Climb Every Mountain!

Back in January, I delivered on a ten month-old promise to Daughter Number 1, and we celebrated my birthday sitting on top of a boulder in frigid wind, between rain showers.

It was not an especially high boulder – maybe 6-7 meters, and the climb up was not exactly life-threatening; at no point were either of us hanging by the fingernails of one hand or suspended above an ice floe, clinging to a sodden rope. The only reason the rock was significant was that I had chickened out of climbing it when we first encountered it in the Spring of ’23. The was the first and only time Daughter Number 1 saw me decline a physical challenge, and I really did not like how that felt – so much so that it inspired me to get this blog off the ground with my inaugural post describing the weekend and what needed to be done about it.

Most of the family thought the idea of schlepping to the UK in January to sit on a rock in the inevitable rain was a pointless waste of time and money. I disagree. The damned thing had beaten me – in front of my kid no less, and I needed to demonstrate mastery. The promise to return on my birthday gave me a timeline, and pause to fix my tendon.

Daughter Number 1 even baked a birthday cake for me which I carried up in a backpack. In the end we had a blast up there – and we learned an important lesson…

When planning for an apocalypse, details matter!

That sounds like a stretch, I know, but we had packed the cake, candles and a box of matches. We should have been all set for a candle-blowing selfie, but in the event there were only two matches in the match box.

We’ve all seen enough horror movies to visualize the scene; howling gale, circling wolves glimpsed in the dark shadows. Cut to close up of the opening match box to reveal that there are only two matches. As with every movie, the first match was instantly snuffed out and the second had to be carefully protected from the wind. Let’s just say that in a real disaster, the carnivorous squirrels of North London would have be chewing on our corpses that day. Lesson learned; check the match box is full next time!

There is always something to be learned from a goal-inspired test. Last Friday evening, I was making my fourth attempt at an 80KG Overhead Press. I missed the lift. Again. Instead of carrying on with the rest of the workout, I left the gym. If figured I did not wear myself out, I could recover quickly and try again on the Sunday.

Come Sunday morning, I felt fresh and reasonably confident. But when I did the last warm up at 70KG, it was obvious that I was not properly recovered. I attempted the 80KG again, getting the bar up past my forehead and holding it there for what felt like several seconds unable to push it through to lock out.

Another fail. Another learning opportunity; recovery from maximum effort lists takes more than 2 days (trainers will all tell you this, but it is good to prove it to yourself sometimes…) More useful, my triceps were so sore that I could not raise my arms over my head most of the day. Clearly my arms are the weak spot and need extra attention for me to achieve my 80KG target.

Short-term goals are good! Even the apparently meaningless ones like getting a certain weight over your head or climbing up a fairly harmless rock with your progeny. The world will not be changed. No one will be impressed. But they will keep you motivated to improve and to pay attention to what works and what doesn’t. Observing and reflecting on details keeps me learning and engaged. I am not a fan of “mindfulness” or “being in the moment”, but I do like to be engaged in an activity that forces me to observe, think, learn and improve. Without the short-term goals, it is too easy to get sucked into the mundane habits of daily routine.

So what’s next? The GDFPF 2024 Single Lift competition is coming up at the end of April. I don’t think I can beat the M4 110KG Deadlift Record (currently 226KG) but I plan to make a personal best of at least 215KG. And then of course, that 80KG bar will still be smirking at me from the corner of the gym…