When you can't climb, run!

Update: I didn't crush hard last Friday like I thought I would.  I actually felt pretty tired and ended up climbing easy and moderate routes.  The same thing happened this past Monday night; I led some 5.10s but struggled to climb 5.11s cleanly.  The mere thought of trying a 5.12 was laughable.  In fact, I'm still shaking my head about it.

I find that, as I get older, I need more rest time in between hard workouts.  This doesn't equate to rest days, per se, but instead requires staggering workouts to allow muscle groups more time to rest.  Although I have desire to climb three days a week every week, I think it might be better to limit to 2 days/week.  On the days when I am not climbing, I plan run, do yoga or strength training.

Thankfully, K had a work event on Wednesday which cinched my decision to give my fingers and shoulders break from climbing.  Instead, I went on a foggy afternoon run.  Starting around 3:30pm, I got in 6 miles and made it home before the rain started (which later turned into snow, shutting down the Federal gov't on Thursday).  Having run a total of 4 miles in the previous 3 weeks, my legs were super fresh and full of glycogen.  I felt so good that I surprised myself by running two 8-minute pace miles in the middle, which was very satisfying after so many weak-sauce climbing sessions.  Despite my ability to run a decent pace without much training, I can tell that I am out of running shape because my quads were sore next day.  Which, to be honest, only motivates me to want to run more and get back into running shape.