Wednesday, Oct. 19 | Catalyst | Pinnacle Bank | 21 degrees
PAX (9): Armbar, Truly, Pantyhose, Cataracts, Chucky, Slap Shot, LPC, Armando, Sparty
QIC: Sparty
Ohhh it was a beautiful morning. We had been exploring options to Plant a new AO in West Omaha that would have the goal of simply running. A location, name, and launch date had been determined. All that was left was getting a couple pop-ups in to test it out. I felt very humbled by the opportunity to lead the first one. I had done my homework as I love to map out routes, and had 2 options in mind. However, there was a 3rd option I needed to first explore. I woke up earlier than needed to ensure I was able to get out to the site and do my investigating as some roads are so new they don’t exist on Google Earth yet. I found what I wanted, and it looked that the 3rd option was going to be the best option.
I then waited for the PAX to arrive, and sure enough, one-by-one they pulled into the parking lot. There was some initial confusion with where flags would be planted before we settled on placing them on a nice little grass island. It was at this time that we determined that maybe this should be Paradise Island since there is actually an Island here…..Chucky proceeded to share his enthusiasm with the PAX about some fun on Twitter the night before that ultimately had him landing on Catalyst being the “West Omaha Premier Running AO.” It was at this time that things spiraled out of controlled (the 1st time). Armando lives close by and ran to the AO and we learned that he needed to be back home around 5:45am and he thought we had an out and back lined up that would allow for this. After he and Chucky went back and forth a little bit, I reminded everyone that I was the Q and I have a route in mind. Then LPC jumped into the conversation and his face dropped when he learned that we planned on getting in a 10k. “I haven’t ran that far since I was in the military………” There were so many thoughts and opinions flying around and this allowed us to remind everyone that this was just a pop-up for us to learn from.
I quickly pivoted and let Armando know that we would get him home in time and we’ll just run the route backwards. As Chucky looked at me with a nervous smile, I joked that we would Bernie Sanders for 6 miles. We also told LPC, no worries bud. We gotchu! And it was 5:15am, we were not off to a great start, but things would change quickly. After I went through our traditional welcome. I gave 2 disclaimers as I walked them through a brief explanation of the route we would be taking, and also that I had ate chili the last 2 nights and it had finally caught up with me. You have been warned.
We took off out of the parking lot and started to head west, running through the business area before we came to a T in the road at West Dodge Station Elementary and we took another left turn. We proceeded west going up and down the hills before passing by the Women’s Hospital, then crossing 192nd St. to make our way to Lawrence Youngman Park. It’s a nice loop at the dock that allowed us to add an a mile to the run. As we made our way up and down these hills, we made it back to 192nd and turned south. This was the one are that got challenging as there wasn’t a sidewalk. I assured the men we would be fine as it is a 4-lane highway, and it was 5:30 in the am. While Chucky complained about the dangers of my route, no one came even close to car, unlike Stripes who almost died the week before from Chucky’s route. As we crossed under Dodge St. we made our way up another nice hill to Capitol Ave. and turned left to head back east. As we explored this new road, it was hard not to imagine a future AO in the large Waterford parking lot. As we approached the short strip of road with no lights, we doubled back to pick up the 6. Mumblechatter was heavy and the men all seemed to be having a good time and forgot all about the distance we were covering.
After re-grouping, we made our way into the darkness and went up and down hills by the apartments before we made our way back to 180th. I think it was at this time that some guys were expecting/wanting to turn left to head back to the flags. This was not a pre-run, and I didn’t have a 30 minute COT prepared. We stayed on course and made our way through Village Point. It was at this point that it dawned on me that what this AO and opportunity would be bringing to the PAX is not a nasty beatdown. Not a lot of miles. Rather, the opportunity to have quality mumblechatter for a solid 45-60 minutes. As Slap Shot and I arrived to 168th St, we doubled back again to pick up the 6 and then turned to head north. We dodged a car that was driving aggressively and wanted to run us over, but being on the sidewalk saved our lives. After we crossed Dodge, we made our last turn to head back towards the shovel flags at 174th St (this makes no sense to me as the road goes east to west, but that’s what it is). We finished off the run with a nice pace, all together as we crossed back over 180th St. and back into Pinnacle Bank’s parking lot. Armando made it home and everyone arrived to the flags in one piece.
Name-o-rama: Had to start with my man Armbar. LPC gave us some humor then stepped up for Armando.
Prayers: Grandpa Phil, Open Sesame , Truly’s co-worker’s sister, and Mr. Deeds.
Announcements: Launch is in 2 weeks on 11/2. Toto is passing the shovel flag at the Berm to AB. Fancy Feast has pop-ups the next 2 weeks and will launch on 11/4.
COT: I don’t have anything specific or inspiring for today. Just want to share some thoughts, insights, and the opportunity that comes with the Catalyst. We have a standard route that is an out and back. For the everyday runners, they will get in a 10k. This option is built to allow for guys that don’t run much to come out, and while they won’t get in a full 6 miles, they can get in 4-5 at their pace while turning around at the appropriate time in order to finish at the flags at the same time. To that point, it allows for guys to ruck and/or just simply walk. You have an hour to get in your movement. I would recommend that if you are the Q here, come with 2 routes: 1. The standard route based upon the PAX that show up. Recognize who is there and make a good decision to do what is best for the group. 2. If you have all runners, have a nice 10k route that is different to mix it up and try new roads. Either way, what we learned today is that the value the PAX will get out of this AO is the opportunity to spend time with another guy or 2 to just open up and talk, or listen. Without having to stop and exercise, there will be no interruptions. This mumblechatter will be your Catalyst for growing deeper relationships with other men.
YHC took the group out in Prayer.
Sparty,
Aye!