F3 Knoxville

Tag: Abscess

The Road Not Taken

THE SCENE: Warm, mid 80s, sunny, with a slight breeze (thank goodness)
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Nailed it.


WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side Straddle Hops (4-ct) IC, 10 Cherry pickers (4-ct) IC, 20 Lateral Hops (4-ct) IC, 10 baby arm circles (small to wide) forward and backward(4-ct) IC

THA-THANG:

PE EXAM!! (Hat tip to Erector!)

Mosey to stop sign at main road for the first letter of P.E. E.X.A.M.

P – 10 Prisoner Cell Merkin Burpees aka PCMBs.

Mosey to the grassy hill partway down the Dragon’s Tail.

E – Elevens – merkins at the bottom and Bobby Hurleys at the top.

Do Escalator down Dragon’s Tail.

E – Escalator – 10 burpees, 20 squat jumps, 30 mountain climbers (2-ct), 40 iron mikes (2-ct, audibled to 1), 50 LBCs at each successive light.

Took the road less travelled.  Play a bit in the sprinklers by the new bathrooms, and then Mosey cross country all the way across grassy field in front of Admin building to stop sign at junction of circle drive.

X – Xs and Os , 2 minutes

Mosey to parking sign up the road towards admin building

A – Aiken legs – Done in succession with no rest — 15 Squats, 15 Froggie Jumps, 15 Lunges (each leg), 15 star jumps.

Mosey back to AO for the…

M – Mary

MARY:

  • Captain Thors
  • 20 Bottle Taps or Openers, always forget what they’re called (4-ct) IC
  • 20 Box Cutters (4-Ct) IC
  • 20 Pickle Pounders
  • 20 Hello Dollies (4-Ct) IC
  • Ring of Fire
    COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
    8 strong, including one FNG, whom we named Squirtle. J-Lo not tagged.
    CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
    Recently, a friend’s blog led me to revisit one of my favorite poems, The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost (note the title… The Road Not Taken, NOT The Road Less Traveled):

    Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

    And sorry I could not travel both

    And be one traveler, long I stood

    And looked down one as far as I could

    To where it bent in the undergrowth;

     

    Then took the other, as just as fair,

    And having perhaps the better claim,

    Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

    Though as for that the passing there

    Had worn them really about the same,

     

    And both that morning equally lay

    In leaves no step had trodden black.

    Oh, I kept the first for another day!

    Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

    I doubted if I should ever come back.

     

    I shall be telling this with a sigh

    Somewhere ages and ages hence:

    Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

    I took the one less traveled by,

    And that has made all the difference.

    A common misconception about this poem is that the road that the protagonist takes truly is less traveled, and as such has some additional inherent worth than the other road.  But upon closer reading, the two paths are actually equal, the other path being “just as fair” and was worn “really about the same”.  Having this pointed out to me was fascinating, as I had never noticed it before.  Two key conclusions can thus be made:

    1. The paths are essentially equal in worth, and therefore, picking one over the other is essentially like flipping a coin.
    2. The way we perceive choices affects our decision and the ultimate outcome.  The author PERCEIVES that one path seems to be less traveled, and takes it, and as he says in the last line, “that has made all the difference”.

    But what affects our perception??  This is where I see a bit of a religious meaning in the poem.  Two options exist.  Which one to choose?  I tend to agonize over big decisions, and have prayed over such choices, asking God to direct me down the best path.  But there may not truly be a “best path”… each may have its own advantages and disadvantages.  But for me at least, given some time, my preference of one path over the other grows stronger, and I select it.  And you know what?  Each big choice has worked out.  That doesn’t mean that if I had picked a different path my life would be in flaming ruins.  But God has gently guided me down the roads that have lead me to where I am today, and I am very grateful that He is with me to help me choose, even if the choices are relatively equal.  Don’t beat yourself up over the choices you make.  Sometimes we choose well, sometimes, perhaps poorly, but open your heart to God and let him help lead you down whatever path your life takes.

    PROVERBS 3:5-6

    Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
        and do not lean on your own understanding.
    In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.

    ISAIAH 30:21
    And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.

    Psalm 119:105

    Your word is a lamp to guide me
    and a light for my path.

    MOLESKIN:
    Good luck to the Ruckers competing this week-end!
    ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Pain is Gain

THE SCENE: Beautiful day, temps in high 70’s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side-straddle-hops, 10 Pinto Twists, 10 Windmills, Plank stretches, 10 Cherry Pickers
THA-THANG:
Mosey to stop sign on southeast corner of Admin Bldg.  20 Hello Dollies.

Mosey to Area 51.  We will run up hill stopping three times to do decline merkins.  Rinse and repeat.

Mosey to bat house above Roadshow Run.  We will do the Pinto Grinder.  We will start with 20 Star Jumps by bat house.  Then run down stairs and do 20 Diamond Merkins.  Run to grove of trees just below peak of Mt. Everest.  Do 10 Burpees.  Run up to peak of Mt. Everest and do 20 Big Boys.  Rinse and repeat.

Do 20 American Hammers in Shade.

Mosey to stop sign at northeast corner of Admin Bldg.  20 Hello Dollies.  We will head back on road toward AO but stop at each cone along the way.  The cones will instruct us what to do next.  The instructions at each cone are as follows:

  • Cone 1:  10 Shoulder Taps (both arms = 1).  Bear Crawl to Cone 2.
  • Cone 2:  25 Baby Crunches.  Lunge to Cone 3.
  • Cone 3:  20 Flutter Kicks (four count).  Bernie Sanders to Cone 4.
  • Cone 4:  20 Buzz saws (four count).  Grapevine with face away from Admin Bldg to Cone 5.
  • Cone 5:  20 Carolina Dry Docks.  Grapevine with face toward Admin Bldg to Cone 6.
  • Cone 6.  Go back to Cone 1 to rinse and repeat.

MARY:

10 Bottle Caps, 20 Box Cutters, Stretches.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Eight men, no FNGs.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 That’s why we are not discouraged. No, even if outwardly we are wearing out, inwardly we are being renewed each and every day. This light, temporary nature of our suffering is producing for us an everlasting weight of glory, far beyond any comparison, because we do not look for things that can be seen but for things that cannot be seen. For things that can be seen are temporary, but things that cannot be seen are eternal.

It can be human nature to desire the easy way out.  But the fact is that truly good things generally involve toil, effort and pain.  I often times witness people wanting to move forward but unwilling to accept anxiety, stress or pain in order to get there.  As a psychologist I see people wanting to take narcotics or avoid challenges to that they don’t have to experience anxiety.  I am not belittling the anxiety that those with Anxiety Disorders must battle.  But some people actually think humans aren’t supposed to experience anxiety.  They want to avoid anxiety at all costs.  The fact is that anytime we take on new challenges, we are going to experience anxiety.

I see some people wanting to improve physically without experiencing pain.  I know that doctors and physical therapists see this all the time.  Someone gets total knee replacement and then is sent to see a physical therapist.  They stop going saying the physical therapy only made them feel worse.  Of course it made them feel worse – it is supposed to make them feel worse – so that through work, pain and effort they will improve and eventually feel much, much better.

We in F3 get up early mornings to face the gloom and experience the pain and thrashing of an F3 workout.  It is supposed to be painful.  Without the pain we don’t receive the gang.  We could wimp out and make it easy for everyone.  But as Cheatsheet proclaims, “Treat yourself, don’t cheat yourself!”

We often think relationships are supposed to be free from pain and turmoil.  Nothing goes wrong in our relationships in the Honey Moon stage.  Your lover can do no wrong.  It is later that we wake up to the reality that this lover is a real person – with her own strange idiosyncrasies and opinions that don’t,God forbid, always coincide with ours.  We begin to think, what’s wrong with this person – maybe she isn’t right for me.  But maybe, just maybe, that person is right for you.  To find true love is to work through differences with another that can sometimes be painful.  But in working through these differences we see we can learn and live with them.  We find something richer and greater – not a person who will agree with us about everything – but someone who will love us, no matter how hard that task can be (look at yourself, that can be pretty doggone difficult) and will help us to grow stronger and better for it in the process.

Finally, with God it is not always rosy and wonderful.  We sometimes want to turn from Him when things aren’t wonderful and going our way.  We may blame Him for it, say “Where the hell are you God?”  Or, we may not want to follow Him when He wants us to do something we don’t like to do.”  But God’s way is the best way, not the easy, rosy way.  We don’t just follow God when it feels good.  We follow God when it is difficult, when it is not all fun and games, when we doubt, when we hurt, when we are ready to give up, when we are angry and pissed at Him.  In so doing, we find faith, we find hope, and we have a true relationship with a God who desires relationship and desires to make us better men.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for five of Abscess’ friends who have had heart attacks.  Continuing prayers for Pinto who is recovering from his heart attack and heart surgery.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Hardship Hill!

Barbarian Mace montage

THE SCENE: Drizzly
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH: 15

Tempo squat: 10

tempo merkin: 10

tempo elfs: 10

10 burpees

THA-THANG:

merkins from hell (max reps–> iso hold–> ecc merkin)

2 rounds of 3 sets of 4 exercises

set 1

  • Mace Barbarian Squat
  • kettlebell deadlift
  • burpee
  • SSH

Set 2

  • Mace joust
  • KB press
  • high bridge
  • RDL’s
    set 3
  • mace grave digger
  • KB row
  • bench dips
  • step-ups
  • pull-ups from hell set (10 pullups, max iso hold, ecc pullup)
  • repeat
    COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

    CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
    He has risen!

One Shining Moment

THE SCENE: Beautiful, mid 70s, sunny… almost a tad HOT!
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Check

WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH x 20 (IC), Cherry pickers x 10, Steve Earles x 20 (IC), Baby Arm Circles forward (x10) and backward (x10), little of this and that, Vertical leaps x 10 w/ increasing intensity.

THA-THANG:
Moseyed to little-used field over by Area 51.  16 cones set up for March Madness.

Sweet 16 Suicides: run to each cone and back, 8 on each side.  Remove the “losing teams” from field.

Elite 8’s: Do four sets of 8’s (same as Sevens but with one added rep, so 1/7, 2/6, etc.) between the cones, which represent the teams in the Elite 8 of the NCAA basketball tournament, as follows:

  • DUKE Blue Devil Bobby Hurleys (of course…!) / MICHIGAN STATE Mountain Climbers (4-Ct). Sometimes you have to crawl before you walk… BEAR CRAWL between cones
  • GONZAGA BULLDOG Burpees / TEXAS TECH Tempo Squats.  Sometimes you have to backpedal to get back on defense! Bernie Sanders between cones!
  • VIRGINIA CAVALIER Carolina Dry Docks / PURDUE Plank Jacks Two of the best defenses in the tournament… Defensive position and shuffle between cones!
  • KENTUCKY WILDCAT Werkins / AUBURN American Hammers (4-ct). Sometimes you have to just run normally.

Continue on to the ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR!

Things get harder in the Final Four…  Run up and down the hill to the road, doing the following exercises:

  1. MICHIGAN STATE Mountain Climbers at base (x10, 4-Ct), TEXAS TECH Tempo Squats (x10) at Top (because TT came out on top!)
  2. AUBURN American Hammers (x10, 4-ct) at base, VIRGINIA CAVALIER Carolina Dry Docks (x10) at top.  Still need to get to the top of the mountain baby!

Mosey to stop sign at corner of circle drive.

CHAMPIONSHIP: TEXAS TECH Tempo Squats (x10) at sign, then sprint to first No Parking Sign and VIRGINIA CAVALIER Carolina Dry Docks (x10) at for the win, baby!

3 BURPEES to simulate the jumping and excitement of the victory, then…

30-count stargazers to soak it all in.

MARY:

Basketball is all about the… X’s and O’s!! (on 6, X position, 6 inches off ground, then V with arms and legs together in the air.)

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Six strong. (J-Lo not tagged)

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
At the end of the NCAA tournament, CBS always shows an awesome montage called One Shining Moment that documents the incredible highs, and the crushing lows of the past few weeks’ action-packed games.  I recently read an article about an athlete who created a shining moment for a special fan.

Alex Bregman, 25-year old infielder for the Houston Astros, has a group of friends that he hangs out and lives with (The Boys) and they do a lot of things on social media, like random acts of kindness, practical jokes, etc. Late last year, a relative of a young fan messaged Bregman on Instagram to say that the fan was dying of Stage 4 brain cancer and that he’d asked to be buried in Bregman’s jersey. “A signed note or jersey would make his entire life”, the relative wrote. Bregman asked for his address. That week-end, Bregman and the Boys, leaving their cameras behind, drove up to the young man’s house and spent an hour at his bedside. Two days later, Bregman received another message from the relative. “He died this morning.  We are so grateful you saw him and made him laugh before he made his way home.”

Bregman took the time to give this young man One Shining Moment. An act of kindness can make the difference in someone’s life.  Reach out to say hello to an old friend.  Be Present (per Crawdad at our last Third F) when someone is going through a tough time.  Do whatever you can to give a fellow human being One Shining Moment in their day, or week, or life.  It will mean all the difference in the world to them.

2 CORINTHIANS 1: 3-4

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles that we may be able to comfort others with troubles, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

Pass it on.  Be someone’s shining light in their times of trouble, just as God is your shining light, your beacon, your hope when you are faced with your personal tribulations.

MOLESKIN:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Be aware that some workout groups (not ours… yet) have been approached by city officials and it has been suggested that they should pay for their workout time/space.  Let’s hope this is not a glimpse into the future… Also, be on the lookout for an announcement in May to help our brother Pinto out by doing some yardwork as he continues to recover from his heart attack.

Dog Day Sun and Run at Asylum

THE SCENE: Sunny, Slight Breeze – Temp in the 50’s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH – IC 20

Candy Corns – 4CT IC – 24

Windmills – IC 12

Cherry Pickers – IC 15

Merkins (slow) IC – 10

THA-THANG:
Mosey Down Stairs to West Pathway- turn right

  • RTE 66 Round 1
    • BBS at each light post – starting with 1, increase by 1 to 11 (Rabbits sweep back)
    • Alternate Bearcrawl and Bernie between posts
  • RTE 66 Round 2
    • Diver Bomber at each light post – starting with 1, increase by 1 to 11 (Rabbits sweep back)
    • Alternate Lunge and Run between posts
  • Long Mosey to CMU pile by baseball fields – each grab CMU
    • 25 curls IC
    • 25 Rows IC
    • 25 Press IC
    • R n R
  • Mosey to Picnic Shelter
    • 11’s – Alternate bench dips with Squat Jumps
  • Mosey up winding path to Monument – wait for 10 ct
  • Slow Mosey back to AO
  • Hello Dolly – IC 25
  • Ring of Fire Planks – one round of 4 Merkins while rest of Ring holds plank, second round of just one Plank

MARY:

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
9 HIMs + Dog. Welcome FNG @ Chapter 11 (Patrick Woodside)

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
In our personal circles, in our families and at work we have certain “go to” people we count on for support all the time – like our spouses or certain team members. We delegate tasks many times at the last minute and many times without asking and/or maybe they just know what to do and do it- alot.  We count on them and we wouldn’t be able to do what we need to do without them. We need to take the time to recognize their constant support and give something back- maybe pick up some of their tasks unannounced. Reach out, acknowledge their constant efforts and let them know our appreciation.

MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
See Jinxy for Heatbreak Hill Team – Asylum Team name is “Boardroom”