But...we've been packing, loading and unloading. Driving to Spain, back to France and back to Spain. We are tired but when we arrived here in Catalunya, but it was sunny and warm, a big change from the cold and wet 2 weeks we had in France. We decided to go climbing instead of unpacking. We needed to get outside and feel the rock.
We headed west past Olat to Santuari de Montgrony, where is an old monastary. This is a fantastic place to climb, so many routes and so beautiful. In France we were spoiled, there were 4 great climbing cliffs within 10-15 minutes of us, here we have to drive a bit further, but it's worth it.
K climbing hard
We met our friends K and H, they are from the states too, but live in France. We met them last year here in Spain, climbing. They are closer to us now, only 1.5 hours away. And they know this area very well. We had a great day of climbing and feeling the sun on our faces. It was worth the break from unpacking.
Since we don't have family here, we'll probably go climbing on Christmas day. We did that last year in France. I think we were the only ones at the cliff. We'll see how it is this year in Spain.
When we first moved to France back in 2008 we had stopped climbing. If you've read this blog for a while you know that we stopped climbing and started road biking. In fact, our first year here we road almost every day. It was a great way to see the area, but sometimes it was so cold I couldn't feel my hands or feet. I met Bruce climbing and we had climbed in some amazing places, but one day we decided to try something different, so we first started surfing, then I started doing triathlons and then we started road biking. But when we came back to France in 2010 we looked around and realized there was so much amazing limestone just minutes from us, we had to start climbing again.
Nellie lounging at the cliff.
It was hard to get back on the horse. I was afraid of falling, afraid of leading and we started out on the easiest climbs we could find. But we were both hooked again, we put our bikes away and spent 3-4 days a week climbing on the most beautiful limestone. That was 4 years ago, and we are still climbing as much as we can. I'm not so much afraid of falling or leading anymore and I'm not doing the easiest climbs either. In fact, this year I did my hardest route ever. Not bad for 51.
When we first started climbing again, the perfect place for us was Amiel. It's 10 minutes from our house and has great climbing. Easy stuff to hard stuff and lots in the middle. We'd call it "the office". It's a 30 minutes hike up and you get the most beautiful view of a tiny village call Penne. If it's during the week, it's usually just Bruce and I.
Looking down towards Penne.
The last 2 weeks we haven't seen the sun. It's been cold, wet, gloomy and cloudy. Nothing makes me more depressed. But today it was sunny and perfect climbing temps. Mid 40's and blue skies. It was a perfect day to go to Amiel and get one last day in at the office before moving to Spain. I would have been sad to leave this area without saying goodbye to Amiel.
So today we hiked up and spent 4 hours climbing. It was great. I said goodbye to Amiel and told her I'd see her again one day (which I'm sure I will), I also thanked her for bringing me back to climbing.
She's been good to us and we'll miss her. But I'm sure we'll be finding some new amazing places to climb in Spain.
I don't believe in Resolutions and I don't make them each year. But what I do do is write down goals for the year. I do personal and professional goals. This year I don't have too many, but thought I'd share what I do have.
My 2014 personal goals. Most are fitness related, because I'm a bit obsessed with climbing and fitness. In 2013 my goal was to climb 7a+ (12a), if you don't know anything about climbing, routes have grades depending on the difficulty. Grades in France are different from American grades, but they mean the same thing (like a 7a+ in France is the same as a 12a in America). Grades usually start at a 4 and it goes from 4, 5, 5+, 6, 6a, 6a+, 6b, 6b+, 6c, 6c+, 7a, 7a+, 7b, etc...all the way to the hardest route 9b+ (5.15c), something I'll never achieve in my lifetime. I'm now at 7a+, I climbed 3 in 2013. My goal for 2014 is 7b. So much harder than 7a+, even though it might not seem like it, trust me it's a huge jump. But it's something I'm going to go for this year.
using my new sandbag (30 lbs)
This always make me happy!
Another goal is to do a press-up handstand. I was a gymnast from when I was 8-14 and I could do one back when I was young, but I want to try to do one again, while I'm 50. If you don't know what one is, you can see it below. It might be harder than climbing 7b, in fact I'm sure it is. On one youtube video it says it can take 5 years to master! Kino is awesome and she's got a great youtube channel, check it out here.
Kino doing press-up handstand.
I also want to take some pottery classes or get some studio time at a studio nearby. You might not know this, but I am a potter. I had a complete studio when I lived in Los Angeles and sold my work at a few stores there too. But when we moved to France I had to sell my wheel and kiln (too expensive to ship and the wrong plug and voltage). I have never been in a place where I could throw again, it's expensive to set-up a studio and also you need a good place to set it up (good ventilation). We'd like to build a studio here at the house, but it won't happen until the end of the year. I can't throw in Bruce's studio, because I'd take up too much space. I really miss it and have found a few studios in Toulouse, 1 hour away, but that's no big deal. I'm going to go and visit them, see which is best for me and sign up. Time to get back in the studio and play with some clay.
some of my pieces.
I will also continue to eat healthy and clean and keep fit. I'm in the best shape of my life at 50 and I plan on staying that way. On days I don't climb I usually do a Bodyrock workout or a TRX workout. I Eating clean is easy to do here in rural France. You only eat what is in season, there aren't tons of choices at the store, we don't eat pre-packaged or food with preservatives...everything is fresh and local. I pretty much follow a paleo/zone diet....stay away from rice, pasta, wheat, bread and sugar. I still have my glass of wine though.....it's healthy, right? I've been making some great soups (I'll do a post on them in a bit) and also some sweets that are made with Agave, one an amazing biscotti.
That's about it for my personal goals. Nothing crazy (well the press-up handstand might be) but I need something to work towards. Luckily we live 10 minutes from amazing climbing, so I'll be able to work on my 7b as much as I want (or can). Goals are important to me, not resolutions. What about you? Do you set any goals each year?
