Boulder On

I need to start doing cardio again. Last year I made an effort to exercise everyday. Tuesday and Thursdays I’d swim at least a kilometer, and the rest of the week I’d run or bike. Yet since the beginning of this year my cardio workout has been nonexistent.              I could come with a lot of excuses for why I’ve been sitting on my butt. Like that I’ve been focusing on just getting stronger in my gym, or that I’ve started a new position at work. I could say I’ve been busy focusing on my novel, or that it’s been cold outside. Yet the truth is, it’s mostly laziness. I’ve found that when I really want something, I find time to do it.             It’s at the point now where my lack of cardio is affecting my climbing. Tuesday wasn’t a great day because after I sent two projects, my heart was ready to pound out of my chest. Also my forearms were s...

The worst thing about a climbing gym is the children. Whenever I get done with a climb, whenever I have struggled and willed myself to the top of the wall and am grabbing a drink of water and feeling good about myself, I always look back and see some little child doing the same climb I've just done. My sense of accomplishment fades as I see these little bastards, who just outgrew larva stage, nimbly move from hold to hold without any difficulty and reach the top in half the time it took me. Then they descend and look at me with bored disdain. If I wouldn't immediately go to jail, I'd grab one of these little urchins and scream, "YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME? JUST WAIT UNTIL YOU'RE IN YOUR LATE TWENTIES AND WEIGH 215 POUNDS!" The second worst thing about a climbing gym is all the beautiful people. I've been going to my gym for over a month, and I have yet to see a single ugly person. It's as though I've walked into an Abercrombie and Fi...