F3 Knoxville

Tag: Sparkler

Logging some miles in the rain

THE SCENE: 40 degrees and drizzling rain…felt better than it sounds, though.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
1. Get out of truck.

2. Rub Sleep from eyes.

3. Go!
THA-THANG:
The PAX changed up the course today and headed up through Saddle Ridge in search of some elevation gain. We looped back around on a short section of greenway and brought her back in at just under 5 miles. We held conversation pace today and the mumblechatter was quite strong – thanks guys!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
We discussed the unexpected death of Kobe Bryant this morning and how he woke up, left his house, and went about his day with no idea that he wouldn’t be returning home. He leaves behind a family, friends, and a community that will miss his presence. That situation could be true for anyone, and I know I don’t always do a good job of letting my wife, children, extended family, and friends know how much they mean to me. Count your blessings extra close, and make sure you’re leaving the legacy you want to leave.
MOLESKIN:
I’m really thankful that I’m not the only person in this world stupid enough to run in the dark, on a rainy morning, in January. Thanks PAX!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Filling the void

THE SCENE: Partly cloudy skies, temp about 31 degrees.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Quick run around parking lot, 20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Burpees, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Windmills, Little of This and That, Michael Phelps.
THA-THANG:

Mosey to parking lot across the street that is by the entrance way to the Northern Ball Fields.  We will going around the parking lot four times, doing one per lap, the exercises listed in each corner.  In moving around the parking lot we will go from one corner to the next as directed by the sign.

  • Corner 1:  20 Hello Dollies, 20 Flutter Kicks, 20 Bicycle Kicks, 20 Box Cutters (four count each exercise).  Sprint to Corner 2.
  • Corner 2:  20 Squat Jumps, 20 Star Jumps, 20 Iron Mikes (both legs = 1), 20 Mountain Climbers (both legs = 1).  Lunge to Corner 3.
  • Corner 3:  With CMUs – 25 Overhead Presses, 25 Curls, 25 Rows, 25 Squats.  Bernie Sanders to Corner 4.
  • Corner 4:  20 Merkins, 20 Bottle Openers (both hands = 1), 20 Carolina Dry Docks, 20 Shoulder Taps (both shoulders = 1).  Hop to Corner 1.

Mosey to Flag Pole at Entrance Way to Northern Ball Fields.  We will run to following areas and do the following exercises:

  • Flag Pole:  20 American Hammers (4 count)
  • Benches at playground:  20 Bench Jumps
  • Dug out at ball field:  20 Seconds of Pull ups
  • Pavilion:  20 picnic table pull ups.
  • Rinse and repeat.

Mosey past batting cages to beginning of Cardiac.  We will go up Cardiac doing the following exercises at each of the following areas:

  • Curve 1:  10 Hand Release Merkins
  • Curve 2: 20 Dive Bombers
  • Curve 3:  20 Decline Merkins
  • Benches:  20 Bench Dips

Mosey back to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Twelve men, no FNGs.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
God created us in His image.  He also created us for relationship with Him.  If we are without God, there is a void within us.  We as humans try to fill that void with other things besides God:  riches, power, success, or finding that perfect person who can take care of our needs.  But those things don’t work.  Only God can fill the void.

I used a song by John Mellancamp in a former message I gave and I want to use it again.  It describes the narrator’s attempt to fill the “void in his heart” with things that just don’t work.  He claims, “I did everything like they said so that I could find happiness.”  The problem is that he “is running from eternity” and trying to fill the void with worldly versus Godly things.  Toward the end of the song, the narrator, frustrated and questioning why the void in his heart remains, exclaims “Hey, Lord, well you made me like I am.”  In other words, if you made me like I am why does this void remain?  The narrator is correct about the Lord making him like he is.  The Lord made each of us with a “void in our heart”.  And, He can heal the “restlessness” that the narrator suffers with.  We will all be unsatisfied until we fill the void with God.  We must look to God, fill our lives with what He gives us, to fill the void.  Listen to God.  What does God want for you?  What is He telling you.  What direction does He want you to go in with your life?  Focus on Him, read about Him, take His message in – there you will find the true stuff that fills the void in your heart.

John Cougar Mellencamp Lyrics
“Void In My Heart”
There’s a void in my heart
I can’t seem to fill.
Been a parent, had three children
And a big house on the hill.
Hundred dollar in my pocket
And it didn’t buy a thing.
Now there’s a void in my heart
And a hole in my dreams.
Well I poured miles of concrete
And strung wire for telephones,
Dug ditches when I was a young boy
When I first left my parents’ home.
Sang my songs for millions of people,
Sang good and bad news,
Now there’s a void in my heart
And a fire at my fuse.
Well I did everything just like they said
So I could find happiness.
Went to school and got a college degree
And at my job I did my best.
As I sit here alone tonight
I see a billion just like me
With a void in their hearts and running from eternity.
There’s a void in my heart I can’t seem to fill.
I do charity work when I believe in the cause
But in my soul it bothers me still.
Hey, Lord, well you made me like I am.
Can You heal this restlessness?
Will there be a void in my heart
When they carry me out to rest?

God, my prayer to you is that each of us will see the voids in our heart and turn to you to fill them.  If we seek you, we will find the strength, comfort and love that can fill the void.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for our brother, Pinto, who finished a recent bout of radiation treatment for cancer and will be also getting stem cell treatment along with chemotherapy.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
We will be launching in Morristown on April 4.  We have received enough donations for the pull up bars and will be putting them up in the future.

Confession

THE SCENE: Raining, temps in low 40s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side Straddle Hops, 30 seconds of butt kickers, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Windmills, 7 Wide Arm Circles Forward, 7 Backward
THA-THANG:
Mosey to CMU Pile.  Half of men pick up CMU’s and carry them to pavilion at Northern Ball Fields. The CMUs will be placed at one corner of the pavilion.

We will do totem pole with 30 seconds each of the following exercises.  By the end of the totem pole workout, each exercise will have been performed for 30 seconds five different times.  The exercises are:

  • Burpees
  • Picnic Table Pull Ups
  • Bench Dips
  • Hello Dollies
  • Plank Jacks

Next, we will go counterclockwise around the pavilion three separate times, doing the exercises listed in sequence at each corner.  We will always bear crawl from Corner 1 to Corner 2 and Corner 3 to Corner 4.  We will always lunge from Corner 2 to Corner 3 and Corner 4 to Corner 1.  We will do 20 of each of the exercises at the corners.  The exercises we will perform at each corner are listed in sequence below:

  • Corner 1:  1. Merkins  2.  Carolina Dry Docks  3.  Dive Bombers
  • Corner 2:  1. Big Boys  2.  Bicycle Kicks  3.  Dying Bugs
  • Corner 3:  1. Squat Jumps  2. Star Jumps  3. Smurf Jacks
  • Corner 4:  (with CMUs)   1. Overhead Presses  2. Curls  3. Rows

Next, we will do squat with back to the wall for one minute.  Then, we will do quick steps with turns on command for 2 minutes.  Finally, we will end with one minute of stretches before putting the CMUs back at the CMU pile and running back to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Six men, no FNGs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
One of the greatest comforts I have each week at church is to read, together with the other church members, the Confession of Sin.  Why should it bring comfort to confess that I have done wrong?  That I have sinned against God?  The Confession of Sin lets me know a number of important things:

  • I am not perfect and I should not require those around me to be perfect.  I fail, I screw up.  And while I can admonish myself for this, I need to realize that I am human.  So are those around me, even those members of my church that I consider to be like saints.  So, even though I drank too much on a Saturday night, even though I failed to truly listen when my wife talked to me earlier in the week, even though I got too angry at a stranger on the roadway and flipped him the bird, even though I failed to be like I was so desirous of being the previous Sunday when feeling so inspired at church, I am not alone in this sinfulness.  My wife and the guy who almost cut me off on the roadway are not alone in their sinfulness either.  It is our nature to sin.
  • Yet, we as Christians can strive to be more like God, like Jesus.  We can delight in God and find Glory in His name.  And in doing so, we can become more like Him.
  • We can also confess and admit that we fall short of God’s expectations and our own expectations. In so doing, we are not saying we are failures. But we are also not turning a blind eye to the fact that we do make mistakes and do sin.
  • Despite the sinfulness, we have a God who loves us.  He made us in His image.  He acknowledges our sinful nature.  Yet, He forgives us of these sins and calls us His own.  And, He finds favor in each of us.  He finds favor in us even though we screw up every week of the year.  We do not need to turn our faces from Him.  We can proudly say, I am yours and you are mine.

Here are the words from the Confession of Sin at my church (Redeemer Church of Knoxville).  Read them knowing that you are not alone in your sin and that God loves you, knowing that you sin.

Most merciful God,

We confess that we have sinned against you

In thought, word and deed,

By what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart;

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.

For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,

Have mercy on us and forgive us;

That we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways,

To the glory of your Name.

Amen.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Tank’s wife who is in the hospital due to large kidney stone that will need surgery.  Prayers for Pinto and his treatment for multiple myeloma.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Tank’s 2nd F party is being pushed back from Friday, January 3 to Friday, January 10, due to his wife being in hospital.

An Easy Five or So

THE SCENE: 55F Cloudy, a bit wet and windy
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
THA-THANG:
Easy 5 miles. We left the park on Watt Road and headed up the hill to McFee Park. We turned around at 2.5mi out and headed back the way we came right after Cosmo high jacked the Q and started having us do lunges as we waited for the six 🙂 .
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Sparkler, Gibbler, Mustard, Cosmo, QIC-Archie
BOM/COT
‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ‘
Hebrews 12:1 https://my.bible.com/bible/59/HEB.12.1

Episode I was definitely the worst

THE SCENE: 50 degrees and clear
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Mosey around the island, SSH, Merkins, squats, plank jacks, tho and that’s and rockettes
THA-THANG:

mosey to the soccer field for a Star Wars episode workout. 9 episodes. Each episode has an exercise with a qty of 10.  Do exercise and run to other sideline on the field. Repeat 3 times  each episode. Episodes are… (i may be off some)

  • I – burpees (because it was the worst one of all 9 episodes, mainly because of Jar Jar Binks
  • II – Merkins
  • III – inch worms
  • IV – squat jumps
  • IIV – star jacks
  • V – BBS
  • VI – Burpees (because of the Ewoks)
  • VII- Merkins
  • VIII – shoulder tap Merkins
  • IX – ?

we stopped half way and came back to it later as it was getting boring.

Mosey to other side lot and did 7s  with pull-up rows and shoulder tap Merkins.

mosey to bottom field. Jumped over the wooden barrier fence at each post all the way to the end. Balance beam after that for a 1/4 of it.

Mosey to circle on field. Ring of fire. Hold plank as one member of the pax runs around jumping over each other member. Do one Merkin and add one every time you get jumped. Total of 8 rounds.

mosey back and try to finish the episodes till time ends.

MARY:
Sparky led the group in some Ab exercises and some Peter Parkers
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
8 pax in attendance
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:3-4‬ ‭

MOLESKIN:
The Q has had a good run without an injury but alas, all good things must come to an end. This Q is writing this backblast with 600mg of ibuprofen and a muscle relaxer in him. I figured out that I would rather do 100 burpees with the pax than watch them work hard sidelined with a back injury. Coffeteria was great with everyone attending. ANNOUNCEMENTS:
New Years Party this Friday.