F3 Knoxville

Author: Abort

Rockstar!

Lincoln logs

THE SCENE: 82* and humid as crap
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 curls
10 squats
10 merkins
All OYO
THA-THANG:
Ruck up and grab two 60 lb sandbags.  Walk over to bridge where we have Swanson’s log stored and grab it as well.  Everyone gets to carry something.  Head up towards the L&N building and up the stairs to reach Western Avenue.  Head west toward the Emerald Youth soccer fields.  Swap the log for a sandbags at the halfway point and continue on to the soccer field.  Ground everything once there.

Continued warm up thanks to Pfeiffer, we did 10 three count merkins, rushed to the 50 yard line, 10 three count merkins, rushed to the opposite base line, 10 three count merkins, rushed to the 50 and then walked back to the near side where our coupons were.  Three count merkin begins laying prone, go up halfway and pause, go to the top and pause, go down halfway and pause, back to prone.  Pausing hurts in case you were wondering.

LOG PT
Two ruckers perform log PT while the other two bear crawl sandbag drag to the 18 yard box, turn and come back, then do 3 cling and press explosions with the sandbags (cling and overhead press but launch the bag and step back, let it hit the ground and start next rep).  Log PT as follows:

  • Bench press: place rucks on your chest (no straps) and lay the log across your ruck.  Together with your partner bench press the log 10x
  • Curls: just partner curl with log 10x
  • Ground up and over: pick the log up from the ground and shoulder it, OH press and down to the other shoulder, OH press it back to original side then lower it back to the ground 10x

Repeat this through doing log PT and bear crawls twice.  I gave everyone the option of rucking with the log or doing more log PT, we decided to stay for more PT.

With same partners (poor Swanson got stuck with me the whole time), burpee sandbag toss back and forth until the other pair finishes their log exercise.  New log exercise begins with PAX laying on your six with ruck on your feet, log across your chest.  Bench press the log, do a sit up with the log, OH press the log, then back down.  10x and swap with burpee bag throw.  Again, repeat through twice.

Ruck and log up, head back the way we came.  Once back to the bridge, we put the log back to bed and finish the last few minutes with just sandbags and covered a little more distance, swapping every 2:30.  I know by the time we got back, I was drenched from sweat.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
4 weirdos: Amazon, A Rod, Swanson, Abort

Full Bird Beatdown

THE SCENE: 76* and humid as crap.  A few different Misfires listed in GroupMe, this Misfire is Colonel Mike Anders. At least the fourth of the Anders clan to ring the second bell and Q in Knoxville.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Bend and reach stretch
Row stretch (arms extended overhead and flat, then sit up while also crunching your knees in, then holding)
Squat and reach
Crunchy twists (can’t remember what he called them, 4 count exercise with legs up like you’re going to crunch, but rotate knees together to each side)
Merkins

THA-THANG:
Top 40 countdown around the World’s Fair Lawn.  At each corner of the lawn, there is an exercise listed and on the longer sections a method of movement.  Instructed to do 4 laps, starting with 40 of each exercise, then 30, etc.  So 40/30/20/10 but the movement between remained.

  • Merkins – then lunge over halfway down the long side, run at the line to next corner
  • Squats – run to next corner
  • Mountain climbers – power skip/jump halfway, then run to next corner
  • Prisoner squats (hands behind head, feet pointing outward as much as comfortable) – run to next corner

Repeat four laps with decreasing reps.

Form up in field for Jane Fonda 5:1 for each leg, just to completely destroy what was left of our legs.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
9 Strong: Casper, Duggar, Misfire, Cowbell, The Voice, Jenner, Reverb, Passport, Abort
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
(Doing my best to remember) Character versus competency.  We all strive to do our jobs and perform daily tasks with competency, to do the best job we can do.  However, always be aware of risking your character to get the job done.  We can always change careers, but our character should remain unflinching and unbroken. Aye!

pretty simple routine

THE SCENE: 75* and humid, perfect for watering the sidewalk with sweat
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Moroccan night clubs x25 IC
Tempo lunge x10 IC
High knees x25 IC
OH claps x25 IC
Static stretches – middle, left, right for 20 sec each
THA-THANG:
Fairly simple this morning, mosey out of start point and over to the amphitheater.  Routine is the eight exercise escalator.  Do the first exercise, run a lap out of the amphitheater (heading away from start point), left across pedestrian bridge, left by the Big Ball and back around the pond to the amphitheater.  Do first exercise and add an exercise each lap.

  • Plank jacks x20
  • Merkins x20
  • Box jumps (or step ups) x15
  • Pull ups on Big Ball x10
  • Lunges x20
  • Burpees x5
  • Dips x20
  • American hammers x20

Had to call an audible at lap 4 (the loop was too long).  All things stayed the same except the loop was to run out the flat part of amphitheater, turn right and run up the ramp to go to the high side, do inverted rows instead of pull ups, then run down the other side and return to the amphitheater stage.

MARY:
No time for Mary, the escalator took too long.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
5 strong in the sweat box: Cowbell, The Voice, Misfire, Amazon, Abort
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Friday was the 14th anniversary of Operation Red Wings, which led me to look up lessons learned from that event (depicted in the book and movie Lone Survivor).  Marcus Luttrell detailed one of his experiences not of those events particularly, but it stuck with me.  That is, that we have a tendency to put ourselves in a pecking order by comparing ourselves to those around us.  “That guy can lift more, he can solve the Pythagorean theorem faster, etc etc.”  In Luttrell’s case, during Hell Week of his BUD/s course the strongest swimmer in the class tapped out.  His immediate thought was, if that guy can’t make it, there is no way I can make it.

But courage, grit and determination are much harder to quantify to allow you to place yourself in a pecking order.  Just because someone might be more talented, doesn’t mean you can’t beat them.  The man that is hard to beat is the one who won’t quit.
MOLESKIN:
Continue praying for Carrot and his 2.0, and for Crawdad and his M.

Amazon Abort co-Q

THE SCENE: Forgot to look, felt like about 75* and humidity wasn’t yet too bad
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Led by Amazon:
BAC forward x20 IC (evidently at Brickyard these are know as manly arm rotations)
BAC backwards x20 IC
Moroccan night clubs x20 IC
OH claps x20 IC
Led by Abort:
Pulse squats x15 IC
Tempo lunge x10 IC
Cobras x10 IC
Amazon:
Sumo squat x10 IC
THA-THANG:
Mosey across Emory Road to the First Tennessee bank parking lot and pair up.  Dora style work, one partner does Galway Hookers across parking lot (4 lunge steps, 1 supersquat, 4 lunge steps, 2 supersquats, continue) to cone and the run back.  The other partner works through:

  • Burps x100
  • Calf raises x100 (on 4-ct)
  • 200 high knees (left/right 1)

Once the partner returns, swap and continue through the exercises.  All groups ended about the same time, so a quick mosey through the parking lots, and back across Emory Road right in front of splash pad.  Quick round of ATM’s to even out the leg work we just did, then continue mosey to pick up a pet rock at the lot just beyond the park.  Grab your rock and mosey with it across Emory to the Health and Wellness parking lot (fitting right?).

Four corners routine, sort of.  Each exercise set with rocks, then run carrying rock overhead to the next corner.

  • Front rock raises x20
  • Eight count bodybuilders x10
  • Rock OH squats x20
  • Brickyard manmakers x10

Finish the four corners, then rinse and repeat for a second round.  After a quick joke about a third round, its time for the shoulder shredder.  Overhead claps on a 4 count, stopping every quarter to pick some cherries.  TAKE US TO 100!

Get rock overhead and mosey back across Emory Road for the last time and take the rock back and return it.  Mosey back toward start point for a little cardio.

Sprints are around 30 yards, all done together.

  • 80% sprint, immediately followed by 10 merkins on 4-ct IC
  • 80% sprint, immediately followed by 10 cobras on 4-ct IC
  • 100% sprint, AYG, immediately followed by 20 SSH IC

MARY:
Flutter kicks x20 IC
BBSUs x20 OYO
Flutter kicks x20 IC
BBSUs x20 OYO
Boat/canoe cash out – in canoe doing flutters, Moroccan night clubs, OH claps
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
9 strong with plenty of visitors: Herbie, Biohazard, Fob, Manilow, Pele, Lilydipper, Fast N Easy, Amazon, Abort
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Amazon spoke about the importance of focusing on others who might be struggling.  Lessons he has learned in GORUCK events, specifically his most recent HTL.  During those events, and in life in general, we find ourselves struggling and contemplating giving up.  But if you look around, there is generally someone worse off than we are.  If you focus your energy on them and helping them keep moving, its funny how you forget the pain you’re in or how tired you are.  Focus on helping someone else, and you’ll be amazed how far that takes you as well.  AYE!!

a duck’s opinion

THE SCENE: Upper 60s and less humid, ready to rock
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Shoulder taps x15 IC
Imperial walkers x10 IC
Plank merkins x10 IC
Bend and reach x12 IC
SSH x15 IC
THA-THANG:
Mosey out of park area, and start up the hill on Hotel.  When we finished our last warm up exercise, I asked if everyone felt sufficiently warm.  I didn’t really get much response so as soon as we got a stop I had everyone stop for 20 merkins and 20 squats to make sure the warm up was complete.  Safety first and all.  Continue mosey up the hill towards Gresham Middle School.

Once across the intersection of Hotel and Holbrook (at the base of the stairs and hill) knock out some leg blasters, exercises done with no rest:

  • 15 squats
  • 10 lunges each leg
  • 10 jump squats

Then sprint the stairs and hill to the top at Gresham.

Once there, circuit set up with cones and chalk.  We did a quick walk through to explain and then started the circuit:

  • 15 inverted rows on the hand rails
  • Burpee broad jump up the hill beside the school, roughly 15 yards then run to the next cone
  • On the stairs at the school entrance, crawl bear up the stairs and around the planter, then bear crawl down the other side
  • Run to the stairs at the auditorium entrance, do 10 (on 4 count) stair taps
  • Run to brick/stone bench for 10 dips and 10 derkins
  • Run most of the way back down the hill, start bear crawl at first cone and finish at second cone rotating bear crawl orientation 90* at every parking stripe

Go through circuit twice.  Plank and wait for 6 to complete.  Move on to ab circuit at the rails we started first circuit.  All exercises done together, but not in cadence.

  • 10 leg lifts hanging from rails
  • 15 BBSUs
  • 10 leg lifts left side, hanging from rails
  • 15 flutter kicks
  • 10 leg lifts right side, hanging from rails

Recover.  Had planned to go another round of the first circuit but time was getting short so we started the mosey back to start point.

MARY:
ATMs
20 box cutters
20 LBCs on 4 ct
Boat/canoe ring of fire with PAX leading: Wilson led 10 BACs in canoe, Herbie led James Bond left/right/middle in canoe, Swanson led 5 OH claps in canoe.  Q realized that boat/canoe and variations is much easier to do when you’re leading, the PAX had me ready to die.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Four strong: Wilson, Herbie, Swanson, Abort
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Since we were at the Quacken, I wanted to include the mascot if possible. Fortunately, I was able to find a very profound quote from the great philosopher Mitch Hedberg: “I find that a duck’s opinion of me is very much influenced by whether or not I have bread.”

While that is obviously a joke, it is also true both for ducks and people.  Too often people, ourselves included, have a tendency to let their opinion of someone be determined by their utility. There are (at least) two problems with that: their utility may not be obvious especially at first; just because someone can’t be a benefit to you, that should not lessen your opinion of them.  I’ve seen a lot of folks who will hear one comment a person says and completely write them off.  I would imagine I’ve also been guilty of similar things.  We all need to be open to listen to opinions, even if they are the opposite viewpoint.  If for nothing else, you practice understanding.  But a lot of times a differing viewpoint has facets you might agree with.
MOLESKIN:
Carrot’s daughter will be having surgery Monday, Mr. Wedgie along with the Cahoon family and that community, the Reagan family in Maryville.. all kept in TAP