Category: New Orleans

  • Perfect Weather at Okwata

    YHC arrived a few minutes early at the AO to proudly plant our newly built shovel flags, one of which is an F3 Flag! YHC would have attached it some lame way to a shovel and called it good, but why do that when we have the masterful Tool in our ranks! T-Claps to Tool for the solid design!
    As the clock struck 0530, we had 4 Pax committed to improving themselves ready to rock! A brief Disclaimer…..and then…

    The Thang

    Mosey around the mardi gras fountain, carioca left, then knee highs, then carioca right. Circle up on the grass in front of the fountain for the warmup:

    SSH IC x 31
    Imperial Squat Walkers IC x 10
    Sun Gods IC x 20 (10 fwd, 10 bwd)
    Abe Vigodas IC x 10

    Next Up, An Okwata favorite! We’re going to mosey up to the Barre for some double shots with Jack Webb! Where are you Surge? It just doesn’t feel right without you!

    1 Merkin, 2 air presses in peoples chair
    2 merkins, 4 air presses in peoples chair
    you get the idea…
    10 merkins, 20 air presses in peoples chair

    Mosey to the HOP (House Of Pain)

    4 Pax, 4 Stations!

    Station 1 – Squats AMRAP
    Station 2 – Step Ups AMRAP
    Station 3 – Pull Ups AMRAP
    Station 4 – Run across the levee, complete 5 burpees, and run back (Timer)
    Rinse and Repeat!

    YHC needs some more running, and some conditioning….the holidays and then mardi gras have set YHC back! We have just the thing:

    Dirty Mac Deuce…..Okwata Style!

    This is a routine of 4 sets of 3 x 12 four count exercises all IC (One chest, one leg and one core) with a lap between each set. Our lap was an Indian Run up and over and back on Canal between Lakeshore Drive and Amethyst Street.

    Set One
    Merkins x 12
    Copperhead Squats x 12
    WW2 Situps x 12

    Indian Run (That sucked…)

    Set Two
    Catalina Wine Mixers x 12 (Ok, so this is a 6 count, but had to work it in)
    Lunges x 12
    Tin Snips x 12

    Indian Run (Still sucked, probably even a little worse..)

    Set Three
    Shoulder Taps x 12
    Monkey Humpers x 12
    Flutter Kicks x 12

    Indian Run (Didn’t think it could get any worse…until YHC realized we still had another one to do)

    Set Four
    Copperhead Merkins x 12
    Squats x 12
    LBC’s x 12

    Indian Run – Why can’t it be 0615 yet????? Why the heck would we do an Indian Run between sets? Who came up with this idea anyway?!? YHC didn’t think there was enough gas left in the tank, but the Pax pushed me to finish it!

    Mosey back to the Shovel Flags (that’s right, plural) for the COT

    Count Off, Name-o-rama, Announcements, Intentions, and closed with a prayer.

    NMM

    YHC had Map My Run going this morning, and each Pax did 2.4 miles that can be added to RRR. The weather was perfect at the Lakefront, not too hot, not too cold. There was a certain mugginess hanging in the foggy air, but not the summer humidity we will all come to dread soon enough.

    Thanks for posting with me this morning, and for pushing me!

  • No show Tortoise and The Hares!!

    Awoke this morning to heavy morning dew and fog lingering. Decided to get in a little pre-thang before the Scramble to make sure I keep pace with the rest of the Northshore Gazelles. Challenges seem to bring the best out of these men and the RRR has surly sparked some impressive numbers thus far. As I journeyed along with the pre-thang,  jamming to some tunes my phone begins to ring at 0455. First  thought entering the mind is it must be one of seal team 6s men calling for a location to join in on the pre Mosey. Or could it be Turtle calling to let one know he has hit the snooze button one to many times and a Fart Sack was inevitably going to be the end result.. With only part of my first 2 assumptions coming to pass, I notice it’s Backdraft calling to confirm the locale of the morning beatdown. I am inspired by the self discipline and drive you have as a young man to arise extra early knowing your  journey to the AO is 30 mins at minimum. And what’s even more inspiring is that Low Brass is along for the ride. Let’s  face it not many men or young men when presented with the option of being on a holiday week enjoying the comforts of rest would choose to arise so early and get in some work before the rooster crows and welcome it with such passion and Hare like abilities.. So, if you two would so kindly indulge this tortoise of a runner to join in, it would be much appreciated.

    Our journey begins on the standard route at a hare like pace and thoughts quickly run through my mind.. Can I keep up? Will these young men lap me? Can you push them as much as they push you? Well, the end result is the tortoise and The Hares completed the 3.2 in what seemed like a shooting star pace (at least to me) and arrived back to the AO with 20 mins to spare.. Decided to head over to the monkey bars for descending order pull-ups 12/10/8/6/4/2 with 12 Merkins and 20 TRX swing pulls bets each set of pull-ups. Closed out with some Mary. 25IC LBCs, 25IC FK and 25IC Freddy Mercuries..

    countoff, announcements, COT

    Thank you for your inspiration on this Gloom!!

    Surly would not have achieved on my own!!

     

  • King Cake Burnoff

    The carnival season was officially over come Ash Wednesday morning which meant it was time to start burning off the king cakes and beers.  The Q slot was empty and and so was the attendance at the virtual shovel flag as YHC jogged up.  Hopping we wouldn’t have a PAX of one at The Foundry, YHC waited for someone, anyone to help grind through a workout with.  Alas, at 5:31 two braves souls appeared and we quickly concocted a plan for the morning.  Here’s what went down:

    Cowbell to start things off:

    Mosey down Roosevelt Mall and veer off for COP:  SSH, Hill Billies, Peter Parkers, Imp Walkers, and one or two more??

    Mosey over to The Refinery for soem muscle building circuits:

    Round 1 – Pull Ups, Hanging Knee Ups, WWII Sit Ups x25 (timer)

    Round 2 – Dips, Burpees x10(timer), and something???

    Round 3 – Box Jumps, American Hammer, Bench Dips x30 (timer)

    Pass the mic to Tool for a mosey to the track.  Circle up for (4) 3 min rounds of an unnamed routine, I believe once referred to as “The Suck” workout:

    3 exercises (SSHx6, Squatsx6, Merkinsx6), as many rounds as possible in 3 minutes, followed by 1 minute of rest.  We cranked this out 4 times which definitely brought the sweat.

    Next up, some DJ style Mary:

    Flutter Kicks x20, Crunchy Frogs x20, LBC x20, Penguins x20.

    Back to base for a COT and call it a morning.  I’d venture to say a few slices of king cake were burned off during the workout.

    Tool

     

  • Stomp #129 – The Lone Ranger

    Mardi Gras morning 2018 proved to be a day when few were up for a early morning reveille and making a 5:30am post.  The scheduled Q had to bail the night before, rumor had it so he could make a Zumba class with his M, or something.  Several other Stomp regulars dropped like flies via text the night before, all without worthy excuses.  Many of the PAX planned on making the REX run later that morning but YHC could only squeeze in an early run.  So alas, there was a PAX of one at the virtual flag on Roosevelt Mall at 5:30 am, where I gave a silent disclaimer and departed on the normal route.  YHC enjoyed a serene run out along the bayou, down Jeff Davis, and back.  I timed it to be back at the flag for 6:15 in the event of any stragglers who might have posted late but no dice.  Kept on going with a jog home and a silent COT along the way, totaling 5+ miles.  A few hours later some pics surfaced of the many PAX who posted in Audubon for the run with the King of Carnival.  Good to see fartsacking was not dominant that morning.  Great way to start Fat Tuesday.

    Tool

  • Endymion Mambo #3

    Despite a likely chance of rain in the forecast, 14 PAX made their way to The Mothership for the annual Endymion Mambo workout.  Skies were clear which allowed YHC to stick to the weinke and not resort to plan B.  The usual pleasantries exchanged, including a shout out to Fracsac for procuring a new shovel flag w/the official F3 flag…now we’re legit!  Here’s what we did:

    Carpi lap around The Great Lawn then mosey to The Peristyle for some Mardi Gras music and festive warmup with a theme to be figured out as we go:

    • Copperhead Squats x20
    • Arm Circle x20
    • Rosalitas x20
    • Nolan Ryans x10R x10L
    • Imperial Walkers x20
    • V-ups x20
    • Abe Vigodas x10
    • Low Country Crab x20
    • Tempo Merkins x15
    • Imperial Squat Walkers x15 (at this point JV and Yankee had the “Carnival Time” theme figured out)
    • Mountain Climbers x20
    • Elbow Plank x1min while jamming to Carnival Time

    Mosey towards City Park Ave. with a pit stop for a 40yd bear crawl.  From there, we embarked on a 1/2 mile run along the Orleans Ave parade route past Carrollton Ave, then plank on the neutral ground and wait for the six.  Here we circled up for a COP with some Mardi Gras favorites playing the whole time.

    • Tempo Merkin x20
    • American Hammer x20
    • Peter Parker x20
    • LBT x20
    • Tempo Merkin x15

    Time to head back down Orleans Ave and reconvene near City Park Ave where we started the run.  This stretch is always festive and typically involves a bunch on onlookers wondering why the hell we are out doing what we do.  T-claps to those who pushed hard at the front of the PAX.  Double T-claps to Garbrielle for sweeping the six.  From there, a short mosey over to the float staging area near Marconi Ave.  Here’s what went down there:

    Crowd Pleaser Ladder – starting with (1) Groiner and (1) Merkin at the first float, then run to second for 2:2, then third float 3:3, ….up to seventh float for 7:7.  Here we crossed paths with a another run group (Move Ya Brass?) out there starting the day off right too.

    Mosey over to the light pole for:  Lunge Walk to first pole, 5 Burpees, Lunge to second, 5 Burpees, Lunge to third, 5 Burpees, plank and wait.

    The home stretch included a mosey OYO to the Peristyle benches where we enjoyed the following:

    • Dips x15
    • RL Step Ups x20
    • LL Step Ups x20
    • Dips x20

    Then circling up under the Peristyle to bring it home:

    • Penguins x20
    • Wife Pleasers x20
    • Mardi Gras Mambo Plank-jack-a-thon (hold high plank for entire Mardi Gras Mambo song, with plank jack for every “Mambo” and merkin for every “down in New Orleans”).  This lasted 2:12 and was a doosey…in the past we did this early in the workout and it was a bit more palatable.
    • Hip Flexers x30sec ea side to help stretch it out.

    Capped off the morning with a COT.  The running, cadence counts, and planks had YHC was a bit woosey by this point so don’t recall much of the details other than praying for a safe Mardi Gras season and some special intentions.  A few PAX stuck around for more F2 at the usual coffee depot.

    Thanks to those who posted despite the threat of rainy weather.  Also, t-claps to those who still posted after late night parade festivities hours earlier.  Also, for those tracking RRR mileage, one report was that we covered 2.6 miles and another had it at 3.5.  I’m leaning more to the 2.6.

    Always great to lead.  Happy Mardi Gras to all!

    Tool

     

     

     

     

  • Lundi Gras Lap

    16 PAX for a Lundi Gras stroll uptown at the Skinny.  It’s Monday so you know that means a lap.  A guaranteed 1.7 miles.

    Thought I might be alone on Lundi Gras but we had another huge PAX.

    Bartman was the Q but got the text looking for backup since he was out of town.  I was in coverage mode.

    First –  we started our loop and pulled over for a quick circle.  SSH x 20,  Imp Walker squats x 20, Morning glory x 20, and Mtn Climbers x 20

    Prisoner Mosey to the Rows.

    Rows x 20 that was the count.   Then we did Plank Jack Station, Squat station and a LBC station.

    Mosey by sprint a running man and jog a running man to the bridge on the left.

    Here we circled for Jack Webb to 10.

    Then we sprinted a long run to the fountain. Incline Merks to wait.

    Dips x 20

    Then group 1 Bear Crawl around the fountain  Group 2 step ups

    Flip flop

    Indian Run to the Pull ups – Made the faster guys circle back for us.

    Then we got the bar for Pull ups x 10

    The rest of the gang did Plank Jacks, Plack walks and squats.

    Finally we ran the golf cart path to the FLAG.

    I got admonished for arriving 2 min late – my apologies men.

    Thanks for getting my toxic body out of bed – you rule!

     

  • Shoulder Down-Pain-ment

    Nobody signed up to Q Rock City for this lovely winter morning, so I gladly took it.

    DISCLAIMER and let’s mosey….on the track opposite of the normal direction, at Mahatma-Ice’s request, to the gym set for our warm-up:

    -SSH x 30 IC

    -IW x 30 IC

    -Mt Climbers x 30 IC

    -Propellers (fka arm circles) x 30 IC (15 ea dir)

    -J-Lo’s x 20 IC

    Let’s continue the mosey around the track to the rock pile, grab a friend (a rock, boulder, etc..) and circle up. With your rock:

    -Shoulder Press x 20 IC

    -Curls x 20 IC

    -Squats x 20 IC

    -Chest Press x 20 IC

    -Squat Press x 15 IC

    -Curls x 15 IC

    -Chest Press x 15 IC

    -Imperial Squat Walker Press x 10 On Your Own (we tried the cadence and didn’t quite get it… ; -)

    -Curls x 10 IC

    -Chest Press x 10 IC

    As a reward for outstanding work, let’s take a break…on the fence for some People’s Chair with your rock:

    -seated shoulder press x 10 IC

    -quick break

    -seated curls x 10 IC

    Take your friend home and let’s get some Mary:

    -LBC x 20 IC

    -Flutter-kicks x 20 IC

    -Hello-Dolly’s x 20 IC

    -Penguins x 20 IC

    -3-minute plank, rotisserie style (normal, left are up, right arm up, low plank)

    Mosey back to the VSF where we met back up with Rudy who just got 6 miles in.

    Countoff, namerama, announcements, shoutouts, prayer.

    As always, it was truly a pleasure to lead!

  • Modified Monday Marsh

    The Q decided to rise a little earlier to get some miles in by running to the AO. As I arrived to an empty court I could only wonder if this would be a beatdown of loneliness or if more brothers would be arriving. 0505 and no one in sight so the lone Q decided to modify a little beatdown. Let’s get to it..

    25 pull-ups

    15 staggered right, 15 staggered left, 30 regular Merkins R/R

    50 LBCs, 50 FK, 50 Hello Dollies

    Then the sighting of 2 F3 brothers getting in some road work.. Steve and EiEi journey past the AO. Later the Q is informed of how one hit 10 miles and the other hit 16 miles… Great job men!!

     

     

  • Solid!

    It was a beautiful morning for a SOLID workout.  DISCLAIMER, let’s mosey.  On the way to the Foundry we found some grass next to a pond to warmup:

    -SSH x 30 IC

    -IW x 30 IC

    -Mt Climbers x 30 IC

    -Arm Circles x 30 IC (15 ea dir)

    -J-Lo’s x 20 IC

    Let’s head to the Foundry for three rounds:

    -WWII Sit-ups x 15 (the Timer)

    -Pull-ups

    -Dips

    -Rows

    Let’s mosey to the track for 1000m of Hades:

    -sprint 400m, walk 100m

    -sprint 200m, walk 100m

    -sprint 100m, walk 100m

    Back to the SF for some Mary:

    -LBC x 20 IC

    -Flutter-kicks x 20 IC

    -Hello Dolly’s x 20 IC

    -Penguins x 20 IC

    -Real Freddie Mercury’s x 20 IC

    -Wife Pleasers x 20 IC (I could swear I felt Rudy looking…)

    Countoff, Namerama, Announcements, Shoutouts, and a Prayer!

    It was a pleasure to lead my brothers!

  • 610 Stomp and Crawl

    YHC arrived at City Park to find 2 strangers in the gloom – My Pleasure (from Raleigh) and an FNG he brought with him.  Coming from Raleigh to bring an FNG to the stomp – NICE WORK!

    Today’s workout: 30 minute out-and-back along the bayou, meet at the track for some extra work.

    Smooth and Cowbell set the pace, and we managed to knock out 3.5 miles in 7:45 pace.  Thanks for pushing me guys.

    Back at the track, we circled up for:

    • SSH x25
    • Bear Crawl out (30-40 yards), Crab Walk back
    • Peter Parker x25
    • Walk Crab out, Crawl Bear back
    • IW x25
    • Sprint out, 20 Derkins, Sprint Back
    • Floyd Mayweather x25
    • Frog Jump out, Squat x20, Sprint Back

    Mosey back to the flag for some final Mary

    • Flutter Kick x25
    • Dolly x25

    Circle Up to introduce our FNG to the 2nd and 3rd Fs.  Named “Minnesota”, as he reported that as the original home of his wife before remembering that it wasn’t Minnesota, it was Kentucky.  Two states that sound like, look like, and are right next to each other.  Sorta.  Or not.  His “Minnesota Missus”….

    Gentlemen, thank you for the opportunity to lead!