UKC

Hi All. Happy Bank Holiday weekend!

I hope you are finding the elusive bank holiday bon cons?!

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.

For those wanting to find out more about training for climbing a number of physical training articles are linked here: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=274502  

Last week’s thread can be found here: https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/ukc_fit_club_635-704883

Posters:

AJM: Sounds like some productive training sesh's. Always nice to actually feel the progress, as well as measure it. Top job. Hopefully feeling strong continued on to this week's days on the rock?

Tom Green: MIA?! Really?! You need to pull your finger out, sunshine!

Somerset Swede Basher: Bad times with the lurgy -please don't tell us mini-Swede has given you shingles?! So what are the tactics for the 8A -is it the gospel according to Moose of 'just keep turning up', or have you got some focus areas for training/working on?

biscuit: Nice one on getting some W1 action -I'm jealous! Good tick with Central Route too -I've always put it off because it looks pretty unrelenting, but with my new resolution of attacking anti-style routes I should get on it! Nice to see progress with some of your conditioning measures. You manage to keep up the good work this week?

Alan Little: Sounds like a really productive Kaly trip. Good effort trying to failure on Pirates... it doesn't seem that long ago that you were posting on here that you needed to work on falling off (if I remember rightly?) so that sounds like great progress. Onwards and upwards!

guy127917: Nose in a day as a MTG?! ;-p South Africa would be good too -so much inspiring stuff there. Work is definitely a challenge for big mountain stuff... when is your next sabbatical?!

Ardo: So, did you get that ARCing in this week?! Nothing like polished limestone to test the stamina! How was the balance between training and getting out? 

Powderpuff: Thanks for the knee sympathy! Enjoy the holiday... is it chilling or climbing or both?!

the sheep: Solid week, as we all expect from you! Must be good for the psyche to have got that open water swim under your belt? You're right about the wetsuit transition... having spectated at a few of my wife's triathlons, it is by far the most entertaining part of the event for the onlookers! Hilarious!!

alexm198: Running the Chavin Trail is a great idea. I'd be jealous, if it wasn't that even the thought of running at that altitude makes me feel sick! How's the cycling going? Proving to be a good low impact way of keeping ticking over? 

Jackob: Congrats on the Kaly ticks -sounds like a productive trip for both you and Alan. Great effort with the onsighting too. Seems like you're in a pretty solid place for launching towards redpointing those 8s when you're back home.

Tyler: Anne's a great line -a real Wilton fave! Well done on Wombat too -I fell off that a few years ago and had a bit of a tantrum and have never got back on it! So what's the plan for the steep limestone? Have you a plan for getting the fitness back or are you going to do the sensible thing and just get sneakier with the tactics, so that you don't need the extra fitness? ;-p

Ally Smith: Good discipline sticking to pottering, rather than training through the snottiness. Did that pay off by giving you a quick recovery for smashing this week? 

Lornajkelly: That Langdale Saturday sounds pretty dreamy... well jeal! How were the legs on Monday? Not too bad with the DOMS?! Dogs always make things better. I work from home a lot and having the dog definitely helps keep me sane(ish)! 

Niall_li: Glad to hear the finger is mended... but sorry to hear you've swapped it for a dodgy shoulder! Was the physio session productive? What do you do in terms of pre-hab for the shoulder? Mine responds pretty well to TheraBand exercises, although I know some of the FitClubbers don't rate elastic bands and have more hardcore exercises!

mattrm: Awesome! Glad that the scuba was a success and more rewarding than anticipated. Well done getting back to the running -sounds like a sensible approach to just ease back in and give your legs plenty of recovery between sessions.

Bones: Good bouldering progress... eating V-grades like smarties! How did you get on benchmarking the weights this week? Got any numbers for us?

SFrancis: Saturday sounds like a cracker! Never herd of seals heading up river... is that a thing? Mental! How've you been feeling this week? A bit less wiped out?

Cyan: We had faith! -knew you'd be back So what's prompted the return to Trad? It seems like a pretty full on return... back to back trips to Pembroke and Fairhead! Great times! Well done on Army Dreamers -what a route. What's on the hitlist for Fairhead?

ianstevens: Welcome back! Sounds like you've been busy on the hill running circuit! Nice times/places -you must be feeling pretty strong heading towards September's skyline? By the way, I keep meaning to check... does your FB goal of 100kg on the AA slot mean 100kg TOTAL, or BW + 100kg?! 

David Staples: Welcome to Fit Club. Sounds like a great week's holiday. Nice work getting those 7 projects wrapped up within the week -must have been pretty satisfying. What's next on the agenda? -hit us with some short, medium and long term goals...

MIA: Tom Green (oops!), Planet Marshall, Rebecca Ting, Cu Chullain, climb that pitch.

Thanks Tom, yeah, it's been an ok week.

Tuesday - Lulworth. First after work session of the year. Lovely evening, stayed foot dry but just so nice to be out. Horny Lil' Devil (7a) was the hardest thing I did, nice to throw a lap on an old favourite, and several other things besides.

Saturday - Winspit. A short session. Red Rain (6c+) was the highlight, I'd tried it before years ago but first go today, good fight, good moves. Tricky little number.

Sunday - Cuttings. A bit hazy and humid, not prime conditions. But flashed Flowers on the Razor Wire (6c), did The Unworthy (6c) second go (tried it years ago, but basically missed a hold and didn't try hard enough today), and had a good "onsight" (again, tried it a decade or so ago) go at Haute Cuisine (7a+) - basically fell off trying to figure out how to do the last move on the headwall. Slightly rushed second go where I fell in a similar place, then had to go. Next time.

Doing something tomorrow, not sure what yet. Then off to Fairhead on Friday for 4.5 days, keeping fingers crossed for good weather. Might get out Tuesday although currently looks a bit showery.

I am probably the most delinquent FCer as I have no plan for getting fitter and never have been much of a trainer. Losing weight would be the biggest help but that is resolutely not happening at the moment so I guess lowering my expectations is the only thing, unfortunately my tactics are spot on so no headroom there. 

M: Tried Devil's Grip (7c) and was shocked to find I could not do a move in the middle which is where it's supposed to ease. My mate also said it was too powerful for the grade but can't see how anything could have fallen off. Left with tail between legs.

T & W: Inadvertent rest.

T: After school quarry club. Seconded The Bod (E1 5b) and Shallow Groove (HVS 5b) before deciding to have a go at Wilton Wall (E3 6a) where once again I provided a master class to biscuit in gear placement (even I was embarrassed when I came down and saw how much I placed!). Had to dog the crux a bit but plenty of positives (I actually got on the route and didn't get scared or pumped), so good I top roped it a second time.

F: Went to Kilnsey after work, bolt to bolted Another Vu Point (7b) and then got it second RP of the evening. This really is one of the best routes of the grade in the country and is definitely 7b (it's significantly harder than the two routes it shares a start with, both of which are given 7b).

S: Nowt but DIY

S: Spent most of the day getting tyres sorted following slow puncture, made it to Kilnsey at 2:30 and £524 lighter. Had three dogged goes on Sideline (7b), didn't manage to do the crux until last few attempts of third run up - hard!

This Tuesday I'm seeing a consultant about my hip and a physio about my back.

Another top week as FC Moderator/Chairentity Tom.

Largely a rest & recuperation week; post-holiday catching up to do at work didn't leave me with much energy for evenings at the wall anyway.

STG: Get on some local shorter/more powerful/possibly more stiffly graded 7's: YES Ideally get up them: NO, oops
MTG (2019): Double digit 7's including Frankenjura 7b+ project. Currently: 2
LTG (2021): Redpoint 8a before I hit 60

Monday morning weigh-in: the first time I have come back from Kalymnos without having put weight on. To my considerable surprise, hiking to Lambda/Sikati with a gbfo rucksack full of every quickdraw I possess and a hundred metre rope would seem to be sufficient to counteract the effect of spinach pies for lunch, large greek evening meals, team meetings at the gelateria ...

M: Rest, catching up on domestic chores. 45 minutes stretching, mobility, antagonists
T:    Contemplated going to the wall; didn't. Half an hour stretching.
W: Bike one hour. 
T: Beastmaker. Started the necessary strength phase with some max hangs
F: 
S: Zellerwand. In which getting my ass kicked on short, punchy 7a's on Kalymnos, followed by a rest week, mysteriously doesn't lead to me not getting my ass kicked on short, punchy 7a's back home. Need to work on strength & power firmly underlined.
S: 
 

My personal impression was that it was pretty steady - more a matter of pain tolerance and willingness to sacrifice blood to sharp pockets than anything - and that was when it was f7b+.  Unless my memory is completely awry, both Cruisin' and T.D's.G seemed solid but not unreasonable for their original grades of 7b and 7b+ and I really cannot fathom the justification for an upgrade - not as silly as Wysiwyg being upgraded to 7b+ mind. 

Thanks Tom, top stats as always. Lurgy week 2 this week so nothing to report unfortunately. Gave in and went to the doctors and I've got Bronchitis. Got some pills for it so hopefully should be getting back to business as normal by the back end of next week.

As for tactics, my font 8A of choice boils down to 22moves. I've done links now of both the first and last 18 moves so hopefully not miles off. I'll start with the 'keep turning up' approach while the weather is good, I'm still finding new beta refinements so feel like I'm making progress. If the weather turns poor I'll do some more specific training. 

Thanks Tom.

I’ve toned a couple of the daily goals down again to make them achievable. I need to focus on my shoulders and make sure they’re going well. I’ve fallen into the trap of once they feel better stopping doing what I should be doing.

Long term goals

TBC

666 fit club goals

6 x V6 slabs – 1 done

6 x V6 vert – 2 done

6 x V6 steep – 4 done

To be done at BUK for ‘proper’ grades

Medium Goals 2-6 mths (Mid June – Oct)

Shelterstone June(ish) - E2 classics

October sport trip – 7b in a day

Red wall traverse R-L (7b+ ish) by June Shelterstone trip DONE!

Short term goals 1-2 mths (to mid june)

Cimbing – get out as much as poss. Lancs quarries and Trowbarrow.

Get some E2’s done!

Diet– DQS 25+ per day. 2250kcal per day with 90g+ protein.

Flexibility - 7 x a week

Shoulder– left elbow touching the floor in supine with arms overhead. Currently approx. 4 cm off (April).

Conditioning – press ups every day when shoulders OK.

5 x 10 rep press up sets (different hand position for each).

Shoulder(s)

Low rows 1 x a day.

Last week

I’d give myself 8/10 for last week. Points for climbing not for shoulder/conditioning stuff which was bad.

Climbing – a pretty good week really. Tuesday eve I finally got the Red Wall traverse at Trowbarrow done. 7b+. Milked the rests – really good trad training.

Wednesday – quick session on the circuit boards at The Depot. Felt good.

Thursday – After school grit club with Tyler. Seconded a HVS, lead an E1, jumped on Tyler’s gear to ‘lead’ Wilton Wall E3 6a. Having the (excellently placed) gear in and fresh beta obviously wipes out any thoughts that I am ready to lead E3’s again. But the climbing went easily so that’s a nice feeling at least. Also feeling inspired by Tyler’s try hard attitude at trad.

Saturday – bike ride. 60km 1000m.

Sunday – miserable BH weather stopped the planned E2 multi pitch van trip to the Lakes so we went to Kendal wall instead. Despite being a little hungover I had a good session and got a 7b 3rd go up the middle of the main wall. Anything over 7a I’ve ever done there has been in the corners where I can get sneaky bridging rests. Feels like progress.

Diet - over 25 DQS for 3/7 days and 4/7 for 2250cals per day. But the days I missed I didn’t miss by much. Things are going in the right direction.

Conditioning – press-ups managed 3/7.

Core – Not done – again! Dropping this as a goal for now. I’ll do some sporadically but whilst it is a bit of a weakness it’s not a priority for now.

Shoulders – Still improving – back on the exercises this week. Low rows everyday!

This week:

As short term goals with:

Need to focus on daily stretching and shoulder work.

Pleased with the climbing atm. I feel I’ve got back to a decent baseline reasonably quickly.

Need to get on some E2’s and get into the swing of things trad wise.

Placement did throw me off a bit this week but should hopefully settle down now for the next 3 weeks.

Weather is going to dictate what I do this week. Hope to get out Tues evening and will train at the wall Wed eve. On Dad duty over the weekend so no getting out this time.

Nearly forgot the new Lakes bouldering guide is now out. The bad news is that the hardest boulder i'd ever done had been upgraded to 7B but has now been downgraded back to 7A+. The good news is I've got some bouldering psyche back and looking to get out this Summer. 

Thanks Tom. Maybe... seems ambitious for this year. My new job doesn't involve a sabbatical unfortunately so will be when I next change jobs

Monday: 30 mins run around the zoo. 

Tuesday: 40 mins run, 40 mins 5-a-side, still knackering but skill level now the definite limiter

Wednesday: Poor boulder session, but did finish a tough v5 and make the moves on a v6 mini-proj. Played on the new outside boulders which are quite good, definite improvement on the old ones, some nails top outs!

Thursday: 40 mins run, another fairly lame bouldering session, though good progress on a v5/6 thin compression traverse move and a reachy v6 in the garden.

Friday: Day of rest

Saturday: Day of BBQ, did a couple of few on the walk there and back, every time we go past a bar in a park (and there are quite a few dotted around!)

Sunday: 50 mins run, another boulder session, finished the compressiony traverse problem and another v5 route with a similar crux only 3m higher. Few more muscle ups on rings and bar.

Pretty much did what I said I was going to this week. Progress in the sense that a) finger pain is reducing, b) clear improvement in muscle-up ability, now only have a very small sticking point c) finished some nice problems on the current sets at the castle d) got out to run 4 times. My nutritional motivation is also slightly improving which is good. Overall feeling good.

Thanks Tom it was a pretty good week off and nice and sunny everyday. This last week has been a mix of training, indoor bouldering and outdoor climbing.

Mon - Rest day

Tues - Indoor bouldering session for about 2 hours. Just climbing and no specific training.

Wed - Very brief 10 minute core workout. 

Thurs - Felt pretty tired so didn't do much today.

Fri - Two Fingerboard sessions - First session (7 on 3 off, 6 reps, 3 minute recovery, 6 sets) with an extra 5kg. Second session after long recovery (10 seconds on, 3 minute recovery, 3 sets) with an extra 20kg. Finished up with some antagonistics for about 15 minutes (Wrist curls/wrist roll-ups, pinch block and push-ups)

Sat - Sport climbing - Managed to tick Superfly Guy 7a at Coastguard North, Portland. Utterly fantastic route. Started work on another good route 'Van People' 7a at Coastguard North.

Sun - Bouldering in Bovey Woods, Dartmoor - Ticked several great problems.

Short term goals:

Increase core workout sessions to two 20 minute sessions per week.

Try to get three solid fingerboard sessions per week. At the moment I am usually only managing between one/two.

Try to get some cardio in there somewhere.

Long term goals:

Onsight sport 7a by the end of the year.

Redpoint sport 7b by the end of the year.

Send font 7a in a day

Cheers

d'oh. Anyway, a mixed bag this week - 

Mon - Rest

Tue - A short Strength and Conditioning routine in the gym, 3 Supersets of Pull ups and seated shoulder press.

Wed - 'Style Triad' at Depot Sheffield. A bit more confident about taking falls on the bouldering wall now. Leah Crane was making everything look easy.

Thu - A bit of adhoc trad at Millstone, crashed a Peak Climbing Club meet in order to find a partner, seconded Skywalk (VS 4b) and led Bond Street (HVS 5a).

Fri - 'Broken Quarters' at Depot Manchester. Second time trying this workout, mostly on the Blues (6C) and Reds (6B+). I quite like this as using smaller holds on overhanging terrain is definitely a weakness. One logistical difficulty with this is trying to restart a circuit halfway through when you finish somewhere near the top, but the circuits at Depot Manchester a long enough that I can just stick to the lower holds and switch between the two boards.

Took an 'unanticipated' fall from the top of the circuit board and controlled it (albeit with a bit of a 'judo roll'). Wasn't the end of the world.

Sat - Rest

Sun - 'Route Pyramids' at AW Sheffield. So tired from the AeroCap workouts that I was feeling pumped on an initial 5+ warmup. Did 5+, 6a, 6a+ (attempt), 6b (attempt), 6b (attempt), 6a+, 6a (attempt). Attempts failed due to fear of falling and nothing else, which I'm slightly irritated about. Took a few practice falls to try and do something about this.

STG

Crack on with the AeroPow. Quite enjoying the workouts and happy with the general level of 'tiredness' I feel from training. I've never actually climbed harder than 6b+ indoors anyway, and I think if I was feeling comfortable at those grades then it'd indicate my training level is too low.

Try and do something about the falling fear. Start next route session with a few practice falls. Do the route pyramid session again, failing on a 6b+

If I manage to get outside, 4 leads at HVS and above. At least one E1.

Don't pass up an opportunity to go outside. This is where I get the biggest gains from (even if I feel knackered most of the time due to training).

MTG

Pabbay end June.

Sport Climbing in Turkey beginning November. Opportunity for another training cycle here, aim to redpoint 7a.

666 Goals

666m of E2.

Hey Tom. No significant numbers but they are coming. I have not been great at noting down what I have done for a while now but that is about to change - got a new whatsapp channel to record my food and exercise so it should all be there for my records when I post, including weights.

I am quite happy with my bouldering progress. Last week I managed an indoor V6 that I had tried a few times before. Quite keen to explore some Portland bouldering at some point.

Unfortunately, I last week I came down with some sickness so not as active as I hoped but still managed three gym sessions and three climbs. We have also been doing muscle ups and front lever practice every time we pass the park gym just by the house and there are definite improvements in both.

Mon: Legs gyms session. Now able to do a one leg squat on the right leg but still not there on the left, definitely my weaker side. Trying a new tactic of always starting on my weak side so that it gets a little more attention.

Tues: Deadlift session, had to leave early as totally out of energy and full of sickness

Weds: Total sofa/bed rest all day and then a good boulder session in the evening at Hackney Wick. Always have the energy to boulder ;p Pretty happy with the overhung stuff. 

Thurs: Boulder session at the castle. Did a V6 that I have tried a few times before and almost there with a purple, overhung V5 and a black, slopey V5.

Fri: Pretty chill gym session - best bit was carrying a 50kg sand sack for 40 metres within a 3 set circuit. My competitive side comes out at the gym which means I go for heavier weights than I might on my own.

Sat: rest

Sun: Boulder session - got further with the slopey V5 and overhung V5 but feeling pretty exhausted and it was so hot and sweaty today ergh.

 Cheers Tom, going to give the kids many opportunities to laugh at me over half term by getting them to spray me with the hosepipe then run round the garden before trying to remove the suit

Been a good week, but will keep it brief as I’m on my phone.

Monday, 640m swim to round up my distance from the open water swim

Tuesday, 2km lunch swim and 26k cycle and 5k run brick session 

Wednesday, 1 k swim and 26 k ride home

Thursday 2k swim and stretch class

Friday, 2k swim and same brick set as Tuesday 

Saturday 6k trail run

Sunday, rest day

Not gonna lie, it really hurt.  It took roughly four days to stop hurting.  So worth it, even though I had to go down stairs sideways like I was cutting steps down an ice field!

Again, it's been a poor week for training sessions.  I got out on Tuesday for a run, which felt fairly good, and I had a pretty decent few hours at the wall on Thursday.  It takes me a while to bounce back from these episodes, especially if they're longer than a couple of days.  Though I did get two unorthodox training sessions in, on Friday and Saturday night - on Friday I drove to Sheffield to see my absolute, all-time favourite musician who puts on an absolutely mindblowing stage show (VNV Nation).  Fitbit logs that gig as a 2-hour cardio session, average heart rate of 140 bpm - I didn't stop dancing from the first beat of the first song to the very last.  Then on Saturday another similar one happened, as I finally discovered that there is a club night in Leeds that plays the music I haven't heard in clubs since my undergraduate days going to industrial and EBM nights in Bristol.  Back to structured training this week.  

STG:  Lead 5 Severes by end of June (May's VDiff target had to be shelved because I didn't make it outside)

MTG:  Lead 5 VS by end of 2019

LTG:  Comes The Dervish by 35th birthday (end of 2021)

Hi all, 

I've been meaning to post on here for while but have never got around to it. I'm keen for training but struggle with motivation. I've recently become "in between jobs" so have had a lot more time to look at climbing and to spend a bit of time trying to improve, rather than just climbing for fun. 

I was given a couple of training books & have created a rough plan, so this seems like a decent way of keeping myself in check and prodding me into movement!

Weaknesses: Crack climbing, powerful/"big" moves, motivation for training

M: Climbed at Cadshaw Rocks Solo'd a few easy routes and my wife led her first VDiff. Found it quite polished & nothing too inspiring

T: Climbed at  Horseshoe Quarry Climbed a few routes up to 6a+. Didn't find the routes very inspiring but have a few mates coming down to visit in a few months so would like to be able to onsight 6b's then

W: First ARC session. 2 x 25 min circuits @ f5+ ended in blisters to both ring fingers. (NB. vary the routes!) 

T: am. Onsighted Throsher (VS 4c) in less than 2 mins then proceeded to be shut down completely by [climb(17198,"Falling Crack"),  however have added the E2 to the left "big doris" to the list of potential 1st E2's as it is much more my "style"

Pm: Went to Shining Clough rocks with new climber. (added Pisa Super Direct to wishlist!!) 

F: ran 8 miles

S:  Bouldering indoors

S: Nowt - too much beer!

----

My goals for this year are to onsight E2 and redpoint a 7a. My STG at the moment is to work out how!

Everything I've read about this route means I know you are right but I can't see why my experience is so out of kilter with everyone else. I'm not in the shape of my life but I should be able to at least see a way to do a move on a soft 7c, especially if it's not the crux, mind you I had a torrid time on the crux of Sidekick yesterday so maybe I am that bad. I'm guessing this was not a distracting enough route to get into your little book of beta but does a long reach off two undercut pockets for two finger pocket (RH) ring any bells (just before the final steepening)?

This was 7c in the previous version of the Yorkshire lime guide! I'd say it's easier than Sidekick, Sideshow, Stumped, Sticky Wicket (obvs!) and a host of others. I don't mind a sacrificial soft touch for coaches to put their young protégés on but wish it wasn't the start of a couple of routes I'm keen on!

I did Cruisin' and Devil's Grip in a session, in a couple of goes apiece.  At the time, my hardest UK redpoint was Ground Effect; so, they are either very height-dependent or you were just having a bad day.  Contemplating the prospect of that walk-out could do it to anyone! 

Re Wysiwyg, I once heard that when it was originally climbed the big rest jug to the right couldn't be used - it used to be full of mud and choss and was later dug out.  I vaguely recall seeing Steve Crowe climb it using a very sustained looking direct sequence ignoring the jug, and him saying he wasn't being purposely purist, it was just the method he had ingrained in his muscle memory and it was less hassle for him not to change.  So, that might explain a historically harder grade... but unless it's an eliminate the current grade seems bonkers (Sticky Wicket feels near a grade harder).

Hey Tom, thanks for top stats, as per.

Good session on Monday, with ARC added to plan. Got some walking mileage, but workload meant unable to get second training session in. Added a little weight to MH and IDHs, plus dead bugs to morning exercises for core and will increase weight/reps next week. Chilled trad on Saturday at a crowded Bamford, never seen so many there! Balance of one training and trad, but need less work so I can double both!

Mo:    General walking, 9.6 miles. 12 probs; MH: 4*12”/150”; IDH: 4*4*10”:10”/90”, (BW+2kg): ARC: 15’ on, 10' off, 10' on.

Tu:    Commuting walking, 9.0 miles.

We:    Commuting walking, 8.6 miles.

Th:    Commuting walking, 8.9 miles.

Fr:    General walking, 7.9 miles.

Sa:    General walking, 8.1 miles. 2 trad.

Su:    General walking, 9.0 miles.

Weight: 10st 2lb/bf 15.0%

Next week's plan

Keep diet on track and try to drink responsibly, (two works do's and one family).

Increase training volume.

Do some work on van.

Another Vu Point (7b) is certainly 7b! Sketchy groove and arete maneuvers at the top.

Fingers crossed for the consultant appointment  

Thanks again Tom - very astute FC commentary as usual :-D

I've moderated planned intensity and volume throughout the week to stay ahead of the lurgy and it paid off by the weekend and had an awesome multi-activity/gastronomic weekend with wifey in the Lake District.

Week 21 

M – Rest – feeling a bit post viral, racing heart rate etc.

T – Evening climbing - last minute decision to go to Stoney instead of Tor. Long 6c+ OS warm-up – felt rusty finding unchalked holds! Got on Little Plum (8a) for a classic Jerry tick, but forgot my stiff boots and was shut down on the vert crux of pitch 1. Hard move on the top roof too – old school! Keen for a return match.

W – Stoney didn’t feel like much volume, so felt okay to do a full max-hang session. Improvement on all hangs; ring fingers responding well. 5x5 pull-ups@+20kg.  Later, regenerative aero-cap 10x 7/3/6/1 @-15kg with moderate BFR pressure. This felt less pumpy than previous aero-cap sessions, but could certainly feel fatigue from earlier session. 5x15 11kg dumbell OHP in rest intervals. Evening stretching.

T – Felt knackered - evidently masses of FB was not what the lurgy was looking for! 3 coffees to just feel normal. Compex capillarisation & brachialis strength with BFR. Skipped planned evening rings session as still felt pooped.

F – Forgot the mono sling lean-outs (oops): An-cap hangs – reverted to the session I was using before going to Margalef with hms. 7/3/6/3 repeaters with rings in between. Aiming to get it up to +15kg on all grips by autumn for RP goals (front3 strict half crimp aim of +5kg – still probably the hardest goal – work your weaknesses!). Drove to lakes - Very tender lamb cutlets 8/10.

S – Epic full-English (8/10) to start our Lakes multi-activity weekend. Slightly iffy weather, so went up the Langdale Pikes instead of the full horseshoe. Rabbit terrine and Sea bass 7/10.

S – Another full-English (7/10). Rain to start, so potter around local shops then 3hr/18mile MTB ride. Felt very rusty on the bike and took a nasty cartwheeling fall when confronted by 4 MX riders coming up a narrow descent. Post ride 6% porter made legs even more jellified! Dim Sum, Philippino curry & pannacotta 8/10 (+ too much wine = slept poorly).

M – Scrambled egg & mushrooms (5/10). Borrowdale. Wife’s 2nd time ever outdoor climbing (previous was a bimble up Tryfan Bach). Clearly terrified her by leading her up Little Chamonix; but by the top she was moving competently an even expressed her desire to other “climbing things”  Fed her cake, then shot over to Bowderstone for hour of power. 6C, 6C+ warm-ups. 20min to work out heel hook beta on Picnic Sarcastic (f7A+). 7A flash warm-down. Scampi & Chips with pint of Wainwright (7/10 cheap & cheerful)

Got the all clear on the shoulder, wasn't anything major thankfully, I was probably just being overly cautious tbh. Usually do theraband exercises as part of my warm up. I did a lot of work on my shoulders a few years ago as they weren't great, which really pays off now - really should pick up the weights exercises I was doing as part of that again. Need to start getting back into the habit of some more structured sessions and stop avoiding my fingerboarding

M - Climbfit, hard session but felt good

T - Pilates, Rest

W - Boulderworld, breezed up the problem that stumped me the previous week, and flashed another problem to add to my comp wall score. Tried some harder stuff that I think will go with a bit more work

T - Coming up with some new problems on the home board and trying my projects, fun session and had an agonising drop on the final hold match on my main project (which felt nigh on impossible a month ago)

F - Travelling, Beers

S - London for Strokes gig, beers

S - Travelling/hangover recovery

Psyched for the Fairhead meet next week and another shot at my project!

Mon: Rest.

Tues: Wall. Working V4/5s on the 45. 

Wedns: Rest/unpacking/repacking.

Thurs: Rest.

Fri: Travel to Pembroke after last minute weather related change of plans!

Sat: St Govan's East. Seconded Ganymede (HS), led Rear Wind (HVS, brilliant), 2nd Calisto (E1), tried to lead First Blood (E2) but changed my mind when it got hard - gear placement still a real faff - and bailed back onto Calisto. Still a really good day, the first E1 I've led in maybe a decade 

Sun: Rainy. Went to Flimston and did Bow Shaped Corner (HS) in the afternoon.

Hey Tom,

No problem, I understand how frustrating injuries can be.

Holiday is chilling ....which is well over due.

Tuesday: biked to the wall. Re climbed a v5 I've done before as a warm up, then worked on the v7 again...felt my strongest yet.

Sat: Went to Almscliff and climbed a little circuit which included "below the decks" and the v6 eliminate of the same problem. Also dropped off "Demon Wall Roof" after the crux as I was greasing off. Brilliant to get outside! Two sets of the usual exercises.

Ive seen seals in Pembroke and that's about it, so was made up to see one sneaking up the Wye. Started to get back on it this week and now back to feeling good.

Weeks 20th - 26th

M: Rest

T: Unstructured climbing session. A few routes and a few new boulders.

W: Headed to Banygor after work to try Almost Me (7c), but wasn't the only one with that thought, so consoled myself with a repeat of Pet Cemetery (7a). Managed to break phone, but hard to be in a bad mood as it was a lovely sunny evening.

T: 3 x 20 push ups, 3 x front lever cycling legs to failure, 3x3 90kg pull ups, 3 x 20 calve raises (i have problems with calves cramping when climbing, sometimes it can feel serious..), 2 x 12 lateral and front shoulder raises.

F: Drove to Cornwall to visit friends.

S: Headed to Bosigran with french friend and climbed Little Brown Jug (VS 5a) , I got the great last pitch and Anvil Chorus (VS 4c) with the direct finish. Sea mist kept coming in and there was a bit of drizzly rain, but we decided we needed to do one of the classic extremes, Suicide Wall (E1 5c) was chosen. Friend climbed start scramble, and across coal face. I arrived at belay to find a rather uninspiring microcam belay. I insisted on adding the  old peg, much to my friends amusement,  as I couldn't see too much gear on the next pitch. I set off and the holds were wet, and slimey, I managed a sideways brassie (luckily I had left one on the bunch of nuts, after removing them all thinking granite doesn't need micros), and that was about it. Found the drop down move at the end of the traverse a little more spicy than I was expecting, as concerns of slipping off the frankly massive but damp foothold, brought thoughts of FF2s. The cam eating break, was sopping but I smashed in few cams, then did hard mantle felt, which i thought must be the well protected 5c move. I decided I had earnt the next pitch as well, I got a nut in to back up the pegs, and committed to a wet crux which is about as hard an E1 crux as possible, and obviously the 5c move. Managed to fight my way up the slippery wall and on to the haven of the belay ledge. Friend then went straight up, seemed the natural line and we didnt have a topo, which i think is the paragon finish, again pretty strenuous. All in all Suicide wall felt pretty hard / serious for E1, possibly it was the damp.

S: Rainy day, spent most of it in the pub with a little walk around St Agnes.

In re

Cheers! Yeah, September has been the background to the running upturn - feeling quick and running as well as I ever have over the shorter distances so hoping to push on. 100kg total! So me (72ish) + some extra (28 ish). If I was adding 100 kg I'd break my shoulders, waist, and hangboard rig pretty quick, and would (hopefully) be climbing waaay above 7A/7b+!

On that note, any tips for greasy, sweaty hangboards now summer is here?

Last Week (2019.21)

Had planned on north wales with some friends from down south, but with the iffy forecast they decided to raincheck (can't say I blame them). Climbing-lite again as I can't bring myself to go to the wall when it's nice, or even just okay, outside!

Mon: Run 12.9km, 201m - just out with some friends.

Tuesday: 1) Yoga; 2) 90% hangs AA slot, 6 @ 87.7kg for 10 secs

Wednesday: 1) Yoga; 2) 5k race - 18:49. 7.5km/25m total with the warm up.

Thursday: 1) Yoga; 2) 90% hangs AA slot, 6 @ 87.7kg for 10 secs; 3) Hill effort for ~30 mins. 16.2km, 325m total. 

Friday: Bike 56.9km, 864m NP 217W

Saturday: Yoga and rest

Sunday: 1) Yoga; 2) Bike 42.8km, 658m NP 228W

Hmm... nearly AWOL for the second week running. Poor effort!

Work and life have been manic for the second week running, but fitted a bit in...

Week 21

M: Cant remember! 

T: Alpine start/finish for work

W: Working away

T: Working away

F: Working away

S: Rest

S: Indoor climbing. Max hangs, weighted pull-ups, linked boulders.

   Trail run -first run back since dodgy knee!! 5.5km, 5:26/km dead flat and non-techy.

Good to ease back in to a little run after resting the knee for a couple of weeks.

STG - 14st

MTG - Goblin Girl (6b) 6c at Navigation, then WFD

LTG - Definitely bouldering, bearing in mind Trad will be hard for the next few years...

Weight - 14st 4lbs 

M - 3 mile walk

T - 4 mile walk

W - 3 mile walk

T - S - Rest

Reasonable amount of walking at the start of the week.  Tailed off towards the end.  That's about it really.

Averages in next week's post.