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Month: March 2021

Climb

How to Climb 5.12 Before Turning 40: 8 Months to Go

by Amanda Smith
Posted on March 17, 2021April 18, 2021

Amanda Smith, Author of Fairly Extreme

About Me

I am a high school English teacher who discovered climbing at the age of 27. I’m almost 40 now, and proper training, recovery, and nutrition is a nonnegotiable. Throughout my 30s I started snowboarding, surfing, kiteboarding, running, and lifting weights too. Outside teaching school, I dedicate time to these sports as well as training and educating myself about training, recovery, and nutrition. This blog is dedicated to sharing tips, resources, and inspiration to help all lifelong climbers continue to enjoy and perform in the sports they love.

Amazon Affiliate Disclosure

Amanda, the author of Fairly Extreme Blog, is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

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Tomorrow is Friday winter pep rally at school. Still doing spirit week at 42 years old. Didn’t feel overwhelmed or like I wanted to quit all week, so that is a win 😂 Some pretty great things actually happened in my classroom this week, one related to this little run I went on today. My 9th graders did a pretty darn good job with inquiry question writing today. Might not look like much, but they did well! As for the run, I’m trying to motivate one of my students to train for boot camp. He is super motivated to be a Marine, but not training… so we bet $5 on who could run a faster mile. Time to beat is 10:00… I know I’m not fast 😝 but maybe we can keep this bet going and help me get in shape for snowboarding season! 🏂❄️🌨️

Hello old friend! Have not touched the spray wall since June. Days since then just kept unfolding with all things terrible, exciting, fun, heartbreaking, stressful, aventure, and whatnot. Things are looking up with two straight days of lifting, climbing, and even stretching coupled with two days at school teaching not losing my mind with an insane list of things to do. Hopefully this is the beginning of a streak. Might even write something… Aaannnnndddd POST! 💪🏻💥👩🏻‍🏫🧗🏻‍♀️

Spray wall with Michelle! So the video is not the actual spray wall, just a spray-wall-like route they set on the tension board. I really love working on the spray wall though. It is so challenging, makes me feel like I am putting in real work and making gains. :D The most surprising thing about this day was that I was able to do as much on the spray wall as I was able to do back in mid-May. I’ve been climbing leas since then, and it is great to use this as a tool to know that I have not lost any strength! I also think it is the creatine helping me out some, because in mid-May I was taking a smaller scoop of Creatine and I’m not sure I was fully “loaded.” 😝 #trainingforclimbing #spraywall

Activities don’t always work out as planned, but this time things turned out OK. Second time a ride got rained out this season :/ I checked the radar and thought I was good, but a quarter mile in a strong drizzle started. Oh well! Plan B was a lifting session in ze lovely basement gym, which was actually great! Almost have 3 sets of 8 reps at 20 for the curl press and almost have 3 sets of 8 reps at 25 for a tricep pull-down! Thank you creatine!! Did squats too. Not my favorite but I did them. Also did some thrusters, crab walks, clams, core stuff, and deadlifts! All in all I’d say progress was made! #mountainbike #girlswholift #fairlyextreme

Yesterday was bouldering day… I’m never super stoked to boulder because I am pretty unwilling to fall from very high. I worry about whiplash and twisted ankles, so I’ll only attempt moves that I am 90-100% sure I’ll make. But, since bouldering is “good for climbing” I find my happy medium doing 4 x 4s, this is the only way I can feel like I am climbing at my limit during a bouldering sesh. My limit being like v4 😝 oh! And Mittens the cat. #bouldering #climbingtraining #fairlyextreme

This creek and the rock garden after it were my biking projects yesterday. The ride was short, only 3.6 miles, but the chance to just hang out at these two places and literally ride back and forth for 40 minutes practicing really helped a lot. I knew 2 things after the sesh. First, I knew that I could do it. It was possible. Second, I knew exactly what line I needed to take and what the most challenging part of the line was. It also helped me get over my apprehension and build confidence. Whether it is confidence in knowing that I can do it or confidence in knowing that falling all the way in the creek is not so bad, confidence is confidence.

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