5:30am on Monday morning felt like it came quickly this week. But once it hit, it was time to start off the week right with a little F3 Swolefest beatdown:
Warm Up:
side straddle hops – 20 in cadence
wind mills – 10 in cadence
plank jacks – 20 in cadence
arm circles – 10 forward, 10 backward in cadence
The Thang:
Dora 1-2-3 – partner up. One partner does the exercise, while the other partner runs a lap around the traffic circle
100 flutter kicks with the block (cadence count in your head) – 1,2,3, one, etc
200 squats with the block
300 curls with the block
Cool down lap around the circle
Dora 1-2-3 – again with partner. One partner does the exercise, while the other partner runs a lap around the traffic circle
100 standing overhead press with the block
200 side ab raises with the block (rotate side each time)
300 bent over rows with the block
Cool down lap around the circle. Then:
Dips on the big concrete circles – 20 in cadence
8 count body builders – 10 on your own
Next, we did the count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions & prayer. As always, thanks for the chance to lead, fellas. It’s always a pleasure.
The first disclaimer this morning, as I turned on my speaker and it immediately died, was that I forgot to charge may speaker last night. Swole Fest just ain’t as swole without some good 90’s tunes. So we had to make due with the iPhone speaker. Just not the same. Apologies to the Swole Fest Pax for letting you down so early on a Monday. Ashamed, I stumbled through the rest of the disclaimer and we got to work.
Warm-up COP: SSH x 20 IC, Windmills x 10 IC, IW x 20 IC, Grass Grabbers x 10 IC, Arm Circles 10 Forwards 10 Backwards IC, Mountain Climbers x 20 IC
We started with a Swole Fest cinderblock reverse pyramid. Time to get swole. 5 exercises, 3 rounds, decreasing reps.
Shoulder press x 20 IC, Curls x 20 IC, Goblet Squats x 20 IC, Rows x 20 IC, Chest Press x 20 IC
Shoulder press x 15 IC, Curls x 15 IC, Goblet Squats x 15 IC, Rows x 15 IC, Chest Press x 15 IC
Shoulder press x 10 IC, Curls x 10 IC, Goblet Squats x 10 IC, Rows x 10 IC, Chest Press x 10 IC
Next we moseyed to the Foundry. We worked the front, now time to work the back. And what better way to get Swole than to bring back Pull-Ups. Pull-Ups have always been a staple of the Foundry and City Park, but we had to abandon them for while during Covid when the exercise equipment was off-limits. Now that the equipment is back open, the Pull-Ups are back on. 3 stations, 2 rounds:
Pull-Ups x 10 (the count), Rows, Super-Mans, Dips
We moseyed back to the front of the Children’s Museum, grabbing our blocks on the way, for 11’s.
Deep Squats on one side, Jump Lunges on the other side.
Cinderblock in the middle.
When crossing to one side, 10 Curls in the middle.
When crossing to the other side, 10 Shoulder Press in the middle.
We moseyed back to the flag for count-off, name-o-rama, announcements, intentions, and prayer. Thank you for the privilege to lead.
Conditions: Humid, 74 degrees, Humidity 95%, Wind 8mph from ENE
Warm-up: Mosey from the flag to the start. Warm-up on your own. No time for SSH or Grass Grabbers or J-Los, we’ve got work to do.
The Thang: The H8! F3 NOLA’s overly complicated, semi-annual, feat of strength. The stick by which our fitness is measured.
Each lap consists of running south to the top of the levee, crossing canal (bear crawling the neutral ground), running south to the bottom of the levee, cross canal and run north to the top of the levee, cross canal (bear crawling the neutral ground), running north down the levee and back across canal to the starting point. At the starting point you do a descending burp and merk pyramid starting at 8 (burpee with 8 hand release merkins, burpee with 7 hand release merkins, …, burpee with 1 hand release merkin)
At the end of the 2nd lap the burp and merk pyramid starts at 7, etc.
The goal is to complete 8 laps in 40 minutes. According to MapMyRun, each loop is approximately 0.4 miles. Therefore, to conquer the H8! you will have to do the following in 40 minutes:
Run over 3 Miles of Hills
550 Yards of Bear Crawls
36 Burpees
120 Merkins
NMM
The construction at the south base of the levee caused for a slight re-route. The H8! Committee did a good job of ensuring that the change was slight and the overall distance was not affected so that this fall’s running of the H8! Is considered official.
T-claps to all of the guys coming out for the first time. I think Heart-A-Quake, Mama’s Pride, Undertaker, Disclaimer, Bieber, Bartman, Catfish, Big Easy, Snooze were all first timers.
I didn’t keep a record of who made it and who didn’t. I am pretty sure the success rate was just north of 50%. That’s really good, especially for having so many new guys. Our fitness continues to accelerate.
One of the core principles of F3 is that it is open to all men. But just proclaiming that you are open to all men doesn’t cut it. We have to be intentional about making sure that we are welcoming to all men and that we are not unintentionally excluding anyone. There are lots of things that can make men different from one another, but most of them have nothing to do with what F3 is about. I just mean to say that participating in an F3 workout has nothing to do with what race you are, or what your financial situation is, or what religion you are, etc. (Side note: I do think it’s important to think about those things and make sure that we are not being unintentionally exclusive because of the make-up of our Pax. My point is just that the core principles of F3 workouts could apply to anyone, anywhere). One thing that does have a lot to do with F3 is fitness level. That’s why diverse fitness levels have to be considered when planning every workout. It is important that the guys that have a high level of fitness are getting smoked and it is important the that guys on the lower end of the fitness spectrum are staying with the group and are not being left behind on their own. I would like to think that we are pretty good across F3 NOLA at making sure that each work out feels like a team event, that we all have a goal of getting better and that we are supporting each other to reach that goal, no matter what our current fitness level is.
One of the complaints that I have heard about the Iron Pax Challenge is that it is not consistent with F3 in that way; that it puts the focus on the individual and even worse, ranks the individuals. Some men that aren’t at the top feel a sense of embarrassment or shame that they aren’t comparable to the guys at the top. You could make the same argument about the H8! There’s certainly a sense of completing it and not completing it.
Personally I think competition like this is really important. If you want to run faster, you have to run with faster guys. In order to accelerate our fitness, we need to be in the back of the pack striving to get to the front. I enjoy competition and I think it plays an important role in growth. But I also think that it is important that we work hard to keep the sense of comradery and teamwork that all F3 workouts have. The H8! Is something we all want to conquer and that we want to help each man conquer.
There are a couple of quotes that have stuck with me from the book “Run the Mile You are In: Finding God in Every Step” by Ryan Hall, the American Record Holder in the half-marathon and the fastest American to ever run the Boston Marathon (2:04). He said “Competition can be a beautiful thing if we are focused on making ourselves and others better and are not concerned about how we stack up with everyone else…..this is why comparisons in athletics and in life are so fruitless. When we compare, we miss the joy of the journey as well as the joy of the achievement.”
Let’s make sure we keep pushing ourselves and each other, without compromising the joy of the journey. A common motto at an F3 work out is that it’s “You against You”, and that is very true. But it is also true that it is “Us against H8!”
Getting wet and wild at the Mothership with 17 PAX: Rudy, Vagabond, Jingle Vader, Thumb War, Apostle, Thomas the Train, Disclaimer, Bogey, Double Fudge, Logo, Door Dash, Sogo, Abacus, Scantron, Heart A-Quack, Band Camp (visitor from Houston, TX), and Catfish (Q).
Our brother Fracsac was scheduled to Q, but he was absent due to a work-related offshore stint. Thus, we opted for a maritime-themed, burpee-inclusive beatdown.
Started with 10 burpees OYO, then a quick mosey over to the parking lot across from the flag zone. Warmed up with a quick abe vigoda, grass grabber, and SSH. 10 more burpees OYO.
Moseyed to front of the museum to the base of the steps, where we did some imperial squat walkers. 10 more burpees OYO. Headed to the top of the steps. and everyone got into boat position, held for 60 seconds. Next, did a round of Deep Sea Divers (decline merkin position at top of steps, 10 hip slappers in cadence, move hands down a step, 9 hip slappers in cadence, rinse and repeat until reach bottom of steps).
At the bottom of the museum steps, on our sixes for Flutter Kicks, Oblique Crunches (left and right side in cadence), and Crab Jacks. 10 more burpees OYO.
Moved to fountain for box jumps, irkins, right leg step ups, dips, left leg step ups, and derkins. 10 more burpees OYO.
Moseyed over to the field for Killer Bees, – bear crawl 3 tree lengths, broad jump back, stop every 5 jumps and do 3 burpees. LBCs waiting for the six, then Starfish Crunch (spread eagle on six, right hand to left leg, left hand to right leg, in cadence) and Aqua Mans (on faces chest to the ground, lift arms and legs for an SSH-type movement in cadence). Did another round of Killer Bees, where Crab Walk was substituted for Bear Crawl (i.e. crab walk 2 tree lengths, broad jump back, stop every 5 jumps and do 3 burpees). Box cutters and V-ups waiting for the six. One more round of regular Killer Bees (2 tree lengths for the bear crawl this time), then Gas Pumpers. 10 burpees OYO.
Finished up on the field with some Failure to Launch (hold Al Gore for a countdown, then jump in the the air, back to Al Gore, repeat), then some Monkey Humpers. Moseyed back to the parking lot where we warmed up. Plank Jacks, Mountain Climbers, then 10 burpees OYO.
Conditions: Humid and Partly Cloudy. 73 degrees, 100% humidity. Wind 4 mph from the NW
The Thang
We divided up into nine teams to play some Rarájipari. Teams of 4 or 5 kick a baseball as they run. No real rules other than you have to kick it everywhere you go. Today each team had to visit four landmarks to collect a playing card. They could collect the cards in any order. First team to make it back with all four cards and the ball was the winner. The landmarks were the Peristyle, The Dueling Oak, The Singing Oak, and the Rugby Pitch. Overall mileage was roughly 3 miles for the efficient teams, over 3.5 for some of the more directionally challenged teams.
Cool Down
As teams arrived back to the start High-Rise led as he took stretch requests and YHC closed us out with a little Mary before we sealed the deal.
NMM
Chaos ensued at the start. A couple of Pax went down with turned ankles and balls were lost.
We started with nine balls. We ended with five. Not sure of the specifics, but one team was rumored to have lost two balls somehow.
One team lost a ball off the Wisner Bridge. That leads to a number of questions.
The teams that went to the Peristyle first had to weave their way through a Zumba class to get to the flag.
This workout was much more compliant with Corona restrictions than what Papa Smurf did on Monday. Although our pods were sharing the same ball, YHC was the only one without shoes. CDC guidelines limit shoeless Rarájipari players to one per team. In an abundance of caution, other teams shod all of their players.
Some teams were looking for Dueling Oaks. Just to clarify, the Oaks themselves have no beef with one another. The Dueling Oak, singular, was the location of many a human duel back in the day.
T-claps to Rudy, Boo-Boo, and Kuch for helping YHC put the flags out this morning.
T-claps to Bushwhacker and Cowbell for making the trek from the frigid North. Cowbell was showing off a strong sock game today.
Every Rarájipari team has a 6. And depending on what group we are in, that could, for the most part, be any one of us. The fast guys are usually controlling the ball up front and the 6 is keeping a consistent pace trying to keep up. You may be falling farther and farther behind, but you keep running. You keep plugging away. Inevitably someone kicks the ball into the shrubs, or into a giant mud hole, or off the Wisner Bridge and you catch up. It’s hard to overstate the importance of consistency in every aspect of our lives. Keep plugging away – you’ll get there.
