F3 Knoxville

Tag: Drum Major

Why Worry

THE SCENE: Clear skies, temp in 50s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
20 Side-Straddle Hops, 10 Plank Jacks, 10 Windmills, 10 Tempo Merkins, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Little Baby Arm Circles Forward and Backward.
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the Southern Parking Lot close to the soccer fields.  We will go counterclockwise around the parking lot, stopping at each corner.  The following shows the exercises we do at each corner and how we get to the next corner:

  • Corner 1:  20 Merkins.  Bernie Sanders to Corner 2.
  • Corner 2:  20 Hello Dollies, 4 count.  Run to Corner 3
  • Corner 3:  20 Big Boy Sit-ups.  Bernie Sanders to Corner 4
  • Corner 4:  20 Flutter Kicks, 4 count.  Run to Corner 1.
  • Rinse and Repeat but Skip instead of Bernie.

We will Mosey to the perimeter trail where it goes by the pavilion close to the Southern Parking Lot.  We will run for 10 lights.  Those rabbits getting there first will come back and meet the six.  Then we will do the first of the exercises listed below.  Next we will run another 10 lights.  Those rabbits getting there first will come back and meet the six again.  Then we will do the second of the listed exercises.  We will do this until we hit the serpentine sidewalk.  The exercises are:

  • 20 Dive Bombers
  • 20 Squat Jumps
  • 20 Bicycle Kicks (4 ct)
  • 20 Iron Mikes (2 ct)

At the Serpentine Sidewalk we will hop forward for one light, then run for four lights.  We will repeat the pattern until we hit the end of the Serpentine Sidewalk.  Then we will return back on the Serpentine Sidewalk by lunging forward for one light and running for four lights until we hit the perimeter trail.

Mosey to the base of Cardiac.  We will Bernie for two lights and run for two lights, repeating this pattern until we reach the roadway.

Mosey to the AO.

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

What If?

What if the stock market crashes before I turn 70 and all the savings I have been relying on to retire plummets?

What if I get sued for malpractice and my reputation as a therapist takes a nose dive?

What if there is so much fighting within our country that it reaches a point where it is no longer the pillar of strength and beacon of hope for so many people?

What if my legs start to give out so much that I can no longer work out with my brothers in F3?

What if that lady in charge of the Lakeshore Park Conservancy, who has told us to stop writing on sidewalks and keep out of the ballpark area when teams are playing, somehow forces F3 out of the Asylum?

What if my house falls apart due to some kind of reason that my home insurance policy doesn’t cover?

Here’s two sentences from Philippians 4: 6-7:


Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Let me give you a few more “what if” questions.  Think about these questions, dwell on them a bit.

What if there truly is a God who watches over us and loves us?

What if God takes delight in us, not for the riches we make but for the good we do for others?

What if God will take care of us through the greatest of losses, even our possessions?

What if Jesus really did die for our sins and arose three days later?

What if God truly does hear us when we pray?

What if there is a heaven and God will be with us, even when we die?

I’ll end this message with some verses from the song, We Will Feast in the House of Zion by Sandra McCracken

We will not be burned by the fire
He is the Lord, our God
We are not consumed by the flood
Upheld, protected, gathered up

We will feast in the house of Zion
We will sing with our hearts restored
He has done great things, we will say together
We will feast and weep no more

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Thunderstruck’s mother, who has cancer and for Operation and his wife as they try for pregnancy.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP at the Asylum on February 26, 6:30 am to 9 am.  Chance for F3 men to serve for RAMUSA.org.  This is a clinic that provides medical and dental services for free to people in the community.  The clinic will be in Knoxville on June 24 to 26.  Our brother, Cat Gut, needs to know by March 1 if you can help.  Let him know if you can.

Clear is Kind, Unclear is Unkind

THE SCENE: 40 degrees and beautiful beat down weather
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER done
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH, rockettes, cherry pickers, runners stretch, this and this, and twisties just for Lillydipper
THA-THANG:

  • Battle Buddy – one runs the Dragon, other CMU front raise, side rotations, overhead press
  • Battle Buddy – one runs and does flutter squats, or does ankle biters and butterfly sit-ups
  • Battle Buddy – one runs and does CMU rows, dead-lifts, curls, and rows, the other does bear crawl should taps and kneel ups

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
12

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Being very non-confrontational by nature, Candor has been a challenge for me. Q Source 3.8 says about Candor “While there are many Truths, only the hard ones require Candor.  The easy Truths take care of themselves.  Whether a Truth is hard or easy depends upon the effect it has on the person hearing it.  If it has no impact or brings them Happiness, it is an easy Truth.  Easy Truths do not require character to tell because there is no particular Virtue in being the bearer of good news. Hard Truths are different, because hearing them, results in Pain and Disruption.”

I also justified it to myself that sparing that Pain and Disruption was a good thing for the other person, until reading the book “Radical Candor” by Kim Scott.  She describes Candor as a combination of 1) caring personally for the individual you’re interacting with and 2) challenging directly the matter at hand.  She describes those who care a lot, but don’t willing to challenge directly, as demonstrating “Ruinous Empathy”.

RUINOUS EMPATHY.

Especially for the workplace…

“It’s simple but transformative.  Clear is kind.  Unclear is unkind.  Not getting clear with a colleague about your expectations because it feels too hard, yet holding them accountable, or blaming them for not delivering is unkind.” ~Brene Brown

ANNOUNCEMENTS:  CSAUP Feb 26

Keep Moving, Stay Warm

THE SCENE: Cold, cloudy, and windy.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH, Slow windmills (get that stretch in!), baby arm circles, burpees, & Imperial squats.

THA-THANG:

At the coliseum, 4 stations around the outside. Each station has 3 exercise options. Choose one to complete and then run to the 3rd station and pick an exercise. Rinse & repeat. Exercises were as follows:

  • Station 1 (Core)
    • HELLO DOLLYS (20, 4 CT)
    • PICKLE POUNDERS (20)
    • BIG BOYS (20)
  • Station 2 (Legs)
    • SQUATS (20, 4 CT)
    • MONKEY HUMPERS (20)
    • BOBBY HURLEYS (20)
  • Station 3 (Core)
    • BOX CUTTERS (20)
    • LBCS (20, 4 CT)
    • SCISSOR KICKS (20, 4 CT)
  • Station 4 (Arms)
    • MERKINS (20)
    • DIPS (20)
    • CAROLINA DRY DOCKS (20)

MARY:
Big Boys & American hammers.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Excerpt read from a Fresh Air interview of Laura Coates.

On what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. means to her

When I think of Dr. King, the first thing that comes to mind is going to his museum down in Atlanta and looking at the number of times he was arrested. Now that might seem an oddity to people. Mostly, we think about his speeches and the impactful words, and he was an eloquent orator, and he was obviously deserving of all the accolades as it relates to his speechwriting and his sermons. But for me, I think about the number of times he was a civil rights first responder, … the number of times he went into the battlefield, the number of times he pulled an entire race out of the wreckage, the number of times that he subjected himself to physical violence. It’s the notion that myself, as a mother, looking at my young children, when all I want to do is grow old and watch them grow even older, that he had to accept the inevitability that he would not do the very things every parent wants to do. And why? Because he was thinking not only of his own children, but my children and my children’s children. …

Every time I think about his death, I think to myself, God, was that how young he was? And every year that I live beyond that, I thank him, because the life I have is because of the choices he made, because of the discomfort he experienced. And I just love this man for making those choices and for aligning his moral compass with what he was willing to do.

Friends of God

THE SCENE: Windy, temp in high sixties.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Mountain Climbers, 8 Twisties, 5 Burpees, 10 Windmills, 10 Baby Arm Circles Forward and Backward.

THA-THANG:

Mosey to beginning of the Dragon Tail.  We will do Route 66 up the Dragon Tail with Squat Jumps as the exercise.  Those getting to the top first circle back to the six and go up with them.

Mosey on perimeter trail to the stop sign by the road that goes to Admin Bldg.  We will do 20 Hello Dollies and 15 Merkins.

Mosey on perimeter trail until it gets close to Lyons Bend.  We will do 20 American Hammers and 15 Merkins.

Mosey to bottom of Mt Everest.  We will do 20 Flutter Kicks and 15 Merkins.

Mosey to the Utility Bldg.  We will do 20 Bicycle Kicks and 15 Merkins.

Mosey up the road from Northshore Gate until we hit parking lot on left.  We will do 20 Box Cutters and 15 Merkins.

Mosey to Parking Lot by Apartments.  We will do 20 Hello Dollies and 15 Merkins.

Mosey to roadway that goes by Outdoor Chapel.  We will do 20 Bench Dips at curb and 15 Merkins.

Mosey to parking lot that goes by new restrooms.  We will do 20 American Hammers and 15 Merkins.

Mosey to parking lot by entrance to ball parks.  We will do 20 Flutter Kicks and 15 Merkins.

Next, we will sprint from one curb in the parking lot to the other and back, doing 3 burpees at each curb.  We will Bernie Sanders from one curb to the other and back, doing 3 burpees at each curb.  We will rinse and repeat above.

Mosey to AO.

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

Some of you may have heard of a signer called Nightbirde.  Her actual name is Jane Marczewski.  At age 30 she has survived very difficult stints of cancer.  The first time she was diagnosed in 2017, she was told she would live for only 3 to 6 months.  She was cancer free after treatment but the cancer came back in 2018.  At that time, her husband of five years left her.  Through painful treatment she became cancer free again in July of 2020.  She went on to perform her own song, “It’s OK” in the 16th Season of America’s Got Talent in 2021.  Her song, “It’s OK” went to number one on I Tunes and number two on You Tube. Before the quarterfinals of American’s Got Talent, she announced she had cancer again and had to withdrawal.

Something that has been both surprising and inspirational about this 30-year-old woman is her faith in God through the torment and continuing battles with cancer.  Her relationship with God is certainly not a simple and sweet one.  But it has been very personal, and God wants us to have that same personal relationship with him.  She says:

“I am God’s downstairs neighbor, banging on the ceiling with a broomstick. I show up at His door every day. Sometimes with songs, sometimes with curses. Sometimes apologies, gifts, questions, demands. Sometimes I use my key under the mat to let myself in. Other times, I sulk outside until He opens the door to me Himself,” she continued. “I have called Him a cheat and a liar, and I meant it. I have told Him I wanted to die, and I meant it. Tears have become the only prayer I know. Prayers roll over my nostrils and drip down my forearms. They fall to the ground as I reach for Him. These are the prayers I repeat night and day; sunrise, sunset.”

Nightbirde proclaims that her relationship with God has grown through the process. She states:

“Call me bitter if you want to—that’s fair. Count me among the angry, the cynical, the offended, the hardened. But count me also among the friends of God. For I have seen Him in rare form. I have felt His exhale, laid in His shadow, squinted to read the message He wrote for me in the grout {of the bathroom floor}.

As for the name she chose to go by as a singer, Jane Marczewski says, “I want to be the bird that sings in anticipation of the good things that I trust are coming.”

Gents, let us take courage from the words of this small 30-year-old woman who weighs less than 100 pounds.  Let us count ourselves among the friends of God.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers for safe travels for Pusher and family to San Francisco on Thursday; for Corona Weight and his family as he will have over 180 days of travel with his job in 2022; for Rooney’s church family; for Swimmies and his family as they move to new home this week; and, for Jinxy and his family as his daughter, Carli, and his son-in-law, Hooker, are going to have another baby.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Asylum workout on Saturday will be at 8:30 am instead of 7:00 am.  Polar Bear Plunge will be at noon at fork in river near Townsend.

Opposite

THE SCENE: Nice evening, temps in 60s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
10 Burpees, 20 Side Straddle Hops, 8 Pinto Twists, 8 Twisties, 5 Taradactials forward and backward, 10 Windmills.
THA-THANG:

Mosey to the large southern parking lot just east of the outdoor chapel.

We will run four corners, doing the following exercises in each corner:  20 Hello Dollies, 20 Flutter Kicks, 20 Bicycle Kicks, 20 Box Cutters.  Rinse and Repeat.

Mosey to the perimeter trail that is close to the pavilion.  We will head east and then north on the perimeter trail, doing Run-Ten-Tens.  In honor of Rin-Tin-Tin we will bark three times before we get started.  We will do ten Big-Boys and ten Merkins, then run for 10 lights and repeat the exercises.  After doing the sets of exercises three times, the leaders circle back to the six.  We then start the pattern again.  We will stop once we reach the benches at the top of Cardiac.

At the benches we will rotate between 20 bench dips and 20 Jump Squats, repeating the pattern two times.

Mosey to parking lot opposite of the AO.  We will run from one curb down the long side of the parking lot to the other curb.  At the far curb we will do 10 incline merkins.  At the near curb we will do 10 decline merkins.  Rinse and repeat.

Mosey to AO.

MARY:
50 Baby Crunches (4 ct).
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
11 men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
The Opposite of What We Expect

As Christmas approaches, I think of the Christ that I worship, the man that Christians call God, King of Kings and Savior – and, I am amazed at how this Christ is so much the opposite of what the World expects a God to be.

  1. We would expect the King of Kings to be born in a castle.  Jesus was born in a trough for cattle.
  2. We would expect this Prince of Peace to surround himself with the religious leaders of his time, well-known men, wise men.  Jesus takes on fishermen, unknown men with little wealth as his disciples.
  3. We would expect the savior of the world to live and minister there for a long time.  Jesus dies at age 33 having only ministered for three years.
  4. We would the Holy of Holies to speak to the leaders and most respected.  Jesus ministered to all who had ears to hear and that included prostitutes, the blind, and the disrespected.
  5. In a world that looks on the rich and famous as lucky, Jesus said “Blessed are the meek, the poor in spirit and persecuted.”
  6. We would expect a King to slay his enemies or at least beat them down.  Jesus says to turn the other cheek.
  7. We would expect a King to have his servants to bow down before him and adorn him with the best of clothing.  Jesus, instead, acts like a servant, washing the feet of his disciples.
  8. We would expect our God to demand respect.  Jesus dies on a cross, allowing others to taunt, beat and spit on him.
  9. And, after such a death, we can expect to lose hope.  Jesus rises from the grave, allows us to touch his wounds, and says He is life everlasting.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Rooney’s mother who is having surgery this upcoming Monday.