Thursday, February 19, 2009

Ooops, I'm late! Rock Climbing Tales...

On Tuesday, I bounced around all day, counting down the hours until I could leave to go climbing. It was like waiting to open your birthday presents when you are 9 years old--impossible to sit still and focus. Luckily, as a kindergarten teacher, the more hyper I am the better my classes end up being.

The first thing that was said to me when I walked into the gym was 'where have you been?!' I explained that I had sprained my ankles (though I didn't mention that I did it climbing at another gym). The trainer kept an eye on me, making sure I took frequent stretching breaks and that I wasn't climbing through pain. I climbed for an hour and a half, half an hour longer than I said I would but I took an obscene amount of breaks for stretching and doing crunches and push-ups. Climbing was exhilarating though I had to work to keep from getting too discouraged at how much my strength and technique had deteriorated in the past 5 months. Instead of pushing into V2/V3 bouldering I'm back at V1 and feeling the burn. My first route was a 40 move V1 bouldering problem (or there abouts, they don't grade bouldering routes the same...and I can't read the Korean signs anyways so I rate it based on how hard it felt, the holds, etc). Going through the route once involved falling a few times (don't worry, lots of crash pads) and serious lactic acid build up, the type that I would have after an hour of climbing when I was in shape. It was amazing but irritating that my forearms were getting tired before my ankles. The non climber interpretation verdict: exhausting but so much fun I thought I was going to explode from the endorphin kick. I was still exuberant the next day at work. It was one of the first times in my life I was happy to wake up sore. My ankles were okay too! They were a little tender but not painful. I wore my high tops for extra support Wednesday and that helped keep them happy.

The rest of life is okay. Sunday I am making a special 1 hour subway ride to my favorite bookstore to restock because I am in a desperate situation. I never want to read political theory in my 10 minute breaks at work. I need a novel. The newspaper only lasts me through the first half of the day and I don't love the English papers that are available in my neighborhood. I'm thinking of asking my local corner store if they can carry the International Herald Tribune for me which I've seen around Anyang but no where near my route to work. I love reading the newspaper but I'm not making a 20 minute detour for the paper. What I really need to do is think of a favor I can exchange with a Korean speaker for them to write the note/interpret on the phone for me...

I apologize for any errors...the keyboard at work is on it's last leg. Also, I'm not in the mood to proofread. Oh well.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Alex, it is obvious that you are feeling much better this month. You have more posts than any other month since you've been gone. I am so glad to hear you are getting back into rock climbing, I can just hear the excitement in your voice.

If you come to visit this summer, I will definitely take you to a bookstore -- our big store in more than doubling in size and opening next month. Or, just check out the gazillion books your grandmother has.

PS, I also love your leather jacket.

Alex said...

Ooooooooooooooooooo American sized bookstores! Grandma's bookshelves are fantastic too! last time I asked if I could borrow a Henry James novel she had and she practically begged me to find more books to take home. I love it when she runs out of shelf space. I got Kafka, James, and Gogol out of it!Gogol is very good but very strange, even on the Russian literary scale. I'm most certainly coming to visit though it probably won't be until September.

Unknown said...

Yay climbing! I miss climbing with you. I'm glad you had a good time and took care of yourself!

Chris J said...

There's some kitchy bookstore down here I have yet to dive into so I'll have to do that soon. I've been missing my reading as of late.

I still can not believe how gorgeous this country is.

Alex said...

I kind of love kitchy little bookstores though they rarely have much I want to read unless they have a good classic literature and/or poli sci section. You know what would be Fantastic for letting us know how beautiful you find Kiwi land? Pictures. Pictures would be fantastic. :-D When you get real internet of course.