F3 Knoxville

Boosters Last Stand

THE SCENE: 70 or so in the gloom
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • Cherry Pickers (IC) 4 CT X 10
  • Baby Arm Circles (forwards) & Michael Phelps (OYO)
  • Baby Arm Circles (backwards) & Michael Phelps (OYO)
  • 5 burpees (OYO)
  • 10 Tempo Squats (IC)
  • 10 Hand release merkins (OYO)
  • 20 Side Straddle Hops (IC)
  • 50 Curb Calf Raises (OYO)
  • Karaokes & Sprints
  • Mosey – Double Wide Indian Run

THA-THANG:

Don’t Act Like A Sophomore on the Hill 

  • Get into groups of 3
  • Partner 1 does AMRAP merkins while Partner 2 runs up Sophomore Hill while partner 3 at the top does AMRAP squats
  • Rotate throughout each position; rinse & repeat
  • Mosey to the junkyard

Be a Junkyard Dog

  • Stay with your same partners, same structure
  • Partner 1 does 10 CMU reps Overhead Press, Triceps extension, Curls & bentover rows as many rounds of the lifts as possible until partner 3 gets down the stairs
  • Partner 2 runs up & replaces Partner 3 who has been doing Big Boy Situps
  • Rinse & Repeat
  • Mosey to big parking lot

Light Pole to Pole

  • 5 burpees & sprint to the next pole, 5 more burpees
  • mosey to AO

MARY:

Judge Judy led us in 75 (or 500) flutterkicks

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

26 HIMS and 1 FNG – Nutmeg

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Jeremiah 29:11 “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

We know these words but do we always believe them or have doubts?  Sure we have doubts.  We’re human.  We have doubts, fears, etc.

I started at JUCO in October 2017.  I weighed about 270 and was out of shape physically and spiritually.  I’ve lost 40 pounds since that time and I’m much stronger physically and spiritually.  While I don’t and never will have all of the answers on this Earth, I know more about myself and how I should live my life because of each of you.  Your witness.  Your love for your families and each other is inspiring.  Your willingness to share, be open and vulnerable out here is awesome.

During my first time or two out here, Bartman had me out here in the pouring rain doing burpees and bear crawls down the stairs.  I thought “what the heck am I doing here.”  I don’t remember his closing BOM that day but I really liked it.  Me, him and Shooter circled up, put our hands on one another and prayed and I promise I felt closer to God in this parking lot than I had in a long time in a church pew.

As some of you know, today is my last day at my job as executive director of a cancer charity.  It’s been an honor to build that charity and help more than 7,000 families over the last 5 years.  But I felt it was a time for a change.  I prayed about it.  Shortly thereafter, a couple of consulting opportunities came up so I turned in a 3-month notice and it was the fastest 3 months of my life.  I’m sad, happy, relived and nervous.

I went to Oklahoma last weekend and had a hard time sleeping.  On Monday, I met Sarah McLean who was diagnosed with breast cancer at 25.  A couple of years later she felt like she should start a charity since she had learned so much and wanted to help others battling breast cancer.  She prayed and God told her no, not now so she continued to work at a church and had 2 kids. She then got breast cancer again.  After she healed, she prayed and God told her she was ready.  She shared her story, her faith journey and she wept as she told me about one of her board members dying in her arms.  I was ugly crying.  It wasn’t pretty.  We stood up and hugged.  At that moment, I knew God put me in the right place to help her charity in addition to the other one I will be leading in Oklahoma City.

While I don’t know exactly what will happen in my life, I know God has it under control and will lead me where I need to be.

Ecclesiastes 3

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot    a time to kill and a time to heal,     a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5   a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to give up,   a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,    a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,     a time for war and a time for peace

There’s a time for everything and my time as executive director has come to an end.  When I started at JUCO, we were averaging 2-5 people.  We’ve grown so much but not because of me.  God brought you here for a reason.  I needed F3 and still do.  We all need F3 and there are men out there asleep that should be here right now.  There are men out there worried about their kids, their marriage, their job that could use us in his lives.

Today I’m stepping down as AO Q for JUCO.  I’m going to be travelling quite a bit.  So, I’m proud to say Judge Judy is taking over as AO Q.  He’s a great person, smart, funny, a leader, a lawyer, a husband and father, a great friend and has the coolest name out here.  Abscess is taking over next week as lead of all F3 Knoxville and he’s asked me to help him on some special projects so I’m not going anywhere.  I’ll actually be here all week next week so get ready to wagonwheel to get me at the back!

MOLESKIN:

It’s been an honor to lead JUCO for the last 19 months!  We’re in better hands now with Judge Judy.  Whether you are an FNG or been around for years, we’re all brothers and I want you to know I would do anything for any of you!  Thank each of you for helping me try to become a better person!  God bless each of you and your families!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

  • Dunkin
  • Sign up to Q
  • 3rd F Convergence next Saturday on August 10th at 7:00 a.m. at the Big Ball followed by breakfast/testimonials at Redeemer Church

Two Deion Sanders Equals a Ronnie Lott

THE SCENE: Beautiful East TN morning, not too hot, not too much humidity (we could breathe and weren’t swimming).
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

WARM-O-RAMA:
42 SSH IC, 21 baby arm circles forward IC, 21 baby arm circles backward IC, 42 merkins OYO, 42-second squat

THA-THANG:
Mosey to the weekday A.M. parking lot via the dragon’s tail – pass a light post, do a burpee.

Workout stations in all four corners of the parking lot – CMU curls, CDDs, burpees, and squats.  Do 40 reps of the exercise and run to the center and do 2 round-the-clock merkins.  Run up mini-cardiac/mini-Everest and back down to the next station.  Do 40 reps of the exercise, run to the middle and do 2 RTC merkins, Bernie up the hill, and run back down.  Repeat until all stations are done, alternating between running up the hill and Bernie-ing up the hill.

Bear crawl to the flag pole next to the Pavillon.  Circuit with 4 stations of exercises, 10 reps each, and 2 burpees at the flag pole.  The exercises were: box jumps in the play area (aka the Cloud), pull-me-ups (table rows) in the Pavillon, pull ups in the dugouts (or where ever a pull up could be found, e.g., a tree branch), calf raises on the stairs (10 each leg), plus the aforementioned burpees x 2 at the flagpole.  Ran the circuit until the Q called time.

Bear crawl back to the parking lot to do four more stations of exercises, this time CMU triceps extensions, merkins, lunges, and a PAX choice (hello Dollys).  Due to time, do 20 reps of the exercise, run to the center and do 1 8-count Bodybuilder (basically a burpee with a plank jack added in for good measure), and then run to the next station and repeat.  We left out the runs up the hill in between stations to make sure we had time for Mary.

Cash-out sprint up the hill to get to Mary.

MARY:

The Q was out of breath trying to chase Edit up the hill, so Crawdad led the PAX through 21 box cutters on a 4 count.  Then, the PAX did 42 LBCs OYO.  Ended with a 42-second plank right on time.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
16 total PAX.  High Heels left early to meet the cable guy, but he conveniently reappeared at Panera for Coffeteria.  Veggie was there, but his tag was not in the system.  One FNG who was visiting Goober from Indiana (Goober has brought a lot of his friends to F3, either Goober likes us or hates his friends).  He was named Brown Bag.  Unfortunately, the Q forgot to get his contact info, so hopefully Goober can provide it.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
My birthday was the day before.  Try to guess how old I am.  Talked about Ecclesiastes – my favorite book in the Bible.  Read it for yourself.  Here’s my summary: bad things happen to good people, good things happen to bad people, but do what is right regardless because that is what God wants.  Talked about time because the most famous part of Ecclesiastes is the passage on time, just ask the Byrds.  Time is my enemy.  There is never enough of it, it goes by too fast, and you can’t get it back once it is gone.  It goes by faster and faster as the milestones of life pile up.  Talked about my dad and him being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease when I was in high school and how that affected him physically and me mentally as I watched the disease progress over the years.  He died in 2017 at the age of 79.  I was 40.  No one knows how much they have left or what they have left.  But we all know what we can do today.  When I am tired or want to be lazy, I think of my dad and other people who cannot do what we do in F3.  One day, I won’t be able to do it either, for whatever reason (injury, age, disease, death).  So, I do it now.  I get up and do it for my dad and those who can’t and for the me one day who won’t be able to do it either.  That way, when I can’t, I can at least say and know that I did.  When I could, I did, and I did until I couldn’t.  No waste.  No regrets.  Carpe diem.
MOLESKIN:
Prayed specifically for Junk’s wife, Crawdad’s wife, and Thunderstruck’s mom.  General prayers of thanks for the precious time that we have, for the ability to make the most of it and to build a foundation of better living for our family and friends and to make great memories that last a lifetime even as the time passes, and for the peace to let time go and to accept the next season (as Ecclesiastes calls it) of life when it comes.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Convergence at Big Ball coming up in a couple of weeks followed by the third F at Redeemer.

P.S. Thanks to Sleepover for suggesting all the burpees.

Faith of a Child

THE SCENE: Partly sunny, temp near 80 degrees.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side-straddle hops, 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Body Twists, 10 Windmills, Little of This and That
THA-THANG:
Mosey to Stop Sign at Northeast Corner of Admin Bldg.  20 American Hammers.

Mosey north toward perimeter trail and then mosey east to benches at top of Cardiac.  20 Heel Touchers.

Mosey to bottom of Cardiac.  We will go back up Cardiac stopping at the following turns to do the following exercises.  Then we will come back down to do the same two more times (three times total):

  • First Turn:  20 Hello Dollies (four count)
  • Second Turn:  20 Bicycle Kicks (four count)
  • Third Turn: 20 Decline Merkins
  • Fourth Turn:  20 Bench Dips

Mosey from bottom of Cardiac past northern fields batting cages to CMU pile. First, we will do 10 Burpees.  Then, each man picks up CMU.  We will, as a group, do the following, sprinting to the end of parking lot and back between each exercise:

  • 20 Overhead Presses
  • 20 Curls
  • 20 Rows
  • 20 Squats

Mosey to Mini Cardiac.  We will Bernie Sanders 2/3 of the way up and then sprint up the rest of the way.

Mosey to Stop Sign at Northeastern Corner of Admin Bldg.  20 American Hammers.

Mosey to AO.

MARY:
20 Buzz Saws, Boat Canoe.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Seven men, no FNG’s.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
The Trust of a Child

Let the Children Come to Me (Mark 10:  13-16)

13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16 And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

When I was a boy of about age 5 or 6, I came to the front door of our house, after playing outside, to enter.  The door was locked.  I rang the door bell but nobody came.  I could see my mother through the large front window of our house.  It was kind of difficult to see her but she was sitting on the couch.  I rang the doorbell again and also knocked loudly but no one answered.  I ran to the front window again.  My mother was just sitting on the couch. I thought she was ignoring me, shutting me out.  I was startled and hurt. How could she not come to the door?  Didn’t she love me anymore?  I ran in tears to the back yard.  I sat out there crying.  Maybe she didn’t love me.  Maybe she didn’t want me as her child anymore.  I was angry, I was dejected, I was dumbfounded.  I don’t know how long it took me to go to the front of the house again.  This time I banged as hard as I could on the window, screaming for my mother, demanding her to come to the door.  My mother had been sleeping heavily and was startled awake by the banging.  She quickly walked to the front door, probably in an angry mood because of her son banging on a window.  She opened the door and her anger quickly changed to concern.  She saw her boy in a state of agony, in despair, his face and shirt wet with tears, his voice blubbering.  She took him into her arms and held him close, asking “what’s wrong, what’s wrong.”  The boy explained that she had failed come to him and demanded why she didn’t do so?  She didn’t react in anger to his demands, understanding the shock of the boy of her not coming, the need to know she cared.  She explained she had been sleeping, explained that she would always love him, that she would never intentionally not come to him, that he could always count on her love.  We went that night to my favorite hamburger restaurant.  We ate together and she bought me an ice cream cone after that.  It was special to have that, but what was more special was the knowledge that my mother did love me, that she always did and always would.

God speaks of us coming to Him like children.  I believe he wants us to come with that same childlike need that I had then for my mother.  He wants us not just to have the faith of a child but the desperate urgency of a child who needs his parent.  After all, we do need Him.  We need Him desperately. If we have to wrestle with him to make him bless us like Isaac did, so be it.  If we have to bang on Heaven’s window, like I, at age 5, banged on the window of my house to make sure I was loved, so be it.  I don’t think God will mind too much if you, in utter honesty and desperation, call on Him and demand that he love you, demand your blessing from Him.  If your demand comes from your heart, He’s gonna be there.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Mr. Jinxy’s co-worker who has lost two friends to suicide this year.  Prayers for the family of those who committed the suicides.  Prayers to the families of the young person who died this past week in a car accident in Alcoa.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
3rd F on Saturday, August 10 with Convergence beforehand at the Big Ball.

The Tree-biscuit

THE SCENE: What is this 59 degrees in July??

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Fitness Faith Fellowship?  Fellowship Faith Fitness?  Fellowship Fitness Faith? Couldn’t get it right.  🙂
WARM-O-RAMA:
10 SSH, 10 High Knees, 5 Merkins, 5 Freddy Mercuries, 5 Hand Release Merkins, 5 Moon Dancers, 5 Wide Merkins, 5 Windmills, 5 Diamond Merkins, 5 Cherry Pickers, 5 Carolina Dry Docks, 5 Inchworms, 5 Peter Parkers, 5 Tennessee Rockin Chairs, 10 High Knee Squat Jumps…  AND Introducing the Burpee Destroyers.

The Burpee Destroyers are:

  • Drop down to face then to plank
  • 1 Plank Jack
  • 1 shoulder tap (left and right)
  • Drop down to elbows
  • 1 rainbow drop (left and right)
  • Frog Up  (Legs up underneath you up to squat jump)

THA-THANG:  The Tree-Biscuit

Just like the Jaws theme, this workout is SUPER simple with only two notes, but oh so terrifying and challenging.  This workout had just two elements running and burpees.  We ran to every tree, stopped, called out the tree number and did a burpee. That’s it!

Within 25 minutes we managed to tag 156 trees with burpees.  I mistakenly ended the workout at 6:05 since I thought we’d be totally toast and would then need some larger recovery time.  Turns out the hungry beasts wanted a Mary too.  So next time we’ll do the whole 45 minutes and aim for hitting 200 burpees.  Usually I go way over time and catch heat for that… Turns out I catch more heat for ending early.  #still-a-rookie

MARY:

  • 5 Burpee Destroyers
  • 10 Burpee Penalties for saying Fitness Faith and Fellowship instead of Fitness Fellowship and Faith. (The Judge brought the hammer down)
  • 30 Pickle Pounders
  • 25 Freddy Mercuries
  • 25 Tempo Merkins

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Current stressors have me totally scatter brained. I could barely count to five during the warm up. Totally spaced on the Mary and the timing. So preached to myself and others about resting in the lord and finding peace in him.

Psalm 37:7 Rest in the Lord and wait [b]patiently for Him;

Psalm 46:10He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.” 

Isaiah 40:31 Yet those who [a]wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will [b]mount up with [c]wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.

Here’s hoping and praying that all my brothers find some peace amidst the storms today.

Amen!

MOLESKIN:
Apologies for ending early!  It won’t happen again! lol.  😉
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Call out and challenge to all the other AO’s to see how many trees they can tag with burpees when they do the TREE-BISCUIT challenge (I’m lookin at you Asylum)!!!!!

Sled 2.0

  • THE SCENE: humid, until it rained, then it was real humid
    F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
    WARM-O-RAMA:

    The pax had some quick stretching while we went through the different stations
    THA-THANG:
    7 pain stations consisting of:
  • 20 burpees 20 plank jacks
  • 30 sec electric chair 30 sec plank hold with rucks
  • 20 sandbag squats 100ft sandbag sled drag
  • 20 diamond merkins 15 COBRA merkins each arm
  • 20 squirls 20 bent rows with sandbag
  • 20 stocky balbowas 10 rep shoulder blasters with pre rocks
  • 20 bbs 20 v ups with pre rocks

Pax had 3.5 minutes at each station with a battle buddy to get AMRAP of each excersize

MARY:

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Part of a sermon from last Sunday, if we aren’t in Gods word consistently our default will become self worship. Truth is found in Gods word and we need to live our lives with the idea there is something bigger than us in this world. When we live as though we are the center of the universe it leads to a miserable and stale existence.
MOLESKIN:
We prayed for lady junk who is starting chemo soon and for tweet-e’s friend Kyle who is going through a 12 step program currently.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: