F3 New Orleans

Tag: Big Easy

  • Us Against H8!

    Conditions: Humid, 74 degrees, Humidity 95%, Wind 8mph from ENE

    Warm-up:  Mosey from the flag to the start.  Warm-up on your own.  No time for SSH or Grass Grabbers or J-Los, we’ve got work to do.

    The Thang:  The H8!  F3 NOLA’s overly complicated, semi-annual, feat of strength.  The stick by which our fitness is measured.    

    Each lap consists of running south to the top of the levee, crossing canal (bear crawling the neutral ground), running south to the bottom of the levee, cross canal and run north to the top of the levee, cross canal (bear crawling the neutral ground), running north down the levee and back across canal to the starting point.  At the starting point you do a descending burp and merk pyramid starting at 8 (burpee with 8 hand release merkins, burpee with 7 hand release merkins, …, burpee with 1 hand release merkin)

    At the end of the 2nd lap the burp and merk pyramid starts at 7, etc.

    The goal is to complete 8 laps in 40 minutes.  According to MapMyRun, each loop is approximately 0.4 miles.  Therefore, to conquer the H8! you will have to do the following in 40 minutes:

    • Run over 3 Miles of Hills
    • 550 Yards of Bear Crawls
    • 36 Burpees
    • 120 Merkins

    NMM

    • The construction at the south base of the levee caused for a slight re-route.  The H8! Committee did a good job of ensuring that the change was slight and the overall distance was not affected so that this fall’s running of the H8! Is considered official. 
    • T-claps to all of the guys coming out for the first time.  I think Heart-A-Quake, Mama’s Pride, Undertaker, Disclaimer, Bieber, Bartman, Catfish, Big Easy, Snooze were all first timers. 
    • I didn’t keep a record of who made it and who didn’t.  I am pretty sure the success rate was just north of 50%.  That’s really good, especially for having so many new guys.  Our fitness continues to accelerate.

    One of the core principles of F3 is that it is open to all men.  But just proclaiming that you are open to all men doesn’t cut it.  We have to be intentional about making sure that we are welcoming to all men and that we are not unintentionally excluding anyone.  There are lots of things that can make men different from one another, but most of them have nothing to do with what F3 is about.  I just mean to say that participating in an F3 workout has nothing to do with what race you are, or what your financial situation is, or what religion you are, etc.  (Side note:  I do think it’s important to think about those things and make sure that we are not being unintentionally exclusive because of the make-up of our Pax.  My point is just that the core principles of F3 workouts could apply to anyone, anywhere).  One thing that does have a lot to do with F3 is fitness level.  That’s why diverse fitness levels have to be considered when planning every workout.  It is important that the guys that have a high level of fitness are getting smoked and it is important the that guys on the lower end of the fitness spectrum are staying with the group and are not being left behind on their own.  I would like to think that we are pretty good across F3 NOLA at making sure that each work out feels like a team event, that we all have a goal of getting better and that we are supporting each other to reach that goal, no matter what our current fitness level is. 

    One of the complaints that I have heard about the Iron Pax Challenge is that it is not consistent with F3 in that way; that it puts the focus on the individual and even worse, ranks the individuals.  Some men  that aren’t at the top feel a sense of embarrassment or shame that they aren’t comparable to the guys at the top. You could make the same argument about the H8!  There’s certainly a sense of completing it and not completing it. 

    Personally I think competition like this is really important.  If you want to run faster, you have to run with faster guys.  In order to accelerate our fitness, we need to be in the back of the pack striving to get to the front.  I enjoy competition and I think it plays an important role in growth.  But I also think that it is important that we work hard to keep the sense of comradery and teamwork that all F3 workouts have.  The H8! Is something we all want to conquer and that we want to help each man conquer. 

    There are a couple of quotes that have stuck with me from the book “Run the Mile You are In:  Finding God in Every Step” by Ryan Hall, the American Record Holder in the half-marathon and the fastest American to ever run the Boston Marathon (2:04).  He said “Competition can be a beautiful thing if we are focused on making ourselves and others better and are not concerned about how we stack up with everyone else…..this is why comparisons in athletics and in life are so fruitless.  When we compare, we miss the joy of the journey as well as the joy of the achievement.”     

    Let’s make sure we keep pushing ourselves and each other, without compromising the joy of the journey.  A common motto at an F3 work out is that it’s “You against You”, and that is very true.  But it is also true that it is “Us against H8!”

  • The Track S.T.O.M.P.

    Gentlemen,

    We did things a little differently at the STOMP this week, but we still got in plenty of running. After issuing the disclaimer, we mosey’d to the track. Once at the track, we circled up and did a brief warmup:

    • Side straddle hops – 15 in cadence
    • Mountain climbers – 20 in cadence
    • Windmills – 10 in cadence

    After the warmup, we partnered up for the Track S.T.O.M.P.

    1 lap Track S.T.O.M.P.

    • Partner up
    • Each group can choose what pace they want to run at
    • The partners need to stay together the whole time  
    • Once a group is done, that group joins one of the groups who hasn’t finished yet

    Then:

    • Each group does 1 lap around the track, then does 25 Low Slow Squats
    • Each group does another lap around the track, then does 25 T-merkins
    • Each group does another lap around the track, then does 25 ab O’s
    • Each group does another lap around the track, then does 25 Mountain Climbers
    • Each group does another lap around the track, then does 25 Plank Jacks

    Once all the groups were finished, High Rise gave us a 15 count to recover. After that, we did the 2 lap Track S.T.O.M.P. This is similar to the 1 lap Track S.T.O.M.P. with the only differences being that each group runs 2 laps before doing each of the exercises, and each of the exercises are 12 reps instead of 25 reps. We ran out of time before being able to fully complete the 2 lap track S.T.O.M.P., so with about 5 minutes left, we came together and did 1 final lap around the track as a group with all of the PAX. Overall I think each group logged somewhere between 2.5 – 4 miles for the morning, which is solid.

    After the final lap, we mosey’d back to the flag. We did the count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions & prayer. Thanks for the opportunity to lead, fellas. I am thankful to be a part of F3.

  • 6 Year Anniversary (10-14-2020) – The Birdcage

    Woke up early to this beautiful, cool, dry morning to setup the field in front of Audubon Zoo with our F3 flags. Then I moseyed to our usual Birdcage COT spot to meet up with 45 other PAX to celebrate F3Nola’s 6 year anniversary. Before the disclaimer, I told the PAX that this is our actual anniversary date, and The Birdcage was our very first weekday AO. We then headed over to the field in front of Audubon Zoo with our warmup exercises in cadence. To honor our 6 year anniversary, we started the day with 6 burpees OYO.

    1.) SSHs x 20

    2.) Windmills x 10

    3.) Self Love x 10

    4.) Imperial Walkers x 20

    5.) Peter Parker, Parker Peter, MCs x 15

    We divided the PAX in 2 groups in the middle of the field. One group was facing the Zoo while the other was facing Magazine Street. Each group had their own marker to reach to (which was about 50 feet away).

    Round 1 – moseyed to the marker and did 10 hand release merkins. Then moseyed back to the middle of the field and went back out to marker to do 15 hand release merkins. Then moseyed back to the middle of the field and went back to the marker to finish off with 20 hand release merkins. Then converged back to the middle of the field to wait for the Six (SSHs until the Six was done).

    Round 2 – similar routine as round 1 except we did 10, 15, and 20 big boy situps.

    Round 3 – similar to round 1 except we did 10, 15, and 20 jump lunges. Also, instead of running, we were side hopping.

    Round 4 – similar to round 1 except we did 10, 15, and 20 leg raises.

    Round 5 – similar to round 3 except we did 10, 15, and 20 squats.

    Round 6 – similar to round 1 except we bear crawled to the marker and moseyed back to the middle of the field with 20, 40, and 60 overhead air presses in between.

    Round 7 – similar to round 6 except we bunny hopped to the marker and moseyed back to the middle of the field with 5, 10, and 15 burpees in between.

    At some point during the workout, we saw a shooting star with a crescent moon in the backgound.

    Round of Mary

    We did the following in cadence:

    1.) American Hammers x 20

    2.) LBCs x 20

    3.) Hello Dolly x 20

    4.) Low Country Crabs x 10 (Yankee’s lead)

    5.) Dying Cockroach x 20 (Hawgcycle’s lead)

    COT

    We finished the beatdown with COT. Announcements and prayers. Someone mentioned Bogey is buying for everyone who shows up at the Deutsches Haus tonight. We thank Sky Q for giving us the strength everyday so that we can do this on a regular basis. Always grateful to be out in the AM with the PAX and hopeful for many years of this.

    Few of us had some F2 coffee at PJ’s on Magazine. Always entertaining conversations with the PAX. SYITG

  • Celebrating the Six

    Conditions:  Humid and Partly Cloudy.  73 degrees, 100% humidity.  Wind 4 mph from the NW

    The Thang

    We divided up into nine teams to play some Rarájipari.  Teams of 4 or 5 kick a baseball as they run.  No real rules other than you have to kick it everywhere you go.  Today each team had to visit four landmarks to collect a playing card.  They could collect the cards in any order. First team to make it back with all four cards and the ball was the winner.  The landmarks were the Peristyle, The Dueling Oak, The Singing Oak, and the Rugby Pitch.  Overall mileage was roughly 3 miles for the efficient teams, over 3.5 for some of the more directionally challenged teams. 

    Cool Down

    As teams arrived back to the start High-Rise led as he took stretch requests and YHC closed us out with a little Mary before we sealed the deal.

    NMM

    • Chaos ensued at the start.  A couple of Pax went down with turned ankles and balls were lost.
    • We started with nine balls.  We ended with five.  Not sure of the specifics, but one team was rumored to have lost two balls somehow.
    • One team lost a ball off the Wisner Bridge.  That leads to a number of questions.
    • The teams that went to the Peristyle first had to weave their way through a Zumba class to get to the flag. 
    • This workout was much more compliant with Corona restrictions than what Papa Smurf did on Monday.  Although our pods were sharing the same ball, YHC was the only one without shoes.  CDC guidelines limit shoeless Rarájipari players to one per team.  In an abundance of caution, other teams shod all of their players.    
    • Some teams were looking for Dueling Oaks.  Just to clarify, the Oaks themselves have no beef with one another.  The Dueling Oak, singular, was the location of many a human duel back in the day. 
    • T-claps to Rudy, Boo-Boo, and Kuch for helping YHC put the flags out this morning. 
    • T-claps to Bushwhacker and Cowbell for making the trek from the frigid North.  Cowbell was showing off a strong sock game today.
    • Every Rarájipari team has a 6.  And depending on what group we are in, that could, for the most part, be any one of us.  The fast guys are usually controlling the ball up front and the 6 is keeping a consistent pace trying to keep up.  You may be falling farther and farther behind, but you keep running.  You keep plugging away.  Inevitably someone kicks the ball into the shrubs, or into a giant mud hole, or off the Wisner Bridge and you catch up.  It’s hard to overstate the importance of consistency in every aspect of our lives.  Keep plugging away – you’ll get there.      

  • Eddie Van Halen Tribute

    I had previously signed up to Q Swolefest not realizing that this would the convergence week. I assumed the PAX number would be low but the energy and effort would not. In order to help with the energy I opted to pay tribute to one of the great guitarists of our time and we rocked out to a Van Halen playlist this morning. Once 5:30 rolled around and I saw 6 PAX but only 2 cinder blocks and a BOSU provided by yours truly modifications would have to be made.

    Warm up:

    • SSH x 20 IC
    • Windmills x 10 IC
    • Grass grabbers x 15 IC
    • Arm circles fwd/rev x 10 each IC
    • Self love x 15 IC
    • Mountain climbers x 20 IC

    Tha Thang #1:

    My plan was to have everyone partner up for some Flora 1-2-3 with our cinder blocks. Well with only 2 cinder blocks present modifications were made. PAX was split into 2 groups of 3 and the block would be rotated. Also instead of combined 100-200-300 reps we did a combined 100-240-325 to ensure everyone got equal number of reps.

    • 100 combined reps merkins on block. While PAX #1 performs 10 merkins on the block Pax #2 and #3 plank until it is their turn. Rotate through until 100 reps performed
    • 240 LBCs with block on chest. While Pax #1 performs 20 LBCs with block on chest Pax #2 and #3 perform static leg hold until it is their turn. Rotate through until 240 reps performed.
    • 325 Goblet squats. While PAX #1 performs 25 goblet squats Pax #2 and #3 hold Al Gore position until it is their turn. Rotate through until 325 reps performed.

    Tha Thang #2:

    Splint into 3 groups of 2.

    Round 1 upper body, group on BOSU is the timer. Rotate through each station:

    • Group 1: PAX #1 performs 20 merkins on BOSU while PAX #2 planks. Swap.
    • Group 2: PAX #1 performs curls with block AMRAP while PAX #2 planks. Swap.
    • Group 3: PAX #1 performs overhead triceps extension AMRAP with block while PAX #2 planks. Swap.

    Round 2 lower body, group on BOSU is timer. Rotate through each station:

    • Group 1: PAX #1 performs 20 squats while standing on BOSU and PAX #2 holds Al Gore.
    • Group 2: PAX #1 performs forward lunge with twist while holding block AMRAP. PAX #2 holds Al Gore.
    • Group 3: PAX #1 performs reverse lunge with twist while holding block AMRAP. PAX #2 holds Al Gore.

    Mosey over to the Foundry for a pull up ring of fire. PAX performs 10 pull ups while everyone else holds plank. Rotate through until all PAX have performed 10 pull ups. Mosey back to the flag.

    Countoff, Name-o-rama, Annoucements, Intentions, and socially distances COT. It was great to lead again and for all PAX interested in Swolefest please invest in a block or 2.

  • Double or Nothing

    Extra Credit

    Side Effects offered some extra credit for a few pax that showed early. After 5 rounds of 30 seconds of burpees topped off with a couple rounds of pull ups, we felt pre-warmed up.

    Warm up

    What’s the second greatest time of year? You guessed it- The NBA Finals. On the heels of feeling inspired that LeBron James and I started the Finals from the same place this year, it was time to get off the couch and engage in competition fit for the gym.

    We moseyed to the nearest circle for a round of Ring of Fire. This time only called for defensive slides. Then the following:

    15 Al Gores
    15 Bobby Hurleys
    15 merkins
    30 circle of merk(ins)

    The Thang

    With the teams assembled and no basketball court in sight, it was time for a different competition: Ultimate Frisbee. After explaining the rules (props to Shangeaux for the Spanish translation for our FNG) and playing a warm up, it was time to get serious. Enter sports betting. The winning team places the exercise bet (er, punishment) that the losing team must fulfill before the next game. Games were first to 3 points.

    The punishments that followed:
    8 wolverines (if burpees and Peter Parkers had a baby…)
    20 Bobby Hurleys
    20 Heels to the Sky
    Something forgotten here…

    With the series tied 2-2, we started the tie-breaking game. 10 Doctor W’s to the loser. The winning team won and Topanga, refusing to go down easily, doubled down the bet to 20 Doctor W’s for one more game. Fortunately, the rematch did not change the outcome and Topanga soon became very acquainted with Dr. W, an experience his abs will not soon forget.

    Count-a-rama. 11 Pax
    Name-a-rama
    COT

    Big Easy

  • Warming up at the Knoll, BR

    Had our howdys and the disclaimer.

    Had a good workout this morning. Began with a long set or warmups near the flag location. Then ran a mosey half way around our usual track, ending at the sundial. Did a variety of more exercises at the sundial. Mosey’ed to the top of the hill where we ran a plethora of runs up and down the hill towards the creek. Did merkins at the bottom and burpees at the top, all in ever decreasing numbers. Ran 5 laps up and down. Moseyed to the soccer field and did suicides to the 25 did merkins, 50 did situps, 75 did something else and 100 did squats. Mosey’ed back towards the flag location exercise bars foundry. Divided up into pairs. Did 100 pull ups or 100 situps in pairs. Chatted with the other group that starts out there at the foundry.

    Did a bunch of Marys and Jane Fondas there at the flag location. Finished up with our call for needs and then ending prayer. Everyone had places to go this morning so no coffeerama. Worms

  • Cool, wet foggy morning. Two groups met today

    April 6, 2019. 

    Showed up at 6:45 and no one else showed until 7:10. By that time I’d already made a deal with Dennis that I might just work out with them this morning.  Dennis and his group have been meeting near us at the Knoll doing their exercise routine. Shangeaux’s daughter sometimes works out with them. We all greet each other every Saturday and enjoy his dogs that get so excited when the run or when the stop running.

     Then Big Easy showed up and then Banjo and then about 8:00 Shangeaux miraculously found us way out in the far east end of the park where we’ve never been, and stayed the course with us.

    Since our group was small we just decided to work out with Dennis, Paul and Gerald and of course Dennis’ 3 dogs, today.   Dennis seems to be their exercise leader. Since I had asked to join him I opted to let him lead his group and we would just try to go with his lead.  He moseyed us all northward on the walkway toward the bridge where we store all our coupons in the creek. We crossed the bridge and went NE towards the tennis courts. There we did a variety of lunges and skips, both sideways and forward and then backwards. We did Kariokes back and forth from the big oak tree to the concrete pad with the water stub up.  We eventually ran all the way to the building to the East with the water faucets, near the playground equipment. Rested there a minute. Then walked from their to a place at the far East edge of the park, beyond the soccer field. From there we did a variety of relay runs from a point on the trail to the south near a green carpeted exercise spot about 10×8 feet. Did a variety of exercises on that green mat.  Then did more relay runs back and forth along that eastern end of the running trail, which is also very near Highland Road.  Ended with a full tilt run from the a point along the creek to the nearest picnic table pavilion which is about ¼ mile away.  We then all walked back to the parking lot pavilion.  We did not have our usual COT or namarama since we really just joined their group for the morning. 

  • Our White Knight

    The Scene:  The Knoll

    Conditions: Cloudy. Chilly for a Baton Rouge March.

    Welcome

    Disclaimer

    Warm-a-Rama:

    Looked like a b-class soccer team as we jogged about 50 yards, and then in pairs went to a lightpole about 20 yards away and did:

    High Knees/Butt Kicks/Side shuffle/Knee over-unders/Jog backwards

    Jogged to the sun dial for some fake jump roping! all reps of 20x:

    Regular jump rope/ side to side/ one legged/ one legged side to side/ double jumps.

    Now that we were nice and warm!

    —

    The Thang:

    11 is the #!

    11 reps of six different exercises followed by 11 burpees after each set.

    Box jumps/pistol squats/split squat jumps/paper beneath hands merkins/derkins/merkin walkout(which is underrated!)

    Our white knight came sprinting across the land halfway through this exercise^^^ that helped us grind through it.

    Ran over to the jungle gym and split into three groups. Each group had to do 100 total reps of each exercise:

    Al gores/big boy sit ups/inverted row

    Mosey’d back to the flag!

    Mary:

    15x:

    starfish/flutter kicks/upper circle crunches(brutal)/plank work

    Count-o-Rama

    Name-o-Rama

    COT / BOM:

    Great times before the humidity!

    Announcements:

  • Its a fine morning to get better

    The Scene: 

    The Knoll

    Conditions: 

    A nice 65-degree morning, thankfully no rain…yet

    Welcome:

    5 men posted, Snack Pack stopped by to encourage us. Could not post due to hand surgery.   Hats off for that act of kindness! Some men won’t get up to  exercise at all and he comes all the way out to the AO just to shake our hands. Now thats a friend

    Disclaimer: “I am not a professional trainer”

    Warm-a-Rama: 15 reps for all  

    SSH, Al Gore’s, Toy Soldier, Arm Circles both ways, Wind Mills, then mosey around track to benches for Freak Nasty and incline merkins. Moved to picnic tables for step ups.  Warm up complete

    The Thang:

    From the Movie Full Metal Jacket “This is my rifle. There are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend.”  Well, lets just use a rock from the creek!

    This is MY ROCK!  Time to mosey to the creek for some Jacob’s Ladder.  Each Pax selected their rock to cuddle with for the remainder of the hour.

    Started at bottom of the hill, only to sprint to the top “with your rock”. At top we did set of merkins x 10 on our rock. Sprint down the hill, careful not to drop the rock. At bottom, we did Peter Parkers x10 then quickly gathered the rock for another sprint up the hill. Then it was time for 5 burpees’, then another sprint to the bottom for a final set of monkey humpers x 10.  20 second rest count!

    With you Rock! It was of on a mosey through the park trail to the football field to continue the Thang.  We paired up for relay.  One team member sprinted to the 25 while the other partner did merkins until they reached the 25-yard mark. Then that partner sprinted to them and did merkins while they made it to the 50, then repeated for 75- and 100-yard line. Rinse, repeat back the other way.  20 second rest count.

    Moseyed back to creek still holding our rock to carefully place them back for another day!

    Moseyed back to flag for some Mary’s:  Leg Lifts ¼ to full up position and down same for x 10, Baby Crunches x 15, scissor kicks x 15, Jane Fonda’s left and right x 10, finished with American Hammer x15.

    Count-o-Rama

    Name-o-Rama

    Prayers and request: asked for us to be leaders in our family and workplace. Prayed for our F3 brothers that were not able to be with us.

    After prayer we discussed the need to reach out to past participants, try to get them back out.