F3 Knoxville

Tag: Sparkler

Beyond Words

THE SCENE: Cloudy and very humid
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side Straddle Hops.  10 Burpees.  10 Tempo Squats.  10 Windmills.  5 baby arm circles forward and backwards.  5 wide arm circles forward and backwards.
THA-THANG:

Mosey to stop sign at southeast corner of Admin Bldg.  20 American Hammers (four count).

Mosey toward Northshore gate of the park.  Stop at shade tree near Area 51.  20 Hello Dollies (four count).

Mosey to the perimeter trail that crosses road near the Northshore Gate.  We will do Nickel, Dime, Quarters (running one light and stopping for five of an exercise, running two lights and stopping for ten of the exercise, and running five lights to stop and do 25 of the exercise) heading south on the perimeter trail and staying on the perimeter trail until it reaches the Southeastern Ball Park.  We will do the following exercises during our stops:

  • Merkins
  • Squat Jumps
  • Big Boy Sit-ups
  • Star Jumps
  • Dive Bombers

Mosey to the Pavilion by Southern Ball Fields. We will do Elevens at the picnic tables starting with one decline merkin and ten bench dips.

Mosey to the Outdoor Chapel

We will pair up into teams of two men each.  While one man on time runs around the chapel on the sidewalk the other man does bench dips.  Partners switch off after one circles the chapel.

Mosey on roadway back toward the Admin Bldg.  We will stop 1/3 of way their to do 20 Flutter Kicks (four count) and 2/3 of the way there to do 20 Bicycle Kicks.

Mosey to AO.

MARY:

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Eight men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
BEYOND WORDS

Last Friday, I was reading a book when my wife, Jan, happened across the movie Steel Magnolias on television.  I had seen the movie back in 1989 when it came out.  I kept reading my book but as the movie went on I gradually cast the book aside and focused on the screen.  OK, my wife and kids make fun of me for crying at movies and I cried at this one.  The movie centers around a group of women who are friends played by famous actresses and a famous songwriter, Sally Fields, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, and Olympia Dukakis.  It also focuses on two younger women played by young actresses who would later become famous:  Daryl Hannah and Julia Roberts.  All of these women are bonded to one another and their bond becomes stronger over time.  They keep that bond, despite the quirkiness of each individual.  They also keep the bond despite the fact that they sometimes say idiotic, off-base or even hurtful things to each other.  But what they say counts, is relevant, and helps each of them to grow – they are not therapists, they are friends and the power of their love for one another GOES BEYOND WORDS.

In the movie, Sally Fields plays the mother of Shelby who is played by Julia Roberts.  Shelby dies of medical issues.  The friends are together at the cemetery after the funeral.  Daryl Hannah’s character is a simple young woman and a quirky religious fanatic.  She at first sounds trite when she says to Sally Fields, “we should all be rejoicing because Shelby is with our king.”  Fields gets pissed off at this saying “excuse me if I am selfish and don’t feel like rejoicing.”  But it is the simplicity and earnestness of Daryl Hannah’s character who, thereafter, touches Field’s heart.  Hannah talks about how Shelby had to fight to stay alive and about how her “body just couldn’t keep fighting any more.”  She apologizes for her simplicity but talks about how she views heaven as a better place with Shelby there.

In another scene in the cemetery, Fields is breaking apart with her friends, hurting, angry, questioning the unfairness of her daughter’s death, and screaming that she just wants to hit somebody.  The Olympia Dukakis character pushes her friend, a sort of curmudgeon character played by Shirley MacLaine, in front of her and says, “Here, hit this.  It will make you feel better.  Go ahead and sock her one in the face.”  MacLaine stomps off pissed while the remaining women, including Fields, break down laughing.

You then see the apology scene between Dukakis and MacClaine, a touching scene where Dukakis explains she was just trying to break the tension of the moment.  She playfully nudges MacClaine and MacClaine nudges back.  The two end up bumping each other off the park bench.  It is the simple, joking act of pushing each other back and forth that shows the love between them.

I bring all this up to say that as F3 brothers, as friends to one another, we do not have to always say the right thing.  If you care for your brother that care is gonna show through, no matter what kind of stupid thing you say to him.  It may be a silly joke, it may be a bopping of hands, it may be you placing your hand on your brother’s back during prayer time in the Circle of Trust.  Our connection between one another GOES BEYOND WORDS.  It is the being there that counts.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Tank and for two people who were killed by drivers under the influence of substances this past weekend.

30 Seconds, Rinse and Repeat

THE SCENE: Sunny and warm, high 80s, thankfully not too humid
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER 

Yep.
WARM-O-RAMA:

– 5 decreasing Motivators (in cadence), 10 Rockettes, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Imperial Squat Walkers, Little of this/that

THA-THANG:

  • Mosey to Stop Sign south of Admin building. Do 30 seconds of the following 4 exercises.  Rinse and Repeat.
  1. Plank Jacks
  2. Pickle Pounders
  3. Mountain Climbers
  4. Shoulder Taps
  • INDIAN RUN to new bathrooms. Do 30 seconds of the following 4 exercises.  Rinse and Repeat.
  1. Big Boy Situps
  2. American Hammers
  3. Little Baby Crunches
  4. Flutter kicks
  • Mosey to CMU pile. Get in a circle, every other man has CMU.  Do 30 seconds of the following exercises, then pass the CMU.  If not doing the exercise, then do what’s in parentheses.
  1. Overhead Press (LBCs) (2 minutes)
  2. Curls (Imperial Walksers) (2 minutes)
  3. Rows (merkins) (2 minutes)
  4. Squats (Side Straddle hops) (2 minutes)
  • Mosey to top of Baby Cardiac. Do 3 Burpees and sprint to the top.  Then do 30 seconds of the following 4 exercises.
  1. Froggie Jumps
  2. Lunges
  3. Bobby Hurleys
  4. Smurf Jacks
  • Mosey to road intersection up to Admin building at Stop Sign northwest of building. Do 30 seconds of the following 4 exercises.
  1. Diamond Merkins
  2. Burpees
  3. Carolina Dry Docks
  4. Ranger Merkins (ran out of time for these)
  • Mosey To AO (Bernie Sanders to tree)

MARY:
No time!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

See Tags, plus J-Lo who isn’t in the system??

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

ARTICLE: Why Highly Efficient Leaders Fail (Harvard Business Review)

  • One of the key attributes of leaders is the ability to execute and get things done. Whether it’s at work, at church, at home, or in your community.
  • Sometimes leaders who have super high productivity have sacrificed their people-based focus.
  • So the irony is that sometimes High Efficiency makes people less effective leaders overall.
    • They tend to push others around them to the point of burnout.
    • They place unrealistic demands on others, leading to stress and frustration among the team.
    • Their lack of personal relationships can be an obstacle to promotions, as well as costing them in their personal lives.
  • Great leaders balance Task Focus (getting r done!) with People Focus (inspiring, empowering others, etc.) skills.
  • Not just about being efficient, it’s about being effective. Sometimes you have to go slow to go fast.  Take the time to make those personal connections
    • 6 out of 10 of the top differentiators of effective leaders relate to people skills (e.g., listening, developing others, and empowering team members).
    • Highly task-focused leaders can display controlling or perfectionistic behaviors that can alienate others. They also fear letting go of control to others because it might reflect poorly on them if results suffer.

MOLESKIN:
Best wishes to J-Lo during his deployment to Florida.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
None

Nancy Kerigans, Candy Corns and Round the Clock

THE SCENE: 80’s and Sunny
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

ssh – 20 IC
windmils – 20 IC
ARM Circles – forward
ARM Circles- Back
Left Foot Nancy Kerrigans-
Right Foot Nancy Kerrigans-
Candy Corn – 30
Imperial Walkers – 15 IC

THA-THANG:

Mosey to Bottom Hill
Rock Around Clock – Aligator Style
Partner up
6-12  – 20 merkins IC
in plank position, rotate to 3-9 position
3-9 25  BBS IC
in plank position, rotate to 12- 6 position
12-6 15 diamond merkins
in plank position, rotate to 9 – 3 position
20 Hello Dollys(4 ct)
in plank position, rotate to6- 12 position

Mosey to top of hill by benches

25 dips

Mosey to bottom of hill

11’s Squats

MOsey to Pavillion

11’s Bench pull ups – Bench Step ups

Dips and Merkins

Mosey to Statue

30 second plank

Mosey to AO

MARY:

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

The body is only a garment.

How many times you have changed your clothing in this life,

yet because of this you would not say that you have changed.

Similarly, when you give up this bodily dress at death you do not change.

You are just the same, an immortal soul, a child of God.

~ Paramahansa Yogananda

 

What we have once enjoyed we can never lose; all that we deeply love becomes a part of us. – Helen Keller

 

“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.”– George S. Patton Jr.

We need to talk about those significant people in your life because they made us what we are, if they are gone, we need to honor the legacy and pass on how they influenced each of us.  Talk to your families about relatives past. It shows respect and honor
MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Hardship Hill

Encouragement

THE SCENE: Beautiful day, temp hovering under 70 degrees, blue sky with a few white clouds
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Pinto Twists, 10 Windmills, 10 Cherry Pickers, 7 Baby Arm Circles Forward and 7 Backward, 5 Wide Arm Circles Forward and 5 Backward.
THA-THANG:
Mosey to stop sign at northeastern corner of Admin Bldg.  We will do Twenty American Hammers.  Then we will do the following cone exercises around the roadway that semi-circles the Admin Bldg.  We will sprint to Cone 1 and follow instructions from there.

  • Cone 1:  Ten Burpees.  Then Bernie Sanders to Cone 2
  • Cone 2:  20 Hello Dollies (four count).  Then Hop to Cone 3.
  • Cone 3:  20 Imperial Walkers (both legs = 1).  Then Bear Crawl to Cone 4.
  • Cone 4:  20 Smurf Jacks.  Then Lunge to Cone 5.
  • Cone 5:  20 Squats.  Then Bernie Sanders to Cone 6.
  • Cone 6:  20 Squat Jumps.  Then Grapevine Right to Cone 7.
  • Cone 7:  20 Carolina Dry Docks.  Then Grapevine Left to Cone 8.
  • Cone 8:  40 Baby Crunches, 20 Merkins, 20 Box Cutters, 20 Diamond Merkins, 10 Shoulder Taps (both shoulders = 1).

Mosey down hill by roadway that heads to main roadway coming from entrance gate at Lyons Bend.  We will do elevens starting with 1 Big Boy Sit Up at bottom of hill and 10 Iron Mikes (each leg = 1) at top of hill.

Mosey to Area 51.  We will do 20 Hands Wide Merkins.  Then we will run up the hill to roadway that semicircles the Admin Bldg.  We will go back to Cone 8 and repeat the exercises there.

Mosey back to AO.

MARY:
20 Flutter Kicks, 20 Bicycle Kicks, 30 Side Heel Touches while on Six, 25 Buzz Saws
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Seven men, no FNG’s.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV /

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

One thing I appreciate about our F3 brotherhood is how we encourage one another.  I always hear brothers exhorting one another to keep up the good work, to keep pushing.  I never hear brothers criticize other brothers for being too slow, for not keeping up.  We work hard but we do so with a great deal of support.  It works the same way with the time we share from our hearts.  We praise one another when the news is good and are ready to console and wrap our arms around anyone who shares something painful or difficult.  Keep up the good work.  Keep striving to be excellent but keep encouraging one another to reach for excellence.  Men need encouragement and it is the iron sharpening iron aspect of F3 which is one of the truly magical things about our group.  We take that creed seriously and in so doing, we reach out to our fellow man.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers for J-Lo’s recovery from torn meniscus and prayers for co-worker of Sparkler and her husband who was recently diagnosed with colon cancer.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Board meeting to prepare for Hardship Hill.  Hardship Hill will be this Saturday.

Taking Time to Reflect

THE SCENE: Sunny, temps in eighties.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Plank Jacks, 10 Iron Mikes, 10 Windmills, 10 Cherry Pickers, Michael Phelps
THA-THANG:
Mosey to stop sign on northeastern corner of Admin Bldg.  There will be sets of bricks.  We will be doing Doras with the brick.  While one partner runs to cone, does 10 merkins, and comes back the other partner will be doing exercises with the bricks.  The partners switch off when one partner comes back from the run.  The partner teams will do 100 of each of the following exercises with the bricks:

  • Overhead Presses
  • Curls
  • Rows with brick at each side
  • Punches from chest out (punch with each hand = 1)
  • Wings out
  • Wings up
  • Wings down

Mosey north to perimeter trail and head west on perimeter trail to area below Roadshow Run.  Each man will do 20 Big Boys, then run to top of Roadshow Run by the bat house.  There, each man does 40 Baby Crunches.  We will rinse and repeat.  The first man who finishes then runs back up Roadshow Run sweeping all men upward.

Mosey to grassy area in shade and by small wall on west side of road.  We will do elevens starting with 10 Jump Squats and 1 Incline Merkin with hands on wall.  We will do another eleven with 10 Mountain Climbers (four count) and one bench raise off of wall.

Mosey to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Ten men, no FNG’s.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
I read this week about something that the comedian Louie C.K. said when he was being interviewed by Conan one time.  He commented that he doesn’t want his kids to have cell phones because he wants them to be sad.  He was being funny with this comment but he was also being serious.  Sadness can come when we are forced to be alone with our thoughts.  The comedian noted, “That’s what the phones are taking away, the ability to just sit there.  That’s being a person.”

He also talked about a time when he was driving and listening to a Bruce Springsteen song on the radio.  He was feeling a melancholy come over him and his immediate response was to grab the phone and text somebody.  Instead, he let the sadness grow and pulled over to the side of the road to weep.  Afterwards, came another strong feeling, one of joy and thankfulness for his life.

Technology and cell phones are not bad things.  They are useful things.  But we can get too absorbed in it.  In so doing, we may find that we are avoiding true alone time, true thinking time.  We may be be pushing aside time to reflect over the events of the day, good and bad, that impact us cognitively and emotionally.  We may be merely numbing our minds.  We are not struggling but sometimes struggle is important.  And as Louie C.K. implies, sometimes sadness is good.  We don’t like seeing our loved ones, our children, or ourselves feeling sad.  But sadness is an important emotion – one that can inspire us to change or one that puts us more in touch with humanity.  Life is about loss as well as gain.  Sadness comes with loss and it is important to reckon with it.

The bible gives us plenty of images of Christ weeping – whether over the death of Lazurus, for the fate of Jerusalem, in compassion for others, or in anger over the tyranny of death over mankind.  Christ does not keep us from experiencing sadness.  But, in living in a relationship with Him, with God, he also shows us what true joy is.

Louie C.K., explaining his resistance to cell phones and technology, stated “you don’t ever feel really sad or really happy, you just feel. . . kinda satisfied with your products.  And then you die.”

I hope that we, as HIMs, are striving for more.  That striving for more may take the form of welcoming the Gloom when it meets us in the cold of a 5:30 am workout or heat of a 5:45 pm beat down.  It may also come in the form of welcoming the sadness that sometimes comes about in living a meaningful life.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Sparkler’s stepdad, Shooter’s friend, and Iceman’s brother.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Neyland run on Saturday, May 11.  Hardship Hill on Saturday, May 18.