Lovely day at the Stomp with 11 PAX: Tool, Kuch, Sheetrock, High Rise, Abacus, Da Parish, Jesus Juice, Snooze, Bongo, RevSox, Catfish (Q).
Did a fairly standard run w/ burpees every 6 minutes. No complications, rest intervals, etc. Run, then 10 burpees on the 6 minute marks (6, 12, 18, 24, etc.). 20 minutes out, 20 minutes back.
Did some Mary with LBCs, Leg Raises, and Dr. Ws.
CoT. Broke a sweat, despite the chill! Thanks to all who attended!
Forgive me on the PAX names, totally didn’t take note and slept since Thursday.
Good to be back as a Q, overall simple workout with focus on Burpee’s with this great weather to help move us along.
Warm up
10 – Abe Begotas
15-IW
15- PP
15 – MC
20 arm circles
30 – SSH
The Thing:
Route 66 or Suicide….? Altered to really 55:
run to each light pole, do 1 burpee, then come back to base, 2 burpees, repeat to 10. Better part of the 45 mins.
No sense in going to Okwata if you are not going to utilize the levee in some way:
Run backwards up Canal blvd to top of levee, 10 big boy sit ups, repeat 3 times.
Mary at the Lakefront with Sun rise:
15 flutter kicks
15 Hello Dolly’s
15 Freddie Mercury
2:00 plank hold
COT, announcements, prayer, etc.
Many thanks for opportunity to lead, see you on the radio.
YHC was out of town, far from town actually. While working 200 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico on a boat that was running from hurricanes, Catfish stepped up and took YHC’s scheduled Q. Upon reading his backblast, YHC felt motivated to bring something different and challenging. Spoiler alert, it included burpees.
5 shovel flags marked the spot where 19 Pax posted for a solid beat down. Disclaimer was given amidst mumble chatter emitting from the Pax.
Mosey to the parking lot toward Marconi, past the putt putt place for a warmup. All IC:
10 Burpees OYO
Mosey to the tool wall
10 Burpees OYO
Mosey to the nearby baseball diamond for the next evolution known as Sugar Cookies:
The goal here was to get the Pax wet, then dirty. Mission accomplished…
10 Burpees OYO
Mosey to the football field next to the practice track. Here was where YHC ran into the first obstacle of the day. The field was closed and locked. Jumping the fence would not have been a good idea, so change of plans. Mosey to the inner field of the practice field. Quickly set up 10 yard increments using trash, branches, and hurdles. It worked…
From the Exicon: 1st and 10
Line up at approximately the 10 yard line in the tall wet grass for Never Surrender (AKA Genuflect):
Mosey to the open area of the practice track for some Mary:
Mosey back to the Shovel Flags
COT with count off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions and closed with a prayer to the Sky Q.
NMM
Thanks for allowing me to be part of such a great organization.
SYITG
As most of the PAX may be aware, YHC is a wee bit of an ND fan. And today’s a big day – #1 Clemson coming to town. As most of the PAX are also aware, and happy to remind YHC, Notre Dame does not exactly have a stellar record in these kinds of games. But perhaps the PAX don’t know just how abysmal the record is. They will soon learn.
Good crowd of 16 at the Mothership. Weather is delightful – summer heat is definitely gone. Just a few orange shirts in the group (looking at you Sogo and Pop Tart). Not sure if they did that just to spite me, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. No other green to be seen among the PAX. I will not forget that.
The Thang
Mosey to the lawn in front of NOMA. Start with SSH x27. Why x27? Because 27 years ago was the last Irish victory against a #1 ranked team (ND 31 – FSU 24 in 1993).
A few other warm ups, then lets introduce the game of “Burps or Merks”. YHC will call on a PAX to answer a question. Answer it correctly? 5 Merks for the PAX. Answer it wrong? 5 Burpees for the PAX.
And the theme? Notre Dame’s record in the last 20 games against Top 5 competition.
Finally – enough of those burpees.
So lets do some more burpees.
The Current 11 Game Losing Streak
Yes, ND is currently on an 11 game losing streak against top 5 teams. What else goes with 11? That’s right – the Route 66. 11 Lightposts with burpees. 1 at the first, 2 at the second, etc… (SOGO seemed unclear on the concept so YHC took the time to help by explaining all the way up to 11).
The Overall Deficit in those 11 Games
Partner up, for some modified Dora. The total score in that 11 game losing streak? YHC now forgets the actual number but its roughly Bad Guys 380, ND 160. Yes, we are more than doubled up over those 11 games. So lets Dora. 160 Monkey Humpers, 380 LBCs. The other PAX bear crawl 3 trees and run back.
Then back to the Great Lawn.
Something Else
Change of Pace. This week, Sean Connery – the original 007 – passed away. A quick round of Burp or Merk to guess how many James Bond films he was in. 5 Burpees for a wrong guess, then the right answer of “7”.
Finally – one of YHC’s favorite time-wasting flicks: The Rock. Sean Connery crawling around under Alcatraz with Nicholas Cage. Lets bear crawl across the lawn.
Mosey back to the flag. Its 7:30.
NMM
Thanks, everyone, for putting up with my never-ending ND drivel. Just hope that ND doesn’t actually win one of these games, as I may become insufferable if that were to happen.
Its quite humbling, and inspiring to watch this group. You guys are STRONG. Thank you for pushing. SOGO: I heard the “Way To Go Rudy” as you ran back to the center after the Diamond Merks. Those little encouraging words and pushes are what keep me going. I’d encourage all of the PAX to remember that – push, and ENCOURAGE. Remember – leave no man behind, but LEAVE NO MAN WHERE YOU FOUND HIM.
Prayers especially for Hokie’s Mom. May God be with her, with the whole family, as they start this next journey.
For the Q I sported a fancy, shiny gold uniform with a big nasty black wig, red headband / wristbands, plus converse tennie’s, and frankenstein tube socks. I apologized to the pax for having to look at my sweaty ridiculousness for an hour. Also wanna give credit to Medulla Oblongata for ideas in his Halloween backblast from 2018. I would note that many of us did not have power because Category 2 Zeta had just rolled through.
After the disclaimer and rallying by the flags, the pax warmed up by the peristyle to 13 reps of SSH, peter parker, grass grabbers, windmill, arm circles, and some ol’ fashioned self-love.
Moseyed to field aside NOMA to circle up for 8 PUMPKIN exercises, 31 reps apiece:
P – plank jacks (1 is 1 in cadence)
U – up/downs on your own (burpee without push-up)
M – mountain climbers (in cadence, 2 count)
P – power jacks (in cadence, 1 is 1, legs straight spread with both hands touching ground between legs, than jump up bringing legs together and spreading arms straight out to each side)
K – kick squats (in cadence, squat then kick right, and vice versa, 2 is 1)
I – imperial walkers (in cadence)
N – Nolan Ryans (in cadence, 1 is 1)
S – sit ups (on your own)
Moseyed to pumpkin patch where pax picked their real pumpkin or cinder block coupon. Most of these pumpkins were big enough for a legit workout.
Paired up for modified Dora:
100x – pumpkin puller (flat on back, knees in air, place pumpkin overhead with arms outstretched on ground, and rotate outstretched arms to touch coupon to knees, then lower again to flat position); partner rifle carry coupon 35 yards to flag and broad jump over coupon 4x
150x – pumpkin thruster; partner carry pumpkin to flag and then bear crawl around it 1x
200x – pumpkin flutters (flat on back with pumpkin held straight out in bench press position, with flutter kick 2 is 1); partner carry pumpkin to flag and then do 4 kettle bell swings
Moseyed back to great lawn for 2 rounds of sprint suicides with four cones, including 5 bobby hurley’s at each cone on 1st round, backpedaling on the return in all reps.
Circled up at peristyle for Mary
COT, share and prayer and naming of our lil’ FNG “Super Duper” Cooper Brunet. Triple Shift joined us after biking workout.
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:
NMM
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!”
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
Tclaps to Amnesty for getting this trail run idea started back during the beginning of Covid. Here we go for round #2!
Stayed up late trying to plan a workout in a space with a lot of unknowns. Then, naturally, my youngest woke up at 2:30. The fear of oversleeping kept me mostly awake until 4:30 when I popped out of bed. I thought I would get out there early to scope things out again to make sure we didn’t get too lost. I arrived at about 10 after five, strapped on my headlamp, and mosey my way over to forest. I wasn’t even a few steps in when I saw a possum crawling towards me, a turtle to my right, and what looked like multiple sets of eyes starring back at me! I decided it was probably best to just trust my instincts wait for my brothers to join me on this adventure!
Fifteen brave souls showed up for the adventure. There was lots of stretching going on pre-workout and not much talking, except when Ya Mom n Dem tried to give away his hat lamp! It was only a minor crisis when High Rise decided to wake up some peacefully sleeping ants. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Sandbar had gotten his passport just in time to attend the work out. Also, good to see Screwtop out for the second day in a row! 5:30 struck and with the normal disclaimer we were off. Started off in the open field to get things warmed up.
SSH x 20
Imperial Walker x 20
Mountain Climbers x 20
Left leg hip stretch
Right leg hip stretch
Peter Parker x 20
Moseyed into the forest with an army of 14 behind me to the big open area by the swing. Split up into five groups of three. The count was 10 pull ups on the tree branch while one of the other PAX did dips on the fallen tree and the other did full body ab extensions on the swing. The other four groups were:
Low slow squats
Decline merkins
Flutter kicks
Decline merkins
After everyone got their turn on pull ups we went into the thick of the forest! The tree branches were low so we decided to bear crawl through the narrow pass. When the trail opened back up we mosey through the forest and found our way to the gravel path. Headed down the path to the big open field. I had noticed when planning the work out that in this open field they had what looked like two big cement circles that resembled a figure 8. With the HATE8 on the horizon I thought it was a good opportunity to get some work in. Exercise was for 10 minutes:
Bear crawl The stretch of grass between the two circles, run around to the top of the circle, five Burpee‘s, run down to the bottom of the circle, bear crawl across the grass, run to the top of the other circle, five burpees, run to the bottom of the circle. Rinse and repeat for 10 minutes while listening to Van Halen‘s greatest hits!
Next, we moseyed to a separate gate back to the forest. This led us to the hill which is apparently the highest point in New Orleans. I thought Monkey Hill in Audubon Zoo was the highest point in New Orleans but I guess it’s for debate! At the top of the hill we squeezed in on the concrete pad and did some Mary:
Pickle pounders x 20
Freddy Mercury x 20
Dying Cockroach x 20
Reverse Crunch x 15
Moseyed down the hill and headed to what I thought was the way out. We weaved back-and-forth through a very narrow trail head and ended up all the way in the back of the forest! We eventually found water and knew that we could follow the water back to the bridge that would get us out of the forest. There were several wrong turns and a couple of dead ends but we made it out and back with all 15 PAX! The unexpected detour caused us to be three minutes late. We got together in the open field for COT. Count off, Namorama, and a prayer for the upcoming hurricane with the sounds of what we think was ol’ Puke Dick in the background! This was a fun one. Thankful for the opportunity to lead!
Lovely morning on the lake with 8 PAX: Quiche, Jingle Vader, Da Parish, Bongo, Surge, High Rise, Abacus, Catfish (Q).
Started with a mosey over to the base of Canal. Warmed up with SSH, 8-counts, Peter Parker Peters, Shoulder Taps, 100s, Slow V-Ups, Catalinas, Floyds, SSH, and Imperial Squat Walkers.
Moved to a Dora with 100 burpees, 200 merkins, and 300 flutter kicks (1 is 1). Runner ran backwards up canal to the top, duck walked across the median, then ran back. As people finished, did LBCs and dying cockraches waiting for the six.
Moseyed back to flag zone for some monkey humpers and COT.
YHC signed up for the Ocean Springs Bridge Run on September 12th in Mississippi, so he wanted to practice running some bridges. The best place to practice bridge running is the Wisner Bridge. Therefore, this morning’s 610 Stomp was off to the bridge!
New Route
Down past the Museum of Art and take a hard left right before the park exit to run alongside the Big Lake and toward the festival grounds trail. Once the Pax arrives at De Saix Blvd, sweep the six, so we can all arrive at the base of the Wisner Bridge together. (At least this is a new route for me)
The Thang
Run over the bridge and back, repeat
Run one lap around the Festival Grounds Trail
Back to the bridge for two more trips over
Run back to the flag for the COT
YHC greatly underestimated the distance to go over the Wisner Bridge and back. Most of the Pax completed the two trips over the bridge and the lap around the old festival grounds, but only Shuffles and Bongo made it back up to the bridge following the mile lap. We will try it again this fall and hope to find a higher percentage of runners make it back up the bridge.
Closing
Count-off, Name-O-Rama, Intentions, and Prayer
Thanks for the opportunity to lead
Rev Sox
