Climbing Around

I decided to mix up my training this year, based on my strengths and weaknesses noted throughout the competition season. The plan is to climb a lot more, as my performance on the more technical problems was typically poor. I need to work on the subtleties of beta; the small adjustments of body position and grip that are often the difference between topping a problem or not. I will be working less with free weights and gym based training than I have been the last couple of years.

As part of this plan I have been travelling further afield to climbing walls, trying out new [maybe just to me] walls. I have sought out leagues and competitions as part of my training programme. This allows many training elements to be worked at once:

• climbing in a competition environment
• climbing in unfamiliar surroundings
• reading problems
• flash attempt climbing
• working different styles and techniques
• endurance
• power endurance
• shared experience learning
• having lots of fun climbing

I have been really impressed with the quality of the walls that I have visited so far. Everywhere I’ve been has offered good problems throughout a large range of grades – something for everyone is so important. I’ve found thriving climbing communities every which way I’ve turned, with friendly, motivated people that are a joy to climb with.

‘Ain’t’ climbing great!

I’ve also tried my hand at the tricksy job of setting problems. It is hopefully common knowledge that route setting is a hard job, both physically and with respect to getting problems ‘right’. It was even harder than I expected. Hats off once again to all the route setters out there doing an amazing job. Getting the difficulty of problems correct to suit the required situation is an art.

Thank you for the continual supply of new challenges.

 

ps  I’ve joined twitter at last to help with communication: @MerrickDiane

The End of the Worlds 2013

The last round of the competition in Munich was a fitting finale to the World Cup 2013.  The stunning setting, under the canopy of the 1972 Olympic Games stadium, saved the impressive and animated crowd from a drenching.  The main remaining competition for overall World Cup standings was between Shauna and Alex.  Shauna made it onto the podium in 3rd, behind Alex in 2nd, so Alex took 3rd place overall in the World Cup, and Shauna took 4th.

Dave made the semi-final and Gill and Leah just missed out by a whisker.  I was happier with my performance than of late, but had a couple of goes too many to work out the problems, so came 31st.  I was disappointed to finish the season outside of points again.  My overall ranking was 35th – a fair representation of my results for the season.

The qualification for my group was a hard with respect to the problems set.  To put things in perspective, World Cup winner Anna Stohr only topped 2 of the problems.  I topped one, the last one, in four attempts.  It took that many to get of the ground!  I was pleased to find a somewhat unorthodox solution on my second go, that I should have stuck to on my third go.  Not trusting myself, I tried something else first before committing to the solution that worked for me.  Most importantly I topped the problem, but I should trust my instinct more.

I feel that I may have topped the second problem if I had been more accurate with my footwork sooner.  I got into the groove with no time left on the clock to get to the top.  To get into the groove, a careful balance was required on a large volume.  I only stood on the very edge of the volume on my last attempt, all previous attempts I was just slapping my foot on anywhere.  This adjustment allowed me to progress. Tch, for taking so long remember how to balance, despite trying to practice on the first problem.

Thanks to Jane Newman for the photo of the first qualification problem in Munich.  I did not manage to get my toe on the volume to help me progress…  I enjoyed mantling for an obscene duration before standing on anything though!

The qualification problems in Eindhoven (European Championships), the following weekend, made the Munich ones relative warm-ups.  Four bonuses could have seen me through to the semi-final.  Gill Peet just missed out again in 21st place with four bonuses in a couple of attempts too many.  I gained 3 bonuses, leaving me in 29th.

Eddie Cooper captured this image of me, that sums up my performance – wrong handed and using my knees inappropriately.  I’ve got a knee bar between the volume and the undercut I needed to be holding (but my knee was in the way). It almost worked – so close to a top, yet so far.

I want to do more competitions, but that’s it for this year.

Work Cut Out

It was exciting competing in the British Championships this year, as there is a lot of up and coming talent from the youth category.  More competition is always a good thing as it makes it more of a challenge.  This summer I didn’t manage to rise to the challenge quite as well as I had hoped, coming 9th.  However, I am happy because other people climbed really well and beat me.  I didn’t make the final for the first time since I’ve been competing in the BBC’s.  I thought I’d be upset, but instead I felt inspired to get back into shape for the last World Cup of the season and sort out a few muscle issues I’ve been having.  I’ve got my work cut out.

It’s quite hard training in the heat.  My finger skin seems to like falling off and I’ve discovered that I have a tendency to feel a bit queasy during warm up when it’s hot.  I’m getting used to it, which will help lots as it’s bound to be hot in Munich in a few weeks.

Toronto, Canada and Vail, Colorado

Team GB are in a strong 6th position with only one World Cup 2013 round to go. Those that attend all the rounds will drop their worst result for the final ranking. So this year the best 7 results count, as there are 8 events. Current individual World Cup standings are exciting reading:

Shauna	3rd		Dave	21st
Mina	9th		Ned	37th
Leah	12th		Tom	58th
Diane	34th		James	65th
Michaela	54th		Jon	75th

The competition in Hamilton (Toronto) was my favourite competition of the season with regard to the problems, wall  and competition atmosphere.  The crowd was amazing and it was really nice to be able to sit and watch the rounds I did not compete in, rather than standing for hours! 

It was pretty much the same story again with my climbing; completely messing up the first and most accessible boulder problem. So qualification was very disappointing for me.  I climbed quite well on most of the other problems though, coming tantalisingly close to tops but not getting any. This left me in 25th when I know that I was more than capable of making the semi-final. I want so much more.

I've taken a lot of solace from others this trip. The support and belief shared between friends and fellow competitors buoyed me up when I was feeling low. Also, I'm by no means the only one suffering disappointment and obtaining results that don't in any way reflect capability. We soldier on.  I was told that I had inspired others to compete.  That made me feel pretty good!

Being told that I am an inspiration to others is a huge inspiration to me. It makes me want to train and compete more, to succeed. Knowing that others are putting themselves out there and giving climbing a go, giving competition a go (or another go), because they have been inspired by other climbers is fantastic. It may be that you are teetering on the edge of deciding whether or not to have a go, and just need that little something to make the leap. Be brave, have a go, it's fun, it's challenging, it's rewarding.

Vera from the Netherlands had been suffering the blows of the competitions alongside me this season until it all went right in Toronto. She made the semi-final in fine form, topped all the boulders and narrowly missed out on a place in the final due to number of attempts. She placed ninth and I'm so happy for her.

We took time out to visit Niagara and the falls. A stunning place. I imagined that it would be in the countryside, but the area is actually really built up and touristy. This is something that is only noticeable whilst on route to the falls. Once there, it's all about watching the phenomenal flow of water. Many thanks to Kashca and Keith for looking after us all so well.

 

The day following the Toronto competition we were back on a plane - next stop Denver (except for Ben who had to head home). We hung around the mile high city waiting for Dave to arrive from the UK. Then we hit the road to climb up into the Rocky Mountains for the World Cup in Vail at 8000 ft. We had a couple of short climbing sessions in Vail and soaked up the stunning scenery. We paid Mount Evans (14000 ft) a visit the day before comp day. A good rest day, with a very short walk to gain the summit as the road goes almost all the way. I recommend a visit if you get a chance. The views are spectacular.

I climbed reasonably well in the Vail competition coming 21st. It was my third time at this venue and definitely my best performance, having previously struggled to make the top 30. There were a few things I could have done better, however I feel that the unfortunate slip on the first problem left me most vulnerable. So close to the semi-final...

It is interesting climbing at altitude. Small things such as holding my breath for a short time for a balance left me panting afterwards. I’d feel fine whilst climbing, but then not make moves I'd expect to. This is due to not being able to get sufficient oxygen into my body to keep my muscles performing as the air is thinner than I am used to. Recovery was pretty good though, so I could keep battling on. Most competitors were suffering the same as far as I am aware. It is very unusual to see boulderers puffing, panting and acting as though they have just run a 100m sprint rather than having climbed.

Many thanks to Heiko Wilhelm (Team Austria) for the climbing photo.

Log-Dragomer and Innsbruck World Cups 2013

Two more competitions in two weekends.  The World Cup rounds are coming thick and fast this season.  Team GB are doing really well and are are currently in 6th.  Go Team.

My contribution to this started well in China, but has taken a nose dive since.  I seem to be suffering from a temporary inability to climb the easiest problem in each competition.  I feel the need to take myself back to basics and remind myself how to climb, as it’s becoming not only frustrating, but somewhat embarrassing!

I had a self destructive thought in Log-Dragomer before starting the first problem.  I thought ‘I hope I’m not the first person to drop this bloc’.  I was, and one of the very few not to top it.  I knew I needed to balance, take my time, but I just kept launching at the next hold.  Arghhh. 

I then took my time on the second problem and timed out whilst applying the wrong beta at the top.  I did well on the 3rd problem coming so close to topping the thuggy, steep volumes.  However, I found that I was so pumped that I couldn’t hold on anymore.  I need to keep up my power endurance.  Thankfully the last problem had my name on it and I flashed it to leave me tantalisingly close to points in 31st, despite everything.

The qualification in Innsbruck was different to usual.  Due to the inclement weather causing some of the boulders to become a little damp, we competed on 4 instead of 5 problems.  The difficulty of the problems was increased to ensure that the field was split.  The problems were tough, with most people topping only the first. 

A handful of people, myself included, topped the last problem - a short, but awkward dyno.  I started my final and successful attempt with about 25 seconds left on the clock.  This is not usually enough time for me to complete a problem, but I suddenly found myself on the penultimate hold when the countdown for the last 5 seconds started.  For me it felt like everything was in slow motion with my head calmly telling me what to do …. 5…. ’I still have time do this’…. 4… ‘breath’… 3… ‘now latch the top hold and match’.  I urgently turned to the judge to see her hand up in confirmation.  I’d got the top. Yes, yes, yes.

My emotions were so mixed directly after this, before seeing the results.  Tears filled my eyes, but I could not tell you if they were from relief, disappointment or joy.  I had not topped the first and easiest problem.  If I had I would have been in the semi-final. Instead I had been seconds away from obtaining nothing in the round.  I was kicking myself.  I had to settle for 43rd again.

The final was amazing with Jan Hoyer and Juliane Wurm, both from Germany, taking their first ever World Cup wins in front of the biggest crowd yet.  Inspiration to us all.

Thanks to Eddie Fowke for the good photos!

Log-Dragomer 2nd problem for me, 3rd for Leah.

Innsbruck 2nd problem

Mina doing very well – scoreboard part way through the Innsbruck semi-final.

Innsbruck Podium

Our chariot awaits – prop plane for the first leg home from Innsbruck

Kitzbühel

Team GB do Kitzbühel (thanks to Victoria for taking the photo and giving artistic direction)

I topped the qualification boulders.  I am really pleased that I have had the opportunity to prove that I am physically capable being competitive.  This is something I thought I was capable of, but physically proving it is better.  I only wish I’d managed to do it during the competition, instead of messing up!

I only managed to top the 3rd and 5th boulders during the competition leaving me, once again, in a very disappointing 43rd place.  Hesitation and a slip denied me of the 4th boulder, on which I came within tickling distance of the last hold.  I gained the bonus on all the problems.  Both the boulders I topped were very dynamic.  This feels like a big breakthrough for me.   I am starting to relax and go for things.

Picture courtesy of Eddie Fowke (www.EddieFowkePhotography.com)

A very unusual opportunity arose directly after the competition.  We were able to briefly climb on the problems before they were stripped ready for the semi-final.  I re-attempted the 1st and 2nd boulders and discovered that my head had let me down.  I was more than capable of climbing them.

The 1st boulder was a slab.  During the competition I had persistently faced the wrong direction, denying me the balance position required to progress off the bonus.  I tried to use a foothold that I personally didn’t require to top the problem.  I needed to take a breath and look around me, relax into the climbing from the first problem.  Not wait to get into the swing part way through the competition.   After the competition, I found that I could smoothly gain the bonus, consider my previous beta, calmly discard it as it felt wrong, reassess without much deliberation.  A foot swap on an enormous foothold, and a lean into the big rounded bonus, allowed me to make a high step in balance.  A small rock up brought the penultimate hold into reach, and with it progression to the top hold.  It felt good to gain the top, despite it all being too late!

The 2nd boulder had my name all over it.  It was a thuggy roof with a big lock.  During the competition I repeatedly dropped the lock move off of the bonus.  I considered slightly amending my grip on the bonus to improve the right hand position when I matched.  This would allow better grip whilst trying to lock.  For some reason I did not apply the idea during the competition.  I put the idea to the test afterwards.  I topped the problem on my first post-competition attempt.  Why hadn’t I trusted my judgement during the competition?

I was not upset after the competition.  I was annoyed with myself for messing up and excited for the next competitions, having proved to myself that I am physically capable.  I need to work on being clear headed under pressure, but not overthinking, to relax and climb fluidly.

So now it’s a head game.  Bring it on.

Schwarzsee and a common statue in Kitzbühel

Ned Feehally during qualification

Dave Barrans during qualification.

CWIF 2013 – Chongqing - Millau

Not bad at all – really good, then not so good, but overall quite pleased – really disappointing.

What’s going on?

I achieved my best CWIF result to date this year – 5th.  I felt lucky.  My body didn’t feel like my own from the beginning, but I was determined to battle through.  In qualification I felt like I fell short of a lot of problems, in need of more ‘grr’.  This was a sentiment that was shared by many, so I made it through to the semi final mid way up the ranks. 

The overriding memory of the qualification, for me, was running headlong into a wall.  I rolled around on the floor laughing at myself for quite a while, assuming that I had lacked the coordination to achieve a parkour start to a boulder problem.  Annoyingly this wasn’t the full story.  I discovered, on standing up, that I had twisted my ankle on the run up.  Luckily it wasn’t too bad and I could load it as long as I didn’t twist my foot, and it still makes me chuckle that I managed to shoulder barge a wall to the extent that I bounced off it.  These kind of problems are amusing for spectators and climbers wishing to branch out into different things, but will never truly be climbing.  How could they when they are often easier in trainers than climbing shoes?  But then I enjoy sit starts and micro-boulders!

A flash in the semi-final saw me through to the final in 6th place.  The final looked like the final was going to be a ‘nil point’ event for me.  Historically my lock off strength has far exceeded my ability to bounce moves.  The bounce into a lock and then ratchet through to the next hold is a classic move for me.  This wasn’t the case here.  I couldn’t keep my arms bent.  I had to rely on my head to keep me battling on, willing my body to play ball.  The third problem brought a ray of light.  A bonus hold was obtainable without relying on arm bend. However, I wanted more.  I hit my arms before my second attempt and shouted at them ‘come on arms’, and they responded.  I got a top, and with it 5th place.

 

In Chongqing I was one attempt short of a perfect round.  This is the first time I have topped all the problems in a round of a World Cup.  It felt amazing.  The next round fell a long way short of this leaving me in 19th out of the 20 semi-finalists. However, despite a couple of initial tears, the semi final performance couldn’t quell the feelings from the previous round.  Overall I was happy with what I achieved.

That said, I need to work out what changed from one day to the next.  Was I too relaxed going into the semi-final?

We had time in Chongqing to look around, whilst adjusting to the time zone.  Chongqing is enormous, with a population of around 30 million people.  The roads are are never-ending stream of constantly weaving traffic.  The streets are lined with shops and stalls, with high-rise buildings towering above.  Every inch seemed to be utilised or undergoing regeneration.  Between all this, space is still made for green borders and trees, helping to combat the inevitable smog.  The city sprawls out into the mountains from where the Jialing River joins the Yangtze River.  Our hotel room overlooked the river.  The huge Yangtze gave a feeling of calm, open expanse in contrast to the sky scraping city.

The local food is tasty and spicy.  We went out to a local restaurant and had to call for help to order food as we didn’t know where to start.  With help from the locals, we were coached through the process of adding various meats and vegetables to huge hot pot of boiling spicy broth, before fishing the cooked morsels out with chop sticks/a slotted ladle for eating.  Fun, tasty, messy for us, and at times a little eye watering!  I’m still trying to discover what one of the really tasty vegetables was.

I had a lovely Birthday surprise from the girls, with cake and a ‘made in China’ card (thanks to Shauna, Mina and Alex).  We also each received a beautiful gift of a personalised scroll from the event organisers.  It was an all round great trip.

Chongqing, China (and somewhere, some large distance up above the clouds)

 

Eight of us went on holiday for Easter in Fontainebleau.  I took it easy, keeping the volume of climbing low, as I had to leave early to go to the Millau round of the World Cup.  The weather was cool and dry, with plenty of sunshine.  The friction was strangely low, but it was good to be out on the rock.  I rested quite a bit, ate well and slept well.  I travelled to the south of France on the train - a mode of transport that usually delivers me to my destination feeling pretty good compared to flying.  Strangely, I felt knackered on arrival.

My warm up for the competition felt good, despite the early start (isolation closed at 8am).  The first problem felt like it was going to be a flash, but I repeatedly swung off whilst trying to match the top hold.  For the rest of the problems, I felt like I was trying to climb whilst being twice the weight as usual (akin to swimming through mud).  It was hard.  I was upset afterwards, getting almost my worse result ever – 40th.

Millau, France (thanks to Victoria with Dave’s camera for the namesake shot)

British Team Selection

Yippee, I’ve been selected for the 2013 British Team. 

We had a team selection competition at the Biscuit Factory in London on the 9th of February.  The British Squad battled it out to get in the top four and make the team.  There’s a video from the day here.  We competed in two rounds on the day, with our performance in both rounds being taken into consideration.  We were also assessed by the team specialists as part of the selection day, including the nutritionist, sports psychologist, chiropractor and physiotherapist.

Sorry for not blogging in ages.  I’ve been training and didn’t think I had anything interesting to say!  Then everything got quite ‘epic’ for a while prior to and during team selection…

I said I was going to practice being dynamic, I didn’t.  Well not as much as I should have.  I am practicing now.  I was doing a high volume of climbing in my conditioning phase of training.  Then strong controlled moves to go with my strength phase.  I mixed it up a bit, but not enough to keep my head in the right place for dynamic moves.  I let it get to me that I hadn’t entered my power (dynamic) phase of training prior to selection and fretted about it.  Your head can do a lot of damage to your climbing.

Coupled with my head being in the wrong place, I had managed to tie myself in knots – big solid back and neck knots.  As part of my training I have been doing NIBL (Northern Indoor Bouldering League), local league competitions and the occasional other competition such as Rockover’s ROCfest 2013.  As these comps are used for training, I don’t rest up for them.  

ROCfest was the week before team selection.  Qualification was fun, but hard.  I bashed my thumb on the penultimate qualification problem that I tried.  It hurt but seemed to work, so I battled on.  Excitingly, I qualified in joint second with Mina and Leah.  Unfortunately, I ran out of beans in the final on two relatively jug like holds in a roof on the second problem.  I couldn’t hold on anymore.  This hasn’t happened in a long time.  I’d done quite a lot of training the day before including fingerboarding, swimming speed play, and a gentle social climb.  In hindsight this was definitely too much!  It was frustrating not being able to do moves my head was telling me I could.  I ended up in 5th.

The following morning my thumb was a bruisy brown colour and really swollen.  Arghh. Bad timing with selection so close.  A quick trip to the Minor Injuries Clinic confirmed that it was soft tissue damage.  No broken bones at least. Phew.

Along with my thumb, my arms and legs were feeling tweaky.  I had an arm and leg massage rather than my usual back massage due to this.  Big mistake.  My arms and legs were tweaky because my back had got so knotty.  I didn’t find this out until after I had climbed on selection day.  For me selection was a day where my arms wouldn’t lock, I had no bounce, I was hesitant and felt tired and emotional.  I still wanted to make the grade.  I battled and just about pulled it out the bag.  I was really happy to make the top four, but disappointed to not have a fully functioning attempt at the problems.

I had a dynamic climbing coaching session with Dave Mason a few days after selection.  I had lots of massage too.  What a transformation.  I felt like a butterfly instead of a slow caterpillar!  Dave’s coaching session was good.  I was bouncing around without hesitation and I came away feeling on top of the world.

After the emotional rollercoaster fortnight it was time for a well deserved break.  Snowboarding (a change is as good as a rest).  Sleep, eat, snow, eat, snow, sunshine, eat.

Here’s some photo’s and a video from the last few months.

 

Les Arcs 2013 from Peter Jeffery on Vimeo.

Thanks to Craig Bailey (muscles photo whilst battling at ROCfest), Ellie Howard with John Ellison’s camera (CAC), Aidan Cross, Kate Wilkinson (Stanage Plantation , Bullworker) and Peter Jeffery (snow video).