F3 New Orleans

Category: New Orleans

  • Who’s the Q….You! – from Triple Shift

    It’s Run Cajun Run! I committed to get some steady miles on paved roads (littered with cracked and pitted asphalt) as opposed to slogging through a sloppy mess at a Metairie track. I visited an old stomping ground called the 6-10 Stomp! The last time I visited that AO was probably a year or two ago. So, in honor of showing up, the regular pax voluntold me that I was the Q so I would write the backblast.

    The Thang – 20 minutes out and 20 minutes back. Closed with a COT where we lifted up the pax members who are suffering from illness, loss, and sickness. We also celebrated the wonderful gift of revelry, joy, and happiness that permeates our area during Mardi Gras.

  • The Alphabet Marathon – from Enron

    In preparation for this morning’s beatdown, YHC had the task of coming up with something that would incorporate enough running to be effective for Run Cajun Run milage, as well as keep the PAX’s minds off previously mentioned running. A few months back an idea to go through the alphabet with various exercises had arisen and YHC thought this might be the perfect opportunity to put it in place.

    10 strong staggered in on a chilly morning at the Stage only to be greeted by a couple children’s drawing books laid out on the concrete. On those two books were the letters of the alphabet with corresponding exercises written on them. Naturally, that sparked a little bit of chatter only to be stopped by circling up that PAX to start the warmup.

    Warmarama:
    SSH, WM, Willie Mays Hayes, AC, Cherry Pickers, Self-Love, IW
    The 1 and Only Thang:
    The Alphabet Marathon

    Attention was drawn to the drawing boards where the letters of the alphabet were written, next to each letter was a corresponding exercise. The instructions were to perform 30 of each exercise (30 seconds of some), then run a lap around the stage after each letter’s exercise was complete. The lap is .12 miles, meaning that if the entire alphabet was completed, that PAX would have run 3.12 miles.
    The letters and exercises were as follows:
    A- American Hammers
    B- Big Boy Sit Ups – This was a last-minute decision to scratch burpees off the list. A gracious Q indeed.
    C- Coupon Curls
    D- Dips
    E- Elbow Plank (30 seconds)
    F- Flutter Kicks (2=1)
    G- Gore (Al) (30 seconds)
    H- Humpers (Monkey)
    I- Imperial Walkers
    J- J-Lo’s
    K- Kettlebell Swings
    L- Lunges 1=1
    M- Merkins
    N- No’s(Oh) – Somehow almost forgot this letter
    O- Overhead Press
    P- Pickle Pounders
    Q- Q’s Choice – This ended up being LBCs
    R- Reverse Crunches
    S- Side Straddle Hops
    T- Toy Soldiers
    U- Up Straddle Hops – A 1 legged Side Straddle hop which made for an interesting sight
    V- V-Ups
    W- World War 1 Sit ups
    X- X-Wings
    Y- Yul Brynner’s
    Z- Zombie Crunches

    Prior to this morning, YHCs belief was that none of the PAX would be close to completion of the alphabet. This assumption was incorrect as Goose, Pope, and Honeysuckle, were very close to completion with only the letter Z left to complete when “recover” was called. Also, there were many other of the group that were very close behind. This may be one that has a redo to see where progress is made.
    Great work by all this morning. The variation was enjoyed and the milage still abundant. Always great to continue to push ourselves with this crew.
    Announcements and the inVESTment was passed from Honeysuckle to Goose
    COT and Paradox prayed us out.

    SYITG,

    Enron

  • 24037 Tsunami – from Sea Man

    We record 14 showed up this morning for the Tsunami which became an impromptu Venti. We had 2 ruckers, 3 traditional Tsunami Runners, 9 Venti runners. Tsunami runners ran to the Levy, to JP line back up Oak and to Flag. Rest rendevoused for coffee at SB and back to flag for an early arrival.

  • The Mini Cooper – from Triple Shift

    As we are in the month of February for Run Cajun Run, I needed to get some miles and was planning on doing the Cooper. What is the Cooper you may ask? Well, it is a routine where you perform 10 burpees, 10 squats, and 10 merkins then run around the 400-meter track. After completing the lap, you perform 9 of each exercise then run a lap. Continue on your way down until you get to 1 rep of each exercise then finish up with a final 400-meter run.
    Because the track was underwater from JP’s effort to save the old Metairie neighborhood from flooding on Saturday night, it was still a sloppy mess, so I had to improvise. Sudden Change!

    With the steady drizzle, 50 degree temperatur, and heavy 20+ mph north wind, the track was out of the question so after I gave my disclaimer to the hearty few, we ran to the backside of the gym where the KOT gang resides under the large covered area.

    Warmarma – 10 Low Slow Squats IC, 10 slow imperial walkers (saw a great deal of balance issues) IC, 10 Lunge around the clock IC, 10 forward arm circles x IC, 10 Self Love IC, 10 reverse arm circles x 10, and finished with 10 burpees IC.

    The Thang – I gave the instructions of 10 burpees, 10 lunges each leg, 10 no cheat merkins, and 10 WW2 Sit-ups then run around the gym which is approximately 180-200 meters. After that round, each exercise will decrease by one rep followed by a lap around the gym. We picked up the six and then headed back to the start with a prisoner (arm up while running) Indian run.

    COT – Countoff, Namerama, and closed out with a prayer for Torque’s mom who passed away suddenly, my mom’s memory loss, and kids that are struggling with their identity. As always, I sent a petition to the Creator to help us be better fathers, husbands, employees, employers, and most importantly, virtuous leaders.

  • Route 56 Bday Beatdown – from Triple Shift

    Can’t remember much from my 56th birthday beatdown except that it was like Heisenberg’s Mothership beatdown the day before. Anyway, we did some warmups, and headed down the sidewalk towards S. Carrollton Ave to the front of City Park. At every light post, we performed 5 burpees and the mode of travel alternated between bear crawls and duck walks between each light post. We ran out of light posts and had to cross the street and headed back toward NOMA and ending with 6 burpees at the end to get 56.
    Headed to the back of NOMA for an attempt of Jackass Webb which is an exercise of one burpee and two donkey kicks. Continue until you get to 10 burpees and 20 donkey kicks. Well, we didn’t start at one burpee and two donkey kicks, we started at 8 burpees and 16 donkey kicks and made our way up to 10/20. That was a crowd pleaser.
    Honored to have the F3 NOLA Pax come out and show me some love!

  • Wild Kingdom – from Space Cowboy

    At times, the Kennarie Ridge AO can be a wild kingdom in the early morning hours with the occasional coyote visit, rabbits running the fields, raccoons and possums galore, and the JP Sheriff Dept racing in and out of their Lasalle substation for their 6am shift change. Even with the recent downpours and the gloomy morning conditions, I still had every intention to roll with Plan A which involved the use of the soccer fields next to JPAX but mother nature had other plans and the wild kingdom did not disappoint. Arriving 15 min early, I decided to inspect the fields and discovered about several dozen wild ducks swimming in the soccer field “lake” and flying in circles above it. For a minute, I thought about grabbing my hunting gear and building a duck blind by the south soccer goal but my “Q” duties kicked in and I realized that I needed to come up with a Plan B in about 10 min. Plan B……

    Weather: light drizzle, 50 degrees, 21 mph winds
    Started on time with disclaimer

    5 PAX (Fracsac, Pool Boy, Kenna Brah, Madoff, and Space Cowboy) mosey to JPAX. RevSox splits off to run about 4-5 miles around the Lasalle tract.

    Warm-O-Rama:
    Samson Stretch x 6
    Slow Squats x 10
    Abe Vigoda x 10
    Open the gate right leg x 10
    Open the gate left leg x 10
    Forward arm circles x 15
    Backwards arm circles x 15
    Seal Claps x 15
    SSH x 20
    Imperial walkers x 12

    Tha-Thang:
    4 Rounds, 2 Exercises per Round, EMOM(6 min per round)

    Round 1 EMOM (6 min total)
    Burpees x 10 (later changed to x 5 after first min since Fracsac complained about 1-2 sec rest between sets)
    LBCs x 10

    Round 2 EMOM (6 min total)
    Monkey Humpers (4=1) x 10
    American Hammers (2=1) x 10

    Round 3 EMOM (6 min total)
    Merkins x 10
    Flutter Kicks (4=1) x 10

    Round 4 EMOM (6 min total)
    Jump Squats x 10
    Mt Climbers (4=1) x 10

    MARY: Freddie Mercury, LBC, Crunchy Frog, Protractor
    Mosey back to Flag to meet RevSox
    COT

  • Weight it out – from Wet Tap

    2-5-24
    the Stage

    After a heavy cardio Saturday, how could YHC rekindle the PAX’s attention on the importance of a well rounded approach to health and fitness? One can become preoccupied with one or the other. The delicate balance is a dish served cold, and wet, and possibly in the early morning gloom.

    Warmarama was performed in typical fashion. Heavy emphasis on leg stretch with the obligatory arm circles and CP’s.

    YHC told the pax that a mile run was in store to warm up as well. Everyone headed to the starting line with the usual ho-hum silent chatter. Paradox and YJ most probably rolled over to the sound of silence with an anxious heart much the way one wakes to a night terror.

    YHC’s kicker was the backed in truck subtly awaiting with a fresh coupon. “Black Betty” was introduced to the PAX and she expressed her raging desire to accompany the PAX on this mile mosey. To those who failed to show, Black Betty is a heavy punching bag that tips the scale somewhere between 50-70 lbs depending on her water weight.
    The mile mosey with Black Betty was exhilarating, with each PAX getting to know her personally. She was passed along at each light post like a classic Eyes wide Shut movie.

    Back at the Stage, more COUS were revealed and a barrage of exercises were unleashed.

    Partner up for some fun.
    Partner 1 performs exercise while partner 2 takes a victory lap. The ol’ switcheroo between partners to reach the count goal.

    Station 1: 100#sandbag
    100 squats
    100 chest press

    Station 2:
    100 box jumps

    Station 3: 50# sandbag
    100 thrusters
    200 curls

    Station 4: “Black Betty”
    100 yd lungewalk.

    Time was against us and 06:00 was upon us just as we got in our groove. Thankfully.

    COT and prayers by Cardinal.

    Thank you to all who put up with this Insanity!

  • Run for your life – from Wet Tap

    The Pelch
    Running for your life

    Run Cajun run has all of us in a tizzy. Like a child sprinting the first 100 yards of a 5k. Although some approach this endeavor as a way to slowly improve your cardiovascular health while also supporting a cause, YHC also identifies as a competitor. YHC thought and thought about ways to increase mileage but also stay within the boundaries of the “embrace the suck” motto we’ve all come to love through ground teeth.

    Alas, the answer came:

    Warmarama,

    SSH
    WMH
    MC
    ARM CIRCLES
    SL

    Thang1:

    A simple and gentle Indian run from the Pelch to EDW track. This is usually at 400 yd mosey. YHC found through the miracles of the internet, that if one only took left handed turns the destination is exactly 1.1 miles. Coincidence, I think not.
    This mosey was supposed to be a warmup, something to get the blood moving. Around mile .475, Enron was confronted with a supposed pipe. This began the great fall of 2024. Chris Berman was there, somewhere is the abyss. Chanting his famous “mumblin..bumblin..stumbling..”. We all were amazed at how Enron somehow fell in slow motion. But recovered with a tuck and roll that would make Ken Shamrock proud. The imdian run finished up at the track, and thang 2 was introduced.

    The PAX lined up along the goaline of the football field. The suicide would take place in 5 yd increments. Each odd yd line would represent the number of high knees to complete and each even would be squats. This would be
    run- perform-nur back. (5-50yds).
    50 squats suck.

    Thang3
    Sprints.
    When this thang was explained, YHC could feel a tangible excitement in Honeysuckle. Much like when your parents took you to the mall for church shoes and your dad gives you the subtle nod to check out Toys-R-Us.
    On the track we would complete a pyramid sprint workout.
    100 yd dash
    200 yd dash
    300 yd dash
    400 yd dash
    Each PAX recorded their time and that number corresponded with their SSH count. Once at the top of this , we had to descend in the same fashion. A switch from SSH to LBC.
    300 yd dash
    200yd dash
    100yd dash

    All were gassed and we moseyed back to the flag. For a little Mary.
    FM
    Heels to heaven
    Dolphin hops
    Crunchy frogs.

    AB presented the alpaca investment showing off his tender and chaff free nipples to Honeysuckle.

    COT and prayers completed.

  • Charmin’s Maniversary – Shitting Bricks – from Charmin

    February 2, 2022 will be a day that might live on in infamy, if only for it was the fateful day that YHC would post for the first time. Over the past two years, there has been much life lived, and emotions experienced; I am grateful for F3Nola being there for all of it. Some highlights include:

    Posting on 2/2/22
    The Birth of my son (2nd child) in June 2022
    My Father’s Death in Oct. 2022
    Completing the Inaugural GrowRUN in October 2023
    Becoming Q-Source Q in January 2024.

    With all that being said, see below for the workout that I experienced two years ago (Q’d by Hokie) and the pax also experienced this morning at a cool 50-ish degrees. Thanks to Rudy, who, while he could not be here (YHC is starting to sense a trend) did lend us the bricks for said beatdown. The following is a copy of the original beatdown with some slight modifications:

    The disclaimer was followed with a count-off (in which it was demonstrated that counting to 10 is quite difficult) instructions for each Pax top grab two bricks and not let them go for the entire 45 minutes of fun

    Warm up, with bricks in hand…

    arm circles, in cadence, forward x5
    arm circles, in cadence, backwards x5
    seal claps, in cadence, x6
    overhead claps, in cadence, x5
    Moroccan night club, in cadence, x10

    we then took a mosey to the track where we moseyed WITH Bricks in tow, forward around the curve, KnOT style for 100 yd, forward around the 2nd curve, and KnOT style for another 100 yards(1/4 mile loop)

    Each time we finish the quarter mile loop, shoulder taps waiting on the six

    Round 1. 1 minute shoulder taps, 1/4 mile loop (as above) shoulder taps waiting on the six

    Round 2. 1 min Floyd Mayweather, 1/4 mile loop (as above) shoulder taps waiting on the six

    Round 3. 1 min Nolan Ryans, 1/4 mile loop (as above) shoulder taps waiting on the six

    Round 4. 1 min Newton’s Cradle, 1/4 mile loop (as above) shoulder taps waiting on the six

    Round 5. 1 min Bat wings, 1/4 mile loop (as above) shoulder taps waiting on the six

    Round 6. 1 min Hand Release Merkins, 1/4 mile loop (as above) shoulder taps waiting on the six

    Round 7. 1 min Pointers, 1/4 mile loop (as above) shoulder taps waiting on the six

    Round 8. 1 min Toe Taps.

    Ended with Abe-Slow-Goda’s IC x 10, some Low, Slow, Squats x 10 as a cool-o-rama.

    That is 2 miles for Run Cajun Run participants

    Announcements included the upcoming RunCajunRun events and the fact that CheeseSteak had to get to work.

    Circle of Trust where we prayed in thanksgiving for my 2 years and for other intentions.

  • Running Against the Wind – from Paradox

    9 strong at the den on a crisp first day of February. A fine month for running. YHC had three objectives today: Unravel an 80s album cover mystery, Camouflage running with a point system and continue to honor the life of service lived by Bishop Dorsonville.
    The RCR hype train was at a full speed choo choo by Wednesday evening and now it was time to back up the chatter with some work.

    Duke! Its Run Cajun Run month
    Stop carb loading and roll the beautiful footage.

    Warmup
    SSH- IW- toy soldiers – AC both ways

    Noted that YHC, Valve and Ronnie were outnumberd 3-6 by the Built this Thibby enemy squadron today. With Honeysuckles 1000 mile stare after showing up on foot and Popeyes safety vest they are an intimidating bunch. Return of JV can only hope CVS runs out of knee braces and Metamucil soon. Cant wait to see how Darth Fartsack responds to this attack on his teammates.

    Continued warm up…

    YHC met Bishop Dorsonville at OLOPs this summer and along with sharing repeated jokes about Cardinals arm circles with him I was also drawn to how he made complete strangers comfortable with silly jokes. Still cracks me up thinking of it and that’s where we’ll begin this beatdown, with the power of humor to break the ice …or sore muscles.

    I’m not sure if you guys grew up with a single hilarious trigger word in your childhood. But for YHC if there was a single noun that turned YHC and his siblings into cackling hyenas it was “commode”. Even now as a semi grown man of 35 years it makes me giggle. I can’t really explain why but just the mention of it , especially by some older prim and proper family member in polite context would set off such a riot that only threatened bodily harm could contain us. So on Tuesday Tuff when Goose and Popeye convinced YHC that there was an actual band called Depeche Mode it triggered YHCs 8 year old brain into snickering all day that it sounded like a really really fancy French toilet. Which brings us to today’s extended warmup. YHC had a song ready and requested the Artist, # of band members and meaning of the aforementioned artist . Goose saw this one coming a mile away and was ready and waiting to help the pax take 30 seconds of pain away by guessing Depeche Mode ( before a single note played ), AB deducted another 30 by correctly guessing 4 original band members. No luck on finding the meaning of this mysterious phrase but I hope today as you sit upon your commode and think about it , that your bowel movement is neither fashionable nor hurried.

    – Depeche Mode
    “just can’t get enough “

    High Knees/Butt Kicks
    Burpee on “Get enough”

    We got enough.

    -The Thang

    With the knees high and and butts kicked we checked off objective #1.
    YHC now switched gears into our main run event. Several of us today would likely attend or honor the celebration of life for Bishop Dorsonville. Even in his short time here quite a few of our pax had interactions or bonds with him that will last a lifetime. In prayer and reflection two major points stuck out to me that I wanted to highlight. Both points deal with the unknown variables that God may ask us to accept in His will.
    Bishop couldn’t have known much about this little bayou community and even more unknown was how long he would be here. He dove into both with unrelenting service until he was called home.

    So to honor the act of service with unknown variables YHC built a run course with 4 options.
    The exercise at the station and the time of rounds would be a mystery.
    You can complete any station as many times as you want or not at all.

    The Stations:
    (Measured via strava)

    #1 1/8th mile – 1 point
    to top of reservoir and back – bearcrawl to top, 10 Bonnie Blair’s , bearcrawl to the bottom

    #2 1/4 mile – 1 lap around auditorium , at cone complete 10 no cheat merkins , run back

    #3 1/3 mile – to bball court
    15 star jumps at cone
    -cone flip option, 5 tries and if you land it you can skip the star jumps. Miss and you double the reps.

    #4 1/2 mile
    Far side of reservoir and complete the loop. 15 Jillian Michaels
    -optional dice roll to reduce your Reps or increase (5-30 on dice)

    Complete all 4 – (3 point bonus)

    YHC added distraction options at station 3-4 to highlight that even when Gods plan for us is clear there will always be other paths that look easy or even fruitful. Some may even utilize our natural talents and through prayer may be useful. I left it to the pax to choose wisely.

    Round 1 – Solo (12 minutes)
    – YHC loved watching AB and Goose pick the course apart. These guys are bloodhounds for the most efficient points in a game.
    – Several pax took the honorable path at completing all 4 distances but Jillian Michael was not a fan favorite.
    – In the end Pope got some after the whistle credit and edged out AB 19-16. Pope gave us a respectable 20 lunges and we thanked him.

    Round 2 – (10 min)
    split into teams but 1 pax must stay at home base doing SSH at all times (swaps out)

    -the secret was now out that station 3 was the best run for your money and both teams headed there in a wad of heavy breathing. The cone flipping didn’t get any easier and many star jumps were done .

    Team 2 was the victor 40-36 and doled out 10 tempo merkins.

    Thang Finale : 3 min 20 seconds
    Bob Seger – Against the wind

    YHC dialed up a little Bob Seger for some February run hype and after some discussion the pax decided correctly that it, just like awful British techno, had been released in 1980.
    Random Ab exercises on song with leg raise on “against the wind”

    Counting, Naming , Investing

    Valve passed along the investment to the cone flipping savant AB who , dare I say it, wore it in a hurried fashion!

    Announcement:

    RCR – Log your miles

    Swag is on link if you want to support the charities further.

    Feb 17 It’s Only a Mile

    Bunkhouse this Sunday
    Text me if you want in or would like to provide a side or rolls. (Serve 30-50)
    Leave from stage at 4:20
    Back by 6:30ish

    COT and Lox prayed us out

    Men, I’m grateful for the opportunity to lead you and to be strengthened by your own examples of service.

    SYITG
    Dox