F3 Knoxville

Let’s get Physical

AO: shamrock
Q: Eliza
PAX: Dumpster Dive, Eliza, Jardet, slappy, Anchorman, Tailhook, Free Fall (Justin Whitaker), Curveball, Stitch, Tinker, Honeydew
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
WARMUP: Chicken Fat song

THE THANG: Grab a partner. Run from end zone to end zone rotating 90 degrees every 10 yards. Max merkins in two minutes. One partner counts. Run back and switch. Repeat with big boy sit ups.

Little stretching with sit and reach.

One mile for time.

MARY: scissor kicks, LBCs, H2H, pickle pointers, hello dollys, PLANKs

ANNOUNCEMENTS: EFHR

COT: read Brick’s Asylum PM post. Don’t give up. God will deliver you.

Shag Carpet Crawl

AO: shamrock
Q: Stitch
PAX: KickFlip, Curveball, Commission, Anchorman, Base Salary, Survivor, Guardrail, Wanderer, LeBling, Baby Boomer, The Situation, Swifty, Free Fall (Justin Whitaker), Honeydew, Mermaid, Eliza, Dumpster Dive (Brad Burnette), Stiff Arm (Devin Ware), Fab Five (Mark Tichon)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 20
WARMUP:
SSH
Tie Fighters
Tempo Squats
Imperial Walkers
Mountain Climbers

THE THANG:
Mosey w football to the Coupon pile
25 Merkins
25 OHP
25 Curls
25 Tricep Dips

Football mosey to football field

>From the endzone corner we will Lunge Walk to the Goal post and do 5 Burpees. Mosey to the far end (middle of the field) and then Bear Crawl to the next endzone corner. Will then do 5 Burpees, 25 Squats. Mosey back to the 1st corner endzone and then Lunge Walk to the next corner. 5 Burpees, 25 Squats, 20 Shoulder Taps, etc. Mosey, repeat…

After each lunge/crawl we add a set:
(5) Burpees,
(25) Squats,
(20) Shoulder Taps,
(15) SSH,
(10) Flutter Kicks – 4 ct.
(5) more Burpees to end.

Run the stairs on the last lap.

MARY:
Circle up for Mary (PAX callout):
Jane Fondas
Freddy Mercuries
Supermans
Hello Dolly

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Sign up for Haw Ridge (April 5)

COT:
50 Years!! – 1974 Fun Facts:

-Richard Nixon was president but resigned because of the Watergate scandal, and Gerald Ford became the 38th president.
-Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s HR record with #715.
– Speed limit was set to 55 MPH to help save on gas, which averaged $.53 per gallon.
– The average home price was $35,000 and rent was $150.
– Blazing Saddles was the top grossing movie, by Mel Brooks and Happy Days was new to TV.
– The Rubik’s Cube was introduced.
– You likely heard the phrase “Tastes great, Less filling!” – Miller Lite
– UPC barcodes were created and first used at supermarkets in Ohio.

If you were here at my last Q, about 3 weeks ago, you’ll remember that I talked about truth and the importance of grounding your life in objective, not subjective truth. Truth tells us something about the nature of reality, whether we believe that or not. Jesus was an example of truth, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”. Truth guides us in our faith. Not blind faith, but good reasons to know what to put our faith in.

It was a little more than 10 years ago that I began to reengage my faith. My Christian faith. I had been wandering away from God for some time. I was struggling as a young father, was in a difficult marriage, and in a challenging retail career. I needed some answers. I needed some direction. I needed some real brothers. And, I needed truth to be at the center of it all. I needed God.

So, I returned to church and I got plugged into a men’s group. It wasn’t just a “How was the game?” group, or “What kind of car do you drive?” group. It was real. It was connecting. It was hard. It made men open up and be vulnerable. It was life. It was true! It really saved me at a dark time in my life. Those men and that community.

Fast forward to 2021. My Christian faith had strengthened. My community life was also much stronger. But I was still a Sad Clown, in a few ways. My physical condition was not so great. I needed growth and strengthening in that area, as well. I had a close friend at church. Many of you know him as Guardrail and I’m thankful he’s here today. He was the one that first told me about F3. He told me about the nicknames, the 5:30 meetings (which I thought was crazy), and the community and leading that was taking place at F3. Often, when we were together, he would casually throw out a “you should come by F3 in the morning. Check it out”. It took awhile, but I finally showed up one morning. It just happened to be Booster’s 50th Birthday Respect Q. Guys showed up on a chilly April morning wearing button up shirts and ties to workout in the gloom. It was fun, and a bit festive… until we started the workout. And then I nearly died! KickFlip was there and he remembers how I struggled just to make it to from station to station of our 4 corner workout.

That brings me to today. I’m 50!

Have I finally figured out life? Nope.

Is life still hard and with struggles? Yep.

Do I still struggle with things I feel like I shouldn’t still struggle with? Yes, but fewer.

Do I have God back in my life? Yes!

Is goodness and truth present in my life? Yes!

Am I more physically fit and stronger today? Yes! In the best shape of my life and about 20 lbs lighter than I was when I showed up.

Do I have more than 10 men that I can call on when I am in those struggles and need someone to lean on? Yes! (By the way, there are very few men in our world who can say that).

Is my life more meaningful and richer today than it was when I was 40? Absolutely, 100%, without a doubt!
God, Truth, and F3 (Fitness, Fellowship, & Faith), are all a part of my life today and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

If you know someone that needs F3, give them a friendly nudge. We all know what this group means to us and what it can do for someone else. Thank you, ALL! I love you!

Mile Repeats

AO: shamruck
Q: Mermaid
PAX: Fabio (Joe Hamilton), Glamper, KickFlip, Honeydew, Eliza, Mermaid
FNGs: None
COUNT: 6
Mile repeats sounds worse than it was, but we tackled weigels hill 3 times and had good conversation along the way.

Be grateful and express gratitude both in your prayer life and to others.

[running] OTB run on the knoxville half course

AO: running
Q: Mermaid
PAX: Toretto, Anchorman, Erector, Honeydew, Mermaid
FNGs: None
COUNT: 5
We met this morning to show Toretto more of the Knoxville Half course to help him get some knowledge for the April half (his first). Erector did mile repeats around us, and with the hills that we tackled today, our pace was a little slower than normal. That could also be a week of tough workouts and not feeling fresh.

We welcome anyone and any pace! If you or anyone you know wants to jump in on the OTB running group, we run most Saturday’s generally for one hour. Spread the word and help some guys get into running or help others connect to a group!

Battleship at the Shammy

AO: shamrock
Q: KickFlip
PAX: Commission, slappy, LeBling, Oscar Meyer, Stitch, Gringo, Honeydew, Mermaid, Jardet, Anchorman, Eliza, Base Salary, Curveball, Crawlspace, Toretto, KickFlip, Snaggletooth (Elijah Tafao), Nutcracker (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 17
WARMUP: RFTS/LIH, Cherry pickers, TIE fighters, down dog, $tretch, merkins, mountain climbers, predator jacks, walking stretch kicks, walking fence steppers. Mosey to the big parking lot.

THE THANG:
Divide into two teams for Battleship. 5 sets of cones set out facing each other. Run and grab a tennis ball, sprint to your far side, sprint to a battle station and perform the exercise on the cardboard, fire your tennis ball at the other team’s ships. Repeat until one team sinks all of the other team’s ship.

Team 1 wins Round 1. Team 2 wins Round 2.

Teams hold plank while 1 man sprints to collect a tennis ball and comes back. First team to 17 balls is our winner.

MARY:
“Turn it Up” by Oh the Larceny. Burpee each time the song says “Turn it Up” – SSH the rest of the time. Crawlspace and Toretto finished and hereby join Erector in the PAX Hall of Fame as men who have completed this challenge!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Mermaid’s home tonight, Rainbow Falls hike tomorrow, Mountain Biking AO launches Monday, Escape From Haw Ridge April 5th – details for all these are on Slack.

COT:
Tagged on to Crawlspace’s COT from Wednesday – specifically about having discipline over your thoughts.

Take every thought captive…and make it obedient to Christ… 2 Corinthians 10:5

Philippians 4:8
“…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Let’s work to get really good at realizing when our thoughts are negative and we are daydreaming about guilt, mistakes, slights (real or imagined), and other unhelpful darkness where (whiny voice) “I’m the victim…” Let’s get good at shifting out of that mindset and into virtuous thinking. One of the best ways to shift from negative thinking to positive thinking is by expressing gratitude.