Day 36 - Gotta Get Up

Dani Andrada is a climber from Spain that has been making waves recently on a tour with Rock Climbing's big name Chris Sharma as they do some of the most difficult routes, completing some previously thought impossible.



And that's just how he trains.

So, with that in mind and new regiment for myself for the next 4 weeks:

• 25 x Bodyweight Pull-ups
• 50 x Deadlifts (60kg)
• 50 x Push-ups
• 50 x Box Jumps (24" Box)
• 50 x Floor Wipers
• 50 x Clean & Press (16kg, 25 reps with each arm)
• 25 x Bodyweight Pull-ups

In that order - now, bear in mind, I don't know how many reps I will actually be physically capable of, so tomorrow will be the test to see how I fare and where I need to seriously train. All this designed to increase explosive strength (good for dynos!) and drop weight like nobody's business.

DAY 1 - A Rocky Reunion

Oh Threshold! How I missed you. It looks mostly the same as when I left in mid-December, but a few new routes stick out.

First, I eagerly eye a new VB - the yellow route at right - it got some nice big holds and starts with your body wrapped around a corner, I thought this might be as good a place as any to get back on the wall.

I jumped up on the wall, and to my surprise, the climb was easy - the holds were large enough to really haul myself around on, and I flew straight to the top. With this little feather in my climbing cap, I looked for another wall to conquer.

My buddy, Chris, spots this tough looking V0 on one of the trickier walls - an experienced climber, Chris takes this V0 like it were a ladder.


He makes it look so easy, I can't help but jump on it myself.

I get an arms length from the top-hold and freeze. Vertigo, maybe, or just nervousness. The next hold is a right hand a few feet up, it's tricky and I'm already more than ten feet up. I'm trembling and about to down-climb this now terrifying problem when I think I hear Chris shouting "come on! you got it! keep going!" but when I look to find Chris, I learn that he is not the one shouting. I think it should be noted that climbers are the friendliest and most encouraging people - there i am, trembling like a dork, and this guy is pantomiming hand movements at me and shouting encouragement. "reach! you're almost there!"

Finally, I take a deep breath and make a grab for the right, pulling myself like a fish onto the deck, floppy but accomplished.

Hands torn and breathing hard, I feel pretty good about these two, while perhaps not technically challenging, they let me get back up there and round out some pretty high climbs.

And who knows? Maybe I'll climb again tomorrow.

Peace,
a

This is me.

Well, it was me, on my road to recovery, hobbling earnestly to and fro. A few months later, I'm a functioning man again! I can walk, stroll, and even saunter, but the running is still a chore, and the climbing is still difficult.

I've been revisiting all the easiest problems at Threshold, and working my way back up from the very basics. Even the easiest problems yield roadblocks for me in the form of inaccessible right-side maneuvers, forcing my left side to become a lot more formidable, but not enough to make up for the persisting imbalance. Mantling (getting up onto a ledge) is terrifying too, and an almost paralyzing vertigo hits me if I even dare to glance down, which makes the climb back down difficult.

So here I am, starting 2010 back at the beginning - doing V0s and v1s (if i'm well-rested) again, and feeling weak and silly. But no more! Time to climb, big-time. And to get good I've got to get focused:

• Eat better, and smarter. The lighter you are, the easier you are to lift, right?
• Cardio! Just because it hurts to run does not mean there aren't other ways I can be doing my cardio - bike, row, jump on the elliptical, for chrissake, just do it.
• Practice, practice, practice. I should be climbing right now. Or at least doing pull-ups.
• Show and tell. Share it all with you, internet. So you and me can get through this thing together.

So as of January 1st, 2010:
Andrew Mena
Height:5'10"
Weight: 252lbs
Climbing: VB, V0, V1

Alright Internet, here's to a progressive new year.

Yours,
a

the who and the why.

Dear Internet,

On July 10th, 2009, I learned what it's like to break your leg. Foremost I learned that it is not very fun to break a leg. I never realized how much walking, jumping, skipping, cavorting, etc. that I actually did. A lot, as it turns out.

Nearly two months, one plate and seven screws later, I'm re-teaching myself to walk, and little by little, I am regaining my strength and rekindling my love of rock climbing.

Actually, that's how I broke the damn thing in the first place - I was climbing a nasty V2, pushed a little too hard, and fell about fifteen feet onto a mat that couldn't quite cut it. In my time as a cripple, I've definitely had more than one person ask me if the injury turned me off to climbing and if I would steer clear of it in the future.

On the contrary!

My patience has been thin for my do-nothing recovery time, and my body has itched for that glorious pas de deux of man and mountain.

So here we are.

This blog will chronicle my road to recovery, detail my experiences as a rookie climber, and explore my ever-expanding interest in the world of rock climbing. There will be adventure, laughs, bad times, and good as I attempt to break the sky.