the human wheel!

 we gotta get the two person forward roll competition going

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3XlfnXqdsDY

I had a great climbing session yesterday evening. Maybe the best climbing session I've ever had. I felt really strong and controlled. I think my shoulder work has been helping a lot and being more consistent and increasing the amount I climb per session. At the same time I was having one of those moody days before my run where I felt tired and a little down on myself and then, as always, I actually went on the run and realized I was being silly and felt good.

I started thinking about the different attitudes towards each. With climbing I still see myself as relatively new and I haven't done anything that I would consider impressive but I know I have a lot of room for improvement and that improvement is relatively steady and fast. With running I often compare myself to past versions of myself and I spend a decent amount of time wondering if I will run a PR again. I guess the thing that prevented me from seeing myself as a new runner the way I see myself as a newer climber is that there are things I'm proud of and there is a sense of 'I'm Good at This' that I want to preserve. 

Thinking through it though, it's obvious that my approach to climbing is much more enjoyable and in many ways a lot more satisfying. Why not just apply the same approach to both? Another barrier to not thinking about running the same way is that you can really only break barriers once. The excitement and momentum from doing something for the first time doesn't keep happening every time you do the same thing again. The farther you progress in a sport or activity, the harder it is to reach those milestones. I don't think it's impossible to get that back, I think you just need to be a little more creative and intentional with how you frame things. Since getting on Strava I have given myself permission to sort of reset my accomplishments and be excited about training. 

I was excited when I ran 10 miles in under an hour in practice. I was excited when I ran 30 sub-6 minute miles in a week. I'm really proud of myself for finishing up this winter block where I averaged about 75 miles per week in 6 days for 12 weeks. 

Often the moments I remember the most from my past are when I ran X time at X race and it's really easy to want to compare the present to then. Those thoughts though are usually a quick trip to thinking about being washed up or I'm never going to get back to there or it takes so much work to be able to do that again blah blah blah. It's not helpful.

The things I do know and the things I have to keep reminding myself are that for the past year or so, everything I've done can be repeated and improved. I know I can have a better spring than I did last year. I know I can have a better Summer, Fall, Winter and I don't have to compare it to anything else. And if I do that then I can be excited and motivated.