AO: Coronado: Aldrich Elementary
15 degrees, feels like 7. Cold AF.
PAX– Patton, Panty Hose, Stripes, Woody, Predator, Snowman, Caruso, Boji, Yodel, Bobsled, Frosty, Mulligan, Big Unit, Da Fridge, Almost Famous, Punching Bag, Sweet Sweet, Ozark, Monzu, Bog One, Touche, Pigpen, Lemu, Jumpstreet, Black Flag, Z-Bo, Grease Fire, Billboard, Gator, Patchy Adams, Doppler, Chucky
Q: Roadhouse and Wait Time
Three years ago, I finally gave in. After 3 months of pushing me and pushing me, I finally caved. I will never forget the text.
“This Saturday morning. I am leading. Its at Boystown which is right by your house. And we don’t start until 7 am.”
It was Wait Time. He had been working on me for months and that was the text that finally got me out in the gloom. Between us, the key was the 7 AM start…. That morning was awful. It was cold and windy. We ran. We did hundreds of monkey humpers and we finished the beatdown with the Bridge of Hate. It was arguably the worst hour of my life. And I Loved it!
That was the beginning of something special for me. The start of something that would push me, make me better and give me something I was desperately lacking, brotherhood! That was three years ago and here I was at Aldrich elementary. Coronado to the kids out there. About to lead a group of men and I was going to do with the man responsible for it all. My brother Wait Time.
I got to the site early on this morning. I was excited about the day. I walked the sacred ground. The trees had been frosted over and each limb of the trees glowed in the morning darkness. It was majestic. and then suddenly, I realized something. Something powerful. Something unescapable. It was FUCKING COLD!
What the fuck… Was it supposed to be this cold? Was this in the forecast? I quickly looked around to see if anyone has seen me arrive and saw no one. I figured if I could get in my car and get out of there before anyone saw me, I could make up a story about my alarm not going off. Wait Time could handle it. I could see everyone next year at my four-year anniversary. I started walking to my car quickly. By this point I had lost feeling in my extremities. The toes were gone and the fingers were soon to follow.
And then I heard it. “Roadhouse, is that you?” God dammit! I slowly turned and there he was, Mulligan. A smile on his face as the icicles slowly started forming on his goatee. My voice got very high, “hey Man… what’s up…” My plan was foiled. I had to stay. And boy am I glad that I did. What a special morning it would turn out to be.
As 5:30 approached, the PAX started pouring in. I was greeted with hugs and fist bumps, Happy Annniversarys and Who the fuck are yous. What a blend. My man Wait Time walked up and we embraced. He and I had been through a lot these last 3 years both personally and professionally and we let it all out in that hug. 7 minutes later we let go of each other.
At 5:30 there were 33 of us. Larry Bird baby! A perfect number. It was fate. At 5:31, there were 34 of us. Dammit Big One! Hakeem Olajuwan’s number. I’ll allow it.
Wait Time shared the intro. I took the 3 F’s and made a reference to how it took Wait Time 3 months of dry humping to get me out in the gloom. He did the 5 core principles and neither of us said we were not professionals. We then moseyed to the playground for some sexy Warm-a-rama.
WARM-A-RAMA:
Monkey Humpers 20
Pickle Pushers with Eye Contact 15 IC
Pickle Pointers 15
Oh Yeahs 20
Slow Pitches 20
If the air wasn’t moist before warm-a-rama, it was now. I haven’t seen that much thrusting since I was a backup dancer for George Michael and Andrew Ridgely back in 1984. Now that we were loose it was time for the Wait Time to hand out some punishment. It was time for the Steinl.
Pre Thang:
Steinl
My favorite part of the Steinl was when Wait Time was calling on people to do ten counts. He had called on many of the PAX and then he yelled for Kill Switch to do a ten count. Kill Switch? Has anyone seen Kill Switch? Turns out he was doing the Murph. After that Wait Time got gun shy and did all the counting himself… Side note- does the Steinl ever get easier. God dammit!
After the Steinl, we moseyed up to the parking lot East of Aldrich. It was time for some brotherhood.
THE THANG:
We lined up along the row of light posts and I asked the PAX to partner up. We were going to do a partner workout and it was going to be very simple.
At one end of the lot we would do 20 Merkins. Then together, the partners would run South to the other end of the lot. On the way, I encouraged them to talk about 2023 goals. Hopes, dreams. What do they want their life to look like this year. At the other end of the lot, they would do 20 Big Boys and then run back to the start. Rinse and repeat until Omaha was called.
20 Merkins
20 Big Boys
RUN in between
I had the honor of partnering with Wait Time. We talked about what we want to do this year and the impact we want to make. I am always inspired by my brother WT!
At 6:05, Omaha was called. We moseyed back to the playground and circled up for Mary. It was simple. Hammers. Rancid Style!
MARY:
American Hammers 34 total
The beatdown was over. We had done it. And we had done it together.
Name-a-rama:
Went relatively smooth. I did drop an F-Bomb. Sorry Tater Tot.
Announcements:
CSAUP this weekend. Opportunities to help. Good luck to all!
Prayers:
There were prayers for many family members from fathers who are recovering to siblings having marital issues. Keep all of our families in mind.
COT:
Wait Time:
In celebrating my co-conspirator and friend, Roadhouse, I was reminded by a 60 Minutes story called, “Survival of the Friendliest.” The segment profiled research that was conducted on dogs in which scientist were able to identify the “friendliness” gene. It turns out that domesticated dogs have the “friendliness” gene but wolves do not. It turns out the same gene mutation exists in humans.
The segment made me think of F3. We come to F3 for the fitness, but we stay for the fellowship or friendliness. Dogs have proliferated because they have learned the importance of friendliness. Three years ago, I made a friend in Roadhouse. Over the past three years, we have survived: a global pandemic, our company being acquired, some personal challenges and countless beatdowns in the gloom. I am grateful for my friendship with Roadhouse and his leadership impact on F3Omaha.
I believe I will live longer by surrounding myself with men like Roadhouse – not because of the fitness but because of the brotherhood or friendships that we forge in the gloom.
Roadhouse:
When Wait Time first asked me to come out to F3, I was in a bad place. Overweight, out of shape, struggling in a bad marriage. I had lost my self. But Wait Time didn’t see any of that. He saw something in me that I did not see anymore. He believed in me. In a way that most people hadn’t. And the impact was huge on me. When you believe in people, it is such a gift for that person. And one of the purest forms of love there is. To see more in someone. To believe that they can be great, remarkable or even just better tomorrow can light spark in someone.
But it doesn’t just impact that person, it has a huge impact on you as well. When you believe in people and see their potential, it changes the lens that you look through life with. You walk through life seeing hope and opportunity and you see the best in people. The other option is to be a cynic and to doubt people and see the worst and be disappointed at all times. To me the choice is easy. Believing in people’s ability to better not only changes their lives, but it can also change yours too.
So here Is my challenge for you this year in 2023. Looks around for those people who need a spark, someone to believe in them. Look for them at work, at home and in every crack of the universe, and light them up. Believe in them. Because it will impact them and it will certainly impact you.
After the COT, Wait Time called for the PAX to circle up around me and put hands on me for the prayer. You guys know me, I am not a big prayer guy. But feeling the PAX huddle around me, their hands in places I cannot mention, it meant the world to me.
I love you guys!
Roadhouse