mental illness

Over the past 2 years, climbing has become something that continues to grow inside of me. Like the little alien that bursts out of the dudes stomach in "Spaceballs", just like climbing is pushing to get out of me...every chance it gets. The more focused i get, the more i want to be on the rock, or ice for that matter. This spring has proven to be a strong start to the rock season. I feel a lot stronger than in previous years and am more focused than ever before. I guess I just want it real bad, to climb harder grades, get to new places with different rock/routes, and just plain old be a stronger climber.

Last week I got my nuts chopped! The ol' "Snip Snip". It's all good, i'm cool with the idea. But what was hard was sitting on the couch and not moving for three days. I gained 8lbs and was not impressed. Mentally, it was killin' me, especially because before the surgery i was really close to sending my project. Naturally, during my "time off" all i could think about was the route. Every move, going over them in my head, making sure that i didn't miss a hold. It was like i was climbing it every 10 minutes. I almost felt a sense of success i was so into it (in my mind that is). After 3 days of rest i decided that enough was enough. I got my gear together, waddled to the truck and drove to the project. Naturally, even walking to the cragg it was super sore, never mind strappin' into my harness and saddling up for an intense climb. Well, i barely made it past the warm up routes, but still focused and driven towards the proj. Getting on it was purely a bad idea. Working my way up the route, everything hurt from the waist down. Not a good day to try and send my project.

The project never happened, however i did sort a couple of moves out, making it easier for the sending attempts to come. From this experience, i learned that my head is mentally in the game. That i am driven and focused and that i really do want to push harder in this sport. I love climbing, no matter what the situation is, what the conditions are, and what limitations i may have.

ps. It snowed 10cm's yesterday but we still went out. The night of climbing was cold and there was snow on the ground, however it was still a great outting and good for training.

(Here's a video that was made for 3 ball climbing holds)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0KDJVFp9rw