*Photo courtesy of MountianProject.com - not me in the picture, but it is the route referenced below.
Alas, a "break" from school. As fall comes to a close there's time enough for one more "decent weather" climb even though all of us in academia know that the Thanksgiving "break" is more or less "catch up on homework and cram final papers/projects" week.
Anniversary Trip Summary:
Approximately one year ago I embarked on my first outdoor climbing trip to Sandrock, AL. I've gone back a handfull of times since, but on my climbing anniversary this was quite a unique experience in and of itself. For starters, we knew it would be cold (high 30s) and a chance of rain. Arriving at the crag it was indeed quite chilly, windy, and a heavy overcast removing any hopes of sunlight. The "warm up" route wasn't very warming and in fact it was quite painful. What I found to be the most "scary" part was that my hands were numb enough that I couldn't tell if a hold was good or not or if I was slipping off it or not. After letting our party of 4 cycle through the route we decided to search for a less windy location. There was no chance of a redpoint attempt on the 5.10a right next to us which I had ascent in August.
We found another crew of climbers who had thankfully started a fire and eased our getting a bit lost on the trails. That was an exceedingly pleasant "surprise" as their text messages had indicated they had waiting for us. As it was getting later in the afternoon the drizzle was becoming more persistent though the wind had died down. I remember commenting to another climber that I was kinda bummed that I had been saving my strength today for some hard routes but had really only climbed once so far that day. But oh behold! Right next to us was a 5.11a (Price is Right) that had shut me down (top rope) on my first outdoor trip precisely one year ago. I recall that some of the overhanging clip-points had me freaked out and i had to take a break after each of the third to last and second to last anchors. Though I could feel my hands and the rocks better this time around I had a few small falls working the crux. I remember getting frustrated with myself and wanting to hang it up, call it a day, blame the weather and the low-light conditions. Then I got mad at myself for thinking that and reminded myself that I wasn't about to go home with that being how I remembered the trip. Alas, the route was sent and I have found a new project, and sent a route (lead) that had previously shut me down (on toprope) in the past. That's a very, very good feeling! All in all the weather sucked, but I was glad to have sent a new grade and to take a few climbers on their first outdoor trip (who all did excellent by the way!)
Training:
I won't talk too much about the training "program" I used (reasons below), but essentially I had known about this trip for about 5 weeks. For the first three weeks I focused on climbing hard grades (mostly bouldering) with one easy climbing / hangboard day per week. The last two weeks I focused on endurance and technique. I did a lot of up-downs and lead climbing to work the more specific skills associated with lead climbing.
If you've been following my blog then you know that I get a lot of ideas for training plans from climbstrong.com. The author published an article (
link) not too long ago that made me reconsider some of my training philosophies. He talks about a 2 year / 200 hour rule wherein if a climber does not meet those credentials (2 years in the sport or 200 hours of climbing [actual movement]) then s/he is still at the stage where virtually any kind of climbing will cause improvements. Ergo, specified training programs are a waste of time. I just done talking about my one year anniversary, so I guess I'm half way there.
However, I still like having "a plan" when I go to the gym. Maybe not a specified "workout" broken down to exact reps and sets, but and idea of what I want to work on. Also, I still like tracking my progress and think its a good idea to shift gears every 4 - 6 weeks or so (i.e. bouldering to sport climbing). A friend and fellow climber reminded me last week that the "rocks won't go anywhere", that "grades will come in time", and advised that I shouldn't go to the crag feeling I "have to" send a specific route, but rather "just find a line you want to send and work it." Basically he was telling me that its a mental block to feel like you have to (for example) redpoint a 5.10 before a 5.11. If you like the line and think you can do it, go for it! For the time being, I'm liking that idea more and more.
With the winter off-season approaching, however, I'm already brooding in my head what I can do, while the rocks are wet and the the school rock wall is closed, over the break to "stay in shape." I'm sure something will find its way on here sooner or later!
Stay tuned....
