The mission of F3 is to plant, grow, and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership.

Conditions: 34 degF, mostly clear, 9 mph breeze – a crisp cool morning. Sun was just rising as we started.

FNGs: None, but disclaimer given nonetheless: I’m not a professional, you could hurt yourself, you know your body better than anyone else, so be careful and modify as needed. Can’t sue F3.

COP:

• 8-count body builders IC x 10 (cue: spread ’em before you go down)
• Slow Indian run around track. Had to do two columns due to number of PAX. While YHC was at back of the line near end of lap, gave instructions for next exercise to avoid any delay.

The Thang:

• Mosey 1 lap around track (1/4 mile) at 5k pace, ~70% effort. Not a race. Line up in order of finish.
  • Then reverse the lineup (i.e., fastest guy at back of line).
• Race: fastest finisher stands at starting line with stopwatch, cues PAX one-by-one to start running at 5-second intervals, starting with the slowest finisher. Everyone runs one more lap trying to pass as many people as possible without being passed themselves. This time it is a race. (Note: With 14 PAX, the first runner had a 1:05 head start on the last runner, yet somehow the 5 second intervals were just about right for most people to finish around the same time!)
  • Grab a block and cusack to pull-up bars beside track. Set blocks aside.
• Morning Call: Everyone line up shoulder to shoulder near pullup bars. Get into position for merkins. First man in line does 5 pull-ups and calls them out, whole group does a hand-release merkin every time he does a pull-up. Once he does his 5, gets back in line and next man does 5 pull-ups. Repeat until everyone has done pull-ups. Rest in the down position with hands off the ground between merkin reps.
  • Total of 70 hand-release merkins
  • Cusack blocks and circle up near football goalpost
• 8-count body builders w/ block IC x 10 (to keep 8 ct cadence, don’t spread legs, instead do overhead press for two counts at end of sequence)
• Kettlebell swings on Q x 30
  • Emphasized proper form: Arms are like ropes, they stabilize the block but never lift it. Block should never go above your shoulders. Keep back straight, hips are a hinge. Drive with your hips. (“Put some sex in it.” -Fish N Chips)
• Morning Call reprise: One-by-one, each man climb the goalpost on one end and traverse to the other end (swinging underneath like monkey bars), calling out five milestones as he goes (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, corresponding with climbing up on one end, reaching first vertical divider, second vertical divider, third vertical divider, and far end). Everyone else does tricep dips on blocks on those cues. Rotate until all men have traversed the goal post. Between dips, rest in “up” position with legs straight out.
  • Total of 70 dips
• Squats with blocks, on Q x 42
  • Stow blocks
• Indian run #2: Do karaoke (run sideways crossing legs, with alternating leg in front) on the straightaways – can do regular run (not karaoke) while passing to the front of the line. Switch to opposite karaoke orientation on second straightaway. YHC announced 100% effort sprint on last bend of track to the finish line. We’d now run a mile this morning.
  • Circle up around flag for Mary

Mary:

• Good mornings IC x 40
• Side plank dips IC x 15. Then repeat on other side.
• Scuba divers IC x 30
• Flutter kicks IC x 30
• American hammers IC x 30
  • Rinse and repeat everything above for three cycles (reduced reps slightly on later cycles as PAX fatigued)
• Push-ups with a plus x 10 IC
• LBCs on Q x 30
• Recover, recover

Numberama: 14

Namerama: Cisco, Greenbags, Fish N Chips, Splinter, LottaLove, Bedpan, Mini Me, Yo Adrian (respect), Sakrete, Pavilion, Cheetah (with ruck), Prius (respect), Peaches (respect), Luigi

Pledge / Announcements:

• Pullin’ for Picasso – pulled pork, still some available to purchase. Info on Facebook page.
• F3 Beer Mile – Sat, Feb 24 in Ridgeville, 11am-3pm. 308 Tuggle Ln, Ridgeville, SC 29472-8724
• Mud Run near Columbia – Sat, May 19 – Save the date but don’t sign up yet – F3 will have their own sign-up page with discounted registration fees. Can be thinking about teams.
• Hallucination Run – 24 hr endurance run. Today (8am) through tomorrow (8am). Have three F3 men running (targeting 100, 100, and 80 miles), and they can have pacers starting at 8pm tonight. Encourage PAX to go out and support them.

Prayer requests / Prayer:

• Quaker – Summerville regular, had stroke in Seattle while traveling, upcoming appointment at MUSC
• Sakrete family friend – daughter has terminal cancer, weighing heavy on the family

Devo: America is a choking hazard. We have to remember that we are third.

I called this workout “Good Morning ‘Merica” since we did lots of good mornings, merkins, American hammers, Native American runs (Indian runs) – you name it, we did it. Lots of ‘Merica. I thought it could tie in well with the devo.

We are really blessed to live in America. We have lots of peace and material prosperity. It is a good thing, but I’ve heard someone say it can also be a “spiritual choking hazard.” I thought this passage from the book of Matthew was interesting, notice the four situations it talks about, and what it says about spiritual choking:

• That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”

Of course, that story is pretty cryptic, so Jesus’s close followers asked him to explain it, and later on he told them,

• “Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns (‘Merica), this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” (Matthew 13:1-9,18-23)

So it says that being rich can actually deceive us spiritually and choke our hearts somehow. It’s funny, because you never see warnings for spiritual choking hazards. You see them all over for physical choking hazards (I’m about to have a baby so I’m seeing them left and right), but not so much for spiritual choking hazards.

I think that part of the hazard is when we have money saved up and plenty of insurance in place, we feel like we’re in control of our lives and we can do things the way we want to. We don’t really need God. We are independent. But really that’s just an illusion – ask Picasso, even our ability to wake up in the morning is a daily gift from God, and if we think that we are independent and can call all the shots, we’re deceiving ourselves.

So to fight the choking hazard, we need to remind ourselves: I am third. God first, others second, me third.

Moleskin:

• YCH really appreciated so many PAX posting for my VQ, I was blown away by the turnout! Also appreciate everyone’s willingness to try some new things. Good work this morning, brothers.
• Despite two separate men suggesting to YCH ahead of time that we should do a “Bubbles Special” and announce nicknames before starting the workout, I completely forgot once the clock struck 0700. My apologies Sakrete and Greenbags! It was a great suggestion since we had such a large crowd, but since it wasn’t on my weinke it slipped my mind. I’ll write it down for next time!
• The Jones only has 12 blocks, so two men had to use sandbags, which was a little awkward but manageable. It would be good to invest in a few more coupons for the AO.
• The goalpost traverse exercise wasn’t quite as good as I was expecting. Too challenging for most PAX to complete (especially with gloves on due to cold weather), and the delays slowed down the tricep dips more than expected. Walking to/from the circle also added delay. Modify this exercise or delete for future workouts. (Greenbags told me that he has done it with partners so PAX can have assistance on the pull-ups if needed. That could be a helpful edit.)
• YHC was sure he had more than enough exercises planned, but found himself done with Mary with over 5 minutes to go, hence the three rounds of repeats, plus a few add-ons at the end. Need to add more pre-Mary items for next time!
• Karaoke runs were more of a cool-down item than a cardio / coordination challenge. You know it’s too easy when Fish N Chips is making Broadway references nonstop and saying everyone looks “just fabulous.” I probably won’t do those again. 🙂

Quote of the day, when we circled up for Mary at 0737:

• Sakrete: “Twenty minutes of Mary?!”
• YHC: “Yes.”
• Sakrete: “I don’t think I’ve ever done twenty minutes of Mary since I started F3!”
• YHC: “They might not be your typical Mary exercises. :)”

Coffeeteria at The Orange Spot