F3 New Orleans

Tag: Russo

  • What Do You Call A Three-Hump Camel? – from Steve

    Everybody’s got a DMV story. Maybe you’re the guy who, say, waited there for three and a half hours to get your first car registered. This would be pre-cell phones, of course, so to bide your time you’ve memorized all four of the eye charts they’re using behind the bulletproof glass, as well as the many cheerful posters, like the one showing an 18-wheeler with a smiley face that details the 12 steps to get your CDL license. At this point, you’ve started to reconsider every decision in your life that has brought you to this moment, trapped here in this white-walled hell. And then, just as you’re imagining driving that smiling 18-wheeler off a tall bridge to your own fiery demise, your name is finally, miraculously called. The woman behind the desk looks impatiently at you over her reading glasses, with one hand thrust out. And even after you’ve gently placed your paperwork into her outstretched claw, she still seems to be sizing you up, like she’s read your thoughts and confirmed that yes, you’re an idiot. Finally she looks down, flips through a few pages and slides them right back over to you. She’s staring at you like you’re supposed to say something, but before you can, she says, “No odometer disclosure. You need to fill this out,” she hands you a form without looking at you, “Get it notarized, and make another appointment.” And before you can protest and throw yourself at her feet, she’s called the next name in the queue.

    Nowadays, with all the online options, the DMV has come a long way. But apparently not so over in Franklinton, where grudges against certain junior high math teachers run deep. That’s right, Jose kept us entertained with his DMV tale, in which a former student’s mother attempted to exact revenge on 10k. Of course, Jose ain’t playing that game and he successfully walked away with his dignity, and his Real ID.

    Oh and yes, we did work out. A descending rep count starting at 100 of an exercise, then moseying the corridor and climbing the steps for 10 burpees. Went something like this:

    100 Mountain Climbers 10 burpees
    90 Freddie Mercurys 9 burpees
    80 Squats 8 burpees
    70 Plank Jacks 7 burpees
    60 Big Boys 6 burpees
    50 Merkins 5 burpees
    40 Sister Mary’s 4 burpees
    30 Crunchy Frogs 3 burpees
    20 T-Merkins 2 burpees
    10 Burpees 1 burpee

    A little time left for some leg work, calf raises, and Mary. COT and Shooter prayed us out.

    Oh, the three hump camel:

  • Promise made. Promise kept… – from Shooter

    I know what you thinking with the title of this BB.. Who is this YHC? Is he a politician of sorts? Absolutely NOT, and we are not going there anyway.. Simply put, the previous day a promise was made and this gloom a promise was kept.. YHC expressed in his previous BB he would be incorporating the No Cheat Merkin to the PAX he leads and today was the day.. Thanks again VTach!!
    Brief warmup of 15IC seal jacks, arm circles, butt kicks, SSH, Abe Vogadas and 10 OYO No Cheat Merkins.

    Akbar, Chewy and Russo rucked out and returned. Jose10k, Steve, Waterpik and Q ran the standard route with a loop and some modifications along the way for the PAX to finish up at the same time. Once back at the AO we finished with 10IC LMCs, alternating L/R elbow to knee and 20IC flutter kicks closing with NCMs 10 OYO..

    Scramble was Hammerless for the first time in a while, in fact no one could put a date on it because of his consistent presence.You were present in thought brother and missed in chatter.

    Chewy closed us with prayers for Jose10k’s prior student Chance and safe travels for my son’s return to North Carolina.

    Appreciate the post and until the next Gloom 👊🏼👍🏼✌🏼!!

  • Is That A Wienkie In Your Pocket, Or Are You Just Happy To See Me? – from Steve

    About once every three to four years, YHC finally tires of the endless Four Corners and the Doras and the 11’s, and attempts something more creative. (See Music Trivia Beatdown circa 2020 for last said attempt.) Today’s experiment? A game of Family Feud (minus the… families?) This experiment was made all the more exciting with a downrange visitor from Birmingham – VTach. And with Jose 10k in the audience to heckle and jeer at my simple math skills, what could go wrong?

    Now I’m no Steve Harvey (though I do think I could give Louie Anderson a run for his money), so I did my best to keep it simple (cue Jose, “Hey, I gotta leave in 15 minutes, can we not make this a Bushwacker length explanation?):

    – Each round (question) is associated with an exercise (noted alongside the question).
    – Guess an answer on the board? We halve the points and do that many of said exercise.
    – For every wrong answer, the Pax has to do 5 burpees.
    – After three strikes, the round ends and we DOUBLE the points of each unguessed answer, then do that many reps of said exercise.

    1. Name something snowmen might have nightmares about. (Freak Nasties)
    Sun/Beach Weather (62)
Fire/Flame Throwers (14)
Blow Dryers (3)
Rain (3)
Snowplow/Shovel (3)
Drought (2)
Snowballs (2)
Peeing Dogs/Pee (2)

    2. Name something that gets passed around. (Big Boys)
    A joint (34)
A cold (23)
A collection plate (12)
A rumor (9) 
A baby (6)

    3. Name something that might ripple. (SMK’s)
    Water/Stream (63)
Body/Muscles (30)
Potato Chips (4)
Pants (3)

    4. Name something that can be inflated or deflated. (Donkey Kickoffs)
    Balloon (44)
Tire (25)
Beach ball (10)
Ego (7)
Raft (5) 

    5. Name something that might be full of holes. (Bulgarians)
    Swiss Cheese (40)
Clothes/Socks (16)
Alibi/Story (14)
Net/Fishing Net (9)
Colander/Strainer (8)
Golf Course (2)
Screen (2)
Road/Street (2)

    6. Name something that a doctor might pull out of a person. (Hand Release Merkins)
    A gerbil (32)
A baby (23)
A tumor (15)
A tooth (9)
A bullet (7)

    The whole enterprise was worth it for the expression on Shooter’s face when he learned that gerbil was the top answer to this final question (“What is wrong with this world when gerbil is the top answer and stitches aren’t even on there?”). How he went his entire life without hearing the Richard Gere story remains a mystery.

    COT and Russo prayed us out. Welcome VTach! Great having you in town and hope we get to see more of you. I’m sure one of us will make it up to a Birmingham AO at some point. And thank you gents for the patience on this one, YHC will definitely give it a go one Saturday where we can properly split up into “families.”

  • Welcome to Hazzard County! – from The Duke of Hazzard

    Good golly miss molly, the weather hit this morning! 76 with a nice breeze in early August is a gift from the gods. And as the god of chaos (aka The Duke of Hazard) prepared to make his VQ, the PAX showed in numbers to shake the heavens.

    WARMORAMA

    YHC co-Q’d to lend moral support to the leadership of the 7 year old ball of energy, and so we started with x10, IC:
    SSH, Windmills, IW, Self Love, High Knees, Butt Kicks, 5 Burpees OYO

    THANG

    Mosied all of 20’ to 1st fire hydrant for the Wheel of Animal Walks:
    Frog Hop to 2nd fire hydrant (apex 80’ away) 10 Merkins
    Bear Crawl back, 10 Merkins
    Duck Walk, 10 Merkins
    Crab Walk, 10 Merkins

    5 Burpees OYO

    Mosey to Noah’s Ark

    5 Burpees OYO

    Partner up with “similarly sized” PAX for Fireman’s Carry. Using carry of choice, P1 carried P2 to Claiborne and P2 carried P1 back to sea wall.

    5 Burpees OYO

    Mosey to Gazebo

    5 Burpees OYO

    Fireman Drag
    Same partners, P1 drags P2 to designated point then switch and return

    5 Burpees OYO

    Mosey to flag

    5 Burpees OYO

    100 count Circle Merkins
    100 count Al Gore/Jump Squats
    100 count Tanked Up’s Down Ups

    5 Burpees OYO

    MARY

    XY’s
    On your 6, legs lifted, Hello Dolly (1,2), Flutter Kick (3,4)

    WWI Snow Angels
    WWI Sit Up, Snow Angel w/ arms & legs slightly elevated

    Foxhole Merkins
    Starting in Merlin down position perform Merkin (1,2) WWI Roll right Merkin (3,4) WWI Roll left

    Plank 30 seconds – 5Merkins – Plank 30 seconds R&R until time

    COT
    Count off, name-o-ramma, Happy Birthday T Claps to the returning Bear who made 14 the next day (today). Welcome FNGs Titan, Ikkie Shuffle, and Siggy!

    Gentlemen, many thanks for showing up for The Duke’s VQ and following his pint-sized lead. His tentative calls belied his excitement at leading the PAX on a tour of Hazard County!

  • How about some sprints? – from Shooter

    YHC arrived early at 0500 believing there would be some Spartans out but I guess with Zoolander’s July ISI closed a break was in order.. Russo arrived and we had some pre chatter and stretching by Mr. McGruff and the exercise equipment.. It wasn’t long after that Speedy turned the corner and then Hammer as well.. The PAX was small considering the last few weeks, however we jumped into some warmups and stretches.. Russo journeyed out with his Ruck and was asked to pause at Messina/Monroe. He graciously obliged and the remaining 3 PAX ran down East Causeway approach to Monroe and then proceeded to meet him at the same location.. We completed 10 rounds of varying sprints and then proceeded to Mosey back to the AO..
    Appreciate Speedy taking us out in prayer and for you gentlemen posting.

    Until the next Gloom 👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼!!

  • Can You Follow Instructions? – from Steve

    With Chewy calling in for a replacement Q the night before and Russo’s Altima nowhere in sight, YHC was pretty confident it’d be a solo beatdown.

    But that’s why you never bet against Russo, who pulled in shortly thereafter, barefoot but with shoes in hand, ready to rock. (The shoe-less drive, FYI, is not an uncommon thing – both Hammer and Bush have done this a few times as well.)

    YHC was happy to be the Q because I wanted something mellow today. So kept things simple, with a mosey to the lake, stopping at each intersection to add an exercise and ladder up:

    5 jump squats
    10 lunges
    15 merkins
    20 gas pumps
    25 shoulder taps
    30 flutters IC

    Along the way, we discussed the Olympics, drag queens, homeschooling, and the instructions test. Anyone remember that? Teacher gives you a list of instructions to follow, and basically the last one negates 90% of them, so then you look like an idiot if you did all 18 things on the list? Well, Russo and I both admitted to being that guy (but hey, that would be no surprise to my wife).

    At the lake, we worked in some Bulgarians and freak nasties (as is customary), and followed that up with another lake tradition, 5x calf raises up each step.

    Hit the road back to Granny’s with 10 merkins at each stop to get our merkin total up to 100, and closed it out with a little Mary.

    COT and Russo prayed us out. As always, thanks for the post and the camaraderie – appreciate you brother!

  • There are beavers in my creek – from Russo

    Pax of 3 this morning, mid 70s throughout. With doctor’s orders to keep the running to a minimum, we did just that with a Tabata at the stage.

    Warmup (all 10x)
    – arm circles
    – High knees
    – Toe touches
    – Hillbillies
    – Torso twists
    – Self love

    Tabata (37 seconds on, 23 off)

    Merkins
    Monkey humpers
    LBCs
    Plank jacks
    Imperial squat walkers
    Scissor kicks
    Peter Parker’s
    Apollo Ohnos
    Gas pumps
    Cherry pickers
    High knees
    Penguins

    We tabata’d that circuit almost three full times, with a slalom and a trip up and down the pilot house between the rounds.

    Around the middle of round 2, Pelican updated us on the status of a recent purchase: there were indeed beavers in his creek. What sounded like a euphemism was indeed a true statement, so the next few minutes were a discussion of how to treat the furry creatures: friend, foe, or delicacy.

    How we pivoted almost immediately to Joe’s shoes, the benefits of rebates, cash payments, manager discounts, and the overbearing presence of the eponymous owner, was a thing of beauty and the sign of good mumblechatter.

    No Mary to speak of, but we did of course wrap with a circle, announcements, and prayer. A special intention lifted up for a coworker’s family, and I’m happy to report things seem to be ok there.

    Thank you gents for joining / reading. SYITG

  • The Name Fits – from Waterpik

    Speedy Gonzalez. Yep that’s right! When he shows up for the scramble, the average
    Minute per mile decreases drastically. As in today, where he and Steve ran the last mile of the weekly 5k at a brisk 7:00 per mile. To put it bluntly, the man can move.

    The rest of the Pax ran the lakefront route today 3.7 miles at 9:00 minute a mile pace.

    Ruckers and runners, we had both.

    SYITG

  • Northshore Flickerball Championship and Upper Body Marshmania – from TruCoat

    Saturday’s workout included two activities, an upper-body medley led by The Manny at the Marsh and an intense Flickerball match played by 12 of the Northshore’s best at the 30.4-by-90 pitch. The Marsh beat-down included an expansive kit of training aids, possibly depleting Home Depot’s Garden Center, to challenge grip strength and upper body stamina.

    The Flickerball match was preceded with 25 minutes of warm-up exercises–sequences of lunges, sprawls, and push-ups. The match pushed past regular time with back-and-forth play. Game highlights included many bodies sliding out at the end zones in hope of a game winning final touch, potentially trading the integrity of their hamstring for glory. The match halted briefly as Bushwacker selflessly fended off Pontchartrain’s aquatic life to save the game ball. In the final moments of extra time, the defensive wall formed by Dukes, Russo, and Akbar was too much, leading to a quick transition and game winning score by The Hammer. Congrats to Pickaxe and Grappler, too, who were critical ingredients for the win!

  • Come early come late the PAX will be there.. – from Shooter

    YHC arrived with Hammer, Steve and Ballz Deep well underway knocking out some ISI Burpees before the 0500 Spartan training.
    Hammer led us through a brief warmup and then 15 mins of rifle carry, disc carry, pull-ups, hangs, knee ups and Burpees. Russo, Waterpik and Akbar arrived so the time came to get them warmed up and ready for the streets of Mandeville.. After Cherry pickers, selflove 90, wide grass grabbers, Toe Touches, butt kicks, high knees, Abe Vogdas and seal jacks.
    As we were ready to start, Chewy turns the corner to join Russo and Akbar to go rucking..
    Normal route with 2x loop and 20 out 20 back.
    Waterpik, Steve and YHC set a comfortable pace throughout, while Hammer and Ballz Deep ran and stopped every 5 mins for 10 Burpees. Returned to the AO and closed with LBCs holding to 10, flutter kicks to 10 then hold for 10 around the group for 2x. Min plank closing with 10 OYO pickle pounders..

    Announcements, intentions and COT..

    Appreciate the post and until the next Gloom 👍🏼👊🏼✌🏼!!!