Snowpocalyse '10 averted, but snow nevertheless

List of things that 5 years ago I thought were impossible:

- Going cycling in a snow storm for an hour, for fun.

Temp: 28 F

w/ windchill: 15 F

Windspeed: 22 mph, gusts at 31 mph

Clothing: Puma boots, gym shorts + goretex pants, blue wicking shirt + blue rain jacket, balaclava, ski goggles. had on mountaineering mitts, but they were too warm, so i mostly just had bare hands. Balaclava also got too warm/difficult to breathe, so had a bare face most of the time.

Route: 12.1 miles

Ok, so only the first 8 miles were from my hourish bike ride. But I wanted to see how much I biked today.

Also, 8 miles/hr is super slow... but with all the snow, and a crazy head wind, pretty hard. :-)

Harvard Stadiums

I've always heard stories of people running stadiums at Harvard Stadium, ie, running up and down the stairs, all around the bowl. Today, I gave it my first go.

Temperature: 23

With wind chill: 13

Apparel: Running tights, wicking shirt, purple fleece, fleece gloves, fleece/acrylic hat with ear flaps.

Route: 3.9 miles

The gates to the Stadium were open, however, I couldn't find easy access to the stairs. I ran around the stadium 1.5 times to find an easy way, but just ended up using my climbing skills to scale the cement wall with the aid of a metal pipe fixture. I ran up and down the stairs, making it about 1/3 of the way around the horseshoe before I needed to catch my breath, then proceeded to finish up the rest of the half. No need to kill myself on my first stadium attempt, right?? Climbed back down, walked a little to cool off, then ran back home and collapsed on my couch for some amount of time.

All in all, a great workout that will definitely be repeated!!!

metromonday (02.01.10)

I realized that I didn't post last Monday night/Tuesday morning. Mostly because we stayed out relatively late at Atwoods (left around 1am), and then after taking people home, I got my 2nd birthday present from Avi!

So, now I don't particularly remember what I climbed...

- 5.9 on the left side of the back wall that was tricky but perfectly suited for my skillset

- 5.8 red, vertical horizons. i think i didn't finish it.

- at least two other 5.8s, maybe some pluses in there.

Also, we didn't get there until about 8, due to Christianne being late and then me being late. It's all good!!!

Winter School, Week 3

It's the third weekend of Winter School 2010, and I finally did a trip worth writing up in this exercise blog!!!

We hiked up to Kinsman pond, which is a

metromonday (01.25.10)

Christianne and I were feeling kind of bleh for various reasons, so we took it relatively easy. I successfully climbed very few routes.

5.8+ white on the back wall. Didn't finish.

5.8- pink, love.

5.8+ pink, looking for a knubbin.

5.8 white, new one to left of crypt ticket.

5.8 black, new one to right of crypt ticket.

5.8 white, easy one on back of middle wall.

5.8 pink, new on on left wall. Didn't finish.

I timed this to see what my total time would be for getfit purposes. About 30 minutes of actual climbing, in exchange for about 1.5 hours of being at metrorock. Interesting trade off.

Pull-up is amazingly close now. I'm amazed at this!!!

metromonday (01.18.10)

I can't believe I've been climbing once a week for three months now. Seems like I'm not really getting too much better... and I'm not too sure that'll change with this once a week plan. But no matter! Still fun. Climbed with Brendan, Christianne, and some random guy name Elipe.

5.8 pink love one that used to be a 5.9-
5.8+ new white one that I couldn't do last week. Wasn't clean, but still happened.
5.8+ pink one
5.9- short green one by back wall. Attempted and failed.
5.8 yellow. One that I climbed with Alice a few weeks ago. Made it up, but shoddily.
5.8 green, slightly overhangy. Slow and ugly, but climbed it.
5.7+ yellow in back corner. When I couldn't climb this clean, I knew twas time to stop. :-)

I also attempted two v0 bouldering routes, did a few almost pull-ups and chinups.

metromonday (01.11.10)

Sicksicksick, but still went to metro because... well... maybe it helps? (It didn't help. I haven't been able to get out of bed yet, or even sit up. Or think. Ugh.)

Arrived around 7:15 with Christianne, climbed more or less until close.

5.8 blue KoopaTroopaBeach. A really weird climb, fun. Didn't climb clean. Forearms hurt already, a remnant from ice climbing, no doubt.

5.8+ brand new pink one, long, near main entrance. Just the perfect kind of climb for me. Only messed up toward the end while reaching for a hand hold that was not a hand hold at all. Go straight up!

5.8 green. short route; one that Alice and I failed on before. Climbed cleanly.

5.8- pink. The one towards the back with lots of little handholds. Climbed cleanly.

5.9- white. The Filter is Broken (near the 5.8 pink love one). Sucked at it, but Christianne belayed me up the wall. Sigh.

5.8 red arret. Couldn't figure out the end... whaaaaat?

5.8+ new white one toward back right corner. Made it about halfway up, but couldn't survive the 2nd overhang.

Christianne successfully climbed 5.10a, 5.10b, and gave a 5.11a a run for it's money.

End-of-day-pull-up-attempt getting closer...