Weekend Report: My New Rock Gym!

Well friends, I think I just found my home away from home (...away from home away from home? California, DC, Somerville, Brooklyn Boulders, if that makes sense?). Anywho, you get what I mean: I found a rock gym that is amazing and I plan on kinda sorta living there for the semester.

It's brand new, just mile and a half from my apartment. I'm not saying Brooklyn Boulders Somerville is why I chose to get my master's at Fletcher...but I'm also not saying it wasn't a significant check in the pro column. (Are you confused yet? How many negatives can I fit into one sentence? I swear, grad school might be making me dumber.)

There's climbing and bouldering well duh, and also auto-belays so if I want to (/have to) climb alone I can! And yoga classes! And a gym! And wi-fi and a cafe and couches! So I plan on some doing combination of climbing and studying there on a regular basis. Now really, who wants to come climbing with me?

OH and guess what else? I got a bike! The bike I rode in DC actually belonged to SpeedyKate, so upon returning from my travels, I found myself in Massachusetts bikeless and in desperate need of wheels. 

Let me tell you guys, there is nothing like the freedom that comes with having a bike! Want to go on a ride? In. Need to go to the store? No problem. To the rock gym? Be there in five! I feel like I am all of a sudden free free free from my 2-mile walking radius of Davis Square and it is glorious. Clearly I tested out my bike yesterday evening. The plan was a casual cruise along the Minuteman Bike Path...which of course turned into a 22.5-mile, one hour and 40 minutes ride (to the end of the trail at Bedford and back). It was so nice!

After two weeks of pre-session class, one week of orientation, and around 60 hours of group project work time (for serious), school ACTUALLY starts this week. Yay? (I don't know. I'll be at the rock gym.)

4-Part Sunday Fun-Day

My Sunday was excellent – after Saturday’s huge storm, the humidity finally broke and it felt like fall. A group of five (myself, three of my college ski team friends, and one new climbing friend) set out on a series of super-fun, very well-planned, challenging but relaxing outdoors activities in Virginia.

Part 1: We met in Alexandria and drove an hour to the Buzzard Rocks trail head near Front Royal, VA.  We got the day started with a brisk hike -- two miles uphill to reach the top of Buzzard Rocks (the upper part of Elizabeth’s Furnace climbing area).

Part 2A: We set up ropes (well, AJ did the setting) and tied in for some slab climbing ("slab" = a relatively low-angle section of rock; the emphasis is on balance, footwork, and making use of very small features or rough spots on the rock for friction). It was Nikki’s second outdoor climbing experience ever and she did so well! The climbs were relatively easy but definitely fun, and the view was beautiful.

Part 2B: After maxing out our slab-climbing fun, we headed down the road to the other, more well-known part of Elizabeth’s Furnace, called Talking Headwall. These climbs are much more vertical and have tricky/fun “roofs” (that’s climbing for a horizontal overhang – basically you have to get up and over something that is like a flat roof above you head –pull-up time!).

(This picture isn't any of us, but you get the idea)

Again, Nikki the new climber rocked it and got to the top of  this 5.8!

Part 3: Parts 3 and 4 of the day focused on relaxing. It was definitely not as hot as anticipated (hallelujah!), so instead of swimming in the local swimming hole, we sat with our tired-of-being-in-climbing-shoes feet in the water and it was lovely.

Part 4: Then to finish off the day we went to Christina's Cafe in Strasburg, VA, a local place with delicious sandwiches and some ahem, interesting open mic night music. We sat on the patio surrounded by sweet-smelling flowers and felt pretty pleased with ourselves for a day well-done.

Anyway, quick backtrack to Saturday: 

The city-dweller side of my weekend was equally enjoyable. Saturday morning I went for a long run down the Mall, across the Arlington Bridge, around Roosevelt Island, and back (11.5 miles!) in what might be (fingers crossed) the very last of the oppressive DC summer heat. 

Then my friend and I met up at Sova, my new favorite coffee shop on H Street, to get work done/handle our lives. Our original plan was to work at the oh-so-popular Big Bear Cafe, but be warned: they turn off their internet on weekends!!! Sova was much quieter anyways. (As I attempt to be productive this fall -- big life changes in the works! -- I foresee a lot of time spent at Sova...) I savored a large cup of coffee, a chocolate cookie with cayenne pepper, and was incredibly productive for 4 whole hours!

And that my friends, is that. HAPPY OMG IT FEELS LIKE FALL!!!!!

Weekend Report: If I were Batman I could have climbed out of the pit.

The rock gym where I climb in Alexandria can be ridiculously crowed on weeknights. Peak time is around 8 pm, and it can be almost impossible to find an open route. Tuesdays appear to be the worst, but that whole Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday chunk is pretty popular.

Fridays, however, are comparably empty and excellent. I went this past Friday night, got in my preferred number of 10 climbs easily by 8:30, climbed quite a few 5.10s, and attempted a 5.11 (I didn’t get far…at all…but at least I tried!).

And then my friend and I went to the best fried chicken I’ve ever had. Ever. (Bold statement, I know, but it’s one I’m very willing to make.)

BonChon is a Korean restaurant in Annadale promising to "make sure that he who seeks BonChon shall always find it.” Win. Apparently they fry the chicken, then let it soak in spicy sauce for a while, then fry it again. (I will have none of your deep-fried judgement – chicken and kimchi and radishes for the heat – it was totally worth it.)

Then on Saturday I ventured deep into the depths of Maryland to go hiking at Rocks State Park. We started with a very brief out-and-back to a waterfall, and then drove a few miles to another trail head for a longer hike.

The second part actually involved rocks, but more in the stand-on-top-and-peer-over-the-edge sort of way than the climb-them-with-ropes way. Overall, Rocks State Park was nice, but the driving to hiking ratio was not ideal (I think we hiked maybe a total of 5 miles…and it took all day), so I don’t think I’d recommend it to DC dwellers.

Sunday was wet, so I SpeedyKate and I donned our hats (aka umbrellas for our eyes!) and went for a rainy long run around the Mall, Tidal Basin, and all the way to Stadium/Armory. We arrived home at awkward eating o’clock (3:45 pm on a Sunday – is it lunch? Dinner? Whatever it is, I need to eat now!), and decided to solve out problems by getting early take-out dinner from Tortilla Café (my new favorite local place, and it was on DDD!).

We needed an early dinner because at 7pm we saw The Dark Knight Rises in IMAX. The movie was long, but pretty great as long as you don’t look for plot holes…(anyone else notice that when they rob the bank it’s daytime, but the subsequent car chase is middle-of-the-night dark?).

Also, as I said in the title, I could have climbed out of that pit prison thing!!! (Slate agrees.) That whole section took a lot of suspension of disbelieve on my part because that was the grippiest-looking rock face ever and I’m pretty sure any rock climber could do it.  Just saying…

This is the end of this Batman trilogy, which is a-ok with me because (not to give anything away) I strongly suspect that Joseph Gordon-Levitt will be starring in movies of a similar nature in the future…

Hope you had a great weekend too!

Weekend Report: Climbing Great Falls and Brothers of the Sun Concert

On Saturday my climbing friends and I headed to Great Falls (the Virginia side) for a day on the rocks.

After much time at the indoor gym (I haven’t been outside climbing since our camping trip back in May), Saturday was an excellent return to the great outdoors. Great Falls is very close to DC, and absolutely beautiful. The rock cliffs go right down into the Potomac River, and between climbers, hikers, and whitewater kayakers, there’s a whole lot of outdoorsy-ness concentrated in one area.

(This isn't us, but it COULD be.)

We set up a few ropes (i.e.  I observed my friends who know what they’re doing set up ropes…my main contribution to the excursion, per usual, was the pleasure of my company and a Tupperware full of cookies) and started climbing.

Five hours later my hands felt like they’d been sandpapered,  my knees bombarded by baseballs, and my shoulders had gone through an intense weight-lifting session – basically how a person should feel after rock climbing. I returned home exhausted, collapsed on the couch, and watched Olympics like the champion that I am.

Sunday I awoke refreshed and went for a long-ish bike ride up through Rock Creek Park, listening to my favorite country music mixes in preparation for my afternoon. I know most people don't like country music, but I grew up listening to it in the car with my mama, and then it was a major part of all my ski racing experiences (high school and college)...plus I just love singing along.

My college friend Nikki and I bought tickets to see Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw (Brothers of the Sun Tour) a while back, but sadly last week she found herself unable to go. That left me scrambling to turn up a country music fan who was actually in DC this weekend.

On Friday night I looked at LORT-Emily’s friend Liz. Sooo, do you happen to like country music? Yes! I mean like Kenny Chesney kind of country music? Yes! Ummm are you busy Sunday??? DONE. I had country-loving company and it was so much fun!

The concert was literally 6 hours long, and as at all country concerts, the people watching was hilarious (the dancing shirtless cowboy who made friends with everyone, many many under-clothed and over-tattooed people, and of course the southern frat-tastic contingent surrounding us). Only at country concerts and the Olympics do people randomly start chanting USA! USA! USA! (And coincidentally those are two of my favorite things...)

I won’t bore you with too many details, but openers were Jake Owen (Barefoot Blue Jean Night) and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (I've actually had never heard of them).

And then it was like two full concerts of ALL my favorite songs. (Set list here if you care.) Or you can just listen to Just to See You Smile and How Bad Do You Want It and Something Like That (BBQ Stain) by Tim McGraw, and I Go Back, Never Wanted Nothing More, and You and Tequila by Kenny Chesney.

It was A-mazing. Hope you had a good weekend too!

Weekend Report: Happy Bastille Day, Climbing, and Biking

Well happy Monday to you!

I had a truly excellent weekend – the perfect balance of activity and lounging and exercise and sleeping. Friday night I introduced yet another co-worker to the wonders of Francis Pool. After a loooooong week there is nothing that generates relaxation as immediately as floating in water as the sun sets.

In all my excitement about running again, I kind of forgot that I’m supposed to be taking things slow avoid the dreaded too-much-too-soon injury phenomenon. Therefore, I did not run this weekend. Instead I climbed for an epic 3 hours (16 climbs – i.e. a lot) Saturday afternoon, and biked 48 miles on Sunday. Yes, yes, I know that doesn’t sound like “taking things slow” by any normal definition…but it’s not running, so work with me here.

Saturday’s climbing excursion was not to the outdoors (we decided it would be too hot). Instead, my little climbing club ventured all the way to Rockville to climb at Earthtreks, the largest rock gym in the country. After climbing we embraced the suburban-ness of the location and went to get absolutely amazing tacos at a hole-in-the-wall strip mall taco shop. It felt like California and made me excessively happy.

Saturday night I celebrated Bastille Day with my francophone friend LOTR-Emily and her boyfriend.

Nous nous sommes assis sur son toit tout en mangeant une tarte aux prunes. C'était fantastique. Bonne Fête Nationale! (We sat on her roof while eating a plum tart. It was fantastic. Happy Bastille Day!)

Sunday the aforementioned biking happened. Per DC usual, it was HOT, so I tried to be smart about the procedure and stopped at every water fountain along the 3 hour and 45 minute way. However, despite all precautions taken, when I got home I definitely had to guzzle almost a gallon of liquid and lay on my floor until I felt human again.

Once life returned to my limbs, LOTR-Emily and I tested a new fro-yo place on Barracks Row. 32 Below was surprisingly AMAZING. I had Irish Mint and Chocolate with brownie and nuts on top – ummm hello delicious!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend too!

Weekend Report: Rock Climbing and Camping in Shenandoah

After a weekend warm-up Friday night (Nats game and a party chez LORT-Emily’s BF), I got up early Saturday to start on my real weekend plans: rock climbing and camping in Shenandoah with climbing friends/co-workers Matt, JD, and Lauren.

By 8:30 the car was loaded and we were on our way, cruising through the Virginia countryside with the windows down and the music up (click here for this Weekend Report soundtrack). By 11:30 we were at Stony Man Cliffs, setting up ropes and looking out at this:

We met up with two other climbing friends, Brian and Dave, who had arrived Friday night and staked out a camping spot and two routes on Stony Man. The weather was absolutely perfect – warm but not too hot, sunny and fabulous.

Outside climbing is definitely a different animal than gym climbing. It’s more of an experience – setting up routes, sitting looking at the view, rappelling down, talking and watching others climb, etc. 

We didn’t actually climb that many times each, but it was really fun. Plus Stony Man is a 100-foot pitch, which is pretty much as high as you can go when top-roping.

(We met two girls -- "trail names" Blue and Maniac -- doing the Appalachian Trail and gave them their first opportunity to rappel and rock climb. They’ve been on the trail since March, starting in Georgia and planning to make it all the way to Maine. Oh and one of them was still in high school. Pretty freaking impressive.)


We stayed out until 6ish before heading back to camp where pure awesomeness awaited us. This trip was a bit of a last hurrah for Matt, our resident climbing expert, who is about to move across the country (to Petaluma actually!). So in honor of Matt and climbing and fun camping weekends, Dave cooked an absolutely amazing gourmet dinner on a camp stove: Chicken Tikka Masala with rice and naan. Yum!

And a cheesecake. That’s right – you usually don’t think of cheesecake and campfire together, but let me tell you, they go quite well. (No pictures survive, but it was pretty perfect.)


Sunday morning we were at it again, back to Stony Man for another shot at the wall. Our resident photographer JD snapped quite a few bad-ass pictures of us looking hard core(ish)...

...as well as a few that reflect the decidedly less hard core side of the day...

This weekend will definitely be repeated, in various locations and on various rock faces.

But we're going to miss Matt!!!

Weekend Report: The Law of Exercise and Rock Climbing

I believe in the Law of Exercise – if you do it often enough and try hard enough, it will get better/easier/you will improve at it. (This law keeps me going through multiple loooooong and arduous comebacks.) More (/smart) training leads to improvement.  Times get faster and runs get easier and your PRs get faster, etc. etc. 


I did another long run on Saturday. Bad news: the 14 miles FELT like 14 miles (despite the perfect weather it was a bit of a slog); Good news: I did not feel verge-of-death-tired all day afterwards…so I’ll count it as a net win and move on. 


The Law of Exercise applies to things other than running too! Specifically this weekend: rock climbing. I’m getting better at it! 


You may remember that I started climbing again in October. I don’t go often enough – just once every week or two –  so my progress has been relatively slow. But last week I did two days: Wednesday night and Sunday afternoon. And I’m happy to report that I am improving! The nice thing about climbing is that improvement is so obvious – either you make it to the top or you don’t. Climbing routes I couldn’t do a month ago are easy for me now, and I can consistently climb 5.9s! (This is not a climbing blog, so I won’t get into too much detail, but basically there’s a grading system rating each route, 5.0-5.14.) Climbing is a nice change of pace from running. It’s mentally and physically challenging, and works your whole body: arms, core, back, and legs. 


Besides running and climbing, I did a few other things this weekend (I may be a mildly obsessive exerciser, but I try to keep some semblance of a social life going too!). Friday night was a going-away party for my friend and Swahili teacher and her husband at Stoney's (best wings I've ever had). Like all international-focused DC couples, the time has come for them to go abroad. Her husband is moving to Nigeria in 2 weeks, and she will follow in May! I want to go visit…


Saturday afternoon 6x6 came over for some much-needed baking time. We made two things, both of which I thought were major baking fails, but actually turned out ok. Check back tomorrow for some St. Patrick’s Day green food, and probably next week for the most unreal bars I’ve ever encountered in my entire life (good thing they were a gift…otherwise I’d be 10 lbs heavier by now…).


Saturday night I met up with a friend for Ethiopian at Meskerem in Adam’s Morgan. We ordered:

Bozena Shurro (Meskerem's highly seasoned milled chick peas (Shurro) is simmered in berbere sauce with cubes of lean beef.), Misir Azifa (Pureed lentis are served next to a rare combination of finely chopped onions and green chillies mixed in vinaigrette sauce.), and Gomen Watt  (Chopped collard greens simmered in our unique, hot and spicy berber sauce.)


It was delicious! The Misir Azifa is surprisingly cold and tangy and probably my favorite. (Ha, previous blogs tell me that I've ordered it before!) If you haven’t had Ethiopian food, I strongly suggest you do so ASAP!


Sunday was dominated by refugees (preposition practice time!), the aforementioned rock climbing, and dessert delivery. 


And now it’s Monday…can I have another day of weekend please?

Weekend Report: Soooooo Tired!

I had quite the Saturday.


By 8:50 am I was out the door, heading north on Massachusetts Avenue for the first 12-miler in my get-ready-for-Cherry-Blossom training plan. After starting with that out-and-back add-on, I headed towards the Mall to meet 6x6 for the middle part of my run. 

She and I circled the Capitol and monuments, lamenting the Shire-esque look of the lawns and reflecting pool under construction.  (LOTR reference there – I’m talking about the very end of the books when they return to the Shire and it’s been destroyed.)





ANYWAY – the run was great! 6x6 did 7 with me, then left me to finish off the last 3 miles on my own.


I returned home to a hot shower and even hotter cup of coffee (something about the first sip of coffee after a long run on a cold day is the best thing in the world). I only had an hour before I needed to leave to go climbing, so I ate some breakfast – a notable one, I’ll blog about it later in the week – then got ready to go.


Because apparently 12 miles of running isn’t enough of a day for me, I met a few friends and co-workers at SportRock in Alexandria for an afternoon of climbing. The gym is so much less crowded on the weekends than on weekdays! The smaller walls were full of childrens’ birthday parties, but the big walls (where I want to be) were comparatively empty.


I didn’t get home until 5 pm, at which point I collapsed on my couch, completely exhausted. I had planned to go out that night, but after so much activity I knew that there was absolutely no way I was doing anything.


I reminded myself of my Mama when she was marathon training. She would return from a run, lie on the couch, and call out in her pitiful voice, Mollie? Will you bring me something to eat? Being the awesome daughter I am - Sure, what do you want? Her reply - Anything! Whatever you'll bring me.


That is exactly how I felt. But my mama is in CA, so I had to energize-up enough to cook myself some dinner. Womp womp.


But I bounce back quickly (after 10 hours of sleep) and by Sunday I’d recovered. I trekked out to Silver Spring to tutor my refugees, then did some yoga in an attempt to prevent the inevitable soreness of 2+ hours of climbing on top of a run.


Sunday night I went and saw Moneyball. It was very good! It’s an Aaron Sorkin film (writer of The West Wing), but was different from his usual rapid-fire banter. I am a total sucker for a good sports movie. It even made me excited about baseball, which is impressive considering I don’t even like baseball…


Anywho, that is that. Hope you had a good weekend too!

Rock Climbing in Alexandria

Last night I departed from my usual running/pool running/yoga workout regimen and went rock climbing for the first time in over 2 years. I forgot how much I enjoy climbing!  I first  learned at summer camp late in high school – we climbed at Turtle Rock outside of Buena Vista, CO. Then as a camp counselor I spent a summer belaying campers and climbing on my days off, and in college I utilized the school rock wall pretty often and did a bit of bouldering outside Boston.

But since moving to DC my climbing gear has waited patiently in my closet, eagerly anticipating the day I would again take it out to play (yes, I just personified my climbing gear…).

So last night was the night! My co-workers and I (unofficially the office climbing club) metro’ed to SportRock in Alexandria, DC’s closest rock gym. (DCists - $10 with a student ID!)

Luckily muscle memory kicked in and I passed the belay test (tying in, belaying a climber, etc.), and with that we were ready to go.

It took a few climbs to get warmed up and remember how to balance my body, but once I got back into the swing of things it was great! I’m definitely not as strong as I was back in my regular climbing days, but one of the things I like about climbing is that it’s just as much of a mental puzzle as a physical one. 

If you’re like me (i.e. distance runner arms), pulling yourself up the wall is not an option. Instead, I try to figure out how to position myself so that my legs and abs can do most of the work while my arms follow along providing balance.

If you haven’t been climbing before, or haven’t gone in a while, you should try it! Like yoga it works your entire body. I’d much rather climb than lift weights to accomplish the strength component of my workouts. Climbing uses muscles in completely different ways than running and can serve as a complementary strength workout to add to your usual training.

So, bottom line, I’ll be going back!