Koko Head Crater Hike

My dad at the top of the Koko Head Crater trail... in VFFs!

This post is dedicated to my dad, as this post is just as much about him as it is about the hike.  His favorite metabolic conditioning exercise is to sprint up and down the Koko Crater (Koko Head Crater) hike for time (yea, CrossFit!).
The Koko Head Crater trail is an old, abandoned World War II inclined railway of approximately 1000 steps, maybe more, one-way.  The railroad was once used by the military to transport supplies to a lookout shelter at the top.  Hikers use the old wooden railroad ties as steps.  The hike starts off relatively flat with the steps.  About 1/3 of the way there is an old railway track bridge hikers have to cross to continue.  Many people fear this bridge, especially when going down.  After crossing the bridge, the hike quickly gets steep, and remains steep until you reach the top.  A few of the many spectacular views off of the trail consist of: Hanauma Bay, Koko Head, Hawaii Kai, Diamond Head, and the Waikiki skyline.  Also, Koko Crater is Hawaii's tallest tuff ring (~1200 ft), created from the last active volcano that occurred on Oahu approximately 10,000 years ago.
Now for the locals, if you hiked this trail, you probably saw, met, or heard about my father.  My dad is that "crazy-fast, inspirational," "Daisy's Dad/old guy/old man/grandfather/grandpa," with the cute "dogs/Daisy/Goldens/3 dogs/2 dogs", and the "grand son/daughter" lagging behind (referring to my brother and I), people on the trail always talk about.  Also in that order, haha.  Daisy has also been compared to a "mountain goat" and "lion."  My dad and our dogs made some publicity over the years.  They were featured in the local news, newspapers, websites, and probably in your photos, too.

Cauliflower Fried Rice with Chicken

Cauliflower Chicken Fried "Rice"

My Paleo twist on the Chinese-style fried rice!  A fast and simple recipe to make use of leftover veggies and meat.  Eat it as a meal, or as a side.  This dish is full of flavor either way!

Foundation CrossFit

6am party crew at Foundation CrossFit!

While in Seattle to spend quality time with my family before my brother, David starts college, I figured it would be appropriate to visit Foundation CrossFit, the nearest CrossFit box to Seattle University in Capitol Hill!  I joined the 6am party on Monday, my last day in Seattle.  This was my first 6am class ever (my options were 6am or no CrossFit for the day)!

Fight Gone Bad 6 at King CrossFit!

Fight Gone Bad 6 at King CrossFit!

I did not plan on participating in Fight Gone Bad 6 last Saturday because of my impromptu trip to Seattle (though I did originally registered to do it at CFSC/MV).  When my parents told me my arrival time in Seattle conflicted with my brother's scheduled move-in time, I considered otherwise.  I have already been to Seattle and done all the touristy things.  My flight got in quite early.  I asked my friend to pick me up, but he's notorious for waking up late.  Since my parents were not able to pick me up from the airport and since I wanted to give Devon some extra sleep time, I decided to do FGB at the nearest CrossFit box to the airport!


Right upon arrival at the Seattle-Tacoma airport, I caught a cab to King CrossFit in Renton, WA.  I made it just in time for the 9am FGB heat!

Good luck, David!

Best of luck to my brother David who just started college at Seattle University!

I was in Seattle this weekend to join my parents in sending my brother, David off to college!  He will be majoring in Computer Science, class of 2015.

Fitness Gone Bad - Back to the Roots!

Jack, Danyelle and I at their home gym!

I did my first CrossFit class at Fitness Gone Bad around New Year 2011, as a part of the Lululemon Athletica 31-days of Fitness Challenge in Hawaii.  So you know, of course I had to visit them when I was in town again!  Back to the roots!  Super exciting!!

CrossFit 808

9am Labor Day Crew at CrossFit 808!

Next up was Elyse Umeda's gym, CrossFit 808, in Kalihi.  I was super excited to come here since Elyse is one of my favorite CrossFit all-stars!   I emailed Elyse my intention to visit and signed up for the 9am class on Labor Day.  

When I arrived, I was immediately greeted by Elyse and a few members who were hanging out outside.  As I walked into CF808, it reminded me of the Nasty Girls video because it kind of looks like "the original" CrossFit.  One of the reasons why I started CrossFit was because of that video.

Hardass Fitness / CrossFit Hawaii

31 Heroes crew at Hardass Fitness / CrossFit Hawaii!

I believe all the boxes on Oahu participated in the 31 Heroes WOD on Saturday, September 3rd to honor the Navy SEALs killed in action on August 6th, 2011.  I registered on the website to participate at Hardass Fitness / CrossFit Hawaii.  The WOD was very dear to this box as some of the members knew the service men who died.  We even made the local news, KHON2: here and here, and Hawaii VA Loans: here.

The 31 Heroes WOD class was scheduled at 10am.  There was also a small regular CrossFit class at 9am, but most people showed up for the 31 Heroes WOD.  Afterwards, there was a party!

CrossFit Ewa Beach

9am crew at CrossFit Ewa Beach!

Next on the list of CrossFit boxes on Oahu to checkout was CrossFit Ewa Beach in Kapolei, HI.  I really wanted to check it out since it is currently the only CrossFit box on the south-western part of Oahu.  Kapolei is intended to be the "second city," or the second urban city next to Honolulu.  It took me almost 1.5 hours to get here from Hawaii Kai (35 mi drive)!  Oahu traffic has gotten significantly worse since I lived here!

CrossFit Oahu

Skye in CFO gear.  Apparently my dad thought it would be funny to dress the dog up in my clothes.

This is my first time home since starting CrossFit in January 2011.  One of the things I wanted to do while home was check out all the CrossFit gyms on Oahu.  My first stop was CrossFit Oahu in Honolulu.  This box has been around for a long time.  They were around the 50th CrossFit gym to affiliate.  I believe they are also currently the largest CrossFit gym on Oahu (by 500 sqft), and possibly in the state of Hawaii, too.  

I came in a little early to do my 20-rep back squat routine (thank you!) and then stuck around for the 2pm class last Thursday with Courtney Johnson, a CrossFit Level 2 Trainer and Dietitian.  It was a small class: 4 people, probably because it is the hottest time of day to workout on the island!  I heard evening and morning classes can have 20+ people, but the gym is big enough to handle that and they have a lot of equipment.

Binge Day at Home!

Babies and I at Bellows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I purposely timed the Paleo challenge to end before I head home to Hawaii for Labor Day weekend.  I haven't been home in 9 months and I could not be more excited to eat some local favorites!  I ate clean until last Saturday, when I planned on satisfying all my cravings.  I had a list of places I wanted to hit up and the plan was to eat everything delicious nonstop, meal after meal.  The only person I knew local, who would be up for this challenge is my cousin, Mimi.  She's this tiny Asian girl who has the appetite of a whale.  We ate nonstop from 2pm to 7pm on Saturday afternoon.  It was glorious.

Strict Paleo for Half a Month

Proper Fuel

I have been told many, many times by Jason and by my CrossFit friends to try the Paleo Diet for two weeks straight.  I have done all the Googling and all the research to agree that it works.  For the most part, I tried (probably not hard enough) to eat clean (avoid refined sugar, grains, and processed food).  However, when it comes to food being readily available right in front me, I lose all control.


Around the beginning of August, I got sloppier about what I chose to put into my body.  While doing CrossFit during the second week of August, I noticed that I my performance was sub-optimal.  I scored 50-reps less total on Fight Gone Bad, had a very hard time snatching a comfortable weight, did some of the worst cleans I've ever done in CrossFit, and did not PR on anything (meh not sure if it's related, PRs happen less now).  I talked to one of my trainers Rick about it and we went through a checklist.  I was getting a decent amount of sleep (~8 hours/night), relatively not stressed, coming into the gym six times a week, but I have been eating terribly.  This was probably the first time I noticed a huge change in my performance and therefore I decided to try, at max effort, a strict paleo diet for at least 2 weeks.  It is a good time for me to do the challenge since I visit home on September 1st.