Category: New Orleans

  • Push and Pull – from Honeysuckle

    YHC arrived extra early at the Lion’s Den to perform a general site survey and determine the rough distance around the Civic Center, for no particular reason. Goose and Pope were the first to roll in, bearing the flag and bug spray. America’s Best arrived shortly thereafter. After Cardinal was initially mistaken for Enron, YHC knew it was going to be an interesting morning. As the rest of today’s PAX emerged from the gloom, a new figure was in their midst. Some might describe him as a silver surfer, but not today. This FNG would eventually be known as Captain D’s, in a cruelly orchestrated maneuver by AB. More on that later.

    Warmarama

    Hopefully sufficient disclaimer
    Side straddle hops
    Windmills
    Willie Mays Hayes
    Arm circles forward
    Arm circles reverse
    Cherry pickers
    High knees
    Butt kickers
    Toy soldiers
    Mosey around the Warren J Harang Municipal Center; carioca facing the center on the first side, nur on the second side, carioca facing the pond on the third side, run to the lion. The exercise is left to the reader whether or not we properly changed direction for the second carioca or unintentionally did the same direction both times.

    Thang 1

    Today’s theme is celebrations due to recent get togethers. E.g., Festivals, cook-offs, St Thomas Aquinas Family day this past Sunday, Gander going away party, AB pregame party. While some celebrations deal with more superficial ties we have with each other, many involve values, beliefs, communities, and people that are important down to our cores. As we thought about that, the PAX were to do three sets of 100 core exercises:
    –100 LBC’s
    –100 flutter kicks (2:1)
    –{10 v-ups, 10 Freddy Mercuries (2:1)} x 5 sets

    A run around the WJHMC would kick this off, as well as a lap between each set of 100. So 4 laps total. The difficulty of the core exercises took YHC a little by surprise (how soon Jurptober fitness wears off, as a wise PAX mused), and a few other PAX independently reached this conclusion as well.

    At the beginning of this Thang, we were 11 PAX strong. As YHC was performing LBCs, a second new figure arrived. Thinking that this was an OG member that YHC had not met yet, or perhaps Tree Root, YHC simply said, “Do 100 LBCs”. During one of the laps, YHC asked the new figure if we had met before. That is when the new figure introduced himself as Squanto from outside of Houston, who was in town for business. What a great day, to have a FNG and a downranger at the beatdown. Squanto did not do the beatdown in shoes, but as he is not on the Group Me, how would he have otherwise known to bring shoes?

    Thang 2

    The second class of celebrations covered today was birthdays. YHC has gone back and forth in terms of downplaying (YHC’s own) birthdays and celebrating them. YHC’s current opinion is that they should be celebrated, as an expression of gratitude for another year with loved ones.

    If this all sounds like a big circle burp, it was not. True, to an outside onlooker it appeared to be a big circle burp. The exercise was in a circle, but instead it was a burpday party. One at a time, a PAX says his birth month and whatever the numerical equivalent was, all the PAX do that many Kraken Burpees. It became quickly evident that Kraken Burpees were not the right exercise on this particular day, so after completing the Kraken Burpees for the first PAX, YHC changed them to be regular Burpees. In case any PAX thought that giving out his birth month was divulging precious personal identifiable information (PII), all that YHC really cared about is that they said a number between 1 and 12, inclusive. To date, YHC is aware of only one PAX faking their number. Some time in the future, this thang will be repeated with Social Security Number digits and will be known as the “Credit Freeze.”

    The PAX ultimately made it through this circle, and YHC is breathing a sigh of relief that the number of burpees wasn’t the day of the month as originally planned.

    Thang 3

    The PAX handled everything thrown at them today so far, perhaps due to the bifecta of having an FNG and a downranger. We had time to discuss one more celebration, the celebration of our suffering as Goose eloquently covered during the last Tough Guy Thursday. Over the past week or so, the PAX has celebrated F3 during its manniversary, with stories, videos natively and effortlessly inserted into the GroupMe chat, and a lone instance of a link to a YouTube video. All these have covered funny events from the past and gratitude for where we all are in our Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith journeys. F3 also pushes us to look forward, to keep pushing for how much farther we could be in those areas. To achieve this, we help each other in two broad ways: push and pull. The push includes words of encouragement or picking up another PAX as he finishes. These are intentional things we do to help each other. The pull is simply how we handle situations, whether others are watching or not. But when they are watching, sometimes we will never know how we may have inspired someone based on our example. Looking to your left or right during a beatdown, knowing everyone is tired, but seeing the other PAX grind it out. Seeing how someone is handling a difficult situation with strength and grace, or someone who is really strong in his faith. These set the examples of where we ourselves could be.

    So, instead of a commemorative plate or CMU about all this, the PAX partnered up for a commemorative Dora-like exercise. One partner is the push. He begins doing Bonnie Blairs. The other partner is the pull. He begins by running to the other side of the field and, when he gets there, doing Apollo Ohnos. As soon as the pull arrives to the other side, the push runs to the other side also and does Apollos. Then the pull immediately runs back and does Bonnies. And so on. This proved to be a nice, yet not comfortable, way to spend 8-10 minutes, and as YHC hoped it would add quite a bit of running to the beatdown, disguised as a Dora.

    Name-o-rama

    The FNG explained several things about himself, but his affiliation with Spahr’s had to be pried out. It was clear that AB had something up his sleeve. You could see it in his eyes. Apparently still raw about being named after a second-rate eye care center, AB was hungry to drag someone else down with him in an analogous way. Unfortunately for this FNG, names such as Long John Silver’s were mentioned. YHC ultimately agreed to Captain D’s. Looking forward to more beatdowns with Captain D’s.

    Animal-o-rama

    Hypotenuse bestowed the Animal to Safety Valve.

    Announcements covered a few additional details regarding Saturday’s and Sunday’s events. AB will keep everyone posted in the chat on Saturday, as to contingencies in case it rains. Bring bug spray Sunday.

    Intentions. As we brought the circle in, Squanto had some words of encouragement about the importance of F3.

    Enron prayed us out.

    Tclaps for everyone posting today, despite rumors of a runmageddon. We will hopefully be joined by Squanto again during his work travels.

    SYITG,
    Honeysuckle

  • Double Pidgeon, Butterflies and Scantron Running (Oh My!) – from Charmin

    At 5:29, jokes were made about YHC’s shirt since it was part of my Halloween Costume, but now it is just a part of my rotation. After the jesting, YCH lead the count off since Triple Shift was already there thus we figured more coming wasn’t as likely.

    Starting at 5:30 Knotters walked away backwards, stretchers walked away backwards, and the runners ran away forward sine they apparently still haven’t received the memo.

    That being said, YHC mentioned on Monday that his hips were tight, so he directed Stretching with that in mind. We started out with Pool Boy (THE New Orleans Resident) and at some point he was traded for Kennah-Brah from the runners. YHC won’t say who received the better end of that deal, but all the locals know.

    At 6:12 with YHC watching my watch, wanting to get back to the proverbial shovel flag, Bolt decided to get creative by creating a stretch. We had just done the Pidgeon Stretch; so he decided to do a Double Pidgeon. It ended up being one of his better creations. Maybe Kennah-Brah was rubbing off on him.

    With a little over a minute to go, we make our way across the field and notice all the runners sitting doing a butterfly stretch. Apparently, they forget to run for 45 minutes without Pai Gow, or maybe we should rename Tuesday to Wally Stretch.

    That being said, we all start walking towards the flag and notice a tall, lanky, skinner runner coming in hot. It wasn’t until he was on top of us, that we realized that Scantron was coming in HOT! Jokes were made about him not running backwards, but it was good to see him push himself.

    COT consisted of Count-Off, with more that we started with, Name-O-Rama, and Announcements and Intentions. YHC then read from Matthew (9:20-22) galvanizing the PAX to discern what we have been suffering with for too long, and to take that to Our Father in Heaven. Even though he knows all, just like an earthly father wants, he desires his children, us, to share it with him.

  • “If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything” – from America’s Best

    Disclaimer: Those who have admitted to not seeing “Back to the Future” may some may experience significant shade during this backblast. Reader discretion advised.

    YHC loves time travel. Whether it melts your brain (Primer), or rots your brain (Hot Tub Time Machine), YHC will watch it. And in most of these tropes, there are plenty of numbers, pseudoscience, and doing something, going back (Jack) and doing it again– much like an F3 beatdown.
    And so today, just after the 68th anniversary of the day Doc Brown hit his head on his toilet and devised the Flux Capacitor, the PAX joined the ranks of Bill and Ted, and time travelled.
    The pioneer, at least in YHC’s mind, was Marty McFly, so this beatdown was themed on his first foray into the past.
    We start in present day (1985), will travel to 1955, and then hopefully, back to the present again. As everyone (except Enron) knows, we need two things in order to travel: 88 MPH, and 1.21 Gigawatts.

    Thang 1: Time travel from 1985 to 1955
    M= 0.88 miles
    P= 88 Peter Parkers
    H= 88 Hillbilly Squats

    This was knocked out as we ran/nar, answering random time travel/BTTF trivia (including BTTF music trivia). Montana impressed with his knowledge of the future (2015).
    Upon returning to the flag area, the PAX quickly knocked out a round of 21s (curls) which represented the necessary 1.21 gigawatts of power. And like that, we were in 1955.

    Thang 2: Time travel from 1955 back to 1985
    This is obviously going to be more difficult, as plutonium cannot be purchased at every corner store in 1955.
    88 MPH this time:
    88 Merkins
    88 Parker-Peters
    88 Hydraulic Squats

    This proved to be more time consuming than YHC had planned, so we aborted early and moved to the 1.21 gigawatt portion of 1955. What other way would one achieve 1.21? Blackjack.
    Start on the sideline between picnic tables. Perform 20 coupon curls – run to other tables, perform 1 V-up. Nur back and do 20 coupon curls. Run back for 2 V-ups. Repeat until you do 1 CC and 20 v-ups, running between the sidelines. Always adds up to 21.
    (“ Black Jack” officially calls for Merkins and LBCs, but more Merkins seemed too extreme*, and LBCs seemed to easy. And… I’ll say it… we don’t do enough curls).

    The required effort was great, but the motivation to return to the present was even greater—don’t forget, in 1955 your mother is trying to get in your pants (YHC recently re-watched the film, and this theme is much more disturbing than remembered).

    In the end, ironically, we ran out of time.

    We headed back to the flag for the final trivia question:
    At precisely what time was the clock tower struck by lighting? (and not by a tornado, Enron)
    YHC reminded everyone, that just as in the prior song trivia section, where no answer resulted in 10 merkins, and incorrect answers resulted in 4, this time an incorrect answer (or no answer) will result in 10 merkins, a correct answer, only 4.

    And so we all did 10 Merkins. The correct answer is right there. Right… there.

    Thanks for playing, everyone.

    To be continued . . .

    – Goodbye Goose Get-together Nov 12th at the Enron property
    (undercard event at AB’s house the day before, weather permitting)

    COT and Dox prayed us out.

    …Coda (the end is the beginning is the end):
    YHC ran out of time, but we got it right. We finally got it right. The first 17 times YHC ran this beatdown, tragedy befell the PAX. Once, blinded by poor parking protocol rage, Dox smashed the Prius with such force that it ripped the space-time continuum. *Another time, YHC had programmed merkins for Blackjack, and Enron’s shoulders finally exploded. And then there was the iteration where Tree Root showed up. Luckily, YHC had upgraded his Turo rental DeLorean with the Mr. Fusion attachment, and was able to keep going back and doing it over until we got it (mostly) right.

    “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

  • The Twerkin Merkin – from Safety Valve

    It was another foggy and smoky Monday morning as YHC arrived earlier than usual at The Stage to set up for the beat down. After the last few Monday’s, YHC did not have much hope for a large showing. That seemed to be true as I stand there… all alone… at 5:10am. There was a back-up beat down planned as well just in case of low numbers. Then, as if Moses parted the sea and the Thudercats united from every which way, 5 of the PAX joined and the original beat down could be enjoyed.

    Warmaramma
    SSH
    Imperial walkers
    Willy Mayes Hayes
    Mountain climbers
    Cherry pickers
    Arm circles

    Thang 1
    1 mile run
    That is all. Just a run. For a mile. No motives. No ridiculous mumblechatter. No burpees. Just running with a group of guys and our own thoughts.

    Just as we were starting to enjoy the quiet calm run, a dark figure appeared from a dark alley and at first YHC thought we were about to be mugged. All that could be seen from a distance was a silhouette of the perfection of pectorals, biceps, thighs and calfs. Then YHC thought there was only one person in the world with that physique. Tap sprinted rich man’s loop to catch up with us and joined in the alley between houses. And then there were seven. This odd number eventually led to one of the greatest things YHC has witnessed as an F3 thibodaux member… [insert catching phrase to captivate audience and grab attention]

    Thang 2
    YHC likes to experiment in all things of life , so after going through the depths of the exicon, a few things we have not done yet caught the eye. The PAX was a split into two doubles with one thruple group.

    AMRAP – 20 minutes, switch stations every 2 minutes for 2 rounds at each station
    Station 1: Ascending testicles on picnic tables – 3 levels of merkins (ground, feet on seat, feet on table top), 5 reps at each level. Continue until time called.
    Station 2: Captain thors – BBSU + American hammer (1:4), adding to the number with every rep. Goal was to get to 10 BBSU with 40 American hammers.
    Station 3: doracides – 1 partner sprints while the other completes LBCs to a total of 100
    Station 4: CPRs (curl to overhead press to tricep extension)
    Station 5: Squerkin (partner one does merkin while partner two holds partner 1s feet, partner 2 then does a squat, alternating every 10 reps)

    Observations:
    1. Ascending testicles will show up in additional beatdowns. Not only for the name but for how tough this was. With every level, it felt like adding an extra 20 pounds to the merkin.
    2. Captain thors. The American hammers were more difficult than previously thought. YHC was only able to make it through round seven (7BBSU followed by 28 American Hammers). Need more of these in beatdowns to build up goose level stamina.
    3. Two minutes was the perfect time to complete these. Somehow the distances between the cones seemed longer than YHC initially placed them at. Maybe it was the lack of oxygen that caused my confusion. Maybe it was Goose low key adding a few feet between them every suicide. The world will never know.
    4. CPR – coupon curl to Overhead press to tricep extension. YHC thought this through prior to the beatdown and it seemed like it would be difficult to go from the tricep extension back to the curl in an easy/safe way. So, the tricep extensions were left out for just the curl to OHP. This also proved to be a difficult transition unless you had the grip strength of a gorilla. Recommend against these in further beatdowns.
    5. … the squerkin. YHC and Cardinal have gone through our bromance at exponential pace for meeting really just 3 months ago. Most take a relationship slow. Get to know each other first prior to squerking together. Not this couple. First, hitting it off over coffee memorabilia, second being partners for SV500, thirdly squerkins. Seeing a man in this way can never be forgotten. On our last set, as YHC was awkwardly trying to curl and overhead press, my eye was drawn to a magnificent site. YHC has never seen three men move in such harmony than Goose, dilly and Tap did this morning. Dilly doing merkins, Wet tap with one leg, Goose with the other moving in perfect synchrony while doing squats and merkins. Seeing it in real time YHC would like to name this off shoot of the squerkin the Twerkin Merkin. After calling time, Goose mentioned that if the squats were done at the same time as the person doing the merkin it adds extra weight to the squat. Leave it up to goose to critique an exercise and find a way to make it harder. It is a gift for him and a curse for everyone else.

    Time was called on the AMRAP, 4 minutes of Mary commenced (flutter kicks, penguins, Nolan Ryan’s), COT, finished with announcements and goose prayed us out.

    Always a pleasure to lead. Thanks for waking up, showing up, and joining me in the gloom.

  • Another Great Day at Rock City – from Bogey

    Disclaimer/warm-up(with Squat twists)/football field – two groups with Rocks – curls, rows, overhead press, lunge walks, bear crawls, big boys….repeat with rifle carry, Rock out front, 8 count BB/Gym – calf raises, monkey humpers, repeat repeat/baseball field Hamma Train, Mary, COT
    Thanks for the opportunity to lead!

  • In The Beginning, There Was Only The Gloom – from Yankee Joe

    Excerpt taken from the recently discovered “Dead Peltch Scrolls”

    1 In the beginning, Goose created the Gloom. 2 Now the Gloom was formless and in his backyard, darkness was over the Settlement at Live Oak, and the annoyance of Kate was hovering over the mudgear.

    3 And Goose said, “Let there be suffering,” and there was suffering. 4 Goose saw that the suffering was good, and he separated the suffering from the misery. 5 Goose called the suffering “growth,” and the misery he called “being a bitch.”

    And there was posting, and there was COT—the first beatdown.

    6 And Goose said, “Let there be an AO to separate PAX from PAX.” 7 So Goose made the AO and separated the PAX from the NOLA AO from the PAX down the bayou. And it was so. 8 Goose called the AO “F3 Thibodaux.”

    And there was posting, and there was COT—the second beatdown.

    9 And Goose said, “Let the AO under F3 Thibodaux be gathered to one place, and let a real AO – that’s not my backyard – be found.” And it was so. 10 Goose called the dry ground “The Stage,” and the gathered PAX he called “HIMS.” And Goose saw that it was good.

    11 Then Goose said, “Let The Stage produce pain: picnic tables, wet grass, and moseying routes according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 And Goose saw that it was good.

    13 And there was posting, and there was COT—the third beatdown

    14 And Goose said, “Let there be music to separate the pain from the pain, and let the music serve as signs to mark sacred songs such as Thunderstruck, various sea shanties, and Peaches.” And it was so.

    16 Goose made the music come from a magic box—the greater magic box he called Anker and the lesser magic box he called JBL. He also made many farts. 17 Goose played the music to force others to do hundreds of burpees. And Goose saw that it was good.

    19 And there was posting, and there was COT—the fourth beatdown.

    20 And Goose said, “Let the beatdowns teem with mumblechatter, and let the smack talk ring out across the vault of the sky.” 21 So Goose created the GroupMe and showed the PAX how to use GIFs to communicate directly and passive aggressively. And Goose saw that it was good.

    22 Goose blessed the Chatter, “Be relentless with each other. Write about the beatdowns in prose in order to leave delicious easter eggs about the shortcomings of your brethren.”

    23 And there was posting, and there was COT—the fifth beatdown.

    24 And Goose said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the stray dogs, the red ants that move along the ground, and the wild woman carrying laundry baskets, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 And Goose saw that it was good.

    26 Then Goose said to Pope, “Let us find more crazy people like us, so that they may post in the heat and in the cold, and find ways to do LBC’s in ant piles.” 27 So Goose cast out looking for men like him; men as shit can crazy as he was, he looked for them. Laymen and men of the cloth, he searched for them.

    28 When Goose found them, he said “Make sure to EH and increase in number; convince your wives this is not a cult. Wear short sleeves when it is 30 degrees, dedicate old running shoes to be F3 shoes, buy overpriced F3 gear to fit in more easily.

    29 Then Goose said, “I give you authority to design any beatdown with any theme, any type of exercises, anything that will create suffering. Remember that you were not created for comfort. You don’t deserve to be comfortable. 30 And I give you GroupMe and Backblasts in order to destroy each other, while celebrating your brothers.” And it was so.

    31 Goose saw all that he had made, and it was goosetastic. And there was posting, and there was COT—the sixth beatdown.

    Thus F3 Thiboduax was founded, all of its glory stretching from Bourg to Houma to the St. John HOA in its vast array.

    2 By the seventh beatdown, Goose had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh beatdown he did man makers. 3 Then Goose recruited Cardinal, and in one of the first beatdowns that posted more pax than just goslings the location wasn’t even Thibodaux.

    ————————————

    YHC had planned to create an award ceremony beatown for the BYITG Challenge. However, as the three year manniversary came a few days earlier and in the midst of the PAX dropping their favorite memories, it seemed appropriate to continue the mosey down memory lane. Butttt…as I think about it, I’m now realizing that Goose on a few occasions, knowing my intent, made subtle comments about the three year manniversary. I changed the theme the night before to be a continuation of celebrating F3 memories. How does he do it? I swear it’s Jedi mind tricks. I’m Toydarian…what is this power?

    So…F3 memories. I asked Goose for some old beatdowns and thangs. He sent me the famed Grand Isle beatdown that had roped Cardinal into his FNG appearance. More on that in a bit. There were some hilarious stories, including how YHC argued with Enron about his own last name. He said it was pronounced “Lillick” – no ch sound. I said, “noooo…that’s not right…” Enron said it was of German heritage. I said it was most likely Spanish. Even now, I cringe when I think about it.

    The debate went on for a few minutes, everyone that was present, absolutely dumbfounded by the fact that I would tell a 35 year old man he didn’t know how to pronounce his own last name. To publicly show my acquiescence and humble myself in ridiculous fashion, YHC wore his authentic lederhosen to the Q. It would turn out to be a very bad move for a beatdown. Like running 10 miles with a nutcracker attached to the front of your shorts.

    —————————————–

    Thang 1: The Solo Goose

    Throughout the day on the manniversary, several PAX mentioned their experience with a solo Goose. YHC also shared this experience. It was awful. I almost never came back. It was amazing. In most cases, save the occasional Ace and Gary Q, a Goose favorite was a Lazy Dora. That said, not all PAX have had this once in a lifetime journey into the depths of coupon hell. It’s like swimming with Jar Jar in a small pond that somehow turns into a vast ocean.

    To share the love, PAX partnered up for a quasi Lazy Dora with 50 thrusters, 50 man makers, and 100 OHP’s. Partner 1 did the coupon work, while Partner 2 bear crawled to marker (12 yards) and crab walked back. Flapjack. The kicker was that Goose, in a 10-minute window, had to spend roughly 30 seconds one on one with each PAX, either doing coupon work or joining a PAX in a bear crawl/crab walk. Everyone got a solo Goose. Most of us are now far more informed about form. Did you know there was a narrow and wide edge on a coupon?

    ——————————–

    Thang 2: Seven Memories

    Memory 1: “This is for the birds”

    After taking Cardinal through the beatdown, which that day was the 14 Stations of the Cross (We only had time for 7), Cardinal, in his unparalleled bedside manner (when it comes to sweating and technology), kindly remarked to Goose, “This is for the birds.”

    To commemorate this moment, the PAX did 90 seconds of brick butterfly squats. Here, they flapped their extended wings up as they squatted down, flapped their wings down as they stood up out of the squat, while holding bricks. One minute in, the first rumblings of awareness began to emerge…a 90 second exercise sprint seemed to last longer than expected.

    We sprinted 200 yards, bricks in hand…

    ————————————-

    Memory 2: Here’s to Treeroot

    As F3 Thibodaux began to approach the Open Era, the second and arguably most pivotal draft class exploded onto the scene. PAX such as Popeye, Enron, CuttThroat, Elmer’s, GI Joe, Paradiddle, and others, there were a lot of FNGs who posted…and then quicly faded into the trees. One such PAX was named Treeroot. During a run last year, Enron inquired about whatever happened to Treeroot. This became the descriptor for the phenomenon of ‘showing then ghosting’ from then on.

    90 seconds of tempo squat BOTH ways and arms extended straight up with bricks…you know like a tree growing slowly, branches out. However, it was clear that the PAX were more like crepe myrtles, “growing” quite fast and essentially voiding every single Jurp completed during the BYITG challenge. As such, Horn may have actually been a top scorer.

    Sprint 200 yards, bricks in hand…
    ————————–

    Memory 3: You get a hernia, you get a hernia, EVERYBODY gets a hernia

    One of the OG’s, Popeye, by all accounts started his F3 tenure strong, regularly posting and raising the bar. However, due to a series of burpee laded Goose beatdowns, he got himself a nice hernia, which required surgery. He was on injured reserve for over a year, before staging what the critics are calling the greatest comeback in F3 Nation history. Of course, he would tell you not to call it a comeback. Yes, yes…you got it. He’s been here for years.

    To honor this achievement, we did 90 seconds of hernia inducing V-Ups with bricks in hand. Again, it became very clear, very quickly, that of the total 8,799 V-Ups completed during the BYITG, most likely only 392 actually counted…all belonging to Pope.

    Sprint 200 yards, bricks in hand…
    ————————————-

    Memory 4: The dumbest thing I’ve ever seen…

    Paradox likes to tell a story that while Goose was away on retreat, and having just returned from 30A himself (Paradox), he introduced combo warm-ups such as front arm circle stationary lunges. Upon return from the retreat, Goose reportedly said, “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen…in my life.

    YHC disagrees. The dumbest thing I’ve ever seen was introduced to the PAX by Goose last year, in which one would do a burpee, complete three merkins, and finish the burpee into three jump squats. It’s a real doozy, Clark.

    90 seconds of Goose Burpees with three merkin and three jump squats…these were too hard for YHC to observe anything else going on except how his soldier boi’s were being squat jumped in his tight lederhosen.

    Sprint 200 yards with no bricks…
    ———————————–

    Memory 5: The Inner Circle

    When a man begins F3, he goes through a honeymoon phase, connecting deeply with the other PAX, pushing harder than probably ever in his life, noticing that his body is going through some changes, and realizing that he can make adult friends after all…maybe.

    As such, you let your guard down and let yourself get close. You believe you are progressing through layers of hierarchy, ever inching toward the real inner circle. However, the minute you feel like you’ve made it, you get punched in the crotch and informed that your green texts aren’t welcomed here. Some call you Cactus Jack for almost a month, while your Spanish proficiency is questioned. It’s an emotional roller coaster…one day you’re basking in the warmth of friendship, the next, you’re being kicked out of iMessage groups.

    Like interpretive dance, YHC can best explain the phenomenon by the following:

    For 90 seconds, PAX starts in the outer circle, then bear crawl in/alligator merkin toward the inner circle. Once you get there, crawl bear back out to despair and scorn.

    Sprint 200 yards with no bricks…
    ————————————-

    Memory 6: Diddle Giggle Farts

    Recently, YHC had to go out of town and America’s Best graciously agreed to step into his first Peltch Q. It is safe to say that of the two, AB brought the A. Already ensconced in F3 Thibodaux lore, the German bards will sing of the “brewpons” beatdown for years to come. In one of the exercises, PAX doing WW3 sit ups (BBS with Coupon OHP at top) to some German music, Diddle ripped one right on Goose’s head. As would be expected, the giggling began, and like Sir Didymus and Ambrosius running across the Bog of Eternal Stench, the mini farts came with every sit up/giggle.

    In hopes of replicating this experience, the PAX did 90 seconds of WW3 sit-ups with brick OHP’s. What the PAX didn’t know was that YHC had queued up wet fart sounds on the Spotify playlist…easily BAPS’ greatest moment in his life.What happened over the next 90 seconds will go down as YHC’s best memories of all time. Once the wet fart sounds began, 16 grown men, nearly half of which were over 40, could barely complete the situps because they were giggling so hard. YHC quite literally couldn’t catch his breath.

    Sprint 200 yards, bricks in hand…

    ————————————-

    Memory 7: Kilmer

    One of YHC’s fondest Q memories was when Kilmer DRing from Winston Salem, joined the PAX at The Stage. He was a character to say the least, a gentleman in his late 50’s. He talked a special brand of trash that he was more than welcome to take back to Winston Salem. Toward the end of the beatdown, the PAX was doing a ton of pickle pounders.

    Now, don’t get me wrong…pounders are conducive to melodramatic grunting from even the strongest core, but Kilmer…mannn…it was downright unnerving. It was like the sound you would hear from a mating walrus mixed with…I dunno…yodeling. It was loud. It was weird. It was a bit nasty.

    Smooth, who was pounding next to him and perhaps in his first few weeks of F3 showed no signs of distress, but you could see him slowly inching away with each pickle pounder rep, looking like he had been scandalized. Fortunately for us, Smooth came back and is now ingrained into the very fabric of F3 Thib.

    The PAX did 90 seconds of pickle pounders with instructions to gunt loudly, but appropriately considering the presence of 2.0’s.

    Sprint 200 yards, no bricks…

    —————————————

    With two minutes left, YHC offered up another great F3 moment with Coyote as the protagonist. About 12 PAX attended the NOLA convergence last year. With nearly 100 men in a circle, F3 Thibodaux dropped a Thunderstruck burpee exercise. UNFORTUNATELY, JBL did not get the memo. The volume couldn’t carry, men were getting restless. Then out of the foggy shadows, Coyote sprinted to the middle of the circle and put on what is surely the greatest air guitar performance of all time. 100 men LOVED every second of it. Coyote is legend.

    We did two minutes of burpee Thunderstruck and moseyed back to the flag.

    COT and Cardinal prayed us out.

    Cafeteria followed, and the PAX were treated to Safety Valve’s nitrous oxide cold brew. It. Was. DELICIOUS!

    Just another great memory in a list of great memories. I loved every minute of this beatdown because we got to celebrate each other with humor, chatter, and flatulence.

    SYITG,

    Yankee Jeaux

  • Daylight Savings – from Vagabond

    BLIMPS: Everyone does exercise while the timer runs stair circle coupon rifle carry

    Jump rope to 300 reps with partner while pax planks

    Bear crawl face off

    Pax Choice

    Sunday Mornings

  • Three Years of F3 Thibodaux – from Goose

    Three years may not seem that long, but we’ve stacked up some serious growth, some incredible memories, and an incomparable brotherhood. YHC is not only celebrating three unexpectedly amazing years of F3 Thibodaux, but also a personal four year manniversary. So, this was a special morning. It’s been quite a journey.

    After the typical warmups with 11 cold men, YHC decided to run the crew through some of the most important lessons we’ve learned through over these short/long years while giving them a chance to bring back to the surface some of the highlghts.

    Lesson 1: We almost always slow down, take breaks, and give up not because we can’t actually do any more, but because we don’t think we deserve to endure difficulty. We think we deserve comfort, and though some difficulty is exhilarating, we deserve to avoid the really hard stuff. But, we know better. We don’t get up before 5 and come to literally be punished in unknown ways by a random member of the gang becauae we think we deserve comfort. We know we’re made for more, so we keep showing up; we keep letting the Q push us farther than we’d ever push ourselves, and we hate to miss.
    Thang: Lt. Dan’s (1 to 2 ratio of squats to lunge walk steps, adding one squat and two steps each time) from the sidewalk around the building to the fence around the AC unit in the back. That served as plenty of discomfort to get us all to that point and past it. The chatter only lasted a couple of minutes, and then it got pretty quiet, which was saying a lot for this crew. After picking up the six we moseyed to the pickleball courts.

    Lesson 2: Our form suffers because we feel sorry for ourselves. Good form keeps our joints safe and makes us stronger. Our pride and self-pity puts our joints in danger in an effort to save our muscles, and though me might finish faster, we don’t get stronger. Humility acknowledges where we are and works from there, pushing all the way through, slowly if need be, and maybe not finishing first; and this is how we get stronger. And, just like in life, if we look to preserve ourselves, all the connecting tissue/people suffer. We only grow and take care of the people connected to us if we stay strong, focused, and humble.
    By this point, the PAX was done with the preaching and just wanted to know what pain lie ahead.
    Thang: bear crawl suicides. Bear crawl across one court to the end of the double lines and back, then to the beginning of the next court and back, then to the end of the next court and back. Every time at the baseline was three burpees (with solid form), and every time at the far line was five HR merkins (can’t cheat on that form).

    At this point, Tana reminded YHC that we had some memories to to share (which is probably why YHC thought he went first), so a few PAX were called and shared some doozies. This helped distract considerably from the pain, and it went by relatively quickly. Moseyed to the basketball court.

    Lesson 3: God knows our true limits, and He expands them, providing strength beyond what grit and determination could ever muster on its own. When YHC has been able to trust in and depend upon His help, the pain and difficulty don’t go away, but I can keep pushing much further than I ever expected. He doesn’t take away difficulty, He give us the strength to power through it if we choose to accept it instead of trying to escape it or measure what we’ve got left in the tank by our own figuring. And, for those willing to believe it, YHC shared that all YHC’s beatdowns are actually God’s ideas, and YHC is more of a co-pilot, putting the pieces together that He gives me. So, yes, they’re hard, but they’re amazing sources of growth, both physically and mentally. And, YHC knows that they will actually be doable, no matter how tough they look on paper.
    Thang: Let God decide–we rolled a die, and if it came up 1-3, it meant 15 LBC’s. If it came up 4-6, it meant sprinting half-court and back and then full-court and back. We rolled exactly 15 times, and though YHC didn’t count exactly, it seemed to be almost half and half. We were given breaks when we needed breaks and challenged just beyond the point of wanting to give up, to self-preserve. God is good. And, Honseysuckle and Pope are in great shape.

    With two minutes left, we moseyed back to the flag for the remainder of the memories to be aired. Most, interestingly, had to to do with first beatdowns and how they were both horrific and fulfilling some deep desire we didn’t know we had. So, we kept coming back, even if it was after a few months and/or a hernia. Tana went last because YHC forgot about him (I guess he blended in behind Honeysuckle or Valve), and promised to flim his top five and post them on the GroupMe. This sounded amazing and gave YHC the idea to ask everyone to film their top memories and post them from then till Saturday morning. It’s been unbelievably successful, an incredible way to celebrate the indescribable gift these last three years have been.

    And, YHC will keep posting at every beatdown for as long as God keeps us here. And, when it’s time to go, YHC trusts that God knows what He’s doing, though it’s hard to picture how we’ll push past that difficulty. But, I guess we’ll have the strength we need for it when we get there. Till then, we’ll keep making memories, pushing through limits, and suffering together with this incredible band of brothers. Here’s to F3 Thibodaux and all that is yet to come!

    SYITG,
    Goose

  • 1 Year Manniversary – from Pool Boy

    Beautiful Friday morning 57 degrees. Gave the obligatory warnings and headed to the Football field. Scantron and Triple Shift went KOT’s.

    Warmups consisted of:
    SSH’s
    Armcircles;all types
    Abe Vigoda’s
    Grass Grabbers
    Low Slow Squats
    Imperial Walkers
    Slow Merkins
    Burpees

    The Thang
    100 yard’s back and forth of Bear Crawl, Leap Frog, Leap Frog with Partner, Leap Frog Burpee
    Mosey to the Rock Pile and select a rock. In silence: sort of
    Rock Merkins
    Curls
    Overhead Press
    Squats
    Crunches(with rock)
    Rock Press
    Mosey back toward the flag for Rock Toss – Partner up and chunk the biggest rock you have back and forth over the fence to one another. About 5 minutes. Rifle carry Indian Walk back to the rock pile.
    Finished with Mary
    Sprint back to the flag.
    COT
    As this was my 1 year anniversary, thank you all for your support.

  • Afternoon Delight 11-1-2023 – from Almonaster

    A real Cold Front!

    PAX:

    – Strings
    – Blowout
    – Almonaster

    Warmup:

    Side Straddle Hops – 20
    Arm Circles -10 IC
    Imperial Walkers – 10 IC
    Hill Billy’s – 10 IC
    Reverse Arm Circles – 10 IC
    The Morpheus – 10
    Balance on 1 foot for 10 seconds – Each Foot
    Grass Grabbers – 10
    Wind Mills – 10 IC
    Mountain Climbers – 10 IC

    The Thang:

    We have a perfect figure 8 parking lot by the Clubhouse that we used to run laps intertwined with stretching and exercises. Ran over 2 miles!

    Run a Lap
    Hip joint and flexor stretches, both legs
    Run a Lap
    Hamstring stretches – both legs
    Run a Lap
    Slow Merkins – 20 IC
    Run a Lap
    Low Slow Squats 20 IC
    Run a Lap
    Leg stretches, right middle, and left
    Run a lap

    Mary

    LBC’s – 20 IC
    Freddie Mercuries – 20 IC
    Hello Dollies – 20 IC
    Angry Roach – 20 IC
    Penguins – 20 IC
    Douillie’s – 20 IC

    Back to Flag

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