So long and thanks for all the fish!

Dear Friends,

Today is the 5th anniversary of fingerstrength.blogspot.com. After 5 years, 168 posts and 4478 page views, i have decided to call it a day and end this beautiful journey. This blog has more than serve its purpose of 1) keeping me psyched day in day out and 2) spreading my love of climbing to the people around me. I hope this blog has inspired you to stay focused on what you want to do and to keep it real.

Life is a series of adventures and even though i will not update this blog anymore, my adventures will continue. Good luck everyone!

Dusk

Climb 2012 - What happened this year?

Let me just start off with my trips this year:
Mar 2012 - Yangshuo (~1 week)
My plan for the trip was to complete Single Life 8a. Well that didn't happen. Got stumped by the 2nd crux. I felt I didn't spend my time efficiently over there. Left China feeling unfulfilled.
Oct 2012 - Rodellar (~2 weeks)
Awesome trip. My first trip to Rodellar and I was not disappointed. Perfect climbing on steep rocks. The only bummer was the weather. It rained frequently during my 2nd week there. Towards the end i evacuated to Margalef which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as i managed to complete my project LAST YEAR Aeroplastica 7c+ (in superior style i must say). Efficiency wise, i did my best to do as much climbing as i could on the rainy days and I went home feeling great.
Dec 2012 - Krabi (5 days)
i was in Krabi recently to attend QX & Kelly's wedding party which was very lovely by the way. My project for the trip was Just Call Me Helmet 8a. I knew I only had 3.5 consecutive climbing days and i made the most of it. I was very pleased with my routine which was to climb my project in the morning and just climb other stuff in the afternoon. At the end of the trip, i was exhausted and fell sick but i managed to climb my project and clock other ascents before that. All in all it was a great trip, did my first 8a. Very proud of myself.

About Training: This year my approach was slightly different from last year. In general i felt that i trained less this year compared to last year. i had more work commitments and often felt tired when i reached the gym. I did however start to hit the weights gym more often to built overall body strength. In the middle of the year, i also started the Malaysia Boleh initiative which gave me frequent exposure to natural wall climbing. Another thing that i did was to just do whatever i could do and NOT do whatever i couldn't. For example, my fingers were bothering me before my Rodellar trip, i knew i was unable to built my finger strength. So i just focused on building my upper body strength through pull ups. Basically i just focused on doing something instead of nothing and listening to my body at the same time.

DUSK

Climbing 2012: Beast Mode On!

Project Malaysia Boleh Updates

It has been approximately 6 months since project Malaysia Boleh started. This weekend will probably be my last trip to KL for this year. I am pleased with the results of this project. I felt that i was able to generate some momentum in terms of getting folks to Batu Caves to climb some limestone rocks. Climbers of different levels were able to come together and enjoy themselves in the vast outdoors which is awesome in my opinion. The trips also kept me familiar with natural sport climbing which i believe helped me push harder during my annual rock trip in Oct (more on my annual rock trip soon). For this weekend, i may finally attempt my ultimate challenge: The Pledge. i am not optimistic about my chances though. Attempting it is something big for me and i plan to use this opportunity to identify my weaknesses. This will directly affect my training focus next year. Dusk

Ceuse. Always Amazing

National Day Weekend

Supporting the Local Scene