2.11.7

Today, on a whim, i clumb again. Wanted to see how i felt, and i wanted to move. Got one of the best workouts i've had in a while. And i only got the finish hold on one route, which i'd done before. The v3 that has vexed me for some weeks now came into view today. i don't know if this is the most sandbagged route i've yet tried (and i've gotten some concensus that it is fa' shizzle sandbagged) or if it just requires such a specific kind of strength, but it's hard. It's not extremely long-- maybe 7 moves-- but there isn't one positive hold on it; only big pinches and a sloper, and no rests. Plus it starts under a roof, and ends on a second roof. But today i established 4 times on penult pinch/sloper combo, which i hadn't even been able to touch before. It's just that when i'd get there i'm so scrunched that i can't let go for the last hold without sproinging to my doom. i think i can do it, but i'll hafta be able to forget about the fall.

Then i got way into another route that'll definitely be either 4 or 5. Made for a good day. Nice warm failure; no debilitating injuries.

31.10.7

Just before i went in to meet my destiny on my second chemistry exam (and just after cramming at starbucks for two hours) i popped in to the climbgym to clear the noggin. Gave my project v5 a burn, didn't establish on the crux hold, and nearly fell on one of the herd of heifers that decided to "work" the v0- six inches to the right of me. i gave 'er a look that asked, "Do flys and smelly beatles scoop you up with corn chips?" and then i stalked off to a cave. Whilst there, however, i snagged a v3 that'd eluded me for a week or two 'cuz i was too yeller to commit to the final off-balance deadpoint from some manky foot jibs with two meters of air under my shoes. But after getting psyched to go upside fatgirl's head, i found the zone and didn't think about my floppy ankle. Then i stacked another 3 on right after that one. Ended up being a very short, but decent session. i really need to start riding or running every day, and i need to let my finger heal completely. i have two weeks till the comp.

29.10.7 Haynuss Schloppings

2,000,005 lbs.

Today, in stark contrast to all of last week, i worked out. And it was pretty bad. Still ain't beat the tendonitis in the right bicep or the left finger-pulley. However, i did meet some guys i'll be competing with in the Yank 'n' Yard, and we pulled some stuff down together. That's fun stuff. And i got one move closer (the crux move, methinks) to hitting v5. It's fully doable; just gotta repair to 95% and it will fall. And losing 15 lbs. wouldn't hurt a durn thing either.

25.10.7

Yesterday i went with a friend to the climbgym. One of the worst workouts i've had in a long time, number-wise, but it was a good time nonetheless. i have some pretty foul tendonitis in my right bicep and forearm. Gonna hafta take some time off to heal that.

On a brighter note, the Yank 'n' Yard is coming up on Nov. 10 here. It's a bouldering comp. Beginner, intermediate, advanced divisions. 30 bucks gets you in, a tee-shirt, and part ownership of the keg afterwards. You should come here and enter with me. It'll be a good time.

21.10.7

Yesterday it was maybe 70 degrees. To celebrate, i called up m' bud and says, do let's get in a bike ride up this heinous hill. Shorts and tan weather, it was. But no; he says he has plans, and talks me into going to the climbgym instead, which i had theretofore resolutely set myself against, as my finger tendons were screaming for knitting time. So we went to the climgym, and after warming up on 2 or 300 problems (including a v1 i'd already done and ended up doing maybe three times in a row, which succesfully tore off two of my favorite callousess) i sent my second v4 (which i'm gonna conjecture ain't) and finally crushed the crux hold on a haunting li'l v3, which i've yet to send. Needless to say, i left pretty happy.

Today we went for the ride. It started out a balmy 50 degs. with a 30 m.p.h. wind that brought the chill to closer to 35, but by the time i found all my damned winter digs it was 5:00 pm. He borrowed Steph's bike and we set out to climb a very steep hill up the side of North Sandia. It snowed on us the entire climb. At the top we tapped knuckles and claimed First Tracks. Got some weird looks from cars on that climb. Couldn't feel m' hands by the time we got to the base, and it was full-on dark and we still had to ride nearly ten miles back to the house. i just recently got the feeling back in my thumbs, and it hurts to stand up quickly, but that was some fun crap: riding down a several mile long 12% grade with these huge wet snowflakes so thick around it was hard to see.

i'll chalk the weekend up to some decent workouts.

18.10.7 Happy Feet

Got m' shoes back from the resoler in Boulder today, so needless to say i also just got back from the gym. Odd li'l workout. Finger pulley's not really giving me much trouble now, and i didn't do any further damage to it. i did, in fact, manage to damage nothing at all as far as i can tell. That has become the benchmark of a good workout for me. Funny position tonight though. i bounced off of everything. Felt real strong, but my head wasn't there. Like, i walked a v3, but botched several 2s. Wasn't terribly motivated, but it sho' wuz nice to feel strong again. And once again it was driven home to me how fat i am, and how much better i'd be if i lost 20 lbs., and that a half-pound of hamburger meat is probably not the very best pre-workout meal.

The shoes look good though. Kudos to Rock 'n' Resole.

17.10.7 The Conquest

The Conquest is presently in a holding pattern at 20,000 ft. as my left middle finger tendon heals. i'm eschewing closed crimps, but yesterday i actually got two training seshes in. Went to the climbgym and pulled down all the v1s and 2s i could find. Made for a very nice burn without further damaging the finger. And i've been climbing in rental shoes as mine are still north, and frankly they suck. Little bit like climbing in ice skates. i have a new appreciation for my Katanas. Then i came home and went for a ride. i thought i'd pull down a hill that i use for hill training that i sometimes tack onto the end of my regular route. Only i couldn't shift to my littlest gear as i lost a bolt in my chainrings which threw my chain whenever i'd get it down low. So i'm climbing this heinous hill, half the time out of the saddle, and finally about halfway up, it occured that even i couldn't feel that fat. And sure enough i was riding on a flat front tire. stopped to fix it and my spare was cut. So i had to call Steph to come pick me up. Still worked out to be a pretty decent ride though: my legs were mighty sore that night. Today i secretly went and shopped new bikes. God allowing, i'm gonna race next year. That ought'a strip some ugly fat. Now i just need about 4,ooo bones...

14.10.7

Yesterday i got another good ride in. Today i was a sedentary slob. Shoes are off to the resoler in boulder, and i expect 'em back within the week. That'll hopefully give my left hand enough time to heal some more.

12.10.7

Yesterday i snuck in to the climbgym to see how the ol' tendons were knitting. Had me one of the worst (i.e. non-debilitating-injury) days of it i've seen in a long time. Couldn't find a happy place, couldn't get my head into it, couldn't get my hands motivated, and i think i ended up matching the damage in my left mid-finger pulley with equal damage to the same tendon on the right side. So i left with the understanding that it'll be a coupl'a weeks till i'm crimping on anything smaller than a 2x4. Also i weighed in at just over 204. However, i just got back from a very nice bike ride and i feel real good. Took just under an hour, but i was figuring it would take way longer at my turnabout point. Just felt good. Even turned some impressive wattage uphill into the wind on the last quarter, and had a few good yellow light sprints to boot. If i could get a few rides like that in before it gets super cold, i might be fit enough to have a habit of it.

6.10.7

Lessee here. i think i already posted a bike ride last week, which is all the cardio i've done. Went to the climbgym yesterday with Aeon, which basically means i didn't do a workout. so i went again today with daddy, and snagged another v3 on my ticklist--the one i almost got last week. Didn't think i was gonna get it, cuz m' forearms were squishing things at about 70%, and i'd already given the silly thing a couple of sad burns. Then i was shaking out and--lo and behold-- "Running to Stand Still" came on the speakers. That's my climbling song, and i took it as a sign that i should send, so i focussed and sent. i have one more v3 on my ticklist, and if this thing is really a 3, then nothing i've climbed so far has been. If i can get this one, i'm gonna feel good about moving to lots of 4s and start working some v5. i even have one picked out and've mentally done the moves. i desparately need to heal my finger tendons though, and i hate being outta the gym for a week or so. Maybe i can dig deep and find the motivation to lose some fat in a systematic fashion while sitting on my butt not climbing.

2.10.7

Yesterday i went back in to the rockgym with the singular purpose of sending the v3 that this partner and i kept falling off of last thurs. Gave it 'bout two pathetic burns before i realized how much damage i did to my tendons the week before: nothing permanent, but i sho' does need some down time from the crimping. Instead, i went in with 'im and had him try the v4 i hurt myself on, and he agreed with me that it was way easier than that 3 we'd been trying. He sailed that problem, but he couldn't get my high point on another v3 in the cave. i almost had that problem, and my foot slipped. i hung there for maybe five secs. crucified between two tiny crimps, crying for a foothold, and then i gave up and dropped-- one move from the end. that was a teeth-gritting moment. Did meet some nice guys though. Maybe i'll find someone to climb with regularly between the lot of 'em. If i can scrounge the change i'm gonna send my shoes to Boulder for a resole; that ought'a keep me outta the gym for a weekish. Maybe that'll force me to do some very necessary cross-training.

30.9.7 A word on the weekend

Yesterday i was still healing up the forearm pulleys, and was put off of running and riding by an impending thunderstorm, and was thus compelled to drag my caboose to the iron gym. Three things came of it. First, i weighed me. Turns out i got that v4 at around 205 lbs. i don't know whether to feel good about that, or fairly depressed. At least there's a lot of room for improvement. Second, i'm not as totally weak as i expected to be. i intentionally did some bench to see what my elbow thought of me for it, and it worked just fine. Kept getting a disconcerting twinge at a certan point in every rep, but no pain-- for which i was grateful. Did keep it pretty light though. Ended up doing an all around upper-body workout. Third, i am now sore in exactly every muscle in my body not directly related to climbing. Yesterday morning i was able to set my chin down on my straightened knees. After a handful sets of straight-leg deads i'm now able to touch my toes if i squat down and sit on my heels first. i'll take that as a sign that i should maybe hit the weights a li'l more often. i'm looking really forward to getting back into serviceable triathlon shape: i really mean to lose a lot of weight before the end of this year. All in all, i can't really complain at all about the workout or my strength level considering the evil i did to my elbow ligament. i deserved surgery after that, and i'm climbing harder than i ever have two months out. i'll take that as a mercy from God.

Addendum

An after-note: Bigfat cody will likely be taking the remainder of the week off from climbing, as bigfat cody fairly grossly underestimated the amount of damage him did to him's girly forearms. Them there stacked half-pad, two-finger pockets decimated our hero's pingers. It's a rigorous healing diet of Ibuprofen and beer for the chubby one for a few days. Maybe i'll get a bike in-- who knows?

26.9.7 :-)

This week's climbing is worth writing down, methinks. Went in on...was it sunday?... for a quick burn, and crushed a tweaky, super-thin v2 crimp ladder that'd been spitting me off for the previous coupla' sessions. Then i sent a v3 i'd been working on for a while. Nice feeling, but i had to take serious the tendonitis in the ol' R. bicep that i'd been theretofore trying studiously to deny the existence of. Finally gave it up to spare a li'l tendon. Today i shot in before chemistry just to keep the fingers limber, warmed up with a v3 flash (deja vu, i.e.), flashed another v3, and then sent a v4 on the third try. Think i coulda' flashed that too, but i got my foot sequence screwed up on the first two tries. Then i hooked up with this cat that was doing several of the same problems, and he asked me to help him work a 3. Didn't get that one (it involves twisting out of an overhang on a thumb-catch to a bad slopey pinch, and my thumb tol' me it'd already done quite enough suspension of my rotund abdomen, thank-you-very-much), but i did get an arm-intensive footless v1 roof traverse. i may not be able to straighten my arm tomorrow, and every tendon in my forearms creaks when i extend my wrists, but i just racked up one of my biggest number days yet, so i'll forgive me, and take some ibuprofen. Now if i could just get below 200lbs...

22.9.7 Extensive catchup

Lessee here: been a busy coupla' weeks since the last posting, but i'll give an overview as a time marker. Been to the climb gym 8 or 10 times since, and am climbing v2 pretty solid. Hope to start moving back into v3 soon. i fell off a high v2 and mildly twisted my ankle, but have since been back and finished that problem. i think i could climb a li'l harder than i've been, but since i retweaked my ankle, i've been climbing kinda scared. Little bit hard to concentrate on hard moves when i can't stop thinking about the landing. Been running maybe three times, including a 1 hr.+ run. That's felt superb. i think if i could actually find the motivation to get off my ass every day and coordinate some longish aerobic work with the climb/strength training, i could get pretty lean and (more important) light without even losing my family. Yesterday i did an ca. 1.5 hr bike ride. i'm way outta shape, and the ride really amounted to urethral reeducation, but i gotta say i don't feel quite as alive or like i belong anywhere as on the bike. Rush hour traffic and my huge gut in spandex notwithstanding, that was pure bliss. i hadn't been on the bicicletta in probably a year. Hopefully this has broken the standoff.

10.7.7

Well. After an extended length of hardcore deconditioning and basic self-destruction, i've worked out again. Fri. i went running for 45 mins. (which felt surprisingly good, all things considered), and then sat. i climbed at the gym. That didn't go so well, as i expected, but my arm didn't bug me really at all, except that there was strength of a well-developed toddler in it. Got a v1 or so, several v0s, and almost finished a v3 (that definitely wasn't 3) and did finish a v2 (that likewise was definitely not a 2). All in all, i'm dreadful fat, my crimpers have gone the way of the Wooly Mammoth, and i'm sick of both those conditions. On a positive note, i've started school, generally like it, and my crack-heads next door were evicted and the crack-house was condemned as unliveable by the city, whereat i felt my property value instantly pop upward by about 5K. :-)

Bleh

Yeah. Nuthin' to report but a week or two of sedentary slothfulness. Elbow's nominally better than last week this time. i'm gonna try to get on a bike soon. i'm getting fat(ter).

Program Modification

Yesterday i went to the climbgym. Had a pretty good workout. Finished by burning out on all the v1s i could find. Last one i did was a high-ish double traverse. Grabbed the last hold, but didn't get real secure on it before i popped. Fell fine, rolled backwards, and bent my left elbow the wrong way with this nasty tearing sound inside. Don't know what i did, but it sure hurts when i supinate, or try feeding myself. Can't really push or pull with it, so i pretty much can't do any kind of workout at all 'till it's better. Guess that's what i get for threatening to get into shape. That'll learn me.

6,8-9/7/7

Lessee here... been hanging pretty consistently at just over 200 lbs.



Friday i tore it down in the climbgym. Was one of those inspiring sorts of days wherein it all seems possible (precisely the opposite of today, it turns out). i hooked up with this feller i met a long time ago there. we climb at just about the same level, but he's gotten a tad better. He dragged me onto just about every v4 in the place, and as yet i do not climb v4. At any rate, i must'a' put up 100+ tries on some of 'em. Came pretty darn close on one or two. Since then, i've had this feeling of revelation, like, "Ahh, that's what it feels like!" and i've been wanting to get back in fresh and send some. So Friday's workout consisted of utterly teerashing my bitty forearms and most of the skin on m' hands. Very motivational.

Sat. was almost entirely dedicated to a kid's birthday party, followed by heavy drinking.

Sun. i did an o.k. upper body workout in the gym-of-metal-things. To classify it by the standard of Workouts With Metal Objects Past, i'd hafta say it was decidedly weak; but i didn't do a workout last weekend (we were in CO), and i didn't do it two weeks prior to that. So i've been averaging an upper body workout once every two weeks for a month or so. i truly believe i'd see some progress here if i stuck with it consistently-- and that is the plan. Here it wuz:

Pullups:

BW x 23 (neg. on the last 'un)

Narrow Cable Rows:

10 x 165
10 x 180
8 x 210
6 x 225
6 x 225

Last coupl'a sets i just melted down. Noticeable loss here.

Flat DB Bench:

Rehab with 2 sets of 14 with 25s

Incline DB Bench:

10 x 60s
10 x 60s

Felt kinda good to push a li'l weight again on these. i'm surely not so strong here, but my shoulder didn't tweak.

DB Shrugs:

14 x 90s
10 x 100s
10 x 100s
8 x 110s

Didn't do the next set of 8 as i was losing consciousness to hunger pangs.

Dips:

3 sets 10 x BW

Pec Deck:

Sundry weights. couldn't go as high this time.

Comments:

i sabotaged this workout cuz i didn't eat before i went in. i had forgotten how long it'd been since breakfast, and by the cable rows i was getting shaky. Pain tolerance was at ca. 50%, and i had no concentration. In spite of that, it was a good workout after having laid off for so long.

Monday (today) i actually woke up at 05:00 and went running in the foothills. That was kind'a nice. After work i went in for a hard seesion at the climbgym, but it was a wretched failure, and i left early. i wrote up my workout for the week, but it has a lot o' flaws-- one of which was scheduling a hard boulder workup the day after the upper body iron workout. i'll post my general plan (with some modifications) on here soon's i have time. it's amazing what having a written plan can do for the ol' motivation level.

5/7/7

The last week has basically consisted of slothful binge eating, mixed in with oversleeping and playing Flash games. Went to CO, and that was just bliss. Did get out to climb a coupl'a times at Cold Creek Canyon, and that was a shot in the arm. Needed that bad. Here're some pics of the kiddoes, and some of Annie climbing: http://kibitzthevoid.blogspot.com/2007/07/on-much-brighter-note.html

Had a 5.11(a-ish) within redpoint reach, but i didn't have time to point it. Did do all the moves on lead, though, and that's good for the head. Very doable. Wanna redpoint 12 before the year's over. v5-6 and and a 5.12: that's a reachable goal. Diet and aerobic program're gonna change though. Time to get back to work.