Well I can't post it on social media until Elise does, but I can post here!
I'm a grandma!
Elise and Ethan had their beautiful little girl on July 29th at 10:47pm. She was 9lbs 3oz and 20" long. She has blonde hair and is so cute! We think her nose and mouth looks a lot like Ethan.
They named her Soleil Elise. Ethan's mom is also named Elise, so that is so sweet.
They came home from the hospital this morning and I've never been happier to have them so close in our basement apartment!
Last year Nationals was tough. It was in Chicago and Simone didn't make semis and it was a real letdown. They work really hard and sometimes the climbs just aren't their "style" or what is their favorite kind.
But she came home really determined to work hard and to place this year. She did a lot of outdoor climbing in the fall and then decided to focus on bouldering. So instead of competing in ropes season with her teammates, she played lacrosse and just continued to boulder.
Boulder is more power moves but on shorter walls without the ropes. Ropes are more endurance climbs. Simone explained that training to do well in both is a little tricky because they are different muscles, etc. They have different seasons even.
So anyway when Nationals came around in July she'd been focused and was excited. She had two other adult comps where she learned from a couple mistakes and felt pretty happy with her placement.
The first day this year they were able to watch their category climb. So she could see other peoples beta. That is super helpful and she finished that day in 2nd place out of 56 climbers. When her coaches told her she was in second place while she was still in the chair she started tearing up. Its very emotional to see all your hard work pay off! She was on such a high too because so many of our family and friends showed up to watch! We were so grateful for the support and I think she felt less stress and more light because of it.
The second day the ISO format started which is the traditional format. Where the climbers come out of ISO, sit with their backs to the wall and then turn around when it is their turn and have about 4 min for each climb, then a 4 min break. She placed 7th on the second day and felt really good about it. She was one of the last to climb and the first climb had a hard foot position especially and she didn't get too far on that one. But she stayed calm and continued to do so well on the next two.
The last day was finals! We went to church, and just moseyed on down to finals. Felt a little surreal honestly! Its kinda nice though to be in our own home and bed for nationals! She checked into ISO but had a LONG time before her climbing so she did a lot of stretching.
The first climb she got to the last move and then sublexed her shoulder. It was an unusual position and she had rested at the top for a minute while trying to figure out how to do that last move. She rested by hanging a little without using muscles to avoid getting pumped. But as she came down her shoulder popped out of place and then back in and there was a sharp pain.
So she immediately got on the wall and started again, second time same place she sublexed again.
With all the adrenaline she finished the last three climbs, but she looked less focused and more frustrated.
She ended up finishing 10th out of 11 in finals! So glad she made it to finals, was able to be healthy for both of the previous days. I'm super proud of her for hanging in there even when she was in pain.
I knew she was disappointed about placing lower than the previous two days, but I also knew she would feel proud of herself and recognize the success in a couple days. Comps like these are a big emotional build up and its nice to decompress for a minute to process everything.
We aren't sure yet what exactly the damage is to her shoulder but she has an MRI to check on the labrum. But even if it is torn the physical therapist gave her some exercises that will help strengthen it! She had a tough time moving her shoulder much at all before we went in and he popped it back into place a little more and taped it up for her and she was already improved by the time we left. He said all the good players, pitchers, etc have a little labral tear anyway and it isn't a reason to rush to surgery. But we also saw the orthopedic surgeon so we will make a decision when we know more.
I'm loving seeing her plans to rehab her shoulder and also to figure out other fun things she can do in the meantime! Top 10 means she earned a spot on the Developmental team and will have access to train at the USA climbing Training Center in downtown. And also she gets to compete at Adult Nationals in a few months and has more elite training camps that she qualifies for. She's very excited about those things.
And also I'm so happy to see al the support she got from her family! I think it really impacted her to see so many people there cheering for her! Miles brought two friends even and for those two who definitely have bit of a love/hate relationship, I know she thought that was so sweet.