i owe kleinbl00 and a few others many beers still doing the thing with the girl - we've definitely scaled things back this week - she went on a "date" with someone else two days ago, and we're going on a date tonight unrelated, ever since taking 2.5 weeks off from climbing I have been absolutely crushing it and broke through a plateau in that realm!
On the subject of taking a break helping to crash through a plateau - the same thing happened to me after our first lock down in 2020. I went from being in the gym 5 days a week, to having to go for walks, do bodyweight exercises and generally ease back on it. 6-8 weeks later once we were allowed back in the gym, I was straight in there. The first week was rough, a little under what I'd like to lift across the board. The second week I was back to my usual numbers and feeling really good. The third week I absolutely cruised past every max I had set previously, and in the same week I hit three of my four lifetime goals. I didn't like taking a break, I never knew what to do with myself. But a forced one showed me how much your body needs to recover. Now I tell the young lads at that gym, that the gym is for training. You get bigger and stronger by sleeping, eating and resting appropriately.
haha I literally said to my climbing partner last night “eat good, sleep good, climb good”. It makes a difference! I can get away with minimal sleep for a season (see: summer), but it will catch up to me (see: mid to late November). Congrats on the lifetime goal achievements, that’s incredible!
update: this is almost certainly not going to work out
I'm so sorry man. I know how hard and rare it can be to meet someone you're truly excited about. And how difficult it can be to slowly realize it won't work out. We tell ourselves so many things to try and make it work, but in the end for whatever reason some things just aren't right-and it fucking sucks. Wishing you the best
On the plus side I’ve booked some therapy consultations coming out of all of this.
I'm pretty tempted to badge this but I'm also feeling pretty petty today.