Day 68 - Graceful and Gritty

rockover

I was determined to go for a climb this evening, even though I've been so busy, and so tired...

I had another early start and late finish at work, with much drama in between.   I've made progress on a number of issues though, and overall, I think, it's been a good day. 

Yet still I felt the need for a climb...or rather (as Anna pointed out), the need to have climbed.

It's often like that, on a dark, cold, mid-week evening.  It's difficult to stay motivated to go when you're tired and hungry.  But we've been doing this for long enough now to know that we always, without fail, feel better afterwards, and we never regret having gone. 

So we simply avoid the subject of whether or not we're up for going, and just get on with it.

It's a rush to get home from work, feed and walk animals, get climbing gear together and leave...we never get there before 8pm.   We then climb for 2 hours (until closing time!), and get home for around 10.45pm, after which we just have to have dinner, blog (in my case) and shower. 

It's a long night, and it's catching up with me again...midnight ticks nearer as I type. 

We were both very tired before we started, but still we did a good number of fairly hard climbs.   Maybe 15-20 routes, mostly around 6a+, with the odd 6b+ thrown in for good measure.   

Unusually, Anna struggled a bit, which meant she only climbed around my level.

Anyway we wanted the mileage - we're still trying to get into shape for our imminent sport climbing trip to Spain.    I think it bodes well...we felt out of sorts yet still climbed close to our limits. 

I wanted a climbing pic, as we do so much of it, and the voice commands on my phone came in handy again.   I could hold the rope in one hand (to catch Anna, should she fall off), with the other holding the phone, and simply smile for the camera.

I'm fully conditioned to belay (i.e. catch your partner if she falls) as #1 priority, which apparently means I can't concentrate on framing a shot.

Still, I like the one above, it captures a hint of Anna's elegance on the wall.  She really is a graceful, climber, and gritty too, which is a strong combination. 

Also, she's got this yellow, purple and black thing going on...very cool!

rock chick

Now, at some point in the next week, I'm hoping to have enough sleep.  After which time, with a bit of luck and a fair wind, maybe standards will rise a little round here.   Too much journalesque waffle and not enough interesting shit to say, lately...

Gotta get on top of that one...

As the actress said to the bishop...