Hugh and Family, post swim.

Hugh and son beginning the swim from the island of Lanai, 9.1 miles to the coast of Maui. Wife Lani is in the kayak (photographer)

Dave,

I wanted to update you and your KB following on what my family and I are doing and how KB’s have made all the difference. My son and I are training for the 9.1 mile Lanai to Maui Channel swim. My wife is part of our support team and will kayak the entire distance. This event is a 5-6 hour channel swim and without KB’s I would certainly fail. Our greatest distance to date is 7 miles in prep for the main event that will take place over the Thanksgiving holiday. I am only 1 of 12 others who will attempt this event. It is worth mentioning that the other 11 are all kids (young adults). Several other adults started the process of training but all have fallen by the wayside. Most of their reasons are a lack of cardio endurance or shoulder/upper body fatigue. Thanks to a solid consistent KB regime I have no problems with either of these. My issue is it is a huge mental game after 4 hours in the open ocean environment.  (I think about things like, “is my life insurance paid up?”)

I will keep you posted and let you know the outcome……Suffice to say my team will have no problems completing the event…..We will see if the “old retired Marine” can do it!!

Semper Fi,
Hugh

The day after the event (26 November):

Roughly 5 hours……Lanai to Maui…  9 miles. I’ll send pics when we get back home.. Dave, thanks for the support and intro to kb’s. I couldnt have done it without them. We had company……3 whales and 1×10′ Tiger shark.    Hugh

While nothing I can write can add to this amazing accomplishment, let me clarify who Hugh is.  He and I went to flight school together and flew together in the Marine Corps.  Hugh was able to promote through the ranks and retired as a Squadron Commander in March of 2008.  In April of 2007 Hugh came to Yuma, Arizona, with his squadron in preparation to go to Iraq for 8 months.  I drove out from Tucson to see him (who was stationed in and currently lives in Hawaii) and packed my trusty kettlebell.  After catching up on our respective histories, I introduced Hugh to the kettlebell.   He had heard of them and some of his young officers had seen them, but they had no formal instruction.  In June of 2007 I went to my old base in Kaneohe, Hawaii, to train Hugh, his family, and his squadron with kettlebells.  They packed up and left in July and took their kettlebells.

Training Marines with Kettlebells, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii before deployment to Iraq

Hugh & Family, Lanikai Beach, Sunrise kettlebells.

Many of his squadron had joined the crossfit world and had improperly used kettlebells.  As Marines deploy, the accommodations of a crossfit gym are rarely found.  However, Hugh made sure that kettlebells deployed with his Squadron. Compact and portable, they provided all the gym they would want.  With proper instruction, they were being used safely and used quire often.   Of course, as Marines, pullup bars are routinely improvised/procured, and some attempts were made to recreate the crossfit experience, but, thanks to Hugh, the kettlebell was always immediately available.  If you look back at my blog, you will find workouts that were sent to his squadron, photos that they took with kbs, etc.  Many of those who went to Iraq made a personal commitment to improve their health while they were gone.  Most who made that commitment were able to do that.  Some of the crossfit folk returned home to their crossfit locales and destroyed their old personal records.  One of the taskings of the aircrew (in the back of the CH-53) is to wear nearly 70lbs of equipment and move stooped over, a very compromising back situation.  By building solid core strength with the kettlebells, those situations proved less painful over the 10-14 hrs of flight per day.  A good many Marines came to the conclusion that there really was no other instrument to improve their physical conditioning, and in world of Marines, where time is a precious luxury, there was no better workout than the mighty KB.

Turkish Get Up in Iraq. Kettlebells go anywhere, anytime.

Austere conditions, yet a full gym. One kettlebell goes a long way. Got 5 minutes, gimme 100 swings!

I went back to Hawaii in March of 2008 to see Hugh retire.   In the months following, he injured his back while trying to imitate the skills of his son with a board in the surf.   He had to lay off of the kettlebell, and practically everything else,  to just become a member of the human race and walk vertically.  We chatted about his return to the kettlebell.  Turkish Get Ups as far as he could go without pain, and Swings, with perfect form as long as no pain was involved, other than his lungs starving for air.  Over time, his body continued to heal and strengthen.  He was able to perform other exercises without pain.  And then word came of the Channel Challenge for him and his family.  He then began his amphibious (swimming) training, and found began putting the strength and stamina found in kettlebell training to practical use in the ocean.

The end 23 years of service to his Marines, his Corps and his Country. Thanks, Hugh!

Then came the letter before Thanksgiving this year.  Much like Beth’s letter of the fall, Hugh’s letter was monumental in that he was doing something (like Beth) out of the norm, and it was fitness related, and it was not for the timid.  A 9 mile open ocean swim.  Well, you read the rest of the story.

Hugh’s story is one of personal triumph in a situation where most persons would not even consider.  Let us not forget that his wife, also a kettlebell enthusiast, Kayaked 9.1 miles in the open ocean in support of Hugh and his son!    There is something unique in the bonding experience for a family, where all are involved in a common goal.  Often this is spectating, in this case, it was actively engaged in a demanding fitness endeavor.

The new year is coming upon us.  You have choices when it comes to fitness.  For Pavel, the man who brought the kettlebell to the United States, sums it up as follows: “… in Russia, when you go to the store, you have two choices.  Coffee, or, no coffee.  You choose.”  I recommend coffee.

For those who have found the kettlebell, it really is as simple as that.  If you are new to kettlebell training, contact me and let’s get started!