Yes, CLIMBING - all caps... it was awesome to be doing it again... it was a great night - HOT... but my fingers loved being on the rock, trying (sometimes with a little guidance) to find the perfect hand-hold even while they silently screamed in pain from being shredded on the limestone...
R picked me up after work and we headed to a spot pretty close to my place and made our way to the cliffs. We did two passes along the bottom edge of rock - him leading the way which was good when I would get stuck he could stop and help me along (even though some of his moves were made for tall people...hee!). There was one part that I fell on both times (though granted I wasn't trying nearly as hard the second time - the water was just too good and the corner just a little too tricky). That was the beauty though - if you fell off you just got wet and given that it was so hot it was great to fall in.
After the first traverse we went up a pretty steep face but I found it easier going up than across and was motivated by the ledge at the bottom that I didn't want to accidentally fall. Lots of legs and flexibility which helped. Then we did it all over again though the second time my forearms were pumped... moreso than any number of kettlebell swings and pullups could do to them... this made even the biggest of holds the second go round tricky but other than that same corner I made it and then up again at a different corner (and managed to not fall and die) so it was good.
Once we were back on top the deal was to jump off the cliff which while climbing didn't seem as high as it did when you stood at the edge on the top. There were some kids there playing around and jumping off too. R walked through them - said hello and jumped... I'm pretty sure he didn't here my 'F@#$ now I have to jump' as those around me laughed. I stepped up on the rock at the edge, looking down at his head floating about the surface waving me down and just went for it... I'm of the thought that you can stand there and fear it and process that fear or you can just jump and get it over with as there was no doubt that eventually I would jump anyway - couldn't have him outdoing me... haha. I remember jumping and hitting the water, nothing in between but it was fun. I'd definitely do it again.
I told R that I'm going to be out there often now, practicing so that I could show him all the holds next time - we'll see if that actually works... but we have plans to do it again and that will be fun, at least once my hands heal up...
Note - I didn't actually wear my climbing shoes (getting wet and all) and I didn't really need them - my trail shoes were pretty good for most of it. I would consider wearing my climbing shoes next time but still unsure if there is any advantage.
Also, the rock beat me up pretty bad - it's like sandpaper... my hands look like a little kitten scratched them all up and my forearms and legs have gashes and scratches galore... oh well, definitely worth it and won't stop me from doing it again.
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