F3 Knoxville

Resolution Restart

The Scene: 45 and no rain (some stench?!)

F3 Welcome and Disclaimer  (…at the Boat as we had to move the COP because Tank brought a skunk for show and tell)

WARM-O-RAMA
11 IC Cherry Pickers
30 IC Side Straddle Hops
15 OYO Merkins

THE THANG
Mosey to Sign
– 15 OYO Merkins
Mosey to top of Matterhorn
– 15 OYO Squats
Mosey to Pavilon for a “Christmas party”

  • Round 1: 5 pullups, 20 stair steppers, then run back up to the top and touch the gate and return back. (Rinse and repeat for 7 minutes)
  • Round 2: 5 decline push-ups, 10 squats, then run back up to the top and touch the gate and return back. (Rinse and repeat for 7 minutes)
  • Round 3: 5 hanging knee raises, 10 dips, then run up to the top and touch gate and return back (Rinse and repeat for 7 minutes)

Mosey back up to the top of Matterhorn

15 OYO Squats
– Mosey to Sign
10 Merkins
– Mosey to Boat
10 OYO Merkins
– Mosey to AO

MARY:
14 IC Flutter Kicks
Dealers Choice:
– IC Marge/Homers 1minute
– 20 IC American Hammers
– OYO Death by Burpees 3 Minutes

BOM:  “Resolution Restart”- learning how to restart after failing. LIFE- Learn, Integrate, Fail, Evaluate (Rinse and repeat)!

Moleskin:  So I show up with some of the PAX already there a few minutes early as you might expect.  I notice the skunk smell.  I say something.  I think Bartman points out to me that Tank parked his car far…and I mean FAR away from his normal parking spot.  “Tank hit a skunk on the way in this morning”.

Not only did Tank hit a skunk, but the STENCH really stuck with the car.  He must have squeezed that thing with a tire at just the right angle…it was enough to make you gag, repeatedly.  Tank’s nickname for the workout was “STANK”.  I’m wondering how many car-washes he’ll need to make it “go away”…  How is he going to roll up in a suit for work, with a car that smells like Skunk?

Ok, enough of that – Doubtfire’s VQ was excellent!  Good planning, great variety and he kept the PAX engaged and even added a little creativity! (Nice extra effort with the Christmas lights!)  TCLAPS!

Chalk Games

The Scene: 40 and clear

F3 welcome and disclaimer

Warm-o-Rama
10 IC forward arm circles
10 IC reverse arm circles
20 IC x 4ct Merkins
Mosey to hockey rink and BB up

The THANG
Hopscotch
1st round
burpees
1 partner does 20 SSH and 20 LBC while other completes the burpee hopscotch
Switch
When both finish take a lap

2nd round
Carolina dry docks/bear crawl
Domo squats
Switch
When both finish take a lap

Mosey to Pee Rocks
AMRAP
20 x Clean and press
20 x Squats
20 x Curls
20 x Tris
While partner sprints across the parking spots

3 rounds of Pinwheels (aka shuffle press in a circle)
Partner does Rocky Balboa until Pinwheel is complete

Ab-o-rama
Pickle pounders
BBS
American Hammers

BOM

This past fall I read a book by John Eldridge called “Fathered by God” and it spoke of how many men seek their strength from a woman instead of seeking it from God. By doing this it leads us to begin to resent the woman because the strength we as men need is not something we can obtain from her. That is something we must obtain from God. I’m sure I was partially doing this to my wife as well, but ever since reading that I have been trying to get my strength from God, F3 being a part of that, and providing my strength to her. You know what? It has helped our relationship and our family.

Tomorrow my wife goes in for surgery, and the last time she went in for surgery was about 4 years ago when she had an unplanned operation for an eptopic pregnancy. I didn’t realize the severity of the operation until the doctor came out and said “ok the chances she won’t make it, or that there will be complications are slim, but there is a possibility she could not return”. As I sat in the waiting room my mind raced, we had a 2 year old son at home, she was a stay at home mom, which means she did everything for him and me, and at that time the woman I had been gaining my strength from might not come back to me. I was freaked the fudge out, and I was a weak weak man.

As we approach this surgery tomorrow, I know we are in a different place, I’m giving her my strength instead of taking my strength from here and I know in my heart God is watching over her. However, I’m still a weak man. We now have 2 wonderful children and a 9 week old puppy at the house, her recovery time is 4-6 weeks and I’m scared of the wheels falling off the bus . I don’t struggle with the thought of losing my wife on this one, because that is in God’s hands. But daily I struggle with not being the husband she needs or the father my kids need.

I also know all of us here are all struggling with something or another, injuries, illness, divorce, death of a loved one, depression, loss of a job, possible move, etc. What we need to do is turn it to God. This is when God wants us to turn it to Him. It says so in:

2 Corinthians 12:8-10

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord 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” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong”

I am a weak man. But I am strong because I know God is with me, and my M. I know he will watch over her, protect her, and bring her out of this better than before.

See M U? Yes, I See M U, Do you?

The Scene: 54 degrees cloudy
F3 Welcome and Disclaimer

Warm up:
SSHs
20 Baby arm circles
20 Rocketts
10 mericans
5 burpees

The Thang:
Mosey to CMU pile.
Mosey to parking lot by rink
Divide into groups of 4
Put CMUs in even stacks on one end of lot. Pax on the other. (50 yards apart)
One team member runs to CMUs and brings them to team however many trips that takes.
Remaining members do:
200 push-ups, 400 squats, 50 burpees
Repeat with all members running to CMU s till 6 catches up on first round.

Then…
20 curls-sprint to other end and back
20 overhead presses-sprint & back
10 tricep raises-sprint & back
X2

Indian run around lot while carrying CMU (overhead for advanced) Two groups opposite directions.x2

Mosey to Return CMUs

Mosey to track, two groups run opposite direction doing burpees at each corner 2,4,6,8
10 burpees at end together

Mosey to AO
Calf raises till 6 catches
Bear crawl from fence to cones (30yds) and back and sprint to cones and back.
Repeat 2x

Mary:
20x Imperial walkers
20x Rocketts
30x LBCs

BOM:
Kids attitude towards death and heaven. Example of my daughter Molly. We told her about her grandmother dying and that she is in a much better place with God in heaven now and she simply replied: “that’s great! Can I have a waffle now.”
She got it, she simply knew that her grandmother was in a better place, that she is with our father in paradise. A comforting fact that we can bank on as believers.
It can also motivate us to reach out to the lost and help lead them to eternal peace and fellowship with other believers in paradise.

Leg (and calf) Day

The scene:  60 and clear with a small breeze.

F3 Welcome and Disclaimer

Warm-o-rama:

SSH IC x 8

Tempo Squat IC x 8

OYO Stretches

Tha Thang:

Mosey to hockey rink

  • 3 man DORA grinder. Battle buddy into groups of 3.
    • BB1: CMU Squats at one end
    • BB2: CMU Calf Raises at other end
    • BB3: CMU Lunges between BB1 & BB2
    • Swap out DORA style when lunging BB reaches each end for group total of 200 Squats, 400 Calf Raises
  • Wall Squats
    • 2 leg x 1 minute
    • Alternating 1 leg x 2 minutes
  • Monkey Humpers IC x 10

Mosey to Big Hill:

  • 8’s: 4ct Mountain Climbers at top;  Burpees at bottom
    • Flapjack between Forward & Bernie Sanders each trip up the hill

MARY:

Flutter Kicks IC x 20

Hello Dolly IC x 20

American Hammer IC x 20

Chinese Channel Changers x 2 mins

Count-off & Name-O-Rama

BOM:

Shared an excerpt from a book by Rosaria Butterfield, a one-time LGBT activist, and now a born-again Christian and mother of 4.  She tells the story of a time she was asked to tone down her message and stop calling sin a “sin”, but rather to just say that it’s her personal opinion.  Her answer:

“I responded by letting them know that I am not smart enough to have this opinion, but that this is the position the inspired and inerrant Word of God upholds.  It comes to me from the historic Christian church…through the pages of Scripture, and so on down to me.  I told her that changing my message would involve denying the plain meaning of Scripture, the testimony of the church, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and the gospel.  But to the postmodern mind…her request seems reasonable enough:  just own this position of mine as a personal point of view.  But claiming something that is a universal truth to be a mere matter of personal preference is a lie by omission.”

I shared with the PAX that this is something I struggle with each and every day.  Too often, I take the easy way out when discussing biblical truths and couch them as my own personal opinion during a difficult conversation.  Our challenge as we continue to put God first this year and ourselves last is to stand on our faith…even when it’s uncomfortable…and not take the easy way out by claiming “it’s just my opinion”.  As Christians we should be confident in sharing our beliefs as well as the truths they are based in.

Sharpening

The Scene: 35 and clear

F3 Welcome and Disclaimer

THE THANG
COP –
SSH 15 IC
Tempo Squats 15 IC
LBAC IC – 10 forward, 10 reverse
Little “Some of this/that”
Calf raises 20/stretch/20/stretch

Mosey to the boats and back to the coupon pile
Count off by 3’s
Alternate groups running to the boats and back, the rest cycled reps over, and over, and over

Merkins 10
Dips 10
SSH 10
Curls 10
Overhead 10
Crunches 20

Rinse and repeat for 37 glorious minutes

BOM:
IRON SHARPENS IRON
We hear this phrase used frequently, particularly in Christian circles and almost always in relation to men. As I ponder this concept, several things occur to me. The first is about how iron sharpens iron. While it sounds cool to visualize, iron does not sharpen iron by smashing against it. Two swords clashed against each other over and over again will not sharpen each other. Much the opposite, they both will become dull, and in fact quite jagged.

Iron sharpens iron in much the same way that anything else sharpens. That is, through precise, purposeful and repetitive motion in close proximity to one another. I don’t know that there could be a better description of the concept of F3. Purposeful repetitive interaction in close proximity. Today we all ran at our doable pace and not one of us took the identical footsteps to someone else. However at the top and back of each loop we regrouped and worked together. That way none of us felt as if we were truly running alone, even slow guys like me were still running near a brother. Add to that the hundreds of repetitions of exercise that we did together, all in cadence, so that no one fell off the beat, was tempted to quit or needed to show off by doing more faster. We worked hard together and we got better together. This is a great model of how we need to handle ourselves spiritually and emotionally together as well. We need to place ourselves in close proximity to each other at regular intervals, and not just when we are working out, but also in down times. That’s why we have 2nd F. We also need to sharpen each other as we draw closer to the Lord. 3rd F. I encourage you men to practice this during your time together and your work time – see it as sharpening. Recall that no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on however it produces a rich harvest. Let’s keep working toward that rich harvest of sharp iron.

Moleskin:
It was cold today and the men worked very hard. We had a great time working in tandem and the reps were brutal for the arms while the running was solid for the legs. We benefited from excellent team leadership as we handed off the responsibility for calling the cadence every few minutes.