Did you miss me?

CAUSE I MISSED YOU!

Okay pinky promise that I will not disappear again.

Kevin and I spent a super amazing vacation up in Acadia, Maine! Tons of amazing rock climbing and I absolutely loved every minute of it. Kevin as always was a total champ and you can see all his amazing pictures by visiting his blog! (Oh yes, I've turned him onto blogging).

He's so sassy he was made for this! I mean, come on, look at that face.

I had some great climbs up there! It was absolutely beautiful and we got to climb some cliffs on the coast! The views were insane. I worked on some of my first ever traverse problems! They were much different than anything else I had climbed before, and seeing as I haven't been climbing very much in the past year I wasn't expecting much to come from it. But there was a huge crack that made my hands pretty easy so I got to focus on my feet. 

Then I started working on a V2 that definitely had a reaching section. I ended up having to half reach half dyno to a jug that ended up tearing my pinky one sweet flapper. But I was super dedicated once I got that jug and topped out a few moves later! Don't worry, I left my blood on top of the boulder!

From then on it was cake! And I got a few more good climbs before we went home!

We also did some regular mountain climbing!! And from us to all of you: GO TO ACADIA! Or honestly any national park. Climbing, hiking, swimming, bird watching, WHATEVER YOU WANT!! Just get out there and enjoy nature's beauty and your nation's gift.

xx

M

(and K)!

Personal Update!

Let's Get Personal! Acadia Trip

I am pleased to write that I have officially bouldered outside, and will be writing a review of my crash pad soon!

For those interested in the adventure:

My wonderful girlfriend Molly (who is responsible for the photos, link to her blog here) and I went to Acadia National Park in Maine staying in Bar Harbor. Hiking, eating, touring were all as fantastic as the East coast can offer. Before the trip, we planned it out with the help of rockclimbing.com and the mountainproject.com. It took some effort, and not all searching was fruitful, but we found some magnificent boulder spots: (Monument Cove, and Gorham). Truthfully, it was a fantastic trip for climbing in a place where bouldering is present, but not the most popular form of climbing. Not to worry though! As I walked with Molly, crash pad strapped to my back, climbers of all varieties would ask "You're bouldering? Where?". Plenty of friendly faces and rock lovers to go around.

Acadia is full of some pretty neato-burrito boulder problems along hiking trails with fantastic views. It also happens to be the only coast climbing on the East coast. The difficulties of the respective problems vary from good warm-ups (V0) to the extreme (V13). You could live a good life full of climbing in the town of Bar Harbor: full of beer from the craft ales of the Atlantic Brewing Company and good food of the Mainely Meat BBQ (located next to the brewery, which by the way offers amazing free tours!).

But seriously... That was some awesome beer and BBQ.

It was a fantastic trip! All of which I owe to my gal and her family. Thanks Molly!

Til next time!

Kevin 

SHOE REVIEW: Muira (lace-ups) by La Sportiva

The Muira (lace-ups, size 41.5):

A sleek design. A minimalistic feel. The Muira provides comfort and performance in force with this tremendous success by La Sportiva. There is a reason why these shoes were awarded "shoe of the decade" (that's right folks, "decade").

I've climbed in the Muiras for about a year and a half now. I've bouldered, top-roped, and lead in these workhorses and found myself pushing my limits in comfort. They are worn down and in need of a good resole. Even with absent toe and smoothed-away rubber, I can still go big and rock the rocks with little loss of my performance. Well done La Sportiva, well done.

Highlights:

Comfort - How La Sportiva managed to squeeze my toes into an asymmetric point without reshaping my metatarsal bones is beyond my comprehension.

The heel - La Sportiva's new release: the Futura has the body of the Solution with the heel of the Muira for a reason. It's a simple piece, but it runs narrow while tapering to the heel for a snug, sensitive heel.

Narrow - I have narrow feet. I have struggled with getting rid of the dead-space that narrow feet fail to occupy. Wider-footed ladies and gentlemen (particularly gentlemen) may find that the Muira is too tight. However, for those with narrower feel will likely find (as I have) a good form fitting shoe.

Rating (scale of 1 to 5):

Bouldering - 4.5

Sport Climbing - 5

Crack - 4.5
Comfort - 4.5

Til next time
Kevin

ACADIA!

Current cupcake obsession

Hey all! I've been doing a lot of cupcaking lately. It's not my fault! Everyone just blame Kev. 

He's the one that took me to Georgetown Cupcake on Tuesday AND Wednesday! I got the classic red velvet first and yesterday I went with carrot cake. I'm obsessed with cream cheese frosting. My bad...

And now tonight we went and bought a muffin pan so I could make cupcakes JUST SO I COULD FROST THEM. How ridiculous is that? I have the best boyfriend ever. I can't believe he would do all the for me.

Especially since right now we're watching our hundredth episode of DC Cupcakes...

First Post!

Hello WORLD!

This is the beginning of something that has the potential to be pretty fun: a no-nonsense review site based on my personal use of shoes, harnesses, chalk bags/buckets, climbing salves, and whatnot; a some nonsense account of my personal climbing endeavors as I progress in my journey to climb things and compete in the climbing world.

A little about me:

I'm 23! (Screw Blink-182 and their song "What's My Age Again")

I've been climbing since 2011 starting at my undergrad St. Mary's College of Maryland (SMCM).

I am employed at Earth Treks (ROCKVILLE) while I pursue an MA in psych at American University.

I mainly boulder. Admittedly, I should top-rope and lead more, but I really am a boulder at heart.

I project V7s at Earth Treks, and my highest route difficulty is 5.11c.

My love for climbing started late (it seems that climbers are younger and younger each season), but I plan on doing my best to make up for lost time. I hope you'll join me regardless of whether you are just curious about climbing or send Half-Dome at Yosemite for a warm up; whether or 5 years old with proficient computer skills or 80 years old with a desire for adventure.

My measurements and body type (for your consideration when reading my reviews)

6'2" and proud of it

Medium Shirt Size, 31W 32L Pants

170 lbs of hopefully muscle

Shoe size (let's get complicated): 

La Sportiva - 40.5 Men's  based on Futura

Climb X  - 9.5 US Men's based on Sky-Rock it 

5.10 - 10 US Men's based on Coyote

Regular shoe size 10.5 US Men's 

Til next time!
Kevin

Balt 10 Miler and Summer romance

So no I have not fallen off the face of the planet, I've just been very busy thus far this summer! 

I completed the Baltimore 10 Miler and got a terrible time (one that I wouldn't care to put into writing). I was still have issues with the stress fracture in my right foot, which means I went into the race with little to no training in the few weeks prior. Thankfully my next race isn't until October, so I have (what I'm hoping is just enough) time to recover and train for that race, BECAUSE! that race is my second ever marathon, and beating my time last year (on the same course) would be outstanding for me! I would literally jump for joy. However I'm not banking on anything, it's been a rough year for me, running and otherwise.

When I last checked in things were going great with Kevin and guess what, they've only gotten better! I moved in with my short term boyfriend in DC so I could be closer to him and closer to work over summer. Getting to see him everyday is a huge and amazing perk that I really didn't expect to get this summer. And spending so much time together is really allowing us to share hobbies. He's started running more in some Brooks Pureflows and I'm going to start rock climbing (his passion) soon! Fingers crossed that I don't kill myself.

As always, run happy everyone!

M