F3 Knoxville

Wondering Where The Lions Are

THE SCENE: Sunny and warm, temp in low eighties.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

THA-THANG:
20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Burpees, 10 Twisties, 10 Rockettes, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Little Baby to Big Wide Arm Circles Forward and 10 Backward

We will mosey past the stop sign at the northeast corner of the Admin Bldg and go to the grassy area by the perimeter trail.  We will do 20 Flutter Kicks in the grass.  Next, will run west on the perimeter trail, stopping every ten lights to do ten of each of the following exercises.  Those arriving to the tenth light first will rinse and repeat until the six has done ten of each exercise.  Here are the exercises for each tenth light:

  • Merkins, Big Boys
  • Squat Jumps, Lunges (each leg = 1)
  • Carolina Dry Docks, Hello Dollies

Next, we will run to Area 51.  Stop at the area by the parking lot on the right.  We will split into teams of two.  While one team member does an exercise, the other runs to the curb at the end of area 51, does 10 jump squats, and runs back.  The partners then switch.  When each partner had done an exercise twice, they shift to the next exercise.  Here are the exercises:

  • Gas pumps
  • Rocky Balboas
  • Diamond Merkins
  • Iron Mikes

Next, we will run up the hill above Area 51 to roadway above the big tree.  Those getting there first will do bench dips until the six arrives.

Mosey to AO by running to gravel parking lot area, walking along the parking lot area, then running to AO.

Next we will do sprints to sign by parking lot and slow job back to where we started.  Repeat sprints three more times.  Then slow jog back to AO.

MARY:

35 Baby Crunches
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
15 showing, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Wondering Where The Lions Are

Have you heard or do you remember the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den from the Bible?  Daniel was a Jew who was serving Darius, the King of Babylon or Prussia.  Daniel was an excellent administrator and King Darius liked him.  The other administrators and officials of King Darius were jealous of him.  They did know how strongly he worshipped his God.  They planned a scheme where , supposedly to celebrate the king, they convinced King Darius to issue a decree that any person in the kingdom who prayed to or worshipped any God or human for the next 30 days, other than King Darius, should be thrown in a Lion’s Den.  Daniel worshipped his God daily and continued to do so after the decree.  Caught, he was thrown in the Lions Den.  The next morning King Darius rushed to the den to find Darius alive, the ferocious lions acting tamely beside him.  King Darius, who cared for and admired Daniel then proclaimed:

“I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. For he is the living God and he endures forever”.

As a psychologist, I see many people who suffer from anxiety.  I recently had my first session with a mid-thirties woman who suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (anxiety that occurs after one suffers from a trauma), Social Anxiety (anxiety about being in social situations), and Agoraphobia (condition where a person panics if they leave their household). Ten years ago, she could hardly leave her home without breaking down. She even had difficulty answering phone calls, too anxious to talk to strangers.  Fortunately, she met a therapist who helped her out. He talked to her about how anxiety can be incredibly crippling but that some anxiety can be gradually overcome through something called exposure therapy.  If people, who have been frightened in the past, can expose themselves to the situation they fear and see that nothing disastrous happens, the anxiety can, over time, decrease.  He used a metaphor with my patient.  He said if we were to open a door and have a ferocious lion attack us, we would be very frightened of ever opening that door again, even if the lion was taken away and people tried to rationally convince us there was no lion there anymore.  We may panic trying to open the door and our hearts might pound like crazy.  But, each day, if we continued to open the door and see that no lion was there, we would gradually be less anxious about doing it.  We might not ever fully wipe out the anxiety but we would be better off.  That is what has happened to this lady.  She still gets nervous when going into public settings but can now do so.  And she wants to continue that process so that in the future, she will be even better at it.

In life, we face difficult and challenging situations.  We get burned sometimes in these situations or we fail at them.  We then fear trying similar situations.  We worry about the consequences.  We worry that we can’t face up to the situation.  But, if we can expose ourselves to the challenging situations and learn from them, we grow.  If we can trust that God is on our side, we can tame the lions we fear.

One of my favorite songwriters, Bruce Cockburn, wrote a song that talks about the ecstasy that comes with belief in God and His eternity.  He also talks about about how fear is diminished with the knowledge of this belief.  I will finish my message with some lines from that song which is entitled, “Wondering Where the Lions Are”:

Sun’s up . . . looks okay
The world survives into another day
And I’m thinking ’bout eternity
Some kinda ecstasy got a hold on me

I had another dream about lions at the door
They weren’t half as frightening as they were before
But I’m thinking ’bout eternity
Some kinda ecstasy got a hold on me.

And I’m wondering where the lions are
I’m wondering where the lions are
I’m wondering where the lions are.

MOLESKIN:

Prayers for safe travels for Pusher and Rusty on their vacation.  Prayers for Thunderstruck and his family after the death of his mother.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP tomorrow night at Haw Ridge, 9 pm.

Trivia Night

After being properly motivated, we did some Stretchies and we vowed to trust the (Junk) Science. Everybody got 10 years of invincibility; you’re welcome. PAX was quiet, so we did some Shoulder Blasters because that always gets people complaining.

Trivia Night at F3 commenced. If you or your partner got a correct answer, you were both exempted from burpees before the next exercise. Some guys know sports, some guys know art and literature, some guys know history. Some guys (looking at you, Lulu) just start doing burpees.

We hit the Cloud for some Descending Box Baby Box Rows, then traveled to the Caribbean for juuust a hint of a Sutherland Seabiscuit. Just a skosh. The faintest whiff.

Speaking of Seabiscuit, Convoy and Swimmies are like two thoroughbreds among a bunch old mares on their way to the glue factory. They beat us to Cardiac, where we only had time for one and a half Crawdad Comebacks.

Two things about your Q: 1) he is not going to make you do knee-based air presses on asphalt, and 2) time management may not be his strong suit. So we couldn’t complete a full round of the Dark Webb, and it was all Q’s fault. But as Donald Rumsfeld said, “You go to F3 with the Q you have, not with the Q you wish you had.”

MARY:
Lebowski pointed out another ill effect of Q’s poor clock management, which is that we didn’t go by the ATM and none of us has cash for the weekend.

Sincere gratitude to all F3 men for leading and participating in workouts. I wouldn’t do anything if it wasn’t for you all.

Philippians 4:10-13.

The Myth of Talent

THE SCENE: Scrumptiously perfect.  Low 70s, partly cloudy, very light breeze
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

You know the drill.
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 SSHs (4-CT, IC) / 10 Steve Earles (4-CT, IC) / 10 WINDMILLS (4-CT, IC) / 10 Tempo Merkins (4-CT, IC) / 10 BACs forward and backward (4-CT, IC)

THA-THANG:

MOSEY to Field below Colosseum.

Do a KRAKEN.  Five cones.   Do 5 reps of 3 exercises (Carolina Dry Docks/Squats/BBS) at Cone 1, then run around circle plus one cone.  Add 5 reps to each cone until back at cone one, so last cone will have 25x each exercise

MOSEY to Area 51.

MUCHO CHESTO (10 Merkins, 10 Wide Ms, 10 Diamond Ms, 10 Staggered Ms Left and 10 Right)

MOSEY to EVEREST.  BERNIE to the Summit until failure, run the rest of the way.

At the Base of the Summit:

HILLS AND ABS:

  • 10 LBCs, 10 BBSs, run up the hill and back. R&R 3 more times adding 10 reps to exercises.

MARY:
Bear Crawl Ring of fire (Bear crawl in a circle 1 rotation, then PAX do 5 merkins each, R&R).

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
13 strong (Cheetah Boy not tagged)
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Read Kurt Vonnegut’s quote during an interview where he told an archeologist about his varied interests, but how he was not good at any of them.  The archeologist replied how important it was to gain those experiences regardless of “success” at the endeavors.  This forever changed Vonnegut’s perception of himself and of succuss vs. failure.  Don’t feel that endeavors you pursue are not worthwhile just because you don’t reach a high level of success at them.  This is the myth of talent.  Success is not driven by society or your peer base, but how your experiences shape you and how you find joy in them.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers of praise for Cheetah Boy finishing the Harry Potter series.  Prayers to be with Brick and Matlock as they spread the message of their journey. Prayers for Steam and his coworkers.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Haw Ridge CSAUP, one week from tomorrow!

Shedding Skin

THE SCENE: Beautiful late afternoon, temps in upper 60’s.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Motivators starting with seven, 10 Twisties, 10 Windmills, 5 Burpees, 10 Tempo Squats, Little of This and That
THA-THANG:
Mosey to stop sign by northeastern corner of Admin Bldg.  We will stop to do 10 Rocky Balboas and 10 American Hammers.

Mosey on perimeter trail toward Lyons Bend then head right on trail across roadway that goes to park entry gate.  Continue to mosey to cones in the grassy field on the right.  We will split into teams of two to do Doras.  While one partner runs up the hill to the tree by the roadway and back, the other partner does exercises.  Partners then switch.  Here are the exercises the partners do as a team:

  • 100 Big Boy Sit-Ups
  • 100 Jump Squats
  • 100 Merkins
  • 100 Imperial Walkers (both legs = 1)
  • 200 Baby Crunches

Next we will mosey to the bottom of Mount Everest.  We will do 20 Flutter Kicks (4 ct) and 20 Bicycle Kicks (4 ct) in cadence.  We will then run to the top of Everest.  Those at the top will do imaginary skip ropes until the six arrives.

Mosey south to the cone that is across the street from the gravel parking lot.  We will Sprint to cone then Walk to next cone, Sprint to cone, then Walk to next cone, and continue this process until we reach the cone by the stop sign at the southwestern corner of the Admin Bldg.  Those reaching the stop sign first will do imaginary skip ropes until the six arrives.  We will turn around and do the same thing going back but will Bernie and Walk. Those reaching the cone by the gravel parking lot first will do imaginary skip ropes until the six arrives.

Rinse and repeat.

Mosey to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
14 men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Comfortable In My Own Skin

Do you remember those Dove Men Body Wash commercials where famous coaches or athletes like Magic Johnson, John Elway, Tom Izzo and John Thompson III talked about being comfortable in their own skin?  Those commercials had appeal because not only was Dove was supposed to make a man’s skin comfortable; they appealed to viewers because we want to be like the coach or athlete, having reached a certain level of self-satisfaction.  We want to reach a point in our lives where we can sit back and say, “yes sir, I am comfortable in my own skin.”

Yet, if we are to grow as men, we in some ways need to be uncomfortable in our own skin.  Each of us have certain sins, certain vices, that we need to get rid of, to cast off.  God wants us to become ever more like Him.  And, if we are to do that, we must shed old selves and become something new.

The following passage is from Voyage of the Dawn Treader in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicle of Narnia.  In the passage, a boy named Eustace is telling his friend, Edmund, how he became a boy again after he had been transformed into a Dragon. The lion referred to in the passage is Aslan, who represents Jesus.  Eustace has already told Edmund about how he has shed skin about three different times to get rid of his dragon skin.  But he needed to shed even more skin to become human.  Here is what Eustace says about the process:

Then the lion said- but I don’t know if it spoke – “You will have to let me undress you.” . . . “Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off – just as I thought I’d done it myself the other three times, only they hadn’t hurt – and there it was lying on the grass: only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly-looking than the others had been. Then he caught hold of me – I didn’t like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I’d no skin on – and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious… After a bit the lion took me out and dressed me . . . in new clothes.

There’s a song about baptism by the Christian songwriter, Kyle Matthews.  In it, a young male describes his own baptism.  He says

“I’ve been through the water and I’ve come out clean
Got new clothes to cover me
And you don’t wear your old shoes on your brand new feet
When you’ve been through the water”

What I am trying to say is that God wants us to keep on changing, constantly grow, continually shed old skin.  Am I comfortable in my own skin?  Compared to the man I was 30 years ago, 20 years ago, even 10 years ago, I can say I am.  I know I am closer to God than I used to be.  But, I need to keep shedding that skin.

MOLESKIN:

Prayers for Swimmies whose good friend, Brandon, died one year ago.  Prayers for Thunderstruck and his family after the death of his mother.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP at Haw Ridge!

The Equalizer – New AOQ Edition

THE SCENE: 40ish. Pleasant

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

WARM-O-RAMA:

  • SSH IC | Windmills IC
  • Grady Corns IC | Rockettes IC

THA-THANG:

Partner up & alternate AMRAP of the exercise with running to the next station and back. Teams advance when both partners have done all three exercises.

Station 1 – Boat parking/Playground Light Pole

  • Burpees
  • Lunges
  • BBS

Station 2 – Light pole at top of bermuda/crosswalk

  • Hand Release Merks
  • Squats
  • Hello Dolly

Station 3 – Light pole at top of curvy parking

  • Dry Docks
  • Bridge
  • Flutter Kicks

Station 4 – Stonehenge light pole

  • Shoulder Taps
  • Step Ups
  • Imperial Walkers

Station 5 – Top of the world light pole

  • Diamond Merks
  • SSH
  • Box Cutters

MARY:

  • Australian Snow Angels
  • Hello Dolly

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM: 

Mark 2:1-5 — When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”

Who can you count on to carry your mat? Are you surrounding yourself with the kind of people you can count on, when the chips are down, when the odds are not in your favor, to put you on their shoulders and carry you to Jesus.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: CSAUP, Convergence, Q Calendar

PRAYER