For a number of reasons it has taken me weeks, well, many extended weeks, to start this blog. First off all , telling folks about my indoor comp life as of late does not really seem that exciting as does talking about my being plagued by a badly behaving shoulder. On top of that writing about my gym climbing abilities or there of lack of seems somewhat like self sabotage which is not really a healthy habit as some wiser folks would point out. Mind you, this post is just about that.
This time of year I am usually walking in the desert sun with fresh air in my face, sore finger tips and a trashed body resulting from a full day out on rock the shade of crimson. However, not this time around. As I sit here in front of a computer, in a warm house, my van sits outside stuck in a pile of snow and ice. The air is fresh, but it is bitter cold. The sun is bright but offers no warmth. I find myself in unfamiliar surroundings yet feel completely at home. On January of this year I decided to spend some time climbing plastic. Though I love the rock, the road, being outside more than anything, too much of a good thing can sometimes be taken for granted. So what a better place to remove myself from such an Eden and do some training than in a gym.

My visit north to Montréal corresponded with the timing of some local Tour De Bloc competitions. I hadn’t climbed on plastic in a few months and even then it was limited to a sporadic day that usually corresponded to something called rain. With 2 weeks to prepare for a comp that most others had been preparing for since September I had my work cut out for me, physically and mentally. My climbing style is anything but the dynamic bouncy jumping around that I find myself trying to improve on these days. Plastic is anti-Thomo style. Jumping and swinging from limb to limb doesn’t really compare with the movement I am accustomed to. Climbing outside is something I am use to, something that I feel; it is something that I do naturally without question and with psych. Needless to say, plastic is different and far from my ‘specialty’, but I want to get better at it. Besides, it’ll make me stronger for outside.
So apparently at every comp there is lesson or two to be had. This comp went well considering the 2 weeks I had to prepare though I am not sure if I had fun. I didn’t really know anyone though people I didn’t know approached me while the mc shouted out some of my accomplishments while I was competing all of which were embarrassing. They seemed to have expectations of me knowing what I had done outside without really knowing what my gym and comp experience was. Don’t they know that climbing real rocks and climbing in a gym, let alone in a comp, are two completely different worlds!!!
The problems at the comp were pretty good though I was surprised how easy the final problems were compared to the qualifiers. Though I did all the final problems, I didn’t flash them so there was the difference. Someone told me once that comps are such a big mental game and this was just the start of my lessons. Every comp since has taught me more. I didn’t realize flashing was so important. Flashing in itself is a skill that takes lots of practice which I obviously need to work on. There seems to be a hard wire in my brain that needs to be reprogrammed to the “flash mode”. It is really something I never focused on and even still it is not my priority.
Unfortunately after this comp I strained my shoulder. It would have been in my best interest to wait at least 2 or 3 weeks till I started to climb again but no, that couldn’t happen, I had plans. Low and behold, not until much later did I finally realize the full extent of my impatience. Climbing with an injury sucks. I didn’t get stronger, I got weaker. I didn’t heal, my body didn’t get the break it needed, and I lost what could have been productive training time. Result, I ended up taking way more rest then I maybe would of, spent way too much money on physiotherapy and am still working at getting it back to the no pain stage. It felt promising for a week when I climbed pain free but then it’d hurt again. I’d rest some, climb some, it’d feel fine and voila, pain… a vicious cycle.

Regardless of my shoulder, I still wanted to compete. I wanted the experience and to learn. The time between the first comp and last I focused on healing and trying to ‘get in shape’ for the upcoming comps. Does that make sense at all? No, but anyway! The Montreal comp was super fun, the best of the 4 I have so far participated in. The problems were interesting, hard and varied. The qualifiers were hard as were the final problems. I knew a lot of the people and felt more at home which makes any environment fun. I am sure the lesson I had taken from this one was again, flash climbing but also to work on my weaknesses: dynamic movements and general fitness and endurance!!
The ottawa comp was a different story. Though I had tons of friends around my focus was not there. Feeling rather stressed out and nervous, I questioned my ability to the point of not trying certain problems. My shoulder was hurting on certain moves and my confidence was suffering. I did a number one comp no-no which is to watch what others were doing. I was paying too much attention to what others were doing instead of focusing on what I could do. Ironically, I felt like someone was watching me which bothered me even more. I was watching and being watched… hmmm! Feeling very insecure in my abilities and not having fun at all, I almost tore up my scorecard but a friend with years of comp experience gently slapped me in the face. She reminded me to believe in myself and to pay no attention to others. “You have no control over what they do but you do have control over what you do.” Once I got out of my way and stopped watching and comparing myself to others, I found my focus and started to not only have fun again, but also to send some problems which helped get me into the finals. I flashed all the final problems but the win went back to qualifiers which clearly weren’t in my favor. Though I was happy that my flashing skills were improving I also kind of think it might have been due to the fact that the final problems, though good, were too easy and straight forward.
So the next comp was regional’s. My shoulder was feeling pretty good up until the last climbing day when I tweaked a little something. Thankfully it didn’t hurt when I woke up on the morning of the comp so I was about as psyched as I could get for a comp. The qualifiers were fun though I didn’t feel as powerful as I would have wanted, perhaps a little too much training the last few climbing sessions before, again, another lesson learned! There were some problems I didn’t do that many others did and I realized I still have a lot to learn, from flashing, jumping and especially learning how to summoning the ‘grrr’ on command, something I can easily do if psyched on something outside. When I realized I didn’t make it to finals I had a mini meltdown. When packing up my bag I tried to put myself in it as well. I don’t know why I cared so much, I guess I had dedicated some time to the gym and I wanted to see results. That said, if one doesn’t have the proper “comp head” measuring if one is getting better or not especially in a comp scenario is a bad idea for the confidence.


![]() |
eating extremely well at a cabana sucre… YUM! |
If anything, I wouldn’t trade these past 3 months for a week outside. Learning about my physical and mental habits is invaluable as is the journey to questioning why I climb. Besides that, spending time with old friends, new friends, eating ‘Cubans’, improving my French and all the goodness outside of the climbing time are invaluable. A brief trip to Pawtuckaway for the Easter weekend revived my psych! To end, I reckon it was a good thing to put myself in these awkward positions. For anyone to step out of their comfort zone and into the unfamiliar is always, a hard but good thing.
I still remember the day you came back from your very first day at Whistler climbing gym! I think you were hooked from day one, no? It's awesome to see you're still doing it. xoxo with love
Love the blogs Thomasina, and feel very, very similarly to you about gym climbing. It kinda' sucks, but it's kinda' fun. ONLY if I can get outside at -least- on the weekends is it fun, b/c that's why I'm there for the most part. Lately, it wasn't so fun, even though I go to a great gym, just b/c I hadn't been outside in so long. But a nice trip to 11worth put things back into perspective and voila! I'm enjoying the gym again 🙂
Keep on rockin' it, and truckin' it.
Great post Thomo! It was interesting to read your perspective on comps. I'm sure you've learned a ton. You gonna be competing in Nationals this weekend?
thanks Jamie,
as luck would have it, i am Still in Montreal. I was waiting for some stuff 4 europe aka passsports soooo… yes i will be….! erugeeks! YOU?
🙂