Category: Backblasts

  • “This isn’t The Stomp!”

    YHC arrived early for round two of the Wally Run. This week seven men arrived early to stretch and begin the run. YHC announced we would complete a three-mile loop through the neighborhood and finish with some work on the track.

    The seven fearless Pax members started off down the Pontiff track. A ¼ of a mile through the run, a dark shadowy figure approached. It was as strong as an ox, sneaky as a snake, and quick as a cheetah. It was the man, the myth, the legend—it was Hawgcycle! The eight men together completed the run and finished on the track. Some incorporated sprints, others simply kept running.

    At 6:10, the wannabe Q, Rev Sox stopped running to include Mary. YHC questioned such a decision. Rev Sox said, “At The Stomp, we always do Mary at the end.” Well, Reverend Sox, “This isn’t The Stomp!” But, YHC obliged and concluded with LBCs, Flutter Kicks, and Reverse Crunches.

    T-claps to Hokey Pokey. He was hesitant to try the three-mile loop but endured and finished. T-claps to Boo Boo. He expressed multiple times that he was not a runner but he came and completed the run anyway. T-claps to Rev Sox, Pai Gow, and Hobbs for constantly sweeping the six. T-claps to Tua and Hawg –we all want to be like you when we grow-up!

    COT

    It was a pleasure to lead. Join us every Thursday at Pontiff for the Wally Run. You won’t be disappointed.

  • “Do they make men’s sports bras?”

    The answer to that question is no, but more on that in a moment.

    YHC arrived at Popeyes on this cool, crisp morning with a beatdown appropriate for individuals who would find their joy in running the following morning at the Wally Run. The temperature was 62 degrees but based on Boo Boo’s attire you would have thought it was minus 62 degrees. With the park set-up for a weekend event, the mosey to the Esplanade workout equipment would take a bit longer. At 5:28, YHC gave the disclaimer and headed out making sure not to get out of sight before 5:30 in case someone came in hot.

    Warm-Up

    No time to circle up so a warm-up on the go—

    High Knees, Butt-Kicks, Carioca Right, Carioca Left, Walking Imperial Walkers, Arm Circles as we ran. We did circle up once about halfway through for SSH, Abe Vigodas, and Seal Jacks (note: these men do not have the coordination required for Seal Jacks)

    The Thang

    At the Esplanade workout equipment we completed one minute each of the following exercises:

    Burpees, Lunges, Dips, Inch Worms, Irkins, Military Sit-Ups, Plank Jacks, LBCs, Squats, Bonnie Blairs, Leg Raises (hanging from the pull-up bars), and Imperial Squat Walkers. We completed the circuit with a 6-pack (Think 11s with pull-ups and Merkins but only totaling 6 reps)

    We completed the round and moseyed back toward the flag. Along the way we had an opportunity to encourage one of our newest Metry Pax, Mile High. Mile High has worked hard over the last couple of weeks but has made it known to everyone he is not a runner. We let him set the pace on the return mosey but not without asking, “Do they make men’s sporting bras?” They don’t, but T-claps to Mile High for sprinting to the finish.

    Mile High’s effort and the Pax response is a subtle reminder, “Leave no man behind, but leave no man where you found him!”

    COT, prayers for families and marriages associated with F3

    As always, it was a please to lead.

  • Stiffler’s Mom with Guests

    5 runners braved the French Quarter for a 5 mile run.

    Guests included Drizzle, Flying Wasp and Hermes.

    COT and Prayer.

  • Whats a “Slow-Zee”?

    A little chilly for your preference or, as Turbo would have us all believe, perfect running weather? Well, as YHC philosophizes, everything in life is relative, and this is simply one more example. My heart was gladdened to hear that, like myself, Cowbell feels more distinctly at home in the 70s to 80s with slightly lower humidity. Speaking of Cowbell, his suggestion of a …slow-zee…? sounded just about right just days before this year’s North Shore Half Marathon. And thus…

    WARMORAMA

    x10 IC:

    Good Mornings

    Imperial Walkers

    High Knees

    Butt Kicks

    Scorpion Kicks

    THANG

    Scrambling along the traditional old MANDEVILLE (ahem, Hawgcycle) route, Q made sure to keep the PAX more or less together by instituting several location-based stops to either Freddy Mercury or LBC OYO until the 6 caught up, then start an IC 10 count. That was until the final stop at Monroe, after which the stallions were let loose from the barn!

    MARY

    The Freddy Mercury/LBC count was extended back at the flag to a mischievous 26 reps before OYO 10 Burpees and 50 (with good form) Merkins.

    COT

    Count/Name Amnesia, whose third child is due in December, prayed us out.

    Thanks, guys, for following my lead and my shenanigans.

    *BE PREPARED FOR SOME MUD-SLOPPY FUN N GAMES SATURDAY (GLOVES/TOWELS)*

  • Breakin’ 60

    So, YHC stepped outside in the gloomy gloom noting how crisp the morning was.  Would the PAX appreciate the Beatdown ahead of them?  Should YHC dial it back?  Well, as the PAX gathered at the Flag at 5:30 AM, Reluctant Yankee made it clear that the temps had gotten into the 50’s for the first time this F3 Fall season.  Decision made, no humid, unseasonably warm weather for the PAX to complain about.  The Beatdown will continue as originally planned.  Thank you Yankee!  No FNG’s but we do have a brother from F3 Wilmington, Flying Wasp, visiting.  Welcome and how did you get such a cool name?  Sounds like a superhero to me.  Off we go!!!

    Warm Up on Kick Ball Fields

    Line up in a single-file row shoulder to shoulder for:

    • Alternating Open Gates till Q yells halt
    • Imperial Walkers
    • Toy Soldiers/Kim Jong Un’s till Q yells halt
    • Self-Love
    • High Knees to Q yells halt
    • Hillbillies

    Thing 1

    Mosey to Base of Hill for Everest/Merkin combo:

    • Merkins with right leg up IC X15
    • Everest (Alternating Lunge Walks with squat in between) up the hill alternating lunge with squat in middle.  Run Down
    • Merkins with left leg up IC X15
    • Everest up the hill run down
    • Wide Merkins IC X15

    Thing 2

    Mosey to PIMP station for Route 66:

    Starting at first running man by PIMP station:

    • Body Bag Builders starting at 1 Body Builder with Plank Jack/Mountain Climber/Merkin upping 1 rep at each succeeding running man up to 11 Benches for a total of 66 reps.

    Complete core exercises, crunchy frogs, flutter kicks, and Peter Parkers all in cadence while we wait for the Six.

    Thing 3

    Mosey to Shelter for red hot chili pepper:

    • Right Leg Step Ups x 16; Incline Merkins x 12; Left Leg Step Ups x 16; Decline Merkins x 12
    • Right Leg Step Ups x 12; Incline Merkins x 8; Left Leg Step Ups x 12; Decline Merkins x 8

    We are done!  Count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, prayer.

    Thanks for letting me lead!

  • Crowd Pleaser

    Let’s just acknowledge that there was an actual “crowd” to please in the first place – Grandma’s was a-hoppin’ this morning. Aside from the regulars, there was Zoo, who has started to become a regular. There was Hammer, who not only posted today, but yesterday at the Marsh as well. And then there was Captain, the Chief, the Sparkliest of firefighters and most notable of actors in the Hollywood South, who made a rare guest appearance. Sounds like he may soon bump himself up to a series regular if we continue to EH him (hint, hint). There was also a very vocal owl that greeted the Hammer and I with eerily childlike rantings (YHC was reminded of the Hammer’s demonic, discarded doll), but he didn’t stick around long enough to make the cut. Anyhow, for Granny, it was a packed house.

    Warmorama: IWs, torso twists, toe touches, SSHs, and probably something else. Finished with 20x merkins OYO.

    As the fall weather settles in, YHC sometimes worries that the PAX just won’t sweat enough. This is the kind of stuff that keeps me up at night. I mean, if Shooter doesn’t sweat during a beatdown, then really what was the point? Luckily temperatures hadn’t dropped too much, but YHC decided to start with a quick mosey around the block to get the blood flowing.

    Next up was the “crowd pleaser,” a term YHC takes at face value, rather the ironic one that seems to be intended. In front of the stage (which was well illuminated for some reason this morning), we spread out to four imaginary corners. The routine would be to travel clockwise to each corner, and perform the same exercise x10 until you’ve returned to your original corner. So:

    Bear crawl, x10 merkins at each corner
    Lunge walk, x10 squats at each corner
    Crab walk, 10x big boys at each corner
    Frog jumps, 10x burpees at each corner

    Recovery walk over to the corridor for partner sprints: P1 holds a people’s chair while doing air presses, P2 sprints half the corridor and back, then the full thing (including the stairs but mindful of our friendly stair-climbing couple) and back to flapjack.

    The Grand Finale was a last minute call – seeing that stage so well-lilt, and having an actor in our presence, it seemed necessary to get up there in the spotlight. So we hopped up to center stage for a little game of Rochamburpees. Same partners, rock/paper/scissors with the winner doing 1 merkin and the loser, 1 burpee. Redos for ties, and an ascending count each round, up to 10x. As the odd man out, YHC unfortunately hitched his wagon to the wrong horse, with Captain defying the odds and losing the first 8 straight. Out of sympathy, Cowbell even tried purposefully losing, which failed as well. Such was the bad luck of Cap. In the end, though, he came through when it mattered and secured the final two wins.

    Back to the flag for a some Mary: Crunchy Frogs, LBC’s, Putins, Flutters, and 100’s, all x20 IC. COT and Shooter prayed us out. Thank you men for getting out of the sack this morning and helping me become a stronger and better man.

  • You don’t have to be perfect, just better than yesterday

    20 runners were greeted with an absolutely perfect pitch black morning at the Stomp today. The temperature hovered around 65 degrees for the entire run, and at no point did we see the sun. Thanks to Daylight Savings Time and those long Spring and Summer days, we’re treated to at least a mid-workout sunrise for most of the year. In fact, the sunrises will be back next month when Daylight Savings Time kicks in. Until then, let’s enjoy these last few chances to make our way through the dark, quiet streets of New Orleans while the city sleeps.

    About 6 months ago, some of us timed ourselves in a 1-mile at the Danger Zone. Since the DZ is no more, YHC decided to bring the time trials to The Stomp. The instructions were simple…. well, I thought they were simple at least.

    • Bring an activity tracker
    • All run one warm-up mile together
    • Once your activity tracker makes 1 mile, run Mile 2 as hard as you can
    • Regardless, turn back at 20 minutes and run back to the flag.
    • Send me your mile 2 time

    Even with a little confusion, this mostly went off without a hitch. The purpose of the time trial is not to see who’s fastest, but see how we’re improving. Sure, it’s fun to run around in a tank top in the early morning grabbing grass and doing a few burpees, but overall, I think we all want to get a little better, faster, stronger. To that end, I’ll post your time from today if you send it to me, and I’ll tag this post with #timetrial . Search that tag next time we do this and see how you’ve improved. Here is what I have. This is not necessarily the order in which they finished:

    1. Shuffles
    2. Tua 6:47
    3. Dirty Dell 6:37
    4. Briefs
    5. Screwtop
    6. Belloq 6:51
    7. Hawg 6:40
    8. Jesus Juice 7:02
    9. Rudy
    10. Kuch 7:06
    11. Breadsticks 6:32
    12. Rev Sox 7:51
    13. Tool 8:49
    14. Woz
    15. Bongo
    16. Chips
    17. Tugboat
    18. Hokie Pokey 10:30
    19. Thumb War 8:13
    20. Gideon

    Few rounds of Mary led by different PAX, and then 5 burpees for each pax member who did not stick with the group early on. The usual formalities and a prayer for peace and stillness in our lives. Thanks for having me. – Kuch

  • Monday Legs Day with No Rain and a Sketchy Drive by

    After 94 days as a part of this rock solid organization, I took the plunge into Q-ship. Here’s my maiden Voyage:

    Warmup:

    Parking Lot Tracers (w/ back peddling and side shuffling)  – Dug into Exicon for this. The Chamber just might have the smoothest, well marked and lit parking lot in all of NOLA.

    Circle Up for:

    SSH (15 ct.) /  Forward Arm Circles (15 ct.) / Reverse Arm Circles (15 Ct.) / Grass grabbers (15 Ct.) / Low Slow Squat (15 Ct.)

    Dirty MacDeuce:

    4 Rounds – 3 Exercises (Chest, Legs, Abs Focus) x 12 reps with Lap around Chamber parking lot.

    • Round 1 – Merkins / Squats / Big Boy Sit Ups
    • Round 2 – Incline Merkins on the Curb / Calf Raises / Flutter Kicks
    • Round 3 – Wide Grip Merkins / Summo Squat / Freddie Mercuries
    • Round 4 – Carolina Dry Docks / Bonnie Blairs / Reverse Crunches

    Moseyed to the Soccer Field…

    Leg Wrecker Round 1

    Split into 2 groups/partner up. One Pax does Lt. Dan’s across the width of field will the other holds Al Gore’s

    Moseyed to Bleachers…

    • Right Legged Step Ups (20 Ct.)
    • Dips (20 Ct.)
    • Left Legged Step Ups (20 ct.)
    • Incline Pushups (20 ct..)

    Leg Wrecker Round 2 – The Same

    Wrapped up the workout with some Mary (LBC’s x 20, American Hammer x 20, and Penguins x 20) and some stretches.

     Concluded with COT and Prayer.

    Many thanks for the support and feedback from the group through the workout. Thanks for the opportunity to plan and lead as Q and already looking forward to my next one. I encourage those who haven’t taken the plunge to just do it!

  • The Skinny 10/21

    23 brave men including one FNG gathered in the gloom on this Monday morning.

    Warmup: Run around golf course parking lot then to bandstand for:

    SS Hop x 20

    Arm Circles x 10 forwards and backwards (With traditional Seaman backward count)

    Hillbillies x 20

    Mountain Climbers x 20

    Peter Parkers x 20

    Next we ran a BLIMPS workout with each exercise at the bandstand followed by a run down Oak Alley and then up the golf course parking lot.

    Burpees x 10, Lunges x 20, Imperial Walkers x 30, Murkins x 40, Plank Jacks x 50, Squats x 60.

    Those that finished early restarted the BLIMPS without the run.

    Next was a flat-out sprint down Oak Alley in 3 groups followed by a mosey back to the bandstand.

    Murkin Ring of Fire followed by Low Plank during which there was much mumble chattering.

    Finally a Round of Mary:

    V-Ups x 10, Dying Cockroach x 20, LBCs x 20, Flutter Kicks x 20, Penguins x 20, WW2 Sit Ups x 10.

    Final Sprint down Oak Alley for a COT and Prayer.

    Snooki was named.

  • Just Another Manic Monday

    At 5:12 a.m., YHC pulled into the Marsh, only to find it empty. Prepared to move forward with a Beatdown of 1, Cowbell soon made his presence known. With no Q signed up, Cowbell and Hammer quickly agreed to co-Q. Akbar must have overheard, because right as we were to begin warmups, he swooped in to create a triumvirate of Qs.

    Warmups: (The Hammer)

    SSH x18/IW x10/Merkins x10/Arm Circles –Forward x5, Backward x5/Toe Touches x10

    Cowbell took Q from here, as we began a mosey toward the Lake. We stopped on the corner of each block to perform the following trifecta in descending order: Merkins/Squats/Big Boi Situps x 25/20/15/10/5.

    Once at the Lake, Akbar took over, and we began with 25 Freak Nasties on the wall. We began our mosey back to the Marsh, and Akbar had us do the following trifecta in descending order: Jump Squats/Walking Lunges/LBCs x25/20/15/10/5. YHC has concluded that Akbar is still angry about Ole Miss’ loss to the Aggies on Saturday, and he was taking it out on us via the Jump Squat/Lunge combo. There really is no other explanation.

    Once back at the Marsh, the Hammer took Q back over and led the triumvirate in a series of suicides on the court, much to the chagrin of Cowbell and Akbar. We changed it up as follows:

    Full sprint each way/Bear Crawl out, backwards run back/Shuffle out, 10 LBCs at each line, sprint back/Sprint out, 10 of Dealer’s Choice at each line, Sprint back/Sprint out, Descending Burpees at each line –4,3,2,1, Sprint Back

    To finish with a few minutes of Mary, Cowbell had each of the PAX pick an exercise x 25. The Hammer chose (of course) American Hammers, Akbar chose Mountain Climbers, and Cowbell finished us off with Crunchy Frogs.

    Hammer prayed us out, lifting up our brothers Water Pik, Jose 10k, and special intentions.