Fitness, Fellowship, Faith

Day: January 31, 2021

The Uniformed Soldier

Word had quickly spread through town. This time it was real, Bobby was coming home. Of course, word spreading through the town of Ranlo was never slow, nothing more than a postage stamp of the mill town with a few city buildings, shops and restaurants, news always spread fast, good or bad. The old cotton mill that was the heart had been shut down for years, causing the locals to scatter for work in the surrounding county. Frozen in time, Ranlo accepted their slow pace of life, with plenty of time on front porches to wave neighborly at friends passing by. And today the topic was their proud soldier, coming home after a 15-month tour in Iraq. Everyone had been praying, writing letters, and hoping for a safe return. Proud couldn’t begin to describe the emotion that radiated from the local product fighting for the safety of our country. Calling these fine folks conservative didn’t bother them one bit. The good Lord, family, friends, and the towns people of Ranlo was their priority, all wrapped up in the comforting blanket of Old Glory. Ever since Bobby’s send off, all 3,500 people had an American Flag hanging from their home and a yellow ribbon around the nearest tree facing the road. Each of their prayers included Bobby’s safety and family.

Linus was a number years older than Bobby, knew the family well, counting Bobby as an acquaintance more than a friend. After all, everyone in Ranlo knew everyone by name or family tree. Linus was a steady hand that accepted a number of roles. In addition to his 9-5 job, he was a volunteer fireman, deacon at the church, and city council member. He kept quite a busy schedule on top of helping his elderly mother. Naturally as the news of the homecoming spread, people looked to Linus for leadership. He was always the man they could rely on for getting things done. It was no coincidence as Linus arrived at Grits & Greens for the Tuesday lunch special, he could barely get a bite in for all the questions about what Ranlo would do for Bobby. Without proper election, Linus accepted the task and began recruiting volunteers, one of his many talents. He would once again make the town and hopefully Bobby proud.

And after a few weeks of preparation, the plan was set. Bobby was scheduled to arrive in Charlotte on a Friday afternoon at 2:49 pm. The family would greet the soldier at the airport and once off the interstate, just before town, Bobby would settle to the rear seat of the open top red convertible, escorted by the police, firetrucks and Allen Tate’s vintage hum-vee, because Allen Tate was a true American and any event celebrating America required his attendance. Linus was quite busy that day, organizing the local marching band, the cheerleaders, the grilled hotdogs, everything down to the last detail, because that’s what Linus does.

Just before 4 pm, on that sunny Friday afternoon, the police car siren sounded loudly and the townsfolk began to swell closer to Main Street. The procession started with loud cheers. The work was done and it was time to celebrate the town’s celebrity coming home. The parade would last all of a few minutes, time to pass through a total of four street corners. Linus finally quit worrying about his notes and responsibilities to enjoy the product of his labor. The red convertible approached and a smiling Bobby continued to wave at all those that had written and prayed. Suddenly the red convertible stopped. The driver pointed toward the area where Linus stood behind the crowd along the route. Bobby smiled and patted the driver before hustling from the car. The soldier was in field fatigues, pants tucked into boots, patches on the sleeve and ribbons adorning the right breast. A huge smile spread with large dimpled and pink cheeks. Linus was mesmerized by the appearance of the soldier. His last memory of the teen prior to leaving for the army five years ago was of a soft and unassuming 18 year old kid. Linus hoped and prayed for survival. But now, in the afternoon sunlight, striding confidently toward Linus’ direction was a svelte, athletic figure that stood tall and proud. Linus felt a bit weak in the knees at the sight. As the crowd parsed, Bobby leapt with both arms wrapped around Linus’ neck. “Thanks for supporting me!” was all Bobby said. They held an impactful embrace for what seemed like an hour but lasted no more than a minute. Bobby broke and returned to complete the parade. Before spinning toward the street, under the bill of the cap, a subtle wink of blue eyes offered some consummation to Linus. A tear streamed down Linus’ face. It was hard to hold back. Each week, Linus had penned a letter, offering encouragement while the soldier battled to survive the arduous tour. As their relationship grew, the notes became more personal. The two had created a more than a friendship, despite their age. And now having seen the soldiers return home, Linus’ recollection of the soldier went beyond an emotional embrace. The soldier was now home and could there be more between them? Time would tell. Linus intrigued by the subtle wink of a uniformed soldier was anxious to see.

COT: Prayers for Buckeye’s friend Joe that is battling cancer; prayers the running group doesn’t contract pneumonia running in the steady cold 37 degree rain; Extinction Run – 2/13 at Primal in Belmont at 0900 – Sign Up!

Moleskin: Today’s Q-Source is from the fourth chapter of The Four Agreements. The discussion is about Don’t Make Assumptions. We’ve all done it, assume our M, our 2.0, our family member, our friend, our boss, our co-worker – you name it – we think we know what they’ll say or what they’ll do, or how they’ll react. It would be interesting to take notes for a day and count how often it occurs. It’s built into our DNA. And from experience we all have a story (or 100) about how things didn’t match up to what we thought would happen. So how can we combat the Third Agreement in Don Miguel Ruiz’s book? We can ask questions, probing questions until we understand the wishes of those we’re communicating with. Not everyone thinks like we do – because we’re all different. So communicating and asking questions is the key.

If you didn’t get tired of the “short story” there is a point. I took one statement Linus made during Saturday’s GasHouse workout and turned that into a twisted fictional tale. Those that posted will attest to Linus waxing on about seeing Bobby in his uniform. And we all know the part about Allen Tate is real – that’s for damn sure. And a lot of the traits I included for Linus also represent the HIM we all know as the Site Leader of GasHouse.

But conjuring up a scenario between Linus and Bobby probably led you to some assumptions. “Bobby” is an unisex name that could be male or female. You may have assumed otherwise I’m sure. Bobby was only referred to as “a soldier” or third person. You might ask is Linus married? What about the age difference – how much is it? You might ask what prompted Linus to write Bobby while serving the country? Were they a stone and blade? Who knows but these and other questions could be explored.

So this lengthy diatribe was written to further clarify the point of our Q-Source discussion this morning. Even if you were unable to attend, we can all benefit from the strategy that if you want to understand, don’t assume, ask questions.

Thanks for the chance to share.

Short Sale

Anabolic Aliens or Richard Simmons?

Yup yup, back to Painlab roots.  Time for super long warm up, full body workout, core, cardio, more core, then stretch.

I started by playing a 5 minute workout video by this guy “Anabolic Aliens”, and actually stole  his other workouts to compose my weinke.  You start his dynamic warm up with some high kicks, and here we go….”is this Richard Simmons?”, “are we Rockettes?”.  No worries.  I control the Q, therefore I will make you all suffer.  I can Omaha with the best of them.

The THANG:

  1. FULL BODY (45 sec each, 10 count rest)
    1. Side lunge X Tomahawk
    2. Push-up X Knee Out Wolvy’s
    3. Hip Bridge X Knee Curl
    4. Hamstring Curl X Dip
    5. Seal push up X Kick
    6. Alt lunge X High Knee
    7. Inchworm X CDD
    8. Sumo Squat X Push back
    9. Calf Raise X Finger Extension
    10. Reverser Snow Angel X Planche Push up
  2. CORE (1 minute each)
    1. Elbow Plank
    2. 6” hold
    3. Head hold
    4. Left side Elbow Plank
    5. Right side Elbow Plank
  • CARDIO – jog to the stadium and do this stuff
    1. Follow the Leader…single file line; I’m the head, Herme was the tail.  You lunge walk to the steps, and do what I do across each level.  I bearcrawled, reverse lunged, bearcraled, forward lunge, bearcraled.
    2. Burpees – 1 minute
    3. Jacks – 1 minute
    4. High Knee – 30 seconds
    5. Don Quixote – 1 minute
    6. Merkins x 40….not sure why, I think the Richard Simmons talk pissed me off so I put it on the crew.  Good stuff.
  1. CORE
    1. Rising Flutters
    2. Rockers (straight leg)
    3. Toe Touch
    4. Penguins
    5. Leg extended crunch
    6. Touch & Go
    7. Thrusters
    8. Freddie Mercs
    9. Leg Crunch
    10. Busters
  2. Back to the circle – I was going to do some stretches, but felt the urge for more Merkins becuase there was still a teeny tiny bit of mumble chatter.  Gotta stomp that out.  We went around the circle for a few exercises when the crew arrived.

MOLESKIN – my Shieldlock made a good showing, and I enjoyed meeting Handcuff and Dirty White Boy.  Everyone pushed, next time you’ll all be Sweatin’ to the Oldies.  Richard Simmons isn’t dead, to my knowledge.

Always a pleasure, Painlab rules all.  See you.

Rudolph

 

Good Lookin’ Man

F3 is open to all men. Men of different backgrounds, different interests, and different beliefs. You are free to share those beliefs, and if someone disagrees, a good, healthy debate can be had. We also have stories based on how the events in our lives have played out. However as we learned again on this cold, Saturday morning, you have to be careful how you share those beliefs or tell those stories because your words can be twisted and used against you in a bad way.

Warm-up
SSH x 15
Merkins x 15
LBCs x 15
Imperial Walkers x 15

The Pledge

Time to split, Pain Lab with Rudolph. Boot Camp went on a mosey.

Stop at the parking lot at Grier. There were 3 orange cones that were set up that served as a perfect starting point for the next exercise. A simple Lunge, Lunge, Burpee would have required too many Burpees for YHC across the length of the parking log. So we went with:

Lunge, Lunge, Lunge, Lunge, Lunge, Lunge, Lunge, Lunge, Lunge, Lunge, Burpee (simple right). 5 Lunges with each leg, then a Burpee.

Once we reached the other end of the parking lot, let’s mosey with a left onto Burtonwood Dr. Stop at the first street for 10 Monkey Humpers. YHC was asked if the PAX could do 11 MH. I said that was acceptable. You vs You.

Mosey to the office building down the street. Partner Up for a round of FAT. I have to have acronyms to remember the exercises that I have planned.

Partner 1 runs around the building to the other side of the parking lot and does one burpee, then runs back. Partner 2 does AMRAP of the exercise. Then switch.

Round 1 – Flutter Kicks
Round 2 – American Hammers
Round 3 – Taps of the Shoulder (Shoulder Taps)

Mosey to Ollie’s parking lot for the main event.

As a group, complete 4 exercises then mosey to the other end of the parking aisle with a Burpee half way down the aisle.

Merkins x 10
Squats x 20
LBCs x 30
SSH x 40

At the other end of the aisle, 4 exercises then mosey back down with 2 Burpees half way down the aisle. There was chatter about the increasing Burpees, but YHC assured the PAX that it would help us keep count of the number of rows.

Diamond Merkins x 10
Jump Squats x 20
Crunchy Frogs x 30
Seal Jacks x 40

Rise and repeat the 4 exercises on the end of the aisles with Burpees increasing by 1 each trip. According to my Strava map, we got in 3 full rotations down and back.

Mosey back with a stop at the street again for 10 (or 11) more Monkey Humpers. Stop at the bus drop off at Grier for a round of the exercises again. There was confusion about the command to stop, but we got that worked out.

Merkins x 10
Squats x 20
LBCs x 30
SSH x 40
Seal Jacks x 40
Crunchy Frogs x 30 (Omaha’d to 10)
Jump Squats x 20 (Omaha’d to 10)
Diamond Merkins x 10 (Omaha’d to 10)

It was at this point that the chatter took an interesting turn. To be honest, YHC was distracted at this point. First of all, YHC was just trying to keep track of the count of his own exercises at this point in the workout. Second, YHC was also watching the clock to make sure that the PAX returned on time. Apparently, Linus was telling a story about a gentleman that had served in the military. Here are the details that I caught from the story:

  • It may have involved an F3 PAX
  • There was some sort of church service
  • Dress uniform
  • And good lookin’ man

Past that, it would just be conjecture so I’ll leave it there. I believe Short Sale was able to get more of the story so I’ll leave it up to him and Linus to correct any misinterpretations or add any important details. However, I’m comfortable leaving the story like this and allowing you to fill in the details like an old Mad Libs.

This is also the point where Watts Up uttered the words, “Do you want me to write the backblast for you?” This could have been a shot at the fact that it takes YHC a week to write a back black for The Pub which includes little more than the direction we ran and the PAX present. However, YHC took this as an invitation to write this backblast so I humbly accepted his offer. I have not checked to see if he did write it, but YHC figured I could at least tell my version of the events.

Time’s getting short so mosey back to the Schiele. Quick round of flutters until we hit 60 minutes.

Announcements
Extinction Run – Feb 13 – Sign up through the Pre-Blast

Prayer Requests
Sledge – Sister in law
Blart’s M

Prayer to take us out.

Folsom and My Pre workout!

Before I got to Folsom I crushed a pre workout drink that had a lot of caffeine in it and it got me fired up for the work we were about to put in at good ole Folsom!

Warm Up

10 Gravel pickers, 10 Hillbillies, 10 Burpees, 50 Plank jacks, 50 Mountain climbers, 25 CDD

Mosey to the lower parking lot

4 corner stack

1st corner 10 Burpees

2nd corner 10 Burpees, 20 Plank jacks

3rd corner 10 Burpees, 20 Plank jacks, 30 LBC

4th corner 10 Burpees, 20 Plank jacks, 30 LBC, 40 American hammers

Mosey to the side of the lower parking lot for 11’s

Mike Tyson on one side and Squats on the other and every time you cross the middle grab a Burpee!

Mosey to the end of the parking lot and partner up for DORA

200 Merkins 300 Shoulder taps and 400 LBC

P1 do the workout while P2 runs to the top of the parking lot and back.

At this point the blood was flowing well and the energy was high. Freight made fun of me because I had on shorts and a cut off sleeve shirt that said superdad but I know it was all out of love lol. I figure if he calls you a canoe he must like you a little bit and that goes for everybody that talks smack. If they didn’t talk junk to me a little bit it wouldn’t be as fun! Pizza man and Gold digger called me stupid dad lol I blamed it on my 3 kids that make me some what crazy but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

We moseyed up to the football field for some more work. We lined up along the sidewalk and partnered up for more DORA!

200 SSH 300 Seal jacks and 400 Air presses

P1 done the workout while P2 ran across the field and bear crawled up the bank touched the fence at the tennis court and ran back. That was a sweet hill and I gave everyone the option to do the hill or they could just stay at the bottom but at Folsom we got a lot of HIMS that don’t complain they just get the work done that’s put in front of them!

We moseyed back to the start for the pledge and prayer Mayor and Volt helped me lead the pack!

Announcements

Extinction run in Belmont Feb 13th

Rooster run in Rock Hill I think March 13th

Prayer Request

Blarts M

Stogie Dad

Our Youth in the community

Our Nation

Thank you men for letting me lead it is always fun to get out there and hammer down with all you HIMS and I am looking forward to my next Q!

Round UP

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