F3 New Orleans

Category: Backblasts

  • Stomp #93 – Running & Rucking

    Good turnout with nine PAX in City Park this am for the Stomp.  YHC noticed last week that someone must have signed me up to Q so I kicked around a few ideas to vary up our running workout, aka The Stomp.  With lots of running and rucking on the radar for the rest of the week, I figured we shouldn’t go too hard on the legs and mix up the moseying with some calisthenics , speed work, and body weight exercises.  Several guys showed up with rucks so it became evident that we would be splitting up the PAX.  T-claps to Bubba, Fracsac, JV, and FNG Grave Digger for the early warmup run before their ruck.  Blast off at 5:30 with 5 runners and 4 ruckers, all in the direction of the museum.  Welcome Cowboy from F3-Nashville who showed up in the nick of time.

    Here’s what the runners did:

    • Mosey to the museum (0.6 miles)
    • COP on Museum Steps: SSHx20, Windmillx20,Peter Parkerx20, Skater Jumpsx20 (these were ugly and bad timing with ruckers passing by to witness the botched form)
    • Line up for a Burpee Catch Me If You Can Indian Run around the Big Lake track. (0.75 miles)
    • Run down and back on Lelong Dr. with a bit of speedwork, alternating reg pace and face pace between the light post. (0.4 miles)
    • Dips x20 on the cement ledge, just cause it was there
    • Another run down and back on Lelong Dr. with a bit of speedwork, alternating reg pace and face pace between every second light post.  (0.4 miles)
    • Dips x20 on the cement ledge, to catch our breath
    • Run around the Great Lake again OYO and if finished early, loop around the Museum and till the six shows up.  T-claps to Cowboy for pushing hard. (0.75 miles + lagniappe for Cowboy)
    • Mosey back to base.  (0.6 miles)
    • Two minutes left so one last mosey, this time around the Roosevelt Mall circle. (0.15 miles)
    • LBC x40 IC to seal the deal.
    • Total Distance = 3.65 miles according to geodistance.com

    Here’s what the ruckers did (according to Fracsac’s MapMyRun post):

    • Pre-workout mosey of 1.64 miles
    • Rucked 2.92 mi at a 15:39 pace

    COT included a rather drawn out naming process for Grave Digger.  Welcome and t-claps to Quick Draw for the EH.  Prayer to close it out.

    Always great to lead.

    Tool

    Moleskin:  YHC advises future Q’s to use caution if they decided to try skater jumps in a workout.  They looked cool when watching the online Men’s Health video of the ripped guy doing them but backfired a bit when the YHC attempted to lead them during a COP.  Maybe there’s a reason they’re not on the F3 recommended exercise list.

     

     

     

     

  • It’s All Fun and Games before the Big Event

    Seven PAX met in the soggy yet sunny gloom this morning under the Gipper’s watchful gaze to make themselves better.  With an eye towards this weekend’s Grow Ruck 03 festivities, the PAX focused on agility and explosiveness, keeping it relatively light overall.

    The Warmup:

    SSHs, squats, good mornings, lateral lunges, front to back lunges, Merkins, and torso twists, all IC 10x for the lateral lunges and torso twists and 20x for the rest.

    Mosey to the Justice Center for some more dynamic warmup exercises:

    Working down the lane, the PAX got in some toe walk forward arm circles, reverse toe walk with reverse arm circles, skips, backpedals, cariocas, lateral bounces, lunge and reaches, dynamic quad stretches, and dynamic hamstring stretches.  Then the PAX executed increasing intensity runs down the lane starting at 65% and progressing to 75%, 85%, 95%, and finally 100%.  10 count and then…

    The Thang:

    Working with four cones set roughly 10 yards apart down the lane, the PAX executed a lateral shuffle shuttle (shuffle from the first to the second cone, return to the first, shuffle to the third cone, return to the first, then shuffle to the fourth cone, return to the first).  Next up was a sprint/backpedal using the same sequence.  Rinse and repeat for two complete sets.

    Short recovery walk and after a brief set up the PAX played a passing game that YHC remembers from his soccer days.  Five cones demarcate a rough circle.  The PAX counts off, begins moving within the circle, and then using a lacrosse ball #1 bounce passes to #2, #2 to #3, etc.  Every missed pass results in an exercise for the whole PAX.  Then we count off again and start and of course the order of passes will change as a result of the count.  Once we mastered the first level, we added a level of difficulty.  First, you have to exit the circle after passing by running around a cone before you can receive your next pass, using a different cone each time.  Second, you have to add a SSH every time you exit the circle around a cone.  Finally, you have to execute a clap Merkin every time you exit the circle around a cone.  The possibilities are endless, but our efforts ended with clap Merkins this morning.  As for the exercises performed within the game, we hit vertical jumps, seal jacks, SSHs, clap Merkins, star jumps, split jumps, plank jacks, forward and reverse hops, and lateral hops.  Fun stuff.

    4 position planks to close things out:  back plank, T stand planks each side, and regular front plank…45 seconds each.

    Mosey back to the Gipper for countorama, nameorama, announcements and Einstein prayed us out.  Shooter has the Q next Wednesday.

    Moleskin

    Welcome Captain Sparkles to the Gipper.  Glad to have you.

    Convergence this Saturday, June 10th, 0800-0900 Audubon Park.  You do not want to miss this beatdown which will be lead by OBT and DREDD, F3’s Founding Fathers.  We will be joining F3 NOLA and F3 Houston.

     

  • Forecast: 55 and Wet

    QHC came rolling in at exactly 5:30.  I’m not a professional trainer, modify if you need to ‘cuz this is F3, so let’s mosey.  The mumblechatter began early, as we moseyed to the pavilion over the pond for COP1:

    • 10 burpees OYO
    • 9 burpees OYO
    • 20 merkins xIC
    • 8 burpees OYO
    • 20 Imperial Walkers xIC
    • 20 Monkey Humpers xIC
    • 7 burpees OYO
    • 20 hip slappers xIC
    • 20 arm circles forward xIC
    • 20 arm circles backwards xIC
    • 6 burpees OYO

    The PAX then moseyed to the covered shelter for COP2:

    • 20 right leg step ups xIC
    • 20 dips xIC
    • 5 burpees OYO
    • 20 left leg step ups xIC
    • 10 burpees (or 4, then 3, then 2, then 1) OYO

    A slow mosey to Oak Alley for Route 55: at each lamp do a set of LBTs: two at the first lamp, four at the second, etc. to twenty at the tenth.

    A moderate mosey to the Labyrinth for 20 derkins.  The PAX encountered a poor soul trying to do his quiet meditative yoga.  So after the derkins, YHC decided the PAX should mosey back to the fields across from the track for a longer Circle of Mary:

    • 55 LBCs xIC
    • 20 tin snips xIC
    • 20 Ys xIC
    • 20 Ts xIC
    • 20 Ws xIC
    • 20 Big Boy situps xIC
    • 20 dying cockroaches xIC
    • 20 putins xIC
    • 55 LBCs xIC
    • 1 minute of plank

    The PAX finished off with a quick if short mosey back to the flag for a countdown of 16, namorama (#TClaps to Cowboy for posting multiple AOs while visiting NOLA), and COP.

    Fifty-five is a great space.  Cowboy and YHC recommend it highly.

    Jingle Vader

     

  • Merkin Mountain

    When:6-2-2017

    QIC: Quick Draw

    The PAX: Rudy, Tinkles, 86, Yankee, Roots, Bad Moon, Sea man, Landing Strip, Shorty, Cowbell, Sandbar, YSR, Saban, Jingle Vader, Mulligan, and Quick Draw (QIC).

    At 0530 there was the usual disclaimer, as it turns out YHC is not a personal trainer and this is F3.

    The Thang
    Mosey from the fountain to St. Charles and Audubon Street for BLIMPS at each crossover. 5 Burpees, 10 Lunges (each leg) 15 Imperial Walkers, 20 Merkins, 25 Squats. Gather in front to the Loyola statue for Sevens. It began with 1 Jump Squat and Bear Crawl to the statue where 6 LBC’s were done and Lunge walk back to 2 Jump Squats and continue to 7.

    We then moseyed to the base of the mountain. The PAX was to mosey to the top stopping at each end for 7 Merkins and 10 The Real Freddie Mercury. Plank and wait on the roof for the 6 and the Q. Some work was done there, but YHC was too out of breath to remember.

    Down the stairs and to the benches. Left Leg step up X 10 IC, Dips X10 IC, Right Leg step up X10 IC and mosey to the flag for Mary.

    There were announcements about the Grow Ruck, OBT and Dredd and the 0800 Saturday beatdown at Audubon, and only 48 weeks to the Barathon. Countoff and Namerama followed by the BOM. The prayer was for Doug, a policeman, with stage 4 cancer. We prayed for strength for his family.

    My M asked if I kicked ass on my Q. The first ass kicked was my own.

    Quick Draw

  • Shake Down the Thunder – Bucktown Coastie

    The Coastie was a one Pax this morning.  YHC rolled to the trail at precisely 5:30 am; nodded off to the sky Q and made his way. In total the ride was 14.77 miles and the average speed was 15.2 mph (however the mid miles were averaging 16.5).   YHC rode alone, neither passing or being passed.   Upon reaching the Seabrook Bridge a thought came.  “Can I make it to the stomp for Mary?”

    YHC dropped the ring and damn well tried.   The fast route between 2 points is a straight line.   YHC turned south on Franklin Ave, west on Leon C. Simon, south on Paris….

    Then YHC saw the most monumental and beautiful edifice ever built.  There she was standing before him in brazen red brick and shimmering windows.   The roar of the Tiger called out to him.  He could feel the Navy Blue and Old Gold Coursing through his veins.   The azelas were starring in his soul, saying “we shall bloom bolder this year”.   The gazebo called his name and said “I will shelter you.”  Palms swayed in the breeze as if they were singing the Alma Mater, “…Holy Cross, we hail thee, tender, strong, and true.”   The bell tower struck 0600, and YHC knew that he was not going to make it to the Stomp, but, what a sight worth missing it for.

    The remainder of the ride was west on Filmore, south on Marconi, west on Harrison and back to YHC’s M & shorties.  All are welcome to the Coastie, and boys who are looking to become men are welcome to 5500 Paris Ave.

    Da Parish, Class of ’01

    Moleskin:  Below is the mission statement of Holy Cross School.  It’s not too far off course from being a Q.

    “The Holy Cross Man is a refined gentleman who lives by Faith. Devoted to his soul’s welfare, he reflects often on God. His daily actions are sanctified by prayer, the practice of virtue and manly piety. Since sanctity is his goal, he has a deep devotion to Our Lord, to Our Lady and to St. Joseph, patron of his school.

    The Holy Cross Man is studious. He regards learning as a duty; intellectual perfection as an honor. He knows that his school is his training ground where he must mold himself into a useful man.

    The Holy Cross Man is loyal to God and Country. Devotion to his school and his teachers is demonstrated by his cooperation, zeal and spirit. He is a friend of all because he is a member of the Mystical Body of Christ.

    In a word, he is a man of faith and honesty, of strength of character through self-mastery, of respect for the Christian family and lawful authority, of leadership in the pursuit of the true, the good and the beautiful – that is the Holy Cross Man.”

  • Three of A Kind

    Three high impact men gathered in the gloom and faced the day head on. To boost our local weather forecast accuracy, I vote to set up a weather station at the Troubled Water’s AO.  All it’ll measure is the chance of downpainments; and it’s always 100%.

    Q planted the flag and we went on the move. Mosey to the basketball courts to work on our free throws.

    Warm-Up:

    1. SSH x20 (IC)
    2. Windmills x15 (IC)
    3. Imperial Walker x20 (IC)
    4. Arm Circles – forward/backward x15 each (IC)

    The Thang:

    11’s: Pull-Up/Merkin combo. Round 1: PAX would do a round of Pull-Ups/Merkins at the court, then run to the other pull-up bar for Round 2.  Then back to the basketball courts for round 3, etc.

    Dropping Threes:

    PAX did a lap around the back half of the park followed by:

    1. 50 Squats
    2. 50 Merkins
    3. 50 Sit-Ups

    Run another lap then:

    1. 25 Squats
    2. 25 Merkins
    3. 25 Sit-Ups

    Counterama, Namerama, Announcements, Prayer, and Send Off.

    Moleskin:

    Without the dedication of the high impact man (HIM) Kim Chi, Troubled Water’s might just be called Waters. And Terabyte is the only one from TW heading into the GrowRuck this weekend, so that man deserves double respect.  I’m sure he’ll be in the gym and/or rucking again today too.  Some guys just stay on the move. #respect

  • Going BIG at Rock City!

    When Rudy signed me up to Q Rock City at Coffeeteria 2 weeks ago, I said ‘Sure’, thinking that this will be a piece of cake.  Then reality set in at 4:45 am this morning.  What the heck was I thinking?  In preparation for the GoRuck in 6 days, should I take it easy and taper down with some stretching or Yoga or should I go BIG!  Why did I agree to this?  Didn’t I know I needed to save my strength?  I’m not a Millenial!  Well, needless to say, Leaders Lead and the 12 PAX that showed up inspired me to go BIG!

    THE WARMUP

    We moseyed over to the rock pile and warmed up with

    30 IC x SSH

    15 IC x High Knees

    14 IC x Butt Kicks (Lost count)

    20 IC x Plank Jacks

    Enough already, let’s get the pre-welcome party started.

    THE THANG

    QIC instructed the PAX to get a big rock and then mosey to the center of the track field.  I informed the men that we will do a descending ladder from ten (10) to one (1) of 8 Count Bodybuilders (no Rock), shoulder presses IC, Squats IC and Flutter Kicks IC with the Rock.  After rounds 10, 9 and 8, QIC decided that a quick 400-meter jaunt would liven things up a little.

    NOPE!  Just panting and sweating.

    After a 20 count from Shorty, we did rounds 7, 6, and 5 with another 400-meter run and another 20 count from Shorty.

    I’m running out of gas!

    Finally, we finished off with rounds 4, 3, 2 and 1 and you guessed it….another 400-meter run.

    I’m really tired now!

    Thankful the pain is almost over. We picked up our Rocks and moseyed back to the pile and made a deposit and then worked our way back to the flag.

    We picked up our Rocks and moseyed back to the Rock Pile and made our deposit and then worked our way back to the flag.

    Countoff, Namerama and COT for strength for Tool and Brady and all parents of special needs children, Fracsac’s dad, and Maverick’s uncle.  Sorry if I left out someone.  As the Sun was coming up over the tree line, I could feel it’s warmth and energy especially after starting in the Gloom.  Prayers to the Creator to help us reject passivity and indifference and allow us to leave a positive legacy for our families and communities.  So thankful for the Sun but especially THE SON!

  • Ultimate Frisbee

    “Ultimate [insert-item-here]” – Da Parish

    I mean, he does deserve the quote spot with his 29+ Groupme messages that day….I guess that’s what happens when we change it up with some Ultimate Frisbee for a beatdown.  In fact, you would’ve thought the convergence was today with the 27 Pax posting.  Anyway, with cones, flags, and frisbee (Tclaps Roots for bringing one!) in hand, we were off….but first….DISCLAIMER

    The Thang

    Mosey over to the Festival Grounds so YHC could set up the 50 yd x 90 yd field (roughly) while the Pax split up into two teams, one with flags and one without….then each team to a separate endzone for some Ultimate Frisbee.  Rules are simple:

    • Teams advance the frisbee by throwing/catching the frisbee to reach the other teams endzone for a point.
    • Thrower (guy with frisbee) cannot move.
    • Defense on Thrower – 3 yd safe zone.
    • Penalties:
      • Turnovers (frisbee hits the ground or intercepted) – turnover team does 2 reps of exercise before playing defense
      • Scores – defense does 5 reps of exercise while scoring team runs to their endzone for kickoff

    We played two (25 min) halfs, with a Plank Hold Water Break in between.

    • Penalty Exercises:
      • 1st Half – Burpees
      • 2nd Half – Merkins

    By the end of it, the score ended up 10-9 (closer that the Warriors vs Cavs series so far), no one was injured, and we ended up doing 70 – 90 Burpees, 70 – 90 Merkins, ran over 3 miles, and found out how much fun it was to be a kid again!  Also found out that Bubba should tryout for the Ultimate Frisbee Olympic Team….is that a thing??  It should be!

    Mosey back over to the parking lot near the flag…noticed a quarter of the Pax was missing.  What happened?  Were they still playing Ultimate?  Did they get lost?  Turns out they were getting in some strength training by pushing a car out of the mud #GRT.

    The Pax regrouped for the single COT of the day:

    COP #1: 3MOM

    15x Crunchy Frogs IC
    15x Hello Dolly IC

    Back to the flag for the COT, where we held the Countoff, Nameorama, Shoutouts and Prayer. Thanks for bringing your competitive edge this gloom…We will do it again!

    Moleskin

    • NOTC Summer Series 2 miler is Wednesday in City Park.  F3 / FiA is sponsoring the event. Come be a walking billboard for the F3NOLA Pax.
    • Convergence is this Saturday, June 10th in AUDUBON PARK at 0800 hrs.  By rule, we need to get 100 Pax there, so bring anyone and everyone you know!  Dredd & OBT (founders of F3) will be on Q, and you won’t want to miss it!  Coffeeteria / Grow School will be held after, and it will be a great time.
    • Grow Ruck 03 is also Saturday, June 10th in City Park (Mothership AO) at 1700 hrs.

  • Where there’s a will, there’s a “Relevé Pli-ay”

    Hey gentlemen. So I’m sitting here at the airport and my flight is delayed, so I thought I’d go ahead and put up the backblast. This will be slightly abbreviated though.

    So 9 men showed up this morning and I’ll get right into it. A disclaimer was given before we started because it was needed for what was coming.

    Warm up:

    Run in place,SSH, butt kicks, seal jacks, and high knees. All of them were 15 IC and there no breaks in between. 10 push-ups and 10 squats.

    The Thang:

    Started off with some yoga and did some Crescent Chair. We then did some crawly plyometric merkins. We then did a ballet move that looks silly, but one didn’t make fun of it after a little bit. The move is called Relevè plié and turbo put it best, “I wanted to start making fun of these moves, but then my legs started burning”.

    We moseyed to the justice center for the main workout. (Well there also was a spur of the moment bear crawl merkin challenge that got us to our final destination). We then partnered up and did a heartbreak 1,2,3,4. As a team you had to do 25 burpees, 50 box jumps, 100 merkins, and 200 LBC’s. When one partner was exercising the other would have to run up and down the justice center staircase and replace his partner where he left off on his exercise count. Heartbreak is what the PAX experienced. I’m just glad we didn’t need to call an ambulance, but if we did Einstein pointed out that there was one nearby.

    We walked to the parking garage for our last stretch. We did sneaky lunges (heals can’t touch the ground) halfway up the ramp and sprinted the rest. We then did some gate bridge lifts. We went to to the other ramp and did some reverse Groucho walks (or duck walks) halfway and sprint to finish.

    We moseyed back to the flag to wrap up. Counterama and Name-o-rama and closing prayer.

    Shoutout to Crawfish for joining our group this week! With a name like Crawfish I’d argue you really belong with us here full time.

    And also welcome to our newest member Dr. J!!

    Thanks for letting me lead guys. If the disclaimer didn’t give it away, it’s obvious I’m not a trainer. I hope you guys have a great day (and no, my flight isn’t here yet… the wait continues). I guess this wasn’t quite as abbreviated as I thought it’d be. Oh well.

  • Countdown to Grow Ruck

    “Age is an issue of mind over matter.  If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”

    – Mark Twain

    7 men of F3 gathered at Okwata at 0530 on a Sunday morning, fired up to get another ruck in before the Growruck event next weekend.  Terabyte asked if his M could shadow, as they have been rucking together over the last few weeks.  There were no objections.  YHC would struggle to get his M up that early, unless there was a flight to an exotic place in the works, and there were no later flights available.  YHC would prefer not to consider the response from his M if he were to ask, “would you like to don a weighted ruck sack and ruck for 2 hours with me and the guys at 0530 on a Sunday morning?”
    Upon arrival at Okwata, YHC and Triple Shift saw the same two individuals outside the same truck, and in the same spot, as last Sunday. YHC would normally take the opportunity to employ an EH, but thought better of it. Like beasts in the wild, they seemed less interested with our presence from the week before. Too bad this will be our last Sunday ruck for a while.
    Ruck sacks on, time to go! Triple Shift was thoughtful enough to bring a coupon along. This is getting real! YHC thought, “in one week from now, our group will be finishing up….or maybe just wishing it was over”
    Roots, Heisenberg, Triple Shift and Bogey gave YHC a run down on what used to be where the new pump station is past the SYC as we made our way to Breakwater Park, where the road was lined with litter. It’s a shame people don’t take more pride in their city and pick up after themselves. Bogey pointed out the incredible yacht owned by Otto Candies. There was plenty of good F2 the whole way.
    There was some discussion along the way about how younger members would help to ease the load of the older guys. With that, YHC took the coupon for a third time, and put the age factor to rest. F3 has prepared us well for this upcoming challenge, and we will be better for doing it.
    After approximately 2 hours and 6.6 miles, the PAX called it a day.
    Count off, nam-o-rama, and a prayer for strength to tackle the Grow Ruck challenge next week.
    Thanks for rucking with me today.