UKC

UKC Fit Club Week 426

Apologies for lateness, this isnt a pattern forming! Half of the posters are on here, the other half to follow in a couple of hours, the day sort of slipped away from me!

Link to last week's thread: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=615481

UKC Fit Club is not a substitute for the training diary but to use with (or without) it as a motivational tool for all.
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.
Alex's sport climbing training article is still here:
http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com.es/2014/02/training-for-sport-climb...

Psyche video this week: youtube.com/watch?v=T_AorUUJhig& a bunch of fit looking climber types have been pulling on plastic in front of crowds this weekend, I like the setup of these events and think it makes a great spectator sport, especially with the trend towards circus boulders instead of micro
crimps. I think more people would watch if they knew about it.

Last week's posters:

hms - wow, solid week of training! Shame about not getting outside but that's an impressive 'lacklustre' week!
Cheese Monkey - Hope you had a nice holiday, back on the training this week?
Mutl3y - That's a lot of press-ups! How was the Coast 2 Coast?
AJM - Good news on the finger, I must get to the boulder field one day...
mattrm - If you can't actually get climbing, it's good that you are keeping active, and DIY can be surprisingly hard work!
mrchewy - I'm coming to realise that working aorund injuries/broken body parts is an essential part of climbing.
The Ex-Engineer - Improvised training, like it!
planetmarshall - victim of the weather, any luck this week?

In reply to Dandan:

Dan - are you missing a few folk there?

In reply to Dandan:

Thanks for doing fit club again fella - I was there last week but no worries

Another reasonable week.

2015 aims:

Winter VI 7 - Tick.

Spring 7b RP - Countash, Mill Side Scar - started.

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

Summer -get on some slate

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

M: pm. 1hr road ride (Mountain endurance)
T: pm. 2hr 6 move boulder problems on 45 degree board & core (power)
W: am. 1hr 30 road ride (Mountain endurance) - rode out with some friends so a bit slower than normal, but good to have some company
T: Rest - away with work
F: am. 1hr 15min 6 move boulder problems on 45 degree board & core (power)
S: Rest
S: am. 1hr 30min on Countash, (7b,) Millside Scar. pm. Family road ride, (good recovery)

Real progress on Countash. On TR I can now go from the floor through the crux and on to the top wall. I cocked it up there trying to get a rest when I should have kept going, but I know I can do the moves. Start RPing next time.

ADVICE PLEASE

I've had four sessions now on the 45degree woody at the wall I go to which feels as though it's made a real difference on the crux of Countash. I'm assuming this is far too short a time to have made a real difference in power so could it have enhanced recruitment, or has it just got me mentally prepared to pulling harder?

In reply to mattrm:

Tsk, just goes to show nobody reads my top post!

Tyler - Some decent training squeezed in around a busy schedule, Outhouse this week?
Nick Russell - Here's hoping the cold is gone for good, nice outdoor volume this week!
Ally Smith - Codeine makes me into a zombie, hope things have brightened up this week?
Dandan82 - Any chance you could manage more than 1 training session per week...?
mbh - I think you are doing pretty good mileage with an intercostal strain! Hope it clears up soon
0.5viking - shame the festival didn't meet expectations, you'd think people would be more keen
Joyce - shaking it up sounds spot on to me, get up to anything different this week?
Joughton - Welcome back, well done on, well, everything, top effort!
Creedence - First 7a! Congrats! You'll tick a ton of them now
alexm198 - the phrase 'shin splints' makes me cringe. How are the legs?
Just Tintin - had a chance to get outside?
Exile - Where did you run in the New Forest? That's my back yard...
Humperdink - mega mileage, good week!
Luke Owens - some frustrating sessions there, the curse of climbing getting popular..?
biscuit - work life balance sounds shot to hell, manage anything this week?
Roadrunner5 - ridiculous numbers as usual...


AWOL Lancer, Ian Rock, JayK, willi crater, flopsicle (they're dropping like flies, is it something i did!?)

In reply to Dandan:

How do dandan,

M-51k, 1,069m cycle after work. Felt fine.
T- 60 leg raises, 40 pull ups +8kg, 150 press ups. Pull ups were more difficult than I remember. Have definitely got weak.
W-nowt
T-nowt
F-travelled to Cumbria after work.
S-98k, 1,602m first leg. Respectable account of myself. Felt fine.
S-104k, 1,300m second leg. Felt fine. Bit tired now tho (on train) and would rather be in a pub than looking for another 10k to ride home from the station. Oh well.

Next week: strength and diet. Really looking forward. Press ups and pull ups every day.

In reply to Dandan: Not an amazing week but I did get out today for the first proper trad of 2015.

M - work
T - work
W - work - (Inaccessible Pinnacle summit (summit)
T - travelling
F - Boulder @ Brookes New set of problems. Fairly unstructured session
S - work - Cleeve Hill
S - Routes @ Wintour's Leap Seconded La Folie (E4 6a) & Gendarmerie (E4 5c) and lead Bulging Flies (E3 5c)

Have Wednesday and Friday off this week, so if anyone from fit club needs a partner either day, please drop me a email.

In reply to Dandan:

Thanks for keeping the stats going Dandan, you're doing a great job. Yep, I seem to have kicked the cold and kept up the volume - can't ask for much more than that.

M - Trad at Shorn Cliff. Tired after the weekend, but led E3,E2 seconded E2,E1 (mostly Shorn Cliff grades, but the E1 was tough).
T - Rest
W - Cheddar, Burmese Wall. Tweaked my beta on Mercurian Sump Dweller (7b+) (thanks AJM!) and ticked it third go of the session.
T - Fingerboard. Haven't used it for ages but surprised (as usual) at how close I am to my previous level.
F - Cheddar, Madrugada Wall. Got on Thermopylae (7b), which went third go (should have been second really - I've got quite sloppy with my redpointing recently). Definitely off the beaten track but none the worse for it.
S - Torbryan Quarry. Nice little crag, I should have made the trip down there before! Onsighted the classic 6c (Maday) then quick redpoints of Thread Flintstone and Little White Lie (both 7b or thereabouts). I felt like I was going really well given that it was fourth day on.
S - Rest

Assorted goals:

Trad routes at E4
There's a long ticklist to put here! Let's start with Star Wars (E4 5c), Fay (E4 5c) and Mother Africa (E4 6a)
Attempted: 3; Clean onsight: 3 (just remembered I did Peryl this year so I'm actually on 3!)

Brean progression to The Milky Bar Kid (8a)
Prisoner of Conscience -> The Guilt Edge -> Bullworker -> Prisoner of Bullworker -> El Chocco -> The Milky Bar Kid

Get stronger
At least 1 fingerboard/bouldering session per week over summer (Tick this week). Dedicate some time to this over winter.
Write a training app for the fingerboard.

Sort out the assymetry (ongoing)

In reply to Dandan:
"is it something i did!?"

No mate, cheers for doing FC - feel bad for not posting now! I've been checking in and lurking but a combination of injury, illness and house buying / selling / falling through stress has meant I haven't done anything thats worth reading on fit club.

S - W Sniffles.
T - Cycle commute. 6.2km run @ 80% of max heart rate.
F - Cycle commute. Walk.

S - Walk. Took kids to a caving experience at Pinnacle - they loved it, not for me though, did nothing to cure my claustraphobia. Then went to look at a new ride. Gonna trade in an old Specialised Enduro for an Allez road bike. Never ridden a road bike so spent ages chatting to the sales assistant at Pitsfords bikes for advice. Got a size 58 and 61 on order to try out next W.E. can't wait.

S - Routes at Pinnacle. Rusty as hell but managed to drag myself up a couple of new 5's. Right ring finger is in bits despite 2 weeks solid rest. Think I did it bouldering on dyno type V3 a few weeks back and it has got progressively worse. It's in a finger I have broke previously and it is now stiff every morning (giggady!) and hurts in the tendon below the pad that joins my hand when I press it. Means that I can only grip stuff momentarily. Will research taping methods tonight as I don't think its gonna fix itself.

In reply to The Ex-Engineer:

Sounds like a good day! Those 2 E4s are on my list for this summer... Would you recommend them? (Not too much beta please!)

In reply to Dandan:

Thanks for the writeup, Dan. Did get out this week, which was nice. However, exams & weather make any real rock this coming week look unlikely.

M - S&C x 3
T - long fingerboard session, 7s on , 3s off in 6s in 6s, 3 full sets with an emphasis on slopers but also some pockets & crimps.
W - UCR, dozen routes in pairs. Got a 7a, fell off a 7b. Tried working the seq but it's quite scary - an ex-comp route with a spectacular crowd pleasing finish...
T - S&C x 3
F - Cheddar with Nick. Missed the 7b by a whisker, possibly not helped by the fact I was rushing slightly due to rapidly fading light. Great route though.
S - rest
S - TCA trying new blues (6a+ - 6c). Got 6 of them. tried a few more with less success, but definitely plenty of scope for a rematch. Slightly upsetting grade range - 'if I can do it it must mean it's only 6a+' sort of thing!

now have long weekends for late Sept in France and late Nov in Spain so something to aim for which is nice.

In reply to Nick Russell:

Ditto. We stayed at the campsite above shorn cliff this weekend which was very nice and reminded me that I actually have a fair few things left that I would like to do at Wintours.

In reply to Dandan:

Morning Campers,

Ta muchly DanDan, yer doin' a right proper job as they say in The Shire! Definitely different this week - and all the better for it!

Training Diary WC 11/05/15
Stamina (actually, ended up being more An-Cap-ish) and Project ‘Loop’ - without actually going to Huntsham - whhhaaaaattt???!!!

Monday – 5K run in 20:52 including various stiles/gates and getting lost twice!
Tuesday – And now for something completely different! Did a recently opened 7a sport route in Snuff Mills with Tom. Worked the moves/warmed up on it bolt to bolt first go then got it first redpoint. Stoked with this as I haven’t climbed sport for a year or so and, in between general gibbering and mucking up clipping, the moves felt pretty easy and I could rest well on the jugs – obviously the training is paying off a bit. Followed this with an E3 6a solo (3rd go, ground up) above pads - great to push my highball confidence on this. Finished falling off of a technical V6 arete boulder problem but sussed the knack on my last attempt – felt strong on this. Great to do something different (although not stamina – that’ll have to start on Thursday).
Wednesday – Run. Scampered 2.5K in 10 mins then a warm down jog.
Thursday – TCA. Two or three blues (2nd hardest circuit), working a 7a circuit (up to 19 moves) then 20 mins 1:2 work rest on the steep circuit board – 3 reps on 7a, or 4 on 6c – up to 13 to 20 moves or so on each. Finished trying to do 10 Oranges (mid circuit) as quickly as possible – totally spanked by the end, took about 30 mins but lots of attempts.

Friday – Assisted 1 armers: 2 sets of 6 all -7.5kg. Set 1 = 4x10s, 2x7s sagging locks to 10s. Set 2 = 2x10s, 3x7s 1x5s sagging locks. Offset pull ups: 3 sets (1 set = 3 one side, 1 min rest then 3 other side). Less leg waving but last of set 2 more like ¾ of a pull and 2 last of 3rd set more like 1/2 pull ups. Hypergravity pull ups (+7.5KG): 1 sets of 7; 2 sets of 6. Front lever practice (from small beginnings… 3 sets of 3 3 second front levers – legs at 90’. Antagonistic bits and bobs to finish.

Saturday – Park Run: 5K in 18:51 (equal PB). New course (for me) at Little Stoke. Well stoked (ahem) with this as I didn’t have a clue where I was going but, as with my last PB, there was a neat line of runners to pick off – picked off 5 runners in the last mile to roll in 6th.
Sunday – Trym Valley Gorge – spent a fabulous afternoon with Tom, toproping A38 (E6 6b). Got it in two halves. Four trips from bottom to top. Steady, sustained and pumpy. Ended up doing it in 2 or 3 sections per go (9m each section – ish) then lowering down the top half and doing that again as improvised An-Cap reps. Brilliant route, brilliant climbing and definitely gonna lead it at some point as the gear is well spaced and looks bomber – got some practising and training to do first but – WOW!
More endurance work still needed, although really noticing the Power Endurance stuff that I’ve been doing on The Loop project, paying off everywhere else – Nick Russell, it could be the place to be to get stronger, fitter, tech-ier and awesomer!
Weight = 72.6kg

Currently re-evaluating goals as I seem to be drifting into Summer 'do routes outdoors and get weak but tenacious' as opposed to winter 'boulder hard inside and get strong but be gloriously incapable of doing more than four moves in a row'!

Love from,
Joyce,
XXXX

In reply to Dandan:

Oooops. Sorry. I wouldn't worry too much about people not posting, it happens. Don't take it personally. It's just FC, some people post a few times and then never again, some people do it for a year or two and then stop and then there's the 'lifers' who never seem to stop.

STG - Sport pyramid - 6a (2/10), 6b (1/6), 6c (0/1) - Trad pyramid - VS (5/10), HVS (0/6), E1 (0/1) 12st 3lbs...
Aspirational - Climb E5/6 (London Wall), Scottish Winter V (Point 5, Zero, Minus, Orion), WI5, Redpoint 8a (Masada, Mortal Kombat & Cider Soak) stay injury free & maintain 11st.

Weight - 12st 2lbs (same)

M - Indoor routes - 1.5 hours
T - Rest
W - Rest
T - Core
F - Core
S - Trad at Pembroke
S - DIY

Month Avg - 41%
Year Avg - 67%

Much better week. Got to do a good indoors session on Monday, mostly endurance between 4-5+. Then got out to Pembroke on Saturday. Mainly a getting back outside session really. Lead Sea Mist on Saddle Head, which was nice and a good confidence builder. Then tried to find Bow Shaped Slab, couldn't find the top so did Flimston Crack on Flimston Slab instead. I've never done a abseil into a hanging belay before, so that was a good experience. Weight stayed the same, hopefully I'll get a few more lbs off next week. Also I'll be doing the Range West briefing so looking forward to climbing there in the summer.

In reply to Dandan:
Cheers Dan

Monday - ran into some friends and did a bit of bouldering. Managed a slopey problem that people were struggling with. Wide pulls, bottom pulls and offsets.
Tuesday - continuity and rings core.
Wednesday - 10:3 before work. Boulder field after work - V4, V3, V2. Tried another V4 & V6 and failed to make any impression on them.
Thursday - 10:3 before work. Wall after work - finger felt a bit sore, kind of unstable. Did continuity, otherwise rested.
Friday - rested finger
Saturday - friends stag do. Which consisted of a massive team treasure hunt all round the Wye valley, with all sorts of well hidden clues, some running, scrambling around in the vegetation, diving to the bottom of a quarry pool, 2 crossings of the Wye but only one via a bridge (yes, a wade through the bottomless mud and a wee swim) and all sorts. Hard work but great fun. In the evening we went down into tintern and drank the brewery dry (actually - we ran out both the things they had on draft), and then burnt it off slogging back up the hill to the campsite. Most of the home brew we brought along was drunk and many good things were said of it, which is excessively kind. Am very excited by the imminent bottling of the Belgian one I've got on.
Sunday - a few hours of canoeing

Edit: cycled twice. Seem to be going faster although this is possibly through just upping the effort rather than going faster for the same effort.

Spoke to coach during the week and am going to temporarily cut the conditioning volume to give me a chance to build into it more. Scotland for the bank holiday so hoping for good weather. Quiet week on the plan this week although also have fewer days to do it in...

In reply to Dandan:

Yup a great holiday and back on the training. Went in a little bit strong and had to have an unplanned rest day! Definitely had a poorly shoulder so put climbing on hold
M- 1hr cycle
T- 50min cycle 10 min run. Strong
W- 30min run. Strong again
T- 45min swim. Tired, unfocused, shoulder hurt, not great
F- rest
S- Fell off the very last move on a 7a+ after clipping chains. Frustrating!
S- DIY, hard labour. Did a rubbish 3 pitch HS in Avon. 1hr cycle, flew round. Good

4 weeks til tri! More climbing this week hopefully

In reply to Dandan:
Nice one Dan - I always read all the comments, don't worry about that! Been trying to work around the injuries this week but failed miserably in the end.

STG - Salbit Sudgrat. (Need to start some cardio)
MTG - Climb some lime in Spain. (Need to climb better)
LTG - Salbit West Ridge.

Mon - Rest
Tue - Foot on campus session. Finally got the rails back up at the wall, had to beg them to put a foothold on for me that was off to the left and too high but still psyched to have a session. No small rails up yet, so had to use the medium Metolius and was unsure of what rest time to use between sets. 4 sets of 30sec on 90sec off (13 moves) x 7. 5min rest between sets. Failed on the last two goes by 5 and 6 sec respectively.
Wed - Leading. Had a play on the new routes by Alex Mason. Was battered from work and the session the day before, took a few falls, failed on lots but it was good to see Eric trying hard on 6c just two days after his seventh chemo session.
Thu - Yoga. Feeling like I'm making progress here, guess I started around September, so it's took a while.
Fri - Drive Wales.
Sat - Main Cliff, Gogarth. Cruised up a HVS until I got to some holds that my wrist couldn't negotiate, left it too late to downclimb to the rest 3m below and peeled off. Biggest fall yet, an easy 10m. Then went on Scavenger, mate went the wrong way, wrist was struggling after the last climb and couldn't pull hard on an overhanging bit with no feet, eventually scrambled through by pulling on a draw - bailed. Not the place to be f*ckin' about.
Sun - Penmaen Head. Wrist was swollen and tender, did a 5 and then quit. Couldn't weight the right hand. Belayed Jordon for a few hours and headed home.

Now I'm not getting boxed out of my head on climbs, I can actually concentrate on what's going on with my dodgy wrist - seems I need a separate set of moves for left and right. I often can't do the obvious move at all and it sometimes take a while to work out a different and often harder one. I'll get there. Until I do tho, I've decided to pretty much hang up the trad gear. On HS multipitch, there's always a quick and easy option to get round stuff but from 5a upwards, I just get stumped at times and trying to onsight multipitch, at a place like main cliff at Gogarth seems a bit reckless.
On the plus side, felt comfortable on steep rock for the first time ever. I was at about 45m, foot jammed, holding a sidepull and resting before moving up and I looked across at the people on The Strand and didn't feel out of place, it felt good. No worries about being above the gear and the 30ft fall didn't provoke a reaction at all. Which is good. Fall practice is working.

Totally frustrated by the wrist this weekend and trying to bully it into working normally hasn't worked, it's just made it grumble loudly. So quite psyched to get to Spain and spend six months finding ways to sneak past my issues.

Main Cliff, Gogarth? Yep. Pretty f*ckin' amazing.

In reply to Dandan: Cheers Dan!

Mon - sit-ups, lots of sit-ups
Tue - Went to try the final problems from the comp. Thank god I went home! They were desperate, and it would've been embarrassing. Ah well, it was nice to know I got in.
Wed - rest
Thurs - press-ups, lots of press-ups
Fri - wall again for the new 6a-7a circuit. As per usual, flashed all but one of them (on this circuit they always set one horror show, I'm sure its just to annoy me...). Also ticked one of the 7a-8a circuit in the roof after some crazy beta and learning how to toe hook properly.
Sat - rest
Sun - rest

So a good week. Properly in to revision time now so I'll just have to make do with a session a week for a couple of weeks before FREEDOM.

In less than a month I'll be climbing in France - eeeek.

Cheers, Jake

In reply to Dandan:

Don't worry everyone, i'm only messing around, I'm not having a crisis of confidence about writing up the FitClub!
Glad people seem to be happy with what i'm doing, writing the stats is surprisingly hard work, it would be very easy to write - "well done/bad luck*, hows the finger/shoulder/osteoarthritis/boil on your bum*, did you get out climbing/running/egg and spoon racing* this week" for everyone, i'm doing my best to keep it varied.

*delete as appropriate

Anyway, thanks to me for doing the stats, shock horror, I actually did some climbing this week!
Midweek indoor boulder session, the aim was to get some easy volume to test the tennis elbow and it went pretty well to be honest. I was supposed to stick to V0/V1 but I did do a couple of easy steep V2's and maybe accidentally an as-yet ungraded route that was probably V3/4, very little discomfort from the elbows during the session and they seemed perfectly happy (or at least no worse than before) in the following couple of days.

The wood for my boulder shed arrived on Friday and I spent the weekend in hardcore DIY mode. Unlike the bouldering, this *did* have an adverse effect on my elbows, all the gripping of tools and carrying of wood (18mm OSB sheets are heavy on your own) for 3 straight days means things are a little delicate now. I'm 75% towards having an awesome training space in my garden but i'm currently far too injured to use it!
It's a bit of a monster, based around a full sized Moonboard so it's 2.4m wide and over 3m high, it has something like 30m^2 of climbing surface! It is technically a little higher than is strictly allowed but its against a boundary with an empty house so i'm hoping nobody will complain. If they do then i'll just have to chop the top off, which actually shouldn't be all that hard, it will be a shame to lose the moon board though.

Plan for this week is to do one more boulder session if the elbows feel ok, plus at least 1 strength and conditioning session, 2 would be good. Might try to get outside this coming weekend if the shed building is going well.

In reply to Joyce:

I live just up the road from Trym Valley. If you want company on A38 then I'd be super keen to work it - just drop me a mail. It's one I've wanted to get on for a while. As I'm so close, getting out for a couple of hours isn't an issue, but finding a partner for it is. Small NB - the route seeps on the lower half. I don't know how much wet it takes to start the seeping.

In reply to Dandan:
A good week for enjoyment, a poor one for achievement.

M: Rest
T: BoulderUK, new half set downstairs, usual story 4x V5s flashed and last one second go but didn't do anyone the V6. Completed some unfinished business upstairs including one graded V7 (it isn't V7). Despite the grades being the same I felt as strong as I have there.
W: Longridge, demonstrated that strong for me is still pitiful. Ankle survived but a bit sore, may not go back.
T: Troy Quarry, new low failed on an E2 twice but great to get out in an evening and I got some ticks for my log book
F: 1 and 3/4 hour bike ride. Managed coal hill without a dab
S: Family stuff
S: Kilnsey , correct choice of crag for once. Laboured up Highway 365 (has something come off it?) then put clips in Truth Drug, first go top roped from above Boulder problem start to top,next go tried border problem start without success, pulled past and fell off a bit higher. Third go thought I'd done it but blood fingers cause me to slip of last slap. Tried to flash Taking the Mick but as soon as I pulled on I knew it wasn't on, felt knackered. Fought to half way then dogged to top, some tree surgery when I got home finished me off. Feel battered today so that's something although my hands are in a terrible state.

In reply to Dandan:

Bad luck comes in three’s! The concussion/headache finally started to recede at the tail end of last week, but climbing all day Saturday made me feel rubbish again. I also manked a finger on my right-hand and hit my left thumb with a hammer.

Things can only get better…


BHAG (2016 and beyond):
- Some hard sport multi-pitch; Taghia maybe, Naranja de Bulnes, “La Geurre Sainte” 7b/+ multi-pitch in Wadi Rum?
- True North, Kilnsey – front on board style on crimps is too far outside my comfort zone in terms of style to be a 2015 goal
- Margalef routes – In particular, La Perla, 8b+ vert weirdness. Google it!
- Oliana super routes – Feb 2016 – La Marroncita (8b), Humildes pa casa (8b+), Fisheye (8c), Mind Control (8c), La Morenita (8c+)
- Kaa’bah, 8c+ - gotta aim high!

LTG (2015):
- Do some adventurous cycle touring (maybe C2C or MTB Great Glen/West Highland way?)
>8b+ RP options:
- Unjustified/Overjustified, Malham.
- Mecca (and possibly the extension), Ravens Tor.
- Climb f8a on gear – Point Bank in Pembroke?
- Climb a 5.13 crack, Last of the Bohicans (13d) and Transworld Depravity (14a) in the Red. Visit the NRG (dependent on finding trip partners).
>8a on-sight (turns out the lattice board is very non-linear and I need to aim for 110 moves for 8a+ OS; Eek!)
- Aim for 72 kg RP fighting weight

MTG (May/June/July):
- Increase An-cap; Find some less steep 7C-ish boulders to work on this.
- Get stronger – actually do something about it and do some proper hang-board sessions you f*kctard!
- Reacquaint myself with Unjustified
- Bolt an Orme newbie (or 4…)
- Reacquaint myself with the ‘bren and climb the 8b link-up project there
- Mandela & Guns in the sky, Kilnsey (if they dry out!)
- 8b’s: Well Done finish, Straight jacket & Chimes of Resistance.
- Boulders: Be Ruthless sit, Broken Direct & Broken Trigger.

- 74 kg & 6.5% BF

STG (next week)
- Get over the concussion & concussion induced fatigue – feels better when I wear contact lenses and move my head around less.
- Finish bolting/cleaning Orme project (needs a belay and maybe an extra runner).
- Keep up the aero-cap pootling (maybe do a comparative foot-on campus test if feeling better?)
- Aim for 75.5kg (76.1kg currently)

Last week:

M - Headache receding – limited to pain whilst moving my head with any speed. Felt good enough to do some aero-cap. 1 on/off foot-on campus x15 sets, finished with some press-ups.
T - Persistent headache almost gone. Gentle session on Mayfair wall; 7b+ RP. Cave pootle was less successful; dropped off cave life start and jarred my head again. D’oh! Cocodamol induced nausea; bleurgh!
W - Neck stiff again; rest.
T - Felt frazzled from work, but better after an aero-cap session. 1 on/off foot-on campus x15 sets.
F - Rest – frazzled again
S - Malham. Got pumped on Consenting! Worked Zoolook/Well Done (8a/8b). 2nd go amazed myself and did Zoolook in two. Burst a blood vessel in finger on WD and suffered numb/purple finger for rest of day. Dogged Straightened/Straight Jacket (8a/8b); improved my sequence on cruxes of Straightened and Baboo.
S - Obviously went too big too soon. Headache returned and felt weak as a kitten. Went to the Orme and did some bolting/cleaning of a new route. Hit thumb with hammer! Pulled 2 of the good holds off and made it much harder than I thought it was going to be!

In reply to Ally Smith:

Sounds grim. Hope it mends soon.

In reply to Dandan:

Reporting to FC Boot Camp.

M - 5 miles hilly
T - 9.3 miles to my lift home @ 7:52 - last Friday was @7:59
W - same 9.3 miles, this time @7:38
T - Sorry Sarge, didn't do anything.
F - 8 miles doing the Great Flat Lode, but including Carn Brae
S - 10.5 miles hilly
S - working from 3am until midnight to meet a deadline. No run

So 42 miles, some hills, some of them around 7:00, but not great. I wanted to do a run on Sunday but was just so racing the clock to get my assignment in that I couldn't. Another 50m target missed!

My chest still hurts, and I still can't breathe properly deeply. It feels as though my lungs are full of gunk, although the GP said they were clear.

We are off to the Lakes on Saturday, to walk the BGR, via Harvey Nicks in Leeds and my crazy Aunt in Wynchcombe. I am looking forward to that

In reply to Dandan:

Cheers Dan. Did a bit better with heading outside this week - bit chilly at times for the running vest, though.

Mon - CrossFit (should I add a 'TM' here? 5x5 overhead squat @ 35kg. 3 sets 5 cleans,10 Front Squat, 5 Jerk, 20 Ring pullup.
Tue - Rest
Wed - Trail Run. 16.46km/584m
Thu - CrossFit. 3x5 Strict Press @ 30kg. 2 Sets 6 Strict Press, 20 pushups, 18 wallballs, 3 burpees
Fri - Rest
Sat - Trail Run. 15.38km/456m
Sun - Climbing at AW Sheffield. 20mins laps at 6a/5+. A handful of routes at 6a. 6a is far too hard for me at the moment to do endurance training, so only managed 20 mins.

On the hand front, I have an appointment with an orthopaedic consultant at Stepping Hill next Tue. I've also been in touch with the specialist unit at Derby to see what the private treatment options are. We'll see how things go at Stepping Hill first, though.

Now heading into week 7 of the 8 week transition period, which is the last full week. Looking forward to starting some more specific training, but given the situation with the hand I may have to write off some of the more technical climbing goals for this year.

In reply to Dandan:
Cheers Dan! Keep up the good work!

Shorter, faster, harder this week!

M: lunchtime - 7M offroad in 44:12, pm - 4M jog in 28:20
Tu: am - jog to work, pm - jog home and then to the track, first proper track session: 600,500,400,300,200, (with same distance jog recovery), 2K (800m jog recovery) 600,500,400,300,200 (as before) - ouch!!! Times were 1:40, 1:21, 66, 45, 31, 6:01, 1:41, 1:21, 66, 45, 31 So pretty good running solo and in the wind, felt good and strong as times didn't drop off at all. Knackered running home after 10/11M total
W: am - run to work 4M in 28:30, pm - run home 7/8M in 53:20
Th: am - jog to work 1/2M, pm - run home 7M in 49:57 - v sore after track session and tired
F: am - walk to work + rest (just looked and this is the first rest day in 6 weeks)
Sa: am - grass session 3 x (600, 60secs recovery 200) 5 min between sets. This was full on lactic death! You know you're in trouble when you finish the second set on your knees and there's another set to go! Times were 1:40's and 28's but distances were not accurate. Did some strides afterwards for good measure. Wrecked! pm - easy 4/5M in 32:18. Then the highlight of the week: went to a barn dance and Paula Radcliffe was also there (and she did join in!). Avoided the large temptation to get a photo with her
Su: Clearly not cut out for barn dancing - will stick to running as tired again! 6/7M easy in 43:02

Total: 60M good sessions this week, feeling like I might be able to run quick (and will find this out for real on Weds as doing a 1500m as my opening race of the track season) plus its not often you find yourself in a room with 3 female GB marathon runners (including the best of all time) like I was on Saturday evening!

In reply to mbh:

Morning Camper,

Might be teaching you to suck eggs here, but Bob Wightman's website has an excellent page on it that details all the cheeky time saving trods and that on the BG. Worth a look if you've not already seen it.

http://bobwightman.co.uk/run/bgr_notes.php

Also, if you're gonna go for a round over Summer, get on the Fell Running Association forum www.fellrunner.org.uk and there're a heap of other BG aspirants and veterans on there who will pace, navigate, carry kit and be road support for ya too.

Hope this is of use.

Love from,
Joyce,
XXXX

In reply to Dandan:

Cheers Dan. Yeah, 'shin splints' makes the skin crawl, right? It's feeling much better at the moment. Haven't tried running on it yet but think I'll head out tomorrow for an easy one and see how it goes. Had a good week focusing on S&C and actual climbing.

M: Still in London with the girlfriend
T: Travelling back, quick session of Frenchies (5s lock, 1x6) in the evening and lots of pushups.
W: After work session bouldering indoors at Llangorse. Lots of easy traversing to warm up and then worked some 6bs and a 6b+ for a while with limited success. Finished off on the 45 degree training board. Felt a bit unproductive.
T: Rest
F: After work session bouldering at Llangorse. Lots of easy traversing to warm up again, then ticked all the 6bs I'd been working on previously and the 6b+! Turns out Wednesday wasn't unproductive at all! Felt pretty strong by my standards haha. Finished off with a few sets of pushups as I could feel my right elbow starting to twinge a bit.
S: 90 minute circuit workout, core routine to warm up before some hangs on tools, weighted pushups and wall squats.
S: 90 minute circuit workout, same format as Saturday.

Last week's goals: 2 sessions climbing (indoors/outdoors weather dependent) TICK, 2 circuit sessions TICK. Continue to rest leg, if feeling better try a short run on Sunday didn't manage the run but fingers crossed for tomorrow.

This week's goals: 2 sessions climbing, pay attention to the elbow and warm down with some pushups after each session. 2 runs, no more than 20km in total. 2 circuit sessions.

In reply to Dandan:

Not the greatest week but its late on now soan early taper

m: 5 miles easy
t: am 4 miles easy 9 miles 6:50 pace.
w: 12 miles 6:50 pace felt OK
t: 4.5 miles, ran to the track, just didnt have it in me, walked home
f: 4 miles tired 11 pm
s: 12 miles 6:40 pace felt OK bit clunky
s: 10 miles slow felt sore and tired

The weekend was a 4 hour lecture block fridat night, 1.5 drive home and then 8 hours of lectures saturday and sunday, 3 hours of driving each day.. just very tiring so a disrupted weekend.

In reply to Nick Russell:

Yes, both recommended. Worth being aware that unlike La Folie, the first pitch of Gendarmerie is not trivial and rather lacking in bomber gear.

In reply to Dandan:

Thanks for doing the stats Dan! Next time I go to a climbing festival I make sure to join someone equally eager to climb. Good to hear that bouldering didn’t worsen your elbow!

Weight: 70.5kg
M: bouldering indoors, did a 6C, which I struggled with a few months ago, at first try and it felt easy. Also retroflashed a couple off 6B+es. Reached my highpoint on the autobelay on two 7+/8- routes.
T: rest
W: climbing indoors, did a 6a and 6a+, tried a 6b+ and a 6c/+, didn’t finnish them, I just wanted to try some moves.
T: climbing outdoors, warmed up on a 6-, found out that our project, a 7-, was wet, so we did a bolted 3 pitch 6-, felt some tweak in the elbow during the climbing.
F: climbing outdoors, did a 7 pitch 5-, which had a really cool 3th pitch, a leaning corner with some interesting moves and good gear (most part of the route was slabby with lots of runouts).
S: rest
S: running, 20 minutes in somewhat hilly terrain.

In reply to Joyce:

What are you up to Thursday evening? I could meet you at Huntsham if you're up for it.
Also, good work on the parkrun! (A few seconds ahead of my PB...)

In reply to Dandan:
Cheers Dan. Yep, glad to finally get one ticked at least. It's also nice to feel that you are actually improving, as it's not always easy to tell. Not such a good week this time, as the weather's been all over the place.

MTG (End of 2015)
• Sport Pyramid - 1/12 x 6c/+, 1/6 x 7a, 0/2 x 7a+
• Trad Pyramid - 8/40 x HVS, 0/30 x E1, 0/1 x E2

M - First time on the orme for a quick top rope of Quicksilver (7a), sandwiched in between house move stuff. Certainly doable, and a nice route.
T - Penmaen Head - 6b+ warm up, then it got really cold, and annoying conveyancing solicitors had soured my mood, so I bailed.
W - Dinbren - 6b warm up, failed 6c onsight just, don’t think I had warmed up enough. One go to try to work out a 7a, tough crux though, so need to work out a sequence. But a really nice climb, so eager to get back and attempt to get it done.
T - Rest
F - Rest
S - Dinbren attempt, but icy windy and cloudy conditions put an end to that, so DIY club instead. Followed by a brief feet on fingerboard session. 2 mins on, moving around holds, 5 mins off. Repeated 3 times. Suprisingly pumpy work out.
S - Took a gamble on a trip to Tremadog, as forecasts were mixed. It was slightly chilly and rained at the first belay, but it paid off with a tick of Merlin Direct (HVS 5a).

In reply to Nick Russell:

Morning Camper,

Funny you should mention it, I'll be hanging out at The Slug on Thursday evening, with Tom and Ross, from six-ish. We can square you away with as much beta and encouragement as you like! Would be great to see ya out there.

Joyce

In reply to hms:

Morning Camper,

Sounds like a plan. I may well sneak down there for an evening next week but almost certainly next weekend - can try out Armistice Wall if it's wet too.

Joyce

In reply to Dandan:

Cheers Dandan!

Well I didn't log anything on the last thread. I had a cold and found whole new levels of mardy! Even took a day off work for the first time in 2 yrs!

Mon - sniff..

Tues - achooo!!

Weds - Blurp but did 2 hours ropes/lead. Lovely atmosphere of support, I think the vibe got me back on my snotty feet!

Thurs - meh!

Fri - SBL at Depot then went for burn off trying to improve my planning (looking at a climb below my grade and deciding which holds I can get by without before climbing). 3 hrs - knackered!

Sat - 1.5 hrs SBL at NCC, quite a laugh with a good bunch. Happy days! Told my kid I was mardy from not getting a run so she said we could go together. She did 2 miles with me, up hill for half of it! I love my kid, she's ace!

Sun - Dragon boat racing all day. I think I had 5 races (might have been 4?), silly tiring, good fun but very wet.

In reply to flopsicle:

Flopsicle - was it yourself who posted a year or so ago looking for recommendations for climbing with a young daughter? Think I recomended the nicas scheme but she was too young at the time. Apologies if not!

In reply to Joyce:

Great, see you on Thursday! I don't really know when The Slug is, so is there somewhere convenient to meet you? My number is 07813 453026; would you send me a text with your name? Looking forward to it!

In reply to Nick Russell:

check my blog for directions.....

In reply to Ian Rock:

Yes it was and she's doing nicas now - time flies!

In reply to Ally Smith:

Just catching up on the news. How do you feel about Fallingwater going down?

In reply to Joyce:

I'll try and swing by as well. I'm leading a group up Pen y Fan tomorrow so Huntsham is perfectly placed to stop off on my drive home

In reply to The Ex-Engineer:

Morning Campers,

Ex-Engineer, would be great to have you along on Thursday - more peeps equals more rest between goes! Nick, the best place to park is at a bus turning circle at the bottom of the hill coming down from Symonds Yat Rocks - it's here:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/search/symonds+yat+rocks/@51.846574,-2.634843...

I'll flick you a text so you've got my number. I'll be there at about 6 if you wanna meet up then. Failing that, AJM's directions on his blog will steer you to The Slug where your initiation can begin! Top tip: wear trousers (for the walk in, at least) as it's pretty brambly.

See you there,

Joyce

In reply to Just Tintin:


I bolted it for Fred many moons ago; neither of us had much luck on doing individual moves in the start section, so I'm chuffed for Ellis to have completed it.

Fred commented that it was a southern Hubble, and by the sounds of things he wasn't a mile off the mark!

In reply to Joyce:


When i was going to Huntsham, the bus turning circle was the one place you should explicitly not park....

In reply to Ally Smith:

I'll bear this in mind when parking. Andy's blog mentions a pullout just up the road from the turning circle, not on the turning circle itself.

In reply to Dandan:
Cheers Dan.

Late shout from me, again, but I made it.

3 climbing sessions squeezed in. Not bad.
This week has not been as good sadly.

Had a quick trip to a local grit quarry after a run on Sunday. Not the greatest but has potential for quick trad hits. Didn't have full kit so just top roped the worlds hardest vs, a hvs and then tried an e3. Blimey that was a bit hard. Couldn't do the first move (6a my arse) as I wasnt 6ft6in tall. Contrived a sequence to get past it to what looked like easier ground. It wasn't! Having said that its a nice route, just very bouldery for the whole 10m. The gear consists of a peg at 4m that I could bend with my fingers.
Routes session at work on the tall wall. Up to 6c os easily but got stopped in my tracks by a 6c+. Selfishly climbed my own route and declared it a masterpiece.
Also fitted a proper aero cap session in on auto the day before routes. Not pumped, not tired, just totally empty forearms that meant I just couldn't hold on anymore. This was the day before routes and I didnt feel right the day after but it soon went when I started climbing again.

Not a bad week. I just need consistency, which I'm not getting as this weeks report will show.