This morning was like so many others for some, and completely different for others, just like every morning. YHC knew he wanted to express this point to the pax and even prepared somewhat for COT, but true to style, did not know how this would happen. This day is a milestone for YHC though not in the terms we so often think of, this is a day of morning, remembrance, and hopefully some laughter and new beginnings. But all that would have to wait, there was work to be done. YHC had extended a casual invitation to some of his F3 brothers both new and old while visiting #TrueGritt yesterday, to his surprise a lot of them came. With 18 in tow, YHC checked for fng’s and headed for the closest piece of grass available.
The Thang:
Jog across the wobbly bridge and hang a left down to the grassy knoll. Warm-ups; Good Mornings x 15, Windmills x 15, Imperial Walkers x 15, SSH x 20. Follow me!
Jog down a little further and across Crabtree Avenue to a favorite of #FloodZone & #Ethanol, Hingis Kahn. Straight up we went, though some might have remembered to stay close to the Q, as there’s no telling when we’ll turn. YHC knew he wanted to go up this hill at some point in the morning, and just like life hits you sometimes, tough, rocky, slick in spots, and unforgiving, so is Hingis Kahn. So up we went.
Now at the top, YHC’s wheels began to spin again, thoughts of heading down the driveway and back around to go up the beast again, maybe to the Greenway to see the sights, or something back at the mall, none of this felt like what we needed to do, so YHC decided we’d split into two groups and run the driveway hill till something better came to mind. Not having a good exercise in mind for the stationary group, YHC made the call to the pax, only one was willing to step out, Burpee’s was the call and off we went. Group one would head down and two would stay and work then flip flop. After Burpee’s YHC would chose the work, nipplers, Peter Parker’s, alternating lunges, LBC’s, and one more YHC forgot. This was a grind, and after the second loop, YHC knew this would be how the point would be made.
With time beginning to escape us, we headed back to the top of Hingis Kahn to find our way back down. Back to the jog we made it back to the deck where YHC and Kumquat retrieved a few items from the truck, and made sure we shared the load up to the top of the deck.
Circle up one last time for COP and COT.
Mary: LBC’s x 59, Done!
COT: Count and Name-o-rama,
YHC began with an explanation of the work for the morning, “sometimes you just have to keep going.” Whether it’s continuous trips down and up a long hill, LBC’s that seem as if they’ll never end, or whatever situation you’re struggling with, sometimes we just have to keep going. There will be times when you think you’re about to get a reprieve and it doesn’t happen, times when it seems as though everyone around you has got it made except you, times when you feel you’ll have to stop or you may just collapse right there, and you just have to keep going. But even in the grind, there is good news, you’re not alone!
YHC shared an event that took place 10 years ago today, an event that in retrospect seemed just like Hingis Kahn. One day YHC was going along and all of the sudden the path turned and there was a hill, one that YHC never could have expected, never imagined the need to train for, and one that YHC frankly never could have understood why someone would choose to go up. But it came, and when it did there was no other choice but up.
Insert your situation here, family collapsing around you, terminal sickness of you or a loved one, or like mine, an unexpected death. All of the sudden your faced with a mountain, and there’s no choice but up. And to add insult to injury, when you make it to the top, you just have to keep grinding. Everyday is this day for someone.
For me it was the loss of my brother to suicide. We had walked together for 29 years, stood beside each other through thick and thin, we lived 3 blocks apart for the 7 years prior to his death, talked multiple times daily, and at four years my senior, in many ways he was a father figure. At the top of my Hingis Kahn, entrenched in the grind, I found that I wasn’t alone. The God that I had so casually given my life to years earlier was right there with me, slowly showing me that He was my Father figure, that He would walk with me wherever this path would lead. And more importantly, that He would never leave me or forsake me, He wasn’t going anywhere.
The grind never got easier, but my God never left my side. As the years went by and life continued, I sought that missing piece, that bond that was gone. Through His word He comforted me and gave me a peace that passed all understanding, and finally through a brother in Christ I ended up at Pullen park on a Tuesday morning in June. What I thought would be just another means to try to get in shape, ended up as a gift from God Himself.
Almost two years later I have found a bond, not the exact one that was missing, but never the less, one of a brotherhood. A brotherhood that I can rely on, one that’s there when I’m down, one that’s there when joy is at hand, and one that is there in the grind. So this morning was not to say woe is me but to give tears of joy and thanks for walking with me. So remember that we all have this day someday, and that you don’t have to do it alone!
YHC shared the lyrics of a powerful song that tells the story of so many, Cornerstone by Hillsong United, we read the 23rd Psalm as a group, and Mr. Furley took us out with a mighty word to God Himself.
As always it was a pleasure to lead, to God be the glory!
Aye
