Well, I have gotten as strong as I can possibly get before the 2015 Paraclimbing Route Climbing Nationals this Friday in Kennesaw, GA. I did my last moderate workout on Monday and will be resting for the remainder of the week. The trick is to somehow maintain my form and weight (which I find hard to do when I am in slug mode), stay limber this week, and avoid any further injury. Sleep has been tough the last few weeks, due to neuropathy and pain issues. Nothing new there, I suppose, but it is still hard to function sometimes when I am feeling so tired so often.

I am a bit disappointed that the walls at Stone Summit Kennesaw are not as steep as the ones in Stone Summit Atlanta. I had been climbing almost exclusively on steep overhanging terrain inside on lead, and feel like I have gotten much better at my power game. I heard someone describe this style of climbing as “thuggy”, which I think is rather perfect :) Endurance is a strong suit of mine, so I feel like long routes will be to my advantage. More footwork-intensive, vertical/slabby terrain will not help me much against the competition, as my fellow competitors have more function than me in their lower bodies. I am still aiming to win my category, and be the highest scoring female. I would also like to place in the top-3, men and women. We shall see. I am a bit nervous, as I tend to be in indoor comps with all eyes on me. As someone said, I just need to climb with swag. Ha. I am pleased that I my fingers are not hurting as much as last year, so I hope to significantly improve on last year’s grades/scores, but I know the competition will be tougher

It looks like this year’s competition is attracting many more competitors, so I am looking forward to meeting a bunch of new folks. At least training for this competition is another useful data point for me to build upon and determine what my training will look like for next year’s Nationals, which will also be the qualifier to be on Team USA at the 2016 IFSC World Championships.

The next few weeks will be a bit jammed, between travelling to Atlanta (or, rather, Hot-lanta – temperatures reaching 100 degF, before humidity is taken into account!) and then to NREL in Golden, CO for work afterwards. I am hoping to fit in a day of climbing outside while I am in Colorado. Then, hopefully, focusing on the short outdoor season in New England when I return.