A wasted opportunity

So I recently found out that my sister's wedding is two days long instead of just one. at first I was always told by my family that her wedding is on the 16th. But turns out it is actually both 16th and 17th. And NSSCC is on the 17th. So unfortunately I had no choice but to withdraw from the competition. I felt really bad having to do that because of the inconvenience I caused to my team mates and I wasted an opportunity for me to help my school win a trophy or possibly even win an individual medal. I was  getting more psyched to compete as I started leading more and more over the past few weeks but all of it just came crashing down yesterday when I discovered much to my horror about the clash in events. Oh well. All I feel is regret and disappointment at myself.

Improvements

So I've been leading more recently in preparation for NSSCC that's happening in about two more weeks. Sticking to my 4321 training which is 4 easy routes, 3 moderate routes, 2 hard routes and 1 very hard route. I start with the 4 and eventually end with the 1. This is to train myself to be able to climb hard grades even when I'm tired. I believe that if I am able to do a very hard route at the end of doing so many other routes, then I'll definitely be able to do them when I'm fresh during a competition. Felt really happy to have flashed my very first 7a recently too. I've never flashed a 7a before because there are very few 7a routes available and I usually take 2 to 3 attempts to send them. 

I have always believed that leading will also help a lot in my bouldering, in terms of technique, footwork, locking strength, confidence and most important of all: endurance. I am glad I chose to go on a lead craze after army to build back my endurance because it helps me to last longer during Boulder training sessions and I hardly get pumped out on routes unless I've been climbing the whole day. 

Training recently has been really useful. I think it's good that we're doing PT more because now is the right period of time for us to get stronger. Nobody likes doing PT (well most people unless you're crazy about farming) but we must have the discipline to grit our teeth and fight through it if we want to see significant improvement in ourselves. I'm also glad that not all trainings are predominately PT based and we are still climbing sufficiently. No offence but I've seen some climbers who farm so much and can do a lot of crazy magic tricks on a hangboard but their climbing sense is just terrible. I agree that being strong is important, but it'll never be as important as being smarter and better at climbing itself. 

Anyway, it's the third week of special term and I'm enjoying this module so far. I'm just quite concerned that I sometimes use my own ways to solve tutorial questions rather than the methods taught in lectures. But I think using your own beta is always best for you, no matter how hard it may seem to be to others.