So Blue talks now

Yup. Even Blue has been prostituted to the I.Q.-free masses. i guess the simple-minded, semi-retarded two-year-olds of America couldn't pick up on the communicative subtleties of a dog that didn't overtly tell 'em what to think. Turns out he's (she's?) even more irritating singing in Elmo-ese. Just can't shake the feeling that we're ripe for an apocalypse--or at least some sort of really widespread cataclysm.

Um, where was i? Ah, yeah. Finished monday's workout on wednesday, i think. Did some fairly heavy one-arm rows, chest flys, bent-o'er bb rows...that's pretty much it. Absolutely trashed. Then yesterday i went to the climbgym with a friend from school. Not a worthwhile session. Got a couple o' v3s, but i fell off of another 3 maybe six times before i gave up. It was bad. we were there for a long time, but mostly so he could climb. It's cool to see someone get infected with the disease, and get into a route 'til they've got it worked.

i feel arthritic today. Gonna try to swim or run if i can dredge up the motivation. Gotta stay outta the gym for a while. i'm thinking i should take up piano: mebbe my decrepit bones could handle that kind of stress.

Avoiding homework

As Providence would arrange it, i ran into two folks today at school with whom i got into talks about cycling. Each conversation, in turn, bent toward triathlon. It inspired me. i added all this in my constantly-swirling toilet of a brain with your suggestion that long-distance steady-state cardio is no way to cut fat, and i ended up in the pool this evening for intervals. That rocked! i haven't swum in some years now, so the bar was set nice and low. But it felt pretty rad to be back in the water. i was, of course, totally outta shape for it, but the recent lat work and running have actually kept me fitter than i would have expected. Did a 300m warm-up, 5 x 100m sets (very slowly, i'd imagine), and 350m cool-down. Not too bad a start, in my opinion.

Anecdotally, for the first time since early high-school i was totally unable to do a single pullup. Tried one when i got home: didn't work. Definitely put some muscles through the rigors that haven't been imposed upon in a while-e-o. Now to see if G's theory 'bout the weight loss is on track.

Back to it

Got about 75% of a workout in yesterday at the irongym. Little stale on the weighted p'lups. Did get four reps with 295 on straight-leg deads, but i had to set the weight down and dry my hands off after rep 3. Gotta take chalk in next time. Hope to sneak in today, and finish the workout.

Not gonna climb this week. Fingers are starting to feel arthritic, and i'm tired of peeling off routes i know i should own 'cause i'm not healed. Gonna try to replace it with running/swimming till i can make a fist wihout tears. Be just mighty fine if i could get back to it feeling healed and a bit lighter.

Li'l Iller

Here're some pics o' the walls with the new gripplings on.

Think i'm gunna put the gnats on this 'un. Do some campus work on it.

They put up a supposed v10 at the gym. i'm going to have to become way stronger, and 30 pounds lighter, fa' sho'; but i'm also gonna hafta learn to crimp for real.

wrecker'd

Got that 5 this afternoon. Got another hard 4 i fell off of last time. blah. Voy a tomar poco mas.

Visceral Nociception

As i endure neurophysiology in monotone after maybe 6 hrs of sleep, i wonder if there could be enough coffee in the world. i feel very much like throwing up. Really, really, really worn down here.

Did go climbing yesterday. Interesting session. went in for a v2 day: wanted to move, but felt kinda stale. Ended up hooking up with a friend who was as unmotivated as i. Between the two of us, we ended up doing some pretty decent climbing. Highlights: got a tricky v4 second try ('cuz i had to figure out how to get my feet off the ground to start the thing), and got one move from snagging a v5. Took a weird fall off the top of that one, and decided to give 'er a rest. Fell such that my shoulder blade came closer to my hip than it'd ever been before.

i'm thinking pretty hard about taking the day off. i want a nap like crazy.

Anyhow, you guys planning on going to Yellowtown this weekend?

Manic but happy

Yesterday i tore it down at the irongym propa' (for me). i'll record just 'cuz a hain't in a goodly while.

P'lups:
20xbw
10xbw+25
8x bw+50
7x bw+60
6x bw+70
5x bw+80

i think i stopped there, whimpering like a beaten girlfriend.

Straight leg Deads:

Warmup x a bunch
Seriously, just a bunch
8 x 195
8 x 215
6 x 235
6 x 255
4 x 275
3 x 295

i was pretty happy 'bout this. Didn't get the fourth one at 295, 'cuz i was unravelling in the Flexor digitorum department, but this is the first time since i tried to herniate my abdominal wall that i've gone into sets of four.

Straight leg raises:
A bunch
A bunch with ankle weights

One arm cable rows:
Same same

Bent O'er Barbell Rows:

10 x 135
2 x 6 x 175

i'm tired of writing. Anyhow it was a good workout.

Today one of m' profs called off class, so i had a three hour lunch break. went running for 1.5 hrs. Very nice run. It sort'o feels like it's coming together, dude. i've never before maintained the running, resistance workout, and climbing at the same time. i'm getting to the point where i feel like i need to start scheduling workouts more carefully; but i think i'm slowly losing weight, and'm keeping the strength on--which can only be good.

Home of the Brave...if you're in an Apache behind a 30mm minigun

Got an hour run in today. i'm trying to make a habit outta this.

Watch this clip if you wanna be sick. Friggin' nutjobs...

Mixed Emoticons

=o-D

It's the weekend! Found out yesterday or so that we'll only have class two or three fridays this quarter if at all. me likey three day weekends. So i decided to go climbing. And i talked a couple o' school mates into going with me. They hadn't climbed in a long while, so i was thinking a chilled day would be good times. Plus i climbed yesterday, so i didn't think there'd be much fuel left in the tank anyhow. But i think i was so amped to have some mates to climb with that i was inspired. Ended up sending that v5 i smished my finger on at the comp first try, got at least 2 v4s (onsighted one of 'em), and walked a long string of new 3s. And m' friends seemed to have a good time, which doesn't normally happen in my presence. i think they both left with some white-hot forearm afterglow. Who knows? Maybe i can talk 'em into joining and i'll have some workout partners. That'd be mighty fine.

{-[

Then Steph called and tol' me KattyKat has Paw, Hoof, and Maw Disease or something like this, and that it's way contagious. Bummed am i, for i wished dear to see yas. But we'll get down there soon. At any rate, knowing i have most of my fridays off'n school gives us a li'l more freedom to plan. You guys free next weekend?

Off to a start

Schoo's back in as of yesterday, and i'm already wiped out. Guess i got used to sleeping in a bit. Did get a short workout in yesterday at the irongym. Thought i'd go back and finish after classes, but i hadn't the wherewithal. Just didn't want to go in today and work back more, 'cuz i wanna climb tomorrowish, and don't want to be fully broken down. So i ran today. Went out for a 45-60min run; but my thunder thighs failed to light a friction fire, and my LCL kept failing to bring up divorce threats, and my back kept failing to ache, and i totally failed to bonk from hunger, so it turned into an hour and a half. That's a good time.

Splurged and purchased some climby holds for m' walls. Got the Iron Palm board from SoIll, and these spiffy things from E-grips. i was gonna buy a set of gym rings, but i forgot 'til it was too late. Ah well: Probably easier to jerry-rig gym rings than some decent slopers. 'Tween those and the gnats you got, i should have no excuse not to get strong.

Psyche Psucka'

Not too embarrassing a showing at the comp, i reckon. i beat out many, many prepubescents. It reiterated for me that if i were to lose 20lbs or so, i'd be rocking the comps. But that's neither here nor there. It was a pretty fine workout. Ended up climbing around 23 problems--not counting a bunch that i got reeeeeally close on but didn't finish. By the end i was falling off of huge stuff; fingers were opening up on everything. That made for a good workout. It's been a long while since i've pushed 'er that hard.

One of the big problems, as always at those things, was the sheer number of people. Several occasions i ended up walking away disgusted from problems i should've gotten 'cuz there were numbskulls walking through m' LZ. Then maybe halfway through i was working a roof problem, and i heelhooked on my index finger. Didn't really hurt, but i couldn't yank m' finger out. Dropped off the problem, and i'd nearly ripped the nail off with blood dripping out. That smarted a li'l. But i'm sure i'm more of a man now.

Ah well: i've got a bunch of new projects that'll go soon. Good times.

Saturday Tack-on

Went to the pool for a swim today, but it was crazy with kids, so i refrained. Instead i went for an hour and fifteen mins run. That makes 3hrs for this week. i'm pretty happy 'bout that. It's starting to feel a little easier. i'm still jonesing to walk the catwalk all glossy wet in a Speedo.

Roll

i couldn't find a tapeworm; but i did run for an hour today. Felt kinda' good. Ok...it felt good to be done with it. And it felt good to be really, really hungry at the end. Took the slave monitor with me, and kept m' heart rate in the high 140s. i look forward to an hour feeling like a nice warmup.

Tomorrow i think i will not run. i'm gun' try to go swimming. The world has endured too much time without me in a Speedo. And for my part, G, i'm tired of gravity kickin' my ass. i'm ready to fall off a hold 'cuz it's bloody hard; not 'cuz i'm too fat to hang it.

Decrepitude

Worked out today at the irongym. They's a comp at the climbgym on friday, so i took it kinda' easy, what so's to be healed. Didn't do weighted p'lups. Did a set of 20 and 3 sets of 10 instead. Come to think of it, i went light or stopped short on nearly everything. Still a good workout though. Then i did a 45min run. To climb optimally, i need to drop 40lbs by friday. To do that, i need to ramp up the running by one hr. each day, eat only metamucil and water, and take on a tapeworm...and possibly a metastatic tumor. i think if i did all that, i could also keep the weight off. It worked for Lance.

i feel very old right now.



.

Outside

we went to "The Pond" today--'bout an hour north of here. Several miles of hundreds and hundreds of huge boulders. Got m' first v3 outside, which was nice, 'cuz i've wondered how the grade would feel on real rock. i could spend some time up there. i'm gunna hafta go back without the rugrats in tow. That was a liiiiittle bit distracting. There's just a lot of rock out there.

Ooo, and i got a solid v5 yesterday that i'd been projecting for a while. Refreshing to know i can still pull it off at 2 tons.

There's a comp next saturday i'm gonna try to do. i think i'll spend the next week running until i'm skinny.

Praise

That's a wrap on Anatomy finals, baby!! we got us a high B. By the grace of God, i learned the lower 2/3 of the human body in 2 days--at least well enough to pass a test. Finally get to put that Vertical Epic in the fridge and sleep for 12 hrs. straight.

One quarter down, four to go. (Thank You, God!!)

Progress

Get on it, man! i'm waitin' on a new post. i wanna hear 'bout that 400lb. bench falling.

i went in this morning for another v2 day at the gym. If climbing hard the day before an irongym workout is a bit detrimental on my pullups, doing weighted pullups before a climbing session is terrible on the climbing. Not exactly an inspiring workout, but it did the job: i climbed a lot of v2. Ooo, then i went to REI 'cuz i needed some chalk, and the chick was like You wanna use yer dividend?, and i was all i have a dividend? Ended up scoring the new Big Up climbing vid "Progression" for free. Very fine way to get psyched. They's some strong homebwas out there. Inspired me to go running. If i can just shave off 40lbs or so, i'm confident i can send v10. What would be really sick, though, is if i could send big nummas at 190lbs. i'd start climbing with my shirt off if i could swing that. i'm gun' start breaking holds off the skinnies' climbs and dare 'em to say anything about it.

Now get back in the gym.

Def Leppard RULZ!!!

Just when i think people are looking at me funny 'cuz i do some not-terribly-conventional workouts in the gym, some jackass comes along and bumps me back into one standard deviation from the mean. Enlighten me, brethren: First he sets up a bar on the squat rack so he can use it for balance while doing leg raises on a Swiss ball. It had a kind of lowrider-on-hydraulics effect. i might give that one a try if just nothing else works ever. Then he put a stick behind his back and hooked his elbows 'round it, got a dumbbell in one hand, and did sort of a mule-kick tricepsy thing. There was something roundly homoerotic about the whole scene, and i squinted and cringed a lot.

Anyhow: good workout. Finally getting back on m' game. Tomorrow i'm gun' try t' get to the climbgym fer another v2-3 day. i'm kinda' diggin' those. It's building endurance. i'm'a go run now.

Can't say i like finals week so much, but it's nice having one class/day. Two down, many to go.

Carbon Footprint

Yessiree, Bob: blew some buildup out the tailpipes today. i actually ran twice in the last two days. Might just be the dawn of a new day, here. 45 mins yesterday, 45 mins today. Now if i can just ease into a very regular, hard cardio workout without my climbing muscles getting the wiser, then i might just shave enough off this pannus to start sending hard again. i'm ready for a northward turn to this polynomial function.

Oh, and i had a very nice climbing sesh yesterday. wasn't going to go in, but i felt good and had some time to kill; so i decided to do all the v2s in the gym. And i think i did. Didn't count 'em, but it was a bunch of endurancy climbing. i'm gonna hafta incorporate that kind of workout mo' often. It was fun. It was easy. i never once thought about a project. Good combo.

i plan not to climb again 'til 'bout saturday.

How was the snow, damaged Texans notwithstanding?

marker

One mo' week of class, then it's finals. i'm so ready to have done with this quarter, i can hardly muster the focus to crack books. Nearly there...nearly there.

worked out in ye olde irongym for the first time in about a month. It's kind'a sickening how often i find myself writing that--- 'bout once a month, i think. Anyhow, it was a surprisingly good workout. i ended up climbing tues, wed, thurs, and yesterday. Had a good session or two in there, but yesterday was an exercise in futility. Bilateral biceps and posterior forearms were lit up with that filthy, poisonous waaaay-overdone feeling. i did not expect today's backwork to go so well. And in fact i skipped the pull-ups. Or i did 20 pullups, and skipped the weighted sets. Straight-leg deads went way better than i had any right to expect. One arm rows, i felt like a monster. It was a good workout.

i'm definitely outta shape. And i've definitely gained some lard in the last few months. But it was nice to find it wasn't as bad as i'd imagined. i think i'm getting to that special place where the pain of not running is worse than the pain of getting back into shape; where the pain of being seen in public in a Speedo is overshadowed by the pain of not being able to climb v5-6 anymore.

Right then. You lads be safe on the ski trip, wouldya. Friends don't let Texans ride mountains. ;)

New Staircase

Here's the newest addition to the Klettermauer family in the back yard. Kiped the design straight off'n the climbgym. Dang good idear if'n you ask me.

The stairstepped thang lets me use the big hangboards, and even campus between 'em, without scrubbing m' sternum against the lower one. It's a li'l bare yet, but i'm sorting that out. If any of you'd like to snag me a set or two of the Teknik slopers for, say, a baby shower present, that'd do just fine.
All this freed up m' other wall for more movement-oriented workouts, which is what i originally intended it for. As you can see, it's a tad blank now where the skull used to reside. All kinds of room in there for creative birthday present ideas. :-)