SESSION # 5

I won't talk about work.

Yesterday I've had a very brief, productive session, despite feeling very very tired during the whole day; for sure the energy flowing was great, with Tom and Rich absolutely psyched about taking it to the next level: a fingerboarding trip.

I don't have a clear idea of what we did, but Rich did 3 pull ups on the jibs, and I decided I have to learn that trick. Probably pulling hard is the key. I just did a few deadhangs, with great great success, and then proceeded to go and chop the chicken while Tom and Rich put up and performed many many footless sequences, that are clearly the future of training on that board.

I have Si Panton's guide of North Wales Bouldering right here at my desk, and I just can't wait to get there. I WANT TO CLIMB HARD SHIT. I can't wait to take the guys out on ze rock.

Rough plan.

- tonight: surfing maybe, then aperitivo then dinner at my uncle's restaurant;

- tomorrow: crank the whole day, then clubbing.

- sunday and monday: more cranking.

As you may tell, it didn't take me long to figure it out.

NO ESCAPE?

The brits arrived yesterday night, full of gifts and psyche. I had to tell them many times NOT to train on the fingerboard right after their arrival at home at 1 am: the Mother of All Fingerboards clearly has some class and fascination.

Anyway I'm sorry because when they arrived I was feeling terrible, and still am, despite them finding me in good shape, because yesterday evening marked another turning point in the current chaos that's my life.

Just when I was thinking about settling down for a while, thinking more about work and trying to be a good boy and go on working an average of ten hours a day (my contract is for eight) without actually panicking, it all crumbled down.

The boss called me and told me that in his opinion I haven't been doing enough, regardless of the quality of my work. He clearly wants someone who's completely obsessed by work, who has no other interests, just as he is. I am always pointed at my colleague of the next door, who is a young lady working thirteen hours a day including saturdays. All this conversation took place while he was listening to "The Gladiator" soundtrack, that he uses, in his words, to get more motivation and more energy to always do more and run more, and to give the idea of how he sees work.

I still don't know how he sees work or how he sees me, but now I see him as a poor fascist, and not much more.

The other day it came out somehow, that I am a climber. His comment was "Yes, you have the pace of an alpinist, who walks slowly but always gets to the end. But here we have to run and always get to the end". Mmmkay...

So I found myself completely lost in a deep dark sea that lies between my good intentions and the newly dicovered reality. This saddens me alot, because it seems to me that there's no escape from the assholes, they always turn out.

All this also made me very dubious about the real characteristics of the category I chose to work for: it seems to be made of rich men who are not ashamed to keep unpaid workers, simple racists, workaholics of all kinds. This really made me feel sad, and in danger. Do I really want to work for people like this? Is there someone in this category that's not that way? How long must I search to find a human being, a true human being in the old meaning of HUMANITAS?

Fuck me I'm so sad, so disappointed, and so pissed.

He told me to try and understand what I really want: he doesn't know that I already did, and that he is not in my plans anymore.

WAITING FOR GODOT AND SESSION # 4

I'm really excited about Tom's and Rich's visit. I can picture them right now in their flats, arranging stuff, deciding whether it's possible to shave some weight from the luggage, choosing one last stilish, psyching item.

As it's said, "anticipation of pleasure is pleasure itself".

This kind of waiting teams up for another kind of waiting: I'm waiting to discover what I'm really capable of climbing. It's been a long time since my last serious trip in a place to crush (october 2007 in Ticino): I've been to Meschia in late march, but in hot temps sandstone wasn't the best choice. To be honest I've also been one week in Font, with great success, but I think I missed a bit of a chance there: I should have tried something hard that suited me more than what I've tried, and maybe climbed a bit less in terms of quantity: I came home without having tried Fata Morgana and Le Toit du Greau, two problems that I really want to do, and also I should have dedicated myself more to Salle Gosse, the sit start. It's very very important to choose the right problem for the moment, the mindset, the feelings, when you don't have much time and you're not Keith.

Definitely I learnt something there.

Anyway I had a great time and was pleased to climb some Fb 7b first go after finding the sequence. I often skip other climbers' suggestions about sequences, because it often detracts from the joy of the full discovery process, slowly understanding that it's going to go, finally realizing that you thought according to the rock, that you morphed yourself in order to climb that rock.

I have been training alot in the last 7 months, I have done hard problems, but still I'm not aware of my absolute limits, bar on the fingerboard. I need to apply 100% to something hard that will take everythig from me to be climbed. I need to invest more time, and definitely to climb more and more wisely.

An athlete doesn't do 4 sets of 100 meter sprints before an Olympic 100 meters final. He takes his time, warms up slowly, precisely, scientifically. Ok, without making parallels with Olympic level athletes, I have to be more focused on what I want to achieve as my maximum. I will try to do this with Tom and Rich here.

Session # 4.

It was a brief, power oriented session.

Usual warm up, then assisted one arm max deadhangs (no crimping) on 1 cm edge, x 5, 1 minute rests.

Max deadhangs on the jibs, x 5, 2 minutes rests: this pleased me alot, 8 seconds now!!!

Assisted one armers on the slopers, x 5, 4 minutes rests.

Max deadhangs on bad crimps (full crimped as hell), x 5, two minutes rests.

Curry, shower, bed.

YO.