Munich 2013. Afterword.

You might read already how I was preparing for this start. The same as you, I was curious how I will perform on this start.

I made a lot of effort to be sure that there is no one stronger and luckier than me. I was training in self persuasion and of course physically every day. Everything was going well. There was not enough time for me to prepare in a proper way. There was only one chance – faith in victory. I’ve met some troubles there as well.

Of course I’m not happy with the result. But I was told by trainer: with so many mistakes be on podium – not that bad.

Get to finals was not that difficult. I don’t remember anything special besides the fact that couple of strong climbers didn’t make it to finals. This is sport.

Finals! Tension is in the air. Someone behaves very calm, but it is just for show, he has chaos and panic in his head. Someone panics just for show and tries to keep cool.

Where is the golden mean of calmness and concentration?

The answer is always different because it changes with time. You even should not try to find the answer.

Observation of the problems. Vanity. Someone is making sounds easily understandable by intonations. Everyone is looking for a problems in the routs and trying to solve it.

Sometimes I have a thought: why don’t I just stay in the comfortable couch with cup of juice on a Saturday night as all normal people? Instead, I’m trying my luck and trying to prove something to someone.

When time comes to climb, you feel yourself at home. This is your place, every motion brings you pleasure. The more difficult the move, the more interest you have in the fight. All problems are staying behind; you are coming to the other world, where every second on a mat is very important. Feels like all word is about climbing and you are part of big climbing family.

I forgot to write about climbing..

First problem made me feel like I’m beginner, I started to feel anxiety. Leaving it all behind I started with the second problem. It was going good but not for long. I made a silly mistake. Just one second can bring a lot of unpleasant consequences. I didn’t manage to start second problem again and lost my victory.

Third problem was not scary, but the second problem was still in my mind. It wasn’t perfect, but I pulled myself together and made beautiful jump on the third problem.

The fourth problem. I know I need to finish it from the first attempt. I lost control of the right thumb and fell down on the mat. One second later I started new attempt, I felt a lot of strength. Easy I finished this problem as it was supposed to be.

Conclusions

Third place

Huge thanks to my loving wife and trainer.

More about bouldering competitions you can find here.