the battle of projecting

So many things have happened since I last posted. I'm not sure how to write about it and not have it a jumbled mess! I'll have to break it into a few posts. I'll start this one by saying Bishop is still my love. The land, climbing, and people. I met a few new people while being here, but they were friends of friends. I had a great crew to climb with the entire month.  I bouldered, mini tractioned at Pine Creek and got on sport and a little trad at Owens. I even shot a gun for the first time ever! 

The weather was amazing and everyday produced a smile. Even those days I was super frustrated about not sending. It was a lesson/reality check I so badly needed.

I showed up to Bishop and started sending a few of my projects. I was super stoked and felt strong.  Therefore, like normal I just continued to climb everyday and would take a rest day only when I really needed it. I became hooked on several problems adding at least one new project a day to my list. As my list grew my body began to fade. However, I wouldn't acknowledge it. I specifically became obsessed with Skye Dance up at the Druids and the Froz at the happys. Both of these are problems I was able to make every move, I just needed to link the whole thing.  

Thats the Froz behind me...didn't take pics just some videos but didn't send so I don't feel like posting ;)

We often would do night sessions at the happys and I would go a little earlier than the boys, warm up and then go to the Froz.  It is a V7, which is harder than I have ever sent, but it was such a tease as I was able to do every move! No move felt crazy hard, I was able to do it in two parts and I just needed to connect it. I would spent 2 hrs trying it over and over again, finally giving up when I could no longer do the first three moves and go support the boys and give action figure a few burns. The next day I would be WORKED!!! To the point I could barely pull on V2s. I couldn't understand why I was so tired...DUH cause a V7 no matter how it feels is going to work me! Especially when I spent 2 hrs trying it and then worked a V6 after it. (I am in the V5 range of climbing most 5s I still have to work hard on and try several times and many V5s still shut me down.)

Skye Dance has an amazing approach...haha, but really I enjoy it and was hiking the Druids 2 times a week. Basically anytime someone would go up! This problem is so amazing and most people probably finish it in 10 moves and I think I have 20 something moves including two knee bars a heel hook and a toe hook. Again I had my beta dialed and just needed to do it.

Both of these problems became such obsessions of mine it turned into a mental issue. I would be climbing so smooth and then the last tough move would get in my head. I would start questioning if I could do it, wait on crappy crimps or pinches and waste energy and ultimately not send. It started to affect my personality and mood. I noticed one day I kind of felt down...how the heck could I feel down I have been climbing for 9 months! There is no reason to feel this way. That is when I put myself in check and decided to take advice from a friend who always says 3 tries and if there is no progress move on. There were so many fun problems I missed out on climbing simply because I allowed all of my energy to go to two specific problems. Yes these were really fun climbs, but were they worth all of the energy and mental space? Was it the movement of the climb or the attainability of the grade? Am I a number chaser? 

I started to really think about why I climb and no I'm not a number chaser, but I do enjoy feeling progress and seeing accomplishment within myself. And yes I can honestly say I enjoyed the movement of these two climbs, I just approached them wrong. In the end projecting is not really my thing. I will stick to the three attempts and move on method.