UKC

UKC FitClub Week 784

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

Link to last week’s thread:

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/ukc_fitclub_week_783-74548...

Morning FitClubbers,

I’ve finally tested positive for Covid after dodging it for 2 years. Typing this in between coughs and sneezes so hopefully it makes sense. Don’t be shy about telling me if I miss someone/something as I'm not feeling very crisp!

Stats:

Randy: Good week. Finger training, calisthenics and progress on the project. At that grade you’ve got to be happy with the marginal gains. Hopefully you got the weather to work the crux this week.

Somerset Swede Basher: Wish my deload weeks looked like that! 7b+ Boulder and 7c+ Route. Another week of glorious spring sunshine so I’m expecting more sends and a tactical deload when the rain comes.

Tyler: You sound like you’re going through the ringer at the minute. A lot of it seems out of your control so stay on top of the things you can - diet, training and FitClub posting! Hopefully the car is ok and you had a better week this week 😊

Steve Claw: Same experience as SSB. When I was campusing regularly I only ever caught the rungs open handed. I’d go for a 4-finger drag but inevitably on the longer dynamic reaches I’d latch 3 which always felt fine. I used 20mm rungs but imagine you’d have to crimp more on the smaller stuff. I haven’t touched it since tweaking my fingers but my routine was 2 sets of Longmove, Offset Pullups, Pull-throughs, Bumps, Go-agains, and Ladders. Think my PB was 1-4-5-8.

Alan: One short term blip shouldn’t be too concerning as long as you regain this week and think about the long-term goals. Bet you’re chuffed about getting out on the new Ski-Touring set up though!

Ross Barker: A stringent deload week – rare thing in FitClub! Excited to hear about The Ramp Up…

SteveJC94: Light week!? 21x Boulders, 16x Routes, 2x days of Box Crimping and 80km on the bike. Earned the Birthday Celebrations this weekend.

Si dH: Big rest before the Font trip sounds sensible. Got to weigh up if you’d make any significant gains in 2 weeks or would the shoulder rehab be more beneficial - at best you’d gain a small amount of finger strength, at worse you’d completely ruin your climbing holiday. Lots of stretching and maybe crack out last-minute CV to shed some timber?

Ger_the_gog: Good consistency on the weighted walks. Hopefully you haven’t suffered any Covid-related issues this week. Time to stick on a podcast and crack out the box step-ups?

Tom Green: Another one with Scotland cancellations. So annoying! Hopefully the lurgy (and more importantly the home board) are looking better.

AJM: Back on the 7’s! Bet you’re made up, and a great start to the season. How were the tuck planche attempts? I haven’t tried in months so will be interesting/depressing to crack out the parallettes.

Ally: Sounds like you had a great holiday and managed to keep the training going. As you’re the only person I semi-know who has a stronger pinch than Yves Gravelle, have you seen he’s done a podcast with Tom Randal on the Lattice Podcast? Haven’t listened yet but its on my list.

The Sheep: Ditto with the loops. I once did the Blackpool Marathon which was two laps of the seafront. I’d seen enough the first-time round (including the various Stag Parties!) Another impressive week of daily training!

Derek Furze: I’d have to cut my legs off to get down to that weight. Have you tested to see if you’ve lost any strength as that sounds like a rapid loss?

Biscuit: Good news on the knee. Short approaches and hard routes are in order. Looking forward to hearing what you get done.

JCK: Happens to the best of us. Although I’m expecting a solid week of training when you’re back!

Planetmarshall: Nice. 2x E1s and 2x Good Boulders. Gorilla Warfare looks amazing but always seems too busy to work at the weekend (which is the only chance I’d get). With any luck you found it quiet. Is this the week for one from the E2 hitlist?

Liam P: Great to finally get back on rock but fingers still not 100%. Need to get back to full strength slowly as its still early in the season. 

Have a good week <cough><cough>

Cheers Liam. Sorry to hear you too now have the plague. I hope, like myself, that you have a relatively mild experience and don't suffer too badly with it. As mild as it's been for me, it has still taken most of my energy this week. I don't feel too bad but in a similar way to coming out of a good dose of flu, it takes very little physical activity to tire me out. I did 20 mins gentle weeding in the garden yesterday and it wiped me out. I had to sit down fora while after. I'm having to pace myself and spread my chores out to make sure I get them done.

Anyway, this is day 5 for me so I'll be testing myself later. I can still feel it in me so I'm still expecting to test +ve. Hopefully for not too much longer though.

All the best.

Missed a trick there Ger_the-gog. Dad joke inbound.

That's 'kin terrible. I love it. 🤘

Afternoon all, sorry to hear you've finally caught it, Liam! I'm lucky enough to have avoided the latest variant so far. Hope it's as mild as possible for you.

Hah, it wasn't so much discipline as it was fatigue and catching up on other stuff! The session was pretty good, fingers crossed the weather stays dry for another couple days to seal the deal.

Another somewhat low-volume week - ditched the fingerboard session to move the project a day forward, not really too fussed about it though.

Last Week:

M - Rest.

T - Rest.

W - The Ramp Up (f7B+). Key beta was Ally's ladder practiced the top crux, relatively steady in isolation. Got a move further than before on the redpoint go, so I'm pretty chuffed with that. Finger didn't complain much either! Keen to return soonish.

T - Rest.

F - Rest. Pre-breakfast weigh-in at 77.2kg.

S - Porth Ysgo. Mint day! Too hot, but still topped a few good 6s and a couple soft 7s. GWP (V6) was the highlight, a reasonable landing and funky moves to boot! Skin is now in tatters, but the finger gave me no grief all day - even with some moderate crimping (e.g. Jawbreaker (V5))

S - Rest.

Next Week:

M - Rest.

T - The Ramp Up. Might have to shift it to Monday if the forecast looks ropey.

W - Rest.

T - Moderate fingerboarding.

F - Rest.

S, S - Forecast looks reasonable, hopefully can get out!

Goals:

Rehab finger.

The Ramp Up.

Hey Liam - yeah, was pretty good. Hopefully more chances soon!

They didn’t feel too bad really. I’ve not been doing much if any specific training for them but the general dip and push-up work seems to have had enough carry-over that I’ve not completely lost it!

Not a bad week. I didn’t do anything Friday but had a moderately energetic weekend to make up for it even if no climbing was involved. Have been reminded of the benefits of planning in advance when the in-laws visit, helps things run more smoothly.

Monday - about 7km walking in a few stints. Anniversary dinner with MrsAJM in the evening.

Tuesday - 3km walking to go fetch the car from mot. 

Wednesday - Dancing Ledge in the morning. With a short window and a non-leading climbing partner the best option seemed to be to get some mileage on some of the short and punchy routes rather than project anything more difficult. I was regretting not bringing shorts! Hot in the sun, but a glorious day to be out. Then after a meeting at work I took miniAJM to the beach for ice cream.

Thursday - achey. Token stretching.

Friday - nothing. Didn’t find time in the working day then in-laws here in the evening.

Saturday - alternating sets of chin-ups and wide grip pull-ups, with a cheeky set of narrow in the last set. 75 total, alternating 7s & 8s in the sets. Then out for a walk with associated fossil hunting, hurling of rocks in the sea and child carrying and other wrangling at Kimmeridge.

Sunday - a certain amount of morning faff led to the sudden appearance of a pass to get out. Feeling quite tired, and without a roped partner I was faced with a choice of either bouldering or walking. The mental focus for try-hard bouldering wasn’t really quite there, and easier projects seem to have a disproportionate reliance on right heel hooking which I’m still trying to avoid. So I went for a stomp. 14km, just over 300m ascent, a circular loop round dancing ledge, winspit, st Aldhelms, a cheeky pint in the Square, and then back to the car along the priests way. Wall to wall sunshine, grand day out.

Sorry to hear that Liam, i hope you get well soon. 

Weather was much better this weekend, 15° and sunny so almost perfect conditions to hit the project. Unfortunately, i was pretty much wasted from the week, after working more than 60h and getting up every morning at 4:45 am. I tried the project anyway but realized very quickly that it did not make much sense and kept the  session short

Mon: Rest

Tues: Fingerboard max hangs 4x 10s with 3-4 min rest:

• 20mm egde:  72,3 % of BW average with right hand, 64,7% of BW with left hand
• Pinch Block with 17kg for the right hand, 16kg for the left
• Assisted one-arm-lockoff, 92%-98% of BW, 4 sets of 10-15s at different angles (170° -45°)

Wed: L-Sit (floor) 2x20s, Handstands against the wall, 2x12 pike push-ups,  2x8 fingertips push ups, 15 Lunges, 3 pistol squats on each side, 30 normal pushups, 60s V-Sit-Ups

Thurs: Fingerboard max hangs 4x 10s with 3-4 min rest:

• 20mm egde:  68,9 % of BW average with right hand, 66,3% of BW with left hand
• Pinch Block with 17kg for the right hand, 16kg for the left
• Assisted one-arm-lockoff, 92%-98% of BW, 4 sets of 10-15s at different angles (170° -45°)

Fri: Rest

Sat: Back to project Slimline (8a+).  Felt absolutely knackered from the week and did not manage to link more than 2 moves. Decided to keep the session short, after i realized that i got nothing in the tank today and was just destroying my skin.

Sun: L-Sit (floor) 2x20s, Handstands against the wall, 2x12 pike push-ups,  2x8 fingertips push ups, 15 Lunges, 30 normal pushups, 60s V-Sit-Ups; still tired even after sleeping for 10h but at least not sore at all

Top priority for next week is to get at least 7h sleep each night and get more used to getting up at 4:45 am (and to getting to bed early). I hope that i can use the early starts to squeeze in one afternoon outdoor session during the week before i fly to india on saturday for a 2 week business trip.

P.S.:

Stefan Ghisolfi posted an interesting video where he did a bunch of strength test (and the infamous 9c test):  youtube.com/watch?v=pSLwrtNji8A&

For the max one handed crimp test he used the same set-up that i do my fingerboarding with, (except that i don't need a bar to keep me on the ground) and my PR is actually better than his numbers. Now i just need to find a way to loose 40 pounds without loosing strength, increase my shitty endurance by about 50% and i can start projecting 9b ...

Thanks Liam, top effort pressing ahead with the stats despite being struck down. Hope it doesn't hit you too hard.

STG last week:
    - 2 x boulder. Two rather desultory quota sessions, but showing up and punching the clock is better than not showing up.
    - 2 x skiing. Yes. Launched my ski touring - or at least going uphill on skis - career, see below.
    - Sleep average >7½ hours, minimum 7 hours per night. 7.4. Oops. Alpine start on Saturday put paid to what was already a somewhat weak going-to-bed performance this week.
    
STG: coming week. Undecided as yet. Was planning to put the ski season to bed and shift more focus back to climbing, but there's a big dump of snow forecast later in the week. Sleep average >7½ hours, minimum 7 hours per night
MTG: 1H 2022: onsight 6c+
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber. For measurable definition see Fit Club 658

M:    rest
T:    Wall, Thalkirchen. Short and not particularly motivated quota-filling bouldering session. 
    But regarding improving motivation: cycled past the not-yet-open new bouldering wall and pressed my nose against the glass. Looks impressively huge, and they have some very good local names on their list of routesettters. Promising.
W:    rest
T:    Half an hour hike/jog intervals in the woods
F:    Wall, Freimann. This is normally one of the better local bouldering walls, but I haven't been for a while and it's in a shocking state at the moment. Dusty, greasy, feels like nothing's been reset or even so much as brushed for months. Roll on the opening of the new place. Meanwhile, in the circumstances I was quite happy to cut the session short to get an early night for tomorrow's alpine start.

S:    SKI TOUR! Sort of. Hochfügen again, despite being rather unimpressed with the conditions here last week. A friend was signed up for a weekend freeride course - good luck with that given the state of the remaining off piste snow! I tagged along in order to take Step Two of my ski touring education: hike up the side of the piste then ski back down. Equipment worked flawlessly, but I suspect previously unused parts of my hip flexors will be complaining in the next few days.
    Also: I'm not sure if I'm really a competent enough skier for this yet. Heading off straight down from the top of the hill on already tired legs, without any easy warmup runs, on crappy/difficulty springtime afternoon snow, proved a bit (too) challenging. New plan needed.

S: Cunning new plan. Buy lift ticket, get runs in on ok snow in the morning until conditions deteriorate, ski up mountain in afternoon and then - crucial part of plan - get the gondola down.

Thank you for indulging my first world whinging, I was feeling a bit stressed but a sense of perspective and some sunshine is all that’s required.  Sounds like you’re going through it though, hope you and yours don’t suffer badly with Covid.

T: Some therapeutic chainsawing.

T: Wondered if I could scramble up Tryfan after work, using my innate  mountain sense and local knowledge I took a few short cuts which meant I failed to even find Heather Terrace before dusk. Even when I got there (based on my phone app) it didn’t look right. Stumbled down and in to PyB wall. Stuck mainly to repeating things whilst watching Gareth Bale do his stuff for Wales.

S: Too late and indecisive to catch bus to the honey pots so went up Carnedd Llywelyn from Bwlch y Ddeufaen (hair raising drive up via Rowen, don’t go this way). By coincidence this turned out to be half marathon distance and I’m contemplating setting the Snowdonia half as a goal as it starts from Llanrwst in May. I thought this might be a sign but I was 40 minutes slower than the last place finisher of that event so not sure it was. 
S: Upper Pen Trwyn to make the very least of the sun! Dogged, on TR, Mayfair (twice), I’d never done the extension before; turns a good route into an even better one, Axel Attack and even Contusion. Finished on Pale Shelter (E1 5b) with Toby’s gear in so basically another TR. Ethical dilemma about what to claim in my logbook avoided though, as it turns out I’d done this before as well. Great weekend, got battered both days and the sun shone. 
Diet has gone ok in that I’ve cut out most cakes and biscuits, lot to do though as I’m 11’6”

This strikes me as the worst of all worlds!

Thanks Liam,

I can see that the long reaches might be open, but I struggle to get a crimp on any of them.  I have also caused a small tweak in my left-hand ring A1/2.  I think I will pause this until the finger clears up and then take it slowly to build up good form.

A quiet week, as work etc got in the way.

Mon - Indoor boulders - Was going to train, but with tweaky finger and the sight of newly set boulder room I decided to do that instead. I was surprised to clear the whole room (apart from the 1xV8) in quick succession. Lots of V1-5 flashed,  2xV6 and 1xV7 done second go. - Followed by 3 circuits of: 5*T's and 5*Y's (front and back), 10* Leg raises, 5*pull ups, 10*press-ups.

Fri - Was in Cornwall for work and got a few hours to play on 29 Palms (E8 6c), very thin moves on micro holds. Managed the easy bits, but have some work to get the lower crux.  Something to come back to.

Thanks Liam. Get well soon!

This week basically a rest as indicated. I was away with work for 2.5 days and have been a bit ill again so couldn't have done much anyway. I did some shoulder rehab on Friday and had a trip to the Hangar with son No.1 on Saturday - I focused mostly on techy/slabby stuff. Not a bad session.

This coming week will be similar, I'm hoping to get a day outside on Sunday if the weather is good. Then only another week until Font!

Hi Liam, thanks for the stats for the last few weeks. Particularly thanks for this week considering you are feeling rough. Hope it turns out to be a mild version. This week had been both busy and stressful at work which has led to poor sleep and either having no time or too mentally tired to do much. I have got out twice but lots of work in between. 

Mon + Tues. Rest (working) 

Wed. Lamp session at Burbage. Did Monochrome (f7B) very quickly after a slight beta tweak from last session. Spent the rest of the session on Boyager (f7A+) which I eventually got after a massive battle. Most of it is fine but there is a move at the start that too me ages to work out.

Thurs + Fri. Same as Mon and Tues!

Sat. Tshirt off in the sun sport! 6c onsight to warm up then 2nd tie in redpoints of Breamtime (7a+) and then Bream in Black (7a+). Found it hard to find a sequence on these with early season lack of chalk and a baffling array of side pulls.

Sun. 12km lap of Carsington Water with the kids on bikes. Mrs Swede and I took one bike between us and did a half and half run/cycle.

Temps drop next week so could be the last good change for harder grit slopers. Although there is some snow and rain forecast too so we'll see.

Eleven foot six inches!  Christ Tyler you’re tall! 😀

Thanks for the stats Liam - sterling effort considering you've caught the 'rona. Get well soon.

Virus' are close at hand in the Smith household too.  FiL has Covid, so i'm chief Squiggle-wrangler today.  This wouldn't be an issue bar the fact she's recovering from a messy bout of D&V and every raspberry of wind might spell disaster...

Week 12

M – Brief lunchtime board session.  10min warm-up, 25min trying hard(ish).  Skin felt thin and soapy so didn’t do a lot.  Later, 4x12 press-ups in the garden whilst Squiggle wrangling.

T – 26km flat road ride.

W – Evening (!) climb at Bickerton with Ross.  Struggled initially with ectopic beats (not had them for years) but once that settled down made some good links on the 7C+ link of City Life into Reckless.  Best go was start to long move into Reckless, but retrospectively realised I hadn’t moved the heel which retarded my reach.  Repeated Reckless from point they converge at the end.

T – Collected suspiciously warm Squiggle from nursery and got 45min training time while she snoozed.  Bar Core “A”: Graduated to straight leg windscreen wipers x12.  DL 3x10 65kg.  Density hangs; BW+28kg. Very hard.  Squigg not keen on her tea and shortly afterwards vomited spectacularly over kitchen chair and rug, leading to multi-hour clean-up.

F – Not a lot.

S – Morning car shopping.  Afternoon 26km flat road ride (different loop than Tuesday).

S – Morning test drives.  Afternoon return to Bickerton.  Lots of stoners present making for a bit of a haze under the roof.  Warmed up and did a one move 7A after a few goes.  Then got stuck into the main event; Cityless (f7C+) went on the 2nd go after a small tweak of the finishing beta.  Top out was sketchy AF having not been cleaned.  Got very close on Ramp Up Direct (f7B+) and keen to complete that and the longer Reckless Ramp (f7C+) link-up.

Thanks for the stats Liam - great effort putting out such a detailed set of stats when you've got covid. Hope you're on the mend soon! 

Quite a good week last week, making the most of the sunny weather while I could. 

M - Rest Day

T - Strength & conditioning (deadlifts 5 x 4 sets, squats 4 x 4 sets, weighted pull-ups 10 x 4 sets, press ups 10 x 4 sets, twisting crunches 20 x 4 sets, russian twists 20 x 4 sets, bicep curls 10 x 4 sets)

W - Routes endurance session (4 sets of 8 minute up-down ARCs)

T - 30k zone 2 bike ride which I managed to slot in during lunch wile working from home

F - Rest day

S - Back down south for my old man's birthday so not a lot of training

S - A quick zone 3 30k ride in the morning sun 

Plan for next week:

M - Rest day

T - Hopefully an evening cragging on the grit (weather permitting!)

W - Routes endurance session

T - Strength & conditioning

F - Rest day

S - Zone 2 bike ride

S - Another day out on the grit, or wherever the forecast looks best

Cheers Liam, hope Covid isn't hitting you too hard.

I've got a holiday coming up on Thursday, so I'll try to fit the solid week of training into Monday to Wednesday

Nothing to report climbing wise this week, but had a fantastic weekend on An Teallach Ridge (Summer) (Grade-3) and Liathach traverse so I'm not too bothered about missing my STGs.

Cheers Liam, I would imagine that one loop of Blackpool is enough for anyone 

Had a good week again despite some niggles.

Monday, 2km swim

Tuesday, 2km swim and intervals in the evening

Wednesday, woke up with a painful knee, think I must have aggravated it at intervals. 1km lunchtime swim and 17km cycle home from work

Thursday, 1km swim followed by stretch class, 6.5km evening run

Friday, 2km swim

Wife and eldest daughter at a swim gala all weekend so I played taxi driver and chef for the little ones. No exercise to report.

Hi Fit Club. Thanks for statting Liam, -hope you are recovering.

My lurgy was mostly gone by Monday and I tested fit to mingle on Wednesday. Bad week for training, great week for getting out in to the sunshine.

Week 12:

M: Max hangs and weighted pull-ups. Felt pretty strong given it was my first symptom-free day!

T: Solo bouldering session at Roundhill. Did all of 'Circuit Two' apart from the three minging 6B sitters. Great little venue.

W: Solo bouldering session at Wainstones. Highlight was Temper Arête SS (f6B) (never 6B in it's life, but still great!). Leg Rehab.

T: Hill walk. 15km. Leg Rehab.

F: Elbow and Shoulder Prehab.

S: Climbing on Pike o' Blisco. Fantastic day of chilled mileage. Highlight was The Needle (VD) on Black Crag. Need to go back for Glass Slipper if I'm cruising later in the summer!

S: Climbing at Brimham. A half attempt-half recce of the Dirty Dozen. A hilarious sufferfest! It was never really on the cards as Gigglin Crack was always going to be stopper, but we managed seven of the rest (missed two severes and a VS). Highlight was Tube Break (E3 6a), lowlight was not getting up Bog Crack (E1 5b) -what a total sandbag! It was Bog Crack that stopped us getting the rest ticked as between three of us we spent a good two hours falling off it in various different ways. Awesome day!

Week 13:

Try to get running again post lurgy.

Fingerboard x2

Strength sesh x2

Maybe hit Scotland if winter returns?

STG -end March:

Run my usual running loop.

Max Hangs: 90kg total.

Pull-ups: 95kg total.

Some Scottish winter routes -maybe just stretching in to April!

MTG -end June:

Start endurance phase for arms.

Arc en ciel.

One of my big mountain day list.

2022 Arbitrary training goals:

Roll over of last year's running targets: 35km vert and 1000km.

Weighted Pull-up: 100kg.

Max Hangs: 95kg.

Weighted hill climb: 2 laps of RT in 30 mins with 15kg.

2022 Climbing goals:

7a (Possibly one of: Arc en Ciel, The Jim Grin, Rock & Roll, Clink)

ALL of my local must-do list: 0/15

Visit at least five of my 'why haven't I climbed here' list: 0/5

Get at least one session at each of my 'I should climb more at this crag' list: 0/8

Start properly getting to know: Brimham 2/3, Almscliff 0/3, Caley 0/3, Slipstones 2/3.

At least two days from big mountain list: 0/2.

(For lists see FitClub 772)

Late summer/autumn alpine trip.

Busy on a work course this week so planned it as a deload. Had I known The Vid would strike I’d have saved it for this week but nevermind.

I did get out on the Saturday to try some more bits in the Boulderfield.

Sat

Climbed 4 problems on The Anvil Boulder as a warmup. Highlight being The Anvil, Sit-start (f5+) then flashed Rocky and Diesel (f6A). Struggle to see how it’s Top50. Had another few goes on Dickhead Plumber (f7A) and dropped the last move again after I slapped too far right on the top out. Climbed The Scene (f6B) from standing as couldn’t work out the sit, then had a fondle of Grizzly Style (f7A) with the same outcome so went up Man Hug (f6A) as compensation. Finished the session with a couple goes on Cat Killer (f6B) which is a cool move but too much late in the day for grumbly fingers. Wall to wall sunshine and a great day out.

Plan is to get back on the ropes once I’m clear of Covid.

Left foot by the toe of the arete, right foot pushing on the right face, right hand on some sort of sidepull on the right face, then left hand is going up to one of the obvious arete pinches. Bump it up as high as you can to the best bit for the next move...

Thanks Liam - great job and hope you are through the virus quickly.  I haven’t tested positive at all and I think my lifestyle is at the not very careful end of the scale.  Fingers crossed that it continues.

i have tested and I seem to have maintained my basic strength, though I haven’t pushed it yet.  Bursitis is much reduced and no effect at the crag, though I’ve concentrated on just getting moving so far, so no particular strain.  Out on sport today, so maybe a better test as intending to try a bit harder.

good sessions at the crag - really lovely days on grit accumulating some mileage with lots of the team out.  A week off next week so reintroducing some work on the fingerboard - two sessions of max hangs, pull ups and push ups alongside trips to the crag.  Weight still gently reducing!

That makes sense. I found the right side pull but think I was too Cheval on the the Arete. One to go back to when I’ve stopped coughing up lung!

I go on either weekeday mornings or evenings so it's usually pretty quiet.

Not quite, but getting there I think. Maybe the next spell of good weather

Next Week

Looking like a bouldering week, given the temperature drop. Finish The Greener Traverse (f6B), do two other problems at F6B or above.

Last week

Tuesday

Bouldering at the Roaches

• Skinned Rabbit (f6B) - Attempt
• The Greener Traverse (f6B) - Attempt

Greener Traverse will definitely go next attempt

Wednesday

Strength and Conditioning

Saturday

Trad at  Kinder Southern Edges

• The Ivory Tower (E1 5b)

Sunday

Bouldering at Stanage Apparent North

• The Hinge (f6B) - Attempt, but was way too far right, which made it very eliminate.
• Magnetic North Start (f6A) - Attempt - should have got it but was a bit high and was getting tired.
• Flat Wall Traverse (f6A) - Attempt.

Hope you're doing well and not suffering too badly with your COVID.

Some good news at this end: I tested neg yesterday and today (day 10) so my isolation period is over. Things are still quite demanding in the household but I'll be resuming my training again over the weekend. 'Really looking forward to it.

I managed some light training over the last few days to get a feel for how I was but nothing worth recording: some very gentle dumbbell work and 4.5km gentle walking around the (very small) garden/yard over 2 sessions to complete my "March walking challenge" (courtesy of the new magic watch). I didn't feel great during those walks but hopefully I'll get back to full strength quickly now that I'm free of the virus.

Onwards and upwards!

Thanks Liam.

I can summarise the trip in one word - wet! It was a nice break with lovely people though.

Had a good first day doing some mileage on sighting up to 7a. Then it rained. We lost two days together and the other 4 days were all about visiting 2 or 3 crags and climbing at the one that looked least affected. Caves were seeping and walls were getting rained on, so it was tricky.

I got on one route above 7a (a 7b+) on top rope and did all the moves first go up, but with 3 rests.

I felt like I could hang around forever and dealt with some distinctly spooky bolting at 6c/6c+ well enough.

I got on 4 x 7a’s in a day and felt like I could climb 7a all day fitness wise. I didn’t onsight them all due to dampness and route reading being a lot harder with no chalk at all. But I felt very fit. I don’t think I’ve got much top end fitness though.

This year is about trad as a priority so that bodes well and shows the training I did worked how I wanted it to.

Reiff in May is the next goal. So more fitness training to come.

The knee was very sore walking on uneven ground, but never bothered me climbing, so technically it’s not a problem!  

This week will be getting back into routines and sorting my knee out.

Glass Slipper is brill, so is needle arete. Get them both done! 

You can see all the moves from the ground on needle arête and glass slipper is the gift that keeps on giving.

We are heading to Benidorn in just over a week.  Do you have any recommendations for crags that will stay dry in the rain and/or don't seep?  Its a family holiday but Mrs. Swede should allow 2 days climbing.  My plan currently is to do the easiest route up the Penon (Via Pany) one morning and spend a different day at Sella as we need 5s next to 7as.  I wont be projecting anything, just cruisey onsighting (hopefully!).

Cheers

Busot was our saviour and Rincon Bello too. 

Our issue was that the standard wet weather alternatives (like Sella) were seeping. Hopefully that will have stopped now and options will be greater. 

It seems like the Costa Blanca has had a few weeks of poor weather, but sounds like a productive trip anyway.  Great to see that the rigour you’ve applied to training has translated well into fitness on the routes.

Despite living in Lancaster and The Lakes in the past, I’ve not been to any of the Wrynose Crags either - good recommendations for a visit to somewhere new .