“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
– Theodore Roosevelt, from his speech “Citizenship in a Republic” on April 23, 1910.
Although the actual participants were few at the launch of The Arena at The Healing Place of Wake County, the onlookers were many. T-Claps to FNG Teddy who was brave enough to venture into the gloom and out of the comfort of the sidelines. The men at The Healing Place are strong enough to step into the Arena to battle their demons, and we know this spirit will also drive them to the F3 Arena as word spreads.
Extra Credit:
11 Pax meet at Pullen Park at 7am for a little EC prior to the official Arena launch. Run about 1.5 miles from Pullen through Dorothea Dix campus to the Men’s Center at The Healing Place on Goode St. Threw in a few exercises along the way including SSH, Windmills, Mountain Climber Merkins, Jack Webbs x8, and curb jumps.
After picking up Pacey, Big Poppy and FNG Teddy at THP, The Arena is officially launched.
Warmups (in front parking lot with about 8 onlookers):
SSHx20, Good Mornings x20, Imperial Walkers x20, Mountains Climbers x20
The THANG:
Run to back of Detox building and grab a “suitable size” rock (onlookers numbering about 5).
Squat press x20, curls x20, squat press x10, tricep press x10. Drop rock and onto curb jumps x20.
Run around front of building to the field in between THP and Lake Wheeler Road (4 onlookers).
Standard merkins x20, lunge walk 20 yards, diamond merkins x10, lunge walk 20 yards, wide grip merkins x10, lunge walk 20 words. Turn around and repeato.
Partner up. One partner does AMRAP prisoner squats while other sprints to far power line pole on left (or was it right?) and back, flapjack and then repeato to closer pole on right (or was it left?). They don’t teach right / left navigation at YHC’s alma mater Wake Forest University.
Run around back of building to interior courtyard (multiple onlookers walking by, resisting requests to join us).
Incline merkins x15, right / left step ups x20, incline merkins x10, right / left step ups x15.
Mary – LBC x20, WWII sit ups x20, American Hammers x20
Turn over to Country Wide for COT:
The F3 men were reminded and the new brethren were informed of the meaning of the three F’s, and that the most visible aspect of F3 is the fitness, but as a result of our faith, fellowship ensues in the gloom. As Proverbs 27:17 states “As iron sharpen irons, so one man sharpens another” – we are all on the same field doing the same workout, starting at the same place and finishing at the same place, strengthening one another along the way. The Pax were also reminded of Galatians 6:2 “Bare one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ” – this is Jesus’ command to love our neighbor as our self, and The Arena is a great place to practice that command – to be involved with our brothers, both in the gloom and in the relationships we make outside of the workouts.
We went around the COT for the standard name sharing, and asked each Pax to share when they began F3 and how they have been changed by their participation.
Workout naming was next, which prompted White Shoe to reference the Teddy Roosevelt speech above, and thus the name “The Arena” was born and our FNG was appropriately named Teddy.
Big Poppy, the Program Director at THP, gave thanks to the men of F3 who were willing to get involved, and told us that a key part of recovery for the clients of THP is becoming reacquainted with society, and this is frequently difficult with the stigma of addiction. By providing an F3 workout to the clients of THP, they will have an opportunity to begin this re-integration into society and aid in their recovery. Nothing more needs to be said for why we are launching this workout.
Orwell led us out with a mighty prayer for The Arena, for the men we hope will join, and for the commitment of the men of F3 to walk with our brothers at The Healing Place.
Workouts will be every Saturday at 7:15am at The Healing Place Men’s Center, with the exception of the last Saturday of every month which is a deep cleaning day at the Center. Pax can either meet at Pullen Park at 7:00am to run to THP, or meet at the Center for the 7:15am start. We will continue to use the sign-up sheet for now to make sure we have enough, but not too many, F3 men at each workout. Sign up now for workouts through March (Q’s needed as well) – link is below:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtHl8o5KyEVvdGlYNUpuV2U4TjJFTUEyRWpscjF5akE&usp=sharing
T-Claps to F3 Raleigh for getting behind this very meaningful and important initiative.
