F3 Knoxville

Tag: Swimmies

Believe It

THE SCENE: Sunny, temps in 60s.  We met at Parking Lot at Southern Ball Fields because the Admin Bldg Parking Lot and area has a large political rally there.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Iron Mikes each leg, 10 Cherry Pickers, 7 Twists, 10 Little Baby Arm Circles Forward and Backward, 10 Tempo Merkins
THA-THANG:
Mosey to parking area by residential units north of the soccer fields.  We will do 20 American Hammers.

Mosey to roadway that heads to Northshore Entrance of the park.  Go left on the little drive that heads south before you go to the park entrance gate.  We have dubbed it “The Road to Nowhere.”  We will have cones set up in a flag formation.  We will run to each cone and do the exercises listed.

  • Cone 1:  10 Burpees  Bernie Sanders to Cone 2
  • Cone 2:  10 Shoulder Taps (both shoulders = 1)
  • Cone 3:  10 Hand Release Merkins
  • Cone 4:  20 Star Jumps
  • Cone 5:  20 Big Boy Sit-ups.  Bear Crawl to Cone 6
  • Cone 6:  20 Hello Dollies (4 ct)
  • Cone 7:  20 Merkins
  • Rinse and Repeat two more times

Mosey to Area 51.  We will do 20 Curb Dips in Parking Lot, then run up hill to roadway.  Those on roadway will do Baby Crunches until all men arrive.

Mosey past stop sign at Southeastern corner of Admin Bldg to hillside.  We will do Sevens off the hill toward the cone planted about 20 yards away in the grass.  At top of hill we will start with one Mountain Climber.  At bottom of hill we will start with six Burpees.

Mosey to AO.  We will do sprints between large light poles, starting with sprints at half speed, then going to 3/4 speed and ending with full speed.

MARY:
20 Flutter Kicks, 20 Bicycle Kicks, 10 Tempo Merkins.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
19 men with one being an FNG, Hayden Corbitt, whom we dubbed “Kermit.”
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

“Let your faith roar so loud that you can’t hear what doubt is saying.” Author unknown.

During times like this coronavirus pandemic it may be more difficult to believe in God.  How can God let this terrible thing happen to us and to the whole world?  Yet, at the end of April, when the Coronavirus was hitting us hard and so many were quarantining, a Pew Research Center survey of Americans found that 24% said that as a result of the pandemic there faith was stronger.  Only 2% said their faith was weaker.

When people say they don’t believe in God, or when we ourselves express disbelief in God, our actions usually portray something different.  People may say they don’t believe but find themselves praying for something good to occur when a loved one is ill.  People who believe that this world is nothing but chaos or that creation is random still desire and strive for order in their lives.  People who say that the world is bad still hope for good things to happen to them.  People who say there is no love in this world still hope to be loved.  Unbelievers still yearn for something more in their lives, and essentially pray for their holes to be filled.

God sees our disbelief and tells us to believe.  I think of Christ coming to the disciples after breathed his last breath on the Christ and saying to Thomas, touch my, fill the wounds in my skin.  And he felt for Thomas for not believing until he did see him, did touch him.

God, help us through this difficult time.  Fill our holes.  We pray for you, even at times of disbelief.  Let our faith in you roar so loud that we can’t even hear what doubt is saying.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Knoxville area in face of Covid-19 as there has been a recent rise in hospitalizations here.  Prayers for Romeo after his very serious motorcycle accident.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Convergence and 3rd F at Bomb Shelter this Saturday, October 17 from 7 am to 9:30 am.

Psalm 23

THE SCENE: 65 and still
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
5 Cherry pickers

1 squat
THA-THANG:
we mosey to the top of the entrance. 4 stations for us to get through while partnering I explain the follow.

4 statins with three exercises each. One of the partners will to the next station and back while the first partner does the exercise. repeat until all three exercises are complete and run to the next station.

  • v ups, power T merkins, The U Merkins (make the U sign and merkin) Google the U for more information.
  • Burpees, Shoulder taps, Moutain climbers
  • Pickle Pounders, American Hammers, Box Cutters
  • Carolina dry docks, monkey humpers, bobby Hurley’s

Once you get to the top go back down the ladder.

MARY:
stretching our legs and arms.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Psalm 23 boys remember that the Lord is your shepherd! Cry out and remind yourself of all his promises and who he says he is. This is a helpful template we have in the psalms and I hope you all remember that.

Adapting with CMUesday in the Fake Gloom

[ The Scene ]

SUNNY. Little warm. Character building weather.

[ Welcome/Disclaimer ]

  • Welcome to F3: Fitness-Fellowship-Faith
  • My name is Steam and I am honored to be your Q this evening
  • I am not a professional, you’re here on your own volition, and if you need to modify anything we do this evening feel free to do so BUT push yourselves and the men around you.
  • You will not get left behind and you will not leave the same way you came in.
  • FNGs?
  • I’ll have water, med gear, and my phone on me the entire time in my ruck so if you need to put something in there before we get on the mosey feel free to do so

Before we begin tonight we’re going to have a 1 minute moment of silence in honor of our fallen brother from F3 GrandStand in Myrtle Beach.

Jacob Anchor – codename Hightower –  End of Watch on October 3rd 2020

Very active in F3 GrandStand and a true HIM that led a life of service to his family and community.

Join me now in honoring our fallen brother.

[ Warm o Rama ]

(1) SSH: 15 x 4

(2) Happy Feet: 10

– quick feet —> 1 burpee on command

(3) Windmill: 10 x 4

(4) Baby Arm Circles: 10×4 F & 10×4 B

(5) Rockette: 10×4

 

[ The Thang ]

(Mosey to CMU Pile)

  • Every stop sign = 25 up/down merkins
  • Everyone get a CMU

[ Pause for Reflection for/from the Q ]

Apparently baseball season is back. When I was planning this Q – that did not come across my mind. Which means a couple things: (1) I, as the Q, did not accurately scope out the scene pre-Q. (2) We’re going to have to adapt. Halfway through the evolution of PT that you will see below, some of the PAX running were confronted by a middle aged man who was blatantly overreacting to our presence in the specific area of the park where the morning AO meets (parking lot) and was pretty aggressive in making his feelings toward us being there clear. So what do we do when that happens. Let’s start with what we don’t need to do: We don’t need to add fuel to the fire, we don’t need to confront or engage the individual, and we don’t need to push that individual who is already upset/mad/pissed off/irrational. Frankly, it’s not worth our time in that moment. So what do we need to do: We need to be peacemakers. Being the bigger man man sometimes means choosing to walk away. We’re called to be at peace with all men. We can do this without diminishing our dignity or the other party’s. This man was being irrational and approached our men in almost a rage. Pusher made the excellent point of just walk away, it’s not worth it. However – this all could have been avoided if I, the Q, had recognized that we may have needed to avoid this certain area of the park when we were mosey’ing to it. So from me, the Q – I apologize for not using discernment when leading us there. This was a learning lesson wisely pointed out by Jinxy at the COT. 

[ End Pause for Reflection for/from the Q ]

– PAX takes CMUs to the field by the playground and lays them down in two lines facing each other

– PAX execute 25 Big Boy Sit-ups with CMUs on their feet for stability

– PAX run to CMU pile and execute 10 burpees

(Rinse and Repeat 4)

***Encounter with the upset man in the parking lot***

– Q calls audible – replaces CMUs — circle the men up — brief AAR of what just happened — Mosey back home to the PM AO

– PAX mosey back up the street to the PM AO — every stop sign = 25 up/down merkins

– PAX encounter last 2 stop signs in the same 50 feet or so = 50

– Q leads PAX in 50 up/down merkins but stops when PAX reaches 45 — tells everyone to drop down to their knees and look up — “Breathe. It’s going to be okay. We’re almost there.” — Execute the final 5

– PAX mosey back up the hill to the PM AO — wagon wheel and pickup the 6 — circle up by the flag

[ Mary ]

– 25×4 Hello Dollys

– 25×4 LBCs

– 25×4 flutter kicks

[ COT ]

  • # off = 21
  • Name o Rama
  • FNGs = 0
  • BOM

I found myself at a place I don’t find myself at very often last week.

I found myself at a place that looked exactly like a scene in Lord of the Rings where the main character drops down to his knees, realizes the place that he’s in, and utters the words “I can’t do this.”

What a place to be right?

So a couple points with this:

(1) Own where you’re  at.

  • If you’re tired – own it. If you’re struggling, own it.  I’m tired/struggling mentally, I’m tired/struggling physically, I’m tired/struggling mentally, I’m tired/struggling spiritually, I’m tired/struggling sexually (we’re men we can handle that), I’m tired/struggling emotionally – own that place.
    • What I mean by this is this: We have all been tired and struggled in all of these arenas at some point in time in our lives. For me specifically, last week I was really tired and struggling mentally. I was tired and struggling emotionally. I was physically tired. I was struggling spiritually. I was struggling sexually with lust and loneliness and losing my sexual battle with porn and felt the complete weight of that. I was exhausted. The enemy was exhausting me, because I was exhausting myself. We’ve all been there. Maybe in different forms or fashions, but nonetheless, we’ve been there.
  • I’m tired. I’m lonely. I’m stressed. I’m not where I want to be. Own it.
  • Own it. Don’t accept it – own it. There’s a difference there.

Why do we need to own it?

(2) Just because we’re in a certain place does not mean this is our final resting place. Just because we’re here doesn’t mean we are destined to stay here.

  • Life is hard. It’s dark. If you’re in a place you don’t want to be in – own it and realize this is not where the story ends. You weren’t meant to stay here.
  • Just because this is where you are right now does not mean this is where you’re going to stay.

You were created for so much more than the situations and places you find yourself in.

(Hey and guess what – you have brothers that toe the line with you in the gloom and fake gloom – that I KNOW are ready to lock shields and toe the line with you outside the COT too. Let them in and seek wise counsel from them)

Why? Because point number 3

(3) God is about to do something awesome in your life. God is about to do something AWESOME in your life.

Believe that.

Regardless of where you are, what your status is, God is on the move in your life whether you realize it to not.

We need to believe this to be true.

  • God is about to do something great in your life but it is directly tied to your obedience.

What does this look like? Something like this I think.

(Gather men around carefully)

I saw this on my morning walk as the sun was rising and I was praying just for a good day. Sometimes we just need to pray for a good day.

And I came across this gate in a field with the door opened. And I truly believe this is such an excellent picture of how much God loves us and how he calls us into freedom in Him.

And I don’t know who needs to hear this besides me but here we go:

So when I saw this this morning and took this picture — I noticed a couple o things.

  • One of the gate doors was flung wide open
  • The other side of the gate door was closed, with a trash can blocking some of it.
  • And if you were with me this morning, we could have walked right through the open side of the gate. But we would have had to make a choice to do so. However it would have cost us something as well.
  • I think this picture screams the invitation that God gives to us:
    • An invitation to walk out of or walk through whatever you’re going through or wherever you’re at.
    • There is a God above that opens jail cells, doors, and gates — but it’s going to require something of you.
    • Notice the trash can sort of in front of the closed side of the gate. When God opens a gate or a door or a jail cell – whatever that may be in our lives – we’re going to have to leave something behind and leave the place that we currently are at to enter into the place He’s calling us to be. Maybe its an identity we’ve been holding onto or a relationship we’ve been in, or an idol – anything that would prevent us from walking through the gate/door that God is calling us to. 

 

 

Here’s what I want to leave you with:

Jeremiah 1:17 – 19

Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land – against the kings of Judah, it’s officials, it’s priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you, declares the Lord.

 

Stay in the Fight!

Steam

Searching for Bilbo

THE SCENE: Beautiful, around 70, low humidity.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Welcome to F3, Fitness, Fellowship and Faith. F3 is a free workout program designed to improve fitness, share some camaraderie, and foster male leadership in the community.  I’m Pele and I will be your Q today.  I am not a professional, and I do not know your fitness level or injury history.  Please push yourself, but modify the workout as necessary to avoid making any existing injuries worse.  The goal is to get better together!  Some additional COVID-19 considerations: keep your distance between you and other members of the PAX and any other folks that we pass during moseys, etc. to 6-10 feet.  We will be splitting up into groups smaller than 10 if necessary.  We need to set good examples and be good neighbors out here at this public park, especially with so many folks out and about.


WARM-O-RAMA:

-20 Side Straddle Hops (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 Cherry Pickers (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 BAC forward and backward

– Little of this and that

– get in a line, high knees 20 yards, butt kickers 20 yards, Karaoke left 20 yards, Karaoke right 20 yards

THA-THANG:

Today is September 22, which is Bilbo Baggins’ birthday, also known as HOBBIT’S DAY! But (as you may know from reading or watching the Fellowship of the Ring) at his 111th birthday party, he vanished into thin air! One second he was standing there giving an overblown birthday speech, and then poof! He was gone!  We need to go find him.  Hobbits like being around hills, so we need to search the hills around here to see where he’s gone off to.  Ready??  .

Mosey to shallow amphitheater area. CONES at top and bottom

  • At Top cones do an AROUND THE WORLD (plank position, rotate around 360 degrees to look around) both directions.  Run down and circle bottom cones and go back to top cones.

Mosey to Area 51 Hills. Follow the cones down and read the instructions. COUNT OFF by 2’s.

  • FIRST CONE: No Bilbo. Start the search. 1’s do Jump Squats, 2’s lunge to the right for 20 sec, then back 20 sec, then Reverse.
  • SECOND CONE: No Bilbo. Start the search. 1’s do Iron Mikes, 2’s Bear Crawl 5/ do 5 Reps of CDDs for 20 sec, then back 20 sec, then reverse.
  • THIRD CONE: GOBLINS! We’ve been captured. BATAAN DEATH MARCH back to road and down to Area 51 parking lot. 1’s and 2’s in two lines, last 2 PAX in each line do 5 Prisoner Squats then race to catch up to the front of the line.

PRISONER CAMP (Parking Lot).  After that we are put into Hard Labor, forced to build one of their forts for the upcoming war. 10 Prisoner Get ups, BEAR CRAWL to wall (because we’re being whipped), 10 Prisoner Cell Merkin Burpees (PCMBs), BEAR CRAWL back.  Rinse and repeat, but only 5 reps of the exercise, and El Capitan back and forth instead of bear crawl.  Q’s note: This was harder than it sounded on paper!!

Mosey to TREES to the west.  ELVES appear! A BATTLE ensues!

  • 1s are Elves, 2s are Goblins. Pair off and face each other.  BURPEE BATTLE! Elves are better trained, quicker. They only need to do 8 burpees, the Goblins need to do 10.  Whoever wins each pair wins the battle. If more elves win than goblins, we are free.  Otherwise we continue the death march.  Elves do two more burpees at the end to make it fair.

Mosey to bottom of Everest.  One last big Hill to search…

  • Run up Everest to Base of Summit, using the secondary path by the big cedar tree.
  • Mosey to Roadshow Run stairway. Run up to top.
    • THERE’S BILBO, RIGHT BACK AT HOME WHERE WE STARTED!
    • A celebration is in order! 111 SIDE STRADDLE HOPS WITH OVERHEAD CLAPS!

MARY:
20 Hello Dollies (4-ct, IC)

20 BBS

ATMs

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
21 strong, including one FNG, FiliBilly!

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Today’s workout had a Lord of the Rings theme, obviously.  LotR is one of my favorite set of books and movies, yes, because of all the magic and dragons, and elves with pointy ears, but also because of some of the wonderful lessons that it contains.

  • Perseverance
  • Hope
  • Fighting for what’s good in the world
  • Resourcefulness

But I want to focus on two lessons in particular.  One is the concept of the FELLOWSHIP itself.  The FELLOWSHIP consisted of Nine individuals who were given an incredibly difficult task.  They were:

  1. A wizard (Gandalf)
  2. A King who was sort of a refugee and had not ascended to his throne. (Aragorn)
  3. An elf prince (Legolas)
  4. A Dwarf (Gimli)
  5. A Human prince (Baromir)
  6. And four hobbits (Frodo, Samwise, Pippen, Merry).

All of the members of this party were battle hardened and powerful representatives of their races.  They also had strong prejudices they had to overcome.  Elves and dwarves were sworn enemies.  The humans were subject to the temptations of the One ring.  No one trusted wizards.  Hobbits were just small and simple folk that can’t find their butt with two hands and aspire to nothing more than to grow a good pumpkin in their gardens.  And yet these 9 individuals bonded together, died for each other, and even the elf and dwarf became inseparable friends.  It kind of reminds me of our F3 Fellowship.  Heck, fellowship is the second “F” in our name!

The other lesson I wanted to bring up involved who stepped up and carried the Ring, which was an evil artifact that took a physical and mental toll on the bearer.  The Ring bearer was also the instant target of all the Evil minions in the land.  And yet it was not the wizard, the noble elf, the strong dwarf, the human royals that carried the ring.  It was the smallest among them, a simple hobbit who had never left his home that volunteered to carry the burden.  As the Elf Queen Galadriel tells Frodo, “Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.”  Sometimes today’s problems seem insurmountable.  No matter how helpless or insignificant you feel in such a troubled world, take comfort in the fact that God has a plan and purpose for your life, and all people, large or small, can be used for His Glory.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers of thanks for the successful surgery on Jinxy’s wife, and that our brother Pinto is gaining strength in his battle with multiple myeloma. Welcome to FNG Filibilly!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
2nd F opportunity at Abridged Wed 9/23 7 pm!

It Isn’t Wasted Time

THE SCENE: Partly cloudy, temps in high 50’s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Plank Jacks, 10 Cherry Pickers, 10 Squat Jumps, 10 Rockettes, 10 Little Baby Arm Circles Forward and 10 Backward, Michael Phelps
THA-THANG:
Mosey to Northeast Corner of Admin Bldg.  Do 20 American Hammers.

We will next go along the road that semicircles around the admin bldg.  There will be cones along the way that will tell us what exercise to do and also tell us how to get to the next cone:

  • Cone 1:  Do 20 Iron Mikes (both feet equal 1).  Bernie Sanders to Cone 2.
  • Cone 2:  Do 20 Big Boy Sit-ups.  Bear Crawl to Cone 3.
  • Cone 3:  Do 20 Dive Bombers.  Sprint to Cone 4.
  • Cone 4:  Do 20 Star Jumps.  Then go down the stairs just past the bat cave.
  • Cone 5.  Do 20 Merkins.  Then run to pine cove area just below the top of Summit.
  • Cone 6.  Do 10 Burpees.  Run to roadway at top of Summit.
  • Cone 7.  Do 40 Baby Crunches.  Run to Cone 8.
  • Cone 8.  Do 20 Squats.  Hop to Cone 9.
  • Cone 9.  Do 20 Flutter Kicks (4 count).  Sprint to Cone 10 near the stop sign.
  • Cone 10. Do 20 Hello Dollies (4 ct).  20 Carolina Dry Docks.  20 Smurf Jacks.  10 Hand Release Merkins.  20 Bicycle Kicks (4 ct).  20 Squat Jumps.  20 Box Cutters.  20 Diamond Merkins.

Mosey to grassy decline on left side of road as one goes from stop sign to main park road.  We will do sevens starting with 1 Jump Squat at bottom of hill and 6 Burpees on top of hill.

Mosey to grassy area close to outdoor chapel.  We will do 20 tempo merkins.

Mosey to playground.  We will do elevens at benches starting with one bench dip and ten bench jumps.

Mosey to CMU pile.  Each man grabs a CMU.  We will do the following in cadence:  20 Overhead Presses, 20 Curls, 20 Rows.

Mosey to bottom of mini-cardiac.  We will Bernie to park sign then sprint the rest of the way to the AO.

MARY:
30 Merkins
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
17 Men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

F3 Message

Hebrews 11:8:  By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

Matthew 3:12:  His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.

So you can get on with your search baby
And I can get on with mine
And maybe someday we will find
That it wasn’t really wasted time

            — The Eagles

When I was in college I, just like undergraduate and graduate students today, was required to do research projects for quite a few of my classes.  We didn’t have the internet back then.  By my years in graduate school we at least had made it past card catalogues and could search for books and journal articles that might be relevant for a topic by typing in a keyword on the computers provided at the library.  In so doing, the computer would list articles or books that might have that keyword in it.  We would then have to go find the book or journal article somewhere in the library to see if what was written in it did really apply to the topic we were researching.  Often times the information found did not apply.  This was particularly true when first starting the research on the project.  It was quite frustrating to spend hours of work on a project finding information that was not applicable.  By graduate school, I had come to accept the fact that for any research project I was going to have to spend hours of “wasted timed”, time I would spend roaming the floors and aisles of the library to come up with information that was not useful.  But, to quote the Eagles song, “it wasn’t really wasted time.”  It was necessary time.  To find what I needed, I had to separate the wheat from the chaff as alluded to in Matthew 3:12.  I had to find what was good for me (the information that applied) and put aside what was not (irrelevant information).

When one thinks about it, much of life is like this.  To receive our inheritance we must journey forward in faith, like Abraham, not quite knowing where we are going, heading down wrong turns and circling back to get on the right course. Some of you younger single guys may have the desire to find the “right” mate.  I certainly had that desire in my 20’s.  I dated a large variety of women, sometimes growing tired of the “dating scene”, breaking hearts and having my own heart broken in the process.  I wasn’t exactly separating the wheat from the chaff but I did have to find the right person for me.  And, in my 30’s, I finally found that person, one who has meant so much to me and made me a better man in the process.

My vocational career has not exactly been a road straight up a ladder.  It has been full of mishaps and struggle, and finally a decision to change my vocational course all-together, going to graduate school in psychology after I had already attained a law degree and practiced in that field for a period of time.  That period of time was not easy – it was full of anxiety and angst and I often felt like a failure.

Whether it is finding the right mate, job, friendships, place to live, or way to spend our time, we run into challenges and sometimes hit dead ends.  As a man in my sixties, I can see that the so-called floundering wasn’t wasted time.  It may have been had I given up and chose to ignore and not learn from my mistakes.  I can see that the dead ends were necessary and even helped me to grow.  How sweet it is to think that God has been there with me through it all.  Some of those moments when I was at my most depressed were times that I was speaking to God the loudest, yearning for him, reaching out to him for help.

In your journey, keep pushing forward, learn from your mistakes, and realize that God is there even when you don’t know where you are going.  If the road is confusing and seems impossible, it may just be that you are a complex man whose needs are not met easily.  My prayer for you is that some day you will look back on your younger years . . . although perhaps not without scars from your falls and lines on your face giving evidence to a history of some difficulties . . . and, be able to say that it wasn’t really wasted time.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Hooker’s sister, Molly, who is getting married to day, for Mr. Jinxy’s wife, Susan, whose surgery went well and who is recovering, for Helga and his wife as she has brain surgery this week, for Convoy and his family after the death of his father, for Doubtfire and his family after the death of his mother, for peace and love in the face of racism, and for those other brothers like Thunderstuck who have family members with cancer or who are ill.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Hardship Hill on October 3.