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  • What I Did On My Summer Vacation

    on the first day of my summer vacation
    I woke up…
    then I went downtown…
    to look for a job…
    then I hung out in front of the drugstore

    on the second day of my summer vacation
    I woke up…
    then I went downtown…
    to look for a job…
    then I hung out in front of the drugstore….. “Cheech and Chong, Sister Mary Elephant”

    T-claps to any PAX member who can tell me the job Chong got on his day three.
    And double T-claps to any PAX member who can tell me who Sister Mary Elephant was substituting for.

     

    The PAX, on their Summer Vacation…traveled Route 66. Starting with One Burpee at the first station, we headed to the next station,
    increasing the burpee count by one, for a total of 66 burpees per PAX member at 11 stations. Or in Einstein shorthand: total burpees=((N*(N+1))/2)

     

    To the best of my recall; here is how it went

    Short Disclaimer …I don’t know why the PAX was laughing at this point

    warmup
    all 20xIC; side straddle hops,windmills,imperial walkers,toe touches,hillbillys,arm circles,lunges,side straddle hops in squat position

    mosey to the school board building (Taj Mahal) parking lot
    Two Burpees
    pillar push for 20 count; rinse and repeat x3

    mosey to the front of the Taj Mahal
    Three Burpees
    circle up by the flagpole – step back about 5 yards out
    bearcrawl in, shoulder taps, crawlbear out, merkins; rinse a repeat x3

    mosey to the back of the St.Tammany Parish Courthouse Annex parking garage,
    Four Burpees
    backwards lunge walk halfway up the first floor ramp
    turn and sprint up rest of the way
    Five Burpess
    jog/walk across the second floor ramp
    Six Burpees
    backwards lunge walk halfway up third floor ramp
    turn and crossover hop up rest of the way
    Seven Burpees

    on the top deck of the parking garage
    enter Senor oCho nUeve, just in time for…
    Eight Burpees
    some more merkins
    scout run across the parking deck with front man sprinting out 10 paces, turn around then queue at the back of the line
    Nine Burpees

    mosey to the front of the St. Tammany Parish Courthouse
    circle up around the military monuments
    merkin and fiddler crab crawl counter-clockwise,9 more merkins all around the cicle
    merkin and fiddler crab crawl left clockwise, 9 more merkins all around the cicle
    Ten Burpees

    mosey back to the trail head
    ELEVEN Burpees

    mary
    20xIC bicycles
    20xIC dollys

     

    count-o-rama, prayer led by Grundy, we bid our adieus and head out to take on the day.

     

  • 610 Stomp #101 – Back on Track

    This concluded our two week celebration the 610 Stomp Centennial Celebration.  The Inaugural Stomp went down on August 18th, 2015.  Four men attended that first Stomp and we can proudly say that we have seen the Pax increase a whopping 50% in the past two years as the attendance was 6 this morning.

    The original idea was to celebrate the Stomp by running the old route – up Marconi, across Filmore, back down Wisner and into the park past Pan Am Stadium.  Tool did some reconnaissance and found that the construction of the new overpass makes the route difficult, but still passable.  In the end, I decided to retire the old route for good.  It’s just not a very safe route (remember the silver 4 runner going 80 – not sure what the make and model was as it was always going 80 when it past me on Filmore).  There is a lot of running on or near the road, it’s dark, and at times you have to run with traffic.

    In memoriam of Cheech’s death during an F3 Lexington run, we went sleeveless and I used the disclaimer to preach running safety.  I went long on the disclaimer, but I thought it was important.  Some good tips I stole from someone else:

    • Ditch the badass black F3 shirt and wear something bright
    • Wear reflective bands or lights to make yourself more visible
    • Run against traffic and stay on sidewalks or grass if possible.
    • Run with a group – leave no man behind.
    • Bring your cellphone.
    • Get an ID bracelet or carry emergency contact info.

    The Thang

    The 610 Stomp was originally created to prepare for a Spartan race.  The idea was to jog for 6 minutes and then take one minute to do 10 burpees and catch your breath.  Then repeat until the 45 minutes are up and you are standing back at the flag.  The 6-10 Stomp.  The 6-10 part has been modified to mean different things.  If doing burpees, the Pax usually picks their own number to do.  Sometimes we run for 30 seconds in lieu of burpees (a SFx special).  Sometimes we do something totally different, but today, we were going to get back to the original intention, with one caveat.  Since Side Effects famously got our numbering system of track by making us repeat 610 Stomp #18, the Pax was instructed to do 18 burpees during 2 of the breaks – you could choose when, but extra points if you did them on back to back breaks.

    YHC hung with Shorty and we went too far.  We did complete the 86 burpees on the route.  When we got back (6 or 7 minutes late – #Cobains) everyone had to bail except Stubhub.  We sealed the deal with 15 more burpees bringing us to a grand total of 101 for the 101st running of the Stomp.  T-claps to Stubhub who makes his own rules and sealed the deal with 16 burpees.

    Moleskin

    Thanks to those that came out to celebrate today.  Cobains for getting back so late.  We had some great representation today.  I went back into the historical records and found that Tool was there with me for the very first Stomp.  Shorty showed up for the second one (he was an FNG at RockCity the day before).  Fracsac shows up in the Backblasts at Stomp #56, although I’m not sure that is his first.  Stubhubb debuted at Stomp #96 and Roots grabbed his passport and posted for the first time at Stomp #101. T-claps to all.

  • We’re Not Here To Play Bridge

    “Monday is the perfect day to correct last week’s mistakes.”  -author unknown

    YHC missed last Monday’s workout so it was time to man up and post.  Several other PAX opted to beat the fartsack as well making for a total of 8 men.  Exchanged the usual pleasantries, then the disclaimer, then down to business with a goal of keeping the PAX in constant motion and trying to deliver a respectable beatdown.  Here’s what we did:

    Burpees x10 …just to make sure everyone was awake

    Mosey to the usual warm-up area

    Burpess x10

    Windmill x20

    Arm Circle x30 (10ea Forward, Backward, Chinook)

    IPW x20

    Low Country Crab x20

     

    Grab a rock of the Med-Med/Lg variety and circle up for a quick COP:

    Row x20, Squat x20, Curl x15, Rox x15, Squat x15, Curl x15 (all in cadence)

     

    Re-position in the second baseball field for another chance to become one with your rock.  The PAX lined up 10ft apart and about 15yds from the parking bumpers.  This would be a round of 11’s to include:

    Curls at starting point  (starting with 10 down to 1)

    Backwards Bear Crawl to parking bumper

    Derkin w/feet on parking bumper (from 1-10)

    Bear Crawl Back

    This proved to be brutal, with plenty of grunts, groans, and perspiration.  At some point the PAX heard “…well we didn’t come here to play bridge this morning” which couldn’t have been more true.  Many PAX modified/supplemented the bear crawls and crawl bears with lunge walk or other.  T-claps to Hawg and Rudy for pushing hard and completing in full.

    Next up a quick recovery mosey to the water fountain and back.

    Line up in same spot and partner up.  Partner 1 knocks out shoulder presses while partner 2 crab walks backward to parking bumper and crab walk (forward) back as the timer.  We knocked out two rounds of these.

    Grab your rock and curl as the PAX walked back to the rock pile.  Then a mosey to the flag with a 90 seconds left for Plankorama.  

    Announcements included an upcoming fundraiser that Babyface is involved with for an youth mentoring organization called Next Generation.  Details at ‪NextGenclubs.com/banquet‬.

    Finished up with a shout out the the Sky Q and prayed for those in battling health issues and those in need of prayer.

    Thanks for letting me lead and helping me get back on the Monday routine.

    Tool

     

     

  • The Modifier at the Trailhead

    As the title suggest this Gloom would prove to be a day of Modification. As we circled up to begin with our warmup the shadows produce a late arrival it’s a bird, it’s a plane nah it’s Grundy shoes and all..

    Warmarama

    20 IC SS

    20 IC MK (Tanked up favorite)

    20 IC WM

    20 IC IW

    20 IC BK

    the thang

    The PAX began our Mosey over to the Milestone Marsh site for some court action. The YHC picked an exercise called the “Bearbees” with an aggressive number of 20 being the goal. And so with horrible math skills the Q tells the PAX of 6 that it should equal to 120 as a group. Shortly in realizing that the YHC spoke one way and demonstrated another that number was quickly modified. 1 Burpee bearcrawl (1,2,3,4) 2 Burpees bear crawl (1,2,3,4) the PAX started at 1 each time 😩 you get the idea so the 20 initially set turned into the PAX getting to round 14,which if my math is correct (double check me Grundy) that would be 105 Burpees per man x 6 =630 total then finished with a Bearcrawl last half of court. Steve being the hidden ninja that he his would have completed, however the YHC felt the need to save the PAX (most importantly himself). Once complete began to Mosey back to Trailhead for a game of “Black Jack” the PAX split into 3 teams upon arrival and the series consisted of partner in wall squat while the other did 1 Merkin up the stairs for 20 Sister Mary Katherine’s  down partner the same and the next series 2 Merkins upstairs 19 SMKs YHC didn’t account for the time this would take so realizing the clock was our enemy we made yet another modification stoping at 7 Merkins and 14 SMKs. Capt Sparkles made the suggestion to reverse the order with 3 min remaining so basically completed 9 rounds each. YHC will bring the Black jack to the table again with a modified method of execution for future Qs. Even with the modifications the PAX was taxed and trenched so in the Qs eye mission accomplished.

    Countarama, announcements, COT (Capt. Sparkles)

  • We Don’t Gamble In This House!

    Pulling up to the AO the YHC notices some pax gathered around 1 particular clown car. At a closer look not 1 but 2 flats on a Cadillac… well not so much a Cadillac… more like a scion or Nissan or some kind of import that any union guy would love to bring a baseball bat to.. “well how the hell did that happen??” is the common question amongst the mumble chatter.. either way the show must go on!!

    THE WARM UP

    SSH x10 IC

    IW x10 IC

    okay enough of that let’s get to the thang…

    THE THANG

    inspired by Ray Lewis…out comes the Deck of Death 😫. A short grumble is quickly silenced by shooters instructions who had done this with me on a previous endeavor.

    Black cards merkins

    Red cards lbcs

    7s pull-ups

    JQK 10

    ACE 25

    JOKERS 50 merkins or 20 merkins 20 lbc and 10 pull-ups

    in a pearl the pax takes turns flipping the cards over in much anticipation to what the next card will be. Grunts and grumble along with Grundy over spirited chatter broke the silence of the gloom…

    after the last card top it off with

    10 burpees oyo

    10 j-Lo ic

    10 heel taps ic

    COT BOM

    big thanks to shooter for praying us out and helping night train and rainbow unicorn with their flat tires even after the beatdown…. and I personally volunteered Ocho for his virgin q for  next week marsh beatdown…

    over and out

    Butt Splice

     

     

     

     

     

  • Gettin’ Jiggy With It

    17 PAX strong this morning, a record for the Northshore mothership?  Perhaps.  I’ll leave the numbers to a shoeless Grundy.  All I know for sure is we got lucky with the (slightly) cooler weather and everyone pushed themselves hard this morning.

    It started as it usually does, with a little foreplay (t-claps to Butt Splice for the proper terminology): the 6:10 warm-up run.  With the improved speed the PAX is turning in, it seems like this foreplay just isn’t enough.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see this warm-up run expanding in the near future…

    Warm Up:

    SSH, Windmills, IW’s, Butt Kicks, High Knees, MC’s, all 20x IC, with the exception of the MC’s, which we took to 40x IC just to keep everyone on their toes.

    The Thang:

    Mosey to the seawall to kick things off with a set of 11’s, derkins on one end, Sister Mary Katherine’s on the other.

    Everyone then partnered up to do some one leg squats (10x each leg).  Then partners lined up back to back for a People’s Chair, held for one minute.   Next up, one partner elbow planked while the other did lateral hops over him (20x), then swaparoo.   Finally, Moonshine had a modification on the first exercise that added a twerk (I believe it was called the… Badonkadonk), so we threw that into the mix at the end.

    Slight communication breakdown as YHC attempted to split the PAX in two for a relay race.   Both teams lined up in a plank, while one man from each team sprinted about 30 yards and back to tag the next man.  Round 2 was bunny hops there, bear crawl back, while PAX performed continuous squats.  Ei noted Cap’n Sparkles was running like he was saving a baby (or a cat) and Rainbow Unicorn unleashed the fastest bear crawl we’ve seen yet, together they gave their team the edge it needed to win.

    Back in to partner exercises with Pray to Gods 20x, and some leg push downs (20x), which are now officially called Tea Baggers, compliments of Moonshine.

    Then we circled up for some T-Plank arm circles: left arm (10x IC), flip onto back for LBC’s (15x IC), right arm (10x IC), flip to front plank for merkins (15x IC).  Back over to left side up t-plank for left knee-to-chest (10x IC), LBC’s (15x IC), right knee-to-chest (10x IC), flip back to front plank for final 15x merks.

    Mosey back to the flag for a cigarette and some cuddling: Scorpion kicks (15x IC), superman hold (1 min), raised scorpion kicks (15x IC), Hello Dolly (15x IC), and Rosalitas (15x IC).

    Countorama, nameorama (welcome FNG’s Firewall and Lucky Charms), announcements and coffeeteria.  T-claps to Moonshine for dropping in from Raleigh, hope to see you again brother.  Thanks for letting me lead guys, always a pleasure.

  • Hamilton – The Workout

    What time is it? SHOW TIME!  YHC had pondered a workout based around Hamilton, ever since his 2.0 introduced the soundtrack to him a year ago.  Finally – the time had come.  I pity the PAX – what could improve the heat and humidity of a summer NOLA morning besides the glorious sounds of show tunes reverberating through the air?  Who wouldn’t want to start their day with a little singing and dancing?

    Start with a disclaimer, and fair warning to the PAX that this workout might be messy.  Then we mosey to the Great Lawn.

    Alexander Hamilton: Open the day with the intro to Hamilton and spelling it all out.  First challenge of the workout – YHC’s speaker was not nearly loud enough.  This will be corrected for the next show tunes workout.

    • Hops (of the Side-Straddle variety) x20
    • Abe vigoda (aka windmills) x15
    • Mayweather (Floyd) (not Merryweather…. duh, thanks Triple Shift!) x20
    • Imperial Walkers x20
    • Lbc x20
    • Twists (little baby) x20
    • Outlaw (new to NOLA pax – legs together, draw a big O) x10 each direction
    • Nolan Ryan x10 each side

    Aaron Burr, Sir: 2:36 duration.  What else starts with “Burr”?  Why Burr-pees of course.  OYO, Burpees for the duration of the song.  Go.  “What time is it?  SHOW TIME!”

    At this point, YHC encountered an unexpected challenge.  Mud, grass and dew from the burpees made accessing and controlling the phone darn near impossible.  Moments of panic – “What now?  How will I play my sing-along songs for everyone?”  But in my moment of deepest and darkest despair, my phone suddenly began responding to my frantic gestures.  Whew, crisis averted.

    Non Stop: Alexander Hamilton, famous for non-stop work (check his Federalist Papers work).  Pax to replicate with non-stop activity for the 6:30 duration.

    • Suicides out-and-back to the first 3 palm trees
    • Peter Parker x10, Plank Jack x10, Parker Peter x10
    • Repeat until song ends
    • Non-Stop.  Keep going.

    Right Hand Man: Partner up with your Right Hand Man.

    • Pax 1: Bear Crawl to the 2nd Palm.  Crawl Bear back.
    • Pax 2: Lunges (go deep!)
    • Flapjack
    • Repeat with Crab Walk out, Walk Crab back.
    • Repeat with Duck Walk out, Walk Duck back.
    • Note: YHC had never tried Walk Duck before.  It kinda sucks.  In a good way.

    Mosey to the Baby Foundry for the Revolutionary War re-enactment.

    Guns and Ships and Yorktown: On morning reconnaissance run, YHC saw a collection of wooden pallets next to baby foundry.  Perfect.  On arrival at the foundry, send PAX over to collect 5 of them.  PAX will use this time to work on their own Guns.

    • Pull Ups x5
    • Pallet Curls x10 (There was quite a difference in weight between the Oak and Pine pallets…)
    • Mericans x15
    • Rinse and Repeat.  OYO.  Until the 2 songs end (6:30)
    • Return the pallets

    Mosey to the corner wall by the sculpture garden

    Cabinet Battle #1: Partner up for the battle between Jefferson and Hamilton over the role of the federal treasury.

    • Pax 1 (Jefferson): Plank
    • Pax 2 (Hamilton): Feet on the butt of Jefferson, Dips x15
    • Flapjack.  Repeat.  Until Washington takes Jefferson aside to tell him to either get the votes, or lose his job.
    • NOTE: Next time, YHC will look for a partner a wee bit smaller than Quick Draw.

    Mosey back to the Great Lawn.  We have time for one more exercise.  DaParish gets to choose which song.  He goes with:

    Election of 1800: Squats x18, Lunge x18, Squat Jumps x18.  Repeat for the 4:00 duration of the song.  (Alternative was My Shot with the Okwata “Two shots at the Bar” jack webbs.  Next time….  And we never got to the Duel either!)

    With that, our hour reprise of Hamilton, The Musical is done.  Mosey back to the flags for count-off (19 PAX, alas one early departure by Hawg), name-o-rama and naming our FNG (welcome to F3 Gilligan!) followed by announcements

    • Triathalon coming up – talk to DaParish if interested
    • Training towards Rock and Roll Marathon in February – talk to Rudy if interested

    Several intentions, including those who are sick (Maverick’s uncle, FracSac’s dad, Rudy’s friend’s daughter).  As always, I am extremely grateful for the friendships I have made with my fellow F3 brothers.  I hope to use the inspiration they offer me as an example to help me lead a life that may offer inspiration to others.

    10 of us settled in at Morning Call for coffee and camaraderie. Lots of great ideas about how to continue spreading the mission of F3 through several different venues in the NOLA area.  Here’s looking at you, Jadaveon!

    Thank you for letting me lead, and thank you for humoring me in my attempts to try something different with my Qs.  I hope you enjoyed it – even if your enjoyment came from heckling and mocking your Q.  Offer your suggestions for show-tunes workouts in the comments.  I know DaParish wants to see Wicked…

     

  • Back To Work

    Eleven Pax gathered early Friday morning with mumblechatter rehashing the Gnarly Nutria and what coulda, shoulda, woulda been… The “world” won! What’s done is done.  Time to move forward and get stronger for next time.  What better place to do so than the center of the universe– Wolfpack Mountain!  After the disclaimer we were off at 05:30.

    The Thang:  Mosey up the avenue and back down to Touchdown Jesus(the replica, as Rudy reminded us)  for the warmup.  Forward arm circles standing on the left foot, Forward arm circles on right foot, SSH, Mtn Climber, Imp. Walker, Plank Jack, Hillbilly, Plank Walk x 20 IC.

    Mosey to WPM. Lunge the first ramp, then OYO to the 6th level with stops at the church side for 20 squats and stops at LU side for 25 LBC’s.  Plank and wait for the six.  T- Claps to Mariah for leading the early arrivals in some Mary while we gathered up the six, some of which YHC might have confused.  There’s a rumor they were lunging all the way up… Cobains.

    Once we regrouped we were faced with the last and steepest ramp.  Not a better  place in the universe for Bearpees.  Hardcore Okwatans may disagree.  Each pax was to make their way to the top via the Bearpee– a four count bear crawl followed by one burpee, increasing each rep 4:1 and finishing w a 40 count bear crawl and 10 burpees.  Pretty sure there was plenty of hate for the Q at this point.  T Claps to the pax for getting it done.  It sucked… At the top we did a little Mary– R. Twist, Real Freddie, Dying Roach x 20 IC.

    With 5 minutes to go, we hit the stairs and moseyed toward the flag.  Yankee mentioned how shocked he was that we didn’t stop at the benches for dips and it might be a Roots first.  Not wanting to disappoint, we detoured to the fountain benches near the flag for a quick 25 dips IC for the win!

    COT w shout out by YHC

    T Claps to Mariah for making all three uptown workouts this week while visiting from Charlotte.

    The Pax completed a total of 605 Burpees which YHC will donate to Cadre Danny’s million burpee challenge. T Claps

    Good Times!

    Roots

  • Double Down

    “Well done is better than well said.” – Benjamin Franklin

    It is easy to talk about what you want, but the hard part is putting those words into action.  You may say that this problem could be resolved with stronger self-discipline…but even that is limited. Sometime you may be tired, sometimes you may make excuses….and your actions fall short of what you actual want.  The real key is to have someone hold you accountable for your words, which will lead you to your desired action.  That’s where F3 comes in.  It is a great tool to develop relationships (2nd F) to help you take more action and become a HIM. #lexicon

    Let’s get to it… 5 men of NOLA gathered in the gloom to get stronger.  So let’s begin…but first…

    DISCLAIMER

    The Thang

    COP#1, and only: The beatdown (since we are acting like Uptown)

    20x LS Squats IC
    10x Arm Circles IC (while holding a squat)
    15x Tap Dancers IC
    15x Mountain Climber Stretch IC

    Enough for now, go grab a small rock.

    20x Rock Jacks IC
    20x Rock Marches IC
    30x Squat Reaches IC
    Recover with a Bear Crawl about 30-40 yards

    Repeat that one more time.

    8x Merkin-to-Side Plank (1 rep each side/held Plank for 2-3 sec)
    4 sets of:  5x Skull Crushers / 5x Bench Press

    Repeat that one more time, but do 10 reps this time.

    8x Balance Pistol Squat IC (Right, then Left)
    10x Balance Rock/Leg Curls IC (Right, then Left)

    Repeat that one more time.

    10MOM:
    15x Putins IC
    15x Hello Dolly w/ Leg Lift IC (preparation for the Doctor)
    10x Penguins IC
    15x Heel Taps IC
    10x R. Leg Curl/Lift IC
    10x L. Leg Curl/Lift IC
    8x Dr. Ws IC (there he is!)

    Done. Circle up for the COT, where we held the Countoff, Nameorama, and Prayer (for the injured…get better Josiah!)

    Moleskin

    Great work by the Pax today!  Tclaps to StubHub for posting & pushing through his injury!

    Tclaps to Hawg for keeping me accountable on the Snooze Formula!

  • Kimchi for 2

    Prior to workout I was battling between which workout I should lead. Should it be a previous one I have done or something new. Also prior on the GroupMe app Chipper was going to run to the AO with the flag in true American style. When arrived to the AO the PAX of two was waiting to see if Chipper would arrive to the AO as mentioned and sadly he did not. Come to find out later his M, who is carrying his 2.0 at 20 weeks, needed him early in the day. Anyway disclaimer was made and lets begin.

    WARM UP

    • SSH x20
    • IW x20
    • Windmills x20
    • Arm Circles x10 FWD/BWD
    • Hip Circles x10
    • Twist Pivot x20

    Onward to the “Playstation” for

    THE THANG

    There two workouts per group and after 3 groups would be one round

    Group 1

    • 1 arm inverted under grip row x5 (timer)
    • merkin

    Group 2

    • single leg touch squats x5 ea. leg (timer)
    • mountain climbers

    Group 3

    • x5 box jumps (timer)
    • wall plank w/ parker peters

    Ni and YCH completed 8 rounds. The purpose was to finish each round, containing of the 3 groups, as fast as possible with 30 sec break between rounds.

    Tclaps to Ni who is at a perfect attendance at Troubled Waters. Ended with a count-off, namerama, and a COT. Thanks for letting me lead and pray for Josiah, one of many Triple Shift’s 2.0, that he has a great recovery.

    -Kimchi