PHOT-OHs: MUGGIN' AND PLUGGIN' P'UP

(PHOTO: Home sweet home with my new living room furniture - just $16 for table, chairs, ottoman, and a lamp from the Goodwill)


I didn't want anyone to think I didn't have fun in Madison. Despite my review below, I made the best of the facilities I was allowed to use. It was Brad's first climbing experience, so I didn't want to be a sourpuss about our limitations. We had a great time, though the clip-in auto-belay system (wasn't their a manufacturer's recommended recall last month???) made descents both awkward and "sticky." I was bummed about this - I wanted Brad to have the sort of experience I had my first climbs at UNL.

Christina wanted to climb, but her left ankle wasn't fully recovered. She fell last week, in a hole, during some sort of par-tay with new friends in Milwaukee. I hope she'll be able to go to my review trip to Warrenville, Illinois some time next year. Sidelined with an injury, she got stuck with the dubious honor of being our documentarian. Considering the limitations of my camera, a Canon PowerShot A720 IS, she did a good job. My camera, by the way, is out of commission. The shutter mechanism got sand in it during my summer trip to California and this morning, well, it stuck in the open position (despite my efforts to fix it). So it looks like I'll be dropping off my camera at Rockbrook this afternoon while hoping the repair won't cost more than an 8.0 mega pixel 6x zoom replacement.

At this point, I'm hoping to get a digital video camera - something beyond the Flip but not quite as pricey as the cameras I oogled at Best Buy. Not only am I becoming a gear ho, checking out climbing stuff online the way my ex surfed for porn, I'm becoming a digidweeb - hot for electronics. Checking out new climbing videos on YouTube has become a favorite hobby of mine, but that isn't saying much. I'll do just about anything to avoid reading the books on my dissertation comp list.

I'd even read stereo instructions, in Spanish mind you, and I don't habla.

Later today, I'm heading to the medical clinic for an x-ray on the sausage foot. Even after five days the thing hasn't improved, unless one considers its kaleidoscope color striations and blue toes improvement. At this point, I just want a shoe splint so I can go to work tomorrow. I've got teaching to do.

I'm bummed out, though. I already know the recovery time is going to cost me. My callouses, which were finally solid, will soften. I'll have to go through that conditioning period again. And I'm worried I'll gain weight or lose ground I worked so hard to cover at the wall. Climbing is "inherently dangerous," so I'm not complaining about the injury itself - I had a great time getting it.

Well, except that biffing part, where I fell from grace and into my face.

It looks like my next scheduled review will be of Vertical Endeavors in St. Paul, Minnesota. I'm headed to Minneapolis for the Rhetoric Society of America conference there during Memorial Day Weekend. It's a big conference and my first appearance there, so I thought I'd add to the fun by spending a day climbing. At some point, I'd like to check out the Stone Age Climbing Gym in New Mexico - and the outdoor climbing near Albuquerque.

Why the emphasis on sport climbing indoors? Well, why not? It seems that as popularity grows for both climbing and comps, and as some gyms employ a "great for parties and retreats" approach to wooing customers, reviews would be worthwhile. Also, I'm promoting healthy lifestyle development for women of all ages and sizes. I hope to contribute to others' sense of experimentation and growth - the sort of good stuff climbing provides in ways other sports/workouts can't.

But mostly, I'm having fun. I do hope to make it to the Shelf Road trip scheduled for April, but I may have to wait until the fall since I'm heading to Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, and Milwaukee again in the first six months of the year. Laura's graduating in June and Christina's getting married in July. It's going to be a busy year.

That reminds me: I'm collecting green wine bottles for Christina's centerpieces at the reception. If you live nearby or will be visiting, bring me your empties (or better still, full ones and we'll empty them together). Christina and Brad are trying to put together a "green" wedding, so all of our decorations, table service, and all that which is bridal, is coming from nontraditional sources such as thrift stores. Even the caterer is a owner-operated organic food restaurant. Beans and Barley of Milwaukee will be providing the trays - and I think that's pretty cool.



The wedding and reception will be at the original PBR brewery in Milwaukee - a beautiful space rich with history. I'm hoping my friends and PBR loyals will consider making the trip. It looks like we're going to have a rockin' good time.

That's about all I've got today: X-rays, a trip to the camera store, Dad and Denise stopping in for the night on their way from Chicago to Longmont, Colo., a dinner to cook in their honor, and papers to grade. It's a good thing I got my climb on over the break - there's no telling when I get to climb again.

EXODUS

And so it begins.

This weekend, I met my climbing partner, Ryann, and her boyfriend I've named "Schnookums." Brian (his real name) decided he preferred a monosyllabic representation of Self. So now, forevermore, he shall be referred to as "Schnook."

We spent a good two hours at the wall today. Though it's true I only once attempted to master the 5.6 route on the north wall, a.k.a. "The Dolly Parton Project," so named for it's "big jugs," I spent the rest of the time bouldering (or rather, trying to boulder).

Why?

Well, the same skills you use without a rope, traversing, footwork, holds, and assessing your route, all apply. I've found that as a new climber, I haven't learned to trust my hands or my feet. Somehow the freedom of bouldering, mucking around on the wall without a harness and below the bouldering line, allows me to experiment without feeling as though I'm wasting my belay's time or holding up others waiting to climb.

It's that latter part that's a big deal. Not yet having the confidence, and still negotiating my sense of self-perception, I feel embarrassed at the wall. This is particularly true when there's a group waiting on the bench for their chance at a route. I'm very conscious of wall decorum, and the spirit of sharing and community at our wall. So while I want to learn, I don't want to learn at others' expense.

Schnook offered a lot of advice today, and he noticed that I had improved since his last visit to Lincoln. My climbing partner, Ryann, also noticed improvements from that first day we tried this inquiry. That's the day I got hooked, by the way.

But today's work was different. For one, I brought my camera (you can see the photos. For another, I explained to everyone there the project and my goals. Many agreed with my assessment, that when looking into climbing the only examples you can find are from those who are already in great shape. Many also noted that it didn't matter where one began, so long as one did indeed begin.

I've created P'UP t-shirts. Until I've mastered a route, I'll be wearing the "Rookies Climb Rainbows" t-shirt, a popular one at the wall. I've gotten three orders, by the way, and that seemed like something fun in itself.

How did climbing go today?

Well, I made it past the crag swiftly with little difficulty, and that seemed like something to celebrate. I also learned that sometimes, one has to swing, to allow momentum to give that extra inch or so needed to reach a hold. This is largely a matter of physics, and if you're climbing with your skeleton, keeping your arms straight and your weight on your feet where it belongs, it's a lot more fun.

I also learned that I have yet to master my fear of heights. Climbing is far more cerebral than most people think it is, and once I proved to myself that I was indeed climbing, and once I had swung to meet that elusive hold from last week, the fear set in. My monkey mind, what Buddhist tradition calls a mind that won't focus, got the best of me. I tried a meditative technique Thich Nhat Hanh describes in his book, True Love: A Practice for Awakening the Heart (2006).

Once one recognizes fear, Hanh advises, one can then imagine holding that fear like a child. Soothing it, holding it close, then making sure the child fear knows that though you honor its presence, you tell that fear you're still going to do what you need to do.

Sounds hokey, but you know, it worked. I did get a full two moves above that fear moment before letting my weight go to just one side and swinging open like a damn barn door. That's when physics made me it's downcast minion. That's when I came down and realized I had let my monkey mind get a little too far ahead of myself.

After that, as I said, I worked on traversing across the wall. I worked on that until I couldn't feel my middle fingers anymore. Sweaty, spent, but grinning like a dork, I packed it in. Overall, it was a good day. I didn't get hurt. I laughed with good people. I made it past a part in a route that gave me trouble last week.

Other noteworthy discoveries: My La Sportiva Nago shoes are perfectly broken in now, rubbing only slightly at my heel. I no longer wear the duct tape on my achilles tendons to protect them from blistering - a trick I learned from my daughter. Also, I've finally worn in the new chalk ball (our wall doesn't allow loose chalk) so it has just enough give in it.

Nutritional news: Instead of bowing down to the diet industry yet again, I've been working on just two aspects of my nutritional habits. After looking at protein options, I've created a balance of vegetarian and poultry sources. The benefit of vegetarian proteins, particularly beans and legumes, is that you get the added benefit of fiber. The benefit of poultry is that it's a complex protein with essential acids a body needs. I'll explore fish and lean meat later in the month. The other area of focus is fiber. High fiber foods stay with a body longer, and when it comes to energy, that's important. Fiber also keeps your hunger in check, which is important when you're trying to learn to fuel your body in healthier ways.

I'll be working on a caloric intake model particular to my height and weight next week. The overall goal right now is to reduce my BMI, and thanks to my Wii, I can get a weekly assessment on that. Okay, so it's not the best assessment, but it's the most fun. And P'UP is all about fun.

Ryann and I will climb again sometime this week, but I think I'll head to the wall on Tuesday to work on bouldering some more. I've learned that if I get there right when the wall opens, I can have a half hour of full use of the wall on my own. For now, the climbing schedule is no more than three times a week, but that's simply because I don't want to overdo it or hurt myself. In between these days, I have other activities to do that will build strength and endurance. I'll be posting more about that another day.

For now, as the cold air wafts through my window and I feel the chilled fingers of fall pulling summer away, I'm smugly satisfied with myself. Not only did I have a good day of climbing, I didn't wince at my photos or subject my physical self to a bucketload of self-incrimination and negativity. I'm hoping that as I grow as a climber, as I assert my self-love and dedication to something besides my mind, my photos will eventually reveal changes I can see.

I just wish my hands didn't hurt ... someone told me today that if they didn't feel dead, you weren't really climbing. So I guess I really climbed today.