Innsbruck

Once Grindelwald wrapped up, there was one week until the next World Cup in Innsbruck. Seb, Cedar and I headed north to Zurich where we were given an opportunity which shouldn’t go past: to train with the Swiss team and their head coach, Urs. My vow for the coming trainings was simply to jump, jump and jump again. My dedication to this promise was held 60% the first day which is really good by my standards. Our second training session was with Urs and his team so we followed their program which thankfully included enough jumps for my liking. Normally I climb a lot by myself which I know isn’t the best for pushing oneself and summoning a healthy competitive spirit, so this session with his team and Momoko Odo from Japan was very good for me. It forced me to try things outside my comfort zone, to see past some of my own beliefs about myself and also gave me a chance to see how others train. 

The first problem went well but then it hit the fan. It would be a very good skill to be able to take a step back and breath in a moment of pause but perhaps I drank too much caffeinated tea for there was no slowing down for this bird. I was close on getting the bonus for the second problem which resulted in too many attempts meaning less quality with my effort. I felt the old familiar feeling of doubt run through my body. I opted to let it just be there while I tried to keep focused on the holds. It was heavy and cumbersome but I didn’t let it take me down to the depths of despair which was somewhat liberating. The next in line was a huge, ridiculous dyno. I walked away with half the time left, reasoning to myself that I was saving energy for the remaining two. I understand my running away but in retrospect, I won’t make that mistake of avoidance again. For the third, I didn’t think so clearly in terms of beta or anything else for that matter and fell into a narrow tunnel of the same beta over and over even though my mind had considered other options. Finally my hope lay on the last and final problem. It was a slab which was in my favor. But again, it required some coordination with legs and a long reach to a bulbous feature. After many attempts I finally got past the first hard move and edged towards the bonus only to be pulled off by the buzzer. God dam. So close and yet, so far…