UKC

Hi All. Hope you've all been crushing, whether that's crushing climbing, running, swimming or anything else?!

This week, I thought it would be good to get our devilish plans back out in the open. Can everyone state or restate their 666 goals? Any goals you like, to be completed by the week of the beast: week 666.

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 3  

Last week’s thread can be found here: https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/ukc_fit_club_636-705188

Posters:

AJM -Good work getting the DWS season started! And some good onsighting too... that will stand you in good stead for those trad goals? Talking of trad goals -hit us with your Fairhead news!

Tom Green -good work easing back in to the running. Probably best to keep the terrain type and gradients fairly easy until you build back up to previous levels.

Somerset Swede Basher -22 moves?! That's not a boulder problem, that's a small sport route!! I guess the beauty of on the job training is that it doesn't get much more specific than that! 

biscuit -Congrats on the Red Wall traverse. Great job! Will you replace it with a new, similar proj or are you all about the trad mileage in the lead up to your Cairngorm trip?

Alan Little -Good to have some clear signs as to which areas to work on. Bring on the strength sessions! What are you planning? Will you do something based on the Eric Horst programmes like you have in the past?

guy127917 -solid week, mate. Great work with the muscle ups -proper strong! What venues are on the hitlist for this summer's weekend warrioring? Will it be new places to explore, or old friends/foes to return to?!

Ardo -How was Van Club this week?! Good work with the ARC sesh -out of interest, what sort of route/problem difficulty do you use for your ARCing? 

Powderpuff -Great work at Almscliff -impressive that you translate you indoor grade limit outdoors. Top work! Will you go back for the Demon Wall Roof?

the sheep -excellent plan for specific training for the transitions! I LOL'd at the mental picture of it! ;-p When is your next event? Will you build a tapering week in, or keep things fairly constant?

Tyler -Another good Quarry Club sesh. Nice work getting on Wilton Wall.  How did things go with the consultant? Any think constructive?

Ally Smith -Wow, great weekend of cuisine! Very jealous! An 8/10 full English is an elusive creature these days. Sounds like a solid week considering the initial lurgy constraints. Do you feel like the training is targeted as you would like for this year's goals? 

Lornajkelly -Raving is very much a legit form of cardio training (it was one of the first questions I asked when I first joined Fit Club!) -it should be included in the couch to 5k programme! Have you got climbing days organised for those Severes over the next four weeks? What's on the hitlist?

Niall_li -Can you tie the FB work in to your board sessions to make it more of a habit? Sounds like good progress on the home board. Where are the gains coming from? Stronger? More cunning?! How was Fairhead this week?

Bones -That's a pretty strong week -especially given some lurgy days! Like the strategy of hitting random opportunities for bar work... You and guy are going to be like these park gymers you see pulling crazy moves on YouTube! Did you get outside this weekend?

SFrancis -A good varied week. Well done getting the conditioning in. Enjoyed your account of Suicide Wall... I thought it was ok, but I wouldn't have fancied doing it in the wet and I definitely wouldn't have fancied running the two hard pitches together! Sounds like you certainly earned the E-point!

Cyan -Nice weekend ticklist! Good quality and quantity! Bow shaped was an inspired choice to save a rainy day. Sounds like you are settling back in to the trad pretty smoothly.

ianstevens -Lots of multi-sesh days! Great work. Glad to hear the weight includes BW! -I thought we had a new FC record! Any more climbing this week, or another week of running and conditioning? 

David Staples -Nice balanced week and well done on your weekends climbs. Pretty productive days! Good goals... what do you think is going to help get them ticked? More mileage for the 7a onsight? Training specific areas of fitness for the &A boulder?

Planet Marshall -nice work with Bond Street -great route. Fully understandable to have a bit of tension about falling -have the practice falls started to help yet?

outdoors.nick -welcome to Fit Club! Falling Crack is a total swine! Crazy pumpy! Good goals and I look forward to hearing the plan for working towards them... any thoughts yet?

MIA: alexm198, Jackob, mattrm, Rebecca Ting, climb that pitch.

Ha ha, you're right of course. Probably more sport 8b than font 8A but it's written in a book so it's gospel as far as I'm concerned. I've always been better at getting fitter than stronger so it will make a start. 

Mon-wed. End of the Bronchitis.

Thurs. 16km on the mtb with the kids, I can breath again... sweet! 

Fri. Weighted myself and ive lost nearly half a stone being ill. Headed to the tor and ticked Cave Pervert (f8A) which was a surprise! 666/long term goal achieved! Had 15mins rest then got a new high point on rumbleweed too (moving from the 2 finger pocket rather than to it). 15km on the mtb in the eve.

Sat. 20km on the mtb with kids. 

Sun. Bit tired after 3 days cycling. Tried rumbleweed but only just got to my high point so had a link's session in the cave and did 2 laps on everything below 7B. Felt beasted after that! Nice to do lots of moves rather than lots of resting though. 

STG: Get on some local shorter/more powerful/possibly more stiffly graded 7's. Ideally get up them.
MTG (2019): Double digit 7's including Frankenjura 7b+ project. Currently: 2
LTG (2021): Redpoint 8a before I hit 60

M: 
T:    Wall, Thalkirchen. Routes. Easing back onto the plastic
W: 
T: Moonboard. Couldn't even remember where I last saw or used my bouldering chalkbag, had to search for it. Current lack of success on powerful routes 100% explained. 
F: 
S: Moonboard. More flailing. Focusing on problems on the reds, big moves & body tension rather than fingers being my main (self-diagnosed) area of current weakness.
S: Wall, Thalkirchen. 3 x 15 minutes ARC

Yeah a lot of my sport plan for this year is basically to support trad goals. But also, it's really nice to be in the mental frame to just have a go at things rather than perpetually saving them.

Fairhead is brilliant. Potentially two more climbing days left although the weather looks worse tomorrow so we will see.

Monday - about 10km walk, mainly carrying the child, round to Bournemouth via the beach.

Tues-Thurs - nothing. My son was ill, then my wife was ill, so between that and packing/admin I didn't manage to get out.

Friday - fly to Fairhead. Raining in the afternoon, but it dried up mid evening so we walked off dinner with a brief wander out to the crag top to scope things out.

Saturday - Fairhead. Titanic (E2 5c) first, I led the easier P1 which was a bit bold at the bottom, then seconded the more physical P2 which had a few stern pulls through a wide crack overhang at the crux. Then waited round for a bit, it was pretty busy, but eventually sacked waiting for Ocean Boulevard and got on Aoife (E2 5b). I led the crux P1, which was excellent long steep pitch with some groove, some overhanging flakes, and a bit of crack. It was pretty muggy so I was sweating buckets, quite physical climbing. Went back down again but in muggy conditions the midges were out so we bailed, hellish down there!

Sunday - Blind Pew (E2 5b) to start, led the harder P1, really really good corner climb. Then went to try The Hustler, but backed off the start, dirty with fiddly gear that I didn't trust not to strip out sideways if I fell given where the belay was. Got on Conchubair (E2 5c) instead, led the easier 5a first pitch, seconded the crux, all a very good route, found the flare chimney at the top an intriguing finale! Got hit by a shower, and discovered my abb rope now has a massive core shot in it. But that was the only black mark for the day really, because next we went down and tried Ocean Boulevard (E3 5c). This is a classic, you go up an easier start and then pull round an overhang into a groove with thin hands at the back which then turns into a layback finale. Went for it, figured I had to try hard enough to fall, no bailing, and as a result managed it. Not my style and probably the hardest thing I've led in ages. Duncans verdict was ~11a. Super chuffed. And as Duncan led the also very good P2 the sky was blue and the sun was out and basically it was what I came to Fairhead for Interesting comparison, I had my feet out bridging a chunk of the way whilst Duncan just got stuck in hands and feet in the crack. I just don't feel I can get enough outwards pull on green/red camalot territory for that sort of thing yet, bridging helped keep the weight on my feet more. We topped out into howling wind at best a minute before a heavy shower came blowing in.

Feeling achey this morning, a couple of physical days out! Hopefully a bit more, then home late Tuesday night, then off to Montserrat next weekend. Psyche is high.

I'll dig the 666 goals out from a non-phone device.

Yeah - those grades seem about right. Softer end of 8A = 8b/+. More solid 8A's like Staminaband & various Parisella's links = 8b+ 

Bleurgh!

Chapeau!

Yea, definitely need to do something to make it a habit. There's even a lattice rung above my bedroom door, so I've got zero excuse really. Might make it a new STG to do it twice a week for 4 weeks and hopefully form the habit. I think generally I need to get back to being more structured in my sessions, other than climbfit, I've been just climbing the past couple of weeks

Think my gains on the board problem are mostly cunning, figured out a very specific foot sequence, otherwise I just get spat off!

Mon - Climbfit

Tues - Pilates/Rest

Weds - Boulderworld session, didn't go too hard with the aim of being in good form for my day off on Friday

Thurs - Rest

Fri - Disaster, weather was not my friend. Hid out in my car from the rain at Fairhead, terrible nights sleep

Sat - Up early to have a go at eat it, felt like i'd gone majorly backwards on it, from consistently getting to the last move to struggling to stick the first. not entirely sure what was going on, might just chalk it down to a bad day, probably won't get back on it for another few weeks now. Went and had a fun bouldering day, weather at Fairhead was perfect and climbed some great problems. Having some major skin issues when bouldering outside lately, I seem to be wearing through my tips at a rate of knots. Really need to get it sorted before font in September, climbing 2 days in a row at a decent level atm doesn't seem to be possible

Sunday - Off to a christening, beers!

My 666 goal is to do a front lever. Currently progressing each week, getting minutely stronger but still a fair way off so we shall see!

That's the aim - just casually wander over to the park and then pull out some sick moves. Yesterday my flailing got totally outdone by some guy doing a handstand on the parallel dips bars and then walking his hands along it.

This weekend we got out to Pembroke and did a load of really fun climbs. Feels a little more serious there but was just beautiful and the climbs were all great.

Mon: Castle climbing boulder session - did a couple of routes in the cave to work on core. Also some handstand practice.

Tues: gym session. Today was crossfit style and ridiculous. The aim was: 

- 1km run, 100 pull-ups, 200 press-ups, 300 push-ups, 1 km run and we split it into tenths: 10 x [10 pull-ups, 20 press-ups, 30 push-ups]

I did:

- 1km run, 7 x [10 pull-ups, 20 press-ups, 30 push-ups], totals: 70 pull-ups, 140 press-ups, 210 push-ups. I had to start using a light band for the last 2 rounds for the pull-ups. I also did raised arms for push-ups, still had a chest illness and these seemed extra hard.

Weds: gym - calisthenics-style. Moved onto the high rings so I can go all the way around with skin the cats and lengthen my legs out but then can't get back up ;p Also, think my handstand press is improving as I can actually bend my arms a  bit! Will try to get that on video this week if I can repeat it.

Thurs-Sat: Pembroke climbing - I seconded everything. Felt pretty good but wasn't feeling on top form mentally. Just been quite tired and the abseils made everything seem more intense. Had an awesome few days and Guy led some brilliant routes. We did a fairly crazy HVS traverse which was absolutely terrifying. I just crawled into the hole and refused to move for a while whilst shouting 'there is no way I can do this' followed by various obscenities and then did it and then my twisted brain wanted to do it again.

Sun: Rain - relaxed climbing session at Reading climbing centre on the way home. Led a handful of 6as and did a couple of long overhangs, got halfway up a 6b overhang and got blocked back by fall fear. There was an excellent long 6b route with a roof section which I did in three parts. Then some bouldering, all felt pretty hard to be honest.

Then a couple of muscle up and front lever intermediates at the local park and 11 pull-ups max. I think I can do more than this but was very tired. Will try to prove this theory this week.

Been doing a whatsapp food and training diary which has made posting on here easier and also had a positive influence on my food choices. For my UKC record, my weight is currently 64.6kg and no current plans to change this but if I lost a couple of kilos I wouldn't be sad.

Cheers Tom, Poor quality week last week - was a bit sick at the start of the week, and snowed under with work (unrelated!). My PhD corrections are due this Friday, and naturally I've left myself with lots of work and little time. I went for a 4km run, and managed about 1 cumulative hour of yoga (I usually do this in the morning to wake up).  Hopefully some more this week, so I've got something better to report next week. Will get my hangboard benchmarking done, and have a stage of the Welsh Castles Relay to run Saturday and will try and get some rock in my life Sunday. Otherwise, training will be proportional to work!

Once again - excellent commentary - many thanks

The English Breakfast in the B&B (Beck Allans - Grasmere) was so good; not greasy in the slightest and a really good peppery Cumberland sausage.

I'm moving into a damage limitation phase right now as i'm travelling 3 out of 4 weeks in June and will struggle to keep up with training beyond some hotel gym shenanigans. Knew this was coming up so hadn't planned a particular spring goal - hoping to get Aboriginal Sin (8a) done this month and maybe get back on my project next to Parisella's (and get down LPT if the tides are in my favour?)

UKCFC 666 goals: Devils Gorge newbies (50% TICK); Rock Atrocity (TICK); press a sport climber (dodged this for a while due to paint roller tendonitis - was mainly to motivate antagonist training/conditioning); 8c+ (Still a long way off - I had initially thought Pilgrimage would be the one for me, but have since lost all mojo for Parisella's Cave - I might need a FA project to motivate me?)

Week 22 

M – Reported last week: Little Chamonix and Picnic Sarcastic.

T – Nothing

W – Mono sling leans outs (down to 1st seg on all digits now) then max hang session on Lattice instead of BM2K. Great session; 2x PBs: 4-finger drag (BW+50kg) & 1-arm campus edge (BW-2.5kg L; BW-3kg R). F3 strict half crimp (BW+6kg) & 1-arm lattice (BW-11kg) pretty close to PB. 5x5 pull-ups@BW+21.25kg. DL singles; 75, 85, 95, 105kg. Finished with 3x10 Flexor (15kg) & extensor (7kg) with high BFR pressure. Splits stretching.

T – Glad I didn’t go out. Weirdly humid all day – guessing most crags were condensed to f*ck. Forearms sore (flexor weights?) so just a session of twitching with the Compex.

F – Snatched an opportunity to climb before driving to in-laws. Short, but productive bouldering session. Titus, 7C in a little over an hour 😊 https://www.instagram.com/p/ByIoAsMjX9X/ Back home, DL singles 95, 110, 120kg. 6xDL@85kg. Extensor @7kg, then Compex in the car.

S – Diddly squat.

S – Another quick boulder – did some decent links on an 8A link up but rained before I could start too minging to put it all together. 

If you didn't put on half a stone last week I am going to rethink my entire dieting strategy!

Cheers.  I think I need to do a load of middle two hangs before I tick Rumbleweed, I find it a lot harder than Cave Pervert but I think that's probably my weakness rather than much of a difference in difficulty.

How much harder than Cave Pervert do you find Mecca?  Just asking for a friend He's thinking forward to next years goal...

Like you, i'm weak on 2-finger pockets, so i find Let's Get Ready to Rumbleweed disproportionately harder than cave Pervert. It's a combination of three things; 

1) i'm weak

2) my chubby digits need some wriggly into the nasty pocket

3) possibly the biggest thing - I've been injured on them and might not pull as hard as possible for fear of further injury

Mecca also has holds which isolate or heavily load my left ring finger, so it's also something that I try intermittently for fear of injuring that finger again. Hence, I'd say that LGRTR is about the same as Mecca (quite ready for the flaming this will no doubt cause...)

I lost weight over last weekend!

(i was consistently so full from brekkie that I barely touched food all day; combined with a shed load of aerobic exercise, I lost a bit, and don't even have my bingo wings anymore)

Thinking more mileage at 7a, perhaps a move to working a few 7b's and continuing with training should get me there in the end...

Had a very short session working a crimpy little f7a in the Cuttings Boulderfield one evening last week. All the moves felt fairly straight-forward so there is hope yet! Be nice to get back this week to see if I can send it.

So an update on this last week

Mon - Afternoon sport climbing. Only a few easy routes.

Tues - Indoor bouldering session. Pushed myself pretty hard for about 2 hours and managed to send several of the harder routes at the centre. Finished off with a brief spell on the system board.

Wed - Workout at home inc a good fingerboard session.

• Fingerboard workout of 7 on 3 off, 6 reps with 3 min rest over 6 sets with extra 5kg weight.
• Max hang fingerboard session with an added 20kg for 10 seconds, 1 rep, recover 3 minutes over 6 sets.
• Core workout - A few sets of dragon flags, planks, ab roll-outs etc...

Thurs - Bouldering on Portland - Working a f7a as well as doing a few nice easier problems with the GF.

Fri - Weather was nice so the Mrs dragged me out for a nice 10k walk after work.

Sat - Sport climbing on Portland. Had fun working a technical 7a called Van People at Coastguard North.

Sun - Not much, just ate and chilled out. Should have done a fingerboard & core session!!

Cheers

Cheers Tom, would normally ease off a little before an event. Which just happened to be Sunday with my first open water tri Also it coincided with half term so was off last week with the kids. Week went as follows;

Monday, nice 13km trail run with the wife. 

Tuesday and Wednesday entertaining the sprogs

Thursday, helped out with the junior run group so a nice gentle 6k run

Friday, rest

Saturday, gentle short ride with middle daughter and faffing with kit. 

Sunday, race day. First up the swim, feeling confident having put the effort in pool swimming and having enjoyed the previous weeks open water session I thought I would try stay somewhere near the front. Big mistake!

Getting in the water it became very apparent that the races that started earlier in the day had completely wiped out any visibility in the water, not something I had trained for. Anyway the race started and the other swimmers were clearly a lot better than me in these condition, I felt i was going nowhere whilst still trying to give max effort to keep up. Not being able to see what i was doing  really messed with my senses and waves of motion sickness quickly set in which also made it feel really hard to breathe. Discretion was the better part of valour so I eased out of the group to one side and adapted to swimming with a head up front crawl style which whilst slower allowed me to finish the swim roughly two thirds down the field.

I later found out after the race that the army were using the race a s a qualifier event for the army triathlon team and a very large local tri club were using it as a progression race All in all not one best suited to a beginner. 

Thankfully there was a fair distance between the lake exit and transition so was able to pull myself together and prepare for the bike. The wetsuit came off nicely so the prep was well worth it 

The bike leg went well and got back in feeling good for the run which also went well. In the end I finished in 1 hour 34 which all things considered I was pleased with and certainly learned a lot. If your wife has any tips for open water swimming in low vi they would be gratefully received!

Work and life continue to ruin this training cycle! Although a few little victories this week -including the knee remaining ok over a slightly longer distance.

Week 22:

M: Bouldering at Grinshill. Highlight was Attack of The Picaros (f5+) before the rain came in.

T: Alpine start for work

W: Road run. 57min Z1. 10.6km; 5:23/km. Flat; easy terrain.

T: Indoor climbing. Max hangs; AeroPow.

F: Rest (can feel the lurgy coming on)

S: Wedding (drank too much despite knowing I was brewing the lurgy)

S: Hangover/lurgy combo -what a time to be alive!

Week 23 Plan:

Rest through lurgy, reinstate prehab and core sessions, 2x climbing sesh if poss.

STG/Q2:

Average 300+m vert running per week (Currently 677m)

Bowland run/climbathon

N Wales El Cap Day

Welsh 3000s (recce'd!)

MTG/Q3:

Cuillin ridge traverse

Average 300+m vert running per week

Some of: Salbit Westgrat, Piz Badile Cassin, Grand Montets ridge, Innominata, Cordier Pillar, Royal Traverse etc...

666 Goals:

6 Crack routes of each size (Fingers 1/6; Hands 0/6; Fists 0/6; Offwidth 1/6)

6 Roof routes

6 E-points in a day

Hey Tom,

Hope the knee is on the mend, your right to take it a bit easier terrain wise.

I'd  love to take the complement but to be honest Almscliff is my home crag and even though I don't get out much now I still have these problems wired from my younger days when I had more time. In fact I was surprised I didn't climb demon wall roof first go as I've climbed this more than any other problem!

Family holiday last week , treated it as a rest week and did no training ...did a bit of walking though but nothing strenuous.

Im on holiday again in 2-3 weeks time which will be another break from climbing so I'd like to stick to the following plan over the next few weeks

*Weekly volume.
2 bouldering sessions at the wall
1 fingerboard session
3 sessions of usual exercises  (sit ups , leg raises, press ups, eccentric wrist curls)
Cycle to and from the wall
Weight down to 11st 3*
 

Had a fairly poor week this week.

Mon: Rest

Tues: Malham. Wanted to get on New Dawn (7c) but someone was on it so had a play on Space Invaders (7c+) which was a silly idea as i still havent climbed Space Race (7b+) clean. Also fingerboarded / offset pull ups / trx

Weds: Woke up with a lt of pain in big toe must have banged it taking a fall on tuesday.

Thurs: Rest

Friday: Kilnsey -Dominatrix (7c) wet so had a quick play on The Ashes (7c+). Awesome route but couldnt enjoy it as my toe was still in a lot of pain so sacked it off after 1 go and gave dave some moral support on subculture. Fingerboard max hangs /offset pull ups / lock off /trx too.

Sat: Rest

Sun: Rest. Toe slowly starting to feel better so hopefully will be back on the horse this week.

STG: New Dawn (7c) + Dominatrix (7c)

Had a think about my LTG and i think my old Ltgs were perhaps a little optimistic so set myself some more realistic ones.

LTG: The Ashes (7c+) + Raindogs (8a)

Cheers Tom.

My aim for Trowbarrow is to time myself and then reduce the time (less recovery rests) or possibly do right to left to right in a oner.

Not been a great week this week.

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! Failing at the minute due to weather

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

Climbing

I managed a session at Wilton 3. Fell off the low crux of a HVS 5b when I was trying to reverse the crux (long story) got back on and did it easily. Did a lovely E1 in Wilton 2 The Bee I think. Only short (9m) but really nice climbing. Sadly all potential E2's we looked at were wet.

Auto belay session after coaching at awesome walls.

I think that was it as I had half term kids as well.

Diet - over 25 DQS for 2/7 days and 3/7 for 2250cals per day. But the days I missed I didn’t miss by much.

Conditioning – press-ups 2/7.

Shoulders – 2/7 Rubbish!

This week:

As short term goals with:

Need to focus on daily stretching and shoulder work. Any change in my routine throws me out and I’ve not got on top of it.

The weather has not been matching up with my days off. Tonight’s Wilton club looks decidedly iffy and the forecast for the weekend looks dreadful so Scotland is most likely not happening.

I just want to get back into the swing of regular climbing. I think that's why my motivation for conditioning stuff is waning.

I may have a bit of an enforced time off after my placement while I wait for my registration. Going to use the time to do my boat up and get what climbing in that I can.

M: Rest

T: Went to see consultant in Sheffield, he seemed pretty keen to sell me a new hip so I think I'll get it done in October. Went to Depot Manc on way back.

W: Kilnsey after work, failed to get up Sideline and scared myself topping it out in the rain. If it doesn't go next go it might be the longest I've ever spent on a 7b -  a new low in a year of lows!

T&F: nowt

S: Went to Millstone, got on Brimstone as a warm up for Gates of Mordor and fell off (at least I fell off rather than slumped, nealry hit the ground actually), next go dropped a load of wires placing a higher runner so lowered and then did it third go from the ground. Needless to say I didnt get on GoM, alos did some superb HVS, all of which I'd have a happily taken a higher grade for.

S: Stockport for the first time in ages, great to leave an indoor wall feeling properly worked. High point was a second go ascent of a 7a, low points was everything else.

Anyway, since my tentative return to trad I've been reminded of a few things I'd forgotten:

Trad climbing is not like sport climbing

Trying to apply sport grades to trad climbs below E4 is meaningless

No matter how many seconds your repeaters are they will be a tiny fraction of how long it takes to place a wire.

The best training for trad climbing (up to E5) might actually be trad climbing.

A thrutchy grovel up an awkward groove will take effort no matter how hard you climb so will always feel under graded.

HVS is a broad grade.

Its nice to be able to come back and tick some routes in your logbook.

Thanks for the welcome!

Late this week as I've just finished the Jonathan Conville Course and am sitting in Geneva airport waiting for a delayed easyJet flight to take me home!

M: bouldering ARC 2*30 mins on the autobelay

T: long hike ~10mi  followed by a cheeky pint

W: 5km run with Mrs. Felt too easy (should run quicker/separately)

T: nowt

F: bouldering ARC 2*30 mins on the autobelay

S: flight to Chamonix

S: day 1 of Conville course. Learning to walk & climb properly in crampons!

------

In terms of goals my main focus to start with is getting into a regime and building strength. I have a rough plan based on the rock climbers training manual so will see v how that goes.

Separately, doing  the Conville course has definitely made me want to do more in the Alps!

Yes, bit by bit. Trying to do a few at the beginning of each indoor session.

Tue - Some aerocap on the autobelays at Reading, 3 sets 10 mins on, 10 mins off.

Thu - Route pyramid at Reading. Called it off a bit early as it was uncomfortably hot.

Sun - Routes at  Wildcat. Coyote Buttress (HVS 5a) and 1st pitch of Catharsis Wall (HVS 5a) (crap). Great 40m trad limestone routes - will definitely be making a return visit.

STG

Return to the AeroPow workouts after a bit of a rest last week. Some trad at the weekend.

MTG

Pabbay end June

Turkey (Sport climbing) in November

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 - Gardening

T - 4 mile walk

W - Rest

T - 3 mile walk & Scuba diving

F - S - Rest

Scuba was pretty tiring as we did a bit of Octopush at the end.  Got quite a bit of walking done.  Stupidly I did a long lunchtime walk on Thursday, so wasn't up for that on Friday.  The gardening was digging up part of the garden to make a flower bed for my wife, so that counts an hours hard work and I was seriously sweating by the end of it.  Passable numbers, there's been a small increase.

I should probably arrange a nice day out at the crag, get some easy trad done.  It's all I'm fit for and all I'm interested in.

May avg - 38%

2019 avg - 38%

Hey Tom, as per, ta for top qual stats. Not much to report on from last week: Van Club, nada, one decent training session on Monday and the rest of the week lost to work, drink and food, though work is done till December now, smiley face emoji.
For ARC I tend to auto-belay, around 6a+/6b for up and any holds for downclimb on first spell, then drop a grade for the second. Depends on what's available on the auto's, but those grades are typical with an increase in duration when on a full training schedule. Next, (this), week will be better from a van/climbing perspective, in that it couldn't be worse.

I've this late so I can't really remember much...

Think:

Monday: rest

Tuesday: 8km run, 5 a side game (didn't play full game so not too strenny)

Wednesday: rest

Thursday: St Govans, Army Dreamers the highlight, though very easy for HVS. 

Friday: Mowing Word- The Razors Edge was epic but a massive sandbag at HVS

Saturday: Carreg-y-Barcud - what a cool crag! The headwall looks absolutely terrifying. Ethos the highlight.

Sunday: Rain/drive back day, stopped at Reading wall for some leading and bouldering. 

Probably just getting shut down again on the same old routes at Curbar!!