Sunday, December 7, 2008

Axis of Coolness?

A trip to TRC with Guillaume, Evangeline and Joana. I got into the minivan and was promptly notified that I was not a member of the Axis of Coolness, but instead got lumped with Guillaume in the Axis of Lameness. I can't tell if it was cause I'm a guy or old or both? Despite some questionable song lyrics, and the fact that Guillaume and Joana giggled every time someone said 'nuts', we managed to keep everything relatively clean.

I think it's safe to say that except for Evangeline (who is a slab beast), everyone wasn't climbing at their technical best. However, despite this I felt we all managed to work on technique and endurance. I think it's worth reading what Eric Hörst has to say about distinguishing between Practice days versus Performance days. I also think Arno Ilgner's article on transitions is useful (if you can slog through the hippieness) for those long pumpy lead climbs.

Oh, and I promised Guillaume that I'd withhold the wisecracks about his driving after his Mario Andretti-like reflexes saved us from certain death when a jackass U-turned right in front of us (even closer than the bus that nearly crushed us last week!).

2 comments:

g said...

Those two articles are very interesting. Although Arno Ilger does sound like bad hippie/yoga/living room psychology in tone. I particularly like: "There are three steps in effective transitions. First, you let go of the old. Second, you allow yourself to “be” in the neutral zone. Third, you embrace the new."

Nonetheless, working on deliberate transitions and a 3 to 1 dosage of practice versus performance days might just be what I need to get out of my plateau.

And thanks for the comparison!

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Daniel said...

Nice links. I have "Rock Warrior's Way" sitting on my bookshelf, but haven't been able to get past all the woo-woo language yet. Should probably just grit my teeth and do it, as I've heard there are valuable lessons in the book.

About to leave to go climbing now. I'm so wiped from a week of crossfit that I'm pretty sure today will either be a "practice day" or a "joke."