Post-Rumney and Fall/Winter goals

Fall temperatures are finally coming (according to all the instagram climbers I follow talking about “Sendtember”) and so I wanted to organize my goals and gym training plans/ideas as well as recap Rumney and look forward to my Red Rocks trip in October.

After visiting for the first time in mid August, I had the chance to go back to Rumney only a few weeks later for round 2. During my first trip, we did some bouldering where I was able to send a PR for outdoors, and also sampled many of the crags and type of style offered in the area. I think my favorite experience on that trip was doing Millenium Falcon (5.10 c) where I was able to utilize my first hand jam to get through a crux section; all it takes is that first taste of crack and I’m already thinking about and looking forward to delving into trad climbing! I also got to put in some work on Flesh for Lulu (5.12 a/b), doing most of the moves after an agonizing hour of hangdogging my way up the route.

With that in mind, I definitely wanted to finish Lulu on my return trip. The climb is quite long, though the first half is probably 5.10- climbing, before going into a crux section that can be overcome in multiple ways. Going left means using greasy slopers, going right has very sharp and unforgiving crimps, and both sides leave a lot to desire for the feet. I ended up using a combination of both sides, using right side crimps to gain a positive three finger sidepull on the left, adjusting feet higher, and bumping right hand to another sidepull and finally the jug. Unfortunately, the climb doesn’t end there, and continues for another 25-30 feet on very sustained, pumpy 5.11 moves, finishing with a slight traverse to the chains. On my first redpoint go, I ended up falling on the traverse with the chains in sight (classic punt…), but am very happy to have finished it my next go.

The rest of the trip was more relaxed and I hopped on some more Rumney classics including Waimea (5.10 d) and Black Mamba (5.11 c), with the latter something I’ll have to come back for. Overall, I can feel myself getting more comfortable with outdoor rock and style, especially since this is the 4th (!!) outdoor climbing trip of the year for me. It’s crazy to think that I’ve gone outdoors so many times this year (or maybe it’s so few times considering I’ve been jobless for 6 months…?) and still feel like there’s still so much to learn regarding the non-climbing stuff, i.e. practical, outdoorsy knowledge and know-how. I’m talking about getting lost trying to hike between crags when the trails are so well paved and in plain sight, or minimizing extra gear to take up on the approach, or camping shenanigans etc. My head game is also getting much better, as I definitely feel quite confident on boulder topouts now, but at the same time Black Mamba was a climb that walled me pretty much entirely because I couldn’t figure out how to confidently commit to a clip. I’m really happy that the outdoor experience continues to build though, and each epic story or failure pushes me to improve that much more for the next trip.

 

 

Now that I’m back, I’m thinking forward to Red Rocks which is about a month away. Although I don’t have any unfinished projects, I am excited to jump on New Wave Hookers (5.12 c) and some of the other climbs I have yet to try at Cannibal Crag. With how short the sport climbs are in Red Rocks and the fact that we will probably boulder at least one day, I am planning to do focus on training bouldering in the gym for the next few weeks. Specifically, I want to train with a focus on dynamic movement while also maintaining a regular core workout on my off days. I’ve been hitting the moonboard more often (which feels as hard or harder than before) and focusing more of my time on the inclined or 45 degree walls. I have a lot of work to do on pushing through my feet when doing deadpoints or dynamic movement, and I feel that doing bigger movements on the inclined walls will be a big help with that.

As for core, I do a combination of stretching, antagonistic muscle training, and core on my off days. It looks a little like the following:

• Stretching
  • Hips
  • Shoulders – arm circles
  • Wrists
• 3 sets of
  • Pushups – 25
  • Supermans – 15
  • Straight leg raises on pullup bar – 10
  • Core exercise of choice

It’s not super focused or specific yet, but I figure this will be a good introduction to building the habit of doing quick workouts on my non-climbing days. Once I hit a rhythm and get stronger, I will probably add more to the core workout. I already feel it paying off when I boulder and need to move both my feet or when I do problems in the cave. Excited to see how I feel in a few weeks!