UKC

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_852-7618...

I'm committed to an evening out tonight so getting this posted early.  Of out to the rocks tomorrow and a busy week with work coming up, so keen to get it off my list!  Hope all good with everybody - it seems to have been a flurry of injuries and motivational challenges mixed in with the usual disciplined performances lately, so hopefully some bright weather will be along soon to lift the spirits (if not The Ashes). 

Ross Barker:  It certainly did look like a week of two halves!  Hopefully, you are back in some sort of shape after your spell of unmotivated and unproductive meandering? 

As for ‘didn’t feel like getting out for the most part’ - motivation is a strange thing and it is odd when a normally enthusiastic approach disappears leaving one fishing around for something that is normally taken for granted.  I used to get immensely frustrated with myself when I left a crag having not gone on my target, whereas I think I have learnt to recognise that there are a lot of factors that add up to being in the ‘right’ state and many of them are not under my control.  I had a strangely ‘bad’ day on Monday and just decided I would top-rope stuff until I got back in the groove, which happened just as everybody was packing up to leave!  

Front end of your week looked decent with a good Moonboard session and your usual pattern of light hangs and ice baths.  These do seem to be helping to manage your finger, so worth persisting with that at least.  Re-invent the second half as a ‘planned deload’ and take the benefits from a change of pace – it sometimes does you good to step away and do nothing!

Mattrm:  Great to see you getting your 5 km done in what sounds like idyllic conditions.  We were discussing this last night, as my running partner and I just tend to go out from the front door and follow the same paths around the canal and river, whereas if we drove five or ten minutes, it would open up more variety. 

Finishing with plenty left in the tank is good and the way I like to feel on most of my runs.  I tried a faster one by myself yesterday – 4 km in less than 24 minutes – and didn’t enjoy the hard work of pushing the pace along.  A thirty minute 5 km feels like it will be quite tough still, especially as I will be on my own throughout.  I had hoped to get this by end of July, but think I might need more mileage yet.

Good to see a family walk turned into a training regime!  Interesting to see the diet plans developing.  I’ve been reflecting on this a bit recently for a variety of reasons and should note that I use 16:8 intermittent fasting as my normal eating pattern as well as a keto-ish basic diet, so difficult to isolate what works.  I suppose both contribute to ketosis anyway.  I do know that I lose most weight on climbing days, where I typically don’t eat at all until 2 or 3 pm (18 hours after last meal) and then only eat lightly.  For this to work, first you’d have to go climbing!

Somerset Swede Basher:  That’s a fairly heavy training week for the middle of summer, which might say more about the weather than anything!  Truly shocking July.

Impressed that you are working so hard on your autobelay lapping at the wall with two sessions across the week.  The second session included some quite hard standards for this type of thing, but I sure you are making it work well.  You’ve been including this sort of workout fairly regularly for a while now – do you notice the impact outside yet?  If so, what are you noticing?

Were the 8 km walks a geography field trip?  That would spark a nostalgia response from me!  Good to see the repeaters again (see what I did there?) as I find these really hard to maintain – I think boredom really.  Pull ups going ok and some antags included on a couple of days.

As is traditional, the end of term arrives and teachers go down with six-week flu…  Hope you recover in time to enjoy the holidays!

Biscuit:  Another one keeping the wall session s going to good effect over the summer.  I was getting close to using it as a wet weather option, but have just set up a series of mountain classic bagging with a mate, which provides a more suitable wet-weather alternative to my mind!

Not sure I’ve seen loads of running on your reports (?) so quite impressed (possibly depressed more accurate!) with your times this week.  Great to see you working on your active grips stuff again after a bit of a break.  It will be interesting to see the effect when you return to the original route (Malham I think?) that prompted you to train this specific strength.

Bad luck with the weather, but good effort for getting back to it and putting some work in.  Even more kudos for taking a hangover along for company as I think this is significantly debilitating.  It sounds like the trip was worthwhile anyway and that getting it done is likely soon.

Randy:  Of course, a single rep isn’t far away from your 3x89% and you have good experience of progression with this sort of approach with your weighted pull ups.

Another really decent week on the assisted one-arm pull up programme.  You describe the progress as ‘slow’, but I’d reflect that it is really solid and appears to be very well structured – a great example of a carefully tailored programme.  You have kept at it really well since the back end of last year, so hat’s off to your determination.  I still do a bit aimed at this, but it doesn’t really fit into the climbing season very effectively.

Some super-impressive running going on as well with times I can only dream about!  I have been following Ian’s advice to include pace work, but am still finding it hard to run under 6 mins per km for a full five km.  I’m going to step up my training distances soon (depending on my partner), so I think that will help.  I haven’t yet gone under five mins for a single km, though I am close, so seeing your steady run pace is a bit humbling!  I do include fartleks on the schedule, which is also helping build something.  You’ve done four runs this week and without doing the calculations it looks like a fair few kms built up over the week as well.

Hope the injury is going ok as I see you did some fingerboard stuff on a couple of sessions?

Steve Claw:  Yes, you’ve had elbow problems running throughout the year now, so I think they can be officially designated as ‘Achilles elbows’!  Having suffered before, I’d also note that I could easily trigger episodes with manual work – either repetitive movements or impact from things like hammer blows.  As I’ve remarked before, I got mine to rehab quite quickly once I sat down to do consistent rehab work on a nightly basis following the elbow rehab programme accessed on UKC.

Yes, it does seem as if your project to completion ratio has got out of kilter at the moment!  Interesting to see the challenges of working something steep and a good idea to use the removable bolts, but it still sounds like a full-on workout!  Normally, you are knocking off several a week, but for understandable reasons you have had a few weeks of finding things, but doing few of them.  I’m sure it will turn around soon.  Interesting comments about energy levels – likely that a couple of weeks grafting away from home has had most impact?

Incidentally, I have found a potential new thing myself recently (hiding in plain view), but am pondering about how to get it prepped as there are some complications…

AlanLittle:  Quite like the CECA concept, though hot summer conditions are not that conducive to an intensive training programme either!  Still, when life gets in the way, there isn’t a lot you can do.  Perhaps give yourself a target window to work towards where you can complete your STG or MTG?

Excellent use of greasing the groove, which I found really helped when I got back into training pretty much struggling to do a set of three pull-ups.  I found that by doing them every time I left my desk, I could get a surprising number built up during a work day.

You are certainly taking the training phase thing pretty seriously as three sessions at the wall is amazing for July.  The steep angle stuff sound like progress is being made as familiarity grows and your sauna session on repes was also impressive considering conditions.  Loads of cycling throughout the week as well with a good few hours clocked up, which must also be hot work!

AJM:  Oops!  Didn’t mean to be so demanding!  That said, I might try more of the Brian Clough method as it clearly had the desired effect…

Twice to the wall on a week in July!  A bit of a theme lately with fitties has been the amount of wall work bring undertaken.  Given that my last visit is now 18 months ago, I’m feeling that I am missing out.  Going twice in short succession shows that it must have been both productive and fun.  Interesting to be buying a pair of shoes with a wall problem in mind, though clearly they will have wider application when the time comes!  Anyway, to report ‘overall, a very good session’ is great to see and certainly session two appeared to unlock some of the previous puzzles.

I don’t know the Portland bouldering at all – I suppose after a five-hour drive the inclination is to get a rope out!  Great to see the stretching on the report – if you haven’t done any for ages the chances are that you felt it!

Tom Green:   Excellent – I look forward to whatever plan A happens to be!  Mind you, it has been incredibly hot, so conditions might well be something of a challenge out there.  This is probably something we are just going to have to get used to as it looks unlikely that we will see the glaciers and snow cover coming back to previous levels anytime soon.

A bit less mileage than we’d normally see from you, but partly a function of conditions and insects messing around with plans.  Interesting that you describe it as ‘naff’ as both runs were far in excess of my normal plods and at a whole different level of pace as well!  All good prep for the Walker anyway, though don’t think wasps reach such altitudes.

Clearly the STG will be your primary focus with the first Alps trip for a while.  I always get excited by the place, though I haven’t really done very much at all.  It always has an adventurous vibe somehow and it is easy to carried along with enthusiasm.  Things will need some fairly careful checking out in terms of conditions I would think?

I look forward to the BHAGs being revealed.

In reply to Derek Furze:

and part two

Tyler:  I think ‘refuse to accept reality’ is probably a great place to be.  I certainly occupy the prime spot there and still have a sort of unshakeable belief that I will get back to E3, despite a considerable amount of evidence that it isn’t happening!  I hadn’t thought of applying the boulder crux principle to the on-sight target list, but that might be a good idea in terms of training.  After all, if you regularly boulder at whatever, then it does bring things into scope somehow.

Those two warm ups on Lighthouse look not bad to me.  Good to be exploring yet more of the vast potential in the area.  What did you add to the UB list as there look to be some good routes further along in a bit of a cluster?

Other than that it looked like a messy week one way or another…  On the plus side, perhaps the quieter time climbing will give you some recovery as you are still reporting a lot of soreness? 

Afternoon not disturbed at all.  I will let you know if the option arrives again.  See my report this week for the sort of fiasco that you managed to avoid!

Ian Parnell:  July has certainly been extremely odd weatherwise, though somehow I am managing to keep some sessions going.  I’ve got more work from this week, so a bit more dependent on kind weather to fall in the right places however.

I see that you are becoming something of a woody ninja, which is a turnaround from the comical thrashings of a few weeks ago.  Applying yourself consistently with another visit Wednesday and demonstrating successful progression, so all pretty good returns.  The block lifts looking like they are progressing as well if you are hitting PBs (note to self – buy some blocks to vary training loads).  Take care with the super-fingery project as easy to tweak something.

Interested to see your pace work on the runs and very glad that your report made me feel somewhat better about my own efforts.  Some of the running reported on here is fairly humbling for me (I have never been a runner really), but I find it mainly helps motivate my own efforts and I do know that I briefly reach that sort of pace on my runs.  At least for me I’m not comparing it with any previous pace records!  I’d also note, it can feel very different day to day.

Have fun in Pembroke – not just a two-day trip?  I think Mondays are out across the school hollies, but happy to resume when they return?

Ally Smith:  I got all excited when you mentioned ‘real rock’ , but then it turned out to be the Dugout!  Oh well, after a couple of months it must have felt like heaven!  Clearly the enforced isolation has left you with a depleted immune system, as you have picked up a bug from Doug or Squeezing a Lass? 

Doing any training when you are suffering has to be a bonus, so good to see some of your usual routines getting an airing while rocking the baby.  I find it pretty difficult to get anything done if I feel less than optimum (which happens quite a bit) so impressed with the dedication.

Great that you are back out there – however briefly – and hope that the weather will pick up and you can get back to some of your targets for the year.

Liam P:  Great to see that you’ve got out on the trad again and are making decent strides considering how little you manage to get out, especially as it sounds a bit of a grease fest.  It does make all the training effort worthwhile when you can put some routes away and the basic strength is probably quite useful for somewhere like Swanage (and for cam fumbling)!

Good session at the wall and 8mm pull ups are an achievement.  Great progress on the hanging wipers, which seem to be really strong now that you’ve got the form consistent.  Hangs at 79% on 20mm is impressive and shows a good return from consistent work on these.  Lock offs also looking strong at both positions with 93% being completed. 

If it helps, I managed a very lazy holiday including the wine club without adding any weight.  Hotel breakfasts were pretty easy to handle without having loads of carbs and just being reasonably sensible with holiday food choices in restaurants worked ok.  I expected to gain loads as exercise was down at almost zero, but got away with it!

SteveJC94:  A solid week of training again – you have a good, consistent pattern going and are sticking with it well!  Possibly you have the born-again zeal of someone who spent a fair time in a cast this winter?

Interesting to see your persistent work with the repeaters and that you have clearly assess your max for these at some point.  How is this done?  Do you just add weight until you can’t get through a set?  I find them hard enough (and tedious) at bodyweight and despite using a timer, quite hard to maintain form through a set anyway.

Board session looks strong with some tough problems delivered and laps on circuits that also look powerful – hard for me to assess as I’ve never tried this kind of thing.  I’m almost looking forward to winter now, but I think I’m likely to have an experience something like Ian described a few weeks ago!  Cue some ineffectual floundering.  The autobelay session Friday indicates a couple of trips to the wall, so some dedication in evidence.

The weather hasn’t been at all helpful for some time now, so shower dodging seems to be a regular thing.  Sounds like you were very close though, so it should be quick to finish next time.

Small Step:  Yes, Alan described the wall conditions as pretty intense as well, so the walls seem to be a special kind of purgatory at the moment!  Considering that, a strong indoor performance nonetheless.  Good to see that you are maintaining your work on the hangboard and as noted before, you are doing plenty of pull ups with your zig system.  Could consider changing the stimulus by going up rather than down, or doing 10-8-6-4 or some such as progression.  Anyway, that part of you plan is going along well, though it looks like you’ve neglected other parts that you wanted to address – doesn’t 3 days hiking count as ¾ of ‘lower body work’?

A strong and varied final week could get you over the line!

The hiking trip sounds fabulous, despite the challenges of rail travel.  Nothing like hiking with clear air and glorious views.  I thought Switzerland was famous for it’s punctuality…?

MIA

Inglesp, Climbthatpitch and The Sheep - hope all going along ok?  Inglesp has hit the pyramid to 100 pull ups so maybe having achieved this pinnacle of success, he has now retired?!  CtP had a wet visit to the Peak and may well have been overcome with despair as a result?!  The Sheep - hopefully things improving for you after recent setbacks?

In reply to Derek Furze:

My week was slightly strange, but overall I was happy with it.

Mon - started badly with a group of us chasing weather and ended up back at Penmaen Head.  I had been slaving away on Sunday with a very physical task and felt really tired.  Penmaen Head somehow felt all wrong.  Did seven routes, but ended up top roping three of them in the middle as I felt so 'off'.  Got back into it by the end, so maybe that was the right decision.  At that point, I could have carried on, but time to go.  Didn't beat myself up - sometimes it happens.  

Tues - Max hangs on slopers to 15.7 kg; 4x9 BW pull ups; 4x10 push ups; 4x12 reverse curls and stretching.  Good session before heading off to work.

Wed - 5 km run Z2 but with a fast last 500m.  Then went to Pandy Quarry and did ten routes up to 6b+.  A shy and retiring venue that looked pretty naff and was slightly damp, but had surprisingly nice climbing.  Routes were fairly long as well, so a great mileage day.  Left enough to go for a return visit, including two or three harder things.  Mate fell off low down pulling off holds and landed on me.  Obviously, I am not the soft landing that I used to be!

Thurs - Weighted pull ups 4x5 at 11.3kg; 4 km run at 6 mins per km; wrist roller 4x5 at 4.6kg.

Fri - Max hangs on slopers to 15.7 kg; 4x10 BW pull ups; 4x12 push ups; 4x15 reverse curls and stretching.  Another decent short session.

Next week - aiming to do two runs, two outdoor climbing days and three base sessions as above.  Have decided to go out even if raining with Welsh mountain classics on the back up plan.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thank you for the early stats, such is the paucity of my training I’m done for the week

It would be good if ambition deteriorated in line with ability! 

The rock is a bit brittle and the 6c has a pretty crumby ledge but not dangerous and both are worth doing if in the area

You might be interested in this https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/set.php?id=7250

Im glad you asked as this route I do recommend, hard crux but some fairly sustained climbing to get to it Battleground (7a+)

Another messy week with car still broken (now looking at at £1k + bill on an old car with many miles), still no house sale and family visits.

M: Annual leave day spent house cleaning, I’ve had better!

W and T: Shell Island with niece and nephew who’ve never camped and wanted to try it. They enjoyed it more than me but I enjoyed the beach. 
F: Soles of feet have been sore for a year now so I’ve given up on the idea of running and got the bike out for a short dabble. Got up the first hill which was my main goal but it nearly killed me but will try and make it a regular thing.

S: Decided to test out my elbow at the Beacon. Did ok, OS of 3x 6c but a stupid slip cost me my first Beacon 6c+ OS. Couple of attempts on harder stuff didn’t make my elbow any worse but it’s definitely knackered.

S: Repeated Friday’s ride, 32 mins. Next goal is to do it without the two rests then add fractionally more distance. 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Sometimes a prod in the right direction is what’s required!

It was “bringing from home” rather than “buying” for the shoes - my wall shoes are usually the ones retired from active service outdoors, which is usually fine but sometimes they won’t just cut it.
 

In terms of the frequency of wall visits, it wouldn’t necessarily be my aim, but I have a few passes soon to expire on a multi-ticket carnet, and the weathers been a bit miserable. I’ve got one more to use which I think I might use tomorrow. But yes, it was a good session.

Theres some of the bouldering that is genuinely good, but looking across the area as a whole it is quite uneven in quality. I feel like the Rockfax bouldering guide could have fitted 90% of the quality into 50% of the page count.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek,

I've noticed the difference down the wall but I've not been outside enough due to the weather to find out yet. Yeah, been put on field trips locally which were less wet than they could have been luckily. Not really anything to report this week. I still felt poorly on Monday, tried to do a fingerboard session on Tues but just ended up exhausted for wed and thurs. Dropped a top rope down some hard grit on Friday but failed to do moves I've done before. I don't feel ill anymore just totally wiped out. At least it's not amazing weather I'm missing! Hopefully will be back up to normal in a week or two. Just rested yesterday and today.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek. Your professional level input is always welcomed. I do feel you  are due a break though? You can just declare (ashes reference there) and say you are stopping in a few weeks and give a date. 

I think it’s horses for courses with running. I’ve always been a better runner than a climber but I enjoy climbing more. After a break it takes a couple of runs to get back into it but then 5min/km soon becomes a jog pace I could keep up for longer easily enough. My best half marathon was 1.18, flat course though - Blackpool. 

M  Gym in the morning, afternoon 3 x 10 mins on at 6b, 20kg finger curls on 20mm edge 3x10, followed by a 30 min jog. 

T board session 10 x 1 min on board squeezing active holds. 2 min rest between. Another 30 min jog. 

W Nothing - busy work day

T 20kg finger curls on 20mm edge. 3 x 10. 

F Chapel head for Phantom Zone. Raining quite a lot. Got wet at the top once, but not when belaying.
 

Warming up for it is hard. It’s very sustained on side pulls and undercuts. A bit like raindogs but 7c. There’s no really hard move, just a lot of quite hard ones. It’s sucked me in like raindogs does. You feel it’ll go easy as you’ve done all the moves. Felt like a bit of a backwards session. I didn’t pay the top much attention before as it’s easier climbing and it felt like that first time up. Today I was all over the place. Sorted it out in the end. I need to get some links in next time on what now seems to be a medium term project. I’ve done some decent links but from the second bolt to the top would mean ‘game on’ I think. I’m invested now and am going to see it through. 3rd session but in fairness I’ve only been on it once in good conitions. It’s either been wet, hot, or both. 

S A lot of driving. 30 min jog when I got back. 

S Kendal wall. Super busy. Hard to pick decent routes to warm up on. Had a go at an old nemesis - a very strong 7b+ on the main wall. The meat if it felt quite relevant for PZ as it’s more powering out than pumping out. Had two goes and got further than I did over Winter. I was able to recover at a rest much better, but ran out of steam quicker than when I was wall fit.

I’ve got a niggle in the left shoulder which is giving me scapula and elbow pain. It’s from PZ for sure with lots of wide compression type moves. I’ve tested myself and diagnosed it and I’m going to pay it some attention this week and get in top of it. No climbing next weekend as I’m away with my son in London so I’ve got time to sort it out. 
 

By then the rain will have stopped and I can get back on it. 

In reply to Derek Furze:

It is getting better every week, but i assume it will take a couple of more weeks till it is fully healed and i can crimp hard. At the moment fingerboard reapeaters at 60-70% of max load seems like a good and safe way to train it and is probably better for recovery then just resting. 

Recap last week:

Mon: Assisted One-Arm-Pullups at 89% BW, right arm: 2.5, 2, 1.5 left arm: 2.5, 2, 2.  Fingerboard repeaters: 2x6x7,3 at 95% BW on 20mm egde, L-Sit 2x20s, Handstand, 2x12 Pike Pushups, 40 Pushups, 45s V-Situps, 12 lunges, 20 bodyweight squats, did not feel too bad on the warmup but somehow did not have the maximum strength today, maybe also tired from the large amount of running last week

Tues: Progressive Threshold run: 15 min warmup, 15 min 4:18/km (150 HR), 15 min 4:06/km (164 HR), 10 min 3:59 (171 HR), 20 min cooldown, in hindsight overcooked it a little bit, second part was already harder than i wanted and on the last 10 minutes i really had to fight a lot

Wed: 45 min easy run, 4:53/km, 133 HR, as expected still a little bit tired from yesterday's hard session

Thurs: 45 in steady run, 4:38/km, 138 HR, felt much better and really had to focus to not run too fast

Fri: Assisted One-Arm-Pullups at 89% BW, right arm: 2.5, 2, 2 left arm: 2.5, 2.5, 2.  Assisted lockoffs, 150°: 92,5% BW 7-8s; 96% BW, 120°,90° and 45°: 6s-14s. Fingerboard repeaters: 4x6x7,3 at 95% BW, felt quite strong but somehow could not convert that to more reps, not sure why, maybe a small technique problem or i was just doing the one-armers a little bit cleaner, at least lockoffs were in the same range as last week

Sat: Long run: 2:06, 28km 4:31/km (144HR), last 5km 4:07Km and last km 3:53/km, surprised me a little bit with that run, still felt good after 20km and decided to test what was possible, afterwards as expected completely dead and was almost too tired to eat lunch

Sun: L-Sit 2x20s, Handstand, 2x12 Pike Pushups, 40 Pushups, 45s V-Situps, as expected still knackered from yesterday but still managed to have a good session

Another good running week, especially with the long run that was a huge confidence booster for a possible marathon in autumn. Weekly mileage is also building up nicely as despite "only" doing 4 runs i managed to run a little bit more than 40 miles. 

Unfortunately, no progress with the one-armers. Not sure if it is just a normal small plateau or if the amount of running is affecting my strength training. Will see how next week goes, maybe i will also do a small running deload depending on how i feel as this week was quite tough on my body with two really hard runs.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek. Apart from one long weekend in August for which I have climbing plans, I have family commitments for four of the next five weekends including this one.

I intend to resume regular climbing in September, and hopefully get a good Frankenjura autumn season in. Meanwhile, humidity remains high but temperatures have dropped a bit

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: Did the big presentation at work that I've been preparing for the last couple of weeks. I think it went well, but I was too tired to go to the wall afterwards

W: Bike 1½ hours in the woods

T: Wall, Thalkirchen. Kilterboard volume session, focusing on the flash to 2-3 goes range. More reasonable temperature and a better session than last week 
    Bike 45 minutes there & back

F: Wall, Thalkirchen. Went mainly with the intention of using the weights room. As I already mentioned I won't be climbing much for a while due to family commitments, so am in need to something to aim for on the plastic, and yesterday I saw a newly set 7b+ on one of the autobelay lines that looked surprisingly feasible. Just off vertical thin crimping, I thought it should suit me. So I packed my harness and my Miuras, did a couple of warmup routes and had a look. Hmm. Onsighted the first twelve moves, but then the climbing starts. To quote Janja, I expected it to be hard. Silly me. It's hard hard. Still, could be something to chip away at for the next few weeks - although on first impressions success will consist of getting another couple of moves. I don't have much expectation of a redpoint - it would only be my second ever at the grade, even on plastic.
    Deadlift 3x3x90, shoulder press, face pulls, ring supports
    Bike 45 minutes there & back

S: Half an hour shoulder prehab & mobility

S: Wall, Thalkirchen. Warmed up with some light bouldering then back on the 7b+ potential proj. Hmm. Managed to add a grand total of one move to Friday's tally, but the rest still looks & feels ridiculous. The penultimate hold, assuming I even get that far, is a sloper that I simply cannot hold in the current humidity. Might give the route another session or two before deciding if it's a halfway realistic prospect or not. Rounded off with a couple of laps on the speed route - that sub-60 ain't gonna climb itself.
    Bike 45 minutes there & back
 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks for all your work as ever Derek. I'm impressed by your sloper hangs, anything above body weight seems very challenging to me. And as for Biscuits half marathon time - phew! Your description of a woody ninja is hilarious. I'm attempting the very easiest problems on the 'slabby' woody (30 degree overhanging!) and most of those I can't do. The last time I was on the wall failing on one problem, a lad of 10? rushed up to style the problem in a 'there that's how you should do it grandad' kind of way. More power to him - he's the real ninja.

Mon – The Depot – new reds had been set a bit easier than normal. Warm Up 5x (green, white, blues, black). Attempt 28 reds topped 23.

Birchens Edge - Classic Rock routes. Sail Buttress (HS 4b), Topsail (VS 4c) and Powder Monkey Parade (S 4b). I thought all 3 were not worthy of being in a book of the stature of Classic Rock, if I’m honest, but nice to be out in between the showers.

Tues – Nothing

Wed – 57 min run 6 miles, felt very slow and ploddy and then hip flexor got tweaky.

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 (5 right, 4 left). Shorter session as aiming for wall following morning and felt tired and tweaky.

Thursday- Depot – short sharp session targeting new purples. Warm Up 5 x (green, white, blue, blacks). Brief tries on a dozen purples, bit more effort on 6 of those, topped out on 2.

Friday – Nothing

Saturday – Depot – Warm Up 5 x (green, white, blue, blacks). Attempted 6 purples, topped one after 8 attempts, touched last hold 3 times of another after 7 attempts.

Sunday – 4 mile run. Soggy but as always a great head cleaner.

Reflection - Getting real rock withdrawal symptoms. Had a long Pembroke weekend planned but family stuff hit the fan. Felt pretty cheesed off but there are obviously much more important things in life than climbing. The flip side of outdoor climbing options being so limited is I've been able to get some decent training in at a time of year where I wouldn't normally be motivated (thankyou fit club for helping with this). Pleased with the mid-week Depot session, as although short I was able to get stuck into some of the purples. In the past I’ve only been able to get up a single problem each time the circuit has been set. Maybe these are easier? But nice to top 2 and feel a couple more have potential. Followed that upon Saturday, although this one involved a ludicrously small hold that’s tweaked my finger a bit. Have a possible climbing day in 10 days time which I’m keeping weather fingers crossed for.

In reply to AJM:

I reminded myself of my goals for the year and sorting my body out was one of them that I had let slide a bit - hamstring seems now to be sorted but obviously I’d given up on stretching as soon as it was and I’d let my shoulder drift on into an endless phase of “fine on the right moves but clearly not actually fixed”. Made a start on addressing that this week.

Monday - went and got a scan on my shoulder, since it clearly still wasn’t right

Tuesday - feeling wiped, rest

Wednesday - shoulder rehab

Thursday - shoulder rehab

Friday - rest

Saturday - quite a busy day out but not in the sense of exercise. Fully intended to do rehab but somehow never quite got to it. 

Sunday - shoulder rehab. About 5-6km of walking in the afternoon. Then some stretching in the evening.

Weather continues unpromising. It’s difficult to get motivated at the moment - logistically awkward to organise trad near here, the family accessible sport I’m a bit jaded with, shoulder not quite right which makes it difficult to commit to going bouldering, and it’s not been dws weather. Fingers crossed it turns round soon.
 

I’ve got a potential day out up north this Saturday so keep my fingers crossed for that. Otherwise, shoulder rehab, going to the wall, and ideally some sort of endurance training to ensure that if I can get out whilst we are in Scotland in a few weeks I can have a stab at something half decent.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek. Good work on the max hangs and outdoor mileage this week. 

It's all based around the weight of my max 7s hang on a 20mm edge (the lattice approach to testing). For repeaters, I do these at 70-72.5% of my max, which works out to just above bodyweight at the moment. When I did my pre-plan testing, my power endurance was picked up as needing a lot of work and had dropped a lot from pre-injury levels, unsurprising seeing as my left arm did no work at all for the best part of 10 weeks. 

M - Hip & leg flexibility. Bar shoulder shrugs 5x5

T - 10 problems on the board (6B+, 6B+, 6C, 6C, 6C+, 6C+, 7A, 7A, 7A, 7A+). 50-50 mixed intensity laps (half a circuit of 6b into half a circuit of 7a), 4 sets of 4 continuous reps. Prone Y, Prone T and Low row on the TRX rings. 

W - Upper body flexibility

T - 7:3 repeaters @ 72.5% (BW+2kg), 6 sets of 6 reps. 3 x 5 minute blocks of easy climbing on the spray wall. 

F - Rest

S - 10k zone 2 run

S - Took a punt on Kilnsey. Had a good start to the session but by the time we were fully warmed up the wind direction had changed and rain started blowing onto the crag. Had a play on Comedy (7c) and got to the third clip on the first burn but found most of the holds after this sopping wet so gave up for the day. Got chatting to some of the Sheffield crowd and apparently the Chee Dale Cornice is sopping wet now and may not dry out again this summer so I think I'll park Cry of Despair for now. The Water-cum-Jolly cornice is allegedly holding up much better so I might take a look at some lines there. 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thank you Derek,

The work away at the moment is really long hours of hard graft, with lots of those repetitive movements, so I think that has been making things much worse with the elbows.  The general fatigue the last few weeks is definitely making everything seem harder. 

Complications, or fun problems to solve?  I really enjoy working out the issues with new routes, from complex rigging to major rock trundles, for me its often the best bit.   Feel free to message for inspiration

Just the one outing this week as been working away again after Monday.

M - Re-visited the steep routes I prepped last week and shunted them both.  First one is thin  (soft) 7c to a full rest, then pumpy 7b up an overhanging headwall.   The second route is a bouldery 7b that is over quite quickly.

Even that one session really upset the elbows in multiple places, then working away the rest of the week only seemed to make them worse. But as you said above, manual work can be a problem.

My elbows seem to have 3 separate issues:

1 - The golfers elbow tendonitis

2 - When worked hard I get an "inflammation" in the actual joint, which subsides fairy well with rest.

3 - I get a Carpal Tunnel type of issue where the nerve seems to get upset, and I suffer with numbness in the pinky finger area when I rest the elbow on a surface or in certain positions.

Outstanding Projects:

Wild West - 15 degree overhang crimps E6 6c.  Only visited twice this year.  Got to be like hard 7c+ on gear.  When fit, I can do this in 2 halves

Nightmares - 7c+, just about overhung on match head crimps, not visited since the Autumn. Individual moves done.

Licker - 7c+? Steep 40 degree overhanging arete on slopers.  More recent, had a few goes, but not got a beta yet.  This is the one I might struggle to ever do.

The steep one worked this week 7c (no name yet) - Now shunted, so should be more of a formality once bolted and I get back there with working elbows.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks for the amazing run of detailed stats. The weather dictated that The Dugout was the only viable option; it's a super convenient venue for weather-proof characteristics, and is only 10min from the in-laws, maximising time on rock vs time away from family.  There's even a few new link-ups to do...

This week was all about doing shorter sessions, trying to recover from the lurgy I caught last week, which either didn't work, or a caught something afresh? 

Back in the office this morning and struggling with getting my brain in gear after 7 weeks absence coupled with lurgy and general baby wrangling fatigue.

Week 29

M – 5x6 BW pull-ups on-the-minute, then board session. Did one 7B benchmark and worked another 7B and 7B+. Later, 6x 1on/1off plank and 5x 30 8kg pike rotations.

T – 5x5 20mm BW pull-ups on-the-minute, then aero-power session. 29x 6C+ benchmark on-the-minute. More powered out than pumped? 3x12 30kg OHP

W – 5x6 20mm BW pull-ups on-the-minute, then max-hangs. 20, 30, 40, 50kg 10s hangs to progressively load the finger. Then, 6x1s @BW+55kg. Hard work, but ticked the lot. Later, 10x 1on/1off plank.

T – First ride in a few weeks. Gentle 23km, focusing on spinning instead of trying to maintain a particular pace.

F – Woke up feeling rough again; scratchy throat and thickened snot (which never really went away). Hard to decide if this was a new virus or a resurgence of the existing one? Just did some stretching.

S – Thick viscous snot upon waking Much, much later, whilst doing the baby wrangling evening shift, 10x 1on/1off planks with 5kg in pockets.

S – Last day of freedom. Visited the in-laws for Sunday lunch and sharing of child wangling duties. No exercise.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Hey hey, everybody. Great stats work as always Derek. As you can see I'm a little chirpier than last week!

Indeed, I think the rehab routine is working really well, although it has a tendency to disappear on weekends when work times and routines aren't in place. The index finger is feeling quite good these days, though I'm still being careful about snatching small holds for the time being. Static small holds is definitely confidence inspiring though, especially once warmed up.

A good week from me, though it would've been nicer if the weather was a bit more summery!

Last Week:

M - AM very light hangs. Evening Moonboard. Made a new steady one, "Mississippi Swells", with a neat crossing sequence. Then moved onto harder stuff and finished off "Too Hard for Cailean", which I'd tried a bit in the past but hadn't made a dent in two of the three moves. Ice baths before bed.

T - Weigh-in at 78.5kg. AM and PM very light hangs. Ice baths before bed.

W - AM and PM very light hangs.

T - Moonboard. Short on time so still felt fresh by the end, probably not a bad thing! Finger felt quite good even on some slightly minging crimps! Flashed "Time Master" by the skin of my teeth, some pretty tasty moves though.

F - AM very light hangs.

S - Rest.

S - Moonboard. Another short punchy session. Made a new problem with a pretty wild move on good holds, "Deadly Sinners". Possibly one of the most dynamic things I've done on the MB? Already have a harder variation on the to-do list!

Next Week:

M - Rest.

T - Climbing.

W - Rest.

T - Climbing.

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 Ally Smith:

This seems really impressive. Unfortunately is so far out of my frame of reference I don’t know how it stack up against all the other thing feats you do like 8a on Moonboard, one arm hangs, the two inch dumbell, the square punch barbell etc. Any chance of a graded list of them from hard to easy? If you could then put them through the eGrader as well that’d be useful.  

In reply to Tyler: agreed, completely mind boggling. Ally you need to have a football team of kids if this is what it does to you!

In reply to Derek Furze:

Hi folks. Thanks for the stats, Derek.

A disappointing week to report. Weather, conditions and various other issues conspired against Plan A (and B, C & D!) in the alps. Unfortunately, it was already clear by the time I arrived in Cham that none of the stuff I wanted to do was on the cards. I tried not to be too much of a cry baby about it, and forced myself to do a few bits and bobs that resulted in a couple of fun days, but then cut my losses and bailed home. 

Week 29:

M: Drove to Folkestone.

T: Drove to Cham, had a minor mental breakdown as I realised I'd wasted a lot of time and money, went for a run which cheered me up slightly. Trail Run: 9.5km, 985m vertical, 10:00/km.

W: Climbing. Quick solo of Southeast Ridge (AD 4c) -fortunately the raging heat ment it dried quickly after the absolutely biblical morning storm.

T: Climbing. Lady in black (TD 6a+) -super chilled (apart from the savage heat!) and a nice catch up with mates.

F: Trail run. The Chamonix vertical km. 3.5km, 1000m vertical, 56mins. This was unexpectedly good fun -basically running (well, shuffling!) up the line of the Planpraz lift. Now I know what it entails I reckon I could easily go sub-50, although that's still a long way off Kilian Jornet's 34mins! Drove to Calais. 

S: Drove home from Folkestone. 

S: Rest.

Week 30:

M: Run.

T: Core and strength.

W: Prehab.

T: Run.

F: Climbing.

S: Run.

S: Rest.

STG:

It seems unlikely that my alpine goal routes are going to survive the summer, but I'll keep an eye on conditions and potentially go out at short notice if some miracle conditions occur. As such, I guess training goals will involve keeping in a state that I can do these routes off the couch. I'll have a bit of a think about the specifics of what this looks like, as well as what other goals go on the list, but at the moment I'm too grumpy to give it much thought. 

In reply to Tyler:

Grouped into soft, medium and hard is probably easier than trying to put them in a formal graded list (sorting on the app by most ascents tends to get a rough grade order, with the softies having most ascents, though newer problems that are soft might get overlooked?)

I tend to do each problem twice in a row, to save looking up the next problem every go. This in itself is made easier by having the timer going on my phone and the Moonboard app on an iPad.

I also tend to swap between easier and harder problems.

Soft:

#2 KH, 6C+

Attrezzo di tortura, 6C+

Kami Shitoe 6C+ (two ways to do this, heel hook or low toe with tension - I do each one once)

Flapodrom, 6C+

Soft the puzzle, 6C+

Medium:

Fingers crossed, 7A+ (but it's easier than Borneo)

Lean back, 6C+

Jelly Belly, 6C+

All Square, 6C+

Hocus Pocus, 6C+ (this has most repeats, but I find the undercut a bit of a crux with my semi-manky left wrist)

Hard:

Leap creep, 6C+ (fine when fresh, an arse when tired)

Hematoma, 6C+

One Summer Easy, 6C+

Borneo, 7A

Boulderwelt, 7A

Darth Grinder says 6C+ plus good rest plateaus at soft 8c after 16 reps. This is obviously BS and it feels like 8a+ levels of effort.  Doing a set of 20, i'd be confident of doing another 20 reps after a 20min rest.

eGrinder converts well protected 8c, with lots of pads into Easy E9, which is obviously also BS and reinforces the view that we shouldn't rely on the internet for grade conversions...

In reply to Ally Smith:

Thank you for humouring me, that’s a much more comprehensive than I was expecting (or deserved!). I wasn’t expecting a list of all the individual problems but more how the overall effort fits in to some of your other feats which you’ve answered. So 29x 6C+ and up = fr8a+ which I guess is easier than Moonboard 8A which still strikes me as the stand out achievement unless you’re going to tell me Saxon bar @90kg is harder?! Anyway, like Ian says, mind boggling. 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Weight - 12st 6lbs

STG - 5k - 30 mins

MTG - 10k 1 hour

LTG - Come up with better goals!

M - 1.9k run

T - Climbing at Summit

W - 10k up Pen Y Fal, 500m asc, 1h 55m

T - S - Rest

Running distance - 12km

Excellent week.  Got down the wall and did a nice wodge of climbing.  Went for a 10k up Pen-y-Fal and knocked a few minutes off my PB.  I actually earned my rest this week as I was utterly shattered and aching on Thursday and Friday.  I thought about more running at the weekend, but that would have pushed the mileage too much and I really don't want to risk injury.

In reply to Tyler:

Next from Lattice: how to easily climb French 8c without needing partners, a rope, or even leaving your shed!

In reply to Ally Smith: so if I read that right Ally you’ve basically climbed 8c and E9 in the first few weeks of raising a new baby and once you’ve had 20mins to have a cup of tea/bottle feed/change nappies your good for another 8c? I think we need to expand the fit club merch with a be like Ally headband and cape.

In reply to Tom Green: Tom well done on making something out of your trip. I think if I was starting my alpine career now I’d completely write off anything involving glaciers or relying on permafrost to hold it together in the summer. Keep Chamonix for the winter and go to the Dolomites, Norway or Vercors in the summer. Good effort on the vertical km. if I remember right doing it under an hour is one of the tests to get on the French guides scheme so that’s some very impressive level you’ve got there.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Cheers Derek. Another epic set of stats. Party time in FC - finally managed to sneak under 80kg for the first time since 2016. I’m coming up to 6months of slimming down so would be nice to get to 78.5kg and a total loss of 10kg.

Got lucky this week. I tried them on the BM2K Bottom-Middle at the Wall and realised my home board is actually 18mm. Managed to milk some free gains and got to 86.5%BW on the 20mm.

A good training week but had a wobble on my long awaited trad comeback!

Wed

Wall

• OA Hangs 20mm 5x 6s. 86.5% BW
• OA Lockoffs 3x 6s (94%BW)
• Board10 on 40deg Woody 6A/7A+
• Standing Ab Wheel Rollouts (big assistance band) 3x 12
• Straight Arm Hanging Wipers 3x 12 (+0.75kg of Ankle Weight)

Fri

Antags

• Parallette Press-ups 5x 30

Sun

Swanage

• Jumped straight on an onsight of Eskimo Nell (E1 5b). Great climbing, and relatively solid rock for this sector, but the gear was very thin and fiddly. Ended up pumping out at the crux and lowering off but think there was also a mental element of running it out above micro nuts & cams. My mate finished it so pulled the ropes and led it on pre-placed gear with no issues, then had another burn on TR. I found the actual climbing easy, so think it’s 50/50 trad stamina and headgame. Should go easy enough next time.

2 week Wine-club Holiday from this weekend so I’ll try and get a couple of wall sessions in beforehand.

In reply to Tyler:

Yeah, of my garage achievements, moonboard 8A was by far and away the most difficult for me.

90kg Saxonbar and >80kg inch dumbbell are probably comparable?

Many strong yoofs will find hanging bodyweight on BM2K central slot trivial, but for my size hands/finger lengths combined with bodyweight (78-ish kg) is something I find personally very challenging and continues to be an objective. 

In reply to Tom Green:

What a shame. The weather everywhere is difficult.

You've got yourself in great shape though (as shown by the vertical km - that sounds grim) take the benefit of that when you can and maintain it. Maintaining a standard is way easier than getting there in the first place. This is what Ally is a master at. Even in busy/ill times he does just enough to keep what he's gained. 

Then you'll be in an even better place to have another crack in the Alps.

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Thanks Ian. It was a bit gutting to know that the routes I was interested in had been climbed two weeks before I was there. There seemed to literally be a two week window between too much snow from late spring storms (I’d already cancelled a June trip due to bad weather) and too much heat from early summer heat waves! 

Think you’re right about winter being the way forward for the western alps. (My first five climbing trips to Cham were actually all in Jan, Feb or March). But I really want to get some of the big summer classics done before life stuff starts getting in the way (or they fall down!)

In reply to biscuit:

Cheers mate. Yep… in the past I’ve been a bit spiky with my training… reasonable gains but then struggled to maintain. I think it’s partly due to trying to share focus between very different goals throughout the year and partly due to struggling to keep the motivation up for training over longer periods (especially with things like core and fingerboarding than running). Feeling pretty fit at the moment though, so keen to keep hold of that (though not sure I’ll ever have the consistency as hard wired as Ally and some of the rest of you beasts!)

The vertical km was actually less brutal than I thought it would be… which means I obviously wasn’t pushing hard enough! ;-p

In reply to Randy:

That’s a mega running week! Did I miss a few months of you converting from being a strength training wad to a running wad?!

In reply to Tyler:

So something like the old Beastmaker Feats graded list?

https://web.archive.org/web/20090330211541/https://www.beastmaker.co.uk/Hol...

On which I note with some amusement "One arm incut rung 3 finger half crimp font 7b" on the Dan'n'Ned grading scale. Assuming "incut rung" is the BM2K bottom row middle, as I understand it hanging that one handed in a four finger half crimp is generally reckoned these days to be somewhere around "8B finger strength"

In reply to AlanLittle:

Yep exactly that, I reckon body weight on the Saxon bar should be good for E3 (as on the Beastmaker table of equivalence i won’t be getting up 7B). Joking aside I do find these things interesting even though I don’t really do any training. In particular the divergence of physical abilities between people climbing different grades, I suspect if you could crack why that is and train accordingly you’d be able to challenge Lattice dominance

In reply to Tom Green:

The vertical I’m time is impressive and I reckon any trip where you get a Gaston tick is worthwhile!

In reply to Tyler:

Oh cool! Hadn’t realised it was a Rebuffat 100 until you pointed it out! Banging!

Only 94 to go! ;-p

In reply to Tom Green:

It was the first thing I noticed! I'm a total sucker for a tick list 😃.

In reply to Tom Green:

Not a few months, more like 5-6 weeks since i've stopped climbing due to a minor finger injury and some resulting lack of motivation for climbing at the moment.

During that time i have been ramping up volume (and speed ) quite agressively. Somehow i always need to push myself to my limits, otherwise it is not really fun

You must also know i've ran competetively up to a regional level during highschool and college. E.g. my 10k best is 32:14 and during my early twenties i was training 60-70 miles per week quite regularly. So compared to that the last week was not too crazy. Without this background i doubt that such a quick increase in mileage and speed is possible, so i would no really recommend trying to copy my running training without keeping that in mind.

In reply to Steve Claw:

7c+ on gear equals at least E7 in my book not E6. Something like masters edge is about 7b+ and E7. If yours is a bit harder and with a bit more gear it could be similar grade. Well protected 7c+/8a at Nesscliffe gets E8. Limestone E6s at stoney without ground fall potential are about 7b or 7b+.

In reply to Randy:

Randy you speedster, have you done a marathon before? You must be looking at sub 2.50? All very impressive

In reply to Tyler:

Thanks for the ticklist!  I'll subscribe at the point when I tick my first route on it, which would signal a change in approach for me.  I love the idea that in the midst of a discussion on the ability versus ambition gradient (where your honest realism is actually reassuring) you send me a highly ambitious list!  Brilliant 🙂

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Somehow i have not managed to run a marathon before. Was trying for one a decade ago but then got injured a couple of weeks before the race. So finally doing it was definately something that was on my bucket list for a long time.

At the moment it is quite hard to predict what i could possible run in a marathon. If everything goes well during training and in the race a sub 2:50 time might be doable by october. But it is also very well possible that i totally crash and struggle with finishing the marathon at all.

So medium term goal for the next 6 weeks is increase over mileage and long run distance. Would be nice to get in 2-3 long runs over 30km and weekly mileage to 50. Apart from that i would also like to get my lactacte threshold comfortably below 4:00/km, so that a 4:00-4:10/km pace really feels comfortably.

In reply to Randy: I ran 3 marathons in my mid 40s and they were hard but some of the most interesting challenges I’ve done. I think it’s the fact that there’s no hiding place - you can’t ‘ out technique’ a marathon.  Best sessions for me we’re getting the long runs to 20 miles then adding in race pace sections into those. I suspect you know the right training better than I did anyway. Good luck.

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Not so sure about that. I know how to train for a fast half marathon, but my training knowlegde for a marathon is only theoretical. My biggest fear is at the moment that i am doing fine till 35km and then hit the famous after i have run out of carbs. Any advice for fueling during the race and also for training that in the weeks before the race?

In reply to Randy:

I think there is a big difference between getting round without walking (which you'll easily do) and getting round in what you'd personally consider a fast time (obviously subject to what you consider fast). I've only ran one marathon, trail, but with only 650m ascent so lots of long flattish sections. I'd never run further than a half (done 3 or 4 of those) and never ate anything on any of my training runs or halfs. I'd entered it while drunk one night and it was only 4 months away. At the time I was doing two runs a week not normally more than 6miles each and by the race I'd got up to two or three 10mile runs a week. On the day I banged in nearly 400 calories of flapjack just before half way and never hit the wall finishing feeling like I could have done more. I wasn't fast (3hrs 38mins) but I really enjoyed it. I'm perhaps skewed in my view of things as I'm friends with lots of runners who consider a marathon a training run and are happy going at it all day and relatively fast so in my head it wasn't a big deal as it was shorter than all my running mates did. I think this really helped the mental aspect of it. Trivialise it in your head then go and enjoy! I found thinking of it as a half and then two 10ks really helped as it sounded much more manageable. The other thing I did was go and walk the route a few weeks before. It took me about 9hrs with a 60yr old in tow* too so I knew any running I did on the day would make it a PB!

(*not a normal one, one that still does 50mile LDWA walks).

In reply to AlanLittle:

Change in the weather over here, and I found these useful things in the back of the wardrobe that I had largely forgotten about. They're kind of like normal trousers except they go all the way down to my ankles.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Hi Derek, thanks for your sterling work and tips.

Got back into it by the end, so maybe that was the right decision.  At that point, I could have carried on, but time to go.  Didn't beat myself up - sometimes it happens.  

This is something that I know quite well, albeit on plastic of course. I wonder what it is…at times I ponder if it’s an age thing (if I may be so bold to include you in this category) ….the engine stalls and needs kick-starting a couple of times before it purrs (well sort of) again. It’s also often the reason why I have a top rope in my weekly listing…

doesn’t 3 days hiking count as ¾ of ‘lower body work’

Ha! Indeed. I actually thought of sneaking this in but decided it a bit cheeky for a FC newbie. I’ll gladly add it to the score, like the + in comp climbing or a bonus try in rugby…

I thought Switzerland was famous for it’s punctuality…

The Swiss trains & buses saved us. The problems were: cancelled trains in Germany after a series of thunderstorms rolled through and wreaked havoc, extensive track work on the Austrian section (slow train coming), and then a defective door in a German ICE…we arrived at our destination in Lauterbrunnen valley at 8:30 pm…over six hours later than scheduled…and still had to hike another two hours to the mountain hotel…naturally in rain and accompanied by the odd grumble of thunder; the ICE door packed it in an hour into the return journey, as we reached Bern – everyone out…train taken out of service…got home well after midnight…

A decent enough week for me, albeit I failed to fulfil the respective session quotas.
Thanks for the tip on turning the zigs around…I may try to do this for the next cycle coming up…

Mon: stretching
Tue: flexibility routine & hang board session, 3 sets of zigs
Wed: lower body / leg routine & hang board session, 3 sets of zigs
Thu: wall, Thalkirchen. Lots of new routes to try out: 5c, 6a, 6a+, 6b+/6c, 7a (same route twice), 7a/+ (top rope), 6a+; good session, felt very solid. Very close to ticking the 7a.
Fri: upper body recovery, lower body / leg routine, core routine.
Sat: stretching after a bit of field work at the farming co-op
Sun: my wife wanted to climb but we didn’t have the time to get to a crag, so a wall session, Bad Aibling, all new routes (haven’t been there for a while): 6a, 6a+, 6a+, 6a+, 6b+, 6b+, 6b+/6c. Good session despite another very, very hot day, particularly the last route was a decent onsight tick for me.
The wall session meant that I was able to further cultivate my core neglect and failed to reach the set goals – but I’ll take climbing anytime…

4-week plan: after week 4: 7/8 mixed hangs & zigs, 4/4 flexibility, 2/4 core, 3.75/4 leg / lower body work (appeal pending, see below). I’ll save my reflections for next week when it’s time to consider the next little cycle. I would like to note however that my work stint at the co-op was three hours of pushing and pulling a mower through tall grass…great leg work! Perhaps a bonus ¼…?

Off to the mountains tomorrow – forecast good for Thu & Fri, alas it’s been pelting down at times over the last two days…and even snowed where we’re headed… we’ll enjoy the wet rock and the coffee & cake on the hut terrace…unfortunately this weather is forecasted to continue for Sunday & Monday – and so my second ‘rock’ block looks like being rained off…had to happen – I’ve been very fortunate so far this year with weather and conditions.

Wishing all a good week.

In reply to AlanLittle:

a newly set 7b+ on one of the autobelay lines

I had to take a gander at this yesterday. Getting as far as you did seems really, really good to me...a Rikki 9- can only mean something 'nasty' ('fies') awaits at some point. I usually have the impression of finding myself suddenly trapped in a contortionist-like position I can't get out of...and surprise that I even got into it in the first place...

Keep at it!

In reply to Small Step:

Indeed. A while back it was my lifetime ambition at Thalkirchen to onsight a Rikki VII. This was after I had been routinely onsighting VII's by all the other setters for years, but there's so often that spot on a Rikki route where you just don't see what you're supposed to do next.

Otoh she also set the VIII+ that is my hardest ever achievement at Thalkirchen.

In reply to AlanLittle:

After playing around on the BM2K bottom middle edge yesterday, I think I would object to a one arm hang being equivalent to 8B either that or my technique has really gone out the window!

I'd say it's probably around 7C/+. But even then it's probably not the most transferable metric compared to two arm hangs on micro edges, in my opinion. Or maybe that's just my bias towards my own weaknesses holding me back...

In reply to Randy: So fueling and the wall! I was no where near your level but learnt a little bit from my 3 marathons a 3.21, 3.09 and 3.08. The 3.09 was the one that the energy was best managed throughout the run with a strong finish - passing over 50 runners in the last 5km. This was mainly good pacing but I didn’t bonk. The other two I definitely struggled in the last 10km - the 3.08 was particularly tough. I used gels roughly having 1 at 10,15,20,23 miles with caffeine ones for last 2. I did some of my long runs with just one gel at 15 miles but others I trained using the gels as I would in the races. I also found key was learning to be able to run race pace near the end of my long runs. I think I did 4 or 5 x 20 mile runs for the 2nd marathon and I did that and a 22 miler for the last marathon (I had more planned but illness interrupted my training). Interestingly for all 3 marathons my half time remained roughly similar 1.29 so I was basically just improving my endurance. I’d have three ,sessions’ a week The first 5-10km total of speed work. Starting with 400m reps building to 2mile reps, the second a tempo run at slightly faster than race pace building up to 10 miles. The last a long run building up to 20 miles with mile 14-19 at race pace. In between were easy runs. Hope that helps 

In reply to Tom Green:

As a downhill ski slope that looks great.......

Fair point that you have differing goals. But keeping the out of season capacities ticking over doesn't take much. Fitness related variables don't fall off a cliff when they are not worked as regularly. You just need to give them enough attention so the body knows they are still important enough to hold onto.

Strength (for example) can be maintained with 1 short session every 9 days. Some say 2 weeks but that seems a little optimistic to me. I'm not talking being in exactly the same condition as when you were really tasking that aspect but you will hold onto the vast majority of your gains even if you switch to more endurance based activity.

In reply to Ian Parnell:

I never did a marathon but did longer distances. Different fuelling strategies I think. 

When cycling a few years a go we did the Marmot. It finished up Alpe d'Huez after 100miles of Alpine riding. I took an energy/caffeine gel and zoomed up passing loads of people. I felt like I was on fire.

I had taken one a few days before to try it out on a training ride but was banned from taking anymore whilst riding with my partner as I didn't stop talking for about an hour and kept asking her questions that required long answers while she was trying to ride up an Alp.

I'd give one a try on a training run and see what they do for you. Neck one of those at 30km and you may fly the last 10km,

In reply to biscuit:

Yep. Good points. 
 

I think for me, that particularly applies to finger strength. It would be relatively easy to maintain, but I always fall off the wagon when I’m concentrating on other areas!

In reply to Tom Green:

Never mind Killian Jornet, your time is also a very long way off mine...😂

In reply to Derek Furze:

Sorry for the MIA. I've been having laptop issues. Trying to write this on my phone, hopefully have the laptop fixed by next week.

Had a holiday booked last week and it went a bit wrong. My car decided to turn its engine warning light on while I was driving from portland. Getting sensible in my old age thought I better take it to the garage. Didn't cost to much in the end so wasn't too bad.

M - Car in the garage

T - sulking about my car in the garage

W - Had to cancel a holiday and go into work. Good session at the gap in the evening.

T - really needed to do something. Drove to North Wales and spent a few hours at the RSC boulders. Then went for a walk and quick climb up cneifion arete. Drove home as I had a delivery due on the Friday.

F - couple of easy climbs at the yat later in the day

S - squats, bench, 

S - indoor lead session. Nothing structured other than a bit of fall practice

Lee