Monday, October 25, 2010
Irish climbers who write/blog
Following on from the post showing the readership stats of the blog, I thought I'd do an update to some older blog posts I've done giving lists of people who are writing online. Yes, some of our writing is terrible, illegible and random, but a lot of it can be really inspiring and motivating - as I described while talking about the competition motivation (and see the great comments also....) - to keep you focused on improving yourself. I'd like to think that more than less of the writing is actually useful but that would be open to discussion ;)
The list above is only the ones that I do know of (and I have to thank Steve McG for a couple of these which were only added on Friday), I doubt it's a complete list. If you do know of anymore, even if only new (like Trish's which only started last week, and with a fantastic first post about competition), do let me know as just like when I started writing this blog, it's good to know you've a couple of readers and build from there :)
How to Subscribe/Use the bundle
If you use Google Reader (free with a Gmail/Google account) or even want to subscribe using your browser, when you hit the subscribe button above, it'll automatically create a folder (or bookmark link at the top of your screen) for you with all the blogs above subscribed. All you have to do is check this page, and you'll see all the new blog posts in one location. It saves you having to go to each page separately to see if they've written anything new (and if you see how inconsistently I write myself, you'll understand why this is useful :).
If the subscribe button doesn't work above (I'm using Internet Explorer here as I write this and it doesn't....), here's the direct link which should.
Side note: anyone working for climbing.ie want to add a tab where all the feeds from Irish climbers appear? Great way to suck in new content to the website and also link to active climbers........
Friday, October 22, 2010
Blog Stats
[Updated 11:40 22/10/10 with some additional links that I seem to have removed in error. Also an additional comment near top about Tipping Points]
Since I'm going to be away in Fontainebleau for this week, I thought I'd use it as a time to post up the stats from the blog. I've never really done it before but thought it would be of amusement to some people....it's also quite boring so feel free to skip over and I'll post more useful stories/photos next week when I'm back!
Note that this isn't a look-at-my-blog-and-it's-readers exercise for me, but just to show how amazing new facilities like blogging can be for reaching out to people and keeping a conversation going. Do you run a blog? if so, let me know so I can subscribe to it to :)
I will point out that the one thing I wish for more was comments from readers but I know from looking at other sites and reading about it that most people only consume without interacting which is a pity......if it helps, I've now allowed anonymous commenting on this blog but they still have to be verified by me that they're suitable to appear....
But here's an opportunity also to ask what you all think of the posts - is there anything you'd like to actually hear of, or learn about? Trip locations? Training plans/ideas? General thoughts?
I'll clarify as well just in case some people get freaked out that I'm somehow tracking them, this is only the non-name-specific info that can be told about a visitor using the built-in stats-monitor in Blogger, and Google Analytics, which gives slightly more information.
This year has also been the Tipping Point of the number of readers of online blogs and sites from Europe. For many years, I had more people reading and commenting from the States than anywhere else - a sign that they were much more involved online than Ireland or the UK originally. It's truly fantastic though as it's great to see that this has become an extension of discussions I have.... As you'll see from the stats below, that is starting to even out........
Location of Readers!!!!
Firstly, I'll start off with the location of all you fantastic readers as I love this!
Stats below are from when Blogger turned on stats in May 2010 so it covers 5-6 months.....
Ireland 1,454
United States 1,258
United Kingdom 1,000
France 174
Netherlands 153
Australia 91
Spain 84
Canada 77
Italy 76
Germany 69
How people find new posts or hear about the site
Basically, there's anywhere between 110 and 130 subscribers to the blog by email or using something like Google Reader. On top of that, the 2nd single biggest source of readers is via Facebook (although this is becoming the number one method for people to find posts). These are direct links (i.e. people see a link appear in their inbox or Facebook account and decide to click on it - it only counts people who actually go to the site). Other means are through Twitter and my non-work account there.
Other methods are through referring sites, for example Paul's and Dave's via their 'blog list' on the side which shows some blogs that they read - I have the same on the left of my own blog..... Sorry Paul, but had to remove you from the list due to some not-so-safe language for children and the fact that this can be seen by my pupils :)
Number of Readers per Month
The biggest month for readers recently was about in April this year with about 2,300-2,700 page reads (Depending on where I look, I get slightly different info) in a month due to a post being picked up by a few people and posted to UKclimbing.com.
In the past month, individual blog posts (so could have been one person, but reads a few different blog posts) have been read about 1,400 times (this varies on a monthly basis depending on how much I write), and the blog has been visited (again, in the past month) by 580-odd different people.
Interestingly, there's been a huge spike since last week around the National Lead Comp, with about 100-140 reads per day!?
This year, the most popular post has been the one on the home climbing wall I had in my last house. Strong performers over the years always seem to be reviews - Team Five Tens and my snowboard amazingly still gets tons of reads.
The search term I love to see appearing is for "Fatal Deviation" but most search terms that bring people to the blog are for my name, or some of the terms like 'Five Ten Teams', etc. :)
Technical Info (browsers, computers, etc.)
More technical info (covering the life of this blog while I've had analyzing tools on it 2007-ish) which I find interesting from a work/techie point of view:
Firefox is in the lead with 44%
Internet Explorer is 2nd with 34%
Safari comes in with 12% and Chrome with 6%
More recently (i.e. 2010), it's a close tie between Internet Explorer and Firefox but Google Chrome is gaining (about 25% now - Internet Explorer is the loser thankfully.) . I'm also seeing a few people using Flipboard so I'll just say it now that I'm jealous that you own an iPad to do so :) There's always a few using Linux, and then a tiny amount of people using either Blackberries, a Wii(?!?!), some PS3's, Nokia's (including what looks like an N800.....) and Opera's browser.
Operating Systems: Windows holds the overall percentage with 76% and Apple desktops taking 20% and iphones taking 3% on their own. More recently, the iPhone is holding solid, but Apple's now hold about 27% of that share. smart people out there.....
Most people seem to be using about 20 inch screens guessing from the resolutions, but there's been a spike in the number of people now using HD monitors, a tipping point seems to be close to occurring.....
Thankfully as well, only 0.7% of you still log on with dial-up...... I sympathise with you!!!!!
Since I'm going to be away in Fontainebleau for this week, I thought I'd use it as a time to post up the stats from the blog. I've never really done it before but thought it would be of amusement to some people....it's also quite boring so feel free to skip over and I'll post more useful stories/photos next week when I'm back!
Note that this isn't a look-at-my-blog-and-it's-readers exercise for me, but just to show how amazing new facilities like blogging can be for reaching out to people and keeping a conversation going. Do you run a blog? if so, let me know so I can subscribe to it to :)
I will point out that the one thing I wish for more was comments from readers but I know from looking at other sites and reading about it that most people only consume without interacting which is a pity......if it helps, I've now allowed anonymous commenting on this blog but they still have to be verified by me that they're suitable to appear....
But here's an opportunity also to ask what you all think of the posts - is there anything you'd like to actually hear of, or learn about? Trip locations? Training plans/ideas? General thoughts?
I'll clarify as well just in case some people get freaked out that I'm somehow tracking them, this is only the non-name-specific info that can be told about a visitor using the built-in stats-monitor in Blogger, and Google Analytics, which gives slightly more information.
This year has also been the Tipping Point of the number of readers of online blogs and sites from Europe. For many years, I had more people reading and commenting from the States than anywhere else - a sign that they were much more involved online than Ireland or the UK originally. It's truly fantastic though as it's great to see that this has become an extension of discussions I have.... As you'll see from the stats below, that is starting to even out........
Location of Readers!!!!
Firstly, I'll start off with the location of all you fantastic readers as I love this!
Stats below are from when Blogger turned on stats in May 2010 so it covers 5-6 months.....
Ireland 1,454
United States 1,258
United Kingdom 1,000
France 174
Netherlands 153
Australia 91
Spain 84
Canada 77
Italy 76
Germany 69
How people find new posts or hear about the site
Basically, there's anywhere between 110 and 130 subscribers to the blog by email or using something like Google Reader. On top of that, the 2nd single biggest source of readers is via Facebook (although this is becoming the number one method for people to find posts). These are direct links (i.e. people see a link appear in their inbox or Facebook account and decide to click on it - it only counts people who actually go to the site). Other means are through Twitter and my non-work account there.
Other methods are through referring sites, for example Paul's and Dave's via their 'blog list' on the side which shows some blogs that they read - I have the same on the left of my own blog..... Sorry Paul, but had to remove you from the list due to some not-so-safe language for children and the fact that this can be seen by my pupils :)
Number of Readers per Month
The biggest month for readers recently was about in April this year with about 2,300-2,700 page reads (Depending on where I look, I get slightly different info) in a month due to a post being picked up by a few people and posted to UKclimbing.com.
In the past month, individual blog posts (so could have been one person, but reads a few different blog posts) have been read about 1,400 times (this varies on a monthly basis depending on how much I write), and the blog has been visited (again, in the past month) by 580-odd different people.
Interestingly, there's been a huge spike since last week around the National Lead Comp, with about 100-140 reads per day!?
This year, the most popular post has been the one on the home climbing wall I had in my last house. Strong performers over the years always seem to be reviews - Team Five Tens and my snowboard amazingly still gets tons of reads.
The search term I love to see appearing is for "Fatal Deviation" but most search terms that bring people to the blog are for my name, or some of the terms like 'Five Ten Teams', etc. :)
Technical Info (browsers, computers, etc.)
More technical info (covering the life of this blog while I've had analyzing tools on it 2007-ish) which I find interesting from a work/techie point of view:
Firefox is in the lead with 44%
Internet Explorer is 2nd with 34%
Safari comes in with 12% and Chrome with 6%
More recently (i.e. 2010), it's a close tie between Internet Explorer and Firefox but Google Chrome is gaining (about 25% now - Internet Explorer is the loser thankfully.) . I'm also seeing a few people using Flipboard so I'll just say it now that I'm jealous that you own an iPad to do so :) There's always a few using Linux, and then a tiny amount of people using either Blackberries, a Wii(?!?!), some PS3's, Nokia's (including what looks like an N800.....) and Opera's browser.
Operating Systems: Windows holds the overall percentage with 76% and Apple desktops taking 20% and iphones taking 3% on their own. More recently, the iPhone is holding solid, but Apple's now hold about 27% of that share. smart people out there.....
Most people seem to be using about 20 inch screens guessing from the resolutions, but there's been a spike in the number of people now using HD monitors, a tipping point seems to be close to occurring.....
Thankfully as well, only 0.7% of you still log on with dial-up...... I sympathise with you!!!!!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Competition motivation
 |
| climber at Irish National Lead Comp 2010, Dingle, Ireland |
Climbing in general can be quite an isolating sport, basically just you and a belayer much of the time (and in theory, bouldering you can be solo). While this is part of the allure, i.e. it's not a team sport, it can also make it trickier for getting together as a community.
The IBL does this back in Ireland in many ways, similar competitions here in the UK likewise, and I always just imagined that these can be good if you're into competitions. But what I'd forgotten completely about is the positive energy that comes from watching other people pushing away and seeing each other's enthusiasm. I see a lot of this now that I'm lucky enough to have the Climbing Works a 5 minute walk from the house, but as a general incentive for training throughout the winter, there's really a lot to be said for the comps. And this isn't even for top-end climbers, but for those of all grades - you'll arrive at next summer after a dark and gloomy winter (1 degree here in Sheffield on Wednesday morning) actually stronger than you were last summer, setting you up for a fantastic summer.
I do a lot of training myself personally, I rarely struggle for motivation in that - I enjoy punishing myself, what can I say? :) - but I'm very bemused by the sheer energy and drive I've had since the comp. That's not just to get onto the fingerboard, or more to the wall, but it's given me good food for thought about where I've got simple tasks to fix. For me? I've got a bit of mental focus to sort out, I'm not sure why it happens but being back in work seems to kill my drive on routes. If I look at how I climbed this summer, I was much more unfit and weaker, but I was driven on routes. So for now, I'm attacking all routes and boulder problems I try as onsight, do-or-die attempts, to remind myself of the best way to climb :)
Since a lot of people who were at the comp read this blog, feeling psyched? learn anything about your climbing?
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
National Lead Comp review
Firstly a big thanks to Angela Carlin (of the MCI) and PlayAtHeight for hosting the event, and the route-setter for some great routes for all categories on Saturday! I'm genuinely happy I made the effort to get to the comp in the depths of County Kerry, even if it meant I barely made my flight. If you're the guy who walked me through security without a ticket printed out, I owe you one! side note: it took over 2-1/2 hours to get from Dingle to Shannon airport.....
As for the whole event, it was great to catch up with a lot of people I haven't seen much of in the past few years and also to see the new and upcoming crop of people on the scene. The future is in the youths and if there's anything to go by what I saw, firstly I wish I'd started climbing when I was 10(!), and serious respect is deserved for those who are playing their part in training and giving the direction they need. It was seriously impressive to watch them all in action.
Highlight by far was watching the juniors compete - all them were inspiring in their confidence, their natural skill and their sheer fun at competing. This was more than underscored when, on the final route, Rachel C roared out while the crowd went silent at one point to "say something!!!!" and with much amusement, a group of juniors retorted with "something....something.....something.....something". Genius and a great way to lighten the situation. As for the male juniors, they're to be watched out for.....
The Womens comp seems to have taken a step in standards overall from last year - and many seem much stronger than they seem to think they are......I lost count of the amount of times I watched them cut loose throughout the day. Rachel C got a narrow victory, and Bea and Joan finished a well-deserved 2nd and 3rd. Naomi overcame her nerves and made the final which was her goal for this year and awed pretty much everyone with her power at the beginning after making a couple of mistakes which ruined her attempt. Still though, progress is progress!
The Mens comp was great fun, and while the level was definitely lower than last year (due to the absence of Eddie Barbour and Sean Villaneuva), it was still a great laugh. Louis Mulloy pulled out all the stops in the finals to an awesome win, a quality route to finish on too.
For anyone looking for a more comprehensive report in general, check out the excellent one on Mountaineering.ie - I won't reinvent the wheel :)
As for my performance, considering I'd never competed in a comp of that style before, haven't done an IBL in years and don't particularly get motivated for them (lack of confidence, nothing to do with my performance expectations!), I'm more than happy with the outcome. Honestly, I was bricking it on each attempt - not from fear of looking bad (which seems to be a reason some people won't turn up at a comp?!), but just nerves of climbing in front of a crowd like that (it's not the same as just climbing at a busy crag). Super chuffed to be there and enjoy the whole event (including the after comp-party with everyone in Dingle later that evening...).
Louis showed his strengths from all the sailing competitions he has done and fired it out on the day so serious respect and admiration for his climbing (which he also showed when I got to see him with his high-point on one of the qualifiers) - I know I'll be learning from it. Even after watching the video (see below for skaky-cam), it's blatantly obvious that I blew the hold I was on - a huge hold and I wasn't even pumped (I went up the route 10 minutes after the finals was over and fell off up much higher) - nerves, supplemented with a lack of psyche and determination. As I said, serious respect to Louis for keeping it together!
Finally, you'll understand from watching the video (apologies for the shaky-cam footage, I think the iPhone was struggling with all the chalk dust in the air so kept losing focus), but yes, I was very aware of the music playing - cheesy!!!!!! :) Next time, something a bit more psyched eh, DJ? :) I'd love to say it was the cause of my slow and steady climbing, but that's just how I was feeling on the day :)
*Video pulled for technical reasons!*
Overall though, I have to say I really enjoyed the competition experience and am slightly intrigued by more. The height of the Dingle wall doesn't really suit me (too short), so I might consider jumping into one or two comps over here in the UK and see if I can use the motivation of them to fire me up for next summer's activities......
As for the whole event, it was great to catch up with a lot of people I haven't seen much of in the past few years and also to see the new and upcoming crop of people on the scene. The future is in the youths and if there's anything to go by what I saw, firstly I wish I'd started climbing when I was 10(!), and serious respect is deserved for those who are playing their part in training and giving the direction they need. It was seriously impressive to watch them all in action.
Highlight by far was watching the juniors compete - all them were inspiring in their confidence, their natural skill and their sheer fun at competing. This was more than underscored when, on the final route, Rachel C roared out while the crowd went silent at one point to "say something!!!!" and with much amusement, a group of juniors retorted with "something....something.....something.....something". Genius and a great way to lighten the situation. As for the male juniors, they're to be watched out for.....
The Womens comp seems to have taken a step in standards overall from last year - and many seem much stronger than they seem to think they are......I lost count of the amount of times I watched them cut loose throughout the day. Rachel C got a narrow victory, and Bea and Joan finished a well-deserved 2nd and 3rd. Naomi overcame her nerves and made the final which was her goal for this year and awed pretty much everyone with her power at the beginning after making a couple of mistakes which ruined her attempt. Still though, progress is progress!
The Mens comp was great fun, and while the level was definitely lower than last year (due to the absence of Eddie Barbour and Sean Villaneuva), it was still a great laugh. Louis Mulloy pulled out all the stops in the finals to an awesome win, a quality route to finish on too.
For anyone looking for a more comprehensive report in general, check out the excellent one on Mountaineering.ie - I won't reinvent the wheel :)
As for my performance, considering I'd never competed in a comp of that style before, haven't done an IBL in years and don't particularly get motivated for them (lack of confidence, nothing to do with my performance expectations!), I'm more than happy with the outcome. Honestly, I was bricking it on each attempt - not from fear of looking bad (which seems to be a reason some people won't turn up at a comp?!), but just nerves of climbing in front of a crowd like that (it's not the same as just climbing at a busy crag). Super chuffed to be there and enjoy the whole event (including the after comp-party with everyone in Dingle later that evening...).
Louis showed his strengths from all the sailing competitions he has done and fired it out on the day so serious respect and admiration for his climbing (which he also showed when I got to see him with his high-point on one of the qualifiers) - I know I'll be learning from it. Even after watching the video (see below for skaky-cam), it's blatantly obvious that I blew the hold I was on - a huge hold and I wasn't even pumped (I went up the route 10 minutes after the finals was over and fell off up much higher) - nerves, supplemented with a lack of psyche and determination. As I said, serious respect to Louis for keeping it together!
Finally, you'll understand from watching the video (apologies for the shaky-cam footage, I think the iPhone was struggling with all the chalk dust in the air so kept losing focus), but yes, I was very aware of the music playing - cheesy!!!!!! :) Next time, something a bit more psyched eh, DJ? :) I'd love to say it was the cause of my slow and steady climbing, but that's just how I was feeling on the day :)
*Video pulled for technical reasons!*
Overall though, I have to say I really enjoyed the competition experience and am slightly intrigued by more. The height of the Dingle wall doesn't really suit me (too short), so I might consider jumping into one or two comps over here in the UK and see if I can use the motivation of them to fire me up for next summer's activities......
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Irish Lead Competition Live Feed
Watch live streaming video from playatheight at livestream.com
Update: just realized I can embed the video stream in the blog.....As I mentioned in the previous post, I thought I'd post the link to the live feed for this weekend's competition. Obviously it won't be working until Saturday, but I'm sure someone will be interested in turning it on in the background for the day :)
PlayAtHeight's website (the climbing wall hosting the event) will be streaming the video - link here. It's currently just showing a bunch of images from the climbing wall which is a nice way to see that I've given you the correct link!
Thanks to Angela Carlin at the MCI for this......
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Are you going to the Irish National Lead Comp?
This Saturday, 16th October, in Dingle, the 2nd (in it’s current form) Irish National Lead Comp is on in Dingle? Are you going? I couldn’t make it last year due to work commitments but since I’d like to support another discipline of climbing (I'm not a huge fan of competitions but I love their excuse for socializing :), I’ll be flying back into Shannon next Friday for the day. Should be fun, I’m looking forward to seeing lots of motivated climbers and watching the current crop of new climbers in this awesome sport! 5 weeks of work as a new teacher has finally taken it's toll and energy levels are at an all-time low, but I'll be aiming to give it my best shot on the day.
I'm also looking forward to seeing Eddie Cooper beat all-comers, considering he just won the veteran category at the British Lead Climbing Championships - nice one :)
I suspect there’s a live stream of the event like last year also - I’d guess to check out the PlayAtHeight website on the day.....more info on the comp in general found here (Mountaineering.ie link)
I'm also looking forward to seeing Eddie Cooper beat all-comers, considering he just won the veteran category at the British Lead Climbing Championships - nice one :)
I suspect there’s a live stream of the event like last year also - I’d guess to check out the PlayAtHeight website on the day.....more info on the comp in general found here (Mountaineering.ie link)
Monday, October 11, 2010
Posage Productions
Firstly, Pierre deserves all the credit for posting this on his blog - only climbers will really understand this is a parody of several well known climbing movies from the past decade (Imagine this as the equivalent to Hot Shots slagging off Top Gun - not that the latter was a very good movie either.......):
Also, as the stats on the blog show me that 90+% of the readers of this blog have widescreen monitors, I'm going with the wider Youtube videos from now on. Let me know if this is a problem to anyone in the comments :)
Also, I've always wanted to do a similar video for the original UK classic, we'll call it 'Soft Grit'.....although I'm sure someone has done this before?!
Have a great week all :)
Also, as the stats on the blog show me that 90+% of the readers of this blog have widescreen monitors, I'm going with the wider Youtube videos from now on. Let me know if this is a problem to anyone in the comments :)
Also, I've always wanted to do a similar video for the original UK classic, we'll call it 'Soft Grit'.....although I'm sure someone has done this before?!
Have a great week all :)
Friday, October 08, 2010
Keeping (some) Goals to yourself
Creeping towards a goal with the eyes and focus of friends behind. Unknown climber’s hand on The Rails, Glendalough, Ireland
Note: I’ve modified the blog commenting so you don’t have to sign in to comment - obviously please do if you can as it means I know who you are and you can receive notifications of the replies!
Steve sent me on this link to one of the TED talks (iTunes link) recently discussing goals and the fact that much research shows that “people who talk about their ambitions are less likely to achieve them”. I've embedded the video at the bottom of the post. It’s only 4 minutes long, but in short, it’s basically saying that when you state out your goals to someone else, you’re starting to trick your own mind into thinking that it’s already done.
It’s an interesting point, that whether shouting (or even just talking) out your stated aim is detrimental to helping you find success. And in many ways I agree with this concept, I’m sure many of us can think of that person who is always spouting off of doing [insert completely outrageous ambition here] in the next weeks/months. In many ways it’s easy to get sucked into this idea of talking all about what you’re going to do (and spending more time talking about it than doing it), but never actually getting there.
Personally though (and this is blog is essentially my own perspectives on topics), I am adamant that you can’t achieve your goals on your own, so obviously there must be some middle ground. There’s massive examples of this:
- Lance Armstrong openly discusses this in his books that he wouldn’t have achieved his outrageous feats without the support of his Mum, trainer Chris Carmicheal, and numerous other athletes/friends/contacts that have supported him his ambitions (fair enough, there may have been some other, ahem, supports but we’ll ignore those! :)
- Pick a football/soccer player. Bet you they wouldn’t have made it to the top of their profession without support of family members, etc.
- Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps who undoubtably wouldn’t have wiped the board with gold medals in China last year
So where do I stand on goals? Firstly, I do have the obvious podium of this blog that could easily be construed as publicizing ambitions but I can honestly state that some comments have also given me the motivation to push through at whatever I was working hard on at the time. That there’s no point in shouting out your more ambitious aims from the rooftops because people stop listening, and it can almost become something mythical that will never be achieved as (described in the TED talk) you almost convince yourself that you’re almost there. The very real danger is that you stop thinking about the work/effort required to make those goals happen as you start to think that the motivation of others will get you there.
But that if you also keep it to yourself, you just won’t get the support that is also part of the recipe. I really think, and follow the principle of talking and making some of my closest friends/relatives of my ambitions because they will support and understand those days when you have to put in that extra training/work hour and give you the pushes on the days when you’re feeling unmotivated. I personally know for a fact that without support of friends/families and the motivations of other people who I’ve climbed with, that I wouldn’t have aspired to my own goals of traveling to multiple locations for climbing, or to aim for random different grades that have motivated me over the years. I also know that there’s other goals however that I’ve never really spoken to anyone about and they’re ones I’m slowly chipping away at myself. If they ever happen, I’ll take the pats on the backs from people then :)
Of course, for those of you feel like they’re not getting any closer to some of your goals - if you want to rewire your brain to restart motivation, try listening to this free podcast (iTunes link) from Pod Climber and Eric Horst, writer of ‘Training for Climbing’ and ‘ ‘ who talks about “The Best Mindset for Maximum Performance and Optimal Experience. Learn how returning to a beginner’s mindset best sets the stage for peak performance and experience.”
What do you think? Is it worthwhile or does it motivate you to talk out your goals, or do you find that you stop thinking about the work required to make it happen? Or do you feel like motivation from friends while doing your sport/hobby/job helps you to achieve new levels you would have struggled to find without them? Love to hear your thoughts!
Friday, October 01, 2010
Discipline
So I'm back into the regular routine of work/life again and the truth of the winter ahead is slowly starting to dawn on me as it dumps rain outside the window right now.
I'm also back into that routine now of indoor climbing, pulling on plastic, something I go through mixed feelings for. Somedays, it's "give me real rock any day, it all feels fake" and others it's "brilliant! sport! exercise! fun!" - in other words I'm not thinking about the fact that it's not natural rock, but just fun climbing that I still love after 12 years in the sport.
One of the more challenging things that most people deal with while doing their respective sport is those good and bad days. You can have a run of them where no matter what you seem to be doing, you're feeling weak, sluggish, unmotivated. Bar the latter issue, the others you just have to deal with. I've had one of those days yesterday: I was wrecked from a long week at work, I'd already had a couple of training sessions this week and mentally I just wasn't there - I wanted it to be the weekend but it was only Thursday evening :)
But as I saw on this blog post from Chris Brogan which he was using to refer to writing a blog post daily. He referenced in the middle of his post;
"My friend, Laura in Altanta, contacts me once every week or two to let me know she’s pushed past another personal record in her running. She also tells me when she’s had a bad series of runs in a row. It’s all part of it."It was a really good reminder that you just have to roll with the off-days, that the total sum of those training days (good and bad) raises your level in the long run to something bigger and better. I regularly seem to hear stories of people talking about not getting improvements, and just bailing on the task at hand. But the point is to stick it out - try something different to stimulate the training, but just do something. In reality, you don't really want to perform at the climbing wall anyway, it's on the 'real' days you want to do so, so why worry about whether you're performing all the time?! Anyway, just some random thoughts as always....good, bad, interesting? let me know as always :)
And have a good weekend as always!
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