There is a feeling like the clenching of a fist, there is a hunger in the center of the chest, there is a passage through the darkness and the mist, and though the body sleeps the heart will never rest. Shed a little light, oh Lord.
Downtown Raleigh is still a pretty quiet place on a Saturday morning. We start to shake the silence as cars roll into the Chavis lot a little before 7. Shots taken at Chong’s collared shirt from the Casa d’Hose collection, a few minutes to soak in Burt’s latest ensemble replete with red Solo cup socks, Yoda rolls in on two wheels, and off we go.
Thang Part I: Yoda Q
Take off on the run for an off-campus tour
Quick stop on the MLK guardrail for irkins x 15, dips x 15
Cross over MLK to the South Park neighborhood and Indian Run to Neighbor-2-Neighbor (N2N) community center
Arrive at N2N and partner up on basketball courts:
- P1 runs cross court and back while P2 does AMRAP widegrip merkins – flapjack when P1 returns. Continue until team completes 100 merkins
- Plank set interlude
- P1 does cross court suicides while P2 does AMRAP LBC’s – flapjack when P1 returns. Continue until team completes 100 LBC’s
- Plank set interlude
- P1 does 50 box jumps (#Burner) while P2 does 50 sumo squats – flapjack
- all Pax on the line for backwards sprint across courts, forward sprint home. Repeat for 4 rounds total.
Indian Run back to Chavis
Thang Part II: YHC Q
Head over to baseball field
30-count People’s Chair and 25-count BTW
Find your partner again for the Cycle:
- Single: P1 – run to right field foul pole, 5 burpees, run home, 5 burpees. P2 – AMRAP through sets of 10 merkins, 15 squats and 20 LBC’s until P1 returns. Flapjack.
- Double: P1 – run to right field foul pole, 5 burpees, run to center field, 5 burpees, run back to right field foul pole, 5 burpees, run home, 5 burpees. P2 – AMRAP through sets of 10 wide grips, 15 prisoner squats and 20 reverse LBC’s until P2 returns. Flapjack.
- Triple: P1 – run to right field foul pole, 3 burpees, run to center, 3 burpees, run to left field foul pole, 3 burpees, back to center, 3 burpees, back to right field pole, 3 burpees, back home, 3 burpees. P2 – AMRAP through sets of 10 stagger merkins (alternate left & right), 15 sumo squats and 20 flutters. Flapjack.
- Dinger: P1 – run to right field foul pole, 2 burpees, run to center, 2 burpees, run to left field foul pole, 2 burpees, run home, 2 burpees, back to left field pole, 2 burpees, back to center, 2 burpees, back to right field pole, 2 burpees, back home, 2 burpees. P2 – AMRAP through sets of 10 merkins, 15 squats and 20 Mary exercises (all dealer’s choice). Flapjack.
Roll over to the grassy hill for 6 inch leg hold – 12 counts around the horn. Done.
COT
NMM:
- Strong work today by all, with tclaps to Ben Johnson, Joule and the aforementioned nattily-clad Chong for their impressive showings on the Cycle. Might have to go with the full 5-burpee version next time.
- Welcome site FNG Rain Man, who also got in a little EC run with Burt & YHC. Come back soon.
- Prayers continue for our good Friar and his team in Rwanda, Yoda as he travels West this week, MWhite Shoe as she is very great with child, and those that went unspoken.
(Soapbox disclaimer) Today was a lot like everyday in F3 – getting ourselves out of our comfort zone and pushing through some hard stuff. Some of today was about experiencing a different environment than we usually see. Running through the streets of South Park, likely the poorest neighborhood in Raleigh, you can’t help but sense the challenges these folks face. It’s tempting to write off areas like this as hopeless, worthless even, and I’m sure that’s a feeling many of the residents here experience everyday. However, if you adjust your eyes a bit, you see a familiar sense of community – kids riding bikes, neighbors on porches, greetings offered to the Pax as we run by. If nothing else, you are reminded that these are people, the very people our Lord spent most of his time with while he was here on Earth, and the people with whom we are called to be in relationship and to share in suffering – not only theirs but ours as well, for we are all in need of healing and hope. Glad the Pax got to see N2N, where Yoda is the real-life Q and where some great work is being done and real change is happening. It is hard work, uncomfortable at times. After all, anything worth doing usually is. But you see the hope that exists here despite the circumstances. You see those rays of light that pierce the darkness.
Shed a little light, oh Lord, so that we can see – just a little light, oh Lord.
If you want to learn more about N2N, check out their website. As always, an honor and a pleasure. Aye.
