January 15, 2009
Jennifer A.

I don’t consider myself a very adventurous person. I stick to the familiar, am fairly conservative. I think it has to do with my confidence in what I can do… trying new things can be difficult. It’s a wonder that I signed up for the ½ ironman. But, I realized that without challenging and pushing ourselves, we often are unaware of what we can accomplish. Along with the ½ ironman, I decided it was time to branch out and try other things… explore new activities. Last fall, it was boxing, which I loved. It was such a stress release. But, now, it was rock climbing’s turn. Starting to get complacent with some of my activities, one of the coaches at DTC suggested rock climbing. It uses muscles that you don’t always work out and is “fun.” So, I finally signed up to take the class. I figured that I strength train. My trainer says I’m strong. How hard can it be?

The first class started last week on my birthday... a perfect time to start something new. I went to the class. My blood sugar was low prior to class, so I took some glucose tabs and awaited the start. Everyone else in the class seemed to have some previous experience in rock climbing. I was the complete novice. I watched as many of the participants scaled the wall without difficulty, making it look easy. I was partnered with a participant that has had lots of experience. He let me try first. The wall had a “roof” and had an up-slant. Needless to say, I made it up 1 story before my forearms gave out. I tried again with worse luck. I let him have a turn… no problems. He was up the wall in no time. The instructor noted that the wall we were on was not an “easy” wall. So, after several failed attempts, we decided to move to a different section. Ughh!! More failure!! By the end of the session, I was completely frustrated. My forearms were killing me. I couldn’t write the next day. Was it because I started out low or was it that I just sucked!

This week… I wholeheartedly contemplated skipping the class. My friends all tried to encourage me and said I should give it another try. So, I went with very little expectations. The instructor said to try the “easier, beginner walls,” which I did. This time my starting blood sugar was 119. As I started, I tried not to think about the next grip or foot hold. I climbed the wall without any struggle as if I had been rock climbing my entire life. I was able to scale even walls that I couldn’t do last week. It was very satisfying. Even though, for some reason my blood sugar after class was 213, I was very glad I went back. I will need to remember that feeling as our training gets underway as I know there will be many times when I will want to stop trying. But, with continued effort, we’ll see the end of the 70.3 miles!