UKC

Link to last week's thread: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=595361
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 are linked here: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=274502

The following training article by Alex Barrows is the bible for training the four main "energy systems" specific to climbing:http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com.es/2014/02/training-for-sport-climb... with information about scheduling a training regime to peak in time for a trip/competition can be found here: http://ukbouldering.com/media/pdf/periodisation.pdf

Psyche video of the week – self indulgent mecca beta video: http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=68130

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

Joughton – Congratulations on the A-level results and place at med school. Hope you have a good SW roadtrip.
Nick Russell – gotten over the jet lag now? I always find it harder going East than West.
hms – A change is as good as a rest?
mattrm – Shoulder feeling better? Good plan to get a pyramid of experience before pushing it further.
IainRUK – running 2:48 marathon is hard because you had to stop yourself from trying too hard? Oh, how the other half live…
grubes – back on the rock this week, or more swimming? Are the technique lessons paying dividends?
Sankey – Welcome back - Is it you that’s been climbing with Luke (Moose?)
Just Tintin – I find that plugging away with climbing whilst tired from other physical activity still pays benefits once you’ve recovered
Ally Smith – Mecca psyche!
Luke Owens – More 7a (flashy) on-sights. Great progress.
Tubb93 – brief report – more detail this week?
Humperdink – psyche returning with a week of R&R.
JimmyKay – Back once again with the core workouts to put the rest of us to shame! Finger fine now?
Exile – Good lot of biking – CX is definitely faster than MTB on the right surfaces; just try getting one down anything rocky though!
Dandan82 – good bouldering come back indoors. Ask yourself if you weren’t reading the nuances of outdoor climbing, or was it simply the fact it was too hot and sunny at the Cuttings? It is still August after all!

AWOL:
biscuit, Goonie

In reply to Ally Smith:
Thanks to Ally for doing the stats.

Another week, another failure at doing a HVS.

STG - Sport pyramid - 6a (2/10), 6b (1/6), 6c (0/1) - Trad pyramid - VS (1/10), HVS (0/6), E1 (0/1) 11st 10lbs weight
Aspirational - Climb E5/6 (London Wall), Scottish Winter V (Point 5, Zero, Minus etc), WI5, Redpoint 8a (Masada, Mortal Kombat & Cider Soak) stay injury free & maintain 11st.

Weight - 12st 3lbs (+1lb, ate poorly)

M - Core - 100 dish tucks
T - Rest
W - Trad @ Trebanog
T - Rest
F - Core - 100 dish tucks
S - Rest (Beer Festival)
S - 2 mile run

Went to Trebanog to try a HVS there, which I've seconded (and top roped) in the past. So I know the route well. Couldn't quite work up the psyche to try it, so ended up top roping it again. Did three laps in a row on it, so I think I should have led it really.

Started back to my normal half arsed 'core' workouts, which is shorthand for did a few dish tucks. Also went for my first run in ages. Got to find somewhere interesting to run, as where I normally go is getting seriously boring. Ate fairly badly again.

Goals for next week:

one 30 minute plus core workout
two sets of 100+ dish tucks
5k run
shoulder massage and rehab routine - as much as poss
climbing if the weather plays ball
eat well, one 'bad' day allowed

In reply to mattrm:

BTW, hit last weeks goals of, 2 core, 1 run and 1 climb, but failed on 'eat well'.

In reply to mattrm:
Steady week getting back.. started my new job this week, assistant XC coach at one of the Penn State Campus's..

m: 5.1 miles 7:40 pace felt OK.. 6 hour round trip for court.. driving without a license.. yet had my UK license.. which the state trooper refused to accept was allowed.. so challenged and got the case dismissed..
t: am: 5,1 miles 8:00 pace. pm: 8.1 miles on trails 7:50 pace
w: 12.9 miles
t: 4.1 miles 7:50 pace. pm: 6 miles with 3 miles with XC team and 3 miles slow checking trails
f: am: 10 miles 6:42 pace legs tired. pm: 5.8 miles with XC team
s: rest day.. legs sore
w: 16.2 miles progressive long run, 6:39 pace last lot mainly lower 6's..

8 weeks to chicago, may lower the miles a bit and add more quality in the run up.. also need to drop the alcohol and lose a few lb.'s as that's worth a good few seconds/mile in a marathon..

In reply to Ally Smith:

Okay - so after a pretty disastrous month away (came home two weeks early), I'm back in the training game.

The weather was crap in Swizzy, no chance of getting high on my own as the weather was grim. Did try to treat the west face of the Eiger as a scottish winter adventure but came back down in the end. I didn't want to break a leg or die. Managed a walk up Pigne d'Arolla but that's it as far as summits went as I'm not overly comfortable with crossing glaciers on my own yet.

Salbit South Ridge didn't happen as my mate ended up in hospital with streptococcus, which sort of put things into perspective. Went to Sustenpass to boulder, not psyched for there. Hard. Did some VF, Furenwand in Engelberg was pretty cool but the Swiss ones in general are just easy scrambles at best. Didn't bother clipping a lot of the time. One day's cragging in Arolla but no idea of grades, maybe 5+/6a.

Ran a fair bit too. Would walk up to the huts at 500 vertical metres an hour and then leg back down after a beer, which was pretty fun but the knees are still feeling it. Swam in the Rhine at Basel, swam in some Italian lake, waded rivers too.

Read five novels It rained. Did I mention that?

Oh yeh, went to Font and climbed for five days in a row. Usual mixed bag there but loved it! Instead of sitting on one problem for hours, I got onto the circuits. This was good. On the last day when I was pretty knackered, I whizzed around the oranges at JAMartin with just a doormat... fun fun fun. Also managed my first actual 'in Font' F6A, a 6A+ and after checking a couple of guides and a topo or two - a bloody 6B. Also had my arse kicked by a 2C... Loved Oiseaux, maybe the best place I've been to so far. Just me, one pad and one passing old lady with a dog.

So off to Wales tomorrow, gonna make the most of the time off and try and get some climbing in as feeling silly weak at the moment. Struggling on the V2s at Pinnacle today.

In reply to Ally Smith:
Thanks Ally. Yes Knocked 5 mins off my 1k time. Looking forwards to tomorrows weigh in I was 88.5kg this morning (89.7kg last week)

Goal:
Back up to 7a
7a in chorro
lose weight - Starting to frop off
get core strength and body tension back

M: Swim 35 mins
Depot loads of easy mileage
T: Swimming. 1k 33 mins
W: rest
T: Run 5.9k in 39mins 12s with 80m ascent
F: Rokt 4 hour session taking it easy bouldering ended the session trying a 7a/+ route got to about 17m doing every move first attempt with a rest did two of the crux moves first attempt.
S: Swimming lesson. 40mins lengths. Breast stroke technique.
Rubicon bouldering. Punter serious punter
Run 18 min 23s 2.8k 38m ascent testing new shoes
S: Swimming 28mins 1k would of been faster if not stuck behind people in places.
Road bike. moving time 1hr 37min 39 secs. 26.6k with 553m ascent. Not my longest ride but the most ascent. I attempted holme moss but made it to holme after my legs gave up.

Exhausted really tired. hard week. Hopefully a swim tomorrow to loosen the legs tomorrow.
Got bollocked from a guy at work for road running in gym shoes. I bought some running shoes after that and my knee did not hurt after my run.

In reply to Ally Smith: Thanks Ally! Very pleased.

Good week again this week for very different reasons, I got my first E6 onsight! Also did loads of other classic hard stuff.

Mon - An evening climbing at Avon to break up the journey. Warmed up on New Horizons and then did Low Profile, an E5 I wasn't feeling up to last year. Fairly steady, had a bit of difficulty with the technical 6b headwall though.

Tue - Daddyhole, Torbay. Warmed up doing a two-pitch E1, and then got straight on Suicide Blonde, E6. In hindsight it would've been better to have done a harder warm-up. Lower half was really technical and felt pretty greasy, got a proper leg pump on fiddling in little wires. Just about managed a hard move to clip a peg, before moving out on to the arête to recover before the headwall. Admittedly the arête isn't strictly on route, but it was only a few feet away from the peg so I don't mind! The headwall was brilliant, and really hard! Lots of 6a/b moves a way above gear felt like a real step up for me, but I just about held on to top it. Couldn't believe it really, E6 onsight is mental. Warmed down doing a more relaxed E3.

Wed - Pentire Head, ticked off two long-term wish list routes, Darkinbad and Eroica. Eroica was first, I took the crux middle pitch with a really sketchy 6a move, directly above the belay, with no extra gear. Didn't like that. Came down to look very apprehensively up at Darkinbad - equally worried about hurting myself as I was about fluffing up an uber-classic. The first 8m were rather bold, completely unprotected 5b climbing, and the remaining 40m were just perfect. Amazingly flowy for a trad route, with just enough gear - a few hard moves in fluttery situations - but never too scary! One of my best climbing experiences. Second pitch was also very good but unfortunately I had 30m of rope coiled around me, which made it all rather strenuous.

Thurs - Carn Gowla to tick off another classic, America, at E4 5c. Its got a reputation for being very intimidating, committing, and untravelled. Abbed down, hanging in space, feeling overly confident. "Alright, its E4, but I climb E6 now!" was my general outlook on the route, - an hour later I was more scared than I ever have been on a route before! First two pitches can be described by the grade E3 5b - pretty sketchy but reasonable climbing. The top pitch had me cranking on a dodgy looking flake-crimp, a long way away from my cluster of shit RPs and totally knackered pegs, which in turn were a long wat away from my last reasonable pro. Didn't like that bit either, but the relief when topping out was worth it! Another extreme rock tick too. Finished off the day doing a couple of E2s on amazing rock.

Fri - Great Zawn at Bosigran, to do the the classic Dream Liberator. Given E3 6a but with a reputation for throwing people off. After 'jump' (I wimped out) across the zawn, I took the crux pitch. Absolutely outrageously committing crux movr, hard 6a moving away from gear, followed by a bold headwall felt more like E4. I ended up taking an hour and a half on that one pitch, I've had an easier time on E5s! The second pitch was also worth E3 and we topped out absolutely exhausted at 6pm. Another ER tick, but a much longer day than we'd been expecting.

Sat - Back at Torbay, this time climbing at Sanctuary Wall. Started off by doing a very strenuous E4 5c (E for Effort rather than Extreme), and then went on to do False Gods, a nice soft E5 with shiny new pegs, which was all over in about five minutes, in stark contrast to other routes we'd been on! Admittedly its now E4/5 on UKC due to the better fixed gear. Had to do it again to follow Dad up it who lead it on my gear. Was tempted by another E6 but Suicide Blonde had left me so drained I couldn't will myself to try another! So instead we went over to Berry Head so I could do Rainbow Bridge, which was another brilliant experience, combined with The Cauldron Rope Bridge pitch it was an awesome adventure. Glad not to fall in and get wet but I did have to jump off at the end! Such a great end to the trip.
Sun - totally exhausted, home.

So I would've liked to consolidate E6 a bit more but after Suicide Blonde I just didn't fancy putting myself through it all again, it was a pretty intense experience! However I did get three E5s onsight, and it definitely felt a big step up from any of those. Also got five extreme rock ticks!

What makes it different to a normal day out, is that I still haven't fallen off on one of these trips, usually because the routes are too bold/adventurous for falling off to be okay. Totally different ball game doing sea-cliff multipitch adventures to pulling up at Stoney and cracking off a handful of routes in an afternoon. I guess this is reflected in the grades though.

Cheers, Jake

In reply to Ally Smith:

Thanks Ally - did you get my email btw?

Feels a bit of a let-down posting my week after Jake's. It wasn't quite so action packed & exciting somehow. In fact, I'm having difficulty remembering quite a lot of it so may have muddled the days up.

M - cycle commute.
T - cycle commute then cycled on to UCR to meet D1 & do circuits. Tried the hard 7b roof one downstairs but there is a hold that neither of us can suss how to get on or then off again. Tough & powerful.
W - UCR routes. In singles, including attempts at 7a (stuck on a clip) and a 7b (top clip's worth appears to require levitation)
T - TRX 2x upper, 2x core, 2x hard fingerboard set but elbow complaining somewhat.
F - UCR with D2 who seems to have taken to the role of psycho-coach like a duck to water. She bullied me up 22 routes, mainly 6c and above, mainly in pairs with minimal rests, mainly with me falling off at some point. To say I was a touch tired by the end is a massive understatement. She claimed it was good for me!
S - see above: er, well that would be a rest day!!!
S - Ladye Bay with D1. A lot of the routes were seeping, so ended up back on a 7b which had defeated me last summer. V short & incredibly brutal - more of a boulder problem on a rope. After a lot of attempts ( and a couple of holds I had been relying on coming detached) finally got it on TR. Way too tired to attempt a lead. Would be nice to go back whilst I still remember something about it.

In reply to Joughton:


That's pretty damn impressive. Well done mate, that's a really great achievement there.

In reply to Joughton:

Effort!Three E5 onsights ain't too shabby either.

In reply to Ally Smith:

Thanks for doing fit club again Ally, I've ridden quite a lot of CX in the past so I should have known better.

Aims:

Rock this year: RP 7b, (A Vision of Things Gone Wild at Scout Scar) & lead some E3s, (White Noise, One Step Beyond, Empire, Paladin.) TICKED SOME OF THIS

Next winter start with VI 7

Long term aim, (18 months or so?) HP Exeguy (E6 6b) at Trowbarrow

M: 40hrs climbing. Suicide Wall, (E1 5c***) at Bosigran. Great route. Found the 5a pitch harder than the 5c one!
T: 4hrs 30 at an MTB / BMX pump track and jump venue with the family - managed not to loos stupid (I thought) - result!
W: Nothing
T: Nothing - long drive home
F: 45min traversing on fingery 6b+ traverse
S: Nothing
S: 5 hrs climbing. Capella, (E1 5c***,) and Golden Slipper, (HVS 5***,) on Pavey Ark. Was thinking of something a bit harder but initially quite a lot of the crag was wet.

Weight: 11st 8lb

Great week, didn't push the grade but in my position, (family commitments,) any week where I am able to do three star E1s at opposite ends of the country has got to be good!

In reply to Joughton:

Awesome week

In reply to Ally Smith:

Thanks for the stats. Jetlag is well and truly gone, fortunately. It often seems to have a delayed and lingering effect on me.

M - Short run, half-arsed core set.
T - Nothing.
W - Avon. Dragon, E3 5b,5c. I led both pitches, very worrying soft rock on pitch 1! Seconded New Horizons II (repeat) after.
T - Rest
F - Avon. Warmed up on Simian (HVS 5a), then did The Blik, E3 5b,5b. I led the bold pitch 1. Trad head noticeably lacking at the moment.
S - Swanage, Boulder Ruckle. A very good VS and a couple of excellent HVS routes.
S - Swanage, Boulder Ruckle. Ocean Boulevard, E3 5b. Sustained and pumpy, but I felt very controlled all the way.

I've been on more trad than usual this week. It's amazing how poor my head is... too much sport this year. Anyway, a couple of Avon frighteners and some pumpy Swanage classics should help get me in order for a week in Lundy.

I can't believe I've never been to Swanage before - it's awesome! Every route was good, steep, protectable. It really did feel like sport climbing (on gear) at times.

2014 goals
Sport: 8a. Best RP: 7c (2 of these now)
Trad: Some more E4s including solid-at-the-grade onsight(s). Attempted: 9, clean onsight: 1 (+3 others I feel I've 'succeeded' on, one way or another)
Trad: Staffs NIAD. Hahaha, had a go. Failed due to a "navigation" error.
Running: Don't get injured, more mileage than last year. 307/416km down.
Swimming: Enter some competitions, get some 'benchmark' times. 58.69 100fr*, 26.98 (26.3*) 50 fr, 1:12.34 100 bk, 31.12 50 fly*, 1:09.58 100 IM
*Relay splits

Short-term goals

Get some sport mileage in 7b-7c range, find something I like in 7c+-8a+ range.

Prepare for trips in September: 1 week in Lundy, 2 weeks in North East US.
Got some good trad mileage in this week. Hopefully it will prep me for Lundy a bit

Devise training plan to implement in October.
May have to turn to finger rehab rather than training...

In reply to Joughton:

Mega week Jake! Well done on the E6, that's super impressive!

In reply to everyone: Thanks guys! Still pretty surprised to be honest, I look forward to consolidating anyway.

In reply to Nick Russell: Cheers Nick, I was going to let you know we were visiting Avon but we ended up arriving much later than expected, so I didn't really fancy A38. I'm a big fan of the climbing up on the ramp though, love it.

In reply to Joughton:

No worries, I'm glad you enjoyed Low Profile! I didn't get very far on my onsight attempt earlier in the year... That upper headwall is really hard, so many non-holds.

In reply to mattrm:

Dish tuck?

I expect a few people on here are familiar with finger injuries, so it's worth seeking some opinions.

My left ring finger has been a bit sore recently. The pain is when I put pressure on the middle phalanx, near the PIP, so in the region of the A4 pulley. I would conclude that it's a problem with that pulley except that it doesn't hurt while crimping (and I gather A2 is a more common injury). In fact, it doesn't bother me while climbing at all, unless I'm hanging on a jug that puts pressure on that region.

If it doesn't clear up soon (and it's been on/off for a few weeks now so I'm not optimistic) I'll see a physio but if anyone has experienced anything similar I'd be interested to hear how it went.

In reply to sea_lene:


It's basically a sit-up when you bring your legs up to your chest at the same time.

In reply to grubes:

Legs were very sore after yesterday tried to ride but legs did not work had a ice bath this evening feel great now for anyone who does not have me in facebook youtube.com/watch?v=zgG5jl_Trc4&

In reply to Ally Smith:

Thanks Ally

STG (by end of september)
Boulder v6 in font (September)
Train for font


MTG (end of '14)
Climb more trad
Boulder v7
Onsight 7a redpoint 7b

LTG
Lead 8a
Boulder v9

M- Work
T- Climb at local wall in evening
W- Went to TCA in the morning skin was very sore!! Still got a couple of v4s
T- work
F- fingerboard
S-work
S-work

Working so much at the moment so really struggling to find time to climb. Only one week until font though!

In reply to Ally Smith:

To echo what everyone else has said, great week jake!

Between stupid injuries (sprained ankle while walking across hall, totally minor but infected toe wound) and a stressful period at work, I've done very little for what seems like ages.

Mon - Fri: Moping around.
Sat: First proper climb in weeks. Went round V1-V3 circuit till I ran out of skin.
Sun: Walked about 8 miles, thankful that I seem to be fixed!

In reply to Joughton:

Effort Jake, nice one. Some ticklist, very jealous.

In reply to hms:





She's probably right!

In reply to Ally Smith:


Thanks Ally. Better climbing training this week, and felt great leading at WildCat on Sunday. Still tired and quite a few late nights but feeling stronger towards the end. Also found out I was 3rd in female senior A in the Reading social comp back in June which is nice. After that and the Climbing Unit Comp I think I will add bouldering leagues and comps at local walls into training for winter as it’s good for the psyche and helps me keep track on progress for Font at Easter.

M – Rest
T – Boulder Brookes – some unfinished blue circuit business before the re-set. Hangboard.
W – Lead Brookes. 12 route pyramid up to 6b.
T – Rest (Secret Cinema Back to the Future in 1955! Awesome night!)
F – Brookes Boulder – 20 green and 7 blue onsight. Working others
S – Boulder Burbage West up to V4 6b which I’m pretty pleased with especially since it was the hugging slappy kind of grit problem that normally feels too big for me. Very apparent my skin hasn't been on grit for a while!
S – Lead WildCat up to VS 5a (felt just like an E1 5b I did last year to be fair!) which I’m also pleased with. Lovely exposed second pitch and got to use all my favourite tiny Totems. Lots of great routes there so looking forward to knocking out the HVSs and E1s.

In reply to Joughton:

Great week of trad Jake! Awesome!

In reply to Joughton:

Likewise Jake - a great set of ticks for a week in the SW. I know lots of capable folk who've lived in Bristol for years and don't have a comparable ticklist!

LTG (End 2014):
- Healthy shoulders & elbows – keep following the physio
- Get some proper “rat crimp” strength so that I can climb hard on peak lime - as much about being a skinny wretch as it is having strong digits it seems
- Do “La Geurre Sainte” 7b/+ multi-pitch in Wadi Rum
- Do some adventurous cycle touring (maybe MTB Great Glen/West Highland way?)

MTG (Autumn 2014):
- Decorate the house & build some home training facilities.
- On-sight 8a in Kalymnos
- Unjustified/Overjustified, Malham.
- Mecca & Waddage, Tor
- K5, Cheedale Cornice
- Re-visit trad & try and on-sight an E6?
- Ramp up an-cap and aero-cap aiming for a peak in the autumn; gentle finger-boarding to re-hab ring finger.
- Aim for fighting weight of 73kg and 6.4% BF – ?? Scales are packed somewhere

STG (The next 2 weeks)
- Keep on top of injury niggles – physio on shoulder & back; finger icing.
- Do some an-cap & aero-cap
- Do some fingerboarding.
- Do the Dinbren link-up project
- All the moves and small links on Mecca

Last week:
M - post work Tor session. Some bouldering to warm-up, then two dogs of Mecca. Did crux (entering groove) to top in a oner. Uber steak.
T - 380 core & antagonist movements; uber pizza & beer.
W - Llanymynech aero-cap session. 5x 25-30m 7a/+ OS including one by headtorch. Leftover pizza.
T - Llanymynech aero-cap session. 4x 7a/b 25m OS including one by headtorch. Leftover pizza.
F - Rest – head cold lurgy – last of the leftover pizza.
S - Tor. Mecca – link from the deck to the undercut catch move. Tweaked groove beta.
S - Lurgy hit me hard. Gentle bike pootle,(10km? Strava only starting working on the way home) and afternoon snooze with the mogs.
M - Tor – poor goes on Mecca due to lack of power and thin skin. Tried, and did all the moves on the 8c extension (8a in isolation). Then belayed at Chee Cornice. Good links on K5 (8b), including a minor but important beta tweak - lurgy still lingering.

In reply to Ally Smith:

Is that near to overlapping halves then?

In reply to Ally Smith: Yep, that was me climbing with Luke, top roping Sticky Wicket to death. Similar week last week but with marginal progress, guess that's what it is all about.

M:
T: Run 5.5 miles, 600 feet ascent @ 8.35 pace
W:
T:
F: Boulder at Bell Hagg
S:
S: Sticky Wicket @ Kilnsey - getting a few moves further from the deck, and hopefully removed some moves from the final sequence on the last go of the day.

In reply to AJM:

Not quite, and not in the same session. After the good link at the bottom, I was bolx'd and couldn't do the exit from the groove.

Split two tips too

Fingerboarding and Aero-cap on jugs this week

In reply to hms:

Found your email in the junk mail folder - I'll get back to you later

In reply to Ally Smith: Cheers Ally!

Strong effort Jake!

I'm still suffering from mega tight forearms, no amount of stretching seems to be helping... After Monday's flash pump epic It effected my whole week, crampy/tight feeling constantly...crazy.

M: Llanymynech - Didn't warm up and tried to onsight Rapture of the Deep 7a/+, bad idea. Got hideous flash pump didn't recover from it, didn't work any moves in the upper half and went for a redpoint. Fell high up trying to onsight that section.

T: Rest

W: Involved in a car accident (car went into the back of me) on the way to Llanymynech. My car and I were fine but had to stay ~2 hours giving info/statement. Got to the crag at 7pm...

Got straight on Rapture of the Deep fell off at the start, worked better beta for this, had a redpoint and fell at the top section again. Last redpoint of the evening my foot slipped when I was at the chains...

T: Llanymynech - Did the classic "This Won't Hurt" 7a 2nd go. Should of flashed it really, fell after the hard bit trying to commit to a crap hold.

Had yet another headtorch go on Rapture of the Deep, greased off after the crux - becoming a bogey route...

F: Drove to Dorset, didn't get there until 1am so girlfriend and I slept in the car.

S: Late start on Portland, Onsighted some easy classics on Blacknor:

Go With the Flow - 6a
Pregnant Pause - 6a+
Burning Skies - 6b+
Lord Stublock Deepvoid Breaks the Chain of Causation - 6b+

S: Back on Blacknor onsighting again:

Imperfect - 3+
Talk - 6a+
Toe the Line - 6b
Cut Throat Jake - 6b
Bum Droplets - 6b+
Sacred Angel - 7a (2nd go)

Had planned to go do Freeborn Man yesterday but the weather was hideous all day, took 10 hours to drive a 5 hour journey home...

Looking over the guidebook again I wish I had visited the Battleship area. The 30m wall looks incredible. Really love the rock and climbing style down on Portland. Happy with my fitness on the longer routes, recovery is quick after hard sections or on easy ground.

In reply to Luke Owens:

Battleship is worth going to just for Bouys will be Bouys 6b(+?), not to mention the harder stuff. It's a fab wall.

In reply to Ally Smith:
Thanks Ally, and thanks for adding the grades to your updates, it's really handy
I think you are totally right about reading the routes outside, you can't get rock-fit without climbing on rock, no matter how much plastic you pull in the gym. The temperature played a part too for sure, but the simple fact is I need more sessions out on the crag. Now that the puppy can come with us (she seemed to enjoy her first visit to Portland) we can hopefully get down weekly again, weather permitting. Fingers crossed for a dry winter.

Bad week training wise but a good week generally so i'm not bothered, I was off work so it was DIY/Gardening club all the way really, didn't get any training sessions in and only went for a quick indoor climb once.
The climb was good though, I warmed up thoroughly, onsighted everything in the room (it's a tiny wall and very poorly set) and did the full selection of stretches afterwards. All fingers were working as they should with no tweaks or pain, it was a discomfort-free session.
The upshot of the careful warming up and down was no issues with my elbows in the days following, despite doing a bit of heavy lifting and some wood chopping. It feels good to get what I think is the appropriate reward for spending so much time and effort protecting my elbows, last week when I failed miserably on Vulcan (7b+) and completely disregarded any warm down, I got sore elbows for a couple of days which just goes to show how necessary it is.

Ooh, we've decided that we are going to do 10 days in Kalymnos next Easter so I need to assess my fitness on the run up to that and make some targets. The plan will be to have redpointed 8a by then so perhaps a fast redpoint of an 8a or a high 7 onsight would be good...

STG: Sign of the Vulcan 7b+
Get some mileage on real rock
MTG: RP 8a, probably Fighting Torque
LTG: RP 8b tbc (Vespasian is my only local one)

In reply to Ally Smith:


Thanks once again Ally and Joughton...... what everyone else said!

A week of getting back into it this week, loved nearly every run and struggled to keep a lid in things....

M: pm 5/6M easy in 40:05
Tu: pm 7/8M steady hard in 45:26 - got totally carried away with this one covered the first 5M at around 5:45min per mile - opps!
W: pm 6/7M easy in 46:25
Th: pm 7/8M easy in 49:04
F: pm ~7M easy in 47:12
Sa: Kept my gf company on her interval session (10x2min) 7/8M total
Su: 11/12M steady in 1:23:02

~53M Total, all good apart from getting carried away on Tuesday. Pretty much the same next week but slight increase again.

In reply to IainRUK:

Congrats on the new job!

In reply to Ally Smith:
Cheers Ally.

Great week Jake Sounds amazing and intense as you said.

I didn't report last week as there was jack diddly to say.

This last week was much better and i feel like i'm getting back to normal service. No climbing but lots of running and 2 yoga sessions with a new teacher who is even tougher than the last one, despite being old enough to be my Mum. Really got back into running and have a couple of races lined up in Nov and Dec before progressing on to do the UTLD 50 next July. After that i have my eye on the Al Andalus multi day event in 2016 as a pre cursor to the Marathon De Sable in 2017. How's that for a plan ? Pretty ambitious, but why not.

I do love my running when i get into it but my standard atm is pretty depressing. I'm struggling to stick together 8m miles over any kind of distance. A year of smoking has not done me much good it would appear. No surprise there. I used to be able to pull a flat 40m ish 10k out of the bag after a lay off.

I'm not giving up on climbing though. My plan is to just get out when i can over the next few weeks - hopefully this week will be the last of the stress that's been going on and i can get back to 'normal' next week - and then concentrate more on bouldering over Winter. Probably 2x boulder sessions and 1 route session a week. I'm certainly weak compared to a couple of years ago so it's a weakness to attack.