Going Vertical

Liz and I took on a new adventure today! One of Liz's dream challenges is to climb a mountain someday. In the meantime, any kind of climbing sounds like a good start. She got a coupon for 10 passes to the Upper Limits climbing gym for her birthday and we were finally able to schedule a class for this morning. (http://www.upperlimits.com/st-louis/)

We got to the gym at 10am and were taught the basics in the Rock Gym 101 class. We strapped on the harnesses, learned how to tie the necessary knots, and practiced working on belay. After the class, we were turned loose to climb around the gym.

There were 'paths' marked on the walls in different colored tape and each path was rated by difficulty. We didn't climb anything too crazy difficult today, but we definitely got a workout. Some of the more experienced climbers were friendly and shared helpful advice. (It's apparently common to hold your breath when you're high on the wall and struggling... I caught myself doing it several times.)

We learned that climbing shoes make a big difference in how well your feet grip the wall and hold you up. We'll have to rent some next time. We also learned that climbing a wall at the gym is easier if you're 6'3" than if you're 5'4". Most importantly, we learned that the climbing gym is a lot of fun and we can't wait to go back! We're excited to see if we can do some outdoor climbing when it isn't 100 degrees outside.

After the gym we stopped at the City Coffe House  & Creperie in Clayton for lunch. Liz had a BLT crepe and I got the Fiesta. A couple of very filling and super-delicious crepes capped a great morning.

So, a very different kind of cross training today!!! It was fun mixing things up!

Daily Miles: 0.00 Miles
Blog Totals:
  Run - 97.21 Miles.
  Bike - 62.51 Miles.

  Swim - 3,700+ meters.