UKC

UKC Fit Club Week 433

Lots of good stuff last week, either people pushing on and making gains, or being smart about avoiding injuries and using rest wisely. No major disasters to report, it seems FitClub is pretty fit right now!

Link to last week's thread: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=619111

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: This isn't a climbing video, is that allowed? youtube.com/watch?v=kX_hn3Xf90g& A hero of my youth who suffered a debilitating, life changing accident and completely failed to let it stop him doing what he loved. 4 minutes of genuine inspiration for anyone.


Last week's posters:

The Ex-Engineer - Wow, that's some ticklist for a single week!
Nick Russell - Pretty decent week straight after a holiday, I love trampolining!
Cheese monkey - Sounds like your idea of rest is about the same as mine...
mattrm - Good week! Deep into redpoint mode, my favourite place to be, any more progress?
cha1n - Definitely investigate the elbows, trust me! Could your low endurance be due to overgripping at all? Common issue when moving from boulders to routes...
flopsicle - Good week, keep 'playing' with the chin ups, it all helps.
hms - I agree with Ally, the wrong move could be disaster for your shoulder, it's not just about the grade, go careful
AJM - Based on the weather, I guess it was fingerboarding in the buff this week!?
Tyler - Congrats on the send! Also good to see you pushing straight on to the next project
Joughton - Fantastic week! Two 7c onsights is awesome! (not jealous at all)
planetmarshall - Busy, varied week, more of that! Any measurable improvements in grade/time/weight etc?
mrchewy - Welcome back, happy to have you! Sure the bicipital tendonosis is ready for climbing?
mbh - Impressive mileage, does it get harder in the heat?
Dandan82 - Mastered the art of resting yet?
Ally Smith - It does sound like at least of brief rest might help ease all the twinges, did you manage it this week?
themattyshep - Monday isn't late, don't worry about it! Less stressful week this week?
alexm198 - Diable ridge sounds like an epic, well done! Feeling better this week?
Mutl3y - Those chin up numbers sound a bit more typical, keep it up!
Exile - Very nice varied week, always good when there are no problems to report
0.5viking - Well done on the 7a roof!
biscuit - Keep looking towards those good weeks on the horizon, they'll be here before you know it
Just Tintin - Good to see the lurgy is gone, decent week!
Joyce - Staying psyched on rest week! So close on the run too, good effort.
Humperdink - 5k in 14:59 sounds awesome to me, 14:09 is beyond words...


AWOL: mbh, Creedence, Ian Rock, Luke Owens, roadrunner5.

In reply to Dandan: I'm on limited WiFi so I'll just do a quick one today.

Fell off off above the last clip on a 55m 7c+ onsight (which would have been my first) which was a bit gutting but then I got on another one an hour later and onsighted that, so yayyyy first 7c+ onsight! Admittedly it's 7c in the local but imma take 7c+ 1. For confidence reasons trying other hard onsights 2. Because it was very vert and techy, the kind which is usually much easier to redpoint and 3. Because it suited me really well and I still had to try really hard!

We're now in Ceuse, been here for two days. First day onsighted Vagabond at Cascade which is a soft 7c. Second day I just did some more mileage on easier stuff to get used to the vert pockety stuff. Going down to 2-on-1-off to cope with the walk-in.

Got another week and a half so I'm going to stop onsighting so much and try and get on some harder stuff I think, hopefully I'll do Carte Blanche (8a) in a day or two.

Cheers, Jake

In reply to Dandan:

Thanks for doing fit club again Dan - problems this week!

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: No training - notice of inspection at work
T: No training - inspection at work
W: No training - inspection at work
T: No training - inspection at work
F: 1hr 30min short problems at wall (Power)
S: 1hr 30min MTBing with my 8yr old (maintain winter endurance ish)
S: 3hrs at Bram Crag Quarry - Michelangelo, 6b**, Cool Hand Luke, E2 5c*** and worked the moves on Middle Earth, 7b*, (no cigar but hopefully back soon for the RP).

Felt tired at the end of the week but getting back on it now.

In reply to Dandan:


Hehe cheers Dan, no as it turned out this was the week where I went climbing outside instead!

Which sort of sums up the week really - quite a lot of stuff outside, comparatively speaking. At the expense of doing that much off the plan, although I did get some of it done. I've requested some guidance on shifting focus for a month or two onto lots of outdoor stuff, partly because after being injured for a while I'm enjoying ticking things and partly because my movement quality if a bit rusty - no point in being fit as a fiddle if it then all goes to waste!

Monday - climbing wall. Linked Boulder AnCap and 1-on-1-off aerocap. Can't remember if I did any strength and conditioning stuff.
Tuesday - Lulworth. Couple of easy things plus fell off Horny Little Devil and some hard low level traverse. Have to go back for HLD soon. Fun evening!
Wednesday - friends in town so nothing
Thursday - wall. Very hot. Couldn't face doing anything too hard so did a few problems and did some slightly unstructured redpoints on some of the traverses. Managed to complete the blue at last and make progress on the yellow too so actually not a terrible session.
Friday - Winspit. Warmed up, tried to retroflash Avenging the Halsewell (had been on it about 5 years back, plus Ed was giving beta) which is a relatively tough 7b through a load of strip roofs. Gave up because the kneebar was biting just above the kneepad and practically going through the skin. Dogged to the top, and second go in trousers with correctly positioned pad sketched my way up it. Good climbing good tick. Have to get it more wired and then use it for laps.
Saturday - Wallsend. Warmed up on a route I had done last weekend and on sighted a cool 6c too. Then dogged Realm of Chaos (7b+) to the top this time working the sequences out. Good conditions on the route. Then had one redpoint later in the day, the grease had come back a bit (it's very conditionsy), and fought my way up it - hand popped at one point as did a foot, and was having to chalk up a lot, but held it together. Arms a bit toasted by the end. Good stamina route - you've got to climb a bit to get into the crux, and then it keeps coming for a bit afterwards as well until you get to a rest, then a thinner more techy finish. Excellent route, probabky one of the best of the 7b+s I've done in the UK. 3 tie ins all told which is relatively quick, although it was a fairly clinical redpoint rather than one of them being a full on onsight go - last weekend I didn't want to go all guns blazing because I was worried it might trash my finger. Big seas on the way out - high spring tide plus swell!
Sunday - quiet day. Late back from Wallsend, so a bit knackered. Low tide in the middle of the day poor for Lulworth so had a plan rethink and did our last summer beer brew instead. Just been to the wall for a quick session, did some more AnCap and then breasted myself with general strength/conditioning stuff until they kicked us out.

A very good week. Failed on the cycling goals but then that's cos I went to Lulworth instead. Feels like I might finally be getting back to climbing well. I did try a cruxy 7b at Winspit which was too fingery still, but I guess as long as I keep sticking to the right routes I should be able to keep getting stuff done. Probabky try to keep on the big routes to build the stamina if possible.

In reply to Dandan:
Cheers to me for doing the stats, another chilled out week trying to master this elusive 'rest' thing people keep talking about...

M: My brother wanted help swapping his suspension on his car, I provided driveway and tools then sat down in the sun, had a beer and offered unhelpful suggestions while he struggled with spanners. I think this 'rest' thing is finally coming together
T: Exercise ball core session - again really enjoyed this, some of it is really hard at the moment so lots of improvement possible. Again no DOMS from this even though I upped a lot of the reps
W:
T: Exercise ball core session plus a few antagonists
F: Physio, really positive feedback, elbow feeling much better. As mentioned, she advised I might be able to try some very short very light climbing!
S: Desperate to do some DIY so I wove a hammock out of old climbing rope, it was the lightest job I could think of, very pleased with the result.
S: Warmed up and tried some chin ups, 10, 10, 5, slight sensation of discomfort towards the end hence the short last set, will see how elbows feel tomorrow before trying again.

As of right now (Sunday evening) the elbows feel better than they have in weeks, I finally feel like i'm getting somewhere, all it really took was for me to define my interpretation of the word 'rest'!
I'm not now going to go off half-cocked and pull onto some project routes, I will have a hang on some fingerboard jugs this week and see how things feel, but I won't climb until next weekend at the earliest, and even if I do it will be footwork drills, drop knees and step-throughs on jugs for 10 minutes, nothing more than that.

In reply to Dandan:

Cheers Dan.
M: Planned rest
T: Boulder UK, fairly standard performance but v hot so skin lasted even less well than usual
W: Birthday so forced to give up the diet
T: Outhouse, poor focus, no progress on GBH circuit
F: Went to bed after work with cold but dragged out to cycle up Coal Road and down Lee Quarry, felt shite but cycled ok considering it was the first time out on a bike in a while - must be the weight loss
S: Easy trad with wife, no training benefit by wearing enough to spoil a rest day.
S: Back on the Thumb, sobering. Investigated the top crux and its way harder than I feared but I'll go again on Wed to see if there's any point carrying on. Need to do some bicep curls, most weight I can get on dumbbell is 14kg. Did a benchmark when I got in and managed 5 reps with weaker left arm.

In reply to Joughton:

Nice ticking Jake!

In reply to Dandan:


It was all going so well up to this point! I don't have much experience with elbow injuries so correct me if I'm wrong, but are pull-ups not one of the worst things you could do?

In reply to Dandan:
Climbing seems fine within reason - using a roller and sanding at work is a massive issue.

Hurry up hayfever and depart - 5 or 6 antihistamines a day and this heat meant I've been overly lethargic. Worked everyday too.

Mon -  Big Rock bouldering. Good session, tried hard. Got up nothing.
Tue - Run. Hill sprints. The gits had cut the grass, so mileage was out of the question.
Wed - Worked late. Run.
Thu - Did shuttles of ceramic tiles up 43 steps, weight between 34 and 43kg. Knackered.
Fri - Pinnacle bouldering.  Worked gastons with the right hand and then had a play on the roof.
Sat - Worked,  then went to bed early feeling crappy.
Sun - Masson Lees. Pottered about then had to retrieve the draws in the rain. Work after.

Not climbing well at the minute but managing single moves I couldn't have done a few months.

A couple more weeks and hopefully the lungs will clear.




Sent from my Nexus 7

In reply to Dandan:

Cheers Dan, it was a good week but it's all ground to a halt now with a tweaky wrist. I guess I'll be joining the ranks of rehab club for a while. Hopefully only this week, but these ligament things can take a while.

M - Cheddar. Finished off Gdansk! That's a 5th 7c in the bag... as Ally says, time to start looking at something harder. Then went on to tick Cream Tease (soft 7b) and Sherryland (7a+). A solid afternoon for me.
T - Rest. Too hot/lazy to get anything done. Finally submitted my PhD thesis.
W - 11km run, core (planks). Sacked off climbing (sorry hms) because the wrist had reached the point where I couldn't ignore it any longer.
T - Trampolining. A bit less confident than usual as protecting the wrist.
F - 5km run, core.
S - gentle walk with family in North Wales
S - another short walk. Got soaked.

A cracking day on Monday but distinctly lacking later in the week. I tweaked the wrist warming up on the last day in Ceuse (18th June) and didn't think much of it at the time. It bothered me in some positions but mostly not while climbing. This week it began to get worse to the point where I couldn't ignore it any more and decided to rest it. I had my Dad look at it (he's a doctor). Probably a minor/medium sprain to one of the ligaments on the ulnar side. Basically it's fine as long as the wrist is straight but palms down (think press-ups) is painful and most actions involving flexing or extending it any significant amount hurt too. I've been advised that fingerboard is probably ok as long as it doesn't hurt (the wrist is pretty much straight in most hangs). I expect to ramp up the running and core, and possibly throw more fingerboard sessions in this week.

Assorted goals:

Wrist rehab

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: 4; Clean onsight: 4 (+1 revisited)

Send The Milky Bar Kid (8a) before Ally Smith
Prisoner of Conscience -> The Guilt Edge -> Bullworker -> Prisoner of Bullworker -> El Chocco -> The Milky Bar Kid
Slow progress - the linking ground into Bullworker is harder than I expected.

Strength gains
At least 1 fingerboard/bouldering session per week over summer. Tick - bouldering and fingerboard this week.
Dedicate some time to this over winter.
Write a training app for the fingerboard.

Sort out the asymmetry (ongoing)

In reply to Dandan:

The wheels fell off the redpoint train. My partner had to bail. Then it got horrible and humid, so I decided not to bother going for a shunting session.

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 (tick!)
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 1lbs

M - Indoor routes
T - Core
W - Core
T - Core
F - Core
S - Walk up Pen-y-Fan
S - Indoor routes and MTB around Afan

Monthly - 80%
Yearly - 70%

Good week from an exercise/social point of view. Went for a nice walk up Pen-y-Fan on Saturday. Ended up climbing indoors as the forecast was poor today. Then went out for a bike ride, which was quite nice. Weight has been the same. Had been planning on going climbing on Thursday, but it didn't end up happening. Hope to get to Navigation this week.

In reply to Nick Russell:


It's ok, when I say discomfort, I mean that I could feel the tiniest hint of anything at all so I stopped to be completely safe, I definitely didn't consider it a failure, this morning the elbows are feeling the best they have in weeks.
For my usual elbow issue, yes, pull ups would be a bad idea when things are sore, but for this tennis elbow that i'm currently dealing with it seems fine on a bar as I barely need to grip. I'm happy that the chin ups did no harm and i'm also encouraged by the fact that my physio suggested I try them, so i'm not worried yet!

I think the fact that I now have two completely different elbow issues is confusing a lot of people!

P.S congrats on the 5th 7c!

In reply to Dandan:


Yeah ok, that explains it. I remember you complaining about pull-ups hurting at some point, but that must have been the other one! I hope it continues to improve.

In reply to Tyler:


5 reps with 14kg isn't weak!

Can you do the top crux "going again" or do you need to burl through off the little hold?

In reply to Ally Smith:

I'm interested in this going again beta, I'm doing (I did once off a snug rope!) an enormous span up from the left most undercut to a small glued on crimp with my RH, from there its a sort of fall/slap/lunge/pivot leftwards to the good holds in the break. I was using Gareth's beta and he's about my height. I thought you were hitting K yesterday? Mind you, thinking about it, I didn't go down the left end

In reply to Dandan:

Excellent choice of psyche video this week Dan. However, I stand by Quiddity’s analysis and my earlier comments that doing anything pull-up related is plain dumb when you’ve got any kind of elbow issue. It’s about as stupid as going to the Tor when you’ve got a finger injury…

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!
- Aim for 72 kg RP fighting weight

LTG (2015):
- Do some adventurous cycle touring (maybe C2C or MTB Great Glen/West Highland way?)
>8b+ RP options:
- Cry Freedom & 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).
- need to train climbing board style/open on slopey crimps – eek – bit of a weakness; at least I know about it in advance now!
>8a on-sight (turns out the lattice board is very non-linear and I need to aim for 110 moves for 8a+ OS; Eek!)

MTG (May/June/July):
- Increase An-cap
- Get stronger without aggravating injuries
- Get back on the Orme project.
- 8a+/b’s
- if finger plays ball: Well Done finish, Straight jacket, & Waddage
- if shoulder plays ball, but finger still tweaky: Mecca Traverse, Mandela & Guns in the sky (if they dry out!)
- 74 kg & 6.5% BF

STG (next week)
More of the same from last week, but don’t eat so much cake!
- Icing and rehab every day for finger and shoulder.
- Controlled fingerboarding
- Do some core, antag and bicep curls
- Get back out on the MTB

Last week:
M - Nowt – ice & stretching
T - Cheedale after work – stupid hot. Embankment 6b+ & 6c warm-ups. Cornice – working/cleaning goes on K5 (8b) – shoulder & finger friendly crux, but K3 opening section too fingery for now (stick clipped passed this section).
W - Cheedale condensed out; Raven Tor hotter than Tonsai beach. 3 laps of Sardine; sweaty! Shoulder grumbled initially, but “warmed” into it.
T - Nowt – ice & stretching
F - Pre-work fingerboard session (2. 28,28,30kg + 2kg repeaters). Static core & antags.
S - Morning aero-cap 1on/1off fingerboard. 12 sets @ 60%. 33km bike ride including a bunch of PBs and took an extra 10secs off the CX KOM. Big meal with birthday cake. Stretching.
S - Kilnsey; back on Mandela. The perfect route for current finger & shoulder problems? 5 tie-ins. 1, Floor to end of jugs. 2, Full roof bolt to bolt badly. 3, Full roof; remembered body position for crux and did it twice. 4, Nervy redpoint effort in the middle of a thunderstorm. Got to crux, but had brain freeze and forgot the hidden foothold. Pulled back on and did crux to lip. 5, Speed ascent & strip of Directissima. Static core and antags watching TdF highlights.

In reply to Dandan:

Thanks Dan. I'm trying to be careful. Turned out that my 2 sessions on rock turned into rather less than that so temptation was largely absent. Bit of a flat depressing week really.

M - cycle commute, cycle on to city centre to be pummeled by Nina, cycled home.
T - cycle commute, S&C x 3
W - dumped by Nick (well, he was a lot more tactful than that & did off to belay me) so went and did a session at TCA. Hot & humid in there, v unpleasant, slipped off stuff all over the place, ended up plodding round easy circuits.
T - cycle commute. UCR in evening. Still bloody hot. Did a dozen routes but fell off lots of them. Did have fun working the top of the dramatic 7b. Can do all the moves now but there are a lot of them. Tried leading the top 1/2 and took a monster fall
F - D1 & I went to try out the new routes at Snuff Mills. OMG - what a pile of cheesy seeping choss. Dogged one 6b on lead. Dogged again on TR. Shoes covered in grey slime. Sacked it off vowing never to return. Went to UCR instead as not enough time to get anywhere else. Still hot in there, more go on the 7b but with a sling from another loweroff to give an extra clip on the top traverse, to kill the monster fall a bit. Did the route in 2 but am in desparate need of a rest position half way up, so need to experiment and see if I can create one.
S - travel to holiday in Llangollen.
S - Trevor as mixed ability group. Compact Wall, hated a 6a+, loved a tough 6b, fell off a 6c when failed to find a smeary foot in time. Then the heavens opened so game over. Returned in the evening with trad gear to rescue a sheep stuck on a ledge, which took about an hour and a half! It basically rescued itself then the terror of a climber popping up below it was greater than it's terror of falling off the blocky ledges above it. Another use of a clip-stick - extending it out to wave by the sheep to then get it to go in the right direction.

It is now pissing down and the forecast for the next couple of days is dire, so off to try out The Boardroom today, and quite possibly Awesome Walls tomorrow if the rain continues. Feeling flat, unmotivated and piddled off. Sorry - need some successes & good sessions to rekindle psych.

In reply to Dandan:

Thanks Dan, I'm almost certainly overgripping, I'm still finding it hard not to pull 100% on every move at the moment. The only place I find I can relax the grip off a bit is when I'm resting.

Rest week from training this week and I definitely needed it. Had big plans to climb outside a lot this week but I've been knackered.

M - Rest
T - Powerplant at Cheedale Cornice, got on it and actually pulled on this time instead of instantly stripping it! Didn't do overly well but got all the moves apart from the crux itself and most of the sections I got were pretty poor, too powerful sequences to actually work on RP.
W - Rest
T - Rest
F - AeroPow (foot on campus) and core
S - Return to Powerplant. After waiting 4 hours to get on it (see my thread in STS on UKB for details), I finally got on and EVENTUALLY did all the moves. I have a fairly faffy sequence for the crux but it works consistently and I did it twice in poor conditions (RH crimp on bulge was greasing out every go, skin was sweating and falling apart) and at the end of the session when I was really tired. Have also got a fairly good sequence for the headwall now with only the last couple of moves needing proper refining. I feel that that the pre-crux section is maybe a bit over powerful but hard to know until I get on RP. Psyched for it now.
S - Feeling wrecked from Sat and could barely move all day. Eventually got up to make a pizza, then watched more stuff on laptop.

So a quiet week but an important one with all the moves done on an 8a with nearly 6 weeks to go until the 8a before 30 deadline. This might actually happen!

Have arranged to go to try Powerplant again this evening but sort of regretting that now as I didn't sleep much last night, skin is poor and hayfever is insanely bad today.

In reply to Ally Smith:


Touche!

In reply to Dandan:

Cheers Dan, awesome video - great choice!!!

M: am - 7/8M with my Dad including a few efforts, felt good 50:11, pm - drove to Wales
Tu: am - 7/8M v.hilly in 1:15:35 (got a bit lost as well which didn't help)
W: am - v.hot - melted during my session on the road which was: 4x4mins (90secs jog recovery) then 5min jog then 10x 20secs fast, 40secs steady. ~10M in all
Th: Drive home from Wales, knackered so decided to rest
F: lunchtime 7M offroad loop in 46:40
Sa: am - session on road/grass. First up 2 x 1500m loop: in coaches words "first one as hard as you can go, don't think about the second one, 3mins recovery then just survive on the second one" needless to say it was hard! Times were 4:13 & 4:22 then we had 3mins jog recovery before doing 6 x hill which took ~40seconds with jog back recovery at this point I was done in but we still had 2 x (2 x 80sec) off 1min and 2min between the sets to do! Needless to say by the end of that I was utterly sh*gg*d!! How can 16 mins of running be so tiring! pm - managed a very easy 4M in 29:46 still knackered!
Su: am - 12/13M in 1:33:54 time on feet as still tired from yesterdays session.

Total 58M - session on Sat was a killer! Have now come up with a plan for the rest of the season I think so goals for the next 8 weeks are:

1) Go sub 4min for 1500m again (hopefully breaking PB in the process)
2) Do a mile race!
3) Sub 8:30 for 3000m (will be tough as not man opportunities for this)
4) Sub 14:40 in last 5000m outing in August

In reply to Tyler:


Not sure if it helps, but here is the sequence I have written down in my beta spreadsheet (yes, I am that tragic):

From rest to Urgent Action junction:

- either, cross RH to undercut pocket; stretch LH to slot (via intermediate crimp), match RH to slot, LH to slopey tufa-esque sidepull. Or, LH to pocket; RH to intermediate crimp; go again RH to slot; LH to slopey tufa-esque sidepull.

- Then, RF on polished ramp, LF on sloping edge out to LHS; RH to high pocket; [desperate clip... missed out by bold]; LH to poor undercut; get LF on furthest left and down sloping edge (the most positive) and RF on sloping smedge - near that just vacated by LF, slight RF drop knee; RH gaston; RF and LF stepping through to higher sloping smedges until LF up on high polished rail; press off gaston and LH to jug via crimp and [clip]. Possible to shake out by swapping hands and bobbing back and forth between jug and previous hold of Urgent Action,

In reply to thebigfriendlymoose:

Thank you for that, there's definitely stuff in that id not thought of. The problem with this route is how hard it is to work, you have to cover a lot of ground to try the hard moves and then when you're at them its difficult to go back and refine sequences. And this rain is going to soak it before my precious afternoon off on Wednesday! Oh woe is me. Great route though

In reply to Dandan:

Sorry not to reply to your lengthy post at the back end of last week.


I don't think Ally and I are *confused* about the difference between golfers and tennis elbow, per se (although, you know, not a physio - take it with a pinch of salt etc.) But we are saying - take a step back and look at the big picture, you have two serious, chronic overuse injuries occurring in the exact same part of your body - that should be telling you something. I think you are staking a lot on the principle that golfers and tennis have different mechanisms of injury, and taking that to mean they are totally unrelated. I am suggesting that while you might be right that the proximate causes of the injuries are different, the ultimate cause of both is likely to be a similar underlying pattern of stress on your body.

However if your physio really is telling you that in fact, the two are totally unrelated - purely coincidental, etc., and that you should crack on with the pull ups, then by all means carry on.

In reply to Dandan:
Last week -

Mon - Rest
Tue - Climbing at Gardom's - too hot.
Wed - Hope Fell Race.(9.5km/451m) Finished a further 7% up the field compared to last year despite it being the hottest day of the year. Frankly was happy to cross the finish line without passing out.
Thu - CrossFit - won't go into the details.
Fri - Trail Run/8.3km/360m
Sat - Ill
Sun - Climbing at Stanage Plantation. Climbed Parasite and Tower Face, but neither are particularly hard for HVS so don't really meet my STG criteria.

I need to add some sort of fitness test into my schedule so I have some sort of reference point to track improvements.

STG
* Get the trail mileage back up - it's suffered a bit in the last few weeks.
* Do a fitness test consisting of some kind of timed run, max pullups, deadlift etc.
* Climb 2 hard HVS routes and an easy E1, preferably wall climbs

MTG
* Achieve finish within 30% in a local fell race. Miles away from this at the moment - I suspect trying to perform during a training phase is not going to give me the best results. There's a race in Hathersage toward the end of September that could be a good candidate.
* Climb Brown's Elliminate at Froggatt

In reply to Quiddity:

I need to correct you again, one of my issues is tennis elbow, but the other isn't golfers elbow, it's a bicep problem which causes pain at the elbow, so the two aren't quite as similar as that.
One issue is chronic like you say (the original bicep problem) whereas one is a one-time result of a very atypical combination of factors (the tennis elbow)
You are right though, I'd be very naive if I thought that the two aren't related in some way, it's pretty much a certainty, in fact i'm reasonably sure that one led directly to the other, overuse in Kaly caused bicep issues, then further overuse led somehow to the tennis elbow.

As far as the tennis elbow goes, I'm very unlikely to repeat the level of intensity that caused it any time soon, so all I can do is to treat the symptoms of the tennis elbow, then, once it has cleared up, return to treating the underlying causes of the bicep issue. I think that mistreating the bicep issue in Kaly resulted in the tennis elbow, so if I can work even harder to stop the bicep issue from rearing it's head, then the tennis elbow is less likely to recur.
I had made reasonable progress on the bicep problem by using flexbar, technique change, stretching etc, allowing me to train hard 6 days a week, but I was keen to go further as it still did surface towards the end of the Kaly trip and contribute to my current woes. This is what I originally visited the latest pyshio for, trying to further nail down the root of the bicep issue. We were about to go back to basics with core stability and working our way out towards the elbow, but then it was clear that the tennis elbow (which I had hoped was a minor, short lived annoyance) needed sorting first.

Chin ups on their own, are definitely *not* the cause of the tennis elbow, if they were then I would have experienced it at some point in the last decade of climbing and training, so as long as they don't antagonise the symptons, then tentatively getting back to a few chin ups doesn't seem like a problem to me.
I'll admit that there is a degree of me being keen to get back to some kind of climbing specific exercise because I don't want to lose all of my strength, but I do feel like things are at a stage now where I can at least try them out, not because i'm impatient but because I think my body is ready.
I've also been told I can climb for 5-10 mins a day to see how that feels, i've not done that yet and am going to wait until this weekend before I do, so i'm definitely not rushing into things.

I'll stop writing piles of waffle about injuries now that I assume most people are scrolling past, I really do appreciate that anyone would take the time to look at my situation and offer advice, good advice too. I'm not disputing what you have suggested Quiddity, but without me subjecting you to a comprehensive run down of my entire physical and medical history, (nobody wants that) there is always going to be trouble giving advice.
I hope what it boils down to is that you want me to be careful not to do anything that might prolong the injuries, I promise that I am doing everything I can to make sure things get fixed properly.

In reply to Dandan:


Very much this. Glad you have taken the input as it has been intended - good luck.

In reply to Dandan:

Many thanks again Dan!

I wish I'd done this on Sunday or kept a proper log! Oh well, here goes with dusty memory and Strava's help...

Mon - 2 mile run, tried to beat my 2 mile PR, slaughtered myself but when I uploaded Strava just laughed at me and failed to deliver a single PR - all I got was a 2nd PR over 1/2 mile!

Tues - 2 mile run - I was on a mission!! Duffed my time on the first mile due to traffic so went for my own course record up a 1/2 mile 200ft hill, knocked 15 secs off my previous PB in March.

Weds - 2 mile run, errr well, actually walked half of it but counting it 'cos it was too damn hot! 1 hr bouldering, too hot so didn't want to do stuff I care about so just did laps on the overhanging circuit, nothing brill but did remove some skin so must have done something.

Thurs - 2 mile rubbish run

Fri - 2 mile run (less rubbish), huge effort but Strava just smirked and handed me a 'nul pwe'! 2 hr lead climbing and chatting. Physically didn't do a lot but worked hard on a climb that really scares me and pushed myself mentally lots.

Sat - 1.5 hrs bouldering, half playing, half technique practice (features for feet, silent feet, slo mo etc).

Sun - bouldering comp problems, did about 15 so not much hard work but some big efforts. Also put up a HOOOOGE swing for my daughter all by myself. It is SO going in here as it was a mare holding 7ft steel poles at 45 degrees between my legs to apply the bolts at the right angle + many, many other challenges.

All in all the heat got to me a bit but I smashed my own course record on my favourite hill and was given 30,000 brownie points by my kid for the swing (it has a trapeze and she's worn the grass out underneath in 2 days!). Still been playing with pull ups too.

I have also ordered a suspension training kit...

In reply to Dandan:

Can't help but I didn't scroll by. Good luck with it all....

In reply to flopsicle:

^ ^ So that's the real reason for building the swing then? :p

In reply to Nick Russell:

*whistles nonchalantly*

What? Do you mean I could put the trainer on the swing? In the sunshine? Outside? (It just MIGHT have been why it's such a big sturdy swing - subconciously, obviously...)

In reply to Dandan:

Cheers for the stats Dandan. Belated update:

M-3x6 pull ups with 2 second lock, two laps of beastmaker 5b circuit with 6 on/4 off - scored 70/84. Quite poor.
T-nowt
W-nowt
T-works session. Did most of the pinkles and a handful of harder. Was more a social climb than training.
F-nowt
S-nowt
S-nowt

Can kind of see why I didn't update this sooner! Still have all the same goals as before but with that kind of effort I will be lucky to stand still!

In reply to Mutl3y:

Oh and I went out on Tuesday to trackside, curbar, for an hour or so in 30 degree heat. I ran laps on my favourite Boulder problem, Strawberries f6B. Then got fairly shut down on the f6B to the right of it. Will get next time. Good fun.

Don't know whether it counts as training though, I just love getting that one ticked.

In reply to Dandan:

Cheers Dan.

Sat here trying to remember what i did last week. Mainly getting ready for the Summer Psyche comp, appointments with the kids and going to a university open day on an actual day off. So no climbing for me.

I have actually got off my bum and done something this week so i should have something at least to report next week.

In reply to Dandan:

Hi Dan, thanks for doing FitClub, and yes, feeling much better this week. Took a couple of easy days to recover fully and now feeling decent.

M: Emphatically a rest day after the Diable.
T: Quick hit up to the Aiguilles Rouges, did Chapelle de la Gliere which was great, pitched pretty much the whole thing apart from 1/2 easy sections moving together. Felt super slick, did the whole route in just under 4 hours. Also led the 6a finish which I was pleased with.
W: Slow morning doing some life admin, ran/shuffled up from the valley floor to the Plan de l'Aiguille (6km 1300m ascent). Very slow and dehydrated but got a good burn in the legs.
T: Another day in the Rouges, Clocher-Clochetons traverse (more rope work practice) and an easy 3 pitch route after.
F: Nabot-Léon on the Red Pillar of the Blaitiere. Sensational, sustained HVS for 5 pitches. 3 hours total walking in/out.
S: Rest
S: Walked up to the Envers hut 2h30. Did Le Piège (TD+) chuffed to get the route clean. Physical crack climbing on the granite with some burly roof moves and laybacks a plenty.

Last weeks' goals: 3 more ticks yep, 4 decent ticks and a forgettable multi pitch sport route, actually get off your ass and go for a run yep, psyched to have done this and really felt the benefits. will try to make the 1300m slog up to the plan a weekly/fortnightly thing, 1 strength session still no, getting a bit stupid now but I'm feeling strong on the rock despite the decrease in conventional training

STG (this week): another 5 good value ticks before I head home for a couple of weeks on the 18th.
MTG (by end of July): 10 alpine ticks inc 1xTD (currently on 9). 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.

I'm feeling a little guilty at the moment of not really doing much in the way of actual isolated training - I'm just getting out a lot. Definitely going to try and combat this once I head home for a brief spell on the 18th, and hopefully when I return to Cham at the beginning of August I can take a more regimented approach to the training again. It feels a little stupid to just be using FitClub as a 'I did this climb, then I did this climb' diary, though I guess mileage is as good a training stimulus as any. Thoughts?

Also, I'd be interested to hear from the runners in FitClub whether there are any tips for prolonged uphill running? I just find after a while I just can't sustain running uphill and have to slow to a walk. This is fine I guess but presumably one doesn't improve at running uphill by walking uphill? I have literally no scientific knowledge on this sort of stuff so I'd be interested to hear what works for others.

In reply to alexm198:


Awesome week, well jealous. Although not sure you can count La Piege as one of your TDs - I think only 'traditional' TDs should count

Re uphill running, you'll find that most punters in hill races walk up hill. There's a really good reason for this - on steep terrain there's a threshold at which it's simply faster to power-hike - and that threshold is set pretty high. You need to be quite strong to actually run (significantly) faster uphill than some guy who's just power-hiking.

In reply to Dandan: Not a great week...

M - work, then at 9pm One Step in the Clouds (VS 4c) (only decent thing I managed all week)
T - work
W - work, then got rained off Clogwyn Du'r Arddu (Cloggy), seriously pissed
T - work (plus picked up loads of shinny new DMM Alpha Sports)
F - work
S - work - in the Peak, in the sunshine but had to leave at 2pm for family BBQ back in Oxfordshire
S - nowt...

This week is looking marginally better, especially as I have had a load of work cancelled..

So, is anyone free to climb tomorrow (Friday) or Monday/Tuesday or even all of the next 5 days?

In reply to planetmarshall:

Hey Andrew,

Haha yes, I'm definitely not counting Le Piège, it's just a chilled out multi pitch really. Sweet climbing though, if you get a chance to do it!

Cool, that's definitely what I'm finding. I can go faster and for longer just striding uphill. My concern was that bearing in mind the principle of specificity in training, this wouldn't get me any closer to being able to run uphill. I guess generally improving CV fitness and gradually incorporating more actual running into the uphill sections is the way to go?

In reply to Tyler:


well... if you need a belay for it over this weekend, let me know - I am currently on the hunt for a partner.

In reply to Dandan:

Thanks Dan. Too much work in the last week of term, and a lot of travelling around in the heat was a bit sapping, but still did a bit. Dropped a table on my foot at Henley on Friday, but the swelling went down by the end of Monday, and I’ve only had to climb 3 sessions with an undone shoe (and a great excuse not to heelhook).

M- rest
T – Mixed Big Rock
W – Poddle swim outside 20 lengths
T – Mixed Big Rock. Summer Leading Ladder – 7
F - Long day running events at Henley but snatched an hour at Climbing Unit on the way to the Peak.
S – Boulder Burbage South. Torrential rain overnight had changed plans from limestone trad as approaches were lethal. Nailed another piece of unfinished business but still plenty left!
S – Boulder Works yellow circuit.

In reply to alexm198:

Morning Camper,

For me, it depends how big the big hills are. Like the other guys says, after a point, power-walking is faster/more energy efficient. I raced the 21 mile Routeburn Classic over a range of moutains in NZ back in the day and 'power walked' past a load of people who were gamely trying to run on the steeper uphills. Uphills are also a good chance to drink and eat too if out for a long day.

When I did the Bob Graham a couple of years ago, I walked all the uphills. Living in the 'not super-hilly Cotswolds' I trained by doing hill reps on a local hill. It had 70m of height gain and I ran it in a triangle: jog up one steepish side, let my legs 'go' down the other steepest side as a bit of rest and then a fast jog/run along a flat road to get back to the uphill. The uphill took 2 1/2 mins, the down 1 1/2 mins and the flat bit 2 mins so 6 minute lap. I'd do 7 laps with a 10 minute trot and back as a warm up/down which gave my legs a really good interval work out in an hour with much more ascent and descent than I'd get going for a 'proper run'. I reckon that these hill reps once or twice a week are what got me around the BG.

Hope this is useful.

Love from,
Joyce,
XXXX

In reply to Dandan:

Morning Campers,

Thanks a lot Dan, hope the wall is looking sweet - got a big ol' shed to install this summer and putting a wall in it too so your updates are turning my 'shed wall psyche' up to 11!

Training Diary WC 29/6/15
Enforced rest week (2 ½ of of 2 ½ (the actual week 2 ½ - whoop whoop del whoop).

Monday – Rest and work.
Tuesday – Rest and work.
Wednesday – Rest and work/birthday.
Thursday – Work and rest.

Friday – And relax.

Saturday – A spot of measuring up for construction of railway sleeper retaining walls in the garden.
Sunday – Back on the rock!!! Out to Symonds Yat with Tom. Onsighted Arch Wall, HVS 4c, as a warm up. Got the heart rate going through the small roof. Stoked on this as the hardest proper trad route I’ve done since, like, forever.
Then we dropped a rope down Piggy Malone, E4 6a, with the intention of headpointing it. Tom onsighted it on a top rope and I then flashed it too – good holds and good gear but steep and pumpy. Repeated the top rope then had a top rope attempt while trying out gear placements. For both of us, this’d boost our trad climbing grade somewhat, especially for me (being the international coward of destiny). Both well stoked to return in the week for the big send!
Weight = no idea.

Good work everyone, keep it up!

Love from,
Joyce,
XXXX

In reply to Dandan:

Cheers Dan.

Hey, I wasn't awol that week!.

Just this week, in which I did nothing. It does say in the Fit Club rubric that you should aim to report every week, regardless of how much you have done, so there you go. I put my efforts into work instead, because a lot of people depended on me getting stuff done, and I decided to focus on not letting them down.

So, hey, null!

This week has gone a bit better, and I'll report that on Sunday.