This weekend marks one-year since I posted to my first F3 workout. I had listened to a podcast on the Art of Manliness about Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith. As Brett McKay interviewed the founders of F3, Dredd and OBT, I was intrigued. I looked up the F3 website and discovered that there was an F3 group in the Lehigh Valley. In an act of uncharacteristic spontaneity, I decided to check it out by trying out a Saturday morning workout in Emmaus (05-Aug-2017). I showed up for the 6:30 AM workout without knowing any of the other men. I really had no idea what to expect.
Approximately 10 other men welcomed me and my head was soon spinning as the group moseyed off with me tagging along trying to make sense of the F3 lingo. Our QIC, Dr. Seuss, had us trying to memorize inspirational quotes while we did burpees, merkins (pushups), sprints, an inch worm/duck walk Indian run, balls to the wall, and numerous other crazy exercises. I somehow made it through that first workout and after being mildly interrogated by the other men, I was slapped with my F3 name of Beaker. I was now part of a unique male community.
I posted to the Thursday workout and fell into a routine of Thursday and Saturday morning F3 antics as I assimilated and embraced the challenge of being pushed beyond my own mental limitations for what I could physically accomplish.
F3 workouts are always outside. I fully expected that once the weather turned cold it would disband until the following spring. Wrong! Like a frog in a slowing heated pan, I, in reverse, found myself posting to workouts on progressively colder mornings but learned how to adapt and dress appropriately.
My F3 experience was turned up a notch when I was asked to Q (lead) the Tuesday morning workouts in Macungie while Neon was away for a month in January. I was now committed to showing up in the dark, frigid mornings even though my natural instincts were to stay in the comfortable confines of my bed. I discovered that there is exhilaration to defying the weather as I ran through artic-like winds and knocked out pushups in single-digit temperatures.
However, even more importantly, I found that friendships are forged in mutual adversity. My quest for better fitness paid dividends by filling a need I didn’t fully recognize that I had – male friendship and community.
Our male bonding took on a deeper, spiritual turn when Flame opened up his home to a Bible study. Our familiarity from sweating together several times a week allowed us to connect and become more transparent with one another.
I addition to my improved fitness (I am stronger, faster, healthier, and more energized than a year ago), F3 also opened up other new experiences for me. I have served a meal at the Allentown Rescue Mission, have participated in workouts with homeless men at the Hope Rescue Mission, have completed two 5K races, a Goruck event, played Texas hold’em poker (and confirmed why I don’t gamble), and even completed the Murph in under an hour (albeit without the prescribed 20 lb. vest and final pull-ups with dubious form).
Perhaps my most rewarding experience has been launching a new workout site in Hamburg. It has been awesome to see a core group of men form and expand. New friendships are forming and more men are experiencing the multiple benefits of F3. The workout coupled with a regular gathering for coffee afterward is a recipe for rich community.
From Apollo to Zena and each man in between, your friendships have enriched my life. I consider myself a blessed man. I look forward to another year in the amazing community of F3.
Aye!
Beaker