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.

Link to last week’s thread;

UKC Forums - UKC Fit Club Week 841 (ukclimbing.com)

Some interesting reflections on April coming in.  I hadn't intended to launch anything really, but was fairly frustrated with my own month.  Stating it 'out loud' is a way of reminding me to get back to it!

Biscuit:  The garage looks good from the photos on Instagram.  It looks like a proper facility and should be a real asset.  Not sure why I have started the response with your last bit, but now I have… I will continue upside down!

Interesting adjustments to the diet now that you have hit your target.  At your current rate of gear loss, the weight should continue to fall anyway until you reach an old school rack of three knotted slings and a couple of pegs.

Sounder Direct is a nice thing.  I remember thinking the crack was harder than the top, but probably just a style thing.  There are some nice routes at Troy and it catches the sun – Pink Edge is very entertaining.

Quite a bit of gym work and wall work across the week – I thought you were planning to taper?  Anyway, interesting noticing the impact of weight loss on moves at your limit.  It has to help one way or another.  Also interesting application of falling practice, which I think (planned or unplanned) has been a feature of most weeks recently!

Mattrm:  Good to see some excellent progress on the plastering front, though it seems like an enforced DIY stint on account of illness,  At least it means there will be no nagging ‘to do’ list hanging over you when you head out for your thirty miler.  There is still plenty of time for a lot of running training to get done, but you will be wanting to make progress with a schedule that looks like it leads to your goal soon.  If it helps, I have had a bad few weeks of training, where work and childcare and all manner of things seemed to get in the way, but I have started back again now and intend to go for a run tomorrow.

AJM:  A trip out to the Yat!  Great stuff and further inspiration for me to get back there at some point.  I used to visit a lot when my in laws were based near Worcester, but haven’t been since the mid-eighties.  I agree that it isn’t a destination venue, but I do like the place and a lot of stuff is interesting (including some of the grades in the old days).  Red Rose Speedway is a really good route.

Hopefully, by now you have worked out that it was indeed a ‘promising start…’ rather than a session that spoiled your rehab!  Certainly, judging from your update post, it looks like the shoulder is improving anyway.

The Culm Plan has been sacked off in that tides were unhelpful so people in the team are now heading to Penwith, which is too far for myself and mate who only have four days.  Instead, we are likely to busy ourselves with trad in the mountains instead.  However, I am likely to try to get down to Swanage at some point, so will let FC know if that plan solidifies.

Tyler:  Delighted to hear that you got back to Rocky Road and got it done.  One off the unfinished business list, though as you note you keep adding more…  Isn’t that sort of the point of proper sport climbing though – having projects on the go?  It must have still been your chalk on Old Guys Rule when we visited on Tuesday – it looks another decent route down there.  My friends were very impressed with the place.

Good work at the Beacon getting a previous failure ticked.

Yes, the weather hasn’t been playing ball at all, though finally showed some signs of warmth this week.  It still looks depressingly wet for the week ahead though and hard to see much opportunity to get stuff done.

Alan:  We’ve all got fingers crossed for Randy I think!  Shame that you haven’t managed to get out in the improving conditions as I think you have a few local targets to get to grips with over the season.

Wall work does show clear progress with steep stuff, so good evidence that the approach you trained earlier this year has delivered results.  As I remember, you only had a training cycle of six weeks prior to your trip, so good to see that focusing on particular goals can get results in a relatively short time frame (although obviously you have now extended well beyond that original time frame).  Hope for us all with a bit of scientific application!  Also, it must be encouraging now that you have set about training a new target area since your return from Greece and no doubt you will see good gains on that soon as well.  Good to see a careful approach to pull ups with plenty of supporting exercises going into the programme as well.

Randy:  An unplanned deload week exactly where you didn’t want it to happen, but we can’t predict illness.  Anyway, good to get some time in on the project and to learn some new links.  We are all hoping that the weather holds and your targets for some time finally goes!

Very strange to see such a quiet week from you.  I’d be quite surprised if you were at 90% - illness usually takes us lower than we think and we only notice when we are fully recovered.  Anyway, it sounds like the project session was worthwhile regardless.  Hope you have managed to do some maintenance and movement work at least over the week with a view to keeping things going for you tick.

SSB:  Brilliant work with Strapadictomy, which I think you have tried a few times before?  Going pretty well to be doing routes like that fairly early in the season, so the bouldering power and the focused training that you have put in recently is clearly working.  The approach to the gear probably makes a lot of sense, especially if you’ve seen falls where ethe wire has ripped!

With the weather we’ve been having I think Chee Dale was a brave shout!  I can’t imagine that much was in nick down there after the continuing monsoon, but some good results anyway as White Gold is fairly tough and the direct is even harder!  I guess the 7c is one of Kristian’s new things?  Great work flashing that on a rope anyway.

Thanks for guidance on how to unearth these strange little venues. 

Liam P:  Continued decent progress with your diet – over a stone lost in old money, so you should be noticing the difference when climbing by now.  Certainly seems to have helped with some of your exercise regime as well and it may well be contributing to the success you had with your free hand on shoulder OAPU.  Regardless of the impact on your exercise and climbing, there are health benefits from removing visceral fat anyway.

Haven seen you working on the campus board for a while and it reminded me that it used to be a regular part of your weekly write up.  I’m tied up with other DIY projects at the moment, but my longer-term plan is to work on a better training station for next winter and I am going to include a campus set-up.  Having been interested for some time, I’ve recognised that I won’t get on it if I have to travel down to the wall, s it has to be something home based!

Top work on the BA planchet and the progression achieved on Thursday.

Ross Barker:  Interesting reflections on an area that is supposed to be a real bouldering destination.  It sounds like a bit of an acquired taste and I don’t like the idea of woods littered with pad stashes, which seems a bit of an environmental eyesore somehow.  Good to see you continuing the light hangs rehab work.

Despite your not-so-favourable comparisons with Font, you do seem to have got a decent return out of the place and the weather allowed you to get on stuff most of the time.  Great that your A2 injury is holding up well to three days of fairly intensive work and (at least outside) seems to be something you can manage with care.  Continue the rehab programme as it is clearly going in the right direction. 

You will be keen to get back to Rigpa and your project so hope you have had some weather windows that have give you the chance to get out.

Tom Green:  Yes, Fairhead looks a fantastic destination – I have a mate who has been several times and he really rates it – a lot of stunning lines and top-quality climbing if you get the weather.

Hope the neck / back pain is on the mend.  I’ve been nursing a neck strain for months now (though not doing anything to actively rehab).  It hasn’t actually been a limiting factor on anything, but it isn’t improving much either.  I can imagine Strapiombo is the perfect route for that sort of issue!

An impressive way to collect and even improve your weekly running average!  That’s a good distance – marathon length of course – and a decent pace to sustain.  I am quite pleased to keep that up along my local canal for any distance!  Hopefully, you have managed to get back to your other goals this week.

SteveJC94:  Good stuff to see you able to increase the amount that you are doing without getting any reaction.  Fewer sets of the mindless repeaters in this week’s report (probably a relief), but some broad-based strength and conditioning back in the mix, so starting to look like a ‘normal’ sort of week really.

You are continuing with plenty of bike work so should have the platform for some of those long-distance rides as the year progresses.  That said, there must be a fair step from 30km to one hundred milers?  Good to see that your wrist coped fine with a general bouldering session as you would think that puts quite some loads through it and typically at lots of strange angles.  You’re getting back to ‘something like’ and with time to go, so hopefully some of your targets will be approachable when you are on your trip.

In reply to Derek Furze:

part two

Steve Claw:  Thanks for the number Steve though it looks like the plans have changed now anyway!  At some point, the SW will be on the cards and I will let you know when it happens.

Your week looks like work was a big factor in keeping you fairly quiet outside of the days when you actually got out.  From the logbook links provided, it looks like the Avon two were new routes (?) so good work finding these.  I don’t know if there is much of an Avon scene these days – I can remember the days when it was standing room only in the car park at times.  Anyway, hat’s off for keeping the development going at a fairly unique area.

That Bladder Ladder looks intense and it sounds something of a hybrid route with missing bolts and such like.  There are logbook comments about English 6c/7a so it seems pretty tough at 7c.

Ian Parnell:  Good to see another visit to the ice cream van making an appearance!  I guess you might be reporting one of your STG this week following your Monday outing?  Sorry if my rambling reflections and comments seem like ‘advice’ – I’m in no position to provide advice on climbing and really am just trying to make observations based on people’s own comments.  I think I had noted the ups and downs of some of your reports and was really just wondering if the balance might be shifted.  As you say, ‘not falling is not trying’.

Those Stoney West starts can be testing, but looks like a decent evening bash anyway.  It’s an odd crag with a lot of pretty rubbish rock and is essentially minor at best, but I find it strangely attractive.  Good job I still have a few to do there!

Good that you are now onto your four-day week, though amazed that they let you have Mondays!  What we really need is an improvement in the weather though, as there still seems to be plenty of rain-affected days.  Anyway, you’ll only need a few decent Mondays to hit your STG by the month end – shout if you need a partner as I’m often free Mondays.

The Sheep:  An interesting adjustment in technique that seems to deliver good results if you can feel it in the pool already.  Quite often when a technique is changed, it can fell like you’ve gone backwards until the technique is in the groove, so great to see immediate gains.

A useful development at work with all the new equipment creating an incentive to introduce different exercise into the routine.  Some of the modern gym equipment makes for very convenient exercise with very simple changes to weights in comparison to free weights.  Good to see that you’re keeping the distances going with the running as well.  If you can build some cycling in somewhere then you would have a good bit of variety across the week.

Ally:  Thanks for clarifying – it makes sense when it is explained!  I had to check back a couple of weeks though to see that your previous repeater session was at 40% (aerocap focus), whereas this week a similar set (more rest tbf), but with 17.5kg added, so I expect it did feel hard!  I find repeaters really hard work, partly because they are dull, but would struggle to do many with much weight added.  That said, I need a change of stimulus, so might have to force myself to take some on again.

Work sounds quite tough with some long days and travel, but the upside is TOIL!  Good work at the gorge completing the projects so quickly – I had a look at the logbook for the gorge and there is more there than I thought.  Quite a lot of bouldering to go with the stuff on the main wall.  You’ve certainly made the place your own!  Hope you manage to get some time on the 8A project and manage to do so without aggravating the oblique / wrist / etc.

Small Step:  The DIY marathon continues, but mainly the nice bits of putting together the timber surrounds, planting up and such like.  There is another component to get to grips with and then a new car parking area to sort out, but things are now usable whenever the sun shines.

Good to hear that Fit Club helps in some way.  There is always plenty of motivation and advice on training, which helps keep me going to a great extent.  Now that I am through a pretty poor month of training, not helped by poor weather and the patio graft, I am having a bit of a rethink about changing the stimulus and training different systems to some extent.  It is FC that I will turn to for ideas and comment.

Others will have more recent wall experience than myself, but a boulder session as a lead into routes at the wall would probably feel pretty challenging.  Bouldering often means pulling quite hard and is often overhanging, so is likely to drain energy fairly well.  I tend to do one or the other on the very rare visits that I make.

Spring weather at last and a decent walk!

Inglesp:  Great to see your last-minute addition and glad to see that you are away in the hills.  I have seen a few posts looking to try to get out, so delighted that you have got away for a weekend.

Running still progressing well, but the dates are upon us now!  That tempo run looks hard though as sustaining 4.30 feels fast, but then you’d need that to hit 45 minutes for 10 km anyway.  As a dabbler, I’m delighted whenever I go under 30 mins for 5km!

Good work with the 6c+ flash.  As I’ve remarked before, this is so far up the road from HVS that you should see rapid progression once you get some consistent mileage in.  Of course, there are other things to factor in that complicate the experience, but the basic standard is definitely there.

In reply to Derek Furze:

...and my week.

Mon - BH partying in moderation

Tues - A really enjoyable trip out to the Ormes with a couple of mates.  The sun shone and they thought the place (Sticky Mix) was great.  Six routes, although I fell off the top of Sticky Mix itself trying it on the right, having clipped the top bolt from hold on that side.  It was ok when I worked out that I needed to attack the crack direct.

Wed and Thurs - work and childcare

Fri - work then my first steps back to training after a bit of a break.  Just did a light session to start the habit again.

Sat - another light session with weighted pull ups.  Started at 9kg only, and stepped up each set to 15.9kg.  Felt desperate having had a three week break from these!

Definitely thinking that i want to extend my training set up, so puzzling over how to put something functional in place.  In the meantime, I will get my routine going again.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks for the stats.  I think you're right about pace.  I can probably live with a poor recce in the mid-section, which I know better than the start.  Tho that's not surprising, as the start was the far western end of the range which is not exactly well travelled.  I'm going to go up that end more as it was wonderful.  But if I can't even get to the first CP, it's all a bit pointless.

This week:

M - Rest

T - S - Horrible Virus thing!

S - DIY club

Great week for UKC Terribly Ill club and UKC DIY club.  Less good for any kind of training.  Was ill most of the week with a virus that left me sleeping all the time with a terrible headache, sore throat and incredibly sore glands.  Was also very shivery most of Tuesday night and Wednesday.  Took several covid tests as I thought it was that, but they all came back negative.  Decided that now I'm better and today is my birthday that I ought to spend it ripping out the manky old carpet in our bedroom and putting in laminate flooring.  That will be a massive quality of life improvement as I'm a fairly bad asthmatic and the previous owners had a dog.  So I'm hoping it'll make sleep a lot better.

Back to the running and walking properly next week and lets see how it all goes.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Am I right in thinking you are still within striking distance of Portland this week/weekend?

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek, yeah, he's done a really good job down there with cleaning and bolting some real quality.  This week:

Mon. Rest.

Tues. Earth quarry session, felt strong today. A couple of 7As to warm up, one of them onsight. Then managed Crystallise (f7B) which I tried last visit but it was too damp and also Diamond white (f7B). Did another 7B in two overlapping sections but unfortunately slipped of and caught my shin cutting it open badly. No amount of finger tape was going to stop it bleeding so had to head home (soggy red shoe by the car, grim!). Got patched up at home then did a 10km run, super steady pace, with Mrs Swede.

Wed. 7km run, shin sore and still bleeding.

Thurs. 6 sets of repeaters, 5x7 pull ups, 3x10 press ups.

Fri. Rest, drive to Swaledale. Still bleeding through dressing on the leg, begrudgingly conceded that Mrs Swede was probably right and I should have gone and got a couple of stitches in it.

Sat. 30km cycle, first half steady with the kids, second half fast to collect the team car.

Sun. Early doors cycle 20km, 570m ascent. Then hill walk with the kids, 13km round trip to Calver Hill from Grinton. Leg finally stopped bleeding! Weather also much better than expected, could have put the climbing things in after all.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek, yeah, he's done a really good job down there with cleaning and bolting some real quality.  This week:

Mon. Rest.

Tues. Earth quarry session, felt strong today. A couple of 7As to warm up, one of them onsight. Then managed Crystallise (f7B) which I tried last visit but it was too damp and also Diamond white (f7B). Did another 7B in two overlapping sections but unfortunately slipped of and caught my shin cutting it open badly. No amount of finger tape was going to stop it bleeding so had to head home (soggy red shoe by the car, grim!). Got patched up at home then did a 10km run, super steady pace, with Mrs Swede.

Wed. Short session campusing, 7km run, shin sore and still bleeding.

Thurs. 6 sets of repeaters, 5x7 pull ups, 3x10 press ups.

Fri. Rest, drive to Swaledale. Still bleeding through dressing on the leg, begrudgingly conceded that Mrs Swede was probably right and I should have gone and got a couple of stitches in it.

Sat. 30km cycle, first half steady with the kids, second half fast to collect the team car.

Sun. Early doors cycle 20km, 570m ascent. Then hill walk with the kids, 13km round trip to Calver Hill from Grinton. Leg finally stopped bleeding! Weather also much better than expected, could have put the climbing things in after all.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek. Training does indeed show signs of working; I'm champing at the bit now to actually put it into practice.

STG: depends on local weather & conditions
MTG: tick any of my local long term projects and/or a new-to-me 7a 
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber. For measurable definition see Fit Club 823
LTG: Winter 24 or 25 - do an actual off piste ski tour.

Deload week with only one short wall session, followed by a rather frustrating weekend. I was unable to convince any of my regular partners to go to unfashionable Konstein on an iffy looking weather forecast. There were a couple of potential offers on local facebook groups, but after Greece I'm weary of climbing with facebook strangers for the time being. Weather of course turned out perfect; I contemplated going bouldering and/or hillwalking but in the end just sulked at home and went to the wall. Where, however, I had a couple of surprisingly good sessions, so all's well that ends well

M: Had intended to do a rainy bank holiday hillwalk, but was so shattered when I got home from the wall yesterday evening I decided against it. Rest day.

T: Considered heading to Thalkirchen in the evening but then remembered I'm supposed to be deloading. Did some pull-ups & light fingerboarding at home then went to bed early.

W: Wall, Element bouldering. Short and fairly light boulder session

T: Woke up with a stiff lower back, must have fallen wrong off something yesterday. An hour cycling around town on errands.

F: Evening MTB in the woods 2 hours

S: Thalkirchen, kilterboard. Short but good session focused on my new project - another case of what a difference a degree makes. On Wednesday I flashed "power hour 7a" at 10° (not 7A at this angle!) and repeated it easily at 15°. But this was at the end of the session when I was tired, and 20° felt like the living end. Today managed all but one of the moves at 20°. Also filmed myself for the first time in ages and did some useful self-coaching: looks like I'm ok at initiating deadpoint moves from the hips, but poor at holding tension and sag away when I catch the hold, thus expending unnecessary energy and/or falling off. Something to work on, and the filming thing seems like a good idea that I should probably do  more regularly.
    Bike there & back 45 minutes

S: Wall, Freimann. Was definitely feeling yesterday's bouldering on the first couple of routes, and thought I was going to have to take it easy, but then went surprisingly well once I was warmed up. 6a+ 6b 6b/+ 6c+ 6c+ 6a 6b 6b 6b+. Redpointed a 6c+ in two goes and onsighted a handful of 6b/+'s. 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Yeah it is a bit of a Sysphian task. At the moment there are no routes on it that are impossible for me but as I improve I’ll keep over reaching until there are!

One or two at different venues but 20 is bad management, that said only a few are worthy of project status on their own.

The forecasts seem to change from day to day and has been overly pessimistic of late so I’m still hopeful.

M: Battered from Sunday I had  planning to do some easy routes whilst belaying a friend at LPT, another friend had a rope on Down by the Sea (7a+). This was on my unfinished business list so I had a quick TR and the managed to RP next go. When I tried it last year I’d been unable to do the two hard sections but in fact it’s pretty easy for the grade with the correct sequence. Got on Mean Mother but couldn’t do the crux, one more added to the list

W: Pen Trwyn after school club. Warmed up on After the Gold Rush (6c) (another off the list) and then had one TR Mr Chips before the biting wind saw us off

F: The Peugeot was in town so persuaded him down to LPT, after a warm up (always need to walk away with a tick!) I had a TR on Libertango. Very unpleasant and pretty hard so it won’t go on the list (need to make up a rule as to why not, something akin to the 5 second rule for dropped food). I had a very quick look at MM to confirm the crux is too hard and on a tip off I investigated some different beta which will go but may be considered a cop out. By now the tide was lapping at our kit but the Peugeot was unphased (he once redpointed a route at Malham after he’d received a text from his pregnant wife to say her waters had broken!) so he set off up Libertango. We ended up wading out with a lot of wet kit but otherwise unharmed.

Sun: Bribed Fi to belay me at Penmaen head. Weather was perfect and, in some ways, the climbing is better than the more well known NWL crags (I.e. it’s not all about boning hard on sharp crimps). There were highlights and low lights but I finished everything I started and tried hard. Possibly my best day climbing this year and nice to leave a crag feeling thoroughly worked rather than just with screaming skin!

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thankyou Derek for the comments. Apologies if I came across as defensive last week. Your suggestion was a very reasonable one. Yes, I feel I have won out with Mondays off.

STG - E4 end of May (0/1). 20 6th grade boulder problems (16/20). 50 sport routes by end of May (15/50). 30 trad routes by end of May (11/30)

MTG: Pabbay Trip – onsight E5

Mon – Day trip to Avon Gorge with Mr Claw. The Blik (E3 5b) led pitch 1. Amanita Muscarina (E4 6a) led pitch 1, almost led pitch 3 battling 2/3rds of way up before complete meltdown and a decent lob. Steve casually led through to the ice cream van. Didn’t fall asleep and crash on way home – winner!

Tues – rest

Wed – rest

Thurs – Depot bouldering wall: 5 x green, white, blue, black and 3 reds, failed on another 3 reds. Realised was low on pull power so did 30 x blacks and pinks. Tired most of the way through.

Fri – Felt exhausted after a very busy work week, but final forced myself out for a 4 mile run in rain.

Sat – Awesome Walls Lead wall: 5a, 5c, 6a, 6b, 6b+, 6c, 6c, 6c. Felt tired, got pumped did some falling off, not bad session considering.

Sun – Am: Run 1hr 24 - 10 miles, 8.30 per mile. Good hard run, my longest for a couple of years. Pm: Anston Stones, bit of exploring finding spots off the beaten track. Managed 2 x 6Bs both probably closer to 6A.

Reflection

Big effort on Monday. Felt fine on first 2 pitches of Amanita, but cumulative fatigue, rack faff, and pumped brain leading to wrong sequence meant I missed out on the Alzheimer’s flash (29 years since I last did it). Still gave it all I’ve got, and feel I’m really not too far away. Steve showed how to do it properly, looking like he had a couple of grades in hand. Monday’s efforts plus some hard days at work has meant I’ve felt pretty tired all week but pleased to push through and have a decent training week.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thank you Derek,

Its always fairly quiet and apart from about 10 well travelled routes (Morpheus, Gronk etc) not much ever gets done, and you can often have the crag to yourself.

Its an old school sport route, so a bit spaced on the bolts but not really an issue.  I think it was originally 7a+/7b, but loss of a vital hold on the crux has put the grade up. I don't think its been reclimbed since and I'm the only person I know who has done the moves (TR). I think its 7b+/7c but its really hard to grade slab once the holds are that marginal.

I have had good week with some hard wins, despite the less favourable conditions.

M - Trad Day with Ian.  The Blik (E3 5b) as the warm up and I'm glad Ian led P1 as the rock is very XS and really needs some crowbar attention to remove the dangerous rock.  P2 was great and not an issue.  Then the big route for the day Amanita Muscarina (E4 6a) which is an excellent adventure, not overly hard, but sustained and with its fair share of hair raising moments.  I led P2 and then P3 after Ian's respectably large fall just after the crux (I thought he'd made it).  Ice-cream finish and a realisation that the Exploding Galaxy wall has quite a bit more to offer.

T - Rest

W - Uphill and The Handsome Jim Experience (7c) Early in the morning, I sent it first go on TR, and with poor beta, so worked the top a bit more and called a friend to come and belay.  Whilst waiting, the sun came onto the face and things got hot.  I ascended once more to double check the beta, as its a long route and the holds are small.  However this time it was nails due to the heat, and I had to drop my chances of success from 80% in the morning to 40% now.  Mid afternoon I tied in and went for it, easily a full grade harder in the heat, and relying on skin drag on the holds to stay on. Not had to fight that hard on a RP for some time.

T - Rest

F - Revisited my Wild West Project (E6 6c 15deg overhanging endurance with dynamic moves), which I have not touched since the autumn.  All really hard and couldn't do half the moves I could last year.  I really want to get the strength to do this, but the Elbow tendons won't allow the intense training that's required.

S - Rest

S - Felt I needed something else to finish the week and the thought of press-ups just wasn't doing it for me.  Lovely weather, so a quick visit to Avon, where a friend was working Just Searing Away (7b+).  Not the conditions for this one at all, and "searing" was definitely the word to describe it.  But with some determination and inability to accept when I was falling off, I managed to get a clean RP 2nd go.

In reply to Steve Claw:

Strong week Steve! Has the elbow cleared up now or are you just working around it?

In reply to Derek Furze:

Hi all, hope you're enjoying the bank holiday. Thanks for the write up, Derek.

Sorry to hear you're a fellow neck-sufferer! Fortunately, mine appears to be back to normal now -hope yours starts behaving soon (no idea how you rehab a neck? I just ignored mine!)

Reached the end of a training phase this week, so need to re-evaluate STGs etc for next week.

Week 18:

Work got in the way of some planned sessions, with training suffering in comparison to getting out (as usual!). 

M: Rest.

T: Fingerboard testing sesh: max hangs 87kg -only a slight improvement over the last two months and miles off my STG, but no surprise given how inconsistent I've been -deprioritising these sessions in favour of the real thing. Didn't do the strength work as my neck/back still felt tweaky.

W: Alpine start for work (I always note these in a tongue in cheek way, but I do wonder if there is any benefit to getting used to functioning at silly hours of the day? Or maybe it just grinds me down!).

T: As per Weds. Didn't manage to fit in the planned sessions (had hoped to boulder or run on the journey home).

F: Sport at Kilnsey. Opened account on Quiet Flight (original) (7a) -felt desperate and I was climbing terribly -including irrational fear moving past the bolts... not sure what the problem was -maybe just tired from a couple of big work days?

S: Hill day. 42.4km, 4114m vert, 13kg rucksack, 18 hours. Walked the Welsh 3000s (south to north). Big bag, partly as training for Project Alps-fit and partly as I bivvied at the finish. Woke to an amazing sun rise and inversion.

S: Hill day. 26.6km, 1245m vert, 11kg rucksack (I'd eaten and drunk some weight!), 8 hours. Walked back to the car in Pen y Pass. I'd toyed with different ideas for getting back to the car, ranging from a full N-S reversal of the 3000s, to line of least resistance... in the end I went for a chilled option to allow me to miss out the heinous descents of Pen yr Ole Wen and the Glyder Fawr screes -a bit of a cop out but still a good training day for the legs.

Week 19:

M: Rest.

T: Strength and Fingerboard.

W: Run.

T: Climbing.

F: Strength and Fingerboard. 

S: Hill day.

S: Hill day.

STG (end Apr): gave myself one more week on these!

The Jim Grin and/or Consenting Adults (Tick! Consenting)

4 of my big UK mountain day list (5/4)

Average 37.5km running per week. (Tick! -included hill days)

Average 2 board circuit sessions per week (Fail -just hope that climbing volume makes up for this).

Max hangs 93kg (Fail: 87kg)

Pull-ups: 97kg (Fail)

MTG (End July):

Sula (E2 5b)

Classic Envers rock route.

One of my Grande Course wish list.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Good morning everyone. Comprehensive stats as ever, nice work!

Perhaps I was a bit harsh, it's still a really cool place, and I still had a really good time. Maybe I'd think better of the place if it suited my strengths

Yeah this is something I've been paying a bit better attention recently and it seems to be paying in dividends. Snatchy moves on small holds are doable, I think at this point I just need to begin regaining full confidence in the finger.

Annoyingly none of the weather forecasts suggest 5⁰C, dry and breezy! I'll try and have another session soon but I'm expecting to have to write it off until autumn just for the conditions.

A decent week from me. Low volume to rest from an intense weekend, but a good amount of rehab. Still lacking on the antagonists, I just seem to procrastinate a bit too well!

I've added a new goal to work on my tiny edge strength, but still trying to figure out how I can incorporate that into my schedule, as the gym doesn't have any micros, my mate has 10mms but don't want to be reliant on him. I have some 8mm bits of would I might be able to make into a portable edge thing, but don't know how unstable that would be!

Last Week:

M - Travel, see last week.

T - Much needed rest! Ice baths before bed.

W - Weigh-in at 77.7kg. AM very light hangs.

T - AM very light hangs. Evening board sesh. Tried some fingery things. A2 was fine, even ratting, and also on some pretty snatchy moves. Ice baths before bed.

F - AM very light hangs.

S - AM & PM very light hangs.

S - Ogwen. Started off at Caseg Boulder, felt like I was moving a little better on some of the problems but conditions were subpar, quite sunny and pleasant though. Moved onto Harvey Oswald (ss) (V8+) and found what seems like a better sequence linking into the stand, avoiding a desperate small-box move. Need to see how it feels when fresh, might be able to actually stick all the moves and perhaps even some links. Ice baths before bed.

Next Week:

M - Rest.

T - Bouldering.

W - Antagonists.

T - Bouldering.

F - Rest.

S, S - Bouldering.

Goals:

Sort out the A2 injury.

Improve ability on tiny edges.

Rigpa.

Oberth Effect Proj.

Harvey Oswald SDS? I seem to be quite psyched on it!

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Enjoying the strategy of back to back running days as a way of dealing with a savage leg trauma! The 'kill or cure' approach!

In reply to Tyler:

Solid week that. (And no mention of the E-word... are they cured or ignored?!)

Sounds like a fantastic epic on Friday! Adventure sport climbing!

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Cool pics -they remind me of just how terrifying Avon can be! I used to look at routes like AM with awe when I lived in Bristol. Great effort from you and Steve.

In reply to Steve Claw:

I'm with you on the press-ups, but after three strong days on I reckon you'd already had a good week! Great effort!

In reply to Ross Barker:

Mate, what the hell is a small-box move?!

In reply to Tom Green:

One which doesn't suit an inflexible gangly git like me!

In reply to Tom Green:

Tom you're not holding back on your weekends are you! you're an inspiration.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek.

My idea of the midweek sessions is to have short, focussed, sessions to keep ticking over plus S&C work which is making my knees and shoulder feel good. 

M - Gym - went back to deadlifting with a bar having been using the trap bar the last few weeks. Went too fast with the warm up and pulled a muscle in my upper back. It felt bad at first but after a few minutes lying down I was still able to do the rest of my work out, but not anymore deadlifting.

Lancaster Wall - 30 mins continuous climbing

T - Supposed to be a quick board session but I ended up climbing the boulder league problems with my partner. Good session, a bit long though at 2.5 hours. Did my lock offs, landmine and windmills after.

W - Boulder UK 10 min foot on campus x 2. This feels brutally effective. I stand on a stool and the aim is to keep it to a consistent feeling of 80% output.

Shoulder S&C work

T - Didn't make the gym - again.....

F - Supposed to be the first day of 4 in the Duddon valley but the forecast was rubbish so we went to Kendal wall and did the league problems. Similar session to Tuesday.

S -  Gaitkins. Forecast was not optimistic at all but we lucked out finally. This crag was chosen primarily as my partner needed to tick Cold Pike off the Wainwright's list (we accidentally missed it on a Langdale walk) so we did that first and then headed down to the crag.

Good little crag. A little early season in condition and it was damp here and there but well worth a visit.

Tup's Purse (E1 5b) - My lead, great route. 2* in the guide and I'd agree with that.

Furrowed Brow (E1 5b) - Seconded. 3* in the guide and again I'd agree with that.

Take Three (E3 6a) My lead and another fall. I got wrong handed and tried to go for a cross through move to sort it out. Hard to see what was going to be a good hold or a bad hold and I chose wrong. Pleased that I tried hard and fell again. A half seated No1 nut is what held me, the well seated micro cam blew. Interesting and one to test on future fall practices.

Faulty Tower (HVS 5a) - Seconded, another good route.

S- Someone in the group had a PDF from the FRCC website of a crag they'd been to the day before. It is in the Duddon guidebook, but with only 2 routes on it. They declared it really good, so a few of us went to check it out. It wasn't really.... Mossup (or Mossoff) is what it's known as. It's not on here.

E1 5a - seconded - a warm up for my partner who thought she was on a VS.

E2 5b - Lead - fairly straightforward once I went the way I decided made sense rather than the contradictory info from the PDF and guidebook.

VS 4c - second

HVS - lead

We left early as the forecast looked abysmal for today.

I've got Friday and Sunday for climbing next week. One sport day and one trad day. 

I will be better at sticking to what I should be doing this week rather than going off piste.

In reply to Ian Parnell:

I wouldn’t go that far, but thanks! 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Cheers Derek, definitely want to fit the cycling in, it’s more  a case of when. At least I can take comfort in the fact that if I have good running base fitness then the cycling comes relatively easily. Doubt it will be this week as I have another half marathon on Sunday 😊

Had a good week of steady training for the half.

Monday, took advantage of the bank holiday to get a long run in. 22km trail run with some decent hills in too. Felt good and probably the last long run before the event.

Tuesday, gentle pootle in the pool being mindful of good technique 

Wednesday, hit the gym for the first full weights set. Felt good but also way out of practice for this kind of lark! Hit the pool after but arms and legs were all over the place, felt like I wash thrashing around but going nowhere. Guess swimming after weights is going to take some getting used to!

Thursday, DOMS! Ouch, so many aching muscles. Managed a km in the pool at lunchtime followed by a much needed stretch class. Went for a run in the evening and boy was that tough going. 12km of pure discomfort!

Friday, gentle 1k swim 

Saturday, off in the caravan for a long weekend away. Not far from home but a pretty little spot in an old orchard so nice and peaceful and quiet 

Sunday, had some time to myself so popped out for a trail run and clocked another 14km.

Feel like the hard work has been done for next Sunday’s event now and can enjoy a taper week. Any gym work will have to be early in the week!!!!

In reply to Tom Green:

I thought at first you were referring to trad climbing which is definitely being ignored! The elbows are not getting worse which is a good thing, at my current level and avoiding bouldering they remain sore after climbing so it remains to be seen what happens if I increase the intensity (as I must).

In reply to Tom Green:

I always make this joke to Fi whenever I face moments of discomfort   (“The heating’s packed up again”, “All training for the Walker spur” etc) but in the case you describe there must be an enormous benefit in normalising alpine starts and knowing how you function on little sleep. I’ve never slept before alpine routes and it’s more often the thought of having to get up early that has caused me the most worry, if you can eliminate that then it’s bound to help  

Are you sure you’re not diddling yourself out of a ‘+’ here? If you were on the orignal the I’d get on the direct instead and not just because it has a harder grade!

In reply to Ian Parnell:

I wish I’d done them 29 years ago when I had the chance, now they’ll remain undone or, if I do get on them, pretty harrowing. If I had done them I definitely would not be going back, the rock and the run outs do not look inviting!
On an unrelated note, what’s the crab through on the photo below? I can’t work out what’s going on

In reply to Tyler: that’s a Mr Claw special! You’ll have to get him to explain. He talked me through it and it was still a bit beyond me. Something about a widget  for roped soloing. Sounded much more terrifying than Exploding Galaxy Wall

In reply to Tyler:

Its a "Skinner" 3D printed grommet used to prevent back feed when leading rope solo. Essentially once you get a way up the route, the weight of the rope starts to pull through the device and makes a pile on the floor.  The grommet stops that by taking the weight of the rope (slides down and clamps the rope). Other popular items to do it are prussiks, rubber bands and bulldog clips, but they can't be easily added mid crux.

I rarely do it, but they are a pain to remove, so have stayed there.

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Unfortunately not, just working around it by only climbing vertical stuff, on which I feel as strong as ever.

As gradual loading seems to be the recommended rehab, I have started to push a little more on the intense stuff to see how it goes.

In reply to Derek Furze:

thanks Derek.

Yes, there isn’t that much depth of quality but there’s enough decent routes, particularly about the HVS sort of grade, for a decent day out

yes, a great relief!

yes, do!

Monday - travel back from the in-laws

Tuesday - shoulder rehab

Wednesday - shoulder rehab

Thursday - about 4 mile round trip to work & nursery.

Friday - travel to my folks

Saturday - portable fingerboard. 3-finger drags were about as strong as when I last used the portable fingerboard over half term - bw+8 for 13secs. Front 3 and back 3 were a few seconds down - ~6 seconds at bw+8 for front 3 and ~8s at bw+6 for back 3. At the very end I experimented with offset 3 and 2 finger open hand hangs - not really fresh enough to explore where I was with it but it did at least suggest it was plausible.

Sunday - the silver lining of not getting to go climbing was the opportunity to see a friend from uni that I’ve not seen in years. Sitting in the sun drinking wine doesn’t exactly count as training though. A few sets of pushups.

In reply to AJM:

Good God!  Why has nobody mentioned this before?  If sitting in the sun drinking wine doesn't count as training, then I fear I shall have to resign my role on the clear evidence of a fraudulent approach!

Still trying to establish plans for my family meet up next weekend, but it already looks busy.  I may be free Monday evening if that works at all?  If not, then I will continue to bore my gang on the merits of Swanage!

In reply to Derek Furze:

Monday 15th? That could potentially work, yeah. I'll check with mrsAJM and let you know.

In reply to Steve Claw:

Thank you, I followed enough of that to realise it’s not something I need to concern myself with!

In reply to Tom Green:

Cheers Tom, yeah, I'd sort of committed to both runs and didn't want to let people down. I did a short one today and it was sort of grumbling again. Might have a week of turbo and fingerboarding to let it recover a bit more.

In reply to Tyler:

Glad you mentioned that about Quiet Flight… I thought I was doing the direct (straight up the wall using the first two bolts on Allakazam then traversing right, up through the undercuts, then back left to the arête) and thought the original was the same line but started from up the corner to the right. But my partners (who have a much more encyclopaedic knowledge of Yorkshire sport than me) said that the direct is the finish up through the steep ground (avoiding the Allakazam arete until the last bolt) and that starting up the corner is something else all together?

Either way, I plan on doing the start up the wall and the finish out left to the arête… whatever grade that is! Would be happy to get a + though… feels nails!

In reply to Derek Furze:

Yeah, in hindsight i was probably more at 70% and am now at 90%. Another rather quite week for me, but it is getting better

Recap last week:

Mon-Tues: Rest, still feeling a little bit ill

Wed: Easy hang board session. A couple of warmup hangs and then 3x3-5s at 133% BW. Afterwards one-arm lockoff at 120°, 90° and 170° for around 10s. 4x10 bodyweight pullups with 3 min rest. Fingers felt weak, but lockoffs went suprisingly well.

Thur: Rest

Fri: Another easy hang board session. A couple of warmup hangs and then 3x3-5s at 133% BW. Skipped the one-arm-lockoff as i was still a little bit sore from them; 4x12 bodyweight pullups with 3 min rest

Sat: Rest

Sun: Wanted to try Chasin' the Trane (Helmut Albrecht Gedenkweg) (7c), but two key holds were dripping wet which made a redpoint try impossible. A little bit frustating but i probably would not had the fitness to climb it anyway. Instead, i checked out the neighbooring route Hitchhike the Plane (7c+) again. As expected i was not in the same shape as in March and first crux moves before the 3rd bolt felt way harder. Tried out a different sequence that was less powerfull and much faster, albeit more risky and low percentage. Felt close but could not stick the move to the jug that you use to clip the 3rd bolt. Not sure if this solution makes sense or if my original method was better.

Goal for this week, is to get back in a training rythm and do a little bit more climbing and less hangboarding. Not sure if i am able to go outside as the weatheforecast is not looking very good for the weekend. It will also be a rather busy week at work, so maybe a relaxed weekend and some training in the gym without performance pressure won't be that bad at all.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Is anyone free (weather allowing) for a climb in the peak this Friday. Maybe High Tor but open to ideas?

In reply to Ian Parnell

If you don't find a day time partner then I'd be keen after work (finish at 3pm in chapel). Obviously take the all day partner if you can get one though.

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

thanks will let you know

In reply to Derek Furze:

Cheers Derek. Pretty quiet week training wise as had to squeeze all my jobs in to the 4 day week. Still managed to do a bit.

Definitely. 80.7kg this week so another -1.3kg and -7.8kg in 10 weeks - weird picking up 8kg of weights and feeling how much I’ve lost.

Yeah I didn’t really get any better when training on it so think it’s more useful as a testing tool (and it’s great fun). Mixture of losing weight/OAPU/Lockoff training has increased my gains (I think).

Still buzzing! Probably zero carryover to climbing but think I’ve been trying these since I got Steven Low’s - ‘Overcoming Gravity’ (7 years ago!?)

Tue

Fingers, OAPU, Antags

• OA Hangs 6x 10s 35mm (86%BW)
• Micro Hangs 3x 5s 8mm (BW)
• Micro Pull-ups 5x 1 8mm (86%BW)
• OAPU Negatives w/Lockoff at Top/90/120 3x 1 (86%BW)
• Wall Handstands 3x 45s
• Good Mornings 3x 10
• Forward Fold (fists on floor)

Thu

Wall

• Micro Hangs 3x 7s 8mm (BW)
• OAPU Assisted (free hand on shoulder) 3x 1
• Campus Board (32mm Metolius Rungs): 1-4-6, 1-3-5.5, 1-5
• 3x 10s BA Planche on Parallettes
• Hour bouldering on the comp wall.

Sun

Trip to Costa del Portland.

Far too hot for vertical limestone crimping. Flailed badly on Pastoral (f7B) and Stompin' with Bez Direct (f7B+) with no improvement on my previous high point. Climbed Years Around the Sun (f7A+) in two halves to work out the crossover move but then didn’t have any beans left for the full line. Should go easy when fresh.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek. My oblique is getting better, but wrist regressing a bit this week.

Week 18

BHM – Lazy

T – 5x10 BW pull-ups on-the-minute (surprisingly pumpy). Yves style 20mm edge lifts in half-crimp. Progressive warm-up, then 5x working sets of 4x reps @66kg. Getting hard now. Saxonbar max DL; worked up to 81kg. I got 86kg off the floor but didn’t lock out the lift.

W – Lazy

T – Quick hit at Manley Knoll. First time there, so lots to have OS/flash goes at. <2hrs and 6x ≥7A ticked. Lovely holiday grades; shamone! e.g. Kenopsia (V10) Evening session; Saxonbar max DL; worked up to 83kg. 86kg wouldn’t budge this time. 51kg in the wider (100mm) orientation. Aero-cap hangs; 7/3/6/1 @40% (BW-20kg).

F – Lazy

S – 33km flat ride at >29kph. Pretty hard.

S – 5x5 BW pull-ups on-the-minute. Warm-up, 2-arm 10s hangs; 2x20, 2x25, 2x30kg. 1-arm hangs; 2x BW-10kg then 6x BW-5kg.  Less shoulder burn than before. Micro hangs; 6mm BW+9kg. 4x5s hangs. Wrist a bit achy.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks Derek, late to the game this week after bank holiday shenanigans. Good work getting back into the weighted pull-ups. 

Yeah absolutely, it's amazing how much difference even an extra hour in the saddle makes, though building up a consistent zone 2 base really helps.

M - Flat zone 2 ride. 40km / 104m ascent / 1hr24mins / 28.5km/h average

T - HB repeaters @40%. 20mm edge / varied grips / 7s on 3s off x 6 / 10 sets

W - Aerocap session - 3 sets of 10 minutes easy climbing on the circuit board. Strength & conditioning - Twisting crunches 16 x 3 / Push-ups 10 x 3 / Pull-ups 5 x 5 / Chest press 8 x 3

T - Flat zone 3 ride. 16km / 29mins / 33km/h average

F / S / S - Rest (ish!) with a very beery long weekend in Gdansk

T-minus 2 weeks till Pabbay now and with lots of life admin and work to get out of the way first I'll likely have a fairly light couple of weeks before the trip.

In reply to Derek Furze:

...although completely by chance I saw a Jezb video blog thing where he was discussing ' which is harder, 7a or E1'. He concluded E1, which surprised me ! 🙂

In reply to Derek Furze:

My initial thought was 'Ludicrous!' but I guess it depends how the question is posed. If it's what could the average wall based climber, after a years indoor climbing training, do on their first visit outdoors then probably more could redpoint 7a than onsight E1. Anyway we could derail fit club with this kind of debate

In reply to Ian Parnell:

It does totally depend on the question, and the climber. 

I came into climbing via a trad background - low grade uni club puntering around. I climbed very occasional E1/2 before I did any real sport climbing, but in terms of "grades I would regularly lead at" probably worked 7b and onsight E2 were fairly consistent in time and the year or two I was climbing regular E3 and the odd E4 I was probably redpointing 7c or the odd 7c+.

I was/am fairly analytic about doing moves and I have a good memory for sequences which are both things that are of more benefit working routes than onsighting them. And then I need a lot of mileage to be comfortable at my perceived limit on trad specifically, which means there's a further gap to overcome between my sport and trad onsight level.

In reply to AJM:

Although having said this I probably suffer some of the same thoughts about people's relative sport and boulder grade, in that as someone who has generally been strength limited I tend to assume that the equivalence between boulder and sport grades is at a lower boulder grade than many!

In reply to AJM:

I'm aware that this topic could easily take over this thread and perhaps that's something that fit clubbers don't want. But my personal view is a well rounded climber with a good balance of mental and physical skills plus relevant experience in all styles would climb something like:

Onsight E1, Sport 6a/+, Boulder Font 5, worked Trad E3, Sport 6b+, Boulder Font 6A

or Onsight E3, Sport 6c, Boulder Font 6A+, Worked Trad E5, Sport 7a+, Boulder Font 6C

or Onsight E5, Sport 7b, Boulder Font 6C, Worked Trad E7, Sport 8a, Boulder Font 7B 

In reply to Derek Furze:

So I should be free Monday evening, although at the minute it looks potentially a bit damp. I'll keep an eye on it as we get nearer.

In reply to Ian Parnell:

The sport/trad onsight grades are basically saying you climb the same grade on bolts as on gear, right? Most grade conversion tables would say that E1 could be Fr6a climbing, ditto (hard) E3 Fr6c and (hard!) E5 Fr7b. 

Maybe it's a question of what the sport onsight grade is (how steadily you onsight at the grade), but there's no way on my hardest sport onsights I'd have reached the chains carrying a full trad rack of extra weight and stopping in odd places for a while to simulate placing gear. If you think of your sport onsight grade as the grade you onsight maybe 90% of, then maybe theres a bit more reserve there.

In reply to AJM:

Perhaps you're right - the thing is many trad routes are given over inflated sport grades. There are of course big ranges within an E grade E1s sport 5-6a+, E3 sport 6a-6c+, E5 sport 6a+-7c!! For example imo: The Rasp E2 is sport 6a/6a+, Great Wall (Cloggy) E4 is sport 6b/6b+, The Moon (Gogarth) E3 is sport 6a+/6b, Star Wars (Pembroke) E4 is sport 6b/6b+, Mysteries (Pembroke) E3 is sport 6a+. Robert Brown (High Tor) E3 is sport 6b, Jermyn Street (Millstone) E5 is sport 6c/6c+. Fay and Pacemaker (Sharpnose) E5, Dinosaur (Gogarth) E5 all sport 6c. Amanita E4 that Steve and I did this past week is 6b+ sport grade well protected with the scary bit sport 6a. Of course there are examples you could choose that are harder usually on Peak or Yorkshire Lime and I suspect in Northumberland. Bouldery routes would probably get bigger sport grades because the hanging on to place gear aspect is taken out of the equation. As you say once you're placing gear it all feels so much harder so even a hard E5 stamina route like London Wall gets I think (not done it) 7a+.

Anyway all idle speculation - a good friend of mine used to have 2 grades Piss! or Impossible! i.e. you can do it or you can't

In reply to AJM:

OK AJM.  I will also keep an eye out and certainly pack some kit.  It does look like the family jamboree may mean that we will be out on a boat on Monday, but I will let you know over the weekend as the plans crystallise.

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Wow!  I guess we have to thank Jez's blog for starting an interesting debate!

I had a slightly mad reflection that more trad might get done if sports grades were applied in UK guides (even for trad) with the clear indication that these were for guidance only.  At least people introduced via walls would have a better idea of what they were up against in one sense.  I must also admit, that I've done the odd badly bolted 6b and it felt more like an E2 on the day.

In reply to AJM:

I don't think Ian's numbers are far off based on my experience in the 90s.  Certainly couldn't os 7b anything like 90% of the time (more like 10%), but most of my E5s were on the easier end of the grade and had climbing that was more like 6c to 7a.  E grades are wider than french grades and not many E5s have 7b climbing on them and those that do are probably sandbagged well protected routes that are pretty hard to onsight. 

From my personal experience I  found redpointing 8a the hardest on the list though I've never worked harder trad routes and don't really boulder that much.

In reply to Ian Patterson:

A lot of this will be down to what kind of climber you are. When I was going well I was weak but bold and so managed to onsight a handful of 7a+s but onsighted about 60 E5s and redpointed one 7b+ after 3 days of effort and have never bouldered harder than 6B+. On the flipside I knew several climbers whose hardest trad onsight was E5 who had either climbed 8c, bouldered 8B or even headpointed E9. Variety is the spice of life.

In reply to both Ian's:

I think we're sort of not that far apart, maybe. If you said that the trad grade was for doing the easier end of the grade (Ian Patterson) or routes that were maybe a bit runout or otherwise have a bit of a "big feel" contributing towards the grade (Ian Parnell you didn't say this in so many words but your list included a fair few like this - The Moon, Amanita, I assume Dinosaur, I vaguely remember Robert Brown being a bit runout, Mysteries is usually considered soft for the grade...) then that might work for a good trad leader. But I'm still not sure it would work if you also had to be able to do the really physically hard stuff at the grade. 

In reply to Ian Parnell:

I thought I was pretty weak! Reckon that shows pretty impressive levels of skill and control.

In reply to AJM:

Yes I think we're closer to agreement. There are of course several types of physically hard - sustained stamina climbs are physically hard - I did Ok on these, where as bouldery cruxy climbs are also physically hard and I avoided those like the plague. Now I'm super choosey specialising in soft touches  

In reply to Ian Patterson:

or abject levels of strength and power!

In reply to Ian Parnell:

I'm never happier than on a wildly overgraded route covered in big holds, those are my favourite

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Onsighted 60+ E5s and never bouldered harder than 6B+? That sounds ridiculous! Did you just never go bouldering and had never tried a 6C?

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Is that really realistic? ( I only seconded Pacemaker but thought it was definitely harder than 6c)

In reply to Tyler:

I think so. When I did it, I'd been climbing at Sharpnose quite often so was used to the style. It's a soft touch E5 with the first half pretty easy. I'd say it felt like onsighting a 7a (if you weren't used to the style then add a grade - 7a+). But in reality you're climbing a 6c, but having to stop every 4th or 5th move for often up to 3-5 minutes and fiddle in gear, occasionally you're stopping halfway through a move in an awkward position to fiddle in that gear (this gear faff is worth a full grade i.e now 6c+ if we're assuming we started at 7a+) Then add the fact that because your fall is not guaranteed to be stopped by a nice shiny bolt there's a part of your subconscious that will slightly hold back particularly on bouncy committing moves (That's another half grade off). All in my IMO of course

In reply to Tyler: thinking about this grade difference between what individual climbers can climb on sport and on trad, and wanting to broaden the discussion to make it more relevant to fit club I wonder if this discussion raises questions of how much attention we give to training our mental preparation as opposed to focusing only on physical issues. All of us myself included post every week lots of physical training (some really impressive) but I’ve seen very little about addressing other aspects needed for maximising our climbing. Biscuits fall practice was a notable recent exception. maybe not relevant to many of the goals some fit clubbers have but it does stand out to me as a notable abscence. 

In reply to Derek Furze:

My weekly post unfortunately timed - interrupting the flow of an interesting discussion….

Hi Derek, thanks again for your helpful remarks and observations. Good to hear that the ‘nice bits’ of the DIY are now on the agenda – enjoy the work and the afterwork bask…

One thing about motivation I’ve found is that just posting the activities helps anchor me, like a pylon in the tide of whatever gets washed from the past and impinges on the present. Before the Fit Club I would inevitably just be swamped by it all, get discouraged, and the doused enthusiasm would mislead me to want to quit, the all encompassing pessimist shrug of ‘why bother’… those days seem to have increasingly less weight / are receding, and if indeed I’m gaining just a smidgin of clarity about all this, then – prior to the gains in training & climbing motivation – the Fit Club has played an integral role…keep showing up – it’s the only motto I need probably.

Mon: wall, Thalkirchen, May / Labour Day holiday here, family climbing that took a twist at the end: 5c, 4 x 6a+, 6c, 3 x 6b, 6b+/6c…12 routes; ran into a guy I know who was there for autobelays, but they were all full; so my wife handed him over to me – besides a new contact, noteworthy only in so far as the 6b+/6c was the twelfth route and I was delighted to do it on-sight. Seems to indicate that to my general climbing fitness is quite good for the plastic grades I climb.
Tue: upper body exercises & stretching
Wed: wall, Thalkirchen, the day the black dog arrived in full after taking a whole week to creep up on me – but I turned up and tried to do what I could – movement was actually OK, but at some point I just had to hang…on the rope of course.
Thu: stretching - decided to take a break from the wall for the rest of the week...
Fri: stretching & hang board session
Sat: gentle riverside walk & stretching
Sun: long stretching session in the sun, a light jog, 3 sets of modest planks, push ups, squats with the weight vest on…

Dire weather here continues…

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Hi Ian,

watching this Dave MacLeod video I recalled your post on Gogarth and making probably not the best decision for your first route. And generally, just getting back the 'mental' fitness needed for trad climbing after a break. Maybe something in there for you and others. Even as a 'bolt clipper' I found some of it well worth mulling over - feeling comfortably uncomfortable....

youtube.com/watch?v=o3JuLbLZ3wc&

I'm looking forward to reading about Fit Clubbers and the mental game / preparation.
Maybe even a second thread is in the offing - Mental Fit... : )

I'm yet to get to grips with specific preparation for xyz. I hope that will come.
At present I'm plotting cross-fertilization / complementing factors.
Climbing is indispensable to the embodiment process within my trauma therapy, while breathing meditation and qi gong heighten my body awareness, intereoception - which helps my climbing - slight adjustments in body position, kinaesthetics....which is just general life preparation, really...I'm suddenly intrigued to see if I can harness them for a specific climbing goal in the future.

In reply to Small Step:

Thanks for the recommendation - I watched it last night - interesting!. There are some parts I’m not totally convinced by but typically for Dave he gets you thinking differently about things. In fact in Dave’s videos and his books he’s really good at highlighting areas other than physical training that are crucial for a well rounded climber. His recent technique videos for example have been brilliant.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Cutting it fine again, sorry.

Mon - Week 6 long run: 16km at 5:30/km.

Tue -

Wed morning - Week 7 easy run: 6km at 6:30/km.

Wed evening - Social climbing indoors, including flashing a couple of new 6cs.  Awkward, but my kind of route.

Thu - Week 7 fartlek run: 20 sets of 1 minute at 4:30/km and 1 minute recovery.

Fri - Driving to North Wales.

Sat - Climbing in the morning in the Pass, highlight was Brant Direct (HVS 5a); climbing in the evening at Dinorwic.

Sun - Dawn trail run around Newborough Warren (14km).  Much more fun than the kind of road/towpath running I've been doing for the last couple of months!  Afternoon circuit of Moel Siabod via the Daear Ddu ridge, followed by beer and cake in the sun at PyB.

In reply to AJM:

Ah, this old chestnut.

7C/8a/E3

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Bit of a late response here! Sorry Ian. Dave putting up videos quicker than I can reply to posts...and the discussion going off in productive tangents...

Yes, I have seen them and they're excellent - even without consciously intending to, I seem to have absorbed some of the points and find myself noticing the angles etc when on warm-up routes; or more actively engaging the feet and activating the 'chain' to the core...also training of course, in at least it would be ideal that this begins to occur automatically - which I'm pretty sure is a major point Dave makes as well in 9 out of 10.  Next up for me I think would be the timing of the switch from starting a move loose and relaxed and then tensing at the right moment...