Weeks 10 & 11: second 7a and first 7b!

March 10, 2022

What I did:

I climbed my second 7a (Takla Maklan in Berdorf) and first 7b (One Way Ticket in Bomal)!! I haven't climbed anything harder than 6c in almost 2 years so I'm very happy. Takla Maklan is a very technical route too, so I think the fact that I'm climbing more elegantly and efficient now (rather than just throwing for holds) is really starting to make a difference.

I also started projecting Apocalypse, a 7c in Berdorf. My primary goal is to learn about tactics. I've climbed it bolt to bolt, brushed off all other tick marks, added my own, found a great rest, and extended a quickdraw. I'm sure I can do this if I turn the conditions into my favour!

Finally, I've trained lots of endurance and got new exercises for my hips from the physiotherapist. I decided to go ahead with a (potentially risky) surgery on both my hips, and hopefully those physiotherapy exercises will improve my recovery. Not sure when the surgery will take place, better to be prepared for anything.

Reflecting:

I learned so many things projecting the 7b and 7a! By improving on the below points, I managed to send both:

I tend to throw for holds, I really need to focus on elegant and efficient movement
My clipping technique is terrible, I need to focus on a quick clip with lots of weight on my feet and my arm extended
When one hand gets more tired in the route than the other, it's okay to sacrifice the other hand so that you get a quick shake in
I need to keep body tension as I move to crux holds, it really increases the chances of sticking the move
Resting is interesting, I found a pocket on the 7a that didn't feel like a rest the first 2 times - but over time I managed to get most of my energy back. Subtle body positions and slowing down the breath really help!

Furthermore, I can once again hold my own body weight when half crimping, so the recovery of my finger injury is going well! My body feels pretty exhausted though, I should add an extra day of rest these weeks and don't do any power endurance and limit max effort climbing/bouldering to 1 session a week.

What will I do next time:

Project Apocalypse (7c) every time I'm in Berdorf for the weekend and focus on tactics and strategy. I will alternate this with doing 7a and 7b routes so that I get to practise tactics on other routes as well.

Furthermore: hip exercises on Monday and Wednesday, kettlebell workout on Monday, sub-max effort bouldering session on Tuesday, endurance bouldering on Friday (climbing easier problems up, down, up, and down) and an endurance climbing session on Sunday (doing sets of 10 minutes instead of 30 minutes of aerobic climbing, so I can slightly increase the grade of the routes).

Hopefully the extra rest day will be enough for me to recover. After these 2 weeks if I had sufficient rest I'll start projecting the 7b+ gym route again, and start working more gym 6b-7a routes to get mileage.

Statistics:

Pulling power	Average	2 weeks ago	Today
Left	43kg	42kg	46
Right	44kg	40kg	48

Climbed 370 meters on real rock.

Climbed 170 meters of aerobic endurance laps (while doing movement drills).

Taken 14 falls while committing to the next move.

Sending the 7b wraps up the mental phase of my road from 7a to 8a. Total statistics for this phase:

9 weeks in total (started January 1st 2022)
37 falls taken while committing to the next move
20 hours of mental skills training
53 hours of endurance training
climbed 600m on real rock
climbed 2500m up and down a route (aerobic training)
1 injury (a2 pulley, almost recovered now)
1 week of training missed (due to corona)