New Hobby: Climbing

I have a new hobby! Are you surprised? Well, you shouldn't be. It happens pretty frequently. Although this is more of a renewed hobby, as I spent most of my childhood climbing anything I could get up.

When I was about eight months pregnant and on bedrest, I decided I wanted to take up rock climbing. (Yeah. Bad timing. I know.) Well, I didn't start then, but I did as soon as I was able, or in other words, about six weeks postpartum. We started with short climbs indoors at Main Event once a week.

I'm really thankful that Robert's been a great sport and has joined me. We take turns climbing and taking care of TK and KT, and it works pretty well.

When we get the chance, we like to climb at Seismic in the Barton Creek Greenbelt.

Typical scenes from Seismic--Kestrel wiggles, Tiernan explores, and we climb. Tiernan found his own rock to climb--and discovered that it made a decent slide.

We don't have all the gear or skill in lead climbing to go by ourselves yet, so a big thanks to Matt LaCour for taking us out and teaching us the ropes. Done correctly, climbing is relatively safe--done incorrectly, and it is dangerous. I greatly appreciate Matt's mildly obsessive attention to safety. Not all climbers are as attentive or knowledgeable, and I'm glad to be learning from him.

These days I climb once or twice a week for about two hours each time. We've been climbing now for about two and a half months, and I've seen significant progress. Granted, I started from an atrophied state, but the difference in my upper body strength between now and then is astounding. For the first time, I have found a way to workout that I actually enjoy--which means I'm so much more likely to do it. It's empowering to see myself doing things that I couldn't before. Combined with the adrenaline, I usually leave feeling like I could take over the world.

If you're interested in trying it out, let me know--we'd love to have you join us.