Parkour Goals

 I set two long term goals for parkour, and I've actually met them! The first was to walk along the low rail, the round one, at the parkour park. I thought for sure I would never be able to do that, but it turned out that all I had to do was to get new shoes and it wasn't so hard. I've done that at least a couple dozen times now. There were only three of us in class today and we stayed after and practiced for about a half hour until one of the guys was like "we should film this," so we did. After I regretted it a little, because I was much more graceful looking in my head. But, at least I made it all the way across when being video taped.

I need to get my shoulders out of my ears. Also, I've lost some weight since January, which has been HARD to do, and I've been feeling good about it. Which, is good. But looking at the video it's a reminder that I could still lose a few pounds. So, not to get too into myself about it :)

The other goal I had was to do a lazy vault over this cement wall that's a little below hip level. Everyone does them there and I've tried many many times, but I always hit the wall with my hip. Today I practiced enough and just put some trust into myself and I actually did it! The first time was almost an accident, as often happens. After that I did about a dozen more, a couple that felt really good, like was just popping right over. When you do them right, they are so easy and effortless. I'm definitely going to keep working on that one - I'd like to be able to do them better, and to do them in other places. 

Now I need to set some new goals.

I'm thinking about a hike in NH for tomorrow. The weather should be reasonable and I want to get my stamina up to a level where I can do the last two 4000 footers that I haven't soloed (Isolation and Washington, definitely not the easiest two).

Metrorock!

Today was my first day back to indoor climbing in 15 months, and it was awesome! I think I only went climbing two or three times in 2020, and my foot was healing from toe surgery, so it was not a lot of fun and I could barely drag myself up 5.8's. So, this was my first good day of indoor climbing in a year and a half. Wow.

My friend and I went to Metrorock over CRG because, even though it's a little less convenient for her, it's Metrorock. Just walking in, I was like "I have missed you" my friend and climbing. Also, I was like "are the walls taller than they used to be?" But once I was climbing, I was fine. We both started with a 5.8 and then moved to 5.9's. I did three 5.9's clean before moving to 5.10's. Maybe I should have tried 5.10's sooner because my arms were killing me. I successfully did a 5.10A and a 5.10B, both with about 3 rests for my arms and then I tried another 5.10A, but was on the wrong rope, and my arms were pumped. I did one more 5.9 that I thought would be slabby, but wasn't, and that was the evening. Eight climbs - not bad. I was really pleased with how I was climbing, that I was in good enough shape to flash the 5.9's and get up the 10's. I was also happy that my toe felt OK. 

It was so great to catch up with my climbing buddy after over a year also!

I had a not-so-great Memorial Day weekend. I was so tired after my hike. And Saturday I noticed that my cat was winking at me and had some big eye buggers. She's been acting like she felt uncomfortable for a couple days, and of course there's her general saltiness. So, I called the vet who said that she should be seen that day, but they didn't have any times. So, against my better judgement I took her to the animal urgent care. I had scheduled an appointment, but even so, they told me it would be an hour wait. I was so tired, and it was rainy and miserable out. I was sad.

But, across the street was a gas station, and I realized that my car needed to be inspected because the sticker was running out that day. And, I had been getting a low tire pressure reading, so I could put air in my tires. Since I had and hour that I was going to be unhappy, I figured I might as well do things I dislike. So, I got my car inspected. Then, I went to fill my tires. This is where things went wrong because somehow I pulled the sensor out of the tire and it slowly deflated as I stood there trying to put it back in. If I held the thing there it didn't deflate, but of course you can't drive a car like that, so eventually I had to let the tire go flat and go to the gas station to ask for help. 

So, there I was with my crying cat in her carrier, my car with a flat tire, standing in the rain begging the garage guys to please fix it. Happily they were able to put a thing in! And, the vet then messaged to say that they were ready for Tigger, who only had mild conjunctivitis. And, I went back today and got a new tire sensor. It was a lot of money to find out that Tigger was fine. I should have stayed on the couch, my first instinct.