The Sanitarium Backblast
02/07/2023
02/07/2023, 5:30 AM | The Sanitarium| 31 degrees, 79% humidity, beautiful February morning
Q: Black Tuesday
14 PAX: Baby shark, Lady bug 🐞, Rayban, OG Kickstand, Milo, Dozer, KOA, Busser, Rooney, Knobs, Beans, Chestnut, Double Dip, Black Tuesday
QIC: Black Tuesday
5:00 AM
There was a nice sized group of pre-runners doing the standard pre-run, along with Knobs and Beans knocking out a 1-mile pre-run shortly after the normal group. Black Tuesday knocked out a humble 0.75 mi pre-run after setting up.
5:30 AM:
Black Tuesday welcomed the Pax to F3 – reminding them of the F3 Mission: Plant, Grow and Serve small workout groups of men for the invigoration of male community leadership.
Black Tuesday then recited the 5 core principles of F3. 1) Free of charge 2) Open to all men. 3) Held outdoors, 4) Peer led in a rotating fashion and 5) Ends with a Circle of Trust (COT).
Black Tuesday then informed the group that he is not a professional and to modify as necessary. He recited the creedo – “Leave no man behind, but leave no man where you found him.”
The PAX then moseyed down to the track around the grass field for the Warm-O-Rama/Pre-Thang.
Warm-O-Rama
The PAX performed a chain run for 1.75 laps around the track.
At the conclusion of the chain run, Black Tuesday led a short Strech-O-Rama in the south endzone of the grass field (Sun Gods forwards and back, Michael Phelps, big ones, and hamstring stretches x2) and then directed the PAX to transition to the turf field for the Thang.
Thang: The PAX convened at the North goal line, and split into two groups where Black Tuesday explained the modified Dora they were about to tackle as a group instead of as individuals.
As the creedo states – he informed that PAX that no Man would be left behind. The running group ran 60 yards out and back, while the opposite group knocked out the exercises/reps listed below. To ensure the 6 was not left behind, any speedy PAX in the push group either picked up the six or joined in with the exercise group. The groups did a great job of finding consistency to pull the 6 along, resulting in near simultaneous finishes for each group – a feat rarely seen when not focusing.
Dora:
Burpees x 100
Big Boys x 200
Merkins x 300
Air Squats x 400
Black Tuesday called Omaha at approximately 0603AM
The PAX then moseyed up to the flag and completedMary.
● Sarpy Slammers, 14 to be exact
Name-o-rama occurred at the completion of Mary.
Prayers/Announcements
● Announcements
o Blood drive, freed to bleed
o Chris gradoville foundation event upcoming. Details on slack. Bourbon raffle in advance if you can’t make it
o Super Bowl party at Milo’s house.
● Prayers
○ Uncle Jessie, follow up scans for his son ongoing in Memphis
○ Skidz knee surgery
○ Chris Sauder diagnosed with sarcoma
○ TTT for his upcoming heart surgery.
COT:
363 days ago was the First Beat down YHC attended – I was pretty sure I was going to die, was embarrassed that I couldn’t keep up, and was questioning what I was doing there. My goal part way through was simply to not puke or pass out. We moseyed up to the flags, and I was still in that same head space…and then toad stool went into his COT. I don’t even know if I absorbed the important part of it, but at some point he started talking about internal demons (or something along those lines). He talked about how we all have them and to not let them overcome you or win out.
You hear about moments of extreme clarity or divine intervention – That was one of those moments for me, when I knew I was in the right place and it somehow all made sense. It spoke directly to my situation and emphasized that God put me in touch with F3 for a reason. That feeling of not belonging was washed away at that point.
What a difference a year can make. I stand here today, my 1 year anniversary on the horizon. Life changing is the only thing I can say to truly capture it, and I don’t have enough time in the cold today to touch on everything – so I’ll pick one item to leave you all with.
POGO 40 is discussed in Freed to Lead, and it emphasizes the physical fitness of adult men – fitness level and weight bouncing up and down inconsistently. but the Mental fitness POGO is a real thing as well, and can be just as impactful if not more.
I’ve always battled with it, since I was young. Perfectionism, self hate, an extreme level of competitiveness and an even greater hate for failure or losing.
Just like the physical POGO – there’s no silver bullet. It can be a grind at times and understanding that it’s likely a continuous effort is important to realize. It’s about understanding and acknowledging and maintaining mental health balance. As toadstool implied on my FNG day – we all have struggles, but they don’t have to define or control you.
It’s important to embrace that we all have flaws and that being perfect isn’t what we need to be striving for. You’d be surprised what simply Maintaining consistency around a positive level and finding ways to improve small amounts can do. Consistently being “good” can have a much greater impact than inconsistently being “perfect”.
Thank you!! BT