F3 Knoxville

Tag: Pinto

The Power of Friends

THE SCENE: Temps in high 50’s, clear, breezy
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
10 Pinto About-Face Twists each way, 20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Plank Jacks, 5 Baby Arm Circles forward and backward, 5 Wide Arm Circles forward and backward, 10 Cherry Pickers
THA-THANG:
Mosey to northern parking lot of park.  We will do Route 66 along the sidewalk that heads to park entrance at Lyon’s Bend.  We will run back to the start after each exercise.  These will be the exercises:

  • Plank Jacks
  • Dive Bombers
  • Jump Squats

After these exercises we will alternate between Bernies, Lunges and Sprints along each light until we get to street that extends from entrance gate.

Mosey up street towards AO but stop at stop sign at intersection of road coming from Admin Bldg.  On grassy area near stop sign we will do 20 Hello Dollies and 20 American Hammers.

Mosey to Northern Ball Field Entrance Parking Lot.  We will do the following from one end of parking lot to other and then do ten merkins after each run there and back:

  • Sideways runs with feet crossing.
  • Hops for four parking spaces then sprint to curb and back.
  • Bernies to curb and back.
  • Bear crawl for four parking space then sprint to curb and back.
  • Lunge for four parking spaces then sprint to curb and back.
  • Sprint to curb and back.

Mosey to AO.

MARY:
Box cutters and planks.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
16 men, no FNG’s.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Proverbs 18: 24.  A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Sometimes our self-doubts, our shame, our anxiety, or even our pride can keep us from turning to friends when we are hurt or in trouble.  As a psychologist, I often see individuals coping with hurtful issues that they are too embarrassed to speak to their friends about.  A young man in his twenties recently lost a job that he had out of state.  He has friends who are smart, energetic, and growth-pursuing and who appear to be going places with their lives.  He has come back to his home town and has a few of those “successful” friends who still live here in Knoxville.  He hasn’t even contacted them, too embarrassed to tell them about his loss of job.

If these guys are true friends, they are the very ones he should turn to at this difficult time.  If they are true friends, they will care for him and hold him up.  His true friends won’t begrudge him for losing a job. They like him for who he is, not the type of job he has.  Yes, back when he got the job they may have praised, pat him on the back, wished him well, told him he was going to “kick ass” at it.  They were saying that because they care for him and want the best for him.  They won’t turn their backs on him because he has stumbled.  They are going to want to pick him up, carry him.  If they don’t do that, what kind of friends are they?

I remember a troubled time I had in my early 20’s.  I was lost in terms of what I wanted to do with my life.  I had fumbled around in a few jobs and was working as a forklift driver at a warehouse just to earn enough money to buy groceries while I lived with my uncle who put me up.  I was depressed and certainly not my usual self.  I remember my friends hanging in there with me at that difficult time.  They would take me to rec centers to play basketball, take me out for meals, call me to shoot the breeze, – not necessarily ask about my job search or career struggles but just be there for me and certainly lend an ear if I needed to talk.  They didn’t have the “sage” advice that I needed from older men, sometimes even offered stupid advice to me.  But they cared and I knew it.  They were going to be my friend through thick and thin.  They were there for me at a most important time and I made it through that time because of them.

We need our friends.  Don’t shy away from telling them about your troubles when you hit a low spot.  Turn to them for strength.  It may not be their words of wisdom that push you through – leave that to the shrinks, philosophers, and preachers.  But your friends will give you that powerful something that is hard to put into words – unless you call it love and that love will raise you up.

 

New Years Beatdown

THE SCENE: low 50s, mostly cloudy, and mostly pleasant!!

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Check.


WARM-O-RAMA:
20x then 19x SSH (4-ct, IC) (2019, baby!!); 20x Cherry pickers (4-ct, IC), 30x Ussain Bolts (10 for each squat increment),  baby arm circles forward (10x) and backward (10x); little of this, little of that.

THA-THANG:

Mosey to Parking Lot south of ball fields

  • PARKING LOT PYRAMIDS (hat tip to someone else who did this… maybe Woodshack?)
    • PYRAMID LAPS! Partner up with like speed. Run opposite directions, high five when you pass at the far end, and every time you meet at the near end, do the following exercises in reps of 20 except burpees, which will have 10 reps:
      • Lap 1 LBCs
      • Lap 2 LBCs, Mtn Climbers
      • Lap 3 LBCs, Mtn Climbers, Bobby Hurley’s
      • Lap 4 LBCs, Mtn Climbers, Bobby Hurley’s, burpees
      • Lap 5 Mtn Climbers, Bobby Hurley’s, burpees
      • Lap 6 Bobby Hurley’s, burpees
      • Lap 7 burpees

Mosey to sidewalk leading to Cardiac Hill:

  • Starting at end of Parking Lot, do PAULA ABDULS. Run two lightposts, Bernie Sanders back one, do 10 Iron Mikes (5 each leg), rinse and repeat until path intersects perimeter trail.
  • Reverse course.  Do 11s back up to parking lot (jump squats).

Mosey to perimeter road.  AYG sprint back to AO.

MARY:
20x EH2s right side, 20x left side (it was at this point that the Q couldn’t figure out which was his left or right ankle); 25x American Hammers (4-ct, IC); 20 BBS (OYO)

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
6 F3 HIMs and two FNGs, Stockton Webb and Ross Dempster, who we named Misfire and Cellar.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

About a year ago, I did something I’m not particularly good at: practiced forgiveness.  A friend of the family approached me after my mom passed and mentioned a sizable loan that she had given to him a year or so previously.  Trying to tie up loose ends quickly, I approached him with a number of payback options, all of which he agreed to.  However, he failed to live up to his promises, and claimed that one emergency after another consumed the funds he was trying to save up to pay back the loan.  After years of this, I became frustrated and angry.  A year ago this past Christmas, however, I prayed on the matter and felt an overwhelming peace.  I must do the Christian thing and practice forgiveness.  Not with regards to accepting the excuses, but with the loan itself.  I resolved to trust him that his reasons were valid, and the only conclusion at that point was to decide that he needed the money more than I did.  I let him know of this in an email, and felt satisfied that I had done the right thing.  But after a few months, the old feelings of resentment, anger, and frustration resurfaced.  I prayed again, and realized I had not fully gone through with the forgiveness process.  I had forgiven him in my mind, but not in my soul and heart.  I prayed again, and this time I felt fully at peace.  I tried to put Grace into practice, and forgive my debtor, as my debt is forgiven by God.  I encourage everyone to adopt as their New Year’s resolution to release the negative energy and forgive at least one person in their life that has wronged them, completely and unconditionally.

This also ties in with the link that Cap’n Crunch posted a month or so ago describing an amazing act of forgiveness when a man lost his wife and unborn child in a traffic accident involving a firefighter medic who fell asleep at the wheel.  An excerpt: “In moments where tragedy happens or even hurt, there’s opportunities to demonstrate grace or to exact vengeance.  Here was an opportunity where I could do that. And I chose to demonstrate grace.”

For those who missed it, the link is https://www.today.com/news/one-man-s-forgiveness-after-tragedy-creates-profound-friendship-stranger-t144626?fbclid=IwAR1l1J1wtO2ymOSzzE8MfHHp9oor_GjRSaApQGTQY7mINCtlPHv4lGnrFAg

 

Ephesians 4:31-32

31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

 

Lords Prayer: “and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us”

MOLESKIN:
We had a lot of fun and fellowship at the Polar Bear Plunge this year.  Let’s do it again next year!  Also, a word of appreciation to all the PAX who showed support in any way for the Pitstick family during the difficult time following the loss of Quickrete (Grady Pitstick) last month.  F3 at its finest…

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Justice for All

THE SCENE: Temps in 50’s, cloudy, we finished right before the rainstorm.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side-straddle Hops, 10 Plank Jacks, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Windmills, Michael Phelps, Little of This and That

THA-THANG:
Mosey to Dragon Tail.  We will do Route 66 up the Dragon Tail with the following exercises:

  • Burpees
  • Box Cutters
  • Bobby Hurleys

Mosey to parking lot that is south of northern ball fields.  We will have cones set up in the parking lot with exercises listed at each cone:

  • Cone 1:  20 Merkins.  Bear Crawl to Cone 2.
  • Cone 2:  20 Squat Jumps.  Bernie Sanders to Cone3.
  • Cone 3:  20 Imperial Walkers (each leg).  Sprint to Cone 4.
  • Cone 4.  20 Big Boy Sit Ups.  Bear Crawl to Cone 5.
  • Cone 5.  20 Carolina Drydocks.  Lunge to Cone 6.
  • Cone 6.  20 Hello Dollies.  Sprint to Cone 1.  Rinse and Repeat.

Mosey to pavilion at northern baseball fields.  We will do following exercises:

  • 20 Bench jumps.
  • 20 Bench raises.
  • 20 Picnic table pull-ups.
  • 20 Decline merkins.
  • One minute squat at wall.

Mosey to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Seven men, no FNG’s.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
My ideas for today’s message come from an article by Stephen Cave, Chief Ministry Officer with Biblica, a website of the International Bible Society.  He quotes from Psalms 33:5  “The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.”  In his article Cave comments that our human definition of justice is often narrow.  We may think of 1) someone committing a crime getting their proper punishment, or, at a little less narrow level, 2) justice for those being treated unfairly by those in positions of power.  Cave points out that the bible’s definition goes much deeper.  In the bible, God equates justice with righteousness.  This justice, this righteousness, is a Godly foundation by which all other things should be measured.  As HIM’s, we can measure ourselves by this standard.  Are we living up to God’s standard of justice, God’s standard of what he wants for us and our world?  This is a standard of compassion that calls for us to put things right in our relationship with others.  Are we being fair and loving in our relationships?  Are we hearing the cries of our brothers and sisters and helping them when they are in need?  Are we taking interest in those around us and not getting too caught up with our own issues?  Are we joining in on God’s compassionate fight to end poverty, corruption, disease, racism, and emotional, physical and sexual abuse?  I myself find it easy to point the finger and say “HE, SHE, or THEY are being unjust.”  I think I can do more good if I spend more time doing what Jesus did:  living the Word, being loving, being just.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Quickcrete Memorial Workouts this Saturday.  Polar Bear Plunge on January 1.

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.

Solid

THE SCENE: Insert info about the weather, etc.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
10 Side Straddle Hops, Plank stretches, 10 Tempo Merkins, 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Windmills, 10 Cherry Pickers
THA-THANG:

Mosey up mini cardiac hill and turn right onto the perimeter trail.  20 Hello Dollies.

We will be doing “nickel, dime, quarters” along the perimeter trail all the way to the serpentine sidewalk until it hits the main roadway going by the ball fields.  In the nickel, dime, quarter we run the distance to one light pole and then do five reps of an exercise, run for two more light poles and do ten reps of the exercise, then run for five more light poles and do 25 reps of the exercise.  Those finishing an exercise first do baby crunches until all others catch up.  We will do the following exercises along the way:

  • Squat jumps
  • Merkins
  • Big boy Sit-ups
  • Star jumps

Mosey to long parking lot between the serpentine sidewalk and the northern baseball fields. We will circle around the parking lot performing the exercises listed at each cone.

Cone 1:  20 American Hammers (four count) then Berry Sanders to Cone 2.

Cone 2:  20 Bobby Hurleys, then sprint to Cone 3.

Cone 3:  20 Imperial Walkers (four count) then bear crawl to Cone 4.

Cone 4:  20 Squats, Berry Sanders to Cone 5.

Cone 5:  10 Shoulder Taps (each shoulder) then sprint to Cone 6.

Cone 6:  Ten Burpees.

Rinse and Repeat.

20 Box Cutters.

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

10 Dive Bombers, 10 Bottle Openers, 10 Peter Parkers, 20 Flutter Kicks, 20 Table Saws, Boat Canoe

Mosey to AO.

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

Philippians 2:3 ESV / 181 helpful votes

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

John 15:12-14 ESV / 134 helpful votes

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.

Certainly, a purpose of F3 is to better ourselves as men.  But in F3 we also learn that life is not just about ourselves.  A true HIM looks to God above for direction and then uses the strength that God gives him to reach out to others.  I love the way that we, in F3, look to beyond ourselves in the BOM.  We learn messages about life that are God-Driven and which give us moral and personal strength.  I also love how, in F3, we take that message outward, looking to find other men to be a part of our PAX but also looking to ways we can help the community.  In that way we no only make ourselves better, but make others better.  Let’s remember that as we go on through this week and as we celebrate Christmas.  We can be thankful that God came in the form of man to sacrifice Himself for us.  But we can also learn to make the high commitment to spread our love to others, sacrificing our tendencies towards greed and self-focus, while learning to give of ourselves, our time, and possessions.