UKC

A new thread is posted each week on Sunday for anyone to jot down their previous week's activity. UKC fit club is a rich community with posters sharing their goals, noting successes and failures and offering support to those struggling to maintain motivation. Anyone interested in starting is very welcome to join, but to get the most of UKC fit club you should aim to post each week, every week, however little or much you have done. By making such a regular public record of your activities and by restating your goals every week this new habit will hopefully improve your training habits and drive you towards achieving your goals whatever the level of your chosen activity.

The following training article by Alex Barrows gives an excellent breakdown on training the four main "energy systems" specific to climbing:- http://alexbarrowsclimbing.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/training-for-sport-climbi...     also this - https://www.instagram.com/p/CEGfCg7DbkK/?igshid=4a1o55jwpus2

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

And for those looking for more theoretical background, there's a useful subject index of published research studies on the Beta Angel project. Not sure how actively maintained if is though. https://beta-angel.com/research/research-inventory/

For this week's Psyche Vid I thought I'd give you all a look at what my lockdown home crag looks like. Given that I have yet to tick a 7a here, I certainly won't be getting on any of the 8a's any time soon, but this seems to be the only footage that exists: vimeo.com/91532734 

Last weeks post - https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/ukc_fit_club_week_737-7343...

AJM - at least you managed to fit in a couple of decent training sessions despite trying circumstances. Any improvement in family sleep patterns this week?

Ally Smith - Still intrigued to hear where the equipping is going on.

BarneyLoosemore - excellent early post-lockdown result on Keelhaul. Hope the rest of the trip went well?

biscuit - oh dear. Hope you're feeling somewhat recovered and the tick test (if any) came up negative.

Liam P - Now *that* was a training week. Impressed. Not least by your dedication to The Big Wall Plan with the wall reopening opportunity too. I'm sure I would have been (will be) tempted to just swarm up loads of stuff until my skin gave out.

planetmarshall - good HVS/E1 efforts. I find the idea of anything at Ramshaw being soft for the given grade implausible on the face of it. 

Roadrunner6 - no chance of any informed commentary from me on your current activities I'm afraid. You sound like you know what you're doing & don't need any

Ross Barker - hope you had a successful shower-dodging trip this week

Si dH - the return to the wall sounds encouraging, as does the fingerboard progress.

Somerset swede basher - reassuring that I'm not the only one who makes the "bouldering out the move from not the same position I reached when actually climbing" schoolboy error.

the sheep - looks like you're keeping the running ticking over. Any plans/dates for ultra attempts? Good news about the pool.

Tom Green - a lot of good attempts on your Holyhead long weekend, even though you weren't satisifed with the sucess rate. Clearly reflecting on lessons learned is good but you're being rather hard on yourself. You are very far from alone in the "climbing badly on second" thing, and as you say mileage is most likely the only answer to general lack of footwork & endurance post lockdown.

Tyler - sounds like a couple of decent sessions

AlanLittle - clearly being (half) vaccinated is far more important than having had a rather light training week (from which you will probably come back stronger from the deload anyway)

Thanks Alan, yep, massive rookie error but at least I've a reason why I couldnt do it now rather than just being a bit sh1t! This week has been a bit odd in that it's the first week for ages I've not got outside. A combination of poor weather and a dying car have forced me indoors. On the plus side I got 3 high quality training sessions in.

Mon. My first trip to the wall in a looooooong time. Got on the circuit board. Nice social session with lots of sitting on the mats and having a natter interspersed with trying hard. 6a,6b,6c,7a,7a+,7b,7b+, 7c all first go. Tried to work back down and managed the 7b+ but fell off half way round the 7b and realised I was nackered so did the 6b then 6a to warm down. Looks like all this route climbing makes you fitter!

Tues and Wed. Rest. Skipped my run to keep the legs fresh for going outside on thurs.

Thurs. Car broke down, no outdoor session after all. Late evening visit to the the Depot Sheffield wall. Campussing: 4x13579, 2x125, 2x145, 4x135.5 (still can't quite get to 6). Pleased with this though. About what I'd normally be able to do but on a smaller rung so I guess that's progress. Did half the purple V5-V7 circuit after. Probably a bit of a soft set to ease us back in? Normally these are some I can't do but seemed to go well.

Fri. Legs destroyed from jumping off the wall lots yesterday, not used to that! 12km flat run to try and loosen up (didn't really loosen up at all!) 

Sat. Car recovery mission - scary looking tow down Winnatts pass. Glad the RAC man handled it all. 

Sun. Max hangs +29kgs, 3x10 shoulder shrugs, 5x5 weighted (+10kg) pull ups, 3x10 press ups. 3x10mins on 10mins off aerocap in the attic.

Forgot to add the highlight of the week which was noticing the ukcfitclub2018 arc playlist on Spotify which I made full use of during this evenings aerocap session. Loving Pacific Coast Highway - what a treat!

Cheers Alan. My climbing partner was the same (especially with the new Southampton wall opening) but I persuaded him that hauling a bag up and down a 10m wall for hours would be well worth it! Very jealous of your Lockdown Crag - certainly beats Newbury Railway Bridge.

Work got in the way a bit this week so missed one of my AnPow/AeroCap Sessions (will stick it on the start of next week). On a plus note, Ive started using my new parallettes. Every cloud...

Mon:

• Work/Rest Day

Tue:

Parallettes training.

• Tuck Planche Pulses 3x 5
• Tuck Planche Holds 5x 5s
• L Sits 3x 10s

Wed:

Rest Day due to some serious Serratus DOMS from the parallette training!

Thu:

• 6x Boulder Trebles (V3 with lots of V4 Fails)
• 10x 1on1off (5a Circuit Board)
• Lockoffs 3x 12s
• Wall Planche Leans with feet on a Swiss Ball (50cm hands to wall) 3x 10s

Fri:

Headed down to Winspit to have a nosey at the Star Wars Filmset - disappointed we didn’t spot Mandalorian or Vader.

Seconded some harder stuff to see what they feel like. Definitely useful. Felt strong enough to pull the moves in isolation but didn’t have the stamina/correct body position to link them.

Stone Mason (6a+)

Hitachi and Girls (6a+)

Unseen Ripples of the Pebble (6b)

Insect Graveyard (6b)

Queen Anne's Men (6c)

Grades felt a lot harder at Winspit than Woodcroft - which is strange as they’re both quarried limestone. As Swanage Trad always seems stiff, I’m wondering (hoping!) if the same applies to the Sports Routes? 

Sat:

• 30min stretch

Sun: 

• Campus Wideboy Ladders: 2x 1-2-3-4-5-6-7, 6x 1-3-4-6-7. These felt ok but still can’t pull through on a 1-3-5.
• Broken Redpoint 3x 3 on 6a+ Circuit Board 

With zero sport climbing outside of alpine rest days I’ve baselined around 6a onsight. I have no idea if this is a good place to start or not? It seems to align with what I can onsight in trad (VS/HVS) which makes me think technique/stamina are what I need to be working on.

Slightly Alan, thanks. We’re trying backing off a bit to see if we can then build back towards normality. The backing off involves less fighting, so in the short term it’s easier.

A medium YYFY this week on Drifter sit. I guess i felt I could do it from my goes a few weeks ago but good to get it done for real. 7A+ is still my top grade and an infrequent send. I guess it’s my sort of thing in that none of the extra moves are themselves particularly desperate (getting into the stand isn’t the crux) they just make the moves on the stand that bit tougher - much like Monty Pythons last year in Northumberland.

I think that might be my St Aldhelms campaign done for a little bit now - I’m not going to go back for Aeolian Sky any time soon and whilst there’s other stuff I’d like to do some point the psyche for other areas is rising. Probably primarily keen to put some time into Liquid Sun & Sunshine, but with some other things on the radar as well. Having said that, in this mixed weather and with a weekend hopefully tradding in a few weeks time I might not get back on anything before holiday anyway!

Monday - achey shoulders. Drove home via Bristol, where we manage to have a pleasant walk with hms, ex of this parish, before the rain. MiniAJM decided he was worn out from the efforts of the previous days and demanded to be carried on my shoulders the whole way, which exacerbated the aches noted above. In the afternoon, lazing and resting. I did, excitingly, find a treasure trove of old route logs - some 600 routes from the days where my ukc logging was partial and focused only on more notable things - which provided good fodder for reminiscence.....

Tuesday - tuck planche attempts in the evening.

Wednesday - pinch block time. Engaged the thumb and crushed and squeezed my way to 20.1kg plus block and pin. Good session.

Thursday - rest

Friday - Took the afternoon off and went to St Aldhelms again. Having done the stand already and made good progress on the day I trudged down to the Undercliff, I hoped Drifter sit start would go pretty quickly when fresh. Climbing into the stand was fine but tensiony, but it was enough to lower the percentage on the moves higher up so it actually took a little while. There was a while where I wondered whether I was wearing the wrong T-shirt! The left heel and toe above the lip are a bit delicate/blind, so that little bit harder when you’ve got the handholds a bit less well from having climbed up into them rather than pulled onto them. And hitting the right bit on the first right hand slap is key both to hold it and to be able to get enough off it to then go again for the ledge. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/COlF9FeDpVE/?igshid=12i56a92f4s4e

Saturday - wet day, so rest

Sunday - humid and windy so I took miniAJM for his first trip to the indoor wall. He had a great time. Not the most structured session for me, it has to be said, but I did get some stuff done. Took a bit of adjusting to, first time on plastic for probably 5 months. It also turns out I have an awful lot of punch cards due to expire in September, which I might use as a prod to try to make me go more frequently.

2021 Arbitrary training goals:

- 1.5-x-5 solidly on the campus board, then 1-x-5 [1.5-3-5 and 1.5-4-5 going well; 1-4-5 also]

- L sit to Tuck Planche on the paralettes as a marker point for having worked on a weakness [need to try to video this soon again]

- 5x5 @95kg, and actually do some stuff on offsets [92kg]

- some progress on a front lever

2021 Climbing goals:

- make use of continued working from home and hopefully greater tolerance of more remote working in future to do some longer hybrid climb/work trips [3 weeks Yorkshire and Lakes in June]

- make the June-June 12 months my best period of bouldering yet (current score 6950, score to beat c7200) [June feels challenging although a rolling 12 months some point this summer feels plausible]

- climb 7c/+ again

- work on my “why haven’t I already” (0% -> 3%) and “harder local things to try” (13% -> 17%) ticklists

- nail at least one of my Portland dws projects, try mark of the beast, and do some more stuff at Swanage and in south Devon.

Thanks Alan.

M: rest

T: third session back at the Hangar in the evening. Good session, I did a bunch more problems in the v4-6 range, similar again to last week.

W: 6 sets of 8/2/8/2/8/2 scap pull-ups on the incut edge with bodyweight plus 8 kg, followed by some bent finger hangs on the 10 mm edge with feet on a chair

T: hip mobility routine, crimpd floor core

F:  afternoon - 4 max hangs on the lattice edge followed by 3 sets of 7/3 repeaters on the incut edge with bodyweight + 8 kg. Then 4 * 10 face pull /overhead press combos. Evening - 4*10 TRX hamstring curls and 4*8 copenhagens on each side.

S: evening - hip mobility routine

S: morning - board session, the first for a while. A bit mediocre, but as I'm feeling pretty heavy at the moment, not too bad really. Managed to have a decent session without finger pain becoming a problem.

I've done four solid weeks of training now since my two week holiday. This coming week will be a rest week except for a wall session on Tuesday and maybe some hip/core stuff.

Si

Only had a day trip in the end as the weather was reliably dreadful across the entirety of the UK on the bright side, it was a fab day trip and I finally was able to get something done from my wishlist!

Finger is still mending slowly but surely, now able to do the odd crimpy problem provided it's not super hard.

Last Week:

M - 4x20s 10kg rehab no-hangs. Will try doing 6 sets next time as I think a bit of volume will help get more yummy blood into my fingers.

T - Rest

W - Rest

T - 50 pushups

F - Afon Lloer Boulders. Walked up in the rain and hail, waited in the rain and hail for around 3-4 hours for the boulder to dry. During this time we bimbled around the other rocks to see what else was about and found a myriad of untouched boulders, not quite as good rock quality but certainly decent! Got Paul O'Grady (f6C+) second go with some lanky beta then did four easier FA things up to 6A+/B ish, which was pleasant. Fabulous golden hour illuminating the northwest side of Tryfan and the snow-capped ridges of Glyder Fawr.

S - Sore shoulders, rest needed.

S - More rest.

Next Week:

M - Rehab no-hangs

T - Rest

W - Gym? It's been almost a year since I last set foot in one!

T - Rest

F - Weather looks decent, could have a cheeky circuit at Grinshill but if the weekend looks mint I'll save myself for that.

S, S - Entirely up to the weather. If it's poor I'll throw in a rehab session.

Goals:

​​Rehabilitate A2 pulley

Suavito

Tierdrop

Rigpa

No particular signs of coming back stronger just yet. But one day.

STG: Weight back below 85kg. 
    Start Couch To 5k. 
    New Project STG: link from the third clip to the end of the hard climbing on Dookie.
MTG: Complete one of my local (Zellerwand) 7a projects - short, sharp power endurance. Complete Couch to 5k
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber by 2021. For measurable definition see Fit Club 658

M: Max hangs, stretching & mobility between sets. Vaccinated shoulder protested a bit on the first couple of warm-up pullups but was then ok. Probably just needed to be moved again.
T: Rest day. 40 minutes stretching & massage gun firing

W: Max hangs & shoulder presses. Another spectacularly weak max hangs session - seems like after six months of lockdown they aren't working for me any more. Time to switch it up: which makes rumours that walls might be reopening this week, if incidence figures continue to fall, highly convenient.

T: An hour walk/jog in the woods in the rain. Still more walking than jogging, but the jogging part is starting to feel less stressful - and is in any case infinitely more pleasurable in a muddy forest than pounding the street.
F: 
S: Zellerwand. Did a few warm up routes then one-hanged the proj on the first attempt of the day. Best effort so far. Second go was a fiasco though - no power left at all. Hardly surprising after six months of no endurance training whatsoever, but still frustrating. 
S: Bad Heilbrunn quarried sandstone slab shuffling. Not an ideal choice of venue on a hot, sunny afternoon, but it was a chance to meet up with a friend I hadn't seen since before lockdown. And to get some mileage in whilst giving yesterday's blown-out forearms a break.
 

Thanks for continuing to stat Alan. Your local crag looks good, reminds me of Acepahle (hopefully without the walk in!), looks like it might be skin unfriendly though?

M: Depot Man. Cleaned up a lot (but not all) the reds I couldn't do last week. I also managed 3 purples, I've only ever done one or two of these before ever. This either represents a huge leap forward or major softening of the grades.

T: Yoga

W: BUK, proved Monday was an aberration as I barely managed any V4s. My fingers were really sore (arthritis) so finished the session early.

T: Failed to do yoga 

F: Milestone 1 - I am definitely a climber again! Fi wasn't home so instead of unwinding in front of the telly like a normal person I drove to a quarry, on my own, on an iffy forecast - just like a climbing obsessive would! My objective was wet so I dropped a rope down Pigs on the Wing (E5 6b), I had intended to do the direct but the Rockfax app has a mistake so ended up on the normal route. Just as well as I couldn't touch the lower wall, seems inordinately hard. This route has been on my to do list for 30 years but I'd never considered headpointing it (or any other route) so maybe karma giving me a kicking! 

S: Yoga. MCC for my first lead wall session in years. Wasn't too keen on pushing it on lead so decided to lead one line and then top rope the other. I managed to on-sight a 6c+ but the 7a+ and 7b seemed like a huge leap even on TR (was getting on them straight after leading a route though). Fingers felt ok but they are very weak on small holds.

S: Yoga, milestone 2 - I managed to touch my toes albeit for a very short period and enduring significant pain.

My weight might be going in the right direction but the change is too small and short lived for me to risk calling it milestone 3. 

Glad people are actually watching the psyche vids. 

It's a ten minute walk.

A few of us are now of the opinion that we've drastically underestimated the Zellerwand for years. It consists of a series of sectors of quite variable rock quality - the good bits are good but it takes to get to know which ones they are. And it tends towards a far more technical and less brachial style than the Frankenjura, so it can be a shock to the system in normal years when we spend much of our time pulling pockets. 

And it's in day trip range and therefore allowed under lockdown rules, whereas the Frankenjura isn't, so we know which are the good bits now.

It's ok. Pretty soft limestone, so even the bits that look sharp aren't a big problem.

Thanks once again Alan! Lucked out with the weather in the end, lots of fantastic climbing - my hands are a bit wrecked though! I guess plastic pulling doesn't really prepare you for sharp limestone jams and that..

M - rest, pissing it down all day. Got out for a bracing storm swim (well - in, out and done..) in the afternoon

T - St Govan's in the morning. Belayed my mate/s on The Butcher (E3 5c), but decided against going for the lead myself - probably a mistake in retrospect as it felt fairly OK on second. Went to Penally in the afternoon and did the crazy (& underrated) Magic Flute (E1 5b) - highly recommended! 

W - back to St Govan's - some good E1/E2 tickage. Nice to see all the board climbing paying dividends - 5b/c cruxes feel (somewhat) straightforward now

T - headed to North Pembs for a change of scenery. Gorgeous weather! Perhaps a little too sunny for South facing sandstone slabs.. but was a nice change of pace from steep pulling. Went to Barrel Zawn for some DWS in the afternoon - did Barrel Traverse (6a) (fantastic route, and a good test of fitness) and Snake Pass (6b+) (also good)

F -  Mother Carey's Kitchen in the morning. Some good loong (40m+) routes. Was feeling pretty beat after 4 days on the trot, but decided to give Brazen Buttress (E2 5b) a go before we headed home. Went well! Definitely a bit pumped at the end but felt I could hold on for a good while on the so-so holds of its upper half. A nice way to end a great trip - all in all pretty chuffed to see the efforts of training come to fruition. On to the next block!

Sat/Sun - rest! And a lot of eating

(edit: attached a few pics from the trip)

No structure to my log this week; with shared parental leave I can barely remember what day off the week is...

Had a couple of decent board sessions (benchmark 7B+ and 7C) but not much else beyond child wrangling. 

Is the rock soaking wet in the Keelhaul pic or does it always look that shiny?

It is quite shiny rock there as I recall, so I assume it is that - it is years since I did it but I suspect it would be rather hard if wet!!!

Yeah, a lot of the grey rock there has a sheen on the flat surfaces, but it was bone dry to climb. The soapy holds did materialise on our next route though (not my lead thankfully!)

Cheers Alan, leg still isn’t completely right so I’m not pushing it just yet. However have entered a sprint triathlon in September to keep the motivation up. Good week gone by as follows;

Monday, nice 7km trail run

Tuesday, pool opened so a nice steady 1km swim

Wednesday, 1km swim at lunchtime then 7km run whilst youngest daughter was at run training followed by 8km run whilst she was swim training 

Thursday, 1km swim

Friday 1km swim 

Saturday, rest day

Sunday, 5k run with the wife 

Winspit is pretty short and punchy and some of the routes you mention are quite shiny, so they can feel quite full on if you're not into the style. I've always thought Unseen Ripples is tricky, Stone Mason and Queen Anne ok (apart from feeling a bit spacey at the top), and I can't remember the other ones you mention.

I've never really sport climbed at Wintours - certainly not in Woodcroft - so can't compare directly. But I can imagine some of the winspit stuff feeling like a bit of a challenge!

That makes sense - I've only climbed at a couple of crags over that way so not much experience of the rock type.  Its another location that's on the hit list for when the kids are either old enough to either come along too or independent enough to do their own thing instead (maybe 2035 then!).

Happy it’s not just me. Think I need some soft touch morale-boosters at this stage.

I really liked Unseen Ripples but it was the last route of the day so I was pretty powered out. The big layback to the third bolt finished me off!

Big dilemma now: climbing walls reopen tomorrow, Thursday is a public holiday with an iffy weather forecast. 

Finally a training opportunity on something other than my beastmaker (just in time given last week's  max hang fails)? Or keep options open in case the weather on Thursday turns out better than forecast?

Choices choices.....

Depends how dodgy, but I'd probably hang on for the outdoors if the odds of it improving are reasonable - but I can take no responsibility for a sad Alan if it doesn't pan out!

Are the crags dry now?

Thanks - it's a great crag that I don't visit enough. Everything looks intimidating for sure but it's not all thrtuchfest horrorshows

A quiet week last week as I'm starting another Lattice Lite plan this week.

Wednesday - Bouldering at Substation, mostly just testing out problems for the Lattice sessions, had a quick go on the training board.

Friday - Alcove Crack (HVS 5a) at Millstone. Steep, but found this fairly straightforward.

Last week's goals - Only one route from Graham's HVS->E1 list

Next week

Starting a new Lattice Lite Plan. Would like to do some of these sessions outdoors but it's looking like a difficult week weather-wise to plan anything. Will keep one eye on the rain radar.

• 3 x 0.5 Strength and Power sessions. Will probably end up doing these at Substation but try and get outdoors if possible - maybe  Gardom's Edge?
• 1 x Power Endurance session
• Various strength and conditioning sessions. Do the Alpine Combine test from TFTNA - haven't done one of these for a while.
• 20km trail running. Get out early in the week so I don't have this hanging over me come the weekend...
• 3 HVS->E1 routes from Graham's list, and 1 benchmark E1. Bit of a stretch goal this week due to unpredictable weather - Keith George: The Movie (E1 5b) maybe?

Rest Wednesday and if the dodgy forecast turns out to be wet on Thursday make it a training day instead?

Ah, but I've booked Friday off work and the forecast for Friday & Saturday is good.

So makes most sense to train tomorrow rather than go out in marginal conditions on Thursday & risk being broken for the two good days. Or even one last beastmaker session today then have two rest days.

Mostly, but they're about to get wet again.

In that case - train today, rest tomorrow and be a project sending hero Friday and Saturday!

First taper week 3 weeks out from my marathon

m: 7 miles steady 7:30 pace.

t: Track. warm up, 2 x 5km at 5:50-5:55 pace, 400m recovery. 1 mile cool down with 3 x 200m sprints.

w: afterschool: 5 miles steady 7:30 pace on roads. pm: 6 miles on dirt roads on the local mountain. Mate fell and smashed 3 ribs and bruised a lung.

t: 13 mile road run, 6:45 pace, felt good.

f: 5.5 miles on the mountain with the dog, mainly dirt roads.

s: 14.3 miles. 2 easy, 10 at MP ~ 6:05-6:10 pace, 2 easy c/d.

s: am: Soccer. Won 1-0, goal keeper so 3 clean sheets in 4 games (the only goal was a penalty). Opposing player suffered a massive heart attack as the game ended. 10 minutes of CPR/AED he's still alive. Awful experience. He had 3 heart attacks that day. 

pm: 6 mile dirt road run with the dog. Exhausted mentally.

Nice one on the clean sheets, but that heart attack experience sounds dreadful! Glad to hear he's made it through, probably helped to have some fit footballers around to keep CPR going for 10 minutes.

Luckily a nurse was walking her dog as he fell so she was straight on him so she started chest compressions within 20 seconds. Plus there was an AED at the complex. We couldn't find it but someone did. They need to be well signed because seconds matter. Pretty traumatic as it was in front of two junior soccer teams. He basically had everything go right for him so he's fully awake and alert and has texted with us all. My wife who is an MD was pretty amazed he made it. I don't think she believed me when I said he had a massive heart attack like that and survived and was even partially conscious after CPR but he's actually at her hospital so she heard about him. He had two more heart attacks later, one in the ambulance and one in surgery but he gets discharged today. Incredible. 

I've done a lot of first aid courses but never seen CPR in the field. Violent is about the best term I could use.

Thankyou Alan, sterling work as ever. Sorry for the late reply. 

Your local crag looks pretty good. Better than Giggleswick anyway....

M - Kendal wall - much needed falling practice/mileage and then an Emma Twyford 7a onsight, all on the main wall. I have never been so pumped in all my life. Quite pleased to get that. Her routes are v techy and you wouldn't downgrade them!

T - Work

W - Work

T - Sunset Boulevard (7b+) - Really struggled on this. I was very hesitant and rigid going up with a clip stick. Fighting against myself really. Settled a bit next go and took some falls. 3rd go felt much better mentally, remembered all the beta and took falls from the top boulder problem. However i was then spent and wiped out again.

F -  Work

S - Rain

S -  Bloodsports (7b) My new tactic to improve my head is to ban the clipstick (apart from pre clipping the first/second for safety). I was pleased to get the initial boulder problem and climb on through to the crux. I came down from there and yo yo'd back up to tackle the crux. Figured the crux out and came down. 

Then ensued a weird episode with a Conwy council worker shouting at us to get down as it was bird banned and they were calling the warden. We were confused, but were told that it was clearly signed and we should have read them - fines will be given, i'm going to stay and watch you to make sure you get down etc. We had a polite (on our side) conversation about how we access info about bird bans (showed them the online RAD and guidebook) and we and all the other people there had somehow missed the ban - including the obvious signs. It turns out the signs were behind a parked van and couldn't be seen and didn't relate to where we were climbing at all (Mumbo Jumbo area i believe). The bird warden was ace. Very good people skills The council worker decided to get back in their van and drive off without saying anything. Bit of an opportunity missed to forge a respectful relationship there i feel.

This had burst my bubble a bit (i had half stripped the route) and i again had a bit of an energy crash and was gassed. I looked at the top - which is very sustained and run out......

I feel getting on top of my head is priority and to bring in at least some training during the week to keep my gains topped up. I do feel i've made gains, they're just not getting through yet. I need a more positive attitude to do so - to believe i will make the move and to not fear falling off if i don't. The two go together i guess.

I've got a blood test in just under a month for Lyme etc. I guess all people who are able to stick needles in people are being used for the vaccine so a bit of a wait. 

Would it help to spend a bit more time on a single project? I used to best get used to climbing without worrying about falling off by being on hard ground that I knew well. Unknown ground always added some anxiety even if it was objectively completely safe and I could see a bolt two moves ahead. I know we are all different though and you've been climbing long enough to have an idea what should work! I'm sure it'll all feel easier soon.

Hi Fit Club. Thanks for the comments Alan -much appreciated.

Week 18:

A pretty awful week for training and climbing... work is too full on for my optimist plans of running/fingerboarding between jobs to be happening; and the weather has been too ropey to take advantage of being in Pembroke for the weekends.

M: Rest.

T: Alpine start & finish for work.

W: Alpine start & finish for work.

T: Alpine start & finish for work. 

F: Climbing: Giltar Slabs. Soloed everything up to VS (apart from Giltar Wall Climb which I thought looked freaky and intimidating!) -to be honest, apart from 45 Degrees in the Sun (VS 4b) and Ladder Groove (S 4a) (which I thought was quite hard, quite scary and definitely not Severe!), I was a bit underwhelmed by the place... thought it was all a bit homogeneous! Nice day out in the sunshine though!

S: Rest.

S: Board session: AnCap and AeroCap -good sesh.

Week 19:

The plan was to try and fit more mini-sessions in to my work days then climbing in Pembroke at the weekend. Find out tomorrow whether this happened!

Prehab and fingerboarding/conditioning on work days.

2 Runs.

3 Climbing days.

STG (End Q2):

Max Hang total 85kg

Weighted Pull-up total 88kg

Thug circuit 1-on, 1-off

Eliminator (V4)

Grid Iron (6c)

15 E-points (1/15!)

Edale Skyline and/or Cheshire Gritstone Trail

MTG (End Q3):

Yates' Layaway (f6B+) 

Jack the Smuggler (7a)

Black Wall Direct (E2 5c)

One of: Cairngorm Classic Rock IAD, El Cap nose-day (880m climbing), Welsh 3000s

2021 Goals:

35 E-points

Run 30km vert and 1000km

Glad someone else feels the same about Ladder Groove (S 4a) - I've done HVS's that felt easier! 

Haha! Yep. Had to have a stern word with myself to keep heading upwards. Definitely felt much scarier than ‘45 degrees’ did without a rope on. 

Yeah it’s the carrying on into the unknown that is the issue. I seem to not trust myself to find the right way. If I’m on a route at a grade i know I can climb I start getting concerned that I’ll choose the wrong line and mess it up and fall off. Especially trad. 
saying that I was very tense on Sunset and I know that route. 
I’m just going to keep nudging away at it. Recognise it when it pops up and do what I can that day to improve it. Pushing as far as I feel able each session I guess. 
I’ve made loose plans to get to kilnsey soon so will go and fall off things that are too hard for me there. 

Cheers for keeping this going Alan!

From a few weeks ago, the benchmarks were all okay but sleepwalking beta means I could overcome lack of skills and fitness...

Yoga everyday and a few weekends recceing the Stanage VS challenge...