Next Saturday I have the first of three Young Climber’s Series by the BMC which lead up to a national final in Ratho. The top three scoring competitors qualify for the final and I have qualified three times in the previous years. I usually start my preparation a week before the actual competition and that is what today’s blog post is going to be about.
Monday
On the Monday before a competition I would usually climb after school like I normally do but I would do a hard session that would make me really tired. I do this because I usually have one or two really hard sessions a week, the others are hard but not as long or demanding, so I want to get my hardest session in as far away from the competition as I can so that I am not tired on the day. On Monday I would also try to get to bed early so that I have the maximum amount of energy that I need for the competition.
Tuesday
Tuesday is usually a rest day but I would still do some conditioning at the gym to stay on top of my training plan and I would go to bed early that night too.
Wednesday
Wednesday would usually be my last hard session and my last leading session before the comp so I always try to climb like it’s a competition in this session. I would try to go to bed especially early on Wednesday as that is when the competition seems really close so I start taking it more seriously.
Thursday
On Thursday I would probably go to The Climbing Works for a light session on the circuit board or I would just do a few REALLY hard climbs with limited attempts to mimic what it would be like at a comp. I would also do a small amount of conditioning. That night I would usually pack my bag with all the extra competition things that I need so that I am not stressed the next day and head to bed a little later than usual but not late enough for me to feel it on the Saturday. I do this to make sure I sleep well the next day as I am usually overcome with nerves.
Friday (day before comp)
The Friday before a comp would usually be the day where I would not do anything physical but instead I would spend half an hour stretching and massaging all of my tight muscles. I also recommend eating chicken or quorn that night with your tea as it provides a lot of protein which would help repair the muscles that are might still be damaged from the earlier part of the week. Then I would take a relaxing bath to calm myself down and then I head to bed really early which is hard because I get so nervous.
