F3 Knoxville

Tag: Brick

No More, No Less

THE SCENE: Low 50s and partly cloudy
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER  Check
WARM-O-RAMA:

-Motivators (7 count)

-11 Cherry Pickers, IC

– 10 Rockettes, IC

-10 Tempo Merkins, IC

THA-THANG:

Mosey to Serpentine Sidewalk.

    • Run down sidewalk, suicide style, stopping to do the following exercises:
      • 2 lights: 5 Merkins/ 4 lights: 10 merkins/ 6 lights 15 merkins/ 8 lights 20 merkins.
      • Rinse and repeat with Carolina Dry Docks
      • Rinse and repeat with Dive Bombers, but shortened this one to every light.  Q was getting gassed.
    • Mosey to Play ground:
      • 30 Seconds AMRAP:
        • LBCs
        • Xs &Os
        • BBS
        • American Hammers
      • Rinse and repeat
    • Mosey to Baby Cardiac
      • 7s on the hill: Froggie Jumps and Iron Mikes (2-ct)
  • Mosey to CMU pile, avoiding the condoms on the ground.  So Gross.
    • 30 seconds AMRAP: Overhead Presses, Curls, Rows, Triceps, Rinse and repeat, except for triceps.

MARY:
No time.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
11 Strong
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

EYORE: It occurred to Pooh and Piglet that they hadn’t heard from Eeyore for several days, so they put on their hats and coats and trotted across the Hundred Acre Wood to Eeyore’s stick house. Inside the house was Eeyore.

“Hello Eeyore,” said Pooh.

“Hello Pooh. Hello Piglet,” said Eeyore, in a Glum Sounding Voice.

“We just thought we’d check in on you,” said Piglet, “because we hadn’t heard from you, and so we wanted to know if you were okay.”

Eeyore was silent for a moment. “Am I okay?” he asked, eventually. “Well, I don’t know, to be honest. Are any of us really okay? That’s what I ask myself. All I can tell you, Pooh and Piglet, is that right now I feel really rather Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All. Which is why I haven’t bothered you. Because you wouldn’t want to waste your time hanging out with someone who is Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All, would you now.”

Pooh looked at Piglet, and Piglet looked at Pooh, and they both sat down, one on either side of Eeyore in his stick house.

Eeyore looked at them in surprise. “What are you doing?”

“We’re sitting here with you,” said Pooh, “because we are your friends. And true friends don’t care if someone is feeling Sad, or Alone, or Not Much Fun To Be Around At All. True friends are there for you anyway. And so here we are.”

“Oh,” said Eeyore. “Oh.” And the three of them sat there in silence, and while Pooh and Piglet said nothing at all; somehow, almost imperceptibly, Eeyore started to feel a very tiny little bit better.

Because Pooh and Piglet were There.

No more; no less.

(A.A. Milne, E.H. Shepard)

Be present for those around you who are withdrawn, or depressed, or in need of encouragement. Also look to God when you feel this way.  Oftentimes, no words are needed.  Just be there and open your heart.  God will always be there to fill it.

MOLESKIN:
Happy Birthday to Brick! 40, BABY!!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Tank’s party Friday, ski trip Feb. 7-9.

This Is 2020 (Without Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters)

THE SCENE: Rainy, low to mid 50s

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH x 20, baby arm circles forward x 20, baby arm circles backward x 20, 20-second plank, Pilates push-ups x 20 (10 each leg – merkins with left leg raised up x 10 followed by merkins with right leg raised up x 10), tempo squats x 20

THA-THANG:
Mosey to CMU pile via the Dragon’s Tail stopping at each light pole to do an exercise x 20 reps – alternating between merkins and squats

Pickup a CMU and mosey to the pavilon

CMU curls x 20 followed by 20-second recovery, rinse and repeat for 4 rounds (80 total reps)

Mosey to Crawdad’s Yoga Studio

Carolina dry docks x 20 followed by 20-second recovery, rinse and repeat for 4 rounds (80 total reps)

Mosey back to pavilon for table rows using the same reps and recovery as before

Mosey back to the yoga studio for flutter kicks, same schedule

Mosey back to the pavilon for CMU overhead presses, same schedule

Mosey back to the yoga studio for more Pilates push-ups, same schedule – Cheatsheet and Crawdad started singing the Hokey Pokey Song and dubbed the Pilates push-ups the “Hokey Pokeys”

Mosey back to the pavilon, pick up the CMUs and mosey to the CMU pile to return them

Mosey to Cardiac with just a few minutes to spare, so we only had time for one run up Cardiac and to the AO without stopping for any exercises

MARY:
We ran out of time for Mary, but we did get some ab work in during the workout

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
13 HIMs getting better in the rain on the first Saturday workout at the Asylum in 2020

Veggie was here, but he is not in the group, so I couldn’t tag him.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
It is a new year and a new decade and no one knows what it holds.  It could be the year that someone is added to your life, or it could be the year that someone is taken away.  It could be the year of the promotion, or it could be the year of the demotion.  It could be the year of kindergarten, or it could be the year of graduation.  It could be the year of the big win, or it could be the year of the big loss.  Regardless, you don’t need a resolution, you need a constitution, a foundation.  On a big scale, it should be God, your family, your friends, etc.  But, it can be anything that grounds you.  It can even be as simple as the F3 workouts.  The asphalt, concrete, and grass do not change, and they are always there waiting for you whether you have a good day/week or a bad day/week.  They are checkpoints after good times or bad and before whatever lies ahead.  If nothing else, start there and build.  Have a good new year but not just for what good fortunes may come your way during the year but based on what you keep your eye on and focus on while the year goes by

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Pinto, Flashback 2, Lady Tank, Cheatsheet’s family, Lady Junk, and Veggie going back for another semester of college
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Party at Tank’s house on 1/10

Still need money for pull up bars for the Dog Pound

Confession

THE SCENE: Raining, temps in low 40s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side Straddle Hops, 30 seconds of butt kickers, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Windmills, 7 Wide Arm Circles Forward, 7 Backward
THA-THANG:
Mosey to CMU Pile.  Half of men pick up CMU’s and carry them to pavilion at Northern Ball Fields. The CMUs will be placed at one corner of the pavilion.

We will do totem pole with 30 seconds each of the following exercises.  By the end of the totem pole workout, each exercise will have been performed for 30 seconds five different times.  The exercises are:

  • Burpees
  • Picnic Table Pull Ups
  • Bench Dips
  • Hello Dollies
  • Plank Jacks

Next, we will go counterclockwise around the pavilion three separate times, doing the exercises listed in sequence at each corner.  We will always bear crawl from Corner 1 to Corner 2 and Corner 3 to Corner 4.  We will always lunge from Corner 2 to Corner 3 and Corner 4 to Corner 1.  We will do 20 of each of the exercises at the corners.  The exercises we will perform at each corner are listed in sequence below:

  • Corner 1:  1. Merkins  2.  Carolina Dry Docks  3.  Dive Bombers
  • Corner 2:  1. Big Boys  2.  Bicycle Kicks  3.  Dying Bugs
  • Corner 3:  1. Squat Jumps  2. Star Jumps  3. Smurf Jacks
  • Corner 4:  (with CMUs)   1. Overhead Presses  2. Curls  3. Rows

Next, we will do squat with back to the wall for one minute.  Then, we will do quick steps with turns on command for 2 minutes.  Finally, we will end with one minute of stretches before putting the CMUs back at the CMU pile and running back to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Six men, no FNGs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
One of the greatest comforts I have each week at church is to read, together with the other church members, the Confession of Sin.  Why should it bring comfort to confess that I have done wrong?  That I have sinned against God?  The Confession of Sin lets me know a number of important things:

  • I am not perfect and I should not require those around me to be perfect.  I fail, I screw up.  And while I can admonish myself for this, I need to realize that I am human.  So are those around me, even those members of my church that I consider to be like saints.  So, even though I drank too much on a Saturday night, even though I failed to truly listen when my wife talked to me earlier in the week, even though I got too angry at a stranger on the roadway and flipped him the bird, even though I failed to be like I was so desirous of being the previous Sunday when feeling so inspired at church, I am not alone in this sinfulness.  My wife and the guy who almost cut me off on the roadway are not alone in their sinfulness either.  It is our nature to sin.
  • Yet, we as Christians can strive to be more like God, like Jesus.  We can delight in God and find Glory in His name.  And in doing so, we can become more like Him.
  • We can also confess and admit that we fall short of God’s expectations and our own expectations. In so doing, we are not saying we are failures. But we are also not turning a blind eye to the fact that we do make mistakes and do sin.
  • Despite the sinfulness, we have a God who loves us.  He made us in His image.  He acknowledges our sinful nature.  Yet, He forgives us of these sins and calls us His own.  And, He finds favor in each of us.  He finds favor in us even though we screw up every week of the year.  We do not need to turn our faces from Him.  We can proudly say, I am yours and you are mine.

Here are the words from the Confession of Sin at my church (Redeemer Church of Knoxville).  Read them knowing that you are not alone in your sin and that God loves you, knowing that you sin.

Most merciful God,

We confess that we have sinned against you

In thought, word and deed,

By what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart;

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.

For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,

Have mercy on us and forgive us;

That we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways,

To the glory of your Name.

Amen.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Tank’s wife who is in the hospital due to large kidney stone that will need surgery.  Prayers for Pinto and his treatment for multiple myeloma.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Tank’s 2nd F party is being pushed back from Friday, January 3 to Friday, January 10, due to his wife being in hospital.

Struck Down But Not Destroyed

THE SCENE: Insert info about the weather, etc.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Mountain Climbers (four count), 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Rockettes, 10 Baby Arm Circles Forward and 10 Backward
THA-THANG:
Get Bricks out of Truck.  Mosey Across Street to Trail that meanders to gate at Lyons Bend.  We will run with bricks for five lights then do 5 Mini-Man-Makers, 10 Jump Squats, 20 Squats and 25 Wings Up (still holding bricks).  Those getting finished first run in place with bricks.  We will then run for five more lights doing same exercises when stopping but with 25 Wings Out (instead of Wings up).  We will then run five more lights doing same exercises but with 25 Wings Down.  Next, five more but with 25 Overhead Presses.  Finally we will run for five more lights and do same exercises but with 25 Rows.  We will then mosey on roadway back toward AO.  However, we will stop in lowest parking lot on way back to bear crawls to inlets with bricks.  Finally, mosey back to AO and drop off bricks.

Mosey through entrance way of northern ball fields and go to northernmost ball field.  We will number off into two teams.  One team starts at home plate and the other team starts at second base.  We will do relay race with each man running around bases before next man starts.

Mosey to striped field in outfield.  We will do suicides running to each line and back to start but doing 15 Baby
Crunches each time we come back.  Those who finish suicides first will alternate between 10 Big Boys and 10 Merkins until everyone is back.

Mosey to pavilion.  We will alternate between 25 Picnic Table Pull-ups and 25 Bench Dips. Next we will do 20 of each, then 15 of each, then 10 of each, and, finally, 5 of each.

Mosey past pitching cages at Northern Ball Fields to Cardiac Hill.  We will run up the hill stopping to the following exercises at the following locations:

  • Curve 1:  25 American Hammers (four count)
  • Curve 2:  25 Hello Dollies (four count)
  • Curve 3:  25 Decline Merkins
  • Benches:  25 Bench Dips

Mosey to CMU Pile.  We will break into teams of two each for Doras.  While one man Bernie’s to curb and sprints back, the other works on the exercises, then each man switches.  Teams will do the following exercises:

  • 100 Overhead Presses
  • 100 Curls
  • 100 Bell Ringers
  • 100 Rows

Mosey back to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
10 men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

2 Corinthians 4:8-11

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.”

As the year of 2019 comes to a close, I have been thinking about our brother, Pinto.  This has not been an easy year for him.  As you know, he had a major heart attack at the start of the year.  His mother died later in the year.  He began to cope with exhaustion and significant weight loss and weakening of the bones that led to a break in his back and tear in his rib cage.  He found out that multiple myeloma, a disease that causes cancer cells to accumulate in the bone marrow, was causing his bone weakness, weight loss and exhaustion.  Pinto is now undergoing chemotherapy and may have to receive stem cell therapy.  All of this has certainly given him pause to think about life in ways that we usually do not slow down to do.  As he told me at UT Hospital after he was diagnosed, “Lily, don’t take the chance to exercise with your F3 brothers for granted.  It is a blessing to be able to do so.”

Pinto was willing to admit anxiety in facing his treatment for multiple myeloma.  He is not only facing difficult treatment that can lead to sickness and exhaustion – he is facing his own mortality.  That can be a horrifying task.  But, as I think of our brother, I also think about the armor he has for his fight.

Pinto has the knowledge that he has loved his family strongly.  He is a wonderful father.  I remember the time he wanted to make sure who the hell my wife, Jan, and I were when we invited his daughter, Molly, to a Children’s Hospital Event where families stayed at a local hotel.  Fortunately, his wife already knew Jan well (and had met me a number of times) and after finding out we were alright people, he allowed Molly to go with us.  But Pinto was going to make doggone sure his little girl was going to be safe.  I think of Pinto’s relationship with Hooker, the strong bond between father and son, how much pride he takes in Hooker and who Hooker has become (as well as in Molly and who she has become)  And, I think of the powerful love Pinto has for his wife, Tessa.  That love was particularly poignant that day I saw them both in the hospital.  Both of them were exhausted, Lee from recent back surgery and Tessa from the sleepless nights by his side in the hospital.  The power of their love was tangible.

Pinto also has the armor of his relationship with God.  He believes in God and knows that God will be with him no matter where the journey with multiple myeloma takes him.  Gents, how many of us have truly faced death square in the face?  When we do, will we have what Pinto has?  I know that Lee Gentry wants to beat this cancer, to live on to enjoy life with his granddaughter (Hooker’s future child) that is due in May.  I think he will.  Yet, even if that were not the case, Pinto knows where he will go when he breathes his last breath here on earth.  That has to be comforting.  He knows that life goes beyond these fragile moments here.  He has a Father in Heaven who will never abandon him and will take him Home when his days here are gone.

Finally, when I consider my friend, Lee Gentry, I know that whenever his final day comes (which will probably be after mine since I am older than he is), Christ’s life will be revealed in Lee’s mortal body.  Because Pinto, Lee Gentry, though hard pressed by cancer and persecuted from every side is living the kind of life that God wants him to live.  He will be the first to tell you that he has had and will continue to have his human moments of doubt and anger.  But, he strives for more and seeks God in doing so.  And, in so doing, he reveals the love of Christ.

So, as 2019 comes to a close, I not only pray for Pinto’s health but I give thanks for his presence in our lives.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for our brother, Pinto, and his family.  Prayers for Ed, cousin of Curveball, who died yesterday.  Prayers for Ed’s family.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Polar Bear Plunge on New Year’s Day and 2nd F party (wives or partners only, no children) at Tank’s home on Friday, January 3.

God’s Way Isn’t What the World Expects

THE SCENE: Clear, temps in 40’s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side Straddle Hops, 8 Burpees, 10 Tempo Merkins, 6 Burpees, 10 Windmills, 4 Burpees, 10 Cherry Pickers, 2 Burpees, Michael Phelps
THA-THANG:
Mosey to Outdoor Chapel.  We will do elevens starting with 1 Bench Dip at stage and 10 Mountain Climbers (4 count) at other end of chapel.

Mosey to Pavilion at Southern Ball Fields.  We will do a one minute squat with backs against wall.

Mosey to perimeter trail right by the pavilion.  We will do nickel, dime, quarters with the exercises listed below until we reach the Serpentine Sidewalk.  (Run to first light, do five of exercise, run two more lights, do ten of exercise, run five more lights and do 25 of exercise)

  • Squat Jumps
  • Big Boy Sit-ups
  • Merkins
  • High Knees where both knees = 1

Next, we will do 14’s on Serpentine Sidewalk all the way to the roadway (bear crawl for one light, run for four and repeat the sequence to the roadway)

Mosey to Pavilion at Northern Ball Fields.  We will do picnic table pull-ups, starting with 25, then 20, then 15, then 10, then 5 with short breaks between each set.

Mosey to AO.

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:
God’s way may sometimes seem backwards from the world’s way.  The world expects you to be “successful and rich.”  Jesus says the meek shall inherit the earth.  The world says achieve these goals to get your reward.  Jesus says come to me first and give your heart to me.  Then you will desire to achieve God’s goals.  The world expects a king who is born into fortune and wears a golden crown.  Jesus was a king who was born in a manger and wore a crown of thorns.  Think upon these things as we celebrate Christmas.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Puddle’s elderly friend, Vince, whose girlfriend had a stroke and later, perhaps due to neurological issues related to the stroke, attempted suicide.  Pray for her recovery.  Pray for our brother Pinto as he goes through chemotherapy and, perhaps, radiation therapy.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Polar Bear Plunge on January 1 and party at Tank’s house on January 3.