Random Ramblings

There is no real unifying theme to this blog post; just a bunch of somewhat garbled thoughts and activities from recent days. Unusual for a self-confessed concrete sequentialist but these are unusual times.

My seven days at the globo gym ended on Monday. I actually took Tuesday off as I felt kinda like I'd been run over by a road-train. I've been doing AlpineCenter workouts these days. Today was AMRAP in 50 minutes (as many rounds as possible):

• 15 kettlebell swings (I used the propane tank as usual),
• 10 weighted sit-ups (yup, propane tank again), 
• 10 box jumps (the only available step here at the Cave is way too low), 
• 5 Curtis P's (the only dumbbells I have are 2.5 pounds which is clearly way too light - you can probably sense a theme here), 
• 60 second plank,
• 5 ankles to bar (which I did on my rock rings). 

I thought I'd never make it through this one particularly as it was about 30 degrees Celsius and humid when I started, but, I mentally chunked it up into 10 minute segments and just plowed through. Definitely a grind not a sprint for me. My repetition number was pretty sad though at only 10. The guys at the Alpine Center got almost 15 repetitions done, which (I'll save you the rudimentary math) is 50% more. 

My ankles to bar on the rock rings are improving. I'm able to use the two and three finger pockets instead of the jugs, and, while every A2B seems wretchedly hard and painful, persistence is paying off. It's probably time to up the ante again and start doing staggered A2B and pull-ups on the three finger pockets instead of the jugs. Something to look forward to. 

I can only hope that all this translates reasonably well to rock climbing as the season approaches (at least our self-declared season). I'm looking forward to getting back on the rock, but, most days, it still feels too hot and sticky yet. 

We brought our new (to us) caravan home today and Doug immediately began taking it apart to work on wiring in some solar cells and a battery. Getting out of the city is getting closer – I totally agree with Will Gadd that spending time in the city is bad for your health.  

And, finally, I just finished reading a great book “Psychobabble.” It's a quick read, I finished it in one day. I'm sure I have an affinity for the things I agree with – I don't read “Buttheads, Hoons and Red-Necks Go Hunting” for example, but it sure reinforced my suspicions about all those shiny happy people out there with their trite sayings posted over glossy photos. 

 A Couple of Shiny Happy People Holding Hands