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subscribe climbing blog Climbing's rad. It's like lifting weights in the woods. Which is something you would never do. I mean even if you thought lifting weights is rad, and it is, you would never do it in the woods. You would do it in a gym. But gyms suck. So if you've ever sat in the gym, between sets, and thought how rad lifting is but how sucky the gym is, you might want to take the weights to the woods and lift them there. But that would be silly. You would just go climbing instead.
the week in training My spring climbing season is going approximately as planned. I’m campusing decently, bouldering sufficiently and have managed to put in a few good days on Strictly. Saturday was my sixth day of the season at Owl Tor and my third day on this year’s redpoint route of focus, for which the campusing and bouldering is supposed to provide adequate power. I burned three attempts on the lower section of Strictly Ballroom and two from the ledge to the top, strategically splitting the route into two obvious sections. I’m still concerned with the difficulty of the mono to the crimp at the first bolt, although this day I made progress, hitting the crimp maybe three times. It’s going to take more than a few more hard days of work before I’m approaching legitimate redpoint burns. On a positive note, my timing has coincided perfectly with Lizard mating season. After making moves on a local lady, this guy dominated my shoe. From Wednesday’s session at the Shed, 1-4-7 on the mediums: The campus board at the Shed is built to standard specifications: rungs are spaced 22cm, 15-degrees overhanging. The left rungs are the only set to come from a manufacturer – Metolius mediums. The right two sets are my own creation and are considerably smaller. And for some Thursday climbing action, Micah and I went to Upper Gibraltar to get on a couple of the most mediocre routes in town. This photo is of Micah leading A Route Runs Through It (5.10c) with his pack on to facilitate a quick exit in fading light. crankenstein.com 0 Comments original post on blogger Saturday, April 25, 2009
the first day of the rest of my life Saturday was my first day of the season on Strictly Ballroom. She’s still an angry route. So much anger. Things went OK though, I think. I expected it to be hard. My biggest concern at this point is the mono move at the first bolt. The start is about V9 to the second bolt, I would guess. The crux of this section involves a mono to a bad crimp that I’ve never actually done. Beginning a project on which I haven’t done all the moves is a bit ambitious. But that’s alright – I expected this. The rest of the route isn’t so bad. From the second bolt to the chains is probably 13c, so after a good rest I expect it’s manageable. My two-finger strength felt good. There’s two two-finger pockets at the start and three consecutive two-finger pockets higher up that comprise some hard sequences. All five two-finger pockets felt about how I thought they would, which is to say good, considering I usually think moves will feel better than they actually end up feeling. All in all, it’s hard for me to make a prediction for my chances at a redpoint. This is a new level of difficulty for me. The really interesting part is: I know I can redpoint, but I probably won’t. Physically, there’s no doubt I can adapt. Throw in other factors like the stress of pushing back the inside of my performance envelope every training day, while at the same time staving off injury, and I don’t know… maybe. crankenstein.com 1 Comments original post on blogger Saturday, April 18, 2009
commence Operation Don't Suck I'm back from a one week trip to Henderson, Nevada for my bi-yearly commitment to bettering myself professionally, namely the CCIE written exam, and I'm fully focused now on the coming summer's climbing goals, that is: don't suck. This weekend saw a refreshingly populous crew of Santa Barbara locals for the season's third day at Owl Tor. We included Justin, Andy, Skip, and myself. Micah, Elhanan, and Phil were noticeably absent. They each cited respective excuses - Micah's benched with shoulder issues, Phil was in Vegas, Elhanan is fat - like the Tor cares. The Tor remembers these indiscretions with the intention of jarring our memories in December, as the monsoon season steals any opportunities for progress, so that we may realize why we've failed on our projects. She reminds us we have indeed failed and who we may blame for that. Surprise, Tor: we're already failing and it's only April. I'm too old for this. I'm going to push hard for a redpoint on Strictly Ballroom this spring. One of us is going to lose here. Either I'll clip chains despite Owl Tor's best attempts to maim me, or I'll flail pitifully for 7 months at Central California's answer to Mordor. Whichever the outcome, I'm ramping up for an entertaining go of it, and so is everyone else. Justin redpointed Auto Magic on his second day of work this season, his second season climbing; Andy did 11 laps; and Skip is squeezing blood from mud. I had one good burn on BTL then flailed the rest of the day. da routes: Power of Eating (5.11d) - redpoint When the Sea Doesn't Want You (5.12a) - redpoint Chips Ahoy (5.12d) - redpoint Better Than Life (5.13c) - ground to the sidepull after the 3-finger after the fifth bolt Shatter Hand (5.12d) - fell at the last draw, worked out the top White Cougar (5.12b) - falls at the top Auto Magic (5.12a) - redpoint Anchor Punch (5.12a) - 1 fall When the Sea Doesn't Want You (5.12a) - 1 fall crankenstein.com 2 Comments original post on blogger Saturday, April 11, 2009
off to a good start Day 2 of Owl Tor season was also my second day of the year on Better Than Life. I basically did what I wanted to, which was climb from the ground to the hueco at the fifth bolt. I've got my eye on Strictly Ballroom this season and I know no amount of training will be too much. This is the time to push hard on routes selected to prepare me for the work ahead. da routes: Power of Eating (5.11d) - redpoint When the Sea Doesn't Want You (5.12a) - redpoint Chips Ahoy (5.12d) - redpoint Better Than Life (5.13c) - 1 fall after clipping the fifth bolt at the hueco Shatter Hand (5.12d) - fell right after the last clip, then worked out the top moves; not my favorite route White Cougar (5.12b) - fell at the long move after the last clip, then worked around at the top; this route is not brilliant (I'm sorry, Steve - don't hate me cuz you're beautiful) Anchor Punch (5.12a) - redpoint When the Sea Doesn't Want You - redpoint crankenstein.com 0 Comments original post on blogger Saturday, April 04, 2009
the crankmuffin conspiracy Climbing nuggets need a name, so I took action: Thanks for your definition of crankmuffin! There's one more step: click this link to review and confirm the definition. http://www.urbandictionary.com/confirm.php?code=036d194bde (If the link is not underlined, you may have to copy and paste it into your web browser.) If you didn't request this email, please ignore it. Urban Dictionary But it seems the old garde at Urban Dictionary had other plans: Thanks for your definition of crankmuffin! Editors reviewed your entry and have decided to not publish it. To get a better idea of what editors publish and reject, sign up as an Urban Dictionary Editor here: http://editor.urbandictionary.com/ Urban Dictionary ----- crankmuffin A crankenfrank's (crankenstein's) biatch. See also: crankenstein Obviously that crankenfrank's crankmuffin has a humongous badonkadonk. Not cool, editors. It was me and Phil at the Tor Saturday. We've really come full circle. After an uncharacteristically populous season at Santa Maria's finest crag, it is Phil and me, once again, as the keepers of the flame. Yeah, I said it - you all let a good cliff down - Elhanan, Andy, Justin, Micah, Andree, Skip, etc... Don't think the Tor didn't notice. You played right in to her hands and now she laughs. Who now will send her projects? Feel bad. I had a good burn on Better Than Life, which made me feel pretty good about the first day of the season. da routes: Power of Eating (5.11d) - redpoint When the Sea Doesn't Want You (5.12a) - redpoint Chips Ahoy (5.12d) - redpoint Better Than Life (5.13c) - 2 falls. I took first at the fourth bolt, so that's from the ground to just before the throw to the hueco. I'm pleased with that for day one. Shatterhand (5.12d) - A bunch of falls. This route still sucks. Anchor Punch (5.12a) - A bunch of falls. At this point, I'm done. crankenstein.com 2 Comments original post on blogger Sunday, March 29, 2009
shoulders and the sports that love them You need shoulders to climb. Surprise. You need strong shoulders. I mean strong in the sense they will not easily injure. For the shoulder joint specifically, that means balance. Get disproportionately strong in a narrow range and you're begging for problems. And unfortunately, there's no dedicated group of impassioned professionals committing their careers to the study of chronic bouldering injuries. So learn from the lessons taught to athletes in other sports. For example, swimmers. If you're not a swimmer, observe - they have big backs and big shoulders. That should remind you of someone. I swam in high school and continue to train in the pool now, in hopes this will benefit my general fitness in such a way my climbing may be improved. There's a problem: while runners train a set of body parts mostly neglected by the type of movement we experience climbing, swimmers work the same. So my running and cycling friends alternate healing to a degree - while their arms are sore from yesterday's bouldering session, they'll hammer on their legs for a bit. Swimmers do not enjoy this same cycle. But there's a benefit: boulderers don't want, and swimmers don't have, big legs. In my opinion, it works out to about equal. Personally, the scale tips toward swimming as my extracurricular activity simply because I enjoy it. I'm digressing - watch out for your shoulders. As someone who climbs and swims, I pay close attention to the condition of mine. And when it comes to advice, I look at what the swim coaches have to say. This brings me to the point of this post - I found a really good article from USA Swimming: Shoulder Injury Prevention crankenstein.com 3 Comments original post on blogger Thursday, March 26, 2009
we've got a bleeder I was so frickin' torqued at my skin last weekend. I couldn't do anything except watch Marcela crank. At least someone cranked. crankenstein.com 0 Comments original post on blogger Tuesday, March 17, 2009

climbing blog

Climbing's rad. It's like lifting weights in the woods. Which is something you would never do. I mean even if you thought lifting weights is rad, and it is, you would never do it in the woods. You would do it in a gym. But gyms suck. So if you've ever sat in the gym, between sets, and thought how rad lifting is but how sucky the gym is, you might want to take the weights to the woods and lift them there. But that would be silly. You would just go climbing instead.

the week in training

My spring climbing season is going approximately as planned. I’m campusing decently, bouldering sufficiently and have managed to put in a few good days on Strictly. Saturday was my sixth day of the season at Owl Tor and my third day on this year’s redpoint route of focus, for which the campusing and bouldering is supposed to provide adequate power. I burned three attempts on the lower section of Strictly Ballroom and two from the ledge to the top, strategically splitting the route into two obvious sections. I’m still concerned with the difficulty of the mono to the crimp at the first bolt, although this day I made progress, hitting the crimp maybe three times. It’s going to take more than a few more hard days of work before I’m approaching legitimate redpoint burns. On a positive note, my timing has coincided perfectly with Lizard mating season. After making moves on a local lady, this guy dominated my shoe.

From Wednesday’s session at the Shed, 1-4-7 on the mediums:

The campus board at the Shed is built to standard specifications: rungs are spaced 22cm, 15-degrees overhanging. The left rungs are the only set to come from a manufacturer – Metolius mediums. The right two sets are my own creation and are considerably smaller.

And for some Thursday climbing action, Micah and I went to Upper Gibraltar to get on a couple of the most mediocre routes in town. This photo is of Micah leading A Route Runs Through It (5.10c) with his pack on to facilitate a quick exit in fading light.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

the first day of the rest of my life

Saturday was my first day of the season on Strictly Ballroom. She’s still an angry route. So much anger. Things went OK though, I think. I expected it to be hard. My biggest concern at this point is the mono move at the first bolt. The start is about V9 to the second bolt, I would guess. The crux of this section involves a mono to a bad crimp that I’ve never actually done. Beginning a project on which I haven’t done all the moves is a bit ambitious. But that’s alright – I expected this. The rest of the route isn’t so bad. From the second bolt to the chains is probably 13c, so after a good rest I expect it’s manageable. My two-finger strength felt good. There’s two two-finger pockets at the start and three consecutive two-finger pockets higher up that comprise some hard sequences. All five two-finger pockets felt about how I thought they would, which is to say good, considering I usually think moves will feel better than they actually end up feeling. All in all, it’s hard for me to make a prediction for my chances at a redpoint. This is a new level of difficulty for me. The really interesting part is: I know I can redpoint, but I probably won’t. Physically, there’s no doubt I can adapt. Throw in other factors like the stress of pushing back the inside of my performance envelope every training day, while at the same time staving off injury, and I don’t know… maybe.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

commence Operation Don't Suck

I'm back from a one week trip to Henderson, Nevada for my bi-yearly commitment to bettering myself professionally, namely the CCIE written exam, and I'm fully focused now on the coming summer's climbing goals, that is: don't suck. This weekend saw a refreshingly populous crew of Santa Barbara locals for the season's third day at Owl Tor. We included Justin, Andy, Skip, and myself. Micah, Elhanan, and Phil were noticeably absent. They each cited respective excuses - Micah's benched with shoulder issues, Phil was in Vegas, Elhanan is fat - like the Tor cares. The Tor remembers these indiscretions with the intention of jarring our memories in December, as the monsoon season steals any opportunities for progress, so that we may realize why we've failed on our projects. She reminds us we have indeed failed and who we may blame for that. Surprise, Tor: we're already failing and it's only April. I'm too old for this. I'm going to push hard for a redpoint on Strictly Ballroom this spring. One of us is going to lose here. Either I'll clip chains despite Owl Tor's best attempts to maim me, or I'll flail pitifully for 7 months at Central California's answer to Mordor. Whichever the outcome, I'm ramping up for an entertaining go of it, and so is everyone else. Justin redpointed Auto Magic on his second day of work this season, his second season climbing; Andy did 11 laps; and Skip is squeezing blood from mud. I had one good burn on BTL then flailed the rest of the day.

da routes:

Power of Eating (5.11d) - redpoint
When the Sea Doesn't Want You (5.12a) - redpoint
Chips Ahoy (5.12d) - redpoint
Better Than Life (5.13c) - ground to the sidepull after the 3-finger after the fifth bolt
Shatter Hand (5.12d) - fell at the last draw, worked out the top
White Cougar (5.12b) - falls at the top
Auto Magic (5.12a) - redpoint
Anchor Punch (5.12a) - 1 fall
When the Sea Doesn't Want You (5.12a) - 1 fall

Saturday, April 11, 2009

off to a good start

Day 2 of Owl Tor season was also my second day of the year on Better Than Life. I basically did what I wanted to, which was climb from the ground to the hueco at the fifth bolt. I've got my eye on Strictly Ballroom this season and I know no amount of training will be too much. This is the time to push hard on routes selected to prepare me for the work ahead.

da routes:

Power of Eating (5.11d) - redpoint
When the Sea Doesn't Want You (5.12a) - redpoint
Chips Ahoy (5.12d) - redpoint
Better Than Life (5.13c) - 1 fall after clipping the fifth bolt at the hueco
Shatter Hand (5.12d) - fell right after the last clip, then worked out the top moves; not my favorite route
White Cougar (5.12b) - fell at the long move after the last clip, then worked around at the top; this route is not brilliant (I'm sorry, Steve - don't hate me cuz you're beautiful)
Anchor Punch (5.12a) - redpoint
When the Sea Doesn't Want You - redpoint

Saturday, April 04, 2009

the crankmuffin conspiracy

Climbing nuggets need a name, so I took action:

Thanks for your definition of crankmuffin!
There's one more step: click this link to review and confirm the definition.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/confirm.php?code=036d194bde
(If the link is not underlined, you may have to copy and paste it into your web browser.)
If you didn't request this email, please ignore it.
Urban Dictionary

But it seems the old garde at Urban Dictionary had other plans:

Thanks for your definition of crankmuffin!
Editors reviewed your entry and have decided to not publish it.
To get a better idea of what editors publish and reject, sign up as an Urban Dictionary Editor here: http://editor.urbandictionary.com/
Urban Dictionary
-----
crankmuffin
A crankenfrank's (crankenstein's) biatch. See also: crankenstein
Obviously that crankenfrank's crankmuffin has a humongous badonkadonk.

Not cool, editors.

It was me and Phil at the Tor Saturday. We've really come full circle. After an uncharacteristically populous season at Santa Maria's finest crag, it is Phil and me, once again, as the keepers of the flame. Yeah, I said it - you all let a good cliff down - Elhanan, Andy, Justin, Micah, Andree, Skip, etc... Don't think the Tor didn't notice. You played right in to her hands and now she laughs. Who now will send her projects? Feel bad.

I had a good burn on Better Than Life, which made me feel pretty good about the first day of the season.

da routes:

Power of Eating (5.11d) - redpoint
When the Sea Doesn't Want You (5.12a) - redpoint
Chips Ahoy (5.12d) - redpoint
Better Than Life (5.13c) - 2 falls. I took first at the fourth bolt, so that's from the ground to just before the throw to the hueco. I'm pleased with that for day one.
Shatterhand (5.12d) - A bunch of falls. This route still sucks.
Anchor Punch (5.12a) - A bunch of falls. At this point, I'm done.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

shoulders and the sports that love them

You need shoulders to climb. Surprise. You need strong shoulders. I mean strong in the sense they will not easily injure. For the shoulder joint specifically, that means balance. Get disproportionately strong in a narrow range and you're begging for problems. And unfortunately, there's no dedicated group of impassioned professionals committing their careers to the study of chronic bouldering injuries. So learn from the lessons taught to athletes in other sports. For example, swimmers. If you're not a swimmer, observe - they have big backs and big shoulders. That should remind you of someone. I swam in high school and continue to train in the pool now, in hopes this will benefit my general fitness in such a way my climbing may be improved. There's a problem: while runners train a set of body parts mostly neglected by the type of movement we experience climbing, swimmers work the same. So my running and cycling friends alternate healing to a degree - while their arms are sore from yesterday's bouldering session, they'll hammer on their legs for a bit. Swimmers do not enjoy this same cycle. But there's a benefit: boulderers don't want, and swimmers don't have, big legs. In my opinion, it works out to about equal. Personally, the scale tips toward swimming as my extracurricular activity simply because I enjoy it. I'm digressing - watch out for your shoulders. As someone who climbs and swims, I pay close attention to the condition of mine. And when it comes to advice, I look at what the swim coaches have to say. This brings me to the point of this post - I found a really good article from USA Swimming: Shoulder Injury Prevention

Thursday, March 26, 2009

we've got a bleeder

I was so frickin' torqued at my skin last weekend. I couldn't do anything except watch Marcela crank. At least someone cranked.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

subscribe training notes I swim a lot. I used to bench press a lot but then I got fat. Then I got sick. Now, I try to do stuff that doesn't make me suck more at climbing, like swimming. And since one can't climb every day, at least one can't climb hard every day - well, maybe... if you're not an Austrian mutant you can't climb every day. Which leaves me wanting something I can do every day. This blog is about the stuff I train for that's good for climbing but not actually climbing. Mostly it's about swimming.
3/25/2009 (more...) lunch water, keeps going and going... I swam 3000m today, my longest routine in recent memory. It took less than 1.5 hours, which is kinda good, I think. And it went surprisingly smooth - no problems until after 2500m when everything started to cramp. This maybe is not a distance I can maintain every day. My typical 2000m in 1 hour will probably have to suffice for most sessions. But on weekends and the occasional "holiday", the ultra-distance routine could pay dividends for my fitness. Already I'm feeling the difference added volume has made to my stroke - the movement feels smoother and more efficient in all aspects. Oh, and if the masters swim club, or whatever that group of old fools is, who take up 3 lanes every afternoon is reading: suck it. You're probably thinking to yourself, "I'll just head over to the pool and swim around with my other Nazi friends...", when, out of nowhere, I punch you in the face - if you can put 30 pentagenarians in 3 lanes and swim 100s for an hour, I get to punch you in the face when you inevitably cause me to implode. And you can stop glaring at me through your stupid little swim goggles. crankenstein.com 0 Comments original post on blogger
3/16/2009 (more...) last water, good distance I increased my workout distance significantly today. There was no real coherent plan - a lot of pull, pull w/ paddles, a 200 IM, and a bunch of zipperswitch drill interspersed - for a total of 2000m. That distance was the true goal. And it was no joke considering the pool is only available from 7:15 to 8:15 in the evening. I was fairly spent at the end. total distance: 2000m crankenstein.com 4 Comments original post on blogger
3/9/2009 (more...) last water, back in the high life again Today is my first day back in the pool for a couple weeks, and a few weeks since I've noted a swim routine here. Things weren't going so well with my back for a while there. This nervous condition, I guess, was sending sharp pains down the back of my left leg and I believe the lower back component of the swimming process was to blame - probably all the fly kick. In any event, a couple weeks dry seems to have alleviated the ailment. I was careful today to take things easy, incorporating very little fly kick and doing so only with a smooth, controlled, half-tempo stroke. total distance: 1300m crankenstein.com 0 Comments original post on blogger
2/11/2009 (more...) last water, IM be good My butterfly is coming together. I did a 200m IM today without passing out. Amazingly. da numbers: 400m easy free/pull 3 x 100m free @ 2:00 100m fly kick drill 200m IM 200m pull 200m kick total distance: 1400m crankenstein.com 0 Comments original post on blogger
2/2/2009 (more...) last water, IM progress This evening's pool session felt alright. Of note was the 4 x 100 of IM strokes I did, which started with my first 100m of fly in long course. Well, 2-kick fly, but that's still progress. What by all indications should have been a flat swimming day turned in to a good workout. Just getting in the water was a challenge after the weekend's epic between the Tor and Pine Mountain. But, as usual, I'm glad I motivated to train. In total, the workout was 1500m, with focus on IM strokes and kick, 500m of kick to be exact. crankenstein.com 0 Comments original post on blogger
1/28/2009 (more...) last water, slow lane I took another hit of Albuterol before getting in the pool last night. It made a little bit of a difference. My 100m free times were a touch faster than usual, but any good feelings I may have experienced from that were eclipsed by the level of talent of the human fishes next to me. Apparently yesterday was the day abnormally fast swimmers chose to workout at the Los Banos Community Pool. They were fast. I am not. Though I felt good for me, I got totally smoked, and realized I am a fat loser. Actually, that's not even accurate - there was a fat guy there who was faster than me. I'm whatever is worse than a fat loser. Maybe I'm fat on the inside. da numbers: 400m easy free/zipperswitch 6 x 100m free @ 2:30 coming in between 1:35 - 1:40 200m IM This hurt. But that's good cuz I've never finished an IM in long course. Yay! - Here's a cookie now stop sucking. 300m kick total distance: 1500m crankenstein.com 0 Comments original post on blogger
1/26/2009 (more...) last water, kick or treat Lots of kicking last night. After a quick 1000m of freestyle, zipperswitch, zipperswitch with fly kick, and butterfly, I kicked for 500m. That's probably more kicking than I've done for quite some time. It felt good, and kept feeling better the longer I went. Note to self: do more kick work. By about 200m my legs were cramping, but that went away before 350m. Towards the end I felt like I could go forever, until they closed the pool. Rad. crankenstein.com 0 Comments original post on blogger

training notes

I swim a lot. I used to bench press a lot but then I got fat. Then I got sick. Now, I try to do stuff that doesn't make me suck more at climbing, like swimming. And since one can't climb every day, at least one can't climb hard every day - well, maybe... if you're not an Austrian mutant you can't climb every day. Which leaves me wanting something I can do every day. This blog is about the stuff I train for that's good for climbing but not actually climbing. Mostly it's about swimming.

3/25/2009 (more...)

lunch water, keeps going and going...

I swam 3000m today, my longest routine in recent memory. It took less than 1.5 hours, which is kinda good, I think. And it went surprisingly smooth - no problems until after 2500m when everything started to cramp. This maybe is not a distance I can maintain every day. My typical 2000m in 1 hour will probably have to suffice for most sessions. But on weekends and the occasional "holiday", the ultra-distance routine could pay dividends for my fitness. Already I'm feeling the difference added volume has made to my stroke - the movement feels smoother and more efficient in all aspects. Oh, and if the masters swim club, or whatever that group of old fools is, who take up 3 lanes every afternoon is reading: suck it. You're probably thinking to yourself, "I'll just head over to the pool and swim around with my other Nazi friends...", when, out of nowhere, I punch you in the face - if you can put 30 pentagenarians in 3 lanes and swim 100s for an hour, I get to punch you in the face when you inevitably cause me to implode. And you can stop glaring at me through your stupid little swim goggles.

3/16/2009 (more...)

last water, good distance

I increased my workout distance significantly today. There was no real coherent plan - a lot of pull, pull w/ paddles, a 200 IM, and a bunch of zipperswitch drill interspersed - for a total of 2000m. That distance was the true goal. And it was no joke considering the pool is only available from 7:15 to 8:15 in the evening. I was fairly spent at the end.

total distance: 2000m

3/9/2009 (more...)

last water, back in the high life again

Today is my first day back in the pool for a couple weeks, and a few weeks since I've noted a swim routine here. Things weren't going so well with my back for a while there. This nervous condition, I guess, was sending sharp pains down the back of my left leg and I believe the lower back component of the swimming process was to blame - probably all the fly kick. In any event, a couple weeks dry seems to have alleviated the ailment. I was careful today to take things easy, incorporating very little fly kick and doing so only with a smooth, controlled, half-tempo stroke.

total distance: 1300m

2/11/2009 (more...)

last water, IM be good

My butterfly is coming together. I did a 200m IM today without passing out. Amazingly.

da numbers:

400m easy free/pull
3 x 100m free @ 2:00
100m fly kick drill
200m IM
200m pull
200m kick

total distance: 1400m

2/2/2009 (more...)

last water, IM progress

This evening's pool session felt alright. Of note was the 4 x 100 of IM strokes I did, which started with my first 100m of fly in long course. Well, 2-kick fly, but that's still progress. What by all indications should have been a flat swimming day turned in to a good workout. Just getting in the water was a challenge after the weekend's epic between the Tor and Pine Mountain. But, as usual, I'm glad I motivated to train. In total, the workout was 1500m, with focus on IM strokes and kick, 500m of kick to be exact.

1/28/2009 (more...)

last water, slow lane

I took another hit of Albuterol before getting in the pool last night. It made a little bit of a difference. My 100m free times were a touch faster than usual, but any good feelings I may have experienced from that were eclipsed by the level of talent of the human fishes next to me. Apparently yesterday was the day abnormally fast swimmers chose to workout at the Los Banos Community Pool. They were fast. I am not. Though I felt good for me, I got totally smoked, and realized I am a fat loser. Actually, that's not even accurate - there was a fat guy there who was faster than me. I'm whatever is worse than a fat loser. Maybe I'm fat on the inside.

da numbers:

400m easy free/zipperswitch
6 x 100m free @ 2:30

coming in between 1:35 - 1:40

200m IM

This hurt. But that's good cuz I've never finished an IM in long course. Yay! - Here's a cookie now stop sucking.

300m kick

total distance: 1500m

1/26/2009 (more...)

last water, kick or treat

Lots of kicking last night. After a quick 1000m of freestyle, zipperswitch, zipperswitch with fly kick, and butterfly, I kicked for 500m. That's probably more kicking than I've done for quite some time. It felt good, and kept feeling better the longer I went. Note to self: do more kick work. By about 200m my legs were cramping, but that went away before 350m. Towards the end I felt like I could go forever, until they closed the pool. Rad.

subscribe random stuff A lot of the stuff I think about isn't easily categorized. And a lot of the stuff I think about nobody wants to read about. That's this stuff:
12/1/2008 (more...) rad video of The End of the Affair E8 UKClimbing.com has this video (and more) of Alex Honnold, Kevin Jorgeson and Matt Segal on The End of the Affair (E8 6c): The End of the Affair from UKClimbing.com TV on Vimeo. from UKClimbing.com crankenstein.com 0 Comments original post on blogger
11/17/2008 (more...) video of Alex Honnold on Gaia E8 Gaia looks hard. And scary. from UKClimbing.com crankenstein.com 0 Comments original post on blogger
11/6/2008 (more...) rad video of Jordan Buys sending French Duke E9 7a (Font 7c+) Jordan looks like he peed his pants near the end, which is understandable because I almost peed my pants watching it. to the video: Jordan Buys on French Duke crankenstein.com 0 Comments original post on blogger
10/29/2008 (more...) sorry, Bob Clearly, I was wrong about you. crankenstein.com 0 Comments original post on blogger
10/24/2008 (more...) Bob is my shining star I don't know why I'm always amazed how big of an ass-clown Bob is. He's so friggin' grumpy it's amazing and he brings the grumpness so consistently I'm more amazed at myself for constrantly being amazed by it. Basically, it's all very amazing. He truly never quits. I know he kicks kittens before going to bed every night. Kids, don't let this happen to you. Invest your time in something worthwhile, like hustling/pimping, while you're young so that when you get to be Bob's ripe old age of thirty-grump you can relax. And here's what kills me the most: Bob has this list of things that are gay. For instance, I'm a fag for swimming and climbing trad. Well, that's amazing to me because I thought gay guys hung out in gay bars. You know, gay bars like the gay bars Bob hangs out in for the free drinks. That's right, Bob goes to gay bars so gay dudes will hit on him and buy him drinks. Now, I understand the concept that many things can be gay but there has got to be some scale by which to measure a thing's gayness. And on this scale, going to gay bars has got to rate higher than swimming. I can go on forever with this shit. Bob used to be a swimmer. He swam at the high school next to mine. And sure, he'll tell you that gay bar thing was years ago and high school was even longer ago but that's already more gay stuff than most of us will do in our lifetimes. He just got it all done early and feels this qualifies him to sit back and judge like a big gay king of a gay hill. It's just not fair. I can wear G-strings every day, starting today, until I die and won't eclipse his gayness. There's no way for me to out gay Bob. Therefore, he will always be there... watching... judging. Anywayz, here's a video of Bob on Hard Boiled: Bob on Hard Boiled from Elijah Ball on Vimeo. crankenstein.com 4 Comments original post on blogger
7/29/2008 (more...) today is my fifth mensiversary Yup, mensiversary. Which means two things happend today: I celebrated my fifth month out of the hospital and I learned what a 1-month "anniversary" is called. Technically, I'm supposed to review the past 30 days and take stock of rad things I've done. And I've been busy so I thought, for my first recognition of the pneumonia mensiversary, I would by new freediving fins. Had I realized how expensive sweet freediving fins can be I might have considered treating myself to dinner or buying 12 pairs of climbing shoes instead. But never mind that; you can't put a price on happiness. My C4 Falcon 80's will be here in a week. And yes, they're carbon fiber. Rad. crankenstein.com 3 Comments original post on blogger
7/16/2008 (more...) Lisa Rands cranks V12 in South Africa Rands Sends South African V12 www.climbing.com - June 16, 2008 crankenstein.com 0 Comments original post on blogger

random stuff

A lot of the stuff I think about isn't easily categorized. And a lot of the stuff I think about nobody wants to read about. That's this stuff:

12/1/2008 (more...)

rad video of The End of the Affair E8

UKClimbing.com has this video (and more) of Alex Honnold, Kevin Jorgeson and Matt Segal on The End of the Affair (E8 6c):

The End of the Affair from UKClimbing.com TV on Vimeo.

from UKClimbing.com

11/17/2008 (more...)

video of Alex Honnold on Gaia E8

Gaia looks hard. And scary.

from UKClimbing.com

11/6/2008 (more...)

rad video of Jordan Buys sending French Duke E9 7a (Font 7c+)

Jordan looks like he peed his pants near the end, which is understandable because I almost peed my pants watching it.
to the video: Jordan Buys on French Duke

10/29/2008 (more...)

sorry, Bob

Clearly, I was wrong about you.

10/24/2008 (more...)

Bob is my shining star

I don't know why I'm always amazed how big of an ass-clown Bob is. He's so friggin' grumpy it's amazing and he brings the grumpness so consistently I'm more amazed at myself for constrantly being amazed by it. Basically, it's all very amazing. He truly never quits. I know he kicks kittens before going to bed every night. Kids, don't let this happen to you. Invest your time in something worthwhile, like hustling/pimping, while you're young so that when you get to be Bob's ripe old age of thirty-grump you can relax. And here's what kills me the most: Bob has this list of things that are gay. For instance, I'm a fag for swimming and climbing trad. Well, that's amazing to me because I thought gay guys hung out in gay bars. You know, gay bars like the gay bars Bob hangs out in for the free drinks. That's right, Bob goes to gay bars so gay dudes will hit on him and buy him drinks. Now, I understand the concept that many things can be gay but there has got to be some scale by which to measure a thing's gayness. And on this scale, going to gay bars has got to rate higher than swimming. I can go on forever with this shit. Bob used to be a swimmer. He swam at the high school next to mine. And sure, he'll tell you that gay bar thing was years ago and high school was even longer ago but that's already more gay stuff than most of us will do in our lifetimes. He just got it all done early and feels this qualifies him to sit back and judge like a big gay king of a gay hill. It's just not fair. I can wear G-strings every day, starting today, until I die and won't eclipse his gayness. There's no way for me to out gay Bob. Therefore, he will always be there... watching... judging.

Anywayz, here's a video of Bob on Hard Boiled:

Bob on Hard Boiled from Elijah Ball on Vimeo.

7/29/2008 (more...)

today is my fifth mensiversary

Yup, mensiversary. Which means two things happend today: I celebrated my fifth month out of the hospital and I learned what a 1-month "anniversary" is called. Technically, I'm supposed to review the past 30 days and take stock of rad things I've done. And I've been busy so I thought, for my first recognition of the pneumonia mensiversary, I would by new freediving fins. Had I realized how expensive sweet freediving fins can be I might have considered treating myself to dinner or buying 12 pairs of climbing shoes instead. But never mind that; you can't put a price on happiness. My C4 Falcon 80's will be here in a week. And yes, they're carbon fiber. Rad.

7/16/2008 (more...)

Lisa Rands cranks V12 in South Africa

Rands Sends South African V12
www.climbing.com - June 16, 2008

subscribe freediving Freediving's great. I don't do it enough. Probably that's because I don't live in Hawai'i. Just being in the water is rad. I mean, taking baths isn't rad, but swimming in the ocean is. And if you swim way deep in the ocean, that's even more rad. I guess lakes are rad too, which would make rivers rad...
11/7/2008 (more...) rad fins I got my new fins this week. They're rad. So, I took them to the Coral Casino's pool for a little test drive. 50 meters underwater is no thing for these fins. Easiest underwater lengths I've done. What I ended up getting was C4 81 VGRs. The Italians were in no rush to ship them. It took about 9 weeks, during which time the model I originally ordered was discontinued. But I won't complain - they're awesome. I did a fair amount of research before committing to these fins. If you're in the market, you should peep my notes. Here's Bridget making the fins look good: crankenstein.com 3 Comments original post on blogger
7/22/2008 (more...) Tijiguas Because someone told me Tijiguas "has the best visibility in town", I dove there yesterday. And while that same person purported visibility like "35 feet" at times, it looked like everywhere else in town yesterday. Maybe like 2 feet better visibility. That translates to 3 feet total. I dove at depths between 20 and 30 feet with Elhanan and the word I will use to describe it is 'murky'. Let me say, if you live in Hawai'i, DO NOT MOVE. It doesn't get any better. crankenstein.com 0 Comments original post on blogger
6/12/2008 (more...) again, this author is rad Unraveling the Mammalian Diving Reflex, Part I DeeperBlue.net - September 3, 2002 Unraveling the Mammalian Diving Reflex, Part II DeeperBlue.net - September 26, 2002 "When freedivers dive deep they activate a set of physiological reflexes that act as the first line of defense against hypoxia. Collectively termed either the diving response or mammalian diving reflex (MDR), the mechanism controls the shift of blood to the brain and heart, functioning in tandem as an important oxygen-conserving mechanism, not only in freedivers, but also in whales, penguins and seals (Figure 1). In fact, this amazing physiological phenomenon was first observed in deep diving mammals as early as the 1900's, but until as recently as the 1950's it was thought that humans did not possess the reflex." - Erik Seedhouse crankenstein.com 0 Comments original post on blogger
6/12/2008 (more...) pulmonary barotraumas The Risks of Ascent DeeperBlue.net - December 2, 2002 "For an equivalent change in depth the risk of barotrauma is greatest near the surface, a fact explained by Boyle's law. A breath-holding free diver rising from 33 feet to the surface experiences a change in ambient pressure from two to one atmospheres. If the lungs fully expand within the chest cavity the lung volume will double. By contrast, a 33-foot rise from 99 to 66 feet depth (i.e., from 4 to 3 atmospheres) would maximally increase a free diver's lung volume only 33 percent, posing less risk of a barotrauma." - Erik Seedhouse crankenstein.com 0 Comments original post on blogger
6/9/2008 (more...) a little somin' somin' to get me psyched Blue Water Hunters nokaoiMagazine.com - June 7, 2008 "I watch him descend headfirst into the blue, his long black fins gently waving, graceful as an ulua. His body drops straight down, impossibly deep. I can’t believe he doesn’t have a tank. I start counting, 1, 2, 3, 4… I get to 60 and stop counting. He’s still down." crankenstein.com 0 Comments original post on blogger
6/4/2008 (more...) great white shark sighting in L.A. - decidedly not rad sighting of a great white shark L.A. Times, unleashed - June 2, 2008 "The Orange County Register reports on a sighting of a great white shark, spotted two miles offshore near Doheny State Beach Sunday by a whale watching charter boat." crankenstein.com 0 Comments original post on blogger
6/2/2008 (more...) shallow water blackout kills Broomfield pool drowning victim was training to become Navy SEAL Broomfield News - May 31, 2008 "(Drew) had just passed an initial SEALs triathlon assessment a couple of days earlier, and was most likely practicing a 50-meter underwater swim while holding his breath..." crankenstein.com 0 Comments original post on blogger

freediving

Freediving's great. I don't do it enough. Probably that's because I don't live in Hawai'i. Just being in the water is rad. I mean, taking baths isn't rad, but swimming in the ocean is. And if you swim way deep in the ocean, that's even more rad. I guess lakes are rad too, which would make rivers rad...

11/7/2008 (more...)

rad fins

I got my new fins this week. They're rad. So, I took them to the Coral Casino's pool for a little test drive. 50 meters underwater is no thing for these fins. Easiest underwater lengths I've done.

What I ended up getting was C4 81 VGRs. The Italians were in no rush to ship them. It took about 9 weeks, during which time the model I originally ordered was discontinued. But I won't complain - they're awesome. I did a fair amount of research before committing to these fins. If you're in the market, you should peep my notes.
Here's Bridget making the fins look good:

7/22/2008 (more...)

Tijiguas

Because someone told me Tijiguas "has the best visibility in town", I dove there yesterday. And while that same person purported visibility like "35 feet" at times, it looked like everywhere else in town yesterday. Maybe like 2 feet better visibility. That translates to 3 feet total. I dove at depths between 20 and 30 feet with Elhanan and the word I will use to describe it is 'murky'. Let me say, if you live in Hawai'i, DO NOT MOVE. It doesn't get any better.

6/12/2008 (more...)

again, this author is rad

Unraveling the Mammalian Diving Reflex, Part I
DeeperBlue.net - September 3, 2002
Unraveling the Mammalian Diving Reflex, Part II
DeeperBlue.net - September 26, 2002

"When freedivers dive deep they activate a set of physiological reflexes that act as the first line of defense against hypoxia. Collectively termed either the diving response or mammalian diving reflex (MDR), the mechanism controls the shift of blood to the brain and heart, functioning in tandem as an important oxygen-conserving mechanism, not only in freedivers, but also in whales, penguins and seals (Figure 1). In fact, this amazing physiological phenomenon was first observed in deep diving mammals as early as the 1900's, but until as recently as the 1950's it was thought that humans did not possess the reflex." - Erik Seedhouse

6/12/2008 (more...)

pulmonary barotraumas

The Risks of Ascent
DeeperBlue.net - December 2, 2002

"For an equivalent change in depth the risk of barotrauma is greatest near the surface, a fact explained by Boyle's law. A breath-holding free diver rising from 33 feet to the surface experiences a change in ambient pressure from two to one atmospheres. If the lungs fully expand within the chest cavity the lung volume will double. By contrast, a 33-foot rise from 99 to 66 feet depth (i.e., from 4 to 3 atmospheres) would maximally increase a free diver's lung volume only 33 percent, posing less risk of a barotrauma." - Erik Seedhouse

6/9/2008 (more...)

a little somin' somin' to get me psyched

Blue Water Hunters
nokaoiMagazine.com - June 7, 2008

"I watch him descend headfirst into the blue, his long black fins gently waving, graceful as an ulua. His body drops straight down, impossibly deep. I can’t believe he doesn’t have a tank. I start counting, 1, 2, 3, 4… I get to 60 and stop counting. He’s still down."

6/4/2008 (more...)

great white shark sighting in L.A. - decidedly not rad

sighting of a great white shark
L.A. Times, unleashed - June 2, 2008

"The Orange County Register reports on a sighting of a great white shark, spotted two miles offshore near Doheny State Beach Sunday by a whale watching charter boat."

6/2/2008 (more...)

shallow water blackout kills

Broomfield pool drowning victim was training to become Navy SEAL
Broomfield News - May 31, 2008

"(Drew) had just passed an initial SEALs triathlon assessment a couple of days earlier, and was most likely practicing a 50-meter underwater swim while holding his breath..."

friends of crankenstein

rad links:

freediving / spearfishing

rad links:

rock climbing

climbing blog

training notes

random stuff

freediving

my pneumonia vacation