Pain, Age and the Great Leveller

Intriguing title?  I hope so!
I want you to read on, but not just to satisfy my inner need to entertain, but also to pass on a simple truth.
What?  I hear you ask.  What do you want to teach me today?
Well...

The simple truth I want to pass on...

is...

I'm clumsy.
No.

Well, I am.  I mean, I really am clumsy - it's my middle name.  I wanted something cool, like Cool, or Awesome, but they were already taken.  So I ended up as Collywobs Clumsy Pearson.

The reason for this post, by the way, isn't just to introduce myself.  It's to explain how I got that name. 

I went climbing today.  Indoor climbing, huge walls, more challenge than my usual wall climbing experiences.  And I took my 11 year old daughter - not to impress her with my skills and prowess, because frankly I have none.  No, because I would like her to love climbing as much as I do.

So, we arrive at DartRock climbing centre, and I am faced with several wonderful walls of climbing heaven!

But, first we're lead to the Boulder Rooms - areas of low level free climbing to warm up.

I was no higher than my daughter, pictured above, when I miss my grip, fall off the wall, and slam my arm into the knobbly hand holds on the way down, and land badly on my wrist!  

Pain!  On a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 feels like I have bones poking out of my forearm, I'm an 11,  No word of a lie, I think something is broken!  I'm lead away upstairs to ice packs and slight humiliation, while my instructor feels guilty and my daughter is just happy we won't be climbing after all!

Happy to report though, that several hours later, some strapping and as many pain meds as I'm allowed to take in one day, I am typing this with little discomfort.

As a 53 year old, overweight male though, I have to ask myself - what was I thinking?  I know I could climb some of those, but the session was 90 minutes, and I probably would have lasted 30.  I know I love climbing, but I think I'm forgetting I'm not 20 any more.  I'm not as lithe and supple as I was back then!  Am I deluding myself?  When I approach these walls, do I have a mental image of myself like...

When in truth it's...

Sad, but true!

I either need to get myself into shape, or give up the notion of being a rock god.  Luckily the only person I am trying to prove anything to, is myself!

Rock On!