Nine men braved (and one dog, not Skipper) the early, cold morning, gloom. Reflective gear was worn by most, and headlamps led the way to 320 Clubber Lane, an empty lot of pavement with some odd liquid stains, a field that offered refuge to a skunk and a nearby four lane highway (16) with passing motorist on their way to and from. From the vantage point of the PAX all that could be seen were the headlights of passing vehicles, the headlamps of their F3 brothers, and wait what’s that…three bright green chem-lights left during the run in, at 20 yard increments. FNG-1 is Hefty's pup.
The Thang
Once everyone left the comfort of their vehicles it was 5:32, so skip the warm-ups and let’s go. YHC gave the route, head to the end of Little Egypt plank for the six (6) at the dead end. 95% is downhill so go get a PR, if you want…coming back will not be easy.
As YHC approaches the end he pulled three chem-lights and placed them 20 yards apart. Essentially, with today being 3-20 there were 3 lights and place 20 yards apart (SWIDT). A group of 8 confused PAX looked into the darkness where the gleam of the green light reflected from their retinas. No one was out of breath on the 180 ft decent to 320 Clubber Lane.
Line up and here we go, YHC promised 320 or more of something:
Suicides to each light completing the following at each light and then repeato on the exercise when returning to starting point
- 50 flutter kicks OYO then 50 more at the start
- 50 LBC OYO then 50 more at the start
- 50 squats OYO then 50 more at the start
If you did the math hopefully you got 300, prior to running back to AO we completed 10 IC merkins (20), there’s another 320 for you.
Head back to AO, and yes 95% is up hill.
Upon arriving Abrams called Q out for completing early and recommended a parking lot lap, so…we did.
Mary
Q calls “all ab Mary” and hands round one to Abrams, who then does his nasty merkin ladder thing, I think it went like this:
- IC 10 merkins
- Hold plank after 10th for 10 count
- IC 5 merkins
- Hold plank after 5th for 20 count
- IC 1 merkin
- Hold plank after 1 for 20 count
Clark called IC 10 Dr. W’s
Wildthing IC Freddy Mercury’s, I lost count by now
Tipper IC LBC’s
YHC said “that’s it” with 3 min to go and again was called out by Abrams who asked for two minutes of American Hammer, which was met ½ way…1 min American Hammer/Russian Twist, whatever it’s called ask Trump he is in contact with Putan.
Reflection
An inspirational person I follow for professional guidance and learnings is Dr. Travis Bradberry, author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0, and other writings, provided a few quotes over the weekend via LinkedIn, so I wanted to share.
“Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t do”.
“Great leaders don’t set out to be a leader…they set out to make a difference. It’s never about the role and always about the goal”
To wrap up, I shared a prayer (I should have led off with this prior to launch) which was posted by a Rock Hill PAX on their FB page. The PAX said he had been thinking about a prayer for their Palmetto group and provided the following:
“May my F3 brothers all run as One.
May God keep us safe,
And may we all have fun!”
Moleskin
As normal, talk began on launch pad about the lack of SVU runners for a Monday run day at Mustang. Given, a #PB was provide through three communication vehicles; Twitter, Slack, and DenverF3 yahoo mailing list.
Only nine showed, was it the #pb, the cold, injuries, warm bed, alarm clock, motivation, work, alcohol, March Madness, or a plethora of other distractions keeping you away. Regardless what may have kept others away, please know there were nine men who lifted you all in prayers and are a text, phone call, drive over, whatever away to pull you up, bring you ice, refill the water, fist bump, hand on your back, push out the door, sit in the quiet, pray with you, walk with you, you name it!
A skunk had visited 320 Clubber Lane prior to our arrival, I’m sure we left it in a worse stench than the skunk.
Daisy (Hefty’s Dog.0) was dubbed Daffodil, and after a five mile run yesterday with Hefty she didn’t complain at all this morning TClaps.
Prayers and praise for Clark’s dad following a fall that could have ended up real bad, but walked away with no sign of injury.
TClaps to Abrams and Mulligan for getting in a standard prior to a running workout #beasts
Always enjoy to lead the group, but love being part of the brotherhood regardless the role.
Make a difference in someone’s day today, and be kind!
Clubber