The Oracle of Apollo Snippets from the life of Apollo Lee

CrossFit Day 19

Today’s workout was “Murph”, a hero WOD named for Lt. Michael P. Murphy, a Navy SEAL who died in Afghanistan in 2005. Yesterday, the White House announced that Lt. Murphy will posthumously receive the Medal of Honor.

The “Murph” workout is double tough. There was no way I was going to be able to do the whole thing, but I thought I’d go for it anyway. Here’s the official workout. For time:

  1. 1 mile run
  2. 100 pullups
  3. 200 pushups
  4. 300 squats
  5. 1 mile run

I decided that I could do 10 tapered sets, starting at 10, of jumping pullups, twice as many wall push aways, and three times as many squats. I opted to run just over a mile to Sunnyvale Middle School Park and use the bar there. After a ten minute jog during which my right shoe came untied about four times, I made it to the bar and started my work. The ground was muddy, so that’s how the pushups became the subsituted for leaning pushes against the sign post to the right of the bar. Despite the 55 jumping pullups, 110 leaning pushes, and 165 squats, I was still absurdly slow. Next time, I hope to improve this score vastly.

My results: 52:00, 19:58 zone (hard); HR: 167 avg, 187 max; 799 cal burned


CrossFit Day 18

Today’s workout was a familiar tune. Apollo lacks the equipment necessary. So, instead of doing the full “Linda” workout, which is a tapered series of rounds of deadlifts (150% of bodyweight), bench presses (full bodyweight), and cleans (75% of bodyweight), I improvised a workout with my available dumbbells. To compensate for the woefully inadequate workload, I doubled the number of reps. To wit:

10 Rounds for Time (20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 reps per round) of:

  1. Dumbbell Deadlifts (2×30# DB)
  2. Reclining Push Presses (no bench) (2×20# DB)
  3. Dumbbell Cleans (2×15# DB)

At first, I was going to attempt 20 rounds for time with only the 30 pounds dumbbells, but when I got to the bench press substitution, I found the 30 pounders to be too awkward and heavy for me to push from a lying position on the concrete. So, using the 20 pound dumbbells as my “bodyweight”, I duplicated the ratio of weight per exercise and went from there.

I am so glad no other people were watching my cleans. They were ugly like none of you can even picture. I’m sure I have insulted my entire zip code. In an attempt to keep my heart rate up, I stormed through, ending up with 110 reps per exercise. For me, the deadlift was the easiest and the cleans were the hardest — primarily because the clean is a fairly complex movement compared to the other two. Sooner or later, I’ll have to get me an Olympic weight set, so I can properly do these exercises. Until then, the dumbbells are going to have to do. I’m considering adding another pair (40 pounders) this weekend.

My results: 25:43, 10:52 zone (hard); HR: 160 avg, 190 max; 367 cal (30% fat)


CrossFit Day 17

Today’s workout was one I could very easily have found a reason to scale it back, but I can jump rope and I can squat. I have completed one previous full-strength workout as prescribed, a 5 km run. So, I decided that I could do the whole thing today. In case you’re wondering, this is the workout:

Five rounds for time:

  1. 50 Squats
  2. 100 Rope Jumps

Lately, there have been a few informative videos on the CrossFit website featuring Buddy Lee, giving technical tips in mastering the jump rope, including double unders. So, with his advice in mind, I went after my workout today. 500 rope jumps is pretty tough. I learned a few things.

  1. When I mess up and land on the rope or mistime the whole thing, I start to get frustrated. Then, I don’t get 10 more in a row. I get two.
  2. When I get tired, I tend not to bounce as high. Getting off the ground is key in jumping rope.
  3. It’s all in the wrist. When I’d get pissed off and tense up, I’d always either land on the rope or land before the rope. When I relax, let my wrists do some of the work, and avoid tensing up too much, I can do a lot of jumps in a row. My best today was 47 in a row.
  4. I need to practice landing less stompingly (to coin a word). I felt like I was pounding the concrete. Light and supple is the order of the day. Easy does it.
  5. I should count every ten. bounce bounce bounce bounce bounce bounce bounce bounce bounce bounce <whisper>ten</whisper> Counting every one distracts focus and tangles me up.

Whew. What a workout. I’m still sore from the upper body stuff. I think my hike to the train station tomorrow morning has a high probability of slowness.

My results: 29:52, 9:46 zone (hard); HR: 168 avg, 190 max; 464 cal


CrossFit Day 16

Today’s workout was something so tough that I decided to substitute the entire thing for something more or less in my ability range. So, instead of 7 rounds of weighted pullups at max weight, I substituted 7 rounds of jumping pullups. In order to challenge myself, I did tapered sets, starting at 15 and working down to 9. This would total 84 jumping pullups.

I didn’t get started until about 10 and I was stuck once again with the 5’8″ tall pullup bar at the par course at the local elementary school. The 6’8″ tall bar rolls, so it won’t take a pull without dumping the puller on his butt. Tonight was, apparently, cell phone night in the park. One guy talking on his phone stood in front of me, watching me try to ignore him. Finally, after trying not to be a jerk and being self-conscious as hell because, well, I am the biggest pussy on the face of the planet, I barked at him to fuck off and go chatter on his phone elsewhere. An old man circled the grounds, pausing at me to give me the looksee, before moseying on. Some Indian guy paced the sidewalk in front of my face, talking loudly in Telugu or something. Buzz off!

Pullups are really difficult for me, so I steeled myself to do all of these. I had to stop a few times, just because my hands are not used to my body weight hanging from my arms. Once six of the sets had gone by, I found it increasingly impossible to resist my downward momentum and simply tried to avoid yanking my shoulders out of their sockets.

I am desperately, feloniously low on upper body strength. I need to work it harder.

My results: 19:19, 11:32 zone, HR: 146 avg, 159 max; 233 cal (40% fat)


CrossFit Day 15

Today’s workout was a workout named for a fallen sailor who died in Afghanistan. “J. T.” was a little bit out of my league, so I had to substitute two of the three exercises for things I can actually do. In order to add challenge and to compensate for my wimpiness, I added one exercise. So, let’s get it on:

3 rounds for time (21, 15, and 9 reps per round) of:

  1. Pushups (orig: handstand pushups)
  2. Chair dips (orig: ring dips)
  3. Pushups
  4. Kettlebell swings (35#) (my addition)

This workout was amazingly challenging, primarily due to the number of pushups. For long stretches of time, I had to do my pushups two or three at a time. After a couple of interruptions of people wandering through or milling around, I completed my odyssey. My form sucked when I started to get tired. Gotta do this one more.

My results: 14:52, 5:57 zone (hard); HR: 144 avg, 172 max; 178 cal (40%)

That’s 90 pushups, 45 dips, and 45 swings. Ouch.


Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve

It’s gotten to be quite a tradition, lately. Ozreiuosn and I go hiking quite a bit lately. Well, it’s a lot of fun and we get some exercise. Today, Oz picked out a couple of trails at Purisima Creek Redwoods. After a short lunch in Half Moon Bay, we headed up the hill. Harkins Ridge Trail heads up to 1515 feet on a trail that skirts the dry side of a gulch that overlooks Purisima Creek. Some of the portions of this trail are very steep, but the views are well worth the effort. At the top of Harkins Ridge, we followed the ridge back down into the redwoods along Soda Gulch Trail and later down the wide Purisima Creek Trail. The weather was perfect, although a little warmer than I was expecting it to be, but that’s why we wear layers.

Great hike. I’m going to have to come back and explore more of the scenic trails here.

My stats: 3:32:43, 56:56 zone (basic), HR: 109 avg, 163 max, 1424 cal
Distance: 7.15 miles.


Jazzy Slow Burn

Today was a rest day, according to the CrossFit website. I still have some excess weight I’d like to lose, so I decided to do a long slow burn walk today. After last weekend’s mountain trek, I decided to take a little stroll down to the local record store and pick up more old CDs are bargain basement prices. It’s just down the street. I laced up, cleared my GPS, and took the stroll.

Rasputin Music has just completed a new book section, skimpy that it is, and has a huge jazz section. Off I go. The distance: 5 miles. Other than a couple of stops for water bottles, I maintained a good speed (even through a phone conversation) and made it just about sun set. I selected seven CDs from the jazz bin and decided that I would walk back toward my house until I got tired, then I’d jump on the bus and make the rest of the way home. From the corner of Palo Alto, I started marching down El Camino Real. Crossed into Mountain View about while later. Another 2½ miles on and I’m officially back in Sunnyvale. The bus passed me seven times during my hike. I pushed the pace a little at the end and arrived home well after sunset, sweaty and accomplished.

My results: 10.13 miles in 2:32:15 (4.0 mph avg)
HR Monitor: 2:54:54, 2:28:10 zone (basic), HR: 126 avg, 159 max, 1655 cal

Tomorrow: More hiking, this time in the mountains somewhere.


Speedy Delivery

After the big pain in the ass that passport application day was, I made certain to mark down when to expect my new passport. According to the State Department’s Passport Office, I should expect them to process my application within 4 – 6 weeks of receiving my application. The guy at the post office said to expect 6 – 8 weeks to receive it.

After tonight’s workout, I looked over in my mail basket to see if I’d gotten anything important. There was an overnight express parcel. Ooh, what’s this?

I opened it and found inside my submitted birth certificate, one of my two photos, and a brand new blue passport.

For the record, I did not pay for the expedited service. I paid for the normal service.

Special thanks to the US Passport Office. I expected eight weeks. You put a passport in my hand in fifteen days. Wow.


CrossFit Day 14

Today’s workout was an annihilating barrage of three rounds of midline stabilization exercise along with four quarter mile runs. To wit, our assignment was as follows (my substitutions are in italics):

For time:

  1. 400 m run, 50 power cleans @ 30 pounds (2×15# DB), 40 assisted pullups.
  2. 400 m run, 40 power cleans @ 30 pounds (2×15# DB), 30 assisted pullups.
  3. 400 m run, 30 power cleans @ 30 pounds (2×15# DB), 20 assisted pullups.
  4. 400 m run.

The original called for L pullups, but I have a hard enough time with jumping pullups. So, I did assisted pullups using the bench on the left side of the low bar at the elementary school playground near my house. Running across the grass field in the dark wasn’t too bad—street lights lit the route mostly. I used my rubber 15 pound dumbbells to do the power cleans, although my form sucked more than Lake Peigneur. I am quite certainly going to feel this workout for a few days.

My results: 29:49; 8:58 zone (hard); HR: 168 avg, 191 max; 469 cal.


Crossing Over the Line

For the first time since I started eating solid food again after my October 2005 crash that broke my face, I am no longer overweight. Since January 2006, I have been consistently overweight with a maximum BMI of 28.12. This morning, at 174 pounds, my BMI has dropped below 25 for the first time in almost 2 years.

For the record, my weigh in nine weeks ago today was 22 pounds heavier. How did I do it?

I burn more calories than I take in. I keep very strict track of my food intake. I am doing more weight workouts, along with an hour or more of walking every day (I live 1.5 miles from the Caltrain Station and work in San Francisco. Might as well march it.) and trying to eat better.

Over the past month, I’ve averaged about 1810 calories in per day, 1167 calories of exercise per day, and lost an average of just under half a pound per day (with plateaus, small gains, and good losses).

I have 10 or 15 pounds left to lose, then it’s all about concentrating on athletic performance gains (not that I’m not focusing on that now).

Onward, friends! Ever onward!

Today: 174.0 pounds (78.93 kg) => 24.97 BMI (Normal).


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