Alex Johnson: Bouldering World Cup Moscow

            I just watched the sun set in a vibrant display of pink, orange and purple, striping clear across the sky, a never ending glow on the horizon, and then rise again, emerging out of a husky blue, turning a light golden cherry, and slowly lighting up the bouncing clouds below my airplane window. Nothing is visible under the layers of crimson-tinted wisps as they stretch out across everything. I can’t decide which scene I just witnessed was prettier. There’s something rich about a sunset, but something so fresh about a sunrise, a brand new beginning.

 

 

        Everything around me is muffled with the constant vibrating drone of the engines, and the gaping mouth of the woman sleeping in the aisle across from me reminds me of the bass my brother brings home after a successful day on the lake.

            With the colorful new memory of the sun’s performances and the comical profile of my drooling neighbor, this could be a beautiful moment. If only the child behind me would stop kicking the back of my seat and screaming.

 

Friday, June 18, 2010

            Remember when teachers would put tricky word problems on high school math tests? If a train left here at this time going this fast, and another train left there at that time going that fast, at what time and how far down the track will they meet? And you would spend the entire period chewing on your pencil and staring down at the page, not even knowing how to begin to decipher the problem, willing your sluggish brain to come up with something, anything to scribble onto your paper.

            That is similar to how qualifiers went this morning. Not in the way that I couldn’t find the correct answer, it was the pencil chewing, the failure to initiate. I was begging, pleading my muscles to engage in even the slightest efforts to keep me elevated. Today I had nothing to scribble. I was the blank answer on a math test. I’m in 15^th place.

 

         

 On the other hand, the opening ceremony was fun. I was proud to represent THE USA! But honestly folks, it is really lame doing all these things solo. I really need some teammates.

 

 

 

Saturday, June 19, 2010

            I could use my math test analogy to cover the entire weekend, but I wont. Math was my least favorite subject in school anyway. My body just didn’t work, no matter how hard I fought. I finished in 13^th place and didn’t make finals. I’m feeling quite bitter currently, so all I’m going to say is that hopefully next weekend in Eindhoven will go a lot better.

 

 

      We’re just at the hotel now, heading back out to the venue to watch finals in a little bit. Finalists are: Akiyo Noguchi (JPN), Chloe Graftiaux (BEL), Anna Stohr (AUT), Jain Kim (KOR), Yulia Abramchuk (RUS), and Yana Chereshneva (RUS). Go Anna, go!

 

 

Sunday, June 20, 2010

 

Stohr pulled it out for the win! J

 

 

I’m going to try to stay positive about my results because in six days we will do it all over again. There once was a time not so long ago when I thought one world cup in a year was difficult and exhausting. Now there’s one almost every weekend.