Things I'm loving

On one of my favorite blogs, eat live run, the writer sometimes does a post called “what I’m loving now.” She usually writes about a type of food, item, or activity that she has been interested in lately. I always enjoy those posts and decided to start doing my own. I’m going to attempt to do one post each week, with the idea being that I’ll at least post something on here every week. We’ll see how it goes…

My first topic is going to be rock climbing. I had tried climbing a few times in college but never took it very seriously. In September of 2010 Nick went to a rock gym while working out of Oklahoma city. He immediately became obsessed. It worked out well since I always wanted to get into climbing but the timing never really felt right. We got some gear and started going 3-4 times a month, in January we started going more consistently. I now go 2-3 times per week and even learned how to lead climb.  

I have always enjoyed working out. It makes me feel good, it’s good for me, and I enjoy being productive. But when I started rock climbing I eventually realized that it’s more than a physical challenge. It’s a very mentally (and often emotionally) challenging sport. It requires a lot of focus and confidence and also some creativity when trying to figure out a route. Being that I’m afraid of heights and danger it seems somewhat counterintuitive that I would choose climbing as a hobby/sport. However, I love that it challenges me to overcome a lot of my fears and pushes my physical limitations. It’s also a lot safer than some people think, you just have to relax and be smart. Anxiety hinders climbing and can make it more dangerous. Some days when climbing I’m weak, nervous, and retarded the entire time but when that happens it stays on my mind and pushes me to improve during my next trip to the gym. I’ll constantly visualize myself completing a challenging route with no falls and no takes. And lately, the next time I climb it actually happens! It’s always a rewarding feeling to know that I got an awesome workout and pushed myself to become stronger and more confident.

Here are a few things some people don’t realize about rock climbing:

1. Its not as simple as just laddering yourself up a wall. It requires technique to figure out how to move toward each hold because there are not always two perfect hand holds directly above your head and two foot holds directly above your feet.

2. You use your legs more than your arms. Surprised? Whenever I see first timers at the gym they are always trying to reach and grab with their hands but complain when they have not holds within reach. If only they would realize that if they just stepped up with their feet they could easily grab the next hold. Its scary at first but it actually makes climbing so much easier when you realize the importance of footwork.

3. You fall a lot but you rarely get hurt. This is basically what I mean when I say that climbing is a mental sport. You can be up on a wall about to make a difficult move and the only thing holding you back is an intense and irrational fear of falling. I still have problems with this from time to time. When that happens sometimes all I need is an intentional fall to remind me that I won’t die. The awesome thing about climbing is you are attached to a rope, when you fall your belayer and your rope catch you.

It’s so fun to have a hobby that allows me to stay in shape and see new, exciting places. I don’t intend to be an awesome advanced climber but I enjoy the satisfaction of watching myself improve and I know that I’ll travel to and climb at some beautiful new places in the future.