Monday's run was blissful. The air gliding over my skin and into my face felt crisp and inviting and all I could think of was my old horse lease, Cheval. When the temperature cooled and the damp NY summers fell away, you would think that this 19 year old grandpa was a 2 year old. He had boundless energy and excitement to be working with me. The run wasn't entirely like riding on those perfect cool days, but, it felt so good to be floating. I ran a very reasonable distance from in front of my office to each piece of trail where the gravel trail ended on either side of the building. Maybe 2.5 miles? It's difficult to stop myself when it feels so good to be moving and the weather is so great; and it's even harder to know that I could be running 10 or 12 miles if I'd not screwed my foot up. My foot feels fine (and I'm not surprised, given that the distance was short and I was on the gravel). My knees feel very weak and I'm really looking forward to starting my physical therapy. It's encouraging to consider that I could be running without joint discomfort.
Speaking of, I have my first session tomorrow. In a great turn of luck, the therapist is actually right next door to my office so that's very convenient. I've never done physical therapy, so I'm not actually sure what to expect.
I'm in San Antonio all of next week, which means that I'm going to be pressed for time to run and I'll already be missing a week of therapy. I had so much fun in Denver that I wouldn't have had the time to work out, but fewer people will be in San Antonio and that may mean that there will be fewer social evenings. My girlfriend/co-worker who will actually be running the full marathon with me in January (so jealous) will be there; I know she is motivated to do early morning runs and hopefully she will be a little contagious. I imagine it will still be quite hot, so mornings will be the smart way to go.
I missed yoga last night and I feel that I've abandoned Chuck. My boss had asked me to go to dinner with her in DC (Zaytinya, yum) and she introduced me to this chick who actually works in Senator Kennedy's office, focusing on Health Policy. She was pretty much awesome and I'm pretty psyched on hanging out with her. She's also a marathoner, biker, skier, outdoorsy type, etc. I'm definitely going to hit her up for some fun times. (In my tremendous effort to make girlfriends when I moved to DC, I've actually discovered a whole other realm of fun. Coming from a life of only friends who are boys, it's quite a change: I have several girl friends who I'd actually consider close friends). DC has been so good to me.
I was having breakfast at my little table looking at my view of the cathedral, and I couldn't help but feel this incredibly romantic feeling toward DC. It was such a content moment of absolute...perfect.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Bleah?
Of course, I'm in the situation where a cute stranger has to touch my feet, my knees and he gets to check out all the bruises I acquire from climbing sloppily (on occasion). I mention cute boy doctor because I went to pay him a visit today for my follow up appointment - I say my foot doesn't hurt, he says great, go to physical therapy for your knees. So, I'll be going to physical therapy 3 - 4 times a week and I'm going to start running again. I asked if he thought I might still make the half marathon in January (and I think it's slightly unreasonable to hope for the full without injuring myself again), and he seemed sort of whatever about it. I believe he wanted me to not run until I had a month of physical therapy for the knees behind me. However, 10 weeks of training just wouldn't be enough for me to get in running condition.
Motivation will definitely be harder to come by. The weather is starting to cool now (last night got in to the 30s). I suspect the day time will still be quite nice, but I realize that if I'm not able to run until 5:30 or 6:00 most days, it's going to be colder and windier. Running on the river on Friday was actually quite breezy too, and it was only like 60 degrees. I'm going to try to run on the gravel path on the Potomac consistently, at least until the knees are stronger. Obviously I'll need to do some pavement training, but it can come later. The problem with winter and no snow, for me, is that I like to ski. If it's cold and I can't play in the snow, then I pretty much just want to hibernate in my awesome sleeping bag throughout the winter. Obviously, that has it's draw backs. Last night I read my most recent Rock & Ice issue and came across an article about getting psyched on what you do. The writer explained that he loves climbing, but once late summer hits, motivation sort of fails and progression stops. Another climber suggested he was just not passionate about climbing and that explained his lack of motivation. The writer disagreed (thankfully) and so do I. I'm passionate about most of the things I do - be in horse back riding or running or climbing...but desire to do those things is so strongly tied to the balance of my life and my world. So, the writer suggested the simplest of things: do other stuff. For him it was cooking crazy, complicated dinners for friends. I might try my hand at that. Consider this an invitation for dinner: polenta, white lasagna, ricotta and spinach stuffed shells, orange spiced tofu, chocolate tiramisu with sliced strawberries, English fools...anybody? I have a sense that I may dig my way out of my little rut if I mix things up a little. I should probably also start yoga at Dupont.
And for my weekend report out: I'd gotten sort of excited about having a nothing weekend. Camping didn't pan out (with the dog in my care) and so I opted to stay in. Except it didn't really happen like that since lately I'm not capable of sitting at home doing nothing for more than two hours. I trained myself to that and now I'm complaining about it. I haven't had a lazy day in a long time, but it's pretty cool, really. Friday I went for my short run, which felt pretty much good. I also went to REI, saw Burn After Reading and ate at a terrible diner in Arlington with a girlfriend. That night didn't end until around 2:00 AM.
I actually managed to sleep until 11 the next morning, which is amazing. The day was gorgeous. I took Melman for a long walk along the river and (very clearly against his wishes) laid in the grass for an hour while he stood around uncomfortably. I don't think he even knows how to sun bathe. I did some work from the apartment in the afternoon, watched crappy Saturday afternoon TV, and went on to Pentagon City Mall in the early evening I don't understand how the mall works as it was insanely packed. It felt like Christmas shopping already. A friend reminded me that if zombie movies had taught him anything, it was that malls are full of potential weapons. I had to stifle my imagination. From the mall, I went on to Georgetown to hang out with my brother and his wife, and their school mates. I let go of feeling lame for not working out on Saturday after I spent 2 and half hours dancing my ass off at Third Edition and Paper Moon.
I ended up getting in bed at 3:00, but I was awake and (not) very chipper Sunday at 8. We went out to Crescent Rock in WV and climbed for a couple hours. The day was fantastic: it was easy to warm up and the hike out was definitely a work out. I have new found respect for the pack carriers! As far as the actual climbing went: I got to be the first one up all day, which is interesting but makes things more challenging for me! My first climb was good (although as is the norm, it's a climb that scares me all the way till the end and only after I've sent it do I breathe again), and the other routes were only eh. The pizza route was still a pain in the ass and I'm thoroughly annoyed that I haven't sent it clean yet - although I got a good piece of beta to just ignore the pizza hold and lay back on the hold that's directly left of the pizza. I did the lay back the second time around and it felt SOOOO much better. I need to figure out how to climb lay backs better, as it's not something I've done much and apparently it doesn't really exist in the gym. I did the 5.8 and the 5.9 variation of the route, and although the 5.9 presents a different set of challenges and scares me a lot at the top third, it's awesome and I'd rather climb it any day over the 8. Next time I go out to Crescent, I'm taking a machete and I'm going to town on the damn briers. It's all quite overgrown.
I'm off dog duty after I pay an afternoon visit to Melman - I'm going to take a short run after work and then head to the grocery store for some real food. And, the best part of my day will likely be getting in my own bed for the evening!!! I'll have slept in my own bed only 12 nights by the 31st of October between Denver, San Antonio and dog sitting. I can't believe October is almost over (or the year, even).
Motivation will definitely be harder to come by. The weather is starting to cool now (last night got in to the 30s). I suspect the day time will still be quite nice, but I realize that if I'm not able to run until 5:30 or 6:00 most days, it's going to be colder and windier. Running on the river on Friday was actually quite breezy too, and it was only like 60 degrees. I'm going to try to run on the gravel path on the Potomac consistently, at least until the knees are stronger. Obviously I'll need to do some pavement training, but it can come later. The problem with winter and no snow, for me, is that I like to ski. If it's cold and I can't play in the snow, then I pretty much just want to hibernate in my awesome sleeping bag throughout the winter. Obviously, that has it's draw backs. Last night I read my most recent Rock & Ice issue and came across an article about getting psyched on what you do. The writer explained that he loves climbing, but once late summer hits, motivation sort of fails and progression stops. Another climber suggested he was just not passionate about climbing and that explained his lack of motivation. The writer disagreed (thankfully) and so do I. I'm passionate about most of the things I do - be in horse back riding or running or climbing...but desire to do those things is so strongly tied to the balance of my life and my world. So, the writer suggested the simplest of things: do other stuff. For him it was cooking crazy, complicated dinners for friends. I might try my hand at that. Consider this an invitation for dinner: polenta, white lasagna, ricotta and spinach stuffed shells, orange spiced tofu, chocolate tiramisu with sliced strawberries, English fools...anybody? I have a sense that I may dig my way out of my little rut if I mix things up a little. I should probably also start yoga at Dupont.
And for my weekend report out: I'd gotten sort of excited about having a nothing weekend. Camping didn't pan out (with the dog in my care) and so I opted to stay in. Except it didn't really happen like that since lately I'm not capable of sitting at home doing nothing for more than two hours. I trained myself to that and now I'm complaining about it. I haven't had a lazy day in a long time, but it's pretty cool, really. Friday I went for my short run, which felt pretty much good. I also went to REI, saw Burn After Reading and ate at a terrible diner in Arlington with a girlfriend. That night didn't end until around 2:00 AM.
I actually managed to sleep until 11 the next morning, which is amazing. The day was gorgeous. I took Melman for a long walk along the river and (very clearly against his wishes) laid in the grass for an hour while he stood around uncomfortably. I don't think he even knows how to sun bathe. I did some work from the apartment in the afternoon, watched crappy Saturday afternoon TV, and went on to Pentagon City Mall in the early evening I don't understand how the mall works as it was insanely packed. It felt like Christmas shopping already. A friend reminded me that if zombie movies had taught him anything, it was that malls are full of potential weapons. I had to stifle my imagination. From the mall, I went on to Georgetown to hang out with my brother and his wife, and their school mates. I let go of feeling lame for not working out on Saturday after I spent 2 and half hours dancing my ass off at Third Edition and Paper Moon.
I ended up getting in bed at 3:00, but I was awake and (not) very chipper Sunday at 8. We went out to Crescent Rock in WV and climbed for a couple hours. The day was fantastic: it was easy to warm up and the hike out was definitely a work out. I have new found respect for the pack carriers! As far as the actual climbing went: I got to be the first one up all day, which is interesting but makes things more challenging for me! My first climb was good (although as is the norm, it's a climb that scares me all the way till the end and only after I've sent it do I breathe again), and the other routes were only eh. The pizza route was still a pain in the ass and I'm thoroughly annoyed that I haven't sent it clean yet - although I got a good piece of beta to just ignore the pizza hold and lay back on the hold that's directly left of the pizza. I did the lay back the second time around and it felt SOOOO much better. I need to figure out how to climb lay backs better, as it's not something I've done much and apparently it doesn't really exist in the gym. I did the 5.8 and the 5.9 variation of the route, and although the 5.9 presents a different set of challenges and scares me a lot at the top third, it's awesome and I'd rather climb it any day over the 8. Next time I go out to Crescent, I'm taking a machete and I'm going to town on the damn briers. It's all quite overgrown.
I'm off dog duty after I pay an afternoon visit to Melman - I'm going to take a short run after work and then head to the grocery store for some real food. And, the best part of my day will likely be getting in my own bed for the evening!!! I'll have slept in my own bed only 12 nights by the 31st of October between Denver, San Antonio and dog sitting. I can't believe October is almost over (or the year, even).
Friday, October 17, 2008
Back to the Grind
I've come around a little bit...I'm exhausted but at least I feel all of my muscles whining and I've done something besides be a slob.
Monday, I bailed on yoga and decided to sit around and do nothing. I needed to do nothing, but I didn't end up sleeping a lot so it didn't really do anything. Tuesday, I went out for my friend's birthday and we had a pretty ridiculously good time.
Finally, Wednesday came around and I hit up the gym. One of my climbing buddies was able to make it, so we top roped for a good portion of the evening. On Wednesday, I still thought I might make it out to Seneca to camp and climb, so I had the notion that I ought to up my endurance a little with two days of climbing in a row. I didn't climb a lot on Wednesday, but I climbed pretty hard stuff. There is this one burly 5.9 that I fought with a lot last time, and this time I was so close to sending it clean. I had to take once and that happened because I just wasn't paying enough attention - the hold that I needed most was sort of hidden from me and it took me all of 30 seconds to realize it. Had I been paying more attention, it would have gone quite nicely. Plus, there is this sweet move on the route where I've got a lot of my weight on my left leg, and I'm holding the arete and I end up heel/ankle hooking on this gross sloper with my right leg...and that leg has to pull me up into a stand to reach this shitty top right hand hold. It's pretty much my favorite sequence ever. Very cool stuff. I also tried the 10 right next to it (again) and I made a fair amount of progress on it. The top of the route juts out at a good angle and by the time I get there I am so pumped out, but I figure in a few weeks I should be able to kick it. 2 of my 3 climber boy crushes were at the gym that night, and I'm steadily more interested in one of them. I shared the information with my buddy and she cautioned me against "shitting where I eat." I love that line. Of course, she's totally right.
Thursday, I took advantage of Spa Week and got a 60 minute deep tissue massage and only paid $50 (half the price). I was so psyched on the massage, but it was basically the worst one I've ever had. Not that I'm a massage snob, but it was just crap. I've always had dudes massaging me, which for a while was weird but I have grown to prefer them. They're stronger and they're better at working out the kinks. The woman who worked on me yesterday didn't do anything with her hands: she just rolled her arm up and down my back like a rolling pin. When it came to working on my knots, she just poked at them repeatedly with her index finger. It hurt. I know deep tissue massages are a little bit painful - it's what I always get. But this was just downright painful and not relaxing. Disappointing. I went to the gym for my day 2 of climbing after the massage and I had to briefly debate between climbing and yoga. I wasn't sure if my climbing buddy was going to show up, but in the end he did and so I bouldered for a little while and then went to yoga. The bouldering was frustrating since they changed up all the routes (like all of them, which is usually cool, but they took down all my projects!). It was a smart thing to stop climbing when I did because my elbows are a little annoyed, to say the least. I hadn't bouldered in a good while, and V2s I could have normally sent were a bit more challenging than usual. None of my boy crushes was there last night, which was a little disappointing but, oh well.
Yoga was absurd...I didn't get Chuck, since he teaches on Tuesdays. Thursday is Liz. She did sun salutations over and over and over and it was just exhausting. She taught a good class and she was really helpful in making the poses the best possible, but it was a total killer. I'm a big fan of pigeon pose...it is pretty much the best hip opener ever. She also did this modified pigeon pose where you point your back foot up, you hook it in your elbow and then you connect both hands overhead. Very cool stuff. It wasn't my favorite class ever, but I can definitely give credit to Liz for one really awesome thing: during savasana she walked around and gave out neck/shoulder massages. How awesome is that? The brief massage was better than what Maria, the Brazilian masseur, had done just a few hours earlier.
Last night after the gym, I went home to pick up some stuff for the weekend, since I'm still out in Alexandria dog sitting. Given the pleasant coolness of the weather, I picked up my running shoes. I'm going to go for a short little jog after work. It's silly to think that I might only run 10 or 20 minutes, but that's what I'm going to need to do. Supposedly, I'm not to be running until I get the food checked again by cute boy doctor on the 20th. (Don't tell anyone I'm breaking the rules; my mother will get mad). I should probably figure out if the foot still hurts anyway, and it hasn't hurt at all in weeks. I felt so happy picking up my running shoes...I just hope shit cooperates. Hope hope hope.
Monday, I bailed on yoga and decided to sit around and do nothing. I needed to do nothing, but I didn't end up sleeping a lot so it didn't really do anything. Tuesday, I went out for my friend's birthday and we had a pretty ridiculously good time.
Finally, Wednesday came around and I hit up the gym. One of my climbing buddies was able to make it, so we top roped for a good portion of the evening. On Wednesday, I still thought I might make it out to Seneca to camp and climb, so I had the notion that I ought to up my endurance a little with two days of climbing in a row. I didn't climb a lot on Wednesday, but I climbed pretty hard stuff. There is this one burly 5.9 that I fought with a lot last time, and this time I was so close to sending it clean. I had to take once and that happened because I just wasn't paying enough attention - the hold that I needed most was sort of hidden from me and it took me all of 30 seconds to realize it. Had I been paying more attention, it would have gone quite nicely. Plus, there is this sweet move on the route where I've got a lot of my weight on my left leg, and I'm holding the arete and I end up heel/ankle hooking on this gross sloper with my right leg...and that leg has to pull me up into a stand to reach this shitty top right hand hold. It's pretty much my favorite sequence ever. Very cool stuff. I also tried the 10 right next to it (again) and I made a fair amount of progress on it. The top of the route juts out at a good angle and by the time I get there I am so pumped out, but I figure in a few weeks I should be able to kick it. 2 of my 3 climber boy crushes were at the gym that night, and I'm steadily more interested in one of them. I shared the information with my buddy and she cautioned me against "shitting where I eat." I love that line. Of course, she's totally right.
Thursday, I took advantage of Spa Week and got a 60 minute deep tissue massage and only paid $50 (half the price). I was so psyched on the massage, but it was basically the worst one I've ever had. Not that I'm a massage snob, but it was just crap. I've always had dudes massaging me, which for a while was weird but I have grown to prefer them. They're stronger and they're better at working out the kinks. The woman who worked on me yesterday didn't do anything with her hands: she just rolled her arm up and down my back like a rolling pin. When it came to working on my knots, she just poked at them repeatedly with her index finger. It hurt. I know deep tissue massages are a little bit painful - it's what I always get. But this was just downright painful and not relaxing. Disappointing. I went to the gym for my day 2 of climbing after the massage and I had to briefly debate between climbing and yoga. I wasn't sure if my climbing buddy was going to show up, but in the end he did and so I bouldered for a little while and then went to yoga. The bouldering was frustrating since they changed up all the routes (like all of them, which is usually cool, but they took down all my projects!). It was a smart thing to stop climbing when I did because my elbows are a little annoyed, to say the least. I hadn't bouldered in a good while, and V2s I could have normally sent were a bit more challenging than usual. None of my boy crushes was there last night, which was a little disappointing but, oh well.
Yoga was absurd...I didn't get Chuck, since he teaches on Tuesdays. Thursday is Liz. She did sun salutations over and over and over and it was just exhausting. She taught a good class and she was really helpful in making the poses the best possible, but it was a total killer. I'm a big fan of pigeon pose...it is pretty much the best hip opener ever. She also did this modified pigeon pose where you point your back foot up, you hook it in your elbow and then you connect both hands overhead. Very cool stuff. It wasn't my favorite class ever, but I can definitely give credit to Liz for one really awesome thing: during savasana she walked around and gave out neck/shoulder massages. How awesome is that? The brief massage was better than what Maria, the Brazilian masseur, had done just a few hours earlier.
Last night after the gym, I went home to pick up some stuff for the weekend, since I'm still out in Alexandria dog sitting. Given the pleasant coolness of the weather, I picked up my running shoes. I'm going to go for a short little jog after work. It's silly to think that I might only run 10 or 20 minutes, but that's what I'm going to need to do. Supposedly, I'm not to be running until I get the food checked again by cute boy doctor on the 20th. (Don't tell anyone I'm breaking the rules; my mother will get mad). I should probably figure out if the foot still hurts anyway, and it hasn't hurt at all in weeks. I felt so happy picking up my running shoes...I just hope shit cooperates. Hope hope hope.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Bleah
I'm having a shitty day, self-wise. I'm not sleeping as soundly as I want to because I'm not exercising enough...and I'm eating out all the damn time so I feel disgusting...gross gross gross. I hadn't had such a hard time getting out of bed to go to work in the morning since I left SI.
I really like the balance of my life where I exercise so much that I can and have to eat like an athlete and it's all good...I do not like the balance of my life where I eat like a slob just because. I don't believe in dieting, really. I believe in exercising enough to offset the deliciousness that I consume. I fell off the band-wagon right when I stopped running. Fortunately, I have my next doctor's appointment on the 20th. Hopefully he'll say something like: "hey your foot looks fantastic - go run your ass off." And then I will. He'll put me into his little physical therapy sessions to make that grinding in my knees less annoying...and I'll essentially live happily ever after. Can't wait. The days just go better when I'm physically exhausted.
I may buy the bike this weekend or early next week. That should help with the disgusting.
I say early next week because we might go camping this weekend. The issue is: I'm dog sitting for this very Melman like character...(remember the giraffe from Madagascar?). Well, he's really pretty weird as far as dogs go, but I think he's chill enough (or uncomfortable enough) that he would do OK on a camping trip. My concern is, if we were to climb at Seneca Rocks, he'd have to hang out at the bottom of the cliff, alone, for like 3 or 4 hours since it's a 300 foot climb. Even then, I think he'd be fine...but if there were a lot of other people around I'd have concerns with him being alone without us. Shame he's not a climbing dog. Side note - when I get my own dog, she's totally going to be the type who comes to the cliffs with me...runs with me (I'm excited about having a running dog) and potentially runs around the farm while I ride. Of course that would mean that I'm going to have that farm with horses one day too.
I'm cool with just camping somewhere else, but I feel like the opportunities to climb Seneca are going to be fewer and farther between as we head into rainy Fall season and I really want to see a few different places before I'm committed to being indoors for the season.
One thing that makes me really happy is the conclusion that I spent enough time outdoors this season: my hair is a little bit blonder. That hadn't happened in a really long time. I suppose I hadn't been outside as much as I used to be in years. Go figure.
I really like the balance of my life where I exercise so much that I can and have to eat like an athlete and it's all good...I do not like the balance of my life where I eat like a slob just because. I don't believe in dieting, really. I believe in exercising enough to offset the deliciousness that I consume. I fell off the band-wagon right when I stopped running. Fortunately, I have my next doctor's appointment on the 20th. Hopefully he'll say something like: "hey your foot looks fantastic - go run your ass off." And then I will. He'll put me into his little physical therapy sessions to make that grinding in my knees less annoying...and I'll essentially live happily ever after. Can't wait. The days just go better when I'm physically exhausted.
I may buy the bike this weekend or early next week. That should help with the disgusting.
I say early next week because we might go camping this weekend. The issue is: I'm dog sitting for this very Melman like character...(remember the giraffe from Madagascar?). Well, he's really pretty weird as far as dogs go, but I think he's chill enough (or uncomfortable enough) that he would do OK on a camping trip. My concern is, if we were to climb at Seneca Rocks, he'd have to hang out at the bottom of the cliff, alone, for like 3 or 4 hours since it's a 300 foot climb. Even then, I think he'd be fine...but if there were a lot of other people around I'd have concerns with him being alone without us. Shame he's not a climbing dog. Side note - when I get my own dog, she's totally going to be the type who comes to the cliffs with me...runs with me (I'm excited about having a running dog) and potentially runs around the farm while I ride. Of course that would mean that I'm going to have that farm with horses one day too.
I'm cool with just camping somewhere else, but I feel like the opportunities to climb Seneca are going to be fewer and farther between as we head into rainy Fall season and I really want to see a few different places before I'm committed to being indoors for the season.
One thing that makes me really happy is the conclusion that I spent enough time outdoors this season: my hair is a little bit blonder. That hadn't happened in a really long time. I suppose I hadn't been outside as much as I used to be in years. Go figure.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Stellar Weekend
So I had a pretty money weekend. Friday evening I went to the gym and met up with my most consistent climbing buddy. She ended up coming in later than me, so I got 12 routes in, as opposed to my usual 10. It was...a little ridiculous to say the least. I was EXHAUSTED from the last couple weeks and travel, etc, but just being at the gym gave me a little extra energy. I climbed pretty hard, and tried out a few routes I hadn't climbed before. I got this new 5.9 down - it was a a pretty burly, man-esque climb and I loved it. My partner suggested the 10 right next to it and it was basically stupid. I've finished other 10s before and I actually made a pretty good attempt at this one, but the climb was all upper body work. It's another project to work on and it was very late in the evening and I couldn't have expected to make that work. After the gym, we went to the Shenandoah brew pub where I tried this hoppy pale ale that was actually quite alright. I'm not super psyched on beers yet anyway, but I do appreciate that post-climb beer.
Saturday, I visited Georgetown with a friend and we rented canoes to play around on the Potomac. We didn't paddle very far, but we crossed the river and picnicked and basically just floated around. The little paddling that we did do got my shoulders all warm and active - fortunately the girl I paddled with was a better paddler than I was and she could actually steer. It worked out well. After paddling, we walked around Georgetown. We'd initially palnned on partcipating in Taste of Georgetown but the crowds were just annoying and we opted for lunch at a French restaurant. I had two cups of this super refreshing gazpacho and I decided I wanted to come up with my own recipe soon. By the end of the day, I'd ended up walking all over town and probably covered 3 or 4 miles of Georgetown. And, I went to the tattoo place where I think I might get Pete, my gecko, done.
Sunday, the climbing crew went out to Seclusion in Great Falls. We mixed in with another climbing party and had like 6 different routes available. The day was PERFECT. It was really sunny but not insanely hot... just warm enough to go shirtless to work on the tan. I climbed only OK but was thrilled to just be outside. On this one route, 5.8, I was moving right along just fine until I came to this little roof that was a bit tricky. I was sort of pressing on until this monster spider came out of a crack...now I'm not really a pansy with bugs and things that creep and crawl (and for the most part I really like them) but he was just big and hairy and in the middle of my route. Of course I fell and I had to explain myself...I god made fun of, of course. Stupid spider.
I'm super sore now, but I feel good about the entire weekend. This week I'll be doing Monday yoga and Wednesday climbing...I have hopes that the weekend will include a camping trip out to Seneca with the climbing people...I still haven't managed to try out my new tent, which makes me bonkers. Hopefully the weather holds out and we can spend another weekend outside!
Saturday, I visited Georgetown with a friend and we rented canoes to play around on the Potomac. We didn't paddle very far, but we crossed the river and picnicked and basically just floated around. The little paddling that we did do got my shoulders all warm and active - fortunately the girl I paddled with was a better paddler than I was and she could actually steer. It worked out well. After paddling, we walked around Georgetown. We'd initially palnned on partcipating in Taste of Georgetown but the crowds were just annoying and we opted for lunch at a French restaurant. I had two cups of this super refreshing gazpacho and I decided I wanted to come up with my own recipe soon. By the end of the day, I'd ended up walking all over town and probably covered 3 or 4 miles of Georgetown. And, I went to the tattoo place where I think I might get Pete, my gecko, done.
Sunday, the climbing crew went out to Seclusion in Great Falls. We mixed in with another climbing party and had like 6 different routes available. The day was PERFECT. It was really sunny but not insanely hot... just warm enough to go shirtless to work on the tan. I climbed only OK but was thrilled to just be outside. On this one route, 5.8, I was moving right along just fine until I came to this little roof that was a bit tricky. I was sort of pressing on until this monster spider came out of a crack...now I'm not really a pansy with bugs and things that creep and crawl (and for the most part I really like them) but he was just big and hairy and in the middle of my route. Of course I fell and I had to explain myself...I god made fun of, of course. Stupid spider.
I'm super sore now, but I feel good about the entire weekend. This week I'll be doing Monday yoga and Wednesday climbing...I have hopes that the weekend will include a camping trip out to Seneca with the climbing people...I still haven't managed to try out my new tent, which makes me bonkers. Hopefully the weather holds out and we can spend another weekend outside!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Back Home
I had a blast in Colorado. Climbing and playing all weekend was pretty much awesome (although I recently attributed the challenges on climbing at the canyon in part to the change in altitude + the lack of sleep/hydration/food). In any case, the week led to more awesomeness. The hotel was quite fun, the group of people I was with was brilliant (and I'm so saturated on United Way) and all of the extra curricular fun that went on outside of work was great. I visited the REI Flagship store twice and it was just fantastic...the building is gorgeous, the inventory was ridiculous, the location was perfect. I also visited the Patagonia store - I could completely outfit myself at Patagonia.
I spent the entire week mostly indoors so I took advantage of free time as much as possible. I walked almost every day to offset the insane eating we did all week. I noticed a serious sluggishness to myself when I put myself in a situation that's very different from my normal weeks.
For the social side of things: Monday I walked to REI with a friend and then we had overpriced drinks at the hotel bar. Tuesday we went to trivia night at a local bar, and Wednesday we went to dinner with all the early childhood team and then karaoke! I had so much fun. Karaoke was just plain silly and it was embarrassing to realize that other people were actually singing because they were talented - I, of course, am not a talented singer.
Tomorrow, I'm heading to the gym after work to try to work through some of this serious climbing craving I am having (a combination between being in CO, not climbing all week and getting Rock & Ice in the mail). I wanted to go camping this weekend and finally use my new tent, but it seems like everyone has too much other shit going on. I briefly considered going alone, since the weather is supposed to be good and I am still dying for sun light, but I don't know if I'm up for something like that. I've never camped alone...is there a reason not to? I dunno.
Sunday we'll hopefully get outside, maybe to Seneca if we have enough leaders amongst us, or to Great Falls.
I may go for a short run on Monday. My knees have been bothering me all week, for no apparent reason.
Being out in Colorado confirmed that skiing is too much a part of what makes me happy to not be doing it all the time. I would have hopes to be living out there in two years. I love DC alot and the notion of leaving sort of bums me out, but maybe in two years? I would be skiing, climbing and riding...I am already fantasizing about working at one of the mountains and being a hippie. Denver and Boulder hippie-dom so very appealed to me. We'll see.
I spent the entire week mostly indoors so I took advantage of free time as much as possible. I walked almost every day to offset the insane eating we did all week. I noticed a serious sluggishness to myself when I put myself in a situation that's very different from my normal weeks.
For the social side of things: Monday I walked to REI with a friend and then we had overpriced drinks at the hotel bar. Tuesday we went to trivia night at a local bar, and Wednesday we went to dinner with all the early childhood team and then karaoke! I had so much fun. Karaoke was just plain silly and it was embarrassing to realize that other people were actually singing because they were talented - I, of course, am not a talented singer.
Tomorrow, I'm heading to the gym after work to try to work through some of this serious climbing craving I am having (a combination between being in CO, not climbing all week and getting Rock & Ice in the mail). I wanted to go camping this weekend and finally use my new tent, but it seems like everyone has too much other shit going on. I briefly considered going alone, since the weather is supposed to be good and I am still dying for sun light, but I don't know if I'm up for something like that. I've never camped alone...is there a reason not to? I dunno.
Sunday we'll hopefully get outside, maybe to Seneca if we have enough leaders amongst us, or to Great Falls.
I may go for a short run on Monday. My knees have been bothering me all week, for no apparent reason.
Being out in Colorado confirmed that skiing is too much a part of what makes me happy to not be doing it all the time. I would have hopes to be living out there in two years. I love DC alot and the notion of leaving sort of bums me out, but maybe in two years? I would be skiing, climbing and riding...I am already fantasizing about working at one of the mountains and being a hippie. Denver and Boulder hippie-dom so very appealed to me. We'll see.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Boulder
So this a little different that my norm...rather than share what I'm doing to work out, I'll share my experience in Boulder over the past weekend.
I flew out from DC to Denver airport after a particularly stressful week at work. I got in to the airport around 7:30 and we headed straight to Pearl Street in Boulder. I had a ridiculous potato burrito at Illegal Pete's (totally different from Bombers, but absolutely fantastic on a totally different level). The night led to various shenanigans across Pearl Street and it was all sorts of fantastic. We didn't end up getting home till 3:30. Sleep was brief and interrupted, and we ended up going fro breakfast at this fantastic place at 8:30...I has a guacamole/tomato/cheddar omelet. I know it sounds weird, but it was excellent! Course I spent most of the day sick to my stomach, but ultimately, it was worth it.
I'd really wanted to climb out here but had serious doubts about the commitment my friends might put into it - fortunately, one of the guys (who I wasn't particularly close with at RPI, but I had hung out with briefly) has been climbing like a beast and suggest a trip out to Boulder Canyon. Absolutely gorgeous. We climbed Avalon and Watermark. All of the climbs were fantastic. Dry, fun, challenging and pretty different from my East Coast experiences. I actually did my first lead belay, and lead my first sport route at 5.7 Leading the sport route was really interesting. The route was easy and something I knew I could go, but it made my climb sooo much more deliberate and calculated. Certain things that I hadn't thought of were complicated - for example, if I were to ever climb something harder than a 5.7 I'd have to practice clipping in the rope one handed. I had great feet all over the place so clipping in two handed was totally doable, but going one handed was a little more challenging.
I also committed a fairly large fuck up: at the top, the route shared anchor bolts with the route to the left of it. I yelled down to my belayer whether I should be using a different set of quick draws, but apparently my question was not understood and I ended up clipping my rope through the same set that the other rope was on. It certainly was not clear to me, and after hearing the explanation (nylon rubbing nylon = bad) I totally understand my fuck up and apologized profusely. Still, I felt pretty stupid and it took a little away from the sense of accomplishment I felt at climbing my first sport route.
The other climbs were pretty awesome and I felt that I'd had a pretty solid day of Boulder climbing. Lead belaying was pretty simple and straight forward and I'm glad to have done it. The weather was less than fantastic: it doesn't rain in Colorado, but it did this weekend. The temperature dropped a ton while we were out in the canyon and I was thrilled that the guy who took me climbing had this crazy huge down jacket. Being a bit dehydrated and not having tons of snacks with me meant that I was NOT feeling in top shape.
Saturday evening involved delicious sushi, quiet hanging out and lots of sleeping to make up for the night before. Sunday involved serious abuse and pain from my most loving friend, and eventually I came out the hotel in Denver where I'll be for the next 4 days. I went to dinner with my co-worker and her little sister (who, by the way, is living a parallel life with me, go figure). Magianno's was fantastic - fried zucchini is still as good as it ever was and I got a little nostalgic for my Atlanta vacations. Back in my room, I did some work for the meeting this week.
Boulder and Denver are pretty wonderful...I have to say that Colorado appeals to me. If I lived here, I'd probably be skiing like an animal, climbing after work and I could potentially see riding (horse) come back into my life. There are horse barns everywhere. I love DC so much and I'm no where near ready to leave, nor do I see that happening for a few years, but I can see Boulder in my future. I just have to figure out where Seattle, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Rome and Australia (at large) factor in to the times and order that I want to live in these places.
Ahi quedamos.
I flew out from DC to Denver airport after a particularly stressful week at work. I got in to the airport around 7:30 and we headed straight to Pearl Street in Boulder. I had a ridiculous potato burrito at Illegal Pete's (totally different from Bombers, but absolutely fantastic on a totally different level). The night led to various shenanigans across Pearl Street and it was all sorts of fantastic. We didn't end up getting home till 3:30. Sleep was brief and interrupted, and we ended up going fro breakfast at this fantastic place at 8:30...I has a guacamole/tomato/cheddar omelet. I know it sounds weird, but it was excellent! Course I spent most of the day sick to my stomach, but ultimately, it was worth it.
I'd really wanted to climb out here but had serious doubts about the commitment my friends might put into it - fortunately, one of the guys (who I wasn't particularly close with at RPI, but I had hung out with briefly) has been climbing like a beast and suggest a trip out to Boulder Canyon. Absolutely gorgeous. We climbed Avalon and Watermark. All of the climbs were fantastic. Dry, fun, challenging and pretty different from my East Coast experiences. I actually did my first lead belay, and lead my first sport route at 5.7 Leading the sport route was really interesting. The route was easy and something I knew I could go, but it made my climb sooo much more deliberate and calculated. Certain things that I hadn't thought of were complicated - for example, if I were to ever climb something harder than a 5.7 I'd have to practice clipping in the rope one handed. I had great feet all over the place so clipping in two handed was totally doable, but going one handed was a little more challenging.
I also committed a fairly large fuck up: at the top, the route shared anchor bolts with the route to the left of it. I yelled down to my belayer whether I should be using a different set of quick draws, but apparently my question was not understood and I ended up clipping my rope through the same set that the other rope was on. It certainly was not clear to me, and after hearing the explanation (nylon rubbing nylon = bad) I totally understand my fuck up and apologized profusely. Still, I felt pretty stupid and it took a little away from the sense of accomplishment I felt at climbing my first sport route.
The other climbs were pretty awesome and I felt that I'd had a pretty solid day of Boulder climbing. Lead belaying was pretty simple and straight forward and I'm glad to have done it. The weather was less than fantastic: it doesn't rain in Colorado, but it did this weekend. The temperature dropped a ton while we were out in the canyon and I was thrilled that the guy who took me climbing had this crazy huge down jacket. Being a bit dehydrated and not having tons of snacks with me meant that I was NOT feeling in top shape.
Saturday evening involved delicious sushi, quiet hanging out and lots of sleeping to make up for the night before. Sunday involved serious abuse and pain from my most loving friend, and eventually I came out the hotel in Denver where I'll be for the next 4 days. I went to dinner with my co-worker and her little sister (who, by the way, is living a parallel life with me, go figure). Magianno's was fantastic - fried zucchini is still as good as it ever was and I got a little nostalgic for my Atlanta vacations. Back in my room, I did some work for the meeting this week.
Boulder and Denver are pretty wonderful...I have to say that Colorado appeals to me. If I lived here, I'd probably be skiing like an animal, climbing after work and I could potentially see riding (horse) come back into my life. There are horse barns everywhere. I love DC so much and I'm no where near ready to leave, nor do I see that happening for a few years, but I can see Boulder in my future. I just have to figure out where Seattle, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Rome and Australia (at large) factor in to the times and order that I want to live in these places.
Ahi quedamos.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That
Fact is, today was not my best in climbing. I mean it was, and it wasn't. I sent my first 5.9 clean and that was a pretty cool accomplishment. I also did the start of a route that involved some lateral dynamic movement, which I'd never done before. I was pretty impressed that I could actually make that start move. I ended up doing it like 5 times (just the start) and used a lot of my energy trying to make it stick. Next time I climb, I'm going to try that route again when I'm a little fresher and I can actually move forward after the start.
I got to the gym at 6 and ended up being there (actually climbing and not just hanging out) until 8:30. I have no idea how many routes I climbed, but I'm exhausted. I started the evening feeling downright shitty: I think I was starting to have a tension headache coming up from my shoulders and into neck/head. My sensibility to go home and sleep was ignored, and instead I took out my psychotic work week stress on climbs. It was a good decision indeed. My shoulders and neck are still really achy, but I have let go of all the frustration that came from my office. My abs and hip flexors are out of wack. Yesterday's yoga practice was just absurd to the point that my abdominals and hip flexors don't want to work right now.
I lost a fair amount of skin on a sand papery jug...it was such a solid hold and I couldn't get my feet where I wanted them...ultimately it came down to me staying on route by the skin on my right ring finger. I should have stopped climbing then, but I persisted and actually got my flapper to bleed. I found that impressive. Deeelicious.
While I had some awesome successes, the rest of the night was sorta messy: I pumped my arms out rather quickly, my feet were sloppy and my fingers were just whiny. Thankfully, I had a patient belayer, and he had a patient grigri.
All of my climbing boy crushes were at the gym tonight (all three of them). What a great pile of man candy. I love climbing.
It's just skin:
I got to the gym at 6 and ended up being there (actually climbing and not just hanging out) until 8:30. I have no idea how many routes I climbed, but I'm exhausted. I started the evening feeling downright shitty: I think I was starting to have a tension headache coming up from my shoulders and into neck/head. My sensibility to go home and sleep was ignored, and instead I took out my psychotic work week stress on climbs. It was a good decision indeed. My shoulders and neck are still really achy, but I have let go of all the frustration that came from my office. My abs and hip flexors are out of wack. Yesterday's yoga practice was just absurd to the point that my abdominals and hip flexors don't want to work right now.
I lost a fair amount of skin on a sand papery jug...it was such a solid hold and I couldn't get my feet where I wanted them...ultimately it came down to me staying on route by the skin on my right ring finger. I should have stopped climbing then, but I persisted and actually got my flapper to bleed. I found that impressive. Deeelicious.
While I had some awesome successes, the rest of the night was sorta messy: I pumped my arms out rather quickly, my feet were sloppy and my fingers were just whiny. Thankfully, I had a patient belayer, and he had a patient grigri.
All of my climbing boy crushes were at the gym tonight (all three of them). What a great pile of man candy. I love climbing.
It's just skin:
Ridiculous and other random thoughts
Yoga last night was just ridiculous. I think Chuck was in a good mood and felt like making us sweat. We asked for hip openers and upper back/shoulder work. He read that as “exhaust us.”
The entire practice was strenuous, but two things really stood out for me: I tried to look up the names of the poses but I can’t find them. The first was this hideous crunch type thing. You basically have your entire weight on your sits bones, but your upper and lower body is opened outward/upward. Your legs are curled around each other, and the arms are curled around each other. For the dynamic part of the exercise, you inhale your shoulders to the floor without touching the floor, and you lower your legs to the floor without touching the floor. Then on the exhale, you close the gap from arms to legs by crunching them together. Ridiculous. It made my 250 crunches at home seem like a breeze. You know how when you overexert your muscles doing something (be it climbing, lifting, running…riding for me) your muscles twitch a lot? Well my abdominals were twitching. I think we only did a total of 20 “crunches” and it was totally a full body experience. My abdomen is actually very sore today.
The other pose, which had some dynamic movements but ended up as a static pose, was really quite cool. It was a transition from the knee bent over the shoulder while the other is straight out on the floor. With both hands at the hips on the floor, you lift the leg that’s on the floor, begin to bend the elbows and start to shift your chest toward the arms so that ultimately, you’re learning on the bent arms but have your curled legs out to the left of the body and off the floor. I only barley managed to get the weight shifted correctly and I got the legs out, but I couldn’t hold the pose in any real way. In any case, it’s quite cool and a pose I look forward to for fun.
Chuck plays some pretty awesome beats throughout the practice and I have to say some of it is really mesmerizing, other times it’s very sexy and other times still the beats are sort of absorbing. I’m always impressed with how the noise of the gym (the auto belay whirring, the dudes whistling and yelling when they send some crazy stupid problem, the little kids running around) fades away when I’m in yoga. I’m getting better at maintaining my focus throughout the practice and only during shavasana am I having real trouble in keeping myself centered. I’ve found that setting an intention for my practice helps a lot and the very notion of breathing for my intent is so helpful. But during shavasana it just gets complicated…I suppose that’s normal. Shavasana is when you’re supposed to bring mind and body back together, but the way my thoughts come smashing back into my head really annoys me! The languid thoughts sort of dissipate and I’m almost immediately filled with thoughts about work and life and what I’m doing for dinner and how are my nieces and nephew and what did that guy mean when he said “x,” and how am I going to buy that bike I liked and crap I really wish I could be running.
Speaking of running, I’ve sort of lost my little purpose in life (the marathon) and that frustrates me to no end. I am considering taking yoga classes at the studio where Chuck teaches – it’s supposed to be a ridiculously nice studio that has gotten really high ratings. Running had sort of become a way of life for me. (I get into relationships quickly, and running was no exception). Maybe I can get into a relationship with yoga while I wait for my foot to be done doing its thing. This is the studio. It’s more expensive than I’d like…but maybe I should give up the budget line item I have for Thursday Happy Hours and dining out for lunch and do something that is certainly better for me AND will strengthen my core a lot more…once I start running again it’s going to be very challenging to get back to where I was and I should probably help myself as much as I can?
Swimming hasn’t really happened, unfortunately. Swimming was easier when I lived at home and I get just go to the sports center and do my laps. Walking a couple miles or driving through boring old Lakes of the Meadow (where my family is) was no big deal. Now, I have to deal with a gym membership and fight traffic to get to the pool. Course I wouldn’t trade my life now for being back in Miami…although the ocean calls me pretty often.
Wardrobe: I got new full length Prana yoga pants which are super comfy and I could see myself using them for other stuff. I also got a good Under Armor shirt (which is great because it’s more fitted and quick dry), a sweet pair of running shorts with a butt zip pocket, and this Brooks running jacket (puddle color, haha) for when the weather starts to cool off. I’m starting to accept the fact that if I’m going to be running through the winter and trying to even go for the half marathon, I’ll be buying tights and looking silly. I used to run in wind breaker type pants, but it’s so uncomfortable and lends itself to leg chafing. No one likes that. I don’t like running in tights, but what are you going to do? I always envied my North East friends who thought it was totally legitimate to run in shorts when it was 20 degrees outside in Troy (you know who you are). Freaks.
I can’t wait for ski season (yes, I know we don’t get snow in VA Jenn!). I’m hoping for a fun filled trip to Snowshoe…and potentially up to Mount Snow…but we’ll see. Thing I most miss about college: riding for cheap ($13 a lesson, ha!) through the RPI Student Union, and cheap season passes to Okemo/Stratton. And skiing 2/3 times a week…riding 3/4 times a week. How fun.
I’d be much more suited to skiing these days…now that I actually get up when it’s still morning.
The entire practice was strenuous, but two things really stood out for me: I tried to look up the names of the poses but I can’t find them. The first was this hideous crunch type thing. You basically have your entire weight on your sits bones, but your upper and lower body is opened outward/upward. Your legs are curled around each other, and the arms are curled around each other. For the dynamic part of the exercise, you inhale your shoulders to the floor without touching the floor, and you lower your legs to the floor without touching the floor. Then on the exhale, you close the gap from arms to legs by crunching them together. Ridiculous. It made my 250 crunches at home seem like a breeze. You know how when you overexert your muscles doing something (be it climbing, lifting, running…riding for me) your muscles twitch a lot? Well my abdominals were twitching. I think we only did a total of 20 “crunches” and it was totally a full body experience. My abdomen is actually very sore today.
The other pose, which had some dynamic movements but ended up as a static pose, was really quite cool. It was a transition from the knee bent over the shoulder while the other is straight out on the floor. With both hands at the hips on the floor, you lift the leg that’s on the floor, begin to bend the elbows and start to shift your chest toward the arms so that ultimately, you’re learning on the bent arms but have your curled legs out to the left of the body and off the floor. I only barley managed to get the weight shifted correctly and I got the legs out, but I couldn’t hold the pose in any real way. In any case, it’s quite cool and a pose I look forward to for fun.
Chuck plays some pretty awesome beats throughout the practice and I have to say some of it is really mesmerizing, other times it’s very sexy and other times still the beats are sort of absorbing. I’m always impressed with how the noise of the gym (the auto belay whirring, the dudes whistling and yelling when they send some crazy stupid problem, the little kids running around) fades away when I’m in yoga. I’m getting better at maintaining my focus throughout the practice and only during shavasana am I having real trouble in keeping myself centered. I’ve found that setting an intention for my practice helps a lot and the very notion of breathing for my intent is so helpful. But during shavasana it just gets complicated…I suppose that’s normal. Shavasana is when you’re supposed to bring mind and body back together, but the way my thoughts come smashing back into my head really annoys me! The languid thoughts sort of dissipate and I’m almost immediately filled with thoughts about work and life and what I’m doing for dinner and how are my nieces and nephew and what did that guy mean when he said “x,” and how am I going to buy that bike I liked and crap I really wish I could be running.
Speaking of running, I’ve sort of lost my little purpose in life (the marathon) and that frustrates me to no end. I am considering taking yoga classes at the studio where Chuck teaches – it’s supposed to be a ridiculously nice studio that has gotten really high ratings. Running had sort of become a way of life for me. (I get into relationships quickly, and running was no exception). Maybe I can get into a relationship with yoga while I wait for my foot to be done doing its thing. This is the studio. It’s more expensive than I’d like…but maybe I should give up the budget line item I have for Thursday Happy Hours and dining out for lunch and do something that is certainly better for me AND will strengthen my core a lot more…once I start running again it’s going to be very challenging to get back to where I was and I should probably help myself as much as I can?
Swimming hasn’t really happened, unfortunately. Swimming was easier when I lived at home and I get just go to the sports center and do my laps. Walking a couple miles or driving through boring old Lakes of the Meadow (where my family is) was no big deal. Now, I have to deal with a gym membership and fight traffic to get to the pool. Course I wouldn’t trade my life now for being back in Miami…although the ocean calls me pretty often.
Wardrobe: I got new full length Prana yoga pants which are super comfy and I could see myself using them for other stuff. I also got a good Under Armor shirt (which is great because it’s more fitted and quick dry), a sweet pair of running shorts with a butt zip pocket, and this Brooks running jacket (puddle color, haha) for when the weather starts to cool off. I’m starting to accept the fact that if I’m going to be running through the winter and trying to even go for the half marathon, I’ll be buying tights and looking silly. I used to run in wind breaker type pants, but it’s so uncomfortable and lends itself to leg chafing. No one likes that. I don’t like running in tights, but what are you going to do? I always envied my North East friends who thought it was totally legitimate to run in shorts when it was 20 degrees outside in Troy (you know who you are). Freaks.
I can’t wait for ski season (yes, I know we don’t get snow in VA Jenn!). I’m hoping for a fun filled trip to Snowshoe…and potentially up to Mount Snow…but we’ll see. Thing I most miss about college: riding for cheap ($13 a lesson, ha!) through the RPI Student Union, and cheap season passes to Okemo/Stratton. And skiing 2/3 times a week…riding 3/4 times a week. How fun.
I’d be much more suited to skiing these days…now that I actually get up when it’s still morning.
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