There’s nothing worse than being psyched for a climbing session, only for it to turn out to be not so great. It feels like I’ve had lots of these kinds of climbs lately and as a result it has been a little disheartening. I feel like I’ve hit a plateau, but after taking the time to think about it I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s more a mixture of things which are causing me to not give it 100%. Luckily, all of these factors are things I can fix.

Firstly I realised I was probably getting a little bored of being in the same environment. Don’t get me wrong, having a local stomping ground is awesome but it’s even better to shake things up and climb in different places. Secondly, I know it’s not rocket science but being fully rested before pulling on some plastic makes a huge difference, both physically and mentally. I’ve learned that if I’m genuinely tired then I need to call it a casual climb, otherwise it just doesn’t end well. Following on from this, because I was feeling lousy about climbing I was eating comfort food during the session. However I’ve recently started changing what I eat pre-climb, and what I snack on during a session which you can read about here. This is really helping to level out my mood and motivation (#Hangry) which makes trying hard easier. Lastly and most important of all, being in a rubbish frame of mind can be a deal breaker. I’m learning to treat each climb with a clean slate instead of holding grudges against the problems/holds/gravity.

For me, all of the elements above are linked and have a knock on effect which eventually comes full circle. With all this in mind I realised it was time to try and break the chain to get rid of the plateau feeling. So I had a hefty weekend lie in followed by a good breakfast before I headed off to the Depot Manchester with A Boy Who Climbs. We packed some good snacks and I decided to just enjoy the day without any expectations.

Needless to say I had a great climb and feel like I’m back on track.

 

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