Week 50: baby steps

What I did: 

After a rainy 10 days, the weather is starting to look better! On my third session on Los zauden I was super scared. Honestly; I was close to crying. As a result I decided to take a new approach and focus on the mental part first. I grabbed the holds in the 8a section and tried to relax my grip as much as possible, till I fell. Now I know how much force I need to hold on. I also took many falls to get more comfortable.

Fourth session: I found a good way of warming up (pulling on quickdraws to get past the opening crux, then climb the rest of the 7a/7b start). I also managed to get a small linkup: clipped the third bolt of the 8a bit, right before the dyno. So that's the first 10 quickdraws of 14 in total. I didn't manage to stick the dyno yet, but I am getting high enough to actually grab the hold - now all I need is to commit. After the dyno it's a couple of jugs and a nice rest, so the linkup I did makes me feel VERY close (if I stick the dyno I'll get to quickdraw 12 of 14).

Fifth session: stuck the dyno. I have to do a weird beta to comfortably stick the dyno: my feet are so high that I can't use them (I'm basically leaning back in a horizontal position), then I load up the hip and push up with the hip, then immediately pull hard with the arms to get vertical, after which I can push with my feet to stick the dyno. It's almost like my body is a whip, and the wave help me get really high and reach the next hold. I also took the biggest fall possible on this route for confidence. 

Sixth session: exhausted. Climbed to the clipping jug for quickdraw 13 of 14, then took a whipper. I need to take more falls in that section to stay calm when I arrive there, but I also need rest days... Not sure how to balance this.

Seventh session: Major tactical victory! I can skip the crux clip. This means I can climb the 7a/7b part, rest on the ledge. Clip the 8th bolt from the ledge, then make 2 moves to clip the 9th bolt from a 2 finger pocket... then down climb back to the ledge and rest again. Once I start climbing again, I can skip the 10th quickdraw safely, which means I can do the dyno as fresh as possible.

Reflecting:  

The good: I've had loads of fun climbing with great people I met at the Olive Branch: Brandon, Cassandra, Gui and Jamie. Thanks to their beta, help and support, I'm making much quicker progress than I otherwise would.  Brandon found an alternative beta for the top part, and as a result for the first time I have some confidence that I will be able to send this route. Really psyched!

My hip isn't hurting as much as it did in the other crags. This is amazing, because just a week ago it hurt more than ever. Really grateful and happy that I picked the right project at the right crag for me (easy approach). 

My lumbrical injury on the left hand also feels much better, as I can grab all the pockets with the front 2 fingers. My TFCC (right wrist) injury still hurts though, but I think I'm doing a pretty good job of not aggravating it. As a result, I think I'm only getting stronger right now (compared to my first 2 weeks in Spain), so that's fantastic.

The bad: When I arrived at the part after the jug rest (quickdraw 12), the next few moves felt impossible. Everybody seems to use a variation of the same beta, and for the life of me I couldn't do it... the limitations in my hip just wouldn't allow it. As a result, I felt devastated. I even felt angry at my own body. I kept thinking: this whole year was about overcoming my hip impairment, and now in the last 2 weeks, it's the hip impairment that ruins any chance I have of sending... I felt defeated, and was just about ready to give up.

But, thanks to the support of my awesome climbing buddies, I kept trying and found an alternative beta. It's more powerful and reachy, but doable. I swear, if I was 2cm shorter, this beta couldn't work. But the beautiful thing about climbing is that we can all look for ways that fits us.

And honestly, after this little emotional breakdown, every single session has been nothing less than amazing. I'm so grateful to be here, and to have met these people.  

What will I do next time:

I need more rest, so from now on I will climb 1 day, then rest the next. The many short sessions I've had so far were great for mental and tactical victories, but it's time to start focussing on the physical.

On Monday I will ask Brandon to belay me, and to not let me down unless I've done all the moves and reached the anchor. I'm sure I can do it, I just need to force myself past the scary bit around quickdraw 13 of 14 (it feels really exposed up there). After that, starting Wednesday, it's all about red pointing.

I'll warm up on the 7a/7b part each time, and bring some supplies with me up to the ledge (water, gummy bears, knee pad, elbow pad and a brush on a stick clip). I might even practice the moves up to the dyno. Then, after a long rest, I'll have 2 really good red point attempts per session. I might even squeeze a third attempt in there. 

The supplies will make a huge difference I think, in terms of hydration and energy. But also it will be nice to brush the crux holds from the ledge, and to have the pads to recover nicely on the jugs after the dyno (knee pad for a technical knee bar and the elbow pad for a chicken wing jam in a hole).

The weather is looking good, which gives me about 6 sessions worth of red pointing this year.... Not a lot of time... I'm certain I would send if I have 15 red pointing sessions left this year... But this keeps things exciting I guess :p

Statistics:

Climbed 310 meters on real rock.

Climbed 0 meters of aerobic endurance laps (while doing movement drills).

Taken 16 falls while committing to the next move.