UKC

Hi Fitties

Running a bit late, but might complete tonight.  If too knackered then before 9 am tomorrow.  Apologies - explanation in my weekly write up.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Don't pressure yourself to get it done this evening just for our sake

In reply to AlanLittle:

Thanks Alan.  I would rather get it done so it doesn't interfere with work tomorrow!  Not far off now anyway. 🙂

In reply to Derek Furze:

A new thread is posted each week on Sunday for anyone to jot down their previous week's activity. UKC fit club 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.

Link to last week’s thread:

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/ukc_fit_club_week_849-7612...

Another entertaining week of back and forth banter!

Randy:  Sorry to hear that the finger is somewhat tender.  Make sure you treat things carefully and avoid stuff that might cause something worse to develop (possibly like Frankenjura pockets 😊).

Very good to see your fartleks splits which look excellent to me (who is still aiming for a lowly 5 minute km!).  Somewhat comical to see that your easy run pace is at 4:30!  That said, it is astonishing how the pace tables show such a change with age (sources can be provided if requested).  Seriously, I would think that the recovery pace is a bit quick and isn’t the translation ‘speed fun’ and the point that it is very adjustable according to how it feels on the day?  I have done a little bit of this, but only really made a start that will feature in this week’s write up.  Your long run pace is good and probably where your recovery pace might better sit?

Great to see how close the one-arm pull ups are getting and the lock off work is also strong and must support the pull up technique.  I think the lock off ability will have a very positive crossover to actual climbing – not that pure lock offs arise very often, but it is a strength that is used to some extent in a lot of situations.  Feeling stronger, but not achieving more reps is understandable at low reps – when you are doing three, the jump to four is an extra 33%.

Ian Parnell:   Hope the new flattie training aid is now in use?  Not that I’ve seen much evidence of this weakness in action!  The evidence of the last couple of trips is pretty solid and you look like you are climbing well and with some determination.  As you note, it might be a different story if you got on things that were overhanging where strength and power were more of a necessity?  Anyway, it looks like you are putting together a targeted plan with those identified weaknesses in mind, with the woodie at the Depot at the core.  Given your description, have you considered selling tickets whenever you go down to use it? 😊 The pull up work underway (especially the slopers) has got to help with your long-term project of ‘Tracy’s path’ – quite inspiring that you are having a go and makes me realise I should do the same over winter.

Great to see you back to a routine with your new goals in mind.  I’d say Peak E3s and E4s (Queer Street especially) are a good grounding for a lot of stuff on your list from last week.  Also like the bouldering – good commitment to a discipline that you report as not your most natural.  Quite a lot of climbing across the week – much clearly ‘training’ in nature – so a disciplined approach evident.  Good to see the running back on the schedule as well.

SteveJC94:  Sorry that the first attempt to get together didn’t work, but I shall keep trying.  As it happens, the weather is looking pretty ropey anyway, which may well be perfect for the Cornice or some such!

Amazing how quickly you have got back into your stride with training as you’ve put together a fairly dedicated week with some work every day.  I guess some of this will be a response to having a long while ‘resting’, but it hasn’t taken long at all to get up fairly close to your previous levels.  Great work, particularly with the board session project work and the aero 4’s.  The repeater sets are also good as close to bodyweight already – I find these both boring and hard, so can rarely complete six sets at BW.

Nice to see you got out to the Peak at the weekend and got some rocks done as well.  Full Frontal is pretty decent as are plenty of things there.

Somerset Swede Basher:  Hard to imagine you feeling despondent actually, but ‘struggling’ can come along for all sorts of reasons.  Good form can also arrive out of nowhere, presumably because it is a game that is very much to do with confidence as well as the basic physical ability.  Anyway, your week wasn’t too shabby with Too Pumpy for Grumpy done pretty quickly alongside nursing a sore finger.

There is good training going on as well with your continuing bicep work (I think aimed at improving your ability on undercuts) and the repeater session.  Impressive runs as well with fairly big distances and a bit of ascent as well.  These are distances I can only dream of, although I’m not really targeting anything long anyway.

Sorry availability hasn’t coincided with your evenings or strike days, but glad that you are managing to get out anyway, including a return to Cratcliffe.

Steve Claw:  Excellent exchanges across this week to set up a clean-up Avon aid points.  I looked up the route and it seems an oddity to have rest points on something relatively short, but there is probably a good explanation!

Something more like your usual productive self this week anyway with three sessions out and all very productive in different ways.  The rope solo session, getting three prepped and climbed same day is going some as it can be fairly time-consuming.  Even the rope soloing is a little bit of faff, although I’m sure you have your system nailed.

Excellent work on the overhanging 7c as it sounds a little bit anti-style and elbow intensive to boot.  New routes at Brean, especially fairly moderate ones, sounds unlikely, but you do seem to keep finding them wherever you go.

AlanLittle:  Yes, the heat has definitely been a problem at times here as well.  It has a broad effect – poor sleep adds to the sense of general exhaustion at the crag.  Still better that than the rain that has replaced it! 

Your week wasn’t that quiet.  Anyone who goes to a wall twice in one week in June is putting some effort in in my book.  That said, I have noticed recently that quite a few of Fit Club do keep their wall work going throughout the season, for a variety of reasons.  This impresses me no end and has got me reflecting that I should make more effort to include wall visits on my routine.  I need to put together a better plan before I take the plunge as my last few visits have left me with a sense of ‘that’s three hours of my life I won’t get back’!  Autobelay mileage would be a starting point, so good to see the return you got at Gilching, though less encouraged by your ‘whoever said endurance training was always supposed to be fun?’!

Did you get some other stuff done at Brauneck?  Well done for getting on the target regardless.

Tom Green:  Glad to see that you are back into something like your normal routine, though a lingering effect of whatever you’ve had still evident in the week reported.  The fact that you have included a run reminds me what has been missing of late, though I don’t think the weekly average goal is still a feature (?) now that the climbing season is in full swing.

Interesting reflections on your current sport project.  I suppose in one sense that is exactly the sort of target you should pursue then, as it is obviously stretching your strengths in a real way.  However, that needs investment of time and energy, so there is a cost attached.  I find I am simply inclined to ‘spend’ my pot elsewhere (going up and down other stuff) and the predictable ‘return’ is that I don’t really improve much!

Good to see Chee Tor becoming popular with FC.  It definitely needs traffic as there is some great climbing there.  The ever-reliable shady haven of Staden a great bailout destination as well.  I keep thinking I should put Clarion Call on my project list, but it is something that will wait until someone else suggests going there – at the moment, I’d rather cross the river!

Ross Barker:  Good that a southern FC meet seems to be coming together.  I shall try to firm up my arrangements with my sister.  I am definitely more interested in routes than DWS, but I can always arrange to meet a mate in the area if everybody else is practicing their swallow dives from high on Horny Lil’ Devil.

Sorry to hear that tweak has progressed to injury as you seem to have been nursing your pulley problem all year now.  The sort of stuff you do every week is inevitably going to have some significant loading on your fingers and quite possibly some explosive movement, so rehab is going to be challenging.  Keep up the light hangs and ice baths has to be the basic platform and it did seem to be progressing things previously.

Not a bad return from the Wavelength area – ‘good mileage, nothing too hard on the finger’ is probably the perfect way to approach things!  Good to see that it felt miles better – do more of this!

Tyler:  Carreg Mianog is a fine recommendation for that Cracked Arete alone if it really is ‘absolutely perfect in every way’.  Great when you find an unsung gem and your report made me look the place up – there looks to be plenty to do and the photos make it look pretty good really.  Lovely outlook.  Why not go for a return visit and include leading Zippo on your plan?

I must find this youtube channel offering 13 minute yoga sessions and yes, there are some where I can’t even do the warm ups…

Getting the Mean Mother done efficiently is very positive - a three-star classic.  Isn’t it the sort of place that saps your energy somewhat – might help explain the Thick Skinned bit and possibly the challenging bouldering session the following evening?

I like the sound of Little Orme, but it does sound like many of the areas are a fairly intense faff just to approach and the impression is that plenty of crags are ‘a bit sketchy’.  Got to be rewarding though and if you don’t go, you never find out.  A decent flash anyway so you should be delighted.  Great to see the lengths you will go to amuse us all on FC.

In reply to Derek Furze:

and the second bit...

AJM:  Pullups gaining traction in the SW?!  Interesting to include chin-ups, which feel less climbing specific to me (I don’t do them), but which are probably good for biceps in particular?  Might interest Swede as a way of including shoulders in a bicep focused exercise?  ‘Shoulders a bit achey’.  Well, there you go.

DWS season should be in full swing as the weather has been really hot, so good to see you training hard at Lulworth for the upcoming Fit Club meet!  I expect the usual selection of warm ups would be more than enough for me.  Conditions sounded a bit of a ‘mare to be fair.

Hope the weather held through the weekend as a nice opportunity with the inset day giving you chance to get away (again).  Definitely a change from last year to see these trad trips appearing on your weekly write ups – they clearly give you things to aim at through the year.

Ally Smith:  Of course, you’ll be off with paternity leave – make the most of it.  Perhaps a good opportunity for remodelling the board as these things can take a fair while.

Some very heavy lifts going on this week and a PB achieved as well – good stuff particularly as you were short a couple of days previously!  The rest must be doing you good.  The ten second central slot hangs are also looking strong, as are the assisted one armers – yet another prod for me to sort out my training station so I can introduce assisted stuff.  However, I think it will wait until Autumn.

What happened Tuesday and Saturday?  I thought the daily minimum concept was aimed at exactly those circumstances where life gets in the way?  Anyway, perhaps the rest is more valuable as you followed it with a PB.  Good to see another trip out on the bike.  You will certainly be fit when you finally get out again.

Excellent work to prompt a Fit Club gathering with The Blucher in mind.

Inglesp:  Good to see that you and Climbthatpitch have managed to team up and get some stuff done.  It will probably work really well for you as you will get to follow some harder stuff, which I know is something you have wanted to do.  Good idea to think about going back to lead things that you have already followed.

You are working through your original list pretty well – as you say ‘on track’.  A good week in terms of ticking things off the list as well.    I didn’t recall that you had such a big running target, but progress isn’t bad and you should be able to pick up the shortfall – I reckon it is about 22.5 km a week, which is more than I ever run, but something like the week’s I often see you produce.

A fairly quiet week with the pull ups, though lots of mobility work was included. 

Liam P:  Despite a busy life week those sessions look pretty good.  150 push ups is going some, partly because of the boredom factor setting in, but good to keep the antag work going along.  The ab wheel thing sounds interesting as well and you have included quite a lot of it in the schedule.

One-arm hangs continue to improve and look strong at 91% of your (fluctuating) bodyweight.  A strong set of lock-offs as well.  I’ve just started to introduce these, but don’t have my pulley set up, so am guessing as to how much assistance at the moment.

Plenty of pull ups at the wall and not sure I’ve seen you do loads before at bodyweight (?) though that might be my memory!  I think we need a video of the Standing Ab Wheel Rollouts, so we can a) understand them and b) have a good laugh! 

Re weight – last year I settled at 65 – 67 kg for ages ( by then I’d lost 8-10kg) and it took a couple of weeks of more serious exercise (bigger hill days and a lot of climbing) to get into the 63 – 65 kg range.  At that point, my Mum was worried that I looked too thin!  I’m now very steady at 66kg and it feels about right.  Fairly easy to maintain without any restrictions on party life and I really only aim to ensure ketosis on climbing days and that is because I don’t like eating much when climbing anyway.

The Sheep:  Yes, a really good week from you.  ‘Consolidating’ is one word for it!  Pretty awesome I’d say.

That is a lot of swimming, though nearly all less that you would previously have done and four runs across the week.  I appreciate one is more like the couch to 5k protocol, but plenty of distance put in at the pool and on the trails.  Excellent stuff.

Aren’t you heading for the Edale Skyline soon?

Haven’t seen the weights for a while, which may be a sensible response to injuring your back.  I also thought you had a triathlon type thing lines up, so might expect some bike miles at some point.  I need a reminder – what is coming up on the events schedule or has that all been put on hold?

Hope the back is trouble-free by now?

Mattrm:  A quiet week Matt.  Don’t forget to report it as a planned deload 😉.  I have also done loads of gardening and will feature it in this week’s report, partly by way of an excuse.  Look out for my running report as I’m quietly pleased with progress.

Life does easily get in the way.  I’m getting better at going for a run regardless, although sometimes I only do 20 minutes speed work.  I didn’t used to count running as training, but having set goals I now feel relaxed about including it on my schedule.  After all, it does help you walk up hills.  My running partners are both women and fairly new to running, which is great for keeping me in zone 2, but slightly messes up my tempo runs or speed work.

Good to see the local tips on Wyndcliffe routes!

Small Step:  I’m not put off at all, just amused!  Glad that further reflection highlighted moments where the wall really delivered something useful on the rock.  It is bound to help really, certainly with stamina, though I am less convinced that the transfer to technique is useful.

If I manage weekly postings from the climbing wall then I will have turned a significant corner.  I am thinking hard about how to make it work and almost planned a wall session this week!

Pyramids typically go up to a peak then down, so you have reported the downside only.  I don’t think it matters.  Technically, yours are doubles – steps of two rather than one as well.  I like double pyramids.  Regardless, you have done two sets that got you to 40 pull ups and included 8 at the top (twice) which isn’t bad at all.  As Ian has remarked to Inglesp, not much ‘need’ for these on your plan.

Good wall sessions – consistent performance across both visits so continuing to build on the winter work.  I like your mini plan which has introduced a bit more focused work on top of the wall sessions.  I hope it goes well and thanks for the link.

Biscuit:  I fear I have oversold my ‘good week’, but more of that on my report.  Thanks for the encouragement anyway – very heartening.  Great to hear that you are in a good place though.

Cossack squats are a nightmare.  Julia incapacitated herself doing those and still is hesitant to try anything similar after months.  Hopefully the DOMS will have taught you a lesson!  Four days of a sore groin – bo**ocks to that!

You are giving Ravens Scar a hammering aren’t you?  I’ve suggested it to my mate Duncan from Lancaster a couple of times so I think I will be there soon, though I have some lines at Knipe that I want to go back for urgently.  Anyway, despite the close bolting (Knipe is the same) it sounds like you enjoy the place.  Good effort concluding the redpoints – getting up some hard stuff.

Climbthatpitch:  No worries with being at the back end of the week – I always get in early otherwise I forget!

Looks like another week with a decent amount of climbing – five days on the rock is really going some, though I know some were ‘easy’.    Great also that you managed to hook up with Inglesp for a Wye Valley FC meet.  Interesting observations on technique arising from the meet up as well.

Excellent work on Green Meanie – hardest this year I think (?) and a step towards your goals.  Some solid work at Taff Wells as well as the more technical stuff on bolts is good for your technique.

Matchstick Man is good – loads at Symond’s Yat is worthwhile and its a nice spot really.  I must go back at some point!

That route at St Govan’s gets a lot of comment about the grade.  There is a bit of a style to Pembroke – imposing and steep – but that sounds like it is simply wrongly graded!

In reply to Derek Furze:

Here's my week.  Happier with it though still a work in progress.

Sun - nothing other than garden project stuff.

Mon - Chee For with Ian.  An entertaining day with Ian running his car batteries to the wire.  The Chee campaign goes forward with Ian leading Great Central Route, cleaning Of Youth on the way down, the slotting that next.  I then led Valentine.

Reflection.  Slightly weird really.  Two trips to Chee felt hard and although I've climbed everything, leading Approaching felt a way off.  The same following GCR - still a bit clunky, but on Of Youth it suddenly felt smooth at last.  A different world and although objectively much harder it felt comfortable - like it should.

Tues - work, but a 5 km run first thing.. Did lady km in 5.07 including a stop for a dog walker 

Wed - life admin, but did my base session of max hangs, pull ups, stretching and push ups.

Thurs - Knipe Scar with Duncan.  Never been and went to the right hand sector.  Bolting is lightly silly.  Grades are odd, but not a bad day.  For the first time ever, I redpointed something - a 6c that I messed up a move on.  Easy second time.  Moved to L H sector for last two routes and now have some potential targets...

Friday - base session two.  Hard work, but weighted pull ups, one-arm hangs and pull ups with assistance.  Reverse curls and shoulder raises.  Second 5 km run at z2.

Sat and Sun -.   major garden project with pond overhaul. Leak prompted by grandson necessitated building temporary pond on patio, catching all the fish (a grade of 7c+), emptying pond (quite large at 25000 litres)c leaning out, relining, catching the fish again and refilling,  Then rebuilding surround and prettifying.  All fish intact.  Absolutely wasted but forced myself out last night for a dance.

In reply to Derek Furze:

I think on this one I will stick my neck out and say it is genuinely great, i need to go back as Biceps Wall was in the original Ron James selected climbs guide so has been on my radar as long as I’ve been climbing.

I rarely repeat routes (1000 ascents of Consenting Adults aside!) but also doing so would not represent any achievement or progression as, for me, trad climbing is about on sight and redoing this route knowing what’s coming would be fairly trivial (that said, there are some E3s I would not be in a hurry to repeat so I expect this one is quite soft as well).

I use this one but have been cutting bits out lately but the full 20 mins is pretty good youtube.com/watch?v=KEYSO-Tc2Go&

Thick Skinned has a hard move so I’m giving myself a pass on that, the bouldering was probably a symptom of some declining joint health I’ve noticed.

I think in future I’d walk in to Meadow crag, the routes are worth at least a visit for locals or someone after something different but I suspect the other crags on Little Orme tip the effort to reward scales a bit too much:

Easy week to describe this week as I managed the 13 min yoga sessions M-W then not at all. Wednesday evening I managed to finally tick off Captain Fingers (7b), again pretty effectively which was just as well as had to drive over to Lancs afterwards.

Anniversary weekend away meant I missed a couple of fit club visitors to Wales but the offers of spots and belays from Ross and Biscuit were very much appreciated, it’s a pity the weather wasn’t better for you. I rushed from hotel spa to LPT on Sunday evening to provide an emergency belay for Joe. I made the mistake of too roping The Refrain (7b) in a oner and then it rained before I had a chance to RP although this might not be trivial as one of the clips is pretty tricky. 
Finger and elbow pain has limited me to very little climbing this week (a total of three goes up relatively short routes plus two stick clipping goes) and despite the rest neither seem to have improved much. 
I’ll do another post tomorrow with my mid-year report against goals. 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek. Summer wall season continues for me, with my least outdoorsy week for quite some time. I know a lot of people in the States regard spring and autumn as peak climbing season, and the summer as simply too hot/humid to get much done; I fear we my be heading that way too.

STG: tick any of my local long term projects
MTG: tick my first 7a for two years
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber. For measurable definition see Fit Club 823
LTG: Winter 24 or 25 - do an actual off piste ski tour.

M: 
T: Wall, Thalkirchen. Routes & practice falls. 5b 6a 6b 6b 6b 6c (dog) 6a (falls). Not an ideal session: humid and so crowded that I was only able to get on my target for the evening as the sixth route when I was already tired. Got some practice falls in though, which is my main objective for doing lead routes at the wall at the moment.
    Bike 45 minutes there & back
W: 
T: Bike one hour to & from office biergarten meetup. Cycling in lederhosen surprisingly comfortable

F: Wall, Thalkirchen kilterboard. Only desultory attempts on the proj - humid conditions, and haven't been on the board for a couple of weeks. So ended up as more of a flash level volume session getting re-acclimatised to the board.
    Deadlift 3x3x90, face pulls, ring supports & false grip hangs. The most above-bodyweight deadlift volume I've ever done in a session
    Bike 45 minutes there & back

S: Bike one hour errands around town

S: Wall, Freimann. First time climbing with my son since Kalymnos, good session for both of us. 6a 6a+ 6b 6b+ 6c (but then sadly wasn't able to continue the series) 6c 6a+ 6b 6c 6c+ dnf, tired
The lad meanwhile matched my one 6c onsight and one redpoint, with a 6b+ onsight and a flash. He's catching up rapidly, as is to be expected.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Good morning all, great work on the stats Derek. Impressive 7c+ fish catching, are nets aid?

Yeah, I seem to have a much better time getting the balance right on outdoor climbing days rather than at the wall, so maybe the obvious answer is that I should move to North Wales until the finger is healed

A pretty good week from me. Finger was pretty good on the whole (relatively speaking), and I even did some proper off-the-wall training! Still need to get back into the habit of regular light hangs but it's slowly getting there.

Last Week:

M - Weigh-in at 78.9kg. Ice baths before bed.

T - Finger felt quite good warming up so hopped on the Moonboard and got some stuff done that wasn't too finger intensive. Ice baths before bed.

W - Ice baths before bed.

T - Finger not feeling mint so trained and then got some moderate volume in. 5x3 pull-ups +35kg. Mucked about with foot-on campusing and got rather pumped!

F - AM very light hangs.

S - Rest.

S - Ogwen. Mostly chilled mileage, Swamp Thing (V6) was a good challenge but sussed it eventually. Excellent problem. Louisville Lip (V10) is a great looking extension, I think I'd like to have a proper session on that at some point. Finger behaved itself. Ice baths before bed.

Next Week:

M - Rest.

T - Rest.

W - Climbing.

T - Rest.

F - Rest.

S, S - More climbing!

Goals:

Rehab left index thing.

Improve ability on tiny edges.

Work on PE.

Oberth Effect Proj.

In reply to AlanLittle:

June was not a good month for me. I had a very stressful situation at work for much of the time, which obviously took energy and motivation away from other things. My reaction to that kind of stress also tends to involve netflix bingeing and comfort eating, so I fall behind on other important things, resulting in more stress. And my weight creeps up, and combined with the heat & humidity I don't sleep well. Need to break out of the cycle. Fortunately made significant progress resolving the work issues towards the end of the month, so that should help. And I did manage to keep a reasonable level of training ticking over.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Just to say that even at my age there is no such thing as a 'lady km'!  I corrected this typo twice on edit!  It should be last km. 😂

In reply to Derek Furze:

Everyone is gently reminding me that mid-year reviews would be appropriate sometime this week.  I need to think about it, but will put something up later.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Hi FCers. Thanks for another week of good post-match analysis, Derek.

Week 26:

An ok week for training. Really happy to be getting back to running -cautiously optimistic that I haven't lost too much fitness (think the saving grace was continuing hilly walk-ins to climb, etc). The disruption to runs and bigger mountain days will have set me back a bit from where I wanted to be heading out to the alps, but hopefully I'll be fit enough for what I want to do...

M: Trail run. 17.1km, 458m vert, 6:31/km. Didn't feel easy, but that's unsurprising given that it was the first proper run back from almost a month off, and it was baking hot!

T: Core and Prehab.

W: Prehab.

T: Climbing at Cratcliffe. Led the (incredibly awkward!) first pitch of Requiem (E3 6a). SSB then put in an incredibly impressive performance on pitch two... I resorted to full aid on this pitch but SSB combined 8a skills with some WWID inspiration (see photo below!) to pull an extremely strong lead out of the bag. I felt totally ruined just from aiding it! 

F: Rest.

S: Core, strength and max hangs. Sea swim -probably about 300m (I felt like The Sheep!).

S: Hill run. 14.1km, 1019m vert, 9:52/km. Felt good to put some quick(ish!) uphill in to the legs.

Week 27:

M: Core. Prehab.

T: Run.

W: Climbing.

T: Core. Prehab.

F: Either climb or hill day.

S: Run. Prehab.

S: Rest.

STG (End June):

Average 2 core sessions per week. (Almost! 1.5)

Average 3 prehab sessions per week. (Almost! 2)

4 of my 'big mountain day' list. (2)

MTG (End July):

Two routes off my alpine bucket list.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek, hope you've recovered from your fish catching antics! A really good session on Thursday for me this week which has cheered me up enormously.

Mon. 6 sets of repeaters, 5x5 on the min pull ups, 3x10 press ups.

Tues. 6km run.

Wed. Rest 

Thurs. Requiem (E3 6a) with Tom. Had to go into full on try hard mode for this. Crux was really hard, instantly pumped afterwards, much pumped shuffling and stuffing in of cams along the traverse, just about managed to recover enough in the poor rest to get up to the better rest, got pumped again just before the flutings where it gets steep again, had to lay one on wildly to get into these and was very grateful for the mega jugs at the top.

Fri. Rest.

Sat. Went sport climbing but was still destroyed from Thursday. Managed The Main Motor Mile (7a+) 2nd tie in but was basically done after that. Not disappointed though, mostly just pleased I must have tried really hard the other day!

Sun. Binned my planned training session to allow some recovery. 7km hill walk with the kids.

Should probably do some aerobic training!

In reply to Tom Green:

Tom I can tell you what I would do on Requiem - fall off!

In reply to Tom Green:

That's brilliant!  Glad to see the wristbands are becoming a reality.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Cheers Derek. Another detailed set of stats whilst busy with the day job!

No it’s been a while! Thought I’d check I could still crank out a few reps after a long time off.

I think I may have reached the Fighting Weight/Party Life sweet spot! Will give it another 4 weeks to take me up to 5-months of (loosely) watching what I eat and then resign myself to being 80+kg.

A quiet training week but most happy to get my arms straight on the Hanging Wipers which makes them feel significantly harder. Also blew the dust off my trad rack after almost 2 years of Bouldering/Sport/Ice. Checked my logbook and it’s been in the cupboard since Pembroke August 2021!

Wed

Wall

• Board10 on 40deg Woody
• Parallette Press-ups 7x 20
• Standing Ab Wheel Rollout (small assistance band) 3x 3
• Hanging Wipers (Straight Arm) 3x 10

Sat

Swanage

• First trad in two years! Resisted the urge to ab in to the Ruckle and started on some Sea Cliff-lite routes at Cattle Troughs. Bit rusty placing gear, carried the kitchen sink up, fumbling through krabs etc. but generally don’t feel far off my previous. A few 20m routes up to HVS 5b.

Weight 81.7kg so closing in on sub-80.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Its a 8m 40 degree overhanging finger crack.  Probably not all that hard these days considering the number of people who train on Moon Boards.  The area just needs a little interest, which is what we are trying to encourage.

Unfortunately the clearing of aid points will have to wait a bit longer as I have added another aid route there this week.  Done with the specific aim of getting a super project ready and waiting for whoever is hard enough (well above my paygrade).

Only out a couple of times this week, but hard going each time.

Mon - Got myself a new project.  Made the mistake of gearing a route I thought wouldn't be that difficult, only to find out its all slopers and really hard.  Steep ground, slopers and also endurance so really hard for me, but probably only 7c to someone who regularly works that sort of thing.

Wed - Another go on the steep project, some progress, but got a sticking point half way that I can't yet work out how to do.

I will need to go slowly and carefully on this, as it will be all too easy to hit it with too much intensity and wreck the elbows.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Mid-year review.

Successes in relation to goals:

Climbed with five people on my list of 'climb with this year'.  Target ticked, but intend to do more of this, because it is instructive and fun.  FWIW it includes Duncan, SSB, Ian P, Tyler and Biscuit so far.  A major success.  I've also added a couple of others not on my original list (Martin and Rob).  Yet to meet up with Tom and failed to link up with Steve Claw or AJM or Liam as trip didn't pan out as planned.   I'm really delighted with this goal and am almost tempted to make this the only aim in future.

Visited a lot of new crags, though none are on my 'visit five of these' list.  There is still time and I have been to at least five places that I have never climbed before (Trow Gill, Knipe Scar, West Face (Lighthouse area), St. Tudno's Upper, Marion Bach, Teal Wall (Lighthouse)).  In principle, this is in the right direction, but a list is a list!

Been to Chee Tor twice which is one of the three Peak targets I wanted to do.  Fully intend to do more there over the summer.

Max hangs hit target of 144% .  Weighted pull ups also hit 130% for 2Rm by end of March which I was pleased with as I had never trained these before.  I have kept these on the maintenance schedule over summer.  Also completed sets of ten pull ups and sets of fifteen push ups pretty regularly.

Ahead of schedule for training days (target 104 across year).  I've done 58 so far.

Running feels like a success as my distances are steady at 5km and my times are falling towards targets of less than 30 mins and a 5 minute km by end July.  I'm hoping to go to 27.30 by year end, which is intermediate at my age.

Less progress on:

Climbing days - just too busy until end April and weather didn't help.  Target for year is 80 days outside and I am on a very poor 22 (slightly shocked by this), but it has picked up a bit recently.  As a result, I am behind on my routes target (not surprisingly) and only have 107/350 done.  I think it might take some grit soloing in Autumn to get over the line.

Also related to the poor volume, I am behind on trad grades - just have done so little - but first E1 this week was fairly straightforward, so a good chance it will get there this month.  Been focusing on volume in any case to try to get smooth and to bring up the numbers - the two are related - so onsighted quite a lot of 6b+, a couple of 6cs, but not been on anything projecty.  Again, there is time and spotted some attractive 7a routes in a nice setting this week.

Not been to any of my 'do more on this crag' yet, (0/8) though I have been to others that could substitute.  There is still time and I have some away trips upcoming.

Still focused on;

I have a Tom Green inspired enchainement as a goal, which I am hoping to try in August.  It matters to me, so details will follow when I actually try to complete it.

Redeveloping a training station (inspired by Liam, Ian and AJM).

Get to the walls in Autumn / Winter inspired by the dedication of our German branch.

In reply to Liam P:

Brilliant to get the trad rack out and great progress on the weight drop.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Good effort with the fish Derek! We never had such luck when I was younger and managed to inadvertently wipe out the whole pond on multiple occasions - eventually we gave up and made do with a rather pathetic goldfish tank! 

I'd say I've been surprised by how quickly my strength has come back and I think that goes to show how strength gains really are incremental. What's definitely not bounced back is my route fitness. I was out on Sunday and felt pretty unfit so I think a bit more aerobic base training is in order.

Monday

Max hangs - 20mm edge/half crimp/10s hangs/6 reps/90% of max (BW+18kg)

Project bouldering on the 50 degree board. Getting closer and closer to the undercut 7B+ problem. 

Shoulder press 3 x 8. Press-ups 3 x 10

Tuesday

Hip & leg flexibility. Forearm mobility. Upper body mobility.

Wednesday

7:3 repeaters @ 70% (BW-2kg). 6 sets of 6 reps. 3 sets of 5 minutes very easy climbing on the spray board. 

2 x 5 dumbbell shoulder press. 3 x 5 wide grip pull-ups. 3 x 2 isometric dumbbell row. 5 x 5 shoulder shrugs.

Thursday

"Aero 4's" (4 sets of 4 continuous reps on the 6a circuit)

Hip & leg flexibility. Active posterior chain mobility

Friday

Dodging the showers at  Water-cum-Jolly. Managed to get A Bigger Tail (f7A) and Approach Traverse (f7A) sent fairly quickly. Still a fair way off managing the crux move on Kudos (f7B)

Saturday

Rest

Sunday

Headed to  Chee Dale Lower for a projecting session. Most of the lines I'd wanted to try were busy so had a session on Cry of Despair (7c) and surprised myself by managing to do most of the moves when going bolt to bolt and massively helped out with beta from a very helpful chap from London. Weirdly for me the main crux isn't to bad but the start feels very tenuous. I think I've found my summer project! 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Hi Derek thanks for your work on stats. I'm of similar mind with you about the pleasure of climbing with different folk from Fit Club. It's one of the real bonuses of joining. In recent years I've felt a bit isolated, despite living in the UK's supposed climbing capital, with previous partners either broken or much less interested in climbing than they were. This week alongside yourself I has an excellent day out with Lee (Climbthatpitch), who I'd describe as keen, calm and smooth

Mon – Chee Tor with Derek. Led Great Central Route (E2 5c) (pitch 1) and Of Youth (E3 5c) seconded Valentine (E1 5b). Beginning to feel more solid on the E3s although aware I’m avoiding the harder ones.

Tues – rest, I had planned on a run but family life stuff took over.

Wed – Depot wall. Warm up (5 x green, white, blue, black, and 3 attempts red), 40mins on 30-degree Woodie attempted 6 problems given ‘5a’ topping out 4. Early morning session and took ages to wake up. Felt weak to start with but ended up with a good hard session on the woody – really having to give max effort. Motivated, I even tried a problem on the 45-degree Woodie, which start at 6a! Couldn’t do a move (ha ha). Fingers and shoulders after felt very well worked/niggly.

Thursday- Run to and from work 2 x 3 miles.

Friday – Yves lifts. Lattice block 20mm x 5 each hand, 5kg, 7.5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 (3 reps), 27.5, 27.5, 27.5, 27.5, 27.5, 30 (5 on Left, 4 on right). Interesting that I almost felt like I was getting stronger as the lifts went on – very slow recruitment? Bought myself a couple of Beastmaker ‘Meatloafs’ (big slopey ‘flaties’) 2 pullups x 5. Definitely, harder than the 45 slots.

Saturday – nothing. Lots of driving to visit and taxi parents. Ended up driving 550 miles this weekend. In the past I'd regularly drive up alone to North West Scotland and back in the winter but nowadays I find driving any distance exhausting. 

Sunday – Wintours Leap with Lee (Climbthatpitch). Had initially been psyching up for Hyena Cage (E4 6a) but not slept well at parents and felt tired before we started from all the driving on Saturday. Ended up a great afternoon/evening of climbing serenaded by George Ezra performing at the race course. Did Lord of the Flies (E2 5b) which felt nervy as there’s a 30 foot section that is a hollow skin of rock largely detached from the main cliff – did my best not to place too much pro behind it but still a bit freaky. Then the excellent Endangered Species (E3 5c) after stripping the ivy off the start. Finished off with Themeninblack (E3 5b) a route I’ve wanted to do since my initial days visiting here in the early 90s. Used to be given E1 which was an accident waiting to happen. Just the first pitch is E2 5a, on which Lee did an excellent lead, pushing past falling out RPs. Top pitch great quality but again ‘pushy’. Got home at 1.45am – glad I don’t work Mondays!

Reflection. A good week. Three E3s without too much drama. It doesn’t seem that long ago I was constantly falling off them. Need to find the right routes but hopefully ready to start pushing into E4s now.

In reply to SteveJC94:

Actually, it is a very carefully put together master plan, leading towards me signing off.  At that point, I expect several 'so long and thanks for all the fish' comments to land in my inbox.

Good work on Cry of Despair.  I keep running into the man who put it up these days.

In reply to Liam P:

An urge I've managed to resist on all (i.e. both!) my visits to Swanage. I've spend plenty of time at Gogarth and Pembroke, but there's just something ultra spooky about the way the Ruckle simply vanishes into nothingness beneath you, with nowhere you can really get a look at what you're committing yourself to

In reply to SteveJC94:

You probably worked this out already but the lemon shaped hold can that you pinch when underneath it can be flipped to an undercut as you move past it to give you more reach.  A knee pad gives a much better rest in the groove too.  Its a great route, I dropped the flash with my face in the chains years ago (I made the Cry of Despair!) then never got round to finishing it until last year when I found it much harder and had to full on redpoint it! 

In reply to Derek Furze:

W/c 26/5

I find the chin ups don’t seem to aggravate my shoulder, where pull-ups can do. 

A couple of 6a/+ sort of things and a 6c there and back - The Maypole (HVS 5b), Captain Bastard Got There First (E2 5c), The Laws Traverse (E1 6a)

This one was supposed to be sport, but yes the trips are a key part of the puzzle in getting stuff done. In terms of output, this one was disappointing - a wet Friday, an unticked project and sore shoulder Saturday and then a sickly child on Sunday. The sickliness continues and looks like it may disrupt the early part of the week as she can’t go to nursery currently.

Looking at it objectively, you’ve got to be in it to win it - the sure fire way to get no climbing done outside of Dorset is never to arrange any trips there, and with a young family it is an inevitability that something will come up to make some of the trips unproductive in a purely ticking sense. We got to see friends, I climbed at a new crag, we tried to get out there and do things - you can’t control the weather or stop the children from sometimes getting sick. The one thing which is still unfortunate is my shoulder, which is clearly still not right. That’s the one piece of the weekend story which shouldn’t be there, I guess.

Monday - life admin

Tuesday - weighted chin-ups. Perhaps less relevant than pull-ups but seems less likely to make my shoulder grumble. Anyway, upped to bw+8, 10,9,8.

Wednesday - can’t remember, nothing I think

Thursday - drive to South Wales

Friday - wet. The others went to the wall, I stayed and looked after the kids so that MrsAJM could have a decent session, since inevitably outdoors she does less than me so ends up with more of the parenting burden

Saturday - Abbey Buttress, overlooking some serious heavy industry in Port Talbot. Did a couple of nice 6b+s and had a few goes at a 7a, which sadly I didn’t manage. Shoulder sore.

Sunday - microAJM woke up in the night having been expansively sick everywhere and on everything. Consequently, a slow start… she then repeated the trick after breakfast, which was the final nail in the coffin for climbing plans for the day. We headed home; she spent most of the journey asleep.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks for the excellent statting Derek.

STG - 5k - 30 mins

MTG - 10k 1 hour

LTG - Come up with better goals!

M - Rest

T - Rest

W - 6m up Pen Y Fal

T - 1.2m run

F - S - Rest

Probably could have done with slotting a short run in over the weekend really.  I had planned to, but didn't get round to it.  But all in I'm fairly happy with this week.  More time in the hills.  I ought to branch out to some other hill, but this one is so convenient from my front door that I just can't be bothered to drive somewhere.  Ought to get a 5k done next week and some hill time as well.

In reply to mattrm:

Good stuff Matt - that's a big hill run.

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Nice one, thanks! Yeah I was surprised at how good the undercut lemon was, though I think having small hands allows me to get an extra finger behind the chip on the bottom left of the lemon. My knee pad certainly got a lot of use yesterday! 

Out of interest, do you remember how you did the move out right to reach the gaston? I popped my right foot on a small chip and then flagged out with my left leg which was doable but felt really strenuous. 

Ouch, dropping the last move really is a nightmare scenario, especially when the crux is so low down! 

In reply to SteveJC94:

I can't remember now. I remember there being a tricky go again move just before you got up into the rest but I can't remember what I did with my feet.

In reply to Derek Furze:

I'll be honest, it's 4 miles of walking with 2 miles of trotting thrown in.  Especially as I'm wearing out my old fell shoes and they're painful to run in on pavement.  Didn't time it either, but it's about 500m odd of ascent, so I'm happy with that.

In reply to Derek Furze:

What was on the the list?

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Good effort on Requiem

In reply to Tyler:

Half year review against goals, looks like I need to speed up!.

Unfinished business on NWL: 6.5/25 (started off with 15 so tis one is going particularly badly!)

10 classic North Wales boulder problems >= 6B 0/10 (possibly a couple of things that qualify)

200 new ticks in my logbook 66/200

Tick 40% of NWR graded list (https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/set.php?id=165): Currently 32.8% (33.3%)

Stand on 40 summits (repeats allowed): 4/40

15 scrambles: 1/15

Something of the Parois du Legend or Plasir if I can find a partner ( Aiguille Dibona in Aug/Sept anyone?) - unlikely but I have a ferry booked for the first week of September and although it is not a climbing trip I might be contacting the German branch of UKCFC to see if anyone wants to meet for a days climbing

In reply to Tyler:

Welsh only for local interest...

Cyrn Las, Llech Ddu, Craig Yr Ysfa, Moelwynion anywhere, Craig y Forwyn and Lleyn anywhere

In reply to Derek Furze:

Week 26

M – Nowt. Funeral and family gathering

T – Board10@approx 7B; 3x10 OHP @30kg

W – COMPEX core and back stretches (baby sling is giving me lots of aches, but seems to be the only thing that works for me to pacify Mk2)

T – 1on/1off aero-cap on new woods circuit (7a?) Very pumpy/unfit. Assisted 1-armers; 4x2reps each side; 9kg assist.

F – 60min flat road ride; 29km.

S – Broken. F3 strict half crimp block lifts; 20kg, 40s. I then got ¼ the way through a core routine when mk2 wailed again.

S – 10pm = 4km walking to settle Mk2. Then max-hangs with her occasionally snuffling/squawking in the background. BW+55kg. 6mm BW+20kg. (Good reps #1 & #2, #3 & #4 skin was rolling). Assisted 1-armers; 4x2reps each side; 9kg assist.

In reply to Tyler:

Thanks

In reply to Tyler:

I might be up for something. I have a family event in the UK in August and I was planning to stay on for a few extra days and do some climbing, but that won't be happening because of other commitments. Which means I'll have a spare day's holiday or two that I could take early September if you fancy meeting up somewhere in the Alps.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Yeah, in hindsight it 4:30/km was definately too fast and 4:50/km would have been better. Just went by feel and looked at the splits afterwards. Though after 3:50/km splits 4:30 does feel somewhat easy

From a volume point of view yes, but i don't think that the difference is that great from a strength point. The difference between doing 3 reps or 4 reps is usually more 2-4% from a weight point of view. But once you are getting closer too your limit 2-4% is a huge difference. In the end i've trained weighted pullups intensively the whole winter to get my one-rep max from 53kg to 57kg.

Recap last week:

Mon: Hiking in the alps in Garmisch Partenkirchen, Osterfelderkopf via Kreuzeck on the ascent and descent via Höllental, 1500m vert, 22km distance 

Tues: Easy run, 4:42/km, 138 HR, felt a little bit sore from yesterday but not too bad

Wed: Somehow felt really sore. Not sure if doing the run yesterday was a good or a bad idea. Assisted One-Arm-Pullups at 87,5% BW, 3; 3, right arm: 3, left arm: 2.5.  Assisted lockoffs with 92,5% BW at various angles for about 6s to 12s. Fingerboard repeaters: 3x6x7,3 at 95% BW on 20mm egde.  Handstands, 2x12 Pikepushups, 2x 20 weighted pushups with 15kg added, 45s V-Situps, good progress on the one-arm pullups, but felt quite destroyed after them and hence did not do any more lockoffs. Good session and some progression despite feeling very tired

Thurs: Felt even more sore then yesterday, rest

Fri: Another rest day

Sat:  Assisted One-Arm-Pullups at 87,5% BW, 3; 3, 3.5 .  Assisted lockoffs with 92,5% BW at various angles for about 6s to 12s. Fingerboard repeaters: 3x6x7,3 at 95% BW on 20mm egde.  Handstands, 2x12 Pikepushups, 2x 20 weighted pushups with 15kg added, 45s V-Situps. Very strong performance with the One-Armers and felt surprisingly strong

Sun: My legs had finally recovered from the hike on Monday Threshold run 40 minutes, 4:16/km (151 HR)  for the first 7km and then gradually increase the pace over the last 3k: 4:03 (159 HR) , 3:57 (165 HR) , 3:55 (HR). Felt really good and could have pushed even harder on the last part

A little bit of a mixed week. Good progress with the one-arm pullups, but could do less running then i wanted to after i've pushed too hard on the hike. Probabyl need to accept that i am not 25 anymore .

Finger is feeling a little bit better. It probably would be fine to do some easier climbing with it and a good opportunity to do some endurance work. But somehow i am currently not motivated for that and not too keen on climbing if i can't boulder at my limit.

In reply to Randy:

No matter how fit you are, those alpine descents are quad & shin killers if you haven't been doing them regularly. It's a really specific bit of conditioning.

In reply to Derek Furze:

6 month reflection - I sort of did a half year reflection at the end of May, the summary being I was reasonably close to all my STGs except vastly over-estimating how many sport routes I might do. Here I thought it might be worthwhile just looking at some general stats to compare where I am so far this year against previous years.  

In the last 6 months I’ve had 83 training days and 32 days out on rock compared with 25 days out in the total of 2022 and 16 in 2021. Those 32 have been split 21 days on routes and 11 bouldering, previously I’ve done no specific bouldering. In fact, apart from trying to be a bit more systematic about training, bouldering is probably the biggest difference this year, with 48 boulder problems so far (17 grade 6 problems).

In terms of grades, I’ve managed 15 E3s clean so far this year and 3 E4s compared with 10 E3s and 1 E4 in the whole of 2022, and 4 E3s and 1 E4 in 2021. If I look back to my last really consistent climbing year, in 2008, I managed 60 days out with 9 E3s and 2 E4s but I was doing a lot more alpine and winter stuff climbing IX in Scotland, EDs in the Alps and routes on the Stanley Headwall so I guess for half the year at least, my concentration was off the rock.

I always find it hard to pinpoint what things are making the difference as I rarely feel I can notice progression in training. Whereas on the rock the more routes I do the better my confidence is and better I climb. However, I realise the two can’t be separated and whilst I can’t see dramatic training gains I think the adoption this year of finger training and bouldering can be correlated with improvements on rock. I also feel confidence i.e. head game has also been strongly helped by improvements in strength particularly on steep ground and flat holds - it's much easier to keep calm when your fingers aren't un-peeling from the holds!

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Of course, much of the actual gains could be in the wristbands 😂

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek. Great to see you've found your feet!

I was tired so I took a few climbing rest days.

M - 1 hour jog and shoulder conditioning and stretch

T - .5 hr jog and shoulder conditioning and stretch

W - Rest

T - Rest

F - Kendal wall. Onsights on the big wall up to 7a. Failed on a 7b and then failed on it again. Totally wrecked. I think we only did 6 or 7 routes. 12 was the target over Winter.

S - Rest??? Wainwright walk. 6km and 600m of ascent

S -  Lighthouse Crags. Windy, but dry! We warmed up on 6b-6c on Sticky Mix and then tried to onsight Flash - Pumped! (7a+). I didn't get flash pumped but I did read the crux wrong. One of those 50/50 choices and I chose wrong. Got it next go. 

Back on Track (7a+) was next for an onsight go. Same result but a very perplexing crux for me. Took me a while to figure it out. Rachel showed me the way but then I was too tired to send it. I did try but as soon as I got to the first hard move I red lined.

I've spent quite a bit of time on shorter fingery routes and changing to longer pumpy routes has highlighted a bit of a weakness.

I can report already that my lethargy has continued this week. I'm just not feeling refreshed and I can't be bothered trying hard/training indoors. I'm psyched for outdoors though. So I'm going with it and not fighting it.

We're hoping for a day in the Lakes (Pavey or Gimmer) before a wedding takes up the weekend.

My half year review is OK as I didn't have any goals really. I had/have hopes of onsighting 7a+ and E3's than I did last year. That was it, no pressure. Not having any has allowed me to look at other aspects, like falling practice, without it feeling like it's wasting climbing time. This has had a really positive impact on my climbing and was well worth it. 

I would hope to get a few more onsight E3's and onsight 7a+ in the UK and 7b abroad in November or December. 

In reply to AlanLittle:

Yes, in hindsight doing 1500m of vert on my first real hike this year was a little bit overambitous. It would have been much better to start with something like 800m vert, but my new gained running fitness has fooled me a little bit and i expected some carryover.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks for more top stats.  Another week of mostly climbing for me, with a little bit of mobility work.

Mon: Hip + leg flexibility.

Tue: To Avon with Lee.  Led P1 of Malbogies (HVS 5a) and seconded Zombogies (E1 5b) -- another route I'm sure I could lead.

Wed: Upper body mobility.

Thu: Club meet at Wynd Cliff.  Climbed Klute (HVS 5a) on mattrm's suggestion, but made heavy weather of it, letting go and taking quite a big fall just below the move right .  Am annoyed for several reasons: I should've sorted out my feet; I should've had some more gear in; I should've tried to downclimb instead of letting go.  This felt a bit like my fall a few weeks ago at Symonds Yat, and while both times I had a clean fall onto good gear, one day I'll be unlucky.  Ended up climbing it quite easily on my next attempt.

Fri: Forearm mobility, active hip mobility.

Sat: To Ban-y-Gor for the first time.  Highlight was Duhkha (6c), the first time I've properly tried redpointing anything outdoors.  In the end I got up it quite easily, and really enjoyed the process.  Have begun brainstorming local 7as for next year.

Sun: Heavy labour in the garden, harder than anything else I've done all week.  But nothing involving fish!

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks for your comments and sterling work, Derek. A fishpond grade of 7c+ makes me wonder if you’re not secretly training for the Marmolada south face…but good to read that your week was more in line with what you’re aiming for.
I’m going to have to obviously rephrase the ‘pyramids’  - I think I’ll stay architectural and call them ‘zigs’ after ziggurats: I start with 8, and then go down, as it were, building up / on the base…obviously a convoluted logic! Going in two directions at once…main thing is the doing…

Weird week for me, felt really ill and despondent, but more of that after the run through:

Mon: stretching & finger board mixed hangs / pullups 3 x zigs (60 pullups)
Tue: core session
Wed: overnight drizzle into the early morning meant crag session cancelled, and Thalkirchen instead: 5c, 6b, 6a+, 7a (top rope, clipping out), 6c (aborted, felt dreadful), 7a (same route, now lead – went well, took a fall with the end in sight…), 6b+
Thu: stretching & finger board mixed hangs / pullups 3 x zigs (60)
Fri: flexibility session; recruiters on the hang board
Sat: wall, Thalkirchen, still feeling poorly decided on nothing over 6b; 2 warm ups 5c & 6a, then 9 routes 6a+ to 6b, 1 6b+…
Sun: cancelled planned training hike in Kaiser; stretching & black rolling…

4-week plan: week 1: 2/8 x mixed hangs & zigs, 1/4 flexibility, 1/4 core, 0/4 leg work

Health report: feeling occasionally sluggish since returning from Italy, I had to face up – literally – to something I’ve been noticing almost every day since last summer: I’m developing rosacea. Until recently it was just my nose that gleamed red like a taillight. Last week though there was a real flare up and the skin was inflamed and felt singed…immune system was eroding quickly and I just felt nauseous, ill and on the verge of collapse…and despondent. While there are hereditary and environmental factors in play, stress is also a key contributor and thus for me the source of the stress: PTSD…fortunately I’ve now got a cortisone-based cream and the soothing effect was almost instant. The skin settled and health is almost restored. Spirits are on the way up. Indeed, this Tue I probably had one of my best days at a wall, at least grade-wise…but that’s for next week’s post…so a new challenge to deal with and an opportunity to learn and cultivate a touch more equanimity...

Wishing everyone breezy, sunny and shady days.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks for the reminder, almost forgot it

My first part of this year can probably be best summarized by the famous Mike Tyson quote "Everybody has a plan until he gets hit in the face for the first time"

Highlights:

• Good pullup progression. Increased weighted one-rep-max to +57kg and i don't feel i am that far away from finally achieving an on-armer
• Strong performance on the Kilterboard. Flashed up to 6c+, did not get shut-down on any climb up to 6c+ in my last sessions, and regularly flashed 6c. Also improved my general gym climbing a lot though that is a little bit harder to quantify.
• Big increase in aerobic fitness after i started running again. Already did sub 20 minutes 5k in training and i think sub 18 minutes could be doable this summer if go all out

Lowlights:

• Problems will illness during spring. Could have definately been in a better shape during March till May.
• Did not sent anything despite 2 weeks trip to Frankenjura due to absolutely horrific conditions. Apart from that, way behind schedule regarding my target outdoor days.
• Picked up a finger injury once i got into decent board climbing shape. It is not really bad but also one of these nasty overuse injuries where it is hard to tell when i can start training hard again.

Not sure about goals for the second part of the year. One-Arm-Pullup is definately high on the list and i would also like to improve my handstand skills. Apart from that, hard to commit on any climbing goals when i am not sure what is possible with this finger.

Definately will continue to work on my running shape and i am currently seriously thinking about running a marathon this fall. Possible race would be munich marathon which at the 8th of October. This would give me about 13 weeks to train for this, but i am currently unsure if this will be enough. My current shape is quite good for shorter distances and i have no doubt that i could run a fast 10k this autumn. But marathon is different beast and for a marathon my current mileage is still a joke imo.

In reply to inglesp:

 

Good effort.  I bailed off the first ledge on my only attempt at climbing it.  I then seconded Ivanator (not sure if he's still on UKC much) on it and found the move right at the top utterly desperate.  I think they're the moves you're talking about.  To the point that I can still clearly remember them 10 odd years later.

If you don't mind a slightly longer drive, put Western Front Direct (7a) on your 7a list for next year.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks for an amazing job on the stats again. 
Well I failed the STG of posting early. 

Green Meanie was a good start for me. Hoping to get a lot more in now.

I never managed to get a sport climb in this week but Ive had a pretty good week on Trad so im not too unhappy. Work is starting to pick back up now so I am hoping to be able to keep getting out as much.

M - Rest

T - Another good evening out with Inglesp. He cruised the first pitch of Malbogies (HVS 5a) told me it was his first hard rock tick and I checked the list and  turns out it is also my first hard rock tick, I then led Zombogies (E1 5b) which I think is a pretty soft e1. It was good to be getting down from the last climb just as it was getting dark.

W - Squats, Push ups, Bench Press

T - Went to quick hit at wintours and climbed White Feather (E3 5c)

F - Rest

S - yoga

S - Met Ian at wintours. I was lucky how patient he was at waiting for me on all my slow pitches. Also worked out I had every easy pitch. Ian put in some Great leads on routes that were either falling down or had really hard moves with big fall potential.  Got 3 good routes in. Lord of the Flies (E2 5b), Endangered Species (E3 5c) and Themeninblack (E3 5b)

Ill put some more in next weeks post but I have some time off coming up and would be good to meet up with some more FC members if anyone wants to get out.

Lee

In reply to Derek Furze:

Sorry all, not possible to post a positive report at the mo. Head has been in a dark place. Working back to a better place. I know exercise helps and trying to get myself out there.

In reply to the sheep:

Chin up, sheep, and breathe....keep going, the darkness recedes

Paul

In reply to the sheep:

No worries Sheep.  We'll hear from you again soon enough and yes, there is a lot to be said for exercise 🙂

In reply to the sheep:

Hang in there sheep...

In reply to the sheep:

You got this, there is always a better place on the horizon, you just can't always see it from the hollow.

In reply to the sheep:

You have made a positive report.

You could have been silent, invisible, not present.

But you chose to be honest and be present.

That’s very brave and worthy of more respect and thought from us readers than anything climbing or outdoor related you may have posted. 

In reply to the sheep:

What biscuit said.

Also *hugs*

In reply to biscuit:

Thank you, that means an awful lot!