UKC

Morning Halloween Fitclub! (the week to fulfil or set ‘scary’ goals?)

A new thread is posted each week on Sunday for anyone to jot down their previous week's activity. UKC fitclub is a rich community with posters sharing their goals, noting successes and failures and offering support to those struggling to maintain motivation. Anyone interested in starting is very welcome to join, but to get the most of UKC fit club 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 and drive you towards achieving your goals whatever the level of your chosen activity.

For those wanting to find out more about training for climbing a number of physical training articles are linked here:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=274502

The following training article by Alex Barrows gives an excellent breakdown on training the four main "energy systems" specific to climbing:
http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com.es/2014/02/training-for-sport-climb...


Link to last weeks thread (501) http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=651961

Si: Congrats on PIB and meeting your goals. For core work motivation I follow https://www.instagram.com/gymnasticbodies (sometimes works, sometimes makes me think f*** it!)
TonyB: Consistency is good!
AJM: Great blog post on Monserrat, far more interesting/well written than some of the destination stuff Climber put out (seriously). Do you think your injury tendon damage or flexor unit strain? (With the latter I found open 4 dead hangs no problem and just avoiding serious pockets for a while allowed it to heal). If you’re feeing like you can’t push it on hard moves but still want training goals maybe give http://www.uphillathlete.com/capacity-training-vs-utilization-training/ a try?
Biscuit: How’s coaching working out for you? Something I’m looking into at the moment.
Ally: Nice set of objectives, a bit of progression between them. Look forward to hearing about CCS experiments.. Did you get on your project this week?
HMS: Sounds like a good varied week. Any targets in Spain?
Hokkyo: One week to go then, do you have a target time in mind?
JayK: It takes me ages to recover from a half, if you’re back running after a few days I reckon you’re doing alright. Congrats on the 8A tick, from that I assume you crushed it this week?
Ian Bell: Taking a week or two off isn’t a bad plan. Have you read Dave Mcleods bit on reversibility?
Curious Yellow: Sounds like a great trip! I see you are straight back into training- any new goals?
Bobling: Feeling any better?
PlanetMarshall: Seems like an achievable STG for the week if you’re not sick- how’d it go?
Tyler: Check in when you get back.
SteveM: Sounds like a solid week. Do you have a plan for fingerboard training?
MattRM: Thanks for the tip, will be more prepared next week!

I'm going to go ahead and propose something new as an experiment- I'll keep track of your 'streak' of meeting STG's. Hopefully this will be encouragement to set a SMART goal and go for it! If you want to get involved next week simply make it clear whether you did/didn't achieve what you said you would. Thoughts (may well have been done before)?

In reply to guy127917:



Cheers Guy, I'll try it out, it might work! Never used Instagram before.
Will post up later although have had a fairly lazy week.

Si

In reply to guy127917:

I've been forgotten but don't worry - it was mostly rehab stuff and a cycle. Post up this week in a bit when I've decided if I'm too broken to do anything this evening.

In reply to mrchewy:

arg sorry!! you were the first poster last week and everything, d'oh.

In reply to guy127917:
No worries mate! Always good to fly under the radar

Well knackered, not gonna get anything useful done this evening, so may as well post my week up.

Mon - PM 1.5hr conditioning. Antags. Flexibility. Core. 6x5 scapular pullups. Hangs 3 finger open 10 x 8sec on the minute.
Tue - Rest
Wed - Mon - PM 1.5hr conditioning. Antags. Flexibility. Core. 3x5 scapular pullups. Hangs 3 finger open 10 x 8sec on the minute.
Thu - PM 45min Conditioning. Reverse pullups. Left arm struggles. Core work whilst hanging from jugs. Back feels good.
Fri - Rest day
Sat - PM 1hr stretching, antags, 6x6 scapular pullups, reverse pullups. 10x 8sec hangs on the minute 3 finger open
Sun - AM Cycle 44 miles @ 15mph Furthest I've been since I was 18 I reckon, 33 years ago.

It may not look a lot but I'm seriously happy to be doing some structured hanging again. The back feels good now, not strong but good and the reverse pullups make sense for the first time ever. Never did anything before but I can finally see the point. Battered my core in the middle of the week and not a complaint from my lower spine. I see the physio again this week and reckon she'll be done with me.

The STG thing is a great idea - not sure it's ever been tracked before. Mine recently has been 6x6 scapulars, which I managed yesterday. So onwards...

STG - 2 pullups in one go for my Nov goal (anyone who knows me knows how difficult this will be). Proper on jugs. I could do them on monos but jugs is my weakness.
MTG - NYE in the Goscanos, Chulilla. Tick an unfinished 6B in Abarracin. It snowed on my last morning. I can't thug up the crack like everyone else, so took me a couple of hours to work out a sequence and I fell off the top move, just tired from a long day. It's become important after not climbing much all year.
LTG - 7A. Salbit West Ridge.
BHAG - Die happy.

Hope everyone has had a great week.

In reply to guy127917:

Second really consistent and planned out week of training completed in a row for me. I added long warmup sets on Tuesday inspired by ARC protocol which was interesting. First time I did 10 minutes in a row was super painful, but today 3 x 10 minutes on the same boulder was no problem. All in the mind I'm sure but it's nice to be increasing the volume again. I'll be holding off the recreational bouldering sessions until after Spain sport trip in 3 weeks.

Monday
Dynamic stretches
Pull-ups 10,10,10
Incline bench 10x60,70,70x8
Incline db flyes 10x12,12,14kg
Flat bench dbs 10x24x3
Dips 3x10
Knees to elbows x8

Tuesday
Traverse 1x10 minute burn
Wave 3-5 move reps 1 minute rest
5 sets of 5 reps 5 minute rest
Bit of a tweak on middle 2 pocket, called it a day

Wednesday
2x10 minute traversing
Intervals 1.30mins/3mins x2, 8mins rest
7a,6c,7a
6c,6c,7a
Deadhangs 10s/3sx4 1 minute rest x 3
4x4mins/2mins

Thursday Gym
Dynamic stretches
Pull-ups 3x10
Dips 3x10
Knees to elbows 6,6,4
Leg raises from dip position, hits lower abs, 7,7,7
Metronom x6
Dowel rotator cuff extensions. Tight across back of shoulder blades and outer pec
Bench press 10,10,7x80 legs cramping
Deadlifts 80x20x3

Friday
15 minutes traverse
3x one arm traverses each arm
Campus foot off: 1 minute gaps, 3 minute set rest
1-2-3 x 5LR 3 minutes rest
1-2-4 x 5LR 3 minutes rest
1-3-4 x 5LR
1-3-5 x 5LR
1-2-4 LR (can just about make it)
1-4-5 LR (can just about make it)
4x4 mins on/2mins off intervals

Saturday
Casual pace 8 mile run.

Sunday
Mobility development work
10 minutes traverse x3
Foot on campus ladders 50s/2minutesx3, 5 minutes x3
4 x 4 minutes on/2 minutes off intervals
10 knees to elbows core

Weight steady at 83.5kg.

Last week of creatine cycle this week, will push it in the gym and then ease off that side of things and focus on sport climb specific conditioning + core for the last 3 weeks before spain trip. Hopefully weight should drop with it and the strength gains stick...

STG - Same again- consistent week of training, and being diet conscious.

MTG - First 7a tick on 7 day Costa Blanca trip next month (route suggestions anyone?)

LTGs for 2017 (Have made progress with next years plans this week, booked some trips and will be working 1 day a week less and climbing more )
* Convert or acquire a campervan.
* Don't die whilst ice climbing in Feburary (first time sans guide)
* Just booked 5 week trip to British Columbia next June/July, need to formulate some specific goals. Note sure about trad stuff there, for alpine maybe Bugaboo Spire
* First Grit E1 (Flying Buttress Direct?)
* First Limestone E1 (Debauchery or King Kong maybe)
* Matterhorn via Hornli Ridge in August (was goal for this year but my partner picked up an injury)
* Tick 3 7a routes (Maybe including Great Bores of Today)
* 5+ ticks from Hard Rock
* First 7a+ (maybe Resistance Is Futile?)

BHAG
* Frendo Spur
* Solo Cuillin Ridge in 24hr
* Aid the Nose
* Denali via Cassin Ridge
* NF of the Eiger, Matterhorn, Grand Jorasses

In reply to guy127917:


At Sella, the new sector on the left (if it's not sunny) has a couple of nice, non polished ones. One very soft for the grade. On the other side of the valley, there's a couple too that I've forgotten the name of (guide isn't around) and one of them has a couple of straightforward cruxes but the rest is okay, an easy slab start. I tried that one after inverting and smashing myself on a slab nearby but I'd say it's pretty amiable. I've not led a 7a yet but been on tons of Spanish ones last winter. Not so many in Blanca tho.

In reply to guy127917:
Hello, it's me, back from sunny Spain!
We had a fantastic trip, great people, great weather, great routes, couldn't have asked for a much better holiday really!
Important things first, I did *not* tick Doctor Feelgood (8a) unfortunately, it was close but I needed a bit more time to sort out my sequence for what is the crux for me, the route was so busy that I didn't feel it was very fair to spend forever dogging it. The good news however is that it is one of the best climbs I've ever tried and I'm super psyched to smash it out in April. I really couldn't fault it, 57 moves on fantastic holds, steep to start and easing all the way to just over vertical, it's a real stamina test with no single section that felt over V4 to me, very skin and elbow friendly.

Starting from last Sunday:

S: Can Pesafigues/Can Verdures: Not wanting to make the same mistake as Kalymnos, we started off with an easy day, 6's and a cheeky 7a, Lobo Lopez (7a) which wasn't brilliant. Verdures has some fantastic 6's though, Murciegalus (6b+) has to be one of my favourite at the grade. We did walk along to the next crag where Dr Feelgood was to have a look. As seems to be the norm from dawn until dusk, someone was on it so I got to see how it climbs, it looked awesome!

M: Can Verdures/Cova Soleiada; Back to the same group of crags, we were supposed to be meeting Mac for a play on Feelgood but he was busy, I did have one go on it anyway. Surprised myself by comfortably doing every move first go, in fact I think I probably did the moves that became my crux better on that first go than I managed on any subsequent go! Typical. Also did El Dia de la Bestia (6c+) which is definitely 7a and not 7a+ as described in the logbooks. It had a tricky sequence which cost me the onsight, then Mrs Dandan very nearly toprope flashed it after me! She's getting far too good...

T: Can Torxa/Cova Soleiada; Tried the roadside Can Torxa on a recommendation from our host, but we missed the good routes and found polished horribleness instead. Got back on Feelgood with Mac this time, although his beta wasn't as useful as I might have hoped, rather than move by move info, it was "there's a mono there maybe? Oh actually maybe I didn't use that" but hey, first serious redpoint attempt saw me up the route in 3 hangs, mostly from lack of beta and not exhaustion which was really encouraging.

W: Ca la Marta/Can Torxa; A 'Rest' day for me, we took our host out for the day as he had not been climbing in a few months, his Casa is a fair way out of Margalef so he can't get there as often as he would like. We remedied the longer drive each day by hiring quite a snazzy car, what a great decision that was! The 40 minute drive each day was genuine good fun in a full on mid-life crisis convertible, beats hell out of the asthmatic 7 seater we had in April!
Despite technically resting I did still put up Sutils Perfums (7a) for Mrs Dandan which turned out to be a cracker of a route. We were supposed to be up at Ca la Marta to recce another 8a called Local Hero (8a) which is on the next crag over, but I, er, forgot to go and have a look...
We also met a certain family of J's, James, Josh, Jack and Jenny Ibbotson, what a lovely bunch of people! Watching the kids do every move on low 8's first go then send it second go was beyond amazing, and they were all so friendly. Mrs Dandan got inspired by watching Jenny cruise a powerful 7a, I got slightly depressed watching someone a third of my age climb harder than me...

T: Cova Soleiada; 3 good goes on Feelgood, but no joy, the crux for me is quite low down and I think it's just a case of unlocking a better sequence, as I am pretty tired at that point so I need a slightly easier method. If I can get past that sequence, I'm confident I can make it to the top clean, as the only really hard move above is preceded by a pretty good rest. I watched a Japanese guy do it with totally different foot positions but as I mentioned before, I couldn't hang around too long to figure it out for myself.
My best result though was 1 hang (at the crux), if I can get through that, it'll be in the bag.
Mrs Dandan also ticked El Dia De.... 7a with style and grace, made it look like 6b.

F: Culample; Remember my STG of returning to tick Bésame Mucho (7b+)? Well despite my memory of the route being "something something, maybe a bad hold in the middle somewhere...?" I ticked it putting the draws up! I completely cruised it, it felt so, so much easier than 6 months ago, a real positive step for me. What's that, a memory flash? Holiday flash?
I also tried Whiskey Compadre (7b+) next to it but hit a tricky move near the top, I didn't feel up for another go so that one will keep until April.

S: Travel home, boo. It was such a good week, we met some fantastic people, our host, Patrick was such a dude, he cooked for us, entertained us, introduced us to the world of science podcasts, even came climbing with us! Mac is a bit of a local legend, he knows everyone and everyone knows him, a useful man to know! The Ibottsons were all really cool, as was everyone else we met at the crags, one day we shared a crag with german, japanese, spanish, french and english climbers, everyone was polite and happy, it was just really nice.

S: Nada

So that's it, holiday done. Not the biggest tick list, 1 7b+ and 4 7a's, but I chose to do that, I chose to put some time into Feelgood when I could have been ticking a couple of mid-7's every day, and that's fine by me.
I've also ticked another long forgotten MTG, i've climbed more routes this year than any other year and it's only October. I'm already 16 routes in credit so I might be able to beat it with a pretty fair margin by the end of the year

It's a rest week this coming week so i'll put up some new goals next weekend for the next 6 months of training, then it's back to Margalef to stroll up some 8a's!

In reply to Si dH:

2016 goals:

- Maintain a weight of around 11 stone measured Sunday night.

- Good range of 'up' f7B/+s
- Wright's Traverse (f7B) (done)
- moffatrocity (f7B+) (done)
- The Eastwood Traverse (f7B+)
- The Mentalist (f7C)
- Paint it Black (f7C) (done)
- Tetris (f7C)

- Arch Enemies (7c+) (done)
- The Free Monster (8a) (done)

M: Rest
T: Nothing
W: Nothing
T: Did a campus session (with some mid grade bouldering before and after.) Never done any proper campusing really, so technique is poor. Enjoyed it. Did 1-3-5-7-9 x3 on each arm. Felt quite strong on this, but was too static really. Did 1-5 x3 off left arm (ie throwing with right) but only x1 after failing twice off right arm. (Surprised by this as my lockoff strength on a half crimp is better on my right arm.) Tried 1-4-6 a couple of times on each arm, touched the 6 hold every time but never latched it.
F: Nothing
S: Nothing (wedding trip)
S: Nothing

Injury catalogue: No change. Shoulders felt worked after campusing...not sure whether in a good or bad way!

Weight last Sunday night was 11 st 5 lb.

A lazy week, feeling happy after doing PiB and going on holiday this coming Friday for a fortnight (non climbing, in Malta.) I'm going to do 2 or 3 more campus sessions this week, then just aim to stay fit and do some core training while on holiday, then hit the grit when I get home.
I'll have the opportunity to do a lot of swimming- anyone know/think what stroke might be most relevant/useful to build up base or antagonistic core or shoulder strength?

Si

In reply to guy127917:

Thanks for doing the stats Guy.

Mon: Rest.
Tues: Rest.
Wedns: Wall. Feeling a bit more lively. 8 mins on, 8 mins off x6 @ 5-6b, mostly 6a.
Thurs: Wall. Flashed another 7a 2x 4 laps on short steep 6c.
Fri: Rest.
Sat: Wall. Short boulder.
Sun: Wall. Boulder projects. Pullups, pressups.

Back on it properly this week. Will post up some goals further down the thread.

In reply to Si dH:
My physio has been really insistent that back stroke is perfect for climbers. For shoulder and spine flexibility. I'm still resisting.

In reply to mrchewy:

Cool, did he explain why?
My swimming technique is pretty poor for anything other than breaststroke. I suspect i can only dp about 2 lenthgs backstroke now...

In reply to guy127917:
Ps Guy, I wouldn't recommend FBD as a first grit E1. Pick something a bit more conventional/less intimidating unless you think it's really your bag. It's not soft at the grade. The Link might be a better choice, or Kirkus Corner (which was mine I think?) in the same area.
Debauchery and King Kong would be ok for limestone if you have a decent amount of trad experience. King kong especially if you have decent jamming skills and crack technique. The hardest thing about debauchery is route finding.

In reply to Dandan:

Ah you stayed with Papa Bear
Dude, cooked for you, entertained you and tried to brainwash you with science. Yup, that's him.

He is indeed a top bloke and I'm glad to hear he had time to climb. Spread the word about his business if you enjoyed it. A spot on fella like him deserves the credit. It's taken him a long time and hard work to get his dream together.

Sounds like you were really close with the 8a, but great consolation to crush the previous nemesis.

In reply to guy127917:

Cheers Guy. I coach and am coached and think it's the quickest way to improve, with the right coach. Self coaching is hard (you're often either unable to see the issue or don't want to see the issue) and even advice from experienced, well meaning friends isn't always accurate. It is however easy to self educate regarding training. Most people could sort themselves a training schedule out using info on the internet. Finding your physical ( and more importantly imo technical/tactical/mental ones) is where a good coach is worth every penny.

As a quick example I coach someone who flashes V8+ indoors. Not weak and a good comp climber. First session I noticed he climbs predominantly one legged. Got him to try some problems comparing his style with the new suggested style and he agreed it was much easier the new way. He could have got much stronger/fitter etc but would always have been held back by 1/4 of his body weight dangling about pulling him off the wall. None of his climbing mates had ever spotted it.

I too have missed obvious technical factors in my own climbing and I'm supposed to have half an idea what I'm talking about.

Anyway this week was a mixture of lurgy (that I still can't shift) and my first uni exam. Nothing done. Hoping to get two sessions in this week and back on the bike.

STG (so you can keep track of me)

Top half in Battle of Britain vets comp 12th Nov

Enter the Winter League at The Depot - will have an idea about goal for this after the first round. Not done it before so not sure what to aim at.

In reply to Si dH:

She said it keeps the thoracic supple and free moving - there was a load more to it than that but I covered my ears. I hate swimming. Her boyfriend is a climber, so she's aware of all the stresses and issues.

In reply to guy127917:


Thanks - I'm glad you enjoyed the blog. The finger is definitely a flexor unit. 4-finger stuff is fine like you say but currently adopting Ally's suggestion of a bit of back 3 action too which is something I've probably under trained in the past.

Bit of a manic week at work for me. Nearly managed my contracted hours in just Wednesday, Thursday and Friday which is never good. Hopefully this week will be a little better, although I have 2 days in London which probably disrupts a very structured training week. I'm very impressed by people who can work that hard and still have the energy to train.

Anyway, I went to the wall which was pretty good, they've built some new bits since I was last there so I had great fun on those. Finger was fine and I gave my shoulders a good workout on a load of steep stuff.

Also currently in the middle of a back 3 fingerboard session.

Went to Swanage Saturday, didn't climb but did at last go down to Blackers Hole for a gawp. Super impressive and very keen to get on at least 2 things down there now. Good for the psyche.

In DIY club I finished and partly loaded the wood store, acquired and broke down another pallet, and build a work bench/shelving unit for the shed which is now nice and tidy. Pleased with that. Now also have a lantern should I choose to go night bouldering (I needed lights for the shed, and it seemed to kill several birds with one stone.... The holds to spruce up my foot on campus setup should arrive this week so that might be the third, hopefully final and most relevant episode of the club for a while.

Not sure of weekend plans yet but wall tomorrow assuming work is OK, then fingerboarding around being in London, then maybe wall or outside or something at the weekend depending on what the weather does and what people are keen on.

In reply to guy127917:
Cheers bud. After ticking Fata early Sunday afternoon, I didn't end up managing to climb again until Thursday! It stopped raining on Monday, but everything just stayed really damp. Oh well, at least it meant I forced myself to rest before going back to work! Probably going to get back on the training plan tomorrow (not sure what for though? Might be worth setting some goals - although I'm not sure I can be bothered to commit to long distance travelling at weekends at the moment?)

M-8mile trail run in the forest. I think you could justify a week holiday to font just for the trail runs. They are excellent!
T-Rest - coffee, pastries and more coffee.
W-Rest - coffee, pastries and more coffee.
T-Warmed up at Cuvier and then walked up to Rempart. Turned up and there were around 9 French climbers stood under Big Golden (f7C+). Just as I was about to head off, most of them disappeared and one of them asked if I wanted to have a go. I was glad I did, as about an hour later (and with a slight tweak in beta) I managed to get to the top. I was so happy with this one. Probably up there with the best boulders I've ever climbed. Simply brilliant. One off the lifetime list.
F-Rest
S-Parkrun. Took it easy and ran it round in 19:20.
S-6.5miler followed by bouldering session at the wall.

In reply to Si dH:

Appreciate the advice, I'll check those two out. I've only really got 'into' trad properly this year so have been taking it pretty steady building a base of experience up to HVS. I haven't tried anything harder yet. I did a few HVS pitches at High Tor and didn't find them very hard so feel like debauchery should be viable. The only thing that has shut me down on trad routes so far has been pure cracks... I've been working on my technique a bit in the last few weeks though trying to get jamming sorted.

In reply to guy127917:


Lurgified for most of the week, but I did at least manage to get out at the weekend.

Mon - Fri Either Lurgy or recovering from Lurgy
Sat Climbing at Berdorf. Probably the best climbing within a 3 hour drive of Brussels, though I haven't yet been to Freyr.
Bolted soft sandstone, heavily featured and up to about 30m in length. Easy stuff mostly, Kaweechelchen (5c), Gentiane (5c) and Cyrano Left (5c). Had a go at Lionel Terray (6a), managed to get off the ground (crux) - a gritstone crack apprenticeship pays dividends here - but was too knackered to climb the remaining 25m or so.
Sun Morning session at Berdorf - had to get back to Brussels for 6pm. Back on Lionel Terray (6a) and made it to the top with a couple of rests just below the belay. A bit disappointed with myself as I should have got it clean - not quite got the hang of this sport climbing business yet.

Picture of Lionel Terray - https://www.instagram.com/p/BMMoDe1jxBO


Only managed the outdoor session, so reiterating these goals for this week. It's a Belgian holiday on the 1st Nov so may defer it till Friday and take a long weekend somewhere. Font is < 4 hours drive....

STG - Regular strength based workout at least twice per week - reduce volume and increase weight for lower body work. At least one good endurance based running session. Get onto some outdoor rock.

MTG - Looks like it'll be mostly bouldering and strength work over the Winter. Not making any concrete plans until the end of my contract in February - other than a weekend in Font in November. Hope to also get away for some Winter sun at some point.

LTG - 2017
Brown's Eliminate (E2 5b)
Regent Street (E2 5c)
Steeple (E2 5c)
Shibboleth (E2 5c)
Innominata Ridge (D+)
Cuillin Ridge Traverse (Summer) (VD) - Solo
Kami-kaze (Winter) (VI 7)
Something at Kalymnos

BHAG - Beyond 2017
Archangel (E3 5b)
London Wall (E5 6a)
Right Wall (E5 6a)
Sundance (Winter) (VIII 8)
The 1938 Route (ED2)
Octopus Crack (7b+)
US Road Trip
El Cap
New routes in Scotland
New routes in Alaska

In reply to planetmarshall:

Morning all

STG - Get outside when I can, hopefully manage a few weekends in November
MTG = Keep filling up 7b+ pyramid this year. So far 9x7a, 2x7a+, 1x7b.
BHAG = 8a by 40

Weds - quick 90 mins bouldering volume, mostly flashing V2-V3 ish problems.

A quick week to write up this week! As expected work and family commitments got in the way of much more. Starting to feel a bit more motivated now and aiming to get to the wall a couple of times this week and hopefully outside at the weekend.

I hadn't read the reversibility thing but I have now, all makes sense to me and would agree its important to keep ticking over. Maybe should be eating less cake as well!

In reply to planetmarshall:

I really enjoyed Berdorf when I went last year, very pretty crag. Sounds like you had fun. Also see you want to do Octopus Crack which I saw when I was in Kalymnos a few weeks ago. Looks amazing and brutal, there also seem to be a lot of mallions on the bolts as well.....

In reply to Ian Bell:

Hah! Well that's a long way off for me yet, certainly not something I'm going to try until I have a realistic chance of getting up it. Still as a style I think it suits me better than technical face climbing.

In reply to guy127917:

I've owned a fingerboard (beastmaker 1000) for more years than the number of times I've used it. My latest excuse is some pain in my right elbow. I don't have a plan, yet. And I'm not planning to start until elbow's well fixed. I do have a bunch of downloads including the beastmaker basic plan with 7s on- 3s off. Any other recommendations?

STG (end of Oct)
On a climbing weekend, get on at least one E1 (tick)
Local HVS ticklist: Demon Wall, Great Western, Botterill's Crack, Minion's Way (not been out locally)
Fall off indoors (no)
Abbey Dash 10k - do stretches & heel raises to get to the start line (ok so far, race is Sunday 6th)
Do one of either bike commuting or skifit a week (no)

MTG (end of 2016)
Solid at UK HVS
Regular exercise schedule

LTG (2017 and beyond)
Regular e-points!
Orange alpine circuit at Font
Multi-day ski tours
Denali
Yosemite big walling again

BHAG
Big wall solo

Last week was
Mon Nothing
Tue Leading at Leeds wall - mediocre session, still felt bushed after Canada and a long weekend away. Heel raises.
Wed Just elbow exercises during 10 hours in the car: effectively nothing.
Thu Trail run 30 mins
Fri Nothing, some DIY
Sat Climbing at Tremadog, it felt a bit damp/greasy for pushing it grade-wise
Sun Llanberis slate quarries, mix of trad & sport. Ticked the E1 goal on the penultimate day of the month!

Started some new stretches and exercises to manage elbow pain before it became an issue. I suspect it may be due to computer/mouse at work so changing things up there too. If I need to take a full-on proper break off climbing I will...

In reply to guy127917:

Thanks Guy. My only target in Spain was to get back on a 7b I had tried 3 years ago and been totally shut down by.

M - cycle commute, yoga in evening.
T - cycle commute.
W - hellishly early flight to Malaga, drive to V del Rosario, coffee, local crag for a quick session before collapsing of exhaustion. Got a 7a onsight (not in my log book as the crag is not on UKC)
T - V del Cauche to try the 7b, Tomahawk. Onsight failed before it started, dogged rope up, worked the first 4 clips, then clean 1st RP. It is tufa pipes, then has a very technical crux from a double tufa undercut involving a massive drop-knee. Took a while to work out but when I did it was a revelation!
F - Torcal. Had hoped to try another 7b, but the 10 minute walk-in turned into a hour and a half of thrashing around a Spanish hillside covered in tenuous goat tracks and prickly plants. When we finally found the bloody crag all psyche had gone. Tried a 7a+ which was good but had a very hard start indeed - too thin cracks with razor edges. Again, got it 1st RP, but by then the cloud had descended - had to shout 'clipping' down to D1 as we couldn't see each other through the murk. Interesting retreat in thick mist.
S - Cloud down again, so back to V del Cauche. Bad choice of warm-up (Crockfax claimed 6a+ - not a chance!!). Tried to OS the crag classic 7a+, a 32m steep groove. I had expected good holds all the way after a tricky start, but clip10 suddenly they went crap and I fell off, pulled back on, only to find the same scenario at clip12. Stripped, went on to a 7a, followed the chalk and fell off a sloper. A quick recce showed that I should have used a crimpy bobble instead. Got it 1st RP. Skin seriously sore after 4 days on.
S - back to the grey UK.

So in 4 days I got 7a OS x1, 7a RP x 1, 7a+ RP x 1, 7b RP x 1. Which confirms my view that I am not a natural on-sighter. The 7a & 7a+ RPs I would almost certainly have been able to flash with a suitable beta-stream. Guess I just need to on-sight more.

This week will be a rest week - I'll do core & yoga but not climb until the weekend. I'm back in Spain in a couple of weeks with the husband, mainly being a rope monkey to try to get him on rock, but may manage some sneaky 7s with careful crag choice.

In reply to biscuit:



Papa Bear, that's a new one on me!
You're right, I don't know why I'm being so vague about where we stayed, Papa Bear's real name is Patrick and he co-owns The Poppy House near Flix. He's a top bloke with great accommodation, perhaps more importantly he has an awesome dog called Django.
You can find The Poppy House on FaceCrack, it is a bit of a drive from Margalef itself (40 mins), but if you want some genuine off-grid peace and quiet, or perhaps want to do other activities like walking or road cycling as well as climbing, then it's a great option.

In reply to guy127917:

Short term goals (November/early December)

Get Lost Decade (V6) done.
Rebook my driving theory test, turn up this time and for bonus points, actually pass it.
100% completion on the training plan for November. No skiving press-ups.

MTG and LTGs to follow next week - I'll try start posting goals on a weekly basis, I am usually a bit too slack to do this!

In reply to SteveM:
Elbows:

Focus effort on finding out what rehab exercises make it feel better. Do lots of them.

Don't stop climbing completely but avoid:
- deep static locks with the bad elbow bent
- dynamic slaps to slopers with the bad elbow slapping
- fridge hugging

Ps. No reason in my view not to use your fingerboard a bit, just use it with arms mostly straight (but shoulders engaged.)

In reply to Si dH:

Thanks Si. Can you define better? all the exercises* I can find on interwebs make it hurt at the time, but only to say 2 or 3/10. Haven't really found one that's helps but it has been good this morning after a weekend of trad. Feels like it's got progressively worse through the day at work, I drive a computer all day so my focus has been in fixing position at the desk. And working with my left hand all morning.

* Exercises = wrist raises, forearm twists and weighted broomstick from the UKC elbows article.

Did some light bouldering this evening and middle two crimps were fine, big juggy holds hurt! :-/

In reply to Si dH:

Ps. It's tennis elbow as defined in http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=6156

In reply to SteveM:
My elbow problems in the past have been golfers rather than tennis, but my understanding is that the sort of mild pain/discomfort you describe is fine for the rehab.
What I mean by better is that after a few days or maybe a week or two of doing them, you should start to be able to do moves that were hurting them previously, with less pain (or do more before the pain starts). Then you know the exercises are having the right effect.
Sounds like you might benefit from someone checking your posture at work if you have an occupational health team.

In reply to guy127917:


Good morning! I didn't fulfill any scary goals, but I have decided to have another crack at being fit for the Three Peaks Fall race again next year. I entered last year, but ended up not running due to shin issues.


All being well, I'd like P.B. at the Abbey Dash. Anything less that 50:30 would accomplish that, but ideally under 50:00.

m - idle, was going to go to the gym, but realised that it was half term and the school was shut.
t - 10k cycling, 4.5k run (5:30min/km pace), 10.5k run (5:30min/km pace)
w - 10k cycling
t - 10k cycling
f - 5k progression run (6:00 to 4:30min/km pace).
s -
s - ~6k run a bit aimless as I was pretty hung over.

Progression runs are a new idea to me. I've been doing one or two runs to work each week, but I always start off really slow. A runner in my club suggested I make them progression runs, where you increase your pace in discrete steps during the course of the run. I'll see how I get on.

Weight 81.3kg Body fat 19.6%

STG
PB at Abbey Dash

MTG
Get weight back under 80kg

LTG
Big mountains next year

In reply to guy127917:

Thanks for doing the stats guy127917

Hello again all

Short term goal

Weigh 79kg - just boardering on this seam to be dropping then going back up to 80, hopefully be ticked by next week. Aiming to get down to about 75kg and then hold steady there
Run twice or mountain walk - tick
Climb twice - tick

Mid term goals (now till March next year)

Gain lots of winter experience walking and climbing, will think about routes this week and add to the mid term goals to make it a bit more specific
Lots of hillwalking and wildcamping and gain enough experience to do my ML training next year (solid navigation, 10 hour plus Hill day)
Train strength by bouldering a lot and improve indoor bouldering grades from 6a to 6b+. Also improve indoor lead grade from 6a+/6b to 6c+
A peak bouldering trip

Long term goal (Summer 2017)

Start season climbing HVS
Progress quickly to e grades and becoming solid at e1 by the end of the season again will think of routes that I want to get done by next week

M - Rest
T - indoor bouldering
W - rest
T - indoor lead climbing up to 6b
F - 4 hour mountain walk
S - 5 hour mountain walk
S - Terrible hangover and decided I would never drink again. Lets see how long it lasts

Happy Training
Lee

In reply to guy127917:

Thanks Guy - a slightly unstructured post from me to catch up then back on the wagon next week.

Morocco was awesome again. Really think we've got the feel of the place now and ready for pushing multipitch grade and length, and some major new routing next year. Still not quite fit enough to finish the list but getting there.

Highlight was an amazing 60m E2 first pitch lead in Tizi Going off the Rails (E2 5b) - 30m of brutal size 1 - 2 jamming (the nowhere good jamming zone for me as my bomber hand jam is 0.75 and fist starts at 3! Ben walked it on second with bigger hands), followed by 30m of wandering techy crimp pulling on 2 bits of gear that got increasingly further away...Stunning and full on and a genuine full rope length pitch with fun and games trying to create enough rope to build a belay and let Ben to tie in on second!

So 2016 on paper so far has me performing well:
7a onsight in Mallorca Jan
Various E2 onsights July-Oct
Worked 7A+ bouldering Oct

Observations:
A lot probably down to the training when I was injured. Also had a few good psych
pockets and hugely grateful to various FC members for suggestions and support.

Due to broken ankle, mum illness and work, outside mileage is well down. Also
strangely, I climb much harder outside than inside.

I can project bouldering but need to get over the fact that I want to only do roped things onsight. It's not a fear of falling - my head is pretty good for that and I'm fairly bold. It's a weird style/performance thing. Any tips on learning to embrace redpointing?

Goals:
7a+/7b Mallorca (pref onsight but appreciate I will likely have to work it)
E3 onsight - sadly I'm losing limestone opportunities now and grit E3 is unlikely to be my performance zone! There is however an E4 I had a go on last year that might go after a bit of confidence building toproping - it's pretty bold and has some full stretch moves...

In reply to Just Tintin:




Stop worrying if the belayer is getting bored. I always feel guilty. I'll spend ages on a boulder and obviously onsight/flash routes you don't think about the belayer and how long they've been stood around at the bottom but redpointing used to make me feel guilty. Still does somewhat.

In reply to mrchewy:

guy - don't worry about any mistakes, we've all missed people off by accident. It's no big deal.

The Goal - Climb Western Front Direct (7a)
This week:
1 climb - no
1 yoga - no

Weight - 13st 7lbs

M - T - Nowt
W - 3.5 mile walk
T - S - Nowt

Less than good week. Screwed up what I was posting last week, so this is actually back to being accurate. Was on holiday most of the week so missed everything really.

Next week:
1 climb
1 yoga
Sensible diet

In reply to guy127917:

Just to not be missed out; I'm away on a jolly.

The week before going I fell off my redpoint project at the tor lots. Mostly on the crux move of Chimes.

No stgs until I'm home.

Ciao for now