Thirteen men gathered on a pleasant Friday morning along St. Charles Ave. to once again test the limits of our twenty-something to fifty something yr old chassis. The flock of ducks staked claim on our usual spot so we were confined to the sidewalk. YHC gave the usual disclaimer along with an additional disclaimer that the history lesson about to be included in the workout may contain info that is distorted by the gasping of air and wooziness of strenuous exercise. Since RY put me down for another history themed running tour, I had to fulfill the obligation.
The Warmup:
Quick mosey up and down St. Charles to Green Wave lawn. We gathered by the Tulane sign to briefly discuss the history of the school which started in 1834 as The Medical College of LA, then later became a private university and moved to the current day campus in 1894. The first COP was a T-U-L-A-N-E themed one made me dig deep on the F3 website for exercises that would fit the bill:
T – Tempo Merkin ICx20
U – Up Downs x 10
L – Lunges IC x15?
A – Air Squared IC x 15?
N – Nolan Ryans IC x 10 each side
E – Elbow plank for one minute, alternating leg up
The Thang:
Quick mosey to the Holy Name of Jesus Church where we paid homage to the architecture and impressive craftsmanship of the building that was completed in 1892 by the Jesuits. We split in two groups and used that date for the rep count:
Low Slow Dip OYO x18
High Knees OYO x92
Rinse and Repeat.
Mosey around the horseshoe to Marquette Hall, which was built in 1910 and is the centerpiece of Loyola’s campus. This stop included:
Inclined Merkin on curb OYO x19
run up and down stairs
Declined Merkin on curb OYO x10
For Lagniappe we planked on the curb (not as high as I thought) and Bear Crawled up the stairs and attempted to Bear Crawl down but changed it to a mosey. YHC discovered those steps are not the best for bear crawling. Lesson learned.
Mosey through the campus to the Wolfpack Mountain where we split in two groups and proceeded to Indian Run to the top. This run seemed a bit tougher than usual for YHC and a few others, possibly due to the humidity or maybe just the extra calories taken in over the holidays. Once we had our six, circled up for some Mary and briefly talked about Loyola University’s founding, which was in 1904 as Loyola college. That was 112 years ago so YHC used that as our rep total for the following:
Flutter Kicks IC x25
LBC IC x25
Peter Parkers IC x25
Penguins/Back Scratchers IC x25
Russian Twists IC x12
Mosey down the stairs toward the flag with a brief detour followed by some grumbling from the PAX for lagniappe/sudden change on the Loyola front lawn: Burpees x10 OYO
Mosey back to the flag only to discover the ducks were still holding down their fort so re-routed to the benches for Dips x20 IC. Swung wide left back to the flag where the ducks gave us just enough room to plank for a minute or two. The pretty boys opted for the sidewalk while the real men went au-naturel in the duck poop.
COT included the usual name-o-rama followed by YHC mentioning his appreciation for being pushed by the PAX during the workouts and the recent Jackson Day race where he clocked his best pace for a road race. YHC encourage the PAX to sign up for at least one or two races this year to help push ourselves to full potential. Something was also mentioned about the fact that races typically have a bit more eye candy than the F3 workouts…just saying. Shout out to RY’s Aunt Julie and prayed for starting the year off right by continuing to be good men, husbands, fathers, co-workers, and leaders in our community. Also continue to strengthen those around us.
Upon packing up the flag, the ducks assembled for a flyover and managed to seek revenge on our intrusion by dropping a deuce on my shirt. Good aim and way to take down the leader.
A good way to start the day. Glad I had the chance to lead.
Tool
