Pretty much from the moment I stepped foot into the gym, I was loathe to approach the bouldering section. Maybe it's because it doesn't look as inviting as the top-rope area, or maybe it's because there's a regular group of bouldering groupies that camp out around the area like a pack of wolves around a bloody steak, but I just avoid it at all costs. You might imagine my joy, then, when a gym acquaintance urged us to boulder. It was Friday night, after a long week of work, and I just didn't feel excited for it. But after some heavy coaxing, we conceded, headed over, and I warily eyed the cheerfully colored boulder problems that would soon prove to be just that.
We chose what is supposedly among the easiest problems, a V0. It looked simple enough (in design, not necessarily execution), as it merely ran up a short wall and under an overhang. Problem is my upper body strength sucks right now, so it was harder than it should've been to hold on to the macaroni-shaped grips (which felt awkward in my hands) while trying to fight gravity. It wasn't that bad, and I thought I'd completed the problem until I landed and was informed, much to my chagrin, that I didn't complete the final moves. (Ah well, no way I was going to do it again right away!) My elbows, especially the right one, have been hurting a lot, so I need to work in some recovery exercises. I also noticed some soreness in my shoulders, so I also need to include resistance-band work (a la Beth Rodden) to prevent injury. Gotta keep strong and healthy if I want to do this for a long time.
So anyway, I will grit my teeth and force myself to add some boulder work here and there with the hope that I'll build strength and technique to add to my top-roping. For now, I'm nursing a bruised knee that oddly resembles Lotsa's nose (from Toy Story III. It looks even more like it in person.) It's uncanny, really.
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