F3 New Orleans

Category: Backblasts

  • 110 Floors 9/11 Remembrance Stair Climb

    Well – I wanted to sign us up for a Stair Climb to commemorate 9/11 so a few months ago I contacted a group that does one at the Hyatt.  They told me only first responders can do it – so I decided we would do our own stair climb at our Friday spot at WPM.

    The 11o Floors were the number of floors that First Responders and Firefighters climbed to get to people at the top of WTC in NYC on 9/11/2001.  I can’t imagine doing that in full gear with the stress of the scenario playing out – not to mention the heat and the weight of the gear.  Tclaps to Landing Strip, Peppa and Hawg for bringing their RUCK gear.  I think one more PAX brought their gear.

    We did a quick MOSEY to the base of WPM and immediately got to work trying to get our 16 trips up.

    It was much harder than I thought it would be.  I actually only got to 14 complete reps.

    All of the PAX in the first stairwell completed the activity.

    Tclaps to BAM from Winston Salem who actually did a stair climb on 9/11.  So he did it twice!

    We had our guy Carlton post again but then vanish mid workout – I suggest Copperfield for his F3 name–

    For he is a master of illusion.  (or perhaps GOB pronounced JOB)

    Thanks again for letting me attempt this reflection.  Someone gave me an idea for doing that at Champion Square next year and I think that might be a better location.

    See you in the gloom!

    RY

  • Return of the Dome Patrol

    As Saints fans we were hoping the Dome Patrol would have returned this past Sunday, but that didn’t happen.  It finally showed up today.  Three LARC members and a guest from Winston-Salem did what they could to define what the Dome Patrol will become post BRR.

    Warm-up

    Run the Ramp in front of Gate A to give any late arrivers time to roll in hot.  ¿Dónde está El Guapo?

    The Thang

    Run.  That’s pretty much it.  We ran down Tulane, cut across Harrah’s to the Aquarium.  Then we ran down river to Jackson Square.  This is where we lost Cav and Bam.  I really was trying to pay attention, but Swamp Cock can enthrall you with conversation.  We circled back to go get them, but didn’t see them.  We asked several people in the park if they saw any runners.  They all apparently pointed us in the wrong direction.  We retraced our steps….well not really, we went back a fairly similar way to the VSF, but didn’t find them.  After returning we ran up and over the Gate A ramp forward and backward several times until the clock neared 0615.  Then we headed back to the VSF, relieved to find Cav and Bam waiting for us.

    NMM

    • If you are looking to fit in another running workout, come try out the Dome Patrol.  It’s not just parking garages.  This AO has a lot of potential..running in Woldenberg Park, running through the quarter, running around not Lee Circle, etc.  Runs will be structured for all paces.
    • Losing Bam and Cav lead to some impromptu Fartlekking for Swamp and me.  In our rush to find them we definitely had a negative split.
    • Be careful on Canal St.  When they clean the sidewalk in front of their businesses, the wet surface creates a Looney Tunes boobie trap for runners in flip-flops.
    • Prayers for Bam and the residents of North and South Carolina as they prepare for Hurricane Florence.
    • Check GroupMe for more info regarding Dome Patrol in the coming weeks.

  • Round #2 – A Step Up

    Likely that it was actually a step down, or a step back, but nonetheless three men met in the early morning gloom of Kenner-brah and this is what went down.

    Warm-up

    YHC gave the disclaimer and we proceeded on a warm-up lap, passing by the police station, up the levee ramp, and back down the steps to the SF.

    SSH x 30; Hillbillies x 20; Windmills x 15; Peter Parker x 20; Copperhead Squats x 20.

    A lap up the stairs and down the other side and we were ready for…

    The Thang

    Given the venue, I decided to modify the Jack Web, by adding some punches.  I renamed it the Jack Johnson in honor of the man who became the first African-American Heavyweight Champion of the World in 1908.  We definitely have race issues in this country now, but it’s got to be better than when Jack was fighting.  Here’s what they say the NY Times wrote about him before the fight:  “If the black man wins, thousands and thousands of his ignorant brothers will misinterpret his victory as justifying claims to much more than mere physical equality with their white neighbors.”  Wow New York Times.  It appears that he ended up being arrested on some suspiciously racist laws and was just recently pardoned posthumously by President Trump.

    Just as we started the Jack Johnson a plane flew overhead….Time for a Sudden Flight Change.  Sometimes life doesn’t go as planned.  Things happen and you have to suck it up and roll with it.  During this workout we had to do 5 burpees every time a plane flew overhead.  Since the AO is located directly south of the airport, you can imagine how many times this occurred.  Well, whatever you are thinking you are probably wrong.  This one time is the only time we did sudden flight change burpees.  Either the flight patterns were kind to us today, or I wasn’t paying close enough attention.

    The Jack Johnson:  1 Merkin, 1 left-right combo, 1 victory shoulder press; repeat with two reps of each escalating until maxing out with a set of 10 reps of each.

    Proceed to the ledge:

    Channing Tatums* x 20; Decline Merkins x 7; Tatum Channings x 20; Incline Merkins x 7

    *Keeping with the theme of the AO, in addition to starring in Step Up Channing Tatum starred in a movie called Fighting.  39% on Rotten Tomatoes.

    Tabata – 20 seconds all out followed by 10 seconds of rest.  We did burpees, merkins, squats, and big boi sit-ups, then repeated for a total of 8 sets.  #CrowdPleaser

    Cool down lap up the stairs and back down the other side.

    Back to the ledge:

    Channing Tatums* x 20; Decline Merkins x 7; Tatum Channings x 20; Incline Merkins x 7

    To the top of the levee for another #CrowdPleaser – Quadraphilia….4 minutes of running down the south side of the levee and back up always facing the river.

    Back to the flag for 1 minute of Mary – Dying cockroach x 30.

    NMM

    • I worked out in shoes for the first time in months.  This AO is tough on flops.
    • I really thought Rev Sox and Gremlin would hate Quadraphilia.  I was disappointed that they didn’t complain about it more.  In fact, it didn’t really seem to bother them at all.
    • Hopefully the City of Kenner can use all of the money they are going to save by not buying Nikes to mow our AO more often.  This is definitely our most poorly maintained AO.

     

  • Remembering 9/11

    Well I felt I had no choice but to sign up for the Q Tuesday 9-11-18 since I’m a firefighter and want to always remember the sacrifices by brothers in New York gave for people they didn’t even know. It’s a shame that sometimes we are willing to give more to strangers than our own families. I’m learning the hard way. But hopefully I’m learning!!! Anyways enough for reflecting on values we should all think about!!!
    Of course there was not much to this Beatdown or was there? The twin towers had around 1071 steps in them so to my calculations that means we had to do 86 times up the Trailhead steps. Only there is no elevator to take us down so that means 86 times down as well adding to the difficulty of this task.
    Since I am participating in the New Orleans memorial stair climb I decided it was time to Bunker up for this one and to no surprise I couldn’t keep up with my F3 brothers. Only finishing 50 with full gear. In the allotted time. We then circled up for our normal count off and prayer. Since I waited so long for blast I can’t remember who prayed us out but there was prayer. Congratulations to all the guys who were there it means a lot to me. And also great job finishing the 86 Climbs.

  • Chewy Blewy

    Waterpik reminded us that Chewy had Q today at gloom-o-clock, but he was yet to be seen. Knowing of his penchant to come rolling up as the scramblers begin to scramble, we gave him an extra couple of minutes before beginning a round robin warm up.

    Bushwacker – SSH

    Garfield – Windmills

    Coconuts – Good Mornings

    Waterpik –  Hi Knees

    Captain Sparkles – Mercilessly robbed of his opportunity by an overzealous-to-get-running Waterpik!

    YHC  had offered yesterday to run with Captain Sparkles in an effort to coerce his post. A triumphant mental note was made of his presence upon arrival, and when the PAX began to roll, we adopted a comfortable 10:00m/m pace while the rest of the wild stallions were loosed from the corral. Shortly before reaching Monroe, Captain Sparkles informed YHC of his intent to skip the loop and head straight for sunset point, where there were a couple of conveniently located port-o-lets. With the remaining PAX a good 50 yards ahead, I dug deep, pushed myself, and gave it all I had (and any number of other motivational effort-based cliches one can summon). Starting to sputter at 10 yards back around the half-way mark of the loop, my presence was made known through various huffs, puffs, grunts, and other noises that substituted for my ability to form words at that moment. We passed Captain Sparkles headed in the opposite direction on sunset point, having, I later learned, skipped doing his duty. We also learned that Garfield’s long-running passion for…er, running has faded as of late. Some may say it was his age, being in his 7th decade, but I know better. He has spread his fitness wings here in F3, and added so much to his repetoire that running is not so much a priority among his exercise outlets. Being  fairly regular on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, he’s a beast! A mighty effort was indeed put forth by each and every member of the PAX this A.M. , and that continued through the decadent Mary that proceeded the run.

    25 Merkins

    15 Rosalitas

    15 Hello Dollys

    15 Flutter Kicks

    15 Freddy Mercurys

    15 J Los

    30 second plank

    15s left plant

    15s right plank

    15s mission impossible planks

    15s forearm plank

    100 oyoLBCs

    15 Putins

    Prayed out by the fresh-from-Wednesday-night-worship Captain Sparkles

    Have an incredible day guys!

    …you too Chewy, where ever you are…

     

  • Courage for a Murph

    Three brave souls displayed intestinal fortitude by showing up to take on another Murph.
    Dictionary.com’s definition of Courage: the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery.
    My definition: when faced with difficulty, danger, pain, etc… is overcoming that fear, which is Courage.
    Disclaimer, let’s mosey… for a Murph; 1 mile run to the Foundry, 5 pullups, 10 merkins, 15 squats x 20 sets. Some completed this and some are working on it and getting stronger. 1 mile back to the flag.
    Countoff, namerama, announcements, shoutouts, and a prayer. SYITG

  • VQ – Jump and Run

    This morning , your humble correspondent was feeling like Sir Richard Branson because I had the privilege of leading my VQ.  Thanks to the PAX in attendance for covering up for all of my oversights and garbled instructions.  Y’all were clever enough to do all the right things that I meant to say rather than whatever nonsense came out.

    CONDITIONS

    72°; > 90% humidity; 6:43 AM sunrise

    DISCLAIMER

    YHC started the session by informing the PAX that he was definitely not a professional.

    THE WARM UP

    The assembled PAX warmed up with the following sequence, all exercises done IC.

    -SSH
    -Good Mornings
    -Abe Vigodas
    -Imperial Walkers
    -High Knees

    Mosey to the Palace of Justice to use their benches. (Thanks St. Tammany tax payers.)

    THE THANG Part 1: Jumping around

    Magnificent 7 Jump-o-rama

    YHC believes that F3 Bros don’t let F3 Bros skip leg day so we worked through a sequence of 7 jumping leg exercises.

    1. Mario’s (Single leg knee hop) 10 each leg IC.  Chewy introduced me to this exercise.  I didn’t remember the official name so to us they were Mario’s.


    2. Single leg burpees 10 each leg OYO.  Thanks Bushwhacker for introducing me to this one.
    3. Ohno’s (Skater jumps) 15 OYO

    4. Split squats 10 each leg IC (assembled PAX were kind enough not to point out that technically this wasn’t a jumping exercise)
    5. Wojciechowski’s (F3Nation.com calls these modified jump squats Bobby Hurley’s, but I’m from a slightly different era and will refer to these as Wojo’s whenever possible)

    6. Shaun Whites (snowboard hops) 15 each side OYO

    YHC had never done this exercise before and regretted calling out 15 reps by the time my burning legs reached the end of the set.


    7. Box jumps 10 OYO

    Mosey to Turbo Alley aka the intersection of E. Gibson and N. Vermont streets

    THE THANG Part 2: Running Strong

    F3.com has a sprint routine called “the Spartan,”, but YHC lives a long way from the Peloponnese and decided to make some major modifications.  We went with the semi-Spartan instead.

    PAX lined up and sprinted 100 yrds, doing 10 merkins at the finish line.  PAX in the lead were rewarded with 10 bonus air squats.  PAX walked back to the start all together for the next round.  Rinse and repeat.

    I can report that the last set seemed faster than the first and the assembled PAX did their best Usain Bolt impressions.  YHC cried uncle after 8 sets and we mosied back to the Trailhead.

     

    MARY

    Due to the Q’s time management issues we were limited to “2 minutes of Mary”

    Some combo of Freddy Mercury’s, Putins, Flutter kicks, and LBC’s.

    CountORama, NameORama, and COT

    YHC prayed for the assembled PAX

    Thanks gents, for the fellowship, the beatdowns and for being willing to follow my lead.

  • 40 points are better than 0 points

    It was a rough Monday morning for us Saints fans on the heels of that embarrasing loss in the season opener.  Surely a 45min therapy session at Rock City would help cure any hangovers or headaches.  Here’s how the healing went:

    Started with a mosey to usual area for warmup x20ea SSH, AC, WM, LSS, LCC, follwed by a brief delay where YHC pointed out scoring 40 points in a game is nothing to shake a stick….gotta think positive!  YHC annouced we’d knock out 40 of the final exercise which were SSH, despite Rudy’s request for burpees, which would come later.  Then a bear crawl to the rockpile to make sure the juices were flowing.

    We picked our rocks and headed to the main field/track area, keeping the rocks moving along the way with curls and presses.

    Circuit #1:  We lined up on the back of the endzone and partnered up.  PAX #1 ran to opposite endzone for 10 Burpees and ran back (timer) while PAX#2 knocked out Curls x20, LBC X20, Curls x20, LBC x20,…until partner was back.  Flip flop, rinse and repeat twice for a total of 3 rounds.

    Circuit #2:  We lined up again, this time approx 1oyds from the edge of the track.  Got things going with a 10 Burpee pre-thang to bring our total up to 40 Burpees.   Then, 4 rounds of Shoulder Press x10, Bear Crawl to track, Merkins x10, Backwards Bear Crawl…..totaling 40ea on the two exercises.

    Mary:  Round Robin included Hello Dolly x20, V-Ups x10, In-Outs x10, Penguins x20, capped off with LBT x31 to give a shout out to the LSU Tigers scoring 31 points and to Mahatma’s son who is on the team.

    Time was ticking so time back to the rockpile, then a mosey to the flag followed by some planking.

    COT:  YHC explained the orignal workout plan envisioned was hinged around the Saints winning and using the points scored as rep counts and as a way to celebrate our road to the post season.  Since we instead ended with a loss, YHC thought it would be fitting to still use the points scored by the Saints as a reminder for us to be greatful for what you have in life and not stress over what you don’t.  Additionally, we all have rough days on occasion and need to remind ourselves that the next day is a chance to move forward and make any improvements….which is hopefully what our beloved football team will do.  Capped things off with a prayer with intentions for Hawg’s mom and YHC’s son Brady.

    Thanks for the opportunity to lead.

    Tool

     

     

     

  • 9/11 Stomp #159

    YHC arrived to the AO early, and was able to greet those that arrived to participate in the 9/11 tribute. YHC was pleased to see members of the LARC, fresh off their BRR victory run.  YHC was glad to see 2 shovel flags holding Old Glory on this day.
    At 0528, YHC took a couple minutes to read some fast facts about 9/11.
    17 years ago, Nineteen men hijacked four fuel-loaded US commercial airplanes. A total of 2,977 people were killed in New York City, Washington, DC and outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

    The Victims:

    At the World Trade Center (WTC) site in Lower Manhattan, 2,753 people were killed when hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 were intentionally crashed into the north and south towers, or as a result of the crashes.

    Of those who perished during the initial attacks and the subsequent collapses of the towers, 343 were New York City firefighters, 23 were New York City police officers and 37 were officers at the Port Authority.

    At the Pentagon in Washington, 184 people were killed when hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the building.

    Near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, 40 passengers and crew members aboard United Airlines Flight 93 died when the plane crashed into a field. It is believed that the hijackers crashed the plane in that location, rather than their unknown target, after the passengers and crew attempted to retake control of the flight deck.

    As of July 2018, 1,642 (or 60%) of 2,753 WTC victims’ remains have been positively identified, according to the medical examiner’s office.

    A brief disclaimer, and we’re off……

    The 9/11 tribute run would consist of running through the practice track and on to the festival ground bike trail, where the pax would run half the lap and meet at the Wisner Bridge.

    At the Wisner Bridge, the instructions were simple.  The pax was to run up and over a total of four times, symbolizing the 4 planes from 9/11.  The Pax were instructed to run uphill as hard as possible thinking about the uphill battle the first responders had at the WTC buildings.  While running downhill, the pax was to think about the sacrifice the heroes of flight 93 made when they crashed nose first into a field, which potentially saved hundreds of lives of the unknown target.

    Once complete, the pax was instructed to complete the lap of the bike trail and return to the practice track where they were to run 2 laps, sprinting the straightaways and resting on the curves.  YHC believes the minimum run was just over 4 miles, while the faster pax probably got closer to 5 miles.

    Return to the flag, and complete one set of 9 ‘mericans and a set of 11 ‘mericans to seal the deal.

    COT

    Count off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and closed with a prayer.

    Thanks for posting with me today, SYITG

    NMM

    YHC told a brief story of the visit he made with his 2.0 to the 9/11 memorial site in 2017.  I wasn’t sure if my daughter could handle the somber experience at 10 years of age, but she was genuinely touched by the experience.  On our way out, I told her she could get whatever she wanted at the gift shop, which usually entails many stuffed animals and silly toys, but not this time.  All she wanted was a NYFD ball cap.  Nothing more to say there…..

     

  • 9/11 Preview

    Do you remember right after September 11th, 2001 when we all came together to support each other? We still do here in F3 with faith, fellowship, and fitness. It’s pride in all three and strength in shared values that brings  us together at each and every AO. It’s not the evils of this world that makes the goodness bright, but the hearts of our fellow man, truly filled with love and compassion that lights our way through the darkness. Never forget to love and show appreciation for those around you and the gifts we all share.

    WARM’N IT UP

    Toe Touches

    Imperial Walkers

    Abe vigodas

    DOIN’ IT

    Fire Drill – PAX in a circle doing hi knees. Each takes a turn to call out “fire,” at which point we all drop, roll right, merkin, roll left, merkin, and back up

    Global Warming – All in Al Gore shuffle to the left until Q calls Mountain Climbers x10, reverse Al Gore shuffle until Plank Jacks x10, reverse shuffle again, then groiners, reverse, monkey humpers

    One-Leg Burpees – x10 right, x10 left

    Fireman Carry (or piggy back) – Come here big boy, let’s get reacquainted! P1 carry P2 across the basketball court, switch and back then x10 SSH (maybe), back n forth, Merkins, etc, seal jacks

    4 Corners Escalator (plus a bonus back where we started) – goof balls/merkins, x10,x20,x30, x40,x50

    MARY MARY

    Crunchy Frogs

    Roslita

    Hello Dolly

    Flutter Kicks

    Freddy Mercuries

    J Los

    30 second Plank

    Coconuts prayed, the choir sang, and we all lived happily ever after!

    Thanks gents