In the past month I’ve realized a couple of things. First off, I can’t train super hard for four days a week and take climbing trips. If I am to train that hard, I have to not do any type of climbing or anything on the off-days or the weekends. This paradigm would probably work if I didn’t climb year-round (rock & ice). Since I do climb year-round, and would like to continue doing so, I now know I can’t train that much and still get out without getting injured. Hopefully I’ll be able to escape being on the injured list aside from aching shoulders every now and then.
Second, somewhere in the past year I made a lot of progress in my climbing specific strength. I think it’s fair to say that all the training has definitely helped in this respect. Being fit helps you in that it reduces the limit physical conditioning plays when you get to a “difficult” section. I can hold on longer to try and work through the moves and apply better technique. I experienced this a few days ago, leading a 5.9 trad route that I had followed a year or so ago. Last year, I made the move way harder than it needed to be by trying to lay-back where I should have stemmed and finger locked. I used “better” technique this time, though still probably not so good as I was a bit scared from the mental history I had with this route. Stemming and jamming was orders easier & felt way more secure than lay-backing and soon I was above the crux putting in my next piece of gear. It’s nice to feel progress.