Logging in

Ummm...stopped at last tues i think. Lessee: i've kinda' been alternating climbing days with other stuff. Nothing particularly eventful, but i want to put down what i've done. Climbed (poorly) wed. Didn't even try on that v5, 'cuz i was broken; but i did log some climb time and was there. Thurs (yesterday) i swam again. Got another 1,000yds straight with some kind of wu/cd. Makes for a nice lunch break. Today i met a friend and clumb again. Actually got on the lead line for some routes. Liiiiiii'l bit rusty. Sent an 8, a 9, then hung three times on a 10. Silly, but my head (and to be fair, my wi'l peengers) weren't too into it. Then got on an overhanging 10, and onsighted it in 30secs. Then we went upstairs and i tagged the gigantic double-dyno crux on that v5, and finished the problem. But i (again) didn't have the juice to link it after the first three moves. Kinda' frustrating, 'cuz i know i could do it if i were fresh and crisp, but i doubt i'll get to that state before it gets pulled down. The Prime8 is this next saturday, and i'm wanting to be healed for that. i'm hoping not to have to tape my mitts for it. i want to crimp so bad! So i'm planning on maybe climbing once for a remind-my-tendons-that-they-have-a-purpose session, and spending the rest of the week avoiding--and perhaps divesting myself of--obesity. Gonna try to do chest today, here in a sec, and i'm actually gonna try to get in a bike/run brick tomorrow. Haven't done one of them there in a coon's age.

Three weeks of meat and greens

i'll just post up what i've done this week to mark it. Sat. i went climbing for a pretty bad session. Mighty broke down, but it was a session. Spent almost the whole time working a v5. Pretty cool problem with this huge backward throw. Didn't have the juice for it saturday, but i think it'll go if i can get in fresh enough before they take it down for the comp. Sunday i did a 1'20" run. That wiped me out bad. Felt good for the run (although i think i was pretty slow...haven't figured out the distance exactly) but i was dead the next day. Gotta do that more often. Yesterday (mon.) i did the full back workout. Felt really good through that. Starting to get strong again. Worked up to basically four negative reps with 100lbs on pullups. Actually felt good, and pushed it hard through the whole thing. Today i got a swim in for lunch. Did at least 1,000yds straight plus a li'l warm up and cool down for about 1400 total. (Lost count several times, so i round down).

On the diet front, i was sorely tempted to have a beer studying at a friend's a few days ago; but i managed to refrain. Had a cuppa peppermint tea instead. Yesterday studying pharm, i wanted a dip so bad it hurt. But i couldn't get any, so i refrained (and am very glad. God had my back there.) i seem to be stuck at about 193lbs. But i definitely look and feel better. i expect that i'm building up glycogen in muscles that haven't been called on to contract in many, many moons. And i do think i'm losing some blubber. But one more week and i'm having a beer. Stone's 10/10/10 comes out in 5 days. i'm looking forward to that.

Oh hey, read my last post too when you get a minute. i still want some criticism on the workout.

Two weeks of green faces

Did the other half of sunday's workout yesterday (Wed.). Definitely felt stronger on these than when combining 'em all into one; but it remains to be seen if this will negatively affect my climbin'. i said i'd post this up for your perusal/retooling. It's been a little hodge-podge--partially 'cuz i'm just getting back into the lifting scene, and partially 'cuz i'm trying to hammer out just what i need to concentrate on to climb like a monster. So i'll put up my workout for the whole week (which should be a fairly good overview of a normal week). Play with it, suggest, throw out the deadwood, and add what's missing; only take yer time. i want a solid workout, but i've cobbled this mess together 'cuz it's pretty climbing-specific. That's the main theme here.

Let me think....

All right.
Chest/Delts workout
  (i usually do this one on Thurs.)

DB Bench:
10 x 50
8 x 60s
2 (or 3) x 6 x 75
(editor's note: i did this yesterday, and it killed my shoulder)

Incline DB press:
Just started these so i'm just pushing around weights that don't hurt my shoulders.
2 (or 3) x 8ish x 50-60
(ed.: Interestingly, these didn't hurt my shoulder at all. It was pretty cool to push something to failure because of muscle fatigue instead of knife-like pain. i think i worked up to a couple o' sets with 65s)

Dips:
Whatever i can manage.
(ed.: Couldn't manage. Think i got a set of five before i wanted to cry.)

Delts:
Again, this is new, so it's kinda' still shoulder rehab.
Been doing shoulder flexion with DBs and lateral flexion.
(Didn't do these yesterday, except for some very light sets to get blood into my shoulder.)

Shoulder extensors:
Just added this back in yesterday. Start up high on a cable press about shoulder width, and press the bar down, elbows straight. i like this exercise.

Back/Abs:

i usually do this on sundays.

Pullups:
20+/- bw
8 x +25
7 x +35
2 x 6 x +45

Straight Leg Deads:
wu: 20 with the bar
14 x 95
10 x 145
8 x 195
8 x 215
(i haven't worked back up to the weightier sets, but here's what i normally work up to. Also, this is where i stopped on Sun.)
6 x 235
6 x 255
4 x 275
4 x 295
(and occasionally)
3ish x 305

Hanging Leg Raises:
30 x legs
3 x 10 x +leg weights
(i need to add some more stuff for abs. Need more obliques.)

One arm Cable Rows:
10 x 90
8 x 105
6 x 120
6 x 135
4 x 150
(These i do on a cable machine, and i'm pretty sure the weights are a bit lighter than what's printed on 'em, but i've done these on a bench with DBs and i can get reasonably close to this, so it's not too far off. Anyhow, i like the machine 'cuz it's harder to cheat, and i can't stabilize my shoulder girdle with the other arm, so more force is vectored through the paraspinals. i am thinking about either exchanging these, or else just adding in a wider grip routine to work some more muscles. Or just replacing it altogether for rows on the rings.)

Bent o'er BB Rows:
(i use a supine grip on these, 'bout shoulder width.)
10 x 135
2 x 6 x 175
(i like these things too. Kinda' just re-introducing 'em back in, so i was a li'l weak on 'em.)

DB Shrugs:
(Again, just started these, but i like 'em.)
14 x 90s
10ish x 100s
8 or so x 105s

Wide grip High Rows:
(These i do leaned way back, pinkies hanging off the bar on a wide bar.)
10 x 180
2 x 8 x 195
(These torture the lats and low traps, and remind me of climbing out of a cave. Very nice feeling.)

That's it for the iron work. In the meantime (wow, that just brought back a Helmet song) i'm trying to ramp up the triathlon and the climbing. The climbing i'm trying to intensify with a view to allowing my widdle pinger tendons to knit up properly. Ergo, i've been doing a tonne of endurance and toproping. It seems to be doing brilliant things for me: went from falling off of v2s a couple of weeks ago to getting within spitting distance of 5.12--still on splinted fingers that i can't crimp on. If i can edge down below 190lbs and heal a bit in the next two weeks, i might just have a good day of climbing at that comp.

With respect to the triathlon, i'm still trying to get a feel for the school schedule, but i'm trying to find the energy to cram a workout into every pore and orifice in the planner. Last sun. i did about an hour ride. Yesterday at lunch i got in a 1000yd swim. (Turns out there's a nice city pool a couple o' blocks from the school). Today i got in a 1.5hr ride with some stiff climbs to boot. i've been running fairly regularly, but i don't think i got one in this week. Anyhow, if i can miraculously maintain through the winter, i might just get a race or two in next season.

Startin' the week propa'

Weighed in at about 196 today. That's after breakfast. i expect i'm doing some crazy glycogenoneogenesis...'specially after yesterday. And i'm ok with that. If i've gotta' have weight, then that's the weight i need. Still have plenty of lard to lose to get me below 190.

Yesterday i dragged out m' cycling gear and i actually did an hour on the ol' QR. That is what i was made for! i'm afraid i have not fulfilled my purpose in life. There is just no pain i get off on quite like that. In fact, i'm not sure there is any other pain quite like that. Nothing torches yer quads and hams at the same time quite like clipless pedals up a stiff hill. Yeah, it occurred to me during the ride that i could not remember the last time i'd activated any of my quadriceps in a coordinated, forceful effort. It was a perfect day, and the wind was outta the north, so it was a very encouraging first ride. It amazes me every time i go out how hard it is for me to get my butt on the saddle and out the door compared with how much i love life when i'm out there. Anyhow, hopefully i can pick up a regular habit of it and get in shape for it before it's too cold to be barely getting in shape.

Then i went in and lifted. Started out well enough, but halfway through deads i got into a conversation with a feller about politics, and that consumed all my time. i'm hoping to get back in today for the rest of it. Otherwise, i might figure out how to replace everything i've been doing with my rings. Except for the deadlifts. i think it'd be possible to mimic deads on rings, but it'd be frightful hard. So today: more back work (and hopefully a stealthy spell of climbing.)

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Personal Note:

Did get that climbin' sesh in. Couldn't boulder worth a crud, so i got on toprope and (supposedly) flashed a .10 and a couple of .11s. i don't think any of 'em were rated correctly, but i'll take what i can get for my puny ego.

i think i'll have...ummm..the eggs, please. And some vegetables.

So i climbed yesterday (which i mentioned), but i went to the irongym and worked chest instead of running. i'm starting to get a li'l broken down. Did flat and incline DB bench, and my right shoulder had that ice-pick-in feeling again. Not that it was a bad workout, only i just can't do much with it. i warmed up long and carefully, but it still hurt. Tried doing dips after that to see if i could shift the vector onto some more amenable bit of the capsule, and i clipped off maybe five before i wanted to cry. Anyhow, i got two workouts in yesterday. Planning on going climbing again today with a friend--hopefully to do a bunch of toproping--and maybe i'll get that run in. The weather's 'bout as perfect for running as it gets.

Oo, and Yank-n-Yard is coming up Oct. 16 if you wanna shin up here and compete. Ought'a be just in time for me to have a beer afterward. And hopefully i can be down in the 180s weight-wise, and be healed and strong. That'd be mighty fine.

Holding pattern

Weighed again today. i'm holding at 192lbs. But i'm ok with that, cuz i still think my spare tire is deflating a bit. Plus i've had to back off on the two-a-days since i'm back in school ('cuz the pointy haireds above keep jacking with the schedule). But i've still managed to workout in some form or another pretty much every day, which is a very important change from the earlier days. Lessee...i think i posted on tues. Ended up doing a 45min run that evening. Yesterday, i actually did get up and swim. Got beat in a 50 by a guy in swim trunks doing butterfly, but he was a strong swimmer. Got in 1200m-- wu/cd: 600; bi'ness sets: 300/100/200 on no particular interval. i'm slow (it's my second swim in maybe 5 or 6 months), but i did notice i felt way better with more distance than the last time i swam. i wanted to climb yesterday, but they shuffled our schedule, so i had two hours of lunch. However, i took the rings with me and threw 'em over an I-beam in the school. That was a good time. Amazing how much those things destabilize a brutha'. If i can get strong on those things, methinks i shall be strong indeed. Then i got sucked into throwing a football with some guys (if you can picture me throwing the ol' pigskin) and i managed to jam a finger. Soon i'll be climbing with my left hand in a cast. Ah well: if i do, i'm gonna glue some Stealth rubber to it.

i'm gunna try to sneak out for an hour-ish today and get a li'l climbin' in. Then i'm going to try to get a run in after class. It's funny: every time i run now, Annie wants to go for a training run afterward. So we'll go to the park for some laps and sprints. That li'l chick is so fast it's scary. we'll be running along and she'll decide she wants to go, and she can fully out-accelerate me. Can't beat me over any distance of course (yet), but it's like there's no limit to how high she can take deltaV in about 1sec. Maybe i'll have the next Johanna Ernst. Vamos a ver.

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Later that day:

Got that climb session in. Not too shabby, but i'm definitely outta shape. Got six v3s. wanted seven, but my right hand was playing out at the top of the last one. i'm not sure i've ever actually done that many v3s in a session--and it was in about 1.25 hrs. Very nice workout, really. Good for the endurance bones. i have nearly none.

One week in

Well. i couldn't drag me out of bed this morning in time to swim, but i plan on either a swim or run after class this evening. i did, however, weigh this morning before i got dressed, and i'm down to about 192 on the br scales. So i've lost at least 10lbs in the last week, even if my scales are not terribly accurate. Now, granted, that's almost certainly mostly water weight, but it's water weight i've needed to lose. And if i have to lose 12 more lbs of water to get down to 180, then i'll still be climbing v7. Gravity, in my estimation, doesn't care what the mass is made of. But i can also pinch a lot less blubber, and that's encouraging. The rings came in yesterday, but i haven't had time to set 'em up yet. i'm kinda' amped 'bout that. A video came with it made by these Romanian guys--one of which was a world champ rings guy in '03ish--and it convinced me that i will soon be doing handstand pushups on the rings. Even though i can't do one up against a wall. i'll get a record for being the fattest guy to ever do an iron cross. Nice rings though. Gotta say the whisky in the pantry and the beer in the fridge call to me, and the homemade ice cream and chocolate give me pangs of lust occasionally, but i am digging feeling as good as i do, and i'm digging seeing some results on the weight loss front. i am gonna have to figure out how to make big parts of my meals ahead of time though. Shouldn't be hard; i just haven't had to do it yet. But i was late to class this morning, so i'm gonna hafta work that out.

Last day of freedom

Start back to schoo' tomorrow. i've made a li'l headway in this last week. After that last post on sat. i went climbing, and things went much better than they did two days prior. i at least pulled down some v3s, and i sent several 5.10s on the autobelays. So there's a light at the end of the tunnel i've dug straight down into the ground. i've been making a point to exercise in at least some form every day, and on a few days i've squished in two workouts. Don't know if i'll be able to keep that up so easily with this next quarter coming, but i'm gonna try. Today (sun) i got in to the irongym for back/abs again. i felt better than i did a few days ago when i tried it, but i have lost a lot of strength. Wasn't pretty; but it was progress under the circumstances.

And my integrity with the diet has been tested the last couple of days too. Last night we went to a party for a friend, and they made burritos and nachos. That was painful to avoid the cheese and beans. But i found the bowl of shredded lettuce for garnishing, took 2/3 of it for a salad, and dumped tomatoes and taco meat on it. Today we went to the bro-in-law's and had steak and some good greens. But then they made homemade ice cream with some kind of pralines and amaretto in. That hurt a little bit too. i have been craving carbs like a dope fiend craves crack. So i've had a couple of bananas, couple of apples, a peach, and a grapefruit today. If i set back the fat burning 'cuz i ate too much fruit, then them's the breaks: i'm trying to whittle out a lifestyle here--not just lose a bunch of weight in a month. Plus, i think that's been a problem with my workouts. The glycogen stores have been a hair low. And i have no interest in losing weight Adkins style: don't wanna go pseudo-DKA, and i don't just want to pee off a bunch of water. i'm going to try to get up and swim tomorrow if i can force my butt outta bed. Ooo, and the gym rings supposedly shipped, so we'll see if i can design a cool-guy workout with those bad boys. There's an interesting workout brewing in my imagination.

Abendsbrot

...and dinner:

Had some steak, asparagus, cabbage, red and yeller bells, and jalapeno. Obviously i'm not too sticky 'bout the strictly green veggies. i'm trying to design a lifestyle here. Cut me some slack.

Did manage to go run for nearly 40mins. Holy moly i'm outta shape. i felt good at first, but the last ten minutes, i felt like i usually do after a 3hr run. i have a feeling i just pretty much bonked from low glycogen stores. i ate a banana before i went, but that wasn't enough. So i got home, slammed a highball of water, then quaffed 22grams of carbs in Accelerade. i don't think that's cheating. In fact, i don't think i can do long runs without taking some carbs with me henceforth. That sucked. At any rate, i followed that up with a big green salad with sliced turkey, a pear, salt, pepper, rosemary, balsamic, and flax oil on. In case you're tempted to follow a hard workout up with that combo in the future, it felt like i was hit in the epigastrium with a warhammer.

Then Annie wanted to go to the park and train for running. So we went and ran a bunch. i had her do some form intervals. That li'l chick is gonna be crazy fast if she keeps that up. She beat some ten y/o boys at her homeschool group in a race, and now she's obsessed with making sure they stay beat. That's my girl. }-)

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Saturday Tack-on

The bathroom scales this morning tol' me i'm down 5lbs. That's in four days. Now, i don't know how accurate my br scales are, but i'm taking it. And to be fair, i can pinch a bit less lard on the spare-tire, and i'm hungry an hour after i eat. And i feel a lot less bloated. That's a cool thing. i think i've gotten so used to being swollen that i haven't noticed it. Now if i could figure out how to completely heal my flipper-offer-finger tendon so i could crimp again.

yet another omelette

Here's breakfast: Got a two egg saffron omelette stuffed with red and green bell, jalapeno, broccoli, spinach, sprouts, garlic and capacolla. Sauteed all that (excepting the sprouts) with cracked black, fennel, cardamom, turmeric, li'l caraway, and salt. Half an avocado on the side. Not too shabby, really, even without cheese.

Gonna try to go for a run today. No other muscles in my body work well enough to exercise. Vamos a ver.

Three days in

i'm super curious to know how i'm gon' feel here in another week or two. This diet thang has got me mighty motivated, and today i did another two workouts. Did chest, etc., at the irongym, then went to the climbgym for a "workout". The diet's interesting 'cos i'm stuffing myself on greens and meat, and i'm still always hungry. Energy-wise i haven't felt much different than before, except that i don't feel full all the time, and i've been sleeping way better. i've no doubt that the sleep is a function of laying off the bottle and the toxic crap. For one thing, i don't have a reason to stay up so late, seeing's i can't have a beer anyhow. i think the not feeling full bit is--well i definitely notice i don't just cram stuff down my maw all the time, and i think i've just never noticed how calorie-dense cheese is. As far as the not cramming extra stuff down goes, i definitely have no temptation to munch while i'm cooking or when i just get bored since everything i'm allowed to eat is either (initially) raw beast flesh, or else some breed of boring vegetable. Snacking requires cooking (or chewing on raw bell peppers), so i'm generally just fine going hungry. It's amazing how having no "sit-and-chill" calories available kills the desire to sit and chill. i can't really eat anything out of a bag, bottle, handy plastic container, etc. And it's been eye-opening how used i am to doing so. i start working on a meal, and i go through the fridge and i'm like Nope, can't have that, or that, or that...or those. And i've just stopped bothering opening the pantry. Nothin' in there i can eat. i'm so used to coming home ravenous from a workout or school or so, and opening a bag/container of whatever's easiest, and packing shit in 'til my duodenum is getting it whole. Gotta say there is no temptation whatsoever to come in and hit the Ziploc of raw ground turkey or mixed baby greens. i have been eating a lot of fruit. i make a point to do so only around workouts, and i hope i'm not shooting myself in the foot; but i can't do a three hour workout without some carbs.

Went in, as i mentioned, to the irongym. It'd been probably nearly three weeks since i'd done chest. i did dumbell bench instead of barbell. Been a good long while since i've done those. Those things really take more muscles to push. i like 'em. Worked up to 70s after a nice long warmup, and did a couple of sets of 6. It highlighted the fact that i have no triceps. Pretty much floundered around for the rest of my workout, as i'd no functioning triceps left. Ooo, and i saw an article in Muscle and Fitness on doing the perfect bench press. Interestingly, the article was on powerlifting form, and it was by some record lifting dude.

Then i went to the climbgym. Couldn't pull down v3s that i'd done before and didn't actually think i could fall off of. 'Fact i fell off of some v2s. So i finally called it a day, went and got my harness outta the car, hooked up to the auto-belays, and did all the 8s and 9s i could find--maybe 10 or 12 routes. That was torture...good workout. But dude: i fell off of a 5.9. Couldn't do it. Looking at the thing, i knew i could do it with pneumonia and cataracts; but no! i got shut down. i definitely have a way to go to get back into top shape, but i'm reeeeal  motivated.

a very deep hole

Finals are over. i'm confident i passed everything. It took a few years off of my life to get 'er done, though. So some mates and i went for a camping trip o'er the weekend. we went to Las Conchas. It was the first time i've been there that i did no climbing. Only drinking. And i had a couple o' cigars. That was, without a doubt, the most boring, exhausting camping trip i've yet been on. But it was only hair o' the dog for the prior two month's indiscretions. i'm expecting the DTs going cold-turkey off'n the sauce and dip.

Today i've tentatively started a squidgy version of the Green Faces diet. In reality i want to treat it like an exclusion diet for ruling out food allergies. i want to see how i feel after cutting out the soy, legumes, grains and dairy. And ETOH. This is all going to be tricky. i went to Sam's yesterday and bought a bunch of meat. That was repulsive. i had this cart full of sundry beast parts...gack! i actually got a li'l nauseous. i went to the veg section finally, and it was like HappyLand. But dude: sausage, several packs of steak, turkey burger, hamburger, fish, cold cuts--so many dead things just to feed li'l me. And with no cheese or bread. But so far it's going ok. Had an omelette with spinach, sausage, and bell pepper this morning. Big salad with jalapeno, more green peppers, broccoli, avocado and turkey meatballs, with oil and vinegar. And a pear while i climbed. pretty tasty.

Speaking of climbing, it's a little bit hard for me to believe i have deconditioned that far in a month or so. i did a nice warmup, cranked out 20 solid pullups, stretched, and actually fell off of a couple of v2s. It was like i was trying to climb with my high-school hands. my brain knew how to do the climbs, and scoffed a li'l in disdain; but my wuss-bag fingers opened up on some big crap. Totally ridiculous.

Anyhow, it lit a fire under my butt. i was kinda' non-committal about this diet this morning ('specially since i still have half a bottle of scotch and a few beers in the fridge), but now it's on. i'm gonna try to go run tonight a bit. And i want to get in to the irongym. It's been--what?--5, 6 weeks since i've worked my back now. That might'a' had something to do with my showing on the plastic today. i will lose 20lbs.

Ooo, and lookey there: here come the UPS dude with m' Optimus Primes freshly resoled with Vibram XS grip 5mm on. Nothin' like shelling out a bunch of loan money on toys to motivate a brotha'.

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Yesterday Tack-on

Managed to go to ye olde irongym yester's evening. i have lost some serious recruitment. i can say it went better than i expected. Pretty much did half of my normal set progression on everything. Partly i just didn't have it, and partly i wanted to be healed enough to get the workout in again this weekend. i'm hoping to go in for chest/shoulders this afternoon sometime.

Shuffling toward the light

In less than two weeks this quarter will be over.

May darkness and deep shadow claim it once more;

may a cloud settle over it;

may blackness overwhelm its light.

Until then there is little hope of remaining healthy. School is its own species of cancer. 

Having said that, i did get a li'l chest workout in. Did the bench on the power rack as you suggested. That was a fine idear. Actually pushed my weights up a li'l with the extra confidence. Other than that, i have concentrated on packing on as much bloat and poison as i can squeeze in.

After this quarter, methinks i'm gonna try a tweaked version of that Green Faces diet. i'm gunna try to mix a li'l of that paleo thing in with the more stripped down GF thang. Mostly i'm interested in cutting the dairy, wheat, and ETOH/Skoal outta my diet. i like the idea of doing the exclusion diet for a bit. i really wonder how it'd feel to cut that stuff out... i mean i really wonder if i have some adverse reactions to food that i'm just not aware of. SO: meat, eggs, green, and beets for me shortly.

Fibrectomy

i'll once again record my meager workings-out for the previous week. i've grown fatter, and must squat this extra girth each time i stand from sitting. It's an even more potent workout when i'm sitting on the ground. i expect that i'll soon have diabetes II, and will thereafter die (with huge quads) as the most amazingly large bag of fertilizer. May a large, stalwart plant feed long on my rich tissues, and may it more than scour the earth of my carbon footprint.

i competed in a bouldering comp on fri. Fun. i climbed like a mammoth, but there were some cool routes that made me think that were i but 20 lbs. lighter, i'd have had a lot of fun sending. Picked up a raging case of biceps tendonitis, and re-tweaked my flipper-offer finger; so really, i blamed my bad climbing on all that. But i am just fat. i've gotta start running again.

Did a chest workout on sat. Not a bad workout, but definitely not inspired. Very tired and sluggish. Didn't do my back workout yet. Haven't slept well in a month or so, and it's starting to get to me. But i did order more Z-12. That'll hopefully come in today. me want sleep tonight.

the world is a wampyre

Thought i'd jot down the contents of the week just so's not to forget 'em, even though i'm pretty much to the next week's workouts. Super hectic couple o' weeks at school, so i didn't get last weekend's workouts in 'til mon, at which point i tried to cram two days of workout into one. Plus i was very tired. So it didn't go over so well, but it was a workout. i think i climbed for the second time in about two, maybe three weeks yesterday. Actually went off pretty well, all things considered. As much as i loathe not workout out more often, and as fat as i'm getting slouching around staring at a computer screen for ten hours a day, it is giving my tendons time to heal, and it feels way mo' betta' to crimp now. If i can whittle the lard and poisons out of my diet, and get back on some kind of exercise program again soon, i might actually come back into it climbing strong. Other than that, i've pretty much been drinking too heavily and  not sleeping and dipping, and am generally just tying to survive this dumb semester.

i talked to C'lyn today. They found a lump in her breast that she's going to have to have opsied. That's got me real down. Please pray for her. Please.

Minority Report

Nigh on had th' gym to m'self this afternoon. Mighty fine atmosphere, that.

Meme and mama are here for the week. we'll see how that works out. i've got midterms all this week, so we'll see if Steph still retains her sanity by next weekend. On the bright side, i made it though a weekend with daddy for the first time in a while without having a dip. i'm determined to make it through the week without one. Never done a week of tests without one, i think. Also, i didn't get to climb, so it will have been nearly a week since last i clumb (at least) even if i sneak in on wednesday or so. That's a good thing for my beleaguered flipper-offer finger.

Did back and abs today. Hadn't gotten that workout in for about three weeks now, so i had low expectations. i know i've slathered on some blubber in the meantime. At any rate, i clipped off 24 clean pullups for a warmup. Only worked up to a double with 80 before i was fragged, but it could'a' been worse. Very much to my surprise, i worked up to a triple with 305 on straight leg deads. The rest of the workout was a li'l stale, but those are the meat and potatoes of my workout, so i'm happy.

As i was doing deads, i noticed the only other guy in the gym doing rack lockouts on squats. He followed that up with bench squats. So i asked him if he competes. i mentioned that i'd yet to see a brotha' doing such at our gym. He said with some disdain that it's because it's a bodybuilding gym. But he doesn't compete. i was just amped to see someone in it for the power. And i thought you'd think it's nice to know there's more of you nutcases out there in the world.

Also got in chest, etc, on fri. Not a super motivational workout, but i'm still working on my form on bench. And you'll be pleased that i've pretty much stopped doing more than 5 reps per. And my shoulders, at least, are getting a li'l bit stronger. i so think it'd be mighty fine to have a spotter. Mighty fine.

Loooooong day

So i obviously corrected the logging-on problem. Guess i'll put up with the Oriental salesmen.

Did get that chest workout in last thurs. Actually a good workout. Did some bench, which didn't hurt 'cuz i utilized my new-found supa'form. Did some shoulders. Then i did some dips. Maybe 3 x 10 at bw. i was very sore thereafter.


Went to Las Conchas on sat. Ended up being cloudy and 'bout 65 degrees. Perfecto. Did some ver' nice climbing. Finally redpointed that .10d-.11a on the front wall. Funny thing was i got halfway up and there was this old guy on a route next to me. On the ground we'd been conjecturing about the grade 'cuz the route had been put up since the guidebook was writ'. So i clumb up even with him, got to a rest and asked him what he thought about it. He didn't seem to notice i was hanging from a heel hook and was gritting my teeth, and he just kept on opining. Made me chuckle, and kinda' distracted me, so i sent.

Unfortunately, i also climbed at the gym yesterday (mon) instead of doing back at the irongym. This was a bad session---although i did get a v4 i'd been trying for a few days. And a big load of v3s. Still just didn't feel healed. No endurance.

Next few days are gonna be long. Got a pharmacy test on thurs that's making me have nightmares. i will feel very happy when that one's over with. Be safe in houston, man.

windsday

Went to the climbgym with a friend yesterday. Definitely not fully healed...in fact, i think i did some sort of grievous injury to my already-damaged middle finger. This chafes, because i need that finger. It is, in fact, my least avoidable finger, in addition to just generally being my favorite, and strongest finger. In spite of all this, it was a fine workout. i could tell i was broken down, 'cuz i'd run outta gas way too fast on a route, but i still got a nice enduro workout in. Bunch o' v2s and v3s; then i got on the auto-belays and did some good distance on a stiff 5.11, got a couple of .10s, couple of .9s, then did maybe 8 or 10 laps on a couple of 5.8s. Left with some nice toasty, sauteed forearms.

Today i'm hoping to get in to the irongym for some chest and shoulders. i think it's helping my posture.

annieand daddy

Annie wrote my title. Drawing a straight blank. Did work out this last week a few times. Got a bad climbing session in on mon, and a better one in on wed (i think). Yesterday (fri) i went to the irongym for some chest/shoulder action. Turned out to be a good workout...at least by my humble standards. Paid some serious attention to m' form on bench, and i didn't hurt, so i'm happy and motivated. For future reference:

Random Shoulder Motions:

1,000,000 x some weights

Bench Press:

30 x bar
10 x 135
5 x 155
2 x 5 x 175

Funny feeling to arch my back and drive with the legs with 135lbs, but it was a nice warmup and it didn't hurt. Didn't push super hard--partially cuz i didn't want to damage m' shoulder, and partially cuz i didn't have a spotter--but it felt mighty good to do some bench again without pain.

Shoulder Flexion:

3 x 5-6 x weights

Lat. Shoulder Flexion:

same, but different weights

Pec Deck:

something x 14
more x 8ish

All in all, a good workout. Mostly i didn't injure me. And i can't quite lift my arms above my head today. Think i'm gunna go climbing and/or running in a few minutes. i'm working a cool li'l v4.

Later that evening...

Well. i went running. i gather it was somewhere in the vicinity of 100deg. This was not a good idea. Did a run that usually takes me a hair under 1 hr, and it took closer to 1.25 hrs and my HR was consistently 20bpm higher than usual. i finally stopped running after an hour and some change cuz i was so exhausted and i couldn't run slow enough to get my HR below 165.

Then i went climbing. That went much better. Got a handful of v4s, and just generally climbed better than i had in a while. Overall some good workouts ('cept for that silly heat exhaustion bit).

ketchup

Uuummm...where did i leave off? Um: we went to Las Conchas on fri with some friends from school. Fun times. i clumb suboptimal fa' shizzle, after two fairly hard days of climbing in the gym prior; but it was mighty nice to be outside. And it was a perfect day weather-wise.

Swam on saturday. Can't complain as it'd been nearly a month since last i moved in an intentionally-aerobic fashion. Could have been way worse.

Lifted yesterday (mon). Now i hurt; but i did get 4 with 395 on straight leg deads, so i'm getting back into right form. Didn't do weighted pullups after the warmup set of 20. Kinda' felt sluggish after the climbing, and someone else stole my machine, and i didn't care. Rest of the workout was pretty decent. Planning on getting some new running shoes today or tomorrow. i gotta lose some weight. i'm experimenting with cutting cheese out of my diet for a week at a time. Very confusing: i don't think i yet appreciate how much cheese i eat. And i'm gonna go mostly veg again for a while. i'm tired of feeling fat and sluggish.

Loans came through today, and i went and purchased some new Sauconies. went for a 45 min. run to test 'em out. It's been longer than i thought since last i ran. i'm feeling the pain. But the shoes were a nice ride, anyhow.