May 10, 2010 George Foster

Motivation and Diversification

I’ve just got back from a short session at the wall. The reason it was short was because it was shit, a theme that has unfortunately become very frequent in the past few weeks.

Driving back i realised it was because i’m bored and unmotivated by climbing and probably have been for some time. Now this is due to a lot of small things and one or two rather big things.

1. I’ve definitely reached a plateau in my climbing that is either totally stopping me from getting better without some form of training or my progress has slowed to such and extent that it can only be measured using highly advanced scientific equipment – either way they both have the same effect on my mind set of being stuck in a rut.

2. 9 times out of 10 i climb by myself. For a while this was a novelty but now i hate it. It’s a shame then that whilst the wall’s bouldering room is usually pretty busy, the users of it are, with few exceptions, dicks.

3. 10 times out of 10 i climb with people who aren’t at my level or better than me. That sounds arrogant but if taken in the context of where i live (i.e. a social backwater [think worzel gummidge], let alone a climbing backwater). In other words the amount of climbers round here that are motivated to climb more than once or twice a week and/or want to push themselves to get as good as they can, can be counted on one hand. In short i have no one to push me, which links in very nicely with point 2 in that i end up climbing by myself and get bored and frustrated.

4. I’m extremely motivated by climbing outdoors but the nearest climbing to me that isn’t gritstone (which is still about 2 hours white-knuckle screeching away) is North Wales or Pembroke – admittedly Avon is closer than South Wales but it’s shit.

5. Training – this links well again with points 1 and 2. It’s all well and good getting psyched to do it but i’d find it much easier if i wasn’t on my tod the whole time. Likewise the gains i’ve seen from the training i have done so far is marginal – maybe i need to just stick with it and stop being a ponce?!?

6. Climbing is pretty much my only hobby/sport/social outlet and it’s probably this lack of diversification that’s causing me grief at the minute. The good news is i’ve started to get back into my running, which i’m really enjoying again, and so with a few races coming up i should be able to focus away from the mediocrities of plastic pulling for a bit – or at least put them into perspective.

Anyway i’ve got a trip to Pabbay coming up in just under a month that should be awesome, then a couple of months bimbling around the Indian Himalayas a few days later. If i just set my sights on staying keen till we head to the islands i should have that 2 months of shitting my guts out to reflect on just how much i want to be at home pulling up on small bits of wood!

Comment (1)

  1. Don’t worry, as soon as you abb off one of the mahoosive cliffs on Pabbay, you’ll have no choice but to be motivated!

    Enjoy…

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.