Starting Over Again

So this blog has been sitting here, unwritten, unused and just plain unloved for while now.

I always knew I would come back to it one day though, especially if something big happened.
.
Well, something big happened. But I was hoping it would be something like "I'm here at the Crossfit games getting ready to compete . . ."

Alas no.

So on Sunday I woke up with THE worst back ache I have ever had. Back ache isn't the right description for it, it's more like a back muscle spasm explosion.

My fellow RFMers will know what I'm talking about. Like while I'm running and my back stiffens up and you see me doing this stiff walk/run like I'm in some real pain.

Yeah, it was like that except it didn't go away. At all. In fact it got worse.

I could barely get out of bed. I could hardly walk to the bathroom without holding on to the walls. I could hardly reach behind me to wipe my ass.

I thought, more than once, that "this is what it must be like to be 90", except I was fifty years too early.

The next day I feel and couldn't get up. No, seriously. I was on the floor but had my cell phone and called Kaiser and said I needed to come in now. After about 20 minutes I was able to peel myself off of the ground, get in the car and get to Kaiser. When I got there I needed a wheelchair to transport myself from the parking lot to the doctor's office.

(By the way, that little episode I was talking about, trying to get off the floor so I could go to Kaiser? Harder than any WOD I've ever tried to do.)

So my doctor sees me in a wheelchair and he's like, what the hell is going on? I tell him I don't know and he checks out my x-rays. My side profile x-ray he showed me that I have some sort of bone spurs on two or three of my vertebrae. I was like, so what, can you go in and shave them off?

He said no, and told me straight that I have arthritis and will always have it. In fact, he said I've only been able to stave off feeling like this with my workouts.

So basically, all those times my back hurt from working out was the trade off for having a completely fucked up back. This changes everything.

This whole time I've been thinking that I have to take it easy so that I don't make my back worse. Well according to the doc workouts are the ONLY thing that keeps it from getting worse. Like I'm feeling now.

Makes sense because I went on vacation with my kids for about 10 days, then when I got back my workouts were few and far in between. I was tired because I went right back into work mode after the vacation and just didn't feel like working out.

All told I was pretty inactive for three weeks I think.

And that's when my back said fuck you, and stabbed me with a stick of dynamite.

Right now I'm writing this in bed with this little portable electric shock therapy unit sending pulses of electricity to my lower left back. It feels pretty good but at some point I have to take this thing off and stop taking pain killers.

I'm trying to stretch but believe me when I say that even the Crossfit stretches and warm-ups would kill me right now. I can do push-ups but sit-ups are all but impossible. Even changing my clothes at the gym would be a feat of strength.

But make no mistake, I'm coming back. I'm coming back and never taking a day off again because I never ever EVER want to feel this way again.

I wanted motivation and this is definitely it. Workout or experience back-crippling pain.

I get it. I'm motivated.

So anyway gang, I'll try to come in next week. I'm not sure what I'll be able to do or what sort of workouts I'll be able to participate in, but I'll be there.

But for now me likely the shock therapy. Ahhhhh . . . 

I have returned . . .

Wow. It's been a while gang.

What can I say? I got bored. Sue me.

Look, this blog was supposed to chronicle my Crossfit journey, and for a while it did.

But then it became a routine. "Today we did sit-ups and push ups and ran 200 meters for 4 rounds. The end, thanks for reading."

And if anyone knows me, you know that when I get bored, I don't stick around.

Plus Kehau wasn't at the gym anymore and ripping on other people just isn't as funny. Damn you Upcountry Crossfit.

Plus all the guys that I workout with at the noon workout don't do anything funny. They just kick ass at the WOD. Have you seen Marcus, Brent or Aaron workout? They're beasts. That's no fun to write about.

But this blog was my baby, and every time I got to thinking about my poor I Hate Cardio website I would feel like the teenage mom who dumped her baby in the trashcan.

So I'm back. But there's gonna be some changes here, for reals.

First up, I may not just talk about workouts. Might be some work crap, local politics, current events, revelations from the Almighty, etc etc.

Still with me? Good. Let's get started.

First off, I worked out at Crossfit Hilo Iron a while back. Their gym looks like our old gym but they had some good equipment.

But that's not the story here. The story was that I was feeling like crap but didn't want to look like a wimp in front of the girlfriend and her gym buddies. Plus gotta represent RFM, right?

Anyway, I get in there and the WOD was row 1000 meters, do 50 KB swings and 30 push jerks at 145 lbs.

I got through the 1000 meter row, pushed out the KB swings and swear to God almost passed out during the push jerks. Still beat everybody else though, cheehoo.

But later that day I had chills, fever and was coughing so hard that I thought I was going to die. Doctor said I had pneumonia. Awesomeness.

Secondly, I'm on the board. See, we've got this wall of fame in the gym where they list the top three performers for certain lifts and WOD's. Like Bruce is listed in first place for squats, Brent is second for deadlifts, etc.

I'm on there three different times, most of them involving shoulder workouts. Push presses, snatches and that stuff.

I'm not in first place for anything but it feels good to see my name up there. Bump told me that Kehau didn't believe him when he told her. YeZAH! Tell your kids at your gym in the cane fields that I might be 41 but uncle can still lift.

So that's one announcement. The other is that I have expanded beyond Crossfit and I'm doing Bikram Yoga as well.

Ok I've only gone to two classes but I already know I want to stick with it. If you don't know, Bikram Yoga consists of doing 26 yoga positions and 2 breathing exercises in a room that is heated to 105 degrees.

The first time I did it I sweated so much that my shorts were drenched and my fingers were wrinkly, like from swimming for too long.

It's small kine nuts but I feel pretty damn good afterwards. And you stretch out all your kinks and stuff from the WODs.

I'm hoping to go once a week. Maybe recruit some peeps from the gym to try it out with me.

In related news, Marcus and I were talking about how freakin hot the gym was one day and I suggested just shutting the door and turning off the fans so we could do Bikram and Crossfit at the same time.

Marcus said, "Yeah! We could call it HOTFIT."

I had a good laugh at that but seriously, I think it's genius. We could make millions. That is until the first guy dies from heat exhaustion but by then I will have escaped with the money to a non-extradition country.

And on a more serious note, Kristi's dad passed away recently. I know he had been sick but it came as shock because I thought he was getting better.

Kristi's the heart and soul of our gym. We love you Kristi and we're here if you need us.

Later guys,

Rod

When the Lunatics Run the Asylum

FYI, just in case you didn't know, RFM owners Robert and Kristi are off-island. Bump needs some surgery because he tweaked his arm somehow. I knew that but I forgot.

Which is probably why when I walked into the noon workout today I was kinda confused.

No Kristi, no Bump. Just me, Al, Bruce, Garrett, Shauna and Dom. 

At first I thought Kristi was just late, but then I realized, how did we get the gym open then?

It wasn't until I changed my clothes and had my shoes on that it dawned on me.

We were unsupervised.

What's the big deal right? It's not like we're all kids that were going to break the equipment or burn down the gym. Hell, Bruce, Al and Garrett are all older than me and I'm 40.

But . . . I sensed troubling vibes from the beginning. Just the mixture of Bruce and Al and no one to hold them back or talk some sense into them filled me with dread. I kept on hearing them both say things like:

"Yeah we go try that . . ."

"For real? Ok, shoots."

"Ho brah and den what, after that we still going do the WOD?"

"Nah, can. I did 'em this morning already."

It got to the point where I just had to come out and ask:

"Are we doing two WOD's today?"

Yup.

Just so you know, this was not part of the regular workout. Our coaches had programmed deadlift for our strength workout and then three rounds of a 400 meter run, 10 burpees and as many double-unders as you can do in the time remaining. We had three minutes to do all that and then rest for two minutes.

Sounds like a tough workout already right? Well Al figured that since we're doing deadlifts already let's just do a deadlift WOD. Specifically 21, 15, and 9 reps of 225 pound deadlifts and handstand push-ups.

After that we would do the regular WOD. 

I said no way but Bruce said, "Nah, we go just sample."

"Ok. But I'm not deadlifting 225."

"Yes you are."

"Ok, I am."

What can I say, Bruce has this odd Jedi Mind Trick power without being trained in the ways of the Force. He tells you to lift a weight and you do because you feel shame that you're only lifting a third of what he just did.

I was still worried though. I mean, this had the makings of a bad Tarrantino movie with a bloodbath ending. Look at the key players:

Al - Mr. Fire Department Mini Spartan who works out at home AND THEN comes to the gym. In the same day.

Bruce the Moose - The man who lifts more than anyone else in the gym and then yells at you to "smell victory" in order to motivate you during your lifts. 

Garrett - A fine member of our Maui Police Department who is real strong and who I have never seen back down from any workout yet.

Shauna - She's just off. She's skinny as a Southeast Asian refugee and still thinks she has to do Crossfit, run to Iao and come home and do P90X or Insanity too. 

Dom - Small filipino guy who just joined the gym but puts up numbers like he's been doing it for years.

Then there was me, Mr. I Hate Cardio, who just told everyone that he was looking for more material for his blog because it was getting boring.

Well shit, here you go Mr. Antone, better blogging material for you on a silver platter. We've got drama, pain and suffering all before you have lunch. 

So like a bunch of dumbasses we all just followed Al and set up our deadlift bars and picked our handstand push-up spots. 

Me and Garrett were the last to finish. I wish I could tell you my time but AL COULDN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO SET UP THE DIGITAL CLOCK. Thanks buddy. 

Not that it mattered. We were smoked, especially me and Garrett. He was sitting down outside trying to breathe and I was lying down on the floor because my back felt like Bruce Lee had given it the six inch punch. 

We rested for a little bit in front of the fans then we got ready to run our first 400 meters. During the run I thought, "Ok, this isn't so bad."

Then I got back and dropped down for my first burpee and my arms were like, "WTF is wrong with you?"

I managed to finish my 10 burpees and got in NO double-unders. I tried, I swear.

Same thing happened in the second round, but then the third round I got mad.

I was like, for real? We're doing back to back WOD's? Eff this crap. 

I took off my shirt and I don't know what was going through my mind but I was determined to run with Al.

Stupid right? Well I was following Mr. Spartan all the way up and all the way back. I pulled the old Days of Thunder trick and drafted right in back of him.

I got a good head start on my burpees but then my friggen double unders was not there at all. I did one.

So you know what my final score was today? One. One double-under.

Anyway, that was the story of our noon class today. Thank you God for the material.

And to Bump and Kristi, come back soon. Please. Because Al and Bruce are trying to kill us.

Later gang,

Rod

Solution To Writer's Block . . . Go Back to the Beginning

So I've been having a hard time getting this blog up and running again. Loss of motivation, writer's block, getting old and lazy, aliens kidnapped me and replaced me with a clone of myself but I don't realize that I'm not the original copy of Rod Antone . . . whatever.

Anyway, there's a solution to this I feel. Read some Hunter S. Thompson and go back to the beginning. Back to when it all started. Jump into the DeLorean and hit 88 mph and revisit 2010 again when I first started my Crossfit journey at RFM.

I looked back at my first blog on September 28, 2010 and found this. My first post about Bump taking me through an introduction workout:

"The place is nothing more than a garage with weights all around and ropes hanging from the ceiling. But he's got me sweating after a 3 minute warm up and then has me lying down on the ground and gasping for air over the next seven minutes. I couldn't believe it. We did something called thrusters and burpees back to back and I almost saw the bright light and went over to the other side. It was nuts. 

Meanwhile I look around the gym and there are high school girls ripping through a more advanced workout than I just did. It was embarrassing. And painful. I was hooked."

Haha. Oh yes, I remember that day well. I didn't know anyone's name, just Bump and that his cute fiancee's name was Kristi. But I remember seeing Lori and Kehau and Frank and Derek all jam at the workout. (Kehau you're going to laugh but the first thought when I saw you was "big shoulders and small shorts" hahaha)

I also remember foolishly thinking that "Yeah the guys don't look THAT in shape . . . I can do this crap."

Well more than two years later and I'm still trying to do "that crap." The workouts are still hard, and challenging, and I'm still hooked.

And yes, there are those workouts that I still see the "bright light" but I no longer feel like I'm gonna die. Instead I know that this is just another workout and all I have to do is lie down in front of the fan and rest for a bit.

When I look back at it the journey has been more than just a physical one. I got some confidence back, some "mojo" as Austin Powers called it, something that kept deteriorating along with my health. My wife and I had decided to split, about to send my son to the mainland, was still working freelance and not making much money and still just basically finding my way back to . . . myself really.

RFM helped. Bumper and I really never talked in high school but God must have sensed that he could help me because we drank beers and talked several times that night at my 20th year reunion.

Things work out for a reason. Sometimes I say that RFM saved me, but that's not true, or that's not accurate as we say in journalism.

RFM revived me. Like defibrillators shock a body into working again, that's what RFM did for me. That first workout was a shock, and it revived me.

Not sure what I'm trying to say here, maybe I'm just trying to remind myself how this all started.

One final note for today, we did 30 manmakers for yesterday's workout. My time was 6:34. Last March it was more than 7 minutes.

Like Hunter S. Thompson once said . . . "Buy the ticket, take the ride." Been fun so far guys, let's keep it going.

Later,

Rod

I Hate . . . Blogging

It's been a while, a couple weeks actually, since I wrote anything in this blog.

I gotta be honest here folks, I've not been feeling it.

The I Hate Cardio blog was supposed to keep me honest, force me to stick to Crossfit if my workouts were on display for the world to see.

But ya know, I'm addicted. I'm going to keep going to Raw Fitness Maui until I get tired of it or suffer a major injury. The way things are going the second will happen long before the first.

So, I don't need this blog for that reason anymore. What then?

The only other reason is . . . I like people reading it.

For real. I'm a Leo, feeding my ego is a way of life. I need attention, which is why marriage didn't suit me I think.I hate to be ignored.

Now, lest you think I'm blaming you, the reader (or the non-reader if you want to get technical), I'm not. I blame myself.

It's not you, it's me.

Really. I've been so damn boring lately, who the hell would want to read this crap. My blog sounds like this:

"Oh today sucked because I was weak. Or slow. Or because I had the wrong sort of shoes on. Blah blah  blah blah blah."

I sound like a whining asshole. I don't even want to listen to me! Forget it.

No, if I'm going to keep writing this blog it's going to change. We all have to evolve. "Get stronger or get weaker." Applies to the Box and applies to the Blog.

So, to exercise some marketing techniques here, what makes a blog fun to read?

Personally I find that if I (1) write about my friends at RFM (2) make fun of myself or them and (3) say something interesting or exciting then usually I get an uptick in readership.

So therefore, I will employ all three. Not tonight though, because I'm not in the mood.

Gonna hit the box  tomorrow  though. Hopefully I find some inspiration.

Later . . . I think,

Rod

My Throat Still Hurts But It's Time to Get A Bloggin

Look, I'm not going to blame it all on sickness but . . .

I've been stricken with the strep. As in, in the throat. Praise God for antibiotics.

I noticed something was wrong last week Tuesday, when I could not even complete one round of the WOD.

Those of you who know me know that while I may be slow, I'll finish the WOD. But Tuesday I was miserable. Everything hurt and I didn't know why.

That night I started getting body aches, had a fever of 104 and still had the chills after putting on thermal underwear and socks. Oh yeah, and my throat hurt so bad I could barely drink water.

The next day I looked up "strep throat symptoms" on Google and sure enough, there was a wall of yellow crap behind my tonsils. I felt like I had been infested with Aliens. Ugh.

But thanks to Kaiser, lots of fluids and amoxicillin, I'm back. Had my first workout today and did my best, even though my throat was still a little sore. Here are some highlights:

- deadlift was 260 and it was reasonably easy. Next time I'll go up to 270. Maybe.
- pull-ups were weak, did three sets of five reps of weighted pull-ups using the 53 pound kettle bell. It sucked.
- the WOD was a simple and straightforward three rounder, :30 seconds of work followed by :30 seconds of rest, like so:


:30 kettle bell swings
:30 rest
:30 sit-ups
:30 rest
:30 double unders
:30 rest

After three rounds I ended up with about 180 something reps. My weak points were of course the double unders but at round two I managed to get 25 reps. My DU's have been sucking lately so I was happy with that at least.

Okay gang, gotta get serious about the workouts and my eating habits. Nothing like a bout with a painful illness to make you not take your health for granted. So let's get started.

See you at the box 'cause I'm back. For good this time.

Peace,

Rod

Hana Relay Rocks and so does the WOD Afterwards

So. I wasn't going to run the Hana Relay.

Haven't been running, haven't been jogging, haven't even been walking. A week prior to the race I didn't even go to any Crossfit workouts.

But Kristi sees the entertainment value of having me on the team so they sign up FOR ME . . .

And you know, I'm glad they did.

So Friday night I take it easy, get some good rest and then come Saturday I put on our killer new RFM "Jerk" shirts for the race. They're sweet.

I saw earlier that RFM had me listed to run just one leg, a 2 miler that was all downhill. I didn't blame them after last year's race. I ran super slow and we were like in last place. There were no other teams around us for miles.

This year I needed some redemption so I told the team I'd meet them at Baldwin Park for the leg there. I wasn't registered to do that leg but I wanted to do it last year, just because it was through my home town and I know the route by heart.

So I got there, threw my bag in Shauna and Jun's truck and started running with Jun and Bill on leg three, from Baldwin Park to Hookipa Park, a little more than 3 miles.

This first leg sucked. My back hurt and I was out of breath. Runners were passing me left and right, one of them a silver haired guy with a knee brace and a t-shirt that said "Motrin in Motion" or something like that.

I made it though and on the way out I grabbed some Motrin from that same old guy. After about an hour and a half the Motrin kicked in and I was thinking about running again. So they let me run leg 10 with Brent, a mile downhill and a mile uphill.

This time it went a little bit better and even though I was moving kinda slow I made some decent time.

Before too long it was time for the last leg through Hana Town. Marcus said "You're coming right?" and I said yeah, why not.

We chugged a beer and Bump, Brent, Marcus, Lori and I ran the last leg. Crossing the finish line was pretty awesome. Drinking beer afterwards and the Red Sand beach was even more awesome but I don't have time to write about that today.

Then we get back on Monday and we have a cool little WOD that requires no legs (thank God), a blessing for all of us that ran the relay. AMRAP 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 sit-ups. I got 9 rounds so I was pretty stoked about that.

Been a good weekend/start of the week for me guys, hope you're having fun too.

Later,

Rod

Back to the Blog and the Box

In case you haven't noticed this blog has been AWOL along with my presence at RFM.

No biggie. Last week it was meetings, meetings and more meetings.

Then on Monday it was a holiday and I didn't show up again. At that point they put out a missing person's poster on the RFM website with my picture on it. Haha. Funny mathafathas.

So I showed up on Tuesday. Sometimes the schedule sucks and you just can't make it into the gym and that was last week. Sue me.

But I'm back and just in time, because Tuesday's workout was just right. Push-ups, sit-ups and some running. Cool.

Except the only other person with me was the new girl Allison, who looked like she could run like a gazelle. Damn these new members who are already in shape, how the hell am I supposed to enjoy their pain?

So the WOD consisted of running 200 meters, then coming back and doing as many push-ups as you could in whatever time you had left from a minute and a half (1:30). Then you run again and come back and do as many sit-ups as possible. Run again and do push-ups again then run again and finish off with sit-ups.

Anyway, we start and me and Allison are neck and neck. Neither of us are breathing hard. Then I get back in the gym and I start pumping out the push-ups. Something in my mind said to just go for broke because I wouldn't get a chance later. I was aiming for 60 but I got 50 instead.

I could go on but there's nothing more to this story except that I never got close to running with Allison again. I was winded and she her stride was . . . well, gazelle-like. I ended up with 98 reps total which means the other three push-up/sit-up sessions were pitiful. Thank God for that first round.

The next day though . . . crap I'm still feeling Wednesday's workout.

Back-squats for strength then 12-9-6 reps of dumbbell power cleans, dead-hang pull-ups and burpees.

This was humbling. First off, we had to use half our body weight for the dumbbells so I had to use 50's. Painful.

Then the dead-hang pull-ups were a disaster. I used to be able to do 12 but with this weird shoulder injury I did six then went dead after the first round.

The easiest part were the burpees. Wait, what did I say. Hell yes, you heard it. The burpees were the easiest part. I speak the truth.

What say you RFM bretheren?

Peace,

Rod

Running Like Fred Flintstone

So the other day I talked about doing the Iao run with some RFM members who are training for the Hana Relay.

I hate running but I went because if I'm going to run the relay I better put in some time on the road. Plus RFM was close due to Robert and Kristi being out of town, so I really had no excuses.

So that morning I grabbed my workout clothes and looked for my shoes . . . and couldn't find them anywhere.

Crap. It was getting late so I just left. I thought maybe I could stop by the mall and grab some shoes but I never got the chance.

So 4 o'clock rolls around and I don't want to run but I do want to do SOMETHING that will get the heart pumping. Anyway, I got dressed, parked up the street and walked over to where Kathy and Kalaheo were standing, with no shoes. Shauna and the others came up soon afterwards and everyone was like:

"Where are your shoes?"

"Are you seriously going barefoot?"

"You're crazy."

No I'm not crazy. Just didn't have time to get new shoes and really wanted to do some sort of workout.

And I didn't trust myself to workout at home by myself. I'm a Crossfitter, I need my gym-peeps. They keep me going.

In this case, they kept me going all the way up to the road that leads into Iao Valley and about two or three turns into the valley itself. After that my back gave out and I had to turn around and head back to the car.

Not a bad workout though, next time hopefully I'll make it to the end with the rest of the group.

Then again, next time I also hope to have shoes.

Peace.

Rod

Damn You Shoulder and Running on Tuesday?

Handstand push-ups used to be my favorite workout.

Then came the shoulder problems.

Damn it.

Today was five rounds of 20 double unders then 10 handstand push-ups.

Shauna finished in less than 5 minutes. I took more than nine.

Nuff said.

Sheesh. Okay, gotta spin this into a more positive light.

Perhaps this is a ploy by the Crossfit gods to force me to concentrate on other things. Such as training to run.

The Hana Relay is coming up soon and I've got the cardio of a sloth when it comes to running.

Gotta get busy. The gang is running tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. Not sure I can make that.

I gotta do something though. Don't focus on what you can't do, focus on what you can do.

Right?

Later gang,

Rod

It's Always Worse Than It Seems

So today's WOD was 12, 9 and 6 reps of thrusters with a 200 meter run in between each set.

Thrusters. My natural enemy. I've hated them since Bump had me do them for my introduction Crossfit workout many moons ago.

I've come a long way since then, somewhat. I pondered what weight to use in my mind. Ikaika said 115 would probably be as heavy as he went. He said he and Bump did some crazy WOD involving thrusters of 135 that hurt him for days afterwards.

Haha, good thing we weren't doing 135 right? Yeah.

Then during the warm-up I see Ikaika give me a troubled face and he pointed to the board. It took a while for me to see it but next to the thrusters was this symbol: (135/95).

That of course translates to "prescribed weight for men is 135 and 95 for women."

I read that and said, "ONE THIRTY-FIVE?" in a really high voice, because right then it felt like someone had kicked me in my nuts.

Ah crap. Seriously? I told Bob and he just flat out said no way. he said "I did 85 pounds last time. Maybe I can do 95 this time. Maybe."

Bob was keeping it real. Unfortunately keeping it real for me probably meant I had to do 135.

So yeah, me and Ikaika put on 135. Marcus came in for the 5 p.m. class right before we started and saw the 135 and he actually looked concerned. I'm not used to seeing that look on his face, usually he's the gung-ho, go all the way sorta guy in our gym.

(Probably the reason why he passes out first during every party too. Marcus parties like he does his WOD's, he doesn't hold anything back. Good for his cardio, bad for his internal organs. But I digress.)

I tried one out and surprisingly it wasn't too bad. Of course I know my body, after three of these things I was going to be in trouble. I had to strategize. Maybe three sets of four reps for the first round?

The countdown had already started so I had little time to come up with anything else. Three sets of four reps it is.

It was a good strategy because I wasn't completely wasted at the end of the first round but it meant I was the last one out of the gym to go do my 200 meter. The second round was worse but still manageable and the third round I managed to crank out six straight reps. I was in some pain but by then my thought was it would actually hurt worse to stop and pick that damn bar up again.

The running also sucked because my back tightened up, surprise, surprise.

But hey, we survived. And as much as I hate thrusters I always feel better after doing them. Mostly because I figure it'll be a while before I have to do them again.

Seriously though I feel pretty good.

But let's not do 135 pound thrusters again anytime soon. Thanks.

See ya tomorrow gang,

Rod

Samongan Training With Tehau

First off, CONGRATS TO MR. AND MRS. ROBERT AND KRISTI KIKUCHI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right, our fearless leaders at RFM are getting hitched finally!!! They had a small, intimate family wedding today and we've got a reception tomorrow.

As someone who used to be married I give Bump credit for jumping on the wagon again. Then again, Kristi is a sweetheart so the decision wasn't that difficult I'm sure.

In any case, I don't have a picture of the married couple yet but when I do I will insert it here:


In the meantime, let us return to our blog, which, if you haven't figured it out by now, ran into a little snag today.

Mainly, RFM was closed because said owners were getting hitched.

So, either I had to (1) workout at home and write about that, (2) break into the RFM gym or (3) workout at another Crossfit gym.

I know, I was kinda scared about option 3 myself. I've never Crossfitted anywhere else except RFM. But then again, Kehau is still an RFMer at heart.

So yeah, I worked out at Crossfit Upcountry today with Kehau coaching me. It was like old times. I would do a movement, she would mock me then laugh. Repeat.

Good times, good times.

So I get to Crossfit Upcountry and we start warming up and I notice that Kehau's warm-ups are exactly like RFM's warm-ups except 8 times faster.

For example, Kristi would say something like this during a warm-up for power cleans: "Plant your feet, explode and get that extension."

Kehau's version was like this: "Plantyourfeetexplodeandgetthatextension."

Needless to say the warm-up went by a bit faster.

Then we did the cash-out after that, which is usually done at the end of the WOD. Because of this she called it the "buy-in" for all you Vegas fans.

The "buy-in" today was to put a rubber band around a partner and hold him/her back while they try to run across the parking lot. Then you put on the rubber band and drag them all over the place. Like so:

Okay, see that kid? Yeah, small kine weight difference between us. He's like in high school and would maybe weigh a buck fifty if his sweatpants were wet. I actually felt bad for him. I know Kehau did this on purpose just for laughs. Well that and there really was nobody else in my weight class at the gym, damn skinny King K kids.

Anyway we had to run back and forth, four times each. I won't lie, I was winded. The kid is a high school wrestler so this was nothing for him. He had this look on this face afterwards that said, "You okay uncle?"

Shaddup and let's get on with the WOD.

So the strength workout were these funky things called snatch deadlifts which were basically wide grip deadlifts. They really made my back tight so after three sets of five of 135 I had to loosen up. What was great was they had this really hard ball, I think it was a lacrosse ball, that did wonders for my back. I don't know where you get one of those in Hawaii but I need one so I can work out the kinks before and after every WOD.

Then it was time for the WOD, 21,15 and 9 reps of hang power cleans and release push-ups.

I was okay with that until Kehau demonstrated and I saw I had to squat all the way down to the bottom.

I don't usually swear on this blog but I'll be honest. Right there and then I said, "Fuck."

Power cleans are okay but hang power cleans are a bitch and if you add that squat it's a freakin beast.

In other words I hate them.

So we start and sure enough, I do the first 10 and I'm winded. Only 11 more to go in the first round damn it.

Plus I don't realize it when I set up but the sun was angled so that every time I squatted I was blind.  I would blame Kehau for that too but I picked my spot so . . . yeah, my fault.

Afterwards I took my usual spot on the floor and in front of the fan and noticed that NOBODY ELSE WAS LYING DOWN.

What the hell? How was nobody else tired after that?

Oh yeah, because THEY ALL JUST GRADUATED FROM KING K OR ARE STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL.

Damn kids. Can't wait to get back to my RFM geezer gym on Monday.

Kidding. It was good to workout with Kehau again. Not sure what kind of pose we're trying to do in this picture below but we looked retarded as usual.

I know you're going to read this tonight Kehau, so let's just say you'll always be Maui's strongest Samoan/Tongan hybrid woman to me. Thanks for the workout.

Talofa folks,

Rod

Foiled Again

Still not sure if I'm just tired from not coming to RFM regularly or if the WOD's this week are just kicking my ass but we've have some humdingers lately.

(Yes thank you that was my first attempt at using the word "humdingers", I think it worked.)

Yesterday was another simple but terrible four rounds of the 400 meter run followed by 15 toes to bar.

Oh yes, we had a one minute rest in between rounds.

See, this is where sometimes in Crossfit you get to involve some strategy.

I figured, just go all out on the first 400 meter run. After that you're golden because no matter what time you come in everyone has to wait one minute. I'll always be a minute ahead of everyone.

Which was absolutely correct. I think the first two rounds I was way ahead of everyone.

Then came Shauna. Damn it.

She was doing her T to B's pretty quick and she's a good steady runner. Not really super fast but just maintaining the same speed for all four runs.

That's hard to do, especially for me although yesterday was better than most. My back didn't start tightening up until the 3rd round and that's where she passed me.

I think our times ended up being three seconds apart, with her ahead of me.

Grrrrr...

Okay, today we're doing push-presses followed by double unders. Hopefully this goes better today for me.

On another note.

So, a while back I posted a link to a 60 Minute story about how sugar and corn syrup are basically killing us.

Yep. Bottom line is, get your sweets from fruits or not at all.

They did a follow up this past Sunday: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57481946/is-sugar-toxic/?tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel

From what I could tell, a portion of the new information in the latest report is that glucose attaches itself to cancer cells and FEEDS IT.

That is messed up. Open up your fridge and look inside. See that cake? It's evil. That ice cream? Toxic.

That Komoda Bakery cream puff? That's Satan himself waiting to kill you from the inside with his pitchfork.

This makes me sad because some of my favorite foods involve sugar: guri guri, cookies and cream, blueberry cheesecake, that fancy dessert at Hy's Restaurant in Honolulu where they drizzle fresh fruit with melted chocolate . . .

No more. No more.

But how do I stop my son from eating sugar? That's the tough one.

That and how bad do I feel for HC&S? They're growing acres and acres and acres of sugar and now this report comes out. I wonder if this has affected their operations or profit margin.

I can't help it, I'm a Paia boy. The sugar industry raised my family and put food on the table for my mom and my aunts and uncles.

Sigh. Getting off point here a little, sorry folks.

See ya at the box,

Rod

So Good You Almost Puke

Made it back for the first workout since last week Wednesday, which in Crossfit Years is the equivalent of not working out for two months. I think the ratio is for every day you miss of Crossfit it equals two weeks of not going to the regular gym.

Seriously.

So the workout was 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 reps of KB swings while going in the other direction for burpee box jumps.

Holy. Crap.

It starts out pretty easy because 10 KB swings ain't nothin. But then those burpee box jumps start adding up real fast.

In total we did 55 BBJ's and at the end of the WOD I felt like throwing up. In fact everyone did.

Pretty sure no one actually yacked but it sure felt like it.

Also it didn't help that it's August and the box is like an oven. Swear to God we're cooking in there.

I was squatting yesterday and I couldn't see anything as I was going down with the weight because sweat was in my eyes the whole time.

In other news, went to Kaiser for my first round of physical therapy and the doc seemed to know what she was doing. Did some shoulder bending movements and it actually felt better. Just gotta remember to do those same movements again during my lunch break.

Today we've got four rounds of running 400 meters and toes to bar. I think I'll do okay if I can keep my grip on the bar.

Best of luck to everyone, cheehoo.

Rod

This Is What 40 Looks Like Now Biyatches

Wondering where I've been all week? Here's what happened.

So earlier this summer I get a call from my good buddy Brian, who I went to college with back in the day at the University of Colorado.  He tells me "I'm getting married, can you be in the wedding?" I'm like, sure dude, when?

Turns out it's August 4th. Which is my birthday. Which this year would be my 40th birthday.

As in fortieth. Four Zero. The big 4 Ohhhh.

Shoot. Why the hell not right? I'll see friends, taste some good Sonoma wine and celebrate my 40th in st style.

Anyway, so this is me, in a tuxedo for a wedding on my 40th birthday. I figured at least I'll have a good pic of me at 40 and it's not bad. I've seen worse.

But the pic is just extra. The best part was when I first got there. A friend of mine picked me up from the airport and we headed straight for the bar in the city where my college buddies were waiting. There were about five of us total, all from the same dorm where we met back in 1990, our freshman year of college.

I walked in and each one of those guys were like:

"Dude, what the hell?"

"How much are you lifting? You're huge!"

"Are you using supplements or steroids?"

And the best one was . . .

"I thought men can't build muscle once you hit 40?"

When my buddy asked me that I was like, WHAT????

You're kidding me right? That's ALL we do at RFM. We build muscle.

Yeah, maybe we don't do all the sculpting that some other programs do but I'd rather look like how I do now and be able to be strong and fast (okay I'm not fast but I'm faster than I would be without RFM) than look like a body builder and not be able to do anything.

Besides, just hearing my friends talk I felt like a body builder. It was awesome.

The whole trip they kept asking me about Crossfit and the workouts and if there was a diet involved as well. I told them about Paleo and I could see it in their eyes that they were totally curious though not convinced enough to check it out.

Ah well, what can you do, right?

As for me I'm so ready to get back into the gym. Hoping to train twice as hard and stick to Paleo more strictly.

Maybe not this weekend though. This is the weekend that Bump and Kristi get married!

Good times people, good times. Stay classy San Diego.

Peace!

Rod

No Juice and Ready to Press

Back in college a friend of mine had a t-shirt that he would always wear when playing football that said "No Juice" in the front.

For the longest time I didn't know what it meant but he was a big local guy and a lot of the small haole/katonk kids from my dorm that went to the Hawaii parties on campus (hey, we had the best looking girls) were intimidated by him.

The conversations would go something like this:

Haole friend: "Rod that No Juice guy is staring at me, I think he wants to beat me up."
Me: "That's because you're the only one who didn't take off his shoes when you came inside his house."
Haole: "Is that bad?"
Me: "Just take off your shoes and have a beer."

Anyway for years he was just known as "No Juice". It wasn't until months later that I noticed the back of his shirt that said ". . . just pure genetics."

Juice had referred to steroids. No juice, meaning I'm all natural babe.

I bring this up because I had someone's teenage son tell their parents that they thought I was on roids.

Seriously? All I gotta say is, thank you kid and thank you RFM. I've gotten my shoulders to college levels again when I lived in the gym.

My shoulders are about the only areas on my body that I can get the most improvement from. I hate legs and my chest is torn and I have a lower back problem.

But even though my shoulder is tweaked it's still pretty strong. That's why I'm looking forward to doing shoulder presses today. If I keep my grip pretty narrow I should be almost at full strength.

At least that's the theory. We'll see how it goes.

Later gang,

Rod

Missing the Filthy 50 and Why My Knees Hurt

So I missed a helluva workout on Saturday, which, had I known what it would be I probably would have gone.

It's the Filthy 50, the father of all long and twisted WOD's out there.

Goes something like this:

50 box jumps
50 jumping pull-ups
50 KB swings
50 walking lunges
50 knees to elbows
50 push presses
50 back extensions
50 wall balls
50 burpees
50 double unders

It's terrible and awe inspiring at the same time. Bob didn't go on Saturday either and we both looked at the board with a sense of regret.

RFM instills a sense of testing yourself at every opportunity, and the Filthy 50 is a better test than some. I noticed Jun took the longest time, around 42 minutes. I have to imagine that I would have been around there. Ikaika was around 28 or 27 minutes I think. He said the back to back wall balls and burpees were the worst.

I can only imagine. Damn it.

So today I tried to push it, we had 4 rounds of:

:30 seconds of dumbell lunges
:30 sec rest
:30 sec push-ups
:30 rest
:30 KB swings
:30 sec rest

The thing is for the dumbell lunges you needed to do 50 percent of your weight, which for me is 100 pounds or 50 lbs dumbells in each hand. WTF.

My lunges felt terrible, and my knees felt like I was smashing them into the floor. I had to get two floor mats to pad the ground. That helped.

By my knees are still sore. But worse than that I want to do the Filthy Fifty.

Damn it.

Later,

Rod

Birthdays for the Big Boys (Kristi too) and the No-Pain WOD

SO . . . it figures after I say I had a dream about not being able to make the WOD that I don't make the WOD on Wednesday.

But, I went on Friday, which was awesome and terrible at the same time. More on that later.

First off, big birthday wishes to Kristi, Ikaika and Marcus. All three of them July babies.

Kristi is about as sweet as Beezlebump is evil, which means she is very sweet. But get her toasted and the HHHAAAAAAAAAAAWAIIAAAAAAN comes out small kine. She's awesome.

Ikaika and Marcus are of course the young guns in the gym, always lifting harder, running faster and pushing my limits. But it's because of them and others in the gym that I push myself too, just in an attempt to keep up with them.

Let us pause for some pictures:

Yes, I looked for the most embarrassing pics I could find. Get over it, it's my blog ya bastards.

No, but these guys make the gym what it is. Whether it's Ikaika getting that Mike Tyson tattoo on his head or Kristi yelling at me in the gym or Marcus . . . well let's just take yesterday for example.

Marcus comes into the gym looking slightly sluggish, which is unusual as he is a ball of energy most times. I asked what was up and he said he had just eaten at Da Kitchen, specifically the kanak attack plate.

Marcus said he didn't even know what a  "kanak attack" was so I explained. It's the "eat till you sleep" Hawaiian paralysis that you get when you eat too much.

"Ah," he said. "That explains everything."

Anyway so we do power cleans for strength and of course, Marcus has to go the extra mile despite a full stomach and did power squat cleans instead. Then he went into the bathroom and locked the door for a bit. I don't blame him, because we had 15, 12, 9 repetitions of over head squats, pull-ups and burpees.

And Lord knows you don't want a full stomach when you do overhead squats. All that pressure and you might have an embarrassing episode in the gym.

So we start the WOD and I throw on 95 lbs. I keep up with Marcus for the first round of 15. The whole round. Then I have to actually catch my breath and realize that nothing hurts.

I mean, sure, the WOD is tough but my shoulder didn't hurt and neither did my back, the two things that usually hold me back.

So now I'm thinking, damn, no excuses. Time to workout.

By the time I did the last workout I was floored. Like on the floor gasping for air and head spinning.

Marcus, Ken and Bruce had finished before me but we were all right behind each other. Even Bruce was on the ground.

(By the way folks, Bruce works out even though he's been getting migraines at the gym. Can we force this animal to take it easy? Probably not, just concerned about the braddah.)

Good workout and great way to start the weekend.

Take care gang and happy birthday to all of you again!

Rod

I Dream of WODs

So it's finally happened.

I had my first official Crossfit dream last night.

Like a lot of my dreams it starts out sorta realistic then turns sorta absurd.

I dreamt that the whole RFM gym was doing a whole day of WOD's. The first one was the longest then we had a bunch of other smaller but just as painful WOD's afterwards throughout the entire day.

It sorta reminded me of the Crossfit Games except anybody could do it. It was in a large park and there were hundreds of people there.

The first WOD, the big one, involved running a mile then coming back and doing a bunch of body movements and weight lifting. Fifty push-ups, 40 sit-ups, 30 of something else and so on and so forth.

Then after that we had a bunch of other WOD's. I can't remember each one but it was like if we took the entire week's board at RFM and did all of them in one day. I think we had 8 hours to do all the WOD's.

BUT . . . here's the catch.

I DIDN'T GET TO WORKOUT.

Yup, that's right. It was my own freakin dream and I had to work. I was in my workout clothes and everything and had to go to a meeting.

I was so pissed that, and this is where it gets absurd. After my meeting I found a DeLorean in the parking lot of the Uptown Chevron and tried to go back in time so I could join everyone else on the WOD. Except I didn't have fuel and I had to have Kehau and Marcus pedal on stationary bikes to jump start the flux capacitor or something like that.

Because if anyone can hit the 9.21 gigawatts I needed to go Back to the Future it's those two, right?

I don't know if I made it back to start the all day WOD because right about then I woke up. Even though it was a dream I was still upset that I missed the WOD.

Sigh. You know, if I was going to have a Crossfit dream you would think I would dream about outlifting Bump or coming in first or something. Freakin A dude.

Whatever. So. Back to the workout.

Today was tough. Five hang squat cleans, 10 lateral burpees and a 400 meter run for three rounds.

I went heavy but not as heavy as I was supposed to. Did 135 instead of 170 and it still sucked.

The runs sucked but Bob was there to coach me through it. He kept saying stuff like "expand your stride" and "let's go, it's downhill now."

Simple yet effective. So much so that on the last round when we were coming back for the last 200 meters I took off and caught up to one of our younger members, who is still in high school.

Nothing like a last minute blast of energy to make up for the entire workout. Sixteen minutes wasn't going to impress anyone but I felt the burn.

Okay guys, I'm going back to bed tonight to dream a little Crossfit dream again. And this time I'm making the WOD.

Shoots,

Rod

Shoulder, back and legs are in pain . . . and I like it

Thrusters. What can I say about thrusters?

I hate 'em but I sorta love them too. Why, because only after thrusters does my body really feel like I worked out.

Take yesterday's workout, 9 thrusters and 9 pull ups for five rounds. Pretty simple and pretty devastating.

Ken was there at the workout and me and him were neck and neck . . . for the first round. Kept it close for the second round too but the third round was tough. I could no longer do 9 unbroken thrusters.

It got worse and worse until I was doing three thrusters at a time. My pull-ups were consistent though, but I was concerned about the "snap, crackle and pop" sounds that my right shoulder was making the whole time.

Afterwards I couldn't catch my breath and had to roll around on the floor for my usual five to ten minutes. It was good though. Somehow Crossfit ain't legit until you've made love to the floor for a bit.

Today looks like it could be just as tough. Shuttle runs of 10, 20, and 30 meters, followed by five burpees then AMRAP double unders. Rest a minute between rounds for four rounds.

That doesn't look as bad as yesterday's but I am probably wrong about that. I think Bump and Kristi have been increasing the WOD pain since our strength workouts were tweaked a little so that right now it's pretty easy. It'll get harder as we have to put more weights on but right now it's cruise city.

Oh and here's another one, how many of you would like to see a noon workout?

There's quite a few of us who go to the 4 p.m. that are interested, I'm thinking there has to be people from the other classes that would go to it to.

I'll post something on the RFM Facebook page, or you can reply here and tell me what you think. Kristi said if there's at least five people she'd do it.

Later gang,

Rod