UKC

Happy New Year Everyone!

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=564587&v=1

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 (354) thread:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=573572&v=1

AJM - is off and we wish him well. Follow him here at http://travelswithrockboots.blogspot.co.uk/
mbh - hit his milestone after two weeks of thuggery.
Eagle River - Good Monday session. Hope the cold is better and that strength is once again above kitten level.
Nick Russell - ran after his brother (a bit of a whizz) and fell for bouldering. That's a lot of hill in 7 km.
Exile - good luck with the weight loss and the endurance goals.
IainRUK - glad to see the foot is recovering. (But if anyone sees Iain go near a bike....)
JimmyKay - Excellent going on those half marathons. Sub 90 minutes a real possibility.
hms - doing the rounds of Bristol walls and doing well
stevemarkperry - a good, varied Christmas week ending in your best bouldering session for ages. Keep it up.
Ali - love the idea of you running up hills on Christmas Day with your Dad. Dad of the Week!
mattrm - also out for a run on Christmas Day. Good climbing session to finish with.
Tyler - Lots of on sights and a trip away. Running too.
Dandan82 - 11 routes on your last day. Hope the elbows are still holding out.
The New NickB - 40 miles in 4 days is good going, with half of it in the hills.
pork pie girl - what a week! Makes me feel lazy just reading it. You are an inspiration.
AndrewW - Get outside on CD, then starts Fat Club. Will this work like the Militant Tendency?
Luke Owens- Fantastic going to get your first V7/7A+
llanberis36 - Welcome (or welcome back) to Fit Club!

Many missing this week, not surprisingly. What was surprising is that many managed to do something on Christmas Day, with running up hills after fit family members apparently being a popular pastime. Had they taken your presents? We also saw the creation of one splinter group, Fat Club, and the mooting of another, the UKC 8a club. My money is on all six founder members of the latter to do it in 2014. Go you, all of you.

In reply to mbh:

Happy New Year to everyone!

Two weeks to report in but will head to the wall later, so best wait.

In reply to mbh:

Who wants to help start off each thread in the weeks ahead? I can do a couple.

12/1
19/1
26/1
02/2 - mbh
09/2
16/2
23/2
02/3 - mbh

In reply to mbh:

I'm away the next 2 weekends but could do the one after and the second 2 in february (I'm at a wedding on the 23rd)

12/1
19/1
26/1 - ER
02/2 - mbh
09/2 - ER
16/2 - ER
23/2
02/3 - mbh

In reply to mbh:

Thanks mbh.

Goals: 7a/7a+ onsights in Spain 11th-19th Jan
7c/7c+s in fewer than 5 sessions when back to yorkshire limestone

Cold has just about shifted so managed a couple of sessions this week, having done nothing for about 11 days (which felt like an ETERNITY)

thurs: Bouldering at Blackburn. Few V6s ticked, one flashed. Everything was sore the following day, and the day after!

Sat: indoor routes. Unsurprisingly session fitness was not what it was pre-Christmas, faded very quickly and the last (6th) set of doubles was pretty embarrassing. Still, tried hard and hopefully a couple of sessions this week will set me up nicely for the trip.

In reply to Eagle River:










I could do the 19th. I'll possibly be in Scotland for all the other dates, so don't want to commit.

It might be better if someone was willing to commit to doing it for a few months solidly?

In reply to mbh: I'm back from Xmas/New Year which were spent in Norfolk and Denmark respectively, not ideal for climbing! Did a bit of running, including Xmas day. Also have a summary for the year:

Indoor bouldering sessions: 57 - just over one a week
Outdoor bouldering: 12
Indoor sport: 2 (!)
Outdoor sport: 53 - again approaching once a week, and this is where I have made the biggest gains.

Did a few Alpine rock routes, virtually no trad, and a fairly constant level on aerobic stuff provided by running/biking depending on season

Plan is to get fit for Siruana at the end of the month, which means I should probably try for some more indoor sport sessions

M: Works - good long session after breaking up from work for the year
T: Run 4.6 miles, head to Norfolk
W: Run 3.1 miles
T: Run 3.1 miles
F:
S: Run 3.1 miles
S: Head to Denmark

M:
T:
W:
T: Back from Denmark
F:
S:
S: Matrix - getting painful skin, and felt a bit off form, first session of the year after a 2 week break was always going to be tough


STG: Get ready for Siruana - no really ambitious aims, just want to get on quality at around 6b+ to 7a.

More 7a'/+s (Bleep and booster, barguest direct): RPS: 6c (4) 6c+ (2) 7a (5) 7a+(2)

MTG: 7b WYSWIG/Sticky Wicket/Something Stupid - started working

LTG: Maybe apply some of the sport fitness to some trad...few classic E1's and E2's out there that are calling + Obsession, 7b+

Thanks mbh. Consider myself too much of a fit club newbie to step up and do the summary just yet - will sign up for some slots next time round.

Quite a productive week all told:

M
T: Redpoint, 6a+ 6a+ / red 6+ / 6+ 7a / 7a / 6c+ 6b+ / red 6b+ 6a+. The 7a had one move that I couldn't figure. 6c+ was onsight and felt v easy.
W: think I may have done a finger board session but can't really remember!
T: UCR, circuits, lots and lots of them - dozen or so including 2 v good stabs at
the 7a+. I can do it in 2, but there is one heinous move that I can't link through. Then in the afternoon in a fit of keenness I did a whole bunch of core stuff too - felt proper tired by the evening.
F: UCR routes 6a 6b / 6b+ 6b+ / 6c 6c / 7a / 7a / 7a / 6b+ 6b+ 6b+. Fell off all the 7as above the final clip - the setters at UCR delight in making the final clips-worth a kicker.
S:
S: Boulders in Cardiff. Haven't been for ages as I got totally hacked off by the weird style and sandbag grades. Nothing much has changed - fell off a 6a+! Anyway, all of these were onsight attempts, a depressingly large number weren't clean: 6a 6a+ / 6a+ 6b / 6b 6b // 6b+ / 7a+ / 6b+ / 6b // 6b+ / 6c blobfest, traumatic / 6b+ / 6a+

Had been getting a real sense of progress. Boulders has successfully removed it again. Also all the fingerboarding seems to have now made me a expert at bnt-arm clipping - need to watch that, bad habit.

The coming week is going to be a tough one at home, and I'm feeling in need of a rest, so will take a tactical week off routes etc although will still do some core stuff - new fake TRX acquired for Christmas and now fitted above the finger board. Also it is only about 6 weeks till I meet up with AJM at Chorro so if I'm going to have a break I can't leave it any later.

Kalymnos guide has arrived - already feeling psyched for September!!

In reply to mbh:

Thanks for doing fit club.

STG - Climb 6b (or v3) @ wall, 11st 10lbs
Aspirational - Climb E5/6 (London Wall), Scottish Winter V (Point 5, Zero, Minus etc), WI5, Redpoint 8a, stay injury free & maintain 11st.

Weight - 12st 7lbs

M - 200 dish tucks
T - rest
W - 200 dish tucks
T - fingerboarding
F - 15m yoga
S - push ups & pull ups
S - core (200 dts, 2m planks, other)

Diet not great. But a small reduction. Need to get on it all properly next week. Otherwise lots of small bouts of 10-20 minutes of stuff. Not lots really. No climbing. Quite poor really.

Goals for next week:
3 core workouts
2 pushup/pull up workouts
2 indoor climbs
5 yoga - 15/20 mins yoga
Good diet!

In reply to mbh:

M - 7.8 miles (including an extra 0.7 miles to the garage)
T - 8.4 miles road
W - rest!
T - 10.6 miles, then later a slow 5.1 miles
F - 10.0 miles, heading off into darkness, hail and lightning.
S - 10.6 miles, same as Thursday
S - 12.8 miles in shiny new shoes, 44 seconds a mile faster than I've ever done this route before.

65 miles of running, 1470 m ascent.

17 of these miles were at better than 7:30, and altogether 35 were better than 8:00 pace, which is great going for me. I picked routes that have a few miles of flat in them, so that helped, and I set the watch to give me the current pace (thanks Mark Torrance for the tip). I set a target pace for each mile in my head, but am still not very good at running at a constant pace, perhaps because I am pushing myself, so that I don't make it for the first half mile, then accelerate until I do, then the beep goes and I collapse and it all starts again.

In reply to mbh:

Cheers bud. I reckon so, I did a 10miler-ish at 6:41min/mile pace and could have kept going but my mom was waiting outside my house to pick me up for a curry! Think that would have been around 88mins had I kept it up. I wonder whether there's scope to dream for sub 85min this summer? Nice flat PB course. Who knows!

M - 9.7miles (6:41min/mile pace)
T - Chilled out all day and drank lots of coffee and a few glasses of wine. Very tame for new year.
W - Park run in horrendous conditions. Awful. Ran OK despite this 5K in 19:28. At least a minute off this in dry conditions!
T - Short and sharp 5 miler. 5.3miles (6:36min/miles) Climbed every problem first go V6 and under at the wall and then started projecting the V10/11
F - Got all the moves on the V10/V11. Need to put some core training in to see this one off.
S - XC County Champs. Wow, that was a hard course. Super muddy. Came 49th out of about 175. Not bad after 4 months of training. Expecting to be a lot stronger when the race season starts. (10K in 46:00)
S - Morning run. Warm up lap and then 4.4miles @ 6:42min mile. Felt quite hard after yesterday. Didn't make any grounds on the yellow today. Will see how it feels next week. That's my end of Jan project.

In reply to mbh:
You doubled my distance for the week! Only one long run for me! What boots did you buy? I'm tempted to pick up some Ghosts as I could do with a pair to fall onto after the current ones.

In reply to Sankey:

! You've done less sports sessions indoors than I have... that's some effort!

In reply to JimmyKay:
Yes, but I am not as quick as you!

I bought Brooks Adrenaline GTSs, just because I know they fit and are OK for me, so I can just order them online. I get the 12 series for £60 something. I am on my fourth pair of identical shoes, and run more miles in each pair (904 in the last pair) than every place I read says is sensible.

In reply to mattrm:

I can do next week (the 12th), but in Spain on the 23rd...

In reply to mbh:

Ta fella - Nice write up to go into the new year.

Two weeks for me as I was away in a wet and wild Wales, supposed to be away for nearly three weeks but sacked it off and came home. Too warm, too wet, no snow or ice... crap, really crap.

Mon - 6hrs in the boulder room. Finally got the pesky V3, managed to find a way around the wrist issue but it was a lot sketchy. Stood on the top foothold of a V4 twice, couldn't commit. TOP session tho. Right mullered after.
Tue - Rest
Wed - Drove to Wales xmas night.
Thu - Soloing on Holyhead Mountain. Just me there and sorta dry...ish. Bagged a VS onsight, a couple of HS routes and a few VDiffs. Made up a few things at about Severe. Cracking four hours. Backed off an E1 as the footholds on the crux were wet. Next time.
Fri - Beacon at Caernarfon (sp) bouldering. 4hrs. Technical stuff mostly and almost got a fingery V3, worked a V4, did a few roof V1s.
Sat - Drove Brum and back.
Sun - Crib Goch but mate fell on the East Face so had to make a slow retreat. Walked round idwel after.

Chuffed with the Vs onsight, in fact the morning was brill. Haven't soloed for a while now and just relaxed and enjoyed the climbing. Highlight of the week away.

Mon - 2.5hr walk round the back of Betswy in bad weather. Proper grim.
Tue - Drove Brum and back. Beacon. Working stuff up to V5.
Wed - Sacked off the hols and came home
Thu - Manflu
Fri - Manflu
Sat - Boulder room for 3hrs. Good session but the V4 was wet, yes inside! Even indoors the weather beats me.
Sun - Boulder for a bit, no psyche, so do some hangs on the campus rails. Pumped.

Climbing is still getting better week by week, just seem to be on a decent improvement curve at the moment.

Liked the problem setting at the beacon. At Pinnacle you have to be strong, that's how Alex sets things but over there - quite technical. I really enjoyed it and got away with being weak on a lot of stuff.

Ermm... that's it.

In reply to mbh:

M - nothing
T - ran to work - felt terrible
W - nothing (apart from an hours stroll in the rain). Made an awesome gingerbread house though
T - nothing
F - routes at the Reach. Felt weak! My grip / finger strength was actually the first thing to go, probably a result of not enough climbing in the last couple of months. Pretty frustrating though. Made up for it a bit by doing pullups, push ups and a half decent core workout at the end.
S - Core aching... Ran for 48mins (in the rain) - felt tired but a little improvement on Tusesday's efforts
S - routes at the Reach. Managed to get up the 6b+ I failed on on Friday but unfortunately had to cut session short as not feeling well.

Still trying to work out goals for 2014 so will post these separately.

In reply to Ali:

Thanks all. I'll do the 23/2 too, so now we are sorted until early March.


If anyone else wants to do it instead of the above, just say.

In reply to mbh: Thanks for doing fit club mbh.

Good week for me, I even got some climbing outside done! Admittedly it was in the rain.

Mon - Up in Yorkshire for the new year (happy new year by the way) and everyone else was going for a walk and me and mum didn't fancy it so we went to Malham. No chance of warming up at all, so I just got on Consenting. Retro-flash as I'd on sighted it a couple of years ago. Absolutely frozen fingers made the top crimps feel scary! Then did Rated PG. Slipped off the start a few times because it was wet from the big flake seeping, so I started from out right near Consenting instead, and on sighted it from there. Quite pleased given the conditions. Thanks for belaying in the rain mum!
Tue - wall session at Harrogate. Just trying to onsight lots of routes but the hardest I managed was 7a+. Finished with some bouldering and laps on autobelay.
Wed - not feeling great because of the late night but when I got home I got round to putting the fingerboard up. Had a little play on it, it's hard! The holds aren't very good...
Thurs - rest
Fri - AW Stockport session. Tried 12 routes in total: 3 x warm ups, 3 x 7a onsights, 2 x 7a+ onsights, two failed 7b onsight attempts (fell of the last move on the orange on the convex wall after trying really hard!) then a 6c and 6b+ to finish. Good session, but I wish I'd managed something harder.
Sat - rest
Sun - first proper atteptm at a fingerboard session. Got bored quite quickly, managed a bit of the '6c' set on the beastmaker app, then just messed around on it for half an hour.

Back to school tomorrow, I've got a couple of weeks half-off for mocks. Fun fun fun.

Cheers, Jake

In reply to mbh:

M: Fourth day on in Costa Blanca, time to go big or go home. Struggled on the 6c warm up and then scraped up a 7a on my second attempt so went home. Too many consecutive Menu del Dia I think.
T: Travel
W: 6km run
T: Boulder UK, usual story got up someV5s, got shut down by the V6s
F: Lazy
S: 10km run, first time on that route since March and may have done a PB. May not have done though, not 100% sure what time I left!
S: Boulder UK, I've now done all the V5s in 1 to 3 goes but only managed 1 V6

In reply to mbh: Cheers mbh!

Going to work on building up an aerobic base for the next 8 weeks, adding in more aerocap sessions from next week.

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: Beastmaker:-

Theraband Stretches - 10mins
50 Pressups

Deadhangs:
6 x 10sec (20 degree slopers)
4sec, 4sec, 4sec, 5sec, 5sec, 6sec (35 degree slopers)

Small Hold Progression:
8mm slot one hand and 30mm slot other hand

RH 8mm - 4sec, 5sec, 5sec
LH 8mm - 5sec, 5sec, 5sec

Cut Loose's on 30mm Edge x 5 (Feet on chair behind fingerboard)

Pinch training thumb weights:
RH - 10kg 5x5reps
LH - 10kg 5x5reps

Sideplank both sides
3 x 1 minute dish

Thursday: Boardroom Indoor Routes:-
5+, 6a, 5+, 5+, 6b+, 6a+, 6a, 6a, 6b, 6c
Then failed on: 6c+ x 3 & 6b+

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Drove to Ogwen Valley, wasn't raining but everything at Milestone was wet. Went to Braichmelyn repeated The Ramp 6A and The Arete 5C. Got on the 7A sit start to the 6C/+ I did last time kept dropping the last move, checked footage of me doing the stand start last time when I got in and realised I was forgetting to use a hold this time, no wonder it felt nails. Annoyed at myself for forgetting this, would of been an easy 7A tick.

Went to Parisella's Cave on the way back. Started work on the Left Wall Traverse. Did it from the kneebar which gets 6C. Finally enjoyed climbing in there!

Sunday:

50 Pressups

Deadhangs:
6 x 10sec (20 degree slopers)
4sec, 5sec, 4sec, 6sec, 8sec, 5sec (35 degree slopers)

30 mins Aerocap

In reply to mbh:

Thanks mbh. Somehow don't think the Fat Club is going to come to much

2014 goals:
STG: Finish the damn project. Lose weight.
MTG: Get more 7a/7a+ redpoints under my belt. Lose weight.
LTG: 7b. Lose weight.

I'd like to improve on-sighting too but where I live I've pretty much climbed everything I would otherwise be able push myself on, and no suitable trips planned.

Current weight: 11st 6lbs.

M - 30 min run (well, more like jog really, ok more like shuffle (God I suck))
T - Fingerboard sesh.
W - 150 Push ups, flexibility exercises.
T - Outside, more attempts on project, more failures.
F - 30 min run (see above)
S - Decent session on my woody (oh err); power endurance mostly
S - Outside, more attempts on project. More failures. Blimey - how long can it take someone to redpoint 7a?

That's all.

In reply to Joughton:

That orange you mention at Stockport is solid 7b+ I think. The pink 7c on the same line is good and only a bit harder than the orange.

In reply to Eagle River:

aye up lad ... hope you don't mind me saying, i've noticed that you seem to get colds quite a bit.. are you getting enough of the right stuff in your diet? maybe start taking a vit c supplement.. i know when i've gone through stages of getting colds (used to be when i was snowboarding loads and taking flights throughout the winter ona reallyt regular basis.. caught colds on the flights i think)i've taken those those vit c supplements that disolve in water.. had a pack of them on my desk at work and just took it most days whether i felt a cold coming on or not.

In reply to mbh:

great mileage and some good ascent

In reply to Joughton:

wish oyu hadn't said that about consenting .. i'm psyched out already by the thought of freezing fingers!! i'm almost ready to go back now though

In reply to mbh:

STG (February of 2013):
Lead E2 try onsight
Boulder 6C/V5 UK
Winter Grit - 7A boulder - Progress 2 on the go. Holmfirth and DBS
Winter Grit - snowballing
Winter Grit - Big air
Font - Climb a load of 6's and try get a 7. - Fail!!!
Font alternate plan - eat a load of pastries from different pattisserie's - Tick I win at eating pastry
MTG (June 2014):
plan a trip to kalymnos for first week in april - Wheels in motion kind of for two trips maybe or 1 and ceuse
Kalymnos - 4x7's in a week.
kalymnos - at least two ticks a day
LTG (July 2014):
Plan two week UK/irish tour visiting - Pembroke, North wales, Ireland, fairhead and isle of man - may now be a trip to font and a metal festival in france.

This week's goals:
Drive to font - Tick (7 bloody hours to horsham much better after that)
Cirucits to get back used to the sand stone - Tick Loads of problems on circuits
Eat a pain au chocolat or 7 - Tick I definately won at eating pastires

354
M: rest
T: rest
W: Rest
T: Rest
F: 7 hours drive averaging 30mph from huddersfield to horsham ...
S: much better drive to font
S: 1x pain au chocolat
Apremont Envers - Loads of circuit stuff then tried Jetman 6A struggled to get my heel to stick. More circuit stuff. Then decided to go some where more exposed
La Canche aux Merciers - Flashed a blue loads of yellows then thought I had flashed a red but turns out its a sit start and I started standing as the sit start was wet oh well.

355
M: l'E:ephant. Frustration on Le Surplomb du lepreaux. After being so close last year no where near this year unitl last try when I was too tired. Flashed some blues.
headed to petit Bois it was wet flashed a blue.
Headed to buthier Tennis. Did some nice none circuit climbs. Tried a 6A and 7A no luck
T: Bas Curvier. Did a load of Oranges with needkraken tried some 5's and 6's no luck did fissure morin (4C) brilliant did it twice. Moved to Cuvier belleve cleaned and climbed a le Christian 5A Did some random off piste crack tried a 6B for a bit. Back to main cuvier tried la marie rose felt do able if fresher. Did a red 5+ on the right. great day
W: Am Everything wet went to decathlon. Its was shut ... (oh yeah new years day moron). Went to font got pastries and walked round the castle. Back to Buthier tennis. Good session on the 6A but no luck.
T: Wet again. Went to decathlon Got pastries atee pastries went to apremont. found dry rock. Climb random off piste stuff which was really nice. Trie la science friction no luck tried 6c+ thing behind it again failed. Tried a 6A crack looked good stupidly hard start. Tried more stuff. not climbing well. Gave up.
F: Tried isatis wet. decided to go to millet too busy. Went to Drei zinner dry ish. Went to bois Rand wet. Canche mercier. found dry rock did red 1 which was a brilliant 5. Did most of the orange circuit avoiding damp stuff with needkraken. Tried the nes with no luck did a blue.
S: Long drive home. Long!
S: Rokt few hours doing the comp problems. Nice session. Also went on the circuit board still have some fitness it seams with the lack of route climbing retro flash the purple even with a spinning hold.

Next week Goals:
Mid week session (at the biscuit factory?)
Weekend Get out on the grit.
in the Peak?

I love font

and I love pastries.

In london tomorrow and wednesday anyone still up for a wall session? Please let me know today so I can pack my stuff.

In reply to mbh:

cheers for doing FC mbh..

last week

m-proper rest (bored me and had to really force myself not to train)
t-run in crap weather up ingleborough ( a slog.. time of month)bouldering in the garage.. good session. worked on power then power endurance. core.
w-turbo in garage. worked on power then power endurance. core.
t- turbo in garage the kendal wall .. felt very very short of breath.. anaemic with that woman thing going on. got higher on the 7b+ despite this. lots of falls.. but no clip drops.. chicken
f-turbo in garage
s-run up ingleborough am. pm.. boudkering PE session and core. great session, seeing improvements
s-turbo in garage then kendal wall.. only one fall on the 7b+, improvements on other routes, laps to finish off, worked to hard,lots of falls.. not clip drops.. chicken

PPG

In reply to Eagle River:

Ooow! New routes to go at at AWS?

2 week write up from me owing to limited internet connection whilst away in Spain.

LTG (Sept 2014): Do some adventurous cycle touring and complete 3 peaks cyclo-cross race

L-MTG (Spring 2014): 8b+/c RPs: Unjustified, Malham & Fish-Eye or Humildes pas casa at Oliana?

MTG (By end Jan 2014):

Keep to the plan; double sessions and all!
Rest to be decided – a job for this week

STG (The coming week)
- Recovery
- Finish building campus board
- Maintain weight - now 75.6kg and 6.7% BF

The fortnight just gone:

Mon – Rest
Tues – more rest
Wed – Got bored waiting for roast turkey so did some core. Then felt very sick going for a MTB hill-climb after lunch!
Thurs – Epic commute – Sussex-Chester-Liverpool-Alicante-Chulilla – 1am arrival
Fri – First day in Chulilla; maintained my long term average of on-sighting 7b+ or harder on 1st day of a trip (5 tie-ins, max 7c OS)
Sat – 5 tie-ins, max hard 7c OS
Sun – Lazy rest day
Mon – 6 tie-ins, max 7c flash
Tue – New years eve; 5 tie-ins, max 7c+ OS (La Quebranta – super pumped on this; nervous about blowing the top after getting through the crux low down) and 7c/+ flash (El Ramallar – awesome – took the righthand exit – easier but skipping a clip/super runout). Chulilla town square at midnight for comedy 3min past celebration as the clock wound on several minutes at once!
Wed – Less than restful rest day doing both Chulilla via ferrata and walking in between without any water or food with us. Definitely felt like a fat burning activity – really felt like I couldn’t raise my output/no blood sugar to burn!
Thurs – 5 tie-ins, max 7c+ OS (Moon Safari – great to be laying one on at 35m on a 38m stamina route)
Fri – 5 tie-ins, max 8a flash (YYFY!! – La Capaz Incapataz – had come very close to on-sighting a 7c+/8a that morning and was pretty damn tired from redpointing it, hence I only expected to get up the 7b+/c to the first belay – I think the lack of expectation allowed me to relax and climb better – bit of a long term ambition achieved with getting this done)
Sat – 7am start, drive to Sella. Wildside 3 tie-ins, max 7b+ RP – failed on a nasty mon-cruxed 7b, and even failed to do the moves on a dyno/cruxy 7a. Time to go home – estoy molido!
Sun – Lazy rest day

Overall, a bit of a good trip!
8a flash (my 1st ever)
4x 7c+ (1x RP, 1x flash, 2x OS)
5x 7c (1x RP, 1x flash, 3x OS)
6x 7b+ (1x RP, 5x OS)

In reply to pork pie girl:

I've had 3 this winter so far, which is a bit much. My diet is good, plenty of veg in it. Easily get my 5 a day and I'm unconvinced about vitamin supplements, conflicting research outcomes in that field.

I'm quite a light sleeper and if there are bugs going round and I get a couple of bad nights sleep they seem to get me. Think ill try the flu jab next winter to see if that has any effect.

Also, with the yoga (which is active) I've stepped up from 3 days excercise to 5 days a week and combined with getting up at 5:30 for work I think my body needs some adjustment time to cope with it.

It has absolutely nothing to do with the occasional parties I go to, nothing whatsoever....

In reply to Ally Smith:

No new routes yet, think its the leading ladder there next week so should be some more soon.

In reply to mrchewy:

Should be easy to improve on in 2014 anyway!

In reply to Ally Smith: That's an amazing set of ticks from one short trip Ally, an 8a flash is seriously impressive.

In reply to Eagle River: That's good to hear! Some of the crimps are just terrible, and that last move is a proper heartbreaker! Also the purple 7b on the Mammut wall felt too hard!

In reply to Eagle River:

I'd warmly recommend a flu jab. I've had them since being diagnosed with asthma 10 years AGO. Since then, the rest of my family regularly get coughs. colds and sore throats. Generally I don;t, even when my sleep is shot to shreds as it usually seems to be. I know that the flu jab should only protect against flu, but anecdotally at least it does seem to do more than that!

In reply to Ally Smith:

Nice work on the 8a flash!!! That's a definite YYFY moment.

In reply to Ally Smith:

wow that's awesome!

In reply to hms:


Ha don't you just hate it when that happens!!

In reply to mbh:

Two week's updates for me, fairly poor show though I did manage to join the Xmas day runs club! I was working every day except the 27th so ended up shattered from various festivities, driving to and from Scotland and working... now I'm just making excuses for doing little else!

Week 354:
M:
T:
W: 8km run
T:
F: Mtb red loop at Ae. Cold and windy.
S: Mtb red loop at Glentress. Even colder. Loving having flat pedals again, so much more confident!
S: Skiing at Cairngorm - surprisingly good snow, though busy and touring conditions were so terrible we didn't bother. Great to be back on skis.

Week 354:
M:
T: Let off work early so managed a 35 min trail run in daylight! Woop!
W:
T: Lunchtime run, 5km. Bouldering - Barn - did 2 blue problems that defeated me last time & lots of mileage. Amazing what a difference decent shoes make, kept failing on one prob as my foot was popping, changed out of my old battered shoes and did it first time.
F: Bike commute
S: Gym! Not been in years but had a free pass. 30 mins treadmill (fast for me) then steam room girly gossip.
S: Mtb Dalby forest red loop.... up to about half way... where my mate shattered her ankle - fast ride to the road to flag down the ambo, followed by a long night in Scarborough A&E. So tired today and feeling very bad for her

Back to it this week, planning for 2-3 wall/fb sessions, 2 core, 3 runs + orienteering, 3 bikes. I was going to go to yoga tonight for the first time, but it was with now-broken-friend, might still go though new yoga class alone sounds scary!

In reply to mbh:

cheers mbh.

I had a nice relaxed holiday last week. Only 2 climbing days at Gandia with opportunities to try a 7a, the rest of the time we were chilling at easier crags.

Mon-Sat of week 354: not enitrely sure, some runs, some climbs and 3 days of eating and drinking vast quantities which I think I'd rather forget about for FC purposes.

Sun: Guadalest, onsighted 6a, 6b, 6b+ x 2 and then fluffed an insanely steep 6c+ (Cassalla).
Mon: Echo Valley, onsighted 6a, 6a+, 6b x 2 and toproped a 7b with a big dyno (which I couldn't do) and a scary slabtastic 7a+.
Tues: 20.4km trail run, 760m ascent, 7.03/km.
Weds: Gandia, woop! onsighted 6a and 6b+, fluffed a 6b when I greased off a tufa so had to RP it. Dogged up an awesome 7a, L'Os, and had another go but fell off at the top of the tufa.
Thurs: 20.9km trail run, 905m ascent, 6.42/km
Fri: Gandia, woop woop! Onisghted 6a+, 6b, 6b+ and then RPed L'Os first go, dogged up a 7a+ (A La Babilla, also awesome) and top roped another 7a+ (Don Diego, also awesome, bit of theme at Gandia).
Sat: nowt, travel to UK
Sun: 12.3km road run, 130m ascent, 5.13/km.

Great week relaxing in the sun. I'm a bit gutted I didn't tick L'Os first go as it feels like I've lost the progress I made in November having flashed 2 7as then. 7a is hard for me though so I'm not able to get up every one first time. Might make this a goal for 2014 - improve my stats on flashing 7as which I think are currently 1 in every 3.

The runs in Spain felt pretty brutal. The ascents were all runable so I felt I had to keep going and as a result my overall speed was quicker than usual for runs of that length/ascent. I felt pretty battered at the top of them both.

I'm going to start posting my speed for runs as an incentive to go a bit faster.

In reply to mbh:
Can't really remember what we did day by day in Spain but it included a few days climbing (some more productive than others but all good fun), a very, very short swim in the lake, a fair bit of walking, the Camino (brilliant- would do again, but looks like that may not ever happen ), New Year's Day totally relaxing at the Turkish baths and CHEESE!!!
Yesterday I did a 6 mile run to get the legs moving again. Was cold but better than doing nothing.
I've borrowed some fat scales so going to try to get it below 20% instead of looking at what I weigh.
Hope to go back to el Chorro this year (?)
Happy new year all. H

In reply to Ally Smith:

that's looking pretty damn good

In reply to Ally Smith:

Effort buddy! Great trip!

Time for the 8b+/c redpoints!

In reply to mbh:

Thanks MBH,
Good week in general this week, I didn't get a huge amount of training done but considering the coincidence of the festive period and no work to regulate my daily schedule, it was still very positive.

M: Shoulders; smith machine press, upright row, front dumbell riase, 1 arm machine front raise, seated lateral raise, cable reverse fly.
T:
W:
T: Core; L-hangs, hanging knee raises
F:
S:Climb - indoor; 30 mins boulder then routes 5+ 6a+ 6c 6b+ 6c+ 6b 7a+ 7a+ 7a+
S:

Met up with an old friend Monday to go to his local gym, not sure if it was the different location, having a partner or maybe not all weights are created equal but I lifted way over my previous best for a lot of exercises, it felt really good. I did manage to pull a muscle in my neck when looking for the loo, which wasn't so great.

Went to Reading climbing centre Saturday, again had a great session, although the grades seemed a lot stiffer than last time I was there, (a year ago or so) this was noted by others too so I don't think it was just me being unfit.
Climbed with my mate Si who climbs at my level which was good, I usually partner up with Mrs Dandan and she climbs to around 6c so it was really nice to have a partner who I could compare beta with for harder routes.

The elbows seem good, i'm doing a forearm stretch as a pre, during and post exercise, it seems to work well, they are a little sore today but it's only a hint of possible pain and loads less than a few weeks back when I climbed at a similar intensity, so it's a definite improvement.

Didn't manage to get outside at all over the holiday period which is a real disappointment, so my STG is still to get some outside mileage asap.

I'm going to set up a training pyramid soon for Font at Easter so aside from the main goal of 8a for 2014, i'll put some FOnt related goals up soon too, one of which is definitely Le Carnage.

In reply to grubes:

I'm planning on being at the Biscuit Factory tomorrow evening, prob from about 6-6.30ish. Will try and rope Quiddity / Curious yellow in but may depend if they're still recovering from Turkey!

In reply to mbh:

Been a bit of a lurker on this topic since I took out a climbing pass in Oxford back in October, but now seems a good time to jump in.

Took a bit of a break over Christmas, so last week was a non-event apart from first session back on Thursday.

My goals are to do two trail runs a week for the general aerobic fitness; go to the wall four times a week in my lunch break and aim on breaking into the V2-4 bracket; try and fit in one trad trip a month around everything else in life!

Will see how it goes. Happy New Year.

Simon

In reply to Sankey:

Is your trip to Siurana with Moose? Should be good if so, when I was there he put clips in some good 7as which was perfect for me. I'm sure he'll do more good routes when you're there. Clips in = much easier!

In reply to Ali:

Cool Should see you then

In reply to mbh:

Thanks for doing FC again.

Aims for the year:

VI 7 this winter if in right place at right time.

Winter training: Build PE then E. Weight down to 11st ish

Spring HP E6, (Blow out or Exequy at Trowbarrow) RP 7b, (A Vision of Things Gone Wild at Scout Scar)

Summer Lead some E3s, (One Step Beyond, Empire, Paladin.)

M: pm - 3hrs Kendal Wall, session got better as it went along, got a few 6cs and a 6c+ onsight which I was reasonably pleased with given it was the third day of climbing training.
T: pm - 1hr 10min fell run
W: am - PE at wall. Worked red / black traverse - 6c+ wall grade, probably 7a+ real grade. Fell off crux several times but made progress
T: am - 45min fell run, felt ploddy
F: pm - 1hr 30min at wall. Got red / black traverse on third attempt. Started working black traverse - 7a wall grade, probably 7b real grade?
S: Rest
S: 1hr 30 E on Red Wall. Poor session as hands cold and there were three of us so too long between goes

Sunday weight. 12 stone 1 down from 12 stone 6 last Sunday.

Pleased with weight loss, pleased to have a plan for the first part of the year, pleased with red/black traverse at wall.

In reply to Nomics4sale:

Yep, is with Moose, am looking forward to him getting clips in and seeing some beta like you say. Do you have any recommendations for the best 7a's you did out there by the way?

In reply to Ali:

you'll also be planning of taking lots of falls won't you?

In reply to Sankey:

His beta didn't help me, I'm not tall and lanky! Viagraman and Sonar 05 are both really good (but I would say that, they're the 2 I flashed!). Viagraman really is excellent though and Ay Mamita to its left is also supposed to be good, but harder. I didn't do it.

In reply to Nomics4sale:

moose the human clipstick

In reply to pork pie girl:

he can reach most 2nd clips from the ground.

In reply to Nomics4sale:

my ears are burning..... clip-sticking is probably all I will be good for - I won't have tied-on for around three months by the time I get there!

In reply to thebigfriendlymoose:

Getting excuses in early doors, nice

In reply to Nomics4sale:

Yup, my advanced training schedule for a fortnight of 30+m limestone pitches solely comprises weekends of indoor / gritstone bouldering! Still, I have hopes of not being too shoddy. To intrude into the territory of regular Fit Clubbers, the past few weekends have been spent ticking off lots of old grit projects. Nothing massively hard even by my standards, but all problems that had previously defeated me even during times when I was more dedicated to bouldering. So might have less stamina, but what little power I have should still be on tap... we'll see.

In reply to Tyler:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=574444

Hi all

Bit of a catch up after missing a couple of fit clubs. Had a good road trip break with lots of varied execise. Also lots of booze though

Goals for 2013 - lead grade V solidly. Get 25 E points (got 20 last year), climb multipitch quickly, climb a new route in krgystan. Get down to 13 stone, and the biggy! STAY THERE!!!

Wish me luck!

Anyway here's the last two weeks

23 matrix - up to 6b+, good session
24 nout
25 nout
26 monkey trail Cannock chase
27 small canyon, Yorkshire
28 small route snecta
29 good grade 4 west top
30 short session inglesport wall
31 varied caving trip
01 nout
02 ae biking red plus shredder
03 helped route set my dads wall
04 biking in dales
05 nout

Rob

In reply to Nomics4sale:

Ay Mamita is excellent; only harder than Viagraman by virtue of being a bit longer although the finish is a bit of a shock.

Tikis Mikis on Siuranella is brilliant - great line and climbing.

Siurana is poor below 7a though, especially when compared with nearby venues like El Falco or Montsant.

In reply to thebigfriendlymoose:

Sounds like you're super-strong at the moment. Why not throw some indoor routes sessions in before you go, work on stamina a bit?

In reply to Pagan:

Tikis Kikis does look good. I saw a few good looking lines on that side when we were at L'Olla. So many good routes left to do!

In reply to Nomics4sale:

I wouldn't say "super strong" but the crimping muscles are bearing up; nearly every one of my recent projects was a fingery traverse on nasty holds!

Your right that a few indoor routes sessions might be beneficial but I'm incapable of passing up the slightest chance of dry grit for a pre-arranged day of plastic. My trips to the wall are almost always preceded by a fair amount of fruitless driving to look disconsolately at seepy holds! My nadir was a New Year's Day spent in a gully at Almscliff during a storm, trying to work Jess' Roof. Eventually admitted defeat due to water pouring down the walls and emerged onto the crag top looking like a drowned rat, to 40mphs winds that nearly blew me off the edge!

In reply to mbh:

Thanks for the stats mbh, and happy new year to all! Yeah, it was a decent amount of hill, training for my new year's day run...

A brief post this week as I'm in France snowboarding, on my phone. Brief summary of 2013 and new goals for 2014 up next week.

M - 8km run, mostly flat, good (but muddy) trails.
T - Core, not much but had to do something...
W - 'The Morning After' run, 7.2km (on my watch), about 300m climb, some of which was brutal! Technically my first fell run, and pretty pleased with it. Weather and ground conditions were heinous, and I'd definitely want some more aggressive shoes if I'm going to make a habit of it...
T - Nothing
F - Core am, then got on a coach to France
S - Nothing (mostly spent on a coach)
S - Snowboarding. Great conditions after heavy snow Saturday

In reply to pork pie girl:

Ummmm yes??? Maybe - I took a few the other day. Not quite so bad at going for things at the bouldering wall unless there are a load of unsuspecting beginners chattering away at the bottom.

Grubes - cool see you there - I'll be the one falling off stuff, probably bouldering with a lanky grey-haired Scot who can reach past all the hard moves. You are allowed to berate him for this. CY is popping down for a cuppa too.

In reply to Ali:

I will be the geeky guy with glasses looking confused as I fall of everything then declare the problem shit

In reply to mbh: Finally back running, hoping back to normal by next week.. another week of 10 miles a day then get back to 90-100/week..


m: 30 minute swim. pm: 18 mile mountain bike ride
t: 3.1 mile run
w: 3.1 mile road run hungover
t: 3.7 mile run to sheff station. train to leeds. 6.5 mile run to get car.
t: 10 mile road run and trail run in sheffield 9 min pace
s: am: 6.2 mile treadmill run 6:50 pace. pm: 4.3 mile road run
s: 10 mile trail run derwent and the edges.

In reply to mbh:

Cheers buddy! No climbing for me this week but more than enough on the bike and a 2hr walk with friends. A good week.

M: 45mins turbo session
T: 1hr 10mins (20km) MTB
W: 20mins turbo
T: Rest
F: Rest
S: 2hr 5mins MTB (40km) // then 2hr walk
S: Rest