UKC

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 (338) thread:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=562536

The week just gone, in summary - complete(probably) with omissions and misinterpretations - all mbh's fault.

Nick Russell - Thoughtful as ever and remarkably patient with your achilles. Ready for Lundy?
Si DH - Well done on OT, and almost there now with the pyramid. Good news about your elbow.
AJM - Being hard on yourself - an absorbing read, and you don't sound so unrounded to me! Good luck with RHM/Dreadnought.
mbh - did a race, up the hill and down again.
leon - only 1 e-point to go!
mattrm - cool holiday destination. How's the bouldering going?@
IainRUK - No excuses, but it still takes a phenomenal focus to do what you do. Back luck at Windschoten - sounds as though you made a good call, and gave it your best anyway.
Thickhead - Hi, come on back in. That's a lot of running!
mrchewy - nice report of your Smart Climbing weekend.
needkraken - good start on your new STG.
pork pie girl - well done on BB progress, a huge leap on from a first 7a last year.Have you seen anyone expert about your pins and needles?
Exile - nice, varied week and good progress on the goals. Tick, tick.. - and thanks for the running downhill tips and shoe. So what are you going to do in the gym?
biscuit - Great to see you back. I don't like passing the odd bunch of lads with one airgun between them, never mind 4 shotguns, in a cave! Manchester appears to have a lot going for it.
nomics4sale - great week for you - super well done!
Chestwig - Your 8a link-up sounds an exciting prospect. 250 core movements does not sound like rest, mind. Good news about the ankle.
annak - fantastic efforts at Lundy. What do I know, but I bet you can do E1.
grubes - pops up. Squamish ticks?
stevemarkperry - good ouldering form, despite the house move.
Eagle River - battering away.Hope your cold clears up.
Sankey -Good luck with Sideshow.
JimmyKay - You've doubled your annual total of runs, all in one week!
Ali - You're now officially allowed to tell all about Kalymnos, which sounds like a very well deserved break for you.
Joughton - Thanks for the Manchester tips.
Luke Owens - Well done with the hardest on-sight to date, and good, fighting efforts the day after.
Garrouli - Kalymnos awaits you. SOunds as though you have found something to keep you busy in the winter, too.
maria85 - Wow, what a great trip, and a good read. Now, how can we motivate you....

The last week has provided lots of specific, detailed help and sharing of ideas, and some absorbing trip reports, not to mention a strong and affecting sense of community. Well done all!

Now, get out there and do it all over again....

In reply to mbh:


Cheers! Yeah last weekend was a bit of a low psyche time. Sightly better this week.

Tuesday - Huntsham. Worked out better beta to avoid the huge deadpoint slap on Low Blow. Ticked Golden Bicep (the "up" leg of the link) from a sitter at 6C/+ using that beta. Worked on the linking sequence, got that pretty well wired and smooth now. Very close to linking the whole of the second half of Low Blow but just didnt quite have the edge by that point in the session. Good progress, onto redpoints next time. Met up with some other guys who arrived to try it as I left, they both crushed it, good for the psyche. Had a very quick look at the supposedly harder alternative extension (finishes one problem left on the arête), if you avoid the delicate sloper rockover by means of a span I suspect its actually easier, could be another linkup tick (yup, I'm becoming a linkup whore!) once the biggie goes down.

Wednesday - Cheddar, on right hand man. Lead clipstick solo to put in clips. Short warmup go, got the new feet at the start of the crux dialled and crushed the main crux. 4 redpoints - matched previous high point twice, and exceeded it once - hit the hold not quite right, if I had held it properly that would have got me a link through the main crux to a point where there's only one hard move left. Close but no cigar! 4th go I fell off lower. Tried to link through the crux and the final rockover but couldn't quite manage it, hopefully just end of session weakness.

Thursday - Avon. Seconded Mikes Mistake which felt very Avon, bit of a runout on delicate ground. Then led Steppenwolf, which is a must-do E3 for the Avon aficionados on the thread like Kev and Nick. Had belayed someone on it a year ago so technically a flash but it felt pretty onsight really. Running out of routes to do before Peryl tops my main wall ticklist!

Friday - tried to go to Huntsham. Still air, high humidity, rain falling somewhere behind me and wet pebbles. Couldn't link more than about 5 moves before either hands or feet imaged. Sacked it pretty quickly!

Saturday - Cheddar, Sunset Buttress. Never been up here before and had high hopes for the routes given the numbers of stars awarded. A bit disappointed to find that the first 7c I tried, edge of eternity, had a finger-eating finger lock to pass the bulge that you then had to go from into some savage razor-y stuff. Even more disappointed to discover that the second, gates of Eden, was basically a hard boulder problem where half the holds looked totally shattered. Rescued what seemed to be something of a wasted day though by managing to flash Sunset Score, first 7a+ flash in some time and first in the uk. Excellent fun, well worth the trip up there, basically just pulls on decent holds, pretty pumpy though!. Repeated it at the end to strip quick draws. Might be worth trying to link from this into edge of eternity to avoid the sharp crux and then see if the rest of the pitch makes the crux worth the hassle. Not an urgent one but if I end up there again to help my partner tick sunset score ill maybe try that, or maybe the other 7c that's there.

Today will probably be rest although I'm toying with the idea of a fingerboard session/core/etc.

Dreadnought next weekend if weather permits. Hopefully do some trad this week, get out into the woods for Low Blow, and do some sort of sport, either tidying up unfinished business somewhere, working right hand man or maybe trying return of the gunfighter if I can persuade anyone up there.

In reply to mbh:

Not much to report this week.
M: Rest (boyfriend's birthday = too much food/booze)
T-F: Bike commutes, nothing else.
S: Mary Towneley Loop - another summer's goal ticked. 47 miles, 2000m elevation of bridleway. We took it pretty steadily and had lots of breaks so it didn't hurt that much, less than I expected actually. 9hrs 45, though only 7.15 of that was moving. The aches today are my wrists/forearms rather than my legs - there's a serious number of hardtail-unfriendly cobbles on that thing!! Glad to get it ticked though and some good riding amongst the cobbles.
S: Probably nothing. I'll give myself extra points if I make it for a short run.

Goals for this week:
3 short runs, 2 core, 1 fb, 1 climb. Back on it!
Weekend: one day climbing, one longer run.

Got the Rab MM in 2 weeks time so need to kick my ass into running again. Once that is done with then it's time to re-focus on climbing before Morocco (early Nov).

In reply to mbh:

Cheers mbh.

Pesky cold from Amsterdam weekend hasn't shifted, mainly due to the fact I went indoor climbing on wednesday whilst still ill (like a moron).

A planned trip to Kilnsey on Sat was abandoned as I was still ill and put my lower back into spasm from coughing too hard! what an athlete. So my weekend has been spent with heat packs on my back and stretching instead of catching what I've heard were "perfect conditions" at Kilnsey. As i'm away for the next two weekends (in Spain so no particular hardship) the ashes is now looking like a dwindling possibility as no doubt focus will have to switch to Malham soon with the increased rain and decreasing temps.

Hopefully I'll get in a couple of indoor sessions next week before going away.

In reply to AJM:

Cool, that's been on your ticklist a while, right? I'll try to get on it soon... One of my fairly regular partners is also pretty keen for it.


This one is meant to be good. Main Wall Eliminate and Central Wall also on your list?

In reply to AJM: Ruth and I are in Exeter visiting Stu next weekend so if you and Tom are nearby I guess we could possibly meet up?

My week this week gone:

M: evening fingerboard session
T: morning fingerboard, evening bouldering at alter rock. Good, felt strong.
W; morning fingerboard
T-S: rest/holiday start
S: had a swim this am before breakfast and currently sat in the hotel gym while it rains outside and Ruth sleeps! Hoping weather improves.

Si

In reply to mbh:
Ps. Thanks on OT - yes, really pleased with it as I haven't really fo ussed on sport so much this year. Still want to get more trad done if conditions permit, including on grit, but now also a 7c+ to have a look at - Minos at two tier. Its also at the same crag as Sea is a Brown Paper Bag, a supposedly brilliant but hard 7b+, which would finish off the pyramid nicely.
Basically what I do for the next 2 months will be entirely dependent on weather, partners and what we fancy on the day

In reply to mbh:

Yep, got the waterproofs, books, etc. packed and ready to go! (The weather forecast isn't the most promising.) More optimistically, as long as the Achilles doesn't give me too much grief, I think it's pretty good timing for the trip. I've been hitting the fingerboard pretty hard for the last few weeks (compared with what I'm used to, anyway) so a week or so of lower intensity is welcome.

So here's what I've been up to. Almost identical to last week!

M - swimming, 3.9km, high aerobic set
T - fingerboard, repeaters, focus front 3. Feeling strong, knocked out 3 sets of 6/4 repeaters on the smallest 3 finger pocket (bm1000). Didn't really expect to do even 1!
W - core, I seem to be recovering from these sets much more quickly now, time to increase frequency or intensity.
T - swimming, 4km, long steady technique based set
F - fingerboard, repeaters, focus back 3. Feeling tired, or low psyche, or something. Cobbled together a fairly respectable set though. Realised how much harder the hangs are at a 135• lockoff, rather than straight armed. Right arm also noticeably weaker on this after injury over a year ago.
S - swimming, 2.7km, some speed work. More fun than the long slogs earlier in the week.
S - at home with family. Much needed rest before Lundy

Short- and mid-term goals suspended pending Achilles recover, see week 338. Current plan is to have fun on Lundy, the weather is too uncertain to be performance-motivated anyway.

Long term goals (timescale to be assessed when the achilles recovers)
Climbing: Consolidate E3, it still feels on/off. Get into routinely trying E4s. Sport onsight 7a/+, redpoint 7b+. See my ukc wishlist for specific routes that have caught my eye...
Running: Get enough running fitness/experience for a marathon(+). Try some fell running.

In reply to Nick Russell:

Yeah, been meaning to do it since belaying Tom on it last year. Good route, good climbing, be careful with the drag, it does weave a bit! With a bit of faff (assuming you require one rope to be through the belay rather than just relying on the spike you traverse under - if not its easy) you can lower off and strip the kit so you can both lead.

I've been told that main wall eliminate and central wall are properly physically hard for E4 (7a/+ from some sources? Ally - how far out from your estimate?) so I'm a bit scared of them given that's basically my onsight limit on more obvious chalked up things, let alone Avon weirdness! Ought to probably give them a serious go at some point.

In reply to Si dH:

That could be good. Ill keep you posted.

If I've got nothing better to do I was debating going to watch the tour of Britain on Friday as well which is finishing up at Haytor.

In reply to Nick Russell:

Oh, and sunset score by the way is well worth a look - your sort of grade region of interest iirc?

In reply to mbh:

M - 10.6 miles run, mostly on road.
T - 7.5 miles run, coast path / woods
W - 7.5 miles run, same as Tuesday, but in reverse
T - 9.1 miles run, partly on a hilly, steppy part of the coast path, otherwise on trails, woods and roads.
F - 5.1 miles run, in heavy rain, but in new trainers with noticeably more bounce than the last pair had by its 860th mile last night.
S - 10 miles run, partly with torch in the dark, 1.6 km swim
S - 15.8 miles run on all sorts of terrain between Wadebridge and Padstow. A mile or so further than I intended, with the last 5 at 7:44 pace on the flat Camel trail, which I was pleased with at the end of a long run with 300 m of ascent.

65.5 miles running, 1570 m ascent (thinking of Exile and nomics on the descents) and 1.6 km swimming.

That is now 15 weeks of 50+ mile weeks on the trot, barring the BGR attempt week, when I did 32, plus 28 on the BGR itself, and a 6 month average just shy of 50 mpw, So I am pleased with the consistency, and now some actual, discernible speed is creeping in. I have been doing as much as I can on the coast path after work, knowing that soon I won't be able to do so so easily, and partly to avoid tarmac in my old trainers.

I am in the Grizzly for next March, the Axe Valley Runners 20 mile coastal path thing around Branscombe and Seaton, which I last did (and got ready for here in fitclub) in 2009. My time then was 3:56, but I weigh 7 kg less now than I did then and have run a lot more, with six months still to go. That is a beatable target, and would be a good staging post on the way to another go at the BGR next May.

In reply to AJM:

Yeah, is that the one that goes out left from the Utopia ledge? I was looking at that on the ab down from Space Tourist (but went and did Shakin Like a Leaf instead). Avon stuff: I'd heard similar about MWE and CW, about 7a/+ but really safe, bolt protected. I guess it depends on how highly you value the onsight. I think the crux is the same on both of them?

In reply to Nick Russell:

I think you might be thinking of sunsations - sunset score starts from the belay of space tourist p1 (I think), goes up as for space tourist for a couple of bolts past the jammed block up that little groove, and goes straight up where space tourist shuffles right along the break onto the utopia ledge system. Basically all decent holds, a few powerful moves, quite pumpy.

Yes I think the final groove is the crux of both cw and mwe.

In reply to mbh:

m: 11 mile run late on.
t: am: 6 mile run. pm: 13 mile run
w: worked til 9:30 pm.. 6 mile run 5:52 pace
t: 11 mile road run.. nerve issues in my legs.. worked til 9pm then ran..
f: 4 mile run driving to Holland
s; Winschoten 50k.. as you know DNF'd with nerve issues, hoping just piriformis. Back, glute still sore today. Needs sorting so may not run and just role. Need to see a physio asap really.
s:

In reply to mbh: Thanks mbh! Definitely the break I needed - typing this whilst sat by the pool looking up at the Grand Grotte Will cover last Sunday too as part of the trip.

S - Arrived at Kalymnos really late (or early depending on your definition) so had a bit of a lie in and got the boat over to Irox on Telendos for the afternoon. Onsighted 6a, 6a+ and 2 6b+s and got another 6b+ (Mythos) second go - probably would have got it first go if the clips had been in as I couldn't reach the bolt without a sketchy move I wasn't feeling ready to try!

M - Odyssey - climbing at Odyssey made me remember how tough I found Odyssey last time! Did a couple of 6a+ to warm up (Fernio and Penelope), onsighted Mermizeli (6b+) then jumped on Lestrogen (6c) on lead. Lovely route but totally ran out of steam and fell at the crux, however, was pleased that I led up putting draws in (all 6c onsights to date have already had clips in) and took a (little) fall. Feeling tired but clipsticked up Lucky Luka (7b) to look at as a project. Managed all the moves ok but got a bit freaked out by the tufa dangling in space at the top :-S

T - Ghost Kitchen - awesome day! Warmed up on Pic Pic (6b), then onsighted Resista (6c), Globus (6c+) and N7 (7a) - first 6c+ and 7a onsights - so psyched! Got totally into the climbing bubble so managed to keep climbing through the scary moments on Globus and not let thinking about falling stop me climbing. Huge thanks to Curious Yellow and Quiddity for sticking clips in and lots of encouragement! All three are brilliant routes - Resista especially.

W - Rest day - swam 60 lengths in pool at apartment block. Nomics came out to join Team Kalymnos - yay!

T - Secret Garden - what a cool crag! Very idyllic, though also quite busy - there was a lot of fluorescent pink and green Euro-clothing going on. Onsighted Achinos (6a+), Margarita (6b+), Bratsere (6c) and should have onsighted Remetzo (6c) except I literally slipped off a jug right at the start - conditions were really poor. Got on Richounet (7a) on lead and managed to onsight (or flash depending on how picky you are - don't really care either way!) it with a lot of wailing and panicking - I should probably apologise to everyone at the crag that day! Put the clips in (bolt to bolt) on Markoutsi (7b - though 7a+ on UKC??) on lead which was pleased with - had to talk myself up it a bit but worked the crux moves. Had one redpoint go and nearly got through tht crux but too tired.

F - Ghost Kitchen again - love this crag! Warmed up on Weiss Matter (6a+) then onsighted Pirates of Kalymnos (6b+) and Le Mythe de la Caverne (7a) - may be a soft 7a but its the first thing I've led harder than 6b+ putting the clips in! Then had a really good onsight attempt at Haunted Castle (7a+ but 7b on UKC?!) putting the clips in - fought my way all the way up to the last few moves then fell one move from the chains. It was really hard to read the moves at the top, with lots of tiny (non-existant!) holds chalked up - so not too dissapointed, though it would have been awesome to have ticked it.

S - Spartan Wall - bad head day Had to be rescued by Curious Yelloe on Probleme Mineur (6b) after I got freaked out by less than positive holds and fall potential. Managed to get up Lucifers Hammer )6c) on lead, giving myself several good talking tos on the way up. Then had a lead flash go on Leonides - got up to the crux slab at the top but was too tired to keep pulling (def felt the efforts I'd put in on the previous two days). However felt better about the fact that I'd managed to lead the more runout bits of the route which were probably 7a and pretty hard and sustained, and I really did give it everything. Ho hum!

S - Rest day! Went for a short run in the morning but feeling knackered so didn't push it.

Have put a couple of blog posts up covering the first few days of the trip, and will add to these over the next week if anyone's interested! Link is http://www.averybusylife.blogspot.gr/

In reply to mbh:


STG - Climb 6b (or v3) @ wall, 11st 7lbs
Aspirational - Climb E5/6 (London Wall), Scottish Winter V (Point 5, Zero, Minus etc), WI5, Redpoint 8a, stay injury free & maintain 11st.

Weight - NFI - on holiday

M - 6 mile walk over to Old Man of Hoy
T - F - Holiday stuff
S - Bouldering at Clisham Pass on Harris, lovely skinwrecking rock
S - Sitting on arse eating food.

Dread to think how much weight I've put on. Loads of cake and hot chocolate. And beer. Bouldering at Clisham Pass on Harris was good. About 10 decent boulders there and I picked the one with the only recorded routes on it. Found a new V1 problem. Loads of stuff there and the rock was ace. Great friction, but trashed my tips in about an hour. Hopefully going to try some sea kayaking this week.

In reply to AJM:


It's been a while, but 7a wouldn't be far from the truth. I wasn't sport fit at the time due to being stuck into the late 90's hard grit/headpoint scene, but i remember getting properly pumped!

Also, remember that getting to the hard bit is fairly bold (E2/3 5b/c?) and then you've got to switch back into sport mode and pull hard for a few moves.

In reply to mbh:

No probs re runnung stuff - hope it's of some use. Re weights - I've got an 'induction' tomorrow evening. It's actually at Kendal judo Dojo so the coach should be able to appreciate what I'm looking for and set up a programme. As a result I'm going pretty open minded as to what actual exercises he'll suggest.

Anyway, this week.

Best efforts outdoors last year:
RP - 7a
HP - E5 6b
Boulder - V4
Onsigth E2/3,
Winter VI 6

Goals for this Spring:
Boulder V7 - tick
RP - 7a+ - tick
HP - E6 - not yet, may wait until the Autumn

Autumn: Concentrate on local some sport, see if I can work up to 7b

Training:

M: Rest
T: 1hr at wall working reverse blue traverse - got all the moves sorted. (Working this so I can double on it for PE / E - would give a 25 move 7a+ into a 25 move 7a, (7b total?))
W: 1hr fell run
T: 1hr at climbing wall. Got reverse blue traverse sorted and rep'ed a couple of times
F: 40min continual traversing on 6b+ traverse for endurance.
S: 45min hilly road cycle. It's time to do a bit more cycling and a bit less running in prep for winter walk ins - I always find cycling builds strength better than running. So, first session done - lungs were fine, legs felt it! Also 1hr 30 mountain walking with my lads, washed the legs out well after the cycling
S: Just got away with 4 x top rope laps of Limestone John, (E3 5c) on Red wall, Trowbarrow, before the rain really kicked in. Good endurance on steeper stuff.

Aim for this week: Aagain, crimes of passion if weather allows, PE / E for this if not. Also continue to get my winter legs back.

In reply to Ali:
3 7a onsights Ali, awesome!

In reply to mbh: Thanks for doing this again, unfortunately it's been a very bad week for me =( really struggling with one regular partner away and the other being lame, not had much luck getting anyone to climb with me which has seriously drained the psych

STG (next 4 weeks): New STG time; make a training plan for font, regularly get V3/4 indoors, try and get back into trad, get outdoors when I can. Most importantly try and keep up 3 sessions a week while my regular partners away
MTG (before winter): 6a bouldering regularly, keep leading trad (been over a month now so back to VDiff's) get on some sport and train hard when indoors, get in shape for font!
LTG (over next 6/9 months): get to know my technique and style, push through to HS trad, try and boulder 6b get on some sport

M: band
T: rehearsal
W: went to the wall on my own, got another couple of boulder league problems but not reading routes right, eventually bumped into another couple of people there and tried some harder routes (have a few projecty-ish routes)
T,F: lazy
S: early gig in harrogate, bad weather overnight ruled out outdoors and forgot my phone so rushed home after, then to find I could've gone back via the wall but was lazy. Did a bit off core as I was feeling fat
S: still couldn't find a partner so went to rockover on my own, found the place pretty steep but had an alright session, think I would've gone longer and harder with help but I did flash the 6a traverse (with some terrible footwork oops)

So basically I've lost a lot of psyche, does anyone have tips for managing to keep up a good session when you there on your own? Sounds stupid that I can't really get into the zone so well but it's irritating

In reply to mbh:

Cheers mbh,

Ali: 7a onsights - good work.
AJM: Steppenwolf - I'm planning a trip to avon over the next couple of months, maybe worth a shout for me. Arms race, among many others in the cross hairs. So much to climb!
Nick: RE lundy, if you get in early enough, take your pack on the boat with you, you can get a couple of routes in that way.

My week on Lundy, started good, weather and broken seconds slowed play after. Break down below. Fell twice, and to be honest, should have OS everything I tried. I was hopefull of more E3's and E4.
Lead wise 2xE1 5xE2 2xE3 so a good strong week for me personally.
Best routes - Rampart, Matt black, Scorched Earth, Redspeed & Dark Power. But in fairness, only one duff pitch - the top half of performance.

So what next. I can see a number of trad days this year on the cards. But I would like to start stepping up the sport. And get on the FB again regularly. Good sport fitness over winter would be a gem.

This week, I think I'll be lucky with indoors once and outdors on saturday - avon or swanage I hope. Grind stone tomorrow!

Breakdown:
Sat: (arrived 11ish) Albacore(HVS) 2nd, Aristotolis(E1) OS. - Slabby fun.

Sun: Climbed as a 3, Meninirons (E1) 2nd, Matt Black (E3) OS - Excellent.

Mon: Tempest/Performance (E2/1) - Terrible astroturf 2nd pitch - desperatly needs cleaning and never E1 in its current state. Dark Power (E1) OS - hard for E1 and takes you places, fantastic.

Tues: Redspeed (E2) OS - steady away. Albion (VS) 2nd. Rampart (E3) - Awesome, shame a foot popped - awarded myself a holiday flash for this, it was in the bag, then wasn't. Safe fall out.

Weds: Quatermass (E2) OS - should have done it in one push, but placed too many runners on the bottom pitch so was shy of gear on the harness come the intermediate belay. Buried Gold (E2) - wet from top of bottom and crumbly rock, foot hold broke on me, gravity took over. I would have got it otherwise.

Thurs - rainned off
Fri - rained off, but 2nd'd Eclipse (VS)

Sat: Scorched Earth (E2) OS. Great finish before boat home.

Cheers, Kev

In reply to mbh:

M-Hill reps.
T-2hr indoor bouldering.
W-Rest
T-Track session 7x600m's (meant to do 8 but had to pull out of the last one)
F-Football 2hours.
S-11mile off-roader around Buttermere and Crummock water.
S-Rest

In reply to IainRUK:

Bad one... Definately need to see a Physio. I had what sounds like a similar issue last year. Was running down Conwy Mountain I think and just felt a sharp twinge in my right lower back and down the back of my thigh. My wife told me to do lots of hamstring stretches and that seemed to sort me out fairly quickly but I don't think it was close to a Marathon.

I think what was worse was not knowing if it would come back so I was reluctant to push myself for a while - I wouldn't have wanted it to happen on top of Foel Fras for example and not be able to get down! It never did though as I touch wood...



Anyway, quite a good week for me - two long runs which is a little unusual these days and felt strong on the second one which is nice. Reasonably happy with race but could do better is general feeling.

M: 5.5miles 6:50pace.
T: 3mile warm up then 5K race 17.30 (7th) then 3mile cool down.
W: 17.5mile run up Mt Albert/Mt Roskill/One Tree Hill and Mt Eden 7:50pace overall.
T: 5mile gentle 7:30pace
F: Rest
S: 20.5mile 7:15pace
S: 4mile gentle 7:30pace

In reply to mbh: Thanks mbh. We'll see...

This week have been super high energy after a week off

M: cycle 14 miles
Tu: cycle 14 miles; gym - deadlift and benchpress (3 sets of 8)
W: my birthday! ran 40 mins
Th: cycle 14 miles; gym - squat and benchpress (3x8)
F: cycle 14 miles; bouldering @ biscuit factory
Sa: bouldering @ Urban Ascent
Su: ran 10.7 miles in 1:30:46 as have suddenly realised just how little time I have until this half-marathon... oops!

In reply to mbh:

Cheers dude. Yep not easy but luckily my psyche levels were pretty high during the move so I was able to cram in some quality micro-sessions which resulted in good progress. As the Churnet is slowly creeping into the green winter state I'm going to focus my bouldering efforts on The Roaches for the time being. If I can get over to the Churnet then I'll continue with those STGs but for now, having climbed at The Roaches a bit this week, I have found a new weakness to work – high grit slabs and cracks.

Saturday's session felt really negative to me on the day but hindsight has offered me a new perspective, one that has shown me my current weaknesses. That can only be a positive thing and I now know what I have to do to take my climbing to the next stage. Thanks to The Roaches' gritstone.


Goals:

Maintain 142 lbs: ~143 lbs

STG:
Current Focus: Climb every problem at the Very Far Skyline Boulders (The Roaches). Aim: To improve my head on high-ish grit slabs and crack-lines and to improve my slab and crack technique.
The Undercut (Churnet, 6C+/7A)
Old Sloper Problem (Churnet, 7A)
Bonus Goal: Alternative 3 SS (Churnet, pretty high roof finish, 6C)

MTG (early 2014):
Lead any WI route in Rjukan (Jan)
Improve winter experience
Get out to the Alps

VLTG (dreams):
Dream of White Horses
Cenotaph Corner
Cemetery Gates
Juvsøyla (WI6), Upper Gorge, Rjukan
Lipton Ice (WI6/7), Upper Gorge, Rjukan
Wheel of Life


This Week:

M:
T:
W: Pushups 3x12
T: Lovely bouldering session at The Roaches, pretty much had the entire estate to myself, bliss. Warmed up on easy stuff, worked my weaknesses such as slabs and highball top-outs and then started working Nadin's Trav at 7A.
F: Great session at Awesome Walls, 15 mins ARC, 15 mins circuits, 15 mins on the woody then 15 mins traversing medium difficulty. Some stretching.
S: A bit of a rubbish bouldering session at The Roaches. Head wasn't in it and I kept backing off stuff when just 2 metres off the ground.
S:

In reply to stevemarkperry:


I think that's perhaps the widest range of VLTGs I've yet seen on Fit Club, assuming Wheel of Life is the Wheel of Life - it does look kind of cool

Might be up for some midweek bouldering up that part of the world in a few weeks time, will let you know if so, Roaches/Churnet is my side of the peak and I always forget that its actually not as far as all that...

In reply to mbh: hiya... working a 8a and getting it red pointed are two very different things ...don't expect any more big ticks this season.. not putting myself under any pressure

spoke to chiropractor and a physio about the P and Ns last year when it was really bad but it went instantly aftre i'd RP'd SS at malham .. the P and Ns come on when i cycle now...by the sounds of things its fail;ry common in cycling, got some advice from folk on the biking forum .. first thing i'm going to do it chnage the type of gloves i'm using

In reply to mbh:

last week went like this:

sunday- hilly bike ride (was sick in my moyth as breakfast hadn't been digested enough before going out.. happens alot on sunday mornings.. nice
monday-rest
tuesday- bouldering at rochdale wall at luch time .. PE session..i do like the PE circuits they've got there and wish lanc uni wall had a similar set up. PM interval training on bike, core and weights inc usual pull ups
wed- turbo in garage and core
thursday- malham.. warm up and BB.. leading as much as i could.. trying to clip from flat hold but bottled it.. reckon i'll get my head round it though. it was busy so didn';t want to draw attention to myself by being a drama queen about these things
friday- gym- int training on bike (big red sweaty face with snot on) core and then weights inc pull ups.. afternoon/evening with mum
saturday- a.m interval training on bike in gym, pm malham.. worked BB. again very busy so hanging about a bit .. doing a couple fo different things at start to try and reduce foot placements i need to make. able to link crux section a tiny bit better. back to mum's for xfactor
sunday. at mum's most of morning then stair climber/ cross trainer thing in gym for 40 mins and bouldering for endurance for 50 mins at uni wall


back at malham on thursday.. want to make myself clip off the flat hold on the crux and start to look at sorting out extended clips for the head wall.. if i can clip from the falt hold there's no reason why i can't start leading the whole route.

i'll do another session at rochdale wall one luch time as it's the sort of stuff i need to do re the PE

we are pretty close to starting to build our training board at home.. got everything we need now..it will be good to get a set up that will enable us to do the right sort of bouldering over the winter.. and will combine this with route climbing (possibly at kendal sometimes)

PPG

In reply to Ali:

awesome trip for you... must have put a massive smile on your face and got you back on track?? really chuffed for you

In reply to pork pie girl:

Sick, snot, poo (that's me, not you). It's a dignified business, this exercise lark, isn't it?

In reply to mbh: Bit of a mixed bag this week; the "numbers" would suggest that it's been a good week, but from a training point of view, there hasn't been the volume I'd have liked with a big trip just around the corner. Lots of block sinus'/headaches afflicting me this week and leaving me feeling wiped out on rest days.

VLTG (Sept 2014): Complete 3 peaks cyclo-cross race

LTG (Spring 2014): Unjustified, 8c, Malham & Fish-Eye, 8c, Oliana?

MTG (By end Sept 2013):

Get super fit for trip to the Red River Gorge:
- Complete 4x4 of >7b routes on steepness at Awesome Walls, Liverpool (not been indoors in 6mths).
- Complete double set of Beastmaker pull-up routine with >5kg on each hold (So far: +5kg and double-up on front-3, back-3, middle-2, crimp. Single & no weight on front-2, back-2 & sloper).
- Complete double set of Beastmaker repeater routine with >5kg on each hold (So far: +5kg and double-up on front-3, back-3, middle-2 & crimp. Single & no weight on front-2 & back-2).
- Complete 10 sets of 3min on, 3min off foot-on campus routine.

Diamond projects: Re-assessment of grades
#1 >8b Direct start to NGOOTB
#2 ~8b Link-up

Non-tidal wish-list for weeks when Diamond is a non-starter:
El Rincon, Dinbren.
Mandela, Kilnsey (probably wet again after the weekend deluge?)
Supercool, Gordale
K3, Cornice


STG:
- Ankle re-hab & physio
- Fingerboard - one BM pull-up & one BM repeater session per week
- Aero-cap - 4x4 on a steep 7b is this week's target
- Once a week foot-on campus session to ensure high intensity pump - aiming for 8 sets this week
- Core & flexibility work - fitted into rest interval in Fingerboard/foot-on campus session
- Lose some weight; new aim <73kg - 74.5kg and 6.6% BF

The week just gone:

M - Rest - wiped out

T - Devil's gorge - got on the 8a link-up project. This became "Cerberus" on 2nd RP; which was completed by head-torch. Good pumpy route.

W - Rest - wiped out

T - Hangar. PE laps/link-ups in the cave. 8 "sets" of ~7b/+ link-ups; good specific angle for madness cave at RRG

F - Rest - not so wiped out despite the training the night before.

S - Back to Devil's Gorge. Dogged Hades, then had an aborted RP, then did it. Got lots back at the shake out, so not sure if it's 8a or 8a+? Then tried Thug Mentality (7b+) and failed miserably to link more than 2 moves in a row. HARD!

S - A very damp Parisella's cave session. Condensed out on LF ramp so repeated bunch of stuff on the lip as well as a cave life (short) and left wall.

In reply to mbh: well it doesn't score me any 'try to be more lady like' brownie points with my mum for sure.

the poo thing only factors on trips abroad wity me (usually)

In reply to Kevster:

Hi Kev, thanks for the advice. We are going to take climbing kit on the boat with us, but it's a bit optimistic re: weather. Looks like you had a good trip! It's a great place.

In reply to mbh: Did Sideshow at last, my first 7a+, took 5 sessions(!) not sure if I made heavy work of it, or more optimistically that the extra motivation to boulder indoors a bit more and get stronger was key. Had a look at a meant to be hardish 7b at Kilnsey too, there is an obvious progression through a range of routes there over the next year or so which should be fun.

Re: needkraken, solo trips to the wall - maybe set and try to keep to some targets to structure your visits. I am am complete punter in terms of systematic training but have started to set some goals e.g an endurance session, x laps of y on the circuit board, a strength session, try and work x problems which have hard moves etc. If you go to the wall without any focus it is all to easy to sack it off as soon as you feel remotely tired. Music via headphones can help with motivation if you are on your own too...and of course posting the results to fit club!!

M:
T: Matrix: 6 x 6b's I had worked previously and 10 plus 6a's
W:
T:
F:
S: Kilnsey: RP'ed Sideshow 2nd go, played on Sidekick, will give it a miss, not a great route
S: Kilnsey: TR on Sticky Wicket, all the climbing is packed into the top few meters, seems like a good future project but maybe not first 7b material...


STG: More 7a's (Bleep and booster, barguest direct): One more done: this years RPS: 6c (4) 6c+ (2) 7a (3) 7a+(1)

MTG: 7a+ Appetite/Direct Flight/Sideshow(DONE)/Gilbert Cardigan

LTG: 7b WYSWIG - started working

In reply to mbh: Cheers mbh!

M: Rest

T: Devil's Gorge - Bolt-to-Bolt on Broccoli and Ice Cream (F7b) - Mega steep nemesis route! Got pumped just going bolt-to-bolt. Managed bottom crux OK. Felt boxed after getting to the top...

Pulled the rope and had a redpoint, couldn't even manage the first crux on the 2nd bolt, still feels nails. Pulled past this and did a bit of a link to near the top. Got a better sequence for the top crux and climbed to the chains which feels sketchy clipping off a sloping ledge. Endurance needed...

Watched Ally smash his new F8a link-up, inspiring!

W: Rest

T: Had a call reporting the Gorge was wet so drove to Dinbren, then it poured down so drove to Ruthin Escarpment, still raining we walked (20 mins) to the crag, as thought it was soaking and so were we... Went to Oswestry Wall. did start climbing until 7pm despite finishing work at 4:15... Did a load of V4 - V5's, felt stressed.

F: Rest - Watched Doylo's new film and got psyched!

S: LPT - Warmed up repeating Under the Boardwalk (F6c) got really warm! Went all out on an onsight attempt of Face Race (F7a+) climbed really well but committed to an incorrect sequence right at the top and just couldn't reverse, so close! The closest I've been to on-sighting something this hard. Got the move wired and came down for a rest.

1st Redpoint, fell after the crux as I underestimated the moves after... School boy error.

2nd & 3rd Redpoint fell on the crux - knackered!

What a great route, one of the best i've ever been on, LPT has become my favorite crag! I really dug deep on the on-sight and felt like I never really recovered from it, slack redpointing skills cost me the tick on the redpoint. Next time! I shouldn't be getting pumped on technical non-steep climbs like this either!

Core:
30 L Leg Crunches
15 Side Raises (Both sides)
30 Back Arches
15 Pressups
30 Straight Leg Situps
1 Min Side Star (Both Sides)
1 Min Dish
30 Back Arches
20 Aqua Mans
1 Min Dish

S: Rest

----------------------------------------

I've spent the whole year getting pumped on everything and never really finding moves very difficult on there own on any routes I've tried. I just haven't had the fitness and too many times it's been make or break and I've failed by the skin of my teeth (Usually falling AFTER the crux on things.) I'm going to hammer the endurance training for the foreseeable...

In reply to Sankey:

I got some good drop knee beta for the move to the pinchy block (just above the jug where there are two bolts close together, the 4th I think) which made that move noticeably easier for me. And high feet before the move to the sidepull/gaston right at the top helped. As did missing out the last bolt because its strenuous and pointless. Good route!

In reply to Luke Owens:

If you've not done it yet then Si and I both enjoyed Night Glue when we went to LPT...

In reply to AJM:

Not been on it yet, think i'm going to save it for next year and go for the flash. Looks an awesome line!

In reply to AJM: Cheers, the move to the pinchy block was probably the one I was finding physically the hardest, will have a play with dropknees. Is defintely tough getting into the gaston as well from the cluster of unfriendly holds near the old peg. Was good fun, feels much steeper than it looks from below.

In reply to Sankey:

I wrote the description down in a FC a few weeks back, but basically right hand on the jug, left on the obvious sidepull, left foot on a good foothold, I forget which one, right comes up into a tight drop knee with the foot pressed against the hold you use as a sidepull to move across to the jug. Hope that makes sense?

I also used a heel on the jug a few moves later to make moving across on those crimps by the old peg a bit easier.

In reply to Luke Owens:

Its cool. I faffed too long on my onsight go at it getting clips sorted and working out where to traverse right to the hand rail/ledge.

In reply to AJM:

Good effort! I'll have to try and catch it when it's got the clips in!

In reply to mbh:

Tried to get out twice this week - denied on each occasion by the weather.

M: PE circuits at UCR
T: Rest
W: Bouldering at TCA
T: Rest
F: Planned to go to Cheddar - it rained. Core - approx 150 pull-ups on various holds
S: Rest
S: Planned to head up to spacehunter wall at Cheddar - it rained. Went to UCR instead and did circuits in the cave up o 7b.

Off to Kalymnos on Thursday so no more updates for the next three weeks. The ticklist for Kalymnos includes Ameros Perros (7c+) which I messed up on the last moves last year and Dani Boy (8a) - I have done all the moves just lacked the stamina last year so hopefully this year will be different. Also on the ticklist is to improve my Greek so my partners family, who are Greek, stop moaning about the fact that after eight years my Greek is still rather poor!!

Hope the weathers kind to all of you and you get your projects done!

In reply to mbh:

Cheers mbh.

I am back of sorts i guess.

Got out running 3 or 4 times and climbing once.

Went to Mijas yesterday for a couple of hours as stuck with the kids so that was all i could manage.

Arrived, walked to crag, harness straight on and launched for a 7a onsight. Proper warm up - not. Steep and pumpy getting harder towards the top. Great route and climbed it well but missed a hidden sidepull at the top which meant i couldn't get to the final hold. CLose but no cigar.

Horrible feeling of trying to figure the move absolutely boxed with a flash pump. Everytime i took a hand off my feet came off as i couldn't hold the tension. Absolute max fight but took the losers fall - and it was quite a good one.

Not too un happy as i gave it 100% and it was a hidden hold. Was nearly sick. Hadn't eaten properly recently and lost 1/2 stone but not in a healthy way. I was blasted with the shakes as my muscles had used up what little glycogen was in them. Buggered up the rest of the session but my fault.

Tried a 6c+ onsight but fell just before easy ground, did a 6b+ onsight. Amazing route pulling up massive steep organ pipe tufas at such an amenable grade.Then tried the 7a+/b new route. Tried for the onsight but got pumped after the first 3 bolts ( crux is start ) and then had to rest again further up. Still very dusty which didn't help. I'd say 7a+ and if it was clean i reckon it'd go next time.

So counting down to the move now. Meeting up with Eagle River soon and then going on a mini road trip ( long weekend away in my mates camper ) as a last goodbye.

Anyone know any 3* 20m 6b+ organ pipe tufa climbs near Manchester.......no didn't think so.

Malham it is then

In reply to mbh: tour of Britain..yeah.. Today's stage included honister pass.. Brill.

In reply to pork pie girl: don't get all excited all at once now

In reply to pork pie girl:

I thought that was steep this summer, and I was driving it!

In reply to mbh:
STG: Climb inside @ least want with the aim of onsighting around limit.
MTG: 4(3) e-points in September.
LTG(2013): 7a+*1, 7a*4. 34e points(33 to date).
VLTG(2015?): Classic e5 (Positron?, Right Wall?)

Mon: Arc(30 mins). Repeaters. 4x4(V3,V3,V3,V3).
Tue: Nothing.
Wed: Arc(30 mins).
Thu: Nothing.
Fri: Arc(30 mins). Repeaters. 4x4(V3,V3,V3,V3).
Sat: Nothing.
Sun: Nothing.


Looking back on this week it looks a bit pants, but..... this was my first week going back to 3 exercises a session & it went well.

On Wednesday I had nothing in the tank after the Arc session. I thought this was due to poor recovery from Monday but judging by tonight's session it seems to be the Arc session (or lack of motivation...). The route I'm using for Arcing is all on smears & small slopers. Some nights my shoes seem to stick like glue & it feels like a tough but manageable 30 minutes. Other nights (like tonight) my shoes are constantly slipping which wipes out the semi rests & exhausts the supplies to the point that I need to take the odd rest off the wall. Guess I need to figure out why some nights the shoes stick and not others.

In reply to AJM: makes sense, cheers, will try and deploy the beta next time...

In reply to biscuit:
how about 12m 6b+ 3* PE flowstone climbing (flowstone shuffle PenMaen head)

LPT and diamond are not that far from manc ... easily doable in a day. 2 hours from hudds so steep featured limestone is still available.

Also thing you can have decent to very good bouldering and trad too (when the weather plays games) on your door step.

Dont take it too bad. Plus you can now justify a holiday to cataluny or kalymnos!

In reply to C Chestwig; Treacherous climber:

Has the GC extension down the Gorge fallen yet?

In reply to mbh: it is steep but not for too long and the climbing before that is very steady... but it's interesting after 5 long lakes passes climbs before it.. definitely need to make sure you've digested your eccles cake before you get there!

In reply to JimmyKay:

Ally belayed Lee on it a just over a week ago and Lee came extremely close but split a tip. It should go down soon for sure!

In reply to biscuit:

http://news.v12outdoor.com/2011/06/23/giant-tufa-route-climbed-on-the-ormes...

In reply to Sankey:

Thanks I will try some of the method's but your right I sack off way too easily without someone bullying me, will try taking my mp3 player to the wall next time I'm there and see if it helps a bit.

In reply to grubes and luke owens:

Woo hoo !

Good to know.

I grew up in manc and started climbing in the lancs quarries so I know there is plenty about.

I used to like quarried grit actually.

Bring it on.

In reply to biscuit:

The orme is where it's at, amazing rock. I'm always keen, give us a shout if you fancy it one weekend.

In reply to Luke Owens:

Will do for sure.

In reply to Luke Owens: oooerr mrs!! that looks good

In reply to biscuit: the world is your oyster/lobster.. not kidding..we live in an amazing country with shed loads of different types of climbing.. all there for the taking.. you may find places like malham useful for early and late season.. other than that there's everything else to go at if malham etc doesn't float your boat

enjoy your trip in spain with ER etc.. don't see it as your last jolly over there.. just make sure you have a list of routes you're going to tick when you get over there on your regular trips

onwards and upwards Biscuit XX

In reply to biscuit: Portland?!! If you fancy a trip down south for a weekend let us know - Quiddity and CY practically live there! I'm sure ER can help with some psyche boosting - relax and enjoy the climbing - the sends will come, if they are meant to be

In reply to mbh:

Just a quick random one - looks like I'm going to be a "lord of leisure" (full time climbing bum) through until Christmas now before I can go away on the big van trip.

Anyone thinking of/want to get involved in a cheap trip somewhere sunny in November for a week or so to help me bypass the boredom and frustration of fighting with autumnal uk weather?

In reply to mbh:

Hi MBH, Missed me out, but mainly because I didn't post last week!

So: This week: nothing - moving house to Conwy: 20mins from the Orme, 20 mins from Ogwen Valley. Is there anywhere better?!?

Last week: Only one outing to Penmaen Head, where I met LukeOwens climbing with AlexStudley on a Clwyd Mountaineering Club Meet. As is usual with my visits to Penmaen Head, I made a complete meal of Intruder (5+ *) and Hammy's world tour (6a *). But I actually enjoyed working the routes and doing some hard (for me) climbing, something I don't feel I've done for a while.

It'll soon be dark in the evenings. Looking forward to the Boardroom opening on Deeside!

http://theboardroomclimbing.com/

In reply to AJM:

I'm free for half-term last week of October running into the start of November. Would be keen for Spain/Turkey/France. Send me a PM.

In reply to useful:

Oops...sorry!

In reply to JimmyKay:

I'll have a look at flights - mb a lot more over half term so would need to check budget...