UKC

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/kc_fit_club_week_957-78312...

An early post today as i need to catch a flight to India later.

Ian Parnell: Lots of Kilterboard volume will defininetely pay off on a steep project like yours. In my experience the grades on the Kilterboard are sometimes all other the place, especially at the lower grades. Hence, i am not too surprised that some problems felt rather easy to you while others impossible. I hope the weather was better this week and that you were able to work on the last missing move.

mattrm: I am pretty sure if you continue with this level of cardio you will notice some benefits soon. You did not mention any issues with your toe, so i hope that it does not bother you anymore. Nice to see you had a good bouldering session. The mental obstacles are often the hardest ones to overcome, so well done.

Derek Furze: I would not bother with any intervals at the moment but rather work on building a base endurance. With your intervals you are working in a highly anaerobic zone, which puts a lot of stress on your body but does not do too much good for your cardiovascular fitness. If you want to have a little bit of a different training stimulus i would just pick up the pace a little bit at the end but stay below threshold pace. 

Somerset swede basher: An easy week is well deserved after such an epic weekend. Good call to skip the fingerboard session after not feeling fresh. In such a situation the best case scenario is a pointless training session which just tires you out but leads to no gains because the intensity is too low. 

Exile: I can't tell from experience how bad an Ofsted inspection is, but if as bad as the internal finance audit under which i suffered the last two weeks you have my deepest sympathy . Nevertheless, you took something useful out of it and managed to get into peak shape weight for your trip. I hope you had good luck with the weather this week and i wish you an awesome trip.

mrchewy: I am really happpy to read that you had a good week and that you made so much progress with getting healthy again. Nice job on the beach, really impressive to see which level you are operating at, considering how little time you had for training. Also amazing courage to jump on the 7c and just try out how it feels, well done!

Tyler:  Sorry to hear about your knee problems. I hope it is not too bad and that you will recover quickly. I never took any children climbing, but i once introduced colleagues, who had experience with gym climbing, outdoors for their first time, which was stressfull enough so hats off for doing a longer climb with your niece.

Si dH: Getting your feet of the ground on a 10mm edge is good achievement and hanging off a 10mm egde is in my experience also a question of skin and pain tolerance. Usuallly, both get better if you do them regularly, so if you keep working on it i am pretty sure that you will notice a big difference in a couple of weeks. No outdoor climbing this week but it still looks like you had an awesome weekend. Nevertheless, i hope you have managed to find enough time to get out on the rocks this week.

Ross Barker: No need to rush things on the Punk, especially after such a long and productive trip. Feeling week oon the one armers was to be expected after not training them for a while, but i am pretty sure that you will improve quickly and maybe having a break was also beneficial to reach a new level in the next months.

Alan Little: Another good week with a nice mix of bouldering and route climbing. I personally prefer the Kilterboard over the Moonboard as it more skin friendly and less agressive on the fingers in general, so maybe you can think about skipping the Moonboard altogether and focus on the Kilterboard. I am also hopeing that your little experiment produced some positives results and did not end with you still feeling tired but also suffering from the hayfewer again. 

Small Step: If i remember it correctly this week was the first time that you tried 7a's again since the Australia travel, so it looks like you are starting to get into shape. No shame in just following on an alpine route. Just remember that just even following on such a route is an accomplishment that probably more than 95% of the general population would never have the courage to even try.

ExBristolian: Congratulations on getting the first bike goal ticked and i am happy to hear that your new fueling and hydration strategy has produced some good results. Like last week some very impressive fingerstrength training. I hope you will able back on the rock soon and convert this strength into some sends.

Toom Green: I consider climbing to be a part of training, so no need to balance it in my opinion but rather to decide on which priorities to set at which time of the year. You also mentioned that you were a little bit scared of falling and i am pretty sure that reducing this fear will bring you more benefits than adding 10% to your fingerboard numbers. Hence, i would suggest that climb outdoors as much as possible and ensure that you are as well rested for these session as possible, both physically and mentally.

AJM: Looks like you had a busy, but productive week. I hope the next week won't be too hectic and that you manage to get everything ready for your holiday. 

BTphonehome: Impressive lifting volume and intensity. Looking at the number of PBs that you are hitting that your training strategy is working quite well. I hope that your sugery went well and that you managed to recover during your deload week.

the sheep: No further injuries is always a good start of a weekly report. I also liked your strategy of focusing on good form in the gym and keeping the intensity low. No need to rush things and i am pretty sure you will be back to preinjury shape soon if you manage to traing consistently during the next weeks.

In reply to Randy:

Mon: Rest

Tues: 5x8 Pullups with 2 min rest, Block Lift repeaters 20mm, 12x6x7,3 @21-22kg with 2 min rest

Wed: Rest

Thur: 4x10 Pullups with 3 min rest, Block Lift repeaters 20mm, 12x6x7,3 @19-20kg with 2 min rest

Fri: S&C: S&C: L-Sit 2x10s, Handstands, 2x12 Pike Pushups, 2x15 Lunges, 2x30 Bodyweight Squats, 40 Pushups 45s V-Situps

Sat: Block Lift repeaters 20mm, 12x6x7,3 @23-25kg with 2 min rest

Sun:  4x10 Pullups with 2 min rest,  1x12 Lunges, 1x30 Bodyweight Squats, 50 Pushups 45s V-Situps

Pullups keep improving and i hit my first milestone today with doing 4x10 with 2 min rest, though i needed to fight hard on the last 2 reps and it definitiley did not looked pretty. Nevertheless, my chin went over the bar so happy with that for the moment. The goal for the next 1-2 weeks is to work at this level and get for comfortable with it.

I am also planning to deload next week as i am having a quick and probably very stressfull trip to India, leaving for the airport in an hour and returning next Saturday in the morning.

In reply to Randy:

Thanks for getting the stats out ahead of your trip to India!  A good training week for you with some strong pull up numbers.

I think your advice on intervals is probably spot on as it is definitely base endurance that I need, but didn't get much opportunity for either this week!

Mon - short session of intervals as busy with other stuff.  I agree that this is likely the wrong focus, but it is more interesting than a zone 2 plod and I can fit it in to a shorter window.

Tues - meant to be climbing, but can ellef ten minutes before I headed out.  Forecast poor anyway, so worked on other projects.

Wed - headed to Wales for a solo scramble and walk.  As reported on WhatsApp this was something of a shock, in that the rough walking really took it out of me and gave me really sore shoulders and back.  It then got quite difficult to continue without walking with folded arms, which then made me nervous of falling!  Anyway, great fun!

Thurs and Friday - DOMS.  Down at parents putting in a shift cleaning and odd-jobbing.  Took them out for their 69th anniversary meal!

Sat - another new parkrun.  Time now in touch with pre-injury beat, despite having to include short sections of walking!  This is partly to stretch out shoulder pain, but is also poor endurance as I'm not doing z2 training runs at the moment. Garmin says I did my fastest mile ever though 🙂,  Daughter also close to pb despite getting several wasp stings to the head when one got caught in her hair.

Reflections:  original plan of easy routes on Milestone would probably have worked.  Scramble was a good substitute and I will likely go again this week.  Got to bite the bullet and do some z2 Kms.  Pace improvement positive as parkrun included a 5:20km without trying to push it at all.

In reply to Randy:

Thanks again for the stats Randy. Great week training for you, I hope India goes well. 

I've had a great week in the Alps. The conditions did not allow for The Comici or The Cassin so we made the most of what we had in the mixed weather, learnt a lot and managed to climb every day in Ailefroide aiming for volume. 

Training / aims:

Spring / Summer 2025 climbing aims:

Weight - keep to daily 78.something kg ✓

Aim to gently reach 75kg?

Keep to training programme and climbing through what will be a full on work year.

Winter climb when available ✓

Redpoint 7b (Straight Tach, Millside Scar) ✓

Headpoint E6 6b (Exequy, Red Wall, Trowbarrow) ✓

Onsighting harder mountain E2s (eg Equus ✓ Astra ✓ Tumbleweed Connection, Fast Burn ✓)

*Maybe E3s (Cruel Sister, Paladin, Air on a Bow String) & E4s that suit me (One Step Beyond, Malice in Wonderland)

*Maybe Needle and Citadel (Shelterstone) in a day as Comici prep?

*Big Alpine rock route – 12 to 24hr cardio & climbing effort – Cassin / Comici? X

*Aspirational goals

Longer term climbing aims: 

Regularly have adventures in great places with good friends & family ✓

Continue Alpine route progression to complete more big classic alpine rock routes.

Continue British winter climbing ✓

Continue climbing Hard Rock type routes outside the Lakes.

Keep Head/Red Point grade in 7s ✓ and E5s ✓

Onsight up to at least E2 ✓ & V ✓ (winter) each year.

Improve while not getting injured 

M - 21.7.25 -

pm - Once the rain stopped climbed  Le Interminable Agony of the Chamois. 5pitches, 5c+/6a/5c+/5c/5c

T - 22.7.25 - 

am - Climbed Snoopy Directed - 5c/6a/5c/6b/6a/6a/5c/6a+/6a. Excellent. Obviously bolted but felt about 'big E2'

pm - Climbed A Tire D'Ailefroide - 5c/5c/4c/4c/5c/5b/5b/5c. A little more micro traction action. HVS.

W - 23.7.25 - 

am - Climbed Barre a Babord, Route! - 5b/5b/6a/6a+/5b/5b/6a

pm - Climbed Spit on Cup - 4b/5a/5a/3a/5a/4c/2c. On micro tractions in 45min. Great fun. Rain started as we finished the abseil.

T - 24.7.25 -

Climbing @ The Gorge. 1x6b+. 3x6c, varying degrees of success. Very sharp granite holds. 

F - 25.7.25 -

Climbing @ Engilberge. Passe-moi lea jummelles. 6a/6b+/6b. Spaced bolts and the guide books says a fall on this route is risky for the ankles. Both 6b and 6b+ pitches were hard and bold. Felt like E3/4 6a to me. Down before the rain. 

S - 26.7.25 -

Climbing @ Engilberge. Ma, Qu! Seulment du V! - 5b/5c/5c+/5c/5c. Nice end to the trip.

S - 27.7.25 -

Travel - Left Ailefroide at 3.30am, due into Kendal @ 4.00pm. 

Learning -

Climbing easy bolted routes on micro tractions is great fun.

You need to know the pros and cons of using micro tractions in this role. 

On easy routes the belay is usually on a big ledge so sometimes don't clip the belay at all when moving together as it introduces a lot of rope drag on and off the ledge. Put the micro traction on the first bolt of the new pitch.

Seven days climbing on the trot is too much for me. Trying to climb steep granite  6cs on my fifth day on was always only going to Gon one way....

I already knew it but if coming to the Alps for one fixed week having a number of well researched plans ready to go, and building in transport and accommodation flexibility, is what is needed. 

I really enjoyed climbing with a like minded old friend again. A great week.

Same time next year! 

In reply to Randy:

Thanks Randy, this week I've been trying to get a bit of height through my legs in prep for my upcoming trip to the Alps.

Mon. 46km cycle, 770m vert. 2hrs.

Tues. 6 sets of repeaters, 5x5 pull ups, 3x10 press ups.

Wed. 5km run, 150m vert with the boy.

Thurs. Indoor boulder. Warm up then tried the 15 problems from the recent youth comp. 12 flashed, 1 4th go, 1 5+ goes, 1 just the bonus hold. Tried hard first go on all problems so was pretty tired after.

Fri. 5km run, 170m vert.

Sat. At a wedding. Lots of drinking and dancing. Went to bed at a time I'd normal consider an early morning not a late night.

Sun. Sunday is dead. Long live Monday.

In reply to Derek Furze:

I can well believe it, after my refresher course last year in the (accurately named!) Rough Bounds on just how much rougher British mountain terrain is than the comparatively manicured alpine foothill paths that I do most of my aerobic training on these days

In reply to Exile:

Sounds like a great trip

That was the highlight of my visit to Ailefroide a few years back. As I recall the 6b technical crux was short & generously bolted, but the upper 6a+ friction slab pitches felt quite runout & committing

In reply to Randy:

Thanks Randy - hopefully not too stressful a trip for you.

Odd week, what with the weather and stuff.

Mon - Rain

Tue - Indoors climbing. Did about 10 routes I think from 5b--6a+

Wed - Walked 8k. 

Thu - Rain

Fri - Indoor climbing. Did a 5b, 5c+, 6a. Then got on the autobelay and did a 5c over and over for a while. Sat and chilled whilst Regula and my wife climbed some stuff.

Sat - Walked about 10k on Sonnerberg before the rain came.

Sunday - 8k walk around Luzern, ducking the showers in shop windows.

It's rained a lot - the forecast for tonight and tomorrow above 2700m is between 20-50cm of snow. So no more climbing, some nice dinners with friends and then fly home on Wednesday.

Looking forward - I need to get back in the gym doing weights, so I'll join the gym in Daventry I think as my wife likes the classes there. Twice a week, no excuses. Indoor climbing I think will be restricted to rope and autobelay, whilst the new boulder centre is great, I think I'm just asking for trouble with the right knee if I fall badly. I think getting volume in, as much as I can when there is key. Weight - the big one. Lighter the better for the right knee, so I'm going to have to be disciplined. I've put a chunk of weight on in Switzerland and this trip has been painful, so weight loss can only help.

I think I'm also at the point where I need to go see the GP and start the ball rolling with regards to the right knee and a replacement. After my last operation in 2011, I was told five years until replacement, so I've done amazing - a 112k ultra, a 7 month climbing trip, Welsh 3s, Salbit & Mötorhead etc, which are big alpine routes and my knee has kept me going through all of them and a lot of other stuff too. I guess it'll take a while to get on and up the list, so time to start I think.

That's enough to be going on with - it really is, so no current climbing goals other than to get the legs stronger and climb a bit.

Maybe, I'd like to a 50 mile cycle in soon, not done that for years.

In reply to Randy: Thanks for the stats Randy. Well done on your improving pulling power and good luck in India. 

STG - 7b (1-2 months)

MTG - (1-4 months) – Brachiation Dance (7b+)

LTG – 15 grade 7 sport routes (11/15) with 6 at 7a+ or above (3/6)

Mon – Nothing.

Tuesday – Didn’t have time for the project, so a quick session on Rubicon (7a). 4 tie ins. First go couldn’t do 2 of the moves. Second go worked out all moves. Third go fell off last hard move on redpoint. Final go fell off one move lower with power endurance gone. When I did this route last 20 years ago it felt like the hardest sport route I’d done despite having climbed bigger numbers and I’d been intimidated since about getting back on it. This time it felt a lot of fun with surprisingly nice movement. Keen to go back and get it redpointed – really good training as it feels similar to the middle section of Brachiation Dance.

Wednesday – Deep Rake. After a warm up. 2 quick goes working the moves on Couch to 8a (7b). Felt harder than the previous time on it, and didn’t really enjoy the super fingery first half. Might be striking this off the project list. Afterward went to WCJ Cornice and came in from above to check out the top crux of Brachiation Dance. Demoralisingly, I couldn’t do the move in isolation although due to the steepness it’s hard to get the body in the right place on a top rope. I did discover an alternative finishing hold which could prove useful but felt like I was short on basic strength to pull on the mediocre layaway and slopey edge.

Thursday – Saturday. Nothing.

Sunday – Anston Stones Wood. 90 mins at Apprentice Wall. The eponymous problem is a great looking 6C but I couldn’t do a single move on it. Had better success on John's Arete (f6B+), getting that after 10 or so goes, figuring out knee bar and heel hook sequence. Quite pleasing as I’d not bouldered for a while and limestone slopers aren’t my usual forte. Although I need to get my act together to do better on things like Apprentice Wall.  

Reflection - I’d hoped that checking out the finishing move of Brachiation Dance from above would offer a real boost finding the move to not be as bad as it looked from below. Unfortunately it had the opposite effect and it does make me wonder if this route is just too far beyond my level at the moment. Biggest takeaway is that I need to do some specific training for this move to make it even vaguely feasible. Having sussed that I then did none of the planned training as I was so tired from work and parent care.

In reply to Randy:

Another ticking over week training for the Autumn. The no-medication hayfever experiment is proceeding well so far, albeit almost certainly greatly helped by a week of cooler damper weather.

STG: Resume local sport climbing
MTG: Summer '25 - Dolomites and/or Swiss granite. Salbit hut booked.
LTG: Autumn '25 - tufa 7a
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber. For measurable definition see Fit Club 823

M:    Rest day. 

T:    Thalkirchen. Endurance/volume routes. Odd session: I got an ominous flash pump on the third route, but managed to recover from it and went on to have a perfectly decent session. 10 x 6a/b
    Bike 45 minutes

W:    Bike 1½ hours

T:    Thalkirchen. Slightly shorter session on slightly harder routes: seven up to 6c+
    Drove to the wall today: I don't generally like using the van in town, but my legs and general energy level are telling me I've been spending more than enough time on the bike lately.

F:    Rest

S:    Bouldering at E4 in Nürnberg. Chose E4 over the more famous Cafe Kraft because they have a Tension board, which I was curious to try out and compare to Kilter & Moon. As it turned out the general bouldering at E4 was pretty good too - certainly much better than latterday Boulderwelt. As for the Tension board: the benchmarks didn't seem at a first impression any easier than on the moonboard, but it's definitely more amenable to a "get to the top using anything" approach to get used to the holds and the style. Not convinced by all-wood footholds though; this was a well used public board and they were decidedly slippery. Good training for polished limestone I suppose.
(No I didn't travel to Nürnberg specifically to go bouldering indoors. I was visiting friends, and decided to go a couple of hours earlier and make it a full day out)

S:    Rest. Had contemplated going hillwalking despite the rainy forecast, but got back from Nürnberg last night late, and with a blood blister on my heel from walking about on scenic mediaeval cobbles in the old town. Intend to do some stretching later.
 

In reply to Randy:

Thanks foe squeezing the stats out before what sounds like a last minute, stressful, trip.

A couple of weeks AWOL from me. Two weeks ago I thought i'd posted. Nothing too exciting but I was getting back into the swing of things with the gym and supplementary training. We had an indoor session due to rain and a trip to Ilkely for some crack coaching. I learnt a lot. But sticking my feet into a crack as well as hands still sends my brain into meltdown.

Last week was a write off with too much work, too much life and too much driving. Nothing done until today when I went for a solo boulder round an easy circuit.

This week we're going to Steel Knotts tomorrow for some crack action and likely kilnsey on Friday.

More importantly I'm going to get work/life balance back in order and get back on the one arm pull up training.

In reply to Exile:

I'm hopeless at remembering route names but I remember Snoopy. A great day out. Sounds like you made the best of the weather.

In reply to AlanLittle:

Agreed!

In reply to biscuit:

I did Snoopy years ago. It is now debolted and goes at HVS with an aid move. Snoopy Direct is a different route that could have been more imaginatively named(!) 

Thanks, feel like we made the very best of the situation we found ourselves in. 

In reply to Randy:

Good evening everyone, hope you're all doing well. Happy days in our household with the Euros result!

A decent week, despite a duff Thursday session and not making it out on rock, the one-armer strength is returning reasonably well.

Last Week:

Avg weight - 74.6kg.

M - Rest.

T - Board sesh at a mate's. Maybe 2.5h but well paced so not too much volume. Some hard moves, mostly decent holds. Left ring feeling tweaky so just avoided agitating it.

W - Rest.

T - 1hr sweaty climbing, nothing too hard. 30m sweaty skating, built some confidence with moving ollies (and moving in general!)

F - Restish, had a ~30m casual kick-about at my brother's house.

S - Rest.

S - 45m bouldering including a bit of MBing. Felt strong on some moves but no cigars. 4x one arm negatives, 4x5s 13mm F3HC (think I miscounted a fake 5th set!). Feeling decent on one arm again. Left ring better than earlier in the week.

Next Week:

M - Rest.

T - Climbing/rehab.

W - Rest.

T - Climbing/rehab.

F - Rest.

S, S - Climbing.

Goals:

Ingrain a "rehab first" approach to climbing sessions.

One arm pull-up.

Improve lower body mobility.

Louisville Lip.

The Punk SDS.

Rigpa.

In reply to Randy:

Thanks Randy. You are probably right about the 10mm edge hanging. I should be more systematic about it, but due to opportunities to get out I have not been finger boarding this week. Hope your trip is not too difficult/tiring.

My goals:

 - to make the most of my half-days out (twice a month weather-permitting)

 - fingerboard training twice a week (medium term goal to be able to train at bodyweight +25kg for 10 s hangs)

 - gradually improve my right elbow to the point that I can do weighted pull up training

 - keep up the current diet (~1900 kcal per day + exercise, LTG is back down to ~75kg from a starting weight of about 84.5kg on 13/04)

This week:

M: more swimming in the morning but I felt a bit under the weather so tried to take it easy. Drove home from Centerparcs in the afternoon.

T: family away for a few days so no childcare responsibilities! Feeling under the weather still, but decided to head out after work anyway for another go on Shallow Grave in better conditions. A good session, I did the first couple of moves very repeatedly and managed to reach and hold the next hold beyond my previous high point about 3-4 times. On my best go I touched (but didn't hold) the next hold, an intermediate before the final throw to the top. Need to refine feet up there though.

W: rest

T: another after-work session on Shallow Grave. I was feeling optimistic after Tuesday and after watching a few videos for ideas for the last two moves. Unfortunately conditions weren't as good as Tuesday and to begin with the first 2 moves were feeling noticeably harder. I did eventually work my way in to it a bit more and got back to my previous high point on two attempts but overall it was a bit disappointing. I learnt how conditions dependent a couple of the holds are and how important it is to flow through the moves quickly. If I pause to readjust, I expire pretty fast as the holds are all poor. I probably won't be able to go back for a while now, and will make sure to wait for a cooler or breezier day.

F: rest, just some gardening in evening

S: I did a few problems on the board in the afternoon, and 2x2 pull-ups with bw+30kg. It was pretty hot and sticky. Wedding in the evening so diet suffered a bit.

S: just a ~5 mile walk with the family. Bodyweight in evening 76.5 kg.

Nice to get out on rock twice this week. Made some positive progress on Shallow Grave on Tuesday and learnt a bit more on Thursday...if I go back in good conditions I think I'll have a chance of doing it, although I'm not sure yet when that might be.

Si

P.S. I watched Magnus Midtbo's video with Janja this week, that was worth a watch. She says she never fingerboards, just climbs... maybe I should try using the fingerboard less and the woody a bit more!

In reply to Randy:

Thanks Randy, enjoy India (I know it’s work but even so!)

Knackered knee means I’ve done no climbing or training this week but significantly I’ve booked to go to the alps so I’ll waffle on about that as I’m still trying to process it!

I’ve always liked the idea of alpine climbing more than actually doing it so my alpine “career” has been very sporadic without ever giving up on the idea of doing some decent routes. A few years ago injuries started to accumulate and it was obvious I wasn’t going to get back to the alps in any meaningful way which has given me some regret about not making the most of opportunities when I was younger. So I’ve taken the slow burning but sudden decision to go and see if I’m up to managing anything at all. Obviously with my knee injury this isn’t an ideal time but I can’t afford to let any more summer slip by so on the 16th I’m off to the Saas valley to begin my second alpine apprenticeship. Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be able to train much before I go as I don’t want my knee to break down again so I’ve been getting myself ready by listening to podcasts about ‘pain caves’ and the like. 

Anyway, next week I’m going to be doing some wheelbarrowing which is better than nothing and I might try and fit in some gentle hill walks.

In reply to Ian Parnell:

'Unfortunately it had the opposite effect and it does make me wonder if this route is just too far beyond my level at the moment.'

From my limited experience Ian maybe just keep checking in on it every now and then and when the time is right to go for it you'll probably know. 

In reply to Randy:

Hi everyone. Thanks for fitting the stats in before another hectic work trip Randy.

Week 30:

M: CARs, Prehab, Fingers.

T: Rest.

W: Climbing. Leisurely start to fit in with the tide and grease meant just one route, but it was a good route: The Quartz Icicle (E2 5b). Led P2 -beautiful rock, less run out than anticipated, all very type 1 fun.

T: Climbing. Three routes at Clipiau, culminating in plucking up the courage to get on Straw Dogs Finish (E3 5c) -pleased to get up it, but not as satisfying a tick as it could have been as I climbed it like an absolute idiot, basically sabotaging myself in every way conceivable and just scraping up by the skin of my teeth. So completely pumped that I spent a couple of minutes dry-retching after topping out. Belaying in an absolute fog of midges just rounded off a deeply type 2 experience.

F: Climbing. Trad at Bustach (the Moelwyns one). Felt physically ruined from my fight on Straw Dogs, so opted to follow my mate up a couple of routes before I was given a welcome excuse to run away by the rain coming in.

S: Rest.

S: CARs, Prehab, Fingers.

Week 31:

M: Run.

T: CARs, Prehab, Board.

W: CARs, Prehab, Fingers.

T: CARs, Prehab, Strength.

F: Climbing.

S: Rest.

S: CARs, Prehab, Fingers.

STG (End July):

Five E2s (4/5)

Three E3s (1/3)

Get on a safe E4 (Tick! x1)

Onsight 6c 

LTG (Nov 2025):

40 E-points (39/40)

Onsight E4.

In reply to Randy:

Thanks Randy - real rock weekend booked in with hms (formerly of this 'shire) so i've upped the focus on some last minute aero-power training

Week 30

M – Evening stretching and fascia release with spiky massage ball

T – Conditions felt greasy warming up, repeating a few 6C to 7B things. Body tension slightly off, but maybe that was also the conditions requiring more tension? Did a 7C 1st go, but shared moves of another 7B+ I have wired, then same aero-power “redpoints” as last week on vague replica of outdoor objective. Similar outcome despite the poorer conditions.

W – Maybe starting to get a little fitter, as not feeling (too) beaten up by yesterday’s efforts. Nothing but evening stretches.

T – Lunchtime weights; bench press up to 70kg single (seem to have plateaued with these) and assisted OAPU. 6x singles with 5kg assist (I did first set with 2kg assist but that felt too hard for the whole session). After dinner: Borking lifts up to 66kkg to warm-up, then aero-power FoC. I was aiming for 5 sets of 2min on 4 min off, but went downhill fairly rapido; 120,120,100,90,70s. Work to do here…

F – Afternoon gravel ride. Headed out to Warrington to pick up Trans Pennine Trail and did a decent chunk, though more of it has been resurfaced in boring tarmac than I remembered. 52km, 118min.

S – Weekend of solo parenting. Playground flex; OAPUs from right-angle on the monkey bars. When home, I installed a mini volume on the board to try and mimic the kneebar on outdoor link-up project. Once Squiggs were in bed and dinner digested, I set about Borking lifts up to 66kkg to warm-up, then Crimpd broken quarters (4x4s?)aero-power training, with 2min of the 10min rest in the kneebar contraption was the plan. Very soon discovered that the knee wasn’t good enough and focused on just doing my 8a+ circuit in chunks. Elbows slightly grumbly.

S – 4 y.o. b’day party then gentle afternoon recovery. Tweaked the kneebar set-up but otherwise no exercise.

In reply to Tom Green: Well done Tom Straw Dogs sounds nails

In reply to Exile: thanks, I think you’re right. i keep telling myself that it being so tricky for me is going to make it feel even more rewarding when/if I ever do it.

In reply to Ian Parnell:

My own advice Ian fwiw would be that next time you go back, stick clip up the route and try the move properly on lead. This will probably be easier than trying to do it on a top rope. If you don't tire yourself actually climbing the steep stuff below, can sit on the last bolt to properly rest and survey the holds from below, and have plenty of time to try it, you might find it suddenly feels more likely. I can't remember that move well at all, but it's surely too steep to do comfortably on a top rope.

In reply to Randy:

Thanks Randy.

Another week of house progress, plus wrapping up at work. I did some rehab during the week.

Thursday evening we drove to Gatwick, Friday we flew to Norway. On arrival day we went for a bit of an explore near our friends house.

Saturday we went to a crag,  Trellskår. Nice crag, down by the sea. I did a couple of routes, but it's fair to say the climbing style and the rope and chain access weren't great on my shoulder (I think the fixed rope is maybe what caused it to flare up on Portland). Pushing down or out to the sides, and taking holds at extension, are still weak/painful. Best route was Chicks with dicks (n5-), which was on gloriously juggy granite starting from just by the sea, very reminiscent of Cornwall.

Sunday we had a lazy morning and then went on a bike ride round the island. First time on a MTB in years. All on decent gravel tracks or pavement, about 10km all told I guess. Also did some swimming at a swimming platform en route, which was nice.

So far, Norway is delightful.

In reply to Randy:

Thanks Randy. Apologies for a very late check in (though not really much to report!).

Definitely felt like something had clicked with the lifting before the rest week and I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes through the winter period. Recovery is going well thanks.

w/c 21.07.25

Mon-Wed: Rest

Thurs: 4km walk

Fri: 5km walk

Sat: 8km walk

Sun: 7km walk

Hope your work trip to India hasn't been too stressful. 

Cheers

In reply to Randy:

Sorryfor the very late post. But mainly for my benefit here we go.

M - 5k 212m asc fell run

T - 7k 282m asc fell run

W - S - Rest

Bit of cardio at the start of the week then family over so nothing the rest of the week. Toe still iffy. Hope to do better next week.