Progress Day

[orem]

May 25
Today was one of those magical days where you get something you've never gotten before and then go on to get a bunch of things you haven't gotten before. Multiple times. Even hellish conditioning seemed slightly less hellish than I remembered it.

It started at the med center wall... No I still haven't gotten it, but it was much easier to grab at the top or just an inch below it. Wall runs all of a sudden just make sense. I've more confidence to run faster towards them, and my foot sticks way better these days so nearly all my momentum transfers. I also had the pleasure of watching Shiloe consistently nail the tictac to the high wall near med center parking. After that we walked over to Ackerman Union, an area with a great mix of rails and walls for practicing all kinds of vaults, where I helped some of the guys with their kongs and dashes. Helping people really pumped me up; I felt useful and more skilled than usual. People relying on me and looking at me for direction caused me to focus much more on my technique and gave me more confidence, like I fed off their belief in me, expecting me to be the example.

The fountain staircase once again kicked my ass though. This time we went down (in the alligator qm) first before coming back up backwards. Didn't stop at all going down, but coming back up... again, wow. I certainly stopped a lot less than a few weeks ago, but that continues to be a devil of a workout. I can't wait until I'm able to do it backwards without stopping at all. If I work hard... maybe I'll have it before the end of Summer :) Now that's a goal. Shiloe and Rick continued to do conditioning exercises up and down the stairs afterward. I don't know where those guys grab the energy, but it inspired me to at least jog up and down the steps by them before I decided I'd rather go climb one of the trees on the hillside. At first i could barely pull myself up! I realized the stairs had done more to my arms than I'd thought. I grit my teeth though and yanked myself up, not to be denied an activity I find so natural and calming.

A little while later we headed down the stairs by Fowler to a familiar wallrun i hadn't yet gotten. Got it. It's slightly shorter than the med center wall so today my hand grabbed the top no problem. My arms were so shot from the stairs though that the third time was pretty pitiful, but standing up on the top felt great no matter what. Now to work on muscle ups... I think the alligator stairs qm is money for upper body though. I feel i grow leaps in progress through that.

I also did some cats farther than usual and did my farthest inclined rail climb to date. It felt... well, a sense of accomplishment glowed inside me all day. I was especially caught off guard because while I was driving down to the meet, I wasn't feeling like doing anything at all. I thought I'd keep it low key and simply practice vaults for muscle memory and condition. Happily proved otherwise.

[Chris]

Wow that sounds like a great day. Its so nice when things just start to "make sense." Your body is getting smarter!

[monk]

see what the power of people around you can do? :)
you've gotta show me your wall run tactics because i definitely can't go very vertical on them, and i don't want to blame slippery shoes :S