Breaking Free Pt.2

Last night I was sitting in the Colorado Springs auditorium watching the ABS Open National Championships. As I sat and watched, I kept thinking about where I was last year at that time. Last year I was in Massachusetts with injured fingers that were splinted and elevating a broken ankle. I was watching Nationals off of Alex David Johnson's webcam live feed, that was such poor quality I could only see when the climber left the ground and when they fell back on the mats (however I do appreciate the effort!) As I watched off of this live feed, I felt miserable. I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel for me. I didn't know if I could ever rock climb again. 

Last night I was helping judge the climbs, so I had a front row seat to see some inspiring rock climbers compete. USA Climbing also offered an amazing live feed thanks to Louder Than 11! I got many texts from team kids saying that I was on tv...lol. This weekend I had competed in both the Open Nationals and the Citizens Nationals. My body felt strong and my fingers held up through all of the climbing. I was enjoying myself so much that I almost forgot I was out of the scene for an entire season.

This weekend I tied for 26th in the ABS Open National Championships. There were 42 women total, possibly a record for USA Climbing, and they took 22 to semi finals. Honestly I am bummed that I did not make semis. But if I look at what I have been through the past year, I feel extremely proud to have competed. My fingers cannot hold up to training for climbing just yet. Yes, I can climb and I can climb in competitions without pain. But, my fingers are still not 100% and I have to be careful. I don't want to be injured again. 

Three points is what push me out of semis. Three holds. I know what holds I didn't grab and why. On problem #2, I got pumped before the lip. Lack of power endurance. On problem three I could not get past the 2nd hold, which was a bump move from one crimp to another on a 60 degree. Contact strength. These were the two things I could not train due to the condition of my fingers.

To be quite honest, I probably could have trained those things with tape considering I have been climbing off and on with no tape for the past month. But I was afraid that if I did train, the health of my pulleys would drastically decline to where it was last year. I never want to feel the pain of not only trying to climb as my fingers give out, and the pain of not being able to be on the climbing scene. This recovery process would turn into injury again and I don't want that. I would take the 26th place over my goal of top 10 again if it meant that my fingers would be healthy. 

Overall the climbs were extremely fun and I was able to use a lot of the tactics I learned over the Pro Training Camp to help my overall performance. I also competed in the Citizens National yesterday, placing 3rd in the open below Francesca Metcalf (2nd) and Tiffany Hensley (1st). This was an extremely fun experience and again tested what my fingers are capable of at the moment. I feel that I could have pushed and won 2nd, however my fingers began to feel sore after 2 hours of climbing. So I stopped. Either way, this was an amazing experience and it was fun to compete with a few of my competitors from the Open. 

Being in Colorado and having this opportunity to compete again is pretty emotional for me. It is awesome, it is frustrating. But I get to spend my time with some pretty great people and I look forward to the rest of my week in Colorado. Being here and never giving up is what it means to be breaking free.

Shoutout to Kris Peters, Kati Peters, Alex Johnson, and Josh Brown for opening up their home to me! Much appreciated and I'm psyched to be here with you guys!

Breaking Free pt.1

I have not posted in awhile, which is a huge bummer because I have so much that I want to talk about! I have been extremely busy the past couple of months and it looks like there will be no slowing down! However I am going to update this blog a couple of times per week to catch everyone up with what I have been up to.


Before I go into what I have been doing the past couple of months, I just want to take a moment to reflect on this past year. Last year at this time I was not climbing. My fingers were in so much pain from tendovaginitis that I could not even open a door without whimpering. I would feel pain constantly whether I was moving my fingers or not. I also was in a boot from breaking my ankle while walking (yes I said walking, laugh all you want...okay stop). Not only was I injured, but I was just not satisfied with my life. I was very unhappy and things needed to change.

Six months later(Summer 2012), I had decided to make a lot of changes to my life. I began to step out of my box, which used to consist of just climbing...literally. My life revolved around climbing and that needed to stop. It needed to stop because I was limiting my happiness, my abilities, my health, and just myself in general. I also feared (and still fear) that my fingers will never allow me to climb at the level I dream of being at.

So I began to do crossfit. I started spending more time with people who did not climb, started running, started using rehab techniques such as foam rolling to increase my recovery, started paleo, started to study more in depth exercise science, and really started to enjoy the world and things around me.

Now I am what I think is the most happy I have been in my entire life. I am very fit, but that is not my main focus. I can climb again, but that is not my main focus either. Being able to experience crossfit competitions, climbing competitions, attend a pro climbing camp, study to become a certified personal trainer, coach, meet new people, and also recover from this injury are things that are making me thoroughly happy. Also, I have not had an injury in over six months! This is HUGE for me! To be able to maintain such a physical lifestyle and be healthy means the world to me. 

I would like to share some of my recent accomplishments with you. I am excited to keep progressing with climbing, crossfit, and my recovery! Hopefully I will be able to show better PR's, better photos, and even better recovery news in the future!

- This is a photo of me comparing what I looked like in January 2012 (Left) to how I look in January 2013 (Right). The left photo was taken a little after I had gotten injured, but I felt as if I was in the best shape of my life. I feel really proud of myself when I look at the right photo. I have been working hard to become fit, and I love to see my results!

- Two weeks ago marked the first day I climbed with no tape since I began me recovery process in June 2012. Not only did I climb with no tape, but I bouldered all of the problems v6-v8 in our gym. I also spent time projecting v9's. That was the first true sign that my fingers are recovering. I have been climbing with and without tape since then, depending on how I feel. I don't want to push it. I am still recovering. I feel that I have not reached full recovery yet, but I will eventually. I am hoping that when I reach full recovery, however far away that will be, I will do amazing things with climbing.


-Three weeks ago I got a new PR on my deadlift. I deadlifted 305, and that was all of the weight we had in the climbing gym (The weight set is actually 295; we had to tie a 10lb weight to the barbell to break 305).

- Four weeks ago I attended a pro climbing camp held by Chris Danielson and Tonde Kaito at Earth Treks. It was the most amazing experience and I feel honored to have been invited. More info on this in my next blog post!!

Photo By: Emily Varisco

Photo by: Emily Varisco

The Crew! - Photo by: Tonde Kaito

...To be continued.