- Workout Date - 09/23/2023
- Q In Charge -
- The PAX -
- AO -
Alright everybody…I’m asking for 5-10 minutes of your time to read this. I hope it will prove valuable. Turn off “The Real Housewives of whatever” and just read this.
DISCLAIMER: I’ve wanted to post this for awhile, but being on the IR has made it feel somewhat hypocritical to do. I’ve missed far more than I’ve wanted to. However, Seeing the numbers dwindle week after week…I want to make sure this does not go a year before it has to be said again.
It’s cold…I KNOW. It’s rainy…I KNOW. It’s early…I KNOW. The next couple of months are going to be uncomfortable to get up out of the fartsack, layer up in gear, and get into that cold car where the heat isn’t going to work until you pull up to your destination. I don’t care who you are…IT SUCKS.
In the words of Joe Paterno: “Today, you’ve got a decision to make. You’re gonna get better or you’re gonna get worse, but you’re not gonna stay the same. Which will it be?”
That quote was the inspiration for the lovely artwork at the top of this post.
BAD NEWS: You only have those 2 choices. And despite the progress you’ve made over the past 4,5,or 6 months…it can vanish in a flash if you let the weather decide your fate. You can come back in March when the weather gets more comfortable to a PAX of guys who are a step ahead. You’ll take months to improve and then BOOM! The cold weather comes, and you have spun yourself into a summer hobby and not a habit.
My swim coach in college used to tell me: “If you think showing up makes you a swimmer, I’ve got news for you…sh** floats too!”
So we’ve done the bad news…now for the FANTASTIC NEWS!!!
The days when you don’t want to show up are the most important days to show up. Remember, we’re not here just to make ourselves stronger physically…but to make ourselves stronger mentally and spiritually. The mental toughness you get from being tough when faced with adversity, only makes the other days seem that much easier.
Final review of Options:
A) Stay in bed…get worse…gain weight…don’t get mentally tough…come back in March to a PAX that will appear to be mutants
B) Stay the course…continue the gains…mentally train yourself to be a BEAST…get BETTER…be one of the PAX that appears to be a mutant in March
It’s an honor to be with you all. We enter the winter. It won’t be fun…BUT…it will be WORTH IT.
Aye ! Well said brother!
Well said. I’ve been struggling with this the past few weeks. Injuries aside (that is entirely different from fartsacking), I’ve watched with frustration as our numbers have steadily dropped. I wasn’t sure why it bugged me- so long as I was posting 4-5 times a week I’ll get better, right? But I realize that it’s our ability to make an impact in our community that suffers when we stop showing up. The energy we all feed off to get out and make a difference for not only ourselves, but for others, suffers. I’m motivated and inspired daily by you all. Suffering together but getting through cold, nasty, hard days pushes me throughout the rest of my day. And having someone like you, Sponge, who has taken an idea talked about forever like #MIP and is actually taking steps to get it going motivates me to show up and help those guys who really need us, the way I need all of you. So, long story short, buy some warm clothes (if you need advice/help in that dept I hope you ask me!), set those alarms, and remind yourself that you aren’t just doing this for you and me.
Well put Slim. It’s a heck of a lot easier to get motivated to improve ourselves when there are 5+, 10+, 15+ guys there to push us forward together. Isn’t that why we quit going to the gym by ourselves?
For warm clothes recommendations, I personally would have to say anything with the ‘Smart Wool’ brand on it is going to be a winner.
Well stated. Thanks for posting.
Aye! Well said.
A couple of things:
1) Fartsackers don’t get to tell any war stories. I know from experience that the horrible, wet, borderline stupid sessions are the ones you talk about.
2) Not a single person has ever, EVER uttered the phrase: “man, I wish I hadn’t gotten up to workout this morning.” Seriously. It’s like, scientific.
3) If getting out of bed a little early and a little cold is too much for you, what happens when the real Hard Stuff comes? For iron to get sharpened, there has to be some friction. For you to get better, there has to be a challenge. In this case, it’s a mental one: “will I freeze in the cold/melt in the rain?” Unless you a) have a corncob pipe and a button nose and two eyes made out of coal or b) Have green skin and are named Elphaba, the answer is pretty clear.
Get out there an post, boys. If it’s harder, that means you’re just getting that much better.
Well said Sponge. Aye.
Did Flay just make a Wicked reference?
Well said Sponge/Slim/Flay
Keep in mind, as cold as it is there, it’s always colder somewhere else where another F3 brother is posting.
@Fonzie- T-claps to you and your crew in Northwest Indiana. Charlotte’s got nothing on your windy, lake-effect snow.
Ahoy!
#SnowRuck421
Thanks Brother! I think Flat Irons has it worse than we do right now, but, I’m hearing horror stories of the upcoming 2 months. I’m just keeping salt & a shovel in the van. Snow is just another coupon to carry.
Aye!
Aye!
Great, great comments. I have to give a shout out to both Slim at GOP, and Malko at Mud Gear.
Those two places provide the best cold weather gear I have ever used.
And I lived in Alaska for 4 years-
When you have the right gear, temp is strictly a state of mind. As far as stories go, ask any of the 80 men when did the Snow Ruck Class 412. Yes, a 13 hour workout in 22* weather and 6″ of snow sucked.
And the stories and memories are priceless.
Out of the fartsack. Into the Gloom. Repeat.
Aye. Strong, Brother. Thank you. And you had a good coach too.
Well said brother!
Aye!
Well said, you forget all about the weather after the 1st exercise. Thanks for the motivation men.
Perfect timing for this post – read it last night and hit the cold wet pavement this am.
Aye!
You just wrote out all my excuses why I refused to post for the first time until March.
Actually it’s not been bad this year so far, I thought I’d die working out in 23 degree weather, but once we get moving I always warm up just fine.
Plus even though I’ve lost 56lbs, I still have more insulation than most of you guys.
Trying my first running workout tomorrow, come rain or shine, cold or warmth.
The man you are in the cold dark gloom, is the man you really are.
Buck up, stop fartsacking and get after it.
Aye! Thanks brother!
That’s right Drop Thrill – its only cold for the first 5 minutes or you’re not working hard enough. Anyone who has posted has endured more then 5 minutes of discomfort – being cold isn’t any worse. Speaking for other transplanted yankees – the winters down here are wonderful to workout in!
Just as you transplants don’t hate our winters, I don’t hate our summers.
I heard so many Pax complaining about the humidity this summer, but it doesn’t bother me a bit as I was born and raised here.
70 and 100% humidity is called Tuesday in my book. 😉
I’m ok right now, but if it drops into the teens or single digits, um, well.
Aye! Thanks for posting!
Great post is good inspiration thanks for sharing
Aye! I’ve come to embrace the nasty weather. 40 degrees is optimal weather. At least your not all sweaty when you’re done. Plus you feel like your “stealing.”
Cold and dry is great. Cold and wet is terrible. I will be out in 15 degrees and dry, but 30’s and rain, give me the couch.
30 degrees and sleet on my #Sadclown run up here near Chicago today. They have had 33 minutes of sunshine in December. 33. Minutes. I know we work out in the gloom, but at least the payoff is usually a nice sunrise (and the warmth the sun brings!). It could always be worse….
Great Post! Words we all need to hear to either confirm why we post in the winter or remind us why we NEED to post!
Good stuff, thanks for posting. Can I go back to watching the Real Housewives now?
Great post! In 1997 I was there – 250+ lbs. (34 BMI) and feeling the health effects. Eighteen years and 80+ pounds later, I am a different person. F3 is a great fitness program but more importantly it provides accountablility through friendships, which keeps us motivated to continue to get better. Merry Christmas and thank you to all my F3 Brothers!
Not sure if anyone posted this, but here is a cold weather gear guide written by Backup.
http://f3nation.com/theforums/topic/cold-weather-workouts-what-to-wear/
Preach it. I need this. The winters here in Kathmandu feel cold because there’s no heat in the houses. So just getting out of bed in the frigid house is the hardest step, then it’s all downhill from there.