An impressively shot video of the new Arch climbing centre along with some equally impressive climbing. Now where are my climbing boots? It might be worth going whilst it’s new as the way The Castle changing rooms smell is quite something.
I haven’t been climbing for a while now due to spending so much time at work recently but this video is certainly inspiring. Quite athletic and some insane moves going on. I guess I’ll just have to stick to lumbering up low grade route for a while longer. Think I might go climbing next week and try and get back into it.
No, not a post about the election or Iran etc, just a post about trying to get a bit fitter and trying to change a few bad habits I’ve picked up over the years.
During my year out (2002 time) I got incredibly fit by basically doing lots and lots of exercise. I was riding 12 miles each way to work – home up Box Hill – swimming at lunchtimes, running in the evenings (before cycling home) and climbing or mountainbiking at the weekends. I was pretty healthy on this lot and was having a great time. However I was only half way through my Architectural training. So this all kind of stopped pretty abruptly when I went back to studying in Portsmouth. Late nights, curry, beer and not much exercise. An ERASMUS trip to Vienna sorted that little blip out with another 5 months of exercise – mainly lots of cycling each day. The trouble is I came back and settled into the same old thing of curry, beer etc.
After graduating from Diploma things kind of got worse, I spent 2 hours minimum commuting to work in Winchester from Portsmouth each day and working late nights and eating junk. Riding at the weekends didn’t really make much difference really. After a year or so of this I moved to London and was riding to work again but still not doing that much exercise.
The long and short of it? I sit on my arse all day clicking a mouse, drinking coffee and eating nice sandwiches for lunch. I’ve developed an incredibly sedentary lifestyle which isn’t exactly what I wanted. The cycle commute doesn’t really count as that much exercise. The net result – I was getting fatter and fatter and not really feeling great about myself.
Anyway, time for a change. Hey I’ve recently hit 30 so why not? After talking about it for years I’ve joined a gym. Never thought I’d say that either but I have. Bizzarely I actually enjoy it too. I’ve got a mixture of cardio and weights to do in my hours session as well as a load of stretches. I’m managing to go 3 times a week at the moment which isn’t as hard as I thought. I’ve also had the benefit of a proper consultation session which has really helped. I had 3 aims:
1. Not be so fat
2. Sort my back out
3. Strengthen my knees
It’s actually working on all 3 counts. I’m definitely not as fat – I’ve lost quite a bit of weight and my back and knees are a lot better. Combining this exercise with less beer, not eating so late and less crap. I feel miles better and even have a resting heart rate of 50 bpm. Hopefully this is here to stay. More weight to lose but got to set the right habits now for later life I guess.
After living in London for almost 5 years I’ve finally managed to go to the climbing wall and do some top roping rather than just bouldering. The last time I climbed properly was with Lee back in Bath around 2003 time, before I went back to do my Diploma.
I’ve remembered how to belay and some of the climbing techniques but my upper body strength is pathetic. My harness is also a lot tighter round my waist than I remember. I struggled on some 4b routes which is shameful. Anyway, I’m going to make it a regular thing each Weds now and hopefully improve.
The Castle really is an impressive place though it’s a converted Victorian Pumping Station which has plenty of space within. It’s pretty busy during the week but Aaron and Alex showed me the top room which seems to be a lot less busy. The changing rooms there really do stink though, like a hideous cheese smell.
…is on it’s way.
Voucher was on my desk when I got in to work so popped down to Condor to put it down on a new steel framed road bike. Unfortunately they were out of the pink one I wanted so I’m getting a 2009 model which is in a nice black colour – the stealth option. Unfortunately this means that the price also went up! Damn it.. plus Condor charge a handling fee on Cyclescheme vouchers of £50. More than I wanted to spend but never mind. The test ride was spot on. Lovely feel to it but felt weird having a freewheel on the road bike.
No posts for a while. Had Thursday and Friday off work due to this stomach bug and just relaxing today. Been sifting through some old photos in iPhoto today and deleting any crap I don’t need.
Found a few old ones from when I used to go climbing in Portsmouth in 2001 whilst i was finishing my degree. Would love to start climbing again but can’t seem to find the time or the motivation at the moment. There’s a load of equipment I’m not using too!
