Endlich wieder zu Hause

Well now. i got my ass handed to me at the big Y. But i learned some things:

1) Nearly uninterrupted drinking, dipping, over-consumption of animal fats, and sleep deprivation is a bad tapering program.

2) 2:00pm in the middle of July is the wrong time to consider bouldering on polished granite.

3) Gotta take a crash pad next time i go. This is important.

4) Gots ta get me a decent rack of trad gear.

5) and a belayer.

6) and a babysitter.

Dude...dude...i'm gunna post some pics. And i'm gunna make you watch my home video. Dude. If you climb, or even ever think about climbing, or just generally don't particularly like wherever you happen to be, Yosemite is nearly orgasmic. There is so much granite--SO MUCH GRANITE--i cannot even tell you... it is everywhere. Like zero star, one star problems there--crap that people don't bother doing unless they're bored-- would be classics here that people would drive an hour or two to try. Dudes, i do not care if it's 15 hrs. we gotta do a man trip there. And we gotta take Shawn. i mean, there's like 6,000,000 eight pitch 5.8s. You could go and just cruise the blues and greens for a week and stay 300 ft. off the deck. Ayee! Tomorrow i start training again. i must go back.

WhooHoo!

By the grace of God we scored two nights of reservations at Tuolumne. yo soy muy happyo. Funny: it's inside the park, but it's still 55 miles and 2 hours driving to get to the valley floor. But that's cool-- it'll be a super pretty drive, and Tuolumne is world class climbing by itself. Yesterday i looked up reservations in the park and got a digital laughing-at. You can reserve 5 mos. ahead of time, and you pretty much have to reserve on the day they open registration to hope for something inside the park. They've got walk-in camping, but Tuolumne usually fills up by 8:30 am; camp 4's usually full by 9am. i was expecting to have to camp way outta the park and drive in. This is mucho mejor. Goin' climb me some knobs. i've dreamed about Tuolumne rock since i watched Ron Kauk floating it back in the '90s. Now if i can just find something easy enough to get my voluminous butt up.

motionless but tan

Not a very active trip so far. Lots of good food. i show up somewhere and someone forces wine/liquor/beer into my paw, and that's how it goes. i still want to climb somewhere up here. And i want to at least peer at Yosemite, even if it's so packed with tourists i can't park anywhere to climb up on a stone. It' s gunna be a hard place to do any climbing at with my present entourage: a belayer who gets irritated at the actual prospect of having to belay/stand in one place and watch me climb, and three children who spend each unsupervised moment attempting suicide. And i didn't bring a crashpad. i'm thinking maybe i can find bueno sport routage with tiny approaches at Tuolumne. vamos a ver.

a tolerable day of it

There is much swirling about in the noggin tonight. Got that other project at the climbgym today. Tape says it's a v7, but i'm thinking hard 5--maybe 6. Didn't do much besides that, but it made for a justifiable day at the gym. Amazing what 3 or 4 days of i'm-not-even-gunna-crimp-lightly-on-the-door-jambs kind o' tendon rest will pay back in dividends.

In two days we leave for northern California. Supposedly, Steph has an aunt that lives just outside of Yosemite. If i can just get in and climb atop a medium house-sized bloc the trip will have been worth it for me (barring horrible disasters, of course.) we could really use some vacation on this end.

i've almost got m' climbing wall finished here at the casa. Only i went out today to measure how far apart i'd set my studs in their concrete pads for the 4x4 supports for the thing, and they measured at 4'4". The plywood is only 4' wide. Somehow, when i dug my holes for concrete i floated outward several inches, and i never managed to remeasure. i leveled 'em with each other, but i didn't measure, 'cuz they just had to be anywhere inside 4'. After some intensive forehead slapping, i think i can fix it, but i'm a li'l irritated with myself. That was raw senility.

Right then: it's off to bed. Peace.

weak end

After Thursday's happy workout, i was possessed on fri. to sneak back in to the climbgym and see what happened. my mum-in-law offered to keep the kids whilst i talked to a councellor about nursing school, only i had an hour or so to kill before they opened, and i've been smitten with a couple of problems for some days that i've wanted to see fall. The v5 came down first try, which was good cuz it was the only burn i had in me. The 6 shewed me i may as well not have come in at all. i requires some intense lockoffs, and i couldn't make the first "easy" moves. Biceps were just shredded. But it'll go.

i'm getting excited about the rn program. Lots'a possibilities in that direction; and i've felt bereft of possibilities for some time now. i have to take pathophys 1 & 2 and pharmacology this semester to be done in time to register for the summer or spring start dates (same registration). The only way i can do it in time is to register as a "second degree" entrant, which requires fewer prereqs. Deal is, out of the class of 40 they take 12 as second degree students. That means the competition is pretty fierce. Also, starting this february (which is when i'd register) they're only sorting applicants by gpa. No letters of rec; no interview; no essay. That means out of the 70 or so applicants for the second degree entrance path, i'll have to have a top 12 gpa. Dude i talked to said i'd need a gpa of 3.5 to be competitive. Looks like my present gpa is a 3.64. So i'll need A's in the three classes i'm 'bout to take to feel comfy. 'Course, i'll probably also apply to several other schools as well. Vamos a ver.

Turns out, though, that all i need to apply as a first degree student (i.e., i'll have taken all the prereqs a straight nursing student without a degree would have to take) is microbiology. Then i'd be competing for 28 slots instead of 12. How'd'ya like them apples. Oh well: i don't work well without pressure. And i guess if i don't make the cut for feb. i'll just take micro and reapply. Prayers please.

So after being called a "tard"...

Trundled it in to the gym tonight after a hard evening of beating Sonny 2 on heroic mode at Golfernoggins. i wanted 505 bad, but you'll be elated to know it didn't happen. Anyhow:

Pullups:
10xbw
2x6x+45
2x3x+70

Thought about going for a single on these, but my brachioradialis tendons kept making noise about shearing clean if i kept it up. Plus i've got two projects to send on saturday, so i didn't push it.

Deads:
touched my toes several times
225x6
315x3 (snuck in the chalk bag starting here)
405x1 (Funny, cuz i thought about doing another one, and then i thought maybe i should save it...live and learn.)

So then i threw 455 on there, and put that damned belt on, and i didn't even move it a molecule. So stripped 30 off for 425, but i couldn't budge it. So then i took the belt off, and actually picked the weight up off the floor, but i couldn't lock it out. i was just totally psyched out at this point. Anyhow, i was just glad i can still deadlift more than G can bench for the moment.

One Arm Cable Rows:
8x90
6x105
6x120
4x135
(Tried a single with both hands for 300, but didn't get it)
3x150

Hanging Straight Leg Raises:
30xmy shoes
3x10xshoes+ankle weights
That last set suck-ed

Bent O'er BB Rows:
10x135
2x6x170
These felt easier--prob'ly 'cuz i only did ten reps of deads and my low back wasn't disintegrated.

Ab Wheels :-)
2x12
These really started blowing mud there at the end.

Wide Grip High Rows:
8x180
6x195
4x210
These make me feel huge like Arnold, and i like to watch myself in the mirror. Small joke, but i am just incredibly sexy. 'Specially when i'm sweaty enough that my white shirt clings tenaciously to my one-pack.

Got in the chocolate Biotest and the Surge workout drink today. me likey chocolate. And while i didn't precisely experience transcending the first 5 or 6 levels of heaven, i did like the Surge stuff, and it tasted almost entirely unlike bile. More like Coolade. And at just over $1.50 per scoop, it's nearly free; or is at least better for you than starbucks.

Whatever today is

i climbed. i took the children with me. Steph met me there, and she lasted nearly 10 minutes before she took Aeon and the babe out carward. The upshot was that it left me with Annie to work some plastic. i came mighty close to flashing a "v7" (that'll actually go at prob'ly v5). Funny li'l problem. Sorta hard, but solid moves up to this stopper crimp move. Weirdest thing: i worked through the bottom bit and went for that crimp thinking there was no way i was gonna stick it, (cuz i watched the co-owner of the gym--this wirey li'l dude that FAs hard 5.13--squidge off of it liek 3 times and give up), but i latched it and thought Oh yeah! that's juicy but then you have to let go with yer other hand and match next to it with a high heel hook for a foot, and it's like, yeah, maybe when i get stronger hands.

But Annie was having some fun. we put together this tenuous li'l body-tension-to-a-dyno problem, and she got into it big. She's gonna be a sick boulderer if she'll stick with it. She's got the attention span of a gnat usually, but after she fell off a few times she got more and more focussed, and she started flowing through the weird bottom moves that she'd floundered on half-assed at first. Then she worked out a heel hook/mantle solution to this huge reach, and she nearly got the goal. i wanna take her back and see if she'll put it together.

Then we went and sold the Rav4 and finalized the buy on a van. Practical ride, but i fully feel like a woman now. i'm gunna get one of those soccer ball decals, and stick-figure stickers of all the kids for the back window. i think i just need to get a damn job so Steph cna quit and be the mommy.

Bleeeeeeeckh.

Lessee here... i climbed yesterday. Only i didn't have much time. But i got a bunch of new 3s. Flashed all but one. Nothing hard though. Felt really worn down, sleep deprived and ... dunno... just lethargic; kinda' unmotivated and fat. Today i went back. Got a new 4 on the second or third go. Cool problem. Missed snagging a 5 for the same reasons as yesterday. my metabolism just seems screwed up. i feel like i overeat for nearly every meal, but i'm not eating any more at all than i usually do. And i feel broken down. my finger tendons and biceps seem seriously overworked--like to the point it feels like i'm courting injury, but i really haven't done much in the last couple of weeks. i took a solid seven days off to go to tx, and i've taken nearly another full week off since then, with maybe 2 or three days of climbing since. i mean, i went in confident that i was gonna feel superhuman, and i feel totally overworked. i think mostly i'm just super stressed and am not sleeping really at all. i want to start swimming or running again. i think that'd help. Hell, i think getting my crap together for school would help. i think i batted that GRE outta the park, but i need references.

Driven to drink

Perhaps you don't have the TapOut Frat Club in your chunk of the world. Here they pervade. i went in to the gym at 1130 for to do some chest, and there were wankers just everywhere. Three inch gauged ears, sleeves of ink, piercings all 'round, the routine proceeds thus: Bench press in groups of five, (switch stations) do roundhouse kicks/punches in front of the mirror, lift the shirt to see if maybe there're any abs there yet, (switch stations) sit on every vaguely horizontally inclined structure in the building and cop some "blue steel". And, inexplicably, they were listening to the All Bruce Springsteen channel on satellite radio.

So i left, and now i'm having alcohol. i guess i'm not dedicated enough.

GREgnar

GRE today. Pray please. i must ace this.

The Straw That Threatened The Camel's Back

Happy sunday to me :-) It goes, boys! That's v6 numero dos. This leads to an interesting correlation: nice, fat numbers fall at the climbgym the day after tearing m'self down to the grimacing, gnashing, razor-thin cusp of global tendonitis. Cause and effect relationship here, or pure coincidence? Can't say, but it's worth forming a bizarre superstition on, and trying again. Everything in me hurts. Except for maybe my nose, 'cuz i hadn't thought of it till now. If i don't start working my chest out again, i'm afraid it's gunna cave in and finally detach, spring-style, along the gladiolus. Anyhow, even though i didn't come through on the big talk yesterday--cuz i was whooped down from going to the gym at all--i did put it outta my misery today. i can, perhaps, sleep now. Peace.

Purgatory

Well. After that hiccup of hubris earlier, turned out i was talked out of going to the climbgym afterall. 'Stead, we had a scintillating trip of shelling out 2K on kitchen cabinetry, followed by an almost as expensive trip to Sam's. So to punish myself for my failure--and to purge m'self of the poison i dumped down in tx--i went to the normal gym for some self-flagellation.

Pullups:
10xbw
2x6x+45
2x3x+70

Straight Leg Deads:
14x145
8x195
8x215
6x235
6x255
4x275 (Numb sparklies shooting 'cross the eyes here. i was real pleased to get the weight up, but again, the main thing was that i wasn't quite sure my grip was gonna last.)

One-arm Cable Rows:
8x90
5x105
4x120
6x120 (Don't know what happened. Thought i was going to break on the set before, then i found the beat and the way to ignore the trickle of sweat running down m' face, smiled and cranked out six like it wa'nt no thang. Happy deep six'd moment.)

Straight Leg Raises:
20
3x10xwhateverthoseankleweightsweigh

Upright BB Rows:
10x135
2x5x175 (Jury's still out on these. Juice might be better spent elsewhere, but it's not a bad workout.)

Right. Picked up a copy of How To Stay Alive In The Woods by Bradford Angier at Sam's, originally copyrighted in 1956. Awesome book, and i highly recommend it. So far i've learned how to catch frogs, what birds are most easily killed with sticks, and the plan of attack to scare a bear off its prey if you can't don't have the means to kill the bear and eat it. i have this nagging feeling it's going to come in mighty handy in the near future. Can't go wrong brushing up on those survival skills. For the moment, i'm killing the pain with a glass of Presidente. Definitely needs ice. i'm hoping the book details how to make ice in the wilderness.

Hopefully that v6'll fall before then. That's gonna be kinda irritatin' if i don't get that first.

AAAAAAAa. AAa. aa. AAAaa.

Seriously: went back to the climbgym for a two or three hour sesh. i'm writing now to vent. That six should'a fallen. my biceps are thrashed--that stupid problem is so dang... it's just one burley sloper dive to the next...super biceps dependant. After 85 (+/-) burns, i packed up and left with the tattered remnants of my brachioradialii. They twitch uncontrollably even now, a day later. But it will go. It must go. i will return today and send. i will not come home until it falls (so i say...)

Scrambling back to shore

i'm gunna assert that last week, in general, was deleterious to The Program. i put on a fresh coat of lard, and, as far as i can tell, may as well have been on proper bed-rest after sitting on me arse for 1,000+ miles. And i've had to quit dipping again. The concert rocked, but next year i'm bringing a tent. It's strange, but i didn't feel like i ate all that much, only it was all greasy crap. It's felt good to get some fiber down me.

i finally got back into the climbgym yesterday evening. Mixed feelings: i felt like i burned too fast, and (correlation here?) was fatter than normal, but i also nearly tagged a project v6 in that state, which is encouraging. i literally got sloppy on the second-to-last hold, and popped for no discernible reason. Ah well... it'll go soon, i think.

i'm gonna try to get into the irongym today.

Much Ibuprofen

Worked out today. That was RAD! i hurt pretty much everywhere. i gotta keep this up. i'll write it down before i forget it or the wine washes it away.

Pull-Ups:
1x10xbw
Think it was 4x5xbw+45lbs.
These were rough after yesterday's climbing sesh. Biceps were fried.

Straight Leg Deads (On a box):
1x14x145
1x8x195
1x6x215
1x4x235
1x4x255
i was a li'l surprised i got up to this weight. i think the deads during the diet have kept my back pretty strong. Really even in these, the hardest part was holding onto the bar. i have a fresh respect for hefting 225 in each hand and walking with it for 100m or so. Again, i used 25lb plates or less so's the weight never touches the ground.

One arm Cable Rows:
1x8x90
1x5x105
2x4x120
Li'l surprised at these. i didn't wanna damage my biceps too much further than i already had, so i sat on the bench thinking about it a while. i tried to post my torso, kept the opposite foot on the the pedestal and used a supine grip. Don't know if it was really 120lbs. of iron, but it wasn't a weight splitting config. i really like these. They worked QL and obliques along with the rhomboid/lat torching.

Hanging Straight Leg Raises:
1x20xlegs
3x10x legs+ankle weights
These've busted me through a plateau on leg raises. The set of 20 without weight felt real easy.

Some Sort of Wide-Gripped Tricep Pressout Sort of Thing:
2 or 3 sets of some kind of tricep nonsense. Let the bar come up to about my chin, and then pressed it down at a constant velocity. i'm trying to mock up a climbing move i need to be able to do. Not bad, but i hurt my elbows doing those danged narrow grip benches for that diet thang.

All in all, it was a very nice workout. i've definitely felt the benefits of having a stronger-than-usual core at the climbgym. i wanna keep that up and add to it. If i can heal my crimping tendons over this extended weekend of coming down your way, i'm planning on having a raging numbers session when i come back.

i'm totally amped about the concert. i could really use some good vibe now. Katja turned one today, and that's hard to believe. And it's hard to believe i'm coming down with a meager 2/3 of the fam rather than 4/5. i'm jonesing for a nice night of mantime, and maybe a fire. Peace to all you homies.

Specious

Upon cursory retrospexion, it occurs that warming up on a hard v5 was a bad idea. But it was fun, and i almost got the thing. Peer pressure. And now i can't fully straighten me biceps. Felt sorta poopy-doodyish. This's been one straaaaaaange week. i think i've gained some weight back, and i can't seem to really get a grip on what i eat. i'm just totally outta touch. Feels like i'm never really hungry, and it doesn't take anything for me to overeat. Dunno: maybe it'll fall into line. Haven't been back in to the irongym. Haven't had much time to think about it. Tryin' to get our house in some semblance of order, and the kids' playground up, and my climbing wall up, and a deck up. i want to start swimming again in the morning before Steph goes to work. i'm just tired all the time. Gotta get my app in to some pa schools, and i gotta take the GRE soon. Crazy times. And i gotta find a doc that'll right me a nice reference letter. Ever feel like the walls are crumbling down around you? That's how it feels at the moment. i'm just hopeful that things are better with the walls gone.

...y despues

Well, at least i have a li'l better tan after it all. Could be i'm a bit less mallow-like. Weighed for a last time at 186, which is a 7 lb. drop. That's a nice start. But i must get ripped skinny if i'm to send v1000.

Krakenbag Emergeth

thought that i'd post up a before shot as a reminder before i put up my new after shots.

i did have a beer last night. Funny, 'cuz i didn't really want one so much. But i picked up some Old Chub, and we had one. Then (to get it outta my system) i had a wee dram of JWRL. And a small sip of wine. i didn't drink enough to get a proper buzz, but i did have a murderous gut ache all night and didn't sleep. Had a one-egg egg burrito with veggies and some cheese yesterday morning. Then a bowl of cereal for lunch, spaghetti with chicken sausage for supper, went and climbed for a couple of hours, and had a healthy delicious shake for beddy bye. To my surprise, i never overate, and i didn't munch in between. But my guts are still raging against the change. i'm gunna keep it real simple today.

Climbed yesterday, as i mentioned. i felt super sluggish--kinda' off balance and not there. i did put together the crux sequence on a project, so i know it'll go now, but i should'a finished it, and couldn't keep it together. Also i climbed through the bottom and got set up for the 6 foot v1000ish throw on my super proj whilst feeling like dog crap, so i should be able to come back to it fresh and healed with a lot of swagger and musky confidence (which is quite necessary for baldfacedly defying natural laws).

[Pause]

It's an embarrassingly fine feeling to weigh anchor with such magnitude that i can feel my lung capacity increasing.

i think the main thing at this point is gonna be to (rapidly) come up with a continuing program. Sounds like you lads are onto something. i've gotta figure out on my end which muscles to keep, and which to toss. And i've gotta replace big chunks of what i've been doing with ... more masculine things. i'm hoping to get my campus wall painted today. i think having an intimidating hangboard stack with a huge black skull mocking me will be motivating.

La Croix esta noche...Cerveza manana

Well. i just finished my last non-voluntary healthydeliciousshake, and my last workout on the v-diet proper. i feel--well-- detoxified, for one. But also definitely a bit lighter, a bit stronger (since i started out with some gaping holes in my program), and most importantly, more disciplined. It'll sound funny with all the whining i've done, but i have a hard time imagining being able to actually eat three or more solid meals in one day. Hopefully i can maintain that view and seriously look at food differently. If i can, then i'll have accomplished what i hoped to accomplish. Crud, i've been trying to accomplish that for the last 2 decades. So if that happens, that's the best couple of extra C-notes i've spent in a while. i'm wanting to come down your way for that RLRF, so i'll hopefully see you guys soon. i plan to get some after pics posted tomorrow, and i'll weigh tomorrow morning. i'll give you a call. Peace.

i'm a blind man in a dark room and i'm trying to catch that black cat

Weighed in yesterday at 184. That makes a nine lb. drop since t=0. i went climbing yesterday with the full expectation of climbing like doodoo, but i ended up feeling crazy strong. This was a nice surprise after friday's workout. Didn't think i'd have any biceps left at all after the chinups, etc. But i was climbing smoother and better than i have in a longish time. i didn't tag any hard new ground, but there were highlights. i've been working on this one project for a couple of days that i figured'd go at just bloody hard. Seems doable, but it'll be harder than anything i've done before. So i was working next to this kid that works in the gym, and i asked him if he'd done 'er, and he says it's not really possible and probably goes at v10. So when i do it, i'm gonna call it my first 10. Tomorrow is my last day on the diet. i'm very happy about that. But i'm still gunna dig on my healthy solid meal today. i'm looking forward to seeing if i can hold on to some good habits afterward, and i'm looking forward to training my ax off at a lighter weight. i'm praying for you lads. Hang in there.