RX THE WOD

Land-n-WOD JetLag Buster

Posted on October 15, 2013 by

My daughter decided that the best way to cure my ruffled jetlag look was a proper WOD. Since I had no better solution for the 12-hour time zone change I went along with it. I do think it works somewhat, so you may be coherent over dinner, but ultimately nature will win out. Humans, after all, did not evolve to jump halfway across the planet in a day. Paleo or otherwise. CrossFit Harmony may have accelerated that process though in my case.
Strength
– Push Press 3-3-3-3-3-3
Skill
– Various rope climb techniques, bar muscleup, pistols

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The Eight Cuisines of China

Posted on October 14, 2013 by

Amazing food is one of the great pleasures of traveling in China. This weekend I crossed 3 of the 8 great food regions (Guandong, Anhui and Hunan). Anyone used to the American version of chinese food gets to explore additional varieties. There are no chop suey, egg rolls or fortune cookies on the Mainland. They never heard of it. Today I experienced Hunan food in Changsha, the Hunan capital. Spices remind me of Sichuan food which I particularly like. From a Paleo perspective they have no problem here serving your food without rice and only veggies. A short layover took me to the largest Chinese restaurant in the world that employs over 1000 staff and can seat 5000. Now that’s one to remember. And after 2 days if extreme hiking, I decided to give my legs and body a rest.

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Steep Climbs and Stone Frogs

Posted on October 13, 2013 by

Under normal circumstances Sunday would be my rest day. Instead, I hiked the remaining paths on Huangshan mountain. I had my 20-lb loaded backpack on and ventured up some steeper peaks. The views here are simply incredible. On one of the peaks they gave me a customized medal with my Chinese name on it, so I considered this my Chinese Spartan Race.
I finished the day by celebrating the local cuisine, one of China’s 8 ancient cuisines called Hui Can. It may have involved sampling the local stone frogs and other delicacies. All paleo, for sure.

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22km on Yellow Mountain

Posted on October 12, 2013 by

Yesterday’s run to Victoria Peak in Hong Kong was a great warmup to today’s hike on Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) in China. In 6 hours I got to cover close to 22km on the amazingly well maintained but super steep stairs carved into the side or the top rocks of the mountain.
The crowds on one of China’s favorite mountain can be overwhelming but I was fortunate to find some quiet spots along the way. The mountain itself can easily live up to its reputation and was the most incredible hiking experience of my life.

Stamina
– 22km steep mountain climbs and hikes in 6.2 hours

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How Hard Could It Be?

Posted on October 11, 2013 by

A lot of bad ideas start with the question “How hard could it be to…” In today’s edition of that question I figured I had an hour before I had to leave for work so I thought: “How Hard Could it Be to sprint up and down Victoria Peak” in Hong Kong. Real man do not take the tram, I reasoned. Google Maps suggested 50 minutes for the uphill route, “but that must be for walkers and since I’m a runner so I should do it in 20 minutes and return downhill in 10 minutes and do the whole thing in half an hour flat”.

Well, it turns out the Google Maps estimates were close for this CrossFitter trying to get his long run in on a Friday morning. The round trip took an hour and provided plenty of humility as some old Chinese couples speed-walked past me on some sections of the seemingly vertical stair climbs.

Being on the top overlooking Hong Kong made it all worthwhile. Even if I had to rush afterwards to make it to my morning meeting.

Endurance
5-mile round trip climb to Victoria Peak from Central HK

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