A quick word here.

Happen to chance upon Paul Soo's little writeup on facebook here. Please read it, from a hardworking and sincere man's heart. Set me thinking about alot things really, especially after a tiring day of training.

I've been trying to kickstart the momentum to start training for my 2014 season. Managed to take a little off days after Rockmaster and squeeze in a hot yoga session (more to come!). But its time i clipped on my chalkbag and get to those training boards again. Trying something new this time, venturing and experimenting with different training drills and activities. Currently working on my pull-up pyramids and its been giving me some problems. I cant sustain even halfway through my stairs. :( My max pull-up count as of now probably stands at only 10, compared to 18 last time (I use this as a rough gauge). Not sure whats wrong, but after 3 sessions, I think I'm gonna start on the base again and do my reps of 10. Im really picky about quality, so when I see myself failing on simple things, I dislike compromising the quality of it, just because.

Went to the lead wall to get some climbs done, with the intention of getting my moves and grooves back on the wall. Experience really bad setbacks, pure endurance wise. Hazlee tells me that there are 2 kinds of climbers. The one who boulders to complement the lead climbing, and the one who boulders and lead climb to enjoy.

Must really give Mason a pat on the back for shaking me up and talking to me about climbing altogether.

Climbing not to send, but to enjoy and push yourself - Chris Sharma. 

Its been a long time since I've felt all that.

The boulder season this year has been rather lengthy, compared to the previous years since I started climbing and training for competitions (5 years).

Rockmaster 2013, organised by SPRC, was the last of the last bouldering competition here in Singapore. So I though this event was definitely worth writing down.

The previous weeks were marked with NTU's Bouldermania and SIM Vertigo. I took part in my first Open Men qualifiers during Bouldermania and only managed 1 bonus from the flat walls haha. But the overall experience was quite thrilling, although routes were remarkable hard! But I am looking towards testing and challenging myself more next time!

Hitting the only bonus for my OM qfy in Bouldermania

SIM Vertigo was a huge knock on my door as I battled with myself mentally and physically. The weeks before these comps were not taken seriously, I had little focus and concentration during my climbing sessions and perhaps was feeling rather burnt out. I've been carrying on the momentum since last year when I started training for Feb 2013 TNFC Japan. But excuses aside, I was glad to have had this experience in that I learned more about my mistakes and weaknesses.

Heres a little list of my mistakes and weaknesses:

1) Warm up
Sometimes we take things for granted. We think we are still young. We are not. HAHA.

2) Focus
I got a little carried away doing my maths homework during isolation. Usually I switch on my zen mode and mentally psych myself up. But this little mental workout got me feeling a little tired and not in the mood for some serious climbing.

3) Beta
It has come to a point in which I have a whole cupboard full of possible betas that might suit a possible route. I forget to see and think about a route based on how the routesetter actually intends the route to be and to climb it that way. This is something important that competitive climbers have to think about.

4) Flashes
I lost my mindset towards needing to flash a route. Because of the format of our competition, flashing is an important aspect of the competition. It should not be a "go and try" thing, but a "go and finish it in one go like a boss" thing. This, I believe, also takes abit of practice, and we cannot just walk from the gym into a competition scene just like that without working and putting your mind to it.

5) Physical
I need to work on more power, more locking, more on-the-go-locks, more dynamic movement, more confidence in latching on. Basically, as I look at how some climbers in the world cup climb, I see something that I want to include in my climbs: that sureness, the confidence, the smooth flow when they climb. No hesitations. I get that alot, and it throws your momentum off, it makes your muscles jitter and not react in a way you want them to, it makes you pumped and you overgrip. Most of all, it makes you fall.

Indeed it was really humbling for me during SIM Vertigo, having been hitting podiums for most of the local competitions so far, and yet finding myself stuck in an area I had moved off from a long time ago. I did some reflective thinking in between and started looking at others and the way they climb. I find out what is it that they have and use to get to were they are, and I'm learning to use those too. I had forgotten what it was like to keep fighting for that coveted spot in the finals. Yes, I took things for granted. :'S Disappointed, I was.

Uncomfortable moves in this SIM qfy moves which threw me off.

Because Rockmaster was the week after SIM Vertigo, I made sure I switch my mindset. Forget about "training", there wasnt enough time. I took my climbing sessions with more drive. I climbed the way I want to climb during the competition, more swing, more power, more confidence. I ate up as many routes as I could during my climbing sessions, I also went back to the fingerboards to feel my arms pull my bodyweight repeatedly in one go. I need to feel what it was like to feel the tension in my core, my body rocking in over my knees, my toes edging the foothold and pulling me to the next handhold. It is the kind of familiarity I needed to feel, in terms of body movement and positioning, that I took for granted that my body knew. I was someone on a mission right there.

The hype for Rockmaster 2013 was amazing, and thats the way it was supposed to be. Format was different from our bonus-top system, and attempts almost did not matter as much as progressing to the top. Qualifiers was fantastically fun and it was different in that I was actually working hard to get some ascents. Took quite a few attempts in some routes, but eventually still managed to work my way to the top of the qualifiers. Well, its not the first time that im ranked 1st on the board and last to climb, but somehow I am less daunted by the fact that I will be climbing last of the women in the finals. (Level up!) I wished I had some videos, especially of the last route in which we had to "land" on a big volume tile in order to end. Took a few funny tries to get that one!

Nice wooden panels for RM13 and lighting too!

OW qfy results

Finals was a big show. It was the grand finale. Lightshow can win TNFC Japan. It was like rockclubbing. And it certainly was a privilege to be in such a finals. I missed the one last year, so glad I made it this year! The finalists were introduced from the top of the walls and the crowd and lights were really sensational. ;)