I can sit here and complain about this whole year and how horrible my luck has been, but I am not going to do that. I will not do that because, simply put, this year was not so horrible. I had the most incredible learning experiences and would never have the knowledge I have right now if it was not for this year. Being able to feel the loss of climbing, feel the stress of full time school, teach while my climbing was impaired, and endure whatever else was thrown at me, has taught me some huge life lessons.
One of these lessons is that I am actually good at climbing. Not only am I good at climbing, but I have a good understanding of how the muscles respond to training and training in general. I understand how it feels to be injured and out of the game, which is huge when relating to others. Especially to others that I coach. I also am a very good goal setter. I have been able to achieve every goal I have written down since I decided to seriously train for climbing back in 2010. That excludes this past season of competition goals because of injury. But those goals are now for 2013.
But that is not the biggest thing I learned. The biggest thing I learned is how to be aware of my body. Not only how my body responds to training, but when my body needs rest. I've learned how to be more health conscious and what/how much food to eat. I've learned that even the slightest mistake could ruin my chances of recovery. I've even been more conscious of my stress levels and mental psyche. All of this is such a powerful tool I've never tapped into before! I am now learning when it is good to listen to my body instead of pushing through pain and unmotivation.
Knowing how to be aware also comes with difficult decisions. One of these decisions is whether or not I go to the SBC Pro competition at the end of September. I am financially stable enough to go and I have the ability to climb hard enough to compete. So why not, right? Well the fact is I am still recovering and it would totally suck to mess that whole thing up. But the real question is: Can I give up if I feel pain? Maybe that is an easy "yes" for most people, but that is actually a very difficult question for me to answer. I have been thinking about this question for a couple of weeks now...and I'm not sure if I can give up.
You see, I am what I consider an intense individual. I give 110% every time, no matter what it is. But I especially give my all when it is a competition. I just love to compete and I know that I am also pretty stubborn. I mean, I had an SVT attack during the qualifying round of the 2011 National Championships and I kept climbing...for 4 more climbs. Then I had to go to the hospital. In retrospect, it was a great decision because I was able to qualify for the Vail World Cup. But my heart did not require a prolonged rest period. I even competed at the Nor'Easter four days after having my heart procedure! But my fingers do need rest and if I am able to take myself out of the competiton completely, I will not get injured. I'll have nothing to "give my all" for.
So that is my biggest decision at the moment and I have to make that decision within the next few days. But looking at my future goals, I want to do well at Nationals. If I rest/recover now and spend my time practicing my awareness, I will crush in 2013. There will always be more competitions and more opportunities for me to succeed. I want to win someday and I cannot do that if I am plagued with injuries. So I'll keep you all posted!
Also, here is a photo update of my climbing/crossfit training. Not much difference from the last considering it has only been a month, but I can tell that my chest is more toned.
