Getting Back To Climbing

It was a solid two years in between the last time I climbed on real rock and made it back to pseudo-climbing (aka the plastic of the gym).

Now spring is rapidly approaching here in the Northeast.  I know, I know... most of you are saying "rapidly"?  Yeah, I know it is snowing again today, and there is more snow expected for Tuesday and Wednesday.  But, climbing season is like bikini season.  You think you have all the time in the world to get ready for it... until it is the first beach day and you are terrified to put on that bikini, and you wish you had just sucked it up and gotten in shape.  I don't want to be standing under that Gunks 5.10 roof, stressed, thinking that I am no longer strong enough for this.

Two years since real rock, ah yeah.  I think my last Gunks climbs were Fallen on Account of Strain, Simple Suff, Techno Suff (ah no I didn't get that one clean, and I actually didn't top it out, but it was a good show), Frustration Syndrome,  Honkey Tonk Woman, Hang Ten and White Pillar.  I got pregnant right after the fall climbing season of 2008! Yipeeeee.  This was what we had prayed for, and now we have a fantastic kid.  I know that many women still climb when they are pregnant, but I had serious morning (actually all day) sickness for four months, and then I just didn't want to risk a fall.  An unplanned emergency C-Section wrecked my core.  But that only counts for one year... they next year I just couldn't get myself together enough to get back out on rock.  Parenting... is well.... all consuming sometimes.

This September we started back at the gym, as a family.  John and I traded burns and watching Cy.  I felt so, so good after that first night back at the gym.  Endorphins!  As great as I felt, I was also fully aware of how much my climbing had suffered.  That sucked.  Well, I found a great girl to hang out with Cy at the gym one day a week for two hours while I climbed, and we still had family night once a week.  When the holidays came along, I started to slide... oh shit.
Now I really need to get it together.
Excuses:  I don't smoke motivation, so it needs to be internal.  I can't just run off to the gym three days a week for five hours like I used to, because I have a family.  I focus more on nutrition for my son, and often forget to eat.  I feel like I just don't have the time or energy.... whah.
What do I have going for me?  A lot!
I have lost all of the 'baby weight', yep, I am back to the weight I was the day I got pregnant.  We have a climbing wall in the cottage/studio out back.  We have a hang board in the skylight in our family room.  We already eat organic, and I have a history of eating very healthy.  My husband is super strong and has been climbing for 30 years, so I have a partner in crime.  Most of my climbing injuries have healed.

The plan...
Get my ass into the gym today.  2:00.  Turn the kid over to the sitter, put on my iPod (loud), climb (be in the moment, and not focus on how I would have flashed the problem three years ago) and save talking to my friends until my time is up.  4:00.
Scarf down plenty of protein and carbs for muscle recovery.
Take my vitamins.

The Outcome...
Went to the gym as planned, got in two hours.  Successfully ignored the one douche-bag in the bouldering cave. Sent a decent problem, maybe V2-ish (not that it matters inside on plastic).
Ate a bunch of Spirulina Carob Bites (from Whole Foods), which are a 5:1 Carb to protein ratio (nearly perfect).  Making beans for burrito dinner (we don't eat any food from a can because of the BPA lining, I'll have to remember to give you my bean cooking strategy), which is excellent protein for muscle recovery.

OK, so now I am motivated and focused again.

Stay tuned to hear my progress...