We have all been on road trips, the long highways and states fly by, and endless fields and cars blur together. And then boom, something breaks the monotony. An interesting sign catches your eye, a cool place to spot for an hour or so, to break up the day. Maybe it’s a planned stop or a spontaneous detour. These little breaks make the drive, they show you something you would have missed. If you had been dead-set on reaching your destination as fast as possible in my opinion some of the best parts of road trips. But how does that relate to climbing goals?
Climbing projecting is like a road trip. You are trying to send your big objective. You train and learn the moves, journeying through the process of climbing this piece of rock. Sometimes the grind works, you remain immovable in your single-mindedness and succeed. Often, however, it’s not so simple. You might get burnt out, injured, limited by skin or weather, or life just gets in the way. You don’t need to abandon the journey, you may just need a pit stop. A nice novelty to remind you why you love climbing and to see the bigger picture. Maybe it’ll even be exactly what you need to send your project.
Next Pit Stop
I recently literally and figuratively had my road trip experience in climbing. I have been projecting what will be the hardest boulder I have ever climbed. It has tested me mentally and physically but also has wrecked my skin. I was feeling frustrated and a bit disillusioned with it. Do I keep banging my head against it until it goes? I needed a break, a pit stop. I took a break from my project and tried other climbs. Mostly for fun, a couple of boulders I had tried a few times. This was a great mental break for me and totally unplanned. My next pitstop was planned, however.
I had plans to travel to New River Gorge for a bachelor party, my pitstop both to this celebration but also on the road to my project was to try and send a V4 in a day and I had my eyes set on one in the Gorge. Mini goals like this let me keep my fire for climbing and trying hard while taking a break from my main goal, my destination. This pit stop ended up being a wonderful success, I had a lot of fun, made some great memories, and felt rejuvenated for my figurative drive ahead.
Climbing Goals and Your Turn
You have to allow your ambitions and climbing goals to have some fluidity. You will never be 100% accurate in goal setting and that’s ok. Giving yourself pitstops and small goals in pursuit of your larger objectives gives you new perspective, and renewed drive, and reminds you why you do the things you enjoy, the way you climb. Goal setting is a skill, one developed over time and practice. Knowing when you need a pit stop isn’t always obvious and sometimes an outside perspective is needed to get the whole picture. Ask a friend or a coach for directions next time you feel lost on the road of projecting.