5 Pax set out in the early morning gloom to log some miles for the RCR CSAUP at the Mandeville City Hall Scramble. Two laps around the circle, hit the pier and head back to the starting line for COT, count off and prayer.
Tag: Amnesia
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Running at Grandmother’s House? No, it cannot be! – from Amnesia
The cold must have frightened away any who otherwise would have posted on a holiday. Sad. Despite much chatter the night before, only Slots, Russo, and YHC attended the morning’s beatdown. 18 degrees by my calculation. And Russo wore shorts! As Run Cajun Run is well underway, YHC figured he would rather Q a run than attend a non-running Q as a participant. Especially with all of the grumbling from his RCR team regarding his shortage of miles.
Warm-o-Rama: 20 each of SSH, imperial walkers, and high knees.
The Thang: We started off with running. We ran to the lakefront, then did 10 merkins and 10 freak nasties on the wall, just so it wasn’t 100% running. That was followed by more running, with a quick stop for 20 crunchy frogs (in honor of Cowbell – noticeably absent) and 20 squats. And then some running back to the start.
Mary: Maybe not 6 minutes, but we wrapped up with 20 each of leg lifts, flutterkicks, mountain climbers, Peter Parkers, and dying cockroaches.
Thanks for letting me lead, guys! Also, for any interested, Russo proved that you can sweat profusely in sub-20 degree temps!
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The 12 Days of Christmas, 2020
Ah, there was holiday spirit in the chilly, night air: the smell of firewood burning, the twinkling of white Christmas lights, and, of course, the angry mutterings of one Jose 10k exiting his car. Apparently, Cowbell had pulled up behind him and, with the height difference between the two cars, Cowbell’s headlights were blinding Mr. 10k. “I felt like I should be doing surgery in there!” And thus the tone was set for a magical beatdown – short but sweet – with a Christmas theme to spread a little holiday misery on this cold, Thursday night.
Along with a disclaimer issued for the FNG, YHC warned the crew that this beatdown was hastily thrown together after stumbling upon the idea, The 12 Days of Christmas, which may or may not be something that Yankee did (or does every year?). I apparently don’t even know how the song goes – I tried to do the ladder the wrong way, starting at 1 each time. Wouldn’t you know, Jose quickly corrected me, and we got down to business.
- THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
- Day 1: 1x Burpee
- Day 2: 2x Merkins
- Day 3: 3x Triple Jump Squat Burpees
- Day 4: 4x Monkey Humpers (IC)
- Day 5: 5x Sister Mary Katherine’s (2 is 1)
- Day 6: 6x Triple Merkin Burpees
- Day 7: 7x Sit-Ups
- Day 8: 8x T-Merkins
- Day 9: 9x Groiners
- Day 10: 10x Crunchy Frogs (IC)
- Day 11: 11x Freak Nasties (IC)
- Day 12: 12x Derkins
We sped through the first couple days and then things really slowed once we hit a few triple jump squat / triple merkin burpees. Somewhere around Day 3 we learned that Jose can sing, and that an aspiring sleuth might actually be able to track down video of him belting out “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer.” Around Day 9, Jose’s partner Amnesia turned up, fresh out of quarantine with his incredibly well-lit cargo bike (think the infamous neon “rave” vest). And by Day 12, it was indeed a Christmas miracle that we had only gone over on time by 30 seconds (which is within the acceptable margin as set forth by the F3 Nation charter).
COT and nameorama, where we welcomed FNG Red Baron. Yes, he is named after the frozen pizza. Seems dumb, I know, to name a guy because he likes pizza. But no, really, this is a thing with this guy – his groom’s cake was decorated as a pizza, that’s how much pizza means to him. (Which probably means that he will need F3 even more in his future.). So welcome Red Baron, hope to see you again soon, and t-claps to Cowbell from bringing out an FNG.
Onward to the Barley Oak, where Zoo was patiently waiting, sipping a beer in the corner, ready to dispense his wisdom on how to make duck edible (tacos) for those duck hunters who actually hate duck (Cowbell). Thanks for the lead gentlemen, and for the F2 – it’s always a good time, even when it’s a bad time.
And hey, don’t forget Akbar’s 50th birthday Q this Saturday!
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Farewell Q
It is with great sadness and much gratitude that I write my last backblast as a regular member of the Northshore F3 family. (I trust you’ll forgive the length!) As I shared with the men this morning, F3 has been an overwhelming answer to prayer, and as Bushwacker reminded me, it’s the individuals involved who truly make it what it is, so huge thanks for all of you guys allowing me to participate. More on this toward the end.
This morning’s beatdown was meant to be a quick rundown of a few of the life lessons that F3 has confirmed for me in very concrete ways. The first, of course, being the necessity of a good warm up when you know you’re about to get your rear end kicked:
Warmup: IC Windmills, IW’s, Cherry Pickers, High Knees, Butt Kicks followed by the first exercise listed on the Exicon (Shooter aced the pop-quiz, like I knew he would!):
21’s–21 side straddle hops in cadence, but only the first 5 are counted out loud with an expectation that all PAX count the rest silently and end in perfect sync after the 21st. 10 burpees and start over if anyone is anything but perfect.
Life Lesson #1: Togetherness is more about what’s in your head than it is about the people you’re with. (I may or may not have just made that up, but I think it’s got some staying power.)
After one penalty set of burpees and a second round of SSH, YHC decided to modify for the sake of time and get moseying to the rock garden for Colt 45’s and Bolt 45’s.
Colt 45’s = 15 curls from halfway down to all the way up, 15 curls all the way down to halfway up, and 15 curls from all the way down to all the way up.
Bolt 45’s = same as above, but with squats (and rocks)
Life Lesson #2: Don’t let your ego determine the size of your rock, especially if you don’t know what’s coming. But no matter how heavy or what the task ends up being, carry the weight you’ve got with courage. Own it!
After “gently” replacing our rocks, we moseyed to the courthouse steps for some partner work:
Partner 1 ran up (and down) the stairs using the following pattern: 2 up, 1 down, 3 up, 2 down, 4 up, 3 down, etc. until the top was tediously reached, then ran back down to Partner 2 who did continuous flutter kicks (round 1), Freddy Merc’s (round 2) and LBC’s (round 3) while waiting. In lieu of Jose’s math teaching prowess, Whacker provided tutoring for those who struggled.
Life Lesson #3: Real progress is usually gradual and hard earned, so be patient, stay focused, and fight discouragement.
This, followed by a mosey to the top ramp of the parking garage for more partner work:
Partner 1 holds plank while Partner 2 sprints up the ramp, around to the opposite stairs, down, and back to Partner 1. His job is to get there in enough time for his partner to have held his plank without modifying; if his partner modifies, the sprinter has to do 5 burpees, so the planker’s job is to hold his position for the sake of his partner.
Life Lesson #4: We are naturally more willing to endure pain and push harder for other people than we are for ourselves, we just need to tap into that power. F3 seems to exists for this reason!
After two rounds of losing our breath (and eventually losing Bushwhacker to the irresistible call of nature), we moseyed back to the courthouse stairs for an exercise YHC forgot: three rounds of crab walking both up and down the courthouse stairs
Life Lesson #5: Some things are easier for tall people. (Truth be told, pretty much every other F3 exercise seems to favor the smaller guys. It was nice to finally have an advantage over Cowbell.)
After this we moseyed back to the flag for the last exercise/lesson:
Followed the directions given in the song Flower by Moby (“Bring Sally up, bring Sally down…”) with squats, up and down with the words “up” and “down”. Thank you’s to Cowbell, Steve, and Amnesia for modifying with merkins and mission impossible planks to save their legs for the big race tomorrow–you guys made our leg pain seem relatively minimal in comparison.
Life Lesson #6: Pain is temporary, though the worse it is, the more we tend to fear that it will last forever.
COT and YHC prayed us out.
Thanks, gentlemen, for following my lead today, and for an awesome year of comradery, creativity, and the best reason to get up early and sweat that I’ve had since college. Special thanks to Maverick who got me out there, the men who reached out to me during those first few beatdowns to make sure I felt like I was part of the team, the guys who hung back so often with me and kept up conversation to get my mind off my lack of oxygen, the men who were willing to share their lives with me during the longer runs, for the guys who continually witness to the truth that the men we’re exercising with are more important than the exercises we’re doing, and to the men who continue to push beyond their comfort zone so the rest of us can follow.
It breaks my heart to leave what has become such a central part of my (and Pope’s) life, and though I’ll be working to get F3 started in the Thibodaux/Houma region, it won’t be with you guys, so know that you’re deeply appreciated, and you’ll be greatly missed. I know that God has great things in store for my family and I down there, and I’m sure there are a lot of guys who will greatly benefit from F3, so please keep us in prayer for the transition, and that we’ll remain open to all that God has in store for us, both the blessings and the trials. You’ll certainly be in mine.
SYITG,
Goose
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Audibles at Granny’s (I’m not a Professional)
As YHC pulled up to Granny’s, there was an unusually large group of F3 men ready to start the day off right. With the incessant soreness from Cowbell’s ISI pull-up challenge and Bushwacker’s consistent weekly prodding for some yoga infused workouts, we got started with some power flow, sun salutation, warrior 1, 2, 3, 4, half moon, whatever, whatever…I’m not a professional!
Mosey to the bus stop. Not a lot of mumble chatter here, and Cowbell even kept his shirt on.
– Bulgarian split squats (IC),
– Box Jumps (OYO)
– Burpee Box Jumps (OYO)
– Irkins (IC)
– Dirkins (IC)
– Freak Nasties (IC)
– Balls to the Wall Burpees aka Decline Burpees (Durpees?) OYO.
Mosey to the tunnel, where, according to Jose, nothing good ever happens (including QIC’s cadence counting).
– Top of the tunnel – 10 Jump Squats IC
– ½ way down the incline – Merkins, I think
– ½ way through the tunnel – 12 count body building, mounting climbing, shoulder tapping, squat jumping, burpees (IC). QIC was just calling audibles at this point. I’m not a professional!
– Sprint to the top of the tunnel for some cool down Imperial Walkers
– ½ way down the incline – hand rail dirkins, I think
– ½ way through the tunnel – We did something. It’s a blur after the earlier 12 counts.
– ½ way up the incline – slow Peter Parker/Parker Peter (there’s a yoga term for this, I’m sure…Bird said we were “flying”…I guess that’s what birds do.)
– Top of the tunnel – 20 Sister Mary Katherines
Mosey back to the trailhead, bunny hop up the stairs and reconvene at the shovel flags. Jose, did you notice we had two this morning?
Closed out with Cowbell Crunchy Frogs and Goose-led Nolan Ryan’s.
QIC prayed us out into the day. Thanks for posting in numbers today and following my lead, men. SYITG.
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Duck Hunting 101
YHC has always joked that he does F3 to he can be in shape for duck season, among MANY other reasons. Duck hunting on public land in the Mississippi Delta is a very physically demanding hobby and for some strange reason I absolutely love it. Waking up at 2am to wade through waste deep water in 20 degrees just sounds fun, right??
Well, YHC wanted the Gipper pax to learn a thing or two about the prep that goes into a morning of duck hunting, sans water and 20 degrees.
Disclaimer was given and PAX was instructed to grab some gear from the camp (cinder block). Each block was to account for all of the gear needed on a hunt.
COP #1- Warm Up:
10 Burpees OYO
20 X SSH
10 X Good Mornings
10 F/B X Arm Circles
20 X J Lo’s
10 L/R X Nolan Ryan’s (on crushed gravel!)
Now we need to load up the truck: 10 L/R X Elf on a Shelf with block
Mosey to the courthouse walkway (boat launch) at a brisk pace as we need to beat all other hunting parties to the duck hole!
Load the boat: split into 2 lines with blocks at the end of each line. Pass block down to the end of the line, and back down. R&R X3.
The boat is launched, now we need to drive as far as we can in the timber…quick mosey to the parking garage entrance and ramp. Leave your gear while we go search for a good spot to set up: Run up the ramp and complete 10 burpees on one side and 10 merks on the other side all the way to the top. Repeat.
We found a prime duck hole at the top of the garage!! grab your gear and meet there.
Now its time to throw out the decoys, we brought 3 dozen this trip..
Block swings X 12, R&R X3.
Now its time to actually hunt, so we need to practice raising the gun to our shoulder: Chest press X 10, R&R X3.
We shot a few ducks but ran out of time to pick them up!
Carry your gear back to the camp.
Count, Name, and Grundy took us out with a prayer.
Thank you all for hunting with me and appeasing me!
Cowbell
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Cloudy With A Chance of Unitards
It’s been threatening rain all week. And the forecast for Thursday evening’s F2 beatdown was no different, with a 60-70% chance as of that morning. YHC seriously envisioned 10k and I sitting under the gazebo drinking alone (he his bud light tallboys, me my overpriced hipster beer), while 10k grumbled about the sunset and my beer. And while that vision partially came true – with the added bonus of a “only-in-Hollywood” rainbow overhead – we were spared the actual rain and a decent size group posted.
YHC had planned for no warmorama, since time was short, but as BBQ was dealing with securing his bike (he rode from Covington! 👏👏👏), we knocked out some SSH’s before jumping into 20x burpees OYO.
Next up, a Lazy Dora. Same as the usual Dora (100 merks, 200 squats, 200 LBC’s), but instead of running between sets, the alternating partner would hold a static pose until it was his turn. So plank for 10x merkins, Al Gore for 20x squats, and 6” hold for 30x LBC’s. Cumulative goals were reached pretty quickly, and we moved over to the seawall for some leg work.
20x jump squats, lunge walk to sidewalk, 20x monkey humpers IC
20x Bulgarians IC (10 ea.), lunge walk, 20x Apollo Ohno’s
20x calf raises IC (balancing on the edge of the seawall, which was more difficult than you might think), lunge walk, 20x Sister Mary’s.
Finally, back to the wall for shoulders: 15x freak nasties IC, 5x derkins IC. Rinse and repeat with 10x freaks IC / 10x derks IC. Then 5x freaks IC / 15x derkins IC.
Around this time we had an In Time flyby, with his cross country team in tow, and we then circled up for an abbreviated Mary of heels to heaven and leg raises, both x15 IC.
Upon completion, the guys noticed a rather large and somewhat magical rainbow stretched across the lakefront sky. Turbo joked that all we needed now was a unicorn and, lo and behold, the hero we both deserved and needed materialized: Amnesia, donning, that’s right, a unitard. (At least, according to Jose that is the official name of said bodysuit. The differences between a unitard and a leotard and a bodysuit is a mystery to me, and one I’m not willing to google.)
COT, prayed out by Akbar, and we all headed to the Gazebo joined by Cowbell, Tank, and Tank’s son (a soon-to-be named F3 brother). Good beer, good company, and a good sunset – what more could you ask for? Great time out there with you guys, thanks for posting and thanks for the opportunity to lead!
*rainbow and unitard not captured on film due to Cowbell’s usual tardiness -
All Aboard! Hahahaha – 1 Yr Anniversary
At this time last year, I showed up to my first lakefront beatdown (thanks Russo), and almost didn’t come back. I was a gym rat, couldn’t run a mile, ate like crap, and hovered around 190. But I was intrigued by the companionship of the PAX that day, the leadership focus, how no man was left behind, and pressed on. I attended Saturdays through September, then cancelled my gym membership, and went all in averaging 4 days a week, including the scramble (thanks Shooter). Since then, I’ve lost 25 pounds, done CSAUPS and F2 events, and ran 80 miles last Feb during Run Ranger Run. My only regret is that I didn’t find this earlier.
PAIN TRAIN
26 posted (6 under 17) at the mothership Saturday to help celebrate YHC’s 1 year anniversary, and take a ride on the Pain Train. We traveled from the flag to the shaft, stopping at 8 pain stations along the way, accompanied by motivational tunes. *I understand that most songs could not be heard, songs are listed after each station
Pre-Thang: 2 miler
Warmorama: Arm Circles, SSH, Torso Twist, Self-Love, Hillbillies x10 IC
THANG: All About the Benjamins – Everything equals 100 reps.
- Exercise 1: 25 reps at the wall
- Travel in various ways 55 feet to the flags
- Exercise 2: 25 reps, run back to the wall Rinse and repeat
- Total of 50 reps of each exercise
- All exercises done OYO, plank for the six
Pain Station’s 1 and 2
- Freak Nasty, Bear Crawl, Mountain Climbers
- Run, repeat
- Dirkins, Flying Nun (Lunge with arm circles), Twinkle Toes (Al Gore calf raises)
- Run, Repeat
- It’s All About the Benjamin’s, P.Diddy et all
- C’Mon ‘N’ Ride it (The Train), Quad City DJ’s
- Crazy Train, Ozzy Osbourne
- Breathe, The Prodigy
- Song 2, Blur
Pain Station 3: Let the Good Times Roll
Burpees on Good Times Roll, air presses in between.
- Let the Good Times Roll, The Cars
Pain Station’s 4 and 5:
- Bulgarian Split Squats, Army Crawl, Superman’s
- Run, repeat
- Stone Mountain, Crawl Bear, Renegade Row (1 arm plank, 1 arm row)
- Run, repeat
- The Kill, Thirty Seconds to Mars
- Firestarter, The Prodigy
- Fly from the Inside, Shinedown
Pain Station 6: The SSH Motivator
IC 10 full SSH, Shoulder level, down and out, then hands at sides, then 9 each, then 8, etc. non-stop
- ‘Till I Collapse, Eminem & Nate Dogg
- Gonna Fly Now, Bill Conti (Rocky Theme Song)
Seemed easy enough, but what ensued was a painful comedy of errors. YHC had a tough time conveying and keeping the order of positions, which kept us out of synch just a tad. To curious onlookers it must have looked like a bunch of birds trying to take flight.
After a while it seemed it would never end, why was it taking so long, why do I feel like I’m about to collapse? I kept my gaze at Bushwacker (who brought us The Motivator), seeking some rescue by mental telepathy – but all I got was a big smile.
Legend has it the Arnold Schwarzenegger and his buddies would go camping and do squats until they couldn’t stand any more. This was not to be our fate, we would persevere!
Later in the day I sought advice from the engineering mind of Grover and he did not hold back. “You did it wrong dad: the positions were wrong and you did a double count instead of single.”
Ah, all makes sense now. So we did 440 SSH instead of 220. Way to hang in there guys.
Pain Station 7
Merkins on New Day Rising, plank in between
Pain Station 8: Mary IC
- 8 ct Peter Parker Merkins (Perkins) x10
- Crunchy Frogs x20
- LBC x50
- LMC x25
Count, Name-o-rama, Welcome FNG Laces!
COT: Prayers for the crazy world we are in, safety, and thanks for blessings.
Coffeteria: Book and the Bean
All said and done, including WU and Mary – 1096 reps, 100 yards of crawls, 100 yards of runs
Thanks for a great year, friendships, pushing me beyond what I ever thought I could do, and the opportunity to lead.
SYITG – Akbar
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Traditional Scramble With A Few Untraditional Faces
Sometimes taking a Q is just a way to ensure you actually post to the beatdown, which was the case for YHC and the Scramble yesterday morning. Luckily, six other men required no such motivation. Well, I say six, but really there were only 5 others until the final minutes of the beatdown. You can guess which man forgot the start time this morning (but did end up getting in most of the run!).
Also of note, our favorite bickering couple returned to the fold, Chewy having convinced Ei to come back out of retirement for the seventh time by signing up for a half marathon and all the training that went along with it.
Alright, warmorama: copperhead squats, good mornings, toe touches, torso twist, arm circles, SSH, all x12 IC
Then, off on the traditional route.
It should be on record that Shooter was part of the “gazelle club” on this particular morning, taking the lead with Pik as the rest of the PAX fell behind at a more leisurely pace.
YHC ran with Demo, who had for some reason decided he wanted to completely annihilate himself before his family vacation: after a long period of inactivity, he posted for Grundy’s grueling cinderblock beatdown the day before, took an 11 mile bike ride that night, and then got up early to do this 5k. I’m sure his M will be pleased that’s he’s incapacitated for their trip.
Finally back at the flag, a mysterious figure that we had passed near Sunset Point revealed himself to be none other than the only member of the PAX to successfully be renamed (you don’t count, Jose, as YHC believes you’re still officially “Mourinho” on all legal paperwork).
On our six, we closed it out with some Mary: Flutter kicks, LBCs, 100s, Hello Dollys, Rosalinas, and crunchy frogs, all x20 IC.
COT, with announcements to sign up for the upcoming Iron Pax, and Pik prayed us out. T-claps to Chewy, who stepped up to take Saturday’s Q (I figure if I keep applauding you, Chewy, you’ll be forced to make sure you have a sitter…). Thank you men for posting, for the great conversation, and for the always enjoyable run!
