F3 Knoxville

Tag: High-Heels

The Value of Giving

THE SCENE: Just about perfect. Partly cloudy, slight breeze, high 60s.
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 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 Windmills (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 BACs forward/10 BACs backward (4-ct), in cadence (1/2 were wide-arm circles)

– 10 Tempo Squats (4-ct), in cadence

THA-THANG:

MOSEY to front of Admin Bldg.

  • Count off by 4s. 1’s and 2’s do 50 CALF RAISES, 3’s and 4’s do 50 AMERICAN HAMMERS. Run to the corner of the loop and back, then do the other exercise, then run again.  Alternate 20 SQUATS/10 MERKINS until 6 catches up.
  • RINSE AND REPEAT. But this time do 50 CDDs and 50 GRADY CORNS (single count)

MOSEY to stop sign at southeast corner of the circle drive.

– UPHILL SPRINTS.  Four sets of cones will be laid out up the road, about 40 yards apart.  Sprint from one cone to the next in same groups of 4.  One of the sprints will be a BERNIE SANDERS.

MOSEY to Bowl Area south of Admin Bldg.

TRAINING FOR MARCH MADNESS!:

Start at the base of the hill.  Defensive basketball stance. Backpedal left shoulder x 4, Right Shoulder x 4, RINSE AND REPEAT, Charge up the hill, 5 Bobby Hurleys.

Wait until 6 catches up, and rinse and repeat x4 (1st half/2nd half/overtime/double OT*). *We didn’t get to Double OT due to a wedding engagement situation.  Q considered calling an audible to Pickle Pounders, but resisted.

MOSEY to Bat house.

– GRINDERS! 4 STATIONS:

  1. BAT HOUSE: 25 SMURF JACKS
  2. BOTTOM OF STAIRS: 25 BBS
  3. BOTTOM OF SUMMIT: 10 Burpees
  4. TOP OF SUMMIT: 25 LBCs.

Do two rounds, then meet at Base of Summit for one last charge up to the top, staggered (1s, 2s, 3s, 4s). PAX had option of doing Burpees at the top or cheering on their fellow PAX as they ran up.  Good participation on the latter option.  Didn’t see one burpee being performed…

MARY:

  • 20 American Hammers (4-ct), in cadence
  • 20 Box Cutters (4-ct), in cadence
  • Xs and Os
  • 10 Leg Lifts

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
17 strong!

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Katharine Hepburn, in her own words [paraphrased]:

“Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus.  Finally, there was only one other family between us and the ticket counter.  There were eight children, all probably under the age of 12. The way they were dressed, you could tell they didn’t have a lot of money, but their clothes were neat and clean.

The children were well-behaved, all of them standing in line, two-by-two behind their parents, holding hands. They were so excited, jabbering about the clowns, animals, and all the acts they would be seeing that night. By their excitement you could sense they had never been to the circus before.

The father and mother were at the head of the pack standing proud as could be. They were smiling and enjoying seeing their family happy.

The ticket lady asked the man how many tickets he wanted? He proudly responded, “I’d like to buy eight children’s tickets and two adult tickets, so I can take my family to the circus.” The ticket lady stated the price.

The man’s wife let go of his hand, her head dropped, the man’s jaw fell open. Then he leaned a little closer to the ticket lady and asked, “How much did you say?” She again stated the price.

The man didn’t have enough money. How was he supposed to tell his eight kids that he didn’t have enough money to take them to the circus?

Seeing what was going on, my dad reached into his pocket, pulled out a $20 bill, and then dropped it on the ground. (We were not wealthy in any sense of the word!) My father bent down, picked up the $20 bill, tapped the man on the shoulder and said, “Excuse me, sir, this fell out of your pocket.”

The man understood what was going on. He wasn’t begging for a handout but certainly appreciated the help in a desperate, heartbreaking and embarrassing situation.

He looked straight into my dad’s eyes, took my dad’s hand in both of his, squeezed tightly onto the $20 bill, and with his lip quivering and a tear streaming down his cheek, he replied; “Thank you, thank you, sir. This means so much to me and my family.”

My father and I went back to our car and drove home. The $20 that my dad gave away is what we were going to buy our own tickets with.

Although we didn’t get to see the circus that night, we both felt a joy inside us that was far greater than seeing the circus could ever provide.”

That day I learned the value to give.

~ Katharine Hepburn*

(from Everything Good in the World)

(* Online research showed that this is actually a narrative that was published in the 1995 book “A 2nd Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul,” part of the popular Chicken Soup collections of inspirational tales.  It illustrates a powerful lesson, regardless of its actual source. But I hate Fake News, so I just wanted to point this out…)

 We have an opportunity to give as a group to this month’s fund drive, which benefits STREET HOPE, an organization that assists victims of human trafficking. They still need 55 gallon trash bags, napkins, and/or copy paper.  Bring those items to a workout and we will get them delivered.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers of thanks that Dungbeetle’s situation at work is resolving itself, prayers of healing for Jinxy and for Abacus’s mother.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
None

Cleaning Frost Off the Field

THE SCENE: Mid-20s. Winter part 2.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

WARM-O-RAMA:

  • Windmills IC | Grady Corns IC
  • Baby Arm Circles IC | SSH IC

THA-THANG:

Four Corners on the Field

  • Merkins
  • BBS
  • CDD
  • Squats

30 reps at each corner. Run a full lap to the next corner. On each subsequent round, drop 10 reps. After third round, burpees at center field and wait for six.

7s: Pull-ups & Step-up w/ Knee Raise

MARY:

  • Box Cutters IC | American Hammers IC
  • Freddie Mercurys IC

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM: John 9:18-28 — The Jewish leaders still refused to believe the man had been blind and could now see, so they called in his parents. They asked them, “Is this your son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he now see?” His parents replied, “We know this is our son and that he was born blind, but we don’t know how he can see or who healed him. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. That’s why they said, “He is old enough. Ask him.” So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “God should get the glory for this, because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.” “I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!” “But what did he do?” they asked. “How did he heal you?” “Look!” the man exclaimed. “I told you once. Didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?” Then they cursed him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! We know God spoke to Moses, but we don’t even know where this man comes from.”

The Pharisees had a preconceived idea of what the Messiah would be like; they had preconceived ideas of what it meant to be blind; and in the end, those preconceptions are exactly what made them blind to the Messiah who they claimed to be waiting for,

What prejudgements do I make about people, sometimes about whole groups of people, that keep me from seeing things for what they really are? How can I strike those down?

Through Imperfection

THE SCENE: Clear skies, about 60 degrees.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Burpees, Plank Stretches, 10 Windmills, 10 Baby Arm Circles Forward and Backwards
THA-THANG:
Mosey to stop sign at southeastern corner of Admin Bldg.  20 American Hammers.

Mosey to shaded area that is on other side of road from Area 51.  There will be four cones set up.  We will go counter-clockwise to each cone.  We will do so four times and do one exercise at each in sequence.  We go to the next cone by the method listed.  Here are the exercises and way to get to the next cone.

  • Cone 1:  1. 20 Star Jumps  2.  10 Burpees  3. 20 Plank Jacks  4. 20 Smurf Jacks  (Sprint to Cone 2)
  • Cone 2:  1. 20 Merkins 2.  15 Hand Release Merkins  3.  20 Dive Bombers  4. 20 Diamond Merkins  (Bear Crawl to Cone 3)
  • Cone 3:  1. 20 Jump Squats  2.  20 Mountain Climbers  (both feet = 1) 3. 20 Iron Mikes (both feet = 1)  4. 20 Side Straddle Hops  (Bernie to Cone 4)
  • Cone 4:  1.  20 Big-Boy Sit-ups  2.  20 Hello Dollies (4 ct)  3.  20 Bicycle Kicks (4 ct)  4. 20 Flutter Kicks (4 ct)  (Lunge to Cone 1)

Mosey to grassy area by Northshore Entrance to Park.  20 Imperial Walkers.

Mosey on perimeter trail south and then east on Perimeter Trail to benches at south end.  Alternate between 20 Bench Dips and 30 Baby Crunches.

Mosey to Soccer Fields and then to grassy area past roadway.  We will then do sevens going from grassy area to tree in a field that is about 40 yards away.  We will start with 1 set of Shoulder Taps at the roadway and 6 Pinto Twists at the tree.

Mosey to stop sign at southeastern corner of Admin Bldg.  20 American Hammers

Mosey to AO.

MARY:
1 minute run in place and 30 seconds of stretching.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
18 men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Imperfect Leaders and Servants

From 2 Corinthians 12:  9-10:

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I consider the brothers of F3, the men I see each week at workouts and through fellowship, and I see so many of you having the true desire to serve others and be leaders among our community.  Yet, we sometimes hesitate for fear of failure.  We fear that we will fall short of our goals, not live up to the people we serve, not speak well enough or act well enough, or just be overwhelmed by the time and nature of the task.  We think we have to be a Captain Crunch, an Abscess or a Judge Judy to lead and serve the way we should.

We need to remember a wonderful truth when our fears and concerns keep us from taking the chance to lead and serve.  God works through our imperfections.  Consider every person besides Christ that is in the Bible.  They were all imperfect but God used them to serve His purpose.  Consider Moses:  a man afraid to speak to others, God used him to lead the Jews out of Egypt and to the promised land.  Consider David:  a man who lusted after Bathsheba and had to be brought to shame to see his sin. God found favor on David and he was a great leader. Consider Peter:  a disciple of Christ who boasted he would never betray Him, yet who betrayed Him three times after Jesus was arrested.  And, Peter became one of the greatest disciples of Christ, spreading the works of Christ after his death.

God will use our imperfections to serve his people.  Why worry then about how imperfect we are.  Like Paul says in Corinthians, for the sake of Christ we can be boast in our weaknesses.  For He will use our weaknesses to make his power perfect.  Go forth, therefore, with confidence.  When you screw up, when you stumble, when you say the idiotic thing, if your intentions are loving, if your intentions are to do good for others, Christ will use you despite your mistakes.  The message:  Get out there and fail because through your failures you will succeed.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Speed Flash on his test tomorrow, for Hand’s friend who passed away and the family of that friend, and for Abscess’ friend who has triple-bypass heart surgery upcoming.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
AO Launch this weekend in Maryville.  Get copy paper, napkins and 55 Gallon Trash Bags in for service project.

TRIP TO COLOMBIA

THE SCENE: 40s and damp
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER👌
WARM-O-RAMA:
OHC, LBAC(f), LBAC(b), Cherry Pickers, Windmills, Temp Merkins, Mountain Climbers, Tempo Squats, SSH
THA-THANG:
Mosey to small Hill on the East side of the Park:

  • COLOMBIAN NECK-TIE: PAX do varying distance runs and back with increasing colombian neck-ties upon each return to start. Each did about 13 rounds on avg.
  • Mosey to Playground for Aiken Legs: 20 Box Jumps, 20 Lunges, 20 Iron Mikes, 20 Squats
  • Mosey to CMU Parking Lot.  4 Corners: sets of 10,15,20,25 of the following exercises with CMU:
    • Merkin Overs
    • Curls
  • Line up on curb and Battle Buddy Up for DORA: 50 Burpees, 100 Flutters (4ct)

MARY:
No time
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
26 Strong
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Proverbs 1: The beginning of wisdom starts with the fear of the Lord.  Do you fear the Lord, or man?
MOLESKIN:
N/A
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Arsenal Launch.

Back On Top

[ The Scene ]

HOT – 60s and feeling good, PAX met up top (top of Asylum) because apparently people like to frequent public parks when the weather is nice outside.

[ Welcome/Disclaimer ]

  • Welcome to F3! Fitness-Fellowship-Faith
  • Name is Steam and I’ll be your Q tonight
  • Few things before we begin:
    • I’m not a professional
    • You’re here on your own volition
    • If you need to modify anything feel free to do so but push yourself and the men around you – they deserve it and so do you!
  • FNGs? — 1 (with Snag – well done!)

[ Warm o Rama ]

  • SSH: 25×4 IC
  • Rockette: 10×4 IC
  • Cherry Picker: 10×4 IC
  • Baby Arm Circles: 20×4 (10 F and 10 B)
  • Apollo Onos: 10×4 IC

[ The Thang ]

(Mosey over to the right of the asylum building)

(1) The Hill and Back — 10s

  • The Tree on top of the hill (Imperial Walkers)
  • Curb on the other side of the street (Rocky Balboas)
  • Everything on a 4 count
  • 9 and 1
  • 8 and 2

Recover with flutter kicks in the grass

(Mosey to log pile – lower parking lot)

(2) Core 4 + Push

  • 4 corners of the lower parking lot (10 – 1 ct)
    • C1: LBCs
    • C2: BBS
    • C3: Cockroaches
    • C4: Boat/Canoes
  • Run to the top of the drive (Street)
  • 10 merkins
  • Rinse & Repeat — once

__________________________

*Q Teaching Moment*

Pick up the 6 and Wagon Wheel mean Pick up the 6 and wagon wheel. Gridiron, who’s 12, led the charge on this. So I called all PAX back up to the street where the merkins were being done and specifically called out Gridiron for doing this — leading from the front. i put Gridiron in a place of leadership – instructing him to lead all PAX in 30 down/up merkins, which he did exceptionally.

QTip: You’re never too young/old/seasoned to never leave a man behind, and never leave a man the same.

We could all learn a lot from Gridiron and the way he consistently picks up the 6, wagon wheels, and lives out “No Man Left Behind, No Man Left The Same.”

This goes into my BOM a little bit too – but on the mosey to Everest pre-Mary, I had told Gridiron I was proud of him for leading from the front and setting the example and standard. His response was the following:

”Well I have 2 of the best role models that teach me that, my dad and mom. Basically Mr F3 and Mrs FIA”

Doubtfire (and your M) — well done. That’s HIM stuff right there.

___________________________________________

(PAX mosey to the base of Everest and form battle buddy teams)

PAX take Everest by force, going all the way to the top and over the highest point back to the AO

[ Mary ]

Core 4

  • Flutter Kicks: 25×4
  • American Hammers: 25×4
  • Little LBCs: 25×4
  • Penguins: 25×4

[ COT ]

  • # off — 23
  • Name o Rama
  • FNGs — 1
  • BOM

From the movie “Courageous”

“As a law enforcement officer, I’ve seen firsthand the deep hurt and devastation that fatherless brings in a child’s life. Our prisons are full of men and women who have lived recklessly after being abandoned by their fathers, wounded by the men who should have loved them the most. Many of these children now follow the same pattern of irresponsibility that their fathers did. While so many mothers have sacrificed much so that their children could survive, they were never intended to carry the weight alone. We thank God for them.

But research is proving that a child also desperately needs a daddy. There’s no way around this fact. I now believe that God desires for every father to courageously step up and do whatever it takes to be involved in the lives of his children. But more than just being there and providing for them, he’s to walk with them through their lives and be a visual representation of the character of God, their father in Heaven. A father should love his children and seek to win their hearts. He should protect them, discipline them, and teach the, about God. He should model how to walk with integrity and how to treat others with respect. He should call out his children to become responsible men and women, who live their lives for what matters in eternity.

Some men will hear this and mock it, or ignore it. But I tell you that as a father you are accountable to God for the position of influence He has given you. You can’t fall asleep at the wheel only to wake up one day and realize that your job or your hobbies have no eternal value. But the should of your children do.

Some men will hear this and agree with it, but have no resolve to live it out. Instead they will live for themselves and waste an opportunity to lease a Godly legacy for the next generation.

But there are some men, who, regardless of the mistakes we’ve made in the past, regardless of what our fathers did not do for us, will give the strength of our arms and the rest of our days to loving God with all that we are, and to teach our children to do the same, and whenever possible, to love and mentor others who have no fathers in their lives, but who desperately need help and direction.

We are inviting any man who’s heart is willing and courageous to join us in this revolution. In my home the decision has already been made: you don’t have to ask who will guide my family, because by God’s grace, I will. You don’t have to ask who will teach my son to follow Christ, because I will. Who will accept the responsibility for providing and protecting my family? I will. Who will ask God to break the chain of dysfunctional patterns in my family’s history? I will. Who will pray for, and bless my children to boldly pursue whatever God calls them to do? I am their farther. I will. I accept this responsibility and it is my privilege to embrace it. I want the favor of God and His blessing on my home. Any good man does.

So where are you men’s of courage? Where are you fathers who fear the Lord? It’s time to rise up and answer the call that God has given you. And to say I will, I will, I will.”