F3 New Orleans

Tag: The Stage

  • The Prayer of Pain – from Cardinal

    We find ourselves in the season of Lent, where people tend to try to recommit to focusing on the spiritual side of things. YHC, being a Catholic priest, sees it often and often hears the question of feeling like you don’t know how to pray. Some have said the psalms are a great place to start, because it’s essentially a prayer book in the Bible. YHC would agree with that “some,” because it’s the psalms that first brought him deeper into a relationship with God. (Sky Q? Nah.) So a beatdown based on the psalms was devised that would prove to be less prayerful and more painful…

    A standard fare Warmorama was had, including imperial walkers, side straddle hops, arm circles and cherry pickers, high knees and butt kicks, and some self-love. First lesson of prayer – let go of expectations (like you HAVE to start with SSH) and be open to what God has to say.

    YHC crafted a playlist of songs based on several of the psalms. Each song was paired with an exercise, with the psalm’s number of reps having to be completed before the song finished. (So for example, the song based on Psalm 139 would require 139 squats to be completed in the duration of the song.) The PAX didn’t know how long the songs were, so it was a guess as to how much time you had to finish it. Numbers were pulled at random to really let God have the final say.

    The PAX had enough time for 5 songs, which were as follows:
    1. Psalm 46 – 8-count body builders
    2. Psalm 57 – Burpees
    3. Psalm 98 – Big boys
    4. Psalm 84 – hand-release merkins
    5. Psalm 16 – 15-yard-choice of crab walk or bear crawl

    A couple of observations…
    1. The plank jack in the 8-count makes a HUGE difference. The burpees after that felt like a breeeeezeeeeeeeeee….mostly…until the second half…
    2. YHC wasn’t entirely confident that he had matched the exercises with the rep count and timing that well, but the PAX handled it like champs. They dug into it with everything they had, and it was really a sight to behold. Many were able to complete most of them. But whether you finished it or not, it was clear they were pushing through without holding back. I could really give the Animal (who’s got that again??) to any of them.
    3. That drive also kept chatter to a minimum.
    4. YHC can’t count to above 20 to save his life.
    5. The last bear crawl, YHC witnessed a bear crawl race…AB’s bear crawl is really a sight to behold.

    In between each song, we had a couple 10-counts and a recovery lap to prep us for the next one.

    We finished with a light penalty for those who didn’t complete any (mercy, right?? SSH vs calf raises) and then a couple minutes of MARY to close us out.

    COT and Paradox prayed us out.

    Grateful to the PAX for pushing through this morning. One of them commented “Prayer, fasting, almsgiving…and pain, the 4th pillar of Lent.” Praying with the pain, with the hard stuff, even if it feels fruitless in the moment, is some of the most fruitful experiences of prayer I’ve ever had. When we keep giving everything, whether we feel like we’re failing or not, God can do incredible things. Keep pushing through, brothers, relying not on your own strength or measure of success but on His.

    “Lord of hosts, you’re with us
    With us in the fire
    With us as a shelter
    With us in the storm.

    You will lead us
    Through the fiercest battle
    Oh, where else would we go?
    But with the Lord of Hosts.”

    SYITG,

    Cardinal

  • “Hey, Goose, You Big Stud!” – from Yankee Joe

    Over the past few weeks, the PAX has been playing regular season games while its Coach is sidelined for negligence around a sign-stealing scandal.

    Wait…that doesn’t sound right. Rufus, where the hell did you get this information from? Seriously? You let that baked bean loving cousin of yours tell you what to write? How many times do I have to tell you…Duke, is not a part of our Blast productions. And while we’re on the topic, you can tell that mutt and his lackey to roll their amateur footage all the way back to St. Johns.

    I’m sorry. It’s not you. I’ve been under a lot of pressure. In the past month, my profession, my coffee, and my smirk have all been called into question. I’m not sure who I am anymore, and the scorn is flowing like Goldilox (where has that guy been, by the way?).

    Ok, so over the past few weeks, the PAX has been posting without its tactle…I mean fearless leader in attendance. It has been a season of growth for the PAX, both in numbers and in identity. With Ponzi and Tidy Whity back in the mix, along with White Meat coming in hawt and staying hawt, the energy of beatdowns is palpable, not to mention the chatter quality has really found a new level.

    But no matter how many FNG’s show up, or how creative the beatdowns get, or to what extent Pope smokes the rest of us in…well everything, nothing but nothing can replace Montana. I guess he wasn’t really ‘carrying the boats’ after all.

    RUFUS! DUDE, C’mon! Please try to treat this more seriously than Popeye doing bonnie blair’s.

    Alright…Nothing but nothing can replace the energy and poise brought by Goose. And yet, while his absence creates a gaping abyss for Paradox to talk about pre-order lady cut t- shirts (“Bruhh, so the sport-tek is def superior to the tri-blend, no question.”), we can easily forget about Goose’s path to recovery. His faith unrelenting, Goose reminds us that God has a plan. Of course, that doesn’t make some of the turns any less dark.

    As such, YHC thought it might be a honkin’ good time to share in Goose’s recovery plan. So, YHC pulled up to a Tuesday Tuff expecting (hoping for) a deluge. A torrential downpour would have turned a regular session of pain into a morning full of dirty, sloppy suffering…a type of glory known only by the protectors of Helm’s Deep and Andy Dufresne. Alas, the bad weather would hold off, which is just as well. BAPS does not like to get his little knobs wet…it makes him feel all shorted out.

    By 5:15, a PAX of 8 began – that is once we waited for Paradox to finish an anecdote about something…probably another story about the trials of playing middle school football in Homer. We ran the normal warmarama. Cadence all over the place and YHC often forgot to count because he was too busy running his mouth…probably telling another story about the trials of going to middle school in the 1940’s.
    ————————————-

    The Thang

    If you’ve posted with Goose enough, you know he has a lukewarm relationship with Dora 1-2-3. Even so, YHC can’t think of a thang that is more Goose-like than:

    a) doing hard ascending exercises in increments of 100,
    b) alternating with some awful form of transport (typically leg heavy), and
    c) experiencing all of the suffering with the support of a partner.

    For this morning, we would take on a Dora 1-2-3 pyramid. The ascension/descension (reps of 100, 200, 300, 200, 100) represented Goose’s path to healing. Like any physical recovery, going up and down, the rehab is sometimes seemingly impossible, sometimes surprisingly productive.

    For each transport, we emulated Goose’s progress beginning with zombie crawls and working our way up through spiderman crawls, bear crawls, flying nuns, and finally, full-out sprints around the track. By the end, the PAX would slowly and painfully work through the pyramid to achieve Goose’s full recovery, 100 Goosie’s with full sprint as transport.
    ——————————————

    It went a little something like this…

    100 burpees – switched out for jump squats in what might be the most brilliant audible in YHC’s F3 tenure (that’s right, I said tenure)

    P1 – Zombie crawl to marker, mosey back
    P2 – Jump squats
    Flapjack

    Observations:

    YHC has called on the Zombie Crawl on several occasions as a Q. For whatever reason, it ALWAYS creates havoc, leading to debate among the mutineers about what the proper form looked like. For the purposes of posterity, let’s get this settled…let those who have ears hear, those who have bad form repent.

    The Zombie Crawl is NOT an Army Crawl. The latter requires leg movement, while the former requires your entire lower body to be dragged. As posited this morning, the Zombie Crawl can include full extension of the arms. However, doing so would basically be a mobile version of Paradox’s hip dip cobra thrust he tries to pass off as a merkin. Rather, YHC believes the Zombie Crawl should be a chilcutt (elbow) plank position, while pulling a lifeless lower body…you know…basically America’s Best’s whole experience in having YHC as a partner.

    ———————————————

    200 J-Lo’s 1:1

    P1 – spiderman crawl to marker, mosey back
    P2 – J-Lo’s
    Flapjack

    Observations:

    These are so much harder than I remembered from the Lil’ Cuz Peltch beatdown around the track. Not surprisingly, Lil’ Cuz is really good at these. At this point, any real chatter began to die off. The soundtrack at this point, the “Affirmative Goose” playlist was leaning into “Glory of Love” and “Hell’s Bells.” The morning seemed to be getting darker.

    ————————————————

    300 merkins

    P1 – bear crawl to marker, mosey back
    P2 – J-Lo’s
    Flapjack

    Observations:

    America’s Best inadvertently found himself partnered with YHC for the beatdown. Having apparently drawn the short straw, he was magnanimous in his patience with YHC’s woeful merkin count each round. I don’t know how he did it. I mean, he’s a specimen sure, but my man was turning out reps like Tana in Slidell on a Tuesday with McCallister’s in tow.

    Appropriately, the Rocky IV training montage was playing at this point. Pope thought it was theme music from a Wii game (Goose you need to address that). The morning was irrelevant. By now, time was just a construct. 10 minutes left or 20 minutes, it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except for the next rep.
    ——————————————–

    200 leg raises

    P1 – flying nuns to marker, mosey back
    P2 – merkins
    Flapjack

    Observations:

    By this time, it was clear that the YHC/AB team had fallen behind. This was not really surprising in regards to the HoneyValve.com duo, but suspicions about questionable form were beginning to creep into YHC’s mind, only confirmed by AB whispering slanderous accusations.

    Now, from time to time, YHC has been known to throw an accusation or two around concerning bad form. NOT today, however. If the form police had been on site, YHC would have been brought up on felony charges, doomed to a life of peddling cigarettes and contraband posters of Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe, and Raquel Welch. We got a nice little upbeat interlude with Jurrassic 5’s “What’s Golden,” but nobody cared. There was nothing to care about. Life had lost its meaning. Salt had lost its taste. Enron had lost his sarcasm.
    —————————————

    100 Goosies

    P1 – sprint around track
    P2 – Goosies
    Flapjack

    Observations:

    YHC had no observations. Each sprint around the track was…well not a sprint. YHC was beyond regretting most of his life choices. Jefferson Airplane serenaded us to an anthem of urban development (can’t help but think this would be a great trivia question), followed by ‘Come Sail Away’ by Styx. The Stage had faded to black.

    Having repped, crawled, and ran our way through Goose’s recovery, we finished with the only thing YHC felt would be appropriate for a man that has designed multiple versions of Burpeepalooza. We did full out Burpees AMRAP for the last minute.

    COT, Paradox talked about pre-order t-shirts for 23 minutes, and Safety Valve prayed us out.

    It’s obvious that the PAX is not complete without you, Goose. That said, every beatdown, every individual posting, every ridiculous bout of mumblechatter, and every obnoxious accounting of proper form is a testament to your legacy and the incredible gift you offered us by bringing F3 to Thibodaux.

    Opportunities to lead are precious. I don’t take them for granted.

    SYITG,

    Yankee Jeaux

    Epilogue:

    As we neared the end, I realized, to my amazement, that other teams had not only finished, BUT were starting the regimen all over again. So inspiring was this achievement that I was snapped out of the darkness. Upon finishing my last lap – being the very last one to finish – a sense of gratitude welled up inside of me. In that nanosecond, I got a glimpse of what real servant leadership looks like. Mannn…this F3 stuff…am I right?

  • Plain and Simple – from Superfun(d)

    Pax: Yankee Jeaux, Paradox, Cardinal, Pope, Wet Tap, Popeye, America’s Best, White Meat, Lil Cuz

    Since I’m not as creative and poetic as Yankee Jeaux or Paradox, I will keep this back blast simple, just like the beatdown. But, YHC knew it was going to be a good beatdown when the douche wagon pulled up.

    Warmups
    – SSH
    – Arm Circles
    – Cherry Pickers
    – Imperial Walkers
    – Grass Grabbers with the Clap
    – Mountain Climbers

    Thang 1: Merica’s favorite exercise, Merkins!

    Each Pax had their own deck of cards. Each card you pulled represented how many merkins you did. K, Q, J, and 10s were 10 merkins each. 9 = 9 merkins and so forth. Since I’m a gracious Q, Aces were worth only 1 instead of 11. YHC called time since I didn’t hear anymore mumble chatter and the pecs were on fire. If you were able to finish the deck, it would be 340 merkins. Moseyed to stop sign and back.

    Thang 2: Groucho Mile

    Everybody partnered up. Partner 1 performed Grouchos (squat then turn 180 then repeat) while partner 2 did 5 War World 1 sits up. Once partner 2 was finished, he would mosey up to Partner 1 and swap. We had only completed ~.5 of a mile when time was called. We moseyed back to the stage where we did 1 MOM – flutter kicks and LBCs.

    COT and Dox prayed us out. Thank y’all for coming out to support my yearly Q. The fitness, fellowship, and faith is powerful in our group, and I greatly appreciate the F3 PAX.

    See y’all in 2025,
    SuperFun(d)

  • The Circuit – from Safety Valve

    After Coyote’s inspiring Q on Saturday, YHC thought it was time to get the PAX back into the running game to kick off the last week of RCR.

    Warmaramma
    SSH
    Mountain climbers
    Imperial walkers
    Willie Mays Hayes
    Arm circles forward and back
    Cherry pickers

    Thang
    Today was all about F1, none of this F3 stuff. If unfamiliar, F1 is the premier international sport racing event. Each team in F1 has two cars that race and a pit crew. Everyone is trying to win the race, but most teams have a single driver that is faster and a support driver that helps the faster driver win. Ultimately, it is a team sport. During our F1 circuit this morning we had 3 teams (one thruple) that would work together to try to win the race. The circuit consisted of several rounds of buy ins (pit stops) prior to completing a 1/3 mile run. The point is to complete the buy in/pit stop quickly in order to get more miles in.

    To make it interesting, once every 3 laps around, each team could tag another racer while on the circuit and that racer had to drop and do 5 burpees and be slowed down. Once every 3 laps, each team could also choose one racer to skip the buy in/pit stop and just keep running through to the next lap. Used wisely, these could change the outcome of the race.

    Formation lap – 1/3 mile run to get everyone familiar with the circuit

    Round 1
    Buy in – 5 burpees, 20 big boys, 20 merkins

    1/3 mile run

    Round 2
    Buy in – 10 jump squats, 20 LBCs, 20 hand release merkins

    1/3 mile run

    Round 3
    Buy in – 15 star jumps, 20 V ups, 20 shoulder tap merkins

    1/3 mile run

    Round 4
    Buy in – 5 burpees, 20 big boys, 20 merkins.

    1/3 mile run

    Round 5
    Buy in – 10 jump squats, 20 LBCs, 20 hand release merkins

    1/3 mile run

    Round 6
    Buy in – 15 star jumps, 20 V ups, 20 shoulder tap merkins

    1/3 mile run

    Round 7
    Buy in – 5 burpees, 20 big boys, 20 merkins.

    1/3 mile run

    Round 8
    Buy in – 10 jump squats, 20 LBCs, 20 hand release merkins

    1/3 mile run

    Round 9
    Buy in – 15 star jumps, 20 V ups, 20 shoulder tap merkins

    1/3 mile run

    This got us to 6:00 and Cot commenced. Animal was bestowed upon Tidy for his never give up attitude and the inVESTment was given to Pope for his running prowess. Announcements and intentions were lifted up. Dox prayed us out.

    Side note:
    F1 sucks. The other 2 Fs are definitely needed. Without building our faith and without the brotherhood, YHC would have stopped coming after the first posting. Grateful for all that this group has given- the time, the chatter, the support, the strength to push more than we think we can. Thanks for showing up. It’s always a pleasure to lead.

  • Ease the Knees, Flex the Pecs – from Goose

    Having tweaked the spine somethin’ fierce last week, YHC is pretty much limited to merkins, and a few arm movements, which was conveniently similar to the PAX who ran in It’s Only A Mile on Saturday. So, YHC decided not to relinquish the Q, but offer a clinic in stretching while also completely burning out the one muscle group least used on Saturday. It was time to loosen the legs and challenge the chest; ease the knees and flex the pecs; salve the calves and test the breasts. Know’m sayin’.

    Warmup: Imperial Walkers (cuz that’s all YHC could handle, and we’d be stretching the legs nicely for the rest of the beatdown), AC both ways x20, Cherry Pickers x15, Lafayette Night Clubs x15, and Self-Love x20 to get the upper body nice and loose. It wouldn’t be enough.

    The Thang for the duration of the workout would be a Tabata style, AMRAP/stretch routine consting of 30 seconds of stretching (x2 of each) followed by 30 seconds of a given merkin variety AMRAP. If the stretch was one leg at a time, or one arm at a time, we’d alternate two types of merkins since there would be four rounds of merkins altogether for that one stretch (each limb needing to be stretched twice, you see).

    It went like this (all x2):

    -Feet together, touch toes; regular merkins
    -Quad stretch; Werkins and Diamond merkins
    -Calf stretch on the curb; staggered merkins w/one hand up on the curb (2 L, 2R)
    -Butterfly groin stretch; Ranger Merkins
    -Butt/IT stretch (laying down, pull knee to opposite shoulder); Hand-release merkins and Shoulder-tap merkins
    -Ab stretch (on elbows, up like a cobra); Peter Parker Merkins
    -Tricep stretch (against a post); Irkins and Derkins on the Stage wall
    -Chest stretch (between posts); Carolina Dry Docks

    The stretches were deeply welcomed by all, but the merkins quickly became something to be dreaded as the timer ticked loudly toward another round, and chatter was at a minimum. By the time the Derkins were upon us, the bird poop on our resting faces didn’t seem so bad. And, the Carolina Dry Docks had YHC thinking we need to EH a dentist soon if we’re gonna keep declining on dead arms.

    YHC was impressed by Popeye and Yankee Joe posting after such a grueling feat of endurance on Saturday (Pope, too, but he didn’t really have a choice). And, it was great to have Safety Valve with us again–nobody quite matches the smiling-while-complaining wit of our very own 16-year-old surgeon.

    We never left the stage area, and we never ran, but we heated up nicely in the cold weather, and the fire that burned in our chests warmed the cockles of our innerds as we circled up, grateful for another fulfilling experience of shared suffering. COT and YJ prayed us out

    N.B. The neighborhood has been given yet another reason to put forth (almost) 0 FNG’s during YHC’s tenure here–the tricep stretch had us leaning against various posts on the stage like a 90’s boy band right before walking over to the half wall for some manly irkins. They don’t know what they’re missing.

  • Bountiful – from Goose

    YHC purposely avoided posting any hype last night given the pattern of Monday Q’s that have resulted in slim pickin’s at The Stage. And, though the numbers were still low (correlation is not necessarily causation!), the two PAX who showed (besides Pope) were of the highest quality. Cardinal fell for the trap (he thought YJ was Q-ing) and Wet Tap ain’t skerred. So, though the numbers weren’t bountiful, the beatdown would be.

    After a warmup of the usuals and a bumper, stop sign mosey, YHC revealed the cardboard with a list of exercises written hastily scrawled upon it. Inspiration came from Enron’s recent, epic Q that brought a full-body exercise combined with mucho miles. This time, though, instead of 30 reps of each exercise, we’d do 40, and instead of the alphabet, the exercises’ first letters spelled out “BOUNTIFUL GRACES”, and instead of a 1/8 mile lap, we ran the 1/4 mile bumper/stop sign/stage lap after each exercise.

    Bose’ started cranking the tunage, and it was every man for himself, though high-fives and encouraging grunts were given and received in abundance as we passed one another on the road. Pope stayed either just behind or just ahead of YHC, like a two-year-old puppy running circles around an older, stiffer, heavier, out-of-breath dog. (I swear, he bounces down the road like his legs are made of rubber. Very light rubber.)

    Here’s the exercise list–40 reps apiece:
    BBSU
    Overhead press (no coupon)
    Uh-no’s (just Ono’s–couldn’t find a better U exercise that Enron hadn’t already used)
    No-cheat Merkins
    Tricep Dips
    Imperial Walkers (2:1)
    Freddy’s (2:1)
    Upside Down Angels (Australian Sweat Angels)
    Lunges (1:1)
    Groiners (oof)
    Russian Twists (aka American Hammers) (2:1)
    American Hammers (aka Russian Twists) (2:1)
    Crab Cakes (2:1)
    Ex-wings (1:1)
    Squats

    YHC and Pope only got through R, and Tap and Card weren’t far behind. So, we worked dem muscles and logged about 3 miles apiece (thankfully, we were 3:1 Thibby to JV).
    The Bountiful Graces theme came from a revelation (or reminder) last night that God doesn’t usually take away the things that are going wrong, that cause us pain and unjust expense of energy, but if we can entrust those to him and stop being so focused on how unjust it all is, there are bountiful graces to be received. There are truly beautiful gifts to be received if we let go of how things should be. And, that’s the mindset that makes F3 work so well. Yeah, it brings with it way more pain and unjust expense of energy than anyone should have to shell out at 5:15 in the morning, but the graces are obviously bountiful; no one can argue with that. And, the more we let go of how things ought to be, the more we can rejoice in them!

    Announcements and excitement building for Saturday’s “It’s only just a little old mile”. COT and Tap prayed us out. Huge respect and appreciation for these dudes!

    SYITG,
    Goose

  • Weight it out – from Wet Tap

    2-5-24
    the Stage

    After a heavy cardio Saturday, how could YHC rekindle the PAX’s attention on the importance of a well rounded approach to health and fitness? One can become preoccupied with one or the other. The delicate balance is a dish served cold, and wet, and possibly in the early morning gloom.

    Warmarama was performed in typical fashion. Heavy emphasis on leg stretch with the obligatory arm circles and CP’s.

    YHC told the pax that a mile run was in store to warm up as well. Everyone headed to the starting line with the usual ho-hum silent chatter. Paradox and YJ most probably rolled over to the sound of silence with an anxious heart much the way one wakes to a night terror.

    YHC’s kicker was the backed in truck subtly awaiting with a fresh coupon. “Black Betty” was introduced to the PAX and she expressed her raging desire to accompany the PAX on this mile mosey. To those who failed to show, Black Betty is a heavy punching bag that tips the scale somewhere between 50-70 lbs depending on her water weight.
    The mile mosey with Black Betty was exhilarating, with each PAX getting to know her personally. She was passed along at each light post like a classic Eyes wide Shut movie.

    Back at the Stage, more COUS were revealed and a barrage of exercises were unleashed.

    Partner up for some fun.
    Partner 1 performs exercise while partner 2 takes a victory lap. The ol’ switcheroo between partners to reach the count goal.

    Station 1: 100#sandbag
    100 squats
    100 chest press

    Station 2:
    100 box jumps

    Station 3: 50# sandbag
    100 thrusters
    200 curls

    Station 4: “Black Betty”
    100 yd lungewalk.

    Time was against us and 06:00 was upon us just as we got in our groove. Thankfully.

    COT and prayers by Cardinal.

    Thank you to all who put up with this Insanity!

  • 7-11 – from Safety Valve

    The iconic convenience store 7-11 has many similarities to our own 7s and 11s workouts. Always available, usually easy to find and come up with, and can get a multitude of things in a very quick visit. Since most of F3 thibodaux has come to expect some sort of cardio running Q from YHC, things had to be shaken up. How can YHC build a workout that we run or nur for 2 miles while not seeming like we are actually running? 7-11 is the answer.

    Warmaramma
    SSH
    Imperial walkers
    Toy soldiers
    Willy Mae’s Hayes
    Arm circle forward and back
    Cherry pickers

    7s
    Man makers and merkins
    Nur as the mode of transport

    Recovery mosey around the track.

    11s
    Coupon press and jump squats
    Run as the mode of transport

    Recovery mosey around the track.

    7s
    Thrusters and LBCs
    Nur as the mode of transport

    Recovery mosey around the track.

    11s
    Curls and Burpees
    Run as the mode of transport

    This circuit brought us to end right at 6am. COT, intentions and Wet tap prayed us out. Goose VESTED YHC for the no skimp thruster form.

    Final thoughts:
    Often, we start getting comfortable with things in life. Comfort does not allow for growth. As Goose puts it “we do not deserve comfort!” Most recent beatdowns have excluded coupon work, and YHC has been enjoying the body weight and running side of life. It’s easier for me. In the earlier stages in F3 Thibodaux, YHC quickly found that thrusters and man makers were not his jam. They were tough, and at one point YHC said he would never incorporate those into any of his Q workouts. Well… that’s because YHC was soft then. F3 Thibodaux has since made me want that uncomfortable feeling because I know that’s when growth happens. Whether physical, emotional, or spiritual we have to go through those difficult times to learn about ourselves and overcome the struggle. So, keep struggling because it means good things will come out of it in the end. Great to lead this group. Thanks for showing up and working hard.

  • Pardon the Interruption – from Honeysuckle

    On an unseasonably warm Tuesday Tuff morning, YHC arrived early to the Stage only to find Goose and Pope already waiting. So the fact that there were some exercises written down on paper was not going to be a surprise to them. But Jankee Joe, Safety Valve, and Goldilox arrived after YHC hid the sheet. Still, nobody knew what was about to happen. The warmarama began

    SSH, WMH, WM, IW, ACF/R, CP, TS, HK, BK

    Then the PAX moseyed to the start of Rich Man’s Loop and began an Indian Run with a 2-burpee drop off. This was done for the entire mile. Yankee Joe did in fact make it the whole mile, so he may be in better shape for RCR than he thinks. In the homestretch, a svelte figure emerged from the gloom and he revealed himself to be Smooth Operator coming in hot.

    Back at the Stage, YHC fetched the exercise list and described the 2-man Dora. 120 each of

    Shoulder tap merkins
    Tempo squats
    World War I situps
    Crab Humper / Crab Dip
    Reverse Crunch
    Bonnie Blairs

    While the second team member ran around the sidewalk around the field.

    This sounds straightforward enough, but there was a wrinkle to this Thang. Both the team member doing the exercise and the team member running would be subjected to interruptions. The exercising team member had to listen out for an EMOM beep, at which point he has to do two burpees before continuing on with the exercises.

    The running team member would only have to contend with the Hwy 308 traffic. For every vehicle that passed (most PAX also included vehicles exiting the subdivision), independent of where on the loop you might be, one burpee had to be performed.

    This was to challenge the PAX’s mental endurance as much as physical. The EMOM interruptions were clearly coming every minute, so everyone knew what to expect and when to expect them. That did not make handling the interruptions any easier, though. The highway interruptions were in an unknown quantity and interval. Let’s just say traffic was heavy this morning.

    The combination of planned and unplanned interruptions resonates with YHC following a week with a planned work trip, disrupting YHC’s own schedule as well as the family’s, plus several other unplanned issues that seem to be piling up. In other words, life, and we all can relate to it.

    The PAX wisely let the annoyance and tiredness wash over them as it was often hard to get momentum during the run portion. For example, picture a line of five cars passing, but after the five burpees were completed, only a single step could be taken before yet another car passed. And then another single step. Smooth Operator had a Lieutenant Dan moment when he was frequently seen mocking the highway for even more cars to pass.

    Due to time, the exercise quantity was reduced so we could finish, but no one was really upset about that. In fact, a determined Safety Valve was able to start and finish all the Crab Dips before Smooth and I (throuple) returned from the run. As per usual, Goose, Pope, Lox, and YJ crushed the beatdown but in lieu of planking YHC politely asked everyone to continue with the Hwy 308 burpees until time was called.

    Announcements, prayer intentions, Lox prayed us out.

    As always, it is a privilege to be a part of this group that continues to challenge and push each other to be better in every facet of life.

    SYITG,
    Honeysuckle

  • Gose’-palooza – from Goose

    YHC showed up solo to a beatdown for the first time in quite a while, and sat solo in an empty parking lot wondering if the Goose hype on GroupMe on another Sunday night caused the fartsack factor to rise in PAXville to a dangerous, pre-2023 level. Actually, YHC was gonna have to split 10 minutes early to get Pope to Schriever to catch a bus to D.C. for the March for Life, so it was gonna be a weird morning, anyway. Going back home was starting to look the least bit attractive when Hyundai lights swung lazily around the corner carrying a VESTED Cardinal into the lot. A Cardinal one-on-one actually sounded like fun, but not nearly as much fun as a foursome with Safety Valve and the brand-spankin’-new Mom Jeans! t’s been over a week since YHC was with the Thib PAX, and it was so good to be back!!

    Warmups started a minute late, though MJ side-straddled-hopped deftly from his Dilly truck all the way to the circle. We utilized the usuals, but YHC introduced the crew to the Lafayette version of Moroccan Night Clubs, which is more like a grizzly bear roar move–arms up and toward the front at like 45 degrees. It was different, but, man, you can feel the much needed popping and creaking.

    After a bumper to Stop sign mosey, YHC unveiled the “FNG”, the newly minted “Gose’”, a bluetooth Christmas miracle of clarity, bass, volume, connectivity, and dashing good looks. Though the tunes chosen for the morning weren’t the best examples of artistic complexity, Gose’ cranked them out with noticeable expertise. The PAX can expect many great things to come from this specimen of sound output.

    Once YHC started the song/exercise pairing, ideas came flowing like Snapple. Late 90’s garbage piled up on YHC’s Spotify list, and muscle burn was on the menu. It would be a Gose’-palooza until 5:50am, after which the PAX would receive instruction for how to finish the beatdown without a Q.

    1. “I Wish (I was a baller)” by Skee-lo: hold plank, merkins on “wish”
    2. “Funky Duck” by Vulfpeck: burpees on “duck” (This is a fun one–stupid enough for the kids, funky enough for the adults).
    –YHC: “Just chill between burpees.”
    –Valve: “So, solid burpees.”
    –YHC: “You’ve learned much.”
    3. “Mari-Mac” by Great Big Sea: hold flutter kick position, flutter on every “Mary” or “marry”
    4. “Brimful of Asha” by Cornershop: heel raises for the duration, genuflection on “45” and “bosom”
    5. “Here Comes the Hotstepper” by Ini Kamoze: penguins for the duration, big boys on every “murderer”

    At this point, it was 5:50, so YHC trusted Cardinal to lean into the VEST and lead the remaining PAX around Rich Man’s Loop and through potluck Mary till 6:00. YHC drove by at exactly 6, and it looked like he pulled through. It was a heroic, complex task requiring intelligence and leadership, but he still pulled it off. Well done, Cardinal.

    No idea who got the VEST, but YHC is grateful for this crew posting on a Monday and working through the ridiculousness. Looking forward to great things from Mom Jeans! It’s nice to have some respect around here!

    SYITG,
    Goose