As for the thoughts, they're as climbing based as ever. More specifically, how to get better at it. I mean it shouldn't be that hard should it? My thoughts on the subject for the last 2 years or so can be summed up in a simple equation..."Training hard + Trying Hard = Improvement". Funny enough, I'm starting to realise it isn't that simple. Over the winter I spent in Coleraine I trained like a fucker. Mostly because I genuinely like training and the feeling it gives, but also because I was bored, lonely, couldn't get out climbing and had nothing else to do. It got to the stage where in an average week I'd do 3 3-hour runs, 4 days a week in the gym (3 or 4 hours a day), 3 or 4 3-hour fingerboard sessions, and about 2000 pullups and pushups. Not much by Patxi standards, but it was enough for me and got me much stronger than I was before. The problem was that it was strength that couldn't be applied. Throughout all this huffing, puffing and dangling I barely touched rock for about 5 months. though there were some lethal night bouldering sessions at head! Then when the summer came, with its occasional opportunities to hop on routes, I didn't feel nearly as good as I thought I was going to. The whole thing crystallised in a short conversation on the last day of the Fair Head meet after watching Sean onsight Paralysed Power:
Swaily (who can climb E6); "I wish I could do a one armer, never been able"
McGowan (who can climb E4/5); "I used to be able to do one armers, can't any more"
Moi (who can climb E2 on a good day); "I can do one armers, fat lot of good that it does!"
Things have become a bit clearer since then. I think I was training too hard, but not trying hard enough if that makes sense? There were the odd moments of properly trying of course, but I can count the ones from last summer on one hand.....Thunderhips, Twelfth Day and Carbide are the ones that stand out. Things have looked up a bit since. Went to Morocco for christmas with no expectations or ambitions (it was sport climbing after all) and did reasonably well. Been out tradding most weekends since the end of Feb, and slowly but surely getting the head in gear and getting a more accurate picture of myself. From what I can see (and others have told me), I have the strength to do the kind of things I want to. The problems are largely in my head. I don't think they're the normal problems either, i.e. I don't mind falling off (it happens frequently) and I'm happy to just hop on routes. The big one is a matter of confidence. I know I have the strength to do the moves, but for some reason I don't think I can. This leads to faffing, hanging around, getting pumped and falling off. Things have been getting a bit better recently though. I think just due to the large volume of days I've been spending on rock, combined with some extra stamina training in the coop (the benefits of which I'm starting to think are more psychological than physiological).In any case I'm feeling more comfortable and climbing better and generally having more fun at the moment, all good things. Just have to keep it rolling for projects in Wicklow and beyond over the summer and september in Yosemite!
Psyched
Anyway, heres some meedja to distract from the rest of this self indulgent drivel!
3 highs and a low from chris rooney on Vimeo.
Nice Lough Dan vid from Chris. Me and ritchie did all these problems except the 5+ and a couple more besides.
reiver from beastmaker.co.uk on Vimeo.
The reason I want to climb hard things is to get this kind of feeling....... I have a suspicion that at least one of my Wicklow projects will give it. Watch this space :-)
Peace Out
p.s., check out the rest of the beastmaker vids on Vimeo. Quality
4 comments:
Nice post dude, I am having the same sort of experience meself. Spent the last two years training indoors getting as strong as I could due to my injury and not being able to fall off boulders. Now I am back outside bouldering and I am definitely stronger than ever but it is taking a little time to get in tune with the rock again. Also have had a loss of motivation to just get stronger as I have had an increase in motivation to just do mileage and enjoy the beautiful outdoors, explore and just have a good day with mates. On a training note I think it's better to become as good as you can at climbing whilst being weak and just adding the extra strength factor when your technique and instincts are immaculate !!
nice post. Doing a one-arm PULL up is pretty useless (try and think of the last time you had to do one, or even the movement while on rock), but one-arm HANGS are. If you can hang a crimp one-handed, having your feet on makes it a jug!
Unfortunately, this takes a lot of time and perseverance to get - years to build the strength in the fingers for much of it. And there's no real way of short-cutting it, tendons will let you know if you try :)
Ciaran is right, build up a massive dedicated base layer of mileage and just continue to build on it over time. I didn't realize it, but spending 3-4 hours a night at DCU wall for 4 years while in college built the most amazing base layer for me.
If you think about it also, route moves just aren't that hard anyway! Even on an sports 8a, the hardest move is only about Font 7a, you just have to be able to pull multiple moves of that difficulty. So if you think about on a VS/HVS/E1/2/3, the hardest move is about Font 6a........
Enjoy the summer months, loads of time for climbing!!!! psyche!!!!!
Shocking amount of trainning... I suggest you go and HP something you think you wont be able to do. So minimun E6 for u ;-) fix ur confidence in no time.
Jaysus, its so easy to forget people read this stuff. Cheers for the comments lads!
@Ciaran: Sounds like a bit of a similar cycle alright. Peaks and troughs of motivation for climbing vs. gaining strength. Sounds like climbing is winning out :-) Great to see how you're getting on after the injury, hope you're keeping well.
@Neal: I think you're on the money there on a couple of counts, especially in terms of mileage/variety. I think a large part of my problem is lack of volume of climbing and time on a variety of rock types, to develop the unconscious ability to read easy moves well and quickly thats necessary for onsighting as hard as you can. Its not a bad problem to have though, as the best way to address it is by climbing lots. The extended period of good weather hasn't hurt much either.
In terms of the physical and training side of things, I'm climbing enough to maintain a good base level. The only thing I know for a fact is that power, finger strength, and probably even endurance aren't limiting factors. I climb quite well when I know what I'm doing. The problem is in my head, taking too long to decide on what to do.
@Colm: Yeah, I slightly overdid it a bit. What can I say? I was very bored! Speaking of HP projects, theres something down your neck of the woods i've had a couple of days on in the last few months. Will be back to finish it off before the summers out :-)
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