UKC

UKC FitClub Week 783

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_fitclub_week_782-74523...

Morning FitClubbers,

Lots of hard pulling, cross training, and climbing last week. More people starting to get outside and the trip reports are coming in thick & fast to get the psyche going. Weather also taking a turn so time to unleash the winter gains on your projects!

Stats:

Ross Barker: Sounds amazing. I’ve scribbled down all your ticks and will have a look in the FunBlock Guidebook - slightly overwhelmed by how much there is to go at! Weekend weather looking great so hopefully you get out on one of the Goal Projects.

Somerset Swede Basher: Big tick on Dick Williams! Left-Hand Man looks a corker and you shouldn’t have too many issues if you go back fresh. Earned a rest/deload with a week like that – or were you seduced by the nice weather?

Si dH: Busy with work but still ticked your weekly goals. Good effort. Are you planning to continue 2x fingerboard Sessions a week now you’ve increased the intensity to One Arm Hangs?

Randy: Strong week. Numbers looking good and a confidence boost on the old project - looks like the hardwork has paid off and you just need to get currency back and smash the RP. I’ve completely fell off the wagon with diet but listened to a good episode (#92) of The Nugget Climbing Podcast last year which suggested increased protein/calorie intake. I found it really helped with recovery and hard training.

Steve Claw: 2nd week at +17.5kg hangs. Are you planning to consolidate for a while or incrementally increase? Great effort by Mini-Steve on Pickpocket! You must have worn him out with the trampoline/trad combo!

AJM: I wouldn’t be so hard on yourself. You need to consider quality as well as quantity and the sessions you had look really beneficial. Indoor project tick, toe-hook practice, sociable climb and a bimble at the weekend. Sounds ideal.

SteveJC94: How long are you post-rupture? Was it the full Grade 3 “POP” or something less severe? Being pain-free and cranking out that Boulder Pyramid is a good sign, and I’m sure you can find enough entertainment away from finger locks.

Alan: Another consistent week of ticking STGs. Any interest in adding the project boulder to your 6C+ onsight goal or was it a nice break?

Tom Green: Oops -  work as far as the pain and then dial it back seems sage advice. Grease, Dog Poo & Baggy Shoes…Was it Whillans who had the ‘3 blunders and I’m turning back’ rule? Looks like you rescued the session though.

The Sheep: Interesting stuff. I’ll persevere with the 2-Kick Stroke as I’m also quite a large frame to shift through the water. Another impressive week of pool consistency. Any races coming up you are training for?

Planetmarshall: I’ve never seen Suspense but that’s a high first runner above the pond! Hope you got the 20km trail run in this week.

Ger_the_gog: Strong consistency despite the circumstances. Any plans to start chipping away at the bouldering goal?

Biscuit: Sounds like a frustrating week. You’ve put the yards in so injury-avoidance and rest are in order before the trip. Hopefully the knee just needs rest & ice.

JCK: Good week – all STGs ticked. It’s a tricky one with eating before training as no two people are the same. Just a game of experimentation until you find something that works for you. I find a small hit of glucose does the trick (apple or banana usually). Not too filling but reduces the post-work lethargy.

Derek: Back on rock. Happy days! Hopefully the elbow niggle has subsided.

Ally: Enjoy the hols! Looking forward to the 2 week report.

Tyler: I didn’t find the FODMAP diet that much of a nause to be honest. I introduced food types each week so you quickly get back to a relatively normal diet and locate your triggers. Worth having a look at.

Liam P: The On again/Off again Scotland saga is really ruining my training flow. Being a south-coast based winter climber just seems impractical at the minute, especially with the nipper. Probably time to sack it off until my situation allows - and the chalk climbing risk/reward ratio doesn’t do it for me.

Have a good week!

In reply to Liam P:

Thanks for the podcast suggestion, i will definately check that out. It is still a long way to RP Slimline (8a+). I am currently still working on a number of link-ups and there are still 2 moves that i've only done in isolation so far. So if i could do it in 2 parts this spring, i would be more happy with that.

Mon: Rest

Tues: Fingerboard max hangs 4x 10s with 3-4 min rest:

20mm egde:  70,5 % of BW average with right hand, 65,1% of BW with left hand

Pinch Block with 17kg for the right hand, 16kg for the left

Assisted one-arm-lockoff, 92%-98% of BW, 4 sets of 10-15s at different angles (170° -45°)

Wed- Fri: Decided to take a couple of rest day after feeling not really recovered on tuesday and having a mild cold (Covid test was at least negative  )

Sat: Back again on Slimline (8a+). Unfortunately, conditions were quite terrible, 2-3° cold, rain and even a snow storm . Nevertheless, felt better on the wall, climbing more smoothly and putting more pressure. But due to moist holds i could not do the second crux moves, which i tried more than 20 times. However, looking back objectively i think i made some small progress and weatherforecast for next weekend is looking much better

Sun: L-Sit (floor) 2x20s, Handstands against the wall, 2x12 pike push-ups,  2x8 fingertips push ups, 15 Lunges, 30 normal pushups, 60s V-Sit-Ups

Challenge for next week will be to ensure that i get enough sleep in, as i need to get up very early for work, due to a new project with customers in south east asia.

In reply to Liam P:

Guilty as charged - seduced by the good weather! If last week was soft touch sends week this has been sandbag sends week! 

Mon. Rest.

Tues. Burbage west session. Went for another look at The Famous Grouse. I had a session on this a year or so back but didn't get far then. Great progress today. After about 45mins I was getting my left heel up reasonably consistently. By the end of the session I had both hands up by the top break but never managed the left heel off right toe on move.

Wed. Rest

Thurs. Back to Burbage West. Famous Grouse (f7B+) went down 3rd go. I should probably have gone home and rested at this point but I got stuck into the sit start instead. Got a sequence but I find it pretty draining, there might be a better way.

Fri. Rest.

Sat. The sun came out, it warmed and everything felt very spring like. The lime called... and we answered! Pleased to get The Ring of Fire (7c+) 3rd tie in today. I had 3 or 4 sessions on this about 7ish years ago but never managed the top. Worked out some better beta for the middle and top today but used my old beta on the start. Nice to put an old project to bed and a positive start to lime season. 3km run with kids on bikes later on. 

Sun. 16km run with kids on bikes. Steady pace. 

In reply to Liam P:

Thank you I will. The people who link arthritis inflammation to diet (and I’m not sure there is a  consensus who do so it might be pissing in the wind) suggest 6 weeks for an improvement so if I go down that route it’ll be a long haul. On the other hand I eat an awful lot of crap so if there is anything in it just cutting this out should have a noticeable effect. 
W: Had a look at a couple of the boulders near PyB (nothing I’ll come back to) before getting on the board. I’m definitely at the end of new things I can do so from now on I’ll mostly be repeating stuff so I’ll start keeping tabs of my points ‘scored’ (it’s a DTB so this how it should be used I think). I’ll have to try not to game it too much by just repeating soft touches. 
S: Started badly, plateaued then went down hill, before taking a surprising turn for the worse! Tried Pure Gold (6c+), first go up could not do most of the moves, second go up could not do the last move, seemed pretty hard. Went to shelter from the wind, had a similarly torrid time on Willowbank but I think at least that might go. Decided to stick clip up White Hopes as I’d nearly OSed this 12 years ago so I knew it had holds which it does so I think this will be a summer project. Think I did all the moves. Decided to warm down on String of Pearls, got scared and dogged my way to the top. Fell off on top rope afterwards and then filled my diesel car up with £75 of petrol and drove off… Had a very uncomfortable 2 hour wait reading about how much damage I’d probably done to my engine but it seems ok following recovery. 
S: Had cancelled my climbing plans the night before assuming I’d be carless so nipped out to Moelwyniau for a speed hike. Took poles this time and despite going quicker and higher than last week felt a whole lot better. 
Plan for this week is stick to diet and maybe get outdoors after work as it’s the only thing stopping me flipping out at the moment. 

In reply to Liam P:

Thanks Liam.

I'm going to stick with the dead hang weight for a bit until it feels stable, then move up a bit.

Started easy campus boarding this week, but not sure if I'm doing it right.  I don't seem to be able to hold the rungs with a crimped hand, instead I catch them with an open hand on front 3 fingers.

Can anyone tell me if this is ok to do?

Had a busy week, and felt really tired at the end of each day, so just 2 short sessions to report.

Mon - Indoor Training - 6*10s hangs +17.5kg.  4 x Campus 1,3,4 on each side.  Bouldered all (5?) the V5's in the slab room.

Thurs - Indoor Training - 6*10s hangs +17.5kg.  4 x Campus 1,3,4 on each side.  Worked and did a V6

In reply to Liam P:

Dunno about bouldering goals in the Frankenjura. It's a long way to drive on my own, and if I have a partner we tend to go for routes. A friend I used to boulder with a bit up there vanished into a new relationship a couple of years ago, and none of my current partners have much interest in pebble wrestling.

STG last week:
    - 2 x boulder, 1 x routes. One of each plus a fingerboard session
    - 1 x skiing. Yes.
    - Sleep average >7½ hours, minimum 7 hours per night. 7.6 average despite towo 6½'s creeping in during the week.
    
Fell off the wagon a bit this week with my new STG strategy, but I still intend to stick with it. The thinking behind it: in the short term behaviour, not outcomes, is what we can influence & control. In the longer term the correct behaviour should correlate with the desired outcomes

STG: coming week. 2 x boulder. 2 x skiing. Sleep average >7½ hours, minimum 7 hours per night
MTG: 1H 2022: onsight 6c+
LTG: Be a confident, well rounded low to mid 7's sport climber. For measurable definition see Fit Club 658

M:    Took advantage of end of season sale offers to pick myself up a set of ski touring gear. Does this count as training? According to Art and Fear, yes. And the half hour of box step-ups I did to kick off the process of moulding the inner boots definitely does.
T:    Wall, Boulderwelt. Circuits. Arrived rather late, rushed my warm up, flash pump. Rookie error.
W:    Rest. Half an hour stretching.
T:    Working late: max hangs instead of bouldering wall.
F:    An hour hike/jog intervals in the woods

S:    Bouldering. Headed out to Sudelfeld, a local spot that is comsiderably inferior to the Frankenjura but closer. But also higher, and it proved to be rather snowy & damp (although judging by Randy's report Franken wouldn't have been any better this week). Bailed to the nearby town of Rosenheim, where there's a branch of Udo Neumann's *Stuntwerk* bouldering-parkour gym. I thought that might be interesting. Turned out to be a pretty normal, ok but smallish bouldering gym, where I had a decent session but didn't feel my kinaesthetic perception being particularly transformed.
    Stuntwerk does have a weights room though, so I did what I generally do when I find myself with access to a weights room: checked to see if I can still deadlift a bit above bodyweight. Which I can, fairly easily, so that's nice. I'd want somebody knowledgeable to cast an eye over my form before I tried to go  heavier though.

S:    Skiing, Hochfügen. Took my new touring rig out for a day on piste just to make sure I can actually ski on it. Turns out I can: took a couple of runs to get used to the feel of considerably softer boots than I'm used to, but after that felt I was skiing at least as well as if not better than on my beginner piste gear. And this despite classic late season snow, alternating concrete and slush. I still plan to get out a get a couple more times this season, but it's looking like it'll have to be fairly high up if I do.

In reply to Steve Claw:

I've no idea what is right or wrong but that sounds very similar to me. I always latch a rung with somewhere between open and half crimp. I think latching a rung full crimp sounds like a recipe for very rapid injury! 

In reply to Liam P:

Good evening all. Cheers for the stats Liam!

Yeah, it's certainly a hard book to decide what problems to try, but for sheer volume is pretty good. Bleau.info is a good ticklist/psyche building resource!

Hah - no goal seeking for me! I have been thinking again about binning off my goals because I'm really not that fussed about sieging them, especially Brass Monkeys as it's a good two hours each way. AMWAS is permadry, so I shan't be spending a gorgeous weekend in a dusty cave and Rigpa would break me in my current state!

A decent week from me, low volume to recover from the trip but good value, I'd say!

Last Week:

M - Rest.

T - Rest.

W - Rest.

T - Gym. Tried a bunch of moderately difficult problems, then made some static moves on the Moonboard - deliberately stuff that would load the dodgy finger, but not too much. Surprisingly fun!

F - Rest.

S - Rest.

S - Couple of sunny easy bits at Burbage South Valley Boulders and Cratcliffe Tor. Slapped about on Ova Arm (f7C) and Eggs is Eggs (f7B+) at the end, both very hard, conditions probably weren't ideal, but fun nonetheless. Highlight was Open Flakeline (f6A), great little problem.

Next Week:

M - Rest.

T - Gentle fingerboarding.

W - Rest.

T - The Ramp Up (f7B+). Am I better climber than I was in September? Find out next week! I don't think the dodgy finger should affect the problem too much, but I've misjudged that before...

F - Rest.

S - Porth Ysgo.

S - Rest.

Goals:

Rehab finger.

Keep having great days out!

In reply to Tyler:

Nightmare! Glad it sounds like there's minimal damage done. Though these days £75 is only two teaspoons of petrol, isn't it?

In reply to Ross Barker:

Well £75 of petrol is a bit more than £75 of diesel!

In reply to Liam P:

Thanks for the stats again Liam. I'm now 11 weeks post rupture so getting there bit by bit. Luckily it was only a grade 2 rupture (50% tear to the A2) so no popping when I injured it. 

All in all a fairly good, albeit light week:

M - Rest day

T - Boulder Pyramid  (6 X V2, 5 x V3, 4 x V4, 3 x V5, 2 x V6, 1 x V7)

W - Routes endurance session (4 by 4s on the long lead wall). A bit of pain on the pulley when pinching and climbing steep roofs so will dial it back a bit next week. 

T - Rest day

F - Far too nice a day to be stuck indoors at the gym so opted for a 30k zone 3 bike ride

S - A day of packing and unpacking boxes while moving house

S - As above, though managed to slot in a 50k zone 3 bike ride 

Plan for next week:

M - Rest Day

T - Strength & conditioning 

W - Routes endurance session

T - Zone 2 bike ride

F - Rest day

S - Back down south for my old man's birthday so not a lot of training

S - As above 

In reply to Liam P:

Thanks Liam. Tbh I don't think the one arm hangs are more intense overall. The peak load is slight more than the 3/6/9 hangs but the hang time is less and the overall session feels easier. I have historically found it harder to stick to sessions that involve greater hang times and the sessions that have caused me injury or tweaks have most often been repeater types. But - see below.

Goals:

- Maintain my physio rehab on finger/shoulder every week and aim to stay uninjured

- Subject to above, maintain a consistent pattern of 2 fingerboard sessions per week until at least the end of March (starting with 3/6/9 protocol but I plan to move to one arm max hangs at some point)

- Go climbing once a week, have fun, try hard and maintain movement skills

- 3 Font 7s in Font at Easter, assuming we go

- 2 Font 7Bs across the year

These goals feel fairly modest but let's see how it goes... I will plan to review them post Font.

M: lunchtime - one arm max hangs - 5 reps of 7 seconds on the bottom middle bm2000 edge, BW -15 kg both sides. Felt ok on my right, quite hard on left. 

T: evening - managed a trip to the Hangar after son No. 1 was asleep. The first time I've managed this - things are getting better. Didn't tick anything but tried hard.

W: rest - was feeling last night's session quite a bit!

T: attempted a max hangs session in the evening but felt generally very tired so gave up half way through.

F: rest

S: climbing Hangar in the morning while son No.1 was at rock club mini. Did a couple of cool comp problems but mostly feeling tired and heavy :oS

S: had an hour and a half visit to visit  Fairy Steps (Shuck's Lair) while family were visiting friends nearby. Didn't tick anything but it was good to get some moves done on a nice day. Shoulder felt bad after the day before's bouldering though.

Not a good week. Started off optimistic knowing that I would be able to climb twice at the weekend and it was great to climb in the evening on Tuesday, but from Wednesday onwards I felt tired and my shoulder was more problematic than usual. I think I might forget training and mostly take a rest for a couple of weeks to see if that helps before our upcoming Font trip.

Si

Thanks Liam for your work in putting out another weekly Fitclub thread and thanks to all contributors for sticking at it and keeping the motivation high.

In reply to Liam P:

Thanks. Yes, that's next on the list. My plans will have to go on hold for a few days, however. A clinically vulnerable member of the household who was discharged from hospital on Thursday tested +ve for COVID this evening, following a covid contact on Wednesday on the (red) ward where she was a patient. I'm neg at the moment but it's probably in the post, so to speak. Regardless, I will be isolating for the necessary period and taking care of things here which obviously means no walks during the week ahead.

Anyhow, the last week was pretty good. Three 7km ("Lucky 7s") joint friendly walks (no trotting, just walking) and some light upper body dumbbell work. Couldn't believe it when this new fangled watch not only counted reps but also had a pretty good guess at the specific exercise too. Witchcraft!

Mon: Rest

Tue: 11kg Dumbbell x2. Shoulder press 4x10. Bent over row 3x10. Upright row 4x10.

Weds: 7km fast hike, 261m tot ascent, 27lb pack (+5lb increase). 1:10.

11kg dumbbell x2. Bent over row 4x10. Shoulder press 3x10. Arm curl 2x10. Upright row 4x10.

Thurs: rest. (Hospital stuff).

Fri: 7.5km recovery hike, 261m tot ascent, light pack ~10lb. Kept HR in "aerobic" zone 3 (the magic watch again). Hard to keep discipline and not go hell for leather. 1:20.

11kg dumbbell x2. Arm curl 4x10. Bent over row 4x10. Shoulder press 4x10. Upright row 4x10.

Sat: rest. (Busy at home).

Sun: 7km fast hike, 312m tot ascent, 22lb pack. First outing that I haven't had to hose my boots down afterwards. 1:10.

Too many individual activities for receipts but here's a summary of the week from the Garmin Connect app (ignore the "stress" and "resting heart rate" fields. I only turn activity tracking on when exercising):

https://i.postimg.cc/MH1S3hZf/Screenshot-20220320-225742.png

Cheers all.

STG:

To keep walking as often as I can to gain fitness and lose weight.

To keep pushing my speed and pack weight as much as I can to make the most of my 2hr sessions.

To start easy bouldering again.

To enjoy the process.

MTG:

To venture back into the mountains. (Ticked on 13/3/20)

To climb easy routes again.

LTG:

E1? (Slightly tongue in cheek but who knows, I'm not really looking that far ahead yet).

In reply to Liam P:

Hi Fit Club. Thanks for statting Liam, top job.

I like the 'three blunders and turn back' rule... although I worry that it might dramatically reduce the number of climbing days I have!

Week 11:

Awful week -hugely frustrating, just as I was feeling like my year was finally starting.

M: Bouldering. Nice day but for some reason felt weak...

T-S: Lurgy. Didn't feel up to any training and even on the days that I did I chose to rest. Heart-breakingly had to cancel a few days in Scotland. Consolation prize was being stuck at home was the nudge I needed to start rebuilding my home board.

Week 12:

Recover.

Finger boarding.

Bouldering.

Build board.

STG -end March:

Run my usual running loop.

Max Hangs: 90kg total.

Pull-ups: 95kg total.

Some Scottish winter routes -unlikely to happen now.

MTG -end June:

Start endurance phase for arms.

Arc en ciel.

One of my big mountain day list.

2022 Arbitrary training goals:

Roll over of last year's running targets: 35km vert and 1000km.

Weighted Pull-up: 100kg.

Max Hangs: 95kg.

Weighted hill climb: 2 laps of RT in 30 mins with 15kg.

2022 Climbing goals:

7a (Possibly one of: Arc en Ciel, The Jim Grin, Rock & Roll, Clink)

ALL of my local must-do list: 0/15

Visit at least five of my 'why haven't I climbed here' list: 0/5

Get at least one session at each of my 'I should climb more at this crag' list: 0/8

Start properly getting to know: Brimham 1/3, Almscliff 0/3, Caley 0/3, Slipstones 2/3.

At least two days from big mountain list: 0/2.

(For lists see FitClub 772)

Late summer/autumn alpine trip.

In reply to Liam P:

Cheers Liam. Good perspective!

A good week. 

I did something each day, even if some of them were a bit token.

Good session on the new set on Tuesday, and an ok session on Wednesday

Lovely day out at the weekend. Lacking a little in all day stamina and not used to standing on my feet - hardly unsurprising - but had great fun in the sun and got a *** classic ticked, and off my “Why havent I done this already” list to boot. A minor logistical YYFY I suppose in that I think it’s the first time I’ve done a fr7 on a rope since 2019 - I’ve repeated fr7 DWS in both the intervening years, and done Water Wings last year as a new fr7 DWS tick, but it’s nice to be back on a rope again.

Monday - stretching and a few tuck planche attempts.

Tuesday - wall. New set; so much to do! Did a whole bunch of stuff in the up-to-3-goes sort of thing, plus a couple of harder problems.

Wednesday - short wall session with miniAJM. More new problems to go at plus scoping a few harder things as potential projects.

Thursday - some token stretching and a few pushups

Friday - a lap of the park in the sunshine. Stopped at the dip bars and was pleasantly surprised to manage a ten-rep set, albeit fairly hard still. More dips and other pushing muscle work was one of my “balancing” goals for the year so nice to see. 

Saturday - ropes at Battleship, on Portland. Warmed up, dogged Victims of Fashion (7a+) to remember the sequence, and did it next go. Good route, nice moves, quite pumpy. I didn’t feel terrible at recovering when I got to the rest, so the base aero work has clearly done something, but the more intense pumpy stuff is not something I’ve really done yet. Basked in the sun for a bit, then had a quick go at Barbed Wire Kisses, which is in theory also 7a+ but is cruxier and easier. Or at least it would be easier if I hadn’t had pretty sore toes and not been able to use my feet properly. I fell off the crux on a flash go, did it next go off the bolt, and dogged to the top. One to come back to next time.

Sunday - parents visiting. Scattered over the day I did 20 face pulls, 30 total chin-ups and pull-ups, about 6-7km walking.

In reply to Liam P:

Thanks for the stats Liam.

A relaxed couple of weeks from me; getting over lurgy followed by a week off visiting my folks in Sussex.  Very lucky with the weather which meant lots of walking and other exercise options whilst away.

Week 10

M – Nothing but a gentle pushchair walk into town at 5pm. Still a bit lurged.

T – Still not quite right, but managed 22 km flat ride at lunchtime. Horrid headwinds on the way home.

W – Short board session squeezed in between end of work and Squiggle bathtime. 10min warm-up, 20min trying hard.

T – Board10. Mix of 7A-B and 7C+/8As. Managed one of the 7C+’s (obviously “SOFT” !!) and did a big link on an 8A benchmark Bar core “A” superset with 3x10 65kg deadlifts and 3x5 60kg bench press.

F – Hello DOMS! Packing.

S – Drive to Arundel.

S – Dad’s 80th birthday lunch.

Week 11

M – Hilly 23 km road ride.  F3SHC tendon density using Tendon block and tripled over theraband looped around my foot - fairly effective.

T – Less hilly 31 km road ride. Chinese takeaway laced with MSG exacerbated the dehydration headache!

W – Town walking in the drizzle, followed by tasting flight of IPAs.

T – 7 miles of flat coastal path with pushchair. Then a few hours later a further 2 miles with pushchair.

F – Portsmouth historic docks and gunwarf quays shopping (New TNF lurid coloured fleece and leggings purchased!) F3SHC tendon density using Tendon block and tripled over theraband.

S – Drive to Oxford – picnic and pushchair tour of the city. Learned Squiggle’s first visit to college.

S – Isis riverside walk, pub lunch and drive home.

In reply to Liam P:

Cheers Liam, the reduced kick does make for greater efficiency, also bilateral breathing is also very helpful if you don't already do it.

I have entered the swim Rutland event with my daughter. I suspect she will race it, however as i haven't done it before i will; enjoy the experience. We are in the 2k event so pretty much straight across the reservoir from one side to the other   

Im also going to enter the Battle of Bosworth tri again this year. I will just do the sprint version as if you go any longer you end up doing loops on all the legs and for some irrational reason i hate doing loops... Also have last years time to beat which will be a good motivating factor.

I would also like to o an Olympic distance tri too but not found the right one yet. Fancied the Gower one but sadly we are away with the in laws. May well do my own one local, swim with my eldest, cycle on my own and run with the wife 

Anyway had a good week gone by;

Monday, 1km lunchtime swim

Tuesday, turned up to swim but the pool was busy. Never really feel like getting in if its going to be stop start so hit the hot tub, steam room and sauna. Interval sprints in the evening with the youngest at her run club

Wednesday, Pool clear so a good 2km swim

Thursday. 1km swim followed by stretch class

Friday, 1km swim

Saturday, 6.5km run in the morning whilst the youngest was at run training. Had a very productive afternoon clearing my shed to get easy access to the bikes. Evening spent watching rugby, well played France, England were poor.

Sunday, Lovely 6km trail run with the wife and an afternoon spent hacking away at the garden   

In reply to Liam P:

Thanks Liam.

Quick update while we wait for the rain to stop here in sunny Spain! 

My knee continues to surprise me with sharp stabs of pain while walking and standing up/sitting down. Not when I'm climbing though, so that mean's it's all OK.

I did a couple more foot on campus sessions and we had a dash to the final night of the local boulder comp on Friday. We only had 1 hour. We needed to be back home early as the chaos at Manchester airport meant we now needed to get up at 2am.

I got cramp in my calf and both feet during the session.

On the plane I reached overhead for something and had a massive cramp in my upper abs. The guy next to me looked as if he thought I was having a heart attack. I was bent over clutching my chest for a minute or so and gasping for breath, so in fairness it wasn't a daft thing to think.

First day's climbing we went to  Escalada deportiva en Busot and did some hard easy routes and some easier harder routes. Onsighted up to 7a. Finished with a 7a (failed) onsight attempt on a route with the hardest moves I've ever tried on a 7a. That was at the start. The rest of it was awkward, difficult to read and had an impossible reach to clip the chains unless you're 6ft. Mint!

I did learn I can down climb moves at a higher level than I previously thought.

I also cramped up in my bicep on an undercut move and my left hip when bridging.

I'm trying to top my electrolytes up to stop the cramping.

Weather is shit but we're managing to climb. Just limited in what's available obviously.

In reply to Liam P:

Thanks Liam.  A late reply, but with good reason...

Flat out with work last week.  My own fault as I said 'yes' when someone asked me to fit a kitchen.  It should have been a quiet work week from the usual stuff ( I support GPs and GP surgeries with improvement work), but ended up being dawn to dusk work on wiring, plumbing and cabinets.  Back to normal work this week.

Little training last week (see above).  Elbow niggle is reducing, but I have decided to rest it completely from training loads until it is 'normal' again.  This is because we are now into climbing season and I don't want to compromise that with any injury worsening.  I think I will be able to train again in April.

The delay though is because I thought I would hit my revised weight target early this week and sure enough I hit 67kg today.  This is a bit over 6kgs down and it is amazing how much leaner I feel.  I set out to get to 69kg, so I am already two kilos under my target for the end of March.  I am now looking to go to 65kg - a weight I haven't seen for twenty years.  I think at 8+kg lower than I was last year - more than 10% of bodyweight - I should see some strength gains!  

Should be next week's report, but climbed today and out again Friday.  Seem to be moving OK.

In reply to Liam P:

Another week, another cancelled Scotland trip. Mrs was ill this time so cancelled plans and baby-wrangled. Definitely time to hang up the axes until I’m better placed for quick hits. I got the Rjukan trip in so can’t complain too much but the days of monster drives for a couple days of fickle conditions are over.

Tue

• Weighted Pull-up 3x 11/11/8 (+15kg)
• Lattice Pinch Block 6x9s (13.5kg)
• Lattice crimp Block 6x25s (30kg)

Thu

• Lattice Pinch Block 6x7s (15kg)
• Lattice crimp Block 6x25s (30kg)

Sun

Mrs perked up a bit so had my first outdoor climb since tweaking my fingers in Jan. Didn’t feel too bad but seemed to lose finger strength fairly quickly and they were completely cooked after a few hours. Repeats of Hard Labour (f5+) & Crouching Start, Hidden Agenda (f6B+) then sent Tufty (f6A) after a couple of goes. Worked Dickhead Plumber (f7A) again which I dropped on the last move. Hoping for another session this weekend to get it ticked. Tickled Rocky and Diesel (f6A) which was great but fingers started grumbling.

Busy in work this week so having a rest and hopefully get out again this weekend.

In reply to Derek Furze:

That's pretty light. How tall are you? I'm about 66kg ish and climb much better than when I was a stone lighter.

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

1.78 or 5ft 10.  Promise I am only stripping a bit of unhelpful visceral fat.  I am now able to pinch an inch, whereas it was more of a handful!

In reply to Liam P:

Cheers Liam, yes I need to experiment a bit with this. Bananas do work wonders sometimes..

Not a great last week for me, a lot on at work and then three days of moving house. This week is probably a write off as well, as I'm down with a cold.

Next week it is then! Will try and be a bit more realistic when planning it to make sure that I can get my two sessions done.

In reply to Liam P:

Well that'll be me with COVID then. Thought it was exhaustion but tested +ve yesterday. Family member brought it back from a recent spell in hospital so I knew it was on the cards.

Knocked me on my arse yesterday - like proper flu I couldn't even think properly and my quads hurt so much that I was wondering if I'd miscalculated my pack weight on Sunday - but I feel much better today. 

Still isolating though obviously and I'm not even feeling up to swinging lumps of metal around so there'll be no updates from me this week. I'll still be checking in to see how everyone else is doing though. 

Cheers.

In reply to Liam P:

Hah, no unfortunately not. I've been a bit slack with the cardio lately - a new contract I've started working on is a bit more 9-5 than the last so I'm having to make adjustments.

Last week's goals:

• Two trad leads at E1 or above - Done. An E1 on  Clogwyn y Bustach (Moelwyns) and Smiler's Route (E1 5b) (top end E1 despite the UKC grade). Both from the new CC Meiryonnydd guide.
• Three boulder attempts at f6B or above - Two only but I did get outside - 
• Strawberries (f6B) (attempt)
• Gorilla Warfare (f7A) (attempt) - was really pleased to actually make some progress with this. Still some way off but was able to make the initial few moves.
•  Two gym conditioning sessions - One only
• One AeroPow circuits session - Substituted a session outdoors
• 20km trail running - No!

Nest Week

• Two leads at E1 or above, try to get something around the E2 mark
• 3 boulder attempts at f6B or above
• 2 gym conditioning sessions

In reply to planetmarshall:

Impressive getting to the Moelwyns!  I just bought that guide as inspiration as it is close enough for a day trip.

In reply to Derek Furze:

Let me know if you are like looking for a partner as it’s pretty local for me (also you means you wouldn’t need to do a day trip if you don’t want to)

In reply to Tyler: Thanks Tyler - I forget you have moved up to Wales.  You might not have seen that I included you in a response to chrisaustralia re climbing N. Wales, Llangollen etc in lifts and partners.  Keen to explore Moelwyns as an interesting, strangely wild, yet accessible area. 😀