[nai]

goals - 8a & E4

M - nowt

T - new PE/Ancap format replicating the 8a (Call Of Nature) I plan to get on:

couple of fingery pulls to start (10s); then into 3/4 of a juggy lap of my Aerocap circuit (30s); then the meat of the route, an 18 move circuit going diagonal R-L, reversing, then diagonal L-R, starting with some hard moves on poorish holds to get a pump going then settling into hanging onto positive incuts for the L-R "redpoint crux" secrion (45-50s); then without resting, bridge out and swap onto the campus board, a quick dip and into 60s of 1-3-55-4-3-2-11.

Seems a good format, the final L-R of the hard section is a fight even on rep 2 and then the basic nature of the campussing to totally blow what's left in your arms.

Works out at 2:40 activity, did it with 10 minutes rest today, only completed sets 1 & 2 though, the rest I fell on the L-R section of the hard section and/or the campussing

7km run & a decent core session including levers

W - couple of hours at Trackside/Gorilla Warfare, just wanted to benchmark how I'm going and climb on some steep rock (only had 2.5 hours so not enough time for lime) was fairly pleased having not climbed on rock in anger for 5 weeks.

t rest

F - repeated Tuesday's session, finished four sets, fell on the crux sets 5&6, rested 5s and finished set 5 but was done in at -40s on set 6.

S - garage bouldering, not bad, focussed on open-hand and doing big throws.

S- Call Of Nature circuit, rest time down to 9 minutes, poor warm up meant my arms were solid after set 1 but managed to complete 4 sets. Set 5 fell at -20s, rested 5s then finished, set 6 fell of L-R crux then burned out at -40s.  Arms still feeling it 9 hours later 

Decent week, especially given that I've not slept at all well.  Couple of tweaks need managing but only 2 more weeks left on the schedule then it's time to put it into action.

[T_B]

STG - Get in bouldering shape for trip to Font in October and get stronger to be able to do more stuff locally

84.4Kg

M - Weighted deadhangs. 15Kg 10 secs x 4. Lock offs. Hanging 2-finger pockets for 6 secs.
T -
W - Campus board. 1-4-7 on right, but not left. Trying 1-5-8 on right and getting fully locked but not able to release. Finished with 3 x short circuits on board.
T - Works P.M. 13 new Murples (8 flashed).
F -
S - Drove to the County
S- Morning at Back Bowden. Totally mint conditions. Flashed a 7b+ and a 7b, then did the Pockets trav (7c). Glad of my 2 finger pocket beastmaker hangs! Had a brief look at County Ethics but 2 pads and no chalk.. hmm. Afternoon at the beach running up and down sand dunes.

3 medium/hard training sessions and a lush couple of hours on the sandstone. Up here all week so hope to get out a few more times 

[kelvin]

Cheers Nai

Birthday was on Friday but beer postponed till after hols this Friday. Been a bit of a week to be honest but it's ended well. Also weighed under 80kg for most of the week, so lost 4/5kg in the last month and back to what I was at the end of last year.

Wed - Climbing wall. Walked in and walked out. Dale looked washed out and I wasn't in the right head space. Booked the ferry to Calais for this Friday... 

Sat/Sun - Went on the Smart Climbing weekend in North Wales. Lucy Creamer said my technique was appalling, Katy Forrester made me fall lots and I also did some yoga, meditation and a host of other psychological trigger stuff. Rope rescue for a while as well. Also listened to Pete Robbins whilst having a beer and pizza - I didn't fall asleep.

Learnt a lot about myself this weekend. I'm too easily distracted (climb badly), my technique is garbage (climb badly), I'm stronger than I thought (still climb badly), no flexibility (climb awful) but nothing that can't be sorted with some effort. 

I climb well when I focus on myself and ignore what's going on around me - this is incredibly hard! Yep, lots to sort.

Off to Montserrat, the Ariege, Riglos, Font etc on Friday and I'm so not ready! 16 days away tho, happy days.

[JackAus]

Getting in on this for abit...

STG: State comp coming up, just don't do shit...
MTG: V7 (should be a STG...)

83kg

Mon : Nowt. Had to take parents to airport.
Tues: Trekked through bush for about 4 hours searching for new rock. Not much bouldering potential but came away with few decent looking lines.
Wed: Nowt.
Thurs: Local training wall crag. Flashed a V4, made up loads of eliminates (around V4), worked a V8 and made good progress.
Fri: AM: 3hr solid hike.
      PM: Searching for DWS potential at local trad crag. Trek around bush, found some good potential but wasn't comfortable DWSing. Did find a new wall and solo'd a new route though.
Sat: Back at local crag. More eliminates, started working a roof project there. Probably going to be about V12-V13 if it ever gets done...
Sun: Nowt. AFL Finals are on and my team played (and won! yeeeeah!) first elim final.

[Duma]

S/MTG - keep niggles in check, run regularly, get out more. If I do any hard stuff that'll be nice too.
LTG - 8A, 68kg

M -
T -
W -
T - cycle 42m 2hr15min - fucked - done pretty much zero cycling this year.
F -
S -
S -
 
69kg.

[the_dom]

I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring because I need to get my act sorted out and the motivation up. Due to various issues, mainly related to my hamstrings and my left knee, I haven't climbed in a month and haven't felt even vaguely motivated to get out.

To address this, I'm going to book 2 weeks in Font in April, and try to get in shape for it, even if it means having to train through the sweaty South African summer.

STG: Be able to climb again - sort out motivation/knee/hamstring/elbow issues. 1-4-7 on both arms again. <87kg. Sort out my diet (less junk/beer).

MTG: In good climbing shape for Font in April 2014. Lower body properly rehab'd. <85kg. Be able / allowed to run again. Consistent good diet.

LTG: 8A again. Consistently <85kg.

Monday: In Johannesburg for work. Leg rehab exercises. 30 mins on stationary bike. I hate the stationary bike, but I'm not allowed to run due to my knee. I hate the stationary bike.

Tuesday: Went for a beer with minion after work. Alcohol enforced rest day.

Wednesday: Morning: 30 mins on the stationary bike. I hate the stationary bike. Fly home from Johannesburg in the afternoon and go straight to the climbing gym to train. Good campus session - doing 1-4-7 consistently on my right arm, and getting close on my left. Everything else feeling good.

Thursday: Short but good repeaters session on the BM2K. Two sets of:

• Front 3 half crimped (small rung)
• All 4 half crimps (small rung)
• 35 deg sloper
• Back 3 (2cm rung)

Followed the repeaters with an hour of torture at the biokineticist, who's been tasked with sorting out the parlous state of my lower body.

Friday: Rest day - leg rehab exercises and some pushups.

Saturday: Slight sinus infection. Watch rugby on the couch. Pizza.

Sunday: The sinus infection seems to be clearing up, so have a good campus session at the climbing gym and do my leg rehab exercises.

[tommytwotone]

STG: Offwidthing at Brimham, Dirty Dozen etc
LTG: Font 7b (honk honk)

M: Gym on lunch - kettlebells and core.
T: Depot session after work, good power endurance campus session plus pullup / pressup routine of 10 of each then 9 of each etc etc.
W: 5am start for work, then long day.
T: 5am start for work, then long day, then an hour of snooker practice, then an evening at beer festival in Leeds.
F: hungover, then long drive to Cambridge after work.
S: 5am start to go to London to drop Mrs off at a cookery course. Trip to Biscuit resulting in decent session.
S: Nowt.

A week of terrible sleep - some as a result of work, some self-inflicted but still seem to have got some good training in. Have managed to increase the amount of booze-free nights, currently aiming to keep drinking down to "social beers" only for a little while and stop drinking at home.

[Dolly]

M First time on The Wave for ages. Tried to suss out a couple of blacks. No success but I enjoyed myself. "Body balance" class at the gym in evening. A mixture of yoga, pilates, Tai chi and some more stuff. Nails. I couldn't do about a third of it.
T A spinning class in an attempt to get some bike fitness before the Grindleford Goat this Saturday. Very very sweaty
W
T Cycled to work and back then a good shed sess in the evening
F Felt like I'd had a proper workout in the shed from the night before. Got a "core workout" programme at the gym.
S Shed. 1 smart new problem and one smart new project
S 25 miles with my brother on the bike (We rode together, I didn't carry him he's massive) Short shed in the evening


Felt like the first time for ages I'd managed to do a proper week's exercise/training.
Looking to build on it this week.

[Muenchener]

STG: Welsh trad E2 in September. 
MTG (2013): Frankenjura VII onsight
LTG (<= 5 years): Big alpine rock routes: Totenkirchl west face (Dülfer), Marmolada south face (Vinatzer-Messner)

München DAV North Wales Expedition

M: Gogarth, Castell Helen. To my surprise the team absolutely loved it. I went over to the Upper Tier to try Strand in the afternoon, and found that I was endurance-wise completely unprepared for placing gear on a big pumpy trad pitch. Burned out, fell off, lowered off.
T: Gogarth again. Went to Wen Zawn in the morning to find it foggy and damp. Bailed to Holyhead Mountain. Did Bruvers (HVS) and Breaking The Barrier (E1) and a  couple of VS's. One of my mates tried to lead B the B, and would have been well capable of the climbing, but we discovered the start is quite fiddly to protect with small gear so not really Trad For Beginners. I led it instead.
W: Tremadog. The team wanted to visit the site of Stefan Glowacz' onsight triumph on Strawberries, otherwise Mudrock really would not have been high on my list of must-visit destinations. Have never been there on a warm sunny day before - obviously, why would you? - and found it horribly sweaty and unpleasant. Shadrach, Merlin Direct.
T: Slate. Went to Serengeti with ideas of a redpoint attempt on Heading The Shot. Did Seamstress to warm up; rain. Snakes, Ladders, Tunnels.
F: Gogarth. Topped out on Britomartis and watched with horror as the first squall of a huge rainstorm marched directly towards us. My second, and the other DAV team following us, just managed to get out before it hit. Proper sea cliff trad adventure.
S: Rain
S: Drive Llanberis -> Dover

A mixed week. Successful in that the DAV team all enjoyed themselves and were impressed with Welsh climbing, including aspects of it that I feared would be too esoteric/scary: slate, Gogarth. But my actual personal goal for the trip was a complete washout.  I wanted to climb at least one proper trad E2 that I hadn't done before, ideally a major classic. Of the routes I had in mind as top targets - Left Wall, The Strand, Comes The Dervish, Pull My Daisy - I tried two and failed on both. Strand: too pumpy. Dervish: too scary.

Why? Mainly self-overestimation. I haven't climbed trad since the mid-90s, and although I should be physically well capable of doing these routes, both the head games and the endurance aspect of placing gear on pumpy trad routes are things that (apparently) can't be completely re-learned in a week.

Also, I learned that having the leadership role in a climbing group takes up a great deal of time and mental energy that then doesn't go towards personal ambitions. Waiting outside the hut twenty minutes after the agreed time until the last person has their rucksack packed and into the car, then spending at least another half an hour in the car park at the other end until everybody has agreed where the crag is and who is doing what with whom and unpacked and repacked their bloody rucksacks again wtf  , every bloody day, requires a degree of patience and self-control that I only barely managed to maintain for a whole week.

I was also over-optimistic about how quickly & easily the team would adapt to British trad climbing. They're nearly all stronger sport climbers than me, and have all done some alpine-style trad in the Dolomites, but being *completely* responsible for one's own protection including main belays still turned out to be a big deal for them. In fact they did well - one of them led HVS his first day on Gogarth, second day on trad - but my initial idea that 7a/b sport climbers should be comfortably strolling up well protected E3s within a few days turned out to be less than realistic.

Try not to be too pessimistic though. Scraping together non-classics, routes I've done before but a very long time ago, and routes that get trad grades in the guidebook but aren't really, in total I did three HVS's, two E1s, two E2s and an E3. Including my first ever UK 6a onsight. Actually not a bad haul.

I'm thoroughly re-inspired by the glories of Welsh climbing and I'll be back. Hopefully with a smaller and more self-sufficient group and a lot more endurance training beforehand. One of the guys is already talking about a dedicated Slate Week for next year.

[kelvin]

Sounds not a bad week Muench... seems you did a lot of the stuff I've done or tried this year, well not the E2/3s. Shame Zawn wasn't in nick but that's the welsh weather for you I guess.

[Ti_pin_man]

LTG: 7a at wall by Xmas. 
STG: flash 6a+ end of Sept

Might sound ambitious from somebody who has been a social climber but sat down with a coach/mentor and this is my goal now the kids are back at school.  Plan really started Aug 31st so starts from there:

S - Aug 31st - 3 hours wall on planned session - warm up then 30/40 mins easys followed by 30/40mins working 6a+ problems then chillax and stretching
S - Sept 1st - repeat of above
M - Core 101 session 6am / bike to work, wall / repeat of above
T - not surprisingly wasted after 3 days hard, core 101 in early evening and bike ride to flush out lactics
W - Lite Fingerboard session - been climbing for year but did easiest beastmaker session
T - rest
F - rest and travelling
S - 3 hours hard climb as above, hitting 6c at different wall
S - technique for 2 hours at wall and lite climbing

This is more or less the approach agreed with mentor to take me higher grade before Xmas.  This month V3, oct V4 and nov V5 then V6.  Ambitious but either it'll get me there or a lot closer. 

[shark]

11.3-7

M. Eve Weighted deadhangs, assisted one armers, intermittant hangs. Good sess. Forearms blasted
T. 
W.PM Fingery endurance on systems board
T.
F. PM Fingery endurance on systems board
S. AM Park run with Poppy. Exhausted when got back and went back to bed
S. Malham. Legs sore from run. Good conditions. Warmed up on Consenting. Several goes on Oak concentrating on moves 3-6. Managed thin undercut to touching horn which was OK as a first go back on it. Tommy made good progress working Seventh Aardvark. Finished off by leading and stripping Appetite.

Busy week after holiday. Unfortnately my dietary/booze resolve dissolved with the terrible weather forecasts which proved unfounded (thanks Met Office) so ended up heavier than I should have been when I got on the Oak. Should have kept the faith. Booked to back on thursday.

[tomtom]

[Dolly]

Tom had been holding it in all day, but now happy in the bath he could no longer contain himself.

[iain]

 

STG: Infinite Gravity before Sept>mid-October or the weather crapping out, whichever is first.
Get down to 62kg by 7th Sept, 62.7 this morning so not there but still heading in the right direction at least and quite pleasing after the amount I've eaten out this last weekend. I have another week or so before getting on IG anyway.

Mon: Rest

Tues: Works, warmed up, some bouldering then circuits. Back on the 7b again. 3 set of 2 laps, 10 min between sets, 2.5 min between laps. I'm making sure I'm climbing slowly enough that each lap is taking roughly 2.5 min to complete. Fell off only on last lap and completed with short rest. Felt good.

Wed: Rest

Thurs: Had a chance to get outside but folk were partnered up and Rubicon wouldn't have been a good destination with my tweaked finger, so Works again. Warmed up, some bouldering then circuits. This time 2 sets of 3 laps, 15 min between sets, 2.5 min between laps. Rested twice on last lap otherwise all clean. Next time will shorten the rest between laps. Turned 39+2

Fri: Rest.

Sat: Rest.

Sun: Bouldering. There's a new murple set with some great problems. Did a good few of them, no idea of the grades, left feeling satisfyingly worked.

[Sasquatch]

STG - 8A+ Local Project
MTG - God Module(8A) in HP 40 in Early Oct (prob have crap conditions, so may not go so well)
MTG2 - Go back and finish off Mandala
LTG - ?

M - Recovery Day - Run 4mi
T - Unplanned rest day. Shopping for truck, found it and schedued to have mechanic chack it out in AM
W - Repeater Session followed by End Set. 7.5mi run - BIG day overall.
Th - Yoga, light bouldering in afternoon- 30 problems up to 7B
F - Rest
S - Bike 15mi,
S - Max Hangs, Repeaters, 5mi Run.

It rained every single day this week, and the forecast is for another week of the same.

[fried]

Err.. Nothing. Until Sunday when I had a pretty O.K session. I only went so I didn't have to report a week without climbing.

Too much work, catching up with old friends. Temperature has dropped, so I'll get back on the BM soon.

[cheque]

Respect for your high personal standards Muenchener. I'd have been more like "E3, YYFY!" myself.

Lucy Creamer said my technique was appalling

Hopefully this was as part of constructive help in improving rather than a passing insult!

Here's my tedious list of Red River Gorge targets:

1-Endurance ‘for days’ on steep, juggy/ open-handed rock. Lots of confirmation that this is going well this week.
2-Ability to recover on a jug on steep ground. As above.
3-Ability to do a steep 6A/ 6A+ when pumped silly. Seen good improvement in this this week.
4-Psyche and ability to go “a muerte” even when pumped and facing massive whipper. A little progress this week.
5-Stoic tolerance of caffeinated soft drink and pizza.
High volume training and veggy food meant I lost more weight this week! Compensated by eating lots if sweets this weekend. Saving the caffeine as a perfonrmance-enhancer for when I'm on the trip I think.
6- day-on-day fitness enabling as many days climbing as possible without burnout Definite improvement in this.
7- Lower body flexibility to cope with front-on climbing without injury Change in the weather means I can't stretch at the suntrap fire escape behind work any more, but I slipped and tweaked my hamstring on the catwalk on Saturday and it's just gone away so I'm clearly succeeding on this.

M- Rest.
T- Notts Depot. 20 minutes Ancap lapping the pink "6b+" circuit countless times. 4x4s on steep V3s after. Felt about the same as last week but that was without the Ancap first! Did all the new purple boulder problems (30 x V0ish) to finish.
W- Rest.
T- Edge routes. Cooler conditions at last! All the routes I'd been on before felt much easier. Got on the steepest wall (the one with the Wideboyz' Cobra Crack traning route on) which is probably as steep as "Twinkie" in the Red. Felt a bit disconcerting to climb something so steep  Need to fix up on this front ASAP! Including circuit board and autobelay after my partner had left I did 15 pitches. 
F- Rest.
S- Malham. Said in the car that if I didn't finally tick Rose Coronary I'd commit hari kiri by jumping from the catwalk. A couple of topropes confirmed that I finally have both the finger strength to do the crux section and the fitness to do the top afterwards but also that the bloody awkward sequencey climbing is still my personal anti-style. Toproped it clean 3rd go though. Blew the first two redpoints due to nerves (in my head the route is far harder than it actually is, so ingrained is the memory of completely floundering on it on my earliest visits to the cove) then had a final attempt. Climbed it brilliantly but made a footwork mistake setting up the final hard move. Corrected this calmly causing my brain to release the "it's in the bag" relaxation chemicals and puntered up the subsequent throw into the undercut completely.  Didn't have it left to get to the chains without aiding so another redpoint was out of the question. Luckily I was let off with 50 pushups on the walk back rather than having to make the jump!
S- Walk up Mam Tor and through Winnat's Pass. 

Training progress but performance frustration this week. Hopefully one day the cove will return my currently unrequited love for it! Hoping to head back this Sunday...

[clm]

Learnt a lot about myself this weekend. I'm too easily distracted (climb badly), my technique is garbage (climb badly), I'm stronger than I thought (still climb badly), no flexibility (climb awful) but nothing that can't be sorted with some effort. 

Keep doing that lot and you'll probably have more fun than anyone else at the crag tbh

[kelvin]

I guess VDiffs are still interesting at least 

[krymson]

STG:get strong while healing pulley strain so i can (half) crimp hard again

M Steep lead wall. Good stamina - got in 4 good attempts on steep climbs in the 7a-7c range. Feeling solid redpointing 7a but 7c feels balls hard especially because of clipping.
T Bouldering Gym working hard problems. attempted a 4x4 at the end on the 15degree wall but failed -- problems chosen were too "cruxy"
W  Weights for injury prevention. proper form makes a huge difference on chest press
Th Bouldering Gym - worked problems with friends. Noticed that a friend who climbs less often but more intensely and with more fight has loads of power. perhaps there is something to High/Low.
F Rest
Sat Hit the Weight room for contrast training(pullups, squats/jumps) and injury prevention.
Su Steep board - climbed hard but felt weak. yelling seems to be extremely effective on tensiony moves -- and scaring off little children.

[clm]

I guess VDiffs are still interesting at least 

Ha! Was more a comment on that list being a remarkably accurate description of a lot of us on here, myself included!
Never bothered me too much!

[Luke Owens]

M: Rest

T: Penmaen Head - Me up with some guy's I haven't seen in ages at the Clwyd MC meet. Flowstone Shuffle (6b+) warm-up. Retro-flashed The Gimp Crimp (7a) (couldn't remember any of it so felt good to get it first go) Charlotte's Goal (7a) 2nd go, buggered the on-sight by going off route. Finished with my hardest on-sight to 70 Degrees (6c+) a good 20m route which is massively run-out! Felt good to be solid on it at the end of a session.

W: Rest

T: Dinbren - Got back on "Fire" (7b) Warmed up doing some links on it. Had a redpoint and fell off after the crux with massive flash pump. Took a couple of goes to stick the crux start then felt fresh after the crux and managed to fight my way to the top. Haven't had to fight like that for awhile. All my static beta went out the window when I had to dyno for rest jug. Felt good! Finished off the session doing some good links on "Ice" (7b) to the right.

F: Traveling/Rest

S: Core -
30 Crunches with legs up
15 Side Raises (Both Sides)
20 Back Arches
15 Press Ups
20 Straight Leg Crunches
1 Min Side Star (Both Sides)
1 Min Dish
15 Press Ups
20 Back Arches
1 Min Dish

S: Rest/Family Holiday

[webbo]

Mon. Bike 62miles however 10 miles from home gear stop for rear mech sheared off, had to ring the misses to come and rescue me.
Tue. Board mirror session after spending time cleaning and fettling my winter bike into shape.
Wed. Nothing.
Thu. 72 miles round the Humber 4 hrs 30 secs riding which is 15 mins faster than I was doing on my best bike this time last year.
Fri. Leeds wall on way to visit my mum. 20 problems including a v5.
Sat. Board mirror session new version harder than previous one.
Sun. Board couldn't face riding due to wind. Put on 6 new crimps and worked some problems on these, ended up with a few projects. Manned up and went for a ride 7 x 1 min on 2 mins off.