UKC

400 eh? That's a good milestone...!

Link to last week's thread: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=602279
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

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
Psyche video of the week from Kev: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=243232389166172&set=o.43900255760&...

I think the final Portland list for 10/11 jan was looking like:

AJM
Mrchewy
Hms +1

Kevster
Curious Yellow
Nick R
mattrm
Dandan+some
Just Tintin +1


AJM - plastic has become my world. Rocking (well, trying to) the double heel to double toehook transition
hms - more hard moves, and what sounds like a very entertaining case of frankenfinger!
mbh - fighting to retain the crown, and that long run sounds gruelling!
Kevster - the Reach session makes it sound like you're operating at a pretty good level, nice one. How was this week? Cheers for the vid suggestion, I'm writing this in the van so haven't actually watched it yet!
williemiller - how did the fell race go?
Tyler - good luck with the ankle
Joughton - better does the job just as well as stronger. 3 sessions?
mattrm - enjoy Marocco!
mrchewy - sounds like a good week, good to see you again last weekend!
Nick Russell - over the jet lag?
Creedence - sounds like a good week. Doing some climbing is always better than spending ages not climbing whilst you craft the perfect training plan!
Dandan82 - finger on an upward curve?
JimmyKay - sounds like a bit of post trip basking was missed out on!
Ally Smith - cracking trip. Nice job. Make it to the Diamond?
Exile - seems like a good focused week
IainRUK - that's some very quotable phrases!
Curious Yellow - got to a keyboard? Busy week but good variety I guess mixing up the running and bouldering
Humperdink - good miles. I'm not sure I'd have been loving the water!
Just Tintin - I used to work about 10 minutes from Haresfield Quarry!

In reply to AJM:

Thanks for the write-up Andy. Busy week but felt I was lacking a bit of psyche somehow.

M - cycle commute, finger-board in evening. Warm-up then 2xhard set (7s deadhangs at 135,90 & full lock)
T - cycle commute then cycled on to UCR. Circuits - trying further moves on the upstairs 7c. Did start-11/12, then 11/12 to 25/26 but then get a series of holds that seem largely unholdable! Only able to string a move of 2 together from then on.
W - cycle commute. TCA boot demo in evening, so basically bimbling whilst trying on various scarpas.
T - cycle commute. UCR routes in the evening. Dozen inc 6cx5 7ax2 7a+x2. The 7a+ routes I'm still falling off at the same places as I did on my flash attempts and stringing the rope up & trying the moves isn't helping me suss what to do.
F - rest day
S - TRX 2xupper 2xcore
S - Redpoint. More goes at the 7b I tried a couple of weeks back. Lead clean to the final move but haven't sussed how to get the push/pull/rockover required to work. Perfect length for power training though - it is 15 moves long. Lunch then bouldered for an hour.

In reply to AJM:

Vive la fit club! Happy 400th birthday all.

Morocco is ace. Done some new routes already. Will post a full post next week.

In reply to AJM:

>fighting to retain the crown, and that long run sounds gruelling!

It was! Thanks for doing this.

This week: Target mileage was 50 miles, actual mileage 50.2 5000 or so feet of ascent.

So only just hitting target,

Two hilly runs to start with, three do-nothing days when work got the better of my will power, then two big weekend days, which were a plod fest, not fast, more me trying to get a job done on tired legs, but at least I got an 18 mile run in for the third week in a row.

M 8 miles, 1325 ft ascent.
T - 7.3 miles, 1207 ft .
W-F - nothing!
S - 18.2 miles, lots of cramping in last 6 miles.
S 5 miles around town before sun rise, then 11.7 miles on coast path and beach, Bedruthan Steps <> Constantine Bay. Stage left, out of the corner of my eye, the hugest swell I have seen in a while.

In reply to AJM:

Thanks for doing fit club Andy. Yep, not a bad week

Aims:

Autumn: (Soft) 7b RP(?) and be fighting fit for the winter season as soon as it kicks off.

Winter start with VI 7

Spring second 7b RP

Summer quick build through E1 / E2 to get on some more E3s and consolidate at the grade

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

M: 1hr wall - (An Cap)
T: 45min dry tooling (Winter technique and ARC) & 1hr road / beach run (winter endurance)
W: 1hr road / fell run (winter endurance)
T: rest
F: 30min wall - (An Cap... I think)
S: Rest
S: 2hr wall (strength training)

Weight: Not sure

Good week considering I was away with work for three days.

Cheers Andy


That does seem to be the case at the moment, I can tell by the way I'm moving that I'm climbing as well as I ever have (indoors at least) but I'm just not quite as strong - god knows what my fitness is like right now.

Didn't quite manage the three sessions only this time it was pure bad luck - had the morning off lectures so I arrived at the wall at 10 only to discover it opened at 12! Ah well.

Tue - decent bouldering session, managed three of the 7a-8a circuit and got close to a couple others. Managed 1-3-5 leading both arms which is good.

Fri - cycled to the wall and back haha

Sun - really good session ticking all but three of the 6b-7b circuit with most flashed.

Won't manage three next week as I'm going on a wilderness medicine training walk thing but hopefully I'll get two in the week.

Also I have a potential trip to Spain over Christmas which, if it goes through, will do wonders for my psyche.

Cheers, Jake

In reply to AJM:

Thanks AJM

Very slack on the running front this week but managed my goals for the race today so overall pretty happy.

Mon – yoga
Tue - Bouldering, felt good, three 6a/+ and one 6b flash.
Wed – nothing
Thur – lead session at the beacon. Absolutely no stamina whatsoever, I guess that is what comes from only bouldering for a while. Did a few 6a/+ and one 6b, all the moves were easy but I had to take a rest 2/3 of the way up it.
Fri –Nothing
Sat – Nothing
Sun – Fell race – 10k in just under an hour I think won’t know until times are out tomorrow. Really enjoyed it, there is longer one next weekend which I might try.

STG (next week)
Find a climbing partner
3 climbing sessions a week
3 runs a week

MTG (by spring)
Get to 75kg
6b sport onsight
10 HVS, 5 E1, 2 E2
Run up Snowdon

In reply to AJM:

Thanks Andy,

Full of excuses for todays indoor session. But still got a few ascents of tougher routes. Nothing outside. Probably should try to introduce some structure to my climbing. Just don't like pre planning much.
Can't remember which day, but tried the 8b again. Got a number of link ups/moves which I didn't last time. Still 2-3 moves which I have no real prospect of making in a hurry. definitely need to finger board a little, and probably boulder more.

Bit of a blog/diatribe of my indoor sessions:

Tues: Indoors - just doing the normal harder routes at the wall, managed to up and down climb the 7b amongst others.
Thurs: Indoors, tried for some stamina. Up and down 6 times on the 6b+ at the end of the session. I should do sets of this, rather than one off on top of other routes.
Sunday: MK indoors. OS 7a&7a+s. Excuse time now. 7c (orange) all the moves sorted v quickly, just couldn't figure the last clip. Thought about missing it out but too many instructors/people/big fall potential. I know it'd go clean if I missed the clip. So after 4-5 decent goes having led through the crux, tried the next one. Yellow 7c. Did all the moves in a few sections except one move (L hand shallow 2 finger pocket) which could hit, hold but I simply couldn't recruit on to jack the feet into place. So quit that one too, in hind sight maybe prematurely. Then also failed on the orange 7b+ on the last 2 clips. Boulder problem in the sky. Got to the top, couldn't be bothered to have a 2nd go.

Pleased with general standard/ success at getting the routes sorted quickly. Its all indoors so grades are always suspect. Got plenty of meters/attempts in. Go to be good right?

I may try the comp at the Reach next weekend, see how I fare - any one else trying it?
Still no outside fun in sight.


Thanks.

Kev.

Modest Goals:
2 sessions per week.
Get finger board mounted
Get climbing fit again - Dolomites & Lundy next year.

Grade based goals
OS E4 (to date E3), RP E5 (current E4)
Try to climb nothing unless its outstanding below HVS, E numbers each trad trip.

OS 7b (to date 7a+), RP 7c (to date 7b+)
Aim to OS a 7a each sport trip.

In reply to AJM:

Thanks AJM, for such a milestone Fit Club week I'm ashamed to say I did absolutely bugger all.
My finger was feeling good on Sunday/Monday but it hasn't improved at all over the week, and is perhaps even slightly worse than it was last weekend which is incredibly annoying seeing as I haven't climbed on it.
Ok, I'll admit I did manage to blag a huge industrial tool chest which I had to lug in and out of my car over the weekend, it weighed a couple of hundred kilos so probably didn't help my finger all that much.

I think a combination of the iffy finger and seemingly being busy all the time means i've lost a lot of enthusiasm to train at the moment. I've got another session booked with Robin O'Leary in a couple of weeks but to be honest, if the finger isn't fixed, I can't entirely see the point. I would like to get a training plan down on paper though so I have something to aim for, that was one of the things we were going to do.

Hopefully things will pick up soon...

In reply to AJM:

Seems a shame not to post on the 400th FC... Really there needs to be some kind of ceremony for 500.

My week also mostly about the plastic, really psyched for short and intense board sessions, feeling a little bit of progress every time and it fits in with my life at the moment. Bit too dark and wet outside atm to feel like doing much extra cycling on top of the commute but that is useful for managing my weight.

M: Scarpa boot demo. Mostly about the Wave, spent some time bouldering in the Booster S which was great on the wave but the heel leaves something to be desired. Getting closer to move off the heel on the yellow pen V6.
T:
W: Wave session. Ticked off the pink.
T:
F: More wave. Started trying orange and black. Sticking the heel move of the yellow pen 6 reliably but stumped for what you do then. Did some of the panels comp problems. Great session.
S:
S: Yet more wave. Still a bit tired from Fri, moving a little sluggish and didn't repeat high point on the black

Plus cycle commute every day = ~90km

STG: Stick move on orange at the bottom of the wave.

MTG: Spend winter getting strong, solid at RPing castle V7 subject to variations in grading? Enter a comp for fun.

2015 goals: Tremolo and another 7c, 7c+. Keep onsighting 7s. Century on the road bike, enter some sportives.

In reply to AJM:

No time to bask, need to get stronger and climb harder.

It was another one of those weeks where I didn't get on the harder stuff, instead opting to continue to tick over with more 7's. I even had the opportunity to jump on Diesel Power but didn't take it. I did try to find Corridors of Power, but couldn't get across the river. Sacked that off and drove to Elephantitus with the intention of trying Cross Therapy and Tusk. It was bang in the sun and felt minging. Urgh. Weather looks decent thus far in Yorkshire. If it stays this way I'm going for Zoo York.

M-Bouldering at BBC. 2 sets of core.
T-Rest
W-Bouldering at BC.
T-Rest
F-Comp at BBC. Won, 22 flashes out of 25. (224/250) was disappointed that I dropped the 23rd and that I didn't manage to finish the 24th. I was trying to save myself a bit for the weekend though.
S-Cromlech. Warmed up by running up and down a load of stuff on the Roadside block (Edge Problem was seemingly made for me, did it about 5 or 6 times to warm up) Tried to find Corridors of Power. Couldn't. Despite it being just over the road I spent 30minutes trying to cross. Sacked it off and went to Elephantitus instead. Beautiful little spot. Did the classic 7A first go before having a look at the 7B+ that goes from R-L. Did that about 3rd go, dead good. Played on Tusk but it was about 20oC in the little suntrap and that RH crimper is sharp! Ended up playing around back on the Roadside boulders doing some dynos!
S-Started in Ogwen, dead trap up at Clogwyn y Tawr. Everything had a layer of ming. Managed to fire off Raging Bull pretty quick before discover everything else was a bit seepy or surrounded in goat crap. Back to Cromlech. Up to Wavelength, fired off Pie Shop (7C) pretty quickly and decided my arms were a bit tired so headed home.

Need to get back into training this week. I've been a bit off since being back from font as I wanted to give my arms a rest. Try and get back to fingerboard, campus rungs and woody sessions this week. Try and get two core sets in as well instead of the one a week I've managed so far.

In reply to AJM:

Thanks AJM. And happy week 400 everyone!

Last week:
A good week, with the short term goal of another 7a clean at the wall ticked on I about my third attempt at it. I'm quite keen to try one outside now, see if I can actually manage the moves, as doing it inside is one thing.... A plan has been put in to motion for a mid winter trip to Costa Blanca, so that will be a good test.

M - Rest

T - Wall. 30 min warm up. 15 mins system board. Pinches. 90° on leading hand. 60mins bouldering working the harder v5s. One new tick. ARC traversing - 40 mins non stop on the 5+.

W - Rest

T - 45mins core work. Then FB Deadhangs. 3 sets of 3 hangs each hold:
Half crimp large edge (+5kg), Front 3 large edge (+9kgs), 35° Sloper (-5kgs), Back 3 large edge (-3kgs).
+1kg on front 3. Same on others.

F - Wall. Routes session for a couple of hours. Close on a 7a. One fall.

S - 10 mile Hike/Scramble in Snowdonia. A really beautiful day in the mountains.

S - Wall. 1 hour bouldering. Another couple of the harder v5's ticked. 2 hours ish of routes , up to 7a clean. 40 mins traverse on 5+.

In reply to Quiddity:

Re the biking - there's one right near us (jurassic beast, round swanage and Lulworth and stuff) I was half considering entering May next year if you've any interest...?

In reply to AJM:

I'm up for it! Which category were you considering, standard/epic? Epic would deffo require a bit of training for me but could tick off both my biking goals in one swoop...

In reply to AJM:

Happy 400th birthday UKCFC!
Didn’t get to the Diamond – maybe this weekend, maybe next; not looking forward to jumaring the rope that’s been left in…
Re-assessment of objectives – probably some tweaking needed.

BHAG:
- “La Geurre Sainte” 7b/+ multi-pitch in Wadi Rum
- Hard sport multi-pitch (8a region?) – something in Taghia maybe?
- Kaa’bah, 8c+ - gotta aim high!

LTG (2015):
- Do some adventurous cycle touring (maybe MTB Great Glen/West Highland way?)
>8b+ RP – cherry pick from the list below
- Fisheye & Humildes pas Casa, Oliana.
- Unjustified/Overjustified & Bat Route, Malham.
- Waddage, Mecca & Extension, Tor.
- True North, Kilnsey
>8a on-sight

MTG (Winter ‘14/’15):
- 7b multi-pitch on weekend break to Costa Blanca
- Stay in gainful employment – 30% chance of redundancy by end of March
- Decorate the house & build some home training facilities
- “French Pillar” Jebel Misht, E3 choss at New Year.
- Healthy shoulders, fingers & 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
- Currently a right little FATTY after a weekend away paddling/drinking – 78.6kg and 6.9% BF – heaviest I’ve been for 18mths

STG (Next week)
- Assessment with Tom on Tuesday
- Stay off the cake for a week
- Try again at bolting Diamond project(s)

Last week:
1x boulder at AWS – first time on plastic in 6 months - apparently I can flash all the V6’s, but get shutdown by the V5’s.
2x days paddling on the Crake (II/II) and Leven (III with one section of IV at Backbarrow falls)
10+ bottle of beer

In reply to Quiddity:

Vaguely tempting - never done a ton on my bike in a day...

In reply to Quiddity:

I was probably thinking the 100km rather than the 100 mile but I could possibly be persuaded to aim big if suitable peer pressure were applied.

Might impact on the climbing training fitting in the bike time for a 100 miler though...! Have to get the tactics for long rides like that nailed first as well!

In reply to Ally Smith:

Well, you'd be welcome to stay.

Sounds concerningly like the beginnings of a plan.... although the more I think about 100 miles the longer a distance it seems...!

In reply to Ally Smith:


You know you want it...

In reply to AJM:

Strava?

My best day on the bike distance wise has been something like 110 kms pretty early on in my current enthusiasm for road biking, so off the back of not that much training. I was pretty wrecked for the last 20km of that, so going from there to 160 is likely to be the hard bit, but it's probably more achievable than you think... - I am a proper road cycling punter! I figure it will be easier riding in a bunch anyway.


You need rest days from training-for-climbing, right?


If you want to get some training rides in over the spring I would be game for that as well... or something organised like this: http://www.ukcyclingevents.co.uk/events/ordnance-survey-nut-cracker-sportiv... or this: http://www.ukcyclingevents.co.uk/events/ordnance-survey-the-equalizer-sport...

In reply to AJM:

m: 5 mile steady pm: 8 miles 6:45 pace.
t: 11.5 miles with 4 x 1mile 400m jog about 5:20 pace
w: 15.4 mile steady long run 7:15 pace.
t: am: 4 miles steady road run. pm: 8.1 miles with 10 x 15s hard, 45 steady at the end. 7:20 pace overall.
f: 10 miles with 20 x 30 s hard, 30 easy.
s: am: 12 mile trail run on the AT. pm: 5.6 mile road run
s: am: 4 mile road run. pm: 10 mile trail run

In reply to AJM: I'm after some advice - the week away I mentioned could be quite flexible in terms of where we go, so I was wondering if anyone has any good ideas for an ideal destination for a winter sun-rock trip?

Only going for a short week so preferably somewhere quite accessible, but somewhere a bit different to the usual El Chorro/Costa Blanca? Could be anywhere in Spain, or maybe Mallorca, Antalya?

Any ideas appreciated!

In reply to AJM:
Thanks Andy for this - looks like you're settling in to life on the coast.

STG - Nov. Keep up mileage and work on power.
MTG - Spring. Focus on strength indoors. Have a decent grit season... lead a Brown and Whillans route!
LTG - Next Oct. Take 18 months off and go climbing! Spain for 6 months. Goal - f7a and not a soft one.

Mon - 4hrs routes. Lead 6a+ for only the second time indoors. Vertical and crimpy. TR a 6c twice and sorted the crux on the 4th attempt. This will go for sure on lead. A really good evening actually.
Tue - Rest
Wed - Aerocap in the boulder room. 40min with a couple or three of step offs. Yoga class. Then pullups and stuff on the fingerboards.
Thu - Rest
Fri - Drove to the Peak.
Sat - Bought some Scarpa Instinct slippers in Hathersage, hoped Bamford might dry but rain, went to Rivilin too and that was wet, so bogged off to Nesscliffe for the first time. TR an arete to the left of Trouble in Toytown, only there an hour or so. Drove to Wales.
Sun - Cromlech. Freezin'. Left Wall on second. Almost two hours belaying. Felt easy until... stuck gear, then hotaches (worst ever and I winter climb at times), then stuck gear. Then failed miserably to work out the rising rightwards traverse. No feet I could see/use and in the end peeled right below True Grip ramp. Had actual fun trying to get back up to the crack. Bouldering on a rope at my limit. Battered after. Should have stuck to the plan... the quarries.

Really happy with Monday. I can honestly say it's the first time I've got on routes and it's only been moves that have stopped me and no flash pump, normal pump or lack of fitness.

Nescliffe is for wads. Not sure I'll bother going back there again but it's certainly impressive. I actually climbed really well for me, felt balanced for a change.

Left Wall, stuck gear and the cold kicked my butt basically. The up bit felt right easy to be honest until utter technique failure on the diagonal crack that goes right. After I fell, I tried to climb onto the ramp of True Grip, hoping to get back to Left Wall - strung three moves together that I had no right to, so must be improving as I used a mono, a two finger sidepull and rubbish for my feet. Driving home after, I was totally wasted, empty and I reckon between Nesscliffe and the Cromlech - I maybe climbed 40m over the two days but all of it right at my limit until falling. Managed to pack in maybe five or six of my hardest moves ever into that 40 metres tho!

Work was a bit intense last week, so had to cut down training or I'd have been looking at injuring myself I feel, this week is looking worse.

In reply to Joughton:

Antalya is good for sure but a bit more of a faff than other places esp for a week. Brilliant mind you.

Siurana sort of area another popular choice, obviously I'm bound to suggest chulilla, and what about somewhere in France like Buoux or something?

In reply to Quiddity:

Training rides Def sound good.

My only worry is motivation for training really since I'm not sure the things I enjoy about cycling are likely to be found in wet training rides on shit winter weekends or long rides in the dark after work, and I'm hesitant about sacrificing good climbing days to the cause during the winter when they are scarce. Which means enjoyable training that doesn't feel like I'm sacrificing climbing is likely to get sandwiched into a month between honeymoon and sportive and I don't know if that's long enough to go from 40-50 miles a week plus the odd weekend ride to 100 miles in a day.

Not sure. I'll think. Maybe I just need to take a deep breath and mtfu

In reply to Joughton:

Sardinia, turkey, tenrife all have ok weather besides Spain. Is southern italy ok? Some south of France places may he ok too.
Never been to any of tuese, just been lookibg myself. Sicily was passable weatherwise, not sure itd be ok grade wise for you. Same for Malta.

It's all expensive this year o think flight wise.

In reply to AJM:




You sound like me just before I agreed to run the 69 mile ultra two years ago. It did interfere with life, not just climbing but in general. One of the best things I've ever done tho.

Go for it!

In reply to mrchewy:

Yeah! Man up Andy, buy the ticket while you can and be committed!

Good luck too!

In reply to IainRUK:

20 x 30s hard, 30s easy....... old school!

In reply to AJM:

Cheers AJM - anyone managed all 400??

All about the miles this week:

M: lunchtime - 8/9M steady in 57:54, pm - 5/6M easy in43:35
Tu: pm - 5x5:30 off 90 seconds jog, good warm up and cool down = 10/11M total
W: pm - 10M steady in 70:05
Th: Lunchtime - 4/5M in 33:54, pm - 6.5M "brisk" (that's what coach told me to do!) in 40:19
F: am - 4M easy in 27:56 before I had to run indoors to avoid a "paula", lunchtime - 4/5M easy in 33:43. Shattered for this one. The number runs was beginning to tell.
Sa: XC Session with the lads. Despite being apprehensive was much better than two weeks ago. All reps started at the top of a hill went down, round field(s) and obviously back up! did 1x6:30 (3min recovery), 4x3:00 (90sec), 3x2:00 (1min), 1x90sec hill (jog back recovery), 4x45sec hill (jog back recovery. Needless to say I'd had enough of hills by the end! 9M total, pm - 5/6M easy in 38:32 foggy! Then wasn't overly sensible and had a night out!
Su: Wasn't hungover which was nice. pm - 15/16M in 1:45:22 - tired!

Good week and big mileage for me anyways with ~84M total (couldn't quite sneak 85). Had two good sessions and steady runs are now feeling good as well so promising. Now need to enter a couple more races and this week ease down for the race on Saturday.

In reply to Humperdink:

I think the last time we hit a significant milestone we figured Iain was probably nearest.

I'm in from double figurus somewhere but I'd have to search to find out exactly when. I know my goals were to climb about 6c or so at the time - autumn 07?

In reply to Humperdink:

Week 25 apparently but then I did take most of this year off.

I guess either biscuit or shark are still top dogs when it comes to starting it each week.

In reply to AJM:

I suppose I ought to update on my week really.

Wall Tuesday, Wednesday I think. New set, spent ages on a purple through the roof that had an awesome sequence in double heel hooks into double toe hooks. Got the move once out of about 50 goes. Have to try and link it. Feels oh so hard but then I'm crap at these things so it's probably about V2. Did a bunch of other problems too.

Did some circuits too, dropped the rest interval so it was 80 seconds on 100 seconds off, completed one lap, off the last move on second, failed about 20moves into third. Have to try again and aim for 4 laps to the last move, which is a bit of a silly move.

Lakes at the weekend. Bowderstone on Sunday. Tried picnic sarcastic. Flailed for ages trying to get to the pocket, then the resident local told us it apparently starts from the pocket. Doh. Anyway, after that I had a brief window of feeling really strong and solid, got to the penultimate handholds before the move to the jug but couldn't quite do the setup (basically, I got to the hard move?). Then went downhill slightly depressingly quickly. But still, it was nice to feel strong even if it was only a brief window. Sunday went walking for a few hours.

Need to lose some weight, but celebratory dinner this evening hadn't helped my chances of that!

In reply to AJM and Kevster: I was thinking the same about Antalya, especially as it's a new venue so we wouldn't really know our way around... Chullila is definitely on the list though - I might be sending you a beta request if that goes through. Will it be warm enough in December?

I think South of France might be a bit cold weather-wise that late in the year, I'll look into Sicily though.

In reply to Joughton:

Chulilla - Ally did christmas last year. We were ok in mid jan except when it got windy. Happy to supply beta, mind you half of the beta I had came from Ally!

In reply to AJM:


Getting there.

M,T,W - Nothing
T - TCA. Short session, ticked quite a lot of the purples though. Mothership is being reset - exciting!
F - Rest.
S,S - Walking in Wales: Rhinogs Saturday, Arans Sunday. Only saw one other group the whole weekend - a good antidote to 2 weeks in big cities!

Not much to report really. A bit low psyche at the moment, but I expect it'll come back soon.

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. 381/416km 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 the finger better
Went bouldering yesterday, didn't bother me at all. I'll continue to use crimps with caution, but can tick this off the list

Local sport routes 7c and above (or onsights 7a+ and above)
Given the time of year, I'd be happy just to complete Circus, Circus

In reply to Humperdink:

Thanks for the advice on running/knees the other week. Definitely worth a try with the foam roller - they have one at TCA. Re: location of pain, could be that I'm not describing it very well. If I experience it again, I'll have a good think about where it actually is! Unfortunately it's starting to bother me a bit bouldering now, so I'm keen to get it sorted.

In reply to Quiddity:
Well, I've done some thinking, and after that, plus a text from Ally which suggests he might be leaning in the same direction, I reckon I'm game for the 100km version but not the 100 mile one (this year at least - maybe if this goes well then I'll think about the winter Isle of Wight one and then the full Jurassic in 2016).

I had a look for some suitable training rides near me, and I was wondering if:
http://www.ukcyclingevents.co.uk/events/cycling-weekly-wiltshire-wildcat-sp...
Or
http://www.ukcyclingevents.co.uk/events/ordnance-survey-january-insanity-sp...

Had any interest? Of the two you suggest the second one sounds good although the first clashes with the UKcFC portland trip.

I also have a slight issue in that I've currently got a single speed commuter, and the road bike is going to be a cycle2work jobbie which given the timescales work runs on for choosing that benefits option means it might take a little bit of faff before it actually arrives, early in the new year probably.

Ally, what says you? In?

In reply to AJM:

In for Jurassic Beast 63mile option - how about this as the follow on?

http://www.cxsportive.com/cx-century-the-south-downs-way/

As for the ride-2-work scheme, IMHO the fact you have to pay a "fair market price" for the bike at the end of the scheme means that I don't think it's worthwhile anymore, even for higher rate tax payers. You can often get the same bike, in last years colour for cheaper in a sale from Wiggle/CRC/Leisure Lakes etc (and get it now, not when the HR/Finance dept get there ar$es in gear and do all the paperwork.

Cheaper still, get on fleabay or pink bike to find your new steed

In reply to Ally Smith:

From 100km on the road to 100 miles on tracks in under a month - I feel your ambition might outweigh mine!

I'd always assumed the fair price you got charged was some token value but from what you say that's changed (or was never the case). I'll have to investigate in more detail. Cheers for the beta.

In reply to Ally Smith:


Some companies have got around this by continuing to 'rent' the bike out to you for free for a further two or three years beyond the end of the scheme, the idea being that the "fair market price" will have dropped to the square root of bugger all by this point and they just give you the bike. So it's still worth considering the bike to work scheme although I'd agree that an end of season bargain might well give you a better deal - you may get more options to choose from too, depending on which of the b2w schemes your employer subscribes to.

In reply to Pagan:

I don't think that's what my current work do, I think they sell it to you after the payment period bit is up, but I'll look into it. Thanks!

Any other fc people interested by the way?

In reply to AJM:

Have mailed you both to avoid clogging up FC... I'm well up for it basically

In reply to AJM:
Cheers Andy

I missed last week, been busy with my new job so not spent a lot of time online.

W/C 3rd Nov
M: Can't remember

T: Can't remember

W: 30 Mins Aerocap

T: Rest

F: Work Gym - 15 Wide Grip Pull ups
10 x 10 Front Shoulder Raise (10kg)
2 x 10 Tricep Curl (Both Arms) (10kg)
2 x 10 Shoulder Rotation with Shoulder Press (5kg)
4 x 10 Hanging Knee Tucks
2 x 10 Ab roll out (wheel)
4 x 1min Side Plank
2 x 1min Front Plank

S: Rest

S: Llanymynech - Freezing on the belay but too hot on the wall... Warmed up repeating Crab Stick (6c).

Fell off after the crux on The Ancient Mariner (7a+) again, pumped out of my mind, couldn't get enough back on the slopey hand holds with poor feet. Heavens opened on the upper section and I had to leave a krab in (again). The one I left in the same spot (for the same reason) a month ago had been taken... urgh!

Did some deadhangs when I got home,

All 10sec hangs:
Slopers - 1 hand on 20s one hand on 30s
Alternate hands of above
Middle 2 - 20mm pocket
1 hand on 30mm 1 hand on 15mm
Alternate hands of above

Then repeated the above

W/C 10th Nov
M: Rest

T: Boardroom routes - 6a, 6a+, 6b, 6b+, 6b+, 6b
Failed on 2x 6b+, 2 x 6c. Felt like crap all evening, had no energy and was sweating loads... Belayer disappeared so did 3 x V4 and 5 x V2

W: Rest

T: Work Gym - 15 Wide Grip Pull ups
10 x 10 Front Shoulder Raise (10kg)
2 x 10 Tricep Curl (Both Arms) (10kg)
2 x 10 Shoulder Rotation with Shoulder Press (5kg)
4 x 10 Hanging Knee Tucks
2 x 10 Ab roll out (wheel)
4 x 1min Side Plank
2 x 1min Front Plank

F: 30 Mins Aerocap

S: Pen Trwyn - Put the clips and worked out the moves on Bloodsports (7b). Felt easy on the dog, had a go on lead but hadn't worked out the start properly. Spent ages working out a good sequence and it just got too cold.

Onsighted a 6b, a 6a and did the moves on some short 7a but didn't bother for a redpoint.

Getting a bit cold for sport climbing now... Especially out of the sun!

S: Rest

In reply to Pagan:

I agree - my fair market price was £30 on a £1000 Boardman - made sound financial sense, now the price is £280 it doesn't. Our HR is too inflexible to allow you to rent the bike for any longer than 1year.

My last two bikes have come from ebay.

In reply to AJM:

Thanks Andy. What's the record for laps on Long Traverse at Haresfield? Had a completely rubbish round in the Derby WBL - not sure what goals to have for this kind of thing, or beat strategy for approaching monthly comps. Any suggestions anyone?

M - rest
T - lead Brookes. New onsights to 6b+; work on 7a
W - rest
T - rest
F - bouldering comp Climbing Unit. Late for slot so only had short time to put in a score and worn out from no sleep and 4 hours in traffic ... (Excuses) so 8th senior female - very disappointing. I'm happy to have my ass handed to me by Tara Hayes and GB juniors but it's not acceptable to be beaten by normal people.
S - BMC injury symposium. Interesting stuff on fingers.Boulder Rock Over up to V6.
S - Boulder climbing unit up to v4.