F3 Knoxville

The Hindenburg

THE SCENE: High 50’s and overcast.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • SSH x20 IC
  • Cherry Picker x10 IC
  • Tempo Squat x10 IC
  • Nancy Kerrigan x10 IC (baby arm circles forward while going up on one leg like figure skater)
        • x10 IC (switch leg, baby arm circles backwards)
  • Chinook x20 IC (overhead arm circles)
  • Diamond Merkins x10 OYO

THA-THANG:
The “Flight of the Hindenburg”

  • Mosey from AO to back of JUCO campus coupon pile.
    • Discover hidden history tablet w/ Hindenburg BLIMPS workout and Hindenburg trivia.
  • Mosey back to AO while giving PAX history lesson on the Hindenburg.

The “Crash Site”

  • Hindenburg BLIMPS (4 corners, mosey/spring between each corner, all single count)
  • Exercises are completed in “rounds” or “laps”
  • B – urpees x10 at each corner = 40 burpees total
  • L – unges x20 at each corner = 80 lunges total
  • I – mperial Walkers x30 at each corner = 120 imperial walkers total
  • M – erkins x40 at each corner = 160 merkins total (embrace the suck)
  • P – lank jacks x50 at each corner = 200 plank jacks total (shoulders much?)
  • S – quats x60 at each corner = 240 squats total
  • Called “recover” during the Squats round.

MARY:

  • Hurricane Hoedown (flutter kicks in 4 styles: hands at hallelujah, behind head, normal, LBCs)
    • 7 of each style IC
    • 6 of each style IC

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Total of 12 HIMs: Kenjo, Snaggletooth, Trolley, Spotter, Sty, Judge Judy, 5K, Erector, Bulldog, Booster, Chaco, Guano

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

The Hindenburg’s creators were silly enough to put a lavish smoking room on board. However, their primary job was to get people safely from point A to point B. Challenge: What’s your primary objective as a Christian, man, husband, father, friend, etc.? Do you focus on the tasks, easy things, comfort, etc.? If you can get 1 thing right in your day that’s actually important what would that be?

MOLESKIN:

Prayers for Guano’s grandfather’s funeral and Trolley’s wife’s health.

Good to see Bulldog come out to JUCO who normally posts at Asylum and Big Ball.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Trolley, 5K, and Judge Judy on Q next week at JUCO. Booster says it should be easy. I think that’s a challenge. 😉

Taking Time to Reflect

THE SCENE: Sunny, temps in eighties.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Plank Jacks, 10 Iron Mikes, 10 Windmills, 10 Cherry Pickers, Michael Phelps
THA-THANG:
Mosey to stop sign on northeastern corner of Admin Bldg.  There will be sets of bricks.  We will be doing Doras with the brick.  While one partner runs to cone, does 10 merkins, and comes back the other partner will be doing exercises with the bricks.  The partners switch off when one partner comes back from the run.  The partner teams will do 100 of each of the following exercises with the bricks:

  • Overhead Presses
  • Curls
  • Rows with brick at each side
  • Punches from chest out (punch with each hand = 1)
  • Wings out
  • Wings up
  • Wings down

Mosey north to perimeter trail and head west on perimeter trail to area below Roadshow Run.  Each man will do 20 Big Boys, then run to top of Roadshow Run by the bat house.  There, each man does 40 Baby Crunches.  We will rinse and repeat.  The first man who finishes then runs back up Roadshow Run sweeping all men upward.

Mosey to grassy area in shade and by small wall on west side of road.  We will do elevens starting with 10 Jump Squats and 1 Incline Merkin with hands on wall.  We will do another eleven with 10 Mountain Climbers (four count) and one bench raise off of wall.

Mosey to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Ten men, no FNG’s.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
I read this week about something that the comedian Louie C.K. said when he was being interviewed by Conan one time.  He commented that he doesn’t want his kids to have cell phones because he wants them to be sad.  He was being funny with this comment but he was also being serious.  Sadness can come when we are forced to be alone with our thoughts.  The comedian noted, “That’s what the phones are taking away, the ability to just sit there.  That’s being a person.”

He also talked about a time when he was driving and listening to a Bruce Springsteen song on the radio.  He was feeling a melancholy come over him and his immediate response was to grab the phone and text somebody.  Instead, he let the sadness grow and pulled over to the side of the road to weep.  Afterwards, came another strong feeling, one of joy and thankfulness for his life.

Technology and cell phones are not bad things.  They are useful things.  But we can get too absorbed in it.  In so doing, we may find that we are avoiding true alone time, true thinking time.  We may be be pushing aside time to reflect over the events of the day, good and bad, that impact us cognitively and emotionally.  We may be merely numbing our minds.  We are not struggling but sometimes struggle is important.  And as Louie C.K. implies, sometimes sadness is good.  We don’t like seeing our loved ones, our children, or ourselves feeling sad.  But sadness is an important emotion – one that can inspire us to change or one that puts us more in touch with humanity.  Life is about loss as well as gain.  Sadness comes with loss and it is important to reckon with it.

The bible gives us plenty of images of Christ weeping – whether over the death of Lazurus, for the fate of Jerusalem, in compassion for others, or in anger over the tyranny of death over mankind.  Christ does not keep us from experiencing sadness.  But, in living in a relationship with Him, with God, he also shows us what true joy is.

Louie C.K., explaining his resistance to cell phones and technology, stated “you don’t ever feel really sad or really happy, you just feel. . . kinda satisfied with your products.  And then you die.”

I hope that we, as HIMs, are striving for more.  That striving for more may take the form of welcoming the Gloom when it meets us in the cold of a 5:30 am workout or heat of a 5:45 pm beat down.  It may also come in the form of welcoming the sadness that sometimes comes about in living a meaningful life.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Sparkler’s stepdad, Shooter’s friend, and Iceman’s brother.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Neyland run on Saturday, May 11.  Hardship Hill on Saturday, May 18.

Last Hello

THE SCENE: Partly cloudy, 66 degrees F, 91% humidity
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH, Imperial Squat Walkers, Arm Circles, Cherry Pickers

Grinder Run, Grinder Bernie, Grinder Skip

THA-THANG:

Push Pull

Two Groups:  First group does 11 Inverted Pull ups or 5 Pull ups while second group does 11 Merkins.  Switch spots and exercises.  Perform 6 rounds for a total of 66 Merkins and 66 Inverted Pull ups.

Indian Run to the Educator

Educator Workout

Burpees x3 at the base of hill

Alternate ascents: Bear Crawl half/Bernie half on odd number, then run on even number.

At the top perform following exercises with CMUs: Swings x11, Thrusters x11, Curls x11, 4 count Flutter kicks x11, Derkins x11, Upright Rows x11

Loop down the Educator by way of the sidewalk.

Mosey back to the AO.

MARY:
Box cutters, LBCs, Flutter kicks.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
11 in attendance with a cameo appearance by Woodshack and a special appearance by Moses.  Good to see some back after a few weeks.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
My reflection today is based on a memory error on my part.  I thought May 2 was the anniversary but it was actually October 2.  Just assume its October 2 today.

On that day in 2002, the Alcoa, Inc plant was getting ready for a visit by the CEO.  Finishing touches on cleanup, painting, mowing, etc was in full gear.  Just before noon, I was heading back to my office though a glass hallway when I see Rod using a push mower around the office area.  I stop and waited for about 30 to 45 seconds for Rod to see me.  Finally during one of his changes in direction he looks up and sees me.  I nod, give him a wave, and open my mouth as if to say “hi.”  Rod does the same and then we both go about our business.

Rod usually ended his work day at 3:00 pm but with much to be done, he accepted an overtime shift to work 3:00 pm to 11:00 pm.  On that shift he and coworker, Danny Boone, were to get rid of an old glove vending machine that had been at the South Gate for ages.  No longer did workers have to spend 10 cents for a pair of cotton gloves.  Safety had progressed to a point dictating gloves as essential to job performance.  Plus many task required specialized gloves much more protective than thin cotton ones.

Danny and Rod loaded the vending machine onto a 10-ton flatbed truck and took it around to the dumpster box area on the North end of the plant.  At the top of the bunker they started to push the vending machine into the dumpster below when Danny got a page.  He told Rod that he needed to find a phone to return the call.  He asked that the machine not be moved until he returned.  About 5 minutes later, Danny returns and notices that the vending machine was no longer on the truck and he did not know where Rod was.  Looking over the top rail of the offloading area, Danny sees that the machine is in the dumpster.  Tragically, he also sees Rod has fallen between the dumpster box and the bunker wall.  The 8 to 9 foot fall proved to be fatal to 48 year old Rodney W. Martin.

One of the pillars of F3 is Fellowship.  I bring up my memory of Rod to remind us how important it is to make those small, short, and sincere connections.  We do that as we gather each workout with a simple fist bump and perhaps short chatter like “how are you doing” or “how did that work out for you at work.”  It’s that simple connection to let each other know that they matter and they add to our life.  Someday we will look back and smile about each other and the impact that F3 fellowship made.

I think back to October 02, 2002 frequently and I remember Rod mowing in his Christian slogan T-shirt.  More often than not, he had one on.  Perhaps that is what drew me to him.  Perhaps that is what encouraged me to have some chit-chat with him.  Perhaps I admired his impeccable work ethic.

Most often I think back to that day and know that I didn’t stop to say “hello” to Rod.  I had stopped to say “goodbye.”

MOLESKIN
Continue prayer for Butterfingers’ M concerning employment.  Lifted up Moses, Squiggly, and Snorkel in the 100 miler this weekend.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Hardship Hill – Be there or be square.  May 18th.

Happy Birthday to Me

THE SCENE: low 60’s

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER


WARM-O-RAMA:

  • Cherry Pickers x 5
  • OYO stretches
  • Shock & Awe Burpees

THA-THANG:

  • Mosey to baby Everest for 11’s.  Starjacks at top / Diamond Merkins at bottom
  • Mosey to pavalon and do 3 sets of the following.  Run to the gate & back between each set.
    • 10 pullups
    • 20 dips
    • 30 squats
    • 20 step ups
    • 10 thrust merkins

MARY:

  • Side crunch x 15
  • Heels to heaven x 10
  • v-up, roll-up x 10

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Stitches, Dreadlock, Junk, Mayberry, Tweet E, Aladdin, Mouthwash (FNG), Wagon Wheel, Ratchet, Bartman

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Matthew 6:14-15  For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if  you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

MOLESKIN:
Birthday Q today – 41 today.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Hardship Hill

Don’t slow your roll

THE SCENE: Plenty warm to work up a good sweat. Mostly clear. Air stinks kinda bad for some unknown reason…
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH x25 IC
Cherry Pickers x6 IC
Crabettes x15 IC
Outside plank heel touches x15 IC
Inside plank heel touches x15 IC
Tempo Merkins x10 IC
Tempo Squats x15 IC

THA-THANG:
Mosey to the restaurant courtyard by the Poke Bowl place.

Split into 2 teams. Each team has an identical pile of exercise cards.
One extra-large size die with numbers 1,2,3.
One team rolls the die. That’s the number of laps up the stairs and back around.
While that team runs the laps, other team works through the pile until laps completed.
When entire team returns from laps, other team rolls.
When pile is complete, set up a cone as a counter and start again.
See how many times each team can work through the pile.
Pile exercises:
15 Merkins
15 4-ct Monkey Humpers
10 Iron Mikes (each leg)
10 Squat Jumps
10 Burpees
20 Flutter Kicks
15 Carolina Dry Docks
20 BBS
20 4-ct Mtn Climbers

The die seemed weighted to roll 3’s… Lots of stairs for us!
Each team completed two trips through the pile, came out pretty even when time ran out.

Mosey back to the AO, stopping halfway for 15 4-ct Monkey Humpers on Hardin Valley Rd.

MARY:
Hey! We have some time for Mary this time!
20x 4ct LBCs
25x Hello Dolly IC
20x Flutter Kicks IC
4x Row Your Boat

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
8 HIMs made for 2 pretty evenly matched teams.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Even with the die rolling this morning, both teams came out pretty evenly in the end. I had no idea if it would work out that way or not. We don’t always know how things will turn out in life either, but rather than just random chance, the thing controlling our situation is an all-knowing God, who works things for our good. Even when we don’t understand what’s going on at the time…
MOLESKIN:
Great effort today! Both from the team-to-team competition aspect and the push within each team! Hitting those stairs really sucked, especially right after that opening sequence of Monkey Humpers, Iron Mikes, and Squat Jumps…
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Hardship Hill coming soon – If you’re not registered, you should be! Abridged OEW benefit night Thursday 5/9.