Old School

Preamble:

Mumblechatter on Slack the night before suggested I’ll be the only one Rucking this morning. A quick debate with myself in the morning (to go, or not to go, that is the question) in which I lost, and won, brought me to the Widowmaker at 6am. Sculley was already there, but for a pre-run. Solo Ruck for me then, an opportunity to catch up on some podcasts.

Warm-O-Rama:

A very quick disclaimer and a word of caution to watch your footing.

Led the PAX across the road and down a dirt trail until it meets again the paved trail. OYO baby arm circles forward and backwards and a few covids. IC SSH, Copper Head Squats and Windmills.

Run back up the trail and through the parking lot to the middle of the 4 baseball fields. Imperial Walkers for the 6.

The Thang:

Main thang

There are 4 trails coming out of the middle of the baseball fields. YHC defined an exercise at the end of each one – Body Builders (Burpee with an added Plank Jack), Donkey Kicks, Makhtar N’Diayes, and BBSU with American Hammers at 1:4 ratio, single count.

First round: 10 of each exercise. Always run through the center. Don’t forget to watch out for cars. Wait, what? Yep. Someone decided to enter the trails between the fields with their car. Some confusion regarding the BBSU and Hammers led some PAX do more than ask for. Extra Credits! Some abs and shoulder work for the 6.

Second round: 8 of each. Pay a toll at the center of 10 alpha count Shoulder Taps. More abs and shoulders for the 6.

Third round: 6 of each. No toll, but all running done backwards. As Feathers commented, the exercises felt like a break. YHC’s legs were on fire from all the Bernie Sanders. For the 6 YHC called for people chair, extending arms up, forward, down to touch the ground, back up and repeat.

Fourth round: 4 of each. Run regularly, no toll. However, the gazelles try to do Balls to the Wall till the 6. I don’t think that anyone of us was able to hold that long (no idea how long exactly) but it was a strong effort.

Coupons

A much needed recovery walk to the coupon pile. Some PAX took their time to shop for just the right coupon, but we all find sometime to use. 10 IC Squats, 10 IC Squats holding the coupon behind the back, 10 IC Squat Thrusters, 50 OYO Curls and 10 IC Skull Crushers.

Mary

We returned the coupons and moseyed back to the flag for a short Mary with LBCs, Gas Pumpers and Rosalitas.

COT:

Prayers for health for family and friends, dealing with rough situations. Safe travels for those who’ll be traveling for the long weekend.

Out of 9 PAX today, 5 had Respect (one of them double) and 2 are getting real close to earn their respects as well. Some debate if the Widowmaker is becoming a senior living situation but we ended up agreeing with Funyon that it’s better called Old School.

Naked-Man Moleskin:

I thought a lot about a quick exchange with Speedo between the Thangs. He mentioned calling to god for strength during the workout and I joked that sometimes I do the same (which I do) but he was not joking. He actually prayed, and felt listened to, while I might say “oh god, help me” but without a real conviction behind it. It’s more of a habit than a prayer, and I do not get any real value from saying it.

My relationship with god has its ups and downs. Mostly down during the pandemic, as my family left a synagogue just before the pandemic hit and then all the synagogues closed down, but it was never that strong.

That quick exchange though, made me realize something that I guess should have been more obvious to me – how much you get from a relationship will depend a lot on how much you put in it. I haven’t been giving my best and over the years learned to live mostly without it. Immersing myself in F3 I’m starting to realize how much I may be missing by not investing more. Perhaps it’s time for me to have “the talk”.