THE SCENE: Dark and gloomy, high chance of smoke
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
S.S.H. x 10 IC; Cherry Picker x 5 IC; OHC x 10 IC
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the “new” parking lot, brief stations in the first corner, split into 4 groups of 3 for the main event. 4 corners of the lot, each has 2 exercises x20 reps to complete. After completing corner reps, run 3/4 of a lap to next station, moving as a group. AMRAP. Each group completed at least 2 full 4-corner laps.
- Corner 1: diamond walk ; 10kg bushwhacker (lunge while swinging a 10kg kettle bell in front of the face)
- Corner 2: burpees ; smurf jacks
- Corner 3: CMU pullovers ; CMU BBS
- Corner 4: broad jumps ; 4ct American Hammers
- Mosey back to AO
MARY:
Roughly 2 minutes remained upon arrival back to AO, just enough time for 50 Overhead claps, in cadence. Judging by the grumbling, this was the correct recipe.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
This was a tough one men. I knew walking in that I would struggle to hold it together, and almost didn’t make it through the first paragraph of the poem. My grandfather cut a poem out of a newspaper sometime in the 1940’s or early 50’s, titled “Thoroughbred Man” that he gave to my dad circa 1953. My dad carried it in his wallet for 50+ years, to the point that he had to laminate it with a new typed copy just to preserve it. He passed it on to me in 2002 before my first trip into a warzone. Years later, I had it emblazoned on a plaque for him to put up on his wall. He passed away in January 2015 after struggling through dementia and alzheimers’ for several years. That was the longest day of my life, standing watch at his bedside for 20 hours, praying and talking to him. I had siblings rushing in from as far away as Colorado. About an hour after the last of us got to spend some 1 on 1 time with him, we all held him as he breathed his last, then his stubborn heart (if you knew him, you’d understand) went on for another 5 minutes. I didn’t have the composure to share all of this in the BOM, so here it is. I prayed for him. I wanted more time with him, but I also knew that it would only prolong his suffering. I prayed for God to take him. After I took the plaque down off his wall, it stayed hidden, in a closet. When I moved I put it up in my workshop, but still didn’t see it often. I spent a lot of time embarrassed and ashamed of the man that I had become. I wasn’t living up to what I was responsible for. F3 has changed that in me. Laziness, fear, and anxiety are afterthoughts now. The plaque is in a spot where I see it daily, where it should be, as a reminder of how I need to live for my family. It reads:
Am I the thoroughbred man, I want my laddie to be:
In the days that are now his future, Do I want him to be like me?
Nature’s put my mark on his features, I’m putting my stamp on his soul.
Can I help my boy reach the highlands, If I strive for a lesser goal?
’tis a sobering thought for fathers, aye a sobering thought for me;
As my boy sets on life’s ocean, shall he chart his course by me?
Shall he think the thoughts that I think; shall he say the things that I say;
Shall he live the life that I live; when I come to the end of my way?
To our boys is the task of the future, we’ll soon leave the world in their care.
As a father, I’ll help or hinder my boy’s life burdens to bear.
For this law is not to be broken, ’tis almighty God’s wonderful plan-
I must be a thoroughbred father, if I’d sire a thoroughbred man.
HIMs, we can’t be perfect. But, we can do better than we are. If you have to think twice about doing something, odds are it is sinful. If you are about to do something that you wouldn’t want your wife, kids, or God to see you do, stop. If you don’t want your son to grow up to be like you, change. And, if you wouldn’t want your daughter to bring you home to meet you, sins and all, do something about it.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
JUCO is hosting convergence on 3/28/20, put it on your calendars and get out there! Mermaid and myself will be heading up a pre-ruck from 0600-0700 before the beatdown, full smokey plus the third leg.