THE SCENE: Stormy, but stayed dry, cloudy, low 80s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
Welcome to F3, Fitness, Fellowship and Faith. F3 is a free workout program designed to improve fitness, share some camaraderie, and foster male leadership in the community. I’m Pele and I will be your Q today. I am not a professional, and I do not know your fitness level or injury history. Please push yourself, but modify the workout as necessary to avoid making any existing injuries worse. The goal is to get better together! Some additional COVID-19 considerations: keep your distance between you and other members of the PAX and any other folks that we pass during moseys, etc. to 6-10 feet. We will be splitting up into groups smaller than 50 if necessary. We need to set good examples and be good neighbors out here at this public park, especially with so many folks out and about.
WARM-O-RAMA:
-43 +1 Side Straddle Hops (4-ct), in cadence
– 10 Hillbilly Squats (4-ct), in cadence
– 10 Abe Vigodas (4-ct), in cadence
– Orphan Annies (Hold elbow plank, lift one hand up and do circle motions like washing the floor. Switch after 30 seconds)
THA-THANG:
MOSEY to end of Dragon’s Tail.
Special ROUTE 66. Combination of Route 66 and 11s. At each light do both exercises, with the total equaling 11. Exercises: MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS and PETER PARKERS (both are 2-count).
MOSEY to parking lot by baseball fields.
- CENTURY CLUB
- Four STATIONS, each with two exercises. Must complete 100 total of the exercises (Must be at least a 75/25 split, but otherwise can be any combination.) Must complete the 100 before moving to next Station. After completing the 100, Move to the next station using the method indicated.
- STATION 1: CMU Pile
- Curls/Overhead Press
- BERNIE SANDERS to Station 2.
- STATION 2: PAVILLION
- Table Pull ups and Dips
- EL CAPITAN to Station 3.
- STATION 3: PLAYGROUND
- Bench Step Ups and Incline Merkins
- SPRINT to Station 4.
- STATION 4: Parking Lot across from ballfields
- BEAR CRAWL and LONG JUMPS back and forth
- Run to BONUS BOX
- STATION 1: CMU Pile
- Four STATIONS, each with two exercises. Must complete 100 total of the exercises (Must be at least a 75/25 split, but otherwise can be any combination.) Must complete the 100 before moving to next Station. After completing the 100, Move to the next station using the method indicated.
- BONUS BOX in the Middle: Rotate doing 25 of the following in the four corners until the 6 catches up:
- SSH x 25
- Overhead Claps x 25
- Imperial Walkers x 25
- Standing calf raises x 25
BERNIE up Baby Cardiac 1/2 way, then sprint. 20 American Hammers (4-ct, IC)
Mosey to monument/lookout, 10 Tempo Squats
Mosey to AO.
MARY:
- Static leg raises. On 6, bend one knee, lift the other leg as high in the air as possible and hold. Switch after 30 seconds.
- 43 +1 Side Straddle Hops (4-ct), in cadence
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
12 Strong
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
We did Four Score and Seven (i.e., 87) SSH to start and end the work out. This refers to the opening words of the Gettysburg address, written and delivered by Abraham Lincoln, “FOUR SCORE AND SEVEN YEARS AGO TODAY”… The Gettysburg battlefield has been in the news recently, and it prompted me to revisit the Gettysburg Address. Gettysburg was one of the bloodiest battles of the war, and left over 40000 soldiers dead and wounded. Often seen as one of the turning points in the war, Gettysburg pointed the path to Union victory and full emancipation for enslaved Americans. One of our favorite (insert eye roll…) exercises here, Pickett’s Charge, is named for a doomed attack on Union Forces at during the Battle of Gettysburg.
After the Battle of Gettysburg, the war turned fully in the Union’s favor, and the Civil War ended soon thereafter. On November 19 of the same year of the battle, President Lincoln was persuaded to say a few words at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg. It also essentially served as his re-nomination address for the election of 1864, which was not assured: The country was still in the midst of the Civil War, the Democrats were disgruntled and angry, and even Lincoln’s own party was questioning his re-nomination. So he agreed to speak “a few appropriate remarks.”
The Gettysburg address is quite short. It’s only 272 words long. It wasn’t even the main speech of the day. Lincoln was a reticent man who was not prone to long-winded speeches. But it is widely regarded as one of the most sublime and patriotic speeches in our nation’s history, and one of the most influential statements of national purpose ever crafted. Its transcript follows, with some inserted notes:
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we [Notice that he never used the first person singular in the speech. He used the first person plural] are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. [Notice that he extols the sacrifices of the soldiers who died, without calling out or casting blame on the Confederates.]
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Important Takeaways:
- Short and Sweet! It was not a grandiose speech that was all about him. It was also positive and inspirational. (To quote the musical Hamilton, “Talk Less, Smile More”)
- This nation was conceived in liberty, and ALL men are created equal
- Lincoln always uses the first person plural, not singular. “Now WE are engaged in a great Civil War.” “It is rather for US to be here, dedicated to the great task remaining before us”. It was not about Lincoln, what he did, etc. He also did not further divide the nation by calling out the Confederacy. We’re all in this together. The speech served to begin the process of mending bridges and put some salve on the wounds caused by the Civil War. Lincoln took the high road, and refused to be divisive.
We still have unfinished business as a nation,or “a great task remaining before us”. We are too quick to divide, to accuse, to attack, too slow to forgive, to compromise, to forget old grievances. During these days of political divisiveness, it is refreshing and hopeful to look back at the words of a truly great man and President, and seek to return to those values described in the Gettysburg Address.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers of gratitude that Lilydipper’s wife, Jan, had successful surgery. Prayers for Curveball as his family deals with a positive COVID test for one of his daughters. Prayers for Hooker as he ramps up staffing at his office. Prayers for all involved as schools across the country reopen.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
None