Backblast: The Bell Tower – (Give it Away) 7/8/22
Khakis and Tater Tot fired up the ol’ minivan which has been nicked name GiGi ever since we said our goodbyes to Larry. She certainly doesn’t have the bells and whistles that the Ram had but by golly GiGi has a huge heart and can play country music with the best of them. As we made our 20 minute ride down to Bellevue, which by the way is all interstate and easy as it gets, but we were detoured from 75 south and had to head north to downtown. Looks like we are going to miss the pre run….dang. As we pulled up Fire and GirlDad were ready to rock and there were already some HIM that had taken off for the murph challenge. The gloom was pumping with energy and was only 4:45am. Khakis helped set up the cones, did a timing check on the Thang and then it was time to roll for welcomes and introductions. Friday naturally has a good feel and the PAX seemed relaxed and ready to go. Let’s mosey!
PAX (17): Stranglehold, Splinter…Cell, Korver, Farva, Bunsen, Dozer, Duracell (Respect), Khakis (Respect), Chopsticks (Hate), iMac (Hate), FedEx, Irish Car Bomb, Fire Walker, Crank Bait (FNG), Ditty, GirlDad and Tater Tot
Warm A Rama – .25 Mile Mosey (we started with 14 and then three more PAX joined as we were starting warm a rama.
1) Grrrrrr to Happy X3 (clinch your fist and “Grrrrrr”. Open your first and say “Happy”) – This exercise reminds me of Waffle House as he introduced us and reminds us how he always approaches life.
2) Sun Gods (10) forward and back
3) Single leg squats (20) both legs
4) Tappy Taps with a clappy clap (10)
Pre Thang: House of Pain (Jump Around)
Any F3 exercise that have music playing along with is what I call a “Song Ruiner”. For the record, Jump around is 3:15 minutes long and for every screaming sound that yells in the background we were to perform and jump squat. Listen to it and you will understand. There are 65, give or take, throughout the song so recovery during the breaks was encouraged. Not sure if the PAX were gassed but Tater Tot was but didn’t feel that the song was completely ruined and also heard the GirlDad was greeted with it in his car when we were departing from coffeteria. Odd.
The Thang – Ball of Man
After a short mosey to the Thang the PAX were numbered off into groups of four with the intention that this would be the easiest instruction for the day. Yet again the numbering aspect of F3 continues to amaze me how hard it can be. Two of the groups of 4 were off and running while two other groups were trying to figure out who the hell needs to be with who. I have to fall on the sword on this one as the Q but damnit it just doesn’t have to be this hard does it? Next time I will be better! The groups were told to complete the four exercises on the sheet, Bernie Sanders up the first hill, turn and run 50 yards and up a final hill and return. Upon returning the group was to Ball of Man and share in with their 3-4 PAX what life gift they had recently been given, emotional or tangible, and how that made them feel. The groups were able to complete roughly 2-3 rounds depending on the amount of merlot was being spilled…. Watching groups gather together and share part of their life story was by far the best part of the workout in Tater Tot’s opinion and would later be a part of the COT. Omaha was called at 5:52am and those that had not shared a gift yet stayed and all others ran to the top of the hill and grabbed the cones to return to the flags following.
Exercises:
- 15 Burpees
- 20 LBC’s IC
- 25 T-Merkins
- 30 Groiners
Bernie Sanders up hill
Turn and run remainder of field and hill and return
Ball of Man with talking about your gifts in life
Mary
17 American Slammers Rancid Style X 2 rounds
Announcements/Prayers
- Octagon Shovel Pass from Ice T to Golden Pike
- Oracle Shovel Pass from Cheap Seats to Hei Hei
- Murph Challenge
- QSource – Even if you don’t read just go and listen
COT/Prayer
I typically like to combine the Ball of Man, COT and prayer into one giant dumpster fire of a conversation and today was no different at the Bell Tower. To tie in the theme of having the PAX share some of their gifts that have been given to them over the last few weeks or months, I shared the importance of what I feel small groups really mean and their impact on a deeper level of sharing and/or connections. Most of the time with people you may have never met. Sparty had shared the family tree of F3 making its way from North Carolina all the way to Nugent which was on the top of my mind and how he described F3 as a gift. I felt the need to relive that moment from the day prior which also lead into my CO T. I shared that this previous week has been a difficult week for Tater Tot from the standpoint of I have experienced many new and unfamiliar life lessons making me uncomfortable and scared and frustrated at times. While they aren’t any bad things that have happened they are just hard to experience without a reference point mentally sometimes.
At the conclusion of Futurama’s workout, Polaroid had mentioned he had something to give to me and he found me next to my vehicle which was out of gas and Khakis was convinced it had just enough juice to get to the gas station, which is did. That piece of information is irrelevant to any of this COT by the way. Polaroid and I had worked together for many years and with my recent job change I have been missing him and would like to think he has been missing a small percentage of me as well. Perhaps not. He presented me with a shovel flag that he made that was 100% decked out Creighton Bluejays through and through. The blade had a Bluejay sticker with a Bluejay shaft and silver letters painted Creighton along with a Bluejay logo sticker at the top only to be finished off with a Bluejay flag and of course an eagle complete the beauty. When I saw him walking towards me it was by far the most jovial I had been all week and was genuinely appreciative of all the efforts he went through to make that happen. It was a gift. It was a gift that he took the time and thought and energy and love because he wanted to share a piece of him with me, and I felt that. I hugged him and I just thought about how selfless of a gesture that was. My take on this particular moment, in conjunction with time in my life, was a healthy reminder that when we get distracted by whatever you are distracted by, perhaps concentrate on somebody else other than yourself. Drop the ego and focus on the world. Give back to somebody that may need it just as much or more than you do. Be thoughtful and intentional on a gift which doesn’t have to be tangible but involves love and energy and time. Ultimately it is a win-win for all parties involved and it might just get you through whatever you need to get through for that moment in time. I love Polaroid like a brother and lucky to have him in my life and I just wanted to share that with other people on this perfectly sweaty and humid and amazing morning. Thank you for allowing me to lead!
P.S. Thank you for on sight coffeteria GirlDad!
Aye!
Tater Tot