F3 Knoxville

Rockin’ Dora and Cardiac Attack

THE SCENE: Mostly cloudy, 73 degrees, 90% humidityTo
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

(25) 4 ct. SSH; Baby arm circles forward; backers; (10) 4ct. plank jacks; lunge stretch

THA-THANG:

  • Mosey to base of Everest
  • (1) sprint up Everest to rock pile
  • Selected rock and partner for Rockin’ Doras
  • Partner 1: Run west along road, with rock, to first tree and back
  • Partner 2: Curls (up to 200); Squats with rock (up to 200); BBS or flutter kicks (4 ct.), rock optional (200)
  • Mosey cross country to base of Cardiac Hill
  • (5) 4 ct. American Hammers; Bernie Sanders to first bend; (5) 4 ct. Hello Dollies; bear crawl to next bend; (5) squat jumps; sprint to benches; (5) tricep dips;
  • Rinse and repeat, add (5) to each exercise

MARY:
Ab work, 2 rounds ending with 4 ct. flutter kicks.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
II Timothy 1:7 – This is my Father’s favorite verse, and I had not really connected with it. I never felt that I approached life with timidity or fear. I termed it as humility. But, there is a fine line between timidity and humility.  To my shame, I have been doing F3 for a year and a half, and this is my VQ.  To be a real HIM, we need to approach life boldly. We need to lead when we are called to lead and not be timid. We also need to remember that God gives us power, but also love and self discipline.

The Peace of Wild Things

THE SCENE: Pleasant temperatures in the upper 70s, but still dang humid
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Boom. Nailed it.

WARM-O-RAMA:
20 SSH IC, 20 Imperial Squat Walkers IC, 20 Windmills IC (PAX really needs to work on getting the coordination and count down on these… 😉 ), 20 baby-to-big arm circles IC, front/reverse

THA-THANG:

Mosey to Area 51.

We will do Partner DORAs starting at the parking sign off of the perimeter road just south of the Admin building.. While one partner runs to Area 51 parking lot/loading Dock and does 5 squat jumps and runs back, the other starts the exercises.  Each pair shall complete the following, cumulatively:

  • 100 Big Boy sit-ups
  • 200 Lunges (doing both legs counts as 1)
  • 100 Merkins

Mosey around perimeter road to grassy field between Admin Building and main park road. Cones will be laid out in a large rectangle.  Move around the cones, doing Bernie Sanders on the long sides and bear crawls on the short sides.  Stop at midpoints and corners for exercises.

  • At midpoints (long side only), do 15 Carolina Dry Docks
  • At each corner, do 10 mountain climbers (4-ct)

Rinse and repeat, but replace the exercises with the following:

  • At midpoints (long side), do 15 Bobby Hurleys
  • At each corner, do 10 Plank Jacks

Mosey to path leading to Admin building.

Bernie Sanders up the sidewalk to the stairs, and do 50 calf raises on the stairs.

Mosey back to AO.

MARY:
Captain Thors, 20 Hello Dollies (IC), 15 tempo merkins (IC), 40 E2Ks (10 each leg, rinse and repeat), 20 modified table saws (IC), 20 froggie/heel touches (IC)
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
11 fine men, all tagged except for Foff (sp?) who is still not registered.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

The Peace of Wild Things

Outside of church, I have always felt closest to God while immersed in the beauty of nature, surrounded by a world so achingly beautiful that it makes me so grateful and humbled that we have been placed in such surroundings.  Whether it is standing on a ledge looking at a spectacular waterfall, gazing out across a valley tinted with fall colors from a peak, or simply looking at the contours and pigments of a simple, perfect flower, I feel the work of God in my heart.  I wanted to read this poem, which I stole-borrowed from a fellow F3er’s Facebook page (Thanks Lillydipper!)

“The Peace of Wild Things” by Wendell Barry

When Despair for the World grows in me

And I wake in the night at the least sound

In fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

Rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds

I come into the peace of wild things

Who do not tax their lives with forethought

Of grief.  I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

Waiting with their light.  For a time

I rest in the grace of the world. And am free.”

Prayers that we pause and truly appreciate the beauty of our world whenever possible, and that we are wise and responsible stewards of our wondrous planet so that it is preserved for generations to come.

MOLESKIN:
Congrats to Mr. Jinxy and best wishes on the marriage of his daughter this week-end!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Lots of stuff coming up… Atlanta Mud Run, F3 Olympics, Cleveland, TN F3 kickoff all in the next month.  Stay tuned…

The last shall be first

THE SCENE: Partly cloudy with nice breeze, low eighties.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side Straddle Hops, 15 Bottle Caps, 10 Plank Jacks, 10 Windmills, 10 Cherry Pickers, Little of This and Little of That
THA-THANG:

Mosey down Roadshow Run and go to trail near Lyons Bend Entrance.  20 Hello Dollies.  After that we will do 14’s on trail as it goes east and then south.  We will stop when it curves by parking lot.  We will bear crawl to first light and sprint next four all the way on the trail, bear crawl one light, sprint four lights.

Mosey on roadway until we get to playground.  We will do elevens starting with one bench lift and ten bench jumps.  20 American Hammers in Cadence afterward.

Mosey to grassy area close to Pickett’s Charge.  There will be cones on he grassy area.  We will do suicides running to each cone and back to start.  Rest to do 40 Baby Crunches.  Do suicides one more time but this time do 10 Merkins each time we get back to start.  Those who finish first do Big Boy Sit-ups.

Mosey to front of Admin Bldg.  Stop to do 20 Box Cutters in Cadence.

Mosey to rock pile near Admin Bldg Parking Lot.  20 Bench Presses, 20 Curls, 20 Rows, 20 Squats.

Mosey to AO.
MARY:
Plank with lifts of each hand and each leg.  Leg stretches from plank position.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Nine men including a Flying EH who was our FNG.  His hospital name is Tony Guidera and we dubbed him “Bojangles.”
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

So the last will be first, and the first last.”
And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”
In all these sayings, Jesus is indicating that God does not give great importance to ability, success, wealth or fame in His Kingdom.  Jesus also indicates that God places importance on us serving others.  As leaders we should think of ourselves as servants, not head of the pack.
One of the reasons that I have loved the F3 Brotherhood and F3 Philosophy so much is that I feel we follow this philosophy that Jesus speaks of.  When I came to F3, I heard that military men had started it and I was worried that it was going to be a “get your A _ _ in gear boy” type of mentality where guys are pushed and made fun of when they failed.  Instead, I found a group of men who do push THEMSELVES but who encourage the newcomers and circle back for them when they cannot keep up with those ahead of them.  I found a group who gives RESPECT to the older, slower guys.  The philosophy of F3 is to encourage EVERY MAN.  We respect each man for what he offers, for his unique set of gifts.  We admire the fastest and we admire the strongest.  We admire the slowest who is giving it all to get better.  We admire those who are great speakers, who know about our community, who are good teachers, who are awesome mumble-chatterers, who are willing to do something that they are uncomfortable with doing, who are willing to wake up early morning to get better, who are willing to come out on an afternoon of excessive heat and humidity to get better.  Who is first and who is last in F3?  Who knows?  I guess we are all first and all last.  And I get the feeling that God smiles on F3 Knoxville because we do live out the philosophy that God has asked us to live by.

MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Hike this weekend on Andrews Bald.  Those going will meet at Food City at 8:30 am and head out together.  Mud run in Atlanta following weekend.

Dirty Dozen Dropping Sweat

THE SCENE: Sunny and humid, temps in 70’s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Burpees, 10 Windmills, 5 Burpees, 10 Cherry Pickers, Michael Phelps, Little of This and Little of That
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the driveway that heads to the northern wall of the admin bldg.  There will be bricks by a large tree near he drive way.  We will pair up in teams of two and do Doras.  While one partner works on the following exercises, the other partner will run with a set of bricks to the curb, do ten mini man makers, then run back and exchange the bricks with his partner who will do the same.  Here are the exercises each team will do:

  • 100 Big Boy Sit-ups
  • 100 Merkins
  • 200 Baby Crunches

Mosey to gate at the Lyons Bend entrance.  Take perimeter trail east.  Stop once at first light.  We will do 20 American Hammers in cadence.

Mosey east on perimeter trail to cone that will be located close to a large Mimosa tree.  We will do a Route 66 going eleven lights, stopping at each one.  We will do each of the following exercises starting with the first and doing it once at first light, twice at second, etc. until we do 11 of that exercise at 11th light.  Those who get there first will sweep others back to start and we will begin the next exercise.  Here are the exercises:

  • Squat jumps
  • Dive bombers
  • Imperial Walkers (four count)
  • Shoulder taps (tapping each shoulder counts as one)

Mosey to Playground

We will do bench jumps.  We will do ten, then rest for 20 seconds.  We will do five sets of ten with the 20 second break.

Mosey to Pavilion.  We will do 25 Picnic Table Pull-ups.  We will then do squat by wall for one minute.

Mosey to AO.

MARY:
Plank Stretches.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
12 men, no FNG’s.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

The following message is not fully from me.  Rather, it stems from a conversation with a friend of mine named Tony Kuykendall.  Tony observed that in our age of social media, whether on Facebook, Group Me, Twitter, or whatever, we wonder how many people are following our messages.  We follow other’s messages by giving them the Like signal, coloring in a heart, showing a happy face, a thumbs up, or some other sign saying we listened and took notice.  We may follow peoples’ messages on social media each day.  My friend Tony observed that the Bible is certainly a form of social media.  It has been written and distributed socially so that people may read it and follow God.  Tony wondered how many times we actually follow God’s word each day.  Certainly, God wants us to “follow’ Him.

John 8:12 “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”

God wants us to follow Him because he knows that we need Him to live within the light.  When we follow Him, good things happen.  We move along in our lives and often miss out on the light.  We seek the light through our own means and often fail to listen to that higher power calling us.  Where is God calling you to follow?  What path does he want for you?  Where does God want to take you.  We can sense that there is something missing in our lives if we do it alone, something greater we need to fulfill us.  We get glimpses of something greater by showing up in the gloom each day to work out with our brothers in F3.   We didn’t want to listen to our crazy friends that rooked us into coming out here.  Yet, by coming we have found something special, something invigorating, something good for us.  In our busy lives we often don’t want to take the time to listen to God.  But if we do so, we find something special, something invigorating, something good for us.  It is that which we need.  So, listen, take time to focus on Him and what he is calling you to do.  Follow Him.

MOLESKIN:
Hotspur and his family needs a prayer as his mother-in-law died recently.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
F3 Knoxville Anniversary and Olympics on November 3.  Launching of F3 in Cleveland, TN on November 10.

Our Shield, Our Protector

THE SCENE:  Sunny and warm, mid-eighties.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Mountain Mans, Plank Stretches, 10 Cherry Pickers, 20 Quick Wing Claps
THA-THANG:
Mosey to shade of tree by stop sign at Northeast corner of Admin Bldg.  20 Box Cutters.

Mosey to shaded grassy area near driveway that goes to northern side of Admin Bldg.

Go to four cones that form large square in grassy area by long driveway.

  • Corner 1:  20 Big Boy Sit ups.  Then Bernie Sanders to Corner 2.
  • Corner 2:  20 Squat Jumps.  Then Bear Crawl to Corner 3.
  • Corner 3:  20 Dive Bombers.  Then Sprint to Corner 4.
  • Corner 4:  20 Star Jumps.  Then Lunge to Corner 1
  • Rinse and Repeat

Mosey back to the long driveway leading to northern side of Admin Bldg.

We will do suicides.  We will always Bear Crawl to first cone while doing the suicides and sprint to remaining three cones.  Each time we return back to the starting point, we will do 25 Little Baby Crunches.

Rinse and Repeat.

Next, do suicides without bear crawls and baby crunches, sprinting to first cone and back, second cone and back, third cone and back, fourth cone and back then continuing to third cone and back, second cone and back and first cone and back.

Mosey to roadway that is on east side of admin bldg.  Go down steps on east side of roadway opposite the sidewalk that goes to the admin bldg.  

We will do thirties, starting with 5 bench dips at the bottom of the steps.  We will run up the steps and then up the sidewalk to the steps of the admin bldg.  There we will do 25 decline merkins.  We then sprint back to the benches where we did the dips.  We do 10 bench dips, then sprint back to the admin bldg to do 20 decline merkins.  We continue this pattern until we have done 25 bench dips and 5 merkins.

Mosey to grassy area on east side of admin bldg.   Do 20 American Hammers

Mosey to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Twelve men, no FNG’s.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

When you were young, did you have a father that you admired, that protected you, that you knew found favor in you and you knew would be there for you if in stress?  Did you see that father as big, powerful, strong and mighty when you were a little boy?  Did you like those special times when you got to sleep by him in his bed, just because he was awesome and big and you felt safer being close to him?  Some of us had that in our dads.  Some of us are fathers to children who look up to us and trust in us for protection.

As grown adults, we still have that need for the strength of a father who is big and powerful.  I would say we have that childlike need but the need is not childlike as all adults have that need.  We, as strong men, know that we cannot always go it alone.  We need someone more powerful than us, who will “kick ass” to get to us when we are in trouble, defying all odds to do so.  We have that in our God, our creator, our FATHER.  I love the following verses from Psalms 18 (verses 2 – 19) because they portray not only a wonderful image of just how strong our Father is but how strong his passion is for just one of his children.

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
    my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
    and I am saved from my enemies.

The cords of death encompassed me;
    the torrents of destruction assailed me;[a]
the cords of Sheol entangled me;
    the snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called upon the Lord;
    to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
    and my cry to him reached his ears.

Then the earth reeled and rocked;
    the foundations also of the mountains trembled
    and quaked, because he was angry.
Smoke went up from his nostrils,[b]
    and devouring fire from his mouth;
    glowing coals flamed forth from him.
He bowed the heavens and came down;
    thick darkness was under his feet.
10 He rode on a cherub and flew;
    he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,
    thick clouds dark with water.
12 Out of the brightness before him
    hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
    and the Most High uttered his voice,
    hailstones and coals of fire.
14 And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;
    he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
    and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O Lord,
    at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

16 He sent from on high, he took me;
    he drew me out of many waters.
17 He rescued me from my strong enemy
    and from those who hated me,
    for they were too mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
    but the Lord was my support.
19 He brought me out into a broad place;
    he rescued me, because he delighted in me.