F3 New Orleans

Tag: Fence Post

  • Burpeepalooza v.2 – from Goose

    The time had come…again. After the experience of Burptober with so many PAX counting their burpees and measuring their capacity to do 10 more, 20 more, 1 more, the time had come to enter into the mind blowing paradigm of the distraction dynamic. If the mind is distracted or focused intensely on something other than the question, “How much more of this can I take?”, it’s amazing how we can accomplish far more than we ever thought was possible.
    Tuesday morning, Enron, Fence Post, and YHC gathered for a small but intimate lesson on the flexible limitations of the human mind and body to the tune of nine songs, five of which were new and four of which were old burpee favorites.
    After a warmup of the usuals, YHC explained to Fence Post the reasons behind the routine so as to avoid any assumption of just pure, spiteful cruelty. Enron was already well acquainted being a card carrying member of the Burpeepalooza club. Total number of burpees would be revealed later, especially since YHC hadn’t counted them yet.
    The list was as follows, played on shuffle to maximize the unknown factor:

    “Flower” by Moby: burpees on “down”
    “Roxanne” by The Police: “Roxanne”
    “Get Back Up” by Toby Mac: “get back up again”
    “Thunderstruck by AC/DC: “thunder”
    “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr.: “Ghostbusters” (though could have included “ghost”)
    “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles: “Hand”
    “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel: “In Your Eyes”
    “Wristband” by Paul Simon: “wristband”
    “For God is With Us” by For King and Country: “God is with us”

    Total number of burpees ended up being 202 in a 35 minute timeframe. Ended with two minutes of Mary (LBC’s, Flutter kicks).
    T-claps to Fence Post for completing the burpeepalooza in only his second week, and for posting at almost every beatdown since his first. Great to have you on the journey, bro! And, gratitude for Enron’s willingness to enter into YHC’s ridiculousness so many times over the past couple of years. It’s a great honor to push our limitations together, gents.

    SYITG,
    Goose

  • There is Only 1 First Time – from Goose

    There is only 1, first time

    We arrived at the stage to an eager group of Pax, ending up with 8 in total. I had the que adrenaline flowing as each man who joined will be a part of my F3 journey as my first que. Humbled by the excitement and wishing for mumble chatter to test my “one liners of fear” that I have been practicing we began. I tried to view this que thru the eyes of the gunny drill Sargent from full metal jacket. I digress but full disclosure if you would of told me I would be in the gloom doing this a yr ago I would of called u a liar but this has been an amazing group thank each of u.

    Warm up: the usual with the add on of “Moroccan self love” and Enron wishing upon a shooting star.

    Thang 1: a true Dora 1,2,3 with partner taking a lap while other worked on getting 100 merkin 200 LBC and 300 flutter kicks

    Thang 2: Burpee Big Boy Ladder 11s with “Murder Maker” transports
    10 burpee then murder maker (murder bunny man maker combos) across the field 1 big boy and walk the coupon home. We repeated till assistant que Yankee Faux called for me at 6:09

    Mary til 6:15 the usuals with a goose add on so he can get a taste of the YHC power to finish off his work week.

    Enron prayed us out and it was an amazing and humbling moment getting to do this with u guys.

    YHC Wilford Montana

    #goose #paradox #yankeeFAUX #enron #fencepost #fireinthehole #cardinal #wilfordMontana
    #thestage

  • The Saints, All of ‘Em – from Goose

    Four PAX gathered for what seems like it might become a weekly deal–Tuesday mornings at The Stage. There would have been a fifth, but Yankee Joe’s kids were stomach bugging all over him. T-claps to Fence Post for “posting” his first three beatdowns in four days! And, to Lil’ Cuz for coming two days in a row in only his second month of F3! Enron, the ever steady and the official counter (Fence Post and Cuz are still learning how to count while also breathing) made us an even four on this celebration of ALL the Saints.

    After a warmup of the usuals, YHC explained that in honor of All Saints Day, we’d be making our way through the lives of a few key players.

    The most obvious place to begin is Mary, the model for all saints–she was so open to what God was doing in her that she became the Mother of His Son. So, we started with some Mary, beginning with LBC’s x30 to commemorate lil’ baby Jesus and the 30 years he spent growing up with her. Then, 100’s x100 for the well over 100 gallons of water He turned into wine at her request. Then, 33 leg raises since she took her station at the foot of the Cross when he was 33, followed by 15 Heels to Heaven since her heels (and the rest of her) were assumed into Heaven to be with her Son forever.

    Next was the first martyr, St. Stephen. His courage and dependence on God was intense, arguing the whole Sanhedrin into silence and then deadly rage without ever losing his awe and wonder at God and what He’d accomplished. They picked up stones and stoned him to death, so we grabbed coupons and did three sets of: 20 curls (picking up stones) and 15 skull crushers (almost crushed a couple of actual skulls toward the end there).

    The next key player would be St. Paul, who actually led the previously mentioned stoning project before a dramatic conversion, which led him to become the greatest missionary who ever lived. In honor of his traveling to the four corners of the Empire and accumulating more and more disciples with every stop, the routine would be four corners, each adding an additional exercise.
    1. 7 burpees
    2. 7 burpees, 14 merkins
    3. 7 burpees, 14 merkins, 21 squats
    4. 7 burpees, 14 merkins, 21 squats, 28 line jumps (two feet, jumping back and forth over a line in the concrete, 2:1)

    St. Iranaeus was a disciple of St. John the Apostle, and he wrote letters while on the way to the Coliseum to be killed by wild animals in the arena. These letters are still extremely valuable sources of information about the structure of the early Church and the Mass, and in them he expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to be “ground like wheat” by the animals teeth as an offering. Intense. So, not knowing any lion exercises, we did bear crawls to the center of the field, nur back, and again all the way to the sidewalk and nur back.
    This is where Lil’ Cuz revealed his super power–there could be more, but bear crawls has definitely been confirmed.

    Skip about a 1400 years–St. Ignatius of Loyola founded the Jesuits and put together the Spiritual Exercises, one of the central principles being the role of consolation and desolations, spiritual ups and downs that are necessary to the maturation process. So, ups and downs it would be: 15 irkins, 15 L-leg step ups, 15 derkins, 15 R-leg step ups, 15 dips (all IC).

    Skip back about 100 years (because YHC wanted to put this one close to the end) and across some water to England, where the would-be St. Patrick was kidnapped as a youth and brought to Ireland as a slave. He escaped back to England, became a priest and a bishop, and then returned to Ireland to grow and lead the Christian community there. But, with such a strong pagan presence, it wasn’t easy. Irish Jack Ass Webbs seemed appropriate. 1 burpee to 2 donkey kicks against the column up to 5 burpees and 10 donkey kicks.

    Now that the donkey legs were toast, we jumped to the 20th century to finish up with St. Pio (Padre Pio) who was given more spiritual gifts than you can count. One of them was the ability to read souls, to know people’s sins before they confessed them, which was extremely helpful for many going to Confession or on their deathbed. Thankfully, there’s an exercise called “Absolutions”, so we moved to the grass to cushion the elbows. Absolutions is a 7 count exercise = high plank, groiner, down to elbows, plank jack, back to high plank.

    15 Absolutions later, and we had 30 seconds left for 10 Halleluiah Squats in gratitude for the variety of all the awesome saints He’s given us.

    COT and Enron prayed us out. Thanks for making Tuesdays awesome, fellas!

    SYITG,
    Goose

  • 2 Year Manniversary of F3 Thibodaux! A Brief History of F3 Down the Bayou – from Goose

    The highly anticipated day had arrived. Costumes were donned, and the gloom was dark. So dark, in fact, that Paradox, fully decked out in unlicensed Jack Sparrow gear, did a full Helen Keller on an FNG, hands all over his face saying, “Goose, Goose is that you?” just because the guy showed up in a grayish Tundra. The FNG was accomodating, and YHC did show up a little later, overjoyed at the PAX’s costumes and their total disregard for how they’d fare in the rain, the dirt, and through at least 100 burpees. From giant furry vikings to skin tight Moana characters to full size pickles, these dudes were all in. Thankfully, God delayed the rain for a few hours, so the weather was perfect and the morale was super high (made even higher by Head Cheese’s dramatic entrance). We had record numbers at The Peltch, coffeeteria planned for the first time, and 2 years of an unprecedented journey to tromp through–it was an awesome morning!
    Warmup of the usual with last minute costumers trickling in (Picadilly’s pickle balls were amazing, even if they fell off during the first set of mountain climbers). PAX grabbed coupons out the truck, and we were off toward the lower field for the First Era of F3 Thibodaux: Goose-olation

    Era 1: The Genesis of the Beginning, The Dawn of the Origins, Part I
    Goose arrives in Thibodaux from Mandeville with nothing but a list of backblasts from NOLA, Northshore and BR. He couldn’t stop the progress, though, and had high hopes for what might develop. So, the backyard would have to do. For months, what drove him on was knowing that F3 brethren somewhere had already sweat through whatever beatdown he had pulled from the backblast list, so he wasn’t completely “alone”.
    The routine for this era would be The Big Bang:
    All PAX start in a bunch huddled around the coupons. First round, grab a coupon, do 5 OH presses, then mosey 10 steps out from the pack and do 10 burpees (facing outward for max isolation) before returning and plank up for the six.
    2nd round: 5 OH presses, mosey 15 steps out, 15 merkins
    3: 5 OH presses, 20 steps, 20 burpees
    4: 5 OH presses, 25 steps, 25 Hammers
    It’s a reality that pushing alone is way harder than pushing together, and the contrast was felt. Glad to move onto Era 2.

    Era 2: Random pop-ups
    The first to follow the dancing idiot into the madness was technically Cardinal, though he wasn’t seen again for many months (quoted as saying something like “that’s for the birds”). So, Wet Tap gets T-claps for coming out unaccompanied to throw himself into whatever Goose and his Goslings were doing out at Peltier. Then came Gordon, G.I. Joe, and Percolator, though because of work schedules and getting over the initial hump, attendance was random.
    This seemed a great opportunity for the randomness of the Deck of Death, so Wet Tap started us out under the Thunderdome with a random pull followed by three more (Irkins, Bulgarian split squats, and whatever those other two were…). Then, for the sake of time, we moseyed to the baseball field.

    Era 3: Enron
    Goose’s isolation, especially on weekdays, changed unexpectedly with the arrival of Enron. With the dogged determination and willingness to endure pain that only a younger brother could posses, Enron showed up to every beatdown he could and pushed himself hard to keep up with Goose. This quickly led to intense progress and his VQ (alone at The Peltch–for character building). His determination has never slowed, and his Q’s are well thought out (and typed out), usually including some sort of element of chance (for Cardinal).
    PAX partnered up for a grinder as a reminder of all those mornings at The Stage with just Goose and Enron. Split duty on 100 burpees at home plate while partner 2 runs the bases.

    Era 3: Return of the EH (and Crab Walk) King
    Cardinal eventually did return, and not only did he stick with it, even on weekdays, but the PAX quickly began to swell with his FNG’s, and his move to Chackbay has only widened his EH territory.
    The exercise would be Bear Crawl Tag Infection–Cardinal started at the pitchers mound and bear crawled around tagging the PAX, who were crab walking to get away within the confines of the infield. Once someone was tagged, he became part of the cult, switched to bear crawl, and began tagging the rest of the sad clowns (crabwalkers). It took no time for all to be tagged, ironically with Head Cheese being the last…So, we moseyed to The Chimney for Era 4.

    Era 4: Paradox
    As soon as Paradox even heard there was an F3, he had purchased tiny Mudgear shorts and within minutes had memorized the entire Exicon and the last 100 backblasts from the top 5 regions. And, his foot has never let off the gas. This next routine would be a nod to his name (you know, cuz he’s a doctor, and his wife is also a doctor, so they’re a pair-o-docs…), and to a couple of his Peltch Q’s.
    Partner up, both partners do 10 burpees, then one partner body drags another about 20 yards to the chimney, both do 10 more burpees, then flapjack and body drag the other back to start. This is where Paradox’s mustache exploded (the remainder of his facial hair) which made him Orlando Bloom’s character instead (props to Lil’ Cuz for that observation).

    Era 5: Lumen Christi
    Earlier this year Cardinal was able to talk a few of the young men who worked at the chancery with he and YHC to come out to a new beatdown on Tuesday mornings at Lumen Christ, the retreat center behind the chancery (with showers and everything). It was a glorious AO with a great crew, and some of the Thibodaux PAX would show up every now and then, too. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t last as the retreat schedule filled up (I guess it seemed a little less retreat-ish to have a bunch of sweaty dudes bear crawling down the hill to the Top Gun soundtrack or Indian running past the windows with cinder blocks over their heads).
    In a nod to Tighty Whitey (may he never be forgotten) and Enron’s near death experience at Lumen, we did Welsh Dragons up to 7, followed by a mosey to the playground.

    Era 6: SV 500
    The St. Vincent was arguably the best F3 fundraiser in the country (and maybe the world) for 2022 (and maybe for all time, past and future). Thanks to Paradox’s leadership and the buy-in of the rest of the PAX, it went off beautifully, tons of people attended, we had an incredible time, and we surpassed our goal of $10K for prescription meds for people in need. In honor if this incredibly blessed experience, we partnered up again for a quick Dora in honor of the partner race that raised the bar for many years to come.
    Partners would split duty on 100 flutter kicks on the playground side of the “mountain” while partner 2 ran over the “mountain” and did 10 Big Boy Situps on the other side and ran back. Then, moseyed back to the Thunderdome for the final eras.

    Era 7: Jerftember
    Yankee Joe’s arrival came and went like many who get a first taste of F3, puke, and don’t come back. But he did come back after about a month, puked some more, and became hopelessly addicted to growth. The Jerf was born out of this deep desire for more and more growth, and it opened a new era of Thibodaux PAX ownership, comradery, accountability, and WHOOP pressure. It also gave birth to BAPS, who still hasn’t fully proven himself.
    In honor of the Jerf, PAX lined up on the baseline under the Thunderdome for one full round of Jerfing. The sound of 17 PAX dropping cinder blocks onto concrete under an echoing pavillion is truly a glorious thing.

    Era 8: IPC and Burptober
    With one minute remaining, YHC led the PAX in 3 Kraken Burpees in honor of the unprecedented Week 5 of IPC and to finish out the 100 burpees needed for the second to last day of Burptober.

    Moseyed back to the flag, all still in full costume, for an incredible COT and our first ever coffeeteria. Fence Post was named (Welcome!!), Cue Ball was welcomed (originally from F3 Huntsville), and tables, donuts, too much coffee, and raw eggs were laid out under the trees. Conversation was awesome as the PAX rejoiced in the incredible blessing that F3 has been and the unrepeatable gift that each man has been to the whole group. The high from that morning has lasted for multiple days now, and it spilled over into record breaking numbers at The Stage this morning (including Fence Post!). Looking forward to the many years to come!

    See You In The Gloom,
    Goose