Dark Horse 2013

Dark Horse 2013

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Realization

Realizing something can be a gradual process or it could be something that hits you right in the face. For me, it is both. Climbing is a lifestyle for me. I realized that the first day I touched a rock. However, realizing why I chose it as a lifestyle was a gradual process that wound up hitting me all at once today.

I started climbing because I didn't fit in anywhere. All of my close friends had left my shitty public school and everyone else was too busy living the social life of a 7th grader. I hated everything that was happening with school, friends, and myself. Climbing was an outlook that kept me alive and helped me push through and it ulimately changed my life.

Through high school I climbed. I got better. I stayed dis-attached from everyone else in school, but I liked it that way. But now that high school is coming to a close, I began to ask why I still climb. I wondered what it would be like to be a "normal" senior. This threw off my training schedule and I began to ask what I was training for. Yes, I am competing in Nationals, but why?

It took me about a month to realize that "normal" is pathetic. It took me a month to realize that without climbing, I was not happy. It took me a month to realize that I train because it makes me feel free and confident. So even though my lifestyle of climbing had been a gradual thing, I was slapped in the face with the realization of my love for climbing. I can never stop, it is an obsession. But, it is more than an obsession. Climbing is a love that will never go away and that has saved my life. I feel sorry for those who have not found a love like this. Life must be miserable. I hope those poor souls have a realization as I did.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

New Year, New Oppertunities

So, I'm not gonna lie, the end of 2010 could not have dragged on any further. At the beginning of December, I had competed in the second Dark Horse. Something was wrong that day; I was lacking the strength and power I usually possess. I thought that it was just a bad day, everyone has those once in awhile. A few days later it dawned on me that something must be terribly wrong.

I had gone to Farley the day after Dar Horse which may have been a terrible idea. I was spent and had no energy to climb. I was also freezing. I like the warmth and being in 20 degree weather, shivering, with torn down muscles definitely did not help my condition. The following week was no better. I was very sore and had no will to climb, which is very rare for me.

I soon realized that my muscle was not recovering from the Dark Horse. I got a bunch of blood tests done but everything came out negative. This was very frustrating because I still had no reason as to why I was sucking. The last week of December I had a week off from school and literally spent every day sleeping and eating. I realize now that these two very basic tasks were what I was lacking through December. I was not eating enough and my body was also trying to get used to the cold. Also, sleeping only 6 hours a day was not helping my condition.

As the Snooki ball dropped and the year 2011 began, I decided to take a new approach to my resting. I am my own coach and have been neglecting my basic human needs these past few weeks. Nationals is coming and there is no room for stupidity. I am telling you my tale of trouble so that you readers don't fall into this rut. NEVER ignore your body. The fact that I ignored my body's necessities to the point of muscle failure is terribly wrong!

So, I am sorry body. I will never ignore your needs again. It's a new year, new opportunities. Time to train to send those v10's!!!!