The early days with Baby Z…

Considering that I was a large and in charge, 30+ weeks along pregnant mama last year at this time, my climbing goals for the year were pretty low key.  I wanted to find that balance between motivating myself and overwhelming myself!  Anyway, I ended up choosing 3 broad goals that seemed doable with a little bit of work and committment.  Here’s how I fared…

1.  ESTABLISH A TRAINING ROUTINE

It took some trial and error, and those first few months we were all flying by the seat of our pants, but at nearly 10 months postpartum, our family feels pretty established in our new gym routine.  Hubby hits the gym on the way home from work on Tuesday/Thursday, then we all eat together when he gets home.  Next it’s playtime/bath/bedtime routines for the kiddos, and then I hit the gym for the “late shift,” as we refer to it.  Most weekends we’re climbing outside, but if not, it’s pretty easy for us to either take turns on Saturday, or alternate Saturday/Sunday.  Though we only have  to 1.5 hours training time for each midweek session, we’ve stayed consistent and learned how to be super efficient.  The only drawback is that we never get to climb together, although we sometimes get a chance to sneak out together while the grandparents are visiting.

2. CLIMB OUTDOORS AS A FAMILY OF FOUR

Out of my 3 climbing goals for the year, this is the one I am most pleased to have accomplished.  When I looked back at the number of days we’ve spent craggin’ since Baby Z’s arrival 10 months ago, I realized that we’d spent an entire month’s worth of days out climbing as a family!  We managed to hit 10 different climbing areas as a party of 4, and spent 15 nights in a tent together.  While all of those numbers (especially camping) are a lower than our typical years, I am very encouraged that we were able to get out as much as we did – because after all, it will only get easier from here!

A recent family photo opp at the Rumbling Bald boulderfield

3.  SEND 5.12

I was pretty hesitant to include a “number goal” this year, for obvious reasons.  I didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself, not knowing what I would feel like postpartum, or whether we’d be able to get our logistics together to even get out on real rock enough to make something like 5.12 happen.  But I figured I’d at least be able to link together a redpoint on a 5.12 that I’d previously sent – I’d be familiar with the beta and have the mental confidence that I’d done it once before.  So I was delighted to get not only my “repeat” send at 7 months postpartum (Last Glitch Effort, 5.12a, trip report here), but also to nab my first new tick at the same grade a couple of weeks later (Steady Eddie, 5.12a, trip report here.)  It took a few months to start feeling strong again (and sometimes I still feel like my core strength is not back to where it was), but in a lot of ways I feel like I’m climbing stronger than I ever have.  I have gotten really close on several projects that I just ran out of good weather for, so I’ve had no trouble finding routes to add to my list for 2015.

Steady Eddy 5.12a, at The Dump, NC

Next week’s post will be all about what I’m hoping for in 2015, but until then, now’s the chance to brag on yourself – what goals did YOU accomplish this past year?  Don’t hold back – lay ’em all out here so we can cyber cheer!

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