F3 Knoxville

Treebiscuit – Shamrock

✔ THE SCENE: It’s early

✔ F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: Covid-19 as well as welcome

✔ WARM-O-RAMA:

  • SSH
  • Mtn Climbers
  • Tennessee Rockin Chairs
  • Windmills
  • Cherry Pickers

Tree Biscuit – Shamrock:

As a group, Run to an un-slapped tree, slap it, everyone call out the running burpee total,  do A single burpee, repeat.

Minutiae (aka Rules):

  • A tree only gets tagged once.
  •  Scaling/Modification:
    • 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 campus 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 + Number cadence
    • 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.
    • 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’s a Tree:
    • We don’t do burpees for any old shrub. They have to be worthy. Trees should be about 6 inches around and 10 feet tall.
  • No Poison Ivy:
    • In an attempt to not 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.
  • Terrain
    • 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.
  • Volume
    • 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.

It’s not about the numbers but in the spirit of healthy competition here they are:

Previous Tree biscuits from other AO’s

And Todays total

  • Shamrock – 216 – May 27, 2020

MARY

We burped until the clock ran out.

Circle of Men

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.

Announcements

Sign up for Q’s!.  Mandolin on Friday.  Link to Q Cal List

Tefillah – Shamrock

THE SCENE: Low 60’s, wet, but no rain
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Baby Arm Circles forwards and backwards, tempo squats and mountain climbers
THA-THANG:

  • Mosey to the softball field to grab CMUs and carry them to station #1
  • Station #1: 40 Curls, 30 Tricep extension while doing calf raises, 20 Goblet swings, 10 Alternating merkins on CMU
  • Mosey to station #2
  • Station #2: 40 calf raises on curb, 30 tricep dips, 20 Rocky Balboas 4-count, 10 Derkins + a bonus of 30 merkins at the suggestion of CheatSheet
  • Mosey to station #3
  • Station #3: 40 Squats, 30 Merkins, 20 Big Boys, 10 Smurf Jacks + a bonus of flutter kicks for 30 seconds
  • Mosey to station #4
  • Station #4: 40 American hammers single ct, 30 shoulder taps single ct, 20 Twinkle Toes 4-ct, 10 Burpees
  • Mosey back to station #1.
  • Completed #1 again: 40 Curls, 30 Tricep extension while doing calf raises, 20 Goblet swings, 10 Alternating merkins on CMU
  • Walked the CMUs back to CMU pile but stopped for some bonus CMU work
  • 25 bench press, 20 flutter kicks, 30 bench press, 20 hello Dollys, 35 bench press, 20 scissor kicks, 40 bench press, return blocks, we have 1 CMU casualty so we paid the penalty of 5 burpees as a group.
  • Mosey back to AO with some Wounded Bear Crawls along the way. We ran a total of 1 mile.

MARY:
Had a solid 4 minutes of Mary including 25 flutter kicks, 30 big boys, 20 monkey humpers, 25 LBCs
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
14 HIMs: Anchorman, Mermaid, Baby Boomer, War Zone, Pringle, Cheatsheet, Jitters, Mailbox, Jenner, Waxjob, Dumpster Dive, Pom-Pom, Dogbite, Slappy,
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Tefillah: Hebrew for Prayer

I’m doing a 7 day devotional with my community group about 7 Hebrew words that Christians should know. Too often we spend most of our prayer life asking for things. Praying for our health, success, healing for loved ones. All of which are great and commanded from God and Jesus to practice. We are supposed to ask Him in faith.

The Hebrew translation of Tefillah means to “self evaluate”. We should make it a point to open ourselves up to God through prayer. I am terrible at this. Even though I know that God knows everything about my heart I often times avoid being 100% honest with him about my state of mind and heart.
MOLESKIN:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Dunkin’ parking lot hangout

Pay Attention and Be Thankful

THE SCENE: Felt like South Beach but at least there was no lightning, thunder, or downpours.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Welcome to Fitness… Fellowship… Faith – In that order

Keep your distance, I have a phone for emergencies, I am not a pro, modify as needed

WARM-O-RAMA:
4 Burpees OYO; 4ct SSH (IC) x 20; 4 Burpees OYO; 4ct Tie Fighters (IC) x 11 both directions; 4 Burpees OYO; 4ct Grady Corns x 20; 4 Burpees OYO; Cherry Pickers x 5; 4 Burpees OYO

THA-THANG:

Mosey to Upper Lot by Church at Columns for Battle Buddy Relay (keep your distance though):

HIM 1 wall sits at columns while doing baby arm circles (5 forward and 5 reverse and repeat) while HIM 2 runs as fast as possible to location about 40 yards away and returns; Upon return HIMs switch and HIM 2 holds wall sit/arm circles while HIM 1 runs to location and back; Complete 4 times for each HIM

Mosey toward High School for Four Corner Action (PAX split with half running counter-clockwise while other half went clockwise to help spread out – but had to “pay attention”):

First lap did 20 reps, 2nd lap 15 reps, and so on for 4 laps

Corner 1: Squat Jacks (single count)

Corner 2: Step Up/Jump Up (by Saint Patty)

Corner 3: Plank Jacks (single count)

Corner 4: Derkins (using the curb)

Faster runners headed to Saint Patty for some chips and dips while waiting on the 6 to roll up (merkins and dips along short wall)

Mosey around to Pavilion for some pushing and pulling; PAX spread out around picnic tables and worked through 50 incline merkins and 50 table rows (alternating 10 reps at a time).

Mosey over to Detention Hill for some character builders; 10 calf raises at the top; run to the bottom; 10 squats; get back up the hill however possible (impressed by a few that Bernied up).  Repeated 3 or 4 times… but who’s counting? Guaranteed sweating across the PAX at this point for sure.

Mosey back to the AO

MARY:
PAX finished up with unlimited sets of LBCs; Flutter Kicks; BBS; and Hello Dollies

Wrapped up the fun with a Howling Circle of Monkey Humpers; PAX all performed Monkey Humpers as each member took turns counting off 5 reps; Howling ensued about half-way around the circle.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Encouraged the PAX through the workout to “pay attention”!

In Luke 17:11 a familiar story is captured where Jesus was teaching the disciples and noticed a group of 10 lepers nearby (socially and emotionally distanced).  Jesus called to the lepers and healed them miraculously and sent them to the priest.  The 10 were amazed and rejoiced as they ran away, but only 1 of them was “paying attention”.  And to beat all he was a Samaritan (socially unacceptable to be associated with by any “good Jew” at that time).  The Samaritan returned to Jesus and fell at His feet in worship and gave thanks for healing Him.  Giving glory and honor to the Son of God and Savior.  Only the Samaritan had the right perspective in the midst of his miraculous healing – not on what happened to him but Who had done it.

Encouraged the PAX to pay attention to the grace and mercy alive in our lives as HIMs (if we truly know Jesus as Lord and Savior) and respond with thankfulness and gratitude.  We need to give Him glory for the great things He has done in each of our lives.

MOLESKIN:
Prayer request for Goodwin (sp?) family who lost the dad (a pastor) in a driving accident – wife and 3 kids left behind; prayed for Willow the daughter Cheatsheet; and prayed for Baby Boomer’s daughter Riley who is having tonsils removed on Thursday.

Word of praise from Baby Boomer for those who prayed for his daughter Claire last week (had knee surgery on Friday) as everything went well.

The Fighting Irish Get Steamy

THE SCENE: Look good – feel good – play good. The scene looked good, the weather felt good, and the HIM played good for 45 minutes.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

  • Welcome to F3: Fitness – Fellowship – Faith
  • My name is Steam and I’ll be your Q this morning!
  • Couple of things before we begin:
    • (1) I’m not a professional
    • (2) You’re here on your own volition
    • (3) I don’t know any injuries you may have – so if you need to modify anything we do today, do it, but push yourself and the men around you! You desere it and so do they.
  • FNGs?
    • Brad
    • Cameron


WARM-O-RAMA:

 

  • SSHs: 15×4 IC
  • Rockette: 10×4 IC
  • Cherry-Picker: 5×4 IC
    • 1 burpee on your own
  • Imperial Walker: 10×4 IC
    • 2 burpee on your own
  • Baby Arm Circles: 10×4 forward
    • 3 burpee on your own

THA-THANG:

(More than 10 split up – keep in mind distance guidelines)

[ A Tale of 2 Parking Lots ]

(15 total PAX – split into 2 groups to start)

  • 2 Points of Contact
    • AO parking lot
    • Parking lot to the right by the track
  • 6 exercises total (3 in each lot)
  • 15 reps each exercise
  • Ping-Pong maneuvering
    • Execute 1st exercise in 1 of the 2 lots –> run to the other lot and execute the 1st exercise in that lot
    • Rinse & repeat until all 6 exercises are complete: 90 total reps
  • Once all 6 exercises are complete – gather back in the AO lot
    • PAX executed 10 8-count body builders/man-makers

(PAX mosey toward the front of the school)

[ The Big C ]

(split up into 3 groups of 5)

  • The Big C = the roundabout/dropoff at the front of Catholic High school
  • 4 points of contact in the big C
    • Top
      • Plank Jacks: 15 (1 count)
    • Middle
      • SSHs: 15 (1 count)
    • Bottom
      • Decline Merkins: 15 (1 count)
    • Opening
      • Merkins (1 count)
  • Rinse & Repeat 2x

(When done – PAX gather in front of the school and FNG Cameron is called on to lead the men around to the left to the next point)

[ 15s ]

  • Dips
  • Box Jumps/Step-Ups

(Post 15s – FNG Bradley is called to lead the men around to the left to the next area)

[ The Fighting Irish ]

(New exercise Q made up – it’s a WIP: Work in Progress)

  • Look at the mascot for the fighting irish – basically it
  • 4-count exercise
    • (1) Lunge with 1 leg and punch forward with the opposite hand
    • (2) Back to standing position
    • (3) Repeat #1 with opposite leg/arm
  • Mermaid takes about half of the PAX 1 way down the side of the parking lot – Steam takes the others in the opposite direction
  • Both teams execute 5 Fighting Irish and run back to the start

(PAX mosey around the school until they’re facing the AO parking lot)

[ Nickel – Dime – Quarter ]

(PAX separates into groups of 5 –> at 3 different points of contact about 25 yards away)

  • Nickel: Burpees (5)
  • Dime: Squats (10)
  • Quarter: Merkins (25)

(PAX mosey back into AO and circle up)

MARY:
[ Cash Out – modified for the last 60 seconds ]

  • 10×4 shoulder taps
    • 10 slow merkins
      • 10 quick merkins on your own

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

13 PAX + 2 FNGs = 15 total

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

“I know what I have to do but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it” – Kylo Ren

MOLESKIN:

This was an incredibly tough BOM to deliver and type out. But I’m excited to share this with you men. It’s a little long, but I don’t know how else to share this part of my life any other way. I hope you enjoy and get as much out of it as I did.

That quote above under “COT/BOM” is from Star Wars: The Last Jedi. GREAT movie if you haven’t seen it. The character in question is Kylo Ren – “the bad guy” that turns good in the movie. Spoiler alerts, sorry.

Before you read any further, this will make way more sense if you watch this scene from the movie that my BOM was centered around: https://youtu.be/F0rvLs–9UY

I didn’t know I would get so much out of this small movie clip than I did, but I think this was immensely intentional for me to watch – God knew what he was up to. Let’s walk through the scene in the movie clip above – the message below is one that was so powerfully given to me by the Lord that it hit home in a way I didn’t know home could get hit.

-The Scene-

  • Kylo Ren turns around and looks into his father’s eyes (Han Solo)

“I miss you son” – Han

“Your son is dead” – Kylo Ren

“No, Kylo Ren is dead. My son is alive.”

  • This was so powerful to me. The father’s compassion and heart for the son is calling what the son thought was dead back to life – sonship. Kylo Ren = the identity that Ben Solo has chased after and pursued hardcore for a long time. The father is trying to remind the son that he is more than this identity of Kylo Ren.

“You’re just a memory” – Kylo Ren

“Your memory. Come home.” – Han Solo

  • This is an invitation from the father (Han) – inviting the son (Kylo) to come back home. With tenderness he speaks this.

“It’s too late. She’s gone.” – Kylo Ren (referring to Leah)

“Your mother’s gone. But what she stood for, what she fought for, that’s not gone.” – Han

(^^^Still processing what this part means^^^)

“Ben” – Han

  • The father calls the son by his true name, Ben. This might have been the first time the son has heard his true name in a while.

“I know what I have to do but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it.” – Ben Solo

  • With visible trembling and fear, Ben Solo utters these words, shaking, because he’s heard his true name from the father.
  • The father reaches out places his hand on the son’s shaking face tenderly, and seeing the doubt and questioning, and heartbreak in his son’s eyes he says:

“You do.” – Han

  • At this moment, Kylo Ren is no more. Ben Solo has been called by name by the father and is alive – reborn and returned to rightful sonship by the father.
  •  Ben Solo lifts up his light-saber – the very thing Kylo Ren’s identity was tied to, and the object that caused him to forget WHO he was and WHOSE he was – by the hand of the enemy.

“Dad…” – Ben Solo

  • This is the first time this character in Star Wars utters this word. Ben Solo, now whimpering and trembling and shaking – calls his father “dad” for the first time.
  • The father (Han Solo) sees his son’s agony and heartbreak, but also sees the light in his son. He smiles and says:

“I know.” – Han Solo

  • With great understanding and compassion for his son, Han says this reassuringly. The father’s love for the son shows clearly. This is what the father always wanted – his son to return to sonship and recognize who he really was and whose he really was.
  • At this moment – Ben Solo turns and hurls his light-saber off in the distance, watching it disappear in the clouds and storm. Ben Solo knows this is what he had to do – knew this is what the father was calling him to do, yet he doubted his strength to do it.
  • As Ben Solo turns back around – Han Solo is gone. Ben Solo is alive and has re-purposed identity and mission critical compassion and grace from the father.

-End of Scene-

The first time I watched this movie – didn’t think a thing about it. Just thought it was a great film (it is). The Lord has done a lot, A LOT in my life since the first time I watched this movie. I was faced with the extremely tough realization last week that I am Kylo Ren and I am also Ben Solo. And the father figure (Han Solo) in the movie has always been God. Let me explain.

Since 2013 I’ve fleshed out, worked on, put countless hours in, dedicated time and blood/sweat/tears into pursuing a potential career in the military. I’ve trained my ass off. I’ve suffered. I’ve worked hard towards this goal. This is what I felt like the father was calling me to do. I prayed about it. I consulted wise council for it. I went through the process multiple times over the past 7 years. It became an identity for me – and a good one! This is such a worthy pursuit, a good endeavor. I felt like this is where the Lord was leading me over a period of years. And the things that God has showed me along the way has been life-changing/game-changing. Things such as F3, things such as leading men, things such as leading small groups and adventures for college men and so much more. I worked so hard and chased after and pursued “Rachel” – that I almost lost sight of the implication that God’s will might be in Leah (Genesis 29:15-25).

God’s been doing some hardcore wrestling with me…let me re-phrase that. I’ve been doing some hardcore wrestling with God (more specifically in the past year) about how all this plays out and where I feel like He’s calling me to be. So I know I didn’t stumble on this seemingly insignificant Star Wars clip on accident. It was an intentional heavenly interference so I could better understand and hear the Lord’s voice instead of fighting it. I’m so tired of fighting. It’s been a long/drawn out wrestle and fight. 

So watching this scene from the movie – it hit me so hard, that I am Kylo and Ben. And I feel like God gave me the above notes from the scene to really speak to me in a compassionate and loving way. Like I said, I’ve been fighting for so long, because THIS is what I wanted, THIS is what I’ve worked so hard for and THIS is what I thought you wanted with my life God. And there came a point of realization when the father’s voice can no longer be fought with or wrestled with – to the point where I understood what I needed to do, but didn’t know if I had the strength to do it – to lay something I had worked so hard on down at the father’s feet and let it die. It feels like God is asking a lot of me, to lay this desire of my heart down for him. I’ve heard him calling me to lay this (pursuing a military career) down and I’ve dismissed it before.

But sometimes God calls us to let things die so He can allow other things to live. I’m still working through this – it’s hard. All of this, and you’re asking me to give up now? No. I hear him calling me to give it up and lay it down at his feet, not give up my sonship or identity in him. And with tears and pain and heartbreak I come to the Father and say “God I know what you’re asking me to do but don’t know if I have the strength to do it.” And God so lovingly and compassionately reminded me that “You do.”

So tomorrow morning I am expected to provide communications to a Sgt. that I’ve had the pleasure of working with throughout this process – and not with a heavy-heart, but with one of gratitude I will symbolically let go of my light-saber that I’ve slung so tightly to, as I know the Father has called me to do

Thank you for the encouragement you men provide to me and have provided me for the past 4 years. Iron truly sharpens iron.

-Steam

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Insert information about upcoming events, 2nd or 3rd F opportunities, and any other announcements.