UKC

UKC Fit Club Week 851

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_850-7614...

Quite a challenging bit of statting this week, with many people putting in two posts spread throughout the thread.  I hope I have picked up most things as I hop back and forth.

Tyler:  I had thought you had been out bouldering fairly regularly, so was surprised to see your 0/10 classic NW boulder problems!  I suppose it depends on what you define as classic?  You are going alright on the 200 new ticks, though you do tend to focus on doing a few harder things rather than a lot of mileage, which may make it hard to get over the line with this target.  Going well with your NWR graded list goal.

A fairly quiet week from you as it sounds like you were managing niggles of one form or another.  That said, good work on Captain Fingers and The Refrain – certainly seeing fairly regular 7b on the weekly reports and the onsights are stepping up as well.  From here, it looks like progress, though from there, you may well feel that more should be happening.  I can only reflect that it feels like a really long, occasionally unrealistic, haul, to get back to (anything like) previous standards for me.  Enjoying trying though and exploring different disciplines along the way.

Thanks for yoga recommendations.  I am working towards an overhaul of my exercise plan for September or October and want to include more variety in my stretching and flexibility stuff.  Also the Carreg Mianog recommendation, which looks intriguing.

AlanLittle:  I hadn’t considered the possibility that we would be avoiding climbing outside in summer, but you may well be right.  Certainly had some sessions that were fairly unbearable. Recently, but then they have come on the back of an awful Spring.

Three wall visits is an amazing return for June and is something I might expect in January!  That said, some decent sessions on routes despite conditions and crowding.  I like the way the bike is being integrated into the wall as well.  The kilterboard thing sounds like conditions were against you anyway, but good to refamiliarize with the set-up.  The session at Freimann looked like an excellent pyramid with a lot of climbing – good effort for both of you.

Yes, very aware that you had a challenging month at work and we are all perfectly capable of undoing a lot of good work with a demotivated week or three!  Glad to hear that things are improving and your week showed some good returns.  Some heavy weights in there are well and some shoulder-focused work with the rings and hangs.

Good to see some tentative signals of a Dibona meet!

Ross Barker:  ‘Move to North Wales’ – there’s a good idea!  Good to see that finger management is a bit easier to achieve outside, though also positive that you managed some ‘proper’ training this week.  Interesting to see that you are straight in with some impressive weighted pull ups despite not having seen these on your schedule much over the last few months.  Interesting that you’ve included some ‘mucking about’ on foot-on campusing – this is something that appears on a few schedules at times, but I don’t recall seeing anyone do it throughout a training cycle (this might be my memory) and I am wondering why?  It clearly delivers pump quite quickly, so probably a valuable exercise to include.

Chilled mileage at Ogwen sounds wonderful and getting Swamp Thing done is a good one to collect on the way.  Interesting that you’ve found something to go back and work.

Tom Green:  Not surprised that the first run felt quite hard after a long break with illness.  Anyway, a good distance for first one out of the blocks!  The second run sounds seriously hilly and consequently a dramatic impact on your pace.

Excellent used of the WWID technique on display at Cratcliffe on what sounds a fairly hard E3.  I think that jumping on that after a few weeks of doing fairly little would always be very challenging – gritstone responds well to familiarity doesn’t it?  That first pitch looks really awkward as well – sounds like I dodged a bullet by being unavailable that week!  Interesting to consider where it fits into the Alpine training programme!

Quite close to your STG, especially noting the period of illness which inevitably will have set back your averages.  The end July targets are at least reasonably straightforward to state – hope you get some reasonable conditions as that can make all the difference.

Somerset Swede Basher:  Firstly, great to hear that your Thursday session picked you up after a few weeks of relatively downbeat outings.  I always think of your enthusiasm for getting out there a doing stuff is class-leading, so it was a bit of a shock to me when I saw your slightly less upbeat reports!  Anyway, as above, an impressive return to Cratcliffe and it certainly doesn’t sound easy!  I suppose you haven’t done a lot of gritstone routes over the last few months, so jumping onto the things you have done will feel pretty difficult.  A full on pumpfest clearly and it sounds like a complete battle – no doubt the improvised wristbands did the trick!

I like your thinking – totally trashed from Cratcliffe, so head to Craig-y-Biceps.  The logic has passed me by somehow, but an unusual route to see getting done.  I’ve never seen anyone at the place, though it probably has some decent things.  That said, it does seem to have quite a few ascents logged, so clearly it is on some people’s radar.

Liam P:  Excellent to see you getting out on sea cliff-lite with the trad gear making an appearance!  To be straight back on it after a couple of years off is really impressive as most people take a bit of time to get back in the groove.  I don’t know Swanage at all, other than by reputation, so not at all surprised to see you avoiding Boulder Ruckle in favour of somewhere a bit friendlier.

As you note, quite a quiet week training for you though the Wednesday session looked decent anyway.  Great to see you close to you lowest weight and hope it encourages you to hold out for the sub-80 target!  It is always a challenge balancing watching what you eat with party life – I suspect the sweet spot that you mention may be about 3 kilos wide!  Two days in a row climbing made a difference this week for me and I hit 65 kg briefly again.

Steve Claw:  Interesting to hear about the new project and some thoughtful reflection on grades.  When something is so specific in style and requires particular trained strengths, it does make a bit of a challenge for grading and now you have two of them close to each other.  I like your comments about ‘go slowly and carefully’ on this, while at the same time reporting two sessions on it in a week – both ‘hard going’!  It would indeed be very easy to wreck yourself on this, so it does need care.

An unusual week for you with so few new routes added and the one that does appear being aid!

SteveJC94:  A really interesting report from you this week with the first genuine sign of being back at your previous level.  Bolt to bolt on Cry of Despair is a really strong performance.  As noted on the thread, I have run into Chris Hardy several times recently – he is still really keen and very helpful with suggestions.  He was ever -present in the Dale with the Monday Club back in the 80’s.  Good to see the positive vibes coming in from SSB and the exchanges of beta.  The Friday session at WCJ wasn’t shabby either.

Max hangs building back well at 90% of max.  It usually takes me a while to build back, but you’ve got there or thereabouts quite quickly.  Interesting to see the continued work on repeaters as I think you described these as pretty boring previously!

A lot of flexibility stuff going into your weekly plan as well.  Good to see a strong schedule being maintained across each week now that you are back into training again.

Keep trying for Fridays if you are short of partners.  I could easily find things to try at The Cornice.

Ian Parnell:   Great that you are getting value from Fit Club in terms of getting out with people as well as the core purpose of actually training!  I think having a good network is critical and if I look back to the times when I have effectively given up for long periods, it was usually because I couldn’t find people to get out with regularly.  I feel like I am spoilt for choice for motivated partners these days, most of whom have far more time than me!

A good week of routes for you with the week bookended with a lot of good climbing.  Great that you are feeling pretty solid and ready to tackle some of the harder ones.  My only observation is that an afternoon climbing serenaded by George Ezra could not ever be classified as ‘great’, but it is a matter of taste and he is very popular.

Really good progress with the woody, given your very funny comments about the grading and unsuitability for your strengths!  Topping out problems is exactly the progress you need and good that it drew you into trying on the steeper board.

Interesting progress on the lifts, which seem to be going along well.  I often find that when you build up slowly, it is surprising how far you get - possibly neural adaptation and recruitment?

Good stats on your six-month review.  Definitely showing a significant increase in volume and grades across 2023, so good to see the motivated development going on. 

In reply to Derek Furze:

and part two

AJM:  The photos of those Lulworth routes make them look like quite a lot of fun.  I used to go there a lot as a kid as my aunt had a campsite in Weymouth, but not been for years.  It has become a very popular beach and parking can be a challenge I think.

‘In it to win it’ – exactly.  I can remember taking a long while to get more relaxed with the inevitable frustrations with arrangements.  I think I started planning climbing trips with children along and eventually got around to planning family trips where there were some opportunities for climbing that might work out!  Sorry to hear that the shoulder is still problematic.

If the chin ups work without causing the shoulder problems, then it makes a lot of sense to include them as they help with biceps and with shoulder stability.  I almost thought about doing some then realised that I can’t as I don’t have a bar!

Abbey Buttress looks like it contains a decent set of routes, though the gorse sounds like it might have been a challenge with kids!  Not somewhere I have ever been, but it is sold as a stopping place on the way to Pembroke.

Mattrm:  Running, trotting or walking – at least you are getting out and stretching the distances with a bit more regularity, which is almost certainly what you need to do to get back to trail fitness.  I think you’re right about switching up your runs, but it does have to be fitted in around other life pressures so not surprising that we go for convenience a lot of the time.  I tend to go in the same direction along the canal partly because I know my pacing points so well now, but I should be able to step up to a 7 km circuit that I used last year soon.

I also often plan exercise at the weekend, but rarely find the energy to actually do any!  Oddly enough, I am better at it when I am exercising more frequently, but rarely successful when I could do with a session to rescue the week!

Good to see you throwing about the route recommendations for the SW area!

Ally Smith:  Impressed that you are putting in plenty of sessions, though appreciate that the demands of Mk2 may be compromising things somewhat!  I have this vision of weighted pull ups with the baby sling and Mk2 providing some of the weight…

Some good output despite the interruptions.  The assisted one-armers are going strongly and the board work is consistently decent.  The ‘unfit’ comment is probably to be expected as you haven’t been out on rock for a while now and some things a re pretty difficult to train at home.

The max hang numbers on the Sunday are really strong - +55kg is at 180% of BW isn’t it?  Perhaps even more impressive are the micro edges with +20 kg on a 6 mm edge – not surprising to see that skin rolling was happening!

Randy:  Great to see a decent mountain day in the report – on a Monday as well (whatever happened to work?). 

An interesting week with no work at the walls which is explained by your finger problems.  Fair enough if you are not motivated to do anything if you can’t boulder at your limit, but let’s hope you keep your movement skills going.  I can also see the impact on your running week from a big hike, but then the hike will have helped in a different way anyway, so no particular loss.

The runs you did both looked consistent with strong pace on the second one as well.  Great progress with the one-armers at 87.5% - interesting to know if the technique is feeling smoother and how you are attaching the assistance?

An interesting half-year reflection with some very positive highlights and some honest comment on the lowlights.  The injury is clearly a worry for you now, though I’d note that the ‘Spring’ trip conditions were really difficult and have prevented your original goals getting close.  Progress on one-armers, handstands, board climbing and bouldering generally have been fantastic.  Interesting to be thinking about a marathon with not a lot of time to train properly.

Biscuit:  As previously remarked, ‘found your feet’ is perhaps an overstatement, but I really appreciate the encouragement.  I am adjusting to the fact that as each decade passes, getting back there is that bit harder!  The joy is in wanting to try and believing that it might be possible.

Good trip to Lighthouse and fantastic to get on Flash-Pumped and Back on Track – definitely a good effort to take your Yorkshire sport fitness and apply it to a very different area.  The character of the Lighthouse area is quite different from Ravens Scar.

Brilliant half-year review – ‘I didn’t have any goals so I’ve done it’ sort of thing.  I’d sum it up differently – you’ve applied yourself to perceived weaknesses every step of the way (be it falling or open-hand work) and I think you have shown that focused work delivers results.  By any measure, this year is ‘better’ than last.  Alongside all that, which arguably doesn’t make up a hill of beans, you have published a damn fine book.

Inglesp:  Now there’s a topsy-turvy week!  Good to see that you are getting on Hard Rock routes at Avon (an acquired taste if I remember rightly) and nice that yourself an d Lee are forming a bit of a partnership.  The Klute thing is a bit of a surprise as you’ve doe well with other things on your list.  Is there a pattern to the things you find hard, or is it random?

Great to see Ban-Y-Gor at last on the reports.  I can’t believe that Lee and yourself visit Wintour’s several times a week and yet I never see BYG mentioned.  At last it has been put right – it looks a great crag.  A decent result with the 6c (usually at least E3 technically) and scoping 7a’s (nearly always E4 and sometimes E5) for nest year is some progression!

Good to see I am not the only one doing heavy labour.  I have some spare liner if you do want to head down the fish route…

Small Step:  Sorry to see the health issues mounting up – something you could do without.  My sister suffers rosacea, but has got good control now with close attention to diet.  There is a really decent book on this, which I forget for now, but will follow up.  Anyway, glad to see that you have got it under control so quickly.

Your wall trips continue to show a decent return, though maybe diminishing returns kicking in by now (though you have teased that this is not the case)?  That said, it is still an excellent amount of work going on each visit.  I like the 4 week plan – a training cycle of sorts to see how the hangs and zigs work out – certainly enough to see progression starting to appear.  Might be worth pushing it out to six weeks.

Hope that you are still targeting some days out over summer.

The Sheep:  As remarked by Biscuit, posting at all is positive – after all, we are a community here.  I really hope you are on the way back up as I need your running reports as inspiration.  See you back soon I hope and let us know if we can do anything to help.

Climbthatpitch:  Failed the STG, but put in a great week again.  As above, great to see that you are hooking up with Inglesp on occasion.  Great to see you over the river at Avon and therefore expanding out of range again!  A couple of decent routes there, but there is a lot of good climbing at Avon and it is great for technique.

Good effort with White Feather – not something I know, but looks good.  There will come a point when you have worked out Wintour’s!

Great to see that you hooked up with Ian for a successful foray on to all that is dangerous and loose at the Leap!  Everyone of those routes looked a challenge in its own way, so well done for delivering.

Hope the weather is kind for you week off!

In reply to Derek Furze:

At the moment I’m setting the bar for this at 6C despite what I’ve written. The multiple sessions on Cross Fader haven’t helped and if I was being kind to myself this might even be 3/10. 

Even with very limited climbing things seem to be deteriorating

I definitely do and some of the progress might just be cashing in on routes I’ve well prepared. I’ve still not managed a first go 6c+ never mind a 7a and I’ve also not done a 7a+ in a session so nothing concrete, that said there haven’t been any major setbacks on routes I’ve been on.  Another quiet week with no supplementary training. 
W: After school club (last for a while as Joe is away). It turns out the crux of the Refrain is the clip so my successful TR on Sunday was not a precursor for a successful RP. Only had a couple of goes and did get through the clip from the ground on my one RP but dropped the last hard move  

F: Date night with Fi and did Pinnacle Ridge (Grade-2) which has been on the list for 37 years. 
S: One of the unfinished business list with Golden Virginia (7a). Mr Chips felt a grade harder and stays on the list for now. My second go up ended with a very painful twinge to the elbow every time I moved my arm. I tested it afterwards with a TR of It (E2 5b) and it felt ok but I doubt I’ll be doing much this week anyway. 
S: Brief swim in a very rough sea at Rhosneigr, really enjoyable, seems the water temps are getting tolerable even for me (not sure that’s a good thing given some of the things I’ve read in the news recently).

Car, van and bike issues mean this week will be a bit of a rest week

In reply to Derek Furze:

Morning Derek, thanks again for everything, we are very fortunate.

Good to hear that your sister has the rosacea under control. I’ve got a list of food things to be avoided and ably assisted by my wife am working through it. Trial & error I suppose. The main thing at the moment is that I feel much better, even if new blotches have appeared. Restore and maintain health first, consider ‘cosmetics’ later…

The training week was:

Mon: flexibility session; board, mixed hangs, 3 x zigs
Tue: wall, Thalkirchen, 6a, 6a+, 6b, 7a/+, 7a/+, 6b, 6b. Two 7a/+ ticks on the same day is a first for me. These are the routes I’d been working the moves and had one lead try each. That they both went one after the other… (astonished chuckle). It all went pretty smoothly as well; the few routes I’ve managed in this (for me) rarified realm always involved some pretty desperate ‘ugly’ climbing on my part. Down to the training and the Fit Club, I’d say
Wed: stretching
Thu: flexibility & lower body session; mixed hangs, 3 x zigs
Fri: planned crag day cancelled, wall at Thalkirchen instead; too hot for anything really…phew…6a, 6b, 6b, 2 x 7a+, 6c, 6b: I decided to work the moves on a 7a+, so in top rope/clipping out: first go felt ridiculous, second go just one hang…difference was chalk and cheese. So, a new lead project perhaps.
Sat: walk / hike in Kaiser; lovely easy tour, quite long, 7 hours, well shaded, great views of the imposing walls.
Sun: stretching & black roll

Thanks for the advice on pushing the training plan out from four to six weeks. Four weeks brings me up to the next block of outdoor climbing, end of July; the block after is in mid-September, so that’s possibly a good opportunity to extend the scope with a new training plan for the six weeks August-mid-Sept. That would dovetail nicely: 4 weeks training plan, climbing, 6 weeks training plan, climbing. I’m also toying with the idea of doing a plaisir multipitch 3-day course in Kaiser in August. A refresher as it were; I haven’t been on a multipitch since Sept 2018.

It's a shame that it hasn’t proven possible to build immediately on the Italy trip. Looks as if six weeks will be between outdoor days (weather permitting, of course, whether rain or heatwave). I’m reminded of Alan’s remarks after his Kaly trip and how the poor weather here held him back from taking the momentum into spring. Patience, I suppose…

Wishing everyone a good week.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Cheers Derek.  Detailed and insightful stats as always. +55kg is 170% though - I ain't no crimp waif!

Week 27

M – COMPEX core and back stretches

T –  A day for getting pumped. 25x 6C+ on-the-minute. 30 min break, then 50s on/ 70s off aero-pow on harder version of the new woods circuit (7b?). 

W – F3 strict half crimp block lifts; 20kg, 40s. Steady. 

T – 90min projecting boulders.  Managed 2x benchmarks. One a soft 7B+ in 3 goes, the other a dispiritingly hard 7B (7C?) in a dozen goes. https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cuey7DcL5U8/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Then did Crimpd Bar core - and the oblique didn't complain.  Hazaa! 

F – Torrid evening with mk2. Walked a good few km trying to settle her, but no training. 

S – Repeaters.  F2, M2, B2, F3 drag, B3. All BW+6kg. Twice.  Hard! 

S – Pack, drive to in-laws and earn my dinner with 90min solar panel cleaning (hard work up a ladder with 30ft bendy window cleaning pole)

In reply to Derek Furze:

2023 Aims/Goals:

1) Stay happily married and be the best dad I can

Doing alright 👍 Arrival of MK2 Squiggle has made us all tired, and hence I'm so glad of my extended paternity leave.

2) Have a whole year of healthy elbows, shoulders, hips, knees and fingers (i.e. keep up plenty of conditioning and (p)rehab)

Semi-tick. I had a finger tweak that needed working around, but that's pretty much back to strength now. The oblique strain was an arse for a while, and in some positions I can still feel it. WIP.

3) Climb 3x more new sport routes of 7a or harder (I’ve lines bolted and waiting at Kilnsey, Devil’s Gorge and on the Orme)

Good progress considering arrival of MK2 Squiggle. I managed two newbies at Pantymwyn, both 7b+(ish). Being belayed by random boulderers was a bit sketchy though! 

4)  ≥Bodyweight 1-handed dead-hang on the BM2K lower middle rung with good control of rotation

WIP. I'm down to 1kg to control the rotation on BM2K central slot. 

5)   ≥8a redpoint (preferably a newbie – Kilnsey or lines in/next to Parisella’s fit the bill)

WIP. I've only had one session back on the project next to Parisella's. 

6)   Outdoor 8A+ / Moonboard 8A

Semi-tick. Spinal Tap is apparently 8A+. https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cs5ZOplrD0W/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== and I've reset the moonboard 2 columns left of the wall to accommodate me trying Bunny, 8A, the most repeated 8A BM.

7) Go to 3x "new to me" venues in UK (either bouldering or routes)

WIP. Only 1x new venue so far (Manley Knoll).

8) Rebuild foot-on campus board and get some decent stamina back.

No progress on either front, though I've bought some timber for the FoC set up. 

In reply to Small Step:

Well done on the 7s. Re: Rosacea. I've had it for about 2 years - seemingly connected to starting work at NHS - wearing masks and getting stressed! I eventually went to my GP and got 2 types of medication which take quite a long time but keep things under control. Recent big doses of Sunlight completely cleared it. But just 2 days without meds and it came back. So for me it seems like management is where I'm at but as I say I've found the meds a useful part of that. I'd be interested to know what are the aggravating foods on your list and whether in your experience cutting any specific ones out has had an effect.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek. Another week where my only outdoor activity was on the bike, although I didn't intend it to be so

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: rest day

T: Didn't make it to the wall in the evening - big work meeting in the morning to prepare for. Did nip out on the bike for a very pleasant hour in the woods.

W: Wall, Freimann. Another good session: 6b 6b 6b 6b+ 6c+ 6c+ 6c+ 6a+ 6b+ (dnf, tired)
    Got the 6c+ that I tried at the end of Sunday's session on my first go today, and did another in two goes. I'm pretty sure this is only the second time I've ever done two 6c+'s in a session. Progress. (The other time was real ones in the Frankenjura, but they were both eight metre microroutes and one was definitely soft)

T: 

F: Bike 2½ hours, to & from a conference on the other side of town. Was able to go most of the way through parks and along the river, making it another really quite pleasant outing.

S: My intended climbing partner for tomorrow cancelled at short notice. Bummer, but not that much of a bummer and I didn't bother looking for a substitute at short notice, because the forecast was 30°, and in the end it turned out considerably hotter than that

S: So, happy enough to be indoors in the shade for a short session with the Freimann Sunday afternoon crew. Can't expect a pb every session though: 6a+ 6a 6b+ 7a (dnf) 6b+ 6c+ (dog) 6b+ (dnf, pumped)
    Half an hour stretching while watching the Chamonix men's final (yyfy!)

Didn't manage to fit a bouldering session in this week due to work commitments - just busy, but in a positive way, not the same kind of negative stress I had last month.
 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek for your stats. Always impressed by how much thought you put into your comments for each of us. Your effort is one of the reasons I find FitClub such a valuable group.

Mon – Nothing. Completely knackered after 1.45am arrival from last Sunday's Wye Valley adventures.

Tues – Yves lifts. Lattice block 20mm x 5 each hand, 2min rest. 5kg, 7.5, 10, 12.5, 15, 17.5, 20, 22.5, 25, 27.5, 30, 31.25, 31.25, 31.25, 31.25 (4 right, 5 left). Sloper pull-ups 6 sets x 2 (hard last 3 sets). Felt stronger on lifts but then very tired for pullups straight after.

Wed – Stanage with his Swediness. After Dom’s casual lead I made some attempts on Quietus (E2 5c), but got my ass handed to me! Surprisingly easy to lip, then I couldn’t get the right position to pull properly, plus poor jamming technique (best effort was on a couple of wobbly ring locks). Later to feel fully demoralised I watched the UKC video of Paul Craven make it look v diff! https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/stanage_north-99/quietus-9984#vide...

Thursday - Got up early for a run, but knee felt all twisted up from Quietus so enforced rest day.

Friday – End of a crazy work week, my packed lunch is still unopened from Wednesday in the work fridge as didn’t have time to sit down for lunch.

Saturday – Dusted off the home board which I don’t think I’ve used since winter. The garage felt like a sauna but despite that had a decent session. Warmed up then 6-7 hard problems, each in up to 3-4 goes. Sloper pull ups 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3.

Sunday – The Roaches. 3 Classic Rock routes Technical Slab (HS 4a), Black and Tans (S 4a) and Via Dolorosa (VS 4c). Really enjoyable. 55 min run 6ish miles. Shoulder stability: Half kneeling Landmine Press 3 x 10 each arm, Dumbbell Windmill 3 x 3 each arm.

Reflection - Found much of this week hard work; upset stomach, return of my acne rosacea, and tiredness from work. None of them were excuses for failing on Quietus. It wasn’t too much of a surprise because I have a dozen or more similar grit E2s I find desperate. But still it was a useful ego check that I’ve a long way to go to actually improve. The weekend was better with a surprisingly good board session and a lovely gentle climb at The Roaches with a good mate.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek,

Things winding down at work has made more time available this week but next is going to be busy again as I've a couple of trips out.  Had a 'mare making holiday plans for the summer when I realised the ferry I'd planned to take was now full and has involved a massive amount of faff and changing of many plans but getting there now (all first world problems though).  Been lining up partners for summer holiday ticking!

Mon.  Went to address the lack of aerobic capacity.  4x 10mins on 10mins off on the auto belay.  A different tactic this time around, normally I do a 7a up and a 5+ down but I think this is giving me too good a shake out on the way down so I've gone for up and down 6a+/6b which seems to be working better at forcing recovery on poorer holds.

Tues. rest.

Wed. Lead Quietus (E2 5c) with Ian.  I dogged this 16 years ago and it felt desperate, seconded it 14 year ago and it still felt desperate but I got up it, felt pretty steady today.  I think I was most pleased that I got up it without too much of a jibber rather than the fact that the climbing felt ok.  Thanks Ian for the belay.  Unfortunately the rain rolled in before we had chance for anything else so I did some training at home instead.  6 sets of body weight repeaters, 5x5 on the min pull ups and 3x10 press ups.

Thurs. 7km run, just under 5mins/km.

Fri: 48km cycle with Mrs. Swede, steady pace but still with 750m ascent.

Sat. Finger is still grumbly so have been keeping the sport at a sub max level so that I can climb in control.  Redpointed Succubus (7b+) in a session.  We've removed the decaying stripping biners and replaced with shiny new peak bolt fund maillons and lower off rings (thanks Kristian) so its much safer than before.

Sun. 8km kids walk (Longstone Moor and Wardlow Hay Cop) then 5x5 pull ups +10kg, 5x5 bicep curls +10kg, 3x10 press ups.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Both this fall, and the one on White Hart (2) (HVS 5b), were on steep ground where at least one arm was locked off and I'd not sorted out my feet.  Both times I found myself a bit tunnel-visioned and unable to make a plan for what to do next.  I've been thinking about this a lot over the last ten days, and think I'll be better mentally prepared for next time I'm in this situation.

This past week has been pretty quiet, with family, work, and school governors stuff.

Mon: Hip + leg flexibility.

Tue:

Wed: Upper body mobility.

Thu: Club meet at Symonds Yat -- an enjoyable evening of climbing with novices.

Fri: a Furze pyramid of 100 pull-ups!

Sat:

Sun:

In reply to Derek Furze:

Better put my own report in...  I have been aiming for two climbing days, two runs and two base training sessions as my summer programme, with the idea that if I get more done then it's a bonus.  However, I didn't hit the target this week, but has reasonable excuses lined up.

Mon - busy with work

Tues - 5 km run with my running partners.  I went ahead and did a steady run with 6.15 splits.  Travel to Telford for pm work.

Wed - poor forecast, but OK out on NW coast.  Was persuaded to Penmaenbach Quarry which is completely anti-style for me and not that inspiring a place.  Nice views though.  Six routes to 6a+.  Failed on a 6a+ though, but not sure I will ever go back to try again.  Date night out on return - nearly late as satnav tried to take me through Conway and the bridge was shut.

Thurs - a short session at Smalldale as childminding from 3 pm to cover teachers strike on Friday.  Did ok though found a couple of warm-ups desperate - they may have lost holds - and with quite big fall potential.  Settled to things and did a couple of slightly harder things, one of which was loose beyond reason and should be debolted (Upminster Kid (6b).  My partner declined to try after I had pulled holds off in several places.  Finished on Shanacie (6b) - surely 6b+?  By now was very pumped from earlier struggles so grabbed a draw to clip (3rd draw) and then had to rest one move from the top.  Great climbing though.  All things I had done many years ago, but a fun short session.

Fri - childminding all day.  Cake making, Sum Swamp, bike ride, shopping for new fish and releasing them to their new home, lunch at the pub garden, delivering cake.  Catatonic by 5 pm drop off.

Weekend.  Not very active really.  Julia not particularly well.  Saturday night out was a long do as started with a 7 pm meal.  Dancing from 10 pm to 1 am.  Lots of finishing off stuff in the garden.

Reflection.  A bit disappointed to not complete my base sessions.  I did tweak my shoulder blade area on Thursday and was sore Friday and Saturday - without the residual soreness I might have done something.  Still not getting to the mountains, but weather has been the problem.  A bit shocked at how rubbish I am at slabby stuff these days and probably should put some on the plan as I used to be good at them...

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek. Valid points and you're right I have improved in a couple of significant areas. This has been because I had the space to do so as I hadn't set myself any objective goals. I would have wanted to redpoint routes rather than work on falling for example. Different people respond to different approaches and this has worked for me this year.

My lethargy and de-motivation for training continued this last week so very little got done. I think I figured it out though. As I've brought more carbs back into my diet I have been eating a lot of bread. When I went low carb years ago it was because I noticed too much wheat made me feel very lethargic and sleepy. I've dropped the bread and feel much better. I am still getting carbs though, just not from supermarket bread.

Nothing of note to report until the weekend.

F - Upper crag at Giggleswick South. We were looking for somewhere different to do some fall practice and didn't think through the fact that it's a South facing crag. It wasn't suitable for falling and we got roasted. I did Dyno-Might (E1 5c), which didn't have a dyno in it, and was quite pleasant and seconded a couple of others.

Sunday - After a night at a wedding (I'm sure you'll be pleased to note we got some dancing in Derek) and a poor sleep in a tent we headed to Chapel Head to meet some friends. I 'warmed up' with a top rope of Electric Warrior (I took a few rests) and then got on Phantom Zone (7c) before the sun came round. Did all the moves apart from one on the crux. I had another go later (in full sun as the forecast cloud didn't arrive) and got the crux move. I'm not sure how much I'd get back after the crux before heading into another few sustained moves and that may end up being the sticking point. But I am feeling optimistic it will go reasonably quickly in cool conditions. 

I should be back training this week. This weekend is a planned club trip to the hut in Wasdale, but we may try a quick hit at Chapel Head on Friday morning. Fingers crossed for the weather. 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Hi clubbers. Thanks for more quality stats, Derek.

Yep -I knew getting back to running would feel tough, but I've gone through 'comebacks' enough times in recent years to know that it soon starts feeling ok again! I'm also unsure how awkward grit fits in to alpine training... I'm tempted to use Tyler's stock reply of 'all good training for the Walker' but if I find anything like that first pitch on an alpine route I'll be pretty upset! However, my aid ascent of the second pitch is probably great training for tough alpine ground! ;-p

Week 27:

Family holiday vibes meant I went a bit off piste from my planned sessions, but more or less achieved what I needed to this week...

M: Sea swim, then a sneak off to Porth Ysgo (easily my favourite bouldering destination outside of Font) for a quick session. Highlight was the sombrely named Unmarked Grave (V4).

T: Core and Prehab. Sea swim.

W: Sea swim. Trail run. 26.0km, 589m vert, 7:24/km. Brutally hot.

T: Bouldering. Quick early morning sesh back at Porth Ysgo, but hampered by horrible greasy cons. Pleased to get Grapes of Raf (V3) given how soapy everything felt. Prehab.

F: Sea swim. Trail Run. 30.1km, 247m vert, 6:31/km. 

S: Prehab. Wedding raving.

S: Rest.

Week 28:

A tapering kind of week, so low volume, high intensity will be on the menu.

M: Weighted hill walk. Prehab.

T: Core and Strength. Prehab.

W: Run or weighted hill walk.

T: Rest.

F: Climbing.

S: Climbing.

S: Climbing.

STG (End June):

Two routes off my alpine bucket list.

MTG:

Can't really see past the STG at the moment! Will come up with some new goals, including some BHAG/Week 900 goals at some point though...

In reply to Derek Furze:

Hey everyone, comprehensive stats as ever Derek, good work.

Probably because it's rather unpleasant You also don't really get the interest of doing different moves, or even different types of moves, sidepulls and undercuts and whatnot. Probably the sort of thing you could do with a podcast or the telly on though.

Yeah, I'll definitely revisit. Given the distance and my propensity for not dedicating myself to distant projects, I can't say how soon it would be. If it was as local as Nesscliffe I'd be all over it!

A pretty good week from me. Was generally quite good at rehab stuff. Only one indoor session due to other commitments but had a last-minute trip to Pembroke that was slightly married by rough seas, but had a wicked time and very keen to return with a better grasp on sea and swell forecasts.

Last Week:

M - Rest.

T - Weigh-in at 78.6kg. AM very light hangs. Ice baths before bed.

W - AM very light hangs. PM Moonboard. Resetting the main area for a comp so I'm excited to see what they've got next time. Made a new steady one, "Tip Splitter", which uses some sharp holds! Generally tried various hard moves which weren't too bad on the finger, though I was feeling it a little towards the end. Perhaps I should've done some weighted pull-ups and lighter MBing instead. Ice baths before bed.

T - AM very light hangs. Ice baths before bed.

F - AM very light hangs. Ice baths before bed.

S - Intended on Kato Zawn DWS @ Penally East but the sea was too rough. Saw my first spraybow, if that's any indication! Instead had a calm beach swim and ice cream, followed by a couple of moves at Morfa Bychan before the tide rolled in.

S - Barrel Zawn DWS @ Carreg-y-Barcud Area. Flashed a couple of fine routes up to 6b. One was very crimpy and did aggravate the finger a little. It's not a DWS session unless you get wet, so we all jumped in. Exit was a little hairy with the swell but got out after a bit of effort and some barnacle rash!

Next Week:

M - Rest.

T - Climbing.

W - Rest.

T - Climbing.

F - Rest.

S, S - More climbing, the forecast looks rather unpleasant though.

Goals:

Rehab left index thing.

Improve ability on tiny edges.

Work on PE.

Oberth Effect Proj.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Cheers Derek. A decent amount of training this week with a weekend of partying to put the weight back on. I’ve no socials planned for the next 3 weeks now, so shouldn’t have any temptations!

That seems to be the case after most weekends, but as both the peaks and troughs are (gradually) coming down I’m still confident I can go sub 80kg soon.

Mon

Wall

• Volume session on 40deg Woody. Did around 90mins up to 6B.
• 30mm Campus 1-4-6 both
• Standing Ab Wheel Rollout (small assistance band) 3x 4. Last rep was awful so will go back to bigger band and more reps
• Hanging Wipers (Straight Arm) 3x 15

Wed

Fingers & LockOffs

• OA Lockoffs 3x 6s Top/Middle (92%BW)
• OA Hangs. Transitioned to the 20mm. 6x 5s (78%BW). Hard! but warmed in to it and didn’t feel too bad.

Thu

Wall

• Terrible Woody session. Don’t think I was fully recovered from Monday and felt a bit ill. Elbows really feeling it so think I need to work more antags.
• Standing Ab Wheel Rollout (big assistance band) 3x 8. More controlled reps with the bigger band so will progress to sets of 20.
• Straight Arm Hanging Wipers 3x 18. These are feeling really strong. Will max out at sets of 20 then experiment with some ankle weights.

Fri

Antags

• Parallette Press-ups 7x 25

Sat

Antags

• Floor Press-ups 6x 30. Elbows feeling good.

Weight 81.4kg which is the lightest I’ve been in a while. Last push.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek, insightful as ever. Sorry to hear about the shoulder, sod's law seems to dictate that you pick up an injury when you're just starting to peak for the summer! Fingers crosssed it's nothing major.

Yeah I'm slowly getting there, still a few kilos off my previous base but hopefully I'll be back to full strength by the summer. 

I certainly do! The main reason for favouring these is that I really struggle to get the intensity right on a circuit board and often get too pumped.

Monday

Hip & leg flexibility. Forearm mobility. Upper body mobility

Tuesday

Max hangs - 20mm edge/half crimp/10s hangs/6 reps/90% of max (BW+18kg). Shoulder shrugs 5 x 5. 

Wednesday

Indoor route mileage (6a, 6b, 6c, 6c, 6c+, 7a, 7a+, 7b)

Thursday

Active posterior chain mobility. 

Friday

Project bouldering on the Moonboard (7A, 7A, 7A+). 3 x 10 mins of easy ARCing.

Saturday

Rest day, though gave the calves a good workout at a gig all afternoon in Hyde Park

Sunday

Upper body mobility. Core - plank x 4, twisting crunch 3 x 20, bicycle crunch 3 x 20

In reply to Derek Furze:

Yeah, technique is getting better but i am also not sure if part of it is that my technique for doing assisted ones is improving. My setup is a sling attached to the pullup bar, then a biner through the sling and a pulley through the biner. One one side of the pulley is the weight on the other side is a grip that i am using with the other arm to create the assistance. So in the end it is a basically an uneven pullup with the weight limiting how much the other arm can support. Hope that makes somewhat sense, otherwise i might need to upload a video somewhere .

Yes, would definately be a tight schedule. I will probably just increase mileage and distance of the long run gradually and then decide in a couple of weeks if it makes sense to go all in all on the marathon goal or to save that for next week. The big argument for doing it now is that i am limited in my climbing training anyway and quite psyched for running at the moment so i might use this opportunity.

Recap last week:

Mon: easy run, 50 minutes , 4:41/km, 137 HR, felt surprisingly well recovered from sunday's threshold run

Tues:  Assisted One-Arm-Pullups at 89% BW, right arm: 2.5, 2, 2 left arm: 2.5, 2.5, 2.5.  Assisted lockoffs with 92,5% BW at various angles for about 6s to 13s. Fingerboard repeaters: 3x6x7,3 at 95% BW on 20mm egde.  Handstands, 2x12 Pikepushups, 2x 20 weighted pushups with 15kg added, 45s V-Situps, really suprisingly how much harder the one-armers felt due the small amount of reduced assistance but good progression anyway

Wed: Fast steady run, 60 minutes, 4:20/km, 151 HR (169 Max), pushed a little bit harder on the last 2km, quite tired afterwards 

Thur: Easy run, 45 minutes, 4:45/km, 134 HR, as expected still quite tired from yesterday but it was not too bad

Fri: Assisted One-Arm-Pullups at 89% BW, right arm: 3, 2.5, 2 left arm: 3, 2.5, 2.5.  Assisted lockoffs with 92,5% BW at various angles for about 6s to 13s. Fingerboard repeaters: 3x6x7,3 at 95% BW on 20mm egde.  Handstands, 2x12 Pikepushups, 2x 20 weighted pushups with 15kg added, 45s V-Situps, pullups felt a little bit better, probably also due to getting used to the reduced assistance

Sat: Long run, 1:40, 4:35/km, 1:36 half marathon split, 145 HR, really suprised me on that one, did not felt too good at the beginning but somehow it got better during the run, pace was a little bit faster than planned in the beginning and picked it up even a little bit more after 15km once i was confident that i get at least 18km in. 

Sun: As expected completely knackered from the long run, and the fact that i got home from a birthday on Saturday at 2:00 am also did not help the recovery. Did some strength training nevertheless: L-Sit 2x20sHandstands, 2x12 Pikepushups, 2x 20 weighted pushups with 15kg added, 60s V-Situps.

Another strong running week, overall mileage about 57km. The plan for next week is to increase that a little bit further by about 5-10% and then see what happens. Finger is getting better but still feeling a little bit tweaky so i stay with the repeater session in order to not take any risks. I am also pretty sure that i am currently not losing any climbing fitness and the coordination should come back in a couple of weeks, once i start climbing again.

In reply to Randy:

Thanks Randy - yes it makes sense.  Is it worth moving to a harness for the attachment point for the assistance weight?  It would mean that your spare arm wouldn't be involved except for counterbalance.

In reply to Derek Furze:

It might be a little bit better, but it is also a little bit more uncomfortable setup. And in the end i don't think that it makes a big difference, so for the moment i will stick with the current method.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thank you Derek,

Another week working away doing long hours, so nothing to report this week.

Did manage an evening out prospecting, many 100's of metres abseiled and jugged back out on multiple drops.  Found some cool stuff to come back to when I have more time.

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Hi Ian, thanks for your post. Interesting that the connection for you was a new job and the involved stress. And of course the masks. I wonder what your medication is....through my brother-in-law (who had rosacea a few years ago) I got a prescription for Rosiced, which is to be taken for 6-12 weeks only.
It's pretty sobering to read that it came back after just two days without medication...was there any decrease in general wellbeing or other symptoms as well?
With your training regimen and climbing, plus family life, you don't seem to have problems with your immune system. Or is that because you just haven't mentioned it? Or have I missed it?
I've roughly translated the (teutonically thorough) list and can send it to you per email; there's another page with an overview of do's & don'ts. I can't get that done today but I could send it to you towards the end of next week (heading to the Bernese Alps early tomorrow for a few days : ) ) - both are from a health programme on German public radio.
Translating the list has brought home the changes I may have to make. As it all flared up two weeks ago when clearly linked to a failing immune system (and a specific PTSD trigger), I'm only in the early stages of trying things out. A number of the recommendations are rather unpalatable (sorry) - massive reduction in coffee necessary and no soya, which as a vegetarian is basically my staple in the form of tofu. The main thing for me at present is to avoid the aforementioned trigger and bolster up the immune system - amongst other things through Samahan tea (another recommendation from the brother-in-law). Don't know what it does exactly but it's certainly pepped me up - or given me that feeling.

Let me know if you want the list in all its detail - and good luck.
 

In reply to Small Step: Thanks Small Step I’ll send you an email to discuss further. I live on coffee and soya so….!

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks for the excellent statting Derek.

Weight - 12st 7lbs

STG - 5k - 30 mins

MTG - 10k 1 hour

LTG - Come up with better goals!

M - T - Rest

W - 1.2m run

T - F - Rest

S - 1.2m run

S - 1.2m run

Steady week.  Didn't get out on a longer run, but kept up with the shorter runs to keep a steady mileage.  Need to get out on the 5k next week.  But the distance is staying steady, so I'm happy with that.  I was supposed to be going out climbing this week, but a poor forecast meant we cancelled.  Turned out to be a lovely day.  Oh well.

Still mulling over further goals.  I have however started off with a much better diet this week, so we'll see how that goes.  I guess I could put that in the STG, but I suspect this'll only be a 4 to 6 week effort. 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Cheers Derek. 
 

microAJM couldn’t go back to nursery until Thursday which meant that most of the start of the week was taken out looking after her and managing the disruption to work caused by her being home during the day. By the weekend we were pretty wiped out so it was a very quiet one.

I did some splitting of wood - we had to have the cherry tree in our garden cut down as it had some sort of root fungus so I split the logs we got left with.

I managed to get out climbing on Friday evening, swapping the delights of an apparently greasy Lulworth for a sweaty evening at Winspit. It was a good work out, I got a decent pump on, but I didn’t climb terribly well. Hopefully the poor fuelling, generally rushed session and sweaty heat can be blamed; either that or I’m very out of shape! 

In reply to Small Step: Tried sending you an email via UKC which didn’t work. If you email me on ianparnellphotography@yahoo.co.uk then I’ll email you direct! Thanks