Tuesday, December 1, 2009

A good day

I was so comfortable in my bed this morning.
I carried Ava on my shoulders through the snow down to Montessori, studied a bit then prepared to head out for a short day of grappling. I picked up Kim with her brand new BD Mondo which barely fit into my volvo (good thing I forgot my dog) and we headed out to The Draw.
Pottery Wall was a veritable solarium and we basked in the warmth of the sun in our tank tops and casually commented on the snow all over the ground. A red tail hawk flew overhead and we felt lucky to live in Flagstaff.
My warm ups went, but they didn't feel easy.
We headed to the Puzzle Box Roof and padded up Cosmic Tricycle sit (v10). I had been trying it before Thanksgiving and was starting to get frustrated by my inability to latch the top hold. I worked out some new beta for the ending, cranked the Ting Tings and prepared for attempt #1.
SEND
I rejoiced at the top feeling vindicated after putting myself through mental anguish for not sending over the four days I had worked it.
We can really be hard on ourselves can't we?
I was still psyched about my send when we headed over to The Black Roof. To my surprise I did the "easy" problem on the left first try. (And that thing always feels hard.) So I decided to work out some beta for The Black Hole (v10) which starts on the right side of the black roof and traverses across it finishing on the most awkward problem in the Priest Draw. I hadn't been able to do the first move for years (like 4.5) and I hit the pinch my first try. I thought to myself, "Wow, that felt kinda easy. Weird." So I started working the next couple moves and thought to myself that I would work on it from the start cause its kinda long (13 moves +) and maybe one day I'd just gain the right endurance to send it. So I spotted Kim on her problem and we chatted for a bit and I decided I'd just try it from the start.
I hit the first hold and it felt good. I grabbed for the second hold (a shallow slimper) and stuck it. I scrambled my feet to push for the third long move to a small crimp. Stick. I jammed my right foot in a hole and made a very big cross, my feet swung and I stabbed them to the wall. Stick.
Oh cuss. What am I going to do now? I hadn't worked out the beta? I hear Kim behind me, "Go for it, you can do this." So I cut my feet and campused for four moves on good holds. But then I had to finish up on that sh*tty problem that is so awkward and hard. I hear her again say, "You just this one, you know this ending. You can do it." I pasted my feet to the wall, shook out my numb hands and pushed for it. Stick, stick, stick.
SEND
Holy cuss, I just did 2 v10's in less than an hour. !!!
This was by far the best climbing day I've ever had. And the season has just begun.
I feel strongly that most of this sudden ability has been locked away in my mind. A fear of success? Not realizing full potential? One thing is for sure. I know my potential now and I'm not giving in to old habits. It's okay to be humble but not to a fault. When humbleness holds you back from success is it worth all the hard work? It's okay to succeed and be happy about that success.
I worked really hard to get here.
I think I'll let myself enjoy this one.

Video coming soon.

2 comments:

  1. Congrats! You're on a roll, now go hit up Hueco :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow carrie. Mad props on a sick day. You inspire crippled ol me. Going to hit flock and quantum next week and see how my shoulder holds up, maybe i can channel some of your psyche!

    ReplyDelete

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