    Rinse and Repeat!

    Back to the track for Catch Me If You Can / Indian Run. Dividing the Pax into 2 columns last man did 10 Mericans to sprint up back to the pax, tagging last man to drop, while continuing on to the front.

    At the benches for some classic Tinkles
    Declined Mericans x10 immediately followed by 10 shoulder taps.
    RL & LL step ups x22 each
    Dips x15
    RLPU & LLPU x 21 each.

    Back to the track and the Mary Hole for
    LBCs x20
    Rosalita x20
    Jay Los’ x20
    Leg Lefts x 20
    LBT x 20
    Box Cutters x20

    Back enmasse to the pull bars
    Count was Carolina Dry Docks x15
    Pull Ups
    Something ab related
    And since no one could think of something better we had to do Burpees!

    On to the circle.

  • I got a fever……

    T-Claps to the south shore and north shore pax who completed the Tough Mudder. The mumble chatter is that no obstacles were skipped and major injuries were avoided.  The mothership at the Lakefront was 5 strong including Rev Socks and Hog Sickle from the south shore. Honorable mention the Hog Sickle’s dad who took the ride to the north sore. He got in over 5000 steps during the beatdown!!!

    Warm-Up

    20 SSHs IC, 20 Windmills IC, 20 Toe Touches IC, 20 IWs IC, 20 Butt Kicks IC, 20 High Knees IC, 10 forward arm rolls IC (baseball) – rinse and repeat in reverse, 10 forward arm rolls IC (basketball) – rinse and repeat in reverse, 20 Overhead Claps IC

    COWBELL DISCLAIMER

    Those of you who made it to Ei’s Crazy Ivan on the North Shore saw the debut of the cowbell. It made it to the beatdown this past Saturday. Every time you hear the cowbell ring, all paxs drop and do ten burpees. After you ring the cowbell, you bestow the cowbell to another pac and they ring it at their discretion. The goal was to complete 100 burpees by the end of the beatdown. Mission Accomplished!!!!!

    Mosey…

    Indian Bear Crawl

    All paxs line up in a single file line in the planc position. The pac at the front of the line starts doing merkins IC while the pac at the end of the line bear crawls to the front. Rinse and repeat until you get to pre-designated destination.

    Indian Lunge Walk

    Once you get to the pre-designated destination from the Indian Bear Crawl, all paxs turn around and stay in the single file line. Pac at the front of the line starst doing squats IC while the pac at the end of the line lunge walks to the front. Rinse and repeat until you get to the original starting point.

    Mosey…..

    Heavy Bag Pull and Carry

    All paxs line up facing “The Shaft” holding the Al Gore. First pac, sits on ground and pulls a 75 foot rope that is attachd to a 45lb heavy bag. Once the heavy bag gets to pac, pac picks it up and runs with it  it back to the starting position next to “The Shaft.”  Drop it and assume the planc position until all pacs are finished.

    Mary

    25 LBCs IC, 25 Puttins IC, 25 Leg Lifts IC, 25 Flutter Kicks IC

    Mosey to Cazebo

    Freak Nasty Step Up Super Set

    10 Freak Nasties IC, 10 left leg step ups IC, 10 right leg step ups IC- Rinse and repeat three times adding 5 reps to each exercise every set

    On the final mosey to the flag, we were left with 10 burpees to get reach our goal. I thought that Rev Socks was going to sabotage the mission, but he did not dissapoint. Turbo did not dissapoint either by changing his last 10 burpees into slurpees by doing them in a large puddle left by the torrential rain from Friday. Way to embrace the suck Turbo.

     

    COT – Prayed out by THE Manny – Coffetteria afterwards

     

     

     

     

  • A CSAUP Convergence in the Mud

    Well, the day was finally upon us. With a 50% chance of rain it was anybody’s guess what the weather would do. But when it’s called Tough Mudder, either way is good. The clown cars converged at NOLA Motor Park and the clowns met up just inside the official Tough Mudder grounds. The southshore boys called a last minute audible.With Fracsac having to pull out, Cowbell, was and easy EH to grab his spot. Speaking of last minute, YHC pulled up to the meeting spot to see that none other than the elusively nomadic Butt Splice had joined the party, having bought his ticket yesterday.

    Due to the race being 12 mud-filled miles long, not to mention this guy’s exhausted brain, I won’t list all the obstacles, but give a greatest hits and honorable mentions overview.

    Like ripping off a band aid, the 1st obstacle thrown at us was Kiss of Mud 2.o, involving an army crawl under barbed wire through the soupy mud. Butt Splice was fully submerged and in heaven!

    The Hero Carry obstacle (which was much easier the 1st time around) found us carrying our partner about 50 or so yards, then switching for the next 50. Strategically speaking we tried to match up size-wise with Steve/Tanked Up, Butt Splice/Gabrielle, Shooter/Walleye, Bushwacker/Ocho (had I only known this deceptively sized man was actually heavier than the solid Shooter, I might have chosen more wisely), and Reluctant Yankee/Cowbell. Jingle Vader paired up with a random to complete the obstacle.

    Much better acquainted, the fun continued.

    Somewhere along the way, we chanced on a solo mudder who by some stoke of good fortune joined our  regal ranks on this muddy mission. This bald bruiser (sorry the alliteration is addictive) was visiting Nawlins with his lovely wife (who was a loyal spectator) from Chattanooga, TN. An easy Eh and a great F3 fit to round the crew out at 12.

    There were more muddy water-filled pits, walls, hay bales, nets and unpredictable terrain in store for our daring band of F3 brothers. The course lent itself to some quality mumble chatter that added to the intrinsic appreciation of the experience. Speaking of mumble chatter, between Gabrielle and Ocho’s slew of  salacious interactions with random members of the fairer sex, I’m surprised we didn’t walk away from the course with our own fan club. Or better yet, a new cadre of FIA recruits!

    Not that we didn’t all have an appreciation for the females we ran into. A bunch of us made a new friend in a medical assistant at the Trench Warfare obstacle when we gave her a big F3 group hug, sharing all the muddy goodness we had to offer…especially Ocho.

    There were back busting back flips and reverse swan dives at the Shawshank obstacle. This one was quite refreshing!

    At Everest 2.0 we joined the waiting crowd in an attempt to scale the slick quarter pipe and, with the assistance of the previous victors, to mount the 15′ summit. In an attempt to get up quickly and help some folks, F3 and otherwise, YHC skirted the waiting onlookers and made a few unsuccessful shots at the top. In between tries, many, especially the tall gents, were making it look like child’s play. I returned to the fold to find Ocho back on the ground after having already made the ascent. Butt Splice had inadvertently pulled him back down as he tried, in vain, to make it up. With the brilliant Walleye extending his lengthy arms towards the next contestants, the guys one by one made it up. After an embarrassingly  high number of failed tries, this now bruised and battered Q joined his comrades in victory.

    Anyone who knows anything about the tough mudder knows that that one of the most anticipated , and feared, obstacles is the Electroshock! While most of us caught a shock or 2, poor Shooter, who had almost made it through with only 1 zap, took a shot that rung his bell. Being St.Patty’s day, the luck of the Irish must have been shining on Steve, Reluctant Yankee and Jingle Vader (hope I got that right), because they got through scott free. We were all entertained as we prepared to move on by a bald, hardcore ranter who got tagged in the face and many other places as he worked his way through – SON OF A BITCH!

    At the last obstacle, Happy Ending, we ran into fellow F3 Saxon who, along with Jesse from Chattanooga, Ocho, and Butt Splice, formed the base and extension of our human ladder that helped a lot of recently rinsed fools get to the top. Eventually we retrieved our magnanimous brothers and slid down the other side to cross the finish line, arms locked.

    As we gathered post-race with out victory beers (and recovery drinks) in hand to close out with a COT, we were in a unique and enviable position to name an out-of-state FNG. Welcome Big Easy to the F3 Nation! We hope he returns to Chattanooga and hits up one of the 5 area posts up that way. Thanks to Butt Splice for his emotionally aroused prayer to take us out.

    Gentlemen, despite some bumps and bruises this was an extraordinary adventure, and I am blessed to have taken the journey with each of you. Many thanks for following my lead to the starting line today.

  • A Buzzer Beatdown

    The Scene: The Knoll

    Conditions: Mosquitos and Mud.

    Welcome

    Disclaimer

    Warm-a-Rama:

    Warmest day of the year. But we still did our warm-a-rama.

    Started with one full lap ending at the sundial.

    · SSH – 25x IC

    · Arm cirlces (15 Fwd/15Bkwds)

    · Bobby Hurley – 15x IC. (FNG was excited about this one. Gave a little shout out to ASU, he’s alma mater.)

    · Al Gores – 10x IC

    · Merkins -10x IC

    · Burpees – 8x on own.

    The Thang:

    We did our own form of March Madness.

    1. Suicide Madness– Mosey’d to the muddy football field. We stood at football goal line. Sprinted to about 20 yd line and back two times between each of the following:

    · 64 – SSH – (Workhorse finished these at blazing speed. But, in mid-sprint about the 10 yd line, he stopped, turned around, laughed, and said he only did 32. He came back and finished the rest. We were reminded you can’t look too far ahead. All eyes on you, Virginia. All eyes on you.)

    · 32 – Merkins.

    · 16 – Al Gores – Madness really set in

    · 8 – Burpees – Gabriel was still smiling somehow.

    · 4- Burpees

    · 2 – Burpees – A lot of midwife noises here.

    · 1 minute planks

    -Flutter kicks waiting on 6 man.

    We then took a little apocalyptic tour through the woods and over the log bridge. No injuries reported.

    After the long tour, we made it back to the sundial. We did a quick set of 15 merkins, 12 Freak Nastys, 10 Merkins, and 10 Freak nastys.

    2. Col Trautman – We then partnered up and did a little Colonel Trautman. One partner ran from sundial to pull up bar and did 5 pull-ups. While other partner stood at sundial and did lunges AMRAP. We did this for 4 quarters. Felt like we were in triple OT. MoneyCat finished his last one with a dead sprint back. The crowd erupted.

    Mary:

    We were running late for Mary’s, again. But 4 PAX led their favorite:

    · Fastball – LBCs – 10x

    · Dagwood – Jane Fondas (Rt) – 10x

    · Shangeux – American Hammers – 15x

    · Snack Pack – Jane Fondas (Lt)– 10x

    We cut it close on time, but we nailed it! A buzzer beatdown.

    Mosey’d to Flag. Gabriel, still smiling, sprinted to flag. It was the fastest I’ve seen it done. And it’s not even close.

    Count-o-Rama

    Name-o-Rama

    Welcome, Hogfish!

    COT / BOM:

    Announcements –

    T-Claps to Money Cat for increasing his merkins by 400%. And for losing about 35 lbs over the last few months! Well done!

     

  • To your left, no my left….Get Some!

    From the start (a bit of humility and learning) set in for the QIC as 16 men gathered and heard the disclaimer by none other than Craig…..Oh wait a minute a.k.a. Mahatma-Ice.  So it begins –

    DISCLAIMER

    Mosey to towards the big field for warm up – while listing to chirping complaints that “running” is only supposed to on certain F3 workout days.

    Warm up

    SSH x 30

    Seal Jacks x 25

    Down to your 6 – no stand up (to moans from the Pax primarily Rudy and FracSac, as if the extra effort was going to cause a little more sweat).

    Once back up Hillbilly x 15

    ISW x 10

    Austin Butt Kickers (again communication break down as to left arm out, “what leg” back.  QIC may be better at demonstrating the exercise, it finally begins) x 20

    Dive Bombers x 5 (4 cnt)

    Bicycle Kicks x  20

    Now for the reason we all got up and came out this morning… The Thang-

    1st Field Event:

    2 man team – 100 Burpees total split “evenly” between them.  (1) did Burpees will the other went out 2 tree distances doing Bear Crawl then back doing Kongs – Switch the effort.  I think most got a shot at doing the out and back twice.  I teamed with Frac, he was determined to add in additional Burpees thinking I might have gotten more than him (I’ve come to learn, he likes them!)  Can’t speak for any other teams.

    2nd Field Event:

    Pax broken up into 4 teams of 4 –

    ZigZag Squat Run; Indian Style (with some kind of audible to note that Pax member completed their run and next Pax to go).  Distance 4 trees with the entire team to sprint back. QIC noted after the start of this “thang” that the losing team had to complete 5 Burpees (TripleShift’s team lost – complaints about brotherhood so all teams gave the 5).

    3rd Field Event:

    2 teams of 8 –

    Body Tent Low Crawl – Distance 5 trees (Again complaining from the field that there was some kind of “big” brother rules as to the line of completion for everyone to sprint back) so again PAX all participated in Burpees

    4th Field Event – Back to 4 teams of 4

    Low Crawl – Frog Hop – Low Crawl – Frog Hop….. Distance 4 trees.  (Bit of a communication break down but PAX figured it out and the event was completed)  Can’t recall the losers but I think the understanding was we all shared in the Burpees.

    5th Field Event – Pax back to 2 teams of 8

    Plank Body Hurdles (Indian Run) – losing team busted butt to make it close but circled up to start Burbees – somehow the brotherhood of sharing the pain was now gone with the other team heading off to get water…..Rudy called them out and most jumped in grinded out a few.

    Slow mosey towards fountain –

    Pax circled the Fountain with QIC wanting to create 8 2 man teams – seemed easy enough….”look to your left and that’s your teammate; well my left!  QIC learned a lesson as to using a count off to establish PAX position then match 1&2…… (this will be used next time for sure).  Now add in that we pissed off the legal training crew, encroaching on their space – we only needed a small section but this might be why women aren’t mixed in with F3 groups, they pick up their stuff and stormed off, clearing the area.  (When Qing in future, I’ll be more sensitive).

    1st Fountain Team AMRP

    While one member did box jumps the other hopped 1st set of steps then 2 Burpees at landing area then hopped as many steps at a time until reaching the top landing 3 Burpees, run back – SWITCH  x 2

    2nd Fountain AMRP

    Same team effort as above except Shoulder Taps 1st, then Durkins while teammate hops the steps and does Burpees.

    With about 7 minutes to go – Mosey back towards the flag – TripleShift was pushing the pace so we had enough time to detour to the big field for some last minute Mary-

    LBC x 20 (4cnt)

    Scuba kicks (Flutter Kicks) x 20 (4cnt)

    WWII – Sit ups x 4 (4cnt)

    Pax member reminded (actually it might have been a complaint) that QIC had passed the 7:30 mark so the fun had to end with a quick mosey back to the flag.

    COP, announcements, no intentions – closing prayer.

    Gents thank you for the opportunity to lead (and learn) today.  No doubt God gives us the blessing of the present to be embrace and enjoy.  I’m want to give a shout out to 2-Utes for getting me involved with F3!