F3 Knoxville

The Long Haul

THE SCENE: Warm and sweaty
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: 

Welcome two new FNG’s Zack and Brandon!

WARM-O-RAMA:
10 SSH, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Twisters (Twisting Windmills)
THA-THANG:  The Long Haul

In Short: Pick up a CMU and mosey it to the top of JUCOMANJARO with some exercises along the way.

In detail:   Side Straddles (both sides), then a two burpee indian run to the CMU pile.

Pick up a CMU and do exercises (written on the ground) about every 100 yards until you get to the base of JUCOMANJARO.

The exercises were:

  • 25 Curls
  • 25 Push Presses
  • 25 Squats
  • 25 Triceps
  • 25 Right arm block elevated Merkins
  • 25 Left arm block elevated Merkins
  • 25 American Block Hammers
  • 25 Curls
  • 25 Push Presses
  • 25 Squats
  • 25 Triceps

Then at the base of JUCOMANJARO only stop at the two alcoves for exercises.

  1. 100 Single Count Freddy Mercuries (with CMU)
  2. 100 Single Count American Hammers (with CMU)

Once you get to the flat towards the top then lunge to the very end, about 50 lunges.

50 Flutter Kicks at the top, to pick up the six.  We ran out time to bring the cmu’s back, but brought them

down to the second alcove.

MARY:
Thank you Ribbed for leading the group in some more flutters as the group trickled back to the AO

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I love it when the old testament writers write about new testament stuff and the new testament writers write about old testament stuff. In reading Acts 7 (Stephen’s confession) I’m amazed at the history he rattles off. In contrast, I’m amazed at King David’s testimony about the forgiveness that is found in God, which really sounds like new testament Gospel writters. We read Psalm 32 out loud.

Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,[b]
whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
3 When I refused to confess my sin,
my body wasted away,
and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude

5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Interlude

6 Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time,
that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
7 For you are my hiding place;
you protect me from trouble.
You surround me with songs of victory. Interlude

8 The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
I will advise you and watch over you.
9 Do not be like a senseless horse or mule
that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”

10 Many sorrows come to the wicked,
but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.
11 So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!
Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!

JELLYBODY TOTEMPOLE

THE SCENE:  Reeeeaaaaaallll Niiiice.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Cherry Pickers, OH Claps, Tempo Merkins, Box Cutters, Tempo Squats
THA-THANG:
Jelly Legs: Hold Al Gore 30 sec, 30 Squats, Run, Repeat. Hold Al Gore 20 sec, 20 Squats, Run, Repeat.

Jelly Arms: Hold Merkin at 6inches 30sec, 30 Merkins, Run, Repeat. Same – 20 sec, 20 Merkins, Run, Repeat.

Totem Pole:  Perform exercises in descending order at indicated numbered reps (12-1), Run. Upon return do the same but eliminate the top exercise on the list.


MARY:
100 Calve Raises
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
16
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
These workouts are often challenging and hard to get thru.  Often, we dig deep and use each other to push thru. Do the same in your spiritual walk. We face challenges, temptations daily.  When those times come, do what we do out here.
MOLESKIN:
N/A

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Convergence

A Lesson in Humility

THE SCENE: High 80s, more humid than the past few days, light breeze and some clouds made it almost bearable
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER Check.
WARM-O-RAMA:
The initial plan of 40 burpees was scratched by the PAX’s generosity in donating to a certain cause.

20 Side Straddle Hops (4-ct), in cadence, 10 Copperhead lunges/ 10 Copperhead squats/ 10 Steve Earles/ 10 Copperhead Merkins (all 4-ct, IC), 10 Windmills

THA-THANG:

Mosey to Stop sign at northeast corner of circle drive, 20 Rocky Balboas on the curb (4-ct).  Mosey to CMU pile

  • Battle buddy up.  Grab CMU, 1 per pair
    • Partner does modified suicide (HOP to first cone, run back, BEAR CRAWL to second cone, run back, BERNIE SANDERS to third cone, run back), while partner does the following (additive between partners) with CMU:
      • 100 of each: SQUATS, ROWS, CURLS, OVERHEAD PRESS, TRICEPS PRESS

Mosey to base of Cardiac

  • Cardiac PYRAMID :
    • Run to first turn of Cardiac and back
      • 10 Copperhead Squats
      • 10 Copperhead Squats, 10 Mountain Climbers (2-ct)
      • 10 Copperhead Squats, 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Shoulder Taps (2-ct)
      • 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Shoulder Taps
      • 10 Shoulder Taps
    • Lunges until 6 catches up.
    • Run up Cardiac, at each turn do 5 Burpees. At Top, do 5 Burpees and 20 bench dips.

Mosey to where path intersects parking lot:

  • 20 BBS/20 LBCs/20 American Hammers (2-ct) (OYO)

Mosey to tree/shaded area at stop sign where we did the Rocky Balboas

  • 20 BBS/20 LBCs/20 American Hammers (2-ct) (OYO)

Mosey to AO.

MARY:
No time for good ol’ Mary.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
15 strong, including Gobbler (untagged) and FNG Deuce.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I’ve always been a bit of a perfectionist, but particularly when it comes to sports.  Everyone says “I like to win” or the reverse, “I hate losing”, but I tend to take that to another level.  It’s gotten a bit better as I’ve gotten older, but I still have an incredibly hard time moving on when I lose or fail at something competitive.  I was playing in Steam’s kickball charity tournament last week, and we lost a tight game that I felt we could have won if I had just sold out and dove for a ball in the outfield and made the catch, or gotten a “hit” when I was up with two outs and the bases loaded.  It bothered me the rest of the day and all night.  Had a hard time sleeping.  Now, this was not the Super Bowl, the World Series, or an important match in any way, shape or form… This was a CHARITY. KICKBALL. TOURNAMENT., but I still thought I let the team down.  When I was in college, I seriously considered going to a sports psychologist, because if my team lost at anything, whether it was soccer, basketball, or even if it was just playing darts at the bar, I felt it was my fault, and would go into a deep, intense funk.  And when this happens, I try to tell myself, “It’s just a game”, but that never works for me.  Almost nothing does.

The only thing that helps is if I take a deep breath, I consider how lucky and fortunate I am to have the gifts that God has given to me in my life, and to consider how %^&*$!! ARROGANT it is to get mad when things don’t go my way.  We’re human.  We’re flawed.  We fail. Grow up and deal with it.

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.  I’ve failed over and over again in my life.  And that is why I succeed.” Michael Jordan

Philippians 2:3-10 – (Writings from the apostle Paul, who is asking his readers to turn the focus from themselves to others.  Humbling, self-sacrificing lives leads to exaltation from God).

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death– even death on a cross! 9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth

Paul frequently addressed Jesus as divine.  Paul is pointing out that Jesus could have pulled out the “God Card” and demanded that every person grovel at his feet, but instead of treating others as his servants, he himself becomes a servant to the people.  He lived among us, suffered our mortal pains, came to this world in a humble way, and left it suffering a horrible, humiliating death on the cross. We have no right to wallow in self pity when we fail, or when we fall short in how we perform.  We try our best, we give every effort to succeed, but when we fail, we must accept it with grace, learn from it, and move on.  I will continue to try to take this lesson to heart.

MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Third F this Saturday, with the convergence at Big Ball at 7:00 AM and 3rd F afterwards at 8:30 AM.

Fun, Until it Wasn’t

THE SCENE:
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

WARM-O-RAMA:

  • Duck Jousting
    • Friendly combat between Pax in the duck walk position. Arms must remain crossing your chest. Bumping, nudging, rubbing and checking are highly encouraged. There is no biting, scratching, standing up or falling over or you are out! Kicking is allowed if you are possibly able to remain in the duck walk position on one leg. Last man to remain on his feet in the duck position is declared the winner.
    • Once your out – Jog in place for the duration of the game.
  • When Animals Attack
    • A game of “tag”. One Pax (“the attacker” or “it”) starts in bear crawl position. All other Pax will be required to crab walk to evade the bear! Using the basketball courts as the boundary. If the crab walk is tagged by the bear, they complete 5 burpees and become a Bear. Game ends when all Pax are bear crawling.

THA-THANG:
“The Greenway 100”. ½ Mile Greenway Loop. Pax will perform 10 reps at each sign for a total of 100 reps:

  • Round 1 – Burpees
    • PAX will A-L-A-R-M for the 6:
      • (20) CMU Shoulder Press
      • (20) Lunge
      • (20) Peter Parkers
      • (20) Rockette Hillbillies
      • (20) Merkins
    • Round 2 – Jumping Squats

Circuit – Pax will then complete as many rounds as possible of:

  • 5 Pull-Ups
  • 10 Bench Jump Overs
  • 15 X’s & O’s
  • 20 Knees to Chest (Ab work on playground bars)

MARY:
Nope!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA:

16 Pax

BOM:

I encourage the men to step up and let me know if they were interested in taking their leadership skills to the next level. I challenged the PAX to let me know if they are interested or wanting to grow our AO and our outreach by expanding into a shared leadership team within the AO.  Please let me know if you would like to be a part of this as i’m compiling a list of HIMs to meet with in the near future to talk through my ideas and envisions.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shared-leadership-q3-1-episode-55-43feet-leadership/id1218921251?i=1000444531019

Q Source – Q3.1 – LEAD RIGHT – SHARED LEADERSHIP
Shared Leadership is a conspiracy to Influence Movement to Advantage 
A conspiracy is an agreement between two or more people to act in harmony toward a common end.

If that common end is an illegal activity (bank robbery for example), then the very act of conspiring to commit the crime is a crime itself—separate and apart from actually committing it. To establish a conspiracy to commit bank robbery, the state need only prove the existence of an agreement between the coconspirators and a single action in furtherance of their plot, like the purchase of a gun. The fact that they never manage to rob the bank, or even walk through its doors, does not diminish their guilt for simply conspiring to do so. The criminal penalty for conspiracy is very severe, typically only a single level lower than the act itself. Thus, if bank robbery is a class A felony, than conspiracy to commit bank robber is a class B felony.

This may seem draconian given that the intended victim is never actually harmed in the manner intended, but it is considered a just and necessary deterrent to the destructive power of men who combine to act in concerted evil. A four-man crew working together is far more likely to possess the range of skills necessary to rob a bank than four men acting individually. By pooling their efforts, they greatly increase their likelihood of success because each man can focus on the proper performance of his particular role rather than trying to do everything at once. Concerted action toward evil ends is a powerfully Disruptive.

But so is concerted action towards Advantage. Men who combine in furtherance of positive Outcomes are far more likely to achieve their common objective than they would be if they acted alone, because the sum of their individual efforts is greatly exceeded by the product of their concerted action. As with a criminal conspiracy, each man is free to focus on the proper performance of his individual role which (if the conspiracy is well formed) will be within his own D2X. A conspiracy of men working together within their individual High Impact Zones to achieve a specific Advantage will have a Dynamic IMPACT on their Community or Organization. Groups seeking Prosperity should encourage men to conspire to Advantage.

MOLESKIN:
There is an energy and fitness level surrounding this PAX that I have not seen in a LONG time…Really looking forward to the future and how these HIMs continue to advance their leadership abilities throughout Blount County and the surrounding areas!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Convergence at the Big Ball this Saturday! Don’t miss it if at all possible!!

Asylum Treebiscuit Run to win

THE SCENE: Misty mountain madness makes for some awesome light-pole shadows and views through-out the park.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER  
Surprised and grateful they let me lead these unsuspecting HIM’s through the gloom today.

WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH, Tennessee Rockin Chairs, High Knees, Burpees, Windmills, Cherry Pickers

THA-THANG: TREE-BISCUIT

The Short Version:

As a group, Run to an un-slapped tree, slap it, everyone call out the running burpee total,  do A single burpee, repeat.

The Long Version:
  • Scaling:
    • We travel as a pack, if you find yourself falling behind, skip a tree and burpee and keep moseying to catch up.  It’s more fun and less confusing to have the group stay together, especially when we alternate taggers.
    • Scaling is NOT cheating, it’s just scaling, no judgment here. You made it here and that’s enough.
    • We’re going to be zig-zagging all over the park so the better we can stay together the more we’ll be able to keep an accurate count and not leave people behind.  Plus it feels bad to tag a tree without everyone there doing it together.
  • Taggers
    • The tagger is the person closest to the nearest tree. They slap the tree and call out what the burpee running total is about to be. Similar to our cadence exercise routines, the whole group calls out the number and does a burpee.
    • The tagger is typically in the front of the pack, however since we are traveling in a mob fashion that’s not always true.
  • Alternate Taggers
    • Similar to an indian run, each person should take turns being in front and tagging a tree. This makes the workout much more fun.  If you have already tagged several trees then just slowly fade back and let someone else tag the next one.
  • What is a Tree:
    • We don’t do burpees for any old shrub.  Trees should be about 6 inches around and 10 feet tall.  Those pesky crape mertyles were very questionable this am.  #wanna-be-trees
  • No Poison Ivy:
    • In an attempt to to get too dirty and get poison ivy, we’ll pass trees that are surrounded by shrubs and tall grass. Luckily we are in a very well manicured park where most of the trees have nicely mowed grass leading up to them.
  • Cross Country Baby!!
    • We are going off road for sure.  The ground is very un-even around many of the trees. Be careful when running not to twist and ankle.  And don’t hit your face on a rock or root when doing a burpee in the dirt.
  • Be Loud
    • The louder you call out the number, the more you inspire your fellow brothers!
  • Milestones
    • At 50, 100, 150, 200 make sure the group catches up and circles around the tree, wait a few seconds. Do the burpee.  Celebrating these milestones adds to the encouragement factor.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

1 corinthians 9:24  Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

Showing up at 5:30 am to do 200 running burpees is a task I never thought I would do in a million years.  But not only did we do it but we had fun doing it.  That’s a miracle.  Thank you F3 and everyone who does it.  In the verse above Paul uses a very fleshly easy to understand analogy of running races to encourage his readers.  It worked for me and so I wanted to encourage the group to yell to each other “So Run to win!”(we did this several times).  My head is very thick (dense & dunse) and some times I need volume in order to bypass my head and get the info into my heart.

Harkin back to times when you might have rose to an athletic challenge in your youth by not eating certain foods, going to bed early before a big meet,  skipping beer before a big game, memorizing plays weeks in advance,  showing up to “two a day” practices when your other friends were partying.

Yes it’s true that we all have a VERY high calling to lean on the Lord and the Holy Spirit to help us be ministers to those in need.  The Lord is an active participant in our walks. He leads us beside still waters. He tracks with us where-ever we are at.  But I love this verse because he’s also saying “So RUN TO WIN!”…..

Running to win for you might look like not drinking, not smoking, not swearing, not lusting, not yelling, no coarse jesting, no slandering,  helping the poor, helping anyone.

I think what I’m getting at is there is a self-discipline simple athletic aspect to our calling. As simple as running. As simple as showing up at 5:30am. As simple as praying with your brothers.  Sometimes we are overwhelmed with the spiritual and scriptural call to be perfect, but I believe it’s easier when you break it down into little acts.  One workout,  one tree, one act of kindness, one burpee.

In the end you might surprise yourself at what God gives you the strength to do.  200 Burpees or help a nation dig out of a pit of moral despair.

So, run to win gentlemen, run to win!