The Oracle of Apollo
Snippets from the life of Apollo Lee

April was an incredibly unproductive month in my projects. I wrote just one track all month–one ambient track that took me almost half an hour. All the reasons I come up with for not writing music on the train are all lame. I’m just lazy.

Of the 30 days in April, I completed my CrossFit workouts on only nine occasions. I skipped 13 official workout days. The idea behind the program is to do what you can, even if you have to substitute something. The idea is to work out for three days and take a day of rest—not work out for a day and take three days of rest. Fortunately, I am not totally pigging out anymore, so I didn’t gain any weight, although I do feel awfully soft.

It is really easy for me to slide back and fall into old habits, so I’d better nip this one in the bud, pull back from the PlayStation Portable in my satchel, and get some work done. Thankfully for my inactivity, it should be relatively quick to catch the Oracle back up. Musically, despite my low output in April, I’m still ahead for the year and on track to finish 52 tracks by the end of December.

I’m not going to beat myself up too much more over this. It’s more constructive just to pick myself up, dust myself off, and march on. Maybe I’ll write another ambient track on the train in the morning to take the edge off what will certainly be another incredibly taxing day.

Today’s workout was seven rounds of the clean & jerk for a one-rep max. I’m swapping that out for seven rounds for time of 10 dumbbell clean & jerks at 70 pounds (a pair of 35-pounders). I really need to do more upper body work anyway and practicing the dumbbell clean & jerks will work my core, hip extensors, and shoulders.

I started out really fast, but it only took a couple of rounds before I was subdividing the rounds into fives or threes. As I got more and more tired, I started to slow way down. But, I determined to stick out the whole workout, especially since I’m going on vacation next week to visit my family in Idaho. I doubt I’ll get much of a chance to work out while I’m up in the Gem State.

Rounds:

1. 01:07.87 (01:07.87)
2. 02:14.70 (03:22.57)
3. 03:09.13 (06:31.70)
4. 03:52.75 (10:24.45)
5. 02:46.78 (13:11.23)
6. 04:13.00 (17:24.23)
7. 03:37.95 (21:02.18)

That was a little bit harder than I thought it would be. I spent a bunch of that time starting at the dumbbells and breathing hard. Next time, I hope to knock half that time off.

My HRM: 21:04, 3:38 zone (hard); HR: 172 avg, 189 max; 319 cal

Today’s workout was “Fight Gone Bad”, a legendary workout that features an amazing barrage of work against the clock in a very short period of time. I’m definitely substituting some of these, due to lack of equipment or strength. But, let’s go after it.

Fight Gone Somewhat Douchey:

Three rounds for max reps:

1. 60 sec dumbbell thrusters (2×20# DB)
2. 60 sec sumo deadlift high pulls (53# KB)
3. 60 sec dumbbell push presses (2×35# DB)
4. 60s kettlebell swings (53# KB)
5. 60s rest

The original prescription also includes box jumps which I’d slated for tuck jumps, but in all the excitement I forgot them. Once I got going, I spent more time gasping than throwing the weights around, but I stayed after it as hard as I could. I managed to tangle up my headphones after a warmup and had to stop and restart the tabata music that allowed me to keep track of what I was doing. This workout didn’t like me and beat me up. I’m looking forward to a rematch.

Rounds:

1. 25 + 23 + 05 + 17 = 70
2. 21 + 20 + 06 + 21 = 68
3. 21 + 20 + 04 + 17 = 62

That made my score 200. Obviously, I need to do a lot more push presses with the heavy dumbbells. There’s really no excuse for such a weak showing, but I’ve been a little distracted lately. I need to stop blowing off so many workouts and refocus on my conditioning.

My HRM: 15:08, 3:06 zone (hard); HR: 166 avg, 185 max; 214 cal

Today’s workout was “Nate”, a hero workout that debuted about a month ago. My variation, “Eights for Nate”, features 20 minutes of work for max rounds. My lack of a pullup bar today will have me doing the pullups on a door. Here we go.

Eights for Nate:

Max rounds in 20 minutes of:

1. 8 door pullups
2. 8 weighted chair dips (22#)
3. 8 handstand pushups (knees on table)
4. 8 kettlebell swings (53#)

I thought that I’d be able to equal my effort from last time and get 8 rounds of the Eights done. Unfortunately, I underestimated the difficulty of doing pullups against a door with a limited range of motion. The pullups took much longer than they do on a bar, just because there’s nowhere to go but up. I’m going to get a pullup bar as soon as possible.

I finished 7 rounds with 15 seconds to spare. Next time, I’m going to get at least 8 rounds. No more door pullups for me. That’s a little bit ridiculous. Let’s try not to break our equipment in the future.

My HRM: 20:12, 7:32 zone (hard); HR: 158 avg, 178 max; 264 cal

Today’s workout was “Nicole”, a “girl” workout that I’ve done once before, although that time was using assisted jumping pullups. Today, we’re going for the full monty.

Max rounds in 20 minutes of:

1. 415 m run
2. Max rep pullups

I decided to set my pullup rounds to 10 pullups plus the run. After a couple of trial pullups to make sure that my horrendously rope-burnt fingers could handle the pullups. Feels okay. Let’s do this thing.

At first, I thought my runs were going to be difficult, because the sprinklers were on until I finished stretching out. Luckily, the sprinklers stopped and the area I was running through was either dirt or non-wet grass. I wanted to get at least five rounds done this time, so my goal per round was 4 minutes, run included. Most of the time, I’d wait about 15 seconds to run after my pullups were done.

I noticed time slipping away from me on the last round, so I decided to do 20 pullups in that round instead of the usual 10. This enabled me to do a little more upper body work and get everything finished with about 10 seconds to spare. I forgot to turn off my heart rate monitor, though, until I was in the car, heading home. Oops.

Rounds:

1. 3:25
2. 3:46
3. 4:00
4. 4:00
5. 4:50 (20 pullups)

My HRM: 23:33, 1:16 zone (hard); HR: 171 avg, 188 max; 358 cal
My stopwatch: 19:50

Today’s workout was “Michael”, a hero workout we get frequently (previously: Jan 09, Dec 03, Nov 17, Oct 28, Sep 19). Michael was the second CrossFit workout I ever attempted. Today, I’m gonna try to go hard and aggressive. My goal: 27:00 or faster. My January time was 27:42.96.

Three rounds for time of:

1. 810 m run
2. 50 situps
3. 50 back extensions (good mornings), 30# DB

Perhaps accidentally moving the situps and back extensions around in order (the website assigns the extensions first) allowed me to steam through this thing faster, but I’d like to think it’s because I’m significantly stronger than I was two months ago. Not only did I beat my 27 minute goal, but I beat it by more than a minute. This means that I’ve ripped 2 minutes off my previous best. Yeah, baby! Onward!

Rounds:

My HRM: 25:34, 4:50 zone (hard); HR: 171 avg, 192 max; 383 cal
My stopwatch: 25:34.91

My workout today was supposed to involve rope climbs, but I didn’t have a rope. I also didn’t have a 15 foot high ceiling to attach a climbing rope to. But, I figured I could tie a rope to my kettlebells and toss one end over a pullup bar. That’d do the trick, right?

Sure. If you get the right rope. The right rope is 5/8″ or 3/4″ or 1″ or 1½”. I went to REI this evening and bought an 8mm rope. I learned a few things from this experiment.

1. It’s very difficult to pull even a smallish 35 pound kettlebell off the floor with an 8 mm rope.
2. It’s very easy to friction burn skin off your fingers, even wearing a nice pair of weight lifting gloves.
3. Burning skin off your fingers makes pr0n useless.
4. I suck at certain knots, but I’ll practice them. You will not escape if I tie you up.
5. If you have a kettlebell suspended from the ceiling of the garage with a rope and the weak ass knot you tied fails, watch out for the swing. 35 pounds of cast iron swinging at your man berries will give you quite an adrenaline rush.

Today’s workout was the 5 km run. I headed out to the track under cover of darkness, as usual, in my kayaking shirt and a desire to beat my previous best. Last time, I finished five seconds slower than my previous run. Today, I’m aiming for a time of 26:30, which will be 14 seconds faster than my personal best.

As usual, I started out by trying to push my pace a little, so when I start to lag later on, I’ll hopefully be able to hold on for a 2 minute lap average. I maintained a sub 2:00 pace on the first six laps, except for the fourth, when my iPod headphones came out and I slowed down to reinstall them. As I rounded the 12th lap and noticed that I would beat my 26:30 goal if I maintained my pace, I decided to start the afterburner. Really hoping for a nice 26:00 finish, I lengthened my stride and started to fly. Unfortunately, I started my kick too softly and too late. But, I chopped 39 seconds off my previous best and 25 seconds off my stated goal. That’s a win, as far as I’m concerned.

Total time: 26:05.11 for 13 laps (5214 m)
Fast Lap: 01:53.87 (2)
Slow Lap: 02:05.83 (11)
Average Lap: 02:00.39

My HRM: 26:42, 0:28 zone (hard); HR: 189 avg, 199 max; 451 cal

Previously:

1. Feb 16, 2008: 26:49
2. Feb 09, 2008: 26:44
3. Jan 16, 2008: 27:00
4. Dec 28, 2007: 28:02
5. Dec 20, 2007: 28:23
6. Nov 29, 2007: 28:45
7. Sep 26, 2007: 32:06

Today’s workout was “Lynne.” Since I don’t have a barbell, a bench, or a pullup bar (I messed mine up the other day in a seething rage that saw its untimely demise), I’m swapping it out with a pair of exercises similar to those assigned. The workout I completed was actually the second attempt at a similar workout today (the first of which was the one that saw me throwing my pullup bar out the door).

“Soft Lynne”: Five rounds for time:

1. 10 pushups
2. 10 push presses (2×35# DB)

I thought, for some reason, that my push press times would be similar to my pushup times. Push presses are dramatically more difficult than pushups. My pushup rounds started out fast and, as the dumbbells sapped my strength, got noticeably slower. I should use this as a warmup when I get stronger.

Rounds

1. PU 1: 00:18.05 - 00:18.05
2. PP 1: 01:02.00 - 01:20.05
3. PU 2: 00:34.51 - 01:54.56
4. PP 2: 02:04.49 - 03:59.05
5. PU 3: 01:02.68 - 05:01.73
6. PP 3: 02:26.21 - 07:27.94
7. PU 4: 01:34.81 - 09:02.75
8. PP 4: 02:50.43 - 11:53.18
9. PU 5: 01:05.63 - 12:58.81
10. PP 5: 02:47.94 - 15:46.75

• Fast pushups: 00:18.05 (1)
• Slow pushups: 01:34.81 (4)
• Avg pushups: 00:55.14
• Fast push presses: 01:02.00 (1)
• Slow push presses: 02:50.43 (4)
• Avg push presses: 02:14.21

My HRM: 15:50, 7:32 zone (hard), HR: 158 avg, 178 max; 206 cal

Today’s workout was “Diane.” I felt like I needed something extra for Diane, because my heavy weights are the 35 pound dumbbells, so I added a round of heavy kettlebell swings. Here’s what we’re doing today.

“Swinging Diane”: Three rounds (21, 15, and 9 reps) for time:

1. 70 pound dumbbell deadlift (2×35# DB)
2. Handstand pushups (knees on table)
3. 53 pound kettlebell swings

After I finished my warmup, I expected that this workout would take me about ten minutes. I did a lot more work last time (maybe I should have done that today, instead). It wasn’t much of a challenge, but I tried to maintain a consistent output of energy.

Rounds

1. 04:10.30 - (04:10.30)
2. 03:08.25 - (07:18.55)
3. 02:00.07 - (09:18.62)

My HRM: 9:22, 2:28 zone (hard), HR: 169 avg, 185 max; 137 cal

Today’s workout was “Filthy Fifty.” We get this one every couple of months (previously: Jan 15, Nov 18). Filthy fifty consists of 50 reps per set of 10 exercises.

After some trouble getting my heart rate monitor to stay put on my opening tuck jumps, I started over, having already done a full set. I moved on to the jumping pullups on a precariously situated low pullup bar in my sun room. I went after today’s workout hard, because I wanted to beat my previous attempt. Last time, I got this stuff all done in just over 47 minutes. Today, my goal is 45 or faster.

As I started to get more and more tired, my ability to throw dumbbells over my head started to diminish. By the time I got to the thrusters, I was using a pair of twenty pound dumbbells. I had no zip left for burpees and substituted squat thrusts in their place. But, despite my perceived weakness, I must be getting stronger. I had a pretty good run at this one and beat 45 minutes easily.

Rounds

1. 01:30.34 (01:30.34) - 50 tuck jumps
2. 04:11.60 (05:41.94) - 50 jump pullups
3. 03:32.74 (09:14.68) - 50 kb swings (35#)
4. 03:16.21 (12:30.89) - 50 walking lunges
5. 05:47.80 (18:18.69) - 50 knees to elbows (on floor)
6. 07:39.09 (25:57.78) - 50 push presses (50#)
7. 04:36.88 (30:34.66) - 50 back extensions (25#)
8. 04:06.18 (34:40.84) - 50 thrusters (40#)
9. 07:30.75 (42:11.59) - 50 squat thrusts
10. 02:03.69 (44:15.28) - 100 rope jumps

My HRM: 44:42, 14:52 zone (hard); HR: 161 avg, 182 max; 602 cal

Today’s workout was “Angie.” Angie is a benchmark workout that will mess you up. The last time I did this, I did assisted pullups. Today, I’m going for the real deal. Here’s our workout.

For time:

1. 100 pullups
2. 100 pushups
3. 100 situps
4. 100 squats

I headed out under cover of darkness and started my pullups, knocking them out in sets of three. There’s 30. 60. 70. 75. As I got more and more tired, I was doing two and dropping off the bar, shaking my arms out, and hitting the bar again. 76. Pull hard. 77. Rip. Ouch.

I pulled my glove off my right hand to check out my hand. I could feel some tenderness, probably because I was jerking hard and wearing kayaking gloves. Once I got the glove off, I saw the damage. I had ripped the both the calluses off my right hand. They’re hanging by a tiny little sliver of skin. I tore each away carefully, regloved and hit the bar again. Oh, that’s not going to hold my weight. Use less palm and more finger. 78. 79. 80. 81. Okay, I’m done. Looks like that’s it for pullups today.

I jumped in my car and headed back to my house, deciding whether to fold on the workout or attempt the 100 pushups. The situps and squats aren’t going to be a challenge for a newly mangled palm. I found other gloves that don’t bind, my padded pushup handles, and decided not to stop. Might as well get it done. I subdivided the pushups into tens, then eights–careful of that hand. I got through the situps quickly and the squats even more quickly. It took far longer than last time, but I did 81 pullups, which is far more than I’ve ever done in one workout before. This weekend, I’m going to buy better gloves.

My HRM: 57:07, 17:08 zone (hard); HR: 136 avg, 172 max; 569 cal
Stopwatch: 55:08.26

Rounds:

1. 24:41.33 - pullups
2. 17:02.84 - pushups
3. 06:51.60 - situps
4. 06:32.49 - squats

• Fast: squats
• Slow: pullups.
• Avg round: 13:47.06

Today’s workout was five sets of back squats. Since I’m using 35 pound dumbbells instead of a barbell, I’m not going for max load. I’m doing five 15 rep sets of the squat.

I did this workout earlier this month, but I only did sets of 10 then. I pounded out the first set in just over 90 seconds. The rest required a little more staring at the dumbbells on the floor, cleaning them up to my shoulders, adjusting my stance and getting the work done. I have found the the more I concentrate on keeping my head up, even looking at the ceiling, the easier these are. Let’s see if I can, despite the 50% greater workload, come close to my 10:35 from last time.

My HRM: 10:30, 5:18 zone (hard); HR: 158 avg, 176 max; 136 cal
Stopwatch: 10:26.68

So, it looks like I sliced almost ten seconds off today. Not bad.

Today’s workout was a repeat of one I did before in November. Today, though, I’m adding a round of pushups to make it more of a challenge today. Let’s dance:

Seven rounds for time:

1. 10 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls (53# kettlebell)
2. 10 pushups
3. 10 chair dips

I was a little slower this time than last time, but that is because of the extra work on my plate. I managed to average just over 2 minutes a round this time. I’m not frowning too much about my progress, but I’m confident I’ll make even bigger strides when I stop making excuses and allowing myself to bail on workouts.

My HRM: 15:30, 8:44 zone (hard); HR: 161 avg, 180 max; 206 cal
Stopwatch: 13:37.85

Rounds:

1. 01:52.46
2. 01:24.91
3. 01:57.90
4. 02:08.10
5. 02:45.12
6. 02:44.78
7. 01:44.58

• Fast round: 01:24.91 (2)
• Slow round: 02:45.12 (5)
• Average: 02:05.41
• Total time: 13:37.85

Today’s workout was a big milestone for me. This is my 100th CrossFit workout. I started on September 18, 2007 with a pair of ten pound dumbbells and the determination to give this program an honest attempt. On that day, I weighed 181 pounds and was still marginally overweight. I stopped attempting to lose weight in January, when I bottomed out at 147.5 pounds. Since then, I’ve held around 150 pounds. The idea is to work hard, maintain this weight, ramp up the protein and the workouts, and burn off a little more body fat before slowly massing up. So, between July 27 and January 6, I lost 48.5 pounds. That’s probably enough.

I’ve been making lots of excuses lately, allowing myself and other people to push me off my workout regimen. As I get into better and better shape, I realize that these are all choices that I’m making. So, I’m resolving to reduce the number of missed workouts. Let’s lock it back down and do amazing things.

Here’s today’s work. It’s five rounds for time of:

1. 400 m run (actually, about 430 m)
2. 50 squats
3. 30 standing back extensions (25# dumbbell)

Remembering the other day’s redline lesson, I aimed at 2 minute laps today, hoping to finish today’s work in about half an hour. I gave myself 15 seconds in front of the run to catch my breath before starting the lap. I missed the 30 minute mark by only 6 seconds, but that’s because I forgot what I was doing on the fourth round and did 50 standing back extensions, instead of the required 30. I think if I had counted correctly, I’d have finished about 40 seconds faster.

My HRM: 30:13, 1:44 zone (hard); HR: 171 avg, 186 max; 451 cal
Stopwatch: 30:06.81

Rounds:

1. 05:05.59
2. 05:49.66
3. 06:05.75
4. 07:28.42
5. 05:37.39

• Fast round: 05:05.59 (1)
• Slow round: 07:28.42 (4)
• Average round: 06:01.36

Onward, friends!

Today’s workout, after a three day laziness hiatus (FOCUS, APOLLO), called for upper body work. I really need to man up and do more upper body work, so I dreaded and looked forward to this one.

The workout posted on the site called for 5 rounds of max load attempts, 1 reps for the shoulder press, 3 reps for the push press, and 5 for the push jerk. I decided to double everything and use my heavy 35 pound dumbbells.

To recap, it’s five rounds for time of:

1. 2 shoulder presses.
2. 6 push presses.
3. 10 push jerks.

The shoulder presses were rough at 70 pounds. Once I got my form right, I found the other things much easier. For the push jerks, I found my tendency to roll forward onto my toes. I yelled at myself a lot, but managed to get through the first set with the 35 pounders.

I was out of breath after the first set and I really didn’t have the power to shoulder press the 35 pound dumbbells anymore. I decided then to scale it back to the 30s (to total 60 pounds) and attack the final four rounds. I started to wobble quite a bit toward the end of round 4, feeling my reserves slipping away. I did the last set with the 25 pound dumbbells. At the end, I was exhausted. I should do this workout much more frequently.

My HRM: 30:40, 13:02 zone (hard); HR: 163 avg, 183 max; 420 cal
Stopwatch: 30:37.32

Rounds:

1. 06:01.23 (2×35# DB)
2. 06:58.26 (2×30# DB)
3. 05:16.78 (2×30# DB)
4. 06:35.41 (2×30# DB)
5. 05:45.64 (2×25# DB)

• Fast round: 05:16.78 (3)
• Slow round: 06:58.26 (2)
• Average round: 06:07.46

Today’s workout was very similar to one I did after I’d discovered CrossFit, but before I started actually doing it. Today, it was a little more work, but I doubt that I’ll be sore nearly as long as I was in August.

Four rounds for time:

1. 400 m run (actually, about 430 m)
2. 50 squats

After I redlined the first lap (and sprinted that 430 meters in under 90 seconds), I knew this workout was going to hand my ass to me. I went after the squats in that first round with abandon and had to rest for 20 seconds after I smacked the Lap button before I could start running again. I pulled it back a little bit, aiming for 2 minute laps and squat rounds about 3 minutes long. My original idea about getting through this workout in 17 minutes was probably a little unrealistic. I’m just happy I finished in less than 20 minutes after taking the heart rate above 215 bpm for the first time in a long time. Let’s not blow a head gasket, Apollo.

My HRM: 19:48, 1:52 zone (hard); HR: 174 avg, 217 max; 303 cal
Stopwatch: 19:44.30

Today’s workout called for 7 rounds of 3 reps each of the hang squat clean. I’m working with dumbbells, as usual. I knew that this workout would take me about 5 minutes, so I changed it up a little bit.

Three rounds for time:

1. 7 hang squat cleans (70# - 2×35# DB)
2. 14 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls (35# Kettlebell)
3. 21 Kettlebell Swings (35# Kettlebell)

This workout got my heart pumping hard and left me trying to chase my breath a lot. I attacked as hard as I could, but still needed about a minute’s rest between rounds. I tried to time the rest periods to exactly 60 seconds.

I need to do a lot more upper body work. I’m formulating some supplemental plans to get extra sore really soon.

My HRM: 11:48, 1:38 zone (hard); HR: 169 avg, 183 max; 173 cal
Stopwatch: 11:46.64

Today’s workout was a barbell workout — ten rounds for max load of single rep max on the front squat. I don’t have a barbell setup, so I’m doing the CrossFit Warmup and 7 rounds of 10 front squats with a pair of 35 pound dumbbells.

It didn’t take me very long to get through the squats. Each round averaged just faster than 90 seconds. I was done in ten minutes. I misread the workout on the CrossFit website, though. I should have done 100 reps, instead of only 70. Ah, well, I’ll keep my eyes peeled better next time.

My HRM: 10:10, 3:12 zone (hard); HR: 157 avg, 172 max; 130 cal
Stopwatch: 10:05.74

Today’s workout was a new one to me, a “girl” workout named Annie. Annie was nice to me. Annie consisted of the following:

For time:

1. 100 rope jumps + 50 sit ups
2. 80 rope jumps + 40 sit ups
3. 60 rope jumps + 30 sit ups
4. 40 rope jumps + 20 sit ups
5. 20 rope jumps + 10 sit ups

Doesn’t that look like fun? Yeah, let’s do this thing. I had to subdivide the sit ups into 25s and then 15s and then 10s as I got more and more tired. Like the guy in the video said, the rope jumps were the easy part (except he was doing double unders and I only did singles).

Thankfully, it stopped raining this evening so I could get this thing done. I’m really sick of all this rain.

My HRM: 13:17, 4:12 zone (hard); HR: 145 avg, 199 max; 145 cal
Stopwatch: 13:15.06