It's been a while but there was this tsunami . . .

Just so you know, I'm not making excuses about why I haven't written in this blog for like two weeks.

That said, the story behind why is interesting so I'll share it with you.

It all started with my last post back on March 9th. I was talking about running with rubber bands or some crazy foolishness like that.

Then on March 10th we had a special Crossfit workout for Maui County workers. There's a Health and Wellness program going on and five of  them showed up to take advantage of a free Thursday class.

Right after helping my fellow Countians work out I headed for Kaahumanu to meet some friends for drinks. I was still in my workout clothes when I get the call.

Ryan (my assistant director at the County): "Rod, did you hear about the earthquake in Japan?"

Me: "Earthquake? Wasn't that yesterday?" (In truth there had been an earthquake the previous day)

Ryan: "No brah, I just got the Civil Defense email."

Me: "Wait. Let me check the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center Website."

Sure enough, it says something like "TSUNAMI HEADING TO HAWAII NUMBNUTS.RUN!!!!"

Me: "Crap. I'll see you at the E.O.C."

The EOC is the Emergency Operations Center for Civil Defense. The time was 7:56 p.m. I stopped to get a six pack or Red Stripe beer at Uptown Chevron and then hit the County building. I'm still in my sweaty workout clothes.

Anyway, I end up working there until 3 p.m. THE NEXT DAY. After that Ryan and I down the six pack in my office after sending out the umpteenth press release and I head home to sleep. Since then I haven't written my blog. Sorry but it's kind of like skipping workouts. The longer you skip the harder it is to get back on track.

Well that's over. I'm back now. And in order to make up for these lost weeks I'm gonna write about all the days I missed. Right now:

- March 11. Tsunami made me miss my Kaiser appointment so I can get my back checked out. SCREW YOU TSUNAMIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- March 12. I workout even though I still haven't slept enough. It's some damn team workout. I feel less than stellar as Dawn, Derek and I do 100 burpees, 100 pullups and other ridiculousness.
- March 15. Lori and I have a handstand contest. I win. Then we do more handstand pushups and L-sits followed by a series of 5 different kind of pushups and 200 meter sprints. I am happy there are no squats involved despite the pain.
- March 16. Seven kettlebell swings followed by seven push presses followed by seven knee to elbows for TEN ROUNDS!!! Hardass Fitness couple from Oahu in the house. They kick my ass. It is not a surprise.
- March 17. No workout but the RFM crew plus the HAF couple whoop it up for St. Patrick's Day. I make Tehau shotgun an Irish Car Bomb. She does not mock me for the rest of the night. I am pleased.
- March 19. Turkish Get-ups suck. Also I bust open my own upper lip because I fail to catch a wall ball, which also sucks. This makes sipping martini's afterwards VERY painful as well as other lip-related activities. Despite this I go out for Supermoon with the RFM crew in Kuau and then more foolishness later by myself. If only I worked my legs like I do my liver I could be a male version of Tehau. Aurite.
- March 21. - Burpee wall balls and situps. This time I do not catch the ball with my face.
- March 23, today. - I deadlift, power clean, front squat and jerk 115 pounds for a measly 7 rounds while everyone else does between 12 to 22 rounds. My back hurts and I remember that I still have to reschedule my Kaiser appointment. Damn you tsunami gods.

There you have it folks. No tsunami no cry. I'm back and that's all that matters.

Till the next big one hits,

Rod

You want an "I Hate Cardio" tshirt, don't you?

C'mon, it's going to be cool.

The front of the tshirt will say "i HAtE cArDIO" and then in the back I'll have the website address, http://www.cardiokiller.blogspot.com/

Maybe I'll have a little Power Ranger logo somewhere too. (Read past blogs for why this is funny)

Anyway, that's my sales pitch. It's gonna catch on FIYAH.

I no keed you brah.

So it's been a deloading week as I've mentioned before. Lighter weights for more reps. Always good to relax.

Today we had a three part workout. The first deadlifts and toes to the nose. Not bad. And my toes to the nose lifts are getting easier.

Then we repped out 30 pullups as fast as we could do them. I'm doing alright in that respect. Got those kipping pullups going. Cranked out 16 pullups before I had to rest then cranked out the rest in two more sets.

My rubber band days are long behind me.

But then Bumper has us do these freaking sprints with said rubber bands around our waist while our partners hold us back.

My partner was the new guy Troy, who did a good job holding me back. Too good. By the time I hit the 6th sprint I was wasted.

Then came my turn to hold Troy back. Not such a good idea to go first. I was so tired that he almost ran out of the building and dragged me behind him.

So next time Derek helped me hold Troy back. Ha. That was a good rest. Thanks D.

Then the final lap I actually slipped in and put the band around my waist and ran aganist Troy.

Two hundred pounds plus running in the other direction and he was going NOWHERE fast.

A fun day, if I wasn't in so much pain.

Speaking of pain, I've FINALLY set up an appointment to go to Kaiser to see a doctor about my freaking back.

Can't wait. I want some damn answers.

Oh yeah, and I get to workout on Thursday. We've got a County Wellness seminar at RFM and I'm going to watch some of my fellow co-workers hack up a lung.

Can't wait to watch Bump bring the pain. Hahahahahahhahaha.

See ya guys.

Rod

My. Back. Sucks.

I swear to God I'm going to Kaiser. I'm making an appointment and gonna get someone to x-ray my spine and see if there's an effing crushed vertebre something back there.

Because this sh!t is getting ridiculous.

Today we shoulder pressed light weight. Yep, it's time to deload. But of course we superset with dips. My ring dips still need work, damn torn pectoral.

Anyway, that wasn't the problem. The problem was once again that Rod's lower back hates him.

Oh yeah? Well I hate him back. YOU SUCK!!!

So we run the 400, come back and do 15 box jumps and then 15 situps. Not bad at all.

I've even got BRAND NEW SHOES. Know what I'm sayin? My kicks are just outta the box. Wore 'em straight from Foot Lockah brah.

Buuuuuuuuuuuuutttt, my back hates me.

So we run. And I come back and do the jumps. Then I do situps. No problem.

Except there is. My back tightens up. The second run is more painful and I'm running slower. The jumps are a little harder and the situps hurt.

Then I run the last 400. I'm hobbling like a 90 year old man. Did I tell you I took off my shoes? I thought it might help.

Nope.

I'm running as stiff as a ramrod on the third lap. It's like there's a steel rod running down the length of my back and another shorter steel rod running horizontal just above the waistline.

In other words I felt like I was nailed to an upside down cross and trying to run. Get the picture? I'm so not exaggerating.

I get back to the gym and try to jump. I almost kill myself because I'm jumping with socks and almost slip off the box. I take off my socks and jump and maybe complete three more. I'm done. It's over.

I think I need to change the name of this blog. I don't hate cardio anymore. I hate my back and I hate the fact that it's preventing me from achieving my full potential.

This means war.

The big 2 zero zero

So I'm 38 now and I'm thinking the next big number I need to worry about is the big 4 oh right?

Yeahhhhhh. Not so much. Seems I forgot about another number.

The big 200. As in 200 pounds.

Dude, for real.

I'm not sure what happened. I started Crossfit at 195 or so, then did the Paleo diet and went down to 185. Then just today I weighed myself at the office as part of the Wellness challenge thing and saw that I was 200 pounds.

Two hundred. WTF?

I'd be more worried about it but my stomach is smaller even though I weigh more. Bumper says I'm getting my body is getting "more dense".

Yes, I know, lots of Portuguese jokes to be made after that. Insert "dense" pocho jokes here.

But seriously, I have noticed that some long time weight limits have gone up as well, strengthwise. Here are some observations:

- Since high school I've never shoulder pressed more than 135 pounds. I'm doing 155 now and that's still not my one rep max.

- I'm up to or close to deadlifting 300 pounds. Thanks to Kats who always inspires me to push myself when I see him throwing on the big weight.

- I'm back to benching 225, which is unreal considering I ripped my pectoral last year. My chest is deformed but getting back to full strength.

So I guess I can't expect those kinds of improvements in strength without some weight gain.

But damn, 200? Time to eat more salad.

I smoke Derek but forget to watch Lori

Have you ever been so sure of yourself that you forget a tiny detail?

In this case I was so busy trying to kick Derek's ass that Lori beat my time.

Let me explain.

Today was a tailor-made workout for me. All upper body.

Push presses for strength then 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 reps of upside down pushups superset with pullups.

I laughed because I can do upside down pushups better than anyone at the gym (yes, even better than Bumper, I think) and I've gotten my Kipping pullups to the point where 10 doesn't hurt at all.

That and Derek has a gimp shoulder so there's no way he's blasting past this workout.

Anyway, I'm ready to rock. I throw down a max of 155 for the shoulder press and start salivating at the thought of blowing past everyone.

So we start the clock and of course I finish the 10 upside down pushups first, hit the 10 pullups and see that some people are still on their first set of upsidedown PU. Easy money right?

Well apparently I forgot that Lori does pullups about as fast as a hummingbird flaps its wings. Mainly because she's got these short powerful arms which just pumps her up and down super quick.

I didn't realize that even though I was beating her on the UDPU's (upside down pushups) she was ripping past me on the pullups. I heard her yell "TIME!" and I was like, DAMN IT. I think I ended up being 20 or 30 seconds behind her.

Ah well. That's what I get for being overconfident.

Anyway, this all upper body workout evens me out for the week since we had an all lower body workout on Wednesday. We did back squats then five rounds of 20 box jumps and as many air squats as you can squeak out in the remaining time.

C'mon, are you kidding me? It was the dumbest workout ever. Well, dumb just because I hate squats.

But Bumper made it up to me with Friday's workout. Thanks coach.

And if you want to challenge me to a upsidedown pushup contest come Monday . . . wellllll

Sure, why not.

But I'm not doing a squat contest.

Peace

Rod

Nothing to prove

Today I realized that my biggest change since starting Crossfit has nothing to do with my muscles.

It's actually my attitude.

Case in point, today my back started cramping up while doing the strength workout. Five sets of three rep hang power snatches.

Snatches are usually something I'm good at but today my body was not having it.

That's when I knew I was in trouble for the workout of the day. Fifty kettlebell swings, a 200 meter run, then 35 kb swings followed by a 400 meter run, and finishing with 20 kb swings and an 800 meter run.

 I knew my back was going to be fried, so I actually told Bumper if I could switch the workout.

See, back when I started I never would have said anything. I just would have tried to power through like an idiot.

Now I know, you're not doing your body any favors by pushing through pain.

Because thanks to Crossfit I know the difference between pain and strain.

When I strain to finish burpees or thrusters or power cleans it's a good thing.

But pushing through pain so you wreck yourself has no use in the gym.

What's the point? You prove you can take a beating? And you end up not being able to workout for the rest of the week while you recuperate.

So yeah, today's workout didn't go as planned. But I'm listening to my body now.

It's definitely a good thing.

Now if only I can stop listening to my body when there's a Red Velvet cake around, I'll be in business.

Later,

Rod

Slippah powah

Contrary to popular belief, not all slippers are created equal.

Slippers, or "thongs" as the non-local calls them, can be of various sizes, thickness, and snugness.

Today I wore my "running slippers." They were thick enough so that they cushioned my feet from the impact and tight enough that they didn't slip of my feet.

Seriously.

Okay so it wasn't on purpose. I forgot to pack my gym bag today and had to stop at K-Mart to buy some workout clothes. But I wasn't about to throw down for a cheap pair of workout shoes.

I was lucky though that I had my Island Magic Surf slippers. They are soft and comfortable and tight.

Perfect for today's workout.

First we busted out some shoulder presses and strict pullups superset style. Cranked out a max of 150 and could have gone heavier. Did reps of 8 - 8 and 4 for those strict pullups. Turned my grip around and used those biceps which was a big help.

Then we did three rounds of 10 handstand pushups and running 400 meters with a minute rest in between each round. I have no problem with handstand pushups but running with my slippers worried me small kine. I shouldn't have worried at all though, because I swear it was actually easier than running in shoes.

My feet felt lighter and it was a comfortable run for sure. Derek was in front (of course) and Rusty was right behind him. She's been kicking ass in high gear that girl. And I came in third.

A good workout, and it feels good to be back at Crossfit. I hope I can stick to my workout schedule like I used to. I want to be at the gym 4 to 5 days a week again.

This time with shoes though.