Mission Accomplished

Last time I posted, I recounted my less than auspicious attempt at bouldering and expressed a desire to improve.

Well, I’ve been back to Climber’s Rock twice since then and I am so much better at it now. For starters, I rented shoes the second time I went, which made an enormous difference. I’m notoriously bad at wearing the wrong footwear to the gym (I still wear running shoes in spin class and it took me 2.5 years to finally cave and buy different shoes for lifting).

With the wrong footwear, I had to rely almost exclusively on my upper body strength to climb because my regular gym shoes kept slipping. With climbing shoes, I was able to use my (much stronger) leg muscles a lot more. So if you ever plan to try bouldering, don’t be a cheapskate; rent the shoes – it will make your experience so much better.

Disclaimer… that is not me. One day though.

I’ve now completed 6 climbs (as opposed to 0 the first time I went) so I feel pretty good about my progress and I’m excited to see how climbing will improve my performance in other activities, especially BodyPump where my upper body strength has always been lacking. It’s also just a really fun way to work out that doesn’t feel like working out at all, plus it’s something active that Josh and I can do together, which is nice.

In other news, Josh and I are going on a trip to San Francisco next week. We have a very long list of restaurants we want to try so I’m making an effort to stay active while we’re there. I’ve been checking out local yoga studios and I think I’ve decided on Yoga Tree. Three of their locations are within walking distance of the places we’re staying at (we booked through http://www.airbnb.com, which if you’ve never heard of it before, you need to go there, like, now, especially if you’re travelling any time soon) and there are lots of classes to choose from. Also, their intro special – 3 classes for $20 – is perfect.

I’m also loading up a new running playlist for some early morning runs through Golden Gate Park.  Look for some trip recap posts during the week of the 18th. Can’t wait!

What’s the last fitness goal you accomplished?