Friday 16 August 2013

Youth Open- Leeds - Flo Tilley



Before I start to tell you about the competition last weekend, I want to explain what happened before I got to the wall. The whole family was staying at Luke’s after the JBBC. Naomi had competed on the Saturday, I too was aching to climb but I forced my self to rest for the following day. The Sunday morning, Luke got us standing in a circle, in the middle of the road, to get us psyched for the day ahead. We began with simple breathing exercises, progressing to some stretching and then finally focussing our whole body and mind onto the target. All a bit weird if you ask me (like his beard), but it got my thoughts away from the nerves!!

The first qualifiers felt a bit sketchy, at first not being able to relax due to the pressure of months of training. Never the less the same months of training got me a few moves off the top. The second qualifier felt more relaxed however, due to lack of strength and a cruxy climb, I fell fairly low down. This still got me in the final in 4th but I couldn’t help feeling my frustration in my lack of performance. The same thought of ‘I’m not strong enough’ and ‘I’m not performing well enough’ kept bouncing back at me.



In isolation I knew these thoughts will not get me up any wall, so I put them aside and concentrated on staying calm and psyched. When my time came to climb I was in a perfect mind set. I was relaxed and able to concentrate on one move at a time. It was just another climb. It again was a sustained climb and had a good flowing movement. I was just two clips away from the top when my body gave in. I came down and was pleased with my performance but slightly disappointed after watching Jen Woods alternative beta as it could have helped to get higher.

I was Psyched to finish 3rd to Molly and Tara, but hopefully, after more months of training I will close the gap between us!
 

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