F3 New Orleans

Tag: Steve

  • Traditional Scramble With A Few Untraditional Faces

    Sometimes taking a Q is just a way to ensure you actually post to the beatdown, which was the case for YHC and the Scramble yesterday morning.  Luckily, six other men required no such motivation. Well, I say six, but really there were only 5 others until the final minutes of the beatdown.  You can guess which man forgot the start time this morning (but did end up getting in most of the run!).

    Also of note, our favorite bickering couple returned to the fold, Chewy having convinced Ei to come back out of retirement for the seventh time by signing up for a half marathon and all the training that went along with it.

    Alright, warmorama: copperhead squats, good mornings, toe touches, torso twist, arm circles, SSH, all x12 IC

    Then, off on the traditional route.

    It should be on record that Shooter was part of the “gazelle club” on this particular morning, taking the lead with Pik as the rest of the PAX fell behind at a more leisurely pace.

    YHC ran with Demo, who had for some reason decided he wanted to completely annihilate himself before his family vacation: after a long period of inactivity, he posted for Grundy’s grueling cinderblock beatdown the day before, took an 11 mile bike ride that night, and then got up early to do this 5k.  I’m sure his M will be pleased that’s he’s incapacitated for their trip.

    Finally back at the flag, a mysterious figure that we had passed near Sunset Point revealed himself to be none other than the only member of the PAX to successfully be renamed (you don’t count, Jose, as YHC believes you’re still officially “Mourinho” on all legal paperwork).

    On our six, we closed it out with some Mary: Flutter kicks, LBCs, 100s, Hello Dollys, Rosalinas, and crunchy frogs, all x20 IC.

    COT, with announcements to sign up for the upcoming Iron Pax, and Pik prayed us out.  T-claps to Chewy, who stepped up to take Saturday’s Q (I figure if I keep applauding you, Chewy, you’ll be forced to make sure you have a sitter…). Thank you men for posting, for the great conversation, and for the always enjoyable run!

  • When You Gotta Go…

    Mid 70s never felt so humid! How foolish to suppose that a respite from the summertime blues would result from an unseasonably cool beginning to the eighth month of 2019. And speaking of beginnings…

    WARMORAMA

    x10 IC:

    Toe Touches

    Torso Twists

    Imperial Walkers

    SSH

    Windmills

    THANG

    The prescribed scramble route was taken in earnest by the cavalier band of brothers, which included the long lost Pelican! After a near miss early on by a Charger which obviously couldn’t conceive of pre-dawn runners on the streets of it’s neighborhood, the trio of Steve, Cowbell, and the road warrior Waterpik were off to a respectable 8:25 pace. Meanwhile, Pelican and YHC were tangled in conversation over the merits and/or faults of letting females into traditionally all male organizations such as scouts and military.

    Upon exiting Sunset Point, Q’s bowels suddenly reached critical mass! Instructions were quickly proffered for Pelican to lead ISI for the day, as a super-scramble was made to the providentially placed port-o-potties.

    While back at the flag, Waterpik was making Shooter-inspired sweat angles, Steve was making Grundy-inspired form corrections, and Cowbell was having Bushwacker-inspired diarrhea of the mouth…or so YHC could only imagine!

    MARY

    At the exercise area, PAX did LBCs while each man bear crawled across the space and back. Similarly, was Freddy Mercurys/Bunny Hops, and Leg Raises/Duck Walks.

    COUNT/NAME

    Pelican prayed us out and the PAX dispersed to greet the day.

    Thanks for your patience with the Q today guys!

    *Alternate title: I Really Hate to Poop n Run, Guys

  • Granny Clips Coupons

    This past weekend, YHC bumped into a friend, T shirt drenched with sweat, who said he had just come from a Cross fit workout. As my friend recounted the workout to me, I realized I could recycle at least part of this cool beatdown at Granny’s on Tuesday. Or, at least that was the idea. The cross fit workout consisted of a 1 mile run, and 10 sets of the following 3 exercises. 10 thrusters with a 75lb weight., 7 burpees, then 7 pull ups. WOW! That sounds brutal.

    With ISI always in the back stiff, err… the…the back of the mind, YHC added an F3 twist and lots of ISI to the beatdown and here’s what it looked like. The PAX Circled up at shovel flag, firmly planted by Shooter in the gloomy soil at the Mandeville Trailhead. After a brief warmup, it was time for some circuit training. 15 sets of the following:

    5 Thrusters with Coupon (cinder block), then

    run up stairs, then back down and over to bike path for…

    a 15 yard bear crawl, then…

    pop up and mosey over to wooden stage area for 3 box jumps, then mosey back to shovel flag for:

    1 minute plank.

    rinse and repeat, starting w/ thrusters again.

    Just barely got done with all 15 sets to complete ISI for the day. For those of you stiff bastards following along with ISI, we have one more day…

    Thanks guys for following my lead and thanks to Shooter for praying us out!

  • The PAX that ISIs Together Scrambles Together

    YHC noticed 69degrees on the dash in the truck while en route, and had to check the date to make sure this wasn’t a dream. It was a great treat indeed to start off a Thursday morning in July with a scramble in such weather! Cowbell arrived an uncharacteristically 3 minutes early in order to get a jump on his planking for the day. And planking was, in fact, to rule the day.

    WARM

    10 Toe Touches

    10SSH

    1 minute plank

    THANG

    While the PAX ran the regular route, we stopped at 4 designated spots for 1 minute planks, which kept speedsters Steve and Waterpik in their place. Thus, the scramblers scrambled as one! That was, until Waterpik had to peal off to get home, having to be on the southshore by 7. T claps for showing his dedication by showing up even in a time crunch.

    MARY

    You guessed it…another minute of plank. This time followed by 10 burpees just because. We finished up with 3 more minutes for plank.

    COT

    count-off and nameorama, with Q praying out in appreciation.

    Well done gents! Another gloom in the books here on the north shore.

  • Triple coupon Tuesday!!

    YHC decided to return at grandmas with coupons in hand. Upon arrival, I noticed the likes of Steve and Bushwacker chattering it up. T 👏🏻 to Steve for making his return to the PAX after a scare at the Gnarly last Wednesday.. Knowing that Cowbell had missed Monday, YHC anticipated a late arrival by Cowbell as his strict discipline of getting in at least 3 beatdowns for the week crossed my thoughts, which were realized as he rolled in right on time to join the PAX. Today’s beatdown would pay tribute to the AO leader at GMs Chewy who likes to focus more on form and technique rather than speed and rep count.. So let’s get started!

    Warmup

    10IC Good mornings, Toe Touches, Imperial Walkers.

    20IC SSH, Mummy kicks and 1:30 of the daily ISI Plank hold..

    Thang

    PAX had 4 stations 3 involving coupons.

    Station 1: 30 pound Ruck plate with 50 ft of rope..

    Station 2: Tension band

    Station 3: No coupon focus on Core.

    Station 4: Jump rope

    PAX rotated through a series of various exercises controlled by the plate pull.

    Each PAX completed each full cycle..

    Plate pull 100 feet, curls on the tension band, donkey kickoffs for the core and jump rope.

    R/R plate pull, alternating shoulder press on bands, 1:00 Plank hold and R/R jump rope.

    R/R plate pull, Band Squats, 1:00 Plank hold, R/R jump rope.

    R/R plate pull, tricep extensions on bands, mission impossible Plank hold with most holding between 35-45 sec finishing with chill-cut to round out the 1:00, R/R jump rope.

    Eliminating the jump rope we paired up at the end of the corridor. P1 did seated band pulls/plate press while P2 sprinted the corridor completed 3 Burpees and sprinted back. R/R increase to 6 Burpees.. Being the competitive souls in which they are Bushwacker and Cowbell pushed each other to there limits, while Steve graciously modified his swiftness for the YHC as to not embarrass him at his own beatdown.. Flap jacked, so that each PAX cycled through both exercises of bands and plate press twice.

    With 2 mins remaining we circled the flag to close with additional planking leaving those present with only 5 mins left for the ISI on the day..

    Cowbell shared the news about the NOTC hosted event tomorrow in the city and we offered intentions for Grundy as Steve prayed us out..

    Thank you gentlemen for the post and making me become a better version of myself…. Without the shared interest not sure it would be possible..

    Appreciate the commitment and fellowship to start another Gloom with you!!

    Till the next Gloom 👊🏻💪🏻✌🏻!!!

  • Gainfully Employed (and Forgetful)

    Being on my feet over at the salon every day is no easy task and, with the Gnarly Nutria only a day away, it seemed like a good idea to give the legs a rest today.  While that may sound like YHC actually had a plan, make no mistake – this was one of those mornings where you wake up with a funny feeling that you might be the Q and, once verified, that maybe you should’ve checked that out yesterday rather than the morning of. 

    But YHC was in luck – it was a light crowd (thanks Cowbell for posting), and he had the fan-favorite ISI challenge of the month to fall back on. 8 minutes of the beatdown already planned for me! Shouldn’t be too difficult to scrounge together another 37 minutes…

    Warmorama: seal jacks, toe touches, arm circles, hillbillies, butt kicks, SSH, all x20 IC.

    ISI Plank, Part 1: 3 mins.

    Mosey over to the tunnel for a routine: x20 diamond merkins at the base of the tunnel, backpedal up to the top, x15 wide-armed merks, mosey back for x10 diamonds, and backpedal up for a final x5 wide-armed. Rinse and repeat, but with the following: Sister Mary K’s (IC) / monkey humpers (IC), big boy sit-ups / putins (IC).

    ISI Plank, Part 2: 3 mins.

    Mosey back to the trailhead for a quick round of partner suicides / squats. Then, just to make the final round of the ISI challenge a little more fun, over to the benches for a round of Freak Nasties, x20 IC.

    Closed out with a Mary of flutters, Freddie’s, and Dolly’s, all Cowbell-style and all IC x20. COT with Cowbell praying us out before diving into the final two minutes of our ISI.

    Thanks for the opportunity to lead and get my head back in the game!

  • Holy piñata! It’s a tabata plankorama, Batman!

    Five PAX made it out to the Marsh this morning, itching to get back to work after a grueling holiday weekend.  This included a special appearance by (Chief) Captain Sparkles, who posted despite a traumatic rope swing injury suffered while impressing a lady.

    YHC imagines it looked something like this…

    Despite the busted arm, Sparkles suffered through the beatdown admirably, and we’re all hoping that, once healed, this’ll be the start of a Sparklanaissance. Ok, so here’s what went down this morning:

    Warmorama: Arm circles, SSHs, IWs, toe touches, good mornings, all x20 IC.

    Next up, knock out half the ISI with a 2 minute plank.  Shooter got an early start on this, planking as YHC arrived, so t-claps to him for getting a little extra in today. (And while we’re t-clapping, let’s also give it up for Waterpik, who continued his trend of running to the AO’s. At least someone is preparing for the Nutria!)

    Then over to the monkey bars for a tabata series.  We did three 4-minute series of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest.  We alternated between two different exercise each round.

    First round:  merkins / big boy sit-ups

    Second round: squat jumps / burpees

    Third round: hanging knee tucks / mountain climbers

    Next up, a game of Catch Me If You Can: Partner 1 runs toward the lake, P2 does 10 plank jacks and 10 mountain climbers before sprinting to catch up.  Flapjack.

    Once at the lake, we finished up our ISI with another 2 minute plank on the sea wall.

    Since we were there, why not knock out freak nasties, x15 IC?  YHC resisted the (very strong) urge to jump into some Bulgarians…

    And then another Catch Me If You Can back to the marsh, this time with 10x merkins as the exercise.

    Mary consisted of Cowbell Flutters, LBC’s, Freddie’s, and leg raises, all x20 IC.  

    COT, with Shooter praying us out.  This is hands down the best way to start off the work week, so thank you guys for the opportunity to lead, and for your dedication and consistency!

  • Remembrance and admiration to the many!

    As YHC arrived at the Scramble with few expectations of any men posting on this holiday of Independence, the thought of the movie featuring Kevin Costner with the tag line “If you build it they will come.” Through the darkness the Q could see the newly employed hairdresser Steve had already began stretching and preparing for the day. All of sudden as if they had met at a neutral location Wacker, Amnesia and Jose 10k come pulling up together like synchronized swimmers coordinating for a medal push in the Olympic Games.. As we all assemble, the chatter vibrates in the morning air and the sounds of “respect the time” Echo like voices of the far past when Turtle once posted with his F3 brethren.. YHC takes the PAX through a brief warmup of Windmills 10 IC, SSH IC 20, standing ISO quad stretches, lizard pose stretch L/R and Lunge walks across the parking lot..

    Thinking back to a Chewy inspired sprint training, Q gave the tutorial on the 6 landmarks that the PAX would increase to a sprint for 250-300 yards as we moseyed through the streets of ole Mandeville… Bushwacker (Uncle Sam) being the always over achieving (also doing the 4 on the 4th @0730 in Covington) NON runner he sometimes claims to be, could only resist holding back for the first leg of sprints as he so kindly gave the PAX a glimpse of hope that he would not lap the rest of us. Thanks to Steve for saddling up and pushing the 2 year old colt as they both galloped the Scrambles standard route.. Tclaps to Amnesia for posting his 3rd Mandeville AO in as many days off his freshly moved locale to western St Tammany.. Although battling some issues, Jose 10k respectfully posted and persevered through the Scramble and showed his grit as if tackling the trails of the not so distant Ragnar loops he conquered in ATL.. By the way I still have that man shirt for you Wacker!!

    Returned right at 0600 for count, announce and COT!!!

    YHC prayed out the PAX asking them to remember what this day truly means and the sacrifices so many before us gave for us to have this independence! Wacker added by reminding us to also thank those who are not fortunate enough to have this day of rest and celebration as they work to ensure their abilities to simply survive and pay the bills…

    Good luck to all the F3 brethren out there running the 4 on the 4th!!

    God bless this great country and all the men and women who sacrificed to give us our freedom on this Independence Day!!

    👍🏻👊🏻✌🏻 Till the next Gloom!!!

  • Boot, Scoot, and Burpee

    It was F3 Northshore’s own ne’er-present Ocho that EH’d YHC exactly a year ago. The High Impact Men of this group routinely post to support each other and lift each other up, day in and day out. Despite the broken leg and ankle, there was no way YHC was going to give up his anniversary Q and miss out on celebrating this gift of F3. So, with QIC donning a Boot and a Knee Scooter, we got started with a long “warm up”:

    12 x Toe Touches

    12 x Arm Circles

    12 x Gas Pumps

    12 x Putins

    12 x Scissors

    12 x Heels to Heaven

    12 x Air Presses

    12 x Oblique V-Ups

    12 x Little Manny Crunches

    12 x Crunchy Frog

    12 x Freddy Mercuries

    12 x Van Gohdas

    12ish Flutter Kicks

    12 x Morrocan Night Clubs

    12 x Lazy Peter Parkers

    12 x Scorpion Kicks

    12 x LBCs

    12 x Cherry Pickers

    12 x Cherry Pickers

    …and 1 Burpee

    Short scoot toward Mississippi and we circled up for some high rep Mucho Chesto:

    18 x Merkins

    18 x Wide Merkins

    18 x Diamond Merkins

    18 x Stagger Left Merkins

    18 x Stagger Right Merkins

    …followed by 12s. Why 12, and not 11 asks Jose 10k. Because that’s how many screws are in the old kicker, Jose.

    We partnered into groups of 3 and completed Freak Nasties on the Lake Wall and Big Boy Sit Ups on the side walk with 2 Partners carrying the third in between. Grundy and Toto were great sports as they quickly learned that they’d be carrying QIC for each run. Thanks guys!

    Circled up for a Mucho Chesto bonus:

    12 x Military Merkins

    12 x Makhtar N’ Merkins (5 count?, 6 count?…who’s counting?)

    12 x Irkins

    12 x Carolina Drydocks

    12 x Dirkins

    Back to the shovel flag for some Mary:

    Hello Dollies

    Jane Fondas (Left)

    Abrinome

    H2H Freddy Mercuries

    Wife Pleasers (grunted out by Sparky)

    Jane Fondas (Right)

    100s

    …and 1 Burpee

    Counterama; Name-orama; Maverick prayed out the group of 21 PAX. Thanks for following my handicapped lead, men. SYITG.

  • Everybody Partner Up!… Well That’s Not Gonna Work

    Building a workout can sometimes require some pretty big assumptions. Asking yourself how many people will be there by mentally making a checklist of names. Well this Marsh, I didn’t quite make the best assumptions and had a workout in mind that required everyone to partner up for the majority of what I had in mind. With three people there, there had to be a slight change to the initial strategy. What followed was still quite a fun beatdown.

    Steve and Waterpick were at center court and already started to warmup as the Q was 1 minute late (no one gasps in surprise). After we concluded with some traditional warmup sequences I quickly introduced the “proper pushup” which would make an appearance in the next event.

    A proper pushup is when drop into a standard push-up until your chest touches the ground. Make sure your hips stay off the ground, creating a bridge between chest and toes. Stretch both arms out to the side. Bring arms back to push-up position, come up and return to plank.

    This type of merkin ensures that your form stays true on all reps. Cowbell would be pleased.

    First we did a Colonel Trautman. Pair up (or three people pair for us) and one partner runs 20 yards to the pull up bar and do 3 pull ups while the other partner does 5 proper pushups and then holds a plank until their partner returns. And you do as many sets as you can with in the time frame. We did this for 10 minutes.

    Next we did a lazy dora. An estranged and despised relative of Dora 1-2-3. Partner up. Partners perform 100 Merkins, 200 LBCs, & 300 Squats as a team. Here’s the catch…no running. P1 starts with 10 Merkins while P2 planks, then switch. Continue switching between Merkins and plank until 100 total Merkins reached. Next, while P1 does 20 LBCs, P2 performs a 6″ leg hold until P1 is finished, then switch. Continue switching until all 200 LBCs are completed. Finally, P1 does 25 squats while P2 does squat hold, then switch. Continue switching until 300 total squats are completed.

    We continued this sequence with freak nasties to 200 reps.

    We then concluded with 5 minutes of mary, counted off, and Waterpik prayed us out.

    Thanks gentlemen for making sure I was not alone today. Partner exercises alone wouldn’t work at all!

    Until next time,
    Grundy