COVID-19 Quarantine: Day 4 - 3/19/2020

Day 4...


I woke up yet again before my alarm, this time at 4:35 am. I woke up from a dream where I was at a group gathering at a friend's backyard. I was sitting in front of a group fo about 30 people, ready to take a picture, then someone hugged me from behind and told me that they liked my Black Old Skool Vans I had on. Then my eyes opened to reality.

NyQuil always puts me in a deep parallel universe. That Jun lives a better life.


I didn't plan on working on on Day 4 and add in a rest day instead. But since I was up so early, I told myself, "Screw it, I'm working out."

But as always, before I started the workout, I slugged my way towards the kitchen, set up my Cosori and Chemex to make coffee out of Caveman Coffee grinds.

The Workout Of the Day was...

Progressive Stability Work:

Complete 3 rounds for quality of:

8 Tempo Ipsilateral Straight Leg Dead Bugs (Left)

8 Tempo Ipsilateral Straight Leg Dead Bugs (Right)

:15 L-Sit

8 Tempo Contralateral Straight Leg Dead Bugs (Left)

8 Tempo Contralateral Straight Leg Dead Bugs (Right)

Conditioning for a score:

Complete 4 rounds for reps of:

In 3 minutes…

:60 Plank Hold

50 Lateral Jumps (Over Implement 3″ Tall)

Max Burpees

-Rest :90-

There was an optional warm up of
2 Rounds:
5 Inch Worms
:30 Second Pigeon Stretch (Left Side)
:30 Second Pigeon Stretch (Right Side)

I would have done it but I woke up before the coach in a group was assigned to, Lacey, who has been doing an awesome job of keeping up with everyone the first week of the Deuce Gym Home Programming, so I just want ahead went straight into the workout.

Yes, I used canned soups to do my lateral jumps.

When I checked my phone when I woke up, I missed 2 calls from my mom overnight so I gave her a call back at 7:05 am. When I asked her, she went straight to the point. She told me a family friend told her that Los Angeles is going to have a restriction on people not being able to leave their household and was going to shutdown businesses starting early as this weekend.

At this time, I didn't ask any questions as I was getting ready to go to the DMV to apply for a Real ID, incase if and when we were able to go back to work and I didn't have time to go to the DMV. It's probably not the best time to go but I wanted to get this done when there is less waiting time at the DMV. I hung up the phone and told my mom I was going to DMV, maybe to get there before the completely shutdown for the time being.

I texted David before I left, since he was parked behind in our tandem parking, to see if he was awake, and he was. He told me I had woken him up from the noise of doing the lateral jumps and burpees.

I felt extremely bad about it, especially early in the morning.

When I got to the DMV, there was a group of people standing in front of the DMV Building in Inglewood. I couldn't tell if they were pedestrians or workers. I parked my car and walked over towards the entrance as a lady started to talk in a loud voice towards me...

Lady: "DO YOU HAVE AN APPOINTMENT?!"
Me: "No. Walking-In"
Lady: "WE ARE NOT TAKING ANYONE WITHOUT AN APPOINTMENTS. PLEASE MAKE AN APPOINTMENT AND COME BACK."

Disappointedly, I walked backed to my car and head back home to pick up my laptop and headed to my mom's house to get a different scenery to get some work done.

After a couple hours of work, my friend Kyle wanted to workout so I headed over to his house. A 2nd workout seemed great at the time and I hope the aftermath the next morning isn't too bad.

After working out again with Kyle, we just stood and talked for about 30 minutes about the pandemic, work, money and baseball.

I feel really bad for the seniors that got their season cut short to this whole thing. I couldn't imagine all the hard work they put into their what could be their final season, to find out it came to an end.

As I was driving back to Casa Del Dova-Endo, a random thought came to me.

In high school, I used to go to a spot, a secret spot to get away and meditate. A select few know about this place. Since Kyle lived not too far from it, I decided to drive there.

It was still standing strong.

The tree about 50 feet high on the bluffs with the thick roots coming out of the ground like a rollercoaster track, looking over the pacific ocean (That's all the hint I'll give you).

I sat on one of the roots for about 20 minutes. Closed my eyes. Listening to the waves, crashing on the the cliffs. Breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth, just as my friend, and Breathe and Exposure coach Kimmy taught me how to.

It felt good to Zen out and think about nothing for a little bit.

I finally drove back home to Casa Del Dova-Endo to get more work done, but I had an unsettling feeling and was distracted by the news my mom told me early in the morning. I couldn't focus at all. So instead, I went back to my comfort food of eating curry, but instead of rice, I used broccoli florets instead.

As I was trying to stay focused to get work done, Taylor told me a local Venice pizzeria was selling wine for $20 dollars a bottle. He said he was going over so I decided to join in. Riley Rey, his golden doodle, came along for the ride too.

Desperate times calls for desperate needs, and I wanted to help out and take advantage of this, since the owner of Southend Venice is a member at Deuce Gym.

Support the Local/Small Businesses as much as you can during this time...

I came back home with 2 bottles of red wind; the South End Cabernet Sauvignon and Nero d’ Avola, Feudo Montoni (organic) 2010. I'm going to save those for an appropriate time. 

Before heading back to my place I stopped by Taylors place to hang out with Riley Rey. When she finally decided to take a nap, I was going to head out the door.

Then, the next moment I remember clearly.

I was sitting on Taylor's couch minding my own business. Then I heard him yell, "F**k."

I showed me an email that a friend of ours posted on Facebook reading "PLEASE READ: Preparing for LA County Shelter in Place Order", which LA Countyr resident will be told to Shelter in Place some time tonight.

Like a bad dream becoming a nightmare.

Then, shortly after, a Press Conference was held by the Mayor of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Pasadena where they addressed the "Safer At Home" Order.

Taylor, his girlfriend Ashley and I listened to the press conference as we all sunk into the couch...

I'm worried about my family.

I'm worried about all my friends, especially the ones that worked so hard to move out to Los Angeles to chase their dreams.

I'm worried about small & local businesses.

I'm worried about the world.

David texted me to switch spots in our tandem parking space because he was going to go get gas, which I told him about the Facebook post and turned on the news, but probably wanted to wait until an article came out on it. I decided to join him to get gas and then we went to the local liquor store so grab a couple more things since the "Safer At Home" Order came out. I also tagged along and went back to the same liquor store couple hours later since Taylor wanted to go.

Day 4 ended with a glass of wine that I had bought from Costco couple weeks prior to the Quarantine stage, then headed to bed around 11:10 pm, the latest if stayed up since Sports Emmys were due early February.

Let's see what Day 5 brings us.

Jun

P.S. - I dont' have much followers on this blogs (only 2) and I haven't shared this out in the social media world yet. But I did see someone read my Day 1 and Day 2 posts. (Thanks Joe!)

COVID-19 Quarantine: Day 3 - 3/18/2020

Day 3...


It never seems to fail that I wake up before my alarm. I had set my alarm again for 6:00 am but instead of 5 minutes before my alarm, I woke up an hour before this time around. I wanted to sleep in so I stayed in bed as long as I could until I became restless and got out of bed at 5:30 am.

Like every morning, I strolled over to the kitchen and set up my Cosori and Chemex to make coffee out of Caveman Coffee grinds.

During this quarantine phase, my goal is to do my workouts outside, which allows me to get at most an hour of air and sun, until we are on complete lockdown.

The Workout Of the Day was...

Warm Up:
2 Rounds of:
12 Lateral Raises (Canned Soup As Weights, Why Not) <<< Not edited
12 Glutei Bridge Raises
12 Cossack Squats

Handstand Series: 

Complete 6 rounds for quality of:

:45 Foot Elevated Plank Hold

-Rest :90-

AMRAP 20

Walking Lunges

Usually before every workout, I never stretch. Hardly ever. Only if it was mandated if I took a class. But this time, my right knee felt tight and every time I would put it down to the ground, I felt like it was going to tear. So I took about 30 minutes to stretch it out.

During the AMRAP (As Many Rep As Possible), I did 452 lunges, but I was being extremely careful with my knee, though it didn't hurt during the workout, I felt like I wasn't 100%. Better to be safe than sorry. After I returned to Casa Del Dova-Endo, I iced my knees.

...Also, yes, I used canned soup as weighs. Keep it interesting during these crazy times.

I have been portioning my meals for a while now. As many friends know, I can eat a lot. A small example would be eating three 3x3 In-N-Out Burgers in about 15 minutes. I was starving then.

But the beginning of last November, I was going through a pretty tough time. I was drinking everyday to ease the pain for about week. Then, one day in the middle of the month, I decided to do a fast. I was looking for articles on how I can improve my diet and fitness, especially with traveling for work every weekend and working crazy hours during the fall and winter, then I came across 2 articles on a basketball player named Dwight Howard on his journey for the upcoming 2019-2020 season.

Instead of easing into it, I went in cold turkey. You can ask David that. My workouts went from two to four days a week when I was home and I only ate one big meal after I worked out, which consisted of either chicken or ground turkey and green beans or broccoli.

I did it for 30 days and never felt better physically and mentally in my life.

But for lunch on Day 3, I had my last two leftover slices of pizza from David's birthday on Day 1.

After lunch, I went and continued to do more work from home, prepping for the upcoming USGA golf season and the NFL season.

I received a call from a number I hadn't recognized, but I remember calling the financial services I usually go get my taxes done at. They told me if I wanted to get it done, go over there now.

On a normal given week, Jefferson Financial Services is packed. I've waited 2 hours before getting my name called. So I would usually go 2 hours before they open like a maniac, be the first one there, be the first one on the waiting list. out of there in 45 minutes after they open.

On Day 3, I was out of there in about 20 minutes.

After I came back home, Taylor, one of my dearest friends I mentioned in Day 2, asked me if I wanted to go to Scopa Italian Roots, one of the restaurants a member at Deuce Gym owns and became friends with.

Since all restaurants are closed for dining in Los Angeles now, Chef Antonia Lofaso started up the Scopa Market, where the restaurant is selling items available for purchase and prepare at home.

Taylor went and order some pasta and sauce from there, as I was tempted to buy some ricotta and ciabatta but I held out because I had too much bread last few days.

Selfish. I know.

We came back to home and I went over to Taylor's place (Taylor lives in the same complex as David and I). They just got a new golden doodle, Riley Rey, that I helped Taylor on his adventure to Las Vegas to get the dog 2 weeks prior. 

Being around dogs are just awesome. Especially when they are puppies...except when they pee and poo everywhere.

After an hour or so at Taylor's, I came back and backed up files from my MacBook to a external hard drive because who knows when my computer my crash and burn. I got the MacBook Pro I am using in April 2013 as a college graduation gift from my mom and two sisters. It almost died on me before but I got it revived in 2018.

For dinner, I had 4 chicken tacos with chopped lettuce, onion, salsa and lime. As my friend and colleague (friend first), Bryan would say, "Taco on a Wednesday? You're crazy."

I sat on the couch as David was watching Mad Men but I decided to call it an earlier night and headed to bed around 7:55 pm and read one chapter from the book, "In-N-Out Burger" by Stacy Perman. 

I'm a big lover of In-N-Out and my co-worker bought me the book about how the empire was built.

I started a second chapter but my eyes felt heavy so I attempted to go to sleep.

Let's see what Day 4 brings us.

Jun

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