F3 Knoxville

Antarctica or Knoxville

THE SCENE: Sunny, temps in 30’s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side-straddle Hops, 10 Burpees, 10 Windmills, 25 Prayer Reaches, 10 Cherry Pickers, Little of This and That
THA-THANG:
Mosey to large parking lot south of northern ball parks.  We will be doing suicide sprints to five different cones set up along parking lot.  Each cone is a further distance from starting line.  After we are finished with the first set of suicides we will do 25 Merkins and 20 Hello Dollies.  We will do a second set of suicides but each time back from an inlet do 20 Baby Crunches.  Afterwards, we will do 25 more Merkins and 20 more Hello Dollies.

Mosey to start of Serpentine Sidewalk.  We will be doing 14’s all the way to the perimeter trail at the end of the side walk.  In the first set of 14’s we bear crawl for one light, then run four lights and continues this pattern until the end of the serpentine sidewalk.  Those finishing first sweep others back.  In the second set of 14’s we lunge for one light then run four lights to the end of the serpentine sidewalk.

Mosey to parking lot by northern ballpark entrance.  Split into teams of two.  Each team grabs a Cinder Block.   We will do Doras with one partner doing Bernie Sanders to end of parking lot, then sprinting back while other partner does exercise with cinder block.  Then partners switch.  We will do 100 each of the following exercises:

  • Overhead press
  • Curls
  • Rows

Place cinder blocks back in pile and mosey to AO

MARY:
20 Boxcutters, then leg lifts high to low
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
9 men, no FNG’s.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
While listening to NPR yesterday, I heard a story about and interview excerpts with Colin O’ Brady, who recently became the first man to trek across Antarctica solo, unaided by assistance or wind power.  The 932 mile trip took him 53 days.  He started his journey dragging a sled of gear (tent, sleeping bag, skis, food) that weighted 375 pounds.  He generally traveled 12 hours per day and many times faced white out conditions in incredibly cold temperatures.

O’ Brady can be admired for not only what he did, but what he overcame to get to the point where he was able to make the trek.  The 33-year-old from Portland, Oregon was burned in a freak accident and suffered major burns on the lower half of his body.  He was told he would never walk normally again.  His mother encouraged him to overcome his circumstances and he worked hard at doing so.  A few years later he won an Olympic Distance Triathlon.

To prepare for the Antarctica trek he spent many hours preparing.  He did planks by plunging his feet and hands in ice water!

O’ Brady accomplished this feat through hard work and a belief in improving himself.  We may not accomplish a trek across Antartica through our work outs in F3.  But we are each working on bettering ourselves.  We each know what it is like to want to give in but keep pushing on.  O’ Brady was asked by the interviewer if he felt like giving up.  He told her there were many times he wanted to give up.  The second day of his journey he thought about contacting his wife and telling her the whole thing was stupid and impossible.  The time he wanted to quit most occurred in the last week of his journey.

Another thing about O’Brady’s story that made me think of F3 was a story about O’Brady’s relationship with another man from Great Britain named Louis Rudd.  Louis started his own separate trek across Antarctica at the same time.  The two were acquainted with each other and shook hands before the trip started.  The only other time they saw each other before the end of the trek was when O’Brady passed Rudd after about a week on the journey.  But they did see each other again when Rudd finished.  That is because O’ Brady waited for Rudd, sleeping in the cold for two days at the finish line while he waited for Rudd to finish his journey.  Leave no man behind!!!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Beer gathering at Union Jacks immediately after this workout!

Sun Rise Saturday

THE SCENE:  Chilly but it didn’t take long to warm up.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH x 25, BACF x 15, BACB x 15, SSH x 15, Imperial Squat walker x 15, Cherry picker x 10, Hand release merkins x8

THA-THANG:
It only 3.  Start at the top of the serpentine path and runs down. 3 reps at every light pole and lung after the last pole to the end.

  • Merkins
    • Run back to the top of the hill stopping every 4th light pole to complete 2 burpees
  • Big Boy Sit-Ups
    • Run back to the top of the hill stopping every 4th light pole to complete 2 burpees
  • Froggy Squats
    • Run back to the top of the hill stopping every 4th light pole to complete 2 burpees

Pickets Charge – Run to the top and touch the Asylum.

10 Burpees on your own

She Hate Me Escalator – increasing Burps and Merkins each set by 5 up to 20

  • 20 Lunges
  • 10 Burps
  • 10 Merkins

11’s

Dips and Burpees

Take the hill, Mosey back
MARY:
50 Flutter Kicks

Overcoming Hard Times

THE SCENE: Cloudy, temps in 40’s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Burpees, 10 Rockettes, Plank Stretches, 10 Cherry Pickers
THA-THANG:
Mosey to trail that extends from upper parking lot that goes near entryway at Lyons Bend.  We will do 14’s by bear crawling for one light, running for four, and repeating that pattern until we get to entry roadway.  At roadway we will do 20 Hello Dollies.

We will cross street and continue on trail, doing nickel, dime, quarters (run one light then do 5 of exercise, run two lights then do 10 of exercise, run five lights and do 25 of exercise) all the way to roadway that enters from Northshore gate.  These will be the exercises

  • Squat jumps
  • Merkins
  • Big-boy sit-ups
  • Run remaining distance to roadway.

At corner of trail and roadway we will do 20 American Hammers.

Mosey to Outdoor Chapel.  We will do elevens, starting with 1 Decline Merkin at stage and 10 Mountain Climbers (four count) at other end of chapel.

Mosey to Playground.  We will do elevens at benches, starting with one bench dip and 10 bench jumps.

Mosey to AO.

MARY:

Leg lifts (various heights)

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Fourteen men and one mighty dog named “Tank” who belongs to Abscess.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

A number of us have been going through some difficult times right now.  We need to know that God is there for us during hard times.  We can turn to him for rest and strength.  It may not end our suffering immediately but it is good to know that God cares for us and God, through Jesus Christ, has suffered too, even dying on the cross for us.  I have listed a few bible verses that might be good to think of during difficult times.

Isaiah 41:10 ESV

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

John 16:33 ESV

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.”

Psalm 9:9-10 ESV

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

Romans 5:3-5 ESV

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Philippians 4:13 ESV

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Brother, if you are going through trials at this time, may the Lord strengthen you.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Bring snacks for Wesley House this Thursday at Asylum PM.  Abscess will collect.  If anyone is interested in going on a ski trip to Snowshoe on March 10 through 12, contact Lillydipper.  We will ski on March 11 and 12.

Burpee Dan meets Fat Amy…

THE SCENE: It was a Balmy 16 Degrees.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • SSH X 20
  • Imperial Squat Walkers x 20
  • Little baby arm circles Front x 15 and back x 15
  • Cherry Picker x 10
  • Run 2 laps

THA-THANG:

Burpee Dan’s

  • Burpee Dan, down and back, down and back , 4 lunges /4 burps, 4/3, 4/2, 4/1

Fat Amy
1- 50 Squats

10 Burpees
40 BBS
10 Burpees
Run to the top of the Hill
2 – 10 Burpees
20 Star Jacks
10 Burpees
Run to the top of the hill

3- 10 Burpees
20 Star Jacks
10 Burpees
Run to the top of the Hill
4 – 10 Burpees
40 BBS
10 Burpees
50 Squats

MARY:
Hands of Time

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Bring snacks for Wesley House!

Successful Outing

THE SCENE: Cloudy with temps in 40’s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side-Straddle-Hops; 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Windmills, 10 Plank Leg Stretches, 10 Cherry Pickers
THA-THANG:

Mosey to parking lot across street.  Split into teams of two.  There will be sets of bricks at one end of the parking lot.  We will do Doras with the following activities.

Activity one:  Team member bear crawls to first cone, hops to second cone and then does Bernie Sanders to other end of parking lot.  Then sprint back across parking lot to tag partner and take over on Activity Two exercises.

Activity two:  teams will do 100 each of the following exercises with a set of bricks:

  • Overhead presses
  • Curls
  • Rows with bricks at sides
  • Wings out
  • Wings up
  • Wings down

Mosey on roadway and go to large parking lot that is south of the northern ballpark.  We will run in a counterclockwise circle around the parking lot stopping at each cone to do the following exercises:

  • Cone 1:  Ten Burpees
  • Cone 2:  20 Merkins
  • Cone 3:  20 Big-Boy Sit-ups
  • Cone 4:  20 Squat Jumps
  • Cone 5:  20 Buzz Saws (four count)
  • Cone 6:  20 Dive Bombers
  • Cone 7:  20 Smurf Jacks
  • Cone 8:  20 Shoulder taps (each shoulder = 1)
  • Rinse and Repeat

Mosey to Serpentine Sidewalk.  We will do 14’s all the way to Cardiac Hill.  We will lunge for one light and then sprint four lights, repeating that until we get to Cardiac Hill.

At Cardiac Hill, we will run up hill doing the following exercises at the following locations:

  • Turn 1:  20 American Hammers (four count)
  • Turn 2:  20 Hello Dollies (four count)
  • Turn 3:  20 Decline Merkins
  • Turn 4:  20 Bench Dips
  • Rinse and Repeat Twice

Mosey to AO.

MARY:
20 Flutter Kicks, 20 Bicycle Kicks
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
14 men, no FNG’s
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

In his book, Counterfeit Gods, Timothy Keller has one chapter entitled The Seduction of Success.  In it, he quotes from an interview with the pop star Madonna in Vanity Fair.  “I have an iron will, and all of my will has always been to conquer some horrible feeling of inadequacy . . . My drive in life is from this horrible fear of being mediocre.  And that’s always pushing me, pushing me.  Because even though I’ve become Somebody, I still have to prove that I’m Somebody.  My struggle has never ended and it probably never will.

Keller also quotes Mary Bell, a counselor who works with high level executives.  She commented that many executives don’t abuse alcohol – they abuse their own lives.  They complete a project, then look to the next one but must do better to reach that certain level of satisfaction.  They are always pushing for that better high.  They are achievement addicts.

We may achieve success in our jobs but then we look for better jobs, more income.  We often measure ourselves by how high up the company ladder we have climbed or how much money we make.  We look at our possessions or homes and compare ourselves to others in that way.  The trouble is, we may get a nicer home in a newer neighborhood but up our standard, now comparing ourselves to the richer and “more successful” people in the new neighborhood.  We envy the people with the nicest cars and newest homes.

We must give up this seduction of success.  It can lead us away from ourselves, from time spent in enjoyment with our family and friends, in time spent with God.  I am fortunate to have met some people in my life who have moved to break themselves from the success game.  I remember working as a jury consultant in Dallas, TX.  I lived in an area where I was comparing myself to others who were driving nicer cars, living in nicer homes.  I remember talking to a husband and wife at my church who were both attorneys.  They talked to me about how they had each made a decision to get out of the fast-paced law firms they had been in and work for lesser pay.  They sold their home in a rich area of Dallas and moved to a nice but less expensive home in Richardson, a suburb of Dallas.  They spent more time going to church, involving themselves with their children.  Their example helped me in my own struggle with the seduction of success.

I remember moving to Knoxville and feeling the burden lessening just because of the environment.  The brand and looks of your automobile are not as big a deal here in Knoxville.  I like that.  I also like how we in F3 accept all as brothers.  Who cares or even knows what our economic backgrounds are.

I don’t want success to be my counterfeit God.  God loves each of you for who you are.  God’s version of “be all that you can be” is much different than our commercialized view of looking at that phrase.  Our culture makes that phrase sound like, “to be all we can be” that we must achieve at the very highest level.  God wants us to do well but also wants us to rest in him.  He sees success much differently than we do.  So ask yourself, what does success look like for God?  Is it about relationship, about honor, about love, about trusting in Him, about serving others?  I think those things come much closer to what God wants for us than our cultural way of seeing success, where we are inadequate unless who keep achieving more and more.

MOLESKIN:
Safe travels for Waffle House on his trip out of county.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: