F3 Knoxville

Author: Lillydipper

Reach Out

THE SCENE: Find out before the virtual coffeteria on Saturday morning.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side-Straddle Hops, 15 Second Squat, 10 Burpees, 30 Second Squat, 10 Windmills, 45 Second Squat, 10 Cherry Pickers, 60 Second Squat, 10 Little Baby Arm Circles Forward and 10 Backward
THA-THANG:

I have no idea how long the following will take. Stop exercises if an hour goes by.

Run from the driveway of your home or from wherever you may be (home-based AO) for about 3 minutes.  Lunge back toward home-based AO for about 30 seconds, then run the rest of the way.

Pick out four corners that you can move between that are about 20 yards apart.  You can actually just run back and forth between two spots if you can not create four corners with that amount of distance.  You will go around the four corners four times, stopping to do the first exercise the first time around, second exercise the second time around, etc.  Here are the exercises and the ways that you will get to each corner:

  • Corner 1:  20 Hello Dollies, 20 Flutter Kicks (4 ct), 20 Bicycle Kicks (4 ct), 20 Box Cutters.  Bernie Sanders to Corner 2 between each listed exercise.
  • Corner 2:  20 Box Jumps, 20 High Knees (both legs = 1), 20 Iron Mikes (both legs = 1), 10 Burpees.  Sprint to Corner 3 between each exercise.
  • Corner 3:  20 Carolina Dry Docks, 20 Merkins, 10 Hand Release Merkins, 20 Diamond Merkins.  Hop to Corner 4 between each exercise.
  • Corner 4:  20 Mountain Climbers (both legs = 1), 15 Shoulder Taps (both shoulders = 1), 20 Plank Jacks, 20 Big Boy Sit-ups.  Lunge to Corner 4 between each exercise.

Next, you will sprint from your home based AO for thirty seconds, walk for 30 second, sprint for 30, walk for 30, until you have done this five times or five minutes.  Turn around and mosey back to your home-based AO.

Pick a distance of about 20 yards.  You will do the following exercise back and forth between that 20 yard space:

  • Bernie Sanders
  • Running with high knees
  • Bear Crawl (standing to lunge if it gets too difficult)
  • Skip
  • Grapevine Right (this is where you move sideways interchanging legs)
  • Grapevine Left (same thing as above but leading with left foot)

MARY:
20 Big Boy Sit-Ups, 20 Imperial Walker, 20 Dive Bombers.  If you still have time left, rinse and repeat the 4 corners exercises listed above until your time is up.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
My daughter found this poem and passed it on to our family.  I am passing it on to you.

“Pandemic,” a Poem by Lynn Ungar

By Steven Pressfield |  | 

With special thanks to our good friend Joe Jansen, who sent me this poem, and to the website Science and Nonduality where it appeared … here is “Pandemic” by San Francisco poet Lynn Ungar, www.lynnungar.com.

Pandemic

 

What if you thought of it

as the Jews consider the Sabbath—

the most sacred of times?

Cease from travel.

Cease from buying and selling.

Give up, just for now,

on trying to make the world

different than it is.

Sing. Pray. Touch only those

to whom you commit your life.

Center down.

 

And when your body has become still,

reach out with your heart.

Know that we are connected

in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.

(You could hardly deny it now.)

Know that our lives

are in one another’s hands.

(Surely, that has come clear.)

Do not reach out your hands.

Reach out your heart.

Reach out your words.

Reach out all the tendrils

of compassion that move, invisibly,

where we cannot touch.

 

Promise this world your love–

for better or for worse,

in sickness and in health,

so long as we all shall live.

As brothers of F3 lets reach out and promise the world our love and strength, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health.

MOLESKIN:
I am praying for you brothers during this coronavirus epidemic!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Virtual coffeeteria at 8 am this morning!!

Attached

THE SCENE: Cloudy, about 50 degrees
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
25 Side-Straddle-Hops, 15 Second Squat, 10 Burpees, 30 Second Squat, 10 Imperial Walkers, 45 Second Squat, 10 Cherry Pickers, 60 Second Squat
THA-THANG:

Mosey to Stop Sign at Northeastern Corner of Administration Bldg.  Men will dive into teams of two.  We will do Doras.  While one partner runs to end of sidewalk, does 10 merkins, and runs back, the other partner will be working on exercises with a set of bricks.  The partners then switch positions.  Here are the exercises to do with the bricks:

  • 100 overhead presses
  • 100 curls
  • 100 triceps
  • 100 punches where both hands = 1
  • 100 rows with hands at each side
  • 100 wings up
  • 100 wings down
  • 100 winds out

Mosey to perimeter trail.  We will do 20 American Hammers at grassy area by the trail.

Mosey to foot of Mt. Everest.  We will do 20 Big Boy Sit-ups, 20 Hello Dollies, and 40 Baby Crunches in cadence.  Then we run up Mt. Everest.  At the top, men alternate between Squats and Baby Crunches until all men finish.

Mosey back to pile of bricks at the Northeastern Corner of Admin. Bldg.  We will do 20 Box Cutters.  Then, men grab bricks to take to my car at the AO.

Mosey to the parking lot with islands that is located south of the northern ball fields.  We will alternate between Bernie Sanders and Sprints between each cone of the parking lot.  There will be four cones places around the parking lot.  At each cone we will stop to do 15 Merkins.  Rinse and repeat.

Mosey to start of mini-cardiac.  We will Bernie to the Green Park Sign then sprint to the AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Fourteen men, no FNGs but we did have Gus visiting from Memphis to honor the birthday of four years of him being in F3 at the place where he got started.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.

— Albert Schweitzer

Infants and toddlers form an attachment to loving parents.  Studies have been conducted showing that young toddlers will show confidence when near their parents but be wary and even cry when a stranger approaches if the toddler is alone.  With secure attachment, the feeling of comfort that the toddler has with a loving parent allows the toddler to feel safe enough to then move from the parent and explore the outside world.  Have you ever watched a young toddler explore?  The toddler will move away from the parent, viewing objects and people with curiosity – but the toddler will also look back to the parent to make sure they are there – and, finally, the toddler will hurry back to the parent, just to be acknowledged, to get the parent’s affection, to be touched.  After that, the toddler will move away again to explore the world.  This pattern will occur again and again over the course of minutes.  Studies have indicated that toddlers who have this type of attachment, which shows their need for the parent in order to continue to explore, are more likely to be confident adolescents and adults.

Certainly, as adults we have gained autonomy and independence.  But, I feel that adults also have that same need for some type of attachment – just at a different level.  We need some type of human base.  As Bruce Springsteen says in his song called “Human Touch”:

You might need somethin’ to hold on to
When all the answers, they don’t amount to much
Somebody that you could just to talk to
And a little of that Human Touch.

As men, most of us have found or are looking for some kind of mate.  The marriage of two people not only provides us with love but it gives us a sense of security – a stronghold.  As men it is also important to have a group of others to connect to.  The 2nd F of F3, fellowship, is a strong influence for us.  For me, I find that having the socialization with you brothers in F3 actually helps me to get out and explore my world.  And it gives me comfort to also know that I can come back a few days each week to reconnect.  Just as a toddler reconnects with the parent, adults need to reconnect with caring adults.  That connection not only gives us energy, it gives us courage.  In F3, we talk of locking shields together.  But because we lock shields in workouts and fellowship, each of us are better equipped to carry on with the challenges we must face in other settings.  As Albert Schweitzer indicates, the connection with our fellow men ignites the spark within us that keeps are own flame going.

The Faith aspect of F3 is also important here.  Because the Faith aspect connects us to an even higher power, a sustaining light, a light that will not fail us.  It gives us purpose, direction and strength.  And there is something about knowing that our brothers are also uniting in this connection that makes it the more powerful.  Indeed, “each of us have cause to think with great gratitude” of what has “lighted the flame within us.”

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for the health of Choir Boy’s mother-in-law and Lillydipper’s wife with their thyroid surgery.  Prayers for Choir Boy’s mother who also has a problem thyroid or hypothyroid.  Prayer’s for Hooker’s daughter, Emerson Grace Gentry, who was born five weeks premature and is still in the hospital at this time.  Prayers for our nation and world at this time of the Coronavirus Pandemic.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Convergence and 3rd F at JUCO on March 28.

Steadfast

THE SCENE: Sunny skies, temp in 60’s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side-Straddle Hops; 10 Mountain Climbers; 10 Windmills; 10 Tempo Merkins; 63 Grady Corns
THA-THANG:

Mosey to large parking lot with islands and that is south of northern ball fields.  We will be going counter-clockwise around the parking lot.  There will be four cones around the parking lot.  Exercises will be displayed at each cone.  At each cone will also be instructions of how maneuver to the next cone:

  • Cone 1:  Do 20 Hello Dollies (four count).  Run to Cone 2.
  • Cone 2:  Do 20 Big Boy Sit-ups.  Bernie Sanders to Cone 3.
  • Cone 3:  Do 20 Flutter Kicks (four count).  Run to Cone 4.
  • Cone 4:  Do 20 Bicycle Kicks (four count).  Bernie Sanders to Cone 1.
  • Rinse and Repeat.

Mosey on sidewalk that goes from parking lot to Pavilion at northern ball fields.  We will do 20 Picnic Table Pull-Ups, then 20 Bench Dips, then 15 of each, then ten of each, then 5 of each.  After that we will do the same pattern as above but with Bench Jumps and Decline Merkins.

Mosey to CMU Pile.  Men divide into teams of two.  Each team grabs one CMU and heads to the entrance of the parking lot.  We will be doing Doras.  One partner does exercises with CMU while the other partner Bernie’s up Cardiac Hill to the Green Park Sign.  The partner then runs back down hill.  Partners switch places.  These will be the exercises that each team does with the CMUs:

  • 100 Overhead Presses
  • 100 Curls
  • 100 Rows
  • 100 Squat Thrusts
  • 100 Decline Merkins (feet on CMU)

Return CMUs to pile.

Mosey to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Sixteen men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Psalm 117:1-2 ESV 

Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!

Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

God’s Love is constant.  It is steadfast.  God does not just love us now and then.  It may feel like that sometimes.  Sometimes God may seem very distant to us.  He is beyond those clouds somewhere and we may not feel his presence.  But don’t allow the way you feel at the moment obscure the truth.  His love for us is steadfast.  We may also feel God loves us less when we do wrong.  We may do something that we regret, that hurts us, hurts someone else, or which God would not like.  Certainly God does not like sin.  And, God loves it when we do good.  But God does not love us more because we do good or less because we sin.  His love is powerful and continuous.  The word “steadfast” is used 219 times in the Bible and in over 200 of those times the word is followed by “love.”  If we believe in the words of the Bible then we must believe that God’s love is steadfast.  This should give us comfort.  Because God offers His great love to us freely, even though we are unworthy.  He loves us even when it doesn’t make sense for Him to do so.  So, take that love in.  Breathe it.  That loves is always there and it ain’t going to go away from you.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers for coworker of Crispr whose father is paralyzed after scuba diving in Hawaii; for Woodshack and family after death of his father-in-law; for coworker of Squirtle; for help for Steam at a difficult time; for fathers of Hooker (e.g., Pinto) and Iceman and mother of Thunderstruck; for friend of Jenner.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Board meeting!

The Sea Refuses No River

THE SCENE: Windy, temps in 40s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Plank Jack, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Rockettes, Plank Reaches, 7 Wide Arm Circles Forward and Backward.
THA-THANG:
Mosey to parking lot by southern ball fields.  We will suicides, running from curb on south end of parking lot to successive lights in the parking lot.  Each time we return to curb we will do 20 Baby Crunches before running to next light.

Mosey to Pavilion by Outdoor Chapel.  We will do Elevens starting with 1 Bench Dip off and 10 Squat Jumps.  After Squat Jumps, each man runs around the Pavilion and back to the bench he started with to do 2 Bench Dips and 9 Squat Jumps.  This pattern continues until each man has done 10 Bench Dips and 1 Squat Jump.

Mosey to Serpentine Sidewalk.  We will run length of sidewalk until it reaches the perimeter trail but will stop to do ten Big Boy Sit-ups every other light.  Those finishing first we sweep all men back.

Mosey to CMU pile.  Divide into teams of three.  Each team grabs three CMUs.  One man carries two CMUs across parking lot to next partner who carries them back to next partner.  On one side of the parking lot men do side-straddle hops while waiting for a partner to return.  On the other side of the parking lot men do curls while waiting for partner to return. Once all partners have carried the CMU to another side, partners will rinse and repeat but do overhead presses as the exercise with the stationary CMU.  When all partners have finished again, we will rinse and repeat one more time but do Rows with the stationary CMU.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Fifteen men and one FNG, Chip Omer, whom we dubbed “Salsa.”

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Where do rivers flow?  To the sea.  My good friend, High-Heels, taught me that our own Tennessee River flows toward Chattanooga, dips into Alabama, heads northwest to the border of Alabama and Mississippi, then, of all things, heads north through Tennessee again to reach the Ohio River at Paducah, Kentucky.  From there, the waters head west to the Mississippi River and south before emptying into the Gulf.  A crazy route but the waters flow to the sea.

As humans, where do our lives naturally flow?  To God.  And, no matter what crazy routes we take, our direction, if we live for what we were created for, should be toward God.  What a beautiful metaphor it is to think of our lives being the rivers that flow to God, who is the Sea.  God created us for this and expects us to journey toward Him, our creator, our Home.

There is a song written by Pete Townsend (yes, the guitar crashing band member and primary song writer for the rock group, the Who) that beautifully depicts this idea of our lives flowing toward God. It was a song written on one of his solo albums.  The song is entitled “The Sea Refuses No River.”

Just as Jesus accepted all humans, whether tax collectors, outlaws, or prostitutes, the Sea, Townsend proclaims, refuses no river.

The sea refuses no river
Whether stinking and rank
Or red from the tank
Whether pure as a spring
There's no damned thing stops this poem.
The sea refuses no river
And this river is homeward flowing.

And it is that idea of God accepting him that helps him, helps the individual human, to live:

There was a fool in a dressing robe
Riding out the twilight hour
Lonely and cold in an empty home
Trying to access his power
But now he's like a stream in flood
Swollen by the storm
He doesn't care if he sheds his blood
Let him be reborn.

The wonderful thing to know is that there is no privilege to the religiously elite here.  The front row of seats is not sealed off to those who live by some code that Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or any type of religious snob claims we must live by,  Jesus informed us of this when he said, “The last shall be first and the first shall be last.:  (Matthew 20:16)

Townsend, recognizing this in his song, is able to celebrate the reborn course of his life toward God:

The sea refuses no river
No pecking code respected for the damned
The sea refuses no river
Whether starving and ill
Or strung on some pill
Just 'cause you own the land
There's no unique hand plugs the dam
The sea refuses no river
And the river is where I am
The river is where I am.

You are on the river.  Take comfort in the direction it flows.  The sea is the end to your journey.  And, the sea will not refuse you.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Iceman’s father, for Pinto, and for Thunderstruck’s mother.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Troubadour Q training at Asylum this Saturday morning, 7 am.

Sowing Seeds

THE SCENE: Beautiful sunshine and cold, temp in 20’s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side-Straddle Hops.  10 Burpees.  Ten Cherry Pickers.  8 Burpees.  Ten Windmills.  6 Burpees.  Seven Baby Arm Circles Forwards then Backwards.  4 Burpees.  Seven Wide Arm Circles Forwards then Backwards.  2 Burpees.  Little of this and that.
THA-THANG:
Mosey to trail way that is east of parking lot and which meanders towards the Lyons Bend Gate entrance of the park.  We will do 14’s on the trail until it reaches the roadway that goes to the Lyons Bend Gate.  With the 14’s we will bear crawl one light, then run for four lights, then repeat the pattern until we get to the roadway.

On grass by the roadway we will do 20 Hello Dollies in cadence.  Next we will run and do nickel, dime, quarters (run 1 light, do 5 of exercise, then 2 lights and do 10 of exercise, then 5 lights and do 25 of exercise) with the following exercises:

  • Dive Bombers
  • Big Boy Sit-Ups
  • Merkins

We will stop at the bottom of Mt. Everest.  Here, all men will do 10 Hand Release Merkins, then 40 Baby Crunches, then run up Everest and go all the way to the top of the Space Needle.  Men then run back down the stairs to the Space Needle and meet in parking lot.

Mosey to Area 51 at southeastern side of Admin Bldg.

We will be doing sevens on the starting from the bottom of driveway of area 51 and heading south a distance of about 20 yards.  We will start with 1 Squat Jump and go the 20 yards to do 6 Burpees, then continue with the “sevens” sequence.

Mosey onto roadway and head to parking area by apartments. We will do 20 American Hammers in Cadence

Mosey on roadway to parking lot with nice restrooms.  We will do 20 Flutter Kicks in Cadence.

Mosey to CMU Pile.  Each man grabs CMU.  We will do the following exercises.  Between the exercises we will sprint to the end of the parking lot and back.

  • 25 Overhead Presses
  • 25 Curls
  • 25 Rows
  • 20 Bell Ringers
  • 20 Sit Ups with CMU at chest
  • 20 Decline Merkins with feet on CMU

Mosey to bottom of Mini Cardiac.  We will go uphill to AO.  We will start with Bernie Sanders until we get to green sign, then sprint the rest of the way.

MARY:

10 Sideways Shoulder to Knee Bends on Right Side and 10 Shoulder to Knee Bends on Left Side (Four Count)

.COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Eight Men, No FNGs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

2 Corinthians 9:10

Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness;

Zechariah 8:12

‘For there will be peace for the seed: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce and the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things.

As a very young boy I can remember planting seeds with my mother in a flower bed before the season of Spring came around.  I was very anxious to see when the flowers would grow.  My mother told me it would take some time but I would go out to the garden each day to look, only to see the same old flower bed with no growth. I forgot about it all after a while.  Then one day, the flowers actually sprouted.  I was filled with excitement and wonder.  Those flowers actually came from the tiny little seeds I had planted!!

We as humans can also plant seeds and watch righteousness spread through what we have planted.  A visit to a person in need, an opening the door for a person at a store, a letter to an old friend, listening intently to someone who has something on their heart to say, paying attention to youth as they approach adulthood, an anonymous gift to another, a compliment given a few times a week to others – these are ways we can plant seeds of righteousness.  And as 2 Corinthians 9:10 indicates, God will multiply and harvest the seeds we have planted.

Sometimes we may plant a seed without even knowing it.  For example, an airlines ticket agent planted a seed for me one time when I was flying from Dallas to Jackson, Mississippi back when I was working as a trial consultant.  I was not really looking forward to the trip and was feeling a little sorry for myself that morning.  I heard the ticket agent talking to a fellow ticket agent at the counter about the movie Patch Adams starring Robin Williams.  Patch Adams was a medical doctor who made it his mission to help others, whether he healed them medically or made them smile and even laugh in the face of their serious illnesses.  I left that ticket counter thinking, you know, I can try to be like that this very day.  I have a difficult job ahead of me but I can choose to be kind to those I meet, to carry a face of strength in grace, to plant a few good seeds here and there.  I felt good for the rest of the trip and was even more confident in my work.  In the way I was choosing to act, I felt like God was behind me.  And, who knows, I may have spread some good seeds along the way.

As HIM’s, we make the choice to do good.  And, we can to that daily.  Keep the idea of planting seeds in your mind today and this week.  And remember that God will harvest your seeds of righteousness.

 

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Hand’s wife and her friends on the trip they are taking to Florida for the week. Prayers for Hands as he parents his sons on his own with the hope they don’t burn the house down!  Prayers for our brothers Messi and Pinto.