F3 New Orleans

Tag: Smooth

  • AT40 – August, 1978

    At last!!!  Cooler weather!  It may not last long, but Thursday AM offered a glorious respite from the usual August heat and humidity.  What more could one ask for – the chance to start the day with the Okwata levee, watching the sunrise over the lake, with an actually refreshing breeze in our faces.

    YHC was running dangerously late.  Apparently, the new, louder (this one goes to 11) bluetooth speaker recently acquired for mornings like this was re-purposed and sent with 2.0 to Notre Dame.  That left me scrambling to find the backup – the teeny tiny not-quite-loud-enough fallback speaker.  Sorry guys.  That’s gonna make it harder for you to appreciate today’s theme.

    But first: a disclaimer (for the veteran crew).  Then off to the levee.  Quick warmup of SSH x20 (with a brief pause waiting for JV to decide to start).

    The Thang: 40

    Today’s theme for the 40: American Top 40 list from August 26th, 1978 (40 years ago).  Lots of good treasures on that list!  https://top40weekly.com/1978/08/26/us-top-40-singles-week-ending-26th-august-1978

    For those not familiar with the 40 (see “Smooth”):

    • 10 Exercises
    • Each exercise done in 4 sets (hence 40 sets)
    • Each set is 10 reps (hence 40 reps per exercise)
    • Each set on opposite side of the levee (hence 40 trips over the levee)

    Exercise 1: Burpees!  Lets get this started.  Done to the music of the biggest drop of the week (a whopping 50 places – from 33 to 83): Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty

    Exercise 2: Boxcutters.  Biggest riser of the week: Paradise by the Dashboard Light (up to #42, won’t make its debut till next week though)

    Exercise 3: Lunges (make sure your knee touches the grass).  At spot #36: Dont Look Back by Boston (also – very fond memories for YHC: the very first album I ever bought.  Still remember the trip with my Dad to K-Mart to buy it.)

    Exercise 4: Crossfit Merks.  At spot #27: Hollywood Nights by Bob Seger

    Exercise 5: 8 Count Body Builders (these took a lot longer than anticipated).  At spot #24: Two Tickets to Paradise by Eddie Money.  There are some classics in the 20-30 range of this particular AT40!

    Break while Frac gave us 20 count.

    Exercise 6: Dying Cockroaches.  At spot #14: Copacabana from Barry Manilow.  Now we are entering “This is definitely the 70s” territory of the countdown.

    Exercise 7: Copperhead Squats.  At #11, a classic one-hit wonder: I Want to Kiss You All Over by Exile.

    Exercise 8: Plank Walks.  Now we are into the top 10.  At #5 – Hot Blooded by Foreigner.

    Exercise 9: Squat Jumps.  Nothing like throwing these in after 32 trips over the levee….  At #3 – Miss You by the Stones

    Exercise 10: LBC.  Running short on time.  Push through gang…  At #1: Grease by Franky Valli!

    Finish up with Count-off, Name-o-Rama.  Announcements and Intentions.  Prayers to use the gift of today wisely, and bless those suffering with cancer.

    Thanks for the chance to lead, and see you all at WPM tomorrow!

  • Friday FunDay

    Warm up: 5 Minutes

    Wolfpack Mountain: 12 sets

    Run the straight aways and completed the following sets at the flats.

    • 5 Burpees
    • 10 Mercants
    • 15 Jump Squats
    • 20 LBC’s

    Total: 60 Burpees, 120 Mercants, 180 Jump Squats, 240 LBC’s

    Benches:

    • 28 Dips
    • 28 Decline Mercants

    Football Up Downs:

    Finished off with 5 football style up downs

     

    Great effort from all who attended. Tough workout but a great way to lead us into the weekend!

     

     

  • Beatdown Fit for a King

    This sure was one of the Gloomiest days in 1977.  The day that would be the last full day in the life of Elvis Aaron Presley.  Known as the King of Rock & Roll, his music would shape the lives of Americans today.  Today, his music would put 10 PAX into shape.

    W/U

    • SSH x 30
    • IW x 25
    • HB x 25
    • SG x 20
    • MC x 25
    • JL x 10

    The Thang

    • Get Your Kicks on Route 66 – Travel down the Roosevelt Mall in your Pink Cadillac.  Stop at each bench for a Squat (but don’t stay there as long as Elvis did) and increase your count by 1 with every bench.
    • Elvis the Pelvis whiskey dicked nothing.  He went Balls To The Wall in every aspect of life, especially on stage.  BTTW while the PAX goes down the line.  State your F3 name, Year of Birth, Favorite Elvis Song.
    • One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, NOW GO CAT GO!  Mosey to the steps of NOMA for a new favorite routine created by YHC called Blue Suede Shoes.  1 Burpee, 2 Merkins, 3 Squats, 25 Rocky Balboas.
    • An Elvis show would not be complete without a tribute to America.  Head to the fountain for our very own Merkin Trilogy IC.  10 Irkins, 10 Derkins, 10 Merkins
    • Blue Suede Shoes again followed by an intermission water break (HYDRATE)
    • Elvis was well known for his manly figure, which he kept with a strict regiment of Karate.  Head back to the fountain for Step Ups, but be sure to include a kick at the top (grunt optional).

    Mary

    • Picture a black screen.  A light comes shines on a tall slender handsome man.  He has jet black hair, soft blue eyes, skin so smooth you’d swear that he’d shaved with the legendary Excalibur.  In his hand is a silver microphone with a cord that seems to disappear in to the nothingness, but in your mind you know that mic is plugged directly into your senses.   The music starts to play and the angelic figure, dawned with a white suit and red ascot, begins to sing.  You’ve forgotten who you are, where you are, who your with and what you’re doing.  The only thing you know is lit up in front of you in bright shinning red letter, ELVIS.   On your six for ABC’s.  Spell ELVIS PRESLEY with your legs on the Q’s count.
    • Elvis is called the King of Rock & Roll, but in truth; he’s the god.  I found this routine in the Exercon. “An ab exercise done in a 1:4 ratio. 1 big boy sit up to 4 American Hammers (Russian Twist). Try to get 10:40 before Merlot comes.”

    Counterama, Name-o-rama, Announcements, COT

    • Guidosportif is hosting the annual Elvis Lives Run at the Rivershack, tomorrow 8/16/18 at 7:00pm.
    • Mambi is hiring sales positions.  Contact for details.

    Thank you for the opportunity to lead, Thank You Very Much

    Da Parish

  • Hopping on the H8 Bandwagon with a H4

    “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” -Kelly Clarkson

    Lots of buzz going around lately about the semi-annual H8 coming up in October.  It’s always a tough workout as well as a good test of progress for the PAX.  It’s also a love-hate thing for YHC since it has put me through the wringer and almost killed me, each time getting closer to that 8 lap goal.  The run is palatable, as well as the bear crawl, but the merkins and burpees seem to be slow many of us down.  So, in order to fix this, YHC thought we’d knock out a scaled down version of the H8 as part of the Thursday workout at Okwata.  Here’s what went down:

    Conditions:  Warm, dark, and zero breeze…just how we like it

    The PAX:  Some usual Okwata crew plus King Kong making his way to the AO for the first time…t-claps

    The Disclaimer:  Not a professional…push yourself, don’t hurt yourself…try to give it your all for the next 45 min…

    The Warmup:  Mosey over to the usual warmup area only to find some loud people still partying/fighting so a detour over to the seawall area for SSHx20, HBx20, ACx20, WMx10, ISWx10, Plank Rollx10, Peter Parkerx20.  Then we lined up for a mosey along the seawall with a stop at each light pole for Squats x10 at each one, six poles total.  Probably not the best thing to do before the H4/H8 route but YHC wanted to make sure we broke a sweat first and the workout wasn’t a cakewalk.  Capped it off with LS Dips x25 at the planters.

    The H4:  Run the same lap/route as the H8 with bear crawls in the middle and merkins (instead of descending burp/merk) at the end…40 on 1st lap, 30 on 2nd, 20 on 3rd, 10 on 4th, 10 on 5th.  Goal was at least 4 laps in 20 minutes.  T-claps to Mahatma and Smooth for blasting off right out of the gate.  The PAX pushed hard and several guys finished 4+ laps.

    The Finale:  Enough time left for a mosey along the levee towards the House of Pain.  Group 1 stayed up top for LBC x40IC + Penguins x20IC (timer) while Group 2 ran down to the pull up bars for AMRAP Pullups followed by Hanging Knee-ups.  This was a long timer, maybe too long, but the PAX hung in there.  After a round for each group, time to head back to the flag.

    COT:  A few announcements and followed by a prayer.

    Here’s a few things we kicked around post-workout in regards to maximizing our individual performance at the upcoming H8:

    1.  Use the downhill runs to catch your breath and don’t try to race down.
    2.  The top of the levee has a few sharp surprises during the bearcrawl.  Appeared to be pieces of exposed plastic mesh.
    3.  Try to crank out the Merkins/Burpees in a fast manner.  YHC fell behind on this.
    4.  The fall and spring temps are more conducive to this workout than August.
    5.  Calling cadence and working in squats does not help boost your time.

    Thanks for the opportunity to lead.

    Tool

     

  • Stepping Up

    Does a back blast need to be timely? Just needs to prove we did something.

    In every circle we talk about getting better, pushing ourselves and each other to get better. To be better husbands, fathers, and leaders. I hear it all the time. It’s great, Leadership is aspirational! But it also requires action towards that end. Without action is is just a platitude.

    I’m a Michigan man and over the last week I’ve been bothered by the OSU situation. The dust has yet to settle and this is probably today’s cherry on our national discourse. But I’m disappointed in the failure of leadership to hold to a principle and make something happen. When I look at the pax of F3 I see great things, and I have renewed hope.

    Yankee was being a little self critical about the long email he sent out the night before. Long or short I love the emails. F3 just doesn’t happen, guys step up and make things happens quietly and in the greatest of ways. Every AO has a guy keeping the schedule going, they just do it and don’t make a big deal about. In the last email Yankee reiterated what I have been hearing around the flag for a few weeks now. If people want a new AO, step up, dedicate yourself to Qing it and it will happen. Step up and take action. Enough of the pontification…

    Started with standard circle, with arm circles reverse and forward, did some peter parkers, burpees and moseyed to the mountain.

    Started on level 2, on that gloomy muggy day. We lunged up the inclines, dashed (faster than a mosey slower than a sprint) to the turn where we did 15 Mericans. Rinse and repeat all the way to the top.

    At the top we did BLIMPS but with a 1 level down lap in between each exercise.

    Down the chute to the benches for some dips, decline Mericans, and some more dips.

    Mosey over to the softest grass for some call out Mary (Russian Twist, Hello Dollys, Pickle Pounders, and something else to round out the time.

    Finished at the flag on time with a sweaty ball of man.

  • Stomp #153 – The Tribe Has Spoken

    A few more miles were added to the F3 odometer this Tuesday at The Stomp.  The scheduled Q was unable to make it so YHC became appointed to take the helm.  In an effort to mix things up, YHC suggested a Wisner route with some laps on the overpass but the silence and lack of enthusiasm meant the tribe had spoken so we opted to go the bayou route, as per Kimchi’s suggestion.  We ran for 40 minutes (20 out, 20 back) and enjoyed a little F2 chat early on before the PAX spread out at.  T-claps to Smooth for pushing hard and knocking out a little extra distance at the end.  Also, t-claps to Abacus for becoming a regular at The Stomp and becoming a better runner.  Once back, we utilized the last 5 minutes for: LBC x25, Penguins x15, Burpees x10, Plankorama 1 min, Hip Flexors 1 min.  COT to cap things off.  Solid way to start the day.

    Tool

  • Fartlekkers Rejoice

    The Pax have been bringing their A game to the Stomp recently.  Multiple weeks of double digit counts and some all out effort have revitalized this legendary AO.  YHC had the good fortune to follow up a Rudy Q.  Surely I could make it over the low bar he had generously set for me.  It has been a minute since we have done farleks around here so I brought out my proven technique of yelling random percentage numbers at the Pax and letting them figure out what they mean.

    Disclaimer

    Fail.  I start off worse than Rudy.  Embarrassing.  In my zeal to give the Fartlek instructions I forget the disclaimer.  I hastily yell it as we run, after Recall brings the omission to my attention.

    The Thang

    Da Parish, who claims his super tight and bright cycling jersey must have shrunk recently, takes off on a solo trek around Lakeview.  I don’t know where he went, but where ever it was the women were blessed.

    The rest of us ran in relatively baggy outfits.  A picture is worth a thousand words:

    You thought I was going to post a picture of Da Parish’s outfit?  Sorry, I didn’t take one.  In case I ever decide to run for political office, I want to make sure no one finds anything like that on my phone.

    We started with your normal pace to the festival grounds.  As we reached the festival grounds we circled back around for the six.  For each of the following segments the early finishers circled around for the six so that we all stayed together.  Recovery pace between each segment

    • 70% effort to the big pavillion
    • 100% effort to the last tree before the path to the Wisner overpass
    • 60% effort up and over the Wisner overpass
    • Run backwards up the overpass, turn and run 75% effort down
    •  50% effort up and over the overpass
    • 80% effort to the turn that goes under the overpass
    • 75% effort to the turn that goes under 610
    • 100% effort to the top of the hill past 610
    • Normal pace to the backside of the track
    • 100% effort – 440
    • 100% effort -220
    • Recovery run back to flag

    We sealed the deal with 15 burpees.

    NMM

    If MapMyRun is accurate, and I have little reason to believe that it is, the entire Pax ran over 4.5 miles at a 9:00 min/mile pace.  That’s an impressive showing.  And they had plenty of breath to make several Junior High comments about entering the track from the backside.

    T-claps to El Guapo for EHing Swamp Cock to post at his first Stomp.  Hope you become a regular, brother.

    Looks like 33% of the LARC is taking their training seriously.

    I wore shoes.  I think that was a mistake.  I know Rudy was disappointed in me and for once I agree with him.

  • Cognac and Burpees

    Started out with a disclaimer stating that I had too much cognac at Tales of the Cocktail the previous night “so if you smell cognac it is me.”.

    Mosey to the lawn in front of touch down Jesus then I attempted to count:

    15 x windmills then 5 burpees oyo

    15 x forward arm circles 5 burpees oyo

    15 x reverse arm circles 20 merkins oyo

    15 x good mornings 5 burpees oyo

    Mosey to the corner of Sta Charles and Calhoun:

    20 x cross fit merkins then ran to next tier

    20 x lizard hops (I need to stay off you tube) ran to next tier

    20 x plank jacks to shoulder taps ran to next tier

    20 x dying bug ran back to start

    Mariah commented that the work out was weak so we repeated with

    5 x burpees at each tier

    Mosey to the parking garage on Freret St then Native American ran to the top of the garage in two lines.

    Paired up for Dora at the top:

    100 low slow squats as partner ran down the stairs and back up

    200 lbc as partner ran down the stairs and back up

    300 plank jacks as partner ran down the stairs and back up

    Mosey down the stair to the benches by WPM

    20 derkins oyo

    Mosey to the flag then

    5 x burpees oyo

    plank left and right

    30 count misson impossibe

    Circled up, counted off, name-o-rama and prayer.

     

    Thank you for allowing me to lead today.

     

    86

  • The Thrillabon in the Audubon

    Being an F3 Nation member for only 10 months (last race I was nothin but a gleam in a Hawg’s eye), the Gnarly Nutria was the stuff of legend. A back and forth sporting event like the world has not witnessed since Ali vs. Frazier. Two heavyweights going toe to toe for 5.4 miles with the Uptowners dominating Gnarly Nutria I and The World squeaking by with a narrow victory in Gnarly Nutria II.

    This year The World looked to overwhelm the smug Uptowners with numbers, and we have been recruiting. I was even dreaming of running the first race of my life but fell to the wayside with a calf injury on Friday. Although The World would now be missing their best runner, they still persevered and began the race with a distinct advantage in numbers.

    Following an epic lightning storm, the race began at 9:10pm. Our first finishers were a family group, and hat’s off to Sandbar who brought two of his 2.0s who finished the first lap in solid time.

    I knew the Uptowners were going to be in trouble when the first runners to not complete all three laps were Uptowners. Then the top two finishers of all three laps were both from the World and the landslide began. Like an over-the-hill Frazier against Ali, the Uptowners were no match for The World in Gnarly Nutria III.

    The final score was 446 The World and 354 Uptowners. The World is so fast, we turned off the lights in our bedrooms when we got home last night and we were in bed before the room was dark.

    We welcomed 4 FNGs into our numbers in the largest sweaty ball of man I have ever seen. I got to hand it to the runners, the names for our new members were great. We welcome Tubbs, Tramp Stamp, Right Cheek and his brother Left Cheek to F3. May we forget your real names and always refer to you by your F3 names in public.

    Here are your Gnarly Nutria top finishers:

    1. Smooth – The World

    2. Turbo Tax – The World

    3. Pony Boy – Uptowner

    4. El Guapo – The World

    5. Mulligan – Uptowner

    6. End Time – The World

    7. YSR – Uptowner

    8. Swampcock – Uptowner

    9. Cavalier – Uptowner

    10. Mahatma-Ice – The World

    11. Right Cheek – The World

    12. Nip/Tuck – Uptowner

    13. Jadaveon – Uptowner

    14. Cowbell – The World

    15. Hawgcycle – The World

    16. Thighs – The World

    17. Freedo – Uptowner

    18. Cornbread – The World

    19. El Wire – Uptowner

    20. Mariah – Uptowner

    21. Rudy – The World

    22. Rocket – The World

    23. Peppa – Uptowner

    24. Saban – Uptowner

    25. Tubba – The World

    26. Tramp stamp – The World

    27. Bubba – The World

    28. Shorty – The World

    29. Brownbag – Uptowner

    30. Landing Strip – Uptowner

    Left cheek, Bad Moon, Two Yutes, Shooter, Bushwacker, Einstein, 86, Pi, Walleye, King Kong, Triple Shift, Reluctant Yankee, and Roots fell just outside the top 30 in this order. I couldn’t keep up with the names after Roots. Congrats to all who finished and all who completed 1 or 2 laps. Thank you for helping us all be better men as we do stupid, pointless things like run for no reason in the middle of a lightning storm while chased by Jaguars.

    I’m inviting you to our next AO at “the Boxing Match” sculpture in Kenner’s Rivertown. The first Wednesday of September will be the launch of the F3 NOLA “Fight Club.”

    Your Humble Scorekeeper (I don’t plan on doing this next year, so someone else better get hurt right before the race in 2019),

    RevSox

  • 300 is the # of the day

    Warm, gloomy, and muggy…perfect conditions for a F3 sweat fest.  That’s what YHC encountered as I made my way to the usual Foundry meeting spot.  It was 5:26 and not a soul in sight.  Was everyone getting their beauty rest?  Was I the only one from Team World that was manly (or crazy) enough to post twice in one day???  Fortunately several guys soon rolled up bringing our total to 7 PAX by kick off time.  With the Gnarley Nutria 15 hours later, the plan was to keep our legs fresh and focus on the core and upper body.  YHC had originally planned to bring out some concrete blocks but hit a snag with rain and time so on to plan B, albeit a hastily thrown together one.  Here’s what we did:
    Mosey down RM to the grassy area adjacent to the lagoon for a long no-impact warmup with a theme that would build as we went.  We knocked out 30ea of the following exercises IC:  IPW, AC, WM, Peter Parkers, Low Country Crab, Hill Billies, Shoulder Taps, 2 others??, and closed out with 30 Merkins OYO…..totaling 300 exercises in all.
    Then on to the illuminated NOLA 300 sign near the Big Lake.  In lieu of lighting 300 birthday candles for our great city, we instead would knock out 300 reps of a few different exercises, starting with:
    Partner Plank Slaps, aka Patty Cakes x50 followed by short mosey to lake ledge for Dips x25 OYO (ea PAX)
    Then PSx40, Dipsx20, PSx30, Dipsx15, PSx20, Dipsx10, PSx10, Dipsx5….totaling 150 PS and cumulative 150 Dips….only half-way there.  A PAX suggested we visit the water fountain so the audible led us to tweak the plan.  After a short mosey to hydrate, we knocked out round 2 of above exercises near the museum pond/ledge for a total of 300 PS and 300 Dips….Happy Birthday NOLA!  Wait, there’s more….
    Circle up around the oval pond/ledge for a few rounds of cumulative count exercises in an effort to once again reach 300:
    Round 1 – All PAX hold decline plank position, then in clockwise motion individually knock out a Derkin calling out the count until 100…each PAX did 14-15 in addition to holding a declined plank….lot’s of blood flowing to the head.
    Round 2 – Hold Russian Twist position and go around to 100.  In hindsight, YHC should have called for continuous RT but either way we were sweating.
    Round 3 – Hold inclined plank and go around to 100.
    Mosey back to the flag for COT.  Great way to start the day!
    Tool