Hanging in there.....just!!
Having attended the Caravia round of the Copa de Búlder de Asturias y Open Escalada (an indoor bouldering competition) last month as a spectator I was psyched to enter the competition this time round. Being a competition virgin and not having had the chance to do any training due to illness and general busy-ness would ordinarily be enough to put me off but the atmosphere in Caravia was so good – so friendly and so much fun- that it totally inspired me to participate.
At Luarca, once again the atmosphere did not disappoint. With over 100 participants the standard of the climbers was very varied (fortunately, so I didn’t have to feel too embarassed by my poor performance.) It’s really a competition of two parts – the semi-finals in the morning are pretty much a free-for-all (or á la Americana as they call it), with the world and his wife taking part. From the semi-finals the ten highest scoring men and women progress to the afternoon finals, where the problems get harder and attempts are timed and on-sight.
The womens semi-finals consisted of 5 problems, with 2 straightforward slabs (which I flashed) and then 3 overhanging problems which were pretty hardcore, (none of which I topped out on, in common with many other of the ladies, apart from the few who made it to the finals.)
All good fun and I had a really good go on the overhanging problems – as borne testament to by the intense aches and stiffness that plagued me for a good 3 days afterwards!! My lack of warming up on the day was partially to blame for this (I was far too nervous and adrenalized to warm up – I just had to jump straight in and straight on the problems) but also the fact that there’s something about a competition that just makes you try harder. (I can say this now that I’m a competition veteran 
)
Sadly, it seems that Luarca was the last of this season’s bouldering competitions here in Asturias. For me it marks a starting point, however, a start to a new era of training (or so I hope!) The proof of all this will be plain to see next year, when I hope to enter (in the veteran’s category, God help me!!!) in Caravia. If I stick to my plan and keep my motivation up I must surely improve on my performance. I have my baseline now anyway – and it’s conveniently low….lol…
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