At 6:25 a.m., YHC only saw one other car in the parking lot. YHC had a feeling this may be the smallest group of PAX at the Mothership. Many HNJ PAX were at the T-Bois concert down by the Bayou. Few strong PAX were representing F3 Nola at the Spartan Race in Mobile, AL. T-Claps to Triple Shift, Hokie Pokey, and Fracsac for challenging themselves on completing such a challenging obstacle course. At 6:30 a.m., 5 strong Uptown PAX gathered by the imaginary flag on a cool, wet, rainy Saturday for a beatdown. Uptowners took over the World…. now known as the Uptownship.
Warm-ups
Short mosey to the Peristyle and did the following:
SSHs x 20 IC
Windmills x 10 IC
Grass Grabber x 10 IC
Imperial Walkers x 20 IC
Inch Worm Merkins x 5 OYO
Hill Billies x 20 IC
Mountain Climbers x 20 IC
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
The PAX stayed at the Peristyle and performed the HIIT. The purpose of HIIT is to give it all you got for one minute to get your heart rate up and then rest a minute. The PAX did the following exercises in this order:
1.) Mountain Climber Merkins – do 10 MCs then end with one merkin = one round. Do as many rounds as possible in one minute and scream out each round upon completion. Rest one minute.
2.) Bobby Hurleys – Do 10 Bobby Hurleys = one round. Do as many rounds as possible in one minute and shout out each round upon completion. Rest one minute.
3.) Leg Raises – Do 10 of these = one round. Do as many rounds as possible in one minute and shout out each round upon completion. Rest one minute.
4.) Jump Lunges – 10 lunges = one round. same as above. Do as many rounds as possible in one minute. Rest one minute.
5.) Burpees – 5 burpees = one round. Do as many rounds as possible in one minute. Rest one minute.
6.) Hello Dolly – Do 10 of these = one round. Do as many rounds as possible in one minute. Rest one minute.
Rinse and repeat for another round. So in total, the Uptown PAX toughed out 12 minutes of HIIT.
The Thang
The Uptown PAX moseyed to the fountain in front of NOMA and ran into about 14 Metry PAX plus Quincy from Uptown at the Muscleship. Yes Bogey – you count as a Metry PAX.
Round 1
50 Rocky Balboa IC in front of NOMA, to the fountain with 15 Derkins IC to the 2nd light post with 20 Plank Jacks IC to the 4th light post with 20 Low Slow Squats IC to the 6th light post with 20 Genuflex x IC to the 8th light post with 20 Peter Parkers IC
Moseyed back to the steps in front of NOMA
Round 2
30 bunny hops IC in front of NOMA to the fountain with 15 dips IC to the 2nd light post with 10 merkins IC to the 4th light post with 20 Parker Peters IC to the 6th light post with 20 King Kong shoulder taps IC to the 8th light post with 20 Mountain Climbers IC. Then moseyed back to the steps in front of NOMA with a 30 seconds rest.
Then moseyed back to the flag and ended with 10 Nolan Ryans on each side IC by Gabrielle.
COT
Count-O-Rama 5 strong UPT PAX, Name-O-Rama, announcements, intentions. No FNGs. Thank You all again for the opportunity to lead. Always an honor to workout with my F3 brothers. SYITG
Lagniappe – Uptown and the World united at the Coffeeteria after the Uptownship and Muscleship beatdown. Photo credit – Bogey.
After some last minute scouting, YHC pulled up without a minute to spare. The disclaimer was given, including a word of caution about possible broken ankles, and we moseyed to the Great Lawn for the warm-up
Warm-Up
This month is Run Ranger Run and every yard counts, so YHC forwent the customary circle warm-up and chose to go old school Jr. High football style:
High Knees, Butt Kicks, Karaoke left, Karaoke right
The Thang
We divided up into 5 teams of 4. Each team received a baseball and were provided the simple rules of Rarájipari – You must kick the baseball to the Foundry. One team member can kick it the whole way or you can pass between team members. First team to the Foundry wins.
At the Foundry we all found some pull-up space for the Bern ‘n Burp – keep your chin above the bar as long as you can. When you drop out, do 10 burpees and take a 10 second rest. Repeato until time is called. Most of us got in 3 or 4 rounds.
Rarájipari under the 610 overpass to Zachary Taylor Drive.
From there we moseyed to the football field between Grow Dat and the Dog Park. 100 yard Bear Crawl
Next we moseyed to the 9th hole of the frisbee golf course for The Jack Nicklaus. Starting at the 9th hole tee box, sprint to the 9th hole (or whatever you call the contraption that you throw the frisbee into). At the 9th hole, do 9 merkins followed by 9 air presses. Then walk to the 10th hole tee box and sprint to the 10th hole where you do 10 merkins and 10 air presses. Continue this through the 16th hole. We repeated the 15th and 16th holes.
Rarájipari to the port-a-potties on the backside of the track.
On the track – 600m run as hard as you can.
Mosey back to the flag
NMM
Mistake #1 – We arrived at the flag late. How late? More than 3 minutes, less than 35. I don’t really know. I wasn’t using a watch. I was wearing one, but I wasn’t using it.
Mistake #2 – Quiche wasn’t with us.
Mistake #3 – It took me a minute to realize Quiche wasn’t with us anymore. Fracsac went out to find him. Somehow in the 30 seconds we had been standing at the flag, Frac forgot where we had come from and ran off in the wrong direction. Meanwhile, rumor has it that Quiche had accidentally locked himself in one of the Rock ‘n Roll Port-a-lets. Fortunately all City Park Roads lead to the Port-a-lets on the backside of the track. Frac finally made it there and through brute strength was able to free Quiche. Both returned to the circle, smelling of excrement and unwilling to speak about what had happened.
Mistake #4 – While playing Rarájipari on the way to the track, I mentioned to my teammates that we shouldn’t tell the groups ahead of us that they should take the street to the right up ahead. As the Q, I am apparently supposed to be taking care of the pax and so I received some instant F3 karma when the sidewalk rose up and tripped me. It felt like a pretty spectacular fall.
We had one FNG – Scrub. He came out on his own. I wasn’t paying close attention, but I believe a medical resident at Tulane mentioned F3 to Scrub while he was there being treated for a virus he contracted in South Central Jersey.
We ran a lot. It was at least 4 and half miles, no more than eight.
Rudy met us for the circle of trust. He’s just in it for the fellowship.
Today’s the day for the inaugural Muscle Ship at City Park, so YHC decided to emphasize the difference between the workouts – for one day, the Mothership became the Running Ship. As the 15 PAX gathered in the gloom (after a brisk 3 mile pre-thang run) YHC gave notice that we would be running. We would to a quick fly-by and give any PAX the opportunity to join the loafers, if they wanted. With that warning, and a disclaimer, off to the races.
First run to the lawn in front of NOMA for the warm-up:
SSH x25
Peter Parker x25
Parker Peter x25
Shoulder Touches x25
Mountain Climber x25
Then run some more (looky by the lake, there’s a group of 16 men who appear to be laying down. I think I see yoga mats too), heading towards Roosevelt Mall.
At the foot of Roosevelt Mall, Heisenberg chooses Merkins for the Route 66 exercise. Go. 11 benches to visit, 66 merkins. Plank up by the entry to the track.
Time for an old favorite of YHC: The Dirty McDeuce. 3 exercises, 12 reps. Upper Body, Core, Legs. Then a lap. Repeat x4.
Slowsey towards the pole-vault mat, half-way along the straight away. Partner up for the game of “Catch Me If You Can”. PAX 1 sprints half way round the track. PAX 2 moseys across the field to meet the sprinter. Tag up and reverse (PAX2 sprints, PAX1 moseys back). Repeat repeat repeat for 8 mins.
Slowsey to the Refinery for 5 stations: Burpees, Jump the Green Snake, Pull Ups, Derkins and Hanging Knee Raises. 12 Burpees is the timer.
Getting late, so lets mosey back to the flag. Stop half-way to get the group back together – doing Monkey Humpers while waiting for the 6. Then again at the flag, Monkey Humpers for the 6.
All told, 4.1 miles earned towards RRR this am.
Close out by remembering our PAX struggling with illness and deaths among family and close friends. Finish out with St. Ignatius Prayer for Generosity.
A beautiful, crisp Saturday morning for the Mothership, with a quick disclaimer we ….circled up.
For the last couple of weeks, YHC has been thinking about events that have occurred in our F3 family. These include Terrabyte’s passing, illness with our F3 brother’s loved ones and the impending closure of Morning Call and loss of employment, at least temporarily, for our faithful waiter, Mike. As YHC was preparing for his Q at the Mothership during the week, YHC noticed an old favorite movie had been added to Netflix, Black Hawk Down. This film is about the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia in the early nineties which resulted in the death of 19 American Soldiers, YHC noted some explicit themes in the movie such as “No Man Left Behind” and “We fight for the man next to you”. There was also some implicit themes including no man is on his own. Clearly, all of these themes are echoed in the F3 credo “Leave no man behind, but leave no man where you found him”. So in honor of the 19 American Soldiers who died in Mogadishu and all of our F3 Brothers going through tough and uncertain times, this Mothership beatdown will have no OYO exercises. One other note on Blackhawk Down, in the movie there was multiple references to “chalks”. After some quick research with the source of all sources, Wikipedia, a “chalk” in military terminology is a group of troops (think platoon) in an airborne assault. PAX, count off 1, 2, 3, 4 and form up into Chalks 1, 2, 3 and 4. This will be your group throughout the workout. Each Chalk designate a Chalk Q and grab a Flag.
Mosey to Great Lawn for Warm Up
Form rows of by chalk starting with Chalk 1 then Chalk 2
followed by Chalk 3 and 4. Chalks try to
stay in formation Let’s begin:
All exercises until Q yells Halt
Walking Soldiers
High Knees
Butt Kicks
Carioca
Circleup for additional warm-up:
Self Love I/C X20
Imperial Walkers I/C X20
Hillbillies I/C X20
Form your Chalks into
circles on the Great Lawn for the next thang… Bear Crawl Ring of Fire:
Bearcrawl Counter-Clockwise till Q yells halt
10 merkins in ring of fire fashion starting with
the PAX to the left of the Chalk Q
Bearcrawl Clockwise
10 wide merks Bearcrawl Counter-Clockwise till Q
yells halt
Let’s increase the difficulty!
Boo Boo Bearcrawl Counterclockwise Right Leg Up
10 staggered right merkins in ring of fire fashion starting with the PAX to the left of the Chalk Q
Boo Boo Bearcrawl Clockwise Left Leg Up
10 staggered left merkins in ring of fire fashion starting with the PAX to the left of the Chalk Q
Chalks grab flag, form columns and march to road in front of
Storyland. Line up chalks in four
columns facing towards museum for Indian Runs to Fountain.
At Fountain circle up staying with your Chalk for Red Hot Chili Pepper:
Right Leg Step Ups x 16; Decline Merkins x 8; Left
Leg Step Ups x 16; Incline Merkins x 8
Right Leg Step Ups x 12; Decline Merkins x 6; Left
Leg Step Ups x 12; Incline Merkins x 6
Right Leg Step Ups x 8; Decline Merkins x 4; Left
Leg Step Ups x 8; Incline Merkins x 4
Right Leg Step Ups x 4; Decline Merkins x 2; Left
Leg Step Ups x 4; Incline Merkins x2
Next, down Lelong Drive for more Indian Runs in Chalks. T-claps to Chalk 3 for hanging back to keep their chalk together. Now you’re getting the idea!
Mosey in Chalk to side of NOMA and partner up in Chalk for
O.P.P.
One PAX does OH Claps (O) in People’s Chair (P) while the
other PAX does 20 Plank Jacks (P) Flapjack till Q yells halt. These were done in 2 count cadence. Let’s try to stay together on cadence Chalks!
Time is running out so grab Flags and mosey in Chalk columns
to great lawn for:
Quick Mary:
Flutter Kicks I/C X20
Hello Dolly I/C X20
Times up so circle around Flags in Great Lawn for CoT
Count-Off, Name-o-rama (1 FNG who was named Twin Span as he’s
from Slidell), Intentions and Prayer.
T-claps to all the PAX who did the daily double, the
Mothership and Krazy Ivan. Southshore brought
the Freedom Hammer home!
Thank you PAX for embracing the Beatdown’s theme of no man
is “on his own” in F3. As we all go
through life’s ups and downs, it feels good to know that we have our F3’
brothers to watch our six. We are truly
our Brother’s Keeper!
NM Moleskin
For 4 years, the PAX have been enjoying F2 and F3 at the Morning Call in City Park after the Mothership. For most if not all of those coffeetaria’s, we have arrived to ice cold water to refresh us and been served “Hot” au laits, “Cold” iced coffees and for a brave few “Hot Black” coffees by our faithful waiter Mike. We all know that this past weekend was the last for Morning Call and there is some uncertainty whether Mike will come back with Café du Monde. Even if he does, he will be out of work for at least a month. So in true F3 fashion, an operation was drummed up. In a short week, what became known as Operation Big Tip was put into full effect to thank Mike for all of his service to the PAX. The PAX raised $349 for Mike and a Framed Picture signed by the PAX was delivered at Coffeetaria. YHC even noticed a tear in Mike’s eye. The PAX should be proud of their efforts. This is the best of F3.
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.
We all remember having a substitute in school, it was almost like a free period… well this is F3 and there are no free periods, especially here on the north shore! With @the-manny being out of comission for the moment he had to call is a substitute Q.. and who better than @butt-splice himself!!! 16 men including myself decided not to fartsack and overcome the sad clown syndrome! 6 got the worm with 2 miles of foreplay and @josemourinho showed us all what a 10k foreplay looks like. With excitement we return back to the flag with smiling faces awating us and an almost unrecognizable @eiei (because of the beard not the belly!) Glad to have you back brother! An eastern sunrise on the shovel flag meant it was time for action!!!
WARMARAMA
20 SSH IC
20 Toe Touches IC
20 Seal Jacks IC
20 Windmills IC
20 Mummy Kicks IC
20 Good Mornings IC
20 Knee Highs IC
20 Butt Kicks IC
Mosey
THANG
1 min Plank
5 Hand Release Merkins OYO (at least i think thats what their called…. either way do 5 of those)
30 sec Side Plank Left
5 Hand Release Merkins
30 sec Side Plank Right
5 Hand release Merkins
30 sec Plank
20 Shoulder Taps IC
30 sec Plank
recover, 10 count
Mosey
3 of the longest block in Mandeville make for a perfect Substitute assignment!!!
headed north pax jog first block
sprint second block and
walk third block
rinse and repeat… headed back south
10 count,
and to make it more like detention Q had something in mind that was meant to crush a man… but not f3 pax cuz we beast mode!!
Qs original assignment for groups of 2 pax… 500 accumulative Jump Squats and 500 Lunges while the other backpedals the long mandeville block and sprints back…
this creates a stir amongst the men that goes ignored by Q.
and we begin!!!!
once the 500 Jump Squats were accomplished Q calls an audible and saves the lunges for next time.. only for the sake of Mary… Q loves Mary!!
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
YHC arrived to the Mothership a few minutes early, and was surprised to be one of the first on the scene. With only 5 minutes to go, there were no more than a dozen Pax, which is a low number for the Mothership, but is understandable given a holiday weekend. YHC was pleasantly surprised with the final push of arrivals, bringing the total posting to 23, including an FNG!
With the clock turning 0630, time for a brief disclaimer, then…
Mosey toward the Great Lawn, in a direction that threw the Pax off. Keep ’em guessing is the best policy. Circle up on the Great Lawn for the Warm Up
SSH IC x 31
IW IC x 15
Ave Vigodas IC x 10
Grass Grabbers IC x 10
Arm Circles IC – 10 fwd, 10 bwd
Chinook Squats IC x 10
Plank-o-rama…Peter Parker IC x 15….Mountain Climber IC x 15….Parker Peter IC x 15.
A quick countoff proves an odd number of pax. YHC had a game of “Catch Me If You Can” planned out, but the odd number threw a wrench in the cogs. Not to fret, YHC had the odd and even numbers split up into two groups. Odd numbers start running backward on Great Lawn, Even numbers do five Burpees and “Catch Up” to Odd numbers. Once first Pax arrives, all drop into a plank and wait. Even Pax run backwards while Odd numbers do five Burpees and “Catch Up” to Even numbers.
One round of that was enough, YHC knew he should have put the cones out……but trying to infuse something new into the routine!
Mosey to the NOMA Fountain.
Box Jumps OYO x 10
LL Step ups IC x 10
Dips IC x 15
RL Step ups IC x 10
Derkins IC x 15
Mosey to the Tree Line, line up along the first tree.
Bear Crawl to 2nd tree, 10 merkins
Bear crawl to 3rd tree, 10 shoulder taps (King Kong did Kongs…)
Bear Crawl to 4th tree, 10 Floyd Mayweathers
Bear Crawl to 5th tree, 10 Burpees OYO and stand back up
Split the Pax in two groups again. Even number pax form one circle, Odd number pax form another circle.
Circle Burps!
All pax run in place. Each pax takes turns saying “down” which signals the entire circle to do a burpee, recover, and run in place. The odd numbers went around the circle twice, one can only assume the Even’s did roughly the same.
Mosey to the Foundry for Stations!
Station 1 – Dips AMRAP
Station 2 – Pull ups AMRAP
Station 3 – Merkins AMRAP
Station 4 – Leg Lifts AMRAP
Station 5 – Big Boi Sit Ups AMRAP
Station 6 – Run to bike trail, 5 Burpees, Run back – Timer
Complete 2 Rounds
Mosey back to the Great Lawn
Flutter Kicks IC x 20
Crunchy Frog IC x 10
Tin Snips IC x 10
Seal the Deal with 10 Burpees OYO!
Mosey back to the Shovel Flag.
COT
Count Off, Name-O-Rama, Announcements, Intentions, Close with a Prayer. Welcome Pele’!
NMM
The Pax were expecting some Burpee Suicides, but YHC threw ‘ em off with some new routines. Expect the Unexpected! Don’t worry, you’ll find yourselves doing Burpee Suicides again soon enough……
Not exactly sure how a guy born in Venezuela is named after a renowned soccer player from Brazil….but it works!
On a weekend of Giving Thanks, I’d like to say thank you to my F3 Brothers for continually pushing and supporting me to be a better person overall. This is a great organization, one that too many miss out on.
