Today was supposed to be an early start day to Rifle. Problem is, I did one pitch and was so tired I had to go home. That being said, I've compiled some rules for myself for the next several days, because I've kinda just been going climbing, every single day, and it's not really paying off, and I know better. So here are the rules:

1. Take rest days. MUY IMPORTANTE!! In Rifle I usually get really worked, so the one day on, one day off schedule works the best. For others, two days on, one day off can work well too.
2. Get enough sleep. This spring I have just been tortured by allergies. I've been taking Claritin-D twice a day just to ward off the worst of it (even though my friends have still taken to calling me "Snot girl" from all my sniffling) but then I can't sleep at night and I am starting to feel so sleep-deprived that I kinda feel like I'm losing my mind. I had the brilliant idea of switching to Benadryl at night and Claritin in the day, so hopefully I'll soon be getting a bit of shut-eye.
3. Have a plan for your climbing day. We've kinda just been climbing a bit willy-nilly, showing up at the crag not really sure what we want to climb that day. I find that my days are much more productive when I decide ahead of time what it is that I want to climb.
4. Don't climb in the sun. Warming up in the sun when it's 90 degrees is never a good idea. Why I felt like it would be thismorning is beyond me.
5. Eat healthy. While a latte and a donut might be delicious, it is proving to not be the best pre-climbing breakfast.

I know this all sounds ridiculously obvious, but -- and perhaps this is due to my allergy-induced haze -- it would seem I've forgotten about all of the above, so I figured it was about time for a little reminder.