The freedom of forgiveness

AO: the-knoll
Q: morning stār
PAX: Timber, AAA, Sparrow, Half Lyfe, El Capitan, Étouffée, Papa Bear, Pebbles, morning stār, Pitmaster, Bumble bee (2.0), Shmoltz (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 12
CONDITIONS: chilly and windy

WARMUP: moved all the joints and some SSH

THE THANG: each packed picked up a coupon or two; this was their burden for the pilgrimage ahead.

We spent most of the time in the gloom walking in essential silence reflecting on parts of our lives that were painful.

We paused for body builder burpees, bird dogs and dead bugs with some step ups thrown in there.

YHC then invited each PAX to practice forgiveness through a simple yet practical process.

MOLESKINE: it was a pleasure sharing this sacred space with you all.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– leanpax is coming
– cold plunge battle happening at the-knoll on thursday; bring a down. Your clothes wont’ get wet unless it rains.

COT: YHC shared how forgiving myself for the consequences of my choices around toothcare in childhood has liberated me from regret, fear and anxiety.

May we all grow in the courageous skill of forgiveness,
-m*

FREEDOM!

AO: the-knoll
Q: G-string
PAX: Pebbles, Timber, Waffle, AAA, Stubs, Sooie, morning stār, Ike(William Herbert), Bumblebee, The Judge, Rubix
FNGs: None
COUNT: 14
CONDITIONS: Warmer than Tuesday and wet

WARMUP:
13 of each for the colonies
– SSH
– Don Quixote
– Hill-billy
– BACs
– Merkins
– Indigenous people’s run to the stop sign and back

THE THANG:
– 56 Pull-ups for the 56 signatures on the Declaration of Independence
– 65 No Surrenders for the 65 countries who have won independence from Great Britain
– 76 Merkins for 1776 signing of the Declaration and the 76th birthday of the British Monarch, King Charles
– 87 Squats for 1787 ratification of the Constitution
Each of the PAX was encouraged to modify up or down according to their ability. There were Sandbags and Coupons available.

One of the cultural phenomenon lost as the British Empire spread was stone lifting in Ireland and Scotland. There were heavy stones of cultural significance that the people lifted as rights of passage, job interviews, funeral games, etc.
I brought a large stone from home that anyone who wanted to could attempt to lift. T-Claps to Timber and Waffle for lifting the stone, to Pebbles and morning stār for working together, Sooie for getting an ghaoth faoi (the wind under it), and to the 2.0s for their heart to try!!

MARY:
– American Hammers
– WW1s
– WW2s
– Panamas

MOLESKINE:
There were blocks and sandbags to allow PAX to modify up as well as options to modify down. Know yourself and what you need. Push yourself when you can, and pull-back when you need to.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– No Noise November
– Bingro

COT:
– Prayers were offered up.

KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid)

AO: the-knoll
Q: G-string
PAX: Stubs, AAA, Pebbles, Timber, morning stār, El Capitan, Sooie, Ex-Pat, Siri, Papa Bear, Sparrow, Bumblebee, the Judge, Rubix
FNGs: None
COUNT: 16
CONDITIONS: Cool and damp

WARMUP:
– SSH
– Seal Claps
– Overhead Press
– Mission and Credo while stretching
– High Plank with 5 merkins for each of the 5 core principles

THE THANG:
– Brief run to the far stop sign with stops
– 10 Burpees
– Politician two houses
– 10 Iron Mikes
– Karaoke two houses
– Wounded Bear Crawl
MAIN THANG: Partner up for a DORA
– 100 Pullups
– 200 Bulgarian Split Squats
– 30 yard Bear-crawl
– One partner crawls while the other does reps. Alternate bear-crawl and crawl-bear

Count the number of sets each pair took to complete the work (35 total). 7 PAX over the HC count (thought it was 8 because I didn’t count the 2.0 HC).
Set out to finish with 8 sets of:
– 35 merkins
– Hill Sprint

T-Claps to Timber, Pebbles, and AAA for completing six sets.

MOLESKINE:
I tried for a long while to come up with a super involved workout that would have taken as much time to explain as it would to do. But then I remembered to just keep it simple. Do lots of just a few exercises, and it’ll work. Sometimes I get so bogged down in the details that I forget simplicity. How often things go better if we do them the straightforward way.
Also, we often say to “modify as necessary,” with the thought of modifying down, but what about modifying up? How often do we challenge ourselves and really try hard? Today I wore a weight vest to challenge myself a bit more, and it was brutal! I felt like it was my first workout all over again. Seek out challenges when they are available.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
none

COT:
-Thankful for our veterans

Sandbag Special

AO: the-knoll
Q: Timber
PAX: AAA, G-string, Lady Liberty, Pebbles, Stubs, The Banker, Timber, Wolfpack, Link (2.0), Sandlot (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 10
CONDITIONS: 35 degrees, lots of moonlight

WARMUP: 4 minute mosey, BACs, back BACs, Seal Claps, Shoulder Press

THE THANG: as many rounds as possible
-Thang 1 (12 minutes): 7 pull-ups, 7 hang clean to squat and press (w/ 60lb sandbag), 15 merkins, 100 yard run
-Thang 2 (10 minutes): 15 squats, 15 curls (w/ 60lb sandbag), 15 WWIIs, 100 yard run
-Thang 3 (2 minutes): sprint 100 yards (w/ 60lb sandbag), rotate with partner

MOLESKINE: finished with 2 minutes of stretching, Pebbles with a great post workout brew, happy birthday to Stubs twins (9 yrs old on Saturday), thanks to Pebbles G-string The Banker for bringing sandbags, Wolfpack caught everyone up on his crazy week stuck in the hurricane, good push by all this morning

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Chiliteria this Sunday!

COT: I have a lot of gratitude for the encouragement from my F3 brothers, and for working hard which motivates me to push harder. Special thanks to Pebbles who joined up on a tussle team with me and G-string, and expressed gratitude for his willingness to take over as AOQ on Thursdays at the-knoll!

Thanks for the push in the gloom!
-Timber

Burpee Roulette

AO: the-knoll
Q: Pebbles
PAX: Pitmaster, Sooie, AAA, Ex-Pat, Lady Liberty, El Capitan, morning stār, Bumblebee, Eagle
FNGs: None
COUNT: 10
CONDITIONS: cool

WARMUP:
Inch worms
Motivators
Bacs
Bac Bacs
Slow Merkins
Slow Squats
Stretch oyo
Burpee Apocalypse!!!

THE THANG:
Deck of Cards
Clubs- Burpees
Diamonds – Carolina Dry Docks
Spades – Iron Mikes
Hearts – WWIs

5 min of Mary

MOLESKINE: Fortitude – courage and tenacity. Getting out of bed early, doing something hard, etc. are all habits that are developed one small step at a time.

The world record for burpees in one hour is 1,027. Today as a group we did 1,120 burpees.

Honored to continue to grow in fortitude with all F3 brothers. Together we can do big things.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Check slack

COT: Prayed in thanksgiving

Games in the Dark

AO: the-knoll
Q: Sooie
PAX: AAA, El Capitan, Ex-Pat, morning stār, Pebbles, Sooie, Stubs, Wolfpack, Bumblebee (2.0), Tonks (2.0), Fish Biscuit (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS: Perfect

WARMUP:
Head and shoulders OYO
BAC
BBAC
Imperial Walkers
Cherry Pickers
Don Quixote’s
WMH OYO
Slow squats
Slow Merkins
20 yard mosey

THE THANG:
2 team relay
2 cones 20 yards apart
Each team sends a runner down to perform exercise, runner sprints back. After everyone on the team ran, we progressed to the next exercise. First team to finish wins. Exercises were:
5 burpees
10 jump squats
15 WWII’s

GAMES!!!
Bear Crawl Tag to determine who would hold the torch first in Torch Tag.
Torch Tag
1 pax with a flashlight, all other Pax try to tag them. Pax had to do SSH while the flashlight was shining on them. Bumblebee held the torch longest.
Infection
Toilet Tag

Ring of Fire to 5

MOLESKINE:
Didn’t have much of a moleskine planned other than having family fun during fall break.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Big announcement coming 10/10! Come to the-knoll to find out.
Chili Cookoff 10/20. 12:30-2:30 Shelby Park. Bring your M’s and 2.0’s. See Wolfpack for additional details.

COT:
Prayed for East Tennessee, North Carolina, and Florida as well as PAX traveling over fall break.

Enjoyed the Mtn Mocha generously provided by El Capitan !

Elevens & the Deadly Dice

AO: the-knoll
Q: El Capitan
PAX: Ex-Pat, AAA, morning stār, El Capitan, Malibu, Sooie, Lady Liberty, Pebbles, Timber, Stubs, Bumblebee (2.0), Schmoltz (2.0), TopGun (2.0), TheJudge (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 14
CONDITIONS: 60 degrees & foggy. Starlit overhead.
TUNES: Joyful eclectic playlist

WARMUP:
– Downdog + cobra
– 10x mountain climbers
– Bird Dogs (3x) each side, 3 sets
– Back stretches (the best)

THE THANG:
PART 1: ELEVENS
– Squat Jumps at top of road
– Butt-kickers down hill to road
– Plank Jacks on road curb
– High Knees back up hill.

Repeat until 11’s complete

PART 2: Deadly Dice

Circle up around flood table. One PAX rolls 12-sided die with regular die into bucket.

Regular die represents exercises:
– 1 (Burpees)
– 2 (Downward Dog Toe Taps 2=1)
– 3 (Dips)
– 4 (American Hammers 2=1)
– 5 (Hand-release merkins)
– 6 (Iron Mikes 2=1)

12-sided die represents the amount of reps.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

PART 3: Return of the Plank, Plank, Goose!
– Circle up in grass. One person is “it”. Goes around duck-duck-goose style. When he chooses a goose, he immediately does 10 SSH while the tagged runs around circle & tries to return to spot before tagger does.

Cool down mosey to coupon tree & back to playground.

MOLESKINE:
Encouraged the PAX to look outside themselves & seek opportunities to better serve their families & communities. It’s so easy to be primarily concerned with what matters to me – but true manliness is sacrificial, seeking the good of others for the glory of God.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Happy birthday, @Schmoltz!! Enjoy those birthday breakfast bagels in bed. :joy:
Fat Bear Week is next week, per Sooie! :bear:

COT: Lifted up prayer requests & held a moment of silence. Enjoyed a delicious moment of fellowship & :boar::coffee::tm: post-workout.

Grateful for y’all!

:el-capitan:

MOT CIRCUIT

AO: the-knoll
Q: El Capitan
PAX: Timber, Ex-Pat, The Banker, AAA, El Capitan, morning stār, Sooie, Stubs, Pitmaster, Pebbles, Papa Bear, The Merchant, Bumblebee (2.0), Schmoltz (2.0), Eagle (2.0), TheJudge (2.0), TopGun (2.0)
FNGs: 1 TopGun (2.0)
COUNT: 17
CONDITIONS: mid-60s & blustery

WARMUP:
– Stretches (down dog, cobra, sprinter stretch, BACs & BacBACs x10
– Motivators 5x, run to backstop & back to playground

THE THANG:
PART 1: MOT CIRCUIT
– count off into two teams

Round #1:
– team 1 BEAR CRAWLS around perimeter of playground
– team 2 SKY THRUSTS until team 1 returns, then SWITCH

Round #2:
– team 1 LIZARD CRAWLS around perimeter of playground
– Team 2 FREDDY MERCURY’S until team 1 returns, then SWITCH

Round #3:
– team 1 GORILLA HOPS around perimeter of playground
– Team 2 “REVERSE” BURPEE (WW2 to jump) until team 1 returns, then SWITCH

Round #4:
– team 1 CRAB WALK around perimeter of playground
– Team 2 IMPERIAL WALKERS until team 1 returns, then SWITCH

Part 2: MYSTERY MARY

Two sets of cardboard cards
One set has times (:45-2 min)
One set has CORE workouts
Lie cards face down in two groups, memory game style.
Pax circle up- 2.0s choose a time card + workout card.

Wash, rinse, repeat

Ended with a 1:45 round of Ring of Fire.

MOLESKINE:
“Love is a long road.” Our culture tends to view love as a feeling, something you fall into, experience passionately, etc. But real love is indeed a long road – one that is often defined much more by commitment & faithfulness than feeling. I encouraged the PAX to consider this viewpoint & look around their circle of influence to see who God has placed in their lives to serve for the long haul.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Check Slack for October updates coming soon!

COT: Lifted up G-string & his family at the passing of his great-grandmother, friends of the The Banker dealing with a cancer diagnose, and The Merchant’s purchase of his first home.

A prayer was lifted & coffee + chocolate milk enjoyed.

So grateful for y’all!
:el-capitan:

There and Back again

AO: pain-train
Q: G-string
PAX: Cheeks, FLO, Timber, Wolfpack, Siri, Pitmaster, AAA, @Stubbs
FNGs: None
COUNT: 9
CONDITIONS:
Balmy and beautiful

WARMUP:
– Good mornings
– Slow Squats
– Seal Claps
– BACs
– BackBACs
– Shoulder Press
– Michael Phelps
– Mosey to the Coupons then complete the lap

THE THANG:
Cones spaced out about 15 yards
Start on one end.
– 40 Merkins
– Lt. Dan’s Magic Legs (coupon) to cone
– 20 Monkey Humpers
– Lt. Dan’s Magic Legs (coupon) back to start
– 40 Coupon Rows
– Bearcrawl to cone
– 20 Monkey Humpers
– Bearcrawl to start
Rinse and repeat for 30, 20, and 10 reps.

Thang 2:
Teams of three
– Dora for the team
– 150 merkins
– 150 rows
– Then the three coupons must be moved to the far cones. One pax carries one coupon while the other two wheelbarrow.

Finished with four minutes of Mary.

MOLESKINE:
I am anticipating the loss of my great-grandmother any minute. She was given two days to live four days ago, and every time my phone buzzes, I tense up. I am dreading a call that I know will come which is stealing my joy and wearing me out.
Grani would never stand for this. She used to say “Live for the punchline.” By that, she meant find the joy and the story in everything that happens. I shouldn’t allow this fear of pain cause me to suffer more. It can’t cripple me.
Instead, I suggest we should look to the past with gratitude and toward the future with hope. It isn’t criminal to mourn, but we have to remember joy.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
There will be a chili cookoff some time in October

COT:
It was a heavy morning. Prayers were offered up and we grew in fellowship.

Thank you for the honor of leading you gentlemen this morning.

There are always some more cards to be dealt

AO: the-knoll
Q: morning stār
PAX: Wolfpack, El Capitan, Ranger, Sooie, Tea Party, AAA, Malibu, morning stār, Papa Bear, Stubs, Sparrow, Bumble bee (2.0 / Q), Link (2.0), Samwise (2.0), Iowa (2.0), The Judge (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 16
CONDITIONS: mild and dark

WARMUP: motivators 1 to 8

THE THANG: deck of pain
– Hearts = SSH (4ct)
– Spades = t-claps (4ct)
– Clubs = Carolina dry docks
– Diamonds = sit ups
– Ace is 1 rep, J/Q/K are 12 reps
– Joker is 10 4ct flutter kicks

MARY: dealer’s choice

ANNOUNCEMENTS: chili cookoff coming in October

COT: ball of man and “kindness” on 3!

MOLESKIN: this is Bumble bee’s second full Q … he’s growing in confidence which is so great to see. Appreciate the PAX creating an encouraging environment for him to learn and grow.

Stay curious my friends,
-m*