COVID-19 Quarantine: Day 2 - 3/17/2020

Day 2.


I had set my alarm for 6:00 am PT but woke up 5 minutes before my alarm, as I would always do if I wasn't in quarantine.

During Day 1, David and I set a time at 6:30 am to workout with the Deuce Gym Home Programming workout. But I woke up to a text that he sent around 5:30 am saying he was still full from the pizza I bought him for his birthday and wasn't feeling morning workout. I mean, I can't blame him, he crushed the entire pie in one sitting.

As I finally rolled out of bed, proceed to make coffee as that is the first order of business every morning, and then got ready for the workout.


The Workout Of the Day was...

Progressive Stability Work

Complete 3 rounds for quality of:

:10 Left-Side Captain Morgan (Right Knee Up + Toe Up)

:10 Left-Side Captain Morgan (Left Knee Up + Toe Up)

:15 Crow Position Hold

:10 Right-Side Captain Morgan (Right Knee Up + Toe Up)

:10 Right-Side Captain Morgan (Left Knee Up + Toe Up)

Conditioning for a score:

Then, AMRAP 11

1 Mile Run

-Rest 1 min-

2, 4, 6, 8, 10..

Jump Squats

Sit Ups

*Score is last completed round of jump squats & sit ups plus extra reps

Before I did the workout, I looked outside to see that it wasn't raining, but it was a brisk 45 degrees so I decided to do the Progressive Stability Work indoors at Casa Del Dova-Endo. After the 3 rounds, I decided I would do the conditioning down the street at Playa Del Rey beach.

As I was driving west down Manchester Avenue, I was awed by probably the biggest rainbow I've seen in person. A double rainbow, from end to end. Now I know where the pot of gold lives. Deep down in the Pacific Ocean.

As I approached the parking space by the basketball courts at Del Rey Lagoon Park, it started to pour rain. I sat in my car for about 5 minutes to see if the rain would stop, but there was a stretch of grey clouds in the horizon, so I proceeded to go back to Casa Del Dova-Endo.

When I got back, I wanted to finish the workout so I grabbed my raincoat and went for the mile run in the neighborhood, then rushed inside to finish the rest of the workout.

After the workout, I quickly hopped in the shower to keep up with the clean hygiene.

Then, I set up my laptop on the dining table with my last cup of coffee for the day and started to do some work. Like I mentioned in Day 1, the sports world is on pause right now but I want to be ready if and when it does start back up.

...

Later in the afternoon, I drove over to my mom's place since she invited me over for lunch that consisted of dish of Uni (Sea Urchin), Mackerel Bowl and Oden.

My mom is a saint, even though we have our moments from time to time.

After lunch, my mom and I decided to go to Target because she wanted to get some things from there and I wanted to buy a puzzle, for late in the quarantine times, which I hope it doesn't get to there.

When we arrived at Target, there weren't many people in the store. I guess people are more worried about food supplies than clothing and home goods at this time. As we were approaching the back of the store to the food section, we were curious of what was left because there was literally no meat left at the Ralph's during the Day 1.

Jackpot. There was a good amount of meat left.

I grabbed whatever I needed and wanted, also for Taylor, one of my dearest friends, and his girlfriend. At this rate, who knows what will be left, with people shopping like its Black Friday, everyday? I have to think of the extreme, right?

And yes I bought a 1,500-piece puzzle.

....

I drove back home around 5:00 pm and decided to do a 2nd workout..

4 Rounds of

10 Hammer Curls with 25lb Dumbbells

10 Front Lateral Raises with 25lb DB

Finisher:

100 Banded Tricep Pulls

Afterwards, I just decided to make a pot of curry since I had a piece of chicken breast defrosted for another 2 days so I had to make something out of it. Curry is so simple and good. I remember when my mom used to cook it for dinner every week. It's one of the meals for me that's comforting, especially during times like this.

In the end, Day 2 ended with me turning on my Play Station 3 and playing Final Fantasy VII. I haven't played videos games in almost a year. The last saved game was on 4/8/19. And I only lasted about 30 minutes before I got tired.

Let's see what Day 3 brings us.

Jun

COVID-19 Quarantine: Day 1 - 3/16/2020

Technically, this isn't Day 1.

The real Day1, let's call it Day 0, which was Thursday, March 12th. I drove to the office at Fox Sports and hopped on a work conference call with my bosses and colleagues, in which was supposed to be a in-person meeting at first, but got changed to a call instead.

We were informed that if we were non-essential to the building, we were to work remotely from home that was effectively immediately.

Since then, almost all sports is postponed until the month of May or got canceled all together.

---

Now to Day 1...

I woke up to my alarm at 6:00 am PT.

It is my roommate, David's birthday and we started off our morning going to the Ralph's down the street from our place, which opened at 8:00 am.

We got there around 6:30 am and there was no one waiting in outside of the store, although there were people going up to the sliding automatic door, where it didn't open and the potential customer disappointedly turned around and walked away from the door.

David and I parked our cars and sat and watched people go up to the door for about 45 minutes. Still, no one was lining up at the door. They would just walk away.

I went on a walk around the block, since there was another door on the other side where we parked, but there was a sign that read "USE OTHER DOOR". Since I was out scouting the premises of Ralph's, I went to the The Coffee Beans & Tea Leaf shop on the same block to get coffee.

A few seconds later after I got my small coffee, at 7:20 am, I received a text that read, "Aaaand I think we might have our first waiters."

I hastily walk back to the entrance of the store and got in line as the 10th customer or so.

When I store opened at 8:00 am. I went to the paper towel/toilet paper aisle at first. When I got to the aisle, there was only 4 packs of toilet paper and 2 packs of paper towels left. Unluckily, the 2 customers in front of me grabbed the 4 packs of toilet papers (limited 2 per person), but I was able to get a pack of paper towels, which I left one for whoever was behind me.

I got out of the paper towel/toilet paper aisle and went to the east/poultry section, where David went towards there first.

There was literally nothing left and it seemed like nothing was restocked.

We left Ralph's with whatever we could get on our list.


Immediately after, since all gyms are closed due to the Executive Order of the Mayor of Los Angeles, David and I went to over to Santa Monica College around 9:40 am to go workout with the Home Programming Deuce Gym has provided for us throughout these tough times (Thank you Logan and the Deuce Gym staff, all of you are legends).

The Workout Of the Day was...

Progressive Volume Work:

Complete 4 rounds for quality:

12 Hollow Rocks

15 Push Ups

20 Squats

Progressive Tempo Run:

Run 8 Minutes Out

Return with a Negative Split (<8 Minutes)

I finished my workout as David joined in a little later, since he was supposed to be on a conference call around the time we started.

As David was finishing his last round of volume work, the Santa Monica Police came up to us and informed us we had to leave the football field, in which we found an open gate that wasn't supposed to be open. That left us with the run we still had to do and since we were already out, we went to Playa Del Rey to finish off the workout.

Now back at Casa Del Dova-Endo, I started to do some research on my next upcoming events, the big one being the USGA U.S. Open Championship.

I texted one of my colleagues about some questions about the U.S. Open and he replied back saying we might not even have a U.S. Open. But my instinct is to prepare as if it was still happening, because if and when it does, I wouldn't want to be scrambling to make a deadline.

But what my colleague said made me feel uncomfortable. Even though the U.S. Open isn't until Father's Day weekend, it might not happen because who knows how long this will COVID-19 will last...

After getting work done, I skated to the local market to grab a couple of things (also, support your local stores, shops, restaurants, business if you can). It wasn't the best idea to go around the time I did because it started to rain, but I was already half way there so what's the point of turning back?

When I walked into the market, it didn't look as if they were out of stocks for food, but when I walked through the isles, all the bread, all the meat, all the paper towels and toilet papers were gone...

My thought when I was walking throughout the market was the scarce of food and supplies, where people in need wouldn't be able to get what they need, an example already with toilet papers.

Afterwards, after a couple more hours of working, I decided to surprise my roommate with a his own large pizza from Slice and Pints in El Segundo for his birthday since we couldn't go out do celebrate. I did ICE him with a Smirnoff Ice to start off with.

...and of course, I had my own large pizza too.

The night ended with watching about 6 or 7 episodes of Mad Men and waiting what Tuesday's workout was going to be.


Let's see what Day 2 brings us.



Jun

From The Bluffs To An Auto Shop

I started to write this on a 6-hour flight and honestly didn't have a direction whatsoever. But whatever, here it is. I apologize if it doesn't flow at all.

- - - 

The Yard at DEUCE Gym
(via Instagram: @kaz_kaptures)

I knew this place was going to be special when it opened. What I didn’t know was how magical it was going to be. And not until in 2019, I didn’t really realize it...

I’ve been a long time attendee at DEUCE before it was DEUCE. 

Functional Fitness On The Bluffs, also know as FFOTB, also known as #FakeGym, which was a pop up tent located on the Palisades bluffs on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s. Some of you know me as the Silent Assassin, or The Godfather. Ok, maybe not anymore but only the few know.

(via Functional Fitness On The Bluffs)

We, as in maybe about 3-4 of us, would show up around 8:30 in the morning and grab the kettle bells, PVC pipes, the big tire, sledge hammer, medicine balls and yoga mats out of the back of two pickup trucks. As both coaches, Logan Gelbrich and Danny Leslie (aka Big Perm) would set up the EZ Up and then write the Workout Of the Day on a medium sized portable whiteboard, which still seems to be going strong til this day, in certain aspects.

I attended one of the first classes. I remember it clearly because driving there, the directions led me to an upward dirt slope that only a crane could take you up. Needless to say, I was 15 minutes late to class. 

No burpee penalty, thankfully.

The very first class I took at FFTOB back in May 2011
(via Functional Fitness On The Bluffs)

I say thankfully because the workout almost made me vomit (Note: I said I clearly remember the first class).

3 rounds of:
100m of Farmer's carry
20 Kettle Bell Cleans
200m Run
20 KB Swings
100m Farmer's Carry
20 KB Snatches

My total time: 18:55

Luckily, I had 2 other people in the class I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of, Nikki Pounds and Christy Desai, that made me hold in my vomit. And I also didn’t want to show any weakness to the coaches: Logan, Danny, and Annie Mello. 

Tyler Nilson and I after a workout at FFOTB
(via Functional Fitness On The Bluffs)

I’ve continued taking classes sporadically in 2011 until eventually, I had to leave for college to the middle of America. I would drive about an hour and fifteen minutes every Tuesday and Thursday from Torrance to the Palisades, take a 15 minute “tiger nap", go help set up for class and then take class.

Fast forward to 2020, FFOTB moved its location to Santa Monica for a year. Then to an auto shop garage in Venice, which is now known as DEUCE Gym.

The 9(:01) class back in 2015
(via Emily Stanwyck)

I was a member at DEUCE shortly after graduating college in 2013, but had to break away from it because I started traveling a lot for work.

I would be and still am a frequent attendee, whether if it's dropping in for a class, being a student for coach’s prep in the mornings, but more so lately taking photos, which has become a hobby of mine.

It’s one thing to see what’s going on with your own eyes, as a coach, as someone taking a class, or if you’re simply just kicking it. It’s another thing to see it through lens of a camera.

 

The story of the emotion a person shows when I look through pictures amazes me. Especially at DEUCE, where people make the trip across from all over the world to attend a class. Some move across the country to become part of what is called 

“Hold The Standard”.

(via Instagram: @ kaz_laptures)

Smiles. Agony. Learning. Teaching. Love. Hate. Joy. Pain. Independent. Community. Focus. Resiliency. Calm. Chaos. Dedication. Community. Standard.

It puts a smile on my face to be able to showcase the success a friend's business, especially being there from the start of it. Even if it's only a 100 people that follow me on my social media account.

I guess I wanted to say is, thank you Logan for everything. And also for getting me out to the Bluffs and guilting me by saying I have a good attitude and I want to train...and it would kill you if you couldn't (Conversation still saved on Facebook somewhere).

If you're into fitness and haven't gotten a chance to visit DEUCE Gym, you definitely should. it's a pretty magical place.

Jun

Thankful.

Every Thanksgiving, it's the one day I go deep into reflecting on the year, how I am thankful for my friends and family...

Sometimes, traveling for work every week is tough.


You don't get to see or spend enough time with the people that matters most. You miss big events like birthdays, holiday gatherings and weddings. It truly does suck to miss those moments. But it's the occasions when you finally see each other or get together, even if it's on a smaller scale and it seems like nothing has skipped a beat. Cherish those moments.

This year, especially, I am most thankful for those who helped me find balance between work and life. As most know, I'm usually all about work. It's on my mind 24/7, 365 days a year. Even the hand full of times I visit my family, my mind is filled with work (like right now). 

But this past and a half month made me realized that there is more to life than just work. Don't get me wrong, I still put 110% into my job, but not overdoing it when I don't have to. 

Be thankful for the ones that show appreciation for what you do and how you are, make sacrifices for you, and love you most. Not just today, but everyday.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.


Jun

Disconnect.

I felt like I needed to make a little change for a while. And maybe forever.

Spending countless amounts of time scrolling and refreshing through social media threads from the moment I wake up to when I go to sleep.

My face glued to my phone in conversations over a Facebook Messenger, when I'm with friends blocking everyone out around me.

The quick reaction towards my phone vibrating and unlocking it to see a retweet notification, interrupting a colleague mid-conversation.

Going through hours on my profile, to see who are my followers and how many likes I have on a picture or a tweet so I can see where my self-worth is.

It's slowly starting to not be worth it anymore.

For starters, no social media for the rest of the year. But I'll have an account dedicated just to sports for work purposes.

We tend to miss what's going on in front of us because we are so invested in social media, becoming anti-social.

Get out. Cherish moments being with others. Be present in the moment.

Jun

A Message from the Past

2017 has been nothing but busy.

I started a new position at Fox Sports as Broadcast Associate, which I am really grateful for, but it's consumed my life since this past March.

From working in the production truck for a baseball game, golf event and right now, NFL games and everything in-between, with working 7 days a week, I haven't had time to even blink for one second. And to be honest, it's wearing me out and I haven't been myself lately.

Today, I got a picture message on Instagram by one of my former college teammates with some writing on a piece of paper, laminated and everything. It read...

"Don't take the sport you play for granted. Every time you play, you better be damn thankful that you get to do something you love. Don't show up to practice complaining about not wanting to be there; you're there hopefully because you love it. Work hard every moment. If you're not working hard, you don't deserve to play. Play every practice or game like it's your last, because it very well could be. When you finally reach the day that you can't play, and you can only watch, then you will know how much you love something that you once took for granted."

I remember (the old cliche) back when I was playing college baseball, I never became a starter until my 5th year as a senior.

In the 4 year prior, my teams played about a combined 195 games and I played in only 35 of them. It was a struggle every day for me knowing I wasn't going to get playing time but throughout those year, even though when I knew I wasn't going to get any playing time, I always worked as hard as I can preparing myself for the day I got into the game.

Back then, I used to post a lot statuses on Facebook, most of them being some kinda of quote and the  one my teammate sent me was probably one of them. And little did I know, he told me it helped him throughout his college career.

To sum this up, do the little things right and set an example to others.

Just a little pick-me-up for me today.


Jun

Looking Back: 2016

A lot of people said 2016 was a down year for them. For me, it was the total opposite.

Colin Cowherd and the drapes I had to steam for
two and a half hours (Instsgram: @endom4tic)

2016 started off on a weird note for me. I woke up around 5 am, a little hungover, for work at my friends house from celebrating the night before. I had to pick up some coffees and bagels for a TV Shoot I was doing for Fox NFL Kickoff. When I arrived on set, my producer and I looked at each other and had the same thought that we both had a long night and a long day ahead of us. 

I helped with setting up the look for the shoot, which was a red carpet, award show look. The grip guys was setting up a black drape I had rented and picked up a day before. The director of photography (for those of you who don't know, a fancy word for camera guy) was looking through his camera and told me there were a lot of wrinkles on the drapes. Luckily, we had a handheld steamer to get the wrinkles out. On the other hand, I was the one who had to take those wrinkles out and steamed away for two and a half hours straight. 

My teammate Rafael and his wife,
Racquel's wedding in Ecuador
(Instagram: @endom4tic

In 2016, I also wanted to start traveling. It all started with my best friend telling me that we were going to go to Costa Rica for a week in April. Then shortly after, I booked a flight to Guayaquil, Ecuador to attend wedding in July for a teammate of mine that I played at Mount Mercy with. After that, I booked a flight to Montreal in August to visit people I met while I was at Costa Rica. 

In Tamarindo, Costa Rica
(Instagram: @endom4tic)

Also in 2016, I got offered a new position at Fox Sports in which I would be working with a remote crew that covered College Football games. I got to work alongside a producer who brought the energy to the group; a director who could probably be a comedian and comedy writer; an associate director who never let an awkward silence ruin a moment; a broadcast associate who guided me throughout the whole season; a stats person that could possibly be a sport encyclopedia; a spotter who gave me words of wisdom every week; a play-by-play announcer who is going to be taking over the Dodgers broadcast; an analyst who went from a first round draft pick to an on-air star; and a reporter who is probably the nicest person I have ever met.

I got to travel every week with that group during the fall to cover college football games (Phoenix, Tempe, Fort Worth, Salt Lake, Downtown Los Angeles, Eugene, Tucson, Lubbock, Stillwater, Boulder, Austin, Seattle and Santa Clara to name everywhere I went).

In a nutshell, 2016 was a great year. I hope 2017 has a lot more to offer.