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.