Consecutive Days and I'm Ready to Go?

It was only a week or so before when I awoke after my first day of climbing after contracting Lyme Disease that getting out of bed was the crux of the day. I rolled my feet to the floor, stood up, and immediately felt as if a truck had hit me head on. My swim session later that day was the slowest I'd had in a couple of weeks, and I wanted to eat the house out of food. I didn't, of course, but if

The Body Fights Back

In summary, I got sick bad a few weeks ago on my final day in Acadia. It was Lyme disease, and I fought what I thought was a feverish flu for five days until I finally went to the emergency room in search of help. The comeback has been slow but noticeably progressive. I started with slow 30-minute swims every other day and, over the course of a couple of weeks, have built up to medium-paced 60-

Ankles Galore!

E'ffn' hell.For various reasons, I haven't been climbing the past few weeks. Mostly it is because my ankle still hasn't healed well from my fall on Cannon in the middle of August. That's helped me to justify not climbing while "Ratherbe" went off to the Tetons on a backpacking trip for two weekends and then again no climbing over Labor Day weekend (because of how my vacation / holiday time works

Strained Fingers

I learned something new recently that should take me to a new level in the coming months, if I prepare properly.My fingers have been killing me. I mean, they've been so sore that they immediately hurt when grabbing a hold on any climb, regardless of grade. I've felt soreness in my fingers before, but this has gone away over time in the past. Unfortunately, this has not been the case recently.

Got Kicked By A Mule And Was Cured

Ever see the Christmas Vacation movie where Chevy Chase walks up to Cousin Eddie and his daughter, Ruby Sue, and notices that Ruby Sue is no longer cross-eyed? Eddie's response is something like: Yeah, funny thing. She falls into a well and her eyes cross. Gets kicked by a mule and she's cured.The same thing kind of happened to me today. A couple of months ago I was paddling to a campsite and got

Rumney - Taking the Injured Thumb Outside and On Lead

Yesterday was my first day testing my recovering thumb both outside and on lead, and I have to say that I think I did fairly well. I was nervous, and my leg shook like crazy at times to prove that was true - even on easy routes I had climbed clean before.The day started with "Cody" picking me up at 7am in an attempt to get to Rumney by 9am. We were to meet "Sherpa", who, by the way, requested a

Getting Stronger

On Sunday, I climbed for the first time since injuring my thumb while paddling out to an island in Maine on a camping trip. The injury was a contusion (bruise) on the bones around the top of my thumb. The past couple of weeks have been wrought with wearing a stinky, neoprene SPICA splint (to keep my thumb from doing things when it isn't doing anything), keeping ibuprofen in my bloodstream to

Thumb Update

As I've mentioned before, I whacked my thumb in between a paddle and canoe a few weeks ago whilst paddling out to an island on a camping trip. That was on a Friday, about 17 days ago. That night, my thumb was HUGE - about four to five times larger than normal. It was still very swollen the next couple of days, but I iced it and took enough ibuprofen to calm the swelling down and allow me to

Contusion, not a Sprain or Hairline Fracture

I'm out seven to ten days as opposed to six weeks. Thank. God.

Sigh...

Just when I thought I was in a position to finally catapult my way above 5.11, I went out and injured my thumb. This is my first injury since the winter of 2006, and I am bummed.It happened Friday afternoon while paddling across a bay in Maine to an island that I and several friends were to camp on. The camping weekend was a great weekend, but on one of the traverses across from the mainland to

Damn Injuries

Suffered a tough string of injuries that are still keeping me grounded. First my shoulder buckled in January on a tight series of stemming moves then I slipped on a patch of ice on my front steps and suffered a two-week debilitating back spasm. Now my elbow is inflamed and sore. I am getting old.

Back Spasm

Anyone out there know how long back spasms take to heal? I slipped an fell on the top step of my apartment building's front steps one icy morning a little more than a week ago. I landed a few steps down and felt a massive surge of pain shoot from the lower, left quarter of my back that froze me in place for at least thirty seconds. I went to see my doctor and he put me on a muscle relaxant to

New Shoes and a Sore Shoulder

Dammit man. I just asked for a boat load of gift certificates for Christmas so that I could get myself some new shoes. And just as I do so, I'm cranking a hard stem and both my shoulders shift...in the wrong direction. So now my right shoulder feels as though it is already loose when I try to stretch it. I was just getting the sac to lead 5.11 too and doing it rather well. I'll have to wait a

Fitness

Been reading about climbing fitness lately as I have been attempting to find ways to improve my grade. Honestly, the first problem that I have is my weight (180 lbs at 5'8"). I need to be around 170 lbs to be effective (anything lower than that just does not feel right. I am not convinced that 165 lbs is a good weight for me. I feel too weak at that weight). But I want to lose weight the proper