F3 Knoxville

October and Octopus

AO: asylum-pm
Q: Curveball
PAX: CRISPR, Lizzy, Steam, Pusher, Abacus, Tenderfoot, Brick, High Heels (Henry Ritchie), Dung Beetle (Scott Kimsey), Piston, Drum Major, Swimmies (Nathan Chesney), Curveball
FNGs: None
COUNT: 15
WARMUP:
SSH
Cherry Pickers
Tie Fighters
On a hill 5 merkins one way then opposite
Abe Vagodas
Windmills

THE THANG:
Congested Reverse Route 66
11, 10, 9…. Merkins, Squats, and LBC
Everyone circles to pick up six. All finish together.

Pure Burn (on fence 3 rounds to 10)
10 each Side crunches,
30 Calf Raises

Doracides. Suicides to 3 cones/trees. 1 burpee, 2 burpees, 3 burpees.
100 Merkins
150 LBC
200 Squats
R/R until until six is up.

Three trees or points 20 yards apart in a triangle. At each spot 5 merkins, next round 10, final round 20. 105 total.

MARY:
10 flutters, 10 Gas Pumps, stretch a little, 1 minute or so Superman.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

COT:
October is spelled similarly to Octopus. Googling one can take you down the curiosity path of the other. Sy Montgomery is an naturalist who tends to speak on Octopus. The octopus is really cool creature. And October 8th is World Octopus Day! Not national but world. So, it’s a big deal and kind of fits in the whole October original thought process.

Anyways, Sy has this quote: “I think all animals have souls. I feel certain that if we have souls, octopuses have souls, too. If you grant something a soul, it demands a certain level of sacredness. Look around us. The world is holy. It is full of souls.”

The move to fall/October has me thinking about holidays/football/Cubs playoffs/etc. And because of the constant interaction with my father and family while dealing with my father’s skin cancer and congestive heart failure, football is a popular topic. And my family is upset with the Chicago Bears. Cubs too. At first I believed that stress and non football issues played a roll in my anger and frustration towards my favorite franchise. But then I realized that I’ve always been like this. Not sure why? However, the thought expressed above by Sy helps. Remember, that those that anger you or disappoint you to a point of fury or action (throwing a remote, for example) have souls. Are part of a holy world. For me, this simple thought lessons my emotional extreme. It may help you too.

Weekend Expectations

AO: asylum-daybreak
Q: CRISPR
PAX: Swimmies (Nathan Chesney), Pele (Jon Lindberg), Matlock (Bill Maddox), CRISPR, Crawdad (Robbi Dickens), Qbert, Lulu (Greg Huddy), Choir Boy, High Heels (Henry Ritchie)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 9
WARMUP: SSH, rockettes, cherry pickers, this and that, twisties
THE THANG: mile run, island of burpees, hand release merkins, mucho chestos at the poles, hello dollys at the curves, squats at the poles, 7s of step ups and dips, jail break
MARY:
ANNOUNCEMENTS: lots of growth in F3 Knoxville, so check out newsletter for new AOs, starfish of F3 RoCo, several shovel flag handoffs, plus BROlympics in Nov
COT: In a book by Brene Brown, she tells a story about a time when she traveled a lot and her husband was at home many weekends alone handling the kids. One weekend while she was home, the got in a big fight and her husband said weekends were a lot easier when she wasn’t home. After the dust settled, they talked about that, and it turned out that when they were both home, they both had expectations for getting something (work, chores, whatever) done whereas when it was just him, he had no expectations for the weekend because he knew his full attention would be on handling the kids. I learned from that story and now my wife and I talk each Friday about what we each need from the weekend. Maybe it’s a family outing, or some alone time, or space to catch up on work, or whatever and we work together to ensure all the needs of the family are met that weekend. I’m sure it’s saved us from meeting fights and a lot of frustration!

Eat This Bread, Drink This Cup

THE SCENE: Sunny, temp in low 80s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Mountain Climbers, Plank Stretches, 7 Tennessee Rocking Chairs, 10 Iron Mikes, 7 Cherry Pickers, 7 Twisties, 10 Little Baby Arm Circles Forward and 10 Backward.
THA-THANG:
Mosey to Stop Sign at Northeastern Corner of Admin Bldg then mosey to shade of large conifer tree.  We will do 20 American Hammers.

Mosey to small parking lot on north side of park roadway, then go on trail that leads north toward Lyons Bend.  We will stop at rock pile.  Each man grabs a CMU weight boulder to do the following:

  • 25 Overhead Presses
  • 25 Curls
  • 25 Triceps
  • 25 Rows

After putting the boulders in the rock pile we will head north and then west on the trail doing “Run Ten Tens”.  We will run forward ten light posts, then do ten Merkins and ten Big Boy Situps.  We will do this until we get to the park roadway as it approaches the gate at Lyons Bend.

Next, we will Mosey further west on the trail until we come to another rock pile that is at the intersection of the trail we are on and the trail coming down close to Roadshow Run.  Each man grabs a CMU weight boulder to do the following:

  • 25 Overhead Presses
  • 25 Curls
  • 25 Triceps
  • 25 Rows

After placing the boulders back in the rock pile we will run west and then south on the Perimeter Trail until we get to the bottom of Mt. Everest.  We will serpentine from the trail to three different trees on Mt. Everest.  We will do two burpees in the shade of the first tree, run back to the trail, run to the second tree to do two burpees in the shade, then run back to the trail, and finally run to the shade of the third tree to do two burpees.

Mosey back to the perimeter trail and south until we get to the fence that blocks further movement on the trail.  We will then run up the mulch trail until we reach a cone on the trail.  We will do 25 Hello Dollies, 25 Flutter Kicks, and 25 Freddie Mercury’s then run about 40 yards up the mulch trail to another cone to do 5 Burpees.  We will then run back to the first cone and rinse and repeat the above two more times.

Mosey to the little grove of trees at the bottom of the summit of Everest.  We will do 20 Baby Crunches, then run up the summit to the flat grassy area to do 20 Carolina Dry Docks, then run to the Bat Cave to do 20 Sky Jumps.

Next, we will run north to the large tree near the administration bldg roadway.  We will run around the tree and back to the AO.

Next we will run down the stairs by the Bat Cave, run toward Mt. Everest, and go back up the summit. We will then head back to the AO.

MARY:
Stretches
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
We had 17 men and one FNG, Karter Moore, whom we named “Decal”.  Some of our men rucked today.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I have been watching the Tour de France the past few weeks. The bikers in the tour bike over 100 miles per day in frequently mountainous terrain.  They burn so many calories that they sometimes must eat food while riding their bikes.  That food can make the difference between winning and losing the race.  If they do not have enough food they will not have the strength to compete with the other riders.

I was thinking about that when taking communion at church this past Sunday.  When we take in the bread of communion, Christ proclaims to us, “This is my body given for you. When you eat it, do this in remembrance of me.”  And when we take the wine at communion, Christ proclaims to us, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.  Do this, when you drink it, in remembrance of me.”  What Christ is essentially saying is, like one of our communion songs says:

Eat this bread, drink this cup, come to me and never be hungry.
Eat this bread, drink this cup, trust in me and you will not thirst.

God wants us to know that there is something much more important than food that can sustain us. And so, week by week, I, with other brothers and sisters, who just like me are imperfect individuals who stumble, remember that I still have a God who loves me.  And I eat that bread and drink that wine, realizing that people all over the world are doing the same.  Are we more deserving than others?  No, we come because we are unworthy.  But it nourishes us.  It nourishes me.  It gives me the strength to carry on, hoping that it may shine a little light on my soul that I can then shine on others.  For that, I am thankful.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Brick and his family, for Junk and his injury, for Glamper’s manager of work, and a prayer of praise for Lilydipper’s recovery from shoulder replacement and hip replacement surgery.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
We will have a 2nd F gathering at the home of Abacus on July 29. The F3 “In the Nude” workout will be on the morning of July 29.  The F3 Dad’s camp will be on the weekend of August 11-13.  And the 3rd F camp at Doe River Gorge will be the weekend of September 22-24.

Let Freedom Ring

THE SCENE: Partly cloudy, low 80s but humid
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

25 Side-Straddle Hops, 10 Burpees, 10 Tennessee Rocking Chairs, 10 Tempo Merkins, 10 Tempo Squats, Patriotic High Knees Around Parking Lot, Patriotic Butt Kick Around Parking Lot, Patriotic Bernie Sanders Around Parking Lot, 7 Twisties, 7 Windmills, 7 Pterodactyls Forward and Backward
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the parking lot with the nice restrooms.  We will Bear Crawl to First Island, Lunge to Second Island and Sprint to End of Parking Lot.

Mosey to the Caribbean Parking Lot.  We will do candy canes, moving in a counter-clockwise direction around parking lot until we get to the cone at the end of the candy cane.  We will stop at every other island to do the listed exercise.  Once the first man arrives at the end of the candy cane and completes the exercise, he sweeps all men back to the start.  We then do the next exercise.  Here are the exercises:

  • 10 Merkins.  Sprint between islands.
  • 10 Squats. Sprint between islands.
  • 10 Baby Crunches.  Bernie between islands
  • 10 Hello Dollies. Sprint between island.

Mosey to picnic tables that are east of the Caribbean.  We will alternate between 20 picnic table pull ups, 20 Bench Dips, and 20 Step Ups.

Mosey on the perimeter trail south until we get to the area that splits into three trails:  the boardwalk trail, the pine needle trail, and the concrete trail.  We will split into teams for Doras.  While one partner does the exercise, the other partner takes one of the routes to the other convergence of trails and then comes back.  Then partners switch.  Partners should take alternate routes each time. Here are the exercises that partners will do as a team:

  • 100 Jump Squats
  • 100 Big Boy Sit-ups
  • 100 Carolina Dry Docks

Mosey north to grassy area by where perimeter trail and serpentine trail converge.  We will stop to do 20 American Hammers.

Mosey to the Pavilion near baseball field entranceway.  We will do 20 Incline Merkins on picnic tables.

Mosey to the AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
We had 12 with no FNGs.  Kentucky brought his 2.0s, Smartie and LeBron.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Let Freedom Ring

Herbert Hoover

“Freedom is the open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit and human dignity.”

Albert Einstein

“For everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labour in freedom.

Alice Walker

“No person is your friend (or kin) who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.”

The news of today is often a running complaint on American politicians, cities, institutions, and the state of our nation.  I sometimes get caught up in that stuff and wonder about our nation.  But gents, we are so lucky to live in a land that is built on the notion of freedom and continues to work to protect our rights to be free.  Many of us tend to take that for granted.  But think of people in other countries that do not have our freedoms:  the freedom of religion, to choose where we want to live, to go into the vocation that we desire, to associate with whom we desire.

I am thankful for that freedom and thankful for those who helped establish it.  I am thankful for those who fought for our independence. I am thankful for those who continue to fight for our freedom.  I am thankful for those who serve our government, whether federal or state.

Like my brother High-Heels was saying the other day, we have plenty of brothers in F3 who were born in other countries but who are thankful to be living here in the United States.  And like he was also saying, in the United States, if you are willing to work hard and put in the effort, you are going to do alright in life.

So on this independence day, let’s give thanks.  Thank you God for our country.  Let Freedom Ring.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Wedding Singer’s son who graduated from high school in May, for Soot and his health after the fainting spell, and for Q-Bert’s father and father-in-law.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Convergence at Shamrock at 7 am on July 8.  Arrive at 6:45 am.

27 – Simpler Than You Think

The Scene 

  • Asylum PM 
  • 5:45pm – 6:30pm
    • ShieldLock ruck at 5:10pm
  • Hot + sunny


F3 Welcome + Disclaimer

  • Welcome to F3: Fitness – Fellowship – Faith 
  • My name is Steam and I’ll be your Q this morning 
  • A few things before we begin: 
    • I’m not a professional 
    • You’re here on your own volition
    • You know your injuries if you have any so if you need to modify anything we do today feel free to do so, but push yourselves and the men around you. They deserve it and so do you. 
  • FNGs? — 1 (Pre-rucked his FNG workout!)

Warm-o-Rama

  • Apollo Slowno: 8
    • Apollo Ono, but slow
  • Baby Arm Circles: (F) 10×4 (B) 10×4 
  • Windmill: 10×4
  • Chattanooga Cherry Pickers (Shoulders): 10×4 
  • Squat: 10×4

The Thang  — Theme of 27

(Mosey to the the rock pile below the Coliseum)

(1) A Rocky Start 

  • Grab a rock 
  • Warm up round:
    • 1 count
    • 27 chest presses 
    • 27 curls 
    • 27 triceps 
    • 27 rows 
  • Mosey down the hill to the field 
  • Execute the Xs again at the bottom
  • Use your rock to get to the next plateau – incline murder bunnies
  • Repeat the Xs again
  • Mosey to the next incline
  • Use your rock to get to the next plateau – incline murder bunnies
  • Repeat the Xs again
  • Rinse and repeat until we get to the top of the stairs by the coliseum 

(Fellowship mosey to the parking lot below the stairs with the wall)

(2) Keep Rockin’

  • 2 POC: here and top of the curve 
  • 4 rounds 
  • Round 1
    • 27 American hammers w/rock 
    • Run to the top of the curve
    • Execute 2 man-makers 
    • Run back 
  • Round 2 
    • 27 flutter-kicks w/rock overhead 
    • Run to the top of the curve 
    • Execute 2 man makers 
    • Run back 
  • Round 3
    • 27 rock squats 
    • Run to the top of the curve 
    • Execute 2 man makers 
    • Run back 
  • Round 4 
    • 27 rock curls
    • Run to the top of the curve 
    • Execute 2 man makers 
    • Run back 

(Mosey to put rocks back)

(Mosey back to the AO)


Mary 

(Insert information about any additional post-Thang work)

ATMs

SWS


COT (Circle of Trust)

Count Off

  • 20

Name o Rama

  • Dung Beetle, Brick, Pusher, Petunia, Crisper, Tenderfoot, Lizzy, Onstar, Scrubs, Pele, F6, High-Heels, Glamper, Z-Bone, Drum Major, Lillydipper, Doubtfire, Cheetah Boy, Sparkler, Steam

Word — 27 Things From Proverbs 27

There are 27 verses in Proverbs 27 — one of which we use quite frequently. So on the 27th day of June, here are 27 encouraging reminders and wisdom from Proverbs 27:17 (MSG)

⬆️ this was the original plan for my Word tonight ⬆️ and obviously it went with the theme of 27 reps tonight – I like simple what can I say. 

But after my wife got home from work today, we were sitting on our back porch with these 2 things – and call it the Holy Spirit leading me in a different direction and putting this on my heart instead or just a simpler Word, but here is my actual Word. 

(I’ll post the original one too in case you were wondering). 

Some thoughts on fans

  • We all need a fan in our lives – we all need people cheering us on in our lives
  • Fans come in different sizes 
  • We can be a fan to anyone in our lives, no matter how big or small our influence or power is
  • The true value of a fan is not what it is, but it’s what it does
  • Fans help create energy for others 

So be a fan of someone to someone else this week. 


Here’s the original Word I thought of – Proverbs 27

A little backstory: Because these proverbs are a part of the whole of God’s Word, they are not simply for entertainment; they exhort, encourage, and offer hope. Solomon called readers, especially youth, to pursue wisdom rather than foolishness. He encouraged the inexperienced to become wise rather than mockers, to be teachable rather than incorrigible, to live rather than to die. He predicted that people who pursued wisdom would generally find success and happiness in this life, but he promised they would absolutely find joy and blessing in eternity. 

This rich book of short, pithy wisdom presented a consistent theme: fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

(You Don’t Know Tomorrow: verses 1 – 16)

  1. Don’t brashly announce what you’re going to do tomorrow; you don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. 
  2. Don’t call attention to yourself; let others do it for you. 
  3. Carrying a log across your shoulders while you’re hefting a boulder with your arms is nothing compared to the burden of putting up with a fool. 
  4. We’re blasted by anger and swamped by rage, but who can survive jealousy?
  5. A spoken reprimand is better than approval that’s never expressed. 
  6. The wounds from a lover are worth it; kisses from an enemy do you in. 
  7. When you’ve stuffed yourself, you refuse dessert; when you’re starved, you could eat a horse. 
  8. People who won’t settle down, wandering hither and yon, are like restless birds, flitting to and fro. 
  9. Just as lotions and fragrance give sensual delight, a sweet friendship refreshes the soul. 
  10. Don’t leave your friends or your parents’ friends and run home to your family when things get rough; better a nearby friend than a distant family. 
  11. Become wise, dear child, and make me happy, then nothing the world throws my way will upset me. 
  12. A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks; a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered. 
  13. Hold tight to collateral on any loan to a stranger; be wary of accepting what a transient friend has pawned. 
  14. If you wake your friend in the early morning by shouting “Rise and shine!” It will sound to him more like a curse than a blessing.
  15. (And 16)A nagging spouse is like the drip, drip, drip of a leaky faucet; you can’t turn it off, and you can’t get away from it. 

(Your Face Mirrors Your Heart: verses 17 – 27)

  1. As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. 
  2. If you care for your orchard, you’ll enjoy its fruit; if you honor your boss, you’ll be honored. 
  3. Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart. 
  4. Hell has a voracious appetite, and lust never quits. 
  5. The purity of silver and gold is tested by putting them in a fire; the purity of human hearts is tested by giving them a little fame. 
  6. Pound on a fool all you like — you can’t pound out foolishness. 
  7. Know your sheep by name; carefully attend to your flocks. 
  8. Don’t take them for granted; possessions don’t last forever you know. 
  9. (And 26) And then, when the crops are in and the harvest is stored in the barns, you can knit sweaters of lambs’ wool, and sell your goats for a profit. 
  1. There will be plenty of milk and meat to last your family through the winter


Announcements 

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