F3 New Orleans

Category: Backblasts

  • beatdown IN the lake

    THE SCENE: Spooky Times at Okwata (Tropical Storm Conditions/Flooding).

    F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER Yes! 

    WARM-O-RAMA:
    From the flag, the PAX moseyed around the Mardi Gras fountain and ended up at the grassy area between the Mardi Gras Fountain and Lakeshore Drive where the PAX completed: 

    13 PUMPKIN PICKERS, 

    13 SCARECROW ARM CIRCLES (forward and backward), 

    13 GOBLIN HUMPERS, 

    13 BAT WING FLAPS, and

    13 FRANKENSTEIN WALKERS.  

    JUMPING JACK-O-LATERNS didn’t make the cut.    

    THA-THANG:

    The PAX partnered up for “40 MINUTES OF HELL!”  

    The PAX Pairs completed:

    • 50 Burpees 
    • 300 Squats 
    • 300 Little Baby Arm Circles
    • 150 Merkins
    • 300 Imperial Walkers
    • 200 Shoulder Presses

    COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
    8 PAX in Total: Dirty Dell, Breadsticks, Shuffles, Sogo, Jingle Vader, Sheetrock, Pop Tart , Briefs (Q)

    CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
    COT convened.  The PAX kept each other in our prayers as the conditions were turning ugly all around us.  We also prayed for all of the trick-or-treaters and their families tonight.  

    ANNOUNCEMENTS:
    Mothership/Muscleship battle/convergence on Saturday.

    THOUGHTS/SHOUT-OUTS

    A lot of the great things about F3 were on display this morning.  The beatdown was certainly a physical challenge, but it was equally (or even more of) a test of mental strength.

    The wind was relentless.  The rain didn’t let up.  We were getting drenched by a fountain during parts of the exercise.  The puddles we ran through were more like lakes.  The streets were flooding all around us.  But, we pushed through, carrying and supporting each other along the way.  The brotherhood component to F3 was on full display. 

    Following the COT @ the warm-o-rama location we sprinted to our vehicles due to the deteriorating conditions. The flooding at the lake was severe.  Water was literally less than an inch from entering my car.   Everyone got in their cars and began to navigate the roadways to get to the the other side of the levee.  The best part of the entire morning, in my opinion, happened at this moment.  From my car, I see Sogo in the middle of Lakeshore Drive out of his truck with his emergency lights flashing.  I stopped to ask him if he needed me to call someone to help.  I thought for sure he was the one in need of help.  I was mistaken. He was the one helping others!  After going through 40 MINUTES OF HELL!; being pelted by wind and rain for the entire morning and presumably still being cold and definitely still wet and it was still raining and windy, Sogo was thinking of others in need.    

    Seeing this was the most inspiring part of the morning (and that is saying a lot because everyone was inspiring this morning).  

    We were between a levee and a lake with water coming from all angles, but we were together making ourselves better.  Thanks to those that came out.  I now prefer the rainy mornings. 

  • T is Tsunami or is it S

    Lovely “fall” morning in NOLA to be running about….

    Warm up with light stretching then a mosey to the corner of St Charles and Calhoun:

    isometric hold lunge 30 second each leg

    BLIMPS up the hill doing each exercise three times

    mosey to the benches and OYO:

    20 right leg step ups

    20 left leg step ups

    20 dips

    20 decline merkins

    mosey to the middle mountain:

    10 jump squats on odd number floors and 20 merkins on even number floors running to the top

    isometric hold calf raises for 1 minute

    5 hand release burpees

    isometric hold lbc 30 seconds

    mosey to touch down Jesus

    ring of fire 5 burpees

    isometric hold lunge 30 seconds each leg

    ring of fire 10 merkins

    20 x dying bug

    mosey to the flag, count, name-a-rama and prayer

    Thanks for letting me lead,

    86

  • Double Booked

    I was happy to take the fill-in Q though during my pre-workout moment of silence in the bathroom I checked my calendar for the day and saw I had a 6:30 meeting. Oops. Too late now- will just have to modify. Plus the pax always likes a quick run around the park.

    Warm up:

    Mosey around the parking lot to the bandstand for a warm up: SSH IC x 30, Forward arm circles IC x 20, Reverse arm circles IC x 20, Grass Grabbers IC x 30.

    The Thang:

    To the track for two columns of catch me if you can with 3 burpees for the tailing pax. Continue until all pax have rotated through.

    Pull off into a really dark and wet circle of trees for an honorary ring of fire in the style of South Caroline Dry Docks in honor of visiting Pax, CDC, from S.C. Form from the pax was spotty at best.

    Indian Run to the fountain benches. RLSU IC x 20, Dips IC x 20, LLSU IC x 20, Derkins/Should Taps/Derkins IC x 30.

    Back to the track for POW run to the grassy knoll. Circle of mary. Sensitive pax not loving the wet turf. Comrade Douilles IC x 20, LBC IC x 19, Dying Cock Roach IC x 20

    Two column Indian Run back to the flag. This was a good 3/4 mile run that the pax handled well. Shout out to two guys that have busted their butts and are step for step with the long runs: Squeal and Quincy. Nice work fellas!!

    And I’m done, had to split out. I heard there was some additional Mary and something about nominating Tinkles for a F3 organizational award. You guys are so thoughtful. See you in the Gloom!

  • YOU’LL NEVER SINK THIS BOOOOAT AH HA HAAAA!!

    “It’s time for a showdown: you and me. I’m right here, come and get me!”

    -Lieutenant Dan

    The forecast called for the front line to roll through about 5am, but upon waking, it appeared that we had just missed the rain and tumult. Still the flashes of lightening and the threat of hazardously unpleasant weather seemed enough to keep attendance low. Arriving to a Steve-less Scramble, YHC knew it took less than hail and sleet to foster the fartsack for some. But Ackbar, Shooter, and the reliably tardy Cowbell had other plans.

    WARMORAMA

    x10 IC:

    Imperial Walkers

    Windmills

    High Knees

    Grass Grabbers

    Slow Squats

    Butt Kicks

    THANG

    The pre-ordained progression unfolded with the scramblers skipping over puddles. Cowbell specifically mentioned how getting his shoes wet would ruin his run….Oh would it now?

    About 1.5 miles in (just long enough for Q to actually get warmmed up), lightening streaked across the sky and the heavens once more opened over Mandeville. The wind-whipped sheets of torrential rain, rather than ruining, actually invigorated the rambling foursome, who had by this point split into the engine and the caboose. A respectable sub-9 was had by all as the train pulled into the water-logged station.

    MARY

    A rapid-fire abbreviated Mary involved x20 IC (moving directly from one exercise into the next) LBCs, Freddy Mercurys and Flutter Kicks.

    COT

    Remaining comfortably on our soaking sixes, COUNT/NAME/ANNOUNCE/PRAY with Q taking the lead out.

    F1/F2 coming next month at the Gipper Thursday Nov 21@6pm/6:30pm

    Today was one for adventurers. Thanks for coming on this adventure with me, guys! And HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

  • The No Power Menu

    10 men braved the Olga aftermath to see what was on the No Power Menu this past Saturday.  YHC may not be able to remember much of what was actually on the menu, but I can tell you what was not on the menu: a fun game of mud football wasn’t (or, really, any “fun” in general); a beatdown with a clear vision wasn’t; and a fast cup of strong coffee at coffeeteria wasn’t either.  But more on that later.

    First, there was much mumblechatter and confusion as to what exactly happened to Wacker.  He had posted on the GroupMe that Olga had “slipped in last night and screwed things up.”  But many men hadn’t heard that the tropical storm had been named and so, naturally, thought a Russian woman had slipped into Bush’s bed.  Obviously, there was a lot of concern and alarm until it was revealed Olga was “not the Russian lady he did that run with a few weeks ago.”

    Now, the beatdown.  Nevermind that YHC can’t remember the specifics of the warmorama (it’s pretty much the same 15 or so exercises anyway, right?), more of note was that it had to be the darkest warmorama on record.  With the power out in the entire neighborhood, it really couldn’t be any darker (unless, of course, we lost the light coming from Hammer and Pik’s phones).  YHC kept thinking, how can we do anything in this darkness?  No bear crawls, no suicides – what are we gonna just sit in a circle and do side straddle hops all morning??

    So… after some SSH’s, we carefully tread over to the playground equipment for a round of 7’s: pull-ups to merkins.  Then over to the benches for a second set of 7’s: Freak Nasties to Bulgarians (admittedly, Bulgarians were a bit ill-conceived due to the awkwardness of having to do each leg).

    Then carefully back to center court for a set of 1 minute AMRAPs, dealer’s choice: we went around the circle and each man picked an exercise.  I can’t remember the exercises: there were merkins, there were jump squats, there were burpees, oh, and then Maverick showed up about this time and made us do Merkins again.

    After that, Tank mercifully took the Q for a moment, just as light was starting to peek through.   He had us do runs across the court, with a merkin at each end.  About 5 laps here to get the heart rate going.

    YHC took the Q back for what I thought could be an interesting one: partner up for the slowest Catch Me If You Can ever.  P1 will inchworm down the block, P2 will perform 10 merkins, 10 squats, and 10 LBCs, before bear crawling to catch and replace P1.  YHC thought it would be fun to go sightseeing down the block (now that there was light) where there were downed power lines, fallen trees, frantic cars, and all sorts of other fun stuff to dodge.  But the wise Hammer pulled us back to the safety of the court.  This exercise turned out to be not so fun in the end anyway.

    Then we split into two teams of 5 and did a relay race across the court.  Jose ran so fast that I think he ran straight outta the court and into the home across the street, but he did seal the tie for his team.  So, 20 burpees for all.

    And… what else?  Ah, we finished with a round of Mary: again, a 1 minute AMRAP, dealer’s choice, around the circle.  And again, YHC cannot recall the exact exercises, but does remember that Pik had us do calf raises, because I remember thinking, “this isn’t core,” but hey, fair game nonetheless.  And Turbo had us do Scuba Steves.  And Jose pulled out his fave – Jane Fondas, 1 minute each leg to close it all out.

    COT where Tank took center stage to announce the Hundo, which is gaining some traction despite its utter insanity.   You gotta love these guys.  Akbar prayed us out and then we were on our way in search of coffee.  Despite the citywide outage, this group of stragglers wouldn’t take no for an answer and found the local Waffle House to be incredibly accommodating despite the lack of power.  T-claps to our cheery waitress, who put up with Hammer’s constant tea refills and a bunch of sweaty guys that had no intention of eating.  In the company of these men, that weak, slow-drip coffee was some of the best I’ve ever had.

    So while we may never know if those eighteen year olds were able to pull their truck out with bungee cords, like much in life, some things are just better left to the imagination.  Gents, thanks for the opportunity to co-lead with Tank, I believe I can speak for both of us when I say that it’s a privilege and honor that we don’t take for granted.

    Like the men of F3, Waffle House plans for the expected, but is prepared for the unexpected.

  • Crescent City Fall Classic Preview

    The Q sheet for The Stomp was mysteriously blank for this beautiful Tuesday morning. On Monday, YHC wondered why would such a popular beatdown did not have a Q — rain in the forecast (we all know Lakeview people can’t handle a little rain). So at 5:01 am, YHC took the Q, his first at the beloved 610 Stomp.

    This Saturday morning is the Cresent City Fall Classic. YHC has always dreamed of running the Cresent City 10k from a timed coral. The fall classic and the St. Patty’s two-miler are the qualifiers for the 10k but YHC cannot attend either this year. So, why not make the entire Stomp crowd attempt to run qualify for the race at an F3 workout.

    We mosey from the flag to the starting line. Along the way, we warmed up with high knees, butt kicks, carioca right, and carioca left.

    At the starting line, the course was roughly explained. Runners were reminded that a CCC10k qualifying time was 22:00. With that disclaimer, we were off.

    After passing Christian Brother’s the kind security guard told us that our route would need to be modified (darn VooDoo Fest). No worries we modify and move on.

    At the conclusion of the run, a few things were determined.

    1. The Pax determined that Shuffles probably qualified and no one else.
    2. YHC discovered how his M feels when I don’t follow directions.
    3. F3 is full of leaders and followers, both were on display today.
    4. Amnesty plays by his own rules.
    5. The park is safer than running down the bayou (except for that one part when I lead the Pax into the middle of Wisner).

    Finished with Mary, stretching, and burpees.

    COT

    It is always a pleasure to lead. Thank you, gentlemen.

  • Rise-n-Stein

    Sorry about this backblast being tardy. The piece of paper that I had my login password on, fell behind the refrigerator.

    So with a cool morning at the Gipper, in the 40s, a long warm-up was in order; 20xIC: windmills, side straddle hops, arm circles, seal jacks, good mornings, high knees, imperial walkers, butt kicks, toe touches, and hillbillys.

    Mosey over to the Taj-Mahal, split into two groups with one group running around the campus building while the other group squats in human chair position. Repeat a few times.

    Stroll over and circle up around the substantial flag pole. One pax walks to the flag pole and shimmys up the pole a little. The counter clockwise pax person calls out an exercise to be completed while the pole-climber hangs on. Repeat around until everyone gets a turn. Shooter, no doubt, could have a second career as a circus sway-pole climber.

    Mosey over to the Justice Center parking garage. A quick stop at the short wall to do a series of step-ups. Then to the ramps for backwards lunge walking and sprints. On the top deck we did a series of 100 yard side shuffles while touching the ground at each parking space.

    Mosey back to the flag for one minute of Freddies.

    Circle up, count off, and BushWacker leads us out with his Epistle to the Gipperians II.

  • Darkness bells

    A dark and cool AM. 56 degrees.

    Willie arrived after I started to worry about being alone for the Sweaty Bells.

    Willie and I moseyed over to the soccer field for a 2 man deal.

    Then Jingle and Kong arrived so we were 4.

    Started with warmups: Halos, Figure 8, Bus Driver, Round the waist, Hot Potato

    The THANG: I envisioned a 10-15-20-15-10 cycle for the following exercises. However time kept us to a 10-15-10 cycle.

    Exercises in order: 1/2 burpee to row, KB overhead press, Tricep press, Kb Swings, Rows L/R, Curls, Reverse Lunge, Lateral Pulls/Drag.

    After that cycle we ran a lap around the soccer field. Then repeat for 15 reps then finished with 10 reps.

    That took all of our time – I had some Mary planned but we had to skip it.

    Some chill time with the boys and bells. Who are all these sketchy people at the FLY in the gloom? Strange folks.

    Thanks for letting me Q. It is always a blast.

  • Low Impact Muscleship

    Conditions: 68 degrees with 94% humidity. Lots of debris across the park as a result of either Tropical Storm Olga or VooDoo Fest…not sure which.

    Warm-up

    Imperial Walkers x 25; Windmills x 15; Alternating Lunges x 10; Tempo Merkins x 20; Low Slow Squats x 25; Forward Arm Circles x 20; Moroccan Night Club x 25; Backward Arm Circles. Hobbs starts to worry about the extended amount of shoulder warm-up.

    The Thang

    Bear Crawl the length of Lelong Dr. (a little shy of 1/4 mile). When lead dog, err..bear, reaches Wisner, he turns around and bear crawls back toward the six. As the lead bear gets to you, turn around and join his crawl to the six. Hobbs fears are realized.

    Mary: Flutter Kicks x 20; LBCs x 20; Penguins x 20

    Head back toward museum along the tree line. Jameis Winston for two trees, bear crawl two trees, lunge walk two trees. There were 16 or so trees. Again, the lead pax came back to the six and all joined in along the way.

    One more bear crawl for 6 or so tree lengths.

    Grab a cinderblock and start walking toward the Baby Foundry, aka the Refinery. Along the way we…walked Cusak Style, did curls, did Farmer Carries.

    Partner up at the BF Refinery. One partner pulls a Bernie Sanders on the pull up bars while the other does a Curl, Squat, Curl, Press Combo. Flap Jack when partner one falls out. After two rounds or so, it turned to straight curls. Did 3 or 4 rounds.

    Walk back with block, moving it from right shoulder to left shoulder via a shoulder press on call. Stopped at Victory Avenue for some Curls in Cadence.

    8-count merkin walk over block x 7

    Cool Down

    World’s Greatest Stretch, Touch your Toes, COT

    NMM

    • I listened to a F3 Roundtable Call with F3 Gastonia. They have a no run AO called Pain Lab. They take it as far as to have no high impact exercises…No-Impact = two feet on the ground, Low-Impact = one foot on ground at all times; High Impact = both feet come off the ground. I thought the Muscleship would be a great place to try this out. It meant no SSHs in the warm-up and no burpees.
    • The bear crawl was Epic. SOGO did a quarter of a mile without stopping. The rest of us were not far behind. How far can someone bear crawl without stopping?
    • JVs audible exertions are reaching new levels.
    • From what I could understand, Tool’s Coach O impersonation was very encouraging.
    • SOGO agrees that rain-soaked coupons are the best coupons
    • War Eagle hates Lloyd Dobbler. Not sure about his feelings for Diane Court. What am I saying? He has know idea who those people are.
    • There are patriots among us at City Park. Our flag fell while we were at the Refinery and someone stuck it back in the ground. This evens the score for when they stole our flag a few years ago. City Park Patriots 1 – City Park Commie Bastards 1.
    • Can I still say Commie or is that a Twitter offense?
    • Thumb War was noticeably excited about the Yoga at the end. Beware, I see some Warrior poses in his future Qs.
    • T-claps to all our F3 brethren that ran the Jazz Half and those doing the GoRuck tonight.

  • First Co-Q

    4 men including one sort of new member to the Westbank crewe worked out together on Thursday morning at 5am prompt.

    Warmup:
    Light jog from AO to parking lot
    Side Straddle Hop x 15
    Arm Circles x 10 forwards and 10 backwards
    Merkins x 20
    Mountain Climbers x 20

    Main Workout – 7 of Diamonds(4 rounds) — With the parking lot as our square:
    Round 1 – x 7 burpees at each of the 4 corners with a mosey in between corners.
    Round 2 – x 14 four count flutter kicks at each of the 4 corners.
    Round 3 – x 21 merkins at each of the 4 corners.
    Round 4 – x 28 squats at each of the 4 corners.

    Mosey back to middle of park for ab workouts:

    In a circle and on our sixes with each PAX taking turns:
    x 15 – 3 count flutter kicks
    x 10 – 3 count flutter kicks
    x 15 – 3 count cross flutter kicks
    x 20 – side sit-ups( left and right)
    x 20 – alternate shoulder taps

    For 3mins – x 7 ss hops, x 7 merkins, and x 7 jump squats

    Final light jog to AO for COT and Prayer.

    Thanks brethren for the counting tips and the guidance for my first Q!