THE DUNE BACKBLAST
Date: 9/28/22
Weather: 44 F, Clear skies, light 5-10 mph breeze
14 PAX: Fine Print, Tonight Show, Copperfield, Smurf Turf, Watson, Obi-Wan, Truly, Sasquash, Tax Man, Lincoln Logs (respect x 2), Coach K, Vlassic (Respect), Unicycle, T-ball
Q: T-Ball
As I pulled into the parking lot, I was greeted by Unicycle and Obi-Wan for a nice 3.3 mile prerun. I was excited to be back to The Dune, which I had not been to in some time. After setting a blazing pace and being dragged to the finish line by my brothers, we arrived back at the flags with 2 min to spare. Arriving back at the flags, we were greeted by several other HIM and excited to get this beatdown started. At 5:30 prompt as always, YHC greeted the PAX with the F3 Core principles, Mission statement, Motto, and Credo, as well as exercise disclaimer. We had no new FNGs.
Warm-o-rama:
YHC led the PAX to the track for a quick warm up lap, followed by WOR on the 50 yd line. We completed 15 SSH IC, 15 Tappy Taps, 10 slow Big Ones, 10 Sun Gods Forward/10 backward, downward dog for both calves and then each individually, followed by Pigeon stretch for both legs to get the PAX appropriately geared for a beatdown worthy of the gloom. With PAX sufficiently warmed now that nature’s thermometer is slowly declining, we launched directly into the Thang.
The Thang: This was a team beatdown with PAX grouped together in groups of 4 after counting off with 2 groups of 5. PAX began at the endzone with their team and designated 1 runner to run a 400 meter lap, while the others run out to 10 yd line, perform 10 of an exercise, run back to goal line, then run out to 20 yd line, doing 20 of next exercise, all the way to the opposite goal line. When the first runner returned, a second runner would take off from that team and so on. Once round 1 was completed, there was a round 2 waiting with separate exercises to complete. Exercises below for round 1 and 2:
Round 1: 10 Burpees, 20 Merkins, 30 Heels to Heaven, 40 Sumo Squats, 50 Carolina Dry Docks, 40 alternating lunges, 30 LBCs IC, 20 Werkins, and 10 Burpees.
Round 2: 10 Squat Jumps, 20 Knerkins, 30 Mountain Climbers IC, 40 Flutter Kicks, 50 Air Squats, 40 SSH, 30 Ranger Merkins, 20 WWI Big Boys, and 10 Boxcutters.
After some great mumble chatter, a few borderline irregular heartbeats and a lot of sweat, Omaha was called at 6:05 am. We proceeded to the flags for 2 rounds of U-Call-Its for 15 reps each (Gas Pumpers and V-Ups), followed by a round of American Hammers Rancid Style and Name-o-Rama.
Prayers/Announcements:
-Block Party Launch this Friday for Fine Print, as well as 1 year anniversary of Nugent’s murder—please try to attend any site on Friday to take part in something special to remember our brother.
-Check Slack for many 3rd F opportunities and fund raising ventures—please try to support what you can
-Queen service will be starting soon—check slack or message Fine Print for details
-Offer of thanksgiving for Tax Man’s mother in law who does not have cancer after workup, as well as day 74 in the gloom for Tax Man—congrats brother!
-Prayers for Mr. Miyagi’s childhood friend in the DR, who died of a heart attack—reaching out to our brother to provide support and prayers.
Circle of Trust: I have been intrigued in this last week by some online reaction and discussion to an article about F3 recently published in the New York Times. Anytime this incredible group gets mentioned locally, regionally, or nationally, I am excited by the reaction and positive response this gets. Invariably, the F3 guys all share bits of their story, how it helped them, moved them to action, or created great value in their life. As with anything positive, there are also comments that follow which make you scratch your head. It is initially angering to me to see an outsider who knows nothing about this group commenting negatively, despite the many benefits it gives each of us. We had several PAX in F3 Omaha who responded with such grace to potential naysayers, which is always fun to read.
However, I had also read an article recently about Dredd and a colleague (we’ll call him Pete) who is an attorney as well and is a good friend of his. He mentioned how every time he was around this Pete, he would argue whatever Dredd happened to be talking about that day. Even if he was arguing the sky is blue, Pete would have a counterpoint to mention, and they would end up arguing. One day, Dredd came across Pete discussing the same conversation they had the day before with another colleague and was arguing all of the same points he was disagreeing with the day before. When Dredd confronted him about it, he told him (paraphrasing) “I argue to learn—I learn a lot about a subject when I disagree with someone and have an argument”.
While some attorneys or other skilled orators can argue calmly and intelligently about the points and facts of a matter, we are not all blessed with that skillset. However, I learned a great deal about how to use argument and/or disagreement to our advantage. I can calmly disagree with someone and when they seem defensive, ask them to explain their position and why. I may be swayed to a new position, may be able to hold my ground and convictions more firmly, or just simply learn more about the topic at hand. We can all use this to our advantage when addressed in a calm and respectful manner. Much disagreement turns to insult for many reasons—this could be ego, pride, refusal to change your stance on a viewpoint (even when presented with contradictory evidence), but if we are able to approach this with clear hearts and minds, be respectful of others’ viewpoints, and attempt to understand where they are coming from, we can lean into those conversations and better our outlook toward others and the world in general.
YHC, T-Ball