Monday, June 24, 2013

getting in shape - "ikarus, 8B+" reclimbed...

... quo vadis? well i am not a 100% sure yet, but when i pay attention and when i avoid certain "leg-moves" i have no problems with my meniscus at all... so i figured out some new beta and went for a little climb... ;) despite i have to climb a lot of moves different and way harder (thanks to my recently torn meniscus & my hamstrings not fully back yet) i just managed to reclimb the "ikarus, 8B+"-part of my highlander-project again... but it's a bit a strange thing when pulling at your limit and always checking for how your knee responds... but it looks like my beta is solid now and i don't have to worry (too much).

"ikarus, 8B+" (ends at the "traumland-finishing-hold" one move to the right). in the pic i am already looking into the "highlander-crux"...
pic by angelawagner.ch

fred (yes THE fred) and a friend of him have been up there at sustenpass as well and they really pushed me trough the first crux (thanks for that bit of extra-engery ;) - and i just had a little too much swing going into the second crux - so just two more hard moves to go... :) on the one hand it's nice to climb so far into the project again, but on the other hand; i must have climbed that 8B+ part over 50times over the last years... but never was able to do that last two hard moves... and it did not matter if i was totally tired or feeling quite good - something went wrong ever time...  but you never know when this little window opens... and i'd better be there and ready if it does... ;)

and to not get too exited i did not manage to get past "trauland-crux" just once on the weekend. i can climb it from two hard moves in like 3times a day... with my new beta, it really looks i need to get even stronger... power can really help to solve such problems... ;)

later local powerhouse ronny (fresh from a very nice and haaaard FA in murgtal) joined in at the traumland-boulder as well and we figured out a very nice and powerful "low-start" (like a "depart bas" in font) to the "kein schneehäschen, 8B/+". just three more moves - but VERY powerful. now you feel already pretty tired getting into the original start - GREAT ;) can't wait to get back (and check if my knee does cooperate with the other moves) ....

getting into the crux-sequence of "kein schneehasi, 8B/+" - will be WAY harder from the new start - i like... ;)

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Quo vadis?

i just had my first real outdoor-bouldering-day at the exact same place, on the same boulderproblem  i had my last boulder-session some 8months ago and on consequently on the same boulderproblem where i injured myself so badly. back to "work" on the "highlander" i was!

what a nice day up there in the mountains...

finally the weather got better and it was a brilliant evening up there in the mountains; 12degrees, wind, snow.... and some sun - just perfect... ;) i warmed up carefully, checked the footmoves if my hamstrings were ok with them. and they were ok ;) so i went on to test my actual fitnesslevel and started two hard moves into the hard part of the line, making roughly an 8B/+ boulder itself... to my big surprise i was literally chalcking up in the middle of the crux and instead of wildly swinging out i was going static through the next move as well... that was just crazy, i never ever experienced something similar - where did all that power came from?! and so i took a 15min rest - and did the same again... to finish up the day i climbed through the hard part of "reve de faire, 8B".... that was quite a first day... ;)

second and third session up there showed that due to my hamstrings not ready yet for hard heelhooking i was not able to climb my beta for the first part anymore. trying my other beta for that part i had to learn that my left knee (watch details below) was not ok with that. so i had to figure out another way for that first few moves. it took quite some time and effort but finally i found another way to climb that part... BUT with my old beta i was able to climb about 10times a day into the second part, NOW i did not manage to link it into the second part yet, just the single moves. that new beta bumped the grade for the first part from 8A to around 8B for me... despite my better over-all-power does that not really help to make the second crux-part much easier....

i still can't believe that this move (the hardest one) actually felt "EASY"!!! but the moves from the right got way harder due to my new beta i was forced to use - so as a result the move in the pic feels heinous again on link...

obviously the hard training paid all off and i am strong as never before (i even did my first one-armer's EVER...). all i would need are two or three more weeks of "resistance" training and a day with nice conditions and i am 100%sure i would (kind of) WALK that "highlander" home... even with the new harder first part! BUT it looks like (climbing) life has other plans with me.... three weeks ago i was training and boudering in the gym (due to once again a lot of rain). i was sitting on a very high and near left foot and may i had a bit of tension/turning moment to the outside (as a hold turned), a little scratch inside my knee and a fall into the pads... bit pain at the very moment, but not too much pain at all...

my left knee: there should be no white fragment (tear)  going into the black (meniscus).... damage clearly visible :(

pain set in the next day while getting up and down stairs... so i avoided stairs for some days and the pain was nearly gone. but some days later as i was playing with our cats on the floor of our flat and my knee suddenly locked at 90degrees, some days later again... otherwise no pain but a strange feeling in the knee... so i knew something was wrong and the results of the recent mri-pics unfortunately do not look good at all. (it's not that on the mri-pics it's clearly visible that as i child i must have damaged my acl, torn my outside and ripped off my inside ligament as well).

the actual problem is a torn mensicus that glides into my knee and blocks it when i bend over 100 degrees or twist my leg. due to the place and the kind of the injury there is no "easy" surgery to fix this mess (and even then just a 50/50chance the fixing would last and a good chance for collateral damage....). so it would be best to try if the body can heel himself (but with 36 thats not the same as with 13...). to give that process the best foundation my doc suggested 6-8weeks on crutches.... no guarantees that it will heel at all... but at least a chance. if this is not sucessfull; surgey (the 50/50 chance)...  if not sucessfull learn to live with it and avoid moves provoking a locking knee... if that does not work i have to get nearly all of my meniscus out.... that would mean that i would have to get a "knew knee" in some 3-5years and hope for i don't need to replace that one too soon.... not the best outlook into the (boulder) future...

so will try to take it easy, don't provoke any "locking" moment and give my body time to heal... but i am not sure about the crutches yet, as i have just no pain in daily life (but avoiding any high impact, no stairs and so on...). and even easy (and hard) climbing does not give me any problems as long as i don't bend or twist too hard...

Thursday, June 6, 2013

up and doooownnnnnn....

i am getting close to 8months since surgery and finally i start feeling (somewhat) STRONG again with my hamstrings, even when its steep climbing and you have to push pretty hard. its not over yet, some disconfort here and there and not as strong as the other side yet, BUT i did my first heelhooks with quite some load and it feels SOLID ;)

getting STRONG - you know how to do it.... ;)

to not have an overdose of "good-news" i have some pretty BAD news a well. i somehow managed to crush my meniscus of the left knee (it was just a twisted knee after a little bump into the pads and its the "other", no-surgery-yet-knee). it's not too bad, no pain, just bit water in the knee. but it's not a good sign at all that my knee was completely locked already twice... 

after 8months of being super careful and 3-4times pt/week (100sessions...) and finally feeling somehow ready to go outdoors again i am def NOT READY for another 6MONTH REHABPLAN.... i will get an MRI on friday and hopefully will know more by then.... !!!