F3 Knoxville

Tag: Trolley

Asylum Treebiscuit Run to win

THE SCENE: Misty mountain madness makes for some awesome light-pole shadows and views through-out the park.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER  
Surprised and grateful they let me lead these unsuspecting HIM’s through the gloom today.

WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH, Tennessee Rockin Chairs, High Knees, Burpees, Windmills, Cherry Pickers

THA-THANG: TREE-BISCUIT

The Short Version:

As a group, Run to an un-slapped tree, slap it, everyone call out the running burpee total,  do A single burpee, repeat.

The Long Version:
  • Scaling:
    • We travel as a pack, if you find yourself falling behind, skip a tree and burpee and keep moseying to catch up.  It’s more fun and less confusing to have the group stay together, especially when we alternate taggers.
    • Scaling is NOT cheating, it’s just scaling, no judgment here. You made it here and that’s enough.
    • We’re going to be zig-zagging all over the park so the better we can stay together the more we’ll be able to keep an accurate count and not leave people behind.  Plus it feels bad to tag a tree without everyone there doing it together.
  • Taggers
    • The tagger is the person closest to the nearest tree. They slap the tree and call out what the burpee running total is about to be. Similar to our cadence exercise routines, the whole group calls out the number and does a burpee.
    • The tagger is typically in the front of the pack, however since we are traveling in a mob fashion that’s not always true.
  • Alternate Taggers
    • Similar to an indian run, each person should take turns being in front and tagging a tree. This makes the workout much more fun.  If you have already tagged several trees then just slowly fade back and let someone else tag the next one.
  • What is a Tree:
    • We don’t do burpees for any old shrub.  Trees should be about 6 inches around and 10 feet tall.  Those pesky crape mertyles were very questionable this am.  #wanna-be-trees
  • No Poison Ivy:
    • In an attempt to to get too dirty and get poison ivy, we’ll pass trees that are surrounded by shrubs and tall grass. Luckily we are in a very well manicured park where most of the trees have nicely mowed grass leading up to them.
  • Cross Country Baby!!
    • We are going off road for sure.  The ground is very un-even around many of the trees. Be careful when running not to twist and ankle.  And don’t hit your face on a rock or root when doing a burpee in the dirt.
  • Be Loud
    • The louder you call out the number, the more you inspire your fellow brothers!
  • Milestones
    • At 50, 100, 150, 200 make sure the group catches up and circles around the tree, wait a few seconds. Do the burpee.  Celebrating these milestones adds to the encouragement factor.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

1 corinthians 9:24  Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

Showing up at 5:30 am to do 200 running burpees is a task I never thought I would do in a million years.  But not only did we do it but we had fun doing it.  That’s a miracle.  Thank you F3 and everyone who does it.  In the verse above Paul uses a very fleshly easy to understand analogy of running races to encourage his readers.  It worked for me and so I wanted to encourage the group to yell to each other “So Run to win!”(we did this several times).  My head is very thick (dense & dunse) and some times I need volume in order to bypass my head and get the info into my heart.

Harkin back to times when you might have rose to an athletic challenge in your youth by not eating certain foods, going to bed early before a big meet,  skipping beer before a big game, memorizing plays weeks in advance,  showing up to “two a day” practices when your other friends were partying.

Yes it’s true that we all have a VERY high calling to lean on the Lord and the Holy Spirit to help us be ministers to those in need.  The Lord is an active participant in our walks. He leads us beside still waters. He tracks with us where-ever we are at.  But I love this verse because he’s also saying “So RUN TO WIN!”…..

Running to win for you might look like not drinking, not smoking, not swearing, not lusting, not yelling, no coarse jesting, no slandering,  helping the poor, helping anyone.

I think what I’m getting at is there is a self-discipline simple athletic aspect to our calling. As simple as running. As simple as showing up at 5:30am. As simple as praying with your brothers.  Sometimes we are overwhelmed with the spiritual and scriptural call to be perfect, but I believe it’s easier when you break it down into little acts.  One workout,  one tree, one act of kindness, one burpee.

In the end you might surprise yourself at what God gives you the strength to do.  200 Burpees or help a nation dig out of a pit of moral despair.

So, run to win gentlemen, run to win!

Intro of the Mallets

THE SCENE: 68 degrees w Lightning off in the distance
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER 
WARM-O-RAMA:
Seal Clap SSH x 20 -enough of that let’s get busy
THA-THANG:

  • Mosey with over sized Mallets x 4 taking turns doing 20 thrusts while others do high knees when Q says halt
  • first station Burpee run up long hill stopping at cones to do 3 Burpees =21
  • Second station Dora Trifecta w Curls, Triceps, Presses using 25lb plates , BB runs to cones 10 Dive Bombers
  • Third station Ab Kracken
  • Forth station Death Crawl (Bear crawl stopping at every cone Merkins x3) across parking lot
  • Fifth station Tunnel of Love
  • Sixth station BB up Run opposite direction around square when meet do 15 party cake BBSs

MARY: 

Ring of Fire w Merkins 3,2,1
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
20 Strong w Hercules(Tank) as Co-Q

Mandolin, Booster, Anchor Man, Judge Judy, Stye, Erector,Kickflip,Archie, Trolly, Spotter, Sweeper, Gump, KenJo, Pool Boy, Murmaid, 5K,  Nutmeg, Swanson, Ribbed, Abscess
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Genesis 4:9 Are we our brothers keeper. Yes. This is a crazy time for our country. It may feel like things are out of our control and hopeless. Stay focused on helping those around you and in your life. We will have opportunities to help others so don’t neglect. God is the one in control.
MOLESKIN:
We all struggle with something…pray for one another.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Convergence at the Big Ball and 3rd F to follow

Ladders!

THE SCENE: JUCO,
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
15 SSH, 15 mountain climber, 15 Moroccan night club, 10 Windmill
THA-THANG:
Mosey to middle to campus for the first round of ladders.  The ladder is performed by starting with 20 reps of an exercise and then running to a designated location.  Perform 19 reps and then return to the original location.  Repeat until you reach 1 rep.  There are 3 squarish areas.  The first corner and the opposite corner diagonal from the start of the second square will be the exercise locations.  Squats will be the first exercise.

Next, mosey to the stairs behind the maintenance building and grab a coupon.  Here we did a modified ladder and started with 20 curls at the bottom of the stairs and 18 merkins at the top, decrementing each exercise by 4.

Final stop is at the large parking lot southwest of campus.  We did a suicide style series here with 20 flutter kicks starting at the light pole.  When then ran to the next parking bay and back for 20 more flutter kicks.  Repeat to each parking bay down to the next light pole.

Mosey/jailbreak to the shovel flag.

MARY:  10 Freddie Mercury

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
20 HIMs today.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Phil. 2:3 – Being selfish is probably the biggest problem in the world. Take traffic for example.  If everyone was courteous and gave people more space to drive, I theorize that virtually all traffic problems would be non-existent.  We can accomplish this by being less selfish.  Put others before yourself and be part of the solution.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Convergence and 2nd F August 10th.  Convergence is at Big Ball, aka World’s Fair Park.  2nd F will follow convergence.

Boosters Last Stand

THE SCENE: 70 or so in the gloom
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • Cherry Pickers (IC) 4 CT X 10
  • Baby Arm Circles (forwards) & Michael Phelps (OYO)
  • Baby Arm Circles (backwards) & Michael Phelps (OYO)
  • 5 burpees (OYO)
  • 10 Tempo Squats (IC)
  • 10 Hand release merkins (OYO)
  • 20 Side Straddle Hops (IC)
  • 50 Curb Calf Raises (OYO)
  • Karaokes & Sprints
  • Mosey – Double Wide Indian Run

THA-THANG:

Don’t Act Like A Sophomore on the Hill 

  • Get into groups of 3
  • Partner 1 does AMRAP merkins while Partner 2 runs up Sophomore Hill while partner 3 at the top does AMRAP squats
  • Rotate throughout each position; rinse & repeat
  • Mosey to the junkyard

Be a Junkyard Dog

  • Stay with your same partners, same structure
  • Partner 1 does 10 CMU reps Overhead Press, Triceps extension, Curls & bentover rows as many rounds of the lifts as possible until partner 3 gets down the stairs
  • Partner 2 runs up & replaces Partner 3 who has been doing Big Boy Situps
  • Rinse & Repeat
  • Mosey to big parking lot

Light Pole to Pole

  • 5 burpees & sprint to the next pole, 5 more burpees
  • mosey to AO

MARY:

Judge Judy led us in 75 (or 500) flutterkicks

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

26 HIMS and 1 FNG – Nutmeg

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Jeremiah 29:11 “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

We know these words but do we always believe them or have doubts?  Sure we have doubts.  We’re human.  We have doubts, fears, etc.

I started at JUCO in October 2017.  I weighed about 270 and was out of shape physically and spiritually.  I’ve lost 40 pounds since that time and I’m much stronger physically and spiritually.  While I don’t and never will have all of the answers on this Earth, I know more about myself and how I should live my life because of each of you.  Your witness.  Your love for your families and each other is inspiring.  Your willingness to share, be open and vulnerable out here is awesome.

During my first time or two out here, Bartman had me out here in the pouring rain doing burpees and bear crawls down the stairs.  I thought “what the heck am I doing here.”  I don’t remember his closing BOM that day but I really liked it.  Me, him and Shooter circled up, put our hands on one another and prayed and I promise I felt closer to God in this parking lot than I had in a long time in a church pew.

As some of you know, today is my last day at my job as executive director of a cancer charity.  It’s been an honor to build that charity and help more than 7,000 families over the last 5 years.  But I felt it was a time for a change.  I prayed about it.  Shortly thereafter, a couple of consulting opportunities came up so I turned in a 3-month notice and it was the fastest 3 months of my life.  I’m sad, happy, relived and nervous.

I went to Oklahoma last weekend and had a hard time sleeping.  On Monday, I met Sarah McLean who was diagnosed with breast cancer at 25.  A couple of years later she felt like she should start a charity since she had learned so much and wanted to help others battling breast cancer.  She prayed and God told her no, not now so she continued to work at a church and had 2 kids. She then got breast cancer again.  After she healed, she prayed and God told her she was ready.  She shared her story, her faith journey and she wept as she told me about one of her board members dying in her arms.  I was ugly crying.  It wasn’t pretty.  We stood up and hugged.  At that moment, I knew God put me in the right place to help her charity in addition to the other one I will be leading in Oklahoma City.

While I don’t know exactly what will happen in my life, I know God has it under control and will lead me where I need to be.

Ecclesiastes 3

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot    a time to kill and a time to heal,     a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5   a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to give up,   a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,    a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,     a time for war and a time for peace

There’s a time for everything and my time as executive director has come to an end.  When I started at JUCO, we were averaging 2-5 people.  We’ve grown so much but not because of me.  God brought you here for a reason.  I needed F3 and still do.  We all need F3 and there are men out there asleep that should be here right now.  There are men out there worried about their kids, their marriage, their job that could use us in his lives.

Today I’m stepping down as AO Q for JUCO.  I’m going to be travelling quite a bit.  So, I’m proud to say Judge Judy is taking over as AO Q.  He’s a great person, smart, funny, a leader, a lawyer, a husband and father, a great friend and has the coolest name out here.  Abscess is taking over next week as lead of all F3 Knoxville and he’s asked me to help him on some special projects so I’m not going anywhere.  I’ll actually be here all week next week so get ready to wagonwheel to get me at the back!

MOLESKIN:

It’s been an honor to lead JUCO for the last 19 months!  We’re in better hands now with Judge Judy.  Whether you are an FNG or been around for years, we’re all brothers and I want you to know I would do anything for any of you!  Thank each of you for helping me try to become a better person!  God bless each of you and your families!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

  • Dunkin
  • Sign up to Q
  • 3rd F Convergence next Saturday on August 10th at 7:00 a.m. at the Big Ball followed by breakfast/testimonials at Redeemer Church

Slot Cars (The Grateful Grid)

THE SCENE: 73 very nice.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER ( I got the order right!)

WARM-O-RAMA:

20 SSH, High Knees + Burpee + toe-tap-shuffle, Cherry Pickers, Plank Destroyers, Donkey Kicks, Crabets, Clap Merkins, Freddy Mercuries, Mtn parkers, Peter Parkers, Squat Walkers, Iron Mikes.

THA-THANG: 

Welcome to the Grid! A 10×10 square parking lot with over a 100 stalls in it.  We did one exercise per stall in a snaking fashion in teams of two.  The 10 rows of exercise were:

  1. Plank Destroyers
  2. Crabets
  3. Freddy Mercuries
  4. Mountain Parkers
  5. Peter Parkers
  6. Squat Walkers
  7. Donkey Kicks
  8. Iron Mikes
  9. Burpees
  10. Clap Merkins

The exercises stayed the same for each column and only changed when you completed a row.  The distance between columns were determined by the painted lines of the parking stalls.  We did one rep per stall.

So we did 10 reps of each exercise, but each rep was separated by about 30 feet.  So we got up and got down at least 100 times in addition to the exercises.

We started off in teams of two (the slot car drivers) and launched successive teams as the previous team reached the next column of stalls.  It spread out nicely but we were all close enough to encourage one another on the passes or the different directions.  The “slots” were the rows of stalls we tried to stay in.

We finished one round then started on the next round. In round two, instead of moseying from stall to stall we burnied down and bear crawled back.  Almost finished the crabets and then called time.

MARY:
Freddy Mercuries
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Welcome FNG Pool Boy!

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
This F3 stuff is the best thing ! Feeling so grateful for it. It’s the best part of my day.  Creative, challenging, always different, always free.  Rain or shine.  Always encouraging.  Great testimonies and BOM’s.  We be sittin’ on GOLD fellas!  I hope where ever I go I can always find an F3 PAX to workout with!

MOLESKIN:
Booster has an announcement about an announcement… but that’s all we heard.  🙂

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Again welcome FNG ==> Pool Boy!