AO The Labyrinth
September 1 , 2022
71 degrees, clear skies, a perfect morning
PAX- Tonight Show, Blade of Glory, Vandelay, Tee Ball, Cheap Seat, Doggy Paddle, Yodel, Ozark, Gator, Wait Time
Q: Roadhouse
As I drove to the Labyrinth on this crisp, beautiful Thursday morning, I felt a sense of calm. A sense of peace. This was very rare for me on a Q morning as usually I found myself anxious and amped up for the workout. But this morning was different.
It had been a busy week. Hell, it had been a busy month and now it was September. The first day of September to be exact and I was feeling reborn and ready. It felt great. And then it hit me. Not only had I never posted at the Labyrinth, I didn’t even know where it was. I mean, I knew it was near the Maize but where? Where were the flags, where do I park?
My sense of calm quickly turned into worry. Would I find it? Would I be late? Would anyone bring any of the items I listed in my preblast. Those 13 seconds of calm were really nice. I hope to experience them again someday.
After asking some of the pre-runners for directions I eventually found where I was supposed to be. I pulled into the lot and joined some PAX members by the shovel flags. By 5:30 we had 11 men. A perfect number for a nice mosey!
I welcomed the group and gave them the usual accoutrement of the 3Fs and the five core principles. I also explained that I have never been here so I may need some help with navigation. They accepted and encouraged me to do my best!
We moseyed across the parking lot and circled up for some Warm-a-rama. If I was going to run, I was going to need to stretch. It was time to get loose.
WARM-A-RAMA:
Big Ones 10 each leg
Tappy Taps 15 IC
Upward Dog 30 count
Downward Dog 30 count
Pigeon Pose 30 count
Between us, I could have just stretched for the entire 45 minutes but these men came for a run, and I could not let them down.
We took off from the parking lot and headed through the neighborhood. Having no clue where to go, I decided to lead from the rear. This is where that Vaseline would have come in handy.
We moseyed through the streets until we found the trailhead near the Maize. We took the trail to the street and then circled up. I asked my man Vandelay for a core exercise knowing full well he would choose box cutters. I asked for 25 of them and he delivered just as I expected.
What I did not expect was the sloppiness of the exercise. I saw very few boxes during this time. I saw some circles, a couple hexagons, even a rhododendron but no boxes. Vandelay was disgusted and shared this with the group. He can be a mild mannered architect but if you get sloppy with your box cutters, you will see a side of him that few have seen before. He was furious. I thought it best we continue the mosey to let him calm down.
We ran by the lake, and I was flooded with memories of my favorite pre-run. I loved this run around the lake at the Maize and have spent many a morning next to Hard Hat, trying to keep up with this beast of a man. Some of my favorite F3 memories. I love you Hard Hat.
When we get to the next street we circled up again. I asked Vandelay if we could get another shot at the box cutters. He hesitated but eventually agreed. While it was a little better the second time around, it was still a myriad of shapes. I think I saw some ovals, an octagon and maybe a trapezium. I felt like I was back in kindergarten with this array of shapes.
I then asked Gator for another core exercise and man do I regret that decision. He called for some Gator tails. Pretty narcissistic, I thought, but you do you boo… This was my first experience with gator tails and after 10 of them on each side, I had had enough. We resumed our mosey and headed around the lake.
I was going to stop one more time at the playground for some more core exercises but I looked at the time and it was almost 6 AM. We still had a ways to go and I started to worry that we might not make it back in time. That hill at the end of the run was haunting me and I began to pre-suffer.
We continued our pace and eventually made it to the bottom of the hill. The group from the Maize was doing their workout on that same hill and it was great to see this other group of PAX members. We ran through them and encouraged them to finish strong. Halfway up the hill we paused and I encouraged our group to do the same. Let’s take this fucking hill and finish strong. Wait Time, without hesitation and any regard for human life, took off in a dead sprint up the hill. The rest of us followed.
As we got back to the parking lot we were gassed. We circled up and did some Mary.
MARY:
American Hammers (Rancid Style 11)
After the Hammers, I instructed the PAX to lie on their backs. I then asked them to take six deep breaths. After that, I asked them to identify one negative emotion they were feeling and to push it away from them as far as they could. They then identified an emotion they wanted to carry with them that day and they pulled it to their hearts and embraced it. This is a meditation that I do each morning and enjoy.
With that, the beatdown was over. We did it!
Announcements:
New sites opening up this fall: Coronado, Block Party, Cathouse
Labor Day workouts!
Prayer Requests:
Silent prayer requests
COT:
My COT was inspired by something that happened in a class I taught this week. A young lady attending the class said in her introduction that she was not sure what she was passionate about and found herself just getting by lately. I made it my goal right then to help her find her passion. We had a great couple day of learning and sharing and getting better and at the conclusion of the class, she shared that she had discovered her passion these last 2 days and was excited to pursue it.
My body started to tingle all over, especially in the nether regions, and I had a realization. Finding my passion and the things I love and bring me joy was great, but to help someone else found theirs was simply remarkable. The feeling I had was better than anything else if had felt.
To help someone find joy and passion and fire and purpose is why we are all here. And we can help others succeed and find joy, then our success will be a bi-product of that.
So I challenge you this next week to choose someone in your life and just ask them. Ask them what they want, what’s important to them, their hopes and dreams and see how you can help. Because when you find out what’s important to someone and make it important to you, you take that relationship to a whole new level.
I love you guys!
Roadhouse
Ozark took us out in prayer.
Aye!