Trying hard!

I’ve discovered some interesting things about my ability to pull hard recently. It all started on the new 45 degree board at the works, it’s all hard! I mean hard! There are rules on foot placements that mean you can set hands how you like then use any number of foot holds that are marked with an X or a triangle. Easy right? Unfortunately almost all the holds are atrocious (particularly at 45 degrees) and the foot holds are a whole new level of useless. So you’re basically in for a cut loose nightmare on pants holds. A good way to get strong, feel rubbish or get an injury.

Anyway, picture the scene; it’s a groggy eve, it’s dark, I’m feeling relatively strong and mighty psyched for the night ahead on the new board, add in to this mix a rather capable and equally psyched Miss Crane and I should be on for a punishing and valuable session! After just about getting to the top a number of times we started to set some problems which I couldn’t do. Bummer.

1st attempt, can’t touch it. 2nd attempt, can’t touch it. 3rd attempt...
I have a little strop and Leah puts me straight saying “try harder”?!? The cheek! “I’m trying” I say, “well try harder” she says. Slightly put out I sit down at the bottom of the board and f$%king try. I get half way through the problem!

Hmm... Have I unlocked something here?

Since then Leah’s been there regularly telling me to man up and try harder and it seems that I must have let myself slide into some kind of half arsedness where my idea of full power was way off reality. I keep making moves that I don’t think I should be able to do and I feel like I’m digging into new reserves all the time that my subconscious has been holding back from me.
The moral? Man up and try harder. On top of the immediate gains that this brings i.e. I climb harder in the long term this extra effort will equate to much more effective training. Just need to make sure I remember to call on it when I need it and not forget it’s there!

Wish me luck for C.W.I.F

P.S. I came 8th in the Bristol comp. Not too bad, should have done better.

Bristol comp etc

This weekend I went to sunny Bristol for yet another comp! The new wall down there is very nice indeed and is well worth a visit if you are southside at any time. They do some alright food and it’s all in a very attractive (swanky even) setup. The wall itself has just about every angle imaginable and the main attraction “The Mothership” is a face that any bouldering centre would be proud of.

The comp was fairly well thought out if slightly unorthodox. There were two sittings for the “heats” where 3 hours were allocated to attempt 30 problems of varying difficulty, all self scored. Once the results were in, the top three from the senior men and senior women had a final problem at 5:30pm. This was the odd bit really, there was only one problem that you only got one go on and the men and women both attempted the same one. On top of this weirdness, the problem that was set was essentially a route, which for a problem in a bouldering competition seems a bit strange.

Anyway, regardless of these anomalies fun was had by all and the staff, smoothness of running and the prize fund of £200 for each senior category was all top notch. Leah Crane won the women’s comp by some margin and James Gardener romped the men’s by flashing all of the 30 problems! Not bad for a 17 year old (although he does look about 25!).

How did I do? Hmm... Not sure yet, I’m still waiting for the results to go up on the website but I reckon somewhere in the top ten maybe just outside with a score of 283 (James scored 330).
Now it’s back to the grind stone in order to get some sort of stamina before I go on holiday. I’ve decided to have a look at some 8a’s while I’m away to get some experience of the level of filth involved but also in case I find one made for me and stand a good chance of doing it. If not then it’s Freemonster at Water-Cum-Jolly which I need to have a good look at soon if I’m to have any vague hope of doing it in the next 3 months.

This coming weekend is C.W.I.F (Climbing Works International Festival) which should be a good laugh and will make for some seriously entertaining wad watching. Sharma might even be there but there’ll be a whole host of other monsters to try and learn something from and be inspired by as well. I’ll be “competing” but let’s face it with people like that coming it’s not going to be my most successful day of climbing.

Over and out!