F3 New Orleans

Category: Backblasts

  • 610 Stomp: Through the Woods and up the Mountain

    6 F3 vets gathered around an actual flag on this perfectly gloomy morning.

    DISCLAIMER

    YHC was feeling like a throwback was due to mix things up a bit.

    The route:
    Go under 610 and take a left, past the dog park and cross harrison ave. (~1.5 miles)
    enter the woods of greater New Orleans, follow the trail (and Hawg) til we reach the highest land elevation in the city, just behind the rocky mountains in total feet. (~.5 miles)

    Once at the top, conveniently, there was a perfect ledge for #ISI. 2 minutes of Rocky Balboa’s.

    Head back to the flag (~2 miles) with 5 minutes to spare.

    30 X LBC
    20 X American Hammer
    20 X Crunchy Frog (RIP Shorty)
    20 X Penguin
    10 X J-Lo (RIP Amnesty)

    Finished with COT.

    Thanks for letting me lead!
    Cowbell

  • Madness in the Gloom

    It was a true cinderella story! The dream of young men and old men aspiring to greatness coming true! To rise before the sun. To journey out into the damp gloom, a dampness that foreshadows summers brutal heat that hammers us with the heat of Hephaestus’ forges! Yes it was that kind of morning!

    Seizing the moment that I dreamt of, yhs launched the pax into the gloom;

    First Preal
    Imperial Walker x21
    SSH (obligatory) x21
    Mountain Climber x21
    Hilly Billy x21

    Back to the track and to the Row Bars
    Count was 20 Rows
    Group of Lunges
    Group of Hello Dollies
    Group of Parker Peters
    Rinse and Repeat!

    Back to the track for Catch Me If You Can / Indian Run. Dividing the Pax into 2 columns last man did 10 Mericans to sprint up back to the pax, tagging last man to drop, while continuing on to the front.

    At the benches for some classic Tinkles
    Declined Mericans x10 immediately followed by 10 shoulder taps.
    RL & LL step ups x22 each
    Dips x15
    RLPU & LLPU x 21 each.

    Back to the track and the Mary Hole for
    LBCs x20
    Rosalita x20
    Jay Los’ x20
    Leg Lefts x 20
    LBT x 20
    Box Cutters x20

    Back enmasse to the pull bars
    Count was Carolina Dry Docks x15
    Pull Ups
    Something ab related
    And since no one could think of something better we had to do Burpees!

    On to the circle.

  • I got a fever……

    T-Claps to the south shore and north shore pax who completed the Tough Mudder. The mumble chatter is that no obstacles were skipped and major injuries were avoided.  The mothership at the Lakefront was 5 strong including Rev Socks and Hog Sickle from the south shore. Honorable mention the Hog Sickle’s dad who took the ride to the north sore. He got in over 5000 steps during the beatdown!!!

    Warm-Up

    20 SSHs IC, 20 Windmills IC, 20 Toe Touches IC, 20 IWs IC, 20 Butt Kicks IC, 20 High Knees IC, 10 forward arm rolls IC (baseball) – rinse and repeat in reverse, 10 forward arm rolls IC (basketball) – rinse and repeat in reverse, 20 Overhead Claps IC

    COWBELL DISCLAIMER

    Those of you who made it to Ei’s Crazy Ivan on the North Shore saw the debut of the cowbell. It made it to the beatdown this past Saturday. Every time you hear the cowbell ring, all paxs drop and do ten burpees. After you ring the cowbell, you bestow the cowbell to another pac and they ring it at their discretion. The goal was to complete 100 burpees by the end of the beatdown. Mission Accomplished!!!!!

    Mosey…

    Indian Bear Crawl

    All paxs line up in a single file line in the planc position. The pac at the front of the line starts doing merkins IC while the pac at the end of the line bear crawls to the front. Rinse and repeat until you get to pre-designated destination.

    Indian Lunge Walk

    Once you get to the pre-designated destination from the Indian Bear Crawl, all paxs turn around and stay in the single file line. Pac at the front of the line starst doing squats IC while the pac at the end of the line lunge walks to the front. Rinse and repeat until you get to the original starting point.

    Mosey…..

    Heavy Bag Pull and Carry

    All paxs line up facing “The Shaft” holding the Al Gore. First pac, sits on ground and pulls a 75 foot rope that is attachd to a 45lb heavy bag. Once the heavy bag gets to pac, pac picks it up and runs with it  it back to the starting position next to “The Shaft.”  Drop it and assume the planc position until all pacs are finished.

    Mary

    25 LBCs IC, 25 Puttins IC, 25 Leg Lifts IC, 25 Flutter Kicks IC

    Mosey to Cazebo

    Freak Nasty Step Up Super Set

    10 Freak Nasties IC, 10 left leg step ups IC, 10 right leg step ups IC- Rinse and repeat three times adding 5 reps to each exercise every set

    On the final mosey to the flag, we were left with 10 burpees to get reach our goal. I thought that Rev Socks was going to sabotage the mission, but he did not dissapoint. Turbo did not dissapoint either by changing his last 10 burpees into slurpees by doing them in a large puddle left by the torrential rain from Friday. Way to embrace the suck Turbo.

     

    COT – Prayed out by THE Manny – Coffetteria afterwards

     

     

     

     

  • A CSAUP Convergence in the Mud

    Well, the day was finally upon us. With a 50% chance of rain it was anybody’s guess what the weather would do. But when it’s called Tough Mudder, either way is good. The clown cars converged at NOLA Motor Park and the clowns met up just inside the official Tough Mudder grounds. The southshore boys called a last minute audible.With Fracsac having to pull out, Cowbell, was and easy EH to grab his spot. Speaking of last minute, YHC pulled up to the meeting spot to see that none other than the elusively nomadic Butt Splice had joined the party, having bought his ticket yesterday.

    Due to the race being 12 mud-filled miles long, not to mention this guy’s exhausted brain, I won’t list all the obstacles, but give a greatest hits and honorable mentions overview.

    Like ripping off a band aid, the 1st obstacle thrown at us was Kiss of Mud 2.o, involving an army crawl under barbed wire through the soupy mud. Butt Splice was fully submerged and in heaven!

    The Hero Carry obstacle (which was much easier the 1st time around) found us carrying our partner about 50 or so yards, then switching for the next 50. Strategically speaking we tried to match up size-wise with Steve/Tanked Up, Butt Splice/Gabrielle, Shooter/Walleye, Bushwacker/Ocho (had I only known this deceptively sized man was actually heavier than the solid Shooter, I might have chosen more wisely), and Reluctant Yankee/Cowbell. Jingle Vader paired up with a random to complete the obstacle.

    Much better acquainted, the fun continued.

    Somewhere along the way, we chanced on a solo mudder who by some stoke of good fortune joined our  regal ranks on this muddy mission. This bald bruiser (sorry the alliteration is addictive) was visiting Nawlins with his lovely wife (who was a loyal spectator) from Chattanooga, TN. An easy Eh and a great F3 fit to round the crew out at 12.

    There were more muddy water-filled pits, walls, hay bales, nets and unpredictable terrain in store for our daring band of F3 brothers. The course lent itself to some quality mumble chatter that added to the intrinsic appreciation of the experience. Speaking of mumble chatter, between Gabrielle and Ocho’s slew of  salacious interactions with random members of the fairer sex, I’m surprised we didn’t walk away from the course with our own fan club. Or better yet, a new cadre of FIA recruits!

    Not that we didn’t all have an appreciation for the females we ran into. A bunch of us made a new friend in a medical assistant at the Trench Warfare obstacle when we gave her a big F3 group hug, sharing all the muddy goodness we had to offer…especially Ocho.

    There were back busting back flips and reverse swan dives at the Shawshank obstacle. This one was quite refreshing!

    At Everest 2.0 we joined the waiting crowd in an attempt to scale the slick quarter pipe and, with the assistance of the previous victors, to mount the 15′ summit. In an attempt to get up quickly and help some folks, F3 and otherwise, YHC skirted the waiting onlookers and made a few unsuccessful shots at the top. In between tries, many, especially the tall gents, were making it look like child’s play. I returned to the fold to find Ocho back on the ground after having already made the ascent. Butt Splice had inadvertently pulled him back down as he tried, in vain, to make it up. With the brilliant Walleye extending his lengthy arms towards the next contestants, the guys one by one made it up. After an embarrassingly  high number of failed tries, this now bruised and battered Q joined his comrades in victory.

    Anyone who knows anything about the tough mudder knows that that one of the most anticipated , and feared, obstacles is the Electroshock! While most of us caught a shock or 2, poor Shooter, who had almost made it through with only 1 zap, took a shot that rung his bell. Being St.Patty’s day, the luck of the Irish must have been shining on Steve, Reluctant Yankee and Jingle Vader (hope I got that right), because they got through scott free. We were all entertained as we prepared to move on by a bald, hardcore ranter who got tagged in the face and many other places as he worked his way through – SON OF A BITCH!

    At the last obstacle, Happy Ending, we ran into fellow F3 Saxon who, along with Jesse from Chattanooga, Ocho, and Butt Splice, formed the base and extension of our human ladder that helped a lot of recently rinsed fools get to the top. Eventually we retrieved our magnanimous brothers and slid down the other side to cross the finish line, arms locked.

    As we gathered post-race with out victory beers (and recovery drinks) in hand to close out with a COT, we were in a unique and enviable position to name an out-of-state FNG. Welcome Big Easy to the F3 Nation! We hope he returns to Chattanooga and hits up one of the 5 area posts up that way. Thanks to Butt Splice for his emotionally aroused prayer to take us out.

    Gentlemen, despite some bumps and bruises this was an extraordinary adventure, and I am blessed to have taken the journey with each of you. Many thanks for following my lead to the starting line today.

  • A Buzzer Beatdown

    The Scene: The Knoll

    Conditions: Mosquitos and Mud.

    Welcome

    Disclaimer

    Warm-a-Rama:

    Warmest day of the year. But we still did our warm-a-rama.

    Started with one full lap ending at the sundial.

    · SSH – 25x IC

    · Arm cirlces (15 Fwd/15Bkwds)

    · Bobby Hurley – 15x IC. (FNG was excited about this one. Gave a little shout out to ASU, he’s alma mater.)

    · Al Gores – 10x IC

    · Merkins -10x IC

    · Burpees – 8x on own.

    The Thang:

    We did our own form of March Madness.

    1. Suicide Madness– Mosey’d to the muddy football field. We stood at football goal line. Sprinted to about 20 yd line and back two times between each of the following:

    · 64 – SSH – (Workhorse finished these at blazing speed. But, in mid-sprint about the 10 yd line, he stopped, turned around, laughed, and said he only did 32. He came back and finished the rest. We were reminded you can’t look too far ahead. All eyes on you, Virginia. All eyes on you.)

    · 32 – Merkins.

    · 16 – Al Gores – Madness really set in

    · 8 – Burpees – Gabriel was still smiling somehow.

    · 4- Burpees

    · 2 – Burpees – A lot of midwife noises here.

    · 1 minute planks

    -Flutter kicks waiting on 6 man.

    We then took a little apocalyptic tour through the woods and over the log bridge. No injuries reported.

    After the long tour, we made it back to the sundial. We did a quick set of 15 merkins, 12 Freak Nastys, 10 Merkins, and 10 Freak nastys.

    2. Col Trautman – We then partnered up and did a little Colonel Trautman. One partner ran from sundial to pull up bar and did 5 pull-ups. While other partner stood at sundial and did lunges AMRAP. We did this for 4 quarters. Felt like we were in triple OT. MoneyCat finished his last one with a dead sprint back. The crowd erupted.

    Mary:

    We were running late for Mary’s, again. But 4 PAX led their favorite:

    · Fastball – LBCs – 10x

    · Dagwood – Jane Fondas (Rt) – 10x

    · Shangeux – American Hammers – 15x

    · Snack Pack – Jane Fondas (Lt)– 10x

    We cut it close on time, but we nailed it! A buzzer beatdown.

    Mosey’d to Flag. Gabriel, still smiling, sprinted to flag. It was the fastest I’ve seen it done. And it’s not even close.

    Count-o-Rama

    Name-o-Rama

    Welcome, Hogfish!

    COT / BOM:

    Announcements –

    T-Claps to Money Cat for increasing his merkins by 400%. And for losing about 35 lbs over the last few months! Well done!

     

  • To your left, no my left….Get Some!

    From the start (a bit of humility and learning) set in for the QIC as 16 men gathered and heard the disclaimer by none other than Craig…..Oh wait a minute a.k.a. Mahatma-Ice.  So it begins –

    DISCLAIMER

    Mosey to towards the big field for warm up – while listing to chirping complaints that “running” is only supposed to on certain F3 workout days.

    Warm up

    SSH x 30

    Seal Jacks x 25

    Down to your 6 – no stand up (to moans from the Pax primarily Rudy and FracSac, as if the extra effort was going to cause a little more sweat).

    Once back up Hillbilly x 15

    ISW x 10

    Austin Butt Kickers (again communication break down as to left arm out, “what leg” back.  QIC may be better at demonstrating the exercise, it finally begins) x 20

    Dive Bombers x 5 (4 cnt)

    Bicycle Kicks x  20

    Now for the reason we all got up and came out this morning… The Thang-

    1st Field Event:

    2 man team – 100 Burpees total split “evenly” between them.  (1) did Burpees will the other went out 2 tree distances doing Bear Crawl then back doing Kongs – Switch the effort.  I think most got a shot at doing the out and back twice.  I teamed with Frac, he was determined to add in additional Burpees thinking I might have gotten more than him (I’ve come to learn, he likes them!)  Can’t speak for any other teams.

    2nd Field Event:

    Pax broken up into 4 teams of 4 –

    ZigZag Squat Run; Indian Style (with some kind of audible to note that Pax member completed their run and next Pax to go).  Distance 4 trees with the entire team to sprint back. QIC noted after the start of this “thang” that the losing team had to complete 5 Burpees (TripleShift’s team lost – complaints about brotherhood so all teams gave the 5).

    3rd Field Event:

    2 teams of 8 –

    Body Tent Low Crawl – Distance 5 trees (Again complaining from the field that there was some kind of “big” brother rules as to the line of completion for everyone to sprint back) so again PAX all participated in Burpees

    4th Field Event – Back to 4 teams of 4

    Low Crawl – Frog Hop – Low Crawl – Frog Hop….. Distance 4 trees.  (Bit of a communication break down but PAX figured it out and the event was completed)  Can’t recall the losers but I think the understanding was we all shared in the Burpees.

    5th Field Event – Pax back to 2 teams of 8

    Plank Body Hurdles (Indian Run) – losing team busted butt to make it close but circled up to start Burbees – somehow the brotherhood of sharing the pain was now gone with the other team heading off to get water…..Rudy called them out and most jumped in grinded out a few.

    Slow mosey towards fountain –

    Pax circled the Fountain with QIC wanting to create 8 2 man teams – seemed easy enough….”look to your left and that’s your teammate; well my left!  QIC learned a lesson as to using a count off to establish PAX position then match 1&2…… (this will be used next time for sure).  Now add in that we pissed off the legal training crew, encroaching on their space – we only needed a small section but this might be why women aren’t mixed in with F3 groups, they pick up their stuff and stormed off, clearing the area.  (When Qing in future, I’ll be more sensitive).

    1st Fountain Team AMRP

    While one member did box jumps the other hopped 1st set of steps then 2 Burpees at landing area then hopped as many steps at a time until reaching the top landing 3 Burpees, run back – SWITCH  x 2

    2nd Fountain AMRP

    Same team effort as above except Shoulder Taps 1st, then Durkins while teammate hops the steps and does Burpees.

    With about 7 minutes to go – Mosey back towards the flag – TripleShift was pushing the pace so we had enough time to detour to the big field for some last minute Mary-

    LBC x 20 (4cnt)

    Scuba kicks (Flutter Kicks) x 20 (4cnt)

    WWII – Sit ups x 4 (4cnt)

    Pax member reminded (actually it might have been a complaint) that QIC had passed the 7:30 mark so the fun had to end with a quick mosey back to the flag.

    COP, announcements, no intentions – closing prayer.

    Gents thank you for the opportunity to lead (and learn) today.  No doubt God gives us the blessing of the present to be embrace and enjoy.  I’m want to give a shout out to 2-Utes for getting me involved with F3!

     

     

  • The Almighty EH

    With a 12 mile, obstacle-filled mud fest of a CSAUP awaiting the men of F3 saturday morning, this particular man knew a 4:45am 10k would not be high on his priorities. However, a simple “maybe-ish” text to one half of “The Northshore Core”, Shooter, was enough to stoke the irrepressible flames of the EH. Somehow, after just brief digital exchange, YHC found himself roped in as though he had signed up to Q himself rather than offering to cover for Captain Sparkles (Captain Sparkles =EiEi, but that’s a different backblast).

    With a chance groupme comment by the long lost Pelican offering similar intentions as I, YHC felt compelled to sic the EH master on him. SUCCESS! 3 sets of headlights ended up simultaneously rolling down Jackson St. to converge at the Cove.

    Today’s 10k was, indeed, and educational experience. So to recap, what did we learn?

    1. There’s no readily apparent excessive benefit to a Disney cruise over a non-Disney cruise.

    2. LBCs are a great way to break up the monotony of a long run.

    3. Though a man may keep mum about your over exaggeration of accomplishment, NEVER misrepresent that your HALF beat his WHOLE.

    4. Self-employment tax sucks!

    5. Shooter wins the gold medal for EH.

    6.Garfield can put the best of us to secret running shame.

    7. The Pelican is Japanese!

    8. Bushwacker suffers from Foot-In-Mouth disease.

    9. Small grown men drive small grown cars (but they sure are fun!)

    Class dismissed

  • Oops, it’s me again.

    It’s been gloomy this week.  A good resbit before the Turkish steam bath that is soon to arrive.  QHC sees a lonely silhouette of a PAX ready to go.  It’s Hand-Grenada, our FNG from Monday gratis Walleye.  He’s nervously peering into the chasm for the pumping station into Pontiff.  It’s scary business.  But not nearly as scary as when QHC asked who’s today’s Q and was told he was!  Actually, that doesn’t frighten QHC any more.  I just hope my on-the-cuff DownPainMents aren’t too dull, whiskey-dick-ish (TClaps to Tool for the vocab drills) or repetitive.  So with an opportunity for a real Disclaimer (because a professional trainer would know he’s up), the PAX is off–for a distance of about twelve feet.

    COP1:

    • SSHs ICx20
    • Inchworm (gratis YSR at the Birdcage this week) ICx10
    • Moroccan Casbah (gratis The Rev from about a year ago or so) [squat while twisting arms] ICx20
    • Mountain Climbers ICx20

    The PAX gets two rocks: big and bigger for COP2:

    • Overhead press ICx20
    • Curls ICx20
    • Nape scratchers (tricep lifts) ICx20
    • Rows ICx20
    • Bench press on our 6s ICx20
    • Low slow squats ICx20

    Rinse and repeat, but with ICx15 (and regular squats instead of LSS); rinse and repeat again, but with ICx10 (again regular squats instead of LLS); then rinse and repeat again–kinda:

    • Overhead press ICx5 (but real slow, 20 count, for #5)
    • Curls ICx5
    • Nape scratchers ICxG (but real slow, 20 count, for #5)
    • Rows ICx5
    • Bench press ICx5 (hold last for 20 count)
    • Low slow squats (for a total of 25 LLS and 25 regular squats) ICx5

    Time for some relaxing at the wall:

    • People’s chair for a long-ass time, with overheads ICx10 and curls ICx10 and sitting some more
    • Rest oh so briefly
    • People’s chair again for not at long: overheads ICx10, curls ICx10, hold rock out 30 seconds.

    Mosey back (10 feet) for Circle of Mary:

    • Flutter kicks with rocks ICx20
    • LBTs ICx20
    • Hello Dollys with rocks ICx20
    • Penguins ICx20
    • Rosalitas with rocks ICx20
    • WWII situps ICx20
    • Russian twists with rocks ICx20
    • LCBs with rocks ICx20

    And it’s 6:15.  Countoff, Name-o-Rama, Shout Outs and closing prayer from HVAC.  Tclaps to Hand-Grenada for two posts in his first week.  Jingle Vader

  • The 40, Part 4

    Its Okwata Time. That means its Levee time. 40 times.

    11 PAX gathered around the shovel flag this morning in the dark gloom. Alas, no glorious sunrise over the waters of Okwata. The PAX will have to wait several weeks for the morning light to appear during the workouts again. Until then, just gloomy gloom. The PAX welcomed the visitor – Schottenheimer from Cleveland. Thanks for coming out to join us!

    At 5:30, YHC pronounced the disclaimer and so we began.

    First, Mosey 10 yards to the flag (from all the way across the sidewalk). Circle up for warmup, sprinkled with mumble chatter.

    • SSH x25
    • Abe Vigoda x10
    • IW x25

    Then off to the base of the Levee.

    By now, the PAX know the drill.  10 exercises.  4 Sets of each exercise.  10 reps per set.  Back and forth over the Levee for each set.  That equals (do the math….) 40 trips over the levee.

    1. Cross Fit Merkins: Oh, the grass is cold.  And wet.
    2. Box Cutters: Out-Up-In-Down half the time, Up-Out-Down-In the other half.  Shorty finally realizes there’s a difference.
    3. 4-Count Lunges: Triple Shift appears to have mixed signals and went for the 20 reps of 4 count lunges.
    4. Derkins: a new wrinkle – stop half-way down the levee for the exercise.  Slip and Slide trying to stop
    5. Dying Cockroach: Frac rightly points out that Roaches crawl, forcing a clarification from YHC that we were doing the Dying variety.  On our backs.
    6. Bobby Hurley: OK, YHC certainly felt this when running up the hill.
    7. Irkins: stop half-way up the levee for the exercise.
    8. Monkey Humpers: I thought the Bobby Hurley burned….
    9. Hello Dolly: I think that just maybe I saw Mahatma break a sweat.
    10. Burpees: The crowning glory, as Tool was lamenting the lack of burpees in the workout.

    Finished up at 6:08.  We are getting better at this.  That meant we had time for more!  Quadrophelia!  Up to the top of the levee, so we can run forwards-down and backwards-up (i.e., always look to the lake) for 4 minutes.

    Back to the flag with a minute to spare.  Time for LBC x40.

    Finish up with Count-off and Name-o-rama.  Intentions, then close with prayers.  Psalm 40, a song of praise.

    I waited patiently for the Lord;
        he turned to me and heard my cry.
    He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
        out of the mud and mire;
    he set my feet on a rock
        and gave me a firm place to stand.
    He put a new song in my mouth,
        a hymn of praise to our God.
    Many will see and fear the Lord
        and put their trust in him.

    Thanks for letting me lead!

  • Long Lost Pelican and the Ubiquitous Captain

    As the latest CSAUP is nigh upon us, 3 of the bold participants gathered in the frigid gloom to do what we do here in F3, for ourselves and for our brothers -get the heart rates up and micro-tear a little muscle. You see, the thing about obstacle races is that there’s a lot of running, but its broken up intermittently by various physical challenges. And so, in a mildly similar fashion we proceeded to scramble.

    After seeing the important-yet-forgotten dimension of fitness that Chewy has brought back with his recent Qs, I decided to start things off with some intentional ballistic stretching. Once we got going, the idea was that at random moments YHC would say STOP! and call out an OYO exercise for the PAX to knock out. The 1st instance was 25 merkins within the 1st block of our run. A couple of blocks later came 25 squats. Next was 10 burpees. With the power of the pied piper, I reversed the usual route, taking us to sunset point 1st. At the end of the pier we jumped on the benches for 25 calf raises. Our boisterous activity spooked a pelican perched on the rail, who found another section of rail closer to shore. The pelican may have gone away, but we knew he couldn’t STAY away (Where you at Pelican?)

    Now, YHC finds, and the PAX would certainly concur, that our F3 runs are enjoyable spans of time based , especially, on the the company of our F3 brothers. This morning that could not have been more true for the sudden and abruptly unexpected appearance of Captain Sparkles, who, dressed in his fisherman’s finest, jumped out from behind a bush with a loud AAAAGGGHH! as we cleared the end of the pier. While Shooter and I were certainly given a bit of a shock, poor Steve, who was closest to the perp,  barely escaped the experience with clean drawz LOL. A life-long fireman, Sparkles had to  flex his pranking muscles before he shoved of with Turtle and a group of guys making for an off-shore fishing trip.

    Having recovered our sensibilities, we stopped for 50 LBCs (DISCLAIMER: events may or may not have happened in the exact order YHC currently recalls). Upon exiting the sunset point gates, we took advantage of a 2 foot tall section of concrete to grab 25 incline merkins. Along the subdivision loop we knocked out 25 toes touches to stay at our peak of nimbleness. At some point Shooter’s off hand comment having something to do with “core” and “back” inspired 25 supermans. And finally, at Florida (Hwy 190) we dropped to the invitingly soft grass for 25 heal pulses (heals to heaven).

    After proper consideration, we decided to shut things down officially before moving on to anything else with COT: count-o-rama, name-o-rama, announce-o-ramma, and prayer-o-ramma (thank you Steve). I always enjoy my F3 beat downs, but there’s something appreciably special when I get to experience it with, what could arguably be considered the true core of the northshore, Steve and Shooter. Thank you gentlemen for following this pied piper’s little ditty in this star-filled gloom – the honor is all mine.

    AND THEN…

    LAGNIAPPE: 3 ISI participants can’t walk away without knocking out the challenge of the day. Specifically, 1 minute decline plank followed immediately by 1 minute of derkins….followed immediately by 3 strong, proud, adult fathers collapsed in heaps on the pine needle-covered ground. good times!