Apparently , 8.24 was global climbing day. It was also the day I hit the reset button. I needed to set a goal and then go for it. And it’s time. So I made 8.24 the start.
And I have work to do. I’ve been off-and-on with the routines for a number of years *ahem, decades* and about a month ago I started climbing with Logan, my amazing seventeen year-old son, at The Pad Climbing in SLO. I did this because Logan was interested and because I have a year-long lingering case of plantar fasciiatis from my last sustained activity regimen—a combination of trail running + soccer + not acknowledging my age and need for recovery.
(As an interesting aside, Firefox’s or WordPress’s native spell check doesn’t know the word “fasciitis.” It keeps trying to make me spell “fascistic” or “fascists.” I’m not sure what that’s indicative of, other than the general state of our discourse today).
A couple of decades ago (there’s that word again, putting me in my place) I climbed pretty consistently. Mostly indoor; mostly bouldering. (Add “bouldering” to the list of words the spellchecker doesn’t know). I stopped because of a nasty case of tennis elbow, two children, two jobs, and a graduate program. So I was excited to get back to climbing again. Too excited. After the first month, I’ve got an aggravated left shoulder (previous injury) and right wrist (previous injury). By now, this piece feels to me like a list of everything wrong with my body, but I want to be honest about where I’m starting from and where I’m making mistakes, so that at least my future self can read back through this and say, “Yep, that’s where you screwed up, Blackwell.”
I have other work to do, too. Like on my writing. I seem to have lost my voice in the vast ocean of work email and professional correspondence over the last couple of decades. It may take me a while to find it. And when I do, it may be different than the voice I had. Years alone on a metaphorical desert island speaking only to its metaphorical self can profoundly change one’s voice.
My goal with this blog and my training is to do a little bit every day (or most days), warm up thoroughly, and pace myself to avoid injuries. Given that I’ve already injured myself, I predict much trial and error in the course of this project. Which should at least be entertaining for my future self.
Activity breakdown:
- 8.24
- Barbell squats x 3
- Nordic hamstring curls x 3
- Step back lunges x 3
- Dumbbell Romanian deadlifts x 3
- Climbed V0s and V1s (slowly and carefully)
- 8.25
- Kneeling wide-grip pulldowns x 3
- Standing medium-grip pulldowns x 3
- Standing bent-over dumbbell rows x 3
- Standing dumbbell curls x 3
- Seated incline dumbbell curls x 3
- V0s and V1s (slowly, carefully, lots of feet first)
think (feel) be 