Back on the Horse

Other than going on a run* every other day while vacationing in Hawaii, I've been laying low to give my wrist the time it needs to recover. It's still not 100 percent, but there've been signs of improvement, and I've been slowly reintroducing some light barbell work in the past week. Last Friday, I did a workout at CrossFit Palo Alto that involved overhead squats (I used an empty barbell), and yesterday, I practiced light (very light) split jerks before cranking out "Helen."

For what it's worth, the OHS workout consisted of:

• 50 reverse lunges (or jumping lunges)
• 20 overhead squats
• 20 toes to bar
• 50 reverse lunges (or jumping lunges)
• 15 overhead squats
• 15 toes to bar
• 50 reverse lunges (or jumping lunges)
• 10 overhead squats
• 10 toes to bar

It was my first workout in a couple of weeks, and I felt a bit more sluggish than usual, but was happy that I was able to get a barbell overhead without discomfort. Result: 13:03.

Yesterday's "Helen" was an eye-opener, though. Helen, as you'll recall, consists of 3 rounds of a 400-meter run, 21 kettlebell swings (24kg), and 12 pull-ups. In August of last year, I completed this workout as RXed in 10:14 -- a new PR. No such luck this time around. Instead, I finished in 11:23 -- more than a minute slower. I'd like to blame my less-than-healthy wrist, but the truth of the matter is that I'm de-conditioned right now -- I was out of breath sooner than expected and got a side-stitch for the first time in forever.

This doesn't feel good. I need to jump back into the saddle.

*One time, I went running with Michelle. Before heading out, I asked her if she wanted to grab a pair of earbuds and listen to music while we ran. She said no. "I want to talk to you while we run," my wife said. I shrugged and we began our run through Kilauea. Michelle spoke throughout our run, but the only words that came out of her mouth were: "I HATE RUNNING. I HATE RUNNING. I HATE RUNNING."

Visiting Lahaina CrossFit

After three days of lazily snorkeling, sitting by the pool, and stuffing my face, I was glad to get back into a CrossFit gym.

Lahaina CrossFit sits on a hill just east of the little shopping area around the Cannery Mall on Honoapiilani Highway. It's smack-dab in the middle of a number of spots that we regularly hit when we visit Maui: Star Noodle, Mala Ocean Tavern, Aloha Mixed Plate, the big grocery store that used to be called Lahaina Farms -- West Maui's version of Whole Foods -- but was later sold and is now just a gussied-up Foodland. Hence, getting to the box from our place in Ka'anapali is no sweat.

Anthony Bianucci founded Lahaina CrossFit about a year-and-a-half-ago, and for me, the timing couldn't have been better. I had started doing CrossFit at roughly the same time, so when we made our annual trip to Maui, I was on the hunt for the closest affiliate. I found Anthony's place -- at the time, the box was so brand-spankin' new that it didn't even have bars and bumper plates yet -- and threw myself into a number of WODs during my vacation:

• Monday: Power cleans, floor presses, kettlebell swings and running.
• Tuesday: Pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, squats.
• Wednesday: Double-unders, pull-ups, dumbbell snatches, kettlebell swings, box jumps, push-presses.
• Friday: Overhead squats, clean & jerks, box jumps. (This workout still stands as my fastest-ever metcon, with a time of two-and-a-half minutes.)

In four workouts, we got the kitchen sink. It was fun and challenging, and Anthony's positive energy helped get me through the humid weather and ass-kicking WODs. When I finished my final workout at Lahaina CrossFit last November, I knew I'd be coming back.

More after the jump...

Someone's Burning the Midnight Oil

How Big-O vacations:

How Lil-O vacations:

How M vacations:

A blogger's work is never done.

In-Flight & Post-Flight Mobility

After sitting for hours on a plane today, my body feels like a gnarled piece of wood, and my lower back is killing me. The solution?

K-Star videos.

[Source]

20 Things About Kauai

A list of random things we learned during our week on Kauai:

ONE: With a kitchen (and a sister-in-law who cooks for a living!), it’s easy to eat Paleo on Kauai.

TWO: However, the farmer’s markets are overpriced; the same locally-grown produce can be found for a lot cheaper at roadside stands or even Banana Joe’s (where you can also treat yourself to a Paleo-friendly frozen treat on a hot, sticky day).

THREE: The Costco near the airport is incredible. No crowds or lines -- even on weekends! -- and tons of great stuff you can’t get on the mainland. Plus: cheap(er) gas.

FOUR: Best sources of grassfed beef: The Chevron gas station convenience store at the Princeville Center (I kid you not) and the meat counter at Kojima Market in Kapa’a. But don’t go on Wednesdays or Sundays -- they’re closed.

FIVE: We weren’t able to consume four pounds of butter in one week, but as a family, we easily polished off four dozen eggs, twelve avocados, and countless coconuts and macadamia nuts.

SIX: The least attractive sights on Kauai are Hawaii's anti-meth posters.

SEVEN: Purple sweet potatoes are tasty (and pretty!), but take forever to cook in the oven. Microwave ‘em instead.

EIGHT: Kauai CrossFit is a fantastic place to get your WOD on. Want a challenging workout in a jaw-dropping setting alongside friendly, laid-back (but firebreathing) CrossFitters? Get in touch with Jerome.

NINE: When Big-O says he’s carsick and he’s gonna hurl, he’s not kidding.

TEN: I like the citrus-y, banana-y, pineapple-y taste of soursop, but the slimy texture is a turn-off.

ELEVEN: Wild roosters are everywhere: strip mall parking lots, the middle of the highway, behind restaurants, our front yard. And they don’t limit their crowing to daybreak.

TWELVE: Lil-O appears to be immune to bug bites. Everyone else in our family? Not so much.

THIRTEEN: I'm pretty sure Hawaii state law requires every radio station to play Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" every hour, on the hour, in perpetuity.

FOURTEEN: Coconut M&Ms exist.

FIFTEEN: So do Macadamia Roca candies.

SIXTEEN: Favorite restaurant on the island: Bar Acuda in Hanalei.

SEVENTEEN: M can rip open coconuts open with her bare hands.

EIGHTEEN: Best hot tub snack: Beef jerky.

NINETEEN: This time, unlike our last couple of trips to Kauai, we didn’t snorkel, take a helicopter ride, hike to hidden beaches/waterfalls, or almost disappear off the side of a treacherous cliff.

TWENTY: But lounging around for a week with my insanely awesome family in an insanely awesome house with insanely awesome views and an insanely awesome pool was insanely awesome nonetheless.

Aloha!

Friday's Workout: Slow Burn

M and I woke up late this morning. By the time we arrived at Kauai CrossFit after a long drive down the Kuhio Highway, it was a couple of minutes after 6, and Jerome had already begun leading the group through some light stretching.

Thankfully, we didn't miss any of the scheduled warm-up:

Jump rope for 3 minutes, and then three rounds of:

• 30 seconds of handstand hold
• 30 seconds of chin-over-bar (basically, a static hold at the top of a pull-up)
• 30 seconds of L-sit
• 30 seconds of mountain climbers

Yes, the warm-up was just 9 minutes long, but by the end, I'd already worked up a nice sweat. (Which, by the way, isn't hard to do while exercising outside in the warm, muggy air.)

Next: the main event.

Metcon:

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes:

• 5 handstand push-ups
• 10 dumbbell ground-to-overheads (35lbs / 25lbs)
• 15 toes-to-bar
• 20 bent-over dumbbell rows (35lbs /25lbs)

I knew I could do all these movements using the RXed weights (i.e., a pair of 35-pound dumbbells), and I wasn't concerned about the toes-to-bar -- but I also recognized from past experience that the HSPUs would take me forever to finish. (And possibly cause facial hemorrhages to boot.) All of this was expected.

What I didn't expect was that the dumbbell moves would take me as long as they did. I especially struggled with the bent-over rows; although I have a vague recollection of doing similar exercises in P90X, I'm rusty. My form was ugly, and I stopped for more breaks than I'd like to admit.

During one of my breathers, Jerome walked over and shared with me that the original workout as listed on the Main Site was "an 8-minute AMRAP" incorporating similar movements -- not a 20-minute one. "But there's no way the other gym members would go for that," he continued. "So we threw this one together last night."

On the one hand, I REALLY wish Jerome hadn't told me that he'd extended the length of the WOD by 250 percent. But on the other hand, I felt like a badass (albeit a slow one) every time I flipped upside down against the wall to eke out another HSPU or five.

Result: 3 rounds plus 39 reps as RXed. I was the only person in our class to do this workout RXed -- but I was also the slowest. Ugh. I'm determined to do better next time, but I guess "next time" will have to wait -- we're flying back home tomorrow.

Nonetheless, mark my words: You'll definitely see both of us back at Kauai CrossFit again.

These Nuts Taste Like Gelatinous Canned Meat

It's been months since I first learned about SPAM-flavored macadamia nuts, and yesterday, I finally stumbled upon 'em.

Apparently, these can be found EVERYWHERE in Hawaii. SPAM is, after all, the unofficial state meat here. Folks on the islands consume more than 7 million cans of Hormel's "Hawaiian steak" each year. When Burger King introduced a breakfast SPAM Platter on its Hawaiian menus, it sparked a SPAM war with McDonald's. There's even an annual SPAM JAM Festival on Oahu celebrating these pink gelatinous bricks of processed meat.

And for all my talk about "eating real food," I still harbor fond memories of downing nori-wrapped SPAM musubi while strolling around Waikiki with M in our pre-kids, pre-Paleo days.

Of course, I didn't expect SPAM-flavored mac nuts to taste anywhere near as good as SPAM musubi, but I wasn't going to pass up the chance to try some of these lab-concocted pink-dusted nuts, either.

I bought a single can. (Baby steps, yo.)

The ingredients? Dry-roasted mac nuts, salt, and something called "SPAM Brand Flavoring."

This is a change from its original packaging, which listed the non-nut ingredients as "Maltodextrin, Sugar, Salt, Natural Flavoring, Yeast Extract, Cornstarch, Sunflower Oil, Silicon Dioxide, FD&C Red #40 Lake, Onion Powder. Contains Sulfate." Mmm -- FD&C Red #40 Lake makes everything delicious and pretty!

It comes as no surprise that SPAM nuts are treated with some kind of sensory-altering chemical known only to Hormel's crack team of flavor scientists. But how do they taste?

Kind of foul.

If you're not used to your nuts smelling like pork (and who is?), you're in for a surprise: The pungent aroma of fake meat punches you in the face as soon as you pop open the can.

On the plus side, while these macadamia nuts have the odor of SPAM, they obviously come without any smooth, slimy meat parts. As a result, the nuts are slightly less unappetizing in appearance than real SPAM.

But they certainly taste just as SPAM-my. As soon as one of these nuts enters your mouth, the distinctly sweet/salty SPAM flavoring is front and center. Even actual SPAM doesn't taste like this when you first pop it in your mouth; you first gotta bite into it to release the porktastic flavoring. With the nuts, however, the SPAM essence is entirely in the pink powder coating.

As soon as the powder dissolves on your tongue and the smell dissipates from your nostrils, what's left is a plain old mac nut. The SPAM taste is super-ephemeral; it doesn't linger for long.

But here's the thing: If you're a fan of super-processed meat products, you want the SPAM flavor to stick around. And if you're not a SPAM enthusiast, you're probably not going to buy this crap anyway.

Then, there's the third group: People like me, who just want to try SPAM nuts to say they've tried SPAM nuts. We'll try a nut. Maybe two or three. We'll blog about it, and take photos, too. And then we'll toss the rest of the can.

Everyone leaves dissatisfied.

How to Pack for Vacation

We pack light. Between the four of us, we're bringing a grand total of two carry-on bags to Kauai -- a little one stuffed with clothes, and a bigger one loaded with the really important stuff:

I hope this'll last us the week.

SPAM-Flavored Macadamia Nuts

Holy crap. I need to hightail it back to Hawaii immediately.

(Source: Junk Food Blog)