F3 Knoxville

Presents for Everyone

THE SCENE: Cold and clear
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
THA-THANG:
Handed out some presents early – 25 envelopes, each containing an exercise. We went through our gifts in sequential order:

  1. 25 SSH
  2. 10 Tempo Squats
  3. 10 Tempo Merkins
  4. 12 Baby Arm Circles (forward and reverse)
  5. Bear Crawl across the parking lot
  6. Crawl Bear across the parking lot
  7. 20 Derkins
  8. 20 Bench Rows
  9. 10 Burpee Box Jumps
  10. 15 LBC’s (4 ct)
  11. 20 Tuck Jumps
  12. 15 Hand Release Merkins
  13. 10 Lunges (10 each leg)
  14. 20 American Hammers (4 ct)
  15. 10 Dive Bombers
  16. 10 Iron Mikes (4 ct)
  17. 15 Sweat Angels (4 ct)
  18. 15 Diamond Merkins
  19. 20 Squats (4 ct)
  20. 20 Flutter Kicks (4 ct)
  21. 20 Dry Docks
  22. 20 Jump Squats
  23. 15 Box Cutters (4 ct)
  24. 10 Burpees
  25. 1 Time All You’ve Got up Little Baby Hill

MARY:

Just enough time for some plank work and Cap’n helped us cash out with some ATM’s

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
33 HIM’s – no FNG’s

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Especially this time of year, it’s easy to get caught up in the busyness – getting things wrapped up before the new year, planning for next year, finishing up the Christmas shopping, figuring out logistics for the holidays, etc, etc. Sometimes the most difficult task is to just slow down and enjoy the moments, the memories.

I’m as guilty as anyone when it comes to getting caught up in the “hamster wheel of life” – creating my list of things I need to get done, worrying about what’s to come tomorrow, and simply not slowing down to appreciate the moments right in front of me. I was reminded of this last night when I was getting ready for the Q this morning. I was preparing the envelopes for the workout (just another task that I needed to get checked off my long list of things to get done over the next couple days), but my 4 year old son was so excited when I asked him to put some stickers on the envelopes. He swelled with pride knowing that Daddy needed his help, and he quickly plopped down next to me and began meticulously placing his Christmas stickers on each envelope. It was just a little moment – inconsequential in the grand scheme of things – but I cherished that time with him. He won’t always be 4 years old, and he won’t always want to help his Dad with those silly projects.

Cherish the moments.

Wet 66

THE SCENE: Gross.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

BAC x10 IC
Little bit of…
Sumo Shoulders x10 IC
Tempo Squats x10 IC
Monkey Humpers x10 IC
Tempo Merks x10 IC
5 Bodybuilders IC

THA-THANG:
Gave choice of wet or dry workout. PAX chose wet.

Shoulder shredder (100 OH claps IC)

PAX mosey to top of cardiac.

Rd1: Each light pole going down cardiac. Route 66 – 8ct Bodybuilders. Run back up. Rabbits sweep everyone.

Rd2:Each light pole going down cardiac. Route 66 – Crab Cakes 4ct. Run back up. Rabbits sweep everyone.

PAX mosey to bottom of hill by AO

Alternating movements up the hill:
1) Crawl bear for 6 steps
2) Bear crawl for 12 steps
Continue until reaching top

Recovery jog back down to AO

MARY:
Shoulder shredder (100 OH claps 4ct)
1.5 min of Boat/Canoe with slight variations (flutters, OH claps, row the boat, etc)

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Gave everyone a choice of the wet route or the dry route at the start of the workout. Told everyone the seemingly “easier” dry route would’ve consisted of 120 bodybuilders, 120 squat jumps, 120 flutter kicks, and 120 lunges. Choosing the apparent easier path doesn’t always end up easier in the long run.

MOLESKIN:
Pinto brought up the idea to rename Candy Corns to The Grady Pitsticks in honor of Quickrete. Lilydipper will reach out to Cap’n to see if we can get it changed in the Lexicon.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
2nd F lunch today at Babalu at noon.

Pierced by Grace

THE SCENE: Partly cloudy, sometimes raining, temps in 40’s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Planks, 20 Side-Straddle Hops, 10 Mountain Climbers (4 count), 10 Cherry Pickers, Little of This and Little of That
THA-THANG: 

Mosey to upper parking lot at northern end of park.  Each man picks up two bricks that will be in the parking lot.

Mosey on perimeter trail toward Lyons Bend Entrance of park.  Then go east on the trail that crosses road near the park entrance.  Twenty Imperial Walkers.

We will run with bricks for three lights, then stop to do 5 mini-man-makers.  We will do the same two more times along the trail.  Those who finish first do curls with bricks until all men have finished.  Then we do ten standing body twists (four count).

Next, we run for two more lights with bricks and stop to do 20 overhead presses.  Rinse and repeat twice along the trail.  Those finishing do curls again until all have finished.  Then we do ten tempo squats.

Next run for one more light with bricks and stop to do 20 wing claps with bricks.  Rinse and repeat twice as with other exercises.  Those finishing first do curls.  Then we ten tempo merkins.

We will be close to the parking lot where we picked up the bricks.  Put bricks back where they were.

Mosey to Pavilion by northern ball parks.  We will do a tadpole (doing the following exercises in ascending order, adding one exercise each time until we do all five, then dropping first exercise etc until we do only last exercise.  We will do each exercise for 30 seconds with a 30 second break after each set of exercises.  The exercises will be:

  • Burpees
  • Decline Merkins
  • Picnic Table Pullups
  • Bench Jumps
  • Bench Lifts

Next, team up into partners of two.  We will do Doras with partner running twice around the pavilion while the other partner exercises.  Then partners switch.  We will do the following exercises:

  • 300 Baby Crunches
  • 200 Squats
  • 100 Big Boys Sit-ups

Mosey to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Eight men, no FNG’s.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
The following message is taken from a sermon given by Matt Howell, director of RUF at UTK.  He was visiting speaker last Sunday at Redeemer Presbyterian Church.

Bible Reading from John, Chapter 13, verses 1-9.

13 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”

When we read these verses, we may think Peter is being humble when he tells Jesus not to wash his feet.  After all, the Lord is taking on the role of a servant, performing a task that those of menial positions did in those days.  But, looking more closely, Peter is also displaying a veiled pride.  He is saying, I am beyond having my feet washed by you.  My God cannot take on such a subservient role.  I will have no part of it.  Jesus, in turn, is saying that if you cannot accept my loving you like a servant then you can not really share me fully. ( If we cannot accept God’s love in full, we miss out on God, we do not share in what he wants to give us.)

If we humans look at ourselves fully, we see that we, like Peter, have this veiled pride.  Look at how we accept compliments:  with great difficulty.  We generally shun them, getting uncomfortable, joking the compliment off, or saying it is not true.  Us men are also bad on accepting gifts or physical signs of grace from others.  Look at men at a restaurant:  First man:  I’ll get the bill.  2nd man:  No, no, let me take it.  First man:  No, I insist.  In some ways we do this out of courtesy but we also do this out of pride.  We do not want to be the “lowly person” who has his meal paid for.  Also, how do we accept help from others?  We usually shun it, too proud to ask for help.  Finally, we are too proud to accept our brokenness and need for God.  Or we may say, my sins are too great for God’s help, as if our sins, verses those of others, are too great for God.

Matt Howell, in his sermon, used two interesting quotes in his sermon from famous writers.  The first was from Victor Hugo, who said, “Grace is a most formidable assault.”  The second was from Flannery O’Connor, who said, “Grace must wound before it can heal.”

We must get over our veiled arrogance to accept God’s grace for us.  We must accept His assault on our pride, realizing we are broken and that we need his love.  We must get through the embarrassment of recognizing we need Him that much. We must get beyond the fear of His kind of intimacy.  We must let His grace pierce us before we can be truly healed.  Otherwise, as Jesus said, we do not really take our share of Him.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
3rd F on Saturday, December 8 at Outlook by UT strip, 8:30 AM.

Standing Tall in the Year of Drought

THE SCENE: Cloudy with temps in low 40s.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side Straddle Hops, 15 Imperial Walkers, 10 High Kicks, 10 Cherry Pickers, Little of This and Little of That
THA-THANG:
Mosey to stop sign at southeastern corner of admin bldg.  20 American Hammers.

Mosey south to roadway and head towards Lyons Bend Exit.  Stop at perimeter trail just south of exit.

We will be running on perimeter trail, going south and then east, past soccer fields and to southern ball fields.  We will do the following as we go along the trail:

  • Sprint forward four lights, then do exercise.
  • Bernie Sanders for three lights, then exercise.
  • Lunge for two lights, then exercise.
  • Bear crawl for one light, then exercise.  Then do baby crunches until others arrive.
  • Rinse and repeat as we keep moving forward on the perimeter trail but with a new exercise each time.
  • The following will be the exercises for each set of the above: 1:  5 Burpees; 2:  15 Squat Jumps; 3:  15 Merkins;  4:  15 Big Boys.

We will be at the southern ball fields when we finish the above.  Mosey to Outdoor Cathedral.  We will do 20 Bench Dips.

Mosey to roadway and go in the direction that heads south and then west.  Go to the stop sign by the road that heads toward the admin bldg.  Walk north to next stop sign on the southeastern corner of the admin bldg.

Mosey to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

The following is from Jeremiah 17:  7-8.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
    whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
    that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
    for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
    for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

We sometimes find ourselves anxious when unexpected events occur, when we lose something important to us, when we fail at something we have taken on, when bad times hit, when, as the bible verses above allude to, the “year of drought” is here.  I think of the folks out in California right now who have lost homes and possessions.  I saw one homeowner who was interviewed who said that the only thing in his home that survived the fire was a ceramic pot he made when he was a student in school.

It is at such times that we truly must trust in the Lord.  How do we trust at such times?  We must believe that comfort will come.  We must believe that God has people out there who are willing to provide support.  We must believe that God is with us.  If we can stay strong, not see merely the negative, we have strength to unite with others and rebuild.  It will take community and strength for those in California to survive the fires.  Those that are firmly planted in God will strive on despite the pain, will work through their fear, will not only take the helping hand that Americans will provide but reach out a helping hand to others.  If we can trust in God we can stand tall in such difficult times, rise above the destruction and work toward something greater than the things we have lost.
MOLESKIN:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
AO Launch in Cleveland, TN this Saturday.  3rd F at 8:30 am at Outlook on Saturday, December 8.

Synergy at Sundown

THE SCENE: Cloudy, 50s, and threatening rain, but threaten is all it did…
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER 

Check

WARM-O-RAMA:
20 SSH (IC), 20 Suzanne Sommers, 10 Cherry Pickers (IC), 5 Prisoner Cell Merkin Burpees (PCMB) OYO

THA-THANG:
Mosey to the new trail at the north end of the park.

  • LIGHT POLE ESCALATORS
    • Start at first light pole. Do exercise then run to second light pole, do exercise, run back, etc.  Go to 8 light poles. Exercises are:
      • Light Pole 1: 5 Prisoner Cell Merkin Burpees (PCMB)
      • Light Pole 2: 10 lunges (5 each leg)
      • Light Pole 3: 15 Carolina Dry Docks
      • Light Pole 4: 20 Suzanne Sommers
      • Light Pole 5: 25 LBCs
      • Light Pole 6: 30 iron mikes (15 each leg)
      • Light Pole 7: 35 Hello dollies (single count)
      • Light Pole 8 : 40 Imperial Walkers (single count).
    • When done, do LBCs until 6 catches up.

Mosey to the center of the circle drive around the Admin building.

  • BUCK 25s!
    • Start at center cone.  Barry Sanders to the left to another cone about 75 years away. Sprint back to center cone, do 10 Pickle Pounders.
      • Barry Sanders to the cone to the right about 75 yards away, sprint back, do 10 more Pickle Pounders.
      • Run down stairs and back up, do 5 more Pickle Pounders.
      • Bernie Sanders to the base of the stairs at the admin building, do 100 SSHs
      • Run back to center cone, and sprint back to the top of stairs of admin building and do one more emphatic Pickle Pounder!
  • 75 calf raises on building steps (25 normal, 25 toes in, 25 toes out)

Mosey back to AO.

MARY:
Captain Thors, Boat/Canoe, Bicycle kicks, Hold plank 1 minute, Star Gazer refractory period.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Nine men strong! (Quickrete not tagged)
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Many Words recently have focused on surrounding ourselves with positive people.  Why is that?  The reason is because of a concept called SYNERGY, which is based on the Greek word Synergos, which means “working together”.

In my line of work, we look at toxic effects of chemicals.  If there is synergistic toxicity, the sum of the toxicity is something greater than simply adding the two together.  For example, the toxicity of Chemical A (with toxic units =2) + Chemical B (with toxic units =3) = 10, not 5. An example is mercury and lead, both of which are neurotoxins.  A study was done where mice were given a dose of mercury that typically would kill 1% of them, and a dose of lead that would also typically kill 1% of them.  So you would expect 1-2% to die.  But they ALL bit the dust, because of the the combination of lead and mercury, which are synergistic toxins.

So synergy can be a bad thing in toxicology.

But it can be a wonderful thing in other facets of life… like FOOD and DRINK

  • Milk + Chocolate Chip cookies!
  • Pumpkin Pie + coffee!
  • Pizza + Beer!
  • A nice Bordeaux wine + a perfectly cooked filet mignon!!!! (This is where the Q started to get really hungry…)

We all know about the analogy of the fist, too.  Each finger by itself is very weak, but when balled together, WATCH OUT!

It can also be wonderful in relationships.  We are stronger together than the sum of our parts. As Cap’n said at the Olympics, there’s no way in heck we would all get up in the dark and go to a mist-covered field to throw a discuss and do bench presses and flip a 400 pound tire if it weren’t for the presence of others in the group.  Same goes for every F3 workout that we do.  I want to thank the F3 PAX, and especially the Fake Gloomers for adding synergy to my life. I am grateful for each one of you.

Quote:

GENESIS 11:6.  And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.”

MOLESKIN:
Prayers of thanks that Mr. Jinxy’s situation at work has stabilized.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Special F3 workout at the Mend House, Monday Nov 12 6-7 pm, 308 Knox Road.  Park at the Fountain City Krogers nearby.  Contact Abscess or Tank for details.

Cleveland, TN F3 launch Saturday, Nov. 17! 7-9 am with caravan leaving earlier.  Contact Abscess for details.

Third F coming up December 8, 8:30 a.m. Stay tuned…