A Preview of the Summer State Games of Oklahoma

Hi everyone! I have a few updates about how the Summer State Games competition is going to go tomorrow. I also wanted to give you a little update about how I’m doing before the big event. Plus, what I expect at the comp.

Here’s What I Know

Registration for competitors starts at 2pm. The event starts at 3pm. That gives me a little under an hour to create my own beta. I’m sure I’ll be waving my hands like a lot of the other competitors in-front of problems and routes. Sometimes I talk with my hands so doing these motions is natural to me.

After the hour is up, we’ll be given instructions over how the competition is going to go. With having three parts versus one in previous comps, I’ll need to be paying attention to the new information given to us. What I do know is there will be volunteers to belay climbers for the toprope/lead section. I would be more comfortable with either my husband or one of my friends belaying me but it shouldn’t be a problem.

It will be the same repoint format from past comps so that’s a given. I will have to pace myself though in-between problems and routes. Especially the routes because they require more endurance than problems do. Also, I’ll be on the route for a longer period. Due to that, I tire out more on those than problems.

Feeling Confident? Sort of.

I have made some improvement with my training leading up to tomorrow’s comp. I have been working and sending some of the problems on the high-ball wall at Climb UP. While doing so, I’m trying to get comfortable with climbing on that wall. The height still gets to me somewhat. However, I make sure to take a breath and give myself a mini pep talk if I do start to get too nervous. Which ends up being me mentally telling myself to not freak out.

Another thing I’m working on is watching where I’m at when I’m ready to drop. Some of the problems don’t have downclimbs nearby. One could use the problem she/he’s on to do so to downclimb if they want and jump off. This is what I usually do.

I downclimb to a point where I’m hanging off the holds and my feet dangle. Then I let go and fall to the mat. What I need to make sure of is not letting my feet stay on the holds when I drop. I don’t want a repeat of what happened at Threshold. That sucked big time.

Concerns?

I’m not worried about climbing the routes during the event. I’ve also been working on them during sessions and have done well. My biggest concern is hurting myself from falling off the high-ball wall. My hope is that I’ve worked enough on it that I won’t panic and do something stupid. I’m sure I’ll have scrapes and bruises at the end but that’s what comes with the territory.

Wish Me Luck

I admit I’m nervous about the comp and will be up to the start of it. That’s just how I am. All I can do is climb my best. I hope to win an award but if I don’t, that’s ok. I’ll at least have more competition experience under my belt.

Hopefully I’ll be able to upload pictures and maybe videos from the event. I don’t know how busy it will be there but be expecting a lot of background noise and photobombs. I’ll post as soon as I can about what happened and the outcome of the comp. Wish me luck! Until next time, happy bouldering!