So after I decided to do the comp, I had to email and call everyone to try to get them to compete too. Ryan Moon and Jake Nelson will be there, and I think I may have convinced Shags to climb with me too. Lyn and Natasha from SF are also going to be there, meaning I don't have a chance in hell to win anything. Good thing the prizes are decided by raffle and not by where they place in the comp.
In other news, I have found an excellent cycling partner. My friend Sandrine has the same kind of motivation that I have to always push push push. Her knee is hurt at the moment, so in her injured state I can actually keep up with her. Plus we're going to try to make it to yoga classes...I'm counting on her to motivate me, and I think she's counting on me to motivate her too. I'm getting pretty excited about doing other things besides climbing...am I losing my identity?
I have to admit, yoga never seems that appealing, because I don't prioritize mental health benefits as much as physical benefits. If I try to compare climbing, biking and yoga, and my criteria is only how much of a workout I'm getting, yoga will always fall behind. BUT, I think that for me, having time to ATTEMPT to prevent my mind from wandering all over God's Green Earth is probably a good thing. So we went to restorative yoga last night. Boring, but nice. Let's see if I can make it a habit...not so sure. On the other hand, I realize that I spend a lot of time thinking about pointless crap, and it's hard not to be annoyed with myself for wasting energy like that...I'm just supposed to "notice my mind wandering, la-di-da." Oh well.
People have asked me what my New Year's Resolutions are this year. Up until now, I haven't given it much thought. For some reason I've been abysmally lax in the whole planning long term stuff recently. But here's for starters:
1. give myself injections on schedule. I've been so bad about this...I think it's because all of the places that I inject myself look cadaverous. So much for ever wearing a bikini again.
2. eat healthfully (attempt to avoid wheat, excess fat and sugar)
3. get this trout manuscript out the door before spring break (at least to my co-author for revision).
4. participate more in lab activities, do better about my tasks (freezer and cleanup...yeah I got kind of hosed this year)
5. spend more time with my friends, spend less time with people who are not my friends
6. boulder more, bike more, do more yoga, and do more opposing exercises for shoulders, fingers, etc.
7. Do more social stuff around Davis. I was thinking the other day that I've actually made some really good friends here, despite being so obsessed with climbing that I miss out on a lot of stuff. I think that not going to JH every weekend (like last season) has been one of the best things I've done for my sanity.
8. score a date with the cute guy I met the other day (okay, pipe dream, but I'm trying).
9. Trip to the Creek, trip to Greece.
Obviously there's a lot more to do and to aspire to, but this is a start. Stuff that I can do on a daily or weekly basis is always good. Seems like 2008 was a watershed year for me. A lot of my values and priorities changed, probably because a lot of things in my life changed. Part of me is sad that I don't think that listening to stories about climbing for hours on end is that interesting anymore, but a part of me is excited to see what will fill that space. I think that much of this comes from not needing an climbing as an identity as much as I did...it always seemed like climbing made me stand apart from everyone else in the population (or at least I felt that way). Hopefully it's a positive thing that I don't need it as much anymore. I stand back and look at people who are still deep into it, and it's pretty interesting. Actually, it's boring, but from a psychological self-reflective standpoint, it's interesting.
2 comments:
If you want more of a workout you need to try Bikram yoga. If you go and wuss out because its hot you might think its not that bad, but if you try hard (like when your biking or climbing) it will get you heart rate up to peak levels. My sister, who is really freaking good (meaning it doesn't get easier as you get better, a common misconception) still gets her heart rate up to the 190's.
Darling, you've got a a Creek partner right here. Fly here, we can cruise down in the van, make healthy food and climb like fiends. I mean, you have to hang the rope for me on anything hard, but still - FIENDS.
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