A gloomy, rainy day at the Quagmire. As in everything in life, one should always look at the bright side – at least it was not January or February. The PAX rounded up in the rain, ready to roll. We had a FNG, Jason, so the PAX recited the 3 F’s and the 5 core principles of F3. Then I let FNG know the disclaimer, and off we went.

A light jog with some slow dynamic movements mixed in to loosen up everyone’s legs – high knees, butt kickers, and toy soldiers. Rounded up everyone in the parking lot behind ABC for the COP

• SSH x 20
• WM x 15
• MNC x 15
• IW x 20
• Downward Dog and Honeymooner to stretch those legs out

The Thang – APFT

Myself, DaVinci, Flea, and Rad are in the Pathfinder Forward program, so I decided to use the Q opportunity DaVinci presented to me to knock off a Pathfinder challenge – The Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT). The APFT is a great way to measure where you are at with your basic core strength, endurance, and cardio. Three basic exercises that are scored based upon sex and age, with the goal to pass or improve as you go. Partner up for support, one partner does the exercise while the other supports/counts. The PAX were explained the exercises:
* 2 minutes merkins AMRAP
* 2 minutes big-boy situps AMRAP
* Timed 2 mile run
And then we HIT IT HARD!!
Special Thank You to Cornhole for his assistance in timekeeping, encouraging the PAX, and keeping people honest, as well as WWL for his support and encouragement of the PAX.

The Results:

Sorry but FNGs run time was not recorded.
I commend each and every one of the PAX for all of the effort they put into this. There were alot of grunts and groans as they really dug deep to push themselves for that extra ‘up’ or to shave off that extra second or few off their run. Plus there was a TON of support, cheering, mumblechatter, and encouragement from everyone. That is what it is all about – pushing yourself and each other to do better and thus get better. The rain made things interesting, also cooled us off – I love running in a warm rain, it’s peaceful to a degree. But it NEVER slowed any of us down at all. When it was all said and done we were right at 6am so we moseyed back to the COT.

Announcements:
* Read the Newsletter
* Hog & Coyote coming up
* Float on the Catawba with CAH residents after H&C
* Gutters and Gringos coming up this weekend 6/10
Prayers and Praises
* Prayers for all PAX going through struggles, whether personally or within their family/loved ones
* Praises for all PAX pushing themselves today
* Praises to Flea for attempting this on a bum ankle, and prayers he heals quickly
* Praises to the FNG “All In” for posting in the rain, and pushing himself in the APFT.

Moleskin
Cornhole took a moment to mention something that I feel needs to be repeated here on the BB – the importance of cardio strength (in boot camp workouts, rucks, etc) and how running helps it. One PAX approached him a while back and mentioned how he was tired of being the 6, and asked Cornhole what to do about it. His response was simple – run. Running builds not only cardio strength, but mental strength. It builds up the life skills within you that F3 itself tries to invigorate – discipline, focus, strength, endurance, perseverance, and belief in yourself. The ability to push through the pain as you go that next mile further than before, trim that extra 10, 20, 30 seconds off of your average pace. Just as with any F3 workout where you have PAX there to encourage you, you can do the same with running. If you are wanting to become a runner or a better runner, running in a group is always better than running alone for they will challenge, pace, and teach you. I used to HATE running unless there was a ball involved and it was a sport. Almost a year later since joining F3, I absolutely love it and cannot get enough of it. I’ve run with some incredible runners, and they’ve pushed me to my limits. It hurt like heck at times, but it only made me stronger. If you open yourself up to the Sky Q and what He and F3 combined can do for you and commit yourself, it will be life changing in a most amazing way. For those who a considering entering the running world – enter a 5K, and it will give you a goal to strive for. Finish that 5K and you will have a renewed sense of accomplishment that will make you want to do more, something to build off of. To train – all it takes is once a week to start. There are plenty of running AOs out there for you. Push yourself, the PAX will be there to support you. Take that first step. If you do, you will not regret it.

Thank you and God bless,
NASA