A View From the Back (Painhurst)

Nine Pax, took the Daily Red Pill (DRP) this morning and got better.

The Pax: Poacher, Rifleman, Aruba, Mad Bum, Neo, Scout, Chitwood and Napalm (Q: Squirrel)

The Scene: 72 degrees and a lot of liquid sunshine.  Another wonderful morning to be out in the Gloom

Warm Up:  Cotton pickers, Imperial Walkers, Hillbillies, and SSH

• 5 Blockees
• 10 Merkins
• 20 overhead presses with block
• 30 squats
• 40 block curls
• Run 200 yards
• Repeato 10 times. Goal is to finish in under 45 minutes. 

The PAX stopped with no trophy’s for reaching the 10 round goal…however Poacher got the Gold Star for leading.  Chitwood received a Silver Star for his efforts!

Finished off with some abs; the 100 and Freddy Mercury’s IC

Prayer requests:

1. Traveling mercies for T-Bone, Rifleman, Poacher, Bluegrass and others who are getting in last minute travels before school starts or for work.
2. Prayers for Snake’s parents as they learn a new way of being.  Surround them and the whole family as it will take them all to bear what is

Announcements:

1. Beer pouring tonight at 1st Friday.  Start 5pm
2. CPT D will pass the baton of Nantan to his successor.  Squirrel steps down as Weasel Shaker and Meatsweats takes on the role.  10 Aug, 6:30am at Macs Breakfast & 7pm at 205 Knight St Aberdeen (Old Farm Bureau Bldg)
3. Immediately following the change of command there will be a discussion on F3 Sandhills’ vision and if we want to do more in the community.  All voices, opinions and PAX are welcome!!

    Poacher led us out in prayer

 

MOLESKINE: A View From the Back

I haven’t been able to run as much as I’d like this past year, due to rehabbing some injuries.  For once, I am being smart and coming back slowly.  Here’s a PRO tip for all of you – if you slow your exercise routine, slow your eating routine.  The snugness of my shorts has been consuming my mind more than usual.  My M rolls her eyes when I comment on my weight, but when you still wear the same pants you bought 20 years ago….it’s bothersome when they get snug.  Running has been such a big part of my life, it helped me deal with things, sort life out while the miles passed beneath my feet…so I’ve missed it.  Running was my old friend who worked me so hard I hated it…but loved it.   

While I considered myself a runner I never won a race.  I describe myself as an “upper to middle-of-the-pack” runner.  

And then it happened.  On an early day in July, four of the Sandhills PAX met at PFT and did a cardio workout with some chest and leg exercises thrown in.  About ¾ way through the session I found my lungs asking for a bit more oxygen.  Huffing and puffing I found myself at the back of the foursome.  I finished, and yes, I covered the same distance as everyone else but at a pace much slower than my normal.  My ego was seriously bruised.

It is frustrating to fall to the back of the pack when you’ve been leading or in the top 1/3rd for decades.  Am I raging against the natural process that is called aging?  Perhaps I am.  Since I have reduced my intensity this summer I’m not gonna put ALL the blame on age. The majority of us fall squarely in the middle of the pack.    We all have our efforts, our struggles, our goals and we attack them at different paces.  

There I was, swimming (it was so humid it couldn’t have been running) at the back of the PAX to catch up and not making much headway when it hit me.  “So this is what it looks/feels like to be the six.”  I could see how others may have felt during workouts where they were pushed hard and found themselves at the back.

HOLY scheiße!! (scheissa) Squirrel felt a bit of empathy.  WTF is happening?

The Goo’ist might say to me, “it doesn’t matter where you finish because you are a winner just for trying.”  

Bollocks!

My view from being Dead F*cking Last (DFL) was a humbling experience.  I didn’t want to (but did) compare myself to the other PAX.  My learning from this was to change my focus from comparing what others are able to do, to doing my best…

In.

This. 

Moment. 

 

Here are three things as I close this out.  

1. We, as men, need to challenge one another to do our best, and sometimes showing up is someone’s best.  This means being honest with each other about our strengths and weaknesses, and helping each other to grow, improve, or acknowledge where we are. 
2. There is good natured ribbing and then there’s just being mean.  Encourage one another.  
3. Celebrate each other’s victories, no matter how small. When one of us succeeds be proud of him.

It is our charter as High Impact Men that we circle back to Pick Up The Six.  Not out of pity but out of love for the other.   I’ve quoted this poem many times and it fits this Moleskine:

Have compassion for everyone you meet,
even if they don’t want it. What seems conceit, 

bad manners, or cynicism is always a sign 

of things no ears have heard, no eyes have seen.
You do not know what wars are going on
down there, where the spirit meets the bone.

~Miller Williams

 

Aye!