On top of my game…

Warning: Egocentric rambling ahead (well, this IS a blog…)

I had a realisation the other day:

I have now been fighting fit and climbing well continuously for the last 2 years.

That, I think, is quite thought-provoking. I looked in my logbook and saw that it was early February 2006 that I started properly getting back into grit climbing after many months off with a broken foot. Later in the month I had a decent trip to Barcelona….then some increasingly good days on grit….then a good trip to Pembroke with The King….then “that” weekend in North Wales where my climbing dreams started coming true. Since the start of 2006 I’ve had some low points, periods of bad motivation, periods of atrocious weather, times out due to minor injuries - but they’ve all been pauses in the flow of climbing, rather than stops. Even last year, being hampered in spring by a shoulder injury and in summer by the monsoons, as soon as the shoulder healed and the weather cleared, I got out, got fit, and climbed well.

It’s generally regarded, particularly in a highly intensive (physically and mentally) activity such as climbing, that maintaining a high level of performance over a long period of time is unlikely to happen (the mind and body need respite). I’m making no great claims about my performance, only that it is good FOR ME. But the point is, it’s still good now…

(Even recently, I’ve felt my strongest indoors on bouldering and routes, I’ve onsighted my hardest sport climbs outdoors, climbed my hardest boulder problem, and recently climbed my first grit trad routes since November - it took a few goes to get back into it, and I didn’t push myself that much, but I managed to climb with confidence on some routes and tackle fine challenges on others, and kept learning more throughout - not bad!!)

…even 2 years on. If this isn’t “supposed to happen”, then maybe there are explanations.

Firstly, the enforced mini-breaks I’ve taken might have let mind and body recover for a renewed assault. This need for respite is something I’ve become aware of, and thus I make sure I don’t push things at inappropriate times and thus get jaded or too wrapped up in climbing.

But, secondly, more interestingly, maybe this isn’t some straining, pushing, performance peak. Maybe this is my NATURAL level. A level that suits my climbing, my abilities, my desire. And to be honest, that’s what it felt like, that’s why I was striving to climb how I climb now - because I felt I could, I felt it was the right level for me to reach and be inspired by. And sure, it was a long, bloody battle to get there, but what I felt in 2006 was more like “I am climbing as my true self” rather than “I am on top of my game”.

Less of a “peaking”, and more of a “maturing”?

What happens from here, I don’t know. I’m quite happy not knowing. I’m still as psyched, yet less pressured. Maybe I will climb harder or climb better (not the same thing, of course!!). Maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll improve more in different areas, maybe I won’t. Maybe something with go cataclysmically wrong and I will climb very little. Maybe I’ll improve a lot by devious, circuitous methods. Maybe I’ll just plod along doing the climbing I enjoy.

Right at the moment, I have a bit of a tweak in my elbow. I’m being careful - it’s not too bad and doesn’t seem to affect climbing too much - but I’ve been taking it easy, sticking to outdoor routes where possible and avoiding the physical strains of indoor bouldering. So not, right now, 100% fighting fit, BUT it’s okay, and I’ll get past it, and just see where things go…