Accountability

Accountability

I check the weather app on my iPhone every night while riding the couch and contemplating the series of bad decisions I made during the day, most of which start with getting out of bed at 04:45 and going to do stupid things with a bunch of dudes in the dark – a/k/a F3.  Wednesday night was not different.  I can’t exactly say I was thrilled to see the forecast call for 90% chance of rain at 5AM, and I will testify that I considered a #fartsack Thursday morning.

I got up when the alarm sounded but wasn’t happy about it.  It was raining and I would have rather taken an a** whoopin’ than have to run in the rain.  I ran through a quick checklist of who might be there or who I  might NOT be there so I could fartsack.  That’s about the time Gypsy texted and said he was running in a poncho.  Dammit Gypsy!  That text saying you would be there now makes me HAVE to go….  Grrrr!  My play was to do all I could to convince the Spartans to go to Dunkin’ and talk about running.  When I pulled up and Gypsy was the only one there, I thought the plan was coming together nicely.  I was willing to pay him any amount of money to turn our 1st F into a 2nd F.  I’m pretty sure I had him convinced.  Now all we had to do was wait until 5:16 on the clock, claim no one else was coming and we could stay dry.  Wait…..  What’s that????   Who is that coming down the road with their turn signal on?????  NOOOOO!!!!  Don’t turn into Socrates!  I hate you, whoever you are!  As the car entered the parking lot, I had to rub my eyes because I was sure they were playing tricks on me.  But they weren’t.  It really was Bullwinkle.  It was hard to believe because 1) it’s a running workout  2) it’s not Fight Club  3) it’s 5:14 – he’s not late & 4) it’s still pouring rain.  He has foiled my plan.  Now we had to hold the 1st F because, #Accountability.  We got out.  I thanked Bullwinkle & Gypsy for coming (sarcastically & sincerely), because #Accountability, and we got to it as the rain began to slow and eventually stop.

Circle up for COP to get the blood moving – SSH X 15 IC, High Knees x 15 IC, mosey to the entrance of Col. Beatty Park

The Main Event started at the entrance of the park and consisted of 1 minute intervals of AYG sprints.  At the 60 second mark, recover for 1 minute (recovery included backtracking to gather the Six).  Repeat until we reached the main parking lot.

The 4 corners of the parking lot served as the field for the next 20 minutes of pain.  Start in corner 1 – shuffle (lateral movement) to corner 2.  AYG sprint from corner 2 to corner 3.  20 Merkins in corner 3.  Shuffle (lateral movement) from corner 3 to 4 then AYG sprint from 4 back to 1.  20 Air Squats.  That’s Lap 1.  On Lap 2, shuffle the short side (corners 1-2 & 3-4) but high knee skip 1/2 way from corner 2 to 3.  Recovery jog (70%) the 2nd half of the way.  Backwards run 1/2 from 4 back to 1.  Recovery jog the other half.  Repeat exercises.  Lap 3 replaced high knee skips with butt kickers and the backwards run with a full recovery.  Move to playground

3 People = 3 exercises in rotating stations.  Station 1 = supine pull ups.  Station 2 = air squats.  Station 3 = tricep dips.  The Catch = Station 2 held the ankles of the person at Station 1 while each performed 10 reps of their respective exercises.  Rotate thru stations until time to return to cars.

The run back to Socrates gave us the opportunity to run Light Pole intervals.  AYG sprint to the light, recover to the next, then repeat the AYG sprint.  There were approx 10 light poles.  Slow mosey from park entrance/exit back to cars.

Circle up for COT, Name-O-Rama & Announcements.  It started to rain again.

Announcements – Run Jen Run 5K is a SFN event on Saturday.

Deep Thoughts

I likely would have skipped Sparta today if not for the burden of being on Q.  When one has the Q at a workout, it doesn’t always translate to him being there. #TrueStory  But there’s a greater motivation that does charge him with being present.  That motivation is called ACCOUNTABILITY.  Accountability is what motivates you to get out of bed when it’s 4 degrees and you are the PAX, when it’s a VQ for a long-time PAX, or when you go to bed later than usual but told someone you’d be there.  It’s what drives you to give 100% for the entire workout even when you don’t feel being there at all – and that 100% is measured differently for each individual. #YouVsYou  Accountability is what drives you to step up and take on your VQ or to visit an AO while out of town.  Accountability is what made and continues to make F3 successful.  While F3 is free, open to all men, and requires no professional certification, it would stagnate or fail if not for each and every PAX being accountable.  Consciously or unconsciously, you become accountable to your brothers in the PAX from the moment you stepped out of the car as a FNG.  They count on you being there for them because you may be the #HIM they need to see that morning when they don’t feel like posting.  You become accountable to your family because you have started the journey of working on yourself and becoming a HIM to everyone you encounter in your daily activities.  You become accountable to yourself because you get up at 5:00 (or earlier) seeking a higher purpose for your life, for connection, or for any number of reasons that may be personal to you.

It’s accountability that keeps AOs (1st, 2nd & 3rd F’s) in operation and that keeps the PAX coming back.  You owe it to your F3 brothers to give it all you’ve got  because your effort may be what they need to see that helps them push themselves a little further physically, mentally or emotionally.  We don’t come out to go thru the motions — no one wins when we “mail it in” or show just to be seen.  You never know why the guy beside you showed up that morning or what he may be facing throughout the rest of his day, but you owe it to him as a HIM to be there for him.

Thursday morning was a perfect example for me.  If not for Gypsy and Bullwinkle, I would have stayed in or returned to my warm bed and regretted it for the rest of the day.  TCLAPS to everyone who made it a priority to post today, yesterday or will tomorrow.  For me, it’s not me blessing you with my presence, but me being blessed by yours.

OUT