The End of A (Perceived) Nightmare (Hopefully!)

“In choosing our response to circumstance, we powerfully affect our circumstance. When we change one part of the chemical formula, we change the nature of the results.”

This quote has been really important in getting me through the last few weeks. I’m now coming off two competitions that I did not get the result I wanted (or feel I should be happy with) and I’ve been having a rough go, mentally, with training as well. It’s tough to always keep this in mind but really valuable.

Both competitions felt like quite the mental beat down. “Why can’t I do this move when everyone else can? Why can’t I even send this problem when others were flashing it? How did I get so behind in climbs? Why can’t I just climb well?”

Feeling a little deflated.

Easy to allow yourself to just fall into the downward spiral. Tough to lift yourself out. So how am I trying to keep myself out of it? I’m trying to focus on what some of the things I do well are.

I know there are skills I can improve but if I’m going to make those of my focuses, I also need to remind myself of what I do well. Below are my lists of what I do well and what I can improve on. I’ve made myself complete a list with equal numbers of both so I always have a positive to work against a negative.

Five Climbing Skills I do well:

1. Heel hooking. If anyone can find a way to heel hook through a move, I will likely be that person. I use my feet as second hands in this way. I find it great for stabilizing and helping to suck you closer into the wall. It’s also great for helping to pull through a move as well if you aren’t great at locking off.

Elevation Place Tour De Bloc 2014

 2. Reading sequences. When I look at a climb, I typically can figure out very quickly what the setters intend to do, as long as I have seen something similar before. If I haven’t, I’m still typically good at sorting it out and may just need a subtle change in what I see to be able to complete it properly.

3. Lock-offs, lock-offs and lock-offs! God, I love to lock-off. If I can use that lock-off to extend through to another move? Even better! (Especially if you can throw a heel hook in!!!) I’m happy to use locking off and extending through it as much as possible. Specifically when it helps me avoid using momentum to get through the movement. I really love feeling secure in any movement. The combination of a heel hook and a lock-off can really help pull you into the wall. (*Keep in mind - this does have it’s own setbacks but I’ll get to that later...*)

The Hive Tour De Bloc 2013

4. Engaging my core. This is one that I previously would have put in the ‘need to improve on’ category. I find that if I’m extended and my feet are far away, I don’t engage as well but the other day while doing a climb that had low feet, a friend said she was impressed with how well I engaged my core and that she felt she could literally see when I engaged it.

5. Compression moves. I have fairly good hip turn-out, strong heel hooks and I like to use my upper body. All of this lends really well to being good at doing compression moves.

UofA Tour De Bloc Comp 2011?? Rockin' the heel hook and lock-off

Five Climbing Skills I Would Like to Improve:

1. Patience, especially with subtle moves. This is all on me mentally. If I don’t feel confident in a move, I don’t have to commit right away and should allow myself the opportunity to work through it. As long as it does not drain me of my energy, I can be slow and patient with the move. I just need to remember that when I’m on the climb.

2. Hip movement. This one I’ve been working pretty hard on and it is incredibly frustrating!!!! But, I’m getting there. This is really tough to do since I would much rather power my way through it. Even learning what the movement is has been tough. I feel like a little kid trying to play in the big kid’s sandbox. My coach and teammates need to literally break it down step by step for me.

Trying to avoid any hip movement. Grindelwald BWC 2014. Photo: Sebastien Lazure

3. Allowing my body to feel out of control. I LOVE static moves (thank you heel hooks and lock-offs). If I don’t feel in control of a movement though, I get agitated, my shoulders bunch up and I’m about two seconds from falling off the wall or not completing the move. In comparison, when I allow myself a few milliseconds of feeling a little out of my zone but just commit, I will typically execute the move. Or at least get close.This is not to say that feeling completely out of control is a good thing. I’m only implying that sometimes you need to allow yourself to go out of your comfort zone just a little to see what you are truly capable of.

4. Dynamic movement. Any guesses on what this relates back to? Yep, you’re right... Hip movement. If the dyno is straight up and on an overhang, I will probably do alright but if it is a vertical wall or off to the side, I have a tough time as I need to generate through my hips and don’t yet fully understand how to do that.

Trying to be a bit dynamic. Grindelwald BWC 2014. Photo: Sebastien Lazure

5. Face climbing. This one I actually find kind of humorous given that I like to feel locked in close to the wall... And it is so important to get yourself close to the wall with face climbing. I have a really hard time doing this though. My butt will pop out just the slightest bit which can throw you off. Add to that, minimal patience and a general dislike of face climbing and you, my friend, have the perfect storm!

Canadian Nationals 2014 Semi-Finals #3

The most interesting part of writing this blog post for me was that I had equally as tough a time coming up with the same amount of things I need to work on as the number of climbing skills I feel I’m good at. I needed help coming up with the list of what I’m good at but once I had it, it was fairly easy. When I moved on to climbing skills I would like to improve, I also needed to ask for help. I couldn’t actually come up with a full list and that speaks volumes for me.

Yes, there are things I don’t yet do well but more importantly, there are a lot of skills I do great. And they easily match, if not outweigh, what I don’t do well.

That being said, the things I’m already good at aren’t going to make me a better climber. They’re important to remember to keep myself focused on the positive, where I’m headed to and what I already know how to do. To get where I want to be, which is one of the best climbers out there, I need to work on the things I don’t currently do well.

PS - Routesetters, if you’re reading this, it would be greatly appreciated if you don’t aim you competitions at trying to pick apart my weaknesses. ;)

The Nightmare Before Sendmas

About a week ago, we had the first Alberta Climbing Association (ACA) comp of the year and it was hosted by my home gym, Calgary Climbing Centre. These comps are always a blast and are very well organized. Simon, the manager of the south location, has been hosting comps for 10+ years and has ironed out pretty much all the kinks you can have in a competition. This competition consistently runs on time, which is testimony to the level of organization they have.

Unfortunately, this is the first time in over 6 years that I was not a participant in finals. Small blow to the ego. And by small, I mean big. Especially when every other female Pro/Elite Team Member was going to be in finals and it is extremely rare I don't make finals.

Men and Women Finalists previewing their problems.

Saturday was a pretty rough day but luckily I was at least able to pull some positive from it. On the plus side, I got some quality time with friends from out of town that I wouldn’t have had if I’d made finals!

A few days after the comp, I was chatting with a friend and he said something that really hit me. “In climbing, we’re great at calling out what someone needs to work on or isn’t good at but the issue is, we don’t focus enough on what each climber does well.” (Thanks KR!) With that in mind, I came up with the following...

The basis of my post. (And the next one.) KR - you are one smart man!

What are five things I did well?

1. I reeled it back in after a less than ideal start. Typically, within the first hour of climbing at a comp, I will have at least 8 climbs on my scorecard. Some of them will be warm-ups that will get bumped off my scorecard but, regardless, I’ve alleviated the stress of not having six problems on my scorecard. (For anyone not familiar with our format of comps, top six problems count towards your final score.) Within two hours of this competition, somehow I’d only managed to send five problems and four of them were problems I didn’t want to count towards my final score. Within the last hour, I was able to add five of my top problems. Four of these problems were added with less than 30 minutes to go in the comp. This ended with me being only 15 points out of finals (tied with another competitor for 9th).

2. I recognized that I was not in the right head space and put myself in a time out. I realized on Friday that I’d misplaced my ipod so it wasn’t as productive a time out as I would normally have but I was able to adjust my head space a bit nonetheless. (In case anyone was concerned, I have since found my ipod...) After doing this, I jumped on a few climbs that a) looked fun and b) looked like I could flash them (flashing is a term for getting to the finish on your first attempt for any non-climbers reading this). The positive reinforcement from these climbs, I hoped, would help me perform better on the climbs I need. And guess what? It worked.

3. I tried problems that aren’t my style. For anyone that knows me, you know that I have a burlier style and that compression moves are typically my forte. Very technical climbing on the other hand is tough for me, mainly as I don’t allow myself time to be patient with each minute move. This comp was set quite different from the typical CCC set and there were not a lot of climbs that fit my style. There were a few high graded problems that I felt would fit my range so I tried them just to try and branch out. I didn’t end up sending them, but the fact that I convinced myself to try them is a win in itself.

Canmore TDB - Jan 2014

4. I realized I was slowing down one of my team members and parted ways with her so she could execute to the best of her ability. The worst thing we can do when we aren’t performing at our best is to hold others back and that’s exactly what I felt I was doing. Don’t get me wrong, I really, really love climbing with this teammate and we work together very well. I knew that with where my head space was going though that it would be unfair to drag her down with me.

5. When I set my mind to attempting a climb, I didn’t allow myself any time for hesitation. I just executed. I have a history of hesitating when I’m unsure about a movement and typically this results in me falling off. Analyze your own climbing and see if you have that same issue. I bet it’s a key part of why you’re falling off your current project, whatever that may be.

What are five things I could have improved on?

1. Taking my time warming up. In our practice, typically I will take about 10-14 boulder problems before feeling warm after having completed a basic warm-up through regular exercises. For some reason, I got it in my head that this competition was different and that three problems would be enough of a warm-up before trying something hard. This was the start of the downward spiral. Sure I had completed some of our warm-up exercises beforehand but as I do that every practice so it is just a small part of the process. Take your time and warm up like you always do if you want to expect the results you’ve proven you can attain.

2. Better time management. I don’t think we need to go too in depth on this one as we’ve already discussed it (see Five things I did well #1 if you missed it). Who climbs only 5 problems in 2 hours at a comp?!? I need to remember to stick to the plan that has always worked for me. If I do, I have proven time and time again that I will make finals.

3. Stop beating up on myself. We’re our own worst enemies and our own worst critics and as a result typically don’t see what we’ve done well, choosing to focus only on the negative. I was definitely a victim of this. Ask anyone that spoke to me when there was still an hour left, and they would tell you I’d already beaten myself out of a spot in finals.

About to complete a burly move by campusing. Toronto BWC June 2014

4. I got ahead of myself. With an hour left, sure I only had 5 climbs on my scorecard, but I started telling myself and anyone that would listen that there was no way I would be making finals. I came within 15 points of making finals even with this mentality!!! Imagine what I could have done if I’d calmed myself down more and believed in my ability!

5. Assuming I can’t climb something because it doesn’t look like it fits my style. This relates back to #3 and #4 if you really want to get down to it (which also then relate back to themselves...). A teammate came over and told me that there was this one problem, that likely would be within our range, that was really easy (for what it was worth). When I went over it was little holds on a face. ‘But I don’t climb slab. I can’t get my foot that high. How did she get her foot here? She held that? I can’t even look at that hold never mind hold onto it!’ This was a brief synopsis of what went through my head. Clearly, none of it was positive. I’ve gotten a bit better at this and am trying to get myself out of the habit of saying a climb looks hard or has tough holds on it to make myself more confident getting on climbs. I do still have a lot of room for improvement though. I need to look at a climb, figure out what will be a more difficult section for me and work through the ways I can try to get it done.

All in all, it was still a fun competition. I got to climb with friends, the problems were fun and the line-ups weren’t bad (in case you’re wondering, based on the number of hard problems, the gym had determined there would be an average of 8.75 climbers per hard problem. Not bad for a comp that hosted near 300 competitors).

While I enjoyed hanging out with my out of towners after, I can tell you that watching finals is nowhere near as exhilarating as being a participant. I will be working my butt off to be in finals at the next comp!

When all else fails, destroy everyone at a food eating competition they don't eve know competing in!

Stayed tuned for part 2...

What To Do When You're Sick...

Besides cough on everyone else to try and make them as miserable as you. (JK!!!!)

I have had what I am lovingly referring to as the death cold for well over three weeks now. And I’m not very good at just sitting around so my body can get over it and as a consequence; I'm not always the best at listening to my body (does this surprise anyone?!?). Typically I’m of the mentality that I can just beat my body into submission, which I actually thought was working quite well for the first 2 weeks. And then I ended up taking 3.5 sick days from work and not being able to climb last weekend...

I’ve since found out I have strep throat and am taking Advil and antibiotics (add in an allergic reaction to the antibiotics for good measure) and some other medicine like they’re candy, but only as directed by a physician. Sometimes your body just needs REST!!!!! And typically when it needs rest, one day is not enough as I learned the hard way. After trying to push myself back into things a little to early, I ended up right back on my ass, sicker than I was before.

I’m mentally well past being ready to get back to climbing but physically still not quite there. The downside to this is that I’ve been getting really frustrated with not being able to do anything. (I don’t sit around well.) So here is what I’ve done to try and keep my psyche up:

Team training - after I decided my body was not yet up for it.

1. Go hang out at your local gym anyways. Don’t touch all the holds, kiss all the babies or spread your germs unnecessarily but sometimes you just need to get out. If you’re still infectious, maybe skip down to #2. Otherwise, leave your shoes at home to avoid any temptation and head to your gym to watch your friends sesh. Keep your creativity flowing by making some problems for them to try. Plus, they’ll still likely be up once you’re better (saving you time during your next session)! (Side note - if your throat is killing you, also a good idea to avoid the gym. It won’t feel any better after spending all that time in a chalk congested area...)

Alyssa training hard!!

2. Climbing videos, climbing videos and more climbing videos! Ok, maybe a chick flick in there too... But in all seriousness, I’ve been watching a lot of climbing videos on YouTube. Udo Neumann’s videos are especially inspiring. (Note to everyone: Just follow him on YouTube!!! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfWrBweMrEigiXq9DVCG4_Q ) The best of the World Cup videos are also amazing!!! It’s a good opportunity to try and see how World Cup climbers move differently than you do.

Sam crushing!

3. Take a walk outside. Fresh air can do you good, even if just mentally. Not a run, just a gentle walk. I live near a beautiful river with lots of greenery so I can pretend I’m in the mountains even when I’m not, making it a bit easier to deal with.

4. Roll out and stretch - That problem area(s) your physio has been telling you to roll? Well guess who has time to work on that now! No climbing to get in your way. And guess what?! You might even be able to do this while doing #1 or #2!!!

5. Keep your goals in mind - We’re coming up to the start of the competition season and while I always want to perform my best at every comp, the ones that count for points are a long time away and that is what I need to focus on. The practice I will get from the other comps is important but I can’t get this practice if I’m too sick to compete!

6. For the love of god, SLEEP!!!! Rest is a pain in the butt, I get it. Trust me, I really do but when your body needs to recover, just let it! Or you’ll end up in bed longer than necessary JUST LIKE ME! And that is a bigger pain!!!!!

7. If all else fails? Paint your nails! This might sound more enjoyable to some of us than others but at least it takes your brain off climbing for a few minutes!

Hopefully this helps you to not be 100% deflated about the time you and your new bug are spending on the couch! ;)

Special note: Huge thanks to my friend Nate for bugging me so much to write a blog post (and the idea). This blog is for you!! Keep crushin!!!