This week was a bit odd for me, climbing-wise. I went out with some great people from the Clwyd Mountaineering Club on Tuesday but, due to me being a shy type and slightly nervous of new people, I messed up the actual climbing session by jumping straight on to stuff that was way too hard without any kind of warm-up (note to self - read your own blogs ). Anyway, more about that later. I knew I was going out again today, so I decided I was going to use it as a little blog story and make sure I warmed up and did all my usual pre-climb stuff today so I could report back on the contrast and climbing success I knew it would be. The best laid plans and all that....

In my great organisation of making sure I'd eaten at a good time, doing a bit of stretching at home to chill out a bit, and generally reminding myself to not skimp on the pre-climb preparations, I completely forgot to pack my climbing shoes! I didn't discover this until I was getting geared up at the base of the crag (after doing some joint rotations and light stretching, of course!). But at that point it dawned on me what I should be writing about really - not about warming up before doing hard climbs (everyone knows you should do that - right?!), but.......

Always make the most of any situation you're in...

So, as I mentioned, on Tuesday I found myself in this situation where I was half-way up a really hard climb (for me) with my forearms pumped out - and I'd really only just arrived. Straight after that I was on another slightly easier, but still too hard, climb. Part way up that one I caught up with myself and promptly started kicking myself for not warming up and just letting myself be led into doing these things which weren't right for me. But then I remembered something really important - afterwards I was going to be "logging good stuff", and that got me thinking about what the good stuff was in this situation. Logging good stuff - writing up what I did well at after every climbing session - is something I've got into the habit of doing since being introduced to it by Rebecca Williams of Smart Climbing during my coaching sessions with her. It's a fantastic way of making the most of every session, even in retrospect, and even if the standard ways people measure success (did I get to the top of every route?) don't happen. "I focused well on my footwork", "I sent that boulder problem I couldn't do last week", "I listened to my body and climbed easier stuff because I was tired", etc. etc. you get the picture. So my good stuff was that "I put in all the effort I could possibly muster and climbed until I fell". As a consequence, my focus for the session changed and I had a new goal - simply to push myself until my body gave in - and I succeeded!! I didn't get up a single climb cleanly and I took some insanely long falls but I succeeded in my goal so I came away happy with what I had achieved and pleased with my climbing effort and falling practise. If I had focused on the climbs as things to tick off, I would have failed miserably and left feeling bad about my climbing. As it was, I walked away smiling - and that's what it's all about!

Back to today then...

Ok, I'm back at the bottom of the crag, looking into my now empty rucksack at the utter absence of rock boots and I have a choice - feel rubbish, apologise to my climbing partner, and skulk home, or make the most of the situation. That's when I knew that, having made the most of the session earlier on in the week, I could surely make the most of this one! I wasn't going to be pushing the grades in my scruffy trainers, but if I was careful, I could still climb - so I went for it. As it happens, it was a very interesting experience. We get so much support from our climbing shoes - sticky rubber and snug fitting - and it's easy to forget the difference they make, and how climbers haven't always had the benefit of them. So I prepared myself mentally for climbing in less than ideal footwear. I was going to focus on very precise foot placements, keeping my weight pushing through the contact points at all times (especially when moving the rest of my body), and being meticulous with my body positioning so my weight was over my feet and off my hands. With that in my head, the two climbs I did were a joy! I revelled in the great body positions, in solving the problems the rock face was throwing at me, and in climbing really really well because I was totally focused on it! It forced me to remain aware of all the parts of my body and what they were doing, all the time. I had succeeded again and walked off smiling!

And the moral of this story is...

There are so many skills, both technically and psychologically, associated with climbing that it's always possible to learn or practise something worthwhile in any session. Positive reinforcement (and lots of big smiles) will always help to improve your climbing experience - and it will get you climbing those harder grades you want to do too! Make a point of always making the most of any situation you're in.