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.

Link to last week’s thread: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=628201
For those wanting to find out more about training for climbing a number of physical training articles are linked here: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=274502

The following training article by Alex Barrows gives an excellent breakdown on training the four main "energy systems" specific to climbing: http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.com.es/2014/02/training-for-sport-climb...

A new thread is posted each week on Sunday for anyone to jot down their previous week's activity. UKC fitclub 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.

Psyche video of the week: youtube.com/watch?v=nPWDcBH4cOk& Tonight’s finals in the lead world cup

Nick Russell: Bummer that you were ill. How was this week? Did you get back to training?
Mattrm: Were youre lungs better this week? Managed to go outside?
Hms: Sounds like a good week! Did you get on some of the 7bs this week?
The Ex-Engineer: Congrats on the orange arête! Have you been back after the reset for a flash session?
Exile: Based on your training you should definitely be able to get some more 7bs and a 6c onsight! How was this week? Managed to do more cardio?
Alexm198: Bummer that one of your last weeks in Cham didn’t work out as planned. Sounds smart to take some time of to reflect and come up with new goals and a training schedule! Got anything done this week?
Biscuit: Smart to let somebody have an objective look at your climbing! Did you have a good week again this week?
Tyler: Congrats on the V6s, 7a and 7a+s. Did you manage to get on GBH/ Main Overhang this week?
Joyce: Looks like a good comeback after having a cold! Did you get one some of the 7bs this week or did you boulder?
Spenser: Nice that you could go aid climbing with the ankle! How was this week? Did you have a chance for toproping and did you try to swim 2km?
Joughton: I understand, my exams start this week, but it sounds like you manage climbing hard with student life really well! Did you had some good training sessions this week?
Ian Bell: Despite the weather it sounds like a good trip to font! Nice that you almost onsighted the 7a on the slab! Did you ticked it this week?
Dandan82: What a big bummer with both elbows being bad again! Did you made an appointment for an ultrasound? Maybe you could toprope some slabs to keep technique up or would it be too tempting to try other routes as well?
Ally Smith: Good idea to stick to 1on/1off before the trip, are you leaving this week? Did you get rid of the lingering lurgy?
TonyB: Too bad the weather wasn’t on your side! Did you manage similar training volume this week?
AJM: A week off is an important part of training as well especially after a full week of climbing on holiday. Did you start training again this week?
Just Tintin: Something in the air regarding the bad weeks I think. Did you have a better one this week?
Planetmarshall: Proper week! How did the surgery go?
Humperdink: That’s some impressive mileage and an impressive time in the race! Did the hamstring cope with it?
Richard Popp: Nice one ticking the 6A+-6C circuit! Did you find some training partners or got any idea were to find them?
0.5viking: don’t let exams get in the way for training!

In reply to 0.5viking:

Thanks for doing fit club again.

I was very close on two 7bs this year so they should go early next season - what I'm looking for is for them to go down pretty quickly. I also seconded a couple of 6cs clean so OS should go. Both will be good consolidation.

2015 aims:

Winter2015 / 16 Consolidate VI 7.

Spring / early Summer 2016: A couple more 7b RPs and OS 6c

Summer 2016 OS Malice in Wonderland, (E3 / E4)

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

M: 1hr road run (Winter endurance)
T: 1hr 30min trying to link up - down - up on the 45 degree woody - 18 hand movements when it comes together. (Top end power endurance)
W: 1hr road run (Winter endurance)
T: Rest
F: 1hr 30min trying to link up - down - up on the 45 degree woody - 18 hand movements when it comes together. (Top end power endurance)
S: Rest
S: 1hr 30min trying to link up - down - up on the 45 degree woody - 18 hand movements when it comes together. (Top end power endurance)

A good week. Finding these hopeful PE sessions, (still really power at the moment as I'm working on linking the problems,) demand a good rest.

In reply to 0.5viking:

Really busy with exam preparations, so missed out on posting last week, here a double one.

Weight: 70.8kg
M: climbing outdoors, took a friend on her first trad, a 2 pitch 4+ (the best 4+ I’ve ever done, usually I don’t like them because of ledges, but this one was clean and with good gear). She really enjoyed it, so means I’ll have a seconding partner .
T: running intervals and core exercises.
W: climbing indoors, after warming up tried my red 6c project, but was too pumped from a 6b and went wrong on the crux. Then gave it a good rest and did it second go (third go in total).
T: bouldering indoors, took it easy flashing the new problems up to 6A, except one which i horribly misread. Also flashed a 6B and a 6B second go
F: rest
S: climbing indoors, repeated a 6a technical corner (lot of stemming and smearing) went smooth, tried both the white and purple 6c projects, but both didn’t go that well. Since I failed on the purple 6c, I tried the 7b/+ on the same line, reached the first crux relatively easy, but couldn’t stick the slopey edge.
S: rest/school

Week 452

Weight: 70.4kg
M: running and some antagonists and core, otherwise lots of school
T: rest/school
W: climbing indoors, powered out at the crux of the purple 6c, fell on the second last clip on the white 6c, tried the yellow 7b/+ again and worked it with a friend that a fall meant switching between belaying and climbing and got 3/4 up.
T: rest/school
F: rest/school
S: mostly school, but managed to sneak out for a small indoor bouldering session, but didn’t get properly warmed up, so a bad session.
S: rest/school

In reply to 0.5viking:
Another decent week in terms of volume and variety. Also, rather surprisingly I haven't had a massive session on the new blocs at Brookes yet.

M - Routes & Bouldering @ Brookes. 4x4 session and then a successful bouldering session ticking two more problems before the reset.
T - Yoga then Routes @ Reading. Got an f7a+ onsight which is my best effort indoors in ages, dogged 2 f7a and got a f6c+ clean.
W - Bouldering @ Milton Keynes. Long session, worked 3 more WBL problems (and found one I'd missed) taking me up to 27/40.
T - Routes & Bouldering @ Brookes. Two goes each on two f7a+. (Last clip on both probably the crux. Hopefully get them next week.) Ticked around a dozen new mid-grade blocs but unsurprisingly felt tired as it was my 7th day on!
F - rest
S - Routes & Bouldering @ Reading. Had a quick go on the main roof and got the White f6c clean but mainly bouldered. Pretty much all the Pinks & Red, half the Purples and a few Oranges.
S - rest.

It's been good to spend more time on routes this week. I'm still feeling a bit rusty but I feel things are progressing OK.

In reply to 0.5viking:

Thanks for the stats, Viking. Yes I did, but think I made a bad choice!

M - cycle commute, cycle to city centre, pummeled by Nina.
T - cycle commute. UCR routes. Can't remember exactly what I did but certainly included trying a 7b which turned out to be a nightmare route from hell. Limped up 2/3rds of it then got shut down at a move which appears to require levitation.
W - work event. Walked home so 4 miles, then lots of shoulder rehab, plus S&C x 3.
T - cycle commute, cycle to UCR, bouldering. Everything felt weirdly slimy and I fell off lots of stuff.
F - TCA trying the black problems, which apparently have been tweaked up since everyone else merrily reported they were soft, cos they weren't. Did 7 out of the ~20 I tried.
S - fingerboarding using the hang timer ap. Kept going till I expired! Tried to use small / slopier holds, but found I need to do 7 on 4 off in order to have time to get my hands down, shake, put them back up. Lots and lots of press-ups, some weights / shoulder stuff.
S - UCR routes, inc 5 @ 7a. Got a bit obsessed by 1 route and ended up having 4 goes on it. The clipping line took some working out, cos the obvious line means a crux moves gets me tangled in the rope. Tickled the top hold twice.

so the 7b attempt was basically the wrong route. Now have 2 other suggestions, but today's obsessing meant I didn't try them. This week hopefully! Also really hope UCR resets their circuits as the current set and now old, boring & greasy.

In reply to 0.5viking:

Pretty slow week, but I'm getting back into it! It's a long time since a cold floored me like that for such a long time. I think the last time was when I woke up feeling a bit sniffly on the morning of the Bristol half marathon and decided that denial was a good tactic, so did the run anyway... took me out for about a month. Funny, seems like exerting yourself when you're coming down with a viral infection, however routine, isn't a good idea!

M - ill (but getting better)
T - nothing (but I'll call it 'rest' because I'd just got over the cold)
W - nothing (ditto).
T - 6km run I actually did some exercise and it felt good!
F - Bloc. A distinctly sub-par session: managed about an hour there, failing on progressively easier circuits. Didn't actually get round anything harder than 6a.
S - Nothing
S - TCA. Forearms still sore from Friday, but had a slightly stronger circuits session. Still only about an hour, then finished up with a bit of core.

Weight : 65.6kg
(... just as well I'm using the fancy moving averages as there was a massive spike this week following a curry and beer with work!)

In reply to 0.5viking:
M: Rest
T: BoulderUK - The grades for the new set are about a grade out! Managed 2x V5
W: Stockport, failed to get up anything I'd not got up before but dogged my way up remainder of low 7s
T: 2 mile run, unplanned but needed to pick up the car. First run for 13 months, ankle held up ok, legs and lungs not so much!
F: Rest
S: BoulderUK - grades still mental, didn't get up anything
S: Stockport - Managed one of the hard 7a's and a 7a+, failed on the hardest 7a

Injuries: Bad toe, painful and difficult to stand on
Weight: Creeping back up need to lose before Margalef

In reply to 0.5viking:

Cheers Viking. Good luck with the exams.

Last post for me before the holibobs. Not a bad week. I was resting before what shoukld have been 3 days on but ended up being two due to a leaky roof and a puncture. Long story.

Climbed Wed eve and Thurs morning. Too close together. Good session on Wed. Gave a 7c some goes. Got sucked in by getting up the first few clips without much bother. That's because all the hard stuff is at the top! Great route and it felt do-able (with a lot of work) which bodes well. WOuld never have thought of getting on something that hard if i hadn't been pointed at it.

Thursday sucked. I was a bit late and just got straight into it. 4 sets of 3 routes pyramid style. Moved everything up half a grade so starting at 6b and topping at 7a+. Totally crashed by the first 7a, the 7a+ barely happened. Decided to do a juggy 6c and a 6c onsight on the tall wall instead of the next set. I was barely making it to the 3rd clip in the harder routes. JUst felt totally powered out and very low psyche. Hangover from trying hard the night before i think. Did an easy warm down set and called it quits.

So not great but i was happy with how the 7c felt. Go on holiday on Tuesday. Looking at getting a bit of climbing in, but it's not a climbing holiday. Neither is it a sit on the beach holiday so i shouldn't come back lardy.

Got coaching on 15th so time to get a couple of weeks in when i get back before assessment.

In reply to 0.5viking:


Time will tell...

Mon - Hand surgery. In a cast for 1 week, after that about 5-7 weeks before I can realistically climb.
Tue - Rehab of an long-standing assymmetry in the shoulders ( weaker on left side due to stabilization surgery about 10 years ago ). Rehab of some stiffness in lower back.
Wed - Shoulder / Back rehab.
Thu - Shoulder / Back rehab.
Fri - Shoulder / Back rehab.
Sat - Shoulder / Back rehab.
Sun - Shoulder / Back rehab.

Cast comes off on Tue, hopefully I'll be able to get out and do a bit of running.

In reply to 0.5viking:

STG = another 7b by the end of Tenerife trip (going for c10 days over New Year)
MTG = at least 3x7b and 1x7b+ in 2016
BHAG = 8a by 40

No slab rematch this week, not a slab fan to be honest but that ones just waiting for a tick so maybe next week.

M – 15 mins yoga

Wed – Routes at WW. OS 3x6a, 6c. Tried to OS and failed 2x7a+ (fell of last move on one), 6c+ (nails and more like 7a+) and 6b+.

Thurs – Short (1 hour) WW boulder. Did the new V0, V1, V2/3 circuits. Did a couple of the V3/4.

Sun – 15 mins abs

Elbows hurting back end of the week so decided to take a few days off, ironically I think I overdid it on the antagonist exercises! Was due a rest week in the loose training plan anyway so will just have it a bit early. Hopefully fit in a couple of sessions back end of next week.

In reply to 0.5viking:


Cheers Viking!
Yeah it's back to elbow hell for me, I was clearly a very bad person in a previous life.
Things weren't helped by me having to build a platform in the loft for a new water tank on Friday, I tried to go as steady as possible but there's only really one way to get 20kg of wood into the loft and screw it all together. It was that or leave my wife without a working shower all week so this was definitely the easier option!

I suppose I could do some slabs but that limits me to 2 routes at my local wall with nothing harder than a 5 on them. I think the temptation to use my hands would be too great and I'd end up climbing something else. There's not much technique I can practise on a 5 so I'm better off keeping well away from the wall, I just can't be trusted.

M: Exercise ball core
T: Working out a strength and conditioning circuit without any involvement from tennis elbow muscles
W: Exercise ball core
T: New S&C circuit, pretty successful, no elbow pain, some good new movements
F: Acupuncture, Loft saga
S:
S:

I had Acupuncture on Friday, it's not something I've ever done before so I thought it was worth a try.
For some reason I thought it would be quite a calm, relaxed affair, a little jab as each needle is just poked through the skin, a waft of incense, maybe some whale song in the background, then somehow the little needles work their magic and cause a lovely healing effect.
How wrong I was.
Those needles go in deep. Like, really deep.
And once they are in, the sadistic bugger who stuck them in wiggled them around, deep in my muscle tissue. It caused some of the most disconcerting, traumatic pain I have ever experienced, deep involuntary painful spasms inside the muscle tissue, almost like someone was poking tiny needles in there - oh, yeah, right.

Exactly why I had expected it to be anything other than sharp needles prodding my muscles I have no idea, but there is no chance in hell that I am doing that again. Did I mention I had a really sore arm and no magical healing afterwards? Rubbish.

On the plus side, I've already got a date for an ultrasound, its at the start of next month, good job, NHS!

In reply to Dandan:

That's a shame about the acupuncture. When I had it it was really helpful (and so soothing that I could barely stay awake driving home afterwards, which was a problem as I nearly totalled in a country lane!) I can recommend a great one in Oxford but probably not much help! Hopefully the ultrasound brings good things when it comes!

In reply to 0.5viking:

Illness is one thing, but if the plan says to train then laziness shouldn't stop training from happening! But yes, I managed to sort out some of my distractions by midweek so from Wednesday onwards it was quite a respectable week, maybe a session or so down but the DOMS on Sunday convinced me I worked pretty hard.

Cycling was a bit irregular this week but got about 50k dome from a mkx of commuting and lunchtime trips out for house faff.

Wednesday - wall. Good session on the bouldering, progress on projects. 1on1off to finish.
Thursday - accidentally went out drinking after work. Tequila.
Friday - wall. Good bouldering session, a little progress, feeling quite good on problems ATM. Then did a really solid 1on1off to finish, dug in deep.
Saturday - woke up and hit the fingerboard. Then went to the wall, had a solid boulder session with good progress on my pink roof project which has a cool mid roof 180 - my link now extends to the point where it gets really hard! Then foot on campus flags which were pumpy. London in the afternoon.
Sunday - London. DOMS!

In London midweek but taking shoes with me so hopefully still get some training in. Gradually trimming down the post Kaly blubber. Seeing folk like Nick weighing in mid 60s though makes me realise I could probably do more. Fingers crossed for a weekend out. 10 days or so to Chulilla...

In reply to 0.5viking:

Training Diary WC 09/11/15
Not quite out of the woods.

Thanks for doing the stats Mr V, 't is appreciated. No routes (or much) this week as the cold hasn't quite finished with me...

Monday – Tempo run – 10.1km in 42:41 at 4:12m/km pace. GAP 4:08m/km as 132m of ascent. Definitely still clearing this ol’ cold out as my heart rate was all all over the place for the first 3km or so, as it has been before when running when a bit ill. Just over 3 mins off my fastest time for this look but really pleased with this as I pushed quite hard but wanted it to be at a ‘tempo’ pace – got it bang on. Dandan’s swiss ball core workout session – wk 1.
Tuesday – TCA with Tom: finished off the black circuit (2nd hardest). First time that I’ve ever cleared this circuit and I managed it in 2 sessions plus 3 or 4 goes on one of the harder problems last Friday. The consensus is that they’re a touch softer this time out so I’ll see how I get on when they’re resets. Managed a purple 6C+ from the comp that I didn’t quite do last week too – done as a ‘warm down’ on my first attempt tonight.
Wednesday – Extended intervals: 4x1km intervals with <1min rest. Managed them in 15:03 at 3:47m/km pace. AImed for 4 x 3:28m/km, 1 x 3:25m/km and 1 x 3:22m/km but still getting over this cold and lungs and legs not firing at full power. Stopped after 4 reps as definitely not fast enough. Still, good to be out and it didn't rain until I'd almost finished. Dandan’s swiss ball core routine - wk 1.
Thursday – TCA – new problems on the Mothership. Onsighted/flashed various problems up to 6B+ and then failed gloriously on everything else that I tried (6C-7A+). Definitely not on it, think that cold ain’t quite shifted yet.
Friday – Rest.
Saturday – Tempo run – 11.1km in 50:02 at 4:29m/km pace. GAP 4:20m/km as 184m of ascent. Ran on the tops in the dark in the thick of Storm Abigail. Ace fun to be blown about. No puff though – need to rest, methinks. Dan’s Swiss ball core exercises wk 1.
Sunday – Rest. Tired.
Up the difficulty on the ol’ Aero Pow intervals to 6c/6c+ - nope.
Slopers, slopers, slopers, heel hooks (and other weaknesses) – oh yeah, and going well/less bad – more please.
Climb The Loop from the ‘horn’ (nope - wet).
Do more routes outside or inside to fix lack temporary lack of rope clipping ability - nope.
Keep up with the antagonistic stuff - nope. At least one BM session a week – nope. Core stuff: 3 core sessions – tick.
Weight = 70.1kg

Good news though, I've started measuring up for the climbing wall that's going in Supershed - whoop whoop!

Love from,
Joyce,
XXXX

In reply to 0.5viking:
joining UKC Fit Club, borrowing Ian B's format

STG: 6c+ & 7a RP by xmas - indoor
MTG: 7a & E2 RP in 2016 - outdoor
LTG: 7b & E3 RP - outdoor

Probably too much this week, no surprise some tweaks around the elbow. No Finger boarding this week.

M: Leading at Castle (upstairs). Onsight/Flash: 1x5+, 1x6a+, 2x6b, 1x6b+. Redpoint: 2x6c (one clean & one dogged), 1x6c+ (dogged)

T: 1hr Pilates reformer

W: Leading at Castle (wells and upstairs). Bit lethargic. Onsight/Flash: 1x5+, 2x6a, 2x6b, 2x6b+. Redpoint: 1x6c

Th: Rest

F: 1hr Pilates reformer

S: Leading at Castle (wells). Onsight/Flash: 2x6a, 2x6b, 1x6b+, 1x6c. Redpoint: 1x6c+ (dogged), 1x7a (dogged, then clean on top rope, have a chance to go clean now)

S: Bouldering at Castle (social): 3xV0-V1, 7xV1-V3 (4xharder ones), 2xV3, 2xV4-V5 (tried several times, but didn't get)

In reply to 0.5viking:

Thanks for doing the stats again. Unfortunately last week was written off training wise due to an awful cold I picked up from my friend who I went aid climbing with last weekend.
I went to the wall tonight and did a 6a, 6b and 6c onsight on top rope (previous best lead was a 6b+ flash, very in my style and very soft, I'd never tried top roping anything harder but none of them gave me any trouble strength wise).
Going forward:
Tuesday: Physio
Wednesday: Swimming or trip to Wirksworth wall for top roping
Thursday: General training at the climbing unit
Friday: Depends on weekend plans
Saturday/ Sunday: Either stuff in the peak or around coniston, currently leaning towards coniston as I need some new shoes (current ones full of holes) and my harness doesn't fit me now that I've lost weight with eating better (Ok, I'm a gear whore). I'll figure this out when my mate gets back to me, weather also looks better in the lakes!
Short term Goal: Continue building strength and working on fitness as much as work etc allow before recommencing normal climbing in December. Top rope 7a at the wall.
Medium Term Goal: Redpoint 7a, headpoint E4
Long Term Goal: Onsight 7a, E4.

In reply to 0.5viking:

Day on/day off seems good for continued training progress, but lurgy is still lingering. I've been waking up very snotty and take a couple of hours to clear my nostrils. Not missing anything with the whack weather though!

Based on recent results, my an-cap is a probably a bit over developed at the moment, compared to aero-cap/power and Chulilla could be an eye opener in terms of pump intensity.

Not much I can do about it now though – need a sustained period of aero-cap to balance that out – something to focus on for the coming winter.

MTG (by end of 2015)
Do an 8a slab; The Medium?
Do some progressive (grit?) headpointing.
Kilnsey/Malham – go bolt a project before Gresham claims them all
Toadal Recall, f8a – tidy up loose ends.
Well Done finish, f8b (seems very unlikely now)
Chulilla - La Montana Magica, f8a+/b and f7c OS (End Nov)
2x mid-week training sessions
2x week core sessions – proper Randall beastings

Sub 74 kg & 6.4% BF before Chulilla trip

STG (next week)
- Rehab - TICK
- Do some proper core training - TICK
- Maintain gradual weight loss/sub 75 kg – SEMI-FAIL
- Repeat Trigger Cut – FAIL, but got to the shot hole lots of times despite the greasy connies
- Repeat moves on Broken Trigger – all bar one foot swap and now seen new Doylo method on this and The Wire moves.


Last week:
M - BIG session at AWS. 2/3rd linked-boulder an-cap; upping intensity and reducing rest interval. Then 6x doubles ~7a+, though given the variability of current grades at Stockport, some felt very easy and others the living end – BEASTED!
T - Followed Mr. Fox’s advice and concentrated on proprioception exercises for rehab; did some theraband work too. Floor and hanging core with ball based glute exercises to finish
W - Overnight touch of snotty lurgy – theraband rehab only. Theatre.
T - FB2 (PB: BM + 42.5 kg, 4x 15kg repeaters) then FB An-cap. 177s max is nearly 20% up on a month ago, and levelled off @ 60s (also up ~20%). Press-ups, ball glute exercises and core.
F - Rest.
S - Cave of justice. Good for 2 hours then the cappuccino conditions arrived and everything went slimy. Some big links on projects and shoulder felt much better than last Sunday.
S - 1 hour ice skating, mulled wine, bratwurst etc. 30 min core and ball rehab

75.4kg/6.7% BF this morning.

In reply to AJM:

It's never an accident, mulled wine was my undoing this week.

Me too

Mid 70s would be nice, let alone mid 60s!

In reply to Ally Smith:

hah! Mid 50s, chaps.

In reply to Ally Smith:

The scale was accidental!

When are you in town, and where? Drop me a line. I'm up tonight til Thursday eve. Hopefully climbing with N&H Thursday.

In reply to hms:

I think if I lost >15kg from where I am now my climbing might suffer...!

In reply to hms:


In which case my winter aspiration is to do a fingertip pull up with you (or weight equivalent) on my back!

In reply to AJM:
Yep, that's the plan
Ally - join us!

In reply to 0.5viking:

It was an interesting week for me. I got on an 8a for the first time and had an assessment on the lattice board. I could only get out on Saturday and the forecast wasn’t great, but my friend suggested Rubicon. The conditions were good and even though it rained quite heavily everything stayed dry. I tried vimeo.com/116359245

I could link moves 1-3. I didn’t link them from the ground but given how easy the first part is, I can’t see that being an issue. The 4th move, repositioning the hand and matching on a tiny crimp, is really hard and I couldn’t do it. There is some useful beta in the video, with a subtle repositioning the feet, which I could probably try. The 5th and 6th moves are OK. The 7th move was beyond me, but I looking at the video, I think I was trying to be too static.

Overall, I could conceive climbing it. It’s hard to say how much work this would require, as it’s possible that no matter how many times I try I might not be able to make the hard moves. If I have to take something away from it is that to climb a really bouldery 8a, then I need to either get good at discovering subtle body positions and possibly better at holding terrible crimps.

I also had a play on the boulder start to Caviar Start (f7B) ( the route is 8a+). I really liked the initial moves and would be keen to finish the boulder problem and who knows it could be futuristic project. Certainly, the Caviar boulder is a strong pull back to Rubicon so it could be fun trying them both.

The lattice board was very informative. My finger strength and most of the energy systems are in good order and in the range of redpointing 8a/8a+. The last year of a structured training plan seem to have paid off massively. My aeropow could have been better, but I haven’t been training it recently and will probably only do so as we come into the spring.

Monday – bouldering mileage, rings and shoulder stability
Tuesday – bouldering long rests and continuous climbing
Wednesday – rest pre-assessment
Thursday – assessment
Friday – rest post-assessment
Saturday – redpointing followed by core.
Sunday – fingerboard followed by core

I didn’t get as much training done this week, but the assessment and associated rest was well worthwhile. I’m a bit undecided about goals for next week. I probably only have time for a short session in the Peak, so giving Sissy/Caviar boulder another bash might be a productive use my time. It looks cold so I don’t fancy trying any longer routes.

In reply to 0.5viking:
Cheers Viking, hope exams are going ok.

Hamstring was fine this week which was a relief

M: am - 10M to work in 66:44, pm - 4/5M home in 34:03 - felt terrible as just ran out of carbs and hit the wall big time
Tu: Lunchtime road session - 5 x (75secs hard, 30 secs rest, 4mins @ 10K effort) 2mins between sets. Felt pretty good on this, 10M total, pm - 4/5M home in 30:39 legs sore and felt tired
W: am - 9M to work legs still sore
Th: am - 9/10M to work in 68:33 legs a bit better
F: am - 4/5M to work in 30:12
Sa: am - 2M easy + strides felt ok
Su: Leeds Abbey Dash (10K) - weather was wet and very windy for this one which always gets a really good field and was the English 10K champs as well. Couldn't get anyway near the front at the start, was prob about 10 rows back but that was probably a good thing as it stopped me going off too fast. Obviously it didn't stop everyone as I went through 1K in 3:06 and must have been in about 100th!! From there it was just a case of trying to keep moving up the field and overtaking as many as possible. Got to the turnaround at 5K still feeling strong and by about 7/8K got up to the group I was to spend the rest of the race with. Went hard up the last little incline and then made the numpty mistake of not being able to spot the finish line (oh so thats why those people are sprinting past!). Didn't cost me more than a couple of seconds/places though. On chip time I finished with 31:40 and such was the depth of the field I was about 60th! Happy with the time as not far off my PB and would have taken it before the start! 11/12M total

65M total and another encouraging run. Got a couple of weeks now to train so going to try and up the mileage a bit.

In reply to 0.5viking:

Thanks Viking. A better week, though largely unstructured and not enough time spent on routes.

M – random bumping around on autobelay/boulders/hangboard at Brookes, then coaching
T – rest aka lazy
W – “
T – routes Brookes but didn’t warm up properly and got majorly pumped on 7a+ and went downhill from there
F – AM routesetting Brookes
PM Climbing Unit WBL. 174, which was enough for 4th Senior women. Not great – rushed it to get in within time as we had been stuck on the motorway there and got beaten by the usual current/ex-GB junior suspects.
S – AM Quick V4 before the rain at Nuda’s Tartan
PM 188/ 250 in Wirksworth WBL. Have another shot at adding to that next weekend so hopefully can improve on that.
S – Climbing Unit green circuit plus some oranges and missed comp problems

In reply to 0.5viking:

Thanks for the stats Viking!

I missed last week, did stuff but nothing really noteworthy and just missed putting it up! Did even less last week due to a very horrible cold but I don't want to lose the habit of posting here (it is motivating!).

The cold started properly on Monday and I struggled with work never mind running so did nowt, same Tues.

Weds - still felt pretty lousy but did make it for lead climbing session, more social/drills than hard physical.

Thurs - Felt lousy!

Fri - Still felt lousy but wanted to fiddle around at the wall. I spent 2 hrs learning to step onto the slab boulder wall no handed, + 2 other home grown balance challenges I set myself. It took about a gazillion attempts but I got all 3 and felt like I really understood what I'd learnt as opposed to not really knowing why it was successful. I was thrilled with my tiny success.

Sat - Blocbuster event and I stank! Totally cooked myself queueing, got stressed because did daughters round with her first when there were less queues then she was upset it was taking me so long. I get nervous anyway but couldn't get in any flow waiting for each climb - mostly by the time it was my turn it was a case of faking it because I didn't even really want to climb. Right up there in worst climbing days. I will enter again next year because it's exposed something I need to work on - not getting miserable!

Sun - pleasant day with pals at the wall, easy going and enjoyable with some sticky problems too.

In reply to everyone:
Just a quick post to say that I'll be heading to Portland on Sunday, just in case anyone from here might be around.
If you are, or fancy meeting up for a climb, drop me an email.

In reply to 0.5viking:
Thanks for doing the stats.

STG - Climb outside again...

Weight - 12st 7lbs (STS)

M - W - Rest
T - 100 Dish Tucks
F - Rest
S - S - More DIY

Monthly Avg - 0%
Yearly Avg - 64%

Pretty much the same as last week. Lungs still bad. Did some dish tucks. Don't think the lungs are going to get much better unless I start doing some exercise. So really ought to do something. Also tweaked my shoulder doing DIY, which hasn't helped.