[SA Chris]

I will be brief

STG - get some climbing done. MTG - get a bit fitter before week away in june - enjoy some mountainbiking and do a 7a that week.

M - eye of needle diet continues
T - still feel unwell, avoid dairy and fresh fruit just in case.
W - walk to work 1 hr - weigh in 13st 10lbs - down 4 3/4 on last week. Shitting constantly and not eating does have upside
T - walk to work, still feeling crap, nothing in evening
F - walk to work, meeting from 10 - 4 drains me of will to live. Go home and look after nipper while lass has night out, knackered
S - go for one hour walk with nipper on seacliffs, do DIY
S - go for hour walk with nipper, do DIY

This week I will definitely do some training. 

[chris_j_s]

Unsure whether to sack the Oak off or not.

Usual disclaimers apply, I'm a million miles from being an expert etc. etc., but I was just wondering about a few things...

 - were conditions not a bit shit if it only dried back during the course of the day?
 - what is your best effort so far on it, and what is stopping you making progress - stopper moves or endurance when linking it all together.
 - if stopper moves, have you tried recreating those on your board at home and work up to adding them near the end of a long ciruit.
 - if endurance, I get the impression you've been doing a lot of strength work recently so maybe a few weeks of endurance work, really pushing yourself would yield results or at least give your body something different to think about.
 - do you generally periodise your training to peak at certain times or do you try and maintain a similar level for the majority of the year.

I do appreciate you've a lot more training experience than me so feel free to ignore this but it seems like a real shame to be losing motivation for your project so early on when a change of focus/shock to the system might be what you need to make the next step forward.

[Monolith]

Monday - Uni
Tuesday - 6am run, fingerboard/powerpull combo.
Wednesday - Uni
Thursday - Uni
Friday - Sunday Spent hanging with girl.

Sure I did two sessions this week but can't remember which other day it was. Will keep a proper written record this week.
 

[shark]

Hi Chris

I have had 4 days on it this year and each session yeilded progress but no new highpoint. I have recreated the moves on a board but havent linked those moves on the board either. On reflection I think twatting my back was the problem yesterday but it was baltic too.

I think it's all a bit academic anyway as the route is going to be wet next weekend and the weekend after I'm going to Font for a week. If I'm psyched for it when I come back I'll give it another go but I think sacking it off and coming back to it in the Autumn might be best which was my original game plan anyway. I can carry on training for it by attempting the circuit on the board each week. BTW I didnt mean I would sack it off altogether.

[Three Nine]

shark - surely its not a case of sacking it off completely? you could have another more immediate (and closer to sheff?) 8a+/8b proj, returning to the oak when you are stronger/better at rock climbing.

as a punter operating in relative isolation (no scene/no mates) i am amazed at how you and certain other northern types are prepared to just siege a route for months on end. I would have thought this would be the preserve of the full-time climber, not the weekend warrior. as if the latter spends his weekends sat on a bolt on a thing basically too hard for him, he doesnt do any more climbing. For the time limited like us (i live 2 hours from rock) I think its necessary to be over strong/over good for stuff. Otherwise you are just going to get disheartened (as you seem to be). For us the Simpson method of prepping for something on a board or wall and then getting it done quickly, has considerable merit IMHO. Ones weekends can then be a bit freer. For most of us I think, not infrequent ticks are essential to staying motivated.

From my own (very limited experience) i really wanted to do cider soak, but struggled to find partners, and the 3 hour drive didn't help. But after an initial visit I knew i had to be strong on good edges on a 30 deg wall and manage to string 20ish moves in a row together . So when training in the evenings (when i couldnt go climbing), i kept this in mind, and so i managed to do it. But on the weekends i got to do lots of other nice routes (although i tried to focus on PE on edges). I know trying the Oak is the most specific whatnot for doing the oak, but this has to be balanced against other things i reckon.

[Three Nine]

ok you kind of said it anyway

[Jeff25]

Unsure whether to sack the Oak off or not

Surely not!!!! - No giving up so easily Mr Shark.

Goals: European 8a+, 7B ideally in font.

Monday: Short beastmaker schedule - got to get a plan rather than just try random holds.
Tuesday - Friday: Nothing - first week back at work after baby and absouloutely shagged.
Saturday: Beastmaker session and pull ups - sub 1 hour
Sunday: WWay, fell off problems i used to cruise, did some campus boarding as a treat for my elbows. met a mate and tried to OS a 7b+ - but fell off.

[JohnM]

Goals this year:  Fr8b, Font 8a+, sub 40 min 10k

M:  Beastmaker session.  Started adding 10kg on two handed hangs I find easy.
T:  Went to the pub and then out for Italian meal.
W:  Beastmaker session including assisted one arm pull ups.
T:  Went to the cave.  Felt stronger on individual moves but failed to link anything longer than 6 moves.
F:  10km run (57:22 min) way off the pace.  Went out for friends birthday in Preston.  Remembered why I hate going out in Preston but managed some self restraint and didn't drink too much to try and make it better!
S:  Malham - First routes session this year.  Felt terrible on the warm ups.  Went upstairs and got the moves on Main Overhang quickly.  Had a redpoint and managed to get halfway shaking like a shitting dog.  Had another redpoint that went better but split a tip.
S:  Nice circuit round Caley but was hindered by split tip.

[shark]

From my own (very limited experience) i really wanted to do cider soak, but struggled to find partners, and the 3 hour drive didn't help.

Spare a thought for the FA Nick White. Living in Exeter at a time when there were no other climbers or indoor walls or boards as an impecunious artist and sometimes getting his slightly odd landlady to belay him at weekends. 

Re the other stuff - I like being at Malham and seiging routes. The are others who are even more singleminded in this respect especially Paul Reeve. Its an old skool thing like wearing vests.

[Stubbs]

Aims:
Zoo York
Good shape for Swizzy in the summer
Suffolk's number 1

M: easy weights sesh and stretching
T: Beastmaker and core sesh
W: Beastmaker and weights
T: Nowt
F: Nowt
S: Walk approx 8 miles
S: walk approx 6 miles

Looking forward to Easter and some (hopeful) proper climbing!  Getting more of a gauge of the correct level of effort on the Beastmaker, and the pockets are starting to feel better.

[Three Nine]

Spare a thought for the FA Nick White. Living in Exeter at a time when there were no other climbers or indoor walls or boards as an impecunious artist and sometimes getting his slightly odd landlady to belay him at weekends. 

I was told he moved up north, got fat, and stopped climbing, not long after writing SDAD. Do you know what became of him? (no moral to this, just wondered).

[Fiend]

SDAD is as fine a climber's swansong as one could hope for.

[Duma]

Goals: 7C, 7C+, etc

M: circuits at TCA. went pretty well, managed not to be distracted by shorter stuff for over an hour, flashed 7a circuit, 7b+ 3rd go. small beer, but pleased since I haven't tied in in about 2 years.
T: nowt. Rear ended someone leaving work. Insurance co will prob write car off. Arse.
W: TCA, enjoyed. Got a couple of whites, then distracted by the new yellows that were being set.
T: nowt. dad all day.
F: quick hour at TCA before night shift. not enough time to get much done, but worked through a few more of the yellows.
S: 12hr night shifts + 45minutes each way commuting precludes anything else.
S: see above.

SDAD is awesome, my favourite guide ever. Nick White = 

[Andy F]

Re the other stuff - I like being at Malham and seiging routes. The are others who are even more singleminded in this respect especially Paul Reeve. Its an old skool thing like wearing vests.

That'll explain your lycra fetish then 

[shark]

Spare a thought for the FA Nick White. Living in Exeter at a time when there were no other climbers or indoor walls or boards as an impecunious artist and sometimes getting his slightly odd landlady to belay him at weekends. 

I was told he moved up north, got fat, and stopped climbing, not long after writing SDAD. Do you know what became of him? (no moral to this, just wondered).

I chatted to him in the Broadfield 6/7 years ago. He wasn't climbing then. Haven't seen or heard from him since though I noticed last year he was selling gear on the internet either thru ebay or ukc - can't remember which - but suggested he was back in Exeter IIRC .

[Adam Lincoln]

T: High Tor with E8 leader.  E8 leader made Supersonic look like an HVS.  I did a couple of HVSs making them look like E8s. 

He couldn't place gear for shit though...

[SA Chris]

SDAD is as fine a climber's swansong as one could hope for.

Word. Yet to be surpassed as the most entertaining guidebook I have read. A genius work.

[Falling Down]

I know I'm probably being really stupid, but SDAD???

[SA Chris]

South Devon and Dartmoor Guide

[Falling Down]

Ah, that would explain.  I've never climbed there but I've always wanted to explore the Devon coast.

[SA Chris]

Which one? The two Devon coasts are in different guides. Both are good though.

[Falling Down]

I'm even thicker than I thought...  that would be the S in SDAD then 

[SA Chris]

I wasn't going to comment

NDAC guide may be a better bet if you want to explore the more surf rich coast.

[andy popp]

Mon: Wake up in Alabama (YYFY); its snowing and my neck, injured in a car crash the week before, wrecks after the flight (NNFN)
Tues: Climb with Curt (cmerch here) who is a true gent
Wed: Climb. The score is 45 problems in the two days. HP40 is fantastic. Brilliant two days. Didn't try anything hard at all, with so much to go at and so little time, it didn't make sense to work stuff. Thus impossible to tell if training has paid off but I guess I got a decent volume in.
Thurs: Drive to Georgia for conference
Fri-Sat: Normal conference scene; too much crap food, coffee and alcohol
Sun-Mon: travel home. A great mini road-tripping week

[Fiend]

NDAC and SDAD combined make one of the most fascinating and diverse (and adventurous) climbing areas in the UK