UKC

Link to last week’s thread: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=635102
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: http://www.epictv.com/media/podcast/up-all-day-out-all-night-in-verdon-with... Beautiful southern french tufa

Posters:
Dandan82 - all sounds like upwards progress, but do you really want overuse aches? Given your previous history with elbows "keep it under control" sounds a bit like the sort of thing that one day will turn out not to have been as controlled as you had hoped. Just be careful eh!
planetmarshall - some good ticks there, especially with one crampon! How did this weekend go?
James Moyle - can't help with those dates I'm afraid but good luck finding someone
Si dH - getting close to Font now - shoulder back in the game it sounds like? I'll also congratulate in advance...
JayK - did I read your post right, that you started off working V4 and ended up lapping Rock Atrocity?
TonyB - good progress on the lapping. Month left to go to complete the big set? Shame about Portland conditions. Glad you found my flailing inspiring!
cha1n - Frustrating when the wall is busy - sharp elbows needed. A lot of "core" is your lower back, certainly keeping your feet on on steep terrain, so I'm surprised you can do steep stuff if the back is giving you grief?
Robin Brooke - excellent video choice. More Tom et je Ris porn for me to drool over
biscuit - sounds like a lot of very cool potential changes in the pipeline for you.
flopsicle - its all about challenging yourself, not ranking yourself against others - if 200 is a really solid score for you then be stoked about it regardless of how everyone else did
Emily - your Friday session does sound skin trashing!
Ian Bell - did you manage to tick over?
Nick Russell - how was graduation? Ali got to wear the most ridiculous outfit for hers, red and green like a Christmas elf!
Just Tintin - good to see you're keeping training and keeping motivated
hokkyokusei - glad the ankle seems to have only been a short term thing
stevemarkperry - its good youre seeing the clarity of goals as a silver lining - hows the rehab going?
AJM - clumsy fool stubbing your toe
mattrm - where was/is the holiday to?
alexm198 - decent start to the trip - how did you go on against that ticklist?
The Ex-Engineer - how're you feeling now after Sunday's dip?
Joyce - as a suggestion, try doing your endurance work after a fingerboard session rather than trying to fit 2 pretty intense strength sessions into the same workout? The fingerboard has got to have taken its toll on the limit bouldering.....
Tyler - I got on ok on a Euro trip off the back of a mainly strength-focused winter of bouldering, hopefully it will work for you as well.....
0.5viking - 2 hour ski tour as a part of work? Sounds like a good job!

Lurkers:
Joughton
Ally Smith
Curious Yellow - Spain
hms - Spain

In reply to AJM:

Thanks for doing the stats AJM. I have to look at it that way or else I'd drive myself mad with self pity haha! Rehab is going well thanks. Healing was fast for the first week and it's now tapered off and seems to have plateaued. I'm still walking with a limp and having to move quite slowly but I can get around. I can't apply weight through my toes yet so that rules out any form of climbing.

Tried a bike ride this week. My foot really didn't like that the next day –– too soon. My mate dragged me out to belay him at Stockport wall on Sat night and I was itching to get on some routes. Really psyched to get this sorted now and get back to climbing. The fire is getting hotter

I've been recommended a wobble board for foot rehab. Anyone had any experience of them?

STGs:
Foot rehab x4 daily: on-going -- finished this now and on to other movement.
Walk to shop: tick
Walk for 1hr: tick
Walk for 1.5hr: tick
Walk in Peak
Turbo
Bike around block: tick (1hr ride on road)
Bike on trail
Climb
Buy, mount and start using a fingerboard during downtime

M: Nothing
T: Nothing
W: 1hr on bike, really really steady but so happy about this. Sure my foot will hurt tomorrow. Dog training in eve.
T: Yep my foot really really hurt today, oops.
F: 1.5hr walking the dog. Upper body weights / core.
S: 1.5hr walking the dog. Belayed my buddy at AW Stockport. Can't climb yet but nice to get out to the wall. Some pull ups and a bit of campusing at the end.
S: 1.5hr walking the dog.

Current weight: 145 - 147 lbs. Getting a bit heavier, will start watching my diet now I'm not training.

In reply to AJM:

Haha - It sounds better than it was. I was falling off the finishing roll a lot (as I always did in the past). But it was confidence boosting actually being able to climb it and then have a continually good burns (albeit not completing) later in the session. I was certainly grateful for the car full from Liverpool who turned up and leant me a pad because it gave me more confidence as I got weaker! I think the two biggest positives was how light I felt and how I wasn't boning down on every hold (like I used to). I'm going to pick up a cheap camera I think for the summer and try and get some film of some attempted cave links - as it's likely I'm going to buzzing around a lot, it will at least help me with looking at my technique and form when looking through the film. The last move on RA still felt as droppable as my first ever attempt on it.

Nobody replied to my foot on campus Q btw. Increasing hang time or decreasing rest time. This week I went for increasing hang time. Any advice would be appreciated as I finally want to address my fighting the pump in difficult positions issue. (This is certainly bringing on super forearm burn)

Training wise- I couldn't stick to the plan this week as we had our mock Ofsted (by the academy trust) in school. So I only climbed Thursday and when really tired. I've been ill over the weekend by got a session in yesterday anyway and will try and do something down the wall today.

M-Nothing
T-Nothing
W-Nothing
T-General bouldering session of the new problems. Really good problems.
F-Nothing
S-General bouldering again before foot on campussing. 90secs on 90 off for 3 sets. Had a 5 minute rest and repeated for another 4 reps of 90 on 90 off. Failed after a minute on the fourth rep. It certainly feels like it's doing something.
S-Will update later on if I get something in.

In reply to AJM:

Thanks AJM

Monday - RUN - 6.3 km, 167m ascent
Tuesday - CYCLE - fold up bike getting to and from stations in Bath and London. About 12 km
Wednesday - CYCLE - 16km - 361m ascent
Friday - RUN - 6.4km - 142m ascent
Sunday - CYCLE - 58.5km - 719m ascent

STG
Running and Cycling totals for the month. Run - 836m/1500m, Cycle - 2828m/4500m

MTG
Weight: Fairly consistent 12st 5 to 12st 5.5 About another 1/2lb off this week. Slower than I'd prefer but not the end of the world as long as it keeps coming off. Target is to get down to a consistent weight between 12st and 12st 3lb

LTG
Alps: No improvement on the partner issue for the Alps. Have joined a few facebook groups this week so will post in there.

In reply to AJM:

Double update as in Spain last week. Could have borrowed a laptop, I know!

M cycle commute, core
T cycle commute. UCR in evening, routes in pairs, couple of good 7a+ goes.
W cycle commute
T TCA trying new black set, 5+ to 6b, which are definitely skewed to the top of the grade range I thought!
F nothing
S Spain. Flashed a 7b+, at full volume and with a much appreciated beta stream from below!
S Spain. Trying hard on 8a, 3 long tie-ins.

M Spain. Rest day.
T Spain. More trying hard on 8a, 3 long tie-ins
W Spain. Active rest day, multipitch at Mascarat Gorge. V atmospheric!
T Spain. Took a horrendous fall off the 8a after missing a clip. Fall was a bit of a sideways one and my ankle managed to get behind the rope as I fell. Full invert, sickening arse-first slam into rock. Was so very lucky that t wasn't my head. No I wasn't wearing a helmet. Yes thereafter I was. Had a couple more goes at the route afterwards on the principle that it would be unwise not to.
F Spain. Rather cold day. General lack of psyche so rather than get back on the 8a did a 7a instead. Unimpressed with the clipping - until I had everything extended it was hard move then clip which isn't ideal!
S fly home.
S rest

Feeling v tired still. I think the long goes on the 8a were probably taking more out of me than I really realised. I lead every move on the route in overlapping chunks of varying length. and have what I'm sure is a pretty good sequence, but a long way from being able to put it all together. As this was my first proper attempt at the grade at all I don't think I should be feeling despondent, but trip redpointing at ones limit can be pretty emotionally draining (lesson I had already learnt on Priapos). So ideally think I need a UK 8a project which can be tackled in weekend slots. The Cheddar 8as would be logistically easy but certainly RHM doesn't appeal much given the ultra polished and crap feet. Cider Soak seems a good contender but voting does seem to put it at the harder end of the grade range. Anything else in that neck of the woods?

In reply to AJM:
Cheers.
Andy isn't right but I'm able to climb hard as long as I avoid certain hand positions. I'm a bit worried about limestone season as that will need of the sort of positions it doesn't like. I might also need to take more rest days than usual in Font (travel next Saturday.)

Goals:
- Maintain a weight of around 11 stone measured Sunday night
- Jan/Feb: Jerry's Traverse (Cratcliffe) and at least 3 other grit 7Bs. [End result: T Crack, A Case of Mistaken Identity, Monochrome (all 7B) and Flatworld (7B+). Jerry's Traverse not possible due to left shoulder problems. Happy with this.]
March: Do Crazy Horse (7B) and either Magic Bus or La Barre Fixe (7B+) in Font. After Font, do Moffatrocity (7B+) if it's dry, or Wright's Traverse (7B) if Moff is still wet.
April: Moffatrocity if not done in March, then Eastwood Traverse (7B+). Start doing some limestone or Churnet bouldering in the evenings again once the clocks change.
May/June/July: Do a few more Font 7Bs on limestone or sandstone, and do Arch Enemies (F7c+)
August: Continue bouldering (more limestone F7B/+s) and, if Arch Enemies went well, get on an F8a.
September: Do the F8a.
October: Once finished (for good or bad) with the F8a, try Paint it Black (Ft7C) at Blackwell Dale.
November/December: Finish off Paint it Black if it feels doable and stays dry for long enough. Then get on the grit, goals being a Ft7B+ and maybe try Tetris (Ft7C).


M: Rest
T: Went out to Baslow with the lantern. Finally did Flatworld (5th session) - well chuffed. First Ft 7B+
W: Rest
T: Max hang session on the fingerboard (4x10 seconds per hold). It must have been a low gravity/high friction day in the cellar - felt strong. 18mm crimp with +29.9kg and felt like I could have managed more. Then did the small 2 finger pocket (also approx 18mm?) I decided to briefly see how long I could hang this with my weight vest on (+14kg) and to my amazement, I managed 10 seconds! I couldn't believe it. Form was bad though and it felt really tweaky so dropped to 9.0kg for the remaining 3 reps. Still very happy. Also checked whether I could in fact hang them at body weight with front 2, and I can. I couldn't in the past. Then did ceiling pinches, again with +9.0kg.
F: 1/2 a core session (ie 2 sets of 5 exercises rather than the usual 4 - I was short of time.)
S: Rest.
S: Been out to Stanton Moor. Had a session on Brad's Rib (7A+ that I tried last year), no further progress - it has a move that really doesn't suit me at all. Then went to try Spare Rib/Brutal Arete (7B.). Didn't do it but it's awesome and I'm keen to go back at some point.

Also been doing a smaller set of shoulder rehab exercises most days in addition to the above.

Weight last Sunday night was 10 st 13lbs. It's been staying good this week too - dieting going reasonably well before Font, hoping to lose another pound before I leave.

Good week - was really happy on Tuesday and Thursday's session was really good too. Bit disappointed today as I reckon if we'd gone to Spare Rib first I might have had enough oomph to do it, but who knows. On the negative side I felt a tweak in my left index finger on my last attempt of the day, and my shoulder is aching now. Injur management needed.
Plan for this week is either a fingerboard session on indoor bouldering on Tuesday, then rest. Not sure which yet. Am I right that the classic tapering week is to maintain intensity and reduce volume? Or is it the other way round?

By the way, I'd really appreciate some advice from anyone who has experience of shoulder impingement pain and use of theraband or or other low load antagonistic exercises to help it. I obviously want to climb as much as I can in Font but not damage my shoulder further. What I want to know is: is it better to do the exercises in the morning before climbing, in the evening after, throughout he day, or not at all except on rest days? To my mind it is all a balance of warming things up, keeping things mobile/loosened up, but not tiring out the stabilising muscles and hence potentially making myself more injury prone. Right now, 'm leaning towards a light use of theraband in the mornings to warm up, similar after climbing, and then a bigger session just in the evenings before a rest day, or on the morning of a rest day. But I'm really not sure and don;t want to get it wrong. Thanks!

Si

In reply to hms:

Top effort on flashing 7b+, that's pretty mega.

In reply to hms:
Great effort on the 7b+! Cider Soak is an excellent route and its difficulty depends on whether it suits you or not! The 8a's on the Empire Wall maybe? Leather Whip Mick or Avenged Direct? Happy to be corrected but CS IMO was very boulder-y and suited me perfectly whereas the other two are more Power Endurance-y (still have a boulder-y sections but not as difficult) which didn't really suit me.

In reply to AJM:

hms- Would Bridgend be too far? Several nice 8as. Or the Gower?

In reply to JayK:

Thanks - interesting comments. When looking at routes, bouldery is not something I would naturally gravitate towards at all!

In reply to Si dH:



This should obviously have said "Cheers Andy. Shoulder isn't right (nor my typing) but..."

In reply to AJM:

Such an inspiring venue, and for mere mortals like me still plenty to dream about!

Periodized training, week 7 of 16 (currently in Strength phase)
One really good fingerboard session (repeaters, most grips on BW now), couple of good strength & core sessions, and a couple of swims, then…well I'm going to use a technical phrase and call it a shoulder twinge…developed during a swim session. Deciding to be conservative and stop all training for 3 days in hope its minor. Felt tender or achy in couple of areas - back of shoulder, outside on upper arm, internal. Slightly more pronounced on lifting arm on first and second day, no longer on third. Been doing antagonistics for shoulder ok during rest. Perhaps good to let body have short rest after 7 weeks anyways. Hope to re-start next week when body says so.

M: fun bouldering at castle. for mileage. it's been three or four months since I last went bouldering (its all been routes), partner bailed so last minute change, everything felt hard and god I'm crap at very steep stuff, another weakness to add to the list Warm-ups, then 10mins doing continuous circuit on an island boulder, then about 90mins of casual boulder ladder V1, V2, V3, worked a few V4's. Pull-ups and press-ups at end.

T: outdoor swim 1.8km

W: repeaters session on fingerboard, plus 45min strength & core workout. Great fingerboard session today after proper rest yesterday. On bodyweight now on all grips except ¾ pad half crimp. also back 3 feels slightly weaker than front 3. pinches are deadhang repeaters of 12kg from wooden block each also feeling good on wide and narrow. feels like good progress from 4 weeks ago, next problem is making sure this translates to climbing and also sustaining and improving as I move onto Power phase next week.

Th: core & strength workout 60mins + 1.2km outdoor swim stopped early due to shoulder discomfort

F: enforced rest today and antagonist work

S: more enforced rest today and antagonist work

Su: more enforced rest today and antagonist work and belayed GF on her rehab she led 10 pitches today, slow progress

STG:
- stick to 16 week periodized training plan
- consolidate indoor 7a and 7a+ indoor RP's
- get Girlfriend recovered from her Achilles tendon injury asap! she climbed twice this week leading and autobelay.
MTG:
- lots of 7a & 7a+ RP, and get on and try 7b outdoor in 2016 (orpierre, ceuse, buox, tarn, siruana, lleida, costa blanca, el chorro)
- plenty of long adventurous multi-pitch and cracks (orco, annot, chamonix, grimsel, verdon, dolomites)
- leave job, leave country, climb lots starting april t-1.5months!!
BHAG's
Some current ambitions for future epics, which are a way off in terms of ability, endurance, courage, fitness, but I'd love to get there one day.
- La Fete des Nerfs, 300m, 7a+
- Mescalito, Paroi Rouge, 250m, 7c
- The Nose, 900m, 5.9 / C2
- Freerider, 900m, 7c (probably following someone better than me!)

In reply to hms:


Really? From what I understand, you led from ground to groove on your flash go, you probably did groove to pocket at some point, and you definitely did pocket to chains from what Ally tells me.

That's an 8a in 3 (or at worst, a few moves shy of it), including a link through more or less the entire crux, in a few days of work.


Yes, I get the mentally draining point, I really do.

But even the idea that you should be debating whether to be despondent is crazy! If I'd gone out there and managed to get an 8b broken into 3 (youve done 1 7c and I've done 1 8a) Id still be buzzing now!

You've also increased your flash grade such that it's now better than mine to boot.

Seriously, if you think that trip was much other than a big step forwards I would really advise a second think through. Yes, so people up their redpoint grades by several grades on sport trips, but they tend to be people who don't yet have redpoint tactics wired or who for the first time are addressing a serious weakness and therefore making leaps and bounds forwards. Neither of those is you. It took me 6 days to tick Latido off the back of 4-5 7c+s prior to that. Don't feel at all down about not having made the jump straight from 7c to 8a in 3-4 days.


I don't know, but personally I'd be more psyched to put the effort into Cider Soak, which is reputedly a national classic, than some sort of locals eliminate variation on Empire/Avenged. From what I'd always understood its fairly power endurance, although I accept definitions can vary depending on whether you believe anything in the UK can reasonably be defined as stamina.

In reply to Si dH:


High intensity and low volume is what I understand.

In reply to AJM:

Tbf this:


Is pretty much it. I took 2 day trips and an overnight stop despite the 6hour (on a good day) round drive from Birmingham just for this route.

In reply to AJM:


Yeh, I'm not great for this. In fairness, I went during the day Thursday and it was much quieter.


Perhaps it's the steep stuff wrecking my back but it doesn't hurt at the time, not sure until the day after.

Anyway... Very poor week. Work has been mental and only managed to get to the wall on Thursday lunchtime during the week. Think I got warm by doing some of the blacks, not sure on the grade range. Then did the yellow 6C+ on the mothership but found it quite hard for the grade. Must have taken about 5 tries from the bottom but I had to spend a little bit of time working the crux section which is shouldery and on crimps. Assumed I was having a bad day and this was confirmed as I went over the finish off my final problem in the orange circuit (up to F6C) and I couldn't even do the crux of this problem in isolation. Last time I did so at the end of a 3-4 hour session.

I then went over and tried to onsight the wooden f7a+ circuit on the steep board but only managed to get half way around before my fingers were uncurling. Rested and then did essentially the same on the yellow f6c circuit. Decided that as I can only get half way around I may aswell do ancap laps, so did 3 sets on the harder part of the 6c. Intensity seemed OK. Push-ups, pull-ups, stretched.



I also popped to TCA today briefly. Extremely hungover after drinking excessively last night. Felt a little sick to begin with but managed to snap out of it. Feeling stronger than Thursday but not by a great deal. Did some warming up and then jumped on the woody. Struggled to do much but quite enjoyed it and thought it was infinitely better than fingerboarding!

Wondered around and some people I knew were playing on the yellows (new hardest circuit - I think) got the beta off of them and flashed 2 in a row (slopey/powerful), then tried one other that was harder but couldn't do the last move (crimpy). Wondered over to nemesis orange, did the crux move first go, so assumed it was on. Tried from the start a handful of times but still couldn't manage it. Played on some other yellows but starting to fade badly now after a few hours. Wonder over to circuit board and think I'd probably be able to climb the entire yellow f6c circuit since I was ancapping it on Thurs and knew the moves well - wrong. Went down to the f6b+, got 17 moves in. Think I was powered out. Gave the circuit board the finger then left without doing any stretching.

Bad week due to high workload and I don't see it easing off for a week or so. Route fitness is poor but I usually perform much better on rock than on circuit boards, so I don't let it get me too down! I quite liked the woody, I'm going to do much more of this at as low as intensity as possible for a while.

Think I failed on most of my goals this week, so let's hope for something a bit better next week. Due to work let's call it:

This week's goals:
- Short doses of high quality strength work before endurance on woody or suitable boulders.
- Two sessions on endurance, 1:1 aerocap on circuits if possible.
- Continue with pull-ups, stretchinmg and push-ups after every session (core when lower back plays ball).
- Restart Antagonistic exercises.

In reply to AJM:


Cheers AJM, I can't argue with you at all to be honest, based on my history, i'm pretty terrible at differentiating between what is 'under control' and what is 'irreversibly breaking me'!
The bicep/overuse ache has been showing it's head this week a little, but when I talk about climbing through it, I mean that I drop the grade massively and climb steadily until it goes away, it's essentially a limiting factor on how hard I climb at the moment. That said, I (unintentionally, see below) tried pretty hard today and there was no sign of it, so that's good.
The tennis elbow has been going well, although the right arm has been a little more sore over the weekend, no trouble when climbing but the ROM rehab movements and stretches feel slightly worse, I feel like I have done them so much and so often that I can detect the tiniest fluctuation in how the elbow feels. I'm going to keep a close eye on that, I don't want a relapse now.

M: Cardio Circuit and flexibility stretching - Does cardio ever get any easier? I hate it with an unmatched passion.

T: Climb, indoor boulder; my partner had promised some moral support to a friend of his returning to climbing after his first baby so we were stuck in the boulder room. I did 50 routes back to back, which was conveniently 1 of every route in the room at v2 or under. Skin felt good and bicep felt good so I did a couple of harder ones, ended up flashing V4 and did a V5 in 2 goes with no issues! 60+ routes all in.

W: Bodyweight antagonists; got a further 2 10 second free handstands but everything felt really tough going.

T: Climb, indoor boulder; My partner got caught in London again so back to the boulder room. Bicep was a little troublesome so I kept off the steep wall but ended up working my way through all the routes on the 20 deg board which ended with a V6 in 3 goes! It was soft and was mostly based on whether you could make a dyno to 2 opposing slopers, i've always enjoyed dynos so it felt easy to me but i'll take the tick!

F:

S: Bodyweight antagonists; another 10 second free handstand, bringing the total to 3 for this week, but probably five or six 6 second free handstands, everything felt a lot more solid this time around. Flexibility is very soon going to become a limiting factor, those toes arent getting any nearer!

S: Climb, indoor routes; went down to Calshot, what an absolute load of old rubbish. The place really is the route-setting backwater of England. Fantastic panelled walls, 18m cave, something like 1200m^2 of wall, and they can't set for toffee. They cant get good setters in because it's council run and the setter must have passed their in-house setting course so only the (mostly student) staff can set, and currently not one of them can climb over about 7a. The grade spread is a joke and the grade variation is unbelievable. The cave currently contains about 8 routes between 5+ - 6b, then a 7a and a 7a+. That's it. If that wasn't bad enough, the 7a is undergraded by a full letter grade at least. I'm trying to climb at a set level to rehab my elbows so the last thing I want is to get sandbagged and pumped out of my mind on a route that should have been comfortable. The 7a+ was the only route I tried that was vaguely on the grade, everything else was either miles out one way or the other, or so bad as to be almost impossible to grade. That went for my wife too, the whole place is awful. Added to that half the wall is shut for refurbishment but it's still full price to get in, it wasn't my best day climbing by any means.
Aaaand breathe. Sorry, rant over, but it's the only big roped wall within an hour of home so it's so frustrating that it's currently absolute rubbish.
My only possible ray of light is that one guy who works there is keen for me to set some routes, which I would be very happy to do, but i'm not sure it's possible without becoming an employee, so i'll investigate further but i'm not sure how likely it is.

Last Week's STG:
Investigate tight calves as cause of rubbish flexibility, possibly pay for cheap sports massage to batter them - nope, still stiff as ever
3 climbing sessions - Tick 2 boulder 1 routes
There's a soft 7b at warwick wall with my name on it... - Nope, didn't get a chance!
Hold freestanding handstand 10x10 seconds - 3/10

New STG:
Push on with stretching, get toe touch more comfortable
3 climbing sessions
7b at Warwick
Freestanding handstand 10x10 seconds - currently 3/10

MTG:
Stay healthy for Margalef and tick 10 '7' graded climbs while there. (seems fair)
Try to do some route setting at Calshot somehow

In reply to AJM:

Cheers Andy. Yes, 'life' in general is looking really exciting. Climbing life anything but.

The job i've got starts in April and is initially for 3 mths. With college, my work at the wall evenings and weekends and having the kids at weekends it really doesn't look good for 8a.

I'm ploughing on though. Got the trip to Chulilla at the beginning of April, so i'll focus on that and see how life plans out after that.

The week started well with a good Ancap session. The problem is steep and has an undercut 2 finger pocket near the start. You need to get feet up and a big reach to the next hold. This felt a bit tweaky and gave me a flapper. 2nd session i tried to adjust it (benefits of working at the wall) but couldn't really find anything that worked without taking the intensity out. So i popped it back on but gave up 2 sets in (out of 4) as my fingers were not feeling right. Glad i did. I've been left with a sore A3 on my ring finger. Not too worried about that as i know how to nurse it through. Of more concern is my middle finger. The middle joint is sore, kind of non-specifically so, and feels a bit swollen. Shouldn't be too tricky to look after though.

Had a good (hard) routes session in-between the an-caps. Basically just trying a relentless 7a over and over. I was no where near recovered between goes and it was great to be trying proper hard battling through the pump. Thanks to The Fox for shouting " Tense your glutes" at me numerous times. It really did help!

This week i am actually getting outside, weather permitting, on Tuesday. Location to be decided by the weather. Routes on Wednesday and then i'll see how my fingers are regarding an intense an cap session. It may be better to do it on the circuit board at the depot. FInd a 10 move sequence on the harder routes.

In reply to hms:
Sounds like an awesome trip! Great effort on the 7b+ and reading AJM's analysis downthread, it sounds like the 8a went pretty well too.


I'm also keen to get on Cider Soak, and I vaguely recall AJM is too. If there's three of us potentially interested, it could make partners easier.

In reply to Nick Russell:


I just try to portray the alternative perspective


I definitely am. We had some dates in the calendar for mid march (if dry) and mid April to go and give it a look...

In reply to AJM:

Cheers for starting the thread Andy. Graduation was a good day thanks, despite not stopping raining. The outfit was more red and purple, definitely ridiculous! How was your trip? Sorry to hear about the stubbed toe...

This week has been quite mixed. The good: running going well (10km PB), got outside on rock. The bad: work pretty non-stop (definitely compromising my training), two pitiful indoor sessions, ripped a chunk out of my finger today (T-2 weeks to Margalef). Hopefully it will heal sufficiently, worst case a taped pinky isn't too distracting.

M - am: 10km run. Going for some hills, maintaining a decent (but not fast) pace. pm: trampolining, working on front somersaults.
T - TCA. Attempted aero-pow circuits (3x6 @ 1:1) again. Pre-emptively taped based on blood blisters last time. Ended up dropping right back to the 6a jugs in order to stay on the wall. Possibly tired from running on Monday? Or the same session last Friday?
W - 10km run. Copied Emily's 'build' session idea: built up the pace through km 2-4, 5-7, 8-10. Ended up with a 10km PB of 43:31! Not entirely fair, because previous 'PB' was based on a half marathon interpolation but it's encouraging to beat that in a training run.
T - UCR. A bit of an abortive session. I'd intended to redpoint the two 7a+ routes that I hadn't been on. Instead, I huffed and puffed my way up the orange 6c (after failing at bolt 2 on first attempt), had one go on yellow 7a+ then sacked it off. Risk of getting frustrated and injured was too high. Belay bunny for Emily.
F - 8km run.
S - Portland, Blacknor Far South. 'Warm up' (haha, it was freezing!) on Fear's Younger Brother (6a) then RP Kendo Nagasaki (7a+) (third go). I feel like it should have been second, but punted off the first move of the crux sequence on that attempt. Not bad for an afternoon.
S - Portland, back to BFS. 'Warm up' (see above) on Ocean Drive (6b) then RP Great Barrier Reef (7a+) (third go) after tearing a chunk out of my finger on first attempt. If it wasn't for the finger, I'd be happy with that too. Finding reading Portland rock (and probably rock in general) quite hard, having not climbed outside since November 1st.

STG - last minute trip prep for 13th March departure to Margalef.

Keep up some strength: 5 fingerboard sessions before trip. 3/5

Don't get injured. Does skin count?

MTG

spring: keep the pressure on the E4s. Still have to get on Central Wall (E4 6a), Star Wars (E4 5c), Mother Africa (E4 6a), Pacemaker (E5 6a), ...

summer/autumn sport trip: Ceuse or Frankenjura? Route objectives TBC when I actually plan something.

Sub-90 half marathon (Bristol half, September). Benchmark 10k (sub-40 in Bristol 10k, May).

LTG

varied E5 onsights

Get out to Orkney with The Fox

Snowdonia marathon I'll be up at midnight next New Year!

BHAG

The Long Hope Route

In reply to AJM:

Cool, let me know what those dates are... I'm in Margalef mid March (13th-21st) but mid April is still free.

In reply to AJM:
Managed a good solid week this week, really pleased.

Mon - CN sesh trying to do all the whites (6a-7a) managed to flash most but there a couple of stupidly hard vert ones.
Tue - Thurs - rest, bit rubbish but was saving myself
Fri - CN comp. Bad set, everything either piss or nails with only about three problems in between. Didn't manage any of the hard ones so I won't have done well as well as other rounds.
Sat - rest
Sun - home for the weekend so went to the opening comp at the new Depot. Great wall, great set. Climbed well on all but the hardest problems, apart from one that I really should have managed - something about one of the moves just really didn't suit me, something to work on! Managed a respectable 244/300, not sure on position yet though.

Glad to get three sessions in a week after struggling recently, I'd forgotten how good comps were for psyche I want to go get strong again now!

Cheers, Jake

In reply to AJM:

I'd be up for a trip to Anstey's (never been before) if people are trying to fill a car from Bristol. Let me know when it's happening. Cider Soak looks short at least!

In reply to Nick Russell:


Yeah, good. Didn't actually tick the route but my measure of where I'm at against that sort of benchmark feels vaguely promising.


What grade are you starting on? For you at least I'd have thought 6a circuits would be pretty low intensity for power endurance stuff?


I think the first weekend is that one you leave for Margalef. The second one, I think, is the 16th April?

In reply to AJM:

STG - Easter
- V6/7 (7A/+) in Albarracin (2x 7A), Bishop (not been yet) and at home (1x 7A). Try a local V8
- short trip 8a send (Mediterraneo (8a)? Nope - progress but no dice)
- local things to look at - Hall of Mirrors (7c), Nightmare Scenario (7c), maybe Fighting Torque (8a)
- get the regular weight logging back on track and manage the weight back down

MTG - 2016
- get on Infinite Gravity (8a+). Also try Fuel My Fire (8a+), The Cider Soak (8a), and some harder west coast 7s (Tennessee (7c), Saskatchewan Uranium Miner (7c) etc)
- maybe some onsighting if I can get a trip together
- get trad mojo back, get more E4s done, try to break into E5
- another adventure trip, back to wendenstock perhaps
- build on dws - swanage and Devon classics, push the boat out at lulworth.
- buy a house, do the Dragon Tour, other non climbing goals.

BHAG
- its been in the back of my mind for a while, and its a monstrous step from where I am now, but Tom Et Je Ris (8b+). Its probably even further away than 8a was when I started thinking about 8a, but you gotta try, right?
- single pitch E6, big adventure E5s and all the adventures that would bring (alps etc)

Monday to Wednesday was Costa Blanca as described.

Had some rest after that but then a fairly busy Saturday.
- About 46km on the bike, woefully unfit and into a pretty cold and sapping Easterly all the way home. Long way to go between here and June!
- Also went to the wall and did a whole bunch of arm/shoulder stuff - front lever progressions, assisted one-armers (I think I completed one at ~88% but failed on one at 90%, although I need to try not after the remainder of a session), rows, other pull-ups, etc.

Up in London today, pre-birthday overindulgence, so have to get that weight off before Bishop. Goal is for a reading of sub-70kg before I go. A few weeks of high recruitment training left pre-trip too and then hopefully off to crush!

In reply to AJM:
Cheers for doing the stats Andy.

Mon - Rest.
Tues - Boulder session? Might have been Monday or Wednesday...
Wedns - Rest.
Thurs - Short fingerboard (max hangs).
Fri - Rest.
Sat - Flight to Spain. Wildside. Flashed a 7a on toprope to warm up, oops. Dogged up Todos los Caminos, 7b+.
Sun - Wildside. Struggling to figure out a reliable sequence on Todos los Caminos.
Mon - Rest.
Tues - Wildside. Finally sorted a sequence, in retrospect I was being a bit blinkered. Had a decent redpoint attempt.
Wedns - Lurgy. Sulked in bed all day. Ate a lot of crisps.
Thurs - Wildside. Feeling much brighter. Did the 7a on lead and ticked Todos los Caminos.
Fri - Wildside. Dogged up a 7b and had a thrash on toprope on Watermark.
Sat - Home.
Sun - Wall for a couple of hours. Slogged round the V1-3 circuit until the Sunday afternoon mayhem got too much. Tried to do an ancap session on fingerboard, hmmmm, I'm not convinced I am managing to do enough for it to be working what it should be working.

In reply to hms:
I am not surprised you're wiped out! You worked pretty hard all trip

In reply to Curious Yellow:

Well done on Todos! Ally said you got on ok with Watermark too?


If you want any suggestions as to how to tweak it then just let me know - happy to (try to) help...

In reply to AJM:
Cheers And yeah, I like Watermark a lot - bookmarked it for later.
I 've dropped the weight on the fingerboard, figure worktime is more important, but still struggling. Thanks, might drop you an email tomorrow re: details to try to tweak it.
How's the toe, better I hope?

In reply to AJM: Week didn't start well, but finished brilliantly

M - Blew the head gasket on my old Rover Hillwalking day on Bidean nam Bian - Stob Coire nan Lochan summit (summit) and some instructing snow belays.
T - Aonach Mor, Golden Oldy (II)
W - Buachaille Etive Mor, North Buttress - West Route (Winter) (IV 4)
T - Beinn Dorain, Second Coming (III 4)
F - bought an new car.
S - Stob Ban, North Buttress - East Ridge (II/III) before coffee then Buachaille Etive Mor, Curved Ridge (Winter) (II 3) & Crowberry Gully (Winter) (III 4) in the afternoon.
S - Ben Nevis, Orion Face Direct (V 5)

In reply to Curious Yellow:

Yes, a lot less painful now. Going to avoid rock shoes for another couple of days but hoping to be back on it by the middle of the week...

In reply to AJM:

There's two 6c circuits at TCA at the moment (one on each board), and likewise for 6b+. I started on the steep 6c, but only made it round that on the first circuit of the first set. By the second I was putting my feet down by about move 15. Then followed a rapid decline.

Maybe given my energy level for the session, this was starting too hard. But I managed about 80% of the previous session (last Friday) on some combination of those 6cs.

In reply to AJM:


I'd say this is right. Certainly on the bike it would mean reducing volume and doing 2 or 3 harder rides at the beginning of the week (for a weekend race) with a steady ride on the day before. This is based on a normal week being riding 5/6 days.

In reply to AJM:
Thanks AJM. Yes it was, but it's healed up fairly quickly and didn't really stop me from doing anything, so not so bad. Hope your toe is better!

Monday - trampolining, improvements to front somersault! Got some good input on what to think about, feeling more in control.

Tuesday - circuit board at TCA, same set as last week: 3x(6x6a). Tape prevented the skin problems pretty well. Felt harder than last week and I thought I was going to have to drop onto the 5c halfway round the second set, but managed to recover a bit and almost completed the whole thing - just swapped to 5c moves for the very last couple of moves on the last two laps. Pleased with this.

Wednesday - running: 10 min warmup, 15 min build from ~6:00/km to ~4:20/km, 15 min cooldown for 7.1km in 40 min.

Thursday - climbing at UCR. Slightly frustrating session in which I felt really strong but failed to convert this into much of an achievement! Flashed a 6b and a purple 6b+ (they've been putting jugs on the 6b+s again...) and then went several times up the 6c that I've been trying to get. Kept making stupid errors, screwing up clips, screwing up the sequence, a foot just pinged off at some point. I really did feel pretty solid on all the moves if only I could have got them all right on the same attempt. Oh well... fed up of this route now so kind of hoping it's been reset next time I go.

Friday - running: 8.2km in 47:11. Feeling tired.

Saturday - Portland, climbing at Blacknor Far South. First time on rock since early September! Very cold. Had a couple of goes on Fear's Younger Brother (6a), found the climbing fine but got stuck around bolt 6(?) due to a scary move above it. Toproped it at the end and had no trouble with any of it, including the sopping wet bit at the top.

Sunday - Blacknor Far South again. A couple of goes on Ocean Drive (6a+/6b), preferred the route to Saturday's (partly because Nick engineered me various extenders and extra clips). Successfully dogged my way to the top working every section, and then surprised myself by getting it clean almost to the last bolt. Didn't have a plan for the top bit though and the clips were scary. Maaaaybe if it had been a warmer day and I'd been more motivated to try it again I'd have managed to put this all together. Trying to feel encouraged by the weekend's climbing even though I didn't finish anything: at least I haven't lost all ability to climb on rock, which I'd thought might have happened; actually I didn't feel held back by technique or strength or even much by route-reading. Just petrified out of my mind, which I already knew would be the case.

Goals / progress on them:

Short term (Feb-Mar)

• keep weight trending downwards. More actionably: pay attention to food with this in mind
  • complete fail this week, moving average is slightly up on last week's. oops
• 2 runs/week until holiday per my plan in prep for Bristol 10k
  • 8/8 done in Feb, on track; 0/4 to complete before holiday
• do some high-volume climbing sessions
  • yes, 1 more this week and 5 in Feb. Finished with this for the moment now
• do fall practice in every volume session
  • nope (bouldering wall again), so I've only actually done 3 of these in Feb. Should be banning chains-clipping during warmups again, probably...
• Do some hard climbing before holiday
  • tried some harder routes this week, shame I didn't get to tick the 6c

Medium term (Mar, Apr, May)

• follow running plan for Bristol 10k
  • 11/36 done, on track
• climb with good attitude in Spain (mid March) and have fun even if I suck!
  • attitude this weekend could have used some work... it was so cold and scary that having fun was a serious challenge
• climb something outside in the UK if the weather ever cooperates
  • got 1.5 days on Portland! Although "climb something" may be a generous interpretation of what I accomplished

Minor miracle level "maybe someday" wishes

• redpoint something beginning with 7 indoors?
• redpoint something beginning with 7 outdoors??
• lead a VS??? (don't care whether onsight or after seconding a billion times, but this does include placing the gear myself)

In reply to hms:


It occurred to me last night that CY had suggested at some point Fighting Torque as a potential contender.

In reply to Emily:

STG = 3x climbing. 2x15 mins yoga. Do some PE, only 3 weeks till France.
MTG = 7a+ by end of Easter France trip (either France or UK)
LTG = 7b+ pyramid this year, at least 3x7a+, 2x7b,1x7b+. Done plenty of 7as over the last few years.
BHAG = 8a by 40

LAST WEEKS STG = 3x climbing. 2x15 mins yoga. Hopefully outdoors at the weekend. DONE

Tues – 15 mins yoga
Weds - Best news of the week, gf managed to get her visa so can stay for at least another 2.5 years
Thurs - WW routes. 5+, 6a, 2x6a+, 6c, 6c+, 7a, 7a+. First routes back in the 7s this year, both felt do-able and actually not far off the OS on the 7a.
Sat - Castle bouldering. Loads of routes in the V1-V3 circuit. 3xV4 ish. 15 mins yoga.
Sun - Finally outside! Headed to Brean which was pretty packed. Repeated 5+, 6c, 6c+. 2 goes on Pearl Harbour (7a), should really have had it on the 2nd go but it was so cold I couldn't feel my fingers by then. Gave up after that and went home.

Managed to tick over OK, peak busyness of work should now be passing. Annoying not to get Pearl Harbour (7a) but I think if it had been a bit warmer I'd have been OK. Good to at least clean repeat the others. Finally managed to meet the (modest) goals on yoga as well!

In reply to cha1n:


Meh, back was hurting a fair bit in the night. Not sure what the cause of this is but it seems to quiet down when I'm doing boring styles of climbing (all static movement). Hard to say what hurt it yesterday as I did about every style of climbing going, including several dynos! Back to controlled climbing for a while and thinking of ways to rehab the lower back.

In reply to AJM:

I remembered that CY had mentioned Fighting Torque, but also that she had said it was v difficult to work on TR and that if one did so it was horribly easy to perfect a sequence that meant clipping was impossible. So I'd ruled it out initially. The style might be more appropriate though if it is more delicate, balancy, crimpy rather than a 20m thug up something steeply overhanging! Think maybe CS as a first choice, with FT as a backup plan.

In reply to Nick Russell & Cha1n:

yep, v happy to get a group thing going for Anstey's. Anyone know how easy a daytrip it is from Bristol or is staying over for a wkend a better use of time?

Nick - if you tear a hole in a finger, I thoroughly recommend superglue & tape. I've used it several times now after the rock has bitten me and it works a dream. Spread a generous layer of superglue over the affected bit of finger (yeah it hurts if it is still raw!) then wind about 3 layers of tape over whilst the glue is still wet to really sguidge into it. When the glue has dried you have a repair which will last all day. If the weather is very hot the tape will probably sweat the glue off by the end of the day, if not then peel very gently, with hot water to help release the tape.

In reply to AJM:

So, turns out being super busy is easier when you have a plan. Writing a weekly post for FC helps me with that plan.

Good week in Wildside with AJM & hms, both of whom impressed me with their perseverance.

March goals:
2 weeks gym bunny and leg exercise to try and get fit enough to get through a week of skiing with the lady
Survive epic work and travel load
Don’t f*ck the shoulder any more
2x week an-cap work-outs
LW reverse (and back again?)
Complete Cave newbie from Broken Heart (f8a+?)
Bolt and try the moves on the easier Malham potential project

Week 8:
M - AWS. Warm-ups, then pink 7c 2nd go – so much easier in down turns and after scrubbing the sloper. Green 7c 2nd go including a cut-loose after slapping with lefthand without pain – get in! Then the white 7b which felt fine with the right beta. Black 7b+ 2nd go too – very close on the OS, but didn’t commit to going above the clip on the lip. Best session at Stockport in years!
T - Travelling to Hamburg. Hotel gym aerobic exercise on static bike & cross trainer. Few weights too
W - Shoulder slightly sore from last nights gym antics. 3.5km running @ 12kph. 10km on static bike. Wrist curls. 14 & 7kg. 3x10. Some light shoulder weights too.
T - Travelling home – saw the lady – no exercise.
F - Colleagues retirement do. Home at midnight, then back up again at 4am for airport.
S - Wildside day 1. Highly caffeinated. 7a and 7b warm-ups. Got on El Club de la Lucha, 8b+ and split a tip after 2 tie ins
S - Wildside in a 3. Very inefficient when working routes. Got on Dimension Diamante, but tie-in 2 was late in the afternoon and the crux pinches had gone nasty greasy. Retro-flash of Mediterreano (f8a) to warm-down! Skin just about coping.

Week 9:
M - Rest day. Sore throat on waking. shopping and pootle round Sella village at sundset.
T - Wildside. Dimension Diamante, 8a+ RP after re-working crux and finding weird split finger pinch position. OS’d Ya Somos Olimpicos, 7c. Dogged Romocop (8a+) to get the draws in. Probably over did it and gave virus the opportunity it needed to get established.
W - Active rest day MP’ing at Mascarat. Toes hurt. Lurgy in full swing.
T - Romocop RP; 3 tie-ins in total. Felt rubbish afterwards. Celia, 7c+/8a dog then RP.
F - Last day. 7a+ OS. Failed 7b+ OS. Watermark, 8a, dog. Bloody hard; extension looked fun though. Alpano y Romino, f8a dog, then 2 RP. Fell at top. In 2 sections. Would happily go back to RP. Epic meal.
S - Travel home. Felt very bloated (77.7kg!) Quiet night in with the lady.
S - Snot monster. 30km CX style ride.

75.8kg this morning; >1.5kg of weight loss from water retention after flying (?) and pooing out a weeks worth of vegan roughage.

In reply to Nick Russell:

Count me in as well.

I'll be back down in Oxford from mid-March and super keen for a few trips to Antsey's.

In reply to Nick Russell:

Sorry - can't do Scottish weekend. I've been signed up for a meet the Fokkers style weekend...

In reply to The Ex-Engineer:
Yes - count me in too. I need to do Cider Soak to tick off the 5x classic UK f8a's

http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/set.php?id=162

In reply to hms:

I'll make sure I pack the superglue then. Plan A is still hoping that it will be ok in 2 weeks, but it's good to have a tried & tested backup in mind.

In reply to Nick Russell:

I now always take glue and tape on trips for on the spot maintenance. On my CB trip last spring I removed a chunk of my finger on day1 route2 and would have struggled to climb for the rest of the weekend without glue!

In reply to hms:

Well done on the 7b+ flash. That sounds amazing.

In reply to hms:


I've done evening trips from Bristol to Ansteys in mid-summer; a day trip is perfectly viable option (1hr 45 from North Brizzle to Ansteys at a guess?)

In reply to AJM:


Thanks, it still aches a bit, mainly when running off-road, but I don't think it's anything serious

Started well this week, but lost it a bit toward the weekend

m: 2 hrs drills, plyometrics, core and circuits
t: 10k offroad 1hr 3mins
w: 5k towpath 25mins 43s
t: 9.5k mixed terrain 59 mins
f: too much beer
s: nothing
s: nothing

Off to the Tatras in Poland later this week, to say I'm excited is a bit of an understament.

In reply to AJM:

I forgot last week due to work commitments etc so you get two weeks from me:

Week 466

M: am - 4/5M in 31:54, pm - 9/10M in 61:43
Tu: am 15mins to work, lunchtime - 1,2,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,2,1 min off 90secs jog, pm - 4/5M in 29:35
W: am - 4/5M in 31:15, pm - 9/10M in 62:20
Th: am - 4/5M in 31:40, pm - 4/5M in 30:40
F: am - 4/5M in 34:23
Sa: grass session 10min tempo (3min jog), 300, 5 x 500, 300 (75secs jog) then 3mins recovery 10min tempo. Ran really well and finished at the front on the final tempo but didn't bury myself, pm - 4/5M in 31:04
Su: 12/13M in 1:31:03

Total 84M

Week 467

M: 4/5M in 30:10, pm - 9/10M in 65:21
Tu: lunchtime 8M loop including 4x5min off 1min jog, pm - 4/5M in 32:33
W: am - 5M in 38:38
Th: 4M in 27:04
F: 15mins jog + strides
Sa: The big one, National XC Champs at Donnington Park. Very cold conditions and a tough hilly course (but then it always is). Sadly this was not a good day at the office: got out ok but it felt too fast right from the start even though I was way back from the front and near guys who I normally finish ahead off. Things started to go a bit better by the end of lap one but on lap two I developed a really painful stitch and at the end of lap two it was so painful I had to stop. After a moments indecision I got going again and then trudged round continually losing places and getting more and more angry (which didn't help!). Stitch finally went and in the last half mile I picked it up and overtook around 10 guys to finish in 112th 12K in 46:56. A far cry from my goal of top 60

At least we had a crap team so it didn't matter! (we finished 8th and I was still 3rd scorer) and the wife had a great run and came 15th so super happy for her!

Su: Stomach still sore from stitch and ego still bruised! ~12M easy in 1:30:31

Total: 62M really disappointing to run so badly at the national but that's running - sometimes it just doesn't happen and when it goes wrong its almost impossible to get it back in such a competitive race as guys are passing you all the time. Time to pick up the pieces and start training again for the next race and anyway , its just a hobby right? right?

In reply to AJM:


Not bad - really feeling the absence of much strength training due to the hand injury though.

A pretty lame week apart from the weekend.

Mon - Rest
Tue - Rest
Wed - Rest
Thu - Rest
Fri - Drive to Scotland. Had high hopes of going to Skye but in the end couldn't face the extra few hours drive. Kind of regret it as lots of new routes were done.
Sat - South Pipe Direct (IV 4). Reasoned that Nevis would be choc-a-bloc so headed to Meagaidh, but the crag was buried. Some worthwhile climbing to be had though.
Sun - Boomer's Requiem (V 5). Good climb, my only V this season and most likely my last as I don't think I can face many more drives up to Scotland. Didn't feel at all comfortable on the steep ice, screw placements were pretty lousy.

STG

Last weeks goals -


Done. Now to start a new transition period with a week of benchmarking.

MTG

Continue to rehab right hand and left shoulder injuries. Savage Slit (Winter) (V 6), Fallout Corner (Winter) (VI 7),The Guillotine (V 6), and Gully of the Gods (VI 6) still looking unlikely, will likely move a few of this year's rock climbing goals to the medium-term now.

LTG

Recovery of left shoulder and right hand injuries.

Routes:
The HVSs on Hen Cloud and Millstone Edge
Cemetery Gates (E1 5b)
Brown's Eliminate (E2 5b)
Regent Street (E2 5c)
Shibboleth (E2 5c)
Steeple (E2 5c)

Periodized training plan with two peaks, one for Kalymnos in October. Not really settled on particular routes yet, but possibly

Wild Sex (6b)
DNA (7a)
No Sleep 'til Hammersmith (7a+)

Second peak for Winter 2016/17. Planning on taking 8-10 weeks off for Scottish Winter, Alps and Canada. Routes to be decided but would like some of the Alpine classics.

The North Face (TD+ 6a)

Learn to ski.

BHAG

The 1938 Route (ED2)
London Wall (E5 6a)
American Direct (ED1 6c+)

Something on El Capitan.

In reply to AJM:


Thanks Andy, The perfect set of double laps is still eluding me and I'm realizing the magnitude of the task. I'll be happy if I come close. In total it's 12 laps of 7a in less than an hour and a half. I should be happy to even be considering it, as it wasn't that long ago that doing one 7a was a big deal.

Mon - Double laps and core - the double laps wasn't a great session but the core went really well. I felt like I completed the full schedule with good form. I also think I can now do a front lever. It's hard to be sure as I don't know how straight I am, but it feels like a front lever. I will get someone to check or take a photo.

Tue - Fingerboard endurance and circuits (short rest). Fingerboard went fine. I'm still finding the amount of assistance that I need and should make it harder. I was really pleased with the short rest circuit. This seems to be hitting somewhere between AeroCap and AeroPow as I am getting pumped but recovering very quickly.

Wed - Half an AnCap systems board session followed by continuous climbing.

Thur - Antagonists and weighted pull ups

Friday - Fingerboard. I managed 10 second hangs at 90 degree lock offs on the middle slot of the beastmaker on each arm with only 1.25 kg assistance. I tried 0.5 kg but could only do 6 seconds. I'm going to move from weighted 2 arm hangs to assisted one arm hangs next week, so should set a new set of goals.

Sat + Sun - visiting family so no training.

Overall I'm pleased with the volume of training that I'm doing. For the next two weeks I have an extra session per week. With the volume of training I've been doing I don't feel like I have time or energy for much outdoor climbing. I've put a lot of effort into this training programme and am determined to see it through. I'll try and get some easy mileage on rock but I'm not going to try to perform in rock until this phase is over at the start of April. I also feel like my performance is fluctuating in training sessions depending on fatigue levels. I'm not worried by this, but it makes goal setting a little frustrating. My STG is simply to keep the pysche for training this month and keep putting the hours and effort in. I have two hard weeks followed by a rest week, then another hard week before a brief taper for Font. Font is a family trip, so I'm not worried about performing but the plan is to hit peak sport in the Spring feeling fit and a moderately strong.

MTG - Peak redpoints starting in April. I want to get one or two redpoints before trying an 8a. Likely candidates are Sturgeon in the Cupboard (7c+) or Lightweight (7c), then I'm keen to try Aberration (8a) as a potential first 8a.

In reply to AJM:

Thanks Andy. Just waiting for X ray today so hopefully will move into the walking boot phase of recovery now. Last week was okay - managed to get a bit done though I was really tired. However, most excitingly, I am now equipped with a Randall one-legged training plan. The aim is to get through the remainder of my boot sentence in structured training (the dream is to come back stronger, right?), and then to rein me in for the first month of two-leggedness so I don't load my ankle too hard too quickly in the excitement of right leg rockovers. Fingers crossed...

M - rest pull-ups
T - Routes Brookes laps on overhanging 5+ and 6a+
W - Bench press and lat pull down sets at the gym
T - rest
F - Routes Wirksworth
S - Training assessment, Awesome Walls
S - rest, knackered

In reply to Si dH: I had a big shoulder impingement problem a couple of years ago which unfortunately is flaring up again at the moment - even when it feels better keep up with the exercises!

I tended to do something similar - going through all the exercises briefly as part of my warm up on climbing days, then aim to do a bigger session most evenings. I'm not sure about the risk of tiring the smaller muscles out but my physio said I didn't need to worry about over-exerxising them because the resistance was so small, but maybe having days of complete rest from exercises would be wise.

Are you doing internal rotation, external rotation and abduction type things?

In reply to AJM:

Thanks Andy. I'm in the Lakes. weather is ok but the wife isn't feeling great so doing touristy stuff.

Dan - meant to say this last week. Kinda gone off climbing holidays, lots of expense and faff then the weather is crap and its a waste of time. Might do an event, but all the ones I fancy are hard to get places for. Aslo as Andy says dn't over do it, you don't wanna getg borked again.

STG - Keep doing some climbing

Weight - 12st - on holiday dont want to think about this.

M - 35 routes at the rec
T - Rest
W - 5k run
T - Rest
F - Rest
S - Rest
S - 10 mile walk Ambleside to Grasmere

One of the best weeks in a while. I can almostr feel spring. It's coming, not long now. Weight loss has been good again. Ready to put it all on over the holiday. Lovely walk on Sunday, bluer skies and a lovely lakeside walk.

In reply to Joughton:



Those rotations but adapted to be at shoulder height rather than waist height, plus some in a punching motion and some where i pull it down from up in front of me to y my side. What are abductions? Plus also a small dumbell exercise my mate showed me, and quite a few stretching exercises for upper back flexibility, and scapular setting/posture fpcus to sort put my lower traps firing properly.

Have to confess that in the last fortnight I've become a bit lazier and not done them often enough (at least, not a full session.)

In reply to AJM:

Thanks for doing the stats AJM, good to hear you're progressing on the front lever! The skitouring wasn’t working, it was just a stop on the way to work. I’m working as a snowkite instructor, but if there isn’t any wind, we can do small skitours with the guests as long as we stay under 30 degree steepness.

M: indoor bouldering, after warm up I got a flashpump, so did some stretching and went home.
T: lazy day, managed to force myself to do 4x20 axesquats (10 per hand in one set)
W: short bouldering session before kidscoaching, went on for 30 minutes, flashed everything in the yellow and blue circuit (4-6B).
T: lazy again, tried some axesquats with crampons on a small edge, but damaged the wall, didn’t bother finishing without crampons.
F: travel to work and 2 small skitours
S: work
S: at work but no wind, finished the day early and went for 4 small skitours.

STG (next two weeks): have some progress on the purple 6c (am powered out at 6th clip). Didn’t get round to it neither of the weeks, but tried it this week and didn’t have any progress, so I’ll leave it for a while.
Off to Switzerland today for avalanche course. STG is to enjoy myself on my snowboard and learn a lot.

MTG (end of year): Climb 5 7+es
Onsight 7-
Trad 7- redpoint and onsight 6

Lifetime: Hoka hey (25 pitches 7+ trad)
1938-route on the Eiger
Peuterey ridge

In reply to Si dH: Yeah that sounds like a similar routine! Abduction would be starting with your arms by your side and then raising them outwards, but I wouldn't bother if your physio didn't recommend it!

I'm the same, I was really motivated when the problem was affecting my climbing, but when it becomes less of an issue I think you become less motivated to resolve it. Good luck anyway!

In reply to AJM:

Scraping the last minute but I'm glad I've waited as I have news... 204 in the boulder league WAS a solid score (oh wise one AJM!!). The person who been getting around 20 more than me scored 181! So it was actually and really a proper real climber person score!The only thing is that I know I had advice on some of the routes and that did help, it's not cheating (apparently some folk just asked the staff!!), but I have mixed feelings about it, more mixed now I know it wasn't just the set being easier.

Mon - 2 mile hilly run

Tues - 2 mile run and 1 hr bouldering (mostly on training circuit getting frustrated at being a clumsy clutz!)

Weds - 2 mile run, 2 hr roped climbing, some lead some drills. 1 hr circuit training.

Thurs - 2 mile run, 1 hr bouldering

Fri - drive to passport office, sort passports for holiday in April.

Sat - 2 hrs very lazy bouldering!

Sun - 2 hrs bouldering at Depot, then to Notts climbing for PiYo and very lazy, tired roped climbing after.

I knew I'd lose my climbing friday so worked eves to extend enough time for lunch boulders on Tues and Thurs, in the end I think it wound up a bit on the hefty side!

In reply to AJM:

Sneakiest of sneaky last minute entries...

Rjukan was a fantastic week. Bit of a contrast being back in London now.

M: Lower Gorge, which sucked. Climbed Swiss Army (Left Start) (WI-4) and then went up to Krokan. Did Jomfrua (WI-4), Topp (WI-5) and Gaustaspøkelse (WI-4) in the afternoon.
T: Tried to have a shorter rest day. Failed miserably. Did To Menn og et Foster (WI-4), good route but 2 pitches longer than expected.
W: Actual rest day, tried to get psyched to send Fyrstikka (WI-5) but couldn't be arsed to get pumped so climbed Kjøkkentrappa (WI-4) in Crocs for a laugh. On a top rope, I hasten to add...
T: Rjukanfossen (WI-4) followed by Verdens Ende (WI-5). Promptly shat ourselves when we heard the crux pillar of Lipton collapse with a team on it. Fortunately everybody was okay! Apparently the ground around the bottom of the first pitch was literally a metre higher than when they started because of all the ice debris...
F: Juvsøyla (WI-6). Wet and intimidating. Was like climbing in a shower on the top pitch, thought I might have to bail as I could barely look up on lead due to the amount of water splashing in my face! First WI6, which was one of my goals for this year. Glad to have got it, though I think it was in relatively straightforward condition.
S: Chilled out day on Vemorkbrufoss Vest (WI-5).
S: Traveling back to the UK.

Last week's goals: Finish off my Rjukan ticklist (if the routes are in!) As follows:

Gaustaspøkelse tick
Topp tick
Jomfrua tick
Fyrstikka nope
Rjukanfossen tick
Verdens Ende tick
For Alle Menn nope, it'd been in the sun all week and we were warned it'd be horrible and rotten up there
Vemorkbrufoss Vest tick
Juvsoyla tiiiick!

STG (this week): 1x workout, 1x run, get some good quality sleep!

In reply to alexm198:



That's a scary thought! Glad everyone was ok.


Awesome achievement! This is on my list but I'm a good way off getting on it yet. Well done.