Monday

Bouldering @ Movement, 2hr

Another weird session. Concentration wasn’t a huge problem, but I felt very weak, even though I took an extra day off from what I usually take. My intention was to work on the 45 degree wall again, but I never got on it, having maxed out on V5s on less steep walls that I had been topping out for weeks. It felt like occupying an entirely different body.

Since I couldn’t climb at my max level, I worked on simply gaining back some more focus by trying to climb the problems I was having trouble with that weren’t at my max as efficient as possible, using my feet intelligently, simplifying the sequences, etc. I also tried not to chalk up, as sometimes I feel it’s a bit too much of an aid (chalk is aid!) to really refining technique. In other words, does chalk make up for being sloppy?

Tuesday

Yoga (alignment), 1hr

This quote is from a podcast I was listening to, which was talking about avoiding taking steps to end bad habits:

What you resists persists,

and grows every stronger

This can apply to many things – like addictions. I myself have a problem where I won’t always take steps that will benefit myself, even though I know it’s a good thing for me to do. Why is this? There’s some childhood abandonment shit going on there – where since I wasn’t always properly taken care of, my self-value plummeted, so why try anything? We can talk a while about self-love. But there’s also just the fact that it’s hard for anyone to start new habits. Being uncomfortable is usually avoided and even though I’m Mr. Get Myself Into Uncomfortable Situations, I often forget how well I can handle discomfort.

Anyways, I took an hour yoga class for the first time in years (Covid and all). It was awkward, I’m at the very beginning of this sort of practice, I’m pretty much the worst in the session, and this isn’t my tribe. But it’s good for me to do, in so many ways, the least of which is that my body is so tight I can’t sit at a desk, and yoga could relief this tightness. I can now see that yoga could really be complementary to my recovery program as well, so we’re going to stick with it, in a way that’s realistic. I’m making up a weekly training matrix/goal thing right now, and I’ll add yoga to it.

And that was my full day. I opted not to do anything else (run/cycle). The body wants a break, so OK: we get a break.

Wednesday

Bouldering, 2hr

A marginally better experience than on Monday. I certainly felt better mentally, and felt physically slightly better. I’m still interested in revisited problems I’ve maybe just powered through and find a more thoughtful way to do the problem – or at the very least understand better how I’m solving the problem, with the goal of just being more efficient. As a larger person than most climbers (especially in the legs), I don’t have too many advantages! So I better be gooder at smarting.

Supplemental work, ~30min

As the cold dark Winter comes, I’ll be spending more time indoors at the gym. As I’ve eluded, I’m starting to set up a few movements as a baseline to a general level of fitness. I’m not interested in excelling in weight training, but I’ll be weight training – and just hitting a goal that I can continue to hit while focusing on what I really find important is how I make sure weight training doesn’t take over my life.

I don’t know what these base lines will be yet – and honestly, it doesn’t really matter, as I can always move the goalposts, but I was playing with some ideas today. # of pullups will most likely be one – probably around 10. 8 is the max I can do now. Dips will be another – a set of 10 wouldn’t be bad – right now 5 feels comfortable. Static hangs should also be added – maybe a minute or two. 3- seconds is all I have right now (that is, after boulder, and after pullups). Staying in a squat is also not a comfortable thing for me to do, but I may try to get up to 5 minutes, and hope that helps me get a little more comfortable to do it at all, with a better ROM.

Yoga, 1+hr

After play time, I signed up for another yoga class – hey why not? I had an hour to burn before getting to my recovery group. Another class of feeling terrible, worthless, and awkward, but that’s sort of the shit I swim in these days. I whole heatedly suggest you find your own shit swimming pool and jump right in!

I honestly was going to take a run Green after about 4 hours of gym time, start at 9pm, in the bitter cold. I was actually feeling quite psyched on life – funny how working on habits that benefit you do that! I had to stop myself from running, and just allow myself to just feel good. Instead, I just went home, and went to sleep a few hours before I usually do. I can run tomorrow.

Thursday

Green Mountain #78

Quick trip up Green Mountain. Conditions were a little better than I anticipated. Happy I waited as the temps were probably 40 degrees F higher than last night!

Friday

Boulder @ Movement, 2hr

Another terrible bouldering session. So strange how strength can leave you. Can be frustrating as I’ve put in a non-trivial amount of time in getting stronger. Is it sickness? Am I getting fat? Too old? Who knows.

Worked on my plan on what I’m doing for the winter and tried a few new exercises. False Grip hangs/pullups are crazy insane. Not sure how well it would cross over to climbing. Did a lot of hamstring stretching, trying to figure out a daily practice.

Spin Bike, 1 hour

Wee.

Saturday

Green x2 #79/#80

Trails were pretty icy and I didn’t feel like bringing spikes, so I ascended trails and took a much less icy way back down. Tried out the new Cyklon GTX’s – incredible. Worked out pretty well. Two more summits in the bank.

Sunday

Dodge Block/Green #81

Another summit of Green to add to the year list. Maybe 100 summits is in the cards. It was reasonably warm and dry-enough to do a scramble, so I took a casual jaunt up the Second via Dodge Block, which gets little traffic – a little slice of solitude from the Freeway traffic jam. Bumped into Terry after the scramble, then heading for a leisurely tag of Green.