F3 Knoxville

Tag: Sparkler

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.

The Road Not Taken

THE SCENE: Warm, mid 80s, sunny, with a slight breeze (thank goodness)
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Nailed it.


WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side Straddle Hops (4-ct) IC, 10 Cherry pickers (4-ct) IC, 20 Lateral Hops (4-ct) IC, 10 baby arm circles (small to wide) forward and backward(4-ct) IC

THA-THANG:

PE EXAM!! (Hat tip to Erector!)

Mosey to stop sign at main road for the first letter of P.E. E.X.A.M.

P – 10 Prisoner Cell Merkin Burpees aka PCMBs.

Mosey to the grassy hill partway down the Dragon’s Tail.

E – Elevens – merkins at the bottom and Bobby Hurleys at the top.

Do Escalator down Dragon’s Tail.

E – Escalator – 10 burpees, 20 squat jumps, 30 mountain climbers (2-ct), 40 iron mikes (2-ct, audibled to 1), 50 LBCs at each successive light.

Took the road less travelled.  Play a bit in the sprinklers by the new bathrooms, and then Mosey cross country all the way across grassy field in front of Admin building to stop sign at junction of circle drive.

X – Xs and Os , 2 minutes

Mosey to parking sign up the road towards admin building

A – Aiken legs – Done in succession with no rest — 15 Squats, 15 Froggie Jumps, 15 Lunges (each leg), 15 star jumps.

Mosey back to AO for the…

M – Mary

MARY:

  • Captain Thors
  • 20 Bottle Taps or Openers, always forget what they’re called (4-ct) IC
  • 20 Box Cutters (4-Ct) IC
  • 20 Pickle Pounders
  • 20 Hello Dollies (4-Ct) IC
  • Ring of Fire
    COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
    8 strong, including one FNG, whom we named Squirtle. J-Lo not tagged.
    CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
    Recently, a friend’s blog led me to revisit one of my favorite poems, The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost (note the title… The Road Not Taken, NOT The Road Less Traveled):

    Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

    And sorry I could not travel both

    And be one traveler, long I stood

    And looked down one as far as I could

    To where it bent in the undergrowth;

     

    Then took the other, as just as fair,

    And having perhaps the better claim,

    Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

    Though as for that the passing there

    Had worn them really about the same,

     

    And both that morning equally lay

    In leaves no step had trodden black.

    Oh, I kept the first for another day!

    Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

    I doubted if I should ever come back.

     

    I shall be telling this with a sigh

    Somewhere ages and ages hence:

    Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

    I took the one less traveled by,

    And that has made all the difference.

    A common misconception about this poem is that the road that the protagonist takes truly is less traveled, and as such has some additional inherent worth than the other road.  But upon closer reading, the two paths are actually equal, the other path being “just as fair” and was worn “really about the same”.  Having this pointed out to me was fascinating, as I had never noticed it before.  Two key conclusions can thus be made:

    1. The paths are essentially equal in worth, and therefore, picking one over the other is essentially like flipping a coin.
    2. The way we perceive choices affects our decision and the ultimate outcome.  The author PERCEIVES that one path seems to be less traveled, and takes it, and as he says in the last line, “that has made all the difference”.

    But what affects our perception??  This is where I see a bit of a religious meaning in the poem.  Two options exist.  Which one to choose?  I tend to agonize over big decisions, and have prayed over such choices, asking God to direct me down the best path.  But there may not truly be a “best path”… each may have its own advantages and disadvantages.  But for me at least, given some time, my preference of one path over the other grows stronger, and I select it.  And you know what?  Each big choice has worked out.  That doesn’t mean that if I had picked a different path my life would be in flaming ruins.  But God has gently guided me down the roads that have lead me to where I am today, and I am very grateful that He is with me to help me choose, even if the choices are relatively equal.  Don’t beat yourself up over the choices you make.  Sometimes we choose well, sometimes, perhaps poorly, but open your heart to God and let him help lead you down whatever path your life takes.

    PROVERBS 3:5-6

    Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
        and do not lean on your own understanding.
    In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.

    ISAIAH 30:21
    And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.

    Psalm 119:105

    Your word is a lamp to guide me
    and a light for my path.

    MOLESKIN:
    Good luck to the Ruckers competing this week-end!
    ANNOUNCEMENTS: