F3 Knoxville

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!

Mid week battle

THE SCENE: nice..not too hot not too cold
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Run a lap. Arm circle, reverse arm circles, cherry pickers then mosey to the splash pad
THA-THANG:
Large circuit. All stations 30 reps except burpees which are 10 reps. Run a lap after each exercise then continue to the next.

Stations are as follows

  • Burpees
  • 60# sandbag clean
  • Big boy sit ups
  • Decline merkins
  • Trx band knees to chest
  • Lunges
  • CMU presses
  • Dips

Then while 1 person is running the other 2 people do synchronized merkins. When the person running gets back switch out and next person runs. The new pair continue with the synchronized merkins. Continue this pattern until 50 Merkins are complete. Follow this same pattern but change exercise to air squats. Stop at 100 air squats.

Mosey for one lap back to the AO

MARY:
30 big boy sit ups on a 4 count in cadence, 30 mountain climbers on a 4 count in cadence

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
A goal is just a dream with a timeline.
MOLESKIN:
As men we must make the choice to delay satisfaction. The main difference between a boy and a man is a man develops a plan, sticks with and continues to press on when challenged. Doing what sucks in the moment can sometimes be what is best for the future you.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Insert information about upcoming events, 2nd or 3rd F opportunities, and any other announcements.

Entropy

THE SCENE: Mostly dark, 68 degrees F, 93% humidity
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH, Glute Marches, Windmills, Baby Arm Circles

THA-THANG:

Route 66 Burpees

Upper Springbrook Loop to Mt Crumpit, stop every 4th light pole with short mosey after final stop of 11 burpees.

Mt Crumpit Partner Dora

Pax 1 starts Base Camp exercise, Pax 2 ascends Mt Crumpit and does summit exercise. Pax switch until Base Camp exercises are complete.  (Had to recover before Mountain Climbers completed.)

Base Camp                                         Summit

100 Merkins             Run                     10 WWII Situps

200 Bobby Hurley’s    Bear Crawl/Run     10 Dry Docks

300 Plank Jacks        Bernie/Run           10 Heels/Heaven

200 Mtn. Climbers     Bear Crawl/Run     10 Flutters, 4 CT

100 Get ups             Run                     10 Squats

Mosey to the Scrap Yard

Push/Pull

Half do 20 dips while other half do 10 pull ups or inverted pull ups.

Switch exercise

(Total of 3 Rounds)

MARY:

Box cutters, Scissor legs, WWII Situps

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
18 HIMs and 2 FNGs:  Grasshopper (Whit Taylor) and Binary (Shawn Barnes).  Welcome you two.  Look forward to many upcoming workouts together.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Entropy

It takes effort, energy, to keep things orderly. Without it things tend toward it greatest level of entropy or disorder. In simple terms it take effort, your energy, to keep your house from getting disorderly. Water wants to seek its lowest level of existence, highest disorder. In our world that is the ocean. Dust and dirt falls to the lowest surface which may temporarily be your living room floor. Mountains get weathered into boulders, rocks, stones, and finally sand before it is carried to the ocean depths. Only the force, the energy, from wind drives the waves that deposit sand on our beaches.  This same wind prevents water from reaching its greatest disorder or calm. 

In thermodynamics, entropy is commonly associated with the amount of order, disorder, or chaos in a thermodynamic system. Technically, entropy, from this perspective, is defined as a thermodynamic property which serves as a measure of how close a system is to perfect internal disorder.

Rudolf Clausius in 1865, stated that:

“The entropy of the universe tends to a maximum.”  Thus, if entropy is associated with disorder and if the entropy of the universe is headed towards maximal entropy, then many are often puzzled as to the nature of the “ordering” process in light of the second law of thermodynamics, which states that the universe is headed towards maximal “disorder”.   As was stated in the 2003 book, SYNC – the Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order by Steven Strogatz, “Scientists have often been baffled by the existence of spontaneous order in the universe. The laws of thermodynamics seem to dictate the opposite, that nature should inexorably degenerate toward a state of greater disorder, greater entropy. Yet all around us we see magnificent structures—galaxies, cells, ecosystems, human beings—that have all somehow managed to assemble themselves.” 

So the debate continues as to why there is such order when disorder is to reign. For me the answer is simple. It is found in a few simple verses in Colossians Chapter 1:

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

He is the power that keeps entropy from having its way. He can have the same impact on us and the forces that push us in the wrong direction, into disorder.  We need to trust and follow. 

MOLESKIN:
First day of school for Maryville City; Flash will be mentoring a high school student; Betsy, Fins aunt, recently diagnosed with lymphoma; Hammy’s M as she undergoes a CAT scan to determine health issue.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Convergence at the Big Ball Saturday at 7:00 am followed by a 3rd F at Redeemer Church, 1642 Highland Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37916.  $10 donation requested for breakfast.