Old City - Stare Miasto

We went to my grandma’s office because they were having a small Christmas gathering. It was a lot of fun, laughter and food. We had some vodka as well, people started singing Christmas carols. More laughter. A great time!

We then went to an old part of town. The city put up lights all over the place. It was nicely lit up. Took some pictures of it all. Really pretty!

Palac Kultury - a gift build by the Russian 1955

Sw. Krzyza

Grob Nieznanego Zolnierza - grave of the unknown solider

Fontanna na Krakowskim Przedmiesciu

Zamek Krolewski - King's Castle

The next day we went to the health club again and workout some more. I did a small workout.

• 5 minutes running
• 25 pull ups
• 5 minutes running
• 50 push ups
• 5 minutes running
• 50 sit ups/crunches
• 5 minutes running
• stretched out A LOT

When I got home I was so tired that I took an hour nap. After that we went back to where we had gone the night before, but this time during the day so that I could take more pictures of the buildings. We went to the “Stare Miasto” (Old City). It’s where the King’s Castle is and a bunch of old buildings. So pretty, I wish I could have seen it back in the day, when King’s used to live there.

Barbakan

Zamek Królewski

Zamek Królewski

Pomnik Małego Powstańca

Kamienica na Starym Miescie

Recipe - Nalesniki (really thin pancakes)

• 2 1/2 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 2 1/4 cups of water
• pinch of salt

Flour

Flour and eggs

Add milk and water

Mix well

• Put oil on the frying pan, but not a lot. You have to figure out how much you need to pour of the batter so that the whole frying pan has a thin layer of the batter. The first one will not be perfect!
  

Pour batter onto frying pan

Let one side fry some until you can make it slide around by moving the frying pan

Flip it over and fry the other side - doesn't take more than 2 to 3 minutes to make one

Set them out on a plate

These ones have meat in them, but you can put nutella, jam, white polish cheese (still trying to find the name of it)

For the meat:

• Boil chicken with a one or two carrots
  
• use a mincing machine for the chicken and carrots
  
• add salt and pepper for taste
• fry it up on a frying pan

More about Poland

Monday morning we woke up at 6am and got ready to go to the health club. my grandma has been going at least two to three times a week. So, to not break her routine I went with her. Besides the fact that I need to get a good ass kicking.

Rob had given be a workout to do, but I couldn't do it because my knee was really hurting while doing squats. I decided to instead do some other things:

• On the oliptical machine I ran 5km in just under 11 minutes
• Did a workout set about 3 or 4 times where I did the following

1. 10 pull ups
2. 15 leg lifts
3. 10 push ups
4. 15 backward sit ups

• I did a bunch of abs on different machines
• I jumped roped for about 5 to 10 minutes
• I finished up with a pull up pyramid starting at 1 going to 10 and back down to 1

Man I feel wrecked. I also stretched out some and will do more stretching throughout the day.

My grandma and I

My grandma and I went shopping yet again, at another mall. We didn't get much. But we did a lot of walking and once we left the mall we did some sight seeing. Saw some old buildings and a few churches, all really pretty. Also saw the hospital where my mom was born. And we passed by the zoo. We headed back home after that and made some food.

Sw. Floriana Church

Czterech Spiacych Trzech Walczacych (4 asleep 3 fighting)

Old buildings

Cerkiew Prawoslawna

Grandpas house

I went to my grandpas today. I hung out there for the whole day. I also asked him a few questions about my family tree, since my grandma didn't know the answer to all my questions. He helped me fill in some few empty spots but I still have a few left.

Grandpa

My grandpa has a lot of sport channels, so we were watching the Winter Games. There was a polish ski jumper that got third place, Adam Malysz. There were two more polish guys that made it in the top 10. We also watched the cross country skiinga nd swimming. A new american swimmer won two gold metals while I was watching, but has won many more at the event.

My grandpa and his wife

And then we ate some more. And they kept handing me food, almost every 5 minutes I was asked if I wanted food. It was hard to keep saying no, finally I just said that I can't eat that much because I'm trying to stay in shape for a future climbing competition, which is true.

My grandpa and I

My grandpa was interested in climbing and how the competitions work. He, like everyone, asked if it was based on how fast you climb up the wall. I told him that there was a speed climbing event, but that there was also sport climbing and bouldering. I started to explain it all but he just wasn't understanding it.

Zuzia, my grandpa's dog

He gave me a scenario, what if three people all get to the top of all the climbs in the competition. How do you figure out who wins. So I said that it barely ever happens that two people climb all the climbs, but if they do I think that there is a super final. He didn't like that answer, and we talked and argued about it for about an hour. EPIC!

I have decided that when I get older, about 65 or so, I will travel. I will either buy a caravan and travel around the US, and hit up all the national parks, all the national land marks, everything or move to Europe and just travel around to all the famous places and tourist sports in Europe. Better yet, I'll do both. I got start saving up for this now!

Lots of eating not enough working out

Leaving my grandma's apartment, we are welcomed by even more snow. We were heading yet again to do some shopping.

Cars parked infront of my grandma's apartment

We took the metro to get to where we needed to go. We were going to the last stop on the metro called kabaty. Right outside the metro stop there is a big store, similar to Walmart, but it's named Tesco.

Metro station by my grandma's place

My grandma for some reason can't stand stores like that so it was kind of epic because she wanted to leave really fast and made it hard to get around. It's big but it's not as big as Walmart, so it is very crowded so it was hard to follow my grandma (who didn't have a cart and was walking really fast) and I had a cart.

Tesco

We ended buy a good amount of stuff, but we had to take the Metro back home, meaning we had to carry all of the stuff back home. We also bought a Christmas tree, off the side of th road. There are so many random places where people are selling freshly cut Christmas trees. We got a pretty small one, but it's big enough for us. It'a about three feet tall.

Grandma

I've been here two days and havn't worked out. I've done some abs and have been stretching every night, but I need to do more. So i'm going to start tonight.

Rob sent me a few work outs to do, since I don't have a pull up bar, I changed one of the them up a little bit. I did 15 minutes of Cindy's which are usually:

• 5 pull ups
• 10 push ups
• 15 air squats

You do as many sets as you can in that time limit
Instead, I did the following:

• 10 push ups
• 15 air squats
• 20 crunches

I feel so out of shape - I don't know how I will survive!

First days in Poland

not much has changed here in poland
everything looks the same and feels the same
there are a few more building up
a new car wash built by my grandma's place

it is pretty cold out through
this morning it was -10C so about 14F
the wind was blowing a little making it a bit colder
but we still headed into town
my grandma loves to buy me stuff so i let her
she got be an awesome warm black jacket

i'm still a little bit jet legged
so i'll probablly be going to bed early today as well
i forgot to take my camera with me today
but i'll take it with tomorrow and take some pics to put on here
i haven't been able to figure out the wireless here yet,
i don't think my grandma has it,
so maybe i'll ask the neighbors and see if i could get their password

Off to the homeland!

I'm flying out to chicago in the morning and then off to poland later that night!

so excited to be spending the holidays in poland - i get to see family i haven't seen in over two years!

Few days before poland

I've had and will have really busy days before I fly out to Poland

Today for example i worked the regular 12pm to 8pm shift at TBA, and at 8pm the lock in boyscout group came in with 31 people!! lots of people, but it was a great time,

luckily Theresa and Lu came around 10:30pm and let me go home

I have to work tomorrow as well

Later Sunday evening I'll be finishing up my education final exam project and studying for my last final that is on Tuesday

Monday i work at TBA as well

I'll have to take Oreo to Jimmy's parents on Tuesday as well, because someone has to watch him while we are both gone

Once in Poland I will be able to relax and not think about anything but having fun with my grandma and just hang out and do NOTHING!

It's break time from reality and I'm looking forward to it!

This weeks cross fit workout...

Monday:

We did something a little bit different...

We split the thrusters up,

meaing:

we paired up with someone that can use the same weights as us,

we would first do

12 shoulder push presses

then we would switch and the partner would do the same thing

then we would do

12 weighted squats

the partner would do the same thing

this was counted as one set

we did four sets

to finish up we did pulls up to death

you do:

1 pull up for the 1st min

2 pull ups for the 2nd min

3 pull ups for the 3rd min

and so on, until you can't do anymore pull ups

wednesday:

we are doing 75 Angies
those are:
75 pull ups
75 push ups
75 sit ups
75 air squats

you time it so see how fast you can complete all of those
you have to finish the pull ups before you do the push up and so on... till you are done!
i'll be soo sore tomorrow!

Triple Crown

The weather was not as good as it could have been
Within the first 30 minutes of the comp I was close to giving up
I feel off my warm up!
I went over to the Wave and watched a few people try it
I went ahead and chalked up the top out after trying it one time and falling
After that, I got psyched and attempted the Mechanic
I sent it first go which got me back on track and motivated to keep going despite the rain

The main thing that I had to do for most of the problems was get to the top and chalk it up so that the top out was safe - i think it was something that many climbers forgot about but luckily no serious injuries occurred

From what i heard, a hold towards the top of Spanky broke making the top a bit simpler than before, luckily the one that broke it didn't get injured - but i think he might of injured someone that was spotting him (don't quote me, it's just what i heard)

I had one more problem to do when a judge walked by and said that they were ending the competition earlier due to the unsafe conditions that the rain has produced - i quickly wrapped up my score card and went to turn it in

We drove back down in the buses to Urban Rocks where the awards we going to be held. A group of us went to the Terminal to eat dinner and then we headed back to the gym for awards. Before awards they did a crash pad stacking contest and the a speed climbing competition - which i competed in.

I LOVE SPEED CLIMBING - so much fun!

Awards started closely after.

We all need to thank the guys that put this event together. They bring so many climbers together, which makes the events so much fun. You see many old friends and make new ones. They always raise money for the SCC and help us preserve southern climbing destinations.

THANK YOU!

check out this write up in Rock and Ice

Cross fit Wednesday (12/1)

Rob was not able to come to the gym today

but he texted me the work out for the kids and I to do

All the kids did it, and I (along with Courtney) only did part of it due to the Triple Crown competition on Saturday

The full workout was:

15mins of Cindy's

In order:

• 5 pull ups
• 10 push ups
• 15 air squats

The point is to do as many as you can in the 15 min time period given

Courtney and I only did it for 10 mins and she did 10 sets and I did 8,

next time we will do the whole set

Following that we had to do pull-ups to death

This means:

Every minute you do one more pull up

1 min - 1 pull up

2 min - 2 pull ups

3 min - 3 pull ups

and so on, until either

1. you cannot do the right amount of pulls because you fail
2. you run out of time to finish up your pull ups

Courtney and I didn't do this part of the exercises because we had been climbing for about 3 to 4 hours in the gym alright, and we didn't want to get sore for the Triple Crown Competition

The kids though did to their pull ups

Red River Gorge Pictures

Solar Collector

Cold weather

Mom resting

Super Pinch @ Solar Collector

Oreo

Thanksgiving, then the Red

Jimmy and I went to his dad's wednesday to spend sometime with them
we didn't celebrate thanksgiving or anything like that, but we went out to eat at this small but really good hamburger place
we then went back to their house and hung out and talked this and that
later that night we drove to jimmy's mom's house to spend the night
the next morning we had a thanksgiving dinner at noonish
jimmy and i were both in a hurry to hit the road, so we didn't stay long after we ate
jimmy was headed back to chatty to meet up with Brion, Hugh and Jacob to head to Horse Shoe Canyon Ranch in Arkansas,
while i was on my way to go to the red in Kentucky, where i met up with my mom

Thursday - i got there around 6:30pm so my mom and i found each other and hung out for the rest of the night

Friday - it was suppose to be a cloudy and wet day, but luckily it didn't rain during the day, but it had rained the night before... the sandstone had dried up by the time we were climbing on it, but it was really cold so it was hard to get motivated to climb, but we did it anyway
We went to the PMRP, where we climbed at the Playground (two routes) and at the Volunter Wall (two routes)
It was cold and I had to take on the first two routes because my fingers froze
We ended the evening off with going to Winchester and watching the new Harry Potter Movie (The Sleepy Hollows Part 1) - i thought it was a good movie, can't wait to see part 2!!

Saturday - it was suppose to be a sunny mid 50s day, but it wasn't! It seemed half the day to be colder than it was on Friday...
We went to Solar Collector and climbed on the first two routes there.
We then drove back to the PMRP, where we first went to the Rival Wall where we got on one of the two long 80 foot 5.10s... it was an awesome route but not for how cold and windy it was...
From there we headed back to the parking lot, and up to the Gallery, were we got on two amazing climbs. The first one was very unique, it had vert jugs to slopy slab moves... a lot of fun... the second route was just as fun with a little bit of exposure but on awesome jugs all the way to the top (my mom sent it, even though it was on a top rope, she did it with no falls for the first time!!)

Sunday - today we headed back to the southern region once again, but this time i got on sometime harder, Golden Boy... i wasn't able to complete the climb this trip, but i gave it three efforts and had fun doing it
I also ran into A LOT of old friends that i hadn't seen in a long time, so it was a great time and i got inspired to give Black Gold a try the next time i'm back at the gorge!

Pictures to come

ME

I've always been interested in psychology
it's very interesting to me
i was given a link to figure out what my personality is
and here are my results
most of it makes senses to me,
because it is who i am
i love it!

Cross Fit Workout (twice)

I talked to Rob a little bit the other day, and he's psyched to get me fit enough to take part in the Cross Fit Games - after checking the website out, I must say I'm psyched and I think it will improve my climbing.

Today I met up with Rob in the morning at the Rush where I did a small workout:
12 back squats (w/ a 45 pound bar) - 3 sets
12 shoulder push press (w/ a 45 pound bar)- 3 sets
10 sumo high pulls (w/ a 45 pound bar) - 3 sets

Then did:
15 kettle bell swings (20 pound kettle bell)
10 box jumps
(4 sets; you do the first exercise then the second one and repeat)

I had to work at TBA at 4pm
and Rob came in to help train the team kids around 5pm
all of us went outside and did the following:
We were paired up with another person so while one was doing the running the other was doing the other exercise

Set 1:
run there and back in the parking lot (80 yards maybe) x2
push ups

Set 2:
run there and back in the parking lot x2
squats

Set 3:
run there and back in the parking lot x2
dips

Set 4:
run there and back in the parking lot x2
box jumps

When we were done, we did lunges there and back in the parking lot
My legs are going to be sore tomorrow, I KNOW IT!!

Now I'm going to climb at the gym, since we have 60 new problems,
I'm hoping to do all the reds (recreational), greens (beginner), yellows (intermediate) and then try all the blues (advance)...

ABS Competition

TBA hosted yet another ABS competition
It was a great showing of about 45 competitors and many parents
Jimmy, Voges, Isabelle, Nate, Luis and I set 60 problems for the competition
Theresa helped out with the other aspects of the competition; score cards, waivers, etc.
The TBA Ballers represented with two of our members getting first in their categories: Anna Fox and Max Glascock
The others did well as well... (full results to come on the TBA site)
We raised a good amount of money from our climbing team with our burger and hotdog sales - thanks to those that purchased the food!
Now we have a bunch of new problems for the rest of our customers to try - come on it and get to climbing!
And keep a look out for our next climbing competition on December 8th!

Finally Sending...

it's been a long time coming, but i've finally sent a rock climb
i did the "new" mechanic
a big ledge broke off earlier this season
the way i did it originally doesn't make a big difference in the problem,
i think it will be harder for those that used the knee bar for the cross move
unless you have really long legs, the knee bar won't happen
here is a short video of me sending and jimmy getting the FA to another classic

2 from LRC from Jimmy Webb on Vimeo.

Cross Fit Training

For the last few weeks i've been doing cross fit training
It's been really hard but really awesome at the same time!
Everytime that I train, the next time i'm really sore!
For example, yesterday we did some cross fit training and we did the following:

• 40 shoulder presses
• 75 sit ups
• 75 push ups
• 75 air squats

This time around it was not timed, but it was still tiring
When we were done with that Rob told us we were going to do mountain climbers.
I didn't know what those were, none of us really did except Savage, so he demonstrated.
When he showed us we all walked out into the hallway because there was more room out there.
We all got into the position and we did several repatitions.

• 20 seconds of exercise
• 10 seconds of rest

I don't remember how many sets we did, but probablly 4 or 5 times.
All i know is if i was going to have to do one more, my legs would of given out!Today, my legs are sore, but it's a good feeling!

HP40 Competition

This past weekend was the HP40 Triple Crown event
This year the temps couldn't of been better!
Even the start of Waterloo was dry!

My friend Angie flew in from Colorado to do the competition,
Also, Isabelle, that's been staying with me did the comp as well!
The event was awesome like always and the people made it even better!

Warming up was a little bit hard at first, but once we got going, nothing could stop us
On second thought, all the sandstone boulders could stop us!!
but it was up to us to try and send those glorious boulders that have defeated us once before!
There were some that day, that shut us down... others went without a fight...
And for some, we had to come back later in the day to complete!
But when I heard that we had 30 mins left and I had three more problems to go, that's when it was game time!
Running around the boulder field frantically trying to find something to fill up my score card with was an awesome experience! (happens every year, but somehow I don't figure out a way of fixing it!!)
It's in those last 30 minutes when you show what you are made of!! Some send hard while others try to find the easy repeat that will fill up slot #10

First Ave Rocks (Adam's gym) was selling Chilly and beer... it was a good mixture
but the best was hearing stories from different friends that you haven't seen in a while
Laughing about random things that have happened in the past
The best is the back massage from the Prana booth, and you hear you're friend saying "oh man, Kasia's getting a back massage"

It's a great event every year, with a few upsets but a lot of great memories!!
Many of the competitors blog about their experiences (Brad, Angie, Brion, and for results)
And we all came to the same conclusion:
The season has come to the south! We are ready to crush!

Vote for the SCC

The Southeastern Climbers Coalition is a candidate to win a $250,000 in the Pepsi Refresh Project. All we need to do is vote EVERYDAY!

There are two ways of voting

online or via text message!

TEXT: 104071 to Pepsi (73774)

Adrenaline Comp

Yesterday I attended the Adrenaline Comp
Holly, Isabelle and I left Chatty around 4
We thought it was an hour and half drive, it wasn't
We were about 30 mins late

Right when we got there I found out that they sell ALE 8 ONE there!
That got be psyched right away
I bought one!
I was going to buy a six pack to take home with me, but unfortunetly they ran out!

They had a lot of sponsors which definetly helps the competition
It's awesome to see sponsors still helping out gyms!

Climbed for a good while
There was a finals round, it was the first time that they did this!
In the end it worked out well

Here are the results from the event!
Next time you should come!

Full Moon

Today was an interesting - strange - crazy day

This morning Holly came by to pick me up so that we could go to LRC
We stopped by the post office because I had to mail some posters out for our ABS comp at TBA
When I got back there was an old lady in a wheel chair, crying...
she said she was stranded and needed $1.55
Holly found some change and so did I and we gave her the money
Holly offered her a ride somewhere but she said she was fine...
still wondering what she needed and how she got stranded in downtown Chattanooga in a wheel chair

From there we met Brooke at Greenlife and headed on to LRC
Nothing weird happened up there
Just had a chill day climbing...
We started in the front area got on the eliminator, i think i can...
then we headed to the cleo cindy bouldering
We then climbed a few V0s down from the cleo cindy boulder

We continued to have a discussion on how to ship Holly in a package to Hueco or Boone. We came up with the following idea:

• We would pad a kennel with pillows that she would fit in
• She would have a diaper in case she had to go to the bathroom
• There would be air holes that she would be able to open whenever she needed fresh air
• Have food and water
• And the whole thing would be in a cardboard box

This conversation got started because i got off the phone with my dad and he said that he's sending be a package that weighs 96lbs - crazy!! and it cost him about $90 to ship, so we figured that shipping Holly would cost about $100 which is cheaper than a flight to Hueco

Holly was suppose to go to the SCC meeting but didn't realize how far the Canyon was from Chattanooga, so she ended up not going because of all the driving that was involved... I think the meeting ended up ending at eleven... She was suppose to drive out their with Lu and Theresa

We drove back to Greenlife because that is where Brooke's car was. We saw Lu's truck in the parking lot and it was 6:30pm and Holly was suppose to meet Lu and Theresa at their place at 6pm... it was kinda weird...

We then saw Theresa inside greenlife getting some dinner for herself and Lu, and when we got out of greenlife we saw Lu pull into the parking lot with Tyler and Gary....

Oh, also, when we drove into the Greenlife parking lot I recognized a friend and he had a German Shepard with him, and for some reason i freaked out and wanted to see the dog right away... while Holly was still driving I attempted to open the door.. Holly said she felt like she had a 5 year old in the car!

When we left Greenlife we drove over to Standard Ink, on the drive over there we saw the biggest full moon... it was very pretty... at Standard Ink i decided to get my nose pierced again...

From there we headed on over to Boulderwave, at UrbanRocks. There was a speed climbing comp and a dyno comp. Chris Szierzant and I here the top two times, so we asked Chaz if we could fast each other... So we did... we ended up improving our times to 11 and 12 seconds... ultimately Chris one, because we did best out of three... It was a good time!

The dyno comp was alright. Wasn't too hard. But we had an injury. Isabelle dyno'ed and when she dropped down, she landed weird on her foot... It swelled up and she said she heard a pop... We carried her out to the lobby, where we iced her foot. From there we got her into Holly's car and i got into mine and we drove to Erlanger. On the way to Erlanger, I ended up running over an opossum. Which right after I get a call from Isabelle asking if i saw it. I felt awful!! He was on his back kicking and stuff... awful!!

We finally get to the hospital, where on her hospital form, where it asks what happened Isabelle wrote "fucked up ankle". When I turned it in to the main desk, the nurse said "This is inappropriate" which I answered, with a smile "I'll have her change it you want." But we never did.

We have trouble getting Isabelle's insurance information and her social security number because her mom was on a flight to Arizona!! Luckily we got a hold of her sister and she was able to help out!

We ended up hanging out at the ER (waiting room area) for about two and half hours... we started to get hungry, so we tried calling a bunch of pizza places but they were all closed, go figure! It was 1 o'clock in the morning! So we are sitting there hungry, when a guy from Papa John's comes in. Holly raced over to him, and asked if they are still open. The guy tells her he has an extra pizza (large pepperoni) for $7... so we buy it!! And we had our food for the night!

Also, we were sitting right across from a lady that was in a red sweat suit. It looked like she pee'd herself. She also had an amazing looking engagement ring on her hand. Huge diamond. Real or fake... i dont know, but it was interesting to see that on her hand. The funniest thing was that she was asleep and every so often she started LAUGHING in her sleep, like giggling! It was soo funny! I wish i had taken a picture of her!!

Shortly after that, they called Isabelle to the back. She gets x-rayed and we then have to wait for the results of the x-rays. In the mean time a trauma patient comes in and they kick Holly and I into a waiting room. Where, i think we both fell asleep for 15 or 20 minutes. They finally call us back in. Isabelle gets release and we head home!

Man, there was a full moon out last night!

The next few days...

monday - working at MOJO in the AM to training on plastic at TBA

tuesday - school all day till i hit the RUSH w/ Holly in the evening

wednesday - pick ISABELLE up from the airport at 1pm, work at MOJO then train on the MOON BOARD

thursday - REST (and school)

friday - MOJO in the AM, warm up at TBA and head to BOONE, NC!!!

TRIPLE CROWN THIS WEEKEND!!!!!

Stone Summit Competition

We (Jimmy and I) took the climbing team down to Atlanta for their first ABS Climbing Competition!
It was a lot of fun!
They all climbed amazing and they all had fun!
The Male Results
The Female Results

Starting to get psyched...

Summer school is coming to an end

Starting to work out more...

kettle bell

volley ball

soccer

stretching

I'm feeling pretty psyched about climbing again

I haven't been doing much of it, but it's starting to pick up again

We will start resetting TBA next week

And we will be open Sunday's from 1 to 5pm (EVERY SUNDAY)

Half priced climbing and shoe rentals!! (starting in about a week)

I might of not lost any weight, but I've gained muscle and feeling strong!!!

Get some endurance training on here soon as well...

Got to keep my power and endurance balanced!

Climb Nashville Summer Comp

Yesterday, Jimmy and I, along with 8 TBA BALLERS attended the Climb Nashville Summer Competition.

It was A LOT of fun! It was the first time we have had a climbing team trip!!

Our team did really well!!

Definetly represented TBA very well!

We had Lydia, Riggs and Evan competed in beginner.

Anna and Max competed in intermediate.

AJ, Luke and Savage competed in advance.

Jimmy and I competed in open.

Click here to see the full results!

Five Ten Dog Days of Summer Photo Contest

I have been told to enter Oreo into this photo contest

So I got to looking for pictures of Oreo

and these are the ones that I found...

Help me figure out which one to use...

The problem is, i think it has to be at a climbing area...

So some of them fall out but are still awesome in my opinion...

Oreo at the red (1)

Oreo at the red (2)

Oreo at the motherlode (1)

Oreo at the motherlode (2)

Oreo in the chair

Oreo at Roadside (1)

Oreo at Roadside (2)

Oreo in Lu's truck

Baby Oreo

Oreo at Hueco Tanks

Oreo at Little River Canyon w/ Rocko

Time to get serious!!

I just sit on my ass,
read about people sending hard all around me!
And i do nothing about it...
I don't really train...
I don't do anything!!

It's time to get serious!
It's time for me to stop being such a weak person!
It's time for me to get to training!
It's time for me to get good grades in school!

Let's do THIS!

Summer Competition at TBA

It's nice to have the competition behind me!

It was a great event for sure, but with everything that is going on...

It was tough to pull through...

Pretty much being responsible for so many things, i'm suprised i didn't forget anything!!

1) keeping in contact with Bill from the "Climb so kids can grow up" organization... making sure we had prizes and flyers...

2) taking holds down holds... washing holds... resetting the gym... (w/ the help of Josh and Tommy)

3) realizing about an hour before the event that 10 of the problem labels are missing... having to print and laminated 10 new ones... with the ink in the printer running low...

4) reazlizing about an hour before the event that we didn't have any score cards set up for the event yet...

5) when it came to the food... thankfully josh provided the hamburger and hot dog buns, and ashley provided the tomatoes, onions and lettuce... i had hot dogs at home that my room mate ended up eatting (ashley was awesome to pick stuff up for me and get water at green life)

6) having to help new customers between 4 - 6 and still getting the gym ready for the comp at the same time

7) three 10 hour days in a row (at the gym) with my calculus class at 1:30 to 3:15... driving from home to work to school to work...

8) after the comp, not having a fast way to calculate the scores... anna fox helped me out with that!

The event happened! From what i heard...

"the problems were awesome"

"the green problems were hard"

"food was good"

"people had a good time"

Before the competition we had already raised around $230 for the charity! During the event from just the food we raised $60! From the competitors we raised $75! That puts us at $365!!

We still have the team kids collecting money from their "pledges" If anyone wants to donate, you still can, just visit the TBA Website!!

I'd like to thank everyone that helped me out! Mostly Josh and Tommy! The extra hand in taking holds down and setting problems really helped out! Thanks to Ashley for helping with the register tonight and with getting my things from home and the water at greenlife! Also i'd like to thank the competitors, without you there would be no competition!! Also thanks to all the sponsors that supported the event!!

I'll be setting more problems over the next few days!!

Overview of the last week

June 20th - Hard training session at the gym, maybe too hard

Luke, AJ and I decided to climb all the problems in the gym. We got about half way when i got on a yellow and did a drop knee. I felt two clicks and then my knee hurt. I hope it has just my tendons/ligaments jumping over each other. If feels fine now, but i'm scared to drop knee. I've been stretching, so hopefully that will help both of my knees out.

June 21st - School Started

I'm taking Calculus II w/ a lab. I never did understand the point of the lab in calculus. Most other schools don't do that, but o well. As of right now, i don't remember anything from calculus I. I'm hoping i'll remember soon, and get a good grade in the classes.

June 22nd - Went swimming instead of climbing

My finger has been hurting, so i've decided to take it easy and not climb as much. So i went swimming. Trying to get better and faster at swimming. I only swam 10 laps because i had to be in class at 1:30pm and got to the pool at 11:45am. I was done within an hour. I need to get better!!

June 23rd - Starting to reset the gym for the comp

My day was busy today - not so much busy as full

9:30am - 1pm -> at the gym (w/ Josh) taking all the holds off the right traverse wall and the TBA wall. We went ahead and reset those two walls as well. Some sweet problems are up right now.

1:30pm - 3:15pm -> I was in my Calculus Lab Class

4pm - 10pm -> Working at the gym. AJ, Luke and I washed the holds that we (Josh and I) took down earlier. Around 9pm we started to take the wave wall down. Before I left I set a pretty sweet blue problem on the wave using our big orange feature.

June 23rd - Lu got into a bad motorcycle crash, here is what he has to say about it...

"Thx for all the well wishes. Please don't be too concerned. The prognosis is good thus far. This is not my first rodeo. Just to clarify, I'm not a superstitious man, but the coincidences in this story are truly uncanny.

Lu all wrapped up... ready to rest!

The following is from native American folklore:

"To see an owl in your dream, symbolizes wisdom, insight and virtue. The owl is also synonymous with death and darkness. To hear the hoot of an owl, denotes disappointments and forewarns that death creeps closely in the wake of joy and health. To see a dead owl, signifies a narrow escape from desperate illness and death. Death in this sense may also represent a symbolic death, as in an important transition in life."

Middle Finger

A couple of days ago I, along with a couple of friends, went down to Suck Creek to do some climbing and get a dip. There is a tall boulder there which I wanted to ascent (see my pics). Sure enough, there was a dead Great Horned Owl at the base of the boulder. It was a fresh kill, riga-mortis had not set in yet. There were no signs of blunt force trauma, so we had no clue as to the cause of death. Strange as it may seem, we did not notice the deceased owl until after we sent the rig. Once we notices, I decided to bury the owl in a cave below the boulder, simply out of respect, but also to avoid spoiling the area with a decomposing cadaver. So that is what we did, but before burying it I got the crazy idea that having owl talons would be spiritually empowering, as well would be a great addition to my arrow head collection. Afterwards, we gave the Great Horned Owl an honorable burial.

Lu's back

Fast forward to yesterday. I had plans to head to TBA to set problems for out upcoming charity competition (Climb-Up so Children can Grow-up). At the last minute I chose to take out my '73 Honda CB450 and make a short ride of it. Let me preface this with the fact that I've been riding for twenty years now, even did a few years stint on the racing circuit. So this is not my first rodeo, I've been thrown off the saddle before. Just the same, I took my usual route down Riverfront Pkwy to the Chestnut Street shortcut. As I turned onto Chestnut, I glanced at my side mirror to make sure no vehicles were following closely behind me. When I focused forward again, I realized I was heading full throttle towards some rough pavement and a hearty sinkhole on the road. I did not have time to react, the road jarred the handle bar from my hands, a tank-slapper ensued and I hit the pavement hard. I do not recall much else, as endorphins took over. I did manage to call my wife Theresa for a ride. Evidently I expressed little concern and that I was simply needing a ride, but I could not provide a location for her. Shortly thereafter, coincidentally Paul Gussack, a friend from TBA, was taking the same route and found me sitting on the curb. Paul called for an ambulance. The rest is in the pictures above.

Strange chain of events for sure. No worries though, I am scathed yet breathing. About the curse of the owl talons, as the wise ol' climber (Peter Henley) stated, "No reason to fear the Talons now. You have paid for them in blood. Make the Neckless. Were you not wearing THEM!?!"

Coming Up

June 25th - Charity Climbing Comp ($15 entry fee)

The comp is 6pm to 9pm. We will be having hot dogs ($1.50) and hamburgers ($3). The climbing team is doing a climb-a-thon. They will have to climb as many problems as they can. Earlier in the week they have been going around getting pledges for the climb-a-thon event. Our goal is to donate $500. We hope to reach that!!