Tag: Steve

  • Seemed like a good idea at the time…

    YHC had heard that both fall weather and EIEI had returned to the F3 Northshore, so naturally it felt like the right time to make an appearance.  And while neither of those turned out to be true (or were at the very least very premature), it was still a very welcome sight to see the regular crew roll into the Marsh this morning after such a long absence.

    Saturday’s New Orleans convergence marked YHC’s first beatdown in 4 months.  It felt great to be back even though, predictably, there were a few speed bumps: slightly off-cadence, misremembering exercises, and, of course, losing all arm strength about halfway through.  I could barely move the next morning.  Still, when I noticed an empty slot in the Q sign-up yesterday, it seemed like a brilliant idea that my (temporary) return to the Northshore should be marked by my very own Q.

    Brilliant idea indeed – until YHC got up this morning and still couldn’t quite bend over to tie my own shoes.  This beatdown would be a “do as the Q says, not as he does” type of event, with no comments on the Q’s form, please.

    Warm0rama: SSH, ISW, toe touches, windmills, high knees, butt kicks all at or around 20x IC.

    The Thang:

    My original thought was that this entire thing would be filled with AMRAP challenges, which would provide two things: a break from counting cadence that would give me (literal and much-needed) breathing room and also the ability to go at my own pace (again, much needed with this crew of hard-hitting Northshore men).  That didn’t last too long, but we did start with two AMRAP challenges:

    • 90 seconds of hanging knees-to-chest
    • 3 minutes of 8-count bodybuilders

    Somewhere in here, mid-bodybuilder, Bushwacker informs me that, if I didn’t already know, if I hadn’t been keeping up – the beatdowns have taken on a lighter, more playful vibe since the end of the summer… playing football, frisbee, etc.  Touché, Mr. Wacker.  As if 3 minutes of bodybuilders wasn’t fun for you.

    Next up, sprint the block to Marigny, winner foregoes the 20x IC shoulder taps that would follow.  (As expected, the winner – Pik – refused the special treatment and knocked out the shoulder taps with the rest of us.)  Sprint the next block to Girod, Peter Parkers, 20x IC.

    Then a mosey up to the Old Rail parking lot for a pub crawl: 1 derkin, bear crawl across to the opposite curb, 2 derkins, back, 3, and so on, up to a miserable 13.  YHC had done this one a while back in the pouring rain, and had somehow remembered it fondly.  Today it was just awful.  So I can’t really blame Shooter, who was ready to pitch in and book my flight back to L.A.

    Mosey back to the Marsh for some Mary: Leg Raises & Crunchy Frogs, Jane Fonda’s, pulses, heel to knees, all 20x IC.

    Countdown, announcements, and Garfield prayed us out.  Thanks guys for the warm welcome back.  I can’t tell you how much I appreciate being back around such a group of inspiring men.

  • Convergence ’18

    f3nola.com/…/uploads/2018/10/IMG_5366.mov

    In celebration of the 4 year Anniversary of the starting of F3 NOLA,  a Convergence was called at the site where it all started, the Mothership.  PAX from every AO in F3 NOLA; Northshore, Westbank, Kenner, Baton Rouge, Metairie, Mid-City, and Uptown, converged on City Park for a celebration of the past 4 years of Men growing in Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith, and the growth and success that F3 NOLA has experienced during that time.

    Rudy got the party started early with a small group that arrived at 6:30 with a quick 5K Run through City Park; around the Festival Grounds, the Lagoon and back around to meet up with waiting PAX back near the Peristyle.  8 Flags were planted in the ground at the corner of The Great Lawn and the PAX slowly began to gather.  The Detailed Disclaimer(“You can’t sue us”) was given by Triple Shift, and off we moseyed to the large lawn near NOMA.

    The Beat-down was divided into four 15 minute segments, each with a different Q taking an opportunity to lead.  Each Q was selected to represent each of the 4 years of F3’s existence.

    1st Q – Triple Shift – Led off representing the founding group that started F3 NOLA that first year

    2nd Q – Turbo Tax  – represented the 2nd year growth and addition of Northshore PAX to F3 NOLA.

    3rd Q – FracSac – represented the third year and the growth of the Metairie, and Lakeview/Mid City AO’s

    4th Q – Medulla Oblongata – YHC, represented the recent surge and growth Uptown by the recent “HNJ Invasion”

    After a quick mosey to the lawn to the side of NOMA we circled up for the a warm up.

    WARM UP  – In Cadence

    31 – Worlds Slowest, Side Straddle Hops

    10 – 6-Count Burpees

    20 – Imperial Walker Squats

    10 – Abe Vigodas

    10 – Arm Circles – Fwd & Rev

    20 – Plank Jacks

    20 – Peter Parkers

    15 – Merkins

    The Q was passed to Turbo Tax who moved the Pax over to lawn slightly closer to NOMA.  Turbo started off by asking everyone to take off their shirt and create a “Flag” by tucking it in the back of your shorts.  This generated plenty of Mumble chatter among the Pax.

    FLAG GAMES

    2 Minute Flag Games – Your shirt is your Flag, Don’t let it get pulled!

    1st Round – 2 Knee-to-Chest Jumps every time your flag gets pulled, reload and continue  pulling after jumps.

    2nd Round (x2) – Tennis Balls and a Nerf football were added as additional “Ammo”, In addition to Jumps for flag pulls, if hit with the tennis balls – 5 Merkins, hit by the football – 5 Burpees, reload flag and keep going after exercise.

    3rd Round (x2) – Same Rules as 2nd round, but no reload of flag, perform penalty exercise, Plank and wait in place till end.

    4th Round – Trophy Flags – Same rules as Round 3 but Flag puller keeps and collects flags he pulls, Person with the most flags wins.

    Not sure if anyone kept track of the winners but as Turbo Tax said we’re all WINNERS!

    The Q was then passed to FracSac.  We remained in place and lined up along the First Tree Line.

    SUICIDES

    Run to tree 1 and back 5 Burpees

    Run to tree 2 and back 5 Burpees

    Run to tree 3 and back 5 Burpees

    Run to tree 4 and back 5 Burpees

    Burpee Broad Jump to tree 1 and back

    Catalina Wine Mixers IC x 10

    Run to tree 1 and back 5 Merkins

    Run to tree 2 and back 5 Merkins

    Run to tree 3 and back 5 Merkins

    Run to tree 4 and back 5 Merkins

    KimChi lost his Applewatch in the Chaos that was Flag Games so we lined up and Bear crawled to the 4th tree while looking for the watch.  Not found, but later found by KimChi behind the area we bear crawled.  Crisis averted!

    The Q was passed to YHC and we moseyed back to the Great Lawn.

    CONVERGENCE CIRCUIT

    8 stations had been designated around the perimeter of the Great Lawn with a Flag positioned in the Center. Each station was marked with a sheet of paper with the exercise for each station.  The Pax was divided into groups at each station.   The Bobby Hurley station would provide the count of 20 reps,  while every other station did AMRAP of their designated exercise.   At Halt, Everyone ran to middle of lawn to CONVERGE and partner up for 5 Patty Cake Merkins, then rotate clockwise to the next station.  PAX was instructed to pick a different partner each time they returned to the middle between stations.  The stations were:

    Bobby Hurley’s

    Merkins

    Mountain Climbers

    Plank Jacks

    Low Slow Squats

    Jump Lunges

    Dips

    Monkey Humpers – (by the street, of course)

    One round was completed and time was getting short so we circled up for some quick Mary

    2 MINUTES OF MARY

    Dying Cock Roach IC x 20

    Wife Pleasers IC x 20

    We are done!

    COT

    Circle up for Count-O-Rama – 66 PAX!!,  Name-O-Rama 3 FNG!!

    FNG’s Named – Welcome to Blanks, Chalk Talk, and Green Screen!!

    Bring it in tight for a Sweaty Ball of Man!!  Butt Splice finished it up with a prayer.

    NMM

    We moseyed over to Morning Call  where a awesome spread of food awaited us.   Spinach Mushroom Egg Scramble, Bacon, Pork Loin, Bananas, Croissants, Bottled Water, and Iced Coffee.  Mike as usual took great care of us with plates and napkins and great service.  Rudy presented Mike with his honorary membership and a blue F3 NOLA shirt.   Some great F2 went down as we ate and drank our fill.  Big thank you to all who made it out for this awesome beat-down in the park.  Big thank you to everyone who organized and provided the food and drinks we enjoyed.  Finally, big thanks to Woz for documenting the whole event with pictures and video.   I know, I  speak for all the Q’s when I say, it was a pleasure to lead as always, and thanks for the opportunity to lead this great PAX.

    Hope to see everyone and more next year!!  SYITG!!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • 49 +1 =

    To celebrate becoming worthy of respect, YHC took the Q on his birthday.   After a questionable disclaimer we headed out.  The thang – 15 minutes out and back down Bayou St. John. returning to the track for speed work.    YHC had the pleasure of running alongside GRT IronHorse from Jacksonville Fla.  Some of the PAX were a bit tardy on the return so there was ample time for planking. Next on the agenda was speed work.   We did a total of 10 50 yard sprints across the football field with very little rest between the last 2 rounds.  Fairly gassed we returned to the shovel flag for 49 flutter kicks as YHC didn’t technically become worthy of respect until later in the day.   We closed with a count,  name-o-rama, intentions and a prayer.   YHC is thankful to have F3 and certainly a better man because of it.

  • Obstacle Course on the Mandeville Lakefront

    The idea was simple: raid my junk filled garage to come up with some objects to create an obstacle course on the Mandeville Lakefront for the Saturday morning beatdown.  Here’s how it went, more or less.

    Short warm up, then mosey down the Lakefront to the large grassy area for some fun.  (at least that was the original idea)

    PAX lines up behind a set of cones while one man at a time starts running the course.   When one man finishes the first obstacle, the next man goes until everyone is on the course.  The first obstacle was hurtles (2 ice chests and a wagon). Second obstacle…I took the net off of my son’s field hockey goal.  It was perfect to crawl under, or you could pretend you were sliding head first into second base.  PAX moves on to third station.  And on, and on it went.  There were a total of 7 stations. Before moving on to the next station, each man had to complete an exercise.  Here’s a flavor of the exercises we completed: merkins, hello dollys, flutter kicks, Steve’s groiners, burpees, putins, squats, jump squats, sister mary katherines, etc.  After 8 grueling trips through the obstacle course, time was up.  It was time to…

    mosey back to flag for announcements, countarama, and thanks to Maverick for praying us out.

    thanks for letting me lead today, men.  and thanks for helping me become a better version of myself.

    Waterpik

  • Steve’s last hurrah

    6 pax met up at the mandeville TH to celebrate good ol’ Steve’s last workout until October.

    The thang:

    warm up on the stage with a series of scapular stability exercises to counteract the plethora of merkins some of the pax have been pounding out.

    mosey through the woods to the underpass

    jane Fonda’s for glute activation

    BLIMPS

    burpees x 10

    stop motion lunges x 15

    imperial walkers x 20 IC

    Merkins 3 count x 10

    Plank jacks x 25

    squats x 30

    mosey back to Flag for 5 min of Mary led by Steve.

    COT, nameorama, prayer.

    Best of luck in Hollywood Steve, we will see you in October man!

    -Chewy

     

  • Fear Does Not Exist In This Dojo

    Except maybe when it comes to 10k merkins in a month.  And with approximately 6660 merkins bearing down on us ISI challengers for the remainder of the month, it was really no surprise what would be on today’s menu.  YHC would try to alter the flavor slightly, but whether it’s in the form of Bushwacker-sans’ Deck o’ Death (416 straight), or Maverick-sans’ Mucho Chesto Extravaganza (200+ spread over the course of an hour), it all ultimately goes down the same (with a lot of grunting and groaning).  

    Paint The Fence: GWs, Toe Touches, Imperial Squat Walkers, Windmills, SSHs, Seal Jacks.

    Wax on, Wax Off: Time to leave the premises.  PAX would be running 5 blocks to the lakefront, alternating between 2 exercises at each intersection: 25x merkins / 40x IC flutter kicks.  Who knew it’d be the flutter kicks that got us?

    Sweep The Leg:  Once to the lakefront, lunge walk to the sea wall.  Gusty winds and crashing waves gave this beatdown some much-needed gravitas, as we stood  atop the wall to do calf raises (40x IC).  Even though it was a dicey proposition considering the balance issues YHC was having with the calf raises, we elected to stay atop the sea wall for Jump Squats, x20.  No one pulled a Waterboy and jumped in.  “Balance good, everything good.  Balance bad, better pack up and go home.”  Then Knee-Ups (each leg, 15x), Bulgarians (each leg 15x), and finally some Monkey Humpers to finish off the leg portion of this beatdown.

    No Mercy: Next up, a merkin/groiner combo.  Ascending first (up to 5 merks / 5 groaners) and then back down.  

    Going Home In A Body Bag: And finally, that’s right, we returned the way we came – alternating between 25 merkins and 40 flutters at each intersection.  T-claps to Pik, who’s nursing a couple injuries and somehow made it through unscathed. A minute late but finished with the COT, Pik prayed us out.

    As you can probably tell, this was a retroactively-themed beatdown.  Maybe one day I’ll prepare a bit more and pick up where Grundy-san left off with his well-thought out movie themed beatdown.  But for now, this’ll have to do.  Thanks guys, sincerely, for coming out and for the opportunity to lead.  Not just today but for the past year and a half.  It’s gonna be tough not having this group of guys to lean on for support for the next few months.  I won’t get too sappy, but let’s just say that going back to the days of sad clown workouts will indeed be… sad.   You guys will be missed.

    But I’ll see you men in October, hopefully in time for the Northshore Half.  Until then… sayonara, gents.

  • F3 TOUGH 2 TOUGH

    Warmarama

    26 Side straddle hops

    The Thang

    Start off with 50 Merkins
    20 times up and down stairs
    35 Merkins
    20 times up and down stairs
    15 Merkins
    26 times up and down stairs
    Water break
    20 times up and down stairs

    Total 100 Merkins
    86 times up & down stairs
    Equaling 110 floors
    Or 2071 steps
    Complete in approximately 50 min.

    COT

  • Merk Fest

    As a late entry to this month’s team edition ISI, there was a need to start strong. Though truth be told, I had been eying this beat down for a few weeks now.

    WARM UP

    20xs IC:

    Windmills

    Imperial Walkers

    THANG

    Deck O Death merkin style –  J-11, Q-12, K-13, A-14

    416 merks in da books

    Round 2 – LBCs – no count kept, but we only made it through about 1/3 of the deck.

    Grundy is still getting hate

    Shooter put Lake Cooley on da map

    and now we know why Steve is an out of work hair dresser

    Thanks to the Editor-and-Chief for praying us out

    GO TEAM EI!

  • Little Humid Today?

    yes… I saw the Gipper statue whip out his hankie and wipe the brow of his over-sized head
    Guess the cool mornings are gone for the next five months or so.

    Anyways, it was still a good day to run all-over downtown Covington.
    and it went like so…

    short disclaimer …

    warmup
    all 20xIC; side straddle hops,good-mornings,lunges,imperial walkers,toe touches,hillbillys,arm circles,high knees

    mosey a few blocks down towards the Bogu Falaya, to Keith’s gravel road with a hill
    buttkicks,then sprint up the hill, walk back
    high knees,then sprint up the hill, walk back
    lunges, then sprint up the hill, walk back
    squats, then sprint up the hill

    mosey a few blocks to the back parking lot of the Taj Mahal
    line up for stops and starts;
    buttkicks, run up 2 parking spaces, back peddle 2, repeat for 4,6 8 spaces
    high knees, run up 2 parking spaces, back peddle 2, repeat for 4,6 8 spaces
    lunges, run up 2 parking spaces, back peddle 2, repeat for 4,6 8 spaces
    squats, run up 2 parking spaces, back peddle 2, repeat for 4,6 8 spaces

    mosey to the front of the Taj Mahal
    break up into two teams of three, one team holds in wall-chair position while the other team runs around Taj. Repeat

    mosey back to the trail head
    one minute of merkins

    count-o-rama, announcements; Moby in for eye surgery next week,
    “I was spottin those raccoons…” ‘They were mailboxes, you idiot. I didn’t have the heart to tell you.” ~~George Costanza and Jerry Seinfeld in “The Glasses”

    Maverick leads us out with prayer.

    Thanks guys, for another enjoyable start to the day.

  • Someone get that man a pump!

    The Scramble began with upper 70s and what felt like 100 percent humidity. One could break a sweat by merely walking to the flag. With YHC in pursuit of the ISI challenge for the month, profuse sweating should count for .1 or .2 maybe in the ever tight race between south shores Fracsac and I. However, caps off to you Fracsac as the Q was reminded by Steve that you indeed would be Qing as well in this Gloom. So, I humbly accept 2nd place for the ISI in May and don’t plan on calling for a recount of sorts. Unless my legal counsel finds flaws in the reporting system of sorts and believes there to be merit in such a decision.. Congrats!

    Enough of that, so 4 men decided to embrace the heavy Gloom with the YHC. We started out with a warmup of 20 IC Windmills, 20 IC Good mornings and alternating lunge twist for about 50 feet. We start into the run with Chewy quickly noticing the flat of another mans shoe hissing out air as we begin. Appears Choppa has sprung a flat, which Pelican responds with remembrance of the old Reebok pump up shoes “Just pump it up!” YHC decided to mix up the standard routine and incorporate some sprints along the way. Q would call out a land mark at which point the PAX would quickly accelerate for 10 long strides then backdown to Mosey. This took place throughout our run. I am not sure of the total amount of burst we completed but the end proved to be very taxing. After we passed a little beyond the halfway mark returning off sunset pier we paused for some core work 25 IC LBCs, 25 IC Flutter kicks and 15 IC Alternating elbow to opposite knee crunches (left/right). Returned back to Mosey till completion. Once back at the AO took in some more core. Elbow plank, left/right elbow plank, alternating leg wife pleasers and regular wife pleasers wrapped up with Nolan Ryan’s left/right.

    Count off, announcements and COT

    Appreciate Pelican for praying us out!

    ✌🏼 till the next post!