UKC

Hi All,

You'll be pleased to hear you're about to have a break from my stats! Big thanks to AJM and Somerset Swede Basher for stepping in for the next three Sundays.

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_647-708630

Posters:

AJM -I hope the second half of the trip was good -from both a climbing and an 'R&R' point of view. Also hoping that you've returned to find that work strategy has been acted upon in your absence to remove that particular stress. As for your performance... I reckon that “equalling previous highs under more demanding circumstances” is pretty feckin' good. Take some satisfaction from that!!

Powderpuff -Loving the PMA! Glad to hear their was some good V6 progress... anything to report on that this week?!

AlanLittle -Sounds like a good UK trip so far. I can definitely empathise with the Swanage intimidation factor -it's one of those places where you need to have your game face on! Did you manage to find anything dry in the Peak?

Somerset swede basher -Good improvisation for your Saturday pull-ups... Seems like a good balanced variety of stuff last week. Did the Wirral dry up for you?!. 

Ardo -Congrats on Megalithic Man -was that a bit of a long-standing proj? Some good consistency across your last few weeks -you must be pretty happy with the way things are going at the moment?

Niall_li -Good work at the comp, especially given that it sounds like you were taking a pretty chilled approach -sounds like you are starting to see some gains from the structured training? How was this week? Good to be back in to things after your deload?

Tom Green -Relatively good balance of resting the back vs getting back as soon as poss. Alps trip number one has snuck up a bit quickly... we'll see whether mental toughness can make up for a lack of physical toughness! 

Ally Smith -"9a crusher belayer" -sounds perfect for your old benchpress target! Nice work with the new stuff... Back for more there this week?

Steve Jones -Sorry to hear about the bruised foot. Feeling less sore this week? Bouldering mileage sounds good -should help build up some soft tissue resilience and hopefully stave off injury as you start pulling on hard stuff. What sort of stuff are you doing for your strength work outs? Climbing specific stuff to compliment the mileage bouldering, or more general conditioning?

Tyler -Surprised the physio thought behind the neck pull downs would benefit from more work... usually this is the one 'general' exercise that climbers overperform at relative to everything else! I'm always intrigued by your circuit board 'wasted miles'! Do you really think that and if so do you do them because you enjoy them?!? -if that's the case you are obviously some sort of sadist!!  

Outdoors.nick -Nice one, it's always satisfying when you get on something 'anti-style' and make decent inroads. Did you manage to get any climbing done on the Cornish granite this week? 

Dandan -Awesome! If you already feel light then in another 7kg you'll be positively floating! How have you got on with the heavier volume week? Didn't over-do it on Tues-Weds I hope?!

Biscuit -Sorry, being dumb... what's the BOB?! Don't worry about the free booze... everyone knows that if it's not solid food it doesn't have any calories!!

Bones -Good varied week (although people carrying sounds like a sweaty business!) Seems like you're flying with the bouldering at the moment. Did you keep up the good work with the running this week?

the sheep -I wish my good weeks were as productive as your chaotic weeks! Back to routine now?

David Staples -You must be feeling pretty hill fit after all those Munros -sounds like a great break. How are the arms making the transition back to more vertical work?!

SFrancis -Oh mate! That sounds like a miserable episode! My stomach is shrivelling up just thinking about taking Ibuprofen on top of an ulcer... Rough. Hope your recovery is continuing and that your week has gone according to plan.

Rebecca Ting -It's all about the multi-week reporting when you fall off the FitClub wagon! Sorry to hear that the ankle is still not right. Some spectacular performances given the circumstances! Good effort.

lornajkelly -Welcome back! Sounds like a hectic few weeks... hope things are settling down to a more even keel. Don't worry about feeling like you've lost all of that running progress -you haven't! It will feel like it for the first couple of runs, but you will get back to where you were MUCH quicker than it took you to get there in the first place. Just keep the faith!

MIA: mattrm, cyan, ian stevens (post-polar bear hols!), planetmarshall, Jackob, guy127917

Thanks as ever for the words of encouragement, and enjoy your break from FC starting!

The work stuff is definitely better, not finished but the first few days back seemed to feel ok. Mind you, I only worked 2.5 days, so it wasn't exactly the longest week!

Yeah, I am pretty pleased with it, especially having unlocked a bit of a key (in that trying really hard seems to reduce some of the dependency on mass mileage) along the way. But then it's always the case that I want a bit more - E5 is unquestionably more of a magic grade than E4, and similar on sport (onsight at least - 7b+ is more of a benchmark than 7b - obviously 8a is its own magic grade but I climbed that a long time ago now!). But then being able to climb classic E2-4 isn't going to leave me running out of things to do any time soon! It's not so bad really...

Monday - rain. Swimming in the pool. On the AlanLittle theory of SUP-ing this burnt many more calories than mere distance would believe possible

Tuesday - travel home

Wednesday/Thursday - rest, unpacking, getting on top of life

Friday - sacked my full day off work because it was so wet. Took the afternoon off and went to the wall. A good session, entirely new set so reasonable volume, plus a few goes on some moderately tricky stuff.

Saturday - child wrangling. Took him to the park and back, a bit of carrying. Then went for lunch and pushed the pram all the way - about 8km with a bit of hill too - reasonable workout.

Sunday - Portland. Drove down early, left the house 0630, spent over half of the drive with the wipers on. Not the most auspicious start. Got to the crag itself just after 8 to find it soaked from the rain. The sun eventually broke through, and like magic things started to dry - we lost some time, probably didn't start climbing until basically high tide, but by 930 decent chunks of rock were dry and dws was back on! Did Spittle 'n' Spume (E1 5c) again to warm up and then Smile Please (E2 5b) and Hooked Like No Fish Before Me (E2 5c) for the first time after that. Then onto Bare Reputation (E4 6b) - I had a decent first go, some beta but also using some different sequences from everyone else anyway - and tickled the jug with my fingers as I flew past. Had a bit of a rest and took some photos, then got back on and smashed it. Classic 7a+, second go. The crux is like spittle and spume but a number grade harder, thin crimp traversing with poor feet, then some steeper stuff on bigger holds to finish. The team then had a look at Underbare but I declined following the discovery that the boulders were by that point only submerged to waist deep in places!

Decent enough session Friday and a cracking dws hit today. Am debating taking Tuesday morning off to get back on Underbare, which looks like Crab Party for big boys. Have Friday-Monday to climb, hopefully Pembroke, so keeping all appendages crossed for good weather!!!

Barely - see Tuesday.

STG: Get some more climbing done on summer uk visit.
MTG (2019): Double digit 7's including Frankenjura 7b+ project. Currently: 2
LTG (2021): Redpoint 8a before I hit 60

M: Rainy Peak District, went for a walk on Kinder. Surprised to see grass & trees on top - when I used to go up there in the 70s it was mostly just a morass of bare peat. Less pollution? Better grazing control? Warmer temperatures? Camped in Edale; amazing moonrise over Back Tor.
T:    Peak District: putting the Tradition back into trad climbing. Inspired by an enthusiastic Partners Forum partner, hiked up to Laddow in pouring rain thinking/hoping it might stop. Turned out the actual precipitation was the least of our worries compared to the thick layer of firmly caked on slime that was already there & definitely not going away just because it stopped raining. Still, this was my first time at the crag (despite previously having lived in Manchester for over a decade) and it did seem like there could be some great stuff to go at. Would go again. In a prolonged drought. 
    Adjourned to get some mileage in to mostly dry Hobson Moor, where among other things I hugely enjoyed a repeat of quarry classic Parker's Eliminate (HVS 5a). Probably about my fifteenth time on the route, but first this century. 
W-F: Family holiday stuff
S: Heathrow hotel gym.
S: Travel home. 

Thanks for the long statting stint Tom. Your enthusiasm always shines through. BOB is The Battle Of Britain, a big Depot comp (£2k first prize so most comp climbers enter). It's back at Manchester this year and most of the squad will enter so I've said i'll do it with them. 

I have kept up with my decent diet this week and the arm and leg rehab. The left shoulder is nearly feeling like it did just before I re-injured it over Winter and my elbow/pronator issue dealt with a climbing session well this week. That was just the 1st 20 problems of The Depot Summer League. All flashed and felt OK.  

After what feels like an eternity of not having a structure (which it turns out comes from not having any real goals) it feels good to have something to aim at. I thought this Summer would be really nice to just enjoy climbing for the sake of it. No pressure, just climb. Trad, sport, boulder. But not having something to aim at has led to not feeling like I've achieved much - mainly because i haven't. (E2, 7a, V6) I guess I've got to accept that about myself and get some serious goals in. Starting with the BOB. Next year is the year of climbing so this will take me through to mid October as my first phase to get strong over Winter.

The last 3 weeks have been spent with the kids for Summer hols and i'm itching to get back at it. I've got 8 weeks and then a taper week to play with. I'll be starting a new job and setting myself up with some private work, so it's not going to go totally smoothly. However as the private work and my coaching will be taking place at climbing walls I should be able to get a decent amount done.

I'm not going super structured, but I have come up with a list of weaknesses and will address those on climbing and none climbing days in different ways. So every day i'll be doing something to target them.

I won't bore everyone with my full plan but these are my weaknesses:

Technique (for indoor bouldering) - co-ordination moves, steep with poor holds (body tension), toe hooks

Physical - left shoulder, left hip, core

Diet - hit 100g of protein per day

This week is the start of it. I should get to climb (in or out) 3 times at least. I need to go to the Depot to try the harder problems but other than that if the weather is good i'd like to get out. I need to baseline my body composition, core exercises and shoulder/ rehab leg routines. 

Hi Tom. The Sun came out on the wirral so i got a couple of evening sessions in once the kids were in bed (love summer evening!).

Mon. Thors Stone. Thor's Stone Well, this was different. Thanks for the photo topos Tom, I'd have struggled with the ukc descriptions alone. For the benefit of anyone thinking of going... routes 1-4 in the old guide are climable but probably don't resemble anything like their original state after the local yoof have carved them up. Routes 5 and round to the skull face were ok, the eliminate right of the crack actually quite good. The routes on the skull face are slimy but all there. Right of this you need a good stack of pads, a couple of spotters and a brush or maybe a trowel. I missed these out as i had none of these. The final line is high but quite good and climbable. A good location once for a bit of something different but I'd not bother again unless there was a good team going for a clean up.

Tues. The Breck. The Breck Surely nobody climbs the up problems on blue bell and the overhanging wall without a rope!? They are twice the height of Burbage North! In the Peak we call those routes not boulder problems. I stuck to granny rock as I value my my ankles/legs/life. Did all the easy up stuff. The Positron Traverse was particularly good. Did the 7A traverse and did all the moves on the 7B version but ran out of daylight to put it together.

Wed. Drive back to Sheffield. 5km run.

Thurs. Short on time so went for a quick session on the cemetery park boulder . 1x 7A flash and another 7A. Tried some harder stuff. Didn't manage anything else though.

Fri. Rest day. 

Sat. Mega session at Pleasley Vale. 1x7A Flash, 2x 7A+s and 2x 7Bs. Soloed some easy trad routes too.

Sun. 5km run.

Thanks for all your efforts on the stating, it's been appreciated.

I was surprised as well, she recommended this and rowing to sort out my climbers hunch (mind you that was only part of it, most of the remediation activity is  stretching)

 > I'm  your always intrigued by your circuit board 'wasted miles'! Do you really think that and if so do you do them because you enjoy them?!? -if that's the case you are obviously some sort of sadist!

It's something Tom Randal talks about so I'm not really clear. I can't fall off too much before my back starts hurting so I do circuits in preference to bouldering, I do try hard and I get some moves done but apparently they are of little value.

M - F One weights session and one short session at Rockover which all meant I was/am woefully unprepared for my Pembroke trip.

S - Arrived at Pembroke at midday after overnighting on the way down. Realised how little climbing I've done in the last year and decided to try and relax and just second whatever I could. Seconded Enter the Goat and Ships that Pass in the Night.

S - Got on Eros Europa which was a mistake as I can't warm up leading E2 at the moment. Did manage to claw my way up OS after much faff (the climbing is easy but you have to place crucial runners right in the middle of the crux) but was boxed. Adam then led Forbidden Fruit, instead of just following I decided to lead on his gear. I doubt I'd have had the confidence to push on without it as it was a lot harder than I was expecting. Just about got to the top again but now totally spent. Not sure how I'm going to manage the rest of the week.

Cheers Tom.  Yup, back at work so a bit more structure to my routine. Got some longer runs in to which was good 

Monday, 1km lunchtime swim and 17km run home after work. Managed the vast majority off road too which was nice.

Tuesday, 2km lunchtime swim

Wednesday, 1km lunchtime swim

Thursday, 2km lunchtime swim followed by stretch class and a 6km trail run in the evening

Friday, long weekend booked so travelled down to the in-laws

Saturday, taking advantage of child care the wife and I did an off road half marathon round the island where her folks live

Sunday, drive home

Morning Tom - thanks for all the FC stats over the last few months - very much appreciated.

I've been struggling like mad the last few week - think i've had a low level virus as I've felt very fatigued from every climbing or training session. 

Added to that has been my on-going groin strain stopping me making any body tension through my left-hand side; making me climb poorly, with a massive knock-on effect on confidence. This really showed this week with my lead head being really crap.

Think I need to take it down a notch, get some easy mileage in to boost confidence and sort this bloody groin strain out. (Feeling very conflicted though, it looks like the Kilnsey roof might dry out this weekend, so i kinda feel obliged to give it another shot)

Week 33

M – Devil’s gorge. 7B boulder repeat to warm-up. Fixed 2 holds, then tried newbie #2 on lead twice. Blew out a few footholds and one handhold – needs some heavy brushing and possible hold stabilisation. 

T – Rest – feeling beaten up with lots of stiff muscles.

W – Physio appt for groin strain. Evening Max-hangs. Took a while to get recruited, but once going had a good session. PB’d on back-3 BW+38kg. Closed out with 10x 1on/1off FoC aero-cap. 4x12 OHP@31.5kg+bar. 5x10 press-ups. 5x10s bat-hang. Right shoulder achy.

T – Feeling tender from groinologist prodding. Eric Horst tendon prehab, then compex forearm rehab.

F – Nothing. Boozy dinner with wife’s old housemate.

S – Very slow start. Eventually went to DG and did a load of brushing and hold reinforcement on newbie #2. Failed on everything I tried on lead – movement patterns all screwed up from groin strain, even the 6b start to one route felt really unsteady – just can’t generate any body tension through LH side of body, which causes me to overgrip massively. Only upsides were finding a solid sequence on Hades (feet low lanking) and tentative beta on crux of newbie #1.

S – Tom’s cave wet. Tor baking in the sun. Lacking confidence from groin/body tension issue meant having a distracted belayer was the last straw - I threw in the towel early (I was having a solid grump by this point). Stuck around, did a little bouldering (right heel hooks still work) and got some good photos of Pete doing MIF and Mat on Evo. 

Thanks. Unfortunately foot took a turn for the worse after Mondays training resulting in a trip to the hospital for an X-ray. Apparently it's still in one piece, but then from what I've read and people I've spoken to a metatarsal fracture doesn't usually show on an X-ray. Advised to take ibuprofen for a week and not run for a while and see how it goes!

As for the S&C stuff - trying to do some climbing specific stuff and general core work to - Push ups (can do about 15 in a row now), assisted pull ups (5x5), deadlifts, wrist/forearm/shoulder/back stuff. Throw in some deadhangs between sets. I'm looking at trying to do a 20 min or so core/stretch routine before bed. If anyone has suggestions for particular exercises/routines I'm all ears

Last week:

M  - 45 mins lunch bouldering. PM 10 mile road run with 8x1km reps with 90s recovery - starting each rep made my foot hurt more, but then it eased off as the rep progressed. Happy with the session and my pace but when I took my shoe off my foot was noticeably swollen and I was limping! 

T - 1 hr on turbo trainer in morn (intervals)

W - 1 hr turbo trainer in morn (steady), 45 mins interval on turbo in eve

T - 1 hr turbo in morn (steady) - then had my x-ray

F - 1 hr turbo in eve (intervals)

S - 45 mins turbo in morn (steady). 50 mins S&C in afternoon, 70 mins on bike in eve (out over Whinlatter pass to Lorton and back)

S - 45 mins turbo (steady) in morn, 45 mins S&C in afternoon, 70 mins on bike along Catbells terrace etc.

This week:

Keep up the cycling and strength/conditioning, get back bouldering. Weather permitting a mountain route tomorrow and then outdoor session on Sunday with someone who was asking for practice clients

STG & LTG same as before, but Given the foot injury and lack of running I'm not going to go to Italy for the race so MTG is looking at doing an into to lead course at PYB that weekend

Suddenly re-found my motivation, long may it last.  Feeling weak and heavy but also very keen

Mon: Rest.

Tues: Wall.  Handful of the easier V4-6 circuit.

Wedns: Rest.

Thurs: Wall.  Back on the V4-6 circuit, nothing else ticked but good progress on a few things. 

Fri: Wall.  On the 45 degree for the first time in ages, very hard, felt trashed.

Sat: Wall.  Back on the 45, lots of progress, ticked a (desperate!) V3 dyno which I was pretty pleased with.

Sun: Rest.   

Hi Tom,

Apologies for my MIA - still not quite back into real life routines yet! Will treat you to a mega-post this week and try to get back into regular fit-club life as much as possible.

A quick summary of the north in reponse to your questions of two weeks prior - no polar bears (thankfully), yes to midnight sun and very little actual training sadly, but lots of heavy bag carrying across the tundra. Midnight was, as always, pretty bad for good sleep - I hate facemasks and nobody in Svalbard seems to have good curtains despite the obvious requirement. Two big days of sleep on my return! 

The crux of the lack of training, coupled with an annoying "injury" (see below) I've acquired means I won't be racing the Snowdon Skyline I'd planned to do. I won't be competitive, I've done all the bits of the route before so don't really have anything to gain by doing it for the experience, and it's my friends wedding the preceeding day... So a change in goals required!

I'm also about to immenently become unemployed, as I'm on a fixed term contract that's not getting renewed (not through any fault of my own I may add!) so scope for lots and lots of training/climbing over the next few months whilst I job hunt. Actually quite looking forward to it.

Goals

STG: 3 x 7A in Font (first week of Sept)

MTG/LTG: Need to set some. Will do so post-font, but need to consider my location in the longer term when doing so.

Last Two Weeks (2019.32 and 33)

Went on a weather blighted post-fieldwork holiday.

Mon: Yoga

Tues: Trip began. Rainy evening at the Bowderstone after traveling, tried a 7A and got close. Can't remember which...

Weds: Went to go and do The Wasdale Crack (HS 4c) for historical value. Walked in, was pissing down. Walked out agian via Great Gable. Went to  Shepherd’s Crag in the afternoon when the sun came out and did some bits I've forgotten (whoops). Drove to Newcastle.

Thurs: Had a job interview (ultimaltely unsuccesful but travel expenses covered the trip, so silver lining) so did quite little. Decided North Wales was the best place to dodge the impending storm, so headed there via Brimha, Evening session doing Maloja (VS 4c) and Frensis (VS 5a).

Fri: Pissing hard in North Wales. Beacon session, boulders to 6C.

Sat: Had a play on Forsinain Motspur (7c) - hard. Started raining and went to the Indy, boulders <7A + some shoulder engagment work on the TRX (advised by my buddy I need to do this!).

Sun: Rest - went to the slate museum and faffed about. Pretty rainy IIRC.

Mon: Orme dogging on Night Glue (7a+), plus some boulders in Split Inifitny beforehand.

Tue: Chilled day out on the slabs - Tennis Shoe (HS 4b), Original Route (VS 5a) and Groove Above (S 4b) with the obligitory lap of Idwal Squeeze (V1). Followed with and evenign session on the pass trying Bulling 747 (V6), which I got closer too than ever before. Nearly!

Weds: Rainy. Indy <7A. Dropped friend off and headed home. TRX shoulder stuff and crimpd lower body flexibility.

Thurs: Yoga, then back to North Wales, had another try at Tempest (f7A) and ended up nearly getting it first go. Managed to miss the pad falling off not long after, bruising my heel on the flat rock below. Game over, and one annoying "injury" gained. Crimpd static core, wrist flexor/extensor work (12.5kg/7.5kg) and TRX shoulder stuff in the evening.

Fri: Yoga. 90% hangs on the AA slot x 6 @ 89.5kg.

Sat: Some strength stuff I haven't written down - arrrgghhhh! 

Sun: Yoga. 90% hangs on the AA slot x 6 @ 89.4kg. TRX shoulder stuff, crimpd floor core, wrist flexor/extensor (12.5kg/7.5kg) and crimpd lower body flexibility.

Next couple of weeks

Off to font on the 30th so preparing for that. The trip is notionally a hen do, so there will be a few days of faffing about over the first weekend then will be climbing heavy thereafter - will have a week to get stuff done. In the run up I'll be doing extreme prep - alternate days at the wall doing project boulders and hangboard/conditioning days. May have a day off this Friday or Saturday and will try to get out if weather/partners allow. The 30th is a travel day so should also get some rest then too!

You will be missed Tom but I also look forward to some stats from AJM and Somerset Swede Basher.

It is super sweaty. No one wants to carry another person when they are that sweaty, or ever.

Running went well last week. Probably only going to fit in 2-3 runs this week and none next week as away, possibly trip to the alps.

I realise I didn't really climb much this week. Partly due to money having not signed up to a new wall yet but also just had a lot to fit in. Signed up to Mile End now so will aim to go a couple of times before the weekend.

Mon: gym with front squats (max weight was 55kg for 4 reps and then the same for 2 reps).

Run - 22 min easy jog.

Lunchtime woody session at the gym. Managed a big-ish power move that I couldn't do before and also set a new route which was cool.

Tues: rest

Weds: calisthenics gym day - muscle ups with resistance bands. Can now manage single left leg squats onto the mat (around a foot high).

Run - intervals in the pouring rain: 6 mins race pace then 3 mins rest x 3 with warm-up and cool-down jog (36 mins total time)

Thurs: deadlift gym - 70kg x 10, 8, 6 - I think I snatched at it a little when tired which made my lower back quite sore for a few days but seems ok now.

Fri: gym - carries, beam lunges etc.

Sat: Good boulder session at Mile End. Made progress on a sideways dynamic problem. Then a ridiculously sweet cookie dough and brownie doughnut.

Run - was meant to be an easy 45 min but turned into an 'I'm lost' 75 min run.

Sun: a beautiful day walking around Brighton all day looking at gulls and eating fish and chips.

Hi Tom, 

Dont know about you but PMA always makes me think of the Linford Christie advert from the 90's, advertising Flora or Persil or something like that,  love it!

Feeling a bit beaten up at the moment, 6 hours of sleep a night due to crazy work schedule not helping, Im working on getting things straight at work. Great to be busy but I'm sure things could be more efficient......anyway that's enough of talking about work. We've all got challenges , just need to work around them.

Tuesday: At the wall. Cant really remember what I did , probably repeated a couple of v4's and did some easier bouldering.

Thursday: biked to the wall and re climbed two v4's and a v5 and did make progress on the v6. So far I've climbed up to the crux,  done the Cruz move in isolation, just need to do the end section and then start working on putting it all together. Two sets of usual exercises and theraband ....pretty pleased with this session. Then had to run my bike back home as the tyre was flat

I think its the 3rd week in a row now I've failed to do my third session of the week propaley, this is usually a small finger board session.  This is now the obvious aim for the next coming weeks.

I'm walking the dog plenty so at least I'm getting a tiny bit of exercise there.

A spectacularly mediocre week -combo of work, sore back and lack of organisation/self discipline.

Week 33 (where's the year going?!):

2/3 runs. 0/2 core sessions. 3/2 Climbing sessions. Again, naughtily chose an extra climbing sesh when I should have been running up hills.

M: Indoor climbing: Max Hangs -felt awful, could barely hold on... still tired from Saturday's circuit boards? Circuit board -min on/minoff x 10. ARCing on autobelay.

T: Alpine start for work. Post work session at Ramshaw -meant to do laps on some of the crack lines but forgot my self belay stuff, so instead had an ambitious sesh on Melvyn Bragg (f7B) -really happy with how much progress I've made with my jamming (felt totally solid cutting loose on single hand, single fist and stacked hand fist, which I would never have thought possible at the start of the year). However, the move from invert in to chicken wing felt impossible without removing some ribs. (Although having got some Pete Whittaker beta off youtube I'm mad keen to try this again!) 

W: Very sore back. Regret thugging on roof cracks.

T: Back still sore -rest.

F: Alpine start (and finish) for work. Shoulder prehab between jobs.

S: Trail run. 60 min Z1. 7.8km, 470m height gain. Starting to enjoy running up hill again.

S: Indoor climbing. Max Hangs -still feel really hard compared to where I was three weeks ago... don't know why I've gone backwards. Decided it was possibly due to too intense a warm up, so rested a bit longer then tried again -better but still a fight. ARCing sesh until the Boardroom kicked out.

Week 34 Plan:

Unlikely to be that good a week -loads of work to get done before heading out to the alps.

STG (end of Sept):

Four Alpine routes off tick-list.

Continue ticking 666 climbing goals.

MTG (end of 2019):

Finish 666 goals.

Redpoint Jaz (M8)

Run Welsh 3000s in a day.

Two big Alpine routes off tick list.

666 Goals:

6 Crack routes of each size (Fingers 2/6; Hands 3/6; Fists 0/6; Offwidth 1/6)

6 Roof routes (0/6)

6 E-points in a day 

Thanks Tom, enjoy your couple of weeks away!

Definitely starting to see some gains, it's a little addictive

M - Climbfit, +15kg 4x5 dips, +32.5kg 1x3 pullups, +30KG 4x3 pull ups, +24KG get up sit ups 2x6 each side, +24kg russian twists 4x10, 3x6x60s climbing circuits

T - Rest

W - AM fingerboarding +3kg on 2 finger pockets on BM 2000, +12.5kg on BM2000 bottom crimps 8x7secs w/ minute rests

PM - boulderworld new Comp wall, first 20 problems flashed

T - Rest

F -Rest

S - 5 hour! session in boulderworld. Max bouldering and then playing on the remainder of the comp wall. giving me a final place of 7th in the summer league, which i'm fairly happy with. Managed to sprain my ankle at teh end of the session when i was tired doing a sideways dyno at the bottom of a slab. Idiot! Thankfully think it's pretty minor, hobbled a little for a day or 2 but seems to work fine for climbing

S - Rest

Roll on 2 days in Fairhead this weekend! Might even dust off the trad rack for a play

She's back!! (strong arm ) Yes, yes, yes. Glad to hear you're feeling motivated.

Thanks for doing the stats. Not been fantastic, but i'm getting back into climbing now and just taking it relatively easy, trying hard but resting a lot. I'm hoping I can turn the whole experience into a positive, by really thinking about what I eat / drink and how much sleep i'm getting. 

Week 12th -18th

M: A Boulder, but felt knackered so sacked it in. 

T: FB - max hangs, TRX, frenchies, a few boulders on the woody. 

W: A few routes indoors up to around 7a. 

T: a light jog - z1 5km

F: rest 

S: rest

S: A few routes o/s upto 6c, and then a boulder, possibly the best bouldering sesh i have had in a long time. 2 new boulders in the v6-8 circuit and 2 new ones in the v4-6, turns out being very light makes a difference. 

Want to form a weak and heavy but with good intentions club? I'll cross stitch us some membership patches...

Megalithic was more an albatross around my neck. Been on it a few times and had a mare of one sort or another, so just pleased to get it ticked. Getting plenty done, but do feel I need to up my game a bit, rather than all this enjoying myself, haha. Some E2 lime or 7a sport required.

Mo: General walking, 9.3 miles. Park walk, work on van.

Tu: General walking, 7.9 miles. Multipitch limestone, linked an E1 onsight with a 3 star HVS pitch, (led both), for a cracking day at Beeston Tor.

We: General walking, 7.5 miles. Park walk, then unstructured boulder session at the Depot. First time there and pretty impressed with the place.

Th: General walking, 17.6 miles. Sheffield round walk.

Fr: General walking, 11.0 miles. Country walk, but can't remember how far.

Sa: General walking, 7.3 miles. 14 solo, 5 lead trad routes and 3 boulder problem racking up easy ticks @ Birchen.

Su: General walking, 9.0 miles. Park walk and resting.

Weight: 10st 6lb/bf 16.1%

Plenty of climbing, no training, some van DIY, so another good week. Feel like I need to up the trad game though.

Next week's plan

Keep improving diet.

More climbing/training and get on either E2 or 7a.

Do more work on van/flat.

Super keen to jump back in to vertical work but picked up a slight finger injury on my first hard session so have been relaxing the grade and training as a result. As a result there is not much to report on but I have been getting out and doing a few easier routes around the 6a mark and a fair bit of core training and the odd bike ride to keep active. Hopefully it heels quickly as I am off on another trip next week!!

Thanks!  Yeah it was mad but I'm settling into the job and things are moving nicely with the sale and subsequent purchase of houses.  And you're actually right about the running - I went through the couch to 5k sessions one per run (rather than three a week) to find the point to start back at, and I'm up to week 5 now.  It's hard but I'm nearly back at the enjoyment part of running, which is great.

The shoulder is feeling a lot better for the rest, and I'm going to go back to conditioning and some (very) light climbing soon, to get back into the swing of things.  Now I'm closer to Wales and the Lakes there will hopefully be some decent outdoor trips on the cards for the rest of the summer and autumn.  Fingers crossed.  

Only the two runs logged this week (couch to 5k week 3 and then couch to 5k week 4), but DH and I are having another go at an exercise video series he introduced me to a few years ago.  It's a good thing for a bit of variety, and may be useful in building up the shoulder to protect against future injuries.  Nice to feel like things are moving.  

Anyway, off to the pool for me!  

STG:  maintain 3x run and a swim each week throughout September

MTG:  lead something outdoors before the end of 2019

LTG:  lead 5x VS by end of 2020

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 5lbs

M -  Rest

T - 3m walk

W - S - Rest

Busy with work and life.  Had planned to go climbing on Friday, but my usual partner wasn't well.  So we cancelled.  Couldn't be bothered just to go bouldering, so didn't bother going.  Exhausted.