Injuries - pain without gain

So my pesky shoulder that is now pretty much better... Months and months ago a week before a team training I scratched my back and thought 'ow, my shoulder hurts'. After that it was uncomfortable and hurt a bit when climbing, especially with wider arm positions.

I thought it was just an aggravation from too much training, had it checked and was told I had no tendon damage. I took it easy for a bit and always made sure I warmed up carefully. Trying to be nice to my body. Unfortunately my shoulder continued to niggle from time to time - but hey I could still climb well.

Silly me.

At the worst possible time, having qualified for my first World Cup semi-final, my shoulder said to me 'enough' and completely seized up. I went to see John Ostrovskis after many recommendations. John diagnosed that I had a few shoulder and back muscles that had been in tight knots for a long time and had become underdeveloped. Other muscles were compensating. After some pain for gain work on the muscles my shoulder felt a bit odd and I felt a bit wonky. I was probably wonky before and now straight!

A month down the line having done daily theraband exercises and wide arm press-ups I feel great. My shoulder strength is back, but now without pain.

I saw John twice more during this time as I was doing competitions so couldn't risk a single full treatment as I may not have been able to climb properly.

I now regularly do a suite of theraband exercises and do daily pressups. I was given the advice ages ago that pressups are good for climbers wanting to avoid injury and maintain good posture. I fully believe this is true now.

Therabands are good for warm-ups, keeping your body toned and in balance and doing exercises away from the gym/whilst travelling.

I will now pay more attention to pain. For me if pain only lasts a few days then it's good pain that's making me stronger (unless blood/bruises are involved!). If the pain lasts more than a week or so it may well be that it is not good pain and I may need to get it checked out.

Not rocket science I know, but it would seem that at times wishful thinking gets the better of me.

More BBC 08

Images from KeithSharplesPhotography - Cheers Keith

British Bouldering Championships 2008

Celebrations - 2nd in the BBC 08. It feels great to finish the main season on a high. Although I still made a couple of mistakes and find myself asking 'what if' for a couple of days before finding another bloc to conquer. Audrey beat me again with style - nice one.

The blocs were fantastic. Really good fun to climb. The nasty green qualifier in the corner seems to have given me whiplash but that serves me right for not hanging the top!

Time to have a little break before getting back into the training regime. Thank you Scott Wilson and Nan (sponsors) for your help in getting me to the competitions and Pete, the Foundry clan and everyone for your support.

Carcassonne and Montauban WC Photos

Zoe and Gaz walking up to the walled town. Amazing stone work, turrets and a very cheerful gargoyle.

Bloc 1 in Montauban WC topped after a face plant

Bloc 3 dropped from the bonus just round the corner out of sight

And bloc 5 just about to miss the penultimate hold :-((

World Cup Montauban

We had a great day visiting the medieval walled town of Carcassonne the day before the comp except Gaz had a bad stomach ache that turned out to be kidney stones. I ended up driving as Gaz had forgotten his driving licence. Good job really.

The comp was amazing. Spot lit boulders in a huge venue. I was first out. It was strange having cameras in your face all the time. I had a really good comp.

I topped blocs 1, 2 and 4. Managed to face plant the mat when slipping off the last hold on the first bloc and scraped my legs up on the 4th bloc. I got the bonus on the 3rd bloc and missed the 5th bloc penultimate hold by a fraction (I think I left some skin on it). I came 24th and was so close to getting in the semi. A few less attempts or catching the hold on the last bloc....

Audrey climbed really well qualifying 8th having topped all the blocs and came 18th after the semi. Nice one Audrey. There's some good photos and videos on the Montauban website including one of me doing the first bloc.