On fire

So, indoor climbing last night after a few weeks of doing other stuff, such as climbing on rock with weather, waves and sea gulls, getting out on the bike and including a spot of walking was interesting. 

Indoor climbing is physically more intense somehow than outdoors in that you do a greater volume of work and you make more demanding moves because you're on a top rope generally with a partner who you trust.  There's no set up and there's no walk and you get a lot more height gain in.  So it gives a better workout.

Climbing outdoors is, for me, all about mind versus chimp.  There's a terrified gibbering animal inside me who is accounting for maybe 90% of who I am, and my challenge is to snap into the rational thinking person who focusses on the rock and my limbs and one section at a time makes her way up the rock.  The two don't work together well outside and the energy drain is largely from getting the person who knows she can do it back in charge over the "I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die" animal.  For perhaps I am going to die but squealing about it isn't going to be helpful.  There's less of a physical challenge because the work has already been done in this respect, and I'm working with pre-existing muscles, skills, knowledge and ability and staying within a range of difficulty which, for me, is actually quite safe.

So, all this in mind, it was weird getting back on the indoor wall last night and finding that somehow despite feeling I haven't done anything truly pushing in the last few weeks I have improved, fairly exponentially as it happens.  Everything I asked them to do my arms did, my grip (which I previously thought was non existent) just got a hold of things, and everything worked.  Grades previously out of reach suddenly became possible, and it was good.  And much of this is because suddenly I'm in a place where there is safety and trust.  Absolute trust in my totally solid climbing partner.  And we both moved on to things we didn't know we were going to try and we were both successful.  And all was good.  And some of it was extraordinary.

And today I'm largely humming along to the sounds of The Boss:

At night I wake up with the sheets
soaking wet and
a freight train running
through the middle of my head -
only you can cool my desire

oooh I'm on fire......