Building Confidence For Climbing

Posted on July 27, 2016 by Coco

Last weekend my husband, son and I went to a local indoor climbing gym. My son started climbing at college, and it was one of the things I wanted to do with him this summer. Before we went I warned everyone that I would not be any good, and now I know I need more practice building confidence for climbing. 

Building Confidence For Climbing

Since no one took a picture of me climbing we’ll have to go back!

The gym we went to offers classes for beginners and also has “open belay” sessions where you are matched with one of their staff members who belays for you. Since my son was not interested in a class, we did the open belaying. We were paired with a great staff member who was just as at ease with my son’s confidence as he was with my hesitation. Continue reading →

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Fearing Fear Itself

Posted on July 24, 2016 by Coco

Fear has been a common topic around here lately. The fear that’s on my mind this week doesn’t have to do with cycling–or even relate to my first time trying indoor climbing–but is a more troubling fear brought on by spending too many hours watching the Republican National Convention. I’m not going to get into it here, but I need to get this much off my chest: A presidency based on anger, hatred and fear will not make this country great–no matter who is in the Oval Office. President Roosevelt got it right when he said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” 

Fighting Off Fear
I know all politics are ugly and I think one reason I’m so stressed out is because I am actually watching the political debates and conventions this year. I’d like to think the Democratic National Convention will take the high road and rise above the fray but I know it will have its share of ugliness. ~sigh~ Continue reading →

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A Pragmatic Love Story — Vinegar Girl Book Review

Posted on July 20, 2016 by Coco

Sometimes the Wednesday Word relates to something I’ve been thinking about. Sometimes it fits well with a recent experience. But this week, it fits me to a T.

practically speaking
When I looked up pragmatic, I thought any of the definitions could describe me. I tend to be logical, realistic, and practical. I consider myself to be down-to-earth, matter-of-fact, and have my feet on the ground. I try to be commonsensical, often am businesslike even when I don’t mean to be, and try to be sensible.  Continue reading →

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How I Beat The Heat In Downtown Miami

Posted on July 17, 2016 by Coco

I spent last week in downtown Miami. It wasn’t my first business trip to Miami, but it had been a few years since I’ve visited our Miami office. The first thing I learned–or relearned–is that downtown Miami is nothing like South Beach.

downtown miami
Even putting aside work, my week in Miami was nothing like Cynthia’s weekend in South Beach. I didn’t put my toes in the sand. I didn’t enjoy a fruity beverage at an oceanfront bar. I didn’t even run outside. For the Weekly Wrap Link Up hosted by Holly and Tricia, I’ll tell you how I beat the heat in downtown Miami. Continue reading →

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Overcoming Visceral Fear

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Coco

Cycling scares me. More particularly, climbing a steep hill while clipped in scares me. And for good reason. I’ve had my share of falls and bloody knees when I didn’t have quite enough momentum or wasn’t in the right gear or just panicked and fell over and didn’t unclip on my way down. I push through this fear almost every weekend but there’s one particular route that instilled such a visceral fear it took me almost four years to face it. 

Arlington Loop Elevation - Overcoming Visceral Fear

The elevation profile never tells the whole story. It’s not the elevation climb over those uphill miles that is challenging, it’s the series of steep hills represented by each blip on this graph. This is the route I trained on for Ragnar. There are several hills I can barely run up.  Continue reading →

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