Getting high

So, I've recently got into indoor rock climbing, or perhaps it would

be more accurate to say that I am in the process of getting into

indoor rock climbing. I went for the first time (well, not counting a

once-off attempt about 20 years ago) last week with some coworkers.

It turns out there is quite a nice climbing gym right next to the

building I work in, and since we had a visiting colleague with us who

is an avid climber we decided to check it out together. I went back

tonight and I think I'm going to make a regular thing of it.

I used to get a nice 40 minute walk in to work and back each day when

I lived in NZ, but here I live only 500m from work, which is super

convenient but it means my incidental exercise levels have dropped a

lot. I really have very little interest in exercise for its own sake

and would far prefer to either get it incidentally or as a consequence

of doing something I actually enjoy and find interesting, as opposed

to, say, running on a treadmill in a gym. But team ball games and

things like that hold zero interest for me. The only remotely

physical things that I've ever been able to really sustain an interest

and enjoyment in are non-competitive things (or perhaps

"self-competitive" things) with a significant mental component as

well, martial arts being a good example. I think climbing fits this

bill quite nicely, as it's already clear that to get good at it you

have to think a lot about the mechanics of the situation you are in

and plan your moves in advance. I also really enjoy just going for

long and aimless wanders outdoors, but this is unfortunately dependent

upon decent weather and also on getting somewhere nice to wander,

which without a car can be difficult. The fact that climbing is

indoors and is literally just a few minutes away from my desk is

really appealing in that regard.

It doesn't, at least not yet, really seem to get my heart rate up in

the way more aerobic activities do, but if I throw in some occasional

bike rides on the weekends then hopefully it will help stave of the

very worst consequences of the fact that all the things I really

love to do pretty much involve sitting still and hammering away at a

keyboard or soldering things.