the crankmuffin conspiracy

Climbing nuggets need a name, so I took action: Thanks for your definition of crankmuffin! There’s one more step: click this link to review and confirm the definition. http://www.urbandictionary.com/confirm.php?code=036d194bde (If the link is not underlined, you may have to copy and paste it into your web browser.) If you didn’t request this email, please ignore… Continue reading the crankmuffin conspiracy

shoulders and the sports that love them

You need shoulders to climb. Surprise. You need strong shoulders. I mean strong in the sense they will not easily injure. For the shoulder joint specifically, that means balance. Get disproportionately strong in a narrow range and you’re begging for problems. And unfortunately, there’s no dedicated group of impassioned professionals committing their careers to the… Continue reading shoulders and the sports that love them

lunch water, keeps going and going…

I swam 3000m today, my longest routine in recent memory. It took less than 1.5 hours, which is kinda good, I think. And it went surprisingly smooth – no problems until after 2500m when everything started to cramp. This maybe is not a distance I can maintain every day. My typical 2000m in 1 hour… Continue reading lunch water, keeps going and going…

wild thing, you make my fingers sing

My fingers are crying. They’ve been in pain all week from last weekend’s Joshua Tree excursion. And I’ll be returning to JTree today. I’ve left a project there: Desert Shield. This will be the first time I make the three hour drive two weekends in a row, so I’m hoping for some magic. Realistically though,… Continue reading wild thing, you make my fingers sing

last water, back in the high life again

Today is my first day back in the pool for a couple weeks, and a few weeks since I’ve noted a swim routine here. Things weren’t going so well with my back for a while there. This nervous condition, I guess, was sending sharp pains down the back of my left leg and I believe… Continue reading last water, back in the high life again

train bad 1 day and feel bad for 1 week

Few things get me more down than a bad training session. And I’m actually pretty fair about it. I won’t chastise myself for not achieving some arbitrary, daily training goal. Bad days happen – that’s to be expected. I understand I can’t crank out personal bests every day. What really sends me over the edge… Continue reading train bad 1 day and feel bad for 1 week

even the Mona Lisa’s falling apart

By back feels like somebody hit it with a truck. It’s not even really an injury though – I’ve always gotten these excruciating cramps through the meaty part of my back, right in the belly of my lattisimus dorsi. It feels like an exaggerated version of a cramp that could appear in some other muscle,… Continue reading even the Mona Lisa’s falling apart