UKC

Big thanks to Si_dH and Grubes for picking up the slack the last couple of weeks.
Just as a heads up I think I will continue this until Christmas and then see if anyone else is keen to take over.
UKC Fit Club is not a substitute for the training diary but to use with ( or without ) it as a motivational tool for all.

For those wanting to find out more about training for climbing a number of physical training articles here:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=274502

A new thread is posted each week on Sunday for anyone to jot down their previous week's activity, noting goals, successes and failures and to swap ideas.

Anyone interested in starting is very welcome but you should aim to post each week, every week, however little or much you have done. By making such a regular public record of your activities and by restating your goals every week this new habit will hopefully improve your training habits to help achieve your goals whatever the level of your chosen activity.

Link to last week's (288) thread:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=520900&v=1#x7026880

JimmyKay - It¡¦s good that your new job give you a different perspective. I hope you still continue to enjoy running and climbing, whether or not that comes from improvement.
Biscuit - Sounds great mate but please don¡¦t get injured.
Joughton - Well done getting on LW. I enjoyed read your blog and posts as I¡¦m going for the flash myself. I even asked Tom R for beta at his new climbing wall. It sounds like you¡¦re still fairly solid at E5 (London wall sounds like a big sandbag and easy to screw up, so don¡¦t be harsh on yourself). However I understand you¡¦d like to do more sport and then have an ¡§even¡¨ bigger ability margin on trad.
Grubes - Loose weight fatty Keep eating well.
mrchewey - Some good climbing improvement there, good to see.
Sankey - Good mix. Why not get on a hard sport route next time you¡¦re out (6c/7a). You might be surprised what you can do, it doesn¡¦t have to be clean.
NMN - Impressive running week.
Leon - Some mega endurance sessions you¡¦ve been doing! Good work
maria85 - That¡¦s an impressive run, but do rest like you say.
Steve John B - Good week mate.
Si_dH - Great week training. Shame about the eating.
IainRUK - Impressive running and drinking volume
Kevster - Man, sorry to hear the lack of psyche. I hope you manage to do what you enjoy be it running or training or climbing improvements, or even climbing outdoors for fun (!).
Rollo - Great week, if your shoulder held out on Sloth it must be doing ok!
Nomics4Sale - Busy week mate, good stuff
mattrm - I don¡¦t remember ever splitting sessions into ¡§hard¡¨ or ¡§mileage¡¨ until now when I intend to do more 4 x 4s routes sessions. If I had anything to offer it would be go for lots of 6bs, on lead. Just go for it!
pebbles - Sounds like a good time at the wall. Dwell on your new confidence and build on it when you next push yourself ļ
Richard Popp - One rest day in a week, that¡¦s good going. I¡¦m sure swimming complements climbing well too.
ally smith - That is a busy week, no doubt you benefited from the accumulated training load!
Pork Pie Girl - Nice week pie girl, good luck on the 7b
Eagle River - Sounds like a strong performance indoors
OddToast - Welcome! It¡¦s good you have friends to climb with as you start out. Enjoy the honeymoon phase of a steep improvement curve!
Ian Bell - ahh, shame about the delay. Looking forward to hearing what you have to report from your trip.
Ali - 7a+ nervous is impressive, imagine what you could do with confidence!
Hokkyokusei - Glad to hear you¡¦re not badly hurt.
AJM - What an encouraging couple of weeks. 7c and 7a+ OS is mega. Hope to see some good trad in due course! E4 OS shouldn¡¦t be a LTG in my opinion. I¡¦ve got my first ones this summer and I¡¦ve never Sported above 7b.

In reply to Daniel Heath:

Aplogogies for the weird speech marks and smilies that came out there!

In reply to Daniel Heath:

Another great couple of weeks from me

RAF climbing champs - won the lead climbing! Pretty much a long term goal, achieved much sooner than I had expected.

Boulder Breaks Competition and Party, lots of fun.

Climbing Coaching with Shauna Coxsey and Dave Barrans. Really valuable, Shauna answered my question about periodisation. She basically pointed out that I do too much bouldering and not enough endurance for someone who like routes. She said I should build a foundation on endurance and do it much more than everything else, and also maintain it when I do other things. Sounds good, as Loughborough's new wall has an amazing circuit room!

Inter Service Military Climbing Champs. Didn't do so well, (not top 3). The final was a hard 7c, which meant that boulderer's won. I fell off after the 3rd clip, not even pumped which was frustrating. Great experience though, never been in a comp with isolation before.

NEW ACADEMIC YEAR GOALS
-Circuits. I will put in disciplined 4 x 4 sessions in the absence of outdoor climbing.
-Weight. I've lost my 6 pack over the last year, and I have chunks of flab I can no longer pass off as obliques :P. I'll buy fat scales, pile on the discipline and get ripped again. I have no excuse to be 11 stone.

In reply to Daniel Heath:

What do people think to a weight management thread seperate to UKCFC?
It seems increasing numbers of posters are concerned about their weight/diet.

I'm thinking a clear way to record:

-Weight/Fat %
-Accountability on past week's healthy eating performance

In reply to Daniel Heath: yay! must be getting a bit stronger. got up the 6a+ ar the wall that I failed on last week, and did a clean lead on a 6a+ at trollers gill that I'v only dogged before.
mon - core
tues - routes at the wall. 6a+, tried (but couldnt do cleanly) to top rope a 6c. friends tr-ed it cleanly, so probably poor technique at fault!
weds - stretches and antagonistics
thurs - bouldering. didnt spend so long on warm ups this time, worked hard all evening and got up a v3-4 that I couldnt do last week. but overdid it a bit and had sore shoulder for 2 days!
friday - nowt. sore shoulder!!!!!
saturday - Trollers gill. clean 6a+ lead, dogged 6c+ on toprope twice, but reckon with practice i will be able to lead this - project game on
off for two weeks in kalymnos next week, target to try (proper girly try, not two moves then jump off going "too hard ;-D ) leading 6b by the end of the trip.

In reply to Daniel Heath:
Cheers Dan. Ive been ill since last sunday unfortunately and the weather curtailed attempts to get away last monday/tuesday. Im also now away for a long weekend in helsinki visiting friends, so still lots of eating and drinking (currently working off a hangover)!

Anyway, I did manage a bit last week. Probably too much actually hence not getting over cold.
M: short session at stoke. Did about 4 problems in the v5-6 category, a bunch of easier ones and then finished off with some traversing.
T: good long ession at climbing station. Felt strong, did about 10 new green (v5-7) problems and then the 6c+ and 7a circuits (fell off the 7a on the last move).
W: rest
T: short session at alter rock. Terrible, had nothing in me. Combo of work and cold.
F: nothing - work then travelling to helsinki
S-s: just walking arou.d, otherwise nothing

Im back home Monday night, hoping I can start training again tuesday and do a bit of a weight loss drive for the next 3 weeks before kaly. I also want to a few Stoke sessions in the cave. First priority is to kick this bug though! Seems much harder as I get older

In reply to Daniel Heath:
Problem is that the whole subject is so unscientific (differ bodyfat measurement methods etc) that im not sure its possible to gain much from a thread on weight other than the action of typing up what youve done for peoples' viewing, and peer pressure from that. We could juat do that on here?

In reply to Si dH:

The last moves on the 7a circuit are possibly the hardest!

In reply to Daniel Heath:

Cheers Dan.

Great result. Looks like the beer belly isn't holding you back too much. Don't forget you were in training mode over Winter. You can't keep that up while trying to perform hard so things will slip a little.

Last weeks targets:

Board session x5, maybe more if i am feeling good. Sort of done - see below

Run x7. 45 minutes min. Not done - see below

Get an average body fat % and reduce it by .5% ( no idea where i am up to on this ) Not sure if i've done this or not ??

Elbow prehab x 7 as they are feeling the effects of being on the campus rungs. Not done my weights but stretching them off whenever i remember seems to be doing the trick at the moment.

M - 13% BF. Run. Board - Foot on campus. 2m30s on 4m rest x4

T - 12.8% BF. 2x 30m runs. Board - 4x4's. 60s on 20s off. Alternate between pinch 'strips' and campus rungs. Felt too easy with changing grip types each rep. Elbow weights.

W - 12.6%BF. run. Felt quite run down and ill. Did pinch str training with block and 18kg battery. Max str for 5-7 secs each rep. Can hold it no assistance with left hand but need to take weight off with what i thought was my stronger right hand.

T - 12.3% BF. No run, huge storms. Water running 15cm deep down the street but a lot better than some have fared. Living in beautiful sunny Spain i built my board outside. Managed to get on it during a break in the weather and did 3 reps of 2m30s on 4m off. Got rained off and went back out later and did 4 reps of same timings. Tried alternating rungs/pinches on this one too. Felt harder than doing it on 4x4's but still not hard enough.

F - 13.3% BF. I thought yesterday was rainy, nope that was just a shower. No board today but did warm up of: 20 press ups, 1m repeater on jugs, 20 press ups,1m repeater on jugs, 10 pull ups.Followed by intermediate BM repeater work out. Failed on 3 finger open and 4 finger crimp ??? Hopefully just because i've not been on it for ages.
Then did 2 sets of repeaters with block and 18kg battery.

S - 13.4% Got inspired after watching the vids of people training on UKB. Sounds rubbish but it's pretty amazing the effort people put in. Gets the message across that you've got to work at it to improve.

Core - did my old 125 reps set. Mix of isometric and reps.First core since i bust my ribs :0)Felt easy.

Dumbell complexes - old weight level. felt easy.

20 press ups, 1m repeater on biggest holds, 10 pull ups and then intermediate BM repeaters. All done this time and felt quite easy. All good.

S - 13.9% BF AAARGH ! 30 min run. Rest

So not a bad week. Some good progress made and it's shown me what i can get done, and more importantly what i should be getting done regularly.

I need to adjust the chains on my board ( the sun is shining again today so hopefully back on it tomorrow ) to make it steeper as what felt hard the other week is now feeling not the same intensity.

Not sure whether to do 4x4's or the Ste Mc 2m30s on 4m off protocol.From what i remember HLL is pumpy climbing between rests. Maybe a minute or so for each section so i am thinking 4x4 may fit better.

Toying with the idea of doing a set of rungs in the morning and pinches in the evening. I find rungs give me much more of a burn than pinches but i need to work pinches for HLL.

Will have a think today and post my targets tomorrow.

God knows what happened to my body fat. I did have a full English on Wednesday but have been quite good otherwise :0(

I have stupidly agreed to do an olympic distance triathlon with a mate in the UK next June. I don't have a bike or access to a pool( which is bad as i can't swim well ) so that should be fun - or not. Not really thinking about it for now. It may be a good way of me busting through the 10% BF level and staying there.

In reply to biscuit:

Jesus, i've written a whole book. Sorry !

In reply to Daniel Heath: If you (unlike me) have been preparing for London Wall by climbing on loads of quarried grit and are a true peg-pocketeerer, I honestly think you'll flash it. When I turned up at Millstone it was a completely spur of the moment thing, so I hadn't prepared for it at all so it was pretty stupid really. If you take it seriously, get all the beta you can (I'll give you loads later, I remember a lot of it very clearly), and take it really seriously I think you can do it. I think the key is just to be really determined to get up it, to push past each hard section with the confidence that you'll be able to recover for the next. And make sure you believe you can do it too, because when I set off I wasn't very confident at all so I really didn't go for it, which I think is why I fell off low down on my first attempt.

Anyway I'm about to go to the wall so I'll do my post later.

In reply to Joughton:

Reading your blog it stood out to me that the issue was resting too long rather than anything else. You said that you over rested and actually started to get tired before you set off up the final crack.

I think just a tactical error and as most people approach London Wall how you describe above ( a long term goal they have worked towards and trained specifically for ) and not on a spur of the moment like you did i wouldn't let it get to you.

A valuable lesson learned and next time you're in a similar situation you will succeed because of what you now know.

In reply to Daniel Heath:

Got out bouldering yesterday!! Wahey, grit bouldering - Western grit. Oh, how I've missed it. Side ways rain in the morning - didn't matter as we'd picked a sheltered spot at Newstones. Followed by the Roaches tea rooms and a bit of bumbling around Hen Cloud. I literally love bouldering. Especially gritstone.

M-45min run - usually lap.
T-Gym session. Antagonists - bench - 60kg, flies - 3x10 22kg, crunches and front raises 10 x 10kg.
W-Rest
T-Indoor climbing at RP. Bit of bouldering. Campus boards. 1-4-7. lots of laps on small rungs and up and down up and down, up on med rungs x 3.
F-Pub and drove to Newcastle.
S-Newstones (did the traverse and tried some minging steep 7c) followed by Hen Cloud. Tried Touch but got a bit psyched out with the landing (don't know why it's pretty flat. Lack of trad head I guess.
S- Morning run. About 5.5-6K in 22:50.

In reply to biscuit:

Could your body fat be affected by your hydration levels? You're probaly obsessing over a change that is in the range of error for the scales (?). How about measuring it weekly instead of daily?

ps. Been reading some of "Racing Weight" and i'm thinking about getting a set of BF reading scales. What have you got, and would you recommend them?

In reply to Daniel Heath: Cheers Dan, plan is to hopefully get on plenty of routes in a few weeks in the Frankenjura...

Normal mixed week, with some evidence of getting some climbing strength back


M: 8 km static bike, pull ups + sit ups
T:
W: Matrix (Up to font 6b)
T: 6 km static bike
F:
S: Bell Hagg - managed travserse into up problem (about V3) Static Bike 8 km
S: Climbing Works


STG: Frankenjura some grade VII's

MTG: Walnut Traverse at Birchen / Crucifix traverse at Almscliff
2 problems I couldn't quite do last winter, so good benchmarks
LTG: Font 7a - want to get on some traverses at this grade at Churnet
+ 7a Sport RP

In reply to Daniel Heath:

Cheers Dan. I think an E4 onsight isn't an unachievable goal, the LTG is about being a reasonably consistent and solid E4 leader which is a slightly bigger undertaking!

Only a half week to report.

Thurs - nothing
Friday - drove up to High Tor. It pissed it down, so by the time we got to the crag it was gone 5. Did Original Route, very nice. Abbing down the wall where Tales and so on go I know I want to do them at some point!
Saturday - back to High Tor. Did Debauchery which I thought was brilliant, one of the most unlikely lines for the grade I've done all year. Unfortunately after that our friends who had been spanked were keen to flee back to the grit and, it being a social weekend as much as anything, we went with them. I had the privilege of belaying my mate on Elder Crack, which he managed as only his second E2, complete with foot-free knee changes in the crack, footless wriggling and all sorts! I was, it has to be said, a bit nervous about my ability to second it clean... However by carefully ignoring any possibility of an udge on the steep bit, and laughing in glee at the howls of rage ("hes cheating!", "how are you doing that - there aren't any holds!!!") this provoked I made it to the top without incident.
Sunday - went shoe shopping (new pair of Dragons - check . Then went to the Foundry, but had zero energy, something wasn't right (rainbowing the top of a 6b+ was a low point which shall not be spoken of again!). Fared better with a bit of bouldering, did a few problems on "the best ten foot section of indoor wall in the country". Climbing ok.

So a quiet few days. 12 week training plan for Xmas trip starts this week and hopefully I'll even organise said trip too! Out at Cheddar tomorrow with another go working moves/links on Right Hand Man in my sights...

Andy

In reply to AJM:

Oh and I don't think personally I'd post on a separate weight thread. My weight and how much I care about it is inextricably linked to things like how far from target weight I am and how far away the next trip is (ie whether I can hit target by the time I go), whether I'm just training (when I don't mind a few extra pounds) or whether I'm pushing for a redpoint on a project at home and so on, so I don't think as a standalone thing it would help me much.

In reply to Daniel Heath:

Thanks Dan,

Goals: Hasta Luego Luca next week in Spain, 7c by March 2013

Poor week from me, been nursing (another!) head cold after the Berlin weekend's antics/lack of sleep.

Tues: routes indoors, a couple of new Ian Vickers lines at Stockport, spent the session falling off the 7b and 7b+, good routes though, hopefully go next time.

Sat: Indoor bouldering somewhere new and somewhere I'll not be rushing back to. Seemed I picked kids club day and so had toddlers running across the matting all session which wasnt great. Also didn't find any problems I liked, also still full of head cold. Should probably have stayed at home!

This week i'll probably have a couple of indoors routes sessions, hopefully tick off the 7b and 7b+ at stockport, then off to spain next sunday for a week of hanging from tufas by my 5:10 knee pad.

In reply to AJM:


The irony. The reason I called it Fit Club was a jibe at a shortlived thread that Nick Smith ran called Fat Club.

In reply to shark:

I remember seeing some sort of Fat Club thread after the Christmas excesses one year, but I totally hadn't made the connection.

Hope you had fun at High Tor yesterday. Very psyched to actually get a proper day there soon as possible, enjoyed Debauchery lots so be good to try and get some of the slightly harder classics ticked...

In reply to shark:

Fair enough, it was just an idea.

Personally now I'll put more emphasis on my weight, as my training will be fairly standard and I don't expect to perform outdoors much.

In reply to AJM:

You have a ready made climbing partner for that trip when you want one...

In reply to Daniel Heath:
Another mixed bag this week; unexpected performance and unexpected aches.

MTG (Spring 2013) - Melanchollie at LPT

STG (end Oct 2012)
- Get over re-current A2 injury in right index finger - getting there; adapting to open handing stuff isn't as easy as you think when you're an inveterate crimper!
- Supercool (Gordale)
- Dumpster divers (Diamond) - TICK! 3rd Ascent I'm told.
- Training link: Melancopout (LPT)

Also: Get bolts in Diamond and Orme projects

M (24th Sept) – Weighted deadhang session. First time in a while. Tested 1-handed finger strength at 87%. 5% down from Nov last year.
T – First indoor routes session in 6months. Can't decide if routes were super-soft, or if i was going well. OS'ed multiple >7b's.
W – Nowt
T – Gym session. Used rock-rings at work gym on fingers and tried some kettle ball routines. 2k row, 7min 21s.
F – Nowt. Very sore shoulders; Teres minor/major aching.
S – Short run. Parents visiting.
S - 1hr20min lap of 'degla black. Shoulders still sore. Finger boarding at home. Fingers achy to start but warmed up to the task at hand.

Not sure if shoulders are massive DOMS from new weights routine, or if i've done any damage? Been icing and tiger balming today and hope for progress overnight.

Fingers crossed for good weather this week.

In reply to Daniel Heath: Thanks Daniel.

M - rest
T - 50 min run (muddy towpath). swimming lesson #2
W - rest. lower back a bit stiff
T - 30 min turbo, 30 min run
F - 40 min run
S - 30 min turbo. booze
S - 40 min run

- weight 182lb end aug – target 168lb by mid-december
- plus daily foam roller for itb
- clams and foam roller before every run

not too bad. need to get at least one more swim a week in.

In reply to Daniel Heath:
Poor week for me

M: nothing
T: Nothing
W: wall lead a few things around 6b. Tested knee pad did loads of boulbering.
T: Nothing
F: Works 2.5 hours loads of things done most of the new black circuit ticked
S: Holmfirth nothing new.
S: Travel for work.

Sat in a hotel room just ate too much. Hear until thursday probably more of the same.

In reply to Daniel Heath: A decent week for me, but it's the first I've had in a while where I haven't been out once which is a little depressing. Managed to get my full three sessions in too which was nice.

Mon - nothing, considered going for a run but motivation was depressingly low.
Tue - route session at Stockport, tried onsighting two 7b+s, a 7c and an 8a. I set up off them fairly certain I wouldn't succeed, and the main aim of the session was to get pumped and fall of stuff, then evaluate why it happened so I could make sure I didn't do that in the competition next week. Didn't succeed on any but made good enough progress.
Wed - rest
Thurs - Session on my home wall, did my song-on song-off game for a bit, then lapped some of my circuits. Finished off by burning out on some hard problems.
Fri - rest
Sat - sad not to get out but I was busy all day
Sun - Went to MCC. Warmed up bouldering, then Nathan said I could set a problem so I made a nice V6ish... hanging on screwing a hold in seemed like good trad practice. Next I got on the circuit board, did 2x6b, 2x6c and got the 7b circuit 2nd go. Finished doing loads of mid-hard problems, V2 to V6, flashed a couple of techy V6s.

Just one week to BLCCs! Really getting psyched now, I can't wait to compete. I'm not sure whether to not train at all this week and save myself, or have a low threshold session on Wednesday to keep in the climbing zone.

Jake

In reply to Daniel Heath:

Thanks Dan.

STG: Snowdon Race - beat last years time. - Fail
Cuillin Ridge Traverse - 2 day attempt. - Tick
Just to get out climbing again (struggle to run and climb, running has won for the last 2 years or so).
Ben Nevis Race - beat last years time. - Tick

MTG:
Sub 40 min 10km
Get back to regularly onsighting VS / HS.

LTG: Push trad grade.
(High Peak Marathon?)

M - 3.78m treadmill, 1.4%.
T - 4.67m trail/road run, 267ft.
W - 5.4m trail/road run, 332ft.
T - 4.56 road run, 45ft.
F - 6.08m trail run, 689ft.
S - rest.
S - 8.5m trail/road run, 557ft.

In reply to Daniel Heath: Cheers Dan - yeh, it feels like I'm actually making some progress now. Never as quickly as one would like tho but small gains are gains all the same. Nice to see you getting some top level advice chap, it all helps to make a rounded out climber. Some ace stuff again this week too, it seems like everyone is re-evaluating their goals lately and making them higher/harder. Good stuff!

Weird week. Diet went out of the window and a loss of psyche but no idea why. Bit miffed with that. so it's a decent shop tomorrow and back into the groove. Managed my first reverse pull up yesterday - never thought I'd get there!

Weight 81kg
Bodyfat 25.5%

M - rest
T - Beast of an evening. Boulder room and did problems. Loads of V0, V1 and nailed the V1s I hadn't done and had a go at the V3 again, can't quite hold the crux. So, onto the beastmaker and the inner sloper on the top. 7sec on, 3sec rest for 3 times. Three sets with a few minutes in between. Mega happy with that. Slopers are a serious weakness. Back into the boulder room and got on the 45degree overhang - never managed anything on this. Zipped up the V2 till the volume that needs a dropped knee to get over it. Worked that maybe ten times till I got it. The rest of the problem is easy but I'd not started at the bottom. Just gotta link it. Made real mental and physical progress tonight. Tabata squat session when I got home.
W - Routes. Seconding (hate) and some easy toprope. Not much tho as was mullered from the day before. Bulgarian split squats when I got home.
T - Laura came to the wall for the first time since she broke her leg there two years ago. I didn't do a lot but did belay her up a couple of short F3s. Put Phil on a slab to try and sort his footwork... it may take a while.
F - work.
S - Cycling in the new Forest.
S - Cycling in the new Forest cut short by broken bolt on the rear derailleur.

Tues was an immense session for me. I was mentally in the right place, it made such a difference. Need to sort my cardio out tho.

It could be a bit deflating reading about all the amazing stuff you lot achieve but my footwork is coming along nicely now that I can actually hold onto the holds with my fingers.

In reply to Daniel Heath:

Hi all, am new here *waves*

Fairly busy week this week:
M: gym - bodyweight circuit
T: climbing - lead routes between 6a-6b, cleanly top-roped a 6b+ I had dogged last week by remembering to rest before the crux, attempted a 6c for the first time ever but failed at the crux. Also did some clip-drop practice.
W: gym - lower body push (squats, lunges)
Th: bouldering in the morning, 5mile run at lunchtime
F: gym - upper body push (bench, overhead press)
S: run - 5mile hilly
Su: rest

STGs:
Get comfortable leading sport/f6b and trad/severe.
Do some longer bike rides and runs, especially hilly ones (London is a bit flat)

LTGs:
Push leading grades.
Sign up for some ridiculous race of some sort, possibly duathlon.
Learn to ski properly.
Get better at mountaineering.

In reply to annak: 90+ mile weeks for third week in the row,.. nothing but running as working away in USA..

m: lunch: 5 mile trail run. pm: 12.5 mile road run at 6:45 pace
t: pm: 4 mile road run. pm: 8 mile run with 4x200's, 3x1k, 2x400's all sub 5 min miling, felt good.
w: 11.1 mile road run, struggled for time.
t: lunch: 6 mile trail run. pm: 8.5 miles, with 3x2k reps at 5:30 pace.
f: am: 3.5 miles slow. pm: 5 miles on road Boston
s: 18.85 miles at 6:35 pace, got stronger through it
s: 12 miles at 7:30 pace.. tired from yesterday

In reply to Daniel Heath:

Thanks Dan.

STG: RP 7a in a day, onsight 6c/+ at the wall and in Spain
MTG: flash V5 and maybe tick V6 at BoulderUK over winter, onsight 7a at a wall
LTG: E1 again next summer and look at E2

Mon: nowt
Tues: Boulder UK, flashed V5 and worked others
Wed: nowt
Thurs: 15.2 mile trail run up High Street from Kentmere, 1,220m ascent
Fri: Ingleton routes, onsight up to 6b+, RP 6c+ 2nd go then failed on 6c
Sat: 12.3 mile trail run up Blencathra and round Lonscale Fell, 930m ascent
Sun: routes at Stockport, onsight up to 6b+ then failed on 2 of Ian Vickers' 6c+s, good routes but nails!

My longest run to date on Thursday which I was pleased with. I had meant to do the Kentmere horseshoe but I got lost at the top of High St and ended up running round in circles in the bog for a while. It meant an enforced additional 3 miles, annoying at the time but great in hindsight to have upped my mileage a bit.

Was a bit knackered on Sunday, my excuse for failing on 6c+. Turned it into a mileage session and did lots of 6bs and up-downs at the end.

Spain in 2 weeks, can't wait! Need to do more routes indoors and/or out in preparation - get on some 7as and NOT FAIL on 6c+

In reply to annak:

Hello!! *waves back*

In reply to grubes:



Oh dear, those hotel buffets are a nightmare!

In reply to Daniel Heath:

I think I might join back in if that's ok, I need some motivation now we're properly into the training season again. So far this year I've learned to glide, pretty much stopped running and not climbed a right lot. Among the few routes I have done are the hardest I've climbed despite getting fat and lazy.

This week:
Tue: Indoor bouldering

STG: Climb twice a week, run at least once
MTG: 78kg, running regularly, 7c indoor redpointing
LongerTG: 76kg, fit for sport in spring

I'll flesh the goals out into something more positive and measurable as I go along.
jk

In reply to Daniel Heath:

Thanks as always Dan. Yeah, if I get out this week, I'm going to get on the 6bs. OMM training and DIY might take precedence tho.

Continuous - Shoulder / knee rehab / ankle strengthening
1 - Lose 1/2 stone (no progress)
2 - Improve finger strength (need to make/buy a fingerboard...)
3 - Improve footwork (did a bouldering footwork session)
STG - Consolidate VS (2nds DONE | 7/10 leads), 12st 2lbs, 6a onsight.
MTG - Lead HVS, 12st
LTG - Lead E1, 11st 12lbs
VLTG - Lead E2, maintain weight - 11st 10lbs
Aspirational - Climb E5/6, Scottish Winter VI, WI5, Redpoint 8a, stay injury free & maintain 11st 7lbs

Weight - 12st 2lbs - haven't weighed myself, so don't know

M - 30 mins core & upper body at Gym
T - 5k run 24mins
W - Had a mate come over
T - Work in Bristol
F - 1 hour footwork based bouldering
S - DIY
S - 2 hour mtbing

Not feeling too bright at the moment, probably shouldn't have gone riding the other day. Been a good week however. A decent fast run (well fast for me) a nice ride and a bit of bouldering. Did a bit of DIY, but not as much as I would have liked. Lots of work still to go before the house is done and it's looking like it's going to be a close run thing to get it ready for christmas. Still got 4 rooms to decorate and at current rate we're going very slowly as the prep takes ages.

In reply to Steve John B: got to ask - what the hell is a foam roller? what the hell are clams? what the hell is turbo? its like a training blog written by ee cummings ;-D (I dont mean that nastily, just very very curious!)

In reply to pebbles:

I know! I know! http://www.physiosupplies.com/fitness/PE-Blue-Foam-Roller-15cm-x-45cm.html

I've got one, they're really good for massaging muscle aches. No idea about the other things tho. Interested to know myself, turbo sounds a bit full on..

In reply to Si dH:


Me or you?

In reply to Nomics4sale: aha! I was picturing a spot of home decoration ;-D

In reply to pebbles:

clams are just a crappy exercise to 'engage my gluteus medius' - which is supposed to help control lateral movement of the legs when running (and hence stop assorted recurring injuries). i don't usually eat shellfish before exercising...

a turbo trainer is a contraption for turning your bike into an indoor trainer, "like spinning classes" is what the missus said yesterday.

no idea why i got all lower case when i'm on fit club threads - think it's something to do with the microsoft excel settings i used to have on my pc - at least there's a BIT of punctuation once in a while

In reply to Steve John B: wasnt he the hero of Gladiator?
"My name is Gluteus Medius, and I will have my vengeance in this world or the next!"

In reply to Daniel Heath:


Thanks. Still not managed to do anything more ambitious than walk. I still hurt in quite a few places and my right leg is all the colours of the rainbow!

In reply to shark:
Well I meant me but it sounds like there are two of us

In reply to ally smith:

They didn't used to do this though which is what is puzzling me. Obsessing is probably correct but i am finding it hard to get low and stay low and it is a bit of a priority for me.

Omron scales seem to be the recommended ones. Ones with a handheld unit attached to the feet readers are supposedly more accurate and more expensive. About £40 off amazon if memory serves.

Yes i would recommend them as something that really focuses your mind on the figures. It makes you drive past McDonald's when you find yourself automatically veering towards it.

As for the figures what i should really do is a weekly average, or a rolling 3 day average. If i just do it every Monday morning for example one monday may be an 11.5% and the next 13.5% and it doesn't give you much of an idea where you are up to in reality.

In reply to Joughton:

Great effort just getting on it Jake! alot of people I know are still saving this (myself included) for when they think they'll onsight it, so its refreshing to see someone just rock up and go for it. Youll walk it next time I'm sure!

In reply to pebbles:

I always thought he got a bum deal...

In reply to Daniel Heath:
Yes, I'm very much aware that the honeymoon phase won't last forever! As I seemed to start off at a lower lever than most people indoors, I've had more wins to enjoy before this stage and hopefully have a couple to go before that jolt of getting stuck. As for trad, I obviously havn't done enough to find my level yet, I'm just learning to place gear safely whilst comfortable before testing what I can onsight.

I wasn't going to post this week because I havn't done anything and was embrassed (been on holiday and focusing more on family stuff) but decided to embrace the fitclub ethos and not hide away!

Will reiterate my goals to give me a boost, and remind me for my climbing session tomorrow.

STG: Do some form of exercise x3 a week (edit: even when it's raining :P)
Consolidate 5+ indoors

MTG: Lead a 6a indoors
Reliable/confident lead belayer
Get outdoors more

LTG: Not sure yet, keep at it and improve

Have a good week folks!

In reply to oddtoast: Well done on not hiding away!

annak - Hello!

JKarran - Welcome back.

In reply to Daniel Heath:

I’d like to join as it’s time my climbing had some focus again – even if that just means that I actually enjoy going to the wall through the winter!
Recently turned 40, been climbing for about 12 years, I used to be fit but then children came along and that’s gradually faded.
Since 2nd child was born in the summer I started running as a way of getting an exercise fix in the limited time now available. Didn’t enjoy it much at first but once I was able to run far enough to get up some hills it started to make sense and I’m really getting into it now. Climbing-wise I’ve climbed trad almost exclusively but want to try more sport to see what I can do. There are loads of E3s I know I ought to be able to climb but I’m always too ready to make an excuse rather than risk failure. If I don’t try soon I may never get the chance.

STGs (by end of year)
- come up with a realistic training plan that I will stick to
- Stick to that training plan!
- actually climb outside again (more of a challenge than it ought to be!) – assuming this happens then depending on conditions/location get up an E2 or a V4 or a 6b+

MTGs (first half of next year)
- link all moves on Bionics Wall low traverse
- 6c onsight, 7a headpoint
- complete local fell race (Whaley Waltz) in under 50 minutes
- improve running endurance to be able to run >10 miles in hills comfortably
- get weight back down to (or preferably under) 11.5 stone (pre-children weight)

LTGs (second half next year)
- at least 4 of target E3s – Mad Dogs and Englishmen, Adjudicator Wall, Splintered Perspex, Queer Street, Tippler Direct, Asp, Censor, The Swan, Hunky Dory, Time for Tea, Gates of Mordor (list will change if I get a trip to Fairhead)
- headpoint Bionics Wall
- 7a+ headpoint
- At least 6c+ onsight
- run Stanage Struggle in under 50 minutes
- run Windgather race and have sufficient fitness to enjoy it

Last week:

Sun – first fell race, Stanage Struggle (about 10k) in 55.31 – very happy with this
Mon – nothing
Tue – lunchtime circuits at The Edge. New circuits since I was last there, managed O/S 6c into 6a, didn’t complete 6c on 2nd attempt, did then manage 3x 6b into 6a
Wed – 25 min run before work, rubbish conditions, didn’t feel good
Thu - nothing
Fri – bouldering at Works, did all of black circuit apart from 2 (don’t have the strength for them yet) along with about 5 from other circuits
Sat – nothing

Blimey that was a bit of an essay. I’ll keep it shorter next time

In reply to Daniel Heath:

got the 7b redpoint a coupleof weeks ago... but last week looked like this

m- indoor bouldering-spanked, weights and cardio
t-indoor bouldering-spanked, cardio and core
w-indoor bouldering-less spanked, weights and cardio
t-cardio and cpre
f- indoor bouldering and cardio. then indoor bouldering again. less spanked..starting to get somewhere on a v7 (fingery , steep but nt very steep)
s- cario and core
s-bouldering and cardio

In reply to Daniel Heath:

Thanks Dan,
Indoor psyche is still poor, but outdoors is still steaming ahead. Shame that winter is basically here, given my weekend commitments coming up. However, a great excuse to kick the ass out of the sport routes and maybe hit the grit over the next couple of months.

Tues: Indoors, bored.
Sat: Swanage - 5 routes, Es: Ocean Boulevard, Ximines, OS.
Sun: Swanage again - 3 routes & illness, Es: Tudor rose & Sapphire, OS.

A pleasing trip, Ocean Boulivard I did like I would a sport route and got well into the zone. Ximenes was a bit of a battle for the last route of the day. Tudor rose felt easy.
So in all a great weekend. The E2s & 3s are falling more regularly and I feel positive about them rather than worried. This is good, I feel like over the last couple of months I have had a stride forwards in my trad and trad head, I hope that it stays rather than abates with the change in approach to sport.

Have a weekend in torquay in 2 weeks to look forward to too.

Goals:
STG indoors more and get some training enthusiasm back
MTG HOM and other 7cs, possible Chorro at xmas, get on 8a.
Next year: Make E3 regular, E4 occasional. Tick 8a.

Thanks, Kev

In reply to Daniel Heath: Thanks Dan and everyone on here. Strange week, not so hot on the training, heading to wall on Moday night felt a strange lump in my mouth, tried to look in the mirror at TCA but could not see anything just feel distict bump-complete panic that cancer had returned, tried to climb as there was nothing I could do about it but sacked it off after about an hour of aimless wandering. At home armed with head torch, mirror, glasses etc wife and I decided it was probably an ulcer and that to wait and see what happened-lots of mouth washes meant that it had gone by Thursday-phew. So that took the wind out of my sails a bit, swam and had one great fingerboard session in the week and then back to TCA on Saturday where had positive circuits session. Visiting friends in Devon over the weekend.

This week will aim to get to the wall for circuits and out on Thursday weather permitting, hopefully climbing this weekend- Si d'h has threatened to show me Cheedale depending on weather. Get this project out of my life tomorrow which will free up alot of time.



Feelimng strong (for me) and positive so relly looking forward to Kalymnos in three weeks, realised I do need a bit more structure and will draw up a plan for when I get back, not just about training but about getting out and away-two years since I climbed in N Wales, cant beleive it, how did that happem?

Rich

STG (April)-repeat/red-point 6c (tick) lead HVS
MTG (October) red-point 7a, lead E2 (would love to do Ahimsa but not sure how realistic that is)
7A 0/1, 6c+ 0/2, 6c 4/4, 6b+ 7/8
E3 0/1, E2 0/2, E1 0/4, HVS 0/8
LTG (April 2013) On-sight 7a, lead E4(????!!!!)

In reply to Solsbury:

That must be terrifying. Glad it's all good.

In reply to Daniel Heath:

Right got this weeks goals - and no real excuses to not stick to it as once the kids are in bed i am on my own with nothing but the TV for company and i don't really watch TV.

last weeks BF was 13% give or take a hundredth of a %. Weekly average down to 12.5% is the target, though i would prefer 12%

3 x Board - pinch rails
3 x Board - rungs
1 x Repeaters - intermediate BM workout followed by 2 sets of pinch repeaters on wood block
2 x Max pinches - wood block with 18kg
4 x core (125 reps)
2 x complexes
? x run. Going to try every day

Then i am going to have Mon and Tues off or light exercise and go climbing ;0)

In reply to biscuit:

Forgot to add that i am doing a set of repeaters on the BM (intermediate session )as part of the warm up for board work.

In reply to Daniel Heath:
STG: 70 problems in one session.(tick)
MTG: 70 problems in one session.(tick)
LTG(2012): 1*V8, 2*V7, 4*V6(2), 8*V5(5) (by May 2013).
Redpoint sport 7b (by June 2013)
8 e3s by end of 2013 (ground up is fine)
VLTG(2015?): Classic e5 (Positron?, Right Wall?)

Falls: 0(94)
Fat %: 11.5
Focus: Endurance 4/4
Key weaknesses: Spotting sequences. Repertoire of moves. FoF.

Mon: Rest
Tue: Weights. Core.
Wed: Technique @ Stockport.
Thu: Rest.
Fri: Volume @ The Works (45 problems mainly V3).
Sat: Volume @ The Works (70 problems mainly V3).
Sun: Rest

Lightweight week, skipping Monday is always a bad sign. Feel especially guilty @ skipping the 4x4 & upper body workout as this is where I am physically weakest @ the moment.

Spent Wednesday trying to work sequences in my head before trying the problems & then replayed afterwards. Learnt a fair bit (like I think my reach is bigger than it is!!) but it's slow going. I'll persevere on this one because I am crap at visualizing sequences & I rekon this would be a big asset to trad onsighting.

Got the MTG on Saturday. Not really sure it proved I've progressed over the period as other sessions have been V3 & upwards whereas this session was 40 @ V3 and 30 @ V2.

Need to have a geek out session on my stats before the training season starts proper so I can measure my progress better.

STG: A 4x4 session + a chest & back session.
MTG: Either a PB on VIR @ homeStockport

In reply to oddtoast:



try seconding people on harder routes too, try removing and replacing their gear yourself while you are seconding, it will help give you practice. And also give you a chance to try harder moves than you are happy leading yourself. see ya in a few weeks!

In reply to pebbles: Cheers for the tip - I'd have not thought to try replacing them.

In reply to leon:

good effort on sat. my fingers were trashed after friday and don't think i could have climbed even if i'd been able to get out

In reply to Daniel Heath:
M- Bouldering. Arch. Went through the grades up to the Blues. Did all but a few
T- Cardio. w/u jog w. 4xhill sprints, 3 laps of obstacle course
W- Mixed Cardio 10/10/20min- rowing/stepper/bike
Bouldering. Arch. Getting stronger. All the Blues except 19. one red, one purple spotted (up to V4)
T-
F-
S- Up snowdon - 4-5hours?
S- Up to Cwm Loer for camping - 2hrs? Piss wet.

No climbing at the weekend but nice to get out on the hills and injuries coming along nicely.

In reply to pebbles:

Yep, more seconding would be great, hope can get out more this autumn - hadn't thought of replacing gear for more practice, cheers. Enjoy your trip!

In reply to Si dH:
>
>

Now home and have had time to think about my goals a bit more while I was away. The two things I had left to do this year were finish off the 7c pyramid (need 1 each of 7a+, 7b and 7b+) and climb (onsight, obviously) grit E3. However:
- on the sport front, my onsight grade (6c/+) is now so far behind the my redpoint grade (7c) that I feel like I should really work more on that - especially since what I love most is onsighting on trad. I am not feeling particualrly psyched to fill in the rest of the 7c pyramid either, now that I have done the top bit! So, for the remaining sport climbing I do this year, I am going to focus on onsighting. The main subject of this is in Kalymnos later this month.
- on the grit front, I realised that once I get back from Kaly there wont be enough time for more than a couple of sessions outside on routes before the weather gets too cold, so rather than a half-arsed attempt, I'm just going to focus on bouldering. I see this as sensible for two reasons:
1) last year I only bouldered for as little time as I could in between doing routes, whilst it was too cold. As a result, I stayed at the same level (doing 5-10 Ft 7as, knocking on 7a+ but not quite) as I had been the year before. I now want to improve this.
2) I have my first proper trip to Font booked next March and think I should do some prep!

My long-term goal of 7c in France/Spain and multiple grit/lime E3s in 2013 still stands. I am hoping to have a Ceuse trip in late May next year. Therefore my plan is as follows:

- indoor bouldering but including work in the cave at Stoke for the next 2.5 weeks (+ hoping to get out for some sport this weekend with Rich Popp)
- onsighting in Kalymnos
- pure strength training (fingerboard and bouldering - see below) from late October right through to mid March
- Font in March
- PE and Stamina training through to late May (this might be the most challenging bit given where I'm going)
- Ceuse in May
- Focus on trad right through next summer and autumn to get closer to realising my potential now that Im much fitter and stronger than I used to be - rather than dabbling in it between sport trips.

My goals that I take forward to future Fit Club weeks will therefore be as follows:

STG (this month): aim to flash F6c+ or harder every day 'on' in Kalymnos, and onsight at least 1 F7a.
MTG (this winter through to March):
- tick at least 10 Ft7s, including at least one Ft7b, before Font
- tick Ft7a every day 'on' in Font
LTG (March-Dec 2013):
- tick F7c in Ceuse
- aim to onsight 10 E3s and 1 E4 in 2013

Ultimately what this comes down to is a re-focussing of my improvement targets away form sport and towards bouldering and trad.

I've put together a training plan for my strength training. Basically my weekly plan is as follows (starting from the day after boudlering outside):
Day 1 - core session (while tips recover!)
Day 2 - bouldering at wall
Day 3 - fingerboard session, focussing on slopers
Day 4 - bouldering at wall
Day 5 - fingerboard session, focussing on pockets
Day 6 - fingerboard session, focussing on crimps (in morning to maximise rest before next day outside)

I've written up what I think each of those 3 fingerboard routines could be but wont bore you with them(!) What I am interested in is; what level of mixing things up do you think should I do on the fingerboard? As I see it, I have three options:
1) do the above for 16 weeks (approx training time between Kaly and Font)
2) do slopers, crimps and pockets all in every session rather than focussing on one or the other
3) focus the fingerboard sessions totally on slopers for 5-6 weeks, then pockets for 5-6 weeks, then crimps for 5-6 weeks, just training the others in those periods through the bouldering days?

Or is there any other sort of periodisation I should consider?


I'm aware this is a massive post - sorry for the essay I'm relying on some of the Fit Clubbers being so keen on all this stuff that they will actually get through it all! (if not I'll re-post some of the more important questions next week)

Thanks

Si

In reply to Solsbury:
Rich - sorry to hear about the scare, hope you are feeling well now. Good luck getting out on Thursday. I'm still keen for a day at the weekend but we'll obviously need to see how the weather plays out. When do you ned to confirm Saturday or Sunday? I dont have much confidence in Cheedale conditions unfortuantely. Will mail you later in the week.

Si

In reply to Si dH:

Si,

That's a serious essay mate!

Some thoughts:
- if you intend to get on a 7c in France/Spain next year you'll presumably be doing some sport climbing in the runup to it so will probably get the chance to broaden the base then. If you aren't intending to do that sort of thing, maybe worth considering if you want to prioritise it (not sure when you're expecting to do the trad, is May before "next summer or autumn")?
- with 3 weeks or so left for Kaly the physical gains may be minimal but some indoor leading work may be useful to get the lead head onto top form for the onsights?
- ancap and aerocap as well as pure strength/bouldering over the winter? They are supposed to be base period things to train and looking at it from a Dec-May period (for Ceuse) you fit quite nicely into about 4 months base 2 months peak... And your base period ends about the time you'll go to Font which fits better still.
- Personally I don't think I would try and periodise the fingerboard stuff, I would just work it all each session, they should be short & intense anyway so would you really do 3x as much crimp work in a crimp focused session as you would do in a mixed up session...

Anyway that's my 2cents...

10 more 7a (5/14)
2x7a+ (1/2)
1x7b

Hi all, good work for everyone - more crushing.

A pretty terrible week for me for climbing and in general.

Found out I'd had glandular fever. Made it to Kalymnos. TR a couple of routes but then had to rest for a day. Dr says can take up to a few months so no climbing at least till Nov for me.

Much worse one of my friends had a fall and is badly hurt. Not even climbing, she was just walking down from a mutipitch and slipped. She's in hospital in Athens with a lot of injuries. The next week is critical. She's strong, and stubborn, we just have to hope.

In reply to Si dH:

Andy has his head around periodisation better than me but from a quick look at what you've written i'd say the following:

1) You're going to boulder for 2.5 weeks before kaly where you want to on-sight at your limit ? If you're going for what Kaly is famous for ( i am aware there are all styles there ) i'd say you need to get some PE in. You've enough time to make a difference. 4x4's on a rope and climb until you are so boxed you fall off. This is me telling you to do what i say not what i do but my head is the thing that always holds me back. If you can get a strong head before you go that'll be worth weeks of training.

2) Dan Varian and the BM boys say to work a repeater phase ( 4-6 weeks ) then a max phase ( 4-6wks) and then rest from fingerboarding for 4-6weeks. They also recommend to concentrate on one, weakest, hold type - but maintain the others.

I am also impressed by the difference between onsight and redpoint grades. It gives me hope as i am 6c+ on-sight and want 7c soon.

Anyway just my 2ps worth

In reply to AJM:
Thanks Andy.
I will indeed be climbin sport between March and May so should get the opportunity to fill out the pyramid then, you're right. I was only thinking of canning that goal for this year. The trad is basically after we come back from Ceuse (I assume you're still keen by the way?)

I will try to do a bit of leading before Kaly, but I'm not sure indoors will help my onsighting that much? Main plan though is to get on the cave at Stoke. Its properly horizontal so puts you in a completely different place (technique-wise) than anything else I ever do. I think a couple of sessiosn in there should get me thinking about heels, drop knees etc more and leave me better ready for steep stuff in Kaly, even if actual physical gains are minimal at best.

You are going to have to help me out with what you mean by ancap/aerocap :oS I still only really understand strength, stamina, and something in between (which I usually all PE). What is it you think I should be doing at base level for that period, and what does it involve? If a session of traversing once per week or something, I could certainly manage that ok...

Cheers!

In reply to biscuit:
See above reply re: training for Kaly. Bouldering in the Stoke cave is PE really. The 'problems' get Sport grades rather than Font. I'll only get a couple of sessions in there though. I will try to do a session of routes at Alter Rock (Derby) too if I get the chance.

Interesting re: the fingerboard training - thanks. Although I'm not actually sure which my weakest hold type is - probably pockets I guess.

In reply to Si dH:

Ceuse - yes, certainly hope so!

Indoors - just thinking getting the head into practice, do some hard onsight attempts, get the mind used to going on until failure and falling off trying, that sort of thing. Agree the steep technique is something new that practice helps with although I'd bow to those who have been to Kaly before in terms of how steep things at your grades (7a+ and below if focusing on onsighting I guess) are likely to be.

Aerocap/ancap - it's the terminology from the Tom Randall/Dave Binney energy systems training model. Aerocap is the "pumped but in control" stuff - anything from 10 minutes to about 40 minutes of going round and round or up and down or whatever. Ancap is 12-15 move problems/circuits, do 10 times or so, failure on about 25% of reps, with a rest time between intervals of 2-4x climbing time (depending on circuit length I think - should be fixed for a given set). The ancap is the new one really that lots of people haven't done before, but the anecdotal things I've heard have been very impressive.

The model basically says you do a base training phase which comprises basic strength work (bouldering and fingerboard), ancap (often combined with a bouldering session, just cut it short 45 mins early or something and switch to ancap) and aerocap (easy to whack onto the end of a session as a cool down). Ancap has the longest adaption time (16 weeks) so you can actually start the ancap before you need to think about aerocap stuff.

Then your peak training is basically power endurance - aerobic power (which is E end power endurance, the serious "can't make a fist" "makes you want to puke" sort of pump. The sort of thing I used to do doing laps on routes at Calshot when we used to go there if you recall) and anaerobic power (the P end of power endurance when you don't really get pumped whilst climbing but fall off through total power fade, the "fall off unable to do a move but you can very quickly pull back on and complete the move"). Adaption time is up to about 2 months.

The stuff I've seen recently suggests if you're aiming for 5 sessions a week then base should be something like 2xancap, 2xstrength and a maintenance pe session, with aerocap tagged onto the end of sessions and stuff. Then for peak you increase to something like 3 pe sessions per week, and it becomes a bit more focused on goals in that if you were trying for onsights you'd do a bit of strength and more aerocap in the rest, if a redpoint trip you might keep ancap going right up until the end and drop the aerocap entirely. In the week or two before the trip you go into a taper phase and drop anything low intensity and cut the volume down by about 50%, just leaving the high intensity stuff.

As always, your mileage may vary - I've heard enough good stuff about it to be interested in trying this model a bit more completely this time round. All second hand understanding so may not be 100% correct!

In reply to Alex@home:
thanks. i was half expecting to fail pretty spectacularly on saturday.

In reply to Ian Bell: Hope your friend recovers well Ian

In reply to AJM:
I'm likely to only have 2 actual climbing sessions per week (indoors), the rest being finger-boarding. So, I think what I would distil that down to for me would be to follow the routine I put down above, but then on the two days per week that I am at the wall, allow 45 minutes after any bouldering to do approx 10 reps of a 12-15 moves circuit (the ancap), and then basically whenever I have time at the end and it is quiet enough, do 10+ minutes of traversing around on the bouldering wall (the aerocap).
I'll see how I go...

In reply to mrchewy / Ian Bell:
ditto - sounds about as bad as a trip gets

Best of luck.

In reply to Si dH:

I think so, yes. Although to et a good ancap session in you might not be looking at "after any bouldering", but having to actively make space for it - apparently you should be properly powered out at the end of a session of it...

In reply to Si dH: I'm good thanks-will e-mail you later, quite flexible but lets talk-just finished huge peice of writing and hit deadline so can look around me-at the damp dripping day!!

Rich

In reply to Daniel Heath:

Very late post for me, week has flown by with moving and interviews. Sorry, not had time to read everyone else's posts but hope you all had a good week!
Last week was as unproductive (fitness wise) as predicted, with a mix of knee injury, end-of-season close down at work, moving back to the UK, and a cold I picked up all combining to mean not a lot got done.

M: Nothing
T: Cragging. Tried a 6b, failed. Seconded a 5c to get my draws back.
W: Cragging. Tried another 6b, fell off the crux a couple of times and bailed. Did another couple of easy pitches.
T: Nothing - came down with a cold so chose not to run.
F: 2 hour walk, feeling crappy.
S: Nothing.
S: Nothing except a driving marathon!

Seeing as my STG's were until the start of Oct, I guess I should evaluate how I've done...
- At least 5x 6a+, 2x 6b, get on a 6b+
I did the 6a+'s, 5 since I set that goal, one onsight, most 2nd go, and tried a few more. I got on 4 6b's and failed on all of them, primarily strength related.
- Work on my fear of falling... this is really holding me back, even on bolts. Go out specifically to take falls on a steep bolted crag a few times, then do the same on gear (even if it's with a TR back up). Build up to falls with feet 50cm or so above bolt. Hope this lets me push myself a bit more.
I've got a lot better. Not done any trad falls, have taken a few sport falls though. Still have a long way to go on this.
- Use all 6 'weekends' left in Chamonix for a long alpine or rock route, weather permitting. Specific objectives before I leave: Midi-Plan traverse, Frendo Spur, Dent du Geant/Rochefort arete, Moine ridge on the Verte, Ag de Republique, Papillions Arete/Paigne summit, Mont Dolent. Will be happy if I tick half of these.
Got two really good weekends in on the Dent and in Orco. One abandoned trip after someone fell off the Peigne. One weekend lost travelling, 2 with only short trips due to visitors. Conditions haven't been great for snowy stuff, so I'm fairly happy with what I've done, with lots of objectives to come back to.
- Get to Italy at least once, Orco valley granite cracks.
Done
- Run 10km at least once a week, in <hour.
Did this 3 out of 6 weeks, losing one for injury, 2 out of laziness.
- Start doing a bit of strength training again, specifically rock ring sessions (2/week) and squats as I have super weak legs (3/week).
Not really done... rock rings I have an excuse for, legs I don't.
- Non exercise wise, get my blog going, and maybe work on a few articles for UKC/magazines. Get brain functioning again!
Been getting there... sort of

So, not really achieved a lot of my goals, though I did do some. Really annoyed at myself for not getting some 6b's done as I know I can climb them technically and I've climbed harder in the past, just lacking strength totally right now. I found I was pretty burnt out by the end of the season, fighting sickness and feeling generally tired and unmotivated. This is the end of a year of not really working much and climbing/travelling/skiing lots, so not too surprised at this. Motivation was high a year ago and I got a lot done, not so much by the end. I'm pretty happy to be going back to a regular job, although not living in the mountains is going to be a shock! I'm glad I started posting on here though, I have certainly done more running because of it, and a little more climbing. Will be keeping this up. I have just accepted a job offer near Leeds, so will be heading back to my old stomping grounds. Change is happening!

A new set of STG's are needed, so until the spring:
- Excited to get to the wall again regularly and get some strength back. 2x wall sessions/week, leading 6b indoors comfortably by the end of winter, working 6c. Bouldering maybe V4 or so? (I'm not much of a boulderer, even indoors).
- Running - run at least 3x/week, and at least 25km/week. Build up milage aiming towards a marathon in the spring.
- As and when weather permits, consolidate at E1 outdoors.
- Get a mountain bike again as soon as I can afford it and get out lots!
- Start training again, on the fingerboard and leg strength stuff also. 2 sessions of each/week.
- Ski at least one week over winter, preferably touring.
- Scottish 4 lead. Climb in Glen Coe/Ben Nevis area as only been to the Cairngorms before.
- Start a Yoga or Pilates class.

MTG (next year):
- Confident E1 leader, getting on some E2s.
- 6b sport onsight, 6c worked.
- Confident above (good) gear, willing to take some small falls.
- Get a good crack climbing trip in, maybe Indian Creek or Norway.
- Mountain marathon, or maybe the Lakeland 50.
- Psyched to get back into UK trad properly, explore new areas (Pembroke, Gower, some more remote Lakes crags, slate quarries, more stuff in Scotland).

LTG as before.

In reply to maria85: I wouldn't beat yourself up about not achieving all your goals - it looks like you've had a pretty good stab at them... I'm terrible for thinking I will have more time than I actually end up having to get stuff done, and failing to take into account that life gets in the way sometimes! It also perhaps sounds like to move forward you need to give your body time to rest in between all the running and climbing (recovery is part of training!). Getting back to a regular job and some life structure may help you focus more, and give some enforced rest so when you do do climbing sessions you can pull harder! That said I have to admit to being rather jealous at your year off and being able to climb/run all the time - sounds very appealing at the moment though I imagine its not all rosy!

In reply to Daniel Heath: Thanks Dan! Been busy this week getting back to work and life post-Rodellar (boo!). Will be posting a mega-update tonight though - I apologise in advance for how long it will probably turn out to be...

In reply to Daniel Heath: This update was so long I've had to split it in two...

I posted the first few days of Rodellar last week, but will recap to give the full picture.

In summary, Rodellar is an amazing place and I had a fantastic trip - thanks to Hazel, Nick, Iain and Andy for making it so fab! The valley is so peaceful and quiet (apart from the bloodcurdling screams of climbers trying/failing/succeeding on their projects!) and so much amazing climbers - it's made me so psyched to climb and get stronger so I can go back and try the harder, longer routes.

Sat (previous week) - Headed to Aquest buit not a great day as totally psyched myself out trying to put the clips in on a steep, pumpy 7a+.

Sun (previous week) - El Camino - flashed a 6b (pumpy!), then managed to get a 7a+ (Tomo Castanazo) second go - if I was braver and more able to keep pushing when pumped I could probably have flashed it, but was feeling a bit nervous from the previous day's headgames. Went up to La Nuit de Temps and started up a long 6b+ but got a bit psyched out and came down.

Mon - official rest day, but felt like I thought I could climb a bit and have an easy day. Decided to warm on on Bugs Bunny (6a+) at El Camino and got pretty flash pumped! Decided I was probably fairly tired after all and should have a rest day. Had a great afternoon walking up the canyon, including compulsory jump into the (cold) river and tree climbing for figs!

Tues - Warmed up at Bikini on a really nice 5+ and 6a, then bolt to bolted from the first bolt (to avoid the nails boulder problem start) of Marlen Extralujo (6c+) which was lovely climbing. Headed to Cafe solo after having spotted some great looking routes there the day before. Although Monica and Cafe con Leche both looking amazing, I thought 7b might be a bit ambitious for the trip, so had a go on Zero de conduite (7a/+) first, which is shorter and not so steep. It's also really crimpy, with the crux clipping the chains off a crimp, so probably played to my strengths. Worked the moves on top rope, then managed to tick it first redpoint - just! The clipping the chains only just happened! Had a go on Cafe con Leche and found the crux really hard...though in retrospect, 7bs always feel hard to me the first time on them, and second time round it's usually better!

Wed - Felt totally beasted, and it was raining, so had a total rest day.

Thurs - Headed to El Camino - warmed up on Bugs Bunny (which felt a bit more like a warm up this time!) but it was a cold morning, and should probably have done it a couple of times to get properly warmed up. Then tried to onsight a 6b+ but got a bit flash pumped and had a momentary hesitation on the crux - rather annoyed at myself for not pushing through though. Had a bit of a rest (not long enough) then went for redpoint and managed to just get up, again really pumped. Had a decent rest then went for a 6c onsight (Futuras Promesas) and manager to power through the slopers on lovely crimps! My first 6c onsight so really pleased Then flashed the 6c to the left of it which felt a wee bit soft. We headed over to have a look at a couple of routes at Boulder du jon which we had seen previously. I had my eye on Lorien and the Wailers which looked a short, bouldery 7a+ which I thought would suit me. Put the clips in and had a bit of a go, but the crux - a really big move from jugs to a crimp on v steep ground - felt desperate. Quiddity onsighted it and cruised through, so figured I must be doing something wrong...got back on on toprope and figured out that actually the problem was that both me (and Hazel) were too short to reach the crimp with our feet on the good holds (that is - any holds!). Managed to do the move by going for a rubbish sidepull/pinch, cutting loose, brining my feet up high then going again for the crimp - it felt nails. Decided I was probably too tired to pull on anything for the rest of the day so stripped it.

Fri - Headed up to El Delfin for some onsighting. Did a couple of cool 6a+s, one of which went above the arch in a fairly exposed line! Managed to onsight second 6c of the trip (though possibly 6b+ - variations in guides!) which was really pleased with, then got spanked on the 6b+ to the left. I didn't really leave long enough to recover after last route, and I got a wee bit scared cos I was pumped so wimped - very annoyed at myself. Had lunch then stopped by El Camino on the way back and flashed a 6b (Clyde) and nearly flashed a 6b+ (Bonny), before having a play on Orgasmica (7a+). Managed to get the bouldery start ok, then did all the crux moves, but too tired to link them all together. Amazing route though and was psyched to try it again when fresher.

Sat - Rainy day so headed strauight to Aquest - I was feeling beasted and couldn't decide whether to have a rest day and take a change on being able to have a decent go on Orgasmica the next day (before flight home) or just to go all out and climb! Decided that I probably wouldn't be able to tick anything at Aquest in a day so did a bit of belaying/resting. Iain and Nick both managed to tick their route fairly early on so we had a bit of time to kill and headed back to Bikini where I tried the bouldery start to the 6c+ we'd tried a few days before (Marlen Extralujo). Managed to get the start sussed (hard though) so jumped on lead. Used a wrong sequence at the start but somehow managed to pull through and led up the rest of the route ok. Then did Bikini (6a) to the right which was nice despite the horrendous polish!!

Sun - We had to be in the car to drive to the airport by 12 so time was definitely against us...headed to El Camino early debating whether we had time to get on Orgasmica. Warmed up by doing Bugs Bunny a couple of times, then decided that we prob didn't have time for a long route, so to try a short 7a+ on the left end (Mas Tortura). This turned out to be a good tactical decision! Iain kindly put the clips in so I had a top rope go to work the moves (one of the cruxes was getting to the second bolt which would have been quite a nasty fall on lead) - basically two boulder problems with a few jugs in the middle, but steep so you couldn't fully recover. It was also slopey, but I managed to figure out a sequence which avoided most of the slopers in favour of crimps! Didn't have time to rest properly (only about 20mins) but decided to go for broke with a redpoint attempt. Managed to get through the first crux, up to second crux and make the crucial clip. Felt totally boxed but somehow managed to keep clawing my way up, desperately trying to close a crimp that couldn't really be close crimped long enough to slap to a better hold and make it to the top - there was a lot of power screaming involved! Still not quite sure how I held on...

So, total efforts:

3 x 7a/+ - all second go
1 x 6c+ redpoint
2 x 6c onsight - my first two!
Handful of lower 6s

In reply to Daniel Heath: Part 2!

Really pleased with what we managed to get done, but slightly disappointed I couldn't really bring myself to properly address my weaknesses - i.e. long, intimidating routes, very steep routes, slopers and falling. I didn't actually really take any proper falls which is something I seriously need to address as I think it's holding me back - magic wand anyone?! :oS Also, tactically all the hard routes I chose to try played to my strengths being quite short (12-17m) power endurance routes.
Interestingly I previously thought I wasn't very good at power endurance, but I think perhaps I'm not as bad as I thought, but my stamina is very poor. Overall though I have a load of routes on the tick list for next time I go back and I know exactly what I need to train to get them! I also learnt how a self imposed ban Fruit Ninja can leave Team Rodellar in such a vegetative state that the struggle for conversation turns to the benefits of stealth rubber gimp suits for climbing off-widths...

I suspect anyone who started reading this dozed off mid way through so apologies for the essay and thanks if anyone did read til the end!

In reply to Ali:
Nice one Ali, thats a good ticklist. Have to say that from your description of the last route you did, it doesnt actually sound fear of falling is such a big problem for you now!?

In reply to Si dH: It is....but when I know I can do the moves, I can just go for it and don't feel the fear...it's when I'm onsighting or don't know what's coming up, I then can't commit because I'm thinking about falling not the route!

And when I'm really psyched and climbing well I can just go for it! On the last route, the moves I was totally boxed and would have probably fallen on, the bolt was by my shoulders and waist, so no fall issue!

In reply to Ali:

It's more common than you think.

If i am really psyched and want a route more than the fear i go for it - and it has to be said usually get it.

If not i crap myself as i head into the unknown. I used to be able to take practice falls at the wall all the time. Top of a 20m wall, no clipping the chains and fling myself off with plenty of slack. But it's fake. It's not the same as being out of balance and massively aroused ( if you know what i mean ) when all the fears of the unknown kick in and have you in a panic. Am i going to fall backwards, sideways, where's the rope, is it round the back of my leg ? etc.

It still carries through for me on redpoints, which is why i think my RP grade and OS grade are much closer. I perform OK on an onsight i really want ( but have to fight the fear which still holds me back ) but still have the fear on a redpoint as i still worry about the unknown factors in a fall.

I got some advice recently about my habit of hanging around for minutes on the crux holds wondering whether to go on as going higher means a bigger fall. I had said i have this hesitating problem and the reply in e mail was: " As for hesitating, just don't."

I thought that was a bit crap at first but as i thought about it ( a lot )and it really makes sense. It distills down to those two words. Hesitating=failure, just don't=a higher chance of success and all the good feelings that brings. Then you're on the positive re-enforcement ride.

I've tried it on some easyish onsighting about and just told myself to just keep going for it and i climbed totally differently. Much more decisive and most importantly much quicker. I'm hoping to carry it through next week on a 7b project.

Anyway, great holiday, good, solid, quick ticks and you know what you've got to do. So just do it i guess ?

In reply to Ali:

Well done on the rest of the trip Ali, sounds like you got a fair bit of stuff done. awesome place isn't it...

Learning to really go for it either onsight or when dogging hard things (where you either know the climbing is really hard, on a potential project, or when you don't know what's coming up, on an onsight) is hard.

I'm far better than I used to be, although I've still got a long way to go, but for me forcing myself to make clip sticking as difficult as possible (unless it's absolutely at limit, never starting with the clipstick attached to me, so I've got to faff in order to get and then use it) really helped me - I used to work everything by clip sticking, then top roping, so I got into a pretty bad place with regards to working projects on lead and onsighting. By forcing myself onto the sharp end at home, even if it meant grabbing draws or using them to reach past tough sections and what have you, I started to make that my norm. Don't think you looked to be in anywhere near as bad a way lead-head wise as I got myself into, but that's what happened with me. I guess maybe the generic lesson is to just get out there and get on lead as soon as possible as often as possible and get the miles in...

In reply to biscuit and AJM: Indeed! I have to say when I commit to stuff I do tend to move quite quickly, but if I hesitate, I get a bit pumped then decide I can't do it. It's kind of all or nothing!

I think I probably need to try and do a lot more onsighting outside and build up the mileage, plus getting used to bolt to bolting harder routes. I don't know though - as you say, 'practice' falling isn't the same as you chose places you're not going to hurt yourself, whereas its on the stuff where you have things to bash in the way (tufas!) or the bolt is to the side or something where its more worrying. Though to be fair, at the moment I can't even take rationally safe falls, so maybe going back to practicing at the wall would be good!

Thanks guys