AO: The Trident
April 16th, 2024
65 degrees, breezy, rain on the horizon…
PAX- Saul, Big One, Doc Brown, No Doze, Armbra, Pitchfork, Vandelay , FDIC, Wait time, Room Service, Canadian Bacon, Convoy, Chiclets, Kielbasa
Q: Roadhouse
The thunder clap boomed so loud, it felt like it was directly over my house. I sat up in bed and heard the storm outside. Thunder, lightning, rain crashing against my window. God dammit, I do not want to work out in this weather, I thought to myself. I grabbed my phone to see what time it was. 11:08 PM. Oh, I guess its still early…
The actual alarm went off at 4:45 and I listened closely to hear what was happening outside. The lack of noise made me feel warm inside and the idea of Qing again at the Trident make me warm downstairs.
I arrived at 5:00 AM to an almost empty parking lot. Only Vandelay’s car was there and he was out for a pre-run. What a stud! I love that guy!
I decided to go for a little walk around the premises, get my mind right for the beatdown. Today was my birthday Q as my birthday was later in the week. Turning 45 and that was coming with lots of reflection and memories of the years prior. I circled the lot and reminisced about the last 40 or so years…
At 5:20 people started rolling in. The rain was still holding off for now and by 5:30 there were 15 of us. I stumbled through the intro. Forgot a couple of the Fs, missed a few core principles. No one was fucking listening so it didn’t matter. And with that we moseyed.
We took a long mosey around the buildings and circled up in the Renaissance parking lot of some warm-a-rama. We need to do some stretching…
WARM-A-RAMA:
Big Ones
Tappy Taps
Tater Taps
Pigeon Stretch
SSH
After we got loose and limber, we moseyed over to the garage ramp for our pre-thang. Because it was my 45th birthday upcoming and also because it was also Vandelay’s birthday this week, I asked him to lead us in some Bolt 45s. After one round, we moved to the wall for some awful wall work. We closed out the pre-thang with one more round of Bolt 45s.
The Pre- Thang:
Bolt 45s
15 Donkey Kicks
15 Australian Mt. Climbers
15 Chicken Peckers
Bolt 45s
After the pre-thang, we stayed right where we were for the Thang. I wanted to stay close to the garage just in case the weather took a turn. One of the many benefits of the Trident was the parking garage. It has served us well on cold, miserable days.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking. Winter quarters are for pussies. F3 is outside. Why do you guys always use the garage? Well, let me address that very simply. Go fuck yourself.
Now it was time for the thang!
The THANG:
The thang was going to be simple but hard. Kind of like my 20s.
As a group we would run up to the top of the ramp. There we would do sets of 15 merkins, 15 core and 15 legs exercises. Then we would run down the ramp and do the same. Over and over until we were done. Simple and hard.
At 6:03, I was tired and my body hurt. I decided to take the PAX on one last mosey. We ran to the path along Pacific Street and circled all the way around to the flags. There was great mumblechatter throughout the workout and it continued on your final run.
At 6:09, the workout was over. We had done it. Together every step of the way.
Name-o-rama:
Selfie-rama was special. I was embraced with love by many of the PAX and I could feel the support in my undercarriage.
Announcements:
6th anniversary this weekend.
Other stuff
Prayers:
Big prayers for our guy Sputnik. We love you brother!
FDIC looking for job. Guy is super talented and any organization that brought him in would be better immediately.
COT:
As my 45th birthday approaches I did some reflection on the number 45. And I could not help but think of Michael Jordan. In 1995, when MJ made his comeback to the NBA, he was not able to wear his famous number 23 because it had been retired. So for the remainder of that season, he wore 45. I remember watching those games like it was yesterday.
For a lot of us, F3 represents a comeback in some way. A comeback to fitness. A comeback to fellowship. A comeback to faith. For many of us we are bouncing back from job struggles, home challenges, crises, tragedy and more. F3 is our way of coming back just the way MJ did in 1995.
But here is what I want you to think about. Jordan did not come back the same player or even the same man. He came back better. He developed a jump shot. He perfected a fade away and instead of using his raw talent he became a cerebral player who outsmarted people on the court.
When you comeback from adversity you must come back different. Better. You will not comeback as the same person you were. Too much has happened. Too much has changed.
But that is a good thing. Because while we often long for yesteryear and romanticize how great we were in the past, the best version of you is yet to come. The best version of you is ahead of you and you have the ability to come back better than ever.
So here is my challenge. As you continue to make incredible comebacks in your life, reflect on how you can come back better. Because the 20 or 30 year version of yourself was not your peak. Your mountaintop is ahead and it is going to be fucking awesome!
I love you guys!
Roadhouse, CLB
