Thursday, October 13th, 2022 Westside High
51 degrees, chilly, slight breeze, clear sky (Mars was visible)
PAX: Blue Suede, Wait Time, Chiclets, Tenderfoot, DaVinci, Grillz, Samples, Splinter, Black Lung, Paddles, Khakis, Rosetta, Shock Collar, Titanium, Big One, Situation. Q-tip, Tom Tom, Saul, Armbar, Sparty, Safe Ride, Z-Bo Black Flag, Mahomes, Paramount, Sister Act
Q: Roadhouse
This was a long time in the making. My dad always wanted his three boys to go to Westside. We lived nearby, Tom Hall, the legendary basketball coach, was our neighbor, and most importantly, it was free. Plus, he still harbored some ill will towards Creighton Prep. You see, after his freshman year, he was asked not to come back… But one after another, we chose to go to Prep. My dad was heartbroken… and eventually broke!
And this morning it was coming full circle. I was Q’ing on the field that I would have played on. Well… actually it was the filed that I would have watched others play on (because I would not have made the team). I was at the school that my dad always wanted me to come to. Dad… I did it! I love you, Dad!
I arrived at Westside at 5:10 AM. I walked onto the field to assess the possibilities. A few PAX members were running the track as I took it all in. The air was cold and crisp. It was a perfect morning to grind!
I walked back to the shovel flags as the PAX started to gather. I saw familiar faces, ones that I loved. I saw new faces, that I would come to love. I even saw a face from the past; my old friend Blue Suede was back in town and what a joy it was to see him approach the PAX. I went to embrace him when I was cut off by Wait Time. He dove in front of me to get the first hug. That son of a bitch… I accepted the second hug of the morning and moved on to welcoming the PAX.
I stumbled through the introduction. Five core principles. 3 Fs. Mission statement… I think. Then I instructed the PAX to hit the track for a lap before we circled up for warm-a-rama. To welcome back our man Blue Suede, I asked him to lead us in our first exercise. Some side straddle hops baby…
WARM-A-RAMA:
SSH’s 15 IC
Big Ones 10 count
Imperial Walkers 15 IC
Goofballs 15 IC
Sun Gods 10 IC each way
After WAR, it was time for the Pre-Thang. We were going to do 11s on the stadium stairs. At the bottom we started with one Dip. At the top, 10 jump squats. And then 2 dips and 9 jump squats. And so on and so on.
THE PRE-THANG:
11s
Dips at the bottom
Jump squats at the top
The energy from the PAX was outstanding on this chilly, fall morning. Lots of chatter and plenty of laughter. There was also a lot of heavy breathing…
Once we finished the 11s, we circled back up at the 50-yard line. It was time to grind! I split the PAX into groups of 3 and gave out the instructions.
THE THANG:
We’re going to do a 3-man tag team grinder today.
2 AMRAP stations: goal line and the 25-yard line
Station 1- Goaline
Station 2: The 25 yard line
The third man will run 75 yards between the two stations and relieve the next guy.
At 6:05 Omaha was called and the PAX circled back up around the 50 yard line. We would finish with Mary.
Now, full disclosure, I have done the first Mary exercise several times and it has always gone well. For some reason, on this morning, it was a dumpster fire. It was Guantanamo Bay and it was a bit of a shit show! There was a lot of laughter but I am not sure anyone got any sort of core benefit from it…
We finished with American Hammers- Rancid Style!
Mary:
Guantanamo Bay- sort of…
American Hammers- Rancid Style- 28
Name-a-rama:
Went off without a hitch…
Announcements:
Lots of 3rd F opportunities coming up (Poker games, etc)
Halfway House at the Trident this month
Prayers:
For our brother, Tin Cup! We love you man!
For all those special intentions wither shared our in our hearts
COT:
Last week was Market to Market. I did it for the first-time last year and absolutely loved the entire experience. I was so excited about my second time running as a part of this awesome F3 team!
Well, at around midnight the night before, Bodhi woke up on fire. He was crying and his fever at one point hit 104 degrees. It was scary and I didn’t know what to do. We were up all night, and I knew I could not leave him.
That meant that I was going to have to back out of the race. I hated that! My biggest fear in life is disappointing people and, in this moment, I felt like I would be letting down my team. How would they possibly replace my 9:45 mile time and my dick jokes in the van… I felt terrible about backing out, especially this late in the game.
I typed up the text to Tater Tot and Wait Time and looked at it for two hours. Finally, at around 3:45 AM, I pressed send. I waited with anticipation to hear back. Wait Time was first, “You need to stay with Bodhi. We will be fine.” Then Tater messaged, “Rest easy knowing you are where you need to be, and you made the right decision. Your son needs you there.”
I was so relieved but not surprised. Their support in that moment was incredible and I felt so at peace with the decision I made.
This whole situation got me thinking about my life and where I was focusing my time and energy and most importantly my stress. I have been losing sleep and stressing so much about work lately. I have been up at night thinking about stupid shit and candidly, shit that does not matter.
And because of that, I have lost focus on the most important things. My son. My family. My friends. My brothers in the gloom.
Laying in bed with my four-year old son who was sick and crying and needing his dad reminded me of that. We have got to focus on what’s important in life and stop wasting our good energy on those things that aren’t that important.
My challenge to you is this… Reflect on what is really important in your life and commit your time and energy to that. And don’t wait for your kids to get sick to realize what really matters like I did.
I love you all!
Roadhouse