Apologies for the delay but from way back on Friday at Wolfpack Mountain: Pax took off from the North end of Audubon Park at 0530 headed west along St Charles wrapping back around and ending up at the great circle courtyard for quick warmup:
– Sidestradlehops; Self Love; Imperial Walkers; Peter Parkers
Straight away to the mountain-garage – Pax headed up the mountain after some BLIMPS-planation: 5-10-15-20-25 with alternating Bear Crawl and Backward Jog up the parking garage
– Rinse and Repeat the rest of the way up to the top Some Mary and an extra set of Side Stradlehops during another amazing NOLA sunrise
Back down the stairs for a set of Dips on the benches Finally mosey back the circle…No not that circle the other circle…Mass confusion was averted as the flock made it back to the flag(less) pole in time for a final round of Bob Dole Tree Hugging and Smurf-Jacks (because why have thighs if you can’t make them burn).
Counted off 30 strong with 1 FNG: Welcome Bobby Walsh; Just passing through aptly named ‘Layover’ Wrapped up with a thoroughly beatdown ball-o-man and then off to Coffe-teria at PJs
The morning after an unbelievable Teddy Bridgewater led, Saints victory over the Dallas Cowgirls, 14 PAX gathered in the gloom to sweat out the excess alcohol from all of the pre and post gameday celebrations. After the disclaimer, the PAX moseyed to the field in front of the zoo for the following warm up exercises all in cadence:
SSHx20, Imperial Walkersx20, Grass Grabbersx15, Self Lovex15, Arm Circles (Seaman Style) Forward and Backwardx10
The PAX then slow moseyed to the parking lot, lined up and did 3 rounds of suicide sprints touching the lines at 15, 30 and 45 yards (approximately).
Now the Pax’s heart rates were up, Chiquita gave us a 20 count, then the PAX mosyed to the front of the zoo and partnered up for a DORA 123. Exercises performed were as follows:
Merkinsx100, Dipsx200, LBCsx300
Once complete the PAX then moseyed to the pull up bars in the park and split into 4 groups. The four groups were pull ups, herpes, plank jacks and squats. 10 herpes was the count as the PAX rotated through each group.
To wrap things up the PAX circled up on the most unfamiliar part of the golf course for me, the fairway, for a round of MARY. The following exercises were performed in cadence:
LBCsx20, American Hammersx20, Penguinsx20, Flutter Kicksx20, Freddy Mercurysx20, Box Cuttersx20 (SeaMan), Monkey Humpersx20 (NineLives), Low Country Crabx20 (Douille)
Mission Impossible 30 seconds
The PAX then slow moseyed to the flag for count off, nameorama, announcements, intentions and a losing prayer. Its always a pleasure to lead this group of men!
YHC spent some extra time on the disclaimer this morning. Watch your six. Watch yourself.
WARM UP Mosey the parking lot to the truck to distribute 2 bricks per PAX. PAX circled the lot and then to the front of the bandstand. 20 SSH IC, 20 Grassgrabbers IC, 10 Self Love IC, General leg stretching, 20 Peter Parkers IC, followed by 50 LBCs OYO.
THANG 1 – BLIMPS (with Bricks) at the lightpost intervals, followed by….another brick BLIMPS across magazine to the fountain.
THANG 2 – PAX paired up for CBGB (Curls, Brickbys, Goblet Squats, Brick-rows ), one PAX lifts while the other runs with the bricks up two lights and back and flapjack, until all PAX complete.
THANG 3 – Grab some Wall. Dodo Bird (With two bricks assume the People’s Chair, brick in each hand and at rest down your sides is the default position. In cadence or OYO, (1) side shoulder raise [arms straight and lifted to the sides to shoulder height], (2) back to default, (3) front shoulder raise [arms straight and lifted in front of you to shoulder height],and Wonderbra (assume the People’s Chair position. Start with bricks close to body at chest level. Push bricks up over head fully extending arms, bring bricks back down to chest position, then push them straight out in front until complete arm extension reached. Return to starting position). 3 sets 3 each. 10 count between. Then the PAX finished with some balls-to-the-wall for old times sake.
YHC then led the PAX to some dry-ish parking in front of the pool. Circle up for Mary – Russian Brick Twists, Brick Mission Impossible, and flutterkicks with bricks held high. The PAX then ligned up facing each other, bricks extended but not touching, forming a tunnel, down which the PAX on the end had to bear crawl. Certainly an element of trust going under trembling arms from the previous exercises.
The PAX then “stashed” the bricks in an orderly fashion with the hopes they will be there for the Skinny and Birdcage in upcoming weeks.
COT
Back to the flag for countoff, name-o-rama, announcements and intentions. Remember Holy Grove, that he recovers quickly and can rejoin us soon.
YHC began Wednesday morning like any other Wednesday morning with a quality 45 minute beatdown at Popeyes (this Wednesday led by the always dangerous Darkwing Duck). YHC’s thoughts quickly turned to the Gnarly Nutria as a nutria was spotted by Hokie Pokey running in the grass near the Pax. YHC took this as a strong omen for an upcoming victory for the World. The native nutria had come out from its hole to bless the World on the morning of the Gnarly Nutria.
YHC’s confidence continued to grow as he arrived at the Gnarly Nutria to see members of the World surrounding him as the World came out in force. Surely the World would continue their winning streak and extend their dominance over the Uptowners on their home turf. Reluctant Yankee shouted out the rules and scoring system and led the racers to the starting line.
A record 91 men lined up for the 4th running of the Gnarly Nutria. 51 for the World. 28 for the Uptowners. 12 for the Northshore. After an odd 2 minute countdown, the runners were off in the humidity and the heat for 5.4 miles of sweaty, stupid joy.
As YHC rounded the first turn of the Gnarly Nutria with Tua and Heisenberg by his side, he his extreme confidence in a victory began to fade and he knew the world might be in trouble in spite of their superior numbers. A mass of Uptowners burst forward past him with a speed the World would be unable to match.
Then the funk hit. YHC doesn’t want to know what the Uptowners are doing in their fabled Audubon park but the stink of the park was strong last night and surely slowed down the time of the World and the NorthShore who aren’t accustomed to the Uptown Funk.
Flatline can hold his head high and claim the title “Fastest Man in F3NOLA” for the next 12 months. Flatline finished the Gnarly Nutria IV in a blistering fast 33 minutes. ESPN8 came in second with 35 minutes. In-Time came in third with a time of 38 minutes. Mulligan finished fourth with 39 minutes and Isobar rounded out the top 5 with 39 minutes and 40 seconds.
4 of the top 5 were Uptowners with In-Time the top finisher for the NorthShore and Shuffles coming in 7th with the top place for the World. Thanks to their domination in speed, the Uptowners overcame the World’s superior numbers.
The Uptowners won Gnarly Nutria IV with 326 points.
The World came in second with 260 points
Northshore came in third with a respectable 127 points coming from only 12 runners.
Tripleshift wins the award for most significant run of the night as he rucksaked the race in honor of Terabyte who went to be with his Savior, Jesus Christ earlier this year.
Bogey wins the award for most beautiful face of the night. Thanks for keeping score and being the pretty face waiting for us at the finish line.
The After Party
The Pax of 91 – 5 gathered together for post-race Name-O-Rama and the announcements of the winner and top finishers. The Pax began with a moment of silence and prayer thanking God for Terabyte and the role he played in F3NOLA.
Followed by a far too long Counterama, followed by a far too long Name-O-Rama, the Pax named 9 FNGs. I am guessing that is a new F3NOLA FNG record. Welcome to Mallrats, Bangs, Johnny Football, Polaroid, Mumbles, Body Shots, Incandescent, Apollo, and Hot Pants.
The Pax gathered together for the infamous sweaty ball-o-man as YHC closed the Pax out in prayer thanking God for the evening and asking Him to use F3 to impact the lives of more men in NOLA. F3 means so much to all of us and may we not hog and hide the friendship, accountability, and growth we have received in F3. Continue to find those men at your work, neighborhood, and in your families who are isolated and struggling. The average American man has less than one friend. YHC has 91. You have 91. Pass this friendship on to others.
Conditions: 72 degrees, 90% humidity, winds out of the SSE at 4 mph.
Participants: 30 Pax including, 7 H8!ers, and 14 first timers.
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 merkins, burpee with 7 merkins, …..burpee with 1 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 just less than 3.5 Miles of Hills
550 Yards of Bear Crawls
36 Burpees
120 Merkins
We did AMRAP and then moseyed back to the flag.
The Skinny
12 finishers for a 40% success rate: SOGO, Cowbell, Smooth, Mahatma, 86, Thighs, Mariah, Triple Shift, Dirty Dell, Ya Mom N Dem, Screwtop, and Hawgcycle
No one got nine. Who will be the first?
I feel like YHC spent most of my energy chirping at Mahatma, at least until the 5th lap at which point he left me far enough behind he couldn’t hear me anymore.
I may have to put cones out next time to protect the integrity of the H8!.
Rudy had his first DNF at the H8! but it was for medical reasons. His doctor says no burpees. I would like to find a doctor like that.
Seven PAX convened for YHC’s virgin Q. The disclaimer was initially botched and we rudely cut off a biker so it was a rocky start.
Alas, got the blood flowing along St. Charles for a few blocks before turning around for a warm-up in Cowen Circle:
SSH x 20
Windmills x 15
Mountain climbers x 25
Slow merkins x 15
Next, headed out on a mosey, missed the originally planned turn, and eventually arrived at the Tulane ROTC pull-up bars. There we:
Round 1: Pull-ups to failure + 10 merkins + 15 jumping air squats
Round 2: Pull-ups to at least half of Round 1 number + 10 merkins + 15 jumping air squats
Round 3: Pull-ups to failure + 10 merkins + 15 jumping air squats
Then we continued on a mosey to the LBC Quad where the University had graciously set-up spotlights for us; it was a sight to behold:
Let there be light!
In honor of Bones and my beloved San Francisco Giants beating the Dodgers last night, we played “baseball” under the lights, performing different exercises at each “base” of the diamond:
Home plate: 9 burpees
1st base: 18 Nolan Ryans
2nd base: 27 jumping lunge squats
3rd base: 36 LBCs
Multiples of nine since it’s both eponymous with my namesake and baseball games have nine innings. Bases were longer than MLB standards at about 40-50 yards apart; we did two rounds.
Mosey back towards towards our AO with an initial pitstop at the Loyola Rec Center garage.
Side note: does this garage have a name? If not, I’m going with Freret Street Summit or Wolfpack Pinnacle. To be discussed at our next F2 event…
Nonethless, ran up the stairs, performed a round of Mary at the top with each of the 7 PAX leading their favorite ab workout, and headed back down the stairs.
Continued the mosey homeward with the final stop being WPM for 15 decline merks on the first ramp followed by 15 incline merks. Popped over to the stairwell, did a quick up-and-down the Mountain, and made it back to the flag with 30 seconds to spare.
Special shoutout to the fine gentlemen of this morning’s Tsunami (namely Mariah) for enduring my horrendous navigational skills and poor sense of timing…
Desperate to burn some king cake and booze, I decided to Q on ASH Wednesday so that I could beginning the healing process and recovery post-Mardi Gras. I wanted to start things off right with a nice little beatdown to get the ball rolling the right direction.
IT was a very cold 37 degrees and windy to start. I like to remind myself that they have 0 degree beatdowns in Pennsylvania and Minnesota but it doesn’t make me warm up.
We started off with a quick mosey over by the zoo. At the zoo we did a basic circle of pain warm up: SSH x 20, Reg Squats, x 20, Merks x 15, Mtn Climbers x 20, Peter Parkers x 20 On the way to this COP we lost GSpot- Nature calls when nature calls. We also gained 9 lives – meow!
Then we mosey’d to Audubon Statue. Here we did 20 Dips – did a lap, 20 dips did a lap, and 20 dips and did a lap. So 20-20-20.
After that we mosey’d up to the riverview at the FLY. Here there was all kinds of wildlife in the river. Probably a nutria. Angie’s swears it was a beaver. or a river otter or an eel or a snake.
At the river we did a ring of fire. Merks and bear crawls.
Then we did a mosey over the hill. At the hill Mariah was 100% sure he saw a fox but as we approached it was evident that it was NOT a fox but rather a cat. A huge cat but a cat. Not a jaguar.
At the hill we did 20 hillbillies and then 19 low country crabs – 18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11. Evens were hillbillies and odds were crabs.
Then we did a long MOSEY to Nip/Tuck’s pimp station. Guys did a BLIMPS and wait for the 6. Once the 6 arrived we all waited in plank while each PAX did pullups AMRAMP.
After we got through the entire PAX we mosey’d back to the flag – we had an extra minute for a mission impossible plank.
It was a cold, wet and windy morning at The Skinny. I broke my own rule of long-sleeve shirt when the temp is below 57. At 56 with some strong wind and light drizzle, I immediately regretted my short sleeves. Being the wuss that I am, we started under the pavilion with a warm-up and nine rounds of tabata. Russian twists, squat jumps and Peter Parkers got our blood flowing and let the drizzle die down. We may have annoyed a couple of ladies on yoga mats, but nobody farted, so it was a win overall. We then headed to the track for six sprint/jog running man intervals before stopping at the pull-up bars. We did a round of pull-ups, high knees, burpees and squat jumps before another six sprint/jog running man intervals. We then hit another round of tabata before doing an Indian run back to the start. One more tabata there before heading back to the pavilion for some alternating step/power-ups and dips. We finished right on time at 6:15.
After the disclaimer and a quick announcement about my tweaked knee, we took a short mosey disrupting the breakfast of about 500 whistling ducks and settled in for warm up in front the bandstand. The PAX did the following exercises:
SSH -25
Self Love – 10
Arm Circles Forward – 10
Arm Circles Backwards (Seeman style cadence) – 10
Imperial Walkers – 20
The PAX then moseyed to the track where we performed alternating Running Man sprints until we hit the pull up bars. At the pull up bars the PAX split into 5 groups and rotated through the following stations. The pull up station had the count.
Pull Ups – 12
Burpees
Plank Jacks
Hillbillies
Mercans
The PAX again gathered at the track where we again did alternating running man sprints to the fountain at the front of the park. Once there, we grabbed some bench and did the following exercises:
LEft leg step ups- 20
Derkins – 12
Right leg step ups – 20
Irkins – 12
Dips – 20
The PAX moseyed on there own to the bridge for a short lived MARY
Ammerican Hamers – 20
Penguins – 20
Wife Pleasers – 20
We proceeded to mosey back to the flag for COT. We welcomed one FNG, Mr. Rogers, into the fold. For those counting RRR miles we finished at 2.68 miles.
31 PAX managed to meet up on a beautiful, calm, cold Friday morning for the WPM. At 5:30, YHC gave his disclaimer. This is YHC’s 1 year anniversary with F3 Nola!!! YHC gave thanks to all the PAX for motivating and pushing him at 5:30 a.m. on a regular basis. YHC told the PAX to modify as needed, whether increasing or decreasing the reps. The key is to maximize your own workout and no one is here to judge.
Warm-ups
Short mosey to Loyola campus and to do the following in cadence:
SSHs x 20
Windmills x 20
Imperial Walkers x 20
Seal Jacks x 20
The Thang
Moseyed to the base of the WPM.
1.) Ran up the first ramp and did slow merkins IC x 10, focusing on form rather than speed.
2.) Ran up backwards the second ramp, and YHC called out Bartman to show everyone how a low slow squat is done because YHC noticed Bartman always has perfect form with his squats. Also – YHC gave a shout out to Bartman because YHC’s first F3 beatdown a year ago was Q’ed by him. YHC still remembers his very first Dora 1, 2, 3. Thank You Bartman, who led low slow squat X 10 IC.
3.) Side hopped on the flat level from one end to the other and switched direction in the middle. YHC called out Reluctant Yankee to do his favorite exercise, low country crab X 20 IC. YHC remembers during his very first WPM – Yankee was sweeping the Six, which was YHC. YHC never forgets the importance of sweeping the Six. Thank You Yankee.
4.) Ran up the ramp, and YHC called out Fracsac. YHC’s very first mothership was Q’ed by Fracsac. After the beatdown, YHC remembers this guy loves suicides and Cat. Wine Mixer. Why not….. YHC asked Fracsac to demonstrate the mixer with a 6 count. He led Cat. Wine Mixer X 10 IC.
5.) Karaoke on the flat level from one end to the other and switched direction in the middle. YHC called out Douille for his “Classic Douille”, American Hammer X 20 IC.
6.) Bear crawled up the ramp. Instead of crawling all the way up on this ramp, YHC broke up the crawl by yelling “HALT.” Stayed where everyone was and did 15 incline plank jacks IC. Bear crawled again and “HALT” again and did 15 incline mountain climbers IC. Then finished crawling to the top.
7.) Prisoner ran on the flat level from one end to the other to get to the next ramp. YHC heard few mumble chatter here when YHC announced “burpee broad jumps on the ramp.” YHC broke up this workout by yelling “HALT.” Stayed where everyone was and did 15 incline Peter Parkers IC. Burpee broad jumping again until the next “HALT” and did 15 Imperial Walkers IC. Then finished the burpee broad jumps to the top.
8.) Ran on the flat level from one end to the other to get to the next ramp. The group did lunge walks to the top of the ramp. Once again, YHC broke up the lunge walk in the middle with a “HALT.” Thanks to Gabrielle, the group did 20 decline (rather than incline) Parker Peter IC. Then finished the lunge walk all the way to the top of the mountain.
9.) At the top of the WPM, YHC decided to do some suicides. Ran down the ramp to the third light post and back to the top of the WPM and did 20 leg raises. Ran down the ramp to the second post and back to the top and did 15 leg raises. Finally, ran down the ramp to the closest light post and back to do 10 leg raises.
Ran down the stairs back to Loyola campus where the group started the workout with our warm-ups earlier.
Round of Mary
YHC dedicated this round of Mary to all the HNJ dads, who invited YHC to F3. Without them, YHC would have no idea F3 NOLA is here. YHC called out the following HNJ PAX to lead the following exercise in cadence.
Willie – Very slow Penguins x 15
Medulla – Dying Cockroach x 15
Gabrielle – Nolan Ryan x 10 on each side
YHC wanted to continue to call out the rest of the HNJ PAX but ran out of time. Moseyed back to the flag for the COT right at 6:15 a.m.
COT
Count-O-Rama 30PAX, Name-O-Rama, announcements, intentions. We will start a new Uptown workout on Tuesday. We will meet at the same spot as WPM, top of Audubon Park on St. Charles Ave. Our thoughts and prayers for Piranha’s family as they are expecting their newborn on Monday. Also prayers for De La Salle’s President. I am blessed and thankful to be able to workout with my F3 brothers on a regular basis and hope to do so for many years to come. Thank You all again for the opportunity to lead. Always a pleasure and honor to workout with the PAX. SYITG
