F3 New Orleans

Tag: Captain Sparkles

  • Carpe Diem Convergence

    The F3 Nation knew about YHC before YHC knew about the F3 Nation.  You see, YHC’s brother-in-law, Lynchpin, lives in Charlotte.  In the early days, before the F3 Nation planted its flag in NOLA, Lynchpin routinely and enthusiastically regaled YHC with stories of legendary beatdowns and CSAUPs, tongue in cheek nicknames, funny exercise names and other F3 lore.  Then, when F3 decided to expand to NOLA, Lynchpin tried to EH YHC, but YHC begged off.  It all sounded, well to be honest, like a cult and how could YHC trust Lynchpin anyway?  After all, he married YHC’s sister.  Ugh.  But resistance was futile.  The NOLA PAX crossed Lake Pontchartrain in its Durham boat, Reluctant Yankee at the helm like George Washington crossing the Delaware. Nacho and Chewy fell in upon the PAX’s arrival and, together, they planted the shovel flag in the Gloom on April 9, 2016.  F3 Northshore was born.  How could YHC resist a free workout in his own backyard?

    A few weeks later, the NOLA PAX boarded their Durham boat and retreated back across the Lake, leaving the Northshore PAX to make the most of their gift of F3.  We stumbled about, we made mistakes, we created a new AO only to abandon it a few weeks later, and we had more than a few beatdowns with one or two PAX.  Somehow, however, we made it and two years later look forward to seeing one another regularly to suffer and have fun together.

    As this morning’s two year anniversary convergence approached and YHC learned that the weather more likely than not would be awful, there was no concern.  Two years of meeting rain or shine, hot or cold, left no doubt in YHC’s mind that the PAX would post.  And post they did.  And you know what?  The weather held off just long enough for us to celebrate our birthday with a 3 hour beatdown, visiting 5 of 6 Northshore AOs by the mechanical device known as the bicycle.

    Mandeville Lakefront:  4 burpees OYO, 19 SSHs IC, 20 IWs IC, and 16 Seal Jacks IC.

    Captain’s Cove:  4 vertical jumps OYO, 19 Copperhead Squats IC, 20 Sumo Squats IC, and 16 Regular Squats IC.

    Milestone Marsh: 4 plyo Merkins OYO, 19 Merkins IC, 20 Shoulder Taps IC, 16 slow seconds Mission Impossible.

    At this point, Chewy politely pointed out that he had figured out what YHC was up to with the count but that our birthday is April 9, 2016, not April 19, 2016.  Point well taken.

    Grandmother’s House:  4 Sister Mary Katherine’s OYO, 9 front to back lunges IC, 20 45 degree lunges IC, and 16 later lunges IC.

    And then, after a 10 mile mosey on the Tammany Trace to Covington:

    The Gipper:  4 Freddy Mercury’s IC, 9 Freddy Flutters IC, 20 Hello Dolly’s IC, and 16 Flutter Kicks IC.

    Then we mounted our bikes for the 10 mile ride back to the shovel flag for the countorama, nameorama, Shooter’s prayer and a coffeeteria, arriving about an hour later than anticipated.  No one will confuse YHC for a Swiss train conductor after this morning’s logistics, that’s for sure.

    Thanks for letting me lead, guys, and thanks for your willingness to try something different and new and for posting despite the threatening weather and actually being disappointed it didn’t pour on us.

    Some parting thoughts:

    We’ve come a long way on the Northshore.  Things have become almost comfortable and, while there’s a lot of positive to that sentiment, there are dangers too.  We could stop growing.

    So here’s a call to action.  Commit to EH’ing more FNGs and supporting them through their virgin post so that they return.  Commit to Q’ing more workouts, putting time into planning your Qs, and posting timely BackBlasts.  Commit to a CSAUP.  Commit to making yourself better and leading by example, always keeping your eyes open for growth and leadership in all three of the Fs.  If we want F3 Northshore to grow, then we are the ones that need to make it happen.

    Carpe Diem.

     

     

     

     

  • To Run or Not to Run?

    Well you see it goes like this. We had an F3 Brother who advertises he’s going to make Captains Cove this Friday since he’s on this side of the lake this weekend.
    So F3 Brother Steve gets excited to host our brother in his first Northshore appearance and makes a Hard commit to show up for the 10K Friday even though he has a 10K race the next day. Witch and trainer would tell you to take the day before a race off and rest your legs!
    Well since this Q has been canceling so much lately and also likes to cater to our F3 Brothers when ever he can. He also against better judgment woke up at 3:50am to be there for our guest. Captain Sparkles shows up early when he shows up lately. Steve rolls in minutes to spare. So no South shore guest yet. Well it’s his first time to this AO he might have got lost. So Captain Sparkles & Steve start talking about the Movie industry. And next thing you know it’s 5:30am well Steve looks at Captain Sparkles, Captain Sparkles looks at Steve and both with happy looks on our face say well looks like he’s going to be a no show. So using good judgment we do what any hardcore F3 would do with a race next day. Yep we high tailed it back to the fart sacks. To rest our legs. So every sad story has a Silver lining.

  • Marsh Madness!!!

    With the beginning of the week and March madness tipping off on Thursday. The QIC arrived at the Marsh to the sights of 2 Cinderella hopefuls waiting at center court. Would either be selected by the NCAA committee for this weekends tournament? Or would they need to except another invitation to the CUSAP at the Tough Mudder on Saturday spearheaded by the Bushwacker? With the latter of the 2 choices clearly in their sights as well as mine we tipoff our training with the warmup..

    25IC SSH, 15IC WM, 25IC IW, 15IC GM, 25IC BK, 15 IC SJ

    With the opportunity of slipping in as a number 16 seed the ISI challenge would prove the worthiness of one Steve rocking out 35 on this Gloom.. With Captain taking second and the QIC rounding out the PAX we all responded with a sigh of completion and reverence to Turbo for coming up with such great challenges… We began a Mosey down Lamarque to the lakefront. Arriving at the bulkhead we completed an upper body of 15IC Freak nasties, followed by 15IC Derkins and 15IC Erkins. Climbed on top the sea wall and Racoon crawled about 50 yards west. Next we focused on legs completing 10 step ups each leg, followed by 15 box jumps. Using the sea wall as a guide to a perfect 90 degree squat of 15 followed by right single leg squat 10IC back to regular squat 15, and completed left leg single 10IC. We then began our journey back up Marigny to the Marsh. Closing things up we completed 8 count bodybuildiers to 20 and then took to the six for Mary. 30IC flutter kicks, right single leg extension wife pleaser and left single leg wife pleaser wrapping up with 30IC flutter kicks..

    countoff, announcements, COT

    Thanks to Captain for praying us out and Steve for the lessons of survival when supporting a fellow brother on a bachelor party.. Well done lads!!

    Appreciate the lead!

     

  • It Was A Happy B.D. Because Of U!

    Being able to join my Brothers on a day of reflection does not get any better for a F3 member. I thank Turbo for encouraging me to join this fine group, just over one year ago. So many men I now know. Bonding to make us stronger indivudually and as a collective F3!!group.

     

    As a workout goes, wish we had doubled the Burpees, if only our workouts were longer.

    Warmup- finger stretches, arm stretches and rotation, SSH, squats, toe touches, toe hold, etc

    Thang–100 Burpees- give or take.. 10 sets of 10 halt at first man to 10….Butt/Bushwacker setting the pace for sure..rest of us not far behind.

    Cowboy and Indians– for fun, You had to be there.. Maverick — he had the best horseee.

    Serpentine–Sprints through 4 rows of cones with a sprint-loop. Butt Splice had to hang with the teacher to ensure 100 Percent effort..my soccer buddy. 4 reps in all..

    100-200-300–Merks, Squats, Mountain Climbers, with a run around the pole.  Steve/Tank took the count for sure, Turbo and I think his partner Waterpick,took the endurance portion. Waterpick- if not,then who?

    Shoulder Taps– close with a 5 minute challenge on the shoulders– Bush man fired up Turbo resulting in this challenge.. Was worth it and a fitting final exercise of the day..

    Announcements, prayer–The Manny- followed by, box jump competition, then good ole coffee and cake– thanks Captain, thanks all for a  great and memorable BD morning… U the best!

     

     

  • Mostability

    4 pax met at the trailhead in the gloom today. 3 of the 4 pax  had been logging alot of miles this month for the ISI challenge. With the eldest member of the pax close to breaking the 130 mile mark, pretty impressive.

    With all this running and not alot of stretching, YHC took it upon himself to introduce the pax to a new group of exercises working on mobility with a progression to stability. Primarily targeting the 4 big joint complexes that can stiffen up thus leading to sub-optimal functioning (Remember… tight muscles are weak muscles).

    The 4 joint complexes are: foot/ankle, hips, thoracic spine, and shlds. Each exercise today worked these joints in sequence (chain reaction) to stretch and then stabilize the body.

    The thang:

    mosey to parking lot

    ~ lower trap sets with Bilateral shld ext rotation or W’s  ~ great for scapula and rotator cuff stability to off set all the merkins and desk jockeying. 3 sec hold in cadence x 20

    ~Glute series: Sidelying leg raise or (Jane Fonda’s) x 15 IC follower by Single leg Glute bridges x 15 IC

    Now the fun begins:

    Anterior Lunge with Bilateral overhead posterior arm swing x 10 each

    Anterior foot reach for balance x 10

    Posterior Lunge with Bilateral posterior arm swing at ankle height x 10 each:

    Post foot reaches for balance x 10

    Lateral lunges with OH reach x 10

    Lateral foot reaches x 10 for balance

    Opp side Lateral lunge with OH reach x 10

    opp side lateral foot reaches for balance x 10

    Rotational Lunge with reach x 10

    Rotational foot reaches for balance x 10

    Opp side rotational lunge with reach x 10

    Opp side rotational foot reaches for balance x 10

     

    1 mile fun run to bridge and back

     

    COT, name-o-rama, prayer.

    Thanks, guys for letting me lead. Good to be back in the pax!

    Chewy

     

  • Unexpected appearance at the Marsh..

    Waking up to downpours, the YHC decided there would be no prethang run to the AO on this Gloom. Upon arrival at the Marsh, I see Captain Sparkles and Waterpic taking advantage of the covered pavilion making laps around the court getting the blood flowing. Captain Sparkles filled with excitement asked “Is Butt Splice Qing?”After letting him down softly the YHC turned to Waterpic who generally post other AOs and asked to what do we deserve the honor of your presence at the Marsh on this Gloom? Simply stated, the kids are off school today. Kudos to the Waterpic, as one could have easily stayed nested in the Sack and caught a little extra rest, but instead posted on this morning of not so ideal conditions to motivate his fellow F3 Brothers.. Definitely a hugh part of why I love being apart of this group of men who inspire this YHC to get up and get after it on Gloom’s like today..

    Let’s begin

    15IC GM, 15IC WM, 30IC BK, 30IC SSH, 15IC Arm Circles forward, up high, backdown reverse and  up high to close..

    YHC decided the only moisture that would occur today would be sweat equity, so the PAX utilized the court for the beatdown as the rain persisted throughout.

    First up we did Merkin suicides 20,15,10,5 and 20.. Started at one baseline with 20 Merkins and then bear crawled to the free throw for 15 Merkins, bear crawled halfcourt for 10 Merkins, bear crawled to other free throw 5 Merkins and completed at the other baseline with 20 Merkins.. After completion we switched to the lower half and journeyed back with the same count with squats and in between leg lunges.. After completing we went through a series of true suicides, forward and back pedal suicides, then lateral down and back, wrapping up with caricoas down and back (2). On the six for some core, 3 sets of 10IC FK into 10IC Lob Lollies as some would say never resting with continuous motion from one to the next.. Next up plankorama. 1 min front, left and right and then back to a 2 min plank front followed by a back plank for a 1 min.. With 10 mins to spare YHC realizing no beatdown would be complete without some Burpees we get back to the baseline for ascending Burpee suicides 2,4,6,8 and 10. To keep with the tradition of a classic the AO leader (Butt Splice) would bring we Bunny hopped between counts.. With 5 mins remaining we gather our bearings returning to the start point and proceed to complete 8 count body builders suicides with a series of 2,4,6,8 and 10. At this point no lagniappe in between just a simple mosey to completion..

    Count, Annoucements, COT

    Thanks to Waterpic for praying us out!!

    Today was one of those days where the YHC would most certainly not have put in this much work, but because of Captain Sparkles and Waterpic I was able to get through.. Appreciate you gentlemen!!

  • Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?

    11 Pax posted for our Saturday beat-down.

    I hate burpees, so we knocked out the big rocks first:

    10 burpees, 9 burpees, 8 burpee,…. etc and on with the pattern continuing down until there was nothing left and then we finished off with another.. 10 burpees.

    Then we did short a short mosey to go warm up.

    • Side straddle hop (20x)
    • arm circles
    • imperial walkers
    • hillbillies
    • peter parkers
    • plank (1 minute)

    Then a short mosey over to an animal planet:

    • bear crawl (approx 15 yards out and then back)
    • crab walk
    • spider-man crawl
    • bear again

    Another short mosey:

    We reflected on a conversation from Alice in Wonderland:

    Alice: `Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’
    `That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the Cat.
    `I don’t much care where–‘ said Alice.
    `Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’ said the Cat.

    We tied this in to our purpose for where we are going with family, community, career, and more relevantly – how we can reflect on our direction in and purpose on this workout to strengthen our bodies to do more of God wants us to do.

    We put this practice with a round of Merkin Tabata

    Then to help us push through limits… we reflected on this recent article from the WSJ: The Mental Tricks of Athletic Endurance

    Another round of Tabata but this time all 4 minutes were mountain climber.

    Short mosey over to do a partner wheelbarrow out and back about 20 yards – 2x

    Mosey back toward the flag. We slowed it down along the way with about 30 yards of Zombie walkers.

    Final COP of abs:

    8 more minutes of tabata with flutter kicks, american hammers and hello dollies mixed in.

     

    And.. we closed out with Roxanne.

     

  • Who Wants it. Earn it!!!

    Well after EIEI getting me all excited about him and a unknowing Shooter Running an extra 6.2 after our regularly scheduled 10K. Only 4 of our Seal Team 6 showed up for the 10K Friday with Captain Sparkles setting an example getting there a few min. Early to get in an extra mile thinking some pax’s Running that extra 6.2 just might edge by in our map my run challenge. But with our regular no show master at work in his fart sack the lead is safe for now! With two pax Shooter & Bushwacker staying to put in an extra mile or so made me proud to see them not settle for what was on the schedule and having an appetite for more puts a smile on my face. After our long time joking about the F3NORTHSHORE having a
    Seal Team 6 I figured let’s put some names to this face. So at the end of our Run Ranger Run month and it benefiting our Veterans there is no better time. So put the work in and do something above average to get named in our elite
    Seal Team 6 for the Northshore.

    Ok for the start of our day.
    Countoroma, Captain Sparkles leading us in prayer then heading out for the oh so well known journey to sunset point and back. 6.2 miles complete.

  • High Hopes for 1000

    Well with high hopes of the Northshore shining like the North Star Standing out from the rest. I think the simple fact that other pax logging all kinds of miles including bike miles makes it hard for a strictly running pax to shine. No matter this F3 hopefull still would like to see that 1000 Mark broke. In high hopes our 10K Friday would get more participation with this Run Ranger Run as our ISI this month. It seems that the 4:45am is still just to early for some to get out the fart sack!! But I can always count on those Seal Team 6 our Above Average F3 Brothers to show up. Your Q Captain Sparkles trying his hardest to keep up and lead by example showed up just a little earlier to get some foreplay in it wasn’t much but was enough for Shooter to ask with a wondering voice “Captain you getting some foreplay in on a 10k Friday” with the tone of his voice I wasn’t sure if it was a tone of being impressed or concerns that the Captain has gone completely crazy, as if 4:45am isn’t crazy enough. Bushwacker still insisting he isn’t a runner but glides through the dark of the gloom with no signs of fatigue just gets to me since I seemed to struggle just to keep up.
    As always count off and circle of trust starts off our 10K Friday then were off wondering where is Steve maybe he will jump in mid way since he lives the closest to this AO.

  • *Workout of the Underground F3 Renegades*

    This is a broadcast of the clandestine underground F3 network:

    AO: Planet Fitness

    QIC: Captain Sparkles

    PAX: Bushwacker, Captain Sparkles

    This movement is not so much a resistance as an addendum; iron sharpening iron while lifting iron!

    Thang:

    Tapping a few ISI moves from late last year, we performed a regression of merkins and sit ups, OYO 50 each, 35 each, and 15 each totaling 100 each without stopping.

    Over to the dumbbells for 3 sets of a circuit consisting of 10 dumbbell curls , 10 one-arm overhead tricep extensions, and 10 dumbbell flies. We then moved to the smith machine to grunt out 4 10 rep sets of shoulder shrugs. We wrapped up the resistance training portion of the beatdown with 3 10 rep sets of machine-isolated single arm bicep curls.

    With the run ranger run mission always looming , we jumped on the treadmills for 3 miles of air-conditioned cardio.

     

    We’re keeping our antenae up for signals from any possible outlaws interested in joining the cause, at no cost, in Covington, at planet fitness….

    [THIS BACKBLAST WILL SELF_DESTRUCT IN 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…….]