Felix

I've been taking it easier for the past few days, the reason being is that my ankle is slowly healing and the other is that I plan on going snowboarding for the first time during spring break (whoo! spring break!) and everybody tells me its gonna hurt. So I want to be in tip-top shape for when I hit the slopes. While I haven't been sticking to my plan very well, I'm not letting it bother me. Life happens and you just gotta go with the flow. At the beginning of the month I figured I would spend all spring break climbing, this snowboarding trip just came out of left field and I'm glad it did. And I still might be able to achieve my goal at the end of the month. Leading hard routes isn't just a physical goal. A lot of it is just having the balls to make a move knowing if you miss it you'll fall and possibly hurt yourself. And thats more mental than anything.

This twisted ankle is really a bummer. Took another recovery day yesterday. This morning I had a Taekwondo test, so it was very light and my ankle was all right. But I could tell that a slight misstep would mean hitting the mats and possibly making it worse. To make up for the weak workout I got in class today I did my body weight training minus legs. Chin ups 9 8 8 Push ups 12 10 11 Leg Raises 10 10 10

Yesterday got out to the greenbelt to do some climbing. Half way through the hike we decided to hit up a different wall and hiked further down the trail. We planned on trying a multipitch route but someone was on it. We let them have it and warm up on a 9. I lead it, top roped it, and then down climbed it on lead because there where no anchors. The two guys on the multipitch route scared us away so we headed back to another wall. About a minute from hike from that wall I twisted my ankle. It didn't feel so bad so I very delicately flashed a 9 there. It was that bad. My friend tapped up my ankle and I went home and passed out. So in summary: 3 mile hike with about 25 lbs of gear 4 9's 1 Twisted ankle. Needless to say, I wasn't feeling too active today.

Another Climber chiming in! I live in Austin and its an awesome city for climbing. We have 2 prime spots a 5-10 minute drive away from downtown. I love lead climbing. The extra mental challenge of always being above your protection really pumps me up. And the satisfaction of leading a climb for the first time is just so much better than top roping if for the first time. Good luck on your challenge!

Thanks Steve, I actually saw one climber already. I noticed one of his goals was to start lead climbing so I'm gonna have to post a few words of encouragement for him. And Capoeira seems awesome and one of my friends loves it. If my school offered it I would have picked it over Taekwondo. Another two day report. Thursday. A lot like Tuesday. 2 mile run Taekwondo. Done. Today I did my body weight circuit today. I actually switched to something very similar to this routine from the weight training I did after first coming to this site, so kudos to Steve! Pull ups: 8 8 7 Lunges (hands behind head, twist torso at bottom): 20 20 20 Pushups: 11 11 11 One Legged Squats(Left then right):8-9, 10-10(must have found my balance this set), 7-6 Hanging leg raises: 8 8 8 And 5 minutes of stretching between each circuit. And since its a Friday night I'll be drinking a bit. Hopefully the dancing I do will offset the alcohol.

Due to Internet troubles I didn't post anything yesterday so I'll do double today. Monday night I had some insomnia and ended up only getting 3 hours of sleep. I fully intended on skipping my 9 am Taekwondo class. My alarm clock when off at its usual time, I snoozed it. My phone rang, and it was Catie asking for money to buy bread, I gave it to her. Alan called about Organic Chemistry, I ignored it.So after all the distractions, and my consistent schedule of class everyday at 9 (I knew that would pay off!) I suited up, ran 2 miles, and did an hour long Taekwondo class. I did 60 consecutive situps in there. I don't do situps, in fact I very rarely do any core exercising so I'm surprised it was as easy as it was. The trick is a simple one, involving a workout buddy, having somebody to workout with motivates you. So what the instructor had us do was to lock our feet together, do a situp, clap our hands together, count when you clapped and repeat. He said he intends for us to do 100 situps by the end of the semester. That was yesterday, today's workout was another gym bouldering session. I should have gone climbing outside, it was so beautiful, but it was an issue of time. Climbing outside usually commits me to at least 3 hours instead of the 1 at the gym. On the diet front Catie made delicious blackberry pie yesterday and I had only one small slice after lunch, pretty easy to resist because I was running around. On the other hand, today I got back from the gym and had cupcakes waiting for me so I had one, and there where a few left after dinner and I couldn't resist. Sad.

I've been in love with rock climber since I first started last June. During the Holidays I decided that by my one year climbing anniversary I would lead climb an 11 (a perfect 10 is not good enough), buy her some flowers and take her out to dinner... or not. I don't think rocks like dinner much. I've topropped an 11, but I made it look like a beached whale trying to roll into the surf and sounded like I belonged in some bad S&M porn. Far and away from the cool precision, both mental and physical, needed to do any lead climbing. But June is still a long way away, and I need an intermediate goal meanwhile. Lead climb a 10! A note on the rating system. If you've never climbed and aren't completely out of shape you can probably do a 7, if you can climb 15s you are a rock god. So to get there I'm gonna try to: Climb at least 3 days a week. Exercise at least 6 days a week. I am a strong adherent to the belief that exercise should be fun. My main workouts are Taekwondo, trail biking, , and climbing. If I'm really bored or pressed for time I'll do some body weight training at home. My diet goal. Eat less cookies. I live with 20 people, a quarter of which are excellent bakers. I actually complain about getting too much homebaked goods, its sad being cursed with awesome. No more than one baked good per batch. For today, good news first. I hit the bouldering gym hard for an hour. My back is a bit sore 8 hours after the fact. Bad news, I had two delicious... buttery... pecan cookies :cry: But that was before I wrote this! So next time I won't give in so easily. Oh yeah, I weigh 145 pounds, and have no desire to gain or lose any weight. If it happens it happens.