Archive for September, 2007

When my boyfriend and I broke up three years ago, I did what pretty much any man hitting the market again after a long-term relationship does. I took a look at myself in the mirror and joined a gym. The fact that I was about to trip the big three-oh was just added incentive.

I also threw out junk food and soda from my diet and started weighing myself everyday to monitor my progress. I started out at around 148 pounds. For most people that’s pretty damn lightweight, but for me, having been 125 in high school and 135 in college, I had packed on 13 extra pounds. And I could see all of it sitting around my waist when standing shirtless in front of the bathroom at 8 a.m. in the morning, an undeniable testament to my slacking off and the “letting-themselves-go” that people speak of when wrapped up in a long-term relationship.

After six months at the gym, and six months of denying myself all but healthy food, I had dropped down to 140 pounds. I suspect I really lost ten pounds, but gained five back in muscle.

For the last three years, I’ve basically maintained that weight, cutting myself more slack at the gym and in my diet so that I can enjoy life, instead of making my life all about the gym and eating tofu.

So when I stepped on the scale yesterday and found the numbers: 135.5 staring back at me. You can imagine my surprise. What happened? Where did those five pounds go?

Now I’m pretty sure it’s the running. A 15 mile run can burn like 1500 calories. That’s half a pound!

Won’t be long before the Olsen twins start calling me “skinny”.

With it being all but certain that I’ll be parking my poseur ass @ Bishop come 2008 to do a few months of bouldering (or two days I go crazy being in the middle of nowhere and point my VW towards SF as fast as she can go). I was mulling over a potential ticklist to work with.

Two lines here:

The Hulk (V6) – which I’ve already sent, but it was a wild, swinging dyno that might have impressed everyone watching, but earned a big fat zero for style and substance. I’ll be looking to static move the crux of this mofo this time around.

Disco Diva (V8) – The small line immediately left of The Hulk. I was able to work out some beta to get up to the crux before being shut down. Really just a matter of finger-strength.

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Pow Pow (V7) - I know I came SO SO close to sending this up last thanksgiving. The dude above me is working off a lousy sloper finger pull and gritting down for the long throw to the crimp in the middle of the picture. This isn’t even the hardest move. That comes next, having to dyno yet again to a even higher crimp without swinging yourself off the blasted thing.

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Saigon (V7) - The picture above was done with a wide angle lens and the perspective is rather deceptive looking. The rock is actually much higher and scarier in person. The topout is a good 20 feet off the mat. The crux involves a tricky cross-over on a bad crimper. I kept pussy-ing out on the crossover last time I tried it and never really made a wholehearted attempt to push past it.

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Soulslinger (V9) – A total crimpfest and one of the area’s most classic problems. Should be right up my alley once I work up some finger strength and get used to the sharp edges.

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Jedi Mind Tricks (V5?) – Another area classic. Higher and far more burly looking in person than the pictures suggest, it follows the edge of a flake to the top. The crux also happens to be on the top, greatly increasing the weak-knees factor. It used to be rated V3, but word is that good flake near the top broke off recently, and has subsequently become fairly harder.

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Stained Glass (V10) – Not 100% sure on the accuracy, but this supposedly was established by one of bouldering’s sickest people, Fred Nicole. This Bishop testpiece has a reputation that lives up to its name. If I walk away from Bishop having accomplished only one thing, let it be this.

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High Plains Drifter (V7) – Another area classic, and a high-ball to boot. Yes you’re looking at the picture right. That guy in blue is just starting out, and you’ve gotta climb ALLLLL the way to the top. Although once you pass the bulge near the bottom, its mainly a easy (relatively) climb out.

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Atari (V6) – One of the Happy’s most visible and classic problems, its a scary high climb over some rather sketchy landing. I’m climbing up there for the view.

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Mandala (V??) – More of a pipe dream than anything. But who knows?