Okwata started with a beautiful moonrise and gentle breeze and then quickly went to CSAUP.
After the disclaimer, the PAX moseyed to the Center of the Universe for the warm-up: SSH x 25, Abe Vigoda x 15, Imperial Walkers x 25, Peter Parkers x 20, Parker Peters x 20, Sun Gods x 10 (each direction). The PAX then moseyed to the bottom of the levee for the THANG.
The THANG was an 11 using one-side of the levee: Merkins at the top (descending) and LBCs at the bottom (ascending). To achieve full CSAUP status, YHC directed the PAX to Quadrofeelia (a.k.a. Bernie Sanders) up the levee and Bear Crawl down the levee during the 11. After this, YHC needed O2, so Two Youths gave the PAX a twenty-count.
Next, the PAX moseyed to the seawall in front of the MG fountain for a Hurricane Hoedown. YHC was so spent the PAX DJ-ed the cadence. Then, the PAX DJ-ed some additional MARY: Sweat Angels, Dying Cockroach, Real Freddie Mercury, and more LBCs.
The PAX moseyed then to the virtual flag for the COT. Count Off. Nameorama. Announcements. Intentions. Prayer. Lord, teach me to be generous. . . .
Moleskin: It was a great effort from the PAX today. YHC was beat after the 11. The PAX also stepped up to help YHC with cadence and then MARY. Future Qs sharpening. Fellowship. Teamwork. You name it.
Im over a week late so apologies if I missed anyone or got their name wrong. We mixed it up this morning. We stayed together for the most part for the first half and had some jazz fest artists’ music playing in the background. After disclaimer, we did some quick active stretching. Then it was a “blue” Indian run to where esplanade ends (or begins depending on how you look at it). We circled up and did a few more exercises then it was all out sprint down esplanade to dog park across from Santa Fe restaurant. From there we cut over toward the fairgrounds mixing in some exercises with sprints until the entrance to the jazz fest. It was on your own back to the flag following the same way we came. About 5.0k distance covered in honor of the 50th fest. A little bit of time for some stretching then the circle up for name o Rama, intentions, and announcements. Fun work out this am. Thanks screwtop for the pic.
14 Pax including 1 FNG posted in the gloom at City Park next to the imaginary flag.
The QIC (YHC) was commemorating a belated birthday Q (first Q in over a year), and thought it would be fun to do a few of his favorite things. But first, a quick mosey to the grassy neutral ground for a little warm-up COP.
SSH – in cadence x 20
Hillbillies – in cadence x 15
Self Love – ic x 10
Merkins – ic x 10
Slow Windmills – ic x 10 (or was it 15?)
10 Burpees on your own
Then the Pax followed a slightly lost Q to “the Refinery” – a bit farther away than YHC remembered for some simple exercises in groups.
Burpess x 10 for the count
jump the snake
pull ups
dips
knee ups
And with all that out of the way, the fun was about to begin. Mosey over to the big grassy area next to the water – it was nicely lit by the construction lights at the Children’s Museum. Pax put on a show for the construction fellas.
First: Tabata!! (20 seconds on, 10 seconds off x 8) Exercises: mountain climbers, burpees, squat jumps, lunges, and repeat.
Now that the PAX was nicely lathered up, some more fun was to come: Animal movements! Out about 10 yards and back, 5 burpees then the next movement. Movements: bear crawl, frog jumps, crab walk, shoulder rolls (followed by dizzy burpees)
There was some mumble chatter about this time, especially about prickers and dizziness. YHC was having a blast.
On to the climax of the morning – mosey to the track for … 1000 meters of Hades!! Run/sprint 400m, walk 100m Run/sprint 200m, walk 100m Spring 100m, walk 100m
By now, we had run out of time for anything besides the short mosey back to the imaginary flag and the COT where we named SlowJo.
Man, what a beautiful Saturday morning in April. It’s really one of the best months of the year in NOLA. 20 men gathered on this beautiful day for some F3. The usual disclaimer and off we go.
We moseyed to the great lawn, unusually soggy and muddy on this day, for the warm-up COP:
SSH x 20 IC
Peter Parkers x 20 IC
Abe Vigodas x 10 IC
Arm Circles 10 Forward, 10 Backward IC
Hill Billies x 20 IC
Mountain Climbers x 20 IC
Next a short jog to the front of NOMA where we crossed paths with the MuscleShip, on their turf. Here YHC distastefully lead the Mothership pax in 10 Monkey Humpers in the general direction of the MuscleShip pax. Sorry @Abacus, not very tasteful of this Q. I do apologize.
Then we lined up for an inverted BLIMP pyramid along the tree line, or something like that. Exercise, then run to the next tree.
5 Burpees
10 Lunges each leg
15 Imperial Walkers each leg
20 Merkins
25 Plank Jacks
30 Squats
30 Squats
25 Plank Jacks
20 Merkins
15 Imperial Walkers each leg
10 Lunger each leg
5 Burpees
We moseyed to the end of Lelong Drive for the next COP:
Side lunges x 10 IC
Low slow squats x 20 IC
Tree Huggers x 10 IC
Then travelled back down the opposite side of Lelong Drive, heading back toward NOMA, with animals on parade. Parade for 6 trees, doing a different animal at each tree. Then a Route 66 back to NOMA, stopping at each street light for 5 jump lunges with each leg.
Back at NOMA, pair up for 2 rounds of Merkin ladders. One pax does a Merkin ladder up the steps of NOMA, 8 Merkins at the bottom to 1 at the top, while the other pax does alternating step-ups at the fountain. 2 rounds.
Mosey to the baby foundry. Each pax does 10 pull-ups, 10 dips. 2 rounds.
Mosey to the fence at Tad Gormley stadium for calf raises. Regular calf raises x 20 IC, toe-in calf raises x 20 IC, toe-out calf raises x 20 IC.
Finally mosey back to the flag for some hamstring stretches before the finish. Count-off, name-o-rama, intentions, and a prayer. Welcome to our FNG, Donatello. Thank you for letting me lead.
In a feat only New Orleans can accomplish, the PAX arrived to a cool yet muggy morning at 5:30 today. The sun might even have been peeking through the clouds as we set off into the humid air for a run. With the H8 last week, the new sprint workout, and the general level of intensity at the workouts lately, YHC thought a simple run this morning – no burpees, no sprints, no Mary – would be a nice change of pace. And so, that is what we did.
One of the nice things about a run is that it gives you time to talk. I personally got to run with several different PAX and catch up on all the latest. Among those I was able to run with was Steinbrenner from F3 Memphis, who is in town for a convention. We traded some war stories, learned we were both former high school wrestlers with a tendency to eat an entire large bag of chips in one sitting, and talked about the myriad ways F3 had affected our lives. Somewhere along the way, he looked me in the face and said “F3 has changed my life”.
Later I went to lunch with a friend, and we were joined by another PAX member from this morning, Briefs. Briefs is new within the last month or so, but you wouldn’t know it from the workouts. As we were walking out of the restaurant and chatting about the run this morning, he looked me in the eye and said “F3 has changed my life.”
They say good things come in threes, and it is F THREE, so I will say this much: F3 has changed my life. I think the myriad ways in which this statement is accurate are well known to all of us, and to suggest it’s only a physical change would be silly.
So thanks to all of you for that, as well as the opportunity to lead this morning.
YHC is nothing if not not creative. After employing the pax at Popeyes a couple weeks back to transport coupons back to the flag, and noticing how little fun we all had doing it, the idea of a coupon run was born. Luckily, I overbought pavers a while back for a backyard project, and not wanting to do the walk of shame to return some pavers that each cost about 50 cents, we now have some “square running coupons”. They shall be referred to as the SRC’s henceforth, and they will always have been bought for the good of the F3 Nola pax, not my much smaller than expected backyard project.
Warmup
Mosey to the center of the intersection with some high knees and butt kicks
SSHx20
Arm circlesx20
Parker Peterx20
Hold for planking on each hand
Open the gate, close the gate
LSSx10
Station 1
An abbreviated H8 with the SRC’s. Grab 1 in each hand, run to the top of the levee, deposit them, bear crawl across, run down to the bottom, straight back up, bear crawl across, retrieve SRC’s, down to the bottom at Lakeshore Drive for 5 Manmakers w/ the coupons. X 4.
A few Pax completed 5 and even got in some Bernie Sanders while they waited for the slow guys, i.e., YHC to complete their 4th.
Station 2
Indian Run to the end of the levee on the concrete, where we got in a bit of Mary.
Crab Cakes x20
Absolution x10 (pretty sure I messed this one up again – going to need another demonstration the count, Triple Shift)
Mosey down the levee and back to the flag, led by our FNG, Chips. Chips was EH’d by Hokie Pokey, and he put in a hell of an effort for his first workout. I saw he posted the next day at The Uptowner as well, so if you have not met him yet, you’ll probably see him soon. He’s a great addition to F3 Nola.
We also bid farewell to Cowbell, who is going to the Northshore. Our loss, their gain. Cowbell is a quiet leader who pushes hard and helps those around him. Hopefully we’ll SYITG from time to time.
Thanks for having me. I see the next month is covered, but we have been having some difficulty filling Q’s for Okwata. This is the best time to sign up for Okwata, as the days get longer, and we get absolutely beautiful sunrises over the lake. Show up for an Okwata or two when you can, and then sign up to lead one. With so many options for exercises, it’s truly one of the great AO’s we have. – Kuch
Rudy’s not allowed to Fartlek right now, so he needed a fill in for the 610 Stomp. YHC is an old Fartlekker so it was not a probably for me. I showed up at roughly 0529:40 and gave the disclaimer. It was a beautiful day for a run. Here’s how it went
Normal Pace to the NOMA Fountain. I call it the fountain, but there is no fountain, just a lily pond with a huge statue of tri-colored bacon. Upon arrival I gave the instructions. I would call out an effort number from 1-100 (100 being a full out sprint) and a landmark to run to. After reaching said landmark, the pax was to circle back and pick up the 6.
75 to the end of Lelong Drive
Easy jog to across Esplanade and down the sidewalk to Moss Street
100 to the first big tree on Moss
70 to the curve
Easy jog to Dumain
50 to Orleans
65 to the Lafitte Greenway
Easy jog to Bienville
58 to Canal
Easy Jog back to Bienville
70 to Conti
Avoid the car and truck at the Lafitte Greenway
55 to Orleans
70 to the curve (the real curve) near Cabrini
Easy jog to the bridge
60 to Esplanade then an easy jog to City Park until the 6 arrives.
Easy Jog to Roosevelt Mall
88 to the Flag
Seal the Deal with 20 Burpees
The Skinny
If you question the accuracy of the above – you should……my nine year old and Rev Sox both have this in common: they giggled when I announced our exercise this morning. I’ll have everyone know that fartlek is a bonafide Swedish running term used with a straight face by Kinesiology majors around the world no matter how funny it sounds in English……we covered approximately 4.5 miles give or take, depending on how many times you swept the 6. I feel like we got our money’s worth……I was glad to see that so many guys survived Tool’s Big Rock Challenge on Monday. Cowbell reminded me of my own foolishness. Is it better to not be able to perform any of the exercises or admit defeat and take the walk of shame? I contend that the walk of shame is never acceptable…….we had a Recall sighting. He ran with us for a bit on the bayou then peeled off to run the Wisner bridge. Not sure why he is choosing to run alone instead of with the pack. Perhaps it is the shame associated with being a Razorback fan. It does make life difficult, but you have to be tough and overcome it…….sealing the deal is a Stomp Tradition and it brings joy to Fracsac’s heart. Our next site Q needs to make sure it regularly happens ……. speaking of which, thanks to Cowbell for his reign as Stomp Commander. Under his tutelage the Stomp has grown at least two-fold in average attendance. If U.S. Presidents can take credit for economic growth, then Cowbell should be given credit for this ……. next man up. Who will take the reigns at the Stomp and fill the teeny-tiny shoes of Cowbell? From what I can tell, it mostly involves having someone else type your name into the spreadsheet, occasionally telling people to sign up to Q, then ignoring messages on GroupMe from people that need to reschedule their Q until someone else answers them and says that they will take it. You can’t really mess it up, well actually you can, but that takes a very special person.
It was a beautiful Thursday morning on the lakefront last week. After a little chatter amongst the PAX, I issued the disclaimer and we mosey’d to the corner of lakefront drive / canal blvd. Once there we commenced with the warmup:
side straddle hops – 20
imperial squat walkers – 15
grass grabbers – 15
peter parkers – 15
arm circles – 10 forward, 10 backward
Seeing as how the H8 was coming up in 2 weeks, I thought it might be good to do a little H8 pre-work. After Kuch’s Q at Popeyes on Wednesday, the LV clown car was talking about some different TV shows, and one of the shows that came up was the Sopranos. Anytime i think of that show, the word “for-getta-bout-it” comes to mind. Well since i was thinking of that show at the same time i was trying to think about what exercises to use during my Q, a nice exercise creation was born. It would aptly be called, the “4-getta-bout-it” and it would entail 4 figure 8 laps up & down the paved part of the levee with bear crawls across the center (just like the H8). We would also do a burpee / merkin ladder like the H8 as well. The difference with the 4-getta-bout-it would be that the PAX would have to run up each of the levees backwards (Bernie Sanders style backwards). So the good news is that it would be only 1/2 of the laps as the H8; the bad news is that running up the levee backwards is not what most people consider fun. Ultimately, all of the PAX completed the 4 laps (Smooth actually completed 5 laps, which has come to be known as the “High Five”), and then after a brief 20 count from Cowbell, we mosey’d to the benches. Once to the benches, we did the following:
dirkins – 15
squat jump clockwise to next bench
left / right leg step ups (10/10)
squat jump clockwise to next bench
dips – 15
squat jump clockwise to the next bench
irkins – 10
squat jump clockwise to the next bench
windmills – 15
squat jump clockwise to the next bench
LBC’s – 15
squat jump clockwise to the next bench
dying cockroaches – 15
squat jump clockwise to the next bench
flutter kicks – 15
squat jump clockwise to the next bench
Once completed, we mosey’d back to the flag for the announcements, intentions and the prayer. As always, thanks for the opportunity to lead, fellas. It’s a pleasure grinding through the beatdowns with y’all!
YHC hasn’t been posting nearly as much as he should, and there may have been a chance for a fartsack this day as well, except that Mambi was on IR, and unable to Q his long awaited One Year Maniversary Epic Beatdown! When YHC was asked if he would take the Q, seeing as YHC was the Q for Mambi’s first post, it sealed the deal. What did the Mothership beat down comprise of this day you ask? Read on…..
YHC arrived a few minutes early and prepared the parking lot for a fine tasting beat down with a few cones.
12 veteran men of F3 were prepared to make a downPAINment on improving this day, so YHC provided a brief disclaimer at 0630, stating that he hoped to make Mambi proud, followed by lots of mumblechatter, which would have been far worse with Rudy present, followed by a short mosey to the Great Lawn……..
Warmup
SSH IC x 31 IW IC x 20 Abe Vigodas IC x 10 Grass Grabbers IC x 10 Arm Circles IC x 20 (10 fwd, 10 back) Peter Parkers IC x 20 Mountain Climbers IC x 20 Parker Peters IC x 20 'Merkins IC x 20
Short mosey to the parking lot with the cones for Suicides! Set up like a Basket Ball court:
Sprint to quarter line and back, 5 Burpees Sprint to half line and back, 5 Burpees Sprint to 3/4 line and back, 5 Burpees Sprint full court and back, 5 Burpees Repeato with Squats for round two, followed by Bobby Hurley's for Round three.
YHC had the men count off. Instead of choosing partners, YHC had 1 partner with 3, 2 with 4, 5 with 7, etc, for a little Dora 123….
50 Burpees 150 'Merkins 300 LBC's Partner 1 starts the exercise, while partner 2 runs suicides (just like above with no exercise). Flapjack and keep cumulative. Once your team finishes, partner 1 continues with suicides while partner 2 does Burpees, waiting for the six. No easy plank and wait today.....
Mosey to the fountain at NOMA, Freak Nasties IC x 20.
Mosey to the Trail around the Big Lagoon for Bataan Death March! It’s an Indian Run where the last man drops for 5 Burpees and sprints to the front. It was during this time The Mothership crew spotted the men of the Muscleship! But our crew was busy with a beat down, no time to stand around in a circle and chat as they were……
Upon completion of the Bataan Death March, mosey back to the tree line near NOMA, near the Muscleship flags for some Burpees and Bear Crawls….
Starting at the first tree, bear crawl to second tree, 5 Burpees, bear crawl back to first tree, 5 Burpees. Rinse and Repeat.
About the time The Mothership crew were finishing up this latest evolution, sweating profusely from the solid beat down, the Muscleship crew arrived. It was no Burr vs Hamilton, or the likes of Westside Story. But YHC took the opportunity to face away from their circle, and in a line with sixes toward the Muscleship crew, completed Monkey Humpers IC x 15. It was pretty Epic…….
Before departing the Muscleship Crew, a couple minutes of Mary:
Dying Cockroach IC x 20 Crunchy Frog IC x 10
Mosey back to the Great Lawn
Just enough time for: 10 Burpees OYO Catalina Wine Mixers IC x 10
Mosey back to the flag for the COT
Count off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and closed with a prayer to the Sky Q.
Thanks for posting with me today, and for allowing me to be one of you. Here’s wishing you a speedy recovery, Mambi!
Enjoyed coffeteria, where Hawgcycle made an appearance with Mike from Morning Call! Good times!!!
12 PAX posted up this morning at the Foundry. At 5:30am I gave the disclaimer and we were on our way to the track for a little warm-up. At the track we did:
High Knees Butt Kicks Karaoke Left side Karaoke Right side
We then proceeded for a warm up run around the track. We stopped at the back part of the track for some more warm-ups: SSH X 25 – IC Self Love – X 15 IC Low Slow Squats – X 15 IC Jump Lunges – X 15 OYO
We then moseyed on over to the Foundry where we split to 4 groups.
Group 1 – Timer – Duck walk to the water fountain and then sprint back- thanks Triple Shift for sending the animal exercise video yesterday to the group; the PAX really enjoyed doing this. Group 2 – leg lifts with a partner (not sure what this is called- it burns the hell out of your core though) Group 3 – Jump overs on the squiggly line Group 4 – Pull-ups Rinse and repeat for 2 circuits.
Quick mosey to the NOMA wall. Where we partnered up. One partner sat on the wall while the other partner is the timer doing shoulder taps- 1 is 2 —- Da Parish quickly corrected my count to 2 is 1 (newbie screw-up on my part). My initial plan was to do this for about 4 mins, however Da Parish enjoyed this so much we decided to go for 8 mins. Followed up by 10 decline merkins on the curb.
Quick mosey to the Fountain for: Incline Merkins X 10 OYO then run to the stairs to Bunny Hop up the stairs with 5 burpees at the top. Bunny hop down.
At this point we had about 4mins to get to the flag; I didn’t realize how far out we were……we came in 2 mins over schedule. Sorry about that PAX.
We welcomed a new FNG – Breadsticks. We finished off with COT and prayed for Patience. It was an Honor to lead this group.
