Clean 5.9

After a few weeks of going to the climbing gym, I finally completed a 5.9 route cleanly (i.e. without falling off). At this difficulty, I'm noticing the holds are smaller, more slippery, and at weirder angles. I think the 5.9's will keep me busy for a while, partly because of the difficulty, and partly because there are a lot of them. The 5.9 routes get hard enough that they approach the middle of the (roughly) bell curve that the gym uses to distribute difficulties (for example, there's only about one 5.5 since those would get boring quickly and one 5.13a since those are likely impossible for mere mortals).

It's also nice that the throbbing in my forearms that I felt when I first started going is now replaced by a dull ache. I suppose that soon enough I'll have to worry about crushing bones when I shake hands.