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Interview with Hannah Block on Season, Injuries and More

Gripped recently caught up with Hannah Block, who is a West Coast comp climber with a number of top finishes.

Hannah Block’s first competition was the November Sessions in 2009. At the most recent November Sessions, held at Base5, she suffered from a minor back injury, which was her second minor injury of the season.

In the spring, we touched base with Block about her double gold victory at the SCBC Triple Header. For that conversation, see here.

Hannah Block competing at
Hannah Block competing at Tour de Bloc at the Hive in October shortly before injuring her right knee.  Photo Ken Chow

How was your summer? 

Summer was great! A good amount of it was spent training and prepping for Youth Worlds, which were held at the end of August. However, in the midst of it all, I did manage to get up to Squamish a few times and boulder outside for my first time.

Were you focusing on training anything specific heading into the comp season?

Heading into this comp season I was coming back from tapering and competing at the Youth World Championships in Arco, Italy. As a result, the main focus, as a member of Base5’s new open performance team was overall fitness and strength, in addition to practice with uncomfortable/comp-style movement.

What is your normal training routine?

My normal training routine varies a bit from week-to-week depending on the time of year and the training plan I’m following at that moment. Regardless, my training sessions always begin with a full warm up. Next, I can’t help but climb and project for at least a bit while I’m fresh. Following, the real training part comes in—which includes a variety of exercises depending on the time in the season. Finally, I tend to conclude every session with at least a brief workout—focusing on antagonistic exercises (such as push ups).

What happened at the Tour de Bloc at the Hive?

At the Hive’s Tour de Bloc, I tore my lateral meniscus by over rotating my knee when drop kneeing to the finish of a problem.

Hannah Block competing at November Sessions with a knee brace on.  Photo Ken Chow
Hannah Block competing at November Sessions with a knee brace on. Photo Ken Chow

Did you finish the comp?

Yes, I did finish the comp, although I didn’t perform nearly as well as I would have liked to. [Block finished in ninth place, full results here]

Looking back, would you do anything different on that problem you inured yourself on?

Looking back on the problem, unfortunately I definitely would have done the finishing move differently. Instead of forcing a difficult drop knee, I should have simply trusted myself and gone dynamically to the finish hold.

You went on to compete at the next comp, Base5’s November Sessions. Was your knee ok?

My knee wasn’t 100 per cent and it’s still not. However, Base5’s November Sessions was held two weeks after the Tour de Bloc and I had gained a significant amount of mobility back in my knee and decided to enter the comp climbing smart and carefully, not pushing myself and more than anything, with no expectations.

You injured your back at November Sessions, what happened?

At November Sessions, I fell flat on my butt after my foot popped off a no shadow foot while moving to the finish of one of the “zone problems” and compressed my spine.

Looking back, would you change anything about that comp?

Similarly, if I could go back, I would. In this particular situation, I don’t know if there’s anything specific I could truly change to prevent this from happening, I guess the only thing I could have really changed would have been my head space.

A move or two prior to where I fell was a dynamic sideways move, a little small to call a full-on dyno, however, to me any and all dynamic moves appear out of reach at first. After attempting the move a couple times before, I finally stuck it and I guess in my head the problem was sent—it was over—I had executed the “hard” or crux move of the problem and the focus was lacking to complete the final moves carefully and calmly.

Are you still training despite the inuries?

Absolutely. Climbing is such a huge part of my life—there’s no way I could ever just walk away from it. Auto belays have become my best friend and I’ve also taken this as an opportunity to work on my campusing abilities.

Hannah Block at Canadian Youth National Bouldering Championships.  Photo Matt Chapman
Hannah Block at the Canadian Youth National Bouldering Championships. Photo Matt Chapman

How keen are you to get back to competing?

Considering it’s the beginning of bouldering season, I’m more than psyched to get back out there and compete as soon as possible.

When do you think you’ll compete again?

Honestly, that’s a really difficult question. Right now, I don’t have an exact date or amount of time until my injuries are “healed.” Ideally, I’d love to be able to compete at the local SCBC comp at the Hive North Shore in a couple of weeks. At the moment, that is still up in the air.

What advice do you have for people regarding injuries, prevention or recovery?

Considering I’ve been lucky not to injure myself in the past, I’m not the most knowledgeable with regards to injuries. However, something I’ve learned throughout this is to appreciate and accept the idea that it is all a process and to make the most of the situation that stands before me. And, to have patience, which is something that is difficult to foster when talking about something you live, breathe and sleep.

– Be sure to follow Hannah Block on Instagram @hannahblock97.

 

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