Rally mode: rock climbing with two artificial hips: More bouldering during the fourth month post op

A beautiful sunset after a day of bouldering with Cecilia

For the past four years my main two physical activities have been hiking and climbing. At this point (seven months post-op for the HR and two and a half years after the revision) I try to do at least a couple of good hikes each week (around 6 miles each) and climb at least three days each week (if not outdoors then in my home gym). During the fourth and fifth month post-op I still used trekking poles for my hikes, although I've stopped using them since about six months post-op. In the case of the revision surgery I used trekking poles on my regular hikes until about a year after the surgery.

During the fourth month post-op, I continued with as much outdoor bouldering as I could. One sector of boulders we went to several times is an area in the woods on La Barrosa known as Aracnofobia.

An easy warm up boulder in the sector "Aracnofobia".

Aracnofobia is actually the name of a V10 roof problem, the first boulder of this difficulty done on La Barrosa. Off to the side (and sharing the same top out moves) is a traverse that is quite possibly the hardest V4 on La Barrosa. This boulder is my nemesis. On my best shot, I've only managed to do the problem in two seperate parts (last year) but I've never sent the whole thing in one continuous push.

Getting into the crux of a difficult V4 traverse

I'm probably getting ready to fall at this point

At any rate, just coming back to work this boulder was an important milestone for me. More than four years ago, before I had my first hip surgery (the botched HR on my left hip) the boulder, literally, almost destroyed me. At the time, I was already planning to have my left hip resurfaced. Well, one day I was working the problem and getting close to doing it. I was surprised how well my hips were working, because the boulder involves aggressive left heel hooks and a very compressed exit move. Afterwards I went home and told my wife that maybe I didn't need surgery after all, at least not yet. My hips had done pretty well that day. But the next day, on the left side, my lower back and upper leg muscles cramped up so painfully that I couldn't sit or stand without experiencing intense pain. The only position where I could find some relief was lying flat on my back on the floor with my legs bent. This intense pain went on continuously for several days and was, by far, the worst pain my hips have ever caused me. I was unable to work, or even sit upright in a car seat. Finally, after about five days the pain subsided, but my left leg continued to feel numb until I had the surgery. So this is why coming back to work the boulder, last year, after revision surgery and (even better) coming close to sending it, was a big deal for me. I honestly think, with a little bit of luck, I have a good chance of doing the boulder this year. We'll see how that goes.

Another area we went to was "El Boulder en el Bosque", which I wrote about in the other blog.

Martín doing a warm up problem on el Boulder en el Bosque

We worked the beautiful (soft) V4 roof problem "Techo Clásico".

Martín starting into the crux of Techo Clásico after finishing the easy part

This is a problem that I used to hike without pads some time back, but I haven't sent the problem in about 10 years. I came close, but didn't have the endurance to do the crux move without resting.