How'd she get up there? May 12, 2007

Well...today I learned to climb indoor. I am a member at a gym that has an indoor climbing facility. It's really cool. It's something I always wanted to try but never did.

I can't wait to do it again! =) Yes, I will be doing it again.

A friend and co-worker, who used to climb, went with me. It was great to have someone there to teach me and train me a little. She had all of the equipment too, so the only expense I had was paying to climb.

She trained me for a bit in the bouldering room. She wanted me to get the basics down on the short walls before going into the tower room. She taught me basic foot placement and body positioning, etc. It was really neat to know my body/mind was capable of doing what I did today.

The bouldering room is obviously for those who boulder. Most of these people are more experienced and have way more upper body strength than I do. It was cool to climb on the shorter walls though. It helped me out a lot before going into the tower room. However, I do need to start working on my upper body though. Start building some strength. I've always been a little self-conscious about not being so "strong". I've always been really skinny most of my life with not much muscle up top. As a person grows up though, especially when you hit 25 or so, you realize that being strong isn't about how much you can lift! Strength comes from within...it's a mental state.

Even though I don't have a very strong upper body, lucky for me, climbing isn't about really using your upper body so much as it is about positioning your lower body and trusting and using your legs and using your abs. And I'm 5'5", an average height, so I love my skinny arms and legs now! They came in handy in the tower room today! I'm pretty flexible. =)

There are things about our bodies that we are self-conscious of. Mine has been over the fact that I've always been thin and felt that most people look at me and see a weakling. Over the years though, I just ignore comments people will make about me b/c I'm skinny. My leanness, flexibility, coordination and long limbs are what I love when it comes to practicing yoga and now today, with climbing.

It's funny how we think certain things about ourselves and one day, you wake up and realize those weaknesses are now actually strengths!

Climbing shoes are no joke though! Those things hurt! I had a broken in size 6.5 on, and the girl that was belaying me said they were actually too big for me! My feet were killing me! OUCH! My toenails needed to be basically removed in order to feel comfortable in those things! I swear! I have long toes. You have to ball up your toes when you are climbing. It's kinda strange. My toes wouldn't scrunch up. So, as for the feet, climbing was rough! It didn't help either that I had a huge blister already before I went in there today! ugh!

Thank God for chalk bags too! My anxiety that I have causes my palms to get very clammy already. So as I'm up there on the wall, everything is slippery, even more so for me! I was using the chalk non-stop! :P

Another fun part was being lowered. I'm not sure why, but it's fun!

Today was a great day! It was fun! =)

"Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possiblity into flames of achievement." - Golda Meir