Everything seemed to line up to make my first training cycle end in disaster. I had to cancel the trip to Spain for which I more or less planned the entire cycle and closer to home winter condition lingered on, making sports climbing impossible. Stubbornly I ventured to Ith, but failed to get warm enough in the ice cold wind to climb anything hard. Equally demotivating was the flu I struggled with for more than a month, culminating in a bronchitis infection right at the planned fitness peak at the end of the training cycle. I felt anything but fit and saw the chances to reap the rewards of the hard work slipping away rapidly.
But right when I got desperately frustrated, my mood hit all time lows and I considered starting up a new training cycle without achieving a single climbing goal in the first, a spell of spring arrived out of nowhere and sparked my enthusiasm. Two afternoons in Teuto with Frans and Koen were all it gave me - normally a second choice option in any occasion - but they gave me exactly what I needed to finish the training cycle and get psyched to start a new one. On the first afternoon (with Frans) I climbed the power endurance route 'Stamina' (7b+) in Plisseetal. Allthough gradewise that isn't new ground, I was shocked by how easily I climbed it, feeling fitter than I've ever done before. I continued working the moves of an extension (making it 7c/7c+) and fell on the last move when I gave it an attempt. On the second afternoon (with Koen) I climbed the extension on the first attempt. Meanwhile, in a vulgar display of fitness, Koen impressively flashed Stamina.
Having quite some time left owing to our quick ascents, we walked to Schinder, home to the 7c+ project that threw me off many times last year. It has a powerful crux halfway, followed by a short power endurance section to a great rest just two moves below the top (one tricky, one easy). Last year, I only occasionally managed to get through the first crux and when I did, I lacked the power endurance to reach the resting position. Now, I climbed through the powerful crux moves immediately and climbed to the rest with a feeling of mastery and control that seemed impossible last year. I rested, did the tricky move and then made the monumental fuck up to let a foot slip, preventing me from clipping the chain. With all the hard climbing done, I blew the formality of finishing it correctly. The 'real' goal is climbing the same line without the good rest, changing the finishing sequence completely and adding a 7A/7A+ boulder problem at the end of a demanding route. Climbing it with the rest therefore only is an intermediate goal, mostly a psychological support in building the believe that the ultimate goal is possible. Until this day that goal felt way out off my leage, but having finished the easier variation for all but clipping the chains, I started to believe. I've never been as strong as I am now. Having spent many time on Schinder in the past years, it's hard cruxes and sustained link ups are the best benchmark I have and I've never done them as easily as I did them this day. It's time to commit to my hardest project yet and consider the intermediate, easier 7c+ goal as done!
Two afternoons in Teuto turned out to yield the strongest climbing I've done in a long time and provided the closure for my training cycle right at the moment I'd lost believe in it ever happening. The new training regime pays off, I'm progressing again and I've gained the confidence to start believing in a next level project. It'll be on my mind during every training of the new cycle I'll start next week. Back to training!
But right when I got desperately frustrated, my mood hit all time lows and I considered starting up a new training cycle without achieving a single climbing goal in the first, a spell of spring arrived out of nowhere and sparked my enthusiasm. Two afternoons in Teuto with Frans and Koen were all it gave me - normally a second choice option in any occasion - but they gave me exactly what I needed to finish the training cycle and get psyched to start a new one. On the first afternoon (with Frans) I climbed the power endurance route 'Stamina' (7b+) in Plisseetal. Allthough gradewise that isn't new ground, I was shocked by how easily I climbed it, feeling fitter than I've ever done before. I continued working the moves of an extension (making it 7c/7c+) and fell on the last move when I gave it an attempt. On the second afternoon (with Koen) I climbed the extension on the first attempt. Meanwhile, in a vulgar display of fitness, Koen impressively flashed Stamina.
Having quite some time left owing to our quick ascents, we walked to Schinder, home to the 7c+ project that threw me off many times last year. It has a powerful crux halfway, followed by a short power endurance section to a great rest just two moves below the top (one tricky, one easy). Last year, I only occasionally managed to get through the first crux and when I did, I lacked the power endurance to reach the resting position. Now, I climbed through the powerful crux moves immediately and climbed to the rest with a feeling of mastery and control that seemed impossible last year. I rested, did the tricky move and then made the monumental fuck up to let a foot slip, preventing me from clipping the chain. With all the hard climbing done, I blew the formality of finishing it correctly. The 'real' goal is climbing the same line without the good rest, changing the finishing sequence completely and adding a 7A/7A+ boulder problem at the end of a demanding route. Climbing it with the rest therefore only is an intermediate goal, mostly a psychological support in building the believe that the ultimate goal is possible. Until this day that goal felt way out off my leage, but having finished the easier variation for all but clipping the chains, I started to believe. I've never been as strong as I am now. Having spent many time on Schinder in the past years, it's hard cruxes and sustained link ups are the best benchmark I have and I've never done them as easily as I did them this day. It's time to commit to my hardest project yet and consider the intermediate, easier 7c+ goal as done!
Two afternoons in Teuto turned out to yield the strongest climbing I've done in a long time and provided the closure for my training cycle right at the moment I'd lost believe in it ever happening. The new training regime pays off, I'm progressing again and I've gained the confidence to start believing in a next level project. It'll be on my mind during every training of the new cycle I'll start next week. Back to training!
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| From the archive: my first time on Schinder back in my hair days almost four years ago. In the picture I struggle on the moves of 'Banane' (7a+). It's fun to look back and realize how much I've progressed in the meantime. |
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