F3 Knoxville

Dear John

THE SCENE: Clears skies, 74 degrees F., 92% humidity
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Completed
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH x20

Little Baby Arm Circles: x12 forward, x12 backward

Cherry Pickers x12

Overhead Claps x25

THA-THANG:

Mosey to Mt. Crumpet

Partner Up (one teammate ascends while other starts exercise count):

Run up, Merkins x12, Dry Dock x12                                     300 squats

Bernie up, Merkins x12, Dry Dock x12                                 150 BBS

Bear crawl up, Merkins x12, Dry Dock x12                          150 OH claps

Mosey to Grinder

Partner Up (one teammate runs suicide while other starts CME exercise count):

100 OH lifts                                                                            Suicides

150 Bent rows

100 Curls

100 cross over merkins

100 lunge dead lifts right

100 lunge dead lifts left

MARY:

Box cutters x20

Flutter kicks x20

Protractors, various

LBC’s for 1 minute

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Total of 20 HIMs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
It happened on my 5th of 14 trips to Saudi Arabia.  Typical of the United Airlines flight from Washington, DC we landed in Kuwait City and had to deplane while refueling the plane and taking on more passengers.  Over an hour later we would load up and head to my final flying destination in Manama, Bahrain.  3 to 4 hours later I would finish the drive from Bahrain to the work site in Ras Al Khair, Saudi Arabia.

About a minute after deplaning in Kuwait City, I saw John entering the gate holding area and coming toward me.  I stood up, stuck out my hand, shook his, and said “hello, John, it’s good to see you.”  John nodded his head, gave a sheepish grin, and said it was nice to see me.  He continued over to a seat a few rows away.  I sat down and was kicking myself for saying what I said.  I decided to pull out a piece of paper and I wrote a note.  In it I apologized for greeting him with a casual “hello John.”  He deserved much more respect that that.  I recognized the service he has given to our country as a Navy pilot during the Vietnam War, the awful conditions and treatment he endured as a prisoner of war for many years, and his continued service as a United States Senator.  I wished him the best and continued success in his job.  My note began with “Dear Senator McCain.”  I handed Senator McCain the note as we were getting on the plane.  I said, “Senator McCain, this is for you.”  I got another sheepish grin and a slight head nod.

Getting off in Bahrain meant descending the stairs to the tarmac and getting on a shuttle bus to get to the terminal.  Senator McCain entered the bus shortly after I did.  From about 12 feet away we looked at each other.  This time he gave me a real big smile and a more deliberate nod of his head.  I believe his gesture indicated acceptance of my note to him.  I felt better about the entire encounter.

I reminded the group this morning that many of the exercises we did could not have been performed by Senator McCain because of the broken arms and leg he sustained while ejecting from his jet bomber and the subsequent abuse and lack of medical care he received in captivity.  I also said that this story is not really about him.  It is just because of his recent death that I was reminded that I learned something a long time ago that I wanted to share – especially with the younger men in our group.

There are many things that I have done wrong in my 66 years of life.  I have been unkind, judgmental, angry, and a host of other things.  I have hurt others with my words and deeds.  I have found that the best thing to do for those I’ve hurt, and for myself, is to try to make things right.  I try to own up to my mistakes and let those I’ve hurt know that I am sorry, that I recognize how I was wrong, and that I seek forgiveness.  It certainly isn’t easy but it is always good for the soul.  Going through that act of self-inflicted punishment introduces a little bit of pain that helps me on the straight and narrow in the future.

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

Back to it

THE SCENE: Nice morning
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH x20 IC
LB Arm Circles x12 each side IC
Squats x20
Cherry Pickers x10 IC
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the grinder. Do 4 exercises at the pavalon, then bear crawl about halfway across grinder. Inch worm merkin the rest of the way to the scrapyard. Do 4 exercises at the scrapyard, then run down the path and back around to the pavalon. Rinse and repeat until Q calls time.

Pavalon Exercises:

  • CMU Bent Over Rows x10
  • One Hand CMU Merkins x12
  • CMU Curls x15
  • Goblet Squats x20

Scrapyard Exercises:

  • Burpees x10
  • BBS x20
  • Side Tri Rise x10 each side
  • Flutter kicks x15 (4 count)

MARY:
Boxcutters x20 (with a little extra, led by Hammy)
Captain Thor up to 7×28 (Led by Snorkel)
ATMs (led by Woodshack)
LBC OYO to cash out
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
13 men strong this morning. No FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
I didn’t really prepare anything this morning, so I just talked a little about my experiences the past couple months. The last two months I have only made it to a few F3 workouts (if that) and I have been stress eating a lot. I’ve gained back about 12-15 pounds of the weight that I had lost since I started F3. I have been so busy and stressed that I started shutting down. I realized that when I get to that point, I put myself down. I am hard on myself for not getting things done. I get mad at myself for not doing 28 hours of work in a 24 hour day and I am very unhealthy. Instead of (as Tony Horton would say) doing my best and forgetting the rest, I do an ok job and then beat myself up for not doing better. I am going to try to do better and keep myself healthy the next time that I get that busy. One great thing about F3 is that we have men we can lean on and talk to when things get tough. Instead of leaning on my F3 brothers, I kept my distance. We all go through times when we feel overwhelmed and stressed. We need to approach these times with our heads up and our brothers on our 6. Staying healthy and talking to our brothers are two of the most important things we can do to stay happy in this life.
MOLESKIN:
Keep praying for Bumblebee and his family.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
No announcements this morning.

12 Days of Christmas…in August

THE SCENE: Clear Sky’s and 70°
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Arm Circles, Cherry pickers, and some high knees while waiting on Butterfingers.
THA-THANG:
Mosey to Mt. Crumpit

Begin with gift 1 from your not-so true love. Complete and then move on to gift 2 followed by gift 1 again, move on to 3 followed by 2 & 1, Etc. through all 12 days. If you finish opening all 12 presents(Drifter and Snorkel) then work backwards from 11.

The # of the Day represents the # of reps for that exercise.

  • 1 Lap up the hill and around the Christmas tree.
  • 2 Bernies to the 1st set of trees and back
  • 3 Burpees
  • 4 Dry Docks
  • 5 Iron Miles 2ct
  • 6 Push Up Jacks
  • 7 V-Ups 4ct
  • 8 Jump Squats
  • 9 Alligator Merkin 2ct
  • 10 Bicycle Crunches 4ct
  • 11 Jump Knee Tucks
  • 12 Superman Burpees

MARY:
No Mary, We had enough V-ups already.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Discussed the need for us to have an accountability partner. Someone we can open up to about our struggles but  someone who also has the courage to call us out when it’s needed.

MOLESKIN:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
TTTP Saturday!

Swallow the toad

THE SCENE: About 70, a little humid but some nice light winds
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Set the standard with exercises in he thang

10 cmu curls ic

5- blockers/ manmakers oyo

5 cmu swings oyo

5 cmu thrusters oyo
THA-THANG:
F3 iron pax workout week 2. Check out f3 iron pax on Twitter. It’s a weekly challenge with some great workouts designed for 45-60 minutes. This particular workout was

  • 8 minutes of Cmu curls 25 curls then run 25 yards and back , rinse abs repeat for 8 minutes
  • 25 blockees, Run 25 Yard’s and back. Rinse and repeat for 8 minutes
  • 25 cmu /kettle bell style swings. Run 25 yards and back . RnR for 8 minutes
  • 25 thrusters , Run 25 Yard’s and back , 25 goblet squats , RnR for 8 minutes
  • 2 minutes rest between the 8 min sets.

MARY:
Flutters x 20 ic

lbc x 20 ic

lazy boys to finish out (60 seconds)
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
13 pax
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Swallow a toad in the morning and you will encounter nothing more disgusting the rest of the day.
MOLESKIN:
Always people or things ready to bring you down . Misery loves company . Well, we don’t go looking for it everyday but we should prepare for negativity physically and mentally. F3 is one way to do that. Getting up early, doing a brutal workout not only prepares you physically but also prepares you mentally to take on life in a positive way. Embrace the suck and swallow the toad now!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Trucking to the pound this weekend. F3 olympics coming soon!

Ring around the Mosies

THE SCENE: 70’s and raining a good bit at times.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Mosey down to the creek and back.
THA-THANG:
20 Burpees, 20 box jumps, 20 derkins
Run down grassy area To creek and sprint back up hill
Repeat x 5

Indian mosey around the near part of the park.

Sprint grinder and do 20 squats.
Repeat x 5
BBS x 20 IC
Franklin Flutters x 20 IC
Repeat x 2

Indian mosey around 1/3 mile portion of trail.

Superman/banana for 2 min to finish.

MARY:

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
7 HIMs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
We’re here to push ourselves and get better. Thank you for joining me on this terrible journey.
MOLESKIN:
This sucked.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Kickball!

Trucking to the Pound next Saturday at 6 am.