NYC marathon training

Life has returned to the busy schedule of college life. One more year then it's all over. Fiona and I will get married next August then relocate to Calgary for work. This year I have a full course load leaving less time for climbing and other stuff. November 1st I will be in NYC for my first time and will run the marathon. That is 26 miles or 42.5km. I estimate it will take me between 4 and 4.5 hours. For this marathon I am also raising donations for the wine for water organization. If you would like to sponsor me click here or email me at glosier at gmail dot com.
For training I have been increasing 5km each run and commuting to class by BMX. I would like to emphasize that I am not a runner and the last time I trained for running was four years ago for the Rome marathon where I ran 8 times leading up to the event!

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New sport routes

Bolted 4 new short sport routes at Columbus wall today. I did all 4 and they range from 5.10 up to 5.12, I think! Fun climbing on cool holds unique for our granite. Headed to New Brunswick this weekend for a family reunion. I have to run more, only 7 weeks before NYC and I've only run 4km!!
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Columbus wall bolting

Today I had planned on bolting a hard project at Columbus wall. When I got to the top I took a second look at what is called the "headpointing wall". It is short. About 25-30' at the center. There are 3 lines on the far right shorter side that were soloed 10 yrs ago and are listed in the guidebook. I started eyeing some face climbs in the middle of the wall. At first I debated on bolting this wall but after climbing the lines I was very happy I decided to go for it. I bolted one line (3 bolts) that I guessed would be around 5.10 but once I redpointed it felt more like 5.11+. I almost finished bolting another line to the right but halfway done I noticed my drill bit had melted!! Done! I'll have to go back with a new bit and more bolts. There should be a good stack of sport lines on this short wall when I'm done which is rare for around Halifax. I think new climbers will enjoy this wall.
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Bully Wall - part trois

Dave (Lion's Head) Voltan was in town for a few days and I easily convinced him to climb out at Bully wall Saturday. While driving there it was raining and it didn't look to good for climbing. Once we were under Bully wall though the hard projects were dry so we quickly warmed up and jumped on the projs. We made more progress and then chalked a direct start under the main line. The direct start on its own is double digit. Dave was impressed with the wall and kept raving about Lion's Head sport climbing in ON. Time to make some fall plans maybe?
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Shown here Dave working the direct start on Bully wall. Hard!

Bully wall - part deux

Stamp on the v7 warm-up


Today Stamp, Scooter, and I went out to Bully wall for some climbing before hurricane Bill arrived. We warmed up a bit and did a new low ball traverse that was quite burly for a warm-up (v7/8). We then moved on to the Bully wall project. That thing is intimidating and everyone in the end made some progress. We made some great progress on the arete project on the right side of Bully wall which is going to be really cool.

Scott watching the waves swarming in below Bully wall.

Bully Wall (in Nova Scotia!)

Today I did some work at the BOLO shop. It took me longer than expected and it was 5pm by the time I left and wasn't sure if I should drive out to Bully wall. But I did go and climbed about 2 hours by myself. That seems to be my trend this summer. Easier to plan and honestly less hassle. And I don't mind having some alone time to listen to music, relax and ponder by the ocean. Back at the Bully wall the gem project that will climb straight out the steepness is super duper good. Quality. The crux is going to be at the end. The start is maybe v6. So I climbed as high as I could without a spotter then just figured out what could be the sequence up higher. This thing is going to be incredible once it goes. It has me psyched. Aside from this steep cave there are other fun boulder problems. Some are steep with holds and remind me a bit of the gymnasium at Hueco Tanks. Really fun.

photo: start of gem project

Bolting

Today I rebolted a route called "Enervator" 5.12b at Main face in Musquodoboit Harbour. The old bolts were put in over 15 yrs ago and were quite rusted. I also rapped down on a steep sharp arete that could be a nice line. I was all alone at the cliff today and it was beautiful. I went for a swim and there were few bugs. I didn't climb today but re-bolting this thing gave me a little workout.
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