Rewind 3 years ago to a rainy Saturday morning in April when YHC was coaxed into coming to his first F3 workout, standing in the dark amid the mud and a bunch of dudes calling each other by goofy names. Not exactly the best way to spend a Saturday morning but I went with the flow since my buddy Amensty assured me it would be way more fun than my usual morning jog. Just a few minutes in, I quickly learned what a burpee was and silently cursed whoever invented it. The rest of the workout went about the same and an hour later, after almost bailing mid-way, I was still standing, feeling a newfound sense of accomplishment.
Three years and umpteen burpees later, there I was standing in the same spot preparing to lead 16 other men through a workout that would not only touch on the greatest hits of the past few years, but also pay homage to the NOLA Tricentennial celebration going on throughout the city. Let’s face it, 300 reps of an exercise is way better than 3. Weather was 60 degrees with clear skies, the optimal conditions for running around and testing the limits of our almost late model chassis. The PAX had a good mix of guys from The World and Uptown along with a visitor, F3 Thibodaux, currently living China, previously from N.C., originally from the NO area. Here’s what went down:
Warmup on The Great Lawn:
- SSH x30
- Burpees x3
- IW x20
- Burpees x3 (“I see where this is going” -The Peanut Gallery)
- Arm Circles x20
- Burpees x3
- Windmill x20
- Burpees x3
- Low Country Crab x20
- Burpees x10 (Expect the unexpected…learned that in my first workout)
Next up, a mosey to The Foundry for some pimping. Here we knocked out 3 rounds of PIMPS OYO:
- Pull Ups x5
- IW x10
- Merkins x15
- Plank Jacks x20
- Squats x25
Mosey towards the museum and hook a left in the grass not far from the NOLA 300 sign. This is one of 4 signs erected around town to commemorate the 300th anniversary of New Orleans. Since the Tricentennial celebration has been in full swing the past few weeks, YHC thought we’d acknowledge that with some Dora 3-3-3. This involved partnering up, with partner #1 running (approx 30 yds?) to the NOLA 300 sign, cranking out 3 burpees, and running back while partner #2 keeps a cumulative count of:
- 300 Hello Dollys (single count)
- 300 Alternating Shoulder Taps (count each tap)
- 300 LBT
This proved to be a circuit that kept the PAX busy for a while. YHC often dreaded the drawn-out circuits of Dora, elevens, etc in the early days but now have a love/hate feeling when doing them….always hate when they start but smile when they’re done cause they push us more than one would typically done solo. After this, we made our way over to the water fountain for hydration and a little planking. From there, a mosey back towards the same area but this time we lined up along with neutral ground curb, facing the NOLA 300 sign where we knocked out: 100 Rocky Balboas OYO, bear crawl to opposite curb for 10 merkins, then backwards bear crawl back. Rinse and repeat twice for a total of 3 rounds and 300 Rocky Balboas. YHC heard zero mumble chatter on this so apparently/hopefully it had the PAX in a zone.
Next up we circled up in a nearby field, this time in the shade just for Rudy, for a round of The Suck. For those unfamiliar, it’s a fairly new circuit we’ve done a few times that always seems to bring excitement and cheers from the PAX. The Suck consists of SSHx6, Jump Squatsx6, Merkinsx6, as many times as possible in 3 minutes, calling out your count after each circuit. Typically this is best enjoyed with 2-3 rounds broken up by a minute of rest in between, but time was ticking and the PAX had to settle for just a single round. T-claps to the crew for pushing hard and to those who approached the 8,9,10? mark.
As we started to make our way back to the flag, there was just enough time to pay homage to one last anniversary. It just so happened to be YHC’s 17th wedding anniversary so what better way to celebrate than 17 burpees. The commemoration of me losing my bachelorhood was followed by a mosey back to base where we called it a morning.
COT included YHC thanking the PAX for pushing me over the past 3 years to become stronger, faster, healthier, and a better leader. I’ve reaped many more benefits from this than I did jogging on my own. Prayed for safe travels for Thibodaux, Mahatma’s two youngest sons, and a few other things YHC was too woozy to recall.
Moleskin: I often recall something I read a few years ago in a backblast from a fellow PAX in South Carolina (?) that hit his one year mark of posting with F3. Among many other things, he said something along the lines of, “…I used to think my glory days were behind me but I now realize they are yet to come.” I’ll have to try to dig that out of the archives. It was a cool and inspiring post.
Thanks for the opportunity to lead, and most of all thanks for all the great beatdowns over the past few years.
Tool
