F3 Knoxville

Tag: Waffle House

Marginal Gains

THE SCENE: Weather advisory – super gloomy.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: I don’t know what I’m doing.  Go home.  Don’t kiss me.
WARM-O-RAMA:
25 SSH IC.
PAX got their funk on.
Starting in Al Gore, we listened to James Brown – Sex Machine with a reverse squat on every ‘Get Up’.  We took it to the bridge and switched it up for Plank with Merkins then moved onto a low plank and did pickle pounders when required to “shake your money maker”.  Once warmed, we went ahead, hit it and quit.
THA-THANG:
A circuit around the AO, the parking lots of Circus Maximus and the Pavalon with Pain Stations along the journey.  25s (Two exercises at each station to a total of 25 reps).

  • AO – Rocky Balboas & Asymmetrical Merkins
  • Entrance to cloud – Big Boys & Hello Dolly (4ct)
  • Far end of lot – Plank Jacks (4ct) & Crab Jacks (4ct)
  • Top of Circus Maximus – Squats & Iron Mikes
  • Bottom of Circus Maximus – Captain Thors & Heels to Heaven
  • Pavalon – Dips & Table Rows

We made it to 3.5 loops.

MARY:
There was a tech breakdown so we had to make do with

  • 20 Big Boys IC
  • 25 Freddie Mercurys (4ct) IC
  • 15 Side crunches (4ct).

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
16 Strong
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Sir David Brailsford revolutionized the UK cycling by making them focus on Marginal Gains.  Big changes are hard.  Instead, look for lots of small change that you can compound over time to make change a process.
MOLESKIN:
Hat Tip to Bunny for praying us out.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP’s coming.

4 Stations of the Barkley

THE SCENE: Cold. Damp.  Spitting snow at the end.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH, 4 ct, x 20 (IC); 2 burpees; CP, IC, x 5; 4 burpees; BAC, forward and back, IC, x 10 each way; 6 burpees
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the Overlook for a Barkley.  Grab a battle buddy, running the perimeter of the Asylum building, with 4 stations.  Each station has 3 exercises, 1 for each lap.

  • Station #1 (Overlook): Merkins x 25; CDD x 25; Dips x 25
  • Station #2 (Westside stop sign):  LBCs (4ct) x 25; American Hammers (4ct) x 25; Hello Dollys (4ct) x 25
  • Station #3 (Old rock pile): Squats (4ct) x 20; Smurf Jacks (4ct) x 20; Iron Mikes (4ct) x 20
  • Station #4 (Eastside stop sign): Burpees x 10; Man Makers x 10; Hand Release Burpees x 10

After finishing all 3 laps, wagon wheel for the 6 and mosey back to the AO
MARY:
Cat Gut leads the Pax in several minutes of Boat Canoe.  Finish strong with ATMs.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

From Matthew  26:52-53: “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.  Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”

In today’s world, gentleness is not really celebrated.  To show gentleness is to show weakness.  And yet, it is one of the Fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:23).

When we look at the Jesus, we see that gentleness is a chief trait.  As he was being betrayed, arrested, and (as he knew), led off to die, he could’ve called down destruction at any moment. But he humbled himself and died for us instead.

Gentleness is strength and power under control

MOLESKIN:
Prayers to lift up our community, our nation, for Charmin’s cousin’s family after a sudden death, for Cat Gut’s nephew and his family, as he has been seriously injured in a motorcycle wreck.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP Jan. 30!  Sign up!

Revealing Our Brokenness

THE SCENE: Cloudy, temp about 32 degrees
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Windmills, 15 Second Squat, 10 Rockettes, 30 Second Squat, 10 Baby Arm Circles Forward and Backward, 60 Second Squat

THA-THANG:
Mosey to CMU parking lot.  Instead of CMUs, each man grabs a pair of bricks which will be along east curb of parking lot.  We will Dora.  While partner one does exercises listed below with the bricks, the other man runs to other curb, does 10 Rocky Balboa, and runs back to replace partner with the exercises.  Here are the exercises with the bricks:

  • 100 Overhead Presses
  • 100 Curls
  • 100 Rows (brick at each side)
  • 100 Triceps (brick on either side of head)
  • 100 Punches (both hands = 1)
  • 100 Wings Up
  • 100 Wings Down
  • 100 Wings Out

Put bricks down.  Mosey to Mini Cardiac.  We will Bernie to Park Sign then sprint to crosswalk.

Mosey to Stop Sign at Northeast Corner of Admin Bldg.  We will stop to do 20 American Hammers.

Mosey to small parking lot below the Coliseum.  We will do Doras again.  This time, while one partner does exercises, the other runs up stairs, left on Coliseum sidewalk, and down to the driveway to small parking lot to reunite with partner who will then make the same run.  These are the exercises the partners will work on:

  • 100 Hello Dollies (4 ct)
  • 100 Squat Jumps
  • 100 Merkins (4 ct)
  • 100 Iron Mikes (both feet = 1)
  • 100 Flutter Kicks (4 ct)

Mosey to parking drive by apartments and soccer fields. We will do 20 Bicycle Kicks.

Mosey to parking lot that is south of playground.  20 Squats.

Mosey to Mini Cardiac.  We will, once again Bernie to Park Sign then sprint to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
26 men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
The Lord is close to all who call on Him, yes, to all who call on Him in truth.  Psalm 145:18

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

And it’s no, nay, never
No, nay never no more
Will I play the wild rover
No never no more.     —  Old Irish Folk Song

I used to belong to a Sunday School class in a church that I formerly went to that had nice, intelligent, and friendly people in it.  I found myself missing something in the class, however.  What it took me some time to realize was that people weren’t opening up in the class.  They freely talked about worshipping God, about helping others, about walking the right kind of life – but they weren’t revealing themselves in the process.  They talked about how “people” needed to apply the Bible’s lessons to their lives but not about how those lessons should be applied to their own lives. They weren’t talking about the true challenges they faced in their Christian journey. They weren’t talking about their BROKENNESS.  I remember wishing people would talk from their hearts.  I remember one woman in the class being more likely to do so.  I followed her example one time but no one else in the class did.  And, after a time, I figured, “heck, I’m not going to talk about my problems if no one else does.”  And so, I withdrew and finally just left the class.  Maybe I should have confronted the class.  Instead, I found a church where people do freely reveal themselves.

Men, it is important to REVEAL ourselves to God and to others we can trust.  We are broken creatures in so many ways.  As humans, we mess up!  We find ourselves making the same mistakes, sinning in the same ways, despite our promises to ourselves that we will not do the same thing again.  I certainly find myself making the same mistakes over and over.  It as if sin is inherent in my nature.  And, if we believe the Bible, SIN TRULY IS IN OUR INHERENT NATURE.  In the Old Irish Folk Song above, the singer proclaims “never no more will I play the wild rover” (i.e. drinking so much that one gets snockered).  Yet, the song is one that is sung with the comic knowledge that one absolutely will play the wild rover again, when the hangover is gone and the temptation arises. Despite our best claims to stop the sin within us, we sin again and again.  This could be in regards to many different things:  pornography, greed, animosity, overuse of power, coveting, prejudice, infidelity, or just plain worrying too much.  If we truly look at ourselves, consider every sinful part of ourselves – we are likely to feel great shame and may want to give up on ourselves.

But, we have a great and glorious God.  We have a God that actually wants us to reveal that sinful part of ourselves to Him.  He wants to know us fully.  And what happens to us when we truly reveal ourselves to Him?  LOVE happens.  Think about what happens here in F3 when a brother reveals his brokenness to the group. Do his brothers turn their backs on Him and run away?  Do they smite him?  Do they ignore him?  I think not.  They embrace him.  They let him know that they understand.  And, as his brother, they see themselves in him.  They know that they too have messed up, have been broken.  When God sees us revealing ourselves to one another, He Smiles from Above.  He celebrates.  He say, “Now that is what I want my children to do!”  Because through that revealing, we heal.  We get the feedback of love from our fellow man and from God.  And, it when we are strengthened by love, that is when we can experience True Change.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers to end racism and for our country to be more united.  Prayers for wife of Ribbed, praise for healing of Choir Boy’s wife, praise for Cap’n Crunch’s 25 wedding anniversary, prayers for Cheatsheet in the care of his mother and daughter, prayers for Veggie’s safe return back to college in the state of Michigan.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP from 6:30 am to 9 am at Asylum on Saturday, January 30.

Alphabet Soup

THE SCENE:
Frosty with increasing Gloom.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:
I am not a doctor.  Keep your brothers distant and your snot to yourself.

WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH x 21 IC.
BBQ Squats x10 IC
Mosey around the parking lot to collect Archie, and head down to the block paved lots

THA-THANG:
The Q presented a sheet of 26 exercises – 1 per letter.  With a battle buddy, for more mumblechatter and letters, PAX worked their way through each F3 name with a run to the top of Baby Everest between each letter.  At the top of B.E. do one more merkin than last time, then back down to the start.

e.g. K=10 x Windmills, ascend Baby Everest, 1 merkin
E=Bear Crawl to other side of the road, ascend Baby Everest, 2 merkins
N=10 Merkins (4ct), ascend Baby Everest, 3 merkins,
T= etc…

MARY:
If this is a Kentucky workout, we have to finish with the Bicycle Race.  Freddie Mercurys to the tune of Bicycle Race, with a Big Boy every time FM sings Bike, or Bicycle.
To the eternal shame of the Mall Walkers, they watched and didn’t join in.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
16 Strong, including 5 Mall Walkers, who couldn’t manage a single Freddie between them.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Eddie the Eagle was an Olympic Athlete and example to us all.  He was bad at ski jumping (relatively), but kept going to matter what.  As Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the Olympics said “The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle, the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”  Fight well my bothers, fight well!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP at the end of the month.  Order a new Asylum T-shirt to show off at the event!

These Are Crazy Days, But They Make Me Shine

THE SCENE: Upper 40s or so, wet, but no rain
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH x 21 (4 ct)

Little baby arm circles forward x 21

Little baby arm circles backward x 21

Little bit of this and a little bit of that x 2

Michael Phelps

21 merkins

21 squats

THA-THANG:

Mosey to Rocky Mountain High

21s – Incline merkins at the top, squats at the bottom

Mosey to Everest

20 burpees at the bottom, run to the summit, 21 burpees at the top

Mosey to the Colosseum

21 derkins at the bottom of the loop, 21 calf raises at the top on the steps of the admin building

Rinse and repeat

Mosey to the Cloud

21 box jumps, 21 dips (no running in between)

Rinse and repeat

Mosey to the Pavilon

21 bench pull ups, 21 CDDs

Rinse and repeat for 4 total rounds

Mosey to Little Cardiac

Sprint to the AO

MARY:

21 flutter kicks (4 ct)

20 hokey pokeys (10 each leg)

1 merkin w/ a clap

Plank until time

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
24 HIMs, including FNG Flo and Jetlag and Chugger (who are not tagged)

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
I Q’ed at the Equalizer on Wednesday, the last Equalizer Q for 2020.  I reflected back on my Q from 1/4/20, almost a year ago today, which was the first Saturday workout in 2020 at the Asylum.  I wrote this in my back-blast for the 1/4/20 workout:

It is a new year and a new decade and no one knows what it holds.  It could be the year that someone is added to your life, or it could be the year that someone is taken away.  It could be the year of the promotion, or it could be the year of the demotion.  It could be the year of kindergarten, or it could be the year of graduation.  It could be the year of the big win, or it could be the year of the big loss.  Regardless, you don’t need a resolution, you need a constitution, a foundation.  On a big scale, it should be God, your family, your friends, etc.  But, it can be anything that grounds you.  It can even be as simple as the F3 workouts.  The asphalt, concrete, and grass do not change, and they are always there waiting for you whether you have a good day/week or a bad day/week.  They are checkpoints after good times or bad and before whatever lies ahead.  If nothing else, start there and build.  Have a good new year but not just for what good fortunes may come your way during the year but based on what you keep your eye on and focus on while the year goes by.

I wrote this for my back-blast on 12/30/20:

I certainly did not know (nor could I have imagined) how 2020 was going to play out.  It has been a year of a whole lot of something and a whole lot of nothing at the same time.  It’s been a long year and one that has hardly existed.  I’m usually reflective at New Year’s, but this year is different.  The usual events are not there to reflect on.  But, it has been a good year to get back to those basic foundations that I mentioned in January.  I’ve spent more time at home and with my family.  I’ve attended more F3 workouts thanks to my telework schedule.  I’ve prayed a lot.  A lot people are happy to end 2020 in favor of 2021.  Those people need to be careful.  We should not wish our lives away in hopes of better days to come.  Find the joy now.  If you can’t find any, then look harder.  If you still can’t find any, then make some.  We have to live the days we are given as there is no guarantee of tomorrow.  Also, things are not going to change just because the year changes from 2020 to 2021.  Things will change with positive attitudes and actions.  When you look back on 2020, look for the good and don’t dwell on the bad.  As you look forward to 2021, look with hope and with the intention of doing something positive with it.

Wednesday night, Noel Gallagher released a song that summed up what I was trying to say about the struggle to be positive with all of the endless negativity being thrown at us.  Before I talk about his song, I wanted to provide some context.

Noel Gallagher was the lead guitarist, primary songwriter, and secondary vocalist for my favorite band – Oasis.  As I have said before, I was born in the 70s, I am a child of the 80s, but I am a product of the 90s.  Few bands captured the essence of the 90s – its brash positivity, its depressing angst, and its impenetrable rebel spirit – better than Oasis.  The band’s music, as with most music of the 90s, was about being yourself, challenging authority, pressing the boundaries, and pushing the envelope.  It was dreaming and aspiring for greatness while being burdened with existential philosophical and theological questions of right and wrong and simply “why.”  Noel wrote some of the great songs that defined that era.  Those songs also contained gems such as:

I’m free to be whatever I/Whatever I choose/And I’ll sing the blues if I want/I’m free to say whatever I/Whatever I like/If it’s wrong or right it’s alright/Always seems to me/You only see what people want you to see/How long’s it gonna be/Before we get on the bus/And cause no fuss/Get a grip on yourself/It don’t cost much – Whatever

Listen up, what’s the time/Said today, I’m gonna speak my mind/Take me up to the top of the world I wanna see my crime/Day by day there’s a man in a suit who’s gonna make you pay/For the thoughts that you think and the words they won’t let you say – Listen Up

Some might say they don’t believe in heaven/Go and tell that to the man who lives in hell – Some Might Say

Look into the wall of my mind’s eye/I think I know, but I don’t know why/The questions are the answers you might need/Coming in a mess, going out in style/I ain’t good-looking, but I’m someone’s child/No one can give me the air that’s mine to breathe/I met my maker/I made him cry/And on my shoulder he asked me why/His people won’t fly through the storm/I said listen up man, they don’t even know you’re born – D’You Know What I Mean?

Take the time to make some sense of what you want to say/And cast your words away upon the waves/Sail them home with acquiesce on a ship of hope today/And as they land upon the shore/Tell them not to fear no more/Say it loud and sing it proud today – The Masterplan

I need to be myself/I can’t be no one else – Supersonic

(The title of this back-blast is also a line from one of Noel’s songs – All Around the World.)

I could go on.  Those are just a few and are not even from some of the more widely known songs.  But, I am not trying to sell anyone on Oasis.

My point is that music today has changed.  It is not only missing actual instruments, it is missing its revolution.  Ever since Buddy Holly challenged the status quo and the comfort of the established class in the 50s – through and including Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, and, of course, the Beatles, music has reflected a “we are not going to take it,” “we are who we are and we are proud of it,” and a “we are going to live our lives and no one is going to tell us otherwise” mentality.  Music is the mirror that the youth hold up to everyone else to keep them in check and to improve things.  In a way, music is society’s conscious.  Not today.  Today’s music does not even have a Madonna, let alone a true revolutionary.  Everyone falls in line and sings the same tune.

Want proof?  Old-school British rockers have been rising up a lot lately against COVID masks, protocols, and things of that nature.  The list includes Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, and Ian Brown from the Stone Roses.  Noel has also chimed in.  He did not say that the virus wasn’t real.  He did not say that people weren’t dying of the virus.  He simply pointed out that a lot of liberties had eroded and questioned why he has to wear a mask in public unless he is eating – will the virus recognize that he is eating and skip over him, he asked.  He was attacked for his comments by some.  I say that not to raise the usual debates about COVID, but to get to this. 

Noel has a 20-year-old daughter.  She was asked to respond to Noel’s comments.  Her response is the point, and it demonstrates a larger problem that was revealed in 2020.  She said: “I get where he’s coming from but I’m less full-on than him.  I’m generally less revolutionary than my dad.  I’ve never not worn a mask.  I think my generation is quite lenient and that’s not necessarily a good thing.  We do what we’re told a bit too much, we come from an era of fake news and Facebook telling us what the news is.  We are also hugely afraid of being cancelled.  It’s very dangerous to stand up and be your own person in my generation.  If you are going against the grain, you can be totally cut out.”

That’s scary.  In one generation, the Gallagher line has gone from striving for greatness and revolutionizing the world with such great lyrics as those mentioned before and countless others to being afraid to speak out and being afraid of being cancelled.  If the children of rock-n-roll rebels are falling in line, then where does that leave the rest of us?  If the youth movement is not there to keep the older generation in line and on its toes, then where does that leave the rest of us, not just now but with whatever lies ahead in 2021 and beyond?

Luckily, Noel is still around and still willing to comment.  So, back to the song that I mentioned earlier.  I don’t think it is controversial.  I think it is hopeful and positive.  Here are the lyrics:

Remember the dream that you’re keeping alive/Remember your love for the loved outside/Don’t fight the feeling/Don’t stop believing in what you know/‘Cause you can’t let go, my friend/We’re gonna get there in the end/Tonight!  Tonight!/Gonna let that dream take flight/And when the morning comes/Will you wake up by my side?/Love, real love/Is all I’m thinking of/Give it half a chance/And the world might find a way/Don’t be afraid when you’re rolling the dice/Life is a trip that you don’t take twice/If you think that your faith is enough/The weight that you carry is love/We’ve spent too long inside/Take a walk outside/It’s a sad, sad song that the world keeps singing/Well let love try to sing along/Don’t fight the feeling/Don’t stop believing in what you know/‘Cause you can’t let go, my friend/We’re gonna get there in the end

The video with the song shows what appears to be drone footage of a locked down city in England.  It ends with a shot of a crowd of people filling the streets as they walk across an intersection on both sides.  I’m not sure when that footage was taken, but let’s hope that it becomes more common in 2021.  Who would have thought that such a simple and mundane daily task like walking across the street in a crowd would be the focus of so many hopes and goals of a new year.  But, here we are.  And, I hope that Noel is right and that we’re gonna get there in the end.  And, while we are trying to get back to better days, I hope that we also get back to a point where we are all free to be and say whatever we want, especially our youth.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Jordan, Ribbed’s wife and family, and for a great 2021

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Asylum CSAUP on 1/30