F3 Knoxville

Back in the Saddle

THE SCENE
28 and Clear

COP
Run to lower front parking lot
SSH x35 IC
Merkins (4ct) x10 IC
Imperial Squat Walkers x10 IC
Baby Arm Circles Fwd x12 IC
Baby Arm Circles Bkwd x12 IC
Run to HGTV Area

THA-THANG
Tree Trunks
– Squats x10
– Fwd & Bkwd lunges (same leg then switch) x10 each leg
– Side Lunges x10 each leg
– Jump Squats x10

Rinse and repeat

Run to parking area under the HGTV Area

Countdown
Partner up. One person performs the routine while the other jump ropes.

Routine:
One man runs to far cone perform x20 reps, run back to first cone perform x15 reps, run to the second farthest cone and perform x10 reps, run back to first cone perform x5 reps. Partners does jump rope while waiting.

Exercises:
1. Diamond Merkins
2. Dry Docks
3. BBS
4. Squats
5. Wide Merkins

Mosey to playground (The Cloud)
* Stop on the way at the parking lot, do 5 Wolverines

Bench 11’s
11’s on benches: Bench Squats and Dips

Run to end of parking lot, do 5 Wolverines, run back to the playground and do LBCs while waiting in the six.

Run to lower parking lot at far entrance to the trail. Take the trail to the SP, do Route 66 along the way.

Route 66
Run the trail stopping at each light pole to do merkins. Start with one rep and add step at each light pole until you get to the end.

At the SP, circle up for MARY

MARY
American Hammers (4ct) – x20 IC
Superman Swims (4ct) – x12 IC
Box Cutters (4ct) – x15IC
Superman Swims (4ct) – x12 IC
Flutter Kicks (4ct) – x15 IC

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
23 PAX

COT/BOM

“For this is the will of God,
that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
Live as people who are free,
not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil,
but living as servants of God.”

1 Peter‬ ‭2:15-16 ESV

Honor – Adherence to what is right or to a conventional standard of conduct

“Honorable men refuse to wallow in the small and the bitter.
Honorable men refuse to hate life because something once went wrong.
Honorable men don’t build monuments to their disappointments, nor do they let others brand them and curse them to their destruction.
Honorable men seek out the highest definition of their lives, the nobler meaning granted by heritage, by their ancestors’ dreams and their parents’ hopes.
Honorable men cry out to God until curses are broken and a grander purpose is achieved.
Honorable men don’t settle for lives of regret.”

Stephen Mansfield, Mansfield’s Book of Manly Men

As we push ourselves physically each week it is important to remember that we must also be pushing ourselves mentally, emotionally and spiritually…to grow as HIMs. Physical fitness is important, but character, virtue, integrity and leadership are paramount. Our world is starving for men with these characteristics. Men of honor who live beyond themselves. Men who are life-givers, not life-takers. I believe there is a direct correlation between strenuous physical exercise and the strenuous pursuit to live a life of honor, integrity and impact. Both take effort and focus. Both take intentionality, consistency and daily commitment. Both are met with resistance from the status quo and our own passivity. Both can’t be pursued alone and require me to surround myself with like-minded men who inspire, encourage and challenge me along the
journey.

Each morning in the gloom we have an opportunity to experience AND be these things for the men on our left and right. Iron sharpen iron. This is what it means to wear the “F3”.

 

Another Rain Q

THE SCENE: For the 4th Charmin Q in a row, we’ve got rain.  At least it’s warm.  Shorts and T-shirt warm.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Pretty basic.  SSH x 25 (4 ct), IC; ISW x 20, IC; BAC, forward and backwards.
THA-THANG:
It’s raining, of course, so that means Pavalon.  We’re all about Tabata this morning.  At least there’s music.  We’ve got 8 different exercises, 8 cycles for each exercise before moving on to the next.  1 cycle=20 seconds on, 10 second rest.  The exercises

  • Bobby Hurleys
  • Merkins
  • Flutter Kicks and Hello Dollies on alternate cycles
  • Forward Lunges and Side Lunges on alternate cycles
  • Table Rows (8 cycles were rough!)
  • American Hammers
  • Calf Raises
  • Mountain Climbers

Did I mention there was a topical playlist?  There was!  See Moleskin for the songs and artists.  Waffle House was the first to note the theme, at song #3.

MARY:
Post Tabata, we wall sat for a bit, doing some Thunderclaps, since we were listening to Thunderstruck.  Then we finished strong with the Howling Monkey.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
14 strong!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
In his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed the criticism he faced (from well meaning Christian ministers) for pushing for civil rights advancement too fast rather than letting things happen “in their own time.”  His response:  The notion that time itself heals all wounds is a myth.  Time is neutral.  The passage of time can be used constructively or destructively; by people of ill will as well as good will.  “We must come to see that huma progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability.  It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of men willing to be co-workers with God [i.e. HIMS!]. . . We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.”
MOLESKIN:
Playlist for the morning: 1) Gimme Shelter, Rolling Stones; 2) Riders on the Storm, The Doors; 3) Who’ll Stop the Rain, CCR; 4) I Love a Rainy Night, Eddie Rabbit; 5) Rock You Like a Hurricane, Scorpions; 6) Here Comes the Rain Again, Eurythmics; 7) Feels Like Rain, Buddy Guy; 8) Thunderstruck, AC/DC.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Supply drive for Safe Haven is coming up.  Get ready!!!

 

Faithful to Us

THE SCENE: Sunny, temp in 30’s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Burpees, 10 Tempo Squats, 10 Windmills, 7 Baby Arm Circles Forward and Backward, 5 Wide Arm Circles Forward and Backward
THA-THANG:
Run to CMU pile.  Each man grabs CMU.  We will do the following exercises.  Between the listed exercises each man runs to the benches at the playground to do 10 bench jumps, then runs back.

  • 25 Overhead Presses
  • 25 Curls
  • 25 Rows

We then put CMUs back.

Mosey up cardiac and on trail to stop sign at intersection of park road and road to admin bldg.  We will do 20 American Hammers and 20 Hello Dollies.

Mosey to bottom of Mt. Everest.  We will do 10 Tempo Squats, 20 Bicycle Kicks and 30 Baby Crunches.  We then run up Everest to roadway by Admin Bldg.  We will do 20 Flutter Kicks.

Mosey to parking lot below stairs at Coliseum.  We will do Doras.  While one man does exercises the other runs upstairs, heads south at Coliseum, the comes back down the parking lot driveway.  Partners then switch.  Here are the exercises that each two man team performs:

  • 100 Plank Jacks
  • 100 Merkins
  • 100 Big Boy Sit-ups
  • 100 Squat Jumps
  • 100 Imperial Walkers

Mosey down Picket’s Charge and back to Playground.  More Flutter Kicks until everyone arrives.

Mosey to outfield by baseball field closest to CMU parking lot.  We will split into two teams.  We will play soccer/ball shoot.  In this game there will be two large boxes at each end of the field.  Teams will kick soccer ball toward opponents end.  The shot at the box, however, must be made by man throwing ball to go inside the box.  The man cannot move when he picks the ball up.  If a team scores, that team will run to second base at the ballfield and back while the team that is scored on must run all the way to home plate and back.  Then game resumes.

Mosey to AO.

MARY:
20 Flutter Kicks
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
22 men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
God is Faithful

The phrase “you gotta have faith” is one you have probably heard before.  I think that phrase often applies to having faith in ourselves, or having faith that things will work out, versus having faith in God.  Still, most of us have certainly heard of our need to have faith in God to get by in this world.  And, we do need to have faith in God.  Yet, we often fall short of being faithful:  in our trust of God, in our commitment to his desire for obedience, in living the loving and virtuous lifestyle that God expects from us.  Fortunately, we have a God who is faithful to us.  So much so that he was willing to, from the Christian standpoint, send his only Son to die for us on the cross.  It is nice to know that we have a God who is faithful to us, who is there for us.

That knowledge of his faithfulness keeps us strong.  I may have told some of you this story of my childhood.  I was about age 5 or 6 and I had acted rather poorly toward my mother earlier that day. It was getting towards evening and I came home to find the door locked.  No big deal, it was a policy to lock the door.  I rang the door bell.  No answer.  I knocked on the door.  No answer.  I ran around to the back of the house.  Door locked and no answer when I knocked.  I ran back up front and after ringing and knocking, I went to our large front window and peered in.  My mother was sitting on a chair in the living room.  How could she not come to me when I was ringing the doorbell and knocking so loud?  Had my mom stopped loving me because I had acted poorly that day?  I called out and she didn’t come.  I ran into the backyard and threw myself to the ground in tears.  Imagine Little Lilydipper, crying until the snot was draining in fissures from his nose.  I later heard my mom calling.  I took a while to get up.  She came to the backyard and found me in tears.  She asked me what was wrong and I told her the story of my persistent knocking and her failure to come to me.  She had been sitting at a chair sound asleep and had not heard me.  She thought she heard a child crying and that was what woke her up.

My mother took pity on me as I was obviously distraught.  So she sat with me, assured me that she would never leave me, would always have faith in me, that I would always be her special child, that I could count on her loving me forever.  She and I went to get a hamburger and ice cream at Goff’s Burgers that evening.  I loved that place because they had the best chili hamburgers in the world and amazing ice cream cones.  I sat there at Goff’s with a special feeling in my heart.  My mother would always be faithful to me.

Gents, we aren’t kids but it sure is good to know that God will always be faithful to us.  We can count on Him.  We may act poorly sometimes, we may upset him with our behavior. . . but we will always be His, we will always be special to Him.   You are His precious child.  Let that truth sink into you and give you that special feeling in your heart like I had that evening at good old Goff’s Hamburgers.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for those of Asian decent in our country because of the hatred that some have showed toward them; for the disenfranchised and folks who are not well and having to stay home; for Mr. Jinxy, Sarah, the wife of Ribbed, and Jan, the wife of Lillydipper; for Dung-Beetle who, as a minister, is working with so many in need, for those with Covid including the father of one of Mickey’s schoolmates, for those struggling with addiction, and that we may have discernment when watching the news as the news can be biased.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Beer ruck tonight at 6:00 pm!

Four Corners

THE SCENE: Dry & cool & in the 30s.  Like your Q <cough>.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: I’m still not a professional.  You are allowed to kiss Code Brown only, as he has been vaccinated.  But watch out for the beard.
WARM-O-RAMA: 

  • SSH IC x 25
  • Tie Fighters IC – 12 each leg
  • From the Baseline, across the car park:
    • High Knees, mosey back
    • Butt Kickers, mosey back
    • High Skips, mosey back
    • Bear Crawl, mosey back
    • Caraoca, Caraoca back.

THA-THANG:
There were lists of exercises at each of the four corners of the AO car park.  We ran a ladder – 1 side of the lot, then 2 sides, 3 sides, 3, 2, 1 – then did the next exercise on the list at that corner.  As a curveball – when the play list hit the right song we circled up and did said routine:

  • Queen – Bicycle Race – Freddie Mercury’s in time to the music with a Big Boy on every ‘Bicycle’, or ‘Bike’.
  • James Brown – Sex Machine – Start in Al Gore, then up-squat on every Get Up!  We switched up to Plank and Merkin at the Bridge, with added Pickle Pounders on “shake your money maker”.
  • Corner 1
    • Merkin x25
    • Carolina Dry Dock x25
    • Plank Jack (4ct)  x25
    • Jack Webb (1 merkin : 2 air press) up to 6
  • Corner 2
    • Big Boys x25
    • Hello Dolly (4ct)  x25
    • American Hammer (4ct)  x25
    • Flutters (4ct)  x25
  • Corner 3
    • Squat x25
    • Bonnie Blair x12 Each Leg
    • Lunge x12 Each Leg
    • Iron Mike x25
  • Corner 4
    • Rocky Balboas (4ct)  x25
    • Crab Jacks (4ct)  x20
    • SSH (4ct) x25
    • Get Ups x12

MARY:
We did Heels to Heaven, to Flower by Moby.  Heels at 6″- Heels to Heaven on “Green Sally Up”.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
14 Strong
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Goals are easy to set, but hard to achieve.  Instead I’ve been trying to make habits out of the behaviours of the person I want to be – I’m doing what thin people do, rather than set a goal weight.  Give yourself a micro-reward every time you carry out the behvaiour to help make the habit stick.  I’m putting an X on a chart of daily progress to see the days I managed to not eat a donut.
MOLESKIN:
Today’s playlist is here. Including Waffle House’s favourite, Madonna.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Bring in Trash Bags, Copy Paper and Napkins for Street Hope TN.

Up 2, Back 1

THE SCENE: Mid 30s, nice and moony.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH x25 IC
Cherry Pickers x5 IC
Cobra burpees x5 OYO
Standard burpees x5 OYO
Crabettes x15 IC
TN Rocking Chairs x15 IC
LBAC x15 each way IC
Alternate cherry pickers for a while
Shake it out
“Warmed up yet?” (no answer from the PAX)
10 burpees OYO
Don’t have time for the PAX to get the question wrong again…

THA-THANG:
Mosey to the light pole by the restrooms. There are cards set up along the path with exercises.
Start with the first card, mosey past the next card and do the third.
Then mosey back to the second card, and so on. 2 forward, 1 back.
So here’s what we ended up doing:

15 Embrace the Earth Burpees (Hand release out to the side)
Run a bit
5 hill sprints
Run a bit less
25 CDD
Run a bit
35 Box Jumps
Run a bit less
5 hill sprints
Run a bit
Bear crawl the parking lot, bernie back
Run a bit less
35 Box Jumps
Run a bit
30 BBS
Run a bit less
Bear crawl the parking lot, bernie back
Run a bit
25 Merkins
Time’s up, run back to the AO!
Got in about 2 miles.

MARY:
15x Seated Heel Taps IC
15x Curious Dollys IC

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
15 today. Just the right amount of crowded on the running path.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Psalm 37:23, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.”
The way is the thing. Of course, the destination is good, but the way is how we get to know Him. Sometimes it seems the way sucks. Sometimes we won’t get to understand, sometimes we won’t get to see why. Sometimes it seems we’re moving backward. But that’s OK, because the one who is ordering our steps knows best.
MOLESKIN:
I’m not sure which is worse: Hill sprints, or moseying back to the hill knowing you’re going to have to do them again.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Arsenal launch! Sandy Springs park in Maryville, this weekend @ 0700!