Gym in the morning and rope climbing

Today's been pretty swell. I've been in a great mood. Now that I'm going to a gym I am going to go Monday nights with my husband and Wednesday mornings. Trying to keep the exercise happening in the mornings since I have no choice but to run before the sun comes up (fun fact - it was 100 degrees here today!)

I got up at 5 - had no problems, timed everything perfectly, and knocked out a nice triceps/chest workout with a little bit of shoulders, legs, and abs. I gotta say, it feels pretty empowering to be the only chick in the weight area with a bunch of guys.

Every day that I go to the gym it is my mission to work on the rope climb. Why? It's found at many obstacle races, particularly Spartan Race who makes you do 30 burpees if you can't climb the rope. In a few months I have a Super and a Beast - that's 2 to 3 rope climbs in one weekend! Needless to say, I must prepare!

This is the rope climb at the 2013 Georgia Spartan Sprint. I'm second from the right, about to enter the mud pool and attempt to climb that sucker.

It was a colossal failure. I grabbed the rope and pulled up with all my might and did not move an inch. Plus I had no knowledge of rope climbing technique back then.

1 year and 2 more Spartan Sprints later, I was no closer to climbing a rope. Then at Battlefrog I attempted the climb and at least made it part of the way up.

So a few weeks ago when I was talking to a coworker about joining a gym, I mentioned my experience at Battlefrog and that I needed to practice on a rope. He told me that Gold's Gym had one, so that sealed the deal for me. I have now tried to climb their ropes 3 times. The first day I didn't make it up the knotted rope. I made it up the straight rope a little bit. But the knotted one is important because that is the type that will be waiting for me at Spartan Race.

Yesterday my husband showed me some pointers and coached me as I attempted the climb. To get up the first segment of the rope, I had to pull myself up with my arms and pull my legs up far enough for my feet to stand on the knot below me. Every time I tried I ended up with my butt on the knot, sitting there in mid air on the rope. I did not have the strength. 

This morning (less than 2 days later) I faced the knotted rope once again. This time I got up that same knot TWICE. And got myself back down in slow and controlled movements. I tried a third time but I was out of gas by that point. I was ecstatic! I was so happy about my small victory that I shared it with the Spartan Chicked Facebook page and my post got over 100 likes. Plus someone shared this video with me - it has some great progressions into rope climbing which focus on getting familiar with the rope while you're not actually climbing it yet.

Today I learned that there is hope for us "aspiring" rope climbers. It seems impossible at first but with practice you can progress pretty quickly. I can't reach the top right now, but I will one day!