Weeks 37 & 38: local competition

What I did:

I entered a local competition and got 2nd place for speed and (shared) 3rd place for the main climbing competition. I was focussing on the overhung routes and did the vertical/technical routes last. 

Furthermore I've been training on the kilterboard twice a week, doing endurance work once a week and I've been toproping once a week as well. After every kilterboard session, I've been moving up and down the campusboard with my feet on the ground for 5 minutes, to work on aerobic capacity.

And of course, I had 3 days of rest a week now instead of 1. 

Reflecting:  

The local competition was awesome, that's when for the first I noticed my progress on the wall. My capacity has improved immensely this year, allowing me to climb a dozen routes in 1 evening. And for the first time I was comfortable on tiny crimps! I even full crimped a couple of times to find a rest position, I think I'm slowly getting a hang of the body position that is necessary for crimping. A couple of the routes required high feet, but I managed to jump or smear my way up in most cases - I'm very glad my hip impairment wasn't a show stopper!

Having 3 days of rest a week is great. I've been sleeping better, recovering better and I'm even in a better mood. I think I was overtrained a bit over the previous few weeks or months, as everything in my life was slowly becoming a bit flat. Although I'm feeling better, I do still have slight finger injury and knee injury, making crimps and heel hooks a bit challenging.

With only 12 weeks left, I'm feeling pressed for time. The challenge I set for myself was to go from a max grade of 7a to 8a in a year, and although the deadline still seems possible, it's going to be very hard! The the final mile is the longest, as they say!

What will I do next time:

Continue as I have been, because I feel great! I hope to climb Glucose at least twice a month, and I will focus on the 7c variation first. I hope it goes within a month, as it would greatly increase my chances of doing the 8a this year! 

Statistics:

Climbed 0 meters on real rock.

Climbed 450 meters of aerobic endurance laps (while doing movement drills).

Taken 0 falls while committing to the next move.

Biggest link in Glucose: 2 bolts (out of 12 in total).