If you are a man, want to get better, want to get stronger, or like F3 then this event is for you. This is so much more than a ruck and this weekend is so special. To begin with, I am not a good writer and whatever I write will not do this weekend justice but I wanted to give you a brief picture of what I experienced.
The weekend started at 6:00 with dinner but the nervous excitement started much sooner. I have done ruck events beforebut I have never done anything like this and I was not sure what to expect. Also, I am more of an introvert and going into large crowds where I do not know anyone is not my favorite thing to do. I wanted to do this event because of these two things and because I hate sand. Dinner was good (BBQ and fixings) and then we got together to talk about the weekend. Fellowship was amazing, especially being a lone Foothills pax.
Saturday morning started with a 7am “Kingbuilder” workout which was a combination of a beatdown and teaching. We had 100+ pax sweating together and getting better. We gained some head knowledge of what we would put into practice later that night. To see two pax come into the circle to lead the workout after being part of F3 for less than a month was powerful. They messed up of course, but all men lifted them up and you saw their transformation right in front of us. Their confidence and attitude was higher when they left the circle because they realized there was nothing to be scared about. We will fail, we will mess up, but we have brothers there beside us to lift us up.
After the workout we travelled across the intercoastal so we could attend GrowSchool. We spent about 3 hours talking about the 4 main quadrants of Q source and how we become better HIMs. We heard from several different pax that shared their testimonies and some areas where they struggled. I have spent a year going through Q Source and this summary/discussion over 3 hours glued it all together and made it even more meaningful. We talked about who we are and why we are here how to find our purpose. Beauty talked about how vision gives pain a purpose and how we need a vision. We have to keep driving until the pain of change becomes less than the pain to stay the same. In all interactions, we leave part of our heart with those we speak to so we need to speak to others with love. To sit and listen to speakers and have conversations with pax continues to build the team. We had some tough questions to discuss and determine how to improve. Lots of notes that I brought home that I can work on to get better.
The long ruck was the culmination of the weekend where we put the things we had learned up to that point into practice and work to become a team. We physically had to experience stress so we could apply what we had learned up to this point. We posted at 5:30 so we would be read when the cadres showed up at 6:00. I am not going to talk too much about this because there is a level of secrecy to the even and some things you need to learn about and experience in that moment.
A few points about the ruck were:
One example – a pax collapsed during the welcome party and I thought he was down. They lifted his legs up, took his socks and shoes off and put water/ice on him to cool him down. He pushed through, performed all night, and was our last Team Lead. He dd not quit. I always feel safe medically because the cadre are trained and usually there are other medical pax among us so I never feel I am in danger.
I think of this weekend and what I just wrote and I think I could write several more pages and it would still not capture everything. You think you know you, but your mind can do so much more than you think it can. When you do the event, you are a team. DO NOT QUIT. If you quit, you not only let yourself down but you let your team down. Quitting is forever. It would be an honor to be under a log with you.
August 6-8: Metro
Sign up. Trust me. Tell your M that you will be gone for the weekend, spend some money, but it will be worth it when you return. Trust me.
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