F3 Knoxville

4 Corners With a Ring of Fire

THE SCENE: Light drizzle early, kinda sticky
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

The standard protocol


WARM-O-RAMA:

3 count Cherry Picker 10x, 1 burpee, Moroccan Night club 10x, 1 Burpee, Baby Arm Circles 10x, 1 Burpee, Reverse Baby Arm Circles 10x, 1 Burpee

THA-THANG:
Indian Run to and around perimeter of the large parking lot,

  • 4 corners (William Wallace per the exicon) setup, with CMU in the middle. even teams per corner start with 1 HIM spring to center and perform 5 reps of CMU cleans and spring back to team. Team performs their corners exercise per corner while taking turns sprinting to CMU Center. Once everyone has completed their turn the team then moseys to next corner and begins the new corners exercise while repeating the CMU sprint. corner exercises consisted of Squats, Merkans, Pickle Pumpers and Freddie Mercury.  Once all 4 teams completed all 4 corners The PAX meet in the middle, form a circle and hold an Al Gore. 1 VQ Him does a burpee and sprints around the circle while the PAX holds AL Gore position. Once around circle the next HIM does a burpee and sprints around. After about 4 -5 turns we modified and all HIMs began to perform the burpee with the next sprinter to make for an improvement to the drill. 10 count recover once all around the “ring of fire” and mosey back to the AO

MARY:
Judge Judy, Trolly, ribbed finished up with a nice variation of core destruction exercises
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
researched scripture that applies to each F, Fitness, Fellowship and Faith

Fitness = Ephesians 6:11 & Proverbs 27:17

Fellowship = Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Faith = 1 Corinthians 16:13, Romans 1:12 Romans 14:1 & 1 Corinthians 2:5

MOLESKIN:
Prayer request for Judge Judys wife and family
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
No additional announcements

It’s Audible time in Tennessee

THE SCENE: Football season weathe, not really. Warm and humid
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Typical warm up
THA-THANG:

too dark for original plan and “bull in the ring did not work out so we audibled

Mosey to bleachers: 7’s of box jumps and shoulder tap merkins

mosey to field 3: Bear crawl tag football. Using the soccer box on one end of the field, team 1 has to get the ball across the line before team 2 tags them. Switch and repeat.

Did some sprints.

Mosey to field 2: two teams. suicides on lines. Pitching the ball at least once per line to a teammate.  If dropped all must run back  to start and then go back to where they were before drop. All must pitch and catch the ball.

did some more sprints. Alternated bear crawls and sprints at each cone for full length of field.

Mosey to field 1, split into two teams. One team at one end one at the other. Team must complete a +-20 yard pass to a sprinting receiver while team does merkins.  If ball is caught player returns to team and QB goes to receiver and teammate goes to QB. Once all have caught pass, move to mid field. (If dropped, receiver runs back to end line and goes out again) 2nd pass jump squats,sprint to midfield repeat with  Merkins and jump squatS. First team to get all caught and sprints back to start wins

MARY: no time

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
12 pax including (not tagged Speedy Smurf and I FNG (Lightbrite)
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12:1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

MOLESKIN:
Pretty much the whole queue was made up as we went along except The three main things were done, but out of order and I just threw in a bunch of sprints, sevens, and other weird  Things
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
TTTP,

Remembering Bill

THE SCENE: Dark, mostly cloudy, 71 degrees F, 93% humidity
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH, Imperial squat walkers, Peter Parkers, Little baby arm circles. Mosey to the bottom of Waxjob Hill.

THA-THANG:

Waxjob Hill 7’s

Burpees at the bottom

Bear crawl up hill

4 count flutter kicks at the top

Run down to the bottom

CMU SET at the Grinder

x12 each (or as noted) competed sequentially.

Bent Rows, Swings, Triceps Extensions, Upright Rows, Squat Press, Curls, On The Shelf (6 per side), Lawn Mower Pulls (12 per arm)

Run down path to junction with Alcoa Road

Calisthenics at Alcoa Road

x12 each completed sequentially.

Merkins, WWII Sit-ups, Shoulder Taps (4 count), Iron Mikes, Dry Docks, SSH (4 count), Get Ups, Body Builders (8 count)

Run back to Grinder and continue AMRAP.  Most completed two rounds.

Push Pull

Completed two rounds of 10 Pull Ups and 10 Box Jumps.

MARY:
Protractors, Box cutters, LBCs.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Total of 21 HIMs including 1 FNG (Mitten – Mike Hanlon).  Good to have a couple back at the Bomb Shelter after a break.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

April 1974, after touring Alcoa’s TN Operations, I was sitting across from Bill Mueller. He offered me a job prior to my flight back to Beaumont and the last few months of college. He is the reason I moved my wife to East TN two weeks after our marriage. Bill was a good manager. He wasn’t flashy. He was kind. He was giving. He had high expectations. He was a teacher. He had my back. He went before me. He protected me when engineering layoffs came in 1975. I wasn’t one of 7 mechanical engineers let go.
Bill’s personal life was tough. His wife Donna fought brain cancer for several years and the surgeries and radiation left her with significant mental and physical limitations. Bill pulled extra duty raising their three children.  He never complained. He only provided his love, patience, and care. He was devoted to Donna, Jeff, Julie, and Jayne.
Bill gave himself to Habitat in his retirement and has over 100 builds under his belt. His final one was called the Bill Mueller Build. Bill died last Saturday at the age of 91 and was buried yesterday.
I use Bill as an example of someone who has gone before me. Someone who has made my path straighter and less difficult. We all have these kind of people in our lives. Sometimes we realize it. Many times we don’t.  As Cap’n Crunch said after our F3 Convergence, “we all need Paul’s in our life.”  Bill Mueller was one for me.
Today I encourage us all to reflect on the Bill Muellers in our lives and to give thanks. Better yet, if your Bill Mueller is still alive, call him up and let him know just how much he means to you.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Daniel, a friend of Flash, as he give the eulogy at a funeral tomorrow.  Prayer for guidance, reconciliation in next steps as one of our HIMs faces the prospect of divorce.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Insert information about upcoming events, 2nd or 3rd F opportunities, and any other announcements.

The Mobile Gym at RAW

THE SCENE: 72* Cloudy and 92%Humidity
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Be careful I am not a professional

WARM-O-RAMA:

Lets get right to it!
THA-THANG:

  • 9 Stations with weights and exercises (1200 lbs and over 20 exercises to choose from)
  • Choose your station/exercise and go hard for 1 min
  • When timer goes off choose something heavy to carry up the parking lot and back
  • Rinse and repeat for 40 min

MARY:

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
@abscess @Aladdin @Bartman @Bueller @Cavalier @Crossbar @Frosty @I-Beam, @Manilow @Mayberry @Moses @Ratchet @Wall Ball, @Waxjob
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Knowledge and Hard-work are important but Attitude is what makes you most successful!
MOLESKIN:
Special prayer for Lady Junk, Herbie, and Michael Silvey’s family (Wall Balls co worker killed in an car accident)
ANNOUNCEMENTS:

None mentioned

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!