After months of planning, weeks of training and many days of anxious packing, it was finally time for our journey to begin. The flight to Germany turned out to be pretty uneventful. We were really worried about flying so far with two young kids, and perhaps all that worry, and the resultant preparations, paid off.…
After 22 straight hours of traveling which included one train, two cars, three buses, and four airplanes, we finally arrived home late Monday night. We’re all still quite jet-lagged–the kids were wide awake at 3:30 am this morning–but we had an AMAZING trip! I won’t get into specifics today, but In the mean time here…
I’m off to Deutshland morgen! I’m bursting with excitement (and a fair bit of justified anxiety about our 12-hr airplane extravaganza). I’ve had my best-ever summer strength phase, a really good two weeks of power training and I feel like I’m in outstanding shape. I’d still like to lose a few pounds, which may be…
How often have you visited a climbing forum and stumbled upon an endless debate over some trivial matter like the definition of “is”? It seems that many of us would rather argue about training terminology than actually train. This pre-occupation with semantics can be a real distraction from the truly important matters (like the phone number for…
The following is a guest-post from Seiji Ishii, well known to readers of the RCTM forum as “Coach Seiji”. Coach Seiji has an extensive background in Exercise Physiology, has coached world-class athletes in various sports, including stints working for Carmichael Training Systems and Ultrafit. He currently trains professional supercross/motocross athletes and operates a CrossFit gym…
During a brief spell of temporary insanity last spring Kate and I foolishly booked a three-week trip to Germany. As our departure date approaches (now just four weeks away!), we are becoming increasingly terrified of the prospect of spending 12 hours on an airplane with our two lovely children. Lord have mercy on the rest of the…
Climbing has a tendency to become all-consuming. For me, when I’m in my performance Phase it seems like climbing is on my mind 24/7 and I have no mental or physical energy for anything else. This is how I like it, but after a couple months of this I’m usually exhausted. In some ways the…
Readers of the RCTM should by now be familiar with our concept “The Time Value of Climbing Ability” (if not, you can read about it on page 12). In a nutshell, the more you improve, the easier climbs at a given grade become to send, and therefore, you can send them more quickly. So if…
125 miles off the southern coast of Australia, pummeled on all flanks by the Tasman Sea, lies an otherworldly landscape of temperate rain forest perched upon a mountain of granite and dolerite. This untamed and rarely visited corner of the world is known as Tasmania, and Tasmania is known to climbers for its fantastic sea…
In honor of our nation’s liberation from the tyrannical tax policies of King George*, we hope you take the opportunity to free something that was, for you at least, previously subjugated by the oppressive bonds of “A0”. In other news, we have a bunch of random announcements to make. First, if you haven’t already, please…
The Rock Climber's Training Manual 