March 5th, 2010
A Hueco Tanks boulder problem, yes. But also the vibe that’s been lurking out back at the woody as we train to be something great, sneaking around and nipping us in the butt when we let go from a climb, bail on that last pullup, or heaven forbid….begin to whine. “It’s time to get serious people,” as Paul loves to say.
One of the wonderful things about our sport is that there is no prescribed training recipe. You want to run a 5k? Well google “train for 5k” and all kinds of info pops up, easy. For climbing though, most of us are left to our own training concoctions. And there’s oodles of room for creativity. Core training: let’s do L-sits, no even better, how about L-sit pullups? Then let’s add 90 degree lock-off hangs to the L-sits, plus the L-sit pullups. And do this after a climbing session, or before? Now, let’s train fingers. What’s more effective, hanging as long as you can on the sloper, or hanging until failure at .5 seconds on the micro-crimp? Or what about adding feet to the equation and doing this on the woody? And now what about cross-training? Run 30 minutes. No, 60 minutes. No, 30 minutes plus speed. And do this after a climbing session or before? Oh jeese, and now let’s talk about food. Protein for muscle-building. No, carbs for energy. No, both! Aahh! Well, you see how it can get very complicated very quickly.
So now, after gathering all the tribal knowledge we can from various people, websites, and our own experiences, we’ve come up with our own little regimen that we’ve been taking very seriously over the last few months. We’ve adjusted our attitudes and trained like we’ve never trained before.* To sum it up, our recipe is this: Serious training + a psyched attitude + a fun environment = hard sending. Right? Well, that’s the plan anyway. And now it’s time to see how all that training pays off. We’ve got Hueco reservations, baby! See ya’s at the boulders.
posted by arr
*Going through pregnancy and watching one’s middle stretch out to the size of a watermelon can give one a motivation that is unprecedented!. ;-)
March 4th, 2010
Silas has a buddy now. His name is Henry. Although Henry has been around since the day Silas was born, Silas has just recently convinced himself that Henry exists. And that Henry is fun to look at. And that Henry brings him bright new toys to play with. And puts the toys close to Silas’ small hands where he can reach. Toys that make sound. I think Silas likes his new friend. :-)
posted by arr
February 16th, 2010
Paul’s sister-in-law Francine was here for a short visit this weekend. It was her first time seeing Silas and her first time in Tucson. As for showing her the sites, we packed in as much as reasonable….leaving plenty of Silas-cuddle-time. :-)
Paul, Silas and Francine near the summit of Mt. Lemmon. (Not that Francine needed any more sights of snow; she just dug herself out of Pittsburgh’s crazy snow dump to get here!)
Marshall’s Gulch, Mt. Lemmon
The whole family
Marshall’s Gulch, Mt. Lemmon
Mt. Lemmon’s Ski Valley, the southernmost ski resort in the U.S.
Our first babysitting opportunity (thanks to Auntie Francine) and where do we go? No, not the movies…on a trail run of course! Bridalveil Falls, Douglas Springs Trail
Bridalveil Falls, Douglas Springs Trail
Bridalveil Falls, Douglas Springs Trail
posted by arr
February 1st, 2010
It’s not often that we go to Hueco without reservations. Especially during the busy season. However, when you know you’re going to send you can’t sit at home waiting. So…we packed the van and showed up to the biggest line we’ve ever seen at the entrance of Hueco. We were a little stressed at first but managed to get in (a BIG thanks to our El Paso friends). After a quick warm-up I walked over to Diaphanous Sea. With Daniel Woods cheering from behind I over powered the climb and nearly made the big move static. ha ha. He said, “Dude, you almost did that static.” I said, “I didn’t mean to, I’ve always had to dyno like crazy to hit that.” After that “warm-up go” I knew I could do it. A few minutes later Diaphanous Sea became another classic Hueco problem ticked off my list. YEAH! And a little bit later Daniel made the 3rd ascent of Terremer, v15. Nice!
Diaphanous Sea v12
Mama and Silas cheer Dad on
Perfect weather
A lot of family fun
Silas loves the views
Mama and son
The monster hat rules
It was cloudy an hour earlier. Perfect for The Governator, v10 which is always in the sun.
Hot but still rad
No cheers from Silas on this climb
posted by pjv
January 26th, 2010
Well, it’s as wintery as it gets here in Tucson right now. This week and last have been a bit chilly and rainy and there was a big dump of snow up on Mt. Lemmon - so much in fact, the Catalina Highway (that takes one to the top of Mt. Lemmon) was closed all weekend! These cloudy, cold days have been a nice change. Here’s what we’ve been up to:
Enjoying the view of snowy Mt. Lemmon from our backyard
Cold runs in the stroller
Bambino bundling to keep warm
Re-setting problems on the woody and campusing on the new rungs to get STRONG for Hueco
Woody sessions!
Playing inside where it’s warm
Laughing with mama
Chillin’ with dad
Just being darn cute, which is SUCH hard work
Watching the washes filling with snowmelt
Clouds clearing over Tucson
A fun run with my friend Linda up on the Agua Caliente Trail
posted by arr
January 19th, 2010
We ticked off our second trip to Hueco with little Silas last weekend. Yet again, we find ourselves driving home after 2 days of good hard crankin’ with the obsessive itch to return ASAP. Paul is 1 move away from completing Diaphanous Sea, v12, a climb that he first drooled over 5 season ago. This trip our friends Mia and Tom joined us, vowing to return very, very soon to finish off See Spot Run, v6. And me, I’m in repeat mode, trying to repeat the good stuff to quicken my comeback. Fueled by the obsession, Paul attached some campus rungs to the woody. It’s time to get serious people. :-)
Here are a few pics from the trip:
Paul’s sequence on Diaphanous Sea, v12
Paul’s sequence on Diaphanous Sea, v12
Paul’s sequence on Diaphanous Sea, v12
Paul’s sequence on Diaphanous Sea, v12
Paul’s sequence on Diaphanous Sea, v12
Paul’s sequence on Diaphanous Sea, v12
Tom and Mia
Tom making quick work of the classic, Sign of the Cross, v3
Mia, right on Tom’s heels
Too much climbing? Never!
Silas sending a good cat-nap in his bouncy seat
More napping. Dang, this is hard work!
Next project: Eating, mmm!
And Silas’ other fav pastime at the boulders: taking in the view
Wow, breathtaking!
“This is a nice spot. I can see my momma.”
Life is good
posted by arr
January 11th, 2010
Can life possibly get any cuter than this?!
Tummy time on the couch.
Blowing bubbles.
Smiling at Momma.
Staring at fists.
Thinking about how fun it would be to get those fists in mouth.
Almost there, so close….!
Success! Mmm, tasty.
Thinking about how fun it would be to smack the rattle.
Almost there, so close….!
Success! Yey, fun!
Smiling at dad.
Giggling with Momma.
posted by arr
