Hammer toe

So yesterday my boy Todd and I went to a climbing gym across the water and boy am I hooked. The place we went to had hundred-foot top rope climbs and a bouldering area, and after a good three hours of climbing we were beat. I can’t wait to go back.

I really couldn’t do much, I think I managed to run through all of the V0 and 5.6-5.7 setups that they had, but I couldn’t do much more than that. Still, I think I did better than Todd, who has been working out a lot and has much better muscle foundation than I do. My scrawny ass had better hand and forearm strength, apparently.

I made a point to be super friendly with the staff. I showed up there were just two young women manning the counter. I’m a complete noob, I told them, and I want to do some climbing. And they did a really good job walking us through the rules and how to use the equipment. It was really nice.

The hardest part of the climb was letting go at the top. The first time you let go to let the auto-belay device bring you down is super scary, but I got over it pretty quick and was later hanging off the ground, thirty feet in the air to rest while Todd held me.

I wasn’t quite as worn out as I thought I would be. I had some slight stiffness when I woke up this morning, but other than some slight soreness in my arms and back, I’m feeling pretty good. I even went for a short run today.

My feet are a bit of a mess. I’ve been plagued with a hammer-toe on my right foot for years, and it usually causes issues with the knuckle when I wear rental shoes, whether for skiing or ice skating or what have you. And the first pair of shoes they gave me were a bit too pinchy and gave me a pretty bad bunion after an hour or so. They gave me a slightly bigger brand, but the damage was done. Climbing shoes are designed to be used barefoot, but I had to put a sock on to cover the sore.

So today I decided to take some corrective action, and looked up ways to correct the situation. I found a couple videos that showed how to I could tape the toe down, and managed to get some relief by doing it.

This one, by an actual doctor

Today was also day one of spring break for the girls, and we had a successful morning. We set up most of our stuff the night before, and I even dropped Missus off at work, then the girls at the community center. They went swimming today, and we even found a game room that had skee ball, air hockey and ping pong. When we got home the girls literally spent the entire time outside, playing with their friends before we finally called them in for dinner and evening chores at seven. Now they’re out.

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