Last week, I ran 50 miles at the Lake Martin 50/50. I wasn’t the fastest, not by a long shot, but I wasn’t one of the DNF’s either on a hotter than normal day with 100% humidity and a thunderstorm that hit hours earlier than forecasted that left some of us battling the trail turned river to get to the finish line. Something about the journey rather than the destination, blah, blah, blah…then again, this “destination” of a finish line came with pulled pork sandwiches and cake.
If you read my last article, you know that I had a torn teres major to close Q4 of 2025. Even then, I managed to set a marathon PR and ran my first 50-mile ultra while recovering over the winter. In the last few years I have earned podiums in rock climbing, road running, trail running, OCR, Canicross, Hybrid, functional/Crossfit-style competitions, and powerlifting. Some were specific for my category/age group/weight class, and some were definitive Overall placements, so I’m still feeling competitive at my age after everything I’ve been through (re: my back, hand, knee, back, same knee, shoulder, same hand, SAME knee, ankle, ankle, same shoulder, mystery long-term GI illness). Am I bragging about some awards? Yes, a bit. Is this coming on the heels of years of injury and being sick? Also, yes, so I’m finally feeling like my karma is coming back around. I have had some kind of one or more major injury, surgery, or illness since 2014, which was the last time I felt like I was “good” at anything. After nearly a decade of struggling, starting back at zero, only to have another calamity rear up to beat me down, 2023 through mid-2025 was wonderful, and 2026 hasn’t been so bad either.
…but not for climbing. My gym closed and it has rained for over half of the weekends so far this year, and most of the good weather days were also race days. Plus, like, homeownership and growed-up sponserbileries get in the way.
Some of you are blessed to only experience little niggles from time to time, and see your performance grow and grow. Some of us attract damage like a Tank, and since the Healer class isn’t a thing in real life, we just suffer. In fact it was my hand injury that kept me from climbing that got me back into watersports and triathlons. But you know what? Healers and Tanks usually get preference in the queue, and ya boi is nothing if not a magnet for damage, all while carrying the first aid kit and a clipboard so the party can keep sending on trip after trip. We get to do a lot more adventuring and looting while the IG/TikTok star DPS classes fight each other for clout and their chance to be in the spotlight. Seriously, why do so many people that get their first gym membership suddenly feel the need to be a fitness influencer? Do you know how many times I’ve seen a “things I wish I knew when I started” video by people that started 6 months ago? If I see one more “secret dropknee” move on a gym V1 or a “guess the grade” video, I SWEAR I’M GONNA…
Alright then. A topic for a later post.
But what is my larger point? I run 3 days a week, lift 2 days a week, used to climb 2-3 days a week before my gym closed earlier this year (see also, On Losing a “Third Place”). I still hangboard and try to get outside when the weather cooperates, but climbing has fallen to a distant 4th in terms of activities. I somehow manage to be a good partner, plan date nights, and volunteer when I can with the Southeastern Climbers Coalition (SCC), Birmingham Ultra Trail Society (BUTS), and Greater Birmingham Humane Society (GBHS). I have always laughed at calling myself “aggressively average,” and by that, I mean that I have worked, and continue to work, hard at it, and yet I’m just barely on the right side of the bell curve for a lot of the sports I participate in. Some sports, like running and climbing, are seeing a massive boom of new participants, so even if I didn’t get any better this past season, the average skews in my favor. But, I still train and practice for these sports, even if just to maintain my current skill or strength level. Jack of all trades and whatnot.
Some folks, on the other hand, are naturally talented and/or have unlimited time. I recall a conversation one recent winter with a guy who kept asking where I was going to climb on a [f***ing] Thursday, and I was like, “I have a job. How do you have all this free time?” His response, “I work part-time at REI and my mom pays for gas because I just use her car.” Some folks, I tell ya. But he was good, and exploded from V6 to V9 in a single season. Mad props since I peaked at V6/7 and have been fighting to hold on to a respectable V4/5 through injury and illness. However, I could also out run him, out lift him, and I’ve had my own car since I was 17. But he is certainly the better climber, and in the climbing gym or the crag, that is what matters.
But that is not all that matters. There are so many sports and activities out there that while it can be fun to be extremely good at one thing, you are definitely missing out on a whole host of adventures. At one point in my life, I was certified by various governing bodies to teach indoor and outdoor single pitch, sailing, kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, windsurfing, lifeguarding, CPR & first aid, and a certified personal trainer. I made a living teaching these activities seasonally and on weekends or early AM clients. I learned A LOT about what it is I like to do and how to not just be competent, but be successful and proficient. How many boulderers do you know that have never clipped a draw, set a piece of gear, or tied an anchor? How many roped climbers do you know that have never pulled a pad, swung an ice axe, or, hell, bothered to even learn to lead? I know plenty of folks that have a pretty decent number of years being someone’s second or some pretty amazing trips that make me jealous. Even in our own sport there are so many disciplines that being just average across the board (V5/5.11) would leave you with a lifetime of wonder without ever once touching a hangboard or doing a pull-up on purpose. Now imagine that same expanse of choice and learning and experience across every sport and activity you come across. Running, for example, has a HUGE umbrella, and I love it all from a local street 5K for charity, to OCR/Ninja, to canicross with my two dogs, to the 100-mile trail race I’m currently training for. Lifting has its own subsets, and while I have settled into powerlifting as a sport, I’ve dabbled in Olympic, Crossfit, Strongman, and we are going to the 75th Highland Games in North Carolina this year just to watch, and hopefully take a lesson.
When I was going through my sailing instructor course, we had a one-on-one wrap-up with the instructor trainer. He was honest with me and I’ll never forget it. He [basically] said, “you are not the best sailor in this class. Most of these kids have been sailing all their lives so it just comes natural to them. However, you are a good teacher. You understand the mechanics and can articulate it better than the others because you have clearly studied it just to make it through the practical drills. This is an instructor certification, not a racing one. That is why I’m passing you. Keep practicing and you will be fine.” He was being kind about my hard skills. I had not been sailing in 6 years before taking that class and was very clearly the worst of the bunch, but I applied myself and drew from other areas of expertise to fast track my progress. And he was right. After some dedicated practice on the water without the pressure of passing a class, I became very good at racing and touring in just one season. I was the DFL at my first mountain triathlon. I finished mid-pack in my next one after learning from my mistakes. And so on and so on for so many activities that I have tried, climbing included when I started 24 years ago.
Some people will find their plateau in an activity and stay there happily, never seeking to improve, and just enjoying the ride. Some will drop the activity and move on the next one because they aren’t getting any better. You then simply move on to another activity and possibly repeat the process until you find your passion. I personally had too many near misses with mountain biking that I gave it up because injury would ruin my other goals, but I still have my road bike. Some will go the other way and obsess to break through that plateau. I tried that and the result was a brief shining flash before breaking my own self (over and over and over). I find that relentless obsession takes away from the things that really matter. Injuries and age aside, if I wanted to be back at my best for climbing, the first thing that would fall is free time with my wife, and I’m not giving that up. The older I get, the more I find myself just adding to my plateau by letting each skill grow and serve when required. My plateau is now more like a highland prairie, always growing something new and wondrous to look at.
I will close with this. We have all heard the story of a single-sport athlete that played all their life from rec league through college but never went pro, and once finished, they either lived too much in the past or wallowed in the loss of the only great thing in their life. The same is true for the climber that loses their gym or gets injured. As I look back and weather this season of change in my career, being a multi-sport athlete has been a far greater adventure and claim than chasing some of my proudest sends. I encourage all of you not to say “no” to an opportunity just because the conditions are perfect for your project. You never know where it might lead. More likely than not, the rig will still be there for another perfect day. I mean, I was late to my own birthday party throwing attempts at my first V6 in awful conditions…Come to think of it, I did ultimately send, so now who’s giving themselves the best birthday? On second thought, that was selfish. And if the project you’re blowing else off for is a gym project, Heaven help you to let that go.
-Tylor Streett, like Russell, can thank his time in Boy Scouts for getting him into rock climbing, but also for establishing the skills, drive, and joy to be decently kind of OK-ish at whatever he pursues.