Today is the day. Official launch of The Rabbit. Checked the weather last night. Forecast called for severe thunderstorms. Nice. What a way to get started…work up to this day for weeks, all that build up and anticipation only to audible a “no go.” Ugh, disappointment big time. I can’t even remember the last time an F3 workout got cancelled. With that thought, I hit the hay, hopeful.
Something woke me out of a deep sleep, took a quick look at my phone. 3:45 am. It was dead quiet. Hey, wait…it was quiet. Took a while to register, but I realized the night was still, which meant no storm. I went outside to take a quick look. It had rained at one point in the night, but at that moment, it was overcast, but no rain. More importantly, no lightning. Sent my first message of the day…”Went outside just now, I think we are good to go. Game on!”
When I arrived at the AO, It was empty and dark. I was thinking the stalwarts would show. I knew my FNG buddy would come. Could we get more than last week? Man, that would be sweet. Hopefully, the threat of a storm wouldn’t keep folks away. Rain drops began to fall. I went over the game plan as I waited for guys to arrive…5:20…5:21…quiet. Then, a car came. Then another. Soon, three more. Then a group came by foot. The numbers grew, quickly…as I glanced at my watch to call the one minute warning, I did a quick look around. Guys still coming. 5:30. It’s go time. The Rabbit is officially out of the gate. Let’s do a count. 18 brothers. In the rain. At 5-ass crack of dawn-30. Boom goes the dynamite. As I called out the warm up exercises, one thought hit my mind. The trails of Briar Chapel are gonna see one helluva conga line.
In the days leading up to the launch, despite my best efforts, Jefferson Airplane was annoyingly on repeat in my head. So damn cliche. It drove me insane. “One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small.” I knew what Grace Slick was referring to, but in my preparations, these words took on an entirely different meaning. I still remember vividly that day I chose not to stick with my sad clown routine and take a chance, mostly at the masterful urgings of uber recruiter Dueling Banjos. That day, I chose to take the red pill. It was bitter. It was hard to swallow. The after effects were painful. Honest, it humbled me and made me feel small. Did I really need to live third? I work hard, man. I deserve to make myself happy. I deserve to wallow in the sweet bliss of indulgence, instant gratification, procrastination, ignorance. Truth is over rated. Plus, I like my fartsack. I don’t care what anybody else says, my fartsack smells good, bro.
But, I put my faith in my brothers and continued to come out. After a while, this thing that humbled me, also began to feed me. It was no longer bitter, but sweet. We chase after all the things that we think make us feel good, but these don’t make us larger. Well, not larger in a positive way, anyway. Just like it says in the song, if we just go chasing rabbits randomly into the rabbit hole, you are gonna fall. It is often by making the hard choices and decisions, by putting in the hard work, by looking beyond ourselves and pushing ourselves in the directions that we don’t necessarily want to go in, that makes us grow. Truth, getting up at the crack of dawn is hard. Exercise is hard. Leading a group of men is hard. But it makes the point, hard. The genius in F3, imho, is that it communicates truth in the most basic and fundamental language that most guys get. Getting smoked on a regular basis breaks you down, but your brothers are right there to build you back up and you emerge out of the gloom bigger, stronger, and better.
Interestingly, the other thing that kept rolling around my grungy old brain in preparing for the launch was a beloved Bible verse from Sunday school, John 4:14. “…but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Before coming out to F3, I truly had no idea what I was missing. I just knew there was a void, I just didn’t know what I needed to fill it. So, I did what most do, I tried filling the void endless streams of random worldly and temporary crud. And the thirst was never quenched.
In my personal walk, the F3 workouts readily fed my appetite for fitness. It met my daily need for exercise. But, what profoundly impacted me was how the fellowship and faith aspects fed my mind and my soul. This morning, when seventeen brothers and I set off into the woods, at one point, I turned around and saw this crazy, long conga line of headlamps following me in the pitch dark. I heard bits of all the mumble chatter amongst guys, interjected with laughter and cheers. I realized as I saw each one of the lights, these weren’t just random, unknown men…many of those lights were attached to a friend that I have come to know and love. Even the ones I just met that morning, there was affinity and an immediate bond. Each one, my brother. This is my eternal spring. That image in the gloom I will hold dear. It will stay with me and feed me for a long, long time.
Booyah, men! The Rabbit is born!
One Minute Warning
Welcome/Count Off, FNGs, Disclaimer
the Appetizer
BB Arm Circles F&R, 10 IC Ea
Knee Ups R/L, 10 Single Ea
TTT, 10 IC
Plank Stretch – Calf R/L, 10 Count Ea
Air Squats, 10 IC
High Knees, 10 IC
Butt Kickers, 10 IC
the Main Course
Conga Line In The Storm! Launch from TBH down Great Ridge to Pokeberry. Run to Bennett Mtn Bridge. Sprint Catullo Run Climb. 10 Count At Top. Run To Catullo Bridge. Head into/Run Herndon Loop Single Track through Highlands. Head back over Catullo Bridge. Head into Bennett Mtn Single Track. 10 Count, ReGroup. Run Catullo. Sprint Bennett Mtn IM Climb. Easy Run Pokeberry back to Great Ridge, End at TBH. 4.2 Miles. Crushed the Conga, finished strongah!!
the Dessert
COT:
Welcome FNG StrangeBrew!
Name-O-Rama
BOM:
From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank all you all for coming out to the inaugural run of The Rabbit, especially in the rain at 5 dark 30. It was awesome to see such a great turnout of guys. Loved seeing everyone out there in the woods, getting after it. Especially loved hearing all the mumblechatter. I hope you all enjoyed this experience as much as I did and hope you all were fed. I know I was. I remember back when Dueling (my personal Morpheus) first invited me out to an F3 workout, I never thought in a million years I would be a part of something this special. I am truly grateful for the opportunity and truly grateful for you, my brothers. Hope to see you all out again, please invite others. Until next time, Amen!