Several PAX did an EC run on this brisk morning before the ME.
Warm up
Imperial walker
Hillbillies
Arm circles
A few sets of 5 burpees oyo sprinkled in with late arrivals
The Thang
Partner up for two exercises from the APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test). One partner does the exercise while other checks form and offers encouragement.
2 min merkin AMRAP
2 min sit up AMRAP
Mosey to hockey rink
From baseline, bear crawl to mid-rink
12 squats
Crawl bear to other baseline
12 burpees
Bear crawl to mid-rink
12 American hammers
Crawl bear to original baseline
12 merkins
Rinse and repeato with 11 and 10 of each exercise. We were going to count all the way down to 1 but time flew by too fast.
Mary
30x flutter kick
A few rounds of merkin wave around the circle of PAX.
Name-o-rama
Welcome to FNG Gumby!
COT
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.”
—Plato
Meeting an awesome person: I went to Portland, OR in September to give a talk. On flight out of RDU, my seatmate and I exchanged pleasantries and started talking. She, a Captain in the Raleigh Fire Department, was headed to Chicago for a half marathon (I did put in the requisite push for F3 and FIA.). We each shared a bit about our respective lines of work. In the course of conversation, she described the higher rate of suicide in firefighters, police, and veterans. My simplistic presumption was that PTSD was the principal contributor to this, given the more frequent exposure to violence and other trauma. She pointed out that this was a common misconception and framed it differently, emphasizing among other things the inability of many service people to ask for help for themselves—who does the hero approach when the hero needs help? Maybe it’s a difficulty in acknowledging or even recognizing the need for help? She was very clearly passionate about the topic, and it emerged that suicide is her focus as she pursues a degree in public health. An essay she wrote on the topic: https://digital.pennwell.com/pennwellevents/fe_wellness_supp_201809/MobilePagedReplica.action?pm=1&folio=3#pg3. I highly encourage you to read it.
The take home:
If you need help, ask. If someone reaches out, help. Every one of us will be in both situations at some point.
I am grateful for this tribe we call F3. You are an amazing bunch, and I find deeply meaningful the time we spend in the gloom doing stupid things way too early in the morning.