Pete and Repeat went to the Marsh for a beatdown. Pete went down after finishing 6 exercises
and 60 reps. Who was left? Repeat.
Repetition can be a good or bad thing, depends on what you
are repeating. Today, it was a good thing.
WARMORAMA
SSH, Imperial Walkers, Toe Touches, Arm Circles (front,
back, small, big)
Warm up run to stop sign and back
YHC had trouble counting which produced uneven counts for each warm up: 12/12/14/12/8.
Mumblechatter:
Overwhelming excitement for Lane Kiffin and the Rebels (at least for YHC and Cowbell); If you take the back seat out of a huge van you can put a crib in for a newborn; Saints loss / 3 men and a 10 second facemask to get Kittle down
Pick up coupons (notably heavier than those at the Gipper).
Wiki posted which was referenced often.
THANG
6 rounds; 6 exercises, 10 reps each, run to stop sign and
back; Increase by 1 rep each round
Cowbell was out of the gates in Gazelle fashion after round
1. After a slow 1st round Bushwhacker came in stride, while YHC,
Goose, and Pick stayed even until the end. Shout out to Bushwhacker for even
showing up after the Hundo training and a lakefront beatdown 2 days prior.
MARY
YHC lost count of time due to a small watch font and bad eyes. Bushwhacker kept counting down 3 min, 2 min, 1 min while I was thinking we had until 6:15 and we could get at least another round in. Cowbell asked if we were going to do Mary – que to stop. After returning coupons, Mary was 30 seconds of LBC’s OYO.
COT
Count-O-Rama | Pray out
Although we did not reach our lofty goal of 6 rounds because of time constraints, it was a great way to start the week. Bush and Cowbell finished 1 round ahead of YHC, Pick, and Goose. As a team, we totaled 948 reps and ran 8.8 miles in less than 45 minutes.
I couldn’t have finished 1 round 6 months ago when I started
with F3. The opportunity to lead my VQ at the Marsh, was a Milestone for me
indeed.
Was it as epic as expected? You bet. There were packs of wild dogs, gators lying in wait in the shallow ditches of Abita Springs, machete-wielding vagabonds hiding under the overpass, and, of course, 9 pairs of utterly destroyed feet.
As you might expect, this group of men started out strong. After a quick COT where Tank prayed us in with blessings and thoughts of safety, we set out. At this point there was still a good deal of revelry happening on Girod Street, where Sips of the Season was winding down and more than a few men were teetering in and out of bars. Caught one doing the sidewalk, using the hedges to try and keep upright. Little did we know we’d have roughly the same gait by the end of the night.
But we passed the revelry with a smile and a bounce in our step, ready to tackle the road ahead. Gideon – the Navy Seal of Netflix and Pizza – got the party started with a killer mix, and we were off. Running now at a brisk pace, more than a few of us looked around and wondered, “Wait, didn’t we say we were walking this thing?”
Getting to the Abita Trailhead (approx 9.5 miles in) was relatively quick. Took a short break (with open facilities near midnight, no less), and forged ahead. Now here’s where things started getting dicey. Jose and Moby had decided early on that they’d keep at a brisk walking pace, and so the rest of the overzealous gang started seeing a bit of separation from them. A few of us would run back and check in but eventually they seemed to be going pretty steady, and so everyone just kept moving. Shortly after hitting the Abita trailhead, the trace goes pretty dark, a little less residential, and a lot more wooded. Being the merry band of travelers that we were, we happened to rouse a few wild dogs in the woods. Tank was in the lead when the barking began, and when it was clear they were following us, he quickly circled back to the group ready for war. The dogs stayed with us for a block or so, obscured by the woods, with Tank flashing his lights in and catching the glint of at least 5 pairs of eyes. As you can imagine, Tank was fired up. He flipped his headlamp into strobe mode (hoping to give our canine friends a seizure, or at the very least some confusion), Speedy pulled out a small knife, and there was a good half hour discussion on the weapons that would need to be crafted for the return trip through that section (Spears, bats with barbed wire, you get the idea). The dogs probably sensed all the testosterone and fell back as we forged ahead. (Either that or they were simply residential dogs behind a wire fence that couldn’t we couldn’t see, but hey, not a theory YHC was ready to verify!)
Soon thereafter we reached The Gipper and collectively felt pretty darn good about ourselves. Roughly halfway and everyone was still feeling fresh. Moby had been picked up by Vickie in Abita Springs and it was time to check in with Jose, who had now been traveling solo for a few miles. Tank was quite worried about the pack of wild dogs, and sent Jose an urgent text message warning him of the dangers ahead. Unfortunately, some other “Richard” in Tank’s address book would be receiving that midnight message about the wild dogs of Abita, os Tank was not wearing his reading glasses at the time. For some reason, YHC imagines that other Richard will not be that surprised.
Hammer kept it old school and broke out the Big League Chew, and after another short break, the men turned back to head for Mandeville. Covington turned out to be just as active as Girod street had been hours ago – and, with all the drunken revelry surrounding us, more than a few men were reminded of the time we bear crawled down Bourbon Street for the Grow Ruck.
Apparently Jose had turned on the heat after passing Abita as we caught him just a few yards shy of the infamous Butter Krisp and, for a brief moment, the group was in tact. At some point YHC got a little too close to a gator, who’s loud dash into the ditch sent me nearly knocking over Wacker. (A scene reminiscent of that Captain Sparkles surprise attack at the Scramble.).
Tank, Jose, and YHC eventually slowed down while the rest of the gang moved onward at a steady clip.
Jose was undaunted by all Frank’s talk of rabid dogs, and in fact, he started heckling them as we got close. Tank tried to quiet him and Jose said hey, if a dog attacked him, he’d sue the hell out of the owners. Tank explained that it was a poor area and he probably wouldn’t get much. Jose said, “That’s fine, I’ll liquidate their assets.”
Tank’s reply?
“I’ll liquidate those dogs’ nuts if I have to.” Cue the grunting and strobing headlamps.
Meanwhile, Speedy hit a physical and mental wall at Koop Drive and wasn’t sure he’d be able to continue. The men stopped to support him, but not for long, as Speedy drew down deep, found some reserves, and pushed ahead.
Tank, Jose and I made it through Abita without incident, and, after telling the legend of the machete man who lives under the overpass, we started approaching Koop Dr. Once there, Jose told Tank and I to turn it on, that he’d be fine the rest of the way.
Took a bit to catch up with the rest of the men, who had adopted a new strategy in our absence – run a song / walk a song. This was a total crapshoot with Gideon’s mix, knowing that there’d an 8-minute Rebirth song hitting at some point. But it was a great distraction and we quickly found our way to Grandmother’s tunnel for a photo op, before hitting the Mandeville trailhead.
Another break, Butt Splice bandaged a badly blistered foot, and onward we went.
It all got a bit blurry at this point, but here are a few things I remember: Tank and Bush passing me at the lakefront for their final mile, doing it at an under 8 minute pace; the heroic image of Speedy, who thought he was done 10 miles back, running to Survivor with fists in the air to the finish line; Splice, feet wounded but patiently awaiting the sunrise that would bring his hour-long Q.
The entire group finally laid out on the lakefront lawn, just in time for Garfield to show up, stretching for the a Saturday morning pre-thang. To no one’s surprise, Tank ran the pre-thang like he hadn’t just run/walked 33 miles. And then, Splice Q’d the hourlong beatdown like the beast that he is, and unabashedly included many, many box jumps.
33 miles. 1/3 of our final goal, and it was hard. Really hard. The road ahead to the hundo is dark, and yet because of you guys, YHC is undaunted. This night made us stronger, more prepared, and more knowledgeable. Most of all, it made us realize the incredible fortitude of the men around us. Success or failure, Hundo, here we come.
For our Sunday stroll, the team decided to take a course not typically on our radar. The Tank decided to take the boyz on the Abita trace. Search and Destroy looking for a pack of dogs needing some clippings of the nut kind. Luckily for them, they stayed in hiding .
At least the morning was outstanding and the run flew by. Hope you can make it next week.
Finally, F1 closed out the session with our prayer.
A potential trio scramble featuring YHC, Hammer, and The Pelican in da Hood was dashed by the simultaneous assemblage of avengers Steve, Shooter, Akbar, and Pik.
WARM O RAMA
x10 IC: High Knees, Butt Kicks, Imperial Walkers, Toe Touches, Mountain Climbers, Scorpion Kicks. It wouldn’t be a proper scramble warm up without a welcomed interruption of Cowbell’s tardy tendencies.
THANG
The wind blows, the sun rises, and scramblers scramble. Thus we did through the pre-dawn-darkened streets of Old Mandeville at paces ranging from 8-9:00/mile.
MARY
Upon returning, the PAX moved to the park’s padded workout area to spread out a little ISI amongst the Mary. x15 Jack Knife Sit Ups, x10 100s, x15 JKSUs, x10 Scorpion Kicks, x15 JKSUs, Fire Hydrants, x15 JKSUs, L/R Lizard Pose stretches, Downward Dog, Child’s Pose .
COT
Count/Name With Friday’s all-nighter looming, and three of the 6 retarded participants present, Q threw out one last invite to the PAX. After all, as the 2019 Ragnar Trail shirt says, “It’s not crazy if we’re all doing it!”
No takers…
Thanks for coming out to push yourselves and each other, and for subjecting yourselves to QICs whims of physical torture!
You’d think with Cowbell returning from the Virgin Islands and YHC returning from a beach trip in Panama City this weekend, that we wouldn’t need all the hats/gloves/tights today. And yet most of us – precluding Shooter, of course – did arrive to this morning’s 34º gloom with the above-mentioned winter accessories.
But of course we warmed up quickly and began shedding the layers. Started things off with: good mornings, windmills, arm circles forward, arm circles backwards, air presses, SSHs, seal jacks, IWs, and hillbillies. (Ranging from 10x for the slowish ones to 20x for the faster ones.)
Then, because YHC was having second thoughts about certain sections of my planned beatdown, we took a mosey around the perimeter of the trailhead to give me time to think. Once back, we finally dove in:
Partner up at the head of the corridor: P1 will do burpee broad jumps while P2 runs the stairs and back to relieve P1. Journey across the courtyard and all the way back to the start.
Second Partner Corridor Exercise: P1 does 4x lunges, 8x squats across, while P2 runs up stairs and back to relieve. Across and back again.
Next, recovery walk over to the stage for some Balls To The Wall. YHC has probably only done BTTW once before, and had originally planned to do 60 seconds of it sprinkled a few times throughout the beatdown. That got shut down real quick after we recovered from our first minute.
Stayed with that same section of the stage wall, this time for a People’s Chair with overhead air presses, increased the time to 75 seconds.
After that, grab a partner for some Lazy Doras. Cowbell introduced this one to the Northshore PAX during his first F2 event, and it was no bueno. So YHC figured why not inflict it on the unsuspecting men this morning?
P1 10 merkins while P2 planks, swap until you’ve reached 100
P1 15 squats while P2 Al Gores, up to cumulative 150
P1 20 LBC’s, while P2 holds legs 6″ off ground, up to 200
A slowesy back to the corridor for the combo sprints/peter parkers/parker peters that I’m so fond of, and then it was time for Mary: flutter kicks, Hello Dolly’s, and Rosalie’s to wrap it up.
COT and Zoo prayed us out, with special intentions for his sister and her family, who lost their house to a fire last weekend. Lift them up this week as they deal with the loss.
Thanks men for the spur to get out of bed on cold mornings like this one, and the opportunity to lead and get sharper!
For various reasons, YHC has been away from the gloomy streets of Old Mandeville, unable to post at the Scramble and the Marsh (YHC’s 2 favorite AOs) on a regular basis for the last 3 months. But today was different! YHC was excited to be back out ratting the streets with some of his runnin podnuhs. Here’s to hoping for more posts in the future.
Here’s a LOOSE description of what went down and who was there to attest.
Thang: Mosey over to workout Equipment for 3 sets of Pull ups x 5, alternating w/ 10 squats.
Mosey to Lakefront, stopping at each intersection for some exercises: Putins, Leg Raises, Crunchy Frogs, Merkins, Mountain Climbers, Peter Parkers, Al Gores, Chill Cut Planks. Then off to Rips for some up and over work before heading back to the Marsh to close out.
Thanks to the always loquacious Bushwacker for praying us out!
Good to be back out there in the gloom with you men. F3–Always pushing ahead, always pushing forward!
The Magnificent 7 took off and maintained a cruising pace of 8:30. Who could ask for a better morning! Cool temps, abundant sunshine, north breeze, low humidity and FRIENDS! Time flies when you discuss “life” with a running mate. One learns much about each other when we share the road together.
Jose10K closed out the workout with a wonderful prayer. Then it was off for some coffee and bonding.
Pre-thang was interrupted so that YHC and Jose could retrieve a tool to adjust the basketball goals at the Marsh. Said errand was then interrupted by a damn deer to the side of the truck. Shooter’s been desperatly hunting for a buck all season long, and Bushwcker hits one without even trying!
WARMORAMA
The PAX got down to business with SSHs, Imperial Walkers, Hill Billies, Arm Circles, and Burpees (Speedy’s new favorite exercise).
THANG
Mosey west, with a stop or two for OYO 15 Burpees, 15 Big Boy Sit Ups, and 15 Squats. Upon arriving at the Marsh, PAX divided into 3 teams for 1 on 1 full-court basketball, while the “non-participating” team did a continuous stream of 30 Squats, 20 Big Boy Sit Ups, and 10 Burpees. The original plan of 1st team to 10 points wins, was truncated to 1st to 5 points…and eventually teams switch on each point (White men can’t shoot). With rotating uniforms of shirts vs skins, the pace was frenetic and frenzied.
Highlights of the ballers’ delight included competent offensive skills of Shooter, Hammer, and Bird, YHC’s aggressive strategy checked by a jewel shot from Moby Dick, and much fewer Burpees than Speedy may have hoped for. Overall, fun was had by all, as well as a different cardio work out than the usual Lakefront beat down supplies.
The mosey back to the flag turned into a race between teams, with some trying harder than others. As would be expected, Tank poured it on with gusto and grit, with QIC (Speedy) pushing right next to him. Upon arrival, assorted planks were done as Splice ran back to pick up the 6.
COT
Count/name/announce – Shooter prayed us out with accompaniment by The Scorpions courtesy of a passing motorist.
Congratulations and a job well done to Speedy on his successful VQ! It was a pleasure and a terror all wrapped into one, and we look forward to more of the same from him going forward.
Seven birds flew into the Scramble this Thanksgiving Morning, with the exception of one advanced bird cruising in on a GIANT ready to pluck through the streets of our beautiful home of Mandeville.. Let’s keep it simple and sweet like pecan pie!!!!
warmup
All IC 15 SSH, Toe Touches, Windmills, Scorpion kicks, Left/Right groin stretch and the Butterfly stretch..
thang
PAX broke into various pace sets as YHC took the road with a returning Butt Splice to catch-up with a brother not seen in awhile.. Returned to the AO with few to spare and gave the Wacker his touch on Core before off to filling the stomach with all the goodness this day brings.. IC 15 LBCs, Flutter kicks and Hello Dollies..
count, announce, intentions for others and reflections of the many blessings we all have including the F3 Brotherhood.. COT
Big thanks to Splice for closing us in Prayer before heading to the House, Waffle House that is for a little F2 before returning Home to get the day going!!
Appreciate all you Turkeys who chose to get out the roust this Gloom and join me!!
Eight veteran Northshore PAX, a visitor from F3 Louisville, and an FNG from Monroe, NC descended on The Gipper in the Gloom this morning for a pre-Thanksgiving beatdown. After a quick warmup consisting of SSHs, mountain climbers, seal jacks, merkins, imperial walkers, plank jacks, and butt kicks, all 10x IC, we headed to the Justice Center for
B-L-I-M-P-S since we’ll all look like one tomorrow.
The PAX partnered up and together knocked out 50 burpees, 50 lunges, 50 imperial walkers, 50 merkins, 50 plank jacks, and 50 squats with partner 1 exercising while partner 2 ran up the Justice Center stairs and down the “NO SKATEBOARDING” ramp to relieve partner 1.
Short recovery walk to Oak Alley where we alternated sprinting and jogging at each live oak tree. That effort turned into a mosey back to The Gipper trailhead and the undisclosed secret location housing our cinderblocks.
Each man checked out a cinderblock from storage and got together again with his partner. The PAX knocked out 10 reps each of thrusters, swings, manmakers, merkins, around the worlds each direction, figure 8s, goblet squats and RDLs. Between exercises, one partner backpedaled while the other farmer carried two cinderblocks 25 yards. We held our blocks overhead while waiting for the 6.
After returning our cinderblocks to storage, the PAX moved to the bandstand area and with the three and a half minutes left hit as many rounds as possible of bear crawls down the hill, jump or step up onto the bandstand, jump or run down the ramp or stairs, and raccoon crawl up the narrow concrete ledge back to the starting point.
Countorama, nameorama, and a nice prayer from The Hammer to wrap things up.
