Climbing While Mommy

So, yesterday, early afternoon, my friend Kathy called to see if I would like to go indoor rock climbing with her.  This is something I have always wanted to try so I said yes!

Kathy had also invited her neighbor and daughter who are both experienced climbers.

We had to drive almost an hour to Lincoln RI, which is where Rock Spot is located.

Once there, we had to sign a waiver and I was given shoes and a harness.  The shoes felt weird.

I hooked up for the first time using an auto belay and barely made it 3ft off the ground.  This was harder than I thought.  I know I have a lot of work to do on my upper body strength, but wow, this was a big slap in the face.

Kathy told me that I need to use my legs more and to get closer to the wall.  I did and got a little higher and came down.  I wanted to see how they did it and then I would try again.  Of course, they made it look easy.

Once they climbed a bit, Kathy hooked me up and she was my belay.  This time I got higher but I was not a fan of the coming down part and decided I was high enough.  Kathy was trying to tell me how to come down, but I couldn't wrap my head around it.  She had me, but I still panicked and twisted around and banged my back into the rock wall.  Ouch!

Once down, Kathy pointed out how close I was to the top and I really wanted to go back up.  So I did.

I got up faster and a bit higher but still couldn't relax enough to just glide down.  Now for those of you who have been reading a while, know, I am the same person who jumped out of a plane at 10,000!  For some reason, my mind was messing with me.  I made it down and by this time, my arms were getting really sore.

The shoes at this point were killing me and I couldn't wait to take them off.  I did climb a little bit more, really just trying to get the going down part right.  What is wrong with me?  Why can't I just trust that I am not falling to my death and everything is cool?

After two hours of climbing we called it a night and headed home.

Did I love it? No  Would I do it again?  Yes.

I have to do it again so I can do it right.  I now need to prove to myself that I can do it and not panic.  Rock Spot is adding a location very close to my home and I do plan on taking the family there.  I am pretty sure my son will love it!

So how bout you?  Are you a fan of climbing?  Any pointers?

On a funny note, today only my daughter and I made it to church.  When I got there, I was asked to carry up the pledge cards and say a blessing.  Since it was just the two of us, I said she could come up with me.

When I was saying the blessing, she was hugging my legs and had her hands a little under my dress.  For some reason, she decided to quickly raise up her hands and along with them, my dress.  Yes, my sweet little angel, flashed my business in front of the whole church.  Awesome.

I am not one to embarrass easily, but that was crazy embarrassing!

I had some lovely comments after the service saying that I handled it beautifully. That is nice to hear because I am pretty sure I turned the color of a tomato.

I also wanted to thank you for the nice comments about my blog facelift.  I am glad you like it!

And for those of you who commented on Ragnar, thank you.  I am still thinking about it and will let you know what I decide.

Next sunday, I am running a Jingle Bell 5k.  I have plans to dress as an elf but am having a little trouble getting my outfit together.  Don't worry, whatever I decide there will be tons of pictures.  Any suggestions for running as an elf?

Run Strong, Think Big!