Big Changes...

So a lot of big changes have happened and it looks like there are a lot more on the horizon. First, Nancy (my girlfriend of 5 years) and I broke up. Which was a big shock to me... Now, I'm struggling with what to do with my self and who I am with out her. For awhile now I have seen us settling down in Atlanta and starting a life here but it seems that that is not the case and I have a lot of opportunities ahead of me.

One thing that is nice but weird at the same time is I no longer have to consider another person when planning anything; where it is day to day life or a big trip 6 months from now. So with that new found freedom I am going to Yosemite Valley this Wednesday and then starting to make plans to move west once I get back.

Packing shit show....

So Yosemite, such a great place... but flying out there SUCKS!!! First the stupid restrictions on check baggage is ridiculous, and flying with an small big wall rack doesn't make anything easier. Second, the damn series of trains planes and automobiles needed to get from Atlanta to Yosemite Valley is a preposterous epic shit show. It even involves a bivy in an airport. My sister actually leaves for Italy the same day and will arrive in Rome before I get to Yosemite Valley, freaking ridiculous.

I'm meeting my good friend APL (apple) out there and our big goal is to free Freerider (5.12d) on El Cap. This would be by far the biggest, hardest and best accomplishment of our climbing careers to this point. I'm both really excited and nervous about Freerider, I've been climbing hard enough, atleast on paper, to say I can redpoint all the pitches on this thing but actually doing it is another issue all together.... I guess we'll see shortly.

Well, that's it for now... Big trip, Big Break-up and wide open future.....

And so it begins...

So this is it, my last beer before I start my 7 week training schedule in preparation for the valley. A New Belgium Ranger, a great IPA, I highly suggest it. I feel stronger on routes then I've ever felt before and am really psyched to go and try as hard as I can in Yosemite. I've been out there twice now and am so inspired by the climbs the surrounding and the people who are pushing their limits. Over the last few month I've had a number of outside trips, including a week long trip to The New, where I worked the greatest show and feel that it could very possibly go this fall; I can't explain how excited I am about that.

But back to the point....the valley and training. So I'm planning on breaking the next 6 weeks up into 3 - 2 week cycles. each getting more intense then the last and the 7th week will be a recovery week, hopefully allowing me to preform once in the valley.

So weeks 1 and 2 should look something like this....

Sunday - Climbing (trip outside)

Monday - Run 3 miles

Tuesday - Climbing (15 routes and 15 boulders >V5), Core and Campus 45min.

Wednesday - Run 3 miles, Climbing (15 routes and 15 boulders >V5), Core

Thursday - Climbing (15 routes and 15 boulders >V5), Core and Campus 45min.

Friday - Run 3 miles

Saturday - Climbing (trip outside)

So we'll see how it goes... hopefully week one goes well and week 2 should be great so week 3 can get harder....

Let's try this blogging thing again....

SO..........last time I posted something I talked about going to The New and Seneca for several weeks and posting stuff from the road, and getting on all these awesome climbs etc. etc. Obviously posting anything was a big lie, as I suck at posting stuff on here.

The trip turned out to be a giant shit show.... instead of 5 weeks i was only out 3. I never went to Seneca, and stayed at the New. I got shut down HARD on the Greatest Show and it also rained almost everyday I of the trip. To top it all off I had to fight a shoulder/pectoral injury. On the bright side I got to hang out with some great people and friends and really enjoyed being back at the New, even if the climbing was a bust.

Since last August, I have left Chicago and Nancy and I moved down to Atlanta, so she can go to grad school at Emory. Being down here has been great! I'm 2-3 hours from dozens of climbing areas, you can climb almost all year around, even the summer if you can deal with the heat. We have a nice apartment and I've found a great crew of people to climb with on a regular basis.

I finished out 2010 by not really having accomplished any of my goals in climbing. A fact that hit me pretty hard and definitely lit a fire under me. My motivation for the most part is super high and I'm working on training as hard as I can. 2011 has been a great year for me so far, I sent my hardest boulder, routes, and even am really close to red-point in a day a multi-pitch route I've been eying up for years. All of this makes me want to train even harder. I'm in a really great cycle right now.

As the season goes on I really want to keep posting and probably put up some pictures to go along with the posts. Well, thats all for now....