sad post

so, alas, my cheaply built computer died this past weekend. I have had a few stories worth posting, but couldn't motivate myself to do so since I had no picture editing capabilities to back them up. So this is fair warning that the posts may be fewer and farther between, at least until I can fix or find a replacement for my 'puter and start the photoshop up again.

Latest news: J-Fire, Fogel, myself and Ngoc had plans to head out to the Valley this past weekend for some bouldering fun, but were stymied at the last minute by some freakish weather spill-over from the midwest tornado debacles going on of late. We'll be attempting a re-do this coming weekend, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

[skip the following if you aren't a climber]
Also, speaking of climbing, since I can't post my pictures for the time being, I'm going to try and transition to talking about my climbing progress...you know, because I have to blog about SOMETHING! I did my second v7 in the gym last week, and am climbing perhaps a solid grade and a half harder on average than I was about 2-3 months ago, when I started my latest regimen of finger exercises. I remember getting back from Bishop last October or so and sending 4's with difficulty and 5's less than half of the time. I've so far completed 2 cycles, each cycle consisting of 4-6 weeks of weighted hangboarding, followed by 3 weeks of campus boarding (and a week off of specific training if I feel thrashed). After trying different methods suggested in Eric Horst's Training for Climbing, I've kind of slapped this regimen together to specifically build bouldering strength, and to better suit my level of physical recovery. The biggest challenge is continually listening to my fingers and elbows, and knowing when to back off or else suffer pulley/tendon strains. Ice is totally my friend!