Every year at the end of the school year my family and I go on a short weekend trip. This year we are spending the long weekend here in Chicago with some family friends. The purpose of this trip is just to get together with family and friends and be together after the end of the year rush. I'm trying to get my summer training going as soon as possible, so I decided to visit the gym here. Saturday morning I arrived at Vertical Endeavors to have a brief two-hour session. I was pleasantly surprised by the route setting and great vibe at the gym. The people are great and I'll be sure to go back when I'm in the area next. We also got a chance to go eat some deep dish pizza (!!!...A Chicago classic :) ), as well as visit the beautiful Bah'ai temple, the bean, the Buckingham fountain, an art show...AND do some shopping. It's been a great time to reflect on my failures and successes during this past climbing season and school year. This year taught me a lot and I'm so excited to apply my learnings to my summer training.
Though I'm not dedicating a post to my experience in the Vail World Cup, I will write a little here. The competition definitely didn't go as well as I would have liked. There were a lot of factors that could have affected my performance at the comp like no altitude acclimatization and a lack of knowledge of the wall but really it boiled down to my lack of an open mind and clear head throughout the comp. It was clear afterwards that I had to make the decision to either dig deep and work at improving my climbing and (more importantly) my mindset in preparation for September OR to continue training as I was and not put in the effort this year to go to other World Cups but rather to make long-term goals for next year. The decision really wasn't very hard for me. The experience in Vail was useful and fun and it definitely made me want to do more World Cups. I know I have the tools, time and motivation to work hard this summer in preparation for (hopefully) two World Cups in September. Climbing is such an essential part of my life and the opportunity to go further with it is always welcome. I am super psyched to start my training program Tuesday and see where it takes me. The Summer Sweatfest series also happens during the summer which is held by gyms around Ontario. This series for me is a fun way to have the chance to practice flashing problems and work on my comp mentality. When I'm not away, I'll be competing in as many of these as possible. I can't wait to see what the summer holds!
I'll be sure to update the blog as I go along, so stay tuned :)
Alright folks, that's a wrap!
Iyma
Below are some photos from my time here in the Windy City :D
Climbing at Vertical Endevors!
My contribution to the graffiti at Gino's East Pizza (Top right of the bench!...and my sister's on the left :) )
Family and friends at the Bah'ai temple!!!
