4 PAX came out in the chilly gloom to go forwards and backwards in time for 48 + 16 “hours” of pain (aka opportunities for growth).
12 stations were set up in a clock formation in the convenient placed circle painted in the middle of the soccer field. Each station had a different excercise with the number of reps matching the hour from 1 up to 24 moving through AM and PM. A mode of transportation (MOT) was designated for AM and PM to get to the next station. After 25 hours time was reversed. Overall we made it through 24 “hours” clockwise, 24 “hours” counter clockwise and 18 “hours” or 64 hours in 60 minutes.
We jumped right in since the first round was a gradual progression.
The Thang
First 12 hours – bear crawl MOT
1 am – Burpee x 1
2 am – No Surrenders x 2
3 am – Block Press x 3
4 am – SSHs x 4
5 am – Flutterkicks x 5ic
6 am – Merkins x 6
7 am – Pickle Pointers x 7
8 am – Monkey Humpers x 8
9 am – Block Curls x 9
10 am – WW2s x 10
11 am – Squats x 11
Noon – LBCs x 12ic
Second 12 hours – Mosey MOT
1 pm – Burpee x 13
2 pm – No Surrenders x 14
3 pm – Block Press x 15
4 pm – SSHs x 16
5 pm – Flutterkicks x 17ic
6 pm – Merkins x 18
7 pm – Pickle Pointers x 19
8 pm – Monkey Humpers x 20
9 pm – Block Curls x 21
10 pm – WW2s x 22
11 pm – Squats x 23
Midnight – LBCs x 24ic
We then reversed time for the next 24 hours and travelled counter clockwise.
First 12 hours travelling back in time – Ner MOT
Midnight – LBCs x 24ic
11 pm – Squats x 23
10 pm – WW2s x 22
9 pm – Block Curls x 21
8 pm – Monkey Humpers x 20
7 pm – Pickle Pointers x 19
6 pm – Merkins x 18
5 pm – Flutterkicks x 17ic
4 pm – SSHs x 16
3 pm – Block Press x 15
2 pm – No Surrenders x 14
1 pm – Burpee x 13
Second 12 hours travelling back in time – Crawl Bear MOT
Noon – LBCs x 12ic
11 am – Squats x 11
10 am – WW2s x 10
9 am – Block Curls x 9
8 am – Monkey Humpers x 8
7 am – Pickle Pointers x 7
6 am – Merkins x 6
5 am – Flutterkicks x 5ic
4 am – SSHs x 4
3 am – Block Press x 3
2 am – No Surrenders x 2
1 am – Burpee x 1
At this point we reflected with amazement that we had completed all this travel forward and backward in time all without the aid of either an eccentric professor or a Dolerean! Great Scott! But then it dawned on us, that travelling backward in time had undone all our hard work…sadness…but we cheered up and increased the difficulty a bit for another 18 hours to make up for our losses.
Forward 12 hours – lunge walk MOT
1 am – Burpee x 1
2 am – No Surrenders x 2
3 am – Block Press x 3
4 am – SSHs x 4
5 am – Flutterkicks x 5ic
6 am – Merkins x 6
7 am – Pickle Pointers x 7
8 am – Monkey Humpers x 8
9 am – Block Curls x 9
10 am – WW2s x 10
11 am – Squats x 11
Noon – LBCs x 12ic
Final 6 hours – Realizing time was running out we upped the ante a bit more doing a tunnel of love to move between each hour. We started with one tunnel of love lined up at 12 o’clock with each PAX commando crawling once before doing the exercise then lining up for another tunnel of love.
1 pm – Burpee x 13
2 pm – No Surrenders x 14
3 pm – Block Press x 15
4 pm – SSHs x 16
5 pm – Flutterkicks x 17ic
6 pm – Merkins x 18
We finished with a final tunnel of love from 6 pm to 7 pm to close out the hour. Or was it 64 hours? Or 18 hours accounting for the travel back in time? Time travel can be confusing.
Ensuring we didn’t leave anyone behind in the past, present or future we gathered up the blocks to get them back to the shed before wrapping up with COT, Coffeeteria and some QSD.
COT, Coffeeteria and QSD
Manniversary Oct 18th!
Gratitude for the beautiful morning and blessings we enjoy, strength and wisdom to be good stewards, and continue nudging us to reach out to long lost PAX and other F3 brothers to check in.
Our QSD discussion was a bit less structured but still led to some meaningful discussion.
Skywalker had to jet (or X-wing?) because when Mom calls and says it is time to come home, it is time to go home!
The three dads remaining behind started out with a brief intro and background on how many and ages of our kids and their general direction at this point in time. Discussion ensued around the pursuit of the trades versus college and the strengths and personality traits that go into those decisions.
The question was posed as to what were some of the specific challenges we faced as a father and in particular what areas did we find we had to change things up to correct your own approach. (Put more bluntly, how did we screw up and how did we course correct, as the forge of experience taught us painful but useful lessons?)
This led to some vulnerable sharing from one PAX around some very hard challenges with his son, how his and his M’s opposing personalities and parenting approaches, and his own challenges with depression and unhealthy coping mechanisms, contributed to those challenges. He shared how the support of the men in F3 during this time really sealed the deal in terms of his commitment to F3. He loves working out but brothers having his six through a challenging time for him and his family meant everything.
Another PAX noted how some similar but opposite tendencies in his parenting, personality, and lack of appropriate emotional regulation (prone to angry verbal, outbursts) versus his M’s contributed to tension when dealing with discipline issues. In some situations, that dynamic forced his M to have to chose between him and her 2.0s. When a man, through his lack of leadership and appropriate emotional regulation, comes between a mama bear and her cubs, she is going to choose her cubs. This has devastating and painful consequences for the relationship, the family, and the man.
Further discussion revolved around how 2.0s have a keen awareness of the dynamic between parents and, though this is sometimes a subconscious more than a deliberate or devious strategy (though it can be…), can use this to take advantage and avoid true accountability.
Reflection on this post discussion:
Not having a unified parenting strategy and responding to things in the moment or based on emotions as they arise can lead to confusion, discord and a more chaotic family dynamic.
The HIM must strive to provide a structure for healthy parenting, fairness and accountability. He proactively seeks to communicate with his M to foster a common purpose, shared vision and plan of action for when conflict and other challenges arise around guiding 2.0s towards healthy, responsible and fulfilling adult lives. When discord or conflict do arise he must maintain his own emotional regulation and provide the space and structure for his M and 2.0s to navigate the stormy waters without capsizing the boat (or open mutiny!).
We all miss the mark and fall short – when failure occurs we must find the strength and courage to continue forging a healthier future for our families. Withdrawing and continually beating ourselves up is a trap we can all be prone to fall into. The support of our brothers is key in growing our capacity to lead our families with grace, strength, gentleness, courage and most importantly, love.