8 years of Cookie

AO: Rubicon

When: 2024-01-11

QIC: Cookie

PAX (24): Avis, Cookie, Dipstick, Dosido, False Start, FannyPack, Flash (DR - City of Saint Louis), Hollywood, HotSauce, Jackalope, Lil Hurt, lumbergh, MillerTime, No-See-Um, PitStop, Red Ryder (D Mack), Shazam, Special K, Speedo, uga, Zohan, Christopher Robin, Spirit Stick, Olan Mills

Preamble:

8 years ago while having a few Christmas cocktails, YHC was EH'd by my longtime friend and college roommate, Flo. He mentioned some crazy early workout held outdoors at Wills Park and said I should join him after the holidays. Fast forward a few weeks later, it was the 2nd week of January 2016 and YHC relented and joined on a Saturday at the Rubicon. The Q was supposed to be Foghorn, but his kids got sick in the middle of the night, so Flo & Boomer substi-Q'd. 8 years later, it was YHC on Q for a throwback to some of those early Rubicon days. Lots of HC's were flowing in on Slack including a few downrangers and some quasi Kotters. Welcome Spirit Stick, Christopher Robin, Flash and Olan Mills. 4 Downrangers!! 5:30AM came and the parking lot was full with 23 PAX ready to hit the gloom. It would be another 15 minutes before we had the 24th PAX join, as Zohan was running 2 minutes late on the worst day to be late.  

Warm-O-Rama:

Run about a half mile up the road to the Children of the Corn, a place we used to frequent, for a warmup of:
  • SSH
  • Imperial Walker
  • Weed Picker
  • Next, we would head towards the Rec center for the main event.

The Thang:

THANG 1
  • Balls to the Wall challenge - everyone up a the same time, last man standing was the winner. No surprise that MillerTime won.
THANG 2
  • Bojangles Biscuit Run with Blueberries - using the dog track, sprint the straightaways, jog the turns, 10 burpees (aka blueberries) after each lap
  • 2.5 laps completed
  • Head over to the cheese grater parking lot, stopping for 10 dips at the planters
THANG 3
  • Suicide Blimps - 10, 20, 30, etc  - do your exercise then run to the first island, come back do 2nd, run to 2nd island, etc
THANG 4
  • Colt 45's with coupons. 15 curls, 15 overhead press, 15 rows
  • Move 1 to the right, 3 rounds.
Time running out, head back to the flag with a spring the last 40 yards. 3 minutes of Mary concluded.

COT:

During COT, YHC spoke about the importance of F3 in my life. There is not a day that goes by that I don't get some sort of excitement, encouragement or engagement from F3. Whether that is laughing in the gloom with my brothers, drinking coffee talking about life, interacting on Slack/Strava, business networking or having a beer with an F3 friend. F3 is truly a gift and I am forever grateful for it. Lifelong relationships have been forged and I am no doubt a better man because of F3. I can't truly thank each one of you enough for your friendship and uplifting encouragement. YHC closed out by encouraging the men in the circle to plug in more and EH others. Parking lot coffeeteria followed with YHC sharing a Truth Nugget about Pushing the Rock which was originally shared in the F3 Nation Newsletter by Bono and re-shared by HaHa. It's a story about a farmer tasked by God to do a task he didn’t understand at first. PUSHING THE ROCK There once was a man who lived in a cabin next to a field. In the middle of the field was a huge rock – an enormous boulder. One night, God came to the man in a dream and said “I want you to go out in the morning and every morning after that and push the rock with all your heart and all your might.” So, the next morning and every morning after that the man did exactly as God instructed. Every morning, day after day, week after week, month after month – no matter the weather – the man woke up and pushed the rock until he could no longer push it anymore. And day after day, week after week, month after month, the rock never budged a single inch. Some days, he did not feel like pushing the rock, but he did it anyway. Some days, he did not push the rock with all his heart and all his might, giving just a partial effort until he realized this was not God’s command. His task was to push the rock with all his heart and all his might, every morning. He grew frustrated and prayed, “God, why am I pushing this rock? Day after day, week after week, month after month I have pushed this rock. I have never moved it, and never will!”God replied, “I did not ask you to MOVE the rock, I asked you to PUSH the rock with all your heart and all your might. You have been an obedient and faithful servant; now look how you have transformed yourself: your shoulders are broad, your arms are strong, your legs are powerful. You are now ready for me to use you for a greater purpose!”

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