Fitness. Fellowship. Faith.
THE THANG:
MARY:
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
COT:
Hand the Q over to PUSHER. Mosey over to Muscle Beach! Do 20 reps of an exercise at the playground (choose your own adventure). Mosey over to the new parking lot. Do 10x Merkins, Wide Merkins, and CDDs at each of 4 islands and run back. R&R but with Squats, Jump Squats, and Calf raises. Then Pusher led us on a mosey of death, up to the roundabout. Steam picked his own route, which took him past the ballfields and stranded at the base of a very overgrown and steep hill. Which he climbed like a beast and joined us. Slow mosey to the small parking lot south of the overlook. Run around the loop, doing 20 SSH at the beginning, then 10 SSH at base of stairs and top.
Turn the Q over to PELE. Short mosey to garbage cans, where a frisbee and cones were waiting. Pele congratulated his co-Qs on their well prepared portions of the workout, and said enough of that, it’s time to have some fun. Played ultimate frisbee, warm colored clothing against darker. 3 modified burpees if your team drops the frisbee. 5 modified burpees if your team gets scored on, plus a Turkey Run of Shame back to your end zone. Warm colors lost, rather badly, forcing us to do a Turkey Run of Shame back to the AO as well.
MARY:
A few ab exercises to finish off.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Tons. See the Announcement channel/main channel/newsletter.
COT:
Putting THANKS Into ACTION
Today is obviously Thanksgiving, and the purpose of the holiday is in the name. Give Thanks. I’m very fortunate, and have a pretty long list of things I want to give thanks for today…
1. My family, including those that are no longer with us, who gave me nothing but love and support as a child and young man.
2. My friends, past and present, who have been a source of companionship, flat out fun (sometimes too much fun…), and emotional support.
3. My career. It frustrates the heck out of me sometimes, but I have a good job, which is nothing to sniff at.
4. The basics: the food on my plate, the drink in my glass, the roof over my head, my health
5. F3: you brothers mean more to me than I can articulate. You inspire me, give me hope for our communities and lift my spirits on a constant basis
6. Last but not least, a Heavenly Father who loves me unconditionally, in spite of my many flaws, and who is always there as a constant presence of Peace and Good. A compass that always points me in the right direction, if I have but the patience to listen and the wisdom to follow.
So I encourage you all to take a moment to go through your own lists of what you are thankful for. BUT THAT’S THE EASY PART! HIMs are men of ACTION, not just words. So I want to challenge you to put your THANKS into ACTION! How will you show or demonstrate your love and appreciation for the blessings in your life? Here’s what I’m going to do…
1. (FAMILY) Call my brother and his family, who are on vacation in Arizona, and tell them how much they mean to me and how much I miss being with them on Thanksgiving
2. (FRIENDS) Send intentional messages to special friends in my life letting them know their value to me.
3. (CAREER) Give back to those who aren’t as fortunate by participating in the RUCKSGIVING Event, my office Angel Tree event, my church.
4. (BASICS) Take time to fully appreciate and be grateful for the fact that I am one of the lucky few in the world that doesn’t have to struggle for food, clean water, a shelter to sleep in, or a health care system that can keep me safe from disease.
5. (F3) Continue to pour in my time and energy into this fantastic organization, and to take a moment to turn and look at each and every one of you here today, and thank you for your presence, your support, and the inspiration you provide to me that I so very much need.
6. (God) All God wants, all he asks from us, is our love. I intend to spend some time today in deep consideration of appreciation of his love and presence in my life.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.
THE THANG: One bag with 75lbs plus a 60lb sandbag. We each carried the heavy for .25 miles, then stopped for PT, passed the heavy, and resumed our trek down kingston pike, over the gallaher view bridge, and back via the greenway. This was 135lbs and next we will bump up 30-40lbs as we train for the 200lb mile.
MARY: none we were late, but additional back stretching was suggested on your own
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Rucksgiving 11/30 and a litany of other things found in the newsletter or announcements tab in slack.
COT: training to be a leader, and a shameless plug for Forg3. The more we do things like read the bible, the more relevant those passages become, at least for me. As a few of us have been studying leadership, the same holds true. By studying, we are finding ourselves to be better prepared as leaders.
THE THANG:
Mosey along the south end of Lakeshore, stopping for various exercises along the way, including:
Burpees
More burpees
Bernie up hill
Squats
SSH
Arrive at base of Everest
LBC
Run up Everest
Squat Jumps
Hello Dollies
Mosey…
Butt-kicks
Imperial Walkers
Grab rocks:
50 bicep curls
Lunges to end of parking lot (w/ rocks)
50 shoulder press
Full-length parking lot drills:
Carioca/Karaoke out-and-and back
Bernie sprint to end
Grab partner: sprint out-and-back, then other partner sprints out-and-back
High knees back to our rocks, return rocks to pile
MARY:
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Brolympics
Beer ruck canceled
COT: Just. Be. Kind.
I know politics is off-limits, but I just had to address the elephant in the room. I am raw, and my heart is breaking as I bear witness to the vile behavior following last week’s election results. Tribalism and mean-spirited divisiveness is at an all-time-high. All around us, in every sphere of our lives. And it’s coming from BOTH “sides.” Please don’t contribute to this hatred and disunion. It is our job to bridge and heal gaps between each other, to facilitate understanding and love. We are all brothers and sisters created by the same God. The same Spirit animates our Souls. The affairs of governments do not supersede this truth. I know we all make mistakes on this front. I certainly have. But the key is to learn from these mistakes, to make amends, and to commit to a path of reconciliation, unconditional dialogue, and intentional relationship.
The focus of the day was to carry a ruck with a 45lb plate, and a 60lb sandbag for a total of 105lbs. We swapped every 1/3 of mile, while the other guys carried a bag of about 30lbs. The HIM carrying the heavy called two exercises at each stop, and we switched and moved on. Highlights of the day were the aforementioned Saucy Nuggs pic and doing monkey humpers over I40 @ Gallaher View.
We will add a 30lb plate and repeat this soon for a total of 135lbs as we work our way up to 200lbs, and the 200lb mile.
MARY:
none, just a couple trips up Moto with 105lbs
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Rucks Giving
COT:
We were talking about leadership during the ruck, and for the COT, I shared how positive the Virtuous Leadership has been for me. The real issues we discuss, the growing bonds with High Impact Men, and the spiritual discussions that follow. Even better, is that as I am carefully considering the things we discuss each week, I am finding my prayer life has improved along the way. Just as a run AO, or a ruck AO, or even F3 may not be for everyone, Virtuous Leadership may also not be for the common F3 guy. However, the guy who has bought in, attends regularly and “is drinking the kool aid” will love the takeaways and impact that is coming out of intentional leadership studies.
I can’t sum up in a backblast how impactful this time has been every Sunday morning, and I say no to other things so that I can keep this time slot open for this opportunity,