YHC stepped into the arena at Gladiator on my 8 year F3 Aversary. I tipped my hat to some of my favorite experiences with different PAX over the last eight years.  This is how it went down.

YHC ran THE STANDARD in a Fenway fashion doing parking lot circles for both miles prior to the workout.  Thank you Fenway for showing us that you do not need a long stretch of road to run a marathon (see Fenway’s strava at LFC for proof).

Warmoram:

• 100 (50 IC) SSH’s in honor of Soprano
• 20 IST’s IC in honor of all OG PAX from LFC’s Sword, Samson, & The Foundry
• 15 Long Snappers IC in honor of all the PAX that have developed a new name for this exercise formerly known as the wood chopper (see Valdosta High School Football calisthenics manual – VHS is the winningest high school football team in American AAAA football btw – 28 state titles, 4 ntnl titles – and yes I played offensive line)
• 10 Windmills IC in honor of Moses who has always had way farther to go than the rest of us but still does this.
• A victory lap in honor of Jolly Roger who first shared that idea during a particular customer goruck event – the only difference is there were only 10 of us and no one got in the bear crawl position

Thang:

• PAX returned to block shed and grabbed a block – I grabbed two
• Form a circle with alternating upper body and lower body exercises for one of the WIB’s I have the distinct honor of creating, the Bonemill – One of which we changed from bulgaring split squats (honoring TBC) to weighted calf raises (in honor of Tobadia)
• All PAX commence to do exercises with little to no rest as the bellweather farmer carries two blocks 100 meters down and 1oo meters back.
• This was in honor of Olive, Turnpike, Binary, Uncle Rico, Limburger, Swede, 66, Scrappy, Hasselhoff, Red Oktober, Black Berry, Ramrod, TBC, and many others that were regulars at Samson.
• Entrevue the Fartlek crowd with a fly by led by (running Crocs – Qing Camelbak) there 14 in all.  We ran a victory lap together. This time in honor of Crocs, Camelback, Pitstop, Auto, Lego, Donho, Grey Ghost, Stray, 9 Lives, Mort, PT, Professor, Snake Eyes, Jaws, The Count, Dallas, Mr. Burns, Calypso, THM, and the fleekness himself – Freepass and many more that remind me that running is therapy and it does a body good.

Mary:

• We did Mary a little differently in honor of Bogie as he often referred to doing Mary as stuff you do on your own time at The Blender.
• We finished with 10 minutes of stretching where there were lots of grunts and groans as well as eeews and aahs as this group of PAX got some much needed relief for their muscles after 40 minutes of non stop time under tension.
• We finished with Pigeon which reminds me of almost all of my F3 Brothers.

COT

• We took prayer requests and lifted each other up which reminded me of the PAX of Berean and Emmaus for taking on the challenge of all three F’s at once.  Thanks Rodeo, Gnarly Goat, 9 Lives, Ramrod, Crocs, JimmyO and all the regulars and those AO’s for making 3rd F fun.

Moleskin:

• It’s been eight amazing years for me and my life.  From an overweight, out of shape, man with a questionable past and an uncertain future, to a purposeful leader, with an awesome family, a deeply connected relationship with God, a calling to impact the world, and the grass roots model of F3 to lead where you are and be who God created you to be these eight years have been life-changing.
• Amen – get that checked out.
• Ponch – you were a week late, but it was worth it.
• Toby – Thank you for the opportunity to lead on my F3aversary
• Chilly Willy – impressive… most impressive
• Flo – Glad you’re back from IR. Missed you.
• POS – Now, what’s the next exercise IFYKYK
• Colonel – You almost got lost in the vortex… fo reals
• Stray – Never too far. Thanks for having my back, bro.
• Talking Heads – yes. It was hard. #alwayslistening 😉

To all the men of F3 Isotope my hat is off to you for every choice you make that puts you in the fray and shows the world what real men look like.  You are Kings. Thanks for reminding me every time I step into the gloom that I’m one too.

By request:

The Armor of God Prayer
(adapted from Ephesians 6:10-19 and as an excerpt from The Daily Prayer)

Dear Father in Heaven, thank you for every Spiritual Blessing in the Heavenlies in Christ Jesus. We bring the Blood of Jesus once more over our spirits, souls, and bodies. Our hearts, our minds, and our will.

We put the Full Armor of God on us, the Belt of Truth, the Breastplate of Righteousness, Shoes of the Readiness of the Gospel of Peace, and the Helmet of Salvation.  We take up the Shield of the Faith and the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. We CHOOSE to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of Your might pray at all times in the Spirit. In Jesus mighty name, Amen.

[Misspellings and omissions are all accidental (which is a nice way of saying let’s not take stuff so seriously, eh?).]

Always forward… #imperfectaction