F3 Knoxville

It’s just 6 reps…

THE SCENE: 60, wet, and raining. Truck Stop may have cushy turf fields, but nowhere to hide from the rain. Time to embrace the suck!
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH x25 IC
Cherry pickers x5 IC
LBAC x15 IC each way
Grady Corns x15
Imperial Walkers x15 IC
Tempo Sissy Squats x10 IC

THA-THANG:

Start in the parking lot:
1 lap around the lot, 24 Merkins at each end for 48 total.

Mosey to the Watt Rd field:
1 lap, 12 Merkins and 12 Iron Mikes at each corner for 48 reps of each exercise.

Mosey back to field #1:
1 lap, 8 merkins, 8 Iron Mikes, 8 hand-release dry docks at each corner plus midfield for 48 reps

Mosey to the upper field:
1 lap, run in a figure 8 to make 8 stops
6 merkins, 6 Iron Mikes, 6 hand-release dry docks, and 6 8-count body builders at each stop for 48 reps

Sure doesn’t sound like much, but we’re outta time!

MARY:
25x 4-ct LBC IC
25x Gas Pumpers
15x Side Plank Sags
2 rounds Row your Boat

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
7 HIM faithful this morning… About 6 more than I expected given Fall Break plus conditions…
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Matthew 5:45

The rain today brought this verse to mind… We often hear this passage in the context of how good and bad things happen to both good and bad people. But the real context is in showing love to your enemies as well as your loved ones. Both sunshine and rain are physical manifestations of God’s grace, mercy, and provision. He gives these most basic blessings freely to all. Jesus is telling us that showing love to all regardless of their status is the most basic way to be children of our Father.

MOLESKIN:
Good ol turf fields smelled like wet rubber this morning… Glad plenty of guys showed up so I didn’t have to decide whether or not to do this by myself… That last lap was only 6 reps of each exercise per stop… Not sure if I have ever looked less favorably at just 6.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
3rd F next weekend at the Bomb Shelter – 0700

Getting Off the Ground

THE SCENE: Upper 60s & Wet. But our benevolent Q kept us off the ground.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

WARM-O-RAMA:

  • Cherry Pickers IC | SSH IC
  • Windmills IC | Rockettes IC | Grady Corns IC

THA-THANG:

Mosey to flag for 7s: Dips & Pull-Ups

Descending four corners. Do 10 each of four exercises, one in each “corner”. After each lap, drop the rep count by one. Exercises were:

  • Burpees | BBS
  • Squat Jumps | Mountain Climbers

MARY:

  • No Time

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

11 PAX

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

No matter what conflict we encounter at work, at home, out in the world, we know we are not the first ones to be disliked, to be disrespected; we have a great example in Jesus who was spat on (because they were not observing COVID guidelines) and insulted and lied about and 1Peter2 tells us that “He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.” I hope you don’t face any conflict in your day today, but if you do, let that be our example. Let us lead with restraint and leave our case in the hands of a higher power.

MOLESKIN & ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Sign up for Hardship Hill

WHY DO WE SUFFER?

THE SCENE: Foggy but nice.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER✔
WARM-O-RAMA:

Cherry Pickers, Windmills, TN Rock’n Chair, Tempo Merkins, Temp Squats, Dancing Bear
THA-THANG:
The warm-up came to an end quickly.

  • AO-Flag Parking Lot Circuit – 25 Burpees, Run a Lap, 50 Merkins, Run a Lap, 75 Squats, Run a Lap, 100 SSH, Run a Lap.
  • Soccer Field DORA: Battle-Buddy Up – 200 Merkins, 150 Seal Squats – Recovery Run to Mid-Field and back.
  • Concrete Bleachers: Stairway to Calve Heaven – 25 Calf Raises every step (4 total), Box Jumping to next step every time. 3 Rounds for a total of 300 calf raises.
  • Mosey to Playground – Same Battle-Buddies – One runs length of parking lot and performs 3 Double Burpees before returning to start.  Other partner performs 10 Pull-ups, 15 Merkins, 20 Dips. 2 Rounds each.
  • Soccer Field: Bear Crawl entire length of field.
  • Long mosey back to AO Flag

MARY:
Nope
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
15 Strong + 2 FNGs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
It’s an age old question and one of the biggest reasons why people reject God – the problem of suffering.  If God were so loving, why would He allow us to suffer? You hear a lot: “Well, I just don’t know why this is happening to me” or “God just doesn’t answer the question of why we suffer” or “I don’t deserve this.” There are times (I believe few) when we just don’t know why we are suffering but to say God does not answer this question is just plain false. Don’t trust me – my words have little weight.  Trust the God of the Universe – His do:

1) Because of SINRomans 3:12, Mark 10:18.  There are no good people, not even one He says.  There is a song out by Luke Bryan that states “I believe most people are good.”  Luke Bryan doesn’t know Scripture.  God says not only the opposite but that NO ONE is good. All have turned away.  Sometimes I’ll hear “I just don’t deserve this.”  That’s right, you deserve worse. In my own life, I’m not shocked by the suffering when it comes.  What I’m shocked by is His overwhelming grace.  We deserve His wrath.  We do not deserve His grace.  King David’s life was filled with sin and the awful consequences of it – loss of an infant, wars with his children, never got to see the temple built.  Sometimes we suffer because of our sin.

2)  To Warn Others1 Kings 2.  As David did on his deathbed to his son, Solomon. “Be strong, act like a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires: walk in obedience to Him, and keep His decrees and commands, his laws and regulations…..”

3) To Affirm Our Commitment to Christ – 2 Timothy 3:12, 1 Peter 1:6-7.  If you are trying to live a Godly life, you WILL face persecution.  When it comes, you shouldn’t pray for the suffering to go away but that God will give you the boldness to do what He has called you to do.

4) To Produce Steadfastness, Endurance and Character – James 1:2-3. Have you ever considered that suffering may be for your own good?  “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything.” Want to get a good workout in spiritually, try suffering.

5) To Recalibrate Our Focus on Heaven – Romans 8:18-19.  Suffering can make us yearn for our real home – Heaven, with Jesus as King. “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  For creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.”

6) To Humble Us – 2 Corinthians 12:7.  The Apostle Paul was shipwrecked, beaten, imprisoned, mocked, rebuked by his kinsmen, and ultimately beheaded for Jesus.  “Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me. I pleaded with the Lord three times to take it away from me.  But, He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

When suffering comes we have two options: 1) We can reject God or 2) We can run to Him, embrace Him, and allow Him to transform us.  I REALLY like option 2.

MOLESKIN:
N/A
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
HH

Searching for Bilbo

THE SCENE: Beautiful, around 70, low humidity.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Welcome to F3, Fitness, Fellowship and Faith. F3 is a free workout program designed to improve fitness, share some camaraderie, and foster male leadership in the community.  I’m Pele and I will be your Q today.  I am not a professional, and I do not know your fitness level or injury history.  Please push yourself, but modify the workout as necessary to avoid making any existing injuries worse.  The goal is to get better together!  Some additional COVID-19 considerations: keep your distance between you and other members of the PAX and any other folks that we pass during moseys, etc. to 6-10 feet.  We will be splitting up into groups smaller than 10 if necessary.  We need to set good examples and be good neighbors out here at this public park, especially with so many folks out and about.


WARM-O-RAMA:

-20 Side Straddle Hops (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 Cherry Pickers (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 BAC forward and backward

– Little of this and that

– get in a line, high knees 20 yards, butt kickers 20 yards, Karaoke left 20 yards, Karaoke right 20 yards

THA-THANG:

Today is September 22, which is Bilbo Baggins’ birthday, also known as HOBBIT’S DAY! But (as you may know from reading or watching the Fellowship of the Ring) at his 111th birthday party, he vanished into thin air! One second he was standing there giving an overblown birthday speech, and then poof! He was gone!  We need to go find him.  Hobbits like being around hills, so we need to search the hills around here to see where he’s gone off to.  Ready??  .

Mosey to shallow amphitheater area. CONES at top and bottom

  • At Top cones do an AROUND THE WORLD (plank position, rotate around 360 degrees to look around) both directions.  Run down and circle bottom cones and go back to top cones.

Mosey to Area 51 Hills. Follow the cones down and read the instructions. COUNT OFF by 2’s.

  • FIRST CONE: No Bilbo. Start the search. 1’s do Jump Squats, 2’s lunge to the right for 20 sec, then back 20 sec, then Reverse.
  • SECOND CONE: No Bilbo. Start the search. 1’s do Iron Mikes, 2’s Bear Crawl 5/ do 5 Reps of CDDs for 20 sec, then back 20 sec, then reverse.
  • THIRD CONE: GOBLINS! We’ve been captured. BATAAN DEATH MARCH back to road and down to Area 51 parking lot. 1’s and 2’s in two lines, last 2 PAX in each line do 5 Prisoner Squats then race to catch up to the front of the line.

PRISONER CAMP (Parking Lot).  After that we are put into Hard Labor, forced to build one of their forts for the upcoming war. 10 Prisoner Get ups, BEAR CRAWL to wall (because we’re being whipped), 10 Prisoner Cell Merkin Burpees (PCMBs), BEAR CRAWL back.  Rinse and repeat, but only 5 reps of the exercise, and El Capitan back and forth instead of bear crawl.  Q’s note: This was harder than it sounded on paper!!

Mosey to TREES to the west.  ELVES appear! A BATTLE ensues!

  • 1s are Elves, 2s are Goblins. Pair off and face each other.  BURPEE BATTLE! Elves are better trained, quicker. They only need to do 8 burpees, the Goblins need to do 10.  Whoever wins each pair wins the battle. If more elves win than goblins, we are free.  Otherwise we continue the death march.  Elves do two more burpees at the end to make it fair.

Mosey to bottom of Everest.  One last big Hill to search…

  • Run up Everest to Base of Summit, using the secondary path by the big cedar tree.
  • Mosey to Roadshow Run stairway. Run up to top.
    • THERE’S BILBO, RIGHT BACK AT HOME WHERE WE STARTED!
    • A celebration is in order! 111 SIDE STRADDLE HOPS WITH OVERHEAD CLAPS!

MARY:
20 Hello Dollies (4-ct, IC)

20 BBS

ATMs

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
21 strong, including one FNG, FiliBilly!

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Today’s workout had a Lord of the Rings theme, obviously.  LotR is one of my favorite set of books and movies, yes, because of all the magic and dragons, and elves with pointy ears, but also because of some of the wonderful lessons that it contains.

  • Perseverance
  • Hope
  • Fighting for what’s good in the world
  • Resourcefulness

But I want to focus on two lessons in particular.  One is the concept of the FELLOWSHIP itself.  The FELLOWSHIP consisted of Nine individuals who were given an incredibly difficult task.  They were:

  1. A wizard (Gandalf)
  2. A King who was sort of a refugee and had not ascended to his throne. (Aragorn)
  3. An elf prince (Legolas)
  4. A Dwarf (Gimli)
  5. A Human prince (Baromir)
  6. And four hobbits (Frodo, Samwise, Pippen, Merry).

All of the members of this party were battle hardened and powerful representatives of their races.  They also had strong prejudices they had to overcome.  Elves and dwarves were sworn enemies.  The humans were subject to the temptations of the One ring.  No one trusted wizardsHobbits were just small and simple folk that can’t find their butt with two hands and aspire to nothing more than to grow a good pumpkin in their gardens.  And yet these 9 individuals bonded together, died for each other, and even the elf and dwarf became inseparable friends.  It kind of reminds me of our F3 Fellowship.  Heck, fellowship is the second “F” in our name!

The other lesson I wanted to bring up involved who stepped up and carried the Ring, which was an evil artifact that took a physical and mental toll on the bearer.  The Ring bearer was also the instant target of all the Evil minions in the land.  And yet it was not the wizard, the noble elf, the strong dwarf, the human royals that carried the ring.  It was the smallest among them, a simple hobbit who had never left his home that volunteered to carry the burden.  As the Elf Queen Galadriel tells Frodo, “Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.”  Sometimes today’s problems seem insurmountable.  No matter how helpless or insignificant you feel in such a troubled world, take comfort in the fact that God has a plan and purpose for your life, and all people, large or small, can be used for His Glory.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers of thanks for the successful surgery on Jinxy’s wife, and that our brother Pinto is gaining strength in his battle with multiple myeloma. Welcome to FNG Filibilly!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
2nd F opportunity at Abridged Wed 9/23 7 pm!

Kaizen

THE SCENE: Sweater Weather
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

-SSH (4ct IC) x15
-5 burpees
-cherry pickers (4ct IC) x5
-3 Navy Seal burpees
-baby arm circles forward (4ct IC)
-baby arm circles reverse (4ct IC)

THA-THANG:
5,4,3,2,1 – Burpees (Change) 

10 – Squats (Stay the same )

-5 Navy seal burpees
-10 sumo squats

Mosey to rocks

-5 rock-ees
-10 narrow squats

Mosey to basket ball court (circle)

-5 burpees
-10 normal squats

Mosey to splash pad (long cut)

MARY:
-merkins x25
-flutter kicks (4ct IC) x50
-merkins x50
-V-ups (4ct IC) x20
-Ring of fire merkins x3
-LBCs (4ct IC) x50

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:
“If you aren’t getting better, you are getting worse” Charles Barkley

Japanese mentality of Kaizen “continuously improve”

MOLESKIN:

Welcome FNG – Ponzy

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Hardship hill 10/3/20