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This past summer I turned 41 years old. On the night of my birthday after going for a long run and getting a massage, I began looking through my closet for the perfect outfit for a birthday dinner at the Mountain Brau. As I tried on top after top I came to the realization that I no longer fit most of my dress clothes. As I stared into the mirror I felt a familiar mind body disconnect. I felt bad about myself. No longer proud of the 5.9s I floated up the day before or the 9 miles I ran earlier in the day I began to fill up with self hate.
One thing that keeps me sane in moments like this is speaking out. And this loud mouth shanty irish italian from Flatlands has no problem with speaking out. When I talked to my friend N. another female climber about my birthday outfit crisis she was supportive and said, it’s time for new cloths. You’re an athlete. I know there is no shame in this. Having a supportive community of women climbers, feminist activists and athletes is essential. In my previous job working in marketing for the women owned sex toy company, as employees, we worked a lot on body image challenging sexist behavior, fat phobia and homophobia. Having a positive self image is critical to not only a healthy sex life it’s critical to happiness. Babeland was a transformative place to work. I try to take these experiences into my climbing world.
Still many women climbers are afraid to work out. We’re afraid to lose some feminine quality and no longer be seen as attractive. We don’t eat enough protein to recover. We tone when we need better strength and conditioning. We’re reading about Ines Papert’s FA in Climbing magazine one day and reading about the latest Cosmo diet the next.
Having a healthy body image is hard though when I try on cloths from the different top brand outdoor manufactures and there size XL is a size 12 (and a small 12) I feel defeated. When I see other tall women wearing gaiters cause none of the manufactures in the US make cloths for tall women I get pissed off. And when some companies and stores don’t carry any XL’s well I can find my way to the door. There’s no shame in being a size large nor a size XL and if outdoor companies want to see there bottom lines rise in this tight waisted economy they better start listening to the power of the woman shopper cause we are a vastly under utilized market. Fortunately Mountain Hardware and Marmot are making some great tops for women who are bigger, busty, and tall while both could use some tall sizes the Marmot scree pant works for me. In the meantime check out New Hampshire’s Wild Things LLC. They will make pants for you sized to order for a small additional charge and have a quick turn around time. I highly recommend there mountain guide pant.
And on a somewhat related note I am getting a little tired of gay jokes in the sausage heavy (aka mostly male) climbing scene. It would seem the number of gay jokes increase proportionally depending on how few women are around and how many bare chested beer drinking boys are. Saying something is “really gay” in a room full of straight people is ….really bigoted. Ditto the snide shaming comments about all the “bromances” in the climbing scene and god forbid male alpinists spooning for warmth and survival followed by knowing laughter. Words count my friend. And words said on a blog or climbing event are an action that sets the tone for how others interact in our community. Make sense? Moving on.
Crossfit Workout Update
I’m on week four of crossfit. This week I went 4 times using the suggested xfit method of 3 days on 1 day off. I’ve hit a new PR for rowing 500m. My new record is 1:53. This is big progress since I started last month and was at 2:04. I’ve also seen increases in my pull up capacity. On Friday I did 150 pull ups in 5 rounds of 30. It was a crushing workout. 5 rounds of 500m row followed by 30 KB swings followed by 30 pull ups. I have a long way to go but I feel like I am making real improvements. It’s a great program and I am pysched.
Additional Tips for the Upcoming Ice Season
1) It’s a mental game. In an August 2008 interview with Muscle and Fitness magazine noted alpinist and fitness trainer Mark Twight said, “The mind is primary. Physical training is easy, especially if you only do what you already do well. Psychological training is hard.” I truly believe the mental game is key to climbing harder. We know we can get that 5 whatever.
2) have goals but have fun. Often times when I met friends or clients at the beginning of the day or for the first time I say my primary goal for the day is to have fun. And I mean it. I want everything to flow from my desire to have fun even when I also have a tick list of hard climbs jotted down in my diary.
3) Part of working on my mental game is I try to keep a climbing journal. In this journal I note all of my climbs but also how I was feeling mentally. Did I have any breakthroughs or break downs.
4) Trekking Poles: trekking poles (or pole) rule. They help distribute your weight over four limbs instead of two. They are essential for crossing streams to back country ice routes like Buttermilk Falls in the Catskills or ascending tricky talus fields. Often times I will bring one pole on climbs where I am familiar with terrain, two if I am carrying in a heavy load for an overnight. Grivel has a new Himilaya collapsable pole that is light, and stays together even when folded up. Check local climbing shop www.rockandsnow.com for the trekking version of the Himilaya. It’s sweeeeet.
5) Ice Climbing sucks without good gloves. Right now I am using 2 pairs of Cloudveil’s 2008 version of the ice floe glove for lead climbing. I also bring a pair of EMS work gloves for those summer ice days in the catskills. Kelly Cordes has initiated a great discussion on gloves system for this winter’s climbing here: http://kellycordes.wordpress.com/2009/1
http://mountainhardwear.com/Home.as
http://www.wildthingsgear.com/
http://www.athenafit.com/philosophy.h
(check out athenafit. It is ice climber Carolyn Parker's gym here. She's worked with Mark Twight at Gym Jones and has great advice for women climbers
http://crossfitwomen.blogspot.com/
