Calluses Rising

I felt like it would be a good day for rock climbing and my instinct was right. I was more relaxed plus I had watched some videos and read some tips.

I found this info in Indoor Rock Climbing Information and Tips! particularly helpful.

8. Climb in an X shape with your hips being the middle of the X. Hang with your arm straight. Your skeleton can take much more of a load than your muscles can. If the heel of your foot is hanging too far down you may notice your leg start to shake like a “sewing machine”. This is very common occurrence, simply apply more weight to your toes so your calf muscle spasm can stop.

I made it up my nemesis, the 5.8 Face Plant route and I also made it up another 5.8. I had some false starts, takes and marching orders from Patti who, I believe, said finish the freakin' route (newest and scarier 5.8 nemesis). I was about two holds away from the top when I thought I couldn't make it. Jessica said that her mom does not use freakin' very often. Patti was a firecracker all morning and I did finish the route. LOL.

I was surprised, though, when Patti told me that she didn't feel like an athlete. Okay, the woman is a great rock climber and that, alone, qualifies her for athlete status.

Here's the Dynamic Duo (i.e. my main rock climbing partners in crime) waiting for a route to clear.


And here are my budding calluses:

Causes
Corns and calluses are caused by pressure or friction on skin. A corn is thickened skin on the top or side of a toe, usually from shoes that do not fit properly. A callus is thickened skin on your hands or the soles of your feet.

The thickening of the skin is a protective reaction. For example, farmers and rowers get callused hands that prevent them from getting painful blisters. People with bunions often develop a callus over the bunion because it rubs against the shoe.

Neither corns nor calluses are serious conditions.

I've been finding some short but helpful videos about rock climbing. This guy says it helps if you climb with someone who climbs at or above your level and the Dynamic Duo definitely fit the bill in the above category, I might add.

You Should Be Drinking Not Climbing or Month-End Review, December

One of my friends was taunting me by waving a bowl of Hershey's chocolate in my vicinity; she, essentially, beckoned me in a voice that said chill out about the sweet stuff.

I decided to retaliate in my own little way and asked her if she wanted to go rock climbing after our half day at work. She looked at me in horror when another associate actually voiced his horror. You should be drinking not climbing. Oh well, to each his or her own.

Plus, the taunter failed to realize that Hershey's would not make me cave. Kinder Bueno? Yes. Hershey's? No...

As I was belaying for Jessica, one of the Upper Limits folks came to give us the countdown to closure. What? We thought the gym was closing at 4 p.m. instead of 2 p.m. Can you say rock climbing interruptus?

Before I left the gym, though, I was able to make it up the 5.8 Face Plant route. So, I'm able to climb that route on every other outing. Ha.

I headed to the bank with the intention of going from there straight to the gym and squeaking in because, clearly, I hadn't worked out enough but, dang it, I didn't have my tennis shoes.

I headed by the house, ate a few Wasa crackers and hummus and headed back out. When I got to the gym, there were no signs about early closure and I was told that there would be no early closure. Hmmm, I could potentially play Biggest Loser contestant and really get my exercise in today.

When I got to the locker room, I discovered that I did not have my MP3 player. Ironically, I did not have the energy to put on my street clothes and go back to the car to retrieve my tunes. I blame my misplaced MP3 player on too many bags: bag with rock climbing gear, bag with work gear and another gym bag with my regular workout stuff. I did a little self-talk and told myself that I could gut it out for at least 30 minutes without the television or music. Almost the whole time, It Takes Two, was on loop in my head. It's all the fault of that goofy little flick, The Proposal.

Here's how things played out this month. I deliberately set aside more time for stretching which felt good...

10 Minute Solution: Fitness Ball Workouts (Upper Body), 1 x

10 Minute Solution: Kickbox Bootcamp (Fat Burning Blast), 1 x

10 Minute Solution: Tone Trouble Zones! (Stretching), 3 x's

10 Minute Solution: Yoga (Flexibility and Relaxation), 1 x

Adaptive Motion Trainer, 3 x's

Crunch: Candlelight Yoga, 1 x

Drills To Make You Sweat (Class), 1 x

Rock Climbing, 6 x's

StairMaster, 3 x's

Stationary Bike, 1 x

Step and Muscle (Class), 3 x's

Swimming, 6 x's

Treadmill (with bouts of jogging), 14 x's

Best sound of the day: Primal screams from a female lead climber as she made an ascent.

Honorable mention: Me. I'm told that I was making Serena Williams-like sounds going up the Face Plant route.

Phrase of the day: Amazonian Toes -- a male to his female friend after a discussion about rock climbing shoes.


And the song of the day?????????

Making It Over The Arête

I put on my harness and shoes and walked up to my posse and saw that Josh was hanging as well.

I'll catch you as soon as I flip this. Say what? I figured that Josh
meant that he would belay for me after he had gathered his rope which he had just used for lead climbing.

I told Josh that I wanted to go in the corner pocket. Are we playing pool now? I told him that, ironically, I don't know how to play pool but I do like to refer to the route as the corner pocket.

As I started to climb, I thought about what Patti said: some days we climb well and some days we don't. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason...

This day was a good one. I felt strong and balanced.
When I came down from the corner route, Josh suggested that I cut my fingernails in order to climb better. Guess he must have heard me leave a couple on the wall. He said that even his, which are micro, needed to be cut.


I had a date with the 5.8 Face Plant route. I couldn't shake the fact that I faltered last time. I climbed it with lots of encouragement from the posse on the ground. My ascent was not anywhere in the neighborhood of pretty but as Mike said, I made it over the arête.

Jessica faced a challenge too. Josh left his rope after lead climbing and suggested that Jessica tackle the route. She hung in there, ended up hanging like a bat and made it to the top.

It's funny that I was able to climb that 5.8 but when I did my warm-down route, a 5.6, I sputtered. As I continued to try to make my way to the top, the guy climbing next to me said, Keep going; it's like a puzzle. You can do it.

Sometimes I feel like all of the climbers in the gym make up the posse.