Past due for a rest day ...

Ack. I did a lot better climbing today than i though I would - two 5.7's (both clean) and two and a quarter 5.9's (the first one clean, the second with a lot of rests, and the last one was just a dumb idea). Honestly - I probably should have skipped the climbing. I am COMPLETELY EXHASUTED. Apparently the problem with eating well is that you are capable of pushing yourself farther than you should go ... >.<

In the name of being social and not forgoing friendships in the pursuit of CF: instead of going to class, we had agreed to go climbing with Katherine and her husband Blake today something we used to do every weekend pre-broken finger and pre-CF. If we hadn't already made plans to meet them I very well may have made today a rest day.

We paired off in girls and boys pairs. Katherine started with a fairly easy straight forward 5.9, and did just fine. Then it was my turn; not expecting to get very far - since just raising my arms above the level of my waist kinda hurt - I decided to at least try a friendly 5.7. It went much better than i expected, and I got all the way to the top quickly and easily.

Then, at the recommendation of Daniel & Blake, Katherine decided to try a 10.a that had a tricky bit of overhang. Well she slipped trying to get over it, and really nailed her shin (the one she hadn't scraped up falling off her bike) on a hold. That was it for that climb. We got some ice for her shin, and just sat and talked for a while until she felt better.

Then I decided to try another friendly 5.7. Climbed it speedy and clean.

Katherine chose a 10.a she'd done last week, but it was a lot harder this time since she was still sorta freaked out from getting banged up (and I learned later that all she'd had for breakfast was a jamba juice smoothie -ie. sugar bomb - so she didn't have any good fuel) But after several rests and several instances of being just positive she couldn't get any further, she hung in there and with some persistent encouragement from her supportive belay partner (me :D) , she made it to the top.

Next, i was feeling perkier, so I decided to try the 5.9 'Thriller' again. It went MUCH more smoothly than when i tried it friday night, and I made it to the top easily and clean! :D That probably should have been my last climb, but it's so hard to call it a day when you still feel like you have energy left.

So after Katherine climed thriller too, I decided to try a 5.9 on the negative incline wall (the one I don't like), just to see how far i could get. I had to rest a bunch, but I made it all the way to the top. There was a tricky part at the beginning involving getting up over a small overhang, but I finally figured out how to get my right foot right up under me which allowed me to reach the next hold. I used up a lot of energy figuring that out, and by the time i got to the top, my form was out the window - i was reaching with my hands before bringing my feet up under me.

The last climb i tried was just dumb. It was a 5.9 that goes over this fairly significant piece of overhang that I have never successfully gotten over - so I decided to try it - today - when i had basically no hope of succeeding due to my tired state. I made it to the bottom of the overhang, fell a couple times, wasted a lot of energy trying to get back on route (the 'joy' of climbs with overhang is frequently if you fall, you swing a LONG way, and getting back on route can be harder than just coming down and starting over), got the rope caught on a hold distinctly off route that was pulling me off course - wasted some more energy trying to resolve that, tried to get on route again - realized i was just exhausted and decided to come down.

I am very much looking forward to two full rest days!