We stayed with the Metcalf family, who were absolutely wonderful and gave us the best hospitality imaginable. Annnd they have foosball, a ping pong ball table, and Rock Band! Much love.
On Thursday after landing in Boston, Jonathan and I had a fancy dinner at a restaurant he found off Sneaky Sunday. Mistral. It was very delicious. We shared the cornish hen dish and sides of horseradish mashed potatoes and garlic spinach.
On Friday, Jonathan, Silva and I toured the city. We also had a nice lunch with Jonathan's brother at Cosi. Afterwards, we went and checked out MIT and Harvard, before making a trip out to Newbury Comics, and Starbucks.
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| Ray and Maria Stata Center at MIT. We could feel the smartness exuding from the students! |
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| Wind chimes in the subway! So fun! |
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| Sweet new Newbury Comics tee. So soft! |
On Saturday, I woke up dreading the competition. Without having even climbed since Regionals, I had a mysterious case of shin splints (probably from all the walking) and a shoulder strain. I won't get into the nitty gritty, but I paced myself awfully at the comp, and my score showed it. Unable to climb more than V4s and even climbing a 5.9 out of desperation put me out of the competition. I truly regret not climbing smarter. I wish I could say "there's always next year," but there isn't.
Regardless, I was able to speed climb for the first time in my life. Even with a time of 43 seconds, I was surprised at how fun it was.
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| Trying speed climbing. My efforts earned our team 1 point. HA! (Photo cred: Jonathan) |
Francesca did amazing and pretty much carried the team on her back. I wish I could have helped out the team more, but it's OK. Watching her climb was utterly inspiring and I almost burst into tears when she finished the finals route. Most of the other girls didn't even make it up to the fifth clip. With Francesca pushing the limits, I do think that the competition within the women's divisions will grow and set the bar even higher in the future of collegiate climbing.
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| Francesca! :) (Photo credit: Jonathan) |
Jonathan and I didn't want you guys to miss out on the action, so we used my cheapo camera to catch the action. Hopefully, you can feel the excitement despite the poor camera quality.
With Francesca placing 1st in both Women's Difficulty and Speed, Georgia Tech Climbing was able to walk away with 3rd place. I'm super happy Dallas and Silva got to come as well. I think all of us are walking away with a great experience and a better understanding of how CCS Nationals works. Georgia Tech will come back stronger next year and hopefully do even better!
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| Team picture, minus Dallas. (Photo credit: Mrs. Metcalf) |
I'm definitely planning on sticking around with GT Climbing and CCS even after I graduate. I'm done with school, but so very-not-done with our club.
Oh, and I did surprisingly also walk away with something else quite good at Nationals which made me very, very happy!
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