Sunday 21 June 2015

Down Time

At the end of April I stopped training.... 

 

All the training that I do at the climbing wall has been exchanged for swimming endless lengths in a swimming pool. I am definitely getting better at this as when I started I could barely do 2 lengths but now I can do around 15 without stopping. I’m pretty pleased as I dreaded the swimming, but I actually quite like it now – sauna! ;)

At the end of team training in April, my parents and I had to stay behind. We thought it would just be a few words about the European selections and my injuries. It would be more serious though, which we realised watching Tom drag chairs into the Climbing Works office where our meeting with the GB Junior Bouldering Team management would take place.

We waited outside the office for a long time while they discussed whatever it was – this was not going to be good news. Dad said it felt like waiting outside the headmaster’s office. When they called us in they broke the terrible news. They were not going to put me into any international competitions this year!

I was devastated.  At the end of last year I went to my first European comp, the European Championships at Arco in Italy, and came home with a bronze medal.  This year I was looking forward to going to Arco again, this time to the World Championships and hoping I would be lucky and make the podium again.  Not going to happen......

They recommended I didn’t climb for at least two months and then only after further assessment making sure I was all clear of injuries and not at risk of hurting myself doing other sports. It is part of a plan for injury prevention, putting in a roadblock to stop me damaging myself further; as I have had a trail of injuries and am about to hit a growth spurt.

The GB team have done a lot by giving me guidance what to do, and how to become more rounded as an athlete. Although annoying, I think it is a good thing for my career in the long run as much pain from long term injuries has subsided.  This was about a 6/10 with my golfers elbow (climbers elbow as it is very common in the sport) but has gone down to about 2/10 on the pain scale. It has given me an insight on when to train and when not to, but I guess that’s the optimistic point of view. I am probably going to have to deal with injuries throughout my career.

At first, I wondered what I was going to do, no climbing! Also no sports that include any impact, like running - which is pretty much most sports. In the past I broke a finger so it was no climbing for a year - but I could at least do other sports. Although two months doesn’t sound like much, it has given me great insight into sports as a whole.

It just hits you sometimes when you see how much you need your body to function correctly, as I have found, we put strain on it nearly every day. Running somewhere to not be late: the hustle and bustle in the lunch queue. I have had so many niggles lately so I am just grateful that I have laid back on the training, having a break, as I could have done serious damage, imo.

The first 2 weeks it was strange (I am only getting used to it at the time of writing this) I started to notice a lot of twinges even without doing anything, I’m just imagining what catastrophe would have happened if I had carried on at the same intense level of training. 

It has got better though, I started having more time to do other things. I have read Ready to Run by Dr. Kelly Starrett and T.J. Murphy and that has given me some inspiration, not to see injuries as curses and just to live with them, but see them as ways your performance can improve.

From now on I will take injuries more seriously and consider injury prevention just as important as keeping fit. The two months have been tough, because of the change from climbing to swimming. But I have come out with an improved mindset.

You should never see injury prevention as a curse. Don’t think of the work you need to do as a chore, or you will never put in the effort. Change your mind set.  Having fewer injuries can only improve your performance. You will be aware that you are less likely to get hurt, which will give you a mental edge. Most importantly, if you don’t get injured, your training will count for more.

Still can’t wait to start climbing again though.........

2 comments:

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  2. Dominic, please update your blog and improve your grammar. Other than that; I have enjoyed reading about your adventures.

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