1st Shot at Qing the newest AO – I showed up early to drop off the “tire” and set up the cynderblock playground then ran to the fountain to get things kicked off.
Disclaimer – mousy to the “long way” to the playground – with the muscle flag stand, exactly 1/2 mile. Circle up for a quick warmup. All in cadence:
SSH x 20
Scorpion Kicks 10 x each leg
Shoulder Taps x 12
Everyone grab a block – mousy over to edge of the field and line up.
1st Effort – Bear crawl out 30 yards with block – perform 10 merkins – Bear crawl back with block – 5 man makers
2nd Effort – Kong out 30 yards with block – perform 10 merkins – Kong back with block – 5 man makers
Count off 1,2,3
Group 1 – tunnel block slide – pull the block under yourself passing it to next pax get up run to the end waiting for the block to be slide down – continue to mark and head back to the start.
Group 2 – over under with the block – out and back to the mark
Group 3 – 10 curls – 10 squat press – 10 man makers – continue until both group 1 and 2 complete their journey
Rinse and Repeat
Group 1 – Timer – Indian style tire flip, jump through then go to the back of the line. Challenge apprx 40 yards.
Group 2 – Sledgehammer tire slam. 100 count each Pax does 10 reps while the rest of the group does alternating block step overs. If rep count reached then each Pax does 5…..
Group 3 – block squats, deep block merkins, alternating block merkins, overhead block press
Rotate through all 3 stations.
Before returning blocks – 2 sets of arms in cadence curls x 20 with 10 secs rest then overhead tricep press x 20
Roll tire back to QIC truck – Tool recommended Pax should run around the tire while rolling to the truck – challenge complete.
Indian Run back with the Muscle Flag stand in hand leading the charge.
4 minutes of Mary finish with 3 burpees.
COT – Count off, Name O, Intentions, Prayer of Thanksgiving.
F3 lost one of its own earlier in the week. Terabyte was a caring leader that pushed himself, and inspired other pax to become better. He will be missed.
YHC stated that we will carry a flag for our fallen pax as we trudged through the AO. We will sweat, push ourselves, and feel pain. In this way, we will honor him, ’cause that’s what we do. 40 men, including 3 FNG’s, were ready to go.
Brief disclaimer, then pick up the flag and mosey to the Great lawn for the warmup
SSH IC x 52 (Terabyte was only 52) IW IC x 15 Grass Grabbers IC x 10 Abe Vigodas IC x 10 Arm Circles IC x 10 Fwd x 10 Bwd Peter Parker IC x 20 Shoulder Taps IC x 20 Parker Peter IC x 20 Mountain Climber IC x 20 Recover, pick up the flag, and mosey….
Stop just short of the Bridge at Lagoon Number 11 on our way toward City park Avenue 10 Burpees OYO Mosey across the bridge and find an open space near City park Avenue Monkey Humpers IC x 20 10 Burpees OYO Mosey along to the next open green space LBC’s IC x 20 10 Burpees OYO Mosey to the entrance to NOMA at Lelong Drive Dying Cockroach IC x 20 10 Burpees OYO (there was much mumblechatter by this time) Mosey to the Tree line near NOMA YHC asked how may burpees left? We have smart Pax! 12 it is! 12 Burpees OYO which brings us to 52. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have more Burpees!
Mosey to the Fountain at NOMA Dips IC x 20 RL Step Up IC x 15 Incline Merkin IC x 10 LL Step Up IC x 15
Dips IC x 10 RL Step Up IC x 15 Decline Merkin IC x 10 LL Step Up IC x 10
Mosey to the tree line Sprint to first tree and back – 5 burpees Sprint to second tree and back – 5 burpees – plank and wait for the six
Starting at first tree, Burpee Broad Jump to third tree.
YHC requested Triple Shift to help explain the next exercise. Triple Shift had previously introduced the Genuflect and YHC wanted to incorporate it in. Genuflect from third tree back to first tree. Left knee down, right knee down, left knee up, right knee up, then lunge walk one step. Now do two genuflects followed by two lunge steps, then three……etc.
Mosey back to the Great Lawn for Mary: LBC’s IC x 30 Tin Snips IC x 20 Hello Dolly IC x 20 Flutter Kicks IC x 20 American Hammer IC x 10
Plank for one minute Recover, pick up the flag, and return to the other flags for the COT
Count off, Name-O-Rama, Announcement, and ended with a prayer.
Welcome Bingo Knight, Offsides, and CareBear! Great job on the EH’ing guys! We have had big numbers at the AO’s lately, let’s keep it going!
The Celebration of Life for Terabyte, aka Sidney Modica, will be held on Monday January 14th where visitation begins at 0900 with service to follow at 1030 at: Victory Fellowship 5708 Airline Hwy Metairie, LA 70003
If you have a flag or a ruck sack, please bring. Terabyte loved being part of F3, and we loved having him.
With the end of the year approaching I wanted to finish the year strong with a good beat down at the Mothership. This would be my 150th workout of the year. Having started F3 on Feb. 2nd at WPM, I have come a long way, and all for the better. At 6:30 the the disclaimer was given and we moseyed to the Peristyle.
Warm Up
SSH x 20
Hillbillies x 20
Mountain Climbers x 20
Plank Jacks x 20
Imperial Walker Squats x 20
Arm Circles -Fwd x 15, Rev x 15
5 Burpees OYO
Mosey to the Fountain in front of NOMA
Thang 1
Right Leg Step Up x 15
Dips x 10
Left Leg Step Up x 15
Dips x 10
Bulgarian Split Squats Right leg x 15
Dips x 10
Bulgarian Split Squats Left leg x 15
Dips x 10
Incline Merkins x 15
Line up for Indian Run to the “Rocks” – When “6” gets to front of line we halt and he calls out an exercise and did 5 reps, then continued run.
Thang 2 – 11’s with the Rock – We found where Mahatma and Tool had stashed the blocks, and eached grabbed one. YHC was not sure where this was going to happen, but figured we could find a semi dry spot – Not the case, and as we began the sky tried to open up on us, but just briefly.
The 2 exercise where Squat Thrusters with the Blocks and Offset Merkins on the Block(2 is 1). Started with 10 Thrusters and 1 Merkin and proceeded to 1 Thruster and 10 Merkins. In the middle we did 11 Curls when going one direction and 11 Tricep Extension when coming from the opposite direction. The usual Mumblechatter ensued, like no one has ever done 11’s before…Let’s GO!
With time getting tight we finished the 11’s and returned our blocks to their home and moseyed to the Great Lawn.
Thang 3 – Circle up for some Mary – The Great Lawn was soaked and trying to stay somewhat dry YHC opted for the Brick area where FIA warms up. which garnered plenty of mumblechatter.
LBC’s x 20
Dying Cockroach x 20
I had more but it was 7:30 so we moseyed back to the flag.
COT – Circle up for Count-o-Rama, Name-o-Rama Two FNG’s – Both are ILoveYouMan’s Business Partners (they make Adult Beverages and Icees in pouches you freeze) – Antonio(ILoveYouMans, Brother) is Jesus Juice and Craig is Screw Top(He’s their tight, accounting guy). Welcome Both! Hope to see them again soon! Announcements for Crazy Ivan Jan 19th.
With the New Year approaching, take these last few days of the year to set some goals for next year for your Life, Job, F3 and shoot for the moon. Write them down, make sure they are measurable, and have milestones through out the year to maintain focus. Not everyone is aware, but there is a tab in the Q Sign up Sheet called NYR2018 to track your workouts. I will make sure we have one for New Year Resolutions 2019. Keep track and compete with your brothers in F3. Thanks again for pushing and motivating me through 150 beatdowns this year. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
28 PAX ignored the threat of rain and made it out The Mothership this Sat. We lucked out with a “calm before the storm” as the the guys assmebled and prepared for takeoff. YHC wanted to mix things up with an old school City Park history tour as part of the workout, similar to a few beatbowns circa 2015. The night before had the forecast looking nasty, so the plan was to stay close to cover and hone in on a few of the iconic landmarks right there in the original part of the park. The 1300 acre park was established in 1854 and has lots of history, great architecture, nature, wildlife, and of course trees….home to one of the largest collection of live oaks in the world. Generations of New Orleans residents and visitors alike have enjoyed the park so it only seemed fitting to pay homage to a few things that make it a great place. As the clock struck 5:30 we discussed the plan for the day, followed by the disclaimer, then off to….
First stop, The Peristyle, built in 1907 to have outdoor dances and concerts for the “well heeled” New Orleanians….some chatter from Rudy about Jingle Vader being in that category. Using the year as the rep count, we started with Imperial Walkers x19 and Windmills x7.
Then an ugly mosey around The Casino Building with some doubt from the PAX before going up and over Popp Bandstand for Stop #2 on the nearby grass.
With 12 granite columns and topped with a bronze dome, Popp Bandstand was named for is benefactor, John F. Popp, and is a replica of the Temple of Love in Versailles. In 1916, Popp made a donation to the park to build the Popp Bandstand which was completed in 1917. The Spanish Mission Revival-style “Casino” building opened in 1913 as a place that sold refreshments. Because of that, the City Park legend says that the building originally was called a cantina, using the Spanish word for a place where food and drinks are served. In a 2008 Times-Picayune story, City Park Executive Director Beau Bassich said he believed the New Orleans dialect colloquialized the word into “casina.” However, 1913 newspaper articles do use the word “casino” to describe the new building, explaining it will be “the amusement center of the park,” though there is no mention of gambling.
Here we circled up using 1917 and 1913 to inspire the rep count for Peter Parkers x19, Low Slow Squats x17, Mountain Climbers x19 and Arm Circles x13.
Then we recaped the age of the park, 164 years, with a Plank Merkin circle where all PAX held a high plank while merkins were cranked out individually in a clockwise manner up to 164 total.
Then a mosey over the stone bridge towards City Park Ave for a meandering jog through the oldest grove of mature live oak tress the world. We made sure to recognize the two oldest ones by looping around McDonough Oak and then, after some doubt from the PAX about my navagation ability, made our way to the Ansmen Oak, both of which are approx 800 years old. Here we circled up for an 8 round burpee countdown, one round for each century…Burpees x8,x7,x6,x5,x4,x3,x2,…x8 for the crowdpleaser! More about City Park trees here: http://neworleanscitypark.com/in-the-park/trees-in-city-park
Then a mosey over the Ansmen Bridge, one of 9 built by the WPA, and back to The Peristyle where we lined up on one side for a partner circuit. This included 8 rounds of PAX #1 performing the specified exercise across the Peristyle and back (timer) while PAX #2 stayed put with a stationary exercise.
1)Inchworm & Wall Sit
2) Bearcrawl fwd/bwd & Balls to the Wall
3) Duck Walk & Declined Plank
4) Crab Walk fwd/bwd & Wall Sit
5) Lunge Walk & LBC
6) Kong & Balls to the Wall
7) Fiddler Crab & Flutter Kicks
8) Lateral Lunge & Wall Sit
Next up, we couldn’t leave out the adjacent Great Lawn that has hosted countless hours of F3 beatdowns. Built in 2010, the Goldring/Woldenberg Great Lawn is enjoyed by many and has seen a slew of picnics, concerts, yoga classes, and side straddle hops over the past 8 years. So we moseyed a quick loop to the Great Lawn and back to the nearby benches for a partner circuit of: PAX #1 Dips x20 OYO while PAX#2 runs to GL for Merkins x10 and back. Rinse and repeat for 3 rounds total follwed by a “victory lap” around the GL topped off with planking to wait for the six.
Still some time left for a few more history lessons so over to the rear of The Peristyle to gaze upon the banks of Bayou Metairie. Although it is now a landlocked lagoon, Bayou Metairie was originally a natural waterway spanning from Bayou St. John to the swampy area near what is now Old Metairie, essentially following the path of current day Metairie Rd. Once used by the Native Americans and early settlers, the banks of the bayou gradually formed the Metairie Ridge which provided high ground for ground transportation and later development of homes.
Since we didn’t have a year to use for rep count, we shifted our focus to 1946, the year of the first City Park Big Bass Rodeo, which is the oldest freshwater fishing rodeo in the country. At this point YHC had to alter the planned exercises and went with the first thing that came to mind, burpees, which really seemed to excite the PAX and peanut gallery, given the initial silence of disbelief followed by some grumbling and the “we already did enough burpees” comments. So PAX#1 knocked out Burpees x19 while PAX #2 held a wall sit on the ledge along Bayou Metairie, which had an awkward slope not conducive to said exercise. Then partner plank slaps, aka patty cake, holding a high plank and alternating hand slaps up to 46.
Nearing the end of our hour, we had just enough time remaining to circle up under The Persistyle for some themed Mary. YHC breifly talked about the various projects completed by the WPA (Works Progress Administration) in the 1930’s throughout City Park, including Tad Gormley Stadium, nine concrete bridges, a golf course, several art deco conrete benches, and Roosevelt Mall. In 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt came in town for the dedication ceremony. Pics below and more info at: http://neworleanscitypark.com/in-the-park/works-progress-administration-in-new-orleans-city-park
In this undated archival photo, President Roosevelt chats with New Orleanian Paul Alfred Montreuil, 7, at the dedication of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Mall in City Park. Also pictured: Marcel G. Montreuil, park superintendent; George Grundmann, chairman of the dedication committee and vice president of the park board; and James H. Crutcher, administrator of the WPA in Louisiana.
Our WPA and FDR themed Mary consisted of:
W – Weezey Jeffersons x10IC
P – Pickle Pounders x15IC
A – American Hammer x20IC
F – Flutter Kicks x20IC
D – Dying Cockroach x15IC
R – name??? exotic exercise led by Triple Shift x25IC
Moseyed back to the flag with some rain for added bonus. Capped things off with a COT and announcements. T-claps to War Eagle for stepping up to lead the prayer. He’s a pro at that stuff and much more eloquent in that field than YHC.
NMM – Thanks to the PAX for bearing with my non-professional tour guide ability and abbreviated history tidbits throughout the morning. As always, the peanut gallery led by Rudy and others kept it entertaining. T-claps to Mahatma and others for the occasional motivational cheers and USMC grunts to keep the PAX in high gear. Several guys asked for links (http://neworleanscitypark.com/in-the-park) to some of the City Park history in so I included several in this backblast, which may be one of the longest in F3 history….sorry for the long read, if you made it this far. My wife asked if I was writing a book.
23 PAX with 2 FNGs managed to meet up on a beautiful, wet, humid, warm Saturday morning on the first day of December. At 6:30, YHC gave his standard disclaimer and off went the PAX.
(missing PAX in the photo: Bogey, King Kong, Smooth, SwampCock)
Warm-ups
Short mosey to the Peristyle and did the following in cadence:
SSHs x 20
Windmills x 10
Forward Arm Circles x 10
Backward Arm Circles x 10
Hill Billies x 20 (with Fracsac’s witty comments as YHC was trying to explain what the heck are the Hill Billies to the FNGs)
Peter Parkers x 15
MC x 15
Partner Workout
Picked a partner and jogged across the street to the Great Lawn. Magically, bunch of cones (dividing the field in halves) were set up in the middle of the field.
Part 1 – Starting in the middle of the field, each PAX ran toward his sidewalk and back to the middle and performed 15 patty cake merkins with his partner, rinse and repeat with 10 reps, rinse and repeat with 5 reps.
Part 2 – Starting in the middle of the field, each PAX ran toward his sidewalk and back to the middle and performed 20 synchronize big boy sit ups. Rinse and repeat with 15, 10, and 5 reps.
Part 3 – Starting in the middle of the field, each PAX ran toward his sidewalk and back to the middle and performed 20 synchronize squats. Rinse and repeat with 15, 10, and 5 reps.
Part 4 – Starting in the middle of the field, each PAX ran toward his sidewalk and back to the middle and each PAX performed 5 burpees jump over. One PAX was doing the burpee jump over the other PAX, who was in the low plank position. Flap Jack. Each PAX did 4 rounds (total 20 burpees jump over each)
When finished, Mahatma-Ice gave a 20 second count, then moseyed to the fountain in front of NOMA and waited for the six.
The Thang
Starting off at the fountain in front of NOMA, each Pax had to do the following OYO:
Round 1
20 box jumps
20 incline merkins
15 box jumps
15 merkins
10 box jumps
10 derkins
5 box jumps
5 diamond merkins
then moseyed to the last light post and back to the fountain (about 0.5 mile)
Round 2 – rinse and repeat but shaved off the first set of 20 box jumps and 20 incline merkins, then moseyed to the 7th light post and back.
Round 3 – rinse and repeat but shaved off another set of 15 box jumps and 15 merkins, then moseyed to the 5th light post and back.
Round 4 – rinse and repeat but shaved off another set of 10 box jumps and 10 derkins (leaving with only 5 box jumps and 5 diamond merkins), then moseyed to the 3rd light post and back.
In addition to the mileage, the PAX toughed out 100 box jumps and 100 different forms of merkins.
T-claps to Mahatma-Ice for setting the tone early. Not an easy task to do 100 box jumps, all those merkins, and all those miles. Once again, everyone got stronger for coming out to a F3 workout. Respect!!!
Round of Mary
Moseyed to the grass field next to NOMA and did the following in cadence:
Hello Dolly x 20
Dying Cockroach x 20
Flutter kicks x 20
American Hammer x 15
Moseyed back to the flag with 30 seconds left. Why not 3 more burpees??? PAX finished the workout at 7:30 a.m.
COT
Count-O-Rama 23PAX, Name-O-Rama, announcements, intentions. 2 FNGs (Hank and Hatchling). Hank is a reference from King of the Hill. Hatchling because he is only 18. Our thoughts and prayers for I Love You Man’s niece with her recovery from brain surgery and King Kong’s 2.0 with her girls’ scout camping over the weekend. Thank You all again for the opportunity to lead. Always a pleasure and honor to workout with the PAX. SYITG
