Cobra Inspiration

Meet my Cobras.

My favorite climbing shoes.

La Sportivas are the glass slipper of climbing shoes; at least for me they are.  I have a slightly high arch, & they fit like a glove.

Initially I was too sensitive to the thin midsole of the Cobras, but I quickly fell in love with being able to “feel” the rock through the shoes.  They are respondent & just aggressive enough whether I’m on overhanging routes or steep boulders.

Before Sunday they were just typical climbing shoes, except that they said “DEMO” all over them — but I would never complain about a pair of brand new climbing shoes that  I scored  for $25 last winter.  No, not me, I am definitely not complaining.  Especially about my favorite pair.

On Saturday Christine mentioned something about my random “DEMO” shoes…& I’m not sure which of them had the sudden stroke of genius, but Dave or Christine suggested I write other words all over them so you wouldn’t even noticed DEMO.  Actually, that was just a good idea, I had the stroke of genius ;).  I wouldn’t just write any words.  I would write strong, meaningful, inspiring & motivating words — words that would help me stay mindful of my intentions while climbing.

I was never one of those girls in jr. high who wrote on my shoes or jeans, but it’s never too late to start I suppose.

I considered writing one word each time before climbing…but I got excited.

I did leave a little room to add more though should inspiration strikes.

This whole idea of rewording my Cobras occurred after I sent “the warm up“.  Remember when I panicked & bailed a couple weeks ago?  This time I took a deep breath & thought “just climb”.  Rather than getting nervous, I looked for the next hold & kept moving.  Where I froze & crumbled before, I saw the holds that were there, extended & felt my way through with ease.  No over-thinking or blame shifting my way off this time.  It felt great to overcome my former hesitations & just enjoy the climb.

[Not “the warm up”.  This is me top-roping Solomon about a month ago.]

While we have been staying here, Promised Land has felt like our home playground.  A beautiful weekend of climbing was a nice way to say “goodbye” to the area.

~

Did you have a fun weekend?

Do you have any thing that motivates you or reminds you of your intentions or goals?  [Like my word shoes]  What words drive you?