Sport Climbing and Mountain Biking

Discipline is doing what you hate to do, but none the less doing it like you love it. Mike Tyson.

The above is from my collection of pithy quotes which I add to from time to time. I’m not sure I agree completely with the sentiment. I think you need discipline when beginning a new habit, but, the longer you persist the easier persistence becomes, and, if the new habit supports a goal you are committed to, persistence will lead to pleasure and then you’ll persevere because the results are motivating.

We just had a couple of great days away only a couple of hours from home. If our trip database is correct – I have no reason to think it isn’t – it’s three years since we went sport climbing at Nowra! In that time I would expect my capacity to collapse, but – back to the trip database again – that does not appear to be true. I climbed 15 pitches, Doug did 14 pitches, we led every route, and it was a blast. Rock climbing is one of those sports that gets more fun and offers more opportunities the better you get. It was gratifying to find that all the training aimed at getting better to have more fun was working and that is enough impetus to keep going even if I don’t always love what I’m doing.

Our second day, we rode the mountain bike trailsmountain bike trails at Coondoo. These are volunteer maintained and the full loop at Coondoo is in the order of 10 or 12 kilometres. We rode it twice and it too was a blast. So much easier than riding the Dam Loop from our place which always involves a big grunt up a steep and loose hill and a reasonable amount of elevation gain in the form of short steep climbs (and some longer climbs) on an increasingly narrowing track around the loop itself.

Today, it’s back to training, and loving the training because the results are worth it.