Took my 9 year old nephew Zak to the bouldering gym. After only mild coercion about the safety of not being harness or tethered to the wall, he had a freaking blast. He went up the wall multiple times and even indulged me while I attempted (and rocked out) a level 0. That’s right, folks. I’m officially over Beginner and I’ve moved on to Zero. The sense of accomplishment was only slightly diminished by the embarrassingly small number associated with it.
Monthly Archives: August 2012
August 27 – Bouldering II
Katie and I have squandered the first week of our two week membership to the Circuit Gym. We go today after work to see what I can do if I don’t play racquetball immediately prior. I am definitely better, but it’s still one of the hardest things I’ve ever physically done. The upper body strength necessary to maneuver is admittedly much more than I currently possess.
That said, it is still crazy fun. When you do get to the top and make it all the way over, you definitely get a feeling of instant gratification. I made it over this wall. I pushed myself higher (literally, get it?) I landed on my feet and I am still in one piece. I am tired and drained and my arms feel like they might fall off, and my fingers feel like they are dragging on the ground behind me, and I’m scared because I could’ve fallen. But I didn’t. And it’s awesome.
Afterward, we rewarded ourselves for a job well done with some Vietnamese food and cocktails at Luc Lac. I love working hard!
August 24 – Shooting Range
Shooting a gun was on my OG list of things I wanted to do, so I am *so* glad I got to do it this month. I took my very dear friend, Burris, who is also extremely into guns. Coincidence? We went to the Beavercreek Armory in Hillsboro and they were phenomenal from the very beginning. We watched an informative video and took a short quiz and ordered our gear… okay, well Burris ordered our gear.
He said I could practice on a .22 but I should at least try to shoot a 9 millimeter. He ordered a total of 8 boxes of ammo and several targets. We rented the two guns and one lane to share.
We put on the fashionable eye and ear protection and get to our lane. Burris shows me even more safety techniques and shoots a few times to let me see the process. This is the first time I realize that I have never even been this close to an actual shooting firearm. I am a little nervous and hesitant to hold this extremely powerful and deadly weapon. I started off with the .22 and Burris and I took turns shooting and reloading.
Then, he let me unload an entire box of ammo (about 50) into my own target to see how I was doing. Every single shot made it onto the target and the majority made it into the inner circle. I told my mom all that time playing Duck Hunt would pay off someday.
So, then I moved on to the 9 millimeter. A Glock. Admittedly, I feel a little bit like Scully right now. The kick on this weapon made me audibly squeal, and then laugh out loud. It was extremely surprising, but awesome.
By the end of the two hours, my hands were sore from controlling the weapons and my fingers were raw from reloading the clips. But I learned so much and feel like I could handle a weapon safely, even though I don’t think I’ll ever own one. Ever.
Also, I think I need to say again how awesome the people at Beavercreek Armory were. They made my first experience incredibly awesome and if you want to shootemup, go see them.
August 23rd – Beer Pong?
Okay, so maybe Beer Pong is a sport. And maybe I played it for a little while. But I definitely don’t remember it. The problem with drinking games is if you are not very good at them in the beginning, there is absolutely no learning curve. Which means, if you start to play and suck, you are just going to get drunkier and drunkier until you don’t remember what you were doing. So, before I played Beer Pong, I partook in some classic party-style Jenga with important tasks to complete after every brick you pull (including but not limited to, switching shirts with the player to your left and arm-wrestling anyone of your choosing.) Needless to say, by the time beer pong rolled around… I wasn’t paying attention anymore.
I love barbecues.
August 21 – Bouldering
Me Oh My! Two random sports activities in one day?! Yes, I am that hardcore. Bought a Groupon for an Intro to Bouldering class at the Circuit Gym. It came with a two week membership for two. Bouldering is a lot like rock climbing except you are not harnessed in and it is not necessarily about getting to the top, but how you get there.
I went with Katie to the class at 7. It was taught by this super-fit hippie/stoner/skateboarder/climber named Shane. He was crazy informative and I learned the names of holds and different ways of climbing. So, now I can say things like, “you should match your foot and grab that juggy shelf.” I know how impressive that sounds.
We went up a couple times with varying difficulty. It starts with B for beginner, then zero all the way to 9. I could not get up the 1 level. It is freakin’ hard. And also, my arms were like jello from playing racquetball for two hours earlier today. Can’t you tell I’m a great planner.
Anyhoo… here are some pictures!
August 21 – Racquetball
Yay! My first real random sports experience! I’ve played racquetball a few times, but didn’t really understand the rules and didn’t really like it. I played tennis a bit when I was younger, but always thought racquetball seemed like a lot of fun.
I got a friend who is very good at it to show me how, teach me the rules, and give me pointers. After driving to a gym that didn’t have a racquetball court (whoopsie,) we finally found an appropriately amenity-equipped one and rented it for an hour and half. It was so fun, we played for almost a full two hours. I started getting better and it was just getting fun. It is such a phenomenal workout and I was sweaty and smiling at the end.
August 19 – Running
My legs are getting that restless feeling and it is finally not a million degrees so I go for a run after work. I get about 2.5 miles in without stopping and it feels amazing. The sky is clear and pink and it’s about 80 degrees. Man, I love Portland in the summer.
August 17
Super sore from yoga. Meet Burris for drinks and ask him what type of wild and crazy sports he wants to show me. Get this. He says “hand fishing.” Eww. After thinking it over, I decide I gotta try everything once and say I’m in. More to come.
August 16 – Yoga
Alright, so I know yoga is not really a sport and not at all new for me… but I haven’t really been active for a few weeks and wanted something stress free and slow. It was exactly what I needed to get back in gear. Spent the rest of my day off mapping out the rest of random sports month.
Born a grumpy bag lady
thirty days of new 