Week 51: compartment syndrome

What I did: 

Before I left for my trip, my physiotherapist told me I have compartment syndrome in my forearms. Now that I'm trying to make bigger links, I'm really feeling it. It's awful, more information below under reflections.

As for what I did: after 8 sessions, I finally managed to do all the moves. However, the last few meters of climbing feel really low percentage. I spent lots of time on beta (continueing the session well into sun down, so I climbed with a head torch for the first time), but it still doesn't feel easy. Considering the fact that I'll be completely exhausted by the time I get there, I think it's safe to say there's no way I'll be able to send this route this year. As a result, I changed my mindset from trying to send to trying to learn as much as I can and become a better climber.

My focus shifted to trying to climb as relaxed and efficient and possible. I spent a session focussing on silent feet on the route, and in the next few sessions I will focus on my breathing, on soft hands and on climbing faster.

The first part of the route is a 7a/7b, and I've done that like 20 times so far. I've been making this part easier and easier, but now that sending is no longer the goal, I'll be going the other way. I'll start using some of the crimps on this route and full crimp them. I tend to avoid crimps, so I'm bad at them... Hopefully, I'll get to practice my full crimp on this route and get much better at it.

Finally, I managed to stick the dyno from a 3 finger pocket rather than a half crimp. This isn't easier, but will help prevent my forearms from blowing up due to compartment syndrome. 

The last 2 days of the week were spent resting, hopefully I'll have some better skin and some more energy on my next session. 

Reflecting:   

I have a lot of pain in my forearms due to compartment syndrome. My forearms feel like they blow up when I pull hard, for instance on the half crimp in the dyno section. After that, my arms feel painful, pumped and powered out for several days in a row. The pain doesn't go away, not even after a rest day. My physiotherapist gave me some exercises that are aimed at getting rid of the build up of toxins in the forearms. Although they help a little bit, there's no way I will have the endurance now to send this route. To give an example: one time I couldn't even hold on to a resting jug and fell there...

On the up side: this route doesn't seem to aggravate my lumbrical injury nor my TFCC injury, and my hip impairment isn't holding me back too much either. So I'm really happy I picked this route as a project! And in strange way, I'm happy because my hip impairment is not a show stopper. Although my condition is progressive, so things will get worse over time, for now I have loads of ways to improve before I will be limited by my hips. Very happy about that!

After realising I won't be able to send, I started climbing without any pressure at all. I have a song stuck in my head: three little birds by Bob Marley (don't worry, about a thing, cause every little thing, gonna be allright). Changing my mindset from performing to training has seriously improved my psych, I'll have to remember this for future projects!

The route consists of 14 clips, the first 7 are part of the 7a/7b and are easy. Then there's a ledge to recover, followed by 4 clips for the 7A+ boulder (with a dyno). The next clip (12 of 14) is easy and allows to recover on jugs, followed by a 6C boulder problem on pockets. The final section to the chains is hard for me due to my hip impairment, and every time I arrive here I'm completely exhausted. So best case scenario, I expect to reach clip 13 of 14 and then fall 2-3 moves from the chains. This might seem like I'm close, but I'm not. The last part is just too much for me right now, I'd need several more weeks (about 5-10 extra sessions) to have a chance.

Another positive note: I've been practicing the full crimp, and it's starting to feel much better! This will be very important for future outdoor projects. 

I ended my last session this week with destroyed skin. And all my muscles are sore and tired. Everything hurts. On my last session I was so tired I nearly fell off every hold, but because my technique is improving I still managed to do most of the moves. That's really motivating! I'm taking 2 rest days now, hoping my muscles will recover and hoping my skin won't hurt as much next time I try the route. 

Finally, the silent feet drill went well. I put my feet down accurately, softly, and then put a lot of pressure on them to make the moves. If I am completely honest, focussing on my feet didn't change as much as I thought it would. I will take this as a good thing; maybe my foot work wasn't as bad as I thought it was? In any case, in the next few sessions I will be focussing on climbing fast, on breathing, and having soft hands, and I expect those exercises to have a huge impact. 

What will I do next time:

First I will focus on breathing, specifically in the last 2 sections of the route. For some reason, those 2 sections freak me out. Every time I'm there, I feel exposted and scared. So I will practice these sections a few times and focus on deep belly breaths to keep myself calm. If this goes well, I will combine it with soft hands.

Next, I will improve my climbing flow and speed. I will do the 7A+ boulder (which is right after the ledge) multiple times in a row, and try to climb faster each time. Regardless of whether or not I stick the dyno, I will drop back down to the ledge each time to rest and repeat. Let's see how much faster I can climb!

After this, I can still do a few red point attempts in my final session. It will be good for the experience, and for me to practice resting. Still, due to compartment syndrome, I'm not looking forward to this session... It will hurt... a lot... But the year is almost over, which means the challenge of trying to go from 7a to 8a in a single year is almost over, and I want to keep trying hard till the bitter end.

Statistics:

Climbed 315 meters on real rock.

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

Taken 7 falls while committing to the next move.