UKC

Hi folks.

Placeholder. Just back from climbing: too late & tired to do stats this evening. Talk amongst yourselves, and I'll catch up tomorrow.

Thanks Alan. A week with definite high and low points! 

- On the plus side, very pleased with Picnic Sarcastic, both the stand and the decent progress on the sitter. Given some of the stuff I’ve been doing in Dorset is a little esoteric (and therefore maybe lacks ascents to give grade consensus) it’s great to have ticked a 7A+ at a well established venue pretty quickly. I also feel like the sitter is potentially within reach which is a great confidence boost. Bit of a YYFY.

- On the minus side, a little frustrated by our day at St Bees, because of the poor judgement demonstrated.

Hopefully meeting Si tomorrow at Virtual Crag, then got a few more days left before we start to head for home. Not really sure what our plans are yet although I definitely need more skin!

Monday - active rest, Keswick to Threlkeld railway path (about 8-9 mile round trip), broken by a pub lunch and finished with cake. A good effort from miniAJM!

Tuesday - extra rest day to try to get on top of skin. Plus I have found double rest day in the middle of longer bouldering trips pretty handy. Eskdale railway which the children enjoyed very much!

Wednesday - bit grey and cloudy with occasional mizzle. Where better than the overhanging might of the Bowderstone! Managed to tick Picnic Sarcastic pretty quickly - I had good beta from videos (including from Ally) and it’s fairly basic climbing so fairly quick to put together. Felt pretty steady. It started to rain a bit more consistently after a while, but I spent a bit of time on the sit start. For me this felt a big step up. I got a sequence in the end which I think should work, although it has a fairly low percentage snatch for the left hand of the stand. Going to try to go back and give it another session at some point - it’s pretty accessible for an evening hit.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CP5ogf3oWHw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Thursday - grey again. The forecast suggested a window in the afternoon, but on arrival at Carrock Fell, the mist and mizzle was blowing along level with the boulders. It stopped after a while, but it was too blowy for MiniAJM really. So an impromptu rest day. Did some useful admin for the following days though. With glorious hindsight, the evening was a bit better but by that point I was distrustful - once bitten twice shy and all that.

Friday - popped out to the Bowderstone in the afternoon. After some further experimentation I sacked off Wednesdays sequence, realising that I could follow the more conventional beta of the high right foot instead, which tends to force a small cut loose but overall is a far higher percentage way of getting into the stand. I had a few decent goes after this, with my best effort being shown below. I find seating that first left heel pretty hard, since it’s difficult to push weight onto it off to the side. If the heel hadn’t popped there, pushing it one further left and moving the right hand isn’t too bad and then it’s just the final pop for the finishing jug.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CP_IsmaoS5M/?utm_medium=copy_link

Saturday - lured on by the guidebooks reference to a route into St Bees that was suitable for children and dogs, we figured it would be a bit of hard work but worthwhile, particularly given the reputation of the place and how long I’ve wanted to go there. I think they may have had an older child in mind! It took us a full hour and a half, perhaps more, to get from the car to the Apiary boulders, by which point we were mentally exhausted. In all honesty, the right call would have been to turn around half way down the descent. Having got there, the idea of reversing it felt like it was hanging over my head the whole time leading to a stress headache I couldn’t clear. I did 2 problems but my heart wasn’t in it and we decided pretty soon to just get out of there. Ended up going up the normal approach, up the ropes, because whilst it was a bit more stressful per unit time it went on for a fraction as long! Once at the top, the metaphorical cloud lifted and I was able to enjoy the wonderful weather and the views across to Scotland and the Isle of Man. St bees was one of the places I most wanted to visit this trip, but I guess it is what it is - it’ll be there another year.

Sunday - Carrock Fell with biscuit of this parish. Did Boardmans Arete left and right. Both are in the guide at 6C+ - on left it seemed a little obscure exactly where to start but we did something that seemed about right in the end. On right we had some Fiend-approved beta which made it feel fairly reasonable. Had a few goes at Rouses Wall but my skin was pretty gone by this point - I could get the foot up but never managed to make it stick.

Thanks Alan.

M: went to do a fingerboard session in the evening but my finger was painful. Did some 1-finger lifts instead.

T: away with work, did half a crimpd floor core session in the evening.

W: away with work, did a few 1 finger lifts in the evening.

T:  away with work, got out to Eskdale Fisherground in the evening. It was humid and my finger hurt again when warming up, but the rock felt good and there were no left hand crimps on the problems I wanted to do, so had a good session. Flashed Pillar Face (f6A) (6B) and made fairly short work of Strong Arete (f7A+). Had a brief look at Rob's Wall (f7A+) afterwards too, but the top looked too high and wild to contemplate on my own with one pad, so I didn't try very hard.

F:  rest, had a terrible night's sleep due to people partying in the next room, felt wiped out after driving home.

S: rest, had planned to go out or train in the garage in the morning, but still felt wiped. Found a tick that I must have picked up on Thursday.

S: spent the night with Sol in the tent in the garden. This was an experiment to test how we got on before considering taking him camping further afield. It went very well all things told. Today I just did a hip mobility session in the morning and some walking. I also had lunch and a beer by the beach and got sunburnt, doh!

Another week without much training - been feeling generally a bit tired due to lots of work and a lack of sleep. Got a good session in on Thursday evening though and have tomorrow booked off work - planning to take Sol up to the Lakes and hopefully get some climbing done with AJM.

Si

Always the sign of a good weekend!

Had another decent week, had a couple attempts at a real necky highball. I'd never tried something like that before, every other highball I've climbed as either been easy/readable enough that I'm confident I could flash it, or has a good enough landing that a fall would just be scary instead of dangerous. Anyone have any advice, tips or tactics on working the headgame in these situations (besides just doing it more, of course)?

Last Week:

​​​​​M - Rest and rehab. Awful calf cramp in the night, reckon it could be related to long Welsh approaches?

T - Rest and rehab.

W - Crag B. Friend flaked out so didn't have extra pads/spot for the higher problems. Did a couple little ones I hadn't tried before, and eyed up and gently tried a new line through the wide roof, would be mega-nails though!

T - Rest and rehab.

F - Bugger all, I think, can't remember.

S - Also, I think, bugger all.

S - Sweaty mission at Creigiau'r Garth. 1.5 miles each way fully loaded with kit, through narrow bush tunnels and steep slope trudges. Not a massive ticklist, but managed to tick a "7A+" (maybe 6B? Seems to be a hold the FA might not have noticed), and some still-soft 6A+s. The main event was the heady "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest". Got only a move or two from the top on the flash, but my calf felt weird cranking on a heel hook, and changing my beta on the fly meant I had to escape onto the adjacent block. Next go I was unable to get my head in the right space, knowing I could probably do it but not knowing if I could do it without having practised the move - then before we knew it some of the people with us had to go, and we were left with only "4" pads. Keen to return, partner wants to get a rope on it which is fair, but I've still got a (perhaps ego-driven) determination to do it ground-up.

Next Week:

​​M - Rest and rehab.

T - Rest and rehab.

W - Something. Maybe sport at Llanymymech?

T - Rest and rehab.

F - Maybe another gym session, depending on weekend plans.

S, S - Hopefully a day out somewhere, see what the weather has in store for us!

Goals:

Rehabilitate finger.

Suavito.

Tierdrop.

Rigpa.

Nice work on Strong Arete. I thought it was quite basic too. The low left sit is worth going back for at 7B+. Its knacky but once you've worked out how to hold the swing doesn't require masses of finger strength (I can't remember exactly but I used different beta to the videos, something like a big step through with the other foot still in the crack).

Had a similar experience to you on Rob's wall stand start but luckily there was a big team of students at the crag last time I was there so I got them to give me a spot. The last move is really on off and you'd land in a heap over the rock behind if you fluffed it so good call on saving for another day!

I aught to have done more there really, my mother in law used to own The King George in Eskdale so we went there loads but always ended up in the High mountains rather than on the boulders. Not that that's a bad thing!

Hope you had a good weekend Alan. Still easing my way back in to it. Functionally, I haven’t tried anything which causes pain but  can still feel a mild strain mid-back. Slowly getting there and the movement seems to be helping. 

Mon:

• Bouldering warmup. Half a V1 circuit
• 10x pulls on to the 30 degree Woody. Manage about 3 (very small) moves from a sit start before my feet pop off.
• 2 sets of Aero 4s (96 moves) on 5a Circuit Board

Tue & Wed: Rest

Thu:

• Bouldering warmup - ticked a long V3 on the Comp Wall after 5-6 goes.
• 10x 30 degree Woody from standing start. Feet popping after 1 move.

Fri:

• Bouldering warmup - Failed on a lot of harder routes.
• 5x 30 degree Woody. Feet still popping.
• 6x 30s Feet on Campus Ladders

Sat: Rest

Sun:

• Cracked out the Parallettes to see if they triggered my back again. 5x 10 Press-ups with no issues.

I feel like my training has plateaued at V3-V5 so I’ve been looking to mix it up in search of a breakthrough. After a week of trying out the Woody Board I’m still finding it impossible to keep my feet on! I’ve read all the articles about pulling with your toes, core tension etc. but still can’t manage more than the smallest moves. Has anyone got any pointers?

Have a good week!

Slightly belated stats this week due to going climbing instead. Trying to get responses to 742 done before I read everybody's 743 entries.

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/

Last weeks post - https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/ukc_fit_club_week_742-7356...

Psyche Vid: none this week. And it looks like next week's is going to be the Innsbruck boulder & lead world cup: I read that despite general lockdown relaxations it's still being run without spectators, so even if it's raining I won't be able to go and spectate as I was contemplating doing.

AJM - more out of season grit exploits. "Desperate" grit exploits no less. Hardly surprising you were running low on skin by the end of the week.

Ally Smith - impressive post trip motivation - straight back into full-on training. Will be interested to hear what comes of the ramp up.

biscuit - all aboard the comfy shoe train? Good call. How did the benchmarking and the resulting plan turn out?

Liam P - good sport efforts, probably wise to skip the trad until you're confident about your back.

planetmarshall - sport lime, trad lime, moorland grit - an impressive multi-disciplinary triathlon week.

Ross Barker - glad to hear of the encouraging finger progress.

Si dH - will be interested to hear how things go with the mono programme; I've only ever done it as an occasional benchmark.

Somerset swede basher - interesting new strategy: bouldering plus other random strenuous activity on the same day. "Epic day sawing ... railway sleepers ... all by hand" - probably for the best, electrically sawing sleepers sounds like a recipe for random exciting nail strikes.

the sheep - "not quite as active" but still all three disciplines covered including a brick day (sez he in order to show off his one bit of triathlon terminology knowldge)

Tom Green - "This week felt like a good week, although looking back it didn't really have much training in!" Interesting philosopihcal question. Dave Mac in 9 out of 10 counsels us to know the difference between training and performance in order to actually train when we should be training. But the other side of the coin is not to forget the joy in performing the things we train for.

Tyler - that sounds like a solid endurance training week.

AlanLittle - shame about the rained off Frankenjura weekend, but good to be still seeing progress on The Proj despite increasingly dodgy conditions for a south facing project with a sloper crux.

STG: tick something. Anything. DONE
MTG: fill out my couple-of-goes pyramid around the 6c-ish level before moving onto to any more harder projects.
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber by 2021. For measurable definition see Fit Club 658

M: Rest. 
T: Boulderwelt. Pitiful attempt at a kilter board session. Wall too busy, me too weak, poor skin, generally shit. Need to rearrange my calendar: go early in the morning or find/make a few meeting-free hours during the day
W: Thalkirchen. Circuits. Better than yesterday, although the combination of a warm, humid evening and new raw post-lockdown holds meant skin was the limiting factor that ended the session.
T: Overcoming gravity: ring supports, l-sits, skin-the-cats, pike pushups. Also trying to learn false grip, but it's such a weird wrist position I can barely hang it let alone pull.
F: 
S: Zellerwand. Hot & humid, but wanted to get some final goes in on Dookie (7a) before conditions get even worse, and if possible avoid postponing it to next autumn. And ... first go of the day, another one-hang with a new highpoint. It started to drizzle and I thought that was going to be the result I would he happy with for the day. Then the light shower passed over, and cleared up the humidity beautifully without noticebly wetting the rock. OK, robot mode: just execute the sequence, no "improvements", and breathe, and oh! That appears to be my left hand dropping neatly into the bomber jug at the end of the hard climbing. Don't f*ck up the last two bolts' worth of 6a to the chains and ... my most-effort-ever project in the bag! Today was a good day.

S: Lauf. Perfect conditions today but tired (more mentally than phyically). Went to a relatively obscure outlying Frankenjura crag that my mate wanted to check out, which turned out to have probably very nice rock under all the dust & moss. The perils of visiting an obscure outlying crag. Had a pleasant day pottering about on some 6a's and 6b's.

Shoulders wiped out from sessions on Sunday-Monday so eased off mid-week.  More deadlift, fingerboarding and aero-power planned for this week.

Week 23

M – Deadlift 5x5 @95kg. Crimpd aero-power FB: 7/3/12/4 @BW x6. Last two sets were hard work with a few 6s hangs. Good intensity.

T – Worked late.

W – Warmed up on the board but quickly realised that my shoulders were super tired (infraspinatus aching) and not engaging properly. Coupled with high humidity it wasn’t going to be a productive session an called it off after 30min.

T – Rest.

F – Dday off work; hms (formerly of this shire) visiting. Combined FA of a 6c newbie finishing on ledge of the upper cave. The Smoking Gnu (6c) (Should be "The Smoking Gnu" but auto-correct scuppered the logbook input)

S – Day-trip to Yorkshire; lovely bunch of 6a-7a routes at newly retro’d section of Attermire before heading up to Victoria cave for Victorious (8a). Managed it 2nd go with draws in and beta from Remus. Whether I discovered the mythical “magic sequence” or not, I think 7c+ probably appropriate?

S – Got lucky and stayed cloudy for much of the day, making Deep Rake not too scorchio. Again, nice bunch of 6a-7a routes with a 7b RP also.

Thanks Alan.

Last Week

Lattice Week 5

Monday

Been trying to do some of my sessions outdoors but it's not exactly "ideal" gritstone conditions at the moment. Went to  Gardom's Edge and split the session between

• First Roof Left (f6B)
• Mark's Roof Left-hand (f6C+)
• Percy's Roof (f6C)

Of all of them I probably made most progress on Mark's Roof, but mostly because it's longer. Not attempting the final moves without a spotter!

Thursday

Various strength and conditioning exercises. Core, Pull ups etc.

Friday

Bouldering at  Burbage North

Split the session between

• Banana Finger (f6A) - made it to (but didn't do) the final move
• Definitive 5.12 (f6C) - the kind of thing I could probably do
• Tiny Roof (f6A+) - flashed, but pretty soft. Did a sit start version afterwards to at least feel like I got my money's worth.

Saturday

Impromptu visit to  Kinder Southern Edges. Attempt on The Ivory Tower (E1 5b) but couldn't figure out the bulge (think I know it now after reading Graham Hoey's route description later). Bailed onto the HS next door and saved for another day.

Sunday

Wimberry Rocks

Very warm day. On sight of Freddie's Finale (HVS 5b) in vest and shorts and felt that was quite enough for one day after looking like I'd lost a fight with a cheese grater. Took a look at Blue Light's Crack (E1 5b) but leaving this till it's cool enough to wear more denim.

Last Week's Goals

Project Bouldering Session - try and do this outside. done.
Two leads at E1 or above - not this week
27km trail running. I'm aiming for 10% mileage increase each week. Will have to start splitting this up into three sessions now to make this more manageable - include 10km heart rate test. - no running this week but hoofing trad gear up to Kinder South and Wimberry should maintain the aerobic fitness for another week.

Next Week

Lattice Week 6

• Another Project Bouldering session outside - pick some problems from the Rockfax Peak Bouldering guide Red circuits. About 6B seems to be about the right level.
• Two leads at E1 or above
• 27km trail running
• Do at least one session indoors. The 'Boulder Triples' session doesn't really lend itself to outdoor bouldering. Maybe try and get to the Depot for a 6am start while it's cool.

It really is a weird position! I found the Grease The Groove method was best as it isn’t strenuous to hold - just feels odd. Little and often helps, along with chalking up the  boney outside of your wrist as it gets hammered.

It really is the key to Strict Ring Muscle Ups. The pointers I got were False Grip - Pull Hard - Headbutt your Balls! - Push up.

Edit: and congrats on the 7a!

Congratulations Alan, nice one!

Yep, things seemed to be improving but unfortunately this week I fell off the top of the coincidentally/ironically (which?) named Thirty Feet of Pain (V5). I landed on a good matt but there was a lot of pain and it felt like I had turned it although the bloke I was with didn’t think so. I suspect he’s right and that my ankle is just so weak it can’t deal with such force. Anyway, I’m limping around with a big bruise and swelling, I thought about doing something at the weekend but was, for once, sensible and did nowt other than go for a test bike ride which wasn’t too bad although I normally have to peddle with the middle of my foot on the left anyway. 

Thanks Alan, my strange session plan was more in order to squeeze a session in when there wasn't really time for one rather than for any training benefit. It provide a great workout though!

Mon. Rest.

Tues. Crag X session. Had planned to look at moffatrocity but there were others at the crag (which was really nice) so changed my plans a bit. Managed  pink Indians (f7B) which felt OK once I sacked off the video beta and made my own up. Still couldn't get off the ground on Cherokee Lane.

Wed. 9km run

Thurs. Rest.

Fri. After work session in an empty Chee Dale. Redpointed Meterol (7b+) which was cool. It was one of those routes that I tried to work but botched my way up with a different sequence every time that always felt hard but always seemed to work. In the end I just got on the sharp end with the idea that as long as I kept moving whatever I did would probably work and I could recover at the rest if I messed it up too much and got really pumped, but it all went more smoothly than expected.

Sat+sun. Rests days, walks with the kids and general family fun. Was in need of a couple of deload days as fingers feeling in the red zone earlier in the week. 

Thanks. A few things to go back for if I find myself that way again. Robs Wall looks really good.

I went to the George pub several times as a kid. Stayed there at least once. The syrup sponges they did in the late eighties / early nineties had great renown in our house.

Slight digression into the future for those here with small children: the worries don't go away, they just change.

Quiet family evening here at Schloss Little as my 18yo son packs his bag for his first non-family holiday away with his friends, and I try to console myself with how much more worried I would be at this point if I had a daughter. 

Or contemplate how much worse it was for my mum when I at the same age started going off on solo backpacking trips that quickly morphed into climbing.

Cheers Alan, had a good week gone by with an excellent weekend to top it off.

Monday, 1km lunchtime swim and 10k evening run.

Tuesday, 1km lunchtime

Wednesday, 1km lunchtime and 5k evening run

Thursday, 1km lunchtime followed by stretch class

Friday, 1km lunchtime. Afternoon and evening was spent taking apart and building beds in readiness for middle daughters 13th birthday the next day. She wanted a double bed so thats what we arranged to have delivered.

Saturday, morning spent building the bed and rearranging the bedroom. Afternoon, BBQ and beers, celebrating having 2 teenage daughters in the house!

Sunday, clear down and prepare for daughter having her mates round for party food!

Well done Alan! That must have felt good?

Thanks Alan. Congrats to you. Weird how when it happens it all just comes together and feels almost easy.

I am still loving the comfy shoes though they do have their limits outdoors.

M - Max hangs and pull test. +30kgs for both at 72kgs BW (i've put 2kgs on) 

Not great., but expected.

T - Work

W - Critical Force testing OWCH! 

T - 5:3:5:3:5 aero workout on home board

F - Nothing

S - 7:3 repeaters on 20mm until i got very pumped

S - Had a lovely catch up and climb with AJM at a muggy Carrock Fell.

Did Boardman's Arete(sit) (f6C+) and Boardman's Right Hand (f6C+) then did the hard moves of Rouse's Wall (f6C+) but chickened out of topping out. I've done it before and couldn't summon up the psyche.

Then had a look at Fast Cars & Camper Vans (f7A) All the moves done in isolation but i couldn't get my heel up when required when climbing into it. Frustrating as it all felt OK. Probably need to go more dynamic with throwing the heel on but it was about 25 degrees and in the sun so the slopers didn't feel like i could give it beans. One to go back for.

Got family stuff and work this week coming so not sure what i'll get in. I need to sort out an aero training routine as that is priority.

Hi all. Thanks for the stats, Alan. 
Your comment is particularly apt given last week’s activities… 

Week 23

Didn’t really do anything in the week apart from a complete non-event of a climbing session at Harmer Hill on Wednesday (aborted after the crag started falling down!) until…

Sunday: East Face Route (Original Route) (E1 5b) Led 2 and 4. Could say a lot about this, but basically it was pretty wild and I was pretty pleased with it!

Week 24

No training!

More Scottish climbing… 

Indeed. This has been my most anti-style and therefore hardest & longest project, and I'd reached the point where I knew the sequence *and* knew I was fit enough - the falls on the last couple of pre-send attempts were foot slips rather than powering out. But it was also a race against conditions & weather - the crux is a big move off a very slopy sidepull.

I have no conscious memory of executing the last three moves at all - just of taking hold of the final thank god jug.

Mega tick! 

Nice one Tom. Would love to do that. I didn't realise what it was from the name in the ukc link you gave!

Still on my list too! 

Likewise didn’t cotton on until I clicked on the link 

Awesome route 👍🏻

Oh wow! That went under my radar too for a quick read of your post.

Well done! 

I too had to click the link to see what you had climbed the East Face of. 

Looking forward to hearing what else you're up to up there.

Thought I’d slipped that one by you all with the cryptic ‘east face route’ link! But nothing gets past SSB!

Definitely lived up to expectations and I was really chuffed to be leading evens, so I got the coffin pitch. (Was also chuffed to get up it clean -it felt very fall-offable in damp, sandy conditions!) 

Only one ricochet from a fulmar, unlike my partner who took a couple of direct hits. They definitely make the easy pitches more tense though. Pulling up to a break to find a fulmar six inches in front of your face is pretty nerve wracking.

The final ab is sensational!