Dark Horse 2013

Dark Horse 2013

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

3 Months and Coaching

So it has been about 3 months since I stopped climbing...with the exception of a few days of attempting V1's. I feel like a broken record right now. I am just blogging about injury after injury. I feel like it is kind of boring. I am injured, still. I have no clue when I will be able to climb again. Maybe June? September? Good news though: I got my air cast off!! Whoop!

But I am not going keep blogging about my injuries today.

Youth ABS Nationals is on Friday and I am SO PSYCHED!! I have been working really hard with the climbing team and I feel that our team is ready to go. The team kids have worked so hard for this weekend and I know that they will do well. I am so interested to see how they place in comparison to the rest of the nation. This weekend will be a big learning curve for my coaching. Just like every other competition, I can earn from the other competitors. I can learn from the other coaches, the rankings, the styles of the climbs, the climbers. I think that going to this competition will help me with both the training of the team and my own training.

Last year was my first year coaching and three of the team kids went to ABS Nationals. Two of the kids placed in the 20's and the other placed 11th. This year, there are four team members from Worcester, two from Hadley. It is not many, but considering how hard our division is, I am very proud. I think that because our divisional was so hard, these kids will do great. Not to mention the training and nationals training camp Shane, Josh and I have put them through.

Last summer, I went to Youth SCS Nationals and stayed with my friends Sydney and Tyson. Tyson really opened my eyes up to what successful team is: Very strong and supportive of one another. Their team camaraderie was unmatchable to the other teams at the event. All of the kids were so proud to be a part of Vertical World Climbing Team. They also supported one another and really acted like some sort of crazy family. These kids didn't have massive ego's either. In fact, they didn't have any egos at all from what I saw. They were just confident competitors who were there to have fun with their friends and family...and crush. 

Seeing the Vertical World Team made me think of what my team could become. I came back to coaching in the fall with a new attitude: helping the kids not only get good at climbing, but to help them become confident, respectable young adults. I tried hard to get the kids decked out in Team Ascension gear, to get them excited about being a part of the team. With the help of the other coaches, I think that we are able to accomplish that and much more. I look at our climbing team and just think, "Wow, I am really proud right now". I can see that these kids care about one another and about climbing. They care about rock climbing lifestyle, not just the competition.

To coach this team make the pain I feel from injury go away. This team is something that I had always wanted, but never had. They are a family-like support group for one another, just as they are teammates and fellow competitors. I feel so accomplished to be a part of building this team. To offer someone else something that I could only dream of is a really, really great feeling.


Honestly, I think this climbing team is one of the only things getting me through this hard time of injury. I am glad to be a coach and I am glad to be working with some of the most supportive people I have ever met. Through everything I have gone through in the past couple of years, I never thought that coaching would be this gratifying.

Team Ascension! (There are a few missing, but Optimus Prime is serving as their replacement)

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Accident Prone

I always thought that I was invincible, even when walking. I mean, who doesn't feel confident while walking? You always expect to have your feet hit the ground and to keep you moving to your destination. Well, that is where my confidence took a big blow the other night. I was demonstrating to a climbing team member how to properly drop knee. As I got off the foot holds that were 2 inches from the ground, I hit the padded floor wrong and rolled my ankle. What followed shortly was a giant cracking sound as I collapsed to the floor.

Well long story short, I fractured my ankle. Usually when someone rolls an ankle, their ligaments stretch which produces a sprain. In my case, my ligaments are "so healthy" (says my doctor) that instead of stretching, they stayed tight and quite literally chopped a piece of my bone off. So I have what is what is called an evulsion fracture. Now along with my tendovaginitis, I have a nice air cast to wear for four weeks.

I used to think my friend Matt was the definition of accident prone...I think I just proved that wrong.

Seriously though, this is super lame. I am really, really bummed out right now. I just started P90X two weeks ago! However, I can't be depressed about this situation. I mean, how could I have prevented this injury? Also, I can still do P90X. Just not the plyometrics (That's okay though; I hated the plyo anyways).

When things like this happen, I feel like the most important thing to do is to keep your head up and stay optimistic. My motto since I was ten has been "shit happens". Really, it does and there is nothing you can do about it. Just make the best of it.

Through these past two months I have learned and experienced much more than I ever have while climbing. I have been hanging out with a really inspiring group of friends that I met at the gym. I would have never became friends with them if I didn't get injured because I was always so focused on training. They are truly a great support group. I have never had such a great group of friends like them, and it means a lot to me that these people care. I also just moved into a new hall at my school with a bunch of really great people. Being sociable with all of these people and focusing on things like coaching are what is keeping me inspired. Coaching has been the most amazing experience these past couple of months. The teams are doing amazing and I really feel accomplished when I see these kids succeed. You can say that I am living through them in a way, but I feel that I am more proud of what I am building and sharing in their pride.

Now, going back to the "shit happens" motto...I really decided that it was going to be my motto when I lacerated my spleen. When I was ten I tried to dyno to a tree branch and missed it. I wound up falling ten feet down to the ground and punching myself in the spleen. My mother drove me to the hospital where I was life flighted to a larger hospital all while going into shock. I had a 3rd degree laceration of my spleen (one more degree of hurt and I would have ruptured it). The doctor said that if I had gotten to the hospital just 10 minutes later, I would have died. After this incident, I realized that there are some things in life you cannot control. Yes, life can get frustrating at times; but since then I have always felt that life should be lived optimistically. Living through the hard times will just make you stronger and more knowledgeable. If you try and be optimistic, you will gain a lot from the experience. That is how I feel right now. My year of being 19 is off to a rough start, but I have learned so much from my friends, my diversity in workouts, coaching, and the climbing books that I have read. Even though this is a rather depressing situation, I am making the best of it. This has been the longest time I have taken off from climbing, but hopefully I can grow stronger from this. I mean, I am only 19. I am lucky that is just a stupid fracture rather than a life supported coma.

Anyways, that is really a day in the life of Melissa Godowski. I also decided that I am going to go pro at guitar hero. Surprisingly, it is good rehab for my fingers!
(notice I am wearing one 5.10 chase shoe...just in case things get crazy)

Doin' the finger rehab and rockin' the boot!

Too bad I won't be competing at ABS Nationals this year. Oh well, there is always next year.