Rang my bell and saw stars!

“Good fall. Good commitment! Don’t let it get to you.” Fist bumps with Brian and Heath as I left the climbing gym this morning, the encouragement coming from Heath. I’m sure glad Heath said that, too, because I had to think really hard about getting up off the floor after the fall from near the top of the wall that I took! I was working on a problem that I had flashed the other day and it is a challenging problem in terms of grip and balance for me, especially the finishing move. I had my left hand on the finish hold and committed with my right hand, which touched the finish hold just as my foot popped off! Thank goodness, for once, that the wall was overhung, because I would’ve hit all kinds of things on the way down if it hadn’t been. I wasn’t aware of anything except my foot popping off, then the stars that I saw as my head bounced and the sensation of lying flat on my back on the mat as I heard Brian and Heath both exclaim, “Oooh!” Brian and Heath both asked if I was okay and my hearing was fine as I stared at the ceiling high above me. Everything was fuzzy, and then Brian said something about my glasses, which had landed quite far away and were not on my head. I, still lying on my back on the mat, looked upside-down at Brian and saw him retrieve my glasses several feet away. I was relieved that that was the cause of the blurred vision! I had knocked the wind out of myself and rung my bell good!!! I laid there for another few moments, composing myself and doing a quick systems check to make sure that my head was the only thing that hurt. I rolled over and crawled over to the benches at the edge of the mat. Sitting down on one, I picked up my glasses and put them back on my head. Vision fixed.

That was the first fall I had taken from near the top of that wall, and I knew I had to get back on that wall immediately…well, as immediately as my body would allow. I took some recovery time and Brian pointed out a tan problem for me to try. He worked with me on it, which I appreciated greatly. He was making sure I was okay and he knew, too, that I needed to get back on the wall. I worked on the tan problem for a good 20 minutes and felt confident that I was both capable of climbing and not brain-damaged. I stayed fairly low on the wall. I didn’t climb very high, although I could’ve. I got to the move on the tan problem that Brian said was where I had to “commit” and left it at that for today. This tan problem has a great high step that I’m able to do, which made me feel good. I have to trust that foot for the committing move, so gaining my confidence on the high step is important! “You have to commit,” said Brian. “You have to commit, and then you’re into it.” He’s right. My head ached and I left a bit earlier than I had anticipated so I could get a good breakfast in me after checking myself in the bathroom to make sure I didn’t have a concussion. Fist bumps. Encouragement. Climb on!!!