RC News #41: The Prague World Cup and Tokyo Training
Last time we caught up, Zach and I finished the Germany leg of our trip and were in London for a YouTube collaboration!
After that, we flew to Czechia for the IFSC Prague World Cup - the second last event of the international season.
I wish I could report back with more positive news, but the World Cup went a little sideways for me.
I ended up in 31st place, which is not actually the piece I'm disappointed with. I was upset after my round because, for the first time in years, the boulders felt beyond me.
Now, that's probably not true. In general, every competitor at a World Cup is capable of doing every boulder in the round. The trick to excelling at these events is being able to get to the top within five minutes.
I did not feel that five-minute magic in Prague. I topped just one boulder out of five and managed three of five zone holds.
At first, this puzzled and alarmed me. I'm at the end of my most successful season ever, and I felt good going into this World Cup. That is - as good as the end of the season can feel.
It also isn't the end of the season. There's still one more event to go, so falling apart now really isn't an option.
I took a moment to compose myself, then walked over to my coach. He's a no-nonsense person who will tell you the truth you don't want to hear. I was expecting him to be as disappointed as I was, as concerned as I was.
Instead, I wouldn't say he was indifferent, but he certainly didn't think as much of my mistakes as I did. Our debrief of the round actually felt similar to the ones I've had after a good round.
No competition is without mistakes, so we always make a point of finding them, even in good rounds and topped boulders. The difference in Prague, I learned as we kept talking, was that my mistakes were in the worst possible spots. They were low in the boulders and as a result, held my score back substantially.
One mistake I can remember was coming off the start hold of the fourth boulder. I didn't push hard enough to the right with my legs and hips, so I couldn't get both of my hands off the start hold. It turns out, almost everyone that got through the first move went on to top the whole boulder.
But this is what I love so much about World Cups. They're so unforgiving - the small things often make the biggest differences.
With the Prague World Cup over and done with, it was time to pick myself up and really show up in Seoul. I haven't felt so defeated and insecure about my performance since my early days competing in World Cups. It's true what they say - the higher you fly, the harder you fall.
It took me some time to fully interpret and accept my performance, but I finally arrived in a confident headspace for the next World Cup. That was a feat of its own that I'm quite proud of.
Speaking of pride, I'd be remiss not to acknowledge Zach's performance in Prague. Though it wasn't a quantum leap above his previous performances in World Cups, it was better, which is everything.
After Prague, Zach and I flew to Tokyo which is not the location of the next World Cup, but it's a short plane ride away from it. Tokyo is home to some of the hardest and highest quality comp-style bouldering in the world, so it's an obvious choice when we need to train before a World Cup in Asia.
The time change between Montreal and Prague is the same as Prague to Tokyo - six hours. While I love competing on the IFSC circuit, Zach and I ended up doing my least favourite time change twice in one month, which is no fun at all.
But the fact that I've found a second to send out this week's newsletter means we're almost on the other side of the jetlag and are ready for the final World Cup of the season in Seoul, South Korea.