I know, I know - It's been 5 months since I last blogged. My friend pointed it out to me the other day and really I don't have much of an excuse except for laziness. That and ,well, despite having a lot going on lately I have felt like I haven't really had a voice, or anything to say really. I mean, there's plenty to talk about (which I'll get to in a minute) but with the whole 'settling back in to Australia' this going on I have felt a little bit like a fish out of water in many respects.
Settling back in has gone pretty smoothly for all intents and purposes, but I have undoubtedly felt a little lost and a little out of place. I have come back to a familiar place and a lots of old friends and whatnot but for the life of me I just can't seem to 100% get in synch with the whole deal. But it's coming, slowly. It's been comforting being around old friends, of course, but to be honest I guess I'm a different person now and while we are all always going to be friends I guess we don't have all that much in common these days and that's a tough situation to reconcile with. But all that aside, it's not all that bad being back here in Oz and things are certainly on their way to being awesome :)
Athlete By Choice (www.athletebychoice.com) has been going great and the flow of coaching clients has steadily been building up, which is fantastic. Then as another project I have teamed up with my new buddy, Marty Bradstreet, to start another company - Fortis Climbing. We're a climbing hold manufacturer based here in Canberra, small scale to start with, of course, but if things go well we have some bigger aspirations, but we'll see how it goes. For now you can check out our range of products and get some sweet new grips for your home wall or gym at www.fortisclimbing.com
I've been climbing a lot too. Bouldering, sport climbing, competing in the bouldering comp series, training my ass off, getting fitter, getting stronger (albeit slowly, but still it's improvement!), slowly getting used to the powerful style of Australian climbing. I also have been getting into trail running a little bit as cross training and just general fitness, which has been great. Running fun single track through beautiful bushland in the warm spring sunshine does no end of good for my fitness and my state of mind :)
So yeah, there's a taste of what's been going on. I might have to try to keep things more updated around here, but that's enough for now. Hope you're all smiling as much as I am today!
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| The Fortis Climbing banner flying high above the ACT State Bouldering Titles |
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| Jack Folkes warming up at The Hill, North Black Range |
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| Harry throwing down on the new bouldering wall at the ACT State Bouldering Titles |
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| Myself throwing a lap on a classic, and probably a touch soft, V7 at The Hill, North Black Range |
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| Jamie Baron cruising a classic 22 at Bardens Lookout, Blue Mountains |
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| Fortis crimps + steep walls = hard boulder problems! |
