F3 Knoxville

Hardship

THE SCENE: Insert info about the weather, etc.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side-Straddle-Hops.  5 Burpees.  10 Windmills.  4 Burpees.  10 Rockettes.  3 Burpees.  10 Little Baby Arm Circles Forward.  2 Burpees.  10 Little Baby Arm Circles Backwards.  1 Burpee.  Little of This and That.
THA-THANG:
Mosey to Caribbean.  We will run around Caribbean stopping at cones to do the exercises listed.  We will then Bernie around and do the same exercises.  Next we will Butt Kick around with the exercises.  Next, we will High Knees around with the exercises.  Finally we will run around again with the exercises.  Here are the exercises:

  • 20 Merkins
  • 20 Jump Squats
  • 20 Big Boy Sit-ups
  • 20 Star Jumps
  • 20 Hello Dollies (4 ct).

Pickets Charge to Coliseum.

We will stop to do 20 American Hammers and 20 Flutter Kicks.  Next, we will do two loops around sidewalk that goes by admin bldg.  At Coliseum area we do 20 Bench Dips.  At steps of Admin Bldg we do 20 Calve Raises.

Gander from the Coliseum at Beautiful Water and Mountains in the distance.

Mosey to parking lot with CMUs.  Each man grabs a CMU.  We will do the following exercises:

  • 30 Overhead Presses
  • 30 Curls
  • 30 Rows

Next we will split into two teams.  There will be two CMUs set up at western end of parking lot.  Team members line up.  The first member of Team One and Team Two throw frisbees at their particular CMU on the other side of the parking lot.  Whoever has the frisbee farthest from their CMU must run with their team to end of parking lot and back, grabbing both frisbees.  Then the next team members do the same thing.  If Team One always wins they will always be watching while Team 2 is running and vice versa.  Hopefully, it will be a fairly even split.

Replace CMUs.  Sprint back to AO.

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

Seeing the Opportunity in Hardship

James 1:2-4

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

We read in Self-Help Books, learn from experts, and hear from the wise among us that hardships help us to grow.  And, if we look back on difficulties we have faced in our own lives when we were younger, we can see how life challenges have helped us to grow stronger.  If we can remember this principle, “that hardship helps us grow”, we may be able to face our current challenges in a more optimistic way and forego much of the anxiety and angst that can sometimes bewilder us.

So often in the midst of challenges, anxiety can get the best of us.  We face fear and may think things like:  Why is this happening to me?  I don’t have what it takes to do this.  I am not strong enough.  I wish this would just go away.

I have a patient who is a female in her senior year of high school.  She copes with social anxiety, a condition where she gets very anxious in public situations.  Yet, she got a job as a hostess at an Aubrey Restaurant.  She has liked the job and has found that she has been able to interact well with the customers who come in to eat at the restaurant.  I have been so proud of her.  Here is a young person who has social anxiety, yet is working in a very public setting where she is seeing new people constantly.

Although she likes the job, she is facing hardships there.  The job can be very stressful when the restaurant gets crowded and busy.  The waiters and waitresses, who are friendly to my client, can still get harried when too many customers are seated in their area.  Also, my patient must face the ire and wrath of customers who have been waiting for a table and get impatient.  Who is the frontline person that these impatient customers see?  The hostess.  So it is my patient who receives their angry comments and complaints.  That is difficult for a young teenager to take, especially when she has an anxiety disorder.

But think about what my patient is learning in the face of these challenges.  If she can handle these hardships now, think about how much better she will be prepared for challenges she will face in college and as an adult in a profession.  Life isn’t always going to be cozy.  If she can handle these early challenges then she will be better able to handle the disappointment of customers she serves at future jobs whatever jobs those might be. She will be able to tolerate negative comments of bosses or supervisors and handle the mistakes she will inevitably make as an employee or young professional in the future.  The hardship she is facing now, with the corresponding discomfort in the pit of her stomach, is actually building strength in her, making her a higher impact woman.  It certainly helped my patient to be able to see this – to think that what is leading to anxiety within her is also helping her to grow.

In the face of hardship, the lesson that the hardship is helping us to grow can be difficult to remember.  But, if we can remember that principal, it will help us to face the challenge better.  The next time you experience anxiety, think about that.  Maybe anxiety isn’t a totally bad thing.  Maybe it is a natural response to a challenge that we can learn from.  And maybe that anxiety in hardship that we are feeling now will be replaced by the growth we experience from it.  As our brother, Tank, would say:  Hardship Hill is a mighty fine thing!!

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for those coping with coronavirus; for those dealing with solitude or illness where they don’t have the opportunity to gather with friends like we do in F3; for our country do end racism; praise for Curveball’s wife doing well with her surgery; prayers for Ribbed and his wife as she has surgery this Monday to remove a tumor by her spine – we pray the surgery goes well and that the tumor is benign.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Birthday Triple Q on Saturday, December 26 where the three Q leaders will provide Hot Toddy drinks after the workout!

The Hills Are Alive With The Sounds of F3

THE SCENE: Nice Day! Chilly at 7:00 am start mid 40s. Clear sky
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Follow the Covid recommendation’s …. I am worse than any amateur, modify as necessary. We are going to do some hills today.

WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH X 15 , Butterfly Stretch ( Coach Dunn’s advice always appreciated), IT Band/Hip band stretch, quad stretch, arm circles, 5 Burpees. ( Pluto has no rhythm so the counting is always off a little )

THA-THANG:

The goal for this workout was to hit each of the primary hills in the Asylum AO. While planning the workout Pluto realized that an appropriate theme was the movie the Sound of Music. At multiple points in the workout the Pax sang the “The Hills are alive with the sound of F3” The singing was high spirited, but not in tune.

  • Run from AO start to base of Everest. At Everest Base: 20 Beachball  Merkins & 20 LBCs
  • Run up Everest – Al Gore till 6 up then Mosey to Stop sign. At Stop Sign 15 Squats with 5 second hold at bottom. Mosey to bathroom building at base of Picketts Hill.
  • Run up Pickets Hill with 5 Burpees at each plateau ( 5 Plateaus & 25 burpees if the hard side was chosen) Mosey down to Picnic Tables
  • Picnic Tables – 15 Picnic Table Pull Ups, 15 Dips, 20 Merkins in parking lot. Rinse & Repeat 2x. Did a few yoga stretches and core at  flagpole then mosey between ballfields to base of Cardiac Hill.
  • Run up Cardiac Hill with 10 Imperial walkers at every second light ( We sang the Hills Are alive at Base and put a headlock on a passing walker )
  • Mosey to CMUs… 20 Curls, 20 Overheads, 20 rows with CMUs Rinse & Repeat x 2 then mosey to base of Baby Cardiac Hill.
  • Up & Down Baby Cardiac Hill 3 x with LBCs or Ankle touch core work at base x 20.
  • Finished together running up final hill to AO start point while singing “Climb Every Mountain”

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
24 Pax got better this fine morning! Pele, Drum Major, Waffle House, Lillydipper, Hot Tub, Hooker, Jumbo, Mickey, G String, Convoy, Choir Boy, Matlock, Dung Beatle, Gilligan, Abacus, Gobbler, Swimmies, High Heels, Crawldad,
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Pluto shared how one of his favorite movies to watch during the Christmas season was the Sound of Music. As we hit the four hills of the Asylum AO this morning the song the Hills are alive with the sound of F3 was an appropriate theme. It is a rare that we do all four of these hills in a workout. Only have time to do so on a 1 hour Saturday. As we finished the workout the song ” Climb Every Mountain” was a closing song and finished  the Sound of Music workout  theme nicely. Pluto then shared 10 points of Trivia related to the Sound of Music and a tie in to leadership lessons from the Sounds of Music that were in a Forbes Magazine article a few years ago.

Sound of Music Trivia:

The Von Trapps did escape Austria as the Nazis came to power, but they didn’t flee over the Alps, they got on a train to Italy and then traveled to America, where they had a concert tour scheduled. The day after they left, Hitler ordered the Austrian borders shut.

When they left Austria, Baron von Trapp and Maria had already been married for years and had two children of their own, with another on the way.

When the von Trapps came to America they settled in Stowe, Vermont. They opened the Trapp Family Lodge, which is operational to this day.

The Sound of Music was the eighth and final musical written by Rodgers and Hammerstein, but Hammerstein never saw the movie. He died of stomach cancer nine months after the Broadway premiere.

“Edelweiss” was the last song Oscar Hammerstein ever wrote, the production of the movie had to stop for two hours to teach all of the extras the words to the song for that scene.

When it came to the movie, Julie Andrews wasn’t the first choice for Maria! Producers wanted Grace Kelly or Doris Day to replace her.

Sean Connery, Richard Burton and Bing Crosby were in the running to play Captain von Trapp, before the role went to relative newcomer Christopher Plummer.

Kurt Russell and Richard Dreyfuss also auditioned to be von Trapp children.

While filming the iconic opening scene, twirling in the hills of Austria, Andrews kept getting knocked down in the mud by the gusts from the helicopter carrying the camera.

Adjusted for inflation, it’s one of the highest grossing films ever made, right behind Gone With the Wind and Star Wars.

It had the longest first run in U.S. cinemas ever at four and a half years.

Forbes Magazine: Four Leadership Lessons from Maria Von Trapp 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/geoffloftus/2016/05/28/four-leadership-lessons-from-maria-von-trapp-julie-andrews/?sh=3c7d0e4210c6

MOLESKIN:

As we prayed together we as HIMS so often pray for our significant others and others in the Pax undergoing spoken challenges. Please remember that each of us has our own challenges each day & that all of us are going through something. Remember to pray for all the unspoken needs of our Pax and fellow f3’ers
ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The workout was followed by a well attended and enjoyed coffee time at Panera.

Thanksgiving Buffet – And Pie

THE SCENE: Surprisingly warm, post rain
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Appetizer:  SSH (4ct) x 25; CP x 5; Tie Fighters x 13 each way
THA-THANG:
We all jump in the family station wagon for a trip to grandma’s house for dinner (Mosey up the hill to the lower trail.  The buffet has been set out and we work our way around, filling the plate:

  • Mashed potatoes and gravy = Tempo squats x 25
  • Dressing (and more gravy) = American Hammers x 25
  • Turkey and Cranberry Sauce = Tempo Merkins x 25
  • Sweet Potato Casserole = Smurf Jacks (4 ct) x 25
  • Brussel Sprouts roasted with bacon = Hello Dollies (4 ct) x 25
  • Yeast Rolls = Carolina Dry Docks x 25

We know we’re gonna have seconds, so we head back around to earn those extra portions.  At each station, we take turns giving thanks to something in particular.

  • Next is dessert:  Mosey to the overlook to earn some pie with 10 8 count man-makers.
  • Finally, it’s time to do the dishes.  Run the loop at the overlook (it is shaped like a platter, after all).  Then mosey back to the AO
    MARY:
    Just enough time for Waffle House to lead us in some ATMs and a couple BBQ squats and we’re done.
    COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

    CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
    1863 was one of the worst years in our country’s history.  And yet, President Lincoln saw fit to proclaim the last Thursday of November a National Day of Thanksgiving, the first time it was a national holiday.  We should all read that proclamation from time to time to remind us of the bounty that God’s grace has bestowed upon us, even if it is not immediately apparent.  You can read it here:  http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/thanks.htm  

  • As Paul said: “for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”  Rom 8:18
    MOLESKIN:
    Prayer requests:  Ribbed and his family; Cheatsheet’s mom and for national healing; Assfault’s family; Full House’s wife and family; safe travels for those on the road.
    ANNOUNCEMENTS:
    Happy Thanksgiving.  Let’s spend a moment of quiet contemplation on what we should be truly thankful for and recognize that those things flow from God’s grace and mercy.

Fear the Cardboard

THE SCENE: Mid 30s, clear and calm. Not too many more days until all the leaves are gone and the AO is clean again…
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH x20 IC
Tempo Merkins x10 IC
Crabettes x10 IC
LBAC x10 IC each way
Tempo Squats x10

THA-THANG:
Grab a CMU and circle up.
Bunch of dudes today, so a few (including YHC) were resigned to Murder Blocks. I gotta get a weight on those things.

Working independently today. Not a race, concentrate on form!

Cardboard wienkie as follows:

15 Up & Over Merkins (L+R=1)
30 Upright Row
20 Squat Thrust
30 Curls
30 Tri Ext
30 CMU LBC
30 CMU Swing
20 Hand-Release Derkin
20 Lawn Mowers (each side)
15 Twist Lunge (each leg)
20 OHP each arm (or 50 with both arms)
20 ALPOs
20 V-ups
Total reps add to 500… But start over at the top when you finish.
No running on the schedule today, but take a lap any time you need one.

MARY:
10x LBC IC. Felt super easy without the blocks.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Lucky 13 for today’s 500 o’ fun!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Short. Doesn’t mean it’s easy:
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.
MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Coat drive still ongoing! Check out the new Service Opportunities channel on Slack

Omaha to Paris

THE SCENE: Couldn’t be a nicer morning
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Lots of on-time pax this morning! Stalled with some Michael Phelps or something while we waited on the stragglers, and did burpees in honor of Swimmies’ on-time (for him) arrival. Then it was time to get going. I read an article on the op-ed page of the New York Times ( https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/06/opinion/memories-from-normandy.html ) that got me thinking I’d like to meet the author, who lived in Sweetwater.
THA-THANG:
Down to the CMUs. 5 rounds of Keepaway, or whatever that game is called. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot in between rounds. Team 1 won, although numerous lawsuits have been filed and the outcome will be contested until the recounts are over and the results have been certified.

Clint’s mom thought she outsmarted the US Army by sending Clint to typists school to keep him out of the draft. He was sent instead to the 82nd Airborne, 512th Glider Infantry.

There was work to do at the Cloud. Stepdowns, LBCs, Box cutters.

Jack Webb showed up…easily the least welcome guest at any workout.

Clint trained in Africa and was dropped into Italy. Fought his way past Mt Vesuvius, which he sketched in his secret and illegal diary.

Moseyed to the dock, practiced some Junk Science – like 90% of us are statistically entitled to 10 more years.

Clint Riddle got into a glider again and landed somewhere near Sainte Mere Eglise, and they fought their way into France.

Operation Overlord, our tribute to those guys. Omaha (Beach) to Paris. It’s almost a half a mile, and it’s all uphill. It is not easy.

Back to back Have a Nice Days, mosey home, ATM.

MARY:
Ain’t nobody got time for that

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Clinton Riddle stayed a Private until the war was over and he was finally discharged. He came home to Sweetwater, married, had kids, became a bi-vocational pastor, and started talking about his experience of war in his 90s, when he was one of the few people left to talk about them. He spent 3 hours one morning with me and my sons, telling us about every part of his time in battle. Pvt Riddle died last December. He was 98 years old.
MOLESKIN:
With gratitude to Clinton Riddle and everyone who serves selflessly. With gratitude to the men of F3.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
I owe Jumbo breakfast – INCREDIBLE Omaha-to-Paris sprint.