Rock Climbing - Day 31

On January 1st, this day seemed very far off, but here it is, my last day of rock climbing. I climbed for my usual 45 minutes but didn't end on quite as much of a high note as I would have liked. The gym was full of boulderers today so it was a little difficult finding routes to climb. I got many challenging V1s, but after many attempts, failed to get any V2s (even routes I'd finished on previous days). My side was sore, and my body was just ready to be done and have a break from climbing. Maybe it's better this way, if I would have been making tons of progress, I wouldn't have wanted to stop, but now I can walk away with my head held high knowing I accomplished more than I thought possible, but without feeling like I'm cutting myself off before I'm done. Looking back on this month I am so proud of myself for actually doing this, I give myself a gold star!

Rock Climbing - Day 30

January is not even over yet and I've already got my first "you're crazy" for my February task. I shared my idea with a few people at work and that was a pretty common response. But before I get ahead of myself, I should write about rock climbing.
Boulders was pretty empty at first, but filled up quickly with boulderers. There were a few girls there with some serious muscles. I didn't get any V2s today, but climbed plenty of V0s and V1s. The climbing was good, but there was so much talk about February at work today that I'm afraid I was thinking about that and was not very focused on climbing. That, and like I said yesterday, I've accomplished everything I wanted to so far, so I'm not very motivated to push myself any farther.
One more day of rock climbing, then on to February!

Rock Climbing - Day 29

Low, overhanging start

There were a ton of kids at Boulders today, but as they were all clip-in climbing, most of the bouldering routes were still wide open. I finally finished that V1 in the cave that I've been working on for so long. I've included a few pictures of me climbing it. It feels so good to get that one accomplished, I just knew it would be fun.

Also, I got another V2 today . . .I amazed even myself. I may have fallen a few times while trying to finish the V2 that I got yesterday, but I've accomplished every rock climbing goal that I really had in mind for this month. Rock climbing is starting to feel like routine. I think I can legitimately call myself an indoor rock climber now :)

Hold on!

Rock Climbing - Day 28

Drum roll please . . .I'm happy and proud to announce that today I climbed my first V2 route. I think it might have something to do with climbing earlier in the day (since it's Saturday and I don't have to work), but apart from feeling weak and disoriented at first (probably due to wearing my contacts as I usually wear glasses) I had quite a few good climbs today. It just took me a little while to get into it.

I saw an interesting sight today. I usually enjoy watching more experienced climbers, so when a 30s-ish aged lady came in and starting climbing more fluidly than I'd see anyone else climb, I kept an eye on her. On my way to get a drink of water, I noticed that she'd sat down and was working on her nails. Then I looked closer. She had climbed a bit and had chalky hands and had a nail file, but she wasn't filing her nails, she was filing her palms . . .what?!? She must have some serious calluses; I just thought that was nuts.

In other news, while I was working on a fun, but as of yet unconquered, V1 in the cave area, a friendly girl who was about my height gave me some tips on how she finally finished it. It was towards the end of my hour of climbing though so I just didn't have the strength to finish it today, maybe tomorrow. Also, you remember that black V1 with the slippery hold near the end that I just couldn't finish? Yeah, I got it today . . .take that rocks!

I feel this calls for a celebratory cool picture of some rock climbing stuff, but alas, my brother got all the photography skills in the family (and the rock climbing skills as well). He is proud of me for doing all this climbing, but when we talked the other day, he lamented that he has never gotten into double digit bouldering . . .bah! I'm chuffed to bits that I got a V2! Anyways, it was a great climbing day :)

Rock Climbing - Day 27

I arrived at Boulders a little earlier today so I could go out for dinner with some friends tonight. I still managed to get 45 minutes of good climbing in. I'm trying to push myself, and I made a little progress on a V2, hooray. I got some of my usual V1s, but came to the sad realization that I don't think I'll finish all the V1s (or get a V2 for that matter) before Day 31 . . .this makes me sad. However, the topic of my February challenge surfaced in the lunch room today and I won't spoil the surprise, but I will tell you that it's going to be crazy and awesome . . .stay tuned!

Rock Climbing - Day 26

My husband was more of a fan of climbing with a rope

Today is the day I had been waiting for, the day my husband finally decided to come climbing with me and see what all the fuss was about. He had been climbing before, but not recently, so when I told him he had to come to be my photographer (he gets the credit for all of the pictures of me climbing that I've been posting), he was apprehensive, but agreed.

We ended up climbing for two and a half hours (he had to get his money's worth since he just paid for a day pass) doing both bouldering and clip-in top roping. It was fun to get to climb higher than I can while bouldering, but it was hard for me to remember that it was okay to fall because I had something to catch me. On one of the more difficult climbs later in the night, I started to slip and instead of just letting go and being okay, I scrambled to hold on to anything I could and ended up banging my shin pretty hard on one of the rocks. I finished the climb (although I didn't stay on the marked route for the last few holds since I was anxious to get down and inspect my shin) and then noticed that it was starting to swell up pretty quickly. It also was very squishy which I'm guessing meant that there was blood in there but luckily I hadn't broken the skin so there was no mess. I thought maybe I should sit down and not climb anymore, but after my husband climbed up another route I had to climb a few more times before we called it a night. My "battle wound" joined my scratch from Day 24 to give me one lovely shin.

Ouch

Funny that I got my most serious climbing injury while climbing with a buddy and a rope . . .go figure. Oh well, it was still a great night :)

Rock Climbing - Day 25

Well, it's nearing the end of the month, and my progress has slowed. I climbed for 45 minutes today, but didn't make any headway on most routes. There is one black V1 in particular that I haven't been able to get and it was causing another group of people some problems today too. After discussing it with them and assuring them that I was never going to be able to get it, of course I had to try because I had to prove myself wrong. But it was not to be today. I did get a little farther on it than usual, I'm just too scared to finish it. The second to the last hold is rather slippery and I always feel like I'm leaning away from the wall and usually just fall at that point . . .one of these days I'm going to get it. Mind over matter!

Another issue I had today was that I couldn't get my wedding ring back on after climbing. Side note for any one considering climbing: make sure you take your jewelry off first . . .the first two days I climbed with my wedding ring on and it is all scratched up. So I remember to take it off, but my fingers didn't want to let it back on, I did get it eventually though. Speaking of my wedding ring, I'm looking forward to climbing tomorrow . . .I've finally convinced my husband to join me. Stay tuned for that epic adventure :)

Rock Climbing - Day 24

The wall won today. I got a rather large scrape on my right shin (see picture, taken 2 days after the fact, with the addition of a large "goose egg" bruise I got on Day 26). I did some usual V0s and V1s, but made no progress on any V2s and some other usual V1s were not happening . . .my body and especially my hands are just tired.

Rock Climbing - Days 22 & 23

Day 22
Not much to report today, I didn't get anything new, only climbed for 40 minutes, and did okay on most of my "usual" routes. Thankfully the gym was less crowded today, but my muscles, my fingers, and well, just me, are all tired.

Day 23
More people again today, which means I didn't get to climb some of my favorite routes. My fingers are still sore, but I climbed okay for 45 minutes. I came to a realization today that having an end date (end of the month) for these "challenges" kind of defeats the habit-forming aspect of them. Oh well, could you imagine what it would be like if I really did pick up one new habit every month? By the end of this year I'd be doing 12 additional things every day . . .I don't think there are enough hours in a day for that.

Rock Climbing - Day 21

Whew...the gym was SO crowded tonight, full of tons of kids, and they had actually run out of harnesses. Luckily I don't need one of those, and the majority of the people were top rope or clip in climbing, so there was still some open bouldering space. The original V0 that I had so many problems with (the "scary backwards reach route") has been replaced by a new V0 and I got that pretty easily. I climbed for a total of 45 minutes again. Here's a few pictures of me on that new V0:

Going up

Climbing back down (my right hand is on the finish hold . . .yet another "scary backwards reach one" but I wasn't scared of it any more)

Favorite quote of the night from a seasoned 20s-ish climber to a little boy trying to swing on the gymnast rings they have in the work out area: "Buddy, don't swing, do pull ups . . .get strong" :)

Rock Climbing - Day 20

It is winter-y again today . . .we got another four inches of very light, fluffy snow, which means the gym was relatively empty. I got to take my time and work on climbing back down some of the V1s using the same holds I used to get up, which is much more work than just letting myself fall once I get to the top (but also a little more graceful). My calluses are starting to peel, I don't know if that is a good thing or not, maybe I'm getting calluses on my calluses? This month is flying by, only eleven more days of climbing left!

Rock Climbing - Day 19

I shortened my climb time today to 30 minutes to give my right leg a little bit of a rest as my calf muscle is sore as is that same tendon (the one that helps me lift my leg up to higher footholds). You may think that my climbing was less productive due to this, but you would be wrong. I will again use pictures to illustrate my accomplishment today:

Brand new V1 in the "cave"

A group of other climbers was watching me attempt this for the first time, so the pressure was on

I felt a little like Spider Woman climbing very much upside down

And success on my first try! (This picture is tilted a little, the other pictures give a more accurate depiction of the orientation of this).

I'm pretty sure the group watching me was impressed :) That was a fun route, one of my favorites so far.

Rock Climbing - Day 18

Today was an ouch-y day. My right leg tendon was sore again, I banged my knee while climbing on the big boulder (which always seems to happen), and I also scraped my arm up a little bit. Oh well, I said "no pain, no gain" right?

Other than that, climbing wasn't too bad, most of the routes I got easily, but others are still a little scary. There was a girl about my size trying to get up the V1 that I just finished yesterday, so I got the opportunity to share my insights with her. She hadn't been able to get it either, so I hope my tip about forgetting the left foot and just reaching helped her.

Oh, one other note that I forgot to include the other day in my discussion about calluses. And yes, it is called a callus, not a callous, I had to check out the difference (callus is a noun (or verb), callous is an adjective (or sometimes a verb)). Anyways, for my geeky science friends, the Wikipedia article on calluses (Wikipedia "Callus") informs me that callouses are formed when keratinocytes (the most common type of cell in the epidermis, or outer layer of human skin) build up due to repetitive friction or pressure. These build ups of dead cells are resistant to further damage due to their "networks of cross-linked proteins and hydrophobic keratin intermediate filaments containing many disulfide bonds". Interesting huh?

Rock Climbing - Day 17

Today was a good climbing day. I will illustrate why, in 3 pictures:

The start of the blue V1 that I couldn't quite finish, but was determined to (see all the chalk dust in the air?)

On my way up . . .

I MADE IT :) It turns out all I needed to do was forget trying to find a foothold for my left foot, let it hang on the bare wall, and REACH . . .awesome.

 Oh, what a great day. I also finished another V1 that I thought I had gotten before, but I failed to see the last hold was one more than what I had done, so now it is officially conquered. I feel strong today :)

Rock Climbing - Day 16

Woohoo - I'm half done! This day felt far off on Day 1, that's for sure. Unfortunately, this milestone did not spur me on to climb today. I was not motivated, I was bored, and my fingers felt sore and swollen for the second or third day in a row, probably due to a combination of climbing and my cold. But, not being one to back out of a challenge, I knew I had to go, and I was glad I did.

The gym was rather crowded today, most likely due to the recent Groupon, but I still got 45 minutes of good climbing in. The Boulders route setting team didn't let me down, and there were two new V0s and one new V1 to stave off my impending route boredom. Lo and behold, I finished all of them on the first try. I think that means I have graduated to a level V0.5 climber ;) Some of those V0s are just too easy for me now, but there are still plenty of V1s that I can't do, so I just invented a new in-between V grade, just to give myself a sense of accomplishment, I think I can do that :)

Rock Climbing - Day 15

Favorite quote of the day: "Dude, be careful, there's a 7 year old girl on the top of the boulder. . .I'm serious" :)

Today was a day more for observation than anything else. I was feeling a little bored with the routes so while I still got a good work out in, I kept my eyes more open to what was going on around me. While putting my shoes on, a little girl shyly said "hi" to me. We then exchanged pleasantries about how we each thought each other had cool glasses, and we went off to climb. I was expecting her to be like any other kid who comes to Boulders and only top ropes up the easiest routes, but boy was I wrong. She was free climbing better than many adults I've seen. I should have known she was different when she brought her own climbing shoes complete with monkeys on them. She was in all senses of the word, a rock star.

The quote at the top came from a group of guys when their buddy was trying to muscle his way up the free standing boulder. I have noticed that guys, more than girls, tend to try and claw their way up instead of carefully thinking about the best foot placement and climbing strategy. One of the guys in the group even had a "Tough Mudder" shirt on. Now, I know a few guys who ran the "Tough Mudder" last year, and it did not sound easy, but their climbing skills just got majorly shown up by a little girl. . .I thought it was hilarious (any of you care to rethink your decisions of yesterday on whether or not I'm a bad person?)

Wow, what a day.

Rock Climbing - Day 14

I haven't shaken my cold yet, and I wasn't up for tons of climbing, but surprisingly, I did pretty well today. There was a new V1 that I got on my first try, I was shocked. Being a Saturday, the gym was pretty busy at 11 am when I got there. I climbed for 45 minutes, the norm.

I think I might be a bad person. I haven't been climbing for that long, but it gives me some sort of sick inner sense of accomplishment when I see athletically-built guys struggling with V0s. I would never laugh or anything like that because I know I was that person two weeks ago and they have nothing to be ashamed of . . .climbing is hard, but secretly it makes me feel a little better about my climbing skills (well, not so secretly now). I think perhaps this is because I'm usually so zoned in on my own climbing that my only measure of success is against myself and the wall and when I can see other people's triumphs (like the awesome group of guys and girls who practically floated up some V3s today) and failures it helps me rate my own? What do you think?

I'll let you ponder that one for a while but for now, I'll just sit here and try to forget how sore my fingers are.

Rock Climbing - Day 13

Sniffle, sniffle...yep, you guessed it, I caught a cold. I'm hoping that exercising every day has boosted my immune system enough to help me beat this quickly, but until then, it's not going to be as fun pushing myself to higher heights. There was another Boulders Groupon deal today (which may have reminded buyers of the previous Groupon to get out and use theirs) so the gym was pretty crowded. I only climbed for 40 minutes, and I had an overall feeling somewhere between boredom and relaxation . . .perhaps I'm settling into my climbing groove? I may have talked a friend at work into coming climbing with me, but for now, today was filled with little success, and just rather blah.

Rock Climbing - Day 12

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! Winter has finally arrived, and much later than usual. This is our first real snowstorm of the season (January 12th), and it sure made driving interesting. Since my drive to Boulders took quite a bit longer than usual, I shortened my climb time (hmm that rhymes...I made a climb time rhyme :)) to 40 minutes. The gym was rather empty today, probably due to the snow.

Today I made a discovery, I figured out why I can't finish some of the V1s - the root cause goes back to me just not being gutsy enough to go for some of the long reaches that are required to finish them. On two V1s I can get to the penultimate hold (ooo I used a big word, but I will admit, I only know that word because of watching Top Gear), and no further. There is one route in particular that I can easily touch the final hold, but not quite reach the top of it to grab it, and I don't know how good of a hold it will be and it's rather high for a bouldering route. Basically, I'm afraid of falling. I get discouraged watching other people complete it (mostly guys since they have a longer reach than I do), but I am determined to get this one! The determination comes from the fact that the rest of the route is so fun and has really nice holds, I want to conquer this one . . .stay tuned for the stunning conclusion of "Vanessa vs. the rock" (at least I hope it will be stunning) :)

All I need to do is reach my right hand up to that blue V (not the blue & green V)...I can do it!

Rock Climbing - Day 11

Well, I'm 11 days into this now, and my overall opinion is: so far, so good. I'm really curious what I'm going to feel like on Day 31.
Today I made a little bit more V1 progress, but the big news is my calluses. I know, not really big news, but it does make climbing much easier. The biggest callouses are forming under the first joints on my index fingers. Under the first joint of my pinkies were blisters, but after climbing with band-aids on them for a couple of days, the blisters have healed and are turning into calluses as well. I've included a close up of one of the rocks so you can understand why calluses are forming . . .note the texture. I wonder how long it will take for the calluses to go away after I stop climbing every day.