F3 Knoxville

Tag: Pool Boy

The Monsters Men Fear

THE SCENE:  65 and clear.  Perfect for an IPC beatdown.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Skipped. 
WARM-O-RAMA: 

Warmup OYO while we talk through the workout.

THA THANG:

IPC Week 3

MARY:

None

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Me and 6 of the best men I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I have a routine that I follow when I leave the house in the morning.  I make a cup of coffee, pack my lunch, grab my stuff, and I’m out the door.  In one hand, I have my duffel bag with a change of clothes and my lunch – in the other hand I have my morning coffee.  I leave through the back door, walk across the deck and down the steps, turn the corner around the house, and get into my car which is sitting in the driveway. That’s my routine…and it almost never changes.

A few weeks ago – on a Tuesday before F3 – my routine did change just a bit.  For a reason now long forgotten, I didn’t make coffee that morning.  That meant that I had something I almost never have when I leave the house – a free hand.  And I used that hand to do what I almost never do – shine my phone’s flashlight to light the dark path through the backyard and around to my car.  I remember having a sense that morning – a sense that I wanted to see within the darkness – like something was there that I needed to be on a high-state of readiness for.  A skunk? A raccoon?

I used my flashlight to shine across the deck, down the steps, across the yard, to my car.  Nothing…my instinct was clearly misfiring.  I turned off the flashlight, put my bag in the backseat, got into the front seat, and turned the key in the ignition.  Then, in the bright glow of the headlights, I saw…A PERSON STANDING IN FRONT OF MY CAR AND STARING AT ME.  For a moment, my blood froze, and I was stiff with the shock.  It quickly thawed when I realized that the wild-eyed pajamaed person was my 7-year old son.  He’d heard me leaving the house and ran out to say “goodbye” and “have a good day”.  Sweet kid – but he startled me half to death at five in the morning.

Driving to meet you guys for the workout that morning, I was reminded of a couple of things.  The first was a bit of scripture that I am working with that 7-year old to help him memorize; “2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.”  The second thought came from a book that I read him each night for a few weeks earlier this year, Sails of Capri.  In the book, the characters fear sailing their small ship into a cove which is said to be cursed.  Local myth was that man-eating sea monsters lived in a cave within that cove.  The reluctant adventurers finally sail into the cove and into the mouth of the cave, where they discover a breathtaking blue grotto (the real Grotto Azzura in Capri).  One of the main characters reflects about their adventure with these words, “Most of the monsters men fear are in their minds.  They would vanish like smoke if we would only let them”. 

Let’s talk about monsters that we fear.  No – not bats, or snakes, or spiders…  Here are the five most common fears that men have.  

  1. Failing.
  2. Being Incompetent.
  3. Being Weak (or Being Perceived as Weak).
  4. Being Irrelevant.
  5. Looking Foolish.

I can relate to each of those.  When I’m being honest with myself, I’ll admit that those fears manifest in a facade of coolness or disinterest.  Ultimately, what those fears cost me is deep intimacy in relationships.  Why wouldn’t I be silly with my kids or dance with my wife?  Fear of looking foolish.  Why wouldn’t I lean in and be a better mentor of that younger man at work?  Fear of being irrelevant.  Why the heck do I find it so hard to consistently lead my wife spiritually?  Fear of being incompetent.  If you are like me, the irrational fears that you harbor are keeping you from enjoying your relationships to their fullest potential. 

Yet… “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” – Joseph Campbell.  When I do allow myself to be unguarded with close relationships, I find that the fear was all in my mind and that my loved ones delight in the most unguarded version of me (bad dance moves and all).  The closeness that I crave was there all along – masked by insecurities which ended up being paper monsters.

When I saw that apparition in the dark a few weeks ago, I was afraid.  Then it turned out to be my son, and I realized that there is nothing more precious to me than that figure standing in front of me (which I first feared).  Likewise – when you courageously step through your fears and experience healthy relational intimacy (which you thought was a monster) – it may, in fact, lead to something that you cherish deeply.

“Most of the monsters men fear are in their minds.  They would vanish like smoke if we would only let them”.

Here’s 2 Timothy 1:7 again, this time from The Living Bible translation, “For the Holy Spirit, God’s gift, does not want you to be afraid of people, but to be wise and strong, and to love them and enjoy being with them.”

Be willing to let down your guard with those closest to you and experience relational intimacy.

MOLESKIN:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Do it again this Friday at JUCO – Wanderer is hosting IPC Week 3, his VQ!

Hardship Hill

JUCO Shuffle

THE SCENE: 70 degree and not quite as humid
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional… 

WARM-O-RAMA:
Side straddle hop in cadence 20
Cherry Pickers
10 merkins In cadence
Arm rotations thumbs up in cadence
Reverse thumbs down in cadence
10 Windmills in cadence
5 burpees on your own
Side straddle hop in cadence 20
THA-THANG:
Mosied to the Hard Knox parking lot for our first set of drills.

  • Merkin Leapfrogs (not the F3 name) across the lot.
  • Held plank while waiting on the 6.
  • Bernie back to the start
  • Mosey to the JUCO entrance
  • Squats while waiting on the 6
  • 8 count push-ups  x10
  • tricep dips on guardrail x10
  • two single filed lines running back to front sprints (indian runs)
  • flutter kicks x20
  • Mosey to coupon pile with a Crab Walk to the 6
  • Curls w/ coupon x25
  • Squat Thrusts w/ coupon x20
  • Triceps w/ coupon x25
  • Mosey to the rec center
  • Spring up the hill
  • Karaoke through cones
  • Bear crawl down the hill on the other side
  • Repeat (sans bear crawl) x1
  • Mosey back to the flag.

MARY:
Feddie Mercuries x20
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Use the TAGS on right-side to record PAX (BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOURSELF) in attendance. Be sure to select the AO in CATEGORY above TAGS and then delete these notes!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
You guys inspire me both on and off the court. You push me to do more, be more, and I’m truly thankful for it.

Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight
MOLESKIN:
Prayer request: Guardrail’s coworker and his family also his FIL. West Coast Fires
ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Simple Workout, Simple Message, Simple Gospel

THE SCENE: All good.
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH
Windmill
Tempo Merkins
Mt Climbers
Tempo Squats
Morrocan Night Clubs

THA-THANG:

Mosey to Brick Wall, Dora-up
– 100 Derkans
– 200 Dips
– 300 Irkins
Mosey to Freshmen Hill
– Run Up the Hill
– Freddy Mercury (25, IC)
– Run Down the Hill
– Flutter Kicks (25, IC)
Repeat 3x
Mosey back to AO (Squats, Lunges, Monkey Humpers along the way)

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Simple Workout, Simple Message – That’s the Gospel
Isaiah 1: 16-17a
Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.
Learn to do right; seek justice.
Eph 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
Rom 10:9-10
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Don’t make the gospel so complicated, simply accept the gospel and live it out.

 

Median’s VQ

THE SCENE: 70° and breezy
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: VQ by @Median (guardrail’s 2.0)
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • Cherry pickers & Reach for the stars
  • 10 High knees
  • 10 Side straddle hops 
  • 10 Jungle Boi squats 
  • Baby Arm Circles (forward and back) w Michael Phelps
  • 10 Donkey Kicks On your own
    THA-THANG:
    Black snake Mosey through the courtyard to the parking lot

10 of each of the following at the stations, looping, 12 for the second lap

  • Merkin –>Burpee –> Bernie
  • Ranger Merkin –>Burpee –> Bernie
  • Wide Merkin –> Burpee –> Bernie
  • Diamond Merkin –> Burpee – Coupon Pile (no grass)
  • CPR “Curl Press tRIcep”
  • Bent over row
  • Pull ups
  • Flutter Kicks
  • Leg Raises
  • Box cutters
  • Hello Dolly
  • Jungle Boi Squats
  • Calf Raises

MARY:
Dealers choice: plank, Merkins, American Hammers, box cutters
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. Colossians  1:15 

We need to keep God in the center of our life. That’s hard to do because God is an invisible God. The things we can see are much easier to put our attention on.  But if you always keep God in the center of your mind you will see God moving in so many ways. But how do you know that God is the center of your life?  If you think about a thing more than God you have that in the center of your life instead of God. 

I challenge you to look at how you are spending your free time, does it reflect God?  If your thoughts are always on

  • School (for some of us) 
  • work (most of you ) 
  • or a hobby, 
  • or worrying about COVID 
  • or even your next F3 workout 

–that may be a sign that Christ isn’t the center of your life.  

Instead if your thoughts are on Jesus and His Kingdom and loving others well, you have Christ as the center of your life.  Thank you for being men in my life who help me put Christ as the center.

MOLESKIN:
@Median, Luke Brown, at 12yrs old felt the call to lead and bring a tough word to a tough and awesome group of HIM’s.  Very proud to call him my 2.0.  – Guardrail
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Welcome FNG “Jolly GG”

Iron Pax challenge week 1 Friday. Come early 5:15.

IPC Week 1 at The Project

THE SCENE: Clear and a little cooler than it has been lately.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
OYO. Some arriving early to get started on the challenge.
THA-THANG:
Iron PAX challenge week 1

  • 3 burpees EMOM
  • 50 hand release release merkins
  • 100 leg lifts
  • 150 jungle boi squat jumps
  • 200 big boy sit-ups
  • 250 stationary lunges (125 each leg)

MARY:
Stargazers! We were done!
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
8 worked on the IPC week 1 challenge this morning.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
I have been thinking a lot lately about being lukewarm: being half a man, half a husband, half a father, etc. Basically, being lukewarm means you are not putting in enough effort.  Jesus tells us something very important regarding being a lukewarm Christian. He states that “I will spew you out of my mouth”, Revelation 3:16. I am sure most of you can recall a time in your life, or witnessing it in someone else’s life, being on fire for God. Perhaps a youth group trip. Try to remember how that felt. We are called to be hot, on fire for God. I encourage you to consider this and evaluate how you may return to that zeal and also apply in all that you do.
MOLESKIN:
The return of Rocket! What an awesome workout for your first one in a while! IPC week 1 was intense. That was a lot of leg and core work. Definitely feel good for doing that workout, but man is YHC going to be sore!