DIVISIONALS

HOLY COWWWW – what a CRAZY weekend!

If you don’t care about the whole story, then only read the last few paragraphs…. I talk about qualifers in the first part --- I would suggest reading the whole thing though…

Divisionals was crazier than I thought it would be. I was SUPER nervous, considering this was the last chance to make it to nationals. This is NOT like bouldering. NO, its MUCH, MUCH harder to make it to nationals (in my age division) – and I learned that this weekend.

So I was realllllllly nervous the week before, right? Well Kyle, my home gym route setter, was going to set for it and it took a lot of stress off of me considering I am used to his “style.” Then the day before I found out that they cancelled on him, and the stress and nervousness came to me and it didn’t go away the whole weekend. I was so freakin nervous! I have NEVER been nervous for ANY other comp besides this one. I was freaking out.

Anyways, then qualifiers came. Talk about the worst climbing day of my LIFE! I ate too much the night before which made me not hungry in the morning. (not to mention, I had to wake up at 6 nashville time after going to bed REALLY late…) So I crammed food into me and I felt so sick and heavy. I was a nervous wreck in isolation and I wasn’t any better when I got out to climb. I was the last person to go, so EVERYONE was watching me.

The first qualifers route was the sketchiest thing ever. IT SUCKED. (sorry, routesetters-that-arent-kyle-musgrove!) I got to the first clip and freakin BACKCLIPPED IT. Then I turned to my belayer at a sketchy stance and asked him if I had to re-clip, which TOTALLY got me out of the zone. Then there was this stupid awkward move and then I was on these bad holds that they expected us to clip off of…. and I knew that if I tried to clip then I would deck, so I decided to just fall. One clip. A few moves. And I fell. BUMMER!

The second route wasn’t any better. It was a sketch fest indeed. Some people didn’t even get the first clip, and I am not surprised….. did I mention that it was really high? yeah. The first clip was sketchy and high. HOW safe, right!? (sorry, I just hated the routes…a lot!) SO I fell trying to find a clip stance for the 2nd bolt. Yeah um… LAME!

I waited and waited until the results were posted. I automatically made it to finals. I was in 6th place – and they take the top 6 people for nationals. I knew that if I wanted to make it, I would really have to step up and get PSYCHED!

Once I get determined, there’s nothing that will stop me. I wasn’t going to let stupid routes get in the way of me going to nationals. I was going to go. No doubt.

The big day came. The day that counts. Finals. I was psyched. The qualifier round didn’t matter. This mattered. This day would determine if I would make it. I was going for it.

My finals route was in the cave area. (WOOHOO!) Thank you!!!! Finally!!!! (I’ve been climbing on roofs a lot at Obed, so I knew I was ready!) SO it was finally a route that I felt confident in. They finally made a non-sketchy route. It was finals. I was ready.

Even though deep inside I thought that I wasn’t going to do good, I covered the thoughts with positive things: I used creative visualization to see me finishing the route and making it to nationals. I breathed deep, drank water, and relaxed. Adrian, the coach for Adrenaline, helped me in isolation (like usual) and I felt really confident.

After a few people it was my turn. There was a bouldery move to a shelf that was kind of sloper-ish… it was easy for me, but I guess it wasn’t easy for a lot of the other girls… (most people got screwed up with their feet.) Anyways, I flowed. I kept reminding myself about nationals when I was on the route, and it kept me moving. I heard everyone cheering me on, and I ended up getting the farthest out of everyone.

I watched the rest of my category and a lot of them made mistakes in the beginning. I felt bad…

I had to wait until 5 that night to confirm how I did.

And.

I did good.

I learned that the first day doesn’t count. I really made a lot of changes and learned a lot about competitive sport climbing… I learned that I can totally change my attitude when it comes to finals, and that being relaxed and not nervous really helps. I learned to keep moving no matter what, because every movement counts. I learned to have FUN when I climb, and not to worry.

I placed first. Divisional champ. I went from worrying about if I was even going to make it to nationals to bringing home the gold. I’m pretty damn psyched! I achieved my goal. Next goal: have fun at nationals. I’m already there. I already made it. (it was harder than I thought it would be) WOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!