F3 New Orleans

Tag: Garfield

  • Lone Ranger

    Arrived to a quiet Scramble with a lot of regulars deciding to take either a smart sack or a fart sack. Whichever the choice there was a Lone Ranger in Garfield as he appeared out of the darkness minus Tonto. After some chatter we jumped into our warmup.

    All IC 10 Windmills, Toe Touches, Imperial Walker Squats and SSH.

    Moseyed our route crossing paths with one time poster Roundup as we headed toward the fishing pier.. Garfield and the YHC shared in some great conversation along the way. Garfield clearly showed mercy pacing with the Q as to not leave him journeying all a lone…

    Returned to the AO and completed 20 IC Scorpion kicks, 20 IC Little Manny crunches, 20 IC Hello Dollies and closed with 10 IC Jane Fonda’s 10 IC Toe to knee L/R..

    Appreciate the post Garfield!!

    count, announce, COT

    YHC prayed us out..

    👊🏻👍🏻✌🏻 Till the next Gloom

  • Garfield’s Lucky Dog Stand

    With most of the regulars departing for the ATL, YHC didnt know how many men would post at the Mandeville City Hall for the weekly Scramble. It didnt take long to figure it out as Garfield and The Hammer beat me to the AO and were ready to run.

    After a brief warmup of SSHs, HKs, BKs, we hit the streets for our weekly 5k, running along Sunset Point, which may soon be a construction zone for the upcoming Port Marigny project. Speaking of Port Marigny, Garfield said if the plans include building a hotel, he’s retiring from AT&T, getting a job there, and getting us all FREE rooms. Or…… he might set up a Lucky Dog stand and sell hotdogs on the water. Be sure to ask him about that!

    Hit the workout equipment for some pull ups, merkins, hanging leg tucks and close out with some Mary and some Chill Cut planks.

    count off, COT and YHC prayed us out.

    Have a good rest of the week, guys! Thanks for following my lead this morning.

  • Northshore Convergence – 3 Year Anniversary

    We all come to F3 as individuals, men with our own past and our own unique stories.  But we all share one very similar story, which is the story of our first post to an F3 beatdown.  This story usually involves a little fear, a lot of pain, and in some cases, a splash of merlot.  My story took place at Grandmother’s House (before it had a name), and I can be honest and say it was filled with trepidation: Will I be able to make it through this?  What if I don’t like some of these guys?  Are they going to ask me to lead part of it?  And why the heck am I up so damn early???

    Everyone knows how the story goes – YHC was accepted but quickly pushed to be a better man in all aspects. That impact – an effect felt on all F3 brothers – is what we came together to celebrate on the Lakefront today. F3 has now been thriving and changing men on the Northshore for three years now.

    A few lucky Southshore men arrived early, unaware they’d get roped into a 2 mile pre-thang. Back at the flags (four flags this morning), YHC gave a quick welcome and disclaimer, and we got this thing started:

    Warmorama:

    Three years, three sets of 8-count bodybuilders.  Founding year 2016, so 16 reps of each.  Sprinkled some standard warm-ups in between:

    • 8-count bodybuilders x16 IC
    • SSH, IW’s x20 IC
    • 8-count bodybuilders x16 IC
    • Toe Touches, Windmills x20 IC
    • 8-count bodybuilders x16 IC

    The Thang:

    3 Stations for 3 Years: Every Man Leads

    Leadership is one of the skills F3 hones that YHC is most thankful for. It’s also the thing YHC was most uncomfortable with those first few weeks. These stations were meant to honor the leadership impact that F3 spreads.

    The PAX was split into three groups, with three leaders picked for an impromptu lead at each station. The leader got two minutes to come up with a routine while the rest of the PAX circled up for Peter Parkers x15 IC, Shoulder Taps x15 IC, and Merkins x15 OYO.

    If memory serves, here’s what each leader had us performing:

    Station 1: The Gazebo, led by Sparky Time

    Freak Nasties x10 IC, Step Ups x10 IC (each leg), Squats x10 IC, repeat.

    Station 2: East Swingset Pad, led by Jose 10k

    Squats x10 IC, Jane Fondas x10 IC (each leg), Lunges x10 IC, Monkey Humpers x10 IC.

    Station 3: West Swingset Pad, led by Russo

    Little Manny Crunches x10 IC, Six-Inch Exercise x10 IC, Crunchy Frogs x10 IC. (Pretty sure there was something else in there….)

    Mental and Physical Toughness with Fracsac

    Next up, the baton was passed to Fracsac for a little taste of the Southshore. He told us of his recent Spartan Race with Triple Shift, how challenging it was, and how F3 had prepared him both mentally and physically.  So this next pearl would exemplify both. 

    The physical part was an Indian Run (PAX split into 2 groups), where the man sprinting to the front would yell out an exercise, the PAX would quickly disperse and perform 5 of said exercise (burpees, jump squats, derkins, one-armed merkins, to name a few) before getting back in line and continuing the run.  Halfway through we were stopped for the mental exercise: perform 21 SSH’s, with only the first 10 called out in cadence.  If one man fails to halt at exactly 21, there was a penalty of 30 burpees.  After some mumble chatter about who’s cadence was the correct cadence, we all performed the penalty burpees. The Indian run then headed in the opposite direction, with the same mental exercise waiting at the end of the line – this time 17 SSH and only 6 called in cadence.  Another failure and another 20 burpees were in order.

    Team Races: Pushing Each Other Forward

    YHC took the final pearl with some competitive team exercises. This section was cut short due to time, so we did one quick hopscotch race: the original three teams lined up in plank position, with the last man rising to bunny hop over the rest of his team, and then drop back into plank position. Teams finished once their last man crossed the finish line – the infamous lakefront shaft.

    The two losing teams would need to do a penalty exercise, but the true winning team would never be known because there were some last-second shenanigans on all three teams as they neared the finish line. So we all performed the penalty together: the 8-count exercise known as Absolution.

    Mosey back to the flag, where Shooter led a very abbreviated Mary of planking before we called it.

    COT: Count-o-rama, name-o-rama, naming of an FNG (welcome Stockboy!) and Triple Shift led us in a prayer of thanks.

    Coffetería brought out a few of our injured brothers, with Butt Splice, The Manny, and Tanked Up joining us. T-claps to our Southshore brothers for making it across the pond to make this a true convergence, it wouldn’t be the same without you guys. And t-claps to all the guys who led today, it’s an honor to work beside you men. SYITG.

  • No Rain

    90% chance….whipping gusts….but no rain! No fishing or camping either, I might add (and you call yourselves Ragnarians).

    As expected, the reliant visages of Waterpik and Garfield greeted YHC as he rolled up. With another three amigo post apparently in store in store for the scramblers, it was a pleasant surprise to see Burgundy join us to give his recovering leg a little work.

    WARM UP

    Torso Twists x10

    Toe Touches x10

    Cherry Pickers x20

    Imperial Walkersx10

    High Knees x10

    Fire Hydrants x10 r/l

    Scorpion Kicks x10

    THANG

    The regular route was run, an we ran into the regular runners along the route. The 4 scramblers held together as the PAX all participated in the ramblings of early-morning mumble chatter. A slightly deceptive 8:41 was the pace, and as we returned to the flag, Burgundy exclaimed that there was no rain! “BOOM,” retorted Mother Nature!

    THANG PT2/Mary

    Inspired by both Shooter and Coconuts, Q had a mind to insert a plethora of burpees for the rest of the beatdown. However, 2 rounds of 10 burpees on the minute was all the painment Q decided to dish out. We did follow up with some calming stretches and some iso ab work.

    COT

    Burgundy lead us out with a familiar, yet always apropos theme of appreciation.

    While we saw no rain, we held no illusions as to the rest of the day. Gentlemen, enjoy this wet n wild Thursday!

  • No Animal Left Behind

    We began with a brief warmup: Side Straddle Hops x 15/Windmills x10/High Knees x15/Butt Kicks x15/Imperial Walkers x 15 in cadence.  We then finished with 5 Burpees on your own. 

    QIC then had us mosey to begin our commemoration of the biblical account of Noah’s Ark.  We paired up, and while one partner ran the length of the ark (450′) out and back, the other did Mountain Climbers until each team reached a cumulative of 600 (Noah’s age when he built the ark. 

    All teams performed that task with such ease, we added 300 cumulative Merkins on the back end, much to Shooter’s chagrin. (Noah lived for another 300 years after the flood.) 

    With our chests nice and fatigued, we moved on to the animal portion.  Each partner stood 75′ apart from each other (the width of the ark), and took turns doing the following:  Bear Crawls/Crab Walk/Duck Walk/Gecko Walk/Rabbit Hop/Run.  While one partner was performing the task, the other waited by doing squats.  

    As if that were not enough, we then honored the 40 day/40 night flood by doing 40 Frek Nastys/ 40 Lunges/ 40 Monkey Humpers.  (3 sets to honor each of Noah’s 3 sons.) 

    We then moseyed back to the flag for some Mary.  Since there was no dry land for 7 days after the rain stopped, we performed 7 different exercises to finish up:  20 x Crunchy Frogs/Dying Cockroaches/Freddy Mercurys/Putins/Peter Parkers/Parker Peters/Little Manny Crunches. 

    We finished by saying the Pledge of Allegiance before Bubba prayed us out.  We then enjoyed some F2 at the Beach House, as is customary. 

  • Full Moon Fever

    Anyone who has posted this week has probably gotten glimpses of the glorious full moon, made even more unbelievable in its larger, low-hanging position somewhere in the 0500 hour.  That, combined with our near perfect temperatures, makes this that rare Louisiana week that is about as good as it gets for running.  And run we did! But first…

    Warmorama: Toe Touches, Good Mornings, IW’s, Copperhead Squats, SSH’s, all 15x IC, then lunge walk over to Garfield’s car.

    The Thang:
    Settled into our traditional run at our traditional pace….

    … until about a mile in where Coconuts and Garfield hit their strides. Now if you haven’t run with Coconuts and Garfield, you wouldn’t know that Coconuts looks like he’s taking a gentle stroll at a 7:30 pace, and Garfield is literally walking as you gasp to catch up with him. If that sounds like standard backblast hyperbole, just ask the other Scramble regulars. Anyhow, YHC foolishly decides to try to keep up with Coconuts on this beautiful gloom and, though I was unable to, he did push me to my best Scramble pace yet. So thanks to Garfield and Coconuts for the extra motivation – there’s always something to get from your F3 brothers!

    Back at the flag, and with a quick goodbye to Chewy, we hit the playground equipment stations. Each man did one of the following while one performed 20x burpees to start the rotation: pull-ups, sit-ups, freak nasties, hanging knee tucks. After one full circuit, moving at a Coconuts-inspired pace, we were still able to get in some Mary with: flutter kicks x25 IC, crunchy frogs x15 IC, Putins x 15 IC, and Freddie Mercuries x20 IC. COT and Shooter prayed us out.

    Thank you men for following my lead and always pushing me to get faster, stronger, better!

  • Sorry this BB is almost 2 weeks late!

    One recent study by researcher Dr. Holt-Lunstad of BYU indicated that social isolation and loneliness kill more people than obesity.

    Thanks to all you guys in the pax that get out of the fart sack to be a part of some thing great like our F3 community. Let’s keep EH’ing those guys around us!

    The thang:

    Warm up at the Shovel flag:

    SSH x20; IW x 20; my climbers x 20 IC

    Mosey west to sea wall: 7’s

    6 irkins/1 Plyo —->1 irkin/6 plyo’s

    6 squats/1 jump squat —-> 1 squat/6 jump squats

    Mosey further west to oak grove:

    5 jumps squats, 5 merkins, 5 burpees

    Rinse and repeat x 10 rounds

    Jane Fonda’s and Nolan Ryan’s x 15 IC

    Mosey further west to playground: 20 Bulgarian split squats IC each leg

    Mosey back east : stop motion lunges

    All horses to the barn, sprint to shovel flag

    COM: flutter kicks, Russian hammer, Little manny crunches x 20 IC.

    Name O Rama, introduced FNG Phoenix with a powerful story of redemption!

    Circle of trust, prayer, and coffeteria.

    Thanks guys for letting me lead!

  • Horrendously Happy

    Today was a prime example of the efficacy of the self-EH strategy of signing up to Q. After a horrendous night sleep, YHC was begrudgingly ready to get some miles in with the always semi-chipper PAX known colloquially as the City Hall Scramblers.

    WARM O RAMA

    Windmills x15

    Imperial Walkers x15

    Torso Twists x15

    High Knees x 17

    Donkey Kicks rx10, lx10

    Down Dog Merkins (credit Chewy for naming rights) x15

    Scorpion Kicks x15

    THANG

    The tradish Old Mandeville route was tackled this gloom. Garfield smartly listened to his body and passed on Sun Set Point. YHC wished he had done the same down the final stretch. Avoiding thoughts of a post-post trail run with Steve as best as possible, Q instead focused on one foot in front of the other in the NOW.

    MARY

    Taking advantage of the pull up bar at the park, the PAX each tested their metal in this month’s ISI of flexed-arm hangs, while the rest of the group did unending LBCs, Freddy Mercurys, and Heel Touches.

    COT

    Garfield took us out with positive vibes and grand hopes for the day. Thanks for posting , guys, and for following the sometimes predictable, yet often unpredictable lead of he who is feared by bushes far and wide!

    POST SCRIPT

    Steve and I did successfully complete a 1 mile trail run without being attacked, or otherwise molested by: alligators, snakes, spiders (though their webs kept things interesting), raccoons, squirrels, or devilish forest gnomes. We are looking forward to adding more miles and more men to the next run!

    POST POST SCRIPT

    I passed an active scene with a very totaled St Tammany Sherrif’s suburban on the way home. Please say some prayers for the officer invoved.

  • Runners of the Scramble

    With recent Scrambles producing mixed groups of eight in a half, some nine min milers and the occasional quarter to ten/ten min milers this Gloom showed out a heap of runners.. 5 PAX assembled at the flag for the start of this day.. Mild mid 40s gave the PAX a spring in their step or is it the fact that day light savings time will soon be gone as we spring forward in time this weekend… The gazelles of this Gloom included the likes of the regular Garfield who always pushes his younger counter parts, along with Chewy and Water Pic as the Q held back another of the gazelles in Zoolander striking conversation early as to not be left behind… Even though the intention was in my favor the PAX pushed YHC from the comforts of his mid 9 min mile to log a respectable mid 8 pace.. Proving one of the many reasons I enjoy posting with this group of brothers to get the King relevant in my own life…

    Warmarama

    Good mornings 10 IC, Toe Touches 10 IC, Annie alternating right/left, Hairy Rockettes 10 IC and SSH 10 IC…

    Thang

    Assumed positions around the newly acquired workout stations with the fresh aroma of Astro turf rubber filling our nostrils as we took to plank. Each PAX required to complete 10% of the ISI challenge of a 30 sec hold while the rest of us completed Nolan Ryan’s right and left, mission impossible, LMCs (LittleMannyCrunches) and Flutter kicks. Closed with the PAX completing scorpion kicks 15 IC, Ws 3sec hold to 15, a little sprinkle of yoga down dawg stretch and mixing in left/right leg forward inner groin and hip stretches…

    Circled up for count off, announcements, COT…

    Much appreciation to Water Pic for closing us out with the daily prayer!!

    Enjoyed the journey gentlemen ✌🏻 till the next Gloom!!

  • Full Effort Is Full Victory

    We cranked up the morning with a 2 mile run. Tanked Up shared a quote from a book he had on his shelf. The quote stressed when we work our butt off in the streets of Mandeville, or wherever you may be, the satisfaction of that workout lies in the “effort” you give. Full effort is Full victory. Something tells me most of us gave full effort this glorious morning.


    Warmup–SSH, windmills, arm circles, flutter kicks, low ssh,

    The Thang–

    Ab work- circle up in a plank position. Rotate right,stop, merkins, rotate merkins, rotate merkins. Let’s throw in Peter Parkers, Parker Peters and some Up/Downs.. Tanked Up challenged Brother Martin nemesis , Turbo and soccer pal, Jose 10k to some face to face up/downs. Raider Pride.😁

    20 minute challenge-4 exercises merkins, crunches, ssh, squats, 25 reps then run 300 yards. Repeat for 20 minutes.. Zoolander decided to come out guns blazing!

    To the sea wall– 2 exercises by the wall. Derkins Burpees 5,4,3,2,1 reps followed by ascending order 1,2,3,4,5

    Over to the flag for more AB work led by Bushwacker, could not tell you the exercises due to fatigue!

    Circle up for close out. Prayer led by Steve! Coffee and cake for one of the older men in the club.

    Enjoyed the morning with some of the best of the northshore..