UKC

Fit club 896

Hi Clubbers 

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_895-77084...

Ian Parnell: The Stanage marathon sounds good. Don't fall off is always a good first rule! Sounds like a good honest fight with Quietus. I'm intrgued by what sounds like a feet first finish... video please! How's the core strength for this dabby boulder project?

Tigh: Sorry to hear you've been ill. Well done for getting some training in, but don't rush back to full intensity or volume too quickly. Recovery rewards patience! (Not that I ever listen to my own advice on that!)

Tyler: I'm going to be a bit stern with you... Stop being so bloody hard on yourself! You are going pretty well, so I'd say the glass is half full! Correct me if I'm wrong: but I think that although you always do a steady trickle of trad, the vast majority of your climbing over the last few years has been sport. So it's not surprising that you can't just swan up mid-Es like you used to... Go easy on yourself, and just keep turning up and it will come!

Steve Claw: Wish my uninjured weeks were as good as your injured week! That's a great set of routes. How did that finger like five days on though? Seems to be VERY active recovery!

Alan Little: hopefully you are out of internet range on a sunlit munro somewhere! Have a great time -we can't wait to hear how it goes.

Ross Barker: Sorry the midweeker to the pass didn't go smoothly! Other people are such a nuisance! Good sesh at Harmers -I enjoyed the fact it wasn't steep enough for you! Must have been a relief to get off yout tippy toes and back on to the Moonboard?

Tom Green: Unfortunate appearance of tweaks to reinforce the lack of motivation and correspond with life getting busy. You need to box clever otherwise the rest of the year is going to get away from you. Get smart and get organised.

Ally Smith: Ooft, rough week. I hope you, the family and the cat are all ok. Sounds like a lot to contend with. Savage form on the micros though. Skin hasn't suffered from a bit of time off then?!

Somerset Swede Basher: Good varied week there -definitely earned some cocktails! Still can't believe you didn't get that 8a in a sesh -sooo close. Hope you make it back across soon -sorry i'm not around for belaying this week -maybe you can tap up one of the other localish FCers for the rematch?

biscuit: Sounds like classic Kilnsey frustrations there! You can join SSBs club for finding the best beta late in the day! Hope getting away from it this week has put the annoyance in to perspective?!

Derek Furze: You may feel out of the groove, but flashing the high 6s at the end of a long sessions says otherwise! If you ever put your mind to sieging something you are going to be hitting a big number! Solid raving performance as always. Was Friday truly your last day? If so -congrats!

mattrm: Great week! The running is coming on in leaps and bounds (quite literally, I guess!) Strong effort doing big days (for both mileage and ascent) back to back. Keep up the good work, but also keep half an eye on injury prevention as you push that mileage up. Was this week a skating or bouldering week?!

AJM: Nice to see two climbing sessions on the board. You must be chuffed to be back above water too! Any particular DWS routes on the to-do list this summer? Did you manage better record keeping this week? I want to know about all of those generic training sessions!

Randy: Great news that you're easing back in to the exercises. Did you manage to push them a bit further this week? Hope you aren't too grumpy about not being able to get on the rock. It's a tired old cliche, but it WILL still be there when you're back to full fitness.

In reply to Tom Green:

This week was a don't get injured cause I'm pacing a mate on his 200 miler next week kinda week.

Weight - 14st 2lbs

STG - 10km fell loop in 1h 45m

MTG - 30 mile ultra (July 24)

LTG? keep on trucking?  stay fit? ummm

BHAG - F7A boulder somewhere / kickflip

M - Rest

T - Rest

W - 12km, 600m asc, club run along Offa's Dyke

T - Rest

F - 1h bouldering

S - 1h bouldering

S - Rest

Weekly kms - 12k

Diet status - Ok

Actually I did an ok amount of bouldering.  Quite happy with that.  Seem to be scraping myself a lot, loads of little cuts everywhere.  Didn't push the running as I didn't want to injure myself before my pacing run.  Which is going to be 26kms across Mynydd Du on Thursday night next week.  I had been planning on reccing part of my leg, but decided against it in the end.  So fairly low miles week, but quite a bit of effort in various other things.  Took my son bouldering on Saturday (he's never done any climbing of any kind) and apart from one wobble, he loved it.  Really good week all in.  Looking forward to getting the pacing run done, I'm going to run home after, which will bring the kms up to 36.  So it'll be a big load week, but that's going to be good for the ultra in July.

Ok diet.  I'm trying out intermittent fasting and so far it's doing something.  Not sure what, but something.

In reply to Tom Green:

Cheers Tom, hey ho, you win some you lose some! The forecast is poor for the end of the week now anyway but I am keen to get back when it improves. A fairly busy week this week. I feel surprisingly ok at the mo which usually means I'm due an injury so going to take a rest day tomorrow.

Mon. Fancied some grit despite the warm temps. This paired well with a short window of opportunity so headed up to the Plantation and did Yosemite Whites (f7A) which is a problem graded by a tall person that's easier for the short (6C?). Also did Freeloader (f7B) which has a much harder finish and is probably about right at the grade. This one is really cool, shorter arms makes that start easier but it's a big span at the end so on balance it's probably the same grade for everyone.

Tues. 14km run with 530m ascent (up to High Neb from Hathersage)

Wed. 6 sets of repeaters (+5kg), really struggling at the end so probably about the right intensity. 3x10 press ups.

Thurs. Rest.

Fri. 3km run with the boy.

Sat. Chunky session at two tier. Poor Dill (7c) second tie in. Open Gate (7a+) onsight and then Daylight Robbery (7b) second tie in. Particularly pleased with the last one as it's borderline deserving a + and I was glad I made myself push on past the last bolt (it's a long run out at the top and I was PUMPED!)

Sun. 4km junior fell run in the morning. 11km family walk in the afternoon. Edale, up Crowden Clough scramble, across to the plateau summit then down Jacobs Ladder. First time the kids have gone across the plateau rather than just along the edge. They were massively underwhelmed, clearly spoilt by our recent lakes trip! I guess it's less of a big deal if you're not having to navigate. 500m ish ascent for the day. Big bag of water to carry again.

In reply to Tom Green:

If we’d have been doing this yesterday I might have been tempted to agree with you, today has not been so good. 
M: Nowt

T: After school top roping club at Craig y Forwyn. Fingers felt pretty worked
W: Wasted a morning trying to decide what to do, needed to be back early so ended up going for a quick boulder to the Lunar Block Milestone Buttress Boulders which was good, the lines were a bit squeezed but managed a 6C which is ok for me. 
T&F: Nowt 

S: Finally made it to  Clogwyn Yr Adar, would have made sense to go somewhere shady…. Warmed up on Enterprise Allowance (E2 5b) which was pretty soft, seconded Noble Horse (E2 5c) which wasn’t and then did Genericon Limits (E3 5c) which would have been easy if I hadn’t spent 5 minutes trying to go the wrong way at the crux and getting pumped. Still my first E3 OS since 2019 so that’s good even if it does ‘suit my style’ (aka soft at the grade)

S: Fluffed my audition to be invited on Ian’s next Himalayan expedition by being an utter coward. Might have pencilled myself in as lucky belayer for trips down Cheedale. Seconded Ian up the Sun who dispatched with ease. I was surprised how hard I found this and didn’t think I had enough in reserve to try Mask off Red Death in the full sun and then chickened out of leading Savage Sunbird as well.

In reply to Tom Green:

Hey hey, everyone. Scorchio today, I could get used to this dry weather falling on weekends lark.

I had a great time, and even had a session this week cranking on some little vert edges. Very much enjoyed some steep yarding this weekend though!

Great week from me, neat session reacquainting with an old project, a cheeky board session, and then a beaut of a day in Nant Ffrancon. Fingers feeling really good at the moment. Need to figure out where I left my parasol...

Last Week:

Avg weight 79.5kg

M - Wrist pronation stretches. Pronated bicep curls, 6x5. Hamstring + groin mobility.

T - Cholesterol Traverse (f7A), two years since last sesh. I must've been operating pretty well (or some holds have deteriorated, unlikely) as there were two moves I couldn't quite do this time around. They felt conceivable though! Fingers felt pretty good as well. Maybe microcrimping while standing on a big ledge is the best rehab...

W - Wrist pronation stretches. Pronated bicep curls, 6x5. Quick hamstring + groin mobility.

T - Board session. Muggy but good fun. Pulled on a few crimps and felt quite good and strong, though nothing too ratty. Right ring felt fine, left middle also fine but very slightly sore upon warming up (probably because there are no easy warmups!)

F - Rest.

S - Wrist pronation stretches. Pronated bicep curls, 6x5. Very brief hamstring mobility.

S - Scorching up at Gorlan (The Sheep Pen). Really good day. Loads of mileage on a couple things I'd wanted to get done for a while. Gnasher (f7A+) was the highlight, went down much quicker than expected but I think it suits me quite well. I forgot what a brilliant lump of rock that main boulder is, I must get strong enough to do Jerry's problem (V10) one day! Maybe try it when it cools down?

Next Week:

M - Rest.

T - Climbing.

W - Rest.

T - Rest.

F - Climbing?

S, S - More climbing!

Goals:

Rehab left middle finger.

Rehab right ring finger.

Improve wrist mobility.

Improve lower body mobility.

Louisville Lip.

Rigpa.

In reply to Tom Green:

Not loads to report, partly because I was late last week!  Thanks for comment - always encouraging and helpful.

Mon - already reported day at Attermire.  I wanted to go to Crummackdale for trad, but numbers dictated sport.  Enjoyable session doing a lot of decent stuff, before trying a bit harder on Lockdown (6c) and Of Puppets and Puppeteers (6c+) which I fell off moving back down a steep move to reset having gone for something loose.  

Tues - only a block lift repeater session as tired from labouring on neighbours patio.  +22.8kg throughout.

Wed and Thurs - more labour so slacking on training.

Fri - mate wanted to go to Colehill to do something he had worked.  I've only really been there as a bail out crag.  It was soaking when we got there, so climbed whatever seemed plausible.  Got on Old King Colehill (6c) late on in fierce heat, but fell off following chalk out left.  Did another route to get a rope down it and did it first time trying more directly, but too hot to RP.

Another odd week to come.  Out tomorrow, but then laying a patio for my Mum, so nothing possible rest of week.

Reflection - beginning to feel a bit smoother, but not getting on enough trad yet.  However, should have loads of scope before the month is out.  Wrenched a finger on Lockdown which hasn't settled yet and right shoulder niggling a bit.

Yes - last day of existing contract, so feels a bit odd to not be thinking about work.  I am still on the books for the Royal College of General Practice and my current company, so something might develop.  In the meantime, I will build a few things 🙂

In reply to Tom Green: Thanks Tom. The dabby boulder project will need some belly training as no abs in sight at the moment! 
mon- sat - nothing apart from stretching and 5mins of Achilles rehab each day. 
Sun - fine afternoon and evening at Rhoscolyn with Tyler. Great company and interesting sausages! Led The Sun (E3 5c) and The Savage Sunbird (E2 5b). I’ve done both before although the sun was probably over 25 years ago. Head felt good on both. I was particularly pleased with Sunbird as I found that scary when I first did it and today felt completely in control.

Reflection- bit of an unplanned rest week due to quietus wounds and busy work but perhaps I need to take more weeks off as I felt good on the rock today. That coupled with the new Llyn guide has rekindled some much needed motivation.

In reply to Tom Green:

Thank you Tom,

Unfortunately the "recovery" is active, when it probably shouldn't be.  The weather has been great and the rest of my climbing is going well, so I have been trying to climb as usual, just without that finger (left middle).  I do feel underconfident as I lead, as I am using different grips on the left hand. Unfortunately at times its hard to not somewhat engage the finger and it is currently quite sore.

M - Nothing

T - Seconded a friend on Low Profile (E5 6b), which I got first go.  I had been saving it for an onsight lead, which under the circumstances might have gone ok.

W - Swung leads on Zombie Nation (E5 6a), which is a banger of an adventure route, with varied rock and styles.  Led the bold first pitch.

T - Nothing

F - Lead of M2 (E1 5b), Ladder of Desire (E3 5c), and seconded a friend on New Horizons (E3 5c) (the one from the ground to ramp) as the sun set on a hot day in Avon

In reply to Tom Green:

Thanks Tom. Yes, great to be out above the waves again. Wishlist - anything off my Dorset or Devon dws progression lists would suit me great.

My week started with the best of intentions and then just spiralled downhill. I seem to have been having trouble sleeping which has really sapped my energy levels. I did some unstructured bits and bobs in the week and a very lacklustre wall session on Saturday. I'd hoped to get out Sunday but the cloud took a while to clear and I was just too tired.

I did some productive gardening to compensate but managed to stick a thorn right into my fingertip, which means I've had to cancel climbing today as well

Keeping fingers crossed it is better tomorrow. 

In reply to Steve Claw:

That's an impressive week, even if you weren't a finger down!

In reply to Tom Green:

I do in fact have a signal just now on the gloriously sunlit summit of Carn Toul

In reply to Tom Green:

Reposting from last week because apparently I can't count.

Actually have some stuff to report at last...

Injury update
-----------------

I am probably "mechanically sound" at this point, so from here on it's just waiting for nerve damage to sort itself out.

Last week
--------------

Mostly gym work, but decided to bite the bullet and test my recovery with some light running and climbing.

Monday

Gym. Basic 5x5 protocol and still intentionally skipping leg day...

Pullups (bodyweight only), Benchpress, Bilateral dumbell shoulder press, Knees to chest.

Wednesday

Gym, as above

Friday

Trail run, ~6.5km around Burbage. Spectacularly slow and awkward, but some actual running was done

Gym, as above

Saturday

Some easy routes at Stanage Plantation. Backed off Paradise Arête (VS 4c) rather than risk a fall-offable move, but not too bothered about that.

STG
------

Another week of mostly gym work. Increase weight and maybe add some weight to the pullup sets. Also can probably handle a bit more core.

MTG
-------

Not really looking further ahead than injury rehab at this point. Currently my activities are restricted by how long I can handle driving for, which at the moment is about 30-45 mins.

In reply to Tom Green:

Yeah, i am basically back at almost the same exercise pattern than beginning of the year when i had my knee injury: 4-5 Repeater block lift sessions and 2-3 Lockoff sessions. Interestingly, i don't think that i have lost a lot of finger strength. Maybe 2-3% at most. But lockoff strength with my right arm feels a lot weaker, about 10-15% compared to before the injury. Let's just hope that i get it back as quickly as i lost it

No worry. It ain't my first injury and probably won't be my last, so i know how to deal with this. And hiking season in the alps has also started, so is still some outdoor sport that i am able to do.

In reply to Tom Green:

Thanks Tom. I do wish I had SSB's climbing abilities - he's on fire!

This week was mostly about Scotland. Did a couple of gym sessions as well.

Drove up to Scotland on Tuesday.

Wednesday we went to  Weem Crags. Lovely place. It was wet so I dogged up to put the clips in The Screaming Weem (7b). We waited for it to get incredibly humid and then had another go to get the beta now it was pretty dry. Then the sun came onto it which dried it off nicely but was like being in a furnace. I just managed to not drop the top 3rd time up. What a route. Sadly the bottom didn't dry out at all. Oddly the guide says to avoid the start by doing easy climbing in from the left. That was also soaking so I just pulled on clips to where the easy climbing joined. Not ideal but it didn't miss any of the good stuff out.

I then rested as we had two more days.

The next two days were not great. I felt very fatigued and just nothing in the tank. 2nd day I realised this so stopped again to save myself for the 3rd day. 3rd day was the same. Very odd. 

Rested since we came back. I thought maybe I was getting ill, but I don't seem to have done so. I can only hope it's the build up of fatigue from training. Time will tell.

This is the last week of the gym work and it's  much reduced in volume. Then a week of climbing with no training and then a week of proper recovery before we head to (hopefully) South Wales.

In reply to Tom Green:

Hey Tom 

Yeah been trying to get the balance right between getting better but also doing as much training as I can get away with! This last week I was feeling closer to 100%.

M - 30 mins on the stepper 

T - 10km easy pace run

W - 9km easy pace run

Th - Feeling a bit rundown so day off

F - 7 X 1km intervals at 5min a k. Total distance 10km 

Sa - Work and Rest 

Su - 40km hike along the Jurassic coast. 1500m elevation. Second half of this was tough. Really hot and my ankle got painful for last 10km. Beautiful hike tho. 

In reply to Tigh: what a coast line! Durdle door ❤️

In reply to Tom Green:

Hey amigos.

Week 20:

Really in a rut with training. Not sure what is killing the motivation at the moment... there are a few small excuses: busy with work and life, a tweaky hip, good weather not matching free time, etc... but I don't think they fully explain the lack of psych. I'm more psyched for climbing than training, but struggling to make that happen too. Having a stern word with myself isn't really working, so I'm going to try and find the answer to 'why?' so that hopefully I can put things right.

M: Nowt.

T: Nowt.

W: Nowt.

T: Road/trail run. 10.2km, 313m vert, 7:19/km. Going up Arthur's Seat was a mistake, partly because thick fog robbed me of the view but mostly because it aggravated my tweaky hip.

F: Strength & Core. Enjoyable fighty session, getting back in to long-neglected core work.

S: Rest. Literally unable to do any physical activity due to the extent of my core DOMS. Awful. 

S: Climbing. Mediocre sesh at Grinshill, with apalling DOMS, poor cons and aggressive mosquitoes. However, good to reopened my account on Eliminator (f6C) after three years off. Looking forward to getting stuck in to this one again.

Week 21:

M: Rest.

T: Long work day.

W: Core & Prehab.

T: Run.

F: Climbing.

S: Run.

S: Climbing.

STG (end of May):

Most of these are clearly not going to happen...

Average 35km/wk running.

2 off E2 list.

1 x VS Challenge Day.

2 x Sport Onsighting Marathon.

A Spade (TICK)

Slobberlob (TICK)

MTG (end of July):

Given where I am with the STGs these will need some adjustment...

Average 45km/wk running.

1 x Mountain Ultra (Welsh 3000s; Tea Round; Corris Round).

3 off E2 list.

Maybe sneak in an E3.

2 x VS Challenge Day.

2 x Sport Onsighting Marathon.

Yates' Layaway.

Eliminator.

In reply to Tom Green:

It’s natural to go through ups and downs. Only pro athletes HAVE to push on through.

It’s no surprise that at this time of year you’re more keen on climbing than training. 
 

You’ve been really consistent and made good gains over Winter. Maybe enjoy climbing for a while and wait for the psyche to return.

In reply to Tom Green:

Training is for winter and poor weather.  Go and climb when its sunny, that's what the training is for.

Just go and do whatever type of climbing you are psyched for and don't worry about the rest.

I suspect the increased work stress at the moment isn't helping, that one is (sort of) out of your control so just get it done and try not to let it worry you too much either.

In reply to Tom Green:Tom I feel your frustration! I’m going through similar at the moment. Psyche has always been one of my (and yours) strengths but currently I’m really struggling particularly in terms of training - which has almost evaporated. Like you there’s lots of contributing factors injury/niggles, weather not aligning with opportunities and lots of life stress. I think it’s frustrating largely because many of these feel uncontrollable. I think the best way as biscuit and Dom have said is to not get too stressed with the training. You’ve got a great base from the winter At the moment prioritise climbing over training. You’ve got a pretty big list of goals (a legacy on when psych was high) to achieve all those you’d need everything to go perfectly. but you’ve a lot of life things on your plate at the moment. As a result I recommend Climbing wise maybe focus on the most doable goals on your list or the most fun ones. Get an achievable little win in there! 

In reply to biscuit, SSB, Ian:

Thanks guys. Appreciate that.

Think it’s the lack of running discipline that’s surprised me out a bit -I normally find cardio/legs easy training to keep grinding out! 

I’m also conscious that my climbing days are down a lot at the moment, partly because I’m doing less weekday climbing, but weekends have been taken up by life stuff.

Before next post I’ll have a review of what I want, what is practicable and what I need to do to make it happen! Then hopefully the mojo and discipline will be easier to find!

In reply to Tom Green:

Week 20

M – Travel with work. Knackered/post viral in the evening.

T – Still travelling, thankfully feeling less walloped. Novel day at work included a 110mph lap of the high-speed oval at Millbrook proving ground, in a people carrier of all things!

W – Home in time for kiddies bedtime routine, but still no exercise.

T – Back still sore, so stayed off the Moonboard and did some dead-hangs instead: 5x6 20mm BW pull-ups and half-crimp 22,32,42,52kg 10s hangs as the warm-up. Then 6x10s BW+58kg chisel.

F – Nowt

S – I forget

S – 23km 51min flat ride. Didn’t feel too awful, but certainly miles off being “fit”

In reply to Ally Smith:

+56kg is pretty impressive!  I don't think I've ever managed over about +34kg and I think you are heavier than me to start with!