This morning's local competition at Focus, Mesa, was a little rough. I arrived with high expectations. Ever since Nationals, I've been training longer, harder, and better than ever before. However, I definitely didn't go into it at one hundred percent: my left wrist has been in a brace for two days, I pulled a muscle in my right shoulder, and the tendons in my right wrist have been hurting for two weeks (backstory: for a scary ten minutes, I completely lost feeling in my right hand). But either way, I decided my injuries were too minor to keep me out of the first local of the season.
About a third of the way through the three-hour redpoint competition, my friends and I decided to try a highly committing route. I'm rating it V5-6. It was slightly overhung and the last move was a) high, at 15 feet up, and b) an awkward, painful dyno. My first attempt on it, I jumped for the last hold and fell, landing hard on--of course--my hands. My wrists took the brunt of the impact, unfortunately, and as I stood up I realized that continuing to climb might not be the best idea. Nevertheless, three minutes later I got back on the route and became one of two girls to send the route during that competition.
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| On A6, sticking the fateful dyno. Photo: Kyle |
I did climb out the remaining two hours, but it was rough going. My wrists hurt and the gym was packed full of people. By the end of the day, I was ready to be done. I skipped out of awards, catching a ride home with a fellow team member. Through texting my coaches, however, I found out that I had placed second. I've never placed that highly in a local before, and I was psyched to represent my team and all of my extra training this way.
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| Represent! Photo: Kyle |
