The weekend of the 22nd March was the first Team Training event since the Inaugural meeting back in February. After introductions we headed straight for the wall where we did a group warm up. Next we were arranged in to our categories and we had a list of problems set around The Climbing Works Sheffield that we had to climb and to get as many people in our group to finish in a 10 minute time limit. Each round had 4 problems and there were 2 rounds. This was a great way for us to practice getting on different styles of blocs e.g. some were on slabs with interesting rock-overs, others were on overhangs with slopers.  After we had completed the two rounds we were each given a score card with 30+ boulder problems on from a circuit around The Works. We had 45 minutes to complete as many of the climbs as we could yet the rules were, if you fell off a problem all your achieved points you had so far would be lost and you had to start all over again. This really encouraged us all to try our best and to get us focusing on the way we climb so that we knew not to make silly mistakes. I found this really improved my technique because I didn’t want to fall off, making me think about foot placements and my body positioning.

After lunch we all gathered on the mats where we had a movement and conditioning session with Tim. I learnt loads of cool things such as how to do a self massage with a tennis ball by leaning against a wall and moving my body so that the ball made different shapes around my shoulder blades and spine etc… New flexibility stretches like ‘The Crucifix’ and ‘Pigeon’. Then came the movement side of the session and we had to crawl across the mats on all fours moving in different ways. It was really fun and hard at first but once I got into the rhythm of it, it became easier. We were shown how to stretch on a foam roller and stretches using the wall to support our legs whilst we did other movements.

The day was concluded with a 20 minute conditioning session, in this time we had to do a certain exercise for 20 seconds then 10 seconds rest and we did this eight times and then a minutes rest followed by the next exercise.

We all went home absolutely exhausted and got some rest ready for day 2 at Stanage, The Plantation. We arrived at Stanage at 10 o’clock and, after goodbyes to the parents, headed straight for the boulders. Firstly we were shown how to place our boulder pads safely with no gaps and then split into groups. We were given a sheet with a list of problems on because the day was to be set out as a Rock Rodeo Competition around the Plantation area. I was really pleased to have flashed Pebble Arete a 6a and I also flashed 6b- a 6b!! This was a great improvement from my climbing the previous week and also an awesome day out with the whole team. We all supported each other and we all sheltered under our bouldering pads when it started to hail! We had a great laugh and are all becoming good friends now. Can’t wait for the next time we all meet in Glasgow.