UKC

Right then.

2013 seemed to be a year of big achievements for FC members, IanRUK making the GB team a particular highlight.

I thought it'd be interesting for everyone to look back at their goals for 2013 and tell us whether you met them - and if so what training helped you to meet them, and if you didn't - what went wrong?

That way the rest of us can learn what training worked for people and what obstacles prevented goals being met so that we can hope to avoid them ourselves.

LET THE BOASTING & EXCUSES BEGIN

In reply to Eagle River:

From ukc fc 303 http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=533398&v=1#x7161631

STG (Mar 2013):
Possible short half term font trip - fail but going tomorrow
More than 1 7 in spain maybe a grade push - tick 2 x 7a, 1st 7b
Take lead falls (not fall practise). - tick falling is fun. Nice big air in Spain
MTG (July 2013)
Climb harder than 7a in UK and abroad. - fail only abroad. Tried something stupid 7b and heartless hare but did not sports club enough this year
Lead E3 try onsight - tick in Canada went badly
LTG (End of 2013):
Top out the chief - tick big day out 19 pitches and a solo at the very top
boulder 7A/V6 UK and try get one in Squamish. - fail
Climb Great wall at squamish - fail was not ready. Felt better after hearing wide boyz epic
7b - tick
E3/4 - second only
Weight loss! - complete fail if anything an heavier

I don't feel it climbed enough this year. I have had major psyche issues

Some stats
Trad (last year total)
54 routes (38)
max grade E2 (E1)
Average Grade MVS (MVS)
This does not include repeat ascents

Sport
22 routes (36)
Max grade 7b (7a)
average grade 6b (6a)
Does not include repeats

Bouldering (so far will increase greatly next week!)
122 problems (112 was alot more but not all font recorded too many problems)
average grade V0+ (V0+)
max grade V5 (V5) V6 according to UKC but I am not considering that 7A. It needs down grading to 6B ish

In reply to grubes:

Thanks Luke. Have a good time in font!

I had one goal for 2013 which was to climb 8a. Did that in May with Toadal Recall then spent the rest of the dry summer at Kilnsey.

2013 summary:
April - First 7c (Tremelo), 5 sessions
May - First 8a (Toadal Recall), 5 sessions
July - Biological Need 7c @ Kilnsey, 7 sessions? took ages to get stamina for kilnsey steepness.
Also ticked Ground Effect (7b, 2nd attempt), Sticky Wicket (7b, 2nd attempt same day I did Biological) and 50 for 5, 3 sessions in July.

Spent the rest of the summer falling off The Ashes.

What I've learned - I'm good at cruxy routes on thin holds on slightly overhanging rock. I'm rubbish on steep routes, especially where you need to recover on big holds at 30 degrees overhanging.

I picked an 8a that suited me perfectly and I won't feel like I've properly achieved the grade until I do a different route, like Raindogs or something.

In terms of training I've stuck with doing routes indoors I can't do, moving onto doing back to back routes to spend more time doing moves when boxed. Not sure that'll help with the big weakness (recovering on steep rock) but will be good for Malham upper tier and shorter catwalk routes (which is where i'll spend most of the next 4 months)

Goals for 2014 - Do another 8a, get 7cs/7c+s in fewer than 5 sessions, onsight 7a/7a+ in Spain in January.

In reply to Eagle River:

New to this and seeing as a motivator for next year

this year
boulder 7a+ red or dead
route 7b Jewfish easy one at beerhouse buttress

2014
stg tin of at the tor 7bish
mtg still tin of at the tor
long term goal wild in me 7c [2 year goal]

Sun-Newstones bouldering linking problems
Mon-Rope Race on the old bouldering wall
Tues-first try at Tin Of at Raven Tor, lower bit okay
Wed
Thursday-Run
Friday-Rope Race bouldering wall

Hope this is how this works

Happy New Year

In reply to Eagle River:
Thanks, pretty happy.

GB vest.
Welsh Vest
Pb's at 100k (7:19), marathon (2:39), half marathon (1:13).
4th IAU world trail running champs
3rd UKA 100k Champs, 4th Anglo-celtic 100k international
4th JFK 50 miler
Won various races from 12k to marathons, mountain, road and trail in the US, Poland, Germany and the UK.

Broken toe has finished the year early but needed a break anyway..

In reply to IainRUK:

What a year Iain, you can always be proud of that.

In reply to Eagle River:

So mine looked at the start of the year like:


Convincingly overfilled the bottom levels of this pyramid, think I'm currently on 10/6/3/0 or similar, but didn't manage to put a cap on it.


Did all the moves, got a link of the crux, and was a few moves away from overlapping halves. But I struggled to find people keen on midweek remnant action, only got on the route fortnightly really at most, and so eventually got frustrated and sacked it.


Ashes in about a half dozen or so sessions and about a dozen redpoints. Spent a day and a bit on obscene toilet at the Tor, best effort got me about 3 moves from the rest, fingers too shredded for more. Tried one of the classic Ceuse 7cs, but wasn't fit enough.


Convincingly smashed this one. Loads of e3s in a variety of places and 4 E4s of differing styles.


Poor. Flashed a 7a+, onsighted a 7a or two - Ceuse wasn't a productive trip due to weather and fitness, I've not been away apart from that and have been focusing on redpointing.


I think I quantified this eventually as a power not pe V6/7. I could claim the right hand man crux, nominally I did a V6 at the roaches but it used to get 6C, I've done some V5/6C sort of stuff, I've done pe V7, but certainly haven't made any massive breakthrough in short powerful bouldering ability. Done a whole bunch of V5 stuff indoors and perhaps some V6 stuff but indoors is different, more morpho and generally more grade variable anyway...

So in summary:
- very good year for trad
- disappointed not to get the 8a tick - this was the year for 8a before 30 in my big plan
- low performance on lower priority things like the sport onsighting, not terribly surprising
- poor trip to Ceuse, partly due to van building taking over from training and partly weather
- excellent consolidation as a consolation prize for not pushing further upwards, Low Blow and The Ashes were very different in style from my previous short (soft? I don't know) 7c+ and forced me to really push myself. And I've done a variety of 7b/+ stuff! some of it pleasantly quickly.

In reply to mbh:

Thanks, went well, wished I'd have ran a better marathon but missed Berlin, with a 1:13, a 2:35 should be very feasible.. but always next year..

In reply to Eagle River:

Here's a few of the specific goals that I noted at various points. I can't give a roundup of my intentions at the start of the year as I only started posting here/thinking in terms of goals some time in June.

I did onsight E3 6a, and the 6a technical grade is much less of a mental block now (though partly due to pulling more hard moves on sport). I'll just have to see if I can get consistent at that next year.
I climbed 3 E4s, though one (Lundy Calling) is a major soft touch, another (Wings of Unreason) is a bit ungradeable and the other (Arms Race) I'd top-dogged in the past.
Overall, happy with my trad this year.

Got to 7,3,1,1 so put the top on it, which was the most important thing for me. I'll have plenty of time for consolidation next year.

My biggest fail. Plagued by various minor, niggly injuries (shin splints followed by Achilles tendinopathy) from about June to December. It even took me out of climbing for a few weeks, which was bad news. Achilles still not 100%.
On the other hand, it prompted me to get back into swimming and concentrate on improving my core (a former weakness, now a strength). I'm running again now, albeit much less than I used to, with the intention of increasing volume really, tediously slowly over the course of next year.

Various other highlights include:
My first winter season. Ticked some of the big grade V routes: Point 5, Orion Direct, Zero Gully...
Several big, adventurous trad routes: Dreadnought, Mercury Direct, The Equator, Crow

Bring on 2014...

In reply to Eagle River:
only been posting on fitclub for a few weeks, so I didn't have any formally stated goals for the year. Did have informal ones:

sport 7b redpoint: got a 7b+ in Spain and then a 7b at Brean. Couple of others were close but no cigar.

sport more 7s generally: last year I think I got about 3 7a/+, including 1 flash. This year I got about a dozen more, including 2 7a flashes.

sport increase onsight level: last year I can't remember if I onsighted any 6cs or not. This year I think I managed about 1/2 dozen 6c onsights. Main key to success sees to be actually getting on them in the first place! Oh, and choosing routes with some chalk already there i order to have a bit of a hint.

trad: onsight E3. Got this one fair and square. Over the year I did about 1/2 dozen E3, and then an E4 onsight too.

trad; headpint E4. Again, got this one. 2 E4 headpoints, plus an E6 (darn sure this one will be downgraded though).

So next year:
need to fill in more 7bs
aspirational goal: another 7b+ or better
Hopefully my trips abroad will help - Chorro in Feb, hopefully Gorge du Tarn in July and then I've bitten the bullet and booked to go to Kalymnos in September.

trad: onsight more E3, possibly another E4. Headpoint another E6 - have a local one in mind which should be possible.

main difficulty - need to find some other keen local climbers due to AJM bogging off to Europe! (Nick - I will be pestering you!!). Plus kids doing exams which is bloody stressful and limits my chances of escaping for days out at the crag. Oh, and work being crazy for the next few months due to management stupidity. Will need to be quite disciplined, and also use my indoors time to best advantage as think I'll get more of that than outdoor sessions by a long way.

In reply to hms:

Sounds good, looks like we're looking at similar stuff too (mid 7s sport, E3/4 trad)

In reply to Eagle River:

Thought it would be interesting to look back at this even though I stopped posting a month or 2 back.


STG (last winter through to March): tick at least 10 new Ft 7s, including at least one Ft 7b, before Font

MTG: tick at least 5 Ft 7as in Font in March 13

LTG (March-Dec 2013):
- tick F7c in Ceuse
- aim to onsight 10 E3s and 1 E4 in 2013.


Last winter I think I managed 9 new Font 7s, no 7bs but I did do 3 or 4 7a+s (had only done 1 possible one previously)- was happy with that.

In font I only got 3 Ft 7as done, but this was one per day until it started raining, so again, performance wise, I was reasonably pleased with this. I got to the point by early spring 2013 where I was doing most Ft 7as in a day/session - which was my main aim really. (not there now though!)

Sport-wise, I had to cancel the Ceuse trip and for several months focussed on trad instead, so the above goals actually shifted through the year more towards trad than sport. However later in the year I got on more sport again and managed a few 7b/+s and another 7c, so given I was focussing more on trad, I was pleased with this.
Trad-wise, I didn't manage any E4s (fell off one) but I managed 12 E3s. The first half of the year up to late June was great, but I then ran up against a series of weather and (climbing) partner-related obstacles, and got little more done in the second half of the year. Completely missed the brilliant weather window in the mountains, which was really demotivating.
Overall, bouldering last winter was good, sport performance given my focus was good, but I was really disappointed not to get more trad done in the last 6 months. I dont have many partners now who are psyched for trad onsighting - most of my regular mates are keener for sport, bouldering or headpointing. As a result next year Im going to focus back on sport again, and if I can get psyched early in the year, the big aim will be 8a in 2014. If I do go that way I'll probably see you back on here Also got trips lined up to Font in March (a week), Siurana in April (4 days) and maybe a few days or a week in Frankenjura in September.

Si

In reply to hms:


That's not aspirational! It's not like the first one took you longer than 2 sessions...


That's more like it...!


That Extrem Ost guide I mentioned that Santa brought has boosted psyche for some of the venues, more than one really good looking single pitch one, although voralpsee whilst it looks brilliant would have been totally unsuited to your needs! If you remind me nearer the time I could always post the Tarn/Jonte guides back home once we have finished using them.

In reply to Eagle River:
Really varied year for me, lots of ups and downs...

Trad - pretty strong, highlight was onsighting five E5s in five days in Pembroke and the Southwest, the best being Pacemaker and The Minotaur. Low point was failing on Tales of Yankee power, still gutted!

Sport - Varied! Good trips in Feb and Easter onsighting 7b+s and a multipitch 7b. Also my first 7c+ in Seynes, Metaphysiques des Tubes in two sessions (the best sport route I've done), and then my second 7c+, The Green Alternative, in a session at The Tor. Low point was failing to onsight 7as over the summer when I was really unfit.

Indoor - high point of fitness was onsighting a 7c+ (albeit a soft one) and red pointing an 8a. Now reduced to getting insanely pumped on 7bs as fitness slowly returns. I am however, the strongest I've ever been at bouldering.

Comps - high point has to be coming second at the national final of the YCS, something I'm really proud of. Low was placing 10th at the Open Youth just gone.

Training - first one armer! Shoulders and arms are strong enough now, core is making progress, but my fingers are embarrassingly weak. Got a fingerboard for Christmas so I'll be working to fix that!

So a good year with some of my proudest achievements, compensating for some time spent out of form.

Bring on 2014!

Cheers, Jake

In reply to Eagle River:

Goals were:

Sport - 7b
Bouldering - 7A

Smashed both my goals by March so I was really happy with these high points:

Sport -
7 x 7b
1 x 7b+

Bouldering -
2 x 7A

Still time for some more bouldering ticks this weekend, the year isn't over yet!

Goal for 2014:
Sport 8a

In reply to Luke Owens:

Nice one Luke

I went from sport 7b+ in 2012 to 8a following year so I'm sure you'll smash that one too, your training seems much more structured than mine!

In reply to Joughton:

So what are the aims for 2014?

Onsight 8a? Multiple E6s?

In reply to Eagle River:

Cheers, I have a local 8a that i'm keen for and also the lifetime tick of Statement of Youth. Going to get on them and see how they feel. My training is more experimental than structured! Haha.

You'll smash another 8a for sure and on-sighting 7a/+ in Spain should be easy for you!

In reply to Eagle River:

Hello FC.

Looked back at my logbook, I have manage one day outside since the start of september. Which is very poor for me. I stopped posting in october as I was managing nothing.

The year as a whole, only 120 or so climbs all year. 7bRP 7a+OS and E4 2nd go, (quite a few E3s OS) being the grades. Another year where I should have climbed 7c.

So an OK year for trad, a bad year for sport. Still OS about 50% of 7as I tie onto, for the 3rd year in a row.

This year, 7cRP, 7bOS, RP E5, OS E4 and climb E2 always with ease would be good ambitions. As would climbing a bit more.

I may even get back to being a regular poster, if the climbing improves to motivate me.

Thanks for the support through the year,

Cheers, Kev.

In reply to Eagle River: I cant really comment on my good intentions v reality cause I was away for too long. Suffice to say the 7a has been deferred a bit.
Going to buy some body fat scales when I get back off my hols and work from there I think. And climb more! And do other things... the list is long.

In reply to Eagle River:

I've done OK this year. My work/life balance has definitely improved. As has my climbing to other hobbies balance.

I broke the 8a barrier. Very please to tick Cider Soak. One very very classy line at one of the best (IMO) crags in the UK.

I broke the E5 O/S barrier (albeit at Pembroke on two v.soft ones) in Huntsman's Leap.

I've got back into running. In fact over the festive period (the last 6 days) I've run 3 half-marathons. Just for the fun of it. All training runs and sub 100minute. Which with the weather we've had, the hills we did it on, and the roads we had to cross, I think is putting me in pretty good stead for the summer.

I had a real holiday in summer with the ex. Didn't like it. I'm going to stick with holidays with a purpose. Like climbing.

I ticked off a couple of nemesis problems unexpectedly like Left Wall High in the cave on a passing visit. Oh and Elite Syncopations. That was a big tick for me after falling off the last JUGS(!!!) so many times in previous attempts. Thanks Ally Smith for the belays and after work Psyche sessions.

I went to Font twice and ticked some very good climbs. Lot's of font 7's including a font 7c on the last trip. In fact the first trip I was surprised with how many 7b/+'s went down. Probably my best font year so far. Not sure how next year will fair as I've been off the climbing and on the running so far this winter.

My goal for next year is to just keep on enjoying life. Whether it be climbing, running, being at work, going to gigs, exploring new places. Next year I want to be better at everything.

In reply to Eagle River: Next year is hopefully going to be the first year of Med School so it'll probably take a while to adjust, but before that I've got a massive holiday from June till late September so the plan is just to do absolutely loads of climbing. E6 is definitely an achievable goal for the summer, if it's nice, soft and well protected (so basically Pembroke). I'd also like to tick done hard-ish grit for a bit of change in style if good conditions come up on the coming months.

Sport wise some consistent 7c onsights would be a goal for me by the end of next year. Can't really tell about redpointing because I'm so inexperienced at it but possibly 8a+ by the end of 2014? We'll see how much I get done in the summer...

In reply to Eagle River:
Errrrr. Ummmmm. I climbed a HVS route. I very rarely meet my goals, so there's not much point in putting them down. 47 routes this year. Which is a lot more than last year. But still not as many as 2011. I think the number of routes is going down as they're getting harder (for me). Torpantau Falls was a highlight for me tho, first Grade III lead.

So yeah, still fat and crap (compared to the rest of FC).

In reply to Eagle River and all the other compares...

Happy Xmas/New year etc. to everyone.

Been a good year for me moved from F6b+ sport to 7a+, my LTG at the start of the year was 7a, but to be honest that was quite cautious and made before I had embraced the dark arts of red-pointing.

Improvememt for me has mainly been due to starting to red-point, and also realising that Malham/Kilnesy offer fairly reliable climbing that I enjoy, so justify the extra driving from Sheffield. Also, I think my trips to the wall are a bit more structured, and motivated, mainly by not wanting to feel any negative progress between trips outside.

Main goal for next year is to try to RP 7b+. If chance allows I will also try to at least do some trad, and will hopefully fit in an Alpine trip with the aim to do at least one classic route.

Good luck to everyone else with their goals.

In reply to Eagle River:

I set myself 3 challenges this year:
A 3 day, 100+ mile, solo mtb trip around the beacons - Had an absolute blast doing this and want to do loads more bike packing now.

Cuillin Ridge in a day - I thought I was quite fit and headed up with some mates, we had amazing weather, but i was totally outclassed by my mates' speed on the hills - my bike fitness was NOT hill fitness!

Berlin Marathon - I decided to take this on during a conversation with my brother in law in May, realised that I'd never run more than 10Km... hit the roads all summer, got over a month of tendonitis and then ran the race in 4:25:35, not bad for my first effort, I reckon.

2014 needs to see some more climbing... I did bugger al this year.

In reply to Eagle River:

I don't think I really had any specific goals for 2013. The people I was climbing with were keen to visit different crags every time so no real red point efforts.

However now I'm back in the UK it's time to stick my neck out and post some proper goals.

STG

Spain trip - OS 7a maybe 7a+. There's a whole new crag been developed that's full of class 30m + tufa lines.
Quick ticks of 7b's.
Maybe 7b+ if I get chance to red point.
Get back on a 7c and see where I'm at and if training the ER way has had any effect.
Sort shoulder injury.
At least 5 sets of doubles in the 7th grade 2ce a week. 1 bouldering session.
Get my beastmaker up.

MTG

Malham 7c - need to make an effort to get out more. Got kids/ex sorted now with dates so should be much easier to organise.
Then see what I can do at kilnsey come summer. I'd certainly like to be getting on an 8a.

Triathlon this summer. 1hr25m I think. I am buying a road bike and will start swimming soon. Gutted to just miss 1hr30m last time due to crapness on the bike and cramp. Will have a much better idea of what I am doing this time.

Going for either some big (for me) bike challenge or an ultra run as well this year.

Some big mountain/sea cliff trad too. Not grade pushing just the odd summer trip away at E2 ish.

LTG

Not sure. 8a hopefully this year.
Re-join the police, sort my house out

In reply to biscuit:

A new crag developed you say? Is it close to where I'm going in 2 weeks?

Also, can we borrow your Andalusia guide please?

In reply to Eagle River:
New crag is at Turon, about 10k from chorro. I'll find out what I can.

Yes of course you can have the guide.

In reply to biscuit:

Crag info this way too please!

Might not be something you've ever considered but any tips for WiFi/net access around chorro...?

In reply to AJM:

The Olive Branch has wifi. Free for guests but I guess you'll be staying in your van so that's not much use. You might be able to arrange something with Gary and Mel though, they're very friendly.

In reply to Nick Russell:

I wondered if they had a bar you could hang out in and exçhange wifi and beer (and maybe showers) for cash.

Might drop them a quick email, see what they say...

In reply to Eagle River:
A good idea.

I've just exported my logbook and ran some numbers and the results are interesting, to me at least! It seems that last year I hardly climbed at all – I was injured for the first half of the year which resulted in surgery, so I knew that would be the case. Before that I pretty much exclusively bouldered whereas this year (2013) I have broadened my skill base and introduced winter, ice, scrambling and mountaineering into the mix. My bouldering numbers have reduced (from 2011) but are up on last year.

Here are my last 3-years for those who are interested. So my injury has made me a more diverse climber, I'd say. I suppose because it was a core injury I couldn't climb very hard so I had to lay off the bouldering. So to feed my climbing hunger I climbed more trad and some easy winter stuff. Then this year I have grown stronger in those areas (except trad) and have pushed myself onto ice as well with a trip to Rjukan back in Feb.

I've ridden my mountain bike a lot this year, too. I'm very happy with my progress and although these numbers are not that high compared to what they could have been, I have kept the balance well this year considering that I have been building up my business to the point where I am now working full time for myself! 2014 is going to be awesome!

2013

Trad: 0
Scrambling: 6
Winter & Ice: 10
Bouldering: 110
Summit: 6
Sport: 0

2012

Trad: 15
Scrambling: 1
Winter & Ice: 4
Bouldering: 29
Summit: 1
Sport: 0

2011

Trad: 1
Scrambling: 0
Winter & Ice: 0
Bouldering: 208
Summit: 2
Sport: 0

Thanks Fit Club, for the inspiration to keep at it during the hard times when motivation and time are limited. Hearing what others are going through as well as reading tips is a great motivator.

In reply to Eagle River:


The bare stats are

415 sessions including 310 runs, 74 swims, 9 bikes rides, 12 hikes, 7 rows, 3 aerobic gym sessions and 1 scary go on my MTB, following my mate and trying not to fall off. I failed. The swimming petered out around October when it began to take all I had to maintain the running mileage.

I ran 2520 miles, which is an average of 48.3 miles per week, with 119 runs of 10 miles or more, but only 11 of 15 miles or more. Total ascent was 52,100 m.

For the last 6 months I have averaged 56 miles per week, and this year in all I ran over 50 miles in a week 25 times, and over 60 miles 14 times, almost all of that being in the last 6 months.

I haven't been very fast, but have managed an 8k in 32 something, on the treadmill, and can pull out the odd 8 miles at 7:30-ish pace, providing it is flat. I did do 10 miles once this year at 7:12 pace and try to get a mile or two in the middle of long runs at better than 7:30. I don't always succeed.

I did the Welsh 3000s, my first 50 k ultra and a fell race. I failed spectacularly on the BG, but gave it a go.

I weigh 63-ish kg (BMI 23-ish), down 2 kg on a year ago and down 14 kg on a blobby 18 months and 3200 miles of running ago. There have got to be easier ways of losing weight.

This year, I want to give the BG another crack, do more longer runs and more faster miles. I know from the last time that the main barrier between me and the BG is that voice that tells me to give up, almost from the off, the voice that tells me that there are better things to do with my time. That is why I have pushed the mileage this year, which has meant getting out there day after day, even though I haven't wanted to, to try and build up some mental resilience. More longer runs should help with that too. More speed will help my ego.

In reply to mbh:

Looking good there mbh.

The stat I'm happiest with is this:

Number of days with exercise = 188 (51%)

YYFY!!! I'd been aiming for 50% after coming close a few years in a row, dead happy to have hit it.

In reply to Luke Owens:




Did my first 7A+ boulder on Sunday. Last weekend of a great year!

In reply to Eagle River:

Wanted E1 - got a soft one. Almost soloed one this week too but wet footholds at the crux meant I down climbed. Doing no trad since July except one route has meant I didn't progress further. Happy all round I guess.

Wanted a 7a but would have been happy with a 6b onsight - a broken hold did for me on the 6b onsight. Deciding not to do sports as I have little to no psyche for it was the biggest advancement...

Bouldering went flat but did get to Font. Seem to be able to get V3 fair quickly indoors now and don't look at total muppet when trying V5 etc.

Forgot to try hard at times, plus too easily distracted at times but sorted that I think. In fact I've also been massively distracted by my personal and work life this year - need to find a better balance this time round.

In reply to Eagle River:

I didn't really make any 2013-specific goals, but had in my head what I wanted to do. I buggered my toe this time last year so the new year goal setting got a little lost on me as I wallowed on self pity/ouchy foot I think!

What I did do:
Definitely consolidated E1, did around 10 I think, mainly multipitch.
Near enough climbed E2 - in Moroccan soft touch grades anyway!
Ticked a 6b+, and 6c/V5 indoors.
Ticked a good majority of the routes I wanted to in Orco & Morocco.
Week's ski tour (Bernese Oberland)
Got out to a lot of high crags over the amazing summer.
Ran my first marathon.
Ran the 3 peaks.
Got a half decent bike and rode quite a lot.
Managed a couple of ski tours in the UK.

What I could have done better at:
Intensity & frequency of running dropped significantly after the marathon - not helped by the asthma thing but not entirely due to that either.
Could have worked a lot harder on regular core sessions & climbing training (as opposed to just going to the wall).
Should have mountain biked more - enthusiasm was killed by riding to work nearly every day over summer.
Falling practise; I did very little.

What I didn't do:
Yoga. Any of it.
Scottish 4 lead. I lost interest, honestly.
Didn't make it to Pembroke, Cornwall OR Scotland climbing. But then I didn't plan on going to Morocco!

So I basically ticked the big stuff but could have done a lot better on the smaller, everyday, keeping-it-up stuff.

Goals for 2014:
- Climbing wise: I want to do some UK E2s (fingers crossed for a good summer), concentrate on wall training through the rest of the winter, and do a Scottish trip around May time and tick some amazing routes!
- Running wise: I need to kick this asthma thing, it's no where near as bad as it was but still holding me back. From there, build up the distance again and aim at another marathon or ultra.
- Ski wise: Have a March trip planned. Want to do a few tours in Scotland this spring. There's big plans afoot for later in the year but can't really say too much just yet.
- General: Remember that the day-to-day boring stuff is essential to achieving all the the above, and kick my ass in to gear every week!
- Also a lot of life-related goals which are going to involve some pretty big changes which are more important than ticking a specific grade or route... hoping it doesn't all detract from that too much though!

In reply to Eagle River:

Ok, so my plan at the beginning of the year was as follows:

2013 plan:
Jan-mid Feb - Continue with current indoor volume and try and get at least two weekends (or days of weekends) in sport climbing. Tick a couple of 7as, or one 7a and a 6c onsight/flash. Run at least twice a week for up to an hour.
mid Feb - beg March - have a super fab time in NZ
March-May - Focus on building up running fitness and navigation skills for orienteering - run at least twice a week, with one of these being over an hour. Climbing wise, work on onsighting ability in 6s and getting back into the feel of trad with 1 or 2 weekends away.
June - September - Focus on trad climbing, getting out at weekends and building up to onsight E2. Maintain strength by bouldering indoors during week. Maintain running fitness and work on navigation if possible.
September/October-end year - Focus on onsighting and quick redpoints in Kalymnos, possibly try and get a 7b project ticked. Try and get a 7a flash and some 6c onsights. Do DNA. For remainder of year get back up to strength and focus on repointing. If I can get Something Stupid and Empire done that would be a bonus.

So things I would like to have ticked by end of the year:
- 7a flash - TICK
- 6c onsight (I did one or two this year but more consistent) - TICK
- E2 onsight - FAIL
- Respectable performance at major orienteering events (ideally top half of age class, but this rather depends on the competition!) - TICK
- Another 7b tick (ideally 7b+ but that may be too much to hope for!) - TICK

To achieve this I need to focus on:
- Getting falling sorted - FAIL (but have started...)
- Stamina - FAIL (but managed to get round this / it wasn't as big an issue as I thought)
- Leg strength & stamina (I seriously have the weakest legs in the world) - FAIL (I still have the weakest legs in the world...)
- Trad skills (esp efficient and confident gear placement) - MOSTLY FAIL
- Maintaining current strength level (I'm hoping this is going to be the easy bit! :-S) - OK-ISH


On the sport side of things, despite a significant lack of focused (or indeed much) training I managed to really improve my onsight grade - more confident tacking 6b/cs in the UK and managed up to 7a+ on softer rock overseas. Also got my first 7b+ and ticked Something STupid which I've been meaning to finish off for years.

On the trad side a dismal fail.... I started off the year ok, got a few E1s done but then had a couple of weekends when my mind was distracted by life stuff and/or the weather was poor. Basically I didn't get out trad climbing enough to get the head time in get properly confident, and once I stopped enjoying it that wasn't much motivation to get back out!

Running wise, not had a bad year orienteering - managed respectful performances at the big events and did ok at the street Os.

Training wise it's been a really poor year - most week's I've been struggling to get in one run and one climbing session during the week. A combination of work and life stuff. I need to try and get that sorted a bit more in 2014. I think I've just scraped keeping up to current standard (though poss dropped some fitness) but certainly haven't done enough to improve. Need to work out what I'm motivated for in 2014 and what my goals are going to be.

In reply to maria85:

I think your 'General' goals are actually quite pertinent...I think I need to learn those lessons too!

In reply to Eagle River:

Right then. As far as I can remember my goals for 2013 were:

Redpoint 7b (ticked 4 in total)
Onsight 7a (ticked 4, all clips in so sort of semi onsights)
Onsight E2 (ticked, not sure how many, maybe 5 or 6)

I've had a really good climbing year, got out loads with some really inspiring partners (lots from the fitclub) and got on some amazing routes. It's been brilliant to get out in the lakes and Kilnsey was a revelation too.

I'm really hoping this next Summer will be as good and that I can stay injury free. Not sure about 2014 goals, maybe redpoint 7b+ and do more 7as and E2s. I've got some good trips planned for April and May so will see what happens. Of immediate concern though is getting rid of my xmas belly. Not good!!

In reply to Ali:
Yes, they are what enable the big ticks, but the prospect of the big ticks is what makes us do it day after day. Well, that and other things. Years ago, I met an old couple in that hut in the Bregaglia, near the one at the foot of Piz Badile, but two huts over, near the dam. I don't remember what they were doing exactly, but they were up there, going up stuff, and had spent day after day on treadmills to enable them to do that. My father in law, in contrast, no older than them, was sat on his chair where he always sat, barely able to get off it because he had never aspired to do much more. The thought of the contrast between them and what led them to where they were is what keeps me going, more even than a BG tick, if I ever manage it.

Seeing all you climbing tyros post your very notable achievements, and impressively detailed thoughts about them, I have decided on a specific goal for the coming year: 2711 miles in the year, or my age by the end of the year in miles per week. That should keep me fit and enable a few ticks.

Now, I am off for another scintillating run around my beautiful town!

In reply to mbh:



I think that's what stuffs me for running. It's grim here so I hate running here.

Anyway, here's a slightly more full list:

First HVS Onsight
First III Onsight
Seconded E2 clean
VS Consolidation (limestone) - 10 routes
Sub 12 hour 45 mile (2500m asc) ultra
Nearly finished renovating the house!

Technically I lead an E1, but no one on the comments reckons it's an E1, so I'm not taking that. Also it's a V0 boulder problem with a diff finish.

I'm not going to stress over specific goals, but trips planned are:

Scotland for winter climbing
Orkney for Old Man of Hoy (or other sea stacks)
Might try and get a week somewhere abroad

But more generally, I want to improve my climbing as much as possible this year and I intend to put a lot of effort into this.

In reply to Eagle River: i'm doing mine next monday. In work time