F3 Knoxville

Patience of Unanswered Prayer

THE SCENE: Sunny, temp about 90 degrees
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Plank Jacks, Plank Stretches, 10 Rockettes, 10 Windmills, Little of This and That
THA-THANG:
Mosey to Stop Sign at Southeastern Corner of Admin Bldg.  We will do 20 American Hammers.

Mosey to grassy area that is south of Area 51.  There will be four cones set up in a square pattern.  We will be going in a counter-clockwise route around the square four times, stopping to do an exercise at each cone.  By the end we will have done four exercises at each cone.  Following are the exercises at each cone and the method by which to get to the next cone:

  • Cone 1:  1. 20 Side Straddle Hops (4 ct)  2. 15 Mountain Climbers (4 ct)  3. 20 Star Jumps  4.  20 Iron Mikes (both legs = 1)  (After exercise, Sprint to Cone 2)
  • Cone 2:  1. 20 Merkins  2. 15 Shoulder Taps  3. 10 Hand Release Merkins  4. 20 Carolina Dry Docks  (After exercise, Skip to Cone 3)
  • Cone 3.  1. 20 Big Boy Sit-ups.  2. 20 Hello Dollies (4 ct).  3.  20 Flutter Kicks (4 ct.)  4. 20 Bicycle Kicks (4 ct)  (After exercise, Bernie Sanders to Cone 4)
  • Cone 4.  1. 10 Burpees  2. 15 Imperial Walkers (both legs = 1)  3. 20 Bobby Hurleys  4. 20 Squat Jumps  (High Knees to Cone 1).

Mosey to Northshore Entrance to Park.  We will go south then east on the perimeter trail, doing Nickel Dime Quarters with the following exercises:

  • Squats
  • Dead Bugs
  • Diamond Merkins
  • Dive Bombers

We will be near the Southern Ball Fields when we have done the above.  Mosey to the parking lot at the Southern Ball Fields.  We will do 8 count Bear Crawls then 8 Count Lunges, repeating this pattern from one end of the parking lot to the other.  

Mosey to Outdoor Chapel.  Take 15 second breather.  Then mosey up hill all the way to the new built area near the Admin Bldg.  Take 30 second breather.  Mosey to AO.

MARY:
25 Hello Dollies
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
22 men with two FNGs whom we named Whistler (Brett Marshman) and Leo Turcas (Nadia).  Nadia was a Flying EH victim!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Asking with Patience

Matthew 7: 7-8

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Romans 8:25

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

2 Peter 3:8

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

At last week’s internet streamed worship service at my church, a line struck me from one of the songs we sang.  The song is “Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart” by Croly and Digerness.  The line that struck me is “Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.”  That is certainly a line I need to hear during the time of this coronavirus and national unrest after the death of George Floyd.  I read the bible verse that says, “everyone who asks receives.”  I know that people all over Earth are asking that this coronavirus would end.  I ask, “God, when will you answer our prayer?”  Yet, I need to also ask, “God, teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.”

When I was a boy, my best friend, Neil, who lived next door, was the first family on our block to get a Color TV set.  Seven years later, most people had Color TV sets but I was still praying for our first one.  My mother was a single parent and a teacher – and, just like today, teachers don’t make enough money for all the work they do.  I remember getting excited when we went to a big store that had a television promo.  As part of the promo, people could bring in advertisements they received in the mail.  If your code number on the advertisement was one of the winning code numbers, you could get a free TV set.  My mother, of course, told me the odds were minuscule for us to have a winning number.  We went to the store and there were all these magnificent color television sets, sitting there for a kid like me to gawk at.  Needless to say we didn’t win a set.  “But, mom, can’t we even buy one of the smaller sets?”  I know my mother felt bad for me but with her lack of funds she was also teaching my about life – about limiting oneself to a budget; about not coveting; about appreciating what we have; about patience.

About six or seven months later I came home to find a portable television set sitting on a cabinet in our living room.  It was on, it was playing a television show, and the show was in living color!!!  My mother had saved for quite some time to get that portable but color TV set.  I was so happy!  It may have been small but it was a COLOR SET!

God, teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.  I think of people who have endured wars that last for many years.  Teach me to be grateful for what I do have.  I think of people who endured plagues like the Black Plague where cities of people were wiped out by the disease or indian tribes in America who were practically wiped out by diseases that Europeans brought from another continent.  God, teach me to have trust that you are there for me, for us, no matter what difficulties and even tragedies beset us.  For in You we have something that hardship, suffering, even death cannot take away.  As the famous poet, John Donne, said, in you Death Shall Die.

MOLESKIN:

Prayers for our nation at this time of unrest, prayers for Iceman’s father who will need surgery for his heart again, prayers for Thunderstruck’s mother and grandfather, prayers for Lillydipper’s wife.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
F3 Launch at Morristown this weekend.

Seven running Miles

THE SCENE: 65 With a 50% chance of rain
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Cherry pickers
calf stretches

Baby arm circles 20 X

Baby arm circles backwards 20 X

Seal clap 20x

Overhead clap 20 X

 

THA-THANG:
Run to the track for some good old fashion miles. There will be six planks of wood with a exercise and a number on them

  • 5 Burpee’s
  • 10 lunges
  • 15 v ups
  • 20 merkins
  • 25 BBS
  • 30 Squats

I repeat and rinse

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
I am mad. I am mad at racism and the evil that has been so blatantly shown to us last week. I hate that another man feels fear and running in his neighborhood. I hate that one man killed another man. He took the life of another image bearer of God. I hate racism and there’s no place in the church or in our society for it. Pray for our leaders and pray for those officers who are now standing in those lines to protect and serve. Pray for the peaceful protests that true change will happen. Pray that Moore peaceful protests that happened in Nashville becomes common.

Grateful

THE SCENE: Insert info about the weather, etc.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Motivators starting with seven, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Rockettes, 10 Windmills, 5 Baby Arm Circles Forward and Backward, 5 Wide Arm Circles Forward and Backward.
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the South Ball Fields Parking Lot.  We will be running from one end of the parking lot to the other.  There will be four cones set up along the run.  At each cone, stop to do ten of the first exercise listed.  Keep going in order from each end of the parking lot.  Here are the exercises:

Running south to north:

  1. Squat Jumps
  2. Merkins
  3. Big Boy Sit-ups
  4. Hello Dollies (4 ct.)

Running north to south:

  1. Flutter Kicks (4 ct)
  2. Plank Jacks
  3. Carolina Dry Docks
  4. Shoulder Taps (each shoulder)

Once done with all exercises, jog around the parking lot.

Next, starting from Cone 1 we will do a five parking lane bear crawl to 5 lane lunge all the way to Cone 4.

Next, we will mosey to soccer field.  We will do suicides on field going to first, second, and third cone and back.  Each time coming back men will do 20 Baby Crunches.  We will do a different type of run on each suicide.  They will be as follows:

  • Bernie Sanders.
  • Grapevine Left
  • Grapevine Right
  • Skip
  • High knees

Mosey to perimeter trail at the end of the parking lot.  We will head east and north on the trail doing Nickel Dime Quarters.  Here are the exercises for each stop.

  • Bobby Hurleys
  • Diamond Merkins
  • Bicycle Kicks
  • Iron Mikes (each leg = 1)
  • Dive Bombers
  • Box Cutters
  • Imperial Walkers
  • Squats

We will turn west at the Serpentine Sidewalk and continue to the Island Parking Lot.  At the parking lot we will have the Relay Race Around the Island.  Men divide up into teams with each team stationing men at an island.  The race starts with the first man running to second man, second to third, etc. until last man meets first man again (no touching, keep social distance).  The first man starts again.  The race isn’t over until the last man gets back to where he started.

Mosey to base of Mini Cardiac.  Do 20 Buzz Saws.  Next we will Bernie Sanders up Mini Cardiac to Park Sign, then sprint the rest of the way to the AO.

MARY:
Boat Canoe and ATMS
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:

From John 15: 12-15.
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 
13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 
During this coronavirus epidemic I had to lay out from F3 as did you.  When F3 started meeting again, it hurt me not to be able to join with you brothers.  I was concerned about working out with you because, as you know, my wife, Jan, was diagnosed with breast cancer at about the same time the coronavirus epidemic was beginning to spread in the United States.  We hear that we can carry the coronavirus without even knowing it. I didn’t want to catch the virus by getting close to others, then unknowingly spread it to my wife.
I realized during the months away from you guys how much strength I get from just meeting with you.  I did work out alone and with my son, Bennett (aka Puddle in F3).  So, I kept in ok shape.  What I missed was the strength of the fellowship, of the encouragement we get from one another as men, of the message shared at the end of each workout, of the commitment to lock shields through the struggle, of the way we push each other forward not only in workouts but as HIMs, of the way we pray for each other, reach out to each other, hold each other in our hearts.  Man, I missed you guys.
On Thursday, May 21, Jan and I had a serious talk with her oncologist.  Jan has an aggressive breast cancer.  The chemotherapy weakens her immune system.  She can’t fight off Covid-19 the way you and I might be able to.  She was understandably scared about having me go to F3 workouts.  She doesn’t want to die and the odds would be significantly higher of that happening to her than to most if she did get Covid-19.  But, God bless her, she also saw how much as was missing F3.  On the way to chemotherapy, she said that we should talk to the oncologist about the safety of my working out with you guys.  The oncologist told me that she felt pretty good about the low risks of outdoor workouts, particularly if a social distance is kept from others.  She gave me the green light to come to F3 and so did Jan.  Sweat release!!  I can’t tell you how that felt to me.  I couldn’t believe it. With the news about the coronavirus sticking around all year long, I was wondering if I would ever to get to see you again.  And now, if I keep a distance from you, forgive me, it isn’t that I don’t want to be near you.  Heck, I want to give each of you a big ol bear hug.
Anyway, what I am saying is thank you.  Thank you for praying for me and for Jan.  Thank you for the encouraging words you have sent me. Thank you for praying for Jan and me.  And, thank you for being a greater source of strength than I even realized.

MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Insert information about upcoming events, 2nd or 3rd F opportunities, and any other announcements.

Ode to Coolio

THE SCENE: A balmy 70.  At least it wasn’t raining.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH x 20 (4 ct IC); 15 Moroccan Nightclubs (4ct IC); Imperial Squat Walkers x 10 (4 ct IC); 5 burpees
THA-THANG:

  • Mosey up toward the Colosseum, stop at the last Stop Sign for 25s – Merkins and 4ct LBCs
  • Keep moseying to the Colosseum for 25s of Dips and 4 ct Squats
  • Mosey down the other side all the way to the Elysium Fields for a Coolio special- high knees, with some drop and rolls in the wet grass.  Mosey to the other side of the field, then sprint back across
  • Mosey to the little chapel for 25s of Merkins and 4ct American Hammers
  • Mosey to the base of Cardiac and start the first part of 25s of CDDs and BBS
    • Bernie to the first turn, second part of the 25s,
    • Bear Crawl to the next turn, third part of the 25s,
    • Sprint to the top and finish the 25s
  • Just enough time to make it back to the AO for the COT

MARY:
No time.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Love is hard:  From 1 Corinthians 4-8: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”  Those are tough words to live up to, but as HIM, that is what we are called to do, and not just for those closest to us, for our family and friends, but for all.  We will fall short.  Keep striving.
MOLESKIN:
Great to see Pac-Man back in action today.  I enjoyed the company guys.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
We don’t have to split up if we have 12 now.

Memorial Day Murph at the Asylum

THE SCENE: Perfect weather today around 68 at time of workout
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Reviewed the standard disclaimer and included that not only am I not a professional I am worse… included Covid disclaimer and keep your spit and snot to yourself

WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH x 20

Slow Cherry Pickers x 5

Butter Fly Stretch combined with Coach Dunn’s advise.

Shoulder stretch

5 burpees

THA-THANG:

Today we did a modified Murph workout – the Murph is dedicated to Lt. Michael P. Murphy.  United States Navy Seal May 7, 1976 -June 28, 2005. This workout is traditionally done by the F3 community and many others on Memorial Day in remembrance of Lt. Murphy and all the others who have made the supreme sacrifice for our country. For more information about Lt . Murphy and the Murph challenge : https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/27/us/memorial-day-murph-challenge-trnd/index.html

The Murph:

  • 1 Mile Run
  • 100 Pull Ups
  • 200 Merkins
  • 300 Squats
  • 1 Mile Run

We modified the workout by submitting CDD for the 100 pull ups ( Fellas I am 53 and can’t swing 100 pull ups) The Pax ran to three different area in the park to complete sets of the exercises.  Ten total sets each containing  10 CDDs, 20 Merkins,  and 30 Squats. final leg of the workout was a run to the East Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery.

At the Cemetery Crankbait ( Pluto’s 2.0 ) led a short program on Memorial Day and shared a letter that he had received two weeks ago from Medal of Honor recipient Woody Williams. Woody Williams is the last surviving Marine Medal of Honor recipient from the Pacific theatre. For more information about Woody: http://www.hwwmohf.org

Crankbait added that this part of the letter was most meaningful and spoke to what Memorial Day means:

” I have been designated a hero many times since WWII but in my mind the heroes never got to come home. The rest of us were blessed with the opportunity of coming home to our loved ones. I am grateful to be one of those. My wife who is in heaven had a saying she would remain me of very often.

Life is God’s gift to us..what we do with it is our gift to God”

MARY:
the group ran back to the AO and did one round of name your ab work while the Q stayed with the 6 to bring it home on the run back.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
9 Pax got better!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Pluto shared the importance of Memorial Day and remember those who gave the utmost sacrifice. Pluto asked each of the Pax present to realize that there are many who are not Americans who would be grateful for the problems that we each have. Many in other countries have life and death challenges every day and would gladly take a day of challenges as experienced by an American.
MOLESKIN:

I was grateful to have Crankbait as my Co Q !
ANNOUNCEMENTS: