Psyched

As I type this entry, I feel excited. I have never felt this high of a level of psyche for climbing outside in many months. It has seemingly been built up as a result of climbing indoors all of late fall and winter. I feel strong and consistent and ready to try harder projects. Only thing that is hindering my projects at Mortar (Impossible Wall) were not enough pads for the high start. I have since eschewed my original intent to start high and have given thought to the possibility of starting where I don't need a ton of pads.

And how do you garner this psyche? For myself, it was a combination of multiple things. Cutting my hair has seemed to help me be more relaxed, climbing a lot regardless of difficulty, climbing with people who have retaught me not to give a shit about if I don't send (Will Rathavongsa, Bryan Creed, Chris Bloch). . . all of these have played an integral part to fueling my psyche. Trying to find words for how this feels is impossible right now. It's nice that I was able to get outside a lot of days already this new year. Four days but it feels like I've tried a lot, even though I haven't. And knowing that I have a week off only helps me get psyched to go outside even more when it's not bad weather.

I'm excited to set routes for the Bridges community this coming Tuesday on the West Wall. I have many ideas thanks to climbing outside these past couple of days. Ideas that you can only hope they turn out half as good as they are in your head. It's just plastic and my views on climbing on plastic have changed drastically. It's gone from, "Oh this doesn't count," and "It's not important what I do inside," to "This is fun and I've been fooling myself and being such a punk." Plastic climbing IS STILL climbing. Whether you choose to except reality or not, you're still climbing. No it's not the same as climbing on real rock, but that does not mean you don't have to try hard ONLY outside. Try hard on anything you get on. What's the point if you're not trying? Why try at all? Even if it's below you're maximum limit, try to do a climb with repositioning your hands and feet. Place them where they feel good and move. Don't waste energy or time. . . GO. That's a form of training I've been practicing (thanks Scot Jenerik, or would have never learned that).

Basically, listen to your self and your body. Rest when you need to. I have taken a week off and come back feeling way stronger than before. Rest time helps too. You can climb 17 days on, but if you push it to a certain point there's a high possibility of injury that could put you out of the game for MONTHS.

And no one wants that.

Thanks for reading!