In January and February of 2010, Adrian McGough, a member at CrossFit Victoria, headed over to Thailand for some well deserved R&R. However, like any dedicated CrossFitter, he got a workout in wherever he could. Thankfully, Adrian kept a detailed online journal of his adventures. Here, we present some selected posts from his journal. Make sure you read it through, you’ll never guess how it all ended up for Adrian!

Adrian’s Thailand Journal

29.01.2010 0630 [Solo @ Sanaam Kilaa Jet Roi Phii (700 year stadium)]

Good to be back at my old Thailand CF stomping ground. Today I never really got around to doing a WOD [Workout Of the Day] but just a series of long warm-ups that left me too buggered for a session. Good fun though, covered A LOT!

Warm-up (WU)

2000 Run (Sprinting POSE style for the last 100 of each 400)
Joint Rotations (Covering everything I could possibly think of)
50 Walking Lunges

10 Pull Ups (Kipping)
10 Push Ups (Getting air every time though sans clap)
10 V Snaps
[x3]

20 Box Jumps [x3]

100 Sprint

REALLY, REALLY looking forward to taking CF on the road. Was fantastic to be doing a 0600 session in North Thailand. Some great WOD’s at CF:VIC too recently that I can do on the road. The plan was to do ‘ANNIE’ this morning but forgot rope and a stopwatch.

Loving the mega-joint rotation WU. Takes time but I really do think it is worth it, ESPECIALLY in the early morning, wakes up the whole body.

LATER ON….. [Solo @ Baan Say La Guesthouse, Chiang Mai]

WOD
100 Push Ups

04:44 NEW PB!!!! (Previous PB: 06:30)

First 30 went out FAST!!! Even surprised myself.
Got to 52 unbroken, a new PB!!
Hard at the end, really hard.

30.01.2010 0630 [Solo @ Monthathon Waterfall, Chiang Mai]

I’m taking this CF show on the road, seeing how versatile and mobile it can be. Decided to go for a serene location for today’s WOD. Located on a rocky outcropping above a waterfall, looking over Chiang Mai City and the sun rising right in front of me. AWESOME!

WU
1000 Run (500 uphill, 500 Downhill)
Joint Rotations

15 Push Ups (explosive)
15 Squats (deep)
[x3]

WOD
‘ANNIE‘
Double Unders
Sit Ups
[50-40-30-20-10]

08:06

POST WOD
Cool down under waterfall. Boo-ya, gotta love Thailand.

• Really extensive joint rotations again today. takes AGES but well worth it I think.
• So, thought that this was a pretty damn good ANNIE time. Barely missed a beat with the DU’s and while the situps did get slow, I kept moving. BUT…. then I saw Soula’s time… What the!?
• If you can find yourself a waterfall they are a great way to cool down post WOD. Also gives a really good post WOD massage.

31.01.2010 0600 [Solo (Khon Diaw) @ 700 Year Stadium (Sanaam kilaa jet roi pii), Chiang Mai]

WU
1200 Run (Sprint last 100 of each 400)
50 Walking Lunges
Joint Rotations (extremely thorough)
DU Practice

WOD
‘GEORGIA’
5 Pull Ups
10 Push Ups
15 Squats
1/2 Gasser
[AMRAP 10:00]

7 (exactly)

POST WOD
400 Run
Handstand practice (10 attempts, held one for maybe 7 seconds)
STRETCHING -> Hamstring, Lats, Shoulders, Triceps, Groin/Inner Thigh

• I began my work out in total darkness this morning. Running around the track with the moon setting was crazy, felt more like running in the middle of the night as opposed to morning. Moon set, sun came up, great way to begin the day.
• Went hard but not with full intensity. Only getting about 6 hours a sleep at night at the moment (and still feel great surprisingly, I guess it’s what happens when you take the stress out). I go hard and focus on keep moving as opposed to going flat out with everything. Still getting very good times though.
• REALLY loving having the time to really do a good warm up and cool down. Exercise becomes something different when you don’t have to feel rushed in and out of there because of work. You really focus, not distracted, amazing!

02.02.2010 0650 [Solo @ Pai, Mae Hong Song province, Thailand]

WOD
‘PAI’
4800 Run (uneven (up/down) road)
05:00 REST
4800 Run (concentrating on maintaing long, deep breaths)
. . .
20 Push Ups (fast)
20 Sit Ups (fast, want to improve ‘ANNIE’)
20 Squats (knees out, DEEP, hips open at top)
[x3]
. . .

untimed

• Really concentrating on holding the long breaths in the run. The uphills in the RUN were good POSE practice, downhill was a good chance to throw in a sprint.
• When I finished the run I had steam coming off me. Mad!
• PUSHUPS, were fast and bouncy.
• SITUPS really clenched the abs hard to increase power and speed on the way up.
• SQUATS really deep, technique is improving heaps (but they still are my least favorite bodyweight exercise).
• BEAUTIFUL(!!) run today. Sun rising from a mountain behind me, moon setting over a mountain in front. The rural Thai Pai valley shrouded in low cloud. I just felt so great in a way that I am unfamiliar with… … Thailand!

03.02.2009 0615 [Mae Hong Song, Mae Hong Song Province, Thailand]

WU
800 run (ran past a line of monks on their morning alms route, totally damn friggin RAD!)
extensive joint rotations

WOD
‘MAE HONG SONG’
400 run
20 push ups
20 box jumps
400 run
20 double unders
20 squats
[x5]

29:24

CASH OUT
313 steps to mountain temple (with long, steep inclines between sets of steps)

• Super tough WOD today. I must have been crazy (ting tong in thai) to come up with this. Nearing the end of 3 rounds I though I would just make that the WOD, but then I decided to not be a ladyboy and got back on the train.
• Such beautiful scenery for this one. Running around a lake that had two pagodas stretched out in the water. Would run to one, go in, pushups/box jumps, run to the next, go in, DU’s/squats. A huge, impressive temple right next door and mountains all around. So nice.
• Was hungry and tired for the entire day after this.

04.02.2010 0700 [Mae Sarriang, Mae Hong Song Province, Thailand]

WU
1000 run
joint rotations

WOD
‘MAE SARRIANG
5 pull ups
5 push ups
5 sit ups
[AMRAP 10:00]

16 (+5 +5 +2)

Done early morning at the local school with the basketball ring stand for a PU bar. Cool, fun, AMRAP. Go, go, go. I like this.

05.02.2010

REST DAY

1 hour body massage…. NICE!! (actually, I get these everyday, rest or not)

Was really impatient with the REST DAY. CF is how I start my day, without it I am all out of sorts.

06.02.2010 0900 [700 year stadium, Chiang Mai, Thailand]

WU
800 run (sprint last 100 of 400)
joint rotations
. . .
15 push ups
15 box jumps
15 squats
[x3]
. . .

WOD
‘700 YEARS’
5 ring dips
10 pull ups
15 situps
[AMRAP 20:00]

9 (+2, +0, +0)

• Slept late today and so had to do this one in the heat. No real problem other than it made me rush through my warm up, doing less extensive JR’s.
• Good workout, was going to make it 10:00 but decided that it wasn’t a GO, GO, GO! AMRAP because muscle fatigue would set in and provide plenty of rest between DIPS and PULL UPS.
• GREAT!!! to finally pull out the power rings. A worthy investment. GET SOME!!

08.02.2010 0630 [Bangkok, Thailand]

WOD
‘BANGKOK BREAKFAST’
3500 run

untimed
. . .
joint rotations
. . .
1x MAX deadhang pullups x11
2x MAX weighted pullups x6 @ 8kg / x2 @ 12kg
. . .
3x MAX parallel bar dips 12 / 7 / 5
. . .
3×15 GHD situps

• DAMN! It is humid here in BKK. The sweat, the sweat! Was like having a bucket of water thrown on me.
• Awesome run this morning. Ran otu of my guesthouse and down an alley with the street stalls firing up for breakfast, smoke and steam everywhere. then up and down the many stairways that are used for road crossings here and past many a Thai disembarking a skytrain or bus on the way to work.
• Lumphini park was CRAZY. Seemed all of BKK was there exercising in one way or another, running, stretching, tai chi, tai chi with fans, yoga, badminton, ballroom dancing, weight sessions at the free outdoor gym. SO… VERY… COOL!!

09.10.2010 0600 [Bangkok, Thailand]

WU
4000 run (this was a WOD really, didin’t hold back, gave everything and collapsed at the end)
joint rotations

WOD
‘KRUNGTEEP’ (aka ‘SWEATFEST PART 2’)
GHD situps
PB dips
[21-15-9]

untimed (stopwatch back in CM)

CASH OUT
50 burpees

• The RUN was once again so damn cool. Up and down walkways, running along the ‘airwalk’ and past all the foodstalls firing up to finish in the park with Thais going crazy to Jazzercise and many other activities.
• The WOD took kind of slow and made it more a strength development exercise as opposed to speed.
• The BURPEES. What a stupid idea. Realised I’ve been neglecting them here after making serious improvement just before I left. (still a stupid idea).
• SWEAT!! SWEAT!! SWEAT!! SWEAT!! SWEAT!! Have drank 3 litres of water already today (11am) and I still think I’m hugely dehydrated.

10.02.2010 0630 [Kanchanaburi, Thailand]

WU
800 run
joint rotations

WOD
‘THE RIVER KHWAI’
20 box jumps
20 push ups
20 squats
20 double unders
[x5]

untimed (have to get back to Chiang Mai and get my stopwatch)

CASH OUT
50 dips (regular, legs elevated)

• Did the 800 run and just wasn’t feeling it today. Still, lumbered through JR’s, planned a WOD and once it began I was into it.
• I’m getting faster every day. Running is back to where it used to be and very little in a metcon will throw me. Learning to like all the movements.
• Need to start increasing intensity, it’s one thing I have been slacking off in.

12.02.2010 0900 [Bangkok, Thailand]

Woke up too late and too hot, dirty and crowded outside.

Just did small WOD in my room.

WOD

100 Pushups

untimed

14.02.2010 0700 [Chiang Mai, Thailand]

WU
2000 run (sprint last 100 each 400)
joint rotations (extensive)

WOD
‘ANGIE’
100 pull ups
100 push ups
100 sit ups
100 squats

19:19 NEW PB!!!! [Previous PB 22:07 23/01/2010]

CASH OUT
30 ring dips

• SMASHED IT!! Been wanting to get under 20:00 for a while now and don’t know how I did it today. Didn’t even feel that I pushed myself too hard, maybe 85%. SUPER HAPPY with this time, and to wipe almost 03:00 off my last PB is crazy. The metcon training is clearly making leaps and bounds.
• Feeling fast, feeling strong, feeling great. I have ‘it’ again.

15.02.2010

DAMN! DAMN! DAMN!

I’ve developed a slight skin infection over my right knee. Can you believe it just like last time but opposite leg. This time however I am onto it straight away. Already been to the Doc and got my hardcore antibiotics. If still around in a few days I’ll be back at hospital shooting those AB’s right into my arm. NO WAY am I going to have a repeat of 8 months ago. This does however mean that it is probably wise to keep the activity to a minimum, especially on the legs. Might just have to do some low intensity movement work for a few days to a week until this blows over.

16.02.2010

Knee infection still taking it’s toll. Looked better when i woke up today but seems to have gotton worse over the day. Might need a full bed day tomorrow, lots of AB’s, if still no better in 2 days, back to the hospital to get stronger meds injected directly.

17.02.2010

Knee still up the shoddypipe. Not looking good. Tomorrow I will be back to the hospital to step up the AB strength. No more oral, going to mainline them from now on.

DAMN! You know, I can’t believe this, exact same problem as last time just other knee. Who has ever heard of anyone that is extremely susceptible to staph infections over the knee??

18.02.2010

REST! REST! REST!

Don’t expect to see much else on here. The staph has taken a deep hold. I am now on injected AB’s, if no signs of improvement tomorrow I wil be hospitalised and receiving multi day IV AB’s. So, there goes the training hey. It’s OK, I’ve had a wicked time over here and really learnt alot about myself. I am appreciative of the fact that I can get treatment and will be cured. Not all people can say that.

Trained pretty hard these last few weeks. Maybe a week or two rest is in order anyway.

19.02.2010

After 24 hours on injected AB’s things are looking better. The center of it all still doesn’t look pretty but the overall red, hot, swollen area has reduced massively. My knee now looks like a giant pimple, a good sign, the staph are being eradicated and turned into waste. Good to see, I was really starting to get myself down with the non-progress of recovery, but after 6 day it finally seems to be on the retreat and I don’t have to spend my final days in Thailand in a hospital bed receiving IV every 6 hours. Sweet.

20.02.2010

Staph still going down, becoming quite disgusting actually, but that’s what you want. One concern is a small part of the knee that is remaining tough, putting up a fight. Had my third injection just a couple of hours ago, one more tomorrow, and then back to the doc for a follow up on Monday.

SOOOOO want to do a WO, even just cut the legs and do upper body, but I feel that the smart thing is to let ALL my energies be directed towards the fight.

22.02.2010

Infection almost gone. Knee still in deep repair status. Still receiving daily AB shots and have a weeks worth of AB tablets to take once home. Just might throw in a light upper body WOD later today to start getting back into. Best to let the legs rest I figure but need to start doing something physical. All this rest has brought me down from cloud 9.

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