Sport Climbing and Training (Not exactly related)

Oh man. Tonight was amazing. Had work and then headed to the gym. I had every intention of doing a nice grueling workout. However, the crowded gym made this nearly impossible.

Let’s back up. In the previous post, didn’t I say I’d be taking it easy? No projecting or brutal workouts? Yes. So what the heck?! Well, I decided that my aerobic endurance was terrible, and working on that would be a fun, easy (sort of), stressless way to spend the next month and a half.

Saturday’s workout was beautiful. Nice 30 minute warm up. Followed by a good stretch. Goal was to climb every V3 in the gym as smooth as possible with 3 minutes rest between burns (Burns: attempts at a route.). I also get a 10 minute rest halfway through. I wanted to stick right in that aerobic zone. Actually, I just didn’t want to hit my anaerobic threshold. In total, I had three falls and 15 routes leaving 3 or 4 in the roof and surrounding overhang. Definitely should have started there.

It ended with a feeling similar to a long uphill bike ride (and complete muscle failure haha). My hands were missing most calluses, or they were worn away. And I was wiped out. My cool down was supposed to be to slow climb V2-VB (Vb is the lowest grade… similar to climbing a ladder), which was brutal. But it all felt so good. I slept really well.

A lot of people wanted to advise me on the right way to train. Some advice was much more useful than others. But what this workout made me realize (along with the advice I was given…) is that despite the very climbing specific work that needs to be done, the body is still a human body and responds just like it would in any other sport. It’s only taking all the knowledge I already know about training athletes and applying it to benefit me in climbing.

Just so you know… I’ve read more text books in the last year than I did while I was in college. All sorts of texts on sport specific training and the human body and I have to be honest… The human body is still the human body, no matter what sport it’s participating in. Mind Blown? Mine too. A lot of the analogies some of the more experienced climbers used to relate the training they spoke to me about were using Track and weight lifting. Two extremely different sports from climbing and yet the strategies were identical to how I train my athletes. These were some of the same ideas that some members of the climbing community shunned me for considering recently. Haha glad I stuck to my guns. :)

And before I hop back on topic (I know, I’m all over the place. I’m improvising from my rough draft.) I just want to give kudos to top rope/Lead/Trad and all the other sport climbers out there. Every sport I’ve done in my life has focused entirely on short maximal efforts and with only a few exceptions have required serious attention to any kind of aerobic conditioning. The thought of training for sport climbing is both daunting and frightening to me. Much like being a pole vaulter who is told to run an 800m in a meet, or worse (in my case) the 1500. Forcing myself to improve and grow as a climbing athlete is something that will be really good for me. I just have to stomach it. And back on topic.

My plan tonight was to try a “4x4.” Definitely an anaerobic workout. Simply, 4 routes varied in difficulty (ex. V2,V4,V3,V2) done consecutively with 10 minutes rest between sets and repeated 3 more times. But the walls were so busy, I got stuck waiting nearly 3 min between burns ruining what I wanted to accomplish.

So I ended up playing. I was shocked by how I was doing. I already warm so I starting down. Flashed some V5’s and got a V6 on the second burn (foot slipped… oops.). and V7’s are becoming so… friendly. If I had started the evening intending to project that V7 I would have finished it. And I’m fairly confident I can finish it in one or two burns the next time I’m in.

However, due to crowds, I think I’ll be using the old Circuit gym to train. Campus ladders, Hang boards, and a building full of new problems sounds like what I need.

Anyways, that’s all. No, I lied. I signed up for the Portland Boulder Rally on December 3^rd. if I climb like I did tonight I’ll be sure to demolish my performance from my last comp. Plus, Carlo Traversi and Sierra Blair-Coyle are said to be there. Ok. Bye. :)

James

Kaizen

It has been recommend to me (quite frequently actually) that I take a length of time off for my body to rest and recover from whatever physical stress I’d been applying to it, normally for several months on end. This usually was then forced on me by some injury I would receive via overtraining. However, this holiday season, my training may take a forced hiatus due to the amount of working I’m doing.

While this does mean money coming in and a lack of time to make excuses to burn through it. I will unfortunately be struggling to train like I would otherwise until the beginning of the new year.

But who knows. Maybe backing down and not climbing will get me primed and ready to hit the ground running… er, um vertically… to improve.

The beauty is, knocking out a couple fingerboard workouts a week only requires I go to the other side of the room… not across town.

I did get some climbing done though. Pulled down that elusive V7 that has been shutting me down for the better part of 2 months. No crowd cheered. No video caught it. I simply slapped the top out and pulled my exhausted and pumped out body the last bit of the way up. It was a peaceful moment.

The hardest part wasn’t the crux, it was getting my brain to be quiet. Some climbers say hyperventilate before you do a route. Others scream and try to act like weightlifters before a big lift (Why?! I don’t understand this…). Me, I just keep yelling positive thoughts to myself inside my head.

But that’s not what I wanted. I wanted nothing. No need for an outcome, just the chance to move. And so I simply “shh’d” to myself. Weird? Not compared to some stuff that I’ve tried. (That… sounds worse than I mean.)

It came through in my breathing. Slow and controlled. And when I hit that big move in the crux, the one that dropped me so many times before, I moved through like a coiled spring. I had just enough gas in the tank to hit it and not barn door my way into another attempt. It just all came together.

I want to discuss the idea of Kaizen. A Japanese term normally used in business practices. However, I want to take it a different way. The idea is to always look for ways to improve.

I feel I strive for this. Not just in climbing, but in every facet of my life. Today that meant striving to not get in my own way. Tomorrow it means a long day of work and then opting to rest instead of training.

To me, Kaizen is; the desire to never stop learning. To say no, only if you absolutely have too (or if it’s regarding drugs. D.A.R.E. taught me that.) To listen, a lot. And to never settle or be satisfied. To not let others limit my potential.

P.S. I totally jacked the concept of Kaizen from my boss, Michael. He introduced me to it. But he meant it towards business. So… There you go. I made it my own.

November’s first update! (I need to think of better titles…)

October has come and gone. The rain is here and it’s unrelenting. I have a third job. This one’s pretty fitting. I’m working at a climbing gym that recently opened in Vancouver called The Source (Facebook). It’s a beautiful top rope and lead climbing gym. There’s a small bouldering portion. Check the website and head in if you’re ever in the Vancouver area (Washington… Not Canada, ladies and gents.).

I was there climbing this week at the gym (might become a normal thing before I go to coach at Clark College) and the local newspaper was taking some pics and I ended up having my picture taken and popped in the paper. I was surprised by the number of friends who read The Columbian. Granted, the picture took most of the front page of the business section.

The grand opening for the gym was a huge success. I spent the evening belaying people. Or is it “on belay?” I don’t know. I boulder. My bouldering religious beliefs recommend abstaining from ropes.

Some other things I’ve forgotten to update would include running into Carlo Traversi. He was in town for a PCI clinic at the Circuit. I sat down to stretch and realized I had picked the spot in the gym right next to him. He was super chill and awesome to talk to. Considering how inspiring his climbing has been to me, it was awesome to see he's also a really down to earth guy (I KNOW there’s a climbing pun in there somewhere…).

And finally, I made a quick little practice test video at the Circuit. I posted a write up on my other blog over at IEFilms.net. I’d love to get some feedback. Just leave some comments either on the YouTube Channel, or below this blog. :)

That’s it. A long week is over and the next one is starting. Thanks for checking in.

James C.

First Comp

The first time I ever ran the 400 meter dash in a competition was my sophomore year of track. Our best 400m runner gave me some really awesome advice. I listened, ran over the information in my head, and climbed into the blocks. As soon as the gun went off, I tore out of there like a bat out of hell. I cranked out in front of everyone. I was running the 200m. Soon, the sound of footsteps faded behind me and that last turn came up and I realized… I still had 200 very long meters to go. My legs began to lock up, my lungs began to burn and by the end of that race it was taking everything I had just to keep from face planting on the finish line.

This is pretty much the exact same thing that happened during my first indoor bouldering competition. If you missed me, talking about it here… I went up to Tacoma for Edgework’s annual Blacklight comp. It was 3 hours of pulling down the hardest routes you can for points. Kyle tried to coach me, giving great advice like “slow down, take it easy, keep a relaxed warm up.” But I was there when the kids competed. I had been staring at these beautiful and creative routes all day and all I could hear was “blah, blah, blah… GET IT!”

Kyle had to talk me down from trying to tackle a relatively easy problem that had a cool jump start. “Is that what you would normally do? Or would you warm up on easy problems and get to the harder stuff.” So, I tackled the easiest problem I found close by… and then immediately hopped on the jump start. And then tackled the next one. And the next one and by the end of the first hour I was pumped out, cramping, breathing heavy and oh yeah… toast.

I didn’t stop though. It would be another 30 minutes before Kyle convinced me to take a 30 minute break and try to recover before pushing through the rest of the comp. I came up with some really interesting beta to work around my quickly diminishing arm strength… finding dyno’s where they weren’t intended. Bear hugging and hyperextending my arms occasionally instead of using crimps I didn’t like. You know… the usual.

And probably the biggest thing I failed to realize was… I was projecting at or near my max for most of the day. Instead of pulling several problems that I could flash I began getting so hungry for the fun routes that I forgot I was supposed to be getting points. Not falling a lot and trying again before I had fully recovered.

The one thing I did, with no issue at all, was have an amazing time. That was my whole goal. Try something I haven’t done before and focus completely on just enjoying the atmosphere. The volunteer judges and spotters were awesome to talk to and quite entertaining. They seemed to really love being there helping out. And that really added to the atmosphere. Several friends asked me if I was nervous before going in, and I simply told them no. I was there to have fun. And the volunteers all helped make sure that happened.

The setting was amazing. I don’t know if I’m one who really takes the time to appreciate the aesthetic of the movement in climbing. It’s something I feel I’m only now beginning to grasp. But something about these routes, about the beta that was forced in a lot of places, just made for some really beautiful moves. And when they linked together it really just inspired me in a way this sport hadn’t before.

The time aspect, and only having five attempts at a route really made me pay attention to a route before I stepped onto it. I can’t see well in the dark (lol… awesome.) and so I was struggling a bit on figuring out what a hold would be like before I actually got to it. But I really felt myself relaxing. Even when I was on the wall, I didn’t feel panicked, or nervous because my beta wasn’t working how I wanted. I held on and pushed through. And I’m proud of that.

I saw some familiar faces from the Circuit, my home gym. And met some awesome new people. Johnny Goicoechea was there. He’s like a lion. I say that because of his hair. But there was a power and control there I haven’t ever seen in person. And when I talked to him, he was really chill and humble. Very laid back and ready to celebrate the competition with the fellow climbers.

And speaking of which, as soon as the comp ended, a couple of kegs were tapped and prizes were thrown out to the audience. Prizes were also given to the winners in a few of the categories and the energy was high all night. Even at the after, after party… where I got to actually talk with the volunteers and several of Kyle’s climbing friends from the gym. It was really was an awesome end to amazing night.

I guess the last thing I’ll leave you with tonight is a funny story about Kyle during prize throwing. He REALLY wanted some chalk. I’m not going to say what made him think he really needed this chalk, but he was going to be loud enough to make sure the throwers knew he was needy. When the chalk finally came his way, he swats it down and scrambles on the ground for it, creating a scene. A very loud and entertaining scene. As he stands up to show off his prize, he holds in the air with a look of “behold!” as a Petzl chalk bag hits his raised hand and sticks to it. The look of shock and excitement reached high pitch levels a man of Kyle’s size normally wouldn’t reach.

I won nothing. I got lots of stickers and a T-shirt. But that’s cool. I had an amazing time regardless. I didn’t need to win anything. And I learned a ton about the sport and how I can improve and change my strategy for next time. Which is December 3^rd at The Circuit. :) have a goodnight guys. I’m passing out.

Update? lol

I have not been updating. I basically fell off the blogosphere after my post on getting that first v7. Why? Super busy, sick, needed a break, planning a massive shoot (that got cancelled… wah wah.) and growing a beard. It’s more draining than you think.

So what have I been doing? Well… it’s 1:32 am currently and I’m going to knock out this blog so I don’t continue to leave you hanging.

As far as climbing goes, I changed my strategy to work on footwork. It’s amazing how setting a simple goal of “not being so sloppy with my feet.” …actually scratch that. Put in the positive, please. “Being better with my feet.” Really helped dial in my focus. It also gave my upper body joints a reprieve from the constant abuse I place them under. I very quickly noticed how quiet my stepping became and how much more efficient I felt.

And though I’m far from finished on that front, I am improving.

Next… Training with the college kids has seemed to be very counter productive in my training for a v10. In fact, between the morning workouts and the having a couple jobs and then not sleeping because I WILL get my time in at the gym… I’ve struggled to even tackle v5’s. For this reason, and several others, I will probably be limiting the amount of time I spend with the College kids (outside of our actual practice time… Because that’s pole vault, my other love.) just so I don’t continue to hinder my progress.

As I mentioned, I had a really awesome film shoot scheduled for about 2 weeks ago. However it got cancelled. The art of CYA, or Cover Your Ass, came into effect and I didn’t do a good enough job of it. It’s not often I make big mistakes, or mistakes I can’t correct. But I was spread too thin and I got sloppy. Noted. Lesson Learned. Moving on.

And since I had all that fun equipment, I asked my gym (The Circuit) if I could come in before closing and shoot some climbers doing some routes. It ended up being just me, with one camera, but the footage looks useable and I’m very excited for what I can do with that little bit of tester footage. Hopefully if I impress enough people, maybe I can do something a little bigger with more crew and deliver some really nice product. Product, simply meaning a finished video… not necessarily something I’m trying to make a ton of money from.

And THAT is my Third, and most important love. The one I don’t think I could live without. For example, this labor of love, is also something I finished in the time since we last spoke.

A music video I did for Tim Lundy, the guy who does all the sound for my projects at Intense Entertainment.

The only other thing I’ve been doing is trying to learn some new training techniques. Despite everything I know about strength training and training the body to improve via muscle recruitment, or PNF or any other number of training tools… I really want to specifically learn training regimens geared towards improving my Technique. So I’m reading The Self Coached Climber, and learning some new tricks from that.

That’s all I’m going to post in here, tonight. Saturday, I’m participating in my first Competition. Just for fun. It’ll be at Edgeworks in Tacoma Washington. I really want to just hop in and have a good time. No stress for how well I perform compared to everyone else. Just compete against myself. If I can keep that in mind, I’m sure to have an awesome time.

Have a great night. I’ll give you the play by play on Monday… give or take a few days. ;)

James

October 2011 update

I reached my goal 3 days late. I walked into the gym intending to just work on 5’s. Use the day as a sort of recovery day. I ended up working on a tricky V5 and wasted a lot of energy. After that I focused on repeating some old 5’s that I’d either flashed or onsighted.

I really struggled. Be it a lack of sleep, or proper diet. Possibly even just needing to recover some more… but I couldn’t work anything. I gave up on the “training” and started screwing around.

Finally after a long playful session, I hopped onto a V7 that I had tried 2 or 3 times before. This particular 7 got my attention with it’s large dynamic lunge, a dyno that goes the full length of my wingspan straight up. My first and only attempt was extremely half assed. Not sloppy. Just… lazy. But when my hand connected with the slope-y pinch, I had this brief moment of effortless ease. Redundant? Don’t care. That’s how it felt.

My feet cut from the wall and my hand was the only thing keeping me on. I made a loud grunty scream and cranked down until the swinging stopped. I moved up the rest of the route and heard some cheers. I also hear a girl (who’s a better climber than me) say “That’s not how I’d do it.” Don’t care. It worked and it was awesome.

After some rest, I attempted my V7. I really feel like it’s mental now. I’ve failed so much despite having the beta and I want it so bad, I can’t just relax and do it. I’ll come back to it eventually.

So, what now? I’ve reached my goal. I’m sick, working a lot and not getting nearly enough sleep… so where do I go from here?

Normally I’d continue as I have, entering a training cycle that gradually increases workload while I approach my next goal deadline (Short term goal was a V8 by January.). However, I think it’s time to change strategies.

As the grades get harder, the holds get smaller in size and fewer in number. And this is revealing some huge weaknesses in my technique. Specifically, my footwork. I’m also terrible at crimps. So I really want to make a short term goal of improving my foot work and crimping.

Ok… now to answer the “what’s next” question. For the next 6 weeks, my plan is to warm up on the gym’s traverse wall, switching between matching feet and stepping through. It’s the matching that gets me (Kyle makes fun of me because I’m climbing v6’s and v7’s but didn’t know the term “matching” can be used for your hands AND feet.).

As for crimps, I’m looking for those annoyingly crimpy routes a grade or two lower than my max. I work the problem as far as I can. Once I fall, I back up and hold onto the hold a little longer than normal. Focus on really slowing down the transition between moves until I’m pumped out. Or my fingers get so sweaty I can’t hold on. So far… not much improvement. At least, no miracles yet.

I want 2 good weeks of easy before I really hit the ground running. It also works out because I’m breaking in some new shoes, The La sportiva Pythons. Originally, I wanted the Solutions, but I didn’t like their fit.

The pythons are a leather slipper that I’ve downsized an extra 1.5 EU sizes (38). I’ve had 3 days in them. They’ve stretched and I’m getting that form fit. However, I’d be ok with a few more days of stretching.

Do I like them? Yes. Very much. By far the most aggressive shoe I’ve used. Once the nerves die in my toes, I’ll be able to use them to their full potential. Until then, I’ll just enjoy the extra sticky rubber and the incredible improvement in footwork… I know I said above that there was no miracle, but it’s more of improvement out of necessity. Poor footwork is too painful.

(girl at the gym: "Those look disproportionately small... even for you.")

My old Miura’s will probably become my sport shoes/trainers while my python’s become my performance shoes.

In this picture you can see that the blood is rushing back into my feet. this was when i tried on the 37.5's... which also dislocated a metatarsil in my right foot.

I’m going to cut this one off here because I want to rant about Route setting. Specifally NOT posting grades. But I’ll do a new blog as it may be a long one and this one has some length to it as is. :)

September 2011

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re probably right.” – Henry Ford.

September is over. Which means I either made my goal of getting my first V7, or I didn’t. 4 weeks and some change went by and I pushed for max effort every day I hit the gym.

Every day, my calluses were rubbed raw and my fingers would be stiff. The prescription was stretching, ibuprofen and Ice.

I tried to cut back on the number of days I would go to the gym so I could get my money’s worth on each attempt. I’d try to make my trips 3+ hours with long rests. I focused on two v7’s and pushed.

My breathing was controlled. Body tension was tight. My technique was sharper than ever. And in true fashion, I picked the hardest V7 that fit my style. By the half waypoint of the month I knew which project was mine. A day later I was confident in the beta.

The next week was spent wiring the moves. Climbing until my joints hurt and my fingers (usually) bled. My days became consecutive journeys, visits between shifts at work, and whenever I could.

This, though driven and something I’m proud of, is probably why I failed. I could feel myself closing in. I wanted it so bad I pushed beyond fatigue and what was rationale. Though I improved, I couldn’t heal enough to piece the route together.

I had a following of friends and fellow climbers who I’ve gotten to know over the last several months all coming over and supporting me in my numerous attempts. Looking back, I feel bad that I may have distracted them from their own sessions for so long. But they were nabbing shots on their cameras or phones, just in case THAT attempt was the send.

Persistence turned to frustration, turned to a deeper resolve. My head could see nothing but the moves and the absolute conclusion that I could and would send this problem. There was no doubt.

Which must be where Henry Ford’s “Probably” comes from. The amount of determination wasn’t enough to will me up the wall. I lost sight of the fact that my body breaks down and needs time. As Ron said, “It’s ok to be human.” I just had to be reminded of that.

I made my last attempt. As desperate as this may appear to someone reading this, I felt so calm and strong and smooth. I moved and flowed. Hit the crux and did it right. Slow. Static. Controlled.

Oh, did I mention I showed up to the gym 5 minutes before it closed? My first attempt was cold. Stupid. But I climbed hard. It was easily my most solid attempt at the route. And I failed.

I’ve said I failed a few times now. But did I? I pushed myself to my limits and fell just shy of my goal. It’s a bitter taste, but not totally unappreciated. It’s a lesson. And I’ll take it and learn. Now it’s back to the drawing board. Time to reanalyze my weaknesses and develop a training strategy to grow and get that 7… and then an 8… and 9… you get the idea. :)