So… I turned 33 this year.  Each year I’m battling more mild chronic pain, I’m sore longer, and it takes more to warm up.  But… I get smarter, more motivated, and have more experience to build on.  I always try to accomplish something that I couldn’t do the year before.  I’ve done a couple spectacular one day birthday challenges like 30 routes in J-Tree 5.10 or harder, and last year some friends and I led our age in routes in Mesa Rim.  The latter challenge was extra difficult because I did a pyramid of routes from 5.10 to 5.13a.  Most of the routes were 50+’, and it took 6.5 hours.  I didn’t recover for almost a week.  This year, I want to try something a little different.  Erin, a friend in LA, had the goal of 12 5.12s in 2012.  This got the brain rolling a little, as did the pyramid challenge in MR, and I came up with my own little challenge.  I was born in Jan, so I roughly have the calendar year to accomplish this goal: More »

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a thousand pictures must be worth…um…damn it man, I am a linguist.  Its a lot of words.  So watch this… More »

With the recent heat wave, it was pretty much impossible to get a long run in unless I got up at 5am, so I started bouncing the idea of going up Longs Peak around on Friday.
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Glory.
Common Definition:
very great praise, honor, or distinction bestowed by common consent; renown: to win glory on the field of battle.

Actual Definition:
To finish the pullharder.org marathon and drink beer with friends!

Fortunately, glory is close at hand. The second annual pullharder.org marathon is scheduled for October 16th, 2011.
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A random idea spawned by Roberto during a late night drinking session turned into one of the more amazing things that pullharder has ever done.  Pullharder is nothing if not a nexus of pushing limits while having fun.  We know how to push our limits, but it’s often difficult to inspire others to push theirs.  Well, it happened during our First Annual Pullharder Marathon! 
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It is fall now, some people will run to the hills to watch the aspens change colors others will begin the ritual of watching football every weekend with religious dedication.  For those of us who have been stricken with the wonderful sickness that is climbing fall means; sending temps, big climbs and bigger goals.  If we want to accomplish anything this fall and next spring it all begins again! More »

Yup, you heard right: Pullharder is hosting a Marathon, 10 miler and a 10K! Consider this the opportunity of a lifetime. More »

Looking back on this trip all I can remember are the breathtaking views, the phenomenal rock climbing and the laughs, but that is only half of the story.  Be forewarned this is not your typical trip report. More »

Solana Beach, California.  In a garage overlooking the ocean we train wednesday nights at sunset.  Performance is abysmal.   Success is measured in seconds of hanging on, not getting to the top.
Getting your ass off the ground at all is an achievement. More »

A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to check out the new climbing gym in San Diego that we had been hearing about. The main attractions (in my mind) are 52 ft lead walls, top out bouldering walls, a bunch of cracks at different sizes, and a weight room.  Mesa Rim is scheduled for a grand opening on May 22nd. More »

Bad weather in the mountains and at the crags, schedules coalesce, and it’s time for a saturday morning thrashing.

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The long awaited 2nd installment is finally here.  That’s right, last month I got the itch again, sent out the e-mails, and this time an even bigger crew went up for punishment on some of the more heinous offwidths at Mt. Woodson.  Round 2!!!  This time we tried Right Long’s Crack and Greg’s Crack as the main course, with a little Big Grunt for dessert!

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The other day I hatched a plan and started recuiting.  Being surrounded by motivated climbers, I talked four others into my crazy scheme.  We all want to improve our offwidthing so the plan was, head up to Mt. Woodson after work and try some of the more gnarly offwidths up there.  On the ticklist were Right Long’s Crack, Mother Superior, and Greg’s Crack.  As you can see below, at least we were smart enough to tape up.  Check out the video to see if we triumphed or not…

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Last night I checked out Toby’s High Voltage Fitness.   Turned out to be pretty sweet.  The resurrection of WYW?  It was similar but slightly more geared toward bodyweight exercises and away from throwing huge stuff around. More »

Workout: Endurance

Stolen in part from one of Shay’s old workouts, with a few extra reps worked in here and there…

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Workout: Endurance/Power

Good job today guys, and way to Pullhard until the end.  Next week it’s back to timed circuits again…

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Workout: THE KOMMUNIST 2

By: Konstantin, AA for 3/25/09

Sorry for the delay guys… took a while to get this from Konstantin to post… More »

Workout: THE KOMMUNIST

By: Konstantin, AA for 3/18/09

Sorry for the delay guys… took a while to get this from Konstantin to post… More »

Happy April Fools’ Day, bitches. Brought back the timed circuits this week. This was the same work-out we did one year ago. I’m glad we all survived, this was no joke. More »

Workout: Operation Annihilation

WYW is Dead. Get over it. It’s time to Annihilate.  See you at AA on Wednesday, 5 o’clock sharp. More »

Good workout everyone, I just want to mention a couple things. Since we have limited time, we can only do a very basic warm up. If you feel that your not getting stretched out and warmed up enough on the basic warm up, then make sure and come early or do it before you arrive. We do not want anyone to get injured. More »

Warm up:

40 air squats
30 jumping lunges
20 side cruches
20 supermans
25 crunches More »

Workout: Strength

Greek Warm-up: More »

Work-out: Strength

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Musical Chairs was the name of the game today. Works like this. Everyone runs an opening lap on the track and then grabs an open exercise station. Since there are 9 participants and only 7 exercise stations, the 2 losers who missed out on a station must keep running laps until something opens up.  When you have finished a station you immediately run a lap and then find a new exercise station.  Repeat this until you are out of exercises and then keep running laps until everyone is finished. Do not forget to yell obscenities at people who are slacking. More »

Work-out: Power endurance

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Work-out: Grind

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Work Out: Operation Destroy
Each station is performed as a whole for time. One participant per station at a time. The entire circuit of four stations is completed once. Puking entitles you to skip one station of your choice.

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Work-out: HOLIDAY MAKE-OVER (extended power endurance)

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Thanks for coming out and being on time guys.  I think everyone did a great job.

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Work-out: TAKE IT EASY (strength) More »

Work-out: MAGIC TEN (strength, density training)

An exercise is performed for an extended number of rounds at a relatively heavy load, with limited rest.
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Workout: Circuit
We revisited Operation Destroy, having forgotten how much it hurts. It’s amazing how a few minutes of high intensity work can wreck you.
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Workout: Strength

1) Bench press to maximum (Nate: #225, Dan: #275)

2) Deadlift to maximum (Nate: #425, Dan: #365) More »

Workout: Strength, power-endurance
More of last week’s work-out with some modifications. More »

We were aiming to do something a bit more strength-oriented this time.  The idea is to get anaerobic on certain muscles, but then to only allow “active” rest just to mess us up even more. More »

Welcome to the Grind.  After all the running we’ve been doing the last few weeks it was time to just crank out some reps. This week it was grind-time.  No time, no rest, just complete all the reps. More »

Ben and I hit Woodson today with the goal of doing thirty routes.. BLITZKRIEG DAY!!

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I showed up ready to Wreck to find Dan shaking his head and Nate and Charles drinking PBR’s and discussing shots.  Jason showed up then left to go for a run, Dan went to the gym, and I started the first Gym Bowie.  As for the rest of you, I don’t want to hear the lame excuses.   More »

I think we crushed it pretty good. Run approximately 160 meters on the “track” and complete a station, repeat. Keep doing this until you have completed all 6 stations. If you have no stations to go to (cause your done), or one is taken, keep running. If you will notice, there is two less station than participants. Its kinda like a sick and twisted version of musical chairs, except the music does not stop, and nobody fucking wins until everyone is done. Repeat. Repeat three times. More »

For various lame reasons, very few people showed up to wreck today, so we drove over to the gym to throw some iron around. More »

For strength today with some new exercises utilizing suspension techniques (TRX).

4 rounds, 1 minute at each station, 2 minute rest between stations. More »

Run and work is the name of the game. Run approximately 320 meters on the “track” and complete a station. Keep doing this until you have completed all 6 stations. If you have no stations to go to (cause your done), or it is taken, keep running. If you will notice, there is one less station than participants. Its kinda like a sick and twisted version of musical chairs, except the music does not stop, and nobody fucking wins until everyone is done. Repeat. Repeat three times. More »

Workout: Strength More »

Workout: Strength

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Workout: Interval
We changed it up to intervals today.

Workout: More »

Workout: Strength More »

A little core workout to cleanse the soul. More »

Workout: Strength

Warm-up: Barbell complex @ 78#, 89#, 111# More »

Workout: Power endurance

Workout: More »

Workout: Strength & Power

This was a repeat of  Gym Nate 7/18/08 More »

Welcome to the grind. No time, no excuses, just lots and lots of reps. More »

Workout: Strength

Warm-up: 10-9-8-7-…-1 of Push-Up, Pull-Up More »

This week we did time for reps. i.e. complete as many reps in a fixed time.  Highlights this week include the new slosh bar and the hilariously pro-WYW response of the UCSD police that were called to the workout. More »

Workout: Strength & Power More »

Workout: Strength

Warm-up: Barbell complex @ 75#, 85#, 95# More »

Stations were done for time again this week with a small group ready to liberate some of that lunch food that was stowed away in their gut. More »

Workout: Strength

Warm-up: Barbell complex @ #75, #85, #95 (borrowed from the lads at mtnathlete.com) More »

Warmup:
A few pullups and stretching

Workout: Strength/olympic lifts More »

Warm-up:

Pull-ups, decline situps

Workout:

Each set consists of the following exercises. Start at 10 reps per set, then reduce by one by each set. Total number of reps is 55. More »

Back to power again. I think Charles was mad at someone or maybe he just didn’t feel like playing with stop watches. The modus operandi for today was reps…lots and lots of reps. More »

Warm-up:

Pull-ups, light power-cleans

Workout:

Three rounds of: More »

Warmup:
Pullups, light deadlifts, light military press

Workout:
Bench Press (4 sets, failing at 5-10 reps) More »

Enduro circuits again with many of the recent MIA members back in full force. Conditions were warm but tolerable and nobody puked. More »

We changed it up again with enduro circuits for time.  The goal was to work continuously for 7-10 minutes. Other than one station it looks like we achieved that. More »

Swell workout with Nate blowing chunks after a brawl with the tire.  Conditions were a bit damp making the flesh storm a little easier and the tire a little harder.   Next week we are moving to enduro timed circuits.  Prepare yourselves.   More »

Back by popular demand, the stations were done for time this week. It was everything the newcomers to WYW hoped it would be, and it was everything the old-timers knew it would be: absolutely brutal. There were only five of us this week, everyone else had “stuff to do.” More »

We had seven people today so we had three teams of two and Reid volunteered to go solo. The heat factor was back today, adding that extra bit of punishment that we all crave. Added a tire toss this week which had you winded by the end. Nobody puked their guts out, but a fortunate few were close. More »

We brought the tire back today.  It added a much needed out-of-breath abs station.  Next week for time? More »

We had an odd number of people today so we changed it up a bit. Intensity was high and the blood was pumping. More »

We need to make sure that there are no rests between rounds and also limit the amount of rest between different exercises. More »

Strength babay!!!
In a recent change of protocol, we incorporated a strength based workout this week similar to what we did last week. More »

We changed it up again this week. The idea here is everybody works out with a partner. At each station, one person does the main exercise for reps or distance, while the other cranks away on an alternate exercise. If your partner’s going too slow and you’re getting clobbered, you yell at him to hurry the hell up and finish. More »

I am glad we all survived. I will be stoked to mix it up next week. This session certainly defined the word punishment for me. More »

Ho man! What a session. Thought I was going to barf the whole time -brutal. Good to see some new faces out there. Four exercises per circuit definitely adds some more excitement. More »

WYW – Operation Destroy. We had a sick session today. Personal bests were beat in all exercises by all participants. Hell yeah. More »

WYW – Operation Destroy was not without incident this week. Kostas wrecked himself multiple times blowing chunks at least once and Shay crash landed out in the garden after “Flesh Storm”. Nate was KO’d after the 1st round due to soreness and left over fatigue earned on his recent assault of the Northeast Ridge of Lone Pine Peak. Nonetheless, we got our times in and that is all that matters. Good stuff guys – P=G! More »

WYW definitely has a new feel now that we have implemented some of the final changes to the program. We have been moving away from the endurance approach and into more of a true interval training scenario – Operation Destroy. More »

Charles and I got our Monday thrash-on: the idea is higher intensity over shorter bursts of time. It was pretty brutal. Charles is a beast. More »

WYW got somewhat of a makeover this week. I was able to locate a 330lb tire and some weights (Thanks Toby!). Circuit intervals were experimented with as well.Your WYW Summary: More »

In case you are also unable to climb on the weekend, here is an awesome workout I did on Sunday. More »

We have a great new mix with songs to get you pumped up! If you have any good song recommendations let me know so I can get them into the rotation. More »

Ummm….Can you guys keep it down?

Your WYW Summary:

Warm-up run and stretching, 15 minutes. More »

TRAIN TO WIN MOTHER FUCKERS! More »

GET OVER HERE!!!

Your WYW Summary:

Warm-up run and stretching, 15 minutes. More »

Way to go guys! We tore shit up! Gotta love the wonderful weather we had. Very nice turn out as well! More »

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I have invented a new abs workout that I have named “4 steps to greatness.” It is performed as follows: More »

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Nath and I proceeded to wreck ourselves in Canada as soon as I arrived.  We didn’t have the typical contraptions contrived by Charles so we had to make do with what we had – Lots and Lots of SNOW! More »

Try generic brand WYW!  A heaping dose of punishment guaranteed in every serving.  Take once a week on an empty stomach followed by at least two glasses of water and 30 grams of protein.  More »

Since everybody’s out of town this wednesday, WYW did not happen as usual.  But who decided to get wrecked anyway?  I found a badass old gym here in Santa-Fe, New Mexico.  It’s old, old equipment in a warehouse-style.  Arnold probably worked out there in the 70’s.  More »

We were all hoping for some rain to add to the mix but it did not happen. Otherwise, business as usual. More »

“I think I am in a perpetual state of soreness,” remarks Shay, as Kostas thoughtfully readies the “Flesh Storm” exercise. Last minute pre-workout conversations are always cherished before the clock strikes. More »

What a great session! Well, we kicked it up a notch this week by adding a new exercise into the circuit which now makes 8. Up from 7. Christened “South of Heaven”, the tug-of-war-like exercise relies on your ability to reel in 75 feet of knotted climbing rope, hand-over-hand, More »

After months of training, I finally got to run in the “Chancellor’s Challenge 5k Run/Walk” after it was canceled due to fires a month ago. Luckily, race day happened to coincide with a freak rainstorm that dumped over an inch of rain on most of San Diego. Of course, it’s sunny and clear today! More »

A very nice session was had by all. I built a plywood box over my lunch hour to facilitate box jumps. The 22″ x 22″ plywood box serves up a fine leg numbing obstacle when tackled directly after the “flesh storm”. Otherwise business as usual. Looking forward to next week. More »

I am pleased to report another successful WYW.  Complete with spectators and superb punishment.  This weeks workout was carried out under a most excellent live Slayer show played off WYW’s new ghetto blaster, now respectfully deemed, “The Death Box”.  A first ever, the music undoubtedly kicked up the intensity with such songs as Flesh Storm, Raining Blood, I Hate You, Aggressive Perfector, Here Comes the Pain and many others.  As a tribute, we will be renaming the Sled Drag exercise “Flesh Storm”. More »

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You know something bad was happening this week when our beloved dust pit, known as Vertical Hold, had closed its doors on us. So there we were, at Nate and Shay’s, sitting around More »

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The Bear
The woman in the front is Jolie, a climber I know from Fremont. I still say we need to check out Crossfit and try to make our own somehow…..

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This is an exercise I learned at Qualcomm which works the lower abs and lower back. It is especially effective at the conclusion of your workout when you feel you have nothing left. All you do is stay still, how hard can that be?

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Tuesday night cocktails kicked off with a bang. Delicious cocktails were served, followed by wonderful chocolate fondue. In an effort to avoid death by chocolate fondue I got up from the table in order to redeem myself with a little hangboard action.

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