I wrote this a while ago (13 months, to be precise), and never put it up. So here goes, over a year later.
Running has been a constant in my life for the past one year or so (perhaps a little longer). The collective motivation from strangers across the globe (r/running – a gem), the local running club (go BRC!), and a similarly harebrained bubble can be a powerful stimulant, not to forget, the decidedly unabashed social medium for runners i.e. Strava. There is something about endurance sport that elicits a childlike fascination. This post however, is not about running, it’s about something that’s far more confounding – Free Soloing. To the uninitiated, rock climbing is a common “adventure” sport (at least in the States), to thayir-saadams (such as yours truly), it can be quite intimidating. With your brawn, technique, and cardiovascular health sacrificed in early adolescence (at the behest of JEE-pedagogues, and also groupthink (?)), getting started in your mid-20s can seem an insurmountable inertial hurdle. However, this is far from true: dilletante sexagenerians hit the wall at the local climbing gym, with as much gusto as their youthful counterparts, persistence is key.
Now, free soloing, is a wholly different extreme, one which is almost impossible — the emotional turmoil of an outside observer is eloquently captured when the sulky auto-rickshaw fellow yells at you, as you swerve to avoid him in a busy Chennai traffic intersection — “Vutla solt-tu vandutiya?”. Certainly, this is how the Indian amma-mas and avvas would react to Alex Honnold’s, death-defying feat of free soloing El Capitan, no? Anyways, I digress, I was fascinated by Honnold’s feat when I first caught murmurs of it in 2017, and I am now completely blown away since watching Free Solo (which is now an Oscar winning documentary). This inspired me to try climbing, and so begins, what has been a reasonably consistent, month-long undertaking. In my mind, rock-climbing/ bouldering feels like a good way to cross-train on rest days from running. A nagging MCL injury has left a dent on my weekly mileage anyway.
To longer distances, and better sends – RK
Terminology (as italicized)
- Hitting the wall – sudden fatigue from the depletion of glycogen reserves during endurance sport
- Free Soloing – to rock climb, often alone, without a harness, rope or other safety equipment
- Thayir Saadams – Tongue-in-cheek: individuals whose diet primarily comprises yogurt and rice
- JEE – the Joint Entrance Exam, a competitive admission test in India
- “Vutla Soltu-Vanditiya” – Literal: Have you informed the folks at home?, Interpretation: You seem to be on a death wish.
- Amma-mas, avvas – grandmother
- El Capitan – a granite rock formation in Yosemite National Park, CA, USA
- MCL – Medial Cruciate Ligament, found on the inside of your knee
- Send – a contraction of “ascend”, climbing lingo