Climbing

A friend took me up to the über-posh Reebok Sports Club this evening to use their indoor climbing wall. As someone who's not a huge fan of heights, I was a little hesitant to attempt scaling a fifty-foot wall that looked like a giant child had been throwing multi-colored flecks of Play-doh at it. But hell, I'd gone all the way uptown, so I strapped in and jumped on.

It was hard. It was great. I made it to the top. When I got back to the floor, I had a hard time standing, and I wasn't sure if it was the sustained exertion that was making my legs tremble, or the fear that I'd been suppressing. Most likely, it was both.

I did it again. This time, I only made it two-thirds of the way up. The wall smote me. The wall kicked my ass. I took it like a man and went for a run on the treadmill, then hit the showers for some serious manly pampering.

I've learned it's good to do things that scare you. I've also learned that if you're going to do things that scare you, it's good to have a sauna, a steam room, AND a jacuzzi to relax in afterwards.