UKC

UKC Fit Club Week 430

I've been recommended to take 2 weeks off climbing to settle the elbow down so all your achievements are keeping me psyched, keep it up!


Link to last week's thread: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=617503

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: We got a letter here at FitClub Towers this week from a Matthew Arremm and he said: Here's a suggestion for the video: youtube.com/watch?v=0WlDugUn5cQ& Bit historical, but it's Ron Fawcett doing Lord of the Flies (E6) on the
Cromlech.
It seems all Sid Perou's fims are now available on Youtube, and very interesting they are too.

Last week's posters:

Flopsicle - How is the motivation for strength training coming on? I would suggest a regular, motivated partner could help
Tyler - Hope your dad is ok, how did the week pan out in the end?
AJM - Good week! 70km after work sounds epic, whereabout is the New Forest ride taking place?
Exile - Sounds like Countash is close! Any more progress?
Cheese Monkey - Bad weeks come to the best of us, did you bin off the Triathlon?
hms - What is your 7c project on Portland? HOM? Just been told Nightmare Scenario (7c) is amazing...
Ally Smith - Looks like a sensible week, hope the minor tweaks are improving?
mbh - 50 miles is 50 miles indeed! No news on the chest pain, is it all ok now?
Dandan82 - Dwelling in elbow hell
Mutl3y - Holiday request approved, congratulations on getting married!
Humperdink - 4:12 for 1500 metres on a slow race?!
Joughton - FREEDOM!
Joyce - Psyche is high, keep crushing!
Ian Rock - Nice full week, if the tape is working for you, keep doing it, don't listen to my naysaying!
0.5viking - Good mileage this week, do you have a weight loss target?
Planetmarshall - Back stops play, hope it's better this week?
biscuit - 30 boulders flashed up to V4? Awesome work!
The Ex-Engineer - How's the trench foot?
Luke Owens - Congrats on Screaming skull! Still ill?
Mattrm - has been abducted and replaced with someone who climbs 4 times a week...
Just Tintin - sounds like your life Plan B is similar to mine...
Nick Russell - How is/was Ceuse?

AWOL: alexm198, creedence, roadrunner5, Lancer, JayK.

In reply to Dandan:

Thanks Dan. I've been returned and the alien who was in charge has gone off home. Only 2 sessions this week.

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 @ Rec
T - 100 dish tucks
W - Sport @ Witches Point
T - 5k run
F - 100 dish tucks
S - Rest/DIY
S - DIY/Core

Monthly - 78%
Yearly - 69%

I'd really hoped for a bit of weight loss this week. But rest day also meant gluttony day. But least I've stayed the same. Ok session at Witches Point. Didn't get on the routes I'd planned on doing, but did get massively pumped on a 6b. Confidence is still poor. Hoping to get out to Navigation this week to try the 7a. If I don't start it soon, the summer will be over and I'll be stuffed for getting on it.

Averages are slowly creeping up which is nice. Went out for a run, which I've not done in a while. Meant to do lots of DIY this weekend, but I've been totally stuffed, so haven't got much done so far. Ended up resting most of Saturday as I was so tired. Only just starting work today, which isn't ideal either. Oh well.

In reply to Dandan:

OK, I'll go first. Thanks again Dan. No chest pains are now severe enough that they qualify as an excuse, sadly

This week I did very little, then an Ultra!

M - 5 miles
T -
W - 9.2 miles run to lift home
T -
F -
S - Classic Quarter, from Lizard Point to Land's End along the coast path. 44 miles of mind games. I would definitely have given up at Lamorna, 33 miles in, if my wife had been there waiting. Luckily, grid lock on the road down prevented that. This took me 10.5 hours (no, really, 4 hours behind the winner) and is the hardest thing I have done. My new definition of an ultra is that it's a run where you are knackered well before the half-way point and where you would be easily out-paced by a brisk walker by the end. I don't know why I was so tired, but I was so, so, tired for the whole of the last half that I am pleased just to have finished it.

In reply to mattrm:

OK, I'll go second!

In reply to Dandan:

Didnt bin off triathlon I smashed it! Nearly 15minutes faster than I was hoping for did it in 1:26

In reply to Dandan:
Back home from uni now so I've done some actual climbing!

Mon - festival recovery
Tue - bouldering and circuits. Did a few V6s and V7s and did a few laps of the 7a circuit.
Wed - lots of pullups
Thurs - Chee Tor. First proper trad climbing in aaages. Warmed up on Absent Friends (E3 5c) which I felt rubbish on (no trust in gear or feet), and then after that for some reason decided to get on Ceramic (E4 5c). There's a notorious fall from the crux a long way above a cluster of bomber gear. Got to there, looked up at how far the next pro would be and got spooked, so I bailed on to a neighbouring E1.
Fri - rest
Sat - Rhoscolyn at Gogarth. My climbing partner set off up The Viper (E4 5c) but didn't fancy the crux and bailed. I had been planning on doing something easier, after my fright on Thursday, but gear needed retrieving so I ended up doing that instead. Gogarth E4 5c is a grade I have a history of not getting on with, but I managed to persevere this time and grunt my way through wobbly holds and baggy jams, so it was good to get back on the horse so to speak. Finished off following an E1.
Sun - rest, leaving for the Tarn tomorrow!

Cheers, Jake

In reply to Dandan: As predicted last week, another woefully unproductive week with zero climbing or proper training (so far).

M - Cuillin scrambling in the mist.
T - more Cuillin scrambling in the mist.
W - Bla Bheinn not in the mist
T - 10+ hours driving.
F - working in the Surrey hills, got rained on.
S - working in the Surrey hills, didn't get rained on.
S - stood on a high building all day (charity abseil), didn't get rained on.

Will be heading to the wall in a few minutes to try and start salvaging something from the month...

Should be free most or all of tomorrow (Monday) through to Friday this coming week but I haven't got a firm plan yet, so please drop me a message if you're short of a partner.

In reply to mbh:

"... 44 miles.... I don't know why I was so tired..." Doh! Not the 44 miles then? Seriously, you're a bloody machine! Well done!

In reply to Dandan:

Hi dandan, cheers. Bad luck on the elbow. Stay on target.

My week:
M- 200 press ups, 60 really good leg raises, 63 pull ups incl 21 w/8kgs and 1 w/16kgs
T- 150 press ups, works for hour of power. first time in yonks, did every red (2nd easiest circuit) and all but 1 grink (3rd easiest). That last grink was described as nails and it wasn't kidding, specially after doing 72 probs and being out of shape.
W, T - nowt. Low mojo and baby keeping us up half the night. Diet de-railed.
F- really enjoyable session on Stanage. No fireworks but was good to get out.
S-nowt
S-mini works with baby (at 20 months she can almost get up the problems unassisted) then a decentish session in the works - managed every pinkle (4th easiest circuit) but about 6 of them were not flashed. Did not feel strong.

Reflections
- Weak as a kitten at the moment and haven't been trying as hard as I should.
- 3 months ago I was half a stone lighter and was doing pull ups with +16kgs. Now am struggling with +8 and even having the discipline to do regular routines.
- diet is more a case of treading water at a stone overweight (which is still "ok for me" but still...). I know I should be hammering it but am finding excuses.
- More positively, some non climbing friends I hadn't seen for ages say they have been "inspired" by seeing the good shape I've got in recently and have set about achieving their training/diet goals. Never had those sorts of compliments before - should try to harness that energy.
- I have been totally amazed by ben moon's ascent of Rainshadow on a few levels:
1. The guy is lucky enough to be 10 stone no matter his training programme (contrast this with the Jerry Moffats of this world) and climbs f7B off the couch.
2. But he doesn't settle for that. Instead he puts in four solid months of graft to achieve his dream. Back in the day the guy went training on the afternoon of the day he did Hubble. That's mind blowing! Certainly puts my lack of commitment into perspective.

With that in mind....


Goals to achieve by November:
1. Get ripped (as an end in itself)
2. Soft on the G (Gardoms, F7B)
3. Kidney stone (Gardoms, F7B)
4. Piss (Burbage, F7B)
5. Build a wall in the garage.

In reply to Dandan:

Thanks for doing fit club again Dan - see below!

2015 aims:

Winter VI 7 - Tick.

Spring / early Summer 7b RP - Countash, Mill Side Scar - Tick.

Summer quick build through E1 / E2 / E3s on slate before trying to OS Malice in Wonderland, (E3 / E4)

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

M: Rest in prep' for RP attempt tomorrow
T: 2hrs climbing - got Countash (7b) on the first red point, well chuffed
W: 1hr road bike ride, (maintain winter climbing endurance)
T: 1hr 15min short problems at the wall (power)
F: Rest
S: 3hrs, (2hrs 58minutes and 2 seconds to be precise,) MTBing the Sam Houghton challenge 25km course with my 10 yr old son
S: Rest

A great week - go my fist 7b and rode my first mountain bike event with one of my lads - a happy man!

In reply to Dandan:

Cheers again for the thread - it is genuinely appreciated.

Hmmmm... motivation, well I suppose I'm at least a few up from nowt! I'd give myself 5/10 for strength stuff this week!

Mon - 3.2 miles run and too a couple hours A/L to boulder.

Then, knock me down with a feather duster, ex agrees to X 3 evenings with munchkin to make up for last week! So...

Tues- 3 miles run, 2hrs bouldering

Weds - Teeny 1.5 mile run, 2 hrs top roping - new routes on top ropes distracted me from eading cos they were fun!

Thurs - 2.3 mile run and 45 TRX session, thought I'd try as I've considered buying in quest to make strength training fun. I had my ass handed to me on a plate! I wish I could go for about 6 session, once or twice a week but it's not possible as there's no way I could afford extra childcare and for the session.

Fri - Alton Towers for daughter's inset day, it has to go in. I was POOPED!

Sat - 2 mile jog with daughter, she wanted to have a run in the rain and she loved it! 1.5 hrs bouldering, chipped into the NCC summer boulder probs but need a second day.

Sunday and munchkin's dad cancelled having her - bang went my main climbing day! Was rescued by munchkin being up for a climby day, very bitty but got 2 routes previously failed on the auto belay, at least felt I did something. Also had the pleasure of watching my girl climb, she rocks my bloody world! It was lots of fun if not much exercise.

In addition to that I actually did my 3 sets of X5 slow lowers on the pull up bar, very small start but it's there and it's going to be on my weekly logs even if I do nowt!

New goals:
1 pull up (yes yes I know....)

Marathon x 2 F6 a and/or b, ie exchanging between two routes see how many I can rack up F6. This will lead to a less vague goal!

Roped F6c at Notts, only notts to count.

In reply to Dandan:

Thanks for doing FC Dan - I don't tend to re-tape the finger mid session, I find this means the tape acts as a crutch to start with and gradually loses support about the same time as the joint warms up fully.

No change in the weight which was pretty disappointing giving that I have been weighing food and monitoring calories like a hawk. I feel stronger so I can only presume that I'm swapping fat for muscle.

M - Cycle commute. Rest / long walk.
T - CC. Run 6.2km of interval training. 400m @80% max heart rate pace / 400m @ 4 min per km pace.
W - CC. Rest.
T - CC. Running 5.6km at very slow pace - took 47 mins in total.
F - Cycled to swimming. 2.5km endurance work with swimming squad. Pace was just under 2min over 100m, which felt comfortable over the 2.5k. Will have to wait till Saturday to see how it equates to open water, wet suit swimming over half a mile. Cycled to work afterwards.
S - Park Run. My aim was to chip some time off my last run time of 27:01. Set out on a 4:50 min per km pace - it felt waaaaay faster than I was used to and I thought about slowing down after 400m. Stuck with it for another 400m, then another and eventually I just thought sod it and battled through the pain. Found out later my heart rate was between 180-195 bpm for most of the race. For a 39 year old, that scared me a little.
Finishing time was 24:21. Nowhere near the top, but for a Clydesdale I was pretty chuffed!
S - Bushed. Spent day giving my niece her first go at climbing and did some random bouldering.

In reply to Cheese Monkey:

Great time fella!

In reply to Dandan:
Thanks Dan, he's doing well but i was thrown a couple of swerve balls that meant this weekend was a write off too. Despite that I did better than expected.

M: Planned rest but got home from hospital visit to find Ben Moon had climbed Rainshadow! Psyche went through the roof, so downloaded an app and did 2x 7min strength and conditioning workout
T: Another hospital visit but psyche still high so did 2x 7min S&C workout
W: Couple of hours in the Outhouse, decided yellow circuit is too easy and GBH circuit is too hard so worked on doing the yellow on screw ons only. Managed it once in each direction. 2x 10 pull ups.
T: Hospital visit
F: Rushed out to Kilnsey after work. Warmed up by putting most of the clips in. 3 goes:
R7+ then dogged R to 8+
R4+ then from there to top
Fell off going to R then from there to 9
S: Had to pick son up from uni but scored some cheapish Andrea Boldrini shoes from V12 in Llanberis which will give me the stamina and footwork of a Frenchman.
S: Family stuff but sneaked to the outhouse for a couple of hours. Turns out I'd over estimated the effects of fancy yellow shoes. Long warm up then 4 goes on yellow FFF, L6 clockwise, L11 anti, L5 clockwise, L9 anti. 2x 7min S&C.

In reply to Dandan:

OK, first time posting for me. Have just started posting on the UKB equivalent and thought why not copy and paste the log in here, especially as there's other's with the same coach on this thread (just starting a Tom Randall training plan).

STG is to climb an 8a by my 30th (mid August). I'm sure I could have climbed an 8a a few years ago but I've had a year off of routes and endurance is very bad (Randall says I have bad endurance, even for a boulderer).

Mon: AeroCap on FB
Tues: Boulders at the works. Comp wall problems around 7A/+. 30 mins AeroCap. Leg raises and L hangs on a bar.
Weds: AeroCap on FB. Reverse fly variations with chairs.
Thurs: WCJ to have another crack at Vindicator Vindicator (7c+) Only had 2 RP goes and got through the crux twice but changed my sequence for a low percentage section after crux just before my 2nd RP and ended up forgetting key foot move and caused me to blow the 2nd RP. Too tired/getting dark for more attempts. Will go next time for sure.
Fri: Rest
Sat: Lowish intensity FB session followed my lots of core exercises.
Sun: Bouldering at the works. Did most of the new pink/purple circuit then did the black (furthest right) on the comp wall. I'd guestimate around 7B/+ but it has been a while since I've bouldered in that style. 30 mins AeroCap.

Not an overly successful week. Feeling quite tired from my first week of a Randall training plan and I have 3 extra training units to do next week, need to get more efficient!

Annoyed not to get Vindicator this week. Can do all of the moves easily but just lacking a bit in endurance, though I'm sure it would have gone that session if I'd had longer. Really good little route, a future classic in it's style I think (short and bouldery).

Hope the body adapts to the extra volume soon.

In reply to Dandan:
Also if any of the Bristol FCers fancy some valleys sandstone this week, I'm looking for a partner this Tue/Thurs. Ideally at Navigation Quarry.

In reply to Ian Rock:

Cheers man, really pleased. For my first one I was stunned. Did the swim a bit quicker than I thought, cycle about right, but sprinted round the run! I thought it would have been my weakest section too. Transition times were well below average too.

M- Nowt
T- 1hr cycle
W- Got on Directoonima 7c at Cheddar, Pride Evans with the FA who has forgotten the crucial beta haha! Great climbing though. Hard
T- Open water swim at Bristol Open Water. Owner is a bit mad (in a good way) but flew round and had a good one
F- Cycle to work
S- DIY, put stud wall up
S- Triathlon day! My first ever. Bristol Harbourside Sprint distance. Was quite nervous before hand but soon as I got stuck in on the swim I knew I would be alright.

Results- 01:26:31.5
Overall : 76 / 175
Gender : 67 / 125
Categ : 28 / 50
Swim 00:16:06.0, T1 00:02:44.7, Cycle 00:41:45.9, T2 00:00:59.3, Run 00:24:55.4

In reply to Dandan:
Hey Dan cheers for starting. It's this one: http://www.cyclofanatic.co.uk/rattler.php so all round the houses really.

Mixed week. Finger was a bit flared up early week so gave it a rest until today. I did a 10:3 on Monday and a very brief Boulder on Tuesday before nothing wed-sat. Bike commute every day.

Saturday I went out for a ride with nick. Was thinking I could up my game a lot from the last big ride in May so we had an ambitious ride planned. Sadly I faded towards the end and instead of a final 20k or so over the purbecks throwing in a whole chunk extra of hill we ended up bailing down flat roads through busyness back through wareham and Poole.
+ longest ride yet at 124km
+ steepest and hardest hill yet - the one out of Cerne Abbas which has 0.5km at 13% preceded by probably about 0.5km at ~10%. The Bulbarrow climb we did was longer, supposedly cat3, but was way easier as it was just plodding away at about 4% the whole way up.
+ at the 97km point we had done almost as much climbing as on the Jurassic Beast in May and about the same length but in 45 minutes less total time (which also includes some faff before we started)
- in total, no extra height. This is concerning as the ride I'm potentially doing in the peak in September is probabky about 115km but 2200m ascent instead of 1400m
- combination of front loaded hills, rolling country after that and the wind just killed me.

Verdicts:
Not all metres of height are created equal. I put myself so far into the red coming out of Cerne Abbas because I ran out of gears and so was full on grinding my way up something that's sustainedly steep for longer than any of my usual hills. I think that just f*cked me over for a lot of the rest really. I am seriously starting to consider nicks suggestions of getting some lower gearing. I'm not fit enough to be in the aerobic zone on 10% inclines so as soon as I start them the clock starts ticking, and also cumulatively over the day every time I go into the red it takes its toll. The peak ride has mam tor on it which is supposedly 2km at 10%. I might be able to do that, but whether I can do that and anything else is another matter. Still, I've got 1-2 months to think about it. It's definitely brought home how big a step up this September ride could be.

Sunday - felt pretty tired (dinner out after with hms/CY/Nick so very late home too). Canned trad climbing in favour of gentle bouldering and chatting. Warmed up, failed to repeat some V2 stuff I'd done before and then flashed Lost Decade which is nominally V6. I'm not quite sure about it, I think I could keep my feet on decent holds lower down which made it easier and also I'm not 100% sure whether I should have traversed left before finishing. But then I've never really understood or been consistent in bouldering grades. Who knows. It's a nice problem and has a V7 linkup coming off it which I might try to work next. The V5 it links into I tried briefly but couldn't do, but thankfully you don't have to take that swing on the link!

More riding and more climbing next week I hope.

Edit: forgot - I did about 5km this evening on the bike in order to hit a 200km week. Puerile ticking at its finest. And according to strava I've not climbed over 1/3rd the height of Everest in June. Need to aim for a 1 vertical km after work ride and maybe hitting 50-60% by the end of June?

In reply to Dandan: Cheers Dan, starting to feel better now.

M: Rest

T: Dinbren - 2 goes up Flowers for the Dead, got familiar with the moves again, same old story as last year the 2 moves between clips 1 and 2 feel the living end for me and I only manage them individually once every few goes while hanging on the rope and I can always climb to the top from there... Felt psyched to get back on it.

W: Rest

T: Had planned to go to Dinbren but had some bad family news.

F: Rest

S: Rest

S: Dinbren - warmed up on Climb High (E4 6b/French 7a) stupid idea crux is mega sharp and fell off. Watched a strong guy basically walk up Flowers for the Dead and made the hard (for me) moves look like nothing. Very inspiring. Discussed beta with him and tried some things out but it just seems like I'm not strong enough for the route, which is a first for me. I've always had the problem of getting too pumped or powering out but for the first time I just fall off right at the start because the moves are just nails. It was greasy in the sun though to give myself some sort of credit.

This was my 10th session on the route albeit most of the sessions short ones. I'm thinking I'd be better off trying something else and come back to this when I'm stronger, it's a hard decision though as I've invested a lot of time into it. I am just grade chasing a 7c and there's another at the crag (Extreme Ways) which I've been told has easier moves but is more sustained, a style which I'm better at these days. I'm thinking of just getting on this instead. Decisions...

In reply to Dandan:

Cheers to me for doing the stats, bad week from an elbow point of view, but a good week for exciting things to look forward to!

M: Routes; indoor - Elbow felt ok-ish, decided to do an easy routes session to see if it made it any worse. My thinking was that if it's not making it worse, I can at least keep doing some aerocap stuff while the elbow is healing. I'm not convinced either way really, I kept to steep, 6c and below and there was very little discomfort during the actual climbing, but it was sore again the next day.
T:
W:
T: Mini strength and conditioning purely due to my inability to rest completely! I did one evening of rest on tuesday and by wednesday I was helping my mate lift an engine into an Austin 7! I have a really hard time doing nothing!
F: Physio; Elbow is proper buggered, she wants me to rest for 2 weeks doing nothing and only static, isometric stretches on the elbow, not even eccentrics!
S: Right then, complete rest, better take it steady, what shall I do today...? I know, i'll help some friends move house, that'll be good for me.
S: Ok, seriously now, complete rest, what shall I do today...? I know, i'll shingle 10 square metres of roof on the boulder shed, that can't possibly harm my elbows...

What I have learned from this is that i'm a complete idiot, elbow is now as sore as ever. This following week will be ABSOLUTE rest. It will probably leave me gibbering and chain-watching climbing videos by Wednesay but I really need this fixed!
One reason that I want to be fully fit is that i've booked myself a cheeky little holiday, I managed to get a bit of a discount on a RocUp coaching holiday, so in September i'm off to Kalymnos to be coached by Magnus Midtbo!
Very excited about this, I'm hoping 5 days of coaching (3 with Magnus) on real rock should *finally* get this damn 8a tick out of the way.

Fingers crossed I will have nothing to report this time next week apart from a marked decrease in elbow soreness.

STG: (next few weeks)
Rest COMPLETELY
Manage elbows to allow me to get back to 5/6 days training per week - MASSIVE FAIL
Tick indoor 7b clean (bit of an easy one but if anything it will get me back on some routes indoors)
Stop doing 2 sets of my Strength and Conditioning routine and do the full 3 sets you lazy bum

MTG: (next couple of months)
Get back on campus board without elbow discomfort, get solid 1-4-7 both arms leading
Sign of the Vulcan 7b+ (If i can get back to Cuttings)
Indoor 7c clean
Indoor V8 clean (if they ever set any new ones)
Score 150+ V points from 50 routes in a session indoor (avg V3): Previously done 121pts

LTG: (this year)
8a redpoint
Beat my 2011 record of 133 ticks in one year: 74/133
Get to Brean Down at least once (never been, hint hint)
Get to Cheddar more, maybe find a project.
Go somewhere cool and tick something good in October half term

In reply to Dandan:

Thanks Dan. Yes, HoM.

M - cycle commute. After the wkend my upper arms/shoulders were giving some esp nasty feelings so gentle S&C x 2. Using a heavier weight for bits of it though.
T - cycle commute
W - cycle commute. UCR routes. Was supposed to be gentle cos the arms/shoulders still felt fragile, but got a bit carried away. 15 routes, mainly in pairs, inc tries on 7a+ x 2, 7b, 7b+ x 2.
T - cycle commute, cycle on to UCR, bouldering for 1 1/2 hours. Had a bad time on the 6b-6c set of problems (weird scoopy blobs). Then suprised myself by flashing 2 of the 6c-7a set (more crimpy).
F - rest, drive to Portland, met up with Curious Yellow for our weekend seige of HoM!
S - warmup, dogged rope up HoM, then TR go to remember the moves followed by 3 redpoint attempts. Did the route in 2 on 2 of them, but problem on one move - releasing a toe-hook was leading to a pivot I couldn't control.
S - warmup, dogged rope up HoM, specifically worked the stuck bit with new beta which seemed to work much better. Got 1 hold higher 1st RP of the day, same point again but fluffed a foot next time, then sat in the shade for ages waiting for the route to go into full shade before 1 last go. Got it - my first 7c and it felt really solid.

So lessons learned - it can take a long time to work out crux sequences, wait for the shade, have long enough rests.

So onwards & upwards - reckon Storm Warning at Brean is now the route to really go for as I know the top section anyway, the crimpy lower bit I find fine, it is just one fairly short crux I need to unlock.

In reply to Cheese Monkey:

so pleased it went well for you!

I emailed a tad late yesterday - have now enquired at home and Thurs looks like the day. Will mail again when I'm home this evening.

In reply to hms:

Made it look easy. Definitely plenty left in the tank.

I'll try and sort out those photos later on and get anything worthwhile over to you.

Venga!

In reply to Tyler:

Nice one Ty - Moon doing Rainshadow got me psyched this week too!

You keen for getting out next Saturday? Big K or Malham?

In reply to Dandan:

Apologies for my absence last week Dan - had a very hectic week moving to Chamonix for the summer. Back on track now!

M: Rest, seeing the other half before leaving.
T: As above.
W: Started driving at 9am, got to Folkestone at 2pm. Arrived in Calais at 4:30pm, loooooong drive down to Cham arriving at 1:30am. Grabbed a couple of poor quality hours sleep in the car.
T: Moved into apartment. Training consisted of about 1h30 of moving a metric shit-tonne of stuff from my car up into the apartment. Decent burn! Walked into the Couvercle with Jack in the evening. 3h30 approach.
F: Weather was arse but we went for the South Ridge on the Aiguille de Moine anyway... Old-school AC guidebook gives it AD- but this is the biggest sandbag ever. Several cruxes on the upper ridge at about UK 5a slowed us down and the descent route was covered in big snow patches forcing us to abseil multiple times on a single 60m rope. Big day!
S: Walked out from the Couvercle, 2h45.
S: Multipitch M6 at Servoz. The dry tooling here is pretty newly developed so I think the grades might be a bit off. Top pitch was about 30m of 35 degrees overhanging terrain, ended up dogging my way up it in horrendous style. Ah well, got savagely pumped and that's what counts.

Weather supposed to be crap until Wednesday now. Hopefully more action after that.

STG (this week): ticks on Aiguille de la République, Dent du Requin and Aiguille de Ciseaux. Plan some running routes.
MTG (by end of July): 10 alpine ticks inc 1xTD. Back up to 40km/week. Sub 70kg.
LTG (end of 2015): 50 alpine ticks, inc 3xED1. Le Ginat, N. Face Les Droites. Other stuff that I think I've included on previous posts.

Also, in terms of meeting previous MTG due just before I moved out here: 3x classic E1 before moving to Cham (Cemetery Gates, Plexus, The Plum) ticked Cemetery Gates but otherwise nope; weight at 68kg (currently 70kg) still at 70kg, so nope; be running trail half-marathon weekly. haha, nope .

Bad times goal wise but I feel like I've got out climbing a lot in the last month and now that I'm based in Cham this will only get better.

In reply to cha1n:

My first few weeks of Randal-isation were hard - working out the sessions, let alone keeping up with the volume increases can be really hard work. I'd be happy to offer session guidance/motivation if Tom is slow to reply.

Do you have a 8a in mind?

Playing to your bouldering strengths;
- Short Chimes
- Roof Warrior (but might not dry out this year!)
- Hot Fun Closing (low in the grade, but only if you're tall and can lank the top crux, otherwise it's hard!)

In reply to Dandan:

Increased work load in the last couple of weeks has forced me on to the finger/campus board a few times instead of getting out – maybe it’s the cause of feeling strong this week? Short Chimes felt like it was on lockdown and new PB on 25mm edge pull-ups.
Head has been a bit topsy turvy though; sometimes you social media can screw with you, other times it can motivate you like mad; like Moon doing Rainshadow – BEAST!
Also sleeping $hitly as the wind direction means planes are landing over my house early in the morning.

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.
- Reacquaint myself with Unjustified
- Get stronger – actually do something about it and do some proper hang-board sessions you f*kctard!
- Get back on the Orme project.
- 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 (all known tweakers – need re-thinking).
- 74 kg & 6.5% BF

STG (next week)
- Get over the chesty cough – still bloody lingering.
- Push on through; last week of intense period of training
- Work the moves on Chimes of Resistance – dubious – maybe swap back to Waddage as Tor objective?
- Aim for 75.5kg (76.0kg)

Last week:

M - Crushed – the search continues…(could make a good new route name?) Fingerboarding (2); still working around the tweak (30,30,30,5kg). 3x10 Push-ups, 3x10 wide push-ups, 4x10 wide pull-ups, 2x12 overhead press, 2x45s static core.
T - Raven Tor; Work was going shit – had to get out. Met some randoms and got on Chimes of Resistance (8b), a supposed 7c extension to Chimes (8a+). However, I couldn’t even do 2 of the moves in isolation! Maybe ‘cos it’s 4th day on? Skipped dinner as home super late.
W - Rest & stretching
T - Late one at work; Frodsham An-cap. Need to tweak a couple of the problems – one too skin dependent, the other too friction dependent. Felt weak.
F - Rest & stretching – took the road bike out for an hour after work to wind down. Should have worn double shorts – sore ar$e
S - Raven Tor; very damp and humid, but felt strong. Repeated short Chimes (8a; headwall very greasy) but finger felt tweaky again. Got a bolt in for Ted. BBQ & cider.
S -Training at home. Fingerboard (1 + 1kg, 6 sets; 20,16,12,10,8 pull-ups), S&C but not core, foot-on aero-cap (+4kg, 10 sets 1on/1off). Core and shoulders felt beasted afterwards. Cinema and popcorn extravaganza in the afternoon.

In reply to Ally Smith:

I keep meaning to ask - how are you managing squeezing the outdoor sessions in as well as plan load - are you defining some of the outdoor stuff as aerocap/etc or are you just on a lower training load (in terms of plan sessions) or what?

In reply to AJM:

I simply told Tom up front i would be doing 2 outdoor sessions a week; they're included in the plan as aero-power, but obviously things like dogging a new RP objective at your limit feels more like an-cap, so i substitute them as needs be.

An-cap can work really well as an outdoor session if you've got the problems available to you. Frodsham bouldering is a bit too easy for that now, so i'm using eliminates; the length Parisella's problems suits it very well, but it's a whole extra hours drive away

In reply to Ally Smith:


Not sure where your work is but is Craig y Longridge any closer?

In reply to Dandan:

So after last week's false start I finally managed to get a new training period started - though there's still a bit of lingering back pain so I'm not quite running at full capacity yet.

The focus for the next 8 weeks will be on max strength improvements, so I'll be dialling down the crossfit sessions, adding some hill sprints and trying to do a bit more core.

Mon - Rest
Tue - Climbing. A few routes at Stanage High Neb
Wed - Max Strength. Core warmup. Then 4 sets of
1x Chinup (+10kg)
5x Deadlift (Max 90kg fail 4th set)
5x Strict Press (Max 35kg)
5x Overhead Squat (Max 40kg)
Thu - Trail Run/18.02km/634m
Fri - Rest
Sat - Max Strength (Chinups and Core). 4 sets 1x chinup (+10kg)
Sun - Indoor climbing at AW Sheffield

Hoping to get an MRI on the hand by the end of the month, and had a really productive discussion with a physio at the orthopaedic unit at Spire Manchester - but due to being unable to do crack routes at the moment I'm adding a couple of alternative goals for this year.

2015 Goals
- Lead Cemetery Gates
- Run the Skye Ridge

In reply to mbh:

Awesome - well done!

In reply to Dandan:

Cheers Dan, hope the elbow improves asap

M: am - run to work 4/5M in 28:37, pm - run home 7/8M in 52:41
Tu: am jog to work 15mis, pm - Grass session 6,5,4,3,2min off 90 secs jog then 5mins jog then 8 x 120m sprints knackered by the end, spent the whole session chasing another guy but was good. 9/10M
W: am - run to work 4/5M in 30:11, pm - run home 7M in 46:33 going well
Th: am - run to work 4/5M in 29:39, pm - run home 7M in 47:15 shattered. Massage which as usual was painful!
F: am - v slow jog to work 18:33
Sa: am - grass session: 3 x (2min hard, 2min rest, 4min hard, 1min rest, 1min flat out). Good but really tough session trying to hang onto two of the other guys (one has run for GB the other for Ireland so they aren't too shabby!). Was in bits by the end. 9M, pm - still tired, 4M easy in 28:15
Su: am - legs completely dead! 6/7M in 46:35

Total, 64M - now easing down for a race on Weds.

In reply to Dandan:

Thanks for doing fitclub Dan! What a pity that you’re supposed to sit still completely, good luck with trying not to do stuff!

STG (2 weeks): climb one of the routes in the roof at the wall -> did it with a rest on the rope.
New STG: climb a route in the roof without rest
Climb the overhanging side of the tower (37m high, 11m overhanging).

Weight: 68.3kg
M: rest
T: climbing indoors, routes up to 6a, also felt my elbows, so I dropped off as soon as it hurted
W: rest, eccentric exercises
T: climbing indoors, up to 6a
F: rest, eccentric exercises
S: climbing indoors, finally tried the roof, did a 6a+ with two rests and a 6b with one rest
S: rest

In reply to Dandan:

Morning Campers,

Keep up the good work on the stats Dan, they're great to read. Also, hello Rossiter!

Training Diary WC 8/6/15
Steep stuff as off to Underhand this weekend. Also, starting a Strava running training plan to see if I can get my 5K time down to 18:00 from 18:51.

Monday – Run: First Strava training run – 9KM in 42:04mins ‘easy’. 4:40km/m. Bang in the middle of the training zone that I was supposed to hit, apparently. A great run through the woods to the Mont and back.
Tuesday – Biblins Cave: Turned out to be a great session after feeling none to fancy on the drive there. Repeated a 7A first go, a 7A+ first go (not done since last summer) and ascended a harder 7A+ in five goes that I’d worked the moves out on at the end of Sunday’s session. Finished off by making all the moves (in three ‘pitches’) to the crux pinch on my 7C roof project – well stoked!
Wednesday – Run: Strava Training Plan (STP) Day 2: Intervals - 8 x 84s 400m w/ 1m rest. Lacked drive and only made distance on 2/8. A fabulous clear evening, mind!
Thursday – Rest in preparation for the weekend project.

Friday – Rest – drive to God’s Own County.

Saturday – Wet morning at Almscliff. Holds dry on Underhand. Worked the crux for an hour or so and got furthest yet – game on for the send tomorrow!
Sunday – Back to The Cliff. Still wet but Underhand still dry. Didn’t manage it as I couldn’t get my feet to stick the toe/heel squeeze move for the crux (only got it once yesterday). However, I came up with a new plan in the car on the way home – next time… Didn't get chance to go for a long run on Sunday - Strava will be disappointed!

Weight = 72.2kg.

Love from,
Joyce,
XXXX

In reply to Dandan:

Thanks Dan. Have you got a timescale for Plan B? Decent week of wall sessions but could feel myself going down with something from Thursday onwards which I’m now in full throes of. NOT FAIR!

M – Conference. Rest
T – Big Rock autobelay pyramid and some boulders
W – Lead Brookes mini session
T – Boulder Brookes working hard moves
F – Climbing Unit SBL round 2. Feeling rubbish but 165 points enough for 3rd on the night.
S – Raining so mixed Wirksworth, Onsighted 7a.
S – Climbing Unit. Stamina session on 40 x v0-2 and then worked the v5-7 circuit.

Goals check in:

STG specifics:
• Win Wirksworth Senior women’s WBL (22 March)
- Done
• Master the hulahoop pull-up (end of June) – this is HARD.
• Place in Climbing Unit SBL Senior Women’s (18 September)

MTG generals:
• Indoors: 3 x 7a, 1 x 7a+/7b redpoint
- onsighted second 7a this week. Not sure why I can onsight two but not redpoint any?
• Consolidate E1/6c/V3 outside
• E2/7a/V4 in good style outside
• Maintain 5/6 training sessions a week throughout 2015
• Minimum 80 sessions on rock this year (72 in 2014)
- 16 so far in 2015. Better put in a big autumn…

LTG:
• Learn to embrace failure (ha!)