UKC

Another placeholder as I have family staying.  I will post the stats up tonight.  🙂

UKC FitClub Week 797

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/fit_club_week_796-748797?v...

Sorry for the late posting.  This time it was a visit from my daughters, which usually means intensive partying and such like.  Hopefully, I am together enough to put together this week’s stats…

Stats:

Ross Barker:  Fantastic news from you this week Ross, which I know has delighted many of the troupe.  I think it important that your bride to be is protected from the original post that you made, which placed the proposal news after ‘a bit of holiday bouldering’!  Regardless, glad that you were able to do a bit of bouldering, though a shame that sand levels had changed so dramatically creating highballs out of sit starts!  Sorry to hear that the car is still creating problems as things like that can get in the way of a decent week out and about, as I know from my recent experiences.

AJM:  Impressive on the chin ups.  I don’t do these palm towards face things, but understand that they isolate the biceps well?  Anyway, doing sets of ten is decent as I don’t think I have seen many of these on your schedule lately?  Also, the push up numbers are good – apparently sets of 30 is highly protective for heart disease so worth pushing on with these.  I find boredom sets in with big sets of push ups, so I limit my push ups these days.  I haven’t tried the open hand pick ups, but they sound like an interesting thing to consider.  Some good results on the DWS particularly noting Ross’s reference to a cold swim!

Ally: Good effort with the hotel training.  I usually set out with good intentions and usually end up with a red wine in the bar, though I have occasionally gone for a run.  5 mins per km seems pretty fast – likely well beyond zone 2 though I don’t know your age – but I assume that it is all part of a plan?  Perhaps the shin and thigh DOMS is an indication?!

The slot test on the BM2K looks really good and you must be delighted.  Most of the people I climb with think I have strong fingers, but I can’t imagine managing those levels – again, quite inspiring and something to target over the longer term.

Brilliant work on the new route, which I think was one of this year’s goals.

Mattrm:  Good to know you are still lurking.  We miss you of course.  Come back any time!

Alan: Good to see that you maintain your sense of humour by starting shoulder rehab immediately after it had left the stable…  Have a word with Biscuit as he may be able to offer some useful tips.  I can’t comment on shoulder issues and biking as neither are in my experience, but I would hate to see an injury holding back your Kaly preparations.  Sounds like a fantastic walk!  I was always a climber who walked because it was necessary until I started walking in the Alps with my kids.  I think it was something to do with much lighter rucksacks and the stunning scenery, but I now regards Alpine walking days as truly memorable.  Good to see that you are trying to keep some training going regardless.

Ger_the_Gog:  A great break thanks!  Impressive to see that you have started to shift some weights.  Take it steady and focus on form to start with and the gains will start to come quite quickly as a lot of it is neuro-adaptation.  You are still mixing in plenty of walking and doing something most days , so the habit will be developing well.  Great to see you hitting one of your stated goals and with plenty of the summer left to go.  Better get setting some new goals (possibly based around the Vaynol)?

A very honest report on the bouldering efforts!  As suggested before, work on some technique and movement to get going.  I can never do anything steep until I have some basic movement dialled.

Planet Marshall:  Glad the physio had relatively positive comments on your condition.  Hope things are easing, though it sounds as if you have some corrective work to do.  I don’t know what you are up against, but UKBShark has lots of good stuff including videos on shoulder work, which I found helpful.

You are getting to some impressive places!  I can count the people I know who have climbed on Pillar on one finger!  I think this may explain the dirt, but at least you have the badge and can offer a view based on actually trekking up there to see what it was all about.  Nimrod is pretty good though, whereas there are plenty of three star routes that are not as good as Nimrod…

Peak lime is great for trad, so hope the campaign is continuing along.  Shout if you need a belay, particularly evenings after work.

Randy:  There you go – a bit more time on rock and it starts to come together.  It sounds like an inspiring session at Amphitheater including falls and all sorts.  Still somewhat astonished by the ‘just try it’ approach as four goes on a 6c would tell me to wind it back a bit, not go on a 7c+.  However, a half-day of Biscuit’s coaching this week is helping me see the light!

Good to see the lead head returning by the end of the week and with another session under your belt.  Some good results with the general fitness stuff as well – plenty of volume across the range of activity that you do.  Hoe that upcoming India trip doesn’t slow you down too much.

Tom Green:  Always a hard balance to strike as it all takes time!  I would reflect that usually training is the harder bit (this may be my approach to actually climbing!), so I rarely feel like my having fun is compromised by training loads.  My other comment would be that having missed training through most of last summer (having fun instead), it was strikingly difficult to get back to a proper level again and I was obviously much weaker after a summer of climbing. 

Glad to see that you are taking your targets so seriously now.  Three of the local must-does in one week!  They all sound very worthwhile as well.  Another big day with the Gillercombe / Corvus circuit – excellent.

SteveJC94:  Max hangs going well and good sessions on the board.  A good range of general work on Wednesday.  Dovedale has got some lovely stuff, but you have to search a bit.  A lot of the crags don’t really have enough to fill a day, so you end up chasing about a bit.  Inevitably, this involves some challenging approaches.  However, Thunderball, Final Witness, Pickering’s Overhang form that basis of a day and Easter Island is nearby.  Raven’s Tor is decent though Central Wall is desperate…  A good trip to Wales in the mix.

You will have to explain the value of a zone three bike ride as my understanding is that it is a poor zone to train?

SSB: Great stuff getting Scarab ticked though the ‘bit hollow’ feeling is probably to be expected.  Just remember that it is impossible to onsight everything, so some things being done with practice is fine as long as the approach is honest.  I’ve left loads behind that I should have done (however imperfectly) when the chance was there.  Interesting that the bouldering session was a bit of a struggle and left you ‘utterly trashed’ – perhaps a bit of a quieter week would be useful, though we all want to make some hay whenever the sun actually shines.

Good to have a Cratcliffe plan in hand, though it looks like the weather has other ideas.

Sheep: Wow!  Non-stop swimming and cycling by the look of things.  Plenty of wildlife in the mix as well, almost rivalling Alan’s encounter with a boar.  A badger in daylight is quite a sighting and the birdlife at Stoney Cove sounds great – is this what used to be called Markfield Quarry and is now the dive centre?  If so, I climbed there when at school.  I’m linking things up as you mention Leicester Tigers in your post.  6km swimming across the week is a good distance and some cycling in the mix as well has got to be good, though I note the closure of the pool looms.

Steve Claw:  Three new routes this week from Fit Club (see above).  Really good effort to get this put away with some cunning tactics employed to fool yourself!  I suspect it demonstrates familiarity that it felt okay in the end?  Good to get the toprope of Smaug thing done so well at 6b – are you hoping to go back for a lead on this one?

Yes. Heat was really intense recently – I thought I would melt on Guernsey.  Not bad for camping though!

JayK :  It looks like work has got in the way a bit – something with which I am very familiar.  Good to see some sessions being grabbed though and I think stretching isn’t a bad way to go when time is short.  Certainly, I have done this when I have been away with work.   Slotting in the runs as well is always worthwhile and you have knocked off two 10 km ones this week!  Getting to 10 km is my current target!  Good to see some max hangs on the schedule – ‘felt tough’ is where it needs to be!  Ally advised me a while ago on what the effort should feel like and it made me step up my weights for max hangs quite significantly.

Liam P:  Max hangs going well Liam with steady progress evident.  The leg rehab stuff is also impressive (assuming I knew what it meant!)…  Those weighted pull ups are again astounding, so your pull strengths is something else.  I wonder if you’d get most gain from technique training at you have a lot of strength and power to tap into at this point?  Of course, mostly that would come from time on rock, which is exactly what you can’t achieve.  Anyway, a decent week in amongst the party preparations.  Hope you manage to get some time on rock at some point to utilise that pulling power.

Biscuit:  Yes, the mixed weather is a dampener (sorry!) for any mountain plans at the moment, so I can understand the time spent on sport instead.  Anyway, good work at Kilnsey last week and the work put in at Langcliffe #1 on Line of Duty.  A shame to see that Mum dues interfered with a wonderful day and the Sunday visit to Gimmer was met with classic mountain mizzle.  At least some trad was done once you were back down in the valley.

Lots of work on shoulder and knee rehab over the week – hope that it is showing benefits in keeping things stable.  More particularly, hope you manage to get up to the mountains at some point to get some your trad goals ticked.  I’m the same really, definite preference for trad, but haven’t yet had much opportunity to push it on a bit.

Tyler:  Some impressive bits of walking in the report this week and good to get one of your wife’s bucket list things done anyway.  Good that you are managing to chip away at things on the Orme.  I know you had been on Tramstation a bit earlier in the year, but glad you are getting back there an on things with reasonable frequency.  I think you put a shout out on UKC for partners at one point, so hopefully you have something organised as I know how frustrating it can be when you don’t have reasonable networks developed. 

I used to suffer with elbows, but found the rehab worked pretty quickly – I used the protocol that can be found through UKC searching on elbows, but can’t recall the Doctors name at the moment…

A pretty mixed week for me..

Mon travel back from Guernsey then get on with work

Tues work

Wed work

Thurs funeral of a friend of my wife took up much of the day.  Then went out to Harpur Hill to catch up with two of the gang who I hadn't seen for a while.  Managed to get three routes done, so s bonus.

Friday an early start to meet up with Biscuit at Langcliffe Skyline.  A day theoretically shortened by weather and family plans, but really I had problems with cramping after messing about on five or six things.  Quite happy to do two 6a+, a 6b and a 6c, before playing a bit on Biscuit's 7b, which felt pretty tweaky to me.  Lastly a dnf on A Nick in Thyme (6c) as used up too much energy trying to avoid holds on adjacent routes.  A really interesting day learning things from Biscuit!

(Stoney Cove isn't the same flooded disused quarry as Markfield, although both are in Leicestershire. I took my very first steps on rock at Markfield)

STG: Get my shoulders working again
MTG: Autumn Kalymnos trip with my son, shoulders permitting
MTG: Winter 22/23 - do an actual off piste ski tour
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber. For measurable definition see Fit Club 658

M:    Cautiously tried out some 18mm edge half crimp pickups as an alternative to the fingerboard. They didn't seem to aggravate the shoulder, so that's good.
T:    
W:    Hillwalk, Herzogstand. Offsite team event with work at a lift-accessible hut; I chose to get up a bit earlier and not use the lift for the uphill.
T:    More no-hangs/pickups
F:    Bike one hour. Bike innocent until proven guilty wrt shoulder troubles
S:    Zugpsitze via Hollental (PD). I originally wanted to do something a bit more remote in the Berchtesgaden Alps, but with all the huts booked out for the weekend that would have been dependent on the Königssee ferry - and with exactly eight hours between first ferry and last ferry, and an estimated hiking time of approximately eight hours, that seemed like a bit of a risk.

The Höllental turns out to be much more interesting than I expected - great scenery in the lower valley, a little glacier crossing (approach shoes with spikes were fine) and a long finishing section of easy but exposed via ferrata. Seven hours versus a DAV signpost time of 8½ - go me! - but tbh I found the last hour or so pretty desperate. Seven hours might not be much by rough tough alpinist standards, but it's the longest I've spent going continuously uphill for quite a while. 

S:    Hm. Cough & sore throat all day that I initially thought was just really bad hayfever, but I don't think so. Didn't have any covid tests at home so had to wait for the pharmacy to open on Monday morning to pick one up - that was negative too. So not covid, but definitely something, and maybe suggests my big fade at the end of Saturday might not have been only lack of big hill fitness.

Hi Fit Club. Thanks for another week of top statting, Derek.

I think you're right -it's easy to have a great season of climbing but come out the back end of it weak, with a lot of work to build back up.

I'm going to distil my training down to three 'essentials': cardio/legs, fingers, injury prevention. The first one will look after itself as running and hill walking don't feel like training and don't conflict with getting out on sunny days. Fingerboarding needs a more canny strategy -the good news is I'm about to hit a period where I'm climbing less, so there will be less conflict there. Prehab needs a more concerted effort to make it a habit again, but there are no excuses as this can fit in to any day, around any other exercise. Anything else -core, general strength, etc can be viewed as optional extras for now. They aren't the key limiting factors so can be deprioritised.

Any thoughts on the above gratefully recieved!

Week 25:

M: Trail run. 5.6km, 155m vert, 6:06/km. Just a little one -kind of junk miles, but used as 'on-the-job' rehab for my sore knees.

T: Trad at the Napes. Chilled evening session doing a handful of routes on the Needle (The Obverse Route (VS 4b) being the clear winner -amazing moves!) -good to tick a crag off my 'why haven't I climbed here?' list. 

W: Trad at Black Crag. Highlight was Raindrop (E1 5b) -gorgeous first pitch and slightly gripping third pitch!

T: Trail run. 16.3km, 201m vert, 6:40/km. Kept it flat to go easy on the knees, which felt reasonably good throughout.

F: Sport at Kilnsey. Another tick off the must-visit list (having deliberately avoided the place as being totally my antistyle)! The crag is almost entirely above my paygrade, but I'm going to enjoy projecting the warm-ups -it will be a good lesson in humility! Did all the moves on Allakazam (6c) and will hopefully get it linked in another session or two.

S: Trail run. 5.6km, 152m vert, 6:04/km. Another shorty to keep the legs behaving.

S: Rest.

Week 26:

M: Fingerboard.

T: Climbing.

W: Rest.

T: Run. Prehab.

F: Fingerboard. Prehab.

S: Run. Prehab.

S: Core. Prehab.

STG -end June:

Arc en ciel -TICK!

Ultra distance hill run. (Almost! 2km short on my McPhies run!)

Eight of my big mountain day list (at least two on consecutive days). (4/8)

Keep injury free (elbows, hips and knees).

MTG -end Sept:

Two big alpine routes.

2022 Arbitrary training goals:

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) -TICK!

ALL of my local must-do list: 4/15

Visit at least five of my 'why haven't I climbed here' list: 3/5

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 2/3, Caley 0/3, Slipstones 2/3.

(For lists see FitClub 772)

At least two big, classic alpine goals.

Thanks Derek,  a semi deload week for me in that I went all aerobic with no bouldering this week but still got out and did stuff.

Mon. Rest.

Tues. Great session at Stoney, warmed up leading Minus Ten (HVS 5a) then managed to onsight Bitterfingers (E4 6a) (extreme rock tick #5 this year).  Really pleased with this as I've not done much onsight trad at this grade for ages and I can count the number of E5s I've onsighted on my fingers so its certainly one of my better leads (harder than Flakey wall E4 and pumpier than Supersonic E5 too).  I climbed back to the floor a few times at the start and opted to place the wire on the right before the peg which was really pumpy to get in but I found all the climbing relatively steady, it was just managing the placing gear pump here and placing the awkward wire above the little niche on the top wall.

Wed. 35km on the road bike, nice little group ride but tweaked something in my right hamstring/back of the knee a bit.

Thurs. Soloing at  Bell Hagg.  A dozen easy solos or low grade boulders after work.

Fri. rest.

Sat.  Cornice session, redpointed A Bolted Power Problem (7b) which had a hard crux that wouldn't have been out of place on a 7c which it would be if it weren't for the hands off knee bar just before the crux which I didn't find 'til my 3rd tie in.  Also did a lap of Une Crime Passionel (7a) which I cleaned up bolt to bolt a few weeks back and has clearly seen loads of traffic since as it was well chalked.

Sun 5km run.

My middle joint on my right middle finger is still a bit sore, I think I must have tweaked something slightly last week so I'm on the lookout for boulder traverses again or anything that doesn't involve dynamic latches with the right hand!  Open to suggestions if anyone has any, I'm running out close by!  The weather is looking changeable for Thursday but I''m keen to get out and do something so if it does look like rain we could always head to somewhere a bit more rainproof like Stoney if Cratcliffe ends up not being an option?  We went for a wander along windy ledge on Tuesday and the ER ticks up there look like they might be worth a punt!  Have you done any of them before (Cerce, Kingdom Come and Our Father)?

A quick reflection on your new strategic approach is that it looks like a balanced assessment of the things that will deliver results for you - good stuff.  There is some stuff out there on undertaking fingerboard work on your climbing days - certainly density hangs can be integrated effectively.  

You've taken your mid-year revisit of goals very seriously btw!

Good morning, thank you all for the congratulations last week

The car is semi-sorted, it's a bit of a long story but it runs and can get me places again!

A good week for me, ticking off something that's taken a couple sessions and enjoying a sunny mosquito-filled evening at the terrace.

Last Week:

M - Max no-hangs. 30kg, 6x10s per side, 4 min rest. I was listening to a podcast with Aidan Roberts and hearing how he has his pinkies in a half-crimp position (PIP at ~90⁰), and I've noticed that mine always drag open, even if the other three digits are proper crimping. It might explain why my front 3 half-crimp is strong compared to my back 3 half-crimp? With it in mind I focused on keeping the pinky crimped on all the sets, and it certainly felt aggressive, but not too risky. I think I'll keep at this weight for a couple of weeks with the pinky crimp and see how it fares. Any finger expert opinions are welcome!

T - Rest.

W - The Terrace. Had a few pops on Rigpa (V9) but really struggled with the immense heat and, paradoxically, couldn't really get my fingers very warmed up. Repeated Northumberland Wonderland (f7A) and Right-Hand Route (f6C).

T - Rest. Weight in at 77kg.

F - Rest.

S - The Dug Out. Finally managed Doug (f7A+) after refining the beta for the final hand moves. Still felt absolutely desperate, mind!

S - Rest.

Next Week:

M - Fingerboard, then maybe dugout?

T - Rest.

W - Rest.

T - Maybe the dugout again?

F, S, S - On a non-climbing weekend trip.

Goals:

Bulletproof fingers.

Summer DWS!

I might, but like many things I TR, I often don't go back as once I know I can do it, a RP is not that big a deal and I move on to something else.

M - Some easy ish Sport - 6c+ 6c, 6a etc

T - Nothing

W - Mendip fun in the Heat. New E2 and VS.  Cleaned and TR a 7b

T - Nothing

F - Quick TR session Dark Crystal (E3 6b)

S - Nothing

S - Quick TR session in Avon 56 Is The New 55 (7b+) and Slap Stick (E3 6b).  Got both first go after a quick brush and work out the beta.

Thanks Derek. Top quality statting. Much appreciated.

M - Shoulder and knee rehab

T - Shoulder and knee rehab

W - Actually bouldered indoors. Just up to V5 on slabs at BUK. Finger didn't enjoy indoors at all and now I know what annoyed it.

Shoulder and knee rehab.

T - Rest

F - Langcliffe with Derek. A lovely crag day, thanks. Did some warm ups and then got on the 7b I sorted out last time. Climbed through the crux first time and then it turned out I hadn't figured out the bit that connected the crux to the top. I ground to a halt. I figured it out and I then had 2 or 3 more goes, but couldn't get through the lower crux. I couldn't hold the gaston/thumb sprag move, which has always felt fine (but hard) before. It just felt like my left shoulder (the one I'm rehabbing) couldn't hold the position. Very annoying. Finger also sore. I then failed on a 6c. I felt a bit tired and my finger was sore so when it got to the technical top wall I didn't fancy the crimps. Ultimately a frustrating day, but a very enjoyable one with Derek.

S -  Windmore End It was raining in the Lakes so the planned trad day got binned and this was the esoteric suggestion. What a cracking little crag. 8metres high of good quality, compact, limestone. Basically lots of E3's and 4's for highballing. I led an E3, highballed 2 and soloed one and highballed an E4. All just the right side of spicy. Great day. I didn't tape my finger up and it felt better for it. 

S - Rest

Lots of plans this week, but who knows what the weather will do to them. Tuesday is looking like an indoor session and we're hoping for Wales at the weekend but we'll have to see.

It was not as crazy as it sounds . I wanted to save the other climbs in the 6c-7a range for future onsights attemps, the 7c+ looked like a fun route with a not too hard start and the draws were in. Also you never know what happens untill you try it!

Recap last week:

Mon: Rest

Tues: Gym bouldering session. Tried to focus on flashing boulder which are are at my flash limit. Succeed in three technical and one powerful 6b+, climbed two powerful 6c/6c+ boulders after a couple of tries and failed on a couple of boulders in the 6c to 7a range (quickly moved on when i felt that i had no chance today). Finished the session with 6x10 pullups with about 3 min rest.

Wed: L-Sit 2x15s; handstand against the wall, 2x8 pike pushups, 2x12 lunges, 2x12 bodyweight squats, 30 pushups and 30s V-Sit Up; L-Sit form is starting to come back, the funny things is that i feel that my leg strength is currently the limiting factor

Thurs: Another gym bouldering session. Felt tired and lacked a little bit of motivation. Hence, decided to do a volume session and try to climb as much boulders in the 5b-6a+ range in 90 minutes as possible. Finished the session with 5x10 Pullups with 3 min rest

Fri: L-Sit 2x15s; handstand against the wall, 2x10 pike pushups, 2x12 lunges, 2x12 bodyweight squats, 30 pushups and 30s V-Sit Up;

Sat: Another outdoor session at Amphitheater. Repeated Rotphase (6b) as warmup. Then onsighted Die dunkle Seite (6c+) and projected Gladiator (7c+) again. Quite happy with the Onsight, the 7a goal is getting closer and i definately had something left in the tank and was not at my limit. Made some progress on Gladiator (7c+), and done all the moves till the Offwidth except two. Could also link the first part of the route, which checks in at around 7a imo. Nevertheless, i still have the feeling that a send would require much more time than i am willing to invest in this line, so i am not sure if it makes sense to continue trying this route at the moment.

Sun: Rest / another flight to India. 

Another decent week, and it feels like i make good progress with every week. A little bit of a bummer that i need to get back to India, but i need to make the best out of it and at least try to come back fitter. In order to stay motivated i decided to set my myself a couple of goals for each week so here are the ones for the next week:

Goals next week:

1. Nutrition: Eat healthy, get enough protein and don't eat too much
2. Two fingerboard sessions during the week, and one bouldering session in the gym on the weekend
3. Keep relative effort level in these session at 7-8 on  a 1 to 10 scale, so don't completely wreck myself but also don't keep it too easy.

Yes, I think chin-ups are more bicep heavy. I’ve not done that many of them, certainly not as many as I intend to - I keep thinking it would be good to do three sets of pull-ups and three sets of chin-ups as the core of a pulling muscle workout, but I also find I just struggle for energy/motivation generally at the moment - quite busy at work at the moment and then by the time I’ve got the children in bed in the evening I usually just want to sit down! Somehow it seems easier to do pushups than pull-ups, I don’t know why - probably a bigger weakness for me, a useful part of my goal to become a bit more balanced, so that’s not terrible, but I can’t only do antagonists!

A good week with three varied outdoor sessions done. I’m not really sure what the week ahead holds at the moment, need to sort myself out some plans really.

Monday - rest

Tuesday - Lulworth. A short session - I arrived a little later than the others who were working hard and therefore got tired early. But I repeated The Maypole (HVS 5b) and did The Laws Traverse (E1 6a) there and back, and then had a go on Adrenochrome (8a). This is the harder neighbour of Mark of the Beast (7c), but has the advantage that it’s basically fully out over the channel as opposed to Mark which is quite close to the starting reef for about the lower third. It’s probably fair to say that adrenochrome is currently out of my league as a dws - I’ve done one 8a before, after several days of work, but the ground up style of dws is a very inefficient (but enormously fun!) way to work routes, and it’s not like the radically overhung style of Lulworth plays to my strong suit. But it was way more fun than Mark, where I was constantly fretting about being close to the reef. A few moves out of the traverse of Horny you come to a dyno for a jug, which is obviously where I fell off, but I got a bit closer to it than I expected. I might put a little more time into this, see if I can make some progress, before giving Mark another punt. Great to be out at the big L again and great to just be having fun larking around on adrenochrome.

Wednesday - nothing, miniAJM could not be tempted by the wall

Thursday - busy at work then drive to South Wales. MicroAJM had a danger nap in the car and then stayed up dancing round the floor until around midnight.

Friday - with wet weather forecast we headed to Dinas Rock for some hopefully dry in the rain bouldering. As it happened the weather wasn’t as wet as forecast and we could potentially have done more, but the main cliff with its excellent looking collection of mid 7s (one of the inspirations of the trip) was apparently quite midgy. The bouldering was of a particular style - quite smooth rock for the hands, albeit fairly ok holds, and some very shiny feet. Doing a lot here would probably be great for keeping really controlled and even load through the feet. I didn’t find it the easiest but by the end of the session I had notched up a 5+, two 6As, and a 6C, Launch Pad (f6C). Having not got the tick from my boulder project over the winter this is one of only two moderately difficult boulders I’ve done this year.

Saturday - it really was wet this time. In the end I basically ended up having a rest day, minding the children to balance my karma from the other days whilst MrsAJM had a decent session at Flashpoint in Swansea.

Sunday - Navigation Quarry. Cool crag. Did a few good easier routes to get going, then onsighted a good 6c, The Relaxed Ladybird (6c), and did the crag/area classic Western Front Direct (7a) second go - anything exposed to the previous days rain was unchalked and basically I was just a bit too slow figuring it out, plus there was a clip high up that’s a lot easier with the draw already in.

Thanks for the suggestions Derek. I'm very keen to get back to Dovedale soon as I'm really starting to enjoy Peak Lime - there must be something wrong with me!

It's mainly because my weakness on the bike is 30-40minute climbs, so I get the best bang for my buck by training zone 3 to prep for these efforts. My cardio endurance base has always been good and top end power isn't a priority so most of my training is in zone 3 these days.

A decent week for me, with some good news on the shoulder front:

M - Campus (matching ladders x 2, standard ladders x 4, 1-3-5 x 2, 1-4-6 x 2). Triple laps of 6 boulder problems

T - Rest

W - MRI scan on the shoulder shows a minor tear that is healing well, but lots of fluid still present in the joint which indicates damage to the Bursa. All treatable with physio and I've been given the green light to train as hard as I like as long as I'm not in pain

T - Boulder 4 x 4s

F/S/S - Rest 

Plan for next week:

M - Campus and woody board problems

T - Rest

W - Route 4x4s

T - Strength & conditioning

F - Rest

S/S - Weather permitting, aiming for a weekend in North Wales with my sights set on some classics at the Cromlech or Gogarth if the weather's better at the coast

Getting there, I have one weekday evening partner plus another potential so it’s coming together. On that subject I meant to respond to the discussion about a FC meet. If it’s in Wales I can put up a few people and maybe provide a base if the weather turns. The weekend of the 12th is out for me as it’s my mum’s 80th. 
 

This was meant to be the week of my trip to Skye as my old climbing partner was over from Oz with his son. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t playing ball and the son preferred clubbing in Manc to being a mule to a couple of old codgers. 
M: Took nièce and nephew to Bounce Below in Blaenau, really good fun, quite exhausting and left me with a massive bruise on my elbow. We spent the rest of the day on the beach. 
T: Hired a chipper, even more therapeutic than chainsawing. 
W: Bodnant gardens and then got on Body Torque (7b+). Couple of quick goes confirmed I couldn’t do the move but nor could my partner and he did Rock Atrocity a couple of weeks back! Might return for the direct but this version is not for me. 
T: Great - Bow Combination (HVS 5a). Shame to go to Cloggy and do a route I’d done before but it was 35 years ago so I had no recollection about how good it was. Some of these old classics don’t stand the test of time but this is a five star belter. Walk in was fine so I’ll be back (although we did offload some of the rack to the young raver).

F: Dodgy weather and lack of inspiration meant we turned back from Benllech when we saw the state of the descent. Walked around the slate quarries bulling about all the routes we did or didn’t do. In fairness some of those things seem pretty unjustifiable in retrospect.

S: Nowt

S: Brief trip to PyB wall, new problems so didn’t go on the board. Felt knackered, a bad sign. 
Injuries and weight are same as last week with the addition of a massive trampolining bruise. 

Cheers Derek. You’ve hit the nail on the head with technique training. Pull strength is good, fingers are decent, technique and stamina are atrocious! I can commit to a half day each week at the wall, or outdoors if I can get a partner at short notice, but it’s usually hit and miss. Something to focus on when I get the opportunity but will carry on cranking in the meantime. 

Anyway, nice and easy this week as I had a rest from training. Carried on the knee rehab which has started to make a worrying click since the cortisone jab!

Tue

Leg Rehab

• Calf Raises 3x 40 (BW)
• Leg Extension 5x 15 (L/R 12.5kg/BW)
• 50cm Box Stepups 5x 15 (BW)
• Leg Press 3x 15 (L/R 37.5kg/5kg)
• Banded crab walks x 3
• Hanging Leg Wipers 3x 10

Have a good week!

Good morning from the Algarve.

Not a lot to report; I've managed a few sets of pull ups, press ups and a fair chunk of swimming.  

Hi, Markfield quarry is a separate venue to the North West of Leicester, coincidently its where me and my mate taught ourselves to lead climb  Stoney Cove is to the south and to my knowledge has been a dive centre for a long time so no climbing. Had a light week as life and work commitments took over.

Tuesday was good, cycled to work and back so just over 30k in total

Wednesday, drove into work but cycled home at lunchtime to take the eldest back to Stoney Cove for a swim again. Was lucky enough to see the Peregrine Falcons in flight this time round. We saw the male catch a pigeon mid flight and then drop it into the lake. The female was not happy and screeched for a good 10 minutes  We probably covered around 1.5 k again.

Thanks Derek. Yes it feels great to back at it again and ticking Elidir Fawr off was a bonus. The legs are definitely getting stronger. As for the climbing, my quest for a very local, gentle bouldering spot continues. In the mean time, it'll be the RAC.

I had a week off last week. I'd been hard at it over the previous few weeks (~84 miles since May 22nd) so thought I'd give the legs a rest. Been out with a pack a couple of times this week though so will have something to post on Sunday.

Thanks for the comments, as always. Work was always going to be busy at this point - however the home wall has meant that I am still able to get a session in. I'd have no chance in previous years. Knowing that I'm still getting something done makes working much easier. 

I've always done a lot of running. Think it's a great way to get some sun light, also gives me a chance to listen to an audiobook / podcast. 

Wk 797 wasn't great - but this week has already been much better. I have had 2 very good sessions already (although wasn't able to make my Tuesday or Thursday run).

Monday - 1hr Board session

Tuesday - Run (8km)

Wednesday - forgot my boots so ended up bailing on the BBC session and had an hour on the home board instead.

Thursday - Run (7km)

Friday - Football. Jarred my ankle, which has been sore since. Nothing to worry about though. I can still climb on it.

Saturday - 1 hour board session

Sunday - Run (8km)

I said that it wasn't great - but now that I have written it out, it doesn't look too bad. I think it's mainly due to itching to get outdoors.