Monthly Archives: January 2012

Word to the Wise

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Upon reading an article written by Andrew Bisharat, I decided to copy the wonderful “lessons” posted both to share and as a reminder for myself. I would definitely encouraging reading the entire article if you have the time. If not, reflect shortly and keep these invaluable thoughts in mind for the future:

 

Lesson: You tend to compare yourself to others in the fleeting, present moment—a waste of time. The only thing that ultimately matters is how You compare to Yourself in the past. These bearings—not those marked by others—should guide you.

Lesson: If you want to get better, climb with people who are better than you.

Lesson: Find out what you like in life. Don’t be afraid to listen to what is inside.

Lesson: Never let a route’s grade or reputation deter you from trying it.

Lesson: Find ways to stay encouraged or else you won’t make it.

Lesson: Motivation that stems from your ego is fragile and short lived. Lasting motivation comes from within.

Lesson: Always try.

 

Would also like to congratulate my boy Drexel Bakker on his first v8, after having added about seven v7s to his sent list just over the holiday break alone. He has been climbing just short of a year and a half.  Psyched for my friends who are dedicated and constantly hungry for pushing theirselves and their own limits. To the lessons, I would add “surround yourself with those who do not pressure, but inspire you to be the very best you, yourself can be.”

Happy training, climbing, and doing what you love,

Mdawg

 

 

I don’t know man, I think you should try MY beta..

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Well hell-fire and devil spit — It has been a hot minute since my last blog post. I attribute most of this to the realization that no matter what one does, the act of not only writing but maintaining a blog about one’s climbing experiences is inevitably going to seem very self-absorbed and narcissistic. As long as bloggers have a healthy knowledge of how somewhat-conceited we may sound, I suppose it’s fine. And thus, this small and untied end of my train of thought somehow renewed my psyche to post again.

Friends and I have been climbing the past few weeks at Rumbling Bald, known for assholery parking jobs, incredible amounts of bouldering and good amount of trad/sport. (Bouldering clearly being the more important of the three :)   ) Temps have been unusally awesome, being 45-50ish degrees and sunny most weekends. While warming up takes about an hour of sh*t talking and tough, futuristic no-hand proj ascents, the climbing which follows has always been pretty amazing.

A video by Drexel Bakker illustrates the sends that went down this past weekend. Everyone killed it and I was so psyched to see everyone look so damn strong and psyched in the middle of winter. I’ll post it as soon as he does!

It’s not a blog post without lame spray, so I will say that I sent my first climb harder than v5 since my injury which is only significant in the way I felt, which was zero pain in my middle finger which sustained a flexor unit strain. I took two months off from climbing and got back into it in the past couple weeks. I was more psyched that I was feeling pain-free than anything. It was my first v8 too. (I’ll note that local crusher Kelley Burns supplied the psyche by doing it first and with a quickness!!!! which was awesome to see.)

I also got to see old friends from the area and meet new strong climbers. One girl from Charleston who was super nice and SUUUPER strong sent the Politician (v8) the next day. We laughed and caught up during the day, then went on to our next projects. Other ladies were also crushing it this weekend and it was definitely inspiring to be around strong girls, though I do love my bros and get psyched watching them crush problems that make me feel like a nOOb. It is really nice to meet cool new girls and guys who are competitive only with themselves and do not make climbing into a competition with other people. Nothing says ‘I love Climbing’ like worrying if you are better than the person next to you.

Now back to Boone and ready for school, I am sketching my plan of attack to put my focus and energy into school, relationships, climbing and training. Balancing these things can feel impossible at times, but I have said that for so long and with so little effort. I am determined to know for myself that these things can work in harmony with one another without one consuming my attention above the others (cough, cliiiimbing?) With people, with education, and with sports/hobbies, people should really be fueled and invigorated with who/what they are involved in. If something feels draining, it obviously does not support the best person you can be. We should forever be in the search for that thing (or why impose a limit? those thingSSS) which inspire us and bring a newfound source of energy that makes us burn through life as passionate individuals. That is the quest this semester.

 

…or I could just go rock-climb.

 

Flexor Unit Strain part IV, so close!

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The fourth blog inundated with my process dealing with a flexor unit strain and recovery methods:

 

I have to say it, WOOOOOfareakinHOOOOO! This is my second month of complete rest and cross training in the hopes of creating a safe way to come back to climbing and my finger is feeling incredible. In my last post I illustrated a week by week account of everything done to (hopefully) facilitate a speedy recovery, and knock on wood, this may be my last super thorough post about this darn injury! Here’s the “recovery spray”:

Week 8/9: Re-introduction to climbng.

After using the pro-hands gripmaster lightly with my hurt hand without feeling any pain whatsoever, I decided to begin an extremely slow re-introduction to climbing. A local non-climbing gym houses the only rotating climbing wall in western NC, so I jumped on a short-term membership faster than Kelley Burns on my unfinished plates of baked goods. The rotating climbing wall allows you to set the speed as well as incline for your climbing. I began at vertical to slabby climbing for about half an hour each day. After a while the temptation was too great, and after a great warmup, stretching, and drinking enough water, I made the incline steeper and steeper (gradually.) You appreciate your psyche levels so much more, even if you are pulling on jugs, when you climb at 15 or 30 degree inclines and do not experience pain, let me tell you! I felt like a newbie all over again and it was the greatest feeling ever.

The hardest part about getting back into climbing after an injury is discipline and holding back. When you climb for the first time in months and feel “good”, it can be easy to assume that a pain free 10 minutes of jug climbing equals immediate return to projects outside. Thankfully from friends’ experiences and wisdom, I knew this was not the case, so even though I felt awesome and craved more, I took a step away from the machine and continued on with other exercises that were not climbing related.

After a week of ^ that, a friend came into town wanting to climb at Rumbling Bald. I was super hesitant about climbing with him, knowing that I had not yet climbed outside let alone for the past couple of months. I didn’t want to think of myself as anywhere near the same level as him and risk injury, but I went with the mentality that I would warm up well, stretch well, and not push it no matter what. I climbed a v0 probably 10 times, and set my sights and climbing ”cap” on a v3. I did it many times that day without pain, and was extremely tempted to get on harder things. The one word I had to bring to mind was patience! It was SO sick watching my friend Kelley crush though and do all the moves do a v8 he had his sights on before he had even visited the bald. His last burn of the day almost brought the send, but fatigue won and he was psyched to try the next day.

(Also, throughout all of this, I continued taking fish oil, zinc, vitamin C, and a natural anti-inflammatory daily combined with a nightly ice bath. extra cautious? best believe…)

The next day the same warmup was done for me but this time tried to do a crimpy v4 called Dime Crack. This climb was a pretty great test, for my feet cut twice to reset a heel and both times I did not feel any pain in the finger. Newbie psyche was high and I didn’t care at all how hard I was climbing. I was freakin climbing! My joy was comparable to a child in a candy store. A very, very tubby child.

Next we went to Brackish Water, v8 that Kelley was psyched on. He almost day flashed it but sent it a few goes later in such a good effort. I literally was beaming with excitement for him (haha totally cheesy but true) and as he stuck the final move, screamed “oh my FU*KING god I am pumped!” his audience of hikers were impressed for sure. I later tried the first move of the problem, and after figuring out that I had to use a heel by my hand instead of a lower heel I stuck it! I later did all the moves to the problem without my finger hurting. I would be pretty ecstatic if that was my first send after so much waiting to come back to climbing. We both worked out our moves for Pit BBQ too which is a gorgeous climb. It was so awesome to meet new climbers too and see them crush their own new problems. If my rambling doesn’t give it away, I am pretty happy to be back to climbing. :)

If I had any non-professional advice to give, I would say even with a couple days of climbing outside again and trying harder things, I would still not believe myslef to be 100%. I know my finger strength and muslces are not quite as strong as a few months ago and will probably spend more time taking it slow and knowing that my whole body needs to catch up, as well as the muslce groups specifically for climbing. Good luck to any injured folks out there and stay strong as healthy to all those who aren’t. Hope everyone is still enjoying an awesome season! (ps- check out local crusher and dear friend Drexel Bakker’s latest rocktown/LRC video. areas lookin gawgeous! http://vimeo.com/34483477)

-mdawg