Climbing

Ah yes, climbing, the pain I feel from typing right now after a great quick lunch time climb.  The forearms that are bulging right now due to my terrible form and lack of my use of legs and technique.  But ah, it feels so good, it feels right to be back on the wall.  I decided our next summer was going to be our year of climbing.  We would find people to take with us, we would take Liam and hit the wall.  He will be older, hopefully want to do it as well and we can get better and more accustomed to the outdoors.  I was going to say again, but then I realized we have only climbed outside a handful of times, meaning counting on one hand.  And I'd like to change that.

It's tough here sometimes, to decide what to do, to make the choice and focus on one thing and have it take up most of your time.  There are so many things we want to do, climb, hike, bike, off-road, you name, we want to do it.  So, how do you get good at all the things you want to do?  I decided we need to devote each season to something, pick one thing to really focus on.  It will be able to get us more in shape overall and we will still do other things, but the majority of our focus will be on that one thing.  And for me, next year, it's climbing.  Camping of course goes with that, which is even more exciting.  After all, I am a little upset we haven't been out camping, even just in our own backyard.

I remember we had a busy spring and summer and I am reminded it will tend to always be busy.  I think we will make a few more choices about our trips back to IL, to try and consolodate them a bit more than we did this year.  That'll give us a little more time out here to get a few more things done.  Anyways, back to climbing, ah, I just love it.  It is so much fun to be on the wall, trying to figure out what to do, trying to make a move that just shouldn't happen, tackling the crux.  It always feels so great to make that move, but I tend to learn a great deal more when I miss that move.  I did that today, on a route I had done at least a few times before.  It was frustrating a little disappointing to not complete the route I knew I could complete, but I just didn't have it in me.  I had more climbs under my belt and my arms were a bit more tired.  I slipped off the wall.  I looked at the route from the ground, was sure I could nail it the second time, but nope, just slipped off at the same spot, lacking a wee bit of strength.  And I called it for the day, I huslted up 3 climbs, all right after the other, and tackled a few more out of my league.  I feel it and it feels great.  It just makes me smile to watch my arms tremble with tiredness.  And I can't wait to go back.  I forgot just how addicted to climbing I was for a while and how great it felt.  And how great it will be to be back like that, going at least once a week, maybe more, knowing the more I go, the better and stronger I get, the more I will get out of my workouts.  Ah yes, the pain, the pain is great and I'l thrilled, time to stretch and get some feeling back in my hands, but don't expect this to be my last post about climbing, I have a feeling this is only the beginning!