Tag: Papa Bear

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mini-Murph and more

AO: the-knoll
Q: Timber
PAX: The Banker, Pebbles, El Capitan, G-string, AAA, Étouffée, Sooie, Stubs, Malibu, Derby, Sparrow, Papa Bear, Siri, Pitmaster, Half Lyfe, Smoltz (2.0), Fish Biscuit (2.0), Tonks (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 19
CONDITIONS: Perfect, 60 degrees

WARMUP: mosey, SSH, slow merkins, slow squats, good mornings, leg stretches (covered F3 mission, 5 core principles, credo here)

THE THANG:
1.Mini-Murph: 15 squats, 10 merkins, 5 pullups X 10 sets (run ~300m after 5th and 10th sets)
2. Stations x 2 (40 sec on 20 off while rotating): fast feet, carolina dry docks, standups/sitdowns without using hands
3. Agility work: ~30 yard uphill distance on road, single leg hops, backwards run, side shuffle, bear crawl, frog jumps, sprint

MOLESKINE: played some tunes, good encouragement on the murph station, coffee by El Capitan, good effort by Smoltz leading the way

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Pebbles out on Thursday and needs a coffee guy

COT: I shared the Parable of the Oranges: be intentional in our roles as fathers, husbands, workers. Smoltz shared a personal reflection about why he likes coming to F3 (fuels his competitive drive, feels a sense of accomplishment doing something in the morning, likes to work out).

Prayer intentions were shared and prayed for.

Thanks for letting Smoltz and I lead you this morning!
-Timber

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Tabata @ The Bomb

AO: bomber
Q: Cowboy
PAX: Pep, Vector, Firefox, Puzzlah, Tim the Toolman, Wet Wipes, DintyMoore, CubCadet, Right Said, Papa Bear
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS: Cool, Damp, Early Spring-like, Music was a Mashup (Playlist here) music.apple.com/us/playlist/hayseed-umphreys/pl.u-leyll0GHxgZkbN

WARMUP: SSH (for Pep), Downward Dog, Cobra, Calf stretch, Imperial Walkers, Hillbillys, Don Quixote,

THE THANG:
Split in 4 groups which turned out to be pairs (3 came later to flesh out the 11)
To the playgroud

Tabata Style : 45 sec on 15 sec between, 2 rounds, 2 sets
Station One : Pull Ups with Squat in between
Station Two : Crunchy Frogs
Station Three : Incline Merkins
Station Four : Swing Thrusters (knees to chest)

10 count
Mosey to the hill
11s – Mountain Climbers, Iron Mikes, Slap Merkins in the middle
In pairs the teams begin on opposite ends (each start at 1 doing opposite exercises ) When you meet you partner do 5 slap merkins.

MOLESKINE: Words of Gratitude from the PAX: Heard Wife, Grandkids, Son coming home, New Pope, many more.

Pleasure to join in the fun. Execellent AO, Big tnx to Firefox for luring me over.
Coffeeteria – Took over Star Bagle, excellent convo

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Habemas Papam!

AO: titan
Q: SalPal
PAX: Pep, Spinal Tap, Sherlock, Black Lung, DintyMoore, Right Said, Tim the Toolman, Freakonomics, Papa Bear, Squash (someone get this guy on slack!)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS: A little moist.

WARMUP: Two laps around the parking lot.

THE THANG: PAX did dealer’s choice routine while they went up one by one to elect an F3 Pope at the Centennial Conclave, held at the Parthenon. Cardinal Burkrall was elected Pope Bearcrawl I, and in his honor we bearcrawled the length of the Parthenon green and back.

MOLESKINE: I need to work on giving clearer directions.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Middle TN Convergence, RenFaire, Brewsday in a month.

COT: For Papa Bear’s family friend Nancy that passed unexpectedly, for the Catholic Church as a new pope is elected. For intentions unspoken.

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Roll the Dice

AO: bomber
Q: Subway
PAX: Sherlock, Firefox, Wet Wipes, DintyMoore, CubCadet, Tim the Toolman, Right Said, Hedwig, Vector, Papa Bear
FNGs: None
COUNT: 12
CONDITIONS: beautiful 63 degrees

WARMUP:
Mosey with coupons for 1/2 the PAX; various stretching, LBACs, Squats

THE THANG:

Buy in of 10 SSHs; next rnd. 10 squats; next rnd. 10 burpees; rinse repeat

Role dice after buy in – number corresponds to Station – at which you do 25 reps of each movement:

Station 1
Merkins
Ranger Merkins
HR Merkins
HL Merkins

Station 2
Curls
CPRs
Rows
Lawnmower pulls

Station 3
Lunges
Squats
Seesaw Lunges
Calf Raises

Station 4
Overhead Press
Taint scrapper
Thruster
Truck drivers

Station 5
American Hammers
Mtn Climbers
Flutter Kicks
BBSUs

Station 6
Chest press
Grave diggers
Side bends
Blockees

Mosey back with coupons

3 minutes of Mary

MOLESKINE:

ANNOUNCEMENTS: brewsday Tuesday

COT: Thank you all for letting me lead! Looking forward to being back soon.

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Welcome FNGs

AO: titan
Q: Chunks
PAX: preacherman, Salami, SalPal, Sherlock, Natural Ice, Young and Restless, Papa Bear, Freakonomics, Doublemint (F3 RVA), Hipster, CubCadet, Spinal Tap, Black Lung, DintyMoore, Crawlspace, Pep, Cowbell (DR), Fanny Pack (DR), OJ, Kincade, Carrot Top
FNGs: 3 OJ, Kincade, Carrot Top
COUNT: 22
CONDITIONS: Perfect

WARMUP:

42 SSH = my age!

THE THANG:

The PAX voted and Yacht Rock was the playlist choice.

Pass the speaker run towards Love Circle.

Took a hard right on 29th and headed back to the hill next to the Parthenon.

Count off 1s and 2s. Partner up. Each partner group picked an exercise for the rest of the PAX while they were the timer and ran up and down the hill. Once everyone had a turn as the timer, mosey to the lawn in front of the Parthenon.

Round 1 25% to the other side and 1 burpee and back
Round 2 25% to the other side and 2 burpees and back
Round 3 50% to the other side and 3 burpees and back
Round 4 50% to the other side and 4 burpees and back
Round 5 90% to the other side and 5 burpees and back

Mosey back to startex with a sprint to the finish.

4 Mins of mary left with some up and downs with burpees

Always an honor to lead.

3 FNGs were welcomed to the crew: Carrot Top, OJ, and Kincade

MOLESKINE: 95% of men over 35 will never sprint again. We will not be a part of that statistic.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Check Slack

COT: Prayed out!

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No Shenanigans Means a Little Shenanigans

AO: bomber
Q: Freakonomics
PAX: CubCadet, Vector, Papa Bear, Crawlspace, Sherlock, Pep, Hedwig
FNGs: None
COUNT: 8
CONDITIONS: damp but not cold

WARMUP: the usual

THE THANG: Rounds of 5 exercises – Merkins, Squats, Carolina Dry Docks, Lunges, Rows (at the playground). Do 12 sets of each, run around the rec center and repeat with 11. Run around, do 10… I got down to reps of 5.

3 minute wall sit.

Superman Y.

6 minutes of mary

MOLESKINE: Can you show up at the end and still be counted. Just ask Crawlspace.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: none

COT: Pep’s Work, praise for Vector’s daughter honoring at graduation, those in Ukraine, and Natural Ice’s finding a new job.

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Shakedown

AO: titan
Q: Spinal Tap
PAX: Firefox, Tim the Toolman, Old Maid, Pep, Papa Bear, CubCadet, Cocktail
FNGs: None
COUNT: 8
CONDITIONS: perfect

WARMUP: the usual side straddle hops baby arm circles Willie mays hats and good mornings

THE THANG:
Mosey to the bottom of the hill and did 11’s with deconstructed burpees of merkins and squats thanks to CubCadet suggestion alternating with fire hydrants (a Pep special) but suggested by Papa Bear.

Then DORA with 50 pull ups, 100 shoulder tap plank jacks (thx Firefox) and 150 American hammers.

Finished with 20 incline merkins, 20 dips, 20 each leg (j)Bulgarian split squats.

Heard some :boom: :boom: :boom: during the Dora and found out later it was this…
www.wsmv.com/2025/04/16/suspect-shot-killed-by-dea-agent-midtown-nashville/#

ANNOUNCEMENTS: None

COT: Pep with his consulting

Next on deck: Natural Ice – CBO. He has been self admittedly been slacking due to lack of accountability. Expect lots of HC to make sure he shows up next week!

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(B)Easter Egg Hunt 2025

AO: the-knoll
Q: El Capitan
PAX: Wolfpack, Derby, Papa Bear, AAA, Sooie, El Capitan, Ex-Pat, morning stār, Pebbles, Timber, Half Lyfe, G-string, Pitmaster, Étouffée, @GoldDigger, @Rubix (2.0), @Schmaltz (2.0), @Bumblebee (2.0), @Grizzly (TBD)
FNGs: 1 @Grizzly (TBD)
COUNT: 19
CONDITIONS:

Mid-50s, lovely sunlit clouds at 6:15

TUNES:

Young & Heavy

WARMUP:

Climb routine
Back stretches
Willie mays hays
Good mornings!

THE THANG:

– Circle up around the lamp in field
– 22 eggs to find in playground, each with an exercise & follow-up hold exercise
– Each PAX will search for an egg with the lamp, all PAX will perform the exercise upon opening & perform hold exercise while next PAX searches.
– Wash, rinse, repeat

Ended with MARY: a 3-round Ring of Fire & American Hammers

MOLESKINE:

Life is constantly changing & you change and grow as a man each passing year. I asked the PAX to take some time to reflect, with a moment of silence, on one aspect of change in their lives and one aspect that has stayed constant. I then asked everyone to think of one person (spouse, mentor, friend) who has been a source of strength & stability in their lives. Ended with a prayer of thanksgiving for these individuals.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

– Tax Day got moved to November 3rd(?!)
– Check slack for upcoming Night Moves & extra free workouts!

COT:

Countorama, Nameorama, coffeteria.

It was a pleasure leading y’all this morning, men!

I’m ready for a nap. :yawning_face: :el-capitan:

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Gametron

AO: bomber
Q: Wolfpack , Firefox
PAX: Crawlspace, Chunks, Right Said, CubCadet, Papa Bear, Pep, Hedwig, Puzzlah, Vector, Sherlock, DintyMoore
FNGs: None
COUNT: 13
CONDITIONS: Good enough

WARMUP: Wolfpack led with
– SSH
– Imperial walkers
– Low and slow Squats
– Low and slow Merkins

THE THANG: With YHC and Wolfpack on Q, the only sensible outcome was some sort of gamified beatdown.

Part 1: Castle (led by Wolfpack)
PAX split into two teams. Field split in half with each team having a castle (aka, a base) at opposite ends, with a line of short cones, tall cones, and a 25lb sandbag at midfield, plus 3 or 4 short cones on each side of the field along the midline.

PAX had to travel to a cone, do an exercise based on the object, and then return it to their castle (or deliver it to the opposing team’s castle, if they chose to do so). Objects could be stolen from the opposing team’s castle using the same exercise.

Teams had 60s (sometimes 90s) rounds to score as much as they could. Short cones were worth +1 pt, tall cones were worth +2pts, the sandbag (always requiring 5 burpees) was worth -2pts (later amended to -4pts).

1st set of three rounds:
Travel = running
Short cone = 5 squats
Tall cone = 5 merkins

2nd set of three rounds:
Travel = side shuffle
Short cone = 5 wide merkins
Tall cone = 5 diamond merkins

3rd set of three rounds:
Travel = broad jumps
Short cone = 2 iron Lt. Dan’s
Tall cone = 2 burpees

Team 1 (Vector Sherlock Puzzlah DintyMoore YHC) took an early lead against Team 2 (Wolfpack Papa Bear CubCadet Pep Hedwig), but gameplay evolved with PAX realizing that there was enough time for the sandbag to travel to both castles. That led to some interesting waiting games over sandbag delivery plus some blocking maneuvers. Ultimately, it came down to a final round to break a 4-4 tie, which Team 1 came away with. That was not without some impressive sandbagged broad-jump heroics from Wolfpack. Also, Vector and CubCadet may never speak to each other again.

Also? So. Freakin’. Exhausting.

Part 2: Flip the Cone
Keeping the same team and same general field structure, a couple dozen short cones were scattered on both sides of the field, with cones on Team 1’s side right side up and cones on Team 2’s side upside down. Team 1’s goal was to end a 90s round with as many cones as possible right side up, with Team 2 aiming to end the round with more cones upside down. Except only mode of travel was a bear crawl in rounds 1 and 2 and murder bunnies in round 3. Teams instinctively split up into offensive and defensive squads with YHC, Sherlock and DintyMoore facing off against the defensive line of Papa Bear and Pep while CubCadet Wolfpack and Hedwig crossed the field to battle with Vector and Puzzlah. By the end, Team 1 came away with a 3-0 sweep but all PAX’s shoulders and legs simultaneously won and lost.

Finally, a 50s Hollow Body Hold.

MOLESKINE:
– Big thanks to Wolfpack for venturing to our neck of the woods and delivering the fun and the “fun”.
– Yes, this is what we do at all Game Nights
– Loved watching strategies evolve
– If you want to do a Q-collaboration in June or July, let me know! Sneak preview for next month: the most sought-after immune-system-themed combination we didn’t know we wanted – Vector + t-cell!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– Spring Fling

COT:
– Everyone shared a word/phrase of gratitude

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Good Grief

AO: the-knoll
Q: morning stār
PAX: Pebbles, Sooie, Stubs, AAA, Pitmaster, Half Lyfe, El Capitan, morning stār, Papa Bear, Derby, Malibu, clay hoover, Phillip Lee, Gold Digger, She told me, Sardine
FNGs: 2 She told me, Sardine
COUNT: 16
CONDITIONS: Chilly yet spring-like.

WARMUP: Mosey to tree line and back. Ground movements on the way. Avoid the puddle (YHC wasn’t in the mood to get wet this am), avoid posts. Circle up for low slow squats and SSH.

Mosey to 2010 flood memorial bench.

THE THANG:
31 rounds of 15 seconds of work, 45 seconds of active recovery.
Exercise one: 3-2-1 ladder of power erkins and dips
Exercise two: 3-2-1 ladder of jump squats and squats

Modify up option: finish the ladder instead of stopping at the timer.

Each PAX took turns walking around the back stop with a 30# ruck and 30# kettle bell while considering a loss they have not grieved.

Mosey back to the startex for an extended COT.

MOLESKINE:
If we keep the momentum up we the knoll may be ready to spin off another AO … which on one hand, I don’t look forward to because of the great connections we have growing here. And yet, this is how we grow and provide more opportunities for men to accelerate.

Welcome to She told me (formerly “My wife told me”) and Sardine!

Well done welcoming the new men, PAX! Hospitality is one of my favorite things about F3 and we excel at it.

I used to try to come up with a new, creative BD every time I Q’ed. I’m enjoying not having to think much about it and intending to run the “power rounds” for the rest of my days. Let’s see how long that lasts.

Here’s a quote on the danger of not facing our sadness that I didn’t share:
“”Sadness does not sink a person; it is the energy a person spends trying to avoid sadness that does that.” “- Barbara Brown Taylor, From theplacewefindourselves.libsyn.com/17-what-it-looks-like-to-actually-grieve-your-wounds of Adam Young’s “The Place We Find Ourselves” Podcast: “What it looks like to actually grieve your wounds”.

I pray we all find the courage and space to face the losses of our past and present.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: skipped them; check slack or come back Thursday.

COT:
YHC shared that learning to grieve what is, what was not (or what has not come to be) has been the most effective way to grow as a man.

Shared about the 4 achetypes of masculinity: Warrior, Lover, King and Sage. Each has an entry emotion … anger for warrior, sadness for lover, joy for king and fear for sage. In YHC’s experience growing as a lover has helped mature as a King.

YHC read the an account of the passing of Eric Liddel’s life from For the Glory (by Duncan Hamilton). This is a gut wrenching account as Lidell died withough meeting his youngest child.

When I was growing up, I chased after many things. Now, at 41, I am to live in the moment and pour out as much delight on my family and those close to me as I can.

Stay curious my brothers,
-m*