Wednesday, January 30, 2008

You want me to get there how???



Last Saturday, I did indoor climbing for the first time. My friend Jesse, whose been doing indoor climbing for nine months, invited me to her gym for some indoor climbing. Game for pretty much anything athletic, I accepted her invitation.

While we waited for Jesse's friend Hannah to join us, Jesse helped me get into my harness and showed me how to make a figure eight loop with a rope. When Hannah arrived, we were ready to head for the climbing walls. My first climb was a 5.5 climb. All of the walls have various climbing routes that are marked by colored tape. (Rather than try and explain the rating system, I've copied and pasted Touchstones' explanation: "Roped routes use the Yosemite Decimal System, in which every number is preceded by a '5' to indicate technical climbing - followed by a dot - followed by a number from 1 to 14 which indicates increasing difficulty. Hence, a climb rated 5.3 is relatively easy while a 5.13 is the domain of the elite.")

I was a bit nervous getting up the 5.5 route and noticed that my palms got sweaty relatively quickly (I attribute that to my nerves). I can't recall if I made it to the top of my first route but I do remember doing it twice.

We then proceeded to a 5.6 climb and, though I struggled with it, I made it to the top.

Throughout my climbs, Jesse and Hannah kept reminding me to use my legs more than my arms but my instinctive reaction was to use more arm power than leg power. There were times when I got stuck in the middle of a route because the next step seemed almost impossible to make (e.g., I had to extend my right leg far to the right and stand on that leg so I can reach for the next climbing hold above me.) There were times when Jesse and Hannah had to yell out directions toward the next climbing hold because the holds were hard to see from my vantage point. I remember looking over my left shoulder and seeing how far away the ground appeared to me. Damn, that made me nervous!

Although I did make it to the top of most of my climbs, there was at least one wherein I just couldn't reach the top. When I got to the middle of the route, I froze! I was scared to get around the "ledge". Jesse and Hannah yelled at me to move my left leg to a particular hold above me but my leg would not budge out of fear. At one point, I slid off the wall. That's when I realized that I was going to be o.k. because I was securely fastened to my harness and I had confidence in Jesse's belaying skills. (A belayer is the person who controls the rope fed out to the climber.)



Towards the end of our two and a half hour workout, Jesse and Hannah and encouraged me to climb the bouldering wall. The bouldering wall is about 12-15 feet high, with routes of varying difficulties. While this wall is not as high as the other walls, you climb it sans rope. So, if you fall, there's no harness to protect you (although there is a mat immediately below the wall to cushion your fall should you fall.) I was a bit scared and failed to climb to the top on my first attempt but I did make it to the top on my second attempt.



At the end of my indoor climbing experience, I realized that indoor climbing is as mentally taxing as it is physically challenging. Although you have routes laid out for you, you still have to make decisions as far as what's your next best hold. Should you go for that hold to your far right or go for that hold above you on your left?

I also learned that indoor climbing is great for working on any trust and or fear issues you may have. You have to trust the person below you who is feeding you your rope and you have to trust yourself to know that you can take that next step. As far as the fear, you have to get past it to make it to the top of your climb.

The next time I go indoor climbing, I hope to be less nervous and more daring.

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Oh yeah, it's measurements time:

QUADS: 56 CM (damn, this isn't the type of consistency I want!)
CALVES: 37 cm
BICEPS: 28 cm

Friday, January 25, 2008

My Adventures with Team Oakland



I bought my first road bike in January 2006 at Cycle Sports. I remember hanging out at the shop sometime in May '06 when sales rep, Mark Munoz, introduced me to TO racer, Sean Smith. Looking at Sean's big, muscular body, he struck me more as a body builder than a cyclist. Nonetheless, Sean was extremely friendly and invited me to join TO's casual Thursday night rides and the Tuesday night port rides. I took him up on his offer and showed up for both rides where I met more TO people.





I remember our first non-lycra ride was the Halloween ride where we all dressed in costumes and rode around town just being goofballs. I had a blast!



In January 2007, I officially joined TO and ventured out to the Early Birds. I was nervous as hell when I rode out the the Bart station for my first EB session. When I got to the 19th street station, I saw two cyclists waiting for a train. I walked over to them and asked them if they were headed out to the early birds. It turns out they were headed out there too so I asked them if I could join them, to which they said yes. This was my first introduction to Ms. Bad-Ass Quads and Racer, Beth Newell, and Mr. former racer but I-still-got-a-lot-of-fight-in-me, Fred. I almost made it through the race series crash-free. Almost. I ended up being part of a three-woman pile up in the 4th race. It shook me up and I almost didn't do the 5th race but teammate (and EB mentor) Andrew Hardardt encouraged me to set my fears aside and do the race. I did it and came in 13th out of 22 despite hanging out in the back of the pack for most of the race. (Beth was not so lucky, she was involved in two crashes, one which was pretty serious. However, she has proven to be absolutely fearless and tough as nails and is now kicking ass on the road and at the track!)



In February 2007, TO racer, Mel Schultz, initiated a Saturday morning women's group ride that welcomed women of all skill levels and riding experience. I've met a few good women on these rides, two of which joined TO this year (Laura Walpert and Lauren Haughey).








In the months that followed, there were races, TO group rides, parties, and Tuesday night dinners at Los Cantaros.














I can honestly say that Team Oakland has some of the friendliest, toughest, and funniest people I've ever met. I'm very grateful to have found a group of friends who inspire me and humor me. I love these guys.

I'm also happy to report that Team Oakland now has a myspace page. Yay! http://www.myspace.com/teamoaklandcycling

Here's to another great year with Team Oakland!





Tuesday, January 22, 2008

I feel like such a lame ass!

Today in my kickboxing class, the instructor asked me if I would help with a punch/kick combination demonstration. I thought, "Cool, I can show off what I've learned so far." So, the instructor calls out jab, jab, cross, left roundhouse, right roundhouse." Well, it turns out that he just wanted me to hold the pads while he demonstrated a jab, jab, cross. When he called out "roundhouse", my brain computed that instruction as, "he wants you to show a roundhouse kick", so I lifted up my left leg with the intention of releasing a full force roundhouse kick (for some odd reason, my left kicks are stronger than my right kicks even though I'm right-hand dominant). Instead of unleasing a powerful roundhouse kick, both of my feet slipped from underneath me and I fell flat on my ass in front of the whole class! I heard a collective gasp and saw that some people moved towards me, perhaps they thought I had gone down so hard I would need help getting up. Thankfully, the only thing that was brusied was my ego. I jumped back up as quick as I could, put my game face on, said I was o.k. and continued with the demonstration. The pathetic part of it all was that the instructor had only wanted me to hold the pads while HE demonstrated a roundhouse kick. I have a feeling this episode is going to bug me for a long time. Aaarghhhhh!! Serenity now, godamnit!

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Measurements, workouts, and food




As Michiko has pointed out, I've been remiss in posting my measurements. Not only will I post my quad & calve measurements but I will add my biceps because I'm doing muay thai training and I'm interested in seeing my arms becoming more developed.

Quads: 56 cm (damn it, when will they get to 59 cms???)
Calves: 37 cm (my jump roping should keep this number from decreasing)
Biceps: 28 cm (hmmm, I wonder what an average size is for women)

As much as I enjoy riding my bike, I like mixing up my workouts. I've now discovered the awesomeness of muay thai (thai boxing). Known as the art of the eight limbs, muay thai involves usage of the hands, shins, elbows, and knees.

When I first began my muay thai training, I tired quickly during my jump rope warm ups. My trainer had me do three sets of two-minute intervals with forty second breaks in between each set. By the time I was done with each set, I was breathing and sweating profusely. As the weeks progressed, jump roping became easier. I can now do six minutes nonstop. (My next goal will be to do cool tricks with the rope. ;-) I also noticed that I was hitting harder, as evidenced by my bruised hands.





I'll continue working one-on-one with my trainer until I find a martial arts school that's within my budget and my neighborhood.

As far as my food intake, I've been reading about the raw food diet. While it makes sense to me, I don't see myself eating a 100% raw food diet. (What can I say, I love wine, coffee and dining out.) However, I am trying to eat more raw meals. Instead of eating Trader Joe's frozen organic enchiladas at lunch, I'll eat fruit, vegetables, pumpkin seeds, and/or almonds. I need to be careful, though, because a lot of these foods are high in calories (e.g., avocados, nuts, etc.) My goal is to get stronger and slimmer, we'll see how these next few weeks pan out with my diet shift.

Monday, January 7, 2008

My game plan for 2008




This year I’m keeping it simple: I’m simply going to love myself and take care of myself in the following ways:

(1) I will do tai chi and yoga to keep my mind calm and my body flexible and keep negative thoughts and vibes at bay.

(2) I will appreciate all things in my life, even those physical/spiritual gains that seem minor.

(3) I will set constant goals for myself to challenge my mind and my body.

(4) I will not beat myself up if I fail to meet a goal.

(5) I will remember to laugh and enjoy things for what they are.

(6) I will eat foods that give me nourishment for sustained energy and strength.

(7) I will surround myself with positive people so that when I’m feeling down I will have positive energy and inspiration to draw from.

These are the big-picture endeavors that I think will help me stick to a training plan with consistency and enthusiasm.