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/ukc_fit_club_week_960-7836...

Derek Furze: Having a deload week is definately a wise decision. I hope that it did the job and that you felt much better this week.

Exile: A lot of volume in the beginning of the week, so i am not surprised that you did not felt fresh on the fingerboard on Thursday. Unless you are just trying to get comfortable wit a new grip position, i would not advice to any max fingerboarding if you are not fully recovered. I hope you had recovered well from the illness and remember to take some rest when needed.

biscuit: Just doing a lot of boulder problems back to back is my favorite way to train aerobic endurance, so i am happy to see them in your report. It is just much more fun than staying on autobelay for 20 minutes or doing traverses, and also technically much more demanding to try to flash problems when pumped instead of doing the same moves over an over again. But as you said, it also creates a different kind of fatique and feels more like a full body workout instead of just trashing your forearms.

mattrm: Enjoy your holiday and get well soon!

Si dH: Congratulation on doing Shalllowgrave! I am glad to see that the work that you have put into it paid off and hope that you managed to squezze in 1-2 bouldering sessions this week to utilize your good shape.

Ross Barker: Not doing a lot of campusing if you can casually knock out 1-5-8 is definitely a smart move, as i also don't think further improvement will benefit you a lot of on the wall unless on some very specific problem. I hope you had more luck with the weather this week and managed to get back on Bus Stop
Tyler: An easier week can't hurt and it looks like it has been a productive one outside of climbing. I hope you a good last preparation week for the alps and i wish you an awesome trip.

Alan Little: Sometimes just showing up is the most important thing, but one also need to adjust volume and intensity according to how one is feeling. Using a day where you are not feeling fresh to take some practice falls and work on the mental game is definitely a good strategy. 

Tom Green: Sorry to hear that the weather collided with your climbing plans. I can't remember that i ever had wind effecting my climbing (though i can remember freezing almost to depth while belaying in Suirana due to a cold wind), so it must have been quite brutal. 
ExBristolian: I am glad to see that you felt better again ad had a very productive weekend. With that amount of mileage on Friday i am not surprised that you had not much skin left on Saturday, so good job to still climb that much.

AJM: I am happy to hear that your shoulder is getting better and your physio appointment went well. Hopefully the new rehab exercise will further improve it so can get back in shape in time for the autumn season.
Ian Parnell: I would not worry too much about your lack of endurance. With that much volume that you did this week you should see an improvement soon.

Mon: Indoor climbing, Boulderwelt East, similar session as on Saturday, just did a bunch of boulders in the 5b to 6b+ range, tried a couple of problems that i could not get done last session, felt better on them but still could not get the send. Finished with traverses, 7a,6b,6a,5c

Tues-Thur: Busy with work, and felt quite destroyed from Monday's session

Fri-Sun:  Caught some nasty infection and spent Saturday in bed, luckily feeling a little bit now. For all the data nerds some interesting stats from Garmin: Even while sleeping stress levels were through the roof that i usually don't even see after very hard exercise and resting heart rate was around 100 (usually it is around 50-55)

Thanks Randy. What I am after working is the forearm aerobic fitness. But it made a nice change.

M - Bouldered - went back to Mardale head to recover my ego. Despite it being North facing it was very humid. It had just rained that morning and there was no wind but it was today or bust.

Got Gimme Shelter (f7A)  second go now I knew what the top was like and a right hand version which also went at 7A. I think that was maybe a bit of a better problem. Still some to do there. It's a nice little circuit. 

T - Gym - tired

W - Nothing - tired

T - 20 mins on the auto belay. Tired

F - Kilnsey. Quite warm - but we were there to belay a friend on his project and be social more than anything. A very nice day. Good to catch up, enjoy the warm weather, have two naps when I was the spare out of the 3 and tried WYSIWYG (7b+). Weirdly I've never been on it. First go putting the draws in it was in full sun. But seemed straightforward enough. No secret beta, just got to do it. Then went bolt to bolt once it was in the shade. It all seemed there. Just need to be brave, commit to the top and skip the bolt. 3rd go it hadn't got warmer but something had changed with the conditions and I had 3 foot slips on the way up, didn't recover very well at the jug and grabbed the wrong bit of a sidepull and basically gave up. Tired.

S - Thought about an easy auto belay session. Didn't do it.

S - Thought about a shady jog. Didn't do it.

Theme of the week was being tired. A busy week at work and not sleeping well. So took it very easy. 

Still tired now but getting out to Brantrake tomorrow before heading down South for work. No doubt I'll end up complaining of being tired again....

Should be in the Peak eve of 23rd and on 24th for some crack shenanigans. 

Rest up well. With that kind of response from your body it's definitely telling you to not push it until it's recovered.

Get well soon.

Hi all, hope everyone is enjoying the summer. Got a couple of weeks to catch up on:

Two weeks ago...

Mon. Chee dale session. Avoiding picking up a project so got on a couple of link ups with little new climbing for me. Did Incubus (7a) which was really good and the now bolted at 7a+ Big Store (E5 6b) which was very mediocre. Both first RP after a bolt to bolt.

Tues. 7km run, 150m vert. Short bike ride to the pub and back.

Wed. 1km swim

Thurs. Big drive across France.

Fri. Via Des Evettes (VF3A) followed by Via Cordia Pic Janiver (PD+ 4a). Short day in poor visibility.

Sat. Rainy day, 1.2km swim.

Sun. Family walk, Les contamines to the Tre La Tete refuge. About 900m vert.

One week ago...

Mon. Family walk Tre la Tete refuge to Conscrits Refuge, another 900m vert. Lots of rungs and ladders etc

Tues. 4am start for Aiguille de La Bérangère (PD) and then Dômes de Miage Traverse (PD+). I went there and back again along the ridge. Back at the hut for 9.30am and family walk all the way back down to the valley.

Wed and Thurs. Picked up some diarrhea bug, not the only one given the sounds from the campsite toilet block.

Fri. Feeling better but in need or a short day as a bit weak. Family walk in to La Veudale. Climbed La Veudale NE Ridge (PD 4a) which Mrs Swede took the kids up the descent route and we all met on the summit.

Sat. 2nd best day of the Alps trip. Headed up SE arête of the Aiguille du Van S (PD), abbed to the ridge and reversed the start of the ridge to access South Arete of the Aiguille de Van N (F) then, having done both tops did the Traverse of the Perrons (AD 4a). 5hrs car to car. Evening boulder with the boy. Legs we're tired but managed to yard up L'Equilibriste (Direct) (f7A) but the highlight was spotting the boy who managed to get high and boxed out of his mind trying to top out. The locals chucked their pads under him too, elbows above his ears topping out.

Sun. 9km Cycle down the blue mountain bike route which was quite exciting in my road bike! 1km swim.

Last week...

Mon. Epic day, physically hard and mentally hard too. Caught the train up to Montonvers. Headed up Frêtes des Charmoz (PD), dropped down and round the bottom of the L'm then up to Petits Charmoz Traverse (AD 4c), got a bit lost in the middle but ended up in the right place, linked this into Voie Normale (PD) then down Descent via Col de la Buche (PD). 7hrs.

Tues. A few laps of Bouldering traverse (D4) while I was down that way then family walk from Emosson dam across to refuge loriaz.

Wed. Family walk refuge Loriaz to the dinosaur footprints and back to emosson.

Thurs. Bouldering up at col de montets. Managed Le tour du carre reverse (f7B+) which gets route 8a in the book but everything else at the crag has a boulder grade so I put it in the logbooks at 7B+ which seemed comparable.

Fri. Drove down to Passy for Via Ferrata de Curalla (VF3A) in the morning and did half the Chamonix orienteering course in the afternoon.

Sat. Travel day Chamonix to Font.

Sun. Rocher cannon. First 19 on the red circuit and first 15 on the yellow. We will return tomorrow!

Thanks again Randy - a rest week definitely helped me.  I'm making positive progress again.

A good week from me with a sense that things are getting more normal somehow.

Sun - nothing

Mon and Tuesday 5.5km walk to start the day.

Wed - early start for the parking in Ogwen Valley.  Around to Idwal for NW Face route and continuation - in the shade, but still very hot work.  Ends on Senior's Ridge so followed that up to the summit area and around to Glyder Fach for a descent of Gribin Ridge.  About five hours out, which says something about heat and my general fitness, but pleased that I got back to the car feeling tired, but in much less pain than the last occasions.  I guess the first scramble must be 300m or so as you end up quite high?  Back home for 4pm.

Thurs - 5.5km walk.  More importantly, I went to visit Biscuit in his clinic at Big Depot.  Very, very reassuring in that range of motion tests and strength tests suggested that basically all was well.  Loads of exercises provided to help relearn movement and release muscles that are in take care mode.  Excellent work from our man and he has given me the all clear for climbing, though pointed out that it will likely be self-limiting for a while.  'All clear' is what I heard - he probably said something more nuanced about a gentle return to easy climbing to give everything a chance to get back in the groove again.  Anyway, very encouraging and reassured that I am not in a bad place despite ongoing back pain.

Fri - felt okay despite the fairly significant tests that my shoulder / back had been through, followed by the drive south on parent duty.  Thought I'd got away with it.

Sat - 25th parkrun at Rushmere which was lovely.  It became apparent that I hadn't got away with it!  Back pretty sore while running - enough to stop several times for a stretch.  Good fun though.  Slower time, but it was what I needed.

Reflections:  a very positive week in that the tests were positive and I did some things that I haven't tried for three months now (like finger block lifts and plank type things).  I'm totally delighted and can't wait to get working on the rehab exercises provided.  Start is tomorrow.  Climbing with ropes and things on Wednesday, though it will be classic VDiff sort of stuff, probably with an air ambulance in close attendance.   A nice trip to my parents where the aim was looking at the finances (previously a very private area for them) - to their credit they were really open and keen to hand over some responsibility.  Sorted out some aids for the home as well.

I'm thinking next week's report will include some training proper which feels like a fantastic step forwards!  I'm hoping I can gently work my way back to VS or so in September and then spend a while consolidating on the many classics that I have still to do.

Stunning trip Swede.

Thanks for doing the stats Randy.  

Weight - 14st
STG - 6b
MTG - 6c - 31/100 routes/problems this year
LTG - Western Front Direct (7a) at Navigation Quarry

BHAG - F7A boulder somewhere / kickflip

M - 20k and 846m asc - Blencathra & Mungrisdale Common
T - Rest
W - Rest
T - Stroll up Latrigg
F - 2.5k up Binsey 
S - Rest
S - Rest

Running KMs - 0 kms

Last week of holiday.  Much bigger walk this week, but we only managed the one decent walk.  Then a few smaller peaks.  This meant that I did 3 new Wainwrights and my lad did a total of 5.  I updated my MTG, as I'm now up to 31 in total.  I think I'm sorta missing a couple of top roped routes, but I'm not really fussed about counting them.  Need to try and get out as much as I can over the next couple of months to try and grind up to 50.  Ribs are pretty much recovered now, so back to normal with running and climbing next week.

Apologies all for my accidental multiple cry of anguish about not going to Salbit. I did in the end at least manage to get one decernt day out on the hill - and at least one partner committed to making another attempt at Swiss granite next summer

STG: Resume local sport climbing
STG: Summer '25 - Dolomites and/or Swiss granite. Salbit trip cancelled, and the other trip to the Brenta that a mate was talking about ain't looking too good either since half the range has fallen down.
MTG: 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

T:    Thalkirchen. My partner arrived and announced that he'd hurt his leg and wouldn't be able to manage the Salbit approach & descent at the weekend. Pretty downhearted about that and the sauna-like heat & humidity, but life and the Grande Grotta training campaign must go on, and I actually managed a somewhat reasonable session with eight routes up to 6b+
    Bike 45 minutes

W:    Bike one hour

T:    Crimp block pick-ups, shoulders. knees

F:    Ehrwalder Sonnenspitze. Since I'm not driving to Switzerland today, I headed out to a nice little local scrambly ridge traverse that, unusually and refreshingly for the area, hasn't been cabled up & turned into a via ferrata. A very pleasant day out. Five hundred metres of UIAA II (approximately diff?) climbing with a thousand metre approach - maybe comparable to something like Tower Ridge? Even down to the technical crux being an awkward bit of downclimbing that I would have seriously considered abbing if I'd brought a rope. I didn't so I just had to get on with it.

S:    Rainy day catching up on chores

S:    Had tentatively planned with a mate to do a route or two on the Alpspitze (taking the lift to the start rather than yomping up form the valley) but Saturday's rain was forecast to continue into Sunday morning, so we decided to postpone to better weather.
    So, Freimann. And a good session. Onsighted a 6c on the steep comp wall, which feels more relevant to my current goals than redpointing a vert techy 7a.

So as it turns out an injured partner wasn't the only thing stopping us going to Salbit: the weather was pretty unstable in the mountains at the weekend too. We're now thinking about allowing a bit more time next year and heading to Switzerland for a week. That would give us a better chance of a good mountain weather window; and with a bit more time and granite acclimatisation we could maybe even think about another ambitious goal like Motörhead (6b).

Even though it was forty years ago I vividly remember my ascent of West Rib (HVS 5a) on Dinas Mot on a windy day. It has a delicate slabby crux protected by small wires, and I was timing my moves between gusts

You managed a 7a on the Boulderwelt East traverse grading scale? Impressive.

Thanks Randy!

My goals:

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

- get gradually stronger on the my home board until I can repeat most of the 7As fairly quickly again 

- 3 bodyweight hangs on the 10mm edge each week 

- 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: rest

T: short board session in the evening. Very hot and poor conditions. At least I tried hard.

W:rest

T: another short board session at lunchtime. Still hot but felt much better, I got very close to doing a couple of my old 7As.

F: drive to Cornwall for family holiday. It took 10 hours urrgh.

S: family walk around Pentire followed by beach

S: bouldering at Tintagel North, followed by beach,. Tintagel was great, it's a really nice spot and the climbing is really good, at least on the main block. I did Purple Haze (f7A) quite quickly (ticked before 830am!) and then spent a couple of hours trying All Along the Watchtower (f7B). I had two goes from the start when I got through to the last two hard moves, and I could do those two last two hard moves repeatably when pulling on to them from stacked pads...I just didn't have the power left for them when trying it from the start. I'm optimistic I can do it if I manage to go back in a couple of days in good conditions.

Diet won't be as strict this week, I'll just make sure to keep it sensible and get plenty of exercise. We're away until next Sunday night.

Si

Thanks again for the stats Randy. in retrospect you are dead right about the fingerboarding. The session was probably a (late) sign that the wheels were going to come off. An easier / different week has done the world of good this week. 

I hope you are feeling better soon yourself. 

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? 

*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 - 11.8.25 - 

W -78.8kg

am - 30min back, shoulders and finger stretches.

Still not feeling great. 

T - 12.8.25 - 

W -78.7kg

3hrs zone 1&2 gravel ride, Kielder 

W - 13.8.25 - 

W - ?

4.5hrs zone 1&2 gravel riding Kielder

T - 14.8.25 - 

W - ?

No training

F - 15.8.25 - 

W - 79.5kg

am - 30min back & shoulder stretching 

am - 2hr 45min Sharp Edge / Halls Fella walk

pm - Pre training plan strength tests & some bench press

S - 16.8.25 - 

W - 79.6kg

1hr walk

S - 17.8.25 - 

W - ?

am - 20min back & shoulder stretching 

am - Giggleswick Quarry. Warm up lead on 6a. TRed Teenage Wasteland (7a+***) twice. Clean second go, which was a bit of a suprise.

pm - Family evening trip to Stickle Barn crag. Led Heather Groove and Right Wall Scoop, both MVS 4b

Reflections - It was nice to do something different this week and recover from being under the weather. Climbing yesterday morning was great; Teenage Wasteland is something to get excited about for another session or two. If we had the day rather than just a morning I'm pretty sure it would have gone which would have been my first 7a+ in a day. It obviously didn't happen, but the fact that it could have felt quite satisfying. Weight slightly creeping up due to meals out while away. Possibly a bit more of that coming up as I'm on a non climbing trip this Wednesday to Sunday

Morning everyone, hope all is well. You've got a sweet weather forecast for this week Si!

I was tempted, but the way my free time panned out it would have been a silly gamble on parking, plus it was due to be very warm in that area, so headed east instead. 

A good week from me. Skipped strength stuff due to discomfort in the heat, but made up for it with a really hard boulder. Felt great to try really hard on something as always.

Last Week:

Avg weight - 75.6kg.

M - Muggy 1h walk.

T - 1.5h sweaty session on a friend's board. Some hard moves, lots of body tension.

W - Rest.

T - 1h sweaty session. Two more BMs which have given me grief in the past, "Birthday Boulder" and "Black Pepper". Skipped OAs and hangs, too hot and bothered.

F - Rest.

S - Amarna (f7C+). Surprisingly crisp conditions. Did the stand early in the year, always found the sit moves perplexing, but thought that if I figured them out I'd have a decent shot at doing the full line. Turns out my method for the sit moves are to mindlessly yard for the slot, instead of using the crimpy sidepull! Got the start quickly, repeated the crux in iso, then after maybe an hour of RPs I held through the crux and whizzed up to the top. Had to try dead hard! 1h sweaty skate afterwards, felt quite comfortable on the board and hit a few rolling ollies quite sweet.

S - Gardening. Lots of it!

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.

Great job on Amarna Ross! Is that your first 7C+ in the UK?

A great tick there fella! 

Great work Ross! Fantastic tick. 

Niiiiice! That's an epic effort, mate.

If my currency conversions are right, that's the fabled V10, no?! In America, you've officially hit the big time!

Yeah, but to be fair, it was a crimp ladder on the vertical wall and definitely soft for the grade. I also notice that at least my perceived difficulty of the grading scale depends a lot on the wall. Usually, Boulderwelt south feels a lot easier than East for me, but i assume it is rather due to wall being higher there a less bunch upped moved which fits my style (and height better). In Boulderwelt East often the Vertical one is the easiest for me, then the steepest and i usually struggle a lot on the mid steep wall.

Hi folks. Thanks for statting, Randy.

Week 33:

An ok week, with a good finish.

M: CARs, Prehab, Fingers.

T: Board sesh.

W: CARs, Prehab.

T: Rest.

F: Climbing. Bit of a mixed session at Two Tier. Got back on Case Adjourned expecting to finish it fairly quickly after a first session a couple of months ago. However, my hubris was rewarded by finding it miles harder than I remembered. No cigar, but pulled hard and forced my self to take a few (small and tense) falls.

S: Rest.

S: Climbing. Found some shade in Anglezarke. Ticked an LTG and filled in a (inexplicable) gap in my Lancs CV with Cotton Terror (E1 5a) and seconded a couple of other routes, then eventually (after much prevaricating) got brave enough to get on Ain't Nothing To It (E3 6a). Sadly ran out of crimp moving up the arete and had to jump off, but was pleased with myself for 1. getting on it, 2. committing to the hard, bold moves and 3. being fairly relaxed taking a proper fall. Given how much fear of falling I've had over recent months, the whole experience was super positive. Pulled the rope and got back on after a rest, but knew almost immediately that I didn't have enough left. However, the ab for the gear doesn't go near the top half of the route, so I'm still on for the ground up (a true ground up, not a Pearson ground up!)

Week 34:

M: CARs, Prehab, Fingers.

T: Run.

W: CARs, Prehab, Board.

T: Rest.

F: CARs, Prehab.

S: Climbing.

S: Climbing.

STG (End Sept):

Three E3s

Get on three E4s

LTG (Nov 2025):

40 E-points (TICK! 40/40)

Onsight E4.

Si: Cheers, yes, first one in the UK!

Exile + Biscuit: Thanks guys!

Tom: Indeed it is the big double digit. I think it's considered a bit more solid at the grade than La Balance (f7C+), though nowhere near as iconic!

Hi Randy. Sorry to read you’ve been ill. Hope you’re recovering well.

Missed a check in for FC 960 but didn’t have much to report other than a crazy busy week at work which ended up eating into the weekend. That plus a lot of time sat in traffic on the motorway.

Another busy few days earlier this week but thankfully things returning to normal properly this week.

w/c 11.08.25

Monday

AM – Rest

PM – Planks: 4x 30sec on/off, Side Planks: 2x30sec on/off

Tuesday

AM – Max Hangs: 6x10 sec @ 5kg

PM – Little Depot. 8x whites, 12x Blues. 5x5 shoulder shrugs. Pull Set: Max Pull-Ups: 5x3reps @ 16kg (1), 20kg (4) Hammer Curls: 3x8 @ 10kg, Bicep Curls: 3x8 @ 12.5kg, Bent Rows: 3x8 @ 25kg. Intervals: 5x V2 traverse, 1min on/off. 5x 1min on/off on woody jugs. Hip mobility. 

Wednesday

AM – Little Depot: 10x blues. 5x5 shoulder shrugs, 3x3 Pull-Ups @ BW. Push Set: Lateral Raise: 3x8 @ 7.5kg, External Rotation: 3x8 @ 10kg, Chest Press: 3x8 @ 15kg, Triceps Cable push Down: 3x15 @ 5kg. 5x lower half of blue circuit board (14 moves ish) resting 2mins between, Hip mobility.

PM – 8km evening walk over Holcombe Moor.

Thursday

AM – Rest

PM – 7km walk locally.

Friday

AM – Rest

PM – First trad routes since mid July. Good to catch up with a mate with a quick hit at  Wilton 1 repeating a few routes.

Saturday

AM – Hip and shoulder mobility.

PM – Drove to Yorkshire and had a nice afternoon at  Twistleton Scars. Twistleton Crack (VS 4c) was hard work as a warmup. Great to follow Kasha up Supreme White (S 4a), her first trad route in a very long time.

Sunday

AM – Couple of trad routes at Attermire Scar. Did the excellent corner of Matador (VS 4c) then had an absolute ‘mare on the harder corner of Mellow Yellow (HVS 5b). One to come back for.

PM – Family.

Summary

Glad to be out of the other side at work and a welcome return to climbing despite things feeling harder work after a lay off. Weights not far off where I was pre-op so I’ll keep gradually building these back up alongside max hang weight. End of August into September is quiet so the focus is to get out as much as I can. Hopefully the settled weather continues.  

Been amazing catching up about some great days out and big ticks being had both at home and abroad. Good stuff.

Have a good week all.  

"I think it's considered a bit more solid at the grade than La Balance (f7C+), though nowhere near as iconic!"

Depends where you come from, you're probably a legend in Leek now Ross. After all Font is France's best attempt at a replica of The Churnet. A hearty slap on the back for your ascent. 

A stunning effort Ross!  You are going from strength to strength.  Good progress on the rolling Ollies as well 

Thanks Randy for your stats. Sorry to hear you're under the weather, hope you feel better soon.

Mon-Friday. Nothing. Was down South sorting my parent's house out and then a busy work week.

Sat. Managed to wangle a full weekend free, yeah!  Early start and headed to the Rhinogs for my first visit having bought the guidebook secondhand earlier in the summer. Carreg y Saeth. 1 mile approach took almost an hour, the Rhinogs isn't known for its footpaths! Started with Ora pro Nobis (E1 5b) which set the tone being even steeper than it looked, on excellent rock, with varied climbing including a fingers to offwidth crack. Then did Koh-i-Noor (E3 6a) in about 10 pitches! Perhaps the most sandbagged route I've ever been on. The lower groove seemed harder than Zukator and then there was the crux. Zippy, who's climbed 8a this year couldn't do the individual move. Could be E5 6b? outstanding route though. Finished with Ozymandias (E2 5b) which was thankfully correctly graded, with a lovely bold hanging headwall finish. Very much a suntrap, I made several beginner's errors, including wearing my tight boots on Koh-i-Noor and climbed without a t-shirt, forgetting then to put suncream on my back which was grilled medium rare by the end of the day.

Sun. Y Grisiau. Thankfully a much easier approach up the Roman Steps (a proper path) with only a short bit of heather-tussock wrangling to the crag. Super midgey. All the E2s needed cleaning so tried Later That Night (E3 5c) as a warm up. Fell off the last (relatively easy) move after a massive all in battle where I thought I was off on 3 moves in a row. Gutted! Zips persuaded me to try Wilderness Grit (E3 6a) even though it had a harder technical grade. Turned out to be a slightly easier route in all ways, but still really chuffed to get it clean. Both routes worth 3 stars. We then headed up to Llechau Mawr, which was a longer walk than expected although again on normal mountain paths. Stunning setting next to Llyn Du. Did the 30m slab of Rock Steady (E3 5c) after Zips replaced the insitu thread. Spent ages psyching up at the crux, protected by a 25+ year old blade, backed up by an RP2 and big wire in brittle feeling flake. Just when Zips was suggesting I should back off I was pleased that I managed to commit to the thin layaways and chicken heads.

My first visit to the Rhinogs. Recommended if you like wilderness and adventure, not recommended if you like your climbing nicely served up with accessible comfort and ease.

Reflection - ended up with a kind of rest week, but after this weekend I feel like I need another week off. Family holiday coming up soon so going to try to push on if sunburn lets me.

'A busy week at work' - sorry to be part of the mix!  Hope your energy levels are on the way up again!

Rehab underway.  I shall report each week on FC anyway.  I'm starting off gentle and light!

Was nearly tempted into a midweek update, because I am so excited to be exercising again!

Then I looked at what I'd actually done and decided that it can probably wait.  Don't think Ally needs to be worried just yet.  

However, lifted about a parakeet's worth across several sets 🦜🙂

Thanks Randy.

A very busy week, but with non climbing stuff. We moved on Tuesday. Tuesday and Wednesday I had off work and so there was a lot of shifting bits and bobs around (the movers did most of the legwork, but there's still a fair amount to be done amidst the unpacking). Thursday and Friday I was in work, and then the weekend was a mix of some fun stuff and more grinding away getting the house in shape.

I am hoping that I can excavate the cycling stuff for my commute later this week, and I need to move my rehab stuff somewhere accessible so I start using it. Things are coming together, although at present the board has bicycles living under it and the fingerboards are all stacked against a wall waiting to be given purpose. Making progress, but there's plenty left to do! Very happy to have got through the worst of the move and to be settling into the new locale...

Hi Randy - attempting a return to regular posting after a hiatus and lurking in the WhatsApp group...

Last Week. Overall I think there's too much "dead time" that I could have made more use of, but it's a fuller week than I've had lately.

Mon

Gym. Basic 5x5 supersets (Front Squat/Pull-up, Deadlift/Benchpress)

Tue

Trail run. 11.2km/603m

Wed/Thu.

Rest (Working in London). This is a regular thing every couple of weeks so I need to think about how better to use the time. There's a bouldering gym in Hounslow (where the office is) that I could make use of but lately it's been too hot to consider!

Fri

Harpur Hill Quarry

• Bag of Bones (6a+) (O/S)
• Over the Hill (6c) - initial attempt. This is my first attempt at an outdoor 6c and actually somewhat regret not going for the onsight. Should go next attempt.

Sat

Drive to Lakes, Hike to Styhead. Would have liked to go a bit further but it was dark by the time we were at Styhead and it's an easy place to find a camping spot.

Sun

Kern Knotts

• Innominate/Sepulchre Combination (E2 5b) This is the first climb I've managed this year that really felt like an E2 (It gets E1 5b in the FRCC definitive but I think it's undergraded - and in fact is probably 5c to boot). Was also waiting a bit for the face to go into the shade - it's maybe not the best crag choice for a hot sunny day unless you like that kind of thing!
• I had a short-lived attempt on The Kraken (E1 5b) but there's a long move after the initial corner that I just wasn't willing to do.

Hike up to Beck Head. Went past many possible camping sites below the climbers traverse that I have noted for future reference. 

Next Week - 

• One more day in the Lakes, 
• 2x trail run at least 12km
• 2x gym session (5x5)
• Weekend in North Wales - at least one route at E2 or above. 

Think about some longer term goals.

Hi Randy,

Hope you’re recovering from the infection…quite a bit of it seems to be going around. Gute Besserung!

I was a bit entangled in a variety of things over the last few weeks, and as it seems, on the days I usually do the write up, reflect and post here…

A rough overview: weeks 959-960: 3 wall sessions, moving quite nicely towards 6c+/7a, lots of light weights & hang board, jogging…

Alas, nothing eventuated from the planned real rock days…there was the monsoon washout, and since then my partner has ruptured his hernia and had to undergo an op, which means October at the earliest, maybe not at all again this year; and then there was a very weird misunderstanding with another partner – I believed we’d organised a 10 day window for some climbing, but he must have seen it differently – he decided to go and do something else…climbing of course...

Looking for the positive slant on those two weeks: I survived another birthday and the mental-emotional nexus continues to offer quite a bit of stability and calm…reflecting on some of the meltdown states I’ve found myself in, it has a touch of the miraculous about it…

And so to week 961:

Mon: 30 min jog, core exercises, stretching
Tue: wall, Thalkirchen, autobelays…16 routes, 5a-7a; went well, nicely surprised; finished with 30 min on 15er spray wall
Wed: stretching then to Berlin for mother-in-law’s funeral
Thu-Sat, Berlin: 3 x 30 min jog, plus resistance band exercises
Sun: autobahn day…

Wishing all a good weekend and hopefully the right kind of weather.

A parakeet sounds like a sensible starting point. You'll be lifting turkeys soon enough!