Fat Do Float

Well i got that v5 today i was projecting at the end of Tues' session. That was unquestionably one of the hardest climbs ever i've grabbed the finish holds of, so i feel pretty confident about saying i've clumb v5 now. Now i need to lose 20 lbs. and start gunning for v8. i'm checking out the velocity diet thang...

>-)

Dos mas. i can now with a bit of authority say that v5 i did the other day isn't 5. i did it again today for a warmup (it probably goes at 4-), but then sent 2 more really frickin' hard 5s. So whether it was really v5 or not, it got me over the mental barrier. Then i started working another one with a friend, and i think, worked out the crux. i think it'll fall on a fresher day. This resting in between workouts is nearly miraculous. And i got a 96 on that chem. test. (Made one silly error.) It all adds up to make for a pretty bueno day-o. Cheers lads.

S.W.D.

[There. i'm outta the closet... i'm white.)

Steph's in San Diego on the beach for the weekend for a "business trip", and i've got the kiddos for the duration. Only the peeps-in-law offered to keep the two eldest for the night so i could acclamitize to breast feeding in the middle of the night, and they offered to keep Katja for a coupl'a hours so i could go workout. So i took 'em up on it. SENT m' FIRST V5 TODAY. :D Steph called and i told her, and she seemed not to really give a rat's ass, so i'll declare it to you 'cuz i have no other friends out of whom i might hope to get a "Hey, cool. 'Attaboy." THEN i nearly sent another much harder one, but i fell on the last move. But it'll go when i'm a tad fresher. Dude! i've broken into v5! And in eight-ball slick rental shoes. And it was a cool problem, but it was sorta' anticlimactic 'cuz i just walked it. Didn't really feel that hard. i need to take a week off more often. Weird having biceps that weren't basically a source of undiluted agony. (Although i'm pretty sure i rethrashed 'em. Climbed for three hours.) Hooked up with this one guy i climb with occasionally, then a couple other cats showed up working the same stuff, and the energy of having a bunch of competing testosterone racing you for the send is... motivating. Very nice to trip onto that scene once in a while.

Yesterday i went in for the promised straight leg deads and hanging leg raises. i probably did too much weight on deads for having not done 'em in so long. i hurt. i need to do that more often. And i too need to get back on the game with the cardio. Word.

Specious

After five minutes of focussed, intense studying, i think i aced m' first Chem II test. Heh heh. i went up and asked that punk prof. about one of the terms that wasn't making sense to me, and he answered me like i was an idiot, and then announced it to the class kinda' chuckling. So i spanked his test for him. Here's to sticking it to The Man.

Yesterday's workout consisted of watching a climbing video while simultaneously sifting through youtube workouts. It was exhausting.

Hodge-podgin'

Didn't climb today. Went to the irongym for one o' the most random workouts i've ever done. As a result i can't remember what i did exactly, but it involved dodging people at rush hour, and picking up sundry weights and heaving them about. Something to do with a "prime directive" of shoulder rehab. In fact, i distinctly recall some Theraband coming into the mix somewhere. Then i left and went swimming. That worked out better for me. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. i miss climbing. i miss my shoes. i miss uninflamed biceps. i intentionally didn't do abs or straight leg deads so's to have an m.o. for future workouts. Right.

And here's the funny anecdote for the day: Chemistry lab, right: only there's some cutish dork of a femme there for a makeup lab, and she joins us. 'S'a problem, cuz my lab partner's also a dork. So whole lab i'm trying to fight off my gag reflex as the Flirting Status-Post-High-School Dork Ballet unfolds before me. Halfway through i made it clear that i might kill him if he wasted my time at the expense of his goofy lebido once again. By the end i just had to clear my throat and they both got silent to see what might be the matter. i may not be all that huge, but it's amazing what the stubbly old-guy effect does to scrawny minors.

And i made a 90 on my pre-calc test. Highest grade in the class. Only i studied for 45 mins. for it and haven't done any of the homework yet. i felt pretty good about that, but i didn't show anyone else m' grade. i'm in a class full of "Engineering Majors" and i didn't figure that'd go over too well. It 1) makes me think i could be an engineer of whatever stripe without much problem, and 2) makes me think there're a lot of dumbasses what must be packing CAD terminals out there. Now the goal is to pass the rest of the class without doing any homework.

i miss climbing, really. And Trader Joe's has come out with a line of $18.oo single malts, and i'm afraid they're gunna kill me. Peace and Grace.

Freedom

As a valentine's day present to me, i sent my shoes off to Boulder for a resole. That'll keep me off'n the walls for at least a week. In spite of trying to go easy at the gym, my biceps just won't heal. i need some real live time for the ol' tendons to re-knit. i'm gonna try to get back into the iron gym and start doing some accessory work and some rehab. i sent those shoes off and it was like, "Ahh! i don't have to climb today! i can't! So there!" It was like a world had been lifted off my shoulders. No climbing, guilt free. we get a five hour babysitting gift today as a chance to go do something romantic and valentine's-y, and i think we're going to the climbing gym, but i'm going in my crocs as belay slave. i think we'll actually have fun with no chiddlers to scream at every ten seconds. It's time for a week of focussed slouching about.

...Don we now our reggae apparel...

i want to be healed, dangit! No. i should be thankful: i've largely avoided contracting The Plague from my chilluns and wif, who've been knocked down since last fri. my head feels stuffed with cotton and i've gone through bales of Kleenex, but i've dodged the fever, inverted lungs, abdominal alien eruptions, general malaise, etc. i bought a bottle of Islay single malt, and i do believe Steph imbibed more of it than i. "For the cough," says she.

Right, and i endeavored to climb again today. Biceps feel a tiddle better-- i was able to do several pullups. Still can't hold heavy lockoffs though. i've tried to go easy and give 'em time to heal, but i've done some awful damage to 'em. But today's big failure was all in my head. i don't understand it, but there's a trend in the mornings at that gym. Somebody in upper management is seriously fond of Reggae. i can only shake my head and frown. Today i couldn't handle it, and went to the front desk and asked for a music change. i thought she'd dig when i specified "something a bit angrier, please", but rather than chuckling knowingly, she gave me a concerned look and switched it to the all R.E.M. station. At any rate, it was an upgrade. i sent one (1) route today, and it was a v1. i fell off of ev-er-y-thing. Destroyed biceps are working out to be a real weak link in my training scheme. i need a solid week off from climbing, but i can't seem to manage to squish anything else in its place. Maybe i'll start waking up at 5:30 and swimming. isn't gunna happen, but i'll think about it wistfully. Peace.

C.Y.O.B-spot

After a three day rest, i went back in to the climbgym today. i was suffering from acute vaginitis and didn't manage to sew up my v5 proj. But i did link through the crux. It's really just a matter of hanging on and topping out. m' biceps are so weakened i just couldn't hold the lockoff. Irritating, but i didn't want to do more damage. Pretty much didn't do anything, but one kinda' cool new v3ish route. i wanna be healthy again, dangit! Got three sick kids and a sick wife, and i've staved off the plague from them so far, but i want my stoopid arms to recup. Bleh. Anyhow, that 5'll fall as soon as i can lug my head into the gym with the rest of me. They took down my 5+ project, so that's bumming, but there're others...

Paradigm Shift

Went back last night to meet Steph, but she no-showed on me, so i hung with a friend. It started off bad-- we both botched a 5.10 TR problem that should'a been easy. Then we settled in with some other guys working a v5 on the top-out boulder. i worked through all the moves on it, but couldn't link it up before we left. went back this afternoon to see if i could send it, but i kept falling on the top off a move i managed yesterday. So i ran into another cat i climb with occasionally, and he got me working a 6-, and a 5+ with 'im. didn't have the ammo in the guns for the hanging start on the 6, but all the moves seemed doable, and i worked through most of it. Also worked out the crux move on the 5. It'll definitely go when i'm healed, and it's solid 5. Finally, made an effort on a razor blade crimp problem. Should'a flashed that, but i scrogged the finish sequence and got spit off. Fingertips wouldn't allow another serious try.

went back with Steph and the kiddos this evening, but we didn't have much time by the time we got there. i did get to go back to the boulder and finish that teensy crimper prob. Goes at v3ish. Then got a v4 mantle problem i've got wired. Guess the trend now is two sessions per day. Only i feel a rest coming on-- i can see the capillaries in the tips of a couple o' fingers where i almost, but not quiiite yet have managed to grate away all the flesh. Tearing a chunk outta a fingertip is not one of those things i want to have to heal from.

Knitting the Panda

Three whole days; no climbing. Crazy what things like rest'll do for a body. For example, they make me fat as a sow. Aeon was watching Kung Fu Panda again this morning 'fore i left, and it inspired me. Snagged a v4 proj i couldn't get at the comp. It's a crimp problem that climbs outta this roof in the back of the boulder cave. Starts on an icky sloper. Move backwards to the first crimp, match, heelhook the start sloper. Move up to the next crimp, match, gun for a slopey swing, find a place for some feet, and finish. Funny thing is the crimps were these thin huecos, and when i matched on 'em they both flexed away from the wall under my fat butt. i'm all "Please don't break! Bad times to break!" Then i got my pet "v5" v3 again. Then another 3. Then i sent a v3 that'd spit me off an embarrassing number of times. Hopefully i'm gonna meet Steph at the gym for a rope session this evening. we'll see how that goes.

i feel so good, i've decided to take three days off every two or three weeks whether i realize i need it or not. ;)