UKC

...is going to be late I think.  I've been too busy this weekend and am out to see the Barbie flick shortly.  I may get it finished late tonight, but more likely will be tomorrow morning.  Obvs, demob happy!

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks for the amazing statting Derek.

Weight - 12st 6lbs

STG - 15k a week by mid-September

MTG - 10k 1 hour

LTG - 30 mile ultra (July 24) and 86 mile (Sept 24)

M - T - Rest

W - 2k run

T - F - Rest

S - 5k run - 37:19

S - 5 mile hill walk

Running distance - 7km

Bit of a poor week on the running front.  Had the plasterers in so spent a lot of time wrangling them, doing a lot of tidying up and putting down dust sheeting etc, as they weren't really very good at that it seems.  We've now got two walls that aren't falling down any more and are a tidge less wonkier than they were.  I should have tried harder to find a less terrible plasterer.  Oh well, at least it's done for now.

So motivation and time was low basically.  Managed to squeeze in a 5k over the weekend.  Had a nice bimble over some local hills with the family today.

At the end of next week I'm off up to Orkney for a holiday.  So I need to get some running in before that, as to be honest, I don't think that I'll be managing to do loads on holiday.  There is a swimming pool and a climbing wall up there, so I might try and get a couple of sessions in that way.  I think it'll be more trying to make sure that I don't go backwards while I'm away.

In reply to Derek Furze:

A new thread is posted each week on Sunday for anyone to jot down their previous week's activity. UKC fit club is a rich community with posters sharing their goals, noting successes and failures and offering support to those struggling to maintain motivation. Anyone interested in starting is very welcome to join, but to get the most of UKC fit club you should aim to post each week, every week, however little or much you have done. By making such a regular public record of your activities and by restating your goals every week this new habit will hopefully improve your training habits and drive you towards achieving your goals whatever the level of your chosen activity.

Link to last week’s thread:

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/ukc_fit_club_week_855-7625...

Wow!  Another week of entertaining discussions sparked by side lines in weekly reports!  I can't keep up with all of the youtube postings, playlists and general bants going on!  It has never occurred to me to put on a playlist while training - partly because we are sort of open plan downstairs - but I shall consider this as part of my new training station development.

Tyler:  Back there as first responder – you clearly missed your vocation!

Anyway, great to see that the four-day week is established as it will definitely create some opportunities for better work-life balance.  Be careful though – very easy to do much more than your contract requires when working from home, especially if the work is actually something you enjoy!

Blinkers on in the presence of El Tigre!  I’d want eyes in the back of my head.

The car issues sound frustrating if the fault persists after such a big repair bill.  Hope it gets sorted properly this time.  Hope also that the visit to Rhiw Goch didn’t leave you tick-infested, as the place is notorious apparently.  Jumping in the river may have helped of course.

Not seen the board mentioned for a long while now – probably because of elbow aggravation?  The Beacon session sounds interesting and made me wonder if volume at lower intensity would help build some resilience?  I don’t know, but the high intensity redpointing is likely to be putting maximum strain on the injury – provoking it rather than rehabbing it?  Strikes me that lower intensity work might be productive.  Caveat – what do I know?

Somerset Swede Basher:  The odd triathlon helps explain the phenomenal swimming feats on holiday at least.  Reading about the long swims suddenly appearing nearly made me give up in despair!

Good to see the holiday training plan – definitely worth making the effort to maintain a level while away.  I’d be very interested to see Julia’s reaction if I packed a portable hangboard for our next holiday though!  You actually managed to get plenty of exercise in when you add it all up – the fingerboard stuff certainly supplemented by (a lot of) swimming and two decent runs and a fairly impressive bike ride as well.  Presumably, you took bikes so this must have been a ferry trip?

A while since you’ve been on the rock now, so hope you manage to get back to it soon.  At least the worst of the summer seems to be over!

Tom Green:   Plenty of Lundy tips came in across the thread, so should have lots of options.  Of your original list, I think Formula One has lost it’s upper section and I’m not sure it is climbed now.  Indy 500 is better anyway.

I was looking for inspiration in asking about your ‘big mountain days’, so was slightly surprises to see Windgather appear – an occasional soloing crag for me as it is about 15 minutes away.  The Ben challenges is more the territory I was expecting.  When I get a bit more time, I do want to include days out in the hills by myself.

Seeing a fair few Peak bouldering sessions is an unusual thing for August.  Surely Swede would declare the entire Peak as ‘out of condition’?  That said, moving about on grit can be a delight even when the friction isn’t officially declare optimal.  A decent run in there as well, which although often fairly flat is also pretty lumpy underfoot.  Not necessarily easy ground.

Glad to see the goals clarified.  White Wall at Millstone is definitely in BHAG territory.  The one at Masson may also be of course!

AlanLittle:  I was all excited (as no doubt you were) about the trip to the Pfalz, so disappointing to see that it didn’t come together.  As you remark, sandstone and thunderstorms probably not a good combination.

The project is making progress – good progress really.  Adding 1.5 moves on is definitely moving the thing onwards and then to see further moves added later in the week is brilliant.  Slowly, but surely this is coming together and it must be decent training as well?  It certainly seems like you have properly taken this on!

A fairly productive week considering that it was also family-focused.  Didn’t seem to slow down your exercise schedule much!  The wild boar cycle ride sounds fantastic – it must be brilliant to see these in their natural habitat.  Good to see the new tool getting some use and gaining familiarity with the various functions – it will be interesting to see how this translates into training goals over time.  Thanks anyway for the explanation of how it works, as well as the FC playlist!  This week’s thread discussions did take off into some weird territory with BMX bikes, music, strain gauges and the famous Lundy mites.

Ian Parnell:  I wouldn’t be ‘impressed’ Ian – I actually think I don’t work that hard at much of my training at the moment.  Mostly, I am doing maintenance until I get around to developing a training station that will give me more options (Autumn).  Max hangs are pretty much on the limit, but are short-lived in nature.  Pull ups and push ups are standard stuff,  Weighted pull ups are hard and I haven’t worked out a better balance on the days that I do these, so my ‘rapid’ cycle doesn’t flow well!

Interesting long-term plan with Sanctuary Wall!  I took a look and it is inspiring, though not a lot at my pay grade!  It sounds like you have had a pretty difficult time with things of late, both with injuries creeping in and with family challenges.  Hopefully, getting home has helped settle things down.  Good to see that you haven’t completely abandoned your Autumn project and I noted plenty of running on your schedule this week, so perhaps those miles will help?

Re being a ‘bit lost’ – it is common in the season for people to lose it somewhat.  Even though I set myself simple maintenance goals, I got to the end of a cycle and couldn’t work out what to do next.  This coincided with being busy anyway, so I’ve knocked it on the head for a couple of weeks.  However, I am going to set up a short maintenance cycle to get me through to September!  Nothing too ambitious, but don’t want to lose too much either.

Ally Smith:  Yes, it gets difficult when parents are at the other end of the country.  Mine are *only* 2 ½ hours away on a good run, but it is still difficult to fit in.  I’ve often organised work in their area so that I can combine things.  Mine are now pretty old (90 and 87) so it is becoming a worry.

Yet more eye-opening board sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, so lurgy or not, the recent training is clearly delivering.  Not sure how you have kept the motivation going, but I guess it helps to have a distraction in the background when welcoming someone new to the family.  I think the Wednesday session looks like a seriously, rather than moderately pumpy session to most of us, but also provides an incentive for those of us who haven’t touched a Moonboard.  It looks like a more interesting way to build stamina than lots of other options (repeaters?) and although an expensive bit of kit, it does make the training more accessible and more likely to happen.  The Wednesday session adds up to 36 problems if I read it right, all at a decent level of difficulty – not bad for endurance training!

Good to see the daily minimum concept back in play.  I have played with a similar idea and found it useful, but work and social life in particular can still mess up the best laid plans!

Randy:  ‘It actually has probably more a positive effect on my one-armer work, as i now have more time to train one-armers and even more important much better recovery.’ – Every cloud has a silver lining!  I think the recovery is key here as more time on one-armers might be somewhat intensive.  However, you know where you are with this as you have worked at it productively for a long while now.  Anyway, clearly you have introduced Archer pull ups as a variant as you have three sessions with these on the schedule this week.  Good to see that you have immediately revised your plan and got on with it – very sensible to change the stimulus as a method to break the plateau that you had experienced.  A nice, simple, new training block.

Good to hear that foot pain is reducing and excellent news that your finger has settled.

Some really interesting data produced with some positive gains from the running that you had been doing.  I imagine that you will be keen to get back to this if your injury recovers reasonably quickly, as these gains are definitely worth having?!  The stress measure seems something of an anomaly though probably is related to cardio-vascular stress – after all HRV is often considered to be directly related to typical stress responses and yours has improved.  This is what should be expected from the training block, so I’m puzzled by what Garmin is calling ‘stress’ here.

The Sheep:  That’s a decent week to put together putting you firmly into the ‘back on track’ category!  Plenty of pool kms (everyday!) and two solid runs.  I’d be interested in your approach to the runs – are these aimed at zone two, or do you do tempo or fartlek patterns in the mix?  I’m interested simply to help guide my own stumbling about!  Presumably the swimming at those distances will be a zone two type exercise, though I don’t know enough about swimming to know for sure?

Good to see stretching in the routine.  You had a spell of using the new weights room, but have obviously stopped pursuing that for the time being?

As I remember you have an October event lined up.  Do you have a programme of running training in mind, or is it take it as it comes?

Mattrm:  I think I have spotted a change in the STG, though it may have slipped by me on a previous week (?).  Anyway, 15km a week is a fairly solid platform and certainly more than I have managed any week this year, despite my good intentions!  You also have a MTG of 10km in an hour, which (for me) feels like a fairly tough ambition – I haven’t run beyond about 8km for years (partly the local trails) and I’ve only just got under 30 mins for 5km!

Interesting to see the plan to push your distances upwards over the next few weeks.  I’ve lost my partner for the next few weeks, and therefore my enthusiasm, but I was at the point where I wanted to step the distance up to 6 or 7km each run.  Hopefully, I will be following your lead in September.  Great to see races on plan.

Excellent to see the mid-life crisis developing and hope we get to see it play out over the next couple of years.  It certainly sparked a lot of comment from across the thread.  Hopefully, you will get an American football top with inbuilt collarbone protection before taking on too much.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Ross Barker:  Interesting observations about how we gravitate to things that suit our particular strengths and this (quickly) becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.  This happens fairly quickly I think and it is quite difficult to force yourself onto anti-style stuff.

Point taken re the one-arm hangs.  Absolutely right to take care given that you are nursing niggles anyway!  With that in mind, great to see the light hangs continuing.

Good work on the Moonboard with those 6C+ benchmarks and getting the intensity exactly right to deliver good training effort without risking adding to the finger problems.  It then sounds like the weather wasn’t exactly what you would want having made the long haul down to Portland, as I get the impression that walking about in the rain was the dominant activity?  Your description of DWS is interesting and probably reflects where I am with the discipline – I’m sure it would be brilliant in perfect conditions, but it wouldn’t take much to make it fairly worrying really (for me at least).  I think Tyler’s classic logbook comments on Spittle ‘n’ Spume are likely to be where I would be!  It looks like a big team effort though!

Lots of climbing planned for you over the next week – not just the weekend!

SteveJC94:  Yes, the Diamond does look out of this world, but the access challenges on Little Orme are something else.  It probably makes even the simpler sport routes something of a full-on adventure.

Despite the shoulder issue you seem to have continued with a fairly full training regime without much let up.  You’ve put in another really strong board session with a great ten problem set and continued your stamina programme with the ARC blocks on the autobelay – quite a bit of this type of thing across the thread generally from Clubbers and all giving me ideas for a winter programme.

Zone 2 rides are not meant to include ‘spills’.  Surely that is reserved for daring Alpine descents?  I guess it is an inevitable risk and clearly something you felt for a day or two. 

I think projects up and down the land are sopping wet everywhere and places like Malham would be predictably dripping.  At least you got some mileage in so all was not lost!  That is definitely one of the issues with having a very clear focus on particular targets, in that it is easy to chance it in less than optimum conditions and miss out on perfect conditions at places that simply are not on the radar.  I think I’ve been fortunate this year to have got to a lot of new crags that I wouldn’t have considered, simply because the weather has forced some unusual choices.

Biscuit:  The short break with London and shoulder rehab seems to have boosted your psyche somewhat, though obviously the rehab work is ongoing.  I’ve tweaked mine a bit from Friday, so will be looking to put some rehab into this week to get it back in order.  Not sure how I did it, but the weekend’s DIY didn’t help!

The Black Crag day looks pretty good.  I have still not been despite it being on plan for a long while.  Getting to the Lakes for a day is hard work really and work is preventing overnighting at present.  However, it is kind of place that is climbable all year on the right day, so I will keep an eye out over Autumn.  I at least have a regular Lakes partner if needed with my old partner from University days (Lancaster based), so the logistics should be easy.

You should be reassured about Pocket Crack as it looks like everyone finds it a difficult on sight.  Putting it away second go seems to be commonplace, implying that the gear is taxing to place?

Good work at the walls though some evidence of tweaking also!  The weather did hold until Friday (at least in Yorkshire) so hope you got something done.

Steve Claw:  Good to see you out and working a popular 6c+ with a good variation at a lower grade.  Another way of looking at it is as a warm-up to the main event.  Perhaps completing the easier version will help with the harder one?

The elbow challenges persist – all year now so certainly a chronic problem (as with others in the group).  I recognise the work-related repetitive elements from my own history (and could probably trigger a flare up in an hour or so of using a handsaw), but it sounds like you have a lot going on – far more general soreness than I ever experienced.  How is it when actually climbing?  Does it lessen while climbing and return afterwards?

I thought I had noted a shift in the balance of your climbing, but as long as you are enjoying the things you are developing then all is good.  I imagine hard redpointing might be a recipe for worsening the injury in any case.

AJM:  Indeed, though holiday prep is an absolute breeze once the children are no longer part of the arrangements!  Work also sounds hectic, but there is a hint at ‘long-running saga of attempted life changes’ dangled, so we are all intrigued.  I think there was some talk earlier this year of moving?

The ‘bit choppy’ conditions were certainly enough to unsettle Ross, but perhaps a bit more familiar for yourself and others in the party.  Great when you can get on familiar things if conditions are not flat, sunny and perfect I guess.  Good to see you trying hard enough to take a swim on more than one route!  How many pairs of shoes are needed for one of these days out?!

Hopefully, the fairly frantic preparation will lead neatly into a relaxing break for you all.

Small Step:  As I have remarked before, thanks are hardly necessary as I do this for my own benefit really!  I consistently get more from it than I put in.

Yes, the work on plastic will be delivering some real gains – movement, endurance and power – but, rock is actually a completely different set of problems.  Sometimes the translation isn’t particularly easy – in either direction.  Yes, the more solid and more efficient feeling is an asset though.

Reacting to ‘measurable progression’ is fine.  To some extent this will be noticeable anyway – I imagine your ‘zigs’ are feeling easier at the end of your cycle than at the beginning?  You could probably do more cycles than when you started?  That said, whatever works for you.

Great to see that more Alpine stuff is on plan – as you say a real contrast to the plastic pulling that normally makes up your plans.  Your wall sessions reported this week again look really strong, even though you remark on rustiness.  Finding a stellar route indoors is brilliant – clearly something you really enjoyed and a big tick to close the week.

Entertaining discussions on the music reflections prompted by your observations!

Liam P:  Has a holiday pass at present having put a special effort in just prior to departure to get his weekly plan completed!

Haven't seen anything from Climbthatpitch, but computer problems were in the frame recently.  Also, Inglesp hasn't been on lately - welcome back anytime of course.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek, yes, we backed 4 bikes, 4 people and a huge steel frame tent into the Berlingo (rather than on the roof) because we couldn't get a high top ferry ticket then ended up in the high top section on both out and back ferry journeys!

This week we dropped the kids with grandma and have been walking on the SW coast path. Pretty pleased that I managed to fit the tent, sleeping bag etc into a 38l bag to keep it manageable.

Mon. Travel and post holiday admin/washing etc.

Tues. Travel to Poole, set off walking at 3pm after various train issues, 12km Poole to Swanage.

Wed. 33km Swanage to Lulworth, quite hilly in places.

Thurs. 28km Lulworth to just past Weymouth after an 800m swim in the cove early doors. Hilly at start then flat.

Fri. 20km flat day Weymouth to Abbotsbury.

Sat. 28km Abbotsbury to Lyme Regis, some hills.

Sun. Short swim (600m) before my dad picked us up before all the beach goers arrived.

First full fingers deload week in a very long time. Intent to be back on the rock this coming week as long as the weather plays ball.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Photographic evidence https://www.instagram.com/p/CQlwzhiDrFC/ 

In reply to Ally Smith:

Brilliant!  He isn't crying though, which is probably where I would be...

In reply to Derek Furze:

Hi everyone. Thanks for the ongoing musings and insights Derek -it's really useful to get an outside angle on what I'm doing, as it's easy to just keep muddling on without thinking about what I'm doing!

Yep, Windgather as a 'Big mountain day' is a ridiculous concept! But actually, I think those gritstone soloing days are really good practice for long alpine rock routes. If you try and mimic alpine rock routes on UK mountain routes you end up doing more walking than climbing, but going up and down a bunch of easy routes at Windgather/Birchen/Burbage etc ends up being pretty continuous climbing all day. I think my record is 68 routes (soloed up and down) on Stanage in an afternoon -which felt much more like the physical and mental tiredness of an alpine route than most mountain days in the lakes or wales!

Week 32:

M: Prehab. L shoulder feels a bit tweaky -think I may have aggravated rotator cuff bouldering.

T: Trail run: 12.9km, 445m vert, 6:46/km.

W: Core. Strength. Prehab.

T: Walking/climbing. Had planned a link up of solos on Scafell, Napes and Pillar, but Scafell was wet and Pillar was slimy, so the only climbing was Arrowhead Ridge Direct (VD). 20.9km, 2428m vert, 8h15m car-to-car (including faff time climbing up/reversing half a pitch on Scafell). 

F: Rest. Started core/strength sesh but shoulder sore in warm up so canned it.

S: Core. Strength. Prehab. Shoulder still a little tweaky.

S: Trail run: 11.5km, 339m vert, 6:35/km.

Week 33:

M: Core. Strength.

T: Rest.

W: Climbing.

T: Climbing.

F: Run.

S: Hill walk/climb.

S: Core. Strength.

STG (end Sept):

3 off big mountain day list (Don't think Thurs counts as 1? 0.5?!)

Average twice weekly finger boarding. (currently 1.5!)

5+ off Lundy hit list.

MTG (end Dec):

White Wall (Masson, not Millstone!)

100m D6/7 in a session.

110 days climbing for the year.

1000 km running (and 40km vertical) for the year.

LTG (end March):

2+ off Scottish VII list.

1+ of Alpine Winter list.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Demob happiness is doing nothing to drive down the quality your commentary Derek! You'll be a hard act to follow.

I tried to actually go climbing this week, but the weather had other ideas.

STG: Go climbing!
MTG: Climb 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: Bicycle Repair Man (not the route!): spent an hour trying unsuccessfully to track down a mystery click from the back wheel of my mountain bike. I fear a shot bearing, and the simple 80s road bikes I grew up on are long gone. Those were the days: axle out, try not to lose any of the ballbearings, new grease, job done. Replacing a sealed bearing in a modern MTB rear hub is a significant project requiring special tools that I don't have, and am not keen on buying just to use once. Probably time to call in a professional.

T: Wall, Thalkirchen. Weak routes session, probably not fully recovered from Sunday. 5c 6a+ 6a+ 6a+ 7b+ (proj attempt) 6b 6b+ 7b+ (another attempt). Warmed up thoroughly then had a ground up go on The Proj, but wasn't able to match my previous high point. Had another go at the end of the session because I'd watched somebody on it using very different beta to mine. I wanted to give that a try but was too tired to even get close. Made a mental note of it for next time.
    The usual bike commute

W: Bicycle Repair Man II:  Bicycle Upgrade Man. My mtb might still click, but at least it now has an oh-so-fashionable short stem and flat pedals. Treating my ten year old town bike to its first ever set of new tyres also seemed like a good idea while I had the tools out.

T: Cancelled Pfalz trip due to unpropitious weather forecast

F: So, since I'm not now climbing in the Pfalz tomorrow: Thalkirchen for a short evening bouldering session. Took a harness in case I decided to have another look at the autobelay project, but in the end didn't feel like another session banging my head against the same half dozen moves.
    The bike ride there & back is so much nicer now on tyres that don't have shagged out floppy sidewalls. I hadn't fully realised just how knackered the old ones were.

S:  2½ hours MTB in the woods. No boars seen

S: Attempted to go climbing at Konstein. Early start on a forecast of a sunny morning with possible thunderstorms in the afternoon; arrived to find continuous drizzle instead. This showed no sign of improving after we'd adjourned to the nearby town for coffee, so we bailed and stopped off at the climbing wall in Pfaffenhofen on the way home. Decent consolation session: 6a 6a 6b 6a 6a+ 6c 6b+ 7a (plausible attempt)
 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Excellent and observant stats, as ever  

A good return to form for me this week, despite a minor glitch on Tuesday.

Week 32

M – 5x5 20mm pull-ups; BW+5kg sling/baby. Max-hang progressive warm-up, BW+25 x2, BW+35 x2, BW+45 x2. Main sets, BW+55kg felt fine, so upped it to 58kg x5, which was a proper try hard effort. 9/10 RPE? Hip stretches.

T – Slightly scratchy throat – lingering virus making a return because of high intensity session yesterday? 10pm core; 4x rotations of 1min plank/1min L side plank/1min R side plank/1min rest. Shoulders ached more than the core.

W – Board. 5min light aero-cap to warm up (feet on the floor, doing gentle circuits). Gradually pulling harder with familiar 6B+ to 7As. Then semi-structured attempts at 4x benchmarks;

Abomino, 7B. Riccardo grades – felt nails. Did a couple of moves only. Got recruited though.

Piccole Left, 7C. Did it after a few goes, despite catching the crux with only front2 https://www.instagram.com/p/Cvw6qehRtYk/

Mini Bo, 7B+. Dropped the final, crux move a few times.

Friendship, 7A+. More Riccardo grading. In 2 overlapping halves, but not tick.

T – Aero-cap/power. 10x 50-55s on / 70-65s rest. Up a 6C or 6C+ benchmark and down woods; 7b-ish? (Darth Vader says hard 7b+, but what does he know?) Very pumped by the end. 1.5x Bar Core B, i.e. x15reps for everything. Hard, but complete. 4x11 30kg OHP.

F – Daily minimum. 3x 100 crunchies and 18kg F3SHC 40s lifts x3.

S – Board. 5min light aero-cap to warm up (feet on the floor, doing gentle circuits). Gradually pulling harder with familiar 6B+ to 7A+s. Then semi-structured attempts at 4x benchmarks;

Friendship, 7A+. (more like 7B+? IMHO).

Bogli Marry Me, 7B. Flash – obviously easier than the 7A+

Moon Challenge, 7C+. 3 working goes – first time feeling close to crux 2nd move.

Deep, 7C. 3 goes https://www.instagram.com/p/Cv5kupnPJfR/ (watch to the end!)

I then made up a new 6C+ “Baby Alice”.

S – A short window; 5min light aero-cap to warm up (feet on the floor, doing gentle circuits), then aero-power boulder intervals; 20x 6C+ & 7A benchmarks on-the-minute. Very hard 2nd day on, had to dig deep.

In reply to Derek Furze: yes beginning to think the autumn run climb project is back on as it feels like the most achievable of my goals being on my back door, climbing hard for me outdoors feels a way off at the moment. Re hone training facilities I really do think it’s time and money well spent getting something good and inspiring sorted.

Mon – Depot - Inspired by Ally’s ‘daily minimum 200 v points in 20 minutes’ sessions. I tried a mortal’s version. Warm up 5 x (green, white, blue) 20 x blacks (theoretically V2-V4) on the minute, 15 min rest then 20 x pinks (theoretically V2-V5). Failed on 4-5 of the pinks – powered out.

Tues – 4 mile plod round the woods. 3 x 22 twisting crunches, twisting supine leg raises, alternating one legged bridges. Rehab density finger lifts 30 secs 2.5kg, 5kg, 7.5kg x 3

Wed – Depot – couldn’t resist the shiny new set of reds (theoretically V3-V5). Warm up 5 x (green, white, blue, black). Topped 17 reds most onsight, tried another 6-7.

Thursday - Nothing

Friday – Rehab density finger lifts 30 secs 2.5kg, 5kg, 7.5kg x 3.   5 mile run, 2.5 easy, 2 hard, 0.5 warm down. Middle 2 at 6.49 mile (4.14km) pace.

Saturday – Depot – so hot and humid. After warming up with usual green, white, blue, blacks. Tried a few reds and was just melting so switched to endurance on circuits board. 3.5 x 68 move circuit (6b followed by 6a). On 4th go despite taping up tore 3 large flappers so end of session and probably a fair few days session’s until skin recovers!

Sunday – Nothing. Had hoped to go for a long run after work, but feeling sorry for myself so ate lots of chocolate instead.

Reflection - Beginning to feel like I can’t remember what climbing on real rock is like. Miss it so much but infrequent opportunities are not aligning with any dry weather or partners. Tried to avoid intense bouldering this week, although the stamina stuff took its toll by the end of the week on my skin. Fridays run was pleasing, even got me wondering about a race in the autumn.

In reply to Derek Furze:

My week is short and sweet.

A second deload week caused by a number of factors, so I have to be mindful of Biscuit's ten-day rule.  I should be back on it today, though I am slightly conscious of a shoulder niggle returning over the weekend.

Most of the week consumed by work and finalising duties as executor of my aunt's will.  Having met with my Dad on Sunday to check through everything, Monday spent in a blur of writing cheques and packaging envelopes.  Relieved to get it done, but then the phone didn't stop ringing all week - the bank checking my payments and beneficiaries ringing to thank me (I don't suppose you can thank the person who's money it actually was!).  Work also interfered on Tuesday and Thursday, with holiday childminding occupying Wednesday.

Wednesday was meant to be easier as Julia's had invited friends down with their grandson to ease the burden.  This worked a treat for Julia, Sue and Colin, while I supervised two Tasmanian Devils as they tore around the adventure playground and covered themselves in mud in a stream.  Guess who had to paddle in to sort them out.

Friday - return visit to Gate Cote Scar.  An excellent session.  Tyler's advice applied as onto The Fire Below (6c)  third route in and kept the standard up until route eight, where knackered arms and a tough 6b+ Kaleidoscope (6b+) had me bolt to bolting on the headwall.  Still got stuff to go back for, though definitely into projecting territory for some of them.  Felt like a good balance for me, as got mileage and some harder moves in.  The hardest moves were actually on Canned Heat (6b+) where tree avoiding is meant to be 6c and I climbed right past the anchor to the top of the crag rather than finish in the middle of a steep section.  I like the place - great views, quiet and an attractive set of 6c - 7a+ to work in future.

Fell short on running, training and climbing, but somehow ok.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Morning all, the stats are at a perfectly acceptable standard this week Derek

Hah, it was only the Saturday that was rainy, but it was definitely worse than I'd anticipated, though I definitely could've gone and done some bouldering in the afternoon if I'd felt up for it.

To be fair that's just my sort of default week. Usually gives adequate rest from the preceding weekend, and leading up to the next. Sometimes other plans necessitate shifting days around, which isn't a big deal. I did bail on climbing Thursday just gone as it was a million degrees, and I'm pretty sure humidity was somehow above 100% :P

I've had an okay week. Not been as performant as I'd like, so the ego is displeased with not cranking hard, but objectively I think I'm doing the injury some good. Having just glanced down at some of my goals, I can't say I'm hugely invested in the power endurance or the Oberth Effect project at the moment, so might just shift them to the back burner? Feeling a bit aimless with my climbing at the moment unfortunately. Maybe it'll come back when I'm in some sort of form.

Last Week:

M - A bit of stretching in the evening.

T - AM very light hangs. Evening Moonboard - sort of! Mostly just trying to get creative and string together some interesting moves, tried to get steady loading on the injured hand which I think I succeeded in. The wall now has a lattice triple rung which is good I think, can start incorporating some 10mm training when the pulley heals. Eventually...

W - AM and PM very light hangs.

T - Weigh-in at 77.9kg. AM very light hangs. PM moderate band work and 6x7s bodyweight hangs on 19mm with 3m rest. Too sweaty for a poorly ventilated climbing wall!

F - Lunchtime very light hangs.

S - Rest.

S - Pigeon's Cave bouldering. Many of the things I tickled aggravated the finger so I didn't actually do much, but had a decent time and it's a pretty cool location. Quick sea swim afterwards which I think did some good for the mind.

Next Week:

M - Rest.

T - Climbing.

W - Rest.

T - Climbing.

F - Rest.

S, S - More climbing!

Goals:

Rehab A2.

Improve ability on tiny edges.

Work on PE.

Oberth Effect Proj.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Not sure about that yet. Definately will dial it back unless i get psyched for any running goals next season. So maybe do 2-3 easy runs 60 minutes maximum if they weather is decent. Anything more would accumulate too much fatique based on my experience from the last months

The way i understand it Garmin has some algorithm that converts HRV and Heart Rate into stress, using your resting values during night as a baseline. So e.g. if my baseline is 45 HR and 55ms HRV, then it detects stress if my HR is at 70 and HRV at 45ms. Another way to think about it that my stress tolerance has increased, but that allowed me to put more stress on my body so the bottom line after a hard session is the same. In  the end, once you get a good feeling about where your values usually are it becomes a goot indicator for chronic fatique and early warning system if something is off.

Mon: Rest

Tues: Archer Pullups: 5x10 with 3 min rest, Fingerboard repeaters: 6x6x7,3 at 95% BW on 20mm egde, 40 Pushups

Wed: Rest

Thur: Rest

Fri: Archer Pullups: 5x10 with 3 min rest, Fingerboard repeaters: 6x6x7,3 at 95% BW on 20mm egde, 40 Pushups

Sat: Rest

Sun: Archer Pullups: 5x10 with 3 min rest, Fingerboard repeaters: 6x6x7,3 at 95% BW on 20mm egde, 40 Pushups

Pretty uneventful week. Continued to build my base with high volume pullup and repeater session. Felt like i have gained a little bit of fitness already, and finger is dealing well with the increased training volume.

Foot is also continuing to improve. I am now pain free on short walks (<100m) and had some mild pain (1/10) on 10 minute walks. Based on the current progress i will probably need another week to get completely pain free on 10-15 minutes walks. 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thank you Derek,

Unfortunately its all the time, but often not worse when climbing.  I think due to my body shape (tall and thin), I will be prone to problems, as I am with my back in everyday life.  It has occurred to me lately that I should investigate my posture when climbing, as it could be that I am over stressing the elbows due to body position.

Its partly the injury, but more that I only have time to do the routes we are developing, and the rock dictates the grade. Sometimes you find a hard route, but most are in the mid grades.

Out a couple of times this week, and moving over to trad for a bit.  Sport gets a bit dull after a while, and I love the quirkiness of esoteric trad.  Going to Lundy 16th-21st Sept so need to get the head dialled back into it.

M - Cleaned up a couple of 10m E3's on a new crag.  Would normally leave climbing this grade to onsight once washed clean, but needed the exercise, so shunted them in dirty condition just for fun

W - More prospecting, all very esoteric

F - Working away, and got an afternoon free to shunt a line I found a few weeks back.  Not sure if it was just tiredness, or the overall situation (loose rock, on my own, no phone signal etc) but found it really scary.  I just couldn't trust my rig, which is rare for me.  Climbing would actually be quite good for an adventurous E5 6a, if I ever get the balls to go back.

In reply to Steve Claw:

Some thoughts on elbow problems, brought on by the comments:

I was told this too, by a lazy GP who just wanted to prescribe painkillers, rather than tackle the problem.  The solution was getting stronger; upping my deadlift from ~BW to ~2xBW worked wonders for me, along with relaxing my biking position (no slammed stem anymore).

Maybe not posture, but engrained movements patterns, for sure.  I had elbow problems when being too "front wheel drive" and not pushing through my feet.  I had half an hour with a coach observing my default movement patterns, who spotted that i wasn't initiating moves from my feet effectively. Some non-verbal/inner voice cues to promote this during warm-ups definitely helped iron out this deficiency and helped massively. 

Trust your instincts! You make mistakes when tired, or it might have been something else unconscious? I remember being uncharacteristically wigged out on route at Kilnsey, and then discovered that the foot ledge you traversed on to was actually a massive block with cracks all around it.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Excellent and detailed statting again Derek, you continue to set the bar high! A bit of a hit an miss week for me with some great climbing and training days but unfortunately that's all gone up in smoke, more on that later...

M - Zone 2 ride. 30km / 149m ascent / 1hr 2mins / 29kph average

T - Project bouldering on the board: 7A+, 7A+, 7B (nom send, but progress). 5 x 5 bar shoulder shrugs

W - Zone 2 ride. 37km / 182m ascent / 1hr 14mins / 30kph average

T - Rest

F - Start of a long weekend in Wales. Took the pads to parisellas and did Left Wall Traverse (horizontal shothole start) (V6)

S - A great start to the day at LPT, getting some mileage in on Under the Boardwalk (6c) and Night Glue (7a+). Sadly it all went to pot when I tripped over a boulder while gearing up and landed on an outstretched finger. I managed to dislocate it and lacerate it down to the tendon by the DIP joint. No concerns with the dislocation but I've lost some sensation down one side of the finger so the medics are concerned I've damaged a digital nerve. I've got a follow-up with plastics tomorrow so will hopefully have a bit more certainty on severity and likelihood of ever getting sensation back. Gutted doesn't even come close! 

In reply to SteveJC94: that’s shit Steve, really hoping it’s not going to cause any permanent issues. I better not say fingers crossed! But sending good vibes that the follow ups are positive 

In reply to SteveJC94:

Crikey, that sounds crap. Hope it all turns out alright for you!

In reply to SteveJC94:

Heck Steve, you have put yourself through it this year!  Wish I'd not pointed you at NWL now!  Really hope that you get some normal function back quickly.

In reply to Ally Smith:

Thanks

In reply to SteveJC94:

Aw gutted. Hope the surgeons give you some good news tomorrow. Good luck. 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Hi Derek, hi everyone.

Sorry for going AWOL -- after a very busy time at work, I've away for a couple of weeks (not much to report: a bit of running, a successful day on Snowdon, and no climbing).

We're now back, and while I've been out quite a bit this week, I don't feel like I'm back in any kind of training mindset.  With school holidays, the next few weeks will be a little disjointed, but I plan to start fingerboarding in September.

My week:

Mon -- to Symonds Yat, for The Russian (HVS 5a) and Red Rose Speedway (HVS 5a).  Two more off my list (now at 15/23).  Both good routes, and had expected to find them harder.

Wed -- muggy, muddy + hilly 10k run.

Thu -- club night at Wintour's Leap.  Had a minor epic on Bottle Buttress (VD 4a) with inexperienced leader dropping his belay plate, and we topped out in the dark.

Sat -- club meet at the Roaches.  Climbed quite a lot of easy stuff.  Stayed in the Whillans memorial hut, well worth a visit.

Sun -- rain.

In reply to inglesp:

No worries - delighted that you are back!

In reply to SteveJC94:

Shitty luck Steve, hope heals quickly

In reply to Derek Furze:

On portland, where it’s a fairly short tide window, I would have thought 3 pairs would generally do me unless I was specifically projecting something likely to repeatedly land me in the drink. At Lulworth, allowing for the possibility of getting wet feet if it’s choppy as well, a couple more. Half a dozen tops? Chalk bags are the real limiting factor as they’re slow to dry and you can’t use them wet at all.

Another busy week, then off on holiday. We’ve been trying to cut down on flying so took the train to the north of Scotland, which was something of an expedition but didn’t actually work out too badly. We are getting the sleeper home which will be another interesting test. My top learning for the journey is that Inverness airport (the train station) is a km on foot from Inverness airport (the airport, where we booked our car hire). Next time I’d probably just get a taxi from Inverness to the car hire place. In reality, books, kids tv shows and games on the iPad and so on were key but made the travel time ok. I was surprised by how tired they were by the time we got here despite a lot of time sitting still!

I definitely did a really good rehab session on Monday. Otherwise much of the week was wiped out getting ready for holiday and trying to tie up loose ends at work. Thursday I had a day in the office and then in the evening we travelled to my folks in London.

Friday - train to Edinburgh. Very busy train. In the afternoon we did a bunch of walking around Edinburgh, and after the kids were in bed I did another loop out round a different bit of town.

Saturday - train to Inverness, drive to Ullapool. Random amble round town.

Sunday - took the kids up Ullapool hill. 6.7km, 276m ascent.

In reply to AJM:

In the past I've taken one chalk bag and put a bread bag inside with the chalk in. Everytime you fall in you just change the bread bag and keep using the same chalkbag. Obviously you need loads of bread bags. 

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Never really done DWS (too scared!) but was chatting to someone who said they just carry a bottle of liquid chalk either in their trunks or on a string round their neck. They were saying they can swim back to the base of the route, pull out the sea, shake their hands dry, liquid chalk up, and get right back in to it! 
 

Means you don’t need to eat so much bread! (Although that’s probably a down side!)

In reply to Tom Green:

Yes, my enquiry was polite interest in the logistics, rather than actual planning!

Anyway, obviously I don't have any bread bags, so that rules me out! 😂

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Yeah, that sort of works, but I always find a normal chalk bag is vastly preferable, I’ve never found a way to make plastic inner liners or similar work as well. I have a few old ones and I managed to get hold of several really cheaply a few years ago somewhere online, so unless it’s a multi day trip I don’t really need to worry about it much these days.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek. Top statting as ever. I hope you enjoyed Barbie?

I feel like i've changed my mindset to one of acceptance (that the weather won't change in the foreseeable future) and I've gone back to training rather than staying fresh for climbing. We've got a week off in September (not sure what we're doing with it yet) and a trip to Leonidio in September. Time to get fit!

M - Gym a.m. - focus on legs and shoulder

30 min continuous climbing 

30 min run

T - Indoor bouldering - decent try hard session

W - Gym - focus on legs and shoulder

T - Same as wednesday

F - Tried to go outside. Wanted to look at Elvis (E5 6a) which was dry and good to go on Thursday. We sat in the car park in the rain for a while. Then went for a brew and then to hodge close where the only thing we could think of doing was getting on a damp Ten Years After (E5 6a) on a TR. That's a bold lead and following last week's theme of getting on routes that Tyler has done I was very impressed to see he'd onsighted it. We then gave up on conditions and went to Kendal Wall for a boulder. Good try hard session.

S - Nothing. I even had a nap I think. Not like me at all. I quite enjoyed it. 

S - Lancaster Wall for a boulder. Entered the boulder league to give me some structure. Currently the 3rd strongest male over 45 in the Lancaster area who entered that round......

This week should see the start of some structure and getting some decent strength back. I feel quite weak atm. No climbing this weekend as it's my mum's 80th. But may get something done on Friday - if it's not raining, which it will be.

In reply to biscuit:

Llandudno, Llangollen and Settle all showing dry on Friday.  One of them ( or somewhere in between) has got to be worth a shout.  I know they are not The Lakes, but better than nothing 🌞

In reply to Derek Furze:

Cheers Derek, Im most defiantly a zone 2 person, although when trying to increase speed I do enjoy incorporating  fartlek training. Swimming i would imagine is also zone 2 as well although if im working on pace for a triathlon then this will defiantly hit zone 3 when doing speed work. I was doing complementary weights work however gave that a rest after hurting my back. Its a lot better now so can see this coming back again.

Spent the majority of the week up at my mums in North Yorkshire with the kids so no running, we did however get a lot of walking, literally up hill and down dale! I did get some easy  bouldering in at the Eavestone Boulder Field  One highlight for myself and the eldest was a potential sighting of an Osprey. It fitted all the criteria as it was much bigger than a Buzzard or Kite. The first breeding pair of Ospreys in North Yorkshire for over 100 years nested not far away last year so its a very real possibility! 

Back at work on Friday so got a 1k swim in.

Saturday was swim and social taxi duties as well as working in the Garden.

Sunday the wife and i got out for a nice 8k run. As you mentioned we have the Leicester half Marathon in early October. Im happy with the base level of fitness so time to really build on the distance 

Thanks everyone. Luckily plastics have confirmed today that the tendon appears to be in good shape and the lack of sensation is likely due to nerve compression rather than nerve laceration. With conservative management there's every hope that most, or all of the feeling will return but this could take anywhere from days to years - apparently nerves heal very sporadically so it's hard to tell exactly what the outcome will be. 

In reply to SteveJC94:

Thanks for the update Steve.  Which finger is damaged?  I suppose that's relatively good news anyway

In reply to Ally Smith:

I'd strongly agree (sample of one) with the idea that getting stronger helps with elbows and back.  I had years of back problems that eventually disappeared when I undertook the task of lowering my front garden by six foot.  As I couldn't get a skip nearby, it took months of digging and loading bags of soil into the van.

Similarly, it was only when I stopped managing my elbows and actually started to train and rehab that I got that to go away.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Annoyingly its the middle finger on my dominant which is requiring a bit of creativity for performing dextrous activities! 

In reply to SteveJC94:

Hope it's better soon.  Looks properly horrible.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Scratch that!  Latest forecast fully supports Biscuit's analysis 😠🌦️

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek, it’s good to read that you obviously get (quite) a bit out of all this. Input – output…
For me the most important question this week is: are there any good ‘psyched’ songs on the Barbie soundtrack?
Strange week for me, and I’ll include Monday if I may. This last long weekend was to be end of block 2 and when I had hoped to ‘up the ante’ a bit on rock after the excellent restart at Regina del Lago in June…

Mon: stretching & light upper body
Tue: stretching, short hang board session, core
Wed: wall, Thalkirchen: 5c, 6a, 6a+, 6b, 6b+/6c, 7a, 6c+, 6b, 6a+; good session, went very close to ticking the 7a.
Thu: stretching, light jog: 15 min plodding, 15 a bit quicker than plodding; 3 x zigs, core
Fri: stretching & short hang board session
Sat: Steinling wall, Kampenwand, Chiemgau: managed only 4 routes. The drive took longer than expected and so did the ascent, both 1.5 hours. Lovely walk though. Pretty exhausting with all the gear in the heat; and then we faffed about a bit finding the way from our lunch spot to the wall through pretty dense scrub and deciding whether to climb – although there’d been two good weather days, most of the wall was still wet after the deluges of the last weeks. …first route ca. 2:30 pm…really enjoyed the routes, amazing rock. Need to get our logistics better next time, however. It was a long, long day for 4 routes…
Sun: stretching
Mon: Bremtal, Chiemgau: new crag in the forest. Sounded like a good idea given the 30 plus degrees, but the first metres of the possible routes are still very greasy and damp – lots of moss removed from the rock and it's not yet fully bare. The foliage above means that the sun only comes to the lower sections in the autumn, probably. Tried a 6a+ to begin because it seemed the most accessible but bailed after 4 bolts…it was getting unbearably hot and I was skating up the slab, wiping potential footholds above me with my t-shirt and dabbing them with chalk. Just seemed too much work. Definitely a crag for autumn…
Headed for the river and had a great swim – at a slight bend, you can let yourself be swept along by the current.

So, two days, 4.3 routes – and in the aftermath, I discovered that I picked up more ticks than routes climbed…

A brief note on block 2 is due but I’m a bit too drained by work and the heat. Reflections next week, hopefully.

One thing: Alan is definitely on the ball with what he said a while back – climbing here locally in July & August is getting more and more difficult with the swings between weather extremes.

Best wishes to all.

In reply to SteveJC94:

Good speed, Steve - that's quite a journey into the unknown / unknowable.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Quick one as time is running out!

This is without doubt the case and auto belays at the Beacon are definitely what I need to do more of but it’s a long way to go and as we are still down to one car it’s pretty tricky.  

M: Short of time as Fi had the van so went to Plas y Brenin for the first time in over a year. Got shut down by lots of low angle problems with ratty little crimps, grades were all over the place. Had a few auto belays so got a bit of a pump on but probably in the ‘wasted miles’ zone.

T: 1hr 10min on bike, went to investigate what looked like a nice flowing forest track into Betws y Coed but was all rutted and overgrown  

W: Joe had day off as well so we went to LPT early. Absolutely baking in the sun, slipped off all over the show including once with my hands on top of the crag but eventually got The Refrain (7b) done two sessions after top roping it in a oner. 
T: Nowt

F: Knew I wasn’t climbing at the weekend so forced myself to the Beacon even though I only had 1.5 hours. 9 auto belays to 7a and a very quick boulder up to V5 so a good session really.

S: Annual meet-up with school friends to watch the rugby but with added jeopardy of a free bar and food. Fi came with so things didn’t get out of hand but she’s expressed an interest in going again, not sure how I feel about that!

S: Lots of walking around London but not enough judging by Mondays weigh in.