UKC

Link to last week’s thread: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=610507

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

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

Alex's sport climbing training article is still here:
http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com.es/2014/02/training-for-sport-climb...

Psyche video of the week:
youtube.com/watch?v=igYhX5xyprw&
Jan Hojer training video. I particularly like the bit where he asserts he’s really fat!

Last week’s posters
Nick Russell - trad season seems to have started
hms - Go crush Costa Blanca!
mrchewy - Sounds like the coaching was worth it
Exile - Keep it up with the winter-orientated training. It seems to be working for you.
AJM - Shame the outdoor plans kept falling through. Some good training volume though.
Ally Smith - Fisheye?
JayK - Yet more good ticks! Keep up the momentum!
flopsicle - You’ve already told us the exciting news, but let’s hear it again! Did the whippet make a comeback?
Mutl3y - Did you get back on Piss? Well done with the weight target.
Tyler - If cycling is anything like climbing it shouldn’t take too long to convert exercise bike fitness to real bike fitness.
mattrm - Another beneficiary of John Kettle’s coaching. Thanks for offering to do the stats next week.
Ian Rock - Well done on the overhang! Sounds like the 6a isn’t far off.
The Ex-Engineer - In Scotland again?
mbh - Great effort on the Grizzly - sounds brutal! (but also fun, of course.)
Willi Crater - If core is holding you back on the boulder project, train it more! I find a short core set after indoor climbing sessions results in rapid gains. It’s hard to over-do core.
Dandan82 - Sticking to the training plan?
Creedence - If the 15-move routes are sustained right from the ground, that’s about right for PE. They’re probably not though, so try doubles.
Lancer - Good progress on the BM app.
Humperdink - Have fun in Portugal!
Joyce - Back in the game now? Definitely wise to take it easy if your shoulders are starting to play up.
Jamming Dodger - Good to have you back!
0.5viking - Have you done much trad before?
biscuit - Good progress on the onsighting! You’ll probably get that 7b before it’s reset.
Cheese Monkey - Welcome! Did you get to Swanage?
Just Tintin - Well done on the 7a! Feeling good for Font?
Luke Owens - Solid posterior chain work! I reckon a few of us should be doing more of that.

In reply to Nick Russell:

Cheers Nick, managed to repeat the overhang with no probs this week and get the 6a!

M - Cycle commute. Running - 5.8km with heart rate below 80% max.
T - CC. Climbing movement course in evening. Worked more on footwork, i.e. no holds on slabs, top-roping whilst clipping a lead tail on tenuous foot placements etc.
W - CC. Walk / rest.
T - CC. Running - 6km with heart rate below 80% max. Finding this very easy now. Probably time to up the mileage and add in more HIT sessions - wary of get overuse injuries though.
F - CC. Walk / rest.
S - Parkrun first thing. Had a great time and actually surprised myself. Knocked 4 mins of my PB - amazing what a bit of friendly competition can do. I was conscious of going out too fast and stalling, but even though my pace was well up on my usual training runs, I managed to maintain that speed throughout and felt I had more in the tank come the last 1km. Came about mid-table with 27.02 mins, well down on the leaders but as someone who couldn't run for a bus 8 months ago, I'm happy with that. There was huge range of folk of all shapes, ages and ambitions - if anyone is thinking of doing a Parkrun, I can wholeheartedly recommend it and thank the peeps here who pointed me to it!
Went climbing and did indoor routes straight after Parkrun. With adrenalin still pumping round the veins I did a couple of quick warm up climbs, then repeated last weeks 5+ overhang before cleanly getting my 6a roof to boot.
A great day all out - time for some new goals!
S - Bacon butties and a long recovery walk.

In reply to Ian Rock:

Well done on your parkrun!

In reply to Nick Russell:

Hi nick, yeah I got back out on Piss and came closer but still no cigar. Things still progressing nicely tho....

M-150 press ups (felt difficult), 6x8 (48) pull ups +8kgs (felt easy)
T-works hour of power, lots of blacks(F6Bish), tried some murples (F6Cish) but none went. 3x50 press ups, 50 pull ups +16kgs (sets of 6)
W-100 press ups
T-200 press ups, 53 pull ups +16kgs (sets of 6), 40/42 on F5A Beastmaker circuit (new PB)
F-had 6/8 attempts on Piss, F7B. Got right up there but couldn't quite commit to the snatch. Eyes almost level with the top. Frustrating but......went down and had a go on Mermaid, F7A - a longstanding objective from two years ago but not been on since then. Took 10 attempts or so and it isn't my style but I got it done. It was a proper "YYFY" moment. So damn pleased. That's my second F7A ever, only the third thing I've done harder than F6B+. Celebrated by going to the works for an hour and a half to do about 20 yellows (F5+/6Aish) for a bit of a laugh.
S-Robin Hoods Stride with family. Pottered around. Lovely day. Flashed Short Arete, F6B. Another "YES" moment! Got back on slabs and stuff - such a mental change after climbing indoors exclusively for so long. Reminder that need to train outside as well as in. Celebrated with beer + steak.
S-tired from the previous days efforts so a bit of a rest day. 150 press ups, 48 pull ups +16kgs (sets of 6) and 53 normal pull ups (sets of 10). 101 in total. Not bad for a rest day. I was doing 30 or so unweighted at the start of the year...

Weight - MA 63.6kgs down from MA 64.9kgs a week ago.

Goal Ticklist from jan 7th fit club:
STG - end feb - drop 6 or 7 kgs from 71 last sunday at least some of which was Christmas pudding. (DONE!)
and get some regular training in. (DONE-training is now what I do!)
Tick a few 6As on actual rock. Maybe try a few harder. (DONE - F6B flashed!, F7A ticked, trying F7B)
MTG - end 2015 - at least a couple of 7A ticks including mermaid (DONE!!!) and breakfast. Be trying harder stuff. Be consistently below 60kgs if that helps. (Hmmm don't know if it would help really. Cannot see that I have 4kgs to lose)
LTG - 7B - soft on the g appeals for some reason but that grade is a pipe dream really. (WORK IN PROGRESS)

Going to rethink goals this week - these might not be stretching enough. Could easily drop to 60kgs but can't see that it would help. F7B seems v doable now and not really a LTG any more.

In reply to Nick Russell:
Cheers Nick. Volume way down this week - was never going to get anything done this weekend but it was a bit disappointing to do so little Thursday. I did feel pretty run down though so it's probably for the best. Didn't quite stick to the aerobic phase of the plan but otoh the session I did was harder than the one I was supposed to do. Didn't manage the fingerboard again this week - fingers not feeling it early in the week and the rest of me wasn't up to it on Thursday. Can see a big difference between where I'm at now with the rings, dips etc and where I started off.

Aerocap
Continuity - 0/0
Split continuity - 0/0
1-on-2-off - 0/1
1-on-1-off - 1/0

Ancap
Linked Boulder - 0/0
Boulder mileage - 0/1
Footless Boulder and campus hangs - 0/0

AeroPow
Capacity-Power - 0/0
Campus laddering - 0/0

Conditioning
Wide grip pullups - 1/0
Bottom pullups - 1/1
Offset pull-ups - 0/0
Fingerboard 1 - 0/0
Fingerboard 2 - 0/0
Fingerboard 3 - 0/1

Monday - wall. 1-on-1-off. Again, about 5 laps on original plan then had to downgrade to keep going. My eyes are bigger than my forearms! Also 3x8 bottom pulls, 3x8 wide pulls. Plus some bouldering. Ticked a few things. Feeling quite battered from Sunday though.
Tuesday - rest. Couple of short sets of feet-elevated push-ups
Wednesday - birthday diet out the window sadly. Short wall session in the evening - ticked a moderately hard problem pretty fast, 3x3 l-sit to inverts in far better form plus a few messier, and 2x12 rings push-ups.
Thursday - feeling a bit run down. Rings - 12 push-ups; 6 each I, Y, T; 3 inverts. 2x8 dips on bar, got a lot stronger at these.
Friday - Sunday - stag do. No training.

In reply to Nick Russell:

Thanks for doing the stats.

STG - Sport pyramid - 6a (2/10), 6b (1/6), 6c (0/1) - Trad pyramid - VS (5/10), HVS (0/6), E1 (0/1) 12st 3lbs...
Aspirational - Climb E5/6 (London Wall), Scottish Winter V (Point 5, Zero, Minus, Orion), WI5, Redpoint 8a (Masada, Mortal Kombat & Cider Soak) stay injury free & maintain 11st.

Weight - 12st 4lbs (2 lbs)

M - Rest
T - Core
W - Indoor routes
T - Rest
F - Indoor routes
S - Rest
S - 200 dish tucks

Month average - 62%
Year Average - 79%

Good week all in. Dieting properly now, so seeing the weight come off. 2lbs loss this week, from 12st 6lbs (the 10 was a retention thing really). Hope to keep that up. The wall sessions were good. Focused in on the footwork. There's still a lot to go there, but it's a good start. Worrying less about doing something every day, hence the slight dip in the average, but hope to push that back a bit more next week, as I'm away with work, so I'll struggle to get much climbing in. But here's to keeping the momentum going.

In reply to Nick Russell: Back in Scotland, but not a great week...

M - rest (no skin)
T - rest (no skin)
W - travel + pick up new battery for car
T - training session @ Ice Factor - 4x supersets of autobelays 4x4s & press-ups (500total). 4x supersets of pull-ups (100 total) & sit-ups (200 total)
F - sport climbing @ Moy Rock, 4 routes.
S - nil
S - Ben Nevis, Central Gully (solo), reconnaissance for Monday/Tuesday.

In reply to Nick Russell:

Cheers for this cIck. Yeah, starting to realise that he's given me enough stuff to work on for the next two years at least... but that in itself means improvements for the next two years. Happy days!

Pretty full on week training wise and maybe over did it slightly. Worked to the traffic light system tho and made more of every session than expected, apart from one. Worked principally on my breathing.

Mon - Aeropower. Foot on, biggest campus rung. 1 min on, 1 min off x 5. 3 sets with 10 min rest between each set. Failed on last two reps by 8sec and 16sec. Hit the sweet spot of what I aimed for.

Tue - Routes. Rainbowing working on two feet on, plus breathing. 90 min session, so half of that climbing.

Wed - Routes, focus on breathing. Led about 17 routes of 5+/6a and tried an Alex Mason 6b+ on the comp wall that he felt he undergraded - psyched for this. The first crux is at the third clip and I couldn't even managed the move.

Thu - Yoga class

Fri - Big Rock. Aerocap auto belay session. Warm up on maybe 5 laps then - 2 x 20 min with a couple of minute break to tape ankle. 30 min rest and then 25 min till little fingers blistered. Breathing focused.

Sat - Nottingham Climbing Depot. Pretty much all the V0/1/2 problems, working on the momentum thing. Then headed to Rivelin, had a mind to solo a nice E1 slab but it was way windier there than I'd imagined. So chilled with mates further down the crag, as I hadn't bothered to take my harness.

Sun - Sat at Curbar and the rain came in. Bailed to Pinnacle, did about 7 laps at 5+, a few easy boulder problems and caught up with people. More like active rest.

Made some good decisions this week. Was headed to Rivelin on Saturday and changed my mind halfway there, had little psyched for outdoors, so went training instead. Also made the effort to get on the autobelay on Friday, had to be vocal with the breathing or else I didn't realise I'd stopped - the last 25 minutes went pretty well tho. Wednesday evening I managed to breath all the way through a 6a I can lap anyway but usually hold my breath on the crux for 5 moves... so much easier. Really enjoyed being on the ropes on Wed.

In reply to Nick Russell:

Thanks for doing FC Nick! Last autumn I did a tradclimbing course (including rescuetechniques) and went trad climbing one more time before it got too cold for it, so haven’t climbed that much trad. You say that your trad season has begun, did you manage to get out this week again?

STG (2weeks): redpoint the 7- I worked on (didn’t get on it for two weeks, so time to replace it) ->
Tick all the routes from the spring 2014 book up to 6B (+)
Lead more -> (the other hall I visit on wednesdays now is lead only, so feel an improvement, but on OS fear still takes over sometimes)
MTG (summer): climb more outside (have already been half the number of times I went last year)
steady climb grade 6 outdoors (Norwegian grade)
weight: 68/70 kg
LTG (end of the year): climb a grade 7- or 7 outside
Lead OS grade 6 indoor (though grading indoor is a bit soft, maybe 6+/7-)


Weight: 73.8 kg
M: indoor bouldering, ticked the 6B+ which gave me a flapper last week, managed to reach a new highpoint on another 6B+, only need to stick the top hold, a half roped route got me pumped
T: running to uni (+- 4.5 km and 120m height gain) shoulder and core afterwards
W: indoor climbing, still pumped from Monday, so went bouldering after 3 routes
T: indoor running, 40 mins @ 10 km/h
F: bouldering, they put up new routes, did everyone, but one on the yellow (easy) and red (still easy but harder) circuit. Some campus exercises afterwards for the first time in a half year, felt good
S: bouldering worked on a green star stripe route (medium), did all the moves, but not at once
S: interval running + core, dips and flies

In reply to Nick Russell:

Thanks for the thread Nick!

Monday - 3 miles hills

Tues - 2.3 miles hills

Weds - WOOT! WOOT!! Got my course record on my favourite hill, the one I first realised you can run up hills on. I beat the pink ear muff wearing whippet by 2 seconds! As yet all is quiet, but I suspect she could just break a sweat and 'whip it' straight back. So here's to the moment....

Thurs - FAFF! car failed it overdue MOT on weds so still running round to try and get it sorted.

Fri - 2nd crack at Depot WBL problems, only got one more, but hey ho. Lots of trying at stuff I couldn't get up (1.5hrs). Daughter fiend dying so got called to school. 15 mins after getting home she was playing on the exercise gear - made her apologise to school staff via phone and then took her round the supermarket despite her asking to go back to school!

Sat - Daughter wanted to run so did a local block with a decent hill. GPS/had had a fit so no reliable stats but it's a good mile and she ran confidently throughout and I think around 10 mins ish. She's only 6 so I felt quite proud. She was VERY proud. 1.5 hrs bouldering - new reds and blacks up so lots of struggling again, some success and generally quite happy.

Sun - 2.5 hrs mixed climbing, nearly all on hard stuff again. Done in, ache! 3 miles run, hills.

In reply to Nick Russell:

Another disjointed week, this time due to car issues.

M: Felt knackered, first full rest day as felt tired
T: Got in car for a big Stockport session only to find flat battery
W: Boulder UK, felt ok actually.
T: Lazy
F: Got car back so quick trip to Boulder UK, not as good as Wed but managed a couple of things I didn't do on Wed.
S: Biked 20km of the Mary Townley Loop plus 10km back to the start. Unfortunately the easiest part of the whole thing as it didn't include any big climbs.
S: Went to Pen Trwyn expecting sun in the afternoon. Got there at 12 and it was still pissing down, went back to Boardroom instead, 9.5 tie ins. Flashed a few 7a and a 7a+, think the grades are soft on the steep bit. Inspired by Mutley's examples I've just tried some pull ups, surprised myself by managing 10.99 but now I feel sick and dizzy. I won't try that again

Injuries: Normal ankle, hip, L elbow etc., RH index swollen, RH middle finger painfully 'clicky', i.e. same as last week.
Diet: kept up the spinach and meat diet even this weekend but might fail on that tonight.

In reply to Nick Russell:

Cheers Nick for dong this. A good week this end- nudging slowly up the indoor grades and a bit more soloing outside in preparation for the forthcoming evening grit sessions. Also- a quick thanks for the support from various people so far- got me quite motivated!

Goals:

STG/ MTG-
Indoors 6c.
Trad- Onsight HVS (VS at present)

LTG
Trad- Lead E1.
Have a reasonable punt at 7a indoors.

Mon- rest
Tues- 12 mile cycle commute. Pm- AW- 7 routes- 6a, 6a, 6a+, 6b, 6b (not clean), 6b+, 6b+, 6b+ (failed!). Did another two 6b+ routes, so strength and self-belief seem to be coming on a bit.
Wed- nothing.
Thurs- 12 mile cycle commute.
Fri- 12 mile cycle commute.
Sat- Frenchies- 1 set of 4, 1 set of 4, 1 set of 3.2, 1 set of 3. Ouch, but getting a little stronger. 3 x wrist rollers with 5kg. 4 x 50 press-ups. Went to Burbage North in the late afternoon, and soloed 4 short/micro routes: HS 4b, VS 4b, VS 4c, and a VS 5a. Out for dinner in the evening.
Sun- hungover. Ate rubbish all day. Recovered partially by evening- 4 x 40 press ups, BM fingerboard session- 1 lap 5c- 42/42.

In reply to Nick Russell:

Thanks Nick!

Sub 3:00 next year for the Grizzly is an achievable target, I think, so long as I keep up this running. It can't be any muddier it was than this year.

I have entered the Classic Quarter, - 44 miles from the Lizard to Land's End.

M -
T - 9.3 miles @ 7:24, to a lift home
W - Same again @ 7:09. Last 6 miles @ 6:40, and now 3/110 on the Strava segment for the last 2 miles. The two ahead of me are 20 years younger than me. +2 miles cool down.
T - 9.0 miles into and out of Newquay, which is an armpit, from Watergate Bay. Twice threateningly accosted by yoofs.
F - 9 .3 miles, as T &W
S - 11.4 miles hilly
S - 10.8 miles coast path to Bedruthan Steps and back.

So 6 days of > 9 miles in a row. No long runs, but some fast (< 7:00) miles in there somewhere. This run-commute thing is tiring me out, but keeping me at it.

In reply to Lancer:
42/42 top effort!

In reply to Tyler:

I've just done another 10 pull ups

In reply to Nick Russell:

Morning Campers,

Thanks for sorting this out Nick, keeps us out of trouble!

Training Diary WC 02/03/15
Maximum Strength Training Week 1/3
Back in the game!

Monday – BM fingerboard session. Power pull ups (speedy ones) to start. 1 set of 5, 1 set of 6, 1 set of 7 – not tried these before, interesting to move really quickly as not really my style. One armer practice - 3 x sets of six sagging (read collapsing) locks each side. 7.5kg weight reduction using new pulley – held most 90º locks for >5s before sagging slowly. Off set pull ups, 3 sets of 2 each side – some were more like 1 ¾ pulls. 2 x 6 and 1 x 5+1 pull ups with 7.5kg extra. Finshed with core and some antagonistic exercises.

Tuesday – Tabata session 3/6: 20s sprint, 10s jog x 10 reps. Mostly uphill. Pushed hard, felt a bit sick afterwards. Short yoga session and antagonistic climbing exercises to finish.

Wednesday – TCA. New problems on the steep ol’ Mother Ship. Onsighted a few up to 6C, then got beaten by a powerful 6C+, could do it in two ‘pitches’, just the link to do. Finished with 5x campussed boulder probs.

Thursday – TCA. Got a funky green (2nd hardest circuit) then back on the ‘Ship. Further away from the 6C+ but made some progress on a 7A. 5x campussed problems and then the easiest oneof the new hard (black) circuit problems to finish.

Friday – Fingerboard; Power pull ups – 3 sets of 7 (better form than Mon), Assisted one armers (-7.5kg), 3 sets of 6 90º locks. Most locks for 5s before sagging – for what it’s worth, I lock better on the right but sag better on the left! 3 sets of 7 pull ups (+7.5kg). Antagonistic bits and bobs.

Saturday – Running; Tabata session 4/6: 20s sprint, 10s rest x 10 reps. Done as part of a 3 ½ mile run through the woods as it was such a fab day – food for the soul! Yoga to finish.

Sunday – TCA. Had a great session with Tom, working some of the blacks (hard circuit). Got two and am close to a fair few others, including one on the 45º panel, which is ace. Finished with 5x campussed boulder probs. Tom was making me try to hold the locks between hand movements – hard but useful. It was good to have someone to make me get on stuff, rather than sticking to things that are more in my comfort zone.
Weight = 72.6kg

Right then, goals:

STG (by Easter):
Boulder 7B+ (probably Between the Lines or Underhand at Almscliff as close to both).
Keep working weaknesses - one armed hangs, slopers, an-cap, power
Tick some more 7A+s in a session - only done this a couple of times so far.
Do more in a session at TCA - a little less conversation, a little more action - this is probably my biggest weakness

MTG (by end of September)
The Loop at Huntsham (super an-cap 8a),
The 7C traverse at Biblins Cave.
7B in a session - could be ambitious but we need that, eh?
Some 7Bs at the Bowderstone

LTG (by end of next winter)
Tetris, The Keel, Peckitt's Roof (Huntsham), Fat Cat Roof (Dinas Rock) - all 7C
Climb all the Classic Rock routes with the good lady wife.
Actually go up some mountains, rather than just staring at tiny crimps in a cave at the bottom of them!

Dream Climbs
The Nose (El Cap)
Careless Torque - never even actually seen it but it's THE line - wanna be falling off of it within 5 years.
Great Wall on Cloggy - the essay in Hard Rock just does it for me.

Great to see you enjoyed Park Running there, Ian Rock!

Love from,
Joyce,
XXXX

In reply to Nick Russell:

Cheers Nick.

Crapo week full of lurgy. Just in time for my first decent amount of days off together in months and my birthday.

One bouldering session last Monday. Flashed everything up to the V4's ( 36 problems ) then came un-stuck on the V5's. They are really technical, but once you crack them are probably V5. Very fingery and balancey. Got 3 left to do out of the 12. They either got flashed or stumped me for a while. 2 i reckon will go easily enough next time but 1 looks impossible without V10 finger strength.

I was feeling a bit flat that day, with not much oomph. I felt like i was having a fat day. The reason soon became clear as the next day and since i've had man flu. So my days off haven't been about running and climbing but lounging around, walks with the dogs and pub meals. Still a very nice break though.

Not sure what i'll manage this week. Still not well enough to train today so i'm going to take it easy and see how i go. No point pushing too quickly.

ANother new set has gone up at work so lead sessions will have plenty of 7a doubles in them and i'll try a 7a+ on-sight in a couple of weeks.

In reply to Nick Russell:

Thanks Nick, pretty close to the training plan this week!

M: fingerboard - Max Hangs: First time doing session, need to dial added weight as it was a bit easy. Running Intervals
T: Strength and conditioning
W: Encores and offsets: Decent boulder to warm up (up to v6) then fingerboard encores (hold 7sec rest 3 sec) at 90deg lock, then offset pull ups on campus rungs
T: Boulder Circuits: warwick doesnt have coloured circuits but I started from the easiest and climbed every route up to the ones I can't complete
F: Rest
S: No training but hired a digger for the weekend, destroyed garden, absolutely wiped out
S: Dig dig dig, I now have a new garage foundation!

So the working week was pretty intense, got all the sessions ticked and they all went really well. The weekend was disrupted somewhat by the digger but it was bloody hard work anyway so I don't feel like I have slacked off, especially sunday as I was on my own, it's amazing how often you still need to get off the digger and actually put some effort in!

Fingerboard Monday was good, I don't have a BM2000 at my weekday digs so had to improvise with my big resin fingerboard but got most of the required holds. It is supposed to be the "hardest fingerboard routine known to man!" according to the training plan, but it went pretty smoothly so I think I need to up the added weights. Finger strength has always been one of my best attributes so I should be able to push this quite hard.

Wednesdays session was awesome too, encores were again done on a slightly random resin fingerboard at Warwick Uni but I tried to emulate the same holds as the BM, then the offset pull ups were super hard but super good.
I managed 3x3 each arm large rungs 1 and 3, 3x3 each arm large rungs 1 and 4, 3x3 each arm medium rungs 1 and 3, 2x3 each arm medium rungs 1 and 4!
At the outset I thought the rungs 1 and 4 offsets on the medium rungs would be impossible but they actually went really well, dead chuffed with this, 64 offset pull ups in all, triceps were screaming at me for 2 days afterwards!

Thursday I did every problem in the room (it's only the size of a squash court) until I only had the 4 or 5 routes that I can't complete left. I made some progress on a couple of these too.
What amazes me about this session is that I was able to do it at all after a really intense session the day before, my elbows didn't make the tiniest of complaints and I was trying properly hard. Saviour, thy name is Flexbar.

Injury wise, everything is gravy, elbows are top notch, the finger is dealing with everything I throw at it, I'm aware that now is the time to be extra careful to avoid a rapid recurrance of any of my myriad injuries, if I can keep my body together for another 4 weeks I should have a great Kaly trip.

I really want to get outside before Kaly but my weekends are rapidly filling up, it's turfing 65m^2 of lawn this coming weekend, garage footings after that, the list is endless!

In reply to Nick Russell:

Cheers Nick.

M - Fingerboard session.
T - General conditioning and core exercises.
W - Short mountain biking session in the morning. 40 mins run in the afternoon.
T - Outside climbing; after warm up had another few goes on project without much progress.
F - Resting.
S - Endurance training outside, doing laps on steepish 6a.
S - 3 hours hilly walk splodging across streams.

In reply to Nick Russell:

Thanks again Nick. Yes made it to Swanage and did some easy stuff at Subluminal, sea looked a touch rough to risk abseiling into the Ruckle.
Sun- Trad e1s at suspension bridge buttress, before the rain
Mon- rubbish session at tca
Tues- 1 mile swim, 50mins. 30 lengths breaststroke 34 lengths front crawl
Weds- short run in woods before work, good tca session après work. Ticked several V4s and one V5
Thurs- went and had a play on shakin like a leaf at cheddar 7a. Ran out of daylight before I could go for RP.
Fri- figured out a weird E3 6a that I will go back and lead at some point. TR a few routes
Sat- easy trad at Swanage and a short walk
Sun- short hungover walk in new forest!

Going to try and start cycling to work this week
STG- get a training plan together for each activity. Cycle to work at least twice a week
MTG- 2km swim under an hour. Run 3 miles without legs falling off afterwards. Tick more V4s consistently
LTG- 7b+, E2, onsight 6c+, triathlon

In reply to Nick Russell:
Feeling suitably battered this morning after 15days in Catalunya trying Fisheye. Alas, it wasn’t to be, with my highpoint being 3 moves into the crux sequence, and best effort being an in three link. Ground to 2nd crux (powered out), 2nd crux to marginal headwall shake-out, power out on 3rd crux, 3rd crux to top. This was still an improvement on last year, but not a massive improvement.

Previous goals were:
- Get solid on the first crux above the wiggy long draw; skipping draw post crux to ease rope drag – TICK - but ended up tweaking sequence to include the clip mid-move with minor energy expenditure. Skip, long-draw, skip was a bit concerning!
- Second crux to the rail while skipping the clip – TICK by reverting to the gaston method – even deliberately took the lob to test it out – felt like doing a small bungee jump!
- Headwall link – rail to chains – 8a-ish - FAIL.
- Ground to rail - FAIL
- Ground to chains - FAIL!


However, I’ve learnt a lot in the last 2 weeks, both about the redpoint process, and other stuff too:

Good points:
- I got offered a new position in my company, thus avoiding redundancy by a slight sideways move
- I made some good friends and reacquainted myself with others from Sheffield and Atlanta/Chattanooga.
- I didn’t get bogged down trying a fixed sequence and made refinements throughout the trip, with some big efficiency gains. By the end, I was doing the 8a/+ intro up to the 2nd crux fast and smooth, but lacked the necessary power to execute. However, I only needed 90sec on the rope and could then do the crux easily and continue upwards on another big link.
- Swapping away from the undercut crux method to the gaston method meant my semi-poorly ring-finger got a break fro the abuse and is feeling better now than when I went away.
- Pacing – experimented with skipping marginal shake-outs and only using the best one low down in the route, meaning I arrived at the crux fresher. This definitely contributed to improving the 2nd RP effort and lowered the overall fatigue levels on rest days.
- I got much better at visualising the whole route; though I struggled to eliminate an emotional response to this and would often get an elevated heartrate and sweaty palms going through the sequence in my mind – more work needed here.
- Diet – weaned myself off a diet too heavy on simple carbs and really noticed the benefits of more even energy levels without peaks and troughs. Protein at breakfast (eggs) and lunch (tin tuna) really helped to smooth out the blood sugar levels.
- Shoulders feel better than they have done for the last 18 months and shoulder flexibility reflects this; I can get my right arm high up behind my back – a position it hasn’t adopted for >1 year.

Bad points:
- My power levels were miserly once I got even the slightest bit pumped.
- Shoulder girdle strength was poor – struggling with climbing open after a winter of twisting indoors.
- My pre-trip rock weekend would have been better spent re-familiarising with Fisheye instead of OS’ing at Chulilla.
- I’ve ruined my right leg hip flexor sitting in the kneebar shake out after the initial 7c-ish section.
- I was too heavy going into the trip. Long term aim should probably be 72kg. 3kg of leg muscle is gonna to have to go walkies.
- First day back in the office and I’ve hit the free canteen with pudding – this needs to stop!

Observations:
- I need to drink more at the crag
- Parcel tape works fine for kneepads in the absence of gaffer.
- First week of March was starting to get too warm/sunny. Late Feb best time for Oliana RP.
- I need some intermediate goals; 2nd day on was probably too far off the boil to do Fisheye, so should have had another short-term project to do then. Marroncita looks like a lot of fun.
- I need to take ear plugs away on trips – shared apartment blocks can make for terrible sleep when polish wads are celebrating their 8c+ success by shagging loudly on the balcony!
- I underestimated the added stress of worrying about redundancy alongside redpoint stress


STG (next week)
- Rest this week
- Build the home campus board and do a foot-on lactate test and see where I’m at once recovered from the trip
- Work out some bouldery route objectives to incorporate into an-cap training
- Clarify MTG and BHAG next week
- Fix/sports massage on hip flexor


Last week:

M - 7a & 2 hang 7c warm-ups. 1st RP – up to previous highpoint, but couldn’t engage with crux undercut – AGAIN! 4 times now, so gave up on that method and re-worked the old way. Tweaked this some, then repeated it to be sure. John did Gorillas en la niebla in an impressive display of warm-up go RP’ing! My 2nd RP was much worse after the wind died – had to fight to regain high point, but was way too pumped to have much of a crack at the crux. Re-worked crux, then lead it in a tired state without clipping the mid-crux draw. Took the 40ft whipper to reinforce the fact its fine to skip clips whilst 120ft up!

T - 7a and then only halfway up 7c before realising it weren’t gonna happen today! Shoulders not engaging and elbows up very early on. Sacked it in and belayed and snapped photos for the rest of the day.

W - 7a, then tried 7b OS to warm-up – good forearm warm-up, but shoulders/arms not firing on 1st RP; the first time I tried to sprint instead of shake-out. 2nd go felt the need to take some of those poorer shakes and came up short on gaston crux.

T - Nowt – Rest. Some f*cktard had been up to the crag overnight and stolen the first few draws form every route. I lost 2 revolvers and 3 normal draws; seething. Karma re-paid the crag residents with multiple projecs going down including John doing the brilliant looking Humildes pa casa, now well up on the life-time wish list.

F - 7a OS and 7b warm-ups. New high point getting crux hold with 2 fingers but not engaging enough to finish off the crux. Pulled back up and crux felt easy off the rope. 2nd go – wind died and crux felt greasy, but managed to get to 1 move below earlier high point. Then dogged to top replacing Polish guys draws with my own. Crap sleep as Polish team upstairs “celebrate” loudly at 3am.

S - All warm-ups busy, so jumped on 7c thinking I’d just drop off when got a mild pumped on. Found a spike foot hold I’d missed on previous goes and cruised it feeling like the warm-up it should be! 1st RP went very smoothly apart from feeling minor tweak in hip flexor whilst shaking out. Had sufficient time to place feet very deliberately on the crux, but elbows were up and couldn’t latch the gaston. Again, felt easy 90s later when I pulled back on to double check body position and reinforce the engrams. 2nd go was terrible, powering out pre-crux then dogging to top with fatigue suddenly hitting me. Red wine, cava, lentil stew and chocolate pig out with team Sheffield.

S - Went to Tres Ponts. Limping from tweaked hip flexor. 7b retro-flash warm-up. 8a dog – didn’t take enough draws so final 6m was a surprise on RP! 7b+ fail with numb hands. Snooze in the sun before driving to airport slowly due to narrow spare wheel.

In reply to Nick Russell:

Thanks for doing fit club again Nick. It is feeling distinctly Spring like in the Lakes at the moment but I'm going to keep up with the dry tooling in the hope that some Scottish mixed comes back in and I get the chance at a few more routes. (It provides a good ARC workout in any case.)

Aims:

Winter VI 7 - Tick.

Spring 7b RP - Countash, Mill Side Scar

Summer quick build through E1 / E2 to get on some more E3s and consolidate at the grade

Summer -get on some slate

Long term aim, (18 months or so?) HP Exeguy (E6 6b) at Trowbarrow

M: 45min hard road run, (winter endurance)
T: Rest
W: 1hr 20min PE and core at the wall - a good session.
T: 45min continual dry tooling (ARC and winter technique)
F: 1hr fell run (winter endurance)
S: Rest
S: 1hr 15min PE and core at wall

Another good week - keeping up winter specific stuff and doing ok at the wall. realised I've been a little lax with diet though so have put on a couple of pounds. Aim is to get down to 11.5 stone for the Spring / Summer, (currently a little over 12.)

In reply to Ally Smith:

You always seem to end up sharing buildings with loud shagging!

Humildes looks amazing doesn't it. Your efforts going big on Fisheye have been making me wonder about trying to go for a similarly audacious project, and it'd certainly be a contender in a year or so if I did!

Prob keen on a trip next year, all things being equal, if you need people to go with (either for a recce/refresh long weekend or for a part of a longer trip)

In reply to Ally Smith



Myself and Jordon will obviously be around Northern Spain then, so if you're stuck for a belay - I'm pretty sure we could help out at short notice.

In reply to Nick Russell:

M- Rest?
T-Indoor boulders and core
W-Fingerboard and core
T-Indoor boulders and core.
F- Rest
S-Roaches. Pottered around the Lower Tier and did some crazy toe hook problem called Thud. Then went over to Tetris in the afternoon and did it in about 20mins. Felt super steady.
S-Anston. Warmed up and then flailed around on the end of Dark Beta for about an hour. Tried it from the start and did it first go. Worked the end of Dark Reservation and did a long link (just missing out the crux from Dark Art) twice which had previously been really difficult. Sequence is sorted just need to go back fresh and send it. God knows when V11 became a regular occurrence and V12 felt so close. I never thought 8B could be a realistic and achievable goal. But now I'm looking for problems of that grade to try.... Climbing. What a crazy game.

In reply to Joyce:

I'd say Tetris was the best quality problem in your 7C list. Although you'll get better conditions on Fat Cat in spring and through summer. Nothing from North Wales/Lake District tickle your fancy?

In reply to Mutl3y:

"53 pull ups +16kgs (sets of 6)"...that's some scary levels of strength!

In reply to Ally Smith:

Gutted for you, hope you had a good holiday nonetheless

Busy at the moment... just got round to writing up last week.

M - Avon Gorge. Tried Low Profile (again), fell off the headwall. Took me ages to work it out, possibly hindered by half-remembered beta from last summer?
T - Rest
W - Avon Gorge. A couple of routes under the bridge (don't remember Baby Duck feeling that hard!) then back to Low Profile. Felt easy this time, which I suppose it should given that it's maybe F7a equivalent.
T - 8km run
F - 4x4s at Redpoint. (Sore throat and hints of lurgy starting)
S - Parkrun. Just under 20 minutes, which I think is pretty decent for Ashton Court. Had a vague intention not to race it (lurgy progressing but manageable) but got sucked in. Overall 10th - my best at Ashton Court.
S - Rest.

A few glasses of wine on Saturday night proved to be the final straw and I succumbed to the man-flu, just in time for a poor night's sleep and trans-atlantic flight. Currently in Boston, not much prospect of any training this week but I'll update next week if I can. By that time I should be at the Red River Gorge and things will be looking more exciting!

Goals

Brean progression to The Milky Bar Kid (8a)
Prisoner of Conscience -> The Guilt Edge -> Bullworker -> Prisoner of Bullworker -> El Chocco -> The Milky Bar Kid

Tick off some of the harder Avon trad that I've not got round to yet
Peryl, Low Profile -> Think Pink, GT Special, Amanita, Central Wall, Main Wall Elimate

2-finger (front and middle) repeaters on BM1000 small pockets
Managed 6x6/4 on middle 2. Then the weather improved

Sort out the asymmetry
A bit of an ongoing thing

In reply to Nick Russell:
Have fun in Boston; if you end up in Metro rock, say hi to Chris & Matt from me!

If you're back in Bristol next weekend, do you fancy Brean on Sunday 22nd? Post wedding hangover allowing?

In reply to Ally Smith:

I believe A, N and H were considering Huntsham as a post wedding activity should you be at a loose end...

In reply to Ally Smith:

I'm flying overnight Saturday, getting in late morning Sunday... I think Brean Sunday afternoon would be pushing it!

In reply to Nick Russell:

Thanks Nick, and welcome back to FC stats Matt! Not a great week of training as back into work post-holiday, but I guess I did manage a 12-day on streak in February so can’t complain. This week looking tough as have lots of non-training climbing homework (proofreading the new Eastern Grit and presenting the Banff Film Festival show in Reading) so better get organised if I'm to be Font fit!

M – rest
T – rest
W – CWLA training all day then mixed Lead/Boulder session at Brookes. Opened an account on a new 7a (rope burn to prove it) and knocked out some blue circuit boulder problems.
T – rest
F – rest
S – Trad Stanage High Neb. A good clutch of 5c technical grade HVSs and E1s so a good day of consolidation considering first trad this year. Windy!
S – Boulder Wirksworth. Only one chance to get a score this fortnight and tough setting for the WBL final round. Hope it’s enough – will find out in 2 weeks…

In reply to Lancer:

Haha lancer thanks. It goes without saying that I don't feel strong of course.

Of course I'm pretty light these days - in order to be as strong as some of my non-climbing mates I would need to carry 40kgs to even up the weight.

The old "if only I could be skinny but have a big guy's arms" hypothetical....

In reply to Nick Russell:

Thanks nick.

Easy week although I did get outside.

Tues. Indoors. Leading on new routes to 7a+.
Failed the 7b+ on the final campus move.

Sun. Portland. Did a number of 6s only. Did ok though given the damp in the air and possibly got one of the better days given what the rest of the country got. So happy with that.

Thanks. Will post better in the future. Goals etc.

Kev.

In reply to Ally Smith:

I'd be up for Brean on 22nd!

In reply to Nick Russell:

Thanks for write-up. In CB I think that I may have rung politely on the front door bell again, rather than smashing in the back door.

M - cycle commute. S&C
T - cycle commute. Fingerboard, hardx3
W - cycle commute. Routes at UCR, back-to-back pairs, virtually all above 6c. Bruised finger in an undercut so it went purple & swollen but thankfully it was just a bruise. Got me worried!
T - cycle commute
F - fly to Spain. Routes at Alcalali - 6b, 6c, 7a/b. The 7a/b thing was truely horrible - the area of wall was virtually grid-bolted so there was no discernable line as such. Did the v hard start variation, then got lost half way up. V dispiriting indeed, and unfortunatly reined me back in my route choices over the next few days.
S - Pegos. V hot, routes short & steep. 6b+ 6b+ 6c+ (2nd go - hard to read) then tried a 7b. OS attempt failed at the first bolt so then did bolt to bolt followed by TR to get the moves. Absolutely hurled myslef at the redpoint and got to a long move to a vertical crack above the final bolt. Annoyingly hadn't realised that it is critical whether one hits this thumb up or thumb down due to the internal shape of the crack, got it wrong and pinged off. Pulled back on and used hand the other way up and did the move easily. Dark descending so no time was a rematch. We didn't return to this crag as it was fully south facing and just too hot.
S - l'ocaive. Friendly local climbers gave lots of info, and damned rockfax (and smoked a lot of pot, and didn't do much climbing!). 6b+, 7a OS (6c+ in rockfax, Spanish dudes gave it 7a), then 7b. Came off at top of crux on OS attempt. TR play to sort the moves. Clean 1st redpoint. The top half is jug hauling with a couplf of ok rests, but hard in the context of just having climbed the bottom half.
M - Bovedos, a new crag way off to the right of the Bovedon cave. It is larger and quite possibly steeper than Bovedon and utterly brutal! Tried a 7b+ which Gaz had recommended. 1st go was clip-to-clip to mid roof, then fell and couldn;t get back on. 2nd go I blasted through to the next clip in one, then clip-to-clip to the top. The incredibly steep cave section is about half the route, then a pull around the top lip, 2 rests in grubby scoops, jug hauling (not all of it obvious) to the top. In the steep I got one poor kneebar, enough to get a clip, but could find no other rests. I need better tactics for working very steep stuff - on my 3rd go I fell before the in-situ draws, had a hell of a job pervic thrusting back up the rope, was totally exhausted and had to retreat from a maillon! This route undoutedly did not play to my stregths (no vert crimps in sight) but even so it felt significantly difficult - harder than Priapos due to the lack of rests.

So a good trip. Tried hard stuff, but couldn't talk myslef onto 7c. Did get 7a OS and 7b in minimal attempts.

Now I have no more trips abroad planned at all for the rest of the year Anybody fancy Spain in late Sept or mid Nov? Long weekend or week?

In reply to hms:

Sounds like your short trip was more productive than my fortnight out in Spain!

7a OS and 7b "redpoint lite" sound good to me, but i can understand your frustration about stagnating at that level.

I think it's good you got on a super steep 7b+ - sometimes you have to step outside your comfort zone. A return match with Priapos isn't going to be successful without doing some specificity to roofy jug hauling!

RE. Working steep roof routes:

- "Boinking" up the rope is much more efficient if the belayer is hanging in mid air - if the fall hasn't jolted them skyward, then using a jumar + grigri to get them hanging before you boink is a good tactic.

- Otherwise, there's the indian rope trick - from hanging, lean right back and put your foot on the rope in front of you, grab the rope and "rockover" on to the rope, bouncing a bit until you leg is fully extended and you're stood upright on a loop of rope. Often this is enough to regain the holds or draw. Warn you belayer before pulling back on as they'll get 6' of slack through at a high rate of knots!

Trips: Long weekend in November might be tempting - can't commit now though as haven't confirmed destination or dates for Autumn trip. RRG, Kalymnos & Waterfall Boven SA current options.

In reply to hms:

It sounds like you were unlucky not to walk away with a 7a onsight and 2 7b redpoints out of a few days, plus a few goes at a few other hard things. It doesnt sound entirely dissimilar to my short trip to Rodellar a few years back - 7a+ onsight and flash and 2 quick 7bs but no other attempts on hard stuff.

That trip was the same year I think I did Almost Me, Circus Circus and Draggin Along. So be encouraged as to what that sort of intensity level on a short trip could mean for the rest of your yea if you apply it to particular routes. Charles is on the lookout to resume his siege on Circus Circus btw.

Ally has good advice re working routes although he practises belayers warnings less well than he preaches for the Indian rope trick.

Similar to Ally really, the end of my year is still very much up for grabs so I can't commit to anything helpful now although might be able to in future. I did email you back about uk based stuff in september though?

In reply to Ally Smith:

I think another factor was going with a climber who was done relatively little sport climbing so I was the better oneof the team. I do seem to need someone to push me onto hard stuff!

She is quite small & light, so although she was trying to dangle off the rope whilst I boinked up it, there wasn't a lot of downwards force. Haven't heard of the indian rope trick or seen it in action - think I might need a demo. Some proper sports draws would also help as my lightweight ones can be quite painful to grab.

I owe you huge thanks for the education in how to use superglue btw. I reamed a chunk out of the pad of my index finger on day 1 and another out the side of my little finger on day2, both of which needed glued on tape to allow me to continue climbing. Don't know how I would deal with the 2 chunks I slashed out of my palms frantically twisting on tufa blobs whilst dangling at 60+ degrees but last day so didn't matter.

You'd probably really enjoy Bovedos - I'll send you the topo/location instructions if you like. Not a lot under 7b+ there.

In reply to AJM:



Humildes and Marroncita are the king lines IMHO. Humildes for the line, and Marroncita because the movement looks so much fun. Taking the skipped clip whipper from the chains also looks like fun, but only if it's a deliberate act!

In reply to Nick Russell:
Thanks for the stats Nick.

Decent week training wise, feel like the power endurance stuff is paying off already. Ticked a 30ish move circuit that I’ve always need two rests on previously. Felt relatively easy compared to my previous attempts at it.

M - Core session. Wk 2 of gym ball routine. 5x5 pull ups (+6kg). 5x5 push ups (+7kg).
T - Wall session. Route Doubles x 8. Trying out some new routes, so bit of experimenting with getting the correct grades/routes for consistent difficulty. Nevermind, got the volume done.
W - Rest
T - Core session. Wk 2 of gym ball routine.
Max hangs. 3 sets of: 3 hangs per grip. 1 min between hangs. 3 mins between grips.
1/2 crimp 20mm edge (-1kg), front 3 open 20mm edge (-1kg), 35° sloper (-1kg).
no gains
F - Rest
S - Ty Newedd. Partner bailed on me, so messed around on a shunt on a 7a. Definitely felt doable, though the rock here soon tore my tips to shreds.
S - New bouldering set at the wall. Tough this time around. Up to V5. Also ticked a hard circuit that I’ve always pumped out on before. Perhaps a bit of the Aero Power work paying off I think, and maybe the core work as I feel much stronger keeping pressure on the feet on rubbish holds.
Evening: 5x5 pull ups (+6kg). 5x5 push ups (+7kg).

In reply to hms:
Seems like you did pretty good for a 'polite' long weekend to me. You've got some good positives there, with very nearly a 7b onsight.

In reply to Ally Smith and hms:

I hadn't really considered November before but it looks a little like our big deadlines for the year are going to be September and October sort of time, so actually packing holiday in close together during October and November might be less hassle than usual in terms of getting the time off. Will consider more when I get back.

Ally, when would you be doing waterfall if you went? Know almost nothing about it but pics look cool.

In reply to JayK:

Morning Camper,

The reason I've picked those problems is because they're either a) local or b) somewhere I get to on a reasonably frequent basis as I'm figuring that they'll take me a few sessions to get done, and c) they look like quite interesting lines. The Lakes and North Wales has tonnes of stuff I'd be keen to get on but I just haven't worked out quite what or when yet. Off to The Lakes at Easter so may do some scouting out more projects I'm always open to suggestions too.

Love from,
Joyce,
XXXX