Two Stars

There were two stars at BKB tonight.

First, E did her first V3. Congrats. After only a few weeks of climbing, not bad at all.

Second, the amazing Sasha DiGiulian showed up. Although I thought I recognized her, the absence of pink threw me off a little. Maybe its NYC getting to her because she was all in black.

E and I did V0, V1, V2, V2+ in the front. Marco joined us at some point after working out in the back on his own and did V0, V1, V2.

E then worked a long time on a V3 which she finally sent. After that she worked another V3 where she could make it almost all the way (2 moves from the top) but could not finish.

I then did V3, V4, V4, V4, V5, V4. The last V4 was fun with a huge dyno to start.

Marco worked on a V3 then went back to the beast I believe.

P.S. On Sunday K, E, S, and I went to TRC to climb some ropes. It was fun to change it a little. Lead climbing there is definitely more fun.

Old fashion

Ariane was going for a 20 min run this morning while I was planning on staying home and nursing my newly broken pinky toe, but Sandrine insisted on tagging along for the run. I suspected this would last about 30 seconds and so I went along to make sure Ariane could finish her run. (I buddy tapped my toe.) I was amazed as she ran for about 10 minutes, and then it took us 20 minutes to walk back. I am not sure what her pace was, but I was impressed nonetheless.

Daytona Beach might not look as it did in 1957, but it inspired me to go for an old fashion type workout. I did:

- 2 x [ 5 one legged squats, 10 pushups, 15 supermans, 20 plank walk-ups, 25 bicycles ]
- 2 x [ 10 pushups, 15 supermans, 20 plank walk-ups, 25 bicycles, 30 air squats ]

All pushups where one legged, I did the first 2 sets on the fists and the last 2 on the finger tips.

Double Chin

Today I finally went back to the Gunks (second time this summer... yes I know: pathetic). It was me, Evangeline, Sandrine, and a brand new 70m bi-weave. We found an empty and relatively easy lead for Evangeline to learn to belay a leader on, namely Double Chin: 5.5 **. No picnic and Bunny were taken. 5.5 was more than I first thought we would tackle, but as usual, on my way there, it started to seem like nothing. Ouch, was I in for a rude awakening. The climb is fun, but it involves 2 roofs, which you avoid by climbing the side corner. A typical Gunks rating. The second roof puts you in a very strange position, with you feet out left and your hands to the right. It's a very nice climb, harder than bunny, and definitely stiff at 5.5, but still lots of fun, and easy to protect. I only wish I had not picked that one to train Evangeline. She did great, however, and instinctively took just enough, and gave slack when needed. A great second in the making.

Sandrine gave the climb a few tries, but she really was not trying.

Evangeline gave it two tries, and got to about 7 feet from the anchors, but just couldn't pull the end. Brave effort though, with a few swinging falls.