What is your Goal?

Recently renewed my sponsorship with Outdoor Venture for the The North Face Singapore branding in Singapore. It has been 2 years plus since i came on board as one of their local ambassadors in Singapore and they have not disappoint in providing quality equipment for outdoor usage. You can check out the profile of the other athletes here.

me at the contract signing!

Took the opportunity to grab a pair of Men's Double Track Guide (TNF Red!) shoe and a Base camp duffel XS in red as well! I have owned another TNF duffel in another size (Small - blue) for the last 2 years and this bag is super durable and literally bombproof. Made of ballistics nylon, you will be hard pressed to cut/ damage it on purpose so that you have an excuse just to get a new bag! It comes in many different sizes to suit your needs and multiple colors for you to choose from.

new shoes and red XS duffel

My new shoes will be put in to good use when i negotiate the 1 hour trail up and down Ceuse in a couple of months! At only 650g, let's hope it can take a pounding.

It has been almost 5.5 months since the onset of lateral epicondylitis in my left hand (aka tennis elbow). The recovery is painfully SLOW. This has been one of, if not the longest recovery period i have ever had to endure. Seeing a Sports doctor and a physiotherapist at Changi Sport Clinic about 2 months back helped me to better understand how the injury came about and what i can do to recover faster and prevent a recurrence of it.

injuries are a pain in the arse!

I am probably about 90%-95% fully recovered and reckon that it will take at least 1 more month before it heals entirely. As such, i will be skipping NTU's Pumpfest 2013 early next month. Although i have started to crank down hard in the gym, the last thing i want is to suffer a recurrence of the injury during a competition. Looking on the bright side, injuries can also help you understand your body better, especially your capabilities and limitations.

With the temporary pause in coaching due to school exams, i made full use of the downtime to attend some sports seminars which help me reminisce what i learned and applied to my own training about 10 years ago. Allow me to summarize below.

Beginner climbers benefit a lot from repetition and observation or attending technique classes as climbing is NOT a functional/fundamental skill like walking. Sport Climbing is itself a highly specialized form and the movements are motor skills that can be learned and refined through hours of practice. A beginner climber should focus more on skills development as opposed to physical development as climbing is a sport that requires a high level of skill. Along the way, the climber will also be able to observe gradual improvements in his/her own physically abilities due to consistent practice.

improvements should be continuous and gradual! there is NO quick path to the top

Of course, once you attain a certain level of proficiently and partake in competitions, observation and repetition is not enough. To do well, one will need to understand and incorporate other factors into their regime such as sports nutrition, physical training principles, mental skills training etc. There are a tonne of useful scientific information related to training out there in magazines, books and online articles that may or may not be climbing related but can equally be applied to the sport of climbing. 

step-by-step you will reach your goal if you have a proper planning in place

Setting goals (Long-term, intermediate and short term) is also a critical process ALL top athletes have (regardless of what kind of sport). You have to be kidding yourself if your goal is to do well (according to one's standard) in a competition 2 months down the road with only 2 months of training! Look at all the winning Olympians, if not ALL of the Olympians. The build-up to their participation in the Olympics takes at least 4 years with the norm being at 8 years, if not more. I know of many young climbers who only start hitting the climbing walls/ hangboards/ campus rungs whenever a competition draws closer but slackens/ stops once the competition is over. This is NOT going to work at all and they will fail. Consistent improvement through training is the key to success in most, if not ALL sports.

Adam Ondra set himself the goal of onsighting a grade harder every year and he has been consistently hitting his intermediate goal since he started his own training more than 10 years ago. These are the results of his own training and serve as a motivation to achieving his long-term goal (which i have no idea what it is =D).

Here's a fine video from the Governator himself, Arnie, on Visualization and Goals

I have already achieved my long term goal in Sport Climbing, a goal which i set myself more than 10 years ago (and No, my goal was not to complete an 8C climb =D). All the best in your journey to achieving yours.