Mother Nature did YHC a solid this AM by letting the sky fall upon us.  With the quick and copious rainfall, Black Creek filled nicely, giving the PAX a relaxing ambiance in which to enjoy their down-painment.

Despite the moderate rainfall at 0540, the PAX started circling up.  Evidently they had already taken their DRP and embraced the wet conditions. YHC was teetering on whether to find a shelter and scrap the original plan, but the PAX made it clear that they could handle a little rain.  There was no sense in arguing with perfect reason.

At 0545, virtual shovel flag was planted and the disclaimer was mentally distributed, so we took off into the rainy gloom.

-Run to picnic shelter for Warm-up

  • Good Morning x15
  • Merkins IC x15.  Ma Bell thanked me.
  • Squats IC x15
  • SSH x 25

The Thang

-YHC wavered on the plan, the PAX demanded a decision, so we went with the original plan.  Start by running down into the woods, eventually ending up at the bridge over troubled Black Creek. On the way, Franklin voiced concerns, not about getting wet, but rather about inadvertently blinding PAX with a flashlight.  Duly noted.

Bridgework – For each trip, do 5 Burpees at the East end of the bridge, do 10 Merkins at the West end of the bridge. We started at the West end for each trip.  After finishing 10 Merkins at the end of each trip, Squat Hold until everyone is finished. According to Google Maps, the bridge is approximately 125ft.  This thoroughly blew.

  • Trip #1 – Bearcrawl East, Crawlbear West
  • Trip #2 – Lunge walk East, Backward lunge walk West
  • Trip #3 – Crab walk East (facing West), Crab walk West (still facing West)
  • Trip #4 – Gorilla hop East, Lunge walk West

Recover on the jog up to the overlook. Once at the overlook:

  • Dips x 20
  • Alternating Step-ups x 20
  • Homer to Marge with feet on the wall x20

I didn’t realize how hard it was raining until I was calling cadence and drowning at the same time during Homer to Marge. Run back to the bridge to enjoy the sound of rushing water and for more fun:

  • Trip #5 – Bear crawl East, 10 Sumo squats, Crab walk West, 10 Wide Grip Merkins
  • Trip #6 – It took longer than anticipated, but the head cold finally got the best of me and now I cannot recall if we did a sixth trip or not.  I’m embarrassed to ask, but if any of you old codgers can remember, shout out in the comments below. If we did in fact do a sixth trip, it would have been Gorilla hop East, Lunge walk West.

Regardless of how many trips we did, I was toast.  So we made our way back up to the picnic shelter with a stop halfway for some Freddy Mercurys, just because I didn’t think we had gotten wet enough. Once at the shelter, the stall tactics came out in full force because we were back way too early.

  • Dips x20
  • Alternating Step-ups x 15
  • Irkins x 15
  • Diamond Irkins x 10
  • Box Cutters x 20
  • 6″ leg hold, 5-count around the cirlce
  • Dealer’s choice – Billy called Boat/Canoe xForever
  • Dealer’s choice – Franklin called WWII sit-ups x25
  • Alternating Step-Ups x20
  • Dips x20

I called it at 0630.

COT

  • Count-o-rama: 10 good-spirited PAX faced the downpour this AM.  Congrats, it’s all downhill from here.
  • Name-o-rama: All regulars this AM.
  • Announcement: KKC, Feb 6.  Registration opens Oct. 1, so this announcement isn’t completely irrelevant.  It’s a close call, though.
  • Announcement: Pharmacy turnout has been lackluster.  YHC was blamed for pushing for bi-monthly meetings.  The fellowship aspect of F3 is important.  We get some fellowship during the workouts, but there is potential to connect on a deeper level over a brew or two.  If you can, try to make it out in two weeks.  Disclaimer: I was not in attendance last night, so I am not blameless.
  • Prayer requests: We had a lot of prayer requests this morning, including for peace to grieving families, recovery to those who have recently had surgery, those of us in need of employment, and those needing prayer for other personal and familial situations.  We know that our God is greater than the struggles we face.  Praise God for that.  May He help us and give us enough strength for each day.  In Jesus’ name.

NMS

I shared this morning that I have an interview next Monday afternoon.  I had interviewed with this same company in March, and it did not go well.  After receiving the news that they wanted to interview me for a new position, my mind went crazy, first with excitement and hope, but then to fright and embarrassment.  Remembering how badly I bombed that first interview made me feel dumb, weak, and vulnerable.  But Franklin reminded this morning of something that I had forgotten.

A good friend of mine got married in April.  I was a groomsman in the wedding, and in the week leading up to the wedding I got to know some of the other groomsmen that I hadn’t met before.  One guy, I’ll call him Derek, was a real tool.  Constantly making coarse jokes and threatening to bring strippers and drugs to the bachelor party, I was pretty uncomfortable with this dude.  But another guy there was not intimidated by him. We went to Chicago for the bachelor party, and after checking into the hotel, we went to a famous pizza place for lunch.  This guy, Jay, decided that he was going to take the reigns and asked each of the guys to recall something in their lives up to this point that was incredibly difficult to deal with and how they were affected by it then and now.

Seems like a simple enough question, but it got deep.  Quick.  There we were, at Gino’s East, chowing down on pizza and sharing some of the deepest, darkest secrets with a bunch of relative strangers.  One guy shared about how his father died when he was 11 years old and how that shaped him into the person he is today.  Another talked about a relationship that he thought was headed for marriage getting destroyed by an affair.  Another guy shared that he was struggling with his faith because of how much guilt he felt about being a lousy “Christian”.  Another talked about struggling with an addiction to pornography and how this particular weekend was going to be somewhat of a test on his ability to enjoy the festivities in moderation without it causing him to spiral out of control, again.  Lastly, the groom himself opened up about how he was abused by his father throughout his teenage years, and after having found out his dad had an on-going affair and another family altogether, he was terrified his marriage would turn out the same way.

After lunch, we were walking back to the hotel to get ready for the night out, and I had to pull Jay aside and thank him for his boldness in leading us in that conversation.  He told me that he woke up that morning, and having concerns about Derek, decided that rather than let the people in the group affect him, he decided he was going to affect the group.  And he succeeded.

That has stuck with me ever since.  All to often I find myself waiting for things to happen and having them affect my life, usually in a negative way.  But I have found that when I take a step out of that comfort zone, I have the ability to take the reigns and affect the way things turn out for the positive.  Jay said he was incredibly uncomfortable when bringing up that question and guiding that conversation.  But he decided early on that it would be more uncomfortable to sit back and let others affect the day in a negative fashion.  Franklin told me this morning that whatever happens with this interview will happen, but I have a say in the matter.  Man up, is essentially what I took away from the conversation!  A swift kick in the butt is good for me every once in awhile.  So thank you, Franklin.

Have a great weekend everyone!  Look forward to seeing you all in the gloom next week.

Callahan

 

word count: 1361 . Yikes.

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