So i updated the blog a bit to make it look nice. also made a youtube account for climbing vids since it seems like my files are getting too large for vimeo.
Here's a vid from two weeks ago of my ascent of dragon turns v9, and working on crouching dragon v11
i got a couple clips from last friday in peterskill where i worked on jefe v10. i only had about a half hour to work on it, and i got all the moves except the last one, so hopefully a send will be coming soon. i didnt figure out what im gonna do for the last move yet, so it could possibly be the crux. not sure.
goin to peterskill this friday in hopes of sending!
oh, and if you like v5 or v7 and climb in peterskill, go climb Classic V5 or its extension the hop V7.
such a fun climb! 4 star moves with a perfect topout. so fun :)
later
Wooooweee. lots to talk about.
So my last update was almost 2 months ago. I feel like a lot has happened in that time.
I haven't been able to climb outside since the last update. The weather has been shot on the days that I'm able to make the hike up to New Paltz.
But last week was different! I finally got a decent day in terms of temps. It was drizzling here and there. but it was just nice to be out again.
I've seen some drastic improvements in strength. Especially crimp strength. I knew my crimps needed to get stronger to handle harder problems.
I saw a brick wall at my job and always looked at 1/4 pad crimps, wondering if it was climbable. I felt like it was, except the feet are terrible, I can barely fit my climbing shoes into the crevasses because of how thin they are.
I didn't climb on it that often, maybe once a week for about 3 weeks. The pressure on my joints hurt really bad, and i knew that it meant i could get stronger on them. It was sharp and would leave tears in my skin!
So anyway. besides that, ive been eating normal except a ton of chocolate milk and some calcium tablets.
Last week I went to the trapps, while my friends worked the buddha v7, i worked the first extension, illustrious buddha v8. It was my 2nd day trying the extension, the first day i got to the last move and couldnt throw to the jug. the 2nd day, from the very first go, i got to the last move, but the intermediate was so bad and my shoes kept slipping off with the heel hooks. after a bunch of tries, i decided to click my heels together when i cut feet to put the shoes back on and go to the top all at once. it worked! i sent. awesome problem.
the same day i went to work on boxcar arete and the art of nothing. both v8's.
i didnt think id send boxcar, because when i tried it back in june, my crimp strength was no where near where i needed it to be. so i tried it anyway, and first try i found myself at the top reaching for the jug horn! i cruised through all the moves and they didnt even feel hard. crimp training at my work i suppose...
unfortunately, i had some elbow tendonitis from climbing 3 days in a row, including trying to complete all 14 new problems at the gym the previous night (got 12).
so i lacked the power to campus (i know) to the horn..
walked over to art of nothing, awesome problem. totally looked my style. crimps (now) and a dyno. it was went but i went for it anyway. my 2nd go i was reaching for the top! once again i lacked the power...i really should have waited for the flash, i believe i could have since its a pretty straightforward, short problem.
so the following week i went back to finish boxcar and the art of nothing. i sent boxcar first go after warming up on a v0 and v2, and then sent art of nothing 2nd go. pretty sweet!
so i wanted to try dragon turns v9, since i only tried it once back in april and wasnt even close to sticking the opening.
after some tries, i found myself throwing for the lip for the topout...!! i caught the jug with the tips of my fingers, and went to readjust, and then this happened:
such a bummer! ive never done that to my finger before, but i cut a chunk out of it!
so once again i had another cliff hanger (lol). another problem i have to go back and do..i was too close!
so here are some videos. the first one has me doing illustrious and the 2nd has boxcar and the art of nothing...
So my last update was almost 2 months ago. I feel like a lot has happened in that time.
I haven't been able to climb outside since the last update. The weather has been shot on the days that I'm able to make the hike up to New Paltz.
But last week was different! I finally got a decent day in terms of temps. It was drizzling here and there. but it was just nice to be out again.
I've seen some drastic improvements in strength. Especially crimp strength. I knew my crimps needed to get stronger to handle harder problems.
I saw a brick wall at my job and always looked at 1/4 pad crimps, wondering if it was climbable. I felt like it was, except the feet are terrible, I can barely fit my climbing shoes into the crevasses because of how thin they are.
I didn't climb on it that often, maybe once a week for about 3 weeks. The pressure on my joints hurt really bad, and i knew that it meant i could get stronger on them. It was sharp and would leave tears in my skin!
So anyway. besides that, ive been eating normal except a ton of chocolate milk and some calcium tablets.
Last week I went to the trapps, while my friends worked the buddha v7, i worked the first extension, illustrious buddha v8. It was my 2nd day trying the extension, the first day i got to the last move and couldnt throw to the jug. the 2nd day, from the very first go, i got to the last move, but the intermediate was so bad and my shoes kept slipping off with the heel hooks. after a bunch of tries, i decided to click my heels together when i cut feet to put the shoes back on and go to the top all at once. it worked! i sent. awesome problem.
the same day i went to work on boxcar arete and the art of nothing. both v8's.
i didnt think id send boxcar, because when i tried it back in june, my crimp strength was no where near where i needed it to be. so i tried it anyway, and first try i found myself at the top reaching for the jug horn! i cruised through all the moves and they didnt even feel hard. crimp training at my work i suppose...
unfortunately, i had some elbow tendonitis from climbing 3 days in a row, including trying to complete all 14 new problems at the gym the previous night (got 12).
so i lacked the power to campus (i know) to the horn..
walked over to art of nothing, awesome problem. totally looked my style. crimps (now) and a dyno. it was went but i went for it anyway. my 2nd go i was reaching for the top! once again i lacked the power...i really should have waited for the flash, i believe i could have since its a pretty straightforward, short problem.
so the following week i went back to finish boxcar and the art of nothing. i sent boxcar first go after warming up on a v0 and v2, and then sent art of nothing 2nd go. pretty sweet!
so i wanted to try dragon turns v9, since i only tried it once back in april and wasnt even close to sticking the opening.
after some tries, i found myself throwing for the lip for the topout...!! i caught the jug with the tips of my fingers, and went to readjust, and then this happened:
such a bummer! ive never done that to my finger before, but i cut a chunk out of it!
so once again i had another cliff hanger (lol). another problem i have to go back and do..i was too close!
so here are some videos. the first one has me doing illustrious and the 2nd has boxcar and the art of nothing...
Sunday, October 31, 2010
I had a great summer.
I didn't get to climb outdoors, but got some good rest time when I went on a missions trip to the dominican republic.
everything was slow paced, and I really found the center of it all. I gained insight on my future, and what it means to love God.
so the temps have been favorable. I went to the gunks 3 times in september alone!
In short,
A day in the trapps, i got one move away from sending Illustrious Buddha V8. Somehow the moves seem like theyre coming together. just a big lockoff to the jug.
A day at peterskill, i worked on tigerstyle, felt pretty impossible. But as i got my hands in the right positions, and worked on that technical end, it started coming together. Eventually i set up for the dyno, and my hand touched the lip, but no send. So we moved onto other things we didnt have beta for...like dwarf toss v8...we started in the wrong place and it made it really really really hard. might be cool if i climb v11..
so yesterday i went to peterskill again to take down tigerstyle, and it went! afterwards we went to village idiot v7 and i almost flashed it. i was stoked. in a few goes after i realized there was an actual lip to throw for at the top, i sent.
my friend dave got some awesome shots of the send,
and a video.
vengaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!
I didn't get to climb outdoors, but got some good rest time when I went on a missions trip to the dominican republic.
everything was slow paced, and I really found the center of it all. I gained insight on my future, and what it means to love God.
so the temps have been favorable. I went to the gunks 3 times in september alone!
In short,
A day in the trapps, i got one move away from sending Illustrious Buddha V8. Somehow the moves seem like theyre coming together. just a big lockoff to the jug.
A day at peterskill, i worked on tigerstyle, felt pretty impossible. But as i got my hands in the right positions, and worked on that technical end, it started coming together. Eventually i set up for the dyno, and my hand touched the lip, but no send. So we moved onto other things we didnt have beta for...like dwarf toss v8...we started in the wrong place and it made it really really really hard. might be cool if i climb v11..
so yesterday i went to peterskill again to take down tigerstyle, and it went! afterwards we went to village idiot v7 and i almost flashed it. i was stoked. in a few goes after i realized there was an actual lip to throw for at the top, i sent.
my friend dave got some awesome shots of the send,
and a video.
Tiger Style V7 from Alan Kahn on Vimeo.
vengaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
So my ring finger's tendon has almost completely healed. i can dead hang on my campus board on the good two finger pockets now.
my middle finger's crimp pulley is almost completely healed too. ive been able to crimp pretty hard on it. ive lost some crimp strength from my right hand taking a break because of my wrist and my left hand taking a break because of the injury in hueco...but im good to go now!
my good friend JJ had vacation this past week for the first time in 2 years, and he really wanted to climb a lot...so we climbed 5 days this week...saturday, monday, tuesday, thursday, and friday. each session was at least 3 hours long. i was wrecked on tuesday! i felt the elbow tendonitis coming back, and i tried very hard to keep climbing lol.
climbed at brooklyn boulders, garden state rocks, earth treks in rockville near washington d.c., elite climbing gym in south jersey by philly, and manhattan health plaza club rock gym in nyc.
at bkb, i didnt feel too strong, i had a 5 day break to rest up and i needed to break my muscles in again..but i took some vids of v9 attempts (video below)
monday at gsr, i felt strong. i finally sent the red v8 pinch problem (video below). that v8 felt really hard when i first tried it over a month ago. i sent the problem first go on monday, and it made me really feel like im progressing. i also sent a orange v6- upstairs with my really burly beta that makes it go at v7, first go. that problem felt really hard with my bad beta the first time i ever tried it, so once again i felt good.
tuesday in d.c. i felt drained. however, i managed to make progress on a couple v9's and 8's, although no sends. one particular v9 on the overhang involved a powerful heelhook, big throw move which started up my elbow tendonitis..
thursday at elite, almost nothing was graded because it was all new, but i was able to bust out a send on a problem that i was maxing out on. i felt my fingers uncurling, but i pulled through. no matter what grade, i felt that i mentally made progress. there was also a pretty gnarly crimp problem i made some progress on. but i felt whooped.
friday at mhpc, i was dead. but i still climbed somehow... in fact, i almost flashed a v7+ on the overhang. it felt pretty burly even with being super sore. i made progress on a v-hard there as well. seeing jj and manuel try the problem, although they were tired as well, helped me get a sense of how hard the problems were. the problems were much more beta intensive, but i had fun, and was glad to be on new stuff.
tomorrow is another day. i took off the past two days from climbing, and im trying to recover so that i can climb hard at gsr tomorrow. i have an idea of what i want to work on. i really feel like im about to make a big breakthrough in my climbing. we shall see!
(by the way, in a couple days it will be exactly 1 year and a half since i started climbing. im getting old.)
my middle finger's crimp pulley is almost completely healed too. ive been able to crimp pretty hard on it. ive lost some crimp strength from my right hand taking a break because of my wrist and my left hand taking a break because of the injury in hueco...but im good to go now!
my good friend JJ had vacation this past week for the first time in 2 years, and he really wanted to climb a lot...so we climbed 5 days this week...saturday, monday, tuesday, thursday, and friday. each session was at least 3 hours long. i was wrecked on tuesday! i felt the elbow tendonitis coming back, and i tried very hard to keep climbing lol.
climbed at brooklyn boulders, garden state rocks, earth treks in rockville near washington d.c., elite climbing gym in south jersey by philly, and manhattan health plaza club rock gym in nyc.
at bkb, i didnt feel too strong, i had a 5 day break to rest up and i needed to break my muscles in again..but i took some vids of v9 attempts (video below)
monday at gsr, i felt strong. i finally sent the red v8 pinch problem (video below). that v8 felt really hard when i first tried it over a month ago. i sent the problem first go on monday, and it made me really feel like im progressing. i also sent a orange v6- upstairs with my really burly beta that makes it go at v7, first go. that problem felt really hard with my bad beta the first time i ever tried it, so once again i felt good.
tuesday in d.c. i felt drained. however, i managed to make progress on a couple v9's and 8's, although no sends. one particular v9 on the overhang involved a powerful heelhook, big throw move which started up my elbow tendonitis..
thursday at elite, almost nothing was graded because it was all new, but i was able to bust out a send on a problem that i was maxing out on. i felt my fingers uncurling, but i pulled through. no matter what grade, i felt that i mentally made progress. there was also a pretty gnarly crimp problem i made some progress on. but i felt whooped.
friday at mhpc, i was dead. but i still climbed somehow... in fact, i almost flashed a v7+ on the overhang. it felt pretty burly even with being super sore. i made progress on a v-hard there as well. seeing jj and manuel try the problem, although they were tired as well, helped me get a sense of how hard the problems were. the problems were much more beta intensive, but i had fun, and was glad to be on new stuff.
tomorrow is another day. i took off the past two days from climbing, and im trying to recover so that i can climb hard at gsr tomorrow. i have an idea of what i want to work on. i really feel like im about to make a big breakthrough in my climbing. we shall see!
(by the way, in a couple days it will be exactly 1 year and a half since i started climbing. im getting old.)
Red V8 @ GSR from Alan Kahn on Vimeo.
Two V9 Attempts @ BKB from Alan Kahn on Vimeo.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Wow. it's been a WHILE since i updated.
let me fill you in with some short details.
i injured my left hand middle finger crimp pulley in hueco
i injured my right hand ring finger pocket pulley on a v9 at the gravity vault in chatham
ive mostly been trying to rehab my injuries, and am able to start climbing semi-normally only now...although this past week, ive been climbing every other day unintentionally and im starting to feel my tendons wearing down again.
ive been doing some secret training to get stronger, but i have only been able to implement my training for a week or so..but i have seen some good results.
i went to the gunks last tuesday and the week before that...
sent the buddha v6/7 on my 3rd go
worked on boxcar arete v8 (i can get 2 moves from the top, and almost am able to start from there and topout. but i need to get stronger, maybe in a month ill be strong enough to send it. really hard on my crimps right now..)
ive been getting better flow on easier problems like the lorax v4, and the gill egg v4. im understanding things a lot better now.
at my home gym GSR, theres one red v8 project that im able to link up to the crux, and then from the crux get to the finish, but the crux is just a little bit rough for me to do on command every time. i think i can pull it off this week, but its a basic power pinch problem, and really powerful on a steep overhang.
they put up a bunch of new problems the other day and i either flashed or got 2nd go every problem on the boulder except a new black v8. the new black v8 includes a scrunchy foot that you have to make a big move off tiny crimps. it seems impossible for me at my level now. but i have some time, hopefully i can dispatch it before it gets taken down.
so i wont bore you with too much more detail...im trying to get stronger, im starting to take protein again, tuesday i was WRECKED.
climbed at the gunks all day and came back home and climbed at gsr...definitely overdid it that day.
anyway. here's a vid from the gunks of me re-sending the buddha. enjoy.
let me fill you in with some short details.
i injured my left hand middle finger crimp pulley in hueco
i injured my right hand ring finger pocket pulley on a v9 at the gravity vault in chatham
ive mostly been trying to rehab my injuries, and am able to start climbing semi-normally only now...although this past week, ive been climbing every other day unintentionally and im starting to feel my tendons wearing down again.
ive been doing some secret training to get stronger, but i have only been able to implement my training for a week or so..but i have seen some good results.
i went to the gunks last tuesday and the week before that...
sent the buddha v6/7 on my 3rd go
worked on boxcar arete v8 (i can get 2 moves from the top, and almost am able to start from there and topout. but i need to get stronger, maybe in a month ill be strong enough to send it. really hard on my crimps right now..)
ive been getting better flow on easier problems like the lorax v4, and the gill egg v4. im understanding things a lot better now.
at my home gym GSR, theres one red v8 project that im able to link up to the crux, and then from the crux get to the finish, but the crux is just a little bit rough for me to do on command every time. i think i can pull it off this week, but its a basic power pinch problem, and really powerful on a steep overhang.
they put up a bunch of new problems the other day and i either flashed or got 2nd go every problem on the boulder except a new black v8. the new black v8 includes a scrunchy foot that you have to make a big move off tiny crimps. it seems impossible for me at my level now. but i have some time, hopefully i can dispatch it before it gets taken down.
so i wont bore you with too much more detail...im trying to get stronger, im starting to take protein again, tuesday i was WRECKED.
climbed at the gunks all day and came back home and climbed at gsr...definitely overdid it that day.
anyway. here's a vid from the gunks of me re-sending the buddha. enjoy.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
So by the way, Easter weekend (April 2nd-4th) I, along with my friends JJ and Manuel, went to Hueco Tanks in El Paso Texas.
Yeah. it was a short trip, but it was definitely worth it!
We couldn't stay longer because of work/school/etc. but this is the time to go before it gets too hot...so we just did it.
left early friday and flew back 2am sunday night. i had a test early monday morning too hahah
Got to see a bunch of sweet classics, See Spot Run V6, T-Bone Shuffle V4, Nobody Here Gets Out Alive V2, Power Of Silence V10 (recently sent by Ashima who's only 8 years old.) 3D V7, Esperanza V14...to name a few.
The atmosphere was so awesome. It was completely dead silent. You could hear people whispering in their tents from 50 feet away.
The stars were blinding at night. It was fantastic!
As for sends, I personally didn't get much to work on for lack of time. But I got to flash T-bone shuffle V4, which was a super awesome problem.
We had 20 minutes left before we had to leave to catch a plane home on sunday, and I really really wanted to try 3D V7 next to Alma Blanca V13.
So I worked on it, it was pretty rough! But I'm very happy to say that I linked it to two different sections, The only move I couldn't get was a weird cross move to an undercling jug. I was touching it but we ran out of time...
If only i had an extra day to try it! but oh well. I'm still happy, it was a really fun trip.
Now I have returned and am back in business...So much work to do! It was really nice to escape everything for a weekend. I kinda forgot i existed. haha.
I went to the gunks on monday night for 3 hours, didn't get to send anything new, but I am proud to say that I got the first two opening moves on Karajo V11! I got video of it too...Now I'm obsessing over getting back to the gunks to work on it some more...It's definitely a milestone boulder for me, that top-out is crazy scary to me.
Well first i better get New Pair of Glasses V7 done...and then I'll get the remaining 3 extension moves...My shoulders are still very sore.
Lots of work to do! Maybe I'll post some video later.
Check out all the photos on facebook here
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Hey! Short update:
After I climbed in florida, I climbed for 3 days straight, which is a huge improvement from the past month of injury!
I have no endurance and I'm very very sore. Over the weekend I climbed at Brooklyn Boulders, It's always really fun there!
I just wanted to put up a video that I took of a pretty V7 I sent there.
I sent the problem, got really pumped, and took a vid. In the vid i dont send it.
I guess you dont have to believe me that I sent it in 3 tries, or that i sent it at all, lol
But here's the video nonetheless
btw: after changing a tire last saturday during the apocalyptic weather, I hurt my wrist a little bit...It seems to be getting back to normal again, it just got a little swollen.
Hueco is a week from friday! need to build endurance...
After I climbed in florida, I climbed for 3 days straight, which is a huge improvement from the past month of injury!
I have no endurance and I'm very very sore. Over the weekend I climbed at Brooklyn Boulders, It's always really fun there!
I just wanted to put up a video that I took of a pretty V7 I sent there.
I sent the problem, got really pumped, and took a vid. In the vid i dont send it.
I guess you dont have to believe me that I sent it in 3 tries, or that i sent it at all, lol
But here's the video nonetheless
btw: after changing a tire last saturday during the apocalyptic weather, I hurt my wrist a little bit...It seems to be getting back to normal again, it just got a little swollen.
Hueco is a week from friday! need to build endurance...
Monday, March 22, 2010
I don't know what happened.
It's been 5 weeks since I sprained my wrist. Everyday it felt as if it was sluggishly healing, hardly improving.
On saturday night, feeling crappy as it usually does, my brother did this anti-swelling trick on my wrist. I was like, lol...what do you mean you know a trick? and then he did it and i was like uh huh...whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Also, during the day as i was stretching it, I cracked it by accident...It hurt but idk. maybe that contributed too...i have no idea.
I think God just decided it was time. and i am very very very thankful.
My wrist has finally healed from its sprain! so i climbed in florida, totally had no endurance but had some amounts of strength.
The gym was called Aiguille, and is based in orlando.
For a gym that doesn't have real rock within a 100 mile radius, they do really well! the problems were very thought out, very fun with the features and angles, and had some tweaky beta.
I was glad i got to climb my hardest once again. It really felt amazing.
I woke up this morning and my forearms were sore for the first time in over a month. I am very very happy.
and my wrist still feels good! praise God.
So here's a video of some of the climbs.
Sorry bout the quality, I was just intending on climbing...lol
V9- the move after is the crux, very tiny crimp and a throw to an ok edge
V6- Holds are small slopey crimps except for the big left hand pinch. I didnt think i could even start this one when i looked at the bad feet.
Last problem- As i upload this video, i want to go back and campus the finishing move...it felt possible that way, but i was wayyy pumped outtt.
So! I feel good! I'll keep you posted. hopefully ill be sending some really aesthetic projects real soon!!
It's been 5 weeks since I sprained my wrist. Everyday it felt as if it was sluggishly healing, hardly improving.
On saturday night, feeling crappy as it usually does, my brother did this anti-swelling trick on my wrist. I was like, lol...what do you mean you know a trick? and then he did it and i was like uh huh...whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Also, during the day as i was stretching it, I cracked it by accident...It hurt but idk. maybe that contributed too...i have no idea.
I think God just decided it was time. and i am very very very thankful.
My wrist has finally healed from its sprain! so i climbed in florida, totally had no endurance but had some amounts of strength.
The gym was called Aiguille, and is based in orlando.
For a gym that doesn't have real rock within a 100 mile radius, they do really well! the problems were very thought out, very fun with the features and angles, and had some tweaky beta.
I was glad i got to climb my hardest once again. It really felt amazing.
I woke up this morning and my forearms were sore for the first time in over a month. I am very very happy.
and my wrist still feels good! praise God.
So here's a video of some of the climbs.
Healing! Climbing in Florida from Alan Kahn on Vimeo.
Sorry bout the quality, I was just intending on climbing...lol
V9- the move after is the crux, very tiny crimp and a throw to an ok edge
V6- Holds are small slopey crimps except for the big left hand pinch. I didnt think i could even start this one when i looked at the bad feet.
Last problem- As i upload this video, i want to go back and campus the finishing move...it felt possible that way, but i was wayyy pumped outtt.
So! I feel good! I'll keep you posted. hopefully ill be sending some really aesthetic projects real soon!!
Monday, March 8, 2010
HI!
I've been having a really silly day today.
maybe its carrying over from last night...
It was just one of those mornings where youre like...oh boy...Here we go!
i was gonna go into it but i decided against it.. "a fool vents all his feelings but a wise man holds them back"
so anyway. 2 weeks ago i competed at my home gym's climbing competition.
after 8 sustained hours of climbing problems rated v6 and higher, my tips were way beyond shredded, my muscles are limp, and i was out of energy.
the only reason i was still climbing is because a good friend of mine just got there after he got off work.
so there was a "v7" probably more of a 6, that i sent earlier that day that had a deadpoint throw from a left hand crimp and a right hand pinch to a font
this hold...lol.
in the past, no matter what direction its facing, ive felt my wrist dislocate on it while trying to gain some form of grip. it doesnt happen all the time, but it has happened.
now, i did the throw, felt my wrist dislocate...didnt shake it out or anything, just dead hanged, campus matched, and campused up left hand with right hand still on the hold to the finish hold.
when i came down i knew something was wrong, i moved my wrist and i heard it crack along with feeling a sharp pain in the back of my wrist.
i couldnt move my hand up or rotate it without sharp pain, and i know now that i sprained it. figured that my tendons and ligaments were already overstrained, and when my wrist dislocated, all my weight rested on my ligaments.
a sprain is when you hyperextend the ligaments, usually by falling on it or using a great amount of pressure...
so now ive been resting for the most part. trying to work on my legs...
i climbed "lightly" (under v5) exactly one week after the comp and i think it lengthened my recovery period a bit.
last night, 2 weeks and 2 days from the comp, i went to gsr after i had done some physical therapy the previous night. i had full range of movement in my wrist as well as minimal soreness when i moved it up.
i limited myself extremely to static moves only, and i didnt realize how much ive been relying on dynamic motion until this point.
im probably at most a v2 or v3 climber without dynamic movement. this made me very frustrated, because i felt like a completely different person climbing, i couldnt climb by instinct, and thats pretty much all i have.
i feel like if i climb like this too much, ill lose my ability to read problems correctly.
although for some reason, while i climbed last night, i didnt look at the problems at all, i just tried to onsight everything while being static.
its just very frustrating, i really want to climb again on things that are my limit.
ive been very afraid lately of havting to get surgery or something, i dont think thatll be the case but itll take a little bit more time before im completely healed.
im a little bit more sore today unfortunately. still got full motion fine, but i gotta ice it when i get home from class.
now. i know in time itll heal back completely and ill be back trying my hardest and pushing the limits of whats possible for me...im just very impatient!
i realized that this morning.
my flat iron is broken and you have to wind it up in order for it to turn on.
this time it took 15 minutes of me trying to wind it up, and it didnt work. each minute i got more and more frustrated, until i ran out of time to leave for school and i actually started praying "GOD PLEASE TURN THIS ON NOW!"
thats when i kinda just stopped, and looked at the silly situation i was in.
the word, "NOW" really hit me. maybe i havent even fully realized this until just now as im writing this.
everything has to happen NOW for me. i want everything NOW. i am super impatient on everything just because i cant see what God's doing in my life on a day to day basis.
why cant i just accept circumstances as they happen and praise God anyway?
probably because im trusting in my own plans.
in the process im hurting myself. making myself frustrated, delaying my wrist recovery...
i dont know. in fact im going to stop writing this post.
I'm going to try to hear from God. I'm talking way too much lately
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
So Yesterday, January 19th, marks one year since I began climbing.
(Defined as going to the climbing gym to climb for the sake of climbing, not counting a high school summer camp fake rock experience or anything silly like that. Which has happened to me in the past like 4 years ago, but I usually avoided it because I was scared of heights and was pretty bad at it.)
Before climbing i didnt do any kind of sport since freshman year of highschool...Which was basketball..
Although 3 years ago i tried lifting weights for an entire summer. but that was still a while ago.
So I'm glad I was introduced to rock climbing via a couple of friends that invited me. It definitely got me into shape and makes me look at life in different aspects, as well as meet a whole bunch of new friends along the way.
So. I would say at this point I'm a crappy climber. My fingers are weak, I am horrible at footwork, and I'm always rushing to do things.
but i had a silly goal of trying to send a V10 boulder problem outside within one year of climbing..because Dave Graham sent a 5.14a sport route within one year of climbing.
The latter part of this year I got pretty sick, I lost 10 pounds and it took a whole month to recooperate and that long in order for me to be allowed to eat normally.
Last post I tried to come up with a workout regimen to get me in shape, but i got sick again and went on a couple road trips that killed my diet.
Well, I didn't care, I was still going to give my all in order to try to send V10 anyway.
So i saw Sweat of the Rapist, a V10 in central park (LOL) first ascent made by Ivan Greene.
It was a 4 move extension (said to be V9 rated extension alone) out to an existing V6 Traverse.
I bought a DVD called the road by mike call in order to get beta on the problem. (which by the way, is an excellent classic movie).
to be honest, Ivan made the problem look so easy lol.
But i figured thats how it was when i saw the beta, So i memorized each sequence for the extension, and I'd figure the V6 on my own (The v6 is kind of hard to tell from the video.)
I went to the city with my friend manuel in order to try the problem. and if it was really THAT hard, (LOL duh) I would come back on monday in order to finish the problem. And there was a cool V9 called priviledged that i could try on the same boulder as well.
My plan was to get all the moves down to a science on Thursday, and send the problem on monday.
Then the weather told me that monday would be shot.
My only free two days were in trouble..So I was left with only thursday to send the problem.
This was a problem...
Well anyway.
So we get to the boulder.
One of the key holds is broken off on the extension.
!!!
Now what was a bump, becomes a large throw. And that is kind of out of my league for now...
And then at the sit start for the v9, privileged, theres a pile of dog poop. LOL.
So i attempt the beginning anyway of the v10.
surprisingly, although pretty burly...I could do all the extension moves EXCEPT the one that bumps to the broken hold. because it wasnt there anymore.
You begin with a really high good heelhook, and go out left to a microcrimp, and then get your right hand on a very thin gaston crimp.
Left Hand Crimp
Left Hand Two finger Crimp with Fingers to scale (very tips of your fingers..like where your finger nail starts...)
Right Hand Crimp
Red Line marks the outline of the missing hold
So i tried a number of things, But couldnt make the stretch without the bump. I'm sure someone could. Just not me.
So i tried the V6 extension for a bit which felt totally doable, but felt like we should move to a different boulder to keep morale up.
Went to south central park to work on rat rock and send the polish traverse.
in short. I did not send the polish traverse lol. I hate it. i hate the problem. i hate it.
its too technical for me i guess at this point. PLUS. its a whole thing of, "this is on, no thats not on, you start here, no you start here, no you top out there."
and i cant ever be sure. so im not going to go back there until its packed with people.
i was doing really well on a flash attempt of koma's roof from the v7 start, but i stepped off. i dont know why.
so then we went to climb at manhattan plaza health club.
turns out while talking with people there, one dude actually has the broken v10 hold at his house...
so im like !!
so hes going to email me when he glues it back on. just like all of the holds there.
i dont feel like giving beta on the rest of the extension for the v10, but the moves were definitely fun. lots of cross-overs and tiny crimps and bad feet.
i must say, im horrible at heel hooks, and my hamstring almost got pulled after trying that start a bunch of times. by the time we were climbing at mphc, it was locking up and i was getting charlie horses. it was pretty bad!
so now. im pretty inspired to try new things and to climb harder than ever...
and to have fun! thats the most important thing!
here's a pic of the v6 extension:
Right now I am so sore, I havent had a rest day since i went outside thursday. I've either climbed or done hangboard training. I got the first flapper in forever last night, and my forearms are so shot.
But theres a comp next week, and i think itll help show me where I'm at if i push myself to try all new things all at once...
I need to get outside!!
(Defined as going to the climbing gym to climb for the sake of climbing, not counting a high school summer camp fake rock experience or anything silly like that. Which has happened to me in the past like 4 years ago, but I usually avoided it because I was scared of heights and was pretty bad at it.)
Before climbing i didnt do any kind of sport since freshman year of highschool...Which was basketball..
Although 3 years ago i tried lifting weights for an entire summer. but that was still a while ago.
So I'm glad I was introduced to rock climbing via a couple of friends that invited me. It definitely got me into shape and makes me look at life in different aspects, as well as meet a whole bunch of new friends along the way.
So. I would say at this point I'm a crappy climber. My fingers are weak, I am horrible at footwork, and I'm always rushing to do things.
but i had a silly goal of trying to send a V10 boulder problem outside within one year of climbing..because Dave Graham sent a 5.14a sport route within one year of climbing.
The latter part of this year I got pretty sick, I lost 10 pounds and it took a whole month to recooperate and that long in order for me to be allowed to eat normally.
Last post I tried to come up with a workout regimen to get me in shape, but i got sick again and went on a couple road trips that killed my diet.
Well, I didn't care, I was still going to give my all in order to try to send V10 anyway.
So i saw Sweat of the Rapist, a V10 in central park (LOL) first ascent made by Ivan Greene.
It was a 4 move extension (said to be V9 rated extension alone) out to an existing V6 Traverse.
I bought a DVD called the road by mike call in order to get beta on the problem. (which by the way, is an excellent classic movie).
to be honest, Ivan made the problem look so easy lol.
But i figured thats how it was when i saw the beta, So i memorized each sequence for the extension, and I'd figure the V6 on my own (The v6 is kind of hard to tell from the video.)
I went to the city with my friend manuel in order to try the problem. and if it was really THAT hard, (LOL duh) I would come back on monday in order to finish the problem. And there was a cool V9 called priviledged that i could try on the same boulder as well.
My plan was to get all the moves down to a science on Thursday, and send the problem on monday.
Then the weather told me that monday would be shot.
My only free two days were in trouble..So I was left with only thursday to send the problem.
This was a problem...
Well anyway.
So we get to the boulder.
One of the key holds is broken off on the extension.
!!!
Now what was a bump, becomes a large throw. And that is kind of out of my league for now...
And then at the sit start for the v9, privileged, theres a pile of dog poop. LOL.
So i attempt the beginning anyway of the v10.
surprisingly, although pretty burly...I could do all the extension moves EXCEPT the one that bumps to the broken hold. because it wasnt there anymore.
You begin with a really high good heelhook, and go out left to a microcrimp, and then get your right hand on a very thin gaston crimp.
Left Hand Crimp
Left Hand Two finger Crimp with Fingers to scale (very tips of your fingers..like where your finger nail starts...)
Right Hand Crimp
Red Line marks the outline of the missing hold
So i tried a number of things, But couldnt make the stretch without the bump. I'm sure someone could. Just not me.
So i tried the V6 extension for a bit which felt totally doable, but felt like we should move to a different boulder to keep morale up.
Went to south central park to work on rat rock and send the polish traverse.
in short. I did not send the polish traverse lol. I hate it. i hate the problem. i hate it.
its too technical for me i guess at this point. PLUS. its a whole thing of, "this is on, no thats not on, you start here, no you start here, no you top out there."
and i cant ever be sure. so im not going to go back there until its packed with people.
i was doing really well on a flash attempt of koma's roof from the v7 start, but i stepped off. i dont know why.
so then we went to climb at manhattan plaza health club.
turns out while talking with people there, one dude actually has the broken v10 hold at his house...
so im like !!
so hes going to email me when he glues it back on. just like all of the holds there.
i dont feel like giving beta on the rest of the extension for the v10, but the moves were definitely fun. lots of cross-overs and tiny crimps and bad feet.
i must say, im horrible at heel hooks, and my hamstring almost got pulled after trying that start a bunch of times. by the time we were climbing at mphc, it was locking up and i was getting charlie horses. it was pretty bad!
so now. im pretty inspired to try new things and to climb harder than ever...
and to have fun! thats the most important thing!
here's a pic of the v6 extension:
Right now I am so sore, I havent had a rest day since i went outside thursday. I've either climbed or done hangboard training. I got the first flapper in forever last night, and my forearms are so shot.
But theres a comp next week, and i think itll help show me where I'm at if i push myself to try all new things all at once...
I need to get outside!!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
So like I said, for the next 4 weeks I'm going to go training crazy and see what happens.
But we all know just working hard doesn't always = good. You gotta workout smart too.
Therefore I'm going to monitor my caloric and nutritional intake so that I can put on about a pound of muscle a week so I can get stronger healthily without just overworking my muscles/tendons.
Now, to inform you, I am 5'10 weigh 140 lb.s and have 6% body fat, which means I have 8.4 lb.s of fat on my body.
I normally eat about 2100-2200 calories a day. In order to maintain my weight, I have to eat about 2400-2500 calories..which is why I keep losing weight, slowly but surely.
One pound = 3500 calories, meaning to put on a pound you need to consume 500 extra calories a day..obviously most of those calories have to come from protein otherwise you'll just get fat!
So I need:
3,025 calories a day
Max 90g fat
Of fat only 30g max saturated
373g max carbohydrates
About 140 grams of protein, a gram per pound. Although 130 would be ok too.
And 31g of dietary fiber.
I am tracking my intake through a really useful website called www.fitday.com
There you can look up thousands of popular brands of foods and add them up to find out what you consume in a day.
Already I'm avoiding the cookies and saving space for meals!
Lol.
So onto the workout regimine.
I won't go into too much detail, but the way I work out for power is to do all 3 types of resistance training basically to work out till exhaustion.
Now I haven't gone on a strict muscle building routine in 2 years, but back then it worked pretty well.
For each muscle group, I do 3 sets of 70-80% of my max weight for 5-8 reps. Then I do a different excercise for 50% of my max weight for 10 reps. Then I do a final excercise for 20% of my max weight for about 20 reps.
In this way, I'm only at the gym pumping iron for about a half hour, so that my muscles get exhausted quickly with little rest in between.
I hardly ever did cardio..but ill have to start..
My schedule is as follows:
Week 1: Power Week 12/23-12/29
Wed: Biceps/Triceps/Forearms
Thurs: Shoulders/Chest
Friday: Rest (It's Christmas after all...)
Saturday: Brooklyn Boulders
Sunday: Back/Abs
Monday: Rest/Trip To D.C.
Tuesday: Rest/Trip To D.C.
Week 2: Endurance 12/30-1/5(Light reps + treadmill or other cardio excercise every day at the gym)
Wed: Biceps/Triceps/Forearms
Thurs: Shoulders/Chest/Climbing
Friday: Rest/Retreat to PA (possible light climbing)
Saturday: Rest/Retreat to PA (possible light climbing)
Sunday: Back/Abs
Monday: Dance Dance Revolution/Climbing
Tuesday: Rest
Week 3: Power Week/Rest 1/6-1/12? (Subject to change based on what day is optimal to take a trip to boulder outside)
Wed: Biceps/Triceps/Forearms
Thurs: Shoulders/Back/Climbing
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Rest
Week 4: Rest Before Sending 1/13-1/19
Wed: Rest
Trip possibly begin Thursday ending no later than Sunday
And in terms of supplements, I'm currently taking:
Vitamin Shoppe Brand:
Amino Complex
Glucosamine (vegetarian formula)
MEGA Fish Oil EPA-DHA
GNC Brand:
B-Complex 50
BSN Brand:
Syntha-6 Chocolate Milkshake Protein Complex
VPX Brand:
Zero Impact Pumpkin Supreme and/or Peanut Butter and Jelly Protein Bars
Rationale:
Really simply,
Amino acids = broken down proteins for immediately after working out to absorb into your muscles
Glucosamine for joints and tendons
Fish oil for heart joints tendons and over a dozen other good things
B-Vitamins for energy
Zero Impact protein bars are great tasting bars that dont have sugar alcohols or anything that makes you feel sick after you eat them. Great for when im on the run and i cant make a protein shake. Lots of calories too, and theyre from healthy fats and protein.
Syntha6 is definitely the best tasting protein shake ive ever tried, plus it also doesnt have sugar alcohols and doesnt make me feel sick. plus you only need to put it in 6 fl oz of water for 22 grams of protein and around 200 calories. I have a small stomach so its good to use a couple times during the day if need be.
So that's basically it! I can answer any questions you guys have...
Hopefully ill look back at this entry and be proud. haha.
As of right now, I just got back from a church party that only had cookies and snacks...no food. so I had to just hold out till i got home to eat.
I took in
2,661 calories out of 3,025
76.9g fat out of max 90
374.8g carbs out of max 373
121.1g protein out of 140
today. I could probably eat some more chicken and hit the 140 mark in protein and finish at 2,800 calories..but i dont want to eat too much more since ill be going to bed within 2 hours..
so ill try harder tomorrow! but still, 2,600 calories and 120g protein is better than what i usually do!
I am soooo sore right now. it feels good.
But we all know just working hard doesn't always = good. You gotta workout smart too.
Therefore I'm going to monitor my caloric and nutritional intake so that I can put on about a pound of muscle a week so I can get stronger healthily without just overworking my muscles/tendons.
Now, to inform you, I am 5'10 weigh 140 lb.s and have 6% body fat, which means I have 8.4 lb.s of fat on my body.
I normally eat about 2100-2200 calories a day. In order to maintain my weight, I have to eat about 2400-2500 calories..which is why I keep losing weight, slowly but surely.
One pound = 3500 calories, meaning to put on a pound you need to consume 500 extra calories a day..obviously most of those calories have to come from protein otherwise you'll just get fat!
So I need:
3,025 calories a day
Max 90g fat
Of fat only 30g max saturated
373g max carbohydrates
About 140 grams of protein, a gram per pound. Although 130 would be ok too.
And 31g of dietary fiber.
I am tracking my intake through a really useful website called www.fitday.com
There you can look up thousands of popular brands of foods and add them up to find out what you consume in a day.
Already I'm avoiding the cookies and saving space for meals!
Lol.
So onto the workout regimine.
I won't go into too much detail, but the way I work out for power is to do all 3 types of resistance training basically to work out till exhaustion.
Now I haven't gone on a strict muscle building routine in 2 years, but back then it worked pretty well.
For each muscle group, I do 3 sets of 70-80% of my max weight for 5-8 reps. Then I do a different excercise for 50% of my max weight for 10 reps. Then I do a final excercise for 20% of my max weight for about 20 reps.
In this way, I'm only at the gym pumping iron for about a half hour, so that my muscles get exhausted quickly with little rest in between.
I hardly ever did cardio..but ill have to start..
My schedule is as follows:
Week 1: Power Week 12/23-12/29
Wed: Biceps/Triceps/Forearms
Thurs: Shoulders/Chest
Friday: Rest (It's Christmas after all...)
Saturday: Brooklyn Boulders
Sunday: Back/Abs
Monday: Rest/Trip To D.C.
Tuesday: Rest/Trip To D.C.
Week 2: Endurance 12/30-1/5(Light reps + treadmill or other cardio excercise every day at the gym)
Wed: Biceps/Triceps/Forearms
Thurs: Shoulders/Chest/Climbing
Friday: Rest/Retreat to PA (possible light climbing)
Saturday: Rest/Retreat to PA (possible light climbing)
Sunday: Back/Abs
Monday: Dance Dance Revolution/Climbing
Tuesday: Rest
Week 3: Power Week/Rest 1/6-1/12? (Subject to change based on what day is optimal to take a trip to boulder outside)
Wed: Biceps/Triceps/Forearms
Thurs: Shoulders/Back/Climbing
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Rest
Week 4: Rest Before Sending 1/13-1/19
Wed: Rest
Trip possibly begin Thursday ending no later than Sunday
And in terms of supplements, I'm currently taking:
Vitamin Shoppe Brand:
Amino Complex
Glucosamine (vegetarian formula)
MEGA Fish Oil EPA-DHA
GNC Brand:
B-Complex 50
BSN Brand:
Syntha-6 Chocolate Milkshake Protein Complex
VPX Brand:
Zero Impact Pumpkin Supreme and/or Peanut Butter and Jelly Protein Bars
Rationale:
Really simply,
Amino acids = broken down proteins for immediately after working out to absorb into your muscles
Glucosamine for joints and tendons
Fish oil for heart joints tendons and over a dozen other good things
B-Vitamins for energy
Zero Impact protein bars are great tasting bars that dont have sugar alcohols or anything that makes you feel sick after you eat them. Great for when im on the run and i cant make a protein shake. Lots of calories too, and theyre from healthy fats and protein.
Syntha6 is definitely the best tasting protein shake ive ever tried, plus it also doesnt have sugar alcohols and doesnt make me feel sick. plus you only need to put it in 6 fl oz of water for 22 grams of protein and around 200 calories. I have a small stomach so its good to use a couple times during the day if need be.
So that's basically it! I can answer any questions you guys have...
Hopefully ill look back at this entry and be proud. haha.
As of right now, I just got back from a church party that only had cookies and snacks...no food. so I had to just hold out till i got home to eat.
I took in
2,661 calories out of 3,025
76.9g fat out of max 90
374.8g carbs out of max 373
121.1g protein out of 140
today. I could probably eat some more chicken and hit the 140 mark in protein and finish at 2,800 calories..but i dont want to eat too much more since ill be going to bed within 2 hours..
so ill try harder tomorrow! but still, 2,600 calories and 120g protein is better than what i usually do!
I am soooo sore right now. it feels good.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
LOL. so it's been 11 months officially that i have been rock climbing.
just a few things i want to say:
1. probably not sending v10 next month lol
2. forget sending v10, i need to get outside period!
3. last week i got the OK from the doctor to eat normally and take supplements again. (fish oils, glucosamine, amino acids) and im going to start taking them along with upping my protein levels again..
4. tomorrow is my last final at school, so starting tomorrow im gonna try to train all out for the next 4 weeks...and see what happens. ill make training plans tonight, and hopefully will post them up in the next few days..
here's a video of me yesterday sending a fun V6 that just got put up at GSR by simon. i tried to flash it, but dabbed. i got it the 2nd go tho!
Oh, and Merry Christmas!!
just a few things i want to say:
1. probably not sending v10 next month lol
2. forget sending v10, i need to get outside period!
3. last week i got the OK from the doctor to eat normally and take supplements again. (fish oils, glucosamine, amino acids) and im going to start taking them along with upping my protein levels again..
4. tomorrow is my last final at school, so starting tomorrow im gonna try to train all out for the next 4 weeks...and see what happens. ill make training plans tonight, and hopefully will post them up in the next few days..
here's a video of me yesterday sending a fun V6 that just got put up at GSR by simon. i tried to flash it, but dabbed. i got it the 2nd go tho!
Garden State Rocks V6 Indoor Rock Climbing from Alan Kahn on Vimeo.
Oh, and Merry Christmas!!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
YO!
So lets see...
I got really sick last week, from sunday to sunday i was barely able to walk.
my liver became inflamed, i didnt eat more than two bowls of soup for 5 days, vomitted blood, had a steady fever, lost a total of 10 lb.s, and my urine was dark brown.
saturday i forced myself to eat so i wouldnt have to go to the hospital.
they thought i had hepatitis a, but thankfully the blood tests came out negative.
i go back to the doctors next week to get a couple more tests done.
on sunday i started feeling a little better, and since i had to cancel a trip to the gunks, instead i decided to go to gsr for an hour.
i felt pretty weak.
next day i went back and still felt pretty bad but almost sent a new v7.. (now that i look back i think it may be kinda soft for a 7.) next session i felt a little better and got it right away
im not allowed to eat things with fat, caffeine, obviously alcohol, and im supposed to regulate my protein intake to about 40-60 grams a day.
to a person thats targets around 140 grams of protein a day...thats a major setback. (although i hardly hit that goal daily...lol.)
so it felt like i was told i wasnt allowed to get stronger for 2 weeks. kinda beat.
i feel the effects, i feel like its taking longer to recover and im not able to unlock the potential i should have by now...
anyway. i checked out brooklyn boulders with jj last saturday. the place was insane! so many problems, some really really fun setting, and a cool environment.
i sent a bunch of 5's and a 7. i was projecting a couple more 7s and 9s. on two v9s i got about halfway, and i feel i could get much farther if i was fresh. theyve been haunting me and i really want to go back to send them.
we mostly stuck to ivan's problems, they seemed to be the most fun.
there was a really cool stemming v4 with two giant features that was really sweet, and the most fun dyno problem ever that was a v5. (video footage below of a really funny burn. lol.)
i really want to go back there. i feel like going there could really give me the potential to be strong. theres a lot of things out of my grasp, and problems that can teach me new moves and techniques and stuff. thats really what ive been looking for.
i went to gsr on monday, and still felt sore from saturday. we bouldered saturday night from 8pm till 12am.
i was kinda upset i was still feeling weak. ive started to gain back some weight, but i doubt much of it is muscle because of my diet..
im debating right now whether to go climb between now and sunday...
sunday i plan on going to the gunks. i hope to have lots of fun and to be able to try some hard stuff beyond my ability.
soo i want to be able to be at full throttle sunday...idk. maybe ill wait.
at the same time i want to get stronger for sunday...but if i climb today i might still be sore..ahh! too much thinking.
anyway. ive been watching videos from niagara glen. i really really want to climb there. it looks insane. the rock looks so good and the problems are hard and really cool.
maybe ill go there during winter break if its not snowing.
idk!
i need to get outside, even though its getting cold.
so for now, check out a vid from brooklyn boulders featuring the most fun dyno ever, and a really embarrasing fall. lol
So lets see...
I got really sick last week, from sunday to sunday i was barely able to walk.
my liver became inflamed, i didnt eat more than two bowls of soup for 5 days, vomitted blood, had a steady fever, lost a total of 10 lb.s, and my urine was dark brown.
saturday i forced myself to eat so i wouldnt have to go to the hospital.
they thought i had hepatitis a, but thankfully the blood tests came out negative.
i go back to the doctors next week to get a couple more tests done.
on sunday i started feeling a little better, and since i had to cancel a trip to the gunks, instead i decided to go to gsr for an hour.
i felt pretty weak.
next day i went back and still felt pretty bad but almost sent a new v7.. (now that i look back i think it may be kinda soft for a 7.) next session i felt a little better and got it right away
im not allowed to eat things with fat, caffeine, obviously alcohol, and im supposed to regulate my protein intake to about 40-60 grams a day.
to a person thats targets around 140 grams of protein a day...thats a major setback. (although i hardly hit that goal daily...lol.)
so it felt like i was told i wasnt allowed to get stronger for 2 weeks. kinda beat.
i feel the effects, i feel like its taking longer to recover and im not able to unlock the potential i should have by now...
anyway. i checked out brooklyn boulders with jj last saturday. the place was insane! so many problems, some really really fun setting, and a cool environment.
i sent a bunch of 5's and a 7. i was projecting a couple more 7s and 9s. on two v9s i got about halfway, and i feel i could get much farther if i was fresh. theyve been haunting me and i really want to go back to send them.
we mostly stuck to ivan's problems, they seemed to be the most fun.
there was a really cool stemming v4 with two giant features that was really sweet, and the most fun dyno problem ever that was a v5. (video footage below of a really funny burn. lol.)
i really want to go back there. i feel like going there could really give me the potential to be strong. theres a lot of things out of my grasp, and problems that can teach me new moves and techniques and stuff. thats really what ive been looking for.
i went to gsr on monday, and still felt sore from saturday. we bouldered saturday night from 8pm till 12am.
i was kinda upset i was still feeling weak. ive started to gain back some weight, but i doubt much of it is muscle because of my diet..
im debating right now whether to go climb between now and sunday...
sunday i plan on going to the gunks. i hope to have lots of fun and to be able to try some hard stuff beyond my ability.
soo i want to be able to be at full throttle sunday...idk. maybe ill wait.
at the same time i want to get stronger for sunday...but if i climb today i might still be sore..ahh! too much thinking.
anyway. ive been watching videos from niagara glen. i really really want to climb there. it looks insane. the rock looks so good and the problems are hard and really cool.
maybe ill go there during winter break if its not snowing.
idk!
i need to get outside, even though its getting cold.
so for now, check out a vid from brooklyn boulders featuring the most fun dyno ever, and a really embarrasing fall. lol
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
So sunday i was mad stoked to get on the rocks again. my plans were to send a bunch of problems i left unfinished from last time i went, try a couple new hard out-of-reach problems, and flash black boulder problem v5.
i went with manuel, jj, and emiliano.
maybe 10 minutes into arriving at the trapps, we were warming up on the boulder of the gods and the warmup boulder
i went over to check out new pair of glasses with a d00d i just met who was also psyched to work on it.
i walked back to check on the guys and unfortunately emiliano fell and broke his ankle by landing one foot on the pad and one foot on a jagged rock.
the bone was stickin out of his ankle and his foot was sideways.
we called the ranger over and 911 and got him to the hospital.
5 hours later, jj and i decided to leave the hospital and go back to the gunks
(emiliano is recovering as of the time of this writing, keep him in your prayers as he will be undergoing surgery and such.)
with about 2 hours of sunlight left, i decided to try to focus on having fun and working on a project that wouldnt consume a lot of time.
so ive wanted to flash black boulder problem, because it looked like a pretty fun problem, and it seems like its hard for me to flash things outside, because the holds are often harder to read for me.
i saw some other guy working on it from the v3 stand start, so, thinking that it was the start i made an attempt and fell off the crux move because the left hand sloper with the thumbcatch was very different than what i thought.
so then i looked at it one more time and started from the v5 sit start and got it right away. felt solid.
so even though i didnt flash it, i got it 2nd go. still much to learn for me
so we walked a little further to andrews boulder problem.
i was lifting weights with my forearms the previous wednesday, i worked them out pretty good, and i havent lifted in a while...
for some reason, on andrews boulder i got so pumped...maybe left over soreness from wednesday..? i felt sore in the morning, but idk i never felt that pumped before.
i was sending andrews boulder problem and on the v0 top-out i felt so pumped that i touched the last jug but decided to let myself down because my hands were opening up.
very weird.
but if im feeling this sore, then that means ill probably get stronger for next time :)
the following morning i felt sooooo crappy hahah.
i picked up manuel from the hospital and after traffic on 87, we got home at 930. i had a 3 page paper to write and a history test to start studying for.
so i was mad beat.
and i feel like new pair was a tease yesterday, i really wanted to send it, but didnt have time to get on it! very disappointing. i am much more disappointed for emiliano, so it was a disappointing day.
but i didnt let it get me down, i still had lots of fun, and i think we made the best of it.
november 22nd is the next day i will be at the gunks, weather and God permitting...
ill make sure im ready this time!!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
So i went up with my friends jason and john to stay at our friend daves house in Massachusetts. we drove up early saturday morning and chilled in a very cool new england town, watched "yes man" and rode bikes.
yesterday, (sunday) we drove east to lincoln woods state park in rhode island to boulder.
the park was beautiful. the trees were tall and extremely colorful. i couldnt have asked for a more perfect day. the temperature was in the low 60's, and the sun dried out the rock that was soaked the previous night.
most of our time, unfortunately was spent wandering around trying to find the boulders..in particular, the try again boulder.
one guy who was helping with crag clean-up led us to a boulder he said was ships prow, which actually turned out to be try-again, so we used that as a basis and walked around for 20 minutes lol.
there werent any locals on the boulder to help us with the problems, so we tried very few problems for the amount of time we had unfortunately,
but i got to send a pretty fun powerful problem called try again v5.
from there we headed to our cars and then drove to the other side to work on the iron-cross and cave-wall boulders.
i sent a really fun v4 traverse called iron cross. crimpy, big, powerful cross moves. i am usually not a fan of traversing, but the moves were pretty sweet.
we walked over to the cave wall boulder and i worked on a v7 called rump to jump. the opening moves were really cool, really shouldery moves on pinches. i got so close to linking the extension to the v4 problem neil's lunge. but i ran out of steam.
i got sick over the weekend, so i think that affected me a little bit, because i was sick- all i ate that day was a quarter bowl of cereal...lol. as well as the problems taking their toll on me little by little.
if i had another day, id definitely be able to send rump to jump. kinda bummed we had such limited time, but it was a good learning experience!
for some reason it feels like when im on real rock i forget to use technique, and once i remind myself, the problems go from being really hard to being alright/easy/fun. lol.
i really wish i could have checked out the pond cave. there lies the boulder problems "who needs hueco v8" and "leap frog v7". both looked really cool, they were the only video problems i could find on youtube when i looked up lincoln woods.
but...maybe next time, whenever i go back...gunks definitely felt more fun to me, and the access is so easy and so much closer lol.
i got to train more!
its been officially 9 months since i started climbing, since trips outdoors are limited, i dont have time to spend days in a row at a crag. i need to send harder stuff in a day.
i need to build strength, endurance, better problem reading skills, and more fluid/precise foot movement.
back to the gym for now!
yesterday, (sunday) we drove east to lincoln woods state park in rhode island to boulder.
the park was beautiful. the trees were tall and extremely colorful. i couldnt have asked for a more perfect day. the temperature was in the low 60's, and the sun dried out the rock that was soaked the previous night.
most of our time, unfortunately was spent wandering around trying to find the boulders..in particular, the try again boulder.
one guy who was helping with crag clean-up led us to a boulder he said was ships prow, which actually turned out to be try-again, so we used that as a basis and walked around for 20 minutes lol.
there werent any locals on the boulder to help us with the problems, so we tried very few problems for the amount of time we had unfortunately,
but i got to send a pretty fun powerful problem called try again v5.
from there we headed to our cars and then drove to the other side to work on the iron-cross and cave-wall boulders.
i sent a really fun v4 traverse called iron cross. crimpy, big, powerful cross moves. i am usually not a fan of traversing, but the moves were pretty sweet.
we walked over to the cave wall boulder and i worked on a v7 called rump to jump. the opening moves were really cool, really shouldery moves on pinches. i got so close to linking the extension to the v4 problem neil's lunge. but i ran out of steam.
i got sick over the weekend, so i think that affected me a little bit, because i was sick- all i ate that day was a quarter bowl of cereal...lol. as well as the problems taking their toll on me little by little.
if i had another day, id definitely be able to send rump to jump. kinda bummed we had such limited time, but it was a good learning experience!
for some reason it feels like when im on real rock i forget to use technique, and once i remind myself, the problems go from being really hard to being alright/easy/fun. lol.
i really wish i could have checked out the pond cave. there lies the boulder problems "who needs hueco v8" and "leap frog v7". both looked really cool, they were the only video problems i could find on youtube when i looked up lincoln woods.
but...maybe next time, whenever i go back...gunks definitely felt more fun to me, and the access is so easy and so much closer lol.
i got to train more!
its been officially 9 months since i started climbing, since trips outdoors are limited, i dont have time to spend days in a row at a crag. i need to send harder stuff in a day.
i need to build strength, endurance, better problem reading skills, and more fluid/precise foot movement.
back to the gym for now!
Monday, October 26, 2009
The Fresh Smell of Rubber unlike commonly found in stinky shoes like Evolv. Perhaps it's possible to grip the crag without losing newly found friendships by the unbearable odor that leaks from your feet.
Ok, there's probably more to the new slippers that FIVE-TEN put out besides their smell. But it was definitely pleasing to open up the box and find exactly what I was looking for.
Hopefully this article will help you with common questions you had about the shoe, things you wondered in terms of fit, grip, softness, edgyness, whatever...As well as show you photos beyond the 1 side shot that seems to be soloing Froogle.com and Five-ten's website.
So most importantly, I must admit that my previous climbing shoes were mad rock conflicts, a newer downturned, sticky shoe that I've found to be stickier than most rubber I've tried out. I really enjoyed the shoe, although in my opinion, I would have liked it a half size bigger in order to prevent the following calluses from arising on my big toe and back of my heel:
So I wear Lacoste sneakers on a sunny day and vans slip-on's when it's not so nice out.
Both shoes I wear a size 12, Although, I COULD fit into an 11 1/2.
I bought the mad rock conflicts in a size 11, which seemed to be way beyond small for me.
The FIVE-TEN website recommends that you size the shoe to your street shoe size, which I was very skeptical to do at first, but I ordered a size 12.
The whole shoe fits my battered foot very comfortably, It feels like there is a nice sharp extra bit of rubber on the toe for edging. the whole shoe feels very stiff on the sides. walking is painful, but i dont know how a such a severly down-turned toe can be comfortable without sacrificing stiffness.
As you can see, theres a bit of fold near my heel, and it feels like i might be able to pry the shoe off with my hands if i try hard enough, but after testing it in the gym, it feels real solid.
In the gym it felt very very good for edging, I felt confident on the smallest of jibs, as well as had a very sensitive mid-sole for the overhanging rock.
Admittedly, it didn't feel as sticky as my mad rock science friction 2.2 rubber, but that may change after breaking it in. On actual rock these shoes would definitely be insane.
The fit didn't bother me at all, besides the initial pain from the down-turned toe, but I know no matter how big I get the shoe, it probably wouldn't change that.
the shoe was fairly easy to get on and off with the triple loop enclosure.
I found the single strap up top to be pretty useful too, even though it wasn't necessary to keep the shoe on my foot.
Toe hooks felt very solid with the same 3.5mm rubber up-top
Heel hooks felt solid
Edging was super solid
I am happy I bought this shoe. :)
So basically
If you're a boulderer looking for a serious edging, sensitive, down-turned toe for overhanging rock shoe...get it!
Just make sure you get the shoe according to your street size. or possibly even one half bigger.
I could probably fit comfortably in most 11 1/2 street shoes, but I like room in the 12's
I don't have a wide foot or nothing, my heel sticks out a bit so I need the heel for a rock shoe to have a inward curving rear unlike the evolv pontas.
Oh, and another plus, especially for previous mocassym users...
These won't turn your feet red. maybe that's why you should try them.
Hope this was insightful for you guys! If you have any questions I'll be happy to answer.
-Alan
Monday, October 12, 2009
the stronger i get, the more i realize its not about strength. in everything.
the stronger of a climber i become, the more i see there are ways around using strength. an interview with dave graham helped me see that.
he can climb v9 in sneakers and claims hes mad weak and has weak fingers...but its all about seeing the geometry and the "various boxes".
last night i went with manuel to gravity vault. i was able to flash a bunch of v4's and v5's, as well as almost flash a couple v6/7's. i wound up not getting anything higher than v5 haha. i kept on moving from wall to wall, and then eventually i just got worn out from everything else. and really hungry.
im trying to complain a lot less, and try to eliminate powerful moves from my inventory. instead, im trying to look at the problems and really analyze them. thinking no matter what, that there HAS to be an efficient, and capable way to do every problem in the gym.
so although im trying to get stronger, im going to focus as much as i can on just climbing. and stop thinking, "oh i should work out this muscle so i can do that move in that one problem."
my etch motherboard hangboard finally came in the other day, and i got to put it up in my garage. so happy with it! and my free holds also came in the mail, not sure what im doing with them yet...
Here's a vid of the hangboard
i also realize its not about my abilities or what im capable of doing in anything in life. its about my weakness and relying on God for strength to get through hard times and relying on God to do the things i need to.
i dont have to worry about the future. i dont have to look at the future nor do i have to look at my goals as one giant monster anymore.
chuck smith last week at church really taught me the basic truth ive needed to realize. i like how his teaching always seem to be so simple... and so profound.
he said that 12 spies were sent into the promise land to scout it out, and 10 said, (super paraphrase)"oh theres giants and the walls are so high, theyll crush us like bugs" etc.
and joshua and caleb said "the land is plentiful...those giants? theyre like bread to God...the walls? come on now"
now i thought he was going to be like, "ONE WAS POSITIVE AND ONE WAS THINKING NEGATIVELY"
but thats not it.
10 were looking at it from their point of view.
2 were looking at it through God's eyes.
and before...
i kept thinking like it was all a joke
that i wasnt making progress
and i had so much work i have to do
and such little chance of anything actually working
and its all my fault for not making it happen
and like there was this big monster of work i have to complete
but joshua and caleb saw the promised land through God's eyes
the problems are minor to Him, let Him deal with the troubles
just do it
ya kno?
now i can be diligent and do it
and know i wont get stuck..
i wont rely on my strength.
one more important thing i want to say
sometimes im upset that God actually listens to me, and gives me what i want.
because i realize how stupid my wishes are. and usually it just doesnt turn out anywhere near what i thought it would.
but whats amazing is, it was all in God's plan that i would foolishly ask for these things and that He would use it to show me how stupid i am. and then make it work in His plan.
yesterday i had the weirdest experience. the weirdest feeling.
i was sitting in class surfing the web on my computer.
i saw something.
like i felt freed, like i was in bondage, like i couldnt escape, claustrophobic, happy, sad, bitter, spiteful, relieved, focused, empowered, hopeful and very very alone all at the same time.
honestly it was like a wave of these feelings all at the same time. i felt like i was going crazy
so i took a deep breath, thought about where i was. and continued paying attention to my science teacher and taking notes.
i may not be able to relate to anyone, ever. and im ok with that.
i dont need anyone that understands how i think, or how analytical/competitive/weird/motivated i am.
i really dont want to slow down. i honestly, and truely like being single. sometimes i feel like im the only one in the world that actually loves being single. theres so much i can do. so many things i can do without thinking twice.
of course there are downsides. but you learn to replace the loneliness with good things. with Godly things.
so its time to move forward. not by my strength, not by my ability, but through relying on God for strength. no person and no thing else.
ecstatic for the future = me :)
the stronger of a climber i become, the more i see there are ways around using strength. an interview with dave graham helped me see that.
he can climb v9 in sneakers and claims hes mad weak and has weak fingers...but its all about seeing the geometry and the "various boxes".
last night i went with manuel to gravity vault. i was able to flash a bunch of v4's and v5's, as well as almost flash a couple v6/7's. i wound up not getting anything higher than v5 haha. i kept on moving from wall to wall, and then eventually i just got worn out from everything else. and really hungry.
im trying to complain a lot less, and try to eliminate powerful moves from my inventory. instead, im trying to look at the problems and really analyze them. thinking no matter what, that there HAS to be an efficient, and capable way to do every problem in the gym.
so although im trying to get stronger, im going to focus as much as i can on just climbing. and stop thinking, "oh i should work out this muscle so i can do that move in that one problem."
my etch motherboard hangboard finally came in the other day, and i got to put it up in my garage. so happy with it! and my free holds also came in the mail, not sure what im doing with them yet...
Here's a vid of the hangboard
i also realize its not about my abilities or what im capable of doing in anything in life. its about my weakness and relying on God for strength to get through hard times and relying on God to do the things i need to.
i dont have to worry about the future. i dont have to look at the future nor do i have to look at my goals as one giant monster anymore.
chuck smith last week at church really taught me the basic truth ive needed to realize. i like how his teaching always seem to be so simple... and so profound.
he said that 12 spies were sent into the promise land to scout it out, and 10 said, (super paraphrase)"oh theres giants and the walls are so high, theyll crush us like bugs" etc.
and joshua and caleb said "the land is plentiful...those giants? theyre like bread to God...the walls? come on now"
now i thought he was going to be like, "ONE WAS POSITIVE AND ONE WAS THINKING NEGATIVELY"
but thats not it.
10 were looking at it from their point of view.
2 were looking at it through God's eyes.
and before...
i kept thinking like it was all a joke
that i wasnt making progress
and i had so much work i have to do
and such little chance of anything actually working
and its all my fault for not making it happen
and like there was this big monster of work i have to complete
but joshua and caleb saw the promised land through God's eyes
the problems are minor to Him, let Him deal with the troubles
just do it
ya kno?
now i can be diligent and do it
and know i wont get stuck..
i wont rely on my strength.
one more important thing i want to say
sometimes im upset that God actually listens to me, and gives me what i want.
because i realize how stupid my wishes are. and usually it just doesnt turn out anywhere near what i thought it would.
but whats amazing is, it was all in God's plan that i would foolishly ask for these things and that He would use it to show me how stupid i am. and then make it work in His plan.
yesterday i had the weirdest experience. the weirdest feeling.
i was sitting in class surfing the web on my computer.
i saw something.
like i felt freed, like i was in bondage, like i couldnt escape, claustrophobic, happy, sad, bitter, spiteful, relieved, focused, empowered, hopeful and very very alone all at the same time.
honestly it was like a wave of these feelings all at the same time. i felt like i was going crazy
so i took a deep breath, thought about where i was. and continued paying attention to my science teacher and taking notes.
i may not be able to relate to anyone, ever. and im ok with that.
i dont need anyone that understands how i think, or how analytical/competitive/weird/motivated i am.
i really dont want to slow down. i honestly, and truely like being single. sometimes i feel like im the only one in the world that actually loves being single. theres so much i can do. so many things i can do without thinking twice.
of course there are downsides. but you learn to replace the loneliness with good things. with Godly things.
so its time to move forward. not by my strength, not by my ability, but through relying on God for strength. no person and no thing else.
ecstatic for the future = me :)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
So lately I've been pretty desperate to propel myself forward in the right direction.
Yesterday I started school at monmouth university after my year hiatus...
Things are really looking up! I see so much potential for development in my character and abilities.
Right now I am currently sitting in the student center until my next class...I'm really hungry and want to get up to buy food but I need to write this first.
Yesterday was definitely a weird day.
It was one of those days where everything seems to fall into place.
I had a couple confirmations that now is the time for training. not just physically, but spiritually and mentally as well.
I'm not going to close my eyes anymore and be ignorant of people's progression and the world's digression.
I need to step and and start doing something about it!
On the way home from school I pulled a random cd and plopped it into my cd player, and I think it was exactly what I needed to hear, although I don't recommend that method to anyone lol
I wrote a song about how I've been feeling as of late. How I don't know what i want or what i want to do, but i can't just stay put. I need to keep moving.
You can check it out by clicking here
At night i went climbing at gsr and was able to get the caution tape v9 all the way to the second to last move: tiny two finger pocket right after the sloper, but was able to finish it from that point to the end.
last week i barely was able to make any of the moves aside from luck and hitting it just right, but today, after my POWER WEEK last week of climbing 5 days in a row, I hit the moves realll solid everytime no problem.
but then i broke my pointer finger nail and had to tape it up, which didnt help the two finger pocket move.
next week i think i actually might get it! by the end of the night i couldnt even send v2's, my forearms just gave out haha.
So anyway. I'll keep moving forward, you do the same! we'll meet again someday :)
Yesterday I started school at monmouth university after my year hiatus...
Things are really looking up! I see so much potential for development in my character and abilities.
Right now I am currently sitting in the student center until my next class...I'm really hungry and want to get up to buy food but I need to write this first.
Yesterday was definitely a weird day.
It was one of those days where everything seems to fall into place.
I had a couple confirmations that now is the time for training. not just physically, but spiritually and mentally as well.
I'm not going to close my eyes anymore and be ignorant of people's progression and the world's digression.
I need to step and and start doing something about it!
On the way home from school I pulled a random cd and plopped it into my cd player, and I think it was exactly what I needed to hear, although I don't recommend that method to anyone lol
I wrote a song about how I've been feeling as of late. How I don't know what i want or what i want to do, but i can't just stay put. I need to keep moving.
You can check it out by clicking here
At night i went climbing at gsr and was able to get the caution tape v9 all the way to the second to last move: tiny two finger pocket right after the sloper, but was able to finish it from that point to the end.
last week i barely was able to make any of the moves aside from luck and hitting it just right, but today, after my POWER WEEK last week of climbing 5 days in a row, I hit the moves realll solid everytime no problem.
but then i broke my pointer finger nail and had to tape it up, which didnt help the two finger pocket move.
next week i think i actually might get it! by the end of the night i couldnt even send v2's, my forearms just gave out haha.
So anyway. I'll keep moving forward, you do the same! we'll meet again someday :)
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
So this past week I climbed 5 days in a row, I guess those nutrients are working because on day 5 (yesterday) I was able to flash another v5, send a v7+ and piece the polish traverse v5 in central park
Yeah, that supposed WAY harder than v5 polish traverse lol. Its not. Some girl before was like "people work on that for YEARS." And I'm like..goodness haha..sorry.
A d00d there back when I saw it that rainy day told me hed been working it 6 months.
Its really not a big deal, its just that the feet are really rough or hard to figure out.
A guy there yesterday told me if I rested and came back I'd get it. I agree. Although I'm taking nutrients, my joints have been killing me all week again and my forearms and biceps have been real achy.
I felt pretty weak.
After this POWER wweek I think ill be a lot better and stronger.
Sunday I climbed @ gsr and went to new bruns to urban climb the bridge stone wall
Monday I climbed @ gsr for 2 n a half hours, went out to eat with my family and then came back for an hour and a half lol
Tuesday I climbed at nj rock gym flashed a v6 that felt like a v5-
Wednesday I climbed in new brunswick again for an hour and sent even higher problems that dave put up. I think that helped me a lot with my fear of heights.
Thursday like I said climbed at central park (where I lost my chalk bag :/) and then mphc for a total of 6 hours or so altogether.
I was working on this pretty nutty v7+ at the gym, it had a crimpy start with a big side dyno to a giant jug that you had to mantle on to reach a super tiny "climb it" pinch and then pull to the slopey finish. I worked on it for an hour and almost gave up in order to teach myself that I'm a horrible climber and need to get better. But manuel sent a solid v4 he was workin on and it made me go for the last 2 tries. Which is when I got it :)
I was so tired that I had to try the mantle twice while doing the ascent cuz my triceps gave out
My whole body aches today lol
7 months climbing and v7? Maybe I will get v10 in 5 more months..
Now I'm not saying I'm a v7 climber, I'm just getting a grasp on 6's, but I think and hope after this week ill be rested and strong.
I'm gonna do biceps n forearms today at the regular gym. I'm trying to do a one arm pull up, I can almost get halfway.
I'm also at 5% body fat, 7 lb.s of fat on my body.
2 yrs ago when I lifted I was @ 10.5% and the lowest previous I got was 6.5%
So things are lookin up!
And I was worried for a long time cuz I want to send v10 in a year, but I started in january, so it'll be freezing.. But!
Winter break? No school? Bishop cali?
I think so :)
Friday, September 4, 2009
I'm mad beat so I'll make this short
1. Today marks 7 months that I've been climbing
2. It is wayyy too hot and humid outside
3. I'm going to attempt to hit up the normal gym tomorrow morning, hope its not hot.
4. toothpaste kills acne really awesome
5. new as tall as lions cd is amazing, go BUY it. they need support
6. I was going to escape this week, but plans failed for now...try again in a couple months
7. I had an epiphany on wednesday...maybe i'll share that later.
8. I'm going back to school this fall. exciting!
9. I'm very excited to see what events will unfold in the last half of this year.
10. I don't know what I want.
V5 With Crappy Hands. I just wanted to show everyone my failure...lol
1. Today marks 7 months that I've been climbing
2. It is wayyy too hot and humid outside
3. I'm going to attempt to hit up the normal gym tomorrow morning, hope its not hot.
4. toothpaste kills acne really awesome
5. new as tall as lions cd is amazing, go BUY it. they need support
6. I was going to escape this week, but plans failed for now...try again in a couple months
7. I had an epiphany on wednesday...maybe i'll share that later.
8. I'm going back to school this fall. exciting!
9. I'm very excited to see what events will unfold in the last half of this year.
10. I don't know what I want.
V5 With Crappy Hands. I just wanted to show everyone my failure...lol
Big Dyno, about 7 1/2 Feet
God bless all of you :)
-Alan
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)