Wow what a BEAUTIFUL day. Seeing God’s creative beauty on display is a great way to start your day. So is working your mind, body, and spirit with your PAX. I showed up 5-10 mins early as I try to do and there was not a soul in sight. Did I miss a memo or something? About 5 mins before launch folks rolled in. It ended up being 4 of us committed to making ourselves better and stronger. Some may say only four PAX. My opinion numbers do not really matter until it is only 1. Things go alot better with company. And we all know misery loves company, so I had to dish out some misery 🙂

No FNGs, so I gave the cliff notes version of a disclaimer (do not die) and off we went.

Slow run around the parking lot and across the street to the middle school parking lot next to the track/field. The COP:

• 20 SSH
• 20 WM
• 20 IW
• 20 MNC
• 20 PJs
• Downward dog and honeymooner

Some good conversations, then off to the track. No speed work today from me (yay!).

The Thang – 4 Corners

It is a standard 400M oval track. Pointed out 4 areas where an exercise will be done in ascending reps….5, 10, 15, 20…as we run around the track. Do one exercise at 5 reps at one point, then run to the next point and do the same exercise at 10, and so on, until you return to the start and then repeat with another exercise. No rest between rounds. In all, you run a mile and do 50 reps of 4 exercises. The four exercises were:

• Merkins
• Squats
• CDDs
• Calf Raises

The PAX did GREAT. We all kept together through the whole thing. ALOT of great conversations, getting to know each other better as we push each other along. That’s what I love about F3 – the 2nd F during the first F. After we finished we considered doing another lap with a different exercise, but decided against. Instead we did bear crawls all the way across the width of the field, and returned with a crab walk. Then I went into a conversation about faith to give us a little needed rest (see moleskin). Then off to the playground equipment.

Ab Lab

Utilizing the swings for some exercise, we performed a descending rep count of 4 exercises in a row. Do all four in succession at 20 reps, then all four at 15, then 10, then 5. Little to no rest between rounds. The four ab exercises were:

• LBCs with feet on swing to keep those legs up
• I’ll call these the ‘Royales’ for I believe he came up with these – essentially in Derkin position with feet on swings, then pull your knees up to your chest then fully extend back. Full extension and knees to chest were key to feel the burn
• Flutters
• Hello Dollys

After that we were all pretty beat. BUT we had about 15 minutes to go….this was nearly a HIIT workout so things went quick. I decided it was People’s choice time

• Brickhouse – 30 merkins OYO
• Peg – 10 burpees OYO
• Nemo – 30 squats in cadence
• NASA – 25 dips on playground equipment OYO
• NASA – people’s chair and BTTW for 40 sec counts each

Then we finished with a slow Indian run to the COT. GREAT work by the PAX!!

Announcements:
* Read the newsletter and get involved
* Gutters and Gringos today
* CAH Guidance workout at 4pm today
* Hog and Coyote next weekend 6/17 – I mentioned to the PAX that if you have never done one of these CSAUPs, they need to put it on their to-dos. Yes, they will hurt, but the 2nd F is priceless and the support you will get will get you through it
* CAH river float next weekend 6/17
* Please post at CAH Guidance – every volunteer hour captured on their volunteer form gives them $$ for VOCA will donate $25 for every volunteer hour logged. CAH is trying to raise funds for a new van.
Prayers and Praises:
* Prayers to all PAX going through various struggles – whether personally or with family/friends/loved ones
* Prayers for Peg as he will be unable to post for the next 2 weeks – vacation and his M will be out for a week so he has Dad duties with his 2.0’s
* Praises for all PAX trying to get themselves better in any way

Moleskin – Faith

There is a theme to all of the workouts above – everything is in 4’s. Being a former engineer, I know that four points make a strong geometric shape that can be built upon.

This month’s theme is about Faith. That is a mighty strong word, one that transcends into and touches several aspects of one’s life. In a nutshell, faith is the unwavering belief that something will happen or is true without any hard ‘proof’ or substantiation. Knowing the sun will rise the next day, knowing that you will wake and breathe another day, that the earth will rotate and orbit around the sun. Knowing that Sky Q will always be there for you in your time of need, to give you strength, courage, discipline, wisdom, and unconditional love when you need it most. There is also Faith in Jesus and his teachings, his Word, his unconditional Love that the Son of God has showed us the way of mercy, grace, sacrifice, and forgiveness of our sins. Plus, there is also Faith in yourself  – that you will have the strength, courage, discipline, wisdom to do the right thing when the time calls. Finally, there is also faith in others. I believe that everyone has the ability to be good, do good, to do the ‘right’ thing when the time calls. It is just that some choose to not to. Whether it be an outcome of circumstance, environment, or bad judgement, those bad choices are not really what people want to do but rather what was unfortunately done. No child is born bad, but as a byproduct of their environment are groomed to make bad decisions or have to do so in order to survive. This is where sometimes we as a society have to be the light in their darkness – to have mercy, show grace, and bestow forgiveness and ultimately have faith that they will be able to get out of their situation and improve themselves, to become a better person and make better choices.

These are what I call the Four Corners of Faith – in God, Jesus, Ourselves, Others. They are all supportive of each other. They are the foundation of a strong, forgiving, accepting, prosperous society.

We practice this in a micro level in F3 to a degree. We have the third F. Plus, through the 2nd F we support, encourage, push each other to improve each other in some way and invigorate the leader we all have within, regardless of who/what we are and where we came from. It’s unconditional. When one blossoms because of this, the natural reaction is to pay that forward to others. As I mentioned – we all want  to do the right thing for ourselves and others, but it is a choice we all have to actively make.

The night before, Royale was looking for someone to step up and Q. What the heck. I was going to post to The Deep after a trail run, but the run fell through. One of the core principles of F3 is everything is peer led. And as everyone should know by now

The mission of F3 is to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for the invigoration of male community leadership.

We are all leaders, whether you’re in F3 or not. Some just do not know it – the faith needed to realize this needs to be planted, nurtured, grown. The beauty of these F3 1st and 2nd F’s is that they are 100% supportive, with your PAX pushing, pulling, encouraging you on to push yourself further than before in many aspects of one’s life, for when you push your body, you push your mind as well – and strengthen your faith. The third F is what makes it explode – when those Four Corners of Faith are fully realized in those moments of clarity is when it all comes together with a bang! But F3 will not work without peer leadership.

When the call went out for a Q at The Deep, Royale had faith that someone, anyone, would step up and into that role of Q. He had faith in his PAX. Nobody wants to let anyone down – themselves or others. I did not want to let my PAX down, for Royale had faith that someone would step up, so I jumped in blind and head first for I had faith that others would be there to push each other to make themselves better and stronger. When it all comes together like that, we not only strengthen our body, but also out mind, soul, and our faith.

Four PAX did just that today.

God Bless and thank you for the opportunity to lead.
– NASA