2021 July Climbing update

Pretty amazing that shortly after I posted September 2020 climbing update last October, the climbing gyms were all closed due to COVID-19, and remained closed until May 2021. That's 7 full months of no indoor climbing, during which time I pretty much lost all my climbing strengths. The first time I went back into the gym in May, even a level 5 route felt hard to pull on. My legs struggle to make what felt like big steps up the wall. It took about 1 month of regular indoor climbing to feel like I am close to my strength levels last year. So here's the update, almost 1 year later.

I actually had several chances to go climb outdoors in March and April, 2021.  My route reading sucked, so some 3s and 4s actually felt hard. Since my bf and I had no strength, we struggled on some 6-'s (5b's) routes, and left a quickdraw on a wall. Currently we are still climbing max 5bs outside. I hope before the end of this summer season, I can climb more 5c's and maybe try 1 or 2 6a's outside.

Shoe update: Mythos (size 38) are best for outdoor climbing. I don't know why, I am unable to use my slightly downturned Scarpa Vapors (size 39.5) outdoors. They hurt my feet and don't help with outdoor climbing. Same with my new La Sportiva Katanas. I bought a pair of Katanas because they are more flat than the Vapors, so I assumed they would be more comfy than my Vapors. I was wrong. I think I sized them too small (size 38). They tension my feet so that the toes and heels REALLY hurt, and I can't use them outside. Surprisingly, I am now able to use my Finale outside. Finale (size 38.5) has a flat sole, are sized pretty tight also kinda hurt, but there isn't a real foot tension system in this model and the soles are softer than Katana (maybe because they are broken in). I find the friction on the wall to be really good, so it's the right stiffness for me for easy outdoor slab climbs. Indoors, I am able to use the Katana on boulder walls for as long as I can stand the pain. So the performance is there; I'm just waiting for the toebox to mold to my feet. The Vapors feel pretty good indoors now. They are my perfect sending shoes for hard routes (7-s/6A+s).

Indoor climbing update: So now (7-s/6A+s) are my limits in terms of strength. I have gained some weight during corona lockdown (up to 68.9kg). So climbing has felt really hard. I am currently at around 66.3kg, hoping to go down to 65kg, which will be quite difficult for me. Currently, I don't climb too many hard routes per sessions, so I don't get bunion pains during climbing, which is a big blessing. Mentally, I feel more confidence now when I climb above a quickdraw clip. I often feel quite secure on my feet on the wall. My upper body strength are on their way back (getting stronger), and that makes me feel quite good. My hand skin can be a limiting factor for indoor climbing. 

Bouldering: the other day, I went to a new gym to take advantage of their 15 class deal and to try bouldering. I could climb a lot of the boulders up to 5c/6a. I feel like I can struggle longer on boulders now, which makes bouldering more fun than before, when I felt tired so quickly that I couldn't really try a hard boulder multiple times. 

I'm at a point where I don't feel like I will make much progress on harder grades. I just need to focus on moving better on the level that I am: shift weight better, breath better, stay calm on routes, stand up from pistol squats, assisted pull ups, handstands, push ups; lose 1-2 kg more.

It's funny that my bf likes to buy fancy (read: expensive) climbing shoes but doesn't climb much harder than I do. He wears them for his psychology (to "feel more secure" on harder routes). He laughs at me for still using my not so comfy/performance-based shoes (read: Taratulace [size 39... way too big], Finale). The thing is, for the easy warm up routes, I have seen people climb them with approach shoes or even runners. I shouldn't need to waste rubber on expensive climbing shoes to climb those routes. I try to save my "fancy shoes" on routes that do benefit from downturned, tensioned climbing shoes that cost more. I'm happy that I can tolerate the discomfort of my more basic shoes now. It means my feet are on their way to getting stronger. The advanced shoes definitely hurt the feet in a different manner. The bf is torturing his feet on easy routes where foot torture do not help improve his climbing, but he has a different philosophy than me I guess. I only want to submit my feet to expensive torture if they truly help me stand on tiny ledges or push harder on a foothold for those truly difficult, advanced routes. I will climbing a route even my shoes don't feel secure, as long as my feet don't slip off the footholds.  The bf needs too-tight shoes to feel secure. He will move up only if he feels extremely secure with his footholds and handholds. That's totally not necessary for a foothold to keep your body on the wall. Just move up and use insecure holds as intermediate holds. My limiting factor is mainly strength and power. His limiting factor is his need to feel totally secure.

Last few weeks of outdoor climbing

 Recently I have been climbing outdoors to take advantage of the last few weeks of good weather. Moves are more diverse outside; the foot holds are sometimes smeary on slabs; the rock face could be wet and muddy. The wind, insects, caterpillars, etc. makes it all more difficult than climbing inside.

So I have fallen twice outside already. I don't know why I have a blind trust that my feet will hold a smear as I go upwards using not so great handholds. I think I have a blind trust on the reported grades -- a 5? For sure I must be able to place my foot on a slab and it won't slip! I am excited about holding some weird positions while clipping. Feels like I am gaining experience and progressing, and I feel strong enough to do some tricky moves.

The bf is really having more trouble with climbing outside. He does not trust his feet at all, and he hates falling even more. He needs to psyche himself before he would do the moves on 3s and 4s with bad/no footholds. We only dare to climb 5- (4cs). I'm hoping to tackle more 5b's and 5c's, or even 6a's, but P is not ready for it.  

I feel this year I will just learn to manage my bunion pains on the rock walls. I won't be climbing 6a's or 6a+s outside at all. Hopefully if my feet are good for the lower grades, they will be good for the higher grades too. A big issue with outdoor climbing is endurance -- holding a move while figuring out what to do next. Now I am at a point where I will cheat and grab the quickdraw if I don't know what part of the wall to grab next. I just need to be strong enough to be able to try a few things, re-position my feet and body in order to get to the next hold, try things half way and be able to reverse into the former position. I am also learning to not be scared of creepy crawlers. They seem pretty harmless compared to falling and getting scratched/cut by rock. Wasps are still annoying/scary though.

Last climbing session before locking down of the country

How much things have changed within one week. Last week going climbing (or going out restaurants and bars) was not an issue at all. Today, thousands of people in the country have been tested positive for coronavirus (in Europe). The actual number could be 10 times higher, given the shortage of test kits. We are recommended to stay at home, avoid traveling, using public transportations, and going to crowded areas in general.

On the weekend, we decided not to go to climbing gym, and go outside to climb instead. This was the first time we went climbing outside on our own. We found some slab climbing, which means the wall tilts inwards (like an uphill), and handholds are not really needed for going up the wall. We were used to having our hands on juggy holds, so these walls, even though rated very low (UIAA 3-4, equivalent to 5.6-5.7), we didn't trust our feet so much, which meant my calves got really sore going up the wall. Also, I tried to hold on to the tiniest features on the wall, which didn't help with the actual climbing, but instead served to sooth my psyche.

So we got a good work out, breathed some fresh air (some asshole was chain smoking in the vicinity though), enjoyed the nature, and got a much-needed break from obsessively staring at the increasing coronavirus cases in this country and around the world.

The human brain is not used to dealing with exponential growth. It's amazing how quickly the number of cases in so many European country increase every day. It's also mind-boggling how some people continue to deny how serious this is, despite the amount of information out there exists for Wuhan and for Italy. I must admit, I am simultaneously addicted to checking the increases of coronavirus case numbers, reading about the pandemic news all over the world, and freaked out by the whole situation. The best thing I can do is to limit the amount of time I spend obsessively scanning through Twitter, Facebook, and news sites about Covid-19, and spend more time doing yoga and meditation instead. However, addictions are addictions... it's hard to deny the brain of dopamine hits.

The prospect of finding a job during a pandemic as the world's economy gradually slows down into a halt is not exactly rosy. I guess I should instead use this time to work on my coding skills instead. 

Back in the climbing gym

So I rested a whole week before I went back to the climbing gym. The feet were hurting the entire week. I felt tired every day. It's not very efficient to strain oneself for 1.5 weeks of adventurous holidays and then take an entire week to recover, but I guess I was just falling back into my usual laziness. The trip showed me that my body could adapt to a more active lifestyle should I choose to adopt it.

Climbing in a gym feels soooo different than climbing outside. My feet don't need to press down quite as hard as they do on the rocks. There are no wind currents blowing by, no birds flying over my head, no spiders or other large insects strolling past my hands, no geckos/lizards, no thorny bushes to rip open the skin on my hands, arms and legs, and in general a lot fewer unexpected encounters for my brain to process/worry about. There are only the handholds, the next moves, and the height to deal with. I felt so much more comfortable and grateful to be back in the gym after a week on the rocks. It's a very strange feeling given how much I enjoyed climbing outside, directly next to the gorgeous blue Mediterranean Sea. 

When started out I had no clue how to move my hands and feet to go up the wall. Now I'm at a stage where I know exactly what I should do -- usually: do a slight pull up with my arms, then move one foot to the next foot hold, which is a move initiated from the hip flexors. But my leg won't do what my brain tells it to do, either because I'm too tired, or that I don't believe my body can do this move, or that once the foot is in the air, it has trouble landing comfortably on the next foothold securely enough to take on some of my body weight, so my 2 hands and my other foot begin to feel my body weight more, and the brain begins to panic that I can't hold this position for much longer. So my brain knows the different things I can try: shift body positions slightly, try placing the foot in a different way or somewhere else, or place it where I wanted to place it, then move the other foot up quickly, then hands up quickly, until I get to somewhere with secure feet again so I am rest and calm down my nerves.

It's a bit like learning a dance move. Except on the ground, one can just rehearse the move, do it badly several time to get the gist of the general direction of where arms and legs and body are supposed to go, and then work on the details of the aesthetics. On the wall, panic sets in every time a move is not done well because the brain worries the body is not strong enough to pull off the move and one can fall off. Here we have the procedural-planning side of the brain who is proud to have figured out a procedure to go about the sport route, but the safety-check side of the brain is like "You might not be strong enough to execute the moves", and freezes the hip flexor so I cannot actually lift my leg. Even though I can probably override it, but I do feel sore, so I ask my belay partner to tighten the rope and I hang and rest, and then feel a little bad that I didn't try harder to complete the move.

When I was outside, the thought of falling and rubbing my body on the rock wall like pressing a chunk of cheese over a cheese grater was just too horrendous, so I definitely erred on the side of caution. Now that I am indoors again, the moves feel really different from the moves I did outside. So I wonder if indoor training is good enough for improving my climbing outside. My conclusion is that indoor mainly helps me get stronger overall so that I can eventually hang onto the wall longer and try several different moves, instead of having to hang and essentially skip the hard parts of a challenging route.

I'm looking forward to being able to move more smoothly on the wall and having fewer of these moments where my body is unable to execute a move due to internal fights between different parts of my brain.