Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Phil Training



I haven't had a lot of time for blogging recently, which won't always be the case. In the mean time, check out my friend's new blog:

http://philtraining.blogspot.com/

It's new, so not much to look at yet, but will be entertaining, especially for those who like extreme training. Phil trains "for climbing" but he mainly trains for training. We've trained together, on and off, for about 17 years now, and Phil is probably the most diligent person I know when it comes to sticking to a workout program. He's an enigma to most, since his workout is just as, if not more, important than his climbing. This no doubt holds him back when it comes to his climbing resume (but how important is that, really?) but it means that he's very rarely injured and strong as a friggin' ox. As a testament to how hard and precise he trains, not one person has ever completed an entire training cycle trying to keep up with Phil and not been injured.

Phil is the main guy I used to experiment with on diet and training during the early 90s, when no one really knew how to train for climbing. We've got some pretty good stories and I'm sure they'll show up on his blog. So stay tuned.

Photo is of Phil on his route, The Old Pro Skill, Owl Tor, Silly Rock, near Santa Maria, Ca, in 2007. It was originally rated 5.12c but is realistically more like 13b--about standard for the Tor--and is one of the many routes Phils runs laps on as if they were 5.10. I've got plenty of old pics that I'll have to dig up.

1 comment:

Debbie said...

Very cool. I'll be heading over to his blog to check it out. That back is a work of art, if I do say so myself.

How you doing? What are you training for currently? I'm still working on putting together my stealth, under the radar Birthday Challenge. Has to be under the radar, because the naturally prudent Dutch are seriously bumming my training high. They don't get the crazy zen like we do. Real cross cultural stuff. They may have legalized dope, but other than that, they are are lovable tightasses. :)