F3 New Orleans

Category: New Orleans

  • You guys are sick

    Pre-Thang:   Cold (40 degrees) and Clear on this Saturday AM.  Pax slow to arrive but we end up with 8 for a pretty strong Saturday krewe.  After a night of Mardi Gras parades uptown my head was a little heavier than normal.  A special bonus today is that I got to bring my 64 yr old father to play in City Park for an hour….and I was the Q!

    The Thang:  Run across the Great Lawn for a COP.

    SSH, a cold and wet LBC set, Sumo Squats and Skater Pylos x 25

    Then we moseyed across the Great Lawn for a set of Tabata.  That is 20 secs workout and 10 sec recover.

    We did 4 sets of Mountain Climbers, Merkins, Lunges, Jump Squats, and LBCs (20 secs as hard as you can go) then recover 10 secs.

    Mosey to the Stairs in front of the New Orleans Museum of Art

    Round the Clock merks.  12 oclock inclined Merks x 10, 3 o clock regular merks x 10, 6 oclock feet on the step and declined merks x 10 and recover

    Then run to the Top of the Steps 5 Side to Side Burpees, Down the steps for 20 plank jacks 5 times for a total of 100 plank jacks and 25 side to side burpees.

    Mosey to Pull  UP station next to Christian Brothers School – partner work, 20 secs working.  1 partner does a pull up exercise the other partner does an LBC set.  Then we would rotate.

    Station 1:  Pullups, #2 Row ups, #3 Dips, #4 Reverse your hands for a pull up using bicep

    Repeat this rotation twice!

    Mosey back to the stairs in front of NOMA.  20 Jackknife leg lifts x 20, 10 Russian Twists

    We repeated this set twice with Jackknifes at the top of the stairs and RTs at the bottom.

    Run back to the flag for a 2 min Plank O Rama.  We did donkey kicks, peter parkers and a few other treats while we were in the plank position.

    Tclaps to 64 yr old Yankee Doodle Daddy for slugging through a tough work out with his son and waking up early on his vacation

    Tclaps to Mr Awesome for pushing us harder.  (especially Maverick today during the Pull Up station)

    Tclaps to Channel Mullet for his Kotter!  and to Hawg for EH’ing him

    Tclaps to Bad Moon for a rare Saturday attendance and to Roots for EH’ing him

    #mumblechatter

    What is RYs problem today?  Did we do something wrong?

    The overly happy Yeah! from  Mr Awesome when I said we were doing Tabata

    Hawg really likes his dinner at the new restaurant Milkfish.  Not Milf-fish

    Lots of whining on the steps today and at pull ups

    At some point someone in the PAX says that you guys are sick!

    Annoucements:

    Monday with Hawg (or Rev as a sub) at Pontiff

    Wed with Reveille at Audubon Pull Ups

    Friday with Roots at Audubon/St Charles

    Saturday with Mr Awesome at City Park

    Monday with Hawg (lundi gras) at Pontiff

    Wednesday with ?  (day after Mardi Gras)

    EH during Mardi Gras

    Run the Fallen 5K it will be in place of our regular workout!

    See you soon-

    Reluctant Yankee

  • Abstairs

    Pre Thang:  Thought we might have more since so many slept in on Wednesday, but eight is enough…

     

    The Thang:  Mosey to DC Quad for warmup at benches.  SSH x 30, Incline Merkins x 20, Step Ups x 15, Dips x 20, Imperial Walkers x 25, Derkins x 12, Step Ups x 15, Low Slow Dips x 15 all in cadence.

    Mosey to Little Wolf and run all the way up.  Backwards on the inclines. Partner up at the top and during the 20 count, YHC wrote out the exercises on a column. LBC, Dolly,LBT,High Dolly, Russian Twist, Flutter Kick, LBC, Freddie.  While one partner ran down the stairs and back up, the other exercised, then switched upon the partners return, changing exercises after each round and planking up at the end.

    Quick mosey back to the shovel flag with a stop at wolfpack mtn. for a bout with #suddenchange.

    COT w/ shoutout by Rev.

    Good Times!

    Roots

  • 2015 Blue Ridge Relay

    It’s time to hard commit to the Blue Ridge Relay, September 11-12, 2015 (Friday – Saturday)

    This event is capped at 160 teams.  Last year, it was completely sold out by late May, this year, they expect all slots to be filled as early as April.  If you plan on joining one of the best CSAUP events on the calendar, DO NOT DELAY!

    We EXPECT to build on F3’s growth and continued interest in this event, which is a near-perfect combination of First F, Second F and CSAUP:  A brief history of F3 at BRR

    2011: Two official F3 teams (18 pax)

    2012: Five official F3 teams (48 pax)

    2013: Fifteen teams including over 170 pax

    2014: 31 Teams!

    2015  ???

    The Basics:

    208-mile relay race along the Blue Ridge mountains, beginning in Grayson Highlands State Park in southwestern VA and ending in downtown Asheville, NC.

    Race starts on a Friday morning (starting times are staggered and vary from 7am-11am) and ends on Saturday afternoon (our past teams have finished in around 26-30 hours).

    Race is split into 36 predetermined legs of varying distances (2 to 10 miles) and difficulty levels (Easy to Mountain Goat Hard).

    Teams can be a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 12 people (I think most people will tell you that the 9-man team is the way to go).

    For a 12-person team, the average total distance is 16.6 miles spread over 3 legs (it’s like running three 10Ks in a day). You can do the math for the average mileage for the other teams sizes. Average is just average though – some legs are longer and some are shorter.

    Teams travel along the race course in vans, picking up and dropping off runners at the beginning and end of each leg. You get to know, and smell, your van-mates very well.

    Veterans will tell you that the BRR is a great experience. You can expect a reasonable but very manageable physical challenge and fantastic fellowship.

    What You Need to Do Right Now

    If you are generally interested in the event and want to be paired up with a team with others from your F3 Region, please complete the form below, and we will make introductions to teams looking for pax.

     https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1h97zN45pEErJO8NFy03fy_w0foKn92AfkVEm0rGXCrE/viewform

    Regional Q’s are listed below – please contact them directly with questions about teams in your region. (q’s-email me with changes and I will update)  These Regional Q’s will assist with team formation, transportation logistics, and other important details.  If you have a team, but need help filling out the roster, contact these fine folks.

    Raleigh  Flatline  kevin.powell.jr@gmail.com

    Columbia             Chaser            pjr@swblaw.com    (will be changing)

    CLT – Metro        Fa So La         matt@doerreconstruction.com

    CLT – The Fort    DD

    CLT – A51            Turkey Leg       smastbrook@metlife.com

    CLT – NoCo         Kumquat          dudley-matthew@aramark.com

    Lexington

    Winston               TBD

    Charleston          TBD

    Nashville ?

    Richmond?

    New Orleans?

    Anyone looking for Free Agents, please look at this form.  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IvBynHhBOacAVh2IMhNmOIyRe3CHXW5oZ5bloSscXw4/edit?usp=sharing

    If you already have formed a team and want to enter as a team now, please do the following:

    Sound off the in comments below with your team name and pax to let the world know you are HC’ed

    Team captain email the F3 regional captain above to make sure they have your contact info for future announcements

    Each team captain will be responsible for registering their team directly with BRR (rosters don’t have to be finalized when you register the team). You aren’t registered for the race until you register directly with BRR.

    Only one person needs to register from each team.  Team captain should register directly with BRR at this link.  http://www.blueridgerelay.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22&Itemid=29

    There is no special F3 discount and BRR is not holding spots for us.  The race typically fills up by May, though it’s been closing earlier and earlier each year. Don’t wait around on this one.

    Team captains will be responsible for collecting money directly from their team members

    All team names should be submitted to BRR in the following format “F3 ……………” (i.e. F3 Lean, F3 Paperboy, etc)

    You don’t need to submit a roster to BRR today (and I suggest you hold off on doing so in case there are changes) – the final roster does not need to be finalized until the summer.

    The form will ask you for an average 10k time. This is what they use to seed the start time waves. The faster the time you submit, the later you start.

    FAQ

    Can I do this?

    Anyone who posts to regular F3 workouts and can run a 10K can definitely be comfortable on a 12 man team. A 9 man team is a bit more of a challenge, but you can do it. Last year, South Beach did a 4 man team….any challengers for this year.

    What’s the optimal team size — 6, 9, or 12?

    9-man team the best. 6-man team is a lot (and I mean a lot) of running without a lot of rest. 12-man team has really long breaks in between your runs (~ 8 hours) and you stay in the same van of guys for both days – but it is still a fantastic experience. 9-man team is the best of both worlds – yes the mileage is longer than a 12-man team, but you are running every 6 hours, and you switch vans several times during the race, thereby getting fellowship with multiple F3 pax.

     

    I’m interested, but don’t have a team and want to get placed on one.

    Perfect. Just register using the Free Agent Form above, and we’ll find you a team.

     

    Can I invite non-F3 pax to do this race?

    Absolutely. Just have them register below.

     

    Will I sleep at all?

    You may get an hour or two here or there in the exchange zones, but if you really want to sleep just don’t draw the short straw to be the driver home from Asheville on Saturday afternoon.

     

    How do I train for this?

    We’ll worry about that later. But suffice it to say that doing several runs a day (morning, lunch, and/or evening) is good training in the months leading up to the race.

     

    What does it mean when it says some of the legs are rated as “Mountain Goat hard”?

    Baaaaaah. You’ll find out when you see it. Think steep, never-ending switchbacks.

     

    How much does it cost?

    Race registration $1,200 (team of 7 – 12) and $600 (team of 4-6 runners). In addition, plan on roughly $150 per person to cover costs of van, gas, food, drinks, etc.

     

    But I’m already doing (fill in the blank) marathon/half-marathon this fall, so I don’t think I can do this too…….”

    Well, then, you have no excuse, BRR is a perfect training opportunity.

     

    Other questions – email Freeloader / Steve Redmond at F3BRRINFO@gmail.com

    Don’t delay–you will regret not doing this.

  • Flashdancin’ in the Rain

    T’was a cold wet Wednesday morning – 46 degrees. YHC almost didn’t make it out of bed in time; I snoozed until 5:09 when I realized I should probably get a move on. YHC pull up to the Bird Cage at 5:28 to find Yankee in shorts planting the #shovelflag in the soppy mud. CHAKA (he asked to have his name put in all caps for this bb) was chillin’ in his car until YHC walk up to the flag. Hawg shortly follows to make it 4 ballsy men ready to endure some Blue Dog pain in the miserable gloomy weather.

    The Thang

    • Mosey to the southeast corner of the park near the houses for a warm up – Incorporate butt kicks, high skips, karaoke, and high knees as we mosey.
    • Warm-up COP:
      • SSH x 30 IC, Imperial Walkers x 20 IC, Russian Imperial Walkers (keep legs straight) x 20 IC, Plank for 20 secs, stay planked, Mountain Climbers x 20 IC, stay planked, Merkin’s x 10 IC, stay planked,  Plank Jax x 20…. Recover (We’re drenched at this point, there is no going back)
    • Mosey back towards the flag and circle up at the suicide lamps across from the bandstand (on the way YHC asks “what does the P stand for in BLIMPS?”; CHAKA asks “why do you want to know that?”.
      • Stretching, so not to pull anything
        • feet together touch toes for 10 secs, spread feet and stretch middle, left and right.
      • Annnnnnnd BLIMPS!!: 5 Burpees, 10 Lunges ea leg, 15 Imperial Walkers, 20 Merkins, 25 Plank Jacks, and 30 squats
        • Line-up at first pole nearest the track for 11s
          • for this set of 11s we used the first three poles nearest to the track. On go – sprint to the third pole do 10 merkins, back to first pole for 1 squat, then to second pole for 9 merkins, then back to first for 2 squats, back to third for 8 merkins and … well you get the picture! – Plank Up and wait for 6 when finished.
    • Mosey over to the fly,
      • SUDDEN CHANGE!!!!
        • 10 Muddy Burpees near a tree on the east side of magazine
    • Continue to the Fly, up and over the hill.
      • Park in the grass near the river
      • COP:
        • jack webs begin with 1 and end with 10 oyo (wet gloves added some weight to the air shoulder presses.)
        • a couple minutes of mary: inward circles (similar to dolly, but creating circular motion) x 10, outward circles x 10 (we need a name for these), flutter kicks x 20
    • Running out of time at this point; Kick it back to the flag with a brisk jog.
    • Turns out we have two minutes to spare when we park at the flag.
      • 2 minute plankorama
        • elbow planks with a 25 count down from Hawg
        • finish up with wife pleasers until Yank calls time

    Moleskin

    Great workout today! I was surprised by how much fun I had during this workout. I thought I would be absolutely miserable in the cold rain this morning. Those of you who were absent, you missed a fun wet workout. When’s the last time you felt the need to jump in puddles? I feel as though even though it was quite chilly; with the amount of energy we exerted we were able to stay fairly warm; possibly just as warm as the fart sack we crawled out of this morning. I really enjoyed this Q today boys!

    #TClaps to Yankee, Hawg, and CHAKA KHAN! for embracing the nasty weather and posting for a great workout.
    #TClaps to the crew for logging in 2.3 miles on this cold rainy morning

    Announcements

    • Friday – 5:30 @ Wolfpack Mountain with Roots
    • Saturday – 7:00 @ City Park with Yankee (who is planning on EHing his father)
    • Monday – 5:30 @ Rock City, Rock Rock City with Hawgcycle

    Continue to try to EH some men during this Carnival Season!!!

    -BD

  • Super Pain

    Watching the NFL Post season has been painful for us here in New Orleans.  YHC hoped to use the big game to create some useful pain.  The #downpainment was going to be inspired by the winner of the Super Bowl and YHC was planning a 12th man inspired Dirty McDeuce when an inexplicable play call created a sudden change.  The newly installed Patriot theme called for lots of Merkins and a Hero WOD stolen from Cross-fit.

    It was good to see 5 strong on a blustery Metairie morning.  It was also fitting to have our resident Patriot fan in attendance.  It was time for another Patriot #beatdown.  To honor the winning score the Pax had to do 28 Merkins every time YHC called Super Bowl.

    The Thang

    • Mosey to the Rock Pile for Warm-up
    • Warm-up COP: SSH x 30; Good Mornings x 16; Imperial Walkers x 30;
    • Select your rock
    • Mosey with your rock back toward the flag – along the way called Superbowl – 28 Merkins
    • Fence Chunkers – 20 reps = Patriots completions in first half
    • Mosey to the Soccer Field sideline – a little lagniappe for YHC and Chaka as we grabbed an extra bench and carried it roughly 20 yards #EveryYardCounts #JustAskPeteCarrol
    • Modified Carse (X-Fit Hero WOD) – going with the Patriot theme here: Start each round with a 50 yard Bear Crawl.
      • Super Bowl Called before the first Bear Crawl – 28 Merkins. #MumbleChatter:  I thought Seattle had a better defense, why did they allow 28 points?
      • Round 1: Squat Press Rock x 28; Bunny Hops IC x 28; Dead Lift Rock x 28; Box (Litrally a Bench) Jumps x 28
      • Round 2: Same thing, but 24 reps
      • Super Bowl Called – 28 Merkins
      • Round 3: Same thing, but 20 reps
      • One final bear crawl for good measure
    • Back to the flag with rock in tow.
    • More Fence Chunkers. Time only allowed for 8 reps.  Not sure what that represents….possibly the number of Seahawks that punched Gronkowski at the end of the game.
    • Return Rocks
    • Horse to stable back to the flag.

    Moleskin

    Great workout today.  I thought Rev was crazy for going with the short sleeves until 15 minutes in when I had to shed my overshirt.  There were definitely some good size rocks out there today (no matter how I try to word that, it just doesn’t sound right).  The Bunny Hops were much harder than YHC thought they would be.  Probably could have gone without trying to do them in cadence.  The intention was to do them over the rock, but that needed some modification by most.

    Shout-Out

    YHC led the shout out – Prayed for a specific request and gave praise for Root’s new job, even though it meant he couldn’t be with us.

     Announcements

    • Wednesday – 5:30 @ The Birdcage (#BlueDogBeatdown)
    • Friday – 5:30 @ Wolfpack Mountain (#RunninRoots)
    • Saturday – 7:00 @ CP (#ManUpAndQ)

    -Hawgcycle

     

  • Ninja Rolls – I meant to do that

    Pre-Thang:  Beautiful weather (Clear and 50 degrees) and a small PAX.  4 Men trying to #getbetter.

    Thang:  Started at 7 and went for a 1/2 mile mosey to start things off

    On the way through the breeze way – YHC tripped on a sprinker and did a face plant with an added Ninja Roll.  Smarta@$ Hawg requested clarification to see if they all needed to do the shoulder roll.  What a punk.

    First COP by Tad Gormley.  SSH x 20, Mountain Climbers x 25, Low Slow Squats x 25, Merkins x 20.

    Then we moseyed to the Christian Bros football field for some Burpee Suicides.

    Run to the 50 5 burpees, Back to Goaline 5 burpees, 40 for 5 burpees, etc.  for a total of 50 burpees.  Chardonnay’s visit to the site where he earned his F3 name on Wednesday made me think of the first time I wanted to splash some merlot.  That was OBT’s exercise that almost got me.

    Tclaps to Hawgcycle who is quickly becoming a burpee champion.  The rest of the PAX tried but Hawg easily lapped us

    After burpees a quick mosey to the bleachers for rowing pulls x 10.

    Then another 1/2 mile mosey towards the Red Hot Chili Pepper.  We stopped for a COP mid-way.

    Peter Parkers x 25, LBC x 25, Donkey Kick planks x 25 ic, Penguins x 25

    *some ragged counting by YHC

    Mosey to the RHCP / Under the Bridge #nolasmostromanticspot

    Chong Li and Gandalf brought this to us back during the training Saturdays in October.  It hurts.

    I should have done more but we were short on time and I messed up the counting enough that I just wanted to get out of #nolasmostromanticspot

    X20 Step ups left leg, dips, inclined merks, step ups right leg

    x 10 Step up left, dips, inclined merks, step ups right

    Run back to track at Roosevelt Mall

    At the track a quick COP, Hawg ditched us at this point.  LIFO.

    Parkers Peters x 20, LBC Twist x 20, Arm Raise Planks x 25 (these hurt way more than I thought), finished this COP with Dying Cockroach x 20.   Roots noticed these hurt more than usual today.

    More ragged counting — I was out of it the AM.  However I can feel the burn now so it worked.

    Finally – we went for the 1000m from Hades – a gift/ripple from Mr Awesome.

    Run full speed x 400m, walk 200m, Run full speed 200m , walk 100 m, Run full speed 100 m.

    Tclaps to Zombie for killing it in the 400 and 200 sprints.

    Tclaps to Roots for killing it in the 100 – and would have won if not for a helpful Jesuit track team.

    Mosey 1/2 mile back to Flag.  Total mosey was just over 3 miles.

    SHOUT OUT – Reluctant Yankee.  Reminded us to be grateful and appreciate our blessing.

    Always a pleasure to Q.  As I write at 441PM my core is tender from the workout – so thats a good thing.

    Please sign up to run the 5K for the Fallen, via Tulane’s ROTC- we will run on Feb 21st as a group for a CSAUP.  It’s a great cause and we should be involved with this!

    Also Roots and I plan to run the Shamrock Run. – Its an 8K and just for fun.  Drinking is involved.

    Mardi Gras is the perfect time for a NOLA EH.  EH the guy standing next to you during a parade gap.

    If you haven’t been out to join us in awhile – make an effort this week.  Burn those Mardi Gras beer cals in a preemptive strike.

    Schedule this week:

    Mon – 530AM – Hawgcycle at RockCity/Pontiff

    Wed – 530 AM Blue Dog at Birdcage/Audubon

    Fri – 530AM Roots at Wolfpack Mtn/Audubon StCharles

    Sat – 7 AM ?? at City Park

    See you soon!

     

  • Merkins…

    Pre-Thang:  Breezy and 57 in the gloom.  Great to be back in action after marathon recovery to go do a bunch of #merkins with 8 other PAX.

    The Thang:  Mosey over to LU front lawn for warmup.  SSH x 30 in cadence followed by BLIMPS or Burpees x 5, Lunges x 10(each leg), Imperial Walkers x 15, Merkins x 20, Plank Jacks x 25, Squats x 30.

    Mosey to #wolfpackmountain.  Run all the way up, but stop at each end for 10 Merkins.  According to Hawg and RY we did approximately 120-150 on the way up.  I’ll count next time. Plank up at the top.

    Six Minutes of Mary(more like eight)  LBC x20, Dolly x 20, LBT x 20, Flutter x 20, Russian Twist x 15, High Dolly x 20, “Real” Freddie Mercury x 20, Plank Walks x 10 all in cadence.

    Mosey down and over to DC Quad benches. Dips(freak nasty) x 20, Step ups x 10(each leg), Low Slow Dips x 10 all in cadence. *We  did experience a quick bout with #suddenchange(10 burpees) on the way down.

    Mosey to #shovelflag area for Plank-o-Rama: Regular,Elbows,  Southern Gent, NA, Regular, Elbows.

    COT w/ shoutout by YHC

    TClaps to the PAX for hanging tough today.  No complaints and lots of Merkins, plus a 1.75 mile run and a 3+ minute plank session to finish it off.

    Announcements:

    Saturday @ 07:00 Storyland w/ Reluctant Yankee

    Monday @ 05:30 Rock City w/ Hawgcycle

    Wednesday @ 05:30 Birdcage w/ Blue Dog

    Friday @ 05:30 Wolfpack Mtn. w/ Roots

    February 21 @ 09:00 Birdcage: Tulane NROTC Fallen 5k.   We are signing up as a group and running instead of having  the Storyland boot camp.

    Sign up here http://www.signmeup.com/KC2VXH7

    Good Times!

    Roots

  • Chard, the Usurper!

    6 brave souls rose in the dewy gloom to meet at the #shovelflag in the Birdcage of Audubon Park for the debut of Chard’s (YHC) Q. It was bound to be a good one.
    The Thang:
    Mosey along the paved path from the flag toward the lighted house in the southwest corner of the park.
    Bear crawls from one white bike path marker on the path to the next.
    Butt kicks for the next stretch between markers
    Karaoke right for the next length
    Karaoke left for the last length
    Continue to mosey until we reach the Southwest corner for a circle of warmup.
    COP
    SSH x 32
    Mountain Climbers x 22
    ‘Merkin x 21 (YHC asks: “what do we call pushups?”. Everyone gives YHC the business for not remembering ‘”Merkin”. YHC has no excuses)
    Mosey across magazine to the field with the soccer goal post (sans net). Line up by the goal post facing toward magazine, notice the five illuminated oak trees on the right.
    Burpee Broad Jump OYO – across the field to the last illuminated oak tree. (this turned out to be more difficult, and more wet, than anticipated)
    Mosey over to the John James Audubon statue near the zoo for a circle of pain.
    Step-Ups x 20
    Dips x 16
    Inclined ‘Merkins x 16
    Declined ‘Merkins x 9 (Hold for 10 seconds at the end)
    Regroup and mosey to the levee for six minutes with Mary
    LBCs x 32
    Low Dolly x 21
    High Dolly (Rosalita) x 16
    Wife Pleasers x 20
    WW2 Pushups x 10
    Russian Twists x 16
    Mosey further down the levee to where magazine turns into River Road for a little F3 History: this is the spot where YHC earned the name Chard, splashing merlot on his FNG workout.
    (Trivia: Many believe that YHC was hungover on this day. Not the case, just a victim of the pain and a significant lack of F3).
    COP
    SSH x 16
    Low Slow Squats x 16
    ‘Merkins x 10 (hold for a few seconds)
    *YHC tries to hand off the Q over to Blue Dog. The PAX refuse to let YHC give up the rest of his VQ. Onward with the pain!!
    Indian Run south down the paved path toward the zoo parking lot, introduce Sudden Change (10 Burpees that could happen at any time, and are likely to happen when you least want them to happen).
    Indian Run to the field in front of the zoo.
    Sudden Change.
    Mosey back to the field near the flag for some Modified Sprints
    Modified Sprints x 4 – lay on your belly in a line, when YHC says “GO!” sprint as fast as possible for about 20 yards.
    Sudden Change
    Mosey back to the flag.
    Plank-o-Rama
    Plank – slow 20 count from Yankee
    Southern Gentleman  – 10 count from Rev
    Northern Aggressor – 10 count from Blue Dog
    COT – Chard gives a shout out, Rev leads the prayer.
    Moleskin:
    “Of course we look creepy, we’re staring at her by the pull-up bars!”
    “Wait! Which tree are we going to?!?”
    “Bluedog, you’ve been usurped!”
    “I’ll tell you who it was, it was that damned Sasquatch!”
    TClaps to the PAX for covering 2.1 miles – not bad for a January Wednesday morning.
    TClaps to Chard for finishing out the entirety of his VQ.
    TClaps to Rev for an awesome prayer to finish us out.
    Announcements:
    WolfPack Mountain Friday @ 5:30a on the Magazine side of the park – Roots as Q (Will we see the sunrise?)
    Storyland Saturday @7:00a with ? RY maybe?? as Q
    Rock City (Pontiff) Monday @ 05:30a with Hawgcycle as Q
    Birdcage Wednesday @05:30a with Blue Dog as Q
    Note about Carnival season:
    It’s Mardi Gras, people. While most of the rest of the country looks to Christmas and the holidays for the ripe time to EH some FNGs, we all know that in New Orleans, the real holiday doesn’t start until late January when things start to heat up for Mardi Gras.
    As we all stuff our faces with King Cake, and revel with old friends over bourbon and beer, bring it upon yourself to grab some good guys and get them out in the gloom for some pain and brotherhood.
    We will all be having enough fun (YHC will be having too much fun) to feel like we need a good Lenten resolution. Enter F3 and your EH.
    Go get ’em!
    – Chard

  • Tito Landrum Rocks

    YHC is a St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan, so I was very excited when we named an FNG after Tito Landrum.  I was even more excited to see Tito when I pulled up at Rock City today.  For those of you not as passionate about Cardinal baseball, Tito Landrum is the man that filled in for Cardinal lead-off hitter and base stealing champ Vince Coleman in the 85 NLCS and World Series.  Coleman was hurt in the NLCS when he got ran over by the automatic rain tarp (no joke – check it out here http://www.captainsblog.info/2010/10/13/this-date-in-history-the-killer-tarp-and-the-cardinals-strange-1985-post-season/3161/. )  Anyway Tito Landrum filled in and was the best player on the team for the rest of the NLCS and the World Series.  So when YHC saw our Tito there today, I was certain that he could step in if I happened to suffer an unfortunate rock related injury.

    The weather was perfect this morning: 50 and dry.  YHC barely arrived on time, causing Yankee to start creating a back-up plan.  Cobains, I’ll try to be earlier next time.

    The Thang

    • Mosey to the Rock pile for our Warm-Up
    • Warm-up COP: SSH IC x 30; Imperial Walkers IC  x 30; Good Mornings  IC x 15
    • Select your rock and Mosey back to the flag – Start the mosey with a little Cusak action.
    • 4 minutes of fence chunking, mixing up your rock usage.
    • Mosey to the far end of the soccer field.
    • LT. Dan – 1 squat followed by 4 forward lunges, 2 squats followed by 8 forward lunges,…end with 5 squats followed by 20 forward lunges.
    • 6 MOM: LBC IC x 30; LBT IC x 30, Back Scratchers IC x 30; Hello Dolly IC x 30; Russian Twist IC x 30
    • Mosey to the Ol’ Playground.
    • 30 second Stations – 10 second Rest: Pull-ups, Rock Curls, Rock Benchpress, Rock Shoulder Press, Pull-ups.
    • Mosey to the hill
    • Hill work: 1 Rock Burpee, run over hill with rock to other side, 2 Rock Burpees, run over hill with rock to other side, …, end with 5 Rock Burpees
    • Return rock to the rock pile
    • Horse to stables back to the flag.

    Moleskin

    YHC felt like we had a pretty good pace going today.  RY confirmed that we ran 2.1 miles total with the rocks, which is an unofficial Rock City record.  I am glad we got in some Mary, as I feel like I have been neglecting her.  She served the purpose as I heard RY say she made him forget about Lt. Dan.

    • T-claps to Tundra for Larry Birding it all morning even though he had the biggest rock.
    • I would give T-claps to Yankee for manning up and carrying YHC’s rock back to the pile, but then I would need to call him out for picking such a little rock in the first place. So I just won’t say anything.
    • Great to have another Uptowner out to the burbs, now we just need Metairie to represent.

    Announcements

    • Wednesday – 5:30 @ The Birdcage w/ Blue Dog?
    • Friday – 5:30 @ Wolfpack Mountain #ReturnOfRoots
    • Saturday – 7:00 @ CP (Peristyle)

    -Hawgcycle

  • F3 to Haiti 2015

    The mission of F3 is to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for the invigoration of male community leadership. It’s a wonderful mission that has seen great success in the past couple of years.

    The idea of “community” may prompt much discussion. Is it our neighborhood? Our town? Our city? Or, is it any group of people with a common goal? A church? Our office/work place? Our family? F3? All of them?

    Most would agree there is a great need to develop, improve and invigorate male leadership in Charlotte and across the United States. During my years with F3, I have seen what the accountability and brotherhood within the group can accomplish. F3 has played a role in strengthening marriages, helping men reduce or eliminate medication because they have lost so much weight, and supporting men as they work towards becoming stronger spiritual leaders in their homes and workplaces.

    As a group, we’ve donated tens of thousands of dollars to various charitable organizations. We have opened the door for men to meet others and find a place where they gain a sense of belonging/fellowship. I know I have found several genuine friends in F3.

    However, this need for male leadership does not stop at our nation’s borders. In fact, I believe that there is just as much (or greater in some cases) need for this type of male leadership in other countries as well.

    This past September, I travelled to Haiti with ten of my F3 brothers. We experienced a culture that lacks male leaders known for their integrity. Often times in Haiti, the men play little, if any, role in caring for their children. Violence in the form of domestic abuse or rape is not uncommon. Joblessness is the norm, and even if jobs were available, many men in Haiti are not literate or lack the skills required to hold down jobs successfully. Many don’t know how to drive.

    During our week in Haiti, we learned about the true needs of this country (the poorest in the western hemisphere). Yes, they need financial help in the way of food and material possessions. However, what they really want are jobs. What they need is accountability. What they absolutely crave are relationships with God and a place to learn what it means to be a leader in their families and churches in order to do their part to reverse the lessons they learned as boys.

    We met one such group of men. There were six men enrolled in a men’s discipleship program through the mission organization we were there to serve. These men met every day for Bible study, meditation, fellowship, trade skills training, and spiritual and emotional encouragement. Most of these men live in Haiti’s tent cities. At least one is homeless, sleeping in his church at night. But every morning, these guys got themselves up and traveled up to an hour and a half to get to this discipleship program. These men made the necessary sacrifices to attend this program in the hopes of creating a better life for themselves and their families. They formed a brotherhood (much like F3) to encourage accountability and were turning into leaders for their families and in their communities.

    While we were in Haiti, we stayed at a guesthouse owned by this ministry. In addition to the F3 Team, there were various other staff and missionaries from around the world staying there. Every morning we were up and in the driveway by 6:00 AM in order to post before our day’s work began. Our host leader posted with us each morning. (He originally told us that he doesn’t exercise and might post once. He posted every day.) It was an odd sight in Haiti when the twelve Americans were up before the sun, running, doing merkins, dips, burpees, etc. along the streets and fields in the neighborhood we stayed. By mid-week, one of the other missionaries from Haiti staying in the house joined us. The next day, the son of the guesthouse manager joined us. On the last day, a missionary from Zimbabwe joined the PAX. We started with eleven F3 brothers and finished with fifteen from three different nations. It was a pretty cool community.

    Along with meeting these different men, there was plenty of time spent on construction projects, visiting orphanages, and learning about the Haitian people. Aside from the need for accountability and male leadership in Haiti, another lasting impression for me was the amount of joy and thanksgiving the Haitian people have despite their perceived lower quality of life. Within the slower lifestyle, away from the technology and distractions we take for granted, they spend much more time reading, in prayer, and with each other than I do in my life. Since our return, I’ve come to evaluate my life differently and have adjusted my priorities. I do my best to keep my life simple and avoid over-filling it with things that may not matter down the road. I do my best to not hurry as much.

    There were many lessons we took away from the week. We are looking forward to a continued perspective change I’m sure we’ll have after our next trip. Mostly, we look forward to catching up with the men that are in this class of the discipleship program, meeting the men in the next round of the program and EHing as many as we can to post with us.

    We have two weeks booked in September (9/13-9/20 and 9/19-9/25) and we would like you (from as many AOs as possible) to join us. If you’re interested:

     

    Thank you,

    Frodo (from MECA)