F3 Knoxville

Author: Lillydipper

Confession

THE SCENE: Raining, temps in low 40s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side Straddle Hops, 30 seconds of butt kickers, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Windmills, 7 Wide Arm Circles Forward, 7 Backward
THA-THANG:
Mosey to CMU Pile.  Half of men pick up CMU’s and carry them to pavilion at Northern Ball Fields. The CMUs will be placed at one corner of the pavilion.

We will do totem pole with 30 seconds each of the following exercises.  By the end of the totem pole workout, each exercise will have been performed for 30 seconds five different times.  The exercises are:

  • Burpees
  • Picnic Table Pull Ups
  • Bench Dips
  • Hello Dollies
  • Plank Jacks

Next, we will go counterclockwise around the pavilion three separate times, doing the exercises listed in sequence at each corner.  We will always bear crawl from Corner 1 to Corner 2 and Corner 3 to Corner 4.  We will always lunge from Corner 2 to Corner 3 and Corner 4 to Corner 1.  We will do 20 of each of the exercises at the corners.  The exercises we will perform at each corner are listed in sequence below:

  • Corner 1:  1. Merkins  2.  Carolina Dry Docks  3.  Dive Bombers
  • Corner 2:  1. Big Boys  2.  Bicycle Kicks  3.  Dying Bugs
  • Corner 3:  1. Squat Jumps  2. Star Jumps  3. Smurf Jacks
  • Corner 4:  (with CMUs)   1. Overhead Presses  2. Curls  3. Rows

Next, we will do squat with back to the wall for one minute.  Then, we will do quick steps with turns on command for 2 minutes.  Finally, we will end with one minute of stretches before putting the CMUs back at the CMU pile and running back to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Six men, no FNGs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
One of the greatest comforts I have each week at church is to read, together with the other church members, the Confession of Sin.  Why should it bring comfort to confess that I have done wrong?  That I have sinned against God?  The Confession of Sin lets me know a number of important things:

  • I am not perfect and I should not require those around me to be perfect.  I fail, I screw up.  And while I can admonish myself for this, I need to realize that I am human.  So are those around me, even those members of my church that I consider to be like saints.  So, even though I drank too much on a Saturday night, even though I failed to truly listen when my wife talked to me earlier in the week, even though I got too angry at a stranger on the roadway and flipped him the bird, even though I failed to be like I was so desirous of being the previous Sunday when feeling so inspired at church, I am not alone in this sinfulness.  My wife and the guy who almost cut me off on the roadway are not alone in their sinfulness either.  It is our nature to sin.
  • Yet, we as Christians can strive to be more like God, like Jesus.  We can delight in God and find Glory in His name.  And in doing so, we can become more like Him.
  • We can also confess and admit that we fall short of God’s expectations and our own expectations. In so doing, we are not saying we are failures. But we are also not turning a blind eye to the fact that we do make mistakes and do sin.
  • Despite the sinfulness, we have a God who loves us.  He made us in His image.  He acknowledges our sinful nature.  Yet, He forgives us of these sins and calls us His own.  And, He finds favor in each of us.  He finds favor in us even though we screw up every week of the year.  We do not need to turn our faces from Him.  We can proudly say, I am yours and you are mine.

Here are the words from the Confession of Sin at my church (Redeemer Church of Knoxville).  Read them knowing that you are not alone in your sin and that God loves you, knowing that you sin.

Most merciful God,

We confess that we have sinned against you

In thought, word and deed,

By what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart;

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.

For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,

Have mercy on us and forgive us;

That we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways,

To the glory of your Name.

Amen.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Tank’s wife who is in the hospital due to large kidney stone that will need surgery.  Prayers for Pinto and his treatment for multiple myeloma.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Tank’s 2nd F party is being pushed back from Friday, January 3 to Friday, January 10, due to his wife being in hospital.

Struck Down But Not Destroyed

THE SCENE: Insert info about the weather, etc.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Mountain Climbers (four count), 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Rockettes, 10 Baby Arm Circles Forward and 10 Backward
THA-THANG:
Get Bricks out of Truck.  Mosey Across Street to Trail that meanders to gate at Lyons Bend.  We will run with bricks for five lights then do 5 Mini-Man-Makers, 10 Jump Squats, 20 Squats and 25 Wings Up (still holding bricks).  Those getting finished first run in place with bricks.  We will then run for five more lights doing same exercises when stopping but with 25 Wings Out (instead of Wings up).  We will then run five more lights doing same exercises but with 25 Wings Down.  Next, five more but with 25 Overhead Presses.  Finally we will run for five more lights and do same exercises but with 25 Rows.  We will then mosey on roadway back toward AO.  However, we will stop in lowest parking lot on way back to bear crawls to inlets with bricks.  Finally, mosey back to AO and drop off bricks.

Mosey through entrance way of northern ball fields and go to northernmost ball field.  We will number off into two teams.  One team starts at home plate and the other team starts at second base.  We will do relay race with each man running around bases before next man starts.

Mosey to striped field in outfield.  We will do suicides running to each line and back to start but doing 15 Baby
Crunches each time we come back.  Those who finish suicides first will alternate between 10 Big Boys and 10 Merkins until everyone is back.

Mosey to pavilion.  We will alternate between 25 Picnic Table Pull-ups and 25 Bench Dips. Next we will do 20 of each, then 15 of each, then 10 of each, and, finally, 5 of each.

Mosey past pitching cages at Northern Ball Fields to Cardiac Hill.  We will run up the hill stopping to the following exercises at the following locations:

  • Curve 1:  25 American Hammers (four count)
  • Curve 2:  25 Hello Dollies (four count)
  • Curve 3:  25 Decline Merkins
  • Benches:  25 Bench Dips

Mosey to CMU Pile.  We will break into teams of two each for Doras.  While one man Bernie’s to curb and sprints back, the other works on the exercises, then each man switches.  Teams will do the following exercises:

  • 100 Overhead Presses
  • 100 Curls
  • 100 Bell Ringers
  • 100 Rows

Mosey back to AO.

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

2 Corinthians 4:8-11

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.”

As the year of 2019 comes to a close, I have been thinking about our brother, Pinto.  This has not been an easy year for him.  As you know, he had a major heart attack at the start of the year.  His mother died later in the year.  He began to cope with exhaustion and significant weight loss and weakening of the bones that led to a break in his back and tear in his rib cage.  He found out that multiple myeloma, a disease that causes cancer cells to accumulate in the bone marrow, was causing his bone weakness, weight loss and exhaustion.  Pinto is now undergoing chemotherapy and may have to receive stem cell therapy.  All of this has certainly given him pause to think about life in ways that we usually do not slow down to do.  As he told me at UT Hospital after he was diagnosed, “Lily, don’t take the chance to exercise with your F3 brothers for granted.  It is a blessing to be able to do so.”

Pinto was willing to admit anxiety in facing his treatment for multiple myeloma.  He is not only facing difficult treatment that can lead to sickness and exhaustion – he is facing his own mortality.  That can be a horrifying task.  But, as I think of our brother, I also think about the armor he has for his fight.

Pinto has the knowledge that he has loved his family strongly.  He is a wonderful father.  I remember the time he wanted to make sure who the hell my wife, Jan, and I were when we invited his daughter, Molly, to a Children’s Hospital Event where families stayed at a local hotel.  Fortunately, his wife already knew Jan well (and had met me a number of times) and after finding out we were alright people, he allowed Molly to go with us.  But Pinto was going to make doggone sure his little girl was going to be safe.  I think of Pinto’s relationship with Hooker, the strong bond between father and son, how much pride he takes in Hooker and who Hooker has become (as well as in Molly and who she has become)  And, I think of the powerful love Pinto has for his wife, Tessa.  That love was particularly poignant that day I saw them both in the hospital.  Both of them were exhausted, Lee from recent back surgery and Tessa from the sleepless nights by his side in the hospital.  The power of their love was tangible.

Pinto also has the armor of his relationship with God.  He believes in God and knows that God will be with him no matter where the journey with multiple myeloma takes him.  Gents, how many of us have truly faced death square in the face?  When we do, will we have what Pinto has?  I know that Lee Gentry wants to beat this cancer, to live on to enjoy life with his granddaughter (Hooker’s future child) that is due in May.  I think he will.  Yet, even if that were not the case, Pinto knows where he will go when he breathes his last breath here on earth.  That has to be comforting.  He knows that life goes beyond these fragile moments here.  He has a Father in Heaven who will never abandon him and will take him Home when his days here are gone.

Finally, when I consider my friend, Lee Gentry, I know that whenever his final day comes (which will probably be after mine since I am older than he is), Christ’s life will be revealed in Lee’s mortal body.  Because Pinto, Lee Gentry, though hard pressed by cancer and persecuted from every side is living the kind of life that God wants him to live.  He will be the first to tell you that he has had and will continue to have his human moments of doubt and anger.  But, he strives for more and seeks God in doing so.  And, in so doing, he reveals the love of Christ.

So, as 2019 comes to a close, I not only pray for Pinto’s health but I give thanks for his presence in our lives.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for our brother, Pinto, and his family.  Prayers for Ed, cousin of Curveball, who died yesterday.  Prayers for Ed’s family.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Polar Bear Plunge on New Year’s Day and 2nd F party (wives or partners only, no children) at Tank’s home on Friday, January 3.

God’s Way Isn’t What the World Expects

THE SCENE: Clear, temps in 40’s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side Straddle Hops, 8 Burpees, 10 Tempo Merkins, 6 Burpees, 10 Windmills, 4 Burpees, 10 Cherry Pickers, 2 Burpees, Michael Phelps
THA-THANG:
Mosey to Outdoor Chapel.  We will do elevens starting with 1 Bench Dip at stage and 10 Mountain Climbers (4 count) at other end of chapel.

Mosey to Pavilion at Southern Ball Fields.  We will do a one minute squat with backs against wall.

Mosey to perimeter trail right by the pavilion.  We will do nickel, dime, quarters with the exercises listed below until we reach the Serpentine Sidewalk.  (Run to first light, do five of exercise, run two more lights, do ten of exercise, run five more lights and do 25 of exercise)

  • Squat Jumps
  • Big Boy Sit-ups
  • Merkins
  • High Knees where both knees = 1

Next, we will do 14’s on Serpentine Sidewalk all the way to the roadway (bear crawl for one light, run for four and repeat the sequence to the roadway)

Mosey to Pavilion at Northern Ball Fields.  We will do picnic table pull-ups, starting with 25, then 20, then 15, then 10, then 5 with short breaks between each set.

Mosey to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Use the TAGS on right-side to record PAX (BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOURSELF) in attendance. Be sure to select the AO in CATEGORY above TAGS and then delete these notes!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
God’s way may sometimes seem backwards from the world’s way.  The world expects you to be “successful and rich.”  Jesus says the meek shall inherit the earth.  The world says achieve these goals to get your reward.  Jesus says come to me first and give your heart to me.  Then you will desire to achieve God’s goals.  The world expects a king who is born into fortune and wears a golden crown.  Jesus was a king who was born in a manger and wore a crown of thorns.  Think upon these things as we celebrate Christmas.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Puddle’s elderly friend, Vince, whose girlfriend had a stroke and later, perhaps due to neurological issues related to the stroke, attempted suicide.  Pray for her recovery.  Pray for our brother Pinto as he goes through chemotherapy and, perhaps, radiation therapy.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Polar Bear Plunge on January 1 and party at Tank’s house on January 3.

Majestic Yet Close

THE SCENE: Cloudy, temp in mid-forties.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Insert information about the warmup.
THA-THANG:
25 Side Straddle Hops, 31 Brady Corns, 10 Rockettes, 7 Baby Arm Circles Forward, 7 Wide Arm Circles Forward, 7 Baby Arm Circles Backward, 7 Wide Arm Circles Backward, 10 Cherry Pickers.

Divide into two teams.  Mosey to CMU Pile.  Each team grabs one CMU.  Each team can divide among the men in terms of carrying the CMU through various moseys.

Mosey to the parking lot south of northern ball fields that has scenic island in middle of the lot.  There will be one cone placed on either side of the parking lot.  Each team must accomplish the exercises listed at each cone.  They can divide up the exercises among the team members in any way they chose (e.g., have one man take each exercise or divide all exercises among the men on the team).  Once the exercises are completed by the team, one man from the team runs with the CMU to the next cone while other team members race ahead of him to start the exercises at the next cone.  Once those exercises are completed by the team, a new team member takes the CMU back to the first cone.  The team does those exercises again.  This cycle continues until every man on the team has carried the cone one time.  The following are the exercises to be performed at each cone:

  • Cone 1:  30 Burpees, 50 Plank Jacks, 50 Merkins, 50 Big Boy Sit-Ups, 50 Shoulder Taps (both shoulders = 1) 50 Overhead Presses with CMU
  • Cone 2:  30 Mountain Climbers (four count), 50 Iron Mikes (both legs = 1), 50 Jump Squats, 50 Dive Bombers, 50 Hello Dollies, 50 Curls with CMU.

Mosey to beginning of Serpentine Sidewalk where it intersects with street.  Each team will still carry their CMU.  We will do 14’s on Serpentine Sidewalk until it reaches the perimeter trail. We will lunge for one light then run for four light, repeating that sequence until we reach the perimeter trail.  We will then, as a group, do 20 Imperial Walkers (four count).

Mosey to beginning of cardiac hill, each team carrying CMU.  We will go up cardiac hill doing the following exercises at the following areas:

  • Corner 1: 20 American Hammers (four count)
  • Corner 2: 20 Leg Kicks (four count)
  • Corner 3: 20 Decline Merkins
  • Benches:  20 Bench Lifts

Mosey to CMU pile.  Drop off CMU’s.  Mosey to Pavilion.  We will do elevens starting with one Picnic Table Pull Up and ten Box Jumps.  We will then do a one minute squat with backs against wall.  Next, we will do sevens starting with one decline merkin and six bench lifts.

Mosey back to AO sprinting up mini-cardiac.

MARY:

Insert information about any additional post-THANG work (if applicable).
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Use the TAGS on right-side to record PAX (BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOURSELF) in attendance. Be sure to select the AO in CATEGORY above TAGS and then delete these notes!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

1 Chronicles 29:11  Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.

I sometimes consider God’s majesty and it is awe-inspiring.  This creation of His, the expansiveness of it, the fact that our galaxy is a mere spec amidst other galaxies, the infinity of space and of time.  We look with our most powerful telescopes to incredible distances and God has created this and so much more.  When one considers God from this perspective He is certainly powerful but also may seem distance.  There’s that song by Julie Gold that Bette Midler made popular:  God is Watching Us From a Distance.  It is good to think of a God who has created this world, who sees all, who is in control of everything.

But it is also good to know that God is close.  God is not only ever powerful, He is ever present.  I can dig down into the rich, deep earth, cup it in my hands and smell God’s presence.  I can pluck a daffodil and examine it in minute detail, knowing God is present in every cell.  We have a God who is close.  We have a God who wants us to know Him.  God whispers in our ear and says, guess what, you are mine.  He whispers in your ear and says, Ratchet, I know every hair on your head.  He whispers, Abscess, talk to me, give me your heartache and give me your joy.  He whispers, Crawdad, I was there the day you were born and will be with you always.  We are each His creation and He loves each one of us.  We have an Amazing God.

Psalm 139: 1-6

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from afar.
 You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
 Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
 You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.
 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is high; I cannot attain it.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Pinto, for Cheatsheet’s friend, and prayer of praise for Crawdad’s son, Carson.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Coffeeteria!

The Answer

THE SCENE: Temp about 36 degrees with snow.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
25 Side-Straddle Hops, HIgh knees run to end of parking lot and Bernie Sanders back, 62
Brady Corns, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Rockettes.
THA-THANG:
Mosey to Dragon Tail.  We will do Route 66 up the Dragon Tail and come back down after each exercise.  Here are the exercises:

  • Squat Jumps
  • Diamond Merkins
  • Iron Mikes

Mosey to Pavilion.  We will do elevens.  The first set of elevens will be with Decline Merkins and Bench Dips.  The second set of elevens with be with Bench Jumps and Picnic Table Pull Ups.

Mosey to CMU pile.  Team up into pairs of two.  Each team grabs CMU.  We will do Doras with one man doing Bernie Sanders to other side of parking lot, doing shin lifts, and sprinting back.  Meanwhile his partner starts on the list of exercises.  Then partners switch.  These are the Dora exercises:

  • 100 Overhead Presses
  • 100 Curls
  • 100 Rows

Mosey back to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Seven men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Our technology, our science, it supposedly makes life easier.  We get answers to our questions by clicking on Google or speaking to Alexa, and get feedback at the bat of an eye.  We can gather more information in 10 minutes through Google now than I could find in a full year back in the days of paging through encyclopedias at my local library.  But, are men more satisfied now then men who lived in the 1960s. . . 1860’s. . . 1760’s . . . or 2000 years ago?  We search for answers, listen to the news, watch experts pontificating on television, hear folks calling in on radio talk shows . . . and are left unsatisfied.  As Faulkner proclaimed, it is all “sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

2000 years ago God sent His son to give to us what has always been the answer:

John 1:  1-5.  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

In this season of Christmas, let us ponder on life’s true meaning.  Let us take the time to stare into the darkness and come to see the light.  Let us celebrate the answer to our longing that God gave and gives to us through a child born in a lowly manger.  That child, that man, that God says to us:

Eat this Bread, drink this Cup.  Come to Me and never be hungry.  Eat this Bread, drink this Cup.  Trust in Me and you will not thirst.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Pinto, for his wife, Tessa, and prayers that they will get the best of medical teams to work with Pinto.  Prayers for others in Pinto’s family including Hooker and Mr. Jinxy.  Prayer for friend of Doubtfire who recently lost his brother.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Polar Bear Plunge on New Years Day!