F3 Knoxville

Tag: LuLu

The Tale of Two Balls

THE SCENE: Upper 50s, cloudy, some drizzle at times
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Some stuff and some stretching were done until Crawdad pulled up, which was even later for him than usual.
THA-THANG:

Mosey to the restrooms at the base of the dragon’s tail.

Pickett’s charge up to the Collesseum

Battle buddy up for Ghostman Baseball

One team rolls the workout ball to determine the exercise and reps for 1st base and runs there, does the exercise, and runs back.

The other team rolls a different workout ball to determine the exercises and reps to do at home while the first team is running the bases.

The teams switch.

Repeat for 1st and 2nd (doing the exercises and reps from the roll on the way out and running back the same path back to home without doing the workout at the bases going back.

Repeat for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.

Repeat for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and home.

Mosey to the AO for a four-spoked wheel

First corner – 40 merkins

Run to the center of the parking lot for 3 burpees

Second corner – 40 curls with the rocks nearby

Run to the center for 3 burpees

Third corner – 40 squats

Run to the center for 3 burpees

Fourth corner – 40 LBCs

Run to the center for 3 burpees

MARY:
No time for Mary.  We held a plank for about 15 seconds until time

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
11 PAX, including Lillydipper and Pele who walked to nurse injuries (Pele still sweated like he had ran a marathon though – the circle of integrity was intact). Q-Bert doesn’t have a tag apparently because he was there but is not in the system.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Life is hard.  Regrets happen.  Strive for consistency, not perfection.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for all those who have parents who have passed or who are battling health issues.  It gets easier, but it never gets better.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Brolympics coming in November

The Peoples’ Q

Right at the top your Q wants you to know that this entire workout was conceived, planned, workshopped, peer reviewed, revised, enhanced, approved by legal, focus grouped, and finally today was delivered to you, the PAX of Asylum.

Perfect fall morning.

Everybody is welcome and everything is disclaimed. Choir Boy is in private practice now, so if you want to sue somebody you can hire him.

Our warmup today included Motivators, stretching, Rockettes, and Rocky Balboas for Rainbow who we missed by just a couple of minutes.

We did some nickel-dime-quarter in honor of its inventor and our own Bionic Man Lilydipper. In trying to avoid bothering an innocent bystander, we ended up getting in her way even more, which is what Gibbler likes to call a Q Fail. Mentioning his name when he didn’t even show up is another Q Fail.

The PAX makes certain demands, and Base Camp to Space Camp is one of them. When the PAX speaks, the Q listens, so into a hornet’s nest we ran. Snitch took one for the team and is presumably on the couch right now in a Benadryl coma.

What’s a trip to the Cloud without some Jack Webb you ask? We don’t know.

Crawdad wasn’t there in person or in spirit, but we did curse him under our breath with a couple of trips up Cardiac.

Convoy couldn’t be stopped all morning and he led us back down to the AO.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The academic side of F3 is one of the least often talked about, but it does provide valuable insight, and in the case of a recent study we learned about the major difference between AM and PM guys, according to family and friends. We did our best to remedy the inequality. We did it for the families!

Thank You Frederick Buechner

THE SCENE: Partly cloudy, temp about 70 degrees.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Motivators starting with seven, 5 Burpees, 10 Cherry Pickers, 4 Burpees, 10 Rockettes, 3 Burpees, 10 Tempo Merkins, 10 Burpees (thanks to wisecracks about the Q!), 10 Windmills, 1 Burpee, Little of This and That
THA-THANG:
Split into teams of two men each.  Mosey to the shady parking lot across the street from the AO to get bricks out my vehicle. Each team of two gets one set of bricks (two bricks per team).  We will then mosey back to the AO parking lot and go to the curb on the east end of the parking lot.  We will do Doras.  While one partner runs to the opposite curb and does 10 Rocky Balboas (both legs = 1), the other partner works on the exercises with the bricks.  Partners switch off after the running partner comes back.  These are the exercises that the team of partners completes with the bricks:

  • 100 Overhead Presses
  • 100 Wings Down
  • 100 Curls
  • 100 Wings Out
  • 100 Triceps
  • 100 Wings Up
  • 100 Rows
  • 100 Punches (where punches from both hands = 1)
  • 40 Mini Man-makers

Mosey to end of parking lot with the nice bathrooms.  We will do 20 American Hammers.

Mosey to the Lily Pad parking lot.  There will be four cones spread out in a very large rectangle around the parking lot.  We will be going around the parking lot to each of the cones three different times.  We will Bernie Sanders when going either east or west and will run when going north or south.  The exercise will be displayed near the cones.  We will do the first exercises the first time around the parking lot, etc.  Here are the exercises performed at each cone:

  • Cone 1:  20 Squat Jumps, 20 Merkins, 20 Dead Bugs (4 count)
  • Cone 2:  20 Iron Mikes (both legs = 1), 20 Carolina Dry Docks, 20 Hello Dollies (4 count).
  • Cone 3:  20 Smurf Jacks, 20 Diamond Merkins, 20 Flutter Kicks (4 count).
  • Cone 4:  20 Star Jumps, 20 Shoulder Taps, 20 Freddie Mercury’s (4 count)

Mosey to the parking lot with the nice bathrooms.  We will do 20 more American Hammers.  Then Butt Kick run halfway across the parking lot and High Knees run the other half to the curb.

Mosey to the playground.  We will do three sets of 10 Bench Jumps

Mosey to AO.

MARY:
Abdominals

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O–RAMA
18 men with one FNG, Bob Fautnouh (sp?) whom we dubbed “Beignet.”  We were also honored to have three visitors from other AOs:  Gipper from Omaha, Graham Cracker from Florida, and Rogue from Davidson.  Graham Cracker and Rogue have moved to Knoxville so we definitely hope to see them again soon.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

One of America’s greatest theologians died this week.  Frederick Buechner died on Monday, August 15.  He was 96.  Buechner was an ordained Presbyterian minister, essayist, novelist, poet, and autobiographer.  He was the author of 39 published books.  His writings have had a profound influence on many, including me.  One of my favorite novels by him was Brendan, but he wrote many others that were highly acclaimed.  He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award.
I am going to give you just a few quotes from his writings.
For those of you who have pondered on your vocation in life, Buechner wrote, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
For those of you who have ever struggled with the idea of the existence of God, Buechner wrote, “It is as impossible for man to demonstrate the existence of God as it would be for even Sherlock Holmes to demonstrate the existence of Arthur Conan Doyle.”
Some of my favorite lines from Buechner are the following from his book, The Faces of Jesus.
“If the world is sane, then Jesus is mad as a hatter and the Last Supper is the Mad Tea Party. The world says, Mind your own business, and Jesus says, There is no such thing as your own business. The world says, Follow the wisest course and be a success, and Jesus says, Follow me and be crucified. The world says, Drive carefully—the life you save may be your own—and Jesus says, Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. The world says, Law and order, and Jesus says, Love. The world says, Get, and Jesus says, Give. In terms of the world’s sanity, Jesus is crazy as a coot, and anybody who thinks we can follow him without being a little crazy too is laboring less under a cross than under a delusion.”
My last lines from Buechner are ones that are certainly true for me. He said, “When you remember me, it means you have carried something of who I am with you, that I have left some mark of who I am on who you are.  It means that you can summon me back to your mind even though countless years and miles may stand between us.  It means that if we meet again, you will know me.  It means that even if I die, you can still see my face and hear my voice and speak to me in your heart.”
Frederick Buechner, speaking from my heart, I remember you and I say “thank you.”

 MOLESKIN:

Prayers for Cheatsheet’s daughter, Willow, who was recently baptized and who also recently joined a volleyball team.  Prayers for the father-daughter relationship.  Prayers for Gipper as he heads back to Omaha tomorrow.  We are thankful he visited us.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Mt. Everest Run on September 10.  2nd F Picnic on Sunday, September 11.

We Choose What We Think

THE SCENE: Insert info about the weather, etc.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
25 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Windmills, 5 Baby Arm Circles Forward and 5 Wide Arm Circles Forward, 5 Baby Arm Circles and 5 Wide Arm Circles Backward, 10 Twisties.
THA-THANG:

Mosey to the Pavilion.  We will do a Pyramid of Bench Pull Ups and Decline Merkins, starting with 10 of each, then 15 of each, then 20 of each, then back to 15 of each and finally 10 of each. 

Mosey towards by the pitching cages near the ball fields and down to the start of the Cardiac.  We will do 20 American Hammers.  Next we will run to the second curve of Cardiac.  There will be a cone farther up cardiac as the trail approaches the benches.  We will go on the grass to that cone by alternating between 10 Count Bear Crawls and 10 Count Lunges until we reach the cone.  Then we will do 25 Bench Dips at the benches. 

Mosey on the trail towards Lyons Bend.  We will stop on the trail as it turns towards Lyons Bend and do 20 Flutter Kicks and 20 Hello Dollies in the grass.  We will then run on the trail as it approaches the entrance to the park on Lyons Bend. Before we get there we will see a cone in the grassy field.  We will go to that.  

Men will split into teams of two.  We will do Doras. While one team member runs uphill toward the roadway and touches the tree by the roadway, the other team member will do exercises.  When one partner comes back, the other does the exercises.  Each team will do the following exercises:

  • 100 Merkins
  • 100 Squat Jumps
  • 100 Big Boy Sit-ups
  • 100 Iron Mikes (both feet forward = 1)
  • 100 Raised Legs Toe Touches

Mosey back to trail and then go to the beginning of Roadshow Run.  We will stop to do 25 Dead Bugs (four count) and 50 Baby Crunches.  We will then run up Roadshow Run and stop at the bat cave.  However, we will do 3 Burpees after climbing each set of steps to the bat cave (there are three sets).  Those getting to the bat cave will do Baby Crunches until the six arrives.

Mosey to the front porch of the Admin Bldg.  We will run around the sidewalk loop stopping at each quarter of the loop to do exercises.  Here are the exercises at each quarter:

  • South quarter:  25 Carolina Dry Docks
  • Benches at Coliseum:  25 Bench Dips
  • North Quarter:  25 Bobby Hurleys
  • Steps of Admin Bldg.:  25 Calve Raises
  • Rinse and Repeat.

Mosey to Haslam Boulder.  We will do 20 Squats.

Mosey to AO.

MARY:
We will line up along the curb of one end of the parking lot.  We will Sprint to the other end and sprint back.  We will then Bernie Sanders to the other end and back.  We will then Skip to the other end and back.  We will then Sprint there and back.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
13 Men, no FNGs.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
We Chose What We Think

Since this is the end of May, a time of graduations and commencement addresses, I thought I would examine a commencement address that might teach me some lessons about life.  I had heard of a famous commencement address by the American writer David Foster Wallace that was given to the 2005 graduating class of Kenyon College.  I listened to the speech, found it to be a very good one, and indeed learned some valuable life lessons.  I then found out that David Foster Wallace committed suicide three years after he gave the commencement address.  And, I thought, how much credence can my brothers and I give to life lessons taught by someone who has committed suicide?  I talked to my wife, Jan, about it.  She reminded me of a wonderful phrase by Bryan Stevenson in his book, Just Mercy:  “A man is so much more than the worst thing he has ever done.”  Another thing Jan said to me, and this is also very true: “People often write about what they aspire to be versus what they are”. With those proclamations in mind, here are some of the lessons I learned from David Foster Wallace’s commencement address to Kenyon College:

  1. We have the freedom to think and what we chose to think about is of the utmost importance.  How we interpret data is important.  Two men can hear the same truth, yet have very different interpretations of it.  Wallace, who I do not believe was a fan of any particular denomination of faith, used the example of a religious person and an atheist speaking to one another.  In explaining his disbelief in God, the atheist commented that he put faith to the test one time in a snowstorm and what happened showed there is no God.  It was such a bad snowstorm that he yelled out, “God, if you are truly there, save me from this snowstorm”.  He said God did not come to him.  The religious man replied, “now wait a minute, you lived through the snowstorm, your being here is proof.  Doesn’t that show God exists?”  The atheist said, “I lived but it was because of a man on a snow sled led by a pack of dogs that found me.”  Brothers, we choose how to think.  We chose how to interpret the truths before us.
  2. What we choose to think about, what we choose to focus on applies to the mundane portions of everyday life.  Wallace talked about the long drive home from work.  You can get upset about the traffic jam, the noise, and the pollution.  You can scream at the guy who just cut you off as you were trying to shift your car into a faster moving lane.  You can be annoyed by the massive gas guzzling car in front of you, spitting out fumes and eating up precious fuel resources.  Yet, you can also contemplate what you want to do for your family when you get home.  You can think that maybe the guy who cut in front of you is just as anxious to get home to his family as you are to yours.  You can think about the possibility that the guy in the massive car perhaps wanted to get a larger car to carry his kids around in and keep them safe.  You can even see the roadway as a beautiful picture of fellow humans, making their way home after a hard day at work.  You have the choice.
  3. With our freedom to think we can choose what we worship.  We can worship money and never have enough.  We can worship power and continually drive to have more.  We can worship the intellect and castigate those not as brilliant as we are while somehow wondering if we, with our college educations, are actually frauds.  We chose what we worship.

David Foster Wallace, I don’t know the reasons for your suicide.  Perhaps some of the life lessons you spoke of in your commencement speech were not embedded enough in your psyche.  You aspired for what you wrote about but you were not yet there.  But, this fellow here in Knoxville thanks you for those lessons.  I have the freedom to think and I will choose to try to follow those lessons.  I choose to think about good and purposeful things.  I will try to remember to do so even during the mundane moments of life.  And, I will choose what to worship . . . and what I choose to worship is God, the God of love, the God of mercy, the God of all existence.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for the families and people impacted by the school shootings in Buffalo, NY and Uvalde, TX.  Prayers for those planting flags at the Veterans and for all Veterans who have served our country.  Prayers for F6 in his search for a new job.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Flag planting this morning at the grave sites of all Veterans buried at the Veterans Cemetary across the street from the Asylum.  Rampart Launch this Monday at 7 am.  Some of us are meeting at the Starbucks at Northshore near Pellisippi Parkway at 6 am on Monday and will Clown Car to the Rampart AO shortly thereafter.

Trivia Night

After being properly motivated, we did some Stretchies and we vowed to trust the (Junk) Science. Everybody got 10 years of invincibility; you’re welcome. PAX was quiet, so we did some Shoulder Blasters because that always gets people complaining.

Trivia Night at F3 commenced. If you or your partner got a correct answer, you were both exempted from burpees before the next exercise. Some guys know sports, some guys know art and literature, some guys know history. Some guys (looking at you, Lulu) just start doing burpees.

We hit the Cloud for some Descending Box Baby Box Rows, then traveled to the Caribbean for juuust a hint of a Sutherland Seabiscuit. Just a skosh. The faintest whiff.

Speaking of Seabiscuit, Convoy and Swimmies are like two thoroughbreds among a bunch old mares on their way to the glue factory. They beat us to Cardiac, where we only had time for one and a half Crawdad Comebacks.

Two things about your Q: 1) he is not going to make you do knee-based air presses on asphalt, and 2) time management may not be his strong suit. So we couldn’t complete a full round of the Dark Webb, and it was all Q’s fault. But as Donald Rumsfeld said, “You go to F3 with the Q you have, not with the Q you wish you had.”

MARY:
Lebowski pointed out another ill effect of Q’s poor clock management, which is that we didn’t go by the ATM and none of us has cash for the weekend.

Sincere gratitude to all F3 men for leading and participating in workouts. I wouldn’t do anything if it wasn’t for you all.

Philippians 4:10-13.