Off to training! I’ve spent quite some time focusing on strength and strength endurance. Missing semis in Vail I was determined to come back stronger in order to not miss them in Munich. With some time off in Magic Wood and later in L’argentiere my mind felt rested and in the last few weeks I was feeling super solid on the wall. With that in mind I headed off to Munich.
As usual for Munich, mens Qualifications started early in the morning. Having great starting position of 11thplace I had nothing to worry about. So here we go, headphones on, usual stretch routine and later bouldering in isolation zone. I must say that I never felt stronger on the wall before. I was just sure I’m gonna make semis this time.
At exactly 8:50 I ran out from behind the wall and started my first problem. It was a crimpy one, totally suited my style. Yes! A quick flash and I was heading back to iso. What a perfect start it was!
Second up was super technical running. I needed quite a few tries to do it, but after doing it once I could do it without to much effort again. I was one of the few guys coming really close to topping it, as I feel from last move 2 times. This sadly didn’t see top in the end. Still looking pretty good I came under boulder Nr. 3. This is very things didn’t go as planned. The boulder had a really strange mid-section, with a compression move on 2 volumes. I just couldn’t make it work, leaving me without a top in that one. I was quite disappointed after that, which might made some influence on how I climbed from that point on.
Here is my best try from 2nd problem:
4thproblem was by far the hardest one I climbed in this years world cup. Seeing only 1 zone among all competitors was just ridiculous – and it wasn’t me if you were wondering :).
It was all up to the last problem. The problem was a technical one, with a vert climbing on the start and some dodgy foot position, there was only the top move that was causing problems. I really don’t know what happened, but I was unable to stick a small dyno to the top. I felt super uncomfortable for the last move and I guess I didn’t get high enough on the last hold in order to stick it. Falling several times from top, I was standing on the mats and smiling, feeling a bit silly for not being able to do it.
I just couldn’t believe it, going back to iso with just 1 top. Things happened so fast I can’t even say what really went wrong. With only one top I was surprised that I finished just behind the semifinal line of 21stplace.
Anyway reflecting back on my performance. The problem I saw might be that I was too sure of making semis and therefore I put unnecessary pressure on me, although I wasn’t feeling any it might be in the back of my mind somewhere. I might not just try hard enough…
There could be a lot of excuses for explaining what happened, but all I can do now is move on. And that means nothing else than focusing on my most important competition of the year – Innsbruck.
Although the season for me was super long this year and I am quite exhausted I am fully committed to do well in Innsbruck.
So back to training and I’ll see you in Innsbruck!!!
