of dating and climbing

The following post is inspired by this article from TNB:
http://www.rockandice.com/news/2338-tnb-how-to-stay-motivated-or-tricks-of-the-trade

So… I guess I am kinda at that point too. Whereby it seems that strength is at an all-time low, time and energy is also at an all-time low and climbing is sometimes just plain demoralizing when you find yourself falling of jugs or routes that used to be a breeze and knowing inside that you would have been able to do this just 3 or 4 years ago… those good old days….

Dragging yourself to the gym after a hard day of work can be challenging, knowing how easy it is to just shrug of failing a climb to lack of sleep or proper rest and a hard day’s work… or that you don’t want to train too hard cos you’ll be aching or falling asleep in the office tomorrow and that won’t be too productive… or that you’ve countless of injuries that you don’t wish to aggravate… the excuses go on…

And then after a year… the 7As are now too hard… and after another… even the 6Cs are out of reach… and who knows what five or ten years would do to you… climbing is such a tease sometimes… allowing you to get so close and so high… then suddenly just slipping away and running off with someone younger and stronger.

So how should we deal with a girl as such? Since I shall assume that we have deemed that she is worth going for…

Firstly since time is limited, one must maximize the time available and ensure that during those short few hours, the experience is awesome for both parties. Occasionally, you might have to sacrifice a little bit of your happiness on things that you may not like but you know she does.

Meaning: Climb efficiently. Make sure there is a plan and don’t just wonder into the situation unprepared as to what you’ll be doing that day. That will likely lead to ineffective usage of time and the girl will just get bored and go find someone else to play with. Occasionally, if she requires a bit of strength and core conditioning (if you know what I mean)… you know what you have to do no matter how tired you are.

Secondly, keep things interesting. No girl likes to go to the same place over and over again despite how much she liked it the first time. Find new things to do together. If you’re tired of bouldering try a little climbing, if you’re done with climbing for the whole week, try onsighting at a new gym. While things may not work out perfectly, you could have a laugh about it together after about your foolishness. Do your homework to find out if the gyms are doing anything that you like to do with her and go even if you have to walk an extra mile to get there.

Meaning: Don’t fall into a routine and just climb at the same location with the same people day in day out. Any regular girl will get bored. Try double (or more) dating if necessary. New couples might provide new insights ^^.

Thirdly, and probably lastly since I don’t wanna drag this out too long, keep a physical record of the things you did together. One sure win way to remind a girl of the good times is to have photos or blog posts about the awesome stuff you did together to reminisce about the times when you were young and foolish, about the places you went about the things you did together, about how so damn good you guys looked together. That would at the very least leave you clinging onto something that once was… even if you’re now old and saggy… she’ll remember you for who you were and know that all the battle scars that make you the cranky old person now was all thanks to her and what you sacrificed to be with her.

Meaning: when doing awesome trips or going to surprising places, take a photo or two, write a paragraph or three, so that one day when you’re feeling down, you can sit down together and just think of the good old days and recall those happy moments that brought you where you were today..

Note: this writer only has limited experience “dating” a girl and probably doesn’t know a thing about what she’s writing about. BUT. she loves climbing.