Tag: City hall Scramble

  • Who me?

    Well this is a first… I show up this morning, greeting my fellow gloom-patrolers, only to discover, as we circled up and looked around at each other, that it was indeed I who was Q! Struggling to fully awaken, we warm-o-ramaed:

    15xs each IC

    Toe Touches

    Imperial Walkers

    Air Presses

    Butt Kicks

    Scorpion Kicks

    Being caught of guard with my forgotten Q-dom, YHC was eternally greatful to Waterpik who had the quick-thinkingly brilliant idea that we should run 3.1 miles! And so we did, with a rough breakdown of 2 groups of 3 (although 1 of those groups may have been slightly staggered on the last mile).

    To cool things off, we ran a Bushwacker special for Mary:

    15xs IC

    Rosalita

    Hello Dolly

    Flutter Kicks

    Freddy Mercury

    J Lo

    30seconds:

    Plank

    LPlank

    RPlank

    Chill Plank

    Mission Impossible Plank

    Prayed out by the Pik

    Thanks guys for following the lead that I so humbly brought to the Scramble today!

  • Chewy Blewy

    Waterpik reminded us that Chewy had Q today at gloom-o-clock, but he was yet to be seen. Knowing of his penchant to come rolling up as the scramblers begin to scramble, we gave him an extra couple of minutes before beginning a round robin warm up.

    Bushwacker – SSH

    Garfield – Windmills

    Coconuts – Good Mornings

    Waterpik –  Hi Knees

    Captain Sparkles – Mercilessly robbed of his opportunity by an overzealous-to-get-running Waterpik!

    YHC  had offered yesterday to run with Captain Sparkles in an effort to coerce his post. A triumphant mental note was made of his presence upon arrival, and when the PAX began to roll, we adopted a comfortable 10:00m/m pace while the rest of the wild stallions were loosed from the corral. Shortly before reaching Monroe, Captain Sparkles informed YHC of his intent to skip the loop and head straight for sunset point, where there were a couple of conveniently located port-o-lets. With the remaining PAX a good 50 yards ahead, I dug deep, pushed myself, and gave it all I had (and any number of other motivational effort-based cliches one can summon). Starting to sputter at 10 yards back around the half-way mark of the loop, my presence was made known through various huffs, puffs, grunts, and other noises that substituted for my ability to form words at that moment. We passed Captain Sparkles headed in the opposite direction on sunset point, having, I later learned, skipped doing his duty. We also learned that Garfield’s long-running passion for…er, running has faded as of late. Some may say it was his age, being in his 7th decade, but I know better. He has spread his fitness wings here in F3, and added so much to his repetoire that running is not so much a priority among his exercise outlets. Being  fairly regular on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, he’s a beast! A mighty effort was indeed put forth by each and every member of the PAX this A.M. , and that continued through the decadent Mary that proceeded the run.

    25 Merkins

    15 Rosalitas

    15 Hello Dollys

    15 Flutter Kicks

    15 Freddy Mercurys

    15 J Los

    30 second plank

    15s left plant

    15s right plank

    15s mission impossible planks

    15s forearm plank

    100 oyoLBCs

    15 Putins

    Prayed out by the fresh-from-Wednesday-night-worship Captain Sparkles

    Have an incredible day guys!

    …you too Chewy, where ever you are…

     

  • F3 Thursday, Take 1

    There we were, gathered in the 73 degree gloom, preparing for pedo-strata combat like a small band of wearily tremulous skirmishers, ready to embark on Part 1 of, what would be for some, a 2-part F3 kind of day. The insights were keen, though the conversations garrulous as, with the under-the-wire arrival of Chewy, we were off without so much as side straddle hop or imperial walker.

    Perseverance was the battle plan of the day along the scramble route. For some it was giving it their all to keep up and catch up, while for others it was the sporadically concerted effort to not far out-pace the rest of the illustrious PAX. And for yet at least one other it was keeping his bowels under his own power.

    For those of us who are acquainted with the mastery of skill over his craft that Chewy has, there is a respect, admiration, and appreciation. Having tweaked his back in the arduously entertaining ultimate frisbee beatdown of his own design last Saturday, Waterpik, was quick to accept the grace of physical therapy-on-the-go that YHC, among others, have been the the recipient of. Further proving his worth, Chewy was tapped by YHC to take us out with 10 minutes of ballistic stretches and yoga, but not before Garfield and Coconuts were initiated into the Dice of Doom fraternity with 10 putins and 15 side straddle hops.

    For part 2, a Maverick-induced 8:00pm beatdown followed by F2 will be a fun change of pace this evening.

    YHC prayed us out with a disjointed rambling of appreciation and acknowledgement for the influence that we all have in others’ lives and they in ours, and how we are all held in one set of almighty hands.

    Thank you, gentlemen, for another rousing scramble!

     

  • Helping Hands

    There have been many times that QIC has thought about coupons to spice up a beatdown. Honestly there has also been a  lot of forgetfulness or unpreparedness that has spoiled such ideas. Not this time! Gentlemen, we have garbage bags! Turning the scramble into an easter-egg hunt of sorts, the PAX was prepared to rid our 5k route of every scrap of litter it spied.

    Beginning in a more intentionally subdued manner:

    10 deep inhalations and exhalations (eyes closed IC)

    15 toe touches IC

    Off we went! Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who you asked) YHC didn’t grab quite enough garbage bags, and so Chewy and Sprocket mosied empy-handed, more able to focus on their run. The rest of the PAX, upon entering the stretch of road leading to the vaulted, though never close, gates of sunset point, were scrambling at every wayward piece of refuse the eye could detect.

    Upon Pelican and my later-than-the-rest return due to a little Wacker gimpiness, there was  just enough time for 1 throw of the Dice O Doom by The Pelican himself. Much to the PAX’s delight, 25 putins were all the Dice demanded of them. Waterpik prayed us out, and cold water was had by all!

    As some altruistic professionals are never off-duty, Chewy took the time to do a little diagnostics on YHC’s leg issues. I’ve always been quite impressed by the glimpses I’ve had of his knowledge, as well as the true passion he has for his craft. Final diagnosis: there’s a broken Bushwacker who has a lot of “pre gametime” work to do.

    Many thanks, gentlemen. I appreciate you all more than you could know.

  • What the Heck Happened Here? (Can We Say Heck?)

    Home is the place where, when you have to go there they have to take you in.

    -Robert Frost

    So Thursday at the scramble there was no Ocho. Other than that, I don’t remember too many specifics. Now I know why there’s a lot of back blasts that never get written – because, after being delayed for a day or 3, the Q can’t remember what went down… no excuse!

    THE THANG (I THINK)

    25 merks

    20 hi knees

    25 merks

    20 windmills

    THE SCRAMBLE

    As we ran our traditional route, I was observant of a few things. Number 1, The Hermitage subdivision, otherwise known as “the loop”, has become a very busy pre-dawn venue for fitness-minded nonresidents, especially random F3  brothers who ambush you during your run (not Capatin Sparkles this time). Number 2, If you want a premier example of what being consistent with F3 can do, look no further than our brother Sprockett. Although he had already been crowned with his F3 moniker by the time I first met him, he was fresh to the scramble. He has made serious progress in his performance levels. T claps to Sprockett! Number 3, though the tide may ebb and flow, no matter how much we F3 attack the refuse that lay in our paths, we will never eradicate the litter problem of Old Mandeville.

    POST SCRAMBLE

    Upon completion of our mighty 5K, it was core time. YHC has decided to bring back the ab assault to the people. Now as for this day, it’s already been mentioned that memories can fade quickly, and this is being written a full 39 hours after the end of the glorious beatdown of which YHC speaks, but there was a strenuous count of twist crunches, a lovely series of supermans and bananas (a la P90X/Chewy), and finally a run of putins.

    COT

    Many thanks to Burgundy for your solid message to send us out to face the day (Better late than never).

     

  • Cool with a Southern Dose of Humidity

    “If a path be beautiful, ask not where it leads.”

    -Anatole France

    What can I say? We met, we warmed up, we ran, we exercised. We did quite a few merkins throughout the run. Oh, and it was a cool yet typically humid morning on the northshore of Lake Pontchartrain in southeast Louisiana. All hail F3 Northshore!

    “Well done is better than well said”

    -Benjamin Franklin

  • Revival, Repost and Reverance!!

    The Scramble proved this YHC wrong on this Gloom. As I awoke this morning thoughts came over me knowing that a few of the regulars (Steve/Waterpic) would not be posting. I began wondering if it would be a solo post of sorts. Those thoughts were quickly erased with the revival of the Wacker of Bushes/Pelican and the repost of Sprocket who has become a regular Scrambler and the Reverance to a Hall of Fame Wrestler welcome (FNG) JYD. Nice job to Choppa for EHing!! With Chewy and EiEi arriving with 15 seconds to spare the numbers quickly swelled to 8 men, which is a great number considering all the past men who were once regulars (Captain Sparkles/Butt Splice/Burgundy/Sea Bass) and had they posted we would have surly shattered any previous record the Scramble had seen in its past..

    warmup

    All IC 20 SSH, Imperial Walker and Windmills.

    thang

    Standard route on this Gloom would provide the PAX with a community activity along sunset point where what appeared to be a setup by the Wacker. It  was as if the test of trash pickup needed to be taken to another level and indeed it was as half his journey consisted of carrying a garbage bag filled with the goods collected along our path to the return of the AO. We wrapped up with 15 IC Merkins, 15 IC LBCs, 15 IC cross crunches left/right and closing with 15 IC Hello Dollies. Naming of JYD proved to take us all back to a time of Reverance to the WWE and WWF.. Welcome JYD!!

     

     

    Appreciate Choppa for praying us out!!

    ✌🏻 to everyone on this holiday weekend!!

     

  • Running Behind but the Timing’s Unreliable!

    YHC had a sneaking suspicion when I opened my eyes that my wake-up window for making the scramble had already started closing, rather than opening with the sounding of my alarm at any moment. I had to pee and I was wide awake – my body was screaming at me that I had missed the alarm by 20 minutes! An immediate text to the rock of the f3 northshore and it was understood that the scramble was copacetic, but without my normal morning routine would I be…?

    The now co-Q arrived on the scene to see the PAX in good hands doing lunge twists, and jumped in. The scrambling commenced along the traditional route. As we hit the Loop, though, Chewy called an audible, a la Steve’s beat down the previous day at the gipper. The Pax split up, each group heading in opposite directions around the loop in a seeming attempt to instill a little variety and sense of competition in an otherwise no-man-left-behind scenario.

    The public at-large must’ve read Monday’s back blast and sought to challenge the PAX, because there seemed to be more littler for us to tackle than normal. However, with Waterpik starting early with a piece of trash near the flag, we tackled said challenge with flying colors.

    YHC felt compelled to stop the PAX after coming off the pier for 50 OYO freddy mercury’s to throw a little more spice on the run. And upon returning to the flag, the dreaded dice of doom were brought out for for some human sacrifice! Being uninitiated, Chewy and Ei took the first 2 rolls, followed by the rest of us. 10-20 merkins, side straddle hops and putins were all well and good, but when a 50 came up, we trembled in unison as we gazed upon the other die, silently praying for anything but burpees! Jump-squats it was, and we put our lower bodies through the wringer.

    The wacker of all things wackable prayed us out, as we offered our sacrifices of copious amounts of dripping sweat for the sins of our fathers.

    Welcome back the the scramble Ei and thanks to Shooter for the cover and to the Pax for giving me a reason to look forward to waking before the sun!

  • Rain with Pain

    With the forecast of rain ☔, I arrived suspecting  a lite post from F3 Northshore. Standing at the flag an unfamiliar vehicle arrives, which I have not seen in Scrambles past. As Chewy arrives to the post the unfamiliar pilot exits the vehicle and introduces himself. Always appreciative of a new face at the AO and hope it’s just the beginning of fellowshiping with another F3 Brother for post to come. Welcome to your first Scramble Sprocket. YHC knew there was another man in route to posting, so we mumble chattered and awaited the arrival of a cart wheeling Bushwacker. The Scramble and the excitement in which it brings always seems to effect us differently. Even IBS couldn’t stop this beatdown from going down, much less a little rain in the forecast… With all men accounted for we begin with a warmup of 15IC Toe touches, 15IC SSH, 15IC Windmills and 15IC Seal Jacks. Began our Mosey of 3.200 or 3.075 miles depending on who’s tracking. Bushwacker feels vindicated this week with the ability to run through the gazebo, so much so that a R/R upon the return was fitting. It’s those little things that bring us out in the Gloom to post or the accountability of passing up yet another piece of litter for 2 weeks in a row now and being called out on it… Work in progress here my friend!! Returning at the AO, Q had plans for the creative dice of doom which were recently introduced at the Scramble for redemption of the previous 50 Burpee roll. With not enough time permitting as YHCs warmup took longer than expected we will save redemption for another day. Finish up with 10IC Sumo Squats, 10IC Merkins and finally we wrap up with 10IC Alternating leg lunges. The remnance of leg pain from previous beatdowns and the rain drops put the PAX into quick count mode and abbreviated announcements.

    Appreciate Sprocket for the lead in prayer!!

    See you men at the next AO✌🏼✌🏼

  • Homeless Hop or How Shooter Stole the Scramble…Almost

    Arriving in da gloom to find the Northshore Core anxiously awaiting the chance to activate their wonder twins powers, YHC was still contemplating whether or not to break out the toys. Not much time to ruminate on that possibility because, as seasoned PAX do, Waterpik and The Pelican pulled up simultaneously with no more time to spare. About to break the mumble chatter and get things going, YHC was precluded by the thief-in-the-night (or darkened dawn),  Shooter, who tried to oust today’s leadership from he was was listed on the schedule. Ok, we get it. This is YOUR AO, yeesh talk about a control freak! Proper order was quickly restored in the humblest of fashions and the warm-o-rama was under way.

    20xs each IC:

    SSH

    High Knees

    Butt Kicks

    Toe Touches

    On the 5K we went, passing as we always do in front of City Hall on our way to the streets. This guy always contemplates whether to run through or around the tax-payer demanded gazebo in the middle of the sidewalk in front of da mayor’s office, but today the decision was not mine to make. The openings were blocked with bikes and  what looked like a parachute was spread over the circular floor. To alleviate any remaining doubts, as we jogged by we heard muffled barking emanating from under said parachute. Honestly, I felt bad – we probably scared the sh!+ out of whoever was under there.

    The mosey continued on with an abrupt stop for 20 merkins at Monroe before proceeding to the loop and then sunset point. It was here that Steve and YHC noticed the infuriatingly hapless boxes of popeye’s on the ground in the parking area…20 or so feet from a garbage can! Upon returning from the pier’s terminus, we stopped for 25 LBCs and picked up the aforementioned refuse… and of course the challenge was on. Each man made it their mission to find some litter they could grab and pitch, with Shooter going for bonus points after being called out for a blatant missed beer can.

    With 10 minutes for Mary, it was play time! I brought out The Beatdown Blocks! The Dice of DOOM! To all but Steve, this new form of torture was a welcome surprise. First introduced on the rainy Saturday morning the week before the convergence, these black and gold gambling devices have one block of exercises (merkins, putins, jump squats, SSH, burpees, and “WILD Q”) and one block with rep counts (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and the dreaded 50). The Pelican started us off with 5 merkins before Shooter once again moved to steal the show by rolling 50 burpees! In an attempt to repect the time QIC feebly tried to cut us off at 25, but Steve gallantly sacrificed his roll in order that we may complete the torture we were due. With little left in the tank, we were releived to see Waterpik roll a mild 15 Putins, and YHC roll 5 “WILD Q” for which I chose pull ups. We then circled up and closed out F3 style…with Shooter trying one last time to display his larcenous tendencies by attempting to usurp the closing prayer from a beleaguered Pelican, who took us out with appreciation in our hearts.

    I can understand why Shooter wanted to lead so badly today, because it is a  humbling honor to lead you guys in our time of fruitful brotherhood!

    LAGNIAPPE:

    ISI is always better with your homies, and today’s ISI challenge was no exception. With 2 minutes of Heel Pulses, sometimes one can do nothing but laugh;)