Last few weeks of outdoor climbing

 Recently I have been climbing outdoors to take advantage of the last few weeks of good weather. Moves are more diverse outside; the foot holds are sometimes smeary on slabs; the rock face could be wet and muddy. The wind, insects, caterpillars, etc. makes it all more difficult than climbing inside.

So I have fallen twice outside already. I don't know why I have a blind trust that my feet will hold a smear as I go upwards using not so great handholds. I think I have a blind trust on the reported grades -- a 5? For sure I must be able to place my foot on a slab and it won't slip! I am excited about holding some weird positions while clipping. Feels like I am gaining experience and progressing, and I feel strong enough to do some tricky moves.

The bf is really having more trouble with climbing outside. He does not trust his feet at all, and he hates falling even more. He needs to psyche himself before he would do the moves on 3s and 4s with bad/no footholds. We only dare to climb 5- (4cs). I'm hoping to tackle more 5b's and 5c's, or even 6a's, but P is not ready for it.  

I feel this year I will just learn to manage my bunion pains on the rock walls. I won't be climbing 6a's or 6a+s outside at all. Hopefully if my feet are good for the lower grades, they will be good for the higher grades too. A big issue with outdoor climbing is endurance -- holding a move while figuring out what to do next. Now I am at a point where I will cheat and grab the quickdraw if I don't know what part of the wall to grab next. I just need to be strong enough to be able to try a few things, re-position my feet and body in order to get to the next hold, try things half way and be able to reverse into the former position. I am also learning to not be scared of creepy crawlers. They seem pretty harmless compared to falling and getting scratched/cut by rock. Wasps are still annoying/scary though.

End of August climbing progress update

There were days where I couldn't get through 7-s without hanging. I have gained about 1-2kg of weight, and I can feel it in my climbing (7s feel way too hard for my hands now). I also realized that sometimes the climbing shoes hurt my feet because I didn't put my shoes on properly (the toe box needs to be wiggled until my toes don't feel squished). If I don't wear my shoes properly, my feet hurt and I can't climb so well.

Anyways, recently the Scarpa Vapors have been feeling better than they used to, probably because I have broken in the resoles, and because Instincts have a fit that feel even harder on the feet. I am sad that my Tarantulace now feels too large and not supportive enough for my toes. They are fine for very easy routes, where I can place a large portion of my foot on the footholds. They are also fine for routes with smaller footholds, but after awhile, the base of the big toes start to hurt due to lack of shoe support. I guess I will wear them only when my Mythos eventually get resoled. I still haven't decided which rubber I will resole my shoes with.

I haven't done overhang for awhile, and boy, I either felt totally freaked out, or super tired on these routes. Usually I feel especially low energy after eating something, or in the evenings. I'm not sure if I will ever improve this aspect. 

I tried an 7/7+ the other day. I was able to do moves, with shallow handholds, tiny footholds, and uncomfortable/unstable moves. I felt like I could use these holds and do the moves individually, but I was uncomfortable doing that many hard moves in a row. My hands and my feet get tired after one hard pull while pushing hard on a small foothold. The hands and feet (and mental psyche) want a break after every single move. I guess I just need to do the route over and over again until the holds feel less intense and that I get used to doing these moves.

At this point, I don't really expect to get much better at climbing. I have always have trouble losing weight, so unless I can manage to lose like 3-5 kg, I don't think I can improve a grade. My small wish is just to be able to maintain the current level of climbing. The current grades feel relatively challenging and I have fun doing them. So I will keep doing the 7-s forever, while occasionally trying some 7s and 7/7+s.