F3 New Orleans

Category: New Orleans

  • The Beautiful Beatdown – from Yankee Joe

    Over the past few weeks, YHC has navigated a time of growth and reflection. In Marketing, there is a term called, “marketing myopia.” It is a concept that refers to a firm’s narrow focus on their own product development considering only internal strategies, along with competitors’ actions. As such, the organization loses focus on the two most important elements…1) the needs of the customer and 2) how their product can fulfill those needs.

    You see, YHC had also become myopic in his thinking, both about his place in F3 and subsequently, his beatdown designs. Following the St. Vincents 500 (hosted by F3 Thibodaux), I was exposed to the prowess of legends like Tanked Up, Hawgcycle, and Thibodaux Pax’s very own, Goose. With IPC 2022, in conjunction with the Jerf challenge, only to be followed by Burptober, YHC came to believe that all beatdowns should…ya know…kill you. Why else are we here?

    My dear gloom partner, I want you to know…nay, I need you to know…that I was wrong. But as only Ahtohallan knows, “when all is lost, all is found.” I embarked on a beatdown mission to find a balance between rigor, creativity, and, dare I say it, fun. That said, here we go.

    The game of soccer (or Football for the rest of the world) has its roots dating back to ancient China. However, since we cannot actually corroborate this with any real evidence, we’ll opt not to be wankers and go with the modern version, which popped up in 1860’s England (some say Germany). To distinguish the new sport from other games such as rugby, it was dubbed “Association Football.” The word “association” was abbreviated to “assoc,” with one who played the sport being an “assoccer.” As the game made its way over to the US, the term evolved into the word we know today, “soccer.” So if an obnoxious Brit ever gives you a hard time about the term “soccer,” simply inform them that you refuse to engage with a man who calls french fries, chips. And chips, crisps. I can’t. I just can’t.

    With that bit of useless trivia, we should really focus on the game itself. Though perhaps monotonous to the untrained or North Louisiana eye, the game is a chess match of fluid movement and strategy. Plays beginning from seemingly benign backfield passes, suddenly develop into offensive attacks with players moving in out of open spaces.

    The game is often called, “The Beautiful Game.” For this reason and in honor of the World Cup 2022, I offer you “The Beautiful Beatdown.”

    (First, YHC arrived early for setup and met Paradox for our typical pre-thang…wait…sorry. I’m not supposed to talk about pre-thangs. Moving on.)

    Warmarama: 11 PAX at the Peltch!!!

    The usual. YHC was losing his voice due to a constant rash of 2.0 plagues running through the castle, so I went fast. No time for mumblechatter, seriously screwing with Enron’s typical momentum. The sky was overcast and sputtering. We hailed the triumphant return of Paradiddle, a clear omen that today would be special. However, in my haste, many cadence steps were butchered. For a quick moment, Goose’s smile disappeared as if to say, “fix this or I will.” YHC got it together quickly. Mosey to the F3 soccer complex.

    Thang 1: Agility and Strength

    As this was the first part of our beatdown, we recognized the first World Cup in 1930.
    Setup: On a 30 x 10 field, one side corner several cones spaced closely for a total of 10 yards; opposite side corner the same set up. The pax split, half starting on one side and the other across the way.

    Pax began in staggered starts, side shuffling at full speed between cones for 10 yards, then 20 yard full sprint to other side; 19 burpees. Continue to opposite side cones. Repeat side shuffle and sprint going the other way then 30 merkins; Repeat side shuffle and sprint going the other way then 19 squat jumps; Repeat side shuffle and sprint going the other way then 30 Carolina Dry Docks.

    Notables: Wet Tap, recently off of IR, showed his typical prowess, barely breaking a sweat. Enron made a comment about 19 burpees being his limit, so YHC changed out 30 side straddle hops for squat jumps. I’m kidding, but Enron was on thin ice, you betta’ belee dat.

    Interlude 1: Shakira’s

    This Pax’s hips definitely lie…or at least significantly modify. Imperial walkers through the verses, Shakira’s on the refrain: low wide legged (goddess) squat with hands in praying position; remaining in squat, shimmy shoulders, while lifting alternating legs. Kinda like a squat version of the hand release merkin. Then Q’s choice intermittently with arm raised jump ups and open Pax freestyle.

    (At this point, YHC’s legs were burning from the fast pace work during the pre-thang with Paradox…Crap…sorry. I keep forgetting. First rule of pre-thangs is don’t talk about the pre-thangs.)

    Thang 2: The Goal of the Century (aka Oh Cosmic Kite)

    In the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup, Argentina went up against a strong squad from England. On that championship Argentinian team was a footballer named Diego Armando Maradona. Of all his countless successes, he is perhaps remembered most for the two goals during that match: The Hand of God and The Goal of the Century. Also on that day was another iconic moment provided by Victor Hugo Morales, the famous Argentinian journalist who was commentating for the match. Morales’ play-by-play of that goal, followed by what can only be described as fever pitched hysteria would move into history as one of the most recognized monologues of all time. The English translation is included at the end of the blast for your enjoyment.

    For this play, Maradona made a move down the right wing to receive a pass. Upon receipt, everybody assumed he was about to pass off to one of his teammates. However, two Englishmen closed in, blocking the passing lanes and getting within a few feet of the ball. What happened next became legend. Maradona switched directions and somehow threaded the needle between the two opponents, then set off to the races, juking and passing three more defenders on a 60 yard dash. With the English keeper sprinting out to cut off the angle and with two defenders hanging on his back, Maradona, at full speed, faked left a step, causing the keeper to fall, then scored. GOOOOOAAAALLLLL!

    The Thang:

    Partner up. 1st Round
    P1 dribbles soccer ball at full speed 30 yards to marker; Completes 86 LBC’s; sprints back with ball (total 60 yards)
    P2 holds flutter kicks for duration; flapjack

    2nd Round
    P1 dribbles full speed to marker; Completes 86 hand releases without merkin; sprints back
    P2 holds mission impossible plank for duration; flapjack

    3rd Round
    P1 dribbles full speed to marker; Completes 86 high knees; sprints back
    P2 holds Al Gore’s for duration; flapjack
    *screaming various soccer terms in multiple languages was encouraged

    Notables:
    – The 2.0’s, Coyote and Pope laid waste to the thang. Sonic (2.0 a la Goats), at five years old, made YHC look downright silly.
    – Lil’ Cuz continued to show his athletic versatility
    – Paradiddle quietly and efficiently dominated. I might be crazy, but I swear that guy never stopped smiling the entire beatdown. Beastmode.
    – Our north Louisiana Pax, Enron and Paradox, who claimed to know nothing about soccer, showed some seriously legit dribbling skills. In fact, Enron, YHC’s partner, got off the poop list due to his speedy rounds and minimizing my Al Gore time.

    (As Paradox and YHC reached the first half mile during our pre-thang, our pace was already at a sub 8 minute mile…AHHHHH. I can’t help it. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.)

    Thang 3: Geese and Goats and Crabs and Bears, Oh My!

    That’s right, a soccer themed beatdown would not be complete without a crab-bear soccer match. The pitch was set at roughly 20 yards by 10 yards, using portable drilling goals on either side. Pax split into teams, the P1s and P2s from the previous thang. All pax started in bear. No hands allowed and you have to stay in some sort of plank. This last rule was VERY loosely interpreted, but it only added to the chaos. When one team scored, all Pax switched to crabs, while the team that was scored on did 5 burpees.

    Goal 1 came in the second minute. Wet Tap (P2s) deflected a pass across the middle from Enron (P1s). Playing stellar defense all day, Paradox (P1s) somehow managed to clear it out of their defensive third, sending a long ball to Goose (P2s) who was waiting at the top of the key, defending our goal. In a moment of confusion, Goose lost control of the ball and in a desperate attempt to kick it out of bounds, instead launched it into his own goal. He showed the appropriate amount of remorse.
    – P1s lead 1 to nil.

    Goal 2 came in the 6th minute off of the acrobatic play of Lil Cuz (P1s). The jiu jitsu training continues to manifest itself in the most incredible ways. I refer you, Dear Reader, to the History of Baseball Part 1 Beatdown, when he duck SPRINTED nearly 20 yards to make a diving catch. Was he offsides? Did he abandon his crab walk position? We’ll never know. Instant replay was not available and Goose was not prepared to use up one of his challenge flags. All we know is that Paradiddle was stealthily serving balls from the flank all game long. The result is the same.
    – P1s 2 – P2s Goose Egg.

    Goal 3 came in the 9th minute with 20 seconds remaining on the clock. Allow me to set the stage. There had been many attempts from Goose and other P2s to get the ball down to YHC in the offensive third. However, after YHC bungled nearly every opportunity, the focus shifted to Wet Tap (P2s), Sonic, and Pope. At this time, I should mention that the primary source of frustration for YHC and the P2s was a wily, smiling, and smack talking Coyote. Coyote was easily the defensive MVP for the P1s, fearless and seemingly everywhere at once. Prior to the leadup of the play development was a Paradox induced scrum that dragged Goats and YHC into the mix. The Homer (not Houma) style is strong, stubborn, and methodical. As a result the ball was moved back to mid field and cleared out of bounds. Like Batman and the Joker, Paradox and Goats showed what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. A fifth dimension opens up. Come to think of it, I don’t remember seeing Goats at the Coffeteria. Somebody should look into that.

    THEN…a throw-in to YHC, who passed to the middle, but it was redirected to the flank. I could not see who it was in the mud and mist (perhaps, Pope), but the abstract mirage crossed the ball back into the middle yards away from the goal. The noise of the faithful began to rise, a crescendo of madness and delirious hope. Bodies swarmed to the middle like wolves as the ball soared through the air to its intended target. Suddenly a player leapt up above the pack. He was airborne and fully horizontal. Time stood still. Wet Tap finally believed Morpheus…HE was indeed the ONE. Wet Tap (P2s) ripped a massive scissor kick. Coyote’s knees buckled as he tried desperately to change course. It was too little, too late. The sound of the ball being swallowed in the back of the net cut through the hysterical tension…then a millisecond of terrifying silence just before the Pax erupted into an ear splitting frenzy of insanity. GOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!!

    – Final Score: P1s 2 – P2s 0

    Interlude 2: When Pele Met Freddie

    To the tune of Bicycle Race by Queen, Pax did 4 minutes of ab work. Q’s choice on ab exercises with Freddie Mercury’s on the refrain. Per Paradox’s feedback, YHC is still working on his Freddie Merc form.

    Mary to The Core!

    5 minutes of plank work, Q’s choice. Low plank, high plank, high side, low side, Nolan Ryan’s, Mission Impossibles, ALL WHILE doing alternating leg lifts and extended holds on leg lift in each plank position. YHC did not truly appreciate how hard this was going to be. I am proud that the Pax uttered NOT a word of mumblechatter (or audible to YHC at least).

    Mosey back to the flag, COT, and Wet Tap Armando Maradona prayed us out.

    Every opportunity to Q is another blessing. I am grateful for the trust, the humility, and of course the chatter.

    SYITHG,

    Yankee GOOOOAALLLLL

    (Paradox and YHC ran a 7:23 mile during pre-thang.)

    As promised, the commentating of Maradona’s Goal of the Century

    He’s going to pass it to Diego, there’s Maradona with it, two men on him,
    Maradona steps on the ball, there he goes
    down the right flank
    the genius of world football, he leaves the wing and he’s going to pass it to Burruchaga…
    Still Maradona! Genius! Genius! Genius!
    There, there, there, there, there, there!
    Goaaaaaaaal! Goaaaaaaal!
    I want to cry, oh holy God, long live football! What a goal! Diegoal! Maradona! It is to cry for, excuse me! Maradona, in a memorable run, in the best play of all times!
    Cosmic kite, which planet did you come
    from, to leave so many Englishmen
    behind, for the country to be a clenched
    fist crying for Argentina? Argentina 2,
    England 0!
    Diegoal, Diegoal, Diego Armando
    Maradona!
    Thank you, God, for football, for
    Maradona, for these tears, for this
    Argentina 2, England 0

  • Building the Bums – from Triple Shift

    I recently read an article about the importance of strengthening our glutes and hamstrings (BUM as they say in the U.K.) or sometimes called the posterior chain for all you Kinesiology wannabees….Bogey. Specifically, strong bum muscles contribute to better posture, prevents hip osteoarthritis, and reduces the likelihood of chronic low back pain, knee pain and hip pain. It’s not complicated, having strong bum muscles makes physical movement easier and, just to be totally honest, they are nice to look at on the opposite sex.
    https://theconversation.com/glute-force-why-big-strong-bum-muscles-matter-for-your-overall-health-190978
    So, with that in mind, I crafted a workout to focus on the bum and to remember Veterans Day by having the number 11 sprinkled throughout the workout.

    WARMUP
    There was a great deal of mumble chatter this morning with a steady drizzle and windy conditions. I gave the disclaimer and reviewed the F3 mission statement with the PAX and headed off to the Children’s Museum. Reverse Plank for the Six. To loosen things up I had the PAX focus on good squat / side lunge form. We held those positions for 5 – 10 seconds each x 5. Lots of mumble chatter and hiking up of shorts!
    Forward Arm Circles x 11. Arm Wave x 5. Reverse Arm Circles x 11. Michael Phelps x 5. Pretzel Arms x 11
    Hand release Merks (no worming allowed) x 20. – Huge crowd pleaser!

    THE THANG
    We headed across the street over to the rut filled field next to the exercise station.
    Genuflect across the field (1 kneel down followed by a lunge for each leg. Increasing to a max of 10 kneel downs and 10 lunges for each leg). Reverse Plank for the Six
    Bearpees to get back (4 hand touches on a bear crawl followed by 1 burpee. 8 hand touches on a bear crawl /2 burpees and so on until you reach 40 hand touches and 10 burpees. Reverse Plank for the Six. No mumble chatter…I guess I’m doing something right.

    THE THANG 2 – Mosey back to the Peristyle Benches for our BUM work. Reverse Plank for the Six
    Glute Bridge (Figure Four) x 11 IC
    Bulgarian Split Squat x 11 IC
    Glute Bridge (Figure Four) x 11 IC
    Bulgarian Split Squat x 11 IC
    Frog Pump x 11 IC
    Donkey Kick x 11 IC
    Monkey Humpers x 11 IC
    Alternating Supermans x 11 IC
    Frog Pump x 11 IC
    Mission Impossible for last minute

    Countoff, Namerama and COT. Welcomed FNG Hoffa and Animal from F3 Jacksonville! Prayers of gratitude that we got up today and did something hard. So blessed for the opportunity to lead and to call you my F3 NOLA brothers!

  • Gator Fest/ Roll Wave – from Tinkles

    Impromptu Q. I was surprised when I rolled up at 5:30 that the pax wasn’t moving. I made the mistake of asking who was the Q and it was crickets. Off we go.

    Palm circle for warm up.

    Mosey over to HNG for a preview of Gator Fest! The slide looks ready to roll. Rumor that F3 guys get 5 free tickets from Mens Club, look for Willie! We did some 6 to work off the fried twinkies paired with Urban South brew that is yet to come.

    Mosey over to the Tulane Alum house. Don’t think we had a greenie undergrad but perhaps a MBA grad who rolls burritos. Gate was open so we took advantage of the nice yard for ring of fire.

    Mosey to turf field for 4 corner blimps.

    Mosey to garage for Indian run to the top. Beautiful sunrise. Our city looks beautiful from a distance- good to remember sometimes.

    Mosey to Tulane quad. No beer or burgers yet, time for step ups and decline merkins.

    Hustle back to the flag!!

    COT including the return of sweaty ball of man! Accountability and connection!

  • Make it STOP! – from Goose

    YHC rolled in at 5:28 after a wild goose chase at home trying to locate Anker, who had been commandeered by a gosling at some point yesterday and left in the garage. There were already five PAX gathered at the Stage, but YHC only had eyes for one: Yankee Joe. I had assumed he was still at home on IR, weeping into his cereal, so to see him out there with his shiny sweatshirt and shiny head, YHC quickly lost sight of the other PAX and embraced him like a a prodigal son. The rest were a bit indignant, like the older brother in the parable, but the Montana-led warmup and the late arrival of Goats quickly brought plenty enough distraction.

    Montana, having had his first free hit of Q-drenaline not too long ago, was predictably jonesing for more, and last night he was trying to find a way to get another hit ASAP. YHC agreed to let him Q the warmup and Mary this morning on the condition that he practiced his intros and cadences in the mirror for at least 30 minutes last night. It helped…a little.

    After a warmup of most of the usual, a bumper mosey, and plenty of mumblechatter, which Montana plowed through with admirable fortitude, it was time to STOP and STOP hard.

    The Thang: Love for the lonely STOP sign

    YHC recently observed that the STOP sign on the far side of the parking lot may as well not even be there. No one ever goes in that direction, except for YHC on the way home from beatdowns, so no one ever looks him in the eye (or the “O”). Well, this morning would be different. It was his day.

    Phase 1:
    PAX would complete 820 reps consisting of 8 different exercises for 100 reps and 2 sets of 10 8-count body builders in honor of his 8 even sides and his 2 characteristic colors. The eight exercises would start with the four letters of his name, in two sets.

    The first set–(including a run to go high five the STOP sign between each exercise)
    -Shoulder Taps x100 (1:1)
    -Toe Taps x100 (1:1) (plank position–one hand reach through and bring opposite foot up to tap)
    -Overhead Air Presses x100
    -Plank Jacks x100
    Seal the deal with 8-count Body Builders x10

    8-count rest from Montana, then the Second Set (also including the high-five run between each exercise):
    -Side Straddle Hops x100
    -Toe Touches x100 (warmup exercise: bend over straight-legged and touch toes, then up to touch waist, then hands up high and heel raise–all in fluid motion. Dizziness was a factor after about 75.)
    -One Hundreds x100 (Lazy Boy position with hands pointed down toward legs, and flutter hands 100 times)
    -Prisoner Squats x100 (that’s right–hands behind head and do squats, 100 times in a row)
    Another round of 8-count Body Builders x10 to get us to 820 total reps.

    Phase 2:
    Songs to honor the power and dignity of the word “STOP”.

    First, “Stop Your Sobbing” by the Pretenders: flutter kick position, and hold static, but flutter every time you hear the word “Stop” (over 40 times in a 2.5 minute song)

    Second, “Stop in the Name of Love” by The Supremes: Imperial Walkers for the duration, burpees on every “Stop” and “Think it over”.

    There was supposed to be a third, but we ran out of time because YHC’s cell service decided to crap out after the first song. Thankfully, Yankee Joe came to the rescue for the second song with his foreign device, which somehow was still able to connect to well-known services such as Spotify.

    We only had enough time for a couple of minutes of Mary, which was providential since we definitely didn’t get enough of Montana’s leadership and were jonesing for more. That insane two minutes of Mary made it clear that another Montana Q is an absolutely necessity ASAP, even if that means enduring sky bunny murder makers.

    Had a blast this morning, guys (and I’m already feeling the aftermath). Thanks for pushing through, and for the light-heartedness at the beginning of the day. Loved it and needed it!

    SYITG,
    Goose

  • Another Q, Another Stupid Idea (The Reprise) – from Hawgcycle

    Conditions: Cool and a little windy. The lake was choppy

    Pax: Abacus, Cheese Steak, Cyber Cajun, Glitter Balls, YHC, Jesus Juice, JV, Kuch, Mahatma, Ralph Machio (Charlotte)

    Today’s classic Okwata beatdown was a reprisal from March 3rd, 2016. The Original workout was attended by Griswold, Tool, and YHC.

    The Thang

    Warm up COP – SSH x 30; IW x 30; DQ x 15; LSS x 30

    We then moseyed to the levee. From the top of the levee we completed a set of Quadraphiia* – four minutes of running down the levee forward and back up backwards. YHC got in 10 trips, which is better than the 8 I did in 2016.

    From there we moseyed along the top of the levee stopping to do a set of Jack Webbs – escalator from 1 to 10, merkins followed by air presses.

    After the Jack Webbs we moseyed to the bottom of the hill for some Mary: LBC x 40; Penguin x 20; Elbow Plank Jacks* x 20; Dying Cockroach x 20; Elbow Peter Parkers* x 15; Flutter Kicks x 20.

    *This may be the first time I have done Elbow Plank Jacks and Elbow PP (chuckle) since 2016. Why do we not do these more often?

    We followed Mary up with 10 hill sprints – sprint to the top of the hill and recovery jog back down, everyone stays together.

    Mosey to the water’s edge for some arm work. 20 dips followed by another bad idea by YHC – decline merkins on the steps leading into Lake Pontchartrain x 9. Kuch and I did the in the lake, everyone else chose the planters. We followed that with Incline Merkins a safe distance from the water x 10 and Squats x 20. YHC gave everyone a second chance at the Lake Merkins. Participation was 80% this time. #MakingMemories. This is where the 2016 workout ended. We are apparently much more efficient 6 years later. We still had 15 minutes left.

    Mosey to the discarded street sign with the concrete base. One man bear crawls up and down the levee as the timer. One many does rows with the street sign. The third man leads the others in an ab exercise. Rotate through until all have bear crawled and rowed.

    Mosey to the flag. One minute remaining for 11 8-count body builders.

    NMM
    • Good lesson from 2016 about doing the important things first. You don’t want to waste a bunch of time doing arm circles at the beginning of the workout and then only have 30 seconds for Quadraphilia at the end (see last week’s Q). We got a solid 4 minutes in for Quadraphilia this morning because we made it first.
    • There are two things that make me think it’s been a good workout. Someone pukes or JV drops an F-bomb. No one puked today, but JV dropped an F-bomb 9 minutes in. I could not be prouder.
    • I’ve been doing Jack Webbs for 8 years. I still don’t understand how air can be so heavy.
    • We really should do Peter Parkers from our elbows more often.
    • Guys were really pushing it on the levee sprints. We should probably do more explosive exercises where we have time to recover. This was a good one.
    • When YHC had the original bad idea of doing decline merkins on the steps to Lake Pontchartrain, the Lake was calm. Today, the sea was a little angry. It was so much better this time. I will never forget the image of 8 guys to my side doing decline merkins while the lake was washing up and over them. Top 5 Okwata memory for sure. Could easily be #1.

  • Burpeepalooza v.2 – from Goose

    The time had come…again. After the experience of Burptober with so many PAX counting their burpees and measuring their capacity to do 10 more, 20 more, 1 more, the time had come to enter into the mind blowing paradigm of the distraction dynamic. If the mind is distracted or focused intensely on something other than the question, “How much more of this can I take?”, it’s amazing how we can accomplish far more than we ever thought was possible.
    Tuesday morning, Enron, Fence Post, and YHC gathered for a small but intimate lesson on the flexible limitations of the human mind and body to the tune of nine songs, five of which were new and four of which were old burpee favorites.
    After a warmup of the usuals, YHC explained to Fence Post the reasons behind the routine so as to avoid any assumption of just pure, spiteful cruelty. Enron was already well acquainted being a card carrying member of the Burpeepalooza club. Total number of burpees would be revealed later, especially since YHC hadn’t counted them yet.
    The list was as follows, played on shuffle to maximize the unknown factor:

    “Flower” by Moby: burpees on “down”
    “Roxanne” by The Police: “Roxanne”
    “Get Back Up” by Toby Mac: “get back up again”
    “Thunderstruck by AC/DC: “thunder”
    “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr.: “Ghostbusters” (though could have included “ghost”)
    “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles: “Hand”
    “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel: “In Your Eyes”
    “Wristband” by Paul Simon: “wristband”
    “For God is With Us” by For King and Country: “God is with us”

    Total number of burpees ended up being 202 in a 35 minute timeframe. Ended with two minutes of Mary (LBC’s, Flutter kicks).
    T-claps to Fence Post for completing the burpeepalooza in only his second week, and for posting at almost every beatdown since his first. Great to have you on the journey, bro! And, gratitude for Enron’s willingness to enter into YHC’s ridiculousness so many times over the past couple of years. It’s a great honor to push our limitations together, gents.

    SYITG,
    Goose

  • It’s Not Against the Rules – from Fast Tax

    The Uptowner 11/4/2022
    After disclaimer, we headed to the field for warmups consisting of:
    Abe Vigodas
    SSH
    Hairy Rockettes
    Toy Soldiers
    Peter Parkers

    To kick things off post-warmup, and since this was Game Friday, YHC thought, “Why not give PAX a little input into today’s exercises?” Turning to Clinger, YHC presented the options, Catch-Me-If-You-Can or Red Barchetta. Poor Klinger…unaware of the mechanics of either exercise, he chose Catch-Me-If-You-Can, unwittingly exposing himself to Mahatma’s derisive questioning as to why anyone would ever pick that. For Klinger and others who are not familiar, the exercise involved:
    Separating into teams of 2, while PAX 2 ran backwards around the track, PAX 1 did 5 merkins and two burpees then sprinted to catch up, whereupon, PAX 2 did the exercises while PAX 1 ran backwards. This cycle was repeated until YHC made it all the way around the track.

    The next exercise was Go Fetch.
    YHC threw the Frisbee and all PAX sprint in that direction until the Frisbee lands. When it lands, all PAX stop and then lunge-walk until they get to the Frisbee. First PAX to the Frisbee gets to throw it. Rinse and repeat except change out lunge-walk with bear crawl, then the crab-walk, apparently not Mahatma’s favorite…then crab-walk again because someone who will remain nameless threw it only a few feet hoping to skip crabwalks and move on to something else.

    With 25 minutes left, it was Battle Frisburpee time.
    Team 1 – Boo-Boo, Fast Tax, Mahatma, Triple Shift, and Rudy
    Team 2 – Bogey (aka Whiner), Klinger, Cyber Cajun, Pool Boy, and Rudy
    [Clarifying note: Rudy switched to Team 1 with only eight minutes left.]
    Team 1 led early, suffered a Saints moment, then rallied and prevailed, with a final score of 5-4.

    Though YHC has heard many “creative” renditions of various aspects of the game, after consulting with the impartial referee, YHC determined that no rules were broken, () only Team 2’s spirits. Though there was some incidental albeit unintentional contact, it is YHC’s belief that such accidental collisions and inadvertent kicking of the Frisbee were more likely caused by the grass being slick.

    However, to be fair, Team 2 did have a disproportionate share of rookies and there was a minor rule clarification – see below.
    Rule clarifications aside, it was apparent to the referee that several PAX continue to ignore the rule on 3 burpees after your Frisbee goes out or hits the ground, etc.

    With game over, we headed to COT for name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, some whining, and prayer.
    Thanks for the fellowship! SYITG

    Rule Clarification:
    For strategic purposes, the team kicking off can elect to short throw the Frisbee, provided it lands beyond the halfway mark. If it fails to go beyond halfway, it is treated as a turnover (i.e. the opposing team throws it in from the sideline at the point it went out).

  • Less Pax Due to Tigers’ Victory over Bama – from King Kong

    I had a feeling fewer Pax would show up this morning because of the late night festivities after Tigers put a whoopin’ on Bama. I thought I saw few Pax charged out to the field and climbed on the FG post in Death Valley. Moments later, I saw pictures of some Pax at the Tchoup Yard really late in one of my chats. But few strong Pax didn’t let a football game stop them from being HIM next morning at Sweaty Bells.

    Warm Ups – Self Love, Windmills, Arm Circles, Grass Grabbers, Hill Billies, Imperial Walkers, Slow Low Squats, and SSHs.

    The Thang One – Partnered Up
    1 – While one partner was in squat position with the bell, the other partner was bear crawling about 20 yards there and back. Flap Jack.

    2 – While one partner was carrying a bell overhead, the other partner was lunge walking 20 yards there and back. Flap Jack.

    2 – While one partner was carrying a bell in a boat position, the other partner was doing burpee broad jumps there and back. Flap Jack.

    The Thang Two – Dora 1, 2, 3.
    100 – Bulgarian Split Lunges with the bell.
    200 – Curls
    300 – Flutterkicks with the bell
    While one partner was doing the exercise, the other Pax was carrying the bell to about 25 yards and back. Dealer’s Choice – Pax chooses his own exercise on the walk with the bells. I saw overhead carries, curls, overhead triceps extensions, suit case carries, etc.

    The Thang Three
    We went to the wall in front of the Zoo. We sat against the wall and did the following x 2:
    1 – over head carry – hold in squat position against the wall for 15 long seconds.
    2 – carry the bell straight out in front – hold in squat position against the wall for 10 seconds.
    3 – curls x 10 while in squat position against the wall.
    Rinse and repeat.

    The Thang Four
    1 – curls then overhead presses x 10 IC
    2 – in plank position, pulled the bell from one side to the other and did a row x 10 IC
    3 – Rows x 10 on each side
    4 – Hello Dolly with the bell x 15 IC
    5 – Flutter kicks with the bell x 15 IC
    6 – Chest Presses x 10 IC
    7 – Protractor with the bell
    8 – LBCs in slow cadence count x 15
    9 – LBTs in slow cadence count x 20

    COT – We prayed for Sphinxter (quick recovery with his shoulder). We also prayed for a safe journey at sea for Dinghy. Gabby joined us at Panola Cafe for coffeeteria. I am always grateful to have the ability and strength to lead a beatdown.

    SYITG

    King Kong