Colemun Ricker

I've written about him here on the blog (you can search "Colemun" in the search box to the right to pull up those blogs) ... I've quoted him to our staff at First Farragut ... I've whined about him to my family ... I've talked about him and with him at First Farragut Church (he came and did an interview during worship in the "Get Pumped!" worship series) ... it's a wonder someone hasn't told me to "Shut up already about the Colemun." So, instead of a shut up ... with the advent of The Rush video with VP Rob Rettmann and Colemun ... I wanted to give Colemun a shout out.

I went to The Rush back in December (2010). Having tried everything known to humanity to loose weight, I knew I needed help ... professional help. I'm a Biggest Loser fan. I like to sit on the couch with my bag of Fritos and dip them in Peanunt Butter while watching Jillian kick thier butts. I needed a Jillian (my wife calls Colemun "Jillian" [sorry dude] "So, how was Jillian today?" she asks), and I needed to throw out the Fritos.

God has a way of putting just the right people and events in my life when I need them. God had to really work on this one. From Jill-Marie Weaver, our Children's Director at the time, inviting me to The Rush for a spin class (NEVER went ... thought about that bike seat with 250 pounds ... and my seat ... well, you get the picture ... sorry for that picture) to Stefani Hudson, our Administrative Assistant, telling me every time I complained, "You need to go to The Rush!" over and over, lead me to Colemun.

Colemun was the right person. It is not an easy feat to go from a couch potato to losing nearly 60 pounds and fitting into a t-shirt you wore in college in 1990 (Colemun is barred from 1990 jokes), all in just 4 months. I had vacations, Christmas, New Years, and generally just bad weeks during this time. I needed to be inspired, challenged, and motivated. Colemun is a huge part of my success. Not only did he teach me how to do the exercises I needed to do to reach my goal (correctly -- he's smart that way), he didn't hurt me .. well, he did hurt me, and on several occasions (one of which I blogged about) ... he didn't injure me (we're still working on ninja feet). And the temporary pain has really paid off.

So ... thanks to The Rush ... thanks to Colemun (we still have some more work to do). I highly recommend both!


BIT: As for The Rush video ... the day after recording that ... my facebook post was "Hubris is painful." I really pushed it so that I wouldn't look goofy. That "Easter Bunny Burpee" (jump, burpee, pushup -- I rename some of the exercises) didn't look ANYWHERE near like that until the camera came out. And, the sliders with the pushups on the balls ... it COMPLETELY collapsed the first time ... but when the camera came out ... I was a rock star. Yes, Colemun + Rob and his Video Camera + John's Pride = SORE abs and legs.