UKC

UKC Fit Club is not a substitute for the training diary but to use with ( or without ) it as a motivational tool for all.

For those wanting to find out more about training for climbing a number of physical training articles here:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=274502
and here
http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,16421.msg287007/topicseen.htm...

A new thread is posted each week on Sunday for anyone to jot down their previous week’s activity, noting goals, successes and failures and to swap ideas.

Anyone interested in starting is very welcome but 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 to help achieve your goals whatever the level of your chosen activity.

Link to last weeks (192) thread
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=434120

Repeat posters - 28
AJM
Miles - excellent work on the 7a
Murd - did you get more training in during the week? Good session Monday.
biscuit - have added the link in at the top, good spot. Hows the planning looking?
Thickhead - good result another PB set...
Steve John B - did you make it out for some runs this week
Steve Perry (Pezz) - sounds like a solid week. The first step to getting those goals ticked is to write them down. Good shout on having the Gates in there mind you - by far the better route I thought
Eagle River - I certainly considered recovery drinks after some brutal wall sessions last year. I ended up finding that taking a sandwich or a hard boiled egg or some sort of snack did the trick, but the recovery drinks score points for convenience and may prove better if you work harder...
andy - good result on Sunday
leon - sounds like a plan is coming together. Hard E3 sounds like a goal that is more befitting of your bouldering and p-e levels than E1 would be
IainRUK - shame about the half
flash13 - never worth taking the risk with a tweak, always better to back off a bit rather than trying to get one more session in and knackering it
petestack - hopefully this week was a bit better?
Kevster - sounds like a very positive week, hopefully as you say a start to a fresh period of improvement. Well done
chris05 - life has a habit of getting in the way sometimes doesn't it...
viking - nice one on the weight. Hope Portland was productive?
fried - takes a while to get ack into the head game for routes after a while off them. If you keep at it you will definitely see the benefits from those strength gains as you get back in the right zone for routes
catt - good work on the V7, a solid week
mattrm - good week, nice one. Good variety in there.
Wilbur - looks like the whole world was on Portland - how did you get on?
ayuplass - always good to be motivated...
TonyB - couple of good wall performances in there
andy farnell - rest is not such a bad thing every once in a while
Sonya Mc - sad to see you go, hopefully you'll be back when your psyche is
fimm - good bit of variety in the week.
plexiglass_nick - has Hall of Mirrors fallen? Pretty much certain to be in Devon next weekend by the way - let me know if you want to try and join and we can discuss where to meet you...
JimmyKay - what happened in the current week then?
seankenny - in Spain

Welcome - 1
Curious Yellow - did you dodge New Saladin, or did it go down?

Welcome back - 2
Liam M - a PB despite what sounds like a gruelling outing - nice one.
jkarran - sounds like you need a Kevster-style week to pick you up and get you psyched again...

Absent - black marks going into the teachers book for a shocking 5 people this week
TomPR
Eric the Red
Alan2468
ally smith
JimR

I'm going to be in Devon this coming weekend, but should (via the miracle of these internet-enabled telephone things) get Fit Club up and running as usual. However, if I have failed to do so by 8pm, can someone start the thread up and I'll drop the stats into it when I get home?

In reply to AJM:

Great work again Andy cheers. Think i've got my planning all done now. Going for SCC progression but with a focus on strength for the first few months before hitting the fitness.

Very quiet week as i'm still not over whatever i had last week. Still very snotty and coughing up aliens. Not been this poorly since last year, and the year before that. Everytime the heating goes on for a long time i get a virus.

Only 1 session done at Kendal yesterday. Actually took notice of what i was doing and had some structure to it. Basically volume bouldering and some on-sighting up to 6b. Feel tired from it today so i am obviously not 100% well yet.

If you struggle next week Andy just let me know and i'll do the thread.

Thanks again./

In reply to AJM:
Thanks Andy,
Enjoyed the session Monday, good to have fresh view and approach. This week?
Had a good session at the wall Thursday, did 7 routes on the comp wall most of which at the top of my grade, was pleased at my recover between routes as well.


STG: Regular on sites of F6b’s and F6c’s
MTG: F7a indoor…get out side more
LTG: E # ‘s

M: Home Bouldering 2hrs
T: Rest
W: Rest
T: Good wall session, 3hr 15m.
F: Home bouldering, 1hr light session
S: Home bouldering 2hr, fingerboard 25m
S: Rest though did spend a couple saw and splitting wood which got a sweat on

In reply to Murd:

m: 8.5 mile road run. 2 hrs at wall
t: 6 mile 500 m ascent fell run Foel Goch
w: 6 mile 800 m ascent fell run Garn.
t: 7 mile ~500m ascent fell run Moel Wnion
f: 4 miles on road. 2 hrs at wall.
s: am: 3 miles. Pm: 6 mile XC race, 12th. eve: 6 miles 700m ascent night fell run in Glyders
s: Ran Navigation course all day

In reply to AJM:

Good week.

M: 6mile trail run 400m ascent Great Orme
T: 16.5mile fell run 1550m ascent Kentmere Horseshoe plus Stony Cove Pike from Kentmere Church
W: 6.5mile fell run Tal Y Fan/Foel Lwyd from Llangelynin Church 500m ascent
T: AM 10mile fell run in snow Allt fawr/Moel Druman/Ysgafell Wen/Cnicht from Crimea Pass 1000m ascent PM 7mile fell run Moel Wnion 500m ascent
F: AM 6mile trail run Sychnant Pass in snow 350m ascent PM 4mile road run
S: AM 7.5mile fell run in snow 550m ascent PM 7mile road run
S: 8.5mile fell run in snow Nantlle Ridge from Rhyd Ddu and Forest 900m ascent

In reply to AJM:

Thanks again AJM.

STG (by April 2011): Spend as much time as conditions allow at malham, Rose Coronary + Free and even easier.
MTG (by the end of 2011): 7b outdoors.
LTG: no injuries.

Mon: bouldering indoors, two more new V6s and got a V7 at boulder UK for the first time. Was quite pleased with that, although I couldn't touch the other ones I tried.
Tues: nothing
Wed: Beastmaker, bit of a poor session because I was knackered.
Thurs: Routes indoors. Got on a new 7a+ but got completely shut down by a move near the top, tried another 7a which should go next time, not a bad session.
Fri & sat: nothing
Sunday: MALHAM! First time I've been and absolutely loved it. Did consenting adults 4th go and had three tries at Rose Coronary but was too tired by then to get the redpoint. should go when I'm fresh.

I've been bouldering quite a bit recently but the malham session has convinced me that training power endurance should be at the top of my list so I'm going to spend time at the bouldering wall doing 4x4s instead of just power problems.

In reply to AJM:

Thanks AJM.

Monday - nothing
Tuesday - Jog 30mins
Wednesday - Boulder indoors lots of new problems, everything seems nails, and I'm not the only one to think so. A group of us keep getting spat of some F5c+s, the consensus is that they are nails.
Thursday - nothing
Friday - nothing
Saturday - Indoor session, do lots of f5as and bs (toprope) and try to build a bit of stamina not damage my finger. Boulder a bit. Didn't dislike it as much as last week.
Sunday - jog 30mins

New scales say I've put on a kilo which isn't a surprise since the new girl keeps stuffing me with home-made cakes.

Do some more antagonistic exercises which I'd let slide. Try to correct my awful posture by sitting up straight: result I have a bad back!

LTG - convince the new girl to move nearer the forest.

In reply to AJM:

Forgot to post my new targets

STG
4 sessions a week. 3 training + 1 performance.
3 x core + 3 x antagonists each week.
Routes are short. Mix of technical/vertical + strong/steep.
December

1 x 6c+ a week
CIR boulder @ V2
Cont climb 6a
4x4 - V2121
Body fat - 13% end of Dec

January

1 x 6c+ a week
VIR boulder @ V3
Cont climbing 6a+
4x4 - V3021
boulder session
Body fat - 11% end of Jan

February

1 x 7a a week
1 x Threshold boulder per week
4x4 - V2021
boulder session ( woody )
Body fat - 10% end of Feb

March

2 x 7a+
1 x campus a week
boulder session ( woody )
boulder - longer probs
4x4 - V1121


MTG

April

7b - hopefully outdoors ( Malham ? )

training wise not sure yet will see what i am lacking when i get nearer


LTG

Comedy 7c before next Oct
Lourdes 8a before 2012

In reply to AJM:

Cheers AJM. Yes having written them down is making me feel more focused I'll have to admit. Yeah I've been toying with the idea of adding Gates to my list and I suppose really I should try that before Corner but I feel more secure in corners (as we all do I guess) so it will be Corner and then Gates - in the same trip would be amazing!

Few tendon twitches in my shoulder this week so very easy week. Seems ok today, touch wood, so stepping it up again this week.

---------------------------
GOALS - above all else have fun and remain injury free
---------------------------

STG - by end of December 2010
O/S HS trad
O/S V4 bouldering
H/P Ousal Low trav at Churnet (V6)
Rippler (V3) - DONE
H/P Rippler SS at Roaches UT (V6)
Red F7b+ in The Cave at Awesome Walls Stoke

MTG - by March 24th 2011 (my birthday)
Lead 20 x < HVD (4 done)
Lead 20 x S-HVS (0 done)
O/S Cenotaph Corner
O/S Cemetery Gates
O/S F7a sport

LTG - hopefully some of these will be next year but will see how short and mediums go before setting dates
O/S Left Wall, fully consolidate at E2, O/S V5, H/P V7, O/S V6, H/P V8, H/P F8a sport, O/S F8a sport.

---------------------------
WEEKLY TOTALS
---------------------------

M: Resting pinchy shoulder
T: Resting pinchy shoulder
W: Resting pinchy shoulder
T: Rest
F: Rest
S: Steady session at Churnet repeating problems done previously. Conditions were fantastic today, Boozy SS felt the easiest it has yet. Had a quick look at Ousal Low too but being careful with shoulder.
S: Session at The Roaches. Did a few problems and also ticked The Rippler (V3) from my previous session - did it first proper go today so SS is next up!

Weight: 142 lbs (same as last wk) - measured mid-week rather than Sunday morning as normal.
Body Fat: 6.5% (-1% from last wk) - measured mid-week rather than Sunday morning as normal.
(Really don't trust my body fat percentage figure but on a week-by-week basis it's fine for keeping track of ups and downs.)

---------------------------
NUTRITION LOG (Daily guidelines only, I don't always stick exactly to them)
Please note that this is for me and won't work for everyone as nutritional requirements are very different from person to person.
---------------------------

BREAKFAST: Black coffee. Porridge (cooked with boiled milk, NOT microwaved) with chopped up fruit (1 apple and 1 banana / strawberries) / beens / eggs.
SNACK: Black coffee. Fruit / nuts and seeds.
LUNCH: Chicken pasta with fresh salad / chicken or ham salad sandwiches on wholegrain / brown bread.
SNACK: Fruit / nuts and seeds.
TEA: Chicken breast (or equivalent) usually with potato / pasta etc., and fresh veg (especially broccoli).
SUPPER: Cottage cheese.

TRAINING SUPPLEMENTS:

Reiki and meditation
Once a day: 500mg Cod Liver Oil and 500mg Fish Oil (plus vits).

In reply to AJM: Thanks for this Andy.

In Spain all last week.
Sun (last week): Onsighting up to F6a+ at Sierra de Toix.
Mon: Onsighting up to F6a+ at Sella.
Tues: Onsighting up to F6b at Gandia.
Wed: Rest
Thurs: Onsighting up to F6b at Marin, then did a F6c with one fall.
Fri: Onsighting up to F6a at Sierra de Toix.
Sat: Home
Sun: Run, 4.3miles at 8:55/mile

Really good week in Spain. Got my finger a bit more sorted out and got plenty of mileage in. On Thursday I tried a F6c with a massive roof/overhang - full body length - and came close to doing it first time. Got it straight away second go. Not bad considering I've been climbing three times in the previous month.

Just having a think about what I want to achieve over the winter and into spring, and how best to go about it. I'd like to do plenty of classic trad climbs up to around E3 next year, and stamina has always been my weak point, so I'd like to turn that around and become a bit of a stamina beast. But I've got six months before the weather improves - I thought of a base of stamina work until Jan (also to get my finger tendon sorted), then a spell bouldering to get a bit stronger, then some more stamina work. What do you guys think? Will that first bout be for nothing?

In reply to AJM: cheers.
MON - gym 45 mins CV
TUES -huddersfield wall. 1hr bouldering then 5 routes. V cold!
WED - gym 45 min CV then squats, bicep curls, lat pull down, rows, knee raises
THURS - bailed due to snow, rubbish
SUN - gym 55 mins CV. Deadlifts, shoulder press, lat pull down, knee raises, core.

STG - climb x 2 fail. CV x 2 tick. Lead every time - fail. Weight - lost 3lb, total loss 10lb

In reply to biscuit:

I reckon it should be ok, it's more of a fallback. I've got the system wired - if I write the blurb late on in the week I can mail it to myself and paste it straight from the email to the input box - so in theory nothing can go wrong...

In reply to AJM: Too much bouldering, not enough routes this week.

Monday: Bouldering, felt pretty weak but I think I was tired. Nothing special climbed.
Tuesday: Bouldering for an hour (mainly using it as a warm up/strength building session) followed by an hour of routes. Routes felt really weird after bouldering so much in such a short time after not doing any for ages.
Wednesday: University internal bouldering competition - came 4th overall despite some stupid mistakes that cost me quite a few points. I was fairly happy overall though, the guys who came above me are seriously strong and had all been climbing alot longer.
Thursday: 30 minute bouldering session while I was waiting around for some people.
Friday: Rest
Saturday: SPA training at the Roaches. Lead Maud's Garden (had a few icy footholds) but nothing any harder as we were there to climb rather than crush. Learned loads though, most notable was how to set up a releasable abseil.
Sunday: More SPA stuff at the Roaches. Lead Prow cracks (took me a while to realise I was supposed to be jamming but once I realised it was easy). Spent lots of time looking at Chalkstorm and have decided to attempt it next time I go back. Once again, it was a teaching session so little other climbing was done but I had a very interesting conversation about direct belaying and may be altering my belay methods from now on...

STG: Stay healthy/uninjured, do more routes but keep up bouldering at least once per week. Perform as well as possible at next weeks competition in London.
MTG: Get outdoors climbing as much as possible in the coming year. 7b indoors/7a out by July '11

In reply to AJM:

Sorry I missed Fit Club 192 - was ery busy with work and was just over a bug, so was just ticking over.

Week gone by - had another busy work week, but managed two endurance/technique sessions at the wall.

Hoping to do three sessions this coming week - two endurance/technique, and one strength.

In reply to AJM: Cheers. Having read some comments about the race from other people (including a few hundred marathon club members) and them talking of being one of the coldest marathons they have done, I've grown more happy with my performance.

Fairly light recovery week this one.

Mon: Rest
Tue: 15mins easy spin on Turbo Trainer.
Wed: 4.5k easy pootle around local estate. Legs not too tired, but calves still a little achey.
Thu: Nothing
Fri: 6k easy run (at 7.15am - I generally can't stand morning runs, and need some epic motivation to do them!)
Sat: Easy 6k run on Baildon Moor, largely to enjoy runing through snow.
Sun: Nothing

Giving my legs an easy one, but still nice to be getting out despite bitter coldness.

Am intending to go and say hello at one of the local clubs down here this upcoming week, and hopefully can start exploring a little more of the area to find a new selection of runs. Seemingly no snow to bound through down here though yet, which is a little disappointing.

In reply to AJM: Thanks again.

A speedy week with lower mileage than I'd have liked.

M: Nowt - rested from race
T: 7m round north Newcastle - first run up there at a lunchtime.
W: Nowt
T: 4.5m run with 3x0.5m efforts at about 5:50 pace
F: 8m with 7m of effort - averaged at 6:40 pace but went progressively quicker so last mile of effort was 6:27
S: Puppy/child sitting
S: Very steady 5 miler in 40 mins - glorious to be out and not working hard!

In reply to AJM: Thanks muchly once again.

What do you mean I missed last week!? I've looked, and you're right, but I'm sure I posted. I must have started dreaming about FitClub.

So just for the record. The week before this.

M: rest
T: spin, 40 minutes hard
W: 4 mile road run, gentle
T: xray, then 7 mile road run, easy - moderate pace
F: rest
S: missed training
S: 14 mile long run on road/trail. Sub 8 min/mile

So the ankle is holding up well despite still being swollen and it's not broken! Hurrah. A 25 mile week.

This week...

M: rest
T: spin, 45 mins, hard
W: 3 mile road run, easy
T: 6.2 mile road run, moderate
F: rest
S: 10 mile road run, moderate
S: 12.5 mile trail run on Downs. Lots of hills. easy pace

So a good 30mile+ week. The ankle is still swollen and giving me a bit of pain, especially off road. I think it's making me run funny too and am getting a bit of shin pain so I need to work that off but it's time for some more goals I think! Just some wishy washy ones for now until I've booked some races.

Goal for next week: Run 25 miles plus. No speed work until the ankle is right as it's banging down hard that makes it hurt I think.
STG: Enter a 10 mile ish run
MTG: Run a marathon either December or early 2011
LTG: Run an ultra
VLTG: Sub 3 hour marathon, sub 1:25 half, sub 40min 10k and run all 100 miles of the SDW in under 24 hours.

In reply to AJM: thanks andy.

STG: a few short slow runs. shoulder physio exercises.
MTG: stay healthy and get back to running 10 miles+. 19 minute 5k and 40 minute 10k. brass monkey half on jan 23rd. get some 'wishlist' climbs ticked off.
LTG: windermere marathon, borrowdale fell race, yorkshireman marathon, lead some VS's
VLTG: long run, 2 july 2012

M - shoulder exercises. squats/lunges/planks - almost killed me.
T - rest
W - rest
T - shoulder exercises
F - rest
S - short (1.2 mile), slow run. felt great!
S - couple of hours manual labour

every journey starts with a single step (or some such b*ll*cks). have a lot of work to do to get fit again.

In reply to Eric the Red:

Dreaming about Fit Club is a sure sign of someone keen on their training

<STG>

Build freestanding fingerboard setup and use it regularly - almost there still!

Get out when possible - busy in the run up til Christmas so I'll take whatever rock time I can get

Regular wall sessions, 2-3 per week, focusing on strength when bouldering and redpointing on ropes

<MTG> - before Easter

• 10 routes at E2/7a or above if I qualify, 5 if I don't and hence have more exams at Easter
  
• Include at least 2 routes from local hitlist of harder routes
  
• 7b redpoint on ropes or circuit indoors
  
• Intervals on 6c+/7a indoors
  
• V5 indoors, V4 outdoors
  
• Bike odometer to 1500km - currently at 356>

<LTG>

• Well rounded E3 leader, tackling routes in committing locations
  
• E4 onsight
  
• 7c redpoints at Cheddar and Portland
  
• 7a/+ onsights at hard continental crags

<BHAG>

• Big mountain routes like Tempi Moderne, Comici etc
  
• E5 onsights
  
• 8a/+ redpoint
  
• 7b/+ onsights at hard continental crags
  
• Some big silly bike ride like Pyrenees coast to coast or tour du ont blanc or something

Slack week for me this week. Got an exam this Friday so was studying hard. Ill today too which is a pain. Board session on Monday with Murd which was good, otherwise not much else really... must try harder.

Hopefully some fingerboard sessions this week, and off to Devon for the weekend if the weather co-operates...

AJM

In reply to Steve Perry (Pezz):


The Gates is certainly more exposed, and I definitely felt a bit nervy racking up and setting off on it, but its for the most part endowed with nice positive holds, which helps with the security, and its a full grade different from the Corner I would say - Gates used to be HVS and is certainly low in its current E1 grade whereas the Corner is significantly harder, a tough E1 which has some noticeable hard moves on it. If you do them in the order you suggest and succeed on the Corner then nothing but your head could really stop you succeeding on the Gates. Gates and Superdirect over the road are my two favourite Pass E1s, although I suspect that Plexus/Nexus/Grooves would be contenders as and when I get on them.

In reply to AJM:
No New Saladin - nothing really that could be called climbing at all! Let down for once by the Portland microclimate…

Mon – Rest.
Tues – Castle. Started to warm up but feeling wiped out. Gave up and went home.
Wedns – Castle. Better session. Lots of V3, working harder stuff.
Thurs – Rest.
Fri – Rest.
Sat – Portland. Cuttings Boulderfield. Freezing. A couple of halfhearted attempts to warm up.
Sun – Portland. Battleship. Still freezing. Got a couple of moves up Bilboes on toprope before retreating to the café. A good productive hour at the Castle on the way home – got second half of yellow V5 in pen.

Next week:
Tick yellow V5 in pen or yellow V6 on features

In reply to Curious Yellow:

That's a shame. Portland is the kind of place where something is usually doable. Mind you, I've found Battleship to be a fridge in the past, especially round the block where the wind just funnels.

I'm just hoping that something is doable this coming weekend, otherwise it could be a weekend of walking on dartmoor for me...

In reply to AJM:

Nexus is awesome. Much harder than the gates but brilliant...

In reply to AJM:

Cheers AJM. Portland was unfortunately a write-off. Absolutely baltic. The wind was from the East so the Cuttings was right in the wind annoyingly. Too cold to climb there Saturday although we tried. Had one go at Victims of fashion on TR on Sunday but it was too cold really. Did remind me what a class route this is though and am psyched to ger back on it asap! Sacked it off early... frustrating!

STG: V6 & V7
MTG: F7b / weight to 68k / Get some more E2s done.

Cycle commute - 20 miles
Run - No run again.
2 x boulder sessions upto V5.
Weight the same - 70k.
Fingerboard - 1 x session.

In reply to AJM:

Cheers Andy. Sadly Portland was, from a climbing point of view, a big let down - utterly freezing, tried weather options on the east and west coast but not really able to do anything particularly productive. Fact is, we are simply not as hard as Dave Macleod - however thought this might be useful for some:

http://onlineclimbingcoach.blogspot.com/2010/11/tactics-climbing-in-cold.ht...

re. this coming weekend - will mail you. Unless the weather warms up there is a danger I might bail though...!


STG
Hall of Mirrors autumn/winter 2010/11
Boulder V7 and regularly (once per week) boulder V6 - Spring 2011 1x v7 done indoors last week
El Chorro (New Year trip) - 1x7b, 1x7b+
Winter training goals TBC - maintain endurance, get stronger.

MTG
Onsight 7a+
Try a 7a every onsight day
Onsight/Flash pyramid for 7b (1x6c+, 1x7b) ticked: (7x6c+, 4x7a, 2x7a+)
60 pitches led at 6b+ to 7a in 2010 (current total: 41)
Maintain 2010 project tick rate at 33% Currently: 33% (-5%)
7c+ Pyramid (3x7b, 2x7b+, 1x7c, 1x7c+) ticked: (5x7b, 2x7b+, 1x7c)


LTG
F8a in 2011
Onsight 7b+
Supercool

M: Bouldering. Working on V6s on mezz and yellow v5 on panels. starting to get a bit of power back.
T: Bouldering. ticked yellow panels V5.
W: Bouldering. Some progress made on blue wave project - linked moves 3 - 8 (of 9) and can do the final move, say 1 go in 3. Mucked around a bit on new pen problems.
T:
F:
S: Portland - Cuttings. Mostly bouldering. did manage to flash a V4 and spend some time having another look at Subyouth. Team effort found some good ways of doing the start but no progress made where it turns nasty.
S: Portland - Battleship. Had a little look at Keyboard Wall, which is ace, but repelled by the cold. Would like to come back to.

In reply to AJM:

Thanks Andy. It was a good week, resulting in a tired week this one! Ups and downs... Too cold to contemplate routes this weekend so unfortunately couldn't try Hall of Mirrors, so did some bouldering instead.

By Apr 2011
Font 7B - Possibles... Jerry's Traverse/T-Crack
French 7c - Possibles... El Chocco at Brean. Hall of Mirrors at the Cuttings.

M - Rest
T - Castle - bouldering. Attempted a few projects, including the yellow V8. But generally felt tired and weaker than last week.
W - Castle - bouldering. Good new set in the Pen problems. Got yellow V5, work orange V5 into two halfs. Cool problem. Felt better than previous evening.
T - Rest
F - Rest
S - Portland - bouldering. Repeated a couple of problems in the boulderfield, and got the sneaky beta for the V6&7 on the Split Lip boulder, so be good to do those next time. Worked on the Subyouth start (V7). Totally stumped by the hard moves. Do you go left on the heel hook to ?what?, or hard moves left to undercuts...
S - Portland - bouldering. Messed around in a grotty quarry out the wind and ended up having a fun day doing a dozen or so (new?) easy problems. Went down to the boulder field and did a tricky V4 end of the day.

This week. Finish off the pen orange V5, try the green V7. Keep trying the yellow features V8, mez green V5. Possibly get out this weekend depending on the cold/snow/rain!

In reply to plexiglass_nick:

Sounds fair. The forecast I've just looked at for chudleigh has it a lot warmer on Friday (the heady heights of +5, as opposed to it's current sub zero level here in cheltenham), wind moving out of the northerly to a southerly or southwesterly direction, and they are forecasting sun for Friday too. So it looks vaguely promising if a little early to say for sure.

In reply to AJM:

Thanks for the comments about the wall performances. I'd not thought that they were that good! I had a fun week climbing and it was fairly revealing about weaknesses. Climbing with new people and at different walls but a needed bit of variety to my climbing.

Thursday: Bouldering session. Focused on hard 2-3 move problems using small open handed holds on 45o board (made up) then I started to try some graded problems and got quite far with a 7A. I've not climbed 7A for a while so would be pretty psyched to try again.

Saturday: Rope climbing after a warm up climbing on the competition wall at the downtown gym. This wall is so cool (16m high overhangs 11m). Doing super steep juggy routes, did a 7a that I'd tried last week but didn't manage the less steep 6c+.

Sunday: Rope climbing at the university wall. I hadn't been here for ages but found the climbs really tough. The wall is short but and typically has long reaches and deadpoints between slightly greasy holds. I did most of the 6b and 6b+ routes on the more or less vertical walls but several of them needed two attempts.

Going to two new rope climbing walls really showed me that whilst I have been climbing well and running triple laps on 6b+ routes at my local wall, I'd definitely do well to try and spend more time at different walls and get used to the style of climbing there. It also made me realize that living in Helsinki I probably have about the best access to indoor facilities anywhere (4 dedicated rope climbing walls and 3 dedicated boulder walls within a 45 min drive).

Goals for next week

Boulder session: complete the 7A problem and do some work on open hand grips
2 rope sessions focused towards endurance
1 rope session focused towards performance ticking the 6c+ that I failed last week and attempting the 7a+ on the same wall.

In reply to AJM:
STG: 3 core sessions (failed)
MTG: A revamped training schedule for 2011+. Nadin's Traverse (done). 3 core sessions every week during November (failed).
LTG(2010): 20 HVS points (done). (12)12 e-points(done). 2 sets of 4x4(v1,v2,v2,v2)(done). Tippler & Desperation.
VLTG(2029?): Left Wall & Regent Street.

Falls this week:0 (19 this year)
Weight: 9'13", 11.3% fat.
Focus: Core.

Mon: Core (290). Antagonistic (4.1kg).
Tue: Rest.
Wed: Ill.
Thu: Ill.
Fri: Ill.
Sat: Ill.
Sun: Ill.

Thanks AJM.

Been ill most of last week & feel like I'm going to be ill most(all??) of this week. Monday's session was good, reduced rest time, increased weight & still felt like I had a bit more to go. Failed the MTG due to illness.

Got my pyramids planned by month for next year. Have a pyramid for bouldering, sport and trad. The bouldering & sport pyramids will be used to boost my confidence as I try to push through the trad grades & so are planned to ramp-up before the trad levels ramp up. The bouldering pyramid completes by May @ V7(completes as the sun returns). The sport pyramid is just slightly ahead of the trad pyramid peaking at RP 7a+ in September followed by the trad pyramid peaking @ E3 in October. I can see it being difficult to pack in the routes I've set myself unless I really push it most of the times I am out.

STG for next week: Plan training goals (technique & physical) for 2011.

In reply to AJM: it certainly does!

STG: 7A before xmas

M: working late
T: pull-ups, press-ups, weights, core (430) & BM: 3x30moves (foot on), max hangs
W: rest
T: pull-ups, press-ups, weights, core (430) & BM: 3x30moves (foot on), max hangs, assisted one-armers
F: rest
S: pull-ups, press-ups, weights, core (430) & BM: 3x30moves (foot on), max hangs, one arm work
S: core (1000)

Rubbish week for actual climbing and running, due to being really busy at work and having pulled a calf last week. Did realise I can do 20 pull-ups (hadn't tried max before) and lock off on one arm for a short while. Cant wait to get back on the rock when weather and work allow, but for now the BM will have to do.

In reply to seankenny:


What do you mean by stamina? My understanding is that local endurance builds over a long time & lasts a long time, PE can built quickly (a few weeks is usually mentioned) but goes quick. My understanding is that it is good to keep changing the training stimulas. My approach is to focus on one training aspect for 2/3 days per week & spend 1 day per week topping up the others. So doing what you suggest, during the strength building phase I would still spend 1 session a week training local endurance & PE.

In reply to AJM:

Not much to report last week,

Monday rest day,
Tuesday back at the physio
Wednesday cycled on the indoor trainer
Thursday at a night class
Friday on a plane heading to London
Saturday Portland bouldering hardest this was a v3
Sunday more bouldering hardest problem was V2

Loads of fun though in Portland even know it was cold

Hoping this week to get to the wall a couple of times

In reply to AJM:

STG: V6 outdoors (End of March 2011)
MTG: V7 indoors or outdoors (end of May 2011)
LTG: V8 outdoors (2011)

Monday: Bouldered at Castle - up to V6. Even managed to do the green "V5" on the mezz that is at least V6!
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: rest
Friday: nada
Saturday: Portland - Bouldered in the boulder field - it was utterly baltic but managed a few nice problems including flashing a V4. Lost psyche and retreated to the Pub after being stumped on a V7 start to Subyouth - beta is needed!
Sunday: Portland - again it was bitterly cold and windy, so we spent a fews hours in the small quarry next to the newly developed Nook at Neddyfields. This area has not been developed and we did about 12 new problems from V0 up to V5 (including two great arete problems and a nice little dyno problem that didn't get repeated by either Catt or Endless Winter) I'll attempt to get these registered somehow - have emailed the crag moderator. I'm not sure how you go about these things really...

Cheers AJM - unfortunately the weather put paid to any of my original plans! My fingers are currently all feeling a bit swollen and stiff so I plan to rest them again this until Thursday - anyone know of any quick fixes? Ibuprofen the only way?

In reply to viking:

Technique?

In reply to catt:

Cheers mate! No christmas pie for you :p !!!

In reply to AJM: a quiet week in terms of climbing as still resting my finger though it feels 10x better now.

my week involved a swim on tuesday of 1km and a trip down portland to boulder where it would appear i met quite a few folk from ukc fit club!
the weather as it has already been mentioned was very cold so only got a few problems managed.
I made very good progress on toll booth arete (v7) on my first session on it just missing latching the last poor hold before the easier top out.
Nice to meet the other ukcers its good to have more than me and my mate bouldering there.

In reply to AJM: Sorry, totally missed it all this week! Been a bit mental with work commitments over the last 10 days so not really done and climbing or training. How boring...

Back on track again this week - already started with a massive beasting session on Monday.

Will have something to actually write by the weekend!

In reply to AJM: Thanks again.

Mon- nada
Tues - pottered at AW
Wed - work stuff till late
Thurs - light fingerboard
Fri - nada
Sat - 50th birthday party
Sun - Rock Over. Did all the white (V4-5) circuit, some reds. Felt weak due to the beer and niggly cold which isn't shifting.

Andy F

In reply to andy farnell:



Many happy returns ;0)

In reply to AJM:
The wonders of triathlon training...
I got lots of swimming done this week.

M: ran (30 minutes easy) at lunchtime. Swam (2000 yards) after work.
Tu: Swimming (1400 yards) before work.
W: cycled to and from work (26km each way). Did club run in the evening (which included some speed work - all I could manage was slow jog vs fast jog - if I do that again I need to eat more during the day!)
Th: swimming (1600 yards) before work.
F: rest
Sa: Hillwalking - 2 hills south of Spittal of Glenshee. Good day out.
Su: nothing (mostly getting stuck in Perth)

In reply to AJM:

Many thanks AJM.

STG - 25:45 5k, Consolidate HS (9/10 - 2nds | 5/10 leads), 11st 10lbs weight, Onsight 5+ (with out any dogging)
MTG - 25:30 5k, Consolidate VS (4/10 - 2nds | 3/10 leads), 11st 7lbs weight, Climb 6a
LTG - 25:15 5k, Lead HVS, maintain weight, Climb 6b
VLTG - Lead E1, Climb 6c, maintain weight
Aspirational - Climb E5/6, Scottish Winter VI, WI5, Redpoint 8a, stay injury free & maintain 11st 7lbs

Weight - 12st 3lbs

M - Rest
T - Rest
W - 8k run, 2 hours bouldering
T - Rest
F - Rest
S - 3k run
S - Rest

Guess I should have a bouldering goal. Boulder V3? Dunno. Shoulder definitely wanky. Going to have to see if I can find some money in this month's budget for a physio session or two. Was away for most of the week, so happy to have got some milage in. I'll keep it up this week and try and throw some swimming into the mix.

Things are freezing up here in South Wales, so there is a distinct chance of some winter climbing action this weekend. Which is awesome.

In reply to Tom Randall - Lattice Training: Back on track again this week - already started with a massive beasting session on Monday.

Hah - busted. So that's the real reason for crying off last night.

In reply to biscuit:

Thank you, but you're 11 years early. I didn't say it was my 50th, and if it was I certainly wouldn't be climbing the day after!

Andy F

In reply to shark: Hmm Simon, you should know me better than that! I actually went for a run in the day followed by a 2hr AeroCap session on my own at the wall during quiet traffic period and then another session on the offwidth at home in the evening. No slacking from me - I just doesn't happen!! ha ha

Hope you had a good session with Duncan.

In reply to andy farnell:

I knew that - hence the ;0) - just a friendly jibe.

In reply to AJM:

Thanks AJM. Ay, I could certainly use something to pick me up. My enthusiasm is at a bit of a low ebb. A bad back (triggered by coughing FFS) and the cold snap have robbed me of my motivation. At least I seem to be on the mend.

I've nothing logged for the week. I may very well have done nothing though I suspect I went to the wall one evening but didn't do much.

M:
T:
W:
T:
F:
S:
S:

STG (by 2011):
Regain enthusiasm

jk

In reply to AJM:
cheers for the feedback and effort AJM,

Last week was a quiet one climbing wise, niggly finger seems to come and go, even affected work. Didn't get the reds at the wall that I was hoping for. Commitment/minor technique faliure to blame, though good to get a partner back who "knows" for a session.

Tues: Indoors - multiple failures on the reds, on one move only.

Ta K

In reply to AJM:


Yes doing Corner first will give me the confidence I'll need to step onto Gates. Gates seems more intimidating to me for a couple of reasons so I want to make sure I have no excuses for getting on it lol!

In reply to AJM:

Not great, but not too bad considering I was still at school for two to five hours extra per day Tuesday to Friday (mostly working on a small recording studio I've been waiting to get sorted for two years)...

M: MTB Glen Nevis (Peat Track & Dun Deardail), 9.1 miles/2,000 ft
T: Nothing
W: Nothing
T: Falls beyond German Camp, 3.6 miles/750 ft
F: Single big lap, 2.9 miles
S: Full Grey Mare's, 5.4 miles/1,600 ft
S: Garbh Bheinn (Loch Leven), 6.5 miles/3,100 ft

So right jealous of IainRUK and (especially) Thickhead getting all those good miles in, but have at least now kicked myself out to run nine days on the trot (yes, every evening this week too) and know my time will come again so long as I can just keep things ticking over till about Christmas!

In reply to AJM:

bit dissappointed with my lack of updates with ukc fit club. Getting a little lazy with it which is dissappointing with my trip to chorro coming up. I am getting the training in though. Did my first ever 147 on the campus board on friday. I'm regularly o/s or very close at f7c at all the indoor walls i''v been to recently. Finding f7b very steady indeed which is all good for chorro!

M- rest
t- wolf mountain up 7c
w-work followed by leading for 3hours. Then 3 hours bouldering around circuits.
t-work
f- work followed by bouldering
s-work
s-work