Tag: Two Yutes

  • Backblast – 2019-02-16

    Another day aboard the Mothership. 23 PAX total.

    Attendees: Catfish, Highrise, Gabrielle, King Kong, Jesus Juice, Screw Top, Fracsac, Care Bear, Brown Eye, Organ Grinder, Tubbs, Angie’s List, Flipper, Rudy, Two Yutes, Dewey, Bongo, Mudbug. We had three FNGs. Welcome Scrapple, Da Crane, and Sunny D!

    Started the workout with a mosey to the lawn on the side of the museum. Ran some side straddle hop, arm circles, abe vigodas, and overhead claps to warm things up. Moved to plank position for Catalina wine mixers, plank jacks, peter parkers, and parker peters.

    From here we moseyed to the museum fountain for a Dora. Dora included 100 box jumps (on the fountain), 200 dips, 300 LBC’s, while partner hopped up the steps, did 5 merkins at the top, and hopped down.

    From here we moseyed back to the field for burpee suicides. These involved suicides with length of 2, 4, then 6 trees, with 5, 10, then 15 burpees at each end.

    From here we moseyed to the paddleboat dock for monkey humpers, squat jumps, and lunges. Followed these up with a lovely long round of Jack Webb.

    Moved to the grass to round things out with some Mary – Crunchy Frog, Penguins, Leg Lifts, American Hammer.

    Thanks to everyone who pushed through, this was a good one! Can’t wait till next time!

  • The Back Nine

    After some last minute scouting, YHC pulled up without a minute to spare. The disclaimer was given, including a word of caution about possible broken ankles, and we moseyed to the Great Lawn for the warm-up

    Warm-Up

    This month is Run Ranger Run and every yard counts, so YHC forwent the customary circle warm-up and chose to go old school Jr. High football style:

    High Knees, Butt Kicks, Karaoke left, Karaoke right

    The Thang

    We divided up into 5 teams of 4. Each team received a baseball and were provided the simple rules of Rarájipari – You must kick the baseball to the Foundry. One team member can kick it the whole way or you can pass between team members. First team to the Foundry wins.

    At the Foundry we all found some pull-up space for the Bern ‘n Burp – keep your chin above the bar as long as you can. When you drop out, do 10 burpees and take a 10 second rest. Repeato until time is called. Most of us got in 3 or 4 rounds.

    Rarájipari under the 610 overpass to Zachary Taylor Drive.

    From there we moseyed to the football field between Grow Dat and the Dog Park. 100 yard Bear Crawl

    Next we moseyed to the 9th hole of the frisbee golf course for The Jack Nicklaus. Starting at the 9th hole tee box, sprint to the 9th hole (or whatever you call the contraption that you throw the frisbee into). At the 9th hole, do 9 merkins followed by 9 air presses. Then walk to the 10th hole tee box and sprint to the 10th hole where you do 10 merkins and 10 air presses. Continue this through the 16th hole. We repeated the 15th and 16th holes.

    Rarájipari to the port-a-potties on the backside of the track.

    On the track – 600m run as hard as you can.

    Mosey back to the flag

    NMM
    • Mistake #1 – We arrived at the flag late. How late? More than 3 minutes, less than 35. I don’t really know. I wasn’t using a watch. I was wearing one, but I wasn’t using it.
    • Mistake #2 – Quiche wasn’t with us.
    • Mistake #3 – It took me a minute to realize Quiche wasn’t with us anymore. Fracsac went out to find him. Somehow in the 30 seconds we had been standing at the flag, Frac forgot where we had come from and ran off in the wrong direction. Meanwhile, rumor has it that Quiche had accidentally locked himself in one of the Rock ‘n Roll Port-a-lets. Fortunately all City Park Roads lead to the Port-a-lets on the backside of the track. Frac finally made it there and through brute strength was able to free Quiche. Both returned to the circle, smelling of excrement and unwilling to speak about what had happened.
    • Mistake #4 – While playing Rarájipari on the way to the track, I mentioned to my teammates that we shouldn’t tell the groups ahead of us that they should take the street to the right up ahead. As the Q, I am apparently supposed to be taking care of the pax and so I received some instant F3 karma when the sidewalk rose up and tripped me. It felt like a pretty spectacular fall.
    • We had one FNG – Scrub. He came out on his own. I wasn’t paying close attention, but I believe a medical resident at Tulane mentioned F3 to Scrub while he was there being treated for a virus he contracted in South Central Jersey.
    • We ran a lot. It was at least 4 and half miles, no more than eight.
    • Rudy met us for the circle of trust. He’s just in it for the fellowship.
  • I Don’t Mind Running, But Don’t Lie to Me

    The title is a quote from Left Eye, and you can understand where he is coming from. Uptowners stay in one place. That’s what you expect. So what’s happened the last three weeks at The Uptowner?

    • Three weeks ago – A Murph, by definition it includes 2 miles of running
    • Last week – Mambi was Q and he led us all over God’s green earth. Who knew Pontiff was so big?
    • This week – Run Ranger Run started so we did a The Laredo, which ended up being about 3 miles of running
    Warm-Up

    Boo- Boo volunteered to lead the warm-up. It seemed like he had no idea what he was doing when he started with Imperial Walkers, but it turns out he was in full control. Best Warm-up all year: IW x 20; Arm Circles x 10 Forward, x 10 backards; SSH x 30 (Finally); Grass Grabbers x 20

    The Thang

    The Loredo

    • 24 Air Squats
    • 24 Merkins
    • 24 Walking Lunges
    • 400 meter Run

    AMRAP – 11 was the most anyone completed.

    Naked Man Moleskin
    • Two Yutes crushed it. I was pacing him, hoping to humiliate him in the last 40 yards, but I’m old and he’s in good shape, so things didn’t go my way. It’s been impressive to see the gains he has made since joining F3.
    • T-Claps to Boo-Boo for stepping up to lead the Warm-up. He handled it like a pro.
    • Our Workout today was done in memory of Edwardo Loredo.
  • The Running Ship

    Today’s the day for the inaugural Muscle Ship at City Park, so YHC decided to emphasize the difference between the workouts – for one day, the Mothership became the Running Ship. As the 15 PAX gathered in the gloom (after a brisk 3 mile pre-thang run) YHC gave notice that we would be running. We would to a quick fly-by and give any PAX the opportunity to join the loafers, if they wanted. With that warning, and a disclaimer, off to the races.

    First run to the lawn in front of NOMA for the warm-up:

    • SSH x25
    • Peter Parker x25
    • Parker Peter x25
    • Shoulder Touches x25
    • Mountain Climber x25

    Then run some more (looky by the lake, there’s a group of 16 men who appear to be laying down. I think I see yoga mats too), heading towards Roosevelt Mall.

    At the foot of Roosevelt Mall, Heisenberg chooses Merkins for the Route 66 exercise. Go. 11 benches to visit, 66 merkins. Plank up by the entry to the track.

    Time for an old favorite of YHC: The Dirty McDeuce. 3 exercises, 12 reps. Upper Body, Core, Legs. Then a lap. Repeat x4.

    • Merkins, Penguins, Squats (YHC struggled mightily with cadence counting). 1 lap.
    • Stagger Merkins, Dying Cockroaches, Low Slow Squats. 1 lap.
    • Stagger Merkins, LBT, Monkey Humpers. 1 lap.
    • Floyd Mayweather, Flutter Kicks, Jump Squats. 1 lap.

    Slowsey towards the pole-vault mat, half-way along the straight away. Partner up for the game of “Catch Me If You Can”. PAX 1 sprints half way round the track. PAX 2 moseys across the field to meet the sprinter. Tag up and reverse (PAX2 sprints, PAX1 moseys back). Repeat repeat repeat for 8 mins.

    Slowsey to the Refinery for 5 stations: Burpees, Jump the Green Snake, Pull Ups, Derkins and Hanging Knee Raises. 12 Burpees is the timer.

    Getting late, so lets mosey back to the flag. Stop half-way to get the group back together – doing Monkey Humpers while waiting for the 6. Then again at the flag, Monkey Humpers for the 6.

    All told, 4.1 miles earned towards RRR this am.

    Close out by remembering our PAX struggling with illness and deaths among family and close friends. Finish out with St. Ignatius Prayer for Generosity.

  • Louisiana Fast

    Louisiana Fast

    YHC had dreams of a legendary AO at the Fight Club in Kenner, alas his inability to EH guys over to Kenner resulted in one too many solo workouts, so he is shifting gears and moving this Wednesday workout from LaSalle Landing to Lafreniere Park. So Metairie, Kenner, and River Ridge Pax – sign up to lead Popeyes on the Q schedule.

    Warm-up

    YHC led the Pax on a mosey past the large gazebo in the middle of the park for a standard warm-up

    SSH – 25

    Annies – 20

    Plank Jacks – 20

    Inch worm – 20

    Leg Stuff

    YHC led the Pax on a short mosey back to the starting location for some leg exercises on the wall.

    Channing Tatums – 20

    Box Jumps – 10

    Tatum Channings – 20

    Incline Merkins – 10

    Repeat with reps at 15, 10, and 5 for the Channing Tatums while Box jumps went from 10 to 7 to 5 and merkins remained at 10

    Global Warming

    The forecast called for temps of 36 degrees with windchills in the 20s. YHC assumed this would be the coldest hour of the year for New Orleans which is the right time for some Global Warming. God was good and the temps were in the low 40s, but the Pax still did two rounds of Global Warming.

    Circle up with everyone in the Al Gore position. One Pax starts the round with 2 burpees and we follow in sequence. Round two was 5 merkins. Each round consisted of 3 trips around the circle. Tclaps to the Pax for clapping on the burpee jump and shouting out their merkin count.

    The Real Mountain Climbers

    Popeyes is the home to fast Louisiana fried chicken and good hills for F3 workouts. YHC broke us into the hills with some real mountain climbers. Three hills are lined up in a good order or running up and down so the Pax ran up to the top of the first hill, got down on their face for a 30 count of mountain climbers, down the hill and back up the next for more mountain climbers. We went up and down 3 hills on the first round and up and down 4 hills on the second round.

    The Apparatus

    Popeyes not only has good biscuits but also two sets of outdoor workout equipment. The Pax moseyed over to one set and everyone picked an apparatus to climb on for a brief workout. The Pax doing pull-ups was the count at 5 pull-ups to switch to the next apparatus. The Pax completed two rounds and moseyed back to the start for some Mary.

    Mary

    Flutterkicks – 16

    Penguins – 20

    O Dolly – 20

    The Close

    Count off, Name-o-rama, announcements, and intentions. Closed in Prayer

    Join us at Popeyes at Lafreniere Park on Wednesdays for a beatdown that promises to bring a good variety of exercises.

    Rev Sox



  • What we learned from BlackHawk Down…

    A beautiful, crisp Saturday morning for the Mothership, with a quick disclaimer we ….circled up.

    For the last couple of weeks, YHC has been thinking about events that have occurred in our F3 family. These include Terrabyte’s passing, illness with our F3 brother’s loved ones and the impending closure of Morning Call and loss of employment, at least temporarily, for our faithful waiter, Mike. As YHC was preparing for his Q at the Mothership during the week, YHC noticed an old favorite movie had been added to Netflix, Black Hawk Down. This film is about the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia in the early nineties which resulted in the death of 19 American Soldiers, YHC noted some explicit themes in the movie such as “No Man Left Behind” and “We fight for the man next to you”. There was also some implicit themes including no man is on his own. Clearly, all of these themes are echoed in the F3 credo “Leave no man behind, but leave no man where you found him”. So in honor of the 19 American Soldiers who died in Mogadishu and all of our F3 Brothers going through tough and uncertain times, this Mothership beatdown will have no OYO exercises. One other note on Blackhawk Down, in the movie there was multiple references to “chalks”. After some quick research with the source of all sources, Wikipedia, a “chalk” in military terminology is a group of troops (think platoon) in an airborne assault. PAX, count off 1, 2, 3, 4 and form up into Chalks 1, 2, 3 and 4. This will be your group throughout the workout. Each Chalk designate a Chalk Q and grab a Flag.

    Mosey to Great Lawn for Warm Up

    Form rows of by chalk starting with Chalk 1 then Chalk 2 followed by Chalk 3 and 4.  Chalks try to stay in formation  Let’s begin:

    All exercises until Q yells Halt

    • Walking Soldiers
    • High Knees
    • Butt Kicks
    • Carioca

    Circle up for additional warm-up:

    • Self Love I/C X20
    • Imperial Walkers I/C X20
    • Hillbillies I/C X20

    Form your Chalks into circles on the Great Lawn for the next thang… Bear Crawl Ring of Fire:

    • Bearcrawl Counter-Clockwise till Q yells halt
      • 10 merkins in ring of fire fashion starting with the PAX to the left of the Chalk Q
    • Bearcrawl Clockwise
      • 10 wide merks Bearcrawl Counter-Clockwise till Q yells halt

    Let’s increase the difficulty!

    • Boo Boo Bearcrawl Counterclockwise Right Leg Up
      • 10 staggered right merkins in ring of fire fashion starting with the PAX to the left of the Chalk Q
    • Boo Boo Bearcrawl Clockwise Left Leg Up
      • 10 staggered left merkins in ring of fire fashion starting with the PAX to the left of the Chalk Q

    Chalks grab flag, form columns and march to road in front of Storyland.  Line up chalks in four columns facing towards museum for Indian Runs to Fountain. 

    At Fountain circle up staying with your Chalk for Red Hot Chili Pepper:

    • Right Leg Step Ups x 16; Decline Merkins x 8; Left Leg Step Ups x 16; Incline Merkins x 8
    • Right Leg Step Ups x 12; Decline Merkins x 6; Left Leg Step Ups x 12; Incline Merkins x 6
    • Right Leg Step Ups x 8; Decline Merkins x 4; Left Leg Step Ups x 8; Incline Merkins x 4
    • Right Leg Step Ups x 4; Decline Merkins x 2; Left Leg Step Ups x 4; Incline Merkins x2

    Next, down Lelong Drive for more Indian Runs in Chalks.  T-claps to Chalk 3 for hanging back to keep their chalk together.  Now you’re getting the idea!

    Mosey in Chalk to side of NOMA and partner up in Chalk for O.P.P.

    One PAX does OH Claps (O) in People’s Chair (P) while the other PAX does 20 Plank Jacks (P) Flapjack till Q yells halt.  These were done in 2 count cadence.  Let’s try to stay together on cadence Chalks!

    Time is running out so grab Flags and mosey in Chalk columns to great lawn for:

    Quick Mary:

    • Flutter Kicks I/C X20
    • Hello Dolly I/C X20

    Times up so circle around Flags in Great Lawn for CoT

    Count-Off, Name-o-rama (1 FNG who was named Twin Span as he’s from Slidell), Intentions and Prayer.

    T-claps to all the PAX who did the daily double, the Mothership and Krazy Ivan.  Southshore brought the Freedom Hammer home!

    Thank you PAX for embracing the Beatdown’s theme of no man is “on his own” in F3.  As we all go through life’s ups and downs, it feels good to know that we have our F3’ brothers to watch our six.  We are truly our Brother’s Keeper!

    NM Moleskin

    For 4 years, the PAX have been enjoying F2 and F3 at the Morning Call in City Park after the Mothership.  For most if not all of those coffeetaria’s, we have arrived to ice cold water to refresh us and been served “Hot” au laits, “Cold” iced coffees and for a brave few “Hot Black” coffees by our faithful waiter Mike.  We all know that this past weekend was the last for Morning Call and there is some uncertainty whether Mike will come back with Café du Monde.  Even if he does, he will be out of work for at least a month.  So in true F3 fashion, an operation was drummed up.  In a short week, what became known as Operation Big Tip was put into full effect to thank Mike for all of his service to the PAX.  The PAX raised $349 for Mike and a Framed Picture signed by the PAX was delivered at Coffeetaria.  YHC even noticed a tear in Mike’s eye.   The PAX should be proud of their efforts.  This is the best of F3. 

  • #42

    Jackie Robinson once said, “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives”. Today, 42 men showed up in the soggy gloom to face the Mountain. Today, we caught a glimpse of the incredible impact F3 has had on a growing number of lives as we set yet another AO record for attendance.

    “Life is not a spectator sport. If you’re going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you’re wasting your life.”

    No spectators here – we jumped right into the thing after the disclaimer and an awe-inspiring cartwheel demonstration by Crop Duster.

    • Brief mosey to Tulane’s front yard for an oval warmup
      • Side Straddle Hop x 25
      • Imperial Walker Squats x 20
      • Arm Circles Forward/Back x 15
    • Mosey to top of the Mountain via the stairs
      • 11’s comprised of Leg Raises and Burpees
      • LBC’s OYO to wait for the 6
      • Merkins x 10
    • Mosey down the Mountain to Touchdown Jesus via stairs
      • Pax formed groups of 3
      • Pax 1 executed Squats AMRAP style at one end while Pax 2 held a Plank at the opposite end of the lawn. Pax 3 ran to tap out Pax 2 and take his spot so that he could then take Pax 1’s position doing Squats. Continued this rotation allowing each Pax to complete Squats, then Jumping Lunges, followed by Monkey Humpers. This is tough to explain in writing, but much tapping occurred and all were jolly.
      • DIZZY BEAR! – Traditional Bear Crawl that leads into a Reverse Bear Crawl upon Q yelling, “DIZZY BEAR!”
      • Merkins x 10
      • Dying Cockroach x 20

    “This ain’t fun. But you watch me, I’ll get it done.”

    It sure ain’t always fun, but it’s worth it.

    I’ll leave y’all with one last Jackie Robinson quote as I think it ties even more directly into what we’re doing than the previous ones, “F3 is great.”

    Lobsta (FNG), Grimace (FNG), Pops (F3 Cleveland), Monty (F3 Cleveland), Sesame Street (F3 Naperville), Crop Duster (F3 Naperville and visiting cartwheel extraordinaire), Gabrielle, Willie, King Kong, Medulla, Peppa, Douille, Saban, Sandbar, Brown Bag, Chiquita, Two Yutes, Fracsac, Bad Moon, Chowda, Jingle Vader, G-Spot, Bartman, Piranha, Landing Strip, Mariah, Reluctant Yankee, Flaming Lips, Giligan, Wash n’ Fold, Cavalier, Bones, Quincy, False Start, Cowbell, Angie’s List, Quarter Pipe, Tinkles, 86, Nine Lives

  • Tribute to Terabyte at the Mothership

    F3 lost one of its own earlier in the week. Terabyte was a caring leader that pushed himself, and inspired other pax to become better. He will be missed.

    YHC stated that we will carry a flag for our fallen pax as we trudged through the AO. We will sweat, push ourselves, and feel pain. In this way, we will honor him, ’cause that’s what we do. 40 men, including 3 FNG’s, were ready to go.

    Brief disclaimer, then pick up the flag and mosey to the Great lawn for the warmup

    SSH IC x 52 (Terabyte was only 52)
    IW IC x 15
    Grass Grabbers IC x 10
    Abe Vigodas IC x 10
    Arm Circles IC x 10 Fwd x 10 Bwd
    Peter Parker IC x 20
    Shoulder Taps IC x 20
    Parker Peter IC x 20
    Mountain Climber IC x 20
    Recover, pick up the flag, and mosey….

    Stop just short of the Bridge at Lagoon Number 11 on our way toward City park Avenue
    10 Burpees OYO
    Mosey across the bridge and find an open space near City park Avenue
    Monkey Humpers IC x 20
    10 Burpees OYO
    Mosey along to the next open green space
    LBC’s IC x 20
    10 Burpees OYO
    Mosey to the entrance to NOMA at Lelong Drive
    Dying Cockroach IC x 20
    10 Burpees OYO (there was much mumblechatter by this time)
    Mosey to the Tree line near NOMA
    YHC asked how may burpees left? We have smart Pax! 12 it is!
    12 Burpees OYO which brings us to 52. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have more Burpees!

    Mosey to the Fountain at NOMA
    Dips IC x 20
    RL Step Up IC x 15
    Incline Merkin IC x 10
    LL Step Up IC x 15

    Dips IC x 10
    RL Step Up IC x 15
    Decline Merkin IC x 10
    LL Step Up IC x 10

    Mosey to the tree line
    Sprint to first tree and back – 5 burpees
    Sprint to second tree and back – 5 burpees – plank and wait for the six

    Starting at first tree, Burpee Broad Jump to third tree.

    YHC requested Triple Shift to help explain the next exercise. Triple Shift had previously introduced the Genuflect and YHC wanted to incorporate it in. Genuflect from third tree back to first tree.
    Left knee down, right knee down, left knee up, right knee up, then lunge walk one step. Now do two genuflects followed by two lunge steps, then three……etc.

    Mosey back to the Great Lawn for Mary:
    LBC’s IC x 30
    Tin Snips IC x 20
    Hello Dolly IC x 20
    Flutter Kicks IC x 20
    American Hammer IC x 10

    Plank for one minute
    Recover, pick up the flag, and return to the other flags for the COT

    Count off, Name-O-Rama, Announcement, and ended with a prayer.

    Welcome Bingo Knight, Offsides, and CareBear! Great job on the EH’ing guys! We have had big numbers at the AO’s lately, let’s keep it going!

    The Celebration of Life for Terabyte, aka Sidney Modica, will be held on Monday January 14th where visitation begins at 0900 with service to follow at 1030 at:
    Victory Fellowship
    5708 Airline Hwy
    Metairie, LA 70003

    If you have a flag or a ruck sack, please bring. Terabyte loved being part of F3, and we loved having him.

    SYITG





  • Last Mothership of 2018

    Last Mothership of 2018

    With the end of the year approaching I wanted to finish the year strong with a good beat down at the Mothership. This would be my 150th workout of the year. Having started F3 on Feb. 2nd at WPM, I have come a long way, and all for the better. At 6:30 the the disclaimer was given and we moseyed to the Peristyle.

    Warm Up

    • SSH x 20
    • Hillbillies x 20
    • Mountain Climbers x 20
    • Plank Jacks x 20
    • Imperial Walker Squats x 20
    • Arm Circles -Fwd x 15, Rev x 15
    • 5 Burpees OYO
    • Mosey to the Fountain in front of NOMA

    Thang 1

    • Right Leg Step Up x 15
    • Dips x 10
    • Left Leg Step Up x 15
    • Dips x 10
    • Bulgarian Split Squats Right leg x 15
    • Dips x 10
    • Bulgarian Split Squats Left leg x 15
    • Dips x 10
    • Incline Merkins x 15
    • Line up for Indian Run to the “Rocks” – When “6” gets to front of line we halt and he calls out an exercise and did 5 reps, then continued run.

    Thang 2 – 11’s with the Rock – We found where Mahatma and Tool had stashed the blocks, and eached grabbed one. YHC was not sure where this was going to happen, but figured we could find a semi dry spot – Not the case, and as we began the sky tried to open up on us, but just briefly.

    • The 2 exercise where Squat Thrusters with the Blocks and Offset Merkins on the Block(2 is 1). Started with 10 Thrusters and 1 Merkin and proceeded to 1 Thruster and 10 Merkins. In the middle we did 11 Curls when going one direction and 11 Tricep Extension when coming from the opposite direction. The usual Mumblechatter ensued, like no one has ever done 11’s before…Let’s GO!
    • With time getting tight we finished the 11’s and returned our blocks to their home and moseyed to the Great Lawn.

    Thang 3 – Circle up for some Mary – The Great Lawn was soaked and trying to stay somewhat dry YHC opted for the Brick area where FIA warms up. which garnered plenty of mumblechatter.

    • LBC’s x 20
    • Dying Cockroach x 20
    • I had more but it was 7:30 so we moseyed back to the flag.

    COT – Circle up for Count-o-Rama, Name-o-Rama Two FNG’s – Both are ILoveYouMan’s Business Partners (they make Adult Beverages and Icees in pouches you freeze) – Antonio(ILoveYouMans, Brother) is Jesus Juice and Craig is Screw Top(He’s their tight, accounting guy). Welcome Both! Hope to see them again soon! Announcements for Crazy Ivan Jan 19th.

    With the New Year approaching, take these last few days of the year to set some goals for next year for your Life, Job, F3 and shoot for the moon. Write them down, make sure they are measurable, and have milestones through out the year to maintain focus. Not everyone is aware, but there is a tab in the Q Sign up Sheet called NYR2018 to track your workouts. I will make sure we have one for New Year Resolutions 2019. Keep track and compete with your brothers in F3. Thanks again for pushing and motivating me through 150 beatdowns this year. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

    SYITG

  • A Few of my [least favorite] Things

    When YHC set out to plan this workout, I first considered a few exercises that I felt I could handle with little threat of splashing Merlot or generally embarrassing myself. But then it dawned on me: this is my chance to repay those who have made me so sore I can barely lift my arms the next day and reduced me to a sweating, panting mess. So at 5:30 AM, after a quick disclaimer, we set off, 12 PAX strong, to see about returning the favor to some of my F3 brothers gracious enough to appear for my VQ.

    WARMUP

    YHC had a few tricks up my sleeve for the warmup, but the conditions quickly caused a change of plans. So we did a more traditional warmup:

    SSH, Peter Parker, Imperial Walkersx20

    Run in place, high knees, butt kicks, chop feet (this was a hs wrestling warm-up that would normally include some up-downs, but YHC decided it would be unpopular to get everyone completely drenched in the first 5 minutes). Mosey to Canal blvd for

    Station 1

    Pair up. One partner, Bernie Sanders up the hill, while the other works on 200 Floyd Mayweathers, 100 big boy situps, and 25 burpees. Cross the street very carefully in the fog for…

    Station 2

    Route 55 with burpees on the way out, Merkins on the way back in. PAX instructed to begin in opposite directions on this very foggy morning so as not to collide. Mosey to the leveee for…

    Station 3

    What is an Okwata workout without an Indian Run? A bit of mumblechatter about how Indian Run + disperse would have been the more manly option, but at this point, I was just glad to be still moving. Maybe next time we can thrown in a Bataan Death March.

    Mosey to Flag and Finish Up

    Continuing the theme, I had picked out several of my least favorite exercises to share with the PAX

    Planking, high, low, one arm up, other arm up for about as long as I could go

    Monkey Humpersx20

    Dying cockroachesx20

    LBC’sx20

    Flutter Kicksx20 (led by the flutter kick king, JV)

    Frac Sac’s favorite exercise that I cannot remember the name ofx20

    And a few rounds of burpees o/y/o to close it out.

    Count-o-rama, Name-o-rama, we discussed the Crazy Ivan, prayed for Brad Brechtel, and Rudy led us in a fine prayer.

    On a serious note: I’m infinitely grateful for all of you who have pushed me, made me do countless [hated] burpees, made me plank until I felt like my arms would crumble, and inflicted all other sorts of punishment that made me tougher both mentally and physically. To name all the names of those who have pushed me – especially since I’ve been back the past few months – would be like writing out the entire members list, but I’m especially grateful to Mahatma, Frac Sac, Jingle Vader, Rudy, Mambi, Abacus, Tool, Two Yutes, and too many others to name, who never spare words of encouragement and motivate me to better.

    Getting to lead an F3 workout of such a strong group is a honor, and I hope I was able to deliver. It means a lot that so many of you showed up for my VQ, and I look forward to doing it again soon.

    -Kuch