F3 Knoxville

Q101

AO: asylum-pm
Q: Pele (Jon Lindberg)
PAX: Ghost Flag (F3Knoxville), Brick, Crash Dummy, Tenderfoot, Swimmies (Nathan Chesney), CRISPR, Rooney (Carl Whipple), Lilydipper, Madoff (Daniel Hereford), Steam, Drum Major, Pele (Jon Lindberg), F6, Glamper
FNGs: None
COUNT: 14
Regular workout with some Q-Tips and Pele’s Pointers mixed in
WARMUP: -10 Side Straddle Hops (4-ct), in cadence
– 10 Cherry Pickers (4-ct), in cadence
– 10 Grady Corns (4-ct, IC)
– 10 Windmills (4-Ct, IC)

THE THANG: MOSEY to DORA Parking Lot. Everyone do 10 BURPEES OYO! Q FAIL: Can’t do it, don’t do it.
Battle Buddy Up
DORAS:
– 100 MERKINS
– 100 DEAD BUGS (2-count)
– 100 BOBBY HURLEYS

When finished do alternating Imperial Squat Walkers (10x, 4-ct) and SSH (10x, 4-ct) until 6 is done.
Mosey to STOP SIGN at the southern point of the Loop Road.
QUARTER POUNDER:
– Run to first cone, 25 merkins, run back.
– Run to second cone, 50 Squats, run back
– Run to third cone, 75 Mountain Climbers, run back
– Run to Fourth cone, 100 SSH, run back

Mosey to some random trees, do 1) BEAR CRAWL with 5x Merkins at each tree up and back, then 2) LUNGES with 10 Froggy Jumps at each tree up and back.
MARY: Various ab and stretching exercises, called on PAX to lead.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Bolympics Nov 4, shovel flag handoff Nov 2, Rucking 4-hour event Dec. 2
COT: Discussed the Word and Prayer portions of the Q. JOHN PRINE says about one of his best songs Angel of Montgomery): ‘The opening lyric is “I am an old woman, named after my mother…” I was very nervous about singing this in public for the first time. Because I thought that it would come across as too detailed, too amateurish. And I thought there must be a reason for that. I must not be doing it the right way, whatever the right way is.’ Just like with songwriting, there really IS no right way to do a BOM. Just speak about something you have learned, something important to you, something that might help others. Not everyone will respond the same way but I can guarantee that pretty much every one of your brothers will get something out of your message. From Exodus 4: But Moses said to the LORD, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” 11 Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”

Bday Relay of Misery

AO: shamrock
Q: Base Salary
PAX: Baby Boomer, Anchorman, Brick, slappy, Eliza, Ghost Flag (F3Knoxville), Toretto, Steam, Drum Major, Pusher, Curveball, Nacho Libre, Stitch, LeBling, Base Salary, Band Camp, Jardet, Commission, 2.0 Stiff Arm, 2.0 Stunner
FNGs: None
COUNT: 19
WARMUP:
SSH IC
Baby arm circles IC
Cherry Pickers IC
Downward/Upward Dog
Indigenous people run the field the long way
THE THANG:
Groups of 6 relayed through 5 stations.
Starting at the Flag side GoalLine- 50 yard Sprint, 20 yard Bernie, 20 yard mosey, 10 walk—> high plank/ low plank transitions @ far goalin—> Car. dry Docks & Mtn. Climbers @ stairs at bottom of bleachers —> modified stadium run to press box platform—> monkey humpers/imperial Walkers @ pressbox platform —> modified stadium run down ramp—> dips/SSH @ wall—> perfect merkins @ start point —> rinse & Repeat
MARY:
Superman/Banana
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Ghost flag has been stolen by Asylum PM.
COT:
Even since before arriving in the NFL, Deion Sanders had a swagger and arrogance about himself, something that continues to show up in sports headlines today. As a coach he gets more criticism for his comments, but as you look past the flash you see that the comments and actions are calculated and methodical. It’s his confidence coming through and speaking his future into existence.
I find myself desiring that level of confidence too. At a sales conference he said this (paraphrasing) ‘no one saw my biggest plays, because they happened at practice. There were no cameras when I made my biggest plays. I practice like I played, so when I played it was practice.’
Ephesians 6:10 reads “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” before detailing the armor of God. This is our practice and our confidence. That we trust in, lean on, and follow the guidance of the Lord in all times. We do it during good times and the blessings, so that when we hit trials and struggles we have practiced and are prepared to trust in his mighty power. That is our confidence in Him.
Through all of the braggadocios comments Deion has also been quoted saying this: “I don’t care what they say about me when I’m through with sports. I don’t want to be known as anything else in life but a great father.”

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.

St. Ruby

THE SCENE: Cloudy, low 70’s but muggy
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side Straddle Hops, 5 Burpees, 10 Iron Mikes, 4 Burpees, 10 Twistees, 3 Burpees, 10 Windmills, 2 Burpees, 7 Pterodactyls Forward and 7 Backwards, 1 Burpee, Little of This and That.
THA-THANG:
Mosey up Mini Cardiac.  We will stop to do 10 Tempo Squats.

Mosey on trail toward Lyons Bend until we get to rock pile.  We will each take a boulder to do 25 Overhead Presses, 25 Curls, 25 Tricepts, and 25 Rows.  Place boulders back in rock pile.

We will Mosey north and west on the trail until we get to a grassy area south of the trail.  There is a large tree stump near the roadway south of the grassy area.  We will stop in the grass about 50 yards away from the stump.  We will split into teams of two for Doras. While one partner runs to the stump, touches it, and runs back the other works on the exercises.  Then partners trade places.  Here are the exercises the partners do as a team:

  • 100 Hello Dollies
  • l100 Flutter Kicks
  • 100 Gas Pumps
  • 100 Freddy Mercuries
  • 200 Baby Crunches

Mosey on the perimeter trail pass the entryway from Lyons Bend and to the rock pile that is on the way to Mt. Everest.  Each man will take a boulder to do 25 Overhead Presses, 25 Curls, 25 Tricepts, and 25 Rows.

Mosey to the bottom of Mt. Everest.  We will do 20 Merkins and 20 Big Boy Sit-ups.  We will then run up Mt. Everest heading left by the split and then going to the roadway.  We will do 50 Baby Crunches and 25 Dead Bugs.

Mosey to the Space Needle.  We will go clockwise around the admin building.  First we will run up to the back porch, run across it, then run to the north side of the building.  There, do 20 Diamond Merkins.  Next, run to the front steps of the admin bldg.  Run up the right side of the stairs and run down the left side.  Next run to the south side of the building.  Do 20 Carolina Dry Docks.  Then run to the Space Needle and go up the stairs to the top and back down.  Rinse and repeat the circuit two more times.

Next we will run to the Coliseum Area. Next, we will run counter-clockwise 3/4 of the way around the circle.  At 1/4 of the way around the circle we will do 20 Squat Jumps.  At 1/2 of the way around the circle, run up the right side of the stairs of the admin bldg. and down the lefts side.  At 3/4 of the way around the circle, do 20 Smurf Jacks.  Those finishing the Smurf Jacks first sweep everyone back, clockwise, to where we started in the Coliseum Area.

Mosey to Haslam’s Rock.  We will take a 30 second gander at the best sunrise in America.

Mosey to bottom of Mini Cardiac.  We will race up Mini Cardiac.

Slow Mosey to AO.

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

St. Ruby

Matthew 20:25-28

But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.

Leadership comes in different forms.  I think that when we generally think of a leader, we think of someone having power or command over others such as the president, the general, the drill sergeant, the CEO, the coach, the quarterback or, yes, the N’antan.  And, certainly, those titles are examples of leadership.  But the power or command type of leadership, as Christ states in Matthew 20, is not the only form of leadership or, to God, the most desired.

Today, I want to talk about a special leader in my life.  She is my mother-in-law, Ruby Grimes.  She is such a good person that those in her family, like me, often jokingly call her St. Ruby.  What is she like?  Well, Ruby Grimes is someone that just makes you feel better in her presence.  What do you feel?  ACCEPTANCE.  With that southern voice of hers you just feel the love. Ruby is going to remember your favorite food and the next time you visit you will get that food.  For me it is always Ruby’s famous Chicken Salad.  She also remembers how I love Pecan Pie and I always get that on my birthday.

Now just because Ruby is a sweetheart does not mean that she is a pushover.  She is going to defend her Kentucky Wildcats to her dying day.  At Christmas time, Ruby has always had two Christmas trees up in the house – the normal Christmas tree and the blue and white Kentucky Wildcat tree.  When you watch a Kentucky basketball game with Ruby you must keep your hands up in the air when a Kentucky ball player is shooting a free throw shot and then come down with your hands yelling ”whoosh” after he makes the shot.

Ruby loves her grandchildren.  And, she has always thrilled with laughter to see their play.  I remember walking into her house, after taking a walk in the Grimes neighborhood, to find my two children, who were young at the time, and their cousins, who are about the same age as them, taking turn sliding down the basement stairs on an old thin mattress.  I exclaimed, what are you doing, you could mess up the stairs, tear up the mattress or get hurt!  “Naw, Gigi gave us the mattress and told us it’s ok.”  I gotta admit that I tried it a few times and had a blast.

Ruby is like a light or magnet that you are just drawn to.  If you go to the Grime’s church with her, expect to have to wait around forever after the service is over.  Ruby has all these church members crowding around her, jabbering with her before we get to ride home in the car.

It has always been tradition, since I married my wife, Jan, that, wherever we lived, we would be at the home of Ruby, and my wonderful father-in-law, Dorlan Grimes, at Christmas.  When my mother was living, she would look just as forward to going to their home for Christmas as I would.  Ruby and Dorlan were wonderful to my mother.  One year, when we were living in Utah, my mother got pneumonia and we could not go to Kentucky for Christmas.  I remember crying like a baby, not only sorry that my mother was so ill, but also that we would miss out on seeing St. Ruby and Dorlan.

Ruby is now 90 years old, as is her husband, Dorlan.  Ruby has Alzheimer Disease now, has had it for years. If you talk to her, she will sound normal for some time until she asks you the same question three or four times. She can no longer cook because her memory is going.  She and Dorlan sold their home a year ago and now live in a senior living setting – but a nice one where they can interact with friends.  Dorlan must look after Ruby, helping her sometimes with getting dressed.  Ruby can no longer bake me those famous pecan pies or make that amazing chicken salad.  Ruby cannot have the deeper intellectual conversations that she used to.  But she has kept that amazing smile and still exudes that special kind of love.  And what happens when your memory goes?  You get to look at pictures of your family and friends, again and again, day after day, and experience the same joy because you forgot you looked at them yesterday.

Ruby Grimes, you mean so much to me.  I love you Saint Ruby.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Kinsey family and Dung Beetle’s son, Baby Cronk, after a recent fender bender.  Prayers also for them financially and personally after some damage to home.  Prayers for father and father-in-law of Q-Bert, particularly for his father-in-law who had recent seizure and possible stroke.  Prayers for Matlock’s 15-year-old nephew, John, who has had significant neurological issues and recently has another surgery where he had 13 more holes drilled in his head.  Prayers for the 18-year-old daughter of one of Abacus’ friends, who also recently went through neurological surgery.  Prayers for those, like St. Ruby, who have Alzheimer’s Disease.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The F3 in the Nude event will be at 7 am at the Cove, next Saturday.  It will be a beach type workout.  Crispr will still lead a workout at Asylum Breakout that morning at 7 am.

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.