...Are we human, or are we dancers?

Dunno. Some gay drivel i heard on the tranny at the gym.

Today was the first day in rather a long time i felt at all like a human.* Last night i breached the mind-warping looney bin of pre-xmas Wal-Mart 'cuz i was so desperate for glucosamine. This was unwise, and i left in a blank stare wondering if the universe could really tolerate such a dense profusion of entropy in such a small area; but i prevailed.

Seriously: electrons are not particularly intelligent or predictable, but they do what they're supposed to do. That is, they stay the hell as far away from each other as they can manage. Wal-Martians, on the other hand, although approximately on average of the same intellectual bent as electrons, are mutually convinced that they, individually, are the only ones in the damned store. While electrons are arguably not convinced of anything whatever, they do strangely, by their God-given aversion to other electrons, thereby acknowledge the presence of the others.

i found myself, with my glucosamine, deodorant, and contact solution in the oxymoronically labeled "fast lane/self-checkout" line. There probably exist stores where self-checkout kiosks are a fine idea, but if i'd noticed that caveat on the sign when i got in the line i'd have nipped off and found me a nice half-mile long line with a cashier. i was second in line to check out. Second.

You get numb to hearing about the brain-dead exploits of the Wal-Mart crowd, i realize. Normally, though, they're just irritating-- maybe in the same way you or someone dear to you becomes wretched and irritating upon entering Wal-Mart. But this woman had three children and long about 200 items in a self-checkout line. That'd be plenty irritating, but she apparently thought it'd be socially acceptable to let her 11 year-old girl scan everything. Hijinks ensued. The lady behind me (and very likely several of the ladies in the 2 miles behind me) started cursing and gnashing her teeth. Fifteen minutes later, after learning which bit of each package she'd need to scan in order to make the robotic voice stop accusing her of theft, and having fetched a cashier from an otherwise smooth-flowing line to help her scan a picture frame with no tag on, she mercifully paid to end our misery. Only, lo and behold, the eleven y/o had reserved several items in the cart she wanted to pay for with her own money. Finally, she turned around and apologized to me that she'd never have expected it might take so long to check a mere 200 items (or however she phrased it in Ghetto). Then the yotch traipsed off, left her effin' cart parked right in front of me (like that's where, as far as she knew, Wal-Mart tends to store their carts), as well as her sparkling daughter, who was still trying to figure out from which complicated hole her change was gonna emerge when i took my receipt and bolted.

It was worth it though. i went to the climbgym today, and felt like i was gunning above 50% for the first time in months. Still not close to full-bore, and my ring-finger tendon and biceps still bark at me, but they let me climb. Retro-flashed a v4 endurance problem, almost got my project 4, and then tagged the penultimate hold on another 4. Nothing earth shaking, but it was awful encouraging to know i can still climb. Now to address those new year's resolutions...




*Or rather, like myself in a previous, better state. Couldn't rightly say i've ever felt like a human. Never been close enough to one of 'em to say if we've anything in common.

Fell on. Black days.

Imagine something bovine, swinging from a couple of those stretchy sticky rubber whips you used to wet down and irritate friends and teachers with as a lad, and that's about the correct picture of me in today's training session. we're staying at Steph's parent's house whilst replacing the flooring in ours, and for large chunks of the day there's nothing to do but eat while i'm watching the kids. The tendonitis has abated nearly not at all, although i've taken at least four days off. Plus, today's the first day of trying to quit dipping, so i feel like butter scraped over too much bread. (i just came up with that analogy, just now.) So instead of laying flooring, i'm drinking beer and trying not to think of how nice a dip sounds, nor of how much i'd like to strangle someone till they stop twitching. Maybe i need a hobby...

CFS

Sat. and mon. i went in to the climbgym. Been gone for the last three weeks straight, so i had to reacclamitize. Sat. i sent a v3 that'd eluded me at the comp, but not much else to speak of. i feel like i have chronic fatigue syndrome or something-- like i really need to sleep for about 20 hrs. straight to get caught up. Plus i have screaming tendonitis in most of my upper body, especially m' hands. On the other hand, i came pretty close yesterday to tagging my first v5. i was kinda going through the motions and not feeling very good when i hooked up with a coupla' other blokes throwing at this v5. i watched 'em for a good long while and started thinking it looked doable. Couldn't establish quick enough on the crux pinch 'cuz my hands are so torn down, but it felt possible if i can just heal. i'm kinda' excited about being home again. Even though i'm looking down the barrel of probably getting another monitor tech job (or something equally low paying) i'm excited about getting to heal up and start working out seriously again. No matter what i end up doing, i'm certain my attitude will be better now because i know how shitty it can get. And that's a blessing (albeit a weird one). Also, i might actually get to go back to school without Steph having to work if i can snag a 12 hr. shift job. i'm very motivated to get into PT school. i don't want to be a tech forever.

Sweet n Low

As always (and i have an astonishing number of time chords that'd fall under the heading "always"), it's a bittersweet bolus to choke down being unemployed. On the one hand, there's one helluva weekend with which to get stuff done. On the other, there're many slitted, derisive eyes insinuating at every turn that there's probably some better way i could be spending my time than whatever i'd be doing. At any rate, it's come down to a true battle of priorities for us. Being gone for 9 out of every 14 days (and spending 24 hrs. a day around oilfield trash) is having a clearly deleterious effect on my li'l family. On the other hand, i can't come up with anything that pays even in the same ballpark as rigwork that gets me home every night. i know there's something out there, but i don't know what it is. Bit nerve-wracking. i'd take a big pay cut to get to be close to home, but i can only realistically take so much before we can't pay our bills. Prayers please.

Tard

It's been a while since last I wrote, and i'm gonna see if I can post from my phone. Every tendon in my body hurts, and i'm looking for a new job. Getting 5 days out of every 14 to see my family is unacceptable-- i'm not man enough for it I suppose. Plus i'm kinda' sick of having global tendonitis that never has time to heal. Anyhow, i'd appreciate your prayers. Cheers mates.

Pull and Grass

Yesterday was this year's annual Yank 'n' Yard climbing comp at ye olde rockgym. That was good clean fun, that was. i didn't climb anywhere near capacity, cuz m' hands were tired when i went in the door, but i did get second place in my age category (31-36 y/o). Guess i was pretty happy about that. And i won an Access Fund t-shirt, and a "Women of Climbing" 2009 calendar (which has so far failed to make Steph as happy as it made me.) i'll be curious to see what some of the grades on those routes end up being, but i felt like i was climbing a lot of v2. i might be surprised, but nothing i got felt much harder than that.

Well, i hope you guys are still in one piece, and you had a good weekend of it. Happy bachelorism, and i'm sorry i missed the party, B. Hopefully i'll get up there with you guys one of these times. Peace out.

...a mind to rhyme and two hyped feet...

Yeah baby! Daddy's like some kind of rabbit's foot or something for me. Snagged two v4s yesterday. That one i sprayed about last week i went up to and yanked first try. Got a bunch of other stuff, and then settled into working another 4. Ended up not getting it before i ran outta time, but i linked through all the moves. Just couldn't hang on long enough to put it all together. Then Mama and Daddy showed up, and i sneakily took him back to the gym with me on an "errand run." He jumped on it and sent with the yoga-gorilla beta, but i didn't have that kind of game. Finally got it old school cuss-at-it-till-it-falls style.

It's amazing how much the rig work takes out of my arms. It's different muscles than i typically use for climbing, but it makes for some weird failures. i get two weeks off of using my crimpers, so i've gotten strong as hell on crimps, but the huge "easy" buckets and pinches i find myself totally juiced on. i have ongoing tendonitis from my shoulders to my palms.

Funny note: last thurs. was the filthiest day of my life so far. i swam for eight hours or so in drilling mud. we were tripping joints out of the hole, and every time we'd break a connection mud would spew out all over the place. i had the luxurious job of holding a piece of plastic over the connection when this happened. The other guys had on rain gear, but i had no warning. i was so covered in mud, i'd stop between connections and slick the crap off of me. we're talking every orifice on my body was crammed. There've been some times when confronted by public toilets that i've layed down some prophylactic toily paper to save me from Hep-C, but this was the first time i've ever felt compelled to put the paper on the seat to protect it from my ass.

On a brighter note...

The fam and i, along with the bro-in-law et familia, went to Las Conchas on sat. we got there a bit late ('cuz one of the dogs kept puking in the back of their car every 15 mins.), but we got some climbing in. Annie got that 5.6 we started out on. Just before we left, i insisted on doing that 10d/11a just to the right of that route. It was so cold i couldn't feel my hands, but i got the route with a couple of hangs. would'a got it onsight, 'cept for the cold i think. It definitely isn't 11a. i'd guess it's a bit closer to 10b/c. Still a nice feeling that i go fairly hard on real rock. After floundering like a fish on that 9 with you guys, i wasn't sure. The day before that, i went in to the gym. Couldn't even start that v5 i've been wanting. The first move is reeeeal shouldery, and my week on the rig pretty much decommissioned my left shoulder for a bit. But i did send a nice handful of v3s, a long string of 2s, and i nearly second-tried a v4, but i ran outta gas for the final throw. The one seriously joyous facet of rigwork is that i came home an easy 5 lbs. lighter than when i left. i just live on high-cal breakfasts, turkey sandwiches, and granola bars. Gotta be burning 3,000 cals/day, and i'm eating around 1,800. Skoal, it turns out, is low in saturated fat. If i can just hold my decrepit body together, i might come out of this a better climber. Solanjy var.

Plumb beat the hell out of

Just got home yesterday evening. Worked eight 12 hour shifts in a row. Nothing in me works the way it's supposed to. i managed to fall in the cellar of the well twice (once from a ladder), and i ended up cutting off a chunk of my own ear with scissors.* If i leave my arms in one position for more than a couple of minutes they'll both go to sleep. And two days later i still can't fully close my hands. 96 hours of good, clean fun, that. The upshot is that, well, it's over. But i think it won't take me long to be running my own rig. Turns out ain't nobody on these things what've been there more than a year or two. i've been told i'm grossing a bit over 70K as a swab, but drillers edge the 6 figure mark. i think you should both come work with me, and we can take over a rig. It's long hours, but you get 6 months off per year. Not too bad if you don't mind working your ass clean off and collapsing at the end of the day. i don't think i'll be hurting this bad once i get used to the work, and a week off every other week is some extra fine road-tripping time. And seeing's you likey the strongman schmidt, G, you'd get to spoon with 1,000lb. chunks of steel on a more frequent basis than you ever have before. Whaddaya say?

*I'd appreciate it if you don't mention any of that to your coworkers, g.

Perfectly gravid

Didn't get m' wee v5 today. On the other hand, i did get all the moves and linked through the crux. She'll fall if i can get back in with 90% or better in the tank. It's very pumpy, you see. Wed. i thought i'd overdone it on my right bicep. Wasn't sure, but there was a funny twinge. Today there was no doubt. There was an innervated piano wire running down me arm preventing the lock-off i really needed to do. At any rate, assuming i ever get back to the climbgym, i'm pretty sure it'll come down.

i start in Springtown on mon. Bought me some steel toes today. Steph's last day at work was today. i guess i'm ready to just get on with it. i think we're gonna leave tomorrow (i.e. sat.) to head that way. Pray for us, eh.

Muy Thai

There's a funny myth in professional medical circles that food takes at least 12-24 hrs. to be processed and passed through one's digestive tract fully. i can't, in all honesty, speak for the remaining constituents of last night's green curry, but i can say with authority that Thai chiles have the preturnatural ability to bypass most intestinal decomposition like Teflon, and can move faster downward therein than the same chile would move under the mere influence of gravity, were you to, say, pick it up and drop it on the floor. In fact, i have vivid memories of such chiles threatening to exit my colon before i'd managed to put 'em in my mouth (quite in defiance--one's intuition is apt to assert-- of several important physical laws.) Let me be the first to posit the nexus of cosmological physics and culinary art: The Thai Chile Wormhole. Just remember that you heard it here first, folks.

Even More Entertaining...

With no power to stop it from happening, i was drawn back to the climbgym yesterday. i taped my ring finger, then i taped that to my pinkie, such that it was practically splinted. i warmed up thoroughly on ye olde hangboard on two-finger pockets. i did some routes. Finally jumped on a v3 i'd done at the comp (turns out much to my delight that i snagged a little handful of 3s in the comp), but i needed my crimper. i detaped, but it hurt a lot to put the crank down on the ring finger. So i figured out how to crimp with two fingers, and i sent. Then the guy i was working with and i went to the route i hurt myself on (as misery loveth company and i wanted him to hurt himself too.) He couldn't get it all linked up before he had to go, but we were fiddling with sequences and he says, "Hey, isn't that hold over there on? That's green tape." And i stare at this foothold in disbelief and loathing. i says that i bet that stupid foot would make the whole thing go static. So i jump on the damn thing, drop a knee on that hold, and reach up calm-like and snag the finish. If i'd just seen that stupid lump of plastic i wouldn't'a nearly popped a tendon.

Sigh

But i am thankful to God that the damage doesn't seem to be anywhere nearly as bad as i thought it was going to be. By the end of the work session i was working a new 3 and yarding on a three-finger closed crimp, and it wasn't bugging me much at all. i still have to baby it a li'l, but i really thought i wasn't gonna be able to even bend it for a month.

i did your green taped problem in the corner straight across from the boulder. (i think it was the first one you guys did.) It's a v1, but Don and i independently agreed that it was about as hard as v1 gets. It's a little thin and crimpy for v1. i was very impressed. That was a cool problem, and v1 doesn't usually have cool moves on. Then i went and looked at the results for the comp. i'm guessing you didn't turn yer paper in, G, but Bryant was on there and decisively clinched 27th place out of 27 males, with 25 points racked up. Heh heh... Yeah, there were some 7 y.o. girls that beat you, bra. ('Course, there were some 7 y.o. girls that beat me, but who's keeping score here anyway?)

For your entertainment

On fri., after a morning of bi/tri GVT, i thought about climbing all the way home. So instead of going straight home, i went to the climbing gym to send my proj. Warmed up with a stiff v2 onsight, shook out, and jumped on the route (it's the one from the comp that involved the big throw up to the bucket). Got up to the penultimate hold, threw for the final jug, which is a 3-finger suitcase handle kindof a thing, and didn't get my fingers in right. Instead, i hit the edge of the hold in a three-finger, half-pad crimp. But i was determined to stay on, and before i dropped i managed to nearly rip the tendons in my right ring finger off the bone. i found that a bit too confusing to be real, so i assessed the damage, jumped back on the route, and sent. Anyhow, i won't be climbing for probably a month or two all 'cuz i didn't take the time to warm up correctly.

Did get an hour and a half in on the bike yesterday, and'm hoping to get in a 50 min. run today. S'posed to swim to today, but the pool's closed down cuz someone pooped in it.

Degloved

Woooo-whee! i needs me some sleep. i do wish i'd ha' thought to bring m' camera to Las Conchas. That rocked, and i'm in favor of doing it again before we're old and grey. my hands are still sore, and i could use maybe 24 hrs. of continuous sleep to feel 90% again, but that was fun. Hope you'uns got home safe. God bless.

Intervals

Yesterday i got m' first session of bike intervals in. Not really intervals like i'm used to 'em. Did an hour long ride, with 6 x 20sec. max effort pushes in the highest gear possible with 2 mins. rest between. The 20 secs. felt really short, but i could hardly walk afterward. It was like weight lifting with the bike. Very cool. i feel faster now.

Momentum

Today was pretty good. Got two v4s back to back. i think that'll be m' last day of climbing till yous guys get here. So make sure you get here, eh. Aeon and Katja were with me. Katja thought i was pretty cool, but Aeon wanted chicken nuggets. Ah well... can't please 'em all.
Plan is to taper off the climbing and heavy drinking till fri. i'm historically bad at staying on both of those wagons. we'll see.

Weaken'd

As predicted, it's been a thin weekend on the workout front. Did get an hour in on the bike on thurs. Good ride. i can tell i'm getting a li'l more fit, cuz it just doesn't hurt so bad to push it. And the ol' trans-ischial ligaments don't scream so loudly or so soon. Yesterday i spent an inordinate chunk of the day applying for a job with p ason in Canadian, Tx. i did this because the permian basin recruiter wrote me. However, they also have an opening in Rifle, Co, which i plan to apply for today. While i have some apprehensions about moving to Teenylonelyflat, Tx instead of finishing school and becoming a PT, i have no such apprehensions about moving to Rifle for just any reason whatsoever. i think i could move to Rifle and be happy driving a school bus. But Canadian wouldn't be too bad, i think. There's a river there (as i understand it), and there're some rocks over the border in Oklahoma. According to daddy, "It's kinda' pretty," and it'd put us a bit closer to them and you texans. And it'd probably pay twice what we're making now. Anyhow, we could use prayers for some direction here. i guess i'm to a point that i don't care much what we do; i just wanna get on with it.

The power of sleep

Yesterday i put down my best numbers day of climbing so far. Snagged a new v4 and two more 3s. (It's a rare goal to get two v3s in one session, so to stack a 4 on top of it is some nice thick icing.) It is very motivating to know i can have a really good day, and especially the third day of climbing this week. It'd been so long since i'd actually gotten anything, i was resigning myself to just being over the hill. This next week i'm gonna taper and stick to easy stuff early in the week-- maybe do some routes and get some blood flowing if i can find a partner to rope up with. Then just rest and cardio... see if i can cut a li'l fat before fri.

Yesterday my new video Swim Power came in. i expect by next week that i should look and swim like Phelps (except my ears are sexier.) Hopefully there'll be something in there about how to make yer hands and feet larger. Mum and Da' are coming up today for the weekend, so have no hope of getting much working out done 'til Mon., but i do usually get to sleep in a bit when they're here, and that's priceless. Slainte.

Correction

Today i did nothing whatever. i didn't precisely intend to do nothing, only it ended that way. i'm certain it ended that way because i'm presently imbibing an Old Chub (the only good beer in a can, b.t.w.), and that's a pretty sure sign that the Fat Lady's sung for the evening. But it doesn't matter. i'm so knocked-down tired from stress and climbing and triathlon that my old sinews are perfectly effulging for the Old Chub and Nothing More. Climbed on mon. and yesterday (tuesday). Didn't get anything worth sleeping well over, but i put a dent in some hard problems-- stuff i was sure last week'd be over my head. Either tomorrow or mon. i'm pretty sure i'll latch the finish on a 4 that i couldn't properly do the first move on last week. Then i almost snagged another stiff 4, but i was too tired to link it when i worked out the crux. At least i feel like i'm getting a li'l stronger. If i can just hold on to the motivation to keep on losing weight whilst getting stronger... Had m' first day of Pre-Cal and Chem II yesterday. Good clean fun, that is. i just wish i knew i was gonna be around for the entire semester. This not knowing is cracking my psyche. Sorry 'bout cussing in my last post: it just felt somehow better than punching a hole through the wall that i'd just have to fix later. Anyhow, i'm amped that you guys are still planning on coming down. i look really forward to seeing yous. i'm gonna try to climb tomorrow, but next week's gonna be a taper with lots of blubber-burning, just in case you wanna do the comp. The weather's getting perfect for some outdoors rock though, and i have some very nice beer recommendations... Peace.

Vegetative State

Monday's an off day for the tri work, but i clumb at the gym anyhow. Haven't been pulling down any big numbers lately, but i do feel like i've been climbing pretty well. The bathroom scale says i'm down in the 190-192 range, but i think it weighs in kilotons, converts, and wildly guesses to the sixth or so decimal place. Tues. i swam my first set of intervals in years. Did 5 x 100s fairly hard, with 5 sec. rests between sets. Weird how fast that 5 secs. goes by. Then i did kick sets (where you hang on a float and just kick across the pool) and that was worse than the swimming. Need some work on that. Yesterday i climbed again, although again nothing impressive went down. Then i ran fartleks last night, which are like hard intervals, but less structured. Within a 35min. run, took off for thirty sec. hard sprints with whatever rest interval i felt like for 6 intervals. That was surprisingly fun. Didn't know how my fat self would handle the full-bore acid bath, but i consistently overran the 30 secs., and felt pretty good at the end.

i bought a notebook to write my workouts in, so's not to bore you guys with it, but Steph found it, so it disappeared into the aether. Unlucky you.

On a more personal note, it looks like i'm gonna hafta drop school to get a job so Steph can stay home with the kids. That means we'll probably be moving. Not many jobs 'round here that'll replace her income with no related education. Looks like i'll be working on an oil rig, or the like. i'm supposed to start school on tues, and i'm kinda looking forward to it, so i'm having a li'l trouble wrapping my head around the thought of dropping out when i'm this close to grad school, but them's the breaks. It's more important that she keeps her sanity, as there's no real risk to mine: i lost it a long time ago. Anyhow, if you hear of any good-paying jobs about you, i'd appreciate the referral.

The Revolution will not be televised

First, the weekend bundle: did an hour on the Dowel Rod of Torture on Fri. Didn't manage to get chest in (again.) Fri. night/Sat. morning we statyed up till 0300 playing Taboo. As a result, i did nothing whatever on Sat. In fact, i had to keep reminding myself to continue breathing. i was supposed to do another 1.5hrs. on the DRoT, but my swollen urethra won that one.

Yesterday (Sun.) however, i eked a good day out. A friend and i went bouldering in the foothills sorta early, and pulled down some spooky highballs up to probably hard v2. we wondered into this boulder field where there was just an ocean of boulders, and it didn't look like anything had been done. we found some really obvious, cool problems, and there was no chalk. There's a really popular bouldering area over the next ridge, but this place has easy access, good landings, just as good rock (read: it all hurts and requires a lot of tape), and no traffic (excepting the hot chicks out running trails that stop to watch you climb...who do not matter...only rapt focus on the route.)

Then i got in a 1600m swim, including my first 1000m continuous since the last time i trained to race maybe 2 years ago. Then i got in a li'l over 50mins. of "moderate aerobic intensity" running. The tricky part there was keeping my heart rate down. After the swim, and probably largely due to the heat, it was real hard to keep the ol' ticker in the low 150s.

Oh, and then last night we went to pick up Annie from a friend's house, and her dad says, Oh, bro... I got you a beer." He hands me a keg-in-a-can of Foster's. i'm all, "Well, i don't think i've ever had a Foster's before," and he says, "Well, you're in for a treat then."

Review: i made it to the bottom of the can, but it was a long, hard swim. And he's got me playing Grand Theft Auto at the same time (which i'd never played before), and Annie is like, "Daddy, why did you just run three stop lights?" And i'm all, "i'm sorry, hon, but i don't know how to drive this thing." Or she's, "Daddy, why did you punch that lady?" or, "Daddy, is that your car?" (then she fades out into introspective silence and sucks her thumb.) It didn't take too long to discover that it isn't really a children's game, nor why it leads semi-autistic inner-city junior high kids to kill each other over. Probably won't be purchasing a pack of Foster's or "GTA: Vice City" any time soon.

Knockin' the rust off

Climbed yesterday. Not much to talk about there. i think i just wanted to see what'd happen if i laid down three hard days in a row. Maybe i'll be stronger next week because of it.

Today i cracked open m' shiny new triathlon program, and there's to be no beating 'round the bush with it. Hadn't been on my bike in nearly a year, but i did an hour brick. 45 mins. of pink lining on the bike, and just over 15 mins. red lining on the run, with about 3 1/2 mins. transition time. Held onto an average of mid-160s h.r. for the duration. That made me 'member where i comes from. (And it kicked m' puffy white arse.) i have a feeling the squat workout tomorrow is going to be negatively affected.

i was reminded forcibly why i historically have had trouble hanging onto the gym workouts and the tri workouts at the same time: it sucks the very life out of my bones, and leaves me with the strong motivation to find carbs-- any carbs-- protein, and beer (which contains carbs.)

And exactly 4 seconds into the ride, my urethra was making promises it couldn't possibly keep if i would just please, please remove it from that saddle. i do believe i'm gonna save up and invest in a nice saddle before i do 3 hrs. on the Dowel Rod of Torture. (The one i'm on is 10 years old and was Steph's, so imagine where the gel might optimally be placed, and that's precisely where it isn't.)

[Late Night Addendum]

There: i made it into the gym. It'd been about three weeks since i've had the chance/energy to lift, but after two hours of having the "Guilt Trip 'Cuz You've The Wrong Hormonal Profile" card played on me-- Lo and behold, i found the friggin' energy. Did back with heavy rows for a focus. Definitely not at 100%, but i have plenty of stuff to blame it on, so i don't feel too bad about it. Just felt good to move. i think it was Bodybuilder Night at the gym tonight: All these not-particularly-large people milling about spontaneously flexing in mirrors, and occasionally stopping to play with their own nipples. This one skinny bastard had all the 45s in the gym on the leg press machine so's he could do a couple of half reps. i'm pretty sure he got more gigantic and sexy from lugging all that pigiron to the machine and back... anyhow, i'll give 'im the Motivated Serious Guy Award: i'm absolutely confident i wouldn't do that much work for so few cool points. (Seriously, i was in the Bubble, and i was setting up a bar for some high rows and it slowly dawns that there're no plates. So i'm like, "Huh... whay da hell all da fo'ty fives go?" And i look around and notice this jackass, and i nearly guffawed. It was like seeing Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas poised under enough weight to tether a 747 to the ground.) Mostly i stared at the ground a lot and assiduously avoided eye contact with anyone, but i thought of you, G, that you'd probably have had a good time of it.

Full Salad Bowl

Um. Ran a smidge over an hour on sun. That was nice. Climbed mon. Got a new v3 3rd try. Didn't have the chiddlers today, so i climbed again. Nearly flashed a "v3/4". Got it second try... well, third. i worked through the crux 2nd go, but i hadn't started on the start holds. Almost got two more threes. Now i have something like bilateral biceps tendonitis. So i will now go running. Tomorrow i'm supposed to climb again.

Oo, and i purchased Triathlete Magazine's Essential Week-By-Week Training Guide. i'm'a try to get back in shape for some racing. Hopefully, i will inadvertantly also drop 20lbs. and will find me accidentally flashing v6/7 by next summer. Piece owt.

Letzte Woche

ich machte fast nichts (activ, ich meine) in dieser letzte Woche. Actually, i climbed three times. Mon. and wed. i took Aeon and Katja with me. Fri. the parents in law kept the kiddos so we could get some talk time in, and i had a chance to sneak off and climb before Steph got off work. Can't say there were any inspired sessions in there, but it didn't go too badly. They put some new routes up, and i made some progress on a few of 'em. i guess i've been down in the doldrums lately with respect to the workouts: hard bouldering for every session works really well for little people who weigh 140lbs. It doesn't work so well for us clydesdales because the tendon damage is so much more extensive. Anyhow, inspired by Bryant, i hung 25lbs. on a chain belt and did some finger board work on slopers on wed. i didn't get in to the iron gym at all this week, and i didn't swim or run. No time at all. i've been exhausted with getting Annie ready for school. The irony is that i'm at the point where i'm pretty sure the most important thing i could do to move to the next level is whatever it takes to drop weight. i'm becoming inspired by Michael Phelps: if i can get to the point where i'm burning 18,000 calories a day, i'm pretty sure i could drop some weight.

Oh, and i found the Lewis tartan. Maybe we can just start our own clan. Wanna compete for Clan Leodhais, B? Damn, i wanna throw something heavy. And i wanna throw it in a kilt. And i wanna do so with no women around me, but with a dark malt lurking weightily within convenient access. Slainte!

Rundown

Perfectly miserable day of chest on thurs. Shoulders hurt, and i was really too tired to be there. Squats went ok, but i'm really glad i cut it short. m' butt still hurts. Swum sat. Put in 2000 m. there, including 2 x 500s. Not the best swimming ever, but i'm glad i got it in. Today i ran for the first time since Katja was born. There have been times in my strange running career when i felt like i could just keep on going forever, so long as i had enough food and water to fuel the machine. Today was not one of those times. The pain started in my knees, moved upward through my arse, and finally decided to settle down in the quads to punish me for the squat workout. Took me over 45 mins. to do a 30 min. run. Anyhow, it felt good to be out there.

Steph started back to work this next week, and Annie starts school (1st grade!) tomorrow. i have to have her there at 0800. The prognosis for continued workouts are grim, but i'm gonna shore's heck try to find a way (i.e., a regular babysitter).

Didn't have much time yesterday, but i snuck in a really skeletal workout. Worked up to a single with BW + 100 on pullups, got in some rows, and pulldowns. Felt pretty good in spite of dislocating m' shoulder for the 1,000th time the day before. Speaking of which: i tagged that v4 on wed. One of the cooler climbs i've done. Techy, stretched-out heel hook to an "undercling" toe hook to a pair of big dynos in a row. Fun stuff. Gave me hope that i might be on the verge of breaking into the next level. Haven't lost a single pound, but at least it's becoming some slightly useful muscle instead of plain old puffy fat. So while extra water and extra muscle is nearly as useless as the same mass of fat, at least i can see small footholds beneath my gut now.

Finalmente

'S a new week, thank Heaven. Didn't get much done, activity-wise, o'er the weekend. Ma and Pa Grape showed up on fri. He came bearing JW red label. End of weekend. i didn't ever get that pusher day in last week, so we'll see how it goes this week. Lessee-- yesterday was mildly encouraging. Snagged a new v3, and almost got a techy v4 ('cept i was too drained by the time i tried it.) Tomorrow it might just go. Just got back from a swim. Did 1800m-- main set was 3 x 400s. It's a very fine feeling when you get past the toxic, gasping-for-sweet-life stage, and feel like you could keep going forever. i'm not quite there yet, but i could definitely have held form (if a slow, fatboy form) for 800+. i long to get back to 4 and 5K swims. Get as deep into the bubble as you can get, and there's just this rhythm, and you forget why you're there and who you are, and you drool a lot. i like being i the most when i'm not present to be put up with, and'm drooling.

The week of it

Weighed in yesterday at juuuust over 891 newtons. Irritating, that, so i went and bought me a beer to console meself with. Swam on sat., sun., tues. (on which i did 1500 m. (happy)), and yesterday. yesterday's swim i kept deliberately short 'cuz i wanted to see how it'd affect m' iron workout: i.e., would it help or hurt? i'm gonna say it hurt. i felt kinda' sluggish, and i couldn't get very heavy on rows. Worked up to 270 for a double, and i didn't get the first one clean, so i quit. Otherwise it's going fairly well. i love swimming. It's doing nearly miraculous things rehabilitatively for my shoulder/rotator cuff.

Climbed on mon. and wed. Fairly good days, i'd reckon. i've tried this one stupid move on a project so many times that i feel something like arthritis in my right hand; but i'm close, and if my dumb hand doesn't ossify into a useless club i'm certain it will soon be strong as a meathook.

Anecdote Des Tages:
i was doing straight leg deads, and i went up another ten lbs., so toward the end there was some weeping and gnashing of teeth. Occupying the gym at that moment were myself, one other feller, and the chick that works there. For some reason she had it in mind that it was extremely important to vacuum the floor in that particular part of the gym right then. i was assiduously avoiding eye contact with her and the other guy-- who was "stretching" and staring at me like he really wanted me to drop the bar on my feet. Anyhow, on the last set this chick was vacuuming underneath my bar each time i lifted it. So i finished and laughed, and said i was sorry for sweating like a cow on her floor. She seemed to snap out of whatever meditative trance she'd been in, looked a li'l abashed, and said something like, "Oh, um, vacuum cleaner, uh."

Anyhow, nice week of workouts. i'm hoping to get pushers in today, but Annie's b-day party is today, so the prognosis is bleak. i need some rest from climbing. And i'm apparently gonna hafta start running long and cycling if i'm gonna lose any weight. i can't seem to break 200, and i'm eating better than i have in years. i wonder what the ink in a full back piece weighs. Hmm.

Swami

Swum today for the first time in a year or two. i love swimming. There's just something about sumo-ing around in a Speedo...

Lessee: 200 m warmup, 400 m of laps. Did the first 200 in 100m sets, but my shoulder kept trying to relocate itself to a different part of the pool, so i backed down to 50s for the second 400. Gunna hafta rehab that rotator cuff before i can go long. Cooled down with 200 of the usual. Felt mighty good to be in water again.

Oh, and yester'sNacht i did chest/pushers again. i think this setup will work out better for climbing at the beginning of the week. Actually pushed 85s on DB bench for a bunch of reps. It's weird having a chest again. On Incline DBs, on the last rep of my last set i was using the force to get my elbow to lock out, and my shoulder just decided it'd had all it wanted and tried to fail. After some discussion with it, we parted company, and i locked out with my humerus sitting directly on my rib cage. That might have been a mistake, but i locked out. So while i might be doomed to shoulder arthritis, i shan't have arthritis of the morale. Ooo, and i actually broke out the Inzer leather for squats. i was plenty glad to have it too, cuz my low back was unhappy after deads on thurs.

The rest o' the week

Lessee here... wed. i managed to get in a fairly good workout. The hard back workout on sat. was a bad idea, and screwed with the climbings, but wed. went ok-ish. However, i resolved to not do that again. went in for the back work on thurs. (yesterday) this time. i was pleasantly surprised that it went so well after climbing the day before. Main thing is i switched up the heavy work from rows to pullups this time. i wanna experiment to see if i heal better and still make progress like this. Thus:

Pullups:
BW x 21
+25 x 8
+50 x 3
+60 x 3
+70 x 2
+80 x2
+90 x 1 (almost got a second one here)
+100 (didn't lock this all the way out...close though)

Straight Leg Deads:
Pretty much the same as last week

Wide Grip Rows:
3 sets fairly light. The wide grip is much harder, and m' biceps were fried.

Rest of the workout was similar to sat's.

Steph snagged us a family membership at the pool. i'm hoping to get to start swimming long again. Went out yesterday and purchased a shiny new Speedo. Nothing like hanging it out in public in a banana hammock to wake a body up in the morning.

Prophetic

went in to climb a bit today. Actually, i went in to buy some new Kletterkicks, and inadvertantly climbed some stuff. As predicted i put down one sad day of climbing. Back work on sat. had me torn down for today. But that's ok. i gotta fine tune ye olde schedule, but as long as i'm getting a few stellar workouts in then there's some progress. Went in to REI yesterday cuz i was shopping for La Sportiva's fairly new Miura velcros. Tres sexy, but the closest they had to my size was a solid half size too small. So today i went to the gym to see if they happened to have it. They didn't have the velcro version in my size, but they did have the lace up Miura for $89.95 instead of $140. Couldn't say no to that. Sick shoe. i'll recommend it. If you need a pair of shoes, lemme know and i'll snag you pair. The Miura's one of Sportiva's bestest shoes and this is $50 off. Although i'm pretty sure Glenn's climbing shoes have that same new-leather fragrance as my Inzer lifting belt.

Yesterweek

200 lbs.

Well. After mon's. mediocrity i ended up having a fairly successful week of working out. Wed. i snagged a couple of v3s at ye olde klettergym. Ended up doing two sessions same day. And i blew a hole in the toe o' me shoe, so's i hafta go buy a new pair (as i don't think they'll hold up to a second resole). i wanted to get some back work in same day, so's i'd have time to heal for mon. (tomorrow), but it would'a been a lousy go at it. Instead, i went in thurs. for a pusher session. Bumped the squats up another 50 lbs. so i'm finally over 200 on squats again. Had a mighty fine chest workout with DB bench and DB incline. Went ahead and did hanging leg raises (cuz i'm wanting to start working abs twice a week). And i finished up with one-arm cable triceps presses. These felt kinda cool, and they involve the shoulder, T. major and subscap more than two-handed presses.

Then yesterday i tore my back down proper. i'm gonna try alternating heavy pullup weeks with heavy row weeks. i'll write m' weights down so's i can remember 'em.

Pullups x 10 warmup

Narrow Grip Cable Rows:
10 x 195
8 x 210
6 x 225
4 x 240
4 x 255
3 x 270
2 x 285
1 x 300

These felt good. The last one at 300 i didn't get all the way to my sternum, but i plan to correct that.

Straight Leg Deads:
14 x 95
10 x 145
8 x 165
10 x 185
8 x 205
6 x 225
4 x 245

This was the heaviest i've gone with straight leggers, and my back is unscrupulous about reminding thereof. It's the good kind of pain.

Wide Grip Cable Pulldowns:
3 x 10 x 180

i like these things. i lean back at about 45ish deg. and pull the bar down as far as can past my sternum. Works a vector of lat it's hard to get at with pullups.

Bentover B-bell Rows:
3 x 10 x 135

Experimental. Did these with a supine grip. i wanted to keep the movement as close to a climbing "low lockoff" as possible, but i couldn't get quite the same r.o.m. with a supine grip as prone. Had to use a wider grip to get a similar elbow height. This was a very fine movement. Mucho like-o. i do think i should'a done 'em before the deads though.

Lateral Delt Flys and Reverse Delt Flys (on the pec deck):
Some weight for a bunch of reps. Rehab.

Rarely do i leave the gym, pump a fist skyward Rocky-style, and thank God that i woke up that morning; but this was one of those days. Didn't feel quite so much like a fat old guy. i don't have much hope for a good climb sesh tomorrow, but it was a worthwhile sacrifice. Out.

Failure to Rage

Just got back from a relaxing [read: slothful] weekend in Red River, NM; home to a higher density of Texans than most comparably-sized Texas villages. Before we left on thurs., i did an irongym workout. Kept it real skeletal cuz we were trying to get away same day, but it was decent notwithstanding. Bumped up m' weights in nearly everything, including a 50lb. jump in squats, for which i paid during the remainder of the week. The depressing bit was that i weighed in at 202, which meant that (as suspected) i gained about 4lbs. over the 4th weekend. Haven't weighed since.

First thing i did at RR was go to the visitor center and ask for some climbing. The chick ran off a mini guide for me. Turns out there're maybe four or five bolted routes within a 30sec. drive of town. Problem was the 15 min. 45 deg. scree approach. Annie and i scouted it immediately, and i thought it was maybe doable, but it was dumping rain. Next day i hauled my wee family up this approach, and all the while Steph (when i accidentally made eye contact) was giving me the nuclear brow. Anyhow, i ended up with the baby in the snugli, Aeon on my shoulders, and my rope bag and gear on m' back grunting up this quasi-trail/erosion-diarrhea-rut and we got up to the base of the rock and it was immediately apparent that i'd be inviting my own death or the death of one of my children were i to climb. Annie would'a just kept climbing till i made her stop (and i'm not terribly sure she wouldn't'a sent the 5.7 at the base of which i yelled her down.) The belay stance was this craggy 40 deg. number, Steph would'a had to belay with the baby on, and Aeon was running amok. At some length, and fuming, i let it go and we hiked/glissaded back to the car. O for a babysitter! At any rate, the result was that i got four nearly-unadulterated days of forearm tendon-knitting.

Climbed today. Forearms are approaching 90%. Felt fat as before, though. i have been sticking with my rule from last posting, and i haven't felt like i've overeaten since; only i haven't done much of anything active at all. i gotta start running.

Domino Effect

i'm trying to think of when i've felt more like hammered crap (without a proper clinical diagnosis) than i have today. Haven't actually slept in just over a month now. Yesterday, in an act of desparation, we went to Sam's Club and picked up one of those slow-return foam mattress toppers. Don't remember sleeping quite that badly in a while. Went to the climbing gym for maybe the most pathetic workout i've laid down in a while. Hands still haven't healed from whenever. Anyhow, tomorrow we're supposed to go to Red River (the n.m. one) for the weekend for some r&r. Hopefully that'll help. i get this sleepy and worn down, and i get a li'l psychotic, and things start falling apart. In an effort that nearly cost me my soul, i managed not to have a dip yesterday evening, or today. i've even managed to eat fairly well the last coupl'a days. i'm just too tired to move. i'm hoping i'll have the juice to go work out at the irongym tomorrow before we leave.

Oh, i thought of a kind of plan. Might be corny, but it might just work. You wanna lose yer saturated midriff, and i wanna lose mine; and i'd guess one of the biggest mutual problems we have is a lack of accountability and perspective. So i'll propose we play a game of HORSE. i'll lay down a rule/mantra/commitment and stick with it, and if you can hang, you can add on. Umm, some rules maybe: no starving (obviously), and no giant, sweeping commitments that you can't really stick with. You can modify/qualify liberally, but say so. You can take or leave a rule, but you gotta explain yerself. That'll do. The point is i could use some accountability here, but i don't want someone telling what to do if they ain't gonna do it themselves.

#1) No high fat foods (i.e. cheese or meat) after 18:00. If it's unavoidable, i'll eat half of what i think i want. Supper's when i usually overeat, cuz i can chill. More fiber here, and more low fat protein.

Paying the Piper

"...led rats through the streets/ Dance like a marionette/ Swayin' to the symphony..."

Anyhow. Keeps going through m' head for some reason. All said and done, not a particularly healthy weekend on the physical front (unless you're given to considering the psychical front a subset of the physical, in which case i could rightly say that everything came out just fruity in the wash.) Hard to pinpoint if the poisonous bit was that we started drinking at 11 a.m., or if it was that we continued until 1:00 the following morning, or if it was just that i ended up eating so damn much bacon. At any rate, i didn't have especially high expectations for this afternoon's climbsession, and i nevertheless still managed to vault right under the bar. i'm pretty confident this is a solid three extra pounds of blubber i'm gripping here, and my hands (strangely) still haven't healed from last week's climbing. i've heard one has to sleep in order to heal, so it is to the lack thereof that i'll attribute my shortcomings; not to flipping that wussy li'l tractor tire and the farmer's walk.

Right then. i'm looking forward to getting those video copies for the Highlands gig, so don't forget eh. And it'd be mighty fine if you guys could nail down some sort of date to come up here, 'cuz i could shore 'nuff use some motivation to lay off the poisons and drop some weight.

And, again, i'm favorably impressed with the spread there G. Makes me wanna invest in windmills.

Nastrovya.

Supa' Tweak

Had me one of the best days of climbing yesterday i've had in a while. Climbed a li'l bit on mon. & tues., but took the rest of the week off till yesterday evening. Every 6 weeks or so, the gym puts on an informal bouldering comp for members, and they put up a plethora of new routes for it. i'm anxious to see how i ranked, and what some of the ratings will turn out to be; but i flashed nearly everything i tried. There were a few routes i got shut down on, but it was totally 'cuz i tried 'em too late. You could climb all the routes you want, but you could only tally up yer top ten point-value routes, so i didn't try many high-value routes, cuz i didn't want to fry on 'em before i had ten to count. But i'm pretty confident i got a nice big handful of 3s, and nothing under 2. Couldn't tell if any of 'em were 4, but i doubt it. Did see a bunch of skinnies getting spit off'a my flashes, but it could just be that they were females in men's clothing. At any rate, it gave me warm fuzzies. Couldn't help but think i'd'a clumb even better if i'd been wearing a kilt.

Went in to the irongym today for chest, abs, and "legs." It's becoming a natural split to save hard back work and shoulders for after wednesday's climbing. Here's today:

DB Bench:
60s x 10
65s x 8
75s x 7
75s x 5

Squats:
135 x 10 x 3

Still keeping these real light and rehabilitative.

Incline DB Bench:
60s x 8
65s x 8 x 2

ish.

Straight Leg Deads:
95 x 14
115 x 12
135 x 10
185 x 8 x 2

i do these on a 6" high platform and use 25lb. plates or smaller so as to get full r.o.m. That last set evoked flashes of an ibuprofen bottle at the bottom of each rep, but they felt good. No sproings.

Straight Leg Lifts:
15 x 4

Pec Deck:
What difference does it make? i just do 'em cuz i get to flex in front of a mirror.

Soon i wanna start integrating more ab work: get kind'a jiggy with the open chain stuff. Thought of some nice shoulder work i wanna try. Thought about hucking hammers at things, and that made the incline bench and squats take on a happier aura.

Detox

i climbed on mon. for a horrible bad day of it. Depressing. Then i went back on tues. to rectify the situation. i failed to rectify it. i haven't slept in two or three weeks now, and i think that has something to do with it. i think you're right, G: booze is poison. For a good long while there i was holding myself to a "one drink per day" policy. For the last two weeks i've been sticking more or less strictly to a "mildly hammered" policy. i stayed up 'til 5:00 this morning thinking about normal forces on an inclined plane. That's irritating. Tomorrow i have a climbing comp. i must sleep tonight. And i need to lose 10 lbs. before tomorrow, so i'm gonna go running today. Oh, and i looked up the site you posted on the highlands games. That looks like good clean fun. Where would one find a caber to practice with though. And i need one of those hammers. And some tassled socks.

sat. 21 jun.

weighed in at 198.

Went to ye olde irongym yestern. was a li'l pressed for time, so i kept it skeletal, but i wanna scribble down the progressions so i can remember 'em. It's starting to feel like i can do real workouts again, and they're complex enough that i really need to break 'em down into at least two parts. i've been working back, legs, chest, abs, and everything else on the same day. Mostly it's because i never know how many times i'll actually manage to get into the gym in a week, and i want to make sure to get everything in. i've been getting in fairly faithfully two times a week for the last three weeks or so. i think, though, that i could get in more if i broke it into smaller parts and knew a workout wouldn't take two hours. This has always been my nuclear blowapart point: trying to juggle hard gym workouts and really any other form of hard training and running. The running's fallen out for the last coupl'a weeks, but it's mostly 'cuz we're out of pocket with Katja in the hospital.

Bench:
3x3x375
Got those raw, then i put some hydraulic jacks under my elbows for the rest.

DB Bench:
10x60s
8x 65s
2x5x75s

Pullups:
bwx18
+25x8
+35x6
2x+45x4

On a whim i did squats:
2x135

The adductors scream now if i make any unexpected movements with m' legs.

Incline DB Bench:
i think i did:
10x50s
2x8x55s

Cable Rows:
8x210
6x225
2x4x240

Form felt perfect on these.

Didn't have time for the rest of the workout. Usually do Dips, Hanging Leg Raises, Straight Leg Deads, DB Shrugs, Pec Deck, and Shoulder Flys/Flexion. i wanna incorporate more ab work, more lat work, posterior delt work, and sagittal shoulder extension work. And i think some tricep iso would be helpful. i've tried to keep the iso work to a minimum, but i'm starting to find some weak links. Don't know if i'll keep the squats up, but i sure do like doing 'em. Gotta go visit m' baby. Peace.

Like Arby's "Cheddar"

Found out yesterday just where meltdown lies. Went climbing, but there was really no point. Fell off'a most everything, including some climbs i've done real tired. Won't go back 'til at least mon. Maybe tues. Got a comp one week from today, and wanna be strong for it, so i'll probably put in one day this next week before then. i'll go ahead and commit myself to the other gym tomorrow. And also probably to finishing off this liter-and-a-half o' vin. my joints are creaking. Oh here's a movie recommend: The Bucket List is pretty good. Katja should be outta the pen on tues, GOD allowing. Please keep praying for her.

toozdae

Wint climin saterdae but it wasunt much off a werkout to brag about. Wint bak yesterdae and a frind wuz ther and he sed he braut his gear and wud i like too do sum roped roots. So we leapfrogged and i'd leed a cupple and heed leed a cupple and so forth. Started on a 5.8 and never got abuv 5.9 but my hands wer waisted smolduring rooned crispy things. Good times. If we can keep it up i mite start gitting sum endurince. It was one of those nice werkouts win i cudnt rilly steer my car rite win i left. Thin i wint bak after class and bouldered sum. Mostly just added too the endurince werkout but i did make sum progress on a project v4. Todae will probublee be a non-werkout dae unless i can find the energy too run. Tumorow will make five werkout daes with only wun rest day between. Theres a comp cumin up in too fridaes and so aisle pae sum lip servis too tapering next weak. Thatll look sumthing lik tryng not too get to fat wile i du nuthing with my hands.

Just finished Orwells "1984" last nite. Spooky buk. ill recomind it.

Samstag

It's sat. and i'm presently sleepwriting. Wanted to mark down that i got another irongym workout in on thurs. Was gonna write down the specifics just so i'd have a benchmark to look back on and laugh at later, but i don't think my brain is up to the task. Anyhow, it was a good one. was at 196lbs. thurs., which was an eight lb. loss in a week. Guess i was retaining water; bloated or something. Strange hormones circulating 'round here. i want to climb today. m' hands do not, but who cares what they want. Katja's supposed to get a lumbar puncture today, so please pray for her. i'm led to believe it's for her own good. Bleh. i think i've a sinus infection.

Today

Mum and Da' were here for the weekend, and then Katja was sequestered to the NICU for a positive viral culture, for which crime she's forced to undergo 14 days of i.v. acyclovir in an isolation room, so i'm guessing i'd be weighing in at about 250. (All in my biceps, of course.) i did get a climb session in yesterday between classes, and sent a v4 project. i'm sorta hoping to get in to the iron gym today, and blow out some more rage. i hope you guys are well, and i'm still seriously looking forward to that road trip if yous can figure out yer schedules. i could use about a hundred feet of air under m' shoes about now. Peace out.

Ketchup II

There. Got a decent iron workout in. In fact, i'm having some trouble moving now. Weighed in at 204. That's unacceptable (although i feel pretty happy about snagging a v4 at over 200lbs). Haven't been over 200 in a long while. That's what happens when i start lifting. Hopefully some fat loss shall ensue.

Ketchup

Gotta say i'm pretty sore from all that pushing. Heckuva workout, that.

ALLLrighty, now. Lessee here: i did lift on sat. And not a bad session of it either. Sun. we slouched about at a barbeque. Mon. we had a baby. Tues. we brought 'er home, and proceeded to do nothing else whatever. Wed. i had class all flippin' day long, but i did manage to squish a climbing workout in, and had an excellent run at it after having most of a week to heal the tendons. Got one of m' v4 projects, and almost snagged a second. At least got a new high point on it. Today i went into algebra class and had an exam i'd managed to know nothing of theretofore. Steph had possibly the easiest delivery any woman has ever had since before the fall of Eve, and that has contributed greatly to my being able to carry on with life in a semi-normal fashion. i'm gonna try to go lift again today. we'll see. It's funny, but the most exhausting thing about having a baby (aside from her waking up ever so often through the night emanating an amplified cat fight from her larynx) are the people who either call every 30 mins. to make sure all is well, or else insist on doing lots of favors to relieve the stress. The problem is that you have to wait on 'em to do their favor before you can get on with what you'd really rather be doing. The kids were delivered back unto us today at about 16:00 after a two day hiatus, and Aeon was asleep. He was soaked with pee to his ankles, and was still wearing his pullup from last night. "Hey, thanks for watching 'em."

i'm an ass. i can admit that-- an antisocial ingrate. And i deserve to have no friends.

Oh yeah... i do have no friends. Mystery solved. Hope you guys are well, and i'll second that notion that you should come up here to meet my Katja. She's mighty cute.

The week in review

i'll recap just so's i can remember on which day i did which workout. Wed. i went in for a quick climb sesh before physics lab. Got nothing to speak of, but ten minutes before lab started i roped another guy into working a project with me, and he got me into one of his so i was a half-hour late for lab. It was so nice working with another human on a project that i didn't really care. And it was a good thing: they'd only gotten about one page into the lab when i showed up for it. (Non-calc based physics, it turns out, does not attract the brightest stars in the firmament.) Anyhow, i went back as soon as lab was out (speaking of giving one's tendons plenty of time to heal), and while i didn't get the finish holds i wanted, the collective 50 or 60 tries on sundry v4s ended up being a hardcore workout. Then i went back on Thurs. for a semi-short session. Yesterday (fri.) i did my first hour-long run in a while. Felt superb.

Nerd note: The first half of the run (the out) is nearly totally uphill (so the back, of course, is all downhill), and with the monitor i kept my HR nearly constant both ways. You'd think that at a given HR i'd be doing a relatively constant amount of work (i.e., wattage would be somewhat similar) or else i'd be doing more work for less speed going uphill, so that at a constant HR over a fixed distance it'd take way less time to get back than to get out. Interestingly, it took me about one minute longer to get out than back-- and remember that's in an hour-long run. All i can figure is that i'm an outta-shape cow, and for the same HR on the way back (downhill) my legs were torched; else i'm a hellish good hill climber, and'm breaking some thermodynamic laws. i'm going with the first theory in spite of my ego. Anyway, it'll be interesting to see if that gap widens when i get in better shape.

Oh, and i'll go ahead and commit myself to hitting the weights today, just to be held accountable. Nastrovya.

Mondayless Monday

Fairly productive day today. That is because i like buying new toys. Went to the irongym today, and got some new protein. i am beyond weak: i am feeble. Ok, really it's mostly my triceps/the-whole-front-of-my-body that's feeble, but who notices the other parts? All that to say that dips didn't go so well today. i just can't find my rhythm in there. Went running yesterday-- 45 mins. or so with the spiffy new Cardiosport. i do like HR monitors. They're nice slave drivers. Got stopped at a red light, and this hottie turned the corner in front of me, and my instinct said, "Pass. Smoke. A girl is ahead of you." But my monitor settled the matter, 'cuz i was climbing outta my zone. i could'a beat her though. i just know it. So anyhow, i think the run leeched some of my hit-points, 'cuz i was sorta draggin' knuckle in the gym. Kinda' kept the session skeletal, but i did up the amperage on a few workouts. Then i went to Home Despot and snagged a Dremel tool. Beautiful piece o' machinery, that. i'm off to christen it even now.

Oh, and i just finished Ron Paul's book, The Revolution: A Manifesto. If you haven't read it yet, Amazon it and read. Everyone in America should be required to read it. You won't think of America the same way afterwards. Peace.

...and more...

Had an hour 'twixt classes yesterday, so i went in for a second day in a row, making for a dense climbing week so far. Didn't tag my proj, but i did stick everything up to the final crux consistently: maybe 5 outta 6 times instead of the 1 outta 4 times as on tues. That was nice. Turns out the final move is just bloody hard, and a wee bit scary to boot. Starts from under an overhang-- hands on a big undercling flake, right foot on a bad jib, left foot smeared on the wall. Lunge up with the right to a full hand span pinch, then stab leftward with a foot to a horrible cabinet-knob sized sloper. Then you wrench your body in close to that pinch whilst dropping the left knee and tensioning between those feet so you can let go with the left hand and reach for a teensy side-pull crimp. Then you reach through and upward right for a terrible sloped pinch, establish feet under, then shoot way out again with the left foot to torque into another full knee drop so as to let go of the crimp to reach for manky pinch. If you get that, then somehow you uncoil from the dropknee without barndooring off, and dyno for the finish jug on the roof. Problem is you're crazy off-balance, contorted, and have a solid eight feet of air 'neath your shoes. i skate off of one or the other of the feet every time i get to that point trying to reverse the knee drop without losing contact.

It's a brilliant route. It's one of those routes that's obviously fun to watch someone do. Every time i've worked on it someone's appeared from out of nowhere to gimme a "C'mon! Get that!" Yesterday these two kids were watching when i dropped and one of 'em said, "Is that hard? That looks hard." It really isn't all that hard, of course (since it's within my feeble reach), but it looks cool. At any rate, i didn't tag it, but i think all i need is a clear, strong day.

Did get a hard 3 that i couldn't get a few weeks before, so that was a good sign.

Also got my new Cardiosport Graph X HR monitor in today, so now i have new motivation to take my puffy arse out running. Can't have my brother outrunning me.

more

Classes started up again on mon., so i'm trying to find my groove. Did sneak a climbsesh in today. i've been working a v4 project for a few days of it now. It's the kind of 4 that's not so much pumpy as it is just gruesome form-dependent. For example, my dumb foot pops off the starting hold probably 4 outta 5 tries, which doesn't give me that much time on it for a proper pump. And then i've delaminated several times from this weird coiled-up, drop-knee position going for the second to last hold. Very frustrating. i'm sure it'll fall if i can just make it in to the gym with my head on and clear for once. So i didn't get it today, but it was still a good workout. After i gave the proj a few burns, i did a fast circuit of a 3 and as many 2s and 1s and 0s as i could squish in, as fast as i could do 'em before i was Cajun-style blackened. Haven't made it in to the irongym yet this week. Too many scheduling conflicts so far. Still don't have a baby on the outside yet, but she's looking to bust free any minute. And Annie graduated kindergarten tonight.

Deep Cleansing Breath

Right, and i clumb on fri. Not worth mentioning really. Clumb today, and that went something better. Sent a 4- that i couldn't link on fri. Last time i thought it was bloody sandbagged 3, and i was much discouraged at my wussiousness. Looked a bit closer today, and after adjusting my bifocals found it to be v4-. Fell off it a coupla' times, and after dislocating m' shoulder on the crux move, sent it. It definitely wasn't a hard 4, but it fo' schmizzle weren't no 3. Then i sent a 3 that'd thrown me 20 or so times. Flippin' balancy, scrunchy thing. Finally said poop on it, and dynoed past the crux for the finish. Didn't look too french doing it, but it was an all-points dyno, and there's something magical-- even Disneyesque-- about seeing an elephant flying through the air. Had Aeon with me, so there was a bit of a hurried air to the whole workout. i find that when v4 is one's redpoint limit, it's a fine idea to warm up on something easier than a v4. And one of these days i might have enough time for that.

bleh

i think i climbed on thurs. It was thurs. or fri. One of those days. Definitely not sat. At any rate, i was not healed from tues. (or maybe it was wed.), which was not such a superdeedooper Klettertag either. i did link through the crux on my pet v4 once, and my verdammte foot popped off a polished, but otherwise Volkswagon-sized hold just before the top-out. Thing is, i was too tired to even care much. It's been a real bad sleep week. Tonight i went in to the irongym for a half-assed workout, and am presently digesting 50 of Benadryl with some chianti and an IPA, which partly accounts for the slurped speech. Weighed in at 201 at the gym. i would almost move to Snyder for a workout partner and some motivation. Woke up this morning dreaming of my triathlon gym. i will now drown my irritation in a game of WormWorld Party, and bend all my willpower into not having more beer or a dip. Shalom.

Three more days

Thurs. i climbed, and felt just about as horrible as i expected to feel after Tues'. workout. i finally threw in the towel and left after about 15 mins. of humiliation. Then i went back yesterday (sat.) for some reason. Odd, cuz i didn't feel any better really... just wanted to move. And it was bad at first. Did figure out a 3 i hadn't been able to do before, and that was a little encouraging. But then i ran into a guy i'd climbed with a few times before. Nice guy, but he's real quiet spoken so i've never actually heard his name; i just pretend like i know it, and keep hoping someone will "Hey ____, how's it going?" one of these days, 'cuz i'm way past the point of awkwardness at not knowing it by now.

Anyhow, i finally gave up and walked over and asked him what he was working, and it was a v4. Looked crazy hard for a 4. At first i'm like, well good luck man, i'll just watch you try, cuz i'm cooked. But then i started working the crux, and watching his beta, and i thought maybe it would go. Before i left i unlocked the crux move and stuck it several times in a row, and dropped off before the topout. That was kinda fun.

Didn't link it from the start 'cuz i was fully outta gas, but now i know it'll go. The crux has you heel hooked on the starting jug, then you traverse right with your left hand to a shallow, but positive first-knuckle clutch under an overhang. Then you toe hook the jug so that you're layed out maybe 15 deg. offa' horizontal and work your left foot to the top of the right toehook. Then you cut the toehook loose and shove with your left foot at the same time, pull in to the wall, and gun nearly full-wingspan for a sidepull crimp. Stick that and you pike in to a foothold. i'm kinda amped-- haven't snagged a 4 in a while, and i'm confident this a proper 4. And it was fun to outgun some skinnies, including one of the climbing team chicks, and to do it tired. Doesn't matter, i know, but it makes me believe i could climb 6 or 7 or 8 if i could lose 20 lbs. And i have to keep that in front of me all the time, 'cuz it's so dang hard to cut back on the food habit and the beer if i don't.

NSAIDs please...

You'll be elated to know i finally went back in to the irongym yesterday evening for the first time in 6 or 7 months. i couldn't decide what i should work, so i worked everything. i'm having a tad of trouble lifting any of the heavier parts of my body this morning. Actually don't feel as crappy as i expected to. When i left the gym last night, however, i'd released so many toxins i had a little bit of a hard time driving in a straight line. m' back is still as strong as ever i guess, but i have no chest. Felt a li'l weird using your arched back/ leg drive technique to bench 135 lbs. a few times, but i was getting desparate toward the end.

Also went climbing earlier yesterday. Ticked that project first try today. And then went upstairs and sent another v3, also first try, that'd been kicking my butt for the previous week. That felt good. It was confidence building to know i could send two v3s in a row; but then i got shut down on a 2 for some reason, so i went back to class. Anyhow, good workout day all around, and it felt good to push some weight again-- even if it wasn't very much. i did weigh 200 flat at the gym, so my next stop is to get a pool membership. Gotta jettison some ballast.

Thur'sD'y

About that flippant assertion that i'd be avoidin' the crimps... Well a frind did shew up, and i shewd him thee problem: thee very one, indeede, whitch i compleetedeth upon the antecedent Tew'sDay. Rhite, and he cud not send-- whitch is goode, indeede, as theretofore, when last we'd clumb togaether, sum munths in thee past, he'd prooven all-ways sum meashure stronger than i. Anyways, we went to the cave, where we'd been sorta workin' a "v3" on tues. It's bloody hard for a 3... whoever rated the new stuff after that comp either kinda sees everything under a v5 as "basically all the same," or else is an irreligious, callous-souled sandbagger. i went to the gym specifically to do this problem, but it requires a shoulder-high heelhook 6 ft. off the ground in order to reach and establish on a tiny crimp, off of which one dynos to the finish. If you miss dead-center of that crimp it's sorta like trying to just grab 'hold of the wall with no hold on it whatever: you don't even slow down on the way to the mats. Anyhow, by the time we worked it out, i was too tired to link it together. It'll go on tues. But i didn't do so well at dodging the small crimps. we'd hooked up with another couple of guys i'd climbed with before, and were all taking turns burning on it. That's fun. i can say i work about a thousand times better and more efficiently when i'm climbing with some other folks. i had a genetics exam at 2:00, and at 1:45 i looked up at the clock and had trouble bringing myself to care. i was planning on climbing for maybe 30 mins., then going in early so i'd have a good hour to study for the thing. Ended up studying for about 10 mins. But it was so nice talking to other humans, i didn't much care. When adults address me i generally just stare at 'em for a while, and i have to dig deep to remember how to speak out loud.

i'll call it a good workout even if i did egregious tendon damage. And i got an 88 on the test, which isn't as bad as i deserved. And then, when i got home, Steph had got me a set of Pfeil wood carving chisels for a gift, the beautiful girl. Made for a pretty happy b'day all around.

Crimp my ride

Today was a good learning day. i climbed on sat. (which was dismal, and not much worth discussing) after which i was inspired to do hanging leg raises. i did five sets of 10 thinking that'd minimize the pain/healing time. It's a good thing i did, cuz today (tues.) it still hurts to cough hard. Anyhow, inspired by Glenn's bench workout, i went in with the attitude that i was gonna see some kind of progress or stay at the gym 'til i did. Seemed to work. In lieu of stretching, and my usual warmup routine, i sat at the base of a v3 that'd thrown me an embarrassing number of times, stared at it for 10 seconds or so, strapped on the ol' shoes and sent that bastard first try. i learned, though, that 200 lb. guys don't handle 3 or 4 long hard crimp sessions a week so well, and that 1 to 2 days of rest between 'em just ain't enough to heal. Also, it was driven home to me how much better i climb when i have someone to climb with. Closed crimps are just hard on the tendons, and that takes those silly things way longer to heal than muscles (although at this point i think they're healiing faster than my abs). Thurs. i'm gonna try to keep it to slopers and open-grips: no crimps. And presently i'm gonna try to work some portion of the flaccid entire anterior side of my cadaver.

Hey how's that job looking, cuz i need a workout partner?

'Tardation Thursday (the sequal)

Last night my dog found her voice, and howled for long about an hour after i booted her into the cold night. That was at around 12:30. Ended up getting about 5 hours of sleep. Then i'm pretty sure i forgot to take my seizure meds before school this morning. Then i went climbing. i truly thought for a while there that i'd acquired some form of retardation. Imagine trying to climb something with a migraine and with Crisco'd Seran-wrap on your feet. Started out trying a burn on a tricky li'l 3, and that didn't go so well. Then i thought i'd maybe get some blood moving and do a proper warm-up on a v1 i'd already done (and flashed). i fell off of it four times before i gave up. then i went upstairs hoping that there'd be no one up there in front of which to humiliate myself further, and i fell off of pretty much everything i laid hand to. Finally this guy came up whom i'd run into before on occassion, and was working a v4. So i joked with hime that i'd so far been shut down on absolutely everything in the gym, and would he mind if i fell off'a his problem as well. At any rate, things started looking up from there. i didn't send, but i came mighty close, and got the high point, so i felt a li'l less cowed thereafter. He said he'd been having problems as well and that he'd been shut down on a "v3-" downstairs, so i asked him where it was. Then i went and did it. It's a sit start inside a low cave. Start with one foot on a hold and hands on a polished slopey ledge at around eye-level. Then you throw up and backwards to the outside of the overhang-- full body length, all-points dyno-- to a rail. Stick that, and the second move's a full wing span lateral throw to a three-finger hueco. Then you match in it and finish on the ceiling. Just before i tried it, i watched this strong guy get spanked on it. He's all i can't believe this is 3-. There were no witnesses when i sent of course (which is probably why i sent), but at least i left knowing i'd outclumb some muscley dudes. Didn't feel like quite such a degenerate after that. But i gotta get me some sleep one of these days. That sucked.

Trisomal Tues.

Went in yesterday for to get some blood flowing. Bleh. Not sleeping for the antecedent week and about a pound of exotic cheese with the compulsory bottle of red the evening before did nothing at all for my climbing ability. i went in to send a couple of routes i'd been too tired to send during the comp, and found myself falling off of stuff i'd sent already. we're talkin' Parkinson's guy with a hangover. Anyhow, i did pull it together a bit toward the end, and accidentally sent a route i really didn't think i had the guns to do. Turns out there's a kind of numb, weightless zen to be found in getting so angry and so fed-up with oneself that the thought of breaking is no longer a factor. 'Course, shortly thereafter i botched a 0+, and i left in shame.

4.4.8 CompDay

Had me comp last night. Bonny good times, that. Turns out six off days with only one light workout in the middle has a pert' nigh miraculous effect on the ol' healing process. Climbed for three hours, and sent probably 19 climbs with maybe one to five minutes of rest 'tween tries. It was set up in an interesting way. None of the climbs were rated yet, but in the past they've assigned point values-- say between 100 to maybe 3000-- such that after you've climbed a few routes you have a pretty good idea how hard it's gonna be just by point value. This time they assigned either 5, 10, or 15 points, so a 5 pointer would be roughly between v0 and v2ish, 10 points comprised mostly hard v2 to probably low-end v5, and 15 pointers weren't worth hanging on. So the 10 pointers encompassed quite a huge range. Also all the problems were numbered, and you had a scoresheet with like 53 slots on it. On each slot you had either 1,2,3, or 4 tries to get the route. So before you got on the problem, you had to write the number of the problem in the slot, and you only had that many tries to send; otherwise you just lose that slot, and couldn't score points in it. But i know i sent 4 or 5 v3s and a v4 or two. By the last hour i (and every other mortal in the gym) was schlepping up every 5 pointer i could come by. we're talking wrist-hooking buckets, and dynoing for everything. Got to the point that if it took me more than 20 seconds to hit the finish hold, i couldn't do it no matter how easy it was. Very much fun.

Also there were some kids climbing. None of 'em were much good, but just the way the clumb made me realize that if i could just lose 120 lbs. or so, i'd be a way better climber. i think i'm gonna go in to the plain gym today.

You guys need to get here soon, and without paralysis (from, say, drunken motorcycle wrecks) 'cuz i'm jonesing to get off the ground.

Tues. April the Foolth

Did an ok workout on plastic yesterday. Felt like i was spent way too soon though. As a result, i turned it mostly into an endurance day. Clicked off a couple of hard 3s and then couldn't shake the pump off, so i moved to 2s, 1s, and 0s, and did as many as i could find as fast as i could find 'em trying to get as little rest as possible. Ended up doing a bunch of routes, and left with a very nice, warm, glowing burn and very little tendon damage. That comp i thought was last fri. is this fri. so i'm taking today and tomorrow off to try to get back to 100%. It's a good time-- they always put up a ton of new routes for these things, and you get a whole bunch of focussed folks to work 'em with.

Mundy the whateverth

To aid me in my quest to divest me of cellulite my brutha' in law bought me for my birthday a bottle of the Glenlivet. Typically when i have a fresh bottle of the single malt, i quit eating for a few days, favoring instead to just drink all m' meals. Right then.

Having whined at some length on Fri. about having absolutely no one with which to do anything worth doing in this one-horse town, a friend from the climbgym called me up on sat. and we went bouldering in the foothills near me house. That made for 4 days of climbing last week, and maybe the second time in almost a year i've been on real rock. That was fun. i forget how much i love rock 'til i get on it again, and how much different it is from plastic. The reason i don't climb out there more often (it's maybe a 5 min. drive) is that everything in the lower Sandias is slab climbing-- even if it's 120 deg. overhanging. It's all this quartzite aggregate weirdness, with no readily apparent holds on, and a coefficient of friction something like a cheese grater. A typical problem consists of locking down on a crystal dice glued to the face, plaistering one's feet on BBs and launching for a rugosity you assume is there because there's chalk in the vicinity. If you're lucky enough to stick it, you gain the pleasure of rocking up over it, matching a foot with your hand and standing up with no further holds on who-knows-what with 8 or ten feet of air under yer shoes for a manky top out. we probably didn't do anything harder than v2, but it's a head trip.

Anyhow, i sho' 'nuff does look me fo'ward to gettin' on some nice rocas. i wuz perusing my guidebook yesterday, and there's some very nice looking stuff around. There're routes from 5.6 to as hard as you'd wanna do, and even a five star 120ish ft. 5.9+ pitch that sounded very worth the hike in to.

Misanthropy

29.3.8 280 lbs. (+/-)

Went in tonight thinking there was gonna be a comp, but it ain't 'til next week. Just as well, 'cuz i climbed like crap. The tapeworm has left me for the moment.

i've come to hate people who have friends. It irritates me to see people around each other who seem to like being in the same place at the same time. i went in tonight thinking i might get to hook up with some cats what climb around my level, but it wasn't to be. Just a whole buncha noobs who all seemed to like bumbling around and falling a lot and joking around with each other-- the bastards. Seeing happy people with social skills just sucks the life right outta me. i sat there quietly watching this group of assorted tattooed, burly Hispanics hurling themselves at this one problem over and over again. i was already nuclear pumped, and i thought there might be a possibility of falling off of this problem and thus fitting in; but no. i even stalled half-way up as though i were searching for some really complicated foothold or something, just so's not to look like i was sandbagging, but if that silly climb went at hard 0 i'd say it was over rated. You could climb that thing with yer chin and some elbows. There was a point when fitting in became no longer worth it: namely, when i started thinking out loud that they'd have a way better chance of sending if they'd take less than three minutes to do it.

At any rate, if i could lose 15 lbs. i wouldn't need any friends.

26.4.8

i clumb yesterday, but it wasn't worth much. Did get a nice burn in, but it was a low concentration day. Plus i had to borrow some (crappy) shoes from the gym and i didn't have any chalk cuz i left all my gear in Steph's car. Climbing is way harder without chalk. Today Ouma took the kids to the zoo, so i went back to see what'd happen for the second day in a row. Turns out it's a dang good idear sometimes. Almost flashed a 5 first thing. Didn't get it, but i didn't try again. Climbed every three i could find, including at least one i hadn't linked before. After i couldn't pull any more 3s i did an enduro session on 1s and 0s. Ended up just pulling down a whole bunch of plastic. It was real encouraging to still be pulling that strong after that much climbing. The tapeworm's back i think, cuz i felt light and hungry, and that's good cuz there's an informal comp coming up this fri.

Oh, and i bought a new rope with the rei dividends, so i'm pretty amped to get on some rock. You should come visit me and climb.

22.3.8

i spassed out on wed., so that kinda killed off the rest of the week, but i went in and climbed yesterday just to get some blood flowing. m' head is still a li'l foggy, and i climbed pretty bad, but it was good to move. Cleared the noggin up a li'l bit.

Have a good Easter.

Summary of the antecedent week

i weighed on Wed. at 195. Yesterday i took Aeon to the doc, and i weighed just over 190. Perhaps i have a tapeworm.

Tues. was a brilliant day. felt good. Retro-flashed a hard 3/easy 4 after i saw a key foothold i'd been missing. Then sent another 3. Hung from the start holds of a 9+, then flashed a 3.

Thurs. was not so brilliant. Slept not at all the night before and bombed a chem exam. Mostly fell off of all the 2s and 1s i got on and finally left chalking it up to a quasi-endurance day.

Went back yesterday (fri.) and really didn't climb much better, but i didn't have very high expectations or much time. i went in for a superpump, and just jumped on every 0 and 1 i came across in as rapid a succession as i could manage. ended up doing quite a few routes, but nothing hard. Head wasn't really on straight, but it was a good workout. Anyhow, i'm pretty convinced i could walk 6 if i got down to 180 lbs. or so.

The Power of an Empty Mind

Project sent. :-) In under 1,000 tries... Think i'm on a roll.

4.3.8

i went in to the climbgym today after a 5 day lay-off. Felt nice to be fairly healed. Funny day. Felt like it was a pretty good workout, but i sent nearly nothing. Gave several burns to my proj. v4, and finally linked through the crux a couple of times and my foot slipped off a tiny hold nearly at the finish. At least now i know i can do it. i was getting frustrated cuz i could only stick the crux throw maybe one outta four or five tries. And i could only give a few burns in any session cuz it's quite pumpy. i think i'm gonna try to run tonight. Gotta find the wherewithal. Need... motivation...

Yester Day

went snowboarding with James at Santa Fe. That was a good time. Moreover, the snow was surprisingly good, and with good snow the mt. really was fairly good. we did a day there last year, and all they had open was a handful of blues. This year the whole mt. was open, and they have a some pretty nice blacks and a coupl'a doubles that shoot through some glades and bouldery couloirs. Oh, and nearly no people--specially on the hard stuff-- even on a saturday. Takes about 1.25 hrs. to get there from here. You'll hafta come up and hit it with me if there's any snow next season.

And for your entertainment: there's this nice clearing in one of the couloirs that a lift line parallels, and someone'd built a steep kicker on the side of a boulder. we went down it once and i hit it to see what was on the other side. Nice powdery landing. So we decided it was worth doing again. we set up for this thing and i went at it, but i speed checked late and couldn't get straightened. The nose of my board stuck on the boulder and i just endoed over it. Landed head down in the boulder well on the back side with my board still on the ramp. Fortunately, the lift had stopped and i had tons of spectators. This one guy's like "Yeah! Good jump man! .... hey are you alright?" i'm all, "Yep. Everything but my ego." Then we climbed the hill to try it again. That time i hit it a bit cleaner--which is good, 'cuz there were some bunnies egging me on from the lift. i've taken some nasty falls, but that was among the more humiliating.

Leap Day

200,000.4 lbs. Today is a rest day. Wed. was my second day in the rockgym in a row, and thereafter i was in such agonizing pain that i declared a week off for myself and took 1200 of ibuprofen to celebrate. Unfortunately the ibuprofen worked too well, and i went back again for a third day in a row on thurs. Didn't send much, but i didn't do too much additional damage either. For now at least i'm hopeful, that i'll be off 'till at least tues. which should make for five off-days. i need 'em: there's no skin left on my fingers, and i've dislocated my shoulder maybe four times proper. i was back over 200lbs. as of wed., and i felt every ounce of it. But the weather's gorgeous, and i'm hopeful that i can start running regularly soon-- just gotta get my woman here to watch the kids when she's not in the throes of a nervous breakdown. Oh, and i'm planning (GOD allowing) to go snowboarding tomorrow. That ought'a get the blood flowing.

Shut down like a cellar

198.6 lbs.

After two days of terrible anticipation, i shinned on in to throw myself at my li'l v4 again. i finally managed to repeat the crux move, and even (sorta) linked through it from the sit start (although my foot brushed the ground). However, after the fourth time my shoulder tried to disencumber itself of its moorings, i left off for some new source of inspiration. i've got all the moves wired up to the crux, but i can't friggin' remember how i did that friggin' move. i did get it clean once today, but even then i dropped off and was like, Ok...Now what'd i just do? i totally know if i can go in clear-headed and strong i can do that climb-- i've done all the moves on it. But it's definitely a 4. And you sorta gotta hang all yer weight on the rotator cuff for a split second at the end of that crux dyno, and that is a real weakness for me. It's all about twisting yer body in this certain magical way that shifts yer weight onto the biceps in mid-flight, but i'll be danged if i can remember how to do it after i've done it. Each time i've snagged it it's felt easy, but if i miss a bit i have to reduce my shoulder and cry a li'l bit. Not a very inspiring day, but i 100% know that if i can show up strong that it'll fall.

19.2.8

...i could just haul m' flabby arse into the proper gym. Indeed, that is my plan for this evening. i am going to go bench press something, and i am going to like it.

i also went in to the climbgym again today for a less unenthusiastic workout than sunday's. That piece of a climb that i sent first go with those guys that day has for some reason been obsessing me, and's become my new project. It's a v4, and i think i got the whole thing if i can just feel that strong again soon. i linked from the crux move to the finish the other day (which is what those guys were working on), and today i linked from the sit-start to that crux start. But i couldn't do the crux move again today. Just kinda felt off still. It's a sick climb though-- cool movement. The crux starts with you hanging parallel to the floor on an ok crimp and a bad pinch. You shove off hard with yer feet, cut loose the pinch and stab waaay out for a flat ledge. If you stick it, it leaves you in a semi-iron-cross position with your feet dangling (whereat you match as quickly as you can). Powerful move, but i got it first try. Now if i can just remember how...

18.2.8

Thought i'd mark down that i went to the rockgym yesterday. Definitely not a real inspiring workout, as i've been down with the flu since last wed. or so, but i got a few burns in. i am getting to that special point, though, where my conviction that i need to be back in the irongym is more than just an intellectual ackowledgement, but is a physical demand. That my forearms are now the strongest muscles in my body is not necessarily a tribute to my forearm strength. Plus i'm gonna have shoulder arthritis if i don't get 'em stronger; i've just gotten used to my left shoulder trying to pop out of socket when i latch anything sorta iron-cross style.

Happy V-Day to me

Today i woke up with some brand of bronchitis/ upper r.i., and i skipped all my classes including my first chemistry exam. i felt like bland poopy-doody. Yet somehow skipping all my classes energized me. i watersealed all the stone in my bathroom, caulked the baseboards, and took a characteristically not-terribly-restful nap. Then i went climbing. At first it was very much as though i had an ocean sloshing about in my skull. But i couldn't leave cuz i didn't want another three consecutive off-days. Thought maybe even some easy climbing would get the ol' blood flowing and improve my general outlook on life. But i didn't do any easy climbing. i meandered upstairs and fell in with some muscley ripped tattooed guys and taught them what it looks like to climb. Or, if it wasn't quite that dramatic, i did send their project piece first try, and dropped off to a bewildered look that asks, "How does someone that fat and pasty pull that hard?" Ended up hanging with another couple o' guys-- one of whom was right about my level, and the other was seriously good. This first guy was working a v3 i'd been projecting for several weeks. It's as hard as a v3 gets. He finally linked it, and i sent right behind him. That is one good feeling. There just ain't anything like working some hard proj with an amped posse.

11.2.8

It's, what?-- mondayish. Lessee here... last i weighed (on wed. it was) i was 198.6lbs. After a three day rest from climbing i went in semi-fresh for a laid back session today. De ja vous flashed a thin v3 for a warmup, and then had a pretty strong day of it. Didn't send much else worth talking about, but i was pulling hard on some really nice problems. Being just a few pounds lighter has a strange, near-miraculous effect on what i can hang from. Also, going in sans raging tendon injuries has a generally positive effect. Funny, but i was sticking stuff i nearly knew i was gonna fall off of when i first glanced at it. That's a real nice sort o' surprise. So if losing 3 or 4 lbs. has that kind of return, i wonder what i could climb if i dropped 15 or 20. Just gotta learn to live on protein bars and cereal. To je vsetko

Fatty indeed....

Hee heee... i got it, yesseree Bob! went in yesterday and figured The Move out, but didn't have the juice left. did, however, hook up with some other guys and under great peer pressure sent a v3 onsight, and then a different 4(ish) after three of four tries. Today i was bored between classes and thought i'd see what happened, so i stared at it for a few minutes, gave it a warmup try, then sent it. 'bout kissed that finish hold.

3.2.8

Well now. Tomorrow (mon.) will see me with three contiguous days of barely adulterated rest. Le's jus' see how 'em crankers 'n' pullers feel afta' that there now, mm. i'm fatter and significantly less conditioned than i was at the beginning of the weekend, but i feel me a v4 comin' on; yassah, i do.

my own sickness

No, i didn't send, thank you very much. But i do have bilateral bicep tendonitis. So for therapy, i went back in today for two days in a row. my hands are definitely strong enough, but i just can't lock it off with the agony in my biceps. It's like fire. But convincing myself that i need rest is like convincing an anorexic that she's not a fat cow. On the plus side, i have in the meantime sent a whole bouquet of cool 3s, and i'm pretty confident that if i can take the next two days off, i can send that 4. And it's a legitimate 4. Ibuprofen makes me happy, but it does not make me strong.

At the end of aforementioned Thurs. workout i started working a tricky v3, but didn't send because i couldn't get my hands to stay shut 'round the dinosaur egg sloper before the final move. Today i went in and sent it for a warmup. Fun climb. Then i gave 5 or six burns to a v4. i think i finally had the crux (final) move worked out. Dig the complication: the second to last hold is a bad layback crimp for the left hand maybe 18 inches above yer right. Feet are way out left on bad holds to keep tension on that left hand. For The Move, you paste yer left foot way up high-- about eight feet high in fact, rock up as high on it as possible, and jump up and out as it's an overhang. If you stick the final jug, your right hand has moved about four feet. Anyhow, i set up for that throw, got my feet up, and on a whim, i glanced down to make sure i could still see the Earth. Lo, and there was a six year old kid lying on the damned crash pad staring up at my ass with his head exactly where i was planning to chaotically jam my heels shortly-- just kinda kickin' it smiling up at me. Being the humanitarian that i am, instead of going for it, i hung there for a sec taking it in and then yelled at him. Presumeably i was fierce enough, 'cuz he darted. i dropped and looked about me incredulously at the relatively large group watching me who'd done absolutely nothing about a kid spontaneously deciding to get a tan in the obvious ground-zero of a 200 lb. walrus dangling from on high.

But i will send on mon. God allowing. i was there for almost two hours. That makes a good workout.

24.1.8

Snowboarding was enlightening. And refreshing. i climbed on Tues. and Thurs. It was so bad on Tues. that i didn't really count it as a workout, so i went back yesterday. Yesterday was better. i pulled down some hard routeage, and i feel like i can seriously start projecting v4 again. i just gotta get back in the irongym, but i can't seem to find any motivation. Instead, i'm sitting here on my off day feeling sorry for myself. i have this recurring daydream of what it'd be like to have a workout partner. Hell, i'd settle for your basic run-of-the-mill friend. i think i need more than a long weekend: i think i need a long move.

14/1/8

Catchup again. weighed in at 202.4 lbs. today. went climbing today and sat. and probably also the thurs. before. i don't think i've gained much weight-- or rather, i haven't gained any weight. i think i've just converted some more muscle weight to fat. At any rate, between thurs. and now i sent four project v3s. At least two of those were on the very hard end of 3. i think i'm getting close to 4 again, strength-wise after the tendon damage. But i'm definitely seeing the effects of a weak core and upper arms. i can latch onto stuff that i can't pull through. i've got some kind of stupid mental block about hauling m' arse back into the iron gym. i have got to, but it's almost a painful prospect. we need some encouragement on this end. Maybe a snowboarding trip to Wolf Creek'd do the trick... hmmm

5.1.8

Today i did nothing. Nuh. Theeng. Nada. Yesterday, however, as well as the day before, i went climbing. It convinced me of two things. Or rather, it convinced me of at least two things. That is to say, i'll start out with two things i was convinced of, and if i feel like it, or if it just seems somehow appropriate, i'll add in more things, which i might very well find i have also been convinced of. And i will do so without apology. First, i am actually as fat as i was afraid i might be. Incredible how gravity takes an extra handful of kilos and runs with it. There was significantly more gravity in that climbing gym than i remembered.

Second, rest is terribly useful-- maybe as useful as all those training rags, and books, and gurus make it out to be. In spite of the extra gravity, i was pulling on stuff i couldn't pull on just before we left for vacation.

Third, the wrong kind of rest is no so bueno. After less than two weeks off my forearms are sore-- as in, it-hurts-to-click-on-the-mouse sore; as in shifting-gears-(while-beneficial)-might-just-finish-off-a-tendon sore.

Fourth, sitting on my ass for 14 hours a day and drinking hard liquor in available free moments turns out to be the wrong kind of rest.

At any rate, the gym had a comp on friday, so there's lots of fun new routes up, and they bought a ton of new plastic for it. It's eerie how if you climb enough you start recognizing the same holds reused on different routes. New holds are our friends.