Surprise, surprise…It’s raining..Again.. Yes, that has been the standard ingredient at AGS and most of the other AO’s from week to week. As mentioned in yesterday’s BB for Ground Pounder, with most of our SouthWake PAX away in Wrightsville over the weekend, I really didn’t know what to expect in terms of turnout for this morning, given the rain and also the time change. My internal clock was on point this morning, getting up at 4am (really 5am) after a quick conversation with ‘Alexa’ who corrected what I was reading on the microwave as the time. I’m up, my clothes are layed out so I guess we are doing this.

Is it really going to be a ‘we’ though? I pondered that as I was adjusting gross weight and hearing the rain hit the bathroom window 2 feet above. From the kitchen, I turned on the light to the outdoor patio, illuminating a soggy and very unpleasant glimpse into what may be a not so favorable running experience in the next hour. Grabbed an extra jacket on my way out, packed a Gatorade from the outdoor fridge and reluctantly made my way out of Wescott. Pulled in at 6:20am to an empty parking lot. At that point it was pouring and surely no one would be crazy enough to get up to run in this, but this is F3 and sometimes like the new Nike slogan states “It’s only crazy until you do it”. Planted the flag to push the reality that this workout was happening a little further and ran back to Knight Rider to stay dry. With head down thumbing through some pretty incredible Strava results from yesterday, I took a quick glimpse at the time to see it was 6:27am. At that point, I mumbled to myself, “if nobody shows by 6:30 on the nose, I’m packing it in.” As I said that, I had a few forward visions of going to the Fern for a workout, grabbing some donuts for the kids, grabbing some coffee for me and the M, settling back on the couch and catching the extra hour of sleep I missed due to daylight savings, writing a backblast that was entilted “I came, It rained, I was conquered.”

6:29:03…Still no sign of life. I said 6:30, so once that hits, I’ll grab the flag and go. Head down, I continued thumbing down work emails that needed response and what I’d need to tackle later today as I head into another travel week. Ok- 6:30….No sooner did I look up and my left hand grab the door handle, did I see a giant set of bright beaming headlights fill my rear view mirror..Oh wait, its Nemo. The rain had let up a little at that point, but it was still coming down. “What do you think,” I said. “I guess we can wait and see,” Nemo replied. With that exchange, we took it to the picnic shelter to do a quick warm up that went a little like this..

Warm Up:

Picnic Table step-ups OYO, Squats OYO, R over L, L over R- with quality mumble chatter exchanges throughout.

The Workout: As we finished the last of the Picnic Table step ups, we glanced at the lights beyond the tennis courts to see that the rain let up and was now more of a cold mist. With a quick arm extension beyond the shelter to confirm the situation, we decided to get some miles this morning. Quick squat hold in the parking lot to confirm the route, knowing that if it started to pour again we’d be close enough to easily jail break back to the lot and if the rain held, we could make the decision to go further for more miles beyond the parking lot. YHC and Nemo agreed on a ‘tap the fence’ segment that took us to the gates of Sugg Farm and back to the lot. A nice steady pace with mist and a little wind, we made our way up Grisby to the Sugg Farm gate. Gave the gate a little tapity tap, tap, and then headed to Womble. A little over a mile and change, still no rain when we got back to Womble, and Nemo called the next audible which was a modified 2.0 mile Cletus EC run up Raleigh St. and back to Womble. Overall about 3.5 miles and some leg work under the shelter. To think I was going to pack it in and lay on the couch for the rest of the day. That’s accountability, Gentleman. Had Nemo not shown, I more than likely would not have headed to the Fern. The weather already had me psychologically conflicted and without someone to hold me accountable, the couch was looking really good this morning. There is no way I would have done 3.5 in the rain. Maybe I’d do one step up to tie my shoe, but that would be the extent. Was not feeling it this morning, but with accountability, the crazy is not so crazy anymore. So thank you, Nemo, and I do apologize for the name I called you under my breath when you rolled in.

Anyone asks me what the best thing is about F3, I always tell them “It’s all of it.’ This morning I got my workout in, exchanged some great commentary through fellowship, and had some time to reflect and pray for those within our community. No gym offers that and if you want some inspiration and support, just hook up to strava, slack, fb-F3 SouthWake page…there’s something special going on in F3:SouthWake and its infectious.

Mary: Stetches OYO through cooking\cleaning mumblechatter
Announcements: Tobacco Half\Full Next Week

Last week Doc had a ‘Point of Trust’. Today, Nemo and I had a ‘Radius of Trust’
Prayer: Continued prayers for Shredder recovering from surgery, Double D and his family, Moby’s Dad, Lipstick’s Mother-in-law, Cupid’s grandmother. All PAX for a safe and healthy return home from Wrightsville. YHC took us out.