wesg
New Member
Posts: 1 
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Post by wesg on Mar 2, 2018 13:06:01 GMT -7
First LB session went horribly wrong! I was warming up & I actually sent four boulders that were same difficulty as my hardest send last cycle.  Grading probably went soft at my gym. But I'm still going to count it! Thanks for everything!! |
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Post by MarkAnderson on Mar 2, 2018 14:10:40 GMT -7
First LB session went horribly wrong! I was warming up & I actually sent four boulders that were same difficulty as my hardest send last cycle. Grading probably went soft at my gym. But I'm still going to count it! Thanks for everything!! I'm learning (from Mastermind) that you can never have enough successes, so take revel in all of them, no matter how dubious! |
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Post by Charlie S on Mar 18, 2018 20:15:17 GMT -7
Had an off-season bonus, indicating perhaps a stronger season.
Got my first trad 5.12, Flight Time (12-), at Indian Creek. Now to finish the remaining 6 hangboard workouts and start working the sport 13a!
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Post by jrblack on Apr 5, 2018 20:23:17 GMT -7
I've done 10 HB sessions now and I keep improving (though to be honest it probably has more to do with weight loss... 9 lbs over the past 2 months... than with strength gains). I've noticed that moves I couldn't do 3 months ago are now quite routine (still hard, but I can do them 100% of the time now). I haven't done a PE cycle yet, and 2 weeks ago I got on a new route that is 15 degrees overhanging and 60' long; there isn't a single hard move but there are no rests. I hung 4 times to get to the chains. Got obsessed and went out there solo three times in the past 2 weeks, stick clipping up the thing and working out the moves on TR with microtraxions. I got the yellow-point today... just barely. Was so ready to hurl when I hit the chains, but I was super stoked! Mark said, during his TBP podcast, that trying hard makes a huge difference in what you can do. That was all it took for me today: just refusing to give up and keep going even though pumped out of my mind. It worked. Such a silly sport, struggling up these pieces of rock... and yet it brings me so much happiness and satisfaction. A good day... |
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Post by aikibujin on Apr 6, 2018 13:46:34 GMT -7
I got the yellow-point today... just barely. Was so ready to hurl when I hit the chains, but I was super stoked! Congrats! Nice work. I always get the most sense of satisfaction out of a sustained pumpy route, than one with a hard crux mixed with easy climbing. |
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Post by solwertkin on Apr 8, 2018 11:06:20 GMT -7
Just got back from my 2nd winter in Spain with my family (wife, 3year old daughter, 5year old daughter).
Trained quite hard for 3 months leading up to the trip with really one of my craziest training cycles ever as I also worked 11 straight weeks of overtime (acute care RN) and we were crazy hosting a giant family xmas (22+people) and then a week later had our entire house packed up in our attic and our place ready for our winter tenants. But I kept my head down and for a few months there it was simply work, train, sleep, eat, more work, pack house, train, sleep, etc.
In the end, went to Spain as a stronger climber, but more importantly a much better climber then the year before. Was climbing more smoothly, more precise, used better technique, and really was able to turn the Venga on when I needed to, but also ratchet it down and climb relaxed when I needed to. Few instances when I just went A fucking Muerte, skipping clips, going for it, whipping off for 35+ft screamers. Fucking awesome!
Sent 7c+(13a) in 4 tries (my fourth ever). And sent my 2nd 8a(13b) ever, and first one on limestone, in 7 tries. Was geared up to put work in on more 8a's and my first 8a+ but we got hammered by an unprecendeted 25 days of rain in southern Spain (10 years worth of rain in 25 days) for the last month of our trip. . But I kept my head up, went to the local gym and got my strength and power topped off, then traveled north to Chulilla and onsighted two 7c's (12d), actually jumping a couple onsight grades as I hadn't previously been able to do the deed on 7b+(12c).
While the climbing successes where great, the true success was traveling with my family. We put both our girls in public school and despite a language and cultural barrier, they crushed it, I am so proud of them. We made a great community of new friends in Andalusia, and we have returned home closer, with a continued evolution to live more simply, spend less money, and put more value on our time with friends and family and not on things.
Up now, 6 months of training with the coaches at Lattice Training, leading up to a Freerider attempt in Yosemite in Mid October. VENGA!!!!!
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Post by erick on Apr 8, 2018 18:00:42 GMT -7
Nice work Sol, let train together this season!
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Post by solwertkin on Apr 8, 2018 18:08:31 GMT -7
Sounds good Erick! Let's go Proj Rockarolla together too!!
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Post by erick on Apr 8, 2018 18:31:36 GMT -7
Deal!
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Post by Chris W on Apr 9, 2018 2:02:41 GMT -7
Sol, how did the kids do on the plane ride and with the time change? Does your wife climb? Did you stay with friends, or just find a place for a month?
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Post by jetjackson on Apr 9, 2018 4:09:20 GMT -7
Sol, how did the kids do on the plane ride and with the time change? Does your wife climb? Did you stay with friends, or just find a place for a month? As per the PM I sent, I'm keen to hear more about this trip also - particularly, why you chose the locations you chose with your family in tow, how you manage work/climbing to take long breaks, how the kids cope, language barriers etc. I know that's a heap of personal info, but anything you would be willing to share, would be keen to hear about. |
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Post by solwertkin on Apr 19, 2018 21:04:16 GMT -7
Chris W and JetJackson there's alot, alot, alot, of details that go into making these trips happen for our family (both logistically and in lifestyle changes we've made).
To answer your specific questions:
Sol, how did the kids do on the plane ride and with the time change?
They do fine on the plane ride over, it's one of the few times in their lives where we let them just completely crack out on movies. And it keeps them occupied just fine, they usually nap for an hour or three. Our girls are pretty well behaved. No doubt the jetlag is a struggle. The first year I swear it took us over 3 weeks to adjust. The girls were quite young at that time and we were figuring out how to do it. This year it took us just over a week utilizing a natural supplement called calms forte for the girls, melatonin for me and my wife, and really forcing the new schedule on immediately.
Does your wife climb?
Yep, she does but not very seriously and up to about 5.11/+. She's super natural at it, but is only moderately interested and very lightly dedicated at this point in her life. She did some projecting up to 7a(11d) last year but did less so this year. She runs often, and does core/strength workouts while we're there. She commits two days a week to climbing with me, though sometimes less and so I find other partners as needed. She loves checking out cultural sites and sitting in cafes talking to the locals in spanish.
Did you stay with friends, or just find a place for a month?
We rent our own place. Usually between 500 and 1000 euro a month. We will use an airbnb for the first month to know that we are good to go and then will look locally for a cheaper place over that first month for the remaining time. My wife works remotely as a teacher so wifi is mandatory.
Particularly, why you chose the locations you chose with your family in tow?
We chose Spain because it's AMAZING! Great limestone, relatively cheap, good weather, great culture, and incredible food. My wife spent 8 month in Seville, Spain when she was 20 so besides her affinity for Spain she is very fluent. We spent our first winter in Chulilla and Siurana, and this past year in Chulilla a bit but mostly down south in Andalusia. We chose to break away from the mega crag scene this year and live in a larger city (Jaen) this year because we found ourselves spending most of our time in Chulilla and Siurana speaking English with an international crew. While that's awesome (like super amazing climbing bubble fantasy land), we are more interested in getting immersed in the Spanish culture and speaking the language as a family. Also, we live in Leavenworth, WA, a small town, and got a bit stir crazy in the small climber villages (where it's even quieter then back home). Jaen is a larger town with more culture and action. Which we really enjoyed (and my wife required) and made a great community of friends. But Jaen's not for everybody though (and likely not for most), much more unsettled weather there then other winter zones and quite a bit more challenging to get lots of climbing in as there is a drastically much smaller pool of partners and smaller crags in general.
How you manage work/climbing to take long breaks?
I am a per diem (pool) nurse on a Progressive Care Unit at the regional healthcare hub. So I have given up my benefits for a 12% pay differential and the ability to schedule myself as I like (and as available which is any and always in the healthcare industy), providing I work one holiday and 18 shifts a year. Besides giving me the freedom to work when I like, and to take extended time off it also allows me to work the overtime angle as I can. My wifes job covers the family's health insurance, and we have set up a retirement account for me that we actively invest in. We run a bed and breakfast out of our home in Leavenworth as a third income stream (only while we are at home). And then rent our house our monthly for the 3 months we are overseas as two seperate units, our bnb and the 2bedroom portion of the house.
How the kids cope?
Awesome, they are crushers. Weve definetly bred them for adventure and challenge. They did amazing. Biggest challenge for them was being in public school, and it was a challenge, but they rose to the occassion, grew tremendously, and have much better Andalusian accents then my wife! Outside of school, they love our time in Spain. Eating all kinds of crazy food like octopus, rabbit, snails, horse. Being welcome and applauded at the bars and out and about town (very common for strangers to pat they're heads or pinch their cheeks, old man in the bars give them candy and buy them toys from the euro toy machine), and they get to wander around and see a bunch of cool old stuff. IN the end though best part of our winters in Spain are leaving the hustle and bustle of our US lives behind, cramming ourselves in a small, cold, spanish apartment, and soaking up the nice slow relaxed family time.
Language barriers?
For sure. But we all cope just fine. Wifey's the tour guide. Girls proabaly understand more then me but I can speak more then them. They made lots of spanish friends who didnt speak english, they just run up to kids smile and start playing with them.
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tsh
New Member
Posts: 36
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Post by tsh on May 9, 2018 20:19:01 GMT -7
Ever since I started training, I’ve felt that if I could do this one climb, it would be the ultimate success for me. 14 years ago at age 21 I worked a 13d called Body Count. I was overconfident, my previous best was 13a. It’s power-endurance (25 moves), so it was easy to get lured in and keep working on it. After 3 months I got close and was falling above the last bolt. But then I got busy with school and lost my fitness. The following Spring I got a bad finger injury that I didn’t know how to rehab, and then seemed to fall into a perpetual cycle of other climbing injuries (mostly fingers). Years went by and I kept climbing in the midst of getting married and having kids. I still wanted to go back and finish Body Count but could never stay sufficiently strong and injury-free for long enough to give it a serious effort. One of the few times I had the audacity to go back and try it, I got another nasty finger injury. On top of that, I discovered that a hold had broken off making the crux section harder than before. That was one of several occasions when I admitted to myself that I was past my prime, too injury prone, and it wasn’t in the cards for me anymore. But then of course I learned about the RCTM.
I’ve followed the program pretty closely for 3 years. The biggest game changer for me was the repeaters, which at first seemed to be the only way I could safely push my limits, and I think they made my fingers more injury-proof in general. That, combined with the careful balance of volume, intensity, and rest in the program is what I needed to break the cycle and make sustainable gains. Just last year I felt like I was back up to where I was at age 21 “in my prime”. So this year I committed to go back and finish Body Count. The moves felt okay and I was quickly making good links but I was powering down rather than getting pumped. Changing my standard 45-move LBC to a more sustained 28-move LBC mimicked what I was feeling on the route. That one adjustment seemed to make all the difference. I should have followed the advice in the book and customized it in the first place, but I was just used to my original LBC that was so effective on other routes. I ended up sending on my 8th session (little over a month), and it felt surprisingly casual. When I came down and a friend said he wished he had filmed it, I decided to climb it again for the video, and I sent that time too. So the training has been a huge success. Thanks to the Anderson bros and everyone else on the forum for sharing your knowledge. I was clueless about training and would probably be on the same plateau/injury cycle today if it weren’t for this program.
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Post by jetjackson on May 9, 2018 22:39:22 GMT -7
Congratulations! That's an epic battle! Please share the video when you get it.
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Post by Chris W on May 10, 2018 2:45:39 GMT -7
Awesome! Congratulations! I think we're the same age, so it's nice to hear you're improving with good training!
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