UKC

It seems as though there is some enthusiasm for another meet up, shall we start talking dates and venues? If we want to make N Wales the venue I’m happy to do something like last year but I’d need to check which weekends are free with Fi.

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:

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/walls+training/ukc_fit_club_week_878

Alan Little - You’re really getting into this wilderness explorer stuff, next you’ll be buying a pulk and dragging tractor tires around for training. Careful with the dynos, it’s all good fun until someone pulls a shoulder!

Somerset Swede Basher - Quiet week by your standards but probably deserved. I expect this week  you’ve ramped up again arm permitting.

Ian Parnell - Pretty sure a mountaineer of your pedigree didn’t need encouraging out into the cold and dark by a boulderer! Re. The running, I expect it’s like climbing training and dieting in that 90% of the benefit can be derived from trying hard, not damaging yourself and consistency. The differences between the various plans only becomes relevant when you approach the margins.

Tigh - Welcome aboard. Climbing Mont Blanc is a great goal and one which gives us all an opportunity to blather on about training, tactics and the pros and cons of different routes. Out of interest, roughly what age are you?

Derek Furze - The energy system thing has been the guiding principle of FC for nearly 15 years and I never really understood it until I saw this video which, if you’ve not seen it, is worth a watch. https://youtu.be/Jon4kSxXfPk?si=n7H49exZcGFG1-2h. Ally’s perspective on warming up sounds like advice worth taking.

Steve Claw - 7b onsight is not to be sniffed at, soft or not. There was a bloke who used to frequent the walls of Manchester bouldering in trainers as he thought it was of benefit. He may have been correct but I never saw him outdoors so no idea. Anyway your ‘in trainers’ bouldering session sounds more productive than one of my committed ones, although I’m not sure that tells me anything I didn’t already know!

Ross Barker - “soft 7b” seems to be grade du jour! I’ve never heard anyone call Super Hans soft before though.  That boulder looks mint and you’ve reminded  me to get down there. I hope you cashed in on the cold connies this week.

Ally Smith - Has Shoulder Move been vanquished? If so was it improved technique/beta or have you got even stronger. Until last week I would have assumed only getting stronger would do it but then I watched that video of Alex Puccini and Toby Roberts on the Kilter Board, there was a bit on that that was quite revelatory.

Tom Green - As ever good work on getting out even if you didn’t get as much done as hoped. You’ve chosen a good time to leave the country as well good luck out there and be safe.

Small Step - If I’ve understood your challenge correctly you’ve now completed 6 routes which qualify for your challenge but you need to do them all in a session whereas you’ve only managed 3 in a session so far? Regardless it looks like you are closing in and the qualifying routes ought to become easier, I guess success will depend on the challenge end date (or does it end when the first person achieves the goal)? Useful discovery on the mindset required to breakdown larger goals.

SteveJC94 - Right, now I can say it…. ‘I hope you had a good trip’. Also hope the hilly cycling payed dividends and you were able to ski as much as you wanted.

Randy - I trust you took your own advice and laid off the pull-ups, at least for part of the week?

mattrm - I think you and I are in the same boat, we’ve slowed down a bit on the progress we made pre-Christmas and now need to get back to better habits before we reverse all the good work. That said, if you only had one chance for a run last week you knocked it out of the park!

the sheep - Does “reducing volume and  increasing quality” mean going faster? “Not a concept i have really considered before”, always good to mix things up.

dave frost - Welcome and, I think I speak for everyone when I say, we are looking forward to hearing tales of falling off E5s. Even better if there is footage!

biscuit - your target looks great, I can see why you’d want to get your knee bar game on point.

AJM - Diligent rehabbing - good job!

Ed Booth - Good to see you getting out, you and Ross are making me reassess what’s possible here in Jan instead of defaulting to the Beacon and whinging about not being in Spain!

In reply to Tyler:

Reasonable week for effort, less so for attainment.

M: First session on board for months. Struggled with warm ups and went for longer and easier circuits. End of session tried my hard circuit, didn't quite get to previous high point but did ok as I was breaking in new boots (actually these might have helped). This was the first circuit I set and was originally meant to be a warm up but I know realise it equates to about 7b indoors!

W: In London for work so went to Bethwall which was good and as I was there in the afternoon pretty quite and hipster free. Did about the same as usual but for longer than usual so all good.

F: Was meant to meet Joe at Beacon but he was unwell and decided the extra days rest would do me good.

S: Persuaded Fi that belaying me at the Beacon was the best way to spend her day off. I'd been excited about going for ages as there were new routes on the big wall and I was finally going to flash some 7a and possibly a 7a+. As it was I got my pants pulled down by three 6c+ and a 7a+. The less said about the 7b the better. Going to have to wait another month now....

S: 22 mins yoga, very worthwhile.

Weight has crept back up to 11st 2lb, I'm trying to kid myself that its because I've increased my bouldering volume so am more hench but the mirror says otherwise.

In reply to Tyler:

I feel judged....

In reply to Tyler:

Brilliant 😂😂😂😂

In reply to Tyler:

Cheers Tyler. The arm has been a bit grumbly in some positions and a bit achy afterwards but it's been too good conditions this week not to get out! I've not slept much this week. I've got about an hour's worth of work to do before tomorrow then I'm off to bed!

Mon. Stanage boulder session. -5 at the car! Did Twister Direct (f7A) third go. It was catching the breeze though and I couldn't keep warm so headed to the lee side of the boulder and did Pebble Arête Sit-start (f7A) ( got a bit scared at the top in the dark). Headed over to try Captain Hook again. Repeated all the moves and found a slight better right foot position for the crux but never managed it from the start. It's pretty skin intensive and I went through a tip so walked down and whizzed the car up to apparent north and tried a 7A there. By now my hot water bottle was cold so I couldn't rest long between goes without the shivers setting in. Got it in two halves but couldn't link. Not back til nearly 11pm.

Tues. Rest, worked late to free up the rest of the week.

Wed. Had to take the kids to swimming and do bedtime so didn't leave the house til gone 7pm. Headed over to Bleaklow for easy winter link ups, Deer Knowl (Winter) (II) followed by Lawrence Edge No 1 (Winter) (I) and Lawrence Edge No 2 (Winter) (I) then dropped back to the car, moved a few miles down the road then back up to the moor top for Torside Gully (Winter) (II). In bed by 1am.

Thurs. Quick Mam tor hit squeezed between the end of work and taking the boy to beavers. Did O'Neal's Ledge (II) which I've backed off twice before so was pleased to finally get it done.

Fri. Out to stanage again after kiddy bedtime. Did Slope Pius IX (f7A) which I'd worked on Monday after finding a different foothold at the crux. Spent ages working some new (or at least I can't see a record of it) stuff. Probably two 7A+s but I didn't quite link them so am keen to go back.

Sat. Mostly rest then got really drunk! Another late one.

Sun. Simulated altitude boulder session at the depot. Did most of the purples that I had left to try.

Need a couple of rest days to start next week. Hopefully get out for a boulder on Wednesday and routes on Saturday weather permitting.

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Crikey!  Unbelievable commitment and enthusiasm!

In reply to Derek Furze:

Is that just the partying!?

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

"Anyone fancy a lantern session at the Tor?"

"Sure, I'm getting close on Ben's"

"Erm....."

In reply to Tyler:

There were other headtorches out there that night and early the next morning (I'm hoping not the same ones!)

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

I meant the night climbing which I'm very impressed with, but full marks for partying as well.

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Cor Blimey Swede! If you can be this psyched in the cold and dark. Stanage better brace itself for when we begin to get decent evening light.

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Old Friends is first on the hit list for when I can do more than 4 moves without numbing out.

In reply to Tyler:

Thank you Tyler,

Its been freezing here, but when I have managed to find the sun, its been lovely.

Had a busy week, as I could see a dry week, with a wet one coming in (now).

Nothing notably hard this week, but a fair bit of volume.

Elbow update is (touch wood) looking a bit better.  I did have both Tennis in the right, and Golfer in both.  I was playing the drums, which I knew was not helping, so I have put a temporary stop on that and the Tennis went straight away.  The approx 2 week rest over Christmas has helped the Golfers loads. I do realise that now is the time I really need to do the strengthening exercises to actually fix things.

M - Slab climbing at  Shakemantle Quarry (Ruspidge Slab Quarry) 5 x routes E1-E2

T - Brean - The famous Cyclops Slab (HVS 4c) followed by a new route L’ethal Desire (7a+) 

W - Nothing

T - Fun in the sun at Wyndcliffe Quarry. A load of shunting, a new 6c+ sport route and a new E2.

F - Chasing the sun at Staple Edge and Shakemantle- VS, E1, HVS, E1  The best route bay far being The Horned One (E1 5b)

S - Indoor boulders with my youngest.  Started on the numbered circuit board to get warmed up and "training in trainers" managed the F5, 6a+and 6b+, but failed on the 6c.  Rock shoes sorted it with 6c and 7a+. Followed by a few boulders V5-V6.

S - Rest - woke up aching all over.

In reply to Tyler:

Weight - 12st 4lbs

STG - Maintain diet for Jan.

MTG - flat 10k 1 hour

LTG - 30 mile ultra (July 24) and 86 mile (Sept 24)

BHAG - F7A boulder somewhere....

M - 4km, 500m, Blorenge

T - Rest

W - Waun Fach run, 400m asc, 11k

T - F - Rest

S - 2k run

S - Elbow pre-hab

Weekly kms - 17km

Diet status - Average

Really happy with this week.  Definite improvement in the diet.  Lots of good running and plenty of height gain.  Went for a lovely run on Saturday with my son.  Definitely going to try and push the distance a bit more next week.  If the weather is ok, I'll see if I can do around 15k-20k on the long run.

Tyler, I hear you about the wall situation.  One isn't really that far, but the roads down to it are really slow, so it takes ages.  I ought to try it again and see.  It's probably the best option at this point.

Also forgot to say, it's been a solid DIYClub week as well.  Load of furniture built.  Fixed a few sockets the plasterer stuffed up.  Made progress on a few other jobs.

As for the week 900 meet.  I'm definitely very interested.  It doesn't have to be the exact 900 week, we'll just try and get closish to it.  Happy to travel anywhere really.

In reply to Tyler:

STG (this month) – maintain a grip on daily life, get good weekly routine going. 1. Climb some E1s without falling off.

MTG (next 2 months)– 1. Give me strength – shoulders and core. 2. Climb some safe grit E3 routes. 3. Six boulder problems 6B+ or harder by March (I did 4 in total in 2023) 1/6.

LTG (next 6 months) – 1. Give me strength – fingers, steep stuff and slopers. 2. Rheinstor Lower Traverse?? 3. Attempt 2 on run climb project. 4. Trip to Sanctuary Wall

Mon – Finger block lifts 20mm edge 10 secs half crimp. 10 secs half crimp 5kg, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. Fingerboard BW (+clothes! 85kg) 10secs half crimp, 10secs full crimp, 8secs HC, 7secs FC. Channelled my anger from the ‘joys of parenting’ into the fingerboard which is obviously a much better place for it! 2.5kg improvement from last week. An hour’s headtorch session on Zippatrocity Right-Hand (f6B+) . Had half a dozen goes, last 3 all falling on last couple of moves. Car said -6. Felt pretty beat up after.

Tues – 4.8 mile run in woods. Easy, then 6 x 10sec hill sprints, 1-1.30min jog recovery. Shoulders, toe hooking and full body strength and conditioning. 6 exercises coupled in supersets 8 reps x 3 sets.

Wed - Nothing

Thursday - Day off work. Cowper Stone after dropping eldest off at school. Zippatrocity Right-Hand (f6B+) , fell off last move again first go, got it next go with a bit of a flap on the finish. Lawrencefield in the sun. Seconded Pulpit Groove (VD 4a) and then lead Great Peter (E1 5b), although not cleanly, as at the top managed to talk myself into resting on the gear. Blacka Moor 4 mile off road run 240m of ascent, very hard. Coughed a lot at the end, felt a bit off during the evening.

Fri – Nothing

Sat – Finger block lifts 20mm edge 20 secs half crimp. 5kg, 10, 15, 20, 25, 27.5 x 3. Awesome Wall routes 6a, 6b, 6b+, 6b+ (fell off near top), 6b+ (fell off near top), 6b+, 6c, 6c (1 hang). Hard.

Sunday – Had planned to do strength and conditioning, but 90mins poo-picking in a big field (don’t ask it’s a horse thing) felt like lunge/deadlift/squat supersets. 2hr 20mins off road run just over 12 miles 450m ascent. Windy!

Reflection - Pleased to get through a second full week of training. Feeling pretty tired but no injuries and looking forward to the upcoming de-load week. Obviously failing to lead an E1 clean isn’t ideal especially when I’ve got visions of E5 by the end of the summer! But not a huge surprise and a good reminder that I need to grab leading opportunities when I can. It’s been far too long – 8 months!! since I led a trad extreme. As a result I had no flow, limited stamina and my head was mush! Apart from that I was cruising

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Great I'll hold your ropes I need a return match with Quietus, although need to lead E1 clean first (blush).

In reply to mattrm:

Matt I don't claim to be an expert, but I'd recommend not increasing your long run by too much too quickly. Much better to get gradual but regular small increases. Doubling it to 20km sounds like a recipe for injury. But don't let me cramp your style if you're psyched.

In reply to Tyler:

It looks like I will, in fact, be heading north this year. No pulks involved though. Hopefully.

An old DAV buddy of mine moved to northern Norway a couple of years back. I've been thinking of heading up for a visit, and now he's decided to organise a meet in Lofoten in July. There seems to be quite a bit of interest, so that looks like it could well be my plan for the summer. Granite slabs & cracks, basically impossible to train for at the wall, so I'll just have to  make sure I go for long enough to learn on the job. 

In reply to Tyler:

Week three of Sharkathon - tick.

Sun - a lot of processing of timber.  Elbows protested, but got through.  Forcing my self to have a sort of rest day, so only went on the exercise bike.  Quite enjoying this alternative form of cardio.

Mon - Campus moves to complete warm up, then max hangs at 9kg, 11.3kg, 12.4kg, 13.6kg, 14.7kg and 15.9kg.  Felt hard - this was the session that Ally and Swede commented on, showing the immense value of FC.  Weighted pull ups in sets of three at 11.3, 12.4, 13.6, 14.7, 15.9 and 17kg (125%) - good, steady progress here.  25 mins on bike covering about 13.5km according to the computer (not sure I believe it, but it does provide a measure of sorts).

Tues - 7:3 repeater block lifts 20 mm edge at 20.4kg.  Pinch block lifts through to 8kg.  15 mins on the bike and stretches.  A working day, which ended up being a bit shocking as the organisation I do most of my work for failed in a tender renewal with NHS England, so my supply of work will likely end in April...  No great matter, as I was planning to end in October anyway, but I love the work and having the decision taken away was a bit brutal.  Have taken on some extra work between now and end March.

Wed - Same set as Tuesday on block lift repeaters.  15 mins on the bike then travel to Birmingham.  Pinch block lifts up to 8 kg.  Comedic value obtained by carting weights to hotel making case much heavier than normal!

Thurs - long day and tired on return so minimum done by spending time on the bike.  A good fall back.

Fri - repeater set again as above.  Getting to be steady so upping the weight soon.  30 mins on bike in two sets.

Sat - planned to do BW pull ups to 100, but a long day of life admin meant that we collapsed at around 4 pm and by the time I go t to my exercise I'd already had half a bottle of wine...  Did a pyramid to 50 instead and the same with push ups.  Also managed a 10 minute session on the bike to warm up.

Then had a strange Saturday evening.  Went to a local pub where the landlord is leaving soon - a sort of birthday party / leaving do.  Slightly embarrassed, as by no means a regular haunt, but with friends who go more often.  Bumped into / chatted to a woman in passing who declared she wasn't local.  Much later on, followed up the conversation (do you come here often type stuff), only to find that she was over from Chesterfield (not too surprising as the landlord also came across from there).  a couple of exchanges on we had worked out that I bought a house off her in 1988!

I do love coincidences.

A week and a bit to go with Sharkathon.  Enjoying training.

In reply to Tyler:

STG: Regain full health and resume normal training
STG: Kilterboard 5C @ 45°
MTG: Rough Bounds Scottish backpacking trip
MTG. DAV Lofoten meet?
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.

M:     Tindeq peak load pulls, pull-ups, shoulder press & aidans, bulgarian split squats
T:    Wall, Freimann. Kilterboard. Not as good a session as Saturday, possibly due to yesterday's activities, but ok.
W:    
T:     Went to the wall at Thalkirchen but not to climb. My son informed my that they had a gear pulling/breaking rig set up for the day, so we dung some old krans and bits of cordage out of the cellar in the interest of Science.
    Since I was there anyway I did half an hour in the weights room: deadlifts, pullups, shoulder press, face pull, ring l-sits
    And, today was the first day in weeks that the roads were sufficiently ice free to go there & back on the bike. Refreshing to finally move a bit further than three moves up a board.
F:    Wall, Thalkirchen. Kilterboard. I suppose this was a proper limit bouldering session. Warmed up, then put in a few goes each on three different style projects: crimps, pinches & gastons, jug dynos. Made good process on crimps & dynos. Pinches'n'gastons is my current main project that feels desperate at 25°, but the Thalkirchen board is currently stuck at thirty. Was able to hold some positions, and do a single glorious move, so I suppose that's ok too.
S:    
S:    Wall, Thalkirchen. Routes. A better session than last week, with some decent moderate mileage and a few practice falls: rebuilding both my forearm and head fitness. 6a 6a 6b 5c 6b 6a+ 6a+ 6b 6a

Some thoughts on motivation and priorities. I'm enjoying my kilterboarding very much at the moment, and highly motivated for a couple of my current mini-projects (not at all sure if the Big Project is in the realm of the realistic right now) And given that maintaining or even dare I say it improving, strength is likely to be one of the big challenges at my age, I think this is a good thing to focus on for long term benefit.

But. My actual goals this year are backpacking and trad climbing, for which board climbing is probably one of the less relevant things I could be doing. I'm concerned about my all day cardio fitness for Scotland in May. I was in a good place with it last summer, but then lost three months of training to bronchial infections (various) that still aren't 100% cleared up - combined now with icy weather that stops me getting out on the bike. But I've got four months to go, will be able to sort something out.

Then, hopefully/possibly, Lofoten. Somewhere that's definitely on my bucket list, but rather a big contrast to Greek sport climbing that's been my main away activity for the last few years.

Quite, and therefore I have been carefully introducing some one-arm scap pulls to my programme.

In reply to Tyler:

Thanks Tyler and thanks everyone for the warm welcomes. 

I'm 42. Used to do a little bouldering and then got into sport climbing last year and love it. Not a mountaineer (not yet!) so I will be doing a guided ascent of MB. Currently my basic plan is to do general strengthening and building CV endurance through running and hiking for 3 months then potentially get more specific with that side of things as the climb gets closer. 

Good and bad for this week 

M - strength session

Tue - Run 30 mins easy pace with 10x20 sec sprints in the middle

W,T,F - nothing. Had a wisdom tooth out wed and decided to go easy

S - 15 km hike in Brecons taking in Penyfan and a few other local peaks. Elevation 1100m. Time 4 hrs 20. Wind was absolutely wild on the ridges and the paths were icy so it was 4 hrs of solid exercise. 

S - work/rest day

In reply to Tyler:

Good morning all, hope everyone had made the most of the weather, because I hadn't! Wanting to save my annual leave for trips this year, and nothing locally is piquing my interest at the moment.

On a related note, a linkup I tried at the Dugout has now been completed by someone else has been named Too Long for Ross Barker (f7C), which is probably some sort of motivation!

I've had a pretty good week, three board sessions, and managed to get at least something ticked on each of them. My shoulder from last weekend is mostly mended as well, I suspect it is just a tweak from intense novel loading rather than a full-blown injury.

Last Week:

Avg weight 76.5kg.

M - Very light fingerboard pulls. Fingers feel as fine as they did before the weekend as far as straight loading is concerned. Ice baths before bed.

T - Rear of the left delt is a bit tender, probably overworked on Saturday. Eased onto the Moonboard nonetheless, thin skin, outrageously humid and sweaty! Four 7As which were gentle on the shoulder. Fingers still as usual, felt a bit tired in the body. Had some good goes on Wang Special 2 but couldn't match the finish jug due to the grease factor (and fatigue!). Probably should've ended the session earlier but I was a bit too keen. Ice baths before bed.

W - Ice baths before bed.

T - Moonboard. Gentle warm up on various 6s, then a few more goes on Wang Special 2. Felt like I had to try harder than was sensible to stick the crux, so moved onto 45 Magnum, which went in a few goes (excluding previous odd tries over the years).

F - Ice baths before bed.

S - Ice baths before bed.

S - Moonboard. Warm enough to put the fan on without everyone complaining about being freezing! Managed half a dozen benchmarks, Leobob being the hardest, and flashing two all-yellow problems has done great things for the confidence in my injured finger. Still remaining sensible, but static loading on even small holds is quite viable. Ice baths before bed.

Next Week:

M - Rest.

T - Climbing.

W - Rest.

T - Climbing.

F - Rest.

S, S - More climbing!

Goals:

Rehab left middle finger.

Manage session load and build better habits.

Improve ability on tiny edges.

Louisville Lip.

In reply to Ross Barker:

On a related note, a linkup I tried at the Dugout has now been completed by someone else has been named Too Long for Ross Barker (f7C), which is probably some sort of motivation!

The comments associated with the route are entertaining as well!!  I am also looking forward to the Rockyesque training footage!  Sounds like you are actually going pretty well though!

In reply to Tyler:

Cheers Tyler and morning everyone.

It feels like im in a steady but easy routine at the moment.

Saturday: Redpoint worcester - 4 x 6a 1x 6a+ 2 x 5b plus a few 5b/c etc warm up and down.

There was also about an hour on the mountain bike getting about and doing stuff.

Im in the process of moving to Barnstaple which is going to be much better for climbing than Worcester and it will be good for me to get away from the Wye Valley. As much as i love Wintours there can be to much of a god thing.

Im not going to say ivew met the STG yet as i had some potent DOMS on Sunday and not just in the forearms!

Im sure ive got some gopro video of my trying the Jackal at Wintours leap and its pretty funny. Ill try and dig it out and post a link.

Im off to do more work on the house in Barnstaple next weekend so probably wont train.

In reply to Tyler:

Forgot to reply to this, but I'm keen for a week 900 meetup! North Wales is good but happy for elsewhere as well.

In reply to Tyler:

I'm already behind in trying to keep up with my replies on here, so going to pause my fitclub involvement. I'll continue to read everyone else's progress though. 

In reply to Tyler:

Keen for a North Wales (or elsewhere) meet up. You've got the good weather booked for the whole wkend this time right? I seem to remember Sunday being a wash out last time. Although I guess there is always white goods...

In reply to Ross Barker:

You know you’ve made it when other people name routes after you.

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Unfortunately I think this is a result of me quite literally not making it! I've brought shame upon my family, and that problem has immortalised it. Until I do it, of course.

In reply to Tyler:

Also keen for a meet up.  North Wales suits me, but other options work as well.

In reply to Tyler:

"Shoulder Move" has not been vanquished, but as you've observed, technique was the means for getting close, rather than any strength gains.

Week 3

M – 200 core movements with 8kg kettle bell, 2x50 sit-ups, 50 side-plank crunches (these were hard and I remember them being a weakness for me on roof project #1, so a good area to work).

T – Rest

W – Evening board. Slow warm-up, struggling with engaging core, meaning shoulders took more strain. Weak core caused by Monday session, plus a surfeit of wind? 11x 6B+ to 7A flashes (twice fell and ended up completely skipping a Kyle 6C should have been a giveaway it wasn’t going to be a good session!) A quick pull on a couple of 7C BMs confirmed there wasn’t any point in trying hard. Flailed for 30min and quit.

T – Evening stretches only.

F – Gentle 5km walk across frozen fields.

S – Evening board. Much, much better than Wed. 9x 6B+ to 6C+ warm-up flashes.

• Then went big and flashed “Take That Off The Wall” a nice soft(?) 7C. However, that cost me two reopened splits and the rest of the session was completed with tape.
• “Missing Something” 2nd go. Another soft 7C. Some wag had suggested 7A+ for this in the comments, but it felt pretty brutal to me.
• Then 5x goes on Shoulder Moe without any success, though on my best go tickled the jug again.
• 5min trying crux of Baccatestabanana, 7C+ BM, and worked out the pinch match, which is a PITA with my big hands.
• Finished with “Sweet Spot” which was way too soft to actually be 7C; great movement, but 7B a more honest appraisal?

S – Rest. 4x12 leg raises as a short, kitchen-based core session.

In reply to Ross Barker:

"My daddy's famous, he can't do the eliminate link up at the dugout"

"Well my daddy can't even pull on at the dugout"

You'll make your family proud yet Ross

In reply to Steve Claw:

How did you find Cyclops slab? I remember it being a proper sandpit at the top and miles back to find a belay. We got back down and some sport climbers asked us, 'were you the guys doing trad across the grass?'

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Its has a bolted abseil at the top now

In reply to Steve Claw:

😱

In reply to Steve Claw:

I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'm certainly not strongly against it, but I do feel sort of sad that our very memorable experience won't be had by others. Having said that I'm sure a lot more people will get on it now (and enjoy it). It would also make me a lot more keen to try some of the other trad climbs there if they had a lower off to aim for at the top rather than a grass cornice and 50degree sandpit.

In reply to Tyler:

I reduced intensity on the first session a little bit and added an extra rest day before the 2nd which had the desired effect.

Recap last week:

Mon: L-Sit 2x20s, 2x12 Pike Pushups, 50 Pushups, 2x20 Bodyweight Squats

Tues: Rest

Wed: One-Arm Pullups with a light assistance band: r: 4,4,4,4; l: 4,4,4,4; 20mm Block Lift Repeaters, 20,5kg, 6x12,7,3 with 2 min rest. Felt much better during the pullups but still not at 100% and hence did not try to go for 5 reps on any set

Thur: L-Sit 2x20s, 2x12 Pike Pushups, 50 Pushups, 2x20 Bodyweight Squats, 20mm Block Lift Repeaters, 16,8kg, 6x12,7,3 with 2 min rest

Fri: Rest

Sat: Rest

Sun: One-Arm Pullups with a light assistance band: r: 5,5,5,5; l: 5,5,5,5; 20mm Block Lift Repeaters, 21,8kg, 6x12,7,3 with 2 min rest. Felt well recovered, 5th rep on the last set was at the limit with my right arm but on the left i even got close to a 6th rep.

Very good progress this week, after adding a little bit more rest. It feels like i am progressing nicely on the pullups and i think i am on track for achieving a one arm pullup with good form by spring. Finger endurance is also picking up nicely. I will probably will continue with the repeaters for a 2-4 more weeks and then switch to a max hang protocol.

In reply to Randy:

Great progress Randy.  Looks like the extra recuperation is helping.  I guess with pure strength work it is pretty critical.

In reply to Steve Claw:

I’m struggling to recall where the bolts might actually go. Are they drilled into the sand and grass?

In reply to Ian Parnell:

They are up on the right as you finish, just before the sand slope.

There are a few others dotted about now for the Brean trad, makes it all more appealing.

In reply to Tyler:

Cheers Tyler, I have found that the quality is mainly around running on fresh legs,  being able to really enjoy being out and about whilst not completely knackered.

Had a steady week, Monday was a rest day. Tuesday a 15k ride into work. Wednesday a 1k swim, Thursday 1k swim again. Friday, 15k cycle to work and 1k swim.

Saturday was a rest day and Sunday was a lovely 12k trail run, another slight increase in distance too 

In reply to Tyler:

Hi everyone. Top stats again, Tyler.

A bit of a 'waiting' week. Not much to report.

Week 3:

M: Rest. Hobbling a bit from not being able to flex my left leg following last week's bump on the thigh.

T: Travelling.

W: Work.

T: Work.

F: A day of watching snow fall and cursing. Final score was about 30-40 cm. Bad news.

S: Walked in to check out the Triglav north face for later next week. A little buried but not as bad as feared.

S: Carried kit in to Aljazev Dom, then put a trail in to the bottom of Triglav to cache ropes and rack near the base of the route. A reasonable leg work out post-holing through fresh snow, especially as we broke two trails after our first track was stopped by a bowl of bottomless snow! (Did a complete pivot to bring forward our attempt on the Long German Route on Triglav after avalanche forecast put paid to plans for Rinka Pillar). 

Week 4:

M: Climbing.

T: Climbing.

W: Climbing.

T: Travel.

F: Rest.

S: Strength and Core.

S: Run.

STG (end March):

Maintain finger strength -average 2 sessions/week.

Consistent strength and conditioning -average 2 sessions/week.

Get ski practice in: 5+ sessions Dec-Feb.

2+ off Scottish VII list.

1 off Slovenian Winter list.

1+ off Alpine Winter list.

Year Goals:

1000 km running with 40km vertical for the year.

In reply to Tyler:

Thanks Tyler, safe to say the trip was a success!

M - A beautiful sunny day, lapping the pistes on my old Slalom skis

T - Mixed conditions, more laps on the Slalom skis

W - Heavy rain at all elevations, leading to wet and heavy snow. Only lasted an hour before calling it a day - the most miserable conditions I've ever had in 27 years on skis...

T - Freezing level starting to drop to resort level. Spent the day lapping the powder in whiteout conditions in Avoriaz

F - The best day of lift-accessed off-piste skiing I've ever had. Freezing level down at sea level the night before meant we had 40cm of snow overnight at resort level. Woke up to a bluebird day with untracked powder as far as the eye could see. Spent the whole day skiing fresh tracks around Nyon/Chamossiere on powder light and deep enough that even on a 116mm, heavily rockered ski, I was still sinking at times! 

S - Another bluebird day to finish off the trip, railing GS turns on a deserted Mont Chery all day long

S - Travel day, with the windiest and most turbulent flight I've had for a very long time 

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Normally I'd agree with you, but I was never really planning on 20k.  I ended up doing 14.5k and it went really well.  Also I was around 25k before the big Christmas illness.  So I think my body is used to that kind of distance.  The run went really well and I'll do a few small bimbles over the weekend.  But thanks for checking up on me, much appreciated.

In reply to mattrm: good job. The mileage cranking up again. Seems like you’re on a roll this start of the year. I’m going to play my old fogey caution card again - make sure to have deload weeks. Most marathon ultra plans work on 3 building then 1 deload at 50-60%. I’m sure you know this. I’m experimenting this year with 2 building weeks followed by 1 deload. As I’m wondering if I overtrained before.

In reply to Tyler:

Cheers Ash. Yeah its the first route I'm really psyched for in ages. 

I nearly forgot to post, but not much to report.

It was the first full week back at work and so I got a gym session in, a couple of short sessions (one boulder, one routes) and not much else.

This weeks goal has been to start building on that and seeing what I can fit in around a new climbing schedule.

In reply to Ian Parnell:

Don't worry this is me, I'm not just going to have deload weeks, I'm going to have full on rest weeks.

It worked really well last year, as after the rest weeks, I was much faster.  So if I can repeat that this year, I'd be well chuffed.

I wish I could say I'm currently following a plan, but currently, I'm just grinding up to 30kms a week.  Then I was planning to follow a 'proper' plan.  But how I'll actually fit that into my life, I've no idea.

In reply to mattrm:

I think fitting stuff in is the hard bit - I'm rarely short of motivation!  However, very easy for work to get in the way and probably parenting is going to consume available time.  I think when my kids were young I was happy to do stuff when they had gone to bed, but it doesn't really work for running.  Anyway, keep it going!

In reply to Tyler:

Thanks Tyler. Left it late this week and shambolic record keeping means I don’t even know what it was I did when. 
 

Either way, the hamstring is still holding up, the shoulder seems ok (touch wood I did a wall session today with no issues from either), I’m continuing to try to get some sort of basic aero fitness in time for Easter, and the new aero circuit on the board seems to flow fairly well.

Monday - Bristol, 25m walk from station to office. Then 4.5km brisk walk at lunch, 45m.

Tuesday - back from Bristol, 25m walk from office to station.

Wednesday - nothing, feeling snotty and grotty

Thursday - ?

Friday - ?

Saturday - aero wall session

Sunday - stripped the board, put the new volume on, set a new aero circuit. Pretty sure I did some actual exercise too but forget what.