F3 Knoxville

Tag: Goober

Revealing Our Brokenness

THE SCENE: Cloudy, temp about 32 degrees
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Windmills, 15 Second Squat, 10 Rockettes, 30 Second Squat, 10 Baby Arm Circles Forward and Backward, 60 Second Squat

THA-THANG:
Mosey to CMU parking lot.  Instead of CMUs, each man grabs a pair of bricks which will be along east curb of parking lot.  We will Dora.  While partner one does exercises listed below with the bricks, the other man runs to other curb, does 10 Rocky Balboa, and runs back to replace partner with the exercises.  Here are the exercises with the bricks:

  • 100 Overhead Presses
  • 100 Curls
  • 100 Rows (brick at each side)
  • 100 Triceps (brick on either side of head)
  • 100 Punches (both hands = 1)
  • 100 Wings Up
  • 100 Wings Down
  • 100 Wings Out

Put bricks down.  Mosey to Mini Cardiac.  We will Bernie to Park Sign then sprint to crosswalk.

Mosey to Stop Sign at Northeast Corner of Admin Bldg.  We will stop to do 20 American Hammers.

Mosey to small parking lot below the Coliseum.  We will do Doras again.  This time, while one partner does exercises, the other runs up stairs, left on Coliseum sidewalk, and down to the driveway to small parking lot to reunite with partner who will then make the same run.  These are the exercises the partners will work on:

  • 100 Hello Dollies (4 ct)
  • 100 Squat Jumps
  • 100 Merkins (4 ct)
  • 100 Iron Mikes (both feet = 1)
  • 100 Flutter Kicks (4 ct)

Mosey to parking drive by apartments and soccer fields. We will do 20 Bicycle Kicks.

Mosey to parking lot that is south of playground.  20 Squats.

Mosey to Mini Cardiac.  We will, once again Bernie to Park Sign then sprint to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
26 men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
The Lord is close to all who call on Him, yes, to all who call on Him in truth.  Psalm 145:18

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

And it’s no, nay, never
No, nay never no more
Will I play the wild rover
No never no more.     —  Old Irish Folk Song

I used to belong to a Sunday School class in a church that I formerly went to that had nice, intelligent, and friendly people in it.  I found myself missing something in the class, however.  What it took me some time to realize was that people weren’t opening up in the class.  They freely talked about worshipping God, about helping others, about walking the right kind of life – but they weren’t revealing themselves in the process.  They talked about how “people” needed to apply the Bible’s lessons to their lives but not about how those lessons should be applied to their own lives. They weren’t talking about the true challenges they faced in their Christian journey. They weren’t talking about their BROKENNESS.  I remember wishing people would talk from their hearts.  I remember one woman in the class being more likely to do so.  I followed her example one time but no one else in the class did.  And, after a time, I figured, “heck, I’m not going to talk about my problems if no one else does.”  And so, I withdrew and finally just left the class.  Maybe I should have confronted the class.  Instead, I found a church where people do freely reveal themselves.

Men, it is important to REVEAL ourselves to God and to others we can trust.  We are broken creatures in so many ways.  As humans, we mess up!  We find ourselves making the same mistakes, sinning in the same ways, despite our promises to ourselves that we will not do the same thing again.  I certainly find myself making the same mistakes over and over.  It as if sin is inherent in my nature.  And, if we believe the Bible, SIN TRULY IS IN OUR INHERENT NATURE.  In the Old Irish Folk Song above, the singer proclaims “never no more will I play the wild rover” (i.e. drinking so much that one gets snockered).  Yet, the song is one that is sung with the comic knowledge that one absolutely will play the wild rover again, when the hangover is gone and the temptation arises. Despite our best claims to stop the sin within us, we sin again and again.  This could be in regards to many different things:  pornography, greed, animosity, overuse of power, coveting, prejudice, infidelity, or just plain worrying too much.  If we truly look at ourselves, consider every sinful part of ourselves – we are likely to feel great shame and may want to give up on ourselves.

But, we have a great and glorious God.  We have a God that actually wants us to reveal that sinful part of ourselves to Him.  He wants to know us fully.  And what happens to us when we truly reveal ourselves to Him?  LOVE happens.  Think about what happens here in F3 when a brother reveals his brokenness to the group. Do his brothers turn their backs on Him and run away?  Do they smite him?  Do they ignore him?  I think not.  They embrace him.  They let him know that they understand.  And, as his brother, they see themselves in him.  They know that they too have messed up, have been broken.  When God sees us revealing ourselves to one another, He Smiles from Above.  He celebrates.  He say, “Now that is what I want my children to do!”  Because through that revealing, we heal.  We get the feedback of love from our fellow man and from God.  And, it when we are strengthened by love, that is when we can experience True Change.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers to end racism and for our country to be more united.  Prayers for wife of Ribbed, praise for healing of Choir Boy’s wife, praise for Cap’n Crunch’s 25 wedding anniversary, prayers for Cheatsheet in the care of his mother and daughter, prayers for Veggie’s safe return back to college in the state of Michigan.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP from 6:30 am to 9 am at Asylum on Saturday, January 30.

Success in Catastrophe

THE SCENE: Partly cloudy, temp in mid-forties.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side-Straddle-Hops, 10 Pinto Twists, 10 Tempo Squats, 10 Windmills, 10 Tempo Merkins, 6 Wide Arm Circles Forward and Backward
THA-THANG:
Mosey to Southern Ball Fields Parking Lot.  We will run suicides to cones, always doing 15 Baby Crunches each time we come back.  Rinse and Repeat.

Mosey to perimeter trail just south of the pavilion.  We will head east and then north on the trail, doing Nickel, Dime, Quarters with the following exercises:

  • Star Jumps
  • Merkins
  • Big Boy Sit-ups.
  • Squats

At the Serpentine Sidewalk we will mosey to the Caribbean Parking Lot.  We will do 20 American Hammers.

Next, we will mosey to the CMU pile.  Each man grabs a CMU and takes it to the corner of the parking lot close to the Northern Ball Fields Entry Gate.  We will divide into teams of two for Doras.  While one team member runs (without CMU) to the Pavilion and does 10 Picnic Table Pull-ups, then runs back, the other team member is working on the exercises listed below.  Then partners trade places.  Each team will do the following exercises with the CMUs:

  • 100 Overhead Presses
  • 100 Curls
  • 100 Rows
  • 100 Squats
  • 100 Bench Presses (back on ground)

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
14 present, no FNGs.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

John 16:33 ~ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

I saw a short news blurb on television the other day about Sumner Redstone, who died on August 11 of this year. He was a very successful business man.  He was chairman and majority owner of the National Amusements Theatre Chain as well as Viacom/CBS.  The news segment had an interview of Mr. Redstone.  There was something that this billionaire said in the interview that stuck to me.  He said, “Success is built on catastrophe and what you do about it.”

I want to remember that phrase.  Here was an owner of many different businesses who became a billionaire.  Yet, he was a man who didn’t expect things to go smoothly in his ventures.  In fact, he expected disaster to occur.  It is how one acts when faced with inevitable disasters that determines how successful we are.

Gents, life is going to hand us some messes in our future.  That’s just the way it is.  The question is not whether we will face catastrophe – because we will – but how we respond to the crises.  And, knowing that fact, it is also nice to know we have loved ones and a group of brothers we can talk to when we face the difficult circumstances.  We don’t have to face tribulations alone.  Those loved ones and our brothers are a gift from God, in my opinion.  Jesus said, “Wherever two or more are gathered in my name, I am present.”

Life is not a smooth ride.  But can turn our catastrophes into success.  Remember, God is there for you in those moments.  And, so are your brothers and the people who love you.  God and your brothers are there to strengthen you and to help you rise to the challenge.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Ribbed’s wife, Sarah, after her spinal surgery. Prayers of Doubtfire’s father who was recently diagnosed with Covid and for Mr. Jinxy’s father who was diagnosed with Covid several weeks ago.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP at the Asylum on Saturday, January 30 from 6:30 am to 9 am.  Also, we can order new Asylum Shirts, designed by Kentucky, on the F3 Mudgear website.

The Dark Night Rises

THE SCENE: Blustery, 40s and dark as a closet. Perfect night for a beatdown.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:

I informed the PAX that we would be having fun tonight, completing the five F’s (Fitness, Faith, Fellowship, Free-99, and Fun). Disclaimer, no lawsuit required from the mothership for branding infringements.

WARM-O-RAMA:

  • SSHs x 25 (4-count)
  • Imperial Walkers x 10 (4-count)
  • Tempo Squats
  • Tempo Merkins x 10

THA-THANG:

Pickett’s Charge

  • Run to the Asylum, touch the building and back to the Coliseum for box cutters.
  • Mosey down to the stop sign for Tempo Squats and Air Squats x 10.

Everest / Space Station in The Pitch Dark

  • 2 Trips down Everest: Merkins x 20, LBCs x 20, and Jump Squats x 20 during each trip to the bottom. First trip to the top of the Space Station and the second rendezvous at the top of Everest for Transition box cutters/star gazers.

Stop Sign Non-sense 

  • If my memory serves me correctly, we focused on form and did additional merkins and LBCs.

Parking Lot Suicides

  • Self-explanatory, but at the end we sprinted up Baby Everest.

MARY:
Hello Dollies x 100. Kudos to Brick who never slowed up for a second.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Yeah, so…
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
That was four days ago, but I bet it was compelling.
MOLESKIN:
Head lamp was helpful for the hills in the dark. I should have posted earlier in the day for other people to bring a few.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The Bell Lap

THE SCENE: Perfect, upper 50s, light breeze
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Done, with emphasis on CORONA guidelines.

WARM-O-RAMA:

-20 SSH, (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 Windmills (4-ct), in cadence

– Back stretches. Stay in down position, reach one arm up, hold for 10 s, reverse arms

– 32 Grady Corns, (4-ct), in cadence

– Go to curb, do calf stretches.

THA-THANG:

MOSEY to Serpentine Sidewalk.

2-4-6s.  Run two light poles, do 2×5 (10) of the exercise and run back to starting point.  Run 4 light poles and do 4×5 (20) of the exercise and run back.  Run 6 light poles and do 6×5 (30) of the exercise, then hold a plank. DON’T run back.  Rinse and repeat using a different exercise, continuing down path and to base of Cardiac.  Exercises:

  • Froggy Jumps
  • CDDs
  • American Flutters (Flutter kicks in the American Hammer “V” formation) (2-CT)

MOSEY to Bottom of Cardiac.  Same idea.  Run up to first turn, do 10 reps of ALL THREE EXERCISES, (FROGGY JUMPS, CDDs, AMERICAN FLUTTERS) return to start.  Run to SECOND turn and do 20 Reps of the three exercises and return to first curve.  Run to Top and do 30 reps of the three exercises and stop there.  RESPECT and DOUBLE RESPECT guys can opt out of running one return leg. (to my knowledge, no one took me up on that.  HIMs… *shoulder shrug*)

MOSEY to parking lot across from AO.  Do YULE LOG LAPS (cones laid out in a rectangular log shape):

  • Short-side 1: Bear Crawl
  • Long-side 1: 50/75/100/75/50 (% effort) sprint
  • Short-Side 2: El Capitan
  • Long-side 2: Bernie Sanders
  • 5 Merkins at each corner.
  • Rinse and Repeat until Q uses a special signal (Ringing of a bell) to indicate one more lap from where you are, AYG.  This is the Bell Lap!
  • 15 Burpees in the middle when last lap is finished. (15 days until Christmas)

MOSEY to AO.

MARY:
Static leg raises (on 6, back off ground, one leg bent, other leg held up with ankle above knee) 30 s one leg, 30 s other leg; Captain Thors; Homer/Marge

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Fourteen men and a dog. (Speed Flash, Asher, Crawdad’s 2.0, not tagged)

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

In track, any race that has multiple laps has a “Bell Lap”, that alerts the runners that they are on the last lap and they need to give it all they’ve got to finish the race strong. It’s a signal to the runner to get his or her head right, bear down, and give it everything they have.  As we approach the middle of December, I feel like we are in the Bell Lap of probably the most challenging year any of us has experienced.  But there is Hope!  There is a finish line in sight! Vaccines are on the way.  Our knowledge as to how to keep ourselves safe, and treatment options are evolving and improving all the time.  But just as the last lap in a race is the most difficult, because you are exhausted physically and mentally, so too is this last push of isolation, remote schooling, unemployment, food insecurity, loneliness, etc. the most challenging to bear.

In the Christian faith, this time of year is also the Bell Lap as we anticipate the arrival of Christ.  We are in the Advent season, and “Advent” means Coming, or Arrival.  In just a few short weeks we celebrate the coming of the Lord, the birth of Jesus, who taught us, walked with us, and ultimately paid for our sins with his life.  So my message today is a simple one.  Both with the virus situation and with our Faith, We are in the Bell Lap.  Don’t give up.  Finish strong. Have Hope.  God is Coming. Hallelujah, God is Coming.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for the wives of Curveball and Ribbed as they go through surgeries and recoveries, prayers for Abacus and his family, prayers for a friend of Crawdad’s who’s relatives have had serious COVID scares.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
None

No Measure

THE SCENE: Clear sky with temp at about 33 degrees.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Run around parking lot, 25 Side-Straddle Hops, 20 Plank Jacks, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Rockettes, 7 Twists, 7 Wide Arm Circles Forward and Backward
THA-THANG:
Mosey to start of Serpentine Sidewalk.  We will do 14’s on the sidewalk until it hits the perimeter trail.  We will Bear Crawl for one light, then run for four and continue this pattern until the perimeter trail.

Next, we will do 20 American Hammers.

Then we will head south on the Perimeter Tail doing nickel, dime, quarters with the following exercises until we get to the southern ball field pavilion:

  • Jump Squats
  • Merkins
  • Smurf Jacks

Mosey to large parking lot by the southern ball fields.  We will Bernie from one end of the parking lot to the other stopping at each large lamppost to do 20 Big Boys Sit-ups.  We will Skip back stopping at each light to do 10 Hand Release Merkins

Mosey to roadway that heads back to A0.  Stop to do 20 Squats.

Mosey to Caribbean.  We will alternate between Karaoke Right and Karaoke Left stopping at every fourth island to do 10 Iron Mikes (both legs = 1)

Mosey to AO.

MARY:
25 Baby Crunches (4 ct)
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
21 Men with no FNGs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I was listening to a sermon by Shawn Slate, the pastor at my church, and he quoted a line from a book called When God Interrupts by M. Craig James.  The line, which really struck me, is: “There is no better way to lose your life than to constantly measure it.”

We get into trouble when we start measuring our life against the successes of others or against the “shoulds” that we create for ourselves.  I do not mean that goals are unimportant.  Goals give us something to strive for.  But, they can lead to the loss of a relationship with God.  They can keep us from truly seeing the virtue, the struggle, and the stories in other people.  If we are continually measuring our own lives we are probably ignoring the lives of others.  Our lives become one more item to mark off our checklist in our path to greatness.  And we end up playing the game the world wants us to play:  to have the nicest car, to get the best job, to move into the richest neighborhood.  We climb up the latter to success and ignore God’s world around us.

In God’s kingdom, our worldly measures of success don’t matter.  Jesus said, “The last shall be first and the first shall be last.”  And what did Jesus, the messiah, the king, do before his death?  What did he do to show the disciples what it is to be great in heaven?  He got on his knees and washed the feet of each one of them.  He served them.

In the same service that my pastor preached, our congregation sang a communion hymn called Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken.  One of the lines in the song is “With thy favor, loss is gain.”

Perhaps part of being a High Impact Man is giving up the ways I measure myself as successful and giving up the ways I compare myself to others.  Rather, I should focus more on serving others, on washing the feet of fellow sinners, be willing to sit at the end of the row versus the front of it.  It is there that I am apparently much more likely to find God’s favor.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Corona Weight’s brother, Jared, whose parole hearing was extended from November to March.  He remains in prison.  After having an amputated thumb replaced he must have it removed again and, hopefully, replaced later.  Prayers for Curve Ball’s wife who is having surgery in Florida; for Goober’s step-grandmother who was recently diagnosed with Covid-19; and for Ribbed’s wife who will have surgery to remove a tumor at her spine on December 14.  Prayers for the vaccines for the coronavirus, that they may be effective and that they reach the world’s population quickly.