It’s Wednesday, and I’ve got a lot to catch up on: the climbing comp, Holly hacking, Halloween, work.
Saturday night I participated in my first climbing comp. I just did it for the t-shirt, really, but I’m really glad I went. I pushed myself really hard and met a lot of interesting people. And I placed second in my division — out of two! So when I was signing up I needed to pick a division. I thought men’s rec was going to be too easy, so I signed up for beginner to give myself a bit more challenge. And what a challenge it was. I made a few attempts on the first route, but after four attempts I thought it better to move on. There was a crowd.
So I eventually made my way around the routes on my score card, trying to avoid ones where groups of more experienced climbers were working. I managed to flash two of them, and sent another two, completing half of my routes. Then I settled down to work on the harder ones. After the three hours was up I had sent two more routes and had put another dozen attempts on the last two.
It was the longest climbing session that I’ve ever done. What was interesting was that my Whoop showed a lower strain level that my normal climbing sessions. It’s likely because of the turn-taking that was going on. I usually let two or three people work through my attempts, which kept my heart rate much lower. My muscles, on the other hand, got a lot more work than they normally did, especially my shoulders and forearms.
So when I was done I got a couple of beers while they tallied the results, and just kinda hung out talking with people. It was super fun. They announced the winners — I did not meet the person who beat me — so I got another gym shirt and a block of chalk — which I sorely needed.
Sunday I did not want to do the yard work that Missus wanted us to do. She wants me to cut the grass but I’m determined that I’m not going to do that until spring. So I procrastinated by trimming the wall of holly bushes and transplanting a rosemary plant. The hollies are seriously overgrown. I’m not sure if I cut them last year, but the tops had shot up like another four feet in the air. I had to cut a foot of the back of the plants to make my way between them and the house, and then I proceeded to trim the entire north side of the trunks, pruning any branches that were growing toward the house. Then I started climbing the trunks like a lumberjack and took down the tops. I also cleaned out a bunch of invasive creepers and runners, plus a bunch of small trees that were growing inside the hollies.
The rosemary plant I carefully trimmed down, keeping all the branches for processing later. I managed to get it down to one trunk, which was growing out at an angle, but was straight, and I dug it up and replanted it where it will get more sun. I rotated the root ball so that this new trunk was pointing straight up and the branches were poised to receive the most amount of southern sun.
We also had a fire Sunday evening while the kids were playing.
We had a fire Monday also for Halloween, but this time in the front yard. I moved the firepit and a patio couch to the front yard, move the empty birdbath and put the candy in it. I pulled out the PA speaker and found some spooky music to play. Then I sat and handed out candy while Missus and the girls went out with the other neighborhood kids.
And here it is Wednesday, and I can almost move my right arm without flinching. I can’t remember the last time I was this sore, and not in a good way. I don’t know if it was just the climbing, but I know the hedge trimming didn’t help either. All I know is that I could barely move on yesterday, and I had figured I’d be ready to go back for another session. Maybe today, I could, but I don’t think a full climbing session would be a good one. I’ve got some hanging around the house I can do, just working on the shoulders and hand grip. It’s obviously my weakest and I need to get where I can do some pull up and one-handed holds.
Work has been going great, to the point where I don’t want to stop coding. Even now, I’m thinking about what I need to do today and can’t wait to publish this post and get to it.