Gary and Ikaika hit some milestones today

So this week I'm house sitting for my cousin who lives like two minutes from the gym, or the "box" as Erin likes to call it. Might have to steal that one from you Erin. Anyway, today I was totally into the Duke/Kansas game and sorta lost track of time.

Then Kehau texted me and called me a slacker and I noticed that it was 5 p.m. already. Oops.

But I remembered, hey, I'm not going back to Paia, I can just cruise and go to the 6 p.m. Which I never do.

So first thing I get there and Ikaika is there already and talking about not feeling it for the deadlifts tonight. I can relate.

Remember that last post about fear? Well you don't have to be injured to experience it. You can come close. Last time I tried for a personal best for deadlifts I stalled at 360. I wasn't feeling even close to that tonight.

Anyway Ikaika, Marcus and I jump on one bar after Oran proceeds to point out all the bad habits of those damn 5 o'clockers. Ha, for once I knew he wasn't talking about me because I wasn't there! But Oran is the man when it comes to technique and I took heed. Bar over the shoelaces, fully engaged back, got it.

So we warm up with 135 and then Ikaika says let's jump up to 225 which was okay. Then he went 315 and I was kinda like, okaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy. Marcus didn't flinch though so I just shut up and grabbed the bar. Damn thing almost slipped out of my hand. But I cranked out a rep or two.

Then he hit 405 and I was like crap, no way. I chalked up and bent over and tried it. Nope. Not even an inch off the ground. I was happy to say Marcus couldn't do it either. I was like, "YES". Hey, what can I say? Misery loves company.

Ikaika does it of course then throws on 430. Son of a bitch. He did it and it was scary. I thought his spine was going to snap. Kudos brah, that looked kinda nuts.

So now me and Marcus have to find our one rep max. I figure screw it, try 365 so I have the chance to break my own personal best at least.

I go first and damn, about half way up it felt like I was entering another dimension. Seriously. My vision started blurring on the sides and I heard the Twilight Zone theme music start playing. But I went up with the weight and stood up straight. Back and shoulder muscles engaged and legs trembling.

I told Marcus about the other dimensional feeling and he laughed. After he did his rep he looked at me and pointed and said, "I know EXACTLY what you're talking about." Yeah dude, it's sort of like you're high. Not that I know anything about that sort of thing, I was *ahem* just agreeing with Marcus.

Then there was the WOD, 15 dumbbell hang cleans, 40 double unders, 10 hc's, 40 du's, 5 hc's, 40 du's. For time of course.

I was going to grab the 40 pound dumbbells but damn it, someone took all of them so I had to grab the 35's. Seriously though, if I had known Kehau was going to do 35's I would have done 40's. Curses, she's foiled me again! (Twirl the moustache)

Also I finally think I've found out the secret of double unders. It's called, "jumping." Yes indeedy, it appears I've been extremely lazy and not wanting to jump high enough so that I have enough time to allow the rope to go under me twice. It just seems like a lot of energy wasted. As a result of that realization and Lori's awesome jump rope I had a good time (for me) although I forgot what it was. A little more than 6 minutes I think.

And then at the end of the night as I was going home, Gary tells me, "Hey Rod, I just made one year today." What? That's huge! Gary made one year at RFM!!! We should be putting his picture on the website! I asked him why he didn't say anything and he tells me, "I just did" and then smiled.

Typical Gary. Good job man and happy 1 year anniversary.

And Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. I'm thankful for my friends at RFM and the little family we have in and out of the gym. Take care everybody. Tomorrow I call my son, eat and watch football. In that order.

Peace!

Rod

What kind of RFMer are you?

So someone was mentioning that there was a Crossfit gym website that posted some funny videos. I checked it out and yes indeed, Crossfit Oahu has some funny stuff.

They've compiled some videos of some stereotypical Crossfitters, the talker, the guy who posts fake times, the sloppy technique guy, Mr. Sweats a lot, etc.

Amusing, yes indeedy. But somewhat generic. Plus some of that stuff doesn't happen at RFM. C'mon, time cheaters? Everyone is proud of their time, even though it may suck.

Chalk whores? Nah. Kehau is the closest thing we have but she actually suffers from chalk hatred, made obvious by the 12 times that she's kicked over the chalk bucket in frustration and anger.

No, here at RFM, we are nothing if not unique. And we have some originals here who defy the stereotypes.

They include:

Stiff Necked Fools - You know who you are. We have trouble doing power cleans because our wrists hurt when we bend them, our backs give out before our muscles do and squatting all the way down is just a pipe dream. Oh yes, foam rollers are not our friends.

Wait to see the Weight - Those of us who lie in wait, to see which weights our friends will use for the WOD, and then go 2 and a half pounds more, just to say we lifted more than they did. Sometimes we go 2 and a half pounds less just so we can have more reps.

Restroom Tyrants - It's 5:59 p.m. and the 6 p.m. class is waiting for us, yet you feel the need to use the bathroom seven times before you start the WOD. It's not just Lori by the way.

Music Miscreants - You ask me to do 5 rounds of deadlifts, thrusters and burpees while you play Enya. Please go to hell and take your iPhone with you.

Female Furies - This I think is found only at RFM. Lori pushes you around and mocks you for doing less weight than she does, Kehau pretends to give you friendly advice about your form and then whispers to Bumper "This is why he sucks", Carol scares the crap out of you with her Marine Corps Drill Sgt. screams and Kristi sends intimidating sonic booms whenever she stomps her feet while powerlifting. Then every once in a while they give me a foam roller so they can laugh their asses off. Very funny mofos.

The Cheerleaders - They're always yelling "good job" as they pass you by on the 400 meter run when what they really mean is "Good job falling behind. Fag." I know what you're thinking. I see it in your eyes.

See, this list is much more honest. Give me a video camera, I'll start our own video series.

By the way, shuttle runs, sit-ups and Superman's made up Tuesday's workout. No squats. That's all I have to say, which means I had a good day and won't have to crawl out of bed tomorrow.

And with that, I say peace everybody,

Rod