I’ve never been much into exercise. We trained for and ran in a 10K race a few years ago, and it was brutal. We’ve never had a gym membership, and we make excuses to not go for a run in our neighborhood – it’s too hot, it’s too cold, the roads are too busy. Even in school, I would feign illness to sit out during gym class or during marching band practice. When I played on a basketball team, I couldn’t even run the length of the basketball court without getting winded. Once or twice, my parents even locked me out of their house to force me to play outside. Needless to say, I was a total slacker.

But for the past five months, we’ve been kicking ass (specifically, our own asses) at a local climbing gym.

Back in December, a few of our friends invited Eric to the climbing gym for a few hours. They ended up taking a class to get belay certified which granted them a free pass to the facility for two weeks. On one of Eric’s subsequent visits with his free pass, Dash and I accompanied him to the gym to watch him and his friends climb.

As was usually the case when Dash was a newborn, he slept the entire time.

I had never been to the climbing gym before, nor had I climbed anywhere else. Honestly, I thought that it sounded dangerous! But seeing the gym in person and witnessing all of the safety procedures and the training that is required before you can belay, I not only became convinced that climbing was a safe activity, I eagerly wanted to try it.

I signed up for the belay certification class the next day.

And this was only one month after giving birth.

But I felt fantastic, and the aches that permeated through my entire body after that first day of climbing hurt in the best way.

I think that what appeals to me about climbing is the mental aspect. Reaching the top of a difficult climbing route is a definitive measure of success, and it feels rewarding in the same way that winning a chess game or completing a crossword puzzle is rewarding. It’s this intense pride that I feel when I conquer a climb that motivates me and encourages me. Running certainly never made me feel so satisfied. I always felt like I ought to be running farther or running faster. There wasn’t an easy way for me to track my progress.

When our free two-week passes expired, we invested in our own climbing gear (harnesses, shoes, carabiners, and belay devices), and we signed up for a one-year membership. We’ve been trying to climb at least twice a week, and with the exception of the one week that we went to Boston and another week when Eric’s mom (Dash’s babysitter) was out of town, we’ve been keeping up with it! Not only have I been eating and sleeping better since I started exercising, I feel incredibly stronger – both physically and mentally. Obviously, my scrawny muscles are getting a work-out, but I also have more confidence and self-worth because I know that if I can climb to top of a fifty-foot wall, I can do ANYTHING.

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