Weeks 16 & 17: casual climbing

What I did:

I spent a week climbing at different crags and working on my pyramid. Didn't do much, just a couple of 6's and some 7a's. 

I've also been scouting some 8a's. There's one in Ettringen (Merlin) that won't be an option as it requires some serious hip flexibility. I found one in my home country but it's on artificial rock so I don't think it will be a rewarding first 8a. There's a couple in Belgium that look promising, but I'll most likely be choosing one in Berdorf as it's incredibly easy to find friends who are willing to join me on a trip to Luxembourg :)

Unfortunately, I also tweaked a finger (A4 pulley on middle finger) so I'll have to be careful not to make things worse. It's a very light tweak so I expect to be able to return to 100% within a few weeks.

Reflecting:

I was with 2 new belayers and I noticed this made it very difficult for me to commit to harder moves and routes, I just didn't trust them enough. I'm realizing more and more that climbing is a team sport. I'm glad I didn't push myself over the last 2 weeks, I think I needed to rest and recover so that I can start the next phase with a new energy!

On a different day trip I managed to do all the moves on an 8a, that made me realize that I can do this thing: climbing an 8a this year is totally possible!

What will I do next time:

I'm going to Fontainebleau with friends for a while... This doesn't quite fit into the training plan to do an 8a sport climb, but I've worked really hard over the last few months and I've decided to treat myself to some world class boulders :) 

I'll also do a lattice assessment for a hangboard training plan that I purchased. This will be important in the future, as I will soon start working on physical gains, and hangboarding will be one of the few exercises I can do once I have my double hip surgery (which will be planned soon). 

Whenever I receive the hangboard training plan from lattice, I will sit down with my coach and make a schedule for the rest of the year. There's loads to do: physical gains in the form of finger strength and endurance, prehab and rehab due to the double hip surgery, and of course projecting my first 8a (and working on my pyramid by finding and doing similar routes). Looking forward to it!

Statistics:

Climbed 500 meters on real rock.

Climbed 80 meters of aerobic endurance laps (while doing movement drills).

Taken 2 falls while committing to the next move.